Having introduced a strong mayor charter change initiative that would allow the mayor to skip council meetings, Kevin Johnson may end up never again having to meet face to face with his fellow council members. The new mayor has moved his office from the 5th floor at city hall, which he shared with the eight other council members to the 3rd floor. Space there was freed up when the city's Planning and Development Services Departments consolidated and moved into new digs on Richards Blvd.
According to Steve Maviglio, the mayor's unpaid volunteer spokesman, Johnson's 3rd floor office has an open design "that allows for a more collaborative approach because everybody on the mayor's team can see each other." By contrast, the mayor's old 5th floor office consisted of two rooms with doors on them and two cubicles with high walls. Maviglio said no new furniture was purchased and the move didn't cost the city anything. Johnson got the idea for the move when he visited Mayor Michael Bloomberg in New York who has a similar kind of set up there which he calls the " bull pen."
As for Johnson meeting up with his fellow city council members? Maviglio says "they are just a touch of the elevator away."
