Editing Heather Fargo

{{Short description|American politician (born 1952)}}
{{BLP sources|date=January 2010}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name=Heather Fargo
| image        = Heather Fargo (1).jpg
| order        = 54th
| office       = Mayor of Sacramento
| term_start   = November 2000
| term_end     = December 2008
| predecessor  = [[Jimmie R. Yee]]
| successor    = [[Kevin Johnson (basketball)|Kevin Johnson]]
| office2      = Member of the [[Sacramento City Council]]<br>from the 1st district
| predecessor2 = David Shore
| successor2   = Ray Tretheway
| termstart2   = 1989
| termend2     = 2000
| birth_date   = {{birth date and age|mf=yes|1952|12|12}}
| birth_place  = [[Oakland, California]], U.S.
| party        = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
| education   = [[University of California, Davis]] ([[Bachelor of Science|BS]])
| signature    =
| footnotes    =
| spouse       = 
}}

'''Heather Fargo''' (born December 12, 1952) is an American politician who served as [[Mayor of Sacramento, California|mayor]] and was a former [[Sacramento City Council|City Council Member]] of [[Sacramento, California]]. She was sworn in as mayor in November 2000, replacing [[Jimmie R. Yee]], and served until December 2008, when she was defeated for reelection by [[Kevin Johnson (basketball)|Kevin Johnson]].

==Early life and education==
Born in [[Oakland, California]], Fargo grew up in [[Santa Maria, California|Santa Maria]] and graduated from [[Stagg High School (Stockton, California)|Stagg High School]]. She received a [[Bachelor of Science]] degree in environmental planning and management from the [[University of California, Davis]] in 1975. In 1981, Fargo earned a Certificate of Completion from the Revenue Sources Management School in [[Boulder, Colorado]]. She also completed the State and Local Government Executive Program at the [[John F. Kennedy School of Government]] at [[Harvard University]] in 1991.

==Career==
Fargo was first elected to the [[Sacramento City Council]] in 1989 to a five-year term as Sacramento was transitioning to even year citywide elections. Fargo represented District One which includes [[Downtown Sacramento|Downtown]] and [[Natomas]]. In the September primary, she came in second place to businesswoman Kate Karpilow but beat future City Councilman Ray Tretheway who came in third place and incumbent David Shore who came in fourth place. However, Fargo came back to beat Karpilow in November.

Upon Grantland Johnson's resignation from the [[Sacramento County Board of Supervisors]] in 1994, Fargo decided to run for the Board. In that election, she faced attorney and community activist [[Roger Dickinson]]. In a closely fought election, Dickinson narrowly beat Fargo. After that loss she was re-elected in 1994 and 1998. While serving on the city council, (prior to becoming Mayor full-time), she was employed as a manager of the California State Parks Volunteer Program.

=== 2000 mayoral campaign ===
{{see also|2004 Sacramento mayoral election}}

Upon the sudden death in November 1999 of Mayor [[Joe Serna, Jr.]], Land Park City Councilman Jimmie Yee became the acting mayor. Several candidates announced their intentions to run. Other than Fargo, three other council members were also seeking the mayorship. North Sacramento City Councilman Rob Kerth who represented an area immediately adjacent to Fargo's also decided to run. In addition, [[Sacramento City Council#Steve Cohn|Steve Cohn]], the city councilman for [[East Sacramento, Sacramento, California|East Sacramento]] ran along with [[Sacramento City Council#Robbie Waters|Robbie Waters]] who represents the Pocket and Greenhaven areas decided to run along with several lesser known candidates that included businessman and attorney Joe Genshlea and community activist Julie Padilla. Fargo, who won 22% of the vote in the primary and Kerth who won 20% of the vote made it into the November runoff, where Fargo was elected with just 53% of the vote. In winning, Fargo became the second elected mayor of Sacramento, and the first mayor from north of the American River
.<ref>David Goldfield, ''Encyclopedia of American Cities'', v.1. Thousand Oaks: Sage, 2007, p. 881. 9780761928843</ref>

=== 2004 mayoral campaign ===
{{see also|2004 Sacramento mayoral election}}
Fargo did not face as stiff competition in her 2004 re-election. Her main opponent was Ross W. Relles, Jr., a businessman. Other candidates were Deputy Attorney General Mark Soble and Lorenzo Patino Law School President Leonard Padilla. Virtually unopposed against candidates far less funded, Fargo won solidly in the primary election, thus no runoff was necessary.

=== 2008 mayoral campaign ===
{{see also|2008 Sacramento mayoral election}}
The primary election for mayor took place on June 3, 2008. Fargo received 39% of the vote, while former [[NBA]] star and Sacramento native [[Kevin Johnson (basketball)|Kevin Johnson]] received 46% of the vote.<ref>{{cite news |author = Mary Lynne Vellinga |title = Johnson leads mayor's race |work = [[Sacramento Bee]] |date= 2008-06-04 |url = http://www.sacbee.com/734/story/987573.html |access-date = 2008-06-04 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080607021617/http://www.sacbee.com/734/story/987573.html <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 2008-06-07}}</ref> Since neither received a majority of the votes, a run off election was scheduled for November 2008, where she was defeated by a margin of 58% to 42%.

During the primary election campaign, Fargo initially claimed that she had the support of all the city councilmembers. Yet, Councilman Robbie Waters, Steve Cohn, and Sandra Sheedy all ended up endorsing Johnson during the primary.<ref>{{cite web |title=Additional Endorsements for Kevin Johnson |url=http://www.smartvoter.org/2008/11/04/ca/sac/vote/johnson_k/endorse.html |website=www.smartvoter.org |access-date=20 April 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The hunger - Bites - Opinions - October 16, 2008 |url=https://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/hunger/content?oid=870903 |website=Sacramento News & Review |date = 14 October 2008|access-date=20 April 2020}}</ref> On September 4, 2008, only Councilman Kevin McCarty endorsed Heather Fargo.<ref>[http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/1210240.html SacBee - McCarty endorsing Fargo for Sacramento mayor] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080908034816/http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/1210240.html |date=2008-09-08 }}</ref>

==Political positions==

===Environment===
Fargo was a founding member and the first secretary of the Sacramento Tree Foundation, which is considered an important voice in Sacramento's environmental community. <ref>{{cite journal |last=Braxton Little |first=Jane |date=Spring 2008 |title=Tree Advocate in Action: Heather Fargo, Mayor of Sacramento  |url=https://californiareleaf.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/CTSpring08.pdf |journal=California Trees |volume=17 |issue=2 |publisher=California ReLeaf |pages=4-5 |access-date=9 March 2025 }}</ref>

===Gun control===
During her tenure Mayor Fargo became a member of the [[Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition]],<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.mayorsagainstillegalguns.org/html/about/members.shtml| title=Mayors Against Illegal Guns: Coalition Members| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070702003200/http://www.mayorsagainstillegalguns.org/html/about/members.shtml| archive-date=2007-07-02}}</ref> an organization formed in 2006 and co-chaired by [[New York City]] mayor [[Michael Bloomberg]] and [[Boston]] mayor [[Thomas Menino]].

=== Women's rights ===
Fargo is a long term advocate for women in politics. After she left office Fargo has continued to encourage women to run for office.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Sacramento Voter: League of Women Voters|url=https://my.lwv.org/sites/default/files/leagues/wysiwyg/%5Bcurrent-user%3Aog-user-node%3A1%3Atitle%5D/may-18-voter.pdf}}</ref> Fargo is also active in promoting awareness about the history of women's suffrage.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Women Power at the River Cats {{!}} Community|url=https://www.sacramento365.com/event/women-power-at-the-river-cats/|access-date=2020-10-10|website=Sacramento365|language=en-US}}</ref>

==Mayoral tenure==
Mayor Fargo's tenure as mayor included disagreements with the Maloof family, owners of the NBA's Sacramento Kings, over the building of a new arena.

In 2006, 2007, and 2008, Mayor Fargo was named "Best Local Elected Official" by the readers of ''[[Sacramento Magazine]]'' in their annual poll.<ref>[http://www.sacmag.com/media/Sacramento-Magazine/Best-of-Sacramento/ Best of Sacramento - Sacramento, California<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080429203259/http://sacmag.com/media/Sacramento-Magazine/Best-of-Sacramento/ |date=2008-04-29 }}</ref>

==Electoral history==

===2000 primary election for mayor of Sacramento===
{| class="wikitable"
! Name !! Percentage of the Vote
|-
| Heather Fargo || 21.76%
|-
| Rob Kerth || 20.19%
|-
| Robbie Waters || 18.23%
|-
| Joe Genshlea || 14.68%
|-
| Julie Padilla|| 11.68%
|-
| [[Sacramento City Council#Steve Cohn|Steve Cohn]] || 9.08%
|}

===2000 general election for mayor of Sacramento===
{| class="wikitable"
! Name !! Percentage of the Vote
|-
| Heather Fargo || 54.07%
|-
| Rob Kerth || 45.93%
|}

=== 2004 primary election for mayor of Sacramento ===
{| class="wikitable"
! Name !! Percentage of the Vote
|-
| Heather Fargo || 59.77%
|-
| Ross W. Relles, Jr. || 20.91%
|-
| Mark Soble || 11.54%
|-
| Leonard Padilla || 7.78%
|}

Because Fargo received a majority of the votes in the primary election, no general election was necessary.

=== 2008 primary election for mayor of Sacramento ===
{| class="wikitable"
! Name !! Percentage of the Vote
|-
| Kevin Johnson || 46.58%
|-
| Heather Fargo || 39.65%
|-
| Leonard Padilla || 5.83%
|-
| Shawn D. Eldredge || 3.44%
|-
| Muriel Strand || 2.79%
|}
Johnson and Fargo proceeded to a runoff election on November 5.

===2008 general election for mayor of Sacramento===
{| class="wikitable"
! Name !! Percentage of the Vote
|-
| Kevin Johnson || 54%
|-
| Heather Fargo || 46%
|}

Precincts Reporting - 215 out of 391

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{S-start}}
{{S-off}}
{{s-bef|before = [[David Shore (politician)|David Shore]]}} 
{{s-ttl|title = Councilmember, [[Sacramento City Council]], District 1|years = 1989&ndash;2000}} 
{{s-aft|after = Ray Tretheway}}
{{s-bef|before = [[Jimmie R. Yee]]}} 
{{s-ttl|title = [[List of mayors of Sacramento|Mayor of Sacramento, California]]|years = 2000&ndash;2008}} 
{{s-aft|after = [[Kevin Johnson (basketball)|Kevin Johnson]]}}
{{S-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fargo, Heather}}
[[Category:1952 births]]
[[Category:20th-century American women politicians]]
[[Category:20th-century mayors of places in California]]
[[Category:21st-century American women politicians]]
[[Category:21st-century mayors of places in California]]
[[Category:Candidates in the 1994 United States elections]]
[[Category:Democratic Party mayors in California]]
[[Category:Harvard Kennedy School alumni]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Mayors of Sacramento, California]]
[[Category:Politicians from Oakland, California]]
[[Category:Sacramento City Council members]]
[[Category:Stagg High School (Stockton, California) alumni]]
[[Category:University of California, Davis alumni]]
[[Category:Women city councillors in California]]
[[Category:Women mayors of places in California]]