The Sacramento Press wants your neighborhood-related questions for Interim City Manager Gus Vina, the city’s highest-ranking official. What issues or concerns do you have about your neighborhood? What do you think the city government should do to improve your neighborhood? Write your questions in the comments section at the bottom of this article. Questions for Vina can also be e-mailed to kathleen@sacramentopress.com. The Sacramento Press will choose several questions from community members for Vina to answer. Vina was chosen as interim city manager by Mayor Kevin Johnson and the eight City Council members and will serve for nine to 12 months. He replaced Ray Kerridge, who resigned fr

Sacramento’s business community has said repeatedly that former City Manager Ray Kerridge established a customer-service culture in the city’s development department. At the same time, the department is wracked with investigations into possible breaches of laws. Now that Kerridge has left the city — March 11 12 was his last day of work — how will the culture of the Community Development Department change? New leadership and the findings from an audit are two upcoming developments that may change the department. The recent resignations of Kerridge and department director Bill Thomas have created job openings. At this point, both positions are being held by interim officials. Gus Vina is i

Gus Vina, already serving as acting city manager, has been selected to be the interim city manager for the following nine-to-12 months. City Manager Ray Kerridge resigned last month and will leave his post Friday. Kerridge has said he’s taking a private sector position, but has not yet announced where that position will be. Mayor Kevin Johnson and several council members held a press conference Wednesday to announce Vina’s new position. “And I think it’s very clear to all of us that (Kerridge) has very big shoes that we need to fill,” Johnson said. “And we feel that we found the right person to fill his shoes in a very short timeframe.” Johnson and the council members unanimously chose

Assistant City Manager Gus Vina has been named the acting city manager of the city of Sacramento. Departing City Manager Ray Kerridge is leaving March 12. Mayor Kevin Johnson and the other members of the City Council made the announcement after Tuesday night’s council meeting. The City Council unanimously decided to choose Vina for the assignment. Vina will be the acting city manager for 30 days, Mayor Kevin Johnson said. He assumes the role at noon on Friday. Johnson said Vina “stepped up.” After Vina serves his term as acting city manager, the City Council will appoint an interim city manager. This means there will be two phases before the City Council appoints a permanent replacem

The Sacramento City Council is open to the idea of consolidating some of the services offered by the city and county governments. Councilmembers unanimously decided Tuesday that city staff should analyze the issue over the next 90 days, and then bring their findings to the City Council. The discussion about consolidating services is moving forward as both the city and county struggle with severe budget problems. Councilman Rob Fong strongly supported the idea. If the city and county can have “virtually identical” regulatory processes for businesses, then organizations like the Sacramento Area Commerce & Trade Organization and the city and county’s economic development departments could m

Sacramento’s city and county governments are considering consolidating some of their services to save money as they wrestle with tough budgets. The City Council and Board of Supervisors will discuss the idea at their public meetings Tuesday. Combining services could help local governments save money in the long term, said Gus Vina, assistant city manager. It also could cut redundancies, Vina said, noting that the city and county offer several similar services. For example, the county and city both provide animal control and code enforcement services, he said. The city and county have not yet selected which services to combine. At this point, city and county officials are asking elected r

The Sacramento City Council is about 99 percent sure that no firefighters will be laid off this week. The local firefighters’ union and city officials reached a breakthrough in negotiations Wednesday and have made a tentative agreement to not lay off 68 firefighters. The last step will be for Sacramento Area Firefighters Local 522 members to vote on the agreement this week. It is likely that Local 522 members will vote in favor of the agreement because they proposed it to city officials. While dozens of firefighter jobs are likely to be saved, about 180 city workers in other departments still face layoffs on Thursday, according to Assistant City Manager Gus Vina. Several councilmembers

I’ve learned a few lessons recently about how and why local government budgets don’t make sense. Over the past month, I’ve reported on the city budget and asked government officials and union representatives many questions about financial figures and numbers of layoffs. While the officials answered my questions, some budget figures remained nonsensical. I would like to share with The Sacramento Press' readers the following Guide to Local Government Budget Madness. Rule #1: The number of “positions” being removed is not the number of “people” being laid off. Back in May, city officials wrote that that they would cut 387 positions. The budget document said that cuts included the “unfunding

City managers and the local firefighters’ union have widely different views of the most recent failed proposal for the firefighters’ contract. The Sacramento Press readers can join the debate by reading official memos from the recent contract proposal here. Contract negotiations between Sacramento Area Firefighters Local 522 and city officials failed earlier this week. After the most recent deal flopped, the City Council decided to move ahead with its budget cut to fire 68 firefighters. The last day of the work for the 68 firefighters is July 2, and they will be paid through July 3, according to acting city spokeswoman Wendy Klock-Johnson. The union points out that the firefighters will b

The local firefighters’ union Friday scrapped a deal with city management that would have cut firefighters' salary increases and maintained jobs. Sacramento Area Firefighters Local 522 is attributing the failure of the deal to the city’s decision to send layoff notices to firefighters earlier this week. Meanwhile, the city is saying that it was straightforward in its negotiations with the union. The city, which is facing a deficit of more than $43 million, plans to lay off 68 people in the Sacramento Fire Department if the union does not make concessions. Both sides said Friday that they are ready to start negotiations again. Local 522 spokesperson Robin Swanson said firefighters are wi

 The local firefighters’ union may complete its contract negotiations with the city next week, according to Chris Harvey, spokesman for Sacramento Area Firefighters Local 522. The union is still confident it will be able to reach an agreement with the city “that’s beneficial to the citizens of Sacramento, as well as the firefighters,” Harvey said. Gus Vina, the Sacramento assistant city manager negotiating with the union, was not available to immediately return a phone call Thursday. The city’s $50 million deficit would be resolved through cuts in the proposed budget. The fire department would face cuts of 50 positions and $5 million, the budget document states. Vina has said that the p

The local firefighters’ union is objecting to city management’s comments about Sacramento's budget crunch and possible layoffs for fire department staff. At the same time, the Downtown Sacramento Partnership and Sacramento’s neighborhood services department both expressed concerns Monday about the potential budget cuts being considered by the city. The proposed 2009/2010 city budget, released Friday, seeks to address a $50 million deficit. The City Council will address the proposed budget at its May 19 meeting. Among other cuts, the budget proposes to lay off 189 city employees. The budget calls for 387 positions to be slashed. Because 198 of those positions are vacant, the city would n

A city official said Tuesday he was optimistic about current efforts to save Sacramento $5 million and 50 jobs through negotiations with the local firefighters’ union. Gus Vina, a Sacramento assistant city manager, said the city is currently in talks with the Sacramento Area Firefighters Local 522. The city government is trying to convince the firefighters’ union to give up pay increases scheduled for July. Vina said the city and the firefighters’ union are engaged in “very productive” discussions. If the firefighters’ union does not give up its pay increases, Vina said the city will need to lay off 50 department employees. The positions could come from any of the following types of fi