This Peak Democracy is a very interesting way of approaching getting input from citizens. I'll be curious to see how it works out. Thanks for posting!

Re: Sacto Deficit
Short term --- Because of union contract seniority provisions, the cheap people who do physical labor end up getting the chop. Instead, go with a one-day-a-week unpaid furlough for all city workers.
Long term --- The government must be right-sized to fit the Sacramento economy and the city's economic climate improved.
- Immediately sunset all budget line items, requiring a unanimous council vote to reauthorize.
- Privatize all government services except law enforcement.
- Attract more shoppers by increasing the free-parking vouchers issued by stores to 4 hours (enough time for shopping and lunch).
- Replace the railroad land plan with one that will appeal to tourists. Give tourists some reason to go to Sacramento, and remember that business convention-go'ers just want to have fun. Consult with Disney Corp. Think San Diego's Balboa Park. The river is an asset - use it!
- Don't be a magnet for transients. They annoy and scare tourists.
- Retract a prior city council comment about not wanting "shopping cart shoppers" in the city. Pursue large discount stores (Wal-Mart, Target, etc.) to increase sales tax revenue.
- Don't play favorites! Do not subsidize one favored business at the expense of its competition.
- Link budget expenditures to current revenue so that automatic cuts occur if a revenue drop is prolonged.

Re: K Street Mall
After decades, it is clear that the street shopping mall concept is not working. Return it to a regular street.

PARKS MAKE LIFE BETTER!! Parks do so much for a community, from emproved health and happiness to reduction in crime. It is always so interesting how Police, Fire, Teachers, Parks are thrown out as the areas to make the cuts, while we are paying thousands & thousand for an air quality panel to determine the benefits and to develop legislation regarding proper tire air pressure (no joke - there have been studies, hearings etc.. going on for some time & soon there will be laws, and be careful because one day you may get pulled over and the officer will whip out a tire pressure guage!) Mr. Mayor any person could take a line item look at the budget and eliminate numerous programs / departments / "mandates" that in a time of "fiscal crisis" could be suspended without a significant impact on community. Reduce bs - How much does it cost for someone to get a permit to have a neighborhood party? Cuts need to be made - layoffs need to happen, but they do not need to be made on the front line - these ploys are angering the taxpayers and need to end. Provide an "readers digest:" version of the complete budget & I think "the people" could rapidly tell you their options for cuts -

Cars on K is not a good idea - look for upgrades to parking options near by & enhancing the walking environment - put up lampoles with planters, allow for artistic and creative signage, install "performance areas" for street performers & create a volunteer committee to facilitate scheduling, add some street kiosks (go visit Pacific Street in Santa Cruz) and get rid of the street beggers, bottom when people want to come enjoy a shopping and entertaiment experience, they do not want to be bothered by beggers, a feeling of lack of safety and "harassment" will turn an opportunity for repeat business into a one time negative experience. As always Keep Smilin'! & Support Local Music!! - also I am not sure how good an idea light rail is on K street - nor am I knowledgeable of cost / benefits of re-routing

Look around, more & more people, in the midtown grid, are riding bicycles. The city needs a dedicated bike trail that runs from midtown to Old Town. K Street would be the perfect thoroughfare for bike lanes. Add bike racks as well. Currently, K Street does not permit bike traffic. This policy is not in sync with today's green conscious trend setters.

Privatize all City & parks maintenance. Save the city tens of millions per year by privatization. And potentially hundreds of millions over time by reducing public employees on PERS.

For you who don't understand what privatization is...it's having competitive bids to provide services. The private sector does a MUCH better job at providing services..especially when there is REAL competition for contracts.

The council will never do this, they are owned by the unions.

So whats the point of asking our thoughts?

About the Sacramento Parks - I think we should cut way back on park expenditures, reducing mowing and especially reducing watering (since we are in drought conditions). I think we maintain way too many lawns that are not all utilized except for esthetics. Lawns are not enviromentally sustainable. Sports parks should be maintained to at least a minimum to be appropriate for sports. I'd hate to see the restrooms closed because there are so few public restrooms as it is.

K Street open to cars - wouldn't that cost too much during economically difficult times. Lets wait a few years if we do that.

Privatising parks is definitely a sound idea financially. The cuts being offered seem appropriate, though the lack of restrooms may have side effects that end up costing more.

As far as K street, it seems like a pretty drastic idea. That street has been through so many transformations yet nothing works. Until you can get rid of slumlord Mo Mohanna, the city's hands are tied. I wouldn't do it because it will probably cost yet more money and I doubt it will work. Wait out the recession and try to develop more condos and lofts in the area, thus creating a demand for retail and entertainment.

"No" to closing the parks cause people use them. I think mowing should be reduced but try to maintain trash pickups to three times a week. "No" to closing park bathrooms cause people use them, though I sympathize with the mess and lack of ideas of what else to cut budget-wise. "No" to having cars on K St. The revitalization will not be helped by cars speeding down K St. cause the stores will be driven past, not stopped at and I don't see where parking spaces could be added. If parking spaces were available, that might help but would be car centric by design which is poor in the long run. That is my imput and Thanks for asking.

Converting K Street back to an auto thoroughfare would do almost nothing except ruin the one part of downtown that is currently very well-suited to large outdoor events. Returning auto traffic to K Street would mean having to re-lay all of the light rail trackage on K, so it would be more expensive than simply tearing out the pedestrian surfaces and replacing them--which wouldn't be very cheap at all.

There is almost no benefit to having cars on the six blocks between 7th and 13th. Some argue that people in cars would be able to park in front of businesses, but that is nonsense--they will not have big parking lots like the suburbs, they will have limited, metered curbside street parking. The whole six-block stretch of street would add less than 100 parking spaces.

To bring life to K Street, try cheap things like an expanded street vendor program (not just once a week but every day,) allow public busking, allow bicycles, and most importantly, build a downtown streetcar to West Sacramento to link West Sac's new neighborhoods to the heart of downtown.

Our transit lines already run in that direction--and once you start a downtown/West Sacramento streetcar, it becomes very easy to expand into other directions, especially since we already have Light Rail infrastructure that can easily handle a streetcar too. The reason why we'd want to start it with West Sac is because West Sac is ready and willing to put up some of the funds for it. Cities like Roseville, Citrus Heights and Elk Grove don't want to share transit connections--West Sacramento does.

Also, the streetcar is useful as an independent unit within Sacramento: part of the idea of a streetcar, vs. light rail, is that it is useful if you're only going a few blocks. Unlike a car, you don't have to find a parking space for the streetcar--you see the store you want to visit and get off at the next stop.

Whoa. Opening up K Street? Mayor: World class cities have lots of pedestrian malls. We should be moving towards more of these--not fewer.

The Unites States has few Pedestrian Malls that are successful. Event Portland's Ped /transit street that is closed to vehicular traffic is seen as a failure. Denver has the most successful one that I know.

I think cars on K Street creates a more psychological impact than anything. It allows visitors driving to K Street to find their destination without getting out of their vehicle and gives more activity to an area. I am not a car lover but I do recognize that most people are attached to vehicles as security, whether in the car or having cars pass by them.

Vehicles on K Street is just one item that would solve K Street. Its a combination of things: vehicle traffic, more residents and housing (ownership) in downtown, more theaters/art/museaums, and more hotels,

We are an impatient lot are we not?

K street has tranquility going for it and this needs to be protected. It needs work but bicycles are a missing ingredient. Bicyclists must ride at the same speed as pedestrians for this to work.

I'm not sure why we continue to obsess on developing ("fixing") K street and downtown. The mall has gone through several transitions since the '70's, none of them successful. (Remember that water/concrete thing?) We should stop worrying about "renovating" the downtown and continue to support what is working organically -- e.g., midtown. I would dismiss the idea that we "need" to have the core downtown flourish to make Sacramento a great place. Look at SF's financial district -- it is dead and dismal in non-business hours and yet the City is a great place, because it has great neighborhoods. Let's focus on making our neighborhoods wonderful places to live, work, and do business in, and the rest will fall into place.

And what portion of the city's budget is dedicated to parks? Aren't there bigger things to look at cutting?

Opening cars to K street is a bad idea. Sitting in the outdoor space at Pyramid might be my favorite spot in the city, because there is no auto traffic. There is a parking garage on practically every numbered street by K street, and if I drive it doesn't take long to find a space on L or J. If anything, Light rail should be taken off K Street.

Burg is on target. The many years of downtown trying to attract suburbanites is a seriously flawed mentality shown to have failed over and over. Only when downtown regains its mix and density of residents that it had until the fifties, it will once again be a thriving place to "work, live and play" AND visit.

i like Mr knapps privatization of maintenance in parks , keeps them open ,clean and lower scosts
( also would like to see tree work & many other general services privatized as well) & ditto on lowering the number of union member maintenance workers ( seiu , plz dont make me disappear )
possibly change green street pick up to twice monthly.?.
K street needs to allow bicycles (designated lanes or otherwise) and any money spent there needs to be on lowering the building cost of infill housing ( this is why midtown works is because people live,work & play there) K street boomed when there were people living above it ..