Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "ray tretheway"

City officials here today, gone tomorrow

2010-12-23T22:18:39Z

The past year was a big one for resignations, promotions and elections of Sacramento city officials. Twelve personnel changes took place at City Hall involving elected and appointed leaders and city staffers in 2010.

A major change was in the city manager position, which was replete with drama and press conferences.

When former City Manager Ray Kerridge resigned in March, the city was wrestling with a host of issues. The Sacramento County Grand Jury had released a report in January saying the city may have broken state law Proposition 218. Utilities fees from ratepayers must correspond to the costs of delivering the utilities services, the law states.

At the same time, the city was dealing with a sticky situation over building permits that a staffer in the Community Development Department gave to a housing developer. The feds had barred the city from giving out permits in that area.

On top of that headache, more concerns with the development department had cropped up, such as claims that the department didn’t collect developer fees and even accusations of “potential quid pro quo,” according to a Jan. 26 report from the offices of the city manager and city attorney.

There were controversies surrounding Kerridge’s decision to resign. Mayor Kevin Johnson said a negative attitude among other council members in part caused Kerridge to pack his bags. Johnson held a press conference in which he described Kerridge as a “great talent.” Councilman Robbie Waters voiced support for Kerridge at Johnson’s press conference. Kerridge was also popular among businesspeople, who said he created a customer-service environment at the development department.

When Kerridge left Sacramento City Hall, he said he intended to take a job in the private sector. But he was picked up by Roseville in May to be its next city manager.

Shortly before Kerridge resigned, former development department director Bill Thomas resigned. Thomas and Kerridge had worked together in both the cities of Portland and Sacramento.

Responding to Kerridge’s resignation, the City Council promoted Gus Vina, who was an assistant city manager, to be interim city manager in March.

Max Fernandez, the former head of code enforcement for the city, was promoted to be the director of the development department in early July. With Vina and Fernandez in charge, the development department is undergoing a remodel to tighten its procedures.

The city auditor’s office faced a year of changes, as well. The City Council hired Jorge Oseguera to be the new city auditor in March, after that spot had been vacant for almost one year.

Oseguera hired deputy auditor Gerald Silva in March, but Silva resigned in July. Silva resigned after The Sacramento Press asked him to comment on a sexual harassment dispute that involved him when he served as the city auditor of San Jose.

It wasn’t just the city manager and development director positions that were in upheaval in 2010 – a big shake-up also occurred on the City Council.

Council incumbents Ray Tretheway and Robbie Waters both lost to newcomers in June, while Councilwoman Lauren Hammond didn’t run for reelection.

New councilwoman Angelique Ashby took Ray Tretheway’s District 1 seat in June, but two runoffs were required for the District 5 and District 7 seats. The runoffs featured newbies in both cases – the incumbents had already lost in June.

Darrell Fong won his District 7 runoff battle against candidate Ryan Chin, while Jay Schenirer beat opponent Patrick Kennedy in the November runoff for District 5.

Photos of Tretheway, Vina and Fernandez by Kathleen Haley. Photo of Kerridge by Anthony Bento. Photo of Ashby by Brandon Darnell.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Angelique Ashby sworn into office

2010-11-24T05:38:59Z

Angelique Ashby was officially sworn in on Tuesday as the new city councilwoman representing the areas of Alkali Flat, Gardenland/Northgate, and North and South Natomas.

The District 1 council seat was vacated by nine-year City Councilman Ray Tretheway, who lost his race against Ashby in June. Ashby, 35, is a first-time council member.

Her father, Patric Ashby, gained permission from City Clerk Shirley Concolino to read the new councilwoman her oath.

Ashby repeated the oath’s phrases after her father, which include a pledge to “well and faithfully discharge the duties” of her new office. She then took her seat at the City Council’s dais, or stage, and made remarks to the packed room at City Hall.

“I’m hopeful that I can help,” Ashby said. “That’s why I ran.”

Ashby also praised the council members for welcoming her to her new job.

“I just want to say that all the members of the council have been really generous to me – very nice,” she said. “Each one has spent some of their time with me – time on the weekend to show me their district. They’ve all come out and seen Natomas. They’re trying very hard to welcome me and I really appreciate that.”

Ashby said before the swearing in event that she still owns a consulting firm that contracts with public agencies, but added that she plans on spending the majority of her time working on city issues as a City Council member. The Sacramento County Office of Education was a former client of her consulting firm, and her current client is in Alpine County, she said.

Mayor Kevin Johnson, the Sacramento Police Officers Association and the Sacramento Area Fire Fighters Local 522 supported Ashby’s run for City Council.

“We are very excited to have Council member Angelique Ashby at the dais,” Johnson said at the swearing-in.

Councilman Steve Cohn was originally scheduled to be sworn in at the City Council meeting, but he said he would make his comments next week. Cohn has been a councilman since 1994, but Assistant City Clerk Stephanie Mizuno explained that council members are sworn in each time they are reelected.

Councilman Kevin McCarty gave Ashby a propeller-head cap as a welcoming gift, saying that he and Fong received the same gift when they were sworn in.

Ashby wore the cap for a few seconds, and then said she would give it to council newcomers Jay Schenirer and Darrell Fong when they are sworn in later this month. “Jay, Darrell: It’ll be waiting,” she said.

Photo by Brandon Darnell.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Fixing FEMA violations costs city $350K

2010-11-17T06:07:05Z

The Sacramento City Council agreed on Tuesday night to shell out as much as $350,000 in general fund dollars to correct past violations of federal flood management laws.

City officials have acknowledged that Dan Waters, a Community Development Department staffer and the son of outgoing City Councilman Robbie Waters, broke Federal Emergency Management Agency rules when he provided 35 building permits to a developer in a Natomas flood zone last year.

Councilman Waters recused himself from the vote on the “corrective action plan” Tuesday night, while the eight other members approved it.

Fong said that it was important to support the action plan to send a message to FEMA to ensure that the city is in compliance with federal rules. However, he noted that the $350,000 is a significant amount of money to pay.

“It’s a really hard thing at this time in our budget life,” he said.

Nancy Ward, a regional administrator for FEMA, complimented city staffers for working with the federal agency. “I, certainly, from a federal agency perspective, have gotten the true meaning of the word ‘partnership‘ from this city in terms of their hard work and their tenacity ... in humoring FEMA through its challenging program requirements.”

The plan includes several steps the city must take. In Natomas, four partially built homes, one completely built home and a multi-car garage must be torn down, according to a city staff report. Two fire-damaged homes will receive private flood insurance paid by the city, said Department of Utilities spokeswoman Jessica Hess. The Community Development Department must also have a certified floodplain manager on staff, according to the report.

“We clearly made a very, very serious mistake,” Tretheway said.

Read the report and all the steps the city must take here.

Photo by Kathleen Haley.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Hammond, Tretheway and Waters say goodbye

2010-11-17T04:02:56Z

The three outgoing Sacramento City Council members were swarmed by a crowd of city staffers and well-wishers Tuesday night.

The City Hall lobby was abuzz with chatter as roughly 100 people turned out to say goodbye to Council members Ray Tretheway, Lauren Hammond and Robbie Waters, who are all leaving their seats later this month.

Waters and Tretheway lost their re-election bids in June, while Hammond did not run for re-election.

Angelique Ashby, who won the District 1 City Council race, will replace Tretheway starting next Tuesday, according to Assistant City Clerk Stephanie Mizuno. Waters’ District 7 seat will likely be transferred later this month to Darrell Fong, the frontrunner in a November runoff election.

Jay Schenirer will take Hammond’s seat at City Hall. November runoffs for both the District 5 and 7 elections extended the city’s swearing-in schedule, so Fong and Schenirer are expected to be sworn into office on Nov. 30, one week after Ashby.

Tretheway, a nine-year City Councilman, will continue to work as the executive director of the Sacramento Tree Foundation once he leaves City Hall. While he was on the City Council, Tretheway served as a part-time executive director of the foundation. He will now work full-time for the group, he said.

“Honestly, we have a great city that continues to get better and improve,” Tretheway said.

In an interview last week, Tretheway said he was proud of his work to help develop the North Natomas neighborhood, including a library, nearly 50 new parks, an off-street walking path and two fire stations.

“We built the community from scratch,” Tretheway said.

The staffers for each of the outgoing council members will need to find new jobs, too. Dan Roth, Tretheway’s district director since 2005, said last week that he is a finalist for a couple of jobs, but added that it would be inappropriate right now to comment on them.

He said he took pride in numerous projects that he worked on with others, including the opening of a teen center in the Garden/Northgate area last year and the creation of a rose garden at the South Natomas Community Center.

Roth may be known to some residents because he was covered extensively by the local media last April, during Tretheway’s campaign against Ashby. The local media reported on a YouTube video that showed Roth watching Tretheway campaign manager Corin Choppin remove Ashby signs.

“Never has standing on a sidewalk with my hands in my pocket caused me so much drama,” Roth said.

Meanwhile, Councilwoman Lauren Hammond intends to make a big life change after she leaves the City Council: retirement. She served 13 years on the City Council and spent more than two decades working as an telecommunications contract administrator for the California Senate.

“That’s enough to retire,” she said at the reception on Tuesday.

However, she did not rule out the possibility of remaining in politics in some way. “I want to leave all my options open,” she said, in response to a KFBK reporter’s question about her political plans.

She said she was proud of her efforts on youth programs and her work to help bring a grocery store to Oak Park.

“This is a great city and a great region,” Hammond said. “We all just need to take a breath and learn how to work together.”

Helen Hewitt, who worked as Hammond’s district director for 13 years, is also retiring. She said she made efforts to “build a bridge between the community, the constituents and the city.”

Over in District 7, Waters said he is in interested in working part time in a position “without a boss.” Waters, 74, served 16 years on the City Council. “It’s been a long time, and I’ve really enjoyed every minute of it,” he said.

Waters is a former Sacramento County sheriff and had a long career at the Sacramento Police Department. He said he is most proud of the opening of the Robbie Waters Pocket-Greenhaven Library, a project he said he worked on since 1994. Waters said it was “very humbling” to have the library named after him.

Pat Clark, Waters’ district director, sent out a statement to say goodbye to Waters’ constituents. “I thank Councilman Robbie Waters for entrusting this responsibility to me for 16 years,” Clark wrote. “After founding Pocket News in 1992 and watching and writing about local government, I was fortunate to have a chance to put my own stamp on trying to make local government work well – and for that chance I was grateful every day.”

Tuesday night marked the end of the official goodbyes for the outgoing council members. The changing of the guard officially begins next Tuesday, when Ashby is sworn in to the City Council.

Photo of Hammond by Anthony Bento. Roth provided the photo of himself. Photos of Tretheway, Waters and Clark by Kathleen Haley.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Should city charge at-fault drivers?

2010-11-09T02:40:15Z

The Sacramento City Council will decide later this month whether to bill at-fault drivers in collisions requiring an emergency response.

The city has released its draft ordinance for charging fees for emergency services. The fees for emergency responses would charged to all at-fault drivers, including residents and non-residents.

Fire Department responses to car wrecks would include a range of fees. On the low end, the city would charge $435 each time the department responds to an accident. A major wreck, meanwhile, could cost at least $2,000 in fees.

Council members are expected to discuss the ordinance at their Nov. 23 meeting, said special projects manager Mark Prestwich.

City staff has examined the issue for several months. An earlier version of the proposal would have only charged non-residents the fees. Residents were included in the proposed ordinance after City Attorney Eileen Teichert’s office said that focusing solely on non-residents might be deemed discriminatory, according to the city’s report on the ordinance.

Fire Capt. David Dolson noted the department is affected by the tough economy. He said the fees could help the department maintain current service and potentially cover additional levels of service.

“We’re at bare bones right now,” he said.

City Councilman Ray Tretheway indicated he may vote in favor of the ordinance later this month. “I think all of (the council members) are somewhat ambivalent, but also moving toward support,” he said.

Tretheway said he was thinking of the issue in terms of the city’s budget problems and “the need to recover our costs.”

Under the city’s proposal, a third-party billing service would contract with the city to handle the billing paperwork, according to Prestwich. The vendor would bill the at-fault driver’s insurance company for the fees, Prestwich said.

But the insurance industry is opposed to efforts by local governments to charge for fire recovery fees. Various local governments are viewing these emergency services fees as a way to improve their budget situations, argued Janine Gibford, assistant vice president for the American Insurance Association, an industry group with a West Coast office that covers California. This means they’re using insurance companies to help their budgets, she said.

“And we’re not there to fill the hole when the budgets get cut,” she said.

Read the proposed fire cost recovery ordinance here.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Residents celebrate Tretheway's community service

2010-10-19T05:45:48Z

Supporters of outgoing Sacramento Councilman Ray Tretheway gathered in North Natomas on Monday night to celebrate Tretheway’s nine consecutive years on the City Council.

Tretheway, who was first elected in 2001, lost the District 1 re-election race in June to his opponent Angelique Ashby. He will leave his City Council seat in late November, but will keep his position as executive director of the Sacramento Tree Foundation.

More than 100 people turned out for Monday night’s event held at the North Natomas Library. District 1 includes North and South Natomas and downtown’s Alkali Flat.

“We are knitted as a community,” Tretheway told his supporters and constituents Monday night. “There’s no doubt about it. There’s something special in Natomas ... It has been an honor to serve you and to stand side-by-side with you in so many different endeavors.”

Tretheway sat with former Sacramento Mayor Heather Fargo, a Natomas resident herself, as several of his constituents praised him for his community work.

Nick Avdis, a District 1 resident who is active in the Valley View Acres Community Association, said Tretheway urged him to get involved with his community. Avdis said Tretheway is a neighbor. “You stand with us because you are one of us,” he said.

Jerry Way, the city’s transportation director, described Tretheway as “a man of great integrity.”

Fargo said she’s worked with Tretheway on local issues since 1980. Their shared work included planting trees, cleaning up graffiti and building parks, she said.

“He’ll be missed, but he’s not going too far away,” Fargo told the crowd. “He’s still going to be living out here and working on things, and planting trees. And he’ll still be your friend.”

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Development department investigations continue

2010-10-13T05:53:37Z

The Sacramento City Council’s Tuesday-night discussion made it clear that the investigations of the city’s development department are not over.

Seven council members spoke at length about the Oct. 6 audit, which found that the Community Development Department broke city and state laws. Council members also indicated that they want to claim the money that the department failed to charge developers – a sum of more than $2.3 million, according to the audit.

Councilman Steve Cohn was absent from the meeting, and Councilman Robbie Waters recused himself from the discussion of the audit’s findings. Waters’ son, Dan, is a former employee of the department who was involved in an earlier investigation of the department.

The subject of the audit was the department’s work from fiscal years 2007 through 2010. Sacramento firm Sjoberg Evashenk Consulting, Inc. conducted the audit.

“I’m most concerned with making sure this won’t happen again,” Mayor Kevin Johnson said.

The City Council’s auditor, Jorge Oseguera, told the council members that the city attorney’s office will explore whether some of the $2.3 million can be collected. He said he would follow up with the council on that issue.

Councilman Rob Fong said collecting the money is “my No. 1 priority.”

Councilwoman Lauren Hammond said city rules need to apply to all developers equally. The department should not have a culture that allows a “good ol’ boy network,” she also said.

Interim City Manager Gus Vina indicated that disciplinary measures for department employees may be on the table. “As I look at the audit in great detail, I will take whatever disciplinary actions are necessary,” he told the council.

The City Council and city staff also discussed investigations of the department that are still under way.

Sandra Talbott, an attorney with City Attorney Eileen Teichert’s office, said the investigation into allegations of quid pro quo in the department is ongoing. The quid pro quo investigation is distinct from the audit, Talbott said. “It has not been concluded at this point.”

In response to a question from Councilman Ray Tretheway about continuing investigations, Vina said that the California Fair Political Practices Commission has concerns about the department.

In addition, Fong said the City Council should lead its own investigation into the department. He said he considered the audit to be “an important piece” of a City Council investigation.

Fong also said he wanted to explore the role of top managers in the past problems at the department. He did not specify names of current or former city officials in his comment.

“I’d certainly like to know what recourse we have against them, if any,” he said.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Photo by Brandon Darnell.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

311 call center to scale back service two days each month

2010-09-17T00:56:46Z

New budget cuts will cause the city’s popular 311 call service to shut down for all requests except emergencies for two Fridays per month, according to city officials.

The budget cuts result from the new contract for union employees represented by Stationary Engineers Local 39. As part of the union’s deal with the city, each member of Local 39 must take 88 hours of furlough time in the 2010/2011 fiscal year, and 96 furlough hours in the following fiscal year. Some of the union’s members work for 311, and they will be on furlough the two Fridays each month, according to city spokeswoman Amy Williams.

The call center’s new schedule with furloughs starts Sept. 17.

“We are unfortunately asking our constituents to be patient with us,” said Gina Knepp, division manager of 311.

Tens of thousands of people use the service to find information about city services, according to Knepp. The center receives an average of 1,500 phone calls each weekday, she said.

On average, 300-400 phone calls come in on Saturdays, Knepp said, adding that the call volume on Sundays is slightly lower than the volume on Saturdays.

This means that 311 receives an average of 30,000-35,000 phone calls per month, Knepp said.

In the last fiscal year, 311 received about 17,000 e-mailed requests, she added.

The call center will have employees on furlough Friday and Sept. 24. Starting in October, the center’s furloughs will be in effect on the second and fourth Fridays of every month.

“On those days, only limited staff will be on duty, and only emergency calls can be handled,” according to a Sept. 13 e-mail that General Services Director Reina Schwartz sent to the City Council.

In the city’s definition, 311 emergency calls could involve “injured animals, water, sewer or drain emergencies, roadway hazards and traffic signal malfunctions.”

In the past, the city received many compliments from citizens about 311, City Councilman Ray Tretheway said. But the call center is putting people on hold for longer periods of time as well as experiencing furloughs, he added.

The 311 cutbacks show “reality setting in of the severity of our budget cuts,” Tretheway said.

Southside Park resident Joy Korstjens said she uses 311 every couple months, adding that she’s more likely to use the 311@cityofsacramento.org e-mail service.

She said she is disappointed about the cuts to the 311 service, but also expressed sympathy for furloughed 311 employees. Korstjens, an employee at the state Department of Consumer Affairs, must take three furlough Fridays each month.

“As someone who is also furloughed, I feel bad for the employees,” Korstjens said.

The furloughs for 311 employees will affect their salaries, as well as add to their workloads when they return to work on Monday, she said.

Meanwhile, Knepp provided the text of the message that citizens will hear Friday if they call 311:

“Hello. You have reached Sacramento City 311. All calls may be recorded for quality monitoring purposes.

“It is Friday, Sept. 17th. The 311 Call Center will only be available for emergency calls today. Please stay on the line if you are reporting an emergency such as: injured animals, water, sewer or drain emergencies, roadway hazards and traffic signal malfunctions. An agent will assist you shortly.

“For all other inquiries, please call again tomorrow when we are open for full service.

“If your request is non-urgent and you prefer, you may e-mail us by writing to 311@cityofsacramento.org. Thank you, and we do apologize for any inconvenience.”

Read the Sept. 13 e-mail that city staff sent to the City Council here.

Here is a list of the dates that 311 will be closed for calls that do not involve emergencies:

Sept. 17
Sept. 24
Oct. 8
Oct. 22
Nov. 12
Nov. 26
Dec. 10
Dec. 24
Jan. 14
Jan. 28
Feb. 11
Feb. 25
March 11
March 25
April 8
April 22
May 13
May 20
June 10
June 17

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Should city set up a whistle-blower hotline?

2010-09-16T00:56:03Z

Sacramento’s city auditor is exploring the idea of creating a whistle-blower hotline for City Hall.

City Auditor Jorge Oseguera told the city’s audit committee on Tuesday that he was talking to City Attorney Eileen Teichert’s office about the idea. The audit committee is composed of City Council members Lauren Hammond, Robbie Waters, Ray Tretheway and Steve Cohn.

Whistle-blower hotlines are “a common topic right now in the auditing community,” Oseguera said on Wednesday.

The plan is in its early stages, Oseguera said, and no details have been established yet on how the hotline would work or when it would start operating.

In a Tuesday e-mail, Teichert said she could say only that the plan is “in the early discussion stage.”

Oseguera is not the first to suggest a whistle-blower hotline for the city of Sacramento: Councilman Kevin McCarty mentioned the idea on Jan. 26, when the City Council was discussing an investigation that involved the city’s Community Development Department.

However, Oseguera said his work on a whistle-blower hotline was not directed by McCarty.

Other California cities that use whistle-blower hotlines include San Diego, San Jose and Oakland, according to their websites.

Photo of Oseguera by Brandon Darnell.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Safe Ground opposes City Council vote on public comments

2010-08-25T05:39:44Z

A group that presses for a designated camping space for homeless people in Sacramento opposed on Tuesday the City Council’s decision to move the open public comment section of council meetings to the end of the meeting.

About 18 supporters of Safe Ground Sacramento stayed until the end of Tuesday’s City Council meeting to oppose the controversial decision the body made last week.

Before last week’s decision, open public comment was heard by the City Council at the beginning of weekly council meetings.

During the open public comment part of council meetings, Safe Ground Sacramento supporters regularly urge the city to reserve a space in which homeless residents can camp. The city enforces its anti-camping ban.

“You guys feel like our comments don’t mean nothing,” Safe Ground supporter Shane Eck told the City Council Tuesday.

Councilwoman Lauren Hammond said last week that she hoped moving the public comment session to the end of meetings would quicken the meetings. She also said that “special interests” dominate the open public comment time period.

Judging from comments from council members Tuesday night, it appears that the City Council may take another look its decision.

Councilwoman Bonnie Pannell said Tuesday that she now likes the idea of holding it at the beginning of the meeting as long as there is a half-hour time limit on the public comment session.

Council members Sandy Sheedy, Rob Fong, Bonnie Pannell, Robbie Waters and Lauren Hammond last week voted in favor of moving the open public comment session to the end of council meetings.

Mayor Kevin Johnson and council members Kevin McCarty and Ray Tretheway voted against the move and wanted to keep the session at the beginning of meetings.

Councilman Steve Cohn was absent from last week’s meeting. He said Tuesday that he missed last week’s vote because he was attending a family reunion. Cohn expressed support for moving open public comment back to the beginning of meetings, and putting a time limit on that segment of the meeting.

Photo: Safe Ground leader John Kraintz speaks at a July rally in Sacramento.

Photo by Dunia Hamza.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Councilmember-Elect Angelique Ashby Launches "Community Connections"

2010-08-21T02:22:56Z

Angelique Ashby Announces Series of Community Forums Throughout District One

It's become common, often expected, for politicians to have goals for the first 100 days in elected office. But what about goals for the 100 days prior to taking office?

On Monday, Angelique Ashby commemorated the 100 day countdown by unveiling Community Connections, a series of district-wide meetings seeking ideas, thoughts, input and experiences related to the challenges and successes throughout the region.

Ashby was elected to Sacramento's City Council on June 8 with 51% of the vote in a dramatic three-way race, unseating incumbent councilmember Ray Tretheway after nearly ten years in office in District One (Alkali Flat, Downtown, The River District / Richards Boulevard, North and South Natomas, and Gardenland-Northgate). Since Ashby secured over 50% of the vote, there is no need for a run-off in November. However, according to the city's charter, her term does not begin until after November's General Election. Her four year term begins November 23.

"It has its advantages," Ashby said about the delay. "On one hand, it's a little challenging because a lot of folks think I'm in office already and we're full of energy and can't wait to start taking care of the peoples' business. But on the plus side, it gives us the opportunity to work towards a smooth transition and to make sure our plans and partnerships are solid."

"My commitment to you as residents and business owners in District One is to represent the District's needs and goals and to maintain the highest quality of life standards possible in each of our diverse and unique neighborhoods," Ashby wrote in her announcement. "Community Connections is an opportunity for collaborative input and dialogue in formulating a comprehensive plan that seeks to strengthen our community and our neighborhoods."

Comprised of three meetings around three central themes -- Public Safety, Economic Vitality, and Quality of Life -- information gathered at the forums "will be used as a guideline identifying key areas of concern in District One and will provide the community support needed to direct the efforts of my four years as the elected councilmember in this community," Ashby said. "I need everyone's insight, support and partnership to set us off in the right direction from Day One."

The methodology Ashby will be using is not at all new to her. "It's actually the same formula I use in my work," Ashby said, referring to her career as a consultant designing and implementing programs and service delivery systems in the social services field. "In fact, we used the same process back in 2008 when we formed the Natomas Crime & Safety Leadership Team." A forum of nearly four dozen community leaders convened to prioritize issues, brainstorm solutions, and choose a team of leaders to advance the action plan that had the group's endorsement. "We accomplished all five of our objectives in just one year's time. It's a proven system and I have no doubt we will be able to put it to work for us again."

The meetings are open to the public and scheduled as follows:

1: Public Safety
Thursday, September 9, 6 to 8 PM
Homecoming Apartments, 4800 Kokomo Drive

2: Economic Vitality
Date, Time & Location To Be Announced Soon -- Check for Updates

3: Quality of Life
Wednesday, October 27, 6 to 8 PM
South Natomas Community Center, 2921 Truxel Road

City Council to hear public comment later at night

2010-08-18T04:54:06Z

Residents will need to attend Sacramento City Council meetings later in the evening if they want to speak about issues that are not on the weekly council agenda.

The City Council changed its meeting rules Tuesday night to move the open public comment section to the end of the weekly meeting. Currently, the public can speak at the beginning of the meeting on any issue that is not related to the City Council agenda.

Council members were split on the issue and voted 5-3 to alter the time of the open public comment section. Mayor Kevin Johnson and council members Kevin McCarty and Ray Tretheway opposed the change. Councilman Steve Cohn was absent from the meeting.

Johnson and Tretheway said it benefits the public to keep the open public comment period earlier in the evening. Councilwoman Lauren Hammond, meanwhile, strongly supported the move.

“I think moving public comment to the end hurts transparency and council access, and I think it’s disrespectful to the public,” Johnson said.

City Council meetings start at 6 p.m., and citizens often participate in open public comment period before 7 p.m. Now, citizens who want to speak on off-topic issues will need to wait until the end of the meeting. City Council meetings vary in length; some meetings have run for several hours.

Tretheway said public access to the open comment section of the council meetings would be limited because of Regional Transit’s cuts to light rail night routes.

Tracie Rice-Bailey, an advocate for the homeless population, said moving the comment period would be “so very inconvenient for our people.”

Rice-Bailey is an activist with Safe Ground Sacramento, a group that lobbies city leaders to designate a public space in which homeless people could legally camp.

Safe Ground supporters regularly advocate for their cause during the open public comment period of City Council meetings.

Councilwoman Lauren Hammond, meanwhile, said that moving the section to the end of meeting could make the meetings quicker. “My hope is that our meetings won’t be as long,” she said.

Hammond also said that “special interests” dominate the current open public comment time period. She did not identify the groups.

“It might be one group this month; it might be a neighborhood group another month,” Hammond said.

***
Council leaders also decided Tuesday to hold a monthly afternoon City Council meeting.

The council voted 7-1 to meet monthly at 2 p.m. Johnson opposed the idea of an afternoon meeting, saying that adding a meeting to the council’s plate would be inefficient.

Councilman Rob Fong said the afternoon meeting would enable to council to hold workshops and better manage its agenda. The council did not choose a day of the week for the monthly meeting.

Photo by Brandon Darnell.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Free Movies in the Park on Saturdays in Natomas

2010-08-05T18:26:19Z

Councilmember Ray Tretheway hosts free movies nights in Natomas area parks on Saturday evenings in August.

Saturday, August 7th
North Natomas Community Park
Cagney Way & Crest Drive
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Saturday, August 14th
Witter Ranch Community Park
3790 Poppy Hill Way
Charlotte’s Web

Saturday, August 21st
Two Rivers Park
3201 West River Drive
UP

Saturday, August 28th
Regency Park Community Park
5500 Honor Parkway
The Princess and the Frog

Movies start at dusk (generally 8:45 p.m.) Games and fun will start at 7:00 p.m. Bring your blankets, snacks and flashlights. Donations for local schools will be accepted and provided to Natomas and Twin Rivers School Districts.

Contact the office of CouncilmMember Ray Tretheway today at 916-808-7001 or rtretheway@cityofsacramento.org if you have any questions.

The schedule for the movies can also be found on the Councilmember's website.

Council: All 39 medical pot dispensaries can stay in town

2010-07-28T05:15:45Z

The 39 medical marijuana shops in Sacramento are on their way to becoming legal.

The Sacramento City Council voted 8-0 to draft regulations for current pot dispensaries to legally operate with city permits.

Councilman Ray Tretheway was absent from the meeting. Notably, Councilman Robbie Waters, who formerly served as a Sacramento County sheriff and city police officer, voted in favor of a path toward legal and regulated medical marijuana shops. Waters noted that he had originally approached the issue from a “cop view.”

Michelle Heppner, a special projects manager for the city, explained after the meeting that the City Council intends to allow 39 medical marijuana dispensaries in Sacramento to apply for city permits.

However, the notion of cap on the number of dispensaries is still hazy.

Heppner said the council agreed that the number of dispensaries is not capped at 39. However, the council is not saying that there should be an unlimited number of dispensaries in Sacramento, she said.

Heppner told the City Council she plans to present draft language for a medical marijuana ordinance in late September.

Photo by Brandon Darnell.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Youth jobs tax derailed

2010-07-21T05:34:58Z

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 concerned there would be a lack of public process if the council voted Tuesday to place the plan onto the ballot. However, he said he did not know the views of all the council members.

Tretheway had received criticism from Mayor Kevin Johnson for placing the proposal on the council’s agenda. In a July 20 blog, Johnson pointed out issues with the signatures the measure’s backers had gathered.

The Sacramento County Registrar of Voters had not confirmed that the measure’s backers had delivered the mandatory number of authentic signatures, according to Bill Camp, the executive secretary of the Sacramento Central Labor Council and one of the measure’s key supporters.

In his blog, Johnson wrote: “Rather than continue the drive and prepare for the next election, supporters last week decided to have the City Council place the initiative directly on the ballot — without discussion, analysis or debate.”

Camp told reporters that the proposal’s supporters will campaign for the proposal to go on a 2012 ballot.

The youth programs envisioned in the proposal would be funded by a $29 annual tax on parcels of property.

Young people ages 11 to 25 would participate in the programs. Funding would be doled out in three ways. Youth jobs and job training would receive at least 40 percent of the dollars.

Programs for at-risk youth would receive at least 20 percent of the funding. At least 20 percent of the money would pay for programs to help students with their academic skills.

Photo by Brandon Darnell.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Editorial: Choosing reality over dreams on K Street

2010-07-13T06:25:28Z

K Street. The very mention of this once-thriving street-turned-derelict-pedestrian mall sends people who’ve watched downtown’s progress, or lack thereof, into fits. Everyone has an opinion, an accusation, a conspiracy theory or a pet peeve about it.

And everyone has got a cure-all, that one big project that will change EVERYTHING.

Tuesday night, the City Council will meet to vote on which of the two teams of developers proposing projects for the 700 and 800 blocks of K Street should be given an exclusive right to negotiate. This is a big deal, with tens of millions of dollars in one case, or, in the other case, hundreds of millions of dollars involved.

More important, it is a test of whether city leaders are going to come through with at least one of the big projects that have been hanging fire for what seems like an eternity. The railyards, the Riverfront Promenade, the R Street Corridor...can they get at least ONE of these projects done? Or, perhaps, started?

But there is another, deeper question to be answered Tuesday night: Will the opinions of architects, of city planners, of business people and city staff, considering all the factors - cost, especially - be what wins out? Or will the decision be made by powerful interests with the ear of select politicians?

This latter question was raised anew last week, when Mayor Kevin Johnson, seeing that the grand project he was backing - the awkwardly-named “AuthentiCity,” aka the Boqueria - was losing out to the much more modest (and also poorly named) K Street Promenade, decided to add another step to the process: a committee comprised of himself and the three central city Council members: Ray Thretheway, Robert King Fong and Steve Cohn.

The latter project, by local developers who between them have done the very popular “Shady Lady” block of R Street, the Cosmopolitan complex on K Street, the Sheraton Hotel, the Sterling Hotel and Esquire development, and who have nearly all of their financing locked down, was favored by a committee of professionals. It was also approved by the Sacramento Old City Association and just yesterday, the Environmental Council of Sacramento.

Even more significantly, the K Street Promenade was also backed by the Downtown Sacramento Partnership, which represents the businesses of the downtown area of which K Street is the heart. Not only was it backed by the DSP, it was backed by the DSP at a time when that body’s chairman, Kipp Blewett, was head of the competing “AuthentiCity/Boqueria” project. Clearly, for a group to vote against its leader’s own project, the other proposal must be the superior choice.

And so it is. The K Street Promenade has new housing, parking, retail space and a slate of businesses - local businesses - signed up to bring new life to this blighted block: The guys from the Shady Lady are suggesting a 500-seat music venue, the man behind Kru and Red Lotus is talking about another Asian restaurant, Old Soul Coffee Roasters are engaged in the idea, and even the Top This yogurt shop folks are on board.

It is also remarkably cheaper, with a shortfall of only about $8 million that may need public financing, while the AuthentiCity project will need at least $80 million, and probably $100 million - or more - in public financing. Just where that money will come from even they are not sure. They’ve got some ideas, but...we’ll see.

The AuthentiCity project, which is said to feature an outpost of the Knitting Factory nightclub chain, is coming to be known by one feature of the project, the Sacramento Boqueria, a big farmers market with dining and educational options that is going to show the world that Sacramento is - you’ve heard this before - a “world class city.”

Haven’t we outgrown this whole notion yet?

One sign of a world class city is that its citizens don’t sit around dreaming up ways to hit that one grand slam that is going to instantly vault it into the status of “world class” cities. Ideas like the Saca twin towers. Like Aura. Like the Sacramento Boqueria. Big projects that promise much but ultimately come to nothing.

I believe in dreaming big. But right now, in this town, we need a success. And success isn’t going to come in one fell swoop, with one grand gesture. It is going to come with something that is already happening on K Street: critical mass. The Promenade on K project offers just that.

With the existing establishments in and around K Street - the Community Center Theatre, the Cosmopolitan Cafe and Cabaret, The Crest Theatre, Esquire Grill, Marilyn’s on K nightclub, Pyramid Brewing, Parlare Eurolounge, Temple Coffee, Grange, the IMAX, and the still-to-open trio of nightclubs (Dive Bar, etc.) on K Street between 10th and 11th streets - critical mass is growing. What is needed now is simply MORE establishments to draw more people. We don’t need a “game-changer.” We just need more players in the game. The game will take care of itself.

This is the free market in action. This is the essence of good business, and of a healthy ecosystem. Diversity. Sustainability. Critical mass. I live five blocks from 10th and K, and K Street isn’t nearly as desolate as many would have you believe. On any given night, there are many people going to the above establishments. Add more establishments and there will be more people. This is not a zero-sum game.

The right idea is NOT to create one make-or-break grand gesture that “changes everything.” The right idea is to add more of what is already working, until K Street is a place to go because you want to be where the fun is, NOT because you want to go study California’s agricultural plenty or to take your friends visiting from Phoenix for one day a year to admire our Hall of Fame.

If nothing else, the money should guide us. This city is broke. We don’t have enough money to keep fire stations open, and we are cutting services at every level. City staff has clearly said, in its report, that the $14 million parking bond that the AuthentiCity folks want is not going to happen. But Mayor Johnson - and if they are to be believed, Tretheway, Cohn and Fong - want to spend $100 million we don’t have for a project that will take at least six years to complete, with uncertain results.

We’ve been down this path before. The Big Fix. The Grand Scheme. The Big Dream. And it hasn’t worked. And it won’t work this time.

It would be nice if the City Council members who are aligned in this case with our Dream Big Mayor would wake up and smell the reality. K Street has long been a street of broken dreams, and this Boqueria dream would be the biggest dream yet - and the biggest come-down when it fails.

By the way, the Boqueria project is an interesting idea, and one that would fit quite nicely into the project in which it was originally proposed: The revitalized railyards. It was long ago suggested for the gorgeous old railroad shops in the railyards, which is a marvelous fit. And that is where it should stay, a showcase of California that serves as a tourist magnet anchor for that enormous development. Then again, even there it may not work: Copia, a similar project started in Napa’s wine region with tens of millions of dollars of support from the Mondavi family, opened in 2001 to great fanfare but closed in 2008 after the tourists failed to materialize. And that was in “world class” Napa. During a real estate boom. That ain’t now.

Supporters of the Rubicon proposal speak in grandiose terms of “boldness” and “vision.” But looking at the whole proposal - not just the Boqueria, which is the LAST phase of the project, nearly six years out, and thus may never even be built - does what they’re proposing really look visionary? The drawings are not great, but they do give us a pretty good view of the “vision” - and it looks like something that could just as easily be in Roseville. A high-rise hotel. High-rise offices. High-rise housing units. Is that the vision we want for our historic downtown?

Supporters on both sides have been inundating council members with their opinions about this. One executive member of city staff told me he’d never had so many calls on a topic. This is good. The more people involved in this process, the better. And the better people understand this, the more likely they are to support the more modest, but more doable project that could continue to grow K Street as the vital core of Sacramento’s downtown.

Or we could go for big dreams and wait for years until it all comes crumbling down, taking tens of millions of our dollars with it.

And speaking of dreamers: On what did Johnson, Tretheway, Fong and Cohn base their ad hoc decision of last week? Do they know something city staff, the Old City Association, city planners and others with actual expertise don’t? Or were they dazzled and looking for something to put a little shine on their otherwise tarnished reputations? These four council members need to be held accountable for their votes, because if they choose to saddle the city with more debt and more bond issues, and a project that ultimately gets done, or worse, a project that doesn’t change K Street except to tear down some old buildings and bring in a bunch of tourists, while offering nothing to the residents of our city - they need to be held accountable.

Downtown Sacramento needs K Street work to start NOW. Sacramento doesn’t need better dreams; it needs a better reality. The Promenade’s development teams - D&S Development, CFY Development and David Taylor Interests - have said that they have financing that will allow them to start this fall, and that the project could be COMPLETED by sometime in 2012. At that point, the AuthentiCity/Boqueria project will still just be getting going - assuming they’ve gotten adequate funding, mostly from taxpayers - and the Boqueria itself, which is what has grabbed the public imagination, would still be three or four years off.

We need a success now! Besides, the Promenade project, with new housing, parking, retail and a host of local entrepreneurs involved, is by no means a small dream. It is, in my mind - and I speak only for myself here - the preferable dream. The fact that it is the dream that can actually be achieved means that it could be something better than a Big Dream that never gets done. It could be a better reality for downtown Sacramento.

As one poster on SacPress noted, “the most extraordinary project doesn’t matter if it never gets built.” If you want to focus on bold dreams, go look at the hole in the ground at 3rd and L streets, site of the “bold” Saca Towers, and contemplate the vanity of man. And recall that that project failed even when money was available for big dreams.

Dear members of the City Council, don’t believe the hype. Let’s get something good done. We are through being dazzled with promises. We just want some places to go on K Street Mall. We’re tired of big, “world class” dreams. We will be quite happy with a modest, Sacramento-class reality.

Election results final, runoffs in two City Council races

2010-07-01T04:37:36Z

The final Sacramento City Council election results did not yield any last-minute statistical miracles.

Furthermore, a Sacramento city clerk’s predictions about City Council runoffs proved true: The leading two candidates in Districts 5 and 7 will compete in a Nov. 2 runoff election.

The county elections office finished counting ballots from the June 8 election on Wednesday. Candidates Jay Schenirer and Patrick Kennedy will run for the District 5 seat, while candidates Darrell Fong and Ryan Chin will square off in District 7.

Incumbent District 1 City Councilman Ray Tretheway lost his battle against challenger Angelique Ashby — just barely.

A City Council candidate needs at least 50 percent of the vote plus one vote to win. The final count shows Ashby with 50.99 percent of the vote. Tretheway trailed with 41 percent.

Assistant City Clerk Stephanie Mizuno noted that the county elections office will need to invalidate the 25 write-in votes cast in the District 1 race. (There were no official write-in candidates in any of the City Council races, Mizuno said. However, some people wrote in names anyway.) Once those write-in votes are removed from the record, Ashby’s win will be more secure, according to Mizuno.

Incumbent Councilman Robbie Waters lost the District 7 race, while incumbent Councilman Steve Cohn won the District 3 competition.

Brad Buyse, Sacramento County’s campaign services manager, said it usually takes the county three weeks to certify election results. This year’s count was conducted in “a normal amount of time,” he said. He pointed out that state law gives the county 28 consecutive days after Election Day to certify election results.

The county should have data Thursday on how many ballots total it counted for the June 8 election, according to Buyse.

Now that the ballots are counted, Sacramento County Registrar of Voters Jill Lavine will officially certify the election results and send the data to the California Secretary of State’s office, Buyse said.

In response to questions, Mizuno checked voter turnout rates in 2006 and this year for City Council Districts 1, 3, 5 and 7. She said the turnout rate was about the same in both election years.

Voter turnout in District 1 was about 30 percent this year, compared to about 32 percent in 2006, according to Mizuno. In the 2006 District 1 election, Tretheway ran unopposed and the number of registered voters was lower, she said.

In District 3, about 40 percent of registered voters cast ballots in both 2006 and 2010, Mizuno said.

Roughly 32 percent of registered voters turned out for the June election in District 5. In 2006, about 35 percent of voters went to the polls.

About 42 percent of voters cast ballots in District 7 in June, while 41 percent voted in 2006, according to Mizuno.

Photo by Suzanne Hurt.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Strong mayor: Mayor doesn't have council votes to draft language

2010-06-23T06:19:50Z

The Sacramento City Council has rejected Mayor Kevin Johnson’s effort to ask the city attorney to write official language for his new strong mayor measure.

Shortly after 11 p.m. at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting, five council members said they would vote against the drafting of the measure. With five council members in opposition, Johnson’s request to the attorney to draft the language did not have the required number of votes.

The five council members saying they opposed the drafting of the language around 11 p.m. were Kevin McCarty, Sandy Sheedy, Rob Fong, Ray Tretheway and Bonnie Pannell.

The council meeting was still in session at 11:15 p.m.

Check The Sacramento Press for further coverage of this issue.

Dyke Night kicks off PRIDE

2010-06-19T06:08:03Z

Sacramento's PRIDE 2010 kicked off with Dyke Night, an evening of music and entertainment on the west Capitol steps to lead into the new location of this year's festivities on Sacramento’s Capitol Mall near between the Tower Bridge and the Capitol building.

Here are some moments:

Two women in the audience respond to the performers on stage.

Allyn Pharo and her dog Sterling.

The crowd filled the lawn in front of the west Capitol steps.

Aurora (top and bottom) played to the crowd.

Emcee and Organizer Hilary Hodge keep the pace going throughout the evening.

Tina Reynolds, Equality Action Now, gave folks an update on Prop.8.

Dancers from Hot Pot Studios (above) moved their bodies slowly to the music and react after falling down (below).

Dean Brian Baker, Trinity Church participated with C. Foster and Jovi Radtke’s “Spoken Word”.

Jace and Brando performed with the Kings of Drag.

Other performers included Der Spazm and Sappho’s Serenaders.

For a copy of the official Sacramento PRIDE program:sacramentopride.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/sac-pride-program-only.pdf

The Sacramento Pride Festival will be held Saturday, June 19, from 10 am to 5 pm along the Capitol Mall Avenue.

SacPress Photos | Kati Garner

Councilman Ray Tretheway concedes District 1 race

2010-06-18T04:40:40Z

Though the election results aren't yet officially certified Councilman Ray Tretheway called Angelique Ashby late Thursday afternoon to congratulate her on winning the race for District 1 of the City Council.

As of 3:43 P.M. Ashby held 51.1% of the vote, with Tretheway only holding 41.8%. A candidate needs 50 percent of the vote plus one to win a City Council race.

There are still 12,000 mail-in and 4,000 provisional ballots to process but there is no way of telling what portion of them will be relevant to this election. Tretheway doesn't see them making a difference, "I don't think a few votes are going to change anything. So I wanted to let her know as soon as possible that I congratulate her or winning the race." the Councilman was gracious in his concession and added that he would be "open and willing to help (Ashby) in the transition."

Prior to the phone call the Ashby campaign was reluctant to declare victory until the results were official. Jesus Arredondo, Ashby's campaign manager, indicated they are more willing to assume victory with Tretheway's concession. Commenting on the conversation between the two candidates, Arredondo said, "he wished (Ashby) well and we're looking forward to engaging in the business of District 1."

While there are still thousands of ballots to be counted, it is unlikely that they will change the course of the race in any significant way. Assistant City Clerk Stephanie Mizuno said that the incoming ballots seemed to reinforce the current percentages. You would expect the remaining ballots to distribute proportionally," said Mizuno. She did warn however that "until it's final, it's not final."

Mizuno stated that the race results wouldn't be finalized until some time next week at the earliest.

Photo of Tretheway by Suzanne Hurt.
Photo of Ashby by Maxwell McKee.

Staff Reporter Kathleen Haley contributed to this report.

City leaders approve Arizona boycott

2010-06-16T04:55:10Z

Sacramento’s elected leaders agreed to boycott Arizona companies in protest of the state’s new immigration laws.

The City Council passed the boycott Tuesday with a 6-1 vote. Mayor Kevin Johnson and council members Rob Fong, Bonnie Pannell, Ray Tretheway, Sandy Sheedy and Kevin McCarty voted to approve the boycott.

Councilman Robbie Waters opposed the move.

Council members Steve Cohn and Lauren Hammond were absent.

Hammond was absent from the entire City Council meeting, but Cohn appeared at City Hall to discuss a separate issue after the hearing on the Arizona law.

Arizona’s new law says that an individual’s immigration status should be addressed by police officers in certain circumstances. If police officers think an individual is an illegal immigrant, then they must review the individual’s immigration status, the law states. The police must account for immigration status during “enforcement of any law or ordinance of a county, city or town” in Arizona, the law also states.

Read the details of the resolution approved by the City Council here.

Photo by Anthony Bento.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

District 1: New vote tallies still don't reveal winner

2010-06-12T03:01:42Z

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, Ashby now has 51.49 percent of the vote. Tretheway is at 41.29 percent, with 4,335 votes.

Ashby gained 1,095 more votes in the last few days of counting, while Tretheway garnered an additional 822. The total votes that have been counted in District 1 are 10,498. A candidate needs 50 percent of the vote plus one to win a City Council race.

“It looks like we’ve increased our lead, which is good news,” Ashby campaign manager Jesus Arredondo said Friday afternoon. But the Ashby campaign is not declaring that she won the race.

“In deference to a 10-year councilman, we want to make sure it’s official,” Arredondo said. Tretheway was not immediately available Friday afternoon. North and South Natomas and downtown’s Alkali Flat are part of District 1.

Assistant City Clerk Stephanie Mizuno said the updated tallies show that runoffs are still likely in Districts 5 and 7. The new vote tallies showed that District 7 candidate Ryan Chin — taking 38 percent of the vote — has retained his small lead over Darrell Fong, who has 32 percent. The Pocket/Greenhaven and Valley Hi neighborhoods are in District 7.

In the District 5 race, Jay Schenirer now has 47 percent of the vote, while Patrick Kennedy has 34 percent. District 5 includes Oak Park and Curtis Park.

Photo of Tretheway by Suzanne Hurt. Photo of Ashby campaign materials by Maxwell McKee.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Ashby, Tretheway may compete in runoff

2010-06-09T17:26:51Z

The hotly debated District 1 Sacramento City Council race could wind up in a runoff, Assistant City Clerk Stephanie Mizuno said Wednesday morning.

With all precincts counted, Natomas neighborhood activist Angelique Ashby had just under 51 percent of the vote. Incumbent City Councilman Ray Tretheway followed with 41.5 percent of the votes cast.

Mizuno said she would be hesitant to say that Ashby holds a clear majority. The city will need “to wait and see what the final results are,” according to Mizuno.

Ashby had 4,310 votes, while Tretheway’s count was 3,513.

One of many controversies in the District 1 race involved a youtube video that showed Corin Choppin of Tretheway’s campaign removing Ashby signs.

Election results have not yet been certified, said Brad Buyse, the county’s campaign services manager.

He noted that more than 20,000 vote-by-mail ballots came in Tuesday. Those ballots were sill in envelopes Wednesday morning.

It’s unknown how many, if any, of those vote-by-mail ballots could affect the District 1 race.

District 1 includes the neighborhoods of North and South Natomas and downtown’s Alkali Flat.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Ashby poised to upset incumbent Tretheway

2010-06-09T08:01:25Z

Despite problems with Sacramento County's new vote counting computer system, early indications Tuesday night were that Angelique Ashby will defeat incumbent Roy Tretheway for the city's District 1 council seat.

Ashby, a Natomas area activist who had the backing of local firefighter and police unions, as well as of Mayor Kevin Johnson, was leading Tretheway by 10 percentage points in early tallies.

However, by midnight Tuesday, there was still considerable confusion about vote tallies after a computer system at the county malfunctioned not long after the polls closed at 8 p.m. Ashby's apparent victory was based on a relatively small percentage of votes reported, and is by no means certain.

But early trends gave Ashby a commanding lead, and her headquarters off Richards Boulevard were as raucous as Tretheway's party at the restaurant Sofia in Alkali Flat was somber.

The District 1 campaign was marked by escalating acrimony, as Ashby gained support from major players and Tretheway seemed to falter late in the game, first when his campaign manager was caught on video removing Ashby's lawn signs, and then when he held a press conference in which he accused his opponent's supporters of "identity theft."

Supporters of both candidates made accusations about the other on Sacramento Press, with Ashby portrayed as a puppet of Mayor Kevin Johnson and Tretheway characterized as out of touch - or worse.

A general sense that the City Council is dysfunctional, combined with popular antipathies to incumbents, may have also played into the shift. But with the county's malfunctioning computer, the full story will not be told until Wednesday.

SacPress to deliver late-night election coverage

2010-06-08T01:10:53Z

The Sacramento Press election team is pulling an all-nighter Tuesday to bring our readers City Council election results.

We will continuously update our election coverage starting at 4 p.m. Tuesday until the Sacramento County Registrar of Voters stops releasing results late that night.

In addition to reporting the results from the polls, our staffers will be on-the-scene at election parties to cover the perspectives of candidates and their supporters.

In Sacramento, polls will open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. Election results will start coming in after 8 p.m.

"I'm out campaigning," City Councilman Steve Cohn said late Monday afternoon. "Tonight's the last time I'll be walking door-to-door."

East Sacramento realtor Chris Little, who is challenging incumbent Cohn for the District 3 seat, plans to vote and then spend election day campaigning.

"I'm going to be at the polls bright and early tomorrow morning," Little said. "I want to be first in line."

The public can learn about state races in the June 8 election at smartvoter.org, which is produced by the League of Women Voters of California Education Fund. The League does not take positions on candidates. However, the group’s advocacy arm takes positions on state propositions.

Photo provided by staff reporter Suzanne Hurt.

Hurt contributed to this report. Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Union spends $23K on anti-Ashby mailers

2010-06-08T00:27:38Z

Special interest groups for and against Sacramento City Council candidate Angelique Ashby have spent large sums on mailers blasting or lauding her campaign. While business interests poured about $36,000 into campaign mailers backing Ashby, a major local union paid $23,577 on mailers attacking her.

The Sacramento Building Trades Council Political Action Committee spent $23,577 on anti-Ashby mailers, according to statements filed with the California Secretary of State’s Office and the Sacramento city clerk’s office.

Mailers from the committee depicted Mayor Kevin Johnson as a king with a crown and Ashby as a puppet.

In response to questions about the attack mailers, Matt Kelly, an official with the Building Trades Council, said, “They are what they are. Whether or not they’re effective, we’ll find out tomorrow.”

The showdown between incumbent Ray Tretheway and neighborhood activist Ashby is arguably the most controversial City Council race in the June election. Ashby and Tretheway are two of three candidates running in District 1, which includes the neighborhoods of North and South Natomas and downtown’s Alkali Flat.

Efren Guttierrez is also running for the District 1 seat.

The city has rules for individuals or groups that want to give money to the candidate’s campaign.

An individual can give no more than $1,500 to a City Council candidate during the span of a primary or general election.

Large political committees are barred by law from giving more than $5,000 to a City Council candidate during those time periods.

But with their mailers, business and labor interests used funding mechanisms that legally allow contributions higher than the amounts most citizens and groups can make to local candidates’ campaigns, according to Assistant Clerk Stephanie Mizuno.

These funding mechanisms are called “independent expenditures” and they do not fall under city rules for campaign contributions.

The independent expenditures are not managed by the candidate. Ashby is not controlling mailers from the Independent Expenditure Committee for Jobs and Prosperity that backs her campaign.

Her opponent, Ray Tretheway, is not in charge of the anti-Ashby mailers from the Building Trades Council committee.

“An ‘independent expenditure’ is an expenditure made in connection with a communication (e.g. a billboard, advertisement, mailing) that expressly advocates the nomination, election, or defeat of a clearly identified candidate or the qualification, passage, or defeat of a clearly identified measure,” according to the state’s Fair Political Practices Commission website.

“An independent expenditure is a payment that is not made to — or at the behest of — the affected candidate or committee."

Read the election statement filed by the Building Trades Council Political Action Committee.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Flood of interest group money supports Ashby

2010-06-05T00:29:27Z

A flood of money from interest groups is being used to support City Council candidate Angelique Ashby. A committee that is separate from Ashby’s campaign contributed about $36,000 for mailers that advocate for her candidacy, according to election statements.

That amount legally surpasses the contribution totals that citizens and most groups can make to candidate’s campaigns, according to Assistant City Clerk Stephanie Mizuno.

The sum comes from a group with a lengthy name: Independent Expenditure Committee for Jobs and Prosperity / Sponsored by Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce Political Action Committee.

Ashby is running for the District 1 City Council seat against incumbent Councilman Ray Tretheway and realtor Efren Guttierrez.

The city’s campaign financing rules are complex. An individual can give no more than $1,500 to a City Council candidate during the span of a primary or general election.

Large political committees are barred by law from giving more than $5,000 to a City Council candidate during those time periods.

But Mizuno explained that groups called “independent expenditure committees” are not covered under the city’s restrictions. The group that provided about $36,000 for mailers supporting Ashby is one of those committees.

“An independent expenditure is a payment that is not made to — or at the behest of — the affected candidate or committee."

Election statements filed with the city also point out the groups that gave money to the Independent Expenditure Committee for Jobs and Prosperity.

These groups include the Committee for Home Ownership of the North State Building Industry Association and OSE Properties, Inc.

The Committee for Home Ownership of the North State Building Industry Association has also contributed to the Placer County California Republican Assembly Political Action Committee and Friends of Jimmie Yee, the Sacramento County supervisor running for re-election.

Read about mailers supporting Ashby in the election statement from the Independent Expenditure Committee for Jobs and Prosperity.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Docks promenade first phase opens

2010-06-03T15:25:54Z

The city celebrated an important reconnection to the Sacramento River Wednesday with the grand opening of the Docks Riverfront Promenade.

More than 100 people — from cyclists and dog walkers to the city staff and contractors who made it happen — converged on the sunny, tree-lined promenade overlooking the green river to mark the completion of the parkway's $5.4 million first phase.

Many rode a California State Railroad Museum train along its relocated track from Old Sacramento to the new Pioneer Landing Park, where the celebration began. The promenade and park, with its landscaped public plaza and giant water sculpture, were built to stimulate redevelopment of an old industrial brownfield area and to connect downtown to the river.

The waterfront along the Sacramento and American rivers are among the city's best assets, yet they've "sat dormant" for too long, said Mayor Kevin Johnson.

"We want to be a city known for our riverfront development," he said. "This is a significant first step."

Speeches and a ribbon-cutting were followed by Johnson high-fiving City Councilmember Ray Tretheway, whose district includes Old Sacramento and parts of the riverfront. The two politicians came together for the grand opening despite Johnson's recent endorsement of Tretheway's opponent in next week's City Council elections, which has put a strain on their relationship.

"We have our rivers. We have our promenade. We have our train. We have our reconnection to the waterfront," Tretheway said. "Congratulations, Sacramento."

The $15 million Riverfront Promenade will be a linear, mile-long parkway featuring a paved path connecting Old Sacramento and Miller Park. The start of a roughly 20-foot concrete path inlaid with brick has been built between the river and new railroad museum train tracks to replace a section of existing pedestrian- and bike-friendly path that was 10- to 12-feet wide.

The 14-acre parkway is expected to be completed by 2013 or 2014. Two blocks of parkway were constructed about 10 years ago from Tower Bridge to O Street when Embassy Suites Sacramento was built.

Ground was broken on the promenade's first phase in February 2009. That phase, which includes 1,200 feet of parkway from O Street to R Street and the triangular park at the R Street extension and bike/pedestrian bridge, was finished a couple weeks ago. Problems with weather and construction delays postponed the completion, which had been expected by the end of 2009.

Pioneer Landing was built as the entry point to the as-yet undeveloped Docks Area with the hope that both promenade and park will spur adjacent retail development, said Beth Tincher, project manager of the Docks Area project and promenade.

Wednesday morning, the plaza's signature piece — a 17-foot tall, galvanized steel water feature designed by renowned Bay Area artist Ned Kahn — threw out mist and water droplets. The hanging "cloud vessel" functional art piece and three nearby landscaped berms are shaped like boat hulls to play up the city's connection to its riverfront. The water feature will provide visitors with a way to cool off on Sacramento's 100-degree days.

The steel sculpture is expected to be lit for the first time Wednesday night. LED lights outlining the piece will be visible to drivers on neighboring I-5.

Seating areas are scattered throughout the one-third[-]acre park. Four modernistic concrete chaise lounges and two small wooden stools offer views of the river. Two traditional benches, concrete benches with handrails to help seniors and discourage skateboarding, and circular concrete benches around the plaza provide more places for visitors to relax. Concrete and steel overlooks provide views of the river at extensions of O and R streets.

Landscaping includes yellow day lilies, white fortnight lilies, rosemary and New Zealand flax, as well as native California oaks, red maples and crepe myrtles.

"The idea behind the landscaping was to provide primarily drought-tolerant, low-maintenance (species with) seasonal interest," said Jarvis Payne, a landscape architect with Walker Macy, which designed and built the first phase. His colleagues, Christopher Miller and Mike Zilis, joined him at the grand opening after the trio oversaw the project for Walker Macy.

The first phase was paid for with money from State Proposition 40, State Proposition 1B street improvement funds, redevelopment tax increment financing and development impact fees from parks, Tincher said.

The city has already applied for nearly $5 million in Proposition 84 grant funding from the state to finance most of the promenade's second phase. The city has also set aside $450,000 for that phase, Tincher said. That section will be built from R to T streets.

Walker Macy is completing design drawings now. The city expects to learn whether it has won the grant — and how much — this fall, and construction could start by next spring, Tincher said.

The third phase, which would also cost about $5 million, would complete the promenade from the freeway crossing at Pioneer Bridge to Miller Park. That phase is expected to start in 2013 if funding is available, she added.

An estimated $14 million in infrastructure for the Docks Area had been expected to begin between mid-2011 and the start of 2012. The start of infrastructure work is expected to be postponed while the city seeks funding.

Photos by Suzanne Hurt, a staff reporter covering business and development for The Sacramento Press.

Tretheway claims police officers' union stole his online identity

2010-05-28T05:36:06Z

City Councilman Ray Tretheway has claimed that opponents of his re-election campaign have stolen his online identity.

In a May 21 letter addressed to several local agencies, including the Sacramento County District Attorney’s office, Tretheway alleged that the Sacramento Police Officers Association illegally registered the website domain name raytretheway.com.

The police officers’ union acknowledged that it has registered raytretheway.com but said it has not violated any laws.

Campaign statements show that SPOA provides financial support to Angelique Ashby, one of Tretheway’s competitors in the District 1 City Council race.

“It’s identity theft, clear and simple,” Tretheway said in an interview Thursday. “Identity theft of 2010. And I read a quote from another media — print media — that they intended to use (the domain name) to mislead voters. That doubles my anxiety.”

Tretheway alleges in his letter that Ashby supporter and campaign contributor Keith Sharward initially registered the domain name last August. SPOA became the new administrator of the domain name between April 19 and May 20, Tretheway claims.

He alleges that the registration of the domain name by Sharward and SPOA is illegal under a state law on cyber piracy. The law says that is it “unlawful for a person, with a bad faith intent to register, traffic in, or use a domain name, that is identical or confusingly similar to the personal name of another living person or deceased personality, without regard to the goods or services of the parties.”

Tretheway said he aimed to register the domain name last year, but found it was registered to Sharward. The councilman said Sharward was "new to politics," and he didn't want to fight with him.

But Tretheway said he views SPOA differently. When he recently became aware that the domain name was in the hands of the SPOA, it was like an "amber alert" went off, he said.

“It is my name, and I would like it back,” Tretheway wrote in the letter.

In addition to the District Attorney’s office, Tretheway sent the letter to Sacramento Police Chief Rick Braziel, City Attorney Eileen Teichert and the state’s Fair Political Practices Commission.

“We have received the letter,” Sacramento Police Department spokesman Norm Leong wrote in an e-mail Thursday. “We are reviewing it at this time. Thus far it appears the sections referenced from the business and professions code are civil and not criminal but we are conferring with the city attorney’s office on the matter.”

Teichert was not available Thursday afternoon.

Mark Tyndale, vice president of SPOA, strongly disagreed with Tretheway’s statements.

“On the issue of the domain name, I did contact our attorney when we did it,” Tyndale said. “Our attorney assures us there is nothing illegal about it, as long as we’re not using it as a means to divide (people)," he said.

"We don’t feel like it’s anything illegal at all," he added. "We just think it’s a political tactic."

Tyndale alleged that it is inappropriate for Tretheway to send his letter to the city attorney. “And I’m also concerned that he’s using the city attorney to clarify his campaign legal issues, which I think there’s kind of a conflict there,” Tyndale said.

Ashby said she had no knowledge about the website until Tretheway publicized his letter last week. “I didn’t find out about it until I heard about it from the media,” she said in a Thursday interview. “I don’t think we need it. I don’t think it’s necessary.”

She and Tretheway have opposing views of Sharward's role in her campaign. In his letter, Tretheway said that campaign documents show that Sharward has been paid by her campaign. But Ashby said Sharward received a reimbursement, "not payment for services rendered."

At this point, SPOA has not done anything with the domain name. The website www.raytretheway.com is a blank page.

Read Tretheway's letter here.

Photo of Tretheway and council members by Anthony Bento.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Hustle and Flow – Will District 1 Candidate, Angelique Ashby, be hustled and go with the flow?

2010-05-24T19:31:41Z

Hustle and Flow – Will District 1 Candidate, Angelique Ashby, be hustled and go with the flow?

Recently I read several comments from Ashby supporters on the Sacramento Press article, ‘Tretheway backtracks, listen to audio of Press Conference’. http://www.sacramentopress.com/headline/27480/Tretheway_backtracks_listen_to_audio_of_press_conference#comment-27725

It’s been mentioned, on several occasions and several different articles, that District One candidate Angelique Ashby will be fair, will stand up against corruption, will be transparent and accountable.

Ashby is continuously praised, by supporters, for her ability to take no mess. But it’s appearing she has no problem being messy if it can get her into office.

One supporter, whose comment he later removed, basically assured us that Ashby will stand up and speak up against illegal activity, corruption…

Heck, I’m not so sure.

Last night I read the May 21, 2010 Sacramento News and Review blog entry “Ashby supporters can pull dirty tricks too”, written by SN&R political reporter Cosmo Gavin, http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/snog/blogs#BlogPost-1428879, which causes me to again question Ashby’s ability to speak up against illegal activity or misconduct in city hall.

Gavin asks, “What’s worse, stealing campaign signs or stealing your opponent’s name?”

Heck, I think it’s worse to sit mute as your supporters and endorsers steal your candidates name, not to mention all the other dirty games played by several supporters and endorsers of her campaign.

I read Ashby supporter, Kevin Sharward’s, Sacramento Press article, “Signgate CoverUp Worse Than Crime”. http://www.sacramentopress.com/headline/24685/Tretheway_Signgate_2010_CoverUp_Worse_Than_the_Crime . It appears we’re beginning to see a double standard when it pertains to Cover-up’s. Since it appears Ashby will cover-up her mouth as supporters and endorsers run amok with dirty politics.

Continuously Sherward has made reference to “Signgate” but unfortunately the Sacramento community isn’t informed by Sharward of Cosmo Gavin’s gem of dirty politics played by Ashby supporters.

It’s concerning and disturbing for Ashby, a candidate we’re told over and over will stand up and speak out – is sitting mute.

Will Ashby go along with the flow when it pertains to dirty politics? Will Ashby’s model to get into office be by any means necessary; hook or crook? Will Ashby condone illegal activity as long as it benefits her?

To quote from the 2006 song, ‘It’s Hard out here for a pimp’ which won the Oscar for Best Achievement in Music for Motion Pictures Original Song in the movie Hustle and Flow; “You know it’s hard out here for a pimp when he trying to get this money to pay for the rent. For the Cadillac and gas money spent…”

Well, it appears in Sacramento, it’s hard out here for a candidate trying to get this money to get in office, for endorsement and dirty politics appears to cause some candidates to be hustled and to go with the flow.

Cosmo Garvin asks, in his Sacramento News & Review 'Ashby Supporters can pull dirty tricks too' blog, Are voters being led Misled?

My vote is Heck Yes!

We’re being hoodwinked, bamboozled, led astray, run amok as it appears District One candidate, Angelique Ashby, goes with the Hustle and Flow of dirty politics.

Tretheway, Ashby support public input in charter change

2010-05-21T05:28:09Z

Much has been made over the recent quid pro quo allegations made by Sacramento City Councilmember Ray Tretheway.

At a recent press conference, Tretheway said he was told he could garner the endorsement of Mayor Kevin Johnson if he voted in favor of placing a “strong mayor” proposal on the November ballot. On Tuesday, Johnson announced his endorsement of Tretheway’s opponent, Angelique Ashby, leading Tretheway to hold a news conference on Wednesday alleging six influential businesspeople unsuccessfully pressured him to participate in the quid pro situation.

Tretheway later said only one of those people, Steve Ayers, is to blame.

The underlying aspect of this controversy is the Strong Mayor Initiative. Neither Tretheway nor Ashby discuss it on their campaign’s websites; however, both expressed their opinions at a candidate’s forum on March 31, 2010 at the South Natomas Community Center.

At that forum, both Ashby and Tretheway (and Efren Guttierrez) were asked whether they support a city-council initiative plan to increase the authority of the mayor, and if so what are the components of that plan.

Here are the responses given by Ashby and Tretheway.

Ashby

Okay, well the strong mayor proposal was a lightning bolt of controversy from the first day it came out of the lips of the first person who uttered it, so it’s a tough topic to talk about.

I'll tell you what I like about it. It started a conversation. And the difficult conversations are always the best conversations because it’s where we get the most work done.

There’s one thing for sure: our charter is antiquated. And I mean really bad. So we must redo that charter. We must have a discussion about what the structure of governance of the city of Sacramento is going to be.

I was not in support of Kevin Johnson’s Strong Mayor proposal because there were some things in it that I think were really bad for District 1, including how the ninth seat would be appropriated, which would directly affect this district because of the size of the population here.

However, I do like the direction he is headed. I do like the direction that the charter review committee took us, and I think it’s a conversation that needs to happen.

Here’s the difference, though. It can’t be one person somewhere that comes up with an idea, and then goes out and tries to sell it to the council, and then the council comes and tries to sell it to you. It has to start the other way around. It has to start in the community with suggestions from you, and then go back to a discussion of putting those ideas into a proposal, and then being voted on by the city council and moved forward.

Whatever this community decides they want is what that charter should be.

There are positives and negatives to a stronger mayor versus the council-manager position, and it really needs to be a conversation that happens because so much of what was discussed is not quite right, and so of much of what was discussed was specific proposal but doesn’t need to be part of the second proposal.

The good news is the conversation has started. I want to encourage you to stay engaged, and know this is something, again, that I would love to be a part of on my first day in office.

Tretheway

The Strong Mayor Initiative, after reading it, I was the first public official to come out against it, clearly. It was just an overreach, and it was written in a back room, and it probably would’ve caused more problems than our current one does. And that’s where I would start.

I would also start with a participatory program. I can share with you that just last week I just sat down with some of the Mayor’s staffers, and they want to put another initiative on this November. And I said you don’t have my vote, and I’m sure I was the fifth vote; you need five out of the nine. I said I will not participate in that.

We have to have a participatory program to do two things. One, I think we have to have community consensus on what the problems are, and then have a community dialogue on what are the different solutions, what are the options, to resolve those. We do have charter commission’s three strong reports, and I think those are the starting points of this community dialogue.

I hope this community dialogue begins as early as this summer, and I think it’s going to take about a year and a half. So, by either the Primary or the General Election in 2012, the city will have had an extensive dialogue, tremendous amount of participation and on the ballot we will have a choice to amend our charter or not.

Volunteers revamp Zapata Park, video of ceremony

2010-05-21T03:28:53Z

More than 250 volunteers from Home Depot and KaBOOM!, a nonprofit organization that builds "playspaces" across the nation, showed up at Zapata Park today to assemble a new playground designed by children and refurbish the park.

The playground, located in Alkali Flat on 905 E St., was the 1,764th playground constructed by the two companies and was built for children ages 2-12. Workers also filled the playground with brand-new sawdust, painted hopscotch squares, repainted a picnic area and repainted the lines of the basketball court. The Sacramento Tree Foundation also came out and planted some trees.

Kenny Altenburg, a project manager at KaBOOM! said that the project has been in the works for more than two months.

"To me it's like the most important thing we can have," he said about having an organization like KaBOOM! in the community. "The kinds of bonds you can form with that, the kind of work that you can get done and the impact that you can have on these kids lives, I think it's unmeasurable."

Larry Snyder, a Home Depot store manager in Folsom, said his employer donated $65,000 to the playground and that a project like this is done at least three time a year.

"There will be a nice, safe place for kids to come out and play," Snyder said. "We also built some planter boxes and some benches just to make the area a little more enjoyable for the kids."

Altenburg said he loves to see kids play on the playgrounds he helped build.

"It never gets old to me," he said. "These kids had a dilapidated playground here that was half the size two months ago, and what we did over the past couple of months is work on getting that structure out, expanding the site (to where it's) twice as big and putting a new state-of-the-art playground that they actually helped design themselves."

Altenburg also said he likes the fact that more than 100 employees from Home Depot came on their day off, but having the community show up was even more important.

"For the residents to come out, that's what means the most," he said. "When they come out and help build something like this, they really take ownership in it, and it really builds up the community bonds that are there waiting to be built."

Sacramento City Councilman Ray Tretheway paid a couple of visits to the newly refurbished park, but he was not present at the "board-cutting" ceremony. The playground will be sealed off for the next three days for the cement in the foundation to dry, but the children who helped design the park will be ready when it opens. The two swings at the park are still available.

Watch video of the board-cutting ceremony on TwitVid for more information on who helped with the project.

Read Agnus-Dei Farrant's coverage of the event.

Tretheway backtracks, listen to audio of press conference

2010-05-20T23:47:11Z

Sacramento City Councilman Ray Tretheway has backtracked on allegations he made at a press conference Wednesday that six influential businesspeople unsuccessfully pressured him to participate in a quid pro quo situation. The Sacramento Press recorded Wednesday’s press conference and has published links to audio recordings of Tretheway’s quotes below.

In a phone interview Wednesday evening with The Sacramento Press, Tretheway said he did not mean to name all six as participants. Instead, he said only one of the businesspeople — Steve Ayers — is to blame for the quid pro quo situation.

Tretheway, who is running for re-election in June, said at the Wednesday press conference that he was told he could gain an endorsement from Mayor Kevin Johnson if he voted in favor of placing a “strong mayor” proposal on the November ballot.

Johnson is leading an effort to change the city’s government functions in order to give the mayor more authority. He has endorsed Tretheway’s opponent, Angelique Ashby.

During his press conference, Tretheway said the following people pressured him to vote for a strong mayor proposal: developer Mark Friedman, developer Mike Heller, steel businessman Steve Ayers, developer Steve Goodwin, developer Jon Bagatelos and attorney Jeffrey Dorso.

In phone interviews Wednesday, Ayers, Goodwin, Bagatelos and Friedman each said they did not participate in a quid pro quo situation.

In a meeting earlier this week, Friedman said he met with Tretheway and four others. Friedman said he and the others discussed the strong mayor proposal and its merits with Tretheway at the meeting, but did not talk about the councilman’s re-election campaign or an endorsement from Johnson.

Heller, who is currently in Europe, wrote his response to Tretheway’s allegations in a Thursday e-mail to The Sacramento Press. “Weeks ago I discussed with (Tretheway) why I thought charter reform was good for Sac and encouraged him to consider but he said no,” Heller wrote.

“I accepted his answer and actually told him the following day that I decided to support his re-election. So I really (have) no idea what Ray is doing here or why. Very disappointing and NOT true.”

Listen to the audio recording of Tretheway’s May 19 press conference:

Tretheway, Quote 1

“In the last month, I have met three times with leadership from the group of 60. I was specifically told that if I put the strong mayor initiative on the ballot in November, the mayor would be ready to give me his endorsement and make certain I am re-elected. I don’t trade votes, regardless of political consequences.”

Tretheway, Quote 2

"The leadership of the group of 60, as I said — the last month, month and a half — the leadership included — who I talked with, at three different meetings — was — I wrote them down so I could remember — was Mike Heller, Mark Friedman, Steve Ayers, Jeff Dorso, Steve Goodwin and Jon Bagatelos."

Tretheway, Quote 3

“In one of the three meetings ... they directly shared with me that the mayor was ready to give me his endorsement and work actively for my re-election.”

Listen to the entire press conference:

Managing Editor Colleen Belcher contributed reporting to this article. Staff Reporter Jonathan Mendick contributed technical assistance with the audio recordings.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

City Hall at War: Tretheway, Johnson’s office accuse each other of lying

2010-05-20T00:24:46Z

The accusations are flying at City Hall.

Councilman Ray Tretheway is accusing Mayor Kevin Johnson of quid pro quo in his endorsement process, while Johnson’s Special Assistant R.E. Graswich said that Tretheway’s allegations are lies.

Tretheway held a press conference Wednesday to announce that some of Johnson’s most influential supporters told him that if he voted to place a strong mayor proposal on the November ballot, then Johnson would endorse him.

Johnson has endorsed Tretheway’s opponent Angelique Ashby.

“Threats and quid pro quo offers may be commonplace these days,” Tretheway said, “but I want no part of it.”

Tretheway named names at the press conference. He said the following people representing Johnson pressured him to vote for a strong mayor proposal: developer Mark Friedman, developer Mike Heller, steel businessman Steve Ayers, developer Steve Goodwin, developer Jon Bagatelos and attorney Jeffrey Dorso.

Tretheway said that he was pressured when he recently met with some of the city’s key business leaders. “I was specifically told that if I put the strong mayor initiative on the ballot in November, the mayor would be ready to give me his endorsement and make certain I am reelected,” Tretheway said. “I don’t trade votes regardless of political consequences,” he said.

Asked by a reporter if the business leaders said they were acting on behalf of the mayor, Tretheway responded: “Yes, sir.”

Tretheway said he was not planning on making complaints about the matter, noting that Johnson was not directly involved. "I don't think there's anything illegal for somebody to speak on (Johnson's) behalf," Tretheway said.

After the press conference, Graswich said that Tretheway was lying. Graswich referred to a group of key Sacramento business leaders as “the group of 60.”

“He’s lying if he thinks the Sacramento 60 are somehow being directed by the mayor,” Graswich said. “It’s absolutely not true.”

Graswich said that Tretheway has lost the endorsement of the city’s public safety unions and the business community. Faced with the possibility of “losing his political career,” Tretheway is making up a story.

Graswich also pointed out that if Ashby wins office, she won’t begin until November. That would mean that she couldn’t vote to put a strong mayor decision on the ballot.

“If you think about it, why in the world would the mayor endorse Angelique, who, when, if ... she wins, won’t be taking office until the end of November?" Graswich said. "Why would he do that, unless his motives were to simply move the city forward?”

The fight isn’t limited to Tretheway and the mayor’s office: local politicians and powerful groups are taking sides. Council members Sandy Sheedy and Kevin McCarty, the Sacramento County Democratic Party and Bill Camp, the executive secretary of the Sacramento Central Labor Council, are supporting Tretheway’s claims and stood behind him at the press conference.

Sheedy said before the press conference that she believed Tretheway’s claims.

“Ray Tretheway is one of the most honorable men I know,” Sheedy said. “If he says it happened, it happened.”

Representatives from the Sacramento Police Officers Association and the Sacramento Area Firefighters Local 522 — two public safety unions that support Ashby — turned out for the press conference. SPOA Vice President Mark Tyndale rebutted Tretheway’s claims in comments to reporters.

In a phone interview Wednesday, developer Mark Friedman said Tretheway’s claims were false.

Friedman said he met with Tretheway and four others Tuesday morning. At the meeting, Friedman said he and the others discussed the strong mayor proposal and its merits, and talked about why they thought it should be placed on the ballot in November.

“We didn’t offer any promises and we didn’t make any threats,” Friedman said.

Friedman said the discussion did not include any mention of Tretheway’s City Council race or an endorsement by the mayor.

“It smells to me like some last-ditch act of political desperation,” Friedman said.

Jon Bagatelos also said Tretheway’s comments were lies. If Tretheway claims there was quid pro quo or that the group of business leaders said they would give him the mayor's endorsement that's a "total unequivocal lie,” Bagatelos said.

Bagatelos said that if Tretheway is referring to the meeting at which Bagatelos attended yesterday, then Tretheway is making defamatory comments.

Steve Ayers and Steve Goodwin also said they did not tell Tretheway that backing the strong mayor proposal could lead to an endorsement from Johnson.

Both Ayers and Goodwin described themselves as supporters of Tretheway. "I'm amazed and shocked," Ayers said.

Goodwin spoke positively about Tretheway, saying he was the best candidate for the District 1 City Council seat. "I have not heard what Ray said," Goodwin said. "But as far as any tit-for-tat — I wouldn't do that to Ray. I would hope he would know that."

Attempts made to contact Mike Heller and Jeffrey Dorso were unsuccessful.

Managing Editor Colleen Belcher contributed to this report.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

City Council Candidates Use Facebook to Connect With Community

2010-05-19T01:22:24Z

On June 8, Sacramento residents will have the opportunity to cast their votes on a number of issues and elective offices, including party primaries for governor and attorney general as well as Sacramento City Council seats in districts 1, 3, 5 and 7.

Many candidates are using online social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook to try to get their messages out and gain an edge over the other candidates. For example, in the race for the Republican primary for governor, candidates Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner have Facebook and Twitter pages with followers in the thousands, and the primary fight is widely seen to be between the two.

However, even in the more local and community-driven campaigns of Sacramento City Council candidates, these social networking sites are being widely utilized to help raise support and knowledge for local candidates.

Angelique Ashby is running for the City Council’s District 1 seat against incumbent Ray Tretheway, and she has tried to use the Internet to her advantage.

Ashby said that when she and her campaign team started to plan her campaign, they thought that a strong online presence would be important.

“We knew that accessing people through the Internet would be critical,” Ashby said. “Social networking and the Internet is central to our campaign.”

Ashby said the online strategy of her campaign consists of a good webpage, Facebook and YouTube. As of Sunday, she has 1,050 friends on Facebook. Ashby said she uses Facebook as a way to connect with voters and as a good way to get out event information. Many people who come to her campaign events tell Ashby that they found out because of Facebook, she said.

She added that she has ads on Facebook as well as local blogs to help draw attention to her campaign.

Ashby said one challenge of being involved in social networking is the level of consistency required, both in effort and in message.

“It’s important to know what you’re like as a candidate because people can find information everywhere on the Internet,” she added. “You have to be clear and consistent.”

Although Ashby enjoys a strong online presence, she said she doesn’t use Twitter because she doesn’t think Twitter adds much to her campaign.

“One of the keys to success in an online campaign is to allow people to be a part of it,” she said. “Twitter is for observers, while Facebook is for participants.”

Tretheway, who has been on the City Council since 2001, uses both Twitter and Facebook in his campaign, although the sites are only updated about once a week.

“For us, it’s not the most crucial component,” said Tretheway’s campaign manager, Rebecca Apostol. “It’s more important to talk to folks one-on-one and to have those face-to-face conversations. That type of interaction is what we tend to gravitate more toward.”

Apostol said Tretheway’s Facebook and Twitter, which have a little over 30 followers as of Sunday, are used mostly to give campaign updates and to publicize community events.

“It’s a helpful component, undoubtedly,” she said. “It has its place, and it definitely adds to the campaign.”

Apostol added that in a smaller race like this, social networking does not make or break a campaign.

District 3 is also home to a competitive race. Councilman Steve Cohn, who has held the seat since 1994, is running for re-election against Realtor Chris Little and contractor Shawn Eldredge. Faviola Ramirez, the ground campaign manager for Cohn, said using Facebook is part of the campaign’s strategy.

“Facebook is really important to keep supporters informed,” she said.

“When you look at the City Council race, community is very important,” Ramirez added. “Facebook helps strengthen those ties.”

Ramirez said Cohn’s campaign Facebook page, which has 215 followers as of Sunday but is only updated once a week or so, is mostly used to give campaign updates and provide information about campaign events, as well as answer the occasional question from a voter.

Although Little and Eldredge have a stronger online presence, Ramirez said that it is not crucial to win a City Council election, and the main component of Cohn’s campaign relies in personal interaction.

“Facebook is just as important as call lists and any other way of getting ahold of people,” she said. “It just doesn’t replace face-to-face voter interaction, which is at the heart of any local campaign.”

Eldredge, however, said that for a candidate who does not have a lot of funds, having a strong online presence is vital.

“Social networking allows those who are interested to know a candidate better,” Eldredge said. “I don’t have money, so the only way I can reach people is through the social networking sites. It is the core of my campaign.”

Eldredge said he uses his Facebook for not only campaign updates but also to state his positions and point out the faults in opponent’s positions.

“I put it all out there,” he said. “I let the shit fly.”

Eldredge, who has raised thousands less than Little and Cohn according to a recent Sacramento Press article, said that while social networking gives him a platform, it does not always translate into votes.

“I’m much more interactive than the other candidates, but I’m probably not going to win,” he said, adding that this election will be a low-turnout election that will probably be decided by voters who are not hooked on social networking. He also said upcoming elections will have to make an online presence a priority.

“This November, this is going to be big,” Eldredge said. “The population and voter base is going to be very engaged through social media.”

Eldredge added that he believes we are one election cycle away from voters being able to donate $5 through their phones like people were able to for the Haiti earthquake relief, and that social networking will become a critical part of any campaign.

“The classic campaign is going to have to change their model,” Eldredge said. “Traditionally, it was all mail and door-to-door, but now social networking will have an equal part.”

For now, Eldredge was honest about his use of social networking in his campaign.

“It’s a lot of work,” he said. “Social media takes a lot of effort to pull it off well, and I haven’t done it as well as I’d like.”

When June 8 comes, Ashby, Tretheway, Cohn, Little and Eldredge will be able to see if their efforts with social networking results in being elected to the City Council.

Photo Captions:

1. Angelique Ashby. Photo by Kathleen Haley

2. Ray Tretheway. Photo by Anthony Bento

3. Chris Little. Photo by Kathleen Haley

4. Steve Cohn. Photo by Anthony Bento

Sacramento Pride Reinvented

2010-05-09T00:45:50Z

This is not your daddy’s Sacramento Pride!

Sacramento Pride is making big changes in 2010, all aimed at transforming the annual regional celebration of LGBT culture and accomplishments into an event worthy of its new tagline, California’s Capital Pride.

The list of changes begins with the day-long Pride Festival’s move this year to Sacramento’s Capitol Mall. The Festival will be held Saturday, June 19, from 10 am to 5 pm. Sandwiched between the State Capitol dome on the east and the golden spans of the Tower Bridge on the west, the Festival’s move to the scenic city gateway is intended to raise visibility and emphasize the important role of the LGBT community in Sacramento and statewide.

The Festival’s move from Southside Park, where the festival has been held for the past several years, to Capitol Mall has been warmly received by city officials, who awarded the event an $8,100 City of Festivals Grant for the first time this year. “Sacramento’s LGBT community is essential to making this city a great place to live, work and play,” said Councilmember Ray Tretheway. “The State Capitol and Tower Bridge will be the perfect backdrop as thousands of people from throughout the state and nation gather to celebrate our capital’s annual pride festival.”

Also new in 2010:

An amped-up entertainment line-up, featuring several nationally-known acts as well as a robust slate of local talent at two stage locations. Entertainers confirmed to date include:
-- Season 1 winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race, Bebe Zahara Benet
-- Recording artist Kaylah Marin, whose dance remix hit “On the Floor (Oh Baby Please)” currently is #4 on the Billboard Club Play Charts
-- TWSS, or That’s What She Said, an L.A. musical comedy duo perhaps best known for the YouTube sensation, “U-Haul: The Music Video”
-- Singer/Songwriter Joel Evan, whose new hit single "Storm" is taking the dance clubs by storm.
A new Sacramento Pride Parade route, featuring a symbolic route reversal, beginning at 10 am at Southside Park (where it used to end)and ending at the entrance to the new Capitol Mall Festival grounds.
The high-energy Amtrak Dance Stage, made possible by a generous sponsorship from Amtrak.
An all-new Dyke Celebration. Scheduled for Friday evening, June 18, at the State Capitol West Steps, the event will feature a twist on the traditional “Dyke March” with a festive line-up of musical, dance, Drag King and spoken-word performances. Participants of all genders are invited to join the celebration of unity and equality.

Sacramento Pride 2010 will have the support of the largest number of corporate and non-profit sponsors in the history of the event, beginning with Title Sponsor Jackson Rancheria Hotel & Casino, Outword Magazine, Wells Fargo, The Hewlett Packard Company, Regional Transit, JetBlue, Barefoot Cellars, Safeway, Rainbow Chamber of Commerce of Sacramento, Rainbow Pages, SMUD, Amtrak, California State Fair, Uptown Studios, IKEA, BudLight, Lumens Light + Living, Infinite Entertainment, WriteAway Communications Services, Power of Two Promotions, CARES, Sacramento News & Review, and Cheer San Francisco. Outword Magazine publisher Fred Palmer, sales and marketing agent for Sacramento Pride, has been instrumental in attaining most of the event sponsors.

As always, Sacramento Pride is produced by volunteers and staff of the Sacramento Gay & Lesbian Center, and proceeds support Center youth services, HIV support services, programs for transgender individuals, gay men and lesbians, a free weekly legal clinic and other services critical to the health and wellbeing of the LGBT community.

For more information, visit http://sacramentopride.org, or follow Sacramento Pride on Facebook, Twitter and MySpace.

A Divided Natomas

2010-05-07T07:35:24Z

Years ago, driving home from ARCO Arena used to be like driving through a vast rural land of fields, sometimes through thick fog and orange overhead lights. Now this land is the thriving community commonly known as North Natomas filled with homes, businesses, restaurants, a high school, and a brand new library.

That’s all located north of Interstate-80. South of Interstate-80 is the established communities of South Natomas, Gardenland, and Northgate.

Calls to serve both areas equally were made at the District 1 City Council Candidates Forum, moderated by Brandy Boyd, publisher of the Natomas Buzz.

“Come on down Northgate Boulevard” said Candidate Efren Guttierrez in response to how to secure business in Natomas. “Get out of your car. Walk the boulevard. You tell me who said people are secure.”

“That’s District 1, too.”

Candidate Angelique Ashby said she was tired of seeing other projects not come to Natomas.

“We need to have an eye on the future for building up this region,” said Ashby. “We also have to be a safe place for our business. No entrepreneur would want to open up a business where there’s a lack of police.”

Candidate and current Councilmember Ray Tretheway, who had to leave early for another event, discussed youth mentoring and truancy programs.

In discussing North Natomas’ levee problems, Guttierrez pointed out a theme he consistently hears when discussing various topics.

“It’s the fact that everything is generated north of I-80, and it isn’t,” said Guttierrez. “Before I-80 was a glimmer in Heather Fargo or Ray’s eye’s, there was a community called South Natomas.”

“South Natomas was promised many things; fire station, a medical facility, a police station. We got none of these. The medical facility that was supposedly built on West El Camino and Truxel closed in six months. I didn’t see Ray or anybody else jump to keep them there.”

“At the end, there is a world south of I-80,” said Guttierrez.

Ashby also took a shot at Tretheway, who had his Campaign Manager Bryan DeBlonk sit in as his surrogate.

“No offense to Mr. DeBlonk, but Ray is not a strong advocate for our region,” said Ashby. “He is a nice guy, but he is not a person who is going to fight for this community on a day to day basis.”

Both Guttierrez and Ashby pointed out problems with crosswalks and signals in both North and South Natomas.

But Ashby continued to take shots at Tretheway when responding to nearly every question.

“I do not believe our elective representative has done his job,” said Ashby when discussing safety in the community and at schools.

When discussing public transportation, Ashby said Tretheway ignored the petition of 500 people to not run Light Rail down Truxel Boulevard.

In responding to how to preserve current Natomas business, Ashby said “Ray Tretheway has been on the council for nine years. You need to think about whether you want him the next four.”

If elected, Ashby vowed she would not treat her position as a part time position; however, DeBlonk reminded everyone of the difference between an advocate and a Councilmember.

“It’s very easy to be an advocate and to say ‘this one thing we need to be doing and I’m going to push for it, and you know what, if all of us advocate more, then more the things we want get done,’” said DeBlonk.

“It’s a very different thing to be a Councilmember.”

Tretheway Signgate 2010: Cover-Up Worse Than the Crime

2010-04-14T03:57:55Z

When I caught incumbent Sacramento City Councilmember Ray Tretheway’s district director Dan Roth and campaign manager Corin Choppin on video tampering with campaign signs of challenger Angelique Ashby on Friday morning, I honestly didn’t think it would become such a huge story. It began as a video shared with fellow Ashby campaign supporters and volunteers on YouTube. It quickly became front-page news, led television newscasts, and even appeared in newspapers across the country. It has since spiraled into a tangled web of defensive rationalizations, backpedaling, empty apologies, and ultimately a catalyst for an investigation into the possibility of serious violations of campaign laws.

Dan Roth is an employee of the City of Sacramento – our tax dollars pay his salary. Corin Choppin works for Capitol Campaigns, so his salary comes from donations to Tretheway’s campaign – a campaign almost entirely funded by people who are ineligible to vote in our District. There is truly no valid explanation for why Roth and Choppin conspired to tamper with signs that show Sacramento’s firefighters and police officers’ support of Angelique Ashby’s campaign. Roth breached a sacred wall of separation between City business and campaign business in accompanying Choppin in such unethical conduct. As seasoned political operatives, they absolutely know better, but were caught red-handed. The only proper response is to accept whatever consequences lie ahead, up to and including termination from their posts – but neither Roth nor Choppin have done that.

Instead, they concocted a tale of fiction: that the signs were placed illegally (code section 15.148.600(K) allows campaign signs for 90 days prior to an election in areas adjacent to streets and sidewalks), that they were supposedly “doing Ashby a favor” and “kind of did the neighborly thing, honestly, and removed the signs” (does anyone believe that?) and that they were acting on a complaint sent to the city’s 3-1-1 center, even though no such complaint was ever sent to the center. When caught in these lies, Roth sank further in the quicksand, telling reporters on Monday that he himself was supposed to be the originator of the email to 3-1-1 but “I think I probably was like, ‘I’m running late,’ slammed down my computer, (and) I didn’t hit ‘send.’ ” Such contortions of logic would be downright laughable if the situation were not so serious.

Roth and Choppin could learn from some of Dale Carnegie’s famous relationship building principles: always tell the truth; do not mislead anyone; if you make a mistake, admit it immediately and emphatically; and do not tolerate anything less than the truth from anyone else. They have failed on all of these principles.

As the person who accepts full responsibility for placing the signs in question only after I reviewed city code section 15.148.600(K) governing placement of political campaign signs, I will state for the record that I believe the signs were positioned in accordance with the rules. If it turns out that our City’s Code Enforcement department differs in their interpretation and concludes they are out of compliance, I will visit City Hall to accept my citation and either pay the fine or challenge the citation in court – and when I do so, I will be sure to bring a long list of locations throughout District One that have had blatantly illegal signs installed for many months and will insist that those cases be treated with the same scrutiny.

Maybe I’ll forward a copy of that list to Dan and Corin so they can help clean them up...

Keith Sharward is a Board member and co-founder of Witter Ranch Community Alliance and a member of the Natomas Crime & Safety Leadership Team.

Press Release: Police union challenges Roth's statements

2010-04-13T20:58:07Z

Mark Tyndale, vice president of the Sacramento Police Officers Association, sent the following statement to media outlets Tuesday:

My concerns regarding the ethics of Dan Roth from Councilmember Tretheway’s Office continue grow as it seems he is weaving a series of dishonest explanations to justify his behavior on the morning of Friday, April 9th. On the YouTube video, he is with Tretheway’s campaign manager from Capitol Campaigns, Corin Choppin, as he pulls Angelique Ashby’s political signs out of the ground and throws them behind the bushes. Apparently, Corin is not only Tretheway’s campaign manager, but is also married to Tretheway’s Chief of Staff, Randi Kay Stevens.

It seems that Roth does not dispute that he was there as a paid city employee; however, he initially claimed to channel 3 that he was responding to a constituent’s complaint regarding the placement of the political signs that had been received through the city’s 3-1-1 service. Unexplained is why Choppin is taking action of removing the signs in response to a complaint Roth said he received in the course of his official duties.

Roth has now revised his version, stating that the complaint came in to his office in the form of an email from Ron Dwyer-Voss (Who is listed as a Tretheway supporter on the attached document and former client of Capitol Campaigns.) Roth gave me a copy of the email that he said he received and has now claimed that it was blind copied to him by Dwyer-Voss. (Attached).

The first thing I noticed was that the email was only addressed to Angelique Ashby which would have been the correct email format for her copy of the email if it had other blind copy destinations; but the copy Dan Roth received would have had the recipient address he received it on. Blind copy recipients do list that information on the blind copy recipients version. The copy he provided was the version sent only to Angelique.

The format also seems improper for an email, as if it were a copy of the sent version from Dwyer-Voss, not a copy received by a City terminal. I have to wonder if we are now seeing a conspiracy between Roth and Dwyer-Voss to cover for Roth’s earlier dishonesty.

In a statement to the Sacramento Press, Roth also seems to be saying that he intended to forward the complaint to 3-1-1, which makes no sense at all. I cannot think of circumstances that would warrant that, but since he mentioned the 3-1-1 system in his earlier version of his explanation, it seems as if he feels he needs to tie it into this version as well.

The California Public Records Act request being made by 522 also includes office emails. I have a very strong suspicion that there will not be a record of a blind copy email to Roth from Dwyer-Voss on that morning.

As I stated earlier, I am disappointed with the actions of Roth and Choppin for removing the signs, but I think an apology to Angelique and the Natomas residents would have properly addressed my concerns. My concerns with a potential cover up from the District 1 City Council Office and the lying that would accompany it have grown with the emergence of each new inconsistent explanation that is offered. If my suspicions are proven, I think the proper response from Councilmember Tretheway has to be to fire Dan Roth, or ask for his resignation. The credibility of his Office will suffer significant damage if he does not deal with the situation properly.

Please feel free to use or quote any portion of this email.

Mark Tyndale
Vice President, Board of Directors
Sacramento Police Officers Association

Police union: If Roth's claims are untrue, he should be fired

2010-04-13T00:38:10Z

A top officer in the Sacramento police officer’s union is saying that City Councilman Ray Tretheway’s district director should be fired if he made dishonest statements about removal of campaign signs. Lawn signs that supported Tretheway's City Council opponent were removed Friday.

“It’s my belief that if Dan Roth has not been honest and he has been lying, I don’t see what alternative there is, for either him to resign or Ray Tretheway to fire him,” Sacramento Police Officers’ Association Vice President Mark Tyndale said Monday at a press conference held by the association and Sacramento Area Firefighters Local 522.

The Sacramento Bee reported a story Saturday about a YouTube video that shows Roth looking on as Tretheway campaign manager Corrin Choppin removed signs for City Council candidate Angelique Ashby at El Centro and Arena boulevards in Natomas.

The signs stated that SPOA and Local 522 supported Ashby, according to union officials.

Tretheway is running for re-election against Ashby.

Specifically, Tyndale said he is objecting to comments in a KCRA 3 news story. “KCRA ran a quote from Dan Roth indicating that a complaint was made to the city’s 311 phone line that morning and that Dan Roth was acting on that complaint,” according to a media statement from SPOA and Local 522.

Tyndale questioned whether the removal of the signs is tied to a complaint via 311.

The statement also says Local 522 is using the California Public Records Act to find out more information about the issue. As part of their public records request, the union is asking for records on every call made Friday to the 311 phone line.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Tretheway Denies Impact of RT's Bus Service Cuts on Natomas Residents

2010-04-03T01:02:40Z

As of June 20, weekend bus service in Natomas will be reduced dramatically. North Natomas loses all of its weekend bus service and South Natomas loses much of its weekend bus service, despite false assurances from incumbent city councilperson Ray Tretheway.

This week, in response to a fiscal emergency caused by reductions in state funding, the Sacramento Regional Transit District Board of Directors voted to cut bus and light rail services throughout the region, effective June 20. Tretheway is also on RT's Board of Directors.

According to RT's northwest route map, Natomas currently receives weekday service on Routes 11 (Truxel Road) and 89 (Gateway Oaks), with service 7 days a week on Routes 13 (Northgate), 14 (Norwood), 86 (San Juan - Silver Eagle), and 88 (West El Camino). Based on service reductions described in RT's published summary, bus routes 13 and 14 are losing their weekend service, and bus route 89 is being eliminated altogether.

Routes 13 and 14 were the only routes that included any North Natomas stops (see maps for Route 13 and Route 14), so this has the effect of cutting North Natomas off of weekend service entirely. South Natomas loses its critical Northgate weekend service, although routes 86 and 88 will continue their weekend runs -- at least for now.

Considering where all of the city's low income housing was constructed in the past several years (much of which is concentrated near Del Paso and Truxel Roads) and the economically challenged Northgate corridor, it appears Natomas residents with the least amount of resources were disproportionately impacted by these transit service cuts. These are our neighbors who are more likely to depend on public transit, many of whom have varying work schedules and are more likely to rely on weekend bus service to get to their jobs.

Candidates for the June 8 city council election responded to constituents’ concerns about these service cuts at a debate hosted by the Natomas Community Association Wednesday night, moderated by the League of Women Voters of Sacramento County.

Angelique Ashby responded with concern that Tretheway did not advocate for Natomas residents with the greatest need. “RT has been cut, and this week we took another huge disproportionate hit,” Ashby said. “I don't understand -- and Ray is on that board.”

Tretheway claimed that the bus service cuts would not have much of an impact on Natomas. "I'll assure you that no [bus] lines in Natomas, South or North, were cut, with one exception, for weekends at all," Tretheway said. "One goes through North Sacramento, ends up to Natomas Marketplace and out, so it's got, the last leg is Natomas. That one was cut on weekends. All the rest I fought to restore. They were on the cutting block a week ago Monday -- every one was restored."

However, upon carefully reviewing RT route maps, RT's Issue Paper, and the bulletin posted on RT’s home page, the only Natomas route that was restored from the original proposal was Route 13 (Northgate), and that restoration only applies to weekdays, not weekends. All of the other proposed Natomas service reductions were voted into effect, in spite of Tretheway's assurances to the contrary.

Either Tretheway is quite confused and does not know what he voted for this week in his capacity as an RT Board member, or he is being dishonest to his constituents. Neither is acceptable.

Residents throughout Natomas are tired of paying for services and not receiving their fair share. Many in North Natomas are sharing the same frustrations of broken promises that residents in South Natomas have been feeling for decades. In just two months, voters will have the opportunity to elect an intelligent and articulate leader who is willing to work together, build partnerships, listen to the community, and advocate for the region – someone who will fight for the people of Natomas and help our region and Sacramento as a whole meet its potential.

Keith Sharward is a Board member and co-founder of Witter Ranch Community Alliance and a member of the Natomas Crime & Safety Leadership Team. He endorses Angelique Ashby in her campaign for Sacramento City Council's District One (Natomas/Downtown).

Transit takes center stage at District 1 debate

2010-04-01T06:00:23Z

Regional Transit wrapped up their talks about service cuts earlier this week, though there was still plenty of room for finger pointing and analysis at the District 1 Candidates Debate.

"Natomas is losing all routes on the weekends as my understanding," said candidate Angelique Ashby. "That means people have jobs elsewhere on the weekends and they are going to ride the bus, they can't do that anymore."

Ashby said she didn't understand why current District 1 Councilmember Ray Tretheway, who is on Regional Transit's Board of Directors, did not fight to keep a route in Natomas.

"I don't understand how he can let them all go," said Ashby. "We certainily pay into that tax system that provides that transportation. It seems to me it should be equal, and areas that have access to Light Rail should have been cut first. We don't have any Light Rail, but buses are the only public transportation that we have."

Tretheway responded saying no lines in North or South Natomas were cut except for one operating on the weekends.

"One goes through North Sacramento and ends up to Natomas Marketplace", said Tretheway. "That one was cut on weekends. All the rest I fought to restore."

Tretheway also elaborated on the Natomas Light Rail extension, saying it's been settled on going down Truxel Blvd for the last three to five years. Ashby opposes the Truxel Blvd plan.

"I believe that we will take care of the community, community center, and neighbors, and that Light Rail will be a public asset coming down Truxel", said Tretheway.

Efren Guttierrez, the third candidate in the debate, expressed his disappointment with Regional Transit.

"The line that you're talking about Ray is Line 13," said Guttierrez. "Line 13 runs down Northgate Blvd, and that is a working class neighborhood."

Guttierrez also discussed the problems working with other transit authorities over the years.

"We've been fighting with SACOG and Sacramento Transit Authority for years to deal with our problem of buses in this city," said Guttierrez. "We've seen this coming down the pipe."

Improvements Coming to Historic Chinatown

2010-03-31T04:11:26Z

A gift of $30,000 will be given to Historic Chinatown, located on J Street between 3rd and 5th streets, for improvements to safety and lighting.

The funds are coming from the Community Development Block Grant, which is made up of funding by the federal government but is given out at the discretion of the Sacramento City Council. The $30,000 was approved at the March 9 City Council meeting.

Jennifer Lee-Lewis, community manager of the Ping Yuen Apartments, said the funds are needed because the area is home to a significant senior population that encounters tripping hazards. These tripping hazards, such as cracked tiles and big tree roots, are harder to spot during the night due to the poor lighting.

She said that because Historic Chinatown is hard to see from the streets outside, it oftentimes goes unnoticed.

"Things don't get taken care of like they should," she said. Lee-Lewis said that many of the seniors living in the Ping Yuen Apartments or the nearby Wong Center, both part of Historic Chinatown, walk around the area to get exercise, but the tripping hazards can be dangerous because many seniors shuffle their feet as they walk. During autumn, falling leaves and plentiful rain can make the issue even worse.

Meitra Bozorgzadegan, an event promoter for the pagoda building, said the poor lighting contributes not only to the tripping hazards, but also to crime in the area, including robberies and beatings.

"It is kinda scary," she said, noting that the courtyard can become very dark after hours. "I don't feel comfortable being down here at night."

"We definitely need light for seniors when they come home at night," Lee-Lewis said. "Everyone here is 55 years old or over, and many have disabilities."

Another priority is improved signage for the area.

"I would really like to see signage saying that this is Chinatown," Lee-Lewis said. "It would be nice to have more of a focus on culture. No one knows about it because we're hidden."

Once it gets the publicity it needs and once some of these problems get fixed, it will definitely be a cute area," added Bozorgzadegan.

Dan Roth, director of Sacramento's District 1, said that the funds will be administered soon and are currently going through a bidding process. However, Roth also said that the money is meant to help spruce up the area with lighting and signage. The tripping hazards, he said, can be fixed with compliance money for the Americans with Disabilities Act and shouldn't be taken out of the Block Grant money. Either way, Historic Chinatown will see many improvements soon.

Downtown loses its senior center

2010-03-19T02:02:46Z

Sacramento seniors facing economic hardship will have one less place to relax and meet friends.

Catholic Charities of Sacramento, Inc., has closed down its Cathedral Neighborhood Senior Center downtown because of a funding shortage, said Beth White, associate director of the nonprofit organization.

The center, which is located at 711 J St., had provided a social atmosphere for seniors since 1975, according to White. It shut down March 1.

Elderly residents of single-resident-occupancy motels as well as homeless seniors would gather at the center, White said. They would watch television or enjoy a coffee, she said.

For example, a group of seniors would come to the center in the morning because “that’s where they got their morning coffee,” White noted.

The closure means that seniors downtown no longer have a meeting place, White said. “We were the last downtown provider.”

For years, the center’s operations were paid for by Sacramento’s county government, the city of Sacramento and Catholic Charities, according to White.

Then, in 2004, the county halted its share of the funding for the center, White said, adding that the center is no longer receiving funding from the city government either.

Without the help from the city and county, Catholic Charities could not pay for the rent on the building, personnel or operational costs, White noted.

“If you live in a SRO, it really is your meet-and-greet place and your social place,” Sacramento City Councilman Ray Tretheway told residents at a Neighborhood Advisory Group meeting Monday in Midtown. “It just breaks my heart to see that go under.”

While the center has closed its doors, Catholic Charities continues to run an outreach program to help downtown seniors gain access to medical, dental and mental health services, among other services, White said. The outreach program is covered by federal funds, monies from foundations and private donations, she said. Catholic Charities operates the outreach program together with the Transitional Living and Community Support organization.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Council unanimously agrees to begin arena talks with Kamilos

2010-03-17T05:18:54Z

In a win for Mayor Kevin Johnson and his arena task force, the City Council agreed to start talks with Sacramento developer Gerry Kamilos on a plan to build a new sports and entertainment center in the downtown railyards and develop two other sites.

The City Council’s approval to begin talks with the Kamilos Group was unanimous. While an agreement between the city and Kamilos was not completed Tuesday, the council moved closer to a decision to work with Kamilos.

In Kamilos’ multi-layered plan, the downtown railyards would be the location of a new sports and entertainment center. The plan also calls for the creation of a new state fairgrounds at Arco Arena and nearby property.

Kamilos’ team, which includes developer David Taylor, further plans to purchase the state-owned Cal Expo State Fairgrounds. The development team will would then build a mixed-use development at that location.

The NBA and the Maloofs family, which owns the Sacramento Kings, support Kamilos’ proposal.

Johnson said he would like to see the project to focus on environmentally sound elements so that it could be a “world-class showcase” for a green development.

Meanwhile, Councilwoman Sandy Sheedy said that consultants who work with the city on this project should be paid by the developers, not the city. The city needs to be “very, very careful” if it puts any public funds or public land toward the project, she said.

While Councilman Ray Tretheway voted in favor of starting work with Kamilos, he raised concerns about Natomas. He said he wanted to know how the arena’s move to downtown from Natomas would affect Natomas’ businesses.

The City Council tasked staffers with several assignments Tuesday night. Council members decided that city staffers should start working with the Kamilos group and create benchmarks for the negotiations. The City Council also asked staff to study the financial aspects of linking the Kamilos downtown arena project to a downtown intermodal center.

Council members agreed that Johnson could appoint members of a City Council ad hoc committee to work on the effort.

Staff was also asked to inform the council of progress on creating a six-month agreement with Kamilos, as well as the project’s scope, benchmarks and funding sources. The council asked for that information to be presented within 30 days.

Further, staffers will work on a plan to gain feedback from stakeholders and community groups, Johnson said.

The Kamilos plan will need state legislation to advance. Staff will work on that issue with the development team, the council’s ad hoc committee and additional involved parties, according to the council’s decision.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Cohn tells neighbors: Parks could face new round of budget cuts

2010-03-16T05:33:38Z

Sacramento City Councilman Steve Cohn is predicting deep budget cuts to local parks this year in light of the city’s $35 million-$40 million budget gap for the 2010/2011 fiscal year.

Cohn’s worries about new cuts come after the city cut the Parks and Recreation Department by $8.3 million last year.

“I fear that the cutbacks in parks will actually be more severe this year,” Cohn told a handful of neighborhood leaders gathered at Hart Senior Center Monday night.

Cohn, who presented information about his district at the Neighborhood Advisory Group meeting, said the city may look for ways to work with neighborhoods and the business community to maintain the parks.

“As we all know, most of our neighborhoods in Midtown and East Sacramento are really designed around parks,” Cohn said.

Cohn represents District 3, which includes the neighborhoods of Mansion Flats, Marshall School Midtown and Boulevard Park.

Councilman Ray Tretheway, from District 1, also made remarks to the neighborhood group. His district includes the neighborhoods of Alkali Flat, Old Sacramento and China Town Mall.

Among other things, Tretheway said that a new community garden will open at Zapata Park in Alkali Flat this summer.

Councilman Rob Fong, whose district includes Newton Booth and Poverty Ridge, among other neighborhoods, could not attend the NAG meeting due to illness, said Gerald Celestine, the facilitator of Monday night’s meeting. Fong represents District 4.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Natomas public safety activist runs for City Council

2010-03-16T05:26:04Z

Angelique Ashby is a Natomas neighborhood activist who views public safety as the city's top priority. Ashby, who is running for Sacramento City Council, has the support of two major local public safety unions: the Sacramento Police Officers Association and Sacramento Area Fire Fighters Local 522.

The Sacramento Press is interviewing City Council candidates in advance of the June election.

Ashby is running for City Council in District 1, which is now represented by Councilman Ray Tretheway. The district includes the neighborhoods of North and South Natomas and Alkali Flat.

The 20-year Sacramento resident is a partner in a consulting firm that contracts with businesses and government agencies. She said she has worked on programs involving at-risk youth and parolees.

Ashby, 34, is also president of the Creekside Neighborhood Association. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Davis, and a law degree from McGeorge School of Law.

If elected to the City Council, her key focus would be on public safety, which she described as an obligation. In her view, public safety encompasses flood and fire protection and police work.

Among other goals, she said she wants to help the City Council members communicate with each other.

Quality-of-life issues are important to Ashby. “The way I think that you address quality-of-life issues is that you listen,” she said. “You listen to what it is that people want.”

Another priority of Ashby’s would be the local economy. “We have got to bring jobs to Sacramento,” she said.

Ashby said she successfully directed the push for a Natomas community policing center — the Natomas Police and Community Resource Center was created in 2008. Ashby notes that she worked on plans to start the center without a budget. Land was donated for the center, which is operated by a group of more than 60 volunteers, she said.

The items in the center are also donated, she said, with the exception of phone and Internet.

“Those types of outside-of-the-box thinking, they ... release some pressure on having to come up with dollars in a budget that doesn’t have room, or having to create a new tax for something,” Ashby said. “Sometimes, you can just work a little harder, build a few more relationships and come up with some solid solutions.”

She also ran a drive to apply fees from developers toward a new fire station in Natomas, she said. Construction for he station, which will be located west of Interstate 5, will kick off in April, according to Ashby’s website.

In response to a question from The Sacramento Press, Ashby said she is receiving advice from political communications consultant Steve Maviglio on a volunteer basis.

Maviglio volunteers for Mayor Kevin Johnson on political issues, such as Johnson’s campaign for a strong mayor form of government. The Sacramento Press asked Ashby if she would be an ally of Johnson’s if she were elected to the City Council. “First of all, and very importantly, I consider myself to be an ally of every member of the council, including the mayor,” she said. “What they think of me is up to them. But why would anyone want to elect a person who doesn’t want to work with the city mayor? If it was Heather Fargo, my answer would be the same.”

Of the three candidates for the District 1 seat, Ashby is second to Tretheway in campaign fundraising. Tretheway took in $79,278 for his campaign last year, according to campaign statements.

Campaign statements show that Ashby raised $26,452 last year. Candidate Efren Guttierrez said earlier this month that he has raised about $2,000 for his campaign.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Forward. Finally.

2010-03-12T03:09:51Z

Sacramentans should be enjoying a sigh of relief today, and a swell of pride. After months, years, even a decade of back and forth, conflict and aimlessness, there is finally some movement forward on a sports and entertainment complex.

Yes, forward. Thursday morning's decision by the Sacramento First Task Force to recommend - if just recommend - the complicated but far-reaching "land swap" proposed by Gerry Kamilos' and David Taylor's organizations, and supported by the NBA and other crucial organizations, means that we are moving forward. Finally.

There will be a lot of arguing about this for some time. As an assistant to Mayor Kevin Johnson, who is to be praised for making progress on this a hallmark of his administration, put it, "This was the easy part." But the fact is, it hasn't been easy even to get to this point.

That we have gotten to this point is something to be celebrated.

Passions run particularly high about this subject, and there are a lot of very certain, very loud opinions about it. But at least now we have a well-considered opinion from a group of smart, well-meaning, experienced people, including task force co-chairs Lina Fat and Chris Lehane, about the best way forward.

Because no matter what you might think of the deal that would redevelop the Cal Expo grounds, build a new state fairgrounds in Natomas and place a new arena and intermodal transportation hub at the heart of a redeveloped downtown railyard, at least it does this:

It moves us forward.

Those who want other options, be they rival developers or Sacramento's well-established NIMBY crowd, will still have ample chance to weigh in, as members of the City Council did Thursday morning. There will be much jockeying and lobbying, and that's to be expected, even desired. That's how we do it.

There are many moving parts to this, sources of funding still to be identified, political agendas to be filled, and business and neighborhood interests to be resolved. At one point it was noted that this process could consume local government and businesses for the next two decades.

But that's good. That process, as tortuous as it will likely be, will create a lot of jobs, and at the end, we will have a much-improved city, with amenities we can only dream about right now.

And it could begin as soon as next Tuesday, when city staff brings the City Council its first report on the possibilities for financing, and in April, when some sort of timetable could be brought before the council.

The dream is legitimate. As a lifelong Sacramentan, downtown homeowner and resident, and frequent visitor to the current (and previous) ARCO arenas, I have not had a particularly strong opinion about where to put the new arena. I have, however, long been convinced that we DO need a new facility - and I say that as someone who has been to four Kings games in 15 years.

But as I've studied the issue, it has become clear to me, as it has to nearly everyone who watches these things, and as it was to the Task Force, that an arena needs to be downtown. Putting the arena in the suburbs would only continue to spread Sacramento out over more farmland and vernal pools and hillsides, put more people in more cars for more hours, and, worst of all, diffuse our vital cultural and commercial center just when it is finally, after decades of struggle, being established in downtown/Midtown.

As has been pointed out many times before, of the more than a dozen new arenas that have been built in the last decade, few have been built in suburban locations. That was what we did in the '70s, and like many of the urban choices made then, it was a mistake. As anyone who leaves our town can see, the placement of ATT Park in downtown San Francisco and of the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles has brought new life to those areas. Big, bustling, boisterous new life. Not to mention jobs and lower crime.

Now, some central city residents don't necessarily want new life in their neighborhoods. Sacramento's downtown and midtown have been quiet, nearly-suburban enclaves for so long that people have forgotten that they are, in fact, the urban core of our city. The mix of uses, particularly in Midtown, has led to some problems.

And the fact is, none of us really knows how this will affect us. I've heard dire warnings about traffic, about drunks, about noise, about air pollution, about raised taxes, and about what is essentially fear of what "those people" - sports fans, suburbanites, people with money to spend, people in cars, what-have-you - will bring to downtown.

But as Mayor Johnson has said many times, the time is now. Time is not on our side. And the future beckons: A new transportation center at the railyards will be the greenest step this city has ever taken, and increased density will stand us in good stead into the new century. A new state fair grounds in Natomas could be a showpiece for the entire state that would draw many more visitors here, and could be built in a greener, more sustainable manner than the lumbering old Cal Expo site. And having a whole new city on the old Cal Expo grounds would be greener and give more people the opportunity to live closer to downtown. To their work. To entertainment. To transportation.

To a vital new Sacramento that could finally take its rightful place as the last great undiscovered urban center of the western United States, a crossroads of north and south and east and west.

All of the details will be worked out over the next few years, as we move forward. Mistakes will be made, there will be setbacks, and arguments, and battles and wasted money. There may be a few new taxes, though that isn't going to fly in the current environment. As the mayor's assistant said, what happened today was the easy part.

But it was not easy getting even here. It took a lot of hard work, and thought, and thousands of hours of volunteer time, and negotiations. And because of that work, today, for the members of the Sacramento First Task Force, and the developers and local visionaries who pushed for this to happen, and above all to a mayor who has made progress his hallmark, was a great day.

So, this is a time to pause and take pride in our city for embracing new possibilities, even though we don't necessarily know where they will lead us. It is a proud moment, and we should savor it over the weekend.

And next week, we move. Forward.

Jorge Oseguera becomes the new city auditor

2010-03-10T05:58:17Z

The city auditor’s office — vacant for nearly a year — has been brought back to life.

Mayor Kevin Johnson and three council members announced at a Tuesday morning press conference that Jorge Oseguera is the city's new internal auditor.

Most recently, Oseguera was a senior program performance auditor for the city of San Jose. He began work at the city of Sacramento Monday.

“I think the audit function is an essential element of the public’s accountability, and I look forward to meeting my objectives in meeting the public’s accountability,” Oseguera said.

He also said he would participate in preparations for an upcoming audit of the Community Development Department. The investigation will be conducted by an outside auditing firm.

The three council members — Robbie Waters, Lauren Hammond and Steve Cohn — joined Johnson to praise Oseguera.

Waters explained that the city received applications from about 12 people for the auditor position. After an interview process, the committee selected three candidates for in-depth consideration. At that point, the committee asked the entire City Council to weigh in on the three candidates, according to Waters.

Oseguera was "hands above all the candidates," Waters said.

Cohn, chair of the City Council’s audit committee, pointed out that Oseguera will be the first auditor for the city of Sacramento to be supervised by the City Council. The former auditor, Marty Kolkin, reported to the city manager.

Kolkin resigned from his position in May to accept a new job in Santa Monica.

Council members decided last year that the City Council — not the city manager — should supervise the city auditor. During a meeting in April, council members said that it would be a more transparent process for an auditor to report to the City Council, rather than the city manager.

“We look forward to working with Jorge to make sure we have the most efficient operations possible and that our citizens -- our taxpayers -- can have confidence that we are running a tight ship,” Cohn said.

At San Jose, Oseguera investigated building security, grant oversight and debt management, among other areas, according to that city’s website.

Oseguera earned his master’s degree in public administration at Syracuse University and his bachelor’s degree from California State University, Stanislaus.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Council race: Social justice activist challenges Tretheway

2010-03-06T04:06:26Z

Efren Guttierrez wants to bring his focus on social justice to City Hall. The 54-year-old real estate broker and community activist is running for a seat on the Sacramento City Council.

The Sacramento Press is interviewing City Council candidates in advance of the June election.

Guttierrez is running in District 1, now represented by Ray Tretheway. The district includes North and South Natomas and Alkali Flat.

Guttierrez has worked in real estate for 28 years and is co-owner of New West Realtors in Natomas. He noted that his career pays the bills, but activism is his passion.

“My love has always been social justice advocacy,” he said.

Guttierrez was born in Stockton and has lived in Sacramento for 49 years. He graduated from California State University, Sacramento, in 1981.

He said he wants to help low-income residents who are struggling in the dismal economy. Many residents are just barely paying their electricity bills, Guttierrez said.

“The business people and everybody else is taking care of themselves. Now, we need to take care of those at the bottom end. If we don’t, what are we about?”

As a councilman, Guttierrez said he would address the needs of the Latino community, which “has been needing representation for a least a decade now.”

He said he promotes public transportation and likes the idea of bringing small buses to Sacramento.

Guttierrez also noted that poor residents do not have access to healthy foods. He said he is working with the Justice Reform Coalition and other groups to create more community gardens. He added that more farmers markets should be located near poor communities.

He said he wants to examine how people can do their jobs more efficiently. He suggested the idea of businesses gaining tax credits for hiring people who live near their job sites. That would cut down on local youth working at minimum-wage jobs outside of the city, Guttierrez said. “It would mean local people working at local businesses.”

Guttierrez is helping to organize the 10th annual César Chávez March in Sacramento on March 27. He was among those who protested former CNN broadcaster Lou Dobbs’s comments about Latino immigrants.

Guttierrez has raised the least amount of money of the three District 1 candidates. He said he has about $2,000 in campaign funds. Tretheway raised $79,278 in 2009, according to campaign statements.

Angelique Ashby, who is also running for the District 1 seat, raised $26,452 last year. Ashby is a partner in a consulting firm that contracts with businesses and government agencies.

Guttierrez said that he would break “the same old status quo” that supports Tretheway, who he said is supported by big business, developers and corporations.

While Guttierrez is accurate in saying that Tretheway’s supporters include developers — Angelo Tsakopoulos Real Estate Investments and CFY Developers are contributors — Tretheway also has received significant contributions from local unions. Plumbers & Steamfitters Local No. 467 and the California State Pipe Trades Council Political Action Committee are two of Tretheway’s union contributors, according to campaign statements.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Council Election: Money from outside the county

2010-02-22T03:29:49Z

All but four of 13 candidates running for a City Council seat in June received campaign contributions from sources outside Sacramento County from July to December 2009. It also should be noted that many of the candidates have received numerous contributions from individuals and groups in Sacramento.

To provide information about contributions to candidates from sources outside the county, The Sacramento Press has prepared the following guide. The following contributions were made to candidates between July 1 and Dec. 31.

DISTRICT 1

Angelique Ashby, City Council candidate

Top outside contributions:

Lewis Investment Company, Upland: $500
James Milliken, retired Superior Court judge, San Diego: $200
Ernest Aglipay, faculty member, California State University, at East Bay, San Jose: $150

Efren Guttierrez, City Council candidate

Guttierrez did not receive any contributions from sources outside the county.

Ray Tretheway, City Council incumbent

Top outside contributions:

Plumbers & Steamfitters Local No. 467, Burlingame: $5,000
AT&T California Employee Political Action Committee, San Francisco: $2,500
United Association Journeyman Plumbers and Steamfitters Local No. 343, Vallejo: $2,500
California Real Estate Political Action Committee, Los Angeles: $2,500

DISTRICT 3

Steve Cohn, City Council incumbent

Top outside contributions:

California Real Estate Political Action Committee / Board of Realtors Political Action Committee, Los Angeles: $2,500
James Bright, partner at Bright & Brown, La Canada: $1,500
Maureen Bright, partner at Bright & Brown, La Canada: $1,500
Fourth Quarter Properties 100, L1, Newnan, GA: $1,500

Shawn Eldredge, City Council candidate

Eldredge did not receive any contributions from sources outside the county.

Chris Little, City Council candidate

Top outside contributions:

Joe Reeves, chief executive officer of Smile Business Products, Roseville: $500
Stan Huser, executive at Karis Corp., El Dorado: $250
Kenneth Hammill, Jr., contractor, Woodland: $100
Scott Yuill, insurance agent, Rocklin: $100
John Appelbaum, attorney, Roseville: $100

DISTRICT 5

Henry Harry, City Council candidate

Harry did not receive any contributions from sources outside the county.

Terrence Johnson, City Council candidate

Johnson did not receive any contributions from sources outside the county.

Patrick Kennedy, City Council candidate

Top outside contributions:

Pipe Trades District Council #36 Political Action Committee, Fresno: $5,000
Plumbers & Steamfitters Local No. 467 Political Action Fund, Burlingame: $5,000
Southern California Pipe Trades District Council #16 Political Action Committee, Los Angeles: $5,000
U.A. Local #246 Plumbers & Fitters COPE Committee, Fresno: $5,000
United Association Journeyman Plumbers & Steamfitters Local No. 343 Political Action Committee, Vallejo: $5,000

Jay Schenirer, City Council candidate

Top outside contributions:

AT&T California Employee Political Action Committee, San Francisco: $3,000
Eli Broad, founder of The Broad Foundation, Los Angeles: $1,500
Genentech, South San Francisco: $1,000

DISTRICT 7

Ryan Chin, City Council candidate

Top outside contributions:

Chin received $1,500 contributors from several individuals and organizations outside of the county. Here are three:

Janet Louie, administration assistant, San Bruno
Phillip Lee, unemployed, Cupertino
Jone Lau, Realtor, San Francisco

Darrell Fong, City Council candidate

Top outside contributions:

VOICE, San Francisco: $2,000
Barry Azarcon, insurance broker, Auburn: $1,000
Ronald Vanderbeek, auto dealer, Granite Bay: $750

Robbie Waters, City Council incumbent

Top outside contributions:

AT&T California, San Francisco: $3,000
California Real Estate Political Action Committee, Los Angeles: $2,500

Waters received several contributions of $1,500 from organizations and individuals outside of Sacramento County. Here are three:

Chevron Corp., Concord
USA Hospitality Inc., El Dorado Hills
Kern Schumacher, owner of A&K Railroad Materials Inc., Incline Village, NV

Photo by Anthony Bento.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Guide to the online campaign contributions system

2010-02-18T06:26:30Z

Campaign contributions to City Council candidates are not a secret. Citizens can access information about contributions online at the city of Sacramento’s Electronic Filing System.

The city has published campaign contributions online since 2002, said Assistant City Clerk Stephanie Mizuno.

In a Nov. 5 story, The Sacramento Press provided a guide to the city’s online system.

Since then, the city clerk’s office has changed its website. “The navigation is a little bit different,” Mizuno said.

To help the public understand the changes, The Sacramento Press is publishing the following updated guide to the online system.

The city clerk’s website now has two separate links that connect you to campaign contributions statements. These links are titled “Elections” and “Disclosures and Ethics.”

This guide will help you find information through the “Elections” link. Clicking on the “Elections” link takes you to the “City Elections” webpage. From there, you’ll click on a link titled “Campaign Statements and Disclosure.”

Once at the “Campaign Statements and Disclosure” page, click on the link titled “Go to Statements.”

You’ll arrive at a page titled “Welcome to the City of Sacramento Electronic Filing System.” Click on the link titled “Get Started Now” under the “Public Access Portal” section.

You will now be at a page with the following title: “Welcome to the City of Sacramento Public Portal for Campaign Finance Disclosure.” There is a section at the end of this page titled “Browse Candidates & Measures by Election.” Campaign contributions for the June 8, 2010, City Council race are listed under the heading “06/08/2010 Primary Election.”

Click on the “06/08/2010” button to open a section titled “Candidates.” Now, click on the “Candidates” button to see buttons for City Council Districts 1, 3, 5 and 7.

If you click on “City Council D1,” you’ll see the names of City Council candidates Angelique Ashby, Efren Guttierrez and Ray Tretheway.

You’ll also see Lisa Kaplan’s name listed as a candidate for District 1. It appears that Kaplan no longer is running for City Council. She wrote on her Facebook page that she is running for re-election to the Natomas School Board in November. Kaplan did not return two phone calls from The Sacramento Press.

If you click on a candidate’s name, you will go to a page that lists campaign statements. For example, City Council District 1 incumbent Ray Tretheway’s page includes his Form 460.

The 460 form will provide you with the names of contributors and amounts of money donated to candidates. These forms also include figures on candidates’ loans, nonmonetary contributions and expenditures.

By clicking on “View,” next to Tretheway’s Feb. 2 1 460 form, you’ll read that his campaign amassed $79,278 in contributions last year. You also can read that AT&T California Employee Political Action Committee gave $2,500 to Tretheway’s campaign on Dec. 23.

Some of the candidates listed on the city’s online system have not dropped out of the City Council race officially, but have said they are no longer running for office. John Puente and Kasey Cotulla told The Sacramento Press they are leaving the City Council race. Mizuno said Jameel Pugh is no longer running for the City Council District 5 seat. City Councilwoman Lauren Hammond is not running for re-election; she is running for Assemblyman Dave Jones’ 9th District seat.

Photo by Anthony Bento.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Following the money: City Council campaign contributions

2010-02-15T19:31:00Z

The Sacramento Press is reviewing campaign contributions for the candidates in June's City Council race. Here is a breakdown of the main contributions to the candidates in Districts 1 and 3 from July to December 2009. The July to December figures provide the most recent information on campaign contributions for City Council candidates.

Look for the list of key contributors for Districts 5 and 7 on Tuesday in The Sacramento Press.

DISTRICT 1

Angelique Ashby, City Council candidate

Total monetary contributions for 2009: $26,452

Top five contributors, July to December 2009:

Sacramento Police Officers Association: $2,550
Ken Stevenson, auditor: $1,500
Molly Fling, retiree: $1,500
Shandra Arredondo, homemaker: $1,500
Sacramento County Probation Association PAC: $1,000

Efren Guttierrez, City Council candidate

Monetary contributions for 2009: $100

Single contribution in 2009:

Crescent Vellucci, self-employed: $100

Ray Tretheway, City Council incumbent

Total monetary contributions for 2009: $79,278

Top five contributors, July to December 2009:

California State Pipe Trades Council PAC: $5,000
Plumbers & Steamfitters Local No. 467: $5,000
California Real Estate PAC: $2,500
United Association Journeyman Plumbers and Steamfitters Local No. 343: $2,500
AT&T California Employee PAC: $2,500

DISTRICT 3

Shawn Eldredge, City Council candidate

Total monetary contributions for 2009: $2,275

Top contributors, July to December 2009:

Friends of Joe Canciamilla for Attorney General 2010: $750
Heller Pacific, Inc.: $500
Tom Kurowski, clinical social worker: $300
Bobbin Mulvaney, caterer, restaurant owner: $250

Eldredge received $100 each from the following contributors from July to December 2009:

Marsha Tipton, office manager
Law Offices of Lori D. Calvert
Leslie Hill, personnel specialist
Celine Donaldson, research program specialist

Chris Little, City Council candidate

Total monetary contributions for 2009: $11,975

Top contributors, July to December 2009:

Phyllis Hayashi, real estate agent: $1,500
Robert Eddleman, retired: $1,000
Greg Levi, real estate broker: $1,000

Little received $500 each from the following contributors from July to December 2009:

James Hastings, retired
Michael Yates, insurance broker
Melanie Conover, real estate agent
Joan Gann, retired
Timothy Mickiewicz, dentist
Denny Powell, administrator
Joe Reeves, CEO of Smile Business Products

Steve Cohn, City Council incumbent

Total monetary contributions for 2009: $50,585

Top contributor:

California Real Estate PAC and Board of Realtors PAC: $2,500

Cohn received 16 contributions totaling $1,500 each from July to December 2009:

A. Teichert & Son, Inc.
Alleghany Properties LLC
James Bright, partner at Bright & Brown
Maureen Bright, partner at Bright & Brown
C.F.Y. Development, Inc.
Chesapeake Investment Co. LLC
Law Offices of Remy, Thomas, Moose and Manley, LLP
Law Offices of Tina A. Thomas
Clear Channel Outdoor, Inc
Diepenbrock Harrison, A Professional Corporation
Fourth Quarter Properties 100, L1
Hurley Construction, Inc.
Paragary Family Trust
Sacramento Natural Gas Storage, LLC
Taylor & Wiley, A Professional Corporation
Yellow Cab Co. of Sacramento

Stage one of 2010 Amgen tour to end at Capitol

2010-02-10T05:51:19Z

"For us domestic riders, this is our Tour de France," Chris Jones said of the Amgen Tour of California. "It's the biggest race of our year," added the 31-year-old cyclist from Auburn.

Jones and Michael Sayers, a retired professional rider, are Amgen tour veterans. They joined John McCasey, Sacramento Sports Commission director, at a Tuesday press conference at Mason's Restaurant. They introduced the tour's first stage -- from Nevada City to Sacramento -- with Mayor Kevin Johnson and Councilmen Ray Tretheway and Steve Cohn also in attendance.

The event kicked off with a video that provided a glimpse of the scenery cyclists will see when they ride from Nevada City to Sacramento on May 16.

Several months ago, fans learned via Twitter that Lance Armstrong and Levi Leipheimer will race again this year. Starting Monday, preview videos began revealing each stage with aerial shots and and cyclists giving first-person accounts. The videos will continue to be released on YouTube and amgentourofcalifornia.com, two per day, until Friday. Each stage log, with turn-by-turn directions, will also be available on the Amgen tour website.

"Nevada City, the start this year, has a rich history," said Sayers, who is a Sacramento native. "Some of the biggest names in American cycling have competed in the Nevada City (Bicycle Classic), and I think it's a big honor that the race is giving Nevada City a few circuits before the stage starts."

After several miles in Nevada City, the 104.2-mile day will take riders through Grass Valley, Placer County and Meadow Vista before entering Auburn.

"My favorite part is going through Auburn about two blocks from my house," said Jones. "Then we'll head over the (Foresthill) Bridge."

Jones explained in the stage-one preview video that the Foresthill Bridge is the tallest in California. Built in 1973 to accompany the never-built Auburn Dam, the bridge provides breathtaking canyon views 738 feet above the American River.

Aside from a 1,500-foot climb to Cool, cyclists will continue downhill through El Dorado County into East Sacramento, before finishing at L and 11th streets. The stage will favor sprinters, and close to the finish line, cyclists may reach up to 40 mph. Streets will be closed to traffic along the entire stage route, details available here.

Sacramento will host free events May 16, McCasey said, including the mayor's ridealong in the morning and festival sponsor Anschutz Entertainment Group's Lifestyle Festival, from noon to 4:30 p.m. Stage two of the tour will feature a 109.5-mile ride from Davis to Santa Rosa.

The local economic impact of the Amgen tour is considerable.

"You're talking about $8 million," said Mayor Kevin Johnson. "Quality of life, a free family event, 80,000 people downtown, and we'll all look like Chris (Jones) if we cycle enough."

Photos 4 and 5 credit Anthony Bento.

Councilman Ray Tretheway's goals for 2010

2010-02-06T20:51:02Z

Councilman Ray Tretheway’s key goals for 2010 are in response to problems caused by the poor economy. He said he plans to concentrate on public safety, jobs and foreclosure.

Tretheway’s priorities are listed here as part of a series of stories on council members’ top three goals for 2010. Links to the stories are at the end of this article.

The Sacramento Press made repeated requests to interview Councilman Rob Fong, but he was unavailable.

Tretheway represents District 1, which includes North and South Natomas and Alkali Flat. He is running for re-election in June against Efren Guttierrez, a real estate broker, and Angelique Ashby, a partner in a consulting firm that contracts with government agencies and businesses.

When he is not working on city matters, Tretheway is the executive director of Sacramento Tree Foundation.

Tretheway said his top priority for the year is public safety. He puts public safety into three categories: police and fire, levees and youth education.

The councilman said he would like to see a federal jobs bill signed into law. If it passes, then perhaps local police and fire services will receive federal funding to maintain existing jobs and add new positions, he said.

“To that end, hopefully the Obama administration jobs bill will pass.”

At the local level, Tretheway said there will be a groundbreaking next month for a fire station in Natomas that would serve residents on the west side of Interstate 5.

He said he also plans to focus on levee improvements, calling the barriers a public safety issue.

Tretheway noted that his other public safety push will be youth education and services. He cited progress in that area, including two teen clubhouses in Natomas that will open next month; a teen center in the Gardenland/Northgate area that opened last year; and a park affiliated with the Boys and Girls Club that opened in downtown last week.

Tretheway mentioned development in Natomas when he talked about his goal of creating jobs. If the levees were strengthened, then the Federal Emergency Management Agency potentially could release its building moratorium in Natomas, he said.

If FEMA removed its restrictions, there could be “more opportunities for building homes and offices and commercial (buildings)” in Natomas, he said.

Tretheway also said that many jobs will be created as work gets under way on the Township 9 and Railyards development projects.

The councilman said his third goal for the year will be to help residents fight foreclosures. He said he would continue to educate people about the issue at community meetings. “I think that’s going to be something that’s looming over us on the downside,” he said. “But the opportunities are really pretty positive. People have an opportunity to listen ... and find out the avenues for how they can keep their homes.”

Councilman Steve Cohn’s goals are listed here. Read about Councilwoman Lauren Hammond’s priorities here. Councilman Kevin McCarty’s plans are explained here. Learn about Councilwoman Sandy Sheedy’s objectives here. Councilman Robbie Waters’ goals are outlined here. Councilwoman Bonnie Pannell lists her priorities here.

Mayor Kevin Johnson presents his goal for a green initiative here. Johnson announces a goal relating to the building moratorium in Natomas.

Photos by Anthony Bento.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Councilmembers, NBA upset over arena task force comments

2010-02-04T05:53:04Z

Sacramento City Council members and the National Basketball Association are angry or unhappy with comments made Tuesday by the mayor's arena team leader.

Several council members are upset after Sacramento First Task Force co-chair Chris Lehane seemed to be speaking on behalf of the city when he called the NBA's previous attempts to get an arena built here "air balls" and made other comments on the organization's website blog Tuesday morning.

Council members Ray Tretheway and Rob Fong responded to Lehane's comments at the end of Tuesday night's City Council meeting.

"I was terribly embarrassed by the disrespectful message that publicly humiliated the commissioner of basketball that came out of Sacramento First," said Tretheway, whose district includes Downtown, proposed as one potential location for a new arena. "The NBA officially has been a great partner with the city — a longtime partner."

At least two other council members privately said they were upset over the comments, he added Wednesday.

NBA Commissioner David Stern and consultant John Moag, who owns the sports investment banking firm Moag & Co., spent two years working on a plan to build the new arena at Cal Expo. Three weeks ago, Moag and Stern, together with the Maloofs and local developers, pitched a new plan to build the arena in the Downtown railyards.

Mayor Kevin Johnson, once an NBA star, formed the volunteer task force three months ago to expedite development of a new arena to spur the city's economic growth — which he has identified as top priorities. Johnson has said he'd like the arena built Downtown and that the railyards would be one possible site. While playing for the Phoenix Suns, he saw Phoenix get revitalized after he helped bring an arena to that city's downtown.

Johnson recruited task force co-chair Lehane, a San Francisco political and public relations strategist who was dubbed one of the "masters of disaster" for his work controlling damage during President Bill Clinton's administration. Lehane is volunteering on the task force, as are 11 others, who work in business, finance, politics, development and labor.

Tuesday night, Fong said the task force's efforts should not be disregarded. However, he, Tretheway and other council members don't like the way Lehane's comments seemed to be representing the official city position.

“I do think lines get crossed when they pretend to speak for the city of Sacramento because it is a volunteer effort," Fong said. “If at some point, if the city of Sacramento is to be the lead agency, so to speak, on arena efforts, then it really should be the city of Sacramento that’s speaking on its own behalf.”

Lehane is expected to discuss the start of the task force's four-week proposal-review process at a press conference at 11 a.m. Thursday at the Citizen Hotel, 926 J St.

His comments that upset council members were made Tuesday in a blog post, where he explained the NBA's support for one of seven Sacramento arena proposals doesn't guarantee that plan will be adopted by the task force or the city.

The NBA and other development teams have been "lobbying public officials" and "putting out their spin." But the sports and entertainment center task force is just starting to evaluate the proposals and doesn't want to "give the public the bum's rush," Lehane blogged.

“Since 2006, the NBA has ‘endorsed’ two other proposals that never came to fruition. Just because a deal may sound like a lay-up to the NBA doesn't mean it is a finger roll for Sacramento," he wrote. “Despite well-meaning work over the years, the NBA has shot two air balls in its past efforts — the city needs to make sure that this process results in a slam dunk for the public.”

Lehane's comments were later released to reporters. On Tuesday, Tretheway and Fong spoke to NBA representatives, including someone working for Moag. Those representatives "confirmed how upset the NBA was," Tretheway said.

The NBA and Moag did not wish to respond publicly to Lehane's comments.

"We're not going to comment," said Karen Skelton of the Boston-based public relations firm Dewey Square Group, which represents Moag and the NBA.

Johnson didn't respond to Tretheway's and Fong's concerns at the council meeting. Earlier that day, neither he nor his staff would discuss Lehane's comments or any lobbying that has been going on.

But Jeremiah Jackson, a task force project coordinator, said lobbying on behalf of certain proposals won't change the arena team's mission as the task force begins weighing all the proposals.

"We know the NBA will support a deal that works for them," he said. "But we want to make sure Sacramento gets behind a deal that works for us."

The NBA is a partner in a plan spearheaded by developer Gerry Kamilos. The NBA and Moag are negotiating on behalf of the Maloofs, who own the Sacramento Kings franchise and its current home, Arco Arena.

The plan proposes building a 19,000-seat sports and entertainment arena at the Downtown railyards on land donated by the city. That project would be financed in part by the group's ability to buy Cal Expo and developing a mixed-use, master-planned neighborhood there, Moag said. The group also proposes the city and the Maloofs turn Arco Arena and the adjacent land over to the state for the new fairgrounds, and that the city forgive a $68.5 million loan to the Maloofs.

Tuesday night, council members directed the city manager's office to draft a letter for the council "to reaffirm how much we value the partnership and long-time support of the NBA to have an NBA team in Sacramento," Tretheway said Wednesday.

Development teams will make half-hour presentations to the task force in two weeks. The task force is expected to make recommendations to the mayor on March 11.

Vote for your preferred location for a sports and entertainment arena at sacramentofirst.org.

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for the Sacramento Press. Sacramento Press reporter Kathleen Haley contributed to this report.

Stockton Boulevard: A Little Saigon in Sacramento

2010-02-04T02:57:20Z

Tuesday night's City Council meeting featured dancing, cheering and even crying. The excitement anticipated the City Council's unanimous vote for the area on Stockton Boulevard between between Riza Avenue and Fruitridge Road to be named Little Saigon.

Councilman Kevin McCarty, whose district includes the one-and-a-half-mile stretch of Little Saigon, proposed the vote to the City Council in January after months of public input from South Sacramento business owners and community members. It's now the city's inaugural cultural district.

Starting at 5 p.m. Tuesday, hundreds of Vietnamese and supporters of the campaign for Little Saigon began filling the city council chamber for a pre-council-meeting reception. The group included, among others, a Korean pastor, Vietnam War veterans, monks, several busloads of Vietnamese from South Sacramento, a nine-member Little Saigon committee, councilmen McCarty and Rob Fong as well as Mayor Kevin Johnson.

Many were holding American flags, waving South Vietnamese flags and wearing pins which read "I ♥ Little Saigon."

"This is an important recognition that is long overdue," McCarty said in a conversation before the council meeting. "In the last decade you've seen this stream of revitalization and it's a large part because of these Vietnamese businesses, so calling it Little Saigon is an important thing to do. Having a certain spotlight on this one ethnic group helps bring positive attention."

He also explained that 100 years ago, Stockton Boulevard was a thriving transportation corridor and the main connecting road between Sacramento and Stockton — hence the name.

Rob Fong joined McCarty to speak at the reception. He said before addressing the crowd that this is a completely different deal than an unofficial designation like the "historic Chinatown" between Third and Fifth and along I and J streets.

"Little Saigon is heavily populated with Southeast Asian businesses," he said. "A lot of our Southeast Asian community lives out in that area, and it's a natural positive move for the city of Sacramento."

California State Assemblyman Van Tran from Orange County — the site of the oldest and largest Little Saigon in the U.S. — and SMUD board director Nancy Bui were among the Vietnamese community leaders who spoke to the gatherers in Vietnamese.

Bryan Ngo, a 39-year-old office worker, said he often travels to Stockton Boulevard to get a bite to eat or go shopping, and feels the recognition of Little Saigon is long overdue.

"It's very good for the people around there, and it's time for us to be united," he said. "As soon as I heard about (the campaign) a couple months ago, I volunteered a few hours to help."

Nhon "Neo" Trinh, who has owned Design Copy Print Center on Stockton Boulevard for the last nine years, has seen the growth of the area firsthand.

"It changed a lot," he said. "New buildings and businesses have helped the area grow. Years ago, there was a lot of prostitution, but it's been better since the Vietnamese dominated the area."

But will new signage and the name Little Saigon continue to improve business in the area?

"Yes, it helps and everybody needs it," said Trinh, who is also the fundraising and sponsorship chair on the Little Saigon Committee. "It's branding, so when people think to get Vietnamese or Chinese food, they'll go there. People love the name, and tourists on the highway can see signs for it, too."

Before the City Council's unanimous decision, teary-eyed councilman and Vietnam Veteran Ray Tretheway described what the name meant to him.

"Tonight, you've truly empowered me, and now I know why I was there," he said. "You really captured for me that you're willing to build a legacy with us in America. Thank you."

His statements drew applause from the audience.

An adjacent half mile of Stockton Boulevard is expected to be approved as part of Little Saigon Feb. 9 by Sacramento County supervisors. A Feb. 13 ribbon-cutting ceremony is tentatively scheduled for 10 a.m. on the corner of Stockton Boulevard and Riza Avenue to coincide with the Vietnamese New Year (Tết) celebration, said a representative from McCarty's office.

Kathleen Haley contributed to this article.

Sacramento Pride Moves to Capitol Mall

2010-01-27T23:06:24Z

The Sacramento Pride Festival, an annual event that brings thousands of attendees from throughout California, will be held for the first time on Capitol Mall in 2010, Bill Otton, interim director of the Sacramento Gay & Lesbian Center, announced this week. The Pride Festival and Parade will be held Saturday, June 19.

Established in 1984, the day-long lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) pride festival has been held at Sacramento’s Southside Park for the past several years. Otton said the move to the Capitol Mall site will generate renewed excitement for an event that dates back to the early years of the gay civil rights movement in Sacramento and help bring attention to the role of the gay community in Sacramento civic life.

“We’re thrilled to be holding Sacramento Pride at Capitol Mall in 2010,” Otton said. “We’re focusing on Sacramento Pride as California’s Capital Pride celebration this year. With a view of the Capitol dome on one side and the historic Tower Bridge over the Sacramento River on the other, the Mall’s location helps us make that point in a tangible, visual way.”

Sacramento Pride is produced by the Sacramento Gay & Lesbian Center (http://www.saccenter.org) and is the largest source of funding for Center programs, which include services for at-risk youth, a free legal clinic, HIV/AIDS support services, transgender support services and numerous discussion groups and other activities for LGBT adults.

Otton also announced that the Center has contracted with Fred Palmer and Outword Magazine (http://www.outwordmagazine.com) as the sales and marketing agent for corporate sponsorships for both the Center and Sacramento Pride.

Sacramento Pride has launched an expanded marketing and outreach effort for 2010 in an attempt to boost attendance and corporate sponsorships that includes a new logo and website (http://www.sacramentopride.org) designed by graphic design firm Uptown Studios.

Major corporate sponsors of Sacramento Pride and the Center include Wells Fargo, Rainbow Chamber of Commerce of Sacramento, The Hewlett Packard Company, Outword Magazine and Uptown Studios.

The 2010 Sacramento Pride Committee, Chaired by business owner Josh Jacoby, has worked closely with city officials to develop logistical plans for festival infrastructure and security. Jacoby is founder and owner of two Roseville-based businesses, TechMarketing Autopilot and InnovaCrew Technology Services.

City Councilmember Ray Tretheway, who represents Downtown Sacramento, said holding the festival at Capitol Mall supports the city’s goal of bringing people and vitality to the downtown area.

“Sacramento’s LGBT community is essential to making this city a great place to live, work and play,” said Councilmember Tretheway. “The State Capitol and Tower Bridge will be the perfect backdrop as thousands of people from throughout the state and nation gather to celebrate our capital’s annual pride festival.”

Jacoby said the Pride Committee expects to increase festival attendance, which has approached 10,000 in previous years, as well as the number of festival exhibitors, which exceeded 220 booths in 2009.

“Our beautiful Capitol is an attraction to people from all over the state,” Jacoby said. “LGBT Californians are very proud of our state and its commitment to diversity and inclusion. Celebrating Sacramento Pride in the shadow of the Capitol reflects our community’s pride in being citizens of this great state.”

For more information about Sacramento Pride, visit http://www.sacramentopride.org or call 916-442-0185, Ext. 139.

City Council supports idea of ethics commission

2010-01-20T06:29:20Z

The Sacramento City Council likes the idea of an ethics commission.

Councilmembers decided Tuesday to examine possibilities for a future ethics committee. The proposal to research ideas for an ethics commission came from the city’s Charter Review Committee.

Councilman Kevin McCarty said in a message after the meeting that he had suggested that the Charter Review Committee analyze ideas for an ethics commission.

Councilwoman Sandy Sheedy spoke in favor of the idea, saying that an ethics committee would be a way to ensure “sunshine and bright light.”

***

Underground tours in Old Sacramento are likely on the horizon.

The City Council unanimously decided Tuesday to loan the Historic Old Sacramento Foundation $185,000 to launch public guided tours of Old Sacramento’s underground sidewalks. The foundation expects to hold the tours on summer weekends.

Councilman Ray Tretheway called the underground sidewalks “a fantastic attraction.”

Photo by Anthony Bento.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Chamber Kicks Off 'Keep Arena In Natomas' Campaign

2010-01-17T17:11:20Z

City councilman Ray Tretheway, District One, takes the podium Saturday at a press conference held by the Natomas Chamber of Commerce to launch its "Keep the Arena In Natomas" campaign.

The Chamber has gone on record criticizing the NBA and Maloof family for endorsing a complex land swap proposal that would move the arena to the railyards downtoan and the state fairgrounds to Natomas. The Chamber backs a proposal to build a new sports and entertainment complex on 100-acres adjacent to the existing site.

Says Natomas business owner and chamber board member Marni Leger, "We don't want the door to be shut just because the NBA has annointed one proposal."

Photo by LARRY RODDA/PhreePhotography.COM

Johnson reviews his first year as mayor

2009-12-03T06:03:01Z

Mayor Kevin Johnson has been at the helm of the city for one full year.

Johnson made remarks to reporters Tuesday about his past year in office, saying that his volunteer program and a drop in crime are among his accomplishments, and that the city’s business climate and City Council disagreements are some of his shortfalls. His one-year anniversary as mayor was Dec. 2.

“I’ve been in office 365 days,” Johnson said at his Tuesday meeting with reporters. “And I’m just as excited today as when I got elected.”

Johnson cited the city’s falling homicide rate and federal stimulus funding for police as achievements. The city was awarded more than $12 million in federal stimulus funds for police, Johnson noted. “That’s going to allow us to put even more police officers on the street in the next three years,” he said.

Of the roughly $12 million for the police department, $9.5 million is for hiring and $2.5 million is for equipment.

Johnson also said Tuesday that the city’s homicide rate has dropped significantly.

Sacramento Police Department spokesman Norm Leong said Wednesday that homicides have declined this year during the period of Jan. 1 to Dec. 2.

In that timeline last year, the city reported 45 homicides, according to Leong. By comparison, there have been 26 homicides during that period this year, Leong said. Sacramento police have solved 21 homicides this year, he pointed out.

Johnson said his work on community service and volunteerism is another one of his accomplishments. His program Volunteer Sacramento had an original goal to clock 500,000 service hours, he said. Volunteers surpassed the goal and gave 800,000 hours of their time, Johnson added.

“Again, when you have a down economy, you have to call on the regular citizens to step up and they were able to do that in a very significant manner,” he said.

Johnson also identified shortfalls in his first year. The city “took a step backwards” when it came to fostering a positive climate for businesses, he said.

Michael Faust, senior vice president of public policy and economic development at the Sacramento Metro Chamber of Commerce, said “divisive politics” - not Johnson - are to blame for the city being less friendly to business than it could be.

Under City Manager Ray Kerridge’s leadership and programs like the Facilities Permit Program (FPP), the city “became known as a great place to do business,” Faust said.

But recent battles over Nestlé’s move to Sacramento and the national press attention to the issue sends a negative message to companies that may be interested in relocating to Sacramento, he added.

“It’s been very disappointing,” Faust said.

Johnson also said working relationships at the City Council have been a problem. The council has not functioned as well as he would have liked, Johnson said.

“It’s been frustrating, to say the least,” he said. “I think we’ve allowed differences and petty issues to get in the way. I campaigned with a commitment to try to make an environment where it’s not business-as-usual. And that’s an area certainly I have to improve.”

Johnson further said he wanted to improve relationships among councilmembers.

“I’ve got to do a better job and see if I can get us more collaborative and having more of a collegial relationship when we don’t agree on issues,” he said.

Councilman Ray Tretheway responded to Johnson’s comments Wednesday.

“I think I’ve witnessed both petty issues as well as large philosophical issues,” Tretheway said. “It’s a combination.”

Tretheway said that more communication is needed. If Johnson wants to work toward better communication with councilmembers, that effort would be welcomed, he said.

“I think all of us would want to take advantage of that offer,” Tretheway said.

Tretheway acknowledged that the debate over Johnson’s strong mayor initiative, which councilmembers do not support, has played a role in terms of the council’s communications with Johnson. The strong mayor debate “has been a factor in the inability to have full communications,” Tretheway said.

As Johnson moves into his second year, he said jobs will be his key focus. “Everything I do next year will have a lens of job creation in mind,” he said. “Jobs, jobs, jobs.”

Photos by Anthony Bento.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

City Attorney finds "additional issues" to investigate

2009-11-25T06:23:01Z

The Sacramento City Council’s audit committee will be busy for awhile.

During a Tuesday night briefing on an investigation into the city’s approval of 35 building permits in a Natomas flood zone, City Attorney Eileen Teichert told the City Council there are more issues to address. She identified one of the issues as the Facilities Permit Program (FPP), but declined to specify the other issues.

“During the course of these initial interviews and documentary review, additional issues have arisen,” Teichert told the City Council.

The FPP became controversial in a recent debate over Nestlé’s move to set up a bottling plant in Sacramento. In three weeks, the city attorney’s office will deliver a report to the City Council on issues related to the FPP, Teichert said.

The office will also give recommendations on how to revise the program to align to related laws, she said.

In addition to the FPP, the city attorney’s office has found other issues, according to Teichert. In response to questions from reporters after the meeting, she did not describe the new issues. However, she said information about the issues would be reported back publicly to the City Council as “as soon as we’re ready to reach some conclusions on them.”

The City Council’s audit committee will analyze some of these additional issues “where it’s appropriate, where it’s more of a systemic or a process issue,” Teichert said

Members of the audit committee include Councilmembers Steve Cohn, Ray Tretheway, Lauren Hammond and Robbie Waters. The committee is currently working on an audit of the Community Development Department; the new issues will be added to the committee’s plate, according to Teichert.

The briefing Teichert delivered Tuesday was not her final opinion on the Natomas building permits issue — it was an update on the investigative work being carried out by her office and Renee Sloan Holtzman Sakai, a third-party firm. The city attorney’s office and the outside firm are reviewing documents and a database and holding interviews. Teichert’s office and the third-party firm are trying to find out if the 35 permits in question are an “isolated incident,” Teichert said.

“We still have some additional legwork to solidify that conclusion,” she said.

Bikes on K Street

The City Council likes bikes on K Street.

Councilmembers unanimously approved a rule change on Tuesday that will let bicyclists ride on the K Street pedestrian mall.

“If you want people to try alternative modes, you’ve got to make it a little more convenient for people,” said Councilman Steve Cohn.

Councilman Ray Tretheway praised the timing of the rule change. “It really seems like the time is right to put bicycles back on K Street,” Tretheway said.

Specifically, people will be able to bicycle on K Street from 13th Street to 7th Street and from 4th Street to 2nd Street. The Westfield Downtown Plaza will continue to be a no-bicycle zone.

Photo by Anthony Bento.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Full time City Council? Members weigh in on idea

2009-11-20T06:22:27Z

Two members like the idea. Two are opposed. A fifth thinks it’s not a high priority.

These five members of the Sacramento City Council gave their views Thursday on a recommendation from an advisory group to make the council positions full time. The City Council has nine members because it includes the mayor. Currently, eight City Council positions are part time, while the mayor serves full time.

Councilmembers earn $52,000 per year.

The full-time recommendation comes from the city’s Charter Review Committee. Councilwoman Lauren Hammond asked the committee to study the topic.

Council positions are “full-time work,” Hammond said. Sacramento has become a big city and councilmembers should be able to concentrate full-time on their their jobs, she noted.

And it’s difficult “to go back and forth from one job to the other,” she said.

Hammond’s sole job now is councilmember. She worked for more than two decades as a telecommunications contract administrator for the state Senate.

Hammond said she doesn’t think the idea should be put into effect now because a salary adjustment would be involved.

“I think when the economy gets better -- I think that would be a better time to discuss it,” Hammond said.

Councilwoman Bonnie Pannell also favors the idea, echoing Hammond’s comments that Sacramento’s growth makes being a councilmember a more difficult job. “Several of us already work more than forty hours a week,” she said. Pannell’s sole employment is with the City Council.

Councilmembers Rob Fong and Steve Cohn are opposed to the full-time councilmember idea. “I think for someone like myself, it’s certainly important to be able to have another career,” Fong said. “It’s tough to raise a family on a councilman’s salary.”

He noted, though, that the committee recommends that full-time councilmembers could have outside incomes.

Fong works as a consultant for clients that include the California Democratic Party.

Cohn said he thought it was unnecessary to make the post a full-time job. He said he doesn’t see why there would be a need to “preclude people from having outside interests.” Cohn is an attorney for the Sacramento Municipal Utilities District. In response to a question he said he is SMUD’s “No. 2” attorney.

Councilman Ray Tretheway said the committee’s idea of a full-time City Council is a second-tier issue following other pressing key issues such as the city’s governance structure. He is the executive director of the Sacramento Tree Foundation.

Photo by Anthony Bento.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

City Council likes idea of Capitol Mall makeover

2009-11-11T06:41:58Z

The idea is non-controversial among members of the City Council: They all support the concept of a makeover for Capitol Mall.

And, they all like the idea of the city hosting a design competition for a remodel of the Mall from the riverfront to 9th Street.

The City Council gave its unanimous support to the fledgling plan, which was presented by Beth Tincher of the Economic Development Department Tuesday night. The details of the design competition would be crafted by city staff, the American Institute of Architects and stakeholders, according to a Nov. 10 city staff report.

Councilman Steve Cohn said he and council colleague Ray Tretheway have been working on the plan for a future revamping of Capitol Mall.

“But the whole idea would be to add value to Capitol Mall so that some of the stakeholders could chip in with whatever these streetscape costs might be,” Cohn said. “And I think it’s something that’s really going to tie in well with what we’re trying to do on the waterfront, with the Crocker [Museum], with K Street and with the Railyards.”

Details on funding for the project have not been decided. However, the Nov. 10 report notes that the city and the architects’ institute want to “solicit contributions to conduct the design competition and for the preparation of the Capitol Mall Plan and specific project design. Staff will report back to City Council if any city funds are requested.”

A working group of stakeholders suggested ideas for the remodel, such as setting up "iconic" art installations and creating additional public space, according to the report.

John Packowski, a Sacramento marketing and architectural design professional, urged the council to move ahead with the plan, despite the poor economy.

“There [are] going to be a lot of people that think we’re completely insane doing this with the current budget crisis that we have,” Packowski said. “But projects like this take time; they take a lot of energy ... but this is your chance to really get onto something that the public can latch onto and build something for generations to come.”

Read the report on the plan here.

Photo by Anthony Bento.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

City Council 2010: How to follow the money

2009-11-06T04:53:29Z

It’s election season in Sacramento — do you know how to follow the money in the 2010 City Council campaigns? You can get the scoop on campaign contributions through the city of Sacramento’s Online Campaign Statement System.

The system, which is free and open to the public, provides information on contributions to City Council candidates.

Assistant City Clerk Stephanie Mizuno gave tips Thursday on navigating the online system.

In the past, Mizuno said, the public would have to appear in person to request campaign information. “In this case, you can do it at home, at your computer.”

There is a link to the online system at the city clerk’s website under the heading “Elections & Campaigns.” Click on the link titled “Online Campaign Statement System.”

That goes to a page with the following heading: “Welcome to the City of Sacramento Electronic Filing System.” Here, is the “Public Access Portal.”

Click on the “Get Started Now” link at the Public Access Portal.

This will take you to a page with a heading that reads: “Welcome to the City of Sacramento Public Portal for Campaign Finance Disclosure.”At the bottom of this page is a heading titled “Browse Candidates & Measures by Election.”

To learn about campaign contributions for the June 8, 2010 election, click on the plus sign for the heading titled “06/08/2010 Primary Election.” Then, click on the plus sign next to the heading titled “Candidates.” You can now click on plus signs for the four City Council districts.

You’ll see the following candidates for City Council District 1: Angelique Ashby, Lisa Kaplan and Ray Tretheway. The candidates under the “City Council D3” heading are Steve Cohn and Shawn Eldredge.

City Council District District 5 shows seven candidates: Kasey Cotulla, Lauren Hammond, Henry Harry, Terrence Johnson, Patrick Kennedy, Jameel Pugh and Jay Schenirer.

The four candidates listed under the heading for City Council District 7 are Ryan Chin, Darrell Fong, John Puente and Robbie Waters.

You can click on the names of each candidate to learn about their campaign contributions.

For example, if you click on "Angelique Ashby," you’ll arrive at a page that shows the forms Ashby has filed. Ashby is a partner in a consulting firm that contracts with government agencies and businesses.

Click on the word “View” for Ashby’s Form 460. You’ll be taken to a 10-page PDF document that lists her contributors and the amounts they gave. For example, you can read that retired Davis resident Patricia Grafton contributed $1,500 to Ashby’s campaign.

The 460 forms “are the ones you want to watch for,” Mizuno said. “Those are the ones that have detail in them.”

Other critical information on Form 460 includes the candidate’s contributions, expenditures, current cash statement, cash equivalents and debts. For example, Ashby received $10,274 in contributions from Jan. 1 to June 30. Her ending cash balance for that period was $9,220.26.

Five of the candidates don’t have 460 forms in the online system. Mizuno explained that those candidates opened their campaign committee after July 1, which means their deadline for the 460 forms is Jan. 31. Look for 460 forms in January from Darrell Fong, Jameel Pugh, Steve Cohn, Shawn Eldredge and Henry Harry.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Mayor, councilmembers clash over charter committee

2009-11-04T07:11:35Z

Councilmembers clashed with Mayor Kevin Johnson over the usefulness of the Charter Review Committee’s work after the committee presented its final recommendations on city governance Tuesday. Johnson and Councilwoman Lauren Hammond questioned the value of the charter’s work, while Councilmembers Ray Tretheway, Kevin McCarty and Sandy Sheedy called for the 11-member committee to keep working past its deadline so that it can address additional issues.

The 11-member committee is advising the City Council to keep the city’s current council/manager form of government. The committee’s recommendations oppose the strong mayor form of government that would be established if voters approve an initiative in June.

The City Council listened to the committee’s presentation but did not take any actions. After Tuesday’s discussion, it remains unclear if the City Council will decide to try to create an initiative to place before voters.

The committee’s work is planned to sunset in late January, according to Supervising Deputy City Attorney Matt Ruyak.

The City Council had earlier moved up the committee’s deadline for its work on issues relating to the strong mayor issue.

Johnson said the committee’s recommendations offered no substantial policy change. Community members “don’t want to wait” for the committee to continue working on city governance issues. “This is an extension of business as usual from my perspective,” he said.

Hammond also criticized the committee’s recommendations. “It’s basically the status quo with a little tweak,” she said.

Committee chair William Edgar said the committee was willing to stand behind its recommendations even though it did not have enough time to examine further issues including outdated and obsolete provisions of the charter, or topics such at-large city council seats.

Sheedy said the committee should have more time. “I think this is half-done,” she said. “I think you need some more time.” Tretheway also said the committee’s work was incomplete. “It’s just like we opened the book and read the first sentence,” he said.

While the committee supports the current government system, it recommends making two changes. One recommended change would enable the mayor to appoint and fire the city manager. The mayor’s choice for city manager would need to be approved by a majority of the City Council, according to the committee’s recommendation.

The majority of councilmembers must approve the mayor’s decision to fire a city manager, the committee recommends. In addition, a City Council majority would have the power to fire a city manager, according to the committee.

The city manager is appointed by the City Council under the current structure. The City Council currently has the power to fire the city manager.

Another change recommended by the committee would empower the mayor to make policy recommendations for the city’s budget. The City Council would have the power to review the mayor’s policy recommendations, the committee’s recommendation states. Currently, the city manager delivers budget recommendations to the City Council. The committee recommends that the city manager continue to create the budget recommendations that go before the City Council.

Read the committee’s final report here.

By contrast, an initiative will placed before voters in June that would give the mayor much more power than the committee recommends.

Mayor Kevin Johnson and Sacramentans for Accountable Government organized the campaign to put the strong mayor initiative on the ballot.

While the Charter Review Committee made recommendations and Sacramentans for Accountable Government developed an initiative, Sacramento citizens will have the power to decide whether the city changes its government system. That’s because changes to Sacramento’s city charter must be placed before voters.

If Sacramento voters approve the initiative, the mayor would take over the city manager’s duties. He or she would gain many other new powers, including the ability to create the budget and hire hundreds of city staffers.

Photo by Anthony Bento.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Tree Foundation to receive funding for jobs

2009-10-16T03:56:50Z

A non-profit group that promotes an “urban forest” through programs to plant and maintain trees is likely to receive a $750,000 federal stimulus grant to hire additional staffers. The Sacramento Tree Foundation has been selected to receive the American Recovery and Reinvestment grant and is ironing out the details for how it plans to use the money.

The federal stimulus dollars will be distributed through the U.S. Forest Service and will be administered through California ReLeaf, a Davis-based environmental group.

“We’re privileged as well as excited to receive the grant from the Forest Service,” said City Councilman Ray Tretheway, who is the foundation’s executive director. “It hits at an acute time where non-profits are normally struggling.”

The money has already been secured, said Martha Ozonoff, executive director of California ReLeaf. The funding will be obtained through reimbursements and the billing process will likely begin in December, according to Ozonoff and Tretheway. The grant program will last through early 2010, Ozonoff said.

The foundation is pinning down the specifics of how it plans to use the money. The funding is for jobs, but the total number of positions and the job descriptions have not yet been settled. The foundation wants to use the money to hire four staffers, Tretheway said. Resources such as equipment and vehicles to carry out the work would also be part of the proposal for the $750,000 in funding, he said.

However, Ozonoff said she wants to work with the foundation to see if more than four jobs can be created.

Tretheway envisions that four staffers would be regional coordinators for the foundation’s Greenprint initiative, which he explains is a framework for building “the best urban forest” in the region. One of the main framework objectives is to double the tree canopy in the region by 2025, Tretheway said. The undertaking will require planting 5 million trees in the following six counties: Sacramento, El Dorado, Placer, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

"100 Years of Hosteling" celebration at The Sacramento Hostel

2009-08-27T02:21:32Z

Tuesday night over 150 people showed up at The Sacramento Hostel for Hosteling International's "100 Years of Hosteling" celebration. Along with free Leatherby's Creamery ice cream, the gatherers also enjoyed a hostel tour, silent auction and live jazz.

Special guest appearances were made by City Councilmember Ray Tretheway and former mayor Heather Fargo. Fargo was honored for her work saving the mansion with a plaque, a dedication ceremony and special "thank you."

Housed in a beautiful feat of architecture, the hostel resides in the semi-Victorian (with more geometric shapes than is customary in a Victorian) Llewelyn Williams Mansion built in 1885. After Williams' death, the mansion was bought in 1906, and made the first of three moves, from the corner of H and 10th streets, to the middle of the block of H Street between 10th and 11th streets.

There it was used as a funeral home until 1979, when the mansion was sold to developers who wanted to demolish the building to make way for a high-rise.

Years of lobbying to save the mansion paid off when in 1990, with the help of then-mayor Fargo and numerous others, a deal was made to move the building instead of destroying it. So in 1994, hundreds watched as the building was lifted off the ground and rolled across the street.

The mansion was restored, and in 1995 became a hostel. But in the years that followed, it was decided that the new City Hall needed to be built on the lot where the hostel resided.

So in 2002, large trucks once again moved the mansion back to its original location on the corner of H and 10th streets, where it resides now, only six feet from where it started.

Decked out in Victorian-style vest, coat, trousers and even top hat, hostel manager Steve Haynes explained the mansion's history on a tour Tuesday night. He also gave a description of the building's internal structure.

"The wood is all redwood, finished to look like mahogany, chandeliers are gas and electric and the wallpaper is painted over," he said. "Carvings of classical figures Saturn and Ops can be found in the dining room, and the atrium has a painted glass ceiling."

He also described the layout of the hostel. It has 80 beds in 21 rooms, "depending on what you call a room," he said.

Most of the rooms are "dorms" and have four to 10 bunks all priced at less than $50 per night, while seven private rooms, which range from $50 to $100 per night have only one bed. The most expensive room even has its own bathroom.

For those who would like to view the mansion, the hostel holds Second Saturday events, Haynes said. Besides housing international travelers, it also holds education programs, environmental programs and cooking programs for youth.

The hostel is located at 925 H St. Photographs of the mansion's latest move can be viewed here.

Homelessness: County aims to lessen blow of proposed cuts

2009-05-13T06:33:28Z

The county department that addresses homelessness hopes federal stimulus dollars will help lessen the blow of proposed cuts to its shelter programs, a county official said Tuesday.

Bruce Wagstaff, director of Sacramento County’s Department of Human Assistance, said the department is working with the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency (SHRA) on plans to alleviate the damage that would be caused if the Board of Supervisors approves proposed cuts.

Sacramento County is proposing to slash funding for three county shelters, which means about 300 beds for homeless people would be cut. The county is grappling with a $187 million deficit, while the city faces a $50 million budget gap.

“We don’t want to take a big step backwards,” Wagstaff told the Sacramento City Council at its Tuesday meeting.

After making his public comments, Wagstaff explained that the new Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP), funded by the federal stimulus package, might help the county’s situation if the Board of Supervisors makes cuts to shelters.

The federal dollars will be used for homeless people to rent housing and for prevention of homelessness.

While HPRP funds are not intended for expenses with shelters, the new federal stimulus funding may free up money in county pots that could be used to address the possible cuts to county shelters, Wagstaff said.

The county is proposing to slash 907 positions. This means that 640 people could be laid off, because the remaining positions are vacant.

County Spokesman Zeke Holst said Tuesday that the numbers of layoffs for the county could change because some county offices may soon announce new numbers.

The Board of Supervisors is holding workshops on the county’s budget crisis Wednesday, May 13, and Thursday, May 14.

Also on May 13, the board is scheduled to address the county’s HPRP application.

Sacramento’s city and county governments will receive about $4.8 million in HPRP funds. The city and county expect to each receive about $2.4 million.

Both local governments can obtain their federal funds Oct. 1 if the federal Housing and Urban Development department signs off on their applications.

Cindy Cavanaugh, assistant director for SHRA, said last month that the city and county are likely to receive the federal funds. She noted then that the city will continue to prepare its program after the application is turned in to HUD on May 18.

At its Tuesday meeting, the City Council unanimously approved the city’s application for the HPRP funding.

Council member Ray Tretheway pointed out that the city and county face good news about the stimulus money and bad news about the possible county cuts. “On the one hand, we’re doing this new intervention in housing,” he said. But on the other hand, the area is facing a “potential collapse” in its support system for homelessness.

Message to constituents of District 1

2009-02-05T00:49:07Z

The following was sent out by Councilman Ray Tretheway of District 1. His office also announced that he will be holding office hours this Saturday, Feb. 7, from 10:30 a.m. til 12:30 p.m. at the recently-opened Natomas Resource Center at the Town Center shopping center. For more information on the office hours, contact Tretheway's office at (916) 808-7001 or email him at rtretheway@cityofsacramento.org.

Dear Neighbor,

Judy & I are looking forward to a lively 2009 with our grandchildren, Peter Fisher & Jack Tretheway.

2008 was an incredible year. District 1 continues to be very robust and diverse. In Sacramento's oldest neighborhood, Alkali Flat, we are constructing a second community garden and a new urban park for the Boys and Girls Club. The four star Citizen Hotel and the entertaining Cosmopolitan complex are open and redefining night life in our downtown core. The Rail Yards and Township 9 are working around the clock on critical infrastructure in anticipation of going vertical.

In Natomas our second library is now vertical and the ground breaking ceremony for the regional headquarters for the Make-A-Wish Foundation was a very moving and special event. And yes, the community rallied once again with the help of the City and local businesses to capture the spirit of community and volunteerism in the rebuild of Fort Natomas at the South Natomas Community Center. Another spectacular long term volunteer effort culminated in the grand opening of the beautiful Rose Garden located just across from Fort Natomas.

On the Sacramento riverfront we are extending the river walk south of Embassy Suites. In Old Sacramento the rebuild of the historic Orleans offers new residential opportunities.

While the above is a sampling of my Districts accomplishments, I also want to include the incredible work of Regional Transit in beginning the first phase of the Downtown-Natomas-Airport light rail line - Sacramento Valley Depot to Richards Boulevard.

May 2009 be filled with continued adventures and blessings.

Sincerely,

Ray Tretheway
Councilmember, District 1