LIANE HANSEN, Host:
Basketball fans will remember Kevin Johnson as the former all-star point guard for the Phoenix Suns. But that's not why we're about to talk to him. In November, Kevin Johnson was elected mayor of his hometown - Sacramento, California. He is here in Washington this weekend for the annual meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, and he joins us by phone. Mayor Johnson, thank you for taking timeout.
KEVIN JOHNSON: Thank you, Liane. My pleasure.
HANSEN: After you retired from the NBA, you established a community development organization that got a lot of praise. But this is your first time as an elected official, has it been difficult to adjust from the non-profit sector to the public one?
JOHNSON: It's been very, very different, to say the least. When you're in the non-profit sector world, everybody loves everything you do. And you're happy that you're part of a do-gooder organization trying to improve your community. And once you become an elected official, politics is fair game. And playing in the NBA for 12 years, I thought basketball was a dirty sport, but politics, a whole another level. It's as dirty as it gets.
HANSEN: Well, you prevailed. You were elected, and now, you have to face a $50 million deficit in your city. And that's a lot for anybody to handle, especially someone, you know, who's in his first term. Do you have a plan?
JOHNSON: First thing we want to do is control spending. Unfortunately, our expenditures had exceeded our revenue so we're not going to let that happen going forward. Secondly, we're going to make sure that we consistently have a balanced budget. Number three, we're going to put more money away in our reserve. And then lastly, we've got to expand economic development opportunities. We've got to increase and expand our tax revenue base, and that will give us an opportunity to make sure we preserve our services and our programs and are not laying off people, especially in this very challenged market.
HANSEN: I imagine budget deficits are a hot topic at the conference. Is there any city that has a fiscal policy you'd like to emulate?
JOHNSON: Yeah, there's a lot mayors doing great things around the country. And the mayor of Fresno, they have a great system in terms of their budget. They have a balanced budget. They actually have a surplus, which is very difficult to have during these trying, economic times. They're putting more police officers on the street, more firemen on the street. I believe if we align the resources we do have with the priorities of our community, which are public safety, education and certainly economic development opportunities, meaning jobs in particular, we'll get through it.
HANSEN: You're in a state, California, that as a whole is in trouble. The state is expecting a $40 billion deficit through next year. You know that - I mean, you know this, there's thousands of civil servants in Sacramento. So what happens, I mean, if the state turns to layoffs?
JOHNSON: It's very difficult. The state just announced that they're going to be doing furloughs and Sacramento is a government employee town. A lot of our employee base works for the state of California. And when we're talking about laying people off, it impacts us in a very, very significant way. So, I am one, as well as other mayors around the state of California, that are sending letters to the governor and to the pro tem and the speaker of the house to make sure that we can get this budget resolved sooner than later.
HANSEN: Now, that the conference is going on this weekend. You know, there's a big day coming up on Tuesday. Are you staying in town for the inauguration?
JOHNSON: Oh, absolutely. I wouldn't miss it for the world. I'm out here for the National Conference of Mayors, but we'll balance some meeting and some work time with a little fun.
HANSEN: Former NBA star Kevin Johnson is the newly elected mayor of Sacramento, California. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and enjoy yourself and good luck during this time.
JOHNSON: Thank you very much, Liane.