Cosmo Garvin's Parting Shot at Kevin Johnson

KJ, Inc.
http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/k-j-inc/content?oid=7177019
Cosmo Garvin's last article for the Sacramento News and Review is an excellent piece of investigative journalism on how Kevin Johnson is funneling private dollars into quasi-public endeavors including his astro-turf education group Stand Up Sacramento. Along with that he is also using public dollars and city office space in a self-agrandizing effort to enlarge his staff and extend his political reach.
 
None of the non-profits discussed in the article have produced any tangiblebenefits for the city of Sacramento, but those who work for them receive nice paychecks. (If it's in the public record who gets paid what). The city of Sacramento is paying the tab for the interns and fellows working for these non-profits on "policy initiatives."  While it might be legal, it's certainly not ethical.
 
As noted in the article some of his friends on the payroll of these organizations have been with him since he was an NBA player in Phoenix and have been affiliated with St. HOPE charter schools. It's not about the kids, it's about the money.

In a follow up to Cosmo Garvin's article---the executive director of Satand Up Sacramento, Dana Gonzales, (now Peterson) was personally cited with Mayor Johnson for the misappropriation of Americorps funds and was also banned from receiving federal dollars through grants or programs. Along with Kevin Johnson, she had to make personal restitution in the deal worked out for the mayor so that Sacramento could federal receive funds from the American Recovery Act.  No longer working in Sacramento on various big deal education ideas with Johnson, Peterson is now in Minnesota working for Michelle Rhee, Johnson's wife.