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In case you missed it the other day, former Cavs and Suns player Kevin Johnson is officially going to be running for mayor of Sacramento. It had been probably the worst kept secret in Sacramento for the last few weeks, but Johnson is now in.He'll be facing three-term incumbent Heather Fargo in the municipal election in June. Just so you know, both Fargo and Johnson are Democrats.
But regardless of what Johnson went through during his NBA days, nothing can prepare you step into the political arena. It's truly vicious.
And naturally, there's going to be a lot of dirt pulled out on Johnson to prevent him from winning. The problem for Johnson is that there really is some bad dirt on him.
No, I'm not talking about him having five illegitimate kids or something. It turns out Johnson has been called a slumlord by residents of the community he grew up in. Here's a snippet from an October 15th investigative report by the Sacramento Bee.
A pungent, sickly sweet odor punctuates the breeze on 33rd Street in Oak Park. Ramon and Jennifer Nickelberry grimace as they stand in their front yard and gesture toward the vacant lot next door.
More dead things, they say.
For months, the remains of animals -- sheep and goats that neighbors suspect were dumped by someone butchering them for meat -- have turned up with gut-churning frequency on the empty weed patch.
Neglected lots attract problems, especially in lower-income areas. On the 33rd Street parcel, the animal remains molder alongside garbage, discarded construction materials and jagged bike parts as children play nearby.
"I guess somebody high-ranking, a high-up figure owns it," Jennifer Nickelberry said. "At the least, they should be keeping it maintained and cleaned up."
The "high-up figure" behind the lot is Kevin Johnson, 41, the former NBA All-Star and local philanthropist. Johnson's for-profit company, Kynship Development, also owns two rental homes nearby. One has had sewage bubbling up in the backyard and waste backing up in the washing machine, while the other is infested with mice, according to tenants and a city report.
Within a two-mile radius, a Bee investigation found, half of the 37 parcels owned by Johnson or companies and organizations he founded have been cited by the city in the past decade, some multiple times. The 73 violations at those Oak Park properties resulted in 42 fines or fees totaling at least $32,080.
What makes all of this even worse is that Johnson grew up in Oak Park. And now a majority of the residents there are saying his organization has actually been holding back progress, rather than spurring it.
By the way, if you think this will cost Johnson the election, you're probably right. I know I'd think long and hard about electing a guy who's been accused by the neighborhood he grew up in of being a slumlord.
I just hope Johnson's prepared for this. Because he's going to get hammered on this issue from now until the election. And unlike the NBA, there won't be any days off.
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