Nov-06-2009Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson Engaged
(topic overview)
CONTENTS:SOURCESFIND OUT MORE ON THIS SUBJECTDakarai I. Aarons, who reports on local school districts, business and leadership and management issues, covered education in Tennessee before joining Education Week in August 2008. District of Columbia Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee has been awfully coy for more than a year about her bi-coastal romance with Kevin Johnson, the former NBA star, charter school operator, and now, mayor of Sacramento. There was no hiding the diamond folks apparently spotted on her left hand Wednesday night at an education reform event in downtown D.C. The Washington Post's gossip columnists got on the case and got Rhee herself to confirm the engagement.
[1] WASHINGTON, D.C. - D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee and Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson are officially engaged to be married, according to the Washington Post. Rhee, 39, confirmed the news Wednesday at a Democrats for Education Reform/DC School Reform Now event in Washington after observers noticed a ring on her left hand.
[2] SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson is engaged to Washington schools chief Michelle Rhee. The Washington Post's Web site reported Rhee, 39, had a ring on her finger Thursday night at a a Democrats for Education Reform/DC School Reform Now event in Washington. "This is an exciting time in our lives and I feel truly blessed.
[3] Johnson released a statement Friday morning after the Washington Post first reported the engagement.' "This is an exciting time in our lives and I feel truly blessed.' Michelle is an amazing person and I could not be happier," Johnson said.
[4] Rhee was also featured in a 2008 Time Magazine cover story as a "new, bold-talking chancellor." Asked about the engagement, Rhee told the Washington Post she doesn't plan on leaving the D.C. area and plans on having a long engagement.
[4] Naturally, the first thing most of us wonder is if Rhee will be leaving Washington soon. KJ is only in his first term as mayor of Sacto, his hometown. He's not likely to leave his job for a move East. Rhee has just been through the
stormiest stretch of her nearly two and a half year run as chancellor, brought on mostly by her recent decision to
lay off nearly 400 district employees, more than half of them teachers. The chancellor told The Post that she's not leaving D.C. any time soon, and her steeliness and tenacity to turn around decades of failure in the city's school system seems genuine, even if you disagree with her methods. She doesn't seem like a quitter, even for true love.
[1] Johnson, 43, is a former NBA star who transitioned into politics as the founder of a charter school. Rhee served on the school's board before Johnson won his first race last year to become mayor of his home town. Rhee says she is not leaving D.C. as they're planning on a long engagement.
[2] Lisa Ling first visited Sacramento's Tent City in February while filming a segment on homelessness for The Oprah Show. Ms. Ling told Mr. Shane that she was very proud of the efforts of Mayor Johnson and Sacramento citizens. Lisa Ling, Kevin Johnson, and countless others are passionate about ending homelessness in our time and they are taking action to see that it is done. According to Ms. Ling chronic homelessness in Sacramento has been reduced 35% in the last two years. -
http://tiny.cc/LingKCRA In April of this year residents of the tent city were moved to the state fairgrounds where they received shelter and food.
[5] Thursday morning, journalist Lisa Ling, members of the City Council and the homeless and formerly-homeless community joined Mayor Kevin Johnson in launching the "Sacramento Steps Forward" initiative. A crowd of several hundred waved blue initiative flags and cheered as Johnson announced his goal "to end homelessness and focus on permanent housing." He applauded permanent housing shelters such as Mercy Housing, Turning Point and Martin Luther King Jr. Village, 3900 47th Avenue, where the launch was held.
[6] "In the last year we've housed 10 homeless families (and) we're hoping to get a dozen more housed before the holidays." Three formerly homeless people spoke about their experiences. They credited programs such as Serna Village, St. John's Shelter and Lutheran Social Services with changing their lives and giving them hope. "It was absolutely marvelous," Fernandez of Loaves and Fishes said about the city's effort. "In one year, this mayor has talked more about the issue of homelessness than any mayor ever has. He spends time with the homeless, policymakers and advocates." Although she applauded the push for transitional and permanent housing, she noted the nine-month waiting period to get into Quinn Cottages, a transitional housing shelter.
[6] According to the
2009 Homeless Count Summary Report, there are about 2,800 homeless people in Sacramento, including 711 in emergency shelters, 895 in transitional housing and 1,194 who have no shelter. After Johnson thanked Brown, Sister Libby Fernandez and Joan Burke, both of of Loaves and Fishes, he introduced Sacramento-native Ling, the host of National Geographic Explorer. Earlier this year, as a special correspondent for The Oprah Winfrey Show, she reported on Sacramento's "tent city," which brought other media outlets to the site.
[6] Johnson said the goal of Sacramento Steps Forward is to provide 2,400 "decent and affordable" permanent housing units over the next three years. That would nearly quadruple the amount of permanent housing units created in the city over the last two years.
[6] It's called "Sacramento Steps Forward," and the mayor says it focuses on permanent housing and social services. Johnson: "Homelessness impacts all of us in some shape or form, and we gotta start talking about who these people are.
[7] Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson and other local officials unveiled a new effort to combat homelessness Thursday.
[7] The mayor asked the Sacramento residents to advocate for the homeless, educate others about services needed to end homelessness, and to help find public, corporate and nonprofit funding. "The homeless do not need a handout, they need a hand up," Johnson said. "They want to be empowered."
[6] "Your mayor, so many members of the homeless advocacy community, members of the city and county rose to the occasion and decided to tackle (homelessness) head on," Ling said. "I'm so proud of the way so many members of this community have come together (and) if Sacramento is successful (housing the homeless), it could be a model for the rest of the country."
[6] Tim Brown, director of the Sacramento Ending Chronic Homelessness Initiative, said last week that federal stimulus money will house 150 people who are now in shelters, freeing up 150 shelter beds over the next few months. With an expected 419 beds, the city and county intend to provide 151 more beds this year than last year's 268 beds.
[6] County Supervisor Roger Dickinson, St. John's Shelter director, Michelle Steeb, and City Council member Rob Fong also spoke. Fong explained the Faith and Families initiative that he helped create. "We're asking the faith communities to see if they would be willing through their congregation to make a commitment for one year to help house a homeless family," he said.
[6] 
All of the people involved in actually doing something about and for the homeless are inspiring. Their dedication and willingness is starting to pay off. They are finding ways to not just feed and shelter, but to empower the homeless to resume lives of hope and promise. This is great news for the homeless, for Sacramento, and for all of us.
[5] Working on a PERMANENT solution to homelessness, here and nationwide, along with the attendant issues of poverty, is a decent thing to do. I have long advocated that, especially these days with gluts of residential and commercial space laying vacant for long periods of time (the State alone has something nearing 1 million sq ft of long term vacant office space in and around this town), such space could be used -- and paid for by conventional funding -- to provide emergency, transitional, and ultimately, permanent shelter for those who have lost everything in their lives -- their jobs, their homes, their simple human dignity.
[6] We are our brothers' and sisters' keepers, and there but for the grace of God go you or I. A nice P.R. event, complete with appearances by minor celebrity backers of this mayor, is not enough. This merely turns such efforts into a party. The proof of the puddin' will be when such parties materialize into real units of shelter -- not just 'beds' -- but four walls, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a job, for all who need it. If this mayor gives up the utter and obvious insidiousness of his SMI and some of the more ridiculous attempts to thwart community will and governance, and focuses on humanitarian efforts such as healing poverty and homelessness, and does more than throw a big photo-op about it, THEN he might garner some respect in this town. Until then, he may as well flush it all away.
[6] Johnson is chairman of a multiagency task force, part of the Policy Board to End Homelessness, that
found funding for 269 winter shelter beds last month. This came despite an 84 percent cut in county funding for homelessness and the elimination of funding for winter shelters in September.
[6] Rhee is the Chancellor of Washington DC Public Schools. "This is in exciting time in our lives and I feel truly blessed," said Johnson in a statement released Friday morning.
[8] Michelle is an amazing person and I could not be happier," a statement from Johnson said. Rhee is a graduate of Cornell University and earned her master's degree from Harvard University. She was appointed chancellor of DC public schools in June 2007.
[3] The Washington Post'reported that Rhee, 39, was seen wearing a new engagement ring while speaking at a Democrats for Education Reform/DC School Reform event on Wednesday night. In addition to advising Johnson, Rhee's expertise as a reform-minded educator was sought by both Barack Obama and John McCain during the presidential election.
[4] The Washington Post was the first to report the engagement.'' Rhee apparently showed up at an education reform event in''DC on Wednesday''with a diamond ring on her left hand.
[8] The couple have been longtime friends and political allies. To some, the news of their recent engagement comes as no surprise since the couple have been spotted at several events together. When asked about their relationship, Rhee declined to comment.
[2] The project's goal is to come up with 2,400 permanent housing options over the next three years. That number includes getting the people off the streets and into new or existing housing; and helping those at risk of losing their home keep a roof over their head.
[7] Homeless need somewhere to go in the meantime, Fernandez said. "It takes too long for the next step. (Creating a)
'safe ground' is just an added piece to get to the final goal, which is permanent housing."
[6] FOX40 has spoken to Mayor Johnson's Office and received conformation of the engagement. Mayor Johnson released the following statement just before nine o'clock Friday morning: "This is an exciting time in our lives and I feel truly blessed.
[9] Lesli A. Maxwell, who reports on urban education, school district policy, and leadership and management issues, covered state government and higher education in California for 10 years before joining Education Week in January 2006.
[1] SOURCES1.
District Dossier: Wedding Bells for Michelle Rhee and Kevin Johnson2.
Source: D.C. Chancellor Michelle Rhee Gets Engaged | NewsChannel 83.
Johnson Engaged To DC Schools Chief - Most Popular News Story - KCRA Sacramento4.
Kevin Johnson Is Engaged to Educator Michelle Rhee | News10.net | Sacramento, California | News5.
Lisa Ling expresses pride in Sacramento's dedication to helping the homeless (see video)6.
Sacramento Press / Sacramento Steps Forward initiative announced7.
CPR: Feature News Story | New Sacramento Homeless Initiative Launched8.
Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson Gets Engaged - cbs13.com9.
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