With this year's extremely crowded playing field, it becomes increasingly important to examine Council candidates' positions on a variety of issues. Trade groups, meeting organizers, advocates and others can't do an analysis of every candidate's position on every important subject facing Sacramento, but we can zero in on on particular areas dear to our hearts. In this vein, SactoMoFo has put together this chart to illustrate candidates' support - or lack thereof - for food trucks, and what role they see restaurant owners taking in the regulation of their competition. A copy of the chart is embedded below, but the full version is eaiser to read and be found here.    Many people see suppor

Another city budget, another crisis, another standoff with employee unions over pensions and givebacks. Sacramento’s budget crisis is a predictable story, and just as predictable is that when a city has to make cuts, the first ones to feel the pain are those without power or the money to hire lobbyists. People like Brittany Willeford, the mentally disabled 22-year-old woman the Sacramento Press covered earlier this month when she had the courage to address City Council about pending cuts to Access Leisure, a city program that provides social and recreational activities that more than 3,000 disabled young adults in Sacramento have come to rely on. The amount of money in question to save p

The candidates from all of the City Council district races, the mayoral race and two Board of Supervisors races will face off Saturday at a forum hosted by the League of Women Voters. One notable exception: Mayor Kevin Johnson is not scheduled to appear. According to Johnson’s campaign manager, Steve Maviglio, Johnson has “no need” to attend. “Given the large number of events the mayor has attended over the past year, and since none of his opponents are waging a real campaign against him, he chose not to participate in this event,” Maviglio said Friday. The news of Johnson’s planned absence came as no surprise to mayoral candidate Jonathan Rewers. “He’s not even campaigning,” Rewers s

David Turturici is one City Council candidate who said he refuses to drink the arena "Kool-Aid” because he thinks it’s a bad deal for the city. Instead, he wants to see Sacramento use its resources on shoring up basic services – especially public safety – to get the city headed toward being more livable. “The Kings are part of the city culture, but they’re not the only thing,” Turturici said Wednesday. “To gather up everything we can find to spend trying to keep them here is unconscionable.” Turturici, an estate planning attorney who moved to Sacramento from the Stockton area in 2000, is running for the City Council District 4 seat. He said he never considered running for a political of

Sacramento Preservation Roundtable – Spring 2012 Date: Saturday, March 10, 2012 from 9:00 AM to 12:00 Noon Place: The Courtyard Building, 1322 “O” Street near the corner of 14th & O Streets Continental Breakfast served * $5 requested donation to cover breakfast The Sacramento Preservation Roundtable is a quarterly gathering of community organizations to share information about historic preservation projects and policies, adaptive reuse and green building, heritage tourism and local history, and other topics of interest within the city of Sacramento. The featured agenda item at this Preservation Roundtable is a forum and debate for City Council candidates in District 4, including the cen

Part of gearing up for elections is knowing what to expect – and when. Here is a quick overview of important dates and details leading up to the Sacramento City Council elections in June. Who’s running? For 2012, the races are for council districts 2, 4, 6 and 8 and mayor. All people interested in running for office in districts 6 and 8 have until Thursday Friday to turn in their candidacy forms to the city clerk’s office. The city clerk's business hours are Monday-Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and closed Fridays. Candidates for districts 2 and 4 have until March 14 to turn in their forms because the incumbents for those districts – Sandy Sheedy for District 2 and Rob Fong for Distr

Community activist and local pastor Jason Sample announced his candidacy Feb. 24 for the City Council District 2 seat, and he received the endorsement of incumbent Sandy Sheedy at his announcement event. "I take my endorsement very seriously, and what better person to give it to than Jason Sample who cares and has done so much for our community?” Sheedy said in a press release. Sheedy announced in January that she will not seek re-election to the council seat she has held for 12 years Sample, 35, is a senior pastor of True Life Ministries Worship Center in Del Paso Heights, and his wife, Yanette, is a social worker. “We have a lot of interesting conversations at home about the conditio

The ever-widening field of candidates for District 4 opened up once again as Land Park resident Terry Schanz joined the 2012 City Council race. Schanz (pronounced “Shawnz”), 33, said Friday that his background in public policy – extending from a degree in political science from UC San Diego, to community-building work in Cape Town, South Africa, to eight years with the State Legislature – is one reason he is the best candidate for the job. “My experience is in public service,” Schanz said. “I live it every day. I understand it, and I understand what it takes to make good policy. City Council is, first and foremost, a policymaking body.” For a self-described “hometown boy” who spent his

The 2012 election cycle is ramping up in Sacramento, and one topic that is sure to be on the table is a strong mayor initiative. Mayor Kevin Johnson brought the topic to the fore during his 2008 campaign for mayor shortly after his 2008 election win in his race against then-mayor Heather Fargo, but the idea didn’t fly with members of the City Council, and the initiative never got off the ground. With another mayoral race coming up in 2012, Johnson said he believes the idea of a strong mayor initiative is ripe for ballot consideration once again. “This is a topic that people are ready to take on,” Johnson said at a press conference Tuesday. “There are many people involved and interested

Kim Mack said she decided to run for City Council District 2 because she saw a need that hasn’t been filled in her North Sacramento community: responsive leadership. That isn’t necessarily a dig at the current council member for the district, Mack said Tuesday – it’s a statement of purpose. Mack, 49, has a long career in government service under her belt, including campaign experience as a field organizer for Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign where she was responsible for campaign activities from Bakersfield to the Oregon border. Mack also worked on local campaigns including Ami Bera's recent run for the 3rd Congressional District and Richard Pan’s successful run for Assembly.

With the 2012 election cycle right around the corner, Allen Wayne Warren is giving serious thought to whether now is the time to throw his hat into the ring for the upcoming City Council race for District 2. Warren, 47, is a local real estate developer who grew up in Del Paso Heights. A graduate of Grant High School, Warren went to College of the Siskiyous in northern California and went on to receive a bachelor’s degree in political science and business administration from California State University Hayward (now CSU East Bay). He comes from a tight-knit, hard working family who gave him the foundation for success, Warren said Friday. “My mother always said, ‘you’re going to college,’

Mayor Kevin Johnson announced Wednesday at the Capitol Heights Academy that he is running for re-election. “I am thrilled to announce – after much deliberation, prayer, conversation and discussion with many of you out there today – I have decided to run for another term (as) the mayor of Sacramento,” Johnson said before a crowd of more than 200 supporters. Johnson said he plans to approach his campaign for re-election by working harder and longer than anyone else to earn votes. He emphasized community involvement as the most important means for his success in the election. Johnson will be holding listening sessions throughout the city, and town hall meetings will be held in October, Nov

Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op members will likely see only a phony “against” ballot argument when they vote in September on Measure 2, a Board-sponsored bylaws amendment that would bar the store from considering any political views or country of origin in making purchasing or any other decisions. The elections page on the Co-op website presents a 263-word (the limit is 275) “for” argument from the Board, “countered” by a mere 63-word, sarcastic offering, purportedly from Charles Steven Arevalo, who is unknown to any of the active opponents of Measure 2. Any reader can tell that his true position is in favor, not against. “This cynical move really takes the organic, honey-sweetened carro

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

Arco Arena was bursting at the seams on Friday night, but it wasn’t for a Kings game or a rock concert. Instead, people from all walks of life were gathered for “A Night of Hope” with Joel and Victoria Osteen, a touring event featuring worship music, testimony by church leaders and a sermon from the charismatic megapastor Osteen. Named by Barbara Walters in 2006 as one of the year’s “Ten Most Fascinating People,” Osteen, 47, is a bestselling author and pastor of the enormous Lakewood Church in Houston. As the largest congregation in the U.S., it averages more than 43,500 in attendance per week and is housed in the previous home of the Houston Rockets professional basketball team, the for

With a 528-vote margin and large numbers of unprocessed ballots, Sacramento City Council District 5 candidates said Wednesday they're waiting for a final count in the race. City Council races won't be updated for two weeks. As of Wednesday, an estimated 108,000 vote-by-mail ballots and 12,000 provisional ballots must still be processed in the county.  The number of ballots still to be counted in District 5 may be known as early as Friday, but possibly not until Tuesday, said Brad Buyse, campaign services manager for the Sacramento County elections department.  As of election night, candidate Jay Schenirer (pronounced "Sha-neer") had captured 4,309 votes, while the tally for Patrick Kenn

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 candida

Election night is over but Sacramento County workers are still wading in ballots. The Sacramento County Voter Registration and Elections Department must keep counting votes, according to Brad Buyse, the county’s campaign services manager. Tens of thousands of vote-by-mail ballots were turned in Tuesday, he said. However, the county finished its precinct-counting from Tuesday’s voting.  Here is a roundup of local election results with all precincts reported: Sacramento City Council District 5 Education policy consultant Jay Schenirer had a significant lead by late Tuesday night. Schenirer: 53 percent Patrick Kennedy: 46 percent Sacramento City Council District 7 The two candidates are

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. Photos by Brandon Darnell. Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

District 5 City Council candidate Patrick Kennedy is behind in votes with 3,781 compared with Jay Schenirer's 4,309 votes. 41 of 41 precincts have been counted. There are, however, still “tens of thousands” of absentee votes turned in on election day countywide that have yet to be counted, said Brad Buyse, Sacramento County’s campaign services manager District 5 City Council candidate Kennedy gathered with his campaign party, family and friends at Coffee Garden to watch the results of the race as the polls closed and the votes were counted. Kenny Alvarado, campaign manager, was positive about the outcome of a multi-month effort.  “It's tough to say how the votes will go,” he said. “I