KEVIN JOHNSON: WITH KINGS RESOLVED, SACRAMENTO NOW NEEDS TO FOCUS ON SOCCER, BASEBALL, December 2013
‘Strong Mayor’ will make city more nimble, transparent, dynamic, says KJ
It’s been quite a year for Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, topped in most people’s minds by his stunning, come-from-behind effort to block the Maloof family from selling and relocating the Sacramento Kings. We sat down with him recently to discuss basketball and several other topics important to the Capital Region.
Comstock’s: Was there ever a time during the whole Kings saga, before the sale was final, that you thought it just wasn’t going to work out, that the team was gone?
Johnson: There were different phases of the journey, with the last piece being the deal with Seattle. The reason why I probably had a different reaction to that news than everyone else was I finally knew that the Maloofs were willing to sell, and I knew what the price was. And I felt at that point that we had a chance to control our own destiny. So while it was alarming, catastrophic, horrific news to most people and the price was astronomical, we knew then there was a chance. That’s when we went into overdrive.
Comstock’s: It’s interesting that what was so discouraging to so many people was for you actually encouraging.
Johnson: Yeah, because if we would have never known they were willing to sell and a price, there’s not a whole lot we could have done as a city. We’re just knocking our heads against the wall. (click here to continue reading)