Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson speaks at a press conference at Sacramento City Hall, Tuesday, March 30, 2010 in Sacramento, Calif. (SacPress Photo/Rob Small)
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg gave Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson advice on what makes other cities successful at a meeting in New York City.
Johnson also met with NBA Commissioner David Stern and Macy’s CEO Terry Lundgren.
“You have to be responsive to the needs of your city,” Johnson said that Bloomberg told him. “You have to not only prioritize, but you have to be able to implement, execute and actualize whatever those happen to be.”
Johnson listed public safety, education, job creation and economic development as the city’s top priorities. There are other issues that Johnson will be looking at.
“Then he said that (there are) things that aren’t your priorities that you should be thinking about,” Johnson said. “In Sacramento, we’ve been hit pretty hard by the foreclosure crisis. So, how are we as a city responding to the needs of people in Sacramento, who are losing their homes?”
When Johnson met with Lundgren, the Macy’s CEO assured that he supports his store in the Westfield Downtown Plaza mall.
“We had a frank and very straightforward conversation,” he said. “He’s very committed on the vision we have for the Downtown Plaza. I let him know that we value Macy’s and we’re committed to making sure his stores are successful.”
Johnson called the downtown mall “an embarrassment and an eyesore.” The mall recently lost an iconic landmark, the Hard Rock Café. He said that changing the mall’s format from inward-facing to outward-facing is an idea that is floating around.
When he said that he visited Stern, he had nothing new to report.
“It was really an update on the arena and the entertainment and sports complex in the railyards,” Johnson said.
He did bring some good news home about what Stern said about the city and its team the Sacramento Kings.
“He said this time and time again: that Sacramento is an attractive market to the NBA, and that is why they’re committed to being here. He is committed to the Kings being here, (and) he’s committed to doing everything that he can to make sure that we’re successful.”
Click here to watch Mayor Johnson’s press conference on TwitVid.
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