Disgruntled Teacher Accuses Mayoral Candidate of Inappropriate Conduct With Students

Kevin Johnson is a local boy done good, making it as a player in the NBA and then coming home to reform Sacramento High School by turning it into a charter school. Last week he announced his intention to run for mayor of Sacramento.

Sacramento's mayoral race got uglier Friday when a former Sacramento High School teacher accused candidate Kevin Johnson of inappropriately touching a student last year – a claim that police say is unfounded.

Erik Jones, a former Sacramento High instructor, and his wife, Kris, hung a large banner outside their Oak Park home that reads "No Perverts for Mayor."

"Now that Mr. Johnson is running for mayor, I decided it was time to speak up about this," Jones said Friday.

Right.

Last year, Jones said a senior girl told him that Johnson had touched her several times and made her uncomfortable. Jones said he reported the incident to Child Protective Services and the police, and he eventually resigned from Sacramento High over the incident and took a job at another high school.

Sacramento Police Sgt. Matt Young said detectives found no wrongdoing.

This guy sounds like a disgruntled former employee with an axe to grind.

One issue facing the candidates was the possibility of personal attacks. When his (Kevin Johnson's) St. HOPE Corp. took over the struggling Sacramento High School, turning it into a charter, a core group of teachers and parents became bitter foes.

I wonder if Mr. Jones was part of this group. He sounds like a jacquesasse to me, especially the way he's handling this. I can't imagine I'd ever put up a freakin' banner on my house to protest someone's run for political office.

Now let me be clear here. I don't follow basketball. I'd never heard of Kevin Johnson before his St. HOPE organization made a bid to take over Sac High. I'm not swooning over some local celebrity who, before last week, I couldn't have identified by sight. I admire a guy who has done well and is coming back to his roots to help others. I like what his organization has done with Sac High.

Besides, he couldn't be any worse a mayor than what Sacramento has now.

The concern here is that he had an incident with a 17-yr-old girl about 13 years ago, and police said there were no grounds for prosecution. Now we have this allegation, and police have made the same determination. Does the guy have issues that are covered up by his celebrity, or is this an easy, sick line of attack?

The accusing teacher himself gives me reason to lean towards the latter.