Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "sacramento county"

County's Green-Yellow-Red Restaurant Rating Program Marks 5-Year Anniversary

2012-01-21T01:07:03Z

If you’ve gone out to eat at any restaurant in Sacramento County you probably noticed the color-coded sign posted near the entrance with results of the establishment’s latest health inspection. January 2012 marks the 5-year anniversary of Sacramento County’s Green-Yellow-Red food facility rating program.

Since the program began, food facilities receiving a green or “Pass” placard increased from 88 to 94 percent, said Val Siebal, director of the Environmental Management Department. At the same time, major health risk violations that could potentially cause foodborne illness have decreased. Restaurants are inspected three times a year and other food facilities twice a year. Routine inspections are unannounced.

“The program has been well-received by food facility owners and operators, and is popular with restaurant patrons. The color-coded placards give consumers an instant message about the establishment’s food safety inspection record and compliance with State and local food safety laws,” said Siebal.

The Green-Yellow-Red retail food safety program is modeled after a similar successful program in Toronto, Canada, and was the first program of its kind in the United States. Columbus, Ohio has now adopted a similar program.

Restaurants, markets, bakeries, school cafeterias and other retail food establishments in Sacramento County are required to display a green, yellow, or red placard at or near the entrance of their facility. A placard is posted by the inspector upon completion of a health inspection. A green or “PASS” sign denotes a high level of compliance. A yellow or “CONDITIONAL PASS” sign is posted when two or more major food safety violations are found and corrected before the inspector leaves. The business will remain open and a re-inspection is conducted, usually within 48 hours, to assure continued compliance. A red or “CLOSED” sign is posted when an establishment is closed for an imminent health hazard that cannot be immediately corrected.

Get inspection results for your favorite eateries on the go
A food inspection results website and smart phone apps were recently made available. Visit m.ffi.saccounty.net with your smart phone or tablet and view the inspection results for food facilities in your immediate area. Free apps can be found in the Android Market and iTunes app stores by searching for ‘Sac Food.’ Visit our mobile web & app page for more information.

Food safety education is a major component of the program
A major part of the Green-Yellow-Red restaurant rating program focuses on operator education and outreach. To enhance this, EMD recently produced a video to teach food facility owners and workers how to pass a health inspection to get a green or “PASS” rating. The 25-minute “How to Get a Green” training video is available in four languages (English, Spanish, Cantonese, and Vietnamese). It can be viewed online at www.emd.saccounty.net/EnvHealth/FoodProtect/FoodVideoTraining.html.

Does your home kitchen get a green?
In time for the 5-year anniversary of the Green-Yellow-Red restaurant inspection program, there is now an online Home Kitchen Self-Inspection Survey to make sure you know the basics of food safety – and get a green “PASS” sign to display at home. Take the quiz at www.homekitchensurvey.saccounty.net.

For more information about the County’s retail food protection program, call (916) 875-8440 or visit www.emd.saccounty.net/EnvHealth/FoodProtect/RetailFood.html.

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Kerri Aiello is a Communications and Media Officer for Sacramento County. She can be reached by telephone at (916) 874-4667 or email Aiellok@saccounty.net.

Green Sacramento County

2012-01-18T19:08:40Z

New Website Showcases Achievements, Interactive Map and Constituent Resources

Now, there is a new website that showcases Sacramento County’s green strategies, achievements and helpful information. The website – Green Sacramento County – features an interactive map to pinpoint green activity and provides constituents with green news, tips and resources.

“Sacramento County can be proud of its commitment to sustainability and smart environmental practices. Our green practices used within our organization and in neighborhoods across the County save money, energy and the environment,” said County Executive Brad Hudson.

Green Sacramento County Website Features

Green Map is a fun way to see green activity in the county. Constituents will be able to locate electric vehicle charging stations, park and ride lots, light rail stops, ethanol E85 stations, LEED certified buildings, solar projects, green businesses and bikeways, with just a click of the mouse.

SacCounty Grows Greener features some of the County’s top projects and use of green strategies, such as the Sacramento International Airport’s new Terminal B, alternative fuel stations and the Freeport/Vineyard water projects. There are many projects in the categories of Energy, Waste and Recycling, Transportation, Water, and Agriculture and Open Spaces.

You Can Grow Greener has valuable information and services for constituents to use conveniently located on one page. Find out how to make a business green or how to recycle used oil.

Green News & Events keeps constituents informed of local green events and news about the County’s green efforts.

Green Links & Resources provides the County’s green policies and resources at the local, state and federal levels.

“Whether it is biomass power at the Kiefer Landfill or replenishing underground aquifers with the new Vineyard Surface Water Treatment Plant, Green Sacramento County has the information about what the County is doing to harness clean energy,” said Dave Defanti, Sacramento County Climate Action Plan Project Manager.

Green Sacramento County (http://www.green.saccounty.net/default.htm) will be the gathering point for all Sacramento County’s green project implementations, news, events and resources.

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Brenda Bongiorno is the Communication and Media Officer for Sacramento County's Department of Technology. She can be reached by telephone at (916) 874-7798 or by email at Bongiornob@saccounty.net.

The highs and lows of medical marijuana in 2011

2011-12-29T04:35:45Z

In 2011, medical marijuana dispensaries in Sacramento city and county went from being barely legal to riding a wave of potential for acceptance – but in the end, saw the future of their operations heavily scrutinized or banned outright.

Here’s what happened on the medical marijuana scene this year:

In February, medical marijuana dispensaries in the city were lining up to complete a permit application process that would allow a limited number of facilities to operate within city limits.

Pot shops that didn’t apply for the proper permits – or had applications denied through the process – were shut down by city code enforcement.

Once the application deadline passed for the first part of a two-part process, 39 dispensaries were left in the running for a permanent place on the Sacramento scene – while many others withdrew from the city limits to operate within the county, where restrictions were scarce and permits nonexistent.

As the county became aware of the proliferation of dispensaries within its boundaries, county leaders opened the door to regulating medical marijuana.

In August, medical marijuana awareness among the public reached a peak in Sacramento when the inaugural Hempfest Sacramento took place at an RV park and campground in Sutter County.

Despite dispensary operations gaining some favor with the city, dispensaries in the county continued to run afoul of laws that didn’t include any zoning regulations to protect them, and many dispensaries were shut down by the county.

In June, the federal Department of Justice sent a memo to state attorneys general stating that the federal government would enforce its marijuana prohibition laws – despite any state laws to legalize the drug.

In response, the City Council reviewed its permit application process and put a “freeze” on all dispensary applications until it could be determined that dispensaries could somehow operate legally under state law while still being at odds with federal law.

At the county, instead of pursuing an ordinance to allow special permits for medical marijuana dispensary operations, officials switched gears and moved to reinforce county codes that prohibit any “activity that violates federal or state law in any way” – essentially solidifying an all-out ban.

Dispensary operators and city residents weighed in on the ordinance freeze in the city, with public opinion being fairly evenly divided between support and opposition of keeping dispensary operations legal.

At the start of the year, medical marijuana dispensaries enjoyed a wide berth from the city to advertise in newspapers and on billboards, and pot shops openly operated throughout the city.

As the year draws to a close, however, many have turned to a more low-key approach to doing business while federal and state governments iron out their legal wrinkles.

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

Make holiday dreams come true for Sacramento foster youth

2011-11-23T00:25:34Z

SACRAMENTO – As foster youth in the Sacramento area spend the holidays away from home, local residents can ensure they still have stockings and presents to open, thanks to United Way’s Women in Philanthropy and Sacramento County’s Gifts From The Heart program.

“I cannot imagine how lonely it must feel to be removed from your home, especially during the holidays,” said Lisa Watts, chair of United Way’s Women in Philanthropy. “This is a fantastic way to give back during the holiday season and know that your gift will brighten the holidays for a hurting child.”

Visit www.yourlocalunitedway.org to sign up to bring specific gifts for children in Sacramento County’s Child Protective Services or to provide a $30 donation to purchase a holiday stocking for a foster youth preparing for emancipation. All items must be received by 4 p.m. on Dec. 5 at United Way’s office, 10389 Old Placerville Road, Sacramento. For more information, contact Kaila Ricci at kricci@uwccr.org or (916) 856-3910.

Holiday gifts will be distributed through Sacramento County’s Gifts From The Heart program, and stockings will be distributed through United Way’s certified nonprofit partners that work with foster youth preparing to leave the foster care system.

United Way’s Women in Philanthropy brings women together to foster the future, preparing foster youth for a successful adulthood. A dynamic group of businesswomen, homemakers and community leaders, Women in Philanthropy members raise funds, hold drives and provide trainings focused on helping foster youth rise to their dreams. The group also is a partner in United Way’s $en$e-Ability project, helping foster youth become financially self-sufficient through financial literacy courses and individual development accounts that provide a matched savings program. For more information, visit www.yourlocalunitedway.org/wip.

Sacramento County’s Gifts from the Heart is an annual holiday gift-giving program that operates on donations and benefits children and seniors who are in the Department of Health and Human Services’ system of care. For more information, call (916) 875-2027.

Disclosure: Kristin Thébaud is the marketing consultant for United Way California Capital Region, as well as other local nonprofits and philanthropic companies.

County Suspends Annual Building Fee Increases

2011-11-16T01:13:41Z

Sacramento County Supervisors have voted to suspend the automatic annual fee adjustments for several development impact fee programs.

“As part of our ongoing effort to encourage business and job opportunities, and improve the local economy, we have held back automatic fee increases on new building projects. This will help new projects get started, help create jobs and add to the economic recovery of the Sacramento region,” said Roberta MacGlashan, Chair of the Board. “This will be the fourth consecutive year we’ve suspended increases as we continue to develop ways to improve the stability and growth of our region.”

The programs affected are:
• Antelope, North Vineyard Station, Vineyard and Mather Field Plan Area Fee Programs
• Eight local Recreation and Park Districts’ Park Fee Programs
• Sacramento County Water Agency Zone 11A, Zone 11B, Zone 11C and the Supplemental Drainage Fee for the Vineyard Springs area.

Cumulatively, without suspending these fee increases for four years, there would have been a12.1% increase in the fees. In addition, the Board extended the temporary reduction in fee rates for several fee components in the North Vineyard Station Fee program for an additional two years, with a new sunset date of December 31, 2013. This will continue the reductions approved last year. The Roadway fee is reduced by 17.5%, the Frontage Lane Fee is reduced by 38.3% and the Library Fee is reduced by 1.8%.

The County has been working with the North State Building Industry Association (BIA) to comprehensively review all fee programs in an effort to address the systematic change that has occurred in the market place and put systems in place to move the economy forward. The working group has achieved significant fee reductions in some areas without compromising construction standards. Suspending fee increases will contribute to economic recovery by lowering the costs so that it will be more likely for projects to develop in this economic climate.

“As partners, Sacramento County and the BIA are working together to address the ever changing market environment. Through the County’s leadership we are creating an environment which not only improves the stability and growth in Sacramento County, but will also translate into job creation,” John Costa, Senior Legislative Advocate, BIA.

Disclosure: Media Officer with Sacramento County

Locke Property Dispute (part 3)

2011-11-01T08:38:57Z

Read "Locke property dispute (part 1)" here.

This is my reply to the long response of another of my neighbors in Locke to "Locke property dispute (part 2)"

RLM: It was with great interest that I read this.
Esch: Glad to have your interest, Ronnie.

RLM: I have never publicly spoken on this matter, neither verbally nor in print--not even anonymously.
Esch: According to my friend Jacquie and her friend, who visited me a couple weeks ago, you had quite a lot to say to them about it.

RLM: However, I must dispute some of the claims made. Firstly: There are two separate issues here 1" the manner in which the building at 1265 Levee was acquired by Ms. Esch and 2) the zoning of this property.
Esch: Go for it.

RLM: Before a property in Locke may be sold, it must be presented to the Locke Management Association (LMA) governing board. The LMA has the right of first refusal--they may match any offer being considered for a property in Locke and purchase it. The board has 30 days in which to make its decision. Ms. Esch is aware of this--she and I have spoken of it prior to this, though not in this context; furthermore, I believe she has been present at least one meeting when a property has been presented well prior this. RLM: “The board has 30 days in which to make its decision. “
Esch: Wrong, Ronnie. 25 days, not 29 30. Open your CC&R’s to page 8, section 2.8 and read it. The LMA board was four days late by their own rules, plain and simple.

RLM: “This building was not presented to the LMA as being for sale, nor was it presented as having an offer made.”
Esch: True, it was not put up for sale. I made an offer to the seller. She accepted it. I opened escrow through Placer Title Company, who then sent e-mail notification of my bona fide offer to LMA’s Executive Director, Shirley Roberts on Tuesday, February 8, 2011 at 4:08 PM (two and a half hours before the start of the LMA monthly meeting). Roberts replied to Placer Title’s e-mail 35 minutes later at 4:43 PM. Roberts and LMA Chairman Clarence Chu had the responsibility to publicly release the news of my escrow to the board and to the public during the communications portion of that meeting. They instead chose to keep the information secret. This was the first in a long series of Ralph M. Brown Act violations the LMA made, just on this property issue, alone.

RLM: “Instead, they were notified by the title company asking if there was an impediment; they were told there was--escrow had not yet closed. “
Esch: Not quite. The title company did not ask if there was an impediment. The seller’s attorney received an email on March 9, 2011 from Chairman Chu, stating that the LMA board had voted to exercise ROFR. From February 8 to March 9 is 29 days. LMA was 4 days late by their own rules. Plain and simple. With or without a petition with 12 signatures on it, not 16, taken illegally by a board member with clear conflict of interest and no public notification, the LMA board was still late.

RLM: Apparently Ms. Esch feels she is above the rules; they were not followed.
Esch: The word “buyer” is not mentioned anywhere in the LMA’s CC&R’s or in its Bylaws. The seller followed the rules. Placer Title Company followed the rules. We all waited out LMA’s 25 day ROFR period. The only entity that feels it’s above the rules is the LMA board, itself.

RLM: As for the zoning issue: Laura Ulewicz owned that home before she died. It was one of her goals to see that the zoning on her home, and of Levee Street east of Main, receive residential zoning. She had the support of everyone that lived on our street. She was successful--the zoning on our street was changed to residential. We celebrated this together.
Esch: Ronnie, sorry to break this to you, but you’re also within zone 5, the commercial/residential zone of Locke. Open up your county SPA Special Planning Area packet to the zoning map of Locke on page 14. If you can’t find your copy, here’s an online link to it: http://www.msa2.saccounty.net/planning/Documents/Zoning-Code/TitleV%20504-400%20Locke.pdf

RLM: Laura was my best friend. She was a poet (yes, a published one) and a passionate gardener. Her home, her yard, reflected her love of things growing. The entrance to our street was cool, green and shady, enlivened by flowers; our privacy was enhanced by her plantings of tall service berry shrubs, which also fed the birds. One could find many flowers and ferns growing in the understory of her plantings. In her last years, Laura often expressed the fear that all she worked for, the trees, shrubs, and flowers that she planted and nurtured, her living legacy, would be chopped down, as if she never existed. And now they are. Our street is no longer cooled and protected from prying eyes by Laura's legacy. Ms. Esch has cut them down.
Esch: Laura was my friend, too, Ronnie. I am doing my best to care take her property with respect, though I’ll never be the accomplished gardener she was. I weeded many of the shrubs that have become overgrown since Laura’s passing in 2007. That really annoyed the rats and ferule cats that were having ongoing parties in them. I did have two of the twenty-some trees cut down, I cannot lie. I invite any readers of this to stop by when I’m there and pick from Laura’s thriving fig, pomegranate, cherry, loquat, plum, peach, lime and ginkgo trees on the property, some of which I prune to hopefully yield a better crop next season.

RLM: One can walk or drive by and look in the windows.
Esch: No one can drive by. Levee Road is blocked by a permanently parked car, and in front of a different house, there are a bunch of assorted possessions, spilling onto the road (in addition to about a dozen or so cats). The windows on the two houses you’re referring to are opaque or covered in tin foil and have been for years.

RLM: The house across from her now receives the searing rays of the searing summer sun.
Esch: The house across the street from me is south of mine. Even on the summer solstice, his trees cast a shadow on mine, not the other way around.

RLM: The ambient temperature on our street has risen a few degrees during the warm weather.
Esch: The ambient temperature on Levee Road hasn’t risen a fraction of a mercurial inch. See the above photo I took this week of my property while standing on Levee Road.

RLM: I have seen tourists standing on the porch of the home directly across from her, their faces pressed up to the glass of the windows, trying to peer into this man's home.
Esch: I doubt that. He keeps tin foil taped to his window.

RLM: I have had tourists try to enter my own home, further down the street.
Esch: Yes, you’ve told me this story four or five times since 2006, Ronnie.

RLM: Ms. Esch has opened a store here, disregarding the fact that it is not zoned for it. She makes the claim based upon 'businesses' that have not existed for far longer than she claims--Laura came here in the 1960s; there were no businesses on this street then, nor were there thereafter.
Esch: Here we go again. Open up your SPA docs to the zoning map on page 14.

RLM: Is there prejudice in Locke? I have no doubt--we are all human, and where there are humans, it will exist. Is racial prejudice being directed against Martha Esch to wrest her building (note I don't say home, it isn't her home) from her? Nope. We just want her to go by the rules.
Esch: Okay.

RLM: BTW, I am not Chinese, I was both a CAC member who voted on and for the zoning issue/change to residential that the Sac. Board of Supervisors passed,
Esch: Page 14. SPA.

RLM: ...as well voting against the right of first refusal.
Esch: So, let’s see...you voted against ROFR and now you want LMA to apply it...right?

RLM: I was a founding board member of the LMA. I have not been a board member for several years now. I am trying to keep this honest.
Esch: I was going to reply to this, too,...but I’d better not.

Disclosure: They either love me or they hate me in Locke, anymore. Middle ground has disappeared.

County Offers Electric Vehicle Charging Stations

2011-10-31T22:25:50Z

Sacramento County has opened five new charging stations for electric cars with onboard battery charging equipment. There is no charge for using the stations. The stations are located downtown and in the Bradshaw Road area and are available on a first-come, first served basis:

• Branch Center: Light Fleet Services 4001 Branch Center Rd. 916-875-5608
• Downtown Garage: Parking Office next to toll booths, 725 7th Street.- 916-874-6227

The stations are open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week and are open to anyone with a ChargePass card. The chargers work much like plugging in an electric appliance at home and charges take anywhere from 20 minutes to several hours, depending on the amount of charge needed.

The ChargePoint Network is a service network in the US and users should think of charging stations as fueling stations. Charging stations in the future will operate much like gasoline dispensers do for gasoline cars today using “pay at the pump” technology.

Usage will be monitored by ChargePoint through the terms of the Federal program that funded the stations. Anyone can see if a ChargePoint Station is in operation or available on the ChargePoint website.

ChargePass cards can be obtained at http://www.mychargepoint.net/charge-pass.php.
When setting up an account, users can:
• Elect to receive text or Email message when their vehicle is completely charged.
• Elect to receive text or Email messages if their charging session is interrupted for any reason such as a GFCI fault or disconnected cable.
• View fuel and greenhouse gas (GHG) savings of they’re vehicle.
• Track vehicle’s charge history.

Disclosure: I work in Communication and Media for Sacramento County.

Locke Property Dispute (part 2) in the ongoing battle.

2011-10-28T00:52:32Z

Continued from "Locke property dispute (part 1)"

There was a second response – a very lengthy one - to my first article from an anonymous person posting under the name, “Locked.” I suspect “Locked” is one of my neighbors and a board member of LMA Locke Management Association, the public agency which has filed a lawsuit against me to take my property. Locked’s writing style is recognizable, accusatory, with no factual basis. Original article (part 1) is found here: http://www.sacramentopress.com/headline/56717/Locke_property_dispute_part_1 I’ll take Locked’s questions and comments one by one...

Locked: Who's throwing stones?
Esch: LMA board threw the first stones at me when they sent me a threatening letter from their newly-hired lawyer demanding my property title and telling me I had four days to hand it over. When I did not cave, (did they really think I’d just roll over and hand them my property title?), they threw a second handful by retaliating with a lawsuit to try to seize my property. I threw some stones back at them when I filed a HUD complaint, regarding the discriminatory statement made in a March 26, 2011 letter, signed by Clarence Chu, that preference for property purchases in Locke belongs to “…400 Chinese Descendants and Ancestors of Locke...” Mr. Chu told the HUD Investigator that he didn’t read the letter before signing it and someone else wrote the letter for him. More stones back at me from LMA came in May 2011 when I was served with a second court filing. This time for an August 2011 Superior Court hearing requesting Superior Court to place a restraining order on me. Why? Because I trimmed my trees, weeded the lawn, painted the pink siding on my house brown, removed an illegal propane tank, cut down a hazardous post and opened my properly licensed business. Note: At the same time I was doing these things, the Chairman of LMA had work crews erecting two giant statues in front of the School House Museum, with none of the required building permits or Locke Preservation Committee reviews. The day before LMA’s August restraining order hearing, the judge threw their suit out, based on their frivolous complaints and scolded the LMA board for not following their own CC&R rules.

Locked: You know that there was no racism involved.
Esch: LMA’s lawsuit filing to take my property references at length the history of the racial discrimination in Locke, California, and the injustice of the California Alien Land Law of 1913 in which foreigners were not allowed to purchase land but could lease it for three years. I can only assume that LMA’s lawyer is referencing this antiquated, unfair law as LMA’s justification to take my property from me. Some have termed what LMA is doing to me as reverse discrimination, since I happen to be of a race other than their stated preferred national origin. Reverse discrimination is still discrimination. You say no racism exists in Locke. Racism does not outwardly exist in Locke, but on LMA paperwork, letters, court filings, and signage, sadly, it does indeed exist. It especially exists in the direct and indirect assertions made by LMA as to their justification to take away my property deed. More to the point, favoritism runs rampant in Locke, LMA board members have not been told to obtain legal business licenses for their businesses, and they have been allowed to make major changes to their buildings and land without permits or historic preservation reviews. Also, all of the past and present seated board members who own Locke property have been given waivers to ROFR by their fellow board members, directly opposing the procedures of their own CC&R’s.

Locked: You lost the case. These are facts not stones.
Esch: I have not lost the case. The HUD investigation is open for another two years. A second HUD investigation, resulting from a discrimination complaint made by another Locke resident is presently being filed against the LMA Board.
The LMA Superior Court hearing to take away my property is scheduled for December 22, 2011 in Sacramento’s Superior Court.

Locked: I understand that you want to keep your house but what exactly do you hope to gain by spreading the false rumors that Locke is a racist town?
Esch: Locke is not a racist town, but racism (the California Alien Land Law of 1913) was at its root and founding and persists into today in an inverted way. The statement made by LMA that preference to purchase property in Locke should be given to a single national origin is certainly racist, by definition. The signs in the Boarding House Museum claim that Locke was built for and by one single national origin. Another sign says “Locke is almost exclusively populated until very recently by” a single national origin. Contrary to those claims, the 1930 US Census and earlier records in the county’s archives, Locke is and has always been a global community since its origins in 1907 when the rail yards and the cannery employed hundreds of immigrants from all around the world, not just one single origin of people. It would be refreshing to see LMA and LF Locke Foundation give credit to the other 23 nationalities that lived in Locke as well on its signage, monuments, museums, literature, website and at Locke’s street celebrations. The failure to take notice of the many nationalities that participated in Locke’s life is yet another form of racism and is perverted history.

Locked: This only harms this community. It insults the people who started this town because they could not own land in the first place because of the Alien Exclusion Act. I did not see that in your brief history of the town. Gee, I would consider that the most important part of the history and why the whole town even exists.
Esch: You’re mistaken, it is not the Alien Exclusion Act of 1920 and the Johnson-Reed Act of 1924 that did that, it is the California Alien Land Law of 1913, as I mentioned, above. Instead of repeating what you’ve been told, why not explore these matters in depth, yourself, and become familiar with the actual and true facts? The people who founded this town were from many nations, not just one. I hope LMA and LF soon finally acknowledge every culture’s contributions to Locke and the Delta. One reason the town even exists is due to the contributions of many cultures.

Locked: What effect do you think it will have on tourism and your future business?
Esch: It’s time to tell the true story of Locke, originally named Lockeport. If LMA would tell the accurate history of our town, it would bring more visitors from around the world. The fabricated claims written in the 1970’s in order to gain grants and funding for buildings that needed to be stabilized and electrified and for the installation of an operational sewage system in the town served their purpose for the time. (But, what about fire protection? The incomplete exterior sprinkler system that was installed on fewer than half of the buildings with taxpayers’ monies in 2003 cannot be tested, there are broken fire hydrants, exposed dangerous wiring on some of the buildings, there is only one fire alarm in town and it is disconnected, there are no posted evacuation plans for visitors or residents, and it is questionable whether most of the fifty buildings even have an operational smoke detector or fire extinguisher.)

Locked: You want to change a residential home into a commercial one which has been residential for at least 30 years. Your closest neighbor’s home is eight feet from what will be your new commercial business’ front door.
Esch: The building I purchased is within the commercial/residential zone of Locke, as are my neighbors’ homes on Levee Road and Main Street. I invite you to look at the zoning and planning map for Locke, as I have. The county would not have issued me a business license if I were not in a properly zoned area. The house to which you refer is more like forty feet away (not eight) from my front door - was King’s Radio & TV Shop back in the 1950’s. If my neighbor chooses to live in it, but not run a business from it, that is his prerogative, just as I have the right to run my licensed business from mine, in a properly zoned area.

Locked: How would you feel if someone opened a business in front of your home after you have lived on a quiet residential street for 25 years?
Esch: If any of my neighbors had a problem with the commercial/residential zoning of Locke in 2005, they could have raised their objections at the SHRA and CAC meetings that were held in the Schoolhouse Museum. My next door neighbor told me he is considering opening a business, too. I hope he does.

Locked: Over half of the LMA board is made up of your neighbors and people who might become your fellow merchants.
Esch: Four of the thirteen LMA board members reside in Locke. Two other board members own Locke properties, including the Chairman of LMA who chooses not to live in Locke. He owns seven of the sixteen buildings on Main Street, including three unstaffed museums. If other board members wish to join me and become fellow merchants, that would be great – we need more merchants to staff the closed-up stores. However, those currently operating businesses and museums without business licenses need to do apply and obtain them just as the rest of us are required to have licenses.

Locked: These are people you are calling racists Martha, your neighbors.
Esch: Racists, no. People who play favorites, yes. People who act as a clique, yes. Elitists who practice cronyism, yes. The LMA board is on a fast path of self-destruction, and if it hopes to retain its position, it had better clean up its behavior and start using proper and fair procedures.

Locked: What will you gain by doing this? You will only alienate your neighbors and you have.
Esch: The LMA board has treated their public audience, renters and residents of Locke with disrespect for several years, disdainfully calling the residential and business renters “Invitees” and telling us we have no rights in the matters of our own town, no voting power, and no voices that will be considered on issues that concern us. LMA board has the hypocritical voice of the 1913 California Alien Land Law speaking. We hope to soon cause change in these matters. Most of my Locke neighbors are supportive and feel the LMA has been unreasonable in its actions against me and other residents. As for my neighbors, two of them hurl obscenities at the tourists who walk past their doors. A third neighbor, who is on the board, reached five feet over my fence with a chainsaw on a stick and trimmed the trunks of my tree last month without asking me. I don’t care if I alienate those three. My other neighbors defend my position.

Locked: What tourists will come to see the racist town?
Esch: The same tourists and more – and Locke is not a racist town, it is also not an “almost exclusively Chinese” town.

Locked: You are myopically focused on your one goal and are disregarding where your stones are and will be falling. You are the one throwing stones.
Esch: Myopically focused? You bet. You’d be myopically focused, too, if a public agency filed a lawsuit against you to take your legal property away and harassed you and your friends at their public monthly meetings.

Locked: You fail to mention in your article the public petition presented to the LMA asking them to vote to exercise the RFR.
Esch: Oh, yes, let’s talk about that. Curiously, and quite illegally, in late February 2011, one of the LMA board members, accompanied by a multiple property owner in Locke, went door-to-door with a petition for the LMA to buy the property for which I was already in legal escrow. Thirteen (13) people of the sixty (60) residents signed the illegally-administered petition.

Locked: The e-mails sent by owners also.
Esch: Yes, at the March 8, 2011 LMA meeting, LMA board member, Deborah Mendel stated that she had received several e-mails from friends and neighbors during the 25 day ROFR period, wishing to buy the property for which I was already in legal escrow. Mendel’s confidential e-mails are part of a series of serious Ralph M. Brown Act violations by LMA board that apparently occurred on the issue of my property purchase.

Locked: Over half the property owners in Locke requested that the LMA exercise the RFR.
Esch: There are fifty (50) properties in Locke. Thirteen (13) signatures on an illegally-administered petition are about one-fourth, not over half. Perhaps you are counting thirteen as the majority of property owners in Locke, due to the odd voting power structure on matters of homeowners of Locke. In 2004 when the LMA was formed, Locke was parceled by the SHRA Sacramento Housing Redevelopment Agency and property owners (including many long-time squatters) were given property deeds - most for the first time according to Sacramento County records. Sixteen of the fifty-some buildings had no interested buyers, were not publicly listed, and were purchased by three people who, along with all the other new parcel owners, did not have to go through ROFR Right of First Refusal and its 25 day waiting period. These three individuals control the majority of the voting power in Locke today with one vote granted per one parcel. Since LMA is a public agency, it must abide by Federal and State laws and it is questionable whether one vote per parcel, not one vote per person, is even constitutional. Additionally, the LMA board has allowed the ROFR 25-day period to be waived early of passed with no actions taken for all of their fellow board members who have purchased Locke property since 2005 when they were formed. Cronyism, plain and simple.

Locked: The people of this community joined together and spoke out.
Esch: And many more in this community and other communities are speaking back.

Locked: We are not racists. Most of the people are the same race as you. It was a dirty card to play, false and you continue to promote this cause in the press. It only hurts us all.
Esch: Based on the LMA’s written statement that a single national origin must be “notified due to their own preference to purchase the Locke property,” racism is hurting me, as I do not fit LMA’s preferred nationality, and am now saddled with fighting their lawsuit against me. I agree with you on one thing, though, the LMA’s pursuit of this vindictive and ultimately fruitless lawsuit only hurts us all.

Continue to "Locke property dispute (part 3)"

Disclosure: If Locked replies a third time, I will not respond again unless he or she reveals their true identity in their public reply posting. The same goes for any other anonymous posters. Thank you to everyone for your support and interest. ~ Martha Esch

Sacramento Cat Hospital to Host Third Annual Pet Food Drive on November 19

2011-10-17T23:50:00Z

On Saturday, November 19, the Sacramento Cat Hospital will host its third annual pet food drive, benefiting Titanic's Pantry (the Sacramento Pet Food Bank). All donations of cat and dog food, canned or dry, will help feed hungry animals throughout Sacramento.

The pet food drive will be held from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Sacramento Cat Hospital, 4115 Manzanita Avenue in Carmichael. In addition to pet food, donations of leashes, collars, cat litter, bedding, and other pet supplies are welcome.

"If a family is having a tough time paying the bills or feeding their children, they may not be able to feed their pet," said Dr. Billie Bensen Martin, owner of the Sacramento Cat Hospital. "This pet food drive is a great way for our community to help animals in need all over the city. The current economic climate means that the demand is greater than ever."

"The goal of Titanic's Pantry is to help keep pets and their people together," said Gina Knepp, spokeswoman for the City of Sacramento's Animal Care Services. "If we can help feed pets, people who are struggling financially won't have to give them up."

According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, approximately 63 percent of all households in the United States have a pet. The 2011/2012 APPA National Pet Owners Survey shows that the average annual pet food expenditure is $254 for a dog and $220 for a cat. Titanic's Pantry can help decrease this expense by providing cat and dog food as often as once a month.

Titanic's Pantry was launched in November 2009, when local shelters were seeing more and more people surrendering their family pets because they could not afford to feed them. Since opening its doors, Titanic's Pantry has helped thousands of families throughout Sacramento. Titanic's Pantry is 100% volunteer-operated and is sponsored by the Animal Care Partners of Sacramento, a collaboration of the City of Sacramento Animal Care Services, Sacramento County Animal Care and Regulation, the Sacramento Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), and Happy Tails Pet Sanctuary.

The Sacramento Cat Hospital is a quality full-service feline veterinary hospital that celebrated its 35th anniversary in 2009. Three DVMs (including Sacramento's only Diplomate in Feline Practice certified by the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners) and 16 staff members provide expert, loving care to feline patients. The doctors and team at the Sacramento Cat Hospital are committed to charitable and benevolent activities that make a difference for animals in need throughout our city.

For more information about the pet food drive, contact the Sacramento Cat Hospital at (916) 488-4161 or email info@sacramentocathospital.com.

Disclosure: Laurie Rich is a consultant and organizer of charitable events with the Sacramento Cat Hospital, and also volunteers with Titanic's Pantry.

Feds crack down on medical marijuana dispensaries

2011-10-13T06:28:10Z

Local medical marijuana dispensaries recently came under fire as the federal government began cracking down on illegal marijuana growing and dispensing operations across the nation.

But wait – medical marijuana is legal in California, right? Yes and no.

In the wake of a June 2011 memo sent to state attorney generals from the Department of Justice warning of the federal government’s intention to shut down illegal marijuana operations, there have been numerous raids on dispensaries in California.

Some local operators have received warning letters that they may be next.

“Joanne,” a dispensary operator in Sacramento who wants to remain anonymous, said Wednesday that local operators have always known the federal government might intervene.

“There’s never been a promise that it wouldn’t happen,” Joanne said. “Everyone is on high alert now.”

Under federal law, the production, distribution and use of marijuana for any purpose is illegal.

Exceptions have been made, however.

In 1978, President Jimmy Carter signed the Compassionate Investigational New Drug Study program allowing a select handful of patients to use marijuana for medical purposes.

The program was closed to new applicants in 1992, largely due to a huge increase in applications from AIDS patients. After the program was closed, 13 patients already in the program were allowed to continue. Of those, four currently remain on the program.

In California, a statewide voter initiative – Proposition 215, known as the Compassionate Use Act – was passed in 1996 by 56 percent of the voters, allowing medical access to marijuana for seriously ill patients.

As of 2011, 16 states have medical marijuana laws on the books that recognize a medicinal value for marijuana. California is one of them.

Despite state laws popping up across the nation, the federal law has remained unchanged – marijuana use for any purpose is still illegal.

In 2007, as Barack Obama was campaigning for president of the United States, he stated his support of legalization of marijuana for medical purposes. However, until it was legalized, Obama said, he wouldn’t use federal resources to enforce the federal law.

A memo from the Department of Justice followed in October 2009, reiterating that the DOJ wouldn’t focus federal resources on prosecuting “individuals whose actions are in clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state laws” for the medical marijuana use.

Although the memo did not “legalize” marijuana, it opened the floodgates for dispensary operators to open shop in states that had laws on the books allowing medical marijuana use.

Max Del Real, a lobbyist for the Sacramento Alliance of County Collectives (SACC), a medical cannabis trade association, said in a July interview that there were approximately 45 to 65 medical marijuana dispensaries operating in Sacramento county at that time – but that number was just an estimate since none of those operations were permitted through county administration.

According to a city staff report, when the city enacted its medical marijuana ordinance in November 2010, there were already 39 registered medical marijuana dispensaries operating in the city.

A new influx of dispensaries – including some large-scale, industrial marijuana cultivation centers with revenue projections in the millions of dollars – quickly caught the attention of the DOJ.

In an attempt to curtail this potential profiteering, U.S. Attorney General James M. Cole released the June memo stating that the DOJ would use federal resources to prosecute illegal marijuana cultivation, distribution and use – including marijuana for medicinal purpose.

“The Ogden (Memo) was never intended to shield such activities from federal enforcement action and prosecution, even where those activities purport to comply with state law,” Cole stated.

Hence, the DOJ was essentially saying that state laws regarding the legalization of medicinal marijuana are irrelevant when it comes to the prosecution of marijuana growers, sellers and distributors.

Ryan Landers, director for the American Alliance for Medical Cannabis, said he disagrees with the DOJ’s stance on medical marijuana, calling the recent enforcement actions of the Department of Justice “heavy-handed” and unnecessary.

“The genie’s out of the bottle, and the Feds are trying to shove it back in,” Landers said. “We could achieve the same thing through regulation instead of direct attack.”

Despite the recent focus on prosecuting dispensaries by the federal government, Sgt. Andrew Pettit, Sacramento Police Department spokesman, said that the department isn’t “cracking down” on dispensaries.

“We don’t have a narcotics team,” Pettit said. “Our concern with (dispensary operators) is only that they follow the regulations.”

Pettit said the department has specific protocols to follow when an operator is in violation of any local ordinance, and police officers will turn those cases over to the District Attorney.

Joanne said that it’s the “opportunists” that break the rules, doing harm to the industry and harm to the patients.

“There some bad apples out there, yes,” Joanne said. “But it isn’t the industry as a whole. The few that break the rules make the rest of us look bad.”

Still, Joanne said the DOJ raids are not necessarily a bad thing.

“It’s going to be a good thing when the dust clears,” Joanne said. “It will make the industry better, and the grey areas a little less grey.”

Calls for comment to the Department of Justice and the state Attorney General’s Office were not returned by press time.

MEDICAL MARIJUANA TIMELINE
1978 – Federal court rules in favor of a glaucoma patient’s use of medical marijuana in Randall v. U.S.

1978 – President Jimmy Carter signs the Compassionate Investigational New Drug Study program

1992 – President George H. W. Bush closes the CIND program to new applicants. Only four individuals remain in the program.

1996 – California voters pass the Compassionate Use Act (Proposition 215), legalizing the use of marijuana for medical purposes.

2001 – U.S. Supreme Court rules that state and federal laws do not need to conform with each other.

2007 – Presidential candidate Barack Obama states support of medical marijuana legalization, and assures voters he will not use any federal resources to enforce the current federal law.

2008 – The California legislature passes Senate Bill 420 (SB420), instituting a statewide medical marijuana ID card program.

2008 – Attorney General Jerry Brown clarifies state medical marijuana guidelines, requiring dispensaries to become collective nonprofit organizations.

May 2009 – The city of Sacramento enacts an ordinance to allow dispensary operators to apply for special operating permits within the city.

October 2009 – The Ogden Memo is released from the Department of Justice reiterating that federal resources will not be used to enforce current federal laws against medical marijuana users.

June 2011 – The Cole Memo is released from the Department of Justice stating that federal resources will be used to enforce current federal laws prohibiting marijuana production, distribution and use.

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

AB 109 brings new inmates and new challenges to county jail

2011-09-29T01:45:50Z

Sacramento county jails will receive more than 400 new inmates over the next three months, as a result of new state legislation that goes into effect Saturday – but Sacramento County Sheriff representatives say there’s no room for them, and no money to make room.

“It’s too soon to implement it,” Sheriff’s Department Spokesman Jason Ramos said Wednesday, referring to Assembly Bill 109 (AB 109), the new state realignment plan that shifts responsibilities for lower level offenders, adult parolees and juvenile offenders from state to local jurisdictions.

“There hasn’t been enough discussion, and funding isn’t guaranteed,” Ramos said.

California state prisons were designed to hold 79,858 prisoners. However, in 2010 they housed approximately 143,000 prisoners, prompting the U.S. Supreme Court to mandate that California must reduce its state prison population by 33,000 inmates by June 2014.

To comply with that mandate, Gov. Jerry Brown signed AB109 and AB111 into law April 4 setting in motion a realignment plan that state legislators hoped would not only reduce prison crowding, but would also save the state nearly $2 billion annually.

Sacramento County will receive approximately $13 million in funding over the next nine months from the state under the new realignment legislation.

“Realignment is a critically important step in reforming our ever more expensive and failed prison system,” State Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) said Wednesday.

Realignment is a shifting of inmates – and responsibility for their care and keeping – from the state prison system over to local government.

Leno said the percentage of the state general fund spent on the Department of Corrections has increased from 5.3 percent to 11 percent in the past decade – but California still has a recidivism rate close to 70 percent.

“This very expensive system is not working,” Leno said.

Ramos said that with more than 400 additional inmates coming into the county system, there will be an increased burden on corrections personnel and a huge impact on public safety.

“Make no mistake about it: crime will increase,” Ramos said. “We have a statistical rate of recidivism, and with more offenders being released into the community, the crime rate will go up.”

All of those inmates won’t arrive at county jail at once, though, and some of the 400 are already in the county jail sentenced to transfer to state prisons that simply won’t get transferred.

Although Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones said he doesn’t want to release some inmates, Ramos said that without alternatives – or room for them – that will likely be the case.

Allen Hopper, an attorney for the ACLU of California, said Wednesday that the key to properly implementing AB109 is a change from a “lock ‘em up and throw away the key” mentality to encouraging counties to employ evidence-based practices to reduce recidivism.

Evidence-based practices are programs that have been proven in other parts of the country to change offenders’ behavior so that they do not become repeat offenders.

Only the lowest-risk inmates – non-violent, non-serious offenders who have committed non-sexual crimes – would be eligible for these evidence-based program sentences, according to Hopper.

According to a report from the ACLU released in June, some successful evidence-based practices have included alcohol and drug treatment services, job training programs and re-entry assistance to help parolees return to society as productive members of their communities.

“The new movement is to be smart on crime instead of just tough on crime,” Hopper said. It’s more than throwing an offender in jail – it’s about making it less likely that they will commit crimes again once they are released.”

But, Hopper says, the devil is in the details.

“Counties aren’t being provided the funding they really need to do this properly,” Hopper said. “It’s coming at a time of steep budget cuts and staff layoffs, and counties are under deep financial pressure.”

With realignment fully implemented by 2014, Leno said the amount of Department of Corrections spending will be reduced to 7 percent and the state will save $2 billion annually.

Those savings won’t reach the local level before new inmates do, and that creates significant challenges for counties – like Sacramento – where money is tight and empty jail cells are scarce.

Ramos said Sacramento county is considering sentencing alternatives that are already in place – such as in-home detention programs and electronic monitoring of released inmates – with the goal of expanding those options.

The county is also looking at re-opening the facility at Rio Consumnes Correctional Center in Elk Grove that the county closed due to budget cuts in May, Ramos said.

Ramos estimates reopening the Rio Consumnes Correctional Center will take $8 million of the $13 million in funding that the county will receive from the state, and expansion of the in-home detention program will take another $2 million.

“It’s mind-boggling,” Ramos said. “We only get funded for the first nine months, but we own the inmates for a lot longer – five, six or even seven years.”

County Supervisor Roberta MacGlashan said Wednesday that the county is very concerned about the implementation of AB 109, primarily due to the uncertainty of future funding.

MacGlashan said county supervisors believe that state constitutional protections are needed to ensure ongoing, dedicated funding for realigned programs.

“There is a tremendous interest in seeing guaranteed funding,” Leno agreed. “Gov. Brown said he will put a constitutional amendment on the November 2012 ballot, so (funding) will not be left to the vagaries of the budget process.”

Currently, legislation provides flexibility in how the funding counties receive for realignment is spent, Leno said, so counties have discretion to fund “alternative sanctions,” such as electronic monitoring, in-home detention and early parole.

“To the degree that county sheriffs use their funding wisely, they will get better results,” Leno said.

The best approach to implementation would be incremental, Hopper said – addressing the immediate need as counties are planning and starting up evidence-based programs.

“It’s really a matter of changing the mindset,” Hopper said.

“Incarcerating people for a long time is what we’ve done,” Hopper said. “We have to make a collective decision about whether or not we can afford to keep doing that.”

Meanwhile, MacGlashan said, the Board of Supervisors is awaiting the recommendations of the chief probation officer and the sheriff in early October for how AB109 will be implemented in Sacramento county.

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

County to sell surplus property at a discount

2011-09-20T02:59:59Z

Refrigerators, televisions, computer work stations and office supplies that started life as county property may end up in some people’s homes after the Sacramento County surplus property sale Thursday.

When county programs and buildings are closed down or offices have staff layoffs, furniture and equipment that is no longer needed – surplus property – is sent to the Sacramento county General Services department for storage.

General Services stores everything in a warehouse off Goethe Road in south Sacramento. When the warehouse starts to overflow, the county holds the equivalent of an over-sized yard sale, selling the surplus property to the public at deep discounts.

In previous years, large surplus sales were not held on a regular basis, “just whenever the warehouse started to get too full,” said Robert Armstrong, Sacramento county chief of support services.

Due to budget cuts, department resizing and staff layoffs, however, the warehouse has become “too full, too often,” Armstrong said, and now General Services is going to schedule large sales every quarter.

“We’re trying to keep the amount of surplus equipment to a minimum so it doesn't pile up,” Armstrong said.

Overflow items from the warehouse are stored outside, Armstrong said, but with winter on the way he and his staff want to minimize the possibility of furniture and supplies being damaged by wet weather.

Armstrong said that county policy directs all proceeds from the sale of items valued under $500 to go into the county Capital Construction Fund. This is the fund the county draws from for building and construction projects each year.

There are 52 projects funded by the Capital Construction Fund planned or underway for fiscal year 2010-11, at a total estimated cost of more than $26.7 million.

Construction projects that the county has planned for the next five fiscal years are estimated to cost approximately $169 million – projects that may not be completed if projected revenues fall short.

Although the county regularly opens the warehouse to the public for a few hours three days each week, the larger quarterly sale offers even greater discounts on surplus items.

“This is a great opportunity for the public to take advantage of some ridiculously low prices for this equipment,” General Services Director Michael Morse said Friday.

The last surplus sale of this kind was held in April and brought in $1,700, according to General Services staff.

Armstrong said that may not sound like much, but with many items selling for under $10, "that’s a lot of stuff going out the door.”

Vehicles and heavy equipment valued over $500 – for example, maintenance trucks, garbage trucks or older police motorcycles – come to General Services as surplus from a variety of county departments when the vehicles are replaced or removed from county service.

General Services department staff then put the vehicles and equipment up for sale in an online auction at publicsurplus.com.

The publicsurplus.com website is a free service that allows the public to search for and buy – at huge discounts – unused property and vehicles and equipment no longer needed from multiple government agencies, including Sacramento county.

“(Publicsurplus.com) tracks the sales for us,” Armstrong said, “so it’s easy to identify which property sold and for what amount.”

Whenever an item is sold through the online auction, the proceeds go into the operating fund for the department that the item originated from, Armstrong said.

If a surplus backhoe came from the Parks Department, for example, then the proceeds from the sale of that backhoe would go back into the Parks Department account.

Average monthly proceeds from online auction sales of vehicles and equipment from all departments has been between $80,000 to $90,000, according to General Services staff. Last month’s total was $92,000.

“We really want a lot of people to take advantage of this sale,” Armstrong said. “Hopefully, we’ll see a big crowd on Thursday.”

“You could get file cabinets for $5 per drawer on a regular sale day,” Armstrong said, “but (Thursday) they will go for $5 each, no matter how big or small.”

Besides $5 file cabinets, buyers can find office chairs for $2, refrigerators for $40, televisions for $1 per inch of screen size and basic office supplies for pennies on the dollar of retail price.

All items at Thursday’s sale will be sold on a “cash and carry” basis and are sold “as is and where is,” according to a county press release.

No credit or debit cards will be accepted at the sale, and no reservations or appointments are necessary.

The surplus sale will be from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Sacramento County Branch Services warehouse building, 9650 Goethe Rd.

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

Art installed in Terminal B, opens Oct. 6

2011-09-13T03:55:23Z

Art installations are largely complete as the Sacramento International Airport’s new Terminal B readies to open Oct. 6, and they include a range of pieces from technologically advanced works to traditional painting and mosaic pieces.

While not the first thing arriving passengers will see, a giant red rabbit seemingly jumping from outside the building into a waiting suitcase opening up like a vortex on the floor is one of the most-talked-about of the 12 currently installed works.

More than 1,600 aluminum triangles make up the rabbit’s exposed surface. The work, entitled “Leap,” is by Denver-based artist Lawrence Argent and is suspended above the ticket hall in the “land side” portion of the terminal.

The land side is the portion housing the ticket halls and is nearest the parking lot. The air side portion contains the gates and Jetways, and the two are connected by two trains.

Argent’s “Leap” is one of the more literal interpretations in the theme of “bringing the outside in,” said Shelly Willis, director of the Art in Public Places Program of the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission.

SMAC helped select artists and works, and $8 million was set aside for the arts, with $6 million already spent and the rest put into an endowment for future preservation and maintenance of the works, Willis said.

While public projects like the airport usually have about 2 percent of their budgets spent on art, a little more than three quarters of a percent of the $1.03 billion project’s budget was spent on the arts, a number approved by the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors.

Artists and their works were selected by about 50 panelists from various organizations including SMAC, the airport and arts professionals, Willis added.

Opposite two of the second-level ticket counters are wood works by Los Angeles-based artist Christian Moeller titled, “The Baggage Handlers.”

The 8,000 pieces of wood that make up the two wall panels are unique, and computers were used to ensure the art flowed well and had no seam lines where the wood comes together, Willis said.

Six faces – five men and one woman – make up the artwork, and they are the faces of airport baggage handlers, who were photographed about a year ago.

Sacramento International Airport spokeswoman Karen Doron said the airlines refer to the baggage handlers as people who work “under the wing.” Bringing them into the visible area of the airport is a way to pay homage to them, she said.

Sacramento artist Gregory Kondos has an oil-on-canvas painting in the air side section of the terminal entitled “Sutter’s Gold.”

In the painting, a nod to the 1848 discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill, the Yuba river is prominent. Placed in the international arrivals section, it is one of the first works visitors will see and is meant to give them insight into the region’s history.

One of the other initial pieces of artwork to be seen in the air side portion of the terminal – connected to the land side by a pair of elevated trains – is a propeller-shaped tree with Swarovski crystals hanging from it.

Titled “Acorn Steam,” San Diego-based artist Donald Lipski’s mixed-media piece portrays three Valley Oak trunks coming together and branching out at their ends, with the hand-cut Austrian crystals giving it the feel of a chandelier.

Willis said the arbor motif is especially applicable to Sacramento as the “City of Trees” and is a good representation of the region.

Local artist Suzanne Adan created one of the mosaics on the floors, a 12-foot-by-18-foot work called “Flying Colors.”

A circular design with numerous birds and cattails is reminiscent of the wetlands areas throughout the region.

Another of the air side portion of the terminal’s artworks is just in front of where the security checkpoint will be.

Willis said the house serves as a reminder of being home, the ultimate destination for all travelers.

The glass sculpture with metal framework is called “The House Will not Pass for any Color but its Own” and was done by San Francisco native Mildred Howard. At 17 feet tall, travelers are free to walk inside it and explore the way light plays off the glass surfaces.

Possibly the most interactive piece of art in the area, “Your Words are Music to My Ears,” by artists Po Shu Wang and Louise Bertelsen, allows travelers to compose email messages to loved ones and send them. Those messages are then, through a computer code, translated into musical notes and played from the gleaming French horn-shaped artwork on the air side of the terminal.

Installed as part of the ceiling in the international arrivals area is Marcia Stuermer’s “Migration,” which is a piece made with 32 acrylic panels depicting cranes migrating through a backdrop that changes colors as lights behind the piece come on and off.

Another interactive piece is in the land side portion of the terminal, installed as multiple flat screens on the side of one of the glass elevator shafts.

“Active Ecosystem,” by Camille Utterback and Michelle Higa, will feature animations of seeds, leaves, birds and other natural elements. Computers will control the movements and speeds to keep the work constantly changing and unique.

A 12-foot-by-18-foot mosaic in the floor by Joan Moment is called “A Fragment of the Universe” and shows a world of water and air in thousands of hand-cut pieces.

“You can really see the artist’s hand in the work,” Willis said, adding that the work contrasts with some of the very technologically advanced pieces in using a technique that goes back to ancient times, yet still provides a relevant experience today.

Near the mosaic is a Terrazzo-and-steel work with suspended resin pieces by California artist Lynn Criswell, called “As the Crow Flies.” Numerous birds, including a steel magpie taken from a painting in 1650 by Johann Walther, decorate the floor, and 21 emerald-green birdcages will be suspended overhead.

Artist Ned Kahn’s steel wind vanes are placed along the elevated train tracks connecting the two portions of the terminal and move with the movements of the trains or wind.

“It’s really exciting that there’s such a range of work that is represented in this collection from this monumental (rabbit) sculpture to the mosaic floors,” Willis said. “You have work that’s much more subtle, you have work that’s interactive. It’s really exciting.”

Check back tomorrow for more information on Sacramento International Airport’s Terminal B.

To see shots of the construction from one year ago, click here.

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

Child safety improves as CPS takes fewer kids

2011-09-07T12:42:28Z

After years of holding the dubious distinction of tearing apart families at one of the highest rates in California, Sacramento County finally has brought its rate of child removal in line with the state average, the Sacramento Bee reported Monday.

But the Bee left out some good news: The two key measures of safety used by the federal government show that, as entries into foster care declined, child safety improved.

Apparently even with budget cuts, setting clear standards and doing a better job of weeding out false reports and trivial cases has given workers more time to focus on finding children in real danger.

One would think the fact that Sacramento County used to be the child removal capital of California was unknown to the Bee before Monday – since that’s the first time I saw it reported in that newspaper. In fact, reporter Margie Lundstrom was aware of this, but I have never seen it in any of her stories. Lundstrom has been Sacramento media’s biggest cheerleader for the county’s previous, failed take-the-child-and-run approach to child welfare.

In contrast, Brad Branan, who reported Monday’s story, apparently takes the refreshing position that readers are entitled to all sides of a story.

Of course, some Sacramento Press readers have known about the county’s dubious distinction for more than a year – it was the subject of a series of stories I wrote for the Press in 2010.

Those stories also outlined the enormous harm done to children when they are torn needlessly from everyone they know and love and consigned to foster care, and they discussed the significant risk of abuse in foster care itself.

Now, at last, the Bee acknowledges that, as Monday’s story put it:

Even those charged with advocating for abused and neglected children accused the agency of overreaching. "They were removing too many children," said Bob Wilson of Sacramento Child Advocates, which provided legal representation for children in Juvenile Dependency Court for almost 20 years, before losing its contract in July.

The Bee notes that the number of children torn from their homes declined from 2,391 in 2008 to 1,005 in 2010, according to county data. Unfortunately, data from a comprehensive database maintained by the University of California, Berkeley show that the rate of removal is increasing again, but not to its previous level.

That same database tracks the two key measures used by the federal government to assess child safety, the percentage of maltreated children who are maltreated again within six months and the percentage of children sent home from foster care who are removed again within 12 months.

During the same time period that entries into care declined, both of these measures improved.

Now, instead of being the child removal capital of California, Sacramento’s rate of removal is about average for the state’s larger counties, when entries into care are compared with the number of impoverished children in each county. Full details are in NCCPR’s updated California Rate-of-Removal Index available here: http://www.nccpr.org/reports/2009californiaror.pdf

But Sacramento can do better still.

Orange County does almost as well as Sacramento on one safety indicator, and significantly better on the other. But Orange County removes children at a rate more than 20 percent lower than Sacramento.

The Bee story notes concerns by Wilson and others that, as a result of budget cuts, the county may be overlooking children in real danger. And it cites a report from the CPS Oversight Committee which found lapses in investigations of cases that ended in tragedy.

But sadly, both problems existed even before the budget cuts – when Sacramento was squandering money on tearing apart all those families needlessly. The data suggest that these problems remain serious and real, but they occur less often now.

Another concern is the elimination of a key prevention program, the family maintenance unit. That program provided voluntary help to families before problems reached the point where CPS intervention was needed. Eliminating that program may indeed set the stage for future tragedies.

But there is a way to revive it without adding to the total budget of the agency. The agency can free up a lot of money by ending the barbaric practice of parking children at that very expensive relic of 19th Century child welfare, the Children’s Receiving Home. I discussed the problems with using the home in this story last year.

CPS actually faces a bigger challenge than money: maintaining its smart, sensible new approach in the face of the next horror story. You can bet that those wedded to the disgraced take-the-child-and-run approach are just waiting for the next tragedy so they can scapegoat the reforms – and hope everybody forgets that the same tragedies occurred when the county was tearing apart far more families. And you can bet Margie Lundstrom will be glad to oblige them with a front-page story parroting their views and ignoring all dissent.

By now, however, perhaps the leadership in county government and the people of Sacramento County know better than to be fooled again.

Former journalist Richard Wexler is Executive Director of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform, based in Alexandria Va. The full NCCPR California Rate of Removal Index and comprehensive recommendations for reforming child welfare in California and nationwide are available at www.nccpr.org

County redistricting draws to a close

2011-09-03T03:49:19Z

The County Board of Supervisors will meet Thursday for what they hope will be the final meeting on redistricting for the County. They still have 10 map variations to consider though – a number that has fluctuated since the redistricting process began in late March.

According to the 2010 census, the total population for Sacramento County is 1,418,788 – a 16 percent increase over the last 10 years.

Just as the state and cities are required to do, the county redistricts every 10 years to balance population numbers in all districts. This requires some adjustments in each supervisors’ district boundaries.

The process of making those adjustments began when Elections Department staff received the 2010 census data.

The most significant issue with redistricting at the county level, according to Supervisor Jimmy Yee, was not simply the amount of growth, but where the growth occurred.

Since the last census, North Natomas and Elk Grove areas saw the most growth, Yee said.

The largest adjustment for population affected county District 5, where Supervisor Don Nottoli “had to give up up 71,000 people,” Yee said.

Yee, on the other hand, had to add 33,000 people to his District 2 to keep population in each district as close to equal as possible.

The Department of Voter Registration and Elections is part of the Countywide Service Agency. Because redistricting is a means to equalize populations to make elections fair, the Registrar of Voters and the Elections Department staff oversee the redistricting process for the county.

Five redistricting maps were drawn by Elections Department staff, said Alice Jaboe, Sacramento County assistant registrar of voters.

“The maps were starting points for the redistricting discussion,” Jaboe said. “Then we went to the public for their input.”

Outreach to engage the public in conversation about the maps included “dozens” of community meetings, breakfast group gatherings and visits with neighborhood associations, Jaboe said.

“We were out almost every morning, eating waffles and pancakes and talking to people in every part of the county and in every district,” Jaboe said.

Department staff used public feedback and comments sent to supervisors’ offices to refine the five maps before submitting them to the board at the first public redistricting meeting on July 26.

One significant adjustment proposed to county districts has been drawing District 4 far enough south to include Rancho Murieta (moving it out of it’s current District 5), versus setting the boundary of Folsom along Highway 50, dividing it between Districts 4 and 5.

Andy Morin, Folsom city mayor, said in an Aug. 8 email to board supervisors that he favored a map that kept “Folsom and its potential growth area south of Highway 50” entirely in the 4th district.

Morin said the primary concern is “uniform representation throughout our community and continuity of representation” by current Supervisor, Roberta MacGlashan.

“Folsom knows Roberta and Roberta knows Folsom,” Morin said in the letter. “Moving Folsom out of the 4th district would be an unnecessarily radical change to our connection with the County of Sacramento.”

The challenge of the process, said Supervisor Jimmy Yee, is that – due to Brown Act limitations – supervisors can’t discuss any maps “behind closed doors.”

“The only time we can talk together is at the board meeting,” Yee said, “and up to that time, we don’t know what anyone else (on the board) is thinking. So, we have quite a lot of discussion at each public meeting.”

Board of Supervisors meetings generally last from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., but the recent redistricting items on meeting agendas took up the majority of those hours.

With each public discussion, maps were added or eliminated, refined or removed – leaving at meeting’s end as many as 16 or as few as three maps.

Supervisor Don Nottoli described the redistricting process as “sometimes messy” in an open forum, but “that’s the way to do it, and the public has taken part all the way through the process.”

Despite the fluctuation in map counts, there has been “very little drama” in the process at the county, Yee said.

“Redistricting is not quite as dramatic (here) as it is in the city,” Yee said. “Each (county supervisor) represents about 285,000 people. It’s not like in the city, where a very little change makes a very big difference.”

“We’re not fighting over a little UC Davis hospital or a high school,” Yee said. “Our areas are very large – we’re talking about a lot of people at once.”

“We’ve put a real emphasis on keeping communities intact,” Nottoli said Friday. “(We’ve tried to) keep cities whole as much as we can – communities and neighborhoods, too – using logical boundaries wherever possible.”

Nottoli said one of the maps the board will consider Thursday is “kind of a hybrid of the starting base map,” which takes into account public comments and board member suggestions.

Nottoli said supervisors took a map that “seemed closest” to what the board wanted, and each supervisor added notes and changes to it. Staff was directed to make the revisions and bring back the new map at the next meeting for consideration.

The next meeting of the County Board of Supervisors will be at 9:30 a.m. Thursday at the County Administration Center, 700 H St.

Nottoli and Yee both said they expect the board to take final action on a new map at the Thursday meeting.

View all of the draft map plans here.

Melissa Corker is a Staff Reporter with The Sacramento Press. Follw her on Twitter @MelissaCorker.

Suspect in Three Arson Fires Arrested

2011-07-28T18:00:33Z

July 27, 2011, Sacramento Ca.- Investigators from the Galt Police Department, Cosumnes Fire Department, and the Sacramento Metro Fire District worked together to tie 24-year-old Adam Kelly to three arson fires in Sacramento County over a two-week period.

The first fire occurred in Galt on July 6, 2011 at 10430 Twin Cities Rd. Firefighters responded to the service area of the Raley's supermarket and found numerous large pieces of recycled cardboard piled up and set on fire. Firefighters extinguished the fire with no injuries and minor damage to the building.

The second fire was July 13, 2011 at the 750 block of Moose Creek Way in Galt. Firefighters responded to the report of a fire against the structure. On arrival firefighters found clothing on fire, piled up against an occupied building causing damage to the wall. No injuries were reported.

The third fire was reported on July 22, 2011 in the area of 18th and Elkhorn Blvd in Rio Linda. Firefighters arrived and found a 1/4-acre grass fire. Witnesses on scene reported a male later identified as Kelly at the scene. No one was injured at the incident. All three fires have been ruled arson.

Through cooperative information sharing, investigators were able to determine all three incidents were related. The suspect, Adam Kelly, was arrested on July 26, 2011 by the Galt Police Department and booked into the Sacramento County Jail on two counts of Arson to Property and one count of Arson to a Structure, all felonies. He is currently being held with a $50,000 bail.

Sac Metro Fire and Firefighter Assoc Assist with Pillow Pet Donations for UCD Children's Hospital

2011-07-11T17:06:57Z

Sacramento Ca- Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District, Metro's Firefighter Association and UC Davis Children’s Hospital have partnered with Pillow Pets for Life Foundation, a non-profit organization whose aim is to bring comfort to hospitalized children. They have come together with the common goal of collecting at least 1000 donated pillow pets, an actual snugly pillow shaped like an animal character, to distribute to children undergoing medical treatment at UC Davis Children’s Hospital. Sacramento Metro Fire is partnering with the foundation which is using Sac Metro Fire facilities as drop off locations for the Pillow Pets. Once the goal of 1000 is met, Firefighters from the Sacramento Metro Fire District will have the honor of delivering the Pillow Pets to the UCD Children's Hospital.

The Pillow Pets For Life Foundation has set a goal to air its cause for the week of July 10, 2011, through K-Love Radio, Sac Bee Newspaper, and local news stations hoping to gain greater support from the general public to reach its compassionate goal. For additional details please contact the foundations president.

Pillow Pets for Life Foundation

Founder/President: Kara Kateley

kara.kateley@hotmail.

916-912-6796

Sacramento redevelopment future in jeopardy

2011-07-09T01:21:03Z

The future of development and affordable housing projects in Sacramento is starting to look pretty grim. Gov. Jerry Brown signed the state budget into law June 29, putting two new bills into effect that significantly impact redevelopment agencies: ABx26 and ABx27.

“There is no good news in any of this,” said La Shelle Dozier, executive director for the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency (SHRA). “It’s very detrimental, given the fact that we have an economy that’s struggling.”

The two bills go hand-in-hand. ABx26 says redevelopment agencies can opt to discontinue redevelopment activities and be dissolved.

ABx27 says that if redevelopment agencies pay a first-year lump sum payment and then commit to annual “continuation payments,” they will be allowed to continue their redevelopment activities – with additional limitations and without any tax increment funding from the state.

Tax increment funding through a redevelopment agency is one way cities and counties are able to finance redevelopment and affordable housing activities.

Over the last six years, tax-increment funding has resulted in the production of 7,329 housing units in the Sacramento area, including 3,189 units for very-low income and homeless families, Dozier said.

According to the provisions of the new legislation, redevelopment agencies have until Oct. 1 to either dissolve or make the first-year continuation payment to continue redevelopment activities.

“We are conducting an analysis of current projects to see how we would generate (our) estimated $22 million payment as well as an evaluation of projects if the agency must be dissolved,” Dozier said.

Each redevelopment agency is subject to a specific first-year and continuation payment schedule, calculated using a formula outlined in ABx26.

For SHRA, which is an authority of both the city and the county of Sacramento, the “year one” payment amount would be $22 million, Dozier said, and continuation payments are estimated to be approximately $5 million every year after that.

~~Once the SHRA governing boards have an opportunity to review the completed analysis, Dozier said, they will give the agency their recommendations on the options available.~~

Once the agency has an opportunity to review the completed analysis, Dozier said, she will give the SHRA governing boards recommendations on the options available.

“Right now, we’re in a state of limbo,” Dozier said.

At this point, several major redevelopment projects in Sacramento are currently stalled, Dozier said.

These include the 800 K Street project, a mixed-use development to help revitalize the center of downtown; the 65-acre Township 9 project, which is a $1.7 billion mixed-use urban fill development, and Veterans Village, a proposed new construction development in the Mather Redevelopment Area that would provide affordable housing for veterans.

Some projects that have already been approved, however, would not be affected by the new legislation, including the Seventh and H streets project, the La Valentina project on 12th Street, and the Hotel Berry renovation project, Dozier said.

These three projects are slated to provide, in total, nearly 250 affordable housing units and create more than 400 jobs, according to Dozier.

"(Redevelopment agencies) do great work – phenomenal work,” said Eric Rasmusson, a Sacramento lobbyist who works on local housing issues. “But we can't afford them the same way anymore. That's the message of this state budget."

By eliminating redevelopment agencies, Brown anticipates a $1.7 billion savings in cost offset to the state general fund.

“Right now, we’re prohibited from engaging in any new redevelopment activity,” Dozier said, “so we’re focusing on existing projects to keep them moving forward.

“We’re hoping for relief from the courts so that we can continue working on projects that were heading toward various stages of approval,” she added.

Kathy Fairbanks, a representative of the California Redevelopment Association (CRA), said the association plans to file a lawsuit in the next couple of weeks challenging the new legislation.

“It’s unconstitutional,” Fairbanks said. "Proposition 22 passed last November by an overwhelming majority, and it specifically prohibits the state from doing anything with local funds, including redevelopment funds.”

Fairbanks said that, if ABx26 and ABx27 are allowed to stand, it will mean redevelopment agencies that are not eliminated will be forced to abandon projects – and any resulting jobs and economic opportunity – in order to make the required continuation payments to the state.

In the lawsuit, the CRA will seek an immediate stay of the two bills. If the court grants a stay, some or all of the provisions of the bills would be suspended until the court makes a final decision. Until a stay is issued, however, the legislation will remain in force.

There are 397 active redevelopment agencies throughout California, according to the CRA website.

The elimination of redevelopment in Sacramento would have significant unintended consequences, according to the SHRA website, including “no way to monitor affordable housing developments, no funding to put more money into affordable housing projects in the future, as well as direct and indirect job losses.”

“With the economy in its current condition,” Dozier said, “this is not a time to be putting redevelopment agencies out of business.”

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

Editorial Note: Corrections have been made to this article after it was published. The incorrect information has been struck out and the correct information has been added.

Medical marijuana industry wants an ordinance 'everyone can live with'

2011-07-08T01:50:13Z

A proposed urgency ordinance to regulate medical marijuana dispensaries within the county was voted down by the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors June 22, but the issue is far from dead in the water.

Representatives of dispensary owners are speaking out in support of regulation that recognizes medical cannabis as a legitimate industry that is here to stay.

Max Del Real, a lobbyist for the Sacramento Alliance of County Collectives (SACC), a medical cannabis trade association, spoke at the board meeting in June in opposition to the failed ordinance.

“The county had proposed an ordinance that would essentially close down all of the dispensaries in the county,” Del Real said. “They had a very short-sighted view of the issue.”

Del Real said that there are anywhere from 45 to 65 medical marijuana dispensaries currently operating in the county, but that number is just an estimate since the operations are not registered or permitted through county administration.

All dispensaries operating in the county are considered non-permitted businesses because the county does not currently offer a permit or license for this type of business.

“Code enforcement officials have said there are more than 50 (dispensaries in the county), based on the complaints they’ve responded to,” Del Real said, “but our informal research has found many more than that.”

Members of the SACC want to see the county to adopt an ordinance similar to the one the city of Sacramento adopted in 2010, Del Real said.

Del Real was part of a team of cannabis industry stakeholders who worked with city officials in 2008 and 2009 to develop the ordinance that is now in place with the city.

“It’s the leading model (of regulation) in the state,” Del Real said, “because it works.”

The current city ordinance includes requirements for registration with city officials, enhanced security at the dispensary and limited hours of operation, among other requirements, all intended to maintain order and ensure public health and safety.

The failed county ordinance, Del Real said, included a ban on the sale of edible products, no outdoor cultivation in all of the county, and a restriction that dispensaries could not be located within 600 feet of any residential-zoned area.

“I think (the county) was getting bad advice,” Del Real said. “They were getting incomplete advice, and their initial study fell short.”

Early in 2011, county supervisors began to recognize a “proliferation” of dispensaries in the county, Del Real said, so they directed staff to study local medical marijuana issues and return with an ordinance proposal for the board to consider.

Del Real said the task force that staff relied upon to help develop the county ordinance did not include any industry input – a factor that Del Real said is crucial to the process.

“They’re not the experts; we are,” Del Real said. “Allow us, as business owners and business supporters to educate (them) on this subject, and we can come up with something everyone can live with.”

Del Real said dispensary owners in Sacramento County are ready and willing to accept an ordinance that mimics the city ordinance.

“It’s a golden opportunity for the county in terms of potential revenue, too,” Del Real said. “Why would they walk away from that?”

The current city ordinance limits the number of dispensaries within city limits, and applicants for the required special use permits are charged a $40,000 application fee plus a $12,000 annual permit fee.

Read more about city medical marijuana fees here.

Additionally, in November 2010, voters passed Measure C, which successfully introduced a 4 percent sales tax on the gross receipts of all dispensaries in Sacramento.

The city has projected $1.5 million in revenue for the 2011-12 fiscal year from that tax measure.

Del Real estimates that, if the county would adopt a similar ordinance to the city one, it would mean roughly $4 million – or more – directed to the county coffers.

“In these economic times, we need good news,” Del Real said. “The good news here is medical cannabis. The county needs to recognize that.”

The Board of Supervisors is scheduled to meet July 27 to hear staff reports on new ordinance proposals for regulating medical marijuana dispensaries.

County representatives say a final decision will likely not be made at that meeting, and the process may actually take a few months to complete.

The meeting of the county board of supervisors will be at the County Administration building, 700 H St., at 9:30 a.m.

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

New county executive steps up to the plate in August

2011-07-05T02:21:35Z

As Steve Szalay prepares to leave behind the position of county executive for Sacramento County, current Riverside City Manager Brad Hudson is gearing up to step into his shoes.

Hudson accepted a five-year contract with Sacramento County after spending nearly 35 years in county government in Kings and Riverside counties before becoming city manager for Riverside in 2005.

Hudson talked to The Sacramento Press about his upcoming move in an interview Thursday.

SP: You’ve been in city government for a while now, and prior to that you worked in county government. How will your experiences in the city of Riverside and the counties you administered translate to your work here in the north-state?

BH: Riverside county has about 18,000 employees, a $4.5 billion budget and covers 7,200 square miles. (The) city of Riverside has about 2,400 employees, and a budget of about $1 billion. Sacramento County has roughly 11,000 employees and a $3.5 billion budget.

So, I’ve worked in a bigger organization, and I’m currently working in a smaller organization. (The city of Riverside) is a very complex organization, too, as far as the services we provide.

The dynamics are still the same: We have budget issues, pension reform issues. The same general things that any government has to deal with are present no matter what the size of the organization.

SP: Besides starting out on a large-scale public improvement program during strained fiscal times, what was your greatest accomplishment as city manager in Riverside?

BH: What I’m most proud of is that we saw this recession coming in 2007. We right-sized through attrition very quickly. We’ve had a balanced budget, including a surplus, over the past several years despite the recession.

Even though we have fewer employees, the amount and quality of services has improved. I attribute that to our hard-working workforce as well as an awesome technology effort that has allowed us to become more efficient overall.

We’ve done a lot of special training to help our managers be great managers, too, despite supervising a reduced workforce.

I’m also proud that Riverside is one of two “emerald cities” in the state – so, very good environmental leadership. We were also named one of the top seven cities in the world in terms of using technology. I’m pretty proud of that major initiative over the past six years.

SP: What do you see as your greatest challenge in coming to Sacramento County?

BH: If you look at any of the opinion polls, the thing that people are most-concerned about is the economy: having a job, being able to make their mortgage payment, or being underemployed and having to look for a job that pays enough. It really is the same everywhere, even Sacramento.

The essence of our budget is sales and property taxes and development. If the economy wasn’t so heavy at the moment, people would have other things on their mind. So, working with the budget will be something to really focus on.

SP: What will be your first priority when you walk in the door at the Sacramento County offices?

BH: Spending time with members of the board, understanding their districts, understanding what their priorities are for the organization, how to deliver services.

Really, the key to the job is knowing the board well and knowing what their key issues are and how they view those issues.

SP: It’s been reported that you have a reputation as a “Renaissance man” for initiating more than $1 billion in public projects in Riverside, but also as “heavy-handed” and “frequently ruffling feathers.” How do you take those assessments of your work style?

BH: I think I’m very collaborative in my approach. I do like to move quickly, and sometimes, when you move quickly, people feel left behind, and I understand that. I think it’s always important to reach out to those who are affected by the decisions you make. Ultimately, you work for an elected body, and you work at their pace. You try to match their pace.

Another aspect is accountability. I’m big on holding people accountable, and sometimes when folks fall short, they may not like my response. But that’s the price you pay for holding people accountable.

I think I’m fair and even-handed. I have an open-door policy and a good work ethic, and I’m pretty accessible. Some criticism may be justified in terms of my fast-moving approach, but for the most part I try to be collegial and work as a team player.

(Chuckling) Once in a while, I get accused of being irreverent, but it’s just a well-developed sense of humor.

SP: Since beginning the interview process for the county executive position, you’ve had plenty of time to scope out the territory. What do you see as Sacramento’s advantages?

BH: For me personally, (Sacramento) is similar to the area I grew up in. You have wonderful cultural amenities, it’s the capital city – which is very alluring, the river, parks. My grandfather had a boat on the delta when I was growing up, and I like to boat a little bit. I love the mountains, I ski a little bit and you’re close to Tahoe, so that’s something nice.

I am a pretty big NBA fan, though not necessarily a Kings fan.

SP: Uh-oh. We may have to do something about that.

BH: (Laughs) Yeah, that may be the hardest thing about coming to Sacramento: giving up the Lakers! I might do it. I might.

I’m already a 49ers fan and an Oakland A’s fan, so I’m good to go in those ways.

Kings? I’m not quite there, but I’ll get there.

SP: Have you and your family started making the transition to being in Sacramento?

BH: We’ve been up to Sacramento a few times, looking around, getting to know the area. My wife is excited about the move. She enjoys downtown and the Fab 40s and river parkway. She enjoyed Folsom. We drove all around when we visited. We even went down to Galt. (Galt) reminds her a little of where she grew up in Tulare. You know, a little more rural lifestyle. You can certainly see a lot of different lifestyles in a short drive. (Sacramento) is very diverse.

SP: Have you decided where you’ll settle in?

BH: We’re zeroing in on a few areas. We have a house in Riverside that we still need to sell, and then maybe we’ll find a loft in Midtown just to get started.

We’ll get to know the area a little better before we decide where to buy a house. We’ve been researching the area since February, and we’ll be there Aug. 14 to start, so we have time to figure it all out.

SP: Do you see yourself as staying around a while?

BH: I see this as a career-capper for me. It will be good to see us through these difficult times, change the trajectory skyward.

It’s all about looking in the right direction. I think it’s important that, even if you’re not moving in the direction you want to go right now, you can still be looking to the direction you want to be in and work toward that.

SP: Are you looking forward to being “the new guy”?

BH: Yeah. I’ve done this a few times, so I’m ready for it. I actually look forward to meeting the team there and getting to know the employees.

SP: Szalay says he gets a couple of days with you before he steps down. What do you think you’ll talk about?

BH: (Szalay) and I started in the same place, a little different time though. He was (in Kings County) about five years before I was there. We’ve worked for and with some of the same people, (so) we have some common associations.

And there’s the budget and other business... I’m sure we’ll have a lot to talk about.

Hudson begins his new position with Sacramento County on Aug. 14.

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

Szalay prepares to say good-bye to top county spot

2011-06-30T00:58:46Z

As Steve Szalay prepared to hand over the reins to the top spot in county government, he talked about his experiences as interim county executive and sent a message to his successor: “Don’t screw it up.”

Szalay came on board with the county in December of 2009 when County Executive Terry Schutten retired. It was a temporary assignment that would bring Szalay out of retirement just long enough to put the county back on track while the Board of Supervisors recruited a permanent county executive.

With more than 40 years’ experience in California government, including work in the administration of four counties and as executive director for the California State Association of Counties, Szalay was ready for new challenges.

“(Sacramento County) was in bad shape, and it needed to be ‘repositioned,’ ” Szalay said. “We’re not ‘recovering,’ we’re positioning in a different direction. This is what I enjoy most. I’m happiest when there are problems to solve.”

He wanted problems to solve, and he got them.

For starters, the county budget was in need of a serious overhaul.

Sacramento County has a budget of $3.5 billion, Szalay said, and the general fund makes up $2 billion of that amount.

When the county supervisors approved the 2009/2010 budget, it was balanced with $80.2 million of one-time resources and internal borrowing – which damaged the county’s credit rating.

“When I walked in the door, they’d had a budget in place for five months, and they already knew they were about $15 million out of balance,” Szalay said. “The consistent one-time fund use took (the county’s) credit rating from A-minus to triple B-plus.”

The previous year, the budget gap was smaller ($123.7 million), but the board used more one-time resources that year ($103 million) to plug the hole.

“They were in denial about the recession and getting further and further behind,” Szalay said.

In addition to a runaway budget problem, the county was working with labor contracts that created havoc with the balance sheet.

Szalay said Schutten and the board entered into five-year labor contracts in 2005/2006, when times were good – contracts that included cost-of-living increases and equity increases for every bargaining unit for every year.

“While revenues where going down, expenses were going up,” Szalay said. “What wizard decided that was a wonderful thing? I don’t know what they were smokin’ when they came up with the idea.”

Despite the continual downturn in the economy since 2006, the labor contracts stayed in place.

The first order of business as “ICE” (the acronym-turned-nickname was effective almost immediately, Szalay said) was to set up a plan focused on four key areas of improvement: budget/fiscal, labor, debt and efficiency.

“You want current revenue to pay for current services,” Szalay explained, “and then you want a small contingency to take care of unexpected things that happen in the year, and you want managers on top of things to make adjustments quickly when it’s needed.”

To solve fiscal challenges, Szalay said he worked with management and the board to make “reasonable and necessary” cuts and to reduce the amount of one-time funds used to fill budget shortfalls.

Through those efforts, county supervisors cut more than 1,000 positions, streamlined some services and reduced the budget gap by almost $130 million over two years.

“We’re now within $19 million of having current revenue pay for current services,” Szalay said. “That’s huge.”

Next, he worked to negotiate labor contracts that didn’t undermine the budget.

What the county ended up with were new labor contracts that had no increase the first year, no increase the second year, and the third year, “we’ll talk,” Szalay said.

The new contracts also included lower-tier retirement for new employees and stopping heath care stipends previously given to retirees.

“All 26 unions agreed to the terms,” Szalay said. “That was a real accomplishment.”

Of everything he has worked on as interim county executive, though, the work that really ignited a fire in Szalay was what he calls “new efficiencies.”

“This is the fun stuff,” Szalay said. “This is where you get things done.”

The “new efficiencies” are composed in a list of 56 projects that Szalay and county management worked on for the past 21 months to save money, increase revenue and enhance services throughout the county.

Some projects changed policy to direct new revenue into the general reserve fund every year and not pull from the fund to fill budget gaps.

Other projects created new contracts with private nonprofit and corporate entities to take over services previously operated by county staff.

“This county has one service delivery policy: Hire a bunch of civil service workers and put ’em to work,” Szalay said. “What we need is a mix. We should (also) have some contracts with the private sector, some contracts with (the) nonprofit sector, some joint services with the city.”

Reorganization projects were also part of Szalay’s plans.

Szalay took the “three-legged stool model” of county services that includes municipal services, countywide services, and internal support operations, and looked for ways to combine operations or reorganize to eliminate redundancy.

Szalay estimated that the changes will save the county between $10 million and $13 million each year in operating costs.

When asked if he feels he’s accomplished what he set out to do for the county, Szalay was emphatic.

“Yes. Definitely.” he said. “We’ve adopted two budgets, gone through negotiations of labor contracts, worked on 56 efficiency plans and started working on marijuana permitting,” Szalay said.

“The time is good for a hand-off,” he added.

As Szalay returns to retired life, he said he and his wife, Diane Cummins, a special advisor to Gov. Jerry Brown, will spend time relaxing with family in the days to come, and they are planning a month-long trip to Italy in September.

After that, Szalay said, he will probably do some independent consulting work or focus on projects for the county on a contract basis.

The new county executive, Brad Hudson, is expected to take over on Aug. 14, and Szalay said he has every confidence in Hudson’s abilities.

Hudson’s background is in economic development, Szalay pointed out, so when the county experiences new growth – “and it will,” Szalay assured – Hudson will have plenty of opportunity to “show his stuff.”

“I’ve had the pleasure of being able to make some changes at the top of this organization, and there’s an excellent management team that I’m turning over to the new guy,” Szalay said.

Does he think Hudson can keep things going in the right direction?

“He’d better,” Szalay said. “He knows that, for the next few years, fiscal stability has to be the No. 1 goal.”

Szalay said he’ll have two days to brief Hudson about the position before stepping down, and he’ll have one last comment before handing over the keys to the office:

“Now, don’t screw it up! I’ll be watching you!”

Sac Metro Fire Partners with Reading Tree for Book Donation Drive

2011-06-21T16:30:45Z

Sacramento, CA- The Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District (SMFD) is promoting literacy this summer through its partnership with Reading Tree. The objective is to put books in the hands of local children to promote literacy, and to support recycling and reuse of unwanted books.

SMFD Fire Chief Henke encourages the community to drop off their gently used books at the Reading Tree book donation containers located at SMFD stations starting June 17, 2011. SMFD will be hosting the Reading Tree bins through November 18, 2011.

Reading Tree and SMFD have partnered on this book collection effort to develop in-classroom lending libraries in Reading Partner Sacramento schools in the Sacramento region. All types of books are welcome, including new, used, hardback and paperback. Quality children’s books are donated to local, early learning programs and elementary school-age children.

The Reading Tree was established in 2000 as a public charity. The organization has two missions. The first is to collect books from families who no longer want them, and deliver them to children, families, schools, and libraries that need them. The second is to keep books from contributing to the saturation of the nation’s landfills. Reading Tree places and maintains book collection bins in communities across the country to collect and redistribute used books. Reading Tree supports children’s literacy by getting books into the hands of children. Over 4 million books have been gifted to families, schools, and libraries since 2007. Reading Tree invites members of the community to become involved by donating books they no longer need to aid the literacy crisis.

Donated books will go to change lives in our community. For more information, please visit www.readingtree.org, or call 888-402-BOOK.

Contact: Lisa Lonteen & Captain Barbara Law

lisa@readingtree.org

law.barbara@smfd.ca.gov

New executive officer for Sacramento County

2011-06-16T03:25:40Z

The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors announced Wednesday that Brad Hudson has been selected to serve as the new county executive.

Hudson will be leaving his position as city manager for Riverside to accept a five-year contract in Sacramento County.

“We’re very pleased to have a candidate with such extensive experience and a hands-on attitude like Brad’s,” said County Supervisor Roberta MacGlashan in a press release on Wednesday.

According to the county board staff, Hudson was one of five candidates under consideration for the position in a process that began in early February.

“We wanted someone who was a leader and had a track record of stimulating economic growth, successfully balancing budgets as well as managing people,” MacGlashan said. “Brad has definitely delivered in Riverside, and we’re happy to have him join our team here in Sacramento.”

Former state Sen. John J. Benoit (R-Riverside) worked with Hudson at the local level when Benoit returned to Riverside as a member of the Riverside County Board of Supervisors and said that Hudson’s move will be “a great loss for Riverside, but a huge gain for Sacramento.”

Hudson is a "very progressive and thoughtful executive," Benoit said. “He reaches to the edge of the envelope to get things done.”

Benoit noted that Hudson’s approach “sometimes ruffles feathers, but it's worked for Riverside for the last six years."

According to McGlashan’s office, Hudson’s tenure at both city and county levels in Riverside gave him the opportunity to work on innovative projects that included joint city, county and school library and athletic programs and facilities; farm worker and homeless programs; and, a city, county and University of California research and technology park.

“I’m proud of what I’ve been able to accomplish in Riverside, but Sacramento is facing a lot of tough decisions,” Hudson said in a press release. “I’m excited to have the opportunity to take on those challenges by working hand in hand with the board to create some change in Sacramento.”

Hudson will begin as County Executive Aug. 14.

Sheriff aims for no layoffs

2011-06-11T00:09:42Z

Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones is trying to prevent his department from having to lay off any employees despite facing a $4.3 million budget shortfall, according to Jones’ spokesman, Deputy Jason Ramos.

The county budget was approved Thursday by the Board of Supervisors. Jones told the supervisors earlier this week that he recently brought down his department’s $26.7 million shortfall to $9.5 million. The Board of Supervisors restored $5.2 million to his budget Thursday, leaving a gap of $4.3 million.

The supervisors resolved the county’s $90 million gap by making severe cuts. County Budget Officer Tom Burkart estimated that more than 200 layoffs may occur as a result of the budget. The county’s total budget is $3.5 billion, with a $1.9 billion general fund.

Ramos said that Jones’ highest priority is to avoid lay offs. Jones recognizes the possibility for layoffs exists, but he is trying to prevent even one layoff, Ramos said.

The Sheriff’s Department will examine whether it can make further cuts to services without layoffs, according to Ramos.

In 2009, the department laid off 122 sworn full-time sheriff’s deputies, Ramos said, adding, “Basically, we were decimated.”

Ramos said Jones is “committed to not having anybody else lose their job, if at all possible.”

The $26.7 million hole resulted in part from from personnel expenses and the drop of funding from vehicle license fees, according to Jones’ budget presentation. Jones said he would bring down the $26.7 million to $9.5 million in part through lower health benefit expenses and internal cuts. He also hopes to obtain $5.1 million in state vehicle license fees, he wrote in his presentation.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

County approves budget, layoffs expected

2011-06-10T01:22:31Z

Sacramento County elected officials approved a budget Thursday that could result in more than 200 employee layoffs, according to county budget officer Tom Burkart.

These layoffs for the 2011/2012 fiscal year are in addition to the 1,299 layoffs the county has made since the 2008/2009 fiscal year, said county spokeswoman Chris Andis.

She added that 1,299 people were actually laid off as opposed to job positions being cut.

The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors balanced its budget for the 2011/2012 fiscal year on Thursday afternoon, closing out a $90 million shortfall. The county has a general fund of $1.9 billion and a total budget of roughly $3.5 billion.

The approved budget is a first version – the supervisors will pass a final budget in September.

While Burkart provided an estimate for upcoming layoffs, exact figures were unclear Thursday.

“As a board member and member of this community, it weighs heavily on me that over the past several years, we’ve laid off hundreds and hundreds of people,” Supervisor Don Nottoli said at Thursday’s budget meeting.

The people who will be laid off attend local churches, shop in local stores and send their children to local schools, he said.

Interim County Executive Officer Steven Szalay estimated that more than 300 job positions will now be removed. That number does not include lost job positions from the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department and the District Attorney’s office, Szalay said.

District Attorney Jan Scully and Sheriff Scott Jones are responsible for calculating their departments’ lost positions and possible layoffs.

The loss of about 300 positions – which does not include the D.A’s office and the Sheriff’s Department – may translate to about 200 actual layoffs, Burkart said.

Positions are different from layoffs because they can include vacancies. The county also uses a complicated system of demotions as part of the layoff process, which can affect the number of actual layoffs.

The Sheriff’s Department had faced a $26.7 million shortfall, but Jones recently pared down that number to $9.5 million. Thursday, the Board of Supervisors brought down Jones’ budget shortfall to $4.3 million.

Jones was scheduled to hold a press conference late Thursday afternoon. The Sacramento Press will follow up on any information about possible layoffs at the Sheriff’s Department on Friday.

The District Attorney’s office is facing a $6.2 million shortfall in response to the Board of Supervisors’ budget approval. Scully’s office had a $13.3 million gap in February. She brought it down to $8.6 million. The supervisors restored about $2 million to the D.A.’s budget, leaving it with a $6.2 million gap.

In a press advisory released after the budget approval, Scully said the upcoming cuts to her office would hurt residents.

“Arrests take criminals off the street – only prosecutors keep them off the streets,” she said. “It is the responsibility of the Board of Supervisors to fund prosecutions for the entire county – the unincorporated areas and all of the cities.

“Most of the cases my office prosecutes come from the cities. By failing to take that into account, the board shortchanged more than 60 percent of our residents.”

Scully will speak publicly next week about how the cuts will affect her office, according to the news advisory.

While exact layoff figures are unclear, Andis provided statistics showing that the the departments of Human Assistance and Transportation are among other departments with filled positions slated to be cut.

The county’s drop in revenues since the 2007/2008 fiscal year has been a central reason for the county’s poor financial state, Szalay said in May. Since then, the county’s revenues from property, sales and motor vehicle taxes have dropped by more than $100 million, he added.

State budget cuts have also hurt the county, according to Szalay.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

County weighs cuts to sheriff, social services

2011-06-07T01:41:34Z

Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones told county leaders Monday that he has reduced his department’s budget gap but a $9.5 million shortfall remains that could result in department cuts.

The sheriff’s department was among other county departments that addressed the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors during its first day of budget hearings for the 2011/2012 fiscal year.

The county is facing a $90 million shortfall for the 2011/2012 fiscal year. The supervisors are expected to meet for additional hearings on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The county has a two-budget process – the supervisors approve a first version of its budget in June and a final budget in the fall.

Sacramento County Executive Officer Steven Szalay created the proposed budget that was discussed Monday.

Jones was hesitant on Monday to say how many layoffs his department could face as a result of the cuts proposed in the budget.

After his remarks to the supervisors, he answered reporters’ questions about possible layoffs.

He said that $9.5 million in budget cuts would equate to 63 jobs. However, he refused to describe them as layoffs, saying that he would look for ways to avoid layoffs.

“I’m unwilling to accept the fact that there will be 63 layoffs,” he told reporters. “I don’t want to use it as a tactic to scare the board. I don’t want to scare all the folks in my own department.”

He said that if he cannot avoid the full $9.5 million in cuts, he would try to save some of the jobs through retirements or other methods.

Jones said that the department is understaffed to the point that it reacts to crime instead of preventing it. The department has .63 officers per 1,000 residents, he said, adding that the FBI recommends that agencies serving populations over 250,000 should have two officers for every 1,000 residents.

“Clearly, our patrol officers do a phenomenal job, as do the folks in corrections,” Jones told the supervisors. “But make no mistake, we are a department, as we stand here today, that responds to 911 calls and calls for service and warehouses prisoners.”

Monday’s presentations included the budgets for the Department of Health and Human Services and the Probation Department. Ann Edwards, the Health and Human Services director, said her department’s cuts would include $5.3 million for medical treatment for the poor.

“The medical needs in the community have not decreased,” she said. “They’re actually increasing as a result of so many folks without jobs and health insurance.”

The Board of Supervisors’ Tuesday budget hearing begins at 2 p.m. and will cover the District Attorney’s office and regional parks, as well as the role of transient occupancy tax in the budget.

The supervisors’ schedule says they may finish the budget process Tuesday, but they have also set up tentative meetings for Wednesday and Thursday if they need more time to approve the budget.

Tuesday’s hearing, as well as the tentative hearings later this week, will be held at 700 H St. in Sacramento.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Pet Waste Can Leave More than Just a Stink

2011-06-02T17:39:06Z

Picking Up After Pets Makes Your Neighbors and Mother Nature Happier!

It may seem like a little thing, but leaving pet waste behind when walking your pet adds up to a big issue. Pet waste is responsible for up to 90% of all bacterial watershed pollution in urban areas of the U.S. When left behind, bacteria on pet waste can be washed away with rain, water from irrigation and other urban run-off and introduced to local waterways, degrading water quality and putting people and the environment at risk. E. coli is a bacterium found in dog waste, it has been linked to causing ear, eye, and stomach infections. Other pet waste bacteria are the sources of “staph” infections, salmonella, and parasites.

Help prevent pollution and bacterial contamination of waterways! Do not leave pet waste on the street, yard, or in yard waste piles or containers. Use these simple tips to properly dispose of pet waste:

• At home, always pick up after your animal making sure to bag and throw away waste in the garbage can.

• Be prepared before taking your dog out by attaching collection bags to your dog’s leash or storing them in your car.

• Consider a digester as another disposal option. Instead of bagging waste and throwing it away; pet waste is dumped into the digester, which breaks down waste into simple organic compounds which don’t harm the land or pollute waterways.

• When walking your dog at a park or on a trail, make sure to toss pet waste in the trash or at a pet waste disposal station.

Remember, most cities require you to pick up after your pets! Doing so not only eliminates the nuisance of stepping in pet waste, but protects our local water ways and environment. For information about pet waste and its impacts on our waterways, please call the Sacramento Stormwater Quality Partnership at (916) 808-4H2O or check out BeRiverFriendly.net.

County to confront $90 million gap

2011-05-28T01:15:16Z

The proposed budget Sacramento County released Friday calls for major cuts to close a $90 million gap.

At least 320 employee positions are proposed for cuts. It’s unclear how many of these position cuts may translate to layoffs.

Interim County Executive Officer Steven Szalay’s proposed budget serves as a series of suggestions to the Board of Supervisors, which will hold votes and make decisions on the budget.

“Approval of this recommended budget, with unavoidable reductions, is an important step to continue recovery from our fiscal crisis and will improve the budget picture for next year and beyond,” Szalay wrote in a document dated for the Board of Supervisors’ June 6 budget hearing.

According to Szalay’s document, the 320 positions figure does not include positions in the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department and the District Attorney’s office. There may be additional positions cut from those departments.

The budget documents are now online.

Read Szalay’s letter to the Board of Supervisors on the budget here.

Budget hearings start June 6 at the Sacramento County Administration Building, 700 H St.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Swim Season is Around the Corner! Tips to enjoy the water and stay healthy

2011-05-24T23:30:27Z

Memorial Day weekend traditionally kicks off swim season in Sacramento. That means we’ll soon be heading to the beaches and pools to soak up the sunshine and cool off.

On Tuesday, May 24, the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution to proclaim May 23 – 29, 2011 as Recreational Water Illness and Injury (RWII) Prevention Week. The goal of this observance is to raise awareness about healthy and safe swimming behaviors, and how you can prevent illnesses when enjoying swimming pools, hot tubs, water parks, water play areas, interactive fountains, lakes, rivers, or oceans.

2011 RWII Prevention Week Theme: Swimmer’s Ear
Swimmer's ear (also known as otitis externa) is an infection of the outer ear canal that can cause pain and discomfort for swimmers of all ages. The good news is that swimmer’s ear is preventable. To help ensure a healthy and pain-free swimming experience, the Sacramento County Environmental Management Department (EMD) is partnering with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to provide the public with the following swimmer’s ear prevention tips:

• DO keep your ears as dry as possible. Use a bathing cap, ear plugs, or custom-fitted swim molds when swimming.

• DO dry your ears thoroughly after swimming or showering. Tilt your head to hold each ear facing down to allow water to escape the ear canal. Use a towel to dry your ears well.

• DO pull your earlobe in different directions while the ear is faced down to help water drain out. If there is still water left in ears, consider using a hair dryer to move air through the ear canal. Put the dryer on the lowest heat and speed/fan setting; hold it several inches from the ear.

• DON’T put objects in the ear canal (including cotton-tip swabs, pencils, paperclips, or fingers).

• DON’T try to remove ear wax. Ear wax helps protect your ear canal from infection. If you think that the ear canal is blocked by ear wax, consult your healthcare provider.

• DO consult your healthcare provider about using ear drops after swimming. Drops should not be used by people with ear tubes, damaged ear drums, outer ear infections, or ear drainage (pus or liquid coming from the ear).

• DO consult your healthcare provider if you have ear pain, discomfort, or drainage from your ears.

EMD inspects more than 2,200 public pools and spas in Sacramento annually, according to John Rogers, environmental health division chief. This includes pools at apartment complexes, fitness clubs, hotels, and water parks. Additionally, EMD offers FREE workshops to pool and spa owners and operators. “Our goal is to protect the public from diseases and safety hazards associated with public pools in Sacramento County. With common sense safety practices and proper pool maintenance, public pools are a great way to exercise, cool off, and have fun,” says Rogers.

For more information on recreational water illness and prevention, visit the following websites:
• Sacramento County Environmental Management Department www.emd.saccounty.net/EnvHealth/RecHealth/RecHealth.html
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention www.cdc.gov/healthywater/swimming/rwi/rwi-prevent.html
• CDC’s Healthy Swimming www.cdc.gov/healthyswimming

View the most recent pool and spa facility inspection report at www.poolinspect.saccounty.net.

For additional information about swimming pool and spa inspections in Sacramento County and the FREE Workshops, contact EMD at (916) 875-8440 or email EMDinfo@Saccounty.net.

----------------------------

Kerri Aiello is the Communications and Media Officer for Sacramento County's Countywide Services Agency. She can be reached at (916) 874-4667 or email Aiellok@saccounty.net.

County cuts could cause more layoffs

2011-05-14T01:40:46Z

Sacramento County’s budget situation for the 2011/2012 fiscal year could be described by the grammatically incorrect but accurate phrase “less bad.”

In other words, the county’s budget gap of $90 million is less severe than the $181 million shortfall it faced last year. But the current gap, which is likely to result in a wave of layoffs, is still grim.

County Interim Executive Officer Steven Szalay laid out budget details in a Friday morning press conference at the downtown county building on H Street. The county plans to cut 321 employee positions in its budget process, Szalay said.

“I’m very sad to have to have these service-level reductions,” he said. “They’re definitely going to hurt in all sectors of the county.”

The county expects to face cuts in nearly all departments, he added.

County officials said they have not yet calculated how many of the positions are currently filled by employees and how many are vacant. The number of filled positions, which will help the public understand how many layoffs there may be, will be released with the budget proposal in two weeks, Szalay said.

The county’s drop in revenues since the 2007/2008 fiscal year has been a central reason for the county’s poor financial state, Szalay said. Since then, the county’s revenues from property, sales and motor vehicle taxes have dropped by more than $100 million, he added.

The 321 positions do not include any positions from the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department and the District Attorney’s office, according to Szalay.

The $90 million gap consists of a roughly $70 million gap in the county’s general fund and cuts to the county from the state, according to county spokeswoman Chris Andis.

Szalay said the Sheriff’s Department will need to make $26 million in cuts. However, Sheriff Scott Jones said he is examining several funding sources and is confident he can pare down that number. He said he hopes to not make layoffs.

“All facets of the county have been devastated by cuts,” Jones said. “We are not alone in that.”

There is a bright spot in this year’s budget, according to Szalay. “We are making progress towards the goal of having current revenue pay for current services,” he said.

While Szalay proposed the budget, the Board of Supervisors will make all final budget decisions.

The number of actual layoffs that could result from the budget crunch may not be known for some time. The county applies a complex demotion process when it makes layoffs that can change the final number. Some workers may decide to retire.

The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors’ chambers at 700 H St. will be the site of the budget hearings, which are scheduled to begin the week of June 6. The hearings will be open to the public.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Cuts to local children's services

2011-05-12T01:26:55Z

A Sacramento County commission that provides funding for local children’s services suffered severe cuts earlier this month.

The First 5 Sacramento Commission cut $43.7 million from its budget May 2. The cuts were ordered by the state, which is using funding from First 5 programs to pay for Medi-Cal children’s services.

The local First 5 cuts reduced funding for a county program that assists women with breast-feeding and for a program at nine school districts that helps young children transition into school, according to Toni Moore, executive director of the First 5 Sacramento Commission.

Sacramento County Public Health Officer Dr. Glennah Trochet said the cuts were painful.

“We are a very resilient society,” Trochet said. “I’m hoping in better times, some of these programs will be restored. Or, as a society, we’ll make sure to give importance to the youngest and most vulnerable in our community.”

Trochet is a First 5 commissioner, but she did not vote on the budget cuts. Trochet’s department includes programs that receive First 5 funding, and it would have been a conflict of interest for her to vote, she said.

More cuts to the commission are still to come. The commission expects the state will require $4.8 million on top of the $43.7 million in cuts, according to a news release.

California Assemblyman Roger Dickinson of Sacramento commented on the First 5 cuts during a meeting with The Sacramento Press Wednesday. “I’m hopeful we’ll get back to restoring First 5 as we go,” he said.

Budget cuts totaling $43.7 million will be distributed until the 2014/2015 fiscal year, the news release said.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Sacramento County Public Law Library “Lawyers in the Library” Program Expands Hours

2011-05-10T23:22:07Z

Beginning May 23, 2011, “Lawyers in the Library” will offer free 20-minute consultations at the Sacramento County Public Law Library for two hours every Monday night, beginning at 5:15 p.m.

Previously the program, a collaboration of the Sacramento County Public Law Library and the Voluntary Legal Services Program of Northern California, was offered for only one hour each Monday evening. With additional support from volunteer attorneys from Downey Brand LLP, “Lawyers in the Library” is now able to expand its hours, doubling the number of people that can be seen at each session.

A lottery to fill appointment slots will be held at 5:15 p.m. The first appointment begins at 5:30 p.m. A bilingual attorney, who speaks Spanish, will be available to assist customers the first Monday of the month.

The “Lawyers in the Library” program is ideal for those who have a legal issue that is outside of the scope of services of the Sacramento County Public Law Library's Civil Self Help Center, or for those who work or have other obligations during the day.

The aim of “Lawyers in the Law Library” is to contribute to the Sacramento legal community’s effort to help people who cannot afford private legal services by coordinating and facilitating brief access to information and referral from local attorneys serving pro bono. Because the library’s mission is to connect people with legal information, we view this program as helping to forge another connection between the private bar and the people who are least likely to find any other opportunity for twenty minutes of professional attention and consideration.

We hope the “Lawyers in the Library” program will increase community recognition of Sacramento County Public Law Library’s role in providing free access to legal information for over 100 years.

For more information, contact Kelly Browne, Assistant Director for Public Services, at 874-7427 or kbrowne@saclaw.org.

Sacramento County Executive Hosting Veterans Fundraiser

2011-05-05T16:17:42Z

A mixer will be held to honor local veterans and help provide meeting space for their activities. Join the fun on Wednesday, May 25, 5:30-8:30 p.m., at VFW Post 67, 2784 Stockton Blvd. Tickets are $35 and tax deductible. View flyer for more details.

Data: Homelessness declines in Sacramento County

2011-04-23T01:11:44Z

The number of homeless people in Sacramento County has sharply declined, according to 2011 figures on homelessness released Friday by Sacramento Steps Forward and Sacramento County. Long-term homelessness saw the biggest decrease, with a 50 percent drop since 2007.

Despite the lasting effects of the recession locally, the numbers for both long-term homelessness and overall homelessness have fallen compared to recent years.

On any given night in Sacramento County in 2011, there are 2,358 homeless people, said Paul Lake, director of the county’s Department of Human Assistance. That’s down from 2,800 people at any night in 2009.

“I think we were all pleasantly surprised,” Lake said.

The data released Friday is based on the Jan. 27 Homeless Street Count held by Sacramento Steps Forward.

“In addition to the substantial decrease of 50.8 percent in chronic homelessness between 2007 and 2011, this year’s homeless count also found a 15.8 percent decrease in overall homelessness since 2009,” according to a fact sheet on the data released by Sacramento Steps Forward and Sacramento County.

While the overall numbers are down, the county did see an 11.2 percent rise in families that are homeless since 2009, according to the figures.

Lake credited the drop in homelessness partly to the work of the Ten-Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness, a partnership between local government agencies and private firms in the Sacramento County. LINK

“I was hopeful that we’d see the success of the efforts that we’ve been making in the 10-year plan,” Lake said. “I think this points out that we have achieved some success.”

Lake also said that a federal stimulus program that started in 2009, the Homeless Prevention and Rapid-Rehousing program, helped lower the number of homeless in Sacramento County.

He said about 1,600 people in Sacramento County gained housing help through that program.

The numbers, which were crunched by the MKS Consulting firm, will be used by the county’s Department of Human Assistance to maintain federal Housing and Urban Development Department funding, said Lake.

The fact sheet on the results of the homeless count says the data is based on a “statistically reliable research-based method of counting that is approved by the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.”

Sacramento County must provide statistics on homelessness to the federal housing department every other year, according to Michele Watts, program manager for Sacramento Steps Forward.

Lake explained that the data cannot be broken down by city to show how many homeless people are in each city in the county. The data was assessed by splitting up the county into areas that have a high number of homeless people and areas that have low numbers of homeless.

Volunteers counted homeless people in 100 percent of the high-density areas, said Megan Schatz, principal consultant for MKS Consulting, the firm that analyzed the data. About two-thirds of the low-density areas were counted, she said.

Because not every portion of the low-density areas were covered in the count, there is “no way to extrapolate how many people are in a given sub-section of the county,” Lake said.

Read the fact sheet on the new results here.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Editorial Note: This is an updated version of an earlier story.

Stephens Drive Double Fatality Fire Ruled Arson

2011-04-22T16:12:59Z

Sacramento Metro Fire Investigators have concluded that the double fatality fire that occurred at 4061 Stephens Dr. on April 6, 2011 resulting in the deaths of Laura Fernandez, age 38, and her son Wilfred Villarruel, age eight, was an act of Arson. Metro Fire Investigators are working with Sacramento County Sheriff’s investigators and are asking the public for assistance.

April 6, 2011 at 8:03pm, the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District received an alarm for a house fire at 4061 Stephen Drive in North Highlands. The first Engine Company arrived and reported a well involved garage fire with extension into the home.

Fire crews made entry into the home and began attacking the fire. During a search, two victims were removed from the home. Sacramento Metro Firefighter/Paramedics began assessing and treating the victims, both victims were determined to have fatal injuries.

The investigation continues and no additional details will be released.

If you have any information that may assist investigators please call the Arson Tip line at (916) 859-3775. Sacramento Area Firefighters Local 522 is offering a Reward of $1000.00. You may be eligible by providing information leading to the arrest and prosecution of person(s) involved. You may also contact Crime Alert at (916) 443-HELP. Crime alert allows for anonymous tips, and a reward of up to $1000.00.

Metro Fire Board Vacancy

2011-04-19T17:42:33Z

The Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District is accepting applications to fill a vacant position of Director for Division 5 on its nine-member Board of Directors. The selected applicant will serve the remainder of a four-year term expiring the first week of December, 2012.

Applicants must be a registered voter, residing within the jurisdictional boundaries of the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District. While all interested applicants within the District will be considered, preference will be given to applicants from Division 5.

The approximate boundaries for Division 5 are Madison Avenue on the north, Manzanita Avenue and Fair Oaks Boulevard to Arden Way on the west, the American River on the south, and the City of Folsom boundary on the east.

Interested persons may apply for the position by submitting the Board of Directors District Employment Application and a letter of interest to Board Clerk Charlotte Tilson, Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District, 2101 Hurley Way, Sacramento, California 95825. Application must be received by noon, May 9, 2011.

A Special Board of Directors meeting will be held on Monday, May 16, 2011 at 6:00 p.m. in the District Administration Board Room for the purpose of interviewing qualified candidates.

Additional information may be obtained by contacting Charlotte Tilson, Clerk of the Board, at 859-4305 or visiting the District website at www.sacmetrofire.ca.gov for the Board of Directors District Employment Application form and division map.

Metro Fire Board of Directors Announces New Fire Chief

2011-04-18T22:58:45Z

Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District’s Board of Directors is pleased to announce the appointment of Kurt P. Henke to the position of Fire Chief, replacing William B. Sponable after his April 1, 2011 retirement.

Chief Henke was hired as the Deputy Chief of Operations for Metro Fire on October 1, 2009. His professional career began in 1984 as a Firefighter/EMT with the Department of the Navy, Skaggs Island Fire Department. Chief Henke moved on in 1985 to become a full-time Firefighter with the City of Vallejo Fire Department. From there he promoted to Captain in 1992, where he was assigned to the Training and Suppression divisions and was appointed as the Director of Training in 1996. Chief Henke was promoted to Assistant Fire Chief in 1998, in the capacity of Manager to both the Suppression and Fire Prevention divisions; a position he held until he left to become a part of the Metro family.

Details for Chief Henke’s swearing in will be announced at a later date.

Sacramento County Celebrates National County Government Month

2011-04-13T15:24:27Z

“Serving our Veterans, Armed Forces and Their Families”

Sacramento County is celebrating National County Government Month during the month of April to highlight essential county government programs and services. The theme for this year’s celebration is “Serving our Veterans, Armed Forces and Their Families.”

“Sacramento County is proud of our veterans and military service members,” said Interim County Executive Steven Szalay. “In fact, we are proudly displaying their names in the lobby of the County Administration building at 700 H Street through the month of April.”

Szalay is also working on the second annual fundraiser to honor and help maintain meeting space for Sacramento County Veterans Associations, in particular, VFW Post 67 on Stockton Blvd. Last year, working group raised more than $5,000 to help offset budget reductions. The $35.00 tickets can be purchased by calling 916-482-9474 or emailing Rose4834@comcast.net.

Second Installment of Sacramento County Property Taxes Due

2011-04-05T16:10:15Z

The deadline for paying the second installment of your 2010-2011 Sacramento County property taxes is coming up! Payments are due no later than April 10; however, because April 10 falls on a Sunday this year, taxpayers have until the next business day, Monday April 11, 2011, to pay the second installment without penalty. Late payments will incur a 10 percent penalty plus $15.00 cost for each tax bill. Partial payments cannot be accepted.

If you recently purchased the property for a lesser value or you are disputing the assessed value with the Assessor’s Office or the Assessment Appeals Board, the annual tax bill must still be paid by the delinquent date to avoid the addition of penalties.

Payments must be received in the Tax Collector’s Office by 5:00 p.m. on April 11, 2011, or either postmarked or paid through our website by April 11, 2011. Online payment services provided through our website include payments via credit card or electronic check. Credit card and electronic check payments may also be made by calling 1 (888) 877-3575. A convenience fee is charged by the vendor on credit card and electronic check payments.

Payments may be made in person at the Sacramento County Tax Collector’s Office at 700 H Street, Room 1710, between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, or you can mail your payment to P.O. Box 508, Sacramento, CA 95812-0508. Be sure to mail your payment early enough to ensure a timely postmark and avoid penalties.

When providing a check as payment, you authorize us either to use information from your check to make a one-time electronic fund transfer from your account or to process the payment as a check transaction.

The Tax Collector also wants to remind property owners to include the appropriate installment payment stub from the tax bill, stub from our website, or write the parcel number of the property on the check being submitted to make sure that you receive proper credit for the payment.

Failure to receive a tax bill does not relieve the property owner of their liability to pay taxes in a timely manner or give the Tax Collector reason to cancel penalties imposed for late payment. If you have not received a tax bill, you can obtain your tax bill information and payment stubs (coupons) at the Tax Collector’s website at www.eproptax.saccounty.net , over the automated telephone system or by contacting the Tax Collector’s Office at (916) 874-6622.

Property tax payment history for secured property tax bills in now available at www.eproptax.saccounty.net .

Everyday Law: Federal Tax Deductions

2011-04-04T19:09:10Z

Organization is key. If you've kept careful records all year, completing your tax returns and getting those deductions should be a breeze. If you haven't, it is not as easy. But it still might be worth your while to itemize deductions this year, or, at least, think about getting organized for next year. One step at a time.

The list of deductions most of us can take is not that long. The first is “Medical and Dental Expenses.” Because this deduction is limited to the amount that exceeds 7.5% of your Adjusted Gross Income (aka “AGI,” the amount that ends up on line 38 of your Form 1040), not as many people can take this deduction as you might imagine. Let’s look at an example. Assuming your 2010 AGI was $56,799, the median household income in Sacramento County, you can only deduct the amount you spent on medical and dental expenses that exceeds $4,259.92, or 7.5% of $56,799. Hopefully you didn’t have to spend that much. According to a popular baby cost calculator, the average annual cost for healthcare from birth to age 18 is $735. Multiply that by four (the average family size in Sacramento County is 3.29), and you get $2,940.

For each medical expense you should keep a record of the name and address of the person paid, the amount and date paid, and the amount paid for transportation (mileage, taxi, etc.) to get medical care. You can deduct either actual transportation expenses or you can use the standard medical mileage rate of 16.5 cents per mile. For more information about deductible medical expenses, see IRS Publication 502.

The second type of itemized deduction you can take is “Taxes You Paid.” You can deduct either state and local general sales taxes or state and local income taxes—not both. If you live in a state that imposes income tax, like California, you probably paid more income tax than sales tax, so the income-tax deduction is the better deal. Obtaining the amount you paid in state and local income taxes should be easy—all income taxes withheld from your salary are listed on your W-2. If you choose to deduct state and local sales taxes, instead, however, you can use actual expenses or the optional sales tax tables contained in the Instructions to Schedule A.

You can also deduct state and local personal property taxes you paid; save your payment stubs. In California, personal property tax includes part of the amount you paid for your car tags. If you’ve misplaced your receipt, you can use the DMV’s Vehicle Registration Fee Calculator to figure out how much of your vehicle license fee was in lieu of local property tax. Just plug in your license plate number, the last five digits of your Vehicle Identification Number, and the appropriate tax year.

You can also deduct real estate taxes paid on your home. If your mortgage payments include your real estate taxes, the amount paid will be on the statement you receive from your mortgage company. If it isn’t, you can contact your taxing authority. In Sacramento County you can use Sacramento County's Online Property Tax Bill Information System. Just pop in your parcel number for a property tax bill payment history. If you do not know your 14-digit parcel number, you may obtain it by entering your address at the Sacramento County Assessor's Office Parcel Viewer.

The third category of itemized deduction is “Interest You Paid.” The most common types of interest people pay and wish to deduct are home mortgage interest, student loan interest, and personal interest. Unfortunately, personal interest paid on car loans, credit cards, and the like, is not tax deductible at all.

If your modified adjusted gross income is less than $75,000 ($150,000 if filing jointly), you can deduct up to $2,500 for interest paid on qualified education loans. You should receive a Form 1098-E, Student Loan Interest Statement, from each institution (such as a bank or governmental agency) that received interest payments of $600 or more during 2010. For more on deducting student loan interest payments, see IRS Publication 970, Tax Benefits for Education.

Home mortgage interest is generally reported to you on Form 1098, Mortgage Interest Statement, by the financial institution to which you made the payments. For more information, see IRS Publication 936, Home Mortgage Interest Deduction.

The fourth type of itemized deduction you can take is “Gifts to Charity.” To deduct monetary contributions up to $250, you must show a bank record, payroll deduction record, or a written communication from a qualified organization containing the name of that organization, the date of the contribution, and the amount of the contribution. If you donate cash or property worth $250 or more, you must also show a written acknowledgment from the organization showing the amount of the cash and a description of any property contributed, and stating whether the organization provided any goods or services in exchange for the gift. If your total deduction for all noncash contributions for the year is over $500, you must complete and attach IRS Form 8283, Noncash Charitable Contributions, to your return. For more information, refer to IRS Publication 526, Charitable Contributions.

The fifth type of itemized deduction you can take is “Casualty and Theft Losses.” You can deduct the amount of casualty or theft losses that exceed 10% of your AGI, after subtracting $100 for each occurrence. If your property is covered by insurance, you cannot deduct a loss unless you file a timely insurance claim for reimbursement, even if no reimbursement is expected. If you were uninsured, you must show some other kind of actual record or satisfactory evidence to support your deduction. For more information, see IRS Publication 547, Casualties, Disasters, and Thefts (Business and Nonbusiness).

The sixth type of itemized deduction you can take is called “Job expenses and Certain Miscellaneous Deductions.” These deductions are subject to subject to a 2% limit, which means you can deduct the amount left after you subtract 2% of your AGI from the total. Using our Sacramento County median household income example of $56,799, and assuming you spent $2,000 on job and other miscellaneous deductible expenses, the total amount you could deduct would be $864.02 ($2,000 - $1,135.98 [2% of $56,799] = $864.02).

“Job expenses and Certain Miscellaneous Deductions” include unreimbursed employee expenses, tax preparation fees, and other expenses paid to produce or collect taxable income or manage or protect property held for earning income. “Unreimbursed employee expenses” include dues to professional societies, educator expenses, licenses and regulatory fees, subscriptions to professional journals and trade magazines related to your work, union dues and expenses, and work-related education. For more information, see IRS Publication 529, Other Miscellaneous Deductions.

Perhaps the most popular unreimbursed employee expense deduction is the “Home Office Deduction.” It is not as easy to qualify for this deduction as the media might lead you to believe. Your home office must be used regularly and exclusively for your work: if your ten-year-old son uses the computer in that room for his homework, you fail the exclusivity test. For more information, see IRS Publication 587, Business Use of Your Home. Then there is figuring the deduction itself. For the kinds of records you will need to keep to prove all of this, see IRS Publication 583, Starting a Business and Keeping Records.

Although not an itemized expense, moving expenses to a new job location can be deducted, and they are not subject to the 2% limit like the other unreimbursed employee expenses discussed above. See IRS Publication 521, Moving Expenses.

The seventh, and last type of itemized deduction, is called “Other Miscellaneous Expenses." Although not subject to the 2% limit, these “Other Miscellaneous Expense" deductions are not that common. The most common deduction is one that hopefully, not too many of us, will have: gambling losses. If you are so unfortunate as to have suffered gambling losses, you may deduct them, up to the amount of your winnings. You cannot reduce your gambling winnings by your gambling losses and report the difference as a deduction; you must report your winnings as income. Therefore, your records must show your winnings separately from your losses. In addition to an accurate diary of your winnings and losses, you should also keep wagering tickets, canceled checks, substitute checks, credit records, bank withdrawals, and statements of actual winnings or payment slips provided to you by the gambling establishment. For more information, see Tax Topic 419, Gambling Income and Losses, at http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc419.html.

We have several books at the law library that can help you with your 2010 taxes. You may wish to check out J.K. Lasser’s 1001 Deductions & Tax Breaks 2011, J.K. Lasser’s Your Income Tax 2011: For Preparing Your 2010 Tax Return, and Tax Deductions for Professionals. You may also wish to refer to our Legal Resource Guides on Federal Tax Law and California Tax Law.

For more information on this and other “Everyday Law” subjects, visit the Sacramento County Public Law Library, “Providing Free Public Access to Legal Information for over 100 years.”

Latino Leaders honored in Cesar Chavez Resolution

2011-03-22T23:33:39Z

In advance of Saturday’s annual march commemorating Cesar Chavez' birthday, the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors presented a resolution honoring him Board of Supervisors Chambers this morning.

“We want to honor Cesar Chavez on behalf of the citizens of Sacramento County, my father, and all of the hard work that continues to be done in improving the working and living conditions of farm workers in California,” said Phil Serna, District 1 Supervisor.

Supervisor Serna awarded the principal resolution to Becky Chavez, (above) Cesar’s niece, who has lived through the United Farm Workers’ movement her uncle championed.

"Phil has always admired Cesar’s strength and courage as he fought tirelessly for those who had no voice." said Joe Angeles, Special Assistant to Supervisor Phil Serna. "And under his father, the late Mayor Joe Serna Jr., the City of Sacramento became the first California municipality to establish an official holiday on Cesar Chavez’s birthday and named the park across from City Hall 'Cesar Chavez Plaza'.”

"Phil felt it only fitting the County honor Cesar Chavez in advance of the annual march commemorating his birthday, which is why Phil asked different members of the Latino community from the arts, labor, international, business, advocacy, and public safety to accept a signed copy of the resolution," Angeles explained.

Here are the community leaders who were honored today,receiving a copy of the Resolution:

The 11th annual Cesar Chavez march is

Saturday, MARCH 26, • 2010 at 10:00 AM.

March begins at:
Arteaga's Supermarket
940 Sacramento Ave. (at Jefferson Blvd)
West Sacramento, CA 95606

For more info on the march CLICK HERE>>>

To hear a portion of the Resolution meeting on Capital Public Radio, CLICK HERE>>>

SacPress Photos | Kati Garner

Planning Future Growth in the Unincorporated County

2011-03-16T18:11:12Z

Sacramento County’s General Plan

After putting its General Plan process on hold in October 2010, Sacramento County will begin considering a new set of General Plan recommendations on March 23, 2011.
“Our goal is to have a General Plan that allows us to participate in smart growth as the economy rebounds and the demand increases,” said Steve Szalay, Interim County Executive. “After months of robust conversations with stakeholders, including local developers, environmentalists and the state Attorney General, we are striving for a reasonable strategy for managing growth for the next twenty years.”
The new recommendations will provide framework for growth management, in the unincorporated County. They call for keeping the County’s Urban Policy Area at its current location, (without expanding) and allow for new growth if proposed plans for new neighborhoods meet smart-growth principles.

Once the new framework is approved, there will be additional Board meetings on specific policies and additional public hearings. The complete General Plan is expected to be adopted in the fall.

Background: At the time the draft plan was scoped, demand for housing, employment and retail uses were significantly higher. Because of the change in the economy, the County needed additional time to consider long-term opportunities for positive economic growth.

The purpose of the postponement was to allow time to work with stakeholders on issues, notably how the County should approach any growth management strategy.

Several years ago, projections indicated that nearly 260,000 new residents might move to both existing and new neighborhoods in the unincorporated area of the County. More recent projects indicate as few as 130,000 new residents might need housing by 2030. These growth projections have changed, in part due to changes in the economy. Additionally, growth that is not designed to comply with State climate change policy, particularly AB 32 as enforced by the Attorney General, would include that new areas have the right design and mix of uses to support transit and allow for some trips by walking, biking or other modes than auto travel.
Find more information on the County's General Plan website.

Sacramento County Airport System contributes $4 billion a year to local economy

2011-03-08T22:39:04Z

Every year, the Sacramento County Airport System creates 11,000 jobs with a payroll of $442.5 million and contributes approximately $4 billion to the local economy, according to the Airport System’s most recent economic impact study.

The results of the study were delivered to the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. The study includes data from Sacramento International Airport, Mather Airport and Executive Airport.

“The Sacramento County Airport System is a bright spot in this slowly recovering economy,” said Interim County Executive Steven Szalay, “and the new terminal opening later this year at Sacramento International Airport will ensure that our region has an airport ready to handle future growth.”

The economic impact study report is based on data collected in 2008 and includes the following highlights:

Businesses and government agencies at Airport System airports directly employ 4,170 people, and contribute 6,830 off-airport jobs
The direct employment payroll for on-airport jobs is $208.1 million, with an additional payroll of $234.4 million for off-airport jobs
The economic impact in 2008 for the three airports in the study was as follows:
- Sacramento International Airport - $4.05 billion
- Mather Airport - $151.3 million
- Executive Airport - $20.7 million
The Airport System’s projected annual economic impact from 2009 to 2013 is as follows:
- 2009 – $3.897 billion
- 2010 – $3.866 billion
- 2011 - $4.095 billion
- 2012 - $4.339 billion
- 2013 - $4.597 billion

We are proud to be a major driver of the economy in Sacramento,” said Sacramento County Airport System Director G. Hardy Acree, “and our focus over the next few years is to continue to improve our facilities to meet the needs of our growing community.”

Sacramento County Airport System began construction on the “Big Build” at Sacramento International Airport in June 2008. The program is designed to meet future air travel demand by replacing the outdated 216,000-square-foot/13-gate Terminal B with the new 669,000-square-foot/19-gate Central Terminal B. Construction is on-schedule and on-budget. The new facility is expected to open in late 2011.

A full copy of the economic impact study can be found on the Airport System’s website at www.sacairports.org.

Disclosure: Karen Doron is a Communication & Media Officer for the Sacramento County Airport System.

Local clinics treat tens of thousands

2011-03-06T19:24:04Z

While local nonprofit clinics The Effort and the Health and Life Organization are not as well-known as major hospitals like Sutter Health or UC Davis Medical Center, they each serve tens of thousands of people in Sacramento County and play a major role in health care for the region’s low-income and homeless residents.

The Effort and the Health and Life Organization allow patients to pay for medical services on a sliding fee scale.

About six community health organizations run 29 clinics in Sacramento County, according to Chris Patterson, a media relations consultant for the Capitol Community Health Network.

About 14,000 patients made about 35,000 visits to The Effort’s medical sites last year, said Jonathan Porteus, the chief executive of the organization.

Porteus said he expects to see even more patients this year because of Sacramento County’s budget cuts to mental health services.

“What we’re finding is, as the county trimmed their mental health system, we inherited a lot of people with mental illness,” Porteus said. “They come more frequently.”

He said The Effort expects about 20,000 patients to make about 45,000 medical visits this year.

The organization consists of four general medical clinics, an addiction treatment center and three other clinics housed at specific sites, including St. John’s Shelter for Women and Children.

The Effort’s operating budget for the 2010/2011 fiscal year is $17.8 million, Porteus said. It receives federal, state and local funding, and monies from foundations, he said.

In addition, The Effort runs the second-largest suicide hotline in the country, Porteus said.

Jocelyn Nash, a patient who receives medical services at The Effort, spoke positively about the clinic.

“They take time with me,” she said.

The Effort’s J Street location looks like a typical medical office. The Sacramento Press toured the facility Friday morning. About 11 people sat on rows of chairs in a waiting room. Fliers about birth control and HIV were available for patients. Fluorescent lights shone down on a row of exam rooms. Several rooms were designated for counseling services.

Funding is a key challenge for the organization, Porteus said. The health care group has many patients who do not have government-funded health insurance like Medi-Cal.

During a couple months last year, 60 percent of the The Effort’s patients did not have insurance, he said.

With such a high percentage of clients seeking service who do not have insurance, The Effort must focus on how it can financially sustain its clinics, he said.

Meanwhile, the Health and Life Organization’s medical clinic on Del Paso Boulevard in North Sacramento was much smaller than The Effort’s. It also looked like a conventional medical center, with a TV showing CNN in the waiting room, and a white-coated medical professional walking the halls.

In addition to its clinic in North Sacramento, the Health and Life group has a clinic in South Sacramento. The group’s current operating budget is $4.3 million, and it receives state and federal funding. It plans to soon open a third clinic, which will also be located in South Sacramento.

About 60 percent of the health group’s patients are Southeast Asian, said Jerry Bliatout, the organization’s executive officer. His health group’s key challenge is to communicate to Southeast Asian patients how they can be helped by Western medicine, he said.

“We have to explain to them how important Western medicine is,” Bliatout said.

He said his clinics also communicate to these patients how they are expected to have longer lifespans in the United States than in Southeast Asia.

“These people that migrate from Southeast Asia, actually, they die a little bit earlier,” he said.

At the Health and Life Organization’s two medical centers, about 11,500 patients made about 40,000 visits last year, Bliatout said.

Porteus, chief executive of The Effort, says the public is unaware of his health center’s many services for low-income people.

“People don’t even know a lot of the stuff we do,” Porteus said.

For more information about local community health clinics, click on the following links.

The Effort

The Health and Life Organization

Capitol Community Health Network

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Fire Department's brownouts to end soon

2011-02-24T20:05:48Z

The Sacramento Fire Department expects to hire 27 firefighters and end its “brownouts” soon, thanks to a $5.6 million grant from the federal government.

The grant to the city fire department and a $5.4 million grant to the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District were discussed at a Thursday morning press conference held by Congresswoman Doris Matsui (D-Sacramento) and local fire officials.

The Metropolitan Fire District, which covers Sacramento and Placer counties and the cities of Citrus Heights and Rancho Cordova, will hire 24 or more firefighters with its funding, said Metro Fire Chief Bill Sponable.

The city fire department has two rolling brownouts in effect, which means that certain fire trucks and engines are out of service at various times, according to former Fire Department spokesman Jim Doucette. Matsui said Thursday that the grant money could be released “pretty quickly” and must be awarded by September.

“It will alleviate two brownouts that we currently have,” said city Fire Chief Ray Jones.

The money comes from the federal Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Grant Program.

“As we know, sadly, the budget cuts on the state and local levels have left our first responders both understaffed and overworked,” Matsui said. “We all know that we’ve witnessed brownouts that have temporarily shut down fire stations in our neighborhoods.”

Assistant City Manager Cassandra Jennings praised Matsui, who wrote a letter advocating for the city fire department to receive the grant.

“We are in the midst of dealing with budget challenges here in the city of Sacramento,” Jennings said. “We have looked at revenue sources; we’re looking at efficiencies and other ways to address our budget challenges. But there’s no better way than (for) a great partner to come and sort of save the day, and give us some resources.”

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Youth violence forum draws large crowd

2011-02-17T06:47:26Z

In the view of Sacramento community activist Kathy Jenkins, stronger parenting of youth is key to reducing gang violence. At a forum in Oak Park on youth and gang-related violence, Jenkins told a crowd of about 150 Sacramento residents, city staffers and police officers that assertive parents should influence the lives of young people.

“This is called parenting, this is not policing,” Jenkins said.

“If we could parent, and if we can raise,” she added, “and if we can encourage, and if we can take guns and give books, if we can give dolls instead of pimping ... If we could do these things, we could put (the police) out of work. I would rather see them writing parking tickets.”

Jenkins was one of many speakers at the forum, organized by Mayor Kevin Johnson’s office. Johnson had planned to attend the Oak Park event, said his special assistant, R.E. Graswich. But he canceled in order to accept an invitation from the White House to spend time on Wednesday with President Barack Obama, according to Johnson’s press office.

Police Chief Rick Braziel, Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones and Sacramento County District Attorney Jan Scully were among others who made remarks at the forum. Residents also participated in the forum by brainstorming ways to halt youth violence in the Sacramento area.

Braziel explained the police department’s Operation Ceasefire program, in which officers meet with youth involved with violence, he said. “We bring them in and give them alternatives,” Braziel said.

The department and local support service programs provide services to the youth so they can stop a violent lifestyle, Braziel said. Other partners in the program include the U.S. Attorney’s office and the District Attorney’s office, he said.

Jones emphasized prevention of gang violence and said it was part of his gang strategy. “What’s been long overdue is the prevention side,” he said.

One of the attendees, Malcolm Stone, 63, told The Sacramento Press that he recently moved to south Sacramento from Riverside County. He said he had earlier thought that Sacramento was somewhat “sleepy.” He and his wife are “shocked about all the violent crime in the news” in Sacramento, he said.

Assistant City Manager Cassandra Jennings wrapped up the event, telling the attendees that city leaders plan to create an action plan to address youth violence. She said focus groups will be organized in March, and another community forum will be held in April. In June, the city hopes to have an outline of a strategy, she said.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

City protests Brown's redevelopment plan

2011-01-22T01:58:59Z

Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposal to slash redevelopment agencies spurred a protest and press conference at the Convention Center Friday, bringing together Sacramento leaders and about 100 officials from cities throughout the state.

Chris McKenzie, executive director of the League of California Cities, said that cities may consider suing the state if it disbands redevelopment agencies.

Brown’s office contends that local services, such as schools and public safety, could receive the funding currently used by redevelopment agencies if the agencies shut down. But city leaders in Sacramento and throughout the state argue that ending redevelopment agencies would seriously harm jobs and local development projects.

McKenzie said the governor’s proposal was ”seriously flawed” from a legal perspective.

“We would hate to have to take the state to court in order to uphold the will of the voters,” he said. “But we will do it, if we are forced to do it.”

Sacramento City Councilwoman Angelique Ashby presented figures on how Sacramento city and county would be affected if the two local governments no longer had redevelopment funds.

The city and county would lose 19,000 jobs, and $170 million in redevelopment project funds, according to Ashby and the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency.

A loss of $1.3 billion in economic activity would also be incurred, Ashby said. Affordable housing projects would lose millions of dollars, she said, and the city and county would lose $129 million in state funds that were leveraged with redevelopment funds.

Ashby pointed out that the Boys and Girls Club in Alkali Flat and the McClellan Business Park in Sacramento County are redevelopment projects.

Sacramento City Councilman Steve Cohn, who also appeared at the press conference, said, “I understand what a tough job the governor and the Legislature have in balancing the state budget, but it is bad policy to cut the very programs that generate revenues for local and state government.”

In an effort to short circuit a possible state decision to cut redevelopment agencies, many California cities have acted to safeguard their redevelopment funds over the past several days, according to multiple media outlets.

The city of Sacramento has not taken any action to bypass possible state action on redevelopment, but Mayor Kevin Johnson said at his weekly press conference on Tuesday that the city should consider doing so.

Brown’s administration continues to voice its support of the proposal to throw out redevelopment agencies. It is time “for everyone to act as Californians first to address the state budget deficit,” said H.D. Palmer, a spokesman for the California Department of Finance.

He asserted that the governor’s proposal is “legally sound.”

In the first year of Brown’s proposal, $1.7 billion would help repair the state’s general fund, and the remaining $200 million would go toward local governments, according to Palmer and the text of Brown’s proposal.

In the second year of the plan, $1.9 billion would go to local entities, Palmer said.

Meanwhile, local players in Sacramento, such as the Downtown Sacramento Partnership, are worried that the proposal could stymie development close to home.

Michael Ault, the partnership’s executive director, said at the press conference that redevelopment funding has benefited Central City projects, such as the IMAX Theatre and the Citizen Hotel.

“We know first-hand the impacts that redevelopment has played in the progress in the Central City,” Ault said.

Mark Hedlund, a spokesman for California Senate President Darrell Steinberg, told The Sacramento Press that Steinberg doesn’t want to act on the governor’s proposal immediately, but the idea of stopping redevelopment funding is not off the table.

“He’s not going to pursue an immediate freeze on redevelopment activities,” Hedlund said.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Airport seeks local creativity for time capsule ideas

2011-01-07T22:46:23Z

What do a local restaurant menu, a preloaded MP3 player with chart-topping songs and souvenirs from the American River Parkway have in common? All three are being considered for inclusion in the New Central Terminal B 2011 time capsule at Sacramento International Airport. Sacramento County Airport System is asking local residents to share their creative ideas for more items to place in the capsule. Ideas should include small items that focus on the year 2011, Northern California or the airport.

The County Airport System recently launched a survey about the time capsule. A link to the survey can be found on sacairports.org or bigbuild.org. Airport fans can also share their ideas via Twitter @SacIntlAirport or on Facebook at facebook.com/sacintlairport. The deadline to submit ideas is Jan. 31.

The airport plans to install the time capsule in late 2011 during the opening ceremonies of the New Central Terminal B. Airport and local officials will unearth the capsule during the groundbreaking ceremonies of a future airport expansion in 20 or 30 years.

Sacramento County Airport System is responsible for planning, developing, operating and maintaining the county’s four airports: Sacramento International Airport, Executive Airport, Mather Airport and Franklin Field. For more information, visit www.sacairports.org.

Disclosure: Karen Doron is a Communication & Media Officer for the Sacramento County Airport System.

City, county faced grim year

2010-12-31T01:35:08Z

Sacramento’s city and county governments confronted grim budget situations throughout 2010. The city faced a $43 million budget gap, while the county struggled with a $181 million hole.

Local government employees felt the pain of budget cuts: Sacramento County laid off about 380 employees during the summer.

The county also slashed 29 positions in its engineering department in September. The county will no longer hire engineers for those spots.

City officials laid off 12 workers represented by Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 447, city spokeswoman Amy Williams said in September. The layoffs occurred after talks between the city and the union failed.

However, the city’s job loss situation could have been worse. City officials and Stationary Engineers Local 39 negotiated a contract during the summer that saved at least 80 jobs.

Budget cuts hit Sacramento’s Fire Department, but the blow was lighter than expected. The City Council decided in June to increase from one to two “rolling brownouts” for the department. An earlier plan called for four rolling brownouts.

The term “rolling brownouts” refers to taking certain fire trucks and engines out of service at various times, former Fire Department spokesman Jim Doucette said in June.

A variety of city programs faced cuts, including the city’s 311 information line and youth program.

Consolidations of several city departments and offices took place as well. Code Enforcement, formerly a department, became a division of the Community Development Department. Neighborhood Services became a division of the Parks and Recreation Department, while Human Resources joined with Labor Relations.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Homeless shelter program seeks $50K

2010-12-21T02:31:19Z

A local group that combats homelessness is asking the public for $50,000 to shelter the poor during the winter season. Sacramento Steps Forward needs the funding to continue its new Winter Sanctuary program, which allows homeless people to sleep overnight at certain churches, according to the group’s director, Tim Brown.

Volunteers of America is partnering with Sacramento Steps Forward on the program, which started Dec. 1, Brown said. The two groups have raised about $40,000, which will allow the program to run until the end of January, he said. Another $50,000 is needed to continue the program through the end of March, which is the goal.

“The churches have really stepped up to open their doors,” he said.

Eight churches are currently participating in the program, and another nine have pledged to participate later this winter, according to Sacramento Steps Forward. Not all of the religious centers are churches – one of the nine religious centers that has pledged to help is SALAM, a Sacramento mosque.

About 90 homeless people have used the overnight program since Dec. 1, according to Sacramento Steps Forward.

The bulk of the $50,000 would pay for bus expenses and staff, Brown said. The program buses the homeless from Loaves and Fishes to the churches at night, and back to Loaves and Fishes in the morning, he said. Volunteers of America staffers assist the churches with the overnight guests, he said, explaining the staffing costs.

Sacramento County runs a homeless program, but it did not have adequate funding this year to provide winter shelter for homeless individuals, he said. The county and the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency received funding to house 100 homeless families, Brown said.

Tracie Rice-Bailey, an advocate who was formerly homeless, said the cold winter weather makes the Winter Sanctuary program necessary. “The river’s rising, the ground’s getting wet,” she said.

Sacramento Steps Forward is accepting donations for Winter Sanctuary through its website.

Religious centers that have participated in Winter Sanctuary:
St. John’s Lutheran Church
St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in partnership with Atonement Lutheran
St. Paul’s Baptist Church
Capital Christian Center
Trinity Cathedral
Lutheran Church of the Master
First Covenant Church

Religious centers that have pledged to participate:
St. Mark’s United Methodist
Trinity Life Center
SALAM
Seventh Day Adventist
Arcade Church
Sun River Church
Living Stones Christian Reformed Church in partnership with City Life Church
Mars Hill Church

Photo by Brandon Darnell.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

County reacts to Medi-Cal cuts

2010-12-17T02:24:51Z

Sacramento County’s health care benefits program for low-income or disabled people is dealing with $6.7 million in recent budget cuts from the state of California. The cuts to the county’s Medi-Cal program will likely add to the workload of county workers and cause delays in services for clients, according to supervisors who work in the program.

The county has since transferred 54 employees out of the Medi-Cal program and into a food stamps program called CalFresh, according to Gladys Deloney, acting deputy director for the county’s Department of Human Assistance. The workers start training for their new positions on Monday, she said, adding that the county was able to avoid making layoffs.

The transfers mean there will be “more work for the workers that stay here,” said Salvador Sanchez, who supervises workers in the county’s Medi-Cal program.

The county expects to see a boost in Medi-Cal applications due to a new online system, according to a recent Sacramento County report on the budget cuts. The online system caused a spike in the number of applications for Medi-Cal benefits in other counties, according to Deloney.

Sanchez said Medi-Cal recipients will be affected by the state cuts the most. “They are the ones who will have to wait longer to get their benefits,” he said.

However, Sanchez said his staff is doing its best to maintain the same level of service. “We’re trying to minimize the impact on clients,” he said.

Sanchez’s colleague, Tamara Tyukayev, said clients may face delays in receiving the cards that grant them access to Medi-Cal health services. As a result, clients could go a day or two without health care services, she said.

“It’ll probably take longer for us to deliver services,” she said.

The staff transfers leave fewer people to work the phones, she said, and that may result in longer call wait times for clients. But the county Medi-Cal staffers “put the clients first” and are sympathetic to their needs, she said.

Photos of Sanchez and Tyukayev by Kathleen Haley.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

From Offender to Achiever: Teens Honored for Turning their Lives Around

2010-12-15T01:09:32Z

Marcel Shadd was on his school’s Student Leadership Advisory Council and named Student of the Year; Tabatha Grayson is on her University Public Council; and Matthew Bush was a crew leader for the Howe Park Beautification Project. Just a few years ago, you would not have expected them to have college on their minds, but they’ve turned their lives around, and are now getting help in achieving their goals.

These three former juvenile offenders are among the five winners of the 2010 Education for Success Scholarship Program sponsored by the Sacramento County Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Commission (JJDPC). Each received a $1,000 scholarship for college or trade school at the December 14, 2010 Board of Supervisors meeting. Dr. Stephanie Parmely, JJDPC Chair, presented scholarship checks to the three in attendance. Sacramento County's Chief Probation Officer Don Meyer accepted the scholarship checks on behalf of two winners living out of state and not able to attend the ceremony. They are Heather Abshire who is preparing to start school at Northwest Missouri State University and Harley Ames currently attending Iowa Western Community College.

All the scholarship winners were on probation for crimes ranging from theft, drug possession or fighting. All have shown remorse and recognize that taking themselves out of potentially criminal situations is the key to their success. Several are attending college out of state to get away from bad peer groups and begin their adult lives on a more positive note.

The JJDPC consists of from 7 to 15 members appointed by the presiding judge of the Superior Court with approval of the judge of the Juvenile Court. Its mission is to serve the community and youth by encouraging positive citizenship, preventing delinquency, and advocating for the effectiveness of the justice system. Since 2006, the JJDPC has awarded scholarships to former probation youth who are pursuing a vocational or college education. This year the Juvenile Services Council, a volunteer group since 1964, generously donated to this fund. Scholarship winners are nominated by probation officers, social workers or teachers who are familiar with their academic goals and financial needs.

For more information contact Kerri Aiello, Communication and Media Officer for Sacramento County's Countywide Services Agency, at (916) 874-4667 or Aiellok@saccounty.net.

Effort to count the homeless underway

2010-11-26T18:34:06Z

A local group that addresses homelessness is already preparing to count the county’s homeless population in January.

Sacramento Steps Forward, a group formed by Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson to combat homelessness locally, is organizing the 2011 Homeless Street Count. While Johnson’s group is running the event, the information from the Jan. 27 count will be used by Sacramento County.

The county is required by the federal Housing and Urban Development agency to provide information from a count every other year, said Michele Watts, program manager for Sacramento Steps Forward. The federal housing agency provides millions of dollars to Sacramento County’s homeless programs, Watts said.

At this point, Sacramento Steps Forward is gathering information to map out where the county’s homeless are living. The group and hundreds of volunteers will use that information to find homeless people during the Homeless Count.

“What we have on our maps now is a lot of high-density areas,” Watts said. These areas include downtown and Midtown Sacramento, which are locations with many homeless people, she said.

About 20 people turned out for a series of drop-in sessions held last week to help pinpoint where the homeless are living in the county, she said. In addition, a group of about 50 participated in a session at Loaves & Fishes earlier this week.

Watts said she will continue to work on the mapping process in appointments with people who may have information about where the homeless are staying. For example, she said she had set up meetings with a Sacramento police officer and a Sacramento County park ranger.

Tracie Rice-Bailey, an advocate who was once homeless, participated in a recent mapping session. She echoed Watts’ comment, saying that the downtown area was mapped out well.

However, she said Sacramento Steps Forward needs more information about where homeless people are living in outlying areas, such as spots near Citrus Heights. She suggested that the group ask law enforcement officials in outlying areas for information on locations. “If they don’t know, nobody does,” Bailey said.

Watts also said that law enforcement representatives have good information on locations.

However, the role of law enforcement in the count and mapping sessions is a complicated matter, according to Watts.

Sacramento Steps Forward will not publish maps with the exact locations where homeless people live, she said. The group is making efforts to protect the homeless population from rousting, she said, pointing out that the city of Sacramento has a camping ban on its books.

“It is technically illegal to sleep outside,” Watts said. “That’s the concern.”

However, the group will rely on hundreds of volunteers to help count the homeless in January. The count will be conducted at night, which means there could be some safety concerns, Watts said. To address any safety issues, teams of volunteers will have a law enforcement official accompany them, she said.

The law enforcement presence during the count “is sort of a trade-off,” she said, between the group’s concerns about rousting and protecting the safety of the volunteers.

But Sgt. Norm Leong, spokesman for the Sacramento Police Department, said the location of homeless people is not a significant concern for the department.

“Identifying where the camps are is not a major issue for us,” he said. “The reality is, we only enforce the camping ordinance when we get complaints.”

Sacramento Steps Forward will recruit volunteers for the count starting Dec. 10, Watts said. About 350-400 volunteers are needed to count the county’s homeless on Jan. 27, she said. Volunteers may sign up to volunteer on the Hands on Sacramento website. More information about the sign-up process is here.

Photo by Brandon Darnell.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

State to take millions from SHRA

2010-11-18T02:34:12Z

The city of Sacramento and advocates for local governments are cheering the passage of a state ballot measure that bans the state from taking or borrowing local funds.

However, the new measure does not eliminate the $4 million the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency owes the state in May 2011, according to the California Redevelopment Association.

California voters’ approval of Proposition 22 on Nov. 2 helps the city while the state continues to face budget troubles, said Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson.

The state is now looking at a $6 billion budget shortfall during the current fiscal year, said H.D. Palmer, deputy director of external affairs for the California Department of Finance. In the next fiscal year, the state’s projected deficit is at least $19 billion, he said.

“When I hear the projections of the state deficit going up a little higher than people anticipated, that’s not good for anybody,” Johnson said at his weekly press conference on Tuesday. “But (Prop. 22) allows us to have a little more comfort and security, knowing that they no longer are allowed to take our dollars to balance their budget.”

Palmer noted that Prop 22 will cost California $1 billion in the current fiscal year, according to the state Legislative Analyst’s Office.

“The total annual fiscal effect from these changes is not possible to determine, but could range from about $1 billion (in most years) to several billion dollars (in some years),” according to the Legislative Analyst’s report on Prop. 22.

Voters passed Prop. 22 with 60 percent of the vote.

Under the measure’s rules, the state can no longer take redevelopment property tax funds. It also bans the state from funding schools with property taxes from local governments. The state also won’t be able to use fuel tax revenues that go to local governments.

In one local government example, the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency was required to give $19.6 million to the state in May, said John Shirey, executive director of the California Redevelopment Association. In May 2011, SHRA will have to pay another $4 million to the state, he said. Even though Prop. 22 is now in effect, it has retroactive language requiring the payments to be made in May, 2011.

The California Redevelopment Association is fighting the state in a lawsuit that’s currently at the Third District Court of Appeal in Sacramento, he said. The lawsuit aims to reverse 2009 state budget legislation that allowed the state to fund schools with $2 billion in local redevelopment funds from most of the state’s redevelopment agencies, according to Shirey. The $19.6 million that SHRA paid last year and the $4 million it owes in May made up SHRA’s share of the $2 billion.

Shirey had harsh words for the state: “There’s no borrowing here; it’s straight theft.”

Photo by Brandon Darnell.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

A look inside Sacramento International's Terminal B

2010-11-13T05:39:01Z

Sacramento International Airport’s expansion – dubbed “The Big Build” – is on-track to be completed by the end of next year, providing 19 new gates and an all-new, two-building terminal.

“We started this effort in May of 2000,” said G. Hardy Acree, director of the Sacramento County Airport System. “We started construction in June of 2008 and are 30 months into a 42-month construction cycle.”

The new terminal, known as Terminal B, will be composed of two buildings connected by an above-ground people-moving train system.

The “land-side” portion of the terminal will front a two-level roadway, with one level for arrivals and the other for departures. That section will also include ticket sales, retail shops and food vendors.

The Sacramento Press took part in a tour of the “air-side” portion of the new terminal, which will contain passport control and customs, 19 gates connected by a concourse and the terminal’s security checkpoint.

Originally included in the plans were a hotel and additional parking structure, but Acree said the economy forced those to be nixed for now.

The projected cost of the project is $1.08 billion, but Acree said he believes the final amount will be closer to $1.03 billion.

Bond sales were recently completed, and Acree said the financing is all assembled.

“A lot of the uncertainty and the risk associated with this program has been run out,” he said.

The area in the above photo is the site of the future customs and passport control point. The floor – like most of the terminal’s floorspace – is done in eco-friendly terrazzo in blue and green to represent the importance of agriculture and water to Sacramento, according to Bryan Leavitt, air-side design manager for Corgan Associates, the terminal’s architects.

The air-side portion of Terminal B is oriented on an east/west axis and is currently built to house 19 gates, but is capable of future expansion to 27 gates.

The interior of the Terminal B concourse will have its high-traffic areas paved in terrazzo while the less-trafficked seating areas will be carpeted. Large windows will allow natural light to handle all the lighting for the terminal most of the year, saving on electricity. Special sunshades and window treatments keep the sunlight from heating the terminal, and it is projected to receive a LEED silver certification.

In the hub of the Terminal B concourse is a food court. Leavitt said the space is designed like a shopping mall, and the food court is centrally located just past the security checkpoint.

The above space will house a sit-down restaurant near the food court.

Trains will carry passengers from the land-side portion of the terminal to the point in the photo above, which will house the security checkpoint. Leavitt said the train ride will take 45 seconds.

Trains will arrive at the above spot. If a train breaks down or there is an emergency, passengers can be moved between the terminal buildings on foot between the twin train tracks.

The air-side portion of Terminal B viewed from the train tracks connecting it to the land-side portion.

The photo at the top of the article is the land-side portion of Terminal B as seen from the train tracks connecting it to the air-side portion.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

County laying groundwork for economic turnaround

2010-11-11T01:41:02Z

The message from officials at Wednesday’s third annual State of Sacramento County forum was that things might be tough now, but hard work today is laying the groundwork for prosperity in the future.

“We should always question our assumptions that things tomorrow will be as they are today,” said Roger Dickinson, chair of the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors and State Assemblyman-elect.

The Metro Chamber event was held at Sacramento International Airport, and 260 people attended, according to Communications Director Hal Silliman.

Dickinson said the $1.08 billion airport expansion – also known as “The Big Build” – is iconic of what is in store for the county and will “inspire us to focus on realizing an even brighter and better future.”

For context, Dickinson recalled the devastating news the county received in 1995 when it was decided that McClellan Air Force Base would be closed – a base on which 13,000 people worked, including 10,000 civilians.

Just six years later, 2,500 people were employed on the former base.

“Today, over 15,000 people report to McClellan Park each and every day, and 6.5 million square feet is under lease,” Dickinson said.

He added that the McClellan Park project was one of the best partnerships between government and the private sector he has ever seen, and the airport expansion is another way to strengthen the region.

Interim County Executive Steven Szalay laid out the steps the county has taken to weather the current recession.

He said the county closed a $181 million budget gap this year and is constantly looking at better ways to govern and increase efficiency.

To prevent similar budget crises in the future, Szalay said the county has reduced its reliance on one-time funding from $80 million to $30 million per year and is working to lower that number further.

When the economy turns around, a budgeting policy will be put into place that will save 50 cents of each dollar in revenue. Those funds will be put into reserves and will be reinvested to provide a hedge against future downturns.

To encourage departments to run more efficiently, Szalay said they will now be able to carry over money they save in their own budgets to the next fiscal year, rather than having any savings diverted to the county’s general fund.

Finally, Szalay said the county is working within the region to streamline services needed by all governing bodies, including animal control and emergency dispatching, so unnecessary parallel services are consolidated.

Metro Chamber members were given a look at what will be included in the new airport’s Terminal B by Sacramento County Airport System Director G. Hardy Acree. Details of the expansion will be provided in an upcoming Sacramento Press article.

Bill Swelbar, a research engineer for the MIT International Center for Air Transportation, then discussed the issues facing the global airline industry and metropolitan areas with airports going into the future.

Swelbar said he sees successful airports in the future as being ones around major metropolitan centers, while more-remote ones could find it difficult to stay open.

“That’s not Sacramento,” Swelbar said. “Sacramento is very well-positioned for tomorrow.”

Attending the event was Tim Youmans, who works in the public finance and real estate field.

“The county seems to be repositioning themselves well for the next 10 years,” Youmans said.

He added that he found the presentation on air travel to be interesting and was heartened by the conclusion that Sacramento will continue to be a viable option for air travel growth.

“I think they’re seizing the opportunity in this economic downturn to become more innovative and rethink their procedures and changing them to be more efficient,” said Jim Alves, who works for SMUD.

During his remarks, Dickinson voiced his vision for the future of the county.

“We have a vision of a vital and vibrant region,” he said, “of an ever-growing and attractive center of community life, commerce, entertainment, the arts ... in short, the best place to live, anywhere.”

Photo 3 is Roger Dickinson, and photo 4 is Steven Szalay.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

State of Sacramento County event looks at global airline industry, airport

2010-11-09T00:47:32Z

Changes are coming to the commercial airline industry that will affect the region’s businesses. One of the nation’s leading commercial airline industry economic analysts, Bill Swelbar, is the featured speaker at the State of the Sacramento County event, hosted by the Sacramento Metro Chamber on Wednesday, Nov. 10.

Swelbar, a research engineer who advised Congress on the recent merger of Continental and United Airlines, will talk about the global airline industry and its impact on businesses and the Sacramento region.

Also speaking will be Chair of the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors Roger Dickinson, Interim Sacramento County Executive Steven Szalay and Sacramento County Airport System Director Hardy Acree. The event will be held 11 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. at the SacJet Hangar at Sacramento International Airport, 5885 Flightline Circle, Sacramento.

For more information, click here.

Photo: Artist's rendering of concessions at the new Terminal B, Sacramento International Airport.

Hal Silliman is communications director for the Sacramento Metro Chamber.

Sacramento Cat Hospital Hosts 2nd Annual Pet Food Drive to Help Hungry Cats and Dogs

2010-11-08T20:19:04Z

On Saturday, November 13, the Sacramento Cat Hospital is hosting its second annual pet food drive, benefiting Loaves & Fishes and Titanic's Pantry (the Sacramento Pet Food Bank). All donations of cat and dog food, canned or dry, will make a difference for a hungry animal.

Pet food drive hours are 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Sacramento Cat Hospital, 4115 Manzanita Avenue in Carmichael.

"Providing enough pet food to meet the need is an ongoing challenge for shelters, charitable organizations, and animal rescue groups," said Dr. Billie Bensen Martin, owner of the Sacramento Cat Hospital. "This large-scale pet food drive is an effective way for our community to help animals in need all over the city."

During last year's drive, more than 8000 pounds of pet food was collected. "It was wonderful to see the generosity of our community at last year’s pet food drive," said Dr. Martin. "We’re hoping to collect even more pet food this year. The economic climate means that the demand is greater than ever. So many people in our city are faced with the difficult choice of feeding themselves, or feeding their pets."

Around the country, healthy animals are being surrendered because their owners can no longer afford to feed them. Two organizations in our community are working to feed hungry pets and keep them out of our city's overflowing shelters.

The kennel at Loaves & Fishes houses and feeds the pets of their guests while the guests are eating in the dining room or participating in other services. Pet food is also distributed to those who have pets at home.

The Sacramento Pet Food Bank was launched in November 2009 in response to the increase in pets surrendered to shelters due to the inability of their owners to afford to feed them. The goal of the program is to keep people and their pets together by having a constant supply of dog and cat food available to those in need. The food bank is a partnership between the City of Sacramento Animal Care Services, Sacramento County Animal Care and Regulation, the Sacramento Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and Happy Tails Pet Sanctuary.

For more information about the pet food drive, contact the Sacramento Cat Hospital at (916) 488-4161 or email info@sacramentocathospital.com.

Disclosure: Laurie Rich is a consultant and organizer to charitable events at the Sacramento Cat Hospital.

Mayor to discuss Arden Arcade annexation

2010-11-04T23:28:04Z

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson said Thursday that he wants to start discussing two controversial ideas in 2011: merging the city and county, and the city incorporating the community of Arden Arcade.

Johnson made his comments two days after voters rejected Measure D, a ballot measure to form a city of Arden Arcade.

Johnson said he did not know whether Arden Arcade residents would like to stay in the unincorporated county or join the city of Sacramento. But he added that he “would like to have a conversation with them.”

He mentioned that he did not support cityhood for Arden Arcade. “I think there’s a lot of reasons why being part of the city of Sacramento is a good thing,” Johnson said. He said he would explain his position next week.

Johnson also floated the idea of the city merging with the county to form a single government. In his comments, he indicated that a unified city and county government could better address issues such as unemployment and local government deficits.

“Are there things that (the city and county) can be doing better together?” he said. “I can’t tell you what that answer is. But why would we not, in earnest, have those conversations?”

The idea of merging the local governments is already generating controversy: A few hours after Johnson made his statements, the Sacramento Metro Chamber sent out a press release saying that it opposed a united city and county political body.

The Metro Chamber said it backs the idea of merging city and county functions, but not their political entities.

The chamber advocated for a united city and county in the early 1990s, the chamber statement said. But now, it supports linking city and county services and opposes the idea of a single political body, according to the news release.

Photo of Johnson by Brandon Darnell.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

What's next for Arden Arcade council members?

2010-11-03T22:51:30Z

Seven people won an election to govern a city that doesn’t exist.

Measure D, which would have incorporated Arden Arcade as a city, was overwhelmingly defeated in Tuesday’s elections by about 75 percent of the vote.

Those who were elected to what would have been the Arden Arcade City Council now find themselves the victors in a race that no longer matters – but they say they still face the same problems that caused Measure D to be on the ballot without the means to solve them.

“I think the issue remains the same, so going forward, we’re going to look at what to do,” said Mary Ose, who with more than 4,800 votes took the top spot in the city council elections.

The election saw 21 candidates for seven possible seats.

“I firmly believe that pretty much every urban area such as ours will ultimately be a city. It’s just a question of where and how,” she said. “I believe Arden Arcade will become a city in my lifetime.”

Though she thinks cityhood is the best thing for her portion of Sacramento County, she said the voters made their decision, and that’s the way the process should work.

“I wish we’d won,” she said. “I wish that the voters understood the options clearly. I think we didn’t get the message out well enough.”

Anthony Hernandez, who took the second spot with more than 3,700 votes, agreed with Ose.

“I feel that cityhood would have let us take control of our destiny,” he said. “We just couldn’t fight the money from the other side. We couldn’t fight the $50,000 from the plumbers and pipefitters union.”

As far as winning a seat on the council, Hernandez said it’s essentially meaningless.

“We don’t have the authority to do anything,” he said. He added that it might prove to be something of a metaphorical soap box to stand on in the community and work to raise awareness of the problems Arden Arcade faces.

According to Measure D supporters, Sacramento County is not capable of providing adequate municipal services, including law enforcement, code enforcement and fire protection.

“We’re an urban area,” Ose said. “Counties were not designed to provide municipal services. Cities do that.”

For Measure D supporters, the loss still has a silver lining.

“We are definitely more connected as a community,” said Joel Archer, who with more than 3,100 votes would have been elected to the council. “No matter which way people voted or believed, we are a community.”

Hernandez agreed with Archer.

“You had all walks of life, both liberal and conservative, Democrats and Republicans, coming together on either side of the issue,” he said. “And it was about the issue. The ‘yes’ side just didn’t do a good enough job educating voters.”

Archer, Hernandez and Ose said they don’t anticipate running for any other elected offices. All three concurred that working within the county government structure won’t solve the problems, and they said they were never in the race for themselves.

“I did this as a labor of love,” Hernandez said.

“I do not have political aspirations,” Ose said. “This is something I believe in, and in the future, I’d be happy to serve the community in helping to put something together if that is their wish.”

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

News Release: Election Day reminders

2010-11-02T02:00:01Z

Sacramento County's Voter Registration and Elections Department sent the following news release on Monday:

Sacramento County Registrar of Voters Jill LaVine wants to give voters some last minute reminders and tips that can make your trip to the polls go a little smoother on Election Day.

Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Mark your choices in your Sample Ballot Booklet ahead of time and take with you into the voting booth.

If you make a mistake on your ballot, ask a poll worker for a new ballot.

If you are in line when the polls close, you will be allowed to vote.

Can’t make it to your polling place or your name is not on the list? Ask to vote by provisional ballot. The provisional ballot will be counted after the elections office has confirmed that you are registered to vote and you did not already vote elsewhere in the election.

Even vote-by-mail ballots must be turned in by 8 p.m. on Election Day. Postmarks do not count. Drop off your vote-by-mail ballot at any polling place in Sacramento County or at the Elections Office, 7000 65th St., Sacramento.

Locate your polling place by typing in your address at http://www.pollingplacelookup.saccounty.net/ or by calling the automated polling place lookup at (916) 875-6500.

Photo by Suzanne Hurt.

Q&A with sheriff candidate Scott Jones

2010-10-29T22:17:12Z

Two Sacramento County sheriff’s captains are in their final weekend of campaigning for sheriff.

Voters will decide on Tuesday whether Sheriff Capt. Scott Jones or Sheriff Capt. Jim Cooper should replace outgoing Sheriff John McGinness.

Jones sat down with The Sacramento Press on Friday morning in Carmichael to discuss his ideas and qualifications.

Read The Sacramento Press’ interview with Cooper here.

SP: In your view, what are a few of the most pressing public safety issues in the county?

SJ: We have a lot of pressing problems. Of course, everything is overarched by the budget. It’s not just a question of what I would like to do, it’s a question of what we can do within our budgetary constraints.

There are a lot of things we can do. It’s not going to involve more revenue or higher taxes. It’s going to involve becoming more efficient internally and partnering with our regional public safety partners ... In fact, I went to the police chiefs first when I started this campaign 15 months ago. I said, ‘Look, my vision is for regionalization of services for this region.’ They all agreed. All the chiefs in the county have endorsed me. There’s seven cities in the county, and all the police chiefs have endorsed me, as well as the police chief from West Sacramento and the sheriff from San Joaquin. I’ve got the regional support to carry out that vision. That’s one aspect of it.

The other is, we have to do a better job engaging with the public – engaging them in the fight against crime in a collaborative fashion with us. Because we can’t do it on our own. We simply cannot provide the level of public safety that is going to keep everyone as safe as they should be without the public’s help. So, we need to be better at engaging them.

SP: What is your strategy for how the Sheriff’s Department should work with neighborhoods?

SJ: That’s a huge component. And it kind of piggybacks with what I’m saying about being more engaged with the public. We have to rely on them. We have to change the paradigm from us being the sole proprietor of public safety to communities taking ownership of their own public safety.

Whether geographic or ethnic or religious – however a community is defined – they need to have ownership of their own public safety in cooperation with us. That involves neighborhood watch programs. That involves me exploding our volunteer forces – not only in the numbers and in the traditional roles – but finding completely new ways of utilizing volunteers to help out officers.

For example, right now, you come out of your house and find your car broken into. You can call us, but we’re not going to come. But I can send a volunteer out to take that report. It only costs me gas money. But what it does is it gives you, as a crime victim, a connection with the department. I’ve given you a level of service for the Sheriff’s Department that would not be present otherwise – you would have to be responsible for your own report. Well, this is a way I can use volunteers for little to no cost to still maintain a good public safety presence and service.

SP: What are a few key differences between you and your opponent, Jim Cooper?

SJ: You can look at a couple of things. Number 1 is our conduct. I think the best predictor of future conduct is past behavior. So, look at our past behavior – not only throughout our careers, but during this campaign as well. I’ve always been positive. I’ve never been negative in this campaign. I’ve never said anything negative about my opponent.

When I was the jail commander, I opened it up. I was completely transparent for the first time ever in the jail. So, my past conduct is going to be a good predictor of my future conduct, as his will be.

Secondly, is a vision. I’m the only one that’s articulated a vision going forward in this department. I posted (it) on my website about a year ago. I hear a lot of complaining from my opponent about perceived failures of prior administrations. I don’t hear any cogent vision about how to go forward, what he’s going to do, and how he’s going to do it. And I’ve been very clear about only looking forward throughout my campaign.

And lastly, is the support. I have, like I said, (received the support from) all the regional police chiefs – who know what it takes to run an organization. They know who’s better-equipped to do it. All the media outlets that have weighed in on this race have supported me, including the Bee, the News & Review, the Folsom Telegraph. I’ve got all the regional chambers of commerce because of my ideas and strength for the business climate in Sacramento County, and the public safety piece to (the business climate) ... I’ve got the (support of the) Elk Grove mayor. There’s a reason that I’ve got all of this support. And it’s because I’ve been able to get out my vision and work very hard and that resonates with folks.

So, that’s been my challenge for 15 months. I knew I wouldn’t have the money to compete with the union money that he got. And I knew I didn’t have the name ID or the political experience that he had. But I knew I could out-work him, and I knew I had a better vision.

SP: What is your vision, then?

SJ: It’s multi-faceted. One, is the regionalization. Second, is the collaboration with the public. And that takes on many forms. It takes on the form, for example, (of) me having office hours in the community, much like a professor – all over the community for a direct interface.

It includes me creating two more advisory boards. We have one now that’s loosely geographically based. I want to create two more: one, a business advisory board because the business climate in Sacramento County ... is extremely important for our economic recovery and sustained economic health.

The last board I want to create is a faith-based and community-based organization advisory board. I want to be able to tap into the community-based and faith-based organizations and communities – not only for the pool of volunteers they can provide, but to be a voice directly to the communities and directly back from the communities. A direct voice from the communities to me.

And I also want to utilize them to reach our young people. The problem is, the first time we show up in young (peoples’) lives can’t be when we take their father or their brother or even them to jail. It’s too late at that point. We need to show up in their lives beforehand.

I’m going to rely on the faith-based, community-based organizations ... to help me reach the young people through them. So we can not only just have enforcement for gang activity and crimes, but we have some prevention and some intervention. And that’s what’s going to change behavior. And changing behavior is the only way to effectively attack crime in Sacramento County – not just showing up and arresting bad guys.

That’s great to have more cops to arrest bad guys, but if you really want to change behavior, you have to start on the other end with prevention and intervention before it ever comes to that. And it will pay dividends; it will work.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Q&A with sheriff candidate Jim Cooper

2010-10-29T01:42:45Z

The duel between two Sacramento County sheriff’s captains is nearly over.

Local voters will choose one of two candidates in the Nov. 2 election to replace outgoing Sacramento County Sheriff John McGinness. Sacramento County Sheriff Capt. Jim Cooper is in the final stretch of his runoff campaign against Sheriff Capt. Scott Jones.

Cooper, who is also an Elk Grove City Council member, sat down with The Sacramento Press on Thursday afternoon to discuss his ideas and qualifications for the sheriff’s post.

The Sacramento Press has asked for an interview with Jones, and aims to talk to him before Election Day.

SP: In your view, what are a few of the most pressing public safety problems in the county?

JC: I think number one is patrol services. We laid off 122 deputies in August 2009. We’re getting 50 back. But that still leaves a hole of 72 officers still missing in patrol. That’s critical ... because we want to protect our children.

[The Sheriff’s Department] has been over-budget. I think everybody out in the community (is) making do with less. They aren’t going out as much, not spending as much money. And here we are, we’ve overspent our budget. And that’s not right either.

We need to live within our means as a public agency.

It’s all about protecting our children ... For the last two and a half years, I’ve been the commander of the Sacramento Valley Hi-Tech Crimes Task Force. We do all the Internet crimes against children investigations. Those are all the child pornography investigations for Northern California. So, if you’re downloading or trading child pornography, we come after you and arrest you.

SP: What is your strategy for how the Sheriff’s Department should work with neighborhoods?

JC: You’ve got to get out there in the neighborhoods and know those neighborhoods. And part of that problem is, we’ve lost our service centers. We had community service centers in every neighborhood in Sacramento. We closed those and shut most of those down. Our citizen volunteers – most of those folks staff those service centers. We’ve got to rely more upon those folks in doing that.

(Before the cuts), citizens could go to the service centers and get their issues addressed, especially with the community-oriented-policing (COP) officers. We lost all of our COP officers, and we don’t have them anymore. That’s vital to have those folks out in the community.

SP: What are a few key differences between you and your opponent, Scott Jones?

JC: I’ve worked patrol; I’ve worked narcotics/gangs. As far as being a captain, I’ve commanded every major division in the Sheriff’s Department. So, I’ve got the experience.

Number 2, I’m a city councilman down in Elk Grove. I’m in my 10th year – my third term. I’ve been mayor twice. We set aside $13 million when we saw the economy getting bad. We’ve had no layoffs (at) our police department – none whatsoever. I’ve got the experience of going back to Washington, D.C., and bringing money back here for local projects in Elk Grove. Approximately $120 million in federal funding I helped bring back.

And I have relationships with our congressional delegation in Washington. He doesn’t have that – he’s never had relationships with those folks.

SP: What would be your top three priorities as sheriff?

JC: To get more officers back on the street.

To re-implement the grant-writing unit. And that was part of our problem – we got rid our grant-writing unit. And over where I am, in high-tech crimes, we’re about 70 or 80 percent grant funded. It’s important to have that grant-writing unit. And last year, we lost out on some federal grants. The Sacramento Police Department got $9 million in federal funding. They had no layoffs.

Third one is more community collaboration. We don’t talk with the community enough and collaborate with them. Sacramento is a big county, and each community has different needs and different problems. It’s not a cookie-cutter approach. So, you’ve got to reach out there and establish community councils to deal with problems in specific areas.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Arden Arcade ballot measure explained

2010-10-28T04:14:43Z

The future of Arden Arcade’s relationship with Sacramento County is one of the most contentious local issues in the Nov. 2 election.

Measure D asks voters to choose whether Arcade Arcade should leave the county and become a city. Two passionate campaigns have debated for months whether a 98,000-person Arden Arcade community should have a city government with a city council.

The Sacramento Press is providing the following summary of three key subjects in the Arcade Arcade fight: a guide to the opposing campaigns, what the county’s financial relationship would be with a new city, and an exploration of campaign claims that the city of Sacramento wants to annex Arden Arcade.

The proposed city of Arden Arcade would consist of land bordered “on the west and north by the Sacramento city limits, on the north by Auburn Boulevard and the centerline of Winding Way, on the east by the centerline of Jacob Lane and Mission Avenue and its northerly extension to the centerline of Cypress Avenue, and on the south by the centerline of the American River,” according to the Sacramento Local Agency Formation Commission.

A city of Arden Arcade “may be fiscally feasible,” according to an April 30 fiscal study conducted by Willdan Financial Services for the Sacramento Local Agency Formation Commission.

Supporters of Measure D argue that cityhood would benefit Arden Arcade because it would give the community more local control and take it out of the county’s jurisdiction.

Joel Archer, formerly a coordinator of the Arden Arcade incorporation effort and currently a city council candidate for the prospective city, said local control would ensure “our businesses are encouraged.”

Archer also claimed that the county has not provided adequate law enforcement and appropriate planning for Arden Arcade. The community has faced “a lack of attention” from Sacramento County, he said.

The campaign cites recent Sacramento County budget woes to make its claim that Arden Arcade needs improved public safety services.

But the U.S. Department of Justice announced in September that it would give the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department $21.4 million. The department intends to bring back 50 deputies with the money, according to a statement from Sacramento County Sheriff John McGinness.

Meanwhile, Measure D opponents defend the county’s service to Arden Arcade in the areas of transportation, utilities and community planning.

Mike Duveneck, chairman of the No on Measure D campaign, said a new city would be hard-pressed to have adequate revenues because of the recession. Duveneck also claimed that the new city would add an unnecessary second level of government.

“We think it’s just a risk in a lot of ways that we can’t afford to take,” he said.

On the campaign contributions front, Yes on Measure D took in $44,521 from Jan. 1 to Oct. 16. The campaign’s supporters include the Sacramento County Deputy Sheriffs’ Association, which contributed $400 in September.

The Yes on D campaign has received several small contributions from candidates for the prospective Arcade Arcade City Council. Candidates are running for city council seats that would only be created if voters approve cityhood.

The No on Measure D side garnered $95,898 in contributions during the same period. A large chunk of the No on Measure D camp’s money came from a $50,000 contribution in September from the Plumbers and Pipefitters union, Local 447. The California Association of Highway Patrolmen contributed $3,000 to No on D in October.

The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department, which provides police services to Arden Arcade, appears to be split on cityhood. While the Sacramento County Deputy Sheriffs’ Association supports Yes on D, Sheriff John McGinness opposes it.

How would Sacramento County work with a city of Arden Arcade?

The backers of Measure D and the county government were the two parties that worked out the financial terms between a city of Arden Arcade and Sacramento County, said Rob Leonard, the county’s economic development director.

The two parties developed an agreement to cover the county’s financial losses from Arden Arcade cityhood.

Over a 25-year period, the county would lose nearly $217 million since it would no longer receive Arden Arcade’s revenues, according to a May 18 county document.

Agreements for two cities that incorporated in the past said the county should receive yearly payments from the new city each year for 25 years, the document states. But the document explains that the Local Agency Formation Commission, which oversees the creation of new local governments, does not expect Arden Arcade to be able to pay 100 percent of its property taxes to the county each year for 25 years.

So, the commission called for Arden Arden to pay 90 percent of its property taxes to the county every year over an unlimited period of time, the document states. The commission also bumped up the amount that Arden Arcade would owe the county – the city would owe the county $219 million instead of $217 milllion, according to the document.

It’s estimated that it would take between 30 and 40 years for Arden Arcade to pay the total amount to the county, Leonard said.

“You’ll pay that for however many years it takes you to get to that 219,” Leonard said.

The financial terms were hashed out between the Arden Arcade city supporters and the county, but they were approved by the Local Agency Formation Commission, Leonard said.

The Arden Arcade city proponents worked with the county on the financial terms, but the city of Arden Arcade will be the entity required to pay back the county, according to Leonard.

If the city of Arden Arcade cannot make its payments, the two parties could end up in court, Leonard said.

Arden Arcade and Sacramento: A dispute over annexation

Those in favor of Arden Arcade cityhood believe Sacramento will try to annex Arden Arcade in the future. Supporters have made this one of their main points to try to sway voters.

But city officials strongly disagree with the campaign’s claims.

The debate centers around Sacramento’s general plan, a long-term planning blueprint.

The March 2009 version of Sacramento’s general plan says a possible annexation of Arden Arcade should be studied at some point over the next 20 years, Sacramento’s New Growth Manager Scot Mende said. To date, the city has not studied the possibility of Arden Arden annexation, he said.

In bold type, a page on the city’s website states: “The City of Sacramento has no plans to annex Arden Arcade.”

But the Yes on Measure D campaign claimed in a Sept. 18 blog entry that the city of Sacramento wants to annex Arden Arcade in the future.

“Despite phony claims by lobbyists and the anti-reform radicals opposing Measure D, OFFICIAL documents – including the City of Sacramento General Plan – have targeted the Arden-Arcade area for annexation,” according to the campaign’s blog post.

Archer, an Arden Arcade City Council candidate, called annexation “a huge concern” and said he opposed it because it would result in “another broken government” for Arden Arcade.

Meanwhile, Sacramento City Councilman Steve Cohn said he simultaneously supports the idea of annexation, and the right of Arden Arcade voters to decide how to govern themselves.

The city of Sacramento has said it wouldn’t annex Arden Arcade without a vote from the community’s residents, Cohn said.

In his personal view, Cohn said he thinks annexation of Arden Arcade would make for a more efficient government system and consolidate layers of local government.

If Measure D does not pass, Cohn said, there is an opportunity to discuss future annexation of Arden Arcade by the city of Sacramento.

As for the debate over annexation in the current Measure D campaign, Cohn said: “I think they’re using the city of Sacramento as a bogeyman.”

Photos by Brandon Darnell.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

County Animal Shelter Raises Pit Bull Awareness through Educational Workshops and Trainings

2010-10-19T21:16:07Z

In recognition of national “Adopt a Shelter Dog Month”, all October the Animal Shelter is holding several informational and training sessions to raise awareness of the often misunderstood group of dogs known as pit bulls and related breeds, which make up a large percentage of adoptable dogs in almost every shelter. The shelter has already offered several sessions throughout the month and on October 30 will celebrate the positive aspects of the breed with a showcase of several pit bulls that are Certified Assisted Therapy dogs.

“We are pleased to be holding this first time event to attempt to provide factual information and dispel stereotypes and myths about pit bulls, and to highlight what great pets they can be for the right family,” said Carl Simpson, Interim Shelter Director. “These upcoming educational opportunities provide an excellent opportunity for current and potential pit bull owners, as well as for anyone simply wanting to gain a better understanding of the pit bull dog.”

Remaining activities include:

October 23 - Canine Good Citizen (CGC) Certification Testing
Canine Good Citizen test administered by a certified CGC Evaluator. Free for Pit Bulls, $15 other breeds. Presented by Chako Pit Bull Rescue.

October 24 - Educational Seminar: “Pit Bulls: Now & Then”
The workshop covers information and the misinformation that abounds with this breed of dog. Learn the physical and behavioral aspects of the American Pit Bull Terrier, as well as their history, where they came from and where they may be going. Reserve your seat by emailing ingridc@sacCounty.net. Presented by Matt Green of the Placer SPCA.

October 24 – Hands-on Dog-Reactivity Workshop
The workshop is designed for dogs that are reactive toward other dogs, whether they are reactive due to excitability, aggression, or fear. Instructions will include a discussion about equipment, etc., and there will be time at the beginning of class to go over equipment safety. $45 for Pit Bull/Pit Bull Mixes Owners, $75 other breeds. Presented by Chako Pit Bull Rescue

October 30 – Pit Bull Appreciation & Celebration Day
Pit Bull adopters will enjoy gifts and visitors will meet Pit Bull Certified Assisted Therapy dogs, as we close out a month of community awareness, positive attention and promotion of responsible pit bull guardianship!

17 candidates attend forum on proposed Arden Arcade city

2010-09-30T05:58:07Z

Twenty-two people are running for City Council seats for a city that doesn’t exist. Seventeen of them turned out for a Wednesday night forum to discuss how they would govern the proposed city of Arden Arcade.

But voters must first pass Measure D on the November ballot to create the city of Arden Arcade before the candidates can land a City Council job.

The public will decide whether an area with about 98,000 people should split from Sacramento County and become its own city.

The proposed city would consist of land bordered “on the west and north by the Sacramento city limits, on the north by Auburn Boulevard and the centerline of Winding Way, on the east by the centerline of Jacob Lane and Mission Avenue and its northerly extension to the centerline of Cypress Avenue, and on the south by the centerline of the American River,” according to the Sacramento Local Agency Formation Commission.

The League of Women Voters of Sacramento County and Metro Cable TV hosted the candidates’ forum, and reporters from the Sacramento News & Review and The Sacramento Bee asked the 17 candidates about their ideas and qualifications.

While the candidates are competing against each other, they all seek an Arden Arcade divorce from Sacramento County.

Criticism of the county’s public safety services for Arden Arcade was voiced at the forum.

“The county has been doing a miserable job protecting us,” said candidate David Pegos, suggesting that the proposed city should create a police force with a mix of full-time and volunteer police officers.

The candidates also rebutted criticism from opponents of the measure who argue that incorporation would bring an unnecessary new layer of government to the area.

“This is not an additional layer of government,” said candidate Mary Ose. “This is a replacement government. The county of Sacramento has no business being in the business of providing municipal services.”

Jay Boatwright argued that having a separate city would not expand government. “It is a replacement government,” he said. “It’s something that’s smaller, it’s something that’s more efficient and something that’s way more accessible to the public.”

The candidates who appeared at the forum were: David Pegos, Warren Harding, Bob Stevens, Patricia Cole, Joel Archer, Carl Burton, Gerald Klaas, Anthony Hernandez, Liz Rice, Jay Boatwright, Mary Ose, Will Wright, Ryan Arba, Nathan Gauff, Matt Powers and Robyn Salter.

Learn about the opponents of Measure D here.

Read a packet of voter information on Measure D here.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

City still vague on specific Safe Ground sites

2010-09-14T20:40:34Z

More than one month after Mayor Kevin Johnson asked city staffers to select three possible Safe Ground sites for consideration, it does not appear the city is any closer to discussing specifics.

Johnson told reporters at his weekly press conference that he will discuss Safe Ground issues with the City Council, city staff and Sacramento County at the end of this month or in early October. He asked city staffers on Aug. 10 to pinpoint three possible sites.

“No matter what we’re able to do with Safe Ground, that will not be in place in time for November,” Johnson said.

In the upcoming discussions on Safe Ground, Johnson said the city and county will explore a possible timeline for establishing the site.

The mayor said he was “inclined to support” the idea of a Safe Ground site.

For more than one year, Safe Ground advocates have repeatedly asked the City Council to take action. They want a site that would not fall under the city’s camping ban.

While it does not appear that any immediate action will be taken on Safe Ground, both the city and county governments are now considering the idea of setting up a new nonprofit organization to combat homelessness.

City and county officials say a nonprofit will need to be set up in large part because the county’s Department of Human Assistance will not have enough funding to manage its homelessness program after February 2011.

Photo by Brandon Darnell.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

County budget troubles spur new idea for homeless program

2010-09-14T03:58:12Z

Sacramento County’s budget woes are prompting county and city staffers and local groups to consider establishing a new nonprofit organization to address homelessness.

A new agency could lift some of the county’s burden to manage regional homelessness efforts, according to a recently released report from the county’s Department of Human Assistance.

After February 2011, DHA will not have enough funding to continue its homelessness program, according to the department’s report.

The county is running low on general fund dollars for the program, said Derrick Lim, a manager with the city’s Neighborhood Services division who is working on the issue at the city level.

“That’s why the situation is so dire,” Lim said.

The Sacramento City Council and the county Board of Supervisors are discussing the idea of a nonprofit organization in separate meetings on Tuesday.

The start date for the nonprofit could be June 2011, according to the DHA report. Money will need to be found for the nonprofit, the report said.

The nonprofit would do more than provide an alternative to the county’s current homelessness program. It would also help organize the region’s numerous homeless efforts, the DHA report said.

There are dozens of groups involved with homelessness issues in the region. A report that will be discussed by the City Council on Tuesday noted that 30 agencies were represented at DHA meetings on homelessness in May and June.

The county would continue to be a partner in regional homelessness efforts, said Kerri Aiello, spokeswoman for the Countywide Services Agency.

Read the report from DHA here.

Learn about the City Council’s role in this issue here.

Photo by Brandon Darnell. People rest at Loaves and Fishes.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

First annual Whiskers and Wine fundraiser to benefit the County Animal Shelter Sept. 25

2010-09-13T15:51:10Z

As part of an effort to raise much needed funds for the Sacramento County Animal Shelter, Teaching Everyone Animals Matter (TEAM), the animal shelter's non-profit partner, is sponsoring the first annual “Whiskers and Wine” fundraising event at the Animal Shelter, located at 3839 Bradshaw Road, from 6 to 9:30 p.m. on Sept. 25.

“We are pleased to be hosting this first-time event at the Animal Shelter to increase our visibility within the community, and to raise funds to make our animal shelter more self sufficient,” said Interim Animal Shelter Director Carl Simpson. “This is going to be a great opportunity for community members to come out and see our animal shelter, while enjoying some great food and drinks, live music, silent auction and much more.”

Tickets for this event are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. All proceeds go to support the Sacramento County Animal Shelter's Save our Shelter (S.O.S) campaign. For information on how to purchase tickets in advance, please go to www.SacAnimalShelter.org or email the Animal Shelter at WhiskersandWine@gmail.com

The Animal Shelter is also still accepting donations for the silent auction and raffle, and food and drink vendors. If you are interested in donating to this event, or to the Animal Shelter in general, please email Tara Diller at Dillert@saccounty.net. All online and mailed donations to the Animal Shelter are tax-deductible.

County made about 340 fewer layoffs than predicted

2010-09-02T04:48:17Z

Sacramento County has made about 340 fewer layoffs than it had predicted it would make as a result of June budget cuts.

County officials in June estimated that at least 725 employees could be laid off. The county resolved a $181 million budget gap in June when it passed a first draft of its budget.

But County Budget Officer Tom Burkart said in an interview Wednesday that the county ended up laying off about 380 people, instead of 725.

“The 725 actually was an estimate,” Burkart said. “And we did cut 700-plus positions, but they weren’t laid off.”

Retirements, demotions and vacant positions kept the number of out-the-door layoffs down,
according to Burkart.

The county’s layoff process is lengthy, so it is not immediately clear how many people will be laid off when officials provide an estimate for the number of layoffs.

In its layoff process, the county follows certain civil service employment rules and takes employee seniority into account, said county spokeswoman Chris Andis. This complex process results in some employees being demoted instead of laid off, according to Andis.

The Board of Supervisors is holding a hearing on Sept. 8 to approve its final budget and vote on adjustments the county has made to its budget since June. As part of the adjustments, the county is planning to cut additional positions in the Engineering Department and in the Department of Health and Human Services, according to a document written by Interim County Executive Steven Szalay for the Sept. 8 meeting.

The budget hearings may continue on Sept. 9 and Sept. 10, according to Andis.

But the Sept. 8 meeting won’t provide a finalized county budget picture. While the board will approve the budget for the 2011 fiscal year next week, the county’s budget could change again when the state budget passes. Sacramento County administers state programs and is affected by state budget cuts.

The board’s Sept. 8 budget meeting begins at 2 p.m. at 700 H Street.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Local leaders discuss regional sustainability

2010-08-28T01:06:35Z

Local leaders in the fields of politics, business and environmentalism gathered in Sacramento on Friday to brainstorm how the region could advance its efforts to become more economically and environmentally sustainable.

The Sacramento Metro Chamber’s “State of the Region” event focused on sustainability in the area’s communities.

Chamber spokesman Hal Silliman said more than 300 people attended the event, which was held at the Hyatt hotel downtown and included a panel of local leaders and a presentation from an Environmental Protection Agency analyst. Elected officials from around the region — including Davis, Sacramento, Folsom and Citrus Heights — listened to the panel.

Matthew Dalbey, a senior policy analyst with the EPA, told the audience the Sacramento area is renowned for its “Blueprint,” which serves as a guide on sustainable regional planning.

The “blueprint” was approved in 2004 by the Sacramento Area Council of Governments.

“You all know that the ‘blueprint’ is looked on as a model for communities across the country,” Dalbey said.

Still, Dalbey urged regional leaders to ramp up their efforts.

“In order to keep on keeping on, you’re going to have to do things better,” he said.

Specifically, Dalbey asked the region to consider how its sustainable planning process can improve the economic, environmental and public health situation of rural communities and small towns.

In the discussion that followed Dalbey’s comments, panelist and West Sacramento Mayor Christopher Cabaldon countered Dalbey’s statement that the region should do a better job.

Cabaldon said he becomes frustrated with the federal government agencies working on sustainability efforts “because it seems like they’re so slow.”

He said the area’s leaders should press the federal government to move more quickly to fund the region’s sustainable projects.

Scott Syphax, another speaker on the five-member panel, said the banking industry needs to lend money to sustainable projects.

“The banking spigot is still fairly closed,” he said. To put Sacramento and the region back to work, "we’ve got to turn that back on.”

Syphax is the chief executive of the Nehemiah Corporation of America, a community group based in Sacramento. The group launched in 1994 “for the purpose of promoting homeownership and economic development for under-served populations and communities,” according to its website.

Meanwhile, City Councilman Kevin McCarty noted that the city of Sacramento earlier this month joined an effort with the Sacramento Area Council of Governments, the county and Valley Vision to apply for $1.85 million in grant money through the federal Sustainable Communities Initiative.

Photo of Syphax and Cabaldon by Tia Gemmell

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Mayor's group, other agencies house 1,168 families

2010-08-25T02:23:26Z

A group he formed to address homelessness surpassed its target to work with agencies and provide housing for 800 families this year, Mayor Kevin Johnson told the media Tuesday morning.

The group, Sacramento Steps Forward, formed last November and worked with other agencies to set up housing for 1,168 families this year.

“We’re making a difference in people’s lives,” Johnson said.

By 2012, Sacramento Steps Forward hopes to work with its partnering agencies to house 2,400 families.

Sacramento Steps Forward works with Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing of Sacramento County (HPRP). The Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency administers HPRP, which is a federal stimulus program.

Additional groups affiliated with Sacramento Steps Forward include the Sacramento County Department of Human Assistance, the Sacramento Region Community Foundation and the Sierra Health Foundation.

Kyomi Jones told the media that the HPRP helped her when she nearly became homeless.

“They helped me find a job,” Jones said. “I was able to keep my home, able to keep my kids. And I just thank God for them and everyone that helped me.”

Private citizens and religious groups gave $400,000 during a “One Day to End Homelessness” effort held in March. The effort successfully brought $1.6 million in federal funding to Sacramento County’s HPRP.

A press release from the mayor’s office noted that $4 from the federal government were matched to each local dollar, totaling $1.6 million.

Johnson praised religious groups for their involvement in the fundraising effort. “You have to give the faith community a round of applause,” he said.

In response to a question after the press conference, Tim Brown, director of Sacramento Steps Forward, said there are still waiting lists at local shelters, but the lists “have gone down somewhat” because of the HPRP program.

Sacramento County has 2,800 homeless people, according to the most recent statistics, which were calculated in January 2009, Brown said.

Of the 2,800 homeless people, 1,200 people are living on the streets, he said. The remaining people are living in shelters or transitional housing, he said.

The next count of the county’s homeless will be in January 2011, he said.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Splash park's opening stalled

2010-08-12T04:38:14Z

Summer 2010 is circling the drain, while a new fountain at St. Rose of Lima Park remains dry.

An interactive fountain, also known as a “sprayground” or “splash park,” was scheduled to begin operating earlier this summer at the renovated park at Seventh and K streets. The park's remodel was part of a $4.5 million project to help transform a blighted block of K Street Mall, and was expected to be completed in November 2009.

The fountain could be fully operational. But concerns about waterborne diseases and water conservation – and a resulting conflict between city and county regulators – appear to have kept it from being turned on.

The fountain’s grand opening was expected in June, then delayed until July, then put off indefinitely with no explanation from the city. City staff have declined interview requests.

The problem boils down to this: The city could run the fountain using drinking water from the city water treatment system. Or it could use the fountain's self-contained water recirculation system.

"That's kind of a city call whether they would do that," said John Rogers, division chief for Sacramento County's Environmental Management Department.

According to an e-mail sent Wednesday by city spokesman Maurice Chaney, city staff want to be "environmental stewards" by choosing the second option.

"We are sensitive to the...need to be as water conservative as possible," according to the e-mail. "We are...determining plans for the use of the recirculating feature and working closely with the county on the requirements."

But using recirculated water would change the safety requirements for the fountain. For one thing, the city would have to supply a temporary toilet and shower and drinking water for the public until a permanent facility is built.

The county approved the fountain’s design. The two agencies have been talking about the fountain and the toilet and shower requirement for two years, said Colleen Maitoza, who supervises the county's swimming pool program.

In 2001, the California Conference of Directors of Environmental Health created guidelines for interactive fountains, defining them as “special purpose pools” that fall under pool codes. The splash parks are considered pools because they were designed for people to play in, and thus must be inspected and permitted by Sacramento County, Maitoza said.

State law requires interactive fountains to have public toilets, showers, diaper-changing facilities and drinking fountains to help prevent the spread of illnesses, including those spread by diarrhea, just like public pools, she said.

Stricter regulations involving water treatment and hygiene facilities have been adopted in California and other states following outbreaks of waterborne illnesses picked up at pools, water parks, splash parks and other recreational water facilities. Seven kids were infected with Cryptosporidium at a San Jose interactive fountain in 2006.

In Idaho, where splash parks aren't regulated by the state's pool code, 49 people were infected with Cryptosporidium — and ensuing diarrhea, vomiting, fever, cramps and aches — at a newly constructed splash park in 2007, according to a U.S. Centers for Disease Control report.

In New York, a class-action lawsuit against the state parks department may soon go to trial after 4,000 people became sick with Cryptosporidiosis from a spray park at Seneca Lake State Park in 2005.

The St. Rose of Lima Park fountain was designed with two water systems, following the newest guidelines. One system can use potable water from the city's public water system. The other recirculates water from a 4,000-gallon tank into the fountain, then back into a self-contained filtration system using chlorine and a UV treatment system to clean and disinfect the water. UV light is used to destroy parasites that cause gastro-intestinal illnesses and are chlorine-resistant, Maitoza said.

The fountain was tested earlier this summer. A county Environmental Health Division inspector approved the fountain to begin operating using city-treated drinking water on June 7. Using that system, fewer jets would operate so the fountain would use less water, she said.

In early July, the city sought county permission to operate the fountain using recirculated water for a grand opening and the rest of the month. The county gave the city the option of using temporary hygiene facilities until permanent facilities are built, Rogers said.

"It's really critical because that water is being recirculated," Rogers said. "It's important that if people need to use the restroom, they have a special facility."

The requirements have led some fountains to be shut down. A water feature on the parking garage next to City Hall isn’t operated because the city would have to spend up to $100,000 to retrofit the fountain to clean the water, said Rob Kerth, executive director of the Midtown Business Association and a former city councilman.

"It's been a local issue all up and down the state," Kerth said. "There are some places where there are fountains that are dry with signs that say, 'If you don't like it, call your county supervisor.' "

City staff are currently evaluating options, according to the e-mail.

"We are working with the county to come up with a workable solution to operate the fountain using recirculating water, and we remain committed to opening the fountain as soon as possible," according to the statement provided by Chaney.

Which may mean that the new K Street fountain gets its grand opening sometime in the summer – of 2011.

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

Ask Jonathan - How do I fight a parking ticket?

2010-08-09T23:13:55Z

Q: I received a parking ticket. I want to fight it. How do I do that?

A: This is a question that comes up a lot. And fighting a parking ticket can be a valuable lesson in civics and local government. Each jurisdiction has a different procedure, and it depends on where you receive the ticket.

So, lesson one is to figure out who issued the ticket. Just because you think you are in the city of Sacramento or Elk Grove doesn’t mean you really are. Boundaries are not straight, and you need to read the ticket to see who issued it.

Most jurisdictions require you to dispute the ticket IN WRITING within 21 days. That is a firm deadline. If you wait 30 days, you have lost your opportunity. The dispute must include your name, address, city, state, zip code and phone number. You then have to provide them with the citation number, date and location of the citation and the violation code, along with your license plate number. After all of that, you can state your reason for contesting the citation and include any supporting documentation.

If you are unsure of why you received the citation, look up the California Vehicle Code. The best resource for this is the DMV website: http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/vc/vc.htm.

While there are other sources, if you have a printout from DMV that shows you were not in violation, this will be the best source to use. Additionally, the DMV website is the easiest to use for non-lawyers.

Remember, the code section must be violated. So, if you are cited for parking in a red zone and the curb was not red, you would win, even if there may be another violation. Similarly, if you receive two tickets without moving your car and they are for the same violation, you can dispute the second ticket. But you need to show that these are the same violations.

You will receive a written notification of the outcome. If you lose, you can request an administrative hearing. Your request must be RECEIVED by the date on the notice, not sent. So, you need to mail off this request extra early and send it via certified mail, return receipt so you can prove the date of receipt.

A hearing will be set. You need to attend the hearing and bring any evidence you have. You can have this appeal done by mail, but in my experience, showing up in person is a better way to get this resolved.

Finally, if you lose that hearing, you can appeal to the traffic court. The odds of winning this appeal are small. You need to prove a procedural defect in the handling of the case, such as not being notified of the hearing date. If you can prove that, you can prevail, but you should consult with an attorney before that hearing.

The city of Sacramento parking website, with addresses and forms, can be found here: http://www.cityofsacramento.org/transportation/parking/.

The county of Sacramento parking website, which is not nearly as useful, can be found here: http://www.dgs.saccounty.net/parking/default.aspx.

And remember to email me your questions to sacpress@jonathangstein.com.

Mental Health Clinics Staying Open

2010-08-02T02:41:00Z

Two weeks ago I received a call from the county informing me that my psychiatric clinic, Northgate Point, will be closing, and I will receive a letter stating where I will be able to get continuing services. On July 21, as reported in The Sacramento Bee , Federal U.S. District Judge John A. Mendez said that shutting down the county’s community outpatient programs would cause “catastrophic harm” and violates the Americans with Disabilities Act. The next day I received another call from the county informing me that as of right now I need to continue my mental health services at my clinic Northgate Point.

I am confused. My previous psychiatrist left and I was told that due to budget cuts my clinic is closing. Now it isn’t? Where is the money going to come from to keep these outpatient clinics open? The California state budget has not passed and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger stated that he may leave office without signing a budget?

I work diligently to stay well. I take my medication, I work very hard on leading a productive and happy life, and I am thankful that my clinic is staying open, but for how long?

I believe in educating others regarding mental illness and advocate on behalf of our rights. For example, as noted in Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter’s book “Within Our Reach,” only 2 percent of all violent episodes in the United States are attributed to those with mental illness. So why are people so afraid of those with mental illnesses? I believe if people viewed us as people with value and who deserve respect then maybe our services wouldn’t be on the chopping block!

Teichert pitches New Brighton

2010-07-29T05:36:04Z

Teichert Land Co., one of the state's oldest development companies, is seeking city and county approval to turn its old Jackson Highway quarries into a 4,000-acre subdivision that plays up the land's agrarian roots.

A community would be built along Jackson Highway on a piecemeal quilt of former sand and gravel mines in what was once known as Brighton, Sacramento's first suburb, under a plan by Teichert subsidiary Stonebridge Properties LLC. The area once contained strawberry farms operated by Japanese immigrants.

The land development company is proposing to build a park-centered neighborhood dubbed New Brighton between Florin-Perkins Road in Sacramento to the west and Excelsior Road in Sacramento County to the east, as far north as Folsom Boulevard and as far south as Elder Creek, Stonebridge Properties President Randy Sater said Wednesday evening at the Urban Design Alliance's monthly Design Dialogue event.

Development would require the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors to open up 20,000 acres of land for development under a new county general plan currently being considered, and then approve the specific plan for the Aspen Project, named after the mines Teichert has operated since 1935. At that time, though, the operation was only a few hundred acres.

"We're talking about land we've been mining in for the last 80 years," Sater told 30 people who gathered for the event. "This is a way to bring that land ownership full circle and to do it in a really cool way, and hopefully give back to the community."

Under the plan, 9,000 residential units that would hold an average 2.3 people would be built, creating a community of nearly 21,000. Proposed architectural styles for residences would be European, Spanish and Monterey, like homes in Sacramento's park neighborhoods.

The project would include retail, office and four certified-organic, working "urban farms" with different purposes and ranging in size from 20 to 300 acres.

The community would be centered around an area known as Four Corners, designed as a remnant of neighborhood centers of yesteryear at the site where Matsuda's nursery operated. Adjacent to that would be a farm with community gardens, a rentable community barn and a production kitchen where residents can learn how to cook the kale they grow and eat.

Nearby, a second farm would be operated for profit and sell produce in the community. Another farm would be tied into the elementary school's curriculum and provide produce for lunches. A farm at Bradshaw and Jackson Highway would be built as an entertainment venue for festivals, performances and other events.

Road medians would include edible landscapes. Olive groves and orchards would grow along entry roads.

"So you're going to be coming into this agrarian setting coming into the community," Sater said.

Teichert plans to create a creek valley system, building on changes in topography already left by the mining. The company plans to build a creek corridor, Rock Creek Parkway, through the site to handle stormwater drainage and retention issues created by below-grade ground levels left by mining.

"We're creating terrain where Sacramento has none," Sater said. "We've got all the right equipment and this is like a big sandbox."

The linear parkway will include seven miles of trails for hikers and cyclists. The creek will be dry except during heavy rain.

City and county officials have said the regional sewage treatment plant that serves the city and county has enough capacity to handle the project. But improvements and upgrades may be needed as they connect to the system, he added.

Teichert wants to build on the property after mining down beneath sand and gravel layers to silt and/or clay deposits and deciding that it didn't make economic sense to mine through that layer, Sater said.

The portion of the plan that would be located inside city boundaries has just begun an environmental review with the city's Economic Development Department.

That portion would need to be approved by the city's Planning Commission and the City Council, which would be expected no sooner than spring of 2011. The first phase of the project could take 20 years to build completely, Sater said.

The Underground World of CPS

2010-07-21T11:43:02Z

It is amazing to me all the road blocks that Sacramento County CPS puts up to make it nearly impossible for a parent to assert their rights and fight for what is rightfully theirs--their children. In the past four years I have seen, heard, and experienced things that would ignite fear and furor in Americans…if only they knew about it. However, these actions of which I speak are closely guarded under the cloak of confidentiality that hides Juvenile Dependency Court and involuntary child custody proceedings from the public. At first guess, you assume that this so-called “confidentiality” is in place to protect the children in these cases. However, it doesn’t take long for a person to realize the protection is not for the children but rather the protection of CPS and their corrupt policies and actions.

The actions of CPS thrive in a underground world where warrant-less search of a home and seizure of a child is common practice. A world where due process rights violations occur on a daily basis. A world where a child can be removed from the home, detained, and placed into protective custody simply because there is a potential for abuse. Even if there is no history of abuse, sign of abuse, a witness to the abuse, or admittance of abuse. Within this hidden system the parent's and the children's rights are concealed and when a parent finally realizes their rights it’s too late and their child is gone forever. This well run factory shuffles families in and out daily in robotic fashion without real care or concern for children, parents, or extended family members.

Court-appointed attorneys argue cases with the judge, come to an agreement, call in the parties involved (children, parents, others that have the ability to intervene such as a Native American Tribe), and then call the case. Parents are forced to make split-second decisions without informed consent and sometimes the court-appointed attorneys will make decisions and motions without the parents' knowledge. These court-appointed attorneys will out-right refuse their clients requests and/or motions. This is clearly ineffective assistance of counsel which should afford you the right to a Marsden hearing. However, that right is usually denied too. If a Marsden hearing is actually had, the judge can choose NOT to release your attorney, NOT appoint you another attorney, and can even choose NOT to allow you to represent yourself if you so choose. In essence your stuck with an attorney that refuses to represent you in your best interest.

County sued over cuts in health care

2010-07-15T05:25:21Z

On July 23, The Sacramento County Superior Court will hear a team of attorneys argue that the recent budget cuts made to the County Medical Indigent Services Program are in violation of the California Welfare and Institutions Code.

Lead Counsel Stacy Wittorff from Legal Services Northern California and Abbi Coursolle from the Western Center on Law and Poverty will represent the petitioners in the case of Poole v. County of Sacramento in an effort to maintain what medical services the County offered prior to the recent passage of the 2010-2011 county budget.

At least 725 county employees will be laid off, and program budgets will be heavily reduced as a result of the county budget approved by the Board of Supervisors on June 17 in a 3-2 vote. With that vote, the county balanced the budget, closing a $181 million deficit.

The petitioners in the case include two chronically ill recipients of county health care and Sacramento homeless services provider Loaves & Fishes.

Once Executive Director Libby Fernandez of Loaves & Fishes learned of the budget cuts, she sprung into action.

“When I heard they were going to cut 50 percent of primary care and two of the clinics, I called Legal Services of Northern California,” she said.

Loaves & Fishes has been working with the homeless in Sacramento since 1983. The organization provides many services to the homeless, including health and legal services and a school for homeless children.

“We have a pretty good sense of what the needs and lack of services are out there,” Fernandez said.

Wittorff said that the county has specific obligations to provide last-resort medical care for those who can not otherwise get it.

“They have absolutely fallen below the line of their legal obligation,” she said.

Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Allen Sumner issued a temporary restraining order on July 1 that blocks the cuts from taking effect. The July 23 hearing will decide whether Sumner issues a preliminary injunction. This would extend a hold on the cuts until the fall, when the case can be heard in full.

“The cuts in medical services may have a significant impact on the county’s ability to provide medically necessary services promptly and humanely as the Legislature has required by sections 17000 and 10000 (of the California Welfare and Institutions Code),” Sumner said.

Sumner’s order also puts a temporary stop to five-week waits for active dental abscesses and reducing the number of physicians on staff. Without the restraining order, patient appointments would have been reduced by 100 per day, with delays of several months, according to a press release from LSNC.

“We would concede that there is a legal obligation to provide medical services to our indigent population,” County Counsel Bob Ryan said.

The county is arguing that how these services are provided is open to interpretation, especially in these fiscally troubling times, and that the new budget does meet the obligations of the county.

The County Medical Indigent Services Program is for seriously ill residents who are uninsured, do not qualify for Medi-Cal or other programs, and cannot otherwise afford medical care.

Supervisors Roberta MacGlashan and Roger Dickinson voted against the budget’s general fund allocations. Supervisors Don Nottoli, Susan Peters and Jimmie Yee voted in support of passing the budget.

Dickinson objected because he said he thought it did not make social services a higher priority.

“We have an obligation, a duty, particularly as a county, to address those who are the least among us,” he said.

Supervisor Don Nottoli said he felt a responsibility to pass a budget for the county, even with the included compsomises.

“The bottom line is that there’s not sufficient funding,” Nottoli said. “Yes, we prioritize, and we make decisions.”

Staff Reporter Kathleen Haley contributed to this report.

Receiving Home: Turning children into human teddy bears

2010-07-07T13:56:05Z

THE PEOPLE AT THE CHILDREN’S RECEIVING HOME OF SACRAMENTO MEAN WELL. BUT THEIR PROGRAM HURTS CHILDREN, WASTES MONEY, IMPEDES REAL REFORM, AND HASN’T HAD AN OBJECTIVE EVALUATION IN 66 YEARS.

They are among the most sacred cows in all of child welfare, and no wonder. Donors love them. They can get a plaque on the wall for giving money or furniture or, if they're really rich, donating a whole building. The volunteers love them. They can turn real flesh-and-blood human beings into human teddy bears who exist for the volunteers' gratification and convenience, even as they convince themselves they're helping children. When they get bored with their human teddy bears, they simply hand them back to the shift staff.

In short, they're good for everyone but the children.

They are "shelters" - those first-stop parking place institutions in many communities where children are deposited for a few days or a week or a month or longer, to be examined and "assessed" by "trained staff" in order to prepare them for exactly what they would have gotten without the shelters – usually a succession of foster homes.

Like most people in child welfare, the people who run shelters, and the people who volunteer there mean well. They’ve done a great job of convincing themselves that they’re really helping children. But they’re not. Shelters do nothing for children. Shelters are exercises in adult self-indulgence and adult self-delusion.

As with any form of orphanage, and that's really what shelters are, a whole rationalization industry has grown up around them. And there may be no shelter in America that has perfected the art of rationalizing adult self-interest better than the Children’s Receiving Home of Sacramento County. The fake “Home” is the first stop for many children torn from their real homes in Sacramento, Yolo, Nevada and El Dorado Counties.

It is an institution that has scarfed up taxpayer dollars for 66 years without once being subject to an independent objective evaluation to see if it does children any good – or, as is more likely, actually does many of them harm.

Not only does the “home” risk harming the children passing through, their PR machine has been quick to undermine better alternatives, by demonizing all birth parents and attacking any attempt to curb Sacramento County’s outrageous rate of tearing children from their homes.

That PR machine is so slick that, if you don’t want to volunteer, but might be lured into making a donation, the Receiving Home still will oblige any adult with a guided tour – just as if you were visiting the zoo. (Even better, in fact. While the Sacramento Zoo charges at least $10.00, you can tour the Receiving Home for free.)

In a county where there is so much wrong with child welfare, a remarkable amount of what’s wrong can be traced back to the Children’s Receiving Home.

THE HARM OF INSTITUTIONS

While there is much about which child welfare scholars disagree, on one point there is near unanimity – it does enormous harm to institutionalize children, even for a short time. And the younger the child, the greater the harm. So there is no excuse for taking children as young as one year old and institutionalizing them for an average of 35 to 40 days.

This is where the rationalizations kick in:

"How can you call us an institution?" the people who run the institution say. "We have 'cottages' and they're so pretty. We're so homelike."

Whenever somebody says his or her institution is homelike, I think of the stuff I sometimes put on bread when I'm trying to lose weight. It may be called "buttery spread" or "buttery light" but it always tastes like liquid plastic. I can tell the difference between “buttery light” and butter. And children know the difference between "homelike" and home.

"Our shelter provides 'stability'" the operators will say, so children don't move from foster home to foster home. But it's the people in a child's life that create stability, not the bricks and mortar. A child in a shelter endures a multiple placement whenever the shift changes. She endures multiple placement when the weekend workers replace the weekday workers. And she endures multiple placement when the volunteer who seemed so interested in her last week has something better to do to this week and doesn't show up.

The parking place industry will come back with claims that they can "assess" children and "stabilize" them, so that they can find the right foster home for the child when he or she leaves.

But they have no evidence for this.

On the contrary, the only “evidence” the Receiving Home offers for success is the word of their own Mental Health team which, according to the "Home"'s website, provides “after care” to “a certain amount [sic] of kids.” They also sometimes hear from the children’s county social workers. But the obvious bias aside, this doesn’t tell us if the children are doing better because of the Children’s Receiving Home or because they’ve left the Children’s Receiving Home.

The other substitute for “evidence” is a throwback to the 19th Century. Back then, Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children would build public support – and raise money – by using the worst horror stories they could find, sometimes complete with “before” and “after” pictures. They knew full well such cases bore no resemblance to the children they typically took from their families – mostly impoverished immigrant children whose poverty was confused with "neglect."

Similarly, after 66 years and thousands of children passing through, the Children’s Receiving Home manages to come up with three “testimonials” from former residents – one dating back to 1974 – talking about the horrors of their lives with their own parents and how the "Home" supposedly rescued them. (You can bet there soon will be more among the comments at the end of this post – one thing the Receiving Home does superbly is promote itself.)

I don’t doubt that the stories are true. But even in these cases, the children got nothing they wouldn't have gotten in a good foster home. And these cases bear no resemblance either to typical cases or typical outcomes for children who pass through shelters. Rather, they serve a double-barred PR purpose: They demonize birth parents, helping to keep the take-the-child-and-run frenzy going in Sacramento County, and, of course, they portray the Receiving Home as a success – by ignoring the fact that the many children who passed through the "Home" only to wind up as adults in jails, psych wards and homeless shelters aren’t likely to write a tribute or stop by for a nostalgic visit.

People who run a program and really want to know if their program is working commission independent outside evaluations comparing people who go through the program to people who don’t. But apparently, the receiving home has gone 66 years without ever doing that – at least they make no mention of any such study.

And I doubt they’d want to commission one now, especially after what happened in Connecticut.

WHAT REAL RESEARCH TELLS US ABOUT SHELTERS

Connecticut state set up a network of such shelters in 1995, in the wake of a foster-care panic – a sudden spike in the number of children taken from their parents in the wake of a high-profile child abuse death. These are modern, state-of-the-art facilities providing the best of what the shelter industry has to offer.

But a comprehensive study of the shelters by Yale University and the Connecticut child welfare agency itself found that the rationalizations of the shelter industry didn’t stand up to scrutiny. On the contrary, the children who went through the shelters tended to have worse outcomes than those who didn't. The only thing she shelters were good at was wasting huge sums of money. (As usual, in child welfare, the worse the option for children, the more it costs).

But the shelters are still up and running. Because in child welfare, research is no match for political clout and adult self-indulgence. Take away our human teddy bears? Never! As the Hartford Courant put it:

Three years after a study that showed short-term group homes for first-time foster children are a costly failure, the state Department of Children and Families is still funneling hundreds of children through the facilities each year.

So instead of making the lives of foster children more stable, shelters like the Children’s Receiving Home force them to endure only more turmoil. First they’re institutionalized, cared for by an ever-changing cast of shift nstaff. Then, at the Receiving Home, for about half the children after 35 to 40 days they’re uprooted again to begin the same journey through foster care they would have endured anyway. (What happens to the other half is even more revealing, and I’ll get to that below.)

They’ve also probably had to change schools twice, since children at the Receiving Home attend the "Home"'s own school, instead of the one they were in when they were taken from their families.

VOTING WITH THEIR FEET

So it’s no wonder so many children at the Receiving Home vote with their feet.

According to a 2007 Sacramento Bee story, a significant proportion of the county’s runaways are running from the Children’s Receiving Home. There were 680 reported incidents of running away in 2006 and 310 in the first half of 2007.

Of course the Receiving Home will blame the parents, they’ll blame the kids, they’ll blame the fact that they can’t lock the children in and force them to endure the place. They’ll blame everything but the fact that children should not be institutionalized.

Researchers know better. According to the Bee story:

Researchers have shed light on why the youths flee the large care homes – generally at higher rates than from foster homes and their own homes. The facilities are less personal, have rotating staff members and are more restrictive than a traditional home environment, said Andrea Nesmith, a researcher at the Center for Children at the University of Chicago.

The final rationalization is the one in which the shelter operators admit shelters are a lousy option but, supposedly, there simply is no alternative. There just aren't enough foster homes, they say. But the "shortage" is artificial, caused by taking away too many children. And shelters often are in the forefront of keeping it that way.

That's certainly the case in Sacramento County. With some counties apparently starting to wise up and park fewer children at the shelter, the Children’s Receiving Home responded to the threat to its existence with demagoguery – attacking even a minimal effort to keep more children safely in their own homes.

According to a Sacramento Bee story in April, the "Home"’s CEO, David Ballard, sent a letter condemning what he claimed was

CPS' current policy of keeping as many children as possible out of foster care regardless of the dangers involved. As a result, we are admitting less than half the number of children as a year ago - another severe drop in revenue that directly affects our ability to function.

Leaving aside the revealing characterization of the children as "revenue," the fact is, there is no such policy. On the contrary, Sacramento takes away children at the highest rate in the state among counties large enough to measure.

Indeed, the fact that the real policy of Sacramento County boils down to “take the child and run” can be seen in another revealing statistic straight from the Children’s Receiving Home website: After being institutionalized for an average of 35 to 40 days, half the children go back to their own homes. Odds are, if they could go home in 35 to 40 days, most of them never needed to be taken in the first place – if the help the families needed had simply been brought into the home.

And why didn’t that happen? In part because the money to do it is being wasted on the enormous expense of parking children at the Children’s Receiving Home.

GOOD CHILD WELFARE SYSTEMS CURB SHELTERS

In fact, there is no need to park children, particularly young children, in shelters. Better child welfare systems know it.

In Alabama, the system has been rebuilt to emphasize keeping children out of foster care in the first place. Today, Alabama takes children at a rate less than half the rate in Sacramento County, the reforms have been so successful that they made the front page of The New York Times and an independent court monitor found that the reforms improved child safety. It happened as a result of a suit brought by the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law (co-counsel for plaintiffs is a member of the NCCPR Board of Directors). The lawsuit led to a consent decree that puts strict limits on shelters.

New Jersey is successfully implementing a consent decree that is, if anything, even more far-reaching. It bans placement of children under age 13 in shelters, period. And it’s succeeding. During the entire second half of 2009, in the entire State of New Jersey, one child under age 13 was placed in a shelter. Not one percent – one child.

It’s possible because, like Alabama, New Jersey significantly cut the number of children taken away in the first place. And, as in Alabama, an independent court-appointed monitor confirms that the decline in removals has been accompanied by a dramatic improvement in child safety.

By taking fewer children needlessly, these states have more options for children who really need to be taken from their homes – without turning those children into human teddy bears.

But not in Sacramento. It seems the attacks on family preservation (aided and abetted, of course, by the Sacramento Bee) and all the usual rationalizations worked again. According to the Receiving Home website, they were able to “minimize” county budget cuts.

That can only be a double blow for the region’s vulnerable children: More of them will be institutionalized, and fewer of them will get the help they really need, because something else had to be cut to save the county’s worthless, but oh-so-politically appealing, parking place shelter.

Former journalist Richard Wexler is Executive Director of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform, www.nccpr.org

District 9 results update

2010-06-23T04:05:21Z

As of 3:32 p.m. Roger Dickinson held 228 more votes than Kevin McCarty, his main competitor in the District 9 race for the State Assembly, according to the state elections website.

A candidate only needs to have more votes than all other candidates to claim victory in State Assembly races.

Sacramento County still has mail-in and provisional ballots to count in this race, but the official count of how many exactly was not available at 9 p.m.

The election is still a very tight race with Dickinson claiming 35.4 percent of the vote. McCarty holds 34.8 percent.

McCarty is waiting until more is known from the county registrar.

"I am going to respect them and wait until they finish their job of counting all the ballots," McCarty said.

Roger Dickinson was not available for comment.

Another election update will be made public on Thursday afternoon.

Sacramento CPS: The hostility extends to extended families

2010-06-21T13:15:26Z

In response to my column last week, about how Sacramento County is the child removal capital of California, an aunt who is providing foster care for a nephew raised several objections. Among other things, she argued that it was unfair of me to lump in relatives providing foster care, known as “kinship care,” with strangers in calculating Sacramento’s rate of removal.

In one sense she is right; it’s unfair - unfair to other counties, because it makes Sacramento look too good. When you look only at the proportion of children placed with total strangers, Sacramento actually fares even worse.

My previous column documented the extensive research on the inherent trauma of foster care - trauma that occurs even when the foster home is a good one, as the majority are. That trauma can be reduced, but not eliminated, if the child is placed with a relative instead of a stranger.

Study after study has shown the enormous benefits of kinship care.

Kinship care is still foster care, and even grandma is no substitute for leaving children in their own homes. But when that really isn’t safe, at least if a child is placed with a relative, or with an aunt, it’s likely to cushion the blow. The child is with someone he knows and loves. And odds are the placement is in his own neighborhood, so he doesn’t have to change schools and lose all his friends.

Kinship care also lessens one of the most damaging problems of foster care, moving children from foster home to foster home. People who love you are far less likely to give up on you than total strangers. So grandparents and other relatives are more likely to put up with behavior that might prompt strangers to either reach for the psychiatric medication or throw the child out.

Indeed that helps explain why in Florida, for example, where the child welfare agency is trying to crack down on the misuse and overuse of sometimes dangerous psychiatric medication on foster children, while 26 percent of institutionalized foster children and 21 percent of foster children placed with strangers are on such medication, only four percent of foster children are medicated when they are placed with relatives.

And there are more benefits to kinship care. A study by the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia found that children placed in foster care with relatives had fewer behavior problems than children placed in stranger care.

Another study found that children in kinship care did far better than children in stranger care on multiple measures of safety, permanence and well being.

This is one of several studies showing the most important result of all: Kinship care is safer than stranger care.

But apparently the word hasn’t reached Sacramento County.

HOW COUNTIES USE KINSHIP CARE

San Francisco also has a dismal record for taking away children from their families – a record almost as bad as Sacramento. But at least San Francisco manages to place nearly one-third of those children immediately with a relative. Orange County does almost as well. Contra Costa and Alameda Counties place about one-quarter of children immediately with relatives. The statewide average is 17.4 percent.

In Sacramento the figure is only 9.3 percent – only seven of the counties ranked in the NCCPR California Rate-of-Removal Index do worse.

There is a similar discrepancy when one looks at the percentage of all foster children placed with relatives on any given day – not just those placed with relatives immediately.

San Francisco places half of such children with relatives, Orange County and Santa Clara County place more than 42 percent of foster children with relatives; Los Angeles, Alameda and Contra Costa counties all are over one-third – which is the statewide average.

In Sacramento County it’s 29.1 percent. Only eight of the ranked counties do worse.

I’ve updated the full NCCPR California Rate of Removal Index to include kinship care data for all the ranked counties. It’s available on our website here: http://www.nccpr.org/reports/2009californiaror.pdf

“A TREE HAS MORE THAN ONE BRANCH”

Because grandparents bring an extra ingredient to the mix – love – it should surprise no one that kinship care generally is safer than stranger care. So why is Sacramento County so reluctant to use it?

Sadly, it’s not unusual for child welfare systems that are deeply hostile to birth parents to extend the hostility to extended families. It’s all summed up in one pernicious little smear: “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” If mom is abusive, it is claimed, it must be because grandma has failed in some way.

For starters, this assumes that if mom is doing a poor job raising the children it has to be grandma’s fault. In fact, there are any number of times when a grandparent may raise four children under circumstances of poverty and need that many of us can’t possibly imagine, and have three of them become happy, healthy productive adults. The fourth is lost to the lure of the streets. When that grandmother then comes forward, at a time when finally she should be able to rest, and offers to take care of that child’s children, she should be treated as a hero, not a suspect.

And, as one of the nation’s leading experts on kinship care has said: “a tree has more than one branch.”

Unfortunately, some child welfare systems have sought to take advantage of the benefits of kinship care and pretend that it is not foster care at all. But make no mistake: When it is done because a child welfare agency demands it or a court orders it, kinship care is still foster care.

Indeed, the federal government counts such placements as foster care placements. Kinship care is still a blow to the child, and it is no substitute for safe, proven alternatives to keeping children in their own homes. That’s why, when calculating rates of removal, I will continue to “lump in” kinship care placements and stranger care placements.

Even if that makes Sacramento County look better than it deserves.

County leaders pass budget with at least 725 layoffs

2010-06-18T03:20:44Z

At least 725 county employees will be laid off as a result of the county budget approved by the Board of Supervisors Thursday in a 3-2 vote.

The board has now balanced its the county's budget, which had a $181 million gap. The total budget for the 2010/2011 fiscal year is $3.5 billion. Of that amount, $1.9 billion makes up the county’s general fund.

Supervisors held lengthy meetings on the budget over the course of four days this week.

Supervisors Roberta MacGlashan and Roger Dickinson voted against the budget’s general fund allocations, offering different reasons for why they disagreed with the budget. Supervisors Don Nottoli, Susan Peters and Jimmie Yee voted in support of passing the budget, which led to its approval just after 3 p.m.

MacGlashan said she could not vote in favor of the budget because it did not put enough money toward public safety.

“This budget tells the residents of the unincorporated area they’re on their own,” she said.

Dickinson objected to the budget because he said he thought it did not make social services a higher priority. While public safety is the board’s top priority, he said, it’s not the board’s only priority.

“We have an obligation, a duty, particularly as a county, to address those who are the least among us,” he said.

Supervisor Don Nottoli said he felt he had a responsibility to pass a budget for the county, even though the budget includes compromises.

“The bottom line is that there’s not sufficient funding,” Nottoli said. “Yes, we prioritize and we make decisions.”

Major cuts to public safety and social services programs and departments are included in the budget.

Before the board passed its budget, it lessened the damage to some departments. Sacramento County Sheriff John McGinness said earlier this week that the department faced a $37.6 million budget gap.

Because the board moved additional dollars to McGinness’s department Thursday, the sheriff’s deficit was lowered to $19.8 million.

McGinness declined to estimate how many layoffs his department would need to make to balance out his budget.

“Everything’s on the table at this point,” McGinness said after the hearing. “We need to find a way to live within our new budgetary constraint, which just got constricted by another $20 million dollars.”

The layoff figures are not final at this point, according to Nav Gill, the county’s chief operations officer. However, there could be more than 725, he said.

The county refers to the budget that was passed Thursday as the “recommended budget.” That’s because it will look at its figures again in September, after hearing how the state’s budget will affect the county.

Ann Edwards-Buckley, director of the county’s Health and Human Services Department, said her department was cut in several areas, including public health services, public health nursing, Child Protective Services and in-home support.

“We’ll have significant reductions in health care services for the poor,” she said.

The public can watch Monday's meeting here. View Tuesday's hearings here. Watch the video of Wednesday's meeting here.

Photo of Supervisors Roberta MacGlashan and Don Nottoli by Anthony Bento.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Some local groups could feel county budget pain

2010-06-17T03:22:58Z

While Sacramento County’s budget problems are likely to result in harsh cuts to public safety and social services departments, some of the smaller budget cuts are raising concerns among certain organizations.

Sacramento County’s elected leaders are expected to decide this week whether to cut funding from several groups, including the Sacramento Tree Foundation and the Sacramento Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The Board of Supervisors plans to approve the county’s budget Thursday or Friday. Hundreds of employees could lose their jobs as the supervisors address a $181 million budget gap.

The Sacramento Tree Foundation, which promotes and administers tree plantings, may receive no funding from the county this year. Last year, the foundation received $10,000.

Colleen Cadwallader, the foundation’s development director, told the supervisors Wednesday that trees are crucial to local communities. In the past 30 years, views on the importance of trees have changed, she said.

“No longer viewed as a mere amenity, we now know that trees help to create walkable communities, save energy, absorb air pollutants, reduce stormwater runoff, sequester carbon and increase the overall quality of our lives,” Cadwallader said.

At the same time, the county may cut funds from the "events support" arm of the Sacramento Sports Commission. Members of the commission promote the region as a site for sports events.

The Sacramento Convention and Visitors Bureau also faces possible cuts. County administrators have proposed that the bureau receive $122,385 in county funds, down by half from the $244,769 it received last year.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

County budget hearings next week, 725 planned layoffs

2010-06-11T02:35:29Z

Sacramento County officials plan to lay off 725 employees in response to the county’s budget hole.

The Board of Supervisors will discuss the county’s $181 million gap and planned layoffs at budget hearings next week. Board members may approve the budget for the 2010/2011 fiscal year next Wednesday, Thursday or Friday, according to the county’s schedule of budget hearings.

The proposed budget figures released by officials Thursday include major cuts to programs as well as the planned layoffs.

Interim County Executive Steve Szalay said at a Thursday morning press conference that the proposed budget was the third consecutive county budget containing deep cuts.

“This is a sad day in the history of Sacramento County,” he said.

If the board approves the layoffs, they would go into effect July 3, Szalay said.

The Sacramento Press will post the proposed budget as soon as it is available online.

Here is the schedule for next week’s budget hearings:

Monday, June 14:

The meeting will begin at 9:30 a.m. Departments and programs that will be discussed include Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department, Correctional Health Services, District Attorney, Probation, Public Defender, Engineering, Planning, Animal Care, Regional Parks, Finance, General Services and Personnel.

Tuesday, June 15:

The meeting will start at 2 p.m. and cover cuts to the county’s Medically Indigent Services Program, Health and Human Services and Human Assistance.

Wednesday, June 16:

The meeting will start at 2 p.m. and include discussions on the In-Home Support Services Public Authority, Retiree Health and the Transient Occupancy Tax.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Is Sacramento County CPS really in danger due to recent funding cuts?

2010-05-12T18:59:56Z

There have been many articles in the Sacramento Bee recently about the fact that CPS is losing all of their funding, the State of CA is not giving them money, and terrifying people by telling them children will be in more danger because there won't be enough people to ensure child safety. However, after researching statistics, it became clear to me that Sacramento County Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and Child Protective Services (CPS) are crying wolf just so they have another excuse for their incompetency. CPS is in desperate need of a "way out". They are blaming their failures on a lack of money because of recent funding cuts instead of taking responsibility and being accountable for the failures, incompentantcies, and issues relating to cover-ups. These issues of unaccountabililty, failures at every level of CPS, incompetancies, secrecy, and cover-ups are well documented through several investigations into Sacramento CPS.
The Child Welfare League of America provided the following numbers for the most recent studies:
California received $1,795,256,381 (nearly 1.8 BILLION) in federal funds divided into the following categories:
70.8% was from Title IV-E Foster Care and Adoption Assistance
13.9% was from TANF (a.k.a. WELFARE-food stamps, cash aid)
9.9% was from the Social Services Block Grant
4.2% was from Title IV-B CWS Promoting Safe & Stable Families
1.8% was from Medicaid
1% was from other federal services
That means that the State of CA received $1,271,041,517 (nearly 1.3 BILLION) in federal dollars from Title IV-E Foster Care and Adoption assistance. To fully understand the problematic issues with this, you would need to understand how States qualify for Foster Care and Adoption Assistance funds. A bill was passed in 1997, which provides this money to the Department of Social Services in the amount of $4000- $6000 for each child they get adopted out. But wait...there’s more. In the book WARNING! The Truth about CPS, Don Lyons explains that it’s “just a starting figure in a complex mathematical formula in which each bonus is multiplied by the percentage that the state has managed to exceed its baseline adoption number. The states must maintain this increase in each successive year. [Like compound interest.]”. Basically it means that each year the state has to exceed the number of adoptions from the previous year in order to receive these funds. What?
When I first began to understand how it worked, I had to sit back and let it settle with me. I had such a hopeless feeling and the only thing flashing in my mind was the old quote "Money is the root of all evil.". Well yes, of course it is. Then I realized our government is not immune to greed, especially during tough economic times when funding for programs is dramatically cut. Another quote came to mind soon after that. "The road to hell is paved with good intentions". I have no doubt that this bill was passed with good intentions. The need to get children adopted into permanent families is very important for a child instead of rotating them from numerous foster homes, group homes, etc. For children that were removed from their homes because legitimate allegations, finding them a permanent home and family is an amazing thing. However, in my opinion, nobody really looked at the huge holes in this bill. The simple fact that they need to exceed their baseline adoptions for the fiscal year, creates a child mill in which more and more children must enter the system each year in order to increase the number of adoptions out of foster care.
The bill that was passed includes a technical support assistance section "to assist State and local communities to reach their targets for increased numbers of adoptions”. It goes on to say the support is for “the development of best practice guidelines for expending the termination of parental rights…the development of special units and expertise in moving children toward adoption as a permanent goal; [and] models to encourage the fast tracking of children who have not attained one year of age into pre-adoptive placements without waiting for termination of parental rights.” By implementing these policies they are putting a bounty on the heads of American children…your children! CPS and DHHS are denying parents rights and setting parents up for failure before they walk out of your home with your child in hand. Without knowledge of their rights, parents have no chance to protect themselves and their children until it’s too late.
The Nation Center for Policy Analysis says it best: “The way the federal government reimburses States [actually] rewards a growth in the size of the program instead of the effective care of children.”
I often hear people upset about “lazy parents” that don’t take care of their kids and live off the “system” with taxpayers’ dollars. However, it is clear by the funding figures I provide above, that only 13% of funding is from TANF (aka Welfare). It is also amazing that 70.8% is for foster care and adoption assistance, but only 4.2% is to promote safe and stable families. Perhaps if our government promoted family preservation instead of family destruction, it would make crime rates go down, decrease inmate population, decrease the homeless population, decrease unemployment rates, and decrease the amount of welfare recipients. This in turn would probably decrease the amount of children that are abused and/or neglected.

City of Sacramento Earth Day Celebration a Big Sucess

2010-04-24T18:48:58Z

There were several Earth Day celebrations and events Thursday. One of the biggest and most successful was the official City of Sacramento Earth Day Celebration. The event was held at Cesar Chavez Park and in the plaza of City Hall. An estimated 3,500 people of all ages attend this years' event. It was supported by Mayor Kevin Johnson and the City Council. The City of Sacramento Neighborhood Services Department organized the event.

I spoke with Neighborhood Services Department Director Vincene Jones. Jones and her staff started back in January giving early notice to Sacramento area schools, informing them of the event and its value as a field trip. Local media was enlisted to help get the word out. They worked with Regional Transit to secure 560 one-day free passes for bus and light rail. This allowed students to use public transit to and from the event in keeping with the values of Earth Day.

Staff had targeted junior high and high school students. It was obvious that there were large numbers of younger kids also. They especially stood out in the orange aprons given to them by Home Depot along with plants to take home for planting.

Home Depot had one of 59 booths. About 25 booths were commercial entities. The rest were city departments, other governmental entities, nonprofits, education and others. The 59 booths were an increase of about 35% over last year.

Mavis McAllister from American River College and Peggy Ursine with Cosumes River College were promoting Los Rios GreenForce. This is a program with all four Los Rios colleges that prepares students to work in green industries.

Ryan Bailey had a booth promoting Sacramento Sustainable Businesses. This included BERC, a free public service provided by Sacramento County, the city of Sacramento, Sacramento Utilities Departments and Sacramento Local Regulatory Agencies. They advise businesses on how to navigate all the complex environmental regulations.

City of Sacramento departments included utilities, promoting pollution prevention in waste water runoff, recycling, composting and one of several displays of worm bins. City employees Jamie Cutlip and Karl Kurka operated a booth promoting the city's Create a Sustainable Sacramento program. Bill Maynard, who works tirelessly at events like this, was giving out tomato plants as part of the city of Sacramento Community Garden Program.

The Sacramento-Yolo Mosquito & Vector Control District booth was a great hit with the kids. There were live displays of all stages of mosquitos and mosquito fish that eat them The kids were having a great time watching the mosquito fish eating mosquito larva. Kevin Valone and Steve Ramos with Vector Control said that this was one of the best turnouts for any of the venues they have been to. They were especially pleased with all kids asking them questions. They said they have found it best to educate the young kids to achieve their goal of protecting public health and welfare from diseases transmitted by mosquitoes such as West Nile virus, Western Equine Encephalitis, canine heartworm, malaria and others. In most cases, the kids go back to their families and educate them. This was a comment that was echoed by many of those presenting at the event.

There was also entertainment, with a message for the kids from Radio Disney, a performance from Top Class Magic and the Sacramento City College theatrical performance of the “Fall of X,” a play about the dangers of joining a gang.

Besides Home Depot, there were several other commercial green businesses or businesses with green products. These included Sacramento Natural Foods Coop, Costco, Propel Alternative Fuels, Green Sacramento Construction Services and several solar energy companies.

Jake Millan with Propel related a story about the power of kids. A man who came to his booth told him that he had recently purchased a flex fuel vehicle that would run on E85. When asked what prompted this, the man replied that his kids were so embarrassed and tired of getting teased when they were dropped off at school in the family Hummer they pushed the family to buy a more responsible vehicle.

Now I do not want to create the impression that the city of Sacramento Earth Day Celebration was only for kids. There were large numbers of downtown and state office workers asking questions and collecting information. I spoke with Rocklin Treasurer Kim Sarkovich and Mary Rister, one of her staffers. They were attending a conference on municipal finance. They said they were having a wonderful time visiting the event during their lunch break. They were particularly enjoying the Sacramento Natural Foods Coop booth. Part of Sarkovich's interest stems from her hobby as a suburban beekeeper.

All the people I spoke with who had displays at the event were very pleased with the turnout and response from the public. They expressed that Jones and her staff at Neighborhood Services were great to work with and that they were pleased with the commitment throughout the city government supporting a green and sustainable Sacramento.

Photos: 1. Welcoming kids to Sacramento Earth Day Celebration 2-3. City of Sacramento Neighborhood Services Department 4. Ryan Bailey, Sacramento Sustainable Businesses 5. city Department of Utilities 6. Jamie Cutlip and Karl Kurka, Create a Sustainable Sacramento 7. Bill Maynard, Sacramento Community Garden Program 8. Sacramento-Yolo Mosquito & Vector Control District employees Kevin Valone and Steve Ramos 9. Radio Disney entertains 10. Sacramento Natural Foods Coop 11. Dennis with Costco 13. A solar energy provider and Jake Millan in front of the Propel Alternative Fuels booth 12. Green Sacramento Construction Services 13. Kim Sarkovich and Mary Rister check out the Soil Born Farms booth with employees Randy and Jackie

County's budget picture includes "recently identified" gap

2010-04-16T05:28:03Z

Sacramento County officials are predicting the county could face a $9 million gap in addition to its current budget hole of $166.5 million. A big chunk of the estimated $9 million consists of costs from laying off hundreds of employees during the 2009/2010 budget process.

The extra $9 million was news to county officials — a county budget document presented to reporters Thursday states the $9 million was “recently identified.”

Of the $9 million, $6 million are costs to the county’s general fund for unemployment insurance and pension obligation bond payments, according to the document.

“That’s primarily (because) as the county has layoffs and folks have gone out the door — there’s less employees to spread that cost,” County Chief Operations Officer Nav Gill said during a Thursday press conference. “And that increases the cost we have to recover.”

The other $3 million in new estimated costs is from property tax declines, according to the document.

Gill said that if the county had not laid off 748 people in the last budget process, the county’s budget situation would be even worse.

“Each position that’s laid off has a cost associated with it,” Gill said. “One of the things that we are doing in June’s budget is making sure that the full cost of what it costs to have a layoff is quantified, and we budget for that.”

Hundreds of layoffs could be ahead

The county is looking at the possibility of laying off hundreds more people in the coming months to respond to its ongoing budget crisis.

Last June, the county’s budget gap was $180 million.

In the county’s budget process, positions are viewed differently from actual layoffs. For example, a person is not laid off if the county cuts a vacant position. But if the position is filled, then the person filling it will be laid off.

County officials currently plan to cut 604 filled positions in the 2010/2011 fiscal year budget process, which would mean 604 layoffs.

The county does not have a final number of layoffs it expects to make in the months ahead, according to Interim County Executive Steven Szalay. However, he said the number of positions the county will need to cut will rise.

What are the reasons behind the budget gap?

A key factor in the current budget gap is the county’s decision last year to use one-time funds to close out $80 million in its budget, Szalay said.

Gill noted that other causes include increased retirement and Social Security costs; mid-year budget cuts that did not save as much money as county officials had anticipated; reimbursements from the state that the county expects will come in late; and costs for employee group insurance.

The harsh economy affects tax revenues that come to the county, Szalay noted.

“Sacramento County is going through what all private businesses and public agencies are going through in this terrible economic time — we’re no different,” Szalay said.

Szalay also pointed out that the county “can’t count on additional revenue” because new taxes are unpopular in California.

The county is working on dozens of efficiency projects to cut costs and boost revenues, according to Szalay.

Some of the efficiency projects involve working with nonprofits, according to Bruce Wagstaff, interim agency administrator for Countywide Services Agency. Some of the departments within the agency include Human Assistance, Probation and Environmental Management.

Gill said cuts would be made county-wide. However, high cuts are being analyzed for departments including Personnel Services, Animal Care, Probation, Human Assistance, Health and Human Services and Regional Parks.

Sacramento County’s budget hearings start June 14, Szalay said.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Join Other Advocates in calling to Save Community Mental Health Care in Sacramento County

2010-03-24T21:25:26Z

Lend your voice today to remind the county Board of Supervisors that further cuts to mental health services will not solve the County's budget crisis as it will further hurt our communities. You can sign the petition in less than 30 seconds by clicking the link below:

www.change.org/actions/view/join_us_in_calling_to_save_community_mental_health_care_in_sacramento_county

Plan to combine some city/county services advances

2009-12-09T05:41:38Z

The Sacramento City Council is open to the idea of consolidating some of the services offered by the city and county governments.

Councilmembers unanimously decided Tuesday that city staff should analyze the issue over the next 90 days, and then bring their findings to the City Council. The discussion about consolidating services is moving forward as both the city and county struggle with severe budget problems.

Councilman Rob Fong strongly supported the idea. If the city and county can have “virtually identical” regulatory processes for businesses, then organizations like the Sacramento Area Commerce & Trade Organization and the city and county’s economic development departments could market Sacramento as a “dynamic region,” he said.

Uniform processes at the city and county governments could also lead to better land-use planning decisions, Fong said. He acknowledged that his ideas may be too expansive for the 90-day period, but said he hoped staff’s analysis would move beyond everyday issues such as “who picks up the leaves.”

“We would do ourselves a disservice if we didn’t start to have those kinds of conversations,” Fong said.

Staffers will now select services that could potentially be combined, according to Assistant City Manager Gus Vina’s report to councilmembers.

Vina said Monday that combining services could save money in the long term for local governments. In addition, joining services could eliminate redundancies, Vina said. The city and county provide several similar services, he said, such as animal control and code enforcement.

City Finance Director Leyne Milstein said her office is not ready yet to provide an estimate for the city’s budget situation next year. Staffers still need to analyze third quarter sales tax information, she said. However, she estimated in May that the city would face a $30-million deficit in the 2010/11 fiscal year.

She acknowledged Monday that the city’s budget for next year could be troubling, saying that “nothing has changed” since her May estimate of a $30-million deficit.

The county’s budget crisis is severe: Its $180-million gap last spring was followed by a $76-million shortfall in the summer.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

City, County to consider consolidating some services

2009-12-08T05:34:22Z

Sacramento’s city and county governments are considering consolidating some of their services to save money as they wrestle with tough budgets. The City Council and Board of Supervisors will discuss the idea at their public meetings Tuesday.

Combining services could help local governments save money in the long term, said Gus Vina, assistant city manager. It also could cut redundancies, Vina said, noting that the city and county offer several similar services. For example, the county and city both provide animal control and code enforcement services, he said.

The city and county have not yet selected which services to combine. At this point, city and county officials are asking elected representatives if there is a “thumbs-up” for staff to pursue the idea, Vina said.

If the City Council supports it, city staff would choose services that could be combined, according to a report Vina is presenting to the City Council on Tuesday. Staffers would analyze the issue over the next 90 days, and then bring their findings to the City Council, the report notes.

“We’ll evaluate services on both sides: what’s the benefit, what’s the downside,” Vina said. “We’re looking for things that are not that difficult to do.”

City Finance Director Leyne Milstein said that city staffers are not ready to provide numbers for next year’s financial picture. They still need to analyze third-quarter sales tax information. Milstein estimated in May that the city would face a $30 million deficit in the 2010/2011 fiscal year.

While she did not release specific figures Monday, she acknowledged that the picture could continue to be grim.

“Nothing has changed for the better since that estimate was out there,” Milstein said.

The county has faced a wrenching budget crisis over the past several months. Its $180 million gap last spring was followed by a $76 million shortfall in the summer.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Rescued meal program faces diminished services and future costs

2009-12-04T03:32:29Z

"I see us potentially losing some of the volunteer base," said Supervisor Don Notolli at Tuesday's board meeting. "The human contact for the seniors is [currently] happening five times a week ... that day-to-day contact is important."

Despite concerns, the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved changes Tuesday designed to save the popular Meals on Wheels program. In 2010, hundreds of seniors will no longer receive daily hot meal visits.

A plan drafted by the county's Department of Human Assistance will save the county $917,000. It will cut $680,000 from the program and shift $237,000 to the state's Medi-Cal program.

The changes will become effective Dec. 31.

The plan, however, will maintain meal service for all seniors. "We are pleased to announce that we will continue to provide meals to all of those within the program," said Bruce Wagstaff, director of the Department of Human Assistance.

Wagstaff announced that the program will save money by discontinuing delivery of daily hot meals for many seniors. "Many of the (1,400) seniors in the home-delivery program [will] receive a five-pack of frozen meals each week that they [will] reheat over the course of the week," he said.

But some seniors aren't able to heat the frozen meals. About 150 of those most vulnerable seniors will continue to receive daily hot meals, delivered by the program's network of volunteers.

Wagstaff pointed out that 9.2 county positions will be cut, too.

"This plan [to save Meals on Wheels] covers the current fiscal year, and includes the use of stimulus money that will not last forever," he said. "Intensive fund raising will continue to be a key part of our strategy."

To help finance the program beyond this fiscal year, the county plans to aggressively seek donations and community support through the Interfaith Service Bureau, Wagstaff said.

According to the county report on the program: "Donations during Fiscal Year 2008-09 totaled $85,000. Since calendar year 2000, [Meals on Wheels] has raised approximately $500,000 in donations."

Earlier this year, the county received $306,000 from the federal stimulus program to finance Meals on Wheels. These resources will be be depleted on Sept. 30, 2010.

At an Oct. 20 meeting, the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors delayed making budgetary changes to the Meals on Wheels program in hopes that county administrators could find a way to save it. Many were pleased that the program was saved from elimination, but worry about an uncertain future and the loss of human contact for many seniors.

To help offset these cuts, Notolli suggested that the county seek new volunteer assistance to maintain the program's daily contact with seniors.

"Nobody thinks that this is the best solution," said Geraldine Esposito, chairwoman of the Sacramento County Adult and Aging Commission. "But we can actually retain the program and that's what's critical right now."

For more information regarding Sacramento County programs, budget-related information or other related information, click on the Sacramento Press' Sacramento County tag.

Hundreds queue for free Swine Flu vaccine

2009-11-19T05:22:50Z

Waiting to receive the county's free H1N1 flu vaccine, hundreds of Sacramentans queued outside of Loaves and Fishes on Wednesday.

“I'm thankful that they have this,” said Beverly Hoeven, a resident at the Salvation Army's nearby shelter. “I just want to be protected, my daughter is pregnant.”

Organizers expected roughly 1,000 people, but they were prepared to service any in need. “There is no shortage,” said Sacramento County Public Health employee Lorence Kuhlman.

Residents from throughout the area began waiting more than an hour before the 10-a.m. opening of the clinic.

“I've seen what this illness can do, and I can get the shot for free,” said community resident Jennifer Rose.

As the vaccinations commenced, the swelled line began to shorten. The county vaccinated six individuals at a time and dozens of officials from both the county and Loaves and Fishes expedited the process by helping those in line complete medical forms. Officials also periodically reassured everyone that they would receive the vaccine.

"This is really a good thing," Rose said. "The more people that get vaccinated the less chance there will be a pandemic."

As of Nov. 18, Sacramento county has scheduled more than three dozen free H1N1 community clinics. Individuals interested in the vaccine can visit the Sacramento County Public Health website at www.scph.com or call the county's health line at (916) 875-5881 for more information.

Kuhlman recommends individuals check the website or call before they visit a clinic.

“Even today, things will change,” Kuhlman said. “It's very fluid, we adapt according to community health needs.”

Friction at county meeting reveals union divide

2009-11-02T03:14:38Z

Communications sent to several Sacramento County supervisors during an Oct. 20 meeting reveal a significant disconnect between some union members and their leadership regarding furloughs. More than 20 e-mails were sent to Supervisors Susan Peters and Jimmie Yee during the meeting, the vast majority of which supported furloughs over firings.

"I was never asked by my union rep if I would prefer furloughs over layoff. I was never notified of any meetings," wrote one woman. "Of course I would rather be furloughed than laid off!"

"The meetings that I have gone to seem to be rallies with incomplete information and a slant toward the union's position," wrote one social worker.

John Lewis, Stationary Engineers Local 39 representative, explained his union's opposition to furloughs at the meeting. "We find [layoffs] distasteful, but probably a better choice."

Supervisor Peters appeared dumbfounded by his statement.

"I've spent my whole life in the private sector, as an employee and employer, and all those years it was very clear that people would rather have everyone take a little bit of a hair cut rather than have people [be] laid off ... Explain to me why your members would rather have layoffs ... Our whole staff is furloughed 20 percent," Peters said.

"Did you actually go to your membership to vote on whether they preferred furloughs?" interjected Supervisor Yee.

"We kept our membership informed," Lewis replied. "Over the past couple of months, we've had many, many meetings ... by and large, we feel like we know what they want and need."

"But, I've received a lot of e-mails from employees saying that they prefer furloughs as opposed to layoffs," Yee said.

"Had our discussions gone just a tiny bit differently, we may be on the list [of unions that struck furlough agreements with the county]," Lewis said.

"But you did poll your membership?" Yee asked.

"Yes we did."

"And what were the results? Can you make that public?"

"How do you mean?" Lewis responded.

"How did they vote?" Yee and Peters asked in tandem.

"We did not [vote]," Lewis said.

"I would encourage you to do polling because as we're sitting here, in this moment, we are getting e-mails saying that the consensus of employees is that they would rather be furloughed," Peters said.

"I would gladly move to take a reduction in hours to save my job," wrote one Local 39 member. "As a junior member, I will be thrown under the bus by my own membership."

Local 39's labor agreement with the county states that a "layoff shall be based on seniority." Junior members will be laid off first and senior members last, regardless of job performance, salary, or any other metric. Other county labor agreements mirror this stipulation.

The messages sent to the supervisors represent the viewpoints of a small number of the 6,200 nonfurloughed county workers. They illustrate, however, conflicting agendas within the unions. During the summer, contractually-obligated cost of living increases were issued to union employees while the county eliminated 700 positions and furloughed nonunionized management personnel. Additionally, scheduled salary increases threaten more county jobs next year.

Unable to issue furloughs without union approval, county officials proposed a .908 work reduction plan, which would have reduced employee hours by about 10 percent. Unions were opposed and the .908 plan was not approved at the Oct. 20 supervisors meeting.

Some unions, however, did reach furlough and other cost-saving agreements with the county. According to county labor negotiator Steve Keil, agreements with the Service Employees International Union have saved five positions.

Many labor unions, however, failed to reach agreement with the county.

"Parts of the county workforce have gotten step [pay] increases, cost of living increases, and have not participated in sharing the significant financial problems of the county," said County Executive Terry Schutten.

Photocredit: anthonybento.com

Agencies plan to set up 419 winter shelter beds

2009-10-27T04:05:07Z

Despite Sacramento County’s financial crisis, the city and county intend to provide 151 more beds for the homeless this winter than last.

That’s because city officials expect 419 winter shelter beds to be funded through a variety of entities, including the city, nonprofit organizations, the federal government, the county and private donors. Last year, there were 268 winter shelter beds for the homeless.

“The strategy provides for a collaborative public and private solution to increasing winter shelter options for the region's most vulnerable population during the coldest months of the year,” according to an Oct. 27 report to the City Council from Cassandra Jennings, assistant city manager, and La Shelle Dozier, executive director for the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency.

Councilmembers will hear a presentation on the funding plan for winter shelter beds at their Tuesday meeting.

The funding allocation from the city would be $149,000; the county’s portion would be $168,000. Allocations are not yet final.

Mayor Kevin Johnson held a press conference Friday to announce that a multiagency task force found funding for 269 winter shelter beds. Johnson is chairman of the task force, which is part of the Policy Board to End Homelessness.

City spokeswoman Amy Williams pointed out Monday that the city also is receiving federal stimulus money that can go toward 150 more beds, bringing the total number of beds to 419.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

La Bonne Soupe reopens Wednesday

2009-10-14T05:01:33Z

A clean bill of health and an outpouring of customer support have prompted the reopening of a wildly popular downtown lunch spot, La Bonne Soupe Café.

On Wednesday, owner Daniel Pont will resume serving the French onion soup Zagat rated as the best in the world only months ago, as well as the sandwiches and other food that earned his restaurant Zagat's top rating in Sacramento.

The cafe passed a Sacramento County health reinspection Friday, nine days after a restaurant inspector closed it upon finding cockroaches.

Pont, a renowned 70-year-old French chef, said Tuesday he's recovering from the stress and heartbreak that landed him in the hospital just before the first scheduled reinspection. He spent all day Tuesday preparing to reopen the restaurant he first opened in 2005.

"Today, I came here to see how it is to work," he said. "I cooked for the family today. So I was happy to be in the kitchen again."

The restaurant had been closed for about three weeks before the initial inspection -- initially for a vacation, but then while Pont tended to his wife, who had become sick and spent several days in the hospital.

The closure and Pont's collapse pushed loyal customers to rally to his defense. While a for-sale sign quickly went up, customers left flowers and cards outside the restaurant. They sent emails and filled his answering machine with their calls. They phoned Sacramento County's restaurant inspection program to complain. They even volunteered legal assistance or help at the cafe.

"They were wonderful and that's one of the reasons I stopped the sale, for now," Pont said.

Mark Urquhart-Webb, a program manager with California Air Resources Board, stopped by the cafe at 920 8th St. to read the messages left by well-wishers. He and his wife had enjoyed the French food cooked and served by Pont, who runs the restaurant alone.

"It took nearly the full hour to get served. The food was just fabulous," Urquhart-Webb said. "It's not a Subway moment at all."

His friend, Raphael Hitzke, won a "Best of Best Film Award" at the Tucson Slow Food Film Festival with the documentary, Vive La Food!, featuring Pont and William Rolle, another French chef operating a one-man show, in East Sacramento.

Signs on the door said, "Nous t'adorons Chef Daniel," and "If and when you decide to reopen, we will be waiting for you."

Pont has worked in all facets of the hospitality industry for 52 years. His grandparents taught him to make bread and butter after the family survived World War II in France.

He opened his first restaurant, Le Ranch House, in Sonoma in the early 1970s. He went on to open Chez Daniel, La Maconais and La Maison, all in the Bay Area.

He retired, then he and his wife moved to the Folsom-El Dorado area five years ago to be close to their daughter and her family. Pont left retirement to open the cafe downtown.

Customers soon packed the tiny cafe, where Pont worked 60 hours a week, including Saturdays when he'd go in to deep clean. A small counter was the only thing separating him from customers who watched him prepare their meals, one at a time. The line outside grew longer and started earlier as word of the restaurant spread. Regulars knew they had to turn up by 11 a.m. to avoid the worst of the lunch rush.

It was at 10:40 a.m. one day that an inspector showed up in Pont's last minutes of preparation. Pont felt he was treated disrespectfully by a young inspector who refused to come back after the lunch rush. He's never been treated rudely or cited for any other problems in 70 health inspections at five restaurants, he said.

"We are not students here. A restaurant that never had any violations should not be treated the same as one that constantly has problems," he said. "They hurt me badly and I have to put it behind me."

Some people have said they thought the inspection was prompted by a complaint — possibly from someone jealous of Pont's Zagat rating.

However, John Rogers, the county's environmental health division chief, said the surprise inspection was routine and not initiated by any calls or complaints.

A copy of the inspection report shows that the inspector was on the premises from 10:40 a.m. to noon. The inspector tried to pull Pont aside but Pont said he couldn't and refused to talk to the inspector, Rogers said, adding there was no other verbal communication from the inspector.

Inspectors, who are now visiting restaurants three times a year, must inspect in the morning at least once a year to see whether people are using proper cooking temperatures and food-handling practice, as well as the cleanliness of the facility.

"We advise staff not to go in the middle of lunch. It's too hectic," Rogers said.

A supervisor present for the reinspection Friday agreed the annual morning inspection would be conducted much earlier from now on, and be finished before Pont opens at 10:30 a.m.

"It's a difficult situation to be in for all parties, and we do it as respectfully as we can," he said. "We understand we're coming into their place of business ... and that they own this establishment. They have some ownership and some pride, and people need to be treated in respect."

Pont took down a for-sale sign but said diners will have to decide the future of the restaurant.

"It's up to the customers," he said.

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

County cuts budget of group that promotes region

2009-10-13T03:36:15Z

The Sacramento Convention and Visitors Bureau is promoting the city and county at fewer trade shows in part because of recent budget cuts from the county government, according to bureau spokesman Mike Testa. The county dedicated $244,000 to the bureau for the 2009 / 2010 fiscal year, down from $404,000 it allocated to the group last year.

In 2007, the county gave $704,000 to the bureau, Testa said.

The bureau’s main responsibility is to attract visitors to stay at hotels in the Sacramento area, Testa said. He pointed out that the county will receive less revenue as a result of its cuts to the bureau. Of its four funding sources, the bureau receives the lowest amount of funding from the county, according to Testa.

The bureau is funded by the city and county governments, fees assessed on hotel guests, private sponsorships and revenue from events, he said. The city also has scaled back its funding, and revenue to the bureau from hotel fees has dropped. The total of budget cuts from the city and county and lower hotel fees is about $750,000, Testa said.

Tourism contributed $2.4 billion to the local economy during the 2008 / 2009 fiscal year, Testa said. He also noted that the bureau returns $25 for every dollar invested by the city and county.

County leaders “really don’t have a choice” about many of the cuts they’re making, Testa said. But, he added, in the “big picture” view, the county will take in less money from by cutting funding to a revenue generator, he said. The bureau creates revenue for the county in “a time of economic turmoil,” Testa said.

The county definitely is in economic turmoil — officials have laid off more than 700 workers since July.

Rob Leonard, the county’s director of economic development, said the bureau supports activities more in the city than in the unincorporated areas of the county.

The county didn’t cut funding to the bureau entirely, Leonard pointed out. And a number of organizations received cuts equivalent to those of the bureau, he said.

“The role [the bureau] plays is clearly valued," Leonard said, "and we want to continue to support them.”

Testa said the county has been and remains a “good partner” with the bureau.

Although funding to the bureau from local governments and hotel fees is down, revenue to the bureau from sponsorships is up, Testa said. The bureau puts on special events that provide companies with the target audiences they’re looking for, he said.

Kathleen Haley is a staff writer for The Sacramento Press.

Supervisors begin multi-day budget process

2009-09-30T03:22:31Z

The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors began deliberations on proposed solutions to the county's $76-million deficit on Tuesday.

At the meeting, county officials projected the collection of $59 million in sales tax revenue for the 2009-10 fiscal year. In the 2007-08 fiscal year, the county collected $80 million.

The projection was met with skepticism from board members that have repeatedly reviewed the deteriorating budget during the past 18 months.

"I don't want to be back here again [considering new cuts] because of an overly optimistic projection," said supervisor Roberta MacGlashan.

The board failed to find solace in a subsequent report on property tax revenue, which stated that although the residential market has stabilized, significant declines in commercial real estate may be looming in the future.

"We haven't seen the bottom yet," commented supervisor Jimmie Yee.

In a statement, Undersheriff Mark Iwasa reminded the board that cuts to the Sheriff's department would result in declines in patrol services.

Several board members found difficulty in obtaining information from the Iwasa. When Yee asked Iwasa how many total positions exist in the Sheriff's department, Iwasa replied, "I don't have that information."

The structure of Sacramento County's government empowers the board of supervisors to set the total funding for each department. The elected department heads, such as the sheriff and the district attorney, decide how procured money is spent within their departments.

The board also heard from county workers, who protested the .908 work reduction plan that would reduce the total number of hours worked by county employees by nearly 10 percent.

The proposal differs from a furlough, as county workers would not be given credit toward retirement for hours lost. The board is scheduled to vote on the work reduction plan Oct. 20.

Later this week, the board of supervisors is scheduled to vote on a final 2009-10 budget that may include significant cuts to Child Protective Services and the possible closure of the Gibson Ranch Park and Mather Community Campus, a shelter that serves hundreds of the area's homeless. Virtually every other department and program has faced cuts.

The board is scheduled to reconvene on Thursday and vote on the final budget Friday. The public can watch the meetings live or read more about about the materials presented at the meetings at www.saccountytv.saccounty.net/default.htm.

Lauded by supporters, IHSS faces criticism and cuts

2009-09-26T05:59:57Z

As a response to a $72 million shortfall, Sacramento County officials proposed on September 16 an over $1 million funding reduction to In Home Support Services (IHSS), a program that provides home care for the disabled and elderly. According to the county proposal, the reduction, "will leave [IHSS] with 52 case-carrying social workers for over 21,000 cases."

The $1 million cut would only save the county roughly $490,000. The remainder of the lost funds would come from the elimination of $515,000 in attached federal monies.

According to Laura McCasland, Communications Officer at the Sacramento County Deptartment of Health and Human Services, a last-minute infusion of state resources has restored the federal monies and likely saved IHSS from dramatic cuts, although reductions will leave the program with less than 63 positions to oversee 21,000 cases.

The IHSS program compensates caregivers with an hourly wage -- $10.40 per hour in Sacramento County -- for providing home care to disabled and elderly persons. The purpose of the program is to help vulnerable Californians remain safely in their homes while saving resources that may otherwise be spent on institutional care.

According to the California Department of Social Services, "Nearly 60 percent of IHSS providers are family members of recipients."

Some, including Governor Schwarzenegger, have argued that IHSS is rife with abuse, a claim that has been substantiated by a March 23 Sacramento County grand jury report.

The grand jury found that, "At its best, [IHSS] is a dysfunctional system plagued by upper management who refuse to make meaningful changes or even look into matters that will be beneficial to the truly needy people [IHSS] is pledged to support. ... The lack of fiscal controls and oversight at IHSS has made it an easy target for those who are greedy."

The grand jury report has led to the creation of a multi-agency District Attorney task force that is currently investigating fraud at IHSS.

Supporters of IHSS, however, are suspicious of the grand jury's claims. "Have you ever seen anyone being prosecuted for fraud? No. Where are the prosecutions if there is fraud?" said Human Services Specialist George Raya, in an interview with the Sacramento Press.

Official statewide investigations into IHSS have been generally supportive of the program.

Earlier this year, allegations of IHSS misuse prompted the California State Senate to order the Senate Office of Oversight and Outcomes (SOOO) to examine the program. On March 24, SOOO issued its report on IHSS, which found strong, but qualified, support for the program. While the report did criticize the program's inability to verify timesheets completed by caregivers, the report "found general consensus that [IHSS] saves taxpayers money in nursing home costs and improves the lives of its vulnerable beneficiaries."

In the July budget revision, the state government reduced funding for the program by $263.5 million. These reductions, which were a response to a $62 billion state deficit, will "limit the provision of IHSS services to the neediest consumers," according to a California state budget report issued by the Governor's office.

Responding to program criticism, budget-related changes include the implementation of "rigorous anti-fraud efforts," according to the report. They will require that all providers attend an orientation and be fingerprinted and subject caregivers to civil penalties if they falsify timesheets.

The California Department of Social Services reports that on Nov. 1, program reductions will result in 36,000 individuals currently covered by IHSS losing care coverage while approximately 97,000 see a reduction in care.

IHSS's future is uncertain, as it is largely tied to the status of California's state and county budgets, but supporters argue that cuts to the program create greater societal costs in the future. "It saves pennies, but it costs pounds later," said George Raya.

The Legislative Analyst's Office has reached a similar conclusion. A report issued by the organization on April 14, 2008 found that the IHSS program costs $12,406 per enrollee, while the comparable cost of a Medi-Cal skilled nursing facility was $57,182.

County lays off 300 staffers, 700 since July

2009-09-23T03:20:59Z

Sacramento County’s elected officials laid off 300 employees Tuesday, which brings the total number of layoffs to more than 700 since July, according to county spokesman Zeke Holst.

Susan Peters, chairwoman of the Board of Supervisors, said at the Tuesday board meeting that the layoffs were needed in response to the ailing economy. In her comments, she foreshadowed possible upcoming layoffs to address the county’s $76 million shortfall. “I honestly don’t think that this is the last time you’ll see us back here with position reductions,” Peters said.

“And we may be able to tweak a few things next week, but it’s not going to be very much, if anything,” she added. “I’m sorry the economy is the way it is, and I wish there was some way we could patch together this budget that no one would be hurt.”

Many more budget-related developments are expected to unfold in the coming weeks. The board approved layoffs Tuesday, but hasn’t yet passed its final budget for the current fiscal year. It has planned new budget hearings to take place Sept. 29, Oct. 1 and Oct. 2. The final budget is now scheduled to be approved Oct. 2, according to Mark Norris, administrator of the county’s Internal Services Agency.

County unions, including United Public Employees Local 1 and the Sacramento County Alliance of Law Enforcement, are likely to continue battling with the supervisors. Unions are strongly protesting a county plan to create shortened work schedules for about 7,000 employees.

Christa Yous, an investigative assistant with the Department of Human Assistance, told the supervisors that she has received a pink slip from the county and is on a future rehire list. With her voice shaking, Yous said she has become “the face of the terrible economic turmoil that’s before this county.”

Photo of Supervisor Susan Peters by Kati Garner.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

County: New budget gap on top of $68 million shortfall

2009-09-17T03:15:43Z

On top of its current $68 million shortfall, Sacramento County has a new $8.1 million budget gap from falling sales tax revenues, Sacramento County officials told the Board of Supervisors Wednesday.

The new budget gap means that layoffs — in addition to the 382 currently proposed — are a definite possibility, which is unfortunate, said County Executive Terry Schutten in response to a question from The Sacramento Press.

The Board of Supervisors was scheduled to make final decisions today to balance its 2009/2010 budget. However, the situation changed in light of new information that the county’s sales tax revenues are plummeting again. The board now plans to make its final budget decisions on Tuesday.

Planned budget cuts include the 382 layoffs and shortened work schedules for about 7,000 employees, according to the most recently updated information available Wednesday from county spokesman Zeke Holst.

Schutten said that county executives met on Monday and nearly balanced the supervisors’ final budget priorities.

“However, at 4:45 p.m. ... on Monday afternoon, our chief operating officer received notification from our tax consultant that, for the last quarter, our sales tax were down 26 percent. And for the entire year-to-year, our drop was approximately 14 percent,” Schutten told the supervisors.

Those figures create a $4.1 million gap, he explained. The county lost another $4 million in revenues from sales taxes that are collected statewide and then delivered to local governments for public safety programs, Schutten said. The loss of the sales tax money that goes to public safety programs will affect the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department, Probation Department and District Attorney’s office.

Meanwhile, the vice chair of United Public Employees Local 1 told the supervisors that the union would make concessions on retirement benefits if the county drops its proposal to shorten the work schedules for about 7,000 employees represented by unions.

“As a show of good faith yesterday, UPE is willing to defer the Retiree Health Savings Plan accounts that we have, which potentially saves the county millions of dollars," said Beverly Kearney, vice chair of UPE Local 1. "We’re hoping that this will save jobs and mitigate layoffs.”

But Schutten told The Sacramento Press after the board meeting that UPE’s proposal would not garner the savings the county needs. UPE’s “main concern was the retirement health care account, and that’s for $8 million,” Schutten said. "Of that $8 million, only $1.9 million is local dollars. So it’s not near enough to cover the shortfalls that we have. It was a good suggestion. We certainly appreciate it, and look forward to working with them.”

Photo of Supervisor Roger Dickinson by Kati Garner.

Photo of presentation on sales tax by Anthony Bento.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.