SACRAMENTO – The Office of Vice Mayor Ashby invites all Natomas families to participate in our “Summer of Fun” during the months of June through August. First, if you haven’t already signed your kids up, make sure to check out the Summer Oasis program. This summer day camp for kids, once offered every summer throughout the City, has been saved for a second year by the Vice Mayor, with help from active families in Natomas who voiced their support for the program and community sponsors. This year’s program has a major sponsor coming in to cover seventy percent of the program’s cost, allowing us to offer the 8 week camp for just $75 per participant. A HUGE thank you to our partner Walmart fo

Criticism over the handling of Sacramento tree removals sparked a heated debate at the November Parks and Recreation Commission meeting in city hall. Nathan Jacobsen, an attorney and environmental activist, spoke at the Parks and Recreation Commission tree appeal hearing to oppose a decision made by Jerry Way, Director of Transportation, to remove a Non-Heritage ‘Bradford’ Flowering Pear tree, located at 2001 10th Street. “The city should be protecting a public resource, not tearing it down or destroying it without a clear democratic process. Removals need to be supported by factual information,” Jacobsen said. On April 26, Jacobsen sent a request to meet with Way regarding the approval

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

In May, at the request of the community, my office in coordination with our Department of Parks & Recreation, submitted an application for grant funding from California State Parks Proposition 84 Round Two. If awarded, this grant funding would go towards the build-out of a portion of the North Natomas Regional Park and would include several attractive and important amenities such as a regional baseball complex, amphitheatre, a farmer’s market, children’s play area and outdoor gathering space. Many of you have asked how you can help. Below you will find a link to a letter with information about the significance of this amenity to our community. Feel free to write a letter on behalf of you

With help from neighborhood volunteers and a group of rose-lovers, the rose garden at McKinley Park will be getting a facelift this fall. The 1.5-acre rose garden, which was originally planted in 1928, will be closed from September to mid-February for renovations, including a new irrigation system, accessible walkways, planter curbs, new signs and accessible parking spaces near the garden entrance. According to a recent historical assessment, the 83-year-old garden has not been upgraded or improved for several decades except for the rose arbors, which were replaced five years ago. “This may be the first time (the rose garden) has ever been given this much attention,” said Claudia Bordin

Despite reports of the city’s proposals to lay off more than 350 jobs, including 80 sworn police officers, during Tuesday’s press conference, Mayor Kevin Johnson said that avoiding such layoffs will be a priority. Throughout the conference, Johnson said he wanted Sacramento to remain a full-service city and that he hopes to alleviate any distrust between police officers and the city by playing a more active role in addressing the interests of both parties. “We’re trying to preserve as many jobs as we can and keep public safety at the top of our priorities,” he added. “We’re about to pass and adopt a budget in about three weeks or so, and we do not want to be in a position where our comm

The City of Sacramento Department of Parks and Recreation presented an oral report regarding their progress on community centers to the Parks and Recreation Commission. During the report, Parks and Recreation Director Jim Combs provided an overview of the proceedings for next Tuesday’s Council Meeting. The highlight of the meeting will be the report back on the budgets of the city’s parks, police, and fire departments. “We hear maybe 1000 to 1500 folks there attending this meeting just from the police department,” said Combs. “Then the fire department’s going to have a big crew. We know that the centers and all those communities; we’re going to have more people down there than we had las

With current budget cuts happening in most City departments, it is hard to find an opportunity to directly save programs without having to offset it with cuts elsewhere. That is why, I am pleased to announce that I have been able to allocate funding and salvage a very worthwhile and important opportunity for children in District One. If you have children in your family in need of a fun, positive and exciting summer activity – check out the Summer Oasis Program. The Summer Oasis Program is a camp for kids that has been offered for several years. Due to cuts to the Parks & Recreation budget, the program was slated to be removed from the 2011 summer offering. After being brought to my attent

Sacramento City Council and hundreds of residents Tuesday night listened to details of a $1.8 million general fund cut to parks and recreation that would leave only three of the city’s 13 swimming pools open by Summer 2012 and area parks in a state of decline amid reductions in park maintenance, trash pick up and general repairs. Pools and green spaces are two potential casualties of a $39 million city deficit that could impact residents in large and small ways, including a swim on hot day or a drink of water from a park faucet. Parks and recreation director Jim Combs said six area pools would remain open this summer including George Sim, Clunie, Pannell Meadowview, McClatchy, Johnston a

The City of Sacramento's Neighborhood Services Division of the Department of Parks and Recreation, the VIBE Foundation, the Sacramento Employment and Training Agency (SETA) and the Walmart Foundation are sponsoring a FREE Youth Summer Job Fair on Saturday, April 2nd at Cesar Chavez Park and Historic City Hall.  Here is more information: Saturday, April 2, 2011 ~ 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM ~ Cesar Chavez Park (910 I Street, between 9th & 10th Streets) & Historic City Hall (915 I Street) Are you between the ages of 16 and 22?  Then don't miss out on this opportunity!  Over 30 organizations will be available to offer full time and part time job opportunities, internship opportunities, college recru

Close to 150 people braved the rain Saturday afternoon and came to the Hagginwood Community Center for the dedication of the Grantland Johnson Soccer Field. “It’s quite an honor, I must tell you,” said Grantland Johnson to the crowd crammed inside the lobby of the community center. A native resident of Sacramento’s Del Paso Heights neighborhood, Johnson graduated from Grant High School where he played for the Pacers football team. He received his B.A. Degree from Sacramento State in Government and later received honorary Doctorates of Humane Letters from both Sacramento State and Golden Gate University. “I would not be the person I am today, had I not grown up in this great community of

City Councilwoman Sandy Sheedy, along with the Hagginwood community, will be gathering Saturday in honor of a new soccer field recently constructed in Hagginwood Park. The soccer field will be named after Grantland Johnson, a former city councilman and county supervisor representing all of North Sacramento. “We’re expecting about 60-100 people will show up,” said Jim Cones, director for Sacramento’s Parks and Recreation Department. “Recently we had a grand opening of a park in North Sacramento, and there were several hundred people.” Cones said the plan to implement the soccer field came from a survey that was conducted in 2008. “Some of the parks in the city were not as safe as they s

The City of Sacramento's Neighborhood Services Division of the Department of Parks and Recreation will host four Redistricting Forums during the month of February. As part of the Community Partnership Meetings, these four forums provide the public with the opportunity to learn the following about redistricting at the local level straight from the experts: - Frequently Asked Questions About Redistricting - Key Redistricting Standards and Concepts - Participating in the Redistricting Process - The Impact of Census Data and Policies on Redistricting There will also be time set aside to have your questions answered. Below are the dates and times of the Redistricting Forums: South Area Wed

Addressing an estimated $35 million-$40 million budget gap for the 2011-2012 fiscal year, Interim City Manager Gus Vina hosted a special workshop on economic recovery for the City Council. He presented a variety of plans to bring in more revenue, including enhancing the city’s parks with tourist attractions, providing incentives to businesses and creating a mix of opportunities in the city’s job market. Vina urged City Council members to move quickly on the economic recovery plan so the city can begin to see results. “I don’t expect the benefits in 2012 and 2013 to be huge, but it will be a good beginning,” he said. He told council members that unemployment in 2011 is expected to remai

Sacramento’s city and county governments confronted grim budget situations throughout 2010. The city faced a $43 million budget gap, while the county struggled with a $181 million hole. Local government employees felt the pain of budget cuts: Sacramento County laid off about 380 employees during the summer. The county also slashed 29 positions in its engineering department in September. The county will no longer hire engineers for those spots. City officials laid off 12 workers represented by Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 447, city spokeswoman Amy Williams said in September. The layoffs occurred after talks between the city and the union failed. However, the city’s job loss situation

Hello community members and partners throughout the City of Sacramento. As you may know, the City’s approved Fiscal Year 2010/11 budget for Neighborhood Services shows a reduction of2.00 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff and our team has lost two Neighborhood Resources Coordinators due to layoffs.Due to loss of staff, Neighborhood Services is rearranging the areas in which we all work. Below are the changes that went into effect on Monday, July 12, 2010: Council Districts 1 & 2 Kris Wimberly 808-6172 kwimberly@cityofsacramento.org Council Districts 3 & 4 Janine Martindale 808-8193 jmartindale@cityofsacramento.org Council Districts 5 & 6 Khaalid Muttaqi 808-4057 kmuttaqi@cityofsacrament

Imagine playing softball at your local park and seeing an ad for a local sports equipment store, or going to a city skatepark and finding out there's a sale at the nearest skate shop. This type of city-business interaction could be possible with the Department of Parks and Recreation's Community Sponsorship Initiative. Thursday afternoon at the Sacramento Softball Complex, the department unveiled its new funding program, CSI, which was approved by the City Council April 6. The program provides individuals, groups and businesses sponsorship and advertising opportunities, all while funding Parks and Recreation programs and facilities. "It's taken us a year to get to where we are now, but t

The Sacramento Parks and Recreation department has responded to local calls for more community gardens by slating two new sites to be publicly cultivated , bringing the total number of city community gardens to seven. One of the fresh gardening plots is on the downtown grid - E and 8th in Zapata Park - and is planned to be opened to the public by the end of the year. The other is in North Oak Park and will be sprouting next spring. Locally grown produce is a burgeoning attraction for Sacramentans and Community Garden Coordinator Bill Maynard has taken note. "We've seen a dramatic increase in interest recently," he said. "In a 2008 Master Plan Development survey, more than 10 percent of su

I've just learned that city management is planning  to move the appeal process to cut down trees from the Parks and Recreation Commission to the Planning Commission on all development related issues!!!  This would apply to ALL developer projects. Why is this bad?  This change will enable Development Services Manager and staff (who have no expertise in trees) to order removal of healthy shade trees any time a developer wants them removed.   The public  would have to appeal to the Planning Commission instead of the Parks and Recreation Commission.  A tree would not have to be in the way of construction.  It could be that the developer wants all new or fewer trees bordering the new building.

Sacramento is the City of Trees.  Earlier this year, the City's Urban Forest Services Division was transferred from the Department of Parks & Recreation to the Transportation Department.  Responsibility for trees in parks and on private property remain under the jurisdiction of Parks & Recreation.  Responsibility for 'street trees' was transferred because the thought was since Transportation oversees streets (parking; sidewalks, etc.) the Department should also have jurisdiction over 'street trees'.   Appeals of granting or denying permits to cutdown heritage trees still remain with the Parks & Recreation Commission. With the reorganization of Urban Forest Services to the Transportation