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

The City Attorney’s office released a statement Wednesday saying charges against some of the people arrested for violating park curfew hours at Cesar Chavez Plaza will be dropped and the cases dismissed “in the interest of justice.” City Attorney Eileen Teichet said in a press release that a limited number of cases against people charged with only one violation of the city code would be dismissed. “After evaluating the facts of each case and criminal history of each defendant,” Teichert said in the press release, “the City Attorney’s office has determined that the arrest and jail time that each dismissed defendant served achieved the People of the State of California’s demand for substan

In the wake of a rejected special permit to occupy Cesar Chavez Plaza 24 hours a day, Occupy Sacramento protesters expanded their occupation to the front door of City Hall, 915 I St., on Tuesday. “We want to fully exercise our First Amendment right to assemble,” Kevin Carter, 55, a youth volunteer and an Occupy Sacramento outreach coordinator said. “If our grievances are going to be addressed, they need to be addressed right here.” Protesters packed up some of their canopies, tents and information tables Tuesday and gathered at the front of Old City Hall as well as on the lawns in front of the new City Hall building, immediately behind the older building. “Our statement is simply this,”

Federal Judge Morrison England denied a motion by attorneys for Occupy Sacramento Thursday to order a temporary restraining order against the city from enforcing a parks ordinance that limits park hours. The motion was filed Tuesday as an emergency request by local civil rights attorney Mark Merin on behalf of Occupy Sacramento in an attempt to prevent the city from arresting protesters who remained in Cesar Chavez Plaza – the site of the occupation since Oct. 6 – in violation of park curfew. “I’m disappointed in the decision,” Merin said after the ruling. “Obviously, we hoped the judge would see the case differently than he did.” The restraining order motion was part of a recent lawsui

Occupy Sacramento protesters and attorney Mark Merin are considering legal action against the city of Sacramento for violations of their First Amendment rights if arrests of protesters for ignoring the park curfew are not stopped. “It’s not a question of whether we will pursue legal action – that decision has been made,” Merin, a Sacramento civil rights attorney, said Thursday. “It’s just a matter of when.” There have been close to 100 arrests made since the Occupy Sacramento movement first appeared in Cesar Chavez Plaza Oct. 6, and protesters say all of those are in violation of First Amendment protections of speech and assembly. The nature of the Occupy movement, according to Merin, i

Sacramento civil rights attorney Mark Merin is once again in the spotlight. This time, he’s being quoted by the local media for his role in a federal class-action case about homeless people’s constitutional rights and personal property. And, in the March issue of Harper’s Magazine, Merin’s work with Safe Ground is mentioned. The article, titled “Homeless in Sacramento: Welcome to the New Tent Cities,” focuses on Sacramento’s homeless and the city’s ordinance against camping. These are only two of many examples of Merin’s highly visible and controversial advocacy work for Sacramento’s homeless. Earlier this week, a federal jury released its verdict in Lehr v. City of Sacramento, finding

The city may appeal a verdict from a federal jury that partially faulted the city for the way it has managed homeless people’s belongings, according to Senior Deputy City Attorney Chance Trimm. The jury’s decision in Lehr v. City of Sacramento was released Tuesday at Sacramento Federal Court. The trial, which involved homeless people’s constitutional rights and personal belongings, began May 9. The jury did not fault the city on four of six claims, Trimm said. However, in the mixed decision, the jury found that the city has seized and stored homeless people’s possessions without sufficiently informing them on how to get those items back. The booking and handling of homeless people’s belo

Jurors are deliberating in federal court whether homeless citizens’ belongings were illegally taken and thrown away by Sacramento police officers between August 2005 and the present. The trial, which centers on homeless people’s constitutional rights and their personal belongings, began May 9 at the Sacramento Federal Courthouse at 501 I St. Plaintiffs attorney Mark Merin represented Linda McKinley, who was homeless in the past, and a group of homeless people in the class-action case against the city of Sacramento, according to court documents. Merin is a supporter of the Safe Ground group, which presses Sacramento city leaders to designate land for homeless people to live.  In closing

The lack of adequate shelter for the homeless has been declared a state of emergency by Safe Ground. Safe Ground, an organization that is devoted to finding proper housing for the homeless, gathered for a vigil on Monday on the corner of 10th and I streets to bring awareness and have people sign petitions. Executive Director of Safe Ground Sacramento Steve Watters said he has been involved with the organization since its inception. “Safe Ground’s main mission/objective is to acquire a piece of land and build transitional housing for the homeless,” Watters said. “It is surprising how many people are homeless in Sacramento. We have between 1,200 and 1,400 in Sacramento at night time that

If you attend the weekly Sacramento City Council meetings, you’re likely to see an activist with colorful clothing address city leaders on homeless issues. Tracie Rice-Bailey, 57, has appeared at Tuesday night council meetings so frequently in the last year that she has become a familiar face at City Hall. For more than a year, Rice-Bailey and other advocates for the homeless have lobbied council members for a legal camping ground for the area’s homeless.  Rice-Bailey is a vocal member of the advocacy group that calls itself Safe Ground Sacramento. The group wants the city to reserve a space for homeless people where the city’s camping ban would not apply. Rice-Bailey, who said she was

Sacramento’s homeless are still searching for safe ground after the tent city was taken down in April 2009. On Tuesday, homeless camper and SafeGround movement leader John Kraintz, Sacramento civil rights lawyer Mark Merin, State Senate President Pro-Tem Darrell Steinberg and activists from nonprofit organizations around Sacarmento marched from Friendship Park to Cesar Chavez Park in celebration of the SafeGround Movement. They were joined by homeless men and women as they marched, sang, danced and spoke on behalf of the homeless. Using a microphone, which echoed through speakers around the stage, musicians and speakers were heard loud and clear by the crowd of more than 100. “People c

About 50 people urged the Sacramento City Council Thursday to help efforts to reserve land for the homeless. The people who addressed the City Council were supporters of the “Safe Ground” campaign, which opposes the city’s anti-camping ordinance and advocates for a living space for the city’s homeless. The recent stabbing death of 68-year-old Bernice Nickson, a homeless resident, was mentioned in the comments of some of the Safe Ground advocates. The Safe Ground supporters spoke during the part of the meeting reserved for public comments on subjects that are not covered in the agenda. Council members do not respond to citizens during that part of each City Council meeting. Comments from

Tuesday morning, Mayor Kevin Johnson was joined by a handful of Safe Ground supporters for a weekly press conference inside City Hall. After reiterating his goal to end homelessness in Sacramento, he invited Sister Libby Fernandez and Greg Bunker, the respective executive directors of Loaves and Fishes and Francis house, as well as a homeless man named Thomas Jackson Ashmore III, to speak. Johnson spoke about his meeting over the weekend with campers at the recently vacated 1220 C St. campground owned by Mark Merin. At the camp site, Merin had also been involved in a property dispute over the land with the neighboring Pedro and Gracilla Hernandez residence. Johnson mentioned that a compr

At Mayor Kevin Johnson's request, homeless campers have cleared out of a vacant lot used in a "safe ground" dispute with the city, he said Monday. Johnson visited the property near 13th and C streets, which is owned by attorney Mark Merin, over the weekend to discuss the ongoing controversy with campers, the mayor said in a late afternoon press conference. On Sunday, as many as 40 people left the property where they'd been camping for a month after saying they believe their statement has been made. They agreed to negotiate with the city for at least one legal campground, Johnson said. "I felt this would be a distraction if they continued to camp there illegally," he said outside City Ha

Though homelessness is not a new problem, the number of homeless people in Sacramento has increased over the last few years because of the state's budget crisis and cuts to federal programs. On June 30, hundreds of county shelter beds became unavailable, forcing more homeless onto Sacramento streets. In answer to the shortfall, Safe Ground Sacramento was inaugurated on July 1. Organized by community members, nonprofits and businesses, Safe Ground seeks to provide the homeless with a safe place to be. Hundreds gathered that day for a rally and march to kick off the movement. Among them was Jacoby Shaddix, the formerly homeless lead singer of local band Papa Roach. The city of Sacramento e

In a previous story in The Sacramento Press about a "Safe Ground" encampment behind the Pedro and Gracilla Hernandez residence, Mark Merin, civil rights attorney and Safe Ground partner was not contacted. He is the owner of the property and responded to the article Thursday. Merin explained the land dispute differently. He said "it's unfortunate" the story made it seem as if he were trying to harm the Hernandez family financially or use the homeless to bully them. Merin explained that when he bought his property, he had been planning to use the corner lot at 13th and C streets as a law office, and the strip behind the Hernandez residence as a parking lot. It turned out that, in a rare in

For about 30 years, the Hernandez family has owned the only house on the block of 13th Street between B and C Streets. Until Aug. 21, the rest of the block surrounding their home was filled with vacant lots. "Safe Ground" came to the block when Sacramento lawyer and homeless advocate Mark Merin, who has owned several of the adjacent lots since 2007, teamed up with non-profits, businesses and other individuals. Tightly fit rows of matching tents complete with a "Safe Ground" logo (click here for photograph) began filling the one vacant lot directly behind the Hernandez's house, and for nearly a month, tents have housed about 40 homeless people on the property. Monday, the Hernandez family