Mayor Kevin Johnson has abandoned his effort to put his latest “strong mayor” proposal on the June ballot, saying there is not enough support from council members. Johnson said he now plans to start campaigning to place the proposal on the November ballot.
He also cited the city’s budget deficit as a reason to delay the initiative to November.
“There’s not a lot of appetite from council members to put it on the ballot in June,” Johnson said. “Secondly, we had a budget workshop last week on Thursday and we have some significant challenges that we need to deal with going forward.”
He said he will ask the City Council at tonight’s meeting to consider placing the proposal on the November ballot.
The city’s estimated budget deficit for the 2010/2011 fiscal year is $35-40 million, according to a Feb. 11 budget report.
Johnson presented his new strong mayor proposal last week after his old proposal was shut down by Sacramento Superior Court Loren McMaster in January. McMaster ruled that Johnson’s initiative broke California law.
Johnson had planned to ask the City Council to approve the new measure