Newest articles on The Sacramento Press written by Isaac Gonzalez

All-female team of street artists creates massive mural in Midtown alley

2012-10-01T23:06:15Z

Over the last weekend of September, while Sacramento was enduring record-breaking hot temperatures, a crew of artists from all over the nation descended into a Midtown alleyway for a transformative event. A large south-facing warehouse wall, long considered an eyesore by its surrounding neighbors because of its history of attracting vandalism on a consistent basis, became the canvas for an all-female team of street artists armed with spray cans and acrylic paints. In less than 48 hours’ time, the group completed more than 10 unique examples of colorful tags and impressive illustrations that, all together, stretch nearly two stories high and more than half a block wide.

The group is named Few & Far, and its organizer and founder, an artist who goes by the moniker Meme (pronounced me-me) started the collaboration in the summer of 2011. Their first project was a large wall in Oakland, where 17 different artists came together to craft a huge mural on two walls of an unremarkable old building. Since then, Few & Far has created similar pieces in San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles, and Tijuana, Mexico.

Meme, who declined to give her real name, said that it’s important for the crew to work together, especially since the scene is considered to be male-dominated.

“We also have a kind of chemistry, and that chemistry goes beyond friendships,” Meme said. “It goes into a place where we are admiring each other’s work and trying to push each other.”

Terry Mulligan, a local real estate agent who owns a property with eight residential rental units on the same alley as the mural, said he thinks that it’s wonderful to see the efforts of Few & Far in Sacramento.

“We’ve had so many problems with this wall, with the graffiti,” Mulligan said. “I’ve been out here painting over poorly scrawled names and profanity for years, but this is great. It’s so impressive and a huge improvement for the neighborhood. I’m so glad these artists picked this wall.”

The theme of the Sacramento installation is animals, as one can deduce by observing the cartoonish giraffe, panda bear, monkey and other figures all over the piece. It took dozens of cases of Ironlak paints and an electric scissor lift to pull off the colorful display.

While Few & Far artists had permission from the building’s owner to make their inspirations into reality, there’s no saying how long it will be before it’s either defaced or painted over. That’s the risk they crew takes when they put on a project, and they know it. But they also know that it’s about the moment, and creating something that makes the passerby stop and acknowledge what they’ve done.

You can check out the mural for yourself in the alley between 24th and 23rd streets and S and R streets in midtown Sacramento.

Few & Far X Ironlak Road Trip Tour 2012 from Lea Bruno on Vimeo.

Sacramento Press Editor's note: Isaac Gonzalez is the publisher of the blog RanSACkedMedia.com, where he wrote an earlier post about this mural.

AUDIO OPINION: Endeavour flyover was an opportunity lost

2012-09-25T22:52:39Z

The people of Sacramento proved that they will come together to celebrate a moment in history last week when the space shuttle Endeavour flew overhead on its way to its new home at the California Science Center in Los Angeles.

It’s too bad that instead of a well-organized festival to commemorate the once-in-a-lifetime event, visitors to downtown Sacramento had to fend for themselves and take their best guess about where and when to look to the skies. The city could have seized the day and done something special; like offer a free parking incentive so that people might stay a little longer and have lunch or go shopping, stay for a parade or festival, or otherwise further explore downtown.

The team at the Forum Podcast lament this missed opportunity in the two-minute clip above. What do you think of our reasoning? Are we right on the money? Or just complaining too much?

More insight and opinions on local affairs can be found on each episode of Forum at www.forumtownsquare.com. New shows each Tuesday and Thursday.

Disclosure: Isaac Gonzalez is a co-host of the Forum podcast.

What's hidden underneath the Red Rabbit? The Current gang knows...

2012-06-27T14:03:45Z

This week, on the Sacramento Current podcast, the gang welcomes, local documentary filmmaker Laurence Campling to talk about the feature-length film he's working on about The Candystore, Adeliza McHugh's influential and vibrant avant –garde art venue that was located in the Sacramento area. The galley featured some of the early works of some of the major figures in what came to be known as the Funk Art movement, including Robert Arneson, David Gilhooly, Clayton Bailey and Maija Peeples-Bright.

Campling also dishes on his experiences with the airport's giant red rabbit, and tells a story known only to a few about what's hidden underneath its suitcase... Want to find out for yourself? There's only one way; you'll have to download and listen to the wonk-iest podcast in all of Sacramento at www.sacramentocurrent.com. You can find the latest show by clicking here.

The Sacramento Current podcast is the only locally produced current events internet radio show that features Cosmo Garvin, Patrick Kennedy, Phil Pluckebaum, and Isaac Gonzalez. New shows available each week at sacramentocurrent.com.

Disclosure: Isaac Gonzalez is a co-host on the Sacramento Current podcast

Sacramento Current; The Podcast For Locals Who Crave The Details

2012-06-22T12:12:29Z

I know what you're asking yourself already...

"What's a podcast???"

Wikipedia tells us that "A podcast is a type of digital media consisting of an episodic series of audio files subscribed to and downloaded through web syndication or streamed online to a computer or mobile device."

In plain English, it's an internet "radio" program that listener tune in to at a time of their choosing,

The Sacramento Current Podcast in particular focuses on the major local events of the past week, and invites noteworthy guests into the conversation to add their opinions and expertise. It's regular hosts are Cosmo Garvin, Patrick Kennedy, Phil Pluckebaum, and Isaac Gonzalez, each of which brings their own perspectives to the table in order to promote a provocative conversation.

In just the latest episode, the gang welcomed Tom Negrete, Managing Editor of The Sacramento Bee, and Jared Goyette, Editor-In-Chief of the Sacramento Press on to talk about the state of local media.

Over the previous few months, the podcast has also featured candid interviews with dozens of newsmakers, including Heather Fargo, Jonathan Rewers, Mitch Netto, Kevin McCarty, Joe Yee, Lenoard Padilla, William Burg, among many more.

New episodes are made available every week and can be found at www.sacramentocurrent.com.

Disclosure: Isaac Gonzalez is a co-host on the Sacramento Current podcast

Strategies for Tough Times: Serve Free Meals to Kids in your Community this Summer Webinar

2012-03-08T22:06:29Z

When school lets out for the summer, what happens to the growing number of children that rely on a free/reduced-price school lunch?

Roughly 80% of kids in California receiving a subsidized lunch during the school year did not participate in a subsidized food program during the summer. This dramatic gap puts low-income kids in every community at deeper risk of food insecurity and childhood obesity…and jeopardizes their academic future.

Summer meal programs present an untapped opportunity to serve nutritious (and reimbursable) meals to kids in need and help communities collaborate in new, cost-effective ways.

Join us in our quest to Stop California’s Summer Nutrition Gap by taking action in your community.

The California Summer Meal Coalition is a statewide network united to combat childhood hunger and obesity by increasing access to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s subsidized summer lunch programs. The Coalition is administered by California Center for Research on Women and Families. Learn more at www.ccrwf.org/summer-meal-coalition.

Click here for more information and to register.

Disclosure: Isaac Gonzalez is a social media consultant working of behalf of The California Endowment and their Building Healthy Communities campaign in South Sacramento

Wanted: Young people in South Sacramento who are ready to make a difference

2012-03-06T19:19:33Z

Are you a young person living in South Sacramento who has ever felt like your voice is not heard? Would you be interested in working with other people your own age to change your community for the better? Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a youth leader? If you said yes to any of the above questions, the organizers of the Youth Voice Program at La Familia Counseling Center are looking for you.

The Youth Voice Program provides young people with the opportunity to develop leadership skills through community service projects, by learning how to influence system change, taking part in educational and career opportunities, and engaging in peer mentoring so that they become stakeholders in their own communities. Participants are also taught how to express themselves by producing digital internet content such as blogs, videos, and stories about their experiences.

In order to qualify for the program, you must be between the ages of 14-21 and reside within South Sacramento. Meetings are held every week on Friday at 4:00 at the La Familia Counseling Center on the corner of Franklin Blvd. and Fruitridge Rd. The first meeting will be this Friday, March 9, 2012 at 4:00pm.

The first group of Youth Voice mentors just graduated, and space for this year’s class is limited. For more information, please contact Youth Leadership Coordinator Apolonia Cortez at apoloniac@lafcc.org or call 916-452-3601.

Disclosure: Isaac Gonzalez is a social media consultant working of behalf of The California Endowment and their Building Healthy Communities campaign in South Sacramento

Bowling for scholarships

2012-03-05T21:54:53Z

The Tahoe Park Neighborhood Association in Sacramento focuses its efforts on three main objectives; connecting with the community which it serves and addressing their concerns, participating in and organizing fun and healthy events within the neighborhood, and providing college scholarships for students at Hiram Johnson High School. In order to pass out those scholarships, the TPNA has to raise funds, while at the same time being creative and providing the donors with something that’s a direct benefit to them as well.

The upcoming Tahoe Park Annual Bowling Tournament is expected to raise a large share of revenue for this year’s scholarships, and you can help the TPNA make a high school student’s college dream become a reality simply by attending. For just $20 a player, tournament participants will get to play at the newly remodeled Capital Bowl in West Sacramento, receive rental shoes and have share a pizza dinner. Trophies are awarded at the end of the tournament to several teams in both serious and humorous categories.

“I’m really proud of this event, because not only does it help TPNA give out scholarships to Hiram Johnson students, but it’s a fun and affordable way for us to connect with the community and let loose a little,” says Eric Guerra, President of the Tahoe Park Neighborhood Association. “The members of the TPNA work diligently to improve the quality of life in our neighborhood, but once we get to the Capital Bowl and start playing, it’s a chance to have fun with our friends and supporters while doing something really positive for our youth, and that’s great.”

The event is Friday, March 23, beginning at 6:00. Preregistration is necessary, and you can find all the information you need to sign up by following this link. Sponsorship opportunities are also available by contacting president@tahoe-park.org.

Disclosure: I am on the board of the Tahoe Park Neighborhood Association, and devote much of my time with that organization toward coordinating our volunteer events. I receive no monetary considerations for these efforts.

Chances to volunteer in city parks abound

2012-03-01T22:12:30Z

Over the past few years, the City of Sacramento has had to cut the budgets of nearly every one of its departments to deal with the fiscal woes associated with the ongoing global economic contraction. The parks department is hardly immune to these cuts, as their staffing levels have shrunk considerably due to layoffs and retirements. But the citizens of Sacramento don’t want to see their parks fall into disrepair, and several groups have formed just to ensure that they continue to be clean and safe places for families to get together and enjoy nature’s bounty.

The Land Park Volunteer Corps is coming back this weekend, March 3rd, to tackle the huge task of keeping the city’s largest park looking its best. In the fair-weather seasons, the group meets on the first Saturday of every month. Volunteers coordinate at their regular “Base Camp” located in picnic area directly behind Fairytale Town at 9:00 a.m. Espresso Metro keeps the worker bees happy by sponsoring a light breakfast, and after the mornings work is complete the crew sits down for a tasty lunch. For more information about the Land Park Volunteer Corps meet-ups or to donate to the cause, send an email to ckpinsacto@aol.com.

Not to be outdone on the other side of town, The Tahoe Park Neighborhood Association is also hosting a park clean-up day on Saturday, March 10th beginning at 8:30 a.m. Last year, the group held four successful clean-up events, with over 150 participants coming in from all across the region to lend a hand at the modest-sized but often-used city park. All tools are provided on-site, along with juice, snacks, and coffee. Each Tahoe Park Volunteer also receives a raffle ticket for a chance to win one of several prizes that are awarded at the conclusion of the morning activities. You can stay informed about all future Tahoe Park volunteer events by emailing Isaactpna@gmail.com or by visiting www.tahoe-park.org.

One day, hopefully soon, leaders in Sacramento will formulate a plan to get the budget back into the black for good, and restore the services that the people of this city need to experience a happy and prosperous life within their respective communities. Until that day, these groups and others like them will continue to work hard to ensure that the real gems of our neighborhoods, their local parks, don’t suffer from a lack of attention and care. But they can’t do it without the support of citizen volunteers. Consider investing a little time on a Saturday morning to make your home a better place. You’ll thank yourself later for it, trust me.

District 2 campaigns signs popping up

2012-02-21T03:19:55Z

As of this writing, nearly 30 comments have brought the discussion thread on another Sacpress article about campaigns signs popping up in District 2 to a fever pitch. It turns out, however, that Allen Warren isn't the only canidate who has already begun posting signs.

The Mack campagin seems to be condoning the placement, and even shared the above image on Facebook.

-------------------------

I would also like to add that I have no opinion of either campaign and do not live in District 2.

United Nations warns Kevin Johnson of possible human rights violations

2012-02-03T02:51:13Z

An appointee to the United Nations Human Rights Council has issued a four-page memo warning Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson that local officials could be violating the human rights of the homeless people living within the city. In the January 23rd dated letter, Catarina De Albuquerque, the Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation for the United Nations human right council, says that the current policy of evicting the homeless from their “tent cities” and denying the homeless with safe access to clean water is, in effect, prohibited discrimination based on their economic and social status.

Albuquerque reminded Johnson in her letter that the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation is a protected freedom pursuant to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, an agreement which the US Government signed on October 5th, 1977. The United States also publicly declared that it was “proud to take the significant step of joining consensus” towards endorsing water and sanitation as a human right in September of 2010.

Albuquerque visited with the homeless in Sacramento back in 2011, and witnessed firsthand the difficulties they face within their community as they grapple to evacuate their bowels and bladders in a manner which does not rob them of their human dignity. Albuquerque met a homeless man named “Tim” who was responsible in his camp to collect bags full of human waste, some as heavy as 230 pounds, and haul them on his bicycle to a public restroom for disposal. Tim said he did this for his community, especially for the women, so that they did not foul the area in which they called home.

Albuquerque also lamented Johnson slogan of “a city that works for everyone”, and stressed that if that dream is to become a reality one day, the promotion of the human rights of homeless people should become an integral part of the city’s policies.

In September of 2011, Mayor Johnson missed a council meeting as he attended a sustainable energy forum at the United Nations in New York City. He sat with several business leaders, prime ministers, former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, and others during the conference.

Rumors have been flying that the Huffington Post has been working on a scathing report on the homeless situation in Sacramento.

You can read the entire Human Rights memo by clicking here.

Celebration to honor youth and adult mentors in Sacramento

2012-01-20T16:19:12Z

In recognition of National Mentoring Month, the Sacramento City Unified School District and the South Sacramento Coalition for Future Leaders are welcoming members of the community to attend the Sacramento Mentoring Month Celebration & Awards Ceremony on Wednesday, January 25, at 4:00 pm at the Charles A. Jones Skill Center. Outstanding youth and adult mentors who are making a positive difference in Sacramento will be recognized for their efforts during this event.

On December 28th of last year, President Barack Obama declared this January to be National Mentoring Month in order to highlight the movement across the country, guiding young Americans through the challenges they face as they enter adulthood. Through an official proclamation, President Obama said;

“At school and at home, in the library and on the field, mentors lift our youth toward their goals and ambitions. As a teacher, a relative, or a trusted friend, a mentor's steady and dependable support can inspire a child to strive for success and instill in them the confidence to achieve their full potential. Mentorship strengthens our American family, and by teaching enduring values like diligence and self-discipline, we make a powerful and lasting investment in our youth, our communities, and our Nation.”

This event intends to spotlight the achievements and success stories of several mentors from right here in Sacramento. Sacramento Councilmember Kevin McCarty is scheduled to attend as well.

The Sacramento Mentoring Month Celebration & Award Ceremony

Date: January 25, 2012

Time: 4:00pm-6:30pm

Location: Charles A. Jones Skill Center , 5451 Lemon Hill Ave.

Disclosure: Isaac Gonzalez is a social media consultant working of behalf of The California Endowment and their Building Healthy Communities campaign in South Sacramento

Many Sacramento 2020 “supporters” don’t live in Sacramento, or don't exist at all

2012-01-18T00:53:16Z

For the past few weeks, visitors to the website Sacramento2020.org have be encouraged to sign an online petition, urging the city council to place the latest of Mayor Johnson’s “Strong Mayor” plans on the June 2012 ballot. ranSACkedmedia obtained the complete list of “supporters” who submitted their petitions to the city clerk, and after review has discovered that many of them don’t live in Sacramento. Even more appear to either work for Kevin Johnson, either as a member of his staff or in some other fashion, and many petitions have been submitted to the public record without any name at all. At least one person notified the city clerk that their name was submitted without their permission.

For example,

Mr. Anderson does not live in Sacramento.

Keith Hart was hired by Johnson in 2010 as the city’s first “Chief Service Officer”.

Joaquin McPeek is the mayor’s press secretary. Who is John?

Another McPeek. Is this a more common name than I thought?

So nice of the citizens of San Francisco to chime in to this debate.

That was the order that those four were submitted in.

This one has no name and is from Roseville.

Ahmed Hamdy submitted the same petition five times.

I wonder if this concerned New York citizen is named David Stern?

This was the last note in the public report. Kathi Windheim told me over the phone that she never signed any petition and couldn’t explain how her name got on the Sacramento 2020 form. The possibility that other names were placed on the petition without the party's permission remains unclear.

Remember this when the Sacramento 2020 group touts the "hundreds of concerned citizens" that urged the concil via email to put Strong Mayor 3.0 on the Jund ballot.

You can check out the entire list for yourself here.

Johnson campaigns gave over $35,000 to create “Strong Mayor” friendly conversation

2012-01-17T16:21:57Z

Tonight, inside the Sacramento City Hall, supporters of Kevin Johnson’s latest “Strong Mayor” plan, this time called “Checks and Balances”, will ask council members to place their measure on the June 2012 ballot. If enacted, the proposal would drastically change the way local government functions in Sacramento, and it vaguely lays out a path towards a citizens ethical advisory committee and separate redistricting committee. Johnson has argued that it is the people of Sacramento need this change to foster a new era of accountability and transparency at city hall, so with that in mind let’s take a look at some of the groups who are promoting the plan in the local media-sphere, and who is funding them.

In June of this year, “Open Sacramento, The Coalition for Accountable, Efficient and Transparent Government” received over $35,000 from Johnson and his reelection campaign. You can read the entire public filling here.

Before they were “Open Sacramento”, the same group was known as “Sacramentans for Accountable Government.” While “Open” hasn’t updated their website in quite some time, “Sacramento2020.org” has borrowed their rhetoric nearly verbatim.

“Sacramento2020.org” is run by Chris Tapio, the president of a company called “Legislative Strategies”. Tapio’s company has the same address and phone number as “The Sacramento Public Policy Foundation”, a non-profit that has worked on five of the mayor’s largest projects; Think BIG Sacramento, Greenwise Sacramento, Sacramento Steps Forward, For Arts’ Sake Sacramento, and Sacramento First. Tapio even lists himself as SPPF’s Executive Director.

If you think that I’m stretching to make the connection between Tapio, the mayor, and Sacramento2020.org, consider this; Tapio was the mayor’s appointee to the Sacramento Charter Review Committee the first time the Strong Mayor plan was presented back in 2009. Plus every single press release that I’ve received from Sacramento2020.org came for Chris Tapio himself.

Tapio was even a featured contributor to the Sacramento Bee’s “Issue of the Week” that covered the Strong Mayor proposal. The Bee, for whatever reason, didn’t feel that it needed to disclose that Tapio works for the mayor.

-----------------------------------------------

Perhaps if this new proposal wasn't so heavily promising to rein in a new era of accountability and transparency WHILE AT THE SAME TIME using all the worst tricks that have caused voters to distrust nearly everything that comes from politicians, observers such as myself would have so much distrust in the motives behind its supporters.

If you would like to see more information visit ranSACkedmedia.com where we have larger pictures and more links to the websites mentioned in this article.

Disclosure: Gonzalez owns ranSACkedmedia.com

How you can help a local business recover from a recent burglary

2012-01-10T16:32:38Z

Last week I shared a story about a burglary at a Downtown Sacramento workshop which left a talented artist and craftsman without the tools he needed to produce his eco-friendly furniture. Unfortunately, I cannot report that the thieves who made off with over $6,000 of Reclamation Art + Furniture’s tools have been caught. I can report, however, that business owner Steven Tiller is not letting this event hinder his momentum, and is in fact moving forward with a new purpose on a Kickstarter project that he hopes you will become a part of.

For those of you who may not know, Kickstarter is a website that offers creative people a way to fund their projects through crowd-sourcing. Visitors are encouraged to commit funding towards projects they would like to see come to fruition, and if the Kickstarter campaign reaches its predetermined goal, the money is released to the project creator.

Tiller has designed a new product he calls “The Bike Valet”, and promotes it as a great way to store a bicycle in a small apartment, or anywhere else for that matter. The “Valet” is a piece of 1/8” steel that is cut by lasers and bent by hand before being powder coated for long-lasting durability. You then install it on your wall to keep your bike from taking up too much space in your living quarters. You can also hang a messenger bag or purse on it from a built-in hook towards the bottom. All told it’s stylish, functional, and locally made.

If you can help support this Kickstarter project, you’ll be doing much more than purchasing a neat piece modern furniture. You’ll also be helping a Sacramento business overcome from a regrettable transgression by turning a negative into a positive. If you have a chance, consider checking out the Kickstarter project for yourself here.

Wag the dog: Sacramento style

2012-01-09T22:12:42Z

Have you heard about the new group called “Sacramento 2020”? They’re a “diverse coalition of Sacramentans (who are) putting voters first in the political process (!)” What an exciting concept, right? If only there were a way to find out the names of the people which make up that “diverse coalition”, but alias, there is none. Trust me, I’ve tried.

I attended a poorly advertised “public workshop” on Saturday morning that was reportedly designed to gain “community input” about Mayor Kevin Johnson latest attempt to enact a “strong mayor”-type of government in Sacramento. I say poorly advertised because there were only about 20 people in attendance, and about a fifth of those 20 were only informed at the last minute by another community advocate who thought the timing and method of outreach for the meeting was a bit odd, to say the least. Think about that for a second; there are over 450,000 people in Sacramento, but the members of the mayor’s staff who are charged with engaging with the community are only able to get 20 people to come out for a meeting? Anyways…

At the entrance to the meeting room was a sign-in sheet that had a logo on its header for the group “Sacramento 2020”. Besides the folks attending the “workshop”, there were only two other people in the room; Kunal Merchant, the Chief of Staff to the mayor, and Raihane Dalvi, his assistant. So it’s safe to say that one of these two people provided the sign-in sheet. Both of these people, by the way, are on the city’s payroll.

So, fast-forwards to today. I get the following press release announcing that two former mayors are endorsing the “Checks and Balances Act” which would give the mayor more control of the city council and the authority to hire and fire the city manager. The logo at the top of the page? Oh yeah, that’s “Sacramento 2020”. As I read this note, one paragraph really caught my eye:

“The plan enjoys broad support from Sacramento 2020, a diverse coalition of Sacramentans dedicated to creating more accountability, ethics and transparency in local government. The coalition recently released survey results showing strong levels of public support for the plan.”

So again, I’m left wondering, who is “Sacramento 2020”? Who are the people who make up its "diverse coalition?” And why can’t I find a list of its members anywhere online? No matter how hard I look?

For example:

Their own webpage, sacramento2020.org, makes no mention whatsoever as to who runs the site. It does, however, contain links to their Twitter and Facebook pages.

Their Facebook page, facebook.com/sacramento2020, has no listed administrator and no contact information, but several members of the mayor’s staff have “liked” the page, and three out of the four pages that this Facebook page promotes are groups founded by the mayor; For Art’s Sake, Greenwise Sacramento, and Think Big Sacramento.

The first account that their Twitter (@sacramento2020) followed was @TinyTortuga, the twitter of Raihane Dalvi, the same mayoral assistant mentioned above.

The sacramento2020.org website itself is owned by Danny Rentschlcer, who in turn runs RR Advertising, a firm that does web design work for some of Kevin Johnson’s other groups, including For Art’s Sake.

And despite my repeated requests to Kevin Johnson’s staff for a comment on this matter, I could not get so much as a one-word reply out of both Joaquin McPeek, the mayor’s press secretary, or Kunal Merchant. I also sent an email to Chis Tapio, the person who sent me the press release, to no avail.

So who is “Sacramento 2020”? We’re only left to assume since no one will admit what appears to be evident; they’re members of the mayor’s staff who are attempting to drum up bogus buzz in support of K.J.’s latest power grab, and they obviously don’t think you’re smart enough to figure it out.

Prove them wrong, Sacramento.

Burglars hit Downtown Sacramento sustainable furniture studio

2012-01-06T23:18:57Z

A Sacramento businessman is searching for clues that will hopefully lead to the return of his tools after thieves broken into his Downtown studio overnight and made off with thousands of dollars worth of equipment.

Sometime between 6 p.m. Thursday night and 6 a.m. Friday morning, an unknown number of bandits cut a hole in the north side of the building that Reclamation Art + Furniture uses as its studio. Once inside, the burglars grabbed the table saw, nail guns, angle grinders, and other small construction tools that the business owner, Steven Tiller, uses to craft his beautiful and one-of-a-kind functional furniture pieces, mostly out of old and discarded materials.

Tiller is hopeful that someone with information about where the tools are now will hear about this story and do the right thing. Anybody who may be able to shed any light on this case is asked to call the Sacramento Police Department and refer to case #12-4950, or to contact Tiller directly.

Two polls show different levels of support and resistance to Kevin Johnson’s latest strong mayor push

2011-12-30T03:03:47Z

Question: Is there or isn’t there a real desire on behalf of the everyday citizens of Sacramento to see a broad overhaul of the current city charter? One that favors placing most of the power into the hands of the mayor, bypassing the need to find compromises or the coalition-building it normally takes to enact new polices that in the end affect the ordinary people who live in this town? Well, it all depends on who you ask, and who you want to believe.

About a month ago, Kevin Johnson started telling various local media outlets that “many people (are) interested in changing the way things are happening here in Sacramento.” It seemed, at the time, that he was testing the waters to see if the voters would be receptive to another Strong Mayor Initiative, or SMI, a proposal that was somewhat controversial when it was first debated back in 2010. Sure enough, a group of business leaders, a pastor, the head of the city’s police union, and other Johnson supporters held a press conference earlier this month without K.J. in attendance to announce their endorsement of a new plan to change the way the city does business, this time calling it the “Checks and Balances Act of 2012”.

Fast-forward to this week, and Kevin Johnson’s office announces that a poll which was paid for with his own re-election funds shows that 63% of respondents favor the new proposed charter amendments. According to the summary released to the media by the polling firm FM3, a telephone survey was conducted over the course of four days, from October 29th till November 1st, before it was public knowledge that K.J. was planning to try to revamp the city charter yet again. Now, it’s been extremely difficult to fully understand how the polling firm came to this finding, because no one involved with FM3, the mayor’s office, or the group of citizens who believe that passage of the Checks and Balances Act is critical are willing to release the complete study to the press. I sent this email to every person who works at FM3, and copied Kevin Johnson’s press secretary as well:

To the staff of FM3,

I apologize if you have received this email in error, but as I am unfamiliar with your firm and do not know who the best person to ask in regards for the information I am looking for, I do not know what other route to take.

I am a Sacramento resident and a writer who has covered local government issues and many more topics throughout the region on several digital platforms. I am producing an article about the Sacramento Checks and Balances Poll that was conducted by your firm. After viewing the summary that was posted on the Sacramento Bee website, I would now very much like to review a copy of the entire report. Who can I speak to about accomplishing this in a timely fashion?

For example, I would like to see the exact wording of the questions, and the way those questions were presented, similar in fashion to the poll you can find on this site:

http://www.cityofsacramento.org/council/departments/home.cfm?MenuID=5007

One of Mayor Johnson stated priorities has been to create a local government that is transparent and accessible. I'm sure that providing the information that I have requested would go a long way towards accomplishing this admirable goal.

http://www.cityofsacramento.org/mayor/actionPlan/effectiveGovernment.html

Thank you for your time, and I await your reply.

-Isaac Gonzalez

www.ransackedmedia.com

After a little more back-and-forth between a researcher from FM3 and a lawyer working on behalf of the mayor, this was the final answer I received:

Isaac:

I checked with some of the folks close to the campaign and it was relayed to me that they are unable to satisfy your request.

Jeffrey K. Dorso

Pioneer Law Group, LLP

I then sent one final message to Joaquin McPeek at the mayor’s office for clarification:

Joaquin,

Would the "folks close to the campaign" like to give our readers a reason why they are unable to satisfy this straightforward request? How does this mesh with the Mayor's goal of accountability and transparency? Since the reelection campaign paid for the poll, I can only imagine that if the Mayor wanted to, he could release the entire text of the study.

Thanks.

-Isaac

After waiting all day, I have yet to receive a reply.

Meanwhile, the Sacramento Business Journal conducted their own non-scientific poll over a period on eight days via their website, and it came up with nearly the exact opposite findings of the FM3 study. Between December 21st and December 28th, 65% of online survey participants said that the new “Checks and Balances Act” is not an idea they want to see enacted in Sacramento, with the vast majority of “no” votes coming from people who also believe that the new executive mayor initiative is just a power grab by Kevin Johnson.

In my opinion, both of these polls should be taken with generous grains of salt. The latter because it is impossible to verify the validity of on-line participants; are they likely voters?, do they live in Sacramento?, did they vote more than once?, etc. And the former because the exact wording of the questions and the full findings of the study are not being made available to the public, an act in itself causes this author to conclude that the producers of the poll are worried about how it would be scrutinized if it were exposed for all to see.

But we do know this much; the Checks and Balances Act is being touted as the way to make Sacramento’s local government “one of the most accountable, ethical, transparent, and citizen-friendly in the state.” Its goals include “establishing higher standards for ethical and transparent behavior.” Those statements were taken directly from the first three pages of the proposal, as they are posted on the mayor’s city website. It doesn’t require any act of legislation to behave in an accountable and transparent manner. Perhaps if the mayor did a better job of practicing what he preaches, we’d would all have an easier time taking him for his word.

Does AEG want to help Sacramento in order to protect the Lakers?

2011-12-18T08:10:38Z

If the financing plan for a new arena is going to fully materialize in Sacramento by March 1st, the NBA’s current deadline for city leaders to have the specific plans set in place, it will undoubtedly have to include revenue streams from a plethora of exotic sources. Options on the table as of now include turning over control of most of Downtown’s on-street parking spaces and garages for 50 years to a private firm, the sale of some 20-or-so publicly owned properties, an undisclosed amount of financial assistance from the Maloof’s and the NBA itself, and the promise of a big infusion of startup cash via the Anschutz Entertainment Group . AEG, in case you didn’t already know, is the largest owner of sports teams and entertainment venues in the entire world. They also own and operate the Staples Center, home of the Los Angeles Lakers, a team which they hold a minority stake in.

Recently, the Lakers finalized a new 25-year television contract with Time Warner Cable worth a reported $5 billion, but there is a clause in the fine print that could be very costly to AEG if Anaheim were ever to get an NBA franchise of its own. A provision in the current Time Warner broadcasting agreement would reduce the value of the contract by 10 percent annually if a third team were to enter the Southern California market. That means if the Kings ever move to Anaheim, (as it seemed they were about to at the end of last season before league commissioner David Stern stepped in and granted a conditional one-year reprieve for SacTown to get this arena business figured out), AEG and the Lakers would stand to lose millions on diminishing TV broadcast revenues.

AEG put up $53 million to help build the Sprint Center in Kansas City, an arena that is devoid of any major league team from the top four national sports organizations; the NFL, MLB, NBA, or the NHL. It is widely believed that if AEG were to enter a partnership with the city of Sacramento to build a new Downtown arena, their contribution would have to be close if not more than what they put into Kansas City.

But that begs the question of why wouldn’t AEG just front all the construction costs of a new Downtown arena and retain complete ownership for the facility? Since the Lakers stand to lose as much as $500 million dollars from lost television dollars if the Kings move to Anaheim, why not put that money into a new arena which they would not only own outright, but also draw new revenue from while preventing any competition from moving into the Southern California market?

One reason why AEG is probably not going to pony up the total funding for a new Sacramento arena is that even if they were do so, it’s highly unlikely that the operators of the Honda Center would end their pursuit of bringing an NBA team to Anaheim. The New Orleans Jazz, Charlotte Bobcats, and Memphis Grizzlies are all rumored to be runner-up candidates for relocation if the Sacramento Kings pass on the opportunity. Representatives for Henry Samueli, the multi-billionaire who owns the Anaheim Ducks professional hockey team as well as the management firm which operates the city-owned Honda Center where they play, have already publicly stated that if Sacramento is able to keep the Kings in town, Samueli would simply “move on to the next team” that showed an interest in moving to Anaheim.

Clearly, AEG can see the writing on the wall. An third NBA team in Southern California is almost inevitable, and expanding into new territories to generate fresh revenues would be an easy way to supplement the difference of what they stand to lose in lower TV broadcasting cash. But in order to maximize profitability, AEG would be wise to keep their contribution to the construction of a new arena as low as possible. Convincing city leaders to do most of the heavy lifting by the wholesale transfer of public assets to private firms would do wonders to accomplish this goal.

AEG already has a considerable amount of influence with the major players in Sacramento who are promoting the arena as a job creation opportunity. Their partly owned subsidiary, the ICON Venue Group, was hand picked by Mayor Kevin Johnson’s ThinkBIG group to complete the original feasibility study which was passed around the major media outlets to generate positive buzz in Sacramento during the early months of 2011. Over the past ten years, AEG and its subsidiaries have made over $8,000 in political contributions to Darrel Steinberg, who also sits on the ThinkBIG committee panel. Steinberg has been a vocal supporter of the arena, and instrumental in changing the rules so that AEG can build a new football stadium in L.A. while skirting the environmental review process. And Tim Leiweke, the President of AEG, just sat in on a meeting with Mayor Johnson as he met with Commissioner Stern in New York on Friday for a progress report related to all things arena. (Oh, by the way, in case you forgot, according to K.J., the arena has NEVER been about pro-basketball.) Johnson didn't even wait to get back to Sacramento before telling the media how critical AEG will be in getting any arena deal completed by next March. You tell me if you smell anything fishy there.

In the middle (or maybe on the outside barely able to look in?) of it all this complexity are the fans in Sacramento who desperately love their basketball team. You can’t blame them for either being unable to follow this twisted tale or for being uninterested in anything other than paying attention to the game on the court. They’ve put their faith in their elected officials to do what is right and to keep their beloved Kings in town no matter what the cost, within reason.

But even if they can sleep at night knowing that their parking rates are about to go through the roof for the next 50 years, and that the money raised by the sale of their publicly owned properties could have gone towards balancing the projected $60 million defect in the city budget over the next five years, preventing the firing of police officers and firefighters down the road, could they really sleep if they only understood that the fleecing of their city coffers was for the benefit of the much hated Los Angeles Lakers? I still remember game 6 of the 2002 Western Conference Finals and how cheated I felt, only to later learn that it may have all been an elaborate fix meant to keep Sacramento down so that L.A. could once again be the victor.

It's said that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. When the dust settles and the history is written on this chapter of Sacramento’s history, will we be able to say that the funding of the Downtown arena was completely on the up-and-up, or will we realize that we sold our futures based on faulty information?

The Downtown arena funding plan is a complete mess

2011-12-09T18:49:06Z

ThinkBIG, the group of movers-and-shakers put together by Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson to help sell the idea of building a new arena for the Kings, was out in full force yesterday doing damage control as city staffers published the findings of its study that looks into the feasibility of selling away publicly owned parking spaces and garages for the next 50 years for some quick upfront construction cash. Beside the staff comments in the first dozen or so pages of the report, it's the exact same findings that my site, ranSACkedmedia, got a hold of last week; privatizing parking will force Downtown visitors to spend more money to park their cars, taking away parking revenue will leave a $9 million dollar hole in the city's general fund every year with no plan to replace it, and the original value that was earlier thrown around for leasing away the parking rights was probably greatly exaggerated.

The greatest revelation between last week and now is the discovery that leasing away the on-street parking rights to build a new arena is not even legal according to current law. (See it for yourself around page 11 of the newly released report.) It was also announced that the city still has $52 million of bond debt to repay for the construction of some of its parking garages; debt that must be repaid before control could be handed over to any private parking company. Officials are looking at way to bend the law so that the leasing of on-street parking could be used to pay off this debt, but any such attempt could open the city up to lawsuits from taxpayer watchdog groups.

The Sacramento Bee is also reporting that the estimated cost of building the arena has increased by another $19 million over the past few weeks from $387 million to $406 million so that a VIP parking garage can be constructed on site. This figure still doesn't include the costs associated with building up the necessary infrastructure around the site needed to support an arena, such as new water mains, improved roadways, and electrical capacity upgrades.

But don’t expect to hear any of these concerns from anyone with the ThinkBIG group. Members of the committee told the press that the public “should not be afraid” of turning over control of seven parking garages and 5,500 on-street parking spaces to private firms.

A 50-year contract to replace a 23-year old arena? What’s there to be afraid of?

The City Council will discuss the parking report at its next meeting on Tuesday.

Team owners, players reach tentative deal, NBA season to return by Xmas

2011-11-26T15:45:41Z

The Sacramento Kings should be back on the court by this time next month, according to reports this morning that claim that NBA team owners and players are finalizing a deal to bring the labor lockout to an end. If everything goes as planned, the league plans to play a shortened 66-game season with training camps set to open December 9th.

The tentative agreement is still only a “handshake deal” at this time, but both sides seem optimistic that a partial season will be salvaged beginning with a marquee tripleheader on December 25th.

No word yet on when the Kings would return to Power Balance Pavilion, but today’s news is seen as an early Christmas present for the support staff that work at the arena. Janitorial staff had worried that if the lockout continued they could have lost their health insurance. Off-duty Sheriff Deputies who provided supplemental security lost $1,000 or more in wages during the work stoppage. Now with games set to return, the staff at the arena can look forward to getting back to work.

Officials working on financing plans for the proposed new sports and entertainment center at the Downtown Railyards site will undoubtedly also be pleased to see the lockout come to an end. Many throughout the region had seen the labor dispute as a momentum killer, and even Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson was seen as distancing his efforts from the problems with the league. The NBA has set a March 1st deadline as the date when Sacramento must have all its financing plans for the construction of a new arena completed or else the Maloof family has permission to take the team elsewhere.

Power Balance files for bankruptcy

2011-11-21T20:32:45Z

The company that sold plastic wristbands with bold claims of health benefits and then bought the naming rights for the arena where the Sacramento Kings play (or would be playing if there wasn’t currently an ongoing labor dispute) has filed for bankruptcy, according to reports.

Power Balance, who sold the completely useless trinkets for as much as $30 a pop, recently settled a $57.4 million dollar class-action lawsuit with its customers for false advertising. Under terms of the agreement, anybody who was foolish enough to pay for a Power Balance Bracelet can get their money back plus up to $5 to cover the costs of shipping and handling.

A spokesman for the Kings was quoted in the Sacramento Bee as saying that “we expect to continue our productive partnership through this process and into the future.” How the company can be expected to continue any partnerships remains to be seen, as it is expected that very soon the company will cease to exist.

For more history on Power Balance and their relationship with Sacramento see:

http://gawker.com/5733694/company-admits-its-a-scam-promptly-buys-nba-stadium-naming-rights

http://www.sacramentopress.com/headline/43464/OPINION_Proposed_Renaming_Of_Arco_Arena_Disrespectful_To_Citizens_Of_Sacramento

Mayor Johnson: “This has never been about an arena for pro basketball” Say what?

2011-11-15T17:57:39Z

Now that the NBA players union has taken serious steps to sue the league and team owners local officials in Sacramento are scrambling to salvage the momentum they’ve amassed with their “Think Big” campaign. In a total about-face to the direction of the movement that started and the end of last season, Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson quickly played down the significance of a prolonged NBA lockout by issuing the following statement to the press:

“I remain hopeful that all parties will come together and reach a solution. From Sacramento's perspective, our focus is on continuing to move forward on developing an Entertainment and Sports Complex. This has never been about an arena for pro basketball.”

Never? Never-ever?

That’s strange, because on April 1st, 2011, Johnson published this passionate blog post on his teamkj.org website about how proud he was that he convinced NBA officials to let him talk at a New York meeting in the coming weeks. Johnson wrote:

“They will want to know about possibilities of a new arena in Sacramento, and whether after all these years, our community can finally deliver.”

Never? Never-ever-ever?

On May 3rd, Johnson celebrated the news that the owners of the Kings had pushed back their plans to move the team for at least one year with the following statement:

“It should be obvious by now that our victory will be brief without a clear path to a new entertainment and sports complex. The Kings and league have given us until March 1, 2012, to identify financing.”

Never? Never-ever-ever-ever?

In case there is any doubt remaining doubt in your mind that the arena has always been about the Kings first-and-foremost, please just take a glance at the Think Big Sacramento webpage where all the concept drawings for the new arena are prominently on display. Whose logo is that plastered all over the place? Oh, yeah. The Kings, a professional basketball team.

Less we forget, on Think Big Sacramento’s home page, the first sentence will remind you that “Think BIG is a regional initiative launched by Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson to facilitate construction of a new entertainment and sports complex.”

But it’s never been about pro basketball. Right.

New teen lounge for South Sacramento youth

2011-11-03T18:35:44Z

This Friday marks the beginning of a new program in South Sacramento which is designed to provide a safe place for teens to have fun in a supervised environment.

It’s called The D6 Hot Spot at the George Sim Community Center, and it’s the result a new public/private partnership created by a collaboration between Councilmember Kevin McCarty, local non-profit groups, churches, private businesses, and labor unions.

From now through at least the remainder of the school year, every Friday night from 7 p.m. to midnight, young people between the ages of 13 to 19 are encouraged to come to the Sim Center for a wide range of activities including basketball, volleyball, movies, games and more.

Councilmember McCarty hopes that this new program will offer a safe alternative for kids in the surrounding community.

“In the area surrounding the Sim Center, there were 32 juvenile arrests on Friday nights over the past two years.” says McCarty.

“Given our City's budget situation, I hope this can serve as a model public-private partnership to increase needed options for our youth.

We need to help keep teens out of trouble by giving them positive and safe places to go on Friday nights.”

The George Sim Community Center is located at 6207 Logan Street, Sacramento. Anyone who needs more information can call Neighborhood Services at 916-808-6789.

An incomplete timeline of the events surrounding Sandy Sheedy's arena poll

2011-11-03T16:22:53Z

What the h-e-double-hockey-sticks is up with this whole business involving Shandy Sheedy's arena poll and the complaint that was-or-was-not filed with the FPPC this week? I'm not going to claim to know all the answers, but I have compiled an incomplete timeline of events surrounding this entire mess for you, the reader, to inspect. I think we've learned a lot from the comments and sleuthing that have taken place in the comment sections of the story's about this whole affair. So if for whatever reason the people who have the information that can shed some light on this torrid wreck are still unwilling or unable to disclose all the details about the FPPC complaint, maybe we can figure it out for ourselves.

(Note: I published this same timeline with hyperlinks to all the articles mentioned on my own blog, and I'm too bust today to do it again. If you need to see the hyperlinks, visit ransackedmedia.com)

October 25, Morning: The Sacramento Bee reports that Sandy Sheedy has conducted a poll that shows support for a public vote in regards to the use of public funds to help pay for a new Downtown arena. The report states that Sheedy used $8,000 of her own campaign funds to pay for the poll. A Think Big representative immediately calls the polls questions misleading.

October 25, Noon: Sheedy releases the entire poll, questions and results, on her city website.

October 26: Marcos Breton publishes an opinion piece called “Sandy Sheedy’s not fooling anyone with arena poll”. The article makes the argument that Sheedy’s reasoning for conducting the study is to settle a political vendetta with Mayor Kevin Johnson and secure her footing against a future Johnson-backed opponent in the 2012 elections.

October 31, 6:20 p.m.: The Sacramento Press publishes a story titled “Sheedy faces allegations of wrongdoing with recent poll”. The article outlines a formal complaint that was said to have been filed with the FPPC by a man named Robert Langdon. The complaint claims that Sheedy violated the Political Reform Act of 1974 by paying for a telephonic “push poll” in an attempt to use her official position to sway public favor.

October 31, 7:32 p.m.: R.E. Graswich, a special assistant to Mayor Johnson, publishes three tweets referencing the Sacramento Press article. He claims that “Sheedy could be fined & sanctioned for posting phony anti-Kings poll on city website.”

November 1, 11:36 a.m.: Ryan Lillis at the Bee raises questions about the complaint’s alleged “author”, Langdon.

November 1, 1:26 p.m.: Cosmo Gavin on his SN&R blog points out that FOX40’s Jim Crandle and Lillis both are starting to question if Langdon understood the scope of the complaint. Lillis says that R.E. Graswich denies that anyone in the Mayor’s office had anything to do with the complaint.

November 1, 10:05 p.m.: Melissa Corker, the author of the original Sacpress article, comments on her story to say that there will be an update as soon as possible.

November 2, 1:24 p.m.: The Sacramento Press publishes another article saying that the FPPC will not investigate the claims in the Langdon complaint.

November 2, 3:43 p.m.: Cosmo Gavin publishes another blog entry that asks about the holes that remain in this entire tale:

“How does one accidentally file a formal complaint with the FPPC? Who sent Langdon the complaint that he accidentally signed and filed with the FPPC? Was it the same person(s) who were also shopping this story around to the media over the weekend? Who was that person anyway? (I don’t know, because they didn’t approach me. I wonder why.)”

November 2, 7:45 p.m.: Ryan Lillis opens up on the source of the petition, kind of:

"I will try to settle this.

The person who sent me a copy of the complaint did so in confidence. As a result, I will not name that person. It is the same as any other story in which a source provides me a document.

Now, it was never quite clear to me why this source sent me the complaint, which is why I have never covered this story as if it were just about the complaint, as some other media outlets have. To me, it has been a political tiff at the least and something much more serious at the most. I am continuing to attempt to find if there is a link between Mr. Langdon and anyone who might want to discredit Sandy Sheedy and her poll.

So far, all I know for sure is that the FPPC has no record of who hand delivered the complaint to their office. I have filed another public records act request with another agency, however, that might shed some light on a paper trail, if one exists.

I'm sorry that I can't name the source.

I hope that helps

Ryan

Archives Crawl offers fascinating look into local history

2011-10-03T00:30:38Z

Local history buffs were treated to a rare peek back into the region’s past on Saturday as four separate sites played host to 22 different archivist groups in Downtown Sacramento.

The 1st Annual Sacramento Archives Crawl, held concurrently at the California State Archives, the California State Library, the Central Library’s Sacramento Room and the Center for Sacramento History, showcased old photographs, books, art, and other tangible links to this area’s remarkable story.

Organizers performed an excellent job at producing an event that was not only educational, but fun as well. Percipients were given a passport, and instructed to get a special stamp at each respective site. Once you received your third stamp, you were given a reward of four Buffalo Brewery drink coasters.

The tour guides were pleasant and enthusiastically helpful while providing a vibrant narrative. All in all, the entire event was easy to navigate and very well managed, an accomplishment that is very respectable seeing how this was their first go-a-round.

Amanda Graham, an archivist at The Sacramento Room, told me that the point of the event was to draw out people that normally might not consider visiting an archive.

“With today’s level of traffic I would estimate that over 200 people have attended, which is much more people than we normally get to come out to an archives open house event.” Graham says.

“People are getting a look at stuff that’s mostly stored in vaults and locked rooms. It’s some of the really cool stuff.”

Graham says plans are already in the works to bring it back next year.

If you’d like to learn more about the crawl, visit www.sacarchivescrawl.blogspot.com

The time I met a barefoot hillbilly on Stockton Boulevard

2011-09-10T03:08:49Z

I don't know how I don't get into regular car accidents. I am enthralled with this city. I love looking at all its details, the good and the bad. The beautiful and the macabre. My brain does not allow me to ignore the cracks in the pavement any less than the street murals on Midtown business. So imagine my delight when while driving home down Stockton Boulevard I spotted a man I would come to know only as "Joseph".

The first thing that caught my eye was the fact that he was walking barefoot. Barefoot on some of the least-forgiving sidewalks in the city of Sacramento. The second thing I noticed was his overalls, which by observation I have to imagine have not left his body in quite some time. Once my eyes caught sight of the hat on top of that head, I knew I was the presence of a true piece of work.

I pulled over to observe this man as he navigated an abandoned parking lot towards and long forgotten self-service carwash. He was carrying a plastic bag that held to "tall boys", one was Old English 800, the other Mickey's Fine Malt Liquor. Once he arrived at his destination, he propped up a small American flag that was upside-down near the entrance to his lair. Unable to quell my curiosity from afar, I pulled up close (but not too close) to him in my truck, and pulled out three one-dollar bills which I held up to display to him.

"For pictures." I said, while holding up the currency in my left hand.

"Sure!" he quickly responded, no doubt feeling he was to be the benefactor of the transaction. "Where do you want me?"

I have to admit I was surprised at how quickly he accepted my offer. Perhaps I projected my own pride into the situation, because I believe if our roles were reversed, I would recoil in shame.

"Holding the flag. And hold still." I directed him.

He took the direction well, and seemed to enjoy the attention. He poised for several takes happily, and with the patience of a saint as I dealt with a rather stubborn iPhone photo interface. When I got what I thought I wanted I told him to come and collect his bounty.

"What can I call you?" I asked him as he approached my truck.

"Joseph."

"How long have you been out here Joseph?" I asked while looking through his dark tinted glasses into his bright-blue eyes.

"Just a day. I live with my daughter. I told her I'd be home tonight. I do what I say. I don't want her to worry." Joseph told me. I believe that he believed what he told me, and that what he told me wasn't true at the same time. Joseph appeared to not be in complete control of his mental faculties.

"Cops don't like it when you drink here, so I'm leaving soon." he said, as if to downplay his plans, which were obviously to consume the two tallboys in his possession.

"I don't care." I responded, not to be mean, but just to disarm his worry. I wasn't going to report him, or judge him. I only wanted to capture him. For the ages.

"Thanks." he said as I gave him the three dollars he had earned.

"Take care Joseph." I responded, not knowing exactly what that meant. As I drove away headed back towards my comfortable home with my beautiful wife and baby daughter I felt so puzzled.

I saw a dead body on the freeway Sunday afternoon

2011-08-01T03:18:39Z

Today I saw a dead body lying in the slow lane of the freeway. I saw it while I was driving towards it in my car with my wife, mother, and daughter at 70 miles per hour. I saw it shortly before I swerved so I wouldn’t hit it.

Ever since I was a little child, the last Sunday in July has meant only one thing to me. That’s always been the day I take the annual trek to the small community of Courtland to enjoy the “Pear Fair.” It’s a simple event, drawing about 7,000 people looking to sample the sweet fruit and its many variations in treat form. This year was to be the first time I took my baby daughter to her first Pear Fair. I knew that I would never forget it. I didn’t have any idea why.

The day was better than advertised. The temperature was a good ten degrees lower than the weatherman thought it would be a few days ago. My three-month-old was in a terrific mood. My sister and her boyfriend met us there for a couple of hours of good old American family fun, and with plans to hit up my cousins daughter’s birthday party, we decided to leave just before 2 o’clock. My wife’s best friend’s family, who had met us there as well, left just ahead of us.

Those who have driven through the Delta know that there are two ways back into Sacramento from Courtland; Interstate 5 Northbound, and the river road. My wife’s friend was driving in front of us until for whatever reason, in the small town of Hood, they decided not to take the faster way (I-5) like we were; they turned around to take the scenic route, the river road. I’m eternally grateful that they did.

As my family and I were driving back into Sacramento, near the Laguna Boulevard overpass, things seems typical and we were all engaged in the normal chit-chat that one would expect after a fun outing at a country fair when I noticed that the cars ahead of us were rapidly hitting their breaks and veering away from the #1 lane. At first I thought maybe we were approaching a wall of slow traffic or perhaps some sort of traffic accident until I noticed a large object on the road ahead.

Within seconds of seeing the unimaginable sight I knew without a doubt that I was looking at a motionless human being. I yelled at my loved ones to avert their eyes but their natural curiosity got the best of them and they too became witness to the gruesome scene. All at once I had to change lanes while making sure that doing so wouldn’t cause an accident while debating whether or not to stop and if I did would that put my family in harm’s way. In the end I did not stop since I felt enough other people were stopping and I couldn’t place my daughter in such a dangerous situation of the side of the road.

Looking back in my rearview mirror, I saw a large tractor-trailer parked on the overpass where I knew there shouldn’t be one. My instincts immediately said “suicide”, though that logic didn’t end the queries that began to swirl in my head.

“What drives a man to do such a thing?”

“I wonder if his problems would have seemed so unbearable tomorrow.”

“What if our friend had decided to take the freeway?”

“What if we/someone else would have hit the body?”

“How inconsiderate of that person.”

For the rest of my life, I will remember the time I took my infant daughter to her first Pear Fair. It will always be marred with the image of a dead body that hit the hard pavement after jumping from an overpass to the freeway below. The unmistakable mass of flesh and bone that seconds earlier was a living, breathing human being. The stark opposites of a pleasant day and the reasons which cause a person to take their own life. A real reminder that tomorrow is promised to no one and that we are fragile creatures who inhabit this mortal existence for the briefest of instances.

Hours later, I still haven’t seen this incident pop up on any of the local media websites, and the CHP incident feed only mentioned for a short while that a man had committed suicide off the overpass, and that the lanes were partly blocked for a half an hour, and that afterwards traffic was moving normally again. If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I may have never known that a life ended on that road today. But I did see it, and I feel changed by it, a little more appreciative to be surrounded by people who love me, who I love back, and that I know I am not alone and that I can always count on my family to be there when I need them. I wish anyone else who considers harming themselves could only know the love I’ve been blessed enough to enjoy so that they could find the strength to ask for help when they feel helpless. No one is an island to themselves. We are all on this world together, and we have to be able to help one another overcome our difficulties if we’re ever to achieve the heights of human potential.

Review- State Fair Maggot Melt

2011-07-17T03:20:26Z

There has been much ado in the press about one particularly odd food offering at this year’s California State Fair. Frequent visitors to ranSACkedmedia.com know exactly what I’m talking about; The Maggot Melt. It is two pieces of melted cheese on a toasted bun, with just a dash of something that one might expect to find squirming around on a piece of doggy doo-doo. I decided to try one for myself to see if it lived up to the hype.

As always, there are dozens of different food vendors at Cal Expo serving up a wide variety of specialties. However, if you want to test your courage you’ll have to find “Jungle George’s Exotic Meats and Bugs”. The menu boasts way more than just the Maggot Melt. Brave fairgoers can also sink their teeth into alligator, kangaroo, yak, beaver, python, and raccoon dishes, just to name a few. I thought it best to stick to one strange plate for the day, so I plopped down my seven bucks and watched as the grill chef prepped my meal.

Preparing the Maggot Melt hardly seemed like rocket science. Two halves of an enriched flour bun were warmed on an open grill, with two thick pieces of American Cheese to boot. Once the cheese became soft, about a dozen large and quite dead insects were placed into the sandwich in a manner which ensured with every bite there would be a crunchy larva to remind me what I had signed up for.

Besides the texture of the creatures in my meal there is sadly little more to report. The “maggots” looked more like mealworms, the type one could find in a pet store to feed to a lizard. There wasn’t any favor added from the bugs, and the bun and cheese were standard festival fare; unremarkable and cheap. The real benefit of finishing the Maggot Melt has to be the bragging rights. I posted this adventure in real-time on my Facebook account, and my friends were all aghast that anyone would pay good money to eat bugs on purpose. If I could do it again I probably would have invested my money into the raccoon or beaver, but if I did I doubt I’ve would have such a great story to share at parties.

I will share one bit of advice with any would-be Maggot Melt tasters, get a drink to wash it down. I kept finding bits of insect in my mouth until I found my way to the beer garden. The Racer 5 Ale I enjoyed afterwards complimented the melt quite nicely.

Disclosure: Disclosure: I own ransackedmedia.com.

Saturday June 25th, 2011

2011-06-26T05:06:53Z

These could have been taken on any given day in Sacramento.

On Saturday, June 25th, 2011, while I was driving home from the Downtown Plaza, I decided to drive by and take pictures of everything interesting thing I saw under the “W X” freeway between Front Street and Alhambra.

I also skirted down some side streets in Oak Park that I’ve never driven down before as well. I’ve lived in Sacramento since the day I was born.

I’m not trying to make some kind of enlightened point nor do I claim to be aware of some sort of solution to the human condition. I’ve just driven past this scene for years it seems now but I don’t recall ever talking to anybody about it or seeing pictures of it. This appears to be an acceptable sight in our city. I hope one day it is not.

McCarty reflects on tough budget choices

2011-06-09T01:13:18Z

In an unparalleled move, the Sacramento City Council voted Tuesday night to move forward with cuts that will drastically change the scope of its public safety departments. Eighty sworn officers are on the chopping block, and there is a plan to brownout four fire stations on a rotating basis.

“I said in January there would be a day of reckoning,” Councilmember Kevin McCarty told the packed council chambers. “Today is that day.”

After the council meeting, I spoke briefly with McCarty to get his thoughts on the night’s historic events.

Isaac Gonzalez: You didn’t agree with Councilmember Cohn’s idea to add ask for concessions from the Police and Fire Departments and to match those amounts with one-time funding. (1)

Kevin McCarty: I agree we should try to put more money in, but taking it from our reserve just put us in a precarious financial situation, and it wasn’t the most prudent thing to do. But I do hope that we can use the fire and police’s concessions to buy down some of their effects.

Fire, I said earlier, they have a lot of stuff on the table. (A) measure by (State Assemblyman) Dr. Pan could bring in $1 or $2 million by mid-year. Right now they have two brownouts. We’re proposing to go to four. For fire, for example, each brownout is 1.4 million, so 3 and a half (million) would cover two brownouts. So if they do a concession, let’s say, of $1.5 million, and we get a million and half from this measure, we could go back to two within a year. So there’s a path to get there, with those revenues. But the answer to the question, I just didn’t think it’s the prudent thing to do.

IG: With the $4 million reserve currently, that would only cover two weeks of payroll. That’s a very slim margin.

KM: That’s a 4 percent reserve. It’s dangerously low.

IG: And with the city’s practice of borrowing money and lending it every night…(2)

KM: You can go back and ask our treasurer. He did a report three or four weeks ago how it just puts us in a difficult, very tough position.

IG: Tonight you talked about keeping the city swimming pools open this year but maybe not for next year.

KM: I think that we decided that we would have a commitment to do it. We don’t have to deal with that problem today. Bottom line, I think the council is committed to keeping the keeping the pools open, but the decision was [not?] necessary to make, not today. The pools are tricky in the summer, the middle of the budget year. We have enough money from last year’s budget to keep the pools open this year.

IG: A lot of passionate people here tonight, a very passionate debate. It must be hard to see people whose responsibility it is to protect the city to ask for council not to cut to the bone.

KM: Well, the math really speaks for itself. There’s only so much you can do. When you spend, for example, on public safety — as much as it pains me to make these tough cuts, public safety makes up as much as 85 percent of our general fund. You can’t bridge a $39 million gap by not taking a look at that 85 percent. It’s very difficult and painful, but I think the math speaks for itself.

IG: I think in past years council has dipped into the one-time funds and also eliminated vacant positions, and now that we’re past that…

KM: We’ve essentially cut to the bone and now all there was is amputations. That’s what we had to do. Some people say that we need to make sure public safety is our top priority. I would argue that they are. They’ve become even more of a priority. In 2008 public safety received 73 percent of the budget. Now they receive 85 percent of the budget, so they’ve actually gone up in that direction.

IG: Thank you, Councilmember.

KM: OK, thank you.

(1) Cohn proposed enticing the Police and Fire Departments to make labor concessions by offering additional budget funding in match amounts, up to $2.5 million and $1.5 million, respectively. The motion was rejected by the council.

(2) An example of how the city invests and borrows money on the long and short term can be found here: http://www.cityofsacramento.org/treasurer/Investment/Monthly%20Investment%20Report_April2011.pdf

Fire Truck 10 donates American flag at Tahoe Park

2011-05-30T02:19:57Z

The Truck 10 crew of Sacramento City Fire in South Sacramento donated and installed an American flag at Tahoe Park Saturday morning. The flag was affixed to a long-forgotten pole in the northwest corner of the park which had been recently rehabilitated by the Tahoe Park Neighborhood Association.

The pole, according to an old plaque at its base, was donated by Pacific Bell in 1989 and had been previously obstructed from view by neglected shrubbery. In an earlier TPNA park clean-up event, the offending foliage was removed, and the association decided to take steps to bring the pole back to its former glory.

One of the main hindering obstacles preventing the use of the flagpole was reaching the top to replace the missing rope. Kathleen Winkelman, TPNA board member and Sacramento City Fire supporter, reached out to Truck 10 for help. The crew volunteered to supply the park with a new flag and re-rope the pole.

Chief Jeff Helvin led his company in re-roping the mast. With the help of the ladder truck and the crew, the pole was functional again in no time.

The TPNA plans on flying the flag on holidays and special occasions.

For more information please visit tahoe-park.org.

Note: Isaac Gonzalez is a TPNA board member.

Big names draw a large crowd at education forum

2011-05-21T05:40:24Z

The Guild Theater in Oak Park was host to a forum attended by some of the biggest and most controversial names in education reform Friday evening.

The event was organized by Stand Up Sacramento, a non-profit group chaired by Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, and featured speakers such as Michelle Rhee, former chancellor of public schools in Washington, DC, her boss in that position, former Washington DC mayor Adrian Fenty, and Richard Whitmire, former editorial writer at USA Today and author of “The Bee Eater,” a book which chronicles Rhee’s time as chancellor.

The speakers focused on the need to change teacher retention polices nationwide, and in particular the abolishment of the “LIFO,” or last-in-first-out practice of layoffs that most public school districts currently follow.

One after another, the speakers emphasized to the standing room only crowd that this policy does not encourage teacher retention based on student achievement, but rather it protects ineffective teachers with seniority from consequences and termination.

A brief video which preceded the speakers laid the tone for the discussion with its three main points.

Research shows that when teachers are laid off by seniority, some of the best teachers in the district are let go.

Because junior teachers are paid the least, more teachers have to be laid off to close budget deficits.

Low performing schools get hit the hardest, because typically they have the most junior teachers.

Dr. Kadhir Raja, a teacher at Grant High School, told the crowd that last year he was given a pick slip because he had only four years of experience. He recalled the success he was having with algebra students, and said that if replaced with an inefficient teacher with seniority, that would be tantamount to a crime.

“The greatest tragedy is when a great teacher who’s getting results is replaced by a bad teacher, a bad teacher who may be killing kids. Hiring and firing based on seniority is a crime. It’s homicide,” Raja said.

Mayor Johnson asked attendees to get evolved with Students First, a group founded by Rhee that seeks to change education policy by “protecting exceptional teachers, empowering parents with real information and quality school options, and insisting on effective governance in public school systems," according to the Stand Up website.

“There are many states that are farther along (with education reform) than we are. I’m not satisfied with that,” Johnson told the audience. “You guys know I’m competitive. We want to make Sacramento ground zero to real education reform.”

When stating her desires to change the system, Rhee pulled few punches.

“We need to recognize, value and reward the best teachers,“ she said. “We should do everything to keep them in the classroom. If you are not effective, we need to either quickly get you there, or you need to leave the profession. I have not met a parent who disagrees with that notion.”

She added, “I don’t think that teachers are the problem. I actually think that teachers are the solution to the problems that we have. Teachers are the most important factor that we can influence that determines whether or not children are successful.”

Former DC Mayor Fenty wasn’t shy in admitting that this method of education reform can be divisive. He repeatedly eluded that his efforts in DC with Rhee probably partially cost him his re-election.

“I swear the first thing Michelle said (when we first met) was ‘Mayor, you don’t want to hire me. I’m the type of person who causes politicians headaches,’” he said.

“I told her that as long as every decision you make is in the best interest of the kids in this city, I’m going to support you 100 percent.”

Nonetheless, Fenty expressed his continuing endorsement to Rhee’s style of reform and teacher evaluation. He listed statistics which he claimed proved what they had accomplished was effective, and pointed out that his successor was still using the policies his administration had put in place despite running a campaign which promised to dismantle them.

First grade teacher Chandra Irvine, who attended the forum, said afterwards that she left feeling “empowered and inspired.”

“I was laid off from Natomas via pink slip as a new teacher,” Irvine said. “There are a lot of first year, second year teachers that are being laid off due to last-in-first-out.”

“They are the innovative, dedicated, passionate teachers that are making a difference and helping our children succeed. Something is really wrong with the system and we all need to step up and do something about it or it’s never going to change and we’re going to keep failing our kids,” she added.

Even though this debate can be polarizing, Irvine stressed that it’s not a black or white issue.

“There are definitely veteran and senior teachers that are making a difference. It’s not about whether you’re teaching for one year or 20 years. It’s about ‘Are you getting producible results? Are you making a difference? Are you making children successful? Are you educating them?’ That’s the bottom line.”

For more information visit http://www.studentsfirst.org/

Spotlight on Stockton Blvd: Louie's

2011-05-17T03:30:47Z

If you want to enjoy tasty Chinese cuisine in Sacramento, a quick Google search will give you dozens of options. If, however, you want to enjoy Chinese cuisine made fresh by a proprietor that makes it a point to give back to the local community, you should try Louie’s on the corner of Broadway and Stockton Boulevard.

Recently, while sitting down with business owner Frank Louie at his restaurant, I was taken aback at his desire not only to produce healthy and delicious food, but to increase commerce in and improve the opinion of the surrounding community as a whole.

“We have to change the perception of Stockton Boulevard and Oak Park.” Louie told me emphatically.

“So much attention is spent on the railyards, the downtown core area, the Westfield Mall and things like that. Not enough attention is given to the ‘step-child,’ which we consider ourselves. The older corridors: Stockton Boulevard, Florin, Power Inn and so forth. We’re trying to revitalize these old commercial areas.”

One would be hard pressed to call Louie’s restaurant “old feeling” by any stretch of the imagination. Besides the large banner on the exterior facade thanking customers for over two decades of support, you may never have known by its looks that the restaurant has been in operation for over 22 years. The décor in the dining room would not have been a give-away to the businesses age either, as it has recently undergone an tasteful remodel with a emphasis on “green living” and comforting earth tones.

Lunch patrons can get their take out fix from the counter service, which serves a dozen hot entrees on the weekdays, or sit down in a spacious and inviting dining room decorated with an Asian influenced style. Larger groups can reserve the private banquet room and feast on a buffet featuring Louie’s best dishes.

Even better than the brown rice and pecan prawns is the positive atmosphere that Frank and his wife Gloria promote within their restaurants doors. They are both polite and engaging, and Frank’s smile is almost impossible not to return.

“People come to us to decompress, to relax.” Frank shared with me. “We want this to be a place where people can feel at ease.”

That feeling doesn’t just end at the front door for the Louie family. Throughout our conversation, Frank consistently hit the issue that being a steward of the neighborhood is a huge part of being successful.

“As business owners, it’s our responsibility to be not only socially minded, but to strengthen the fabric of the community, and that’s why I’m very adamant that we support local businesses. Restaurant chains don’t always have that responsibility to the community. As locals, we’re active stakeholders in the prosperity of Sacramento,” Louie says.

With values like that, it’s nice to know there are still people trying to make a positive impact in Sacramento. Combined with fresh and appetizing food, it sounds like Louie’s is cooking up a recipe for success.

One-on-one with Gus Vina

2011-04-08T02:05:57Z

Much has been written about Gus Vina in the press over the past 14 months. After becoming Sacramento’s interim city manager, Vina faced a multitude challenges on various fronts. Budgets shortfalls, permit controversies, and varying levels of support from the City Council were just some of the hurdles Vina had to bear.

In the end, Vina tendered his resignation, effective today. I met with him late Wednesday afternoon as he finished cleaning out his office to talk about his time as interim city manager, his plans going forward and the possible future of Sacramento. Here’s what we spoke about:

Isaac Gonzalez: You took the position of interim city manager after Ray Kerridge resigned in February 2010. Mr. Kerridge was quoted in The Sacramento Bee saying Sacramento "isn't a good environment to be working in, and I need to get out." Now that you've tendered your resignation, would you say you agree with your predecessor’s remarks?

Gus Vina: I don't agree. A lot of the things that transpired over the last year or so, not the council’s fault. The Prop. 218 issues that put us in the grand jury, the permits that were issued up north, we just have had a number of issues that put council on the hot seat. And so, I never viewed it that way and I'm not leaving on a bitter note.

For me it's pretty simple. For me the issue is that I was given sort of the test run as city manager. I was obviously hoping to be appointed. The process itself, and the decision, which is council's prerogative, to do the search, also meant that I couldn't put all my eggs in one basket. I can't rely on, oh you know, I love to be that confident and just say, "Well, I'm going to apply here. I know I'm going to get it." But I don't know if that's the case.

So from a very personal perspective I had to keep my options open. So I've been applying at other places. Yes, I will say that there are some dynamics politically right now, a division if you would, on the council, that does make it a little trickier of an environment. Those issues are actually known. So for me to interview successfully and kind of move on, resigning is the right decision for me.

IG: You've worked for the city for over a decade, and I've heard you say that you enjoy civil service and had even dreamed of having this position. Any regrets on taking on the role of city manager in an era of year-after-year budget deficits, which, while of course being out of your control, are less than an ideal economic situation for any city manager?

GV: No. When you decide that that's the career you want, then you have to be willing to face whatever the challenge is or that come your way. It is unfortunate that, as a nation and beyond, we're in this slump economically. I was hoping obviously to stay here long enough to help the city get through that, and then maybe enjoy a different kind of agenda in the future years.

IG: So much of what has been written about you in the press over the last 14 months focuses on controversies and council difficulties. However, you've worked for the city of Sacramento for 12 years. Tell me about something that most readers may not know about your career here, particularly, if you don't mind, something you're personally proud to have been involved with.

GV: I will tell you that, for me, at the very top of the list, as far as proud moments, is I created what I call "Direct Connect." Once a month — actually at the beginning when I was launching the program and kind of feeling it out to see how it was going to work, I did it more like three or four a month. I go out to work sites and it's my opportunity to spend an hour with employees. So they're invited, we post the location and the time. They get supervisor approval, but they could come. And I spend about a half-hour making sure they're current on city issues so they're up to speed, not just reading things in the paper, because they are a part of this organization.

Then I would give them a free-for-all Q&A. I told them from the very beginning: "Don't hold back." I'd rather hear the questions. It's given me great connection with employees, the Q&A especially. You get to manage rumors, and they feel like they're part of something. It really helped to build morale.

So I would say I was very successful at improving the morale in the city, in spite of the difficulties with the budgets and cuts and layoffs. I'm still trying to respond — I've got over 800 e-mails from the workforce saying, "Hey, best of luck, we're sad, we wish you would stay." That's huge. That's significant.

IG: You must have been disappointed when, after your one-year interim run as city manager was completed, not to have been immediately offered permanent placement. Was it difficult to continue to fulfill your duties knowing that you had less than the full support of council?

GV: I will say for any city manager, you want to know that the entire council has trust and confidence in your abilities. And, for a variety of reasons, I don't feel that way. It is a struggle to manage if you feel you don't have that confidence for all nine. Maybe it's well placed that they feel that way, I don't know. But it still makes it difficult to manage.

IG: The Jan. 25 meeting in which the council voted 5-4 not to promote you to the permanent position was closed to the public. City Attorney Eileen Teichert says that "personnel discussions" can be held in closed session without public oversight. However, the city can open these meetings if they choose, as some have even gone as far as to say that the public has a right to know the reasons behind the decision to retain or remove the person who is the most influential individual in the city structure.

Do you believe that this meeting and other closed-doors meetings like it deserve more transparency, or do they require to be held in closed-door sessions to protect the privacy of the individuals involved?

GV: That's a great question, and it's really both. You do have to take into account the privacy of the discussion for the sake of the individual. That's why closed sessions are actually allowed under the laws, so that you can evaluate, without embarrassment, if you will, evaluate the candidate, or the employee. All four charter officers are afforded that opportunity when they are evaluated. They go into closed session.

Like any other personnel issue, when you're evaluating a employee, you don't put it on TV. Once you've decided to recruit, this is what I would offer, if then they decide as a group, "OK, we're going to do a national search," they do always have an opportunity to involve the public in what they would like to see in their next city manager.

So that's maybe a better way to talk about transparency in what the community would like to see in a manager. If you think about that for a minute, the timing of that's important. If council would have decided, as an example, to invite the public in, to ask, "How is this guy doing? Would you do a search or is this the right candidate?" That's a nice little step.

IG: City accountants have to stay creative to keep the coffers flush with cash for payroll and payments on debts. Much of this is due to the fact that the city gets most of its money only twice a year, when property taxes are collected. Do you think that the city has a handle on its cash flow difficulties, and do you foresee any problems going down the road?

GV: The first answer is yes. Our treasurer has a responsibility in managing cash flow. They have a handle on cash flow and have made it very clear that we need these interim loans in order to keep up with all of our obligations, which is new to this city. We used to have plenty of cash flow.

Is it a concern in the future? Absolutely. We still have a $43 million deficit next year, and we have to reduce our costs. I think that pressure on cash flow will stay here for a few more years.

IG: KOVR Channel 13 in Sacramento ran a piece last February where they criticized you for giving out raises to three high-ranking city employees to the tune of $38,000. You were quoted as saying that the raises were part of an attempt of "employee retention."

Councilmember Sandy Sheedy criticized the raises, saying that the budget problems in Sacramento weren't conducive to giving out the pay increases. However, just a few weeks before, Sheedy voted to conduct a nationwide search for potential city manager candidates, a search that would have cost the city an estimated $35,000.

Does it upset you, or make your job harder, when news outlets promote sensational stories like this and fail to place them in a broader context?

GV: Sure. That's extremely frustrating. The rest of the story, as Paul Harvey used to say, is that I did a number of consolidations in the current year to save $4 million. Part of the consolidation meant that Max Fernandez, who was one of the people I gave the raise to, took on an additional 107 positions. He had a department of 90. He now has almost 200, with all kinds of issues related to the audit and the permits that were issues in Natomas, etc. Same thing with Gery Hamby ~~Jerry Handbe~~ . That was a consolidation.

I could have, in a very non-transparent way, combined the departments as part of the budget and put a raise in there for those two people. I chose to do two things. One, finish the consolidation, really make sure that the level of responsibility merited the increase, and then tell council about it.

IG: Did you tell that to the KOVR reporter?

GV: Yeah, they left a lot of stuff out. Even in the private sector, they've gone through difficulties no different than the public sector. I can give you plenty of examples, not from memory, but from having seen it, where they'll take their finance top person, because that's the focus right now, and give them a big bonus and a big raise, because those are the people you don't want to lose right now. Those are the people that have so much institutional knowledge. Our finance director was making $30,000 a year behind any other director. So now you're putting yourself at risk of losing somebody.

IG: And you didn't give any one person a $30,000 raise. So they're...

GV: ...still the lowest paid finance director. And you know what else I didn't talk about? There was a demotion that Ray Kerridge — he took one of our assistants of the city manager and sent him out as a director, and he never did what he should have done, which is to take the pay away. Now you're a director again. It was truly a demotion. That was part of my calculation, so that the net impact of all those raises versus the reduction was like $19,000 a year.

IG: And the overall hit to the budget then was kind of infinitesimal.

GV: Exactly. You can't even calculate it: $19,000 in a year on an $800 million budget.

IG: But it makes a nice blurb on a news promo.

GV: Exactly.

IG: Sacramento has faced a multitude of problems over the past few years: the housing-market crash, job losses due to the recession, state worker furloughs lowering the pay of the city's No. 1 employer, the Kings having one foot out the door, and an arguably dysfunctional city council.

What is it going to take for the capital of California to turn the tide of its current dilemmas, and does it take a "strong mayor" to get it done?

GV: (chuckles) Well, it takes leadership. Whether that's in the strong mayor form or the entire council, it includes the city manager. It really takes the absolute best leadership from all of us.

This is a serious problem. This is global. It's not unique to Sacramento. This state, unfortunately, is like one of five that's in the worst shape in the United States. And then Sacramento, as a region, is worse than the rest of California, with 13 percent unemployment.

This is a time for leadership to really stand up and stand out. Time for creative thinking. We can't wait for the feds or the state to offer some sort of solution. We're going to have to figure this out ourselves.

IG: Wow. OK, last two questions I have for you today are softballs.

GV: (laughs) Alright. Thank you!

IG: What does the future hold for Gus Vina?

GV: I am a finalist, like "final final," one of three, in two locations. I really can't give the locations out because I want to honor the fact that city council like to make those announcements themselves, but it is at the city manager level, which I hope to retire from that. I feel like I've got another eight or 10 years of it. I really enjoy the role and the job. So I have seven active applications, and of the seven, three have netted interviews, and two of three are "final final." So I'm hoping within a few weeks here, I'll have a choice.

IG: In between now and then, what are you going to do? What about for fun?

GV: For fun? I have some "honey-do's" at home to catch up on. I got a granddaughter to go visit. I've got to kind of reorganize and re-prioritize myself a little bit. Chances are the next move will be out of Sacramento, so logistically I have to think about that.

IG: Last, what advice do you want to share with you successor?

GV: Don't be afraid to lead. Be confident. It's hard work, but you've got to remember to keep your balance. It takes a lot of hours to do this job. People sometimes don't know or appreciate that. Whether you like to work out or play softball or what have you, do it. Don't leave family behind.

IG: Thanks a lot for your time.

GV: No problem.

Isaac Gonzalez is an independent writer who can be reached at sacramentoisaac@gmail.com

Citizens attend volunteer forum

2011-03-27T04:01:56Z

Local residents seeking information about forming their own neighborhood volunteer groups convened at the Clunie Clubhouse at McKinley Park this past Saturday Morning. The informational event, held by coordinators from the Land Park Volunteer Corps, drew over 30 individuals ranging from concerned citizens, past and present city employees, and representatives of various community organizations.

Craig Powell, lead coordinator for LPVC, passed out an detailed guide outlining the “nuts and bolts” involved in forming a successful city park volunteer group. Staff from the cities park department summarized the resources available to groups interested in volunteering, and how to coordinate with various departments. Curious residents asked provocative questions, and suggested new methods of community involvement. In just under two hours, a wide range of ideas, topics, and examples of past efforts were discussed between the attendees and speakers.

Julie Meir, Volunteer Services Coordinator for the Department of Parks and Recreation, encouraged attendees to take advantage of the tools and support the city can extend. “Our volunteers really kick butt.” Meir told the group. “They really help out, especially now with all the cuts our maintenance department are dealing with.”

The difficulties caused by the city’s budget woes loomed large over the days conversation. Many participants spoke about watching their parks slowly deteriorate, and about feeling powerless to do anything about it. However, a genuine feeling of self-responsibility and civic pride was in noticeable in the room. Almost every comment from the participants began with some variation of, “I love this park” or “I’m concerned about keeping our park great.”

As the meeting started to wind down, the creation of a park advocate group was proposed. Attendees surmised that without continuing collaboration and coordinated pressure on our city leaders, Sacramento’s parks may face even more hardships in the future.

“Without an active advocate group, our parks could face further neglect.” Powell reiterated. “It’s up to us to tell our council representatives how important of parks are to our community.”

Anyone who was unable to attend Saturdays meeting should email Powell at ckpinsacto@aol.com. At request, electronic copies of the workshops handouts can be made available, as well as information about future clean-up events and advocacy gatherings.

Isaac Gonzalez is the Lead Coordinator for Beautification Events for the Tahoe Park Neighborhood Association, and was a speaker at this meeting.

Found In Sac: Rare Yard Giraffe Sighted

2011-03-22T23:16:42Z

In front of a tiny house, southeast of Highway 50 and 59th Street, we spotted the rare “Yard Giraffe” in it’s natural form: imitating a solid iron statue.

Rumor has it that this Yard Giraffe’s name is Daisy and that she’s originally from Mexico. She’s lived in the northern section of Tahoe Park for at least the past 7 years.

It is not uncommon to see Daisy decorated on some holidays. On Christmas she’s known to wear colorful lights and once even dressed up as a ghost for Halloween.

If you know something you’d like to see on “Found In Sac”, send an email to me at sacramentoisaac@gmail.com

Volunteers Reign At Tahoe Park

2011-03-21T02:56:45Z

Nearly 50 volunteers descended on Tahoe Park this past Saturday morning for the first “Clean-Up Day” of the year. The stormy weather and gray clouds were no deterrent to the men, women, and children who participated in the Tahoe Park Neighborhood Association’s event.

Friends and family members broke up into about a dozen teams and were given a wide berth to attend to whatever section of the park they wanted. Some teams patched the worn-out sections in the jogging path. Other teams weeded the tree trunks and spread fresh mulch around their bases. Even more teams cut suckers and low lying branches on the pine trees.

Eleven year resident Ray Duke found the event to be well organized and also a lot of fun. “I lived in Roseville before moving to Tahoe Park. This area feels better, it feels more neighborly.” Duke said. He is looking forward to attending future events, but hopes for better weather. “You can’t help the rain, you just deal with it. Next time, if we don’t have the rain, we’ll get even more done!”

For the first time, volunteers used tools that were purchased with money from a grant by “Gifts-To-Share Inc.” Brand new rakes, brooms, pruners, hedge trimmers, and wheelbarrows were thoroughly broken in on the park grounds. TPNA plans to put to them to good use again during future events.

Past events had been considered successful when they had attracted two dozen volunteers. Surprisingly, after the rolls had been tallied, organizers were humbled to learn that the attendance was at least 44 people at Saturdays event. Some people, who started participating later in the morning, didn‘t get a chance to sign in. For that reason, the true number of how many attended is estimated to have even been higher.

Bill Motmans, President of the TPNA, believes that this event was reflective of the giving nature of the residents of Tahoe Park. “Even with the rain, what a turnout! These people really prove the fact that this is a great place to live.” Motmans personally hauled several wheelbarrow loads of mulch and trimmed overgrown bushes that hid a long neglected flagpole. “This park is really going to shine now. These are the finishing touches that make our park a great place for neighbors to enjoy.”

Many representatives from the city were also in attendance. Julie Mier, volunteer coordinator for the parks department, made sure that workers had access to plenty of tools and a steady supply of hot chocolate. City park maintenance worker Tom Magarrell, who is responsible for the day-to-day upkeep of Tahoe Park, advised organizers of places in the park that could use extra attention. Vincene Jones, director of Neighborhood Services, came out and cheered on the enthusiastic crowd. Neighborhood Resources coordinator Khallid Muttaui even grabbed a pitchfork and loaded mulch into waiting wheelbarrows.

Councilmember Kevin McCarty arranged for Teichert Construction’s donation of two hundrend and fifty dollars worth of decomposed granite. As the volunteers work came to an end, McCarty addressed the crowd. “This is the model for what we need in our community, right here in Tahoe Park” he told the volunteers. “Neighbors coming out, in this time where our park budget has experienced huge cuts, that’s how we’re going to keep our park safe and beautiful.”

The Tahoe Park Neighborhood Association is planning another Clean-Up Day for late May. For more information please visit tahoe-park.org or email isaacTPNA@gmail.com.

Isaac Gonzalez is a board member of the TPNA.

Volunteers Prepare For "Park Clean-Up Day"

2011-03-17T17:20:31Z

Spring is in the air and volunteers in the Tahoe Park neighborhood are eagerly preparing for their first "Park Clean-Up Day" of the year.
After organizing two successful clean-up events in the area last fall, event organizers hope to attract a large enough group of volunteers this Saturday to have yet another triumphant event at their local park.

Late last year, the Tahoe Park Neighborhood Association was awarded a $1000 dollar grant by "Gift-To-Share, Inc." with the purpose of
purchasing tools and equipment for clean-up events. Recently, board members of TPNA obtained these tools and will be making them available for the first time during this volunteer effort.

Tahoe Park is used by hundreds of residents every day for many different reasons. Some people come out to use the jogging path, while others walk their dogs of all shapes and sizes under the dozens of trees that adorn the park. The playground, basketball court, baseball fields, and horseshoe pits are also thoroughly enjoyed by children and adults alike.

TPNA hopes by organizing these events the park will remain attractive and safe for citizens to use well into the future. Events like this are also designed with community interaction in mind. Neighbors are encouraged to interact with one another and nominate sites for future clean-up events in the area.

Volunteers will be meeting at the park this Saturday, March 19th at 8:30 a.m., rain or shine. Snacks, juice, and coffee will be provided to participants. While volunteers fill out their release forms, speakers from the neighborhood association and the city will briefly talk about the benefits of civil engagement and volunteerism. All participants will be entered into a raffle drawing for one of several prizes which will be awarded towards the end of the event at 11:30.

WHAT: Tahoe Park Clean-Up Day

WHEN: This Saturday, March 19th starting at 8:30. Raffle will be at 11:30

WHERE: Tahoe Park, 3501 59TH Street, Sacramento. Meeting point is near the basketball court, look for the yellow signs.

For more information please visit www.tahoe-park.org or email
isaacTPNA@gmail.com

Isaac Gonzalez is a board member of the TPNA

Help Sought In Solving Homicide Cold Case

2011-03-15T01:56:56Z

The Sacramento Coroner’s Office is seeking the public’s help in solving the mystery surrounding the identity of a woman’s body that was found nearly three years ago.

In March of 2008, a fisherman in the Delta region of Sacramento County discovered the skeletonized remains of an unidentifiable female who officials estimate had died four years prior.

With the help of forensic science and the latest in post-modem imaging technologies, investigators have what could be their best shot at identifying this “Jane Doe” victim. The above image is a computer rendering of what investigators believe the 30- to 45-year-old woman looked like. Details such as nose shape, cheekbone structure and dental profile are all parts of the puzzle that hopefully will give this woman a name.

Other clues that may aid in the victim’s identification include the “Grateful Dead” jacket and jewelry she was wearing. The county coroner believes that the woman was of Caucasian descent, with the possibility of an Asian or African background as well.

For more information, visit http://www.coroner.saccounty.net/unID-08-1866.htm or call 874-9320.

SacQuotes: Safe at Second Saturday?

2011-03-10T16:33:41Z

For this week's edition of SacQuotes, we asked attendees of last month’s Second Saturday Art Walk if they feel safe and comfortable at the event. You may remember that last year police had to disperse some of the large groups who would linger after the official end of the evening. In September a Sacramento City College student was killed in the crossfire of a gang-related shooting after Second Saturday. Here’s what folks had to say:

Chico State student Meghan Vanderford was home visiting and decided to come out to Second Saturday. She said her comfort level changes throughout the night. “Earlier in the evening I feel safer, but the later it gets, it gets a little sketch.” Vanderford said she only stays until 8 or 9 o’clock. “I noticed that there’s a lot of young kids just getting drunk and coming to this to have fun.”

Joseph Kutchukov said he feels safe at Second Saturday. “I’m a server at Chicago Fire. We haven’t had any problems, besides some homeless people, but nothing major.”

Sacramento State theater major Melissa Warren feels more comfortable when she attends Second Saturday with a group. “I don’t know that I feel too comfortable by myself. I find some of the people slightly intimidating.” Another factor on Warren’s mind was visibility. “I think the brighter the day is the more safe that I’ll feel. The darker it is, all the connotations of evil and mysterious things come with that. It’s darker and you can't see if someone was going to attack you.”

The members of the South Sacramento hip-hop group "Project" said they come out to Second Saturday to “meet people, give out our music, share ideas and share our styles.” When discussing the evening’s atmosphere and police presence, the guys didn’t seem phased in the least. “Cops, I’ve seen them. I haven’t talked to them, haven’t been hassled,” one member said.

Yolo County firefighter Nathan Taylor attends Second Saturday regularly. He said he feels totally comfortable staying until the end of the night. “It’s usually pretty quiet around here on the main drag. Off the beaten path is where the issues tend to be at. Out here where there’s a lot of people, it’s usually real quiet. This is like the fifth or sixth one I’ve been to, and I feel safe.”

Thanks for all the great feedback in the last few editions of SacQuotes. If you would like to see you questions answered on a future edition, please email them to SacramentoIsaac@gmail.com.

Found In Sac: WienerMobile

2011-03-09T16:35:08Z

Found In Sac: The Oscar Mayer WienerMobile sits outside a hotel in Natomas, March 9th 2011.

"IWSHIWR"

Fun Fact: The operators of the WienerMoblie are called "Hotdoggers", and the vehicle has a horn that can play the Oscar Mayer Jingle in 21 different genres.

Got an idea for a future Found In Sac? Send an email to me at SacramentoIsaac@gmail.com

Going Gluten-Free In Sacramento

2011-03-07T02:59:16Z

You may have seen the phrase “gluten-free” on products in your local supermarket, but do you know what it means? If not, prepare for a quick refresher course on nutrition and biology.

Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, rye and malts. It’s that special something that gives the ingredients in foods like bread, crackers and cake their ability to stick together. It is commonly referred to as a “binder,” and it can be found in a wide variety of food items.

For most people, consuming gluten is no problem. However, for the estimated 10 percent of people in the United States who have a sensitivity to gluten, avoidance becomes a full-time task. This is especially true for people with celiac disease, a condition where a person is unable to break down and absorb the proteins in gluten. Depending on the severity of their condition, painful and inconvenient allergic reactions can occur when a person with celiac digests even a small amount of wheat.

Luckily for the sufferers of gluten-sensitivity, Sacramento has many options in both retail and dining settings. Gluten-Free Specialty on J Street is just as one would imagine with its name: Every item on their shelves has been verified gluten-free. They carry sandwich breads, candies, pastas, cupcakes and much more. Locally owned and operated by Melaine Weir, who has celiac herself, the shop has grown over the past few years from a small outfit in the back of the building to a large streetside operation that’s still expanding.

Larger retail chain stores have begun to see the benefits of providing a gluten-free option to their customers as well. Whole Foods Markets, N ugget Markets, Target and even Wal-Mart have jumped on the gluten-free bandwagon. Some even provide gluten-free shopping lists or special labels to highlight “GF” items. When in doubt, smart shoppers should refer to the ingredient label and look for any allergy warnings.

If you are searching for freshly baked goods without gluten, the Sugar Plum Vegan Cafe carries a line of cupcakes that are made daily. The prices are reasonable and, just like everything else Sugar Plum produces, they are also made to satisfy practicing vegans. Experimenting chefs know that finding acceptable replacements for gluten’s elastic quality can lead to mixed results. However, this author found all the sampled items here to be excellent in both taste and texture.

Dining out can be another challenge for sensitive individuals, but more and more options are becoming available. Andy Nguyen’s on Broadway recently added a gluten-free plate to their menu. Paesanos in Midtown now offers a gluten-free pasta. Dad’s Kitchen on Freeport Boulevard can make almost any one of its sandwiches on gluten-free bread. If a pizza pie is on your mind, Steve’s Pizza can make a gluten-free one and even a dessert!

National restaurant chains in the Sacramento region provide even more options for gluten-free dining. BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse has an extensive gluten-free menu that even has a beer option. P.F. Chang’s China Bistro’s gluten-free menu items include their delicious Singapore Street Noodles, Moo Goo Gai Pan and about two dozen other items. On request, the Old Spaghetti Factory will substitute their normal pasta with DeBoles gluten-free pasta. If you’re in a hurry and looking for some Mexican food, Chipotle is sensitive to people with a gluten-intolerance. They will even happily change gloves before they make your order to help prevent cross-contamination.

If you have a smart phone capable of downloading specialty applications, there are available programs that can track down even more gluten-free options. For the iPhone alone, there are over 50 apps in the iTunes store that claim to help find gluten-free options. The Whole Foods Market app is especially helpful while grocery shopping and even as inspiration for new recipes to make at home.

Just a few years ago, people with celiac and other forms of gluten-intolerance had a hard time finding restaurants and stores that catered to their needs. Now, with a little research on the Internet and word-of-mouth recommendations, one can try a new gluten-free business almost every week. With more options becoming available, combined with the ongoing awareness and education in the food-service industry, Sacramento residents seeking gluten-free alternatives can find plenty of local choices.

SacQuotes: Fifth Miserable City?

2011-03-01T12:56:38Z

Welcome to another addition to SacQuotes, where we head out onto the streets of Sacramento to ask folks topical questions about today’s issues. Recently we asked people on Seventh and J streets if they thought Sacramento deserved to be called the “Fifth Most Miserable Place to Live in the Untied States” by Forbes magazine. Here are their responses:

Student Vianey Duenas thinks that Forbes has it all wrong. “I like Sacramento. I’ve lived here since I was 5. I like downtown. It’s a lively place. There’s a lot of people.” But Duenas did admit that there are reasons why Sacramento may have earned its reputation. “The streets — I haven’t had a problem, but people could have a problem with the people on the streets. But the Capitol is in Sacramento, so it’s like, more better.”

Christian rapper Qhueem Edmonds, aka “Qhueem the Redeemed,“ disagrees with the magazine’s assumptions. “This city has been good to me, you know what I mean? Sacramento is thriving! There’s a lot of opportunity here.” Edmonds said that he lived in Vallejo before Sacramento. “I ain’t going to down the Bay, but Sacramento has a lot more opportunities here. As far as the job opportunities here, it’s just different. It’s a melting pot.”

Daniel McNamer boldly named himself a “Master of Everything.“ He claimed his many professions included being a professional skateboarder, actor, musician, carpenter, general contractor, electrician and plumber, and said that Forbes’ list “sucks.” “I love it here. I’m from here.” he said. “I’ve lived here 33 years, my whole life.” When asked to nominate one thing about Sacramento that proves it does not belong on the list, McNamer quickly answered, “The women! They’re really hot!”

Sam Brocato, retired, thinks Sacramento is one of the worst cities in the United States. “Litter, all around, the people are not friendly, and the rapid transit system is lousy!” Brocato said. “I lived 20 years here, then seven in Illinois. Then I came back. Prices seem higher now, quite higher!”

Dianna Gudeman, a registered nurse originally from Berkeley, disagrees with Forbes. “Economically it’s probably not doing too good right now, but there’s a lot of jewels in Sacramento.” She pointed to a list on a piece of paper she was holding and said she was on a walking art tour. “Today, I am wandering around looking at all the different murals, and I have a huge list to go through. There’s also the American River Bike Trail, which is great and free.”

If there’s a question you would like to see asked on a future edition of SacQuotes, email it to isaacTPNA@gmail.com.

Juveniles In Custody Taught Parenting Skills

2011-02-28T20:54:36Z

The Sacramento County Probation Department recently passed the one-year anniversary of its participation in “Baby Elmo” classes for its juvenile residents. The program, designed in part by Georgetown University, teaches parenting skills to incarcerated juveniles with children.

Naomi McCormack, who works with residents at the Youth Detention Facility, praised the first year’s results.

“One of the least recognized groups in our society is the children of incarcerated parents,” McCormack said. “This program does not reward the resident. It really rewards the child. They shouldn’t be punished by not getting to see their parents.”

McCormack oversees the 10-week course, which focuses on bonding and building good parenting skills. Every week, dependent on good behavior, incarcerated juveniles under the county’s authority are encouraged to spend an hour of physical contact with their child. They also watch “Sesame Street” videos that contain exercises meant to strengthen the parent-child relationship. While these skills may come natural to people who grew up in the “typical” American family, it is sometimes a foreign practice to this program’s alumni.

“A lot of these kids don’t even know how to talk to their baby,” McCormack said. “Many of the male residents have trouble giving praise to their babies. They were always treated like a man. The praise session is the hardest. They were not praised as a child. They have to learn how to give it.”

These struggles were reaffirmed by a 17-year-old female resident who has been incarcerated for nearly a year, who also has a 13-month-old son. (Because of the juvenile’s age, her name will not be disclosed in this article.)

“This program has drawn me closer to my son and taught me activities that I wouldn’t have thought were important,” the young woman said with a beaming smile. “I feel like now I’ll be able to support him better, love him better, and teach him better than what I was taught.”

The young woman opened up about her upbringing, describing a home where her father was absent and she had to help raise two younger brothers and a 5-year-old sister. Her mother struggled with problems from addiction but is now enjoying sobriety. She said the lessons she has learned have even improved her mother’s parenting skills as well.

“Other residents who don’t get to use this program are missing out on bonding with their child, and that bonding is really big,” she said. “It has made me realize my love for my son. He knows I’m his mother, and I love him.”

She also emphasized the importance of good behavior while participating in Baby Elmo.

“Being good is the most important thing in here, so I can earn the chance to see my son,” she said. “My attitude has gotten a lot better. I do everything I should. I signed a contract to become better so I can see him. Being good is a must.”

Dr. Rachel Barr, associate professor at Georgetown University, helped develop the Baby Elmo project. Working with her colleagues to consistently evaluate the effectiveness of the project through examining the recordings of project sessions, Barr has noted measurable results so far.

“Predominantly it is fathers who have participated,” she said. “Studies have shown profound effects on children when fathers are absent. We have found that emotional responsiveness increases across time. This is very exciting because emotional responsiveness is related to positive outcomes for babies.”

Talking to past participant Joseph McDowell reaffirmed Barr’s point. He was only 16 years old when he was arrested. His son was only one month old at the time. He freely admitted the effectiveness of the program on him.

“I’ll be honest with you, I’d be back in jail now without my son and the skills I learned,” he said.

McDowell said he had only seen his father twice in his whole life.

“I don’t have a relationship with him, I don’t know him,” he said, adding that his own son, Joseph McDowell, Jr., now calls him Dad. “I’m not going to act like a fool. Now, I just want to be the best father in the world.”

While originally designed with the babies well-being in mind, the Baby Elmo program has also had the unintended outcome of improving juvenile residents’ behavior as well.

“It ended up being an added bonus,” Sacramento County Chief Probation Officer Don Meyer said. “No resident has ever been expelled from the program due to behavior problems.”

“I did a lot of ‘Tail ‘em, Jail ’em’ in my career, but the first time I saw this program, I could not believe that the same kid we had in the unit who was causing trouble could be taught parenting skills,” Meyer said. “But it works. And it spills over. They start to see the advantages of making the connection with their own baby, and it shows in their behavior.”

Meyer is no stranger when it comes to finding creative ways to pay for projects like these in the current economic climate. Out of the $9,000 it takes annually to keep the Baby Elmo project running in Sacramento County, not one cent comes out of the general fund. Instead, the project is fully funded from revenue pooled from the Juvenile Hall’s “Collect Call” service. McCormack carefully tracks her hours spent on the project and endeavors to make sure that her wages during these efforts are allocated separately.

“When you look at the cost benefits, a $15,000 average to prosecute an adult in this county, another $50,000 to send them to prison if you have to — if we can reduce reoffending by 10 to 20 percent, you can save a lot on the back end.”

Judging by the popularity of the Baby Elmo project, Meyer’s calculations could be correct. Currently San Bernardino, Yolo, Santa Barbara, Fresno and Orange counties all participate in Baby Elmo. Washington, D.C. has plans to start their own program very soon. In some counties, more than one department has adopted the program.

Foreseeing consistent positive effects, Barr and the Sacramento Probation Department hope to continue teaching parenting skills to juveniles into the future.

SacQuotes: Valentine’s Day Memories

2011-02-14T03:29:50Z

Welcome to another edition of “SacQuotes,” where we ask people on the streets of Sacramento topical questions and post their responses. This week, we went out to Second Saturday and asked folks to share their most memorable Valentine’s Day. Here’s what they said:

Hairstylist Jessica Williams shared what could have been a terrible Valentine’s Day that turned out all right. “I was 15, and I had never really had a Valentine before. This one Valentine’s Day my brother got all these valentines from these girls, and I got home and I was really sad because nobody got me one. Then my cat comes walking out and he has this big heart tied around his neck that said: ‘I’m your Valentine Jessica!’ It was so cute!”

Kellen McGuire, Board Of Equalization employee, said every single Valentine’s Day since he was born has been memorable. “My birthday is the 13th of February. My grandmother every year gave me a Valentine’s Day card and just wrote in there, every time, ‘Oh, by the way, Happy Birthday!” McGuire seemed to have a pretty good sense of humor about that.

Sandra Gean, who when asked her occupation said she “loves life and is living,” thinks that the people you know make for a good V-Day. “Valentine’s Day is special when you have wonderful people to love and things to do. I have three sons and a grandson, Orion, who passed away. He was only 19 months, but we had the most fun. Oh, and eating chocolate!” In case you can’t make it out, that’s a “LOVE” temporary tattoo on her forehead.

C.J. Kelly, a student and proud mother to little Joshua, was enjoying Second Saturday with two other cool mommies who also had little ones rockin’ the strollers. “I come from Santa Cruz, and there’s this place called Ciao Bella. It’s really unique. People dance on stages, and they come over to your table and dance. They do little jigs, and there’s stuff on the walls. They have theme nights. It’s just a little Italian place in the woods in Santa Cruz. This guy Dane would take me there every Valentine’s Day. It was our tradition.”

Local baseball player and DJ John McCants recalled that Valentine’s Day was a big deal in third grade. “When I was in elementary school, it was, like, serious with this one girl. I asked her to be my valentine, and I was super excited. She said, ‘Yes!’ We didn’t kiss or anything. It was ‘elementary-style’. We didn’t even hug. I just liked her.”

Rorie Oliver, who works in the student housing department at Sacramento State, told about an unfortunate incident one Valentine’s Day at a theme park. “My friends and I all went to Great America. I ate some nachos, and I’m lactose-intolerant. I was on a roller coaster and I got an upset stomach. I started sweating. I jumped off the ride and ran straight to the bathroom. My friends were following me and saw me posted up against the game where you throw the little fish, and they asked me what I was doing. I had to tell them I sh*t my pants. It was all couples except for me. I was all by myself,” adding sarcastically, “and I wonder why!”

If you have a question you want asked on SacQuotes, e-mail them to us at isaacTPNA@gmail.com.

Compromise Presented At Tree Hearing

2011-02-07T02:59:43Z

A long-debated topic in the Curtis Park neighborhood came potentially one step closer to its resolution Friday morning during a hearing at the Historic City Hall. Representatives from the community, concerned about the future of some 57 “Heritage Tress” in the Curtis Park Village development, presented a collaborated compromise designed to mitigate the impacts of any tree removal with the project firm, Petrovich Development Company.

“Heritage trees” are the large oak trees that pepper within the boundaries of the Curtis Park Village. The land they now occupy is contaminated with various toxins due to the pervious industrial railroad shops that formerly stood on the site.

Sierra Curtis Neighborhood Association President Patrick Soluri called the compromise the result of an “extensive collaboration with the developer, the city and neighborhood association.”

“We were skeptical at first, but we are now satisfied with the conditions,” Soluri said.

Joe Benassini from the city’s Urban Forestry Division outlined three main points of the compromise:

1. Wherever trees are located and toxins are not present, those trees will not be removed. If later planning requires a tree to be removed, it will be brought up for review on its own merits.

2. One “Legacy” tree (a tree which does not meet the standards to be labeled “Heritage” but still is deemed highly important to the community) will not be removed unless toxin levels in its soil absolutely require so.

3. The developer will pay $378,000 to replace the trees that must be removed. SCNA, the city of Sacramento and the Sacramento Tree Foundation would collaborate on how best to use the funds.

Benassini recommended granting permits based on the fulfillment of these conditions.

Philip Harvey, senior vice president of Petrovich Development Company, said he was happy to reach the compromise.

“Estimates from 1995 showed that there are 80,000 cubic yards of soil contamination on the site,” he said. “Once the cleanup began, we realized toxins in the soil were much higher than believed. We ended up removing 240,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil. This is soil with arsenics and other cancer-causing materials.”

Harvey said original plans for the development incorporated the trees locations in its design.

“The toxin levels required the redesign,” he said. “We will work with Urban Forestry to best place new trees in the development.”

Mediator Bill Carey asked the members of the gallery to voice any comments or questions after the representatives finished their presentations. Curtis Park resident Linda Elgart was the lone commentator of the attendants.

“I just want to stress that we save the trees when possible,” Elgart said.

The concerns which once divided the neighborhood leaders with the developers seemed for the time to be settled.

“We look forward for this collaboration to continue,” Soluri said.

At least one resident in attendance still questions the levels of toxicity in the development area. Claudia Ludice’s backyard backs up to the development’s northern border. She pulled me aside after the hearing and told me that her children used to play under the trees in question.

“This is before the fences went up, of course, a long time ago,” she said. “They would make mud pies, for crying out loud. I don’t know of any ill effects from it.”

A decision from Carey is expected within two weeks.

SacQuotes: Super Bowl plans

2011-02-05T03:03:27Z

Welcome to “SacQuotes,” where we ask folks on the street topical questions and post their answers. For this inaugural SacQuotes, we asked people at Eighth and K streets what they planned to do this Super Bowl Sunday. Here are their responses:

Britney Coleman, an employee for a national retail chain, said she plans to watch the game at her cousin’s house. “I’ll be distraught if the Steelers don’t win,” she said. “I know they’re going to win.” Coleman also said she plans on enjoying the bounty of food that her cousin always makes for the big game.

Tim Weinland, a Sacramento County employee and 49er fan, plans on watching the game at home. “I‘m rooting for the Packers, but really I’m just hoping for a close game. The commercials are OK too, but mainly I like to watch for the sport.”

Anthony Barela, who is permanently disabled, said he’ll watch the game at the MVP bar. “I don’t have a TV at home, so I’ll watch it on their big screens.” Barela has a deep feeling of resentment toward the Packers. “I hope the Steelers win,” he said through a thick beard. “Green Bay beat my Chicago Bears. I can’t forgive them for that.”

Office manager Edie Anderson is rooting for Green Bay all the way. “I grew up in Green Bay, and my mother is a sports nut. I’ll be watching the game with her,” Anderson said with a large smile. “I’m making some steaks and green chili tamales. I hope it’s a good game. Packers by eight points. But they‘re winning, no question.”

Ivan Morales said he does not plan to watch the game at all. “I’m not a sports guy. I’m going to go to church, then do some art. I make abstract art for Second Saturday.”

Keep your eyes open for more SacQuotes articles coming soon! And if you have a question that you want asked on SacQuotes, please e-mail them to isaacTPNA@gmail.com.

Tree Advocates Stress Need For Discussion, Accountability

2011-02-01T01:08:51Z

There has been an enthusiastic debate simmering in the Curtis Park neighborhood for quite some time now. The topic of discussion: heritage trees in development zones and their proposed removal. But through the passionate exchanges from local residents and the developer of the project, cooler heads express the need for civility. I learned this while speaking candidly with two citizens working hard behind the scenes on this hot-button topic over the weekend.

Patrick Soluri, Sierra Curtis Neighborhood Association president, gave me the CliffsNotes version of information from years of hearings, public meetings, press releases and e-mails from neighborhood advocates.

In a nutshell: The Petrovich Development Company, owners of the former rail yards adjacent to 24th Street, plan to develop the 72-acre site and want to remove all trees on the property in efforts to clean toxins left over from years of industrial use. Neighbors around the development have voiced concerns over losing what they deem to be irreplaceable heritage oak trees on the site.

As these things tend to go, emotions became intense, promises made in good faith for whatever reason were not kept, and people’s wires have become frayed. “That’s when the notices went up on Portola Way,” Soluri said. “The letters said the trees were coming down. I thought we were going to have another discussion with the developer. For whatever reason, it didn’t happen. The neighbors became concerned.”

Fielding the concerns of neighborhood activists with their passionate beliefs and trying to find common ground to find a realistic compromise is no small task. But while the Petrovich Development Company and the SCNA have historically had a somewhat contentious relationship, Soluri said he is open for fostering a continuous and mutually respectful dialogue.

“Discussion helps.“ Soluri repeatedly said. “It gets us into the process and helps to keep the neighborhood informed. And it promotes accountability with any concessions we may achieve. If we compromise, it’s important that the terms of the compromise are followed through by those promised them. We want to make sure that happens.”

Dan Airola, a certified wildlife biologist and Curtis Park resident, pointed out that “Down the line, we’re looking at losing these trees for other reasons, too.” Final plot lines for the proposed development have yet to be drawn, and trees that pass any toxicity testing may still have a date with a chainsaw if they are in the middle of a future intersection. “But even more remarkable than the age or size of these trees is the number of migratory birds I’ve observed in these trees: much more than in the surrounding areas.”

Airola produced his own study, which claimed that the number of migratory birds using the trees slated for removal is many times higher than in the trees in populated areas. Airola said that in some cases the bird density is 38 times greater in these heritage trees that other similar areas. The reasons why these trees in particular are more dense than other requires further study, but Airola said he is unsure how any developer can replace this environment pound-for-pound without the luxury of time, a luxury the birds may not be able to afford.

“Some trees have to go.” Airola freely admitted. “The nature of the toxicity is such that no amount of cleaning can be effective without removing some trees. But any tree that can be saved should be saved. It’s a quality-of-life issue.”

While providing me with a tour of the development border, Airola’s passion for the trees’ preservation was apparent. However, so was his willingness to concede that at the end of the day a mutually beneficial compromise with the developer would still be a favorable result from this community activism.

“As soon as the permits are approved, we’ll probably lose more trees,” he said. “But if we can get some accountability on some of these concessions, then maybe we can save something irreplaceable for the future generations. Let’s get people out, let’s activate people, have a dialogue and hash this issue out.”

I was able to speak briefly with Phillip Harvey, vice president of development for the Petrovich Development Company, about finding common ground with the locals.

“We are beholden to several safety regulations in order to certify that the earth is free of toxins,” he said. “Despite rumors to the contrary, we cannot simply vacuum up the dirt around the trunks of the trees and call them safe. That’s just not how it works. However, we have been working with City Councilman (Jay) Schenirer toward moving to a conclusion on this issue, and we’re looking forward to putting this matter behind us.”

Citizens will get another chance to have to their say and hear arguments from both sides an what could be the penultimate hearing on this matter at 9 a.m. Friday at the historic City Hall, second floor, 915 I St.

For more information visit:

http://www.sierra2.org/SierraCurtisNeighborhoodAssociation/Advocacy/CurtisParkVillage/tabid/80/Default.aspx

http://www.petrovichdevelopment.com/

Consider Proper Flag Disposal

2011-01-31T04:21:37Z

It may sound cliche, but I love America. Not for what she is, or the thing she’s done, but for what she represents: the idea that we are born free, that every citizen is free to pursue their own path to happiness, and that in this land one is free to speak their mind, whether or not that opinion is popular.

America is more than the earth between its borders. It is hope. Hope that shines like a beacon into the darkest corners of this world, calling to those who want more for their destiny than their homelands can give them. The best and the most determined to succeed from all over the planet come here to learn, to raise their children, and to hope for a better future.

When the brave are called to defend these ideas on battlefields foreign and domestic, they represent themselves with our standard: the flag. This symbol is synonymous with liberty, equality and the promise of a brighter future. Where it flies, free speech is encouraged. When it is present, tyrants flee or die. On the moon and even of the edge of the solar system on our deepest space probes, the Stars and Stripes are boldly represented.

This is why today I am asking that you take a moment and consider proper flag disposal. According to U.S. Flag code, “The flag, when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning.” This is to ensure that the flag is never represented in a negative or disrespectful way, such as on top of a trash heap.

You may think it’s propaganda, but to me it is not. I am not beholden to any specific political administration, nor do I believe that the United States is a perfect place. On the contrary, I personally believe that the United States needs a lot of work on multiple fronts, such as true equality for all, the reprioritization of our foreign policies, and closing the gap between those to have much compared to those who have little. But I also believe that the United States and its flag represent humanity’s best hope at one day achieving these goals.

These ideas deserve our respect. This flag represents our dreams and the ongoing efforts to make sure our children live in a better world than we were raised in, in perpetuity. If you ever find a flag in disrepair and whose owner has neglected to give it a proper disposal, consider doing so yourself. I did this myself this weekend when, during a visit to a local private dump in Sacramento, I found an American flag that had been tossed out with the garbage.

When things wear out and lose all usefulness, one throws them away. And while the fabric may be torn, and the colors a little faded from the sun, this flag was still doing its job remarkably well: It still invoked a strong sense of national pride and the promise of a better tomorrow from deep inside me. I could not let this disgrace continue, so I collected the flag and brought it home.

This flag now sits in my garage folded in a triangle. This week I will be contacting the local American Legion Hall to ask for assistance in properly retiring it to the flames. I don’t do this just for those who have died for the flag. I do it because I want to believe that I live in a land where we still respect the freedoms we have in this country and recognize how lucky we are when there are many people in this world who do not have that privilege.

A Towering Challenge

2011-01-30T16:33:27Z

Bridge maintenance difficulties abundant in Sacramento

It’s no secret to the daily drivers in the Sacramento region that our local roads, freeways and even bridges have some less-than-perfect driving conditions. Any observant motorist can attest to this fact with their own experiences of avoiding potholes, deciphering sometimes illegible road markings, and bracing for strong bumps when crossing gaps between roadway segments.

What may surprise you, however, is the staggering amount of data freely available to the public which, when drawn together, paints a dire portrait for the future of Sacramento roads. In a nutshell: There are many existing problems we know about, not enough money to properly contain these problems in a timely fashion, and not nearly enough funding dedicated for proactive maintenance projects or to build the new infrastructure needed to replace functionally obsolete roads and bridges.

LEARNING FROM HISTORY

There is a fable which says if a frog is placed in boiling water, it will jump out, but if it is placed in cold water that is slowly heated, it will not perceive the danger and will be cooked to death. The same metaphor could ring true for the public’s inability to react to significant changes that occur slowly over time.(1) It could even be said that the I-35W Mississippi River bridge collapse of 2007 is a terrific example of this idiom.

The warning signs were visible to those in charge of bridge maintenance and safety in Minnesota. In 1990 the federal government gave the I-35W bridge a rating of “structurally deficient,” mainly because of the significant amount of corrosion in its bearings. In 2001 the University of Minnesota’s civil engineering department released a study highlighting the cracking in cross girders near the ends of the approach spans. Finally, in 2005 the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Bridge Inventory database found signs of fatigue and brought up the possibility of the need to replace the bridge entirely.

Despite all of these warnings, on Aug. 1, 2007, the I-35W bridge fell into the Mississippi River during the evening rush hour, killing 13 people and injuring 145. Officials were either unaware of or grossly unable to fully understand the fragility of the bridge. Despite its impending doom, at the time of the collapse there were over half a million pounds of construction supplies and equipment on the bridge for crews to replace lighting, concrete and guard rails.(2)

OBSERVING WITH OUR EYES

While the roads and bridges in the Sacramento region do not copy the “Truss Arch” design that proved faulty in Minnesota, they do share other commonalities. These include their age, heavy truck use and the same federal rating of being “structurally deficient” in many cases. Perhaps one of the most glaring examples of road fatigue that observers were able to witness with their own eyes until recently was the off-ramp for the Eastbound “W X” Highway 50 to Highway 99 South.

For several years, large makeshift steel braces held up one section of roadway that was separating from the other. Drivers above the bracing could feel a large jolt as they drove over the crumbling “hinge.” This shift in the bridge span also produced a visible change in road elevation between sections. Last summer a construction bid was awarded to a private firm and work began to build a new concrete pylon to provide support to the off-ramp. Finally, near the end of 2010, work was completed and the temporary bracing was removed.(3)

The bump on the roadway still remains and, according to CalTrans, will be smoothed out sometime in the spring when warm weather conditions are more conductive to concrete work. But what of the dozen or so other local bridges that appear to share the same visible road-elevation changes between sections of roadway?

WARNING SIGNS?

Most of the major elevated freeways built in the Downtown Sacramento area were built in the 1960s.(4) They are a mix of bridges and ramps that span over earth, rivers and, in some cases, over other roads. Most have flexible divisions which are designed to allow the road to give and take depending on mitigating factors such as heat, cold and rising tides. These divisions sometimes connect elevated sections back to sections of road that are on improvised mounds of earth. It is at these sections that the careful observer can see astonishing changes in roadway elevation.

The Highway 99 South bump was between two sections that were suspended in the air. In the sections highlighted in this article’s photographs, most of these elevation changes occur between sections that join bridge to earth. But just like the Highway 99 South off-ramp, these sections share the same alarming visible fatigue, and one can be easily left wondering how seriously and with what amount of urgency these problems are being given attention. To eliminate what would otherwise be axle-breaking bumps between road sections, maintenance crews have added more and more asphalt to the road to mitigate the change in road elevation. While this method treats the symptoms, it does little to cure the cause.

Seeking another opinion, I spoke with Sacramento native August Smarkel, a UC Berkeley civil engineering graduate with a master’s degree in geotechnical engineering. He emphasized the importance of following the planned scheduled maintenance as laid out by the original designers of our local roadways, as well as ongoing evaluation of existing condition of the roadway. He noted the difficulties in doing so while working with different gubernatorial administrations beholden to the real-world conditions of their day and complicated annual budgets.

Smarkel also pointed out the significance of proper oversight when dealing with private contractors. One scenario foreseen was a contractor concluding that if one project finished over budget, an incentive would be created to bring the next project under budget to compensate for lost profits. A less-than-ideal contractor may use substandard materials or a lower level of acceptable finish quality to cover previous job losses. The need for independent quality control and responsible project management with open lines of dialogue between designers and construction crews becomes paramount to ensure efficient roadway preservation.

While these may just be the opinions of local observers who lack the thorough knowledge of the day-to-day operations of the responsible governmental entities, it is still an inarguable fact that these bridges are only getting older every day. It is also safe to say that they will require extreme amounts of money and construction work over the next 10 years if they are to continue to be the main arteries that move people and commerce in the capital city.(5)

EXAMPLES OF URGENCY FROM JUST THIS LAST MONTH

In the evening hours of Jan. 19, multiple lanes of Highway 99 South between 12th Avenue and Fruitridge Road were closed so that previously unscheduled roadwork could be done to resurface a bump on the freeway which extended across several bridge decks. According to CalTrans public relations officer Carol Herman, the work was only a temporary fix until more substantial repairs can be done during warmer weather in the upcoming months.

This construction work caused major congestion during the Jan. 20 morning commute, which I can attest to personally. I commute daily from 65th Street and Folsom Boulevard to Norwood via I-80, and pass under Highway 99 South at Highway 50. Normally at 6:45 a.m., the time at which I pass this interchange daily, traffic is fluid. On the morning of the 20th, as per the warnings I heard via multiple traffic reports, I witnessed for myself the parking lot that formed on the adjacent off-ramps. Traffic was unusually congested, until one passed the Highway 99 on-ramps. Within the scope of possibilities outlined in this article, it’s effortless to imagine a future where such inconveniences become a more common occurrence.

LOOKING INTO THE DATA

Being surrounded on two sides by rivers, Sacramento is hugely dependent on our roads and bridges for normal daily life to continue. If one or more of these bridges were ever forced to close entirely for major repair or due to their failure, business in the Sacramento region could slow to a crawl. Another troubling fact is the sheer amount of bridges in the Sacramento region: 472. Many of these bridges are in the rural areas and are important transportation routes critical for the production of agriculture. Every day, on average, over 22 million vehicles travel on them, and, of that, 1.8 million of them are heavy trucks. These heavy trucks are one of the most critical factors in pavement deterioration, as one fully loaded 80,000-pound truck causes as much wear as 10,000 automobiles. Compound that with the fact that heavy truck travel has grown at a 50 percent higher rate than autos in the last 20 years, and you have the recipe for the poor pavement conditions we’re dealing with presently.

The Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG) said as much in its report on road maintenance through 2035. They warn that gasoline taxes have failed to cover less than 20 percent of what the region needs for road maintenance and rehabilitation. Tax revenues have not kept pace with inflation, due in part to corporate fleet reductions and the improved fuel economy of newer vehicles. While the region currently spends over $250 million a year on road maintenance, SACOG estimates that figure will grow to over $1.2 billion a year in just 15 years. Rather than focusing on preventative maintenance, which in the long run is more cost effective and lengthens the life of the of the roadwork, most of the region’s transportation agencies elect to do “quick-and-dirty” deferred maintenance. This only applies “band-aids” to the symptoms of larger problems. In the long run, agencies spend more money and get less favorable results by going this route. In this current climate of reduced tax revenues and our national recession, budget conditions allow for little else but these “patch jobs.”(6)

According to the 2009 National Bridge Inventory, many of the bridges spanning our local waterways are either “structurally deficient” or “functionally obsolete.”(7) Even so, Sacramento County typically only budgets for one bridge repair project annually, and these projects average under $100,000.(8) The lack of proper maintenance eventually gets passed down to the motorist in the form of wear and tear on their vehicles. The average Sacramento motorist will pay an additional $609 annually in added vehicle operating costs due to poor roads. That is a number which is almost twice the average of the rest of the country, and the sixth highest average of regions with populations over 1 million nationwide.

CALTRANS ACKNOWLEDGES CHALLENGES, CITY’S HISTORY OF SAFETY

For the past 84 years, the California State Department of Transportation, CalTrans, has been responsible for over 12,000 bridges. In that time, none of their bridges have collapsed due to neglect. Despite the fact that many bridges are well beyond their design service life, State Bridge Maintenance Engineer Dolores Valls is certain that CalTrans’ aggressive inspection and maintenance program is working in a manner that will allow the bridges to continue to serve the public reliably.

“As the transportation system ages, it will require increased attention, much like a patient reaching middle age needs more frequent visits to the doctor than a teenager to remain healthy,” Valls said via e-mail. “Making sure those structures, including the more than 400 state highway bridges in the greater Sacramento area, continue to provide safe and reliable service requires the ongoing support of the public and the full-time attention of a special unit of 200 trained engineering professionals.”

Even though Director Cindy McKim says that “the state of California’s economic difficulties only make our work more challenging,” CalTrans is confident in the safety and dependably of state bridges. She acknowledges that the current network of bridges is crucial to our economic prosperity, as billions of dollars of commerce depend on their existence. But recently when over $1 billion in funding appropriations were announced, less than $900,000 was allocated to the repair of an existing bridge.(9) A majority of funding is set to be used for the addition of more lanes on existing freeways, the purchasing of buses and light rail trains for local governments, and building traffic control systems to reduce congestion times. $65 million will be spent on parts of the Sacramento River Bridge, but only to add HOV, median and auxiliary lanes on the existing roadway. Hopefully some of that monies goes to ensuring that the “W X” can handle the added weight.

WHAT NOW?

The items covered in this article are not the beginning or the end of the challenges facing the roads and bridges in the greater Sacramento area. The damaging effects of seismic activity, flooding, major accidents with chemical spills, and even the corrosive nature of some bird droppings also deserve a thorough investigation.(10) The continuing commitment of state and federal resources to maintain the ongoing use of our vital passages for commerce and transportation could prove to be the logistical nightmare of the next few decades. Combine the general public’s perceived lack of awareness to the existence of these problems and the current uncertain economic climate in the ongoing global recession, and one is left guessing how much of a priority this can be to those who responsibility it is to ensure proper funding for road safety and operations.

It is important to stress at this point that this information is not meant to sway the reader into blindly adopting one opinion about the current state of local bridges over another. The genesis of this article was simply daily observations by the author. These observations resulted in further research of publicly searchable databases and scrutiny of similar historical events.

It is the only hope of the author that upon the conclusion of reading this article the reader is motivated to do their own research and observation and to come to their own conclusions. If after proper scrutiny the consensus is that our bridges are in good working order and are being managed responsibly, then there is nothing to be concerned about and the motorists of Sacramento can draw comfort from the fact that their roads and bridges are safe.

But if the contrary is true, and it turns out our bridges deserve an immediate increase of funding and attention to fix or replace anything that may be an eminent danger to the public, one can only hope that this compilation of information begins the debate that prevents any incident which otherwise could cause economic and bodily harm.

Footnotes:

(1) http://allaboutfrogs.org/stories/boiled.html
(2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I-35W_Mississippi_River_bridge
(3) http://www.fox40.com/news/headlines/ktxl-update-cal-trans-completes-99-112910,0,2507733.story
(4) Images of America, Sacramento’s Midtown. Arcadia Publishing 2006
(5) http://www.sacog.org/mtp/pdf/MTP2035/Issue%20Papers/Road%20Maintenance.pdf
(6) http://www.city-data.com/bridges/bridges-Sacramento-California.html
(7) Search results from http://nationalbridges.com/
(8) http://www.msa2.saccounty.net/transportation/Pages/BridgeRepair.aspx
(9) http://www.dot.ca.gov/docs/ctcprojectallocationsjanuary2011.pdf
(10) http://rip.trb.org/browse/dproject.asp?n=25523
(*) Google Map Images used following Fair Use under the Permission Guidelines for Google Maps and Google Earth. Permission Guidelines for Google Maps and Google Earth Fair Use Policy: http://www.google.com/permissions/geoguidelines.html

Representatives from CalTrans were forthcoming with information when asked and very helpful in the framing of this article. I invite them to continue the discussion in the comments section below.

Tree Planting In Tahoe Park

2011-01-24T04:27:10Z

The cool January morning was no deterrent to several dozen volunteers who came out for a tree planting event at Tahoe Park Sunday. Representatives from several local civic organizations, along with friends and neighbors from the community, came out to plant several Northern Red Oak, Valley Oak and Willow Oak trees.

Jacobe Caditz from the Sacramento Tree Foundation gave a crash course in Tree Planting 101 before teams were divided and sent off to prearranged locations throughout the park.

“We have a campaign going on right now where we want to plant 5 million more trees in Sacramento in the next 25 years,” Caditz said. “Today’s event is just another of many that’s going to help us reach our goal.”

Sacramento District 6 City Councilmember Kevin McCarty lent a pair of hands and picked up a shovel, helping to plant two trees himself.

“Events like this are just another great thing about our city,” McCarty told volunteers. “It’s a great chance to get out and enjoy your park, talk to your neighbors, and really do something good that’s going to be enjoyed by people for a long time.” Over the past seven years, events like this in Tahoe Park have yielded over 100 new trees, he said.

Tahoe Park Neighborhood Association President Bill Motmans worked through a bad rotator cuff but still managed to contribute and lend a helping hand.

“It was a great effort by all the people who came out today,” he said. “It’s always nice to see different people show up to these things. It’s very rewarding when you see the people show up and really help out.”

Members of the Congregation B'nai Israel, who’s temple is located far beyond the boundaries of the Tahoe Park neighborhood, were also in attendance with a volunteer team.

This event marks the beginning of several volunteer days that will be occurring throughout 2011. Park clean-up days, neighborhood clean-up days, and recycling and safety fairs are in the works over the next few months. Citizens wanting more information are encouraged to visit tahoe-park.org.

For more information about The Sacramento Tree Foundation please visit www.sactree.com

Isaac Gonzalez is a member of the Tahoe Park Neighborhood Association.

Juvenile Hall Tour Focuses On Services, Challenges

2011-01-24T03:12:05Z

The Sacramento County Probation Department held an open house event at their juvenile hall Saturday afternoon. The facility, originally built in 1964, recently underwent an impressive renovation and 210-bed expansion to bring it up to current standards. The new state-of-the-art design allows officials to use an “Evidence-Based Curriculum,” which focuses on improving the quality of life not only for the inmates but hopefully for the surrounding communities as well.

On an average day the probation department says there are over 200 inmates in the facility, with an average length of stay of 24 days. Of that population, about three quarters are boys and the rest are girls. The typical juvenile offender under the county’s supervision in this building is 16 years old. Over 260 probation officers and other agency staff oversee the day-to-day operations at the hall.

The probation department places an emphasis on reducing recidivism and building positive social skills in its inmates. Juveniles are offered classes on anger control, conflict management and moral reasoning.
Educational opportunities for the incarcerated include year-round schooling on site, GED programs and a link to furthering their education after release at Sacramento City College. Offenders with children are encouraged to take part in the “Baby Elmo Project,” a 10-week intervention program intended to improve the parent-child relationship while the youth is in custody.

When speaking with Don Meyer, the chief probation officer for Sacramento County, one begins to see that this model for incarceration is a product of the conditions at this time.

“Because of ongoing delays in the court system, some of our inmates can spend up to three years or more in this facility,” Meyer said. “It’s important to make sure that, during that time, the individuals are receiving an appropriate education and the social training they need so that when they reenter the community they’re poised to become a positive member of society and less likely to reoffend.”

The future of these programs is uncertain in these tough economic times, and current funding could suffer large cutbacks if the vehicle license fee (VLF) rolls back to pre-fiscal emergency levels. Currently the probation department relies on the VLF for half its juvenile hall funding. Gov. Jerry Brown has said he plans to hold a special election to ask voters to keep the current VLF fees at their current rate through 2016. Without voter approval, funding from this source will expire in June of this year, forcing up to four units of the recently remodeled juvenile hall to close entirely.

For the time being, the Sacramento County Probation Department intends to continue to work with members of the community and officials from various governmental and private agencies to provide a suitable detention facility for minors in Sacramento. Navigating the difficulties that come from working within the confines of reduced annual budgets has been the norm for at least the past three years. In that time, the department has seen a 37 percent reduction in staffing. They have also had to deal with the closing of both the County Boys Ranch and the Neighborhood Alternative Center, another proactive program with a focus on crime prevention. Hopefully any further cuts, if enacted, do not come at the price of reduced public safety.

More information about the Sacramento County Probation Department can be found at www.probation.saccounty.net.

OPINION: Proposed Renaming Of Arco Arena Disrespectful To Citizens Of Sacramento

2011-01-12T01:33:43Z

I have lived in Sacramento my whole life, so I’ve come to grow a thick skin when it comes to the jokes about our little “cow town.” I usually brush them off as uninformed comments from people who don’t know what this city has to offer. Sacramento boasts a terrific history, with ties going all the way back to the Gold Rush, and a rich and diverse landscape. That is why today I hang my head in shame with the reported news that the Maloofs are seriously considering selling the naming rights to our only corporately sponsored arena to a company who admits that their “Power Balance” products are nothing more than a scam.

Sure, there are no laws that says the Maloofs cannot do what is being reported by multiple news outlets. We live in a capitalist society, and the right to naming Arco Arena is up for sale to the highest bidder.

That being said, I can only see this move as a poke in the eye by the Maloofs while they already have one and a half feet out the door. Was the loyalty and cash generated over the past 15 years not enough to prevent such a tasteless decision? Are they really so hard-up for cash that the Maloofs are willing to get into bed with admitted scam artists? And what of the reputation of Sacramento? Add this to the list of jokes made at our expense, I suppose.

I can only guess that this is nothing more than another calculated move on the part of the Maloofs to build their argument that Sacramento is no longer a city conducive to operating a professional basketball team.

As public sentiment begins to turn against the Maloofs and attendance drops at Arco, it’s easy to foresee a future where the Kings franchise is more valuable to the Maloof family as a commodity to be sold, rather than an institution to be nourished.

Make no mistake, folks, the golden days of the Sacramento Kings are long behind us, and the final chapters of professional basketball in Sacramento may be being written as you read this.

It’s unfortunate that it seems we will not be parting ways with mutual respect and admiration for one another. Rather, it seems the Maloofs would have a “Fire-Sale” and squeeze every last dime out of Sacramento while they still can, leaving us citizens once again as the butt of the nation’s jokes.

More info here:

http://consumerist.com/2011/01/powerbalance-admits-theres-no-proof-it-works.html

Oak Park Residents Debate Benefits and Problems Of Proposed McDonald's

2011-01-08T00:19:26Z

The monthly Oak Park Neighborhood Association Meeting for January was
packed with more than 50 citizens ready to debate the merits of a
proposed McDonald's Restaurant to be built in their neighborhood.

The meeting, which was moderated by Paul Towers, vice president of the
OPNA, also had in attendance Kim Garrett, a representative for
McDonald's, and Patrick Diffley, a member of the McDonald's construction
team. Garrett and Diffley were stocked with data promoting potential
benefits to the surrounding area should the proposed McDonald's be
constructed. Some of those benefits included:

* The development of a lot that has been vacant for years
* The addition of approximately 128 jobs to the area
* Over $2,000,000 annually spent on wages and benefits on this
restaurant alone
* The use of recycled and energy-efficient materials in
construction

Leading the debate for the opposition was Charlene Hauser and Joellen
Arnold, both of whom are local residents. They were quick to point out
that a "quick service" restaurant would do little to add to the sense of
community that they are trying to nurture in Oak Park. They argued that
the 24-hour "double drive-thru" would disturb nearby residents and
create a danger to pedestrians and cyclists. Another topic of debate was
the low nutritional value of the food that McDonald's serves.

After only a few minutes, a noticeable change in the demeanor of the
room was apparent as more and more local residents expressed their heavy
reservations to the construction of the McDonalds. In an exercise of
moderation, Towers asked the residents to write down their concerns and
comments on index cards so they could be collected and read aloud to be
debated.

The residents' comments were read aloud by Joany Titheringtion and
LaTisha Anderson of OPNA. Concerns and comments from the attendees
included:

* Would McDonald's be willing to forgo the installation of the
drive-thru?
* Would McDonald's be willing to substitute some of the
less-nutritional items on its menu for healthier ones?
* Would the existing trees on the property be destroyed?
* Who would be responsible for the increased litter that some
foresee being a result of the new restaurant?
* Would McDonald's be willing to erect a mixed-use style building?

Garrett and Diffley did their best to appease the attendees' questions,
however audible groans and laughter was the response to most of their
answers. At one point, in a somewhat ironic observation, a local
resident pointed out that a childhood obesity clinic was located just
across the street from the proposed restaurant site.
Still other residents lamented that Oak Park is a "food desert," lacking
adequate access to healthy food for all, and that a new McDonald's would
be a continuing move in the wrong direction.

As the evening drew to a close, both sides were invited to continue the
dialogue at the end of the meeting. It seemed, however, that the two
respective sides had already made up their minds, with the consensus of
the residents being against a new McDonald's, and the promoters of the
restaurant ready to move ahead with logistical planning and formalities
toward reaching their end goals.

At that point, Hauser produced a petition, asking Oak Park residents to
sign their names stating their opposition to the proposed construction.
Still others pleaded with their fellow citizens to stay engaged and
informed so their voices can be heard before the City Council and their
representatives.

Photos Attached:
1.) CGI Concept of proposed McDonald's
2.) Aerial view of proposed McDonald's site (marked in red), location of
Ronald McDonald House (marked in yellow)
3.) Architect rendering of proposed McDonalds' (Street Elevation)
4.) Architect plans of proposed McDonalds and parking lot (Overhead
Elevation)
5.) Attendees follow "New McDonald's" Debate

Tahoe Park Volunteers Make 2nd Clean-Up Day a Success

2010-11-08T02:34:54Z

Citizens in the Tahoe Park Neighborhood came out this last Saturday morning to clean their streets and common areas. Over 25 citizens braved the crisp, cool November morning and empowered themselves with tools on loan from the City of Sacramento, trash bags donated by Cal Trans, and coffee, juice and snacks provided by donations from private citizens.

In under two hours, the volunteer team conquered over 800 feet of long-neglected roadside. They trimmed low and dead branches in the trees. They collected litter and road waste. A few eager teammates were even able to fix a forgotten and badly clogged storm drain.

The leader of the volunteer corps, Isaac Gonzalez, was humbled by the turnout and determination of his neighbors and fellow volunteers.

“This neighborhood is stock full of people just waiting for the opportunity to volunteer and help out in their community. Some of the teammates today only heard about our event when they walked by as it was starting," he said. "They worked for two hours! Others only saw the signs the night before and made it a point to help out. This movement is only going to get bigger from here.”

As chair of the newly created “Volunteer Beautification Projects” committee for the Tahoe Park Neighborhood Association, Gonzalez looks forward to creating and improving the relationships and networking that has already begun to make this movement a reality.

Without the help of several different private and public entities, these events would quickly come to an end. With the help of businesses, public organizations, and private individuals the hope is this movement will be a sustaining and regular event.

The following people deserve recognition for their help:

Dan & Elizabeth Cantu, and Rhonda Rogowski for all their help behind the scenes.
Bill Motmans & everyone at the Tahoe Park Neighborhood Association.
Councilmember Kevin McCarty for taking an early interest in our effort and pledging future cooperation where he can provide it.
Dave Mitchell, Khaalid Muttaqi, and Julie Mier with the City of Sacramento.
Carol Heman and Benito Ramirez with Cal Trans.
Lt. Eric Poerio with the Sacramento Police Department for asking a few officers to patrol our event.

And most of all every single person who came out and worked hard. They deserve a million thanks.

Anyone interested in future volunteer events in the Tahoe Park Neighborhood can contact IsaacTPNA@gmail.com, TahoeParkCorps@gmail.com or join us at a Tahoe Park Neighborhood Association meeting which are held the first Monday of every month at the Tahoe Colonial Collaborative, 5959 8th Ave. at 7 p.m.

Tahoe Park Volunteers Prepare For Their Second Monthly Neighborhood “Clean-up” Event PRESS RELEASE

2010-11-05T04:56:47Z

PRESS RELEASE

Tahoe Park Volunteers Prepare For Their Second Monthly Neighborhood “Clean-up” Event

NOVEMBER 4TH 2010

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA

The Tahoe Park Neighborhood Association is eagerly anticipating their second Neighborhood “Clean-Up” event this Saturday, November 6th in the Tahoe Park area of Sacramento, California. The leaders of the Neighorhood Association's "Volunteer Corps" are hoping for an even bigger turnout than last month.

Isaac Gonzalez Jr., the Corps founder and Board Chair thinks that the efforts of his fellow neighbors are already having a positive effect.

“People are excited. They’re hearing about a opportunity to help out in their own neighborhood. Many were just looking for that outlet. We hope to help citizens express their desires to make a difference where they live. It’s so great to meet other like-minded citizens who are willing to donate a little time to make a big difference in their community.”

The Volunteer Corps have already begun establishing relationships with members of the local business community, representatives of local government, and state agencies

The Tahoe Park Neighborhood Association hopes to regularly put together well-planned and coordinated “Clean-Up” days focusing on different areas within their neighborhood for the ongoing future. This month’s event will be held on November 6th at 8:30 a.m. at the corner of 59th and “T” Street’s and focus on collecting road-side litter, raking leaves, and light weeding and pruning. We will have several booths with more information about neighborhood outreach and tasty food and drinks for our volunteers. We welcome and encourage local media outlets to attend.

For more information please email tahoeparkcorps@gmail.com

Tahoe Park Volunteer Corps Celebrates First Successful Event

2010-10-16T02:26:51Z

(Authors Note: Isaac Gonzalez is a founding member of TPVC)

The TPVC (Tahoe Park Volunteer Corps) celebrated their first successful clean-up event earlier this month when members of the community got together on a Saturday morning to collectively implement the change they want to see in their neighborhood. Only six weeks after its inception, the co-founders of TPVC were able to coordinate their efforts and make contact with other liked-minded individuals in their area, work with City Services to obtain loaned tools, and execute a fun and productive beautification event that reaped real results.

Looking forward, TPVC plans on staying busy with new monthly projects, making new contacts in the public and private sector that can help us reach our goals, and welcoming new members who want to make a difference in their community. Many plates are spinning behind the scenes, and we look forward to exciting announcements soon!

The TPVC co-founders would like to extend our greatest thanks and appreciation to everyone who was able to come out and help make our event a huge success! We would also like to highlight the important assistance of the City of Sacramento, namely Vincene Jones and Khaalid Mutttaqui from the Neighborhood Services Department and Julie Mier of the Parks and Recreation Department and the Tahoe Park Neighborhood Association for helping us achive our goals.

Anyone who would like more information about TPVC and future events please send an email to tahoeparkcorps@gmail.com

Tahoe Park Volunteer Corps Looking Forward To First Project

2010-09-29T21:53:01Z

Members of the Tahoe Park Volunteer Corps (TPVC) are looking forward to their first beautification project event this Saturday, October 2nd near the KROY pathway. Over the past six weeks, members of the community have been meeting and planning with one another in preparation for this first event.

Emulating and expanding on the efforts of the Land Park Volunteer Corps, the TPVCs goal is to supplement City Services during the fiscally difficult time. In an age where municipalities are being told to do “more with less” and are seeing their budgets slashed, a few neighbors have taken it upon themselves to ensure the quality of their common areas does not fall into disrepair.

It is the hope of this new organization to find and recruit other like-minded individuals who are willing to donate a little bit of their free time towards these efforts. We are also hoping that this event will be a chance for neighbors to come out and meet one-another and to create a sense of community in our area.

Our first event will be focusing on the northern-most region of Tahoe Park, namely the newly-improved KROY pathway, and the “Border Fence” area of T Street which backs up to Highway 50. We are convinced that with just a little bit of elbow grease and determination, we can transforme this area from it’s current neglected state to a clean and attractive area that all our citizens can enjoy.

If you or anybody you know would like to join us this Saturday, October 3rd, we will be meeting at the corner of KROY and T Street at 8:30 am. We will be serving snacks and bevorages around 11:30 to all that helped.

If you like more information about the Tahoe Park Volunteer Corps, please send an email to tahoeparkcorps@gmail.com

OPINION: Separation Of Church and State in Sacramento?

2010-08-24T19:37:24Z

While driving downtown last week I was surprised to see what appeared to be an advertisement for a religious event on a light pole. A banner stated in large bold lettering: “ONLY ONE HOPE JESUS” and referenced an upcoming event and a website. Advertisements on light poles are not uncommon, and you can find them in many places downtown. Normally they advertise for museums, concerts, and special events. I cannot recall ever seeing one promoting any sort of religious dogma, let alone one that promoted itself to be the “only hope”, inferring all other faiths (or lack thereof) to be incorrect. But what bothered me more than message was the medium: This appeared to be a legitimately erected banner on a city-owned pole. I couldn’t believe that the City of Sacramento would be so short-sighted as to place religious advertisements on public property, but low and behold, I found at least three more banners later that day. Wanting answers, I dialed 311 for the city operator to find out who was in charge of ads on city light poles.

I had a hunch that the convention center or some organization like it had a role in the light pole adverts, and asked the 311 operator if that was the case. The operator conferred with his supervisor, but still couldn’t confirm what department was responsible for the banner. He suggested that I start with the city’s department of transportation, which maintains and services the light poles. I called the department of transportation for the city, and they informed me that adverts were under the jurisdiction of The Sacramento Downtown Partnership. I called their front office on Friday, August 20th, and was told the person in charge of adverts would be out until the following Tuesday. I decided that I would call back then and try to get to the bottom of this.

Over the course of the weekend I found myself wondering why I was letting this bother me and whether or not I should drop the issue. After some soul searching I decided this is an important issue. I believe we should not allow the city to advertise ANY religion over another. I believe in the ideals of our constitution and I believe in the separation of church and state. If this advert were on a private billboard I would not have any objection to its posting. But it was not posted on a privately owned billboard; it is posted on a city-owned light pole. That pole was erected with tax payers’ dollars. It is maintained by tax payers’ dollars. It would be just as unwise to place an advert on them that read “Mohammed is the one true prophet” or “religion is the root of all evil” or “only Catholics get into heaven”. It my humble opinion, the City of Sacramento has no business choosing sides regarding religion, and it would be best for them to stay clear of any advertising that would cause one to infer that the local government prefers one mode of faith over another.

Still curious as to the banner’s origins, I decided to visit the website on the bottom of the advert. I entered www.thecall.com into my web browser and started to do a little reading. In case you weren’t aware that this is a religious website by its name alone, the biblical scripture of Ezekiel 22:30 directly on the top of the web page should leave little doubt in your mind. Further readings lead me to find out that the leader of “The Call” is a man named Lou Engle, who recently proclaimed; “What happened to California will release a spirit that is more demonic than Islam, a spirit of lawlessness and anarchy. And a sexual insanity will be unleashed into the Earth.” in reference to same-sex marriage. This same man has been mired in controversy for his support of Uganda's current Anti-Homosexuality bill, in of which calls for life imprisonment and the death penalty for gays and lesbians in Uganda. Just this last May, Engle traveled to Uganda and organized a 'The Call' Rally at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, preaching against "homosexuality, witchcraft, and corruption."

I did not have to spend a great deal of time or money to discover these questionable acts of Lou Engle. In fact, I did this all during my lunch break at work, which made me wonder: What kind of vetting process does one have to go through to place an advertisement on city property? Is any vetting done at all? The simplest of Google searches would reveal that this event and its leaders promote a radical and extremist non-secular agenda. At the very least the verbiage of the advert should have refrained from its explicitly one-side dogmatic tag-line, and in an ideal world I hope city officials would realize it’s best to stay out of religious affairs when it comes to city property. In the sprit of full disclosure I will confess that I do subscribe to the beliefs of any organized religion and voted no on prop 8. I am personally offended by the message that this group hopes to promote by its event, BUT I REPECT THEIR RIGHT TO DO SO. My only complaint is the posting of this religious advertisement on city-owned property.

I understand that this issue can be very “touchy”. It can set off deep emotions in people. I hope that I’ve successfully communicated my distain for the use of city-owned light-poles for religious advertisements, and that my point has not been lost in the ageless argument of which religion is right, or whether or not religion has a place in the world at all. I wouldn’t argue against privately posted advisements, or against the right for this group to assemble and have their event, no matter how strongly I feel against the message of their event.

As I go to press, my calls to The Sacramento Downtown Partnership have gone unreturned. I hope to hear from them soon.

A Tragic End to a Former SacPD Officer

2010-05-03T00:34:31Z

I have come to the conclusion that most local new outlets do not commit enough resources to the difficult task our Sacramento Police Department faces everyday: maintaining order in a large modern city comprised of many different neighborhoods. I wouldn’t attempt to postulate if the lack of committed media resources is due to design or a natural evolution, but I have found it lacking for quite sometime, and have begun to use other methods to gain information on local Police activity. Since the first day of it’s inception I have read Sacpd.org’s Daily Activity Log. I have found it to be a fascinating read, full of stories and crimes you may not hear about on the television news. Many times I will see the a story on the Daily Activity Log regurgitated on the Sacramento Bee’s web site many hours after first appearing on Sacpd.org, only to then be copied almost verbatim on the T.V. newscast the next day. Going straight to the horses mouth, so to say, removes the filters that pick-and-choose the most sensational stories to feed to viewers, and allows me to paint a better mental picture of what our city’s fight against crime really looks like.

Another tool I’ve come to use recently is an Ipod app called “5-0 Radio Pro” which allows me to monitor the Sacramento Police Department’s main radio channel. With this tool I have heard numerous fascinating events, as they happen, live over the streaming internet feed; From DUI arrests to Domestic Disturbances, potential probation violations to all-out manhunts. I also listen to the mundane events like traffic control for weekend charity races and numerous other acts of civil service. When I hear “Air-1”, the police department’s helicopter, flying near my house, I turn on my Ipod to find out information about the situation. If I hear sirens coming from the main streets around me, usually I can follow the events as they happen, in real time. I highly recommend this app.However, reading the police blotter the day after an event and listening to the police radio from the comfort of my home is hardly the end of the story.

About a month ago I decided to take the next step and I applied for and was accepted into the Sacramento Police Ride-A-Long program. The Ride-A-Long program is pretty much just what it sounds like: for about six hours I was going to be allowed to sit in a police cruiser with an officer as he or she went about their daily business. This was to be a first-hand look at what our police force deals with regularly. I say “was” because unbenounced to me, the day I was in for was going to be anything but regular.

In the pre-dawn hours of May 1st 2010 I drove myself to the William J. Kinney Police Facility on Marysville Boulevard, the home of the North Sacramento and Natomas Police Districts. My instructions were to arrive at the facility a half an hour before the beginning of the Day Shift, which was to start at six a.m. Once greeted at the facility by an officer, I was told to wait in the roll call room to meet the officers who would be working that shift. The roll call room reminded me of a class room: bulletins on the walls with confirmed gang members mugs shots, charts and graphs displaying statistical crime data, a podium from which the shift commander would address the officers, and tables and chairs facing that direction.

As the officers arrived one by one into the roll call room, a noticeable buzz was in the air. The officers seemed to be a little preoccupied. A few started to speak about the discovery of a gun at a disturbance the night before. Another officer reaffirmed that he had completed a thorough search of the house, and that there was no gun when he searched it. Yet another deducted that the gun must have been hidden in a nearby car that remained unsearched. I was beginning to get a feel for the atmosphere of the room. I was witnessing a genuine and frank discussion of the previous nights events, and the people talking to one another seemed to show a mutual respect and level of professionalism that put me back. I don’t know what I was expected, but I was pleasantly surprised by everyone’s demeanor. Then the lieutenants walked in for the morning briefing.

The topic of the morning briefing was about an former Sacramento Police Department officer who had brandished a gun the night before. Her name was Jeanette Areiz, and in a matter of hours she would be dead at her own hand. Apparently she was arrested the day before for a number of felonies, the most important one being a 273.5, which is Domestic Violence. As the lieutenant went on, a tragic picture began to emerge. Officer Areiz retired from the force a few year prior, after a fall down a stairwell on-the-job left her permanently disabled. A disk in her lower back was injured, and she had to undergo surgery to have a titanium disk implanted. To help with the injury she was on some pretty serious pain-killers, which may-or-may-not come into factor later.

Jeanette and her domestic partner both had prior arrests for Domestic Violence on one another, and officers comments amongst themselves about the “cycle of violence” that comes with that. I felt a sense of helplessness in the officers comments when they discussed Domestic Violence. It seemed like all they could do was react to it, and that there was nothing they could do to prevent this crime. What could they do? It is not an officers job to make sure we’re all in healthy relationships. All they do is pick up the pieces when problems erupt.

After Jeanette was arrested, the lieutenant went on to say, she posted bail within a hour and made her way back home. At that time she contacted a current member of the Police Department and made suicidal threats. That officer, in fear for her friends well being, alerted the department and a call went out to do a welfare check at her residence. Officers were advised that she sounded to be under the influence of alcohol, and to approach with caution. Sure enough, when officers arrived at the scene around 10 pm the night of April 30th, Jeanette emerged from her garage with a gun to her head, and advanced on officers. I got the feeling that if not for the fact that she was ex-SacPD, she easily could have been shot right there. The officers showed an incredible amount of restraint and took their own safety into risk in efforts to defuse the situation, and retreated to fall-back positions to buy time and hopefully allow tempers to calm. Despite their best efforts, this was in vain.

Jeanette retreated to her home, and officers set up a perimeter far enough away from her house to be just out of sight. A morning shift officer took it upon himself to begin writing a warrant so Police could extract her from her home for her own well-being, and because she had committed further infractions of the law by brandishing the weapon in the presence on officers. I could tell that while the officers were worried about Jeanette’s welfare, they feared the outcome would not be favorable. As the warrant was being written, I headed off with my ride-a-long officer to relieve those who were on the perimeter from the graveyard shift. We sat for about half a hour, just out of sight of the house with five other officers nearby.

At this point I was being told over and over again that this was a big part of police work: waiting. We sat and we watched. We hoped that Jeanette was asleep in her home, possibly passed out from drink. The plan was to wait until the warrant was completed and hopefully peacefully take her into custody. I was told that it the warrant could take up to six hours to complete, and that it was going to be a boring day. That’s when Jeanette went and changed everything.

Suddenly a call came out on the radio: “Subject has come out the house with a gun.” I muttered an expletive I can’t repeat here. “Is that right now?” I asked the officer I had been sitting next to, just chatting with mere moments before about the weather and local life. “Yep.” he replied. “You better get out.” I got out of the car and he and the other cops nearby closed in on the house. Jeanette retreated inside her home. The stand-off was on.

Within what seemed like a few minutes, a flurry of police commanders, negotiators, and a SWAT team arrived. Police dogs and even a robot were on their way. A community “Club House” was commandeered and became the police’s tactical center. Everyone seemed focused on bringing the distraught woman out her home safely. Pretty soon word was spreading that she was sending text messages to her loved ones, saying that she was sorry but she “had to do this”. Officials became worried that they were not going to be able to entice her to come out and disarm. The time was about 8:15 a.m.

I have to admit, at this time I felt extremely fortunate. I had signed up for this ride-a-long to see the street work police perform in their cruisers. Instead I was treated to witness a play-by-play account of our cities finest navigate a delicate situation first hand. The coordination between the negotiating team, area commanders and SWAT was truly amazing. We should be so lucky as to have men and women such as I saw working for us in our fair city. Even as police officers would come up to me and apologize for the less-than-standard ride-a-long I was experiencing, I could not help but respond to them by thanking them for allowing me such incredible access to the inner working of a stand-off. These people had nothing to hide and it was evident by the manner they treated me and the amount of freedom they allowed me during this whole ordeal. I was in the shadow of many important figures and not once did I feel unwelcomed or like a burden. I want to thank everyone on the scene that day for that.

Unfortunately, around 11:00 am, after making contact with Jeanette via telephone a sound was heard coming from inside her home that sounded like a single gunshot. Police deployed a robot to her front door and gained entry to the residence. Upon entry the robot camera viewed everyone’s worst fear: it appeared that she was laying on floor , suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. All the efforts of the men and women that morning were in vain, as the pain of one person’s problems became too much. Although she was still alive at the time, Jeanette would die that night at the hospital. The tragic end to a surely complicated story, one that no amount of training or police hardware can prevent.

I signed up for the ride-a-long program hoping to gain further insight to my city and it’s daily tribulations. Instead I bore witness to the end of a citizens life and the amazing efforts of our police department to save it. I walked away from this experience with a deeper respect for of city’s protectors, and the comfort that they are there for us when we need them.

Target Calls it a Remodel. Is it?

2010-04-22T01:27:38Z

I feel compelled to confess this simple truth: I love Target. My Wife and I shop there all the time, not to say we shop excessively. We both think of ourselves as modest and frugal, and we rely on their affordable prices to get the products we need regularly: food, clothes, and household goods. We loath Wal-Mart, and at the same time, I realize it is completely hypocritical to give Target a free pass, since they too are a large faceless multinational corporation, easily vivified. I also realize that this is not a perfect world, and we’ve all got to make our own way in it. That being said since I heard that a new Target Store was going to be built in walking distance from my front door, my mind has been in a state of curious expectation. Much of this comes from the long and bumpy road that had to be traveled from the day Target purchased the former Golden One site, and where we are today.

In 2005, the Sacramento Business Journal reported that Target had purchased the old headquarters of the Golden One, on 65th and Broadway, as Golden One planned to move near Watt Ave and Highway 50. Kevin McCarty, the local councilman, was quoted as saying he had no opinion of the as-yet-not-proposed Target Store, but was concerned about a Target being an appropriate fit in transit-oriented area. It would seem that the citizens of the area agreed, because after Target proposed constructing the standard “suburban-style big-box” type of store, the Sacramento Bee reports that Target submitted a radical-different proposal: An “Urban” Target, utilizing the latest modern mix-used designs. It would have fountains, single story shops, and a plaza. The citizens were appeased.

Now, try to stay with me as I plot out the timeline. 2005: Target wants to tear down the Golden One building and build a big box store. They would have paid taxes and permit fees on a brand new building. Citizens rebelled and said we don’t want this. Target backs off its plan. 2007: They submit new plans for the Urban style store. They would have paid taxes and permit fee on a brand new building. Citizens say “Great!”, and a compromise is met. 2008: The economy goes south. Target has to cancel plans to remodel an old Target store on Broadway and Riverside. They are quoted in the Sacramento Bee as saying “(the store) under construction on 65th Street is still on track for a 2010 opening.” This means the City of Sacramento is still going to collect the taxes and fees on new building permits. Then comes 2009.

In 2009 Target announces that due to the sagging economy, they have to scale back their plans a “remodel” the former Golden 1 Credit building. The “remodel” is quoted to having a “similar architectural look” to the earlier planned Urban style building, and must be scaled down to make it “financially feasible”. Now remember that the problem that the citizens had in 2005 was whether or not the store was an appropriate fit, not what it looked like. Target here is basically saying “Sorry, there’s no money, if you want a store, it’s going to be the box store, with some changes so it looks like the store you wanted.” In today’s economy, people are happy to get anything. I am not looking a gift horse in the mouth. I’m glad Target is still going to build the store. But this is where I think we as citizens are getting the shaft.

In the May 5, 2009 Sacramento Bee, City Planning Director David Kwong was quoted as saying that “(by) renovating the existing (emphasis mine)110,000 square-foot building,” Target would “avoid the public hearing and design reviews”. The building would be considered a remodel. No new permit fees. No new building taxes.

At this point I feel I have to state my qualifications: None. I am not a building expert. I am not a permit expert. I am not a councilman. I’m just a curious guy, with a semi-good memory. I noticed something rather odd, and I remembered something I read in our local paper. I was getting on the freeway on 65th a few days after the demolition of the old Golden One headquarters began. I thought to myself “Gee they sure are tearing down a lot of that building. I thought they were just going to remodel it.” Over the next few days I was amazed with the precision and speed the wrecking crews took to the old building. Before I knew it, the building was completely leveled to the ground, except for two walls that were not even touching. And they’re calling it a "remodel".

When completed there will be nothing recognizable of the old Golden 1 building in the new Target store. The citizens in the surrounding neighborhood will not be appeased. They will not get the mixed-use Urban building they were promised. We will not get the extra taxes. I bet if you look at the law and the codes Target actually has done anything wrong. I know their lawyers have gone over it to make sure that they’re within their rights. But it just feels wrong. That construction site is not a "remodel". It is an exercise in the mistreatment of the law, an injustice to the people of Sacramento, and a lie to appease the taxman. It will be a brand new building.

And now I wonder is it even legal? On May 5, 2009, David Kwong is quoted in the Sacramento Bee as saying that “renovating the existing 110,000 square foot building (will include) ‘bump(ing) out’ the space by additional 11,000 square feet.” This is the magic formula that Target must comply with to skirt the public hearings and design reviews. 110,000 sq ft plus 11,000 sq ft equals 121,000 square feet. However, Target spokesman Kyle Thompson is quoted on Feb. 27, 2010 as saying that the store will be 128,000 square feet! Where did they get the extra 7,000 square feet? I don’t know about you but that’s equal to seven of my houses! That maybe only five percent bigger than the allowed remodel addition, but it’s still a lot bigger than they originally claimed. AND WE ARE NOT GETTING THE TAXES ON A NEW BUILDING!

Again, I like Target. I loath things that are opaque. I hunger for transparency. This whole story took over five years to unfold. Most people don’t have time to or are too busy to notice these type of things. I just wanted to bring it your attention that it seems we all got played. I think we all deserve some answers on this.

Above: Picture 1: The Target site on 4-21-10. Notice only two walls remain of the old building, however Target calls this a "remodel".

Picture 2: The second Target proposal: The Urban Target.

Picture 3: The third Target proposal: The box is back.

Picture 4: Artist rendering of the box style store under construction.

Xavier Ampersand is a 29 year resident of Sacramento, and a home owner in Tahoe Park. For more info on this story, please visit the following web sites:

http://target65thstreet.com/http://www.sacbee.com/2010/02/27/2569136/citizen-hotel-in-sacramento-to.html

http://www.cityofsacramento.org/council/policies/files5125/Target%20May%20Hit%20the%20Mark%20for%20Design%20of%20New%20Store%20-%206.4.07.pdf

http://sacramento.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2005/04/04/daily18.html?q=65th%20target%20store http://www.sacbee.com/2009/05/05/1833775/bob-shallit-target-plans-remodeled.html?storylink=lingospot

Illegal Signs Removed, Guerrilla style.

2010-04-17T14:21:09Z

Sometimes when things happen gradually it’s easier for us not to take notice. Take for example the new Target Store under construction at 65th and Broadway: A large chain-link security fence surrounds the perimeter of the work site, and a few enterprising folks have decided said fence would make for a good billboard. One after another signs were erected, tied to this fence. At first I hardly noticed. Illegal signs are all over the Sacramento Region, promising everything from Weight Loss Patches to Lower Mortgages to Baseball Signups, etc. Why should my neighborhood be any different? I guess it’s just harder for me to let things go.

Everyday I have a 10 mile each-way commute, through Interstate 50 to Downtown, Downtown 1-5 to Business 80, 80 to Norwood. I get a good scope with my eyes the state of local litter, weeds, and road disintegration. I can drive by the same piece of trash on the road for months, and I have to look at it each time. I know budgets are at all time lows. I understand simply maintaining our infrastructure leaves little funds for roadside clean-up. Still, it makes me feel helpless to watch as the city I’ve lived in my whole life disintegrates more and more everyday. It has been a slow process, one which you may not have noticed, but one that I can no longer ignore.

I can’t remove the weeds on the side of the freeway because it’s illegal for me to park in the emergency lane, let alone walk on the roadside. I can not clean up the litter in the gutters because I have a full time job, and no time to expel in what could be a fruit-less task. However, I can wake up early on a Saturday, hop in my truck, and take down all the illegally posted signs in my neighborhood. So that is exactly what I decided to do. I see city code enforcement trucks in my travels regularly, and I’ve had personal experience with city inspectors in the past. One thing I realized in my dealing with inspectors: They don’t seem to care unless a permit (money) or a fine (money) is involved. I don’t know what the fine for illegal posting of signs is in Sacramento, but I’ll guess that it’s less than housing permits. Perhaps this is why code enforcement officers drive by the flagrant code violations everyday and do not feel compelled to do anything about it. Well, my motivation is not money. My motivation is to overcome the feeling of helpless that plagues me as I watch my beloved city crumble before my eyes. If removing illegally posted signs elevates even a little bit of my dread, then it’s worthwhile to me. This is my city. This is your city. I will not simply drive by these violations and murmur: “Not my job to take em down.” If you put up an illegal sign in my neighborhood I will take it down. If you see one in your neighborhood, I challenge you to do the same.(Side note: I will not remove dated Yard Sale signs. People seem to do a good job taking those down after their sales are done, at least in my neighborhood.)

Xavier Ampersand is a 29 year resident of Sacramento, CA. Above are pictures of the signs removed 04-17-10, in the early hours of the morning.