Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "midtown business association"

Elizabeth Studebaker leads MBA

2012-01-05T03:45:10Z

The Midtown Business Association kicked off the new year with a new executive director: Elizabeth Studebaker, who took over the position that has been vacant since Rob Kerth left in October.

Studebaker, 33, officially took the helm of the MBA on Monday, with an operating budget of about $650,000 per year. Most recently, she spent almost five years as executive director for a similar organization in San Diego, the North Park Main Street Business Improvement District. The Sacramento Press caught up with Studebaker to ask her some questions about what she has in mind for Midtown.

The Sacramento Press: What are your immediate goals for Midtown?

Elizabeth Studebaker: My immediate major goals are pretty much all focused on the sidewalks and street appearance. I think they are in pretty dire need of increased attention. We need the installation of new trash cans, more aggressive litter removal and graffiti abatement. We also need increased nighttime security patrols.

I have meetings set with several of our contractors already to get a more thorough explanation of what we get from them. I will then determine if they are the right fit or if we should go with someone else. I’m in the process of doing a complete organizational overhaul, revamping and retooling where I see the need.

SP: What are some of your long-term goals?

ES: One of my next priorities is creating stronger relationships with our counterparts in neighboring districts. There are lots of economic development groups, including the Downtown Sacramento Partnership, the Metro Chamber, River District and Broadway District. There are a lot of lessons that we can learn from each other.

SP: Some have said there is an “us versus them” mindset between Midtown and downtown. What are your thoughts on that?

ES: I think the identity of Midtown is pretty obviously different from that of downtown. As adjacent neighbors, we’re better-served if we’re working together and in close communication. If nothing else, I want to be attending their meetings, and I hope they’ll be coming to mine and meeting with each other’s staff on a regular basis. A lot of learning comes from peer-to-peer communications. I had a lot of success with that in San Diego, where we all met on a monthly basis.

SP: What drew you to Sacramento and Midtown?

ES: I moved to Sacramento as a result of my husband being offered a new job. We moved up here a few months ago, and the timing happened to be pretty good in terms of the position opening at MBA. The district I was the director of in San Diego had about the same number of businesses, with 500 small- to medium-sized businesses and very few national chains and corporations.

I am also very excited about the history and nature of the district and its buildings. The character of Midtown is one of the most exciting things, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the trees. Coming from San Diego, we had a very unhealthy tree canopy pretty much everywhere. I still get giddy when I go for a walk in Sacramento under all those trees.

SP: Some longtime neighbors have been at odds with restaurants and bars that put a heavy emphasis on alcohol sales. How do you plan to balance business activity with residential livability?

ES: The MBA does not have the authority to set (alcohol) licenses or set conditions on those licenses. From the perspective of an organization like the MBA, I was in a similar situation in San Diego. I would hope I have a similar relationship here in Sacramento, with regular and aggressive education for business owners and staff about being a good neighbor. I need to meet with resident groups, and those are some of the meetings I will be having soon. I’ve requested to be on the NAG (Neighborhood Advisory Group) agenda, and I’ve met with a few of the residents. It’s still too early to say anything direct about how I’m going to work with the residents.

Basically, I want to keep the lines of communication open. If there are specific problems that need to be addressed, I’ll do my best to address them. I understand this is an area densely populated with residential and commercial uses, and we all need to get along.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow him on Twitter @Brandon_Darnell.

Expanded bike share program to launch early next year

2011-12-17T01:19:08Z

Midtown’s Ride Your Own Way bicycle share program wrapped up its six-month trial period this week with an average of 20 bicycle rentals per week and plans to significantly expand it under a private company in 2012.

“I think the bike share is a really great program to have in Midtown,” said Midtown Business Association Streetscape Program Manager Niki Fay. “It obviously gives people a way to get around businesses quicker and easier, and the environmental benefits are great.”

The bicycle share program launched in June and provided two locations with six bicycles each that were rented to riders via automated systems. Similar programs are successful in cities such as Washington, D.C., Montreal and Paris.

After a six-month pilot program that saw some vandalism and bicycle theft, MBA and business partners concluded that the system should expand, but under the control of a private business.

The new business, named The Last Mile, will launch in the first quarter of 2012, said founder Aaron Zeff, who also co-owns Priority Parking – which housed the kiosks for the pilot program.

“We learned a lot from the MBA trial, and since MBA doesn’t have the funding ability, we thought we’d try it as a private enterprise to come up with a bike share that would be complementary to our customer base as well as something good for the community.”

The program will use smartphone applications to allow riders to take a bicycle from one area and ride it around the city, dropping it off at any other location, Zeff said. There are plans to have 30 locations with 10 bicycles each, but they will be rolled out slowly throughout the year as the bugs get worked out.

The app will work similar to the way in which Zipcars are rented, he said.

Pricing – though not final – should be around $1 per hour and $10 per day, Zeff said.

“The idea is to promote short use of the bike to get to a destination,” he said. “We don’t want to be competition to a bike rental company for recreational bikers.”

He added that he thinks this is the first program to be privately funded and operated in the country. Most bicycle share programs receive government subsidies or infrastructure, and the end cost of the bicycles can be $6,000 each.

“We’ve drilled that down to under $1,000 because of our system not having infrastructure other than bikes and existing parking facilities,” he said.

Unlike heavy steel bicycles in other cities, bicycles from The Last Mile are all-aluminum three-speeds with internal hub gearing.

The major problems during the pilot program, according to Ikon Cycles owner Adrian Moore – who purchased the bicycles to be used in the pilot program – was that they were targets for thieves because they were not overseen.

To combat that issue, the bicycles will now be housed in parking garages with attendants as well as businesses, so someone can always see them.

“Theft was not a surprise,” Moore said of the pilot program. “The system was not good enough to prevent it.”

Ikon Cycles, near 23rd and J streets, will be one of the early businesses to host a bicycle station in 2012, Zeff said. Another place will be Mexican restaurant Zócalo, where Priority Parking handles valet services, and riders will be able to hand their rented bicycles off to the valets for safekeeping.

“If you have an Internet connection, you can put (a station) in your store,” Zeff said. “It’s a universal locking system, and it’s essentially an iPhone or Android app.”

Initially, the stations will be located in the downtown and Midtown areas, and expansion throughout the city is possible, including stations for college students at Sacramento State.

The Last Mile is named after the problem many users have when using public transit – how to get the first and last mile to their destinations if they are not located near a bus or light rail stop, Zeff said.

With the initial 30 locations to be rolled out slowly, he added that it’s a good opportunity to let the free market influence something for the public good.

“It’s up to the consumer to decide if they want it,” he said.

Fay said she expects the program to be popular, especially with the bicycle culture being a large part of Midtown life.

“The first benefit is how it makes it easier for Midtown residents and visitors to get around town,” she said in an email, adding that other benefits include the air quality of having multimodal transportation and solving the problem of how public transit commuters get from their stops to their final destinations.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow him on Twitter @Brandon_Darnell.

Light Up Midtown 2011

2011-11-24T20:12:18Z

The Midtown Business Association is inviting businesses to light up Midtown by transforming their store windows into a winter wonderland this season with an opportunity to win a $1,000 advertising grant from the MBA.

This is the second year the MBA has hosted “Light Up Midtown” in the hope of opening the doors of local businesses to more customers this holiday season.

“We wanted to find a way to dress up the district and be festive and let people feel very involved in it,” said Heather Philpott, MBA communications and events coordinator.

“Businesses can take ownership of the project and get an opportunity to be a part of making the district look great,” Philpott said Wednesday, “and besides, who doesn’t like a little competition?”

The prizes – advertising grants of $250, $500 and $1,000 – will be awarded to the top three vote-getters. The grants are coming from the MBA events/marketing budget, Philpott said.

“Instead of us spending $1,000 to put lights up and do a little decorating Midtown,” Philpott said, “we let the businesses decorate and win something that is valuable for them in the long run.”

Midtown business owners and their elves have until Tuesday to register for the competition. Businesses must be located within Midtown Property Business Improvement District boundaries to apply, according to the competition rules.

Then, they can deck the halls – and storefronts and windows and anything else that will hold garland and sparkle – to transform their businesses into festive displays.

Visitors and shoppers will vote online for their favorite starting Dec. 1.

Voting continues through Dec. 12, Philpott said, and winners will be announced live Dec. 14 on the morning newscast of Good Day Sacramento.

More than 50 Midtown businesses participated in the competition last year. The top three winners of 2010 were Trés Chic Boutique, Mulvaney's B&L and Cyber Electronik.

Mulvaney’s and Trés Chic Boutique have already registered to compete again this year, Philpott said Wednesday.

Summer Hairabedian, lead stylist at last year’s big winner, Trés Chic Boutique, said that she and the other Trés Chic employees are already planning this year’s decorating scheme.

“I can’t disclose that information,” Hairabedian, 28, said when asked what this year’s theme would be. “It’s top secret.”

Trés Chic Boutique, 2228 J St., a clothing store specializing in prom, pageant and special occasion dresses, won Light Up Midtown 2010 with a glimmering “white wonderland” theme, Hairabedian said.

“We had a white crystal ball gown in the window,” Hairabedian said, “with white reindeer and snowflakes and lights and gold presents to accent it.”

Trés Chic used its 2010 prize to advertise in local school newspapers and Midtown Monthly magazine. Hairabedian said she is unsure what they would spend the prize on this year if they were to win again.

Other businesses already getting their icicles and ornaments ready for the fun include Relles Florist, Mr. Pickle’s Sandwich Shop and Mosaic Salon.

“We mostly decorate the windows and add light to it,” said Jim Relles, 64, owner of Relles Florist at 2400 J St. “This year we might do some exterior (decorations), but either way, we will have very festive Christmas windows.”

Relles said if his business wins one of the advertising grants, he would like to put it toward radio advertising just before Valentine’s Day.

“We had 18,000 lights in our window last year,” said Todd Buckley, 34, co-owner of Mosaic Salon at 2700 J St. “We’ll do a little twist on the decorations this time, but the lights will be included.”

Although most of Mosaic’s advertising is word-of-mouth, Buckley said he’d probably try to do some radio advertising if his business wins a prize this year.

Philpott said there are some new competitors this year, too: Faces Nightclub, Felicia Strati, City Suds and J 27 Gallery are just a few.

Felicia Strata is a clothing boutique at 1901 Capitol Ave., and City Suds is a neighborhood laundromat at 1830 L St.

The initial idea for Light Up Midtown came from Amber Schmaeling, MBA marketing and outreach director, and Philpott and other MBA staff helped make the idea a reality in time for the 2010 winter holidays.

“People enjoy the way the malls dress up for the holidays,” Philpott said. “Hopefully this gives the same warm, fuzzy feeling and gets people to shop at smaller local businesses.”

For more information and to cast your vote, visit www.exploremidtown.org. Only one vote per person is allowed.

Melissa Corker is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @MelissaCorker.

Sacramento’s La Raza Galería Posada Day of the Dead/Dia de los Muertos Festivities; Transformational “Panteon de Sacramento” Saturday-Sunday, Oct.29-30. Theatre, Music, Poets, Workshops.

2011-10-28T20:12:58Z

Culminating the Day of the Dead/Dia de los Muertos festivities this year, La Raza Galería Posada, Sacramento’s not-for-profit Latino art and cultural center, brings the Panteon de Sacramento (Sacramento’s Cemetery) to life.This is a two day/night outdoor display of fifty large, colorful altares. The altares will be available for public viewing on Saturday October 29 and Sunday October 30. Families, individuals, area artists and local not for profit organizations will build the altares for public display.Theatre, music, poets and children's workshops are all part of the two-day event. In Sacramento, Día de los Muertos has been celebrated since the early 1970s, commensurate with the Galería’s founding in 1972, 39 years ago.

Date: Saturday October 29 and Sunday October 30.

Times: Saturday ( 11 am-10 pm, Sunday: 8 am -8 pm)

Location: Behind the KlickNation parking lot at J St. near 20th St. (east of the MARRS Building)

The creative altars - 12 feet long and 6 feet wide – will display the traditional flower of the dead, Cempazuchitl (Marigold), papel picado, candles, photos of the deceased, Pan de Muerto (Mexican sweet bread) and personal artifacts.

"We created the free Panteon de Sacramento (Sacramento's Cemetery) to replicate a small town environment in Mexico during Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead),” says Marie Acosta, Executive Director of La Raza Galería Posada. “In the open air, with the church bells in the background, visitors will be transported to a commemoration similar to a small pueblo with colorful displays created as "altares" to honor those we loved in life that have passed on. Everyone is welcome!"

One of the very special guest performers is Eduardo Lopez Martinez, who is coming in direct from Mexico. "I call him our "Calaca-in-Residence" says Acosta. Martinez is in the tradition of the legendary and irreverent Cantinflas, and in the popular Mexican theatre tradition, La Carpa. He will bring song, dance and original performance to the Panteon on Saturday, Oct. 29 at 6:30 pm.

Whether in the day, or bathed in the light of the moon, upon entering LA RAZA GALERIA POSADA'S Panteon de Sacramento at J St. & 20th St. in midtown Sacramento, one immediately feels that it is a place of memories and, the presence of those who have passed.

New this year, the Galería will create a community altar for the public to place offerings. The public is invited to bring photographs, bread, other foods, flowers, toys and other symbolic offerings for loved ones who have passed away. This is free, all are welcome.

Panteon de Sacramento Event and Workshop Programming*

Saturday, Oct. 29 (11am-10pm)

11am Panteón opens to the public

Opening Ceremony- Danza Azteca-Xantotl(Unification)

12-2pm Workshop*-Cempazuchitl-Flower Making

($5/person)

Noon -4 pm DJ-Albert Garnica playing oldies, rancheras, viejitas, and other requests($1/song)

2:30pm-4pm Workshop*- Mask-painting

($10/person)

4:30pm Workshop*- Mask-painting

($10/person)

4:45pm Marco Ferrero presenting “Hidden Truth-La Viuda de Don Marcos”

5:30pm Poetry Reading by Escritores del Nuevo Sol

“Recordando a Nuestros Antepasados” and open mic to follow

6:30pm Performance by Eduardo López Martínez-Direct from México!

NOT TO BE MISSED!!

10 pm Panteón closes for the night. Re-opens at 8am tomorrow.

*All workshops are on the first come first serve basis and while supplies last.

Sunday, Oct. 30 (8am-8pm)

8 am Panteón re-opens.

2pm-5 pm- DJ Larry Rodriguez (Flower Vato)

12-2pm Workshop*-Cempazuchitl Flower Making

($5/person)

2:30pm-4pm Workshop*- Mask-painting

($10/person)

4:30pm- Workshop*- Mask-painting

($10/person)

7:30pm Closing Ceremony

The complete program of events at the gallery is at : www.larazagaleriaposada.org.

########

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

La Raza Galería Posada hours: Tuesday-Friday 1pm to 8 pm, Saturdays 11am-6pm, Second Saturday 1pm-9pm.

About La Raza Galería Posada: LRGP is a non-profit, multi-disciplinary cultural center and public space serving the Sacramento community, offering Latino/Chicano and Native arts exhibitions, art education programs, workshops, films and concerts and serves as a community gathering place. La Raza Galería Posada is located at 1022-1024 22nd St. between J & K Sts. in Sacramento, California. School tours and group tours are offered Monday- Saturday by reservation.Office: 916-446-5133.

Disclosure: Submitted by Mindy Giles, music fan and publicist for La Raza Galería Posada

MAIYA Gallery Hosting Art Auction This Saturday and Sunday

2011-10-27T19:09:53Z

This Saturday and Sunday, October 29th and 30th, MAIYA Gallery will be hosting "What's In A Name" - a very special art auction with 100% of the proceeds funding scholarships for two El Camino High School seniors attending college in the fall of 2012, and majoring in studio/fine arts.

The spin to "What's In A Name" is that each piece of art will be showing with the artist's name hidden. Each bidder will bid on a piece of art based on their appreciation of the art itself. The artist's name will be revealed only once bidding has ended.

"What's In A Name" includes art from the following artists (among others): Barbara de Wein, C!nder, Sylviane Gaumer, Bud Gordon, Taylor Gutermute, Miles Hermann, Maureen Hood, William Ishmael, Mary Kercher, Brooke Walker-Knoblich, Sondra Olson, Gary Pruner, Sean Randall, Robert Ray, Kerstin Ronsiek, Michael Rosner, P.Y. Simpson, Tom Sellas, Melissa Wood, and Shelley Hocknell-Zentner.

MAIYA Gallery will be open for bidding on Friday, October 28th from 1 - 7 p.m., and on Saturday and Sunday, October 29th and 30th, from 1-6 p.m. each. Of the 29 pieces donated, half will have bidding ending on Saturday at 6 p.m., and the other half on Sunday at 6 p.m. There will be a reception and art pick-up on both Saturday and Sunday from 6-8 p.m.

For more information please contact Kelly at (916) 476-3964, or check out the website at www.maiyagallery.com/whats-in-a-name-2.

MAIYA Gallery is located at 2220 J Street, Suite 1, Sacramento, California.

This event was funded by the Midtown Business Association and MAIYA Gallery.

Disclosure: I am one of the donating artists at this event.

Midtown Modern Art Festival - Photos

2011-10-17T14:38:20Z

Some scenes from Midtown's Modern Art Festival:

For article about the art festival, CLICK HERE>>>

Music, art and dancing in the street at Midtown Modern Art Festival

2011-10-17T06:49:28Z

A myriad of local artists and hundreds of community members gathered in the street Saturday to celebrate art in multiple forms for the first Midtown Modern Arts Festival.

The free, family-friendly street festival was held on 20th Street between J and K streets and featured six hours of music, dance, comedy, visual and performing arts and creative, hands-on activities for kids. The festival was run largely in part to the multitude of volunteers willing to give their time to put the event together, and neither the attendees nor vendors were charged to attend.

“This is one way for use to give back to the community — bringing art organizations, artists and businesses together,” said Heather Philpott, producer of the Midtown Modern Arts Festival and communications coordinator for the Midtown Business Association.

Philpott said the festival started off as a project intended for launch in the summer until organizers decided to partner with Artober, a month-long celebration of Sacramento’s art scene in October to celebrate the National Arts and Humanities month, now to be an annual event.

“A lot of times, people don’t get to experience the performing arts because it’s expensive and it’s not always accessible to everyone,” she said. “We have quite a few of performing arts organizations in Midtown, but not enough venues.”

The event was sponsored by the Midtown Business Association, the MARRS (Midtown Art Retail Restaurant Scene) building, Heller Pacific and KlickNation and Philpott said the festival was to be a venue through which anybody interested could get a taste of art in its many forms, even those who have not had any prior experience.

Performing arts organizations were contacted initially for the event as well as other local art organizations. The festival also included live artistic demonstrations in sculpting, painting and drawing and various interactive art activities for children, including a craft corner and a musical instrument petting zoo, which allowed children the opportunity to try out many different classical instruments and hand drums.

“At the end of the day, we need to have something creative for (the children) to get their hands dirty and find their niche,” Philpott said.

Throughout the day, La Raza Galleria Posada, a nonprofit cultural center which offers Latino/Chicano and Native Arts workshops and other services, made over 100 sugar skulls — skull molds made of compacted sugar which are decorated with icing and food coloring in remembrance of a loved one — traditional tokens of the Mexican Celebration The Day of the Dead/Dia de Los Muertos.

Emily Ellis, mother and former teacher who attended the event, said it’s important to have activities for children in family events, especially to have arts activities at an arts festival.

“It’s important so they are occupied, so they get involved and they understand what it all means,” she said. “It helps make (art) tangible for them.”

Performing artists covered all corners of the medium from stand-up comedy to ballet, to jazz and modern dance in the streets.

The Sacramento Ballet led a “Thriller” flash mob, complete with zombie makeup and tutus, which Philpott said had been planned for a while. The group put out a video on YouTube to teach community members how to do the popular dance, which resulted in over 200 dancers joining in the streets.

The Harley White Jr. Orchestra, a locally-based Big Band reminiscent of the 1920s jazz-style through the 1950s, performed on one of the festival’s two stages, as well as local stand-up comedian Johnny Taylor, the Sacramento State Jazz Quartet, the Sacramento Philharmonic Orchestra and the Sacramento Ballet, among many others.

Created by Harley White Jr. in 1991, the band is influenced by Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Quincy Jones and Lee Scratch Perry, among others.

“We came to support the arts,” said Harley White Jr., 46, composer and bassist. “I’d like to see more collaborations between the art and jazz community.”

The Contemporary Dance Conservatory, a youth dance studio recently opened in May, was added to the festival at the last minute, said Jane Numazu, mother to one of the youth dancers. They still drew a crowd each time they took to dancing in the street.

The youth dancers said that they were very excited to be in the festival, some of whom had never performed in a public setting before, and welcomed the publicity for their new studio.

“We’ve had a lot of positive feedback with our dancing,” Allison Lian, 15, said. “We’ve been mainly improv-ing all day, and we’ve been asked to, next year, do performances, so that was really exciting for us.”

Lian described the modern dance as a “new type of dancing” but said the crowd embraced it positively.

“A lot of people do ballet and we have that strong technical training, but we kind of bring it into the 2000s,” said Bradley Palmer, 16. “We bring it into a fresh way of dancing. We take that ballet technique and use it to create a piece of work that hasn’t been seen for years.”

Lian has been dancing for three years and Palmer has been dancing for two years.

As for how the day went, both youths said they were just happy to be there and hope to see the festival back next year.

“I think it’s gone great this year, and if it could get bigger, then that’s all we could ask for,” Palmer said.

Feedback from the festival remained positive, with many attendees saying they wished it took up more than one block.

“I like the bands, but I like that they have the actual people that do the things like the dancers,” Roseville High School teacher Betsy Sanchez said. “I like when they actually have things that you can do - like the interactive stuff, and they have stuff for the kids, too. It’s nice.”

Her only critique — Bigger, because when it ended, I was a little disappointed. I thought there was going to be more,” she said.

Sanchez attended with her husband, who said the couple only came upon the festival by accident when they heard music and saw a crowd but were pleased with the experience.

“We wanted to indulge ourselves in some of the excitement,” he said. “I think it’s a great opportunity for people to expand their horizons.”

Mario Sanchez, who works for Union Pacific Co., added that Midtown needs more events similar to the festival and he hopes to see the festival continue for a second year.

“I like the crowd,” he said, “it’s nice and happy — and there’s good vibes. We’ll definitely be back next year.”

Philpott said organizers estimate there were about 500 or 600 attendees, though it could have been more, she added.

“We were really excited with the turnout,” she said. “It was a perfect amount of people for the space we had allocated.”

Philpott said that next year she would like to have the opera onstage as well as the Contemporary Dance Conservatory, which performed in the middle of the street since they were a late addition.

“We’d really like to get them on the stage next year, but it was almost awesome that they were on the street because it gave the street a different vibe,” she said.

Philpott said she would like to continue the festival running next year, though that is to be determined. For now, her reflections on the inaugural festival remain positive.

“It was just great to see all of the community arts organizations and businesses come together to put something on,” she said. “The volunteers were phenomenal. I couldn’t have done the event without them and without our technical team.”

Philpott said that the festival was successful because there was something for everyone to enjoy.

“It was definitely community-driven and a rewarding experience,” she added.

Kerth leaves MBA to focus on City Council run

2011-10-11T01:00:12Z

Rob Kerth is stepping down from his position as the Midtown Business Association’s executive director to focus his attention on a run for a City Council seat in 2012.

“It’s like climbing a mountain,” Kerth said Monday of his departure from the MBA. “Once I’ve done what I needed to do, then I need to go find a new mountain.”

The Midtown Business Association is a nonprofit organization that started in 1983. According to the MBA website, the goal of the organization is to “improve Midtown Sacramento through public maintenance, marketing, business advocacy and economic development.”

Kerth was hired as Executive Director in July 2008.

He said in an email that his official last day as executive director is Friday, but he plans to continue working with staff and consultants during the transition to “ensure the continuity of MBA's programs, such as Second Saturday (Art Walks), Midtown Cocktail Week, and graffiti and litter cleanup.”

“I want to help the association continue programs that are in place,” Kerth said, “and there are some things that haven’t yet been instituted but are under way that I want to still lend a hand with, too.

“One of the things I’ve enjoyed the most about Midtown are the wonderfully creative people here,” Kerth said. “They are always on the cutting edge, making things happen.”

Kerth said he is looking forward to running for City Council because, since his last term as a City Council member (1996–2000), he has “so many new experiences” under his belt.

Kerth will run against Councilwoman Sandy Sheedy for the District 2 seat in the primary election in June.

“I know all sorts of new ways to get things done for people,” Kerth said. “North Sacramento has a lot of potential, and it’s exciting for me as I look forward to helping this district thrive.”

Kerth said he will formally announce his bid for City Council Nov. 4 at the official reopening and ribbon cutting for the Iceland ice-skating rink.

Jimmy Johnson, co-owner of Zócalo restaurant in Midtown and 2011 president of the MBA, said Kerth’s stepping down is not a sudden action.

“The final decision was made last Friday,” Johnson said, “but (Kerth) has been involved in the transition process for the past few months.”

Johnson said the organization has hired a consulting firm to assist in conducting a nationwide search for Kerth’s replacement.

The salary for the new executive director has not been confirmed, however it will likely be in the range of Kerth’s former annual salary of $90,000, Johnson said.

Kerth isn’t the first to exit the ranks of the MBA in recent months. In September, the MBA announced that Aja Uranga-Foster, assistant director of the MBA, is leaving the organization Nov. 1.

Johnson said the MBA’s board of directors has not made any decision about filling the Assistant executive director position yet.

“Amber (Schmaeling, marketing and outreach manager) is going to step up as program director,” Johnson said, “and we may get her a little help, but we aren’t focusing on that position just now.”

Instead, Johnson said, the organization is focusing on its Property Business Improvement District (PBID) renewal, which is coming up in January.

The search for a new executive director will take about three months, Johnson said, and the MBA expects to have the position filled by Jan. 1.

Melissa Corker is a Staff Reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @MelissaCorker.

Historic Home Tour in Marshall School Neighborhood

2011-09-12T19:57:35Z

Sacramento Old City Association 36th Annual Home Tour
What: A tour of 8 historic buildings in the Marshall School neighborhood, and street fair at 27th and J Street.
When: Sunday, September 18, 10:00 AM-4:00 PM
Where: Marshall Park, 27th & J Street, Sacramento
How Much: $20 in advance, $25 day of event

On Sunday, September 18, the Sacramento Old City Association (SOCA) presents its 36th annual tour of historic homes in Sacramento’s central city. Each year, we offer an inside look into the beautiful and historic buildings that line Midtown and Downtown streets, and some of the newest infill development projects in the city. This year’s tour of the Marshall School neighborhood, in the northeastern quarter of the central city between F and J Street, features homes in the Queen Anne, Craftsman and Neoclassic styles. In addition to seven residential buildings, this year's tour includes a rare inside look at the Sacramento Eastern Star Temple, a National Register listed 1925 Romanesque Revival building.

The tour starts at Marshall Park, at the corner of 27th and J Street. A street fair at the park features local contractors, architects, builders and artisans specializing in historic home rehab and remodeling, local businesses, artists and crafters displaying their wares, local nonprofits, advocacy and local history organizations.

Local musicians Tender Cinders, Garage Jazz Architects, The Freebadge Serenaders, and Emile Dalkey will perform at the street fair in the center of Marshall Park, starting at 11:00 AM.

Those attending the tour will get an inside, guided tour through each building, provided by volunteer docents, including members of the Marshall School New Era Park Neighborhood Association, SOCA, and the Sacramento Art Deco Society. Tour participants can also show their tour wristband for a 15% discount in the restaurants of the nearby Sutter District. The tour costs $25 on the day of the event, or $20 in advance via www.brownpapertickets.com. The street fair is free and open to the public.

Started in 1975, the SOCA Home Tour was created to showcase historic homes in neglected central city neighborhoods. Members showed off their home-repair projects and shared techniques, tools and advice. As these neighborhoods became the Sacramento region’s favorite destination for culture and entertainment, the home tour has grown into a celebration of central city life, including art, culture, business, transportation and transit, entertainment, history, downtown living, and the irreplaceable beauty of Sacramento’s historic neighborhoods. The tour is also a fundraiser that helps SOCA carry out its mission to preserve and enhance a high quality of life for Central City residents, businesses, working people and visitors.

Tickets can be purchased online at https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/187298
For more information about SOCA, visit http://www.sacoldcity.org

Sponsored in part by Midtown Monthly Magazine, The Sutter District restaurants, and Midtown Business Association

Disclosure: William Burg is a board member of the Sacramento Old City Association.

Artober celebrates Sacramento artists

2011-09-03T02:21:20Z

October was officially declared as National Arts and Humanities Month by President Obama back in 2009. Artober is a month-long event starting Oct. 1 that highlights the talents and art resources in Sacramento and celebrates the meaning of the month. It will include local artists, businesses, art walks, festivals, workshops and other special events in Old Sacramento and the downtown area.

Last year, Mayor Kevin Johnson announced that the For Arts’ Sake Coalition would be introducing a new action plan for the Sacramento area. A team of 20 artists and art enthusiasts worked to bring resources together such as getting organizations and businesses involved in the process of making the public aware of the power of the arts. Last year, “Arts Open October” was held, which was a test run and smaller idea of what will be going on this year.

“This is our first year doing it quite like this (bigger than ‘Arts Open October’), and we are trying to rally everyone together, from individual artists to big names like the Mondavi Center,” Artober spokeswoman Veronica Delgado said.

According to Veronica, Sacramento alone holds about 30 museums, a professional ballet company and opera company, music groups and more than 125 theater companies.

“We have different stages of how people are involved,” Delgado said. “We've been sending out letters and making phone calls because we want small and big event supporters. We've also been offering businesses the option of doing an Artober indulge product such as a signature drink or meal.”

The businesses that agree to this will be donating 50 percent of the proceeds to the art organization of their choice, or giving a $200 minimum to it.

“We got enough positive feedback and support to come back and do it again,” Delgado said. “We started with two pages of scheduled events, and now we have almost seven full pages – it's really great that so many people want to jump in and help.”

Some big names that are sponsoring and involved are the Sacramento Convention and Visitors Bureau, For Arts’ Sake, Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission, Sacramento365, Downtown Sacramento Partnership, Midtown Business Association, the city’s Department of Convention, Culture and Leisure, The Sacramento Bee and the Sacramento News & Review.

“We want individuals to get active also, and we are giving them the option of doing artist 'hot spots.' They can team up with their biggest collector and have an in-home art show. The same goes for musicians. It doesn't have to be big, but if two people bring 10 friends and host it in their backyard, that is giving them a great opportunity to market themselves,” Delgado said.

There is a variety of ways to get involved, and every style of art is included. Fashion designers, singer/songwriters and private dance or theater companies are all welcome.

Clemon Charles, 47, is a local artist who moved from Barbados 20 years ago and has been performing in the United States ever since.

“I'm a very busy singer/songwriter, and I also play guitar,” Charles said.

Charles will be in the global village set up in Old Sacramento on the “Storytellers Stage” (set-up location not yet announced) doing Caribbean-style storytelling for children on Oct. 1 (he does not know his official time yet).

“Children are my favorite (audience), but everybody is welcome,” Charles said. “I do a lot of folk songs with Jamaican and Indian dialects that people won’t understand, so I tell them what I am singing about.”

The World Music and Dance Festival in Old Sacramento will be kicking the month off for the first two days of October.

On Oct. 9, there will be the Arts Open House, which is an entire afternoon of theater performances at the Community Center Theatre that will also include an art fair.

On Oct. 26, Synthia St. James will be the guest artist at the For Arts’ Sake Coalition Meeting at the Guild Theatre located on 2828 35th St. It will be an opportunity for the public to learn about the For Arts’ Sake implementation and hear what’s going on around the region with Artober activities.

The Artober calendar will be finalized in the coming weeks.

“We are not only raising awareness for art, but we are helping local (forms of the) arts build up their potential customer base and giving them the ability to take action into their own hands and make new opportunities for themselves,” Delgado said.

For more information, visit Artober's website or Facebook page.

“March to the Beat of One Heart”: Somalian Aid Concert in Sacramento Set for Sat., Sept. 3

2011-08-30T19:54:28Z

On Saturday September 3, a broad, multi-genre group of area musicians will join together to present a benefit concert for Somalian refugees. “March to the Beat of One Heart” will be held at Antiquite Maison Privee, 2114 P Street in midtown Sacramento. The event runs from 5 pm-11pm and there is $10 minimum donation.

The concert, in association with the Midtown Business Association and Swell Productions, will feature ten Sacramento musical acts playing for a common goal of assisting victims of the war and drought-ravaged region. 100% of the proceeds will go to Doctors Without Borders, a worldwide humanitarian aid organization, and their efforts in Somalia.

Guitarist and concert promoter Ross Hammond came up with the idea for the concert a little more than two weeks before the show date. "I was sitting at home reading the news about the millions of starving families displaced because of war, drought and famine. Watching this unfold is heartbreaking, and I felt that even though we're so far away we can still help. I'm no doctor or aid worker, but I do know how to put music together for a cause. After the initial idea, the concert came together in two days. The venue, sponsors, artists and press were very eager to get involved, so here we are."

The Somalian Aid Concert will feature music by Lee Bob Watson, The Ricky and Del Connection, Electropoetic Coffee, Greenhouse, Kathy Barwick and Pete Siegfried, Sherman Baker, Jahari Sai and Dave Lynch, Crossing the River, Walking Spanish and the Harley White Jr. Trio. These artists span many genres including folk, bluegrass, blues, jazz, soul and world music.

"This concert bridges the gap of seemingly disconnected Americans with the plight of desperate, starving people a world away," says Electropoetic Coffee poet Lawrence Dinkins. "Sacramento artists are rising to the call. I'm proud today to call myself a Sacramentan."

The motivation for Sacramento guitarist and songwriter Gene Smith (The Ricky and Del Connection, Kai Kln) is a humanitarian one. "After seeing the pictures on the news, it breaks my heart to see humans treat each other this way. I feel if I have a talent that can better things in any capacity then I will use it. Everyone should do that, whether they are a doctor or a lawyer or a musician."

Not only are Sacramento musicians donating their talents, but local businesses are also assisting. Midtown's Phono Select Records will be on hand spinning records before, during and after the event.

Profound Sound, a midtown musical instrument and repair store is donating a full PA system to use for the event. "I like to support the local scene and I especially like seeing others getting involved" says Profound Sound owner Joey Cline. "The situation in Somalia has been ongoing for 20 years now, and the average Somali lives on less than $1/day. If you want to help, this is a good cause."

"The idea is to present a variety of artists to show that this is a global issue," says Hammond. "The music showcased at this concert really covers the sound spectrum. We can all come together in Sacramento to raise awareness and money for this cause. If we can do it here, it can be done anywhere. Remember 'We Are the World?' I do."

Disclosure: Submitted by Mindy Giles, Swell Productions.

Midtown residents and business owners find common ground with new agreement

2011-08-10T05:21:10Z

A better stream of communication between late-night businesses and residents in Midtown is the goal of the Midtown Business Association’s new Midtown Good Neighbor Agreement, which was completed in May.

The document was conceived out of a six-month-long project geared toward improving the grid nightlife by one of five volunteer groups consisting of local business owners and community members.

These volunteer groups were formed to lower the negative impacts of the grid nightlife on residents after the Responsible Hospitality Institute drafted an assessment of possible solutions to make midtown more hospitable for everyone.

The consulting firm was hired by the MBA in 2009 to assist locals in making their communities a more safe and vibrant place to socialize, taking into consideration the overconcentration of liquor licenses in Midtown as defined by state law.

The groups met individually last year to discuss safety and nightlife and created a six-month action plan.

In the past, there has been a “lack of communication between certain late-night businesses and residents,” said Aja Uranga Foster, assistant director of the Midtown Business Association.

Because of this, there have been many disputes between residents and business owners, including cars blocking driveways and complaints that venues leave doors open while a band is playing. Most conflicts arise because of the proximity of bars and nightclubs to residential neighborhoods.

“We had to ask, ‘How do we open up that channel and get them talking?’ ” Foster said.

The Way it Works

A business contacts the Midtown Business Association to find out the respective neighborhood association for that area.

The two parties come together for an initial meeting with a facilitator from the MBA and discuss their terms of the agreement.

The business and neighborhood association or resident(s) then work together to find a way the business can operate without bothering the residents.

After several weeks of collaboration and redrafting of the document between the two parties, they then sign a written agreement which is kept on file by the MBA.

“It’s up to the businesses and residences to use this as a tool to improve their communities,” Foster said.

She said that the MBA advises redrafting the agreement every six months to a year, or if a business decides to get a new permit for alcohol or entertainment.

The MBA doesn’t limit the number of people in the process.

Foster said that anyone can initiate the agreement, though it’s “preferred that there are a few representatives involved, because it brings more to the conversation.”

City Councilman Steve Cohn administered a few community forums in 2010 following the Sept. 11 Second Saturday Art Walk homicide. The Midtown Neighborhood Association had a few remaining questions regarding the document and concerns were voiced about how the agreement would be enforced.

The idea is that neighborhood representatives and business owners can resolve an issue together, Foster said. “If it’s not an emergency thing, that communication should be available … they should hold each other accountable.”

With the draft of the document completed in May, two businesses in Midtown have already begun settling agreements with neighboring residents and associations.

Recently opened BarWest Burgers & Wings is working in conjunction with the Marshall School / New Era Park Neighborhood Association. They are still in the early stages of the process.

“We want to support the paradigm that brings residents and businesses to the table to communicate,” said Julie Murphy, co-chair of the association, “If businesses and residents have good communication, problems can be solved.”

“Midtown is a highly residential area,” said Trevor Shults, co-owner of BarWest Burgers & Wings. “Our neighbors will be our patrons,” he said. We want to make living here as enjoyable as we can, he added.

Shults said that they “will be asking people to respect the neighborhood as they leave.” The document asks that they show courtesy to the neighborhood after hours which many in the neighborhood felt hasn’t been given to them much before.

The neighborhood has had trouble in the past with businesses on the block, he said.

Red Lotus Kitchen & Bar replaced G.V. Hurley’s in Sept. 2009, for example; the latter experienced controversy with the neighboring residents after Hurley’s stopped providing security guards to patrol the nearby streets throughout the nights on the weekends, and overcrowded parking seemed to be an issue as well.

Murphy said that “(Shults and co-owner Todd Zancaner have) been really great about meeting with the neighborhood,” adding that they’ve attended multiple meetings with the association and are “trying to create a relationship between the residents of the neighborhood.”

The other business to initiate an agreement with neighboring residents is Mondo Bizarro Cafe which replaced Butch and Nellie’s Coffee Co. on 18th and I street early this year.

The cafe is collaborating with one of the neighborhood’s landowners (who owns multiple lots near the business), housing about 18 residents, to regulate the noise level from the cafe’s weekly open mic nights and live shows.

All music played is acoustic, said Drew Newbold, co-owner of the cafe. The greatest concession the cafe has agreed to in its alliance with the neighborhood, Newbold said, is that there be no music outside.

Newbold said he was contacted by Foster three months ago with requests from the landowner to settle into the agreement.

The first meeting was tense, he said, “There were complaints against the previous ownership because they had music outside.”

“By the time the meeting was over, we were friends,” he added, “We’ve now established that relationship between landowners and business owners,” but needed the agreement as the mediary to do it.

Mondo Bizarro will only be holding a beer and liquor license until ten at night, Newbold explained, because it’s hard enough to keep it quiet and peaceful with beer and wine, he said. It would be more difficult to keep it peaceful if we had liquor too, he added.

Newbold said the two parties have only met once to discuss the document, but all terms were agreed upon at the first meeting and the cafe has held up on its end, he said, and that they “haven’t got any complaints yet.”

The agreement “opens the lines of communication really well,” he said, “and allowed us to become more direct with each other.”

The Midtown Business Association is currently drafting a sticker for each business to place in its window once the agreement is signed and finalized, and is waiting for a final say from the board meeting next week on the final additions.

Interested business owners and residential neighborhood representatives can get more information or set up a meeting time by contacting Aja@mbasac.com.

Bike share program stumbles and evolves

2011-07-19T00:18:35Z

Sacramento’s Ride Your Own Way bike share program suffered a setback when three bicycles were stolen earlier this month, but organizers said they are going forward with an updated system, and new bicycles will soon be ordered.

“Someone stole a credit card and used that to check out the bikes,” said Midtown Business Association Executive Director Rob Kerth. “We’ve made some changes to how people have to validate the credit card, so we’ll be able to tell if it’s the right person.”

The program, which launched June 11, allows bicycles to be rented from one of two kiosks in Midtown – one at the Priority Parking lot at 16th and I streets and one at the Priority Parking lot at 27th and J streets. Renting a bicycle is free for the first 30 minutes, and a $2 per half hour charge is applied after that, and bicycles must be returned to their original spots once the riders are done with them.

“It’s great for people who want to use bikes to go shopping or go to lunch or things like that,” said Adrian Moore, owner of Ikon Cycles and purchaser of the original 12 Bianchi Milano eight-speed bicycles.

Click here to read a previous in-depth story on the bicycle sharing program.

The program was set up as a six-month pilot to determine the feasibility of doing it on a larger scale, similar to programs in Montreal, Paris and Washington, D.C.

“My first impression of it is that it seems to be working pretty well,” Kerth said. “It’s maybe (getting) a little less (use) than what I’d thought, but we’ve yet to hit our stride.”

Kerth said there have been 43 bicycle rentals, and several of those have been from return users. Saturdays are the most popular days for the rentals, but he said people use them every day.

The average checkout time is about two hours, and Kerth said feedback has been positive, with people saying the system is easy to use and affordable.

“We’re looking forward to when we start having more kiosks, assuming it goes well and people like it,” Kerth said.

Moore said he is happy with the amount of usage and said there would have been more rentals had the service not been shut down for a couple of weeks following the theft. The shutdown was so better theft countermeasures could be put in place.

One of the countermeasures is to only allow two bicycles to be checked out on one credit card at a time.

Currently, the bicycles at the J Street location are back and available for checkout, while the I Street station’s bicycles are still in storage until the three stolen ones can be replaced.

“We’re just waiting on the check from the insurance company,” Moore said.

Moore added that he thinks the theft was not a trend, but more of an isolated incident.

“We went three weeks without a single theft, and we had no vandalizing of the bikes or parts stolen off them,” he said. “It’s just one (person) that sort of ruined it.”

If theft continues to be a problem as it has been with personal bicycles in Midtown, Moore said there are other options to counter the threat.

One option is to set up a subscription-based service, which would cause lag time from when people initially sign up to when they can check out a bicycle for the first time.

Another option, he said, is to partner with the city and install kiosks in parking garages where a guard is on-site 24 hours per day.

“They already have someone paid to be there, and they will probably be willing to give up one parking spot for the bikes,” Moore said. “That’s a route that would be easy to do and would prevent vandalism and theft.”

And that’s why Ride Your Own Way is still in its pilot phase, Moore said.

“That’s the whole point in doing this,” he said. “We might lose a little bit, but we learn tons.”

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow him on Twitter @Brandon_Darnell.

Talking trash in Midtown

2011-06-24T23:26:04Z

Midtown Business Association’s new litter removal specialist, Ray Brocker, 25, is more than just a trash picker. Armed with his trash picker and a trash cart fully equipped with garbage bags, gloves and a water jug, he struts through Midtown to keep the streets clean.

Brocker picks up trash four times a week, Monday through Thursday and on Second Sundays for five hours each day—rain or shine.

He said he has had some interesting findings collecting litter on his routes— $40 floating in a gutter, a body pillow, and even human fecal matter.

On a normal day he said he finds a lot of every day things: discarded cigarette packs, parking passes and iced coffee cups are the most frequent.

“I’m like a trash specialist,” Brocker said.

Not only is he a trash specialist, but he also poses as a tour guide for the lost, a restaurant guide for the hungry, and a friendly face for the passerby. And he has a supply of coupons for Midtown businesses to hand out.

The new position is part of the Streetscape Improvement Program “to keep Midtown attractive, alluring and intact,” according to the MBA website. It is funded by the Midtown Sacramento Property and Business Improvement District.

A PBID is when businesses in the district pay for the funding of clean and safe programs, marketing and security to help make the district and community a better place to live.

MBA’s goal is to help keep Sacramento a welcoming, clean and safe environment. In this case it begins from the ground up.

“We want to keep the streets clean because businesses are who we work for, and we want to make sure that people want to come and shop and eat at them, so it’s definitely a priority,” said Niki Fay, Midtown Business Association Streetscape Improvement Program Manager..

Fay said the MBA created the position in late April to focus on local work and utilize their own resources and time to get more work done for the same price. In the past MBA used a third-party contractor to clean the streets and sidewalks once a week.

“When we shifted to the in-house staff person it allowed us to double the amount of work done for the same price,” Fay said.

Fay said this will be an ongoing position, and they hope to hire more litter specialists in the future.

Brocker, who beat out 300 other applicants for the job, has been working with MBA for a little over a month, and he has already made a huge impact in Midtown.

“Ray is really great and really hard working,” Fay said. “Ray worked with us previously and he was really good with people and we thought he’d be a good fit,” she added.

Fay said that Brocker, who is doing the job that four people used to do with the third-party litter clean-up contractors, has increased trash pick up by nearly 50 percent.

Fay said in the past they were only collecting 280 gallons of litter, whereas now Brocker brings in 528 gallons.

“I get occasional questions like what I’m doing, why, and what it’s for. It’s usually a positive reaction,” Brocker said. “A couple of people a day will stop and say thank you for doing this for the community.”

He has become a vital part of the Midtown community. He said he is proud to be making a difference.

“I live in Midtown and I definitely utilize the area to its fullest. It’s nice to walk around,” Brocker said. “When people stop me I can tell them how to get anywhere downtown on the grid because I shop here, I go out, I eat here, and I know a lot of people in the area.”

Brocker carries around a map of Midtown that is broken up into zones ranging from 15th and 16th streets to Sutter’s Fort off of Highway 80. He locks up his cart and collects litter on foot for a couple of blocks until his bag is full and he returns to the MBA dumpster to discard the trash.

“It seems like people are just throwing their trash out of the windows of their cars,” Brocker said. “I feel like it’s ignorance and laziness. They throw one cup out not thinking of the impact it has. If everyone else is doing that, then there’s so many cups out now. I don’t think they pay attention.”

Brocker said it is made most apparent that people don’t pay attention in instances like those when he is out picking and he cleans an entire block, only to walk back to his cart later and find it littered again.

Or like the time when he was picking up trash and someone littered right in front of him. He said he tries not to let it bother him too much.

“It’s actually easier when there’s more trash because time isn’t spent scouring the streets looking for trash, it’s right there,” Brocker said.

On Sundays following the Second Saturday Art Walk Brocker said he collects the most trash bags. The hub of Midtown, J and K streets, are littered with fliers and remnants of the night before. Bars and areas with large homeless populations, like the alleys of K street, are the most littered areas, he said.

Fay said she thinks part of the problem is that Midtown only has 21 trash cans. She said with the litter removal program they hope to implement more trash cans in the area and double the amount in the next four months. She said it will be a substantial improvement.

But for now they have Brocker, and his effort is proven to be a substantial improvement for the community at large.

“What I like most is when I’m cleaning out the gutters and I’m thinking of all the trash that isn’t going into our water ways,” Brocker said. “I like walking down the streets and seeing that it’s clean. It makes me feel good.”

City fee increases cause concern for local businesses

2011-06-16T03:49:09Z

The Sacramento City Council approved changes to a variety of fees for city services and permits for the upcoming fiscal year Tuesday night, including an increase in the cost of entertainment permits for businesses that provide music and dancing.

All totaled, the council approved 18 different fees, including increases to 12 existing fees and the addition of six new ones.

City Finance Director Leyne Milstein outlined the proposal in a public hearing presentation to a full council and about 50 people in the chamber audience before the council unanimously voted to approve it.

Citing cost recovery as the basis for the adjustments, Milstein noted that 18 fee changes is a relatively small number compared to the 237 approved fee adjustments in fiscal year 2009-10 and the 59 fee changes that were approved for the current fiscal year.

“Cost recovery offsets general fund costs,” Milstein said. “For certain fees, we believe that it’s reasonable for people to pay the full freight for the benefit that they’re getting.”

Included in the new fee changes were some adjustments intended to make fees more predictable.

The hourly rate for building plan review previously varied depending on whichever individual staffer was doing the review. Now, the rate will be a consistent $140/hour.

Review of building permit applications for flood zone regulation, however, previously had no associated fee but now will also be charged at a rate of $140/hour.

Other fees were increased to keep up with changes over time in actual costs to the city. Utility customers who need a water supply test will find that the fee has been increased $200 from $753 to $953.

Although the majority of the changes proposed for fiscal year 2011-12 reflect less than a 100 percent cost recovery for the city, some of the fee changes were met with criticism from the business community.

The entertainment permit fee increase, in particular, came under fire from representatives of businesses where amplified music and dancing are cornerstones of the operation.

“We can’t exactly say that we’re excited about the fee increases,” said Rob Kerth, executive director of the Midtown Business Association (MBA).

Kerth said the Midtown Business Association (MBA) works to make Midtown a place where artists, businesses, entertainment venues and residents prosper together.

“We’re business people and we understand things cost what they cost,” Kerth said. “We just want to make sure it’s fair and businesses aren’t frustrated by the process or the enforcement.”

Prior to the council’s approval of the fee changes, a new two-year entertainment permit from the city cost applicants $1,428. Now, the fee is $1,722 and renewals of the permit have nearly doubled, going from $743 to $1,331.

According to a Finance Department report from May 31, however, the fee charged for the permit doesn’t cover the city’s actual cost of providing it.

A 2009 city-wide fee study determined the actual cost recovery for the application review process on a new two-year entertainment permit is $3,445. For a renewal, the actual cost recovery is $2,662.

The newly increased permit fees only recover about 50 percent of the department’s actual cost.

Shortly after reviewing that 2009 fee study, the Council approved an incremental increase over several years until the department reaches 100 percent cost recovery to avoid “sticker shock” increases.

The last time the entertainment permit fee was increased was in 2009.

“(The city) thinks they’re doing us a favor by not recovering 100 percent of their cost from businesses,” Kerth said. “But really, it’s a disincentive to the business owners who pay the fees because they are levied unfairly.”

Kerth explained that, although the initial permit fee may be the same for all applicants, conditions placed on receiving the permit are “very subjective, depending on the (permitting) officer of the day,” and that enforcement of permit conditions and violations is inconsistent.

“There may be two businesses across the street from one another, and the terms of their permit will be completely different. Each one thinks the other got a sweet deal, and there’s resentment and animosity created,” Kerth said.

To some business owners, the fee increase is an unnecessary burden that only makes it harder for them to afford to do business in the city.

“Five years ago, I was paying $50 a year for a permit to have dancing in my clubs,” said Terry Sidie, owner of three Midtown dance club locations: Faces, Headhunters and Club 21.

“Once the economy started to go bad, the city came up with the ‘e-permit’ and started charging us a huge fee,” Sidie said. “They don’t understand all that (business owners) have to pay every year. It’s crazy.”

Sidie listed fees ranging from royalty fee requirements for the music he plays to a county health permit, an annual fire inspection fee and more – fees totaling almost $16,000 per year, for each of his business locations.

Not all of those fees are paid to the city, but Sidie said the city’s increased entertainment permit fee is “just one more thing added on.”

“The council members say the city is business-friendly, but it doesn’t feel that way,” Sidie said.

Kerth said the MBA is eager to sit down with city staff and talk about ways to streamline the permit process to make it more cost-effective, and to discuss a more consistent code enforcement policy that will level the playing field for all businesses who use entertainment permits.

Read the full Finance Department staff report on the new fee increases here.

Get more information about all city fees and charges here.

Sacramento's Pride celebration thrives regardless of unpredicable weather

2011-06-07T01:00:10Z

Rain? What rain? A tidal wave wouldn't have stopped people from showing up to the 27th annual Sacramento Pride parade and party last Saturday at the Capitol Mall. The area was bookended by the gorgeous Tower Bridge at one end and the State Capital at the other end, a great backdrop for the Pride celebration.

Sacramento's 2011 Pride parade and party lasted from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, June 4, 2011. Both 3rd and 7th streets were reserved for the festivities which included vendor booths, a live entertainment stage, an area for a diverse selection of food and a dance tent. This year’s entertainment schedule included acts such as Miss Coco Peru, Raquela, Tom Goss, Luciana, Jovi Radtke and Xavier Toscano. Pride kicked off with a parade at 10:00 a.m. starting from 5th and S streets.

Sacramento Pride's focus is to bring lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Americans out of the shadows and into everyday society. One doesn't have to be gay in order to participate or celebrate in Pride, as it is an opportunity to show support and enthusiasm for the LGBT community, friends and loved ones. The city of Sacramento is home to 9.8 percent of our country's gay population
- the sixth highest in the nation.

Sacramento Pride is the biggest fundraiser of the year for the Sacramento Gay & Lesbian Center, so when the forecast predicted rain at the beginning of the week, it still didn't bring them down.

"We embrace the rain, it's not like we can cancel the event. We just hope for the best," said a very optimistic Josh Jacoby, Pride Director.

Jacoby said the turnout exceeded his expectations with the rain in mind. The organizers handed out free pink umbrellas to attendees as a way to show that they wanted them there no matter the circumstances or unpredictable weather.

Members from all walks of life came together to celebrate diversity. There were same sex couples wearing brightly colored, matching shirts declaring "Just Married!" and men in high heels covered head to toe in glitter. There were drag queens, people wearing colorful leis and others donning posters and signs showcasing their beliefs and statements.

Each year after Pride, organizers rest for about two months before they do it all over again and start planning for the next Pride. They estimate that about 10 months are necessary to properly organize the event. In a parking garage located next to the Pride's premises, there is a hub where all the passionate and tender-hearted volunteers work together to make sure everything runs smoothly. Sacramento Pride is put on with the help of volunteers, this year there were over 390 signed up beforehand and many more walk-in volunteers were welcomed on the day of the event.

Many Pride festival goers enjoyed vendor booths showcasing various products or organizations, handing out literature and free merchandise and always having someone on hand to explain more about their reason for being part of Pride. Attendees had a bevy of vendors to choose and learn from that were associated and supported by the Sacramento gay, lesbian and transgender community. Booths included women’s and men’s health services, safe sex promotion, Planned Parenthood services and STD testing, the Sacramento Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, information on how to come out to your family and friends, dating services and Gay and Lesbian art.

One of the best new discoveries was "Lavender Angels" produced by the Midtown Business Association and a program of the Sacramento Gay and Lesbian Center and Police department. Lavender Angels provide a late night patrol and concierge for people who do not feel safe in the streets of the Lavender Heights area of Sacramento.

Another interesting addition to the vendor area was the dozen or so congregation organizations set up and ready to explain how they have embraced the lesbian and gay community. Handouts about acceptance with Christianity and Homosexuality, Catholic HIV/AIDS Ministry and the Spiritual Life Center were being passed around with open arms and smiles.

This year’s event sponsors included Jackson Rancheria, Wells Fargo, Outword Magazine, Midtown Business Association, Sactown Magazine, The Rainbow Pages, Lumens Light + Living, Regional Transit, Faces, Barefoot Wine, Hewlett Packard, Bud Light, SMUD, Amtrak, Cheer San Francisco, CARES and Sacramento News & Review. The many sponsors played an enormous role in the heart of the celebration. Each sponsor had representatives present to staff their tables and march in the parade to show their support to the gay, lesbian and transgender community. Amtrak also sponsored a KIDS ZONE, a safe place for parents to leave their children for free while they wandered around the festival.

After powering through the strong winds and rain and experiencing tents blown over and torn down, people still didn't leave, they stayed and enjoyed some grub and got their dance on. There was plenty of food to sample and a large mobile bar sold beer and wine for anyone that was thirsty before they got down to the jams by resident DJ from Faces: Jon E Quest.

Toward the later afternoon, the makeshift dance floor was heavily drenched with rain and jam-packed full of happy and expressive people of all ages. The highlight of the afternoon was a moment when the sun peeked out from the clouds and the rain stopped. The DJ got on the megaphone and declared, "Now each of you call a friend and tell them to get their behinds out here ‘cause the sun has come out!"

Musical Charis Opens the 2011 Hot Lunch Concert Series

2011-06-04T00:13:13Z

On Thursday, June 2, Sacramento saw the start of another year of the Hot Lunch Concert Series and a new free music event playing at Cesar Chavez Plaza; “Fiesta en la Calle” (Street Party).

The Hot Lunch Concert Series is a collaboration between Hot Italian, Sacramento News and Review and Friends of Fremont Park. Musical guests perform on Thursdays from June 2 to September 1 during the lunch hour (11:30 to 1p.m). Promoter Jerry Perry has put together a great lineup. Fremont Park, located on the corner of 16th and P Streets hosts the event.

Musical Charis was the first band scheduled to perform this year. The weather cooperated and made for a delightful lunch concert. People from around the area brought their lunch or took advantage of being across the street from Hot Italian and ordered their lunch from there.

Musical Charis had already begun their set when I got there and about 100 people or so where sitting in front of the stage. Children were running around enjoying the outdoors on a mostly sunny time of the day.

Locals and others enjoyed the music and company of neighbors and friends. Andrea Lepore, co-owner of Hot Italian took a little time to listen to the band and chatted with Jerry Perry and Tais’ immediate family.

I noticed two outdoor booths from two partners of the concert series; Metro PCS and Sacramento News and Review. Other partners for the concerts include CADA, Yelp, Midtown Business Association and the Sacramento Press.

Blake Abbey from Musical Charis at one point reminded the audience that the Hot Lunch Concerts will be held at Fremont Park. He also mentioned that Concerts in the Park is being held on Fridays at the Cesar Chavez Plaza. Both concert events are free and suited for music fans of all ages.

As they finished playing “Forward”, Abbey said they were going to be playing a few more songs and then a couple of kids from their musical school were going to perform. Musical Charis not only performs but also runs the Musical Charis School for Music. They offer a wide range of music programs including private music lessons, Music 4 Tots (for kids age 5 and below), song writing workshops, vocal boot-camp, recording sessions, recitals and more.

“Anatomy” from their 2009 Electra City Church Bells EP followed as they continued to play in front of the Fremont Park audience.

A harmonica intro started off “Tell Me” from their People People CD. A great mixture of guitar, bass, keyboards, harmonica, tambourines and congas created a great sound as Musical Charis played their set especially when they played their rendition of Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire.”

“I Candy” was introduced by Abbey saying, “This song is about the over abundance of bands that moved to L.A. to try to make it but they ran out of make up so they didn’t make it.”

“We’ve been teaching music classes for about two and a half years in Sacramento. We started in Oak Park but we’re now located at the K Street Mall by the food courts. So if anybody has kids or adults that want to learn how to play music, first lesson is always free, and we’re really nice people on the weekends, and on the weekdays too.” said Abbey as he introduced Shawn and Bradley.

Their first song selection included a great acoustic guitar intro as a Sarah Teasdale poem was made into a song. They followed up with “For Sale” and ended their short set.

Musical Charis came back after their short break and played “Passport”, "Catwalk", "Fish" and "Heavy".

Back on the microphone Abbey said, "Promote local music and local art here in Sacramento. It’s a great place for it and encourage the economy to improve by buying some Hot Italian. Thank you again, thank you Jerry Perry, thank you Hot Italian and thanks to all of you."

Musical Charis ended their set with one of their signature songs “The Life”. As people left you could hear a couple of them whistling that same tune. Musical Charis will next perform on June 4th at the Second Annual "Art Happens" benefit event at the Sacramento Arts Complex located at 2110 K Street.

This was a great kick-off to the Hot Lunch Concert Series. If you plan to attend one of the concerts, you can call Hot Italian at 444-3000 and order any pizza and pick it up before going to the park. You can also get the Hot Lunch (a panini or insalata + a drink for only $10, tax included). Below is the schedule for the rest of the season.

2011 HOT LUNCH Line Up
6/2 – Musical Charis
6/9 – The Bell Boys
6/16 - Walking Spanish
6/23 – Richard March
6/30 – Kepi Acoustic with Dog Party Acoustic
7/7 - Shannon Curtis
7/14 – Gerald Pease Combo
7/21 – Island of Black and White
7/28 – Exquisite Corps
8/4 – The Freebadge Serenaders
8/11 – KB & The Slingtones
8/18 – The Nickel Slots
8/25 – Gillian Underwood
9/1 – Larrisa Bryski & Willie Seltzer

DSP wants central city to be one district

2011-04-15T00:36:50Z

The Downtown Sacramento Partnership is recommending that all of the central city be included in one City Council district as the city undergoes its redistricting process, which must be completed by September.

“We want to affirm the importance of the central city, the heart of our city and our community, and have a collective voice within the central core,” said Wendy Hoyt, chairwoman of the DSP’s redistricting task force.

The DSP worked with a consultant, but anyone in the city can make redistricting maps and submit them. Find out how by clicking here.

Hoyt said the DSP defines the central city as the area bordered by the American River to the north, the Sacramento River to the west, Interstate 80 to the east and Highway 50 to the south.

“We would like to see it be one united council district, one voice,” she said. “That would make up 32,000 of a (roughly 58,000-person) City Council district.”

Currently, portions of the central city are represented by City Council Districts 1 (Angelique Ashby), 3 (Steve Cohn) and 4 (Rob Fong).

Hoyt said central city residents don’t have a majority portion of any of those districts, and they therefore can’t influence policy as well as if they were united.

Darrick Lawson, chair of the political action committee for the Sacramento Rainbow Chamber of Commerce, said he agrees with uniting the central city in one district, but for somewhat different reasons.

“For the gay and LGTB community, our interest is that our voting power not be divided up,” he said.

Most of the chamber’s research, he said, shows that the majority of the gay community and its allies live in the central city.

“We have data that show that’s kind of where we’re best-represented, and communities of interest are not supposed to have their voting power divided,” he said.

Hoyt said the DSP wants to work with other stakeholders in the central city to come up with a new district map that works for other central city interest groups.

Rob Kerth, executive director of the Midtown Business Association, said he could not comment on the DSP’s map, since he does not want to speak for his board – which is developing its own recommendations.

Similar efforts were made 10 years ago, when Hoyt headed DSP, but she said the landscape has totally changed since then.

She mentioned the growth seen in District 1 and added that the population center – according to DSP’s data and consultant – has shifted from the Curtis Park/Land Park area to the C and D street area on the north side of downtown.

“We did not have as strong a voice 10 years ago as we do today, but I also think as an organization we have matured,” she said. “We intend to be a strong voice at the table.”

City Councilman Rob Fong’s district director, Lisa Nava, said Fong thinks the DSP has valid points.

She said Fong thinks the DSP did a good job outlining its objectives, and that the move was expected.

“I don’t think it’s surprising that this is the map they prefer,” she said, adding that Fong is open to hearing more from the DSP and other constituents.

“He’s anxious to see if they come up with anything additional as well,” Nava said.

Hoyt said the DSP is still in the early phases of working with the city through the redistricting process and wants to work with other groups to possibly develop ideas that work for them all.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Paesanos celebrates 15 years in Midtown

2011-04-10T22:26:50Z

Paesanos Italian restaurant in Midtown is gearing up to celebrate 15 years in business with two weeks of specials starting Saturday and a hint to possible expansion to a third location.

Director of Operations Dana Scarpulla said a new location is in the works – probably getting under way within a year – but she couldn’t comment further on the location. She added that business has continued to grow in the past five years.

“We opened on April 18, 1996, and it’s been great,” Scarpulla said. “There wasn’t much on this corner back then, and we’ve seen Midtown really transition since.”

The spot at 1806 Capitol Ave. had seen a string of restaurants come and go before Paesanos moved in. In the late 1800s, it was home to a machine shop and then a Studebaker dealership.

Since the mid-1990s, restaurants have become more concentrated in Midtown, and Scarpulla said that has made it more of a destination for Sacramentans and suburbanites alike, which has helped Paesanos stay in business and thrive.

“When they moved in, Midtown was quite a different place,” said Midtown Business Association Executive Director Rob Kerth. “The vacancy rate on commercial properties was far higher, and it wasn’t a destination for anything.”

Kerth added that restaurants are hard businesses to run, and to be able to stay in business for 15 years as the area grew to more of a destination and more restaurants sprang up is a testament to quality.

“In so many ways, they were pioneers here,” he said.

Owners David Virga and Mark Scribner opened a second location in Elk Grove in 2005.

“Paesanos is Italian slang that loosely translates as ‘friends,’ ” Scarpulla said, adding that the name is descriptive of the restaurant’s goal.

“We’ve always tried to be a place where people could come and hang out and be friendly,” she said. “We’re great for large groups, and the quality of our product has kept them coming back.”

A few regulars were having lunch at the restaurant Friday afternoon.

“A friend brought me here a year ago, and I’ve been coming ever since,” said Andrea Hoyt, who brought her mother for lunch. “The food is really good and fresh, and the people are really friendly.”

She said her favorite dish is the smoked salmon linguini.

Hoyt said she lives in South Sacramento but finds it’s worth the trip to Midtown, though she does have an ulterior motive.

“I want to meet my future husband here,” she said.

Reuben Gonzales has been going to Paesanos with his wife, Paulina, since just before their 2-year-old daughter was born.

“We come in here every Friday,” he said. “They always make us feel like family here, and it’s really great food.”

Scarpulla said two weeks of specials, starting April 16, will be offered as a thank-you to customers.

Those specials include everything from 15-cent sangrias all day on April 18 to “Throwback Thursday” on April 21, when some of the original menu items such as the carbonara and Stromboli will be offered at their 1996 prices.

Three nights will be dedicated to raising money for charity, with 15 percent of gross sales going to nonprofits including Happy Tails Pet Sanctuary (April 20), CARES Sacramento (April 25) and Women Escaping a Violent Environment (April 27).

For a full list of promotions and offers, click here.

Server Erika Fuentez has worked at Paesanos for eight years and said she enjoys the atmosphere and the camaraderie.

“I’ve worked for so many restaurants, and it’s so much fun here. If they were a bunch of jerks, I’d have left a long time ago,” she said with a laugh.

Paesanos is located at 1806 Capitol Ave. The Elk Grove restaurant location is located at 8519 Bond Road.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Meatless Mondays in Midtown

2011-03-25T20:34:20Z

During both World War I and II, our government introduced a new concept to the American people: Meatless Monday and Wheatless Wednesday. These initiatives were primarily focused on rationing food here in the states in order to give more to our soldiers off at war.

Herbert Hoover, then head of the U.S. Food Administration, boldly proclaimed, “Food will win the war,” and as we all know, those wars were eventually won and the extra rations for our soldiers probably did help.

Yet here we are after several decades, and the Meatless Monday motto is starting to pick up steam once again, except this time it’s to improve our health and environment. Even media mogul Oprah Winfrey has jumped on board, announcing a Meatless Monday option at Harpo Studios, and she has encouraged her vast audience to give the campaign a try.

One person who has embraced the lifestyle change is Melissa Luke, Midtown resident and bartender at Midtown’s own Paesanos. Luke, 25, had this change of heart well into her 20s, after being a meat-eater all her life. It wasn’t an Oprah special that changed her mind, but rather a documentary titled “The Cove.”

This film looks into the dolphin-hunting practices of Japanese fishermen and the threat of mercury poisoning that occurs as a result of high levels of mercury in the dolphins.

“It changed me after seeing that,” Luke said. “It got me more involved. It was around that time I stopped eating meat.”

For all of those who have no affinity for dolphins or are just too ingrained in the carnivore lifestyle, there are other reasons to adopt a meatless diet as well. According to the Meatless Monday website, both red and processed-meat consumption are associated with colon cancer. A diet rich in polyunsaturated fat foods, such as vegetable oils, nuts and seeds, reduces the risk of heart disease by 19 percent. Those who prescribe to a vegetarian diet have significantly lower body weight and body fat indices as well as longer life expectancies.

On the environmental front, take into consideration that an estimated 1,800 to 2,500 gallons of water go into a single pound of beef. Ask anyone in Las Vegas with a dwindling water supply if they would rather have some filet mignon or fresh drinking water, and hopefully their response would include H2O.

Luke hopes that the rest of the world can take notice of these issues and follow suit in her meatless quest, but she is willing to settle for getting Midtown involved first.

“I thought it would be a good idea for Midtown because Mondays can be kind of slow for business and because there already is a pretty large vegan/vegetarian demographic in the Sacramento area, too,” she said.

Ideally, Luke wants all the restaurants in the Midtown area to get involved, either offering a special Meatless Monday dish or price for those who want to indulge in vegetarian fare and watch their bank account at the same time. While many restaurants already offer a vegetarian selection, Luke wants the movement to be at the forefront of people’s minds when they hit the town on Mondays.

Luke realizes that not everyone is going to be open to the idea of ditching meat, whether for one meal or forever, but her immediate goal is simple: “It’s really just about trying to get everyone to leave meat off their plate one day a week,” Luke said.

For those who are interested in getting involved with Meatless Monday the first step is simple, check out meatlessmonday.com and say goodbye to meat.

Matt Rascher is a writer for the Midtown Business Association

Second Saturday changes coming next month

2011-03-17T01:55:39Z

A few more changes are in the works for the Second Saturday Art Walk in an effort to reduce problems and increase the focus on art, city and business leaders said Wednesday.

The changes will take effect in April, when the event's crowds are expected to grow as warm weather returns to Sacramento. The city's Second Saturday safety team has come up with some modifications in the wake of a fatal shooting in September 2010.

The biggest change is a requirement that vendors, musicians with amplified sound and other street performers who are set up on public property – primarily sidewalks or closed streets – operate from 4 - 8 p.m. Live music is part of a growing music scene that has emerged on Second Saturdays.

City officials want street sales and music that have emerged during the art walk to end earlier to create a "buffer" between Second Saturday crowds and late-night revelers visiting bars and restaurants. The change is expected to make it easier to get minors home by the 10 p.m. curfew and allow art patrons time to enjoy art before crowds grow, said Vincene Jones, director of the city's Neighborhood Services Division.

"The thinking was – on everybody's part, even from the community's side – it will (keep) some of the kids from lingering and just kind of hanging around," she said. "There's not a lot you can stop unless you shut it down. We want it to continue, but we want it to be safe. And sane, so to speak."

City officials will provide an update on Second Saturday and nightlife issues at a meeting of the Neighborhood Advisory Group at 6:30 p.m. Monday at Hart Senior Center, 915 27th St.

The Second Saturday safety team, which has been meeting regularly for years, includes Sacramento Police, the city manager's office, code enforcement, neighborhood services, the Midtown Business Association, parking and transportation department staff. In making the changes, the group used suggestions made at a Sept. 25 forum by city residents, Jones said.

The event traditionally ran from 6 - 10 p.m., but the hours were changed to 5 - 9:30 p.m. after the shooting.

The earlier closing time doesn't apply to businesses with Second Saturday special event permits to serve or sell alcohol, MBA Executive Director Rob Kerth said.

The hours also don't apply to vendors set up on private property, such as parking lots.

The city is also requiring special one-day permits for music and vending this year. The permits will cost $25. Anyone using amplified sound must get a permit and permission from the nearest property owner.

Another change is that the city is now requiring vendors to sell only original, handcrafted items or products made in the region. Nothing that is mass-produced or imported may be sold. Appliances and secondhand goods that were sold by some last year won't be allowed, Jones said.

"We had a lot of people coming out with microwaves they wanted to sell. We don't want it to turn into that kind of flea market," she said. "We want it to be art-related."

Private property owners who allow vendors to sell on their property must get multi-vendor location permits.

Sidewalk vendors must have permission from the property owners and business owners that they set up in front of, Kerth said.

Vendors won't be able to set up on 20th Street between J and K streets, and that block will only be closed to traffic when needed for crowd control, he said.

No serious problems were reported during March's Second Saturday Art Walk last weekend. Police will continue to crack down on problems such as underage drinking, drinking on the street and minors out after curfew, said Sacramento Police Department spokesman Sgt. Norm Leong.

Minors may be cited for violating curfew, which is a misdemeanor, and released, and parents can be held accountable if children are out after curfew, unless the kids are with their parents.

"Parents should be aware that the city has a 10 p.m. curfew," he said. "Their children should be picked up well before 10 p.m."

Other changes may be added in upcoming months if warranted, Jones said.

The city's Special Events Ordinance Review Committee is also considering special events changes that may apply to Second Saturday. The ordinance isn't expected to be brought to the City Council until at least late 2011.

The earlier hours seems like a "smart idea" to help the city and police keep Second Saturday safe and family-friendly, then clear the streets before patrolling for problems with illegal drinking, vandalism, noise and other misbehavior, said Midtown Neighborhood Association Chair Matt Piner.

"I think it's a good idea as a start," he said. "You get bad apples in any crowd. The bigger the crowd, the more bad apples you're going to have."

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @SuzanneHurt.

Garlic Shack brings zesty flavor to Midtown

2011-02-19T02:14:12Z

A late-night eatery celebrating the virtue and flavor of garlic is expected to open soon on J Street – replacing Plum Blossom, which mysteriously closed this week.

The Garlic Shack will offer a funky, low-key vibe, with an under-$15 menu starring garlic in everything from Caribbean rice bowls and burgers to dessert, said owner Ken Powers.

"It's going to be a fun place to come eat some food, drink some beer," he said. "Almost everything we have will have garlic in it."

After 20 years in the food industry, Powers is opening his first restaurant on a prime Midtown corner at 18th and J streets. The Sierra foothills resident has mainly worked at restaurants in the foothills and the Sierra Nevada, such as the restaurant at Rainbow Lodge. He also owns a garden store in Lake of the Pines.

On Friday afternoon, Powers and a crew of workers were busy cleaning and preparing for a renovation. A garage door will be installed in front, and a server station will be removed from the dining room. The restaurant will be able to seat 50 to 60 people inside and about 20 outside, with an indoor-outdoor dining room when the garage door is open, he said.

The interior will be painted gold and different shades of red. Powers is hiring Sacramento artist Mikey Dwitt, who’s also a tattoo artist, to paint a giant garlic man in silver and white on an interior wall and possibly smaller "garlic dudes" in a bunch of other places.

"It'll be really sweet," Powers said.

No one could be tracked down to explain why Plum Blossom closed. Signs were put up as early as Tuesday announcing the Asian restaurant had closed.

The Midtown Business Association hasn't been able to locate the business owners or the owners of the property.

"We heard nothing. I was completely surprised when I walked by," MBA Executive Director Rob Kerth said Friday.

The Garlic Shack's menu is still being developed and will include vegetarian items, soups, salads, rice bowls, burgers, entrees, appetizers and dessert. Items include a Caribbean rice bowl featuring pork, yams and black beans; a portabello Reuben with mushrooms replacing meat and garlic cheesecake. The items will range from $3 to $14.

The Garlic Shack is expected to open in mid- to late March. The restaurant will be open daily. Hours will be 11 a.m. - 10 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday or Thursday. Hours on Friday and Saturday, and possibly Thursday, will be 11 a.m. - 2 a.m. or "whenever people stop coming in," Powers said.

He hopes to create a "very homey" ambiance for diners with details like serving beer in tall cans, which he's still exploring to see if he can make happen.

"We want to make you feel at home," he said.

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @SuzanneHurt.

Midtown businesses get in the holiday spirit

2010-12-21T01:55:04Z

Midtown store owners are in a festive mood, decorating their windows to take part in the “Light up Midtown” contest.

The contest is being held by the Midtown Business Association, and the first prize is $1,000 to be used toward advertising.

“This is first year of contest,” said MBA spokeswoman Amber Schmaeling. “Basically it was just kind of a way for the MBA to rally up the Midtown businesses and do something fun for the holidays that could be a fun way for us to all participate in a friendly competition and decorate the district.”

Schmaeling said more than 50 stores participated in the event.

“I think it gave the shop owners a little bit of help to pull together as a team and create a little bit of a shopping district,” said Tres Chic Boutique owner Susan Tiesing.

Though Tiesing said she always decorates her window, the contest prize of $1,000 in advertising grants is appealing.

“That’s pretty significant,” she said.

The display itself serves as an advertisement of sorts, and Tiesing said she has customers coming in to remark on the display every day.

Her window at 2228 J St. is themed to go with her wares, and she described it as “very boutique-y. I have a white princess dress, and the whole window is white with a pink Christmas tree.”

Another business with an appropriately themed display is American Graffiti Tattoo, 1617 J St.

“It’s appropriate for a tattoo shop,” said owner Thea Hogan. “It’s a skull in a Santa hat, and the window says, ‘Happy Holidays.’ ”

The employees all got in on the fun, Hogan said, each contributing something to the window mural.

“The advertising (prize) would be amazing, but anytime we can throw some paint down, it’s fun,” she said.

Hogan added that the average person probably isn’t going to decide to come in and get a tattoo based on a window painting, but being a part of the contest was fun.

“We’re just a bunch of artists,” she said. “Everybody here gets involved.”

The owner of Mosaic Salon, located at 2700 J St., went with more than 17,000 lights hanging from the windows to do his part to literally light up the town.

“We’ve gotten a couple of new clients because of the display,” said owner Todd Buckley. “We just hope we win.”

He said it isn’t all about the competition, however.

“We just want to be a part of the Midtown business community,” he said. “It’s just the camaraderie and supporting local business.”

Zanzibar Fair Trade, located at 1731 L St., had its decorations vandalized and stolen sometime on the night of Dec. 12 or the early morning of Dec. 13, but that hasn’t killed the holiday spirit for co-owner Josh Varner.

“We have two choices,” he said. “We can be angry at the world, which solves nothing, or we can hope that whoever took it was in a place where they really need them, and they’re doing some good somewhere else now.”

Varner said he won’t be putting more decorations up this year, since it might tempt the thieves to return, but he will participate next year.

“We’ve had several offers from people to donate their ornaments, including Downtown Plaza,” he said.

That’s the kind of unity he said he thinks having a contest like “Light up Midtown” brings to the business community.

“We decorated not because we wanted to win the contest, but because we wanted to have a holiday storefront for passers-by and bring holiday décor to Midtown as well,” he said.

Zanzibar is still participating in the contest, and to view the decorations before they were vandalized, click here.

To vote for your favorite, click here.

“We certainly appreciate all of the clientele who choose to come to Midtown,” Varner said. “We bring something unique and diverse to the Sacramento Community, and we’re glad people recognize that. It helps revitalize and keep alive the local Sacramento scene.”

Tres Chic Boutique photo courtesy Susan Tiesing. Other photos by Brandon Darnell, staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Santa's Adventures on MARRS

2010-12-05T06:07:17Z

Santa landed on MARRS today and wished everyone a Merry Christmas during 12 Days of Midtown "Holiday on MARRS".

I was there to document this historic event:

Santa and his helper trekked on MARRS bringing good cheer to one and all.

First stop was to get Santa in the zone with some yoga (above and below).

Photo with Santa was part of his adventure.

In and out of doors we went.

Shaking hands and bumping fists is all part of his work.

Off to his sleigh he went when his work here was done.

For more info about midtown CLICK HERE

SacPress Photos | Kati Garner

Holiday happenings in Midtown

2010-11-24T07:53:55Z

Looking for ways to get in the holiday spirit? The Midtown Business Association has a host of events, sales and services planned to bring holiday cheer to everyone this year.

12 Days of Midtown

Dec. 1
Santa’s Tavern Unveiling at Golden Bear, 2326 K St.
6 - 9 p.m.
Admission is free
Golden Bear is transforming into Santa’s Tavern for one day only, so stop by and have a beer at the bar with festive holiday vibes.

Dec. 2
YELP Ice’s Midtown at Kupro’s Bistro, 1217 21st St.
8 - 10 p.m.
Ice art, drink specials and an Eskimo-style fashion show will be presented at Kupro’s Bistro Thursday night by YELP and local clothing boutiques. Admission is free.

Dec. 3
Karaoke Carol-Off at Hamburger Patties, 1630 J St.
9 p.m.
Hamburger Patties and Sacramento News & Review will host the inaugural Karaoke Carol-Off Friday, Dec. 3. People of all ages are encouraged to compete for cash, gift certificates and other prizes worth more than $500.

The competition will be judged by representatives from Hamburger Patties, Midtown Business Association and SN&R.

“We just want people to have fun,” said MBA’s marketing and outreach manager Amber Schmaeling. “If they want to come in costume, that’s great, but it’s not mandatory.”

According to Schmaeling, the song selection will try to focus on holiday favorites but will not discriminate against songs that aren’t in the spirit.

Dec. 3 - 5
SGMC Wonderland Concert at the First United Methodist Church, 2100 J St.
8 p.m.
The Sacramento Gay Men’s Chorus presents its 26th annual holiday performance titled “Wonderland!” From silly to serious musical arrangements, the Chorus promises to get people in the holiday spirit.
Tickets are $20 here.

Dec. 4
Holiday Port & Pairing at Revolution Wines, 2831 S St.
2 - 4 p.m.
Revolution Wines will pair two port wines with two plates so you can enjoy holiday wines with friends and family.
Price: $35, or $25 for wine club members

Holiday on MARRS at MARRS Building, 1050 20th St.
6 - 9 p.m.
Storybook reading, ornament decorating, a comedy showcase and holiday treats will all be a part of the MARRS Open House and Tree Lighting ceremony Dec. 4.
Admission: Free

Dec. 5
Santa Paws at Tres Chic Boutique, 2228 J St.
1 - 4 p.m.
Tres Chic Boutique and United Animal Nations will host a photoshoot for your pets, complete with holiday music and treats for the animals. Print photos will be available for purchase, but a lucky few may walk away with a free electronic photo. According to the Explore Midtown website, a portion of the proceeds will go to United Animal Nations.
Admission: Free

Dec. 6
Season of Giving at Bloodsource, 1608 Q St.
10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Sacramento’s local Bloodsource will be hosting this holiday blood drive to help save lives throughout northern California. All donors will receive a gift.

Dec. 7
Give a Gift, Get a Gift at Blue Cue, 1004 28th St.
6 - 9 p.m.
Drop off a gift at Blue Cue and receive one back. Donations will go to the Children’s Receiving Home of Sacramento.

Dec. 8
Gingerbread House Decorating Party at ArtBeast Studio, 2831 S St.
10 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Admission: $8
ArtBeast Studio invites parents and children to hang out and build gingerbread houses Wednesday to ring in holiday cheer. According to ArtBeast Assistant Director Erin Tinney, Oriental Trading Co. is providing the majority of the supplies, but they are hoping for contributions from Sugar Plum vegan cafe and Freeport Bakery.

Kinney said that for only $8 you can build a gingerbread house and play in the studio for the rest of the day.

Dec. 9
Midtown Art Competition at Barton Gallery, 2226 K St.
6 - 9 p.m.
Admission: Free
The call for art deadline has been extended until the end of November for the Midtown Art Competition at Barton Gallery Thursday, Dec. 9. The art will highlight themes of people, places and events in Midtown.

This event is open to the public, and food, wine and music will be provided.

The grand prize winner will get the opportunity to display his or her art on a wall in Midtown donated by Harv’s Carwash, according to Kinney. Other prizes will include cash, gift certificates and theater tickets for the local theater companies.

Partners include Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission, Barton Gallery, Midtown Business Association and SN&R. Representatives from each will judge the competition.

Dec. 10
Philharmonic Winter Wine & Jazz at Antiquite Maison Privee, 2114 P St.
6 - 9 p.m.
Tickets: $15 here in advance or $20 at the door
The Sacramento Philharmonic will host the “Winter Wine & Jazz” event at the Antiquite Maison Privee in Midtown. Admission includes a glass of locally produced wine and hors d’eovres by Jackson Catering.

Dec. 11
Holiday Craft Fair at Midtown Bazaar, I Street between 16th and 17th streets
10 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Admission: Free
The Midtown Holiday Bazaar will feature handmade gifts and garments available for purchase to make holiday shopping that much easier. There will also be a special performance by the Midtown Elves.

Dec. 12
Junie B Jingle Bells at B Street Theatre, 2711 B St.
1 - 4 p.m.
Tickets: Purchase here for $15-$22
Kids ages 4 and up can meet Santa before the performance of “Junie B Jingle Bells” at the B Street Theatre Dec. 12.

In addition to the 12 Days of Midtown, the Midtown Business Association presents a few extra holiday festivities throughout certain dates in December.

Dec. 1 - 12
Midtown Elf Hunt
First, pick up your Elf Hunt passport from participating Midtown retailers or download it here. Then start hunting for the 12 holiday elves hidden among the holiday racks in these retailers. Stay updated with elf sightings via ExploreMidtown’s Twitter and Facebook. Persistent participants may be rewarded with holiday gifts, cash, gift certificates and other prizes, according to the event website.

Charity Gift Wrap
Tres Chic Boutique and French Cuff Consignment are offering a charity gift-wrap service at their respective establishments and will be collecting donations for the River City Food Bank.

Dec. 1- 31
Light Up Midtown Contest
All Midtown residents, visitors and suburbanites alike will be treated to the dazzling storefront displays of participating Midtown businesses and get to vote on their favorite. The voting will take place Dec. 1 - 31, and a prize of $1,000 in advertising grants will be awarded to the winning store on Jan. 20, 2011. To vote for your favorite decorated business, go to exploremidtown.org.

For more information, click here.

Photos courtesy of Explore Midtown.

Hip hop music not the problem, panelists say

2010-11-10T02:25:15Z

The key to successful and safe hip hop events in Sacramento is to focus on the music, an expert panel said Tuesday.

Sacramento needs club owners and promoters to give hip hop artists doing good music a chance – working together rationally to overcome stereotypes or solve problems. What the city doesn't need is people who bring turf wars or personal drama into clubs, said hip hop artists, promoters and a historian gathered at the Crest Theatre.

One panelist, rapper B-Smoove, acknowledged that problems can arise if gang enemies who normally don't cross paths suddenly wind up at the same club. He’s established a reputation for hosting problem-free hip hop nights by reminding his audiences that everyone was there for the music, not drugs or violence.

"When it's all about the music, all the B.S. goes by the wayside," said hip hop DJ and promoter Mic Jordan at an event organized by the Midtown Business Association, Downtown Sacramento Partnership and Old Sacramento Business Association.

The panel was part of a series of workshops on nightclub safety and state laws and city regulations for bars and nightclubs. On Nov. 16, the business organizations are hosting the third Pubs, Clubs and Bars Security Training workshop on bar security and operations from 2 - 5 p.m. at the California Military Museum, 1119 Second St.

The free workshops are open to businesses, DJs and club promoters in Old Sacramento, downtown and Midtown.

Hip hop started largely because New York gang lords wanted to create places for their kids to have positive experiences. There may have been war in the streets, but that wasn't allowed at such events, Jordan said.

"They used their muscle to enforce these hip hop events as safe zones," Jordan said. "As artists, that's part of our responsibility. That's what we can do at the clubs."

Panelists discouraged marketing efforts that exploit violence, such as promotional fliers with gunshot holes used recently here by one promoter. Sacramento's hip hop scene has remained largely unrecognized, and artists aren't given opportunities because of problems with violence that have been blamed on the music, they said.

"Our underground music scene is as good as anybody across the board," said Jordan, adding that the city doesn’t have enough club owners who trust artists or have established clientele.

Hip hop educator Michael Benjamin II recommended clubs play more diverse hip hop and use diverse DJs and musicians. The crowds will come for events featuring hip hop’s golden era in the 1980s and 1990s, he said.

"I've never understood a club owner complaining about violence at their club and they're playing all violent music," he said.

Some but not all panelists say troublemakers might be weeded out with dress codes, which could add a more sophisticated vibe inside clubs and prevent gang colors from being worn. Problems might also be prevented by no longer making people line up outside and wait to be chosen to get in, B-Smoove said.

The practice may work in cities like Los Angeles and New York. But here, customers are likely to become unhappy if someone else is allowed in when they’re not, he said.

“In Sacramento, that tactic don't necessarily work,” B-Smoove said.

Some clubs are only concerned about filling up with customers, so they aren't weeding out bad people, said DJ Katz, an underground electronic DJ who joined about 25 other people in the audience. The crowd included bar owners, DJs, promoters, police and security personnel.

"It's desperation time right now. There's crickets," he said.

But Swiff, a musician who does hip hop, rock and R&B, said rules that force people to wear expensive clothing may start more fights because a guy who gets a drink spilled on his expensive shirt will be more angry than if he was just wearing a T-shirt.

The panelists suggested Sacramento clubs hire more security for events. Bouncers should be trained professionals – polite and well-dressed, yet tough when needed, so they themselves don't initiate violence with disrespectful behavior. They should also work at the same clubs repeatedly so they recognize people who've caused problems in the past, panelists said.

Swiff said he's OK with having police officers sitting outside clubs to keep troublemakers or "outside scum" away. What he doesn't want is people leaving one of his events vowing never to return because they're afraid for their lives.

"That's what’s wrong in Sacramento: We're letting the scum beat us," he said.

Workshops tackle safe bar operations

2010-11-05T00:53:02Z

Nightclub safety will be discussed at upcoming workshops offered by local business organizations.

The Downtown Sacramento Partnership, Midtown Business Association and Old Sacramento Business Association are hosting two sessions this month.They are part of a series aimed at educating bar and restaurant owners and staff about their responsibilities, as well as state laws and city regulations.

The free workshops are open to businesses, DJs and club promoters in Old Sacramento, downtown and Midtown.

Rapper B-Smoove and other experts in Sacramento's hip hop scene recently agreed to lead a panel on managing hip hop nights so that they stay free from the violence that shut down clubs like Elements. Other discussions will tackle many "gray areas" involved with bar operation, entertainment permits and special events, said DSP Director of Community Services Ryan Loofbourrow.

"We plan on doing this on a regular basis, so as trends happen or new regulations take effect, we can include those," he said Thursday. "We want to make sure all of our establishments are up to date on all the procedures."

On Nov. 9, a hip hop panel will talk about how business owners can build successful clubs and reputations by enforcing tight security at the door, banning bad behavior inside clubs and offering "true" hip hop – rather than gangsta rap or other music with violent lyrics, MBA Operations Manager Aja Uranga-Foster said.

B-Smoove will be joined by Michael W. Benjamin II of Low End Theory Collaborative, hip hop club promoter Mike Jordan and Brian "Abs" Washington, a musician, promoter, personal trainer and bouncer. The panel will be held from 1 - 2 p.m. at the Crest Theatre, 1013 K St.

Some bars have stopped offering hip hop events, while others have developed bad reputations and even lost permits or licenses for repeated violence. The panel will discuss how music lyrics and beats can influence mood and behavior inside a club, she said.

Two people were shot and killed outside Elements, 805 15th St., in 2004. Robert Zarco was gunned down in revenge after he shot and killed 26-year-old Elias Sanchez in front of his wife. The club stopped holding hip hop nights after the shooting. Its permit was later revoked. The club was sold and the place reopened as Avalon.

"They're going to talk about how to maintain a high standard and play good hip hop that doesn't just appeal to a 'low-end crowd,' " Foster said. "They themselves (the panelists) don't go out to clubs because they want to hear true hip hop, but they don't like the behavior that is allowed at some clubs."

That panel will be followed by a workshop on responsible beverage service from 2 - 5 p.m. Jerry Jolly, the former director of the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, will explain state regulations involving alcohol sales and promotions, how to turn away intoxicated customers and how to communicate with ABC agents.

Another Pubs, Clubs and Bars Security Training workshop will be held on bar security and operations from 2 - 5 p.m. Nov. 16 at the California Military Museum, 1119 Second St. Sacramento Police Sgt. Monty "Max" Maxwell, with the department's entertainment team, will cover city entertainment permits, requirements for security operations, how to recognize people too intoxicated to buy more liquor, fire safety and other issues, Loofbourrow said.

"Bars are responsible for the behavior of customers," he said. "This will help bar operators and security know what to look for."

Photo by Brandon Darnell.

Midtown Halloween and Pooch Costume Contest

2010-10-31T21:38:14Z

Saturday, the day before the official Halloween, little ones and their parents were trick or treating Sac Midtown businesses.

It's an annual event organized by the merchants and the Midtown Business Association and it was great.

Relles Florist provided fun for the kids; Howdy Do Dat the magician with his real live bunny, face painting by All Party Art and Pony Tails, as well as trick or treaters creating faces on small pumpkins.

"oh come on, that flag isn't right"

Guest appearances were made by some of the dogs that were all dressed up for the Pooch Parade and Costume Contest.

Do you like the dark and brooding type?

Kennedy Art Gallery hosted the awards ceremony next to Headhunters.

Charlie Kennedy, the Spider

In the afternoon the dapper and beautiful canines paraded around midtown and were judged to see which would be the "Top Dogs" This halloween.

The winning dogs in the Pooch Costume Contest are:

1st place - Wiley the Aztec

2nd place - Rudy the Clown

3rd place - Cupcake the Raggedy Ann

Cutest - Lulu the shark

Midtown Spirit - Apple, the Lady Gaga

Funniest - Oliver the Chicken
Best Duo - Mac and Teddy thePolice Dog and Convict
Spookiest - Charlie the Spider

Costume contest judges were Karen Jacques (Board member UAN), Corey DeRoo (French Cuff Consignment, Susan Tiesing (Tres Chic Boutique) and Niki Fay (Midtown Business Association).

Proceeds from the registration fees for entering the Pooch Parade/Costume contest were donated to United Animal Nations. Founded in 1987, United Animal Nations (UAN) focuses on bringing animals out of crisis and strengthening the bond between people and animals through a variety of programs, including emergency sheltering, disaster relief services, financial assistance and education. http://uan.org

"Would you please fetch my pipe and newspaper, old sport?"

SacPress Photos | Kati Garner

Managing 'hospitality zones'

2010-10-02T05:08:42Z

Sacramento’s “hospitality zones” became classrooms Thursday night.

Nearly two dozen people visiting Sacramento for the California Downtown Association’s 2010 annual conference took a walking “Nighttime Economy Tour” through parts of Old Sacramento, downtown and Midtown. Most in the group help manage downtown business districts.

Stopping in bars from Vega’s at Old Sacramento’s historic waterfront to de Vere’s Irish Pub near 15th and L streets, people learned best practices, as well as what to avoid, to successfully set up and manage hospitality districts – concentrations of bars, restaurants, café-lounges and other entertainment businesses.

Officials with cities and business improvement districts have many more tools at their disposal than they realize, said Allison Harnden, vice president of Santa Cruz-based Responsible Hospitality Institute. She led discussions on the tour.

One is to make sure visitors have plenty of convenient transportation options, such as “safe ride” programs, taxi stands, pedicabs, late-night public transportation and safe neighborhoods to walk in, so they can leave bars safely and quickly.

“This is your biggest bang for the buck,” said Harnden, whose group was established to help communities plan and manage entertainment zones. “If you can clear the hospitality district at closing time, you won’t have noise, you won’t have fights, you won’t have bottle throwing.”

Melissa Martinez, executive director of the Old Sacramento Business Association, and Aja Uranga-Foster, programs manager with the Midtown Business Association, led a four-hour tour to 11 establishments. Several were located at 20th and K streets.

Public urination after closing is a common problem because many cities don’t have enough public restrooms near these areas.

The California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control doesn’t like to give out liquor licenses for businesses close together. But concentrations of bars are easier for police to manage, she said.

The institute encourages cities to establish staggered closing times so police aren’t overwhelmed trying to manage crowds at closing, she said outside de Vere’s, where a crowd of patrons waited to enter at 11 p.m.

Another way to prevent many problems in such districts and to create more financially successful zones is to recruit a mix of businesses meeting needs and schedules of all four adult demographic groups, rather than just single 20-somethings, she said.

That group tends to drink too much because they’re insecure about socializing. Guys that age are most likely to fight. They may not spend much money at businesses, preferring to spend time “displaying and promenading” in groups, she said.

“You really want to start filling in some of these things to attract other people,” Harnden said.

Midtown residents, business owners offer solutions for Second Saturday

2010-09-27T05:37:28Z

Midtown residents and business owners gathered at the Ethel MacLeod Hart Senior Center Saturday morning to meet with city officials and representatives from the police department to discuss what can be done about the rise in violence and rowdiness following Second Saturday.

For the first 30 minutes, more than 100 community members wrote on comment cards expressing concerns and proposing solutions. These were collected and sifted through for a seven-member "Safety Team" panel to address.

Though Councilman Steve Cohn was adamant that the shooting death of Victor Hugo Perez Zavala was not inherently a Second Saturday problem, it was the obvious impetus for the gathering. In his introductory remarks, Cohn spoke about the tragedy, and Captain Dana Matthes from the Sacramento Police Department gave an update on their search for the shooter.

The panel consisted of Matthes and Lt. Mike Bray from the police department, Rob Kerth from the Midtown Business Association, Vincene Jones from Neighborhood Services, Dean Fujimoto from the city's parking department, and Lori Ajax from Alcoholic Beverage Control.

Matthes addressed concerns about the curfew for teenagers. She said that last month they put the word out to local high schools that the department would be strictly enforcing the 10 p.m. curfew for people under age 18. She said they witnessed an improvement in this area over August's Second Saturday and they plan on continuing these efforts to see if more progress can be made for October and the long term.

Parking was a recurring issue. Fujimoto stressed that neighborhood action committees are welcomed to organize and submit different rules to his office for non-resident parking. Possible ordinance changes would prevent club-goers from parking in residential areas, which would help with loudness and violence complaints in the early hours of the morning. He stressed that parking rules in the city were not set in stone.

One recommendation from a Midtown resident was to limit non-resident parking to one hour, forcing late-night club-goers out of the neighborhoods and into parking structures and more public areas.

When a comment was read that asked for better management of the event, Kerth was wary. He conceded that better signage could help the participants but worried that if Second Saturday is over-managed, it will lose its "organic" nature. He said Second Saturday is an important day for our locally owned businesses, and he wants to avoid micro-managing.

He assured the public that the MBA is always trying to make Midtown a more fun and safer place for people to visit. He announced that his organization is partnering with the Lavender Angels to provide nightlife guides from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m every Friday and Saturday night between I and N streets and 17th and 24th streets.

Aja Uranga-Foster is in charge of the new partnership and said it should help with some of the issues raised in the community forum.

"The main thing is to help people get back to their car, or taxis, or their homes (quietly)," she said.

The program has a small core of paid staff but will rely heavily on volunteers. It will be piloted for three to four months and reassessed in February 2011. She didn't have a specific start date but said they will definitely be out in time for October's Second Saturday.

Although the Safety Team did their best to reassure the public they would do everything in their power to help Second Saturday, and Midtown in general, grow safely, some community members remained skeptical.

Susan Rabinovitz, jewelry designer and executive director of the Sacramento Artists Council, was mainly concerned about what she sees as a growing chaos. She said a possibility would be to put vendors in Fremont Park and live music at Caesar Chavez Park, there wouldn’t be so much crowd problems in one area.

"Segment it so that maybe there's not all this congestion," she said.

Reymond Walker writes the Second Saturday Blog with his daughter, Naomi Bingham-Walker, and he said he'll feel better when he sees real improvement coming from city management. He said the community forum was a great starting point, but he is worried there won't be more of them to keep the community involved.

"If it does happen again, in a sense that would be great," he said. "If it doesn't happen again I hope it's because we are seeing, and they've figured out, an outcome in the streets that reflects success."

Rabonovitz and Walker cited the Amgen Tour of California as a successful event that Second Saturday could organizationally aspire to.

"The community is so clearly aware of what to expect, what's going on," Walker said. "There are areas that are taped off, there's a lot of publicity. I know where to go, I know what's happening."

The meeting ended with encouraging words from Jones from Neighborhood Services and Councilman Cohn.

"I haven't seen one suggestion that said, 'No more Second Saturday,' and that's a good thing," Jones said.

"Midtown is the soul of Sacramento," Cohn said. "We got to keep it positive here … but that does mean growing pains, so we got to figure out how to do it right."

After the meeting, Cohn said community members can keep sending their concerns and proposals to the members of the Safety Panel. He said the members' individual e-mail addresses were the best point of contact.

Second Saturday to go the way of Thursday Night Market?

2010-09-19T23:09:08Z

The Sept. 12 shooting has some Sacramentans wondering if the Second Saturday Art Walk is going to go the way of K Street’s Thursday Night Market.

According to Michael Picker, The Thursday Night Market was inspired by an event in San Louis Obispo and was intended to be a small-scale street fair people could stop by on their way home from work, but it grew to attract crowds far larger than anticipated as people went home first, picked up their families and then returned to the market.

Picker, who was chief of staff for Mayor Joe Serna Jr. when Thursday Night Market was introduced, both the Thursday Night Market and Second Saturday Art Walk became victims of their own success.

“Everybody plans for what can go awry,” Picker said, “but sometimes too much goes right, and you get too many people.”

But Rob Kerth, executive director of the Midtown Business Association, said the two events share many things, but they remain different.

“I’m not sure that we’ve got something going wrong here,” Kerth said. “There’s a lot of folks showing up, and they have a good time, and any number of businesses say it’s their most important day of the month.”

The key difference between the two, according to Michael Ault, executive director of the Downtown Sacramento Partnership – which produced the Thursday Night Market – is that Second Saturday has a much greater focus and involves the business community more.

“At the end of Thursday Night Markets, many retailers weren’t even open because they weren’t finding it a successful draw to their businesses because their voice wasn’t utilized,” Ault said.

With Second Saturday, Ault said, there is much more focus, and both the business and the community are committed to making it work.

“Second Saturday started off as an event to drive people to art galleries, and it has really evolved into a social scene,” Ault said, “and it’s a wonderful nexus where it’s gone, but we need to figure out how to make it grow and how to grow effectively.”

Picker advised looking into how other major cities handle their big events and see what can be learned from their experience.

Kerth said the MBA has been studying events in other cities, including San Francisco, Old Pasadena and Berkeley, and there are several steps that need to be taken to make Second Saturday a better event.

“We need to get parking out of the neighborhoods so people aren’t walking through them and being noisy and causing problems,” Kerth said, adding that in the future, the MBA will be posting better signage and lighting as well as passing out pamphlets at venues to inform visitors of nearby off-street parking he said many are unaware of.

In an effort to get teens to go home after 10 p.m., Kerth said the MBA is contacting local high schools and encouraging them to get the message out to students.

“We did that this month, and we got a response from about four schools,” Kerth said. “We’re going to push much harder next month ... but we’re not going to get all the kids to go home. We know that.”

It was an over-concentration of teens looking for a social atmosphere that largely contributed to the death of Thursday Night Markets, according to Picker.

“When large groups of teens started showing up, it turned away from being a family event,” Picker said. “That was hard for us. It was a turning point. How do you get teens to go home? If you push them to go home, they want to defy authority.”

Picker said throwing more police at the problem didn’t help, but running street sweepers down the venue did – until resources were stretched too thin.

“I think that’s what’s going on with Second Saturday,” Picker said. “It’s not a crime issue, it’s a population management issue. Unfortunately, this time there was a shooting.”

Kerth acknowledged that the MBA sees problems with the population at the event, which ebbs and flows during the night.

The crowds peak at about 9 p.m., he said, then they drop off until about 11 p.m., when they begin to grow again.

“The chances of a 17-year-old having a good outcome to their night after 10 p.m. goes down,” he said.

Another problem Kerth acknowledged is people drinking on the streets, detailed in this article.

Despite the acknowledged problems with the event, Kerth said Second Saturday is fundamentally different from the Thursday Night Markets in size.

While Thursday Night Markets were confined to an approximately four-block stretch on K Street, Second Saturday ranges all over from Old Sacramento to Alhambra Boulevard and from Broadway to F Street, according to Kerth.

Kerth said the efforts the MBA is making – from educating people about parking to encouraging teens to go home at the 10 p.m. curfew and working to stop the illegal “tailgating” – will not “make a fundamental change, but they’ll head things in the right direction.”

Kerth, Ault and Picker all agreed that there are lessons to be learned from other events, whether they be Thursday Night Markets, Jazz Jubilees, Pacific Rim Festivals or larger events in other cities.

“There’s a lot of community and political will to keep this going forward,” Ault said. “We need to preserve it because it’s a very special entity.”

Picker said that, thinking regionally, downtown and Midtown Sacramento are the “main street” for the area.

“There is a need for people to get together within the Sacramento Valley and be creative and not be constrained by strip malls,” he said. “You’ve got to plan for success, though. Maybe every couple of years you need to shake it up and do something different.”

Kerth said that Second Saturday is far from being just a memory.

“I get asked a lot from folks, ‘Is this the end?’ and my answer has been, ‘Well, I’m still coming down to have fun, are you?’ ” he said. “Rumors of our demise are greatly exaggerated.”

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Second Saturday: A Tragedy Waiting to Happen Can Anything Be Done To Save It?

2010-09-17T21:37:11Z

A rock band steps onto a portable stage set up in the old Sacramento News and Review parking lot at 20th and J streets. They tune up and begin to play. This promotion marked beginning of the end of the traditional Second Saturday.

Second Saturday was no longer going to be an art walk and about visiting art galleries. Second Saturday was going to be about bringing large numbers of young people to Midtown to stay after the event and continue partying and drinking in the Midtown bars and nightclubs.

City officials and the Midtown Business Association (MBA) immediately tried to distance the Midtown Second Saturday Art Walk event and themselves from the unfortunate and preventable death of Victor Hugo Perez Zavala and shooting of three others.

Why unfortunate and preventable? There had been plenty of warnings from Midtown residents and others that the art walk (Second Saturday A) and, more to the point, the after-event – the unofficial party in the streets of Midtown (Second Saturday B) – was rapidly reaching the point that a major incident was becoming a foregone conclusion.

This peaked after August’s Second Saturday (both A and B). The outcry become so loud that it was finally reported by The Sacramento Bee and The Sacramento News and Review. Both promptly poo-poo’d it along with city officials and the MBA.

So why were things allowed to spiral so out of control that Sacramento Police officers at the scene of the shooting last weekend could not prevent it or even identify a suspect? It can be traced back directly to the relationship between city officials and the MBA with the purveyors of highly profitable liquor in Midtown.

A little history: A few decades ago there was no way there would be a clubbing scene in what wasn’t even known as Midtown. White flight to the suburbs had left the area to drug dealers, prostitution, social services and Section 8 subsidized housing.

Slowly, a small group of determined individuals and families recognized the potential of the neighborhood and started demanding that the city help clean up the area and contribute to its livability.

About the same time, some art galleries began opening, along with a few nice restaurants. As Marion Millen described in an earlier SacramentoPress.com article,

“Gallery owner Michael Himovitz brought Second Saturday to Sacramento two decades ago, to ‘educate and connect people through discussing art.’ He advocated coordinating individual efforts into an event that benefited all the galleries, their customers, local culture and the community. It worked.”

It worked very well for a long time. Midtown grew to have a good quality of life (livability). It had a variety of businesses within walking distance serving the neighborhood. This included restaurants focused on food and a vibrant art scene.

It needs to be emphasized that what is called Midtown is overwhelmingly residential. It is an area made up of several-century-plus-old historic residential neighborhoods. Midtown is crisscrossed by two two-block-wide commercial strips: J and K streets and 19th and 21st streets.

The other small commercial areas are 28th Street south of J Street and a small area on Capitol Avenue. All the rest is residential. A significant amount is single-family homes. A lot of these residents are still occupied by those who fought for a good quality of life or those attracted to the neighborhoods because of the quality of life and the philosophy of new urbanism (Live where you are not dependent on a car, goods and services are within walking distance or public transportation and your living situation takes up much less space).

The latest changes to Midtown started a little over a decade ago. Midtown went from livable to being marketed as “THE HOT” location in Sacramento. High-end restaurants that morph after 9 or 10 p.m. into bars and nightclubs designed to attract 20-somethings from the whole region and beyond displaced the businesses serving the neighborhood.

Except for negative impacts on nearby residents, it worked for a while. But then came the recession coupled with overconcentration. And along with that came desperation. The bars and nightclubs became desperate to find any way to attract patrons to their near-empty businesses. No one was in a better position to witnesses this than the residents of Midtown.

It didn’t take the alcohol purveyors long to realize that they could have an OK to even good night once a month on the night of the Second Saturday Art Walk. Soon there was promotion of the Second Saturday “After Party.” The one city block of eight bars and nightclubs between 27th and 28th on J Street, the self-named “Bloc,” is a good example. With nary an art gallery in sight they started proclaiming, “Come to the Second Saturday After Party at the Bloc!”

Now here comes what really led to last Sunday morning’s shooting. Not content with the amount of business they were getting from Second Saturday A (the wine-sipping and cheese-nibbling art crowd was not contributing to their business), through the MBA and with the assistance of the city, they hijacked Second Saturday A.

There is a thing with late-night talk shows sometimes called the “warm-up.” This consists of someone, sometimes the star, appearing before the show starts telling jokes and getting the audience going. So when the show starts, the audience members are all excited, and the home audience sees them on their feet cheering.

Second Saturday A has now become the “warmup” for Second Saturday B. This is well-documented. No one denies that Second Saturday A has become more of a Mardi Gras event.

Loud bands are located throughout the area with large numbers of street vendors. Many galleries have dropped out, complaining of vandalism, thefts and crowds only interested in drinking their wine with no interest in purchasing art. Few feel it is safe to bring their children. In fact, few genuinely interested in art attend. Many are afraid of the crowd that has gotten more and more out of control.

Second Saturday A getting everyone in a major party mood for Second Saturday B has been a massive success. Well, at least in terms of attendance and rowdiness.

Now add to this ready-to-continue-to-party crowd an unwillingness to disperse them.

The whole mood is conducive to partying and, more importantly, drinking. With word of the Second Saturday B spreading, and with a lot of promotion, the event has continued to grow.

Along with the frat boy types and others with a propensity to drink spending money in the bars and nightclubs, Second Saturday B has attracted the underage with not much else to do, and, sadly, those prone to anger and violence.

With no mechanism to sort out and remove the latter, it became inevitable that there would be a major incident, and sadly that incident took a bystander’s life and injured three others.

So what is the City of Sacramento’s role in all this? What were they thinking in allowing these crowds to grow so large in the first place? Did they not listen to their officers telling them this was getting beyond what they could control? Do they truly think that this is what makes Sacramento a world-class city – ignoring the loss of quality of life for the residents of these neighborhoods? Are they so beholden to the political power of the bar and nightclub owners that they are so willing to put people’s lives at risk?

The city had almost exactly the same situation in Old Sacramento. When this started to threaten the business interests, the crowds were forcibly driven out of Old Sac. Police officers told residents of Midtown neighborhoods that that is where these individuals ended up, making it more difficult for the police to deal with them.

When the the Thursday Night Market got so out of control that the police realized they no longer had the resources to deal with it, city officials at the time wisely shut it down before someone was killed.

In regards to the Midtown Business Association: the MBA started out many years ago, founded by owners of many of the small individually owned businesses that served a number of the needs of the neighborhoods.

It has changed into a business association that primarily represents the interests of the high-end restaurants, bars, nightclubs and associated businesses. As I have already stated, many of the original businesses have been displaced, and those that are left are mostly ignored. If you don’t believe, me just attend their monthly meetings.

After a shooting on the patio of Harlow’s Nightclub, there was a lot of media coverage. During the same period, female patrons were robbed at gunpoint crossing 27th Street at J Street. The bar and nightclub industry feared a loss of patrons afraid to come into Midtown.

A security company was hired and instituted things like security patrols and other systems that improved the situation for residents while making it safer for patrons. When the memory of the shooting faded, the security was discontinued. The problems for the neighborhood returned.

It is not surprising that the public has not heard anything from any of the bar or nightclub owners that have benefited so much from Second Saturday. That is what they have the MBA for.

Some immediate solutions: If the City, they MBA and everyone else involved truly wants to save the 6 to 10 pm Second Saturday A they need to shut down the after party crowds of Second Saturday B. It has been made crystal clear that even with added resources the Sacramento Police Department can not control what happens in these crowds. After 10:00 pm anyone who is not in a restaurant/bar/nightclub, coffee house or other legitimate business or on their patio needs to move on. There are plenty of locations east and west of Midtown to legally drink and enjoy them selves.

The crowds need to be controlled so they do not move out into the residential area. To help prevent this a two hour or less no parking without a residential permit zone needs to be instituted throughout the Midtown residential areas and ENFORCED. 311 needs to be staffed adequately on the second Saturday/Sunday morning so that residents can call and report drinking and other illegal activities. Police need to be dispatched to deal with this. Some residents are going to whine about the parking but it is a small price to pay to have peace in the residential areas. Guests at legitimate gatherings can move their car every two hours or hosts can easily obtain one day visitor permits.

These two things would go a long way in having a post Second Saturday that would much safer and sane.

About those of not of drinking age and the problem of gangs: Youth are attracted to the Second Saturday events to see and be seen. An area in the central business district needs to be set aside for them that access can be controlled. Possibly a section of the convention center. It needs to have food and soft drinks available at a reasonable cost and feature music. Could one or more of the bands at Second Saturday A be brought in?

As for gangs, having a controlled access area would make it much easier to exclude them and weapons.

But sadly gangs are a long term problem with no quick solutions. While a lot of resources have been put into Second Saturday the city has cut youth programs and gang prevention nearly to the point of non existence. Mayor Johnson talks of working for youth but with out the support of the whole council to find money and other resources how is this city going to have a better future for its’ young people?

Second Saturday meeting set

2010-09-16T05:48:00Z

Sacramento Police continued their search Wednesday for the suspect in a fatal shooting after the September Second Saturday Art Walk, while community leaders continued talks on possible solutions to the violence and problems plaguing the event.

With the city still reeling in the wake of the killing, city officials will hold a public forum on the shooting on Sept. 25. And on Wednesday night, the Midtown Business Association agreed to spend $19,000 to fund a three-month pilot program using volunteer guides to assist people on Midtown streets weekend nights.

Officers in the homicide, gang, forensic and crime scene investigation units are working on the investigation of the shooting that left Victor Hugo Perez Zavala dead and injured three others early Sunday morning outside Streets of London Pub, 1804 J St. Police don't know if the suspect has fled the area, but they know which gang he's involved with, said Police Sgt. Norm Leong, spokesman for the police department.

The city, led by City Councilman Steve Cohn and Mayor Kevin Johnson’s office, has tentatively set a community meeting on the incident and related concerns for 9 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 25, at the Hart Senior Center in Marshall Park. Leaders from the police and code enforcement departments will be there, and residents, artists and business owners are invited.

"The purpose is to try to come up with the best ideas possible for going forward, not just in terms of Second Saturday and what changes might be needed (there), but also in terms of late-night entertainment and youth violence in particular," said Cohn, whose district includes Midtown, where the shooting took place. "It's really to start a dialogue with the community about what we can do better to address those issues."

Discussions are under way as police, business leaders, the arts community, residents and city leaders search for ways to combat late-night violence and other problems on Second Saturdays and weekend nights in general. Police and the mayor's and city manager's offices expect to create a framework for a plan, which would be followed by ongoing talks, within the next week, said R.E. Graswich, special assistant to Mayor Kevin Johnson.

"This is a tragedy we're responding to," Graswich said. "We're trying to find some solutions. It's difficult — there's no textbook on this."

Hundreds of people fled the scene of the shooting shortly after midnight Sunday. Some tried to hide behind dumpsters outside Lavender Heights bars. An employee at Headhunters at 20th and K streets said he was taking a break out back when he heard a “pop pop pop” that sounded like firecrackers. A horde of people then fled in his direction.

“All I could see were people running” he said. “They were pretty scared.”

The MBA on Wednesday night set up a partnership with the Sacramento Gay and Lesbian Center to provide three teams of "late-night courtesy guides." Working from 17th and 21st streets between I and Capitol Avenue, they could walk people to their cars, assist people with directions and find them cabs if they've had too much to drink, said MBA Executive Director Rob Kerth.

Midtown resident George Raya and others in the gay community came up with the idea about a year ago. They were prompted to create some kind of volunteer program in Midtown after a woman's jaw was broken when she was mugged while trying to find her car one night, Raya said.

A year-round program would be expected to cost about $60,000. While they may be called the Lavender Angels, they won't make citizen arrests like the Guardian Angels, who patrol streets and subways in Chicago, New York and other cities, Kerth said.

"These aren't guards," he said. "These are guides. They're not wearing red berets."

Although there are no hard numbers, another indication that police enforcement put a serious dent in problems last Saturday were that fewer empty liquor containers were found on the streets of Midtown Sunday morning, Kerth said.

A 10-person cleanup group that includes a staffer from the MBA, a volunteer meetup group and four Easter Seals workers usually picks up 400 to 800 gallons of litter on mornings when they clean in the J and K streets corridor. On second Sundays, their efforts and that of individual businesses is estimated at about 3,000 to 4,000 gallons, Kerth said.

The search for solutions will address such things as more ways to get minors off the streets after 10 p.m., unless they're accompanied by a parent or legal guardian, and tailgating. Last Saturday and early Sunday, police did a good job at eliminating tailgating and cutting down on the number of minors out after curfew, Kerth said.

Police are also concentrating on shutting down tailgating parties that have cropped up on numbered streets in Midtown primarily between I and P streets. Empty cans and bottles left as litter have pointed authorities to the most popular places for illegal public drinking, he said.

"This can't be a public drinking event on the street," he said. "We want to knock off the tailgating — particularly when people get out into the neighborhood, park away from J Street, open up a trunk and drink.

"When you find the one-shot plastic pop-off bottles versus a big bottle of Grey Goose, there are different things going on there," he said. "We tend to see larger bottles that we're pretty sure got shared by people. That's clued us in to where people are drinking and that they're drinking on the street, rather than inside where they should be."

On Saturday, 19 Sacramento police and six undercover officers with the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control issued more than 40 citations for violations including underage drinking and urinating in public during and after the art walk. Police based operations at the intersection of 20th and J streets, which gets the most crowds, with some officers doing traffic control. Other officers were stationed at busy corners or assigned to drive or walk around to areas known to have the most problems, Leong said.

"Part of the issue is the Second Saturday event itself goes very smoothly. But when you're talking about loitering or criminal elements that come in after the fact, it limits your ability to do something about it," he said. "It's really the gang members that are more prone to do violent type crimes in a public area."

Photo of Second Saturday at Beatnik Studios by Ron Nabity. Photo of Second Saturday night scene by David Watts Barton. Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Foursquare Pub Crawl Pours Flavor into Midtown

2010-08-10T11:01:43Z

On Saturday, August 7, Midtown Sacramento played host to the Foursquare Pub Crawl. Organized by Sacramento's Midtown Business Association in order to promote the new Midtown brand, the event featured teams from a number of Midtown establishments. Team leaders were chosen because they were Foursquare Mayors of the participating locations.

Foursquare is a dynamic new social networking application that allows users to know what business are close by, what establishments are trending based on the presence of other Foursquare users, see tips published by other users, and even see maps to help guide them to where they want to go.

For businesses, Foursquare allows them to know who is visiting their establishment, what demographics, how many people, and what time that traffic is present. This, in turn, allows businesses to refine everything from staffing to menu items in order to operate more efficiently and provide more effective customer service.

Saturday's pub crawl features teams from Hot Italian, Zocalo, The Golden Bear, L Wine Lounge, and of course, the MBA. The Hot Italian team was simply that - hot! The Zocalo team raised the bar introducing the finest tequila and fantastic appetizers. Team Golden Bear was tough and battle ready; they were out to win the scavenger hunt, as well as an unofficial award for most drinks consumed. The L Wine team was as classy as the establishment they represented, and as expected, the team from MBA was taking care of business.

The event started at 4pm and was scheduled to end at 11pm. A scavenger hunt provided an element of gamesmanship that added a unique and exciting flavor to the entire crawl. Teams began the crawl at Hot Italian, then went to MVPs, Zocalo, Golden Bear, Tamaya Sushi, L Wine Lounge, and finally ended up at Sapporo Grill Japanese Steakhouse.

Everywhere pub crawlers went, new and interesting people took notice and asked about the Midtown logo shirts, as well as what the event was all about. At The Golden Bear, we ran into Keith Divirgilio and his wife, magazine cover model Jessie Deville. At L Wine Lounge, we met up with local volleyball player and coach Randy Silva and his friends. At Zocalo, we crossed paths with Debra Brekke, a UCLA School of Nursing administrator, on vacation with her husband. Asked what she thought, she said, "I think it's fabulous! We never see this kind of stuff in Simi Valley, where I live. We're starving for this sort of young and involved community. It's all about loving your neighbor, and it's great to see such good things happening. It's obvious that today everyone is coming together."

Sapporo was really impressive. The bartenders made perfect drinks. The chefs provided huge plates of sushi and other items for us to eat, security was professional and kept the establishment orderly, and the hostess was funny and friendly. Sapporo ranks high on Sacramento's list of sophisticated establishments.

MBA's Amber Schmaeling said, "We saw this as a great opportunity to promote Midtown and the wonderful bars and restaurants that our district carries. It was a great event, and we're looking forward to creating more opportunities to highlight what Midtown has to offer. For example, come out to Second Saturday to meet the new Midtown Girls promotion team."

Brittney Culbertson of the MBA team said, "The evening was amazing! It was something that I hadn't done before. I got to go to some bars that I hadn't been to before and meet some awesome people! Overall a great night!"

Pub Crawl participant Kendel Spicer said, "I don't know what team I was on. It was Heather's team, and I had so much fun!"

One of Spicer's teammates, Jenna Basile said of the event, "It was definitely a blast. My first pub crawl. It was awesome!"

There were many familiar faces along the way, and many new friends to be made. Sacramento Press Verified Community Contributor Lindol French was among the pub crawlers. About the crawl, French said, "It was a blast! It's a fantastic way to meet new friends while checking out a variety of local bars and restaurants."

Hot Italian's Foursquare Mayor and team leader, Vy Nguyen said, "Foursquare itself is such a great way of promoting local businesses, and I'm a huge advocate of keeping it local. Midtown is up and coming, we have so many great restaurants and things to offer. In fact, many of the members of the Hot Italian team were new to the Midtown scene, which was an important part of the event. We actually brought in people from outside and were successful in promoting our Midtown businesses."

Zocalo's Foursquare Mayor and team leader, Dianna Sanchez said, "It was probably one of the most fun events that I've ever had the opportunity to participate in here in Midtown. The people on my team are Zocalo regulars. Our passion for Zocalo was clearly represented by our amazing custom t-shirts made by Westin [Ramirez] from New Starr Press. Being the Mayor comes with many perks, my team got VIP service and was treated like royalty at Zocalo."

Rarely do I insert my own opinion about the events I report on, and while whatever I add will merely echo what has already been said, here goes! This was by far the most fun I've ever had going out in Midtown, or anywhere in Sacramento. From beginning to end, the entire event was fantastic. These types of events are great, they bring members of the community together, and they provide a great space to meet new people and make new friends. I ended the evening absolutely certain that my time couldn't have been better spent. I enjoyed meeting each and every person who participated, and I don't believe I'm alone in the hope that we all come together and do it again soon.

As always, images from the event tell the story best.

Gators Announce New Dance Team Director

2010-08-09T07:14:52Z

The River City Gators announced the signing of a contract with the Midtown Girls cheer and promotional service group. Midtown Girls Founder and Director Erlynn Rose Holyfield was named Director of the Gator Girls dance squad.

Due to confidentiality provisions, terms of the deal were not immediately available. However, River City Gators Co-Owner Jason Kang said, "We welcome Erlynn and her squad to the River City Gators family. We're excited about the new team and the upcoming season. There are a lot of great improvements in the works. We think the community will love the new dance team and all of the things we'll be announcing over the next few months."

Kang continued, "This is an exciting time for Sacramento and for sports throughout the region. The Gators have good history, a strong brand, and a great product. We're committed to winning championships. The new Gator Girls are an important part of that product and of the organization. We have a lot of work to do, but I know I speak for all of the owners when I say that we're pleased with what has been accomplished so far this offseason."

Reached for comment, Holyfield said, "I'm really excited to be a part of a great organization while participating in the sport I'm so passionate about. Together with all of the owners, we're really on the same page with everything we're looking to create. There'a a lot of excitement about the variety of men and women coming out, and I think the community will really like what we have to contribute to the Gators organization."

Members of the Midtown Girls will appear and perform under contract for the River City Gators at promotional outreach events during the remainder of 2010, and during the 2011 season. The contract is a renewable two year deal that runs through 2012.

Images of the full squad, currently approaching fifty members, were unavailable at press time. The included image, taken at last week's California Automobile Museum Car Cruise and Show, where the Midtown Girls were providing promotional support services to the Midtown Business Association, features Holyfield (second from the left) with select members of her team.

The Midtown Girls can be found on facebook, and they can be reached by email at themidtowngirls@gmail.com. Information about the River City Gators is available through the team's website.

Note: Author has been affiliated with the RIver City Gators organization in the past.

Midtown Cocktail Week stirs up drinks starting Monday

2010-08-09T04:51:25Z

Sacramentans in the mood for specially made cocktails need to look no further than Midtown this week.

The annual Midtown Cocktail Week kicks off on Monday with seven nights filled to the brim with cocktail culture.

Co-founder Joe Anthony Savala began the event in 2008 with Erick Castro after attending San Francisco’s Cocktail Week.

“We really love the whole Midtown vibe and how it’s growing, so [we thought,] let’s put something together here,” Savala said.

After some planning in conjunction with local restaurants and bars in Midtown and some help from San Francisco’s best bars, MCW was born. In 2009, the Midtown Business Association joined in.

MCW is more than just enjoying beverages, Savala said. It’s more about the mixology and cocktail culture.

“What we’re trying to do is educate a lot of the people here, people that love the cocktail culture and are even in the industry,” he said. “We try to bring a lot of the great minds, work together and brainstorm to make each other better.”

Savala, current beverage manager at Zócalo, described a mixologist as someone much like a chef who knows ingredients well and can mix them to create something great.

The secret to a great cocktail is balance, he said.

“A lot of times with young bartenders, they think they need more ingredients to make a great cocktail, he said. “Sometimes it’s really the simplest, purist form of a cocktail that makes it great.”

This year’s MCW will host its yearly bartender mixology competition Tuesday at Lounge on 20. Eight competitors are challenged to use Royal Combier liqueur in their creations and will be judged on appearance, taste and creativity.

Zócalo will feature drinks on Thursday made from distilled mezcal. Savala said some participating locations, such as Shady Lady, will feature local ingredients — including spirits.

“Just like people are eating a lot better now with more local ingredients, people are drinking better now, too,” he said. “It’s really bringing cocktails that have a lot of integrity.”

MCW is promoting responsible drinking and alternative transportation. Proceeds to MCW will benefit drunk driving educators and law enforcement agencies in Sacramento.

“This brings a lot of culture and awareness to Sacramento,” Savala said. “People aren’t really trying to get drunk anymore, they’re trying to enjoy a great cocktail. It’s maturing Sacramento into becoming great drinkers — people who are enjoying a great cocktail, culture, education and awareness.”

For a sneak peek at Savala’s “Oaxacan Old Fashioned” and “Anejo Sour” drink recipes, click here.

For more information and full list of events for MCW, visit midtowncocktailweek.org.

Mountain Lions Dance Squad Complete

2010-07-31T22:41:07Z

On Friday, July 30, the Sacramento Mountain Lions Cheer and Dance team finals were head at Barcode on Arden Way at 9pm. The event was originally scheduled to be held at Venue Events Center located at 1417 R St. at 8pm, but a power outage reportedly due to a blown transformer under SMUD control forced a last minute schedule and location change.

Noticeably distressed, dance team Director Lindsay Shoemaker scrambled to secure an alternate location. Demonstrating why she is in fact the team's leader, when put to the test inside the eleventh hour, she found a way not only to come through, but to create an even better atmosphere. Barcode, despite being a fair distance away from midtown Sacramento, was a far better event location. The staff and owners were supportive and on hand to assist with a variety of needs, and both the floors and lighting were significantly better than those at Venue.

This final round of tryouts was intense. All of the women participating were incredible. No one seemed distracted by the adjustments. The only blemish on the evening was the outcome, as the unfortunate reality was that half the women could not be selected. Given how good all of them are, there were sure to be some difficult choices in the end.

Having representatives from RS&E, the PR firm representing the Sacramento Mountain Lions, sitting in on the interview phase this past week was perhaps a unique twist that underscores the belief that final decisions were in fact based on more than just performances on the floor.

One of those unfortunate choices was to cut the incredible Rosie Maupin. Her performance literally brought the crowd and the judges to their feet. The DJ played the music longer, and she showed incredible talent and athleticism. Sadly, the night was not to be hers. Of her performance, Rosie said, "I worked really hard and did the best I could, unfortunately it wasn't good enough. I thought my interview went well, so all I can think of is that they wanted somebody older."

Another unfortunate choice resulted in Carlie Beck being cut. Carlie is an exceptionally talented young woman who has graced the pages of Playboy Magazine, as well as the current Playboy Sexy 100 list. On how the entire night went, Beck said, "There was a lot of amazing talent and wonderful dancers, and any one of the 30 girls who made it to the finals could have made it."

Similar stories apply to perhaps a dozen women whose performances seemed squad-worthy. The only justice would have been to let them all on. Unfortunately, the UFL chose to limit the squads of all teams to a maximum of 32 members.

For Rosie Maupin and Carlie Beck, the work goes on. They will both be in Midtown Sacramento tonight representing The Midtown Girls at the California Automobile Museum's Second Annual Car Cruise and Show, sponsored in part by Sacramento's Midtown Business Association. The show will take place from 6-9pm from 22d to 25th Street, and between J and L Street. The streets will be blocked off. Seven bands will play simultaneously throughout the district.

The Sacramento Mountain Lions will have a select team of dancers, players, and ticket sales staff on hand as well. They will be located on 24th Street, in between J and K.

Editor's Note:RS&E was not involved in any part of the judging or selection process of the Mountain Lions Dance Squad..

Supply, Demand and Midtown Parking

2010-06-18T01:41:14Z

At its June meeting, the Midtown Business Association board discussed parking policy in Midtown Sacramento, and how MBA should address the issue. At the May meeting, City Manager Gus Vina discussed a proposed tax on private parking lots to raise city revenue. Aaron Zeff, owner of Priority Parking, expressed concerns that this would force him to raise prices, and hopes to find other alternatives. MBA discussed hiring a consultant to address parking issues, but instead decided to work with other central city stakeholders, including the Downtown Partnership, neighborhood residents, state offices, hospitals, and the city of Sacramento, to work on a consolidated parking strategy.

As a neighborhood resident, I agree with Mr. Zeff’s assessment. Taxing private parking lots, causing increased parking prices, will make neighborhood parking worse. In order to reduce costs, raise revenue, encourage use of private lots, and make parking more convenient and safer, Midtown must eliminate free parking.

Midtown Parking: A Shortage of Supply

Any product’s price is based on supply and demand. Street parking in Midtown has a very limited supply, and demand to park there is high. Any first-year economics student can tell you what happens when a good with low supply and high demand is underpriced: a shortage occurs. Midtown’s parking shortage is apparent every Second Saturday, every weekend, and more and more, even during weekdays around popular restaurants and nightclubs. Parking until 6 PM is metered or limited through much of the central city, but after 6 PM, and all day Sunday, parking is free. Because the peak hours for restaurants, nightlife, and public events like Second Saturday are all after 6 PM, the free parking results in street congestion.

“Free” parking seems like a good thing, but of course, free parking isn’t really free. Street maintenance, repair, lighting and safety costs money. Neighborhood property owners, both residents and businesses, subsidize “free” parking with property taxes, city fees and costs to repair curbs and public right-of-way. Also, when a parking shortage exists, “free” parking has other problems: Because there is no charge for its use, people take up spaces for longer periods of time. Cars cruise around blocks multiple times looking for a space, adding to traffic congestion and air pollution. Cars park in residential neighborhoods, displacing parking spaces of Midtown residents, many of whom have no off-street parking options. Thus, people do not use garages or lots unless the neighborhood is completely full. If prices at parking lots rise, visitors will cruise for a spot that much longer, and press farther into neighborhoods. This often causes conflicts between neighborhood residents and businesses. And if visitors arriving in cars cannot find parking, sometimes they will just keep driving—right back out of the neighborhood.

Making Parking "Just Right"

The solution to the parking shortage is to eliminate this subsidized “free” parking, and simplify the confusing network of 15 minute, 30 minute, 1 hour, 2 hour, and metered zones with an overall central city parking policy that charges an appropriate amount to visitors. This amount should be low enough to be reasonable, but high enough to discourage people from sitting on a parking space without limit. The objective is a “Goldilocks price”: Not too high, and not too low. Ideally, street parking should be 85% capacity: mostly occupied, but generally a space or two will be available on each block. This means that street parking is convenient, limiting “cruising” for a space, and visitors can find parking close to their destination. People seeking all-day or longer-term parking are best served by private parking lots or garages. Because “free” parking is a private lot’s main competition, its elimination means more business for parking providers. Commuters would have more incentive to use daily parking instead of running to feed meters or re-park in 2-hour zones. Because they occupy all-day spots, they can shop or dine during rush hour and drive home at their leisure. Midtown residents can use current residential parking permits to park without charge in their own neighborhoods, but if they park in business districts away from where they live, they too have to pay for parking. This encourages neighborhood residents to leave their car at home, and walk to visit Midtown businesses, something many residents already do. Using Web-based tools, residents could order one-day parking permits for visiting friends to park on the street; Sacramento’s parking department is already working on a plan to implement this system.

Many Midtown businesses are concerned that their customers complain about the cost of parking. I would suggest this is a good thing: if a customer is in your business complaining about parking, it was obviously cheap enough that they paid for it. They will probably have the same complaint the next time they visit your business, and the time after that, but it’s not high enough to keep them away. Since daytime parking is already metered in much of the city, the rates paid by daytime visitors would probably not change. Evening hours for parking meters also recognizes that Midtown is no longer a place where the streets roll up at 6 PM. Visitors who spend $100 or more on dinner and drinks at Mulvaney’s or L Wine Lounge won’t balk at spending a few dollars to park, especially at a convenient space or clearly marked lot close to their destination.

In a survey conducted by MBA, a business owner and resident called for free parking because, “The only party that benefits from parking fees is the city. It drives people away from doing business in Midtown especially in this economy.” But there is a solution, used in cities like Pasadena, CA (see article link below). Instead of going to the city, parking revenue can be diverted to the neighborhood by creating a joint powers authority. In Pasadena, street parking funds pay for streetlights, repaving, trash cans, signage, tree trimming, benches, and other amenities. Parking funds go directly to improve the neighborhood. This means businesses, visitors and residents all benefit from a cleaner, safer, more beautiful neighborhood. Pasadena’s parking meters announce how the funds are used (see photo), but the results are obvious on their business streets, where parking is available and business is flourishing.

By contrast, the Westwood Village district of Los Angeles tried to address their parking issues by reducing prices at meters and encouraging free parking. Their business district has suffered, due to parking congestion that discourages visitors, and they have limited funds to maintain or beautify the district. Parking garages in Westwood Village have less business because they cannot compete with free parking.

While residents and businesses don’t mind taking parking funds out of the city’s hands, the city of Sacramento, eager to cut costs and raise revenues, may disagree. But there are benefits for the city, too. By extending evening and weekend enforcement, those who park illegally will be subject to fines. Fines from parking violators become added city revenue. Because the parking meter funds improve the neighborhood, the city’s economic burden is reduced; instead of using city funds to subsidize “free” parking for visitors and provide neighborhood amenities, street parking pays for it. Beautified business districts with correctly priced parking attract more customers and do better business, increasing sales tax and business occupancy tax revenue. Clean, safe, comfortable residential neighborhoods result in more investment, higher property value and increased equity, raising property tax revenue. That’s the kind of “tax increase” businesses and residents can live with—the kind that results from greater economic prosperity.

Urban Thinking for an Urban Place

Residents of suburban neighborhoods, used to large, free parking lots, may be uncomfortable with the idea of paying for parking. But, to quote MBA board member Michael Heller, who commented on the issue at Wednesday’s meeting, this is “suburban thinking in an urban place.” The only way to make Midtown’s parking as plentiful a suburban district is to demolish Midtown entirely and rebuild it into a copy of Arden Way, Fulton Avenue, Florin Road or other car-centric suburban business street. Those streets have their own strengths, but none compare to Midtown as a center of culture, nightlife, walkability and mixed use. Yes, there would be more parking, but Midtown’s unique character, its walkable streets, its shade trees, its historic architecture, its culture, its businesses, and its lively urbanity would be utterly destroyed. Nobody visits America’s great walking cities and comes home with stories about how easy it was to find parking!

Midtown is a unique neighborhood that draws regional visitors and national attention. Like the suburban residents of other great cities, Midtown Sacramento’s visitors are welcome, but they must learn that parking is not free. If they see clearly that parking fees can beautify and improve a neighborhood they already like to visit, while making parking safer and more convenient, they won’t mind paying. A comprehensive central city parking district, designed by and for business, residents and government, can solve many of Midtown’s parking problems. A tax on parking lots already struggling to compete with “free” (taxpayer-funded) parking is the wrong answer. It will make parking worse, not better, because it does not address the real problem of supply and demand.

Thanks to Aaron Zeff of Priority Parking for providing the article on Pasadena’s solution to the problem of free parking. The article is available online here:
“Turning Small Change Into Big Changes”
shoup.bol.ucla.edu/SmallChange.pdf

Midtown Business Association website:
www.mbasac.com
MBA Board agendas and minutes:
docs.mbasac.org/BoardAgendas/

Recent “Streetsblog” post on the cost of “free” parking in San Francisco:
sf.streetsblog.org/2010/06/17/san-franciscos-own-oil-spill-the-wasteful-hunt-for-free-parking/#more-237841

Pasadena parking meter photo from "Turning Small Change Into Big Changes" article referenced above. Street photos by author.

Midtown Bazaar opens Saturday

2010-06-17T04:02:11Z

A marketplace of colorful stalls will take over one of Sacramento's busiest corners Saturday.

Like an oasis in a concrete desert, a new public market called the Midtown Bazaar will spring up on a parking lot at 16th and J streets — across from the Memorial Auditorium and P.F. Chang's China Bistro — and flow through an alley into a cavernous old building for a few hours each week.

At least 75 local vendors offering art and other goods have already signed up for the grand opening, to be held from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. With an indoor location measuring 25,600 feet, the market will be held year-round. The old garage at 1630 I St. sports old timber trusses, a mezzanine and roll-up doors in back that will be open to allow the crowd to move between the two market spaces.

Organizer Sabrina Berhane, who has a background in marketing and special event planning, is partnering with entrepreneur Aaron Zeff to create the event. Zeff is president of Priority Parking Inc., and he owns the parking lot and garage where the bazaar will be located.

Hosting a public market there will offer artisans a place to sell their wares in the heart of the central city, in a way that doesn't require any capital, Zeff said.

"The creative class — to me, that's what will make Sacramento become a great city," Zeff said. "We've got to energize and nurture these people."

All proceeds from $1 admission fees will be donated to WEAVE, a local nonprofit fighting domestic violence. The cost of vendor space will be low to keep the market affordable. For the first month, all 10 x 10 spaces will cost $10 every Saturday. Spaces will be $15 to $25 starting July 17, Berhane said.

The event will grow to fit the community. Its name reflects the fun and energy an evolving public market can create in Sacramento, like bazaars selling gold, silk and spices in the old world, she said.

"When I think of a bazaar, I think of an outdoor market somewhere overseas — something exotic and fresh," she said.

Booths will carry art ranging from paintings, sculptures and photos to jewelry and hand-painted jewelry boxes, as well as handmade children's furniture, clothing, pet accessories and even Tempur-Pedic pillows. Half a dozen people will use their spaces for mini-garage sales.

She has a long-term vision that includes a farmers' market, flower stalls and organic, gourmet food sellers offering such things as artisan cheeses and olive oil.

Area farmers who regularly sell at other local farmer's markets have said they would like to be involved. But they have been hesitant to try something new. United Coffeehouse will sell hand-pressed organic coffee, while others will sell jerky and carnitas on Saturday. Flowers, honey and olive oil will be for sale the second weekend, Berhane said.

On Saturday, music will flow from a Sacramento cover band called the Connie Bryan Power Trio, which will play 1960s to '80s rock, and from radio station KBZC 106.5 FM. Berhane is still searching for a few good restaurants and musicians who would like to participate.

The alley will not be closed for the event. But if the Midtown Bazaar expands down the road, the Sacramento City Council's approval for such a closure may be sought, said Zeff, who has put on hold plans to open a restaurant row on that alley.

Sacramento has seen a growing interest in farmer's markets, the Second Saturday Art Walk and other organized events for local artists. A Thursday night farmer's market became popular on K Street Mall in the 1990s, until growing violence led it to be shut down.

The new public market is being established in Midtown within view of the Memorial Auditorium because the spot has a "cool, historic vibe" and can be reached easily by neighbors on foot or on bike, said Zeff, outgoing president of the Midtown Business Association.

"It's where the creative class lives, works and plays," Zeff said. "I'd like to have something here that the creative class wants, and I think we're going to deliver that."

For more information, contact Sabrina Berhane at 320-0366 or info@midtownbazaar.com.

Photos by Suzanne Hurt, a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

MBA donates final $20,000 for Alley Activation Project

2010-06-03T01:24:16Z

The Midtown Business Association voted to provide $20,000 to a Midtown Alley Activation Alliance project aimed at transforming an alley section running from 17th to 18th Street, between L Street and Capitol Avenue. The project is a pilot venture to activate Midtown alleys, creating a space that can be used for art, commerce and civic activity. Construction of the alley will take place this summer and is expected to be complete by early September.

What makes this project so unique is the sustainable focus on engaging public space in creative ways. Complete with permeable paved stones, solar lighting,and planters, this pilot will add a public benefit to a unique Midtown alley. The project has been a community-wide effort spearheaded by the Alley Activation Alliance.

"We’re developing sustainable infrastructure that will benefit our community and encourage others to respond creatively,” said Julie Young, Alley Activation Alliance co-founder. “Our hope is to use this pilot as an example of what is possible for our alleys and our community.”

Transformed alleys will also create new space for commercial operation and broader community interaction. Thus, the alliance's belief is that not only do these areas represent unrealized cultural potential, but they have tremendous political and econmic value as well.

"Alleys are one of Midtown's most underutilized features," said Rob Kerth, executive director of the Midtown Business Association. "Finishing this first alley will open our community’s eyes to the possibilities. I'm glad that the MBA Board decided to help fund this game changer."

The city of Sacramento Department of Utilities is also on board with the project and will be replacing old water and sewer lines at the pilot location. $100,000 from Federal Community Development Block Grant funds will be used toward the infrastructure. Sacramento City Council member Steve Cohn also donated $5,000 to the project.

The Alley Activation Alliance is working to raise funds to transform other alleys in the Midtown district as well.

“Most things, done well, bear repeating," Young said. "We wish to add value economically and environmentally to our underutilized alleys.”

A quick walk through the alley reveals its current look.

Despite multiple requests, neither the Midtown Business Association, nor the Alley Activation Alliance has delivered an image of the planned transformation. A completion celebration for the pilot alley will be held early this fall.

Local Bands Play at Midtown Benefit Show

2010-05-20T10:14:39Z

On Friday, the Distillery played host to a show aimed at benefiting the Alley Activation Alliance and Project Free Hope.

The event, held in Midtown, was co-promoted by the Midtown Business Association. Several members of the Project Free Hope Board of Directors were on hand for the event. Members of the Midtown Business Association were also present. No representatives from the Alley Activation Alliance made their presence known.

Alliance President, Julie Young, who was recovering from a back injury, said, "We are a newly formed organization and have much to learn. If we weren't represented at the event, that is my fault. I was impressed that the event was so well organized and seemed to be going on without a hitch. I guess I underestimated how important our group's support might be."

Though the show had been scheduled nearly 60 days, the Distillery double booked another show that was promoted in the Sacramento News & Review. The gaffe had a negative impact on turnout, which was already challenged by the apparent lack of presence by the primary organization to be benefited. “There’s little more an organization can do beyond showing up and inviting their backers,“ said Jonathan Bernstein of Project Free Hope.

Amber Schmaeling of the Midtown Business Association said, “We advertised the event to our members and those on our web-based newsletter mailing list. I’m not sure what the impact of the reported advertisement by the venue was, but I’m sure it played some role.” Indeed it did. Turnout corresponds to money generated at the door, and on Friday night, that translated to funds raised to benefit the causes supported by these two organizations.

Suffice it to say, 9 p.m. Friday - 2 a.m. Saturday was not the best revenue-producing block of time. There's an old saying, the band must play on. Music transcends many things. While the venue and organizations may have suffered, the bands rocked! Vesuvius, A Single Second, and Purgatory all played as hard as they would to a standing-room-only crowd.

Vesuvius thoroughly impressed. The 21-year-old bass player, Benjamin Armstrong, loomed high over the crowd. Standing 6-feet 8-inches, Armstrong pounded the strings and seemed to drop in over the mic and into the crowd space as he thrashed around. Armstrong’s energy and posture is reminiscent of a young Dave Ellefson. Nineteen-year-old guitarist Albert Kolesinski’s unique form of maniacal shred reminded some of a young Dave Mustaine. Best of all, the drummer! Seventeen-year-old Austin Mooney was incredible.

“He’s maybe 10-15 years away from reaching his peak,” remarked one of the drummers from the other bands. Indeed, many drummers don’t mature until they’re closer to 30. Some say drummers don’t truly mature until they’re closer to 40. One thing is certain: Mooney has a bright drumming future ahead. He sounds like a young Nick Menza. Someone call Kevin Prince! Speaking of Megadeth comparisons, Mustaine & Co. are coming to Sacramento on Sept. 1. Check out the first installment of pre-show coverage provided by The Sacramento Press, including an interview with Dave Lombardo, the drummer of Slayer.

A Single Second took the stage next and proved why it is truly one of the best and most professional bands in Midtown. The musicians' highly refined sound is fast and hard, with vocals that remind one of Johnny Rotten. Every aspect of their performance was perfect, easily suited for a much larger stage and a much larger crowd. Simply stated, these guys have done their time and deserve to be seen. Perhaps the most professional part of their show, A Single Second rolled through the primary set and then yielded the stage to the next band, Purgatory, while still having time on the clock. This type of unselfish play from Shawn Peter and his crew is a measure of maturity and confidence that deserves nothing short of applause. It’s time for A Single Second to be tapped to open some big shows locally, and it’s time for someone to get them out on tour. They’re currently in the studio completing work for an upcoming CD release. If you’re a local music enthusiast, and you like A Single Second’s sound, then the CD will definitely be a must-own item.

A quick set change later, Purgatory took the stage. Few people in the Midtown grid had heard the Elk Grove–based band play. Its house band haunt is a Chinese restaurant where the members regularly pack the house. They were so thankful for the opportunity to come play in Midtown. The thin crowd didn’t matter. The extra time was much appreciated. These guys would have kept on playing for hours more if the Distillery could have stayed open. Coleman Garcia’s vocal performance was solid. His rendition of Bush’s “Machinehead” brought certainty to the murmurs running through the room – he sounds like Gavin Rossdale. Drummer Nick Griffiths is a wild man. He constantly smiled while playing. He’s as passionate and consumed as the great Roger Taylor. He just loves to play. In fact, all the guys demonstrated a passion for performance that not only deserves more stage time in Sacramento, but some time in a good sound studio too. Too bad the guys from One Eleven weren’t in the house.

Alicia Stonebreaker of Project Free Hope was quick to point out that the show was competing with both Concerts in the Park and the Second Saturday Art Walk.

“The concert crowd is either out or passed out right now, and lots of people are resting before the long day tomorrow,” Stonebreaker said.

Whatever the reasons behind the low turnout, what is certain is that the bands played hard, the music was great and the venue kept it going until forced to close.

Vesuvius in action:

A Single Second in action:

Purgatory in action:

Vesuvius performs on May 30 at the Fire Escape Bar and Grill in Sacramento. They play alongside Purgatory, Stasis Burden, and the Sub Phobias. The show is all-ages, though there is a full bar for those age 21 and over. The show starts at 7pm. The Fire Escape is located at 7431 Madison Ave., in Sacramento.

A Single Second performs on June 2 at Powerhouse Pub in Folsom. They play alongside Blame Betty, and the Left Hand. The show is free, and is limited to people age 21 and over. It starts at 8pm, and is sponsored by KWOD 106.5 “The Buzz.” Powerhouse Pub is located at 614 Sutter St., in Folsom.

Purgatory performs on May 30 at the Fire Escape Bar and Grill, as indicated above. Playing alongside Vesuvius once again, they are sure to deliver much like they did at the Distillery.

Pilot alley projects move forward

2010-05-20T04:41:34Z

The Midtown Business Association voted Wednesday night to kick in $20,000 toward nearly $400,000 in improvements for a prototype alley running from 17th to 18th streets between L Street and Capitol Avenue.

At the same time, a three-unit condo building has been under construction since February next to that alley. Construction workers have created a shell containing three condos and a garage.

Developer Jeremy Drucker is building the alley-front "Stitch" project as a three-year sales model for other property owners and prospective tenants. Facing Old Soul coffee roastery, the project sits at the back of a deep lot behind a house at 1717 Capitol Ave. The building is expected to be finished near the end of July.

Led by MBA President Aaron Zeff, a majority of board members agreed to provide $20,000 toward at least $132,000 in permeable paving stones for the alley. The money will come primarily from a surplus parking management fund, said MBA Executive Director Rob Kerth.

The city of Sacramento's Department of Utilities has agreed to replace 80-year-old water and sewer lines — work estimated at $181,000. The City Council approved using $100,000 in community development block grant funds for permeable pavers. The total cost to install pavers may be higher, depending on bids, Drucker said.

The nonprofit Alley Activation Alliance, formed by the private committee spearheading an "alley activation" movement in Sacamento, is still seeking $30,000 for speciality items like planter boxes and construction of a masonry trash enclosure that will be built on a leased 10-foot by 20-foot parking space, said Alley Activation Committee Co-chair Julie Young.

The rest of the $391,230 budget is coming from in-kind and private donations,Young and Drucker said.

"We're trying to put in infrastructure and encourage people to respond creatively to that," Young said.

Cities from San Francisco to Austin, Seattle, Portland and beyond have transformed old service streets into intimate, charismatic spots for smaller businesses and residential flats. For two years, several dozen people have been working as the Alley Activation Committee to initiate a similar movement in Sacramento.

The committee members have identified 41 Midtown alleys between I and N streets they see as having potential for improvements that would encourage alley-front business and residential development.

Before the vote, several MBA members asked where funding would come from for other alleys to be developed and for alley maintenance. Some were concerned businesses or the city would be expected to come up with the funding.

"We don't want to look to the city for money" for other alleys to be improved, Young said. The committee will explore other options, such as private donations from foundations or corporations, or property-based improvement district funds, Young said.

The question of who would be responsible for maintenance hasn't yet been answered, but maintenance should be minimal, she said.

"Ultimately, the alleys are still maintained by the city," she said.

The city will handle construction. Work to replace water and sewer lines is expected to begin in July. Surface improvements — installing permeable pavers if possible — would start in late summer. Resident's water and sewer services should be shut off for no more than four hours at a time while connections are made, Drucker said.

A homeowner who lives several blocks away from the Stitch sales model has signed a contract for the second alley-front residential unit to be built on her deep lot. All three units must be pre-sold before construction would start, Drucker said.

Graphic provided by Jeremy Drucker. Photos by Suzanne Hurt, a staff reporter covering business and development for The Sacramento Press.

Local Bands set to Rock the Distillery

2010-05-12T01:30:22Z

On Friday, May 14th, local bands Vesuvius, A Single Second, and Purgatory will play at the Distillery, located at 2107 L Street in Sacramento. The cover charge is $10, and the show is scheduled to begin at 9pm. However, management from the Distillery says the first band is likely to begin playing closer to 10pm as the dinner crowd tends to remain seated for some time.

A Single Second's Shawn Peter says, "Dave Girard, Aaron Holt, Jason 'Mogley' Tilsey and I are raising funds to help make a difference."

Purgatory's Coleman Garcia says, "We're doing the show because we love writing and performing music. We generate a clean rock sound that's also very melodic and can still kick your face in."

Vesuvius' Ben Armstrong says, "We should all have a cause to support these days. Come out and show your love and we'll thank you by melting your faces with our rock'n'roll."

Sacramento's Midtown Business Association has graciously promoted the show in their most recent newsletter because the show is billed as an Alley Activation Event, and is designed to benefit two Midtown organizations, the Midtown Alley Activation Alliance and Project Free Hope. MBA Outreach Manager, Amber Schmaeling, says, "MBA is happy to support events in our district that support midtown-based organizations."

The Alley Activation Alliance is working to transform Midtown's alleys into creative and artistic spaces for public use by employing things such as cobblestone pathways, improved exterior lighting, murals, little storefronts and doorways. Alliance President, Julie Young, says, "The Alley Activation Alliance pursues the betterment of the underutilized and overlooked spaces in our community. We seek to make them brighter, safer, and invigorated places where the creative can flourish."

Sources familiar with the Alliance say that it has some really great projects that will add significantly to the quality of life in the community by both increasing the availability of hospitable public space and decreasing space that may contribute to crime and safety concerns. That translates into a better community where slogans such as that of Midtown can truly be realized; not only can you "go your own way," but you can go your own way safely.

The other organization involved is Project Free Hope. The organization is working to educate and bring awareness to the public about the issue of child trafficking. PFH Board Director, Jonathan Bernstein, says, "Friday night's show will be a fun time for people to get together, listen to music, have drinks, and support a couple of good causes at the same time. Music has always been a basic form of communication for people all over the world. Music moves people; they maintain hope and find freedom through it, so this is perfect for us."

The organizers and organizations involved invite anyone age 21 and over to come out to The Distillery, hear some good music, support these two community organizations, and have a great time!

Vesuvius.

A Single Second.

Purgatory.

For more information on this and other shows at the Distillery, call (916) 443-8815. To learn more about the organizations involved, visit their websites. The Midtown Business Association can be found here. Project Free Hope can be found here on Facebook. The Alley Activation Alliance has yet to launch either a website or a Facebook page, but a detailed PDF explains what they're up to. The music of all three bands can be found on their Myspace pages: Vesuvius, A Single Second, and Purgatory.

Author's Note : I am one of the event organizers.

Harv's tax day car washes benefit Weave

2010-04-14T05:07:29Z

Harv's Carwash will be scrubbing vehicles for charity — and only four cents profit per car — on tax day Thursday.

On April 15, the Midtown car wash will donate $16.95 from every $16.99 full service wash to WEAVE, a local nonprofit set up to prevent violence against women.

Owner Aaron Zeff said Tuesday he's not tweaking his nose at the IRS by holding the event. Harv's made local and national news last month when two Internal Revenue Service agents showed up to collect on an overdue bill. Zeff owed four cents in back taxes, but the bill had grown to more than $200 in penalties and fees.

"We would never tweak our nose at the IRS. The men and women of the IRS have a job to do," said Zeff, who is also president of the Midtown Business Association.

The fundraiser was created as a way to "turn lemons into lemonade," Zeff added.

"This is part of our ongoing effort to work with WEAVE," he said. "We believe in their mission, and the folks there are terrific."

April is not only the month when state and federal taxes are due — it's also Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

The charity carwash will be held from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Harv's, 19th and L streets.

Fine-tuning underway for Second Saturdays

2010-04-01T01:58:41Z

Sacramento officials and business leaders are working to keep the “art” in Second Saturday Art Walks and head off other problems as the event kicks into high gear.

With larger crowds expected in the coming warm season, officials from the city’s Code Enforcement Department, the Sacramento Police Department and Midtown Business Association are having a series of meetings to fine-tune rules and written guidelines.

One of their primary concerns is to prevent growing sidewalk sales from turning the art walk into a giant flea market. The city has had to discourage people wanting to sell appliances and other secondhand goods during Second Saturday, said MBA Executive Director Rob Kerth.

“The goal is to preserve Second Saturday as an art walk or a place where people can go out and see art and locally produced crafts,” he said.

The city recently released a flier to remind businesses, vendors and musicians about existing rules and point out one or two new ones for the monthly events.

Police will more strictly enforce requirements that businesses get a one-day alcohol beverage permit from the Sacramento Police Department as well as a special daily license from the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control in order to sell or give away alcohol, said Sgt. Norm Leong, police department spokesman.

The 2010 flier tells business owners and temporary vendors that sidewalk sales and other outdoor vending can take place without a special permit if the goods are "the same items normally sold or displayed" inside. Vendors must get written permission from the adjacent business and leave a six-foot-wide path clear on sidewalks.

A special permit for sidewalk sales would be a new requirement. However, they are considering changing the wording to allow people who own or lease non-art office or retail space in Midtown or other popular Second Saturday areas to sell their own art or crafts outside without that permit, Kerth said.

There is also talk of enforcing things such as the requirement for written permission to hold a sidewalk sale and making sure amplified bands are spread out. Acoustic bands don't raise the same concerns. Outdoor amplified sound must always have a special permit, whether it’s on public or private property. That may now also need to meet the sound ordinance — although the way that’s monitored may be revamped for this event. The sound may be monitored close to the speakers, he added.

Police oversee the safety of pedestrians and vehicles, street closures and the enforcement of sound and alcohol ordinances so the event can remain successful, according to Capt. Dana Matthes, the police department’s central area commander.

Official hours and street closures for Second Saturday are from 5-10 p.m. For more information, call Special Event Services at 808-7888 or click here.

Diners choose burgers over steak

2010-02-12T03:48:32Z

Sacramento's restaurants are a clear reflection of the times, with high-end establishments taking a beating and fast food expected to continue to rise in 2010.

As the recession continues, top-tier central city restaurants such as 55 Degrees and Masons have closed or begun transforming into more affordable dining. Similarly high-end chains, such as Ruth's Chris Steak House, just outside the central city, and Morton's The Steakhouse, and celebrated local establishments are reported to be in trouble.

Casual restaurants have also been seriously hurt by the economy. But fast-food restaurants like McDonald's are expanding and the demand for "fast-casual" restaurant concepts is exploding.

"Everyone is shifting their focus to meeting the consumer where they're spending," said Garrick Brown, vice president of research for Colliers International's Sacramento office and the company's senior USA retail research director. "What's happening with restaurants in central Sacramento is the highest-end guys are all getting killed. It's pretty much across the board: Anything that's upscale has just been hammered."

People aren't dining at expensive restaurants, whether they're out for a good meal, traveling or doing business. Some higher-end restaurants and bars, which can pay $10,000 to $15,000 in rent each month, are having trouble making rent. Several more could close or undergo radical makeovers in the next year, property experts said.

"I think everyone's in survival mode right now," said Midtown Business Association President Aaron Zeff. "People are still losing jobs. The economy seems to be shrinking. Disposable income seems hard to find."

In 2010, restaurants with bars and those with good ratings from customers are expected to do better than others. Restaurants are said to be breaking even on food. Alcohol sales are keeping a lot of restaurants alive because the profit margin is higher, Brown said.

While many casual restaurants have been offering reduced meal prices or specials, such as two-for-one deals or three-course dinners for $20, now even high-end places like Ruth's Chris are doing so — which is unheard of, Brown said.

Around town, they'll continue that trend until the economy stabilizes, said Dave Herrera, a vice president with Colliers who specializes in central city properties.

Casual restaurants, the tier below high-end, are also hurting in 2010. Dragonfly Restaurant and G.V. Hurley's both closed in Midtown last year. Consumers have shifted to cheaper food, and there were too many casual restaurants, especially chains, Brown said.

New mom-and-pop restaurants — anything that's privately funded and most likely with only one owner — will be rare for the next year or two. Home equity loans, where most new restaurant owners get their start-up funds, are off the table. Bank failures are expected to accelerate, so commercial real estate loans and small business loans will dry up for local restaurants, Brown said.

Plus, demand for mom-and-pop retail spaces has shriveled. Where brokers had five or six potential customers vying for one space two years ago, they now are likely to have one customer for every three or four spaces that become vacant, Brown said.

At the same time, restaurants selling fast food and the next level up, "fast casual," are growing. Fast casual restaurants with unique concepts are soaring. Smashburger began in Denver as a single restaurant only two or three years ago. Now about 300 franchises have been sold. Smashburger and Five Guys Burgers and Fries of Arlington, Va., have been looking for space in the central city, he said.

"That's where all the action is coming from right now," Brown said.

Most of the currently vacant space previously housed small restaurants or mom-and-pop retail stores. With most vacant space in the central city limited to 5,000 square feet or less, big chains like McDonald's aren't likely to expand there. Those restaurants need free-standing buildings with drive throughs, Brown said.

Infill development may gradually begin to fill some of those vacancies in 2010 and beyond. But a challenge to redevelopment of those empty spaces is that most retailers who are expanding right now need more than 5,000 square feet, he said.

Retail space rents have dropped by as much as a third. Landlords who own upscale, street-level retail and restaurant space have had to lower rents for incoming tenants and renegotiate leases to keep existing tenants. Where rates were $2.25 to $3.50 per square foot in 2007 for spaces where tenants pay all expenses, known as triple net, they have dropped to $1 to $2.75 per square foot, Herrera said.

Oakland resident Julio Peix wants to open a tap house in Midtown. He looked at vacant spaces for a year and a half and said he was shocked to find the prices higher than San Francisco. He found spaces going for 85 cents to $1 per square foot in parts of San Francisco, such as Potrero Hill, while spaces in Midtown were going for $2.50 - $3.

"Midtown was just crazy," said Peix, who hasn't given up.

Still, new restaurants are opening in the central city. Two offering comfort food are 5th and H Café. which opened in November, and House, which replaced 55 Degrees at 555 Capitol Mall. Bistro Michel, Bull, Cafeteria 15L and Mayahuel Restaurant are opening, too, Herrera said.

Restaurants need to hang on, Brown said.

"I see things gradually improving, as far as consumer spending," he said. "But it's going to be very slow and Sacramento's going to lag (behind) the rest of the nation."

Midtown Ice Rink Closing

2010-01-15T07:12:21Z

As the holidays come to a close, so does the Midtown Ice Skating Rink. Having opened on Nov. 20, Its last day will be Jan. 18.

The placement of the ice skating rink was new this year, having moved from St. Rose of Lima Park at Seventh and K streets because of the park's recent renovations.

This new location had some businesses worried about how it would affect them since the rink's placement closed down 20th Street between J and K and added strain on parking. Though the new location added a little more traffic congestion, the location has proven to be an overall success.

Aja Uranga-Foster from the Midtown Business Association reports that the popularity of the rink has exceeded their expectations, although the MBA will not have accurate numbers on how many people came to ice skate until after the rink is closed, she did say.

“The rink has been able to pay for itself, and by its closing on Monday it will overshoot its original targeted revenue by about 10 percent," she said.

The MBA calculated that at the end of December a little over 18,000 people came out to skate, and with a few days left they should continue to have good results if the weather holds.

Uranga-Foster was excited to report that most of the community has found it to be a positive attraction as well. She states that The MBA received a huge response from local residents who claim that the rink has “helped reinforce good feelings of the neighborhood," she said. Though not every resident is pleased with the rink's placement, the overall feeling has been a happy one.

Andrew Ekstrom, the development project manager for the MARRS building, said he feels that the rink has been “overall a very positive amenity for Midtown.” He believes that the rink alone has attracted between 20,000 and 30,000 more people to the area.

The surrounding businesses echo his enthusiasm for the ice rink. Joseph Jay, a manager at Pete’s Restaurant & Brewhouse, has seen an increase in families dining at the restaurant.

“The ice rink has caused some problems with parking, but it has brought in a lot of business on the weekends," he said.

Denim Spot owner Pete Hayes said he didn’t mind the congestion since he would rather have a parking issue than an empty street. In a way Hayes said he felt like having the ice skating rink placed in Midtown has allowed Sacramento to create their own version of Union Square.

"With the ice skating rink I have gotten a lot of walking traffic and curious shoppers," he said.

Hayes actually opened his store around the same time the ice skating rink went up.

“It is things like this that made me want to move my store to Midtown,” he said. “I wish they wouldn’t take it down.”

A few doors down at Luigi’s Slice, owner Linda Fuentes-Brida conveyed the same feeling.

“This is a very diverse community, and this was the key to bringing more families in, not just from Midtown, but from the surrounding areas,” she said.

The rink has even been fun for her employees since they have enjoyed going out and ice skating after work.

The next task will be the removal of the rink. Though it should only take about two weeks, the deadline for it to be cleared and the street reopened is Feb. 1.

The last day to enjoy the ice skating rink is Jan. 18. The rink will be open, rain or shine, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Admission is $8 for adults, $5 for children and $2 for skate rental.

Skaters hit ice in Midtown

2009-11-28T06:44:12Z

A crowd is slowly growing at the holiday ice-skating rink set up in Midtown this year.

The number of people skating at the rink's temporary new location was initially small after the rink opened a week ago on a half-block of 20th Street next to J Street. Numbers began growing the closer it got to the start of the holiday season, said Rob Kerth, executive director of the Midtown Business Association.

MBA found a new location and sponsors for the rink to replace the rink usually set up at St. Rose of Lima Park at 7th and K streets, in front of Westfield Downtown Plaza. The park was renovated and a Carnival of Lights is being held there this year.

The Midtown rink is hoped to bring in $200,000 toward the $250,000 cost to run the operation. Sacramento City Councilmember Steve Cohn provided $5,000 from his discretionary funding. MBA raised $50,000 in sponsorships and ad revenue to make up the difference, Kerth said.

People can rent figure skates for $2. Those who need to sharpen their own skates can call the rink's manager to arrange sharpening with a mobile skate sharpener. They can also get their skates sharpened at Iceland Skating Rink.

All-day parking is available for a holiday rate of $5 at a two-story garage at 1161 20th St. During the day, 120 spaces are available and 200 spaces are available at night. Parking also is available for $6 at a lot at 2220 J St. The rink expects to offer $6 valet parking soon if the city approves bagging two parking meters on J Street, outside Peet's Coffee and Tea, according to the MBA.

The rink will operate from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. The rink will close at 6 p.m. on Christmas Eve and Christmas, and open at noon on Christmas day.

Two to three hours of skating costs $5 for kids and $8 for adults. To get skates sharpened or for more information, call the rink at 752-4644.

Photo by Suzanne Hurt, a staff writer for The Sacramento Press.

Santa's workshop starts Saturday

2009-11-27T04:32:54Z

Santa Claus will set up shop in Midtown this year.

Beginning Saturday, Santa will read stories in his newest regional workshop, set up in a vacant retail space at 1801 L St., Suite 70. The Midtown Business Association and member businesses are sponsoring Santa's Toy Shoppe two or three times per day on weekends and certain other days until Dec. 23.

The workshop will be decorated for Christmas and sport an oversized rug where kids can sit and listen to Santa read for half an hour.

While some people say Santa is really a retired local law enforcement officer, MBA Executive Director Rob Kerth said that doesn't appear to be true.

"I think he actually is Santa," Kerth said. "The beard is real. The hearty laugh is real. The twinkle in the eye is real. Somebody's got to get him, so it ought to be Midtown."

The workshop, located next to Ginger Elizabeth Chocolates, is part of an effort by the MBA and Midtown businesses to draw potential shoppers by offering more holiday activities, Kerth said. Midtown is also home to an ice-skating rink this year and will host a night-time holiday parade, among other activities.

Building owner Sotiris Kolokotronis has donated the space for the workshop. Volunteers will help out at the events.

Santa also will pose for photos. Part of the proceeds will be donated to local charities, according to the MBA.

Admission will be $5 per child or $3 with the donation of an unwrapped toy. Adults accompanying kids get in free. To volunteer in the workshop, call 442-1500. For the workshop schedule, click here.

Photo by Kati Garner.

Midtown ice rink opens

2009-11-20T06:19:09Z

Rob Kerth has been getting plenty of Zamboni action the last few nights.

Midtown Business Association's executive director has been staying up late and going out in the early-morning dark to use the ice groomer to help create an ice-skating rink that opens at 10 a.m. Friday in Midtown.

"It's a tremendous amount of work to put up one of these portable rinks," Kerth said Wednesday. "I've been there until 4 in the morning at least five out of the last 10 days."

While most business association leaders might not even know how to spell "Zamboni," Kerth not only knows how to drive one, he owns one. And he has the license to drive it.

That's because until last year, Kerth owned Ice Unlimited, the company that built the holiday rink on a half-block of 20th Street next to J Street. Kerth and his father, William John Kerth, also designed 75 ice-skating rinks all over the country and on other continents as well.

The last rink they designed was at Squaw Valley's High Camp in 1990. The family also has owned Iceland Skating Rink since 1940.

The holiday rink was built in front of the MARRS Building this year due to conflicts at St. Rose of Lima Park, where a rink has operated every holiday for 18 years. The park was renovated and a Carnival of Lights is being held there this year.

Just two days before the Midtown rink was set to open, Kerth rushed to drop off sign materials at GW Print Media while Carlos Rios of Ice Unlimited scraped leaves off the new ice.

More than a dozen people helped build the rink and lay the ice. The project began Nov. 2, when the half block was closed. Skilled construction crews first built a wooden edge smack against street curbs.

They poured in gravel — 10 truckloads of it — and leveled it. Three-quarter-inch foam insulation went on top of the gravel to protect water mains and sewer pipes from freezing. A plastic sheet was laid on top of that and up the sides of the wooden edge, Kerth said.

Then, 69 pipes connected with u-bends on one end were laid. The 123-foot pipes were connected to headers or manifolds on the other end, Rios said.

About 1,800 gallons of saltwater is circulating now through three miles of pipes. Saltwater or "brine" is used because it freezes at a much lower point than fresh water.

The saltwater flows through bigger pipes into coolers inside a big trailer. That system chills the saltwater flowing out to 10 degrees, Rios said.

The saltwater warms up a few degrees outside, but the pipes stay cool enough to freeze the fresh water crews spray on the surface, little by little and layer by layer.

The water was sprayed from one end to the other and back again, forming layers until the ice is 4.25 inches thick. Most work took place between sundown and sunup, Kerth said.

The ice must be thick enough that a skate heel can't hit a pipe, Kerth said.

At 5,000 square feet, the 123-foot by 40-foot rink will be smaller than the St. Rose rink, which was 6,500-square feet.

Sponsors' names were set in the ice on mesh signs or around the rink. Major sponsors include Elk Grove-based Bell Brothers Heating and Air Conditioning, MARRS Building owner Heller Pacific, Harv's Car Wash, CBS13/CW31, California Pizza Kitchen and Sacramento City Councilmember Steve Cohn.

The rink will operate from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. all week. The rink will close at 6 p.m. on Christmas Eve. Hours on Christmas Day will be noon to 6 p.m. Two to three hours of skating are $5 for kids, $8 for adults. Skate rentals are $2.

The street will be closed for 90 days. The rink will operate until Jan. 18. The rink can hold 200 skaters.

Locals have been talking with MBA about holding activities on a small stage at one end. Some have talked about a tropical hula hoop demo. Fire dancers want to perform next to the ice. Two traveling musicians have talked about informal sessions on Friday nights and other bands may play Saturday nights, Kerth said.

Security will watch the rink overnight.

"They're there to help people not get hurt," Kerth said. "This is not like ice in the Sierras. It is the slickest surface that can be produced."

Photos by Kati Garner. Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Businesses divided over Midtown ice rink

2009-09-18T03:23:28Z

Sacramento's holiday ice-skating rink is coming to Midtown this year, thanks to the Midtown Business Association.

Members of its board voted Wednesday night to keep the palm-tree-studded capital's winter skating rink tradition alive by having an outdoor rink installed on the street of one the hottest blocks in town — 20th Street from J Street to the alley, between the Marrs Building's new businesses at 1050 20th St. and the Sacramento News & Review (SN&R) across the street.

"The ice rink is going ahead," said Rob Kerth, executive director of the Midtown Business Association (MBA) .

The vote — nine in favor and eight opposed — illustrated that business owners are not in agreement on the rink's merits.

Kerth proposed that the rink temporarily replace a seasonal rink that's been in operation for 18 years at Christmastime at St. Rose of Lima Park at 7th and K Sstreets. That rink, which was his father's idea, won't be built this year because of park and streetscape renovations. A Carnival of Lights will be held at the park instead.

Kerth acknowledged that the MBA and its members are is taking a risk by hosting the rink from Nov. 20 to Jan. 18. It will cost about $250,000.

He and a majority of board members say the rink will advertise Midtown's small businesses. The rink will attract people for holiday fun and provide an opportunity for businesses to encourage visitors to shop locally, Kerth said.

"The holidays are flooded with advertising, and it's very difficult to remind people of what you're offering," he said. "Any national chain in the Sacramento market is going to spend more on advertising than our entire ice rink budget. That's just not something that individual businesses can compete against."

The owners of Newsbeat, which moved to the Marrs Building about 18 months ago, have a "mixed" reaction to the rink, which will take up half a block, from J Street to the alley.

Terence Lott, who owns Newsbeat with his wife, Janis, said they expect crowds on the front deck would impact their business the most out of all the building's tenants because customers can access the newsstand from the front door only. The other businesses also have side entrances. The couple also worries about parking, which won't be available in front and may be a problem in the area for two months.

Yet they are "intrigued" at the possibility of being in the center of a "great community and civic function," Lott said.

"It's tantalizing, in the sense that it would bring people around," he said. "We don't anticipate that it would be disastrous — but there's an element of wait and see."

Other Midtown merchants are opposed to the rink and other events planned by the MBA.

Corey DeRoo said none of the events this year have increased the profits at French Cuff Consignment, which she owns at 2419 1/2 J St. with her mother, Darcy McNie.

"As we've understood it, the goal has been to bring folks to Midtown so they stay and shop and dine and play but instead people come to these events and many go home afterwards," she said in an e-mail.

DeRoo said she and other members of the MBA would prefer the association's money be spent on activities they believe would accomplish those goals, such as a marketing campaign to brand Midtown as a great destination and a beautification effort that would increase cleaning services and add trash cans, benches and flag markers.

"Unfortunately, with the passing of this terribly expensive and highly unpredictable ice skating rink, the money to accomplish any of these goals are gone," DeRoo wrote.

Sacramento City Councilmember Steve Cohn held a meeting with the city's decision makers, who agreed to close half a block of 20th Street and the sidewalk in front of SN&R, Kerth said.

There's still a possibility the 40-by-120 foot ice rink would be built at 18th and L streets if an adequate electrical supply isn't available in an electrical vault in the alley behind SN&R. Construction is expected to start begin Nov. 1.

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Ice rink decision expected Wednesday

2009-09-15T04:52:55Z

The Midtown Business Association is expected to decide Wednesday whether to take on the financial risk to keep Sacramento's holiday ice-skating rink tradition alive this year.

The association is considering building an outdoor rink in Midtown this year to temporarily replace the seasonal rink at St. Rose of Lima Park at 7th and K Streets. That rink won't be built this year due to conflicts with a park renovation.

Neighborhood input is welcome as the MBA board is expected to vote on the matter during its Monthly Board and Community Meeting, which is always open to the public, said Rob Kerth, executive director of the Midtown Business Association. The meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. at the Sacramento Regional Transit District headquarters, 1400 29th St.

Four Midtown businesses have committed $10,000 total for the rink, which would cost about $250,000 to build, operate and promote from Thanksgiving through Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday.

"That's a lot of money," he said. "Times are tough. But we don't want the tradition to die, and we want to have fun in Midtown."

The MBA is contributing $30,000 and needs at least $20,000 more to make the rink viable. Several large corporations, including some in Midtown, are considering donating another $60,000. But that sponsorship may depend on where the rink is located, which would also be decided at the meeting, Kerth said.

The business association board is considering whether to take the risk on such an expensive event, whose success depends on factors including weather, attendance, ice quality and more. The board must decide whether to hire a contractor and agree to pay $191,000 to build and run the rink.

The rink must have 24,000 paying skaters to take in $190,000 in gate proceeds. Last year, the St. Rose of Lima park rink had only 18,000 skaters, Kerth said. Any money that's lost comes out of a budget for marketing and other events.

The Marshall School/New Era Park Neighborhood Association is considering sending at least one person to the meeting to represent residents' interests and concerns, said group co-chair Bill Burgua.

"We stand with other neighborhood associations to make sure that residential neighborhoods are not negatively impacted — in this case, by parking," he said. "No matter how much commercial is here, Midtown is still primarily residential. They have to be constantly mindful that this is not a central business district."

A renovation of St. Rose of Lima Park that is expected to be completed in November made a rink there impractical, according to the Downtown Sacramento Partnership, which will instead use the site in a Carnival of Lights event. The partnership decided that the time needed to build an ice rink and the potential for rain at that time could cause too many problems and limit operational time.

MBA and the Downtown Sacramento Partnership have been working together to possibly erect a rink in Midtown this year. One possible location would be on the street at 20th and J streets, between the Sacramento News & Review and a strip of new businesses in the Mars Building including Azul Mexican Food and Tequila Bar, Peet's Coffee & Tea, and Lounge on 20. Three other sites being considered include on the street at 18th and L streets, or vacant lots at 28th and J streets or 16th and J streets across from Memorial Auditorium.

During the MBA meeting, Kerth will also propose that the group "cobble together" $25,000 to match $25,000 in city funds that could help the business district take part in the Carnival of Lights currently scheduled for downtown and Old Sacramento.

The money would help the organization decorate more trees with lights for the event, which celebrates the Grand Electric Carnival held in Sacramento in 1895. Kerth will propose keeping Midtown trees lit all year.

The MBA will try to work with the city to change current regulations preventing trees from being lit year-round.

"It just would be too heartbreaking to have all those lights up in the trees and shut them off come Jan. 3," he said. "You'd be looking up there hoping they'd come back on next year."

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Alley renaissance envisioned

2009-08-03T03:43:50Z

The two Midtown alleys stand largely quiet and deserted, except for the occasional rumbling delivery truck and dumpsters crouched behind buildings. The alleys have a hidden, tranquil feel in contrast to busy streets they run between.

A third alley holding the entrance to Old Soul coffee house gets more foot traffic and cars heading surreptitiously to and from a state parking garage. So many cars, in fact, that they rob the alley of that serene environment.

One group has another vision for what these alleys could become.

They see al fresco dining in an upscale restaurant row reminiscent of San Francisco's Belden Street. They see a small, affordable, alley-front condo building that doesn't add to urban sprawl. They see an inviting pedestrian alley helping to link visitors to a cheap, after-hours parking garage in one of the city's hottest areas.

Cities from San Francisco to Austin, Seattle, Portland and beyond have transformed these old service streets into intimate, charismatic spots for smaller businesses and residential flats. For the last year and a half, several dozen people known collectively as the city's Alley Activation Committee have met regularly to initiate a similar movement in Sacramento. They've also started bringing project ideas to city staff.

"It's an exciting way for a mature, well-developed city to rediscover an asset right under its nose," said developer Jeremy Drucker, who co-chairs the committee and developed 9 on F, the grid's first certified green residential project. "One thing that's great about alleys is there's this whole element of surprise, of discovery. It's a little magical."

On Aug. 11, the committee -- made up of architects, developers, engineers and property owners --
will present the Sacramento City Council with ideas for three prototype alleys: two alleys stretching from 17th to 19th streets between L Street and Capitol Avenue in one of Midtown's hottest areas, the Handle District; and a third from I to J streets between 16th and 17th streets across from Memorial Auditorium. City staff will present an overview of the alley activation efforts.

Council members will be asked to approve naming guidelines championed by Councilman Steve Cohn, as well as staff recommendations that city staff continue working collaboratively on this effort to create three model alleys.

The standard 20-foot width of alleys give them an Old World feel that charms many and entices some to see their potential as prime urban real estate. But these alleys are also being seen as a way to build connected, sustainable communities that are more pedestrian- and bike-friendly and don't require costly infrastructure because it already exists, said committee Co-Chair Julie Young, a developer who kick-started the organized alley-use movement here.

The value of alley-front property has risen recently, especially in the most sought-after areas, after Midtown development has experienced a growth spurt. The people on the committee said they believe alley activation is an idea whose time has come in Sacramento.

"It's very much a Zeitgeist," Drucker said.

The committee has identified 41 Midtown alleys as potential sites for alley activation, which can be as simple as attractive paving and lights, plants and signs. Those would be the alleys between I and J streets, K and L streets, and L Street and Capitol Avenue, from 16th to 28th streets.

The cost of permeable pavers and concrete bands, solar lighting, planters, trees, benches, signs, trash enclosures and electrical hookups for trash compactors (but not overhead utilities) would cost at least $180,000 per alley, Young said.

The committee expects to seek up to $5 million in local funding to pay for alley beautification, said Midtown Business Association (MBA) President Aaron Zeff, a developer/property owner. He proposes creating a restaurant row near Memorial Auditorium.

MBA recently took about 15 committee members on a tour of Pasadena's developed alleys to show what can be done.

"These alleys don't require much at night time to become pretty," Zeff said. "I think it's an opportunity to create something special in an environment that's been successful in other cities. If Pasadena can create nice alleys, why can't Sacramento?"

Upgrades would be expected to cost $150,000 to $300,000 per alley, according to Cohn. The total to improve 41 alleys at that cost would be about $6 million to $12 million.

MBA has already hired a consultant to help locate funding. City funding and grants through the Sacramento Area Council of Governments are two possible sources, Cohn said.

However, the future of those 41 alleys is in the hands of the people who own property on them, said Young, regional manager for Valley Commercial Contractors and a developer through Young Clifford LLC.

"I wouldn't want people to go into this (council) meeting and think we know what's best for the city," she said.

The committee is evaluating potential funding sources, environmental and economic returns on investments and potential alleyscape pieces such as trash containment, lighting, benches, signs and landscaping, she said.

While the alleys are largely lined by businesses, there are some homes and apartments on the north side of Capitol Avenue between 17th and 19th streets. Questions have been raised about emergency vehicle and garbage truck access, access for the disabled, unattractive dumpsters, alley access blocked for residents and funding.

Committee members have been meeting with city staff, the area's neighborhood group and residents to ensure pilot alley development meets government regulations and solves other concerns, Drucker said.

One benefit to using the backs of buildings or deep, 160-foot lots for commercial or residential space is that alley-front prices are lower than street-front. Residential units can be priced lower; Drucker's condo project called "Stitch" would be targeted to singles or young couples with $40,000 to $60,000 incomes.

Alleys are also enticing to entrepreneurs. Sidewalk cafes, tailors, tiny art galleries, funky boutiques and other unique enterprises can better afford alley space, Drucker said.

"You can start to bring back the smaller businesses that have been priced out of Midtown," he said.

Committee members are studying ways to eliminate overflowing dumpsters, clean up alleys and improve security through lighting and increased use.

The model projects will develop "baseline" plans that meet city approval for shifting some alleys from primary uses for vehicles and trash collection to pedestrians and alley-front commercial, residential or mixed-use. Those already-approved plans can then be used by other people who want to activate alleys, Young said.

Zeff is proposing to build an alley "restaurant row" in a block where he owns much of the property, between I and J streets, from 16th to 17th streets. He envisions turning two cavernous old buildings into mixed-use space with alley-facing restaurants. The block contains only businesses. Zeff is applying for a permit to close or temporarily encroach on the alley for sidewalk cafe use.

Zeff and his wife, who grew up in Sacramento, moved their family here from San Francisco's Nob Hill seven months ago. Zeff owns Priority Parking Inc. of San Francisco and has substantial business interests in Sacramento, which include property, parking garages and lots, and Harv's Car Wash.

Sacramento's potential and the possibility of creating a Belden Street here helped him decide to move his family from the San Francisco Bay Area just seven months ago.

"Sacramento, I'll admit, has its challenges with the front sides of streets, let alone with its alleys," he said. "But in certain alleys, there are fewer landlords, fewer complexities and, frankly, fewer people that are sticks in the mud."

Another person leading the effort is Sacramento architect Ron Vrilakas. One of Vrilakas' earlier projects was to rehab a turn-of-the-century house where restaurateur Ernesto Jimenez opened Ernesto's Mexican Food at S and 16th streets.

The pair teamed up again when Vrilakas designed an innovative mixed-use building at 18th Street and Capitol Avenue. Anchored by Jimenez' newest restaurant, Zocalo, the building also houses Dragonfly Restaurant and 58 Degrees wine bar. Vrilakas built his architectural office over Zocalo and two residential units on the alley behind Zocalo. He also laid pavers over the existing alley to the end of his building.

Now Vrilakas is one of the architects helping to design these potential urban-infill projects. He's the architect behind the two alley construction projects, which involve restaurants on one alley and a condo building on another.

"Ron has always tried to raise the bar for Sacramento because he has a large worldview of how communities work and how communities become sustainable," said Young.

The two prototype alleys running from 17th to 19th streets between L Street and Capitol Avenue are building on Vrilakas' efforts there, which have turned the intersection of 18th and L streets and nearby blocks into one of Midtown's most popular areas. Vrilakas also built a five-story, mixed-use residential building nearby at 1801 L St.

Young got interested in the city's alley potential through a project to construct a small, mixed-use building on a now-vacant lot at 1813 Capitol Ave., next to the Zocalo building. She and developer Sotiris Kolokotronis, who built L Street Lofts, laid attractive pavers over the rest of the 18th to 19th streets alley.

Now Young proposes turning that alley into an appealing, pedestrian-friendly corridor that, when combined with the 17th to 18th streets alley, will link diners and shoppers to the East End Parking Garage, a state-owned garage where the public can park for a $2 flat fee nights and weekends. Requests to do hardscape improvements and beautification for those two alleys are being considered, said Stacia Cosgrove, a senior planner with the city.

The second prototype alley would contain a three-unit, model condo building constructed behind a house at 1717 Capitol Ave., a deep lot facing Old Soul and currently owned by Jimenez, who's lived in an alley-facing house behind Ernesto's for more than a decade.

Jimenez is not on the committee, but he supports alley activation as a way to create infill development and encourage business owners to be more responsible for their property and garbage. Businesses must pay for their own garbage removal. Improving alleys -- which may include consolidating dumpsters on each alley into one central, enclosed location with a compactor -- should address current problems with alley garbage and overflowing business dumpsters, he said.

"It adds to the fabric of the city," Jimenez added.

Last week, Drucker turned in permit applications to the city's zoning administrator for the necessary entitlements for his environmentally conscious "Stitch" model. That building would serve as a sales model for three years, he said.

In a meeting last week, committee members said they recognize that proposing to spend money to improve alleys may be a tough sell to some. They're collecting information about how alley activation could generate more local spending and city revenue in the form of permit fees and property and sales taxes.

Jason Griest and Tim Jordan blazed a trail for other small-business operators when they opened Old Soul in the back of a warehouse at "1716 L St. Rear Alley" in 2006. They believe alley activation could make the city cleaner and more walkable, while helping to contain sprawl and protect outlying natural or rural areas from development, said Griest.

"Sacramento, in my opinion, is the only big city in California that can still redefine itself," he said. "I think Sacramento has a lot of potential. It could be the base for a lot of great ideas."

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. She can be reached at 916-804-2856 or suzanne@sacramentopress.com.

MBA, businesses discuss holiday plans

2009-07-25T19:40:00Z

Midtown — and its businesses — may be in for more comfort and joy during this year's holiday season.

In fact, some areas may start to look more like the North Pole than California's state capital.

Santa Claus might set up shop in Sacramento's hippest neighborhood. A Festival of Trees might light up Marshall Park. A holiday ice skating rink might take over an empty lot. It might even snow.

Key word here: might.

Those ideas fill a wish list drawn up by the Midtown Business Association (MBA), which believes such festivities could attract up to 50,000 customers during what's shaping up to be another dismal holiday spending season nationwide.

With the continuing recession, businesses and the business associations set up to help them are trying to find new ways to draw shoppers and revelers.

"We need to do some extraordinary things to hang onto these great businesses in Midtown," said MBA Executive Director Rob Kerth. "Times are pretty tough, so folks are getting creative."

Retailers, restaurants and other businesses rely heavily on sales between Thanksgiving and year's end for profits. While he couldn't name any businesses on the brink of failure, Kerth said he's worried a lack of holiday shoppers could lead to Midtown businesses closing.

"It's pretty safe to say that if Midtown has a bad holiday season, we're going to have some places go dark — particularly boutiques and retailers," he said. "If we lose them, there's no guarantee that, when times turn around, they're going to come back. If we let too many folks slip away, we could end up with too many vacant storefronts for years."

From a business standpoint, the 2008 holiday shopping season was the worst in decades. Some stores subsequently closed in early 2009.

July may seem way too early to be thinking about winter holidays. But MBA and many Sacramento businesses learned the hard way last year when an October start on planning was too late. This month, the association's tiny staff held meetings to start getting business owners and others on board.

Just how much of the wish list turns into reality depends on how much money and other support materializes. MBA estimates $50,000 is needed to finance the entire plan.

At the very least, MBA will deck out J Street with lights and holiday decorations used last year. From roughly 20th to 26th streets, they'll put lights on street lampposts or on trees on those blocks without lampposts. This year, they hope to light up three trees per block rather than two.

"It won't be the continuous coverage we want some day. But we'll keep adding to it every year," said Kerth.

MBA must also find business and property owners in those blocks willing to "host" a set of lights by supplying a power outlet from Thanksgiving to early January.

"The city doesn't have electrical power on the street. So we're always trying to find a place to plug these things in," he said. "Once we start to get a lot of lights out there, you get a pretty nice streetscape."

City crews make the old lampposts' electrical wiring ready for holiday lights. Much of the wiring dates back to the dawn of electricity and can be easily broken, said Kerth.

MBA is also proposing a tree festival for Dec. 5 and 6 to help turn Midtown into a regional holiday shopping destination. The staff is searching for Midtown businesses to decorate trees that MBA places in Marshall Park. Tree sponsorships range from $250 for a 6-foot potted cedar to $1,000 for an 18-foot sequoia.

If the idea gets enough business support, Santa would arrive at the park in a horse-drawn sleigh. Due to the Camellia City's lack of snow, the sleigh would glide down J Street on wheels rather than sled runners. But Santa Claus might make it snow — just in the park, and just for two days.

"He's putting in his orders with the weatherman," Kerth said, adding MBA has discussed the use of the park for this possible special event with some nearby residents. "This is in line with the what I understand their hopes for the park would be: family events that people from within the community and from without can come to enjoy."

After Santa finishes his duties in the park, he may then set up a workshop in a vacant Midtown building. Santa would read stories to kids while "elves" build wooden toys in the workshop. The toys would be given to charities, Kerth said.

A hardware store has offered to organize the toy workshop. Four building owners with currently vacant property in Midtown's core have offered space for the event.

"We want every one of them to be rented out to businesses. Hopefully all four of them will go away and we'll be looking for space again," he said.

The biggest event — and the one that'd require the most financing — is to build a holiday ice-skating rink in Midtown this year.

The downtown rink operated every Christmas for 18 years at St. Rose of Lima Park, which sits near the Westfield Downtown Plaza entrance at Seventh Street, won't be created this year due to park and streetscape renovations.

That outdoor holiday rink is a tradition Kerth would like to see continue. His grandfather built Iceland Skating Rink, which his mother and an aunt still own. The ice rink in the downtown park is named for his dad, William John Kerth, who is believed to have invented the ice resurfacer more than a year before Frank Zamboni developed his.

William Kerth also came up with the idea for the holiday rink. He suggested building a rink one day to his neighbor, Bob Thomas, then the director of the city's parks department.

MBA is working with the Downtown Sacramento Partnership to possibly erect the same size rink in Midtown this year. One possible location would be at 16th and J streets across from Memorial Auditorium. The rink would open around Thanksgiving and run through Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday.

But that all depends on whether businesses have money to invest in the strategy. MBA expects to hold another holiday planning meeting next month. The deadline for business sponsorship is Sept. 1.

"We're getting a big jump on it this year, so it gives us the ability to be creative," said Rob Kerth. "If we can raise enough money, I think we can make it, even though times are tough."

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. She can be reached at 916-804-2856 or suzanne@sacramentopress.com.

The Bloc Concert Series canceled

2009-07-03T02:54:02Z

The Bloc Concert Series has been canceled.

Paragary marketing director Callista Wengler confirmed today that the series will not continue. It was scheduled to run the last Saturday of each month through September.

The Paragary Restaurant Group organized the and ran the first two concerts to earn money for the Marshall Park Fountain Fund Committee.

"We'd love to keep doing it, but it's just really expensive, and the costs were just way more than was expected," Wengler said. "The synergy between the outdoor space and the restaurants makes a great entertainment venue for people."

Problems such as a lack of communication and organization began before the concert's debut on May 30, the same day as Midfest. The first concert had been held in conjunction with Midfest, which led to obstacles in obtaining a special events permit.

"It sucks. It really does suck," said MBA Board Member Shawn Eldredge. "I'd like to have as many events as I can possibly attend."

Eldredge has long supported Midtown events at Neighborhood Advisory Group (NAG) meetings. In one instance, he and 17 Midtown residents attended a NAG meeting to show more support for Midtown events.

He created a Facebook group entitled "We Live Here Too" whose mission is to support the active nightlife and urban lifestyle in Midtown and Downtown.

Bill Burgua, chair of the Marshall School/New Era Park Neighborhood Association said better planning would make future events more successful.

"I don't think the neighborhood is going to be that sad," he said. "We're not against events, [as long as] they have a well spelled-out policy [and] a designated limit on numbers of events."

Burgua said they have had success working with the city for a jazz event at Grant Park.

"Hopefully down the road when the economy gets better we can try it again," Wengler said.

Second Saturday Needs Volunteer Crossing Guards

2009-06-04T03:09:35Z

Second Saturday has grown in popularity during the past few years, to the point where Sacramento police have asked for citizens' help. Because of declining budgets and the growing crowds at Second Saturday, there are not enough police available to perform crossing guard duty. To that end, Midtown Business Association Executive Director Rob Kerth sent out the following email:

"Hi Folks,
Our Sac PD Captain, Dana Matthes, is looking for a few good people to do crossing
guard duty on 2nd Saturday. If you've got the urge to help out, or know someone
who might, please give her a call at 808-4511. They have a training program to
get you all ready.
Thanks!"

Midfest gets thumbs up

2009-06-02T03:30:20Z

Many folks were breathing easier Monday after back-to-back events over the weekend in Marshall Park seemed to go off without a hitch.

No significant problems were reported, said Sacramento Police Sgt. Norm Leong, the department's spokesman.

Neighbors surrounding the park praised the way the Bloc Concert Series' Saturday concert and Sunday's Midfest Summer Celebration were managed by the city and organizers. Paragary Restaurant Group and Lomeli Events managed Saturday's events, while Midtown Business Association (MBA) and T & M Organization for the Arts managed Sunday's.

The vibe from Sunday's festival got a special thumbs-up from residents. The park at 915 27th St. came alive with a throbbing drum circle, colorful local business vendors and graffiti artists working on murals, in addition to live concerts playing both days.

"Sunday, as a stand-alone event -- it was pretty good. The crowd that they attracted was really great. They managed the noise level pretty well," said Bill Burgua, who lives on 28th Street across from the park. Burgua also co-chairs the Marshall School/New Era Park Neighborhood Association.

"They learned from Cinco de Mayo that they have to monitor the noise real closely. They seem to have gotten better at that," he said.

The city kept organizers on their toes over the weekend after neighbors made strong complaints about Cinco de Mayo problems, which included noise, lack of parking restriction enforcement and a reported stabbing. The city warned that future permits for more Marshall Park concerts would depend on how the weekend went.

The city's Parks and Recreation Department will hold a debriefing on the weekend's events later this week.

Longtime resident Yvonne Berdan said inside her I Street house, a few doors down from the park, all she could hear of the music was an incessant thump of drums and bass that felt intrusive. Noting she's not into rock, she said the weekend still went better than expected.

"As far as I'm concerned, it was okay. I appreciated that they ended right at 8 o'clock," said Berdan, 63. "If they played classical rather than rock, I'd be much happier."

During the weekend, Sacramento police used handheld sound meters to monitor the amplified sound 150 feet from the source and in front of the closest residence, an apartment building on 28th Street.

The amplified noise level from concert speakers was kept below the 86 decibel level approved for parks. Police asked organizers to turn the sound down a few times, and they did, Leong said, adding that the decibel level was kept mostly in the 70s but got up to 80 once.

Despite working with so many different bands and eight different sound boards, the sound technician adjusted noise levels within minutes, said MBA Operations Manager Aja Uranga-Foster, adding, "The sound crew was the star of the show."

The event was promoted as a fundraiser for a park fountain, which could cost up to $100,000 or more.

Paragary Restaurant Group expects the estimated $15,000 in expenses for Saturday will outweigh the revenue at the first-time event, as the crowd was smaller than expected, said Trevor Shults, the company's events and promotions manager.

That would likely mean there wouldn't be enough money for the park's fountain fund from this event, he said.

But the company is happy there were no big problems and expects future concerts, if approved, would draw more people and more revenue, he said, adding "We think the event was a huge success."

Organizers said crowd size was small partly because they decided not to buy expensive radio ads in the final days before Midfest. Ads were pulled when permits weren't awarded until Friday following some neighbors' outcry over the event's scheduling on the heels of a Cinco de Mayo street party that they felt got out of control.

A noise level had not been established for Cinco, Shults said.

Neighbors remain wary of a plan to host a summer series of last Saturday concerts in Marshall Park. One event a year would be enough for the park, they said.

But Marshall Park and the adjacent block of bars and restaurants have had four events in the last month: Cinco, an amplified movie screening and the weekend's two events, Burgua said. Events such as those just add to problems some neighbors see every weekend due to the high number of bars and restaurants on J Street between 27th and 28th streets, he added.

"We're just getting overwhelmed by all of this," he said. "Events like this need to be spread around the city."

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. She can be reached at suzanne@sacramentopress.com or 804-2856.

Fun, food and the four-legged make Midfest a success

2009-06-01T05:49:41Z

Despite resident complaints from previous festivals, last-minute scrambling for permits, and tow-away zones on almost every residential street surrounding, Midfest 2009 turned out to be a success.

The free two-day festival, held at Midtown’s Marshall Park, was a collision of art, food and entertainment and offered entertainment for all ages.

“[Midfest] was held in a great location and wasn’t too crowded. I really like that it went on the whole weekend and there were so many different types of entertainment for everyone,” said Nikki Carlson, a stylist from Land Park’s Artisan Salon who attended Midfest.

The festival was sponsored by the Midtown Business Association, who manned many of the booths, as well as Red Bull, Budweiser and De Vere’s Irish Pub, who had a VIP tent set up for the second day of festivities.

Saturday kicked off with the Paragary’s Bloc Concert Series and break-dancing performances, inspiring many to kick off their shoes and dance in the grass while they watched the performers and enjoyed the music.

Right in the middle of the action were graffiti artists like Neal “Lopan” Bergman, who was recruited by Red Bull, grooving to the music and spray-painting giant wooden canvases.

The four-legged got in on the excitement, too. Splash Dogs, a national traveling organization, set up a giant pool for dogs to compete and see which pooch could cover the most distance after jumping in after toys.

Many of the competing dogs continued to partake in the fun afterward, lounging on the grass while their owners ate, drank and mingled.

Popular Midtown eateries set up booths selling inexpensive sampler-like snacks such as $2 sliders from Ink Eats and Drinks and $4 tacos from Paragary’s Centro Cocina.

To wash down the great food, a sectioned-off Hefeweizen beer garden offered a plethora of beer and a makeshift wine bar hosted by Sterling Vineyards offered wine while Red Bull reps handing out energy drinks circulated the park grounds.

All proceeds from the garden will be put toward the Marshall Park Beautification Fund, with plans to create a fountain in the park that will serve as a sound barrier between park events and residential areas.

Just as the garden filled up, the Bloc Outdoor Concert Series heated up with cover bands Cuesta Drive, Utz and the Shuttlecocks covering songs from various decades while the break dancers continued to impress the crowd with their moves.

The show continued on through the night and although the alcohol was flowing, the Members in Black security teams kept their muscles and force securely in tact. Concert-goers were on their best behavior Saturday night.

Sunday kept the party going with more live music, food and an urban art competition to raise money for the T & M organization for the arts.

The Sacred City Roller Derby Girls were ready to be dunked to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and local band favorites like Sammie nominees ZuhG performed on the main stage.

Based on the success of the weekend’s events, may there be many more festivals to come.

All photos taken by Chris Demere, for more photos visit http://gallery.soundesigns.com/midfest2009

Midfest is a go

2009-05-30T01:27:05Z

Midfest is happening this weekend after organizers won two permits early Friday afternoon, less than 24 hours before the event is scheduled to begin.

But Sacramento city staff notified organizers that city employees will be on the lookout for code violations after neighborhood residents complained that a previous event wasn't adequately managed.

The Bloc Concert Series permit was awarded to Paragary Restaurant Group for the festivities being held in Marshall Park, 915 27th St., from noon to 8 p.m. Saturday. A separate permit was issued to the Midtown Business Association (MBA) and T & M Organization for the Arts for Sunday's Midfest Summer Celebration at the park.

In the final hours before permits were handed out, the city's Department of Parks and Recreation held a meeting with organizers to spell out "in no uncertain terms" the regulations and requirements organizers must meet during the festival, said Alan Tomiyama, recreation manager of the department's Community Recreation Services Division.

"If the permittee violates the terms of the permit, the city has absolute authority to shut an event down," he said, adding that organizers will be given one chance to fix a problem on the spo. "Immediately. If they don't, we'll shut them down."

The permits allow the main stage and a VIP tent to be set up next to 28th Street at the alley -- close to 28th Street residences -- and the beer truck and beer garden to be set up on the closed half-block of 28th Street adjacent to Paragary's Centro Cocina Mexicana.

That way, stage speakers face south, away from residential areas, and the noise level can be further dampened by event and traffic noise, said Hindolo Brima, spokesperson for the city Department of Parks and Recreation. That setup also funnels the concert crowd into the south half of the park near businesses.

Permit requirements include:

-- K Permit parking only from 6 a.m. Saturday to 9 p.m. Sunday on I and H streets between 26th and 29th streets; 26th and 27th streets between J and G streets; and 28th Street between I and G streets. Violators will be towed, according to the permit.

-- 28th Street will be closed from J Street to the alley for a beer truck and beer garden.

-- A "reasonable" amplified sound level will be determined by the city's Special Events Services staff the day of the event, metered by police and ended by 8 p.m. However, the permit includes the city code's 98-decibel level for amplified sound being held on a street or sidewalk, rather than the section of code saying amplified sound in a park can't exceed 86 decibels 25 feet from the source, or 55 decibels on any residential property.

-- The Fire Department will set the occupancy load for the beer garden. Alcohol can't be sold after 7:30 p.m.

-- Seven Sacramento police officers, including a sergeant, and at least five private security guards must be hired for the event.

-- Debris and trash must be removed immediately after events on each day.

In recent weeks, the Department of Parks and Recreation pulled together the agencies that need to be involved in enforcing city regulations at the event to coordinate actions that will be taken to address potential problems this weekend, Tomiyama said.

The concerns brought up by residents living next to the park or nearby have never come up with other special events in more than a decade, he said. The park appears to be unique in the central city because it's lined with businesses and busy J Street on its south end but residential neighborhoods on three sides.

Sacramento's central core has undergone much development in the last five years -- including the addition of new bars and restaurants joining stalwarts Centro and Harlow's on J Street facing Marshall Park. Parks department staffers say they're trying to help find a balance with special events to meet the needs of businesses and residents, including Marshall School/New Era Park Neighborhood Association members.

Although it's never happened before, the city is considering those neighbors' request to be included in the permit application process for special events in the area.

"If there needs to be improvement, if there needs to be adjustments, we will do that," Tomiyama said. "At least, we will take a hard look at it."

The city has not awarded permits for any more last Saturday concerts planned for the Bloc Concert Series. The city will evaluate how things go this weekend and base permit decisions on that, he said.

Problems stall Midfest permit

2009-05-28T04:27:19Z

With just days before Midfest is supposed to happen, organizers were still scrambling Wednesday to untangle a mess and meet city requirements for the special events permit.

Three days gives enough time to win a permit for the festival being billed as Midfest Summer Celebration in Marshall Park.

But after being stung by criticism over its handling of a large Cinco de Mayo event, the city warned organizers Wednesday there's still a chance the event won't happen Saturday and Sunday, said the city and organizers.

"The event cannot go on until the permit is issued," said Hindolo Brima, spokesperson for the city's parks and recreation department. "Since this is the next major event after Cinco de Mayo, we're trying to make sure the community knows we are working on the application and making sure we scrutinize it to make sure it's in line with what our regulations are."

Part of the problem is reportedly due to the way some special events organizers have worked behind the scenes to make events happen and, particularly in Midfest's case, a lack of coordination and communication among organizers, according to several people.

One organizer -- Midtown Business Association (MBA) -- also started pulling its Midfest flyers down Wednesday because of those problems, said MBA Operations Manager Aja Uranga-Foster.

"What it comes down to is, certain people who are involved in the event development process.... have been holding their cards a little close. It hasn't been a collaborative process," she said.

Organizers initially promoted this weekend's festivities as "Midfest," organized by the Midtown Business Association and T & M Organization for the Arts.

A wrench was thrown into the process because Saturday's permit applicant, Lomeli Events, broke the day's activities into two: Midfest from noon to 4 p.m. and the Bloc Concert Series from 4 to 8 p.m. Lomeli, a special events coordination company, was hired by the Gifts to Share Marshall Park Fountain Fund Committee to run all of Saturday's events, including a beer garden raising money for the fountain.

MBA got involved organizing Sunday's events with T & M Organization for the Arts to help kick off a last-Saturday summer concert series. The concerts are sponsored in part by "The Bloc" -- the J Street bars and restaurants facing Marshall Park, said Uranga-Foster.

The fountain fund committee, working through Lomeli Events, is organizing the concert series to raise money for the fountain, said Randy Paragary of the Paragary Restaurant Group.

Another problem occurred because Lomeli Events applied for an events permit to cover more than one event. The city is now asking them to submit one application for each event, Brima said. MBA won't be involved with the concert series, said Uranga-Foster.

By Wednesday morning, organizers had not yet provided a site map for the event to show locations of such things as stages, Brima said. Organizers were working to turn that in Wednesday afternoon.

After a Cinco de Mayo street party was held next to Marshall Park, several neighborhood associations voiced their complaints to city staff and Sacramento City Councilmember Steve Cohn's staff.

The city acknowledged making mistakes with Cinco de Mayo, and neighbors asked the city to hold off on approving loud events anywhere until developing a policy to determine if each event's scale, crowd size and noise is appropriate for the proposed venue, said resident Vito Sgromo, past president of Marshall School/New Era Park Neighborhood Association and a board member since 1991.

Organizers need to follow city regulations for events and the special events permit application process, he said.

"It's arrogant to think they can circumvent the city and the city process," Sgromo said.

Neighbors say "regional" events that are expected to draw people from the entire city and even surrounding areas should be held in large regional parks like McKinley and Southside, rather than a small local park like Marshall, said Dale Kooyman, a member of Marshall School neighborhood association and Midtown resident for 33 years.

The Bloc Concert Series is expected to draw up to 2,550 people each Saturday for an event that would be set up throughout the park, according to the application. Sunday's application included a request for a live roller derby exhibition, but Sacred City Derby Girls said a live demo won't take place.

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

City Council meeting to determine fate of K Street redevelopment project

2009-03-10T07:57:24Z

Though it seems like an Onion story at first glance, downtown Sacramento's first ever mermaid tank may soon be constructed. Developers now await $8.6 million in funds from the City of Sacramento for the proposed construction of a pizza joint ("Pizza Rock"), a nightclub ("Frisky Rhythm") and a bar with a live mermaid tank ("Dive Bar").

Tuesday, the City Council will hear arguments supporting and opposing the project, brought about when the City of Sacramento sold its interests in the Sheraton Hotel to local developer David Taylor, of David Taylor Interests Inc., promising to set aside some of the proceeds for future David Taylor Interests construction projects like this one. Taylor was approached by San Francisco nightclub owner George Karpaty, who was interested in real estate in Sacramento and who owns the popular Union Square club, Ruby Skye, to work together on the three entertainment venues.

According to Ellen Warner, partner of David Taylor Interests, Inc., Karpaty has told them he's spent over 40 nights over the course of several months visiting establishments in Sacramento to see the types of venues already in place and determine what Sacramento may have a niche for.

The three proposed venues are independent ventures, not chains, and as a compromise to the opponents, each venue will have its own liquor license. According to the Report to the Redevelopment Agency and City Council of the City of Sacramento, Frisky Rhythm, whose name will most likely be changed, will cater to the 30 and over crowd, playing rock, rhythm and blues; Pizza Rock will feature pizza throwing by eight time world champion and chef Tony Gemignani; and Dive Bar will play vintage jazz and ratpack vocals.

From projects such as the US Bank Tower, City Hall, and the Cosmopolitan, David Taylor Interests has brought $325 million in private dollars to Sacramento over the past 25 years, Warner cites.

"Our only business is to promote Sacramento," Warner said, also adding that the project would create 100 jobs for the construction and another 100 jobs once the venues were open.

"We respectfully disagree with the idea that it's not possible to attract more people to downtown. It's an embarrassment for our city that [K Street] has been vacant" for so long, Warner added.

Michael Ault, executive director of the Dowtown Sacramento Partnership, cited in an email interview that a survey was conducted of 5,020 Sacramento-area residents to test whether or not a concentrated district of active urban entertainment would bring new customers. The survey found that 72 percent of respondents would indeed patronize Downtown more if there were more restaurants and entertainment venues to choose from and that 84 percent wanted to see more restaurant and entertainment venues Downtown.

Ault also added that “there are 761,213 people between the ages of 30 and 59 within thirty miles of downtown, making the potential customer base over 550,000 (there are an additional 271,105 between the ages of 20-29).”

Another concern that Ault addressed was the 100,000 downtown office workers who work near K street. He said that these workers “support all businesses downtown and as long as K Street remains blighted, we run the risk of reducing our existing customer base and there by hurting all businesses,” one such agency moved in 2007, as reported in Bob Shallit's column the Bee in 2007 when the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development moved from K Street to R Street because its employees were "fed up with crime and blight."

Business owners and those who live near the project's proposed location at 1016-1022 K Street are torn because in this economy they would like to see the seedy K Street area revitalized. The proposed construction might attract more people to the area, however many fear that it could put other downtown restaurants, clubs and bars out of business.

"It's an issue of timing. This time the economy is so bad, that [other businesses on K Street] worry that they're not going to make it," said Rob Kerth, executive director of the Midtown Business Association and former City Councilmember. He said that about 80 percent of local hospitality businesses are against the construction.

In fact, local business owner Mason Wong of Mason's Restaurant, Ma Jong's Asian Diner, and The Park Ultra Lounge has headed the project's opposition along with members of the Midtown Business Association. At the time of press, there were 355 signatures on the petition against the construction project. Sacramento residents, business owners and employees will protest the construction before the City Council meeting on Tuesday at 5 p.m. outside City Hall.

Matt Haines, owner of the Bistro 33 restaurants in Midtown and Downtown is also opposed to the project. "They've spent $25 million on one corner, 10th and K," he said.

"How is a pizza restaurant going to draw people from out of town? The city is becoming one of our competitors. We're battling day-to-day, it's very hard times. We've been adjusting hours and letting people go. I wish they'd take that money and put it in housing down there," Haines added.

"I don't think a bar, restaurant or nightclub is going to remake K Street; the goal needs to be housing," added Kerth.

According to Ellen Warner of David Taylor Interests, Inc., construction could begin as soon as April if the project is approved.

It should be a very packed house at the City Council meeting on Tuesday night.

A follow-up article will be written after the City Council meeting to report the results.

This article was written in collaboration by Jonathan Mendick and Colleen Belcher.

Midtown night life issues meeting tonight

2008-12-10T21:17:20Z

The City of Sacramento Department of Neighborhood Services announces:

Vice Mayor Steve Cohn, the City of Sacramento & the Midtown Business Association invites you for a discussion on Midtown Night Life Issues.

TONIGHT, Wednesday, December 10th
5:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Ethel MacLeod Hart Senior Center,
Redwood Room East

Learn about:
● What constitutes a violation & how to report
● Parking
● Entertainment & Special Event Permits
● Best Practices from other Cities

Have your questions answered by:
● City staff
● Police and security
● Business owners
● MBA

Please attend this important meeting!

Free parking, Midtown shopping, and a tree lighting

2008-11-27T02:10:32Z

The City of Sacramento Department of Neighborhood Services announces:

City of Sacramento’s Annual Gift to Shoppers Downtown and midtown visitors need not pay parking meters on designated days. Shoppers in downtown and midtown Sacramento will once again enjoy free on-street parking during select days of the holiday season.

Designed to encourage holiday shoppers to patronize downtown and midtown businesses, the program will be in effect during the post Thanksgiving weekend: all day Saturday, November 29, and Sunday, November 30. (Thanksgiving Day is always a parking meter holiday.)

The program will resume during the holiday period beginning Saturday, December 6, through Thursday, December 25. During this period, on-street, metered parking will be free starting at 4:30 p.m. weekdays and all day on Saturdays. Parking is always free on Sundays, except in Old Sacramento.

Please note that the free parking zone will extend from “I” to “L” Streets and from 3rd to 29th streets, and only applies to metered on-street parking spaces. See attached map.

Midtown Shopping

The Sacramento MBA would like to invite you to join in the Holiday Cheer and Shop Local this holiday season. We have planned a day full of fun for you and your families on Saturday December 6th, 2008. Festivities will begin at 10 a.m. and last through out the day with Midtown's FIRST EVER Tree Lighting in Sutter's Fort Park (26th and K Streets) at 5:30 p.m.

While you're out an about, check out J Street in Midtown. The Midtown Business Association has decorated the J Street corridor with holiday lighting, wreaths and much more! Parking's free so why not check out all that Midtown has to offer?

For more info and updates check out MBA's MySpace page
myspace.com/mbasacramento or call 442-1500.

Be safe out there and have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.