Sacramento City Politics

Meet the Candidates for District 4

2012-02-01T06:04:46Z

City Council representative for District 4, Rob Fong, will not be running for re-election. With no incumbent running, the race has attracted four candidates who may be unfamiliar to Sacramentans.

In the interest of learning about these candidates, a questionnaire was sent to them asking for a brief (less than 100 words) response to a list of topics. The list of topics included items which have been frequently discussed by the District 4 communities or at council meetings. Topics included river crossings, city budget, marijuana dispensaries, strong mayor, leaf piles, arena funding and other city policies.

The goal is to give readers a brief introduction to candidate positions at this early stage in the campaign. Thanks to the candidates for their time and responses, and to Casey Kirk at Sacramento Press for assistance in reaching them. Three of the candidates (Joe Yee, Terry Schanz and Steve Hansen) responded. Phyllis Newton declined to respond, stating she had time constraints preventing her from doing so.

RIVER CROSSINGS AND BRIDGES

Steve Hansen : The people of Sacramento and West Sacramento will need additional options for crossing the river, but these should be done in a way that respect neighborhoods and offer the opportunity to restore areas in need.
Terry Schanz : Determining the location and capacity of a bridge or bridges over the Sacramento or American Rivers should be part of a larger citywide and regional transportation and development plan. Bridge locations should be neighborhood friendly and offer multiple transportation options. As a region, we should encourage interconnectivity using various modes of transportation including vehicles, buses, rail, light rail, bicycles and pedestrian modes of transportation.
Joe Yee : The “Sacramento River Crossing Alternatives Study Report (2011)” finds a need for two new crossings on the Sacramento River north and south of the I Street Bridge. The recent action by the City Council recognizing that any bridge must be “Neighborhood Friendly” provides a loose criterion that defines the size and scope of a future bridge. Though the need for two bridges may be justified, much work remains to determine the location of the bridges and the vehicle, bicycle and pedestrian needs that will be served by a bridge. Subsequent to the 2011 Report, the City Council authorized a Feasibility Study which would include preliminary engineering studies, a more detailed alternative locations analysis and environmental reviews for compliance with CEQA and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The preliminary engineering studies would identify footprint locations, right-of-way issues, the connectivity of a new bridge to existing streets and bicycle and pedestrian paths, movable or fixed bridge alternatives and anticipated traffic demand. Because a new bridge will materially impact neighborhoods such as Southside Park, City and Regional Staff must continue to utilize placement and design criteria that considers existing neighborhoods. Funding for the Feasibility Study has not been identified. Funding for a bridge has not been identified.

CITY BUDGET (i.e. deficits, revenues, expenses)

Steve Hansen : Our city doesn't compete well in the region, which has led to the shrinking of our sales tax base and property tax base. We need to attract and retain good jobs to grow our economy, which is my primary goal. Further, recent City Auditor reports suggest that we can find savings by enforcing existing policies and procedures and improving revenue collection.
Terry Schanz : The City’s ability to provide basic services (police, fire, water, utilities, parks, transportation infrastructure) is under extreme pressure due to projected deficits, the continued housing crisis and a struggling overall economy. During these difficult times it is important that we prioritize core public safety services and work creatively to find ways to maintain basic services that our community deserves. Sustainable in-fill development and other economic development goals that will create jobs for Sacramentans and revenue for the City are important. But we will not be able to reach those goals if we fail to provide core services that residents of Sacramento pay for and rely upon now.
Joe Yee : The City budget is expected to have a short-fall of approximately $25,000,000 over the next two years. Public safety is a high priority. However, the City must still strive to be a full service city providing services and amenities that are critical to the quality of life in Sacramento. Quality of life is directly influences the recruitment, retention and expansion of businesses and job creation. The City must balance its income and expenses and make prudent investments for its future just like any family and business.

MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES

Steve Hansen : State law allows for the use of marijuana for medical purposes. The city has worked to strike a thoughtful balance between these businesses and neighborhoods. I support the Council's efforts to mitigate the impact of the businesses while allowing for safe access to medically necessary treatments.
Terry Schanz : I respect a person’s right to privacy and their right to seek and obtain safe, legal access to any medicine determined necessary by their healthcare provider. Ultimately, the U.S. Supreme Court will need to determine if the federal prohibition of marijuana violates the U.S. Constitution and a state’s ability to regulate medical marijuana.
Joe Yee : The activities of marijuana dispensaries are the subject of court reviews. Therefore, status of current City regulations governing the operation of marijuana dispensaries cannot be determined until the legal process is concluded.

STRONG MAYOR AND CITY CHARTER

Steve Hansen : Changing the city charter is no small undertaking. As a community, we have a duty to be thoughtful and deliberate in making changes to our system of governance. I don’t think our current system of city government is causing the City Hall to be dysfunctional. I believe it’s our inability to work with each other. If there is one thing I seek achieve while serving on the council, it is to be known as someone who worked with everybody and stayed focused on addressing the needs of the city and the district.
Terry Schanz : Given the immediate fiscal challenges facing the City, a strong mayor governance system with an increased executive bureaucracy will not solve the Sacramento’s current fiscal challenges. The Mayor and Council should work collaboratively to address the immediate needs of our City, not be distracted by a proposal that will have no impact helping to balance the City’s budget. I would encourage a more transparent public participation process so that citizens can make an informed decision on such a critical issue as changing the City’s charter.
Joe Yee : As presented to the City Council on January 17, 2012, I do not support the Checks and Balance Act of 2012. I have a number of significant concerns that would need to be addressed before I can begin to consider supporting the proposal. As directed by the Mayor and City Council on January 17, the City Attorney is to present a revised Checks and Balance Act addressing the Council concerns. I look forward to reviewing that version so that I can make an informed decision to support or not. When the Checks and Balance Act is revised to include important specificity, I would support a public vote on the Act. The other action taken by the Mayor and City Council on January 17 was to direct the City Attorney to identify a process and schedule for the review of the City Charter. It is my understanding that the process would include a public vote to authorize a Charter review. If authorized, a companion ballot measure would ask voters to select members of the City Charter Commission. The Commission would act independently of the Mayor and City Council in making recommendations to revise the City Charter. I believe that the Charter Commission revisions would then be approved (or not) by a public vote. Because the City Charter has remained relatively unchanged for 90 years, I would support ballot measures to authorize a Charter review and to establish a Charter Commission.

GREEN WASTE (i.e. street pile pick-up vs. containerized pick-up)

Steve Hansen : I am talking to residents to see how we can best reconcile various needs – disposing of green waste, keeping our storm drains unclogged, preserving the quality of our roads, and providing safe passage for cyclists. I believe that we can find cost-effective and efficient ways to manage green waste while accommodating the needs of residents who do battle with lots of leaves during the winter months.
Terry Schanz : Containerized pick-up has been a transition for residents, but the City has done a good job of educating and informing residents of their options for disposing of green waste and ensuring that street pick up continues during peak periods of the year. Especially in neighborhoods with limited on-street parking, containerized green waste has allowed residents to dispose of green waste efficiently and increased on-street parking capacity.
Joe Yee : The current system allowing two options (containerized pick-up with seasonal street pick-up or year-round street pick-up) is difficult to manage and not an efficient use of City funds particularly in this current economic condition. In order to prioritize the expend City funds for critical public safety and public services/amenities, I would support a change to containerized pick-up with seasonal street pick-up provided the seasonal pick-up provides for frequent and reliable pick-up during in the fall and spring.

ARENA AND PUBLIC FUNDING

Steve Hansen : A downtown arena would be a great asset to our community and has the potential to be a catalyst for reviving Downtown Plaza and creating in-fill development in the railyards. While the current arena is antiquated, we must ensure that any deal is responsible to the needs of the community during these difficult budget times.
Terry Schanz : I support the development of an entertainment and sports complex in the rail yards as part of a larger development plan for downtown. The plan should encourage the use of transit, interconnectivity to the riverfront and Old Sacramento, respect historic neighborhoods and prioritize in-fill, mixed use sustainable development models. The complex should also be a catalyst not just to create good paying jobs for Sacramentans, but to continue Sacramento’s efforts to prioritize a sustainable growth plan for the future. Private investment should be the primary financing method for an entertainment complex. At a time of dire fiscal challenges facing the City, I am concerned that monetizing public assets for a private business venture may harm, not help the City’s ability to provide core services that resident pay for and rely upon.
Joe Yee : I support the construction of a new entertainment and sports complex in the Rail Yards without public funds. Our City funds must be used to support public safety (police officers, firefighters), libraries, community centers, parks, water, sewer and storm drain systems and other services and amenities that are critical to the quality of life in Sacramento as well as business growth and job creation.

REDEVELOPMENT STRATEGY (areas, funding)

Steve Hansen : Now that redevelopment as we know it has been eliminated, we must be creative in finding ways to address blight and spur economic development in Sacramento. Fortunately, the city as a whole is not reliant on redevelopment funds. In the downtown redevelopment area, we will still have limited resources to address blight in the J/K/L corridor. We should target our efforts on infrastructure improvements and on mitigating high impact fees for small businesses. Finally, the city needs to be more innovative about how attract and grow investment capital in the Central City.
Terry Schanz : I have participated in early discussions at the state level to look at an infill, transit-oriented sustainable development model as a possible new path for a more targeted redevelopment system. The integration of affordable housing should remain a component of any new redevelopment plan. Any new redevelopment financing model will need to not harm the state’s General Fund or divert public resources to local schools. While the fiscal structure will ultimately be negotiated at a state level, incentivizing infill, transit-oriented, sustainable development will be an excellent tool to help create jobs and encourage smart growth principles in the 4th District.
Joe Yee : I believe that redevelop funds can help restore blighted areas, encourage transit oriented businesses and residential development and facilitate infill development. Redevelop funding is an important tool to achieving the goals of the City 2030 General Plan. According to recent court rulings, the State has the authority to dissolve redevelopment agencies and has done so. I support pending State legislation that would restore redevelopment agencies.

PUBLIC UNIONS

Steve Hansen : Our city's employees have done more with less while keeping us safe and tending to our aging infrastructure. I support the rights of workers to organize for adequate pay and working conditions. We live in a time of diminishing resources, and I believe in shared sacrifice to close the budget deficit responsibly. We need to remain focused on the core mission of protecting the public's health, safety and welfare.
Terry Schanz : Public unions provide workers with an important voice and are partners in helping the City provide efficient and effective services to residents. I fully respect the collective bargaining process and believe it is an effective and appropriate way to negotiate wage and benefit agreements between the City and its eligible employees.
Joe Yee : Do I support public unions? I support the rights of public and private sector worker to organize into unions.

FIREARMS

Steve Hansen : Gun ownership is a constitutionally protected right, but gun violence is a persistent challenge to our urban tranquility. I support efforts to keep illegal guns off our streets and out of the hands of criminals.
Terry Schanz : I respect an individual’s ability to legally possess firearms consistent with state and federal law.
Joe Yee : Do I support gun control? I support the right of individual to own firearms and the government’s ability to prohibit the sale of firearms to criminals and to exercise reasonable controls on the sales of ammunition.

CITY CODES / PERMIITS

Steve Hansen : A full analysis needs to be conducted of the requirements placed on small business to see if these requirements impose more of a burden than a benefit. In any instance where the burden is greater than the benefit, the City should reasonably consider eliminating or changing these requirements. In addition, we need to find ways to track code violations through the use of a 311 smart phone application so that we can use our limited resources to target significant nuisances to protect and preserve quality of life for the city’s residents.
Terry Schanz : The City has and can continue to be more efficient in processing permits. The increased use of technology should be explored as a way to improve the efficient processing and review of permit requests.
Joe Yee : Often, neither businesses nor home owners have not worked with City Codes and are not familiar with the City Permit process. With that in mind, the City should provide guidance for the permit application, approval and issuance process. As a Councilmember, my staff and I would also be available to provide assistance.

Downtown Sacramento: Weekend Ghost Town

2009-11-16T07:40:54Z

As the capitol city, Sacramento has a dependent relationship on the state government. We've let the state government fill our core with monolithic government buildings. The incentive has been to keep jobs and development, but the cost has been the soul of the city. Contrary to the state employee work week, on any Saturday or Sunday you can ride your bicycle down the middle a street in downtown with hardly any cars to worry about. Many restaurants on K Street and around downtown are closed on weekends.

This is not a new problem. A 1987 Sac Bee article wrote "It's 10 p.m. in downtown Sacramento, and light rail is making its last run along the K Street Mall, temporarily bathing the deserted shopping center with fluorescent light." A 1989 article wrote "State government may be Sacramento's reason for being -- its economic lifeline -- but it has also helped produce much of the city's blandest architecture, .... The state's dominant role, according to a number of civic and government officials, has also kept Sacramento from breeding the type of dynamic business leaders who often promote progress in other cities."

Poor planning decisions made in the past have undoubtedly contributed to the problem. In the 1980's, Sacramento planners encouraged building offices to replace rundown hotels. In the past decade, housing development in West Sacramento and Natomas was touted as an opportunity to spur activity downtown. Of course, it didn't. It merely spurred development of strip malls in those areas. Building offices centrally and sprawl outside has been a recipe for a lifeless downtown on weekends. If city planners really want to revitalize areas like K Street mall, they need to think beyond state employees. We need to have enough people actually live near business centers so they will stay open on weekends. Call it "mixed use", or "smart growth", or just call it "normal". It's what you'll find in any smaller city that has life on weekends, like Davis or Chico.

Our new mayor vs. federal money: What if we have to choose?

2009-03-31T02:09:55Z

You've probably heard - but in case you haven't, there are reports that Kevin Johnson's previous alleged misuse of federal funds may jeopardize the City of Sacramento's receipt of federal stimulus money. If this happened, it would be a serious handicap for Sacramento because the city could be denied the expected tens of millions from the hundreds of billions of federal dollars. According to Kevin Johnson, the city won't be denied funds. There doesn't seem to be much certainty at this point, so I won't speculate on what will happen.

However, an important question to ask is what is the best thing for Sacramento if the mayor's predicament causes denial of funds?

If Sacramento is denied tens of millions of dollars, I believe any honorable leader who wants the best for the city (which I believe the mayor is) would resign. In reading about this, I saw a link to an online petition seeking the mayor's resignation. Hopefully, we won't be denied funds and the mayor can keep on doing a good job. If we are denied funds, I don't think any mayor is worth sacrificing the large amount of federal stimulus money. I don't think a "recall the mayor" would be necessary. However, I think it would be appropriate and responsible for the mayor to issue a statement about what would happen if the city is denied federal funds.

Should Our New Mayor be Granted More Power?

2009-01-20T08:34:19Z

While exiting Target or the supermarket recently, I've been approached by young folks with clipboards collecting signatures. The first of these petitions is to put proposal on the ballot to grant Sacramento's mayor more power (to propose budgets and appoint positions, currently the City Manager's role). The conversation went something like this:

Petitioner: "Excuse me, are you a registered voter in Sacramento?"
Me: "Yes. What is that?"
Petitioner: "Would you mind signing this? It's to give the mayor the power to get things done."
Me: "No thanks, I think the mayor has enough power."
Petitinoer: "Well, this is just to get it on the ballot so voters can decide. Would you sign it?"
Me: ... walking away.

So, I wasn't surprised when I read in the Bee that they already have enough signatures to put this on the ballot. With pushy kids getting paid-per-signature like that, no surprise. The question is - should we grant our newly elected mayor these additional powers? On one hand, I don't disagree with having the City Manager's responsibilities put in the hands of an elected official (the Mayor). I can't really think of a problem with the Mayor proposing the budget either, so long as the city council remains part of the input and approval process.

The only thing that bothers me about this proposal is that it's being pushed by a mayor who hasn't yet proven himself or his agenda. Concentrating power and decision making won't necessarily lead to better decisions. I'm not convinced that Kevin Johnson can't work towards his mission within the existing system. If he can't, how would he know? He hasn't been in office long enough to even try. When I think of cities with "powerful" mayors, I think of cities with corruption. I, for one, would like to learn more about the new mayor's plans and approach before seeing a change to the city charter.

Heather Fargo visits the Farmers Market

2008-11-04T02:11:22Z

Mayor Fargo was scheduled to drop by the park last week, but due to the rainstorm plans were cancelled. She was going to be at the Farmer's Market at 6th & X under highway 50 this last Sunday before election, Nov. 2nd. We announced it to the neighborhood association group, but due to the crowds at the Farmers Market there wasn't much opportunity for a lengthy discussion about neighborhood issues.

The Mayor was being interviewed by News 10, and greeting locals who happened to be at the Farmers Market. Several of the Mayor's supporters were behind her holding up Fargo signs. It was interesting (if not awkward) that 5 feet to her right, an equally large entourage of Kevin Johnson supporters were there holding up signs. Nearby, there was a chicken supporting Prop 2 (as well as a beautiful array of bell peppers I had to take a photo of).

Based on the polls, it seems fairly certain that Kevin Johnson will be Sacramento's next Mayor. A recent Sac Bee article pointed out that the central city tends to support Fargo, while the outlying areas tend to support Johnson. Kevin Johnson's focus on the outlying areas probably helped him win this election, because those areas are more populated with voters. Still, many Johnson supporters are likely looking for "change". Fargo has had a good run, and we owe a lot to her for the years of service and dedication she's given our city. As a Southside Park resident and a native Sacramentan, I truly hope we don't neglect the core of our city. What kind of reputation and image will Sacramento have if we neglect downtown - the most visible face to our city? The next mayor will have to face tough choices prioritizing Sacramento's goals with a tight budget.

Anyways - Thanks to both mayoral candidates for dropping by our neighborhood!

Kevin Johnson visits Southside Park

2008-10-29T07:03:11Z

On a whim, I emailed both mayor campaigns & asked if they'd stop by our neighborhood to talk about some local issues. It was a pleasant surprise that both candidates were able to (especially so close to Election Day).

Kevin Johnson was scheduled to stop by the Southside Park bandstand area today at 5:45pm.
It was short notice, but I announced it on the neighborhood association newsgroup and there was a sign up at the park. Unfortunately not a lot of people showed up, but Kevin was still gracious enough to talk with us & ask about our concerns.

Here is a video of the visit today. Apologies that the sound is hard to hear... but it should be audible if you turn your volume way up.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1362077477006388920

Mayor Fargo is scheduled to drop by this Thursday 10/30, at 6pm.