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by Rev Ashiya Odeye

Scholastic Kid Reporter Abi Robinson and NBA great Kevin Johnson. (Photo: Courtesy ABi Robinson)

When Kevin Johnson first anounced that he might be considering runing for Mayor of Sacramento I wondered if he was really serious. With all the skeletons in his closet, I wondered if he could stand the scrutiny that he would get.

As an Oak Park Neighborhood Association member, I new that many people are very unhappy about how he got control of the Sac High campus for his St. Hope charter school , just to start with. The loss of two great school programs to the community because he didn't want them on campus and the use of the Sac High name still is a raw spot with many in this community. Not to mention the fact that a 2000 plus student enrollment with many local students and community input has been dwindled down to less than 1000 students very few coming from the local community. In fact it is almost impossible for local students to attend the academy because of St. Hope's enrollment policies. Along with accusations of declining educational standards, poor teaching, and a climate of elitism, many Oak Park residents and parents are still livid with anger over the illegal closing of the original Sac High so that Kevin could open his St. Hope academy.

Now amid reacuring accusations of inapropriate conduct with a young girl, and the "investigation" by his cronies of the latest allegations leading to vindication of Kevin, there is now more concern about his integrity. JRC member and major critic of Johnson, Linda Roberts, expresses the concern and attitude of many Oak Park residents. She says;

"Kevin Johnson is an evil, dishonest person who would seriously damage this city.

Heather has her good and bad points, but I wouldn't mind helping her expose this horrible man.

I am on the board of Oak Park United against Slumlords.  They don't have 527 status so I don't think that they can endorse anyone for mayor.  I will talk to the other members about how they feel about public discussions of the Kevin problems. 

I certainly have no trouble speaking in public about the following things about Kevin."

1.  He hasn't lived in Oak Park in decades.  We understand that his family members all live in Curtis Park also.  Many of the activists in Oak Park resent how outsiders get money in our community's name.  I have never met him and have only laid eyes on him three times.  He was absolutely not involved in getting Food Source into Oak Park.  The Oak Park Neighborhood Improvement Association and Joe Serna were involved.

2.  Read the article about what happened in Arizona.  He denies molesting that teen age girl whom he was mentoring.  However,  he admits lying in bed with her partly clothed.  At least two of us from Oak Park with daughters find it grossly inappropriate that such a man is given schools.

3.  He is not a developer.  There were business on Broadway before he took up most of the land.  There was a Fiji-American coffee house on the north side of Broadway that he drove out of business.  There was a coffee house, a avant guarde theatre, a travel business and a grocery store where the 40 acres project is.  It was not always a vacant building.  SHRA paid for the land and the mortgage of the old owner.  TAX DOLLARS!!!  Kevin doesn't do anything with his own money.

4. Kevin used Rex Moore, the anti-union contractor to renovate this building.  There is no excuse for contracts with this exploitive business.

5.  There was not a movement by the community, the parents, and the teachers to turn Sac High into a charter.  This is why the school district had to violate the law to do this.  They illegally closed the public school and gave it immediately to St Hope.  This illegal action is why the judge is requiring the district to replace the public school.  During school board hearings, the St Hope supporters act like thugs.  Some of them threaten community members, block doors, and I have been followed home from meetings.

6.  Kevin runs Sac Charter anti-union.  Read his letter to the Bee during the initial struggle, it is an anti-union rant.  His yearly fundraisers are at the Hyatt.  We picket this each year.  Heather is not perfect on union issues.  She has allowed Rex Moore to be used and has been too supportive of Kevin.  But, she has never been an anti-union thug.

7. He illegally uses the Sacramento High School name.  The district has admonished him several times.  He claims the old alumni and they really resent this.

8.  He has never been part of the civil rights movement.  I moved here from West Sacramento in 1974.  I have worked with the Civil Rights Network, the NAACP, the Urban League, the Zapatistas, CAUIL, the Justice Reform Coalition, prison reform groups, etc. since the 1970s.  I, and no one that I have spoken to, ever remembers him being at such a meeting.  I was on the committee that got the MLK holiday to begin with.  I have never seen him at a march.

9.  My gay activist friends consider him to be anti-gay.  Heather has a really close/ supportive relationship with the gay community.

10.  He has ties to the Metro Chamber of Commerce.  I resent their attempts to run our school district and City.  I think that their positions often don't benefit small businesses like mine.

11.  His schools mostly have kids from out of the neighborhood and out of the district.  Local kids suffer as a result.  He has not "added an educational choice to the neighborhood".  He took our public high school, MESL and VAPAC away.  Local poor kids have trouble traveling out of the neighborhood because their families often don't have cars.  His schools are terrible for English learners.  He dumps kids with poor grades back into public schools.  Such kids are often credit deficient.  While he has many Black kids in his schools, only a few tokens are local poor kids.  Many are the kids of the already well off. Examples are Liza Serna's kids.  They would go to college anyway and live in Natomas.

12.  He spends money on illegal banners, on billboards, on PR hacks, on bringing kids to school board meetings in limousines.  These are dollars not spent on education.

13.  He does not consult with local folks before he does things.  He did not contact local educational activists, for example the mother's group (which Pat Dansby led and I was a member of) that got the elementary school on MLK.

Oak Park is constantly told by his folks that what he plans for Broadway are "confidential" and that renting out certain places instead of leaving them vacant "doesn't pencil out".  I found out that he was bringing the anti-union Tesco store to Oak Park because I am in Organic Sacramento.

14.  His supporters on the Oak Park Neighborhood Association Board engage in illegal activity and refuse to be forthcoming on their use of funds.

15.  He illegally uses schools to support his political agenda.  Kids are encouraged at school by teachers to do political work for designated school board members.  The yard signs you see around are the work of high school kids pushing them on neighbors. His pet professor at Mc George illegally used the law students' mail boxes to endorse Kevin.  He recently had a professor set up a meeting for him at City College that the other candidates were not invited to.

16.  He uses high school kids to clean up after slum lords like himself and then takes credit for their community work.

17.  He let his buildings rot, his grass grow several feet high and his vacant buildings become hang outs for drug users.  It took years of nagging over and over to get him to take care of his numerous properties like a grown up would.  We are astounded that any city council person would endorse him after being present when Ron showed pictures of the blight he owns in Oak Park.  How many dollars did the City spend to baby sit this spoiled brat?  How many times did Weed Abatement have to write him?  How many hours did Sgt. Susan Feenstra have to meet with him?  Her time could have been much better spent.  How dare he run for office after doing the right thing at the last minute?

18.  He has a rock star life style.  At his rare appearance at the Oak Park Neighborhood Association, he had a lackey get a bottle of water for him that was just a few feet away.  He stated that he was surprised the media was there.  I asked them, Kevin invited them.

19.  I have gone to the Central Labor Council to complain about him bringing Tesco to Oak Park using tax dollars.  It will be non-union, pay below the living wage, and use those awful self check out booths.  Get on Google.

Find all of those web pages of little cities who are trying to get rid of Tesco or to prevent it.

20.  One of my Black friend's daughters went to Sac Charter and had to fight them tooth and nail for help getting into college.  She got into college despite them.  Another poor white friend yanked her child out of that school when it became obvious that the girl wasn't learning anything and was being given As.  Another Black mother complained about the mostly white teaching staff and the 8th grade work in high school.  She felt that her son never would have made it to college without foundation of the school she sent him to before Sac Charter.  Look at the staff turn over.  Talk to former teachers.

21.  Some of my neighbors want Kevin to become mayor because they think that it will get him to stop messing with Oak Park."

On Tuesday Kevin urged people to forget about the scandals and concentrate on the issues. Well kevin, the question of your integrity is an issue to the people. He may have added more fuel to the fire by not appearing for a mayoral candidate forum held at the May Oak Park Neighborhood Association meeting two days later. Many asked where was Kevin. Once again he snubs the community he's supposed to be so concerned about. And he wants us to forget...I don't think so!!!