The past year was a big one for resignations, promotions and elections of Sacramento city officials. Twelve personnel changes took place at City Hall involving elected and appointed leaders and city staffers in 2010. A major change was in the city manager position, which was replete with drama and press conferences. When former City Manager Ray Kerridge resigned in March, the city was wrestling with a host of issues. The Sacramento County Grand Jury had released a report in January saying the city may have broken state law Proposition 218. Utilities fees from ratepayers must correspond to the costs of delivering the utilities services, the law states.  At the same time, the city was dea

Scandals shook Sacramento City Hall throughout 2010. A review of the past year in local politics shows city leaders in turmoil over debacles at the Community Development and Utilities departments. The troubles in the development department prompted City Councilwoman Sandy Sheedy to declare in January that council members should find out what has “gone wrong” at City Hall. Before we ring in a new year, let’s take a look at the scandals that shaped city politics over the past 12 months. Troubles with the feds A scandal that began in 2009 involving the city’s development department and a Natomas flood zone continued full-throttle until the end of 2010. City employee Dan Waters, son of rece

Outgoing Sacramento City Councilman Robbie Waters is giving the Sacramento Public Library Authority up to $150,000. Waters specified at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting that he wants his donation to go toward materials at the Robbie Waters Pocket-Greenhaven Library. He announced at the council meeting that he scrapped his earlier terms for the donation. Last week, Waters had planned to give the money to the Library Authority only if the City Council retains the name of the Robbie Waters Pocket-Greenhaven Library. If the City Council changed the name of the library, Waters had planned to give the money to the Sacramento Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Waters said t

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 ordin

Sacramento City Councilman Rob Fong said in an interview Thursday that further actions should be taken against city employees, including code division employee Dan Waters, who were involved in the recent scandals at the city’s Community Development Department. Waters approved 35 building permits in a Natomas flood zone last year. Officials with the city and the Federal Emergency Management Agency say that Waters’ action to give the permits to K. Hovnanian Homes broke federal regulations. The City Council agreed earlier this week to pay up to $350,000 to correct its violations and comply with FEMA. The violations related to 38 permits – Waters approved 35 of them, according to city spokesw

The three outgoing Sacramento City Council members were swarmed by a crowd of city staffers and well-wishers Tuesday night. The City Hall lobby was abuzz with chatter as roughly 100 people turned out to say goodbye to Council members Ray Tretheway, Lauren Hammond and Robbie Waters, who are all leaving their seats later this month. Waters and Tretheway lost their re-election bids in June, while Hammond did not run for re-election. Angelique Ashby, who won the District 1 City Council race, will replace Tretheway starting next Tuesday, according to Assistant City Clerk Stephanie Mizuno. Waters’ District 7 seat will likely be transferred later this month to Darrell Fong, the frontrunner in

The Sacramento City Council’s Tuesday-night discussion made it clear that the investigations of the city’s development department are not over. Seven council members spoke at length about the Oct. 6 audit, which found that the Community Development Department broke city and state laws. Council members also indicated that they want to claim the money that the department failed to charge developers – a sum of more than $2.3 million, according to the audit.  Councilman Steve Cohn was absent from the meeting, and Councilman Robbie Waters recused himself from the discussion of the audit’s findings. Waters’ son, Dan, is a former employee of the department who was involved in an earlier investi

Mayor Kevin Johnson released his endorsements for several Nov. 2 political races on Friday. He named his candidates in local, state and federal elections in a post on his blog.  In the Sacramento City Council runoff in District 5, Johnson endorsed education policy consultant Jay Schenirer. He had endorsed Schenirer for the first time in May, when the City Council candidate was running against four other candidates. Schenirer is competing against attorney Patrick Kennedy in the November runoff. The winning candidate will replace current City Councilwoman Lauren Hammond. Johnson decided not to endorse a candidate in the District 7 runoff. Ryan Chin, a communications director at Sacramento

Sacramento’s city auditor is exploring the idea of creating a whistle-blower hotline for City Hall. City Auditor Jorge Oseguera told the city’s audit committee on Tuesday that he was talking to City Attorney Eileen Teichert’s office about the idea. The audit committee is composed of City Council members Lauren Hammond, Robbie Waters, Ray Tretheway and Steve Cohn. Whistle-blower hotlines are “a common topic right now in the auditing community,” Oseguera said on Wednesday. The plan is in its early stages, Oseguera said, and no details have been established yet on how the hotline would work or when it would start operating. In a Tuesday e-mail, Teichert said she could say only that the pl

Since 1958, Robbie Waters has served Sacramento as an officer with the Sacramento Police Department, as Sacramento Sheriff, and as Councilmember for District 7 for the last 15 years. A uplifting seal of closure was given to his years of service at Saturday morning’s opening of the Robbie Waters Pocket-Greenhaven Library. “The library is an accomplishment for the entire community,” said Waters to a crowd of approximately 500 people. “I have no doubt it will be well used.” The $15-million library consists of 45 public access computers, a 72-seat capacity community meeting room, a teen room, a quiet room, two study rooms, and a Ready to Read room for kids. The library is designed for 67,00

A group that presses for a designated camping space for homeless people in Sacramento opposed on Tuesday the City Council’s decision to move the open public comment section of council meetings to the end of the meeting. About 18 supporters of Safe Ground Sacramento stayed until the end of Tuesday’s City Council meeting to oppose the controversial decision the body made last week. Before last week’s decision, open public comment was heard by the City Council at the beginning of weekly council meetings. During the open public comment part of council meetings, Safe Ground Sacramento supporters regularly urge the city to reserve a space in which homeless residents can camp. The city enforce

Outgoing Sacramento City Councilman Robbie Waters is backing candidate Darrell Fong in the runoff election for the District 7 seat that covers the Pocket/Greenhaven and Valley Hi neighborhoods. Waters, who has served as the District 7 council member since 1994, lost the race in June to opponents Darrell Fong and Ryan Chin. Waters came in third place out of four candidates, with 27 percent of the vote. Chin led the group in the June election with 37 percent of the vote. He is now competing in a runoff campaign against Fong, who garnered 32 percent of votes cast. The two candidates must face off again because the city’s rules say that a council candidate needs at least 50 percent of the vo

Sacramento officials should consider requiring special use permits for large water users, including water and beverage bottling companies such as Nestlé, a City Council committee decided Thursday. The council's Law & Legislation Committee passed a recommendation that the City Council approve a working group to explore whether the city's biggest water users should be subject to conditional use permits that would help give the city more ability to monitor and regulate their water use. The recommendation was approved unanimously Thursday afternoon by the committee's three present members, Chair Sandy Sheedy and councilmen Steve Cohn and Robbie Waters. "We have a scarce resource that we don

  Two local groups continue to protest the Sacramento City Council more than one month after the council decided to boycott Arizona companies. One of the groups, Boycott Sacramento, is intentionally avoiding local businesses in response to the council’s sanctions on Arizona businesses.  Another group, Recall Sacramento, is saying it will attempt to remove certain council members from office. However, Assistant City Clerk Stephanie Mizuno said the group has not yet officially started the recall process.  The groups formed after the City Council decided June 15 to dispute Arizona’s new immigration laws by boycotting that state’s companies.  The council passed the boycott in a 6-1 vote, wi

The 39 medical marijuana shops in Sacramento are on their way to becoming legal. The Sacramento City Council voted 8-0 to draft regulations for current pot dispensaries to legally operate with city permits. Councilman Ray Tretheway was absent from the meeting. Notably, Councilman Robbie Waters, who formerly served as a Sacramento County sheriff and city police officer, voted in favor of a path toward legal and regulated medical marijuana shops. Waters noted that he had originally approached the issue from a “cop view.” Michelle Heppner, a special projects manager for the city, explained after the meeting that the City Council intends to allow 39 medical marijuana dispensaries in Sacrame

The final Sacramento City Council election results did not yield any last-minute statistical miracles. Furthermore, a Sacramento city clerk’s predictions about City Council runoffs proved true: The leading two candidates in Districts 5 and 7 will compete in a Nov. 2 runoff election. The county elections office finished counting ballots from the June 8 election on Wednesday. Candidates Jay Schenirer and Patrick Kennedy will run for the District 5 seat, while candidates Darrell Fong and Ryan Chin will square off in District 7. Incumbent District 1 City Councilman Ray Tretheway lost his battle against challenger Angelique Ashby — just barely. A City Council candidate needs at least 50 per

 Looking for an explosive way to spend your Fourth of July? Well, look no further. We’ve compiled a list of some of the best Fourth of July events in the Sacramento area. Sacramento Cal Expo will once again host an Independence Day Celebration sponsored by Coca-Cola and Miller Lite at the Miller Lite Grandstand near the East Gate entrance. The festivities will begin at 6:30 p.m. with a performance from Mick Martin and the Blues Rockers. State Fair mascot Poppy will also be there to entertain the crowds. Cal Expo’s media partner, radio station 107.9 The End, will provide music to the spectacular fireworks show, starting at 9:30 p.m. Parking for the event is $10, and general admission to

Mayor Kevin Johnson said he thought it would be a 9-0 vote. He said he thought the Sacramento City Council would unanimously support his effort to ask City Attorney Eileen Teichert to draft official language for his updated strong mayor plan. When seven of his City Council colleagues voiced opposition to his effort at Tuesday’s City Council meeting, he let them know exactly what he was thinking. In a 7-2 vote, the City Council prevented Teichert from drafting the language of Johnson’s new plan. Johnson and Waters voted in favor of asking Teichert to write the proposed measure. Under the city’s current government structure, the mayor votes on City Council issues. After it was clear that

Sacramento’s elected leaders agreed to boycott Arizona companies in protest of the state’s new immigration laws. The City Council passed the boycott Tuesday with a 6-1 vote. Mayor Kevin Johnson and council members Rob Fong, Bonnie Pannell, Ray Tretheway, Sandy Sheedy and Kevin McCarty voted to approve the boycott. Councilman Robbie Waters opposed the move. Council members Steve Cohn and Lauren Hammond were absent. Hammond was absent from the entire City Council meeting, but Cohn appeared at City Hall to discuss a separate issue after the hearing on the Arizona law. Arizona’s new law says that an individual’s immigration status should be addressed by police officers in certain circumst

Sacramento City Councilman Robbie Waters has lost the District 7 seat he has held since 1994. Sacramento County’s election website showed that Waters, with 1,935 votes, follows two challengers in the polls. District 7 candidates Ryan Chin and Darrell Fong are expected to compete in a runoff, Assistant City Clerk Stephanie Mizuno said Wednesday morning. District 7 includes the neighborhoods of Greenhaven / Pocket and Valley-Hi. With all precincts reporting, Chin has 38 percent of the vote. Fong is chasing Chin with 31 percent of the vote. The two candidates are separated by a few hundred votes: Chin has 2,712, while Fong has 2,215. While Mizuno cautioned that the results are semi-offici