A longtime friend of the homeless and down-and-out, the late Greg Bunker will be officially recognized for his service to the Sacramento area at a benefit concert Friday. A city resolution honoring Bunker for his 21 years with Francis House will be delivered Friday night. “Greg was a generous man who left a lasting impact on our community,” Mayor Kevin Johnson said Wednesday. “He was a tireless advocate for the homeless and (worked) hard to serve those less fortunate.” Bunker died from a heart attack last December. “His contributions to Sacramento will surely be missed,” Johnson said. The resolution, which denotes Friday as “Greg Bunker Day,” comes as Francis House doubles its operati

Sacramento’s new city manager will get a 16 percent increase in salary over the previous city manager, making him the highest-paid in city history and the first to receive a labor contract. John Shirey’s three-year contract, which includes a $258,000 base salary was approved by the City Council with a 7-2 vote Tuesday. According to the staff report on the contract, Shirey’s annual salary is within the city’s current salary pay range of $187,357-$281,035 for the position. The staff report also notes that Shirey’s benefit package is essentially the same as for city charter officers such as city attorney and city clerk, with two exceptions: Shirey will pay his own 7 percent contribution to

The city of Sacramento will have new district boundaries by the end of the month, but the lines won’t be familiar to anyone who has followed the process so far. In a 6-3 vote, the City Council passed a motion Tuesday to use a new map submitted by Councilman Steve Cohn as the ‘base map’ for new district boundaries – much to the surprise of advisory committee members, meeting attendees and Mayor Kevin Johnson. “I am extremely disappointed and sad,” Johnson said. “This is the worst-case scenario. It’s the council putting self-interest above all else, and that is disappointing.” The map – which Cohn named “Neighborhoods Together 2.0” – was submitted just minutes before the council meeting w

Tuesday night could be the last chance for the public to give input on the city’s redistricting maps, even though another map was added to the mix on Friday. The newest map is a merging of the two maps brought to the table July 26 by Councilmembers Sandy Sheedy and Steve Cohn. Cohn said he and Sheedy decided to merge their maps, since they were so similar. Redistricting will likely be the biggest topic of discussion at Tuesday’s City Council meeting, which will be held at 6 p.m. at 915 I St. “This is the best opportunity for people to provide public testimony,” said Scot Mende, the city’s new growth and infill manager. Currently, the council is looking at the four maps submitted by th

No new taxis will be allowed in Sacramento for the next two years, after the City Council passed a moratorium on new cab permits in a 7-2 vote Thursday. The moratorium was the first, and less-contentious, of two proposed ordinances related to the 450-500 taxis operating in the city. The other ordinance, which has yet to come to council, would require taxi companies to have a central dispatching station, which has come under fire from some taxi drivers. To read more, click here. Dafna Gauthier, business permit manager for the city, told the council that staff recommended the two-year moratorium to give them time to study the taxi market, and that there is a “general consensus” that there

John Shirey will take the job as Sacramento’s newest city manager Sept. 1 after being confirmed by the City Council in an 8-1 vote in closed session Thursday night. Mayor Kevin Johnson, who was the only “no” vote, said he and the council are “very excited” to have Shirey on board. He added at a post-meeting press conference that he and the council unanimously agree that Shirey is an honest person and the proper amount of vetting was done before hiring him. Shirey was called to the podium to make a few quick remarks during the regularly scheduled City Council meeting. “To be able to assume the position of city manager is a great highlight for me in my life and my career,” Shirey said.

The search for a new city manager – which began nearly five months ago when Gus Vina resigned as interim city manager – may be coming to an end this week. John Shirey, current executive director of the California Redevelopment Association, was recently named as a front-runner for the position, and now it appears that a finalized contract between Shirey and the city is in the works. The City Council will be discussing the city manager position in a closed session Tuesday afternoon, however, city spokeswoman Amy Williams said that they do not anticipate any sort of announcement after that session. “The city is currently negotiating with the preferred candidate,” Williams said. However, “n

More than 50 neighborhood parties will be held Tuesday as Sacramento participates in the 28th annual National Night Out. It’s about crime prevention, said Sacramento Police Department spokesman Sgt. Norm Leong. “The idea is you get out, get to know your neighbors and show you’re visible to prevent crime.” Leong said the block parties allow neighbors to get to know each other in a fun way, and that helps with building a stronger community. There is no specific criteria that needs to be followed for a National Night Out event, since it is about getting neighbors together and having a good time. “It can be as simple as an ice cream social or a bunch of neighbors hanging out together,” he

The redistricting process became more complicated at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting as new maps were introduced and ethics accusations levelled. Councilwoman Sandy Sheedy called the integrity of the Citizens Advisory Redistricting Committee into question after finding out one of the committee members anonymously submitted a map. In a move Mayor Kevin Johnson called disappointing, both Sheedy and Councilman Steve Cohn submitted their own maps, adding to the final four recommended by the citizens committee. One of the final four maps recommended by the committee was listed as having an anonymous author, but it was revealed in the past few days that it was drawn by Steve Hansen, one

California Redevelopment Association Executive Director John Shirey emerged as the front-runner Friday for Sacramento’s city manager position. “Right now, we’re going through the process (of hiring a city manager),” said City Councilman Darrell Fong. “He is definitely the strong candidate, and he is definitely the focus.” The council has not made a decision, though there was a closed-session meeting Monday in which the city manager search was the topic. The city has been without a city manager since Ray Kerridge resigned in March, 2010. In the meantime, both Gus Vina and a former city manager, Bill Edgar, served as interim city managers. Edgar is currently serving as interim city manage

When is comes to redistricting, the LGBT community has a lot to say about being recognized as a legitimate community of interest and working toward getting the central city united into one council district. “Unless you see yourself represented, it’s hard to see yourself in the world,” said Steve Hansen, a community activist and a member of the former Citizens Advisory Committee on Redistricting. Hansen and Rosanna Herber, chairperson of the LGBT Redistricting Committee, said members of the LGBT community worked tirelessly over the last several months to be recognized as a community of interest and be given a stake in the process. Their goal has been to finally see the central city united

The Sacramento City Council was asked to accept a feasibility study on new river crossings Tuesday night, but council members put off taking any action until they get an acceptable definition of a “neighborhood-friendly bridge.” The nine-month study was a collaborative effort between the city of Sacramento and city of West Sacramento that reviewed alternatives for new river crossings to improve connectivity between the two cities. But the study did not specify a particular design for the proposed bridges, and council members – and residents who came to the meeting to voice their opinions – were concerned that the end result would be a “commuter bridge” that floods residential neighborhoo

Neighborhood Advisory Group (NAG) isn’t going anywhere, just moving to a new location. The Hart Senior Center, where NAG has been meeting regularly, began charging an hourly fee of $50 to rent rooms after 5 p.m. which caused some NAG members to wonder if this would be their last meeting altogether. “NAG is not a city group, they enjoy their independence. They do, however, like the city to work with them,” said Derrick Lim, manager of the city’s Neighborhood Services Department and special events. “The items and agenda is all decided by NAG, they take their own positions.” Monday’s meeting was held at the Hart Senior Center, 915 27th St., and the Aug. 15 meeting will be held there, too,

On Tuesday evening, the City Council will consider revising a local ordinance that will bring the city one step closer to seeing cars on K Street for the first time in more than 45 years. The revised ordinance will change a city code that has been in place since the early 1960s that defined the five blocks of K Street between Eighth to 12th streets as a “pedestrian mall,” closing it to vehicular traffic. “It was something that was happening in a lot of places back then,” said Denise Malvetti, department manager at the city’s Economic Development Department. “Cities were trying to replicate the suburban experience, and they created a lot of these pedestrian malls. It was a failed experime

The future of development and affordable housing projects in Sacramento is starting to look pretty grim. Gov. Jerry Brown signed the state budget into law June 29, putting two new bills into effect that significantly impact redevelopment agencies: ABx26 and ABx27. “There is no good news in any of this,” said La Shelle Dozier, executive director for the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency (SHRA). “It’s very detrimental, given the fact that we have an economy that’s struggling.” The two bills go hand-in-hand. ABx26 says redevelopment agencies can opt to discontinue redevelopment activities and be dissolved. ABx27 says that if redevelopment agencies pay a first-year lump sum paymen

Two arts organizations – La Raza Galería Posada and California Musical Theatre – top a list of award winners announced by the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission Friday. In all, 14 arts organizations and artists were named winners in SMAC’s District Awards Program – a program in which Sacramento City Council members and Sacramento County supervisors honor and recognize artists’ and organizations’ contributions to the arts. Organizations were nominated by SMAC commissioners based on a process involving artistic quality and community engagement. “This award program represents an important opportunity to recognize our outstanding arts community in Sacramento,” said Mayor Kevin Johnson.

When City Council members approved the 2011-12 budget in June, they said that the city’s community centers would not be closed – but the centers won’t receive any city funding to keep them open, either. Now, a team of people at the city’s Neighborhood Services Department, along with the Department of Parks and Recreation, are trying to keep the 15 community centers in Sacramento open by partnering with nonprofit and community-based organizations. Late last year, Neighborhood Services had already begun looking for ways to make the idea work when it sent out “requests for proposals” seeking groups interested in overseeing the centers and providing the financial backing needed to operate th

Friday marks the first day of the new fiscal year for the City of Sacramento – and the last day of work for more than 200 city employees, including 42 sworn police officers. The final city budget, which passed on June 21, included deep cuts to parks, libraries and public safety agencies and filled a $39 million budget gap. The budget did not pass without contention, however. Council members Angelique Ashby and Steve Cohn and Mayor Kevin Johnson each went against the budget, calling the cuts to public safety “drastic” and creating a 6-3 split vote. “These cuts to public safety are too big. They’re way too big,” Ashby said. “Why would we cut more than we have to?” During the proceedings

The Sacramento Redistricting Citizens Advisory Committee finalized its choice of four maps to present to the City Council and began discussion of suggestions for modifications. With council members on summer recess, the Citizens Advisory Committee worked independently at its Monday meeting on choosing the four maps and discussing the district line modifications to be chosen by the council July 13. “Bringing three to five maps to the council is what this committee was striving to do,” said Scot Mende, principal planner. “I’m very pleased to see it progressing.” The committee began its redistricting process on April 25, facing the challenge of choosing from 37 maps submitted. The committ

Mayor Kevin Johnson spoke about the need for representatives of the Sacramento Police Officers Association (SPOA) to meet with the city to explore ways to save police officers from impending layoffs at a Tuesday press conference. “All of us on the council – the six that voted one way and the other three of us that didn’t – are reaching out to the SPOA asking for a meaningful dialogue,” Johnson said. The City Council passed a budget on a 6-3 vote on June 21 that included more than $12 million in cuts to the Police Department and paved the way for more than 40 sworn police officers to be laid off July 1. “We are at a difficult crossroad,” Johnson said. “(The City Council) said public safe