On January 7, 2012, Sacramento city staff held a public meeting about the newest proposal to change the city charter, the “Checks and Balances Act of 2012.” However, this public meeting was not announced to the general public—instead it was directed at a small group of neighborhood leaders. I found out about the meeting via the chair of the Midtown Neighborhood Association, who received an email on December 27: From: Raihane Dalvi Date: December 27, 2011 2:19:11 PM PST To: Raihane Dalvi Subject: Checks and Balances Act of 2012 Dear Neighborhood Leader, I'm writing to request your participation in an important discussion before the city of Sacramento. As you may know, a broad coaliti

http://sacramento.granicus.com/AgendaViewer.php?view_id=8&event_id=74 Tomorrow, the Sacramento city council will discuss the "Strong Mayor" initiative. The workshop will include a summary of Sacramento's past charter changes, a comparative analysis of the "Strong Mayor" initiative compared to charters in the ten largest California cities, and the legal means by which the City of Sacramento may change its charter. A staff report for the meeting on the "Strong Mayor" initiative can be found (in PDF form) here: http://sacramento.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=8&event_id=74&meta_id=169120 The meeting will take place on Tuesday, February 3, at 6:00 PM. It takes place in New City Hall,

The first article in this series discussed the mixed reactions from community members regarding the decision to turn Sacramento High School into a charter school. You can read this story by clicking here or by clicking on the green storyline tab to the right. For those of you who don't know, Sacramento High School became a charter school in 2003. This surprised me, because I had always thought, "Once a charter, always a charter.” But, in learning more about the current Sacramento High School, there is a unique story.  The current school is a collaborative project put together by Kevin Johnson and St. Hope. Concerned with low academic performance, Johnson returned to his former Oak Park