Sacramento mayor debate focuses on empty seat

Saturday's Sacramento mayoral debate trotted along cordially enough until the very end, when the hopefuls were asked what question they'd pose to the two candidates who didn't show up.

The focus inside the downtown Sacramento debate hall immediately shifted to an empty brown leather chair at the end of the dais.

Kevin Johnson, the former-NBA-star-turned-Oak Park-developer-turned-mayoral-candidate, declined an invitation to the event, the campaign's first televised forum. (Long-shot insurance broker Richard Jones also was a no-show.)

"Whose side is he on?" asked candidate Muriel Strand, referring to Johnson.

"Why isn't he willing to talk to the people?" chimed in incumbent mayor Heather Fargo.

"I don't care if he's out raising more money or at a college reunion …," said bounty hunter Leonard Padilla from underneath his trademark cowboy hat. "You show up."

Johnson instead spent Saturday in Washington, D.C., laying out his case for opening a St. HOPE charter school in the nation's capital. He passed on last week's debate at Fremont Presbyterian Church, too, and has pulled out of three other debates at the last moment.

Christy Setzer, a Johnson spokeswoman, issued a brief statement saying Johnson has "found that the most meaningful interactions happen through a two-way conversation with residents." She said Johnson's campaign team has spread his message by knocking on the doors of 10,000 voters and calling another 20,000.

Just short of 84,000 city residents voted in the 2004 mayoral election.

Johnson has agreed to make his debate debut in a televised forum Wednesday, sponsored in part by The Bee. Setzer said he's looking forward to it.

The absences of Johnson and Jones left the remaining five candidates to tackle the issues, such as keeping the Kings, shoring up the levees, fixing the $58 million budget deficit, reviving K Street, housing the homeless, controlling municipal carbon, getting more people to ride light rail and improving city schools.

Fargo touted her experience. Padilla pledged to forge a strong-mayor form of government. Strand vowed to create "eco-villages" and protect the environment. Corporate trainer Adam Daniel promised to combat the budget crisis with greater urgency.

Shawn Eldredge, a community activist and self-described "meeting geek" who regularly delved into the policy nuances, asked Fargo why the city hadn't done more to halt sprawling, suburban-style growth on the city's outskirts.

Fargo defended her growth policies, saying she's focused on greater housing density and better transportation in the city.

"Our focus needs to be on infill – the R Street corridor, the railyards and other industrial corridors – to work with the development community and get them to understand that that's the better choice," she said.

Padilla deemed the transfer of Sacramento High into a charter high school run by Johnson's St. HOPE "a horrendous mistake," especially in light of allegations that Johnson inappropriately touched a student. Sacramento police investigated and found no basis for the allegations.

Padilla called upon City Councilman Rob Fong – a St. HOPE supporter when he served on the Sacramento City Unified school board – to lead a blue-ribbon panel dedicated to revoking the school's charter.

"Obviously, something has been wrong (at Sac High) for a very long time," Padilla said.

Strand offered perhaps the most novel idea of the day, saying she would forgo her salary as mayor and use the money to open a "hospitality" office along the K Street Mall. She said the office would promote tourism, friendliness among neighbors and bring attention to the blighted promenade at the city's heart.

"I keep hearing that Sacramento wants to be a world-class city, but every world-class city I've been to makes K Street look placid and calm and very quiet," she said.

Daniel said "there needs to be an earthquake at City Hall" to shake up complacency over the budget crisis. He said the city needs to tighten its belt to make it through these tough times.

Fewer than 20 citizens showed up in person for the League of Women Voters-sponsored debate, which was held inside the county administration building and lasted about an hour. Questions were posed by a panel of former Sacramento State professor Jon Syer, Cosmo Garvin of the Sacramento News & Review and Terri Hardy, The Bee's City Hall reporter.

Channel 14 will replay the debate every Sunday at 9 a.m. through the election, which is June 3.

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