FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 9, 2012

Contact: Chris Tapio chris.tapio@legstrategies.com, 916-444-5428

Mayors Phil Isenberg and Jimmie Yee Endorse Checks and Balances Act
Former Sacramento Mayors urge Council to Let Voters Vote on Needed Charter Change SACRAMENTOToday, former Sacramento Mayors Phil Isenberg and Jimmie Yee announced their support for the Checks and Balances Act of 2012, a new proposal to amend and modernize the City Charter. Isenberg and Yee will serve as Honorary Co-Chairs of Sacramento 2020, a diverse coalition of Sacramentans supporting placement of the Checks and Balances Act of 2012 on the June 5, 2012 ballot. I support this plan and am pleased to serve as an honorary co-chair, explained former Mayor Isenberg. The new proposal helps promote an independent city council and mayor. I urge the City Council to facilitate public discussion by placing the Checks and Balances Act on the June 2012 ballot. This is a great plan, said former Mayor Yee. I appreciate the improvements made based on community feedback, and believe strongly that voters now deserve the right to weigh in this June on this important proposal. The Checks and Balances Act is a new charter reform proposal under consideration by the City Council. Key components include transitioning the citys governance structure to the mayor-council format more common in cities of Sacramentos size and complexity, establishing higher standards for ethics and transparency for city officials, and forming a new independent redistricting commission to determine boundaries for Council districts. The plan enjoys broad support from Sacramento 2020, a diverse coalition of Sacramentans dedicated to creating more accountability, ethics and transparency in local government. The coalition recently released survey results showing strong levels of public support for the plan. The Sacramento City Council will review the plan at the Tuesday, January 17th Council Meeting and begin discussions on whether to place the Checks and Balances Act on the June ballot. Mr. Isenberg has a long history of public service, including tenures as Mayor of Sacramento from 1975 to 1982 and as a State Assembly Member from 1982 to 1996 representing Sacramento. He currently chairs the Delta Stewardship Council, a state agency. He has taught public policy development and budget and fiscal policy at CSUS, the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley, and the McGeorge School of Law. Mr. Yee is currently in his fifth year Sacramento County Supervisor. He previously served as Mayor of Sacramento from 1999 to 2000, and as a Sacramento City Council Member from 1992 to 1999. Mr. Yee is a native Sacramentan who attended local public schools prior to earning his B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley. Prior to entering public service, Mr. Yee ran one of the largest structural engineering consulting firms in the Sacramento Valley. The Checks and Balances Plan is available at www.sacramento2020.org. ###