A proposed measure to tax Sacramento property owners to pay for youth job training was derailed Tuesday night. Councilman Ray Tretheway removed the proposal from the City Council’s agenda, which means that it won’t be placed on the November ballot. Tretheway told reporters after Tuesday’s meeting he removed the plan from the agenda because council members were not interested in advancing it to the ballot. The City Council faced a Tuesday night deadline to move the proposal onto the ballot in November. “I think that the respect for the process trumped what I believe is a chronic problem of lack of resources and investment in our youth.” Tretheway said he thought his colleagues were conc

Following my remarks in my commentary Big Brother or Big Bully, a reader complained that the former Franklin Villa had nothing to do with the article about rental home inspections. My thrust there was to point out how the city council members, going back several administrations, have had the policy of sitting in the back room and making sub rosa decisions that affect you, me and our pocketbooks.  Then they bring these matters out in public meetings where they have to allow concerned citizens their three minutes, and not a second more.  When all this is done, they go ahead and pass what they had already decided on in their clandestine meetings. Where does Franklin Villa come in?  The city

In a follow-up to my earlier comments on the new program implemented by the Sacramento City Council, I’d like to add a little more detail. The city has granted itself the authority to enter all rental homes in the city for annual inspections. All landlords must comply. Of course, there is a fee for those who comply and a fine for those who hesitate. I’d like to add that further investigation shows that it will be incumbent on every property owner to inform the city that he/she has a rental unit and pay an annual fee for the privilege. Oh, and one more detail: The owner must live within 35 miles of city hall, or have a representative who does. I feel that for the city to enter rental prope

 This article is a follow-up to "Graffiti artists vs. property owners." Please see "Graffiti artists vs. property owners" by clicking on the green Storyline tab to the right. If you are a property owner in Sacramento, you can expect to be cleaning graffiti off your building at some point or another depending on where your property is situated. "Midtown typically has the highest incidence of graffiti," states Code Enforcement Officer Noel Eusebio. Midtown, along with neighboring areas, sees more graffiti simply because it's packed with people and buildings. Seems obvious, right? "Vandals looking for notoriety look for population and structurally dense environments," continues Eusebio. Sinc

The streets are blighted with mismatched paint. Large cream colored splotches speckle tan walls and if you were to stare directly into the side of a concrete building structure you would almost certainly find faint outlines of words, messages and names; all pressure-washed or bleached into a ghostly existence.  While most property owners view graffiti as an unsightly blemish, is painting over that graffiti with a slightly different color much better? It all depends on your perspective. While there are those who maintain that graffiti has an aesthetic value, there are others who call it a nuisance. Some people will urge you to recognize the artistry, or the underlying message graffiti pres