Currently, Sacramento’s mayor is merely one voice within the City Council. Former Mayor Joe Serna never let that stop him from bulldozing ahead with his brand of leadership and actually accomplishing something. Mayor Heather Fargo seemed to revel in being only one of nine decision makers, uncomfortable with the “buck stops here” concept of leadership.

Consequently, Sacramento is run by committee and not by a leader. The mayor’s job should be a leadership role, not an administrative job.

Sacramento needs to grow up. Now that we’ve elected a real leader in Kevin Johnson, it’s time to change the Sacramento City Charter and give the mayor some authority and accountability.

The Current System 
The weak mayor structure comes from the belief that if politicians have few powers and many checks, then they can do relatively little damage. Our current charter is what is called a mayor-council-manager system, or weak mayor form of government. In that paradigm, a city council member represents each district within Sacramento; the city elects a mayor to represent the people at-large; and together the council and mayor select a city manager. The mayor presides over the City Council meetings and the city manager is responsible for the day-to-day managing of staff.

Some council members have expressed that instead of a strong mayor system, the city should make the council members full-time. Very liberal thinking like this only leads to more bureaucracy and less accountability. We already have a full-time mayor with a full-time salary. The city should strive to get more out of the mayor without having to add the entire council to the full-time payroll.

In a weak mayor system, if the mayor is only one of nine city council votes, but is elected in a citywide race, why do we need to spend the money on a full-time mayor if they are mayor-in-name-only? Mayor Heather Fargo showed no leadership, had little power and no accountability—certainly no more than her cohorts representing each of the city’s individual districts.

Ceremonial Figurehead or Leader? 
Mayor-elect Kevin Johnson ran his campaign on big-picture thinking and planning. Johnson wants the six-county region of the Sacramento Valley involved and talking to each other. With a strong mayor system, Sacramento would have more input in the entire region and not just in downtown Sacramento. The entire six-county Sacramento region has 2.3 million residents, a growth rate of 25 percent and is expected to grow by an additional 20 percent in the next 10 years. That estimation could be hampered with the economy in a slump, but it is still much higher growth than the rest of California.

With a strong mayor system, Sacramento residents will take their elections more seriously knowing that the mayor is a real leader and not just a ceremonial figurehead—truly a full-time job, the mayor would essentially represent an executive branch of local government.

A strong mayor will not waste time with day-to-day management, and allow the city manager to do his job. Lines of demarcation will be clearer to everyone on the City Council, as members will be forced to actually represent their districts and not just manage their future political careers.

The four primary areas in which we will see the results from a strong mayor system are: 
• Budget authority 
• Accountability to voters 
• Veto power 
• Hiring/firing

Mayor Fargo chose to hide behind Sacramento’s weak mayor structure, using excuses such as, “It’s not my job,” to dodge accountability. Technically, she was right; however, she demonstrated no leadership and, consequently, no results. Leaders take on issues because they see the need. Arguing over who has the authority is a moot point with a real leader, which is why we need to provide Sacramento’s mayor the tools necessary to do the job correctly.

The city’s current form of mayoral responsibility is analogous to the vice president’s role in the Senate, presiding over meetings and providing a lot of talk and little action. And though the mayor has one better over the VP and can issue a vote, the council, without firm leadership from a strong executive, acts less like a representational body and more like a kitchen with too many cooks.

San Diego, Fresno and Oakland all have strong mayor structures. New York City, too, is a strong mayor city. Can you imagine former Mayor Rudy Giuliani having accomplished anything in New York without the authority to make executive decisions?

It is time for Sacramento to change the city charter and give the mayor some teeth to do the job, which is to lead Sacramento. Job performance and job accountability; it’s not just your father’s rhetoric any more, it’s what’s at stake.