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Sacramento City Council set to decide on 'strong mayor' proposal to voters

A "strong mayor" is a chief executive who makes day-to-day decisions with the right to veto actions of the council.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Sacramento City Council is expected to discuss potential changes to the mayor's office at Tuesday’s meeting.

The City Council will specifically debate the “strong mayor” proposal, which dictates how much power the mayor has and whether there should be a limit on how many times a person can run.

The “strong mayor” form of government is one of the two most common forms of local government in the country.  A "strong mayor" is a chief executive who makes day-to-day decisions with the right to veto actions of the City Council.

According to Sacramento Mayor Darrel Steinberg, in Sacramento’s current “weak mayor” system, his title is “ceremonial.” 

“The truth is the mayor is just one vote on the Sacramento City Council,” he said.

Steinberg tells ABC10 he believes his ability to respond to the city’s demands is limited. 

“It takes forever to get a single project built,” he said.

That’s the reason he believes the city council should allow Sacramentans to vote to change the city and give the mayor more power to “include more executive functions, like increased power over the city manager.”

However, before voters can also choose their fate, Sacramento's city council first has to vote to put it on the November ballot, Steinberg’s spokesperson Mary Lynne Vellinga said. 

If voters approve it, Sacramento mayors would be limited to serving two terms, meaning Steinberg's term would end in 2024, Vellinga said. Currently, the mayor does not have term limits.

The measure would also add a "sunset provision," meaning voters would reconsider it in 2030. 

The mayor's office says the proposal would still allow the mayor to fire the city manager but would allow the council to take a two-thirds vote to override that decision.

“It’s what the city, it’s what people in disadvantaged neighborhoods need,” Steinberg said. “While we get things done, frankly it takes longer than it should to get things done that really matter to the people, and I think homelessness is probably the best example.”.

The proposal is getting a lot of community support, but some say it would take power away from the council.  A group of community activists is presenting the city with a counter-proposal. As of Tuesday morning, about 300 people have signed a letter asking the city council to place the “strong mayor” measure on the ballot as a separate item from the equity and transparency proposals. 

According to Steinberg, activists are also asking for the measure to keep the mayor as a voting member of the council, “which would remove needing a ninth member to be added in 2022, and to remove the mayor’s veto power,” he said.

The amended proposal, introduced by activists, would still combine the items and does not remove veto power, which the council would be able to override with a two-thirds vote.

Steinberg says at least four council members are open to approving it. 

“I expect to have a decision by Tuesday and I expect it to be approved,” he said.

If the measure goes on the ballot, and voters approve it in November, it would go into effect on January 1, 2021.

The Sacramento City Council will meet at 5 p.m. Tuesday. The deadline to place measures on the November 3 ballot is August 7.

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