The city is spending more than it is bringing in, and even though that’s normal for this time of the year, officials need to make changes to keep spending under control and keep the budget on target. According to the mid-year budget report presented to the City Council Tuesday, expenditures are at 50 percent of projections, and revenues are at 36 percent – about 14 percent less than anticipated. This is typical for this point in the fiscal year, Finance Director Leyne Milstein told council members Tuesday – but adjustment is still necessary. “Without these recommendations, we will not be able to balance our budget,” Milstein said. It’s not all bad news, though. The 2010-11 fiscal year

Mere days before the Feb. 1 deadline to end redevelopment, the City Council is faced with two important decisions: what role the city will take in the aftermath, and what will happen to agency staff when redevelopment ends. Although the City Council did not take any action at the meeting Tuesday, City Manager John Shirey outlined the next steps for council members as the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency winds down. Shirey is the former executive director president of the California Redevelopment Association. SHRA is the agency responsible for redevelopment in Sacramento County and the city. An important factor in the process is figuring out what responsibilities the city wil

As Sacramento gears up to face a $16.5 million budget gap in the next fiscal year, consultants from Colorado met with City Council members to outline a new approach to budgeting that focuses less on dollar amounts and more on top city priorities. The council budget workshop held Tuesday at the main branch of the Sacramento Public Library was designed to help council members refine fiscal priorities for the city and discuss ways to reshape the budget process. Significant cuts to resolve a $39 million budget gap last year resulted in layoffs from the police force and rolling brownouts at city fire stations – actions that brought weeks of public outcry at City Council meetings. The city ch

Tuesday on Capitol Public Radio’s “Insight” program, I sat down with host David Watts Barton and Sacramento Bee editorial board member Foon Rhee to discuss the Checks and Balances Act of 2012 – more commonly known as the “executive mayor” or “strong mayor” initiative. The mayor’s office rolled out the latest version of the strong mayor initiative Dec. 21 by a coalition of supporters led by Mayor Kevin Johnson’s chief of staff, Kunal Merchant. The issue was scheduled to be on the agenda for City Council discussion Tuesday, and Johnson said he is hopeful that council members will put the initiative on the June ballot. Rhee pointed out that Tuesday’s meeting was the 16th time the issue has

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

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

After the first quarter of the fiscal year, city revenues are only about half of what was projected, but city finance officials said they aren’t ready to panic yet. The negative balance for the city budget is not just related to lower-than-anticipated revenues – a large part of the imbalance is due to greater-than-anticipated expenditures. The $812 million city budget is running negative at the moment – “typical” for the first quarter of the fiscal year, according to the most recent report from the city Finance Department. The first quarter financial report will be presented to the City Council Tuesday. Of the six main sources of revenue for the city – property tax, utility user tax, sa

District 8 City Councilwoman Bonnie Pannell hosted a bus tour Thursday highlighting recent redevelopment efforts and future growth opportunities throughout the district with a group of developers, real estate brokers and city employees – along with a few district residents and neighborhood association representatives. “This is going to be a tour of opportunities,” said City Manager John Shirey at the start of the tour. “We’ve got a good future for this district.” The Meadowview and south city areas have seen the second-greatest rate of growth in all of Sacramento, second only to North Natomas in District 1, Pannell said. “We have had a lot of growth (in District 8),” Pannell said, “and

City staff and Think Big Sacramento representatives presented the City Council with technical and financial option reports on the proposed entertainment and sports complex Tuesday, and asked council to direct them where to go next. “We have a lot of work to do in the next six months,” said City Manager John Shirey, “and we need both internal and external resources to do it.” To keep things moving forward, though, Shirey told council members that he plans to deliver three things: “a game plan with a timeline, a list of the consultant work we need and a list of how we’ll pay for those things.” Although the technical report presented Tuesday included more detail than previous reports, Shir

Now that a new city manager has taken the helm, Interim City Manager Bill Edgar is ready for new things. But “greener pastures” is not necessarily where Edgar says he’s headed. “Plans for me aren’t really set,” Edgar said in an interview last week. “I have plenty to do, so retirement isn’t exactly in my future.” Edgar took over as interim city manager after the previous interim city manager, Gus Vina, resigned in April. When the City Council appointed Edgar to the position, he was joined by Betty Masuoka as assistant interim city manager. Together, Edgar and Masuoka took on the responsibilities of preparing a difficult city budget and navigating some tough union contracts. Edgar’s role

It would be fair to say that Sacramento’s new city manager, John Shirey, has hit the ground running. That’s a good thing, too, because he has a lot of ground to cover if he’s going to meet his goal of making Sacramento “the best managed city in California.” His first official day with the city was Sept. 1, and he’s spent the first week on the job jumping right in to the work ahead, Shirey said in an interview Friday. “I’m in a 90-day period of goal-setting,” Shirey said, “and understanding what this organization needs and what the City Council is willing to do as a group.” Shirey said that means putting together a specific plan and sharing with city staff and council exactly how he want

City staff members want to fix Sacramento’s budget problems by revamping the city’s current organizational structure – and they want to do it by February. Northern California still struggles to recover from one of the worst recessions in more than 75 years, and the city of Sacramento has been hit especially hard. Interim City Manager Bill Edgar reminded council members Tuesday of the reality of the city’s fiscal situation: A budget that is $39 million less than it was the prior year; 141 city employee layoffs, including 41 sworn police officers, and a $26 million structural imbalance expected to extend into 2016. “The impacts (of the current budget structure) have been noticeable and si

Sacramento’s new city manager will get a 16 percent increase in salary over the previous city manager, making him the highest-paid in city history and the first to receive a labor contract. John Shirey’s three-year contract, which includes a $258,000 base salary was approved by the City Council with a 7-2 vote Tuesday. According to the staff report on the contract, Shirey’s annual salary is within the city’s current salary pay range of $187,357-$281,035 for the position. The staff report also notes that Shirey’s benefit package is essentially the same as for city charter officers such as city attorney and city clerk, with two exceptions: Shirey will pay his own 7 percent contribution to

John Shirey will take the job as Sacramento’s newest city manager Sept. 1 after being confirmed by the City Council in an 8-1 vote in closed session Thursday night. Mayor Kevin Johnson, who was the only “no” vote, said he and the council are “very excited” to have Shirey on board. He added at a post-meeting press conference that he and the council unanimously agree that Shirey is an honest person and the proper amount of vetting was done before hiring him. Shirey was called to the podium to make a few quick remarks during the regularly scheduled City Council meeting. “To be able to assume the position of city manager is a great highlight for me in my life and my career,” Shirey said.

The search for a new city manager – which began nearly five months ago when Gus Vina resigned as interim city manager – may be coming to an end this week. John Shirey, current executive director of the California Redevelopment Association, was recently named as a front-runner for the position, and now it appears that a finalized contract between Shirey and the city is in the works. The City Council will be discussing the city manager position in a closed session Tuesday afternoon, however, city spokeswoman Amy Williams said that they do not anticipate any sort of announcement after that session. “The city is currently negotiating with the preferred candidate,” Williams said. However, “n

California Redevelopment Association Executive Director John Shirey emerged as the front-runner Friday for Sacramento’s city manager position. “Right now, we’re going through the process (of hiring a city manager),” said City Councilman Darrell Fong. “He is definitely the strong candidate, and he is definitely the focus.” The council has not made a decision, though there was a closed-session meeting Monday in which the city manager search was the topic. The city has been without a city manager since Ray Kerridge resigned in March, 2010. In the meantime, both Gus Vina and a former city manager, Bill Edgar, served as interim city managers. Edgar is currently serving as interim city manage

The city of Sacramento and advocates for local governments are cheering the passage of a state ballot measure that bans the state from taking or borrowing local funds.  However, the new measure does not eliminate the $4 million the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency owes the state in May 2011, according to the California Redevelopment Association.  California voters’ approval of Proposition 22  on Nov. 2 helps the city while the state continues to face budget troubles, said Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson. The state is now looking at a $6 billion budget shortfall during the current fiscal year, said H.D. Palmer, deputy director of external affairs for the California Department o

The Sacramento-based California Redevelopment Association is preparing to sue the state over a "devastating" $2.05 billion in redevelopment funds that state leaders want to be redirected to schools. On Friday, the California State Legislature passed a budget that includes a provision ordering city and county redevelopment agencies to transfer $1.7 billion in property tax revenues in fiscal year 2009/10 and $350 million in 2010/11, said state Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor. The budget was crafted to close a $24 billion to $26 billion hole in the state's finances. The order would siphon at least $20 million away from the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency, a joint powers authority