City Politics

Plastic bag ban a step closer in Sacramento

2013-05-22T22:22:08Z

A ban on single-use plastic bans could be a step closer to becoming the law of the land in Sacramento next week.

An ordinance to ban certain stores in Sacramento from distributing single bags has been drafted and will be considered by a City Council committee on Tuesday.

The ordinance, which would also require a minimum $.10 fee on recycled paper bags and reusable bags, will go before the Law and Legislation Committee during their 3 p.m. meeting.

Mayor Kevin Johnson supports the proposed ban.

"The economic and environmental costs of single-use plastic bags simply outweigh any short term benefit," he wrote in a letter. "Phasing out single-use plastic bags will reduce pollution and the costs associated with it."

The Metro Chamber, which represents businesses in the area, has been working with city staff to develop the ordinance and add amendments, but has yet to take a position.

"I'm not sure if we're going to support or oppose it," said Johnnise Foster-Downs, the organization's regional policy director. "Right now we're just working with staff to get something that is workable for all and is fair to businesses, particularly small businesses, and has the least amount of impact on business operations."

A representative with Raley's said that they were not taking a position and had adapted well to similar bans in other cities, including San Jose.

The ban would apply to supermarkets, convenience stores, food marts, and any store with at least 10,000 square feet,

The proposal can be read in full here:

Sacramento's Reusable Bag Ordinance

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Proposal to make it easier for big-box megastores to open in Sacramento takes a step forward

2013-05-22T19:44:07Z

A plan to make it easier for big-box stores like WalMart to open in Sacramento will be considered by a city comission Thursday.

The proposal to repeal the city's "Superstore Ordinance," ending the requirement that city study the economic impact of any big-box megastores planning to locate in Sacramento, will go before the Design and Planning Commission during their 5 p.m. meeting.

Several business groups have written letters of support (Metro Chamber, The Natomas Chamber, Asian-Pacific Chamber, Regional Builders), but the idea has also drawn opposition from activists concerned that it could make it easier for a Walmart to open in the city.

"We feel that the city council was visionary to enact the ordinance in order to protect the opportunity for small business to flourish," said Julie Murphy, co-chair of The Marshall Park Neighborhood Association, in an interview Tuesday. "Inviting stores like Walmart to come in is only going to threaten the livelihood of these small businesses. (See the letter of opposition submitted by Murphy here).

The California Retailers Association took a different view.

"It's no secret that your city's superstore ordinance has discouraged retailers from locating within Sacrament's city limits," reads a letter of support from the the association’s CEO, Bill Dombrowski. "The ordinance is arbitrary, subjective and easily manipulated by special interests. It takes an irresponsible view of retails' impact and does not apply uniformly to all competitors."

If the superstore ordinance were repealed, any store over 40,000 square feet in size would still require a special use permit - meaning it would still need to be approved by City Council - but the requirement that the city conduct an Economic Impact Analysis report for any business deemed a "superstore" would be removed.

EIA reports can cost between $50,000 to 100,000 and can take two to three months to prepare, Mende said.

The city could still do EIA reports when they were necessary, but they would not be automatically required.

"When (a proposed superstore) would displace existing business, it makes sense to do an economic impact analysis, but what we're proposing to delete is this automatic rule, whereby in every case, it has to have an economic impact analysis."

In Mende's view, the EIA studies are redundant in cases where the city has already approved an area for commercial use, or if the area is underserved by retail.

"What's the point then of doing an Economic Impact Analysis if the council has already approve in concept that this would be a large format retail store?" he said.

Also at stake: sales tax revenue, an issue addressed in the staff report.

"… the unintended consequence of the (Superstore) ordinance has been to push superstores to neighboring jurisdictions – resulting in a leakage of sales tax revenue. Specifically, since the adoption of the City’s superstore ordinance, no superstores have been approved in the City of Sacramento, while new large-format retail stores have opened just beyond the City’s borders, including:
• June 2009 – Walmart @ Florin Town Center (6051 Florin Rd)
• May 2011 – Walmart West Sacramento (755 Riverpoint Ct.)
• March 2013 – Walmart @ 148,200 sqft @ Bruceville / Whitelock (10075 Bruceville Rd)”

If the proposal passes the Design and Planning Commission, it would then go on to the City Council's Law and Legislation committee, and could go in front of the City Council itself this summer, in mid-June or July.

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City: No stop light planed for once deadly crosswalk in South Sacramento

2013-05-21T20:56:20Z

Update (5/22, 9:00 a.m.):

The director of Public Works, Jerry Way, meet with Terry Preston of WalkSacramento and the West High School students after the City Council meeting on Tuesday, and directed them to seek funding for the crosswalk from the Sacramento Unified School District. Sacramento Councilmember Kevin Mccarty had arranged the meeting.

Preston said he was encouraged by the conversation and would reach out to the school district soon. Sac Press will cover the efforts to get a crosswalk at 58th and Fruitridge as they develop.

A crosswalk in South Sacramento that activists and community members call dangerous won’t get a traffic light for another 25 years, but it could either be improved or eliminated altogether within the next few years, according to a city official.

Public Works spokesperson Linda Tucker said that the city tracks data to identity which crosswalks needs improvement, and that the city's records do not indicate that the crosswalk at 58th and Fruitridge, where 16-year-old student Michelle Murigi lost her life last year, is dangerous. Murgi was a student at West Campus High School, which is two blocks from the intersection.

"It is the only known fatality in the history of this crosswalk, but we understand that members of the community may believe that it is overly dangerous," she said

The crosswalk spans four lanes of traffic, and cars regularly travel at speeds of 40-50 miles per hour, according to recent posts on Sac Press by Vanessa Hernandez. A local college student, Hernandez recently produced a short web documentary about the crosswalk and Michelle Murigi's death.

Hernandez will join representatives from the nonprofit WALKSacramento and West Campus High School students at the City Council meeting tonight in support of installing a traffic light at the intersection.

“I’m hoping that the City Council really takes notice that people haven’t forgotten about this issue, because it’s still in people’s minds that live in the area, they have to deal with it, everyday,” Hernandez said.

Tucker said that the Public Works department evaluates several criteria – like traffic volume, numbers of pedestrians, the number of lanes, number of accidents reported and the average speed of vehicles – when determining what crosswalks need upgrades or traffic signals, and establishes a list of priority sites. While community input is welcome, it is not part of the formal criteria that the city considers.

58th and Fruitridge is 25th on the list of problem intersections, meaning there are 24 other crosswalks the city considers to be in more urgent need of a stop light. A recent traffic study of the area during before and after-school hours found that only five people were using the crosswalk or crossing the street nearby, and which is one of the factors the city considered, Tucker said.

Traffic signals cost the Public Works more than $250,000 to install, and the department can only afford to add one per year, she said.

"At this point, if we didn't have any further funding or partners that might be able to come in and help fund it, you're looking at, unfortunately, about 25 years before a traffic signal would go in there."

However, within the next year, the city will be upgrading its pedestrian guidelines to be in line with recent federal guidelines. The Public Works Department will also look into grants for possible safety enhancements at crosswalks.

In some cases, Tucker said that the smartest policy is actually to remove the crosswalk altogether. The city hasn't considered taking this step at 58th and Fruitridge, but it may at some point.

"When you look at the possibility of eliminating a crosswalk, it sounds counterintuitive for safety, but it actually isn't because if you do have vehicles driving at a high rate of speed and you have a high volume of vehicles, any kind of crosswalk (without a traffic signal) can give pedestrians a false sense of security."

The City Council meeting starts at 6:00 p.m. in City Hall. Walk Sacramento and the West Campus High School students will speak at the beginning of the meeting. Hernandez, whose documentary will be shown, expects that this won’t be the only meeting they attend.

“I imagine it’s going to take more than just this one time,” she said. “I’m just hoping to at least move some people.”

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Sacramento Old City Association forum on McKinley Village development

2013-05-16T19:28:26Z

The Sacramento Old City Association is organizing a public forum on Mckinley Village on June 8 at the Midtown Village Cafe. The Sacramento Press will be live streaming and blogging the event. To get emailed when the action kicks off, register here:

I sent SOCA Chair (and Sac Press Elite Contributor and all-star commenter) William Burg a few questions about the event and its goals. His response are below.

SP: Why did SOCA decide to do a forum on McKinley Village?
WB: Our mission statement is based on achieving balanced and harmonious relationships among residential, commercial and employment uses. Change happens whether we like it or not, but engaged citizens can direct change in positive ways. SOCA was involved with citywide planning and development issues many times over its 41 year history, including the original "Centrage" plan, a fight led by a young attorney and neighborhood activist named Steve Cohn. This forum about McKinley Village is a return to an old issue, within the context of a new generation.

SP: What do you hope to accomplish?
WB: To date, the two meetings held by the developer with community groups were separate, with central city groups in one meeting and East Sacramento groups in another. The Preservation Roundtable is a public forum, intended to educate and engage the wider community, and hopefully form a broader consensus. Communication between stakeholders encourages consensus through mutual understanding--between the developer and the neighborhoods, but also between the two neighborhoods, and with city government.

SP: There as been heated conversation about the development in the articles we've published so far. How can do you plan to keep the forum civil and informative?
WB: The developers involved with this project are not outsiders, they are our neighbors, with an office on 30th Street right where Midtown and East Sacramento connect. This is a forum, not just a one-sided presentation. If all participants feel empowered and comfortable, more civil discussion is likelier to occur. A forum is about debate, and differences of opinion will most certainly exist. But a forum where parties can address each other as equals and neighbors, rather than a top-down approach or from a position of anonymity, encourages civility through mutual understanding.

The Roundtable is held at Midtown Village Cafe, a neighborhood coffee shop. The cafe setting promotes informal conversation during the breaks, and that informality helps break down barriers. Instead of simply being a speaker on a podium, separate from the audience, that speaker becomes just another neighbor you're talking with over a cup of coffee.

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RCI: McKinley Village will complement surrounding neighborhoods, add to city

2013-05-15T16:07:37Z

Update: The Sacramento Old City Association is organizing a public forum on Mckinley Village for June 8 at the Midtown Village Cafe. The Sacramento Press is an official sponsor and will will be live streaming and blogging the event.

After Midtown and East Sacramento neighborhood associations have expressed concerns about the McKinley Village project proposed for vacant land near Sutter’s Landing Park, developer Riverview Capital Investments pushed back in a recent interview. They made their case for what they see as a "21 Century Urban Village" that will provide the city with much needed urban infill development while fitting in well with surrounding area.

"I feel like we're honoring the amenities and the feel of the adjacent neighborhoods," said Jan Burch, vice president with the Placemaking Group, who is working as a consultant for RCI. "We love (the neighborhoods), we think they're great and we think our project fits right into that and compliments it."

The 328-home, $130 million development is planned for a 48-acre lot of grassy, empty land that is bordered by the railroad and Business 80. The city’s former landfill, Sutter's Landing Park, sits across the freeway to the north, while East Sacramento and McKinley Park are to the south. RCI is owned by well-kown developer and former politico Phil Angelides.

We featured the plans for for McKinley Village in February, and the East Sacramento Preservation Committee followed with a critical op-ed in March. We also sent a reporter to a meeting of the Marshall Park Neighborhood association this month, which was largely opposed to the project.

An important journalist note on balance: Since we documented the opposition in Midtown in our last post, what follows here is the developer’s response to many of the questioned raised. It draws from interviews with RCI staff and a Frequently Asked Questions sheet and a brochure RCI have been distributing in the community. We will continue to cover both sides of the story as it progresses. Next up is a public forum on the develpment being put on by the Sacramento Old City Association on Saturday morning, June 8 at Midtown Village Cafe - we'll post the details as soon as they are available.

TRAFFIC

At the Midtown community meeting, some residents were worried that the additional homes would cause traffic congestion in their neighbor – a concern that was also voiced in East Sacramento.

Norris said that the plans has been scaled back since the development was first proposed in 2006, which means the traffic impact should also be lower.

The current plans have 15 69 fewer units that the 2006 proposal and other items included in the last proposal – a church, pre-school and stores – have all been left out.

A traffic study RCI commissioned in 2006 estimated that the development would generate 5,300 car trips, and RCI expects that will be reduced to about 3,100, which will split between a Midtown entrance on A and 28th Street and the East Sacramento entrance at Elvas Avenue.

In 2006 the city called for minor adjustments to mitigate meditate for the extra traffic (the elimination of some on street parking and a turning lane on Alhambra), and Norris expects there will be less required this time around. RCI will work with neighborhood if any issues do arise.

"If there is an impact, we're willing to work with folks in the area,” she said.

School District

Some Midtown residents questioned what school district children from McKinley Village would attend, as it is within Twin Rivers School District but much closer to Sac City Unified Schools ( only four blocks from Theodore Judah Elementary School and only seven blocks from Sutter Middle School).
.
While residents could apply for district transfers, any money from developer fees or taxes would go to Twin Rivers.

Norris said that Riverview believes it makes more practical sense for the development to be part of Sac City Unified. For that to occur, the boards of both districts would have to agree. Riverview has contacted the districts and is preparing to present to the Twin Rivers school board, though an exact date has yet to be set.

Flooding

Another issue raised by the Marshall Park Neighborhood Association was flooding. On this note, Norris pointed out that the steep hill running along the southern side of the site is not a levee (as some had suggested), but a berm, or a raised hill built for a railroad track. The development itself is protected by the same levees that protect East Sacramento and Midtown.

There will be floodgates that cut off the two entrance and exit points on either side of the berm, allowing it to serve as makeshift levee in the (extremely unlikely but still scary) event that the levees fail.

Type of homes

The 328-homes in the development will all be single family and two stories, and are expected to sell from $300,000 to $600,000 plus range.

Renderings are still in the works, but Norris said they are looking at tudor, craftsman and mediterranean styles. They are studying the architecture of nearby neighborhoods for inspiration.

"We're going around and looking at the surrounding homes," she said. "We really want them to fit in."

According to the RCI’s FAQ sheet, homes will range in size from approximately 1,250 square feet with three bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms to approximately 2,500 square feet with five bedrooms and four bathrooms. Some of the homes will feature an option for second units, and others will have a master bedroom on the ground floor, which should appeal to elderly or disabled homeowners.

The question sheet also indicates that, “Homes with front porches and strong entries will face the street
and common greens, with garages either set back off the street or facing allies or interior courtyard.”

Green space, bikes, acxes

McKinley Village will include 2.9 acres of park land, which will require that RCI pay maintenance fees to the Park and Recreation Department. There will be over 2,000 trees and an additional 3.26 arches of common green space.

McKinley Village Illustrative

A bike-pedestrian tunnel will give residents bike access to Sutter’s Landing Park, the American River Bike Trail and Midtown. A ten-foot wide sidewalk, meant for bicyclists and pedestrians, extends throughout the development, and there is bike access to McKinley Park via an undercrossing of the Union Pacific Railroad tracks.

“A huge part of the lifestyle for this part of town is walking, biking and jogging – being outside,” Burch said. “I think this development, with all the accesses, encourages that.”

Infill development

Burch also says the project is an example of the type of urban infill development that many urbanists support. ~~and many grid residents support~~ . Better to build in the city where people are close to their work, the logic goes, rather than to continue to expand the suburbs.

“You're not commuting for long trips on freeways - you can live within a mile of where you work, so you can ride your bike, take public transportation, or use your car and take two minutes, “ Burch said. “You can walk to the store, get to know everyone in the neighborhood. It's a way of life.”

Across the country, urban development can be difficult to pull off because of neighborhood opposition, particularly near established and well-off areas, a trend documented by Reuters columnist Felix Salmon in a recent blog post on the opposition to New York City’s bike share program and why the nation's population density is in decline. In that sense, McKinley Village’s asset - it’s proximity to well-off and attractive urban neighborhoods - is also its biggest challenge, and one of the primary reasons the site has never been developed. But, with the economy on the rebound, and central city real estate the most valuable in the region, RCI obviously decided it worth the trouble to try again. Time will tell whether their luck is better in 2013 than it was in 2006.

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Should Sacramento loosen restrictions on big-box stores? [Poll]

2013-04-26T14:54:56Z

Should it be easier for big-box retailers like Walmart to open megastores in the city of Sacramento?

That question will be on the front of everyone's minds during a series of community meetings to discuss whether Sacramento should repeal restrictions against big-box super stores in the city.

Ryan "City Beat" Lillis has the full story in today's Bee. The council is considering repealing a 2006 ordinance that made it hard for such stores to open in the city, requiring "economic analyses and wage studies for chains seeking to build stores larger than 90,000 square feet with more than 10 percent of the space dedicated to groceries."

The law, writes Lillis, was passed at a time when the council was more labor friendly than it is now. Unsurprisingly, labor leaders (Bill Camp) are opposed to any loosening of the restrictions, while business groups and developers (Metro Chamber, Regional Builders) want the law scrapped.

And while Walmart is the name one thinks of when it comes to "big box retail store," the company has no immediate plans to open a store in Sacramento, Lillis reports. That won't stop opponents from invoking the name "Walmart" during the community forums on the issue, the first of which occurs Monday night at Old City Hall.

Why the current push? A developer has plans for Delta Shores, a 800-acre tract of undeveloped land. Those plans include "hundreds of houses and a large retail center," which, the developer hopes will feature some big-box tenants.

We'll have more on the issue leading up to the forum. What do you think – should the city welcome big box stores or keep the current restrictions in place?

Mayor Kevin Johnson's Feb. 12 press conference - as it happened

2013-02-12T18:20:30Z

Mayor Kevin Johnson held his weekly press conference Tuesday at 11 a.m. Read our coverage as it happened below.

Photos: Steve Hansen and Allen Warren join the Sacramento City Council

2012-12-12T10:04:54Z

The two newest member of the Sacramento City Council were sworn into office Tuesday in front of a capacity crowd at City Hall.

Steve Hansen will represent District 4 and Allen Warren will represent District 2.

"I could not have imagined, growing up in Del Paso Heights, you know basically all of my life, that one day I would be sitting here, but it is a true testament, it is a true testament," Warren said following his oath into office.

Hansen said he couldn't help but note how much history was being made Tuesday night. "We talked a lot about ideas, but one of the biggest ideas we touched on was that this is a meritocracy," he said. "It doesn't matter where you grew up, it doesn't matter what family you were born in, it's about what you want to be and do, because anybody who works hard should get to be and do whatever they put their mind to."

Allen Warren's signing in and comments:

Steve Hansen's oath of office and comments:

Hansen walked to City Hall with a small group of supporters.

All seats were taken.

The oaths.

The after parties:

Mayor Kevin Johnson was elected to his second term. He celebrated by taking a lap around the chambers.

Warren takes commanding lead in D2, Hansen still ahead in D4

2012-11-27T23:08:22Z

The latest tally for District 4 has Steve Hansen topping Joe Yee by a mere 135 votes,11,132 votes to 10,997, while Allen Warren has taken a commanding 198 vote lead in Distict 2, with 6,103 votes compared with 5,905 for Rob Kerth.

The offical handout from the Sacramento Country Department of Voter Registration and Elections:

Latest vote tally for Sacramento While Hansen is leading Yee in total votes, he's being careful not to make any assumptions before every vote is counted.

"I'm very happy that our lead is stable, and i'm anxious to see the count finished," Hansen said Tuesday evening. "And we'll look forward to knowing the final result very soon."

Officials say more than 16,000 provisional ballots remain. Another update will occur either late Thursday or on Friday, elections officials said. A record number of provisional ballots -- 31,000 -- were cast during the November election, said campaign services manager Brad Buyse.

Usually a clear winner is seen early, Buyse said, but that hasn't been the case for these two districts. "In districts 2 and 4 you have very strong candidates with followers and supporters," he said. "I haven't seen a contest that's gone on so long, three weeks after election day."

Elections clerks spent the day verifying provisional ballots, as seen in this photo taken Tuesday afternoon at the elections office.

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VIDEO: City Council gets an earful on plan to demolish public housing

2012-11-21T12:30:49Z

After hearing loads of complaints from residents, the Sacramento City Council moved Tuesday to slow down a drive to demolish public housing projects in the Marina Vista and Alder Grove neighborhoods and replace them with a mixed-income commercial development.

City Councilman Rob Fong, who represents the area, had pushed the project, and said he saw the mixed-income development as a way to create a more integrated community and improve conditions at a nearby school, Jedediah Smith Elementary.

Residents, most of whom were from the adjacent community of Land Park, lined up to speak against the proposal during the public comment period, with many raising concerns about what they perceived as a lack of community involvement in the planning process.

This video depicts some of the opposition speakers and segments of Fong's response:

“The community has not been involved, we have not been asked to participate,” said resident James McMurray. “...There are so many questions, and I don’t understand what it has to be expedited. Nobody’s been able yet to tell me why it’s being expedited.”

Fong said he understood residents' frustrations.

“I am completely sympathetic to everyone who got up here and said, ‘We didn’t know about this,’ you know, ‘What’s the hurry?,’" he said. "We have not done a good job. If you’re all saying that we’ve obviously failed, the process has failed you, and we need to think about redoing the process.”

The Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency owns the land, and requested that the council authorize it to begin negotiations with a private firm that would oversee the development. Instead, the council unanimously approved a motion by Fong to direct the SHRA and city staff to develop a more inclusive process.

“I would like the city manager to sit down with La Shelle (Dozier) and her staff, housing authority, to find out if there’s a better process that you can come up with that achieves the goals that I’ve been talking about—that’s inclusive, that looks at the whole picture,” Fong said.

The new plan will likely be brought in front of the council on Jan. 8, according to Vice Mayor Angelique Ashby.

For more on the proposed development, read the feature article published Monday in The Sacramento Bee.

Breaking: Steve Hansen leads Joe Yee by 151 votes in the District 4 race

2012-11-19T23:41:12Z

Steve Hansen leads Joe Yee by 151 votes in the battle for the District 4 seat on the Sacramento City Council, according to the latest update Monday from the Sacramento County Department of Voter Registrations and Elections.

According to Sacramento County Campaign Services Manager Brad Buyse, Hansen now claims 10,842 votes to Yee's 10,691. Buyse said there will not be another update until next week. There are still 31,000 provisional ballots yet to be added to the tally.

In this video, Sacramento Current blogger Devin Lavelle shares his analysis of the vote in the race for the District 4:"We definitely learned that the grid can turn out and vote and hold its own with Land Park, and in doing so, that plays up the importance of River Oaks," Lavelle said, "though if trends continue, the grid is growing faster than Land Park, and before long, this may be a district that is purely dominated by candidates from the grid."

The race has been competitive to say the least. The two candidates have been taking turns grabbing the lead with nearly each update from the elections office. 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.

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

In District 2, Rob Kerth has a 169 vote lead over Allen Warren, a 14 vote increase from the previous count on Thursday.

Live chat at 2 p.m.: Breaking down the District 4 vote

2012-11-19T14:41:56Z

The race for the District 4 seat on the Sacramento City Council was at times billed as the Land Park (Joe Yee) candidate versus the central city candidate (Steve Hansen), but it turns out the district's redheaded stepchild – River Oaks – was more important than many people realized.

That's the conclusion Sacramento Current blogger Devin Lavelle reached in his smart post breaking down the vote. With Land Park and the central city essentially canceling each other out, River Oaks served as the tie breaker, or as Lavelle calls it, the "Ohio of District 4," and it tilted slightly in Hansen's favor. While it made up 10 percent of the total vote, Hansen's 4 percent advantage in River Oaks added 83 votes to his slender 160 vote lead. As of the last update on Thursday, Hansen now has 10,715 votes to Yee's 10,555. 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.

We'll have Lavelle on for a live chat today at 2 p.m. to discuss the vote breakdown in District 4, how it happened and what it could mean for the future elections. Spoiler alert: River Oaks folks can look forward to a lot of candidate face time in the years ahead.

[The live stream will be broadcast here at 2 p.m. We'll also have the latest tally when it's released sometime after 3 p.m. Post any questions or comments in the conversation below this article.]

The map below breaks down the vote totals by precinct so far. The election is still up for grabs – the 31,000 provisional ballots could easily still sway it in Yee's favor, but this is what the current stats show for the ballots cast by mail and at the polling place:

Green indicates that Yee got more votes in the precinct, while teal shows that Hansen performed better. Click on each precinct to see exact breakdown.

District 4 candidates to debate in 'pivotal' Land Park forum tonight

2012-10-17T14:36:49Z

Sacramento City Council hopefuls Steve Hansen and Joe Yee are preparing for a potentially “pivotal” forum Wednesday night on Yee's home turf, Land Park.

Yee and Hansen will debate in the second half of the “Candidates and Ballot Measure Forum,” to be held from 6 to 9 p.m. at California Middle School on Vallejo Way and Land Park Drive. The first half of the civic extravaganza will feature discussions of the three city ballot measures M, T and U – or charter commission, green waste and the half-cent sales tax – according to Mark Abrahams, president of the Land Park Community Association.

Hansen's base of support is in the central city, but he will need to pick up support in River Oaks (whose neighborhood association held its own Q&A with the candidates Tuesday night) and Land Park if he is going to win on Nov. 6. Yee, meanwhile, will look to hold Land Park and do well enough in the central city to win.

The final vote tallies from the June primary election are a good reminder of the importance of Land Park.

STEVE HANSEN 3,454 28.39%

JOSEPH YEE 3,379 27.77%

PHYLLIS A. NEWTON 2,758 22.67%

TERRY SCHANZ 1,782 14.65%

While Hansen did come in first – edging out Yee by 75 votes – there were two other strong candidates from Land Park in the race – Phyllis Newton and Terry Schanz, the latter of which has endorsed Yee. If the primary results can serve as any guide, how the rest of the Land Park vote swings could be decisive, making tonight's meeting a key test for both candidates.

Hansen said as much when I asked him to size up the end of the race in an interview Monday.

"The Land Park forum on Wednesday night in a lot of ways is going to be a pivotal forum, because I think there are a lot of people there who are trying to make a decision about who they want to support and why,” he said.

Update: In another nod to the importance of the forum, Hansen urged his supporters to attend the "highly anticipated Land Park candidate debate!" in a Facebook post on Wenesday morning.

Yee also sent us this statement:

"I am looking forward to addressing the voters and community this evening. The Forum represents an opportunity for me to directly respond to community's concerns for Land Park, District 4 and the City. We will also have an opporunity to speak to my priorities of neighborhood engagement, responsible business growth and job creation, the restoration of basic City servicies. The Forum will also give the voters an opportunity judge the value of experience and knowledge gained by running a small business for more than 20 years and almost 19 years of city planning."

Event details via Mark Abrahams:

Candidates and Ballot Measure Forum, October 17, 6-9 p.m. at California Middle School on Vallejo Way and Land Park Drive.

The first half of the evening will be devoted to discussion of the three city ballot measures M, T, and U, or charter commission, green waste, and half-cent sales tax. Speakers will include Sacramento City Council members Kevin McCarty and Angelique Ashby, Craig Powell of Eye on Sacramento and Anna Molander, former chair of the Democratic Party of Sacramento.

After an intermission where plans will be discussed regarding a renovation of the Land Park Amphitheater, the second half of the evening will feature questions for candidates Hansen and Yee. The forum will be moderated by Dr. Bob Waste, former professor of public policy at Sacramento State. The audience members are invited to submit questions. The forum, co-sponsored by the Land Park Community Association and the Broadway Partnership, is free to the public.

The Sacramento Press will host a debate with Yee and Hansen on Oct. 30 at 6:30 p.m. at the Cosmopolitan Cabaret, 1000 K St. Get event details and RSVP here.

Voter questions and followups: How the Sac Press debate with Hansen and Yee will work

2012-10-17T00:33:03Z

The race between Joe Yee and Steve Hansen for the District 4 seat on the Sacramento City Council is reaching its hurried climax, as the candidates go from one forum to the next, with two this week alone. We decided to take a slightly different approach for the debate we're hosting on Oct. 30, and we'll need your help.

The format is based off of two common observations that seem to hold true in most races. First, candidates tend to answer questions more candidly and completely when they come from voters as opposed to journalists. Secondly, followup questions are key to getting candidates to move beyond prepared stock answers and into the real substance of the issues.

Here's how the forum will work.

We're asking everyone who plans to attend the debate to RSVP using this link. The debate will occur at 6:30 p.m. in the Cosmopolitan Cabaret theater, 1000 K St. As part of the registration process, you will be asked to submit a question you'd like to ask the candidates. If you live in District 4 and are willing to ask your question in front of the audience, please fill out that form.

I'll be sorting all the questions by topic and trying to identify the ones that are the most insightful, penetrating, and that address important issues for city residents. That's why it's important to RSVP: The sooner people register and submit their questions, the sooner I can get started.

The night of the debate, I will be a facilitator, establishing the topic order and asking specific audience members to ask their presubmitted questions at the appropriate times.

But we won't just be moving from question to question. Sacramento Bee Associate Editor Foon Rhee will take on the task of asking followup questions for each candidate. He will also be given time at the end of the evening to ask questions on any subject he thinks has been overlooked.

And, in a move inspired by Candy Crowley’s recent moderation of the presidential debates, Sacramento Press Associate Editor Brandon Darnell will live fact check the debate, and pass on questions or concerns to Rhee.

The Sacramento Press is a community-driven online newspaper, and it only makes sense that we would get most of our debate questions from residents. We also do our best to combine that community ethos with the values of traditional journalism, and Rhee's (and The Bee's) participation will help add an element of expertise and tough-mindedness that is as important in political coverage as it is in debate moderation.

The forum comes in the final week of a campaign that has been fought hard by both candidates. Hansen said he believes it could be a crucial time period.

"We're kind of forum-hopping these days," Hansen said Monday. "I think that, that last week, it's going to be almost a closing argument kind of thing. There is a large number of absentee voters or maybe still holding their ballots. We'll be looking to see how we can earn their votes."

For Yee, one of his frustrations has been condensing his responses to TV-friendly soundbites -- an issue we'll avoid with an hour and half devoted to just two candidates.

"It's tough to try to answer a complex question in 60 seconds," Yee said. "I find that to be a real challenge. So, that's been a bit of frustration for me personally."

When asked to name the highlights of the campaign, both Yee and Hansen mentioned talking to voters and witnessing the tireless efforts of their volunteers.

"I think the high point has been talking to people in the district, as well as throughout the city," Yee said. "I think that's been very, very gratifying."

Hansen was taken aback by the work of his volunteers and the encouragement of his supporters.

"I sort of took a leap of faith in getting in the race, and to me, it's been miraculous, because that leap of faith has been rewarded with people who have helped encourage and support me that really weren't known to me beforehand," he said.

The candidates will see the fruit of their labor on Nov. 6, but only after answering a final round of questions on Oct. 30. We hope to see you there.

Jared Goyette is the editor of The Sacramento Press. Find him on Twitter, Facebook, or Google+.

Closing argument: Debate with Joe Yee and Steve Hansen on Oct. 30

2012-10-16T02:15:42Z

The Sacramento Press will host a debate on Oct. 30 with the candidates seeking to represent the central city and Land Park on the City Council next year: Steve Hansen and Joe Yee.

The debate will occur at 6:30 p.m. in the Cosmopolitan Cabaret theater, 1000 K St. Access Sacramento will film the event, with broadcast times to be announced soon.

If you plan to attend, please RSVP via our Eventbrite page.

Questions will come from the live audience, community organizations, Sac Press readers and staff. If you have a question that you'd like to see included, please let us know in the conversation below this article or email us at hub[at]SacramentoPress.com. We will follow up via email with anyone who submits questions.

The race is tight – only 75 votes separated the pair in the June primary – and with the election approaching quickly on Nov. 6, this debate will be one of the last chances voters get to directly ask the candidate questions and see them go head to head in a forum. We hope to see you there.

Hansen picks up more endorsements for District 4 - why it could matter

2012-10-08T15:26:18Z

There is a school of thought that newspaper and media endorsements are of diminished importance, but the The Sacramento Bee editorial page’s endorsement this Saturday of Steve Hansen for the District 4 seat on City Council could prove to be pivotal.

Hansen, who is running against architect Joe Yee, has been racking up key endorsements of late: He recently received the backing of the influential firefighters union, and last week was endorsed by the Sacramento News & Review. The police union has also supported him for months.

Yee, as the Bee notes in its editorial, has "endorsements from most local elected officials, the city's other major unions and the Regional Builders and Realtors."

The op-eds in the SN&R and the Bee cited Hansen's economic plans, his familiarity with Midtown and the arts scene, and his proposals to enhance transparency, including making the city auditor independent of City Council and the establishment of an ethics commission.

You can read them both here:

The Bee op-ed: Endorsements: Steve Hansen for Sacramento City Council District 4 [Tiered Paywall]

The SNR op-ed: Vote Steve Hansen

Newspaper endorsements aren’t as decisive as they used to be, in part because of the decline of newspapers in general, and in part because the public now holds the press at large in less high esteem than it did in past. But the dynamic of this race is such that the Bee’s endorsement could be key for Hansen’s changes on November 6.

Yee is the experienced and institutional candidate – he has decades of experience in urban planning and has served on the council before. While his rhetoric never soars, his delivery is measured and he can quickly delve into wonky details, as he did during our chat with him last month.

Hansen is running as the “fresh face” in this campaign – a younger, more charismatic challenger who is presenting himself as an outsider with new ideas, like those above that caught the attention of SN&R and the Bee.

In this context, Yee is running more as the experienced and trusted incumbent, while Hansen is running as the “outsider” challenger. An obstacle that challengers tend to face in any campaign is convincing voters to take the risk of going with the less experienced candidate. The Bee’s endorsement helps Hansen bridge this gap, re-enforces his legitimacy as a serious candidate, and could persuade voters that were already leaning his way that it’s worth it to take the plunge.

Yee is betting that his experience will weigh more in voters' minds. In the op-ed Yee published in The Sacramento Press on Sunday, he makes that case forcefully, concluding the piece with this final line, "We do not need new gimmicks or bureaucracy to protect and grow jobs. We need leadership and experience."

The Sacramento Press editorial staff does not endorse candidates, but we will be holding a forum in which both candidates will take questions from our confirmed contributors and other community leaders. The forum will take place Oct. 30, at 6:30 p.m. at the Cosmopolitan Cabaret. We'll provide more details on the forum and how you can participate in an upcoming article.

Gone to pot: Report recommends changes to city ordinance on medical marijuana

2012-10-05T14:57:59Z

Sacramento might become a less pot-friendly city Tuesday if the City Council follows through on city staff recommendations to further restrict where marijuana can be grown or purchased.

The staff report makes the following recommendations for the council: 1) Prohibit the outdoor cultivation of medical marijuana in residential areas, and 2) expand the distance dispensaries can be from parks and schools, from 600 to 1,000 feet.

The agenda packet includes a letter from Dennis A. Hunter, a retired resident of South Natomas who calls for the city to enact the ban on growing pot in residential areas.

It’s not typical of the kind of writing one normally finds in council agendas.

Hunter, in an impassioned and at times dramatic style, writes that when his neighbor began growing marijuana, the odor drifted over onto his property.

"The first major problem is the stench of the marijuana plants. It is overbearing. It migrates onto our property and surrounds our house. It seem as if a scunk has constantly been spraying."

He says that he is not opposed to medical marijuana on principle.

"Let me say that my wife and I have nothing against any individual who chooses this form of treatment for illness. However, we are keenly aware of how easy it is to obtain a medical marijuana card. I shutter to think what the quality of lives would be like if our other neighbors obtained medical marijuana cards and began growing their own marijuana outdoors."

Sacramento regulates marijuana dispensaries under a city ordinance passed last year, a fact that the staff report brings up in its "Policy considerations" section, which adds some useful context:

“The Sacramento City Council found in adopting the location criteria in November 2010 that it was appropriate for a medical marijuana dispensary to be located a minimum distance from sensitive uses. These distance requirements were developed after substantial staff research and public input. Nothing in the operation of the dispensaries has changed to indicate that a dispensary proposing to relocate to a different site should be permitted to locate closer to one of the sensitive uses listed in the ordinance. The only change has been the level of federal enforcement on marijuana dispensaries, causing owners of existing dispensaries to look for new locations.

“Currently, the Sacramento City Code does not address the topic of indoor or outdoor cultivation. If an ordinance restricting the outdoor cultivation of medical marijuana in residential areas was adopted, patients or their caregivers would still be permitted to grow medical marijuana inside a structure in residential areas, but the ordinance would also ensure that the growing of the plants would not become an attractive nuisance (anything on a premises that might attract children or entice visitors or trespassers into danger or harm).”

The proposed changes are likely to draw supporters and detractors to City Hall on Tuesday. Check back Wednesday morning for video highlights of the discussion on SacramentoPress.com.

Steve Hansen on why he changed his position on Measure U

2012-10-01T14:53:19Z

The Sacramento Press live interview with District 4 City Council candidate Steve Hansen last Wednesday had one key moment of contention: Why he had changed his position on Measure U, a proposed temporary half-cent sales tax to fund city services that will be on the November ballot.

In the video, he addresses a blunt question from a Sacramento Press reader, and explains why he once opposed the measure but now supports it.

It was clear before the chat began that Measure U would be a focal point of the discussion. Hansen's opponent, Joe Yee, cited it during our live chat with him as the one area where he and Hansen had clearly different viewpoints, with Yee saying he supported the measure while Hansen did not. Hansen released a statement shortly after Yee's interview saying that Yee had mischaracterized his position and that he did indeed support Measure:

"Contrary to the comments earlier of my competitor, I do support Measure U, the temporary sales tax, which has become a necessity in the face of increased crime and deteriorated parks. Further budget cuts will undermine basic services. The City must be cautious in maintaining a higher sales tax than the region for any longer than necessary and ensure that one time money is not spent structurally. The Council must also lead by example through strong oversight and controls to prevent abuse, which will be my focus, if elected."

About an hour before the Sac Press Live chat with Hansen began, we sent him a questionnaire he filled out for the Young Democrats of Sacramento County in which he clearly stated his opposition to Measure U, saying, "At this time, I do not support the city tax initiative, because, among several reasons, of the need toof the need to of the need to pass the Governor’s measure on the fall ballot. I support taxes and fees appropriate to the level of public services needed to meet the needs of our city within the constraints of growing a resilienteconomy."

Sacramento County Young Democrats Endorsement Questionnaire as filled out by Steve Hansen

Hansen responded to the doc by saying that he had forgotten about the questionnaire as he had filled it out months ago, and explained that, as he answered at the time, he was initially opposed to Measure U because he thought that putting it on the ballot would draw support from Governor Jerry Brown's proposed sales tax increase. He said that rising crime in the city and the deterioration of Sacramento's parks changed his mind.

“I’ve started to see we’ve had this huge spike in violent crime in the city, I think a 53 percent increase this year," he said. "And for me one of the things that sealed the deal, making it very clear to me that we had no other choice, wasn’t just the state of our parks. I saw a drug deal at Cesar Chavez, and we were able to catch the guy: He had 18 warrants. But our safety had really declined.”

Worth noting here is that Measure U is supported by the public sector unions. While Yee has the backing of several trade unions, Hansen has been endorsed by the firefighters and police unions.

For more on the background of the interview, the reporting that led to it, and the back-and-forth before the chat started, sign up for our Sacto Politco newsletter, a roundup of city politics news that goes out every Wednesday.

I'll be highlighting several other points in my interviews with Hansen and Yee as we build up to a digital and "real-world" town hall with both candidates in late October. (more details on that forum soon).

Have a particular issue you'd like me to focus on in my next post? Let me know in the conversation below.

Submit questions: Steve Hansen live chat Wednesday at noon

2012-09-24T15:06:26Z

City Council candidate Steve Hansen is this week's Sac Press Live guest, which will be streamed live on SacramentoPress.com Wednesday at noon.

Hansen is taking on architect Joe Yee for the District 4 seat, which represents the central city and Land Park.

The live stream starts here at noon:

Got a question for Hansen about what he would do on the council? Ask it in the comments section below this article. We'll cover all the on-point reader questions we can during the interview.

One issue we're sure to ask about: Hansen's stance on Measure U, which came up during our chat with Yee on Sept. 12. Yee said that while he supported the temporary half-cent sales tax proposed to fund city services, Hansen did not – but Hansen quickly issued a statement after the chat saying that "Contrary to the comments earlier of my competitor, I do support Measure U, the temporary sales tax, which has become a necessity in the face of increased crime and deteriorated parks."

Hansen has two online interviews that provide good background on his candidacy and views on the city:

Comcast Newsmakers interview – Aug. 29

He also sat down with the ranSACkedmedia podcast on Sept. 6

If you see anything in those interviews that you'd like to hear more about from Hansen, sound off below.

Keep up with our political coverage with our weekly newsletter, Sacto Politico.

Jared Goyette is the editor of the Sacramento Press

Follow @JaredGoyette

Sports Commission update: McCasey's compensation and Cohn on the loan - a reponse to readers

2012-09-20T16:30:27Z

After a nonprofit defaulted on a $400,000 loan from the city, Sacramento Press wanted to know: How much does the executive director make, and why did the city make the loan in the first place?

As one of the more prolific blog commenters in the Sacramento region noted, nonprofits disclose their staff compensation figures in their 990 IRS forms, which as public record are easily accessible through sites like GuideStar.org.

Tthe Sacramento Region Sports Education Foundation only lists one "key employee" on its 990s – its director, John McCasey – who earned $163,975 in 2010, $160,600 in 2009 and $155,354 in 2008.

The foundation has been in the red since 2009, and while a nonprofit by definition does not seek to make money, the audit concluded the "pattern of losses and failing to clearly account for them indicates a lack of financial planning and effective organizational management."

The report also indicated that the SRSEF failed to follow its own bylaws or the conditions of the city loan, including a requirement that the loan money be kept segregated from the foundation's general fund and only be used to organize and host the 2011 World Masters Athletics Championships.

McCasey also draws a separate salary from the city for his role as the executive director of the Sacramento Sports Commission. I'm working on a story that will answer reader's question about on what the comission recieve from the city.

Other readers asked why the council had made the loan in the first place. After the meeting Tuesday, I asked Councilman Steve Cohn if he thought that the loan had been a mistake and what the council would do differently going forward.

He indicated that the loan approval may have been rushed because of the time-sensitive nature of the tournament it was intended for, and that the city should have taken greater care to ensure the foundation had financial controls in place.

"I think in this case, because of the nature of the events, people may have gotten caught up in trying to make things happen quickly, and really didn't do the full examination that was needed in terms of the controls," he said. “Just because we want to do an event, doesn't mean we don't put the controls in place.”

Here's Cohn's full response - in a regrettably wobbly video:

Video: Sacramento City Council lambasts Sports Commission after audit reveals mismanagement

2012-09-19T15:23:22Z

The Sacramento City Council had tough words for the Sacramento Sports Commission Tuesday night, taking the organization to task after an audit cited poor management and lack of financial controls as factors in the organization's failure to pay back $400,000 it borrowed from city.

The city loaned the money to the commission to organize for the World Masters Athletics Championships, a track and field competition for athletes over 35 that was held in Sacramento last year.

Steve Cohn was one of the more critical council members. He said that the issue for him was not that the commission couldn't pay the money back, but that they had directly violated the loan agreement by failing to keep the city's funds segregated and only spend the money for its designated purpose – the masters event.

"To ask for a loan, and to agree as part of that loan that the money will not be used for any other purpose, and to find out in the audit it was used for several other purposes does not make me as a council member who is directly responsible to my constituents for tax funds feel at all comfortable," Cohn said. "And I want to underscore the severity of that – that is a very serious situation when we talk about public funds."

A task force comprised of staff from the city, county and the Sacramento Region Sports Education Foundation is working to evaluate structural changes to address the audit's recommendations, and will report back to the council.

Cohn said he thinks the council should consider the SRSEF's report, but also keep all options on the table, including making the Sacramento Convention and Visitors Bureau responsible for sports marking.

Council members Sandy Sheedy, Rob Fong and Kevin McCarty all noted that the many of the events the commission had organized had been successful and had contributed to the city's economy – but they were all also critical, none more than Sheedy, who questioned whether the council should ever give money to the commission again – a troubling suggestion for an organization that receives over half of its budget – $140,000 – from the city.

"I am just really upset about the use of public funds," she said. "We cannot allow this to keep happening, and at some point it needs to stop. The buck stops with us, unfortunately. I would just have a very hard time in giving any more money to this organization – I just needed to say that."

Jared Goyette is the editor of The Sacramento Press

Follow @JaredGoyette

Food truck law to be revised amid legal issues

2012-09-18T19:56:50Z

The revised Sacramento food truck ordinance that was drafted after negotiations between the city, the truck operators and the restaurant owners is going to be revised by city staff due to legal concerns expressed by the city attorney.

The move, announced by Councilmember Jay Schenirer at the Law and Legislation Committee, comes after the Southern California Mobile Food Vendors Association took a stance against the ordinance, arguing that Sacramento did not have the legal authority to regulate the trucks and risked being sued if it enacted the law

Daniel Conway, legislative and public affairs director of California Restaurant Association, said the parties involved in the negociations would meet again soon.

"Based on the comments of council members today, it sounds like they're planning to reconvene the stakeholders so I think they'll look to continue the process that they've had to date where they bring together the various parties and kind of work through these issues together, which is what's gotten us to this point and I think will be to the benefit of everyone involved."

The rational for delaying the ordinance was made clear during an exchange between Schenirer and Councilmember Sandy Sheedy.

"We do not want to put the city in a position where we're going to lose a court case, " Schenirer said

"We don't have the money to lose a court case," Sheedy responded.

Schenirer said a new draft of the ordinance should be ready to be considered by the committee during next month's meeting on Oct. 16.

The draft ordinance:

Food Vending Vehicle Ordinance

Video: West Sacramento Mayor Chris Cabaldon makes the case for more investment in urban infrastructure

2012-09-18T15:18:21Z

West Sacramento Mayor Chris Cabaldon argured for more investment in urban infrastructure during Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson's weekly press conference Tuesday.

The press conference, which was also attended by Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin, was held to highlight a report released by the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

The report became the subject of a debate on The Sacramento Press in July, when community contributor and local historian William Burg took issue with The Sacramento Bee's portrayal of its significance in his (deceptively named) post, " What's Killing Sacrmento's Suburbs."

The Bee's Dale Kasler had noted that the report doesn't have much good to say about Sacramento's economy, as it found that the metro economy shrank by 0.3 percent in 2011, when adjusted for inflation, and that "Among the 100 largest metro areas, only six performed worse."

That made for a compelling news peg and a dramatic headline: “New report says Sacramento's economy was among worst in U.S. last year.”

That was 2011, but this year may prove to be a different story: Burg pointed out that the report also shows that the metro economy grew by 1.9 percent in 2012.

Burg's main contention was not with the growth figures but with the focus of the story. He argued that Kasler had ignored the main focus of the report itself, the state of America’s transportation infrastructure, and that Sacramento has "much to crow about" in that sector, including the work on the intermdoal facility and the expansion of the airport. He advocates for additional investments, which he says could spur economic growth and infill development.

The full report: U.S. Metro Economies Report

@JaredGoyette is the editor of The Sacramento Press.Follow @JaredGoyette

The city of Sacramento's bad loan to a troubled nonprofit

2012-09-17T15:03:35Z

A city audit released last week concluded that a nonprofit which defaulted on a $400,000 loan from the city had been losing money for years and lacked strong financial management or internal controls.

The 18-page report took the Sacramento Region Sports Education Foundation to task for not following its own bylaws or the conditions or the city loan, including a requirement that the loan money be kept segregated from the foundation's general fund and only be used to organize and host the 2011 World Masters Athletics Championships.

The foundation is, in practice, an extension of local government: It is overseen by the Sacramento Sports Commission, a joint city/county body. The executive director of the commission, John McCasey, also runs the foundation.

Apart from the loan, the commission also receives $140,000 annually in funding from the city and another $100,000 from the county, which it passes passed onto the SRSEF. The SRSEF and the commission exists to draw large sporting events to the region, such as the 2004 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials or the Amgen Tour of California.

The idea is that bringing these events to the region will draw tourists, boost the economy and increase tax revenues, but that is not the way it worked out last year, when the SRSEF borrowed $400,000 from the city and another $150,000 from the county to organize the masters tournament, a track and field event for athletes over age 35.

According to the audit, the commission initially forecast that the event would bring in $76,974 from sources such as registration fees and revenue sharing agreements with hotels. Instead, the commission actually lost $253,000.

In an interview conducted in May, McCasey indicated that while the event drew about the number of athletes the commission had estimated, that attendance did not translate into the anticipated revenue.

“That’s what fell short,” McCasey said. “Once they got here, they didn’t spend what we expected.”

The audit found instances of poor financial management, shoddy bookkeepings and a general lack of established financial procedures, but no evidence of fraud.

"I'm not suggesting, nor is the audit suggesting, that anyone pocketed money. It's just lack of proper accounting as to the public dollars, and that's not acceptable," said Councilman Steve Cohn, the chair of the city's audit committee.

HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF

This is not the first time the SRSEF has been audited after it had trouble repaying loans from the city and the county. The report indicates that an independent auditor reviewed the SRSEF's books in 2000, after the organization "incurred significant losses" and entered into a period of debt forgiveness with its major creditors, including the city and the county.

The audit was blunt in its appraisal of the SRSEF's history of financial management.

"The history indicated that SRSEF could not pay past obligations to the City, County and other creditors when obligations were due more than a decade ago," the report states. "While organizations can have shortfalls in some years, the pattern of losses and failing to clearly account for them indicates a lack of financial planning and effective organizational management."

When asked if he thought that McCasey should resign, Cohn said that he is focused on a broader issue – whether or not the commission and the foundation should exist at all in their present form.

"This is just an audit. It's pretty strong, so one could certainly argue that it's strong enough to call for resignation, but to me the more important issue is, would it even matter if it were someone else besides McCasey?" Cohn said. "Is this even the right structure, or if somebody else comes in are we going to have similar problems with this setup? That's really my bigger concern – could any one individual run that as a separate entity, or is it time to look at bringing in another organization that has more accountability?"

Cohn suggested that the Sacramento Convention and Visitors Bureau might be well positioned to take over the role currently played by the commission and the foundation.

The city's auditor, Jorge Oseguera, will present the report's findings to the City Council during Tuesday's City Council meeting.

"The lesson for the city, I think, is that when they choose to make a loan of this magnitude to an entity like this, that the risks associated with those loans need to be weighed carefully, because this isn't the first time that the city has lost money on an event like this,” Oseguera said. "If this is really going to be a recurring issue, the city needs to really consider whether or not that's the wisest use of its money."

The report included a response from SRSEF indicating that the foundation agreed with the audit's findings, and that a task force comprised of staff from the city, county and the SRSEF was working to evaluate structural changes to address the audit's recommendations, and to evaluate the nonprofit's capacity to continue operating.

Messages left with the commission Thursday were not returned by publication time.

Cohn said the foundation would still be obligated to repay the city, despite its current financial predicament.

"We do expect to get paid back and we will work with them on a loan repayment, and that's tough for them to do because they aren't able to make money right now, but they're going to have to figure something out," he said.

City audit of the Sacramento Region Sports Education Foundation

Steve Hansen gets the endorsement of the Sacramento area firefighters union

2012-09-14T02:32:28Z

The influential Sacramento area firefighters union has endorsed City Council District 4 candidate Steve Hansen in his race against Joe Yee.

In a statement released Thursday, the union said it made the endorsement because of Hansen's "vision for enhancing Sacramento communities and public safety from the ground up."

Hansen said that he believed that the union endorsed him because of his ability to bring people together to solve problems, and his proposals for good government and diversifying the city’s economy.

“The fire department is dependent on city revenues and the city’s economy has been badly stewarded over the last decade, and my approach is that you have to have a safe city to have a successful city.” Hansen said Thursday. “We also have to make sure that we have the kind of economy that can support our firefighters, our police and our parks.

Yee also has a strong base of union support, though most of it comes from the building trades, where he has strong relationships because of his years of work as an architect. The Carpenters Local 46, the Sacramento Sierra Building Trades and Construction Council, and the Sheet Metal Workers’ International Association are among the unions that have endorsed Yee, according to the candidate's website.

"I am proud of my endorsements from constructon trades unions as well as business leaders," Yee said an email Thursday night. "I believe they support my campaign because of my 19 years of experience in planning and approving smart growth for Sacramento."

Both Hansen and Yee support Measure U, a ballot measure to create a new one half-cent sales tax to generate funds to "protect essential public safety services" including fire protection and emergency medical response.

The full press release from the firefighters union:

Sacramento, CA—Sacramento Area Firefighters are proud to announce their endorsement of Steve Hansen for City Council, District Four. The Firefighters chose to endorse Hansen based on his vision for enhancing Sacramento communities and public safety from the ground up. Hansen has a plan to facilitate the collaboration of our citizens with each other and with the public safety entities that protect them

“By strengthening the communities themselves, and the public safety agencies that serve them, Sacramento will be more safe and secure, creating a more peaceful and prosperous environment for our citizens,” commented Brian Rice, President of Sacramento Area Firefighters.

In addition to his collaborative approach to strengthening our communities and public safety, Hansen is also running on the concept that Sacramento residents are entitled to public officials that practice sacrifice, accountability, leadership, and integrity. “Sacramento Firefighters are guided by these same principles and therefore, we are proud to stand with Steve Hansen for City Council,” said Ryan Henry, Vice-President of Sacramento Area Firefighters.

Occupy Sacramento to protest proposed law restricting use of City Hall property

2012-09-10T23:31:32Z

A law targeting Occupy Sacramento's use of City Hall property is likely to stir debate when it goes the City Council on Tuesday.

The initial version of the law drew thinly veiled legal threats from the ACLU and would have required protesters using City Hall property to obtain permits. The new version removes that requirement while adding new restrictions, including a curfew prohibiting protesters from being on the property from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m.

Also banned: sponge bathing in the fountain at Cesar Chavez Plaza.

Cres Velluci with the Sacramento County ACLU wasn't satisfied with the revisions, however, writing in a blog post that the new ordinance has "very restrictive portions" including the curfew and a proposed buffer area around the entrances.

Occupy Sacramento plans to hold a protest potluck (which the group says would be illegal under the new law) in front of City Hall at 4:30 p.m and will hold a news conference at 5 p.m., according to a press release.

The ordinance will be discussed at the 6 p.m. meeting Tuesday at City Hall, 915 I St.

Ordinance: Use of the City Hall Facility

The full press release from Occupy Sacramento:

"SACRAMENTO – Community representatives, including members of veterans groups, Occupy and the ACLU, said they will rally against a controversial measure to be considered Tuesday (9/11/12) by the Sacramento City Council that would limit and restrict free speech rights at City Hall – including an outright ban on any free speech activity after 11 p.m.

Occupy Sacramento plans to hold a potluck – illegal under the new law if passed – in front of City Hall at 4:30 p.m. There will be a news conference at 5 p.m. The Council meets at 6 p.m.

The City Council Law & Legislation Committee approved the language Aug. 9, after making changes suggested by the ACLU of Northern California, including provisions to allow unpermitted protests. Previous versions of the ordinance did not allow demonstrations without a permit.

In a letter to the committee, the ACLU/NC said the proposal "contains numerous unconstitutional burdens on speech... The prior version of the ordinance would have imposed an unconstitutional prior restraint on political speech through its onerous permitting requirement. The current version of the ordinance no longer contains that particular defect, but still imposes unnecessary and unconstitutional burdens on speech. We therefore urge you to oppose it."

Among the still objectionable parts of the revised ordinance are curfew restrictions – free speech would be made illegal after 11 p.m. at night until 7 a.m. Currently, constitutionally-protected events can take place on City Hall property for 24 hours a day.

The proposed ordinance will also restrict and criminalize other protest activities on City Hall property, including protesting too close to the building, sharing food and "harming" the lawn by walking on it.

Among the very restrictive portions, in addition to the curfew prohibiting free speech after 11 p.m. are (1) a buffer area around entrances, preventing peaceful demonstrations too near City Hall; (b) a host of other restrictive rules, including making it illegal to give food to someone, or making it a crime to sit around the fountain, or prohibiting tables to display free speech materials any closer than about 50-75 feet from the building (essentially not in the plaza but the outside sidewalks). And, those with resources to pay for a permit, insurance and security will take precedence over those without the financial wherewithal. Some demonstrators will be more equal than others."

Joe Yee wants to represent Sacramento’s central city – what should we ask him?

2012-09-10T15:04:58Z

Sacramento City Council District 4 candidate Joseph Yee is our guest this week on Sac Press Live, our weekly live streaming talk show that takes place every Wednesday at noon.

The live stream will be available here:

Ask questions by joining the conversation below this article.

Update: Steve Hansen issued the following statement in response to the chat:

We''ll follow-up with a full article soon.

Yee is running against Steve Hansen in the November election for the District 4 seat, which represents downtown and Midtown. Hansen will also be joining us for a chat on Sept. 26.

This is not Yee’s first experience with city politics – he served for a year on the City Council as an interim councilman in 2000. Yee has worked for more than 30 years as an architect and designed the West Sacramento Library and numerous educational facilities in the Sacramento region. He and his wife, Daphne, have lived in Land Park since 1976.

We'd like to hear from District 4 residents. What issues are important to you when it comes to the city of Sacramento? What should the city government be doing more of, and where does it need to cut back? What improvements are you looking for? What questions do you want answered?

When it comes to Yee – what specifically do you want to hear from him?

If you think there is a question or an issue the press hasn't brought up in this City Council election, now is your chance to do it. Post your comments and questions in the conversation below this article and we'll use whatever input we get during the interview.

You can also join the video chat and ask your questions directly. If interested, send me, Jared Goyette, an email at jared.goyette[at]sacramentopress.com.

Current podcast on Sacramento's credit card scandal and Lisa Serna-Mayorga's 'terrible, terrible idea'

2012-07-27T18:50:14Z

The Lisa Serna-Mayorga credit card scandal has dominated city news this week, and Sacramento Current podcasters Isaac Gonzalez and Cosmo Garvin took both her and the city to task in their latest episode.

Serna-Mayorga, the former aide to Mayor Kevin Johnson, resigned shortly after city officials discovered $9,000 in personal expenses she allegedly charged on a city credit card while she was the city's council operations manager. She now faces a criminal investigation, according to a report by Ryan Lillis in The Sacramento Bee.

Serna-Mayorga isn't new to politics. She started working for the city in 2009, and she also comes from a well-known political family – she is the daughter of former Sacramento mayor Joe Serna, Jr., and the sister of current Sacramento County Supervisor Phil Serna.

Garvin, a political writer with Sacramento News & Review, wondered how someone with a background like hers didn't, if the allegations are true, understand that using city funds for personal reasons would get her in trouble.

"So how does she do this?" Garvin asked. "How does she charge a trip to Disneyland and other stuff on a city credit card and not think that’s just a terrible, terrible idea?"

Gonzalez raised another issue: While acknowledging that not all the facts are known, he thinks the scandal is reflective of a institutional problem at City Hall.

"I think it's part of the culture on that floor," he said. "You want to say that she did it and she was the only one, maybe she was the bad apple, but I doubt that, I would personally just assume that they are playing fast and loose up there with the rules."

Get the full podcast at sacramentocurrent.com

Will Mayor Kevin Johnson do what it takes to save rec programs for disabled youth in Sacramento?

2012-05-18T15:50:18Z

Another city budget, another crisis, another standoff with employee unions over pensions and givebacks. Sacramento’s budget crisis is a predictable story, and just as predictable is that when a city has to make cuts, the first ones to feel the pain are those without power or the money to hire lobbyists.

People like Brittany Willeford, the mentally disabled 22-year-old woman the Sacramento Press covered earlier this month when she had the courage to address City Council about pending cuts to Access Leisure, a city program that provides social and recreational activities that more than 3,000 disabled young adults in Sacramento have come to rely on.

The amount of money in question to save programs for teens and young adults with disabilities is not large within the context of a $365 million city budget. According to Department of Parks and Recreation Director Jim Combs, that number is between $150,000 and $200,000. The question is, where will it come from, and who will help find it?

City Councilman Jay Schenirer suggested that the unions could solve the problem by making the concessions the city is pressing for. That’s convenient of him to say, but if Access Leisure and Brittany Willeford have become just another pair of cards to play in the city’s back-and-forth with the unions, there is little reason to be optimistic.

Leadership, it seems, must come from a different source. The person best positioned to step into fray may be Mayor Kevin Johnson.

There’s a context to consider here – initiatives like this are not new in Sacramento.

In January, the Clunie Center was saved by $45,000 in private and corporate donations. This year, a handful of local pools were saved from closing by the recent $1 million SaveMart fundraising campaign.

And in 2008 it was by the mayor himself.

That year, Sacramento’s annual Santa Parade was going to be canceled for the first time in its 26-year history because the parade’s usual sponsors halted or greatly reduced their contributions.

The newly elected Johnson stepped up and saved the parade by donating $20,000 to close the gap needed to keep it going another year.

The funds came from what was left over from his privately funded inauguration party, which Johnson told local media at the time had cost less than expected.

Johnson seems to be looking for solutions. After Tuesday’s council meeting, he told our reporter Melissa Corker that he wants to “dial into what the real number is” to save the Access Leisure programs, but stopped short of saying it’s something he is looking into personally.

“If we know exactly how much is needed, there might be a way to find those dollars in the world of city funds,” Johnson said. “If it’s a matter of just $50,000 more to get the program back to 100 percent instead of just two-thirds restored, that might be doable.”

The mayor has a few options.

Whatever one thinks of the wisdom of the arena deal and whether it was good policy or not, Johnson showed that he knows how to wield the “bully pulpit,” get the media’s attention and create public-private partnerships. He could now use some of that same energy to help Sacramento’s disabled youth.

Or he might also be able to repeat what he did in ’08.

Johnson is heavily favored to win the June 5 election outright, and if he does, he’s likely to have unused campaign funds – especially since he is running a very lean campaign and donations continue to pour in.

As of his last campaign filing March 31, Johnson has a little more than $286,000 in his campaign finance account. Unless the competition revs up significantly between now and June 5, it seems unlikely that Johnson will spend that much money on the race.

Would it be legal for him to use any of that money to help save Access Leisure? According to the Fair Political Practices Commission’s campaign manual, “the expenditure of campaign funds must be reasonably related to a political, legislative, or governmental purpose” and Access Leisure seems to fit the bill.

This isn’t Johnson’s personal wealth we’re talking about here – he can’t use it to buy a car. It’s money donated to him by his political backers that can only be used for political purposes. What better way to start the next term than by personally leading an effort to support a cause that strikes at the heart of the community? If he takes the first step, other donors may follow, and perhaps then a more permanent solution could be found.

Granted, the race isn’t over yet , but Johnson could start looking for outside funding now, and put the issue front and center on the city’s agenda (how about a press conference?). It’s also true that one year of extra funding is not going to save the program in the long term, but it would at least buy it time to find other sources of revenue. That’s more time for disabled youth to get the chance to participate in activities that otherwise won’t be available to them.

Whatever route he takes, Johnson has a role to play if Access Leisure is going to survive, and the sooner he gets personally involved in the issue, the better.

It isn’t the arena and an NBA franchise, it isn’t the transformation of downtown and it certainly is not going to make Sacramento a world-class city, but Access Leisure makes a difference in the lives of the people it serves, and may take a “strong mayor,” or at least a strong leader, to prevent it from becoming a political casualty in the latest but not the last chapter of Sacrament’s budget wars.

Sacramento Press Staff Writer Melissa Corker contributed reporting to this article.

Jared Goyette is the editor of The Sacramento Press. Follow him on Twitter: @JaredGoyette