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

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.

Mayor to hold crime forum

2011-02-15T01:47:59Z

In response to the December shootings at a south Sacramento barbershop, Mayor Kevin Johnson will host a public forum on crime and violence on Wednesday in Oak Park.

“That was the latest spark, if you will, that brought the call for this particular meeting,” said R.E. Graswich, Johnson’s special assistant.

City Police Chief Rick Braziel and Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones will attend the event, according to the press offices of the two law enforcement agencies.

Graswich said the forum will include sessions for community members to discuss the causes of crime and violence in their neighborhoods and how those problems can be addressed.

“Obviously, we can’t tolerate this,” Graswich said.

Six suspects face murder charges from the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department for the Dec. 14 shooting at Fly Cuts and Styles Barber Shop at Stockton Blvd. and Lindale Drive. Monique Nelson, 30, died at the site of the shooting. Gunshot wounds were the cause of death a second person, 20-year-old Marvion Barksdale, according to the Sheriff’s Department.

The department suspects that Barksdale was involved with the shooting.

One of the six suspects, Larry Dean Jones, 29, is at large. The other five suspects are in jail, according to the Sheriff’s Department.

The forum on violence will be held from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. at the Oak Park Community Center, 3425 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Faith, business groups to advise sheriff

2011-02-08T01:29:52Z

Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones said Monday that he will ask faith and business groups to advise him on public safety issues. At a briefing with reporters at the Sheriff’s Department building downtown, Jones said he will create two new advisory boards with representatives from religious, community and business groups within the next three months.

Jones had pitched his plan to establish the two new advisory groups during his political campaign for sheriff last fall. These groups will help the department connect with youth and improve the county’s business climate, he said.

Jones has not yet named anyone to the new advisory groups, according to the Sheriff’s Department press office. The department already receives feedback from one group, the Sheriff’s Outreach Community Advisory Board.

The faith and community-based board will be “a mechanism to recruit and retain good, quality volunteers,” he said. “But also to reach the young people, which we have to do a better job of.”

Mindi Russell, executive director of the Law Enforcement Chaplaincy of Sacramento, said a faith-based group advising the Sheriff’s Department would help combat gangs and drug use because faith leaders deal with those problems “within their own house of worship,” she said.

Sacramento Metro Chamber President Matthew Mahood praised Jones on the idea of a business advisory group.

“It is something we applaud, and we appreciate his outreach to the business community,” Mahood said. “We encourage other elected officials to be as inclusive as possible with the employer community as we work together to improve the economic climate.”

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

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.

Budget cuts force two jail housing facilities to close down

2010-07-15T00:46:14Z

The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department’s $37.6 million budget deficit is forcing two inmate housing facilities to close down at the Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center (RCCC): the Roger Bauman Facility and the Sandra Larson Women’s Facility.

Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center houses 2,651 inmates and allocates 45 deputies per shift. In Sheriff John McGinness’ budget report for fiscal year 2010/2011, he stated that approximately 475 inmates would need to be released into the community to accommodate the reduction of 26 deputies.

Along with facilities closing down, the Sheriff’s Department has seen cuts elsewhere: the closure of the sheriff’s training academy, the closure of the emergency vehicle training program, the elimination of professional staff positions and the elimination of additional patrol deputies.

The Roger Bauman Facility and the Sandra Larson Women’s Facility, both located in Elk Grove, house about 150 inmates. Both facilities are expected to be fully closed by Sunday.

Male inmates from Roger Bauman Facility will be moved to other inmate housing facilities at RCCC and at the county jail. The transfer of the inmates depends on each inmate’s charges. The county jail can house 1,625 inmates.

Sheriff’s Department spokesman Sgt. Tim Curran said of the 132 female inmates, the specific number of inmates moving has yet to be determined and based on their evaluation.

Sandra Larson female inmates will be re-evaluated for participation in alternative sentencing programs that include the Sheriff’s work release and home detention programs, Curran wrote in a July 8 press release. He later said “they are evaluated based on their charges and if they meet the criteria of the two programs.”

Female inmates who do not qualify for these alternative sentencing programs will be transferred to the Sacramento County Jail to serve the remainder of their sentences.

The two programs are designed to relieve jail overcrowding, reduce costs and generate revenue. Low-risk inmates with less than 30 days to one year of time remaining on their sentence are eligible for these programs. Participants pay an initial $43.00 application fee and a daily fee of $20.00 for the work release program and $25.00 for the home detention program.

Sheriff’s department spokeswoman Sharon Chow said these two facilities were chosen because the inmates could easily be redistributed to other facilities. Curran added that the inmates in the Sandra Larson Women’s Facility are easily transferred into other programs.

More information on housing location and visitation hours can be found online at the Sheriff’s Department’s website at http://www.sacsheriff.com/ under “inmate information.”

Now that these facilities are to close down, the buildings will remain vacant.

Despite all the cuts being made in the Sheriff’s Department, McGinness reassures Sacramento citizens in his budget report, writing, “In these times of fiscal constraints, priorities must be set in order to ensure the community’s right to be safe in their homes and lives.”

City Council candidate concerned about youth violence

2010-04-26T19:19:07Z

Sacramento City Council candidate and law enforcement officer Henry Harry is troubled by youth violence in Sacramento.

Harry, an Oak Park resident and a 13-year Sacramento County deputy sheriff, said youth violence is one of the key reasons he’s running for Lauren Hammond’s District 5 City Council seat.

There are ways to prevent youth violence, Harry said, but too many young people are dying in Sacramento. “And it breaks my heart to see it,” he said.

The Sacramento Press is interviewing City Council candidates in advance of the June 8 election.

Harry, 44, is one of five candidates running for the District 5 seat. Hammond, the sitting councilwoman, is competing in a race for Assemblyman Dave Jones’ seat.

Neighborhoods in the district include Oak Park, Curtis Park, Tahoe Park West and Colonial Heights.

Violence involving black and Latino youth in Sacramento should be a priority for the city, Harry said.

“I am not ashamed to say there needs to be an agenda to address that in those communities,” Harry said. “So, if you want to call it a black agenda, if you want to call it a Hispanic agenda, I make no apologies for it.
But I think it’s just a city agenda to deal with those issues.”

He said he has lived in the city of Sacramento for two years and in the South Sacramento area for five years.

A founding member of the Sacramento Oak Park Foundation, Harry has worked with youth in Oak Park for the past several years.

“I started to see that you can do so much with a badge and a gun, but you can do so much more with helping these kids,” he said.

It’s possible to confront problems and violence affecting youth with little funding, he said. “A lot of the issues with these young folks can be addressed without money if you can inspire the mentors to get involved.”

Harry further said at-risk youth could be helped by city police if the department starts a program focused on youth mentoring.

Another area of his campaign focuses on eduction. Harry acknowledged that council members do not have jurisdiction over the Sacramento City Unified School District board. Still, he said he could speak out on education issues as a City Council member.

“Imagine your City Council person being a pit bull for education and coming with a two-prong attack,” he said.

He explained that his first focus or “prong” for education would be to make school board members more accountable to the citizens. In his second focus, he would work to inspire parents and children on education issues.

The education system in Sacramento has failures, Harry said.

He also wants to see public officials answer more questions from the public. The city government could be more accountable if public officials, such as the police chief and the interim city manager, would regularly answer questions from citizens on the record, he said.

Harry earned his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Union Institute & University in Sacramento.

Harry has raised significantly less money than some of his opponents. Campaign filings from March show that Harry has gathered $808.

Patrick Kennedy leads all five candidates in fundraising — he has taken in $109, 684. Jay Schenirer’s funds amounted to $82,712 in March. Terrence Johnson has raised $9,430. Assistant City Clerk Stephanie Mizuno said Leticia Hilbert has raised less than $1,000.

District 1:
Information about candidate Angelique Ashby’s campaign can be read here.
Read about candidate Efren Guttierrez’ campaign here.

District 3:
Candidate candidate Shawn Eldredge’s goals are explained here.
Learn about candidate Chris Little’s plans are outlined here.
Candidate Jeff Rainforth is profiled here.

District 5:
A story on candidate Terrence Johnson’s campaign can be read here.
Learn about candidate Patrick Kennedy’s plans here.
Candidate Jay Schenirer’s goals are explored here.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Deputy Sheriff's Association: Budget cuts hurt response times

2009-10-09T01:37:27Z

Emergency call response times will suffer as a result of the nearly $1 million in budget cuts facing the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department, according to the Sacramento County Deputy Sheriff’s Association.

When the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors approved the county's budget on Friday, it resolved a shortfall of $76 million. The county made major budget cuts to its programs and departments — including the Sheriff’s Department — and has laid off more than 700 employees since July.

The Sheriff’s Department will not face layoffs. However, the cuts will result in more vacancies for deputy positions at the department, said Kevin Mickelson, president of the Sacramento County Deputy Sheriff’s Association.

To pare down its budget to make the $987,000 in cuts, the department will need to create four more deputy vacancies, Mickelson said. The vacancies will be achieved through attrition. This means that when four deputies retire, resign or are terminated, the department will keep four open deputy positions, he explained.

Right now, the department has six deputy vacancies and one sheriff’s security officer vacancy, he said, noting that he additional four vacancies would create a total of 10 vacant deputy positions. The vacancies would bring down the number of deputies to 231 from 241, Mickelson said.

The department’s response time to critical calls will become longer as a result of the vacancies, Mickelson said. “There’s no way two ways about it,” he added.

Mickelson blamed the Board of Supervisors for making cuts to the Sheriff’s Department while providing funding to programs that cover the arts and the American River Parkway. “At some point in time, the Board of Supervisors needs to make public safety their No. 1 obligation,” Mickelson told The Sacramento Press.

The Board of Supervisors uses a list of priorities when it makes budget decisions. Law enforcement is the board’s first priority after it addresses mandated services and its debts, according to county documents.

Mickelson questions whether the board is truly making public safety its first priority.

But county officials view the issue differently.

Responding to Mickelson’s criticism, county spokesman Zeke Holst noted that the Board of Supervisors restored funding to the Sheriff’s Department in June. “At [the] proposed budget in June, the Board of Supervisors approved the restoration of $12.5 million to the Sheriff’s Department budget. Also, at this time, the board approved the concessions from the Deputy Sheriff’s Association of $10.6 million.”

Holst also pointed out that the supervisors made another restoration, of nearly $2 million, to the Sheriff’s Department on Oct. 2.

Betsy Braziel, a county communications officer, wrote in an Oct. 2 press release: “Board members reinforced their commitment to making public safety and protection of children their highest spending priorities.”

While the board restored funding to Child Protective Services, it also approved 186 layoffs to that agency.

Sacramento County needed to make its most recent $987,000 cut to the Sheriff’s Department because the county lost revenues from sales taxes that are collected statewide and then doled out to local governments for public safety purposes, County Executive Terry Schutten said last month.

During recent budget hearings Supervisor Jimmie Yee expressed concern for cuts to county social services while saying that the board has been supporting law enforcement with funding.

Yee addressed Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Mark Iwasa on the issue of funding during a Sept. 16 hearing. “I just want you to be aware that, hey, we’re struggling to find funds to keep you whole. But at the same, we have to look at the broad picture of the county, too.”

Yee added that the Sheriff’s Department is “not the only thing here.”

Photo by Anthony Bento.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

County avoided hundreds of layoffs

2009-07-23T04:11:05Z

Photo: Sheriff John McGinness

It still sounds bad: The county laid off more than 240 employees earlier this month. But it was supposed to be even worse: A total of 800 layoff notices were sent to county employees in June.

Though 800 pink slips were sent to employees in June, the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors and officials at county departments took steps to prevent several hundred of the planned layoffs, according to a county spokesman.

The county made major budget cuts to its departments and laid off 243 people to respond to its previous $180 million budget gap for the 2009/2010 fiscal year. The 243 figure does not account for layoffs at the Sacramento County District Attorney’s office and at the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department.

“After 800 letters were distributed, the Board or departments restored 293 positions due to various actions and rescinded those layoff notices,” County spokesman Zeke Holst explained. “That brought the total layoff notices down to 507. Of those, 197 transferred or demoted within their departments and 67 transferred or demoted to other departments.”

These actions lowered the number of layoffs to 243, Holst said. As late as July 1, Holst did not have an exact number for layoffs because county employees and managers were still figuring out how many people would lose jobs.

Meanwhile, the Sheriff's Department will lay off 209 sworn deputies and 40 other employees, Sgt. Tim Curran said. The last day of work for the Sheriff's Department employees facing layoffs will be Aug. 1.

Sheriff John McGinness acknowledged last month that he made an error when he crunched numbers for the numbers of layoffs at his department. When he corrected his error, he added about 80 more layoffs to the total.

The district attorney’s office is laying off 16 employees on Aug. 1, according to Shelly Orio, a spokeswoman for the office.

When the board of supervisors approved its proposed budget in June, the county still faced a $19 million budget gap in the state-mandated programs the county administers, according to Linda Foster-Hall, the county budget officer.

But the $19 million number “was a snapshot on June 17," Holst said. “Since that time, the number has fluctuated.”

Holst did not have a specific figure for the budget gap on July 20. County officials will present an update on the budget gap on Aug. 11, he said.

The county budget is now being affected in both positive and negative ways. “In a nutshell, we are in line to receive some federal dollars that will reduce the number [for the budget gap], which is good,” Holst said. “However, we are seeing a continued decrease in property tax and sales tax revenues.”

*Photo courtesy of the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.