Hacker Lab and Code for Sacramento are teaming up to bring the National Day of Civic Hacking to Sacramento, on Friday, May 31 – Saturday, June 1 (dubbed locally as “Hack for Sac”). The National Day of Civic Hacking–started by the White House–brings together citizens, software developers, and entrepreneurs to collaboratively create, build, and invent new solutions to solve challenges relevant to our neighborhoods and our cities. This year Hack for Sac will be joined by leaders such as Sacramento City Councilmember Steve Hansen and nonprofit Greenwise Joint Venture to present civic challenges in need of creative input from the community, both techie, and non-tech savvy, alike. Hacker Lab m

Before opening in Midtown in summer 2011, BarWest's owners told neighbors and the press that they wouldn't seek an entertainment permit from the city. Not quite two years later, the bar/restaurant that took the place of Aura on J Street is doing exactly that, inciting the wrath of neighbors who say BarWest isn't holding to its original agreement. "Needless to say, I'm incredibly disappointed that they have gone back on their word," said Julie Murphy, co-chair of the Marshall School/New Era Park Neighborhood Association. "And we have grave concerns about how an entertainment permit will affect the ecosystem on that block." In a letter dated Feb. 22, 2013, the City of Sacramento's communi

The city council chambers will likely be packed tonight with supporters of two different breeds – those rallying to keep the Kings in Sacramento, and those fighting to keep medical marijuana dispensaries in the central city. Catch our live coverge below:  On tap is a public hearing to amend the city's zoning code as it relates to medical marijuana dispensaries. In keeping with federal law, Councilman Darrell Fong wants to extend the distance dispensaries can operate from schools and parks, from the current requirement of 600 feet, to 1,000 feet.  This new requirement would force the roughly 10 remaining dispensaries located in the central city to move, said Councilman Steve Cohn. The

The city council is expected to tackle a slew of hot items Tuesday night, including a marijuana dispensary ordinance, the mid-year budget adjustments and a report on city employees' credit card purchases.  The mid-year budget report – which makes recommendations on which city departments' budgets should be cut or bolstered – does not include any more money for the police department, much to the ire of some Midtowners.  Midtown resident George Raya said money from Measure U should be used now to help the police department, given the crime in the neighborhood. “We passed Measure U to restore cuts made to law enforcement, to fire, parks and rec,” he said. “So why are we going to wait until

CivicMeet Sacramento isn't your typical public meeting.  We're a solutions-oriented group of citizens from different backrounds who are working to exploit Sacramento's untapped potential for innovation in the civic space. So what exactly does that mean? Many of us practice citizenship through a consumption model: we elect people to office who design and implement public policy. We re-elect them when we believe they're doing a good job and vote against them when we think we can do better. Civic innovators take citizenship to the next level through a co-creation model. We use non-traditional approaches like design thinking to improve the citizen experience. CivicMeet Sacramento is a commu

With the public on edge after a recent spree of armed pedestrian robberies in Midtown, law enforcement leaders fielded questions at a forum Thursday night in hopes of quelling residents’ fears. It was standing-room only at the Hart Senior Centerm, with about 200 people present as Sacramento Police Department Cpt. Ken Bernard and Lt. Marc Coopwood addressed the robberies, as well as other crimes that affect those on the grid. "Nobody's more frustrated than we are that we can't provide the services we want to," Bernard said, regarding cuts to the department. But despite the elimination of entire units in recent years, people should still report crime so there's a record and police can ide

Sacramento will likely have a new police chief by month's end and the leading candidates for the position are about to be put through their paces by series of tests, exercises and interviews. The candidates will go through a job skills and knowledge assessment next week, which is being conducted by a consultant – Bob Murray and Associates. Then they will go through a management exercise and short interview with a panel of community members representing each council district, according to City of Sacramento Spokeswoman Linda Tucker. Based on scores from both processes, the candidates will be ranked, and those rankings will be forwarded to City Manager John Shirey, who will ultimately make

In the wake of a string of pedestrian robberies that rocked Midtown, the Sacramento Police Department will join community leaders for a meeting on public safety this Thursday night. Councilman Steve Hansen, the Midtown Buisness Association, the Marshall School/New Era Park Neighborhood Association, the Midtown Neighborhood Association and the Alkali/Mansion Flats Historic Neighborhood Association, will be on hand at the Hart Senior Center at 915 27th Street from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., to "discuss tips on being prepared and staying safe," according to the event's Facebook page. Hansen, who is visiting a series of neighborhood associations this week, said the purpose of the meeting was to

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 matte

To much cheer and applause, Councilmembers Warren Allen and Steve Hansen were sworn in for District 2 and 4, respectively, on Dec. 11, 2012. A large crowd gathered inside City Hall for an opening reception prior to the council meeting at 7 p.m., with seats packed after in the chambers themselves. Mayor Kevin Johnson announced the new Councilmembers, who joined Kevin McCarty and Bonnie Pannell as incumbent reelects. Johnson himself, who was reelected for his second term, celebrated by making a lap around the chambers. For more photos of the event, head to the City's Facebook page.

Steve Hansen and Allen Warren beat their competition to grab seats on the city council, in two of the closest, intense races Sacramento has seen in some time. Hansen had 173 more votes than Joseph Yee in the race for District 4, according to the final election results released Friday afternoon by the Sacramento County Elections Office. And voters gave Warren 206 more votes than Rob Kerth in District 2. Staffers for Hansen's campaign were the only ones at the election office representing a candidate when paper results were handed out shortly after 3 p.m. Audible sighs of relief were made, as they exhaled, "Oh, my God," several times, taking in the news. Sacramento gay rights activist and

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

Allen Warren jumped slightly ahead of opponent Rob Kerth in the race for the District 2 seat on the Sacramento City Council, according to Wednesday's update from the Sacramento County Department of Voter Registrations and Elections. Only 35 votes separate the two, with Warren claiming 5,818 votes, and Kerth totaling 5,783. In another hot race, Steve Hansen leads Joe Yee by 139 votes in the race for the District 4 seat on the council. Hansen now has 10,869 votes to Yee’s 10,730, according to the updated results released at 11:18 a.m. 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 offi

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

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

Steve Hansen, Thomas Dodson and I left campaign headquarters, our first stop The Grand on J St. where the Democratic party was on full bore. He greeted and spoke to people for a short time, then we headed to Headhunters, Badlands, The Depot and ended the night at K-Bar on K. St. Here's who we crossed paths with:For more information on election results, CLICK HERE>>> Catch Part 1 of election night HERE

Last night during Election 2012 I embedded myself into Steve Hansen's group simply to take photos of the evening in his run for City Council Dist. 4. I arrived at his home on F St. around 5:30pm and was with him until the last picture I shot at 10:49pm at K-Bar. Part 1 is photos taken at his home-turned-campaign-headquarters. Last minute phone calls were made and final preparations for the evening were planned. Part 2, another posting, will show Steve and Tom Dodson, social media consultant,  out and about, finally ending up at K-Bar for election results. Here are many of the people, behind the scenes, working/supporting Hansen in his race:Here are two prior SacPress articles on his ca

The last debate between Steve Hansen and Joe Yee took place at the Cosmopolitan Cabaret on K and 10th streets Tuesday night. In a cordial showdown, the differences between the two candidates seemed arguably lessened, as both men agreed that any winner would be good for Sacramento. “After over a year of campaigning, I think a lot of issues have come to the fore,” said Hansen. “Joe (Yee)’s been a great person to run against because we both deeply care about this city.” Within the immediate downtown/Midtown/Land Park area, the race for City Council has been a close one. There were only 75 votes between first and second place during the primaries in June. Even this late in the race, there we

District 4 City Council candidates Steve Hansen and Joe Yee will hold their final debate Tuesday night after as the year-long campaign comes to a close. The debate, which is hosted by The Sacramento Press, will occur at 6:30 p.m. in the Cosmopolitan Cabaret theater, 1000 K St. Access Sacramento will broadcast the event live on cable channel 17 and on AccessSacramento.org.   The Sacramento Press is hosting – if you plan to attend and would like to ask a question, RSVP here. The candidates have contrasting styles and messages, as shown in this video of their closing statements during the Local Elections Candidates Forums hosted by the League of Women Voters on Oct. 6. Yee emphasizes his

As the District 4 City Council runoff between Steve Hansen and Joe Yee enters its final sprint to the finish, the candidates came together Wednesday evening in Land Park for a forum that highlighted their similar platforms but starkly contrasting personalities. With the forum coming on the heels of the second presidential debate, at least one person in the crowd at California Middle School couldn’t help but make the comparison. “It’s fun to come and be a part of what’s happening here,” said resident Michelle Mosnier. “Both of these guys are so different, it’s like watching the (national) debates!” The hourlong discussion was moderated by former Sacramento State public policy professor D