Mayor Kevin Johnson’s volunteer task force on Thursday continued its second session of challenging proposals presented by prospective developers of a new arena in Sacramento. The 12-member task force heard presentations from Thomas Enterprises, the Kamilos Group, Natomas ESC Partners and Tripp Development. The prospective developers explained their financing plans, among other issues. Task force member Mike Kvarme asked how much of Thomas Enterprises’ project financing would rely on obtaining federal funding. “It’s a large part of it,” said Suheil Totah, vice president of Thomas Enterprises. Totah also commented on the site’s location at the railyards in Downtown. Thomas Enterprises is

Prospective developers for a new sports and entertainment complex were questioned by Mayor Kevin Johnson’s volunteer task force Wednesday night. The 12-member task force, which includes real estate, finance and communications executives, asked numerous follow-up questions after listening to presentations by Matt Haines, Doug Tatara and Ali Mackani. Haines, who owns Bistro 33 in Midtown, told the task force about his proposal to build the complex in downtown’s Docks Area. “This would be a direct front-door” to Old Sacramento, he said. Old Sacramento is north of the proposed area. Task force project coordinator Matt Massari wrote earlier that Haines’ Docks Area project would be “adjacent

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson's arena task force will focus on giving all proposals a fair hearing over the next four weeks, an arena team leader said Thursday. Four task force subcommittees on finance, transportation, site evaluation, and business and community impact will collect more detailed information from the development teams that have pitched seven arena options. The subcommittees will also consider renovating Arco Arena, the current home of the Kings, and a previous proposal to build at Cal Expo, said Chris Lehane, co-chair of the Sacramento First Task Force. Subcommittee work will not be public. The information gathered will be used to create a scoring matrix to weigh the pro

Sacramento City Council members and the National Basketball Association are angry or unhappy with comments made Tuesday by the mayor's arena team leader. Several council members are upset after Sacramento First Task Force co-chair Chris Lehane seemed to be speaking on behalf of the city when he called the NBA's previous attempts to get an arena built here "air balls" and made other comments on the organization's website blog Tuesday morning. Council members Ray Tretheway and Rob Fong responded to Lehane's comments at the end of Tuesday night's City Council meeting. "I was terribly embarrassed by the disrespectful message that publicly humiliated the commissioner of basketball that came

 About 80 people turned out for a town hall meeting Thursday night to weigh in on plans for a new entertainment and sports complex. Business leaders and residents presented their ideas to Mayor Kevin Johnson’s "Sacramento First" arena task force at the Sacramento Public Library downtown. The task force is assigned to analyze developers’ ideas for the complex. The 12-member group includes real estate, finance and communications executives. Task force members are not paid. Johnson told the audience a new complex needs to generate jobs. “We’ve got to create jobs; we’ve got a down economy,” he said. Chris Lehane, the task force’s co-chairman, echoed that point. “This is about economic devel

Citizens will get to present their views about a proposal for a new arena and entertainment center to Mayor Kevin Johnson’s task force, the mayor said. His remarks came at a news conference Johnson held Thursday in Old Sacramento to introduce the panel’s members. Community feedback will be part of the review process before the task force makes its recommendations to the City Council, he said. The 12-member task force is tentatively planning to hold public meetings on the first and third Thursdays of each month, said Chris Lehane, task force co-chairman and partner in Fabiani & Lehane, a public relations firm. The task force includes real estate, finance, and communications executives. Pu