Mayor Kevin Johnson says it's time for someone else to lead the city. He will step down next year at the end of his second term.
"I leave this job humbled by the opportunity that the community has given me," he says. "I leave this position knowing there is ample leadership ahead of us to fill my shoes as I tried to fill the shoes of those who came before me."
Johnson spoke to supporters at the Underground Bookstore in Sacramento Wednesday.
About 45 minutes later at Firefighters Local 522, Angelique Ashby told supporters she is the one to fill Johnson's shoes. She is the first to officially announce a candidacy for mayor.
"I have about seven months until election day," she says.
"I want to make sure I leave ample time to talk to everybody, to work my way through this great city and not leave any community unrepresented, untalked to."
Ashby's biggest hurdle during her five years on the council has been getting levee improvement projects completed in Natomas.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency hit the area with a defacto building moratorium in 2008, three years before Ashby was elected. This March, half of the repairs had been completed to 42 miles of levees and the moratorium was lifted.
She also recently led the council's efforts to create a police commission and ethics reforms.
A former council member is also considering a run. Darrell Steinberg is a lawyer with a Sacramento law and lobbying firm Greenberg Traurig. He also served in the state assembly and senate.
"I’ve got a very proud record of achievement and delivering in a whole host of areas that matter to the city, that matter to our state – whether it’s mental health or public education or smart planning or criminal justice," Steinberg says
Steinberg says he will likely decide within a couple of days whether he will run.
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