With the introduction of the city budget to the City Council Tuesday, the specter of layoffs and the city’s negotiations with unions over pension plans will take center stage for the next few months – but some important fiscal nuggets could get overlooked. For example, of the 286 city employees expected to be laid off with the proposed budget, 11 of those are in the Community Development Department – which is responsible for building permits and inspections, code compliance, and long-range planning for development projects. Additional layoffs are slated for the Public Works department (which includes transportation and parking services) and the Parks and Recreation department. What will

Local officials are currently in the nation’s capital to lobby for federal support – and funding – for regional projects, pushing the City Council meeting to Thursday. “For me, it’s all about our levees,” City Councilwoman Angelique Ashby said. “I’m doing all I can to keep the conversation going (about funding) here in Washington.” Ashby represents an area of the city where levee work is needed to improve flood control, but projects have stalled due to lack of federal funding. City Council members Jay Schenirer, Steve Cohn, Bonnie Pannell and Ashby and City Manager John Shirey left Sacramento Friday with the Cap-to-Cap program, organized by the Sacramento Metro Chamber of Commerce. Whi

The Boys and Girls Club of Greater Sacramento will have to wait two weeks longer to launch key literacy and gang-prevention programs after a surprise move by City Council Tuesday halting the acceptance of a $250,000 grant to fund the programs. Sheedy asked for the agenda item on the grant to be pushed back until she could get more information from City Manager John Shirey about details of the grant. “I haven’t been briefed on it, and I have a lot of questions,” Sheedy said Tuesday. “I have questions about how it was done and the method of a private individual doing it instead of the city.” The item was initially on the City Council’s consent calendar, which typically contains non-contro

Nearly a year after the inaugural SactoMoFo mobile food festival designed to raise awareness of the city’s restrictive mobile food ordinance, the law hasn’t changed, but city officials and mobile food vendors will meet early next month to discuss the issue. Currently, the ordinance limits food trucks from stopping in one space within city limits for more than 30 minutes at a time. “We want to talk to (restaurateurs and mobile food vendors) and see what’s the best policy on this,” said City Councilman Jay Schenirer, chairman of the council’s Law and Legislation Committee. Any change to the ordinance will have to go through the committee before it can go to the full City Council for appro

Don’t be surprised if it feels like everyone from Mayor Kevin Johnson to the head of the Parks Department is on Twitter or Facebook – it’s one of the reasons Sacramento was recently ranked one of the top 10 social media-savvy city governments in the nation. The University of Illinois study released March 22 ranked Sacramento ninth among 75 major U.S. cities based on the level of civic engagement the city government has to offer. Criteria for the study included how accessible city officials are to residents and how easily residents can get information about services and neighborhoods, the study states. “Huge growth in the use of social media has been seen in the past two years,” said Kim

A town hall discussion of the new arena Thursday sparked debate between audience members and City Councilman Jay Schenirer about parking issues and the use of public funds to finance the arena project. Schenirer and Assistant City Manager John Dangberg fielded questions from the nearly 30 people in attendance after presenting an outline of project details, including an overview of the term sheet and financing framework. Schenirer said he held the town hall meeting for neighbors in his district because he wanted to make sure they had direct access to him to talk about whatever concerns they have about the arena project. Dangberg was included, Schenirer said, because he is one city staff m

District 5 youth leaders hosted a forum Thursday at Sacramento High School to discuss student concerns about bus transit issues, including frequency of key bus routes during student commute times and improved safety on buses and at bus stops. The students’ concerns stem from a proposed Regional Transit renewal plan which outlines recommended changes to bus and light rail service over the next five years. High school students in the Sacramento City Unified School District do not receive bus service from the district, so they must rely on private transportation, walking, or the Regional Transit system of buses and light rail, Sacramento City Unified School District Superintendent Jonathan

City Councilman Jay Schenirer said he wants to send a message to California lawmakers about the need to set clear guidelines for regulating medical marijuana with a resolution that highlights Sacramento as a model to follow. The resolution – drafted with the help of local medical cannabis industry lobbyist Max Del Real – will suggest an alternative to the way the state is handling the cannabis issue. “The resolution would talk about what we’ve done in Sacramento and the fact that we have a model program. We want to try to move the state forward in trying to clean up this mess,” Schenirer said Thursday. “My hope is that we can try to be a little bit of a catalyst with the state,” he adde

With a triumphant shout, Mayor Kevin Johnson cast the final vote in a 7-2 decision in favor of a financing plan to build a new entertainment and sports complex and keep the Sacramento Kings in town for another 30 years. Cheers, applause and chants of “SAC-RA-MEN-TO” broke out among the more than 250 people in council chambers Tuesday at the end of a four-hour-long City Council meeting that culminated in what Johnson called “a historic vote.” “Every one of you in the community did not give up,” Johnson said. “People far and wide all played a role and came together. I think we met every milestone along the way, and we made every minute count.” Johnson and City Council members Angelique As

Mayor Kevin Johnson held an impromptu press conference Wednesday to give an update on progress with discussions between Sacramento, the NBA and the Sacramento Kings’ owners, the Maloof family. “There are great discussions going on between the city and the NBA and we are confident that we, as a city, are doing our part to make (a deal) happen,” Johnson said. Johnson appeared at the press conference flanked by City Manager John Shirey and City Council members Jay Schenirer, Angelique Ashby, Darrell Fong, Rob Fong and Bonnie Pannell. “We’re closer than we’ve ever been before, and the bottom line is – the city controls its own destiny,” Johnson said. Earlier Wednesday, Johnson and NBA Comm

The Sacramento City Council will look to further regulate the city’s taxi fleet, allowing police officers to cite taxis that park in metered spots and require cabs to have the city’s 3-1-1 number on them to moderate complaints against the service. City Councilman Jay Schenirer said Tuesday before the council meeting that the ordinance amendment – which will likely be passed by the council in the next few weeks – is just to iron out the kinks and clarify the existing taxi ordinance. “If everybody knows the rules, it makes it easier for everyone to play by them, and the overall service will improve,” Schenirer said. The issue was on the agenda at Tuesday’s meeting as a routine step to pub

The City Council unanimously voted to keep conversations going with bidders interested in taking over the city’s parking operations – and set the stage for a Feb. 28 vote finalizing plans for a new entertainment and sports complex. “Today is about narrowing 13 (bidders) down to 10, and it’s an intermediary step to a more significant vote,” Mayor Kevin Johnson said. Council chambers were full Tuesday night, and members of the public who signed up to speak included eight opposed to the prospect of a long-term lease of the city’s parking and 30 people in favor of it. Project Manager Fran Halbakken described the bidding for control of city parking operations as a competitive process, where

In the the wake of the City Council’s 5-4 vote Tuesday blocking the strong mayor initiative from going to the November ballot, police union leaders halted labor contract discussions with City Hall. Mark Tyndale, president of the Sacramento Police Officers Association told City Manager John Shirey in an email just hours after the final council vote that he was “suspending all discussions between the city and the SPOA negotiations team.” After voting down the strong mayor initiative, council members approved a ballot measure to create an elected 15-member charter reform commission.  Calling the cost of a charter commission “fiscally irresponsible,” Tyndale said in the email that he “can’t

Charter reform will be an item on the November ballot, but not in the form of a strong mayor initiative. Instead, voters will be asked if they want to elect a 15-member commission to review the city charter. After more than 20 people spoke on the topic during public comment, the City Council voted 5-4 Tuesday to reject putting the Checks and Balances Act of 2012 – the strong mayor initiative – to a public vote in November. Council members Sandy Sheedy, Rob Fong, Kevin McCarty, Darrell Fong and Bonnie Pannell were the majority votes. Council members Angelique Ashby, Steve Cohn, Jay Schenirer and Mayor Kevin Johnson each voted in favor of the measure  no . Two governance-related consider

A new middle school will open in Oak Park in the fall – the neighborhood’s first stand-alone middle school since 1963. Oak Park Preparatory Academy (Oak Park Prep) is a St. Hope Public School and will open to seventh graders in August. Oak Park’s previous middle school – Stanford Junior High – was burned down by two teenagers in 1963. There are three middle schools in the district that serve Oak Park students – California, Will C. Wood and Kit Carson – but none are located within Oak Park. The Sacramento City Unified School District Board of Education trustees voted to approve Oak Park Prep’s charter Oct. 6, and the new school will serve 60 students the first year. The school’s attend

Sacramento City Council members had their hands full this year – from balancing the budget to redrawing district lines to a citizen uprising that found its way to the doors of City Hall. Here’s the city government year in review. CITY MANAGER DRAMA The year started off with interim city manager Gus Vina not being promoted to the open city manager spot. Vina replaced previous city manager Ray Kerrige when Kerrige resigned in February 2010. Vina resigned two months later – just a few weeks before the budget was due to the City Council. He later became the city manager of Encinitas. The City Council was criticized for making decisions about the city manager position in closed sessions bef

From head counts and courtroom drama to Winter Sanctuary and SafeGround – homelessness remained at the top of the list of issues in Sacramento in 2011. Despite data showing the number of homeless in the county had declined over the past year, there were still many people sleeping on the streets each night in 2011. Local charity groups and community service programs struggled through the year to provide for the homeless – including an increasing percentage of families – many of whom were homeless for the first time due to fallout from the housing and mortgage crisis. The alleged mishandling of homeless individuals’ personal property as police enforced city anti-camping laws resulted in a

As the song goes, Santa’s making his list, checking it twice and deciding who gets cool goodies and who gets lumps of coal. Between the budget, redistricting and facing dissatisfied citizens who took over a city park in protest, the City Council has been busy this year, so The Sacramento Press made its own “naughty or nice” list. If you were Santa, how would City Council fare? Here’s our list for 2011. Mayor Kevin Johnson: NAUGHTY Sure, he led the way to advancing green technology in the city and supported a citizens advisory committee’s effort to redistrict the city. But being absent for 10 City Council meetings in a single year? Tsk, tsk, Mr. Mayor. (And we’re not bitter about not b

On the eve of another cold night in Sacramento, Wells Fargo Bank stepped up to give $75,000 to help the city’s Winter Sanctuary program provide shelter for the homeless. “People talk about ‘occupy this’ and ‘occupy that,’ but this is what people want,” Mayor Kevin Johnson said at a press conference Tuesday. “They want the corporate community to have values that are in line with the least among us in our communities.” Wells Fargo representative David Galasso presented the $75,000 check at the press conference. Winter Sanctuary provides shelter to the homeless during the winter months and is run by Volunteers of America, Sacramento Steps Forward – a regional initiative launched in 2010 to

Sacramentans who protect their homes and businesses with fire and burglar alarms may soon pay more for chronic false alarms and see alarm permit fees nearly triple. The Sacramento Fire and Police departments each presented proposals to the City Council’s Law and Legislation Committee Tuesday that would change the current policy on fire and burglar alarm response – and increase penalties for multiple false alarms. The proposed changes to police alarm response will do two things: require alarm companies to step up efforts to verify legitimate alarms, and change the current three-year permit structure to an annual permit. The changes to fire alarm response includes incrementally increasing