About 65 Pocket and Greenhaven residents gathered Thursday night to learn about current city issues. City staffers briefed the citizens on the city budget, green waste pick-up services and other topics during the community meeting, which was organized by City Councilman Darrell Fong. Attendees were fully engaged throughout the meeting, asking plenty of questions. It began at 6:30 p.m. and by 8:30 p.m. few had left John F. Kennedy High School on Gloria Drive. City Finance Director Leyne Milstein presented information to the group about the city’s $35-$40 million budget gap for the 2011/2012 fiscal year. She noted that the $35-$40 million represents about 20 percent of the net general fun

New Sacramento City Councilman Darrell Fong said his district consists of one neighborhood that does not get involved with local issues, and another neighborhood that intensely participates in civic decision-making. Fong said one of his goals as city councilman for District 7 will be to connect with residents in the politically passive Valley Hi neighborhood in South Sacramento. The councilman and his district director, Noah Painter, gave a driving tour of the Pocket/Greenhaven and Valley Hi neighborhoods for The Sacramento Press on Tuesday. The residential Valley Hi neighborhood faces major problems with foreclosures, Fong and Painter said. While Valley Hi residents are affected by poli

Incoming Sacramento City Councilmen Jay Schenirer and Darrell Fong both said in interviews on Monday that they want to address concerns in the specific neighborhoods they will represent. They also said they are mindful of the city’s expected budget shortfall. Fong and Schenirer will be officially sworn into their new posts on Tuesday night. Schenirer pointed out that he will represent 19 neighborhoods as the councilman for District 5, including Oak Park, West Tahoe Park and Curtis Park. “I think the neighborhoods in my district have a significant amount of need,” Schenirer said. To respond to the neighborhoods’ needs, he said he wants to spend the next three to six months working with

The slate is diverse, ranging from a higher education teacher to a retired Naval commander. All are vying for one thing: the chance to represent the Pocket neighborhood on the SCUSD School Board. Five candidates met at a forum on Tuesday evening at the School of Engineering and Sciences to make their case as best representative for SCUSD District 6 Board Member. The forum was organized by the Didion/Lewis Park Recreational Center Committee and moderated by Michael Langley, editor of Pocket Online. The biggest topic of reform referred to teachers. "Everything is in instruction," said Sharon Owens-Thomas. "We probably have one-third high performing teachers in the district, another third

Residents of the Pocket and Greenhaven neighborhoods will have a chance to hear from candidates running for Trustee Area 6 of Sacramento City Unified School District at a forum on Tuesday, October 12, 2010. Photo by MikkiPiper. Five candidates are running for the position since two-term incumbent Roy Grimes declined running for a third term. Grimes served as SCUSD board president three times during his eight year tenure. The slate of candidates is diverse: Rob Gunn is a transportation engineer. Darrel Woo is a higher education teacher and City Parks & Recreation Commissioner. Robert Bartron is a retired Naval Commander and education administrator. Shane Singh is a community vo

Rashad Baadqir was at George Sim Community Center Thursday evening to learn how Mayor Kevin Johnson uses community input. He was one of many citizens who waited patiently to meet with Johnson during the mayor’s “office hours” monthly event. Short meetings were packed into the three-hour event. By roughly 5 p.m., 56 meetings between the mayor and residents had been scheduled. Baadqir, a resident in the Pocket neighborhood, said he attended the event to ask Johnson how he uses the input he receives from the public and if community concerns are being addressed. He said he wanted to learn about the process for handling citizens’ concerns so he “can be more engaged on some of the things that

Outgoing Sacramento City Councilman Robbie Waters is backing candidate Darrell Fong in the runoff election for the District 7 seat that covers the Pocket/Greenhaven and Valley Hi neighborhoods. Waters, who has served as the District 7 council member since 1994, lost the race in June to opponents Darrell Fong and Ryan Chin. Waters came in third place out of four candidates, with 27 percent of the vote. Chin led the group in the June election with 37 percent of the vote. He is now competing in a runoff campaign against Fong, who garnered 32 percent of votes cast. The two candidates must face off again because the city’s rules say that a council candidate needs at least 50 percent of the vo

The waiting game for the District 1 City Council race continues. The Sacramento County elections office released new vote tallies Friday afternoon, and has counted about 35,000 of the roughly 86,000 that remained after Election Day. However, the new ballots still don’t definitively show whether Natomas activist Angelique Ashby has won the District 1 seat, or if she will compete in a runoff in November with incumbent City Councilman Ray Tretheway. The county elections staff still needs to count more than 51,000 ballots. Voters cast ballots for many state and local candidates Tuesday, so it’s unknown how many of the 51,000 ballots include votes for the City Council races. With 5,405 votes

Sacramento City Councilman Robbie Waters has lost the District 7 seat he has held since 1994. Sacramento County’s election website showed that Waters, with 1,935 votes, follows two challengers in the polls. District 7 candidates Ryan Chin and Darrell Fong are expected to compete in a runoff, Assistant City Clerk Stephanie Mizuno said Wednesday morning. District 7 includes the neighborhoods of Greenhaven / Pocket and Valley-Hi. With all precincts reporting, Chin has 38 percent of the vote. Fong is chasing Chin with 31 percent of the vote. The two candidates are separated by a few hundred votes: Chin has 2,712, while Fong has 2,215. While Mizuno cautioned that the results are semi-offici

Darrell Fong, a retired Sacramento Police Department captain who is running for City Council, said he could provide a better perspective to the city and his district because he does not intend to make politics his career. The Sacramento Press is interviewing City Council candidates in advance of the June 8 election. Fong, a third-generation Sacramento resident, is running for the District 7 seat on the City Council. His opponents are incumbent Robbie Waters, and Ryan Chin and Diedre Hobart. “My goal is just to focus on the city alone and the district,” Fong said. District 7 neighborhoods include Greenhaven, Pocket and Valley Hi. Fong, 53, noted that he has lived in the Pocket neighborh

Sacramento City Councilman Robbie Waters wants to advance public safety in his district by bolstering neighborhood associations and watch groups. Waters, a former Sacramento County sheriff, said that public safety is his top priority for the year. The Sacramento Press is publishing a series on the 2010 goals of members of the City Council. Links to stories on other councilmembers’ goals can be found at the end of this story. Waters represents District 7, which includes the Greenhaven, Pocket and Valley Hi neighborhoods. He is running for re-election in June. His opponents in the race are Darrell Fong, who had a longtime career as a Sacramento police officer, and Ryan Chin, the strategic

Two homes caught fire Thursday around 2:51 p.m. As firefighters arrived, the fence between the two homes was completely on fire and the side of the two story home on the left was well involved. The second home (one story), caught fire and burned into the attic. There was an initial report that victims may have been in the home. The first in engine crew executed a search of the home and no one was found. In the end, the two story home experienced a partial roof collapse while firefighters were inside. Firefighters pulled out and went into defensive mode to save the one story home and protect other surrounding exposures. The two story was a total loss and the one story home had fire damage

Two homes on fire in the Pocket area, south of downtown Sacramento, created a three-alarm response around 3pm Thursday. The fire originated in the largest and tallest of the two and spread to a neighboring house. Apparently no one was home when the fire started. Fire crews from Sac City, Sac Metro and Cosumnes Fire Departments responded. Photos | Kati Garner