Flood protection – particularly in the Natomas area – is a top priority for the city going into the new year as the City Council Law and Legislation Committee approved the city’s legislative priorities at last week’s meeting. “I wonder what New Orleans’ priorities were a year before Hurricane Katrina hit?” asked City Councilwoman Angelique Ashby Tuesday. “Was it working on that levee? Probably not.” Ashby’s District 1 includes the Natomas Basin – an area surrounded by 42 miles of levees and vulnerable to floodwaters. There has not been a significant flood in the Natomas Basin since the levees were constructed in the late 1800s, Rick Johnson, executive director of the Sacramento Area Flo

Scandals shook Sacramento City Hall throughout 2010. A review of the past year in local politics shows city leaders in turmoil over debacles at the Community Development and Utilities departments. The troubles in the development department prompted City Councilwoman Sandy Sheedy to declare in January that council members should find out what has “gone wrong” at City Hall. Before we ring in a new year, let’s take a look at the scandals that shaped city politics over the past 12 months. Troubles with the feds A scandal that began in 2009 involving the city’s development department and a Natomas flood zone continued full-throttle until the end of 2010. City employee Dan Waters, son of rece

Sacramento City Councilman Rob Fong said in an interview Thursday that further actions should be taken against city employees, including code division employee Dan Waters, who were involved in the recent scandals at the city’s Community Development Department. Waters approved 35 building permits in a Natomas flood zone last year. Officials with the city and the Federal Emergency Management Agency say that Waters’ action to give the permits to K. Hovnanian Homes broke federal regulations. The City Council agreed earlier this week to pay up to $350,000 to correct its violations and comply with FEMA. The violations related to 38 permits – Waters approved 35 of them, according to city spokesw

The Sacramento City Council agreed on Tuesday night to shell out as much as $350,000 in general fund dollars to correct past violations of federal flood management laws. City officials have acknowledged that Dan Waters, a Community Development Department staffer and the son of outgoing City Councilman Robbie Waters, broke Federal Emergency Management Agency rules when he provided 35 building permits to a developer in a Natomas flood zone last year. Councilman Waters recused himself from the vote on the “corrective action plan” Tuesday night, while the eight other members approved it. Fong said that it was important to support the action plan to send a message to FEMA to ensure that the

After resigning from the city of Sacramento in March, controversial former City Manager Ray Kerridge did not travel far for his next major assignment: He’s now the city manager of Roseville. The Roseville City Council chose Kerridge for the position Thursday in a 4-1 vote. Kerridge was the choice out of 63 candidates for the job. Roseville Mayor Gina Garbolino said in an interview Thursday that Kerridge is the “right person for Roseville at this time.” Various Sacramento officials offered differing reasons in February for why Kerridge decided to leave the city. Sacramento city spokeswoman Amy Williams said Kerridge resigned from his post because he had dedicated more than 35 years to pu

The city attorney’s office is not providing information on how the city will respond to claims of potential quid pro quo in the development department. Allegations of possible quid pro quo at the Community Development Department were mentioned in a Jan. 26 report from the offices of the city attorney and the city manager. But it’s unknown when an investigation into the allegations may begin. In a Monday e-mail response to questions from The Sacramento Press, City Attorney Eileen Teichert referred to the claims of possible quid pro quo as a “personnel issue.” She indicated in her response that some information about the issue may eventually become public depending on whether the city tak

These homes are incomplete and they’re likely to stay that way for some time. In Natomas, there are four half-built homes and 21 housing foundations made of concrete, according to a city document. The unfinished houses are part of the fallout from a city employee’s decision to provide 35 building permits to a developer in a Natomas flood zone last year.  City officials have acknowledged that the move did not follow Federal Emergency Management Agency rules. The city provided FEMA with a corrective plan March 31. In the plan, the city asks FEMA if the incomplete houses can be prepared for mothballing until the agency says that the city’s flood-protection efforts are strong enough to sus

 An investigation into the Sacramento development department’s approval of building permits in a flood zone will be considered by the City Council on Tuesday. City Attorney Eileen Teichert and a third party-law firm, Renee Sloan Holtzman Sakai, have been investigating the Community Development Department’s decision last year to greenlight 35 building permits in a Natomas area regulated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. At the Tuesday meeting, the city attorney’s office will make a presentation on the investigation. Teichert’s office acknowledged in a Dec. 15 letter to the FEMA office in Oakland that the city broke federal rules by authorizing the permits. Councilman Steve Cohn

Sandy Sheedy is ready for controversy. The Sacramento city councilwoman plans to focus on a set of contentious issues this year. Her top citywide goals for 2010 are to address the budget and respond to concerns involving the development department and utilities funds. The Sacramento Press is publishing a series on the 2010 goals of city council members. Links to stories on the goals of other council members are included at the bottom of this story. Sheedy represents District 2, which covers neighborhoods north of the American River such as Del Paso Heights, Strawberry Manor and North Sacramento. Unlike many of her council colleagues, she is not running for re-election or higher office.

The city needs to make headway on flood protection efforts in order for the federal government to lift a moratorium on building in Natomas, Mayor Kevin Johnson said Tuesday. The Federal Emergency Management Agency banned development in Natomas in 2008 because of the threat of flooding. Johnson said at his weekly press conference that flood protection will be one of his priorities in 2010. “We have to make progress so that (FEMA) will lift the moratorium,” Johnson said. New building in Natomas would generate dollars for the city’s general fund, he said. “If we want to grow revenue, we’ve got to find ways to have more economic development opportunities,” he said. Still, he noted that th

The city of Sacramento has admitted to federal regulators that its development department bypassed federal rules by greenlighting 35 building permits in a Natomas flood zone this year. At the same time, the city is asking the federal government if 25 of the homes can be completed. A third-party law firm, Renne Sloan Holtzman Sakai, and City Attorney Eileen Teichert's office are investigating the issue. The city has placed Bill Thomas, community development director, and department staffer Dan Waters on leave. Teichert said Friday she did not know when the investigation would be completed. In a Dec. 15 letter to Cynthia McKenzie, senior flood planner at the Federal Emergency Management A