SACRAMENTO (AP) — Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson was sworn in Wednesday as the new leader of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, a platform that raises the national political profile of the NBA All-Star.Johnson rises to fill a vacancy left by Scott Smith of Mesa, Ariz., who resigned to run for governor of that state. In a Sacramento luncheon honoring his appointment, Johnson praised city leaders as the ones who find solutions and blasted politics in the nation’s capital.“We don’t want to wait on Washington to solve our problems,” he said. “We don’t have time to deal with bickering that goes back and forth between Democrats and Republicans.”The Democrat, first elected in 2008, said he would promote a “pro-growth agenda” as the nation’s biggest advocate for local government.