During the debate on a “strong mayor” system of government, each side battled over which form of government allowed for the greatest accountability to the public, democratic ideals in decision making and open debate of policy. After a fateful 5-4 vote not to promote Gus Vina to full-time city manager and his subsequent resignation, I know that the council system we currently have is seriously broken. Why? Not because of the vote itself or Vina’s decision. But because the debate and vote were conducted behind closed doors in a closed session. I have no idea why the council decided not to promote Vina. Council members refuse to talk with our reporters about the decision. Wait, what? Yes, y

My, it was a busy weekend around Sacramento. And I'm not talking about the holiday. People were shot, people were killed and people (and homes) were robbed. And there was all the other horrible stuff that happens daily. I took the four-day weekend off from news consumption. Monday morning, I remembered why. Much of it, especially the crime news, is depressing and does nothing to improve my life. Worse, some of it is not even entirely true. But confronting it now gives me the opportunity to ask Sacramento Press readers a question about the future of this website. But first, as they say, the news: The big news that I missed until Monday was that a group of four people – described in The

Grocery stores aren't as cool as bars. But what a difference a grocery makes. Neighborhoods that thrive – neighborhoods where people live – need grocery stores. Grocery stores may not be sexy, but they keep us alive. The opening last week of a Midtown Grocery Outlet selling fresh produce, prepared foods and many of the staples of the run-down convenience stores that dot the Grid, is a big deal to those of us who live here. The fact that their prices are roughly half that of the nearby Safeway is a significant bonus. For anyone who wants Sacramento’s Central City to thrive, the opening of the Grocery Outlet in the old grocery at 17th Street and Capitol Avenue is unalloyed good news. A c

Have you ever wondered how the Sacramento Press functions technically or editorially? Do you want to know how many views our site gets on a daily, monthly or yearly basis? Our Sac Press Tools and Tricks workshop will answer those questions and any others you might have Wednesday, May 19 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the Sacramento Press office. Geoff Samek, one of the co-founders of The Sacramento Press, will go over many of the newer site features and discuss ways of utilizing these tools to your advantage so you are spending less time trying to figure out how to post articles, comment or other actions. Samek will share statistics on the number of page views the site gets, when readership peak

On February 12, the Sacramento Bee's 'The State Worker' blog published a post about a letter to Meg Whitman that was penned by an anonymous DGS employee. Due to policy regarding anonymous submissions, the blog did not post the referenced letter. This is that letter: September 28, 2009 Meg Whitman 20813 Stevens Creek Blvd. Suite 150 Cupertino, CA 95014 Dear Ms. Whitman, I’m writing regarding your remarks in announcing your candidacy for Governor of California. I am using my lunch hour (unpaid time) to clarify and correct some things stated by you. You stated that almost every state worker receives a merit pay increase every year until they reach the top of their pay scale and further as

There are not a lot of solid rules for starting up a hyper-local site fueled by community contribution. We think, rethink and question just about every policy and design choice for The Sacramento Press. We strive to act with integrity as individuals and as an organization. Our highest principles at The Sacramento Press are openness and transparency. Our policy is to allow anyone to publish. Then we and our community read, rate, flag, comment and add to the story. We ask our contributors to use their real names. We ask them to stay local and to disclose their affiliation with the issues they write about. Recently there was considerable debate here and elsewhere on the Web about our polic

Former Sacramento Bee "three-dot" columnist R.E. Graswich was an early supporter of Kevin Johnson's campaign for mayor of Sacramento. But recent events have caused him to reconsider his support. This column was written specifically for SacramentoPress.com.   King Kevin? By R.E. Graswich Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson promised to be different. Yet his first two months have featured one stumble after another. The collapse of Johnson’s self-indulgent “strong mayor” scheme proves Johnson has much to learn as he fills the vacuum of leadership at Sacramento City Hall. Sorry, Kevin wasn’t elected to be our king. The mayor’s failures have been self-inflicted. Kevin has made the quest for more

Time for a Change I’m not the typical mom. I don’t have baby weight to lose. No.1 she’s seven and No. 2  I lost all the weight within a year after I had her. My problem is I always wanted to be there for my daughter, she has been my #1 priority, while I dropped to #55 on a growing list. I started working at home to be with her. I stopped doing all the things that made me feel good, inside and out: Hair, nails, social time with friends, etc. I’m heavier, now, than I’ve ever been and totally out of shape. A flight of stairs makes me lose my breath. I tried to do something for my mental fitness (went back to school), which still was doing nothing for my physical fitness. Needless to say “goi

On New Year’s Eve a few friends and I went to Social nightclub to see the ball drop on 10th and K. The place was packed, the streets were packed (12,000 to 20,000 people) and there was a seriously festive atmosphere. But the ball was small. And it wasn’t really a ball, more of a diamond inside a round cage. The ball didn’t drop very far. It dropped maybe ten feet. The whole thing got plenty of media coverage. There were complaints the day after about all sorts of minor incidents. But really who could have expected a crowd of 20,000 people to show up to 10th and K? I started thinking, without any tradition or expectations all it took to get 20,000 Sacramentans to go party in the streets

Since the beginning I have been in a guarded state of well being since the creation of this format. An information via that brings usable and more important constructive data to me for my daily life.  No school shooters mug plastered all over the front page raising my concerns that copy cat horrors might emulate from the daily fishwrap. Very little politico dogma and best of all hope for the future.  For me this works and I am slowly getting addicted to what is happening here. Guarded as it is as I know todays reality and journalistic code is you must somehow shock your reader to attention.  The gossip,scandal, blood and guts are designed to hypnotize its readers this bike advocate thinks.