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Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Sac Mayor: Fiancee Wasn't 'Fixer' - Politics News Story - KCRA Sacramento


Sac Mayor: Fiancee Wasn't 'Fixer' - Politics News Story - KCRA Sacramento

Sac Mayor: Fiancee Wasn't 'Fixer'
Congressional Report Released On Former IG's Firing

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson denied Tuesday that his future fiancee played the role of "fixer" during last year's investigation of his St. HOPE organization.

"She was on the [St. HOPE] board at the time," Johnson said Tuesday during his weekly news conference at Sacramento City Hall. "The Inspector General's Office called her in as a board member and she weighed in on it. It was not as a 'fixer.'"

Johnson recently announced his engagement to Michelle Rhee, who is currently the superintendent of schools in Washington, D.C. Rhee's role in the St. HOPE investigation was raised in a report issued last week by two members of Congress.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Rep. Darrell Issa, R-California, have called into question why Inspector General Gerald Walpin was forced to resign earlier this year. Walpin said he had found evidence that St. HOPE had misused federal AmeriCorps funding while Johnson was serving as CEO of the organization.

"It seems a lot of people might have been interested in protecting the AmeriCorps program and the Mayor of Sacramento from an IG who was discovering some unpleasant facts," Sen. Grassley said in a written statement issued with the report.