Kevin Johnson, ex-Phoenix Suns player, is running for Mayor. Johnson has spent the years after his retire from basketball working on developing the low-economy Sacramento neighborhood that he grew up in.

I don’t believe this is the same case as the Schwarzenegger thing since he has invested so much time and money on developing the community. But I do believe he will get more votes than his opponent, Heather Fargo, “who has governed the capital city as it has slid into a deep real estate slump.”

“We need a change in the city and I believe we need a change now,” Johnson said. “As I went out the last month and talked to people around the city, folks have said to me they believe city government is nonresponsive, tired, uninspired and bureaucratic. They want something different in Sacramento. (They’re) clamoring for change.”

The former Phoenix guard’s nonprofit community development corporation, St. HOPE, transformed the failing Sacramento High School into a successful charter school.

St. HOPE also developed the 40 Acres Art Gallery and Cultural Center, with a book store, lofts and Starbucks, in the commercial heart of Oak Park.

But, he does have his faults. Don’t let his success turn you into a glaze-eyed zombie who runs out and votes for him immediately. Apparently Johnson failed to keep up other run-down properties he bought with an eye toward redeveloping them.

Johnson was forced to issue a public apology after The Sacramento Bee ran a story that said half his group’s 37 Oak Park properties had been cited for code violations over a 10-year period. Vacant lots had been left fallow and had become filled with garbage.

Johnson has since moved to clean up the properties and said he would press ahead with his redevelopment plans by bringing a Fresh & Easy market to a key Oak Park intersection.

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