The plan to construct a new I-5 interchange at Cosumnes River Boulevard – a key component to the 75,000-acre Delta Shores development project – got a financial jumpstart Tuesday. The City Council voted unanimously to swap funds between two long-term construction programs to get the new interchange started – a project that the city has had in the works for more than a decade. “I’ve been bugging people about getting this project started for 13 years,” City Councilwoman Bonnie Pannell said Tuesday. “I’m just so happy it’s going to happen.” The Cosumnes River Boulevard project will extend Cosumnes River Boulevard from Franklin Boulevard to an intersection with Freeport Boulevard – essential

With one last vote Tuesday, the Sacramento City Council approved a map that seals council district boundaries for the next 10 years, but the work of redistricting isn’t finished just yet. “The new map goes into effect Oct. 6, which is only 30 days after the final council vote,” said Scott Mende, principal planner with the Community Development Department. “After that, each council member has a different group of constituents.” New district lines for the city and new constituents for council members will have a ripple effect throughout city administration, and Mende said city staff has a lot of work to do to be prepared for it. The first step, Mende said, is a “massive outreach” to counc

When is comes to redistricting, the LGBT community has a lot to say about being recognized as a legitimate community of interest and working toward getting the central city united into one council district. “Unless you see yourself represented, it’s hard to see yourself in the world,” said Steve Hansen, a community activist and a member of the former Citizens Advisory Committee on Redistricting. Hansen and Rosanna Herber, chairperson of the LGBT Redistricting Committee, said members of the LGBT community worked tirelessly over the last several months to be recognized as a community of interest and be given a stake in the process. Their goal has been to finally see the central city united

Anyone in the city can use the city’s online tools to carve up the eight City Council districts and present their redistricting ideas to city leaders. The mapmaking tool for the 2011 redistricting process is free to use, and the city welcomes maps from residents. Maps developed and submitted by citizens will be shared with the City Council, the council’s redistricting advisory committee and the general public, said Maria MacGunigal, the city’s Geographic Information Systems manager. Every decade, the city rearranges its council districts by applying U.S. Census data.The reordered districts should all have the same population, according to city staff. “The primary objective of redistric

Sacramento’s Central City has received a lot of media attention for shootings and muggings in recent months. However, the area is also frequently in the spotlight because of large-scale development projects, such as the downtown Railyards or George Karpaty’s trio of businesses on K Street. The Sacramento Press recently interviewed three City Council members to learn about their plans for the Central City. Councilwoman Angelique Ashby and Councilmen Steve Cohn and Rob Fong shared their priorities for the different parts of the Central City they represent. Ashby’s portion of the area includes the downtown Railyards, K Street, Old Sacramento, Alkali Flat and the River District. Ashby mentio

The Sacramento City Council underwent a makeover Tuesday night when two new council members were officially sworn into office. The swearing in of Jay Schenirer and Darrell Fong is the last step in the City Council’s changing of the guard. Schenirer’s ceremony had an element of star quality because state Senate President Darrell Steinberg administered the oath of office for the new councilman. Angelique Ashby, the other new council member, was sworn into office Nov. 23 to represent District 1.  Schenirer replaced Lauren Hammond as the District 5 council member, while Fong took the District 7 reins from Robbie Waters. Also on Tuesday night, Steve Cohn was sworn in for a fifth term as t

Supporters of outgoing Sacramento Councilman Ray Tretheway gathered in North Natomas on Monday night to celebrate Tretheway’s nine consecutive years on the City Council. Tretheway, who was first elected in 2001, lost the District 1 re-election race in June to his opponent Angelique Ashby. He will leave his City Council seat in late November, but will keep his position as executive director of the Sacramento Tree Foundation. More than 100 people turned out for Monday night’s event held at the North Natomas Library. District 1 includes North and South Natomas and downtown’s Alkali Flat. “We are knitted as a community,” Tretheway told his supporters and constituents Monday night. “There’s

Angelique Ashby Announces Series of Community Forums Throughout District One It's become common, often expected, for politicians to have goals for the first 100 days in elected office. But what about goals for the 100 days prior to taking office? On Monday, Angelique Ashby commemorated the 100 day countdown by unveiling Community Connections, a series of district-wide meetings seeking ideas, thoughts, input and experiences related to the challenges and successes throughout the region. Ashby was elected to Sacramento's City Council on June 8 with 51% of the vote in a dramatic three-way race, unseating incumbent councilmember Ray Tretheway after nearly ten years in office in District One

The final Sacramento City Council election results did not yield any last-minute statistical miracles. Furthermore, a Sacramento city clerk’s predictions about City Council runoffs proved true: The leading two candidates in Districts 5 and 7 will compete in a Nov. 2 runoff election. The county elections office finished counting ballots from the June 8 election on Wednesday. Candidates Jay Schenirer and Patrick Kennedy will run for the District 5 seat, while candidates Darrell Fong and Ryan Chin will square off in District 7. Incumbent District 1 City Councilman Ray Tretheway lost his battle against challenger Angelique Ashby — just barely. A City Council candidate needs at least 50 per

Though the election results aren't yet officially certified Councilman Ray Tretheway called Angelique Ashby late Thursday afternoon to congratulate her on winning the race for District 1 of the City Council. As of 3:43 P.M. Ashby held 51.1% of the vote, with Tretheway only holding 41.8%. A candidate needs 50 percent of the vote plus one to win a City Council race. There are still 12,000 mail-in and 4,000 provisional ballots to process but there is no way of telling what portion of them will be relevant to this election. Tretheway doesn't see them making a difference, "I don't think a few votes are going to change anything. So I wanted to let her know as soon as possible that I congratula

The waiting game for the District 1 City Council race continues. The Sacramento County elections office released new vote tallies Friday afternoon, and has counted about 35,000 of the roughly 86,000 that remained after Election Day. However, the new ballots still don’t definitively show whether Natomas activist Angelique Ashby has won the District 1 seat, or if she will compete in a runoff in November with incumbent City Councilman Ray Tretheway. The county elections staff still needs to count more than 51,000 ballots. Voters cast ballots for many state and local candidates Tuesday, so it’s unknown how many of the 51,000 ballots include votes for the City Council races. With 5,405 votes

Despite problems with Sacramento County's new vote counting computer system, early indications Tuesday night were that Angelique Ashby will defeat incumbent Roy Tretheway for the city's District 1 council seat. Ashby, a Natomas area activist who had the backing of local firefighter and police unions, as well as of Mayor Kevin Johnson, was leading Tretheway by 10 percentage points in early tallies. However, by midnight Tuesday, there was still considerable confusion about vote tallies after a computer system at the county malfunctioned not long after the polls closed at 8 p.m. Ashby's apparent victory was based on a relatively small percentage of votes reported, and is by no means certain

11:21 p.m. UPDATE Angelique Ashby's supporters gather around the wide screen television to anxiously watch the results of tonight's election. With a lead of more than 10% on her closest competitor, incumbent Tretheway, Ashby supporters are anticipating the coming numbers. "We think we know the answer," volunteer Celia Hernandez said. "We just need it official!" Cheers, laughter and applause resonate throughout the police stationassociation, and tensions build as the night wears on, the final count looming closer and closer. "We're all excited," canvas coordinator Greg Pruden said. "Really looking forward to getting the final returns in and seeing what the final result is. We're reall

A flood of money from interest groups is being used to support City Council candidate Angelique Ashby. A committee that is separate from Ashby’s campaign contributed about $36,000 for mailers that advocate for her candidacy, according to election statements. That amount legally surpasses the contribution totals that citizens and most groups can make to candidate’s campaigns, according to Assistant City Clerk Stephanie Mizuno. The sum comes from a group with a lengthy name: Independent Expenditure Committee for Jobs and Prosperity / Sponsored by Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce Political Action Committee. Ashby is running for the District 1 City Council seat against incumbent

Years ago, driving home from ARCO Arena used to be like driving through a vast rural land of fields, sometimes through thick fog and orange overhead lights. Now this land is the thriving community commonly known as North Natomas filled with homes, businesses, restaurants, a high school, and a brand new library. That’s all located north of Interstate-80. South of Interstate-80 is the established communities of South Natomas, Gardenland, and Northgate. Calls to serve both areas equally were made at the District 1 City Council Candidates Forum, moderated by Brandy Boyd, publisher of the Natomas Buzz. “Come on down Northgate Boulevard” said Candidate Efren Guttierrez in response to how to s

Regional Transit wrapped up their talks about service cuts earlier this week, though there was still plenty of room for finger pointing and analysis at the District 1 Candidates Debate. "Natomas is losing all routes on the weekends as my understanding," said candidate Angelique Ashby. "That means people have jobs elsewhere on the weekends and they are going to ride the bus, they can't do that anymore." Ashby said she didn't understand why current District 1 Councilmember Ray Tretheway, who is on Regional Transit's Board of Directors, did not fight to keep a route in Natomas. "I don't understand how he can let them all go," said Ashby. "We certainily pay into that tax system that provide

Sacramento City Councilman Steve Cohn is predicting deep budget cuts to local parks this year in light of the city’s $35 million-$40 million budget gap for the 2010/2011 fiscal year. Cohn’s worries about new cuts come after the city cut the Parks and Recreation Department by $8.3 million last year. “I fear that the cutbacks in parks will actually be more severe this year,” Cohn told a handful of neighborhood leaders gathered at Hart Senior Center Monday night. Cohn, who presented information about his district at the Neighborhood Advisory Group meeting, said the city may look for ways to work with neighborhoods and the business community to maintain the parks. “As we all know, most of

Angelique Ashby is a Natomas neighborhood activist who views public safety as the city's top priority. Ashby, who is running for Sacramento City Council, has the support of two major local public safety unions: the Sacramento Police Officers Association and Sacramento Area Fire Fighters Local 522. The Sacramento Press is interviewing City Council candidates in advance of the June election. Ashby is running for City Council in District 1, which is now represented by Councilman Ray Tretheway. The district includes the neighborhoods of North and South Natomas and Alkali Flat. The 20-year Sacramento resident is a partner in a consulting firm that contracts with businesses and government age

Efren Guttierrez wants to bring his focus on social justice to City Hall. The 54-year-old real estate broker and community activist is running for a seat on the Sacramento City Council. The Sacramento Press is interviewing City Council candidates in advance of the June election. Guttierrez is running in District 1, now represented by Ray Tretheway. The district includes North and South Natomas and Alkali Flat. Guttierrez has worked in real estate for 28 years and is co-owner of New West Realtors in Natomas. He noted that his career pays the bills, but activism is his passion. “My love has always been social justice advocacy,” he said. Guttierrez was born in Stockton and has lived in S

SACRAMENTO – Declaring “my only special interests are people,” civil rights activist Efren Guttierrez today (Feb. 9) officially announced his candidacy for Sacramento City Council, District 1 – and he didn’t’ waste anytime slamming big special interest money that dominates local campaign races. “I will only have one special interest: The People. I will not accept contributions from large developers and similar special interests because ‘It’s About Time’ the grip of those special interests on the city is broken,” pledged Guttierrez, 54, a local real estate broker and community activist as he stood outside Sacramento City Hall with dozens of supporters. Guttierrez is the executive direct