Henry, Wow, that is quite a “quick comment”. I hope you will continue to write on this vital issue and explore the situation in much more depth. I agree with you that gentrification of an area is not a desired outcome if you care about economic equality, justice and humanity. Fighting the negative pressures of redevelopment/revitalization is one of my primary concerns and it motivates me to contribute my time and energy to the Oak Park community. To me, gentrification denotes the displacement of current residents as rents and property values increases.That is a very possible outcome for Oak Park. It is not the only outcome nor is it one we can accept. We all claim to value and love dive

A new kind of tension may be ahead for Sacramento politics as two strong neighborhoods with vibrant histories are finally united into a single City Council district and, when the election dust settles, one council member will represent them both. In Land Park, the streets are wide and quiet, the zoo and lush William Land Park have welcomed families for generations, and residents want a bridge to West Sacramento built farther up the river to keep the traffic out and preserve the peace and quiet of their neighborhood. In Midtown, an eclectic mix of trendy restaurants and bars, art galleries, coffee houses and other small mom-and-pop businesses have helped attract a growing population of yo

Mayor Kevin Johnson and City Councilwoman Bonnie Pannell haven’t always seen eye to eye – one of the factors in his decision to support opponent Betty Williams in the race for Pannell’s District 8 council seat. “I want to work with people who are open to a vision and an agenda to move the city forward,” Johnson said at his weekly press conference Tuesday. “If somebody has an agenda that is clearly just to vote in a different way, or if the mayor comes up with an idea and people are just going to automatically say ‘no,’ I don’t feel that’s in the best interests of the city.” Johnson – who said he supports Williams because of her history of community activism – and Pannell have been on opp

Sacramento City Council members had their hands full this year – from balancing the budget to redrawing district lines to a citizen uprising that found its way to the doors of City Hall. Here’s the city government year in review. CITY MANAGER DRAMA The year started off with interim city manager Gus Vina not being promoted to the open city manager spot. Vina replaced previous city manager Ray Kerrige when Kerrige resigned in February 2010. Vina resigned two months later – just a few weeks before the budget was due to the City Council. He later became the city manager of Encinitas. The City Council was criticized for making decisions about the city manager position in closed sessions bef

Local community activist Steve Hansen announced Thursday that he will run for City Council in 2012, seeking the District 4 council seat currently held by Councilman Rob Fong, who announced Wednesday that he will not seek another term. At the moment, he is the only horse on the track for District 4, but Hansen said he knows others may join the race. The lack of – or potential for – other candidates wasn’t part of his decision to run, however. “I decided to run regardless of other potential candidates,” Hansen said. “I think competition is a good thing, and I hope for a constructive conversation during the race.” Hansen, 32, is a senior regional manager at Genentech, a biotech company, a

On September 6, 2011 City Council approved new Council district boundaries for the City of Sacramento. The new Council district boundaries will be effective October 6, 2011. The City has developed a tool available to the community that allows individuals to enter any address within the City limits and get the current district and the new district for that address. The tool is available on the City’s main website at http://www.cityofsacramento.org/. A map of the new districts and the staff report with the adopted ordinance are also available on the City’s redistricting website at www.cityofsacramento.org/redistricting.  

Meeting this morning, the County Board of Supervisors presented the Sacramento Gay and Lesbian Center and other LGBT groups a resolution commemorating the recognition of the LGBT community as a community of interest for redistricting. “This is a historic moment for the Sacramento LGBT community. Redistricting several neighborhoods with high LGBT populations together means that we will have a stronger, concentrated voice in electing a Supervisor,” said Sacramento Gay & Lesbian Center’s interim executive director Sara Freid. Freid represented the Center by participating in the LGBT Redistricting Committee made up of the Rainbow Chamber of Commerce, Stonewall Democrats, the Center, other LGB

With one last vote Tuesday, the Sacramento City Council approved a map that seals council district boundaries for the next 10 years, but the work of redistricting isn’t finished just yet. “The new map goes into effect Oct. 6, which is only 30 days after the final council vote,” said Scott Mende, principal planner with the Community Development Department. “After that, each council member has a different group of constituents.” New district lines for the city and new constituents for council members will have a ripple effect throughout city administration, and Mende said city staff has a lot of work to do to be prepared for it. The first step, Mende said, is a “massive outreach” to counc

The City Council voted 6-3 Tuesday night in its final redistricting vote, keeping a map that has been hotly protested over the past weeks, leaving hundreds of people sad and angry – and ready to cast ballots in June to prove it. With a vote identical to the one on Aug. 23, the City Council approved a final redistricting map – a revised version of a map called “NeighborhoodsTogether 2.0”– that puts the the downtown railyards in the same district as East Sacramento, divides South Land Park at Fruitridge Road and makes the Central City one district. And – against the vehement opposition of residents, business people, students and community leaders – it is a map that takes the UC Davis Medic

On Tuesday’s regular visit with Jeffrey Callison on Capital Public Radio’s “Insight,” we discussed this week’s unveiling of the arena financing deal, the long-awaited passage of the backyard chicken ordinance and the opening of a new gelato shop in Midtown. The highly anticipated report by Mayor Kevin Johnson’s Think Big Sacramento committee should give Sacramentans a better idea of possibilities for financing the entertainment and sports complex the mayor has been pursuing for more than a year. It will be unveiled at a luncheon at the Sacramento Press Club on Thursday, and we will be there. Meanwhile, here’s our most recent story on the subject.  On a much less grand scale, after two ye

For the past few weeks, a debate has been taking place about the way lines have been drawn to redefine the voter content of Sacramento's District 5. Rarely has a topic resulted in so many residents of the city expressing their opinions in the context of City Council meetings. The last minute appearance of a redistricting map, removing what Oak Park residents consider integral parts of their community, has stirred up controversy that has resulted in hundreds of speakers coming forward to speak out. The outcry has not been confined to the interior of City Hall. Last week, hundreds of marchers rallied outside the UC Davis Medical Center to register their opposition to the plan brought forth b

Honorable Mayor Johnson and Members of the City Council, I address you as the former Vice Chair of your Design Review and Preservation Board and a member of the Sacramento Old City Association's Board of Directors. The Sacramento Old City Association opposes the City Council redistricting map proposed for adoption at your September 6, 2011 meeting. As I expressed in my August 8 and 23 testimony, SOCA believes that a single City Councilmember should represent the entire Central City, both the old and the new. But a compromise is possible that would correct a significant portion of this problem, while maintaining a cohesive Council District 3. Moving the Railyards into the new Council Dist

The County Board of Supervisors will meet Thursday for what they hope will be the final meeting on redistricting for the County. They still have 10 map variations to consider though – a number that has fluctuated since the redistricting process began in late March. According to the 2010 census, the total population for Sacramento County is 1,418,788 – a 16 percent increase over the last 10 years. Just as the state and cities are required to do, the county redistricts every 10 years to balance population numbers in all districts. This requires some adjustments in each supervisors’ district boundaries. The process of making those adjustments began when Elections Department staff received

About 150 people marched through Oak Park Thursday in a “unity march” to fight against the City Council’s proposed redistricting map that would move the UC Davis Med Center out of Oak Park’s council district. “The purpose for tonight is to try to find a hero in this whole controversy, and by that I mean someone who will find a real compromise,” said Michael Boyd, president of the Oak Park Neighborhood Association. The marchers Thursday night walked from the intersection of 34th Street and Second Avenue to the Med Center, chanting slogans and carrying signs along the way as police blocked the streets and kept a clear path. Residents of Oak Park have repeatedly made their voices heard at

Some people say a neighborhood is better defined by the residents who live, work and play there than by physical boundaries, lines on a map or the number of inhabitants. Just ask the people who live in Oak Park – or Elmhurst, or Med Center or Tahoe Park. Glenn Corngold, an Elmhurst resident who spoke at the Aug. 23 City Council meeting, told council members, “Med Center’s dirt is in our yard. It’s our neighborhood.” As the once-a-decade redistricting process for Sacramento comes to a close, there has been a lot of emotion, protest – and, yes, drama – focused on the redrawing of district lines that would shift the UC Davis Medical Center from District 5, where it has been since it was bu

With only one more opportunity remaining before the final vote on new district boundaries, more than 20 people spoke their mind Tuesday on an issue that has spurred conflict and concern with residents and community leaders across district lines – and an issue not on the City Council agenda. “Voter discontent is nothing to scoff at,” said Oak Park resident Kristina Smith. “Don’t ignore the voice of the voters.” Smith and about 100 others were in the council chambers for the City Council meeting Tuesday, and most wanted to talk about redistricting before the final vote is taken Sept. 6. At the Aug. 23 council meeting, members voted 6-3 in favor of a new district map that bisects the Med C

I filled in for David Watts Barton Tuesday morning for the weekly segment of The Sacramento Press on Capital Public Radio's “Insight,” and Jeffrey Callison and I talked about chicken keeping, a record-setting City Council meeting on redistricting and a few fun additions to the central city – including a restaurant that serves drinks in fish bowls. The Sacramento City Council may pass an ordinance at its meeting Tuesday night that will allow residents to keep up to three egg-laying chickens in their backyards – as long as the chickens are enclosed and the enclosure is 20 feet away from the neighbors’ homes. Residents would need to apply for a permit and pay to renew it each year. There is

A few basics should be mentioned first. It does not matter where UCD Med is as far as balancing populations. Also, look on a map and you will see that UCD and the Medical buildings running down Stockton Blvd. have an impact on several neighborhoods not only Oak Park or Elmhurst. UCD has been in District 5 since the start of redistricting. Oak Park has also always been in District 5. So, for 40 years UCD and Oak Park enjoyed the same representative on the City Council. There are benefits that come with being a Council member representing such a large economic and community asset and with the relationships that are formed. Otherwise, it would not have been prized so highly by the players.

In a King Solomon-like compromise, Oak Park lost one of its key components Tuesday when City Council members voted to divvy up the 100-year old neighborhood between two council districts. District 5 gets to keep most of the Med Center neighborhood and Sacramento HIgh, but District 6 gets the coveted Med Center. In a 6-3 vote, council members approved a variation of the “Neighborhoods 2.0” base map, drawing the boundary between Districts 5 and 6 – right down the middle of Stockton Boulevard. “We have let you down as a council,” Mayor Kevin Johnson told the audience just before the vote. “We can say anything we want and make it all fancy, but you guys see right through it.” Tuesday’s Cit

At the outset of the City Council meeting Tuesday, Mayor Kevin Johnson promised a robust discussion on the subject of redistricting, and robust is what he got. It was another full house Tuesday with nearly 500 people crowding into City Hall, filling every seat in the council chambers and overflowing to makeshift seating areas on the second floor – everyone with the same agenda item on their minds: redistricting. Neighbors, schoolchildren and spokespeople for Latino and African American communities of interest lined up – more than 100-deep – to give their two minutes’ input on where new district boundary lines should be drawn. At the council meeting on Aug. 16, more than 200 people atten