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While proposed budget cuts to public safety departments have attracted a lot of public attention, the Sacramento City Council also discussed millions of dollars in proposed budget cuts to many other offices and departments earlier this week. At a Tuesday afternoon meeting, council members examined cuts to departments and offices that include the mayor and City Council, Economic Development, Finance, Human Resources and Transportation. The city is in the throes of a budget crisis with a $39 million budget gap for the 2011/2012 fiscal year. The City Council members decided on Tuesday to give a large chunk of its budget to the city’s general fund. Council members’ budgets include revenues

The Sacramento City Council members made it clear Tuesday night that they do not want to make the $12 million in cuts to the Police Department recommended in the proposed budget. But it’s unclear at this point how the council will lessen the cuts to the department. A crowd of police staffers and supporters, which swelled to about 400 at its high point early Tuesday evening, turned out for the City Council’s budget hearing. The city is grappling with a $39 million budget gap for the 2011/2012 fiscal year. A total of 149 department staffers, including 80 sworn cops, would be laid off in the proposed budget, according to police spokesman Sgt. Norm Leong. The city currently has 701 sworn co

Sacramento residents packed into a Sacramento City Hall meeting room Thursday night to protest proposed budget cuts to community centers and other local parks programs. About 45 citizens addressed the City Council, according to Mayor Kevin Johnson’s count. Citizens waited in lines for a seat in the the meeting room and to speak to the council. The hearing on the Parks and Recreation Department was part of a series of meetings on how the City Council can resolve a $39 million budget gap for the 2011/2012 fiscal year. Proposed budget cuts would slash hours at the Hart Senior Center in Midtown by half. Some of the speakers contrasted the proposed community center cuts with city leaders’ e

Sacramento City Council members began discussions Tuesday on the city manager’s recommendation to cut as many as 366 jobs in the budget for the 2011/2012 fiscal year. One city union protested the proposed layoffs at City Hall before the City Council meeting, and representatives from two other unions expressed their opposition to the cuts during the meeting. City officials presented the budget recommendations from the city manager’s office at Tuesday’s meeting and summarized the budget document. As part of the meeting, Interim Deputy City Manager Betty Masuoka explained a chart on the job cuts recommended by the city manager’s office. The city would need to slice 250 full-time positions

A campaign opposing an effort to unionize city employees is under way and will continue through the end of next week, according to Cindy Bates, the city employee leading the opposition campaign. Bates, a program analyst in the city’s transportation department, is circulating a petition against a current effort to unionize nearly 700 city employees, including top managers and administrative staff. Former city Labor Relations Director Dee Contreras is leading efforts to form the union, which would be called the Sacramento City Exempt Employees Association. Bates is one of the 677 employees who could be represented by the union if it forms. “We don’t want to join,” Bates said in a recent

The Sacramento City Council voted Tuesday to hire an outside contractor for tree pruning and removal work despite opposition from a major city union, Stationary Engineers Local 39. Council members voted 7-2 to pay up to $3.7 million to Roseville-based Jensen Tree Service, Inc., for a contract that could span five years. The contract has a one-year guarantee of work – after that, the city manager will decide each year over the following four years whether to continue the contract, according to Craig Lymus, the city’s acting procurement manager. A representative for Local 39, which represents urban forestry workers, among many other groups of city employees, said the work that Jensen Tree

Sacramento City Hall expects to add several new high-tech electric cars to its fleet in the coming months, thanks to a federal Department of Energy program. Five Chevrolet Volts will make up the first batch of electric cars coming to the city government later this year. The city can expect five Dodge Ram PHEV pick-up trucks to be available after the Volts, according to the Sacramento Municipal Utilities District, which is organizing a local electric car program. Specific timelines for the arrival of the cars are not yet available. While the city will have some maintenance costs, the cars themselves will be free. The federal government gave grants to General Motors and Chrysler to provide

In addition to breaking the news that former Washington, D.C., Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee would base her education group in Sacramento at Thursday’s State of the City address, Mayor Kevin Johnson also laid out his agenda for the environment, education and downtown development. Johnson’s speech was the key draw of the Sacramento Metro Chamber’s 19th annual event, held at the Sacramento Convention Center. The chamber’s communications director, Hal Silliman, said this year’s turnout of about 950 people set a record. In remarks before Johnson’s speech, Metro Chamber Board Chair Gregory Eldridge commented on the poor economic environment in Sacramento, saying “many of our members contin

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

Interim City Manager Gus Vina said Tuesday that he would like to serve as Sacramento’s next permanent city manager. The City Council held a private meeting on Tuesday to discuss the council’s plans for hiring a city manager. The council did not discuss the details of the private meeting at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting. It’s unclear at this point if the council will search for a city manager outside of City Hall. The timeline for the council’s hiring process also remains unclear. Meanwhile, Vina is expressing his interest in the permanent job. “When I took the position, I understood it was interim and that they can discuss the interim status and appointment at any time up to Marc

The Sacramento Bee is quoting anonymous sources to report that city officials are now taking steps to fire Dan Waters, a city employee who was embroiled in a scandal at the Community Development Department last year. City officials have said that Waters approved 35 building permits for a Natomas flood zone last year. When Waters granted the Natomas permits to K. Hovnanian Homes, he violated federal flood regulations, according to city officials. Waters’ action carried a high price tag: The city is paying up to $350,000 to correct its violations of federal flood rules and comply with the Federal Emergency Management Agency.  Bee reporter Ryan Lillis cites anonymous sources to report that

The Sacramento City Council underwent a makeover Tuesday night when two new council members were officially sworn into office. The swearing in of Jay Schenirer and Darrell Fong is the last step in the City Council’s changing of the guard. Schenirer’s ceremony had an element of star quality because state Senate President Darrell Steinberg administered the oath of office for the new councilman. Angelique Ashby, the other new council member, was sworn into office Nov. 23 to represent District 1.  Schenirer replaced Lauren Hammond as the District 5 council member, while Fong took the District 7 reins from Robbie Waters. Also on Tuesday night, Steve Cohn was sworn in for a fifth term as t

The Sacramento City Council agreed on Tuesday night to shell out as much as $350,000 in general fund dollars to correct past violations of federal flood management laws. City officials have acknowledged that Dan Waters, a Community Development Department staffer and the son of outgoing City Councilman Robbie Waters, broke Federal Emergency Management Agency rules when he provided 35 building permits to a developer in a Natomas flood zone last year. Councilman Waters recused himself from the vote on the “corrective action plan” Tuesday night, while the eight other members approved it. Fong said that it was important to support the action plan to send a message to FEMA to ensure that the

The Sacramento City Council will decide whether to approve proposed medical marijuana regulations at its Tuesday night meeting. Under the proposed rules, the city’s 39 medical pot dispensaries could apply for city business permits. Medical pot shops would have to follow a long list of city rules applying to their employees and the location of their businesses. Dispensaries must be located 600 feet away from parks, schools, day care centers, churches, substance abuse centers, theaters and tobacco retailers, according to the proposed rules. Exemptions from the location rules could apply to existing dispensaries that are registered and have not moved to a different site since Oct. 26, 2010,

If you attend the weekly Sacramento City Council meetings, you’re likely to see an activist with colorful clothing address city leaders on homeless issues. Tracie Rice-Bailey, 57, has appeared at Tuesday night council meetings so frequently in the last year that she has become a familiar face at City Hall. For more than a year, Rice-Bailey and other advocates for the homeless have lobbied council members for a legal camping ground for the area’s homeless.  Rice-Bailey is a vocal member of the advocacy group that calls itself Safe Ground Sacramento. The group wants the city to reserve a space for homeless people where the city’s camping ban would not apply. Rice-Bailey, who said she was

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson said Thursday he is organizing an effort to link city services with Sacramento school districts. At a press conference at American Lakes Elementary School in Natomas, Johnson laid out a plan for how local schools can benefit from a relationship with city government. Sacramento schools and the city should explore methods to share city facilities and to boost public safety and after-school efforts for schoolchildren, he said. “We’re talking about the need to create a partnership in a way that we have not done in the past,” Johnson said to an audience that included a group of third graders. City Hall and the school system need to bolster their relationship b

A green tie with white polka dots atop a pink dress shirt. White nubuck leather shoes, green pants and an orange leather belt. A purple tie with orange stripes paired with a mint-green shirt. These combinations represent three wardrobe choices in three days for Rob Fong. The Sacramento city councilman and legislative consultant doesn’t get dressed in the dark — the bright colors and jazzy details are all intentional. Fong, 51, shared his fashion philosophy with The Sacramento Press this week. “The way I started to express my sort of ‘Inner Rob,’ was I decided that my shirts and my ties can be my signature,” he said. He said his 16-year-old daughter, Rebecca, has noticed that he tends

Gus Vina, already serving as acting city manager, has been selected to be the interim city manager for the following nine-to-12 months. City Manager Ray Kerridge resigned last month and will leave his post Friday. Kerridge has said he’s taking a private sector position, but has not yet announced where that position will be. Mayor Kevin Johnson and several council members held a press conference Wednesday to announce Vina’s new position. “And I think it’s very clear to all of us that (Kerridge) has very big shoes that we need to fill,” Johnson said. “And we feel that we found the right person to fill his shoes in a very short timeframe.” Johnson and the council members unanimously chose

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson – a three-time NBA all-star point guard for the Phoenix Suns – shared his thoughts on Sacramento Kings Rookie of the Year candidate Tyreke Evans Tuesday morning at a press conference. Johnson officially endorsed Evans last week, and came before tonight’s rally to support Evans. "He's doing some amazing things," Johnson said about Evans' performance this season. "He's on pace to do something only three other (rookies) in the history of the NBA have done in the past – averaging 20 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists (per game)." The three players who Johnson talked about are LeBron James and hall-of-famers Oscar Robertson and Michael Jordan. Currently, Evans is