As mayor of Sacramento ... Kevin Johnson

1. Sacramento's economy and the city's finances remain highly dependent on government employment and on housing development in Natomas. What would you do to diversify the city's economy and make the city less vulnerable to gyrations in the housing market?

I believe that the most effective strategy for diversifying Sacramento's economy and stabilizing the city's budget is to encourage businesses to locate here and help them succeed. By encouraging the growth of business and industry, we will significantly increase city revenues and make us less dependent on government employment and housing development.

For example, IKEA was interested in opening a store in Sacramento, but the city wasn't able to move quickly enough to provide them with the zoned land that they needed. The company ultimately wound up in West Sacramento, where the store created 400 new jobs and produces $1 million annually in sales tax revenue for their city. This is an example of a missed opportunity for Sacramento, and as mayor, I will ensure that we seriously look at the long-term benefits of providing an attractive environment for business.

As mayor, my goal will be to develop a reputation for the city of Sacramento as a great place to start and operate a business. I'll do the simple things to support our businesses that too often seem to go undone, like meeting regularly with our major business leaders and employers so that we have an open dialogue about issues of concern to them. I'll also examine our permit and inspection procedures for opportunities to make them more customer-friendly.

2. Although violent crime has dropped over the last year, gang activity is still a serious problem in some neighborhoods, and city police lack the resources to investigate property crimes throughout the city. Given that the budget crisis could prompt further cutbacks, would you support a tax assessment for law enforcement? If so, what type of tax and at what level?

First, I think it's important to note that while violent crime dropped in the last year, the same data shows that violent crime in Sacramento is actually up 55 percent since 2001, with assaults increasing 74 percent over that time. And, as noted, gang violence is a serious problem with more than 65 active gangs in the city, 6,000 gang members, and only 14 percent of property crimes being investigated.

To answer the question, I do not believe that a tax assessment should be the first solution we look to implement. I realize that in order to address our public safety needs, we have to ensure that our police department has the necessary resources to maintain a high level of service. The looming budget crisis makes that difficult, but we do have options. First, we can look to save money by cutting non-essential spending, increasing community policing efforts and consolidating specialized services with regional authorities. We should also apply for state and federal grants for law enforcement and provide the police chief with any additional budget authority he needs to hire less-expensive civilians to take on administrative jobs now being performed by uniformed personnel. Finally, we can increase city revenues across the board by actively encouraging economic development within the city.

If it is determined that we need to further augment our law enforcement capabilities after we've taken all these prudent steps, I'll be an active partner in the conversation about putting a public safety assessment on the ballot.

3. What role do you believe the mayor should play in Sacramento's pre-kindergarten through adult education system? Give some specifics on ways that you think the city should be engaged with its education system to help Sacramento's economy prosper.

I believe the mayor plays an important role in education and can use the visibility and influence of the office to create change and progress. As mayor, I will work with the city's school leaders to help make education a top priority in the city.