Correction
This editorial incorrectly stated when the next mayor of Sacramento will take office. The next mayor will take office on the fourth Tuesday following the first Monday in November.
Here are words we never expected to see in this space.
Vote for somebody other than Heather Fargo or Kevin Johnson in the June 3 primary.
You should plan on voting for (and we are planning to endorse) either Fargo or Johnson in the November general election. But in the primary, you should vote for one of the other names on the ballot: Shawn Eldredge, or Richard Jones, or Leonard Padilla, or Muriel Strand, or Adam Daniel.
Even we are somewhat astonished by this recommendation.
Only Fargo and Johnson have a legitimate chance of winning, after all. So why should anyone vote for one of the other candidates? None has a chance, and some have ideas that are a bit, um, unorthodox. Why suggest that people vote for one of them?
The answer lies in the rules of this election. If any candidate gets a majority of the votes on June 3, she or he automatically is elected to a four-year term starting in January.
It's too early for that to happen. Voters need this race to run until November. Johnson, making his first run for office, has too many things to answer. Fargo, seeking an unprecedented third term as mayor, has too much to answer for.
This was not an outcome we foresaw when Johnson entered the race. At that point, it seemed Sacramentans would have a clear choice between Fargo's experience and Johnson's promise as a leader. But the campaign to date has cast a dubious light on both Fargo's experience and Johnson's potential to lead.
A leader is as a leader does. In the months since he entered the race, Johnson has faced questions about his conduct and character, in both his private and public life. He has not responded well to this challenge.
In general, he has been defensive and reluctant to give straightforward answers to straightforward questions. That tendency would cripple him in a public office such as mayor.
Johnson has inaccurately characterized an ongoing federal investigation of his St. HOPE organization as an "audit." His vision of Sacramento as another Phoenix is unsettling at best. And the revelation that Johnson's personal attorney investigated an allegation that he inappropriately touched a teenage student at Sacramento Charter High School raises serious questions about his judgment.
Johnson clearly loves Sacramento. He has demonstrated courage in his efforts to remake Sacramento High and Oak Park. He still has the potential to lead. But what good is potential if it is tarnished by questions of character and judgment?
By November, the investigation of St. HOPE will be over, and Johnson will have had more time to learn how to conduct himself in the public arena. Maybe then his potential will shine brightly again, but voters shouldn't take a chance on that now.
Fargo, the candidate of experience, also has diminished her claim on voters. The campaign has revealed that she is out of touch with the disturbing rise of Sacramento's crime rate during her time in office. It has shown her to be indifferent to the question of a new arena for the Kings – even as others were moving toward a potential solution. She has mischaracterized a poll on her public approval and made misstatements about Johnson's tax liabilities.
Fargo's campaign also raises questions about her judgment and character. She has refused to disavow a sleazy Web site and mailer put out in independent support of her candidacy. Worse, she has called on the chief of police to reopen a criminal investigation of the allegation against Johnson. That tactic smacks of a gross misuse of the power of her office for political ends.
Fargo can point to accomplishments as mayor. Downtown and midtown have improved during her time in office. Her record on flood control is good, if imperfect. She knows city government inside and out. No one can match her experience. But what value does that experience have if she is out of touch, disengaged, misinformed and willing to allow others to campaign for her from the gutter?
Neither her record nor her campaign demonstrates convincingly that she has earned a third term as mayor. By November, perhaps she will have disavowed her scurrilous supporters and more clearly articulated why she merits a third term. In that case, voters may have reason to bestow that historic honor on her. But not now.
Now, the best thing voters can do is to stall for time. That means voting for someone other than Heather Fargo or Kevin Johnson in hopes that the picture is clearer by November.
It's an unconventional and in many ways unsatisfactory recommendation. But in that, it reflects the unsatisfactory reality of this important election.
