Federal programs impacting Sac

Mueller: From councilwoman to federal judge

2011-03-22T01:14:08Z

The wide range of professions represented by U.S. District Judge Kimberly Mueller’s friends show the depth of her long involvement in Sacramento’s legal and political worlds.

A mix of well-wishers that included state Senate President Pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg, black-robed judges and a retired animal control manager all gathered earlier this month to honor Mueller in her new position as a federal judge.

U.S. President Barack Obama nominated Mueller for the position and the U.S. Senate approved her candidacy in December. Mueller’s official ceremony or “investiture” for the position was held March 11 at the federal courthouse on I Street in Sacramento.

Mueller, 53, sat down with The Sacramento Press last week to discuss her career in Sacramento.

A past life in city politics

Mueller, the first woman to become a federal judge in the Eastern District of California, has roots at Sacramento City Hall. She said she loved working with constituents and solving local problems when she served as a city councilwoman from 1987 to 1992.

“City Council really was a way of being a public servant in an elected capacity,” she said, adding that serving on the council was a “great privilege.”

Though she was born in Newton, Kansas, and raised in Grinnell, Iowa, Mueller’s career has centered around Sacramento. She moved to Sacramento in 1981 after graduating cum laude from Pomona College.

“I grew up professionally here,” she said.

Ruben Mora, a retired animal control manager for the city government, has positive memories of working with her when she was on the City Council. In an interview, Mora said Mueller was considerate with her constituents and city staff.

“She’s a real caring person,” Mora said.

Mora, who worked for the city for 40 years, said he expected Mueller to achieve success because of her caring personality. “I felt like she was going to go a long way,” he said.

Mora attended Mueller’s ceremony earlier this month, where he watched state Senate President Steinberg give a speech in her honor.

Steinberg also has a City Hall connection with Mueller – he ran for Mueller’s City Council seat when Mueller left politics to attend law school at Stanford University in the early 1990s.

“He got his political start because I went to law school,” Mueller said.

A federal career in Sacramento

When Mueller left politics, she left it for good. As a judge, she doesn’t participate in local groups apart from the district court’s historical society and the Sacramento Trust for Historic Preservation.

She worked as a U.S. magistrate judge at the federal courthouse for eight years before she became a federal district judge. Mueller worked as an attorney earlier in her legal career.

Her husband, developer Bob Slobe, had suggested that she apply for the district judge position.

Mueller said Slobe told her: “I think this is the kind of thing that would appeal to you.”

It took her awhile to decide to apply, she said.

As a district judge, she now handles both civil and criminal cases that relate to federal law. Federal issues surrounding drugs, immigration and guns are the types of cases she manages, she said.

She earns a salary of $174,000 in her new position.

Tam Ma, a Sacramento resident and third-year law student at UC Berkeley, externed for Mueller a few months ago, when Mueller was still a magistrate judge.

“I think she really took a lot of time to sit down and talk to me,” Ma said.

Mueller said she doesn’t feel superior because of her success.

“The law keeps you grounded,” she said. “You will never know anything there is to know ... This profession is, in my mind, automatically humbling.”

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Rhee's StudentsFirst will be based in Sacramento

2011-01-20T21:55:42Z

Former D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee has decided to base her new education nonprofit in Sacramento. Mayor Kevin Johnson, who is engaged to Rhee, announced Rhee's decision in his "State of the City" speech Thursday.

Johnson said Rhee's group, StudentsFirst, aims to raise $1 billion in its first year.

"She was asked at the launch where the organization would be headquartered," according to the text of Johnson's speech. "She said that while many big city mayors had come a'courting that the mayor of Sacramento had made the most aggressive overtures."

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Tree Foundation to receive funding for jobs

2009-10-16T03:56:50Z

A non-profit group that promotes an “urban forest” through programs to plant and maintain trees is likely to receive a $750,000 federal stimulus grant to hire additional staffers. The Sacramento Tree Foundation has been selected to receive the American Recovery and Reinvestment grant and is ironing out the details for how it plans to use the money.

The federal stimulus dollars will be distributed through the U.S. Forest Service and will be administered through California ReLeaf, a Davis-based environmental group.

“We’re privileged as well as excited to receive the grant from the Forest Service,” said City Councilman Ray Tretheway, who is the foundation’s executive director. “It hits at an acute time where non-profits are normally struggling.”

The money has already been secured, said Martha Ozonoff, executive director of California ReLeaf. The funding will be obtained through reimbursements and the billing process will likely begin in December, according to Ozonoff and Tretheway. The grant program will last through early 2010, Ozonoff said.

The foundation is pinning down the specifics of how it plans to use the money. The funding is for jobs, but the total number of positions and the job descriptions have not yet been settled. The foundation wants to use the money to hire four staffers, Tretheway said. Resources such as equipment and vehicles to carry out the work would also be part of the proposal for the $750,000 in funding, he said.

However, Ozonoff said she wants to work with the foundation to see if more than four jobs can be created.

Tretheway envisions that four staffers would be regional coordinators for the foundation’s Greenprint initiative, which he explains is a framework for building “the best urban forest” in the region. One of the main framework objectives is to double the tree canopy in the region by 2025, Tretheway said. The undertaking will require planting 5 million trees in the following six counties: Sacramento, El Dorado, Placer, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Sacramento residents to receive extra Social Security checks

2009-04-26T19:52:22Z

Sacramento residents who receive Social Security funds will soon get an extra $250 check in the mail.

In Sacramento, 111,840 residents who participate in the Social Security benefits program will receive the additional $250 check in the next few weeks. About 52 million Americans across the country will receive the $250 checks.

The one-time money is part of the federal stimulus package, known formally as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Sacramento residents will receive about $27.96 million total in the form of these checks, according to the office of Representative Doris Matsui (D-Sacramento).

“Every dollar helps during this time when people hurt by the economic downturn are cutting back on essentials such as groceries and medical prescriptions,” Matsui said through a spokeswoman Friday.

The additional $250 will be mailed separately from recipients’ regular social security benefits.

Checks should arrive by June 4, said Alexis Marks, spokeswoman for Matsui.

Marks noted that people do not need to apply for the check—it will be sent automatically to people who receive Social Security monies.

Matsui advocated for the one-time checks to be included in the federal stimulus package, Marks said.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.