Mayor-elect Kevin Johnson will hold a public swearing in ceremony at Memorial Auditorium on Nov. 25 that will double as a "citywide call to action" for the community, his transition team said today. The event's master of ceremonies will be television journalist Lisa Ling, who grew up in Carmichael.
Four of Johnson's City Council colleagues also are scheduled to be sworn in that day -- at the same time, but separately, at 6 p.m. in City Hall, following traditional protocol. Their swearings-in will be preceded by a modest reception of finger food, said Sacramento City Clerk Shirley Concolino. She said the city would pay for the food at the City Hall reception or try to get it donated. The total bill should not exceed $1,500. "We're doing our best to see what we can get donated," she said.
Johnson transition team spokesman Adam Mendelsohn said Johnson's event will be free and open to the public and will include a canned food drive.
"It was important to Kevin that this be a community service-oriented event, and he wanted it to reflect his campaign, which was community-wide," said Mendelsohn, former deputy chief of staff to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
"For Kevin, it's a swearing in, but it's also an opportunity to rally the community to take action and give back," Mendelsohn said. "Kevin believes the country and the city are facing some very serious obstacles, and the way we're going to get through it is if we all band together as a community."
Transition team member Mark Friedman said people who want to attend are being asked to sign up online. When they sign up, they'll be asked to commit to doing community service with a charitable group. Local charities will be on hand to sign up people when they arrive at Memorial Auditorium. Tentative start time is 6 p.m.
"The whole design is to try to convert the enthusiasm for this campaign into effective public action," Friedman said.
Results of the election, however, might not be officially certified by Nov. 25, meaning Johnson would not be able to take office that day. If that happens, Concolino said, Johnson can be ceremonially sworn in, but the official honors will have to be conducted by her at a later date, when the results are final.
Sacramento County elections spokesman Brad Buyse said he doesn't know if the office can complete the count by then and won't have a better idea until next week. He said the office received 19,000 provisional ballots and 50,000 absentee ballots on Election Day. Buyse noted that every provisional ballot must be checked by hand for authenticity.
"I think next week we'll be able to determine whether or not we'll be able to certify the results of the election prior to Thanksgiving," he said.
The four council members being sworn in Nov. 25 don't have the same problem, since they won outright in June. They are Councilmembers Rob Fong, Kevin McCarty, Bonnie Pannell and Sandy Sheedy.
Until he's sworn in, Johnson can't move into the mayor's office or conduct city business, Concolino said.
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