Kevin Johnson, Gay Rights Activist: Candidate for First Ward Council

ATTENTION ALL CITY WORKERS!! KEVIN JOHNSON WANTS TO CHANGE YOUR PERSONNEL POLICIES!! Last Wednesday there were TWO press conferences held at the Laborers Local 83 Union Hall. Only one was mentioned in the Portsmouth Times or on WSAZ. Jane Murray's portion was ridiculously short--less than ten minutes. (She invited poor Mr. Yohe to come all the way from Huntington to cover it.) Then, Kevin Johnson, Candidate for First Ward City Council had his turn. He spoke for a few minutes to explain his priorites for the City. His speech begins at about the 9:30 mark in the following video. What are Mr. Johnson's priorities for the City? Improved streets and water lines? Sewers on Grandview? Lowering taxes? Downtown revitalization? No. Johnson's no. 1 priority is changing the City's personnel policies. When on City Council he plans to form a "Personnel Policy Sub-Committee." He wants to change the City Charter and City administration, too, to bring us poor, dumb Appalachians "into the 21 st Century:"

"Those of you who work in the City, and I hope there are some here, try to find personnel policies. It's almost impossible."

Huh??? What are you smoking Mr. Johnson? Our AFSCME friends have told us that Personnel Policies are given to EVERY new employee when they come to work for the City and that copies are available from the Unions and from the Mayor's office upon request. Did you even ask for a copy, Mr. Johnson? Or did you just make up this ridiculous lie as a pretense? After reading our previous articles about your history in San Francisco, several City employees want to know, what you want to change about the City's personnel policies and City Charter? Because, as you said:

"We have a LOT of changes to make."

Kevin Johnson, "Gay Rights Activist" (San Francisco Chronicle)

As reported only here, last week, and in the San Francisco Chronicle in 2002, Mr. Johnson is a gay rights activist (their words and his, not ours.) who moved to Portsmouth where he intends to continue his political agenda. The Chroncile reported on 3/16/02, "Every act, even something seemingly so innocuous as a late-afternoon coffee chat, must have political and social ramifications. Johnson is an activist, so he can't help it."http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/03/16/MN190632.DTL

The article also says that Kevin Johnson's biggest political claim to fame in the San Francisco area was the passage of same-sex marriage benefits in Concord California, a "conservative" Bay Area city. The reporter asked Johnson what his plans were for the Portsmouth community, and concluded:

Doubtless, [Kevin Johnson] won't stay quiet for long in Portsmouth, Ohio."I've already got a list of 700 names back there, people with political issues to call," he says, letting loose another raspy belly laugh. "Gawd, I love it!"

Johnson lived in Portsmouth just long enough to meet the 5-year residency requirement when he began his pursuit of the First Ward Council Seat. The first thing he mentions to City workers is that he wants to change their personnel policies. Well, Portsmouth City workers can put one and one together, Mr. Johnson. And they don't liked what it adds up to.

City workers say their "stone-age" personnel policies are just fine the way they are, even if they don't match up to San Francisco standards.