Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "rob kerth"

Sheedy won't run for re-election in council district 2

2012-01-24T01:29:29Z

On the eve of discussion about her goal of putting arena financing to a public vote, City Councilwoman Sandy Sheedy announced that she will not be running for re-election to her District 2 council seat in June.

“After careful consideration, I have decided not to seek another term on the Sacramento City Council,” Sheedy said in a prepared statement Monday.

Sheedy cited 28 years of public service between herself and her husband, Ted, a former county supervisor, adding, “We feel it’s time to call it a day so we can spend more time with our family.”

Sheedy would have faced at least four other candidates for her council seat in the upcoming election, including former Obama campaign organizer Kim Mack, former human resources manager Sondra Betancourt, developer Allen Wayne Warren and former Midtown Business Association Executive Director Rob Kerth.

“I think anyone who serves the public deserves a thumbs up,” Mack said Monday after hearing the announcement, “but it doesn’t change my campaign at all.”

Betancourt said she understands Sheedy’s desire to spend time with her family, and that it is time for a change in the way District 2 is being managed.

“I see a serious need for the type of leadership that I will bring (to the district),” Betancourt said Monday.

"It’s 'full steam ahead' to the election," she added.

Sheedy thanked city staff and the community in her statement, saying they have made her job easier and more rewarding.

“Now it’s time for someone else to take a turn at the wheel,” Sheedy said.

At the Jan. 3 council meeting, Sheedy asked staff to prepare information about a potential public vote on arena financing. The City Council will take up the item Tuesday.

Melissa Corker is a staff reporter with The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @MelissaCorker.

Betancourt runs for District 2 seat on City Council

2011-12-21T02:09:04Z

Community leader and former human resources manager Sondra Betancourt joined the race for City Council District 2 this week, ready to face a growing field of competitors including business leader and former City Councilman Rob Kerth and incumbent Sandy Sheedy.

Betancourt, a second-generation Sacramentan, said she remembers when the north area of the city was vibrant with many active businesses, churches, schools and neighborhood associations. It is something Betancourt said she would like to see revived not just in her district but throughout the city.

“I see the big picture for the city,” Betancourt, 59, said Monday. “We need to grow and be inviting to businesses, but it has to be smart growth. It has to be done in a way that benefits the whole city.”

Betancourt said that, in addition to encouraging smart growth for the city, her priorities on the City Council would include a focus on public safety and education.

“If we asked anyone in the city, ‘Do you feel safe to go for a walk outside your door?’ I don’t think people would unanimously say, “Oh yeah, I could do that,’ ” she said. “If people don’t feel safe in their city, why would they want to be here?”

Education opportunities for the city’s youth – especially raising literacy levels – is a vital component of a strong city, she added.

“There is so much talent in our community, and we should be encouraging that from an early age and developing it,” Betancourt said. “It starts with elevating the level of literacy in our schools.”

She commends the mayor for his Stand Up initiative, and said she hopes to support the effort and expand it – along with similar programs that benefit youth in the city – if she is elected to the City Council.

“I would never say (Sheedy) hasn’t had some accomplishments during her tenure,” Betancourt said, “but I think it serves the city to have fresh eyes on issues. I think it’s time to ask, ‘How can we make things better?’ ”

Betancourt brings to the race 38 years of experience with the State Personnel Board and the Department of Transportation – positions that required extensive knowledge of government organization and an eye for finding the right “fit” for any position, Betancourt said.

“I think I am a good judge of character,” Betancourt said, “and I know what it means to develop and implement policy.”

“She has the community in mind in everything she does,” Judy Kovanda, former Sacramento Community Service Officer, said Tuesday. “She has basically been a public servant her whole life, and she has fought hard to get things done in her neighborhood when elected officials have ignored the community.”

Kovanda a 16-year veteran of the Sacramento Police Department, has known Betancourt through her community work as president of the Ben Ali Neighborhood Association.

“The businesses in the area love her, and the residents love her,” Kovanda said. “She is dialed in to what is going on in the city, and what is important to her is simply what is important to the city in general, not just her community.”

Sheedy could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Betancourt will make her official candidacy announcement Wednesday and said she plans to begin fundraising immediately.

Melissa Corker is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Pres. Follow her on Twitter @MelissaCorker.

Kim Mack jumps into City Council race with both feet

2011-10-27T01:11:41Z

Kim Mack said she decided to run for City Council District 2 because she saw a need that hasn’t been filled in her North Sacramento community: responsive leadership.

That isn’t necessarily a dig at the current council member for the district, Mack said Tuesday – it’s a statement of purpose.

Mack, 49, has a long career in government service under her belt, including campaign experience as a field organizer for Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign where she was responsible for campaign activities from Bakersfield to the Oregon border.

Mack also worked on local campaigns including Ami Bera's recent run for the 3rd Congressional District and Richard Pan’s successful run for Assembly.

“I believe deeply in grassroots organizing and grassroots activism,” Mack said. “Working on those campaigns proved to me that I was right to believe in that. It showed me that with a little bit of leadership, we can achieve a lot.”

Now, Mack said, it’s her turn to jump into the political arena with both feet.

Although Mack was born in Sacramento, she moved with her parents to Redding as a teen. Mack moved back to Sacramento in 1992 and has lived in District 2 for 13 of the last 19 years.

Vince Mack, Kim’s husband of six years, is a middle school science teacher at Norwood Junior High school who has been teaching in the district for 23 years.

Incumbent Sandy Sheedy will face off against Mack and former Midtown Business Association Executive Director Rob Kerth in the coming City Council election – and more candidates may still enter the field.

“There’s a lot of people that see a vulnerability on Sheedy’s part,” Mack said. “She has not done a lot for the whole of the district. The majority of the district feels neglected, and now there is a resurgence in city activism.”

Mack said grassroots activism is her specialty, and she intends to engage fully in the district to bring people together to discuss community problems and deal with them.

“I am giving full-time focus to my campaign,” Mack said, “and I will be a full-time council person.”

Mack said she thinks it’s important to not be distracted as a council member, so she doesn’t plan to hold another job or serve on other boards or commissions during her time in office, if she wins the election.

“She really knows her community,” said Kimberly Durson, a legal clerk in Grass Valley and a former co-worker during the Obama campaign. “She is emotionally invested in Sacramento and in her neighbors.”

District 2 has large populations of Russian, Laotian, Hmong and African-American families, among others, Mack said.

With so much diversity in a single district, Mack said she feels it is “the responsibility of a leader to create understanding between people in all parts of the community.”

Mack said she wants to go into the community, connect with community leaders and get their input on how they see diverse cultures coming together.

“I want to have an understanding of each culture myself to become a pathway for bringing people together,” Mack said. “I’m not going to presume to know everything about everything.”

Mack said she has strong feelings about some of the policy issues that Sacramento has struggled with recently, including regulating medical marijuana dispensaries, redevelopment, and the recent Occupy Sacramento movement that has been active in Cesar Chavez Plaza for more than three weeks.

“I support the Occupy Sacramento movement,” Mack said. “General citizens need to be given the same consideration as banks have been given.”

However, Mack said she would like to see the movement have “a little more direction,” and for protesters to articulate exactly what they want to accomplish.

“The momentum (the movement) has gained warms my heart,” Mack said, “but now let’s use this strength to make something happen – let’s have a clearer end goal.”

Durson said setting goals and meeting them are Mack’s specialty.

“She is a really good organizer,” Durso said. “She runs a clean campaign – never disorganized or hard to understand what she’s trying to convey.”

Durson said Mack’s ability to work well under pressure will be an asset to her during the upcoming election.

“(Mack) digs in and works through challenges,” Durson said. “She’s been through hard times – her son in the military was deployed to Afghanistan, and she struggled with that. Some things are mind over heart, and she puts her head down and works hard to get through tough situations.”

When it comes to medical marijuana, Mack said she supports the voters’ decision to make it legal in California – as long as decisions about locations of dispensaries are well thought out.

“I support the law, but let’s be smart about it, and let’s be safe about it,” Mack said. “Industrial areas? Fine. Near schools and homes? No. We can be smart about how we approach it.”

Samantha Corbin, a friend who worked with Mack on local campaigns for Ami Bera for Congress and Dr. Richard Pan for Assembly, said Mack is “unique” in her commitment to finding “real solutions to real community problems.”

“She has a skill for helping voters find and tell their stories that makes her a perfect candidate for local office,” Corbin said. “She is a true community advocate.”

Mack said her fundamental priority – outside of restoring pride and empowering the community – is restoring city police and fire departments.

“Public safety is the top priority of municipalities,” Mack said. “I can tell you with 99.9 percent accuracy that I will never vote to lay off police officers and fire personnel.”

“Ordinary people doing extraordinary things.” Mack said that’s her favorite Obama quote – and it is exactly what she sees as the future of District 2.

“It might take more than four years; it might take more than eight years,” Mack said, “but you will see noticeable difference with me in office because there will be someone in the community, working for the community. Good or bad, I‘m not afraid to walk on those streets.”

Melissa Corker is a staff Reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @MelissaCorker.

Kerth leaves MBA to focus on City Council run

2011-10-11T01:00:12Z

Rob Kerth is stepping down from his position as the Midtown Business Association’s executive director to focus his attention on a run for a City Council seat in 2012.

“It’s like climbing a mountain,” Kerth said Monday of his departure from the MBA. “Once I’ve done what I needed to do, then I need to go find a new mountain.”

The Midtown Business Association is a nonprofit organization that started in 1983. According to the MBA website, the goal of the organization is to “improve Midtown Sacramento through public maintenance, marketing, business advocacy and economic development.”

Kerth was hired as Executive Director in July 2008.

He said in an email that his official last day as executive director is Friday, but he plans to continue working with staff and consultants during the transition to “ensure the continuity of MBA's programs, such as Second Saturday (Art Walks), Midtown Cocktail Week, and graffiti and litter cleanup.”

“I want to help the association continue programs that are in place,” Kerth said, “and there are some things that haven’t yet been instituted but are under way that I want to still lend a hand with, too.

“One of the things I’ve enjoyed the most about Midtown are the wonderfully creative people here,” Kerth said. “They are always on the cutting edge, making things happen.”

Kerth said he is looking forward to running for City Council because, since his last term as a City Council member (1996–2000), he has “so many new experiences” under his belt.

Kerth will run against Councilwoman Sandy Sheedy for the District 2 seat in the primary election in June.

“I know all sorts of new ways to get things done for people,” Kerth said. “North Sacramento has a lot of potential, and it’s exciting for me as I look forward to helping this district thrive.”

Kerth said he will formally announce his bid for City Council Nov. 4 at the official reopening and ribbon cutting for the Iceland ice-skating rink.

Jimmy Johnson, co-owner of Zócalo restaurant in Midtown and 2011 president of the MBA, said Kerth’s stepping down is not a sudden action.

“The final decision was made last Friday,” Johnson said, “but (Kerth) has been involved in the transition process for the past few months.”

Johnson said the organization has hired a consulting firm to assist in conducting a nationwide search for Kerth’s replacement.

The salary for the new executive director has not been confirmed, however it will likely be in the range of Kerth’s former annual salary of $90,000, Johnson said.

Kerth isn’t the first to exit the ranks of the MBA in recent months. In September, the MBA announced that Aja Uranga-Foster, assistant director of the MBA, is leaving the organization Nov. 1.

Johnson said the MBA’s board of directors has not made any decision about filling the Assistant executive director position yet.

“Amber (Schmaeling, marketing and outreach manager) is going to step up as program director,” Johnson said, “and we may get her a little help, but we aren’t focusing on that position just now.”

Instead, Johnson said, the organization is focusing on its Property Business Improvement District (PBID) renewal, which is coming up in January.

The search for a new executive director will take about three months, Johnson said, and the MBA expects to have the position filled by Jan. 1.

Melissa Corker is a Staff Reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @MelissaCorker.

Bike share program stumbles and evolves

2011-07-19T00:18:35Z

Sacramento’s Ride Your Own Way bike share program suffered a setback when three bicycles were stolen earlier this month, but organizers said they are going forward with an updated system, and new bicycles will soon be ordered.

“Someone stole a credit card and used that to check out the bikes,” said Midtown Business Association Executive Director Rob Kerth. “We’ve made some changes to how people have to validate the credit card, so we’ll be able to tell if it’s the right person.”

The program, which launched June 11, allows bicycles to be rented from one of two kiosks in Midtown – one at the Priority Parking lot at 16th and I streets and one at the Priority Parking lot at 27th and J streets. Renting a bicycle is free for the first 30 minutes, and a $2 per half hour charge is applied after that, and bicycles must be returned to their original spots once the riders are done with them.

“It’s great for people who want to use bikes to go shopping or go to lunch or things like that,” said Adrian Moore, owner of Ikon Cycles and purchaser of the original 12 Bianchi Milano eight-speed bicycles.

Click here to read a previous in-depth story on the bicycle sharing program.

The program was set up as a six-month pilot to determine the feasibility of doing it on a larger scale, similar to programs in Montreal, Paris and Washington, D.C.

“My first impression of it is that it seems to be working pretty well,” Kerth said. “It’s maybe (getting) a little less (use) than what I’d thought, but we’ve yet to hit our stride.”

Kerth said there have been 43 bicycle rentals, and several of those have been from return users. Saturdays are the most popular days for the rentals, but he said people use them every day.

The average checkout time is about two hours, and Kerth said feedback has been positive, with people saying the system is easy to use and affordable.

“We’re looking forward to when we start having more kiosks, assuming it goes well and people like it,” Kerth said.

Moore said he is happy with the amount of usage and said there would have been more rentals had the service not been shut down for a couple of weeks following the theft. The shutdown was so better theft countermeasures could be put in place.

One of the countermeasures is to only allow two bicycles to be checked out on one credit card at a time.

Currently, the bicycles at the J Street location are back and available for checkout, while the I Street station’s bicycles are still in storage until the three stolen ones can be replaced.

“We’re just waiting on the check from the insurance company,” Moore said.

Moore added that he thinks the theft was not a trend, but more of an isolated incident.

“We went three weeks without a single theft, and we had no vandalizing of the bikes or parts stolen off them,” he said. “It’s just one (person) that sort of ruined it.”

If theft continues to be a problem as it has been with personal bicycles in Midtown, Moore said there are other options to counter the threat.

One option is to set up a subscription-based service, which would cause lag time from when people initially sign up to when they can check out a bicycle for the first time.

Another option, he said, is to partner with the city and install kiosks in parking garages where a guard is on-site 24 hours per day.

“They already have someone paid to be there, and they will probably be willing to give up one parking spot for the bikes,” Moore said. “That’s a route that would be easy to do and would prevent vandalism and theft.”

And that’s why Ride Your Own Way is still in its pilot phase, Moore said.

“That’s the whole point in doing this,” he said. “We might lose a little bit, but we learn tons.”

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow him on Twitter @Brandon_Darnell.

City fee increases cause concern for local businesses

2011-06-16T03:49:09Z

The Sacramento City Council approved changes to a variety of fees for city services and permits for the upcoming fiscal year Tuesday night, including an increase in the cost of entertainment permits for businesses that provide music and dancing.

All totaled, the council approved 18 different fees, including increases to 12 existing fees and the addition of six new ones.

City Finance Director Leyne Milstein outlined the proposal in a public hearing presentation to a full council and about 50 people in the chamber audience before the council unanimously voted to approve it.

Citing cost recovery as the basis for the adjustments, Milstein noted that 18 fee changes is a relatively small number compared to the 237 approved fee adjustments in fiscal year 2009-10 and the 59 fee changes that were approved for the current fiscal year.

“Cost recovery offsets general fund costs,” Milstein said. “For certain fees, we believe that it’s reasonable for people to pay the full freight for the benefit that they’re getting.”

Included in the new fee changes were some adjustments intended to make fees more predictable.

The hourly rate for building plan review previously varied depending on whichever individual staffer was doing the review. Now, the rate will be a consistent $140/hour.

Review of building permit applications for flood zone regulation, however, previously had no associated fee but now will also be charged at a rate of $140/hour.

Other fees were increased to keep up with changes over time in actual costs to the city. Utility customers who need a water supply test will find that the fee has been increased $200 from $753 to $953.

Although the majority of the changes proposed for fiscal year 2011-12 reflect less than a 100 percent cost recovery for the city, some of the fee changes were met with criticism from the business community.

The entertainment permit fee increase, in particular, came under fire from representatives of businesses where amplified music and dancing are cornerstones of the operation.

“We can’t exactly say that we’re excited about the fee increases,” said Rob Kerth, executive director of the Midtown Business Association (MBA).

Kerth said the Midtown Business Association (MBA) works to make Midtown a place where artists, businesses, entertainment venues and residents prosper together.

“We’re business people and we understand things cost what they cost,” Kerth said. “We just want to make sure it’s fair and businesses aren’t frustrated by the process or the enforcement.”

Prior to the council’s approval of the fee changes, a new two-year entertainment permit from the city cost applicants $1,428. Now, the fee is $1,722 and renewals of the permit have nearly doubled, going from $743 to $1,331.

According to a Finance Department report from May 31, however, the fee charged for the permit doesn’t cover the city’s actual cost of providing it.

A 2009 city-wide fee study determined the actual cost recovery for the application review process on a new two-year entertainment permit is $3,445. For a renewal, the actual cost recovery is $2,662.

The newly increased permit fees only recover about 50 percent of the department’s actual cost.

Shortly after reviewing that 2009 fee study, the Council approved an incremental increase over several years until the department reaches 100 percent cost recovery to avoid “sticker shock” increases.

The last time the entertainment permit fee was increased was in 2009.

“(The city) thinks they’re doing us a favor by not recovering 100 percent of their cost from businesses,” Kerth said. “But really, it’s a disincentive to the business owners who pay the fees because they are levied unfairly.”

Kerth explained that, although the initial permit fee may be the same for all applicants, conditions placed on receiving the permit are “very subjective, depending on the (permitting) officer of the day,” and that enforcement of permit conditions and violations is inconsistent.

“There may be two businesses across the street from one another, and the terms of their permit will be completely different. Each one thinks the other got a sweet deal, and there’s resentment and animosity created,” Kerth said.

To some business owners, the fee increase is an unnecessary burden that only makes it harder for them to afford to do business in the city.

“Five years ago, I was paying $50 a year for a permit to have dancing in my clubs,” said Terry Sidie, owner of three Midtown dance club locations: Faces, Headhunters and Club 21.

“Once the economy started to go bad, the city came up with the ‘e-permit’ and started charging us a huge fee,” Sidie said. “They don’t understand all that (business owners) have to pay every year. It’s crazy.”

Sidie listed fees ranging from royalty fee requirements for the music he plays to a county health permit, an annual fire inspection fee and more – fees totaling almost $16,000 per year, for each of his business locations.

Not all of those fees are paid to the city, but Sidie said the city’s increased entertainment permit fee is “just one more thing added on.”

“The council members say the city is business-friendly, but it doesn’t feel that way,” Sidie said.

Kerth said the MBA is eager to sit down with city staff and talk about ways to streamline the permit process to make it more cost-effective, and to discuss a more consistent code enforcement policy that will level the playing field for all businesses who use entertainment permits.

Read the full Finance Department staff report on the new fee increases here.

Get more information about all city fees and charges here.

Bicycle-sharing program coming to Midtown

2011-06-02T01:21:12Z

Sacramentans will soon be able to borrow bicycles in Midtown for free – if they’re fast – or for a nominal fee as a group moves forward with a pilot bicycle-sharing program that will launch by June 11.

Starting small with just 12 bicycles for a six-month trial, Ride Your Own Way allows anyone with a credit card to rent a bicycle from an automated station, which organizers say is perfect for the Midtown and downtown lifestyle.

Renting a bicycle is free for the first 30 minutes, and a $2 per half hour charge is applied after that.

“I see this having many uses,” said Rob Kerth, Executive Director of the Midtown Business Association, which is a partner in the endeavor. “Folks who don’t have a bike but don’t want to deal with parking at lunchtime would be a perfect example.”

Similar programs are in place at other cities, including Washington, D.C., and Paris.

The pilot program will run for six months, after which it will be evaluated, according to Kerth, who added that no concrete date for the evaluation has been set.

“If people get behind it, we’ll definitely grow it, but if they yawn and walk away, probably not,” he said, adding that there are no plans to scrap the program after six months.

If the program grows, he said he can also see having rental stations at light rail and bus stops, which office workers commuting on public transit could use to ride to their offices, where they would be able to drop the bicycle off at a nearby station.

For now, cyclists who rent at stations located within the Priority Parking lots at 28th and J streets and 16th and I streets must return the bicycles where they picked them up.

Watch the video below, where Kerth explains how the system works.

The $200 authorization is not charged to your credit card, but is only on hold until the bicycle is returned, at which point the actual cost is charged.

Kerth said he has used the system in Washington, D.C., which he described as very extensive, with more than 50 rental kiosks.

The idea was floated within the city of Sacramento as many as 10 years ago, according to City Councilman Steve Cohn, but it was never officially proposed.

Cohn said he was again looking into a similar program a year ago, but on a larger level, and finding a sponsor proved difficult.

“It’s kind of a pilot program to see how it works and can maybe grow into something similar to Washington, D.C., and Paris,” Cohn said. “If it’s promising, it can grow. Obviously, we’d like to add more downtown and closer to the Capitol and City Hall.”

As the program grows, Cohn said it makes the most sense to focus on the central city, but he can also see it expanding to the farther reaches as well if it is embraced by the community.

The Bianchi Milano eight-speed bicycles were provided by Midtown bicycle shop Ikon Cycles, 1126 18th St.

“I had some extra money and I thought it was kind of an investment in Sacramento,” Ikon Cycles owner Adrian Moore said. “I’d like to see a private entity be able to run it and profit from it, but the reality is there really is very little profit in bike share programs.”

Moore said he expects the six-month program to help determine if it’s feasible for a private business to run it, but he said it makes sense to partner with the city or have a nonprofit organization run it.

“I’m just afraid that if it’s run only by a private company, and it goes away, that it will never come back,” he said.

Currently, there is no city money in the program.

Moore bought the bicycles on close-out from Bianchi for $4,000, including accessories, he said, and the MBA spent about $3,000 in construction costs at the sites, which were donated by Priority Parking, Kerth said. He added that Curb Systems donated the equipment at the sites that holds and releases the bicycles.

Cohn said he thinks the city would be willing to donate some of the public right of way spaces it controls to future kiosk locations, but he doesn’t think a private entity alone will be able to run the program on a large scale.

Kerth said partnering with the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District, the Sacramento Area Council of Governments or Regional Transit would make sense, and they might be able to write grants for the program.

“It wouldn’t take very much at all to keep this going,” Kerth said. “Sacramento is great bicycle country. We have tree-lined streets, it’s flat and the weather is great for it.”

He added that Sacramento has an air quality problem, and for every person who would ride light rail from Folsom and grab a bicycle from a convenient station, it would save a roughly 40-mile commute and cut down on traffic and parking congestion.

Moore, originally from Portland, said he hopes a program like this one can work with zip cars and other infrastructure projects, including the planned downtown bicycle lanes, to make the city less reliant on cars.

One concern with the program is bicycle theft, which is a significant problem in the area.

Currently, the bicycles are being modified to prevent theft, and locks might or might not be provided as the program moves forward.

“It’s difficult with the locks,” Moore said, adding that locks have been purchased and will initially be included with the bicycles, and renters will be able to set their own combinations.

“I’m not sure that’s going to work as it goes forward,” he said. “We’ve got a lot to figure out in the six months, but I can see it going to a lock rental system too, especially if we could get a vending machine company to donate to us.”

For helmets, riders are encouraged to bring their own, but Moore said he will be renting them out of his shop for a low rate, possibly around $3 per day.

The program in Paris, which is coming up on its fourth anniversary, has proven very successful, according to a March press release from city officials.*

Since its inception, bicycles have been rented close to 100 million times, according to the release, which adds that in that time, riders have traveled enough to circle the world 8,000 times, save 44,000 tons of CO2 emissions and burn calories equivalent to 10 million hamburgers.

*Editor’s note: Press release translated from French by Brandon Darnell.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow him on Twitter @Brandon_Darnell.

Second Saturday changes coming next month

2011-03-17T01:55:39Z

A few more changes are in the works for the Second Saturday Art Walk in an effort to reduce problems and increase the focus on art, city and business leaders said Wednesday.

The changes will take effect in April, when the event's crowds are expected to grow as warm weather returns to Sacramento. The city's Second Saturday safety team has come up with some modifications in the wake of a fatal shooting in September 2010.

The biggest change is a requirement that vendors, musicians with amplified sound and other street performers who are set up on public property – primarily sidewalks or closed streets – operate from 4 - 8 p.m. Live music is part of a growing music scene that has emerged on Second Saturdays.

City officials want street sales and music that have emerged during the art walk to end earlier to create a "buffer" between Second Saturday crowds and late-night revelers visiting bars and restaurants. The change is expected to make it easier to get minors home by the 10 p.m. curfew and allow art patrons time to enjoy art before crowds grow, said Vincene Jones, director of the city's Neighborhood Services Division.

"The thinking was – on everybody's part, even from the community's side – it will (keep) some of the kids from lingering and just kind of hanging around," she said. "There's not a lot you can stop unless you shut it down. We want it to continue, but we want it to be safe. And sane, so to speak."

City officials will provide an update on Second Saturday and nightlife issues at a meeting of the Neighborhood Advisory Group at 6:30 p.m. Monday at Hart Senior Center, 915 27th St.

The Second Saturday safety team, which has been meeting regularly for years, includes Sacramento Police, the city manager's office, code enforcement, neighborhood services, the Midtown Business Association, parking and transportation department staff. In making the changes, the group used suggestions made at a Sept. 25 forum by city residents, Jones said.

The event traditionally ran from 6 - 10 p.m., but the hours were changed to 5 - 9:30 p.m. after the shooting.

The earlier closing time doesn't apply to businesses with Second Saturday special event permits to serve or sell alcohol, MBA Executive Director Rob Kerth said.

The hours also don't apply to vendors set up on private property, such as parking lots.

The city is also requiring special one-day permits for music and vending this year. The permits will cost $25. Anyone using amplified sound must get a permit and permission from the nearest property owner.

Another change is that the city is now requiring vendors to sell only original, handcrafted items or products made in the region. Nothing that is mass-produced or imported may be sold. Appliances and secondhand goods that were sold by some last year won't be allowed, Jones said.

"We had a lot of people coming out with microwaves they wanted to sell. We don't want it to turn into that kind of flea market," she said. "We want it to be art-related."

Private property owners who allow vendors to sell on their property must get multi-vendor location permits.

Sidewalk vendors must have permission from the property owners and business owners that they set up in front of, Kerth said.

Vendors won't be able to set up on 20th Street between J and K streets, and that block will only be closed to traffic when needed for crowd control, he said.

No serious problems were reported during March's Second Saturday Art Walk last weekend. Police will continue to crack down on problems such as underage drinking, drinking on the street and minors out after curfew, said Sacramento Police Department spokesman Sgt. Norm Leong.

Minors may be cited for violating curfew, which is a misdemeanor, and released, and parents can be held accountable if children are out after curfew, unless the kids are with their parents.

"Parents should be aware that the city has a 10 p.m. curfew," he said. "Their children should be picked up well before 10 p.m."

Other changes may be added in upcoming months if warranted, Jones said.

The city's Special Events Ordinance Review Committee is also considering special events changes that may apply to Second Saturday. The ordinance isn't expected to be brought to the City Council until at least late 2011.

The earlier hours seems like a "smart idea" to help the city and police keep Second Saturday safe and family-friendly, then clear the streets before patrolling for problems with illegal drinking, vandalism, noise and other misbehavior, said Midtown Neighborhood Association Chair Matt Piner.

"I think it's a good idea as a start," he said. "You get bad apples in any crowd. The bigger the crowd, the more bad apples you're going to have."

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @SuzanneHurt.

Iceland Rink Open!

2011-01-15T22:22:21Z

Wendy (Kerth) Nugent embraces her brother Rob before Iceland Ice Arena reopened this morning on Del Paso Blvd. It was a happy day for the Kerth family. An arson fire destroyed the historic business ten months ago. The occupancy permit was granted yesterday.

Skaters tied on their skates for the first time in ten months in anticipation of hitting the ice once again.

Paul Schachder is one of the many volunteers that helped restore Iceland. He says he didn't find out about it until a couple of weeks after the fire. After hearing about the arson blaze in the news, he says he drove by and saw all the people inside with the wheelbarrows cleaning up. "The cleanup was the hard part," he said. "Then the rebuilding is the fun part, watching it go back together."

He said he's happy.

Before Rob and Terrie Kerth, brother and sister, cut the ceremonial ribbon, they thanked all the volunteers who got them to this point. Without them, they said they would not be here today.

"We've turned what was essentially a disaster into a wonderful community," Terrie said.

"Out of bad things you can find some good. The community outpouring has just been amazing," Rob shared. "It took 700 volunteers to put the ole gal back on her feet and for a community that everyone underestimates, it is a triumph for our entire city and ice skating itsself."

Then Rob says excitedly, "there's something I've been waiting to say............Ready?............all skate in a regular direction, please!"

And onto the ice they glided.

The rear of Iceland has open window frames and temporary tarps create a ceiling until the building is finished.

Rob Kerth and two ice skaters are in silhouette with the front wall in the background.

Iceland is open weekends and holidays from 10am-5pm and weekdays 2pm-5pm. This Monday is a holiday so they'll be open from 10am-5pm. Adults $8, Kids $5, Skate rental $2. The entrance is in the back.

For a recent SacPress story about Iceland CLICK HERE>>>

SacPress Photos | Kati Garner

Iceland may open Saturday

2011-01-13T02:43:21Z

Iceland's outdoor skating rink is expected to open Saturday after more than two months of delays.

The landmark North Sacramento ice rink was all but destroyed by an arsonist last spring. The Kerth family, now operating Iceland as a nonprofit, and volunteers worked to reopen the rink – without a roof and many other amenities – by the facility's 70th anniversary on Nov. 4. The opening was delayed after family members learned they needed a special permit from the city Planning Commission.

The Kerths will open a temporary rink at 1430 Del Paso Blvd. this weekend if city building inspectors approve handicapped-accessible ramps Thursday, said Midtown Business Association Executive Director Rob Kerth, whose family built the rink.

The Kerths say they must get the rink open for at least part of the season, or they may not be able to raise enough money to rebuild. Skaters may never return to rinks closed for even one season, said Kerth and his sister, Terrie Kerth, executive director of the nonprofit, Sacramento Iceland.

The Planning Commission awarded a special use permit in November. The rink's opening was delayed again when Sacramento City Councilwoman Sandy Sheedy, whose district includes the rink, called for the council to reconsider the permit. Rob Kerth served as the district’s councilman prior to Sheedy.

On Dec. 14, the council OK’d a three-year special permit approving a temporary zoning change so the rink could operate outdoors. However, three permits were still needed after that.

On Dec. 28, the city approved a building permit for access ramps and a special event permit allowing a portion of the alley to be closed during operations. The area, which has been gated by the city's dangerous buildings division since the fire, will be used by skaters for putting on skates or waiting while a Zamboni resurfaces the ice. Cars and emergency vehicles have access to drive through the alley if needed, Rob Kerth said.

The rink can only operate during daylight until a new electric system is installed and the work is inspected by the city, which won't happen for at least two weeks. The rink will temporarily operate from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. weekends and holidays and 2 - 5 p.m. weekdays, remaining open into April if weather permits. The family has set up a mailing list to alert skaters to changes in hours and other news, Terrie Kerth said.

Photos by Suzanne Hurt, a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @SuzanneHurt.

Iceland to open doors this month

2010-12-15T05:11:38Z

The opening of the remodeled Iceland skating rink in North Sacramento was approved unanimously by the City Council on Tuesday.

The ice skating rink, which an arsonist burned down last spring, could reopen as early as Saturday, or on Christmas at the latest, according to Rob Kerth, the grandson of the couple who founded the rink.

He commented on the city permit the City Council approved Tuesday night.

“Iceland has the right to operate as an indoor facility at that location,” Kerth said after the council’s vote. “It doesn’t have the right to operate as an outdoor facility. What (the City Council) gave us was a three-year permit to operate as an outdoor facility. Within three years, we either need to put the roof on or get an extension.”

Kerth said he wants to put on the roof two years from now, but he said he’s worried about the cost.

He estimated the new roof could cost $500,000, at a minimum. “Honestly, I can’t promise we’re going to make it,” he said. “It takes a lot of money to get there.”

Councilwoman Sandy Sheedy had lengthened the public process on the rink’s reopening by bringing the issue to the City Council. The Planning Commission would have been the last stop for reopening the rink, but Sheedy said the council should address it. But Sheedy praised city staff for its work on the permit on Tuesday night and voted in favor of the permit, along with her colleagues.

Iceland to open: Free skating

2010-11-30T03:49:39Z

Volunteers and ice-making equipment were hard at work Monday turning ashes into an ice rink.

Debris from last spring's arson fire has long since been cleaned up. But efforts to lay down ice for the first time since Iceland burned just began Sunday night inside the thick concrete and rebar exterior walls that survived the flames.

The Kerth family, now operating Iceland as a nonprofit, hopes to be able to open a 13,500-square-foot temporary outdoor rink as soon as Thursday afternoon. Earlier this month, the city Planning Commission awarded a special use permit needed because of the potential noise now that the rink at 1430 Del Paso Blvd. will be outside.

A problem with the plan cropped up late Monday afternoon. At 4:30 p.m., Sacramento City Councilwoman Sandy Sheedy, whose district includes the rink, requested that the permit be reconsidered by the City Council, said Midtown Business Association Executive Director Rob Kerth, a former city councilman.

The lateness of her request means the item wouldn't be considered by the council until Dec. 14 at the earliest, and possibly not until January. That could keep Iceland from opening until it has a new roof – which would mean no skating this winter, said Kerth, adding neither Sheedy nor her staff contacted the family to discuss concerns.

The conflict may be a bonus for skaters. The Kerths plan to allow everyone to skate for free.

"I think we may just open on (Dec. 2) anyway. But we won't be able to charge for skating," Kerth said. "We can let our friends skate. Just so you know: We've got tens of thousands of friends."

A jar will be available for donations. The indoor rink charged $6 for kids and $7 for adults, plus $2 to rent skates.

Sheedy, who has been sick for several days, could not be reached for comment. Her staff refused comment.

To get to this point, individuals and local companies have donated time and materials. About 20 people worked over the weekend.

"It's thanks to the volunteers that it's going to be open again," said Terrie Kerth, executive director of the nonprofit, Sacramento Iceland. "We've had so many volunteers and we never could've made it happen without them."

Investigators have yet to catch the person who torched the 70-year-old landmark. The arsonist doused the interior and a stolen car parked in a back alley with gasoline. The car exploded like a bomb and ignited the fire, Kerth said.

Kerth's grandparents, Bill and Emily Kerth, opened the indoor ice-skating rink in 1940, next to their first business, American Ice Co. The ice company, built over an old well still in operation, was busy only during the summer. The indoor rink was opened to pick up some of the slack in the winter, said Terrie Kerth, who grew up at the ice rink with her five siblings.

She remembered the night of the five-alarm fire, when she and her siblings, including brother Rob, watched Iceland burn. They stared in shock as flames shot through the collapsed roof. The Kerth siblings vowed to reopen the rink.

"That was a sad day," Terrie Kerth said. "Even when we get this rebuilt, it'll never be the same."

Her mother, Jeanne Kerth, and aunt, Eva Kerth Brandt, own both Iceland and American Ice. The family had leased Iceland and American Ice to another operator, Chris Lord, in recent years. But the ice-skating rink was barely breaking even, and there was no fire insurance, Terrie Kerth said.

Nonprofit ice-skating rinks have been a trend in recent years. Such rinks have popped up in Washington, Montana and New York, and another is under way in Santa Barbara. The family had been considering making Iceland a nonprofit even before the fire so the rink could continue.

From now on, Iceland will operate as a nonprofit. The rink has liability insurance, but doesn't currently need fire insurance because there’s nothing left to burn. Renovations will bring the facility up to code, and they expect to get fire insurance, she said.

The skate rental shop has been set up inside a small shack rebuilt as a hockey dressing room just last February – about a month before the fire.

Inside, Kerth works at a makeshift office built from a donated a desk, chair and lamps. She's currently working on a fundraising drive to collect money for everything from a new roof and restrooms to doors and spectator bleachers. She's also recruiting people to sponsor new glass blocks for the front exterior. Donors' names will be engraved on each block, she said.

More work is under way at the rink this week. Porta-potties have been brought in. Small volunteer crews will build handicapped-accessible exit ramps and finish the top of the rail this week. About 400 pairs of skates will be cleaned and fitted with new laces.

The loss of the building's roof means the ice-skating rink will be open to the sky, wind, rain and other elements for the first time this year. But Kerth, who put herself through UC Davis by teaching ice skating, said skating outside promises to be a lot of fun.

A national figure skating competitor, the 61-year-old took first place two months ago in a freestyle category at the Ice Skating Institute Adult Championships. Free skating lessons will be taught for 15 minutes at the start of every hour.

The rink will be open weekdays, tentatively from 3 - 8 p.m. Weekend hours will be 10 a.m. - 8 p.m.

They've already got 400 ponchos for kids and adults in case of light rain. The rink will temporarily close during heavy rain, Kerth said.

Rain won't be a problem for the ice. The indoor rink's pipes and the ice-making equipment next door survived the fire. A Zamboni will smooth the surface just like always. But the rink can only stay open until March, and that's only if the weather stays cool enough.

The family wants to put a roof back on the rink as soon as possible so the rink can again operate year-round. An architect is drawing up plans now.

"I'm hoping we can marshal enough forces to put a roof on next year," Kerth said.

Photos by Suzanne Hurt, a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Hearing Thursday for Iceland's outdoor rink

2010-11-16T01:37:44Z

Dozens of skaters are expected to turn out Thursday night when the Sacramento Planning Commission holds a public hearing on Iceland Skating Rink's request to build a temporary outdoor rink.

About 70 skaters have promised to show up to support a rink being built at the site of Iceland, which was burned by an arsonist last spring, said Midtown Business Association Executive Director Rob Kerth, whose family owned the indoor ice rink on Del Paso Boulevard for nearly 70 years.

"It's kind of heart-warming to know that so many folks would like to see the rink open again," said Kerth, a former city councilman.

The family is asking for a special events permit so a 13,500-square-foot, non-profit ice-skating rink can be operated at the historic site for the next two winters, until a permanent replacement can be built. Outdoor recreation facilities must have a special use permit in the North Sacramento area planning district.

The Sacramento City Council doesn't have to approve the permit.

A non-profit called Sacramento Iceland has been fundraising and coordinating volunteer work sessions. So far, about 800 volunteer days have been worked at the rink at 1430 Del Paso Blvd.

The Kerth family initially had hoped to get the outdoor rink open by the facility's 70th anniversary on Nov. 4, and then by this Friday. The opening has been delayed until Nov. 30 to allow time to get the permit and entertain possible appeals.

The family expects to be able to rebuild and reopen Iceland within two years, Kerth said.

"I'm pretty sure," he said. "It depends on a lot of things, but that's sure our goal."

Photo of 2009 Midtown ice-skating rink.

Midtown residents, business owners offer solutions for Second Saturday

2010-09-27T05:37:28Z

Midtown residents and business owners gathered at the Ethel MacLeod Hart Senior Center Saturday morning to meet with city officials and representatives from the police department to discuss what can be done about the rise in violence and rowdiness following Second Saturday.

For the first 30 minutes, more than 100 community members wrote on comment cards expressing concerns and proposing solutions. These were collected and sifted through for a seven-member "Safety Team" panel to address.

Though Councilman Steve Cohn was adamant that the shooting death of Victor Hugo Perez Zavala was not inherently a Second Saturday problem, it was the obvious impetus for the gathering. In his introductory remarks, Cohn spoke about the tragedy, and Captain Dana Matthes from the Sacramento Police Department gave an update on their search for the shooter.

The panel consisted of Matthes and Lt. Mike Bray from the police department, Rob Kerth from the Midtown Business Association, Vincene Jones from Neighborhood Services, Dean Fujimoto from the city's parking department, and Lori Ajax from Alcoholic Beverage Control.

Matthes addressed concerns about the curfew for teenagers. She said that last month they put the word out to local high schools that the department would be strictly enforcing the 10 p.m. curfew for people under age 18. She said they witnessed an improvement in this area over August's Second Saturday and they plan on continuing these efforts to see if more progress can be made for October and the long term.

Parking was a recurring issue. Fujimoto stressed that neighborhood action committees are welcomed to organize and submit different rules to his office for non-resident parking. Possible ordinance changes would prevent club-goers from parking in residential areas, which would help with loudness and violence complaints in the early hours of the morning. He stressed that parking rules in the city were not set in stone.

One recommendation from a Midtown resident was to limit non-resident parking to one hour, forcing late-night club-goers out of the neighborhoods and into parking structures and more public areas.

When a comment was read that asked for better management of the event, Kerth was wary. He conceded that better signage could help the participants but worried that if Second Saturday is over-managed, it will lose its "organic" nature. He said Second Saturday is an important day for our locally owned businesses, and he wants to avoid micro-managing.

He assured the public that the MBA is always trying to make Midtown a more fun and safer place for people to visit. He announced that his organization is partnering with the Lavender Angels to provide nightlife guides from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m every Friday and Saturday night between I and N streets and 17th and 24th streets.

Aja Uranga-Foster is in charge of the new partnership and said it should help with some of the issues raised in the community forum.

"The main thing is to help people get back to their car, or taxis, or their homes (quietly)," she said.

The program has a small core of paid staff but will rely heavily on volunteers. It will be piloted for three to four months and reassessed in February 2011. She didn't have a specific start date but said they will definitely be out in time for October's Second Saturday.

Although the Safety Team did their best to reassure the public they would do everything in their power to help Second Saturday, and Midtown in general, grow safely, some community members remained skeptical.

Susan Rabinovitz, jewelry designer and executive director of the Sacramento Artists Council, was mainly concerned about what she sees as a growing chaos. She said a possibility would be to put vendors in Fremont Park and live music at Caesar Chavez Park, there wouldn’t be so much crowd problems in one area.

"Segment it so that maybe there's not all this congestion," she said.

Reymond Walker writes the Second Saturday Blog with his daughter, Naomi Bingham-Walker, and he said he'll feel better when he sees real improvement coming from city management. He said the community forum was a great starting point, but he is worried there won't be more of them to keep the community involved.

"If it does happen again, in a sense that would be great," he said. "If it doesn't happen again I hope it's because we are seeing, and they've figured out, an outcome in the streets that reflects success."

Rabonovitz and Walker cited the Amgen Tour of California as a successful event that Second Saturday could organizationally aspire to.

"The community is so clearly aware of what to expect, what's going on," Walker said. "There are areas that are taped off, there's a lot of publicity. I know where to go, I know what's happening."

The meeting ended with encouraging words from Jones from Neighborhood Services and Councilman Cohn.

"I haven't seen one suggestion that said, 'No more Second Saturday,' and that's a good thing," Jones said.

"Midtown is the soul of Sacramento," Cohn said. "We got to keep it positive here … but that does mean growing pains, so we got to figure out how to do it right."

After the meeting, Cohn said community members can keep sending their concerns and proposals to the members of the Safety Panel. He said the members' individual e-mail addresses were the best point of contact.

Second Saturday to go the way of Thursday Night Market?

2010-09-19T23:09:08Z

The Sept. 12 shooting has some Sacramentans wondering if the Second Saturday Art Walk is going to go the way of K Street’s Thursday Night Market.

According to Michael Picker, The Thursday Night Market was inspired by an event in San Louis Obispo and was intended to be a small-scale street fair people could stop by on their way home from work, but it grew to attract crowds far larger than anticipated as people went home first, picked up their families and then returned to the market.

Picker, who was chief of staff for Mayor Joe Serna Jr. when Thursday Night Market was introduced, both the Thursday Night Market and Second Saturday Art Walk became victims of their own success.

“Everybody plans for what can go awry,” Picker said, “but sometimes too much goes right, and you get too many people.”

But Rob Kerth, executive director of the Midtown Business Association, said the two events share many things, but they remain different.

“I’m not sure that we’ve got something going wrong here,” Kerth said. “There’s a lot of folks showing up, and they have a good time, and any number of businesses say it’s their most important day of the month.”

The key difference between the two, according to Michael Ault, executive director of the Downtown Sacramento Partnership – which produced the Thursday Night Market – is that Second Saturday has a much greater focus and involves the business community more.

“At the end of Thursday Night Markets, many retailers weren’t even open because they weren’t finding it a successful draw to their businesses because their voice wasn’t utilized,” Ault said.

With Second Saturday, Ault said, there is much more focus, and both the business and the community are committed to making it work.

“Second Saturday started off as an event to drive people to art galleries, and it has really evolved into a social scene,” Ault said, “and it’s a wonderful nexus where it’s gone, but we need to figure out how to make it grow and how to grow effectively.”

Picker advised looking into how other major cities handle their big events and see what can be learned from their experience.

Kerth said the MBA has been studying events in other cities, including San Francisco, Old Pasadena and Berkeley, and there are several steps that need to be taken to make Second Saturday a better event.

“We need to get parking out of the neighborhoods so people aren’t walking through them and being noisy and causing problems,” Kerth said, adding that in the future, the MBA will be posting better signage and lighting as well as passing out pamphlets at venues to inform visitors of nearby off-street parking he said many are unaware of.

In an effort to get teens to go home after 10 p.m., Kerth said the MBA is contacting local high schools and encouraging them to get the message out to students.

“We did that this month, and we got a response from about four schools,” Kerth said. “We’re going to push much harder next month ... but we’re not going to get all the kids to go home. We know that.”

It was an over-concentration of teens looking for a social atmosphere that largely contributed to the death of Thursday Night Markets, according to Picker.

“When large groups of teens started showing up, it turned away from being a family event,” Picker said. “That was hard for us. It was a turning point. How do you get teens to go home? If you push them to go home, they want to defy authority.”

Picker said throwing more police at the problem didn’t help, but running street sweepers down the venue did – until resources were stretched too thin.

“I think that’s what’s going on with Second Saturday,” Picker said. “It’s not a crime issue, it’s a population management issue. Unfortunately, this time there was a shooting.”

Kerth acknowledged that the MBA sees problems with the population at the event, which ebbs and flows during the night.

The crowds peak at about 9 p.m., he said, then they drop off until about 11 p.m., when they begin to grow again.

“The chances of a 17-year-old having a good outcome to their night after 10 p.m. goes down,” he said.

Another problem Kerth acknowledged is people drinking on the streets, detailed in this article.

Despite the acknowledged problems with the event, Kerth said Second Saturday is fundamentally different from the Thursday Night Markets in size.

While Thursday Night Markets were confined to an approximately four-block stretch on K Street, Second Saturday ranges all over from Old Sacramento to Alhambra Boulevard and from Broadway to F Street, according to Kerth.

Kerth said the efforts the MBA is making – from educating people about parking to encouraging teens to go home at the 10 p.m. curfew and working to stop the illegal “tailgating” – will not “make a fundamental change, but they’ll head things in the right direction.”

Kerth, Ault and Picker all agreed that there are lessons to be learned from other events, whether they be Thursday Night Markets, Jazz Jubilees, Pacific Rim Festivals or larger events in other cities.

“There’s a lot of community and political will to keep this going forward,” Ault said. “We need to preserve it because it’s a very special entity.”

Picker said that, thinking regionally, downtown and Midtown Sacramento are the “main street” for the area.

“There is a need for people to get together within the Sacramento Valley and be creative and not be constrained by strip malls,” he said. “You’ve got to plan for success, though. Maybe every couple of years you need to shake it up and do something different.”

Kerth said that Second Saturday is far from being just a memory.

“I get asked a lot from folks, ‘Is this the end?’ and my answer has been, ‘Well, I’m still coming down to have fun, are you?’ ” he said. “Rumors of our demise are greatly exaggerated.”

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

North Sacramento Land Company celebrates 100 years

2010-09-17T07:14:59Z

The North Sacramento Land Company celebrated 100 years in business Thursday, reflecting on its humble roots in 1910 before North Sacramento was even incorporated.

“We’ve survived the Wall Street crash and a few other recessions and a couple of wars, so that’s a feat in itself,” said Bob Slobe, the company’s president. “We’ve always been a reasonably small company, and some of that has to do with our involvement and giving back to the community.”

That involvement was celebrated Thursday at the California State Railroad Museum when artifacts were presented to museum officials dating back to the very inception of the museum.

Bob’s mother and then-president of the company, Carolyn Slobe, was a member of the Sacramento Trust for Historic Preservation. In 1970, the trust was able to get then-Gov. Ronald Reagan to attend a dinner on a historic rail car called the Gold Coast.

The night’s objective: get a commitment from Reagan to fund a state railroad museum.

“That night, Reagan said yes, and that began the process of funding it and supporting it,” said Bob Slobe, who was there as a waiter.

Thursday, 40 years later, the Slobe family and the company donated numerous artifacts from that dinner to the museum.

“That is part of our 100th anniversary,” Slobe said before the event. “We have all of the original ephemera from that effort – all the original seating charts and all that stuff, so we are giving it to the museum for display.”

Slobe said the company has always been deeply rooted in the community, and some of the things in its history he is most proud of relate to that involvement.

“For myself, it was being a founding member of the Sacramento Valley Conservancy Land Trust, which has been protecting land – 20,000 acres of land – here since 1992,” Slobe said.

He added that the company has also donated to organizations such as Women Escaping a Violent Environment, the Boy Scouts of America and other local projects, including the Sacramento History Museum and what would become the Discovery Museum.

“You really can’t find a good thing going on in North Sacramento that the land company wasn’t a part of,” said Rob Kerth, who grew up with Bob Slobe. “The company is its people, and those people are a treasure.”

Kerth added that in a time when people are frequently moving around, the fact that one family-run company has been in the area for so long is “amazing.”

Slobe said that for more than half the company’s time, it has had women at the helm.

“Real estate hasn’t traditionally been a women’s business, so that’s a feat,” said Slobe, who took leadership of the company from his mother in 2009. “We’re very proud of that history.”

Becoming president in 2009, Slobe said his focus has so far been – and will continue to be – survival.

“It’s a very difficult economy,” Slobe said. “It’s been a tough time, so it’s good to look back and reflect. Certainly the company has been through tough times before. We’re excited about the next 100 years.”

For a complete history of the company provided by Bob Slobe, click here.

Photo courtesy Bob Slobe.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento press.

Second Saturday meeting set

2010-09-16T05:48:00Z

Sacramento Police continued their search Wednesday for the suspect in a fatal shooting after the September Second Saturday Art Walk, while community leaders continued talks on possible solutions to the violence and problems plaguing the event.

With the city still reeling in the wake of the killing, city officials will hold a public forum on the shooting on Sept. 25. And on Wednesday night, the Midtown Business Association agreed to spend $19,000 to fund a three-month pilot program using volunteer guides to assist people on Midtown streets weekend nights.

Officers in the homicide, gang, forensic and crime scene investigation units are working on the investigation of the shooting that left Victor Hugo Perez Zavala dead and injured three others early Sunday morning outside Streets of London Pub, 1804 J St. Police don't know if the suspect has fled the area, but they know which gang he's involved with, said Police Sgt. Norm Leong, spokesman for the police department.

The city, led by City Councilman Steve Cohn and Mayor Kevin Johnson’s office, has tentatively set a community meeting on the incident and related concerns for 9 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 25, at the Hart Senior Center in Marshall Park. Leaders from the police and code enforcement departments will be there, and residents, artists and business owners are invited.

"The purpose is to try to come up with the best ideas possible for going forward, not just in terms of Second Saturday and what changes might be needed (there), but also in terms of late-night entertainment and youth violence in particular," said Cohn, whose district includes Midtown, where the shooting took place. "It's really to start a dialogue with the community about what we can do better to address those issues."

Discussions are under way as police, business leaders, the arts community, residents and city leaders search for ways to combat late-night violence and other problems on Second Saturdays and weekend nights in general. Police and the mayor's and city manager's offices expect to create a framework for a plan, which would be followed by ongoing talks, within the next week, said R.E. Graswich, special assistant to Mayor Kevin Johnson.

"This is a tragedy we're responding to," Graswich said. "We're trying to find some solutions. It's difficult — there's no textbook on this."

Hundreds of people fled the scene of the shooting shortly after midnight Sunday. Some tried to hide behind dumpsters outside Lavender Heights bars. An employee at Headhunters at 20th and K streets said he was taking a break out back when he heard a “pop pop pop” that sounded like firecrackers. A horde of people then fled in his direction.

“All I could see were people running” he said. “They were pretty scared.”

The MBA on Wednesday night set up a partnership with the Sacramento Gay and Lesbian Center to provide three teams of "late-night courtesy guides." Working from 17th and 21st streets between I and Capitol Avenue, they could walk people to their cars, assist people with directions and find them cabs if they've had too much to drink, said MBA Executive Director Rob Kerth.

Midtown resident George Raya and others in the gay community came up with the idea about a year ago. They were prompted to create some kind of volunteer program in Midtown after a woman's jaw was broken when she was mugged while trying to find her car one night, Raya said.

A year-round program would be expected to cost about $60,000. While they may be called the Lavender Angels, they won't make citizen arrests like the Guardian Angels, who patrol streets and subways in Chicago, New York and other cities, Kerth said.

"These aren't guards," he said. "These are guides. They're not wearing red berets."

Although there are no hard numbers, another indication that police enforcement put a serious dent in problems last Saturday were that fewer empty liquor containers were found on the streets of Midtown Sunday morning, Kerth said.

A 10-person cleanup group that includes a staffer from the MBA, a volunteer meetup group and four Easter Seals workers usually picks up 400 to 800 gallons of litter on mornings when they clean in the J and K streets corridor. On second Sundays, their efforts and that of individual businesses is estimated at about 3,000 to 4,000 gallons, Kerth said.

The search for solutions will address such things as more ways to get minors off the streets after 10 p.m., unless they're accompanied by a parent or legal guardian, and tailgating. Last Saturday and early Sunday, police did a good job at eliminating tailgating and cutting down on the number of minors out after curfew, Kerth said.

Police are also concentrating on shutting down tailgating parties that have cropped up on numbered streets in Midtown primarily between I and P streets. Empty cans and bottles left as litter have pointed authorities to the most popular places for illegal public drinking, he said.

"This can't be a public drinking event on the street," he said. "We want to knock off the tailgating — particularly when people get out into the neighborhood, park away from J Street, open up a trunk and drink.

"When you find the one-shot plastic pop-off bottles versus a big bottle of Grey Goose, there are different things going on there," he said. "We tend to see larger bottles that we're pretty sure got shared by people. That's clued us in to where people are drinking and that they're drinking on the street, rather than inside where they should be."

On Saturday, 19 Sacramento police and six undercover officers with the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control issued more than 40 citations for violations including underage drinking and urinating in public during and after the art walk. Police based operations at the intersection of 20th and J streets, which gets the most crowds, with some officers doing traffic control. Other officers were stationed at busy corners or assigned to drive or walk around to areas known to have the most problems, Leong said.

"Part of the issue is the Second Saturday event itself goes very smoothly. But when you're talking about loitering or criminal elements that come in after the fact, it limits your ability to do something about it," he said. "It's really the gang members that are more prone to do violent type crimes in a public area."

Photo of Second Saturday at Beatnik Studios by Ron Nabity. Photo of Second Saturday night scene by David Watts Barton. Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

City seeks answers, suspect after Second Saturday killing

2010-09-14T04:07:15Z

Sacramento Police said Monday that gang violence led to a fatal shooting within a crowd gathered outside a Midtown bar after a Second Saturday Art Walk.

Police presence was stepped up Saturday, and for the first time, officers enforced the 10 p.m. curfew for minors, which coincides with the art event's official closing time. But the killing early Sunday has pressed city and business leaders to find additional ways to address growing concerns rather than end the popular event.

On Saturday, 20 Sacramento police officers and at least eight undercover officers from the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control worked to combat underage drinking and public partying or "tailgating," said Sacramento Police Captain Dana Matthes.

The shooting took place at about 12:13 a.m. Sunday on the sidewalk outside Streets of London Pub, 1804 J St. Officers were inside the bar and at both ends of the block when the shooting occurred.

Words were exchanged between about 10 people from two gangs before gunfire broke out. The victim, Victor Hugo Perez Zavala, 24, was not a gang member. But one of the three others who were shot — two men and a woman — is in a gang, police said.

"This was in fact a gang confrontation," said Matthes, who asked for tips to help police find the suspect. He is described as an African American male with shoulder-length dreadlocks, who is 5 feet 11 inches to 6 feet tall, aged 18 to 21 and weighing 180 to 200 pounds.

About 30 community leaders including Mayor Kevin Johnson and City Councilman Steve Cohn, whose district includes Midtown, met Monday afternoon to discuss the shooting and other concerns about the art walk at the MARRS Building. The building at 1050 20th St. and its neighboring bars and art galleries have become the epicenter for Second Saturday Art Walk crowds.

The building's owner, Mike Heller, has helped build the Midtown scene after renovating the former state agency building and has energized the block on Second Saturdays with live music. Heller was among those at the meeting.

Johnson vowed to commit even more police officers to Second Saturdays and to refocus on a regional gang problem and the same kind of "late-night youth violence" that closed down Thursday Night Market on K Street Mall more than a decade ago. The city must have "zero tolerance" for violence, he said.

"We are outraged as a city by the shooting," Johnson said at a 3:30 p.m. press conference.

Johnson announced plans to create a task force to study the issues and compare best practices used in other cities to address problems, such as the growing number of people under 18 in the crowd. One possibility would be to assign gang unit officers to identify gang members at the event, and the city could consider banning gang members, Matthes said.

Second Saturday has grown largely because Midtown is a mixed-use neighborhood where people can walk easily from art galleries to businesses, Cohn said.

"We're not going to let this kind of youth violence end Second Saturdays," he said.

Business and property owners, local residents and art lovers have complained in recent months about growing crowds, public drunkenness, garbage, graffiti and other vandalism — especially near bars — during the monthly art walk.

Reports that a J Street church has been vandalized on Second Saturday could not be confirmed. But a neighboring state agency building, its parking lot and the alley get more garbage, vomit and window damage on Second Saturdays, managers said.

Some art galleries such as the Sacramento Art Complex and the Kennedy Center have begun holding "Premiere Thursdays," just before Second Saturdays to offer an alternative for people who want to focus on art, rather than go out for a night on the town.

"That's when we get the more serious collector in," said Sacramento photographer Alister Oliver, a resident artist at the art complex. "It's not the college kids. It's not the drunks."

In 2007, the high-end Solomon Dubnick Gallery became the first tenant in the MARRS Building. Soon after at Second Saturday events, two small paintings were stolen right off the walls, and a $16,000 ostrich sculpture was stolen outside.

Crowds swelled from 500 at a previous location to 1,500 to 2,000 those nights. The gallery stopped offering free wine or champagne and hired two security guards after just one month of Second Saturdays, said co-owner Michael Solomon.

"It was crazy. We went through 12 cases of champagne (in a night), and I don't believe we sold any art," he said. "It was too expensive, if nothing else. And we felt abused, giving away alcohol."

The gallery has since moved to a building Solomon owns at 1017 25th St., mainly to avoid having to pay rent in this economy. Gallery owners now offer private catered receptions for regular clients.

A laptop computer was stolen at the Kennedy Center one Saturday. But artists like Michele Fisher are very supportive of the event. She sells smaller, less-expensive art those nights, anything from $40 rings to $800 statues, she said Monday outside the gallery.

"It's when most of us make most of our money," she said.

As many as 20,000 people from throughout the region have been drawn to Midtown for the event. Second Saturdays have been very lucrative for many restaurants and bars.

"It's great to hear the mayor say we're not going to give this up," Midtown Business Association Executive Director Rob Kerth said. "This is a late-night problem. It's not a Second Saturday problem."

Business owners including Olivia Coelho, co-owner of Bows & Arrows resale shop, say Second Saturday is the biggest sales day each month.

"Without the revenue generated on Second Saturday, we would struggle to pay our rent," she said at the press conference.

Second Saturday photo by David Barton. Other photos by Suzanne Hurt, a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Urban Flea Market to Benefit Iceland Skating Rink June 19th!

2010-06-09T01:46:02Z

Gary Schiff and Danyelle Petersen, of Schiff’s Estate Sale Building and Schiff's Estate Services, are coordinating the first annual Urban Flea Market on Saturday, June 19th, 2010 from 9am-3pm. After much urban renewal of the Estate Sale Building itself, as well as North Sacramento’s Del Paso Boulevard’s shopping district, the lot next to Schiff’s Building will be temporarily renewed with Antiques, Collectible, Furniture, Arts & Crafts, Unique and Desirable Items of all Kinds.

The event benefits the rebuilding of The Iceland Skating Rink on Del Paso Blvd. The Skating Rink was destroyed by an arson fire in March. Through donations they are looking to rebuild by their 70th birthday in November. The Iceland Skating Rink is important as a form of recreation, a gathering place that is healthy, safe and fun.

Join us for a good cause and a great time on Saturday June 19th at 1309 Del Paso Blvd., Sacramento.

Admission is Free!

Vendors Wanted!

• Contact: Danyelle Petersen 916-220-3627 or danyelle@schiffestateservices.com www.schiffestateservices.com

Rebuilding Iceland, rebuilding memories

2010-06-07T03:35:15Z

Stories flowed Sunday as people got down and dirty to help restore the Iceland ice skating rink. People shared memories of old times as they carried debris from the ice floor and helped to remove the wooden flooring around the rink.

Sunday was the fourth day the owners of the rink have asked volunteers to help them clean. Terrie Kerth, granddaughter of the late Bill Kerth, who built the ice rink in 1940, said the response has been unbelievable. When the project began, she said, the debris on the rink was more than a foot tall. Now, it's almost cleared, and the old rink will survive with some leveling. The wooden floors are being torn out and replaced with concrete.

More than 100 volunteers have worked on the project, with about 40 coming Sunday to help finish the job. “When we had our first day, we just had a steady stream of people going with their wheelbarrows,” Kerth said. “It was just phenomenal, and we just kept doing it and it’s amazing the people who come time after time.”

The family plans to reopen Iceland on Nov. 4 for its 70th anniversary. The rink will be open air for a while, but there are plans to install a roof in the coming years. “We’re starting a nonprofit called Sacramento Iceland and we’ll be raising money to put the roof on and rebuild the inside and we hope that by November 2011 to have it back pretty much like it was before,” Kerth said.

Former City Council member Rob Kerth was there when the fire broke out. “I was stuck out back and there was a six-alarm fire,” he said. “I couldn’t get around to the front, flames were shooting 100 feet out of the roof.” Kerth said he thought it was the end of the road for the rink, until he finally made it to the front and saw the bystanders. “It had been burning for about two hours and the sun was just coming up,” he recalled. “There were mothers there in their bathrobes and little kids crying and, this doesn’t happen very often, but there were hockey players hugging each other. People came from nowhere to see the rink and they were very upset.”

“I knew right then that there were enough people who cared about the old gal that we could somehow get it going again. So here we are.”

He also recalled when the U.S. Olympic team and its coaches died in a plane crash in 1973. A benefit show was put on for the families of the team, with former Olympic champion David Jenkins doing triple axles on the small rink. “It was really one of the first nationally televised sports events,” Kerth said.

And there are more stories. The rink is rumored to be haunted by Bill Kerth. Kerth said that his grandfather used to give keys to the place to the early-morning figure skaters. They’d let themselves in and skate for a while before he’d come in and talk to them. In the morning, there would be a fog bank that had built up over the ice, making it hard to see. “Every morning, he would come in the back door and he’d walk along the side of the rink and you could see this swirl in the fog behind him because he’d come in and lean over the rail to talk to the skaters and ask them how they were doing,” Kerth said. Now, every once in a while, early-morning skaters say they see that swirl in the fog and see someone leaning over the railing out of the corner of their eyes.

Bill Kerth and his son were innovators and came up with the idea for the first ice resurfacer a year and a half before Frank Zamboni, who visited the rink and claimed that the family had violated the patent on his machine. “So they got to talking and Zamboni realized that my dad beat him to it,” Kerth said. “Later in life, they became really good friends.”

Bob Hubbard, a competitive skating coach, said he has been skating at Iceland since 1952. “I skated here for many years as a competitor and went on to skate for Ice Capades for six years and started coaching and been doing it ever since,” he said. “I have a lot of memories in this place.” Hubbard said he was at a competition in Santa Rosa when he got the call that the place had been burned. “It’s just taking away from the community, the children, and all the memories and all the stuff with the place because it’s a landmark, it’s been here forever.”

When the new Iceland rink opens in November, there will be a sculpture that includes the blades and skates that were caught in the fire. Gina Rossi, a metal artist working in the area, is excited about her new project. She plans to have the children’s skates bronzed and make metal sculptures of children, each with a bronze skate. In the middle of the sculpture will be a fire bird made out of the blades of old skates. Rossi said the idea of the fire bird is fitting for rink that was burned down and is being rebuilt. “The philosophy of the fire bird is that it eventually just kind of burns up in flames, but with the flames of all that, it leaves a little egg behind,” she said. “And all of a sudden it becomes rebirth.”

Rossi plans to have some of the volunteers who helped to restore Iceland help build her sculpture. “I’m going to have the kids and various people just be a part and I want them to have a little bit of their name on it, so they can always be a part and know that they were involved in the rebuilding of this.”

The artist sees value in the rink's past. “Just being able to walk into something and look around and know that things happened here, as opposed to something that’s brand new,” she said, “It’s got a story. Some children, their parents see them skate here for the first time, and people propose to each other on the ice. Wonderful things happen in life and it just needs to be kept alive.”

MBA donates final $20,000 for Alley Activation Project

2010-06-03T01:24:16Z

The Midtown Business Association voted to provide $20,000 to a Midtown Alley Activation Alliance project aimed at transforming an alley section running from 17th to 18th Street, between L Street and Capitol Avenue. The project is a pilot venture to activate Midtown alleys, creating a space that can be used for art, commerce and civic activity. Construction of the alley will take place this summer and is expected to be complete by early September.

What makes this project so unique is the sustainable focus on engaging public space in creative ways. Complete with permeable paved stones, solar lighting,and planters, this pilot will add a public benefit to a unique Midtown alley. The project has been a community-wide effort spearheaded by the Alley Activation Alliance.

"We’re developing sustainable infrastructure that will benefit our community and encourage others to respond creatively,” said Julie Young, Alley Activation Alliance co-founder. “Our hope is to use this pilot as an example of what is possible for our alleys and our community.”

Transformed alleys will also create new space for commercial operation and broader community interaction. Thus, the alliance's belief is that not only do these areas represent unrealized cultural potential, but they have tremendous political and econmic value as well.

"Alleys are one of Midtown's most underutilized features," said Rob Kerth, executive director of the Midtown Business Association. "Finishing this first alley will open our community’s eyes to the possibilities. I'm glad that the MBA Board decided to help fund this game changer."

The city of Sacramento Department of Utilities is also on board with the project and will be replacing old water and sewer lines at the pilot location. $100,000 from Federal Community Development Block Grant funds will be used toward the infrastructure. Sacramento City Council member Steve Cohn also donated $5,000 to the project.

The Alley Activation Alliance is working to raise funds to transform other alleys in the Midtown district as well.

“Most things, done well, bear repeating," Young said. "We wish to add value economically and environmentally to our underutilized alleys.”

A quick walk through the alley reveals its current look.

Despite multiple requests, neither the Midtown Business Association, nor the Alley Activation Alliance has delivered an image of the planned transformation. A completion celebration for the pilot alley will be held early this fall.

Pilot alley projects move forward

2010-05-20T04:41:34Z

The Midtown Business Association voted Wednesday night to kick in $20,000 toward nearly $400,000 in improvements for a prototype alley running from 17th to 18th streets between L Street and Capitol Avenue.

At the same time, a three-unit condo building has been under construction since February next to that alley. Construction workers have created a shell containing three condos and a garage.

Developer Jeremy Drucker is building the alley-front "Stitch" project as a three-year sales model for other property owners and prospective tenants. Facing Old Soul coffee roastery, the project sits at the back of a deep lot behind a house at 1717 Capitol Ave. The building is expected to be finished near the end of July.

Led by MBA President Aaron Zeff, a majority of board members agreed to provide $20,000 toward at least $132,000 in permeable paving stones for the alley. The money will come primarily from a surplus parking management fund, said MBA Executive Director Rob Kerth.

The city of Sacramento's Department of Utilities has agreed to replace 80-year-old water and sewer lines — work estimated at $181,000. The City Council approved using $100,000 in community development block grant funds for permeable pavers. The total cost to install pavers may be higher, depending on bids, Drucker said.

The nonprofit Alley Activation Alliance, formed by the private committee spearheading an "alley activation" movement in Sacamento, is still seeking $30,000 for speciality items like planter boxes and construction of a masonry trash enclosure that will be built on a leased 10-foot by 20-foot parking space, said Alley Activation Committee Co-chair Julie Young.

The rest of the $391,230 budget is coming from in-kind and private donations,Young and Drucker said.

"We're trying to put in infrastructure and encourage people to respond creatively to that," Young said.

Cities from San Francisco to Austin, Seattle, Portland and beyond have transformed old service streets into intimate, charismatic spots for smaller businesses and residential flats. For two years, several dozen people have been working as the Alley Activation Committee to initiate a similar movement in Sacramento.

The committee members have identified 41 Midtown alleys between I and N streets they see as having potential for improvements that would encourage alley-front business and residential development.

Before the vote, several MBA members asked where funding would come from for other alleys to be developed and for alley maintenance. Some were concerned businesses or the city would be expected to come up with the funding.

"We don't want to look to the city for money" for other alleys to be improved, Young said. The committee will explore other options, such as private donations from foundations or corporations, or property-based improvement district funds, Young said.

The question of who would be responsible for maintenance hasn't yet been answered, but maintenance should be minimal, she said.

"Ultimately, the alleys are still maintained by the city," she said.

The city will handle construction. Work to replace water and sewer lines is expected to begin in July. Surface improvements — installing permeable pavers if possible — would start in late summer. Resident's water and sewer services should be shut off for no more than four hours at a time while connections are made, Drucker said.

A homeowner who lives several blocks away from the Stitch sales model has signed a contract for the second alley-front residential unit to be built on her deep lot. All three units must be pre-sold before construction would start, Drucker said.

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

A New Life for ICELAND

2010-04-14T20:40:33Z

If the goal of the alleged arsonist(s) was to destroy the historic ICELAND ice-skating rink, it appears that it failed because the fire did not destroy the necessary mechanical ice-making device.

As many know by know, the Kerth family property owners plan to have skaters on the ice again by late November 2010. While the building itself will probably not be rebuilt by then, plans are to provide in the meantime an open-air venue to skaters.

Instead of an exterior protecting skaters from the elements, the new temporary facility will replicate an outdoor rink in snow country. All that will be needed to authenticate the scene is an overhead wind- blowing machine scattering a few white flakes intermittently onto skaters and spectators. The white flakes, of course, being left over from a Hollywood movie set depicting a winter scene here in the non-snowing city of Sacramento!

So much for fantasy. A far more serious reality is that the original 1940’s building with its magnificent ICELAND sign did not have fire insurance and the cost to rebuild to its original design will be extremely challenging if not impossible in these economic times.

Immediately subsequent to the fire there was much criticism, if not condemnation, heaped on Rob Kerth, a family member but non co-owner, for failing to carry fire insurance. One of the unkindest and silliest, in my opinion, alluded to the fact he had been a city councilman and “what could you expect” from a government official like that. While disbelief of lack of fire insurance was my first reaction, it did not sound like the man whom I’ve known for many years. I was sure that there was more to the story, and there is.

In subsequent conversations with him, I found out that the family did not carry fire insurance for the lack of wanting or trying to. In fact, it was a dilemma in which many owners of mortgage-free historic commercial property find themselves. The hidden “culprits,” if the blame game is to be carried to its conclusion, are the insurance companies and their prohibitive policy rates and exclusions when there is no existing sprinkler system.

Hearing the facts reminded me of the current controversial situation in which many people find themselves with their health insurance and why such individuals are forced to make the decision to take the risk of going without when insurance companies determine that there is a preexisting risk condition. That is the ultimate decision this family made.

Apparently, there are sources out there for insurance assistance for historic houses, but historic commercial property owners are not so fortunate.

Rob informed me that, “There was no way to get insurance on an old building like that which didn't have fire sprinklers. We asked brokers several times and were always turned down--at any price, including The California Fair insurance plan which is a last resort for both home and commercial property.”

He is asking the City to let him keep the four walls and the marquee, and he vowed he would “fix the neon myself if I have to.” He told me that all he could see now was to get the money to do it right by re-opening the rink—open air without replacing the roof or windows.

He also said that, “The brass ring here--the one we have to grab--is rebuilding ICELAND as she was and also building a second sheet of ice along Del Paso. The facility needs two complete rinks, and now is the time. Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency already owns the land next to the original rink. Too much of Sacramento’s uniqueness has just slipped away little by little and this must not follow.”

Apparently, the Mayor, City Council members Steve Cohn and Ray Tretheway, County Supervisor, Roger Dickinson and Senator Darrell Steinberg all called Rob to relate their regrets and offer whatever help they could, but the council member for the district in which ICELAND is located was noticeably silent about the loss of this treasure.

While I’ve never skated in ICELAND, it has long been a defining structure for North Sacramento. All around the country most of the prewar WWII ice and roller rinks as well as the majestic ballrooms (Tromar, Cemar, Aragon. Latin Quarter, Hollywood Palladium) and many Fox and Paramount movie palaces met the fate of fires or wrecking balls.

Therefore, I was very relieved to hear from Rob, that the family’s preference is to bring the rink back to its original architecture. BUT even that depends on getting lots of volunteer help and several indulgences from the City on not-very-important things, BUT things that are in the rulebooks.

It would be a spectacular accomplishment if the rebuilding could occur using an old fashioned “barn raising” concept. This cooperative effort originated in pioneer days before insurance when farmers’ barns, so important to their success, burned or were destroyed by tornados. At such times the entire community rallied around rebuilding the barn, with residents and businesses lending skills and materials and the wives bringing home baked “dinners” (noon meals as they were called in those days). The entire project often took anywhere from one to two weekends.

Former city manager Bill Edgar successfully employed a modified version of this concept to rally businesses and residents to work with the city to solve a city budget crisis during the 1990’s.

ICELAND’s obvious leaders would be the North Sacramento Chamber of Commerce, Del Paso Boulevard Business Association and Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency. They could form a task force to solicit contributions, materials, volunteers consisting of business and residential neighbors, contractor skills/services, preservationists, skaters and former skaters and provide lunches for daylong workers.

Rob reports that so far “200 volunteers moved 500 cubic yards of debris this last weekend with strictly human power—arms, shovels and wheelbarrows.” His “mother baked beans for everyone” and his “brother-in-law organized the bbq. It had the feeling of an old-fashioned American tradition.”

Upon completion, owners could designate a wall to inscribe the names of all involved and/or issue a complimentary month’s skating pass.

This is the challenge I propose to the community to rebuild this historical treasure.

Fine-tuning underway for Second Saturdays

2010-04-01T01:58:41Z

Sacramento officials and business leaders are working to keep the “art” in Second Saturday Art Walks and head off other problems as the event kicks into high gear.

With larger crowds expected in the coming warm season, officials from the city’s Code Enforcement Department, the Sacramento Police Department and Midtown Business Association are having a series of meetings to fine-tune rules and written guidelines.

One of their primary concerns is to prevent growing sidewalk sales from turning the art walk into a giant flea market. The city has had to discourage people wanting to sell appliances and other secondhand goods during Second Saturday, said MBA Executive Director Rob Kerth.

“The goal is to preserve Second Saturday as an art walk or a place where people can go out and see art and locally produced crafts,” he said.

The city recently released a flier to remind businesses, vendors and musicians about existing rules and point out one or two new ones for the monthly events.

Police will more strictly enforce requirements that businesses get a one-day alcohol beverage permit from the Sacramento Police Department as well as a special daily license from the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control in order to sell or give away alcohol, said Sgt. Norm Leong, police department spokesman.

The 2010 flier tells business owners and temporary vendors that sidewalk sales and other outdoor vending can take place without a special permit if the goods are "the same items normally sold or displayed" inside. Vendors must get written permission from the adjacent business and leave a six-foot-wide path clear on sidewalks.

A special permit for sidewalk sales would be a new requirement. However, they are considering changing the wording to allow people who own or lease non-art office or retail space in Midtown or other popular Second Saturday areas to sell their own art or crafts outside without that permit, Kerth said.

There is also talk of enforcing things such as the requirement for written permission to hold a sidewalk sale and making sure amplified bands are spread out. Acoustic bands don't raise the same concerns. Outdoor amplified sound must always have a special permit, whether it’s on public or private property. That may now also need to meet the sound ordinance — although the way that’s monitored may be revamped for this event. The sound may be monitored close to the speakers, he added.

Police oversee the safety of pedestrians and vehicles, street closures and the enforcement of sound and alcohol ordinances so the event can remain successful, according to Capt. Dana Matthes, the police department’s central area commander.

Official hours and street closures for Second Saturday are from 5-10 p.m. For more information, call Special Event Services at 808-7888 or click here.

Historic North Sacramento skating rink burns down

2010-03-28T22:22:01Z

You could smell the smoke as you approached the 70-year old structure on Del Paso Boulevard on Sunday morning. Dozens of firefighters looked to put out the five-alarm fire, but it was too late.

ICELAND, the historic North Sacramento ice skating rink located on Del Paso Boulevard, burned down this morning leaving only its four main structural walls and iconic marquee standing.

"This is probably the biggest icon that remained in terms of an entertainment venue in North Sac," said Robert (Bob) Slobe. "It's a shame."

According to early reports, ICELAND was open Saturday night until 12am for a private party. The fire started at 3:30am around a car parked behind the ICELAND facility. Fire crews worked to prevent the blaze from spreading to adjoing structues.

ICELAND was built by the Kerth family in the late 1930s in conjunction with their other business, American Ice Company. The rink played host to iceskating, ice hockey, and ice shows. Former President and California Governor Ronald Regan skated at the facility, as did former boxer Max Baer.

The facility just installed a $68,000 roof last year.

Slobe hopes ICELAND is not torn down like the Del Paso Theater, which burned down 20 years ago in August of 1990.

"There were efforts to rebuild the Del Paso Theater," said Slobe. "The problem there was the market is not there for single screen theaters anymore."

Slobe hopes the facility can be rebuilt.

"I don't know anybody from this part of town, probably any part of town that's my age, who hadn't been there, skated there, learned to skate there, and had their kids skate there," said Slobe.

Skaters hit ice in Midtown

2009-11-28T06:44:12Z

A crowd is slowly growing at the holiday ice-skating rink set up in Midtown this year.

The number of people skating at the rink's temporary new location was initially small after the rink opened a week ago on a half-block of 20th Street next to J Street. Numbers began growing the closer it got to the start of the holiday season, said Rob Kerth, executive director of the Midtown Business Association.

MBA found a new location and sponsors for the rink to replace the rink usually set up at St. Rose of Lima Park at 7th and K streets, in front of Westfield Downtown Plaza. The park was renovated and a Carnival of Lights is being held there this year.

The Midtown rink is hoped to bring in $200,000 toward the $250,000 cost to run the operation. Sacramento City Councilmember Steve Cohn provided $5,000 from his discretionary funding. MBA raised $50,000 in sponsorships and ad revenue to make up the difference, Kerth said.

People can rent figure skates for $2. Those who need to sharpen their own skates can call the rink's manager to arrange sharpening with a mobile skate sharpener. They can also get their skates sharpened at Iceland Skating Rink.

All-day parking is available for a holiday rate of $5 at a two-story garage at 1161 20th St. During the day, 120 spaces are available and 200 spaces are available at night. Parking also is available for $6 at a lot at 2220 J St. The rink expects to offer $6 valet parking soon if the city approves bagging two parking meters on J Street, outside Peet's Coffee and Tea, according to the MBA.

The rink will operate from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. The rink will close at 6 p.m. on Christmas Eve and Christmas, and open at noon on Christmas day.

Two to three hours of skating costs $5 for kids and $8 for adults. To get skates sharpened or for more information, call the rink at 752-4644.

Photo by Suzanne Hurt, a staff writer for The Sacramento Press.

Midtown ice rink opens

2009-11-20T06:19:09Z

Rob Kerth has been getting plenty of Zamboni action the last few nights.

Midtown Business Association's executive director has been staying up late and going out in the early-morning dark to use the ice groomer to help create an ice-skating rink that opens at 10 a.m. Friday in Midtown.

"It's a tremendous amount of work to put up one of these portable rinks," Kerth said Wednesday. "I've been there until 4 in the morning at least five out of the last 10 days."

While most business association leaders might not even know how to spell "Zamboni," Kerth not only knows how to drive one, he owns one. And he has the license to drive it.

That's because until last year, Kerth owned Ice Unlimited, the company that built the holiday rink on a half-block of 20th Street next to J Street. Kerth and his father, William John Kerth, also designed 75 ice-skating rinks all over the country and on other continents as well.

The last rink they designed was at Squaw Valley's High Camp in 1990. The family also has owned Iceland Skating Rink since 1940.

The holiday rink was built in front of the MARRS Building this year due to conflicts at St. Rose of Lima Park, where a rink has operated every holiday for 18 years. The park was renovated and a Carnival of Lights is being held there this year.

Just two days before the Midtown rink was set to open, Kerth rushed to drop off sign materials at GW Print Media while Carlos Rios of Ice Unlimited scraped leaves off the new ice.

More than a dozen people helped build the rink and lay the ice. The project began Nov. 2, when the half block was closed. Skilled construction crews first built a wooden edge smack against street curbs.

They poured in gravel — 10 truckloads of it — and leveled it. Three-quarter-inch foam insulation went on top of the gravel to protect water mains and sewer pipes from freezing. A plastic sheet was laid on top of that and up the sides of the wooden edge, Kerth said.

Then, 69 pipes connected with u-bends on one end were laid. The 123-foot pipes were connected to headers or manifolds on the other end, Rios said.

About 1,800 gallons of saltwater is circulating now through three miles of pipes. Saltwater or "brine" is used because it freezes at a much lower point than fresh water.

The saltwater flows through bigger pipes into coolers inside a big trailer. That system chills the saltwater flowing out to 10 degrees, Rios said.

The saltwater warms up a few degrees outside, but the pipes stay cool enough to freeze the fresh water crews spray on the surface, little by little and layer by layer.

The water was sprayed from one end to the other and back again, forming layers until the ice is 4.25 inches thick. Most work took place between sundown and sunup, Kerth said.

The ice must be thick enough that a skate heel can't hit a pipe, Kerth said.

At 5,000 square feet, the 123-foot by 40-foot rink will be smaller than the St. Rose rink, which was 6,500-square feet.

Sponsors' names were set in the ice on mesh signs or around the rink. Major sponsors include Elk Grove-based Bell Brothers Heating and Air Conditioning, MARRS Building owner Heller Pacific, Harv's Car Wash, CBS13/CW31, California Pizza Kitchen and Sacramento City Councilmember Steve Cohn.

The rink will operate from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. all week. The rink will close at 6 p.m. on Christmas Eve. Hours on Christmas Day will be noon to 6 p.m. Two to three hours of skating are $5 for kids, $8 for adults. Skate rentals are $2.

The street will be closed for 90 days. The rink will operate until Jan. 18. The rink can hold 200 skaters.

Locals have been talking with MBA about holding activities on a small stage at one end. Some have talked about a tropical hula hoop demo. Fire dancers want to perform next to the ice. Two traveling musicians have talked about informal sessions on Friday nights and other bands may play Saturday nights, Kerth said.

Security will watch the rink overnight.

"They're there to help people not get hurt," Kerth said. "This is not like ice in the Sierras. It is the slickest surface that can be produced."

Photos by Kati Garner. Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Businesses divided over Midtown ice rink

2009-09-18T03:23:28Z

Sacramento's holiday ice-skating rink is coming to Midtown this year, thanks to the Midtown Business Association.

Members of its board voted Wednesday night to keep the palm-tree-studded capital's winter skating rink tradition alive by having an outdoor rink installed on the street of one the hottest blocks in town — 20th Street from J Street to the alley, between the Marrs Building's new businesses at 1050 20th St. and the Sacramento News & Review (SN&R) across the street.

"The ice rink is going ahead," said Rob Kerth, executive director of the Midtown Business Association (MBA) .

The vote — nine in favor and eight opposed — illustrated that business owners are not in agreement on the rink's merits.

Kerth proposed that the rink temporarily replace a seasonal rink that's been in operation for 18 years at Christmastime at St. Rose of Lima Park at 7th and K Sstreets. That rink, which was his father's idea, won't be built this year because of park and streetscape renovations. A Carnival of Lights will be held at the park instead.

Kerth acknowledged that the MBA and its members are is taking a risk by hosting the rink from Nov. 20 to Jan. 18. It will cost about $250,000.

He and a majority of board members say the rink will advertise Midtown's small businesses. The rink will attract people for holiday fun and provide an opportunity for businesses to encourage visitors to shop locally, Kerth said.

"The holidays are flooded with advertising, and it's very difficult to remind people of what you're offering," he said. "Any national chain in the Sacramento market is going to spend more on advertising than our entire ice rink budget. That's just not something that individual businesses can compete against."

The owners of Newsbeat, which moved to the Marrs Building about 18 months ago, have a "mixed" reaction to the rink, which will take up half a block, from J Street to the alley.

Terence Lott, who owns Newsbeat with his wife, Janis, said they expect crowds on the front deck would impact their business the most out of all the building's tenants because customers can access the newsstand from the front door only. The other businesses also have side entrances. The couple also worries about parking, which won't be available in front and may be a problem in the area for two months.

Yet they are "intrigued" at the possibility of being in the center of a "great community and civic function," Lott said.

"It's tantalizing, in the sense that it would bring people around," he said. "We don't anticipate that it would be disastrous — but there's an element of wait and see."

Other Midtown merchants are opposed to the rink and other events planned by the MBA.

Corey DeRoo said none of the events this year have increased the profits at French Cuff Consignment, which she owns at 2419 1/2 J St. with her mother, Darcy McNie.

"As we've understood it, the goal has been to bring folks to Midtown so they stay and shop and dine and play but instead people come to these events and many go home afterwards," she said in an e-mail.

DeRoo said she and other members of the MBA would prefer the association's money be spent on activities they believe would accomplish those goals, such as a marketing campaign to brand Midtown as a great destination and a beautification effort that would increase cleaning services and add trash cans, benches and flag markers.

"Unfortunately, with the passing of this terribly expensive and highly unpredictable ice skating rink, the money to accomplish any of these goals are gone," DeRoo wrote.

Sacramento City Councilmember Steve Cohn held a meeting with the city's decision makers, who agreed to close half a block of 20th Street and the sidewalk in front of SN&R, Kerth said.

There's still a possibility the 40-by-120 foot ice rink would be built at 18th and L streets if an adequate electrical supply isn't available in an electrical vault in the alley behind SN&R. Construction is expected to start begin Nov. 1.

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Ice rink decision expected Wednesday

2009-09-15T04:52:55Z

The Midtown Business Association is expected to decide Wednesday whether to take on the financial risk to keep Sacramento's holiday ice-skating rink tradition alive this year.

The association is considering building an outdoor rink in Midtown this year to temporarily replace the seasonal rink at St. Rose of Lima Park at 7th and K Streets. That rink won't be built this year due to conflicts with a park renovation.

Neighborhood input is welcome as the MBA board is expected to vote on the matter during its Monthly Board and Community Meeting, which is always open to the public, said Rob Kerth, executive director of the Midtown Business Association. The meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. at the Sacramento Regional Transit District headquarters, 1400 29th St.

Four Midtown businesses have committed $10,000 total for the rink, which would cost about $250,000 to build, operate and promote from Thanksgiving through Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday.

"That's a lot of money," he said. "Times are tough. But we don't want the tradition to die, and we want to have fun in Midtown."

The MBA is contributing $30,000 and needs at least $20,000 more to make the rink viable. Several large corporations, including some in Midtown, are considering donating another $60,000. But that sponsorship may depend on where the rink is located, which would also be decided at the meeting, Kerth said.

The business association board is considering whether to take the risk on such an expensive event, whose success depends on factors including weather, attendance, ice quality and more. The board must decide whether to hire a contractor and agree to pay $191,000 to build and run the rink.

The rink must have 24,000 paying skaters to take in $190,000 in gate proceeds. Last year, the St. Rose of Lima park rink had only 18,000 skaters, Kerth said. Any money that's lost comes out of a budget for marketing and other events.

The Marshall School/New Era Park Neighborhood Association is considering sending at least one person to the meeting to represent residents' interests and concerns, said group co-chair Bill Burgua.

"We stand with other neighborhood associations to make sure that residential neighborhoods are not negatively impacted — in this case, by parking," he said. "No matter how much commercial is here, Midtown is still primarily residential. They have to be constantly mindful that this is not a central business district."

A renovation of St. Rose of Lima Park that is expected to be completed in November made a rink there impractical, according to the Downtown Sacramento Partnership, which will instead use the site in a Carnival of Lights event. The partnership decided that the time needed to build an ice rink and the potential for rain at that time could cause too many problems and limit operational time.

MBA and the Downtown Sacramento Partnership have been working together to possibly erect a rink in Midtown this year. One possible location would be on the street at 20th and J streets, between the Sacramento News & Review and a strip of new businesses in the Mars Building including Azul Mexican Food and Tequila Bar, Peet's Coffee & Tea, and Lounge on 20. Three other sites being considered include on the street at 18th and L streets, or vacant lots at 28th and J streets or 16th and J streets across from Memorial Auditorium.

During the MBA meeting, Kerth will also propose that the group "cobble together" $25,000 to match $25,000 in city funds that could help the business district take part in the Carnival of Lights currently scheduled for downtown and Old Sacramento.

The money would help the organization decorate more trees with lights for the event, which celebrates the Grand Electric Carnival held in Sacramento in 1895. Kerth will propose keeping Midtown trees lit all year.

The MBA will try to work with the city to change current regulations preventing trees from being lit year-round.

"It just would be too heartbreaking to have all those lights up in the trees and shut them off come Jan. 3," he said. "You'd be looking up there hoping they'd come back on next year."

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

MBA, businesses discuss holiday plans

2009-07-25T19:40:00Z

Midtown — and its businesses — may be in for more comfort and joy during this year's holiday season.

In fact, some areas may start to look more like the North Pole than California's state capital.

Santa Claus might set up shop in Sacramento's hippest neighborhood. A Festival of Trees might light up Marshall Park. A holiday ice skating rink might take over an empty lot. It might even snow.

Key word here: might.

Those ideas fill a wish list drawn up by the Midtown Business Association (MBA), which believes such festivities could attract up to 50,000 customers during what's shaping up to be another dismal holiday spending season nationwide.

With the continuing recession, businesses and the business associations set up to help them are trying to find new ways to draw shoppers and revelers.

"We need to do some extraordinary things to hang onto these great businesses in Midtown," said MBA Executive Director Rob Kerth. "Times are pretty tough, so folks are getting creative."

Retailers, restaurants and other businesses rely heavily on sales between Thanksgiving and year's end for profits. While he couldn't name any businesses on the brink of failure, Kerth said he's worried a lack of holiday shoppers could lead to Midtown businesses closing.

"It's pretty safe to say that if Midtown has a bad holiday season, we're going to have some places go dark — particularly boutiques and retailers," he said. "If we lose them, there's no guarantee that, when times turn around, they're going to come back. If we let too many folks slip away, we could end up with too many vacant storefronts for years."

From a business standpoint, the 2008 holiday shopping season was the worst in decades. Some stores subsequently closed in early 2009.

July may seem way too early to be thinking about winter holidays. But MBA and many Sacramento businesses learned the hard way last year when an October start on planning was too late. This month, the association's tiny staff held meetings to start getting business owners and others on board.

Just how much of the wish list turns into reality depends on how much money and other support materializes. MBA estimates $50,000 is needed to finance the entire plan.

At the very least, MBA will deck out J Street with lights and holiday decorations used last year. From roughly 20th to 26th streets, they'll put lights on street lampposts or on trees on those blocks without lampposts. This year, they hope to light up three trees per block rather than two.

"It won't be the continuous coverage we want some day. But we'll keep adding to it every year," said Kerth.

MBA must also find business and property owners in those blocks willing to "host" a set of lights by supplying a power outlet from Thanksgiving to early January.

"The city doesn't have electrical power on the street. So we're always trying to find a place to plug these things in," he said. "Once we start to get a lot of lights out there, you get a pretty nice streetscape."

City crews make the old lampposts' electrical wiring ready for holiday lights. Much of the wiring dates back to the dawn of electricity and can be easily broken, said Kerth.

MBA is also proposing a tree festival for Dec. 5 and 6 to help turn Midtown into a regional holiday shopping destination. The staff is searching for Midtown businesses to decorate trees that MBA places in Marshall Park. Tree sponsorships range from $250 for a 6-foot potted cedar to $1,000 for an 18-foot sequoia.

If the idea gets enough business support, Santa would arrive at the park in a horse-drawn sleigh. Due to the Camellia City's lack of snow, the sleigh would glide down J Street on wheels rather than sled runners. But Santa Claus might make it snow — just in the park, and just for two days.

"He's putting in his orders with the weatherman," Kerth said, adding MBA has discussed the use of the park for this possible special event with some nearby residents. "This is in line with the what I understand their hopes for the park would be: family events that people from within the community and from without can come to enjoy."

After Santa finishes his duties in the park, he may then set up a workshop in a vacant Midtown building. Santa would read stories to kids while "elves" build wooden toys in the workshop. The toys would be given to charities, Kerth said.

A hardware store has offered to organize the toy workshop. Four building owners with currently vacant property in Midtown's core have offered space for the event.

"We want every one of them to be rented out to businesses. Hopefully all four of them will go away and we'll be looking for space again," he said.

The biggest event — and the one that'd require the most financing — is to build a holiday ice-skating rink in Midtown this year.

The downtown rink operated every Christmas for 18 years at St. Rose of Lima Park, which sits near the Westfield Downtown Plaza entrance at Seventh Street, won't be created this year due to park and streetscape renovations.

That outdoor holiday rink is a tradition Kerth would like to see continue. His grandfather built Iceland Skating Rink, which his mother and an aunt still own. The ice rink in the downtown park is named for his dad, William John Kerth, who is believed to have invented the ice resurfacer more than a year before Frank Zamboni developed his.

William Kerth also came up with the idea for the holiday rink. He suggested building a rink one day to his neighbor, Bob Thomas, then the director of the city's parks department.

MBA is working with the Downtown Sacramento Partnership to possibly erect the same size rink in Midtown this year. One possible location would be at 16th and J streets across from Memorial Auditorium. The rink would open around Thanksgiving and run through Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday.

But that all depends on whether businesses have money to invest in the strategy. MBA expects to hold another holiday planning meeting next month. The deadline for business sponsorship is Sept. 1.

"We're getting a big jump on it this year, so it gives us the ability to be creative," said Rob Kerth. "If we can raise enough money, I think we can make it, even though times are tough."

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. She can be reached at 916-804-2856 or suzanne@sacramentopress.com.

Second Saturday Needs Volunteer Crossing Guards

2009-06-04T03:09:35Z

Second Saturday has grown in popularity during the past few years, to the point where Sacramento police have asked for citizens' help. Because of declining budgets and the growing crowds at Second Saturday, there are not enough police available to perform crossing guard duty. To that end, Midtown Business Association Executive Director Rob Kerth sent out the following email:

"Hi Folks,
Our Sac PD Captain, Dana Matthes, is looking for a few good people to do crossing
guard duty on 2nd Saturday. If you've got the urge to help out, or know someone
who might, please give her a call at 808-4511. They have a training program to
get you all ready.
Thanks!"