Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Kevin Johnson, Sacramento's New Mayor


Congratulations to Sacramento's Mayor-Elect Kevin Johnson, beating out imcumbent Heather Fargo. He became the city's first African-American Mayor. I couldn't vote for him because I live outside the city limits, but he'll definitely improve the city.


The Sacramento native grew up in Oak Park, right down the street from where I go to school at. KJ was drafted by the Cleveland Cavliers and traded his rookie year to the Phoenix Suns, where he enjoyed becoming an NBA All-Star and a great career. He reached the Finals in 1993. After retiring in 1998, he came back in 2000 to replace the injured Jason Kidd for the Suns in the playoffs. He helped the team into the second round, losing to the Los Angeles Lakers.

He finished with career stats of 17.9 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 9.1 APG and 1.5 SPG. One of his many career highlights was his dunk on Hakeem Olajuwon.



After he retired again, KJ helped revitalized the neighborhood he grew up in through St. HOPE, the organization he founded. It created 14 businesses, 282 jobs, and $11 million in development, not to mention involvement with the youth of the community.

In his first interview since being elected mayor with KCRA 3 television station this morning, KJ intends to meet with the city manager, treasurer and each member of the city council. With him in office, he could work on getting the Kings a new arena at Cal Expo, which means a major revitalization of the home of the California State Fair.

KJ has a plan for his and my hometown. He wants it to become a city like Los Angeles or San Francisco. I don't know how it's going to turn out, but with what he's done with Oak Park, I'd like to see with Sacramento. I believe it's a step in the right direction.

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