Area 1 Neighborhood Advisory Group members cautiously welcomed the new leader of the Midtown Business Association Monday evening at their monthly meeting and took the opportunity to express their frustrations with the organization. About 40 residents, business leaders and presenters attended the meeting – a high turnout, according to Bill Burgua, attendee. Elizabeth Studebaker, the new executive director of the Midtown Business Association, said her first focus is on trash removal, and that aggressive changes will be made. She also addressed concerns about the growing number of bars and restaurants in Midtown. “There’s a very strong perception that the neighborhood has been taken over

Neighborhood Advisory Group (NAG) isn’t going anywhere, just moving to a new location. The Hart Senior Center, where NAG has been meeting regularly, began charging an hourly fee of $50 to rent rooms after 5 p.m. which caused some NAG members to wonder if this would be their last meeting altogether. “NAG is not a city group, they enjoy their independence. They do, however, like the city to work with them,” said Derrick Lim, manager of the city’s Neighborhood Services Department and special events. “The items and agenda is all decided by NAG, they take their own positions.” Monday’s meeting was held at the Hart Senior Center, 915 27th St., and the Aug. 15 meeting will be held there, too,

After operating for nearly two decades, what may be the last meeting of the Neighborhood Advisory Group (NAG) will take place this Monday.   NAG started out as a meeting of concerned central city residents meeting in private homes.   Eventually a partnership with the city was formed through Neighborhood Services/Code Enforcement under Max Fernandes.   Neighborhood Services has continued to work with NAG publishing and distributing the NAG agenda that was created each month by the independent and volunteer NAG agenda committee.  Neighborhood Services also serves as a conduit between the agenda committed for city entities that wanted to present at NAG and city endities that the agenda commi

Sacramento residents packed into a Sacramento City Hall meeting room Thursday night to protest proposed budget cuts to community centers and other local parks programs. About 45 citizens addressed the City Council, according to Mayor Kevin Johnson’s count. Citizens waited in lines for a seat in the the meeting room and to speak to the council. The hearing on the Parks and Recreation Department was part of a series of meetings on how the City Council can resolve a $39 million budget gap for the 2011/2012 fiscal year. Proposed budget cuts would slash hours at the Hart Senior Center in Midtown by half. Some of the speakers contrasted the proposed community center cuts with city leaders’ e

Area 1 Neighborhood Advisory Group (NAG) November 2010 Agenda In Partnership with the City of Sacramento Neighborhood Services Division Monday, November 15, 2010, 6:15 to 8:30 p.m., Hart Senior Center, 915 27th Street Tonight’s facilitator: Gerald Celestine, Capitol Area R Street Association (caRsa) and Friends of Fremont Park 6:15 Complimentary pizza and soft drinks courtesy of Sacramento Deal Ticket 6:30 Welcome and Introductions 6:35 Area 1 Police Department Activity Report             Lt. Mike Bray, Police Department 6:45 East End Gateway Site 4  Tom Kigar, Development Director, Capitol Area Development Authority (CADA)  Learn about the three development proposals for the site

The agenda for September's meeting of the Area 1 Neighborhood Advisory Group (NAG) follows. Lt. Mike Bray hopes to have some updates from the police department on the Second Saturday shootings. Food banks have become a survival resource in todays economic climate. Many city park swiming pools have closed or are slated for closing.  Some Area 1 neighborhoods have managed to keep their pools open. We will hear what their stragities were to achieve this.  Measure B is a controversial ballot measure that could have longterm consequences on how the city utilities department operates and the delivery of services to city residents. Each month's NAG agenda is put together by residents of the

Residents gathered Wednesday evening at the Hart Senior Center to find a new home for the Sacramento Zoo. After 83 years, the zoo is looking to ditch its current Land Park location in order to gain more space. The two most probable locations are Sutter’s Landing and the Natomas area. Merely 14 acres in size, the current zoo doesn’t allow for expansion. Many of the animals—including elephants, rhinos, polar bears and cheetahs—had to be relocated to different zoos because of the small size of the enclosures in Sacramento. In order to keep their accreditation with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the zoo has to keep up with the changing standards of the association by continuously upda

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

 Mayor Kevin Johnson talked to residents about local issues including homelessness Monday night. Johnson spoke at a Neighborhood Advisory Group meeting at the Hart Senior Center in Midtown. He told residents about remarks President Barack Obama made in Washington, D.C. last week. During a trip last week to attend the U.S. Conference of Mayors in D.C., Johnson heard Obama make comments on regional economies and sustainability, Johnson said. Obama also stressed the importance of communities in neighborhoods, according to Johnson. Johnson said he learned from Obama’s remarks that local economies need to have a regional focus and that environmental sustainability will be critical to infras