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

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

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

News Analysis It’s a fact: Certain Sacramento city council members are angry with high-level city staffers about their role in current city scandals. The council members’ tense relationship with city staffers was apparent in several harsh remarks made at Tuesday’s City Council meeting. Councilwoman Lauren Hammond directed critical comments toward Utilities Director Marty Hanneman during a debate over issues outlined in a grand jury report. The Jan. 6 report claims the city may not be adhering to Proposition 218, a state law that mandates how city funds are to be used. “I have to tell you: I have no confidence in your cost allocations,” Hammond told Hanneman. “It’s not personal — I just

Developments affecting Mayor Kevin Johnson’s strong mayor initiative have been highly controversial and complex. Several entities have weighed in on the initiative, including the Sacramento City Council, the Sacramento County Superior Court and the Sacramento Charter Review Committee. Government officials, attorneys and citizens have interpreted the initiative in a variety of ways. Here’s a road map to make sense of some of the key events in the strong mayor debate: Johnson’s Day One Plan: Before taking office, Johnson promotes a strong mayor form of government in his “Day One” plan. An executive mayor system would mean that one leader would be accountable, Johnson says. “Explore a cha

Choosing bins for green waste instead of on-the-street pickup saves each eligible resident $3 per month. But if residents want to put their green waste into bins instead of on the street for pickup, it’s not guaranteed they’ll receive bins from the city. That’s because the city is using two separate green-waste pickup systems and bins are not currently available to all residents. However, residents can use the following information to encourage the city to bring bins to their neighborhood. How do I tell the city I want to use bins? Call 311 to inform the city that you want to put your green waste in containers, Utilities Department spokeswoman Jessica Hess said. You can also make a requ

When the Utilities Department recently explored changes to Sacramento’s green waste pickup system, some residents expressed intense opposition to scrapping on-the-street pickup. They said they prefer that method to the use of bins. The city's current methods of green waste pickup are on-the-street pickup and a voluntary bin system. Councilman Steve Cohn and a staffer for Councilman Rob Fong said recently that they support giving all residents the choice of bins over on-the-street pickup. Residents can continue on-the-street pickup and the following information will help. How to opt-out A city employee may leave a green waste bin at your house if your neighborhood has been selected for

The fiery public debate over possible changes to the city of Sacramento’s green waste pickup system has changed course. The City Council was expected to decide in January whether to ask voters to use bins for their green waste. But it will not make a decision on the issue in the immediate future, according to Marty Hanneman, Utilities Department director. The issue of scrapping the on-the-street pickup system has been “pushed back on the table, on the back burner,” he said. For weeks, residents have been debating whether bins should be used instead of on-the-street green waste pickup. Recent reports from city staffers said a bin system would be cheaper and more environmentally responsib

The Sacramento City Council is open to the idea of consolidating some of the services offered by the city and county governments. Councilmembers unanimously decided Tuesday that city staff should analyze the issue over the next 90 days, and then bring their findings to the City Council. The discussion about consolidating services is moving forward as both the city and county struggle with severe budget problems. Councilman Rob Fong strongly supported the idea. If the city and county can have “virtually identical” regulatory processes for businesses, then organizations like the Sacramento Area Commerce & Trade Organization and the city and county’s economic development departments could m

One of the best kept secrets of the South Sacramento area is a small, private school tucked away in the Lanai Shopping Center on Freeport Boulevard, neighboring the Sacramento Executive Airport, where it has existed in rented space for 21 years. Over the years, most of the shopping center tenants have moved away. Meanwhile, countless hours of parent, teacher and student work have gone into transforming a run-down property into a school with colorful classrooms and playgrounds. It has an understated entrance, but Camellia Waldorf School is an oasis for children. The kindergarten yard is home to Mr. Mountain, a big pile of dirt, and Ms. Sandy, a big pile of sand. There are climbing struct

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 shoul

Wednesday night's Newton Booth Neighborhoods Association meeting saw an increase in teenage members. Held at Temple Coffee's 28th and S streets location, the meeting was attended by Country Day high school students and several faculty members, including headmaster Steve Repsher. Though a long permit process lies ahead, the school is closer to the goal of moving into the vacant Newton Booth School, 2600 V St., by August. The neighborhood group consisted of residents from three areas: Poverty Ridge, Newton Booth and Alhambra Triangle. Richard "Bud" Halliday, Newton Booth Neighborhoods Association president, welcomed the school's representatives and invited them to attend future meetings.

Some members of the City Council said Wednesday they were unaware of the permitting program that played a key role in the recent controversy over the Nestlé company’s efforts to set up a water bottling plant in Sacramento. The city closed down its Facilities Permit Program Oct. 27 during the public debate over Nestlé’s plans. Nestlé’s project was greenlighted through the FPP. With the FPP, businesses that work with the city on an ongoing basis can receive quick approval for tenant improvements or remodeling of commercial and industrial buildings, said David Kwong, the city’s planning division director. In the case of Nestlé, the company and its contractors received verbal approval from

Thursday morning, journalist Lisa Ling, members of the City Council and the homeless and formerly-homeless community joined Mayor Kevin Johnson in launching the "Sacramento Steps Forward" initiative. A crowd of several hundred waved blue initiative flags and cheered as Johnson announced his goal "to end homelessness and focus on permanent housing." He applauded permanent housing shelters such as Mercy Housing, Turning Point and Martin Luther King Jr. Village, 3900 47th Avenue, where the launch was held. Johnson said the goal of Sacramento Steps Forward is to provide 2,400 "decent and affordable" permanent housing units over the next three years. That would nearly quadruple the amount of

In the coming months, the city may have three sets of eyes monitoring its books. In addition to the Sacramento City Council’s plans to fill the city’s vacant internal auditor position early next year, the council may bring in two more parties to review the city’s finances, according to members of the Sacramento City Council.  The City Council decided at its Tuesday meeting to start the process of hiring an independent company to audit the city’s finances. The city also plans to fill its currently vacant position for an internal auditor. And, there may be a third set of eyes monitoring the city’s books: Councilman Rob Fong noted that the City Council is likely to approve a proposal from th

Fremont Park will become greener, but its upkeep will also be more difficult. That’s the trade-off that volunteers and local anti-pesticide activists are accepting in order to turn the Midtown park, at 16th and Q streets, into the city’s first pesticide-free park. City Councilman Rob Fong, the Pesticide-Free Sacramento group and the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation organized the new 2-year pilot program at Fremont Park to use green techniques, instead of pesticides, to destroy weeds. The organizers promoted the program at a press conference Tuesday. If the pesticide-free program is successful, the city hopes to expand it to other parks, Fong said. The Fremont Park program shows

The Sacramento Press is publishing a series of documents and e-mails about the city’s planned surveillance system. In May and June e-mails, city officials and staffers were preparing to defend the city’s planned surveillance system against criticism from the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. The city plans to buy a $615,000 surveillance system with 32 security cameras, four mobile surveillance trailers and other related equipment. Sacramento officials announced in April that the city had been chosen to receive Federal Homeland Security grant funds to pay for the surveillance package. However, the city is still waiting for the California Emergency Management Agency to pr

Mayor Kevin Johnson’s proposal to hire an independent company to audit city departments was hotly debated but not resolved by the City Council Tuesday. Johnson has repeatedly said that the City Council in January should have hired an independent firm to audit city departments. The dispute that emerged Tuesday between Mayor Kevin Johnson and Councilman Rob Fong over a new independent audit comes as the city projects future deficits. When the city balanced its budget last month, it closed out a $50 million deficit. However, Finance Director Leyne Milstein estimates that the city will need to address a $30 million deficit in the 2010/2011 fiscal year. Fong and Johnson sparred over the issue

Wednesday, June 17 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Comcast will be holding a high school recognition ceremony on the north steps of the Capitol. Last year the company gave out an average of $1,000 to over 150 12th grade students for higher education. Noon-2 p.m. Ten people from the California Department of Public Health will be manning a public safety booth on the west steps of the Capitol. They will be passing out informational handouts. Thursday, June 18 11 a.m-2 p.m. California Department of Social Services' Multicultural Commission will be holding a World Fair event in the Department of Social Services' quad area. 150 participants are expected to attend. Friday, June 19 10:30 a.m.- Noon Hands in