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

District 7: Chin weighs conceding

2010-11-12T22:45:15Z

District 7 City Council

As election results continue to trickle in, District 7 City Council candidate Ryan Chin is feeling less confident about his prospects for a win.

“It’s obviously not going in my direction,” Chin said.

In the District 7 race, Fong was leading with 52 percent of the vote Thursday night. Chin followed with 47 percent. In the Nov. 3 results release, Fong had 51 percent to Chin’s 48 percent.

Chin said he might “reach out” to opponent Darrell Fong. But it was unclear Friday if or when Chin will concede the race.

“We’re happy that our numbers held and that our numbers went up,” Fong said Friday.

Sacramento County Sheriff’s Race

Both Sheriff Capt. Scott Jones and Capt. Jim Cooper, said they were feeling confident Friday.

The race narrowed Thursday night, bringing Cooper closer to Jones’ lead. Results released late Thursday afternoon showed Jones with 50 percent of the vote, while Cooper had 49 percent, a slight increase for Cooper since the Nov. 3 election results update.

Jones said that while his lead had slightly receded, he remained confident. “The reality is the prospects never looked better,” Jones said.

Cooper, meanwhile, said he was still optimistic. “We’re still plugging along,” he said.

Brad Buyse, campaign manager for the Sacramento County Elections Department, said the next batch of election results will be released Monday afternoon.

The Elections Department has about 21,600 ballots left to count from the Nov. 2 election, according to a Friday update on its website.

Photos of Fong, Chin, Cooper and Jones by Kathleen Haley.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Opposite takes on sheriff's race

2010-11-04T00:02:27Z

The two candidates for Sacramento County sheriff are reading the results of a close race in opposite ways. Sheriff Capt. Scott Jones said he is so confident with the results that he’s planning to discuss his vision soon with outgoing Sheriff John McGinness.

But Jones’ opponent, Sheriff Capt. Jim Cooper, said the county has so many more ballots to count that the outcome is unknown.

By the latest count, Jones leads with 50.8 percent of the vote, and Cooper follows with 48.8 percent. Sacramento County’s elections department has a total of 120,000 ballots left to count, according to the department’s website. Of the remaining ballots, 108,000 are vote-by-mail and 12,000 are provisional.

Jones said Cooper is not likely to beat him, even with all the uncounted votes.

“It’s a mathematical possibility, but a statistical improbability,” Jones said Wednesday afternoon.

Jones said he plans to start talking to McGinness soon about the transition process, as well as his vision for the job of sheriff.

Meanwhile, Cooper noted that the county has many remaining ballots to count. He said he would let the ballot-counting process take its course.

“Basically, it’s just hurry up and wait,” Cooper said.

It could be weeks before the sheriff’s results are final, according to Brad Buyse, the county’s campaign services manager. Buyse noted that the county’s deadline to certify the votes is Nov. 30.

Photos of Cooper and Jones by Kati Garner.

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

SacPress election blog, part two: The tallies

2010-11-03T03:37:50Z

1:11 a.m. update final results

The ballot counting is far from over.

The Sacramento County Voter Registration and Elections Department still has to count tens of thousands of vote-by-mail ballots that were turned in to the polls Election Day, said Brad Buyse, Sacramento County’s campaign services manager. And there are thousands of vote-by-mail ballots sent to the county in the last three days that still need to be counted, Buyse said.

Still, the elections department posted results late into the night on Wednesday.

Here is where the following local measures stand:

Measure B: Utilities Rollback
The “no” side had 68 percent of the vote, with 93 percent of precincts reporting. Support for the measure made up 31 percent of the vote.

Measure C: Medical Marijuana Business Tax
The elections department had counted 93 percent of precincts by 12:30 a.m. The “yes” side had 71 percent of the vote, while the “no” side had 28 percent of the vote.

Measure D: Arden Arcade Cityhood
By 12:30 a.m., 86 percent of the precincts had been counted. The “no” side was leading with 75 percent of the vote.

Sheriff
With 88 percent of precincts reporting, Sheriff’s Capt. Scott Jones led with 50 percent of the vote. Capt. Jim Cooper was trailing with 48 percent of the vote.

District 5
Jay Schenirer was leading with 97 percent of precincts reporting. Schenirer had 52 percent of the vote, while Patrick Kennedy had 47 percent.

District 7
Darrell Fong was the frontrunner with all precincts reported. However, the county still has many remaining vote-by-mail ballots to count. Fong had 51 percent of the vote, while Chin had 48 percent.

12:25 a.m. update

Measure C

Sacramento voters are likely to approve a tax on local medical marijuana dispensaries. With 331 of 355 precincts reporting, the “yes” side had 71 percent of the vote. The “no” side had 28 percent of the vote.

With voter approval of Measure C, medical marijuana dispensaries could pay business taxes as high as four percent of their gross receipts per year.

However, the City Council has the authority to set a tax rate on medical marijuana businesses that is lower than 4 percent of yearly gross receipts.

11:33 p.m. update

Measures B, C and D

Measure B

Measure B continues to sputter in the polls. With 80 percent of precincts reporting, 68 percent of voters had rejected the measure, which would have rolled back recent utilities increases. The “yes” side had 31 percent of the vote by 10:55 p.m.

Measure C
Sacramento voters are favoring Measure C, which would set a business operations tax on medical pot dispensaries. The “yes” side had 71 percent of the vote with 80 percent of precincts reported. The “no” side had 28 percent of the votes counted.

Measure D
With 76 percent of the precincts reporting, voters are opposing cityhood for Arden Arcade. By 10:55 p.m., 75 percent of voters were rejecting incorporation. Cityhood supporters made up 24 percent of the vote.

Sacramento County Sheriff

Sheriff’s Capt. Scott Jones is still leading in the race for sheriff. Jones had 51 percent of the vote, with about 76 percent of precincts reported. Sheriff’s Capt. Jim Cooper had 48 percent of the vote.

City Council runoff races

District 5
The District 5 race nearing its end at 10:55 p.m. With 39 of 41 precincts reporting, Jay Schenirer was leading with 52 percent of the vote. Patrick Kennedy had 47 percent of the vote.

District 7
Darrell Fong is leading in the District 7 race with nearly 93 percent of precincts reported. Fong had 51 percent of the vote, while Chin had 48 percent.

10:30 p.m. update

Measures B & C

Measure B
A second round of election returns shows that voters are opposing Measure B. The measure, which would overturn a 9.2 percent utilities rate hike, was losing in the polls with 216 of 355 precincts counted. At 9:51 p.m., the “no” side had 67 percent of the votes, while the “yes” side had 32 percent.

Measure C
In the latest batch of election results, voters continued to show strong support for taxing medical marijuana dispensaries in Sacramento. With 216 of 355 precincts counted, 72 percent of voters were backing Measure C. The “no” side had 27 percent of the vote.

City Council runoff races

District 5
In a second round of election results, City Council candidate Jay Schenirer kept his slight lead over opponent Patrick Kennedy. With 27 of 41 precincts reporting, Schenirer had 2,115 votes to Kennedy’s 2,077 votes.

District 7
The District 7 race is extremely close. Darrell Fong is 15 votes ahead of Ryan Chin. Fong has 3,165 votes, while Chin has 3,150 votes.

Sacramento County Sheriff

Sacramento County Sheriff’s Capt. Scott Jones now has 52 percent of the vote, while Capt. Jim Cooper follows with 47 percent. By 9:51 p.m., 694 of 1,158 precincts had reported.

10:23 p.m. update

Measure B going down to defeat

Early returns indicate Sacramento residents won't see monthly utility rates drop next summer after voters overwhelmingly rejected Measure B at the polls Tuesday.

The initiative to roll back the city's rates for water, garbage and sewer services was failing by more than two to one. With 216 out of 355 precincts counted, 26,417 – or 67 percent – of voters have cast ballots against the measure as of 9:51 p.m. Tuesday. Nearly 13,000 voters, or 33 percent, had voted for the Utilities Rate Hike Roll Back Act of 2010.

Yes on Measure B supporters blamed confusing ballot language and heavily financed opposition by unions, developers and city officials.

The Sacramento County Taxpayers League sponsored the measure to revoke a 9.2 percent rate increase approved by the City Council in June 2009. The measure also required voters to approve future rate increases that are higher than annual Consumer Price Index increases.

Opponents contributed $150,000 to $250,000 to send out mass mailings, air radio ads and post campaign signs against the measure in the final weeks of the campaign, while the taxpayers league raised about $60,000, said Yes on Measure B Chairman Craig Powell.

A "No on Measure B" campaign was led by Sacramento City Councilmen Kevin McCarty and Steve Cohn. Tuesday afternoon, Mayor Kevin Johnson also said he opposed the measure. Johnson and McCarty have both said they'd like the city's Department of Utilities to be audited.

8:57 p.m. update

First results on Measures B, C and D

Measure B

Early results show voters rejecting Measure B, which would reverse a 9.2 percent utilities rate hike. Voters were opposing the measure by a wide margin, with 192 of 355 precincts reported. The “no” side had 66 percent of the votes counted, while the “yes” side had 33 percent.

Measure C
Voters are backing a measure to place a business operations tax on medical marijuana dispensaries in Sacramento. Initial results show that voters are supporting the measure with 73 percent of votes counted. About 26 percent of the votes reported opposed the measure. The early results are based on 192 of 355 precincts reporting.

Measure D
The first round of election results shows strong opposition to the creation of a city of Arden Arcade. With 48 of 82 precincts reporting, 77 percent of voters were rejecting the measure. Twenty-two percent of voters were supporting it.

City Council Races

District 5

The first batch of results for City Council District 5 has the candidates neck and neck. Education policy consultant Jay Schenirer has 1,503 votes, while attorney Patrick Kennedy has 1,476 votes. At 8 p.m., 21 of the 41 precincts in the District 5 race had been counted.

District 7

City Council candidate Darrell Fong has a slight lead over his opponent, Ryan Chin, in Sacramento's District 7. With 23 of 42 precincts reported, Fong had 51 percent of the vote to Chin’s 48 percent.

Sacramento County Sheriff race

Sacramento County Sheriff’s Capt. Scott Jones is leading in the race for sheriff. Jones had 53 percent of votes cast with 657 of 1,158 precincts reported. Jones’ opponent, Sheriff’s Capt. Jim Cooper had about 46 percent of votes cast in the early returns.

The updates above were all reported and written by Kathleen Haley, Sacramento Press staff.

District 7: Robbie Waters backs Darrell Fong

2010-08-12T01:09:22Z

Outgoing Sacramento City Councilman Robbie Waters is backing candidate Darrell Fong in the runoff election for the District 7 seat that covers the Pocket/Greenhaven and Valley Hi neighborhoods.

Waters, who has served as the District 7 council member since 1994, lost the race in June to opponents Darrell Fong and Ryan Chin. Waters came in third place out of four candidates, with 27 percent of the vote.

Chin led the group in the June election with 37 percent of the vote. He is now competing in a runoff campaign against Fong, who garnered 32 percent of votes cast. The two candidates must face off again because the city’s rules say that a council candidate needs at least 50 percent of the vote plus one vote to win.

The runoff election will be held Nov. 2.

“I think it will help a lot,” Fong said, commenting on Waters’ endorsement.

Both Waters and Fong had long law enforcement careers with the Sacramento Police Department. In addition to his career at the police department, Waters served as Sacramento County’s sheriff from 1982 to 1987.

Fong said he and Waters understand the importance of law enforcement to residents and businesses. He also said they are public servants who grew up in Sacramento.

Fong emphasized that District 7 should change its City Council representative when he was running against Waters. In a phone interview Wednesday, Fong repeated that residents want a change in leadership. However, Fong has not criticized Waters’ work as a city councilman.

In an Aug. 3 letter to voters, Waters explained that he endorsed Fong because of his law enforcement background.

“Over his 30-year career in Sacramento’s Police Department, Captain Fong has demonstrated integrity, bravery, and leadership,” Waters wrote. “Darrell put his life on the line as the leader of our city’s Gang Task Force.”

Meanwhile, Chin said the city could benefit from his “strong business background,” experience with education and community service. Currently, Chin is a strategic communications director at California State University, Sacramento. He holds a master’s degree in business administration from the University of California, Davis, and formerly worked for Hewlett-Packard.

Chin pointed out that Fong referred to himself as an “outsider” on the city of Sacramento’s website, but is endorsed by council members Waters, Rob Fong and Sandy Sheedy.

In response to Chin, Fong said he has never been involved with politics and is not seeking political office beyond the City Council.

Waters was unavailable for comment Wednesday afternoon.

Photos of Fong and Chin by Kathleen Haley. Photo of Waters by Anthony Bento.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Sacramento County Sheriff Approving More Concealed Weapons Permits

2009-10-25T06:33:53Z

Sacramentans are arming themselves in increasing numbers, statistics from the Sacramento County Sheriff reveal.

Applications approved by the sheriff to carry a concealed weapon have increased more than 500 percent from 2008, statistics show. By September 30, the department had approved 37 applications to carry a concealed weapon, compared with six approved applications in 2008.

The sheriff also has been denying applications in increasing numbers: 25 applications were denied by September 30, compared with 10 permit denials in 2008. Overall, the sheriff had approved or denied 62 concealed weapon permits by October, nearly four times as many as had been processed through 2008.

Earlier this year, Sheriff John McGinness said he would consider issuing more concealed weapons permits as the Sheriff’s Department faced steep budget cuts that would lay off hundreds of deputies. “I have to be open to the potential that there will be more people in need of the ability to protect themselves as individuals," he said in May.

Since May, the sheriff’s budget has been cut by $39 million and 122 deputies have been laid off. McGinness has not responded to requests for comment on the concealed weapon permit statistics.

Sam Parades, executive director of Gun Owners of California, said the figures show a positive trend. “Concealed weapons permits holders are the most law-abiding citizens in the state of California,” he said. “Going from six to 36 is nice, but it’s really not enough. … We think that Sheriff McGinness needs to contemplate issuing more permits, especially because they all admit they’re going to have to take deputies off the street.”

Sacramento resident Geri Crawford said the statistics are a sign of the times. “I think a lot more people are interested in protecting themselves,” she said. “In general, people are more fearful now because of the Sheriff’s Department layoffs.”

Amanda Wilcox of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence said the numbers are disturbing. “More CCW permits, which would result in more loaded hidden guns in public, would not make us safer and could actually increase gun violence in Sacramento County,” she said via e-mail. “There are many documented crimes and misdeeds by permit holders.”

The Brady Campaign released a study in June that said concealed weapon permit holders killed 51 people, including seven police officers, from May 2007 to April 2009. The Gun Owners Foundation, however, counters that information with data from a 1997 study sponsored by the Department of Justice that found guns are used 1.5 million times per year for self defense.

The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors recently cut the sheriff’s budget an additional $987,000, but the sheriff has stated that the cuts will not result in more deputy layoffs.