Local Government

Nov. 15 election update: Hansen extends lead to 160 votes

2012-11-15T23:17:58Z

Steve Hansen extended his lead in the Sacramento City Council District 4 race with the latest vote count Thursday, now leading Joe Yee by 160 votes. On Tuesday, Hansen led by 108 votes.

Hansen now has 10,715 votes to Yee's 10,555.

According to Brad Buyse, campaign manager for Sacramento County elections, there are still approximately 7,800 vote-by-mail ballots to be counted, and work hasn't even begun on counting and verifying the provisional ballots, of which there are about 31,000.

That work will begin Wednesday and continue on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

"We've never had so many provisionals turned in at the polls," he said. "We normally get about 5,000 to 7,000. This is just a long, painstaking process that needs to be done step-by-step, and the provisionals are always counted last."

The ballot numbers are county-wide, and he said there is no way to know how many are from District 4.

It’s undetermined when the final vote tally will be finished, and the county has 28 days from the date of the election to produce a winner. Updates are expected to come every other business day from now until the final vote is tallied.

In the District 2 race, Rob Kerth currently leads Allen Warren by 155 votes - a 45-vote drop over the previous count released on Tuesday.

Latest update: Hansen now leads Yee by 108 votes

2012-11-13T23:09:14Z

Steve Hansen now leads Joe Yee by 108 votes in the District 4 City Council race.

On Friday's update, Yee had a 46-vote lead, taking away Hansen's earlier lead. Updates can be expected every other business day until the final count is tallied.

It’s undetermined when the final vote tally will be finished, and the county has 28 days from the date of the election to produce a winner.

"There are still thousands of ballots left to count," Yee said. "I am going to be patient and let the County continue to count. I look forward to the next update on Thursday."

Hansen expressed a similar sentiment in a message to his supporters posted on his web page.

"There are still many votes left to be counted in our race, so please do not read too much into these ups or downs," he said.

The race won't be known for a while, with updates expected to come every other business day from now until the final vote is tallied.

The registrar of voters has 28 days from the date of the election to certify the results.

In the District 2 race, Rob Kerth currently leads Allen Warren by 200 votes.

Election update: Yee leads Hansen by 46 votes in District 4 race

2012-11-09T23:14:01Z

Joe Yee leads Steve Hansen by 46 votes for the District 4 City Council seat after the latest ballot count update released Friday afternoon.

It’s undetermined when the final vote tally will be finished, and the county has 28 days from the date of the election to produce a winner.

"Today's update is good news, however there is still about 130,000 ballots to count, countywide," Yee said. "I'm hopeful, but there are still a few weeks to go before this election is certified."

Most of the 130,000 ballots Yee referenced will not be from District 4 voters, but outstanding District 4 votes could change the close race.

"This is a small swing, and it's important not to read read much into the ups and downs," Hansen said. "Let's stay focused on the end goal of ensuring every vote is counted in a fair and transparent manner."

Election night proved inconclusive for the two candidates as Yee led in early returns, but only by a slim margin. At one point, Yee led by a mere six votes before Hansen took the lead with the last update to come in early Wednesday morning.

For the past two days, the figures had shown Hansen leading by 28 votes.

The winner of the race will represent downtown, Midtown, Land Park and a few areas north of the rivers, including Willowcreek.

In the District 2 City Council Race, Rob Kerth extended his lead over Allen Warren, taking a lead of 215 votes.

Another update will come Tuesday, and additional updates will come every other business day after that.

First step in bike share program OK'd by local officials

2012-10-25T23:45:03Z

A regional bicycle share program is one step closer to reality after local officials agreed to spend $30,000 on a feasibility study that will conclude in June or July.

Public bicycle share programs are popular in cities such as Montreal, Paris, Denver and Washington, D.C., where riders pay a minimal fee to borrow a bicycle parked at one of numerous kiosks.

A similar program was floated in Sacramento last year by the Midtown Business Association, which determined that it could not support the program.

"It's evident it's time for us to be thinking about this seriously in Sacramento," said Larry Greene, executive director of the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District, which will foot $20,000 of the bill for the study.

An additional $10,000 comes from Amtrak as part of the Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority.

The program is popular in other cities, where bicycle rental is often free for the first 30 minutes, and riders can make short trips with no cost, dropping the bicycles off at any available kiosk spot.

Last year’s MBA program – called Ride Your Own Way – was a six-month pilot that included 12 bicycles divided among two kiosks, one at 16th and I streets and the other at 28th and J streets.

Vandalism and theft plagued the program for its duration, and riders had to return bicycles to the kiosk at which they were rented.

The new study, agreed to Thursday morning, will look at the possibility of running a regional bicycle-sharing program.

“It would be wonderful if we had a bike-share program where somebody could be a member here in Sacramento and get off the Capitol Corridor in Davis or go to the Bay Area and use the same system,” Greene said. “They'd use their key there and ride."

Adrian Moore, owner of Ikon Cycles, 2318 J St., purchased the bicycles for the MBA experiment, and he previously told The Sacramento Press that any successful bicycle-sharing program would likely need government funding, as the infrastructure represents a significant up-front cost.

“It’s great that they’re doing that, because it’s probably exactly what it needs,” he said Thursday. “That kind of infrastructure will be hard to do by a program that doesn’t really make any profit.”

He added that a bicycle-sharing program has the potential to break even or make a small profit.

Initiating a bicycle-sharing program requires an early outlay of a significant number of bicycles, and a staff report cited Denver’s bicycle-sharing program, which launched with 400 bicycles and averages more than four rental stations per square mile.

The programs have been touted as beneficial to communities with regard to air quality, alternative transportation and general health and fitness.

Moore said he is looking forward to the study and hopes it becomes a reality in the region.

“They should do it, they should do it well and they should put enough into it to get it off the ground and be a model for other cities,” he said. “I think it’s a good way to go, and if they do their homework, they should have a relatively easy time getting it off the ground if they get the investment capital for it.”

Sacramento Press Editor-in-Chief Jared Goyette contributed to this report.

Proposal to study the possibility of implementing a bike share program

Occupy Sacramento plans to 'risk arrest' defying new law that goes into effect Thursday

2012-10-11T00:26:59Z

Occupy Sacramento members say they will risk arrest as they plan to challenge the new city ordinance that sets restrictions for protests at City Hall.

Protesters will assemble at City Hall at noon on Thursday to protest the law they call unconstitutional, according to a press release, which stated details won’t be released in advance.

The new law, passed last month, goes into effect on Thursday and sets a curfew on the site, prohibits obstructing access to City Hall, bans the use of amplified sound without a permit and prohibits signs, displays or structures from being placed on the property.

It also prohibits sponge baths in the fountain at Cesar Chavez Plaza, across the street from City Hall.

Protesters wrote in the press release that they expect it to last until 5 p.m. Friday.

According to Occupy Sacramento, there were 110 arrests last year when members refused to leave Cesar Chavez Plaza after closing time. Charge were dismissed after defendants denied plea bargains and requested jury trials.

Disc golf course coming to McClatchy park ahead of $2.8 million in improvements

2012-09-27T05:22:17Z

Spearheading $2.8 million in improvements to McClatchy Park is something that might seem benign, but which residents and city officials say will be a harbinger of change: A disc golf course, where players toss Frisbee-like discs into baskets.

“I’m looking forward to being able to help change the park,” said said Aimee Phelps, a founder of the course and the Oak Park Disc Golfers club. “There’s a lot of stuff that goes on out there like drugs, and the disc golf course will help change that.”

The disc golf course will break ground at 3500 Fifth Ave. Oct. 13, when city crews are scheduled to bring an auger to the park to dig holes for the course’s baskets, said Phelps, who lives about a block away.

It’s geared for beginners and families, and when completed, it will be a nine-hole course with the longest hole being about 300 feet.

“I’m really excited about it,” said City Councilman Jay Schenirer. “I think it’s going to bring a lot more people into the park.”

A $2.8 million grant to rebuild the park from the state of California will bring a new skate park, new basketball and tennis courts and a jogging track around the perimeter, according to Schenirer.

City officials are looking for more funding to rebuild the bathrooms by the baseball field, and shade structures over the farmers market area could see it become a permanent fixture.

A barbecue and temporary course will be set up at 1 p.m. on Saturday to introduce the neighbors and other park users to the activity.

“I think disc golf will bring a lot of young people out, and young families who are in the neighborhood,” Schenirer said. “The more people who are using the park for positive purposes, the more people will feel safe.”

There will be no charge to use the course.

Phelps said the Oak Park Disc Golfers will host tournaments and bring in professionals to teach kids and families how to play.

“We hope to get involved with the schools and really make this an all-inclusive family thing,” she added. “Theres a lot of good things that are involved – it’s independent, yet at the same time it’s a group thing as well.”

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Parking plans for central city after pilot program cut

2012-08-23T05:20:23Z

City officials are looking at a long-term solution to parking in the urban core, and while the effort has been under way for more than a year, last week’s canceling of the Midtown Second Saturday parking pilot program gave it new urgency.

City Parking Manager Howard Chan said Wednesday that the city is working with property owners in the central city to take over liability for privately owned parking lots after hours. The lots would be for businesses such as law offices that don’t need the spaces during events such as Second Saturday Art Walks.

“We’d do something like we did with the East End Parking Garage where we will take on the liability,” Chan said. “We would charge a small fee, and at the end of the day, we will recover our cost and talk about profit-sharing.”

Chan added that the East End garage near 19th Street and Capitol Avenue currently charges $2 for a full night, and he would expect rates to be at a similarly low level.

“What we can do is begin to expand the off-street supply in these impacted areas and charge a reasonable rate to encourage folks to use those in the business corridor instead of residential areas,” Chan said.

He added that once enough parking is available off-street in the central city, more restrictions can be placed on residential areas – where the recent pilot program failed. The idea is that that would keep the residential parking open for residents.

Many residents in Boulevard Park and Marshall School/New Era Park opposed the pilot program, which would have extended parking enforcement hours on Second Saturday, neighborhood association representatives told The Sacramento Press last week.

Concerned residents cited the difficulties of having guests over if parking were to be restricted, noting that only one guest parking pass is given per residence.

Chan said the next year will see guest passes easier to get, and he hopes the additional parking in privately owned lots will be full of those who come for the businesses, leaving residents – and their guests – free to park in their neighborhoods.

“It’s more comprehensive as opposed to just moving the problem a few blocks,” he said, adding that he killed the pilot program last week due to overwhelming lack of support from residents.

Parking in privately owned lots would likely be paid for at machines in each lot, which could then dispense tickets drivers could place on their dashboards. They might also be able to be paid by cellphone. Parking enforcement officers could swing through the lots on their regular patrol routes, increasing costs minimally.

Costs would be recuperated through the city’s take from the fees, and once the city broke even, property owners could benefit.

“We don’t need to make money here,” Chan said. “We just need to cover our cost.”

The city recently cut a deal with the owners of the old Greyhound station downtown, and another with the California Department of Motor Vehicles. While they are small lots, Chan said, it makes better use of the land.

“I think it’s fantastic,” said Midtown Business Association Executive Director Elizabeth Studebaker. “It’s exactly the kind of opportunity we need and the city needs in Midtown to create more available and affordable off-street parking.”

She added that there are numerous opportunities for the city to work with small business owners, and that the city managing the lots would be cost-effective.

Chan said he expects the parking situation to be more efficient within the next year.

“Be on the lookout for things to change relative to managing the parking supply,” he said. “We’re making sure we’re as efficient as can be with this asset. Whether city-owned or privately owned, it’s a significant impact on our central city.”

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Midtown Second Saturday pilot parking program canned

2012-08-17T06:06:01Z

A pilot parking program for Second Saturday Art Walks that would have affected Midtown street spaces is dead in the water, a staffer from City Councilman Rob Fong’s office confirmed Thursday.

The program would have limited parking from 16th Street to 29th Street, and the south side of G Street to the south side of I Street to “residential only” parking on Second Saturdays. All other vehicles would have been limited to parking for two hours.

“There’s not a lot of support for the program in our area,” said Julie Murphy of the Marshall School/New Era Park Neighborhood Association.

The association sent a letter formally opposing the pilot program to Fong on June 11, stating that similar ideas had been discussed twice in the past, with ~~the most recent~~ one being voted down in 2007.

Murphy added Friday that, according to residents, the second parking restriction was voted down in 2009.

Murphy said one of the chief issues residents had with the program was that if they wanted to have visitors over on Second Saturdays, they would have been limited to one visitor parking pass per home, and all others would have to park farther away.

Those sentiments were echoed by Asha Jennings, chair of the Boulevard Park Neighborhood Association.

“We did oppose the pilot,” she said. “We got as much feedback as we could from the neighborhood, and there were consistent concerns that it would just shift parking to different blocks.”

Boulevard Park formally voted to oppose the program Aug. 1, noting that temporary signage alerting drivers to the increased hours for parking enforcement would be ugly.

“There would be sawhorses with signs hanging from them up and down the block,” Jennings said. “It would be similar to how they put them up during construction. There were concerns about the aesthetics of that.”

Parking Services Manager Howard Chan was unavailable for comment on Thursday.

[Editor's note: A change was made to this article after publication. The incorrect information has been struck out.]

City makes headway on new medical marijuana laws

2012-07-25T02:20:19Z

The City Council’s Law and Legislation Committee mulled several new restrictions on medical marijuana on Tuesday, but chose only to act one one of them – recommending increasing the distance any new dispensaries must be from a school from 600 feet to 1,000 feet.

It will now be up to the full City Council to decide whether that should be a law.

The committee also considered:

Whether to allow any of the 34 dispensaries in Sacramento to relocate within 300 feet of a residential zone
A ban on outdoor growing of medical marijuana by residents

600 OR 1000?

Medical marijuana advocate Lynette Davies asked the committee not to change its 600-foot ordinance to 1,000 feet during the meeting’s public comment period, saying that the city’s law should continue to mirror California’s 600-foot law.

The city’s proposed rule is meant to conform to a federal law that gives harsher punishments for selling illegal drugs within 1,000 feet of a park or school – yet federal law prohibits all growing and selling of marijuana for any reason.

“Federal law does dictate at times what takes place,” City Councilman Darrell Fong said. “I think this needs to go to the City Council for full discussion.”

Councilwoman Sandy Sheedy added a facet to the proposed 1,000-foot rule at the city level that barriers such as freeways and rivers should be considered – meaning that if a dispensary is 1,000 feet from a school, but there is a river between them, the 1,000-foot rule would not apply.

NIMBY DEBATE

After a unanimous vote in favor of the 1,000-foot rule, the city was divided on whether to allow any of the 34 dispensaries in Sacramento to relocate within 300 feet of a residential zone.

According to a city ordinance, no dispensaries can be within 300 feet of a residential zone, but 34 that submitted applications last year will be able to apply for a new permit within 300 feet of residences if the City Council votes to give them exemptions.

Of the 34, only 18 are still operating, but all would have the chance to try to open in a new location, exempt from the rule that they need to be 300 feet from a residence, subject to city approval.

City Councilman Steve Cohn said he wants to see some flexibility for dispensaries that have worked with the city in the past and might need to relocate from a district such as Midtown if their landlords don’t renew their leases.

“This would only affect those who are already in,” he said.

Proponents of giving the exemption to the existing dispensaries pointed out that the various zoning rules leave very few places in the city to open a dispensary.

City Councilman Jay Schenirer said he doesn’t want to see a “dispensary row” in one of the few areas where dispensaries can operate under current city code.

OUTDOOR GROWING BAN

Another topic the committee couldn’t decide upon was whether to ban outdoor growing of medical marijuana by residents.

Sheedy said she has received numerous complaints from her constituents regarding odors during harvest time and burglaries.

Some of the speakers during the public comment section said outdoor growing is essential, because watering a plant growing under natural sunlight is far easier and cheaper than setting up an indoor garden.

If adopted in its current form, the ban would not go into place until January, allowing those who are already growing plants outdoors to harvest this year’s crop.

All of the issues will have to go before the full City Council for approval before being implemented, and the more contested ordinances will likely require multiple discussions at the full City Council before any decision is reached.

After threat of legal action by ACLU, Sacramento postpones discussion on restricting protests at City Hall

2012-07-24T22:47:56Z

The City Council Law and Legislation Committee postponed a discussion on whether there will be restrictions on the ability to hold protests on the City Hall property after the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union staged a protest and said its lawyers were closely following the issue

City Councilmen Darrell Fong and Jay Schenirer saying they wanted the language of the ordinance to be made clearer.

“I believe people should have access to City Hall,” Fong said Tuesday. “We do have some other concerns we have to address. We will meet soon and get language out there, and we will bring it back.”

The issue will be brought up again at the City Council’s Law and Legislation Committee on Aug. 9.

He did not elaborate on what the other concerns were, but the postponement came after a protest in front of City Hall by members of the American Civil Liberties Union and Occupy Sacramento opposed to the ordinance.

In an interview before the protest, local ACLU board member Cres Vellucci told the Sacramento Press in a video chat that the city has other, existing laws to deal with the issues that the council has said the ordinance was meant to address. He also said that a lawyer in the organization's San Francisco office was reviewing the ordinance and following the issue closely:

Debra Reiger, chairwoman of the Sacramento chapter of the ACLU, said she is glad to see the item postponed with an intent to adjust the language.

“The City Hall area is a public forum, and doing severe restrictions including fees for signing up ahead of time to speak at the space is a constitutional issue,” she said.

She added that the ACLU is involved with a similar ordinance in Redding, Calif., and that the ordinance there is currently under legal review.

Sacramento to talk medical marijuana on Tuesday

2012-07-23T19:44:15Z

Sacramento will consider more guidelines for medical marijuana dispensaries Tuesday, as a city committee will look at how far the dispensaries should be from parks and schools, even as federal court cases determining their legality are still under way.

The City Council’s Law and Legislation Committee will discuss medical marijuana dispensaries at 3 p.m. on Tuesday at City Hall, 915 I St., so the city is prepared to act at the end of the court proceedings, Law and Legislation Committee Chairman Jay Schenirer said Monday.

“We need to work this out so we can move forward once those cases are resolved,” he said. “I think we have a model policy, and we want to be moving in the right direction so we’re not just starting when those cases are resolved.”

The cases in question are the result of federal crackdowns on marijuana dispensaries over the past year. Despite their legality under state law and the laws of many cities, federal law holds that marijuana is an illicit drug, and does not allow for its medicinal usage.

“You have this untenable policy situation with the federal, state and city governments all having different policies,” Schenirer said, adding the the eventual outcome of the court cases will help determine what rights marijuana dispensaries have, which should give a clearer picture to local officials, enabling them to make laws.

No laws will be enacted on Tuesday, and Schenirer said the meeting is designed to give city staff direction when drafting ordinances, which will likely come back to the Law and Legislation Committee for final review before going to the full City Council for a vote – but only after the court cases are decided.

One of the issues being looked at Tuesday is how close a medical marijuana dispensary can be to a school or a park, which would be similar to a recent City Council action that bans tobacco-centric businesses from opening within 1,000 feet of a school without a special use permit. A similar ordinance has been aired regarding gun shops.

In April, San Francisco medical marijuana dispensary owners faced steep penalties – and 40 years in prison – if they didn’t shut down their dispensaries situated near parks and schools, according to a Sacramento Bee article.

The dispensaries were targeted under a federal law designed in the Reagan era to combat crack-cocaine dealers selling to kids, the article states.

Sacramento regulates marijuana dispensaries under a city ordinance passed last year.

That law doesn’t trump the federal 1,000-foot rule, however, and the Bee article mentioned one Sacramento dispensary that closed after federal pressure.

Schenirer said he’d like to see a grandfather clause that would allow existing medical marijuana dispensaries to continue operation in their current locations under city law.

“To the extent that we have control,” he said, “I’d like a grandfather clause for people who have previously done well.”

Council members want end to 'unfair advantage' for lobbyists, negotiators

2012-07-12T05:49:37Z

After a recent Grand Jury report found that two former Sacramento city managers negotiating on behalf of a trash disposal company got a favorable contract that was a financial misstep for the city, City Councilwoman Angelique Ashby said she wants the city to implement a policy that would prevent the scenario from repeating.

Ashby said she wants to come up with a policy that would end what some have called the “revolving door,” where former city employees can join the negotiation or lobbying teams of private businesses.

Critics say their presence gives the private companies an unfair advantage in negotiations.

“When you work for the state and you retire, you can come back as a retired annuitant, but one thing you cannot do is come back as a consultant on subject matter from which you had direct involvement,” Ashby said.

A Sacramento Bee editorial said the trash services contract showed “gross incompetence and shocking indifference to the issues of ratepayer costs or basic fairness in public contracting.”

The Grand Jury stated that the presence of former city managers on the negotiating team influenced some current city employees.

“Lobbying from immediate past city managers was problematic for some city staff,” according to the Grand Jury report.

Councilman Darrell Fong agreed with Ashby on the need to take a look at stopping the “revolving door.”

“People coming back – I have a concern about it,” Fong said. “They leave and reinvent themselves and come back.”

He suggested not allowing former city employees to come back as negotiators for private businesses for a three-year term, but added that it’s early, and there needs to be discussion on whether that is an appropriate amount of time.

Fong said he did not like the solid waste contract from the outset, but he was not on the council when it passed, and he voted against approving the sale of the contract about six months ago.

Ashby added that there are numerous examples the city can develop a new policy around, and any policy would have to allow the city to tap into the “wealth of knowledge” that retired city employees often have, without compromising the city’s position in contract negotiations with private companies.

The contract between the city and BLT Enterprises of Sacramento, Inc. was negotiated in 2010, before Ashby was on the council, and she said the city should put in safeguards to ensure any future contract negotiations aren’t hampered by similar issues.

“It’s imperative that we discuss the Grand Jury findings and modifications to policy to address any issues we have,” she said. “I think there are still some opportunities to turn it into a win for the city of Sacramento.”

The Grand Jury report found other issues with the contract, including the length of the term – it expires in 2032 – and a lack of competitive bidding for it, which the report says is a violation of a city ordinance.

Ashby, who said she did not like the contract, said it’s unfair for her to judge the other council members based on hindsight. When the contract was sold to another waste management service, Ashby said, the city’s legal counsel advised against attempting to renegotiate it.

Calls to the other City Council members were placed Friday and Monday, but council is in a two-week recess and some members could not be reached. Here’s how they have responded so far:

• Rob Fong: His spokeswoman said he refused to comment on the issue.
• Steve Cohn: did not return calls.
• Bonnie Pannell: did not return calls.
• Kevin McCarty: did not return calls.
• Councilwoman Sandy Sheedy is recovering from surgery, according to her office.
• Jay Schenirer was unable to comment on Monday

We will continue to follow up with council members until we have all on the record as to where their views on the Grand Jury report and Ashby’s call for tighter regulations.

Train station work will boost Sacramento public transit options

2012-06-20T05:10:52Z

The Sacramento Valley Station at Fifth and I streets got a boost to its renovation with the awarding of a $15 million federal grant, and officials said it’s a key step in bringing an intermodal transit facility to Sacramento that will allow residents easy access throughout the region.

“The intermodal transit facility allows the most effective and efficient use of public transit to happen because you have a single transfer point to get from multiple modes of transportation into our area,” said Dennis Rogers, senior vice president for public policy and economic development for the Metro Chamber of Commerce.

He added that with other transit projects such as the in-progress light rail Green Line construction that will ultimately take passengers to the airport, someone could come from Auburn on heavy rail, then transfer to light rail to go to places in Sacramento, or even to Folsom.

“Also, someone could come from anywhere served by light rail, then jump on heavy rail and head to the Bay Area,” he said.

The $15 million grant is matched by $15 million in local Measure A transportation tax funds. The goal is to finish the design phase by next summer and have the project finished by 2015, Sacramento Department of Transportation spokeswoman Linda Tucker said in an email.

“We don’t view this as something that is a benefit to just the city of Sacramento,” Rogers said. “We view this as an asset to the entire region.”

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter.

Downtown bicycle lanes coming this summer

2012-05-09T05:57:17Z

Downtown Sacramento’s busiest streets should have bike lanes by August or September, according to city officials.

The work will begin in June or July and should take a month to complete, according to Ed Williams, Associate Engineer with the city’s Department of Transportation.

The intent of the project is to create bicycle lanes on the most-traveled downtown streets, including J, I, Fifth, Ninth and 10th streets and Capitol Mall, city officials previously told The Sacramento Press.

On some streets, the plan is to take out one lane of vehicular traffic as is common in Midtown.

Cyclists interviewed Tuesday applauded the city’s upcoming road work, which they said will add safety to streets that can currently be dangerous to ride on.

A lot of the time, your choice is to either ride on the sidewalk or get hit by a car,” said 22-year-old downtown cyclist Daniel Belcher. “(Adding bicycle lanes) is a great idea.”

Parish Heavens, a 44-year-old Sacramentan, said the dedicated bicycle lanes will give riders a safe option for commuting without having to ride on the sidewalk, which is currently illegal in many places.

“I got a $200 ticket a few months ago because I was riding in the lane, and it ended, and I rode on the sidewalk because I was afraid of getting hit,” he said. “The cops saw me and told me I should ride on the street.”

Heavens said he rides downtown every day, adding that the city’s addition of bicycle lanes is “a really good thing.”

Williams said in an email Friday that many of the streets slated for the project need to be seal coated to cover the lane lines that will be ground off, and are therefore being included in regularly scheduled annual maintenance.

The new bike lanes will cost the city $629,000. The expenditure,was approved by the City Council in April 2011.

One popular monthly bicycle event – the Second Saturday Coffee Bike Tour – will benefit from the project, according to one of the organizers.

Justin Kerr, 22-year-old co-owner of Broadacre Coffee, said the addition of bicycle lanes will make the coffee bar’s tours safer.

“It’s going to be great,” he said. “Ninth, 10th and J streets are the more fearful areas right now. We have 25-30 bikers, and we all have to bunch up and take over a lane of traffic. Now we can ride in our own lanes.”

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow him on Twitter @Brandon_Darnell and Facebook.

Poll: Tax dollars spent on dead arena deal: Worth it?

2012-05-04T00:33:59Z

A report on the now-defunct downtown arena deal will likely be light on future prospects for the railyards site, unless City Council members press for more talk on it, Assistant City Manager John Dangberg said Monday.

Dangberg is scheduled to give an update on the arena process, including possible next steps for getting one built in the downtown railyards, at Tuesday’s City Council meeting.

The city spent approximately $690,000 on predevelopment costs, including travel expenses and consultant fees, since Sept. 27.

“This is a very large and complex project, and it is incumbent on all parties going into a project of this magnitude to do the appropriate due diligence,” Dangberg said, adding that a high-quality team of advisers and consultants was necessary to ensure that any deal wouldn’t leave the taxpayers on the hook.

According to city staff, there’s an upside to the money spent – the city was able to better understand how it could draw revenue from parking spaces downtown, and plans were drawn for the intermodal transit facility – which is scheduled to be built – that allow the arena to be in the railyards as well.

Analysis included in the agenda cites instances in both Indianapolis and Chicago where parking was either privatized or leased to fund development or fix budget gaps.

“Given that the city of Sacramento has few other assets that could produce this kind of large up-front payment through monetization,” staff said in the council agenda, “such funds should be used for a key project that will stimulate economic development and yield future returns for the city.”

Currently, the city faces a multimillion-dollar budget gap that threatens about 280 staff positions and city services.

Editor's note: This is an updated version of an article originally posted on May 3, with added information from Dangberg.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow him on Twitter @Brandon_Darnell.

Airport receives LEED Silver certification

2012-05-03T00:49:57Z

Sacramento International Airport’s new Terminal B received LEED Silver certification, airport officials announced Tuesday.

The terminal is the largest in the United States to receive the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, according to a press release.

“Achieving LEED Silver certification on two buildings this large, with such intense daily public use, speaks to the vision and collaboration of the airport and its partners,” said G. Hardy Acree, director of airports for the Sacramento County Airport System.

Nicknamed “The Big Build,” the $1.1 billion project was completed in October. Throughout the building process, officials stressed the importance of using sustainable materials and environmentally friendly designs, including glass ceilings and walls that allow for enough natural light that electric lighting use is minimized.

Other aspects of the design included a heat-reflecting roof and energy-efficient shade devices.”

Additionally, nine acres of asphalt were replaced with drought-tolerant landscaping.

“Green technology is a cornerstone of the next economy,” said Don Nottoli, chairman of the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors. “Terminal B is an outstanding example of what can be achieved when technology is combined with a beautiful, functional building which will serve and support our regional economy.”

To read more about the construction, click here and here. For information about the artwork installed in the new terminal, click here.

Crews paving the way for intermodal transit facility access

2012-04-24T22:29:28Z

Construction is currently under way in the Sacramento Valley Station parking lot as the city upgrades the downtown railyards area with more accessibility in advance of the intermodal transit facility and possibly a new arena.

Crews are using tractors to dig between the parking lot and I Street between Fourth and Fifth streets for an eventual exit to I Street from Fourth Street that will allow drivers quick access to Interstate 5 and Old Sacramento.

The move will also give pedestrians better access to and from the station.

“This is a long-awaited pedestrian improvement to the area,” Department of Transportation spokeswoman Linda Tucker said Tuesday, adding that it is an amenity for the intermodal transit facility and not construction related to the proposed downtown entertainment and sports complex.

For more information on the construction and its aims, click here.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow him on Twitter @Brandon_Darnell.

Group gathering signatures for vote on arena issue

2012-04-16T23:55:35Z

Sacramento Taxpayers Opposed to Pork (STOP) announced Monday that they will continue gathering signatures on a petition that would require large public expenses on a project in the downtown railyards such as an arena to be approved by a public vote.

“We’re going to get this thing qualified for the ballot,” said spokesman Richard Tolmach. “A lot of people are stepping up and want to help us.”

The group began gathering signatures over the weekend, and Tolmach said there are currently about 1,000 signed petitions. To qualify for placement on a ballot, the petition must have about 21,000 signatures.

Placement on the November ballot was previously a top priority – and STOP would have needed to gather the signatures by May 31. After the proposed arena deal fell apart on Friday, Tolmach said, the campaign can take its time, placing it on the next city election.

“I think we will get the signatures in two or three months,” he said Monday.

If the signatures are gathered, he said, the initiative will appear on the next regularly scheduled election, which according to the Sacramento County Elections Office is in June 2014, unless there is reason to push forward with a special election.

“If the city wants to push things with the arena, then maybe we’d be put in a position like that,” he said.

For more information on the STOP petition, read about its announcement by clicking here and about its update from Friday by clicking here.

STOP ponders next move in wake of dead arena deal

2012-04-14T00:15:39Z

Friday’s news that the deal for an entertainment and sports complex is essentially dead isn’t stopping a grassroots effort to ensure large public expenditure on private ventures be vetted through a public vote.

Sacramento Taxpayers Opposed to Pork (STOP) announced their goal of collecting enough signatures to give the public a vote on the arena financing last month, and they now have the petitions in-hand to start gathering signatures.

“We’re still concerned that even if this plan’s dead, there may be another plan that’s either as bad or worse to spend public money on a private venture at (the downtown railyards),” STOP spokesman Richard Tolmach said Friday afternoon.

The grassroots organization has until May 31 to collect the approximately 21,000 signatures required to put the issue on the November ballot, though now signature collection is on hold while the group ponders the latest news.

The group has so far raised about $10,000, much of which was planned to be spent on advertisements, mailed information and an email campaign, Tolmach said.

In light of Mayor Kevin Johnson’s Friday announcement that the arena deal is over, he added that the group will take the weekend to consider how to move forward and announce its decision at a Monday press conference.

“I harbor a hope that the Kings backing out of this has made the city realize it’s not going to happen,” Tolmach said, “but there’s a certain arrogance that needs to be addressed.”

Before the announcement, STOP planned to begin gathering signatures over the weekend. Tolmach predicted that if the group gained a following, investors would begin getting cold feet.

He characterized the announcements made Friday morning by the Maloof family as a changing of position “after they saw the handwriting on the wall.”

STOP Treasurer Jim Cathcart said before Johnson’s announcement that nothing short of a City Council ordinance that requires large expenditures of public funds for private projects will make the group consider halting its campaign.

“It’s sort of amazing that time after time after time these types of things are dead, and they get revived,” he said. “We basically think that any large expenditure for any kind of sports and entertainment complex like this should go to the voters.”

Cathcart said that STOP is not opposed to having an arena or working with the Sacramento Kings to make it happen, but that any arena deal now or in the future should be agreed to by the public.

“This is democracy,” he said. “If (the voters) want it, and they want to tax themselves and put the city at risk, that’s their choice. We’ll abide by that. Obviously, we don’t think they want to do that.”

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow him on Twitter @Brandon_Darnell.

Group seeks to put arena funding to public vote

2012-03-24T00:26:12Z

City Councilman Kevin McCarty said Thursday that he is not surprised that a group of Sacramentans are now seeking to require any public funds spent on an arena to go before a public vote.

“The light of day on this proposal is a good thing, and people are focusing rightfully on the fact that there are too many financial risks for the city and not enough upsides,” he said.

Sacramento Taxpayers Opposed to Pork (STOP) is a grassroots organization looking to gather signatures to put a question on the November ballot that, if passed, would require any spending of public funds on an arena to go to a public vote.

McCarty previously posted an article on The Sacramento Press detailing his reasonings for voting against the arena, an action City Councilwoman Sandy Sheedy joined him in.

“The more people learn about this proposal, the more they realize it’s not a good deal for the city of Sacramento,” McCarty said.

STOP spokesman Richard Tolmach said that the group formed the day after the controversial arena vote at the City Council.

“The deal stinks,” he said. “Originally, we were told the city would pay 30 percent, and the developers and the Kings would pay the remaining 70 percent. That has turned around almost completely.”

Tolmach, who has lived in Sacramento since 1974 and spent 30 years working for Caltrans, said that approximately 21,000 signatures from registered voters within the city of Sacramento will need to be gathered to put the question on the ballot, but he and other STOP members are aiming for at least 30,000.

Once the language of the measure is approved by the city attorney – a process Tolmach said he is hopeful will be quick – the group can start collecting signatures.

That means the timeline to collect the signatures will likely be from the end of the first week of April to May 31.

“It’s tight. I think it gives us about 48 days, but we’re going to give it a go,” he said.

McCarty said it is too early to tell if a potential successful signature-gathering drive would affect the deal.

“There’s going to be votes on this issue for months,” he said.

Tolmach said his motivation does not have to do with the Sacramento Kings, but the decision on where to spend public funds.

“If we can’t keep swimming pools open, what are we doing building this place?” he said.

The move by STOP is similar to a move promoted by Kings supporters and former City Councilman Robbie Waters last year.

After the Anaheim City Council approved a bond measure that would allow funding to eventually bring the Kings to Anaheim, enough signatures were gathered to force a public vote.

Mayor Kevin Johnson and City Council members who support the arena deal were not available for comment on Friday.

To visit the website for STOP, click here.

City preparing for intermodal transit facility construction

2012-03-22T01:28:40Z

Early steps are being taken in the construction of Sacramento’s intermodal transit facility with the City Council’s approval of a plan to add a traffic signal and exit route at Fourth and I streets downtown.

While Fourth Street does not intersect with I Street currently, the traffic signal will allow vehicles leaving the future intermodal facility easier access to freeways and Old Sacramento, Associate Civil Engineer Zuhair Amawi said Wednesday.

“Right now there is a planter area there, and we are opening that up to allow for cars, and to improve pedestrian access for people who want to cross I Street,” he said.

Construction will begin the first week of April and should end in August, he added, noting that some lane closures will likely be required as part of the work.

A timeline for construction of the intermodal facility has not yet been set, according to Department of Transportation spokeswoman Linda Tucker, because funding must be secured before the design phase can begin.

A grant application submitted Monday could be a source of revenue for the facility, but whether the application is accepted will not be known until summer, she added.

About $1.2 million in federal funds will be used for the project, with a 20 percent match coming from local Measure A transportation tax funds, Amawi said.

The intermodal facility, which will be located at the downtown railyards, is a major part of the city’s overall transit plan.

“The project is designed to reduce and eliminate barriers to transit, thereby attracting new users and improving the transit experience for existing riders,” Senior Architect Hinda Chandler said in a statement released by the city’s Department of Transportation Thursday.

“It will be more convenient and usable for passengers; more functional and efficient for transportation operators; more attractive to people as they travel, shop, dine and work; safer for passengers and more sustainable in terms of energy use,” Chandler added.

Amawi said the traffic signal is necessary because, currently, the only exit route from the area is on Fifth Street.

“Now they will be able to exit on Fourth Street, but won’t be able to enter it,” he said.

The exit will be two lanes, with the right-hand lane leading cars directly onto the northbound Interstate 5 onramp, and the left-hand lane allowing drivers to either enter northbound I-5 or travel down I Street to southbound I-5, Old Sacramento or Third Street.

Work on the traffic signal will affect I Street between 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. on weekdays, and it will affect Fifth Street between 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. on weekdays, Amawi said, adding that the planter box between I Street and the parking lot for the Sacramento Valley Station will see most of the early work.

To allow easier vehicular access, the island separating I Street and the I-5 onramp will be scaled back.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow him on Twitter @Brandon_Darnell.

Downtown post office to move in mid-May

2012-03-17T01:46:08Z

The downtown post office is set to move from its current location at 801 I St. to Westfield Downtown Plaza by mid-May, postal officials said Friday.

In the new location, customers will have access to the lobby from 5 a.m. - 9 p.m. seven days per week. There will be no security checkpoint, and those with post office boxes will have access to them every day, said Augustine Ruiz, spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service’s Sacramento district.

“It’s going to be 4,000 square feet, and we’re going to be leasing the location,” he said. “One of the added conveniences is better parking.”

Postal officials previously told The Sacramento Press that there is no need to expand the post office, but they have been looking since January 2011 for a new location to provide better customer service.

The location within the mall does not allow 24-hour lobby access, Ruiz said, because access is limited by mall hours.

It was unclear Friday whether there are currently any plans for a new tenant at the historic 801 I St. building, which has housed the post office since 1933 and is owned by the federal government.

“We are glad this critical service remains downtown and will bring activity to K Street,” Maurice Chaney, spokesman for the city’s economic development department, said in an email Friday.

In addition to the downtown railyards, the planned site of an entertainment and sports complex, the section of K Street between Seventh and 12th streets has been a major focus for the city when it comes to economic development and redevelopment.

The Downtown Plaza mall has been a topic of discussion in that as well, with Westfield representatives talking about selling the property at various times over the past few years.

In addition to the post office’s upcoming move to the shopping center, 24 Hour Fitness recently completed a $10 million remodel in the space, on the side bordered by Seventh Street.

Officials from Westfield Downtown Plaza were not available for comment Friday.

Local political, business, labor leaders back arena deal

2012-02-29T02:51:41Z

Mayor Kevin Johnson’s late-night triumphal return from Orlando was followed by a 5 p.m. press conference Tuesday in which scant new details were released, but local business, labor and political leaders confirmed their backing of the arena deal announced Monday.

“We have a handshake agreement – we have the framework of a deal,” Johnson said. “There’s still a lot of work to be done ... (City) Council has to ask the tough questions.”

He said the plan to build the entertainment and sports complex will be made available on March 1 to the public, and a crucial City Council vote March 6 will determine whether the arena will become a reality.

“We’ll have a very robust and energetic conversation no doubt on March 6,” Johnson said. “I’ve told every council member (to) poke holes in it.”

Standing with Johnson at the press conference were City Council members Steve Cohn, Angelique Ashby, Rob Fong and Jay Schenirer.

Cohn, who opposed previous arena plans, lent his support to the current effort, which could see an arena in operation as early as September 2015.

“This one is different because this one is fair to all parties and particularly from my standpoint, it’s fair to the taxpayers of this great city,” Cohn said. “This is going to be something that really will be a win for all of the taxpayers in our city, and I think is a big win.”

He added that this is the first time he has felt that the arena deal will move forward.

Johnson said the breakthrough in the talks in Orlando came late Saturday, when he asked the Maloof brothers, owners of the Sacramento Kings, if they were committed to Sacramento.

He said the brothers – Joe, Gavin and George – unanimously confirmed their support to stay in the city, with George Maloof, who was a driving force behind last year’s potential move to Anaheim, saying, “if it’s a good deal.”

Michael Ault, executive director of the Downtown Sacramento Partnership, said the business community and labor leaders are on the same page.

“For the first time, we’ve got something ... that truly will change the way this region and this community looks at the urban core,” he said. “We’re well on our way, and it’s a tremendous, tremendous victory.”

Despite the all-around congratulations, the breakdown of the financing is not yet confirmed, and Johnson said it will be premature to discuss financing – specifically which percentage of the overall deal will be financed by the city – until the deal is finalized.

David Taylor, whose ICON-Taylor group will handle the construction of the entertainment and sports complex, said design work will get under way as soon as funds are available – an anticipated four to five weeks.

After that, the environmental review process will be the main focus, allowing construction to begin by the end of the first quarter or the early part of the second quarter of 2013.

The goal is to have the complex finished by the beginning of the 2015 National Basketball Association season in September.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow him on Twitter @Brandon_Darnell.

City planning bike lanes on Freeport Boulevard

2012-01-21T00:50:26Z

The city is in the planning stages of bringing bicycle lanes to Freeport Boulevard between Vallejo Way and Sutterville Road – something neighbors and school officials say will make the busy thoroughfare much safer.

“We’ve had several accidents and many kids getting hit on bikes,” said McClatchy High School Principal Peter Lambert on Friday. “As traffic becomes more and more congested, we want to continue to look at ways to ensure the safety of our students as well as those who work and live in the area.”

Students at McClatchy High made a video highlighting the dangers of the street about three years ago, and they and Lambert said the area isn’t safe for cyclists.

The city issued a notice of preparation Jan. 13, which is the beginning of the process to get the bicycle lanes on the pavement – a process that will have to go through an environmental impact report and get City Council approval before work can begin, said Andrea Rosen, chair of the ad-hoc committee for the Freeport bicycle lanes through the Sierra Curtis Neighborhood Association.

“The SCNA has not taken any position on the Freeport bike lane project because it is at the beginning of the environmental review process,” Rosen said Friday, adding that once the city decides on a plan, the board will then vote to determine whether it supports the plan.

Rosen said that now is the time for those who want to voice their opinions on the project to take action.

The public will have the chance to weigh in on the process at a meeting from 6 - 8 p.m. Wednesday at the McClatchy High School Cafeteria, 3066 Freeport Blvd., said Linda Tucker Department of Transportation spokeswoman.

City Councilman Jay Schenirer, whose district partially covers the area, said he supports bringing bicycle lanes to that section of Freeport Boulevard.

“I’m very much a supporter, and beyond Freeport, I’d like to see us become more bike-friendly in the city,” he said. “We have young people riding to school and in the neighborhood, and what we have around Freeport is currently not a great situation.”

Schenirer said that, since the project requires an environmental impact report and approval from City Council, it won’t be a quick process, but he hopes to see work complete in the next couple of years.

Rosen said the SCNA expects the environmental impact report to be done in October, and that she hopes the issue makes it before the City Council by the end of the year.

“The neighborhood views this as a gap in the bike lanes,” she said. “We’ve been told that the city has long wanted to fill this gap because of the schools (both McClatchy High and Sacramento City College) and the general bicycle safety.”

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow him on Twitter @Brandon_Darnell.

City celebrates R Street project completion

2012-01-20T05:30:18Z

The first phase of the R Street beautification process was dedicated Thursday with a reception and lighting of the new arch at 10th and R streets in front of the Fox and Goose Public House.

“It’s a renaissance of renaissances,” said Jerry Way, director of the city’s Transportation Department.

“It means 150-plus years ago, this place got started, and today we’re celebrating the brand-new R Street in a way that everyone can celebrate, with artwork and features,” he added.

Completion of the more than $6 million project from 10th to 13th streets on Thursday was celebrated with a lighting of the streetlights and the iconic arch at 10th and R streets.

Way added that the draw to the new R Street is that it’s attractive, and be it artwork, more street lighting or a revamped, pedestrian-friendly streetscape – “everyone can find something to come down here for,” he said.

The next phases of construction down the corridor – beyond 13th Street and continuing to 19th Street, are being lined up for community design grants. The next phases include the R Street Market Plaza, which will open up an area for businesses. To read more details on the plaza, click here.

It’s unclear, however, how the loss of redevelopment funding will affect the upcoming projects, Way said.

“The redevelopment scab, if you will, hasn’t formed over yet, and we’re waiting to see how that will pan out,” he said.

In the meantime, Sacramento designers celebrated the installation of the art, which was designed by a local business.

“We wanted to make sure it matched the historical nature of the buildings already on R Street and kind of reinvigorate the area,” said Brent Rector of Fuel Creative Group, the Midtown design studio that designed the arch.

Fuel Creative Group was also responsible for the signage and menus at Hot Italian and the signage at the McGeorge School of Law.

Rector said it was a team of three that worked on the arch, and it was collaboration with the Capitol Area Development Authority (CADA) to use older steel power poles as inspiration, which recalls the R Street corridor’s industrial past.

“With redevelopment funds getting eaten up, it’s probably one of the last projects like this that you’ll see in Sacramento, which is a shame,” he added.

Way said that the city expects to see the revamped R Street as a more attractive place for the mixed residential, industrial and commercial growth planners expect to come to the area.

Year in review: Food vs. government

2011-12-29T02:23:45Z

Two city ordinances regulating food were the subject of debate in Sacramento in 2011, and while backyard keeping of egg-laying hens was allowed, the other, more volatile issue rages on – the controversial ordinance governing food trucks.

The ordinance limiting food truck operation within city limits to 30-minute intervals has been a source of contention for more than a year, but it heated up in 2011 with the inaugural SactoMoFo mobile food festival in April.

At the festival, Fremont Park was occupied by thousands of foodies who dropped by for a taste of gourmet on the go, and it achieved its goal of bringing widespread awareness to the issue.

Owners of “brick-and-mortar” restaurants were split on the issue, prompting a series of talks between them, restaurant advocacy groups, city officials and mobile food vendors.

The issue came before the City Council’s Law and Legislation Committee most recently in November, but the issue was postponed.

City Councilman Jay Schenirer, chairman of the Law and Legislation Committee, said Wednesday that while the issue will be on the agenda in 2012 – and he hopes it will be in the first quarter, there are no firm plans on when that will be.

In the meantime, regular food truck gatherings are held outside the city limits, because the county has no ordinance limiting operators to 30 minutes.

Backyard chicken keeping was allowed in the city in 2011 after a long discussion and series of public meetings, with advocates writing about it on The Sacramento Press as far back as 2009.

Those in favor of keeping chickens for egg-laying purposes argued that they wanted to have control of their food supply, ensuring food to their standards, and they pointed out that numerous other cities already allowed chicken keeping.

People opposed to allowing backyard chicken keeping said they feared the chickens would be noisy and possibly be conduits for avian flu.

The issue was almost killed in 2010, but City Councilman Steve Cohn walked out of a meeting to prevent what would likely have been a vote to end it.

The ordinance, which went into effect Nov. 1, did not please everyone, as it placed several restrictions on keeping chickens in backyards, including limiting the number to three and keeping them at least 20 feet from an adjacent residence.

The ordinance only allows the keeping of hens – as roosters don’t lay eggs and also crow, and it remains illegal to slaughter chickens in backyards. A $15 licensing fee per chicken is collected to pay for enforcement of the ordinance.

Gina Knepp, manager of the city’s animal shelter, said Wednesday that only about 20 chickens have been licensed in the past two months, but far more than that live in the city.

“We just cited a gentleman who had 30 chickens in his yard,” she said, adding that there has been no decrease or increase in calls since the ordinance passed.

“It’s still premature to tell,” she said. “I plan to go back to the council after six months and recommend some changes to the ordinance.”

Some of the recommendations she said she is considering include a flat licensing fee so owners don’t license each chicken as well as the ability to pay licensing fees online, which she said is probably discouraging some people from licensing their chickens.

Another change in food laws was the state-mandated food handler card, which requires most restaurant workers to pass a state test on food safety before being allowed to work.

The law went into effect July 1, though enforcement was delayed to allow time for restaurants and their workers to get the cards and come into compliance.

The state government got involved in funding garden boxes this year, with the local nonprofit organization Ubuntu Green working with low-income families to build boxes where they can grow healthy foods.

Community gardens were also a part of Schenirer’s WayUp Sacramento program, which promotes healthy living. It was launched in Oak Park in October.

Even schools got involved in small-scale farming this year, as Sacramento City College started a city farm project to “teach with dirt.”

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow him on Twitter @Brandon_Darnell.

City retrofits parking garages, saves $1.1 million

2011-11-19T01:09:31Z

Sacramento is currently replacing lighting in parking garages that will save an estimated $1.1 million over 11 years with no out-of-pocket expenses to the city.

Older, less-efficient fluorescent lighting is currently being replaced by LED lighting, which will cut the energy usage by more than 50 percent, and five of the city’s eight parking garages finished being upgraded about two weeks ago, according to city officials. The other three will be completed in February.

The five completed ones are Capitol Garage (10th and L streets), Downtown Plaza West Garage (Third and L streets), Downtown Plaza Central Garage (Fifth and J streets), City Hall Garage (10th and I streets) and Tower Bridge Garage (Front Street and Capitol Mall).

Max Lofing, of Lofings Lighting on J Street told The Sacramento Press that the city’s move to retrofit parking garage lighting has numerous benefits.

“Not only are they saving on energy costs, but they are also saving on maintenance costs for replacing them when they burn out, since the LEDs last about twice as long as the fluorescents,” he said. “Also, there’s no mercury in LEDs, which is a concern with fluorescent tubes when they are disposed of.”

Lofing, whose company is contracting for the work, said the LEDs also provide better lighting.

“A lot of people think of LEDs as sort of the dim ones that didn’t work really well when they first came out,” he said. “There’s a huge difference in LEDs, depending on which ones you get, and the modern ones do a great job.”

That lighting has added benefits when it comes to safety, according to Sacramento Police Department spokesman Sgt. Andrew Pettit.

“Poor lighting is one of the things that we look at when we see if there’s anything that could be changed when it comes to preventing crime,” he said. “If somebody has poor lighting, that often leads to criminal activity, so I can imagine if lighting was good in a parking garage, then it could serve as a deterrent to crime.”

The cost to retrofit the garages was $1.3 million, and that cost was covered in its entirety, with no out-of-pocket expense to the city, according to a Department of Transportation press release.

Incentives from the Sacramento Municipal Utility District covered $181,000 of the cost, $289,000 came from a rebate from the Energy Technology Assistance Program – administered by the state, and the rest was covered by a federal grant.

City Councilman Steve Cohn, who last year retired as the No. 2 attorney for SMUD, said upgrading to LEDs makes economic sense if they will be in place for a number of years.

“They last longer and use a lot less energy,” he said. “It doesn’t make sense for a renter who is going to leave in six months because of the up-front costs, but for something like the parking garages or people who own their homes, it saves a lot of money.”

He added that the city switched to LEDs in traffic signals several years ago, which cuts on costs but was mainly for safety, given that LEDs show up better in adverse weather conditions than traditional light bulbs.

The current phase of renovation replaces 1,700 fixtures in five parking garages and the city will realize the return on investment in five years, according to a press release, which also estimates that the reduction in energy use is equivalent to planting more than 250,000 carbon-absorbing trees.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow him on Twitter @Brandon_Darnell.

Capitol Mall design competition winners announced

2011-11-10T07:35:37Z

A pair of landscape architects, including a Sacramento native, took home first place in the Catalyst Capitol Mall Design Competition with a vision of turning the corridor from Tower Bridge to the Capitol into a reborn urban forest.

The competition was put on by the city of Sacramento, the American Institute of Architects and other local organizations, including the Downtown Sacramento Partnership, to help gather ideas to transform Capitol Mall after the state handed it over to city control in 2006.

The winners were announced at an awards ceremony Wednesday night at the Wells Fargo building at 400 Capitol Mall. First place received a $20,000 prize, second place received $10,000 and third place received $5,000.

“We wanted to look at this ecologically,” said Kimberly Garza, who along with Andrew ten Brink submitted the winning design, called Sacramento's Capitol Canopy. “We looked at the current state of the urban canopy, and many of these trees are reaching the end of their lifespans. There needs to be a system to address that, but in a smart way that unfolds across the city.”

Garza grew up in Sacramento, attending high school in Natomas before graduating with a degree in landscape architecture from UC Berkeley. She then went on to Harvard, where she met ten Brink. She currently works in Somerville, Mass., and ten Brink works in New York.

“I was very familiar with the city of Sacramento, and that was what first excited me about the project,” Garza said. “Our project challenges the traditional tree mall design that you typically see.”

Three different plant cultures are envisioned in the design: a pine forest, oak woodlands and a riparian section up against the river.

The design includes a demonstration area with WiFi around the front of the Capitol, a family-friendly gathering area closer to the river with interactive features for kids and a riverfront promenade.

As Capitol Mall nears the Crocker Art Museum, the design includes a sculpture park, and near Interstate 5, a small amphitheater.

“We stayed away from an infrastructure overhaul, and even though there are lots of trees, we made sure to keep the visual corridor from the bridge to the Capitol,” Garza said.

The second-place winner was a four-person team from San Francisco, which submitted a design called River City Promenade.

Geoffrey Barton, an architectural designer on the team, said they took advantage of many of the existing structures and looked to increase transit connectivity, including bicycle lanes and adding a bicycle trail.

To view the winning designs, including the third-place prize and four honorable mention prizes, click here.

One of the honorable mention winners, Sam Wolfgram, received extra recognition by winning the public vote with more than half of the 300 votes submitted through the Catalyst website. His design is called Connect + Preserve.

Wolfgram moved to Sacramento about three years ago from Savannah, Ga., and he said the similarity in the two cities’ grid systems inspired him to bring more bicycle connectivity to the Capitol Mall area.

“I’m also an avid music-goer, and that’s kind of my favorite thing to do in Midtown,” he said. “I designed this map on the front page of my proposal that could be like a music or arts festival map.”

Wolfgram said his design would allow Sacramento to host a decent-sized music festival.

He said he would also add parallel parking to Capitol Mall, which would encourage people to park in front of businesses as well as give it a feel consistent with other areas in the city.

City Councilman Steve Cohn, long a proponent of revamping Capitol Mall, said Wednesday that he was happy that more than 40 professional submissions came in from all over the world.

“This is our signature street,” he said. “It’s probably the most famous street in Sacramento, it’s got the best views on either end with the Capitol and Tower Bridge, and yet any given day, there’s hardly anyone out on the street ... It’s a space that could be so much more.”

Cohn added that bridges across Interstate 5 are currently in the early stages, and that will help connect Old Sacramento – where most tourists go – to other parts of the city via Capitol Mall.

He also said streetcars will eventually be built and will help increase transportation efficiency around Capitol Mall, though not directly on it.

Kris Barkley, competition adviser to the city on behalf of the American Institute of Architects, said that having ideas before gathering the money to finance them is the key, and the Catalyst Capitol Mall Design Competition is the first step in what will eventually be a totally redone corridor that historically served as the gateway to the city.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow him on Twitter @Brandon_Darnell.

Food truck ordinance talks postponed

2011-11-02T03:30:50Z

Any decision regarding Sacramento’s controversial food truck ordinance – which currently limits trucks to operating a maximum of 30 minutes in one spot – will have to wait, since a City Council Law and Legislation Committee meeting was canceled Tuesday.

“There’s a lot of stuff to look at in state law, and we’re trying to figure that out,” said Councilman Jay Schenirer, chairman of the committee. “A lot of it is whether it’s just legal or not.”

One of the legal issues is that California Vehicle Code protections on commercial vehicles can arguably be applied to mobile food vendor operations.

Operators of food trucks have been advocating changing the city ordinance for more than a year, saying that the 30-minute time limit keeps them from being able to reasonably do business in city limits.

The inaugural SactoMoFo, a mobile food festival held in Fremont Park in April, was by all accounts a successful event, and since then, a serious push has been under way to revise Sacramento’s ordinance.

But it’s not as easy as doing away with the existing laws.

Some “brick-and-mortar” restaurateurs said they are afraid that allowing food trucks to operate within the city without proper regulation will pose serious threats to their businesses.

“What it comes down to is very real, very human issues,” said Daniel Conway, spokesman for the California Restaurant Association. “It’s a challenging economic time, and all business owners are as acutely aware of their balance sheet as ever.”

He added that he believes mobile food vendors and traditional restaurants can easily coexist.

The Law and Legislation meeting planned for Tuesday could have addressed that, but city officials said they want to make sure any new ordinance has legal merit.

“We’re still moving forward on it,” said Councilman Darrell Fong. “There’s a lot of interest from the different parties involved in this, and it’s going to take all those groups working together: restaurant owners, mobile food trucks and us as a city.”

Conway said the legality of local governments regulating commercial vehicles is murky at best.

“There is some existing case law and appellate law that has found the state vehicle code preempts local ordinances, and therefore local governments are pretty limited in what they can do to regulate commercial vehicles,” he said.

The answer to that question is what stalled the issue in Sacramento Tuesday.

“They really want to make sure they get this right, and I think they really are sincere about setting a model and giving citizens a chance to experience both types of food,” Conway said. “They’re digging deeper than most jurisdictions have.”

According to the staff report for the meeting, the revisions to the ordinance will be addressed in four areas: vending on public right-of-ways; vending on private property and any related zoning issues; hours of operation and/or time limitations; and permitting and operating requirements for mobile food vendors.

Conway added that he doesn’t think the City Council is being complacent and pushing the issue aside, but rather that it has been very busy since April, dealing with issues such as medical marijuana, Occupy Sacramento, backyard chicken coops and the budget.

“I always say, it was being awfully hopeful that we could be able to get it done by the year’s end,” said Catherine Enfield, who operates the Munchie Musings blog and aTwitter account covering Sacramento food trucks.

“Basically, it’s just frustrating,” she said, “but it’s just a setback in the timeline. I’m still very encouraged by what I hear out of City Hall. I’m still very hopeful, you just have to be patient.”

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow him on Twitter @Brandon_Darnell.

TSA adds full-body scanners to new terminal

2011-10-29T01:11:16Z

Sacramento International Airport received the first wave of advanced imaging technology scanners – commonly called full-body scanners – after the opening of Terminal B earlier this month, and the rest should be installed by the end of November.

The scanners, which each cost between $150,000 and $170,000 and are paid for by the Transportation Security Administration and are designed to detect both metallic and nonmetallic threats to security, namely explosives, according to TSA spokesman Nico Melendez.

“The walk-through metal detectors do a great job finding metallic items, but they aren’t as effective at finding explosives,” Melendez said. “The threat as we know it is definitely explosives.”

The new scanners use radiation to take a picture of a passenger, and according to the TSA, the radiation used on the scanners is significantly less than a cellphone transmission.

Passengers going through security checkpoints must stand with their arms raised while the scanner takes an image of them, which is then displayed as a generic outline of a person. If the scanner picks up any “anomalies” on the person, a yellow box appears over that spot on the image.

Those anomalies can be anything from a cellphone in a pocket to a bomb made of plastic explosives – which might not trigger a traditional metal detector.

The detailed image of a person’s body is automatically processed by a computer in a similar way that some digital cameras and social media sites detect faces in photos – by scanning the image through a set of parameters of what is expected to be there.

When introduced in 2007, the imaging system was far more detailed than it currently is, prompting invasion of privacy concerns. Critics claimed the image was essentially a nude photo of a passenger. At that time, a TSA agent sat in a separate room and viewed the image, which critics said showed too much detail of the people being scanned, and there were fears of what happened to the image after the passenger left.

Passengers can decline the imaging, at which point TSA officials will check him or her in other ways, including a pat-down.

A software upgrade over the summer made the computers automatically process the detailed image, Melendez said.

“It’s not passenger-specific anymore. It’s a generic image, and there is no security officer in another room.”

Now, the generic image is shown to the passenger and does not reveal details of his or her body.

The American Civil Liberties Union applauded the move, though some concerns still remain.

“This technology represents a significant improvement for privacy over the scanners that reveal naked images to human screeners. That is a very good thing. It shows that the outcry against these scanners ... has had an effect, and that the TSA has been forced to respond and implement a less invasive system,” ACLU spokesman Jay Stanley wrote in a July 20 press release.

Later on in the release, however, Stanley addressed what the ACLU says is still a problem: “This system remains an intrusive search underneath individuals’ clothing. Privacy concerns especially remain for those who have “anomalies” that must be investigated, such as people with adult diapers, prosthetic breasts following mastectomies, colostomy appliances, catheter tubes – even just lumps on their body.”

Passengers interviewed by The Sacramento Press Friday had differing opinions on the scanners and their effectiveness.

“I don’t think we need them,” said Frank Kams, a 55-year-old salesman from Chino Hills, Calif. “I think it’s probably more of an inconvenience. I’ve been through the scanners eight times, and I don’t think there’s any guarantee they could stop an attack.”

He added that he thinks the new imaging technology is better than the more-detailed images from the past three years.

Lance Abbot, a 42-year-old insurance company employee from Dallas, said he isn’t bothered by the machines.

“They don’t bug me,” he said. “It’s good to know they are doing something to try to stop terrorism.”

Amanda Laramie, a 26-year-old consultant from Boulder, Colo., said she doesn’t feel any safer flying due to the scanners’ installation, but they aren’t an inconvenience or an invasion of privacy.

Another consultant from Boulder, 38-year-old Melissa Stratman, said she doesn’t put much faith in the airport security screening system in general, and doesn’t think the scanners add very much to it.

“The reality is, we were never worried about liquids until someone tried to blow up planes with them,” she said. “I don’t think they’re really thinking ahead to what the next threat could be. And any system that relies on you to tell them what is in your bag, like the liquids, I just think it’s set up for failure.”

Currently, five scanners are installed at Terminal B, Melendez said. Three additional scanners will be installed at Terminal A by the end of November.

“Having the new terminal built made installing the first five much easier,” he said. “We still have some logistical problems to sort through before we can put the others in at Terminal A.”

All eight of the machines are of the “millimeter wave” style, where passengers stand inside the scanner. The millimeter wave scanners all have the software upgrade to show the less-detailed image.

The other type of scanner installed at some airports – known as a “backscatter” scanner – is not used at Sacramento International Airport. Those machines do not yet have the software upgrade and still show a more detailed image, but the upgrade is expected to come later this year.

Airports across the nation have been getting the new scanners since 2007, with about 500 units bought and installed in 2010, Melendez said, adding that 300 are being installed this year.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow him on Twitter @Brandon_Darnell.

Council likely to oppose state/federal facility site

2011-10-25T00:44:20Z

The Sacramento City Council is expected to join other local governments Tuesday in opposing an area adjacent to the American River Parkway near the Nimbus Dam as a proposed site for a federal and state joint operations center handling flood control.

Warren Truitt, president of the Save the American River Association (SARA), said the operations center, if built at Nimbus, would be a “visual blight” on the area.

“It’s absolutely outrageous to place this high-security facility next to the parkway,” he said, “and it needs to be in a higher area, not at 28 feet. If the dam were to break, this area would flood along with other residences in that area.”

Currently, three sites are under consideration for the operations center, which will employ about 600 people and open as early as 2015. The other two sites include Mather Field and a commercial center near Kilgore Road and Sunrise Boulevard in Rancho Cordova.

The center will be a partnership between the National Weather Service, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the California Department of Water Resources.

Workers at the center will be tasked with flood management and flood control, as well as emergency management during floods.

“We’re still early in the process. A decision hasn’t been made,” said Russ Grimes of the Bureau of Reclamation. He added that public opinion on the issue will “absolutely be considered.”

A resolution opposing the site adjacent to the American River Parkway is on the Sacramento City Council’s consent agenda for Tuesday, a portion of the agenda reserved for items not expected to be controversial among council members.

Councilman Steve Cohn said putting the three-story, 200,000-square-foot center next to the American River Parkway below the Nimbus Dam is a bad idea.

“The primary purpose of the parkway is recreation and nature, and so we don’t want a real large office structure within it,” he said. “Also, if we really have a major flood, you would want your emergency operations center to be outside the flood zone.”

Sandy Cooney, a spokesman for the Department of Water Resources, said the flood risk at the site is minimal, as it’s outside the 200-year flood protection zone.

“If that area would be in any way at risk for flooding, so too would the entire city of Sacramento,” he said. “The flood would have to be significant and catastrophic.”

He added that all three sites are being considered equally and echoed Grimes’ sentiment that public opinion will play a large part in the decision-making process.

The operations center is nothing new, as it has been located near Watt and El Camino avenues for the past 15 years, Grimes said. It was known at the time that the agencies would expand, and with leases expiring in 2015 and the current space being too small, it’s time for a move.

Several criteria were needed for the placement of the center, including a redundant power supply – power coming from multiple sources – a size big enough to accommodate the employees, a location outside of the 200-year flood plain and, ideally, it would be on government-owned property.

The Nimbus site met all the criteria, as it is on federally owned property, he said. It is bordered by the Nimbus Fish Hatchery, residences and Hazel Avenue.

Sacramento County unanimously adopted a resolution in opposition to the Nimbus site Sept. 20, and the city of Rancho Cordova adopted a similar resolution the same week, said Ted Wolter, chief of staff for County Supervisor Roberta MacGlashan.

“A building three stories tall with security fences and security lighting 24 hours per day is not appropriate for this space,” he said, adding that support from the city of Sacramento would be welcome.

“I think it just shows the region is united,” he said. “While we really want these jobs in the region – they’re there now, we want to keep those jobs – we want them to be compatible with the American River Parkway.”

Truitt said about 300 local residents and parkway users came to a Sept. 22 public meeting at the Sacramento State Aquatics Center on nearby Lake Natoma in opposition of the Nimbus site.

He said the other two sites under consideration are adequate, and SARA will continue to work with government officials to try to keep the Nimbus site from being chosen.

Sacramento City Councilman Jay Schenirer said the city is aiming to join with the county in opposing the Nimbus site even though it doesn’t fall within the city because it is a regional issue.

“I think if you look at the parkway and kind of Sacramento’s role, we have a lot of residents that use it,” he said. “I’m actually on the parkway every weekend. I think it’s a wonderful place to get away from everything, to enjoy the natural beauty Sacramento has. Putting something like that on there changes the focus.”

Though Sacramento might oppose the site, the city has no direct power the site, as it is federal property.

Cooney reiterated that the process is in its very early stages, and no decisions have yet been made.

“There are all kinds of discussions happening about the three different sites,” he said. “The comments people make are critically important to this process.”

To view the public website for the environmental process of the center, click here.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow him on Twitter @Brandon_Darnell.

Capitol Mall design competition winners to be announced Nov. 9

2011-10-18T01:16:33Z

An array of designs submitted as part of the Catalyst Capitol Mall Design Competition in an effort to spark a “big idea” for future enhancement of the corridor from Tower Bridge to 10th Street were reviewed by a jury Oct. 7, and winners will be announced Nov. 9.

While the winner can’t yet be revealed, Kris Barkley, competition adviser to the city on behalf of the American Institute of Architects, described some key assets of the winning proposal.

“The first-place winner, I think, is really, really focused on what I think the people of Sacramento are feeling will work there,” he said. “It’s a tree-centered development that improves the urban canopy we have in Sacramento and brings it more fully into Capitol Mall.”

The competition began earlier this year and is intended to redesign the section of Capitol Mall from Tower Bridge to 10th Street after it was returned to city ownership by the state in 2006.

The first-place design will be awarded $20,000, with $10,000 for second place and $5,000 for third place.

An entrance fee of $200 per design was charged, which covered part of the cost. The total competition budget was $66,500.

With the ongoing economic crisis, Barkley said one aspect any successful design would have is the ability to be built in phases.

“They can be accomplished in smaller chunks to create an overall master plan over a period of years,” he said. “That way, the city can ease into it slowly as funds are available.”

The 48 designs that met the criteria, which can be viewed here, include a wide range of ideas.

One involves removing the center median, moving traffic lanes closer together and widening the existing sidewalks. Another envisions constructing a raised grass walkway, and still others call for the construction of iconic buildings used for myriad purposes.

Barkley said the second-place design divides Capitol Mall into different zones, with some being open plazas as public space and others being quieter.

One of the jurors in the decision-making process was Sacramento Urban Design Manager Bill Crouch, who said the field of entries was varied and made up of quality designs.

“We got a lot of really good, creative submittals,” he said. “There wasn’t one idea that was repeated over and over again.”

For fairness, Crouch said, judging criteria was set from the beginning and applied equally to all submissions, and each submission had a number attached to it instead of a firm so no juror would know whose project he or she was looking at, and therefore would judge it only on the quality.

“I think the public will be really impressed when the winners are announced and there’s an opportunity to view them,” he said. “The public should be encouraged that in a down economic climate, there’s so much international interest. The designs came from all over, and I think that’s a compliment to Sacramento.”

Designs came from all six inhabited continents, including countries as diverse as Iran and Vietnam.

Crouch added that the decision-making process took the better part of a day – even after jurors had reviewed the designs – but by the end, there was a general consensus on which projects deserved first, second and third prize.

The jury was made up of three internationally known design professionals, Crouch, a representative from the state and a Capitol Mall District representative. To view the jurors’ biographies, click here.

“I’m excited that there was interest from all over the world and that we had that number of submissions,” said City Councilman Steve Cohn. “I can’t discuss personal observations because I haven’t had a chance to look at them, but I understand from city staff that we got some very high-quality submittals.”

Cohn added that he looks forward to getting a vision for what the Capitol Mall corridor – including branching off to the Crocker Art Museum and Westfield Downtown Plaza – will look like and start making steps toward realizing that vision.

Other details of the winning designs will not be released before the Nov. 9 announcement, said Marika Rose, spokeswoman for the competition.

The announcements will be made at the Wells Fargo Center, 400 Capitol Mall, in an event that is open to the public, with ticket prices of $25.

“There will be a video presentation to highlight the winners and explain why they were chosen,” Rose said, adding that the video will also give history of Capitol Mall, which was originally considered the gateway to the city.

Members of the pubic can also vote for their favorite design through the Catalyst website.

“I think it’s always interesting to see what comes out of the public viewing of things and makes the process more transparent,” Barkley said. “Anyone can get in and see what’s happening, and it helps them see how the winners were selected.”

Lisa Martinez, marketing director for the Downtown Sacramento Partnership, said the designs that DSP staffers have had the chance to review look promising.

“We haven’t had a chance to really be able to review every single one of the entries, but from just the few we’ve looked at, there are a lot of great ideas and a lot of creativity coming out,” she said.

Rose described the whole process as smooth.

“It was a pleasure for everyone to work on,” she said. “It was very little investment for the city, and they’ll get a great return on phase-able designs.”

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow him on Twitter @Brandon_Darnell.

Capitol Mall design project getting worldwide attention

2011-09-15T23:10:52Z

More than 70 design entries have been submitted for the Capitol Mall design competition to redo the section of the street west of the Capitol building, and organizers said Thursday that they expect to get up to a total of between 150 and 200 over the next couple of weeks.

The competition’s goal is to draw interest from international designers, architects and urban planners as well as from locals, with the winner taking home a $20,000 prize.

“We’ve been really pleased with the turnout,” said Kristopher Barkley of the American Institute of Architects Central Valley Chapter, which is advising the city on the competition.

He added that the 70 entries have come from all six inhabited continents, and submissions have come from places as far-flung as Iran and Vietnam.

“It puts a spotlight on Sacramento,” said Maurice Chaney, a spokesman for the city. “People throughout the world can really bring some good ideas to revitalize and bring some good energy to Capitol mall.”

Those ideas, however, won’t translate to construction anytime soon.

“This is sort of an idea-gathering type of event,” Chaney said. “Based on that, we can see what would be implementable in a short period of time or long-term. At this point, this is the first of many steps to redesign Capitol Mall.”

Barkley said there is still time for people to enter the competition, with the deadline for submissions being Sept. 29.

“A lot of people wait closer to the deadline to turn in, so we are expecting more to come,” he said. “It’s exciting how far it’s reaching. It’s really getting out there and bringing in a lot of entries.”

Anyone can submit a design – large or small – to fit the parameters of the competition, which are outlined on the competition’s website.

The competition came about when the state returned control of the portion of Capitol Mall between Tower Bridge and the Capitol to the city five years ago.

“I think it’s a really exciting time for Sacramento,” Barkley said. “Even though we’re in a recession, it’s these kinds of positive things that will move us forward and take us out of it into the future.”

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow him on Twitter @Brandon_Darnell.

K Street work well under way

2011-09-15T07:40:23Z

Crews made progress on preparation work for the 900 block of K Street Wednesday in advance of scheduled resurfacing starting Thursday night. The city is working to bring cars back to what has been a pedestrian mall for about 40 years.

A tentative completion date has been set for the end of October, with a grand opening planned for Nov. 5, according to an email from Linda Tucker, spokeswoman for the city Department of Transportation.

The move to return vehicular traffic to the blighted area that was formerly a thriving business district was approved by the City Council earlier this year.

The older brick paving stones were laid down atop sand, and over time, they tend to shift, making them unsuited for vehicular traffic, Tucker said.

The pavers will be replaced with stamped concrete, which will be poured over Thursday, Friday and into next week.

The 900 block is the only one to receive the full concrete pouring, with the work spanning the 800 block to the 1200 block consisting mostly of sidewalk improvements at street corners for compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Light rail service continues despite the work.

Workers coated the bare metal tracks with a rust-preventing solution that will protect them from degradation after the new concrete is poured around them. The rust prevention treatment was needed after the tracks were sandblasted.

While the work is being done, pedestrians can still traverse most portions of the street, though some crosswalks will be closed, and fencing will keep pedestrians out of some areas.

Vehicular traffic will not extend through the 700 block of K Street, where a massive redevelopment project is under way opposite Saint Rose of Lima Park. Instead, the section will remain as it has, with St. Rose of Lima Park on one side and multiple upcoming businesses facing it on the south.

R Street construction on pace for fall finish

2011-08-19T00:02:40Z

Construction on R Street downtown is on schedule for completion this fall, and local residents and businesses are largely supportive of the revamped streetscape that adds sidewalks, lighting and other amenities.

“It’s progressing wonderfully,” said Dino R. Grassini, a manager at the Fox and Goose Pub and Restaurant, which sits on 10th and R streets. “Teichert (the contractor) is really helping minimize the impacts on business.”

Construction has been taking place on R Street from 10th to 13th streets since last September, and the goals of the approximately $2.75 million project are to make continuous sidewalks, add street lighting and benches, and preserve some of the historic character, namely by keeping railroad tracks in place.

The project costs didn’t take up the full amount of funding earmarked for the project by the federal government, so an archway was added to the design.

The project should be completed in October, but the archway might push the final completion date into November, said Department of Transportation spokeswoman Linda Tucker.

“It’s on schedule, and we’re right around where we need to be,” she said.

Grassini said he thinks the improvements will help make R Street a more attractive part of town.

“So far, we’re really happy with what’s going on,” he said. “Accessibility is going to be great, and it’s going to draw more attention to the corridor”

He added that business at the Fox and Goose hasn’t slowed during the construction, attributing it to both a loyal customer base and ample signage from Teichert letting people know that the R Street businesses are open during the work.

Christina Handal, who works for the Foundation for California Community Colleges near 13th and R streets, said the construction is an inconvenience, but the benefits are worth it.

“I walk down here two or three times a week,” she said. “I never used to walk on R Street because there were no sidewalks, but it’s a lot safer now. I don’t have to go down to S (Street) anymore.”

Not everyone is happy, however, as Richard Tolmach, who lives near 13th and R streets, said he would like to see trees planted in the area.

“The net effect is it’s going to be ugly and uninhabitable in the summer,” he said.

Trees that had historically been on R Street were removed in the 1960s, he said.

He added that the concrete areas have become popular with skateboarders.

Tucker said the Department of Transportation has been working with him since 2006 to address issues he has brought up.

Eleven trees have since been slated for inclusion on the north side of the street, she said Thursday, and staff is determining whether another tree can be added to the south side.

A second phase of the project, according to Tucker, will see similar improvements to R Street from 16th to 18th streets. City staff is currently looking at funding options for that portion of the project, and funding should be ready by 2013.

In addition to sidewalk improvements, it will incorporate a market plaza between 16th and 18th streets as a communal gathering place.

For more information on the second phase, click here.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow him on Twitter @Brandon_Darnell.

New redistricting map as deadline looms

2011-08-09T01:46:00Z

Tuesday night could be the last chance for the public to give input on the city’s redistricting maps, even though another map was added to the mix on Friday.

The newest map is a merging of the two maps brought to the table July 26 by Councilmembers Sandy Sheedy and Steve Cohn.

Cohn said he and Sheedy decided to merge their maps, since they were so similar.

Redistricting will likely be the biggest topic of discussion at Tuesday’s City Council meeting, which will be held at 6 p.m. at 915 I St.

“This is the best opportunity for people to provide public testimony,” said Scot Mende, the city’s new growth and infill manager.

Currently, the council is looking at the four maps submitted by the Citizens Advisory Committee on Redistricting, the merged map from Cohn and Sheedy (pictured above) and the maps submitted individually by Cohn and Sheedy. The latter two maps likely won’t get much consideration, if any, in light of the new one.

“The council could, in essence, say, ‘This is the map we want. Staff, please prepare the ordinance and bring it back for adoption in two weeks,’ ” Mende said Monday.

Cohn said that is what he wants to see from the meeting.

“My goal would be to narrow it down to one map,” he said. “That would still give us time to make refinements and tweak it.”

The deadline to redraw the districts is Sept. 27.

At the contentious July 26 City Council meeting, Cohn said he introduced his map because he didn’t want to break up the neighborhoods, which he said was a problem with the four maps submitted by the advisory committee.

“I would say all four maps have problems, frankly, but the one that seemed to have the most support on the Citizens Advisory Committee on Redistricting was Map D,” Cohn said Monday.

He added that he used Map D as a starting point for his map and then altered it to bring some neighborhoods in North Sacramento and Del Paso Heights back together.

“It still keeps all of downtown and Midtown together (in District 4), but the River District and the railyards go in District 3,” he said. “That has the advantage that whoever is the council member in District 3, which is me at the moment, will have more time and will be able to focus on railyards more. The council member representing downtown and Midtown will have their hands full.”

Cohn said he and Sheedy worked together to come to the current merged version of their two maps.

Sheedy did not return phone calls Monday.

The new map came as a surprise to Nick Avdis, a neighborhood leader who lives in Valley View Acres, which is currently in District 1, but which under the new map would be put in District 2.

“I would say it’s a little bit of a concern that something arose like this sort of at the last minute before the hearing,” he said.

He added that the approximately 450 residents in the neighborhood identify more with Natomas in District 1 than neighborhoods in District 2, and issues such as levees and the possibility of nearby land annexation – both in District 1 – impact them.

“We feel our interests are better-aligned with District 1,” said Avdis, who partook in the redistricting meetings the city has held over the past five months and even submitted a map himself.

He speculated that the reason his neighborhood was put into District 2 in the new map is because Cohn and Sheedy were trying to lessen population deviation between districts.

Cohn acknowledged that the new map he and Sheedy put together isn’t perfect, adding that it’s not possible to make one that will satisfy everyone.

Currently, the merged map has a population deviation of 11.9 percent between districts. Original guidelines for the citizen-submitted maps called for deviations of 10 percent or less, but Mende said that’s not a law, and if there are reasons for the deviation that are justified, it can still be used.

The law requires that districts be evenly split by population, but it does allow for some variation. Mende added that a 10 percent deviation is a rule of thumb used as a guideline.

“I’m fairly confident that any of those seven maps would pass legal muster,” he said. “There is no perfect solution.”

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow him on Twitter @Brandon_Darnell.

Council passes two-year taxi permit moratorium

2011-08-06T00:51:22Z

No new taxis will be allowed in Sacramento for the next two years, after the City Council passed a moratorium on new cab permits in a 7-2 vote Thursday.

The moratorium was the first, and less-contentious, of two proposed ordinances related to the 450-500 taxis operating in the city.

The other ordinance, which has yet to come to council, would require taxi companies to have a central dispatching station, which has come under fire from some taxi drivers. To read more, click here.

Dafna Gauthier, business permit manager for the city, told the council that staff recommended the two-year moratorium to give them time to study the taxi market, and that there is a “general consensus” that there are too many taxis downtown.

Another aspect of the industry that will be studied during the moratorium, she said, is the feasibility of bringing in tougher emission standards.

Councilman Jay Schenirer was the major voice of opposition to the ordinance on the council, saying he doesn’t want to over-regulate the market.

“I’m not sure what it means when staff says ‘there’s a general consensus’ that we have too many cabs and how we quantify that,” he said, adding that he doesn’t think a moratorium is the right way to go.

Councilwoman Sandy Sheedy proposed the ordinance last October and said she stands by it.

“We need a moratorium, because as soon as we say the word moratorium, everybody runs out and applies for a permit,” she said, adding that the number of taxis has increased by about 50 percent since 2004.

“We need to slow it down,” she said.

Councilmen Steve Cohn and Kevin McCarty also spoke in favor of the ordinance, saying more regulation on the taxi industry within Sacramento is needed to provide a higher quality of service.

Mayor Kevin Johnson joined Schenirer in voting against the ordinance, though he didn’t comment on it.

About a dozen taxi drivers and company owners spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting, both supporting and opposing the ordinance.

Those who supported the ordinance said it is needed to preserve the economic viability of the industry, adding that there are too many cabs, and drivers sometimes wait for hours for a fare.

Drivers opposed to the ordinance said the City Council should not limit the number of taxis, and one man said he and his family would be on welfare if it wasn’t for his job driving a taxi, arguing that the moratorium will keep some people from working.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow him on Twitter @Brandon_Darnell.

Utilities audit promises big savings, questions linger

2011-08-06T00:48:08Z

The utilities department will be able to save more than $40 million over the next four years, according to an audit presented to the City Council Thursday, but some debate the accuracy of those numbers.

According tho the audit, which can be read here, six main areas of the utilities department can be run more efficiently.

The savings in the 2012 fiscal year would amount to approximately $8.6 million. The audit was requested by Mayor Kevin Johnson and Councilman Kevin McCarty last October, partially in response to a ballot measure that dealt with utilities rates, with McCarty saying it should be on the audit schedule ahead of other audits.

City Auditor Jorge Oseguera said that when talking to the utilities department, officials told him the department is in support of most of the findings and has plans to take action on them.

The report suggests that the city not replace backyard water mains before the end of their useful life, as it has been doing, since new meter-reading technology makes it unnecessary, Oseguera said, adding that the technology makes their moves redundant.

According to the report, that savings alone would amount to more than $31 million over four years.

New vehicle routing software could save approximately $1 million through fiscal year 2015, and more public education about recycling bins could streamline the process, saving more than $2 million in the same timeframe, according to the report.

Oseguera added that water treatment plants are staffed 24 hours per day with multiple people, but if two or three full-time equivalent employees could be reduced, that would save more than $2 million over four years.

Marcia Mooney, a spokeswoman for the Local 39 union, which represents the plant workers, said Sacramento’s drinking water is the best in the state and 18th-best in the country, according to a report released last year.

“If it’s not broke, don’t fix it,” she said, adding that there is a shortage of skilled plant operators, and laying off two or three would jeopardize the safety of the drinking water, and replacing the plant workers would be difficult.

“People generally don’t like change,” she said, referring to the morale dip she expects if plant workers are laid off. “If you make things uncomfortable (for those not laid off), they can find other jobs.”

Another point in the audit report recommends changing the city’s two-vehicle loose-in-the-street garbage pickup to a single vehicle of a different type.

Currently, the city uses a garbage truck followed by a tractor with a claw that picks up loose-in-the-street garbage and deposits it into the truck. The report points out that the city could save as much as $5.5 million by switching to a single “boom truck” that has a crane-like claw device to pick up garbage.

Councilman Steve Cohn said Thursday he questions the amount of savings the report anticipates from stopping the water meter relocation and changing the loose-in-the-street garbage pickup.

“It’s not clear that the boom truck is the best solution for Sacramento,” he said, adding that the report “gave some great ideas.”

Councilman Darrell Fong said the Department of Utilities has done tests with the boom truck for garbage pickup and has not found it to be efficient.

Mayor Kevin Johnson addressed the audit in his Tuesday press conference, saying he was looking forward to receiving it, but he also had some criticisms.

“I think (the audit) is long overdue,” he said. “I’ve been talking about it for two and half years. I felt that we should have done a top-to-bottom audit much sooner, and here we are, two or three years down the road. Money literally is going down the drain."

He added that the utilities department will be having some “tough conversations” as a result of the audit.

“I think we need more accountability,” Johnson said. “I think the public deserves to know that issues are being addressed in a timely manner, not (that they are) something that we’ll get to ‘eventually.’ ”

Since the utilities department is an enterprise fund – meaning the services must be fully self-supporting and cannot charge more than the service costs – the money saved as a result of actions taken after the audit could not go into the general fund to pay for things such as police, fire, and parks and recreation. Any savings would result in lower utilities rates to residents.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow him on Twitter @Brandon_Darnell Staff Reporter Melissa Corker contributed to this report.

Shirey hired as city manager

2011-08-05T05:34:58Z

John Shirey will take the job as Sacramento’s newest city manager Sept. 1 after being confirmed by the City Council in an 8-1 vote in closed session Thursday night.

Mayor Kevin Johnson, who was the only “no” vote, said he and the council are “very excited” to have Shirey on board.

He added at a post-meeting press conference that he and the council unanimously agree that Shirey is an honest person and the proper amount of vetting was done before hiring him.

Shirey was called to the podium to make a few quick remarks during the regularly scheduled City Council meeting.

“To be able to assume the position of city manager is a great highlight for me in my life and my career,” Shirey said.

The details of the job agreement – including salary – were not available Thursday night and are expected to be released Monday and approved by the City Council Tuesday, according to city spokeswoman Amy Williams.

He will have a contract, which Johnson said will be the first time for a city manager in Sacramento, but details won’t be known until Monday or Tuesday.

Shirey most recently served as executive director of the California Redevelopment Association and also served as city manager for Cincinnati.

Johnson, who has expressed his dissatisfaction with the hiring process on his blog, saying he was disappointed with the number of candidates, praised Shirey’s experience at the local level in many cities, including Long Beach and Los Angeles.

When interviewed by The Sacramento Press two weeks ago, Shirey said that, if he got the job, fiscal responsibility and taking care of Sacramento’s budget would be his first priority.

Thursday night, he pledged to work with the City Council and mayor “in the most efficient and economical way possible.”

After the City Council meeting, Shirey said he sees the city already taking steps in the right direction, noting the Department of Utilities audit, which was also presented to the council Thursday night.

Johnson said the main priorities moving forward will be fixing the structural imbalance in the city budget, working with labor organizations and restructuring organizations within the city to be more efficient.

Shirey said he is looking to work with the mayor and council in its entirety, saying he doesn’t have his own agenda for the city.

“It’s not my agenda, it’s our agenda,” he said.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow him on Twitter @Brandon_Darnell.

Redistricting meeting sees new maps, accusations

2011-07-27T06:29:30Z

The redistricting process became more complicated at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting as new maps were introduced and ethics accusations levelled.

Councilwoman Sandy Sheedy called the integrity of the Citizens Advisory Redistricting Committee into question after finding out one of the committee members anonymously submitted a map.

In a move Mayor Kevin Johnson called disappointing, both Sheedy and Councilman Steve Cohn submitted their own maps, adding to the final four recommended by the citizens committee.

One of the final four maps recommended by the committee was listed as having an anonymous author, but it was revealed in the past few days that it was drawn by Steve Hansen, one of the committee members – a move that split the council and the committee.

“That’s wrong,” Sheedy said. “I think there was a real serious ethical lapse here. I guess my Catholic background tells me that there was a lie of omission.”

During public comment on the issue, Hansen contended that by turning in an anonymous map, it allowed his map to be judged on merit and not based on the fact that he presented it.

Hansen is active in the gay community, which advocated for recognizing the LGBT community as one of the “communities of interest,” which the law orders to be kept together.

“There’s no doubt that you are afraid of what redistricting brings,” Hansen said to the council in a nod to the fact that some redistricting options would pit council members against one another as their districts are redrawn.

“We’re supposed to live in a meritocracy,” Hansen said, “but merit does not stand on its own.”

He pointed out that several council members submitted maps through proxies and said that he was not in violation of the guidelines, which allowed for anonymous submissions.

Other committee members said during public comment that they did not know the map was drawn by Hansen.

Bill Camp, the committee member appointed by Sheedy, echoed Sheedy’s sentiments about the process.

“This process has no integrity,” he said. “There’s no honesty in these plans. It was a scam.”

Councilman Jay Schenirer, who who appointed Hansen, said he wasn’t aware that Hansen had authored the map until a couple of days ago.

Schenirer said he doesn’t want to throw out the work of the committee and trusts that Hansen’s map was judged on its own merit.

Johnson said he wishes it had been done a little bit differently, but does not think it affects the integrity of the process.

“I guess in hindsight I wish you would have put your name on the darned thing, but I don’t think by any stretch of the imagination should your map not be considered,” he said.

Other speakers during public comment – of which there were about 12 – generally advocated for lumping the central city into one district. It is currently split into three districts. Others wanted their neighborhoods – notably Del Paso Heights – kept together.

Three of the four maps from the committee kept the central city together, as well as both of the maps submitted by council members.

Cohn was first to debut his map, suggesting that the committee overlooked the need to keep Sacramento’s individual neighborhoods together.

“What I tried to do with this map is keep neighborhoods together,” he said. “The net result is I lose Midtown. From a sentimental standpoint, it’s very difficult.”

He said people made a persuasive case for keeping the central city together.

Sheedy introduced her map next, arguing that the other maps all split parts of North Sacramento or lumped other areas together where there is no physical connectivity, as they are split by a drainage canal and railroad tracks.

Sheedy said that her map better represents minorities, giving the Latino population a 30 percent stake in four districts.

The introduction of the two maps by council members was a move Johnson called disappointing.

“I thought we had the chance, with the citizens advisory committee, to really take politics out of the equation,” he said, adding that the greatest thing the council could do to honor the work of the committee would be to choose one of its four maps.

“I think what we’re doing today is undermining the whole process,” he said. “We use words like transparency, and we said that over and over, and all of a sudden we whip out two maps today.”

The next scheduled hearing on the redistricting maps will be held Aug. 9, and another meeting on Aug. 23 is scheduled, where the council is expected to make a motion of intent to choose one of the maps.

It is likely that whichever of the six maps is chosen will have its boundaries adjusted during the process before the final approval.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow him on Twitter @Brandon_Darnell.

Renters, landlords to feel effect of sewage rate hike

2011-07-26T01:15:09Z

The 30 percent increase in sewage rates that was approved last month will raise rents and make owning income properties more difficult, according to some in the industry.

The Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District approved the 30 percent increase over three years on June 23 in a 9-2 vote in response to a December decision by the state to set new guidelines for clean water in the Sacramento-San Juaquin Delta.

The new guidelines require tightening controls on sewage discharge that will cause the local providers to overhaul their systems.

To read more about the decision, click here.

“It’s troubling in this very down economic climate to see any increases of that magnitude,” said Jim Lofgren, executive director of the Rental Housing Association of Sacramento Valley, which represents the rental housing industry in throughout the valley.

He added, though, that he doesn’t hold the elected officials who approved the increase at fault.

“I think the elected officials were faced with a tough choice on that,” Lofgren said. “They had to comply with the new discharge permit. I think they were put in a pretty tough spot.”

Sacramento City Councilman Kevin McCarty told The Sacramento Press earlier this month that while he wasn’t at the June 23 meeting, he would have voted for the increase – which goes into effect in October – as a necessity.

Lofgren said he expects rents to go up.

“I think most owners try to pass on the cost, so that will probably be the effect with the sewer rates,” Lofgren said. “The raise in rents doesn’t necessarily mean a raise in profits for the owners, though.”

Chris Airola, owner of GCA Property Management in Citrus Heights, said the rate increase is the talk of all property owners.

“New (property) owners are finding a difficult time renting,” he said. “If you charge over $95 (per month) for utilities, you won’t rent the property.”

Twelve years ago, he said the average combined rate for water, sewage and garbage was $60. Today, the average is closer to $110.

“It just tightens the noose on landlords, and they tend not to be as happy with their properties,” he said. “The owners are thinking to pass it on, pass it on, pass it on, but if so, tenants probably won’t take the property.”

He added that landowners are purchasing fewer properties, as they see more taxes and fees cutting into their bottom line.

Shawn McGhee, an assistant with Vintage Properties in Sacramento, said the owners are likely to take a bigger hit than renters.

“Probably, it’s just a hardship on the owners,” he said. “Rents start out at a certain rate and go down from there (on vacant properties). People rent things for what they can rent it for, and ultimately, the longer it is vacant, the harder it is to keep waiting for a renter at a higher rate.”

McGhee said he doesn’t anticipate rental increases across the board in Sacramento, so he believes the costs will be mostly absorbed by property owners.

Lofgren said the now-familiar story of homeowners being upside-down in their mortgages – owing more on their homes than they are worth – applies to income properties as well.

“These are very tough times,” he said. “I don’t see people’s wages going up, and I don’t see unemployment going down.”

Compared to other segments such as home construction and sales, Lofgren said the rental market is doing better, but added that that’s not saying much, as the other industries are in such poor shape.

“Midtown and downtown are not hurting as badly as the suburbs, where there have been more foreclosures,” he said. “There’s been a desire for properties downtown due to rising gas prices and the urban renewal we’re seeing within a five-mile radius of downtown.”

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow him on Twitter @Brandon_Darnell.

City manager front-runner emerges

2011-07-22T19:07:45Z

California Redevelopment Association Executive Director John Shirey emerged as the front-runner Friday for Sacramento’s city manager position.

“Right now, we’re going through the process (of hiring a city manager),” said City Councilman Darrell Fong. “He is definitely the strong candidate, and he is definitely the focus.”

The council has not made a decision, though there was a closed-session meeting Monday in which the city manager search was the topic. The city has been without a city manager since Ray Kerridge resigned in March, 2010.

In the meantime, both Gus Vina and a former city manager, Bill Edgar, served as interim city managers. Edgar is currently serving as interim city manager.

Shirey told The Sacramento Press Friday that the news is “a little premature because we haven’t made an agreement yet,” but confirmed that the city has indicated to him that he is a strong candidate.

“It’s a sensitive point in the discussion, and I want to make sure I don’t breach any confidences with the mayor and City Council,” he said, declining to speculate on whether an offer will be forthcoming.

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson wrote on his blog Friday that he is unhappy with the direction the city manager search has taken, but will respect the collective decision of the City Council.

“Having reviewed the pool of applicants in our latest search for a new city manager, I am disappointed to report the water has not run as deep as I would have hoped,” he wrote.

Fong told The Sacramento Press Friday that a little over 30 applicants responded to the national search.

“I was comfortable with the process,” Fong said. “To me, the candidate base, it could have been larger, yes, but I have been through a lot of (hiring) processes with the Police Department, and I think (the city manager search consultants) did a good job.”

In a prepared statement Friday, Johnson said: "I'm disappointed in the process. It's the same process that has led to five city managers in less than six years. It's clear I have a different vision for the city and this position than the majority of council. But, I will respect our collective decision, and join all of my colleagues in offering my full support to the new city manager."

On his blog, he wrote that “a revolving door in your city manager’s office is nothing to brag about” and added that having repeated city manager searches does not instill leadership in a city.

But Fong said he thinks Shirey will fit the bill.

“If he is selected, I am confident he will do a very good job,” Fong said, describing Shirey as very professional and well-respected.

Shirey, 62, served as city manager for Cincinnati from 1993-2001 and said he is most proud of the redevelopment of the waterfront.

“When I arrived, it was mostly parking lots, abandoned rail lines and broken-down warehouses,” Shirey said. “It is now in a totally different state, including two new sports stadiums, which led to the retention of the Bengals and a home for the Reds.”

The Bengals arena, however, has been a controversial issue as noted in this recent Wall Street Journal article.

He said another accomplishment he oversaw in Cincinnati was the beautification of a freeway that traversed the area between much of the city and the waterfront.

“It’s a much safer route, and we incorporated a multimodal transportation center,” he said.

An arena and multimodal transit hub are two big projects the city of Sacramento is currently working on, but Shirey said that, if hired, those would not be his first tasks.

“I think the priority for me and the priority for the City Council is, first of all, we have to bring financial stability to the government, and we have to think how we’re going to do things differently that are going to be more efficient and economical while maintaining the important services the citizens expect,” he said.

Fong said talks of arenas and transit hubs did not factor heavily into the interview process, and were not brought up in the interviews he sat in on.

“He didn’t bring up those points,” Fong said Friday. “He’s talking about bringing economic development to Sacramento.”

After serving as city manager in Cincinnati, Shirey came to the California Redevelopment Association, headquartered in Sacramento.

“He has lived in the city for the past nine or 10 years,” Fong said, adding that it was to his district that Shirey moved. “He has strong knowledge, and given his employment, he’s been keeping up on what’s going on in the city.”

Shirey said he thinks that helps prepare him to take the job if it is offered to him.

“I’m a resident, and I work here,” he said. “Obviously, it has helped me to know the personalities in the city. I know the issues and the challenges it faces.”

Shirey is one of two candidates remaining in a process that drew more than 30 applicants, Fong said, declining to name the other.

The process involved hiring a consultant to conduct a national search for a city manager candidate. Council members gave the consulting firm a list of qualities they were looking for, and after the application process, it was narrowed down to the two remaining ones.

A decision on the city manager position is expected soon. The original contract with Edgar as interim city manager went into effect April 9 and was for a three-month period.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow him on Twitter @Brandon_Darnell.

Council gives nod to Capitol Mall design project

2011-07-13T06:25:28Z

The Capitol Mall design competition is officially under way after the City Council gave the nod to seek worldwide and local ideas for ways to revitalize the space from Tower Bridge to the Capitol Tuesday night.

The project was approved without comment as part of the consent agenda, which is where items deemed not to be controversial are placed.

Competition organizers are looking to make the place a vibrant draw and focus on sustainability.

Ideas brought up in the conversation on a previous Sacramento Press article include adding a streetcar line, focusing on housing and retail on the first floors of office buildings, and bringing more events to the space.

And others suggested leaving it alone.

The competition will be administered by the American Institute of Architects Central Valley Chapter.

According to a city staff report, competition entrants will be encouraged to focus on sustainable features in the design.

The city staff report also states that entrants will be asked to produce a design that will make the space a vibrant destination, come up with catalyst projects that will help achieve that, make the space event-friendly and not block the view corridor from the bridge to the Capitol.

And one of the basic requirements: Make sure the design can realistically be implemented.

The competition’s total cost is $66,500, according to the staff report. Entrants will be charged $200.

A website has been set up for the competition and can be viewed by clicking here.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow him on Twitter @Brandon_Darnell. Staff Reporter Melissa Corker contributed to this report.

Bridge over tracks to connect Curtis Park, Land Park

2011-06-14T00:53:50Z

Residents will get a chance to see the design of a planned pedestrian and bicycle bridge over the railroad between Curtis Park and Land Park Wednesday night.

The city’s project team will give a construction update at the Sierra 2 Center for the Arts and Community, 2791 24th St., at 6 p.m. ~~6:30 p.m~~ . Wednesday

The bridge is designed to give pedestrians and cyclists safe access over the railroad tracks from the light rail stop at Sacramento City College near the intersection of 24th Street and Sutterville Road.

“Currently, pedestrians and bicyclists must use Sutterville Road to travel between Curtis Park and the light rail station,” according to a Department of Transportation newsletter. “This multi-lane, high-speed roadway makes walking and bike riding a risky and inconvenient way to travel.”

Click here to see the city's map of the area.

According to the newsletter, the elevated track crossing will be 12 feet wide, with concrete railings and access shields to give riders and walkers enough space for safe two-way traffic.

Engineers will be able to begin the design phase in July, when the environmental phase is completed. A grant of $500,000 was received from the Sacramento Area Council of Governments, and no funding is coming from the city’s general fund, which is currently $39 million in the hole as City Council attempts to balance spending and revenues.

Sacramento Department of Transportation spokeswoman Linda Tucker said the project is a candidate to receive Proposition 1B funds from SACOG.

“The city should succeed in getting the money to build it,” she said in an email Monday. “It’s really a ‘feel-good’ project that will get students and RT riders from Point A to Point B in the safest, most direct fashion.”

The design phase is expected to be completed in 2012.

Currently, the design includes using both ramps and staircases to access the elevated crossing. Ramps will comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and stairs might have small ramps incorporated into them that would allow cyclists to push their bicycles up the stairs if they don’t want to use the longer ramps.

The approach ramps are 400 feet long on either side of the 300-foot span over the railroad tracks.

The project goes back to 2006, when a feasibility study was funded as the city looked to link the already pedestrian-oriented Curtis Park and Land Park neighborhoods and provide better access to public transit, according to Tucker.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow him on Twitter @Brandon_Darnell.

Editorial Note: A correction has been made to this story after it was published. The incorrect information has been struck out and the correct information has been added.

Police move could save money after initial cost

2011-06-03T05:06:31Z

If the Sacramento Police Department headquarters moves from Freeport Boulevard to Richards Boulevard, it could save $500,000 per year, but with it comes an up-front moving cost of $1 million, according to a report released Wednesday afternoon.

This would force other city departments – community development, parking services and code enforcement – to relocate from the building at 300 Richards Blvd. to City Hall, according to City Councilman Steve Cohn.

The idea stems from the Police Department, which has been looking at moving its headquarters from the Public Safety Center on Freeport Boulevard for the past three years to save money, police spokesman Sgt. Norm Leong said.

Being closer to the central city gives the Police Department numerous benefits, Leong added.

The proximity to downtown would allow police to cut gasoline costs for business conducted with the courthouses or the city, and it would be more centralized to the whole city, which would make it more convenient for the community to come for business with reports, citations, fingerprinting and similar activities.

Cohn added that it’s only feasible if there is a net savings, as the city faces a $39 million budget gap for the coming fiscal year. (To read about the budget, click here, and for more information, click on the "Storyline" tab in the linked article.)

“If we can save that kind of money, I think we need to do it,” Cohn said. “Whatever we can do to prevent layoffs, I’d support, but only if it’s an overall savings.”

With a continued structural imbalance with the general fund – having more expenses than revenue – the long-term savings are attractive, but the initial hit to the general fund would add to the current crisis.

“The costs to move would come out of the general fund,” said city spokeswoman Amy Williams. “Any savings we get later on would help the general fund.”

That move would not save any money in the coming fiscal year.

“No savings could be achieved, however, in FY2011/12 given the time needed for evaluation and implementation and the initial costs for moving,” according to the report.

Moving the majority of police operations to Richards Boulevard would fill the entire building, which would mean the other departments have to move.

Cohn said there is room at City Hall to accommodate them, but there isn’t a final plan as to where they would go yet.

“It’s taking a while to figure out all the logistics,” he said.

According to the report, a more detailed analysis will be delivered to the City Council at a later date.

A City Council budget meeting involving multiple city departments – including police, fire and parks – will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the council chambers in City Hall, 915 I St.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow him on Twitter @Brandon_Darnell.

Design competition to shape Capitol Mall

2011-05-30T20:12:14Z

The city of Sacramento is looking for a few good designers, urban planners, architects and artists to submit their ideas to revamp Capitol Mall, between Tower Bridge and Ninth Street. The juried competition is expected to draw international attention.

“Since the state turned Capitol Mall over to the city five years ago, there’s a growing impetus to do something with that space and get it activated,” said Chris Barkley of the American Institute of Architects Central Valley Chapter, the competition adviser to the city.

Stakeholders in the area have been meeting over the past five years and decided to put out a call for ideas to make Capitol Mall the significant street it once was, according to a brief* on the project.

According to the brief, Capitol Mall was the gateway to Sacramento from 1911 until the freeways arrived in the 1960s, and it then became crowded with office buildings that lack good access to common areas.

The purpose of the competition is to gather ideas on what can be done with the space, and participants are urged to be creative. Barkley said some lanes of traffic can be eliminated, creating either broader sidewalks for boulevarding or larger medians where public art or a memorial could be installed – or any number of other ideas.

“We’re looking for some really big ideas the community can get behind,” he said. “Funds are really tight right now, but if we have a good idea of what we want moving forward, then we can seek ways to fund it.”

The competition is expected to be approved at a City Council meeting in early July. After that, it will be announced to the international design community so it won’t be limited to locals.

One of the key factors many designers look at before entering a competition like this, according to Barkley, is who makes up the jury panel for judging it.

“We’re going to have a jury of nationally and internationally known design professionals,” he said. “We’re currently putting together a list of names. Submittees generally make their decisions about whether they will submit based on who will be reviewing the work.”

When the competition is opened for submissions, resources such as architectural drawings and restrictions – including the need to keep a visible corridor to the Capitol – will be posted online as references for people who wish to submit.

Barkley said links to the design competition will be posted to the city’s website as well as the AIA Central Valley Chapter website.

People with ideas will have about a month and a half to submit them, after which there will likely be a gala reception in September, Barkley said.

Ron Vrilakas, principal architect at Vrilakas Architects in Midtown, said it’s an interesting project that would be hard for any Sacramento architects or designers to look at without considering the possibilities.

“I do think (Capitol Mall) is ripe for some in terms of its urban design qualities,” he said. “In general terms, I think what is lacking on Capitol Mall is people. We need a reason for people to be there other than if they are just passing in a vehicle.”

Vrilakas said that will be the biggest problem to overcome, but also a key part of any successful project.

“It’s not an easy thing, but it’s probably the single biggest thing it needs. It’s not necessarily just about art objects,” he added.

Referencing the east side of the Capitol, Vrilakas mentioned an earlier attempt at a similar concept in the early 2000s from 15th Street to 17th Street.

“They had a fresh shot at how to make it a meaningful experience as part of the fabric of the city’s core,” he said. “They put art in a grassy area and failed miserably to do anything meaningful. It’s a lot harder than someone would think.”

An example of success, he said, is San Francisco’s Embarcadero in front of the Ferry Building.

Before the redesign, he said there was an elevated freeway and the Ferry Building was just a shell. Today, however, it is a destination for tourists and locals alike.

“It was thought out in a very complex manner and brought people in through a lot of different ways,” Vrilakas said. “It was not any one thing – you have a lot of reasons to go down there.”

Local businessman Chris Nestor, who owns House Kitchen & Bar at 555 Capitol Mall as well as Ink Eats & Drinks, 2730 N St., said he would love to see more foot traffic and reasons to visit Capitol Mall.

“There’s such an incredible view. It’s a shame it’s underutilized,” he said. “Once everyone leaves the buildings (for work), there’s nothing down there to draw anyone.”

He added that he would like to see more events such as parades, a New Year’s ball drop and Christmas lighting on the street, as well as making use of the central median.

“I’ve suggested some large artwork, unique benches – things like that,” he said. “I also think we need more family events – anything to get people down there to walk that corridor. It’s kind of a waste of median space out there, and more people would definitely be conducive to our business.”

*Editor’s note: Formatting irregularities in the brief linked here are due to file conversion. They are not present in the original document from officials.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento press. Follow him on Twitter @Brandon_Darnell.

Parks Department may expand field use

2011-05-13T01:27:57Z

An ordinance that bans for-profit businesses from renting Sacramento’s athletic fields could soon be a thing of the past in the Parks Department, which has seen numerous cutbacks and faces still more in the current budget.

“It does prohibit the commercial use of our fields,” said Teresa Jackson, the Parks Department’s general recreation supervisor.

The ordinance governs use of fields and, as it currently stands, does not allow commercial entities to rent fields unless they are taking part in a fundraiser for a nonprofit, Jackson said.

Jackson said that the ordinance is being reviewed. “It has been brought up over the years that there are a number of groups that would like to rent the fields,” she said.

One of those groups is XOSO Sport and Social League, an adult recreational athletic group that wants to use some fields for kickball games.

“It doesn’t make any sense,” said owner Nick Berruezo. “Most cities allow you to (rent sports fields) as a commercial business. They usually charge you a higher rate and give you last priority.”

Berruezo said he rents fields from West Sacramento and unincorporated parts of Sacramento County.

Jackson said the intent of the ordinance was to ensure that nonprofit sports groups like little league would have priority for field use. However, the city has far more athletic fields today, and Jackson said she thinks there is enough space to accommodate all the groups.

Dave Mitchell, operations manager for the Parks Department, said the idea to revisit the ordinance came from Parks Department Director Jim Combs as part of the budget process.

An email from Berruezo “certainly sped it along,” Mitchell said.

Combs will consider the issue next week, and a decision to modify the ordinance can be made as early as June, Jackson said.

“I think he’s open to it,” she said. “He wants to see all our fields in use and not have a surplus on-hand.”

The current fees to use the fields range from $17 per hour to $25 per hour per field, depending on size, Jackson said. If the fees are not changed to charge for-profit companies more, then the decision would not need to go to the City Council for approval.

Jackson said opening up field use would be an additional revenue stream to a department that has been racked by budget cuts in recent years. She declined to estimate how much the department could bring in on the first year.

All fees collected from field rental do not go to the city’s general fund, which currently faces a $39 million shortfall, but go directly back to the Parks Department to pay for some expenses. The Parks Department itself is largely supported by the general fund.

Berruezo said he has been renting fields in West Sacramento and the unincorporated area of Sacramento County for three years, and he would love to be able to rent fields within the city at parks like McKinley Park.

“West Sacramento charges $18 per hour for a softball field,” he said. “I would definitely rent in Sacramento, depending on rates or availability.”

He said he understands that cities reserve the right to give priority to nonprofit organizations, but he thinks it’s a bad idea to deny a revenue stream if the fields aren’t being used.

Jackson said the Parks Department has talked to the City Attorney’s Office, and after being given the legal green light, is researching fees in other cities.

“We want to see our fields used, and if we can bring in a new customer onto our fields to use them, we are happy to do that,” she said.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow him on Twitter @Brandon_Darnell.

Millions of salmon released into American River

2011-05-06T00:31:59Z

The first of about 3 million young salmon were released into the American River Thursday, and California Department of Fish and Game officials said they will finish the job Friday. They hope those fish will return to spawn within two to five years.

“They were spawned, hatched and partially raised at the Nimbus Fish Hatchery in Rancho Cordova,” said Dana Michaels, information officer for the Department of Fish and Game.

About 25 percent of them have coded wire tags in their noses so Fish and Game staff will be able to track how many of them are returning to their native grounds to spawn.

The goal, Michaels said, is to return the number of fish to their natural levels – levels that have dropped severely since the Gold Rush.

“There used to be millions and millions of salmon before we developed and affected their habitat,” she said. “Our real goal is to improve the return rate. We’d love to get it back to historic numbers.”

Releasing the fish under the Jibboom Street bridge in the River District has previously been successful and shown the strongest rates of return, but fish are also released in other areas, she added. One of the other areas is the San Francisco Bay, and there are other river locations as well.

The biggest effects Californians have had on the fish population stem from the building of dams – which blocked their waterways – and mining, which increased silt levels in the rivers and caused them to become shallower.

Releasing fish into the river is not a new program for the area, said Laura Drath, fish and wildlife interpreter at the Nimbus Fish Hatchery.

“The hatchery was built in 1955, at the same time as the Folsom and Nimbus dams,” she said. “Our mandate is to produce 4 million salmon and 430,000 steelhead trout every year.”

The hatchery was built by the federal Bureau of Reclamation as a result of about 100 miles of spawning ground being eliminated by the dams’ construction.

According to Drath, there is now only seven miles of habitat the fish can use to spawn because the dams blocked off the rest of the river.

Some hatcheries, she said, aim to increase the fish population, but the Nimbus hatchery is mandated to only replace what was lost from the historic numbers.

Michaels said monitoring the salmon population is integral to ensuring it isn’t over-fished.

“The last couple of years, the salmon population has collapsed,” she said. “We had to cancel two commercial fishing seasons.”

Water levels play into that, and the last three drought years were bad for the fish, but this year has produced good amounts of water, she added.

The fish released into the water this week should not be seen as a meal ticket to anglers, as Michaels said it is illegal to catch or possess them.

The salmon are only about 3 inches long, and anything less than an adult – usually about 12 inches – is illegal to catch on the American River.

Regulations vary by river, and the Department of Fish and Game has a complete list of regulations here.

The Nimbus Fish Hatchery, located at 2001 Nimbus Road in Gold River, has a free visitors center open from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. every day except Christmas. Outdoor areas at the hatchery are open from 7:30 a.m. - 3 p.m. every day except Christmas.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow him on Twitter @Brandon_Darnell.

City mulls new taxi regulations

2011-05-04T00:54:20Z

The City Council will decide within the next few months whether to stop issuing new taxi permits, and the council’s Law and Legislation Committee will take more time to decide whether central dispatching systems should be required for taxi companies.

“If approved (by the City Council), no new taxicab vehicle permits will be issued or renewed,” said Dafna Gauthier, business permit manager for the city. This will limit the number of cabs, she said, referring to the moratorium.

“There seems to be a consensus that there are too many taxis in the downtown area,” she added.

That was one part of a proposed ordinance city staff has been working on since last October.

The city’s taxi fleet was essentially unregulated until about seven years ago, according to Councilman Steve Cohn, adding that for the more than 20 previous years, “we ended up with about the worst taxi system there is.”

At the time those regulations were put in place, Sacramento had 258 taxis, a number that has since increased by 66 percent to 428, with population growth that does not come close to equaling the growth in taxis, according to the staff report for Tuesday’s meeting.

Councilman Darrell Fong said the concentration of taxis downtown is too great.

“I see them queued up in lines and arguing over parking spaces,” he said.

Cohn and Fong both supported the moratorium, while Councilman Jay Schenirer said he opposes limiting the number.

“We have a competitive business (environment),” he said. “People should be allowed to compete.”

A second piece of the ordinance is more controversial and will come back to the Law and Legislation Committee at a date to be determined, when Councilwoman Sandy Sheedy, who also sits on the committee but was absent from Tuesday’s meeting, will be available.

Schenirer said that as the city faces a smaller workforce with the impending budget crisis, he wants to make sure it “rises to the level of priority” to warrant using diminished resources.

The dispatch piece of the ordinance would require taxi companies to have central dispatching stations where drivers are given fares via two-way radio or mobile data terminals – in-car computers – rather than using cellphones, as some companies currently do.

Frederick Pleines, president of Yellow Cab Co. of Sacramento was one of about 10 people who spoke during the public comment session on the proposed ordinance.

He said his company already uses an automated dispatching system that provides better service, sending callers a text message letting them know how far away their cab is along with the driver’s name.

Another asset to an automated system, he said, is that it stores data for a year, and that can help law enforcement. He added that police ask him about four times per year for information about incidents in which suspected criminals use taxis for transportation.

“These are all good things,” he said. “The problem is, if you don’t require everyone (to have the same system), it makes us weaker.”

He also agreed that there are too many cabs in the city.

Dave Nirop, assistant manager of the AAA Association taxi company, said his drivers are opposed to the idea of the dispatch system.

He cited the cost of the system as a problem, and he said there is a customer service issue to consider as well.

People who call cabs, he said, oftentimes find a driver they like, and they want to get the same driver the next time they need a cab, so they will call his or her number directly, something he said a dispatch system might not allow.

Requiring taxi companies to use low-emission vehicles is something Schenirer, Cohn and Fong all agreed should be looked at in the future, but will likely have to be phased in, as it would present a large up-front cost to taxi companies.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow him on Twitter @Brandon_Darnell.

Anaheim bonds to need voter approval

2011-04-26T00:48:42Z

The Committee to Save the Kings has gathered enough signatures in Anaheim to halt the issuance of $75 million in bonds that was approved by the Anaheim City Council to fund a Sacramento Kings move to Anaheim, pending voter approval.

That’s according to Kellen Arno of Arno Political Consultants, which collected 11,000 - 12,000 signatures.

The next scheduled election is not until June of 2012.

The bonds will “absolutely have to” go before voters, he said.

According to Arno, his firm is finalizing the signatures – making sure the ones sent are all legible names and real addresses – and will send them to government officials in the next few days.

“We’re done,” he said, saying he is confident that all signatures have, in fact, been collected. “We’ve done this many, many times.”

The move essentially blocks the Kings from moving to Anaheim until voters approve the bonds or another source of funding is made available, attorney Jeffrey Dorso told The Sacramento Press April 8. A special election could be called before 2012, but it would be costly, he added.

The Committee to Save the Kings is made up of a number of Sacramento-area business leaders and involves former City Councilman Robbie Waters.

Representatives from the group did not return calls late Monday afternoon.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow him on Twitter @brandon_darnell.

*****

Also Monday, several sources confirmed that a meeting was expected to take place Tuesday between National Basketball Association representatives and business owners who had pledged more than $10.2 million in financial support for the Kings if they stay in Sacramento next year.

Company representatives, who attended a meeting with the NBA Thursday, had been asked Friday or over the weekend to tentatively reserve time at 10 a.m. Tuesday. The time and place of the meeting weren't confirmed by mid-Monday afternoon.

Those companies include Thunder Valley Casino Resort, Envision Pharmaceutical Holdings, Synergex, Western Health Advantage and Markstein Beverage Company.

NBA officials have said they want pledges to be formalized in some way. Company representatives weren't sure if they would be asked to write checks and make deposits on their pledges or just sign pledge agreements because that hadn't been clarified between the NBA and the city.

At least some of the companies can't commit hard financial numbers or determine the total they’d be willing to spend, because the Kings' owners haven’t talked with anyone to let them know what kind of sponsorship or marketing packages they could get in return, sources said.

Staff from the NBA's Team Marketing and Business Operations department will be here this week to meet with Kings supporters and gather more information.

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @suzannehurt.

DSP wants central city to be one district

2011-04-15T00:36:50Z

The Downtown Sacramento Partnership is recommending that all of the central city be included in one City Council district as the city undergoes its redistricting process, which must be completed by September.

“We want to affirm the importance of the central city, the heart of our city and our community, and have a collective voice within the central core,” said Wendy Hoyt, chairwoman of the DSP’s redistricting task force.

The DSP worked with a consultant, but anyone in the city can make redistricting maps and submit them. Find out how by clicking here.

Hoyt said the DSP defines the central city as the area bordered by the American River to the north, the Sacramento River to the west, Interstate 80 to the east and Highway 50 to the south.

“We would like to see it be one united council district, one voice,” she said. “That would make up 32,000 of a (roughly 58,000-person) City Council district.”

Currently, portions of the central city are represented by City Council Districts 1 (Angelique Ashby), 3 (Steve Cohn) and 4 (Rob Fong).

Hoyt said central city residents don’t have a majority portion of any of those districts, and they therefore can’t influence policy as well as if they were united.

Darrick Lawson, chair of the political action committee for the Sacramento Rainbow Chamber of Commerce, said he agrees with uniting the central city in one district, but for somewhat different reasons.

“For the gay and LGTB community, our interest is that our voting power not be divided up,” he said.

Most of the chamber’s research, he said, shows that the majority of the gay community and its allies live in the central city.

“We have data that show that’s kind of where we’re best-represented, and communities of interest are not supposed to have their voting power divided,” he said.

Hoyt said the DSP wants to work with other stakeholders in the central city to come up with a new district map that works for other central city interest groups.

Rob Kerth, executive director of the Midtown Business Association, said he could not comment on the DSP’s map, since he does not want to speak for his board – which is developing its own recommendations.

Similar efforts were made 10 years ago, when Hoyt headed DSP, but she said the landscape has totally changed since then.

She mentioned the growth seen in District 1 and added that the population center – according to DSP’s data and consultant – has shifted from the Curtis Park/Land Park area to the C and D street area on the north side of downtown.

“We did not have as strong a voice 10 years ago as we do today, but I also think as an organization we have matured,” she said. “We intend to be a strong voice at the table.”

City Councilman Rob Fong’s district director, Lisa Nava, said Fong thinks the DSP has valid points.

She said Fong thinks the DSP did a good job outlining its objectives, and that the move was expected.

“I don’t think it’s surprising that this is the map they prefer,” she said, adding that Fong is open to hearing more from the DSP and other constituents.

“He’s anxious to see if they come up with anything additional as well,” Nava said.

Hoyt said the DSP is still in the early phases of working with the city through the redistricting process and wants to work with other groups to possibly develop ideas that work for them all.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

More bicycle access coming to downtown

2011-04-13T23:25:28Z

Downtown Sacramento is going to get more bicycle-friendly over the next year and a half, as the City Council gave the nod for the Department of Transportation to begin planning more bicycle lanes for downtown streets Tuesday night.

“The intent of the project is to create bike lanes on some of the most traveled downtown streets,” said Ed Cox, the city’s pedestrian and bicycle coordinator.

The project will be completed in two phases. The first phase involves painting bicycle lanes on a number of streets that are already wide enough to handle the bikeways without losing any lanes or parking spaces, Cox said Wednesday.

“We’re looking at J Street, I Street, Ninth Street, Fifth Street, 10th Street and Capitol Mall,” Cox said. “We’re essentially repainting them to include bike lanes.”

The second phase will involve removing one lane of vehicle traffic from some one-way streets and painting bicycle lanes on both sides of them.

The streets being considered for phase two are Fifth, Ninth, 10th, G and H.

Cox said the bicycle upgrades are going to be very similar to the way Midtown is set up, and with the project being in its earliest phases, no comprehensive traffic flow studies have been completed.

“Based on preliminary assessments, it seems the streets we’ve chosen will not be badly impacted by taking away a lane,” Cox said.

The funds allocated to the project at the City Council meeting Tuesday night amount to $629,000 of Measure A transportation funds. None of the money will come from the general fund, which currently faces an estimated $35 million - $40 million shortfall.

According to the staff report, the addition of bicycle lanes downtown is in line with the city’s long-term goals as decided in 2002.

The project’s timeline is not set, but Cox said he hopes the design will be done in time to piggyback the project on the city’s annual street maintenance so there is no extra construction for drivers to navigate.

That annual street maintenance – which typically consists of sealing or re-laying asphalt – typically takes place in the summer.

Cyclists questioned downtown by The Sacramento Press Wednesday afternoon were in favor of the project.

“I was just thinking about bike lanes,” said Charles Davis-Burkes, who was riding his bicycle on the sidewalk of Fifth Street between J and I streets. “I was wondering what would happen if I got in trouble riding my bike on the sidewalk here, but my knee hurts, and I don’t feel comfortable riding on the street with it like that.”

He added that he thinks designated bicycle lanes would be a safer option than riding among the cars.

Cyclist C. Bradfield said he would feel safer with designated lanes downtown.

“There’s always danger,” he said. “Most of the drivers are pretty polite, but some idiots will all but run you down.”

Bradfield said he is a “big bike advocate” and uses the lanes whenever they’re available.

The bicycle lanes will give added safety and promote using bicycles downtown, said Downtown Sacramento Partnership Marketing Director Lisa Martinez.

“I think in general the Downtown Partnership is very supportive of encouraging people in the central city to use multimodal transportation – on foot, in a car and on a bicycle or public transit,” she said.

She added that being able to share the right of way between cars and bicycles will be better for the city in general.

“This is a good step in getting Sacramento to be seen as bike-friendly and really being able to have that as an amenity,” she said.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Desired city manager qualities announced

2011-04-13T04:21:49Z

The qualities desired in Sacramento’s new city manager were made public at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting.

The council voted to conduct a national search using a recruiting firm at its Jan. 25 meeting. The search was delayed after the council members decided not to discuss the characteristics they wanted in candidates as scheduled at the Feb. 22 meeting.

Executive Recruiter Stuart Satow of CPS Human Resource Services read the combined qualifications being sought by the City Council and Mayor Kevin Johnson. Going forward, Satow said he will condense the two pages of bullet points into a brochure which highlights the top qualities that will be issued to applicants.

“It’s a step in the process,” Johnson said after the meeting. “We’ll condense that into the top four or five for the brochure. It was a whole list – we have enough for 10 city managers.”

Some of the more than 25 bullet points in the ideal candidate profile include:
• Is a person of conviction – will provide best professional advice; is not a “yes” person and knows when to take a stand; possesses a strong “backbone.”
• Strong management experience working with budget and labor relations
• Will keep mayor and council informed; no surprises

Other points include working in a council/mayor system and being personable and a relationship builder.

The council members also identified a number of key issues and priorities they want the new city manager to focus on.

They include addressing the financial difficulties in the current economy, working effectively with labor unions and working with a diverse council representing multiple districts.

Satow said he hopes to have the brochure ready for approval at next week’s City Council meeting. After that, candidates will be asked to apply, and a final filing date for applications has been set for May 30.

The goal for announcing the new city manager is the third week in June, according to Johnson.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Legislation could force Kings to pay

2011-04-12T00:20:36Z

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) introduced a bill Monday that would require professional sports teams to pay off all debt involving taxpayer dollars to the municipality in which they are located before signing an agreement to move to another California city or county. ~~bar one California city from issuing bonds to lure a professional sports team from another city in which existing bonds had not been paid.~~

It would effectively require that the Sacramento Kings repay the city $77 million before the bonds approved by the Anaheim City Council could be issued.

“It’s all about public dollars involved not just in the situation currently pending with regards to the (Sacramento) Kings, but any other pending or future similar situations,” said Mark Hedlund, spokesman for Steinberg.

“We’re not trying to stop business from moving,” he added, “we’re trying to protect taxpayer money – city bonds and loans are taxpayer dollars.”

The bill, SB 652, was authored by Steinberg and coauthored by Assemblyman Roger Dickinson (D-Sacramento), Senator Ted Gaines (R-Fair Oaks) and Assemblyman Richard Pan (D-Sacramento).

It was introduced as an urgency measure, Hedlund said, meaning it requires a two-thirds vote, but would go into effect immediately upon passing, as opposed to other laws which are implemented at the beginning of subsequent calendar or fiscal years.

“We’re obviously trying to have it move as quickly as it can,” he said, adding that it will now have to go through the appropriate committees in both the Assembly and the Senate before it can be voted on and sent to Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk.

“I don’t know if that means it’s going to take a few weeks or a couple of months or whatever,” Hedlund said, adding that it will affect any agreements made after Jan. 1.

According to a press release issued by Steinberg’s office, “SB 652 also requires any professional sports franchise previously entering into a financial agreement with a California local government entity to provide a ‘bond, undertaking or deposit’ adequate to ensure its obligations will be satisfied before that franchise signs an agreement to move to another California location.”

The bill includes all professional sports and is not specifically intended to target basketball, Hedlund said.

“Pro sports teams frequently create partnerships with local government, but let’s not forget these are tax dollars at work,” Steinberg said in the release. “No one is saying sports franchises, like any other business, shouldn’t be able to move to another city. However, taxpayers in one city shouldn’t be left holding the bag for the benefit of another city.”

Dickinson spoke with The Sacramento Press Monday afternoon and outlined the reasons for the bill.

“It’s hopefully a measure that would provide the assurance to any community in California that’s going to be put in a position of losing a pro sports team to another place in California would at least have any financial obligations by the team to the community taken care of,” he said.

The bill would essentially enforce contract language that is already in place in the case with the Kings as well as protect other cities in the future, Dickinson said, adding that he thinks it may be necessary with the Kings as well, despite the 1997 contract language.

“I think it’s unfortunate that we even have to contemplate legislation of this kind,” Dickinson said. “One would hope the statements by the Kings organization by this point would have been more clear and definitive, their responses to the city more straightforward, that it would not leave doubt in the minds of many people.”

Gaines and Pan expressed similar sentiments in the press release.

“Sacramento taxpayers can’t play second-string to Anaheim,” Gaines said. “Losing the team is bad enough, and there is no way Sacramento can eat the nearly $80 million owed by the Maloofs.”

The private sector is already gathering signatures in Anaheim to stop the bonds being issued before voters can approve them in an election. For more information on that effort, click here.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Editorial Note: A correction has been made to this story after it was published. The incorrect information has been struck out and the correct information has been added.

Councilman wants written assurance from team

2011-04-12T00:11:38Z

Sacramento officials anticipate that if the Kings move, the $77 million in bonds issued by the city will be paid off, but City Councilman Kevin McCarty said he is concerned about when.

He said they could do one of three things: “They could move and pay back their loan, or they could move and make minimum payments for the next 15 years, or, No. 3, they could move and default” He added that he is pushing for a single lump sum payoff if the Kings do move.

He said his reading of the 1997 contract for the loan with former Kings owner Jim Thomas is that the loan must be paid in full if the Kings move, but he has his doubts.

“How are they going to pay off the city’s (loan) if they don’t have the cash right now?” he asked. “We don’t have an equal amount of collateral if it goes south. That puts us in a very precarious financial situation.”

McCarty said the collateral amounts to a $25 million stake in the Kings and ownership of Power Balance Pavilion, which was recently assessed at a value of $30 million.

“The collateral is 60 cents on the dollar,” he said.

City Treasurer Russ Fehr said Monday the contract clearly states in four different places that the loan must be paid off in full if the Kings do relocate.

“The precise timing is unclear – it ranges on when the league approves (the move) to when they play their first game elsewhere, but that’s only a couple of months. It’s not a big deal,” he said.

McCarty said the 1997 contract wasn’t enough and that he wants a written agreement from the Maloofs that the loan will be paid in full if the team does leave.

“I don’t think (the 1997 contract) has the rock-solid, 100 percent protection that we’d like,” he said.

If the loan isn’t paid in full, McCarty said he would support litigation to get the loan paid up-front.

He added that a number of problems could arise if the payments were spread out.

“We don’t want them making monthly payments for the next 15 years,” he said. “What if something goes wrong (or the NBA) has a work stoppage?”

The City Council revisited the loan agreement in September, and voted not to overturn a 2003 amendment executed by then-City Treasurer Tom Friery, which subordinated the loan behind another loan from the NBA.

In the event of the Kings going bankrupt, Sacramento would be in line after an NBA loan when it comes to repayment.

Fehr brought the matter to the council in 2010 because he said he didn’t think it was within Friery’s authority to amend the contract as he had without council approval.

“I voted no, because I thought it was a bad deal,” McCarty said. “We could be in serious trouble, and the city is much more at risk because of the action in further subordinating the loan.”

Fehr added that it only becomes an issue in the event of a bankruptcy or league downsizing.

City Councilman Steve Cohn said he voted to keep the 2003 amendment in effect because he feared the city would have been sued otherwise.

“I don’t think at the time we really had much choice,” Cohn said. “We would have gotten in litigation because the treasurer had already approved that, and it had been in place for seven years. Had I been asked to enter into that in 2003, that’s a different question.”

Both Cohn and Fehr said they want the loan to be paid back in one lump sum.

“That’s what they’re required to do,” Cohn said, adding that under any other scenario, the city would need something in return.

“I think we are entitled to be paid back a lump sum, so for us to agree to something less than that, we would need something in return,” he said, though he declined to speculate on what that “something in return” would be, but said it would be a subject for negotiations.

Fehr said the Maloofs have never missed a payment and have always provided confidential financial information required in the contract – though that information cannot be released under the terms of the contract.

“They’ve said they would pay the loan,” he said. “The league said it expects teams to fulfill their obligations, but there’s always some uncertainty. Until it’s done, it will be of great concern to the city.”

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Group halfway to halting Anaheim bonds issuance

2011-04-09T00:19:45Z

An 11th-hour effort to block bonds being issued to the Sacramento Kings from the city of Anaheim is well under way – and could theoretically block a move pending a June, 2012 election.

“(The $75 million bond issuance) was a quick deal, and the citizens (of Anaheim) will have an interest in reviewing that,” said Jeffrey Dorso, a Sacramento attorney working with the Committee to Save the Kings.

The movement includes former Sacramento City Councilman Robbie Waters, who gave a donation to kick off a signature collection drive that needs about 10,000 signatures to potentially block the bonds, Dorso said.

Arno Political Consultants of Carlsbad, Calif., have already collected about half the required signatures, said Kellen Arno, an associate with the company.

“The signature drive is going well,” he said. “We started last Friday. We are a little bit more than halfway done.”

If the required signatures are collected within 60 days of the Anaheim City Council decision to approve the bonds, the effort would have to be approved by Anaheim’s citizens in an election.

Dorso said state law allows citizens to gather signatures for referendums such as this.

The next scheduled election the measure could be placed on a ballot is June, 2012, Dorso said, adding that Anaheim could call a special election, but it would be costly.

Calls to officials in Anaheim were not returned Friday afternoon.

Even if the signatures are collected and the bonds are not issued to the Sacramento Kings, there is no way of stopping the money being issued through private lenders.

“The big pitfall is that it could happen regardless,” Dorso said. “They could come up with other ways to fund the $75 million.”

Dorso is a resource and development attorney and Sacramento native who wants to keep the Kings in Sacramento.

“It’s much bigger than basketball,” he said. “It’s about jobs, business and keeping business in Sacramento. It’s not an emotional issue.”

Putting a stop to the public bond measure in Anaheim could possibly keep the Kings in Sacramento, which would give the region more time to come up with options for keeping the Kings here, Dorso said.

Arno said most areas only allow 30 days to collect signatures for referendums, but Anaheim’s city charter allows for 60 days, giving them more time.

“If we get the signatures, those bonds are not available until the election,” Dorso said. “Regardless of the NBA’s actions, the NBA can’t trump state law.”

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

'Crash tax' repealed – no emergency fees

2011-03-30T03:17:20Z

Sacramento’s controversial “crash tax” was killed by the City Council, which voted 6-2 to repeal it Tuesday.

The fire cost recovery ordinance would have charged non-resident drivers for emergency responses to accidents in which they were at fault.

The ordinance was proposed by the Sacramento Fire Department last year in an effort to recover costs from people who don’t pay property taxes – a large portion of Fire Department funding. Fees would have ranged from $495 to more than $2,000, and estimates were that the city would receive about $300,000 annually.

Though the “crash tax” has been the subject of spirited debate and community outcry, it went down relatively quietly Tuesday night, with only Councilwoman Angelique Ashby speaking in favor of it.

“I would like to say that fire cost recovery was one funding mechanism that we could use to potentially keep fire stations open and firefighters available to residents,” she said.

Ashby acknowledged that brownouts are bad for everyone, but federal restrictions on some developments in Natomas that were built in a flood plain mean that homeowners there can lose their homes even if they aren’t fully destroyed because of building restrictions.

“If the insurance company decides that 50 percent or more of the home is damaged, we can’t issue a permit to them to rebuild,” she told The Sacramento Press Monday.

When called to a vote, only Mayor Kevin Johnson and Ashby voted against repealing the ordinance. Councilmen Kevin McCarty and Jay Schenirer, who both voted for the ordinance on Jan. 25, joined Council members Sandy Sheedy, Rob Fong, Darrell Fong and Bonnie Pannell in opposing it. Councilman Steve Cohn, who has previously supported the ordinance, was not at Tuesday’s meeting.

None of the council members spoke publicly about the ordinance after the vote.

Nicole Mahrt, spokeswoman for the Association of California Insurance Companies, applauded the council’s decision to repeal the ordinance.

“I think it was a good move,” she said. “All the backlash from the creation of that crash tax made Sacramento look really unwelcoming to all the commuters who come into town.”

She added that the ordinance served as a “double tax” and that the fees charged by these types of ordinances are typically not covered by insurers.

“Sacramento joins several other cities including Roseville, Oceanside and Vista, which recently repealed their crash taxes,” she said.

Nobody was ever billed under the ordinance, since no contract with the third-party billing service Fire Recovery USA was ever approved.

Schenirer used the discussion of the proposed contract with Fire Recovery USA March 1 as an opportunity to reverse his previous “yes” vote and call for a repeal of the ordinance.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

'Crash tax' repeal to be voted on Tuesday

2011-03-29T00:07:22Z

Sacramento’s controversial “crash tax” will face a repeal vote Tuesday night – which would put the brakes on the ordinance before it ever had the chance to go into effect.

The fire cost recovery ordinance, as it stands, would seek to recover costs of emergency service responses to vehicle accidents in which out-of-town drivers are at fault, billing them anywhere from $495 to more than $2,000, depending on the equipment involved and whether hazardous materials need to be cleaned up.

Originally passed in a 5-4 decision by the Sacramento City Council Jan. 25, it hit a snag March 1 when Councilman Jay Schenirer switched his vote and called for a repeal of the policy during what was expected to be a routine approval of a contract with third-party billing service Fire Recovery USA.

Schenirer explained his reasons for the switch to oppose the ordinance to The Sacramento Press on Monday.

“I don’t think I ever felt comfortable with the policy itself, but I was willing to vote in the beginning because of the budget situation of the city,” he said. “Looking at it and looking at the level of info that was coming from other cities or fire districts that had adopted it and also looking at data that was coming from our staff, the revenue level didn’t justify the policy.”

He added that “We were looking at decreasing estimates of what the city would reap from it.”

Original estimates in July, when the issue was discussed by the City Council’s Law and Legislation Committee, put the revenue level between $600,000 and $1.3 million.

That was later revised to an estimate of about $300,000, which Fire Recovery USA officials said was a “conservative” estimate.

“I’ve also talked to a lot of constituents,” Schenirer said. “I’ve been on the side of unpopular decisions before, but it was listening to people whose opinions I trust and value – both constituents and people in different levels of policy – that made me change my decision.”

Proponents of the “crash tax” say that billing non-resident drivers for emergency responses ensures that Sacramentans aren’t unfairly footing the bill for services used by people who aren’t paying local property taxes – a large source of Fire Department funding.

Councilwoman Angelique Ashby made an impassioned argument for the ordinance March 1, in which she described how a lack of funding leads to browned-out fire companies – putting some areas in Natomas more than 10 minutes from the closest staffed fire station.

According to fire officials, money garnered from the ordinance could mean fewer fire companies would be browned out.

Opponents, however, say that the policy alienates out-of-towners and could drive business away from the city, and it sets a precedent for charging for other services.

Councilman Darrell Fong said on March 1 that he doesn’t want to see the same policy charged for Police Department services, wherein non-residents would be afraid to call police when they are the victims of crimes.

Sam Sorich, president of Association of California Insurance Companies, (http://www.acicnet.org/weba/home.nsf/main) also said the ordinance would cause insurance rates to go up across the board, and the fees charged by the city likely would not be covered by insurance policies.

The council will vote on the matter Tuesday night. The meeting starts at 6 p.m. in the council chambers at City Hall, 915 I St.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Alkali Flat could get historic street lights

2011-03-04T06:57:11Z

Alkali Flat may get new streetlights, which city officials say will make the area more pedestrian-friendly.

“The project will replace the masthead lights that are intended to illuminate the roadway with 220 historic-looking acorn-style streetlights you see around downtown that are intended to better illuminate the sidewalk,” Sacramento Department of Transportation spokeswoman Linda Tucker said in an e-mail.

Lighting was something area residents have wanted for a long time, according to City Councilwoman Angelique Ashby, whose district includes the neighborhood.

“Much longer than I have been here, the Alkali Flat community has advocated for lighting,” said Ashby, who took office last November. “They wanted historic lighting because it’s the oldest neighborhood in the city.”

The project is still in its infancy, not having passed the design phase, Tucker said.

Due to that, it is too early to say when construction will begin or how much the costs will be.

The design phase is estimated to cost about $130,000 and is being funded by the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency, Tucker said. The process is expected to be complete in four to six weeks, after which it will go to the City Council for approval.

“Construction could conceivably start mid- to late summer and wrap up early next year,” Tucker said.

Alkali Flat is currently seeing construction of the La Valentina affordable housing project as the city attempts to take an area notorious for drugs and other crime and transform it.

Isaac Ehrlich, whose law firm lies at 12th and D streets in Alkali Flat, said streetlights are a waste of time and money.

“You can’t walk down here in the daytime,” he said. “The thought that it’s going to encourage nighttime promenading down here is absurd.”

Ehrlich said that despite the construction, the area is still blighted with numerous empty storefronts.

“Lights – who needs them?” he asked. “We have more pressing issues down here at nighttime. A light will let them show you the quality of their crack (cocaine).”

He said he would rather see a public restroom to alleviate urination and defecation in the street by homeless people.

Ashby, however, said a restroom would require ongoing operations and maintenance costs, which are not possible with the funds available.

“That’s part of a larger (homelessness) issue in the city,” she said. “Alkali Flat is heavily impacted by that.”

Ashby added that in three community forums she held between last June and last November, Alkali Flat residents asked for two things above all others: lighting and heightened police presence, specifically bicycle and foot patrols.

“That’s something I want to work toward,” she said.

In the meantime, the lights are a step toward improving the neighborhood she said she is looking forward to making.

“I’m really excited about being able to help them get this,” she said. “I’m hopeful that the lights will give some safety and improve the appearance of the area.”

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Crash tax could be repealed

2011-03-02T06:06:54Z

Sacramento’s controversial “crash tax” might come off the books as early as next week.

Councilman Jay Schenirer, who initially voted for the fire cost recovery ordinance that would bill non-resident drivers for emergency responses to accidents in which they are at fault, called for the ordinance’s repeal Tuesday night.

He took advantage of a scheduled vote to approve a contract with outside billing company Fire Recovery USA and said he wanted to change his vote.

“I do think at this point it’s the wrong ordinance for the city,” he said, adding that he has taken time to reflect on his previous decision, and said the recent awarding of $5.6 million in federal grants puts the Fire Department in “slightly better shape” financially.

Councilman Steve Cohn disagreed with Schenirer.

“Our budget situation is not better,” he said. “Let’s be honest about that.”

The city is projecting a budget shortfall of $35 million - $40 million.

City staff and Fire Recovery USA projected the Fire Department would recover about $300,000 annually through the ordinance.

Roseville’s city council recently repealed a similar ordinance because it did not provide as much funding as anticipated in the year and a half it was in effect.

Mike Rivera, chief business development officer for the Roseville-based Fire Recovery USA, said Tuesday he considered the $300,000 projection for Sacramento to be conservative.

He said the shortfall in Roseville’s funding outcome was due to projections within the city that did not pan out.

“They didn’t receive the funds forecast, but that was internal,” he said.

One of the vocal opponents of the original ordinance in Sacramento, Councilman Darrell Fong, told The Sacramento Press before the meeting Tuesday that he was going to vote against the contract with Fire Recovery USA, which needed a two-thirds majority vote to pass.

That vote, however, was shelved, pending the outcome of the ordinance’s possible repeal.

“I certainly support the notion of revisiting this, frankly, to kill it,” Councilman Rob Fong said. “I just think it’s bad policy.”

Councilwoman Angelique Ashby said she still supports the ordinance.

“I just don’t think it’s wise to take any funding stream off the table,” she said. “For me, the fire cost recovery has always been about protecting our residents.”

She added that some areas in North Natomas have a response time of more than 10 minutes due to station brownouts.

Despite being on the consent calendar, where non-controversial items are typically placed, Fire Department spokesman Capt. Jonathan Burgess said he wasn’t surprised by the outcome, as the issue has been controversial at every step.

“With the budget that we’re looking at facing in the next fiscal year, yeah, every amount of money that we can recover will definitely help in the event of potential possible brownouts,” he said.

The vote to bring the ordinance back to the City Council for repeal was a 5-4 decision, with Schenirer switching his vote to join Rob Fong, Darrell Fong, Bonnie Pannell and Sandy Sheedy in opposing it.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

'Crash tax' contract to be voted on tonight

2011-03-02T00:01:26Z

The City Council could put the brakes on the fire cost recovery ordinance – commonly referred to as a “crash tax” – approved Jan. 25.

Tonight’s consent agenda includes the contract with Fire Recovery USA, a third-party billing service that, if the contract is approved, will handle the billing of non-resident drivers who are at fault in a collision requiring an emergency response.

“If the contract doesn’t get six votes, the contract would not be approved,” said Mark Prestwich, special projects manager for the City Manager’s office.

The Jan. 25 vote was 5-4 in favor of the ordinance, but a two-thirds vote is required to approve the contract.

The ordinance has been vocally opposed since its inception last July, but it was unclear this afternoon whether the four council members who voted against the ordinance would kill the contract with “no” votes.

Prestwich did not speculate on what would happen with the ordinance in that event.

Council members Darrell Fong, Rob Fong, Sandy Sheedy and Bonnie Pannell, who voted against the ordinance, did not immediately return phone calls.

Tonight’s council meeting is at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 915 I St.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Groundbreaking ceremony at historical Hotel Berry

2011-02-25T01:55:10Z

The renovation of downtown’s Hotel Berry officially broke ground Thursday morning, with projections that it will be completed as early as the end of the year.

The historic hotel at 729 L St. was built in 1929 and was one of several downtown hotels that served Sacramento until the proliferation of chain hotels following World War II made the older ones less marketable, said Michael Massie, housing development manager of Jamboree Housing, which is refurbishing the space.

The City Council approved the project last September.

Once completed, the hotel will have 104 affordable housing units.

Each of the 215-square-foot hotel rooms is being transformed into a studio apartment with kitchenette and a bathroom, said David Wood, project manager for Jamboree Housing, which is headquartered in Irvine.

La Shelle Dozier, executive director of the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency, said the project is exciting, and “It’s part of our continuous commitment to SRO (single resident occupancy) housing in downtown.”

Dozier said that by using $10 million in redevelopment funding, the project qualified for $12 million in tax credits and other federal funding.

The total cost for the project comes in at just under $25 million, according to Jamboree Housing.

“We’re just very excited to be starting the renovation,” said Jamboree Housing President Laura Archuleta.

The Hotel Berry is the first downtown property Jamboree Housing has been involved with in Sacramento.

Though Thursday’s event was the official beginning of the renovation, much of the preparatory work has already been completed, Wood said.

An upper floor has been cleared of lead paint and asbestos, and piles of debris have been removed from the ground floor.

Existing fire suppression and electrical systems are up to current code, having been reworked in the 1990s, but a rooftop penthouse that was illegally built in the same decade needs to be torn off, Wood added.

The building will be mixed-use, with a mini mart on the ground floor. Also occupying ground-floor space will be a community room and an on-site, coin-operated laundromat.

An existing staircase will be relocated and replaced with a garbage chute, and the elevators will be reworked as well, Wood said.

To put project costs in perspective, Massie said the original construction price tag of the building in 1929 was about $300,000 (not adjusted for inflation) – the amount it currently costs to redo the elevators.

“We not only get to renovate a building that needs to be renovated, but we get to help some of the people that we want to help the most, that are the most difficult to reach,” said City Councilwoman Angelique Ashby.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Zoo to stay put for the time being

2011-02-23T01:39:54Z

Sutter’s Landing will not be the future site for the Sacramento Zoo.

That determination was made during a City Council workshop Tuesday afternoon. The workshop was called so the council members could be brought up to date on the current status of the zoo – currently located on 14 acres in Land Park – and where it will be in the next 40 years.

The workshop was called by Councilman Rob Fong following a feasibility study released last July.

For now, the council has decided to keep the zoo in Land Park.

“I think it’s pretty obvious that we’re not going to be looking at putting the zoo anywhere else in the short term,” Fong said, adding that the “short term” means anywhere in the next 20 years.

Zoo officials addressed the council, saying that the zoo will only remain sustainable for the next 20 years unless the zoo is relocated or changes the scope of its programs.

That change could be anything from a new site to an expansion into William Land Park or a different scope of programs at the current site.

A previous idea of moving the zoo to Sutter’s Landing – atop a former landfill – by the Sacramento Zoological Society Long Range Planning Committee is too costly to be feasible, according to staff.

The Sacramento Zoo has been known for its large animals, said Mary Healy, executive director of the Zoological Society. She added that some of the most popular larger animals – including elephants, bears and a hippopotamus – are no longer at the zoo.

Some of the animals were moved to make space for giraffes, and the hippopotamus died.

“With 14 acres, we’ll never be getting some of those animals back,” she said, adding that a 14-acre zoo would need to feature smaller animals, but with better, more involved experiences for visitors.

By contrast, Oakland’s zoo is about 45 acres.

One example of a more involved experience is the zoo’s current program that allows supervised feeding of Giraffes, which Healy said is very popular.

Council members agreed that keeping the zoo in Sacramento is important to the city, as it is a regional attraction that draws approximately 500,000 visitors each year from more than 20 countries.

“I would hate to see the zoo leave this area,” said Councilwoman Sandy Sheedy. “It is a quaint urban zoo, and we want to make it bigger, and we want to make it better.”

Any plan to make the zoo bigger or better still needs to be determined, and numerous concerns and problems will crop up in any proposal.

Building an all-new zoo at another site would be costly, keeping the zoo in its current location might not be big enough going into the future, and expanding the current site might strain traffic and parking in Land Park, a spot resident and Land Park Volunteer Corps President Craig Powell said is already maxed-out for dealing with traffic.

“Broad popularity comes with its own set of impacts: heavy traffic and congestion, particularly on weekends and holidays, severely limited parking and major competition for space among park users,” Powell wrote in a letter to City Council.

Parking is one of the Zoological Society’s top concerns after visitor safety, and ensuring there is enough public access to the zoo is a priority as well.

After the two-hour meeting, the City Council directed city staff and zoo officials to come up with a plan for what is required for the next 20 years in the current Land Park site.

“If that doesn’t work, or if there’s controversy, it might accelerate looking at other options in the longer term,” said Councilman Steve Cohn.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Light rail signs to give real-time train info

2011-02-18T01:09:50Z

Sacramento light rail riders will soon have real-time information on train schedules and delays as a new electronic sign program is implemented.

In an effort to improve its communication with riders, Sacramento Regional Transit is installing 36 signs at 22 stations in the first phase of a project that will eventually see signs at all stations, said Alane Masui, Sacramento Regional Transit spokeswoman.

“They need the information so they can make the decision that best fits their needs,” she said.

Signs will inform riders about train delays and scheduling issues, Masui said, adding that the information is currently posted to the website, but transit officials wanted to make the information more readily available.

“They will be able to say things like, ‘Trains experiencing minor delays,’ ” she said. “If there is a service disruption, we can let our passengers know so they can plan accordingly.”

Riders interviewed Thursday at the Sacramento Valley station, which has one of the new signs, said they thought the new electronic signage is a good idea.

“You never know when a train’s coming or if you just missed one,” said Terrance Williams, who rides light rail every day. “It’s going to save time.”

Masui said passengers will be able to plan around train delays, opting to either wait out the delay or find alternate transportation such as buses or taxis if need be.

“This will definitely help,” said Bruce Smith as he waited for a train in the rain on Thursday. “I used to ride the trains a lot, and I always wanted the info. It’s going to be more like BART now.”

The signs are currently in test mode, and installation started in November, but they are scheduled to start working with real-time updates sometime this spring, Masui said.

“Very soon, we’ll be posting schedule information,” she said. “It’s currently published in the timetable. It will all be tied into our network, and passengers will know exactly where their train is.”

Each sign costs abut $12,000, and the first phase of the project is part of a grant from state Proposition 1B transit funds.

The second phase – to complete the signage – has yet to be funded, and Masui said that will come in 2012.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Rangers to oust campers on American River Parkway

2011-02-17T01:24:18Z

Park rangers will be citing campers on the American River Parkway Thursday after a 48-hour notice ordering the homeless population to stop illegal camping expires, weather permitting.

“We have to enforce the law,” said Zeke Holst, Sacramento County Regional Parks spokesman. The notice was posted Tuesday at around 11 a.m. “It’s illegal to camp in the parkway, and it’s our job to enforce the law.”

If it is raining heavily, Holst said rangers will hold off until a clear day.

If it remains clear, Holst said rangers will approach campers in the parkway on Thursday and issue $115 citations to those who refuse to leave as well as confiscate and hold camping gear and other belongings.

Campers who comply will be able to take their belongings with them, Holst said.

When property is confiscated, the owners will be able to recover it free of charge by following directions on a receipt they will be given, said Steve Flannery, chief ranger.

Belongings can be recovered quickly, he added.

“We want to give their property back to them, because there’s a good chance they need (it) right away,” Flannery said.

Camping has been taking place for quite some time in the parkway, Holst said, but he added that there is currently a large group of more than 60 people camping together.

“There is certainly a sanitation concern because of the waste and the associated garbage and trash that accumulates there,” he said.

That garbage accumulation, along with other issues including damage to trees and safety concerns, had outraged advocates for the American River Parkway, as detailed here.

Holst said the 48-hour notices posted in the parkway pointed out where shelter beds are available for the homeless, but homeless advocates say there are not enough.

“On the notices, it lists 12 places where people are supposed to go to get shelter,” said John Kraintz, president of Safe Ground Sacramento, a group seeking a legal campsite for homeless. “If you call any one of them, the minimum waiting list is 100 people.”

Thirty-two beds were made available at The Salvation Army, with priority for the displaced campers, Holst said, but Kraintz said the Safe Ground campers did not want to be seen as cutting in a line that was more than 100 people long.

Those beds were funded in a partnership between the county and The Salvation Army – with each funding half of the beds – specifically for the American River Parkway campers, said David Bentley, Sacramento County coordinator for The Salvation Army. He said the beds will be available for 60 days, and confirmed that there is a waiting list for the preexisting shelter beds.

“There’s just no place for people to go right now,” Kraintz said. “The shelters are all full, and they don’t allow pets or couples.”

Officials said the Safe Ground campsite is the largest on the river, but it is far from the only campsite, with hundreds of campers in the area.

“The best estimates say there’s about 200 - 300 people camping outside in the general area,” said Joan Burke, director of advocacy for Loaves & Fishes. “The Safe Ground people are just a small fraction of the people camping. They’re the ones that agreed to be clean and sober and keep their campsites clean and look after each other.”

The rest of the campers, Burke said, are typically in small groups of between two and six people.

Burke agreed with Kraintz on the issue of available shelter beds.

“There’s a chronic shortage of shelter beds,” she said. “The turnover is slight, maybe four or five per day. The St. John’s women’s shelter typically has (a waiting list of) about 200. That gives you a sense of how big the shortfall is.”

Kraintz said the enforcement of the laws banning camping is not going to happen.

“It’s impossible to arrest your way out of poverty,” he said. “You can’t enforce laws which people cannot obey – they have absolutely no place else to go.”

He added that he fears for people whose belongings are confiscated.

“If you take away everybody’s stuff, I don’t know. We’ll have to get more stuff or go under a bridge,” he said. “We’ve got five days of rain coming at us.”

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

City staff hatching chicken ordinance

2011-02-16T01:32:12Z

City staff will draft an ordinance that, if passed, will allow up to three egg-laying hens to be kept in backyards within city limits.

The Law and Legislation committee of the City Council gave the nod to city staff to draft the ordinance in a unanimous decision Tuesday.

City Councilman Steve Cohn, who walked out of a previous meeting to prevent the issue being shot down in a 3-1 vote, called Tuesday’s decision a victory, and said the ordinance should come to the full council for a vote within one or two months, where he expects it will pass.

“I was very pleased,” said Cohn, who has been advocating for allowing hens in city backyards for more than a year. “I don’t think we’ll have a problem at the full council, frankly.”

According to guidelines in the staff report, the ordinance will allow three hens per backyard, provided they are 30 feet from a neighboring residence. It will also ban roosters, which are largely responsible for noise complaints, and it will ban slaughtering.

I thought it was very positive,” said Joe Calavita, a member of the Campaign to Legalize Urban Chicken Farming (CLUCK). “This is the first time we’ve been able to move forward, and a unanimous decision is wonderful.”

He said the ordinance isn’t perfect, since he would like to see the allowance of more than three hens, and he sees a problem with the 30-foot requirement, but he said he hopes those details can be changed.

“My backyard is only 40 feet across,” he said, “so that part of it is a concern.”

The lone opponent of the ordinance’s drafting during the public comment session Tuesday – in which nine spoke in favor – was Charles Luce, a chemist who said he is concerned that allowing chickens in backyards will increase the risk of the H5N1 influenza strain, commonly referred to as Avian Flu.

“There’s a chance that people will die because of it,” he said after the meeting. “I think it’s a big mistake. Children have a 100 percent mortality rate for contracting H5N1.”

Dr. Glennah Trochet, public health official for Sacramento County, said Avian Flu has not been present in the western hemisphere, and she said experts she has consulted with in the California Department of Health and at University of California, Davis, told her the risk is minimal, and the disease cannot be passed from person to person.

“The health risks are largely to (chicken) owners,” she said, adding that risks involved include salmonella.

Those risks, however, can be eliminated through providing information and education on proper ways to raise chickens and hand-washing techniques, she said.

Councilwoman Sandy Sheedy, who was prepared to vote against the ordinance last November, said her concerns were that it not bring more costs to the city’s budget.

“We don’t need more deficits on the books,” she said.

Costs incurred by the city would be for enforcement, which would be overseen by animal control.

Animal Care Services Manager Penny Cistaro said the department already deals with complaints about illegal chickens, which cost about $30,000 per year. Responses to complaints would be handled within the department’s existing budget, she said.

Licensing fees would be part of the new ordinance, and they would amount to $15 per chicken, an amount that is equal to licensing of dogs.

If passed, the ordinance will come under City Council review six months and one year after it is enacted.

Sacramento Press Editorial Intern Michaela Stewart contributed to this report.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Sac schools to get help going green

2011-02-09T06:17:02Z

Sacramento City Unified School District is getting some national help to renovate and make some of its more than 80 campuses more eco-friendly.

A full-time sustainability officer will help schools meet LEED standards as part of a program through the U.S. Green Building Council, said Rachel Gutter, director of the Center for Green Schools, which is based in Washington, D.C.

“(We) were impressed by your community’s enormous undertaking to become the greenest region in the country,” Gutter said, adding that beginning districtwide sustainability measures takes a large amount of time and money.

The Green Schools Fellowship Program aims to help improve school sites to make them more environment-friendly.

“Over a three-year period, this fellow will help your city make tremendous strides,” she said.

The fellow will be chosen in the coming months and will start a three-year term in the district over the summer. The position will be fully funded by the USGBC, and Gutter said it is the equivalent of bringing in $300,000.

The announcement came at the final meeting of Mayor Kevin Johnson’s Greenwise initiative Tuesday, which calls for the retrofitting of 15 million square feet of school space in the next 10 years and reducing water usage by 20 percent.

The meeting was held at the Guild Theater in Oak Park.

Gutter said the fellow’s efforts will set the groundwork for continuing green development of school sites after the three-year period.

The fellowship’s pilot program was in New Orleans following the devastation wreaked by Hurricane Katrina, and the result was to build more than 15 school sites that are LEED-certified and build a “world-class green school,” Gutter said.

“Schools are the center of our community,” Gutter said. “They represent our hopes, our dreams, our investment in the community.”

Gutter said that when schools are fully “green,” they become teaching tools to educate students about climate and environment issues.

In addition to having less of an impact on the environment, Gutter said green schools save the districts money, which can then be spent on teacher salaries and classroom supplies.

During her remarks, she highlighted schools in Colorado that have already seen six-figure savings due to their facilities being green, as well as mentioning the first “net-zero” school, which was erected in Turkey Foot, Ky.

A “net-zero” building is one that creates as much energy as it uses.

Johnson said in a press release that “a large part of this (Greenwise) commitment is to green our schools and to provide our students with a safe, healthy and welcoming environment.”

Gutter said those goals can only be realized by making sustainability someone’s full-time job.

The district’s superintendent, Jonathan Raymond, said there’s “no question” that Sacramento has been given an opportunity.

“The opportunity to truly prepare our kids for careers and for college in the 21st century – it does make a difference where they go to school,” he said.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Mayors, governor to negotiate redevelopment

2011-01-27T06:27:37Z

Nine mayors representing California’s largest cities met with Gov. Jerry Brown in a closed session Wednesday to urge him not to eliminate redevelopment agency funding.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting on the West Steps of the Capitol, mayors from Sacramento, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Anaheim, Oakland, San Jose, Santa Ana, Fresno and San Diego explained their reasons for wanting to keep redevelopment agency dollars in the city budgets.

“Every one of us understand the magnitude of the budget challenges we face in the state,” said Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

He added that all mayors understand the need to shoulder their share of the budget cuts necessitated by the recession, but argued that eliminating redevelopment agencies is unfair, saying they create jobs and work as an investment to stimulate economic development.

Brown briefly addressed reporters outside his office right after the meeting.

“We’re working. We’re not in agreement yet,” he said. “We’re going to meet further. We’re going to keep talking.”

Brown has advocated for eliminating city redevelopment agencies, which are responsible for developing infill projects, such as recent work on K Street in Sacramento, in addition to other responsibilities.

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson said the mayors told Brown in the meeting that “it’s a terrible idea to abolish redevelopment in cities up and down the state.”

He said Brown was open to the idea of working with city governments, adding that the governor understands the value of redevelopment.

“He said we will have to bring solutions, and that’s incumbent on us,” Johnson said.

He then mentioned successful redevelopment projects just blocks from the Capitol, including the Sheraton Hotel, in which he said an $8 million investment of redevelopment funds was able to leverage $100 million.

“(Brown) is a tenant here in a project that is only here because of redevelopment dollars,” Johnson said. “We reminded him of it, he was in good spirit ... he said, ‘You guys can be part of a working group going forward.’ ”

Johnson emphasized that California’s mayors and city governments will stand firm on the issue.

“The problem with eliminating redevelopment ... is that all of us have historical high unemployment rates,” Villaraigosa said. “This is the wrong time to move away from job creation.”

The nine mayors who spoke Wednesday on the West Steps of the Capitol agreed that spending redevelopment dollars – which come from property taxes – brings further economic growth and translates to more revenue.

San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders said redevelopment in downtown San Diego has resulted in each dollar spent bringing back $8.50 to the city.

The argument for eliminating redevelopment and enterprise zone funding is that it will allow more state funds to be spent in areas such as public safety and education.

With that, several public safety advocacy organizations have come out in support of Brown.

California Professional Firefighters, an advocacy group for approximately 30,000 firefighters, argued that cities overstate the impact of redevelopment agencies in job creation.

According to a press release from the CPF, the number of documented jobs created across the state in the past decade was approximately 241,000.

The release also cites a Jan. 18 report by the California Legislative Analyst that contends there is “no reliable evidence that redevelopment agencies improve overall economic development in California.”

The mayors did not answer questions about the report during the press conference.

The next step in the process, according to the mayors, will be to sit down with Brown and negotiate a workable solution.

“It was a good meeting, a good start, an important opportunity for us to be at the table to engage in these discussions,” Villaraigosa said.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Non-resident drivers to foot emergency bills

2011-01-26T07:01:05Z

Sacramento is seeking to recoup $300,000 - $500,000 per year after the passage of a new fire cost recovery ordinance – commonly referred to as a “crash tax” – Tuesday night.

The City Council voted 5-4 to charge out-of-town drivers who are at fault in auto accidents within city limits to recover expenses related to Fire Department responses.

Drivers could be billed from $435 for a basic “scene stabilization” to more than $2,200 for a “scene stabilization” involving more advanced issues such as hazardous materials and helicopter transportation, according to a staff report.

“I have some very serious legal concerns, and moral concerns about this,” said Councilman Darrell Fong, who joined council members Rob Fong, Sandy Sheedy and Bonnie Pannell in voting against the ordinance.

Darrell Fong raised the question of possible charges for police services in the same vein, saying he is uncomfortable with that as well.

The legality of the ordinance – and a confidential memo produced by the City Attorney’s office – were not openly discussed at the meeting. Deputy City Attorney Matt Ruyak said it constituted attorney/client privilege, despite numerous questions regarding the legality.

Councilwoman Angelique Ashby said declining to discuss the memo is a way to safeguard the city against potential litigation.

“I know it’s uncomfortable,” she said, referring to the decision to charge for services that were previously covered solely by taxes. “Nobody likes anything like this.... There is no free lunch.”

Councilman Steve Cohn echoed Ashby’s sentiments.

“I don’t feel real positive about this either, but what are our choices here?” he asked, adding that the other choice is possibly “browning-out” four more fire stations.

The ordinance is designed to recoup Fire Department costs and prevent further fire station brownouts, according to city officials.

“If a non-resident is involved in a traffic accident or has a fire in their vehicle, they would be billed for the cost of the response,” said Mark Prestwich, special projects manager for the city manager’s office, in a phone interview before the meeting.

The ordinance first came to the City Council Law and Legislation Committee last summer. Proponents of the ordinance claim that city residents are subsidizing emergency response services for out-of-town drivers who do not pay taxes that fund the Fire Department.

Drivers living or owning more than 50 percent of businesses on property in Sacramento will not be charged the fee.

Opponents of the ordinance, including the Sacramento Metro Chamber, argue that charging non-resident drivers would be unfair, and might dissuade businesses from coming to the city.

There was lingering confusion stemming from the first time the ordinance was discussed by the City Council as to whether the cost would be passed to drivers not at fault in collisions.

“Anyone that’s not responsible will not be subject to the ordinance,” Prestwich said, adding that insurance companies will determine which driver or drivers are at fault.

“It’s easily misunderstood, and it’s a confusing issue,” Prestwich said.

Sam Sorich, president of the Association of California Insurance Companies, argued that drivers not at fault would, in fact, still be billed.

“An innocent driver who experiences the trauma of an auto accident could be hit with a bill for hundreds of dollars,” he said.

Speaking during the public comment portion of the discussion, Connie Anderson said she thinks the income from the ordinance would be minimal compared to the hardship endured by the individuals.

“Will Sacramento join 60 other cities in heading toward an ‘each person for themselves’ mentality?” she asked.

Sacramento Fire Chief Ray Jones said the purpose of the bill is not to bring in revenue, but to recover costs associated with non-resident drivers involved in accidents.

When questioned by Rob Fong, Jones said it is possible that if the ordinance were to be found illegal, Sacramento residents could be subject to the charges. He also said there is no “at-fault” language in the ordinance.

Billing will be handled by a third-party company, Fire Recovery USA, which will take about 17 percent of the recovered costs, according to Jones.

At least 60 jurisdictions in California currently have similar ordinances, with most – like Sacramento – billing only non-resident drivers.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Homelessness a key issue in 2010

2010-12-31T01:18:31Z

With the city and county of Sacramento still in the depths of recession, 2010 saw a focus on homelessness as services were cut and unemployment was at 13 percent.

An ongoing issue with Sacramento’s homeless that was still not seeing notable progress even as the year ended was the Safe Ground movement, which seeks to find designated spots in the city for homeless to camp.

In April, about 50 people spoke at City Hall advocating for Safe Ground Sacramento.

They were still at it in July, and they remained a presence at Tuesday night City Council meetings.

In a controversial move, the City Council changed its public comment portion from the beginning of the meetings to the end, which many saw as a move to silence the persistent Safe Ground crowd. They claimed that the later public comment portion would prevent those who take public transit from voicing their opinions.

Their protests were successful, and the policy was overturned shortly thereafter.

One of the most vocal advocates for Safe Ground in 2010 was Tracie Rice-Bailey, who was profiled by Sacramento Press Staff Reporter Kathleen Haley.

A forum was held in October for the community to discuss homeless issues.

With little to no headway made in securing legal campsites, faith groups pledged to open their houses of worship to the homeless during the cold winter months.

The issue was discussed by City Council in October as well, but with little tangible result. Councilman Steve Cohn expressed his frustration with the Safe Ground group, asking members to come back with a concrete proposal.

The council agreed that the issue is an important one, and Councilman Rob Fong called it complex, adding that a lot more work needs to be done.

By late December, houses of worship were still opening their doors to the homeless, but organizers said they need another $50,000 to keep the program going.

Local government kept the issue of homelessness on its agendas despite budget cuts. In September, city and county officials hatched a plan to form a new nonprofit organization to fight homelessness on a regional level.

In December, The Sacramento Press reported on the progression of that idea.

Local nonprofits continued their work to help the homeless and those in poverty.

The River City Food Bank suffered a setback in October when its facility was destroyed in a four-alarm fire.

Undaunted, a new facility was ready to go by December.

The Salvation Army celebrated 125 years in Sacramento in 2010, and it took part in Sacramento Steps Forward’s third annual “Homeless Connect” event, which is designed to help the homeless get access to housing, medical and dental services, among others. To read about the event, click here and here.

Francis House also celebrated a milestone – its 40th anniversary.

The nonprofit is currently raising funds for an expansion plan, which can be read about here.

The year ended on a sad note for the homeless community, however, as Francis House’s executive director of 21 years, Greg Bunker, died of a heart attack.

Throughout the year, The Sacramento Press was home to a unique perspective on homelessness, as Tom Armstrong, a homeless community contributor on The Sacramento Press, shared his thoughts, opinions and insight. To read his more than 20 articles on homelessness, click here.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Police seek to purchase new Tasers

2010-12-14T01:18:55Z

The Sacramento Police Department will update its Taser arsenal if an ordinance banning purchases from Arizona doesn’t stop the six-figure deal.

Taser International, based in Arizona, has supplied the department with the less-lethal weaponry for nearly a decade, according to Capt. Scott LaCosse.

“They’re old, they’ve been through a lot of use, and the manufacturer is not supporting them anymore with training or updates or ability to get them serviced,” LaCosse said. “We’ve experienced some situations where they’re not working. They’re electronic devices.”

Police are asking the council to authorize not more than $440,000 to purchase 360 new Tasers, holsters and Taser cartridges, though the actual cost will be closer to $360,000, LaCosse said.

He explained that asking for the larger amount allows the department to account for unanticipated incidental costs such as variations in shipping without returning to the council for adjustments. In this case, he added, the amount to be authorized is higher due to anticipated prices coming in lower than expected.

The funding comes from “seized asset funds” – money generally collected from the sale of items confiscated during narcotics raids.

A city ordinance passed on June 15 orders that "where practicable and where there is no significant additional cost to the City, the City of Sacramento shall not enter into any new, amended, extended, or supplemental contracts to purchase or procure goods or services from any business or entity that is headquartered in Arizona," according to the staff report.

City spokeswoman Linda Tucker said police told her it would “involve a huge expense to replace (the Tasers) with a different vendor.”

LaCosse said there aren’t any other vendors who can supply products of the same type and quality.

Neither Tucker nor LaCosse speculated on what the City Council will decide Tuesday, but the item is on the consent agenda, which is typically passed in one motion without discussion.

In addition to being outdated – LaCosse said the manufacturer recommends a service life of five years – older-model Tasers are bulky and not practical for officers to wear at all times.

Sgt. Norm Leong said the older M26 Tasers are often left in vehicles, while the newer X26 models are smaller and can be worn on an officer’s belt at all times.

The department currently has both models, but pending City Council approval Tuesday night, it will turn in its 288 M26 models and replace them with 360 X26 Tasers.

“Right now, the manufacturer is offering a trade-in of $75 per unit toward a new device,” LaCosse said.

La Cosse said the 360 Tasers will be bought for $810 each, and 360 holsters will be purchased at $20 each. Belt clips for the holsters come in at $9 apiece, and the department will buy 1,800 cartridges for $37,600, and sales tax will come in at almost $30,000.

He added that all sworn officers will have access to the newer Tasers, and that access serves the public by ensuring officers have the less-lethal option of stopping someone at all times.

LaCosse said Tasers have been shown to reduce injuries by stopping violent suspects without officers “getting into wrestling matches that lead to a lot of injuries.”

Photos of the X26 Taser courtesy Taser International, Inc.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Fifth and Sixth street bridges nearing completion

2010-12-03T01:11:27Z

The two city-funded bridges under construction in the railyards are scheduled to be completed next month.

The bridges will make Fifth and Sixth streets continuous where they are currently cut off by the railyards just east of the Amtrak station downtown.

“The bridges will be for both vehicle traffic and pedestrians,” said Linda Tucker, spokeswoman for the Sacramento Department of Transportation.

The transition of much of the railyards property from Thomas Enterprises to Inland American Real Estate Trust, Inc. following Thomas Enterprises’ defaulting on loans will not affect the bridge construction, since they are on city-owned land, according to Tucker.

When it comes to the track realignment necessary for trains to be able to pass under the bridges, there are still some possible kinks to work out.

“We are continuing to work out with Inland the transfer of agreements,” Tucker said. “My understanding is that we will be doing some joint announcements in a couple of weeks just to update the community on what’s been worked out.”

The $9 million bridge project is fully funded, as is the estimated $50 million track realignment.

The track realignment project will be opened for bidding in January, Tucker said.

“We are looking forward to moving ahead,” she said. “It’s been a bit exhausting going through the transition, and I think everyone – City Hall as well as the community – is looking forward to seeing more work going on out there.”

The blue square on the map above shows the Fifth and Sixth street bridges. The red square is intersection of F and Seventh streets for reference.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

City to fine adults who provide alcohol to youths at parties

2010-11-24T05:46:46Z

Sacramento police will now have “another tool to address criminal behavior” as it relates to underage drinking, according to City Councilman Robbie Waters.

The City Council unanimously passed an ordinance Tuesday that will fine adults who host parties with underage drinking within the city anywhere from $250 to $25,000. They will also be charged with a misdemeanor.

The “social host liability ordinance” will hold people accountable for sanctioning underage drinking, said Derrick Lim, manager of Neighborhood Services/Special Events within the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation.

Lim said a civil penalty can also be administered for those in violation of the ordinance.

Similar ordinances have been successful in other areas, including unincorporated portions of Sacramento County and the city of Elk Grove, Lim said.

“The Sacramento Youth Commission fully supports these measures,” said Olivia Godby, the commission’s vice chair.

According to the staff report, the UC Davis regional trauma center showed an increase in the number of intoxicated youth being treated as well as an increase in the average blood alcohol level among those youths between 2004 and 2008.

The report also notes that 414 people were injured and 18 killed in Sacramento County between 2006 and 2007 by underage drivers who had been drinking.

Waters said the new ordinance will “punish the parents, if you will, and give law enforcement officers the chance to do something about these people who have parties for the under-21 youth where alcohol is served.”

Steve Wirtz of the Sacramento Youth and Alcohol Coalition – an affiliate of the UC Davis Trauma Prevention and Outreach Program – spoke at the meeting, saying his group is behind the ordinance.

Wirtz said the issue is a nonpartisan one, and that the goal is simply to protect the youth in the city.

“We’re very pleased to see this go forward,” he said.

One Christian Brothers High School senior who spoke at the meeting recalled the “Every 15 Minutes” drunken driving prevention program being at his school when he was a sophomore.

“What I learned from this is underage drinking is not the casual thing that other people think,” he said.

The report noted that 90 percent of 11th graders acknowledge that drinking is a problem, but 62 percent still do it.

Mayor Kevin Johnson then voiced his stance on the issue: “How can we say no to our youth? Holy moly.”

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

County laying groundwork for economic turnaround

2010-11-11T01:41:02Z

The message from officials at Wednesday’s third annual State of Sacramento County forum was that things might be tough now, but hard work today is laying the groundwork for prosperity in the future.

“We should always question our assumptions that things tomorrow will be as they are today,” said Roger Dickinson, chair of the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors and State Assemblyman-elect.

The Metro Chamber event was held at Sacramento International Airport, and 260 people attended, according to Communications Director Hal Silliman.

Dickinson said the $1.08 billion airport expansion – also known as “The Big Build” – is iconic of what is in store for the county and will “inspire us to focus on realizing an even brighter and better future.”

For context, Dickinson recalled the devastating news the county received in 1995 when it was decided that McClellan Air Force Base would be closed – a base on which 13,000 people worked, including 10,000 civilians.

Just six years later, 2,500 people were employed on the former base.

“Today, over 15,000 people report to McClellan Park each and every day, and 6.5 million square feet is under lease,” Dickinson said.

He added that the McClellan Park project was one of the best partnerships between government and the private sector he has ever seen, and the airport expansion is another way to strengthen the region.

Interim County Executive Steven Szalay laid out the steps the county has taken to weather the current recession.

He said the county closed a $181 million budget gap this year and is constantly looking at better ways to govern and increase efficiency.

To prevent similar budget crises in the future, Szalay said the county has reduced its reliance on one-time funding from $80 million to $30 million per year and is working to lower that number further.

When the economy turns around, a budgeting policy will be put into place that will save 50 cents of each dollar in revenue. Those funds will be put into reserves and will be reinvested to provide a hedge against future downturns.

To encourage departments to run more efficiently, Szalay said they will now be able to carry over money they save in their own budgets to the next fiscal year, rather than having any savings diverted to the county’s general fund.

Finally, Szalay said the county is working within the region to streamline services needed by all governing bodies, including animal control and emergency dispatching, so unnecessary parallel services are consolidated.

Metro Chamber members were given a look at what will be included in the new airport’s Terminal B by Sacramento County Airport System Director G. Hardy Acree. Details of the expansion will be provided in an upcoming Sacramento Press article.

Bill Swelbar, a research engineer for the MIT International Center for Air Transportation, then discussed the issues facing the global airline industry and metropolitan areas with airports going into the future.

Swelbar said he sees successful airports in the future as being ones around major metropolitan centers, while more-remote ones could find it difficult to stay open.

“That’s not Sacramento,” Swelbar said. “Sacramento is very well-positioned for tomorrow.”

Attending the event was Tim Youmans, who works in the public finance and real estate field.

“The county seems to be repositioning themselves well for the next 10 years,” Youmans said.

He added that he found the presentation on air travel to be interesting and was heartened by the conclusion that Sacramento will continue to be a viable option for air travel growth.

“I think they’re seizing the opportunity in this economic downturn to become more innovative and rethink their procedures and changing them to be more efficient,” said Jim Alves, who works for SMUD.

During his remarks, Dickinson voiced his vision for the future of the county.

“We have a vision of a vital and vibrant region,” he said, “of an ever-growing and attractive center of community life, commerce, entertainment, the arts ... in short, the best place to live, anywhere.”

Photo 3 is Roger Dickinson, and photo 4 is Steven Szalay.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

What's next for Arden Arcade council members?

2010-11-03T22:51:30Z

Seven people won an election to govern a city that doesn’t exist.

Measure D, which would have incorporated Arden Arcade as a city, was overwhelmingly defeated in Tuesday’s elections by about 75 percent of the vote.

Those who were elected to what would have been the Arden Arcade City Council now find themselves the victors in a race that no longer matters – but they say they still face the same problems that caused Measure D to be on the ballot without the means to solve them.

“I think the issue remains the same, so going forward, we’re going to look at what to do,” said Mary Ose, who with more than 4,800 votes took the top spot in the city council elections.

The election saw 21 candidates for seven possible seats.

“I firmly believe that pretty much every urban area such as ours will ultimately be a city. It’s just a question of where and how,” she said. “I believe Arden Arcade will become a city in my lifetime.”

Though she thinks cityhood is the best thing for her portion of Sacramento County, she said the voters made their decision, and that’s the way the process should work.

“I wish we’d won,” she said. “I wish that the voters understood the options clearly. I think we didn’t get the message out well enough.”

Anthony Hernandez, who took the second spot with more than 3,700 votes, agreed with Ose.

“I feel that cityhood would have let us take control of our destiny,” he said. “We just couldn’t fight the money from the other side. We couldn’t fight the $50,000 from the plumbers and pipefitters union.”

As far as winning a seat on the council, Hernandez said it’s essentially meaningless.

“We don’t have the authority to do anything,” he said. He added that it might prove to be something of a metaphorical soap box to stand on in the community and work to raise awareness of the problems Arden Arcade faces.

According to Measure D supporters, Sacramento County is not capable of providing adequate municipal services, including law enforcement, code enforcement and fire protection.

“We’re an urban area,” Ose said. “Counties were not designed to provide municipal services. Cities do that.”

For Measure D supporters, the loss still has a silver lining.

“We are definitely more connected as a community,” said Joel Archer, who with more than 3,100 votes would have been elected to the council. “No matter which way people voted or believed, we are a community.”

Hernandez agreed with Archer.

“You had all walks of life, both liberal and conservative, Democrats and Republicans, coming together on either side of the issue,” he said. “And it was about the issue. The ‘yes’ side just didn’t do a good enough job educating voters.”

Archer, Hernandez and Ose said they don’t anticipate running for any other elected offices. All three concurred that working within the county government structure won’t solve the problems, and they said they were never in the race for themselves.

“I did this as a labor of love,” Hernandez said.

“I do not have political aspirations,” Ose said. “This is something I believe in, and in the future, I’d be happy to serve the community in helping to put something together if that is their wish.”

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Measure D failing

2010-11-03T07:20:31Z

If late-night election reports are any indication, Arden Arcade will not be incorporated as a city.

At midnight on election night, Measure D was losing 75 percent to 25 percent. There are, however, still “tens of thousands” of ballots to be counted countywide, said Brad Buyse, Sacramento County’s campaign services manager

“I’m ecstatic,” said Measure D opponent Kristin Elser.

If Measure D had passed, Arden Arcade would have been Sacramento County’s newest city, with a population comparable to Rocklin or Citrus Heights.

“Measure D is going down in flames,” Elser said. “The fiscal viability just isn’t there. In this economy, sales tax is down everywhere.”

Elser claimed there would be no way for a proposed city of Arden Arcade to provide the services Measure D supporters promised without raising taxes.

“I think all the energy and effort put into the campaign on both sides could have gone to the county to fix those issues,” she added.

Supporters of Measure D argued that the level of services from the county was insufficient and that incorporating Arden Arcade would have gone a long way to solving them.

Joel Archer, one of the candidates for what would have been the Arden Arcade City Council, said he was most concerned with the problem of prostitution along Watt Avenue.

As of midnight Tuesday, Archer would have been one of the seven candidates elected to the council out of a pool of 21.

Archer said that problem could be better-handled by a city focusing on one specific area rather than a larger county government that oversees a bigger area.

Despite an apparent loss on election day, Archer said there are positive things to take away from the four-year push for cityhood.

“The one thing everyone in this room has said is the four-year process was worth it,” Archer said. “We’ve been able to come together as a community, and now people know there is a distinct Arden Arcade community.”

But will there be another push for cityhood?

“I think we’re going to step back and take a look at it,” Archer said. “I personally need to step back and probably take a little bit of a break and figure out. There are people that want to do it. Elk Grove had to go through it three times, and Rancho Cordova had to go through it twice.”

Measure D supporter Doug Lewis said Arden Arcade is financially viable and called the opponents’ messages to the contrary “propaganda.”

“The funds are there. We don’t need to raise taxes,” Lewis said. “I get so angry...nobody seems to pick up that it’s all propaganda.”

Mike Duveneck of the “No on Measure D” campaign called himself “a pretty happy camper” at the election party Tuesday night.

“We wouldn’t be in this position if it wasn’t for the community coming together,” he said. “It was a unique situation. It was nonpartisan, and it was really about what was best for the community as a whole.”

Duveneck said there were many reasons he opposed incorporation, including it being a poor economic climate and what he termed “flawed” fiscal analyses of the projected city.

Before results started trickling in, Duveneck had said he was looking for a win of 55 percent or more. With close to 75 percent of voters rejecting the measure, Duveneck said he hopes the outside cities and interests stay out of Arden Arcade’s business.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Council: Homeless need shelter for winter

2010-10-27T01:00:33Z

Finding a way to shelter the homeless during the winter months is job one for city staff tasked with addressing the homeless following a City Council workshop Tuesday.

“Winter waits for no one,” said Councilman Rob Fong. “We need to collectively figure out what we can do to make sure no one is exposed to the elements.”

The council uniformly applauded the faith community in its work to shelter the homeless over the winter, but all agreed more has to be done both in terms of a more permanent solution to emergency winter shelters and eventual year-round permanent housing options.

But not everyone agrees that opening the churches to the homeless is a solution.

“It is not shelter. There are no beds,” said Tamie Dramer, executive director of Safe Ground Sacramento. She added that people in the churches will sleep on concrete and hardwood floors, and suggested the term “sanctuary” is a more accurate description.

“It doesn’t look as though there’s a complete solution around the corner,” she said.

Safe Ground’s goal is to get the city to designate a spot for the homeless to camp and has been working toward that for more than a year.

“I’m really tired of just talking about this thing in concept,” said Councilman Steve Cohn. “If people are serious about this, come back with a concrete proposal.”

Cohn said he has heard a lot over the past few months about Safe Ground, but that that can’t be the focus right now.

“Our top priority at the moment has to be what we’re doing with winter shelters,” he said, reiterating Fong’s point.

“Sanctioning camping out there is just not a policy that’s right for the city,” said Councilman Kevin McCarty.

Councilwomen Sandy Sheedy and Bonnie Pannell agreed, arguing against revoking the no-camping ordinance.

“I just don’t see a safe ground opportunity here,” Sheedy said. “We need to start thinking outside the box on where to put people.”

Mayor Kevin Johnson said that any form of a proposal by Safe Ground would only be one piece of a larger solution of transitional housing as the region’s governments work toward the ultimate goal of finding permanent housing for the area’s 2,800 homeless.

“There’s a long-term strategy,” Johnson said. “And that long-term strategy is what we’ve been working toward, which is permanent housing.”

Johnson said the city is able, with the help of the county and nonprofit, private and faith-based groups, to shelter the same amount of homeless this year as last year despite reduced funding.

According to Johnson, progress has been made with helping the homeless over the past year, and one person who exemplifies that progress spoke during public comment.

“I am one of the statistics you are talking about,” said Robert Harris, a plumber. “This time last year, I was homeless.”

Harris said he had received a hotel voucher from the city in addition to clothing, food and medical attention from Loaves & Fishes.

“I am now employed,” Harris said, adding that it is just part-time, but he is hoping to be employed full-time soon.

“I want you to know your tax dollars did go to work for me.”

For others who remain homeless, however, the approach of winter highlights the council’s urgency to find a quick solution.

“Winter is on us, and we don’t have any money,” said John Krantz, a homeless man. “We need to find a solution and we need to find a solution quick.”

Krantz said the churches opening their doors helps, but he advocated for decriminalizing homelessness and allowing camping.

“This is not our last discussion,” Fong said. “It’s a big issue, and it really deserves a lot of attention.”

Johnson characterized the two-hour workshop as having covered a lot of complex issues. He said Sacramento Steps Forward – established about a year ago – is key to helping the city develop a system of using transitional housing options – possibly including something like Safe Ground – into permanent housing.

“Sacramento Steps Forward will strengthen our ability to go forward,” he said. “That’s the future. We have an opportunity here to really be cutting-edge.”

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Faith groups open doors to homeless

2010-10-26T03:18:33Z

Sacramento’s faith community will be providing shelter for the homeless this winter season, as government funding falls short of providing enough resources.

Funding has steadily been falling as the poor economy has necessitated cutbacks, with more than $700,000 coming from Sacramento County in 2008 dwindling to less than $200,000 this year.

Mayor Kevin Johnson said shelters and motel vouchers can provide overnight housing for about 300 homeless, and he is looking for the faith community to supply shelter for another 100 people for the winter season.

“During the warm months, it’s less of an urgency, but when the temperature drops and the rain falls, it’s even that much more of a challenge to make sure we provide shelter for our homeless population,” Johnson said Monday at a press conference.

He applauded the area’s religious communities and said all have joined the Sacramento Steps Forward group, including Christians, Muslims and the Jewish community. Sacramento Steps Forward’s goal is to ensure that there is a system in place to support the area’s homeless and provide them with the resources they need.

Imam Mohammad Abdel Azeez of the Sacramento Area League of Associated Muslims said he remembers reading news reports of people “literally passing away” because of the cold a couple of years ago.

At the time, his congregation collected warm clothes and blankets and distributed them to the homeless.

“We are coming here today to make sure that such tragedy never happens again,” Azeez said. “We can not let our fellow Sacramentans suffer on those cold nights in the winter season.”

According to Pastor Rick Cole of Capital Christian Church, it’s not just Midtown churches that can help.

“There are churches in suburban areas that may not be as tied in and aware,” Cole said. “We need to step up and help and not just rely upon the Midtown churches to make a difference in this way in our community.”

Cole added that the problem is critical.

“We can’t fail at this,” he said. “We need to make sure that every night all through this winter season without fail that there’s a place for those who don’t have shelter over their heads.”

Though at least 10 churches have signed on to help out, Johnson and other church officials said Sacramento Steps Forward is looking to partner with at least another 10 to fill the need.

“I want to encourage other congregations to step up and offer to open their doors for one or two nights a month and be a part of this program and invite their congregation to this time of transformation,” said Brian Baker, dean of Trinity Episcopal Church.

“Even if you’re not part of a congregation, you can volunteer in congregations that are doing this,” he added, saying it is a problem all Sacramentans can help with.

The solution to the problem of homelessness can’t be solved by churches opening their doors in the winter, according to Johnson, but it is a crucial transitional step.

The ultimate goal is permanent housing, and Johnson said he wants to continue to see collaboration with all aspects of the community.

“It’s still a long road, we’d like to have this up in place by next winter,” he said, referring to finding a site for the Safe Ground that homeless advocates have been striving for since the tent city near Cal Expo was dismantled.

Johnson’s goal to find permanent housing is one shared by Sacramento County Supervisor Roger Dickinson.

“(We need) to make sure that we just don’t maintain people in a condition of homelessness, getting by, but that we give them the means and the opportunity to once again be full, participating members of our community,” Dickinson said.

Johnson further urged churches to volunteer by calling his office, where they will be connected with Sacramento Steps Forward. In addition to facilities, Johnson said $70,000 still needs to be collected to fund government-run services for the homeless this winter.

“You see a community coming together,” Johnson said. “City, county working together, the private sector, different regions, different worship houses, different denominations. This is the best of Sacramento.”

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Backyards still closed to chickens

2010-10-06T02:00:19Z

City leaders will have to wait a while longer before deciding on whether to allow backyard chicken farming in the city.

The City Council’s Law and Legislation Committee had too many questions Tuesday to determine whether to send the issue forward to the council and asked for a revised report to be submitted before Nov. 23.

“I have a lot of questions. I’d like to hear what the county public health officer has to say,” said Councilwoman Sandy Sheedy. “I think this is something that feels good, but I don’t know if it’s gonna be good.”

Sheedy said she had received numerous calls from her constituents with concerns about bird-borne viruses and public health. She asked city staff to further examine possible health concerns in other cities that already allow chicken farming – cities such as Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and, closer to home, Roseville.

Members of CLUCK, the Sacramento-based Campaign to Legalize Urban Chicken Keeping, were present Tuesday afternoon to argue their cause, which they have been championing for more than a year.

“The benefit is taking control over the origin of our food,” said CLUCK member Jennifer Bucsis-Styduhar. “I eat an egg every day, and I want to make sure it’s safe. The salmonella scare concerned us, and we grow our own vegetables for the same reasons. Why not chickens?”

CLUCK advocates limiting the number of backyard chickens to between three and five hens, with no allowance for roosters or slaughtering chickens at home.

“I’ve heard complaints about diseases and the lowering of property values,” Bucsis-Styduhar said, “but cities like New York, San Francisco and L.A. all allow backyard chicken farming, and they are some of the most cosmopolitan cities in the country. If there was a problem with it, I think it would have come to light by now.”

Jennifer Fearing, California senior state director for The Humane Society of the United States, said she was asked to deliver information on the issue to the council, and didn’t speak for or against it.

“If there’s careful drafting of this, we think this is something that can be done,” Fearing said.

One of the benefits to allowing well-regulated backyard chicken farming is a more humane life for the animals, Fearing said, adding that industrial chicken farming is, without question, the most inhumane treatment of animals based on the numbers.

Fearing said the Humane Society opposes any efforts to legalize the keeping of roosters or backyard slaughtering, and the group has concerns that the city’s animal control and code enforcement services would be unable to enforce any regulations, an opinion shared by Councilman Robbie Waters.

“An ordinance is no good unless we can enforce it,” Waters said. “In the next five to six years, we’re not going to have the manpower to go out and enforce any complaints we get, and I have some concerns about health issues.”

In the past fiscal year, the city received 424 complaints related to backyard chicken farming.

Councilman Steve Cohn said that legalizing chicken farming might mitigate some of those complaints, and he argued that legalizing backyard chicken farming is in line with the city’s ongoing efforts to create a sustainable food supply and continue toward the goal of being a green city.

“I think the fears are overblown,” said Cohn, who at the outset of the meeting announced his support for it. “I feel like we’re moving way too slow. This has already been a year and a half.”

With so many concerns, the Law and Legislation committee members said they weren’t comfortable pushing the ordinance forward.

The fourth member of the committee, Councilwoman Lauren Hammond, was not present Tuesday.

“I’m disappointed it wasn’t resolved today,” said CLUCK member Susan Bellew, who during the meeting argued that the community is in support of the issue.

Sheedy said that the city has yet to do any community outreach, and therefore most citizens aren’t even aware the issue is being discussed.

Cohn asked staff to have the report brought to the committee again while it still has the same makeup of members. The last day Waters and Hammond will be on the committee is Nov. 23.

View the staff report for Tuesday’s meeting here.

Photos one and two by the author.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Hotel Berry renovation to start next month

2010-09-22T04:34:25Z

Work to renovate the historic Hotel Berry, 729 L St., will commence next month, after the City Council held its final public hearing on the issue Tuesday night.

“This is a project we’ve been working on for some time,” said Christine Weichert, assistant director of Housing and Community Development. “This is the very last step in a long process.”

The public hearing was required before the financing could be undertaken for the $24.5 million project.

According to Weichert, Jamboree Housing of Irvine, Calif., will be working on the renovation project. The funding comes from a mixture of tax credits, federal stimulus funding and redevelopment housing agency funds.

“We did take a thorough look at this because it involves debt, and we have no issues or concerns,” City Treasurer Russ Fehr told the council in response to a question from Councilwoman Sandy Sheedy. “The money is already there. It’s in essence being reclassified.”

No members of the public spoke at the hearing.

The renovation is scheduled to be completed within a year and a half, Weichert said.

The historic hotel was built in 1929 and is located adjacent to the Greyhound station downtown. According to a previous Sacramento Press article, it was purchased in 2007 by AF Evans and Trinity Housing for restoration.

“That was just the time when the market started collapsing,” Weichert said. “They couldn’t get all their financing ... so we ended up owning it.”

Since the 1970s, the hotel had been used for affordable housing, referred to as a single-room occupancy (SRO) hotel.

“It’s affordable housing for people who are earning 45 percent or less of the area’s median income,” Weichert said. “It’s got 104 units.”

Many of those units were inhabited until about six months ago, when tenants were moved to other residences. The last tenant left in June, according to Weichert, who added that the tenants received moving assistance and will have the option to return when the renovation is complete.

“This hotel desperately needs renovation,” Weichert said. “Very little reinvestment has occurred since (it was built).”

Currently, the hotel is plagued by pockets of mold and other issues related to deterioration, said Jeree Glasser-Hedrick, housing finance program manager for Housing and Community Development.

During the renovation, each room will be outfitted with a kitchenette so it will be a self-contained living space, and the ground floor will be remodeled. A Mexican restaurant that formerly occupied a portion of the ground floor will be used as community space.

“It’s going to be exciting to get this thing rehabbed,” Weichert said.

“This is a terrific project,” said City Councilman Ray Tretheway.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

R Street improvement kicks off

2010-09-09T02:22:03Z

The R Street improvement project officially started today at a groundbreaking ceremony in front of the Fox and Goose Public House at 10th and R streets.

“This is absolutely wonderful,” said Congresswoman Doris Matsui. “We have a history here – a thriving commercial history.”

R Street is getting numerous upgrades from 10th Street to 13th Street as part of the more than $6 million project, including sidewalks, pedestrian-oriented traffic lights, designated parking spots and drainage, according to Sacramento Department of Transportation Director Jerry Way.

In a nod to the R Street corridor’s history, rail lines will be preserved in the streetscape.

“This project has been long and anxiously awaited,” Way said.

Part of the funding – about $1.5 million – came from a federal earmark.

“That has some bad connotations, but when it actually works, it leverages a lot of money,” Matsui said. “The federal government needs to be involved in urban planning, and it is. I’m looking forward to a continued partnership with the state and with the city.”

Mayor Kevin Johnson applauded the project and said the 170 jobs it will create are a boon to the local economy.

“The R Street corridor is going to be an amazing opportunity for us,” he said. “This is a microcosm, I believe, of everything that is happening in our city.”

The project lies in City Council District 4, and Councilman Rob Fong said the $6.1 million to address infrastructure in his district is key to preserving the history and helping bring in new development in the mixed-use corridor.

While the groundbreaking was today, dirt won’t actually be moved for about two weeks, according to Todd Leon, R Street development manager for the Capitol Area Development Authority (CADA), which partially funded the project.

Leon said the work from 11th Street to 13th Street will, depending on weather, be done sometime in late November or December.

Work from 10th Street to 11th Street will start after St. Patrick’s Day and be completed in June, he added.

“The businesses are going to be open the whole time, and we wanted to work around their busy times,” he said.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Work to commence on street repairs

2010-09-01T04:35:04Z

The city of Sacramento will begin repairs on six heavily traveled roadways next week.

City workers will be doing overlays – the most extensive road work short of full reconstruction – to the streets, said Linda Tucker, spokeswoman for the city’s Department of Transportation.

A street overlay is done by first filling in all potholes and cracks in the pavement, then grinding it down several inches before repaving the street, Tucker said. The repaving is typically two to three inches thick and is good for 15-20 years.

Overlays will be done on the following streets:

• Second Avenue from Stockton Boulevard to Santa Cruz Way
• Truxel Road from West El Camino Avenue to San Juan Road
• Pocket Road from Greenhaven Drive to Interstate 5
• La Mancha Way from Mack Road to Tangerine Avenue
• 12th Street from N Street to P Street
• 13th Street from N Street to P Street

“It is part of our annual overlay program which uses local and federal dollars to resurface some of the city’s worst streets” Tucker said. “It’s quite a comprehensive treatment.”

The project will cost $3.4 million, which will come from the city’s share of gas taxes and a mixture of state and federal funds, according to a press release.

“This is preventative,” Tucker said. “Ideally we would be able to keep all the streets in good condition via slurry seals, but if they get to the point of deteriorating....we have to go in and do an overlay. Only in extreme cases would we need to reconstruct a street.”

Work will be done from 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. except on 12th and 13th streets, where it will be done from 7 a.m. - 7 p.m.

At least one lane will remain open on all streets except La Mancha Way, which will be closed for five consecutive days, according to a press release.

Residents will be notified of the work by fliers three to five days before construction.

“It will be slightly inconvenient for the residents and the businesses,” Tucker said. “We try to design the schedule to minimize impacts, and when the work is done, they will have an almost brand-new street.”

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

City Council likely to green-light R Street improvements

2010-08-23T22:54:00Z

After months of delay, the project to improve R Street between 10th and 13th streets will move forward, pending City Council approval Tuesday.

Currently, that section of R Street lacks any uniformity in regard to curbs, street lighting and parking, said Tim Mar, supervising engineer for the Sacramento Department of Transportation.

The project will rebuild the curves, repave the streets and add defined parking spaces and street lighting.

Another facet of the project will be restoring the historical character of the area – which is mixed-use with some industrial, business and residential buildings.

The project was originally scheduled to start in spring, but since federal funding is financing it along with local funding – none of which is from the general fund – approval had to be gotten from Washington, D.C.

“It was quite a significant delay in getting that approval,” Mar said, adding that it took twice as long as normal due to administrative processes.

Staff is recommending the City Council award the construction contract of about $2.75 million to Teichert construction.

Darryl Hansen, estimating manager for Teichert’s Sacramento office, said he expects to break ground around Oct. 1 and finish the project by late summer, 2011.

Most of the work is concrete, as the street will be repaved with colored concrete, curbs will be built and the existing historic rail spur – currently partially paved-over – will be set off by cobblestones as part of the preservation of the area’s history.

Hansen said the project is a positive thing for the construction industry, which has been hard-hit in the past few years.

During the 36 weeks of construction, there will be times when streets are closed, but Hansen said keeping open access to local businesses is a priority.

“It’s critical to let the businesses have access,” he said.

Dino Grassini, manager of the Fox and Goose Restaurant on the corner of 10th and R streets, said he thinks the project will be good for business.

“We’re 100 percent behind it,” he said. “It will eventually benefit us, and it will draw more attention (to R Street) and bring more people down here.”

Mar said that in addition to the existing businesses benefiting, he expects more development in the area once the project is complete, including condo-type residences.

“We’re excited the project is moving forward,” Mar said. “It’s taken us probably at least five years to get to this point, and I think the corridor is going to receive a dramatic facelift.”

The City Council meets Tuesday at 6 p.m. at City Hall, located at 915 I St. The staff report for the R Street project can be viewed here.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Sacramento's drinking water in good shape

2010-08-18T22:14:40Z

Sacramento’s drinking water meets or surpasses all state and federal health requirements, according to the city’s report on water quality relative to public health goals.

It does not, however, meet every public health goal as set by the state.

“We may not meet all those goals,” said Jessica Hess, spokeswoman for the Department of Utilities. “We probably never have met all those goals, since they’re set at a level so high to encourage jurisdictions to do better.”

Hess said the city’s water facilities don’t all have the technology to even measure the levels set forth in the state public health goals.

“The goals are set for levels that are very difficult for folks to attain, and there are some challenges for that,” Hess said. “It requires testing that our current facilities are incapable of reaching.”

The state report is mandated every three years by law, and it measures samples taken from the city’s water supply with acceptable levels of contaminants in reaching the state goals.

Those contaminants include arsenic, bacteria and fluoride, among others.

According to the report, the goals are not enforceable.

The federal and state requirements, however, are enforceable, and the results are sent to city water users every year.

“The city’s drinking water is excellent...passing all state and federal standards,” said Mike Yee, plant services manager for the Department of Utilities, at Tuesday’s City Council meeting.

No one spoke on the matter at the required public hearing Tuesday night, and the council accepted the report, which can be viewed online here.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

City to cash in if state issues IOUs

2010-08-18T22:14:08Z

If the state issues IOUs again, Sacramento plans to cash in.

The City Council gave the nod Tuesday night to the treasurer’s office to use $20 million to purchase IOUs – officially known as “registered warrants” – as an investment opportunity for the city.

If the state does issue IOUs, Sacramento Chief Investment Officer John Colville said recipients can take them to the treasurer’s office along with identification and a voided check, and the city will wire the money directly into the recipient’s bank account, with a $2 processing fee.

Last year, the city set aside $10 million, of which $6.92 million was used to buy IOUs, and the city cashed in for $29,650, Colville said.

“It was successful last year,” Colville said. “We only ran it for a little over 40 days, and we took in 338 warrants from 69 businesses and individuals.”

With the state paying an interest rate of 3.75 percent, Colville said the city received about three times what it otherwise would have.

“If we weren’t doing this, we’d be buying treasury bills or commercial paper from organizations, and as bad as it is right now, I’d be earning 0.19 percent on a six-month treasury bill,” Colville said. “A one-year treasury bill is only paying 0.24 percent. Even if they come out with 2.5 percent, I’m still destroying any other opportunity I have on the marketplace.”

Colville called it a win for the city and a win for the people and businesses issued IOUs.

Mayor Kevin Johnson characterized last year’s program as “very successful” at Tuesday’s City Council meeting, in which the measure was unanimously passed.

Colville told the council that about 85 percent of those who took advantage of the program were businesses that otherwise would have had trouble paying for day-to-day expenses and payroll.

While the state has not issued IOUs at this point, Colville said he anticipates seeing them by the end of the month if no state budget is passed.

The city will be able to redeem the IOUs once a budget is passed.

The program is open to all city residents, businesses and nonprofits, as well as businesses in nearby cities that employ a significant number of city residents.

“We’re pretty flexible,” Colville said.

“No cash is given from our office,” Colville said.

The $20 million is already on hand and comes from the general fund, city bond proceeds and outside agencies including the library, Colville said. All of it is already allotted for future uses such as payroll, but not for at least six months, which frees it up to be invested until then.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Gavin Newsom speaks at monthly Greenwise meeting

2010-08-18T00:26:46Z

As Greenwise Sacramento continues to formulate a strategy for making Sacramento into Mayor Kevin Johnson’s vision of the “Emerald Valley,” San Francisco Mayor and candidate for Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom came to Tuesday’s monthly meeting to offer inspiration and guidance.

“Global consumption is nothing more than the sum of all local consumption,” Newsom said, adding that movements like Greenwise Sacramento are the key to moving forward when progress is stalled at the federal level.

The meeting was held at California State University, Sacramento, and the several-hundred-strong audience consisted of regional business owners, politicians, students and others interested in energy efficiency.

“The impact local mayors have is astounding,” Newsom said, pointing out that more than 1,000 mayors across the nation have put together local global climate action plans.

Newsom is no stranger to “going green,” as San Francisco is a leader in energy efficiency, with a public transit system 100 percent run on alternative fuel and 2008 pollution levels having been brought to below 1990 levels despite increased population.

In converting the city’s diesel vehicles to biodiesel, Newsom said lard and oil from restaurants was picked up by the city, whereas owners had previously had to pay to have it removed.

“It was a win-win,” he said.

The next step is making the city’s taxis run on alternative fuel – something he said is well under way.

Newsom also brought composting to San Francisco, which was a very heated political issue.

“Gay marriage was not controversy,” Newsom said. “Requiring composting in my city was controversy.”

In accomplishing all of those goals, Newsom said it was necessary to work with other cities in the region.

“You can’t go this alone,” Newsom said.

Johnson agreed.

“If we can all get in the same room and learn from each other,” Johnson said, “we’re going to be that much stronger and that much closer to attaining that goal.”

He reiterated that Greenwise Sacramento would fail if it wasn’t done in conjunction with the other cities in the region.

In the current economy, Johnson and Newsom both said creating jobs is a top priority.

Newsom said the old way of thinking was that it was a choice between preserving the environment or making money, but the actuality is that it’s possible – even necessary – to do both simultaneously.

One of the biggest places pollution can be cut is in buildings, Newsom said, adding that retrofitting them to be more energy-efficient is helpful to both the environment and the profit margin of a business.

He likened energy efficiency in a building to gas mileage in a vehicle.

Mike McKeever, from the Sacramento Area Council of Governments, is the team leader for Greenwise Sacramento’s Urban Design and Green Building Team, and he said the Sacramento area’s devastated building industry can benefit from doing building retrofits if a regional standard is set.

“We’re pushing for a retrofit sector,” he said. “Setting a goal is necessary.”

Inevitably, Proposition 23 was brought up, which would effectively cancel out Assembly Bill 32, which requires pollution levels be brought back to 1998 standards by 2020 in California. It has recently been a topic at the city level as well.

“I don’t get why this is such a big deal,” Newsom said. “(Reducing pollution levels in San Francisco) was remarkably simple. This is not very complicated.”

Jacobe Caditz of the Sacramento Tree Foundation attended the event and said he felt inspired by Newsom’s comments.

“I thought it was nice to hear the things San Francisco has done, and it sets a good bar here in Sacramento,” Caditz said. “We are definitely capable of achieving the same things.”

Meeting attendee John Argo works in the renewable energy development field and said Newsom’s message was excellent.

“I think we can easily do so much more,” he said, adding that one of the key differences in Sacramento is the amount of state and local government, which have the ability to enact policies that can have a wider-ranging impact.

Newsom urged all politicians to take risks and think long-term when it comes to energy efficiency.

“All the rhetoric in the world is not going to solve this,” he said. “You’ve got to support bold leadership.”

The next Greenwise Sacramento meeting is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Sept. 30 at the Crest Theatre and will feature Pulitzer-prize-winning author and journalist Thomas L. Friedman.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Johnson to ask staff to find safe ground sites, anticipates meeting with school board candidates

2010-08-10T19:13:40Z

Mayor Kevin Johnson announced today that he will be asking city staff to find three spots suitable to serve as safe ground for the homeless.

But that’s just one aspect of Johnson’s goal with regard to the homeless.

“If the dialogue on homelessness is only about SG, we’ve missed our mark,” Johnson said, adding that the overall goal is to get permanent housing.

“It is a thorny issue,” he said. “It’s one that I don’t mind being out in front of.”

Johnson said he would have preferred to start looking at possible sites back in January or February, and since that isn’t being done until now, there won’t be a permanent safe ground before November and the onset of cold weather.

He did, however, hint at good news to come.

“We’re going to (give an) update in the next week or two on the progress we’ve made on permanent housing,” he said. “It’s astounding...not just for our city, (but for) the region.”

Switching his focus to education, Johnson also announced that he will be taking an active look at the 10 candidates who will be on the ballot for three school board positions in November.

“My passion is education,” Johnson said. “It’s something I feel very strongly about. There’s no way we will have a great city without great schools.”

Johnson said he wants to sit down with all 10 candidates and make sure they put the children first, are willing to assume personal accountability for results, make decisions based on performance and work to put good teachers and principals in every school.

“You can go to school board meetings around the country, and they’re not talking about children as much as they should,” Johnson said, adding that he thinks every decision made should be in the best interest of the children – not unions or other adults.

“I do see that as part of my job,” Johnson said. “(Education isn’t) part of my job description, but it’s part of my job.”

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Light rail station closed for a month

2010-08-03T22:59:03Z

The light rail station at 12th and I streets closed Monday for renovation work and will reopen Sept. 7.

The most noticeable improvement will be the installation of an elevated ramp to replace the old wheelchair lift, making access to the train for people in wheelchairs much more efficient and quicker, said Alane Masui, spokeswoman for Sacramento Regional Transit.

“This is a major improvement for this station,” she said.

Other improvements include repainting, new seating and redone landscaping, Masui said.

Light rail users questioned Tuesday were in favor of the improvements.

“It’s hard for me to climb up the steps onto the train,” said Danny Frias, who walks with a cane and rides light rail every day. “I’ve got a bad back, and I always use the ramps when I can.”

Kathleen Andrews, who rides light rail every workday, said the temporary closure is a minor inconvenience, but well worth it.

“It’s going to be a major improvement,” Andrews said. “For a while, I needed to use a walker, and I couldn’t get off (at the 12th and I streets stop) without assistance.”

With the new ramp, she added, riders needing to use things like walkers and canes will be able to do so without help.

Average daily ridership for the station is 1,316 passengers, and Masui said they will still be able to use light rail, but will have to use either the station at 12th and D streets or the Cathedral Square station at 10th and K streets/11th and K streets.

“We don’t expect any delays in service on the light rail line,” Masui said, adding that construction won’t get in the way of trains passing through the temporarily closed station.

Funding for the approximately $190,000-project came mostly in the form of a grant from the Sacramento Area Council of Governments with almost $21,000 from Regional Transit Measure A funds, according to Masui.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Central Plant project nears completion

2010-08-03T05:35:11Z

Sacramentans driving past Sixth and Q streets might be wondering what the towering building is that resembles a nuclear cooling tower mated with a jungle gym.

If they say it’s “cool,” they’d be on the right track.

The multistory tower is part of the state of California’s rebuilt Central Plant, which provides heating and air conditioning to all 23 state buildings in the city.

“It’s all for heating and cooling the state buildings,” said Project Director Joel Griffith of California’s Department of General Services. “We serve three functions: steam, chilled water and compressed air. It’s all sent through underground piping.”

Most functions are currently on line, but some final tests need to be completed before it fully opens, which Griffith said he expects to be in September.

The previous incarnation of the Central Plant was built in 1962 and needed to be redone - partly for technological reasons and partly because it was designed to dump water into the Sacramento River, and that the heated water was too hot for the river.

Now, the circulated water is cooled in eight cooling towers before it is piped to serve various other uses including watering lawns and operating toilets.

The current design began construction in 2007 and cost about $181 million, Griffith said.

Griffith explained that even though there is some efficiency loss in transporting chilled or heated water through piping to buildings as far away as the Capitol - about two miles of piping - it is far more efficient than using traditional heating and cooling methods for office buildings.

“We get such economy of scale,” Griffith said. “When you have constant usage, you’re much more efficient with a campus system.”

And according to Griffith, the plant was designed with efficiency in mind, and he said he expects it to earn a gold certification from LEED, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.

The plant’s tower is for storing the 4.2 million gallons of chilled water that will be cooled overnight so the plant doesn’t stress SMUD’s resources by chilling all that water during peak hours - a plan that saves the state the cost of running the equipment on peak times as well.

The materials used to build the office space are mostly recycled, and numerous technologies were used to ensure the building is “green,” including solar power for some areas, automated light switches, solar shades for the windows and improved air conditioning methods and perimeter heating.

“I’m pretty confident we’re going to get the gold certification,” Griffith said. “We’re using a lot of cutting-edge technology here.”

The plant works by piping chilled and heated water underground to state buildings scattered through Sacramento. At each building, the temperature-controlled water is used to heat or cool air, which is then sent through the ventilation system while the water goes back to the Central Plant.

The compressed air aspect of the facility works in much the same way, with air constantly pressurized in the lines running to the buildings and used to operate various pneumatic machinery, such as air tools.

The project was funded by bonds, which will be paid off over 30 years, Griffith said. The expected life of most of the machinery at the plant is 50 years.

According to Griffith, the savings in electricity costs will come as soon as the water tank is fully operational in September.

“I’m hoping we can move (the) five megawatts (from the plant) from our peak annual usage,” Griffith said. “Our peak usage last year for the plant (campus) was 19 megawatts, so if we shift five megawatts to off-peak times, we will save a bunch of money.”

Aerial photos courtesy Ken Hunt, California Department of General Services.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Arborists keep Sacramento connected to nature

2010-07-30T07:48:31Z

Maintaining Sacramento’s 100,000 trees is no small task, and with seven positions likely to be cut next week, the Urban Forestry tree maintenance staff will be stretched even thinner.

“We’ve gone from about 58 full-time-equivalent employees to 28 since 2005,” said Urban Forestry Manager Joe Benassini.

Those 28 positions are currently filled, with another eight technically on the books but not staffed. Benassini said the department has not been filling positions vacated through attrition in anticipation of the budget problems and has yet to lay off any employees.

But unless an agreement with unions is made by Aug. 5, some staffers will be let go.

Residents at the July 19 Area 1 Neighborhood Advisory Group raised concerns that tree maintenance staff was being unfairly targeted while pruning staff was being kept on the job.

Benassini said Thursday that in the attrition the department has seen over the past five years, more pruning staff has been lost than maintenance staff, and the department needs to keep a balance.

“The truth is that the skill sets don’t translate both ways,” Benassini said. “I can take a pruner and have them plant trees and do basic maintenance work, but I can’t take an arborist and teach them how to rig and climb and prune trees. It’s much heavier, more-skilled work.”

Benassini was quick to add, however, that arborists are essential to the city, and he hopes the current situation is not permanent.

So what, exactly, is an arborist?

The city currently has two positions classified as arborists, but there are many on staff who are certified as arborists, according to Benassini. That certification means employees have passed a test to ensure they have the level of expertise to properly maintain a tree.

“It’s not as thorough as a college degree in botany, but it means they are qualified,” Benassini said.

“Our arborists really deal with trees on a tree-by-tree basis,” Benassini said, comparing them to having the same job in Urban Forestry as a surgeon has in a hospital.

When arborists are dispatched to deal with a particular tree, Benassini said that nine times out of 10, it is to water the tree.

Pointing to an English Elm tree near City Hall Thursday, Benassini said that when the tree was planted sometime in the late 1800s, the streets were dirt and the trees were largely maintained by residents.

“People had a better understanding of how things grew,” Benassini said. “They knew how to garden and they understood the soil. It’s not as common today.”

Linda Tucker, spokeswoman for the Sacramento Department of Transportation, which includes Urban Forestry, said the city may be seeing the need for a paradigm shift in which residents take a more active part in caring for the trees, as arborists can’t fill the need for all 100,000 of them.

Having residents help with the watering would allow the arborists to focus on the more specialized parts of their jobs, including root pruning, inspections of trees, helping developers determine the proper amount of trees and their placement and putting the right tree in the right place.

To help with their work, arborists now have aerial maps of all of Sacramento’s trees and computer records of the status of their health and other information. That was all brought in over the past two years, Benassini said.

But will residents actually take the time to water the trees around their properties?

Tucker said she thinks so.

“Even tenants (renting from absentee landlords) should see the trees right outside their houses,” she said. “It doesn’t take much to bring out a hose and water a tree once in a while.”

Pamela Frickmann, a community forester with the nonprofit Sacramento Tree Foundation, agreed.

“I think they would be willing,” Frickmann said. “I think that they are unaware that it is becoming more their responsibility. They’re not aware that maybe the city can’t come out as often as they would like, but everyone would be willing to do that, I would think.”

Tucker said the city will still be able to maintain trees even if no agreement is made with labor unions, but calls for service will be answered within a couple of weeks instead of a couple of days.

Tucker and Benassini agreed that the trees are a critically important part of Sacramento.

“It’s what makes Sacramento livable and not a sea of rooftops,” Benassini said. “It’s our connection to nature.”

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Residents fear trees will be neglected

2010-07-23T08:05:44Z

Some Midtown residents are concerned that Sacramento’s urban forest will get the ax from budget cuts.

Midtown resident Karen Jacques raised the issue at Monday night’s Area 1 Neighborhood Advisory Group meeting by filing a request for a response from the city of Sacramento on the possible laying off of Sacramento’s experienced tree maintenance staff.

Jacques said she has heard that maintenance staff is at risk of being laid off, and she said she fears the loss that will represent to the upkeep of the numerous trees in the city.

“This issue is at least grid-wide, and it may be Central City-wide,” Jacques said. “What I’m asking of urban forest staff is that they look at their budget priorities.”

“We have to take a look at all of our services to close the budget gap,” said Linda Tucker, spokeswoman for the Sacramento Department of Transportation. “One of the areas...is going to be Urban Forestry.”

Tucker said she could not go into specific positions facing cuts, but said there will still be people with arborist-level experience on staff.

Layoff notices were mailed Wednesday, and they are scheduled to take effect Aug. 6. Tucker could not elaborate on which positions would be cut.

The level of service, she added, will decline.

“What people will lose will be the ability for the city to...plant new trees other than the ones we replace,” Tucker said.

The cuts will also lead to long-term maintenance costs as some trees might not be properly watered, damaging them in the long run, Tucker added.

She added that positive measures have been taken, including pruning entire blocks at a time instead of responding to calls for single trees needing pruning.

Resident George Raya added to Jacques’ request Monday night, asking for a review of the books for the landscape and lighting funds.

“I’d like to find out how much of our tax is actually going to tree services,” Raya said. “We taxed ourselves specifically for this reason.”

Jacques said she is concerned that without the more experienced staff on-hand, newly planted trees will die and old ones will not get the attention they need.

“In some areas, it isn’t going to be pretty, but these are some tough times,” Tucker said.

Doucette retires, takes job at Burn Institute

2010-07-22T22:59:48Z

All his life, Sacramento Fire Department Capt. Jim Doucette wanted to be a police officer.

Until he got a job as a firefighter.

Doucette said he was initially afraid of being a firefighter, knowing he would see more traumatic injuries than a police officer, but once he got involved with the fire department, he fell in love with the job.

After more than 30 years in the fire service, Doucette announced his retirement last week.

The official date is Aug. 24, after which he will take a vacation to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, and spend some time in Boise, Ida., to visit family.

“It has been a very long career, and one that I will surely miss,” Doucette wrote in a post on The Sacramento Press.

He said Monday that he will miss the pride he felt in telling people he is a captain for the Sacramento Fire Department.

“I’m very proud of that...but now I’ll be telling them I’m a retired captain, and that’s something I’m proud of too,” Doucette said.

Since 2006, Doucette served as the public information officer for the department, and it was something of a natural fit for his personality.

“I love the Fire Department, and I love to talk. People can’t shut me up,” he said.

Battalion Chief Niko King held the information officer position before Doucette and characterized Doucette as always being calm.

“His whole mission was to always get the word out to the public about the fire service and what we do and the great men and women in this profession, and that’s exactly what he did,” King said.

King admitted to sometimes getting frustrated with some of the questions when he was dealing with the media, but said Doucette was always patient and never lost his cool or got frazzled.

Doucette was hired as a volunteer firefighter for the Pacific Fire District in 1979, and began working for Sacramento when the smaller district was absorbed by the Sacramento Fire Department in 1991.

By the time he was 29, Doucette was already a captain, and he led his company on many of the major fires in Sacramento over the next 15 years.

“I do miss the station life and the camaraderie and going to work every day and playing and working together,” Doucette said. “It’s a full day, and it’s like being at home, except it’s a lot of work.”

Doucette will start a new job as executive director for the Firefighters Burn Institute, an organization he has been involved with for 25 years.

“It’s a firefighter-based charity, and in my humble opinion, its gotten stagnant in some ways,” Doucette said. “I would like to see more firefighters get involved, and I’d like to see the community get more involved.”

Lincoln Fire Department Chief Dave Whitt worked with Doucette in Sacramento and said he has a good, level head on his shoulders and is often the voice of common sense and reason.

“He’s always been a strong leader in any organization he’s been responsible for,” Whitt said. “I think it will be a good move not only for the Burn Institute, but for him. He’s been at pretty busy fire stations for most of his career, and that takes its toll on your body.”

The institute was founded by Sacramento Fire Department Capt. Cliff Haskell in 1973, about a year after the tragedy at Farrell’s ice cream parlor on Freeport Avenue when an airplane crashed into the shop, killing more than 20 people. A Sacramento firefighter and his family were among the victims.

“That’s when Cliff went to work,” Doucette said. “Burn units are a financial strain on the medical community, and I’ve heard stories of people all over the country treated at small hospitals where they don’t have the training to treat burns.”

Retired Stockton Fire Department Capt. Oscar Barrera has worked with Doucette for a number of years through the Burn Institute and said he will be a great fit as executive director.

“He’s a great guy,” Berrera said. “He’s going to be a good asset to the Burn Institute...It’s going to keep the Burn Institute heading in the right direction.”

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Photos courtesy of Jim Doucette.

Council to consider billing nonresident drivers for emergency services

2010-07-21T00:56:34Z

The next car crash you get into could be more costly than you think. Especially if you’re not a Sacramento resident.

The City Council Law and Legislation Committee decided today to put the measure on the Aug. 5 council agenda.

The goal of the proposed fee is to collect between $600,000 and $1.3 million, allowing the city to reopen one of the browned-out fire stations by next year, according to Sacramento Fire Department Operations Deputy Chief Lloyd Ogan.

Council members Robbie Waters, Lauren Hammond and Sandy Sheedy voted for sending the measure forward, while Councilman Steve Cohn voted against it on the grounds that he would like more details.

As it currently stands, when drivers who are not Sacramento residents are involved in a collision, they will be billed a minimum of $435 for a basic response from the Fire Department, Ogan said.

One of the major details to be figured out is if nonresident drivers involved in a collision would still be charged if they are not at fault.

The prices go up as services increase, depending on whether hazardous materials need to be cleaned up, a fire needs to be extinguished or other factors, Ogan said.

“In general, the high level of service we provide is to a constituency that does little in supporting the cost of that service,” Ogan said.

He added that the Fire Department sees the issue as Sacramentans subsidizing nonresident emergency costs with their property and utility use taxes.

Between 30 and 50 percent of collisions the department responds to involve out-of-town residents, according to Ogan.

Cohn asked that the proposed ordinance include a mechanism to audit the third-party company charged with billing insurance companies for the fees.

Sam Sorich, president of the Association of California Insurance Companies, said the proposed ordinance makes revenue promises it can’t fulfill, could increase insurance rates for California drivers and is unfair to nonresident drivers.

“When insurance policies do cover emergency response fees, the inevitable result is higher insurance costs,” Sorich said. “Those costs will lead to higher insurance rates for our customers.”

Sorich added that the proposed fee “literally adds insult to injury” by billing drivers who recently underwent the trauma of a collision and cited a report released last month by the Yolo County Grand Jury that found a similar program in Woodland to be a “financial failure.”

Ogan said other local agencies, including Roseville and the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District, have either adopted similar ordinances or are in the process of doing so.

“Roseville has been doing it for some time now, and it has been a successful program, and they are coming in pretty close to the projected (revenue) recovery they are hoping to get,” Ogan said. “Metro Fire is ready to move on it.”

“We’re not here to make money,” Sheedy said. “We’re here to recover our cost factors only...not to balance the budget with it.”

If approved by the City Council on Aug. 5, the Fire Department would go through the bidding process for companies to handle the insurance billing and could be ready to institute the changes by mid-September, Ogan said.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press

Photos by Ed Fogle Maverick Photography