Newest articles on The Sacramento Press written by Kathleen Haley

How dads can help with Little League, Boy Scouts

2011-06-17T02:51:44Z

Bob Tanaka has a long personal history with the Boy Scouts. Now the father of a 13-year-old, Tanaka serves as a scoutmaster for his son’s troop in Sacramento.

But Tanaka, 47, brings plenty of experience to his scoutmaster duties: He earned the prestigious title of Eagle Scout during his own days with the Boy Scouts.

“Scouting meant a lot to me as a youth,” Tanaka said, “and I appreciate the opportunity to serve again as an adult.”

Tanaka said he volunteers around 30 hours per week with Troop 50, which meets at the Buddhist Church of Sacramento at Riverside Boulevard and Broadway.

“I grew up in this program in the late ’70s and early ’80s,” Tanaka said, adding that scouting is a “lifetime experience” that he treasures.

Local Boy Scouts and Little League groups provide ways for fathers to volunteer, connect with and support their children.

Tanaka, a civil engineer for CalTrans, said he encourages fathers to volunteer with the scouts because “it’s very worthwhile and very rewarding.”

Bob Cardosa, a state worker, also volunteers time to help his children and other young kids. Cardosa is manager for the Land Park Pacific Little League and the father of a 9-year-old girl, Kelly, who played on the team. The last game for the season was June 8.

Cardosa, 52, coached his three other children in the past when they were younger.

He said he enjoys watching the players start at a beginning point and then later learning the game to the point where they “make a play that blows you away.”

To volunteer with local Boy Scout Troops, call 929-1417 or log onto www.beascout.org.

To learn more about the Land Park Pacific Little League, visit http://www.lppll.com/.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Retiree benefits data released to the Bee

2011-06-17T02:23:39Z

The agency that manages retirement benefits for Sacramento County employees provided in-depth information about retirees’ finances to The Sacramento Bee earlier this week after a lengthy court battle.

The Sacramento County Employees’ Retirement System released information about retirees on June 13, Richard Stensrud, the chief executive officer of SCERS said Wednesday.

Joyce Terhaar, executive editor of the Bee, confirmed in an interview Thursday that the newspaper received retiree information from SCERS after suing for it in 2010.“In general, it should have been available from the beginning,” Terhaar said, referring to the data SCERS submitted.

The Bee, which joined with the First Amendment Coalition in a lawsuit against SCERS in 2010, is currently working on stories about the retirees’ information, Terhaar said. She added that she did not know the dates the stories will be published.

The Bee stories may report information that includes the names of retirees and beneficiaries who are collecting benefits, their retirement dates, the names of the departments or agencies for which they worked, their jobs at the time of retirement and how long they were in the retirement system, according to a June 9 letter Stensrud sent to SCERS members.

Retirement allowances, cost of living payments and current retirement payments could also be included in the stories, he wrote.

A June 10 Bee editorial said that the taxpayers should not be blocked from learning the information. “That money comes not just from county employees and retirees, but taxpayers, too. Taxpayers have a right to know what they are paying for,” according to the editorial.

James Diepenbrock, the president of SCERS’ board of directors, said the board did not want to release the information because doing so would make SCERS vulnerable to lawsuits by its members.

Diepenbrock said SCERS must adhere to County Employees Retirement Law of 1937. “That act specifically states that we are to maintain the confidentiality of members’ records,” he said. “As a fiduciary, the board and I felt we can’t release this data because of the way the law reads.”

Terhaar said the courts disagreed with the board’s interpretation of the law.

Stensrud also acknowledged the courts’ views in his letter to retirees.

“Unfortunately, however, both the trial court and the Court of Appeals concluded that the disclosure principles of the (California Public Records Act) outweigh the confidentiality provisions of the 1937 Act,” he wrote.

The Sacramento Bee and First Amendment Coalition won both of their legal fights with SCERS. The Third District Court of Appeals decided May 11 that names of SCERS’ retirees and beneficiaries and their payment information should be publicly released, according to a statement on the SCERS website.

The prior court battle played out in Sacramento County Superior Court, which determined in July 2010 that the data about retirees and beneficiaries should be released under the state’s Public Records Act.

“SCERS does not agree with the conclusion reached by the courts, and continues to believe that ‘naming names’ adds minimal value to the oversight of public employee benefits,” Stensrud wrote in his letter.

“SCERS also continues to be concerned that in this digital age the release of such detailed information could be used by people with questionable motives to prey upon vulnerable retirees and beneficiaries,” he wrote.

SCERS charged the Bee $560 for the records it delivered on Monday, Stensrud said. The charge was to cover the costs of SCERS’ staff time to create a new report out of various databases and for conducting manual research for an element of the data that was not in an existing database, he said.

The Public Records Act states that a public agency can charge fees for “direct costs of duplication” of data.

The information can now be obtained by anyone who wants to make a Public Records Act request. Stensrud said he was unsure of what the charge would be to give out the same information that was provided to the Bee.

Read Stensrud’s June 9 letter to SCERS members here.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Layoffs of 35 city cops avoided

2011-06-15T05:37:18Z

Thirty-five police jobs were saved from proposed layoffs after the Sacramento Police Department received a waiver on a federal grant that funds officer positions, spokesman Sgt. Norm Leong confirmed late Tuesday night.

The number of proposed layoffs in the 2011/2012 budget for Sacramento police officers has dropped from 81 to 46.

The City Council will vote next week on proposed budget cuts that include layoffs of cops and other Police Department staffers. Council members were weighing whether to lay off 81 police officers, but the grant waiver means they will decide whether to lay off 46 officers. The council will also choose whether to lay off 68 civilian police department staffers – those proposed cuts were not affected by the federal grant waiver.

The city is facing a $39 million budget gap for the 2011/2012 fiscal year.

"This grant exemption is a positive in an otherwise difficult budget year,” Police Chief Rick Braziel wrote in a Tuesday night press statement. “We are thankful for the quick approval of this grant exemption, which would not have been possible without the efforts of Bernard Melekian from the Department of Justice, the support of Congresswoman Doris Matsui and the hard work of our police staff.”

Meanwhile, Interim Deputy City Manager Betty Masuoka told the City Council at a Tuesday night budget hearing that she had no update on any labor concessions from city unions. Despite the standstill, “staff continues to have an open door” to negotiations with city unions, she said.

In addition, the city could still negotiate with the unions for possible concessions after the budget is approved, Masuoka said.

While Councilman Darrell Fong, a retired police captain, has said he intends to vote for the police cuts, he announced at Tuesday’s council meeting that he would redirect his City Council salary for the 2011/2012 fiscal year to the Police Department’s budget.

The base pay for Sacramento City Council members is $60,800 annually.

“I’m hopeful as we continue between now and next week to keep having discussions and hope to get to a better place,” Mayor Kevin Johnson said at the meeting.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Top EPA official speaks in Sacramento

2011-06-14T02:27:27Z

The nation’s top environmental official, Lisa Jackson, expressed her view in Sacramento on Monday that federal and state environmental regulations can help create demand for green businesses and technologies.

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Jackson spoke about environmental regulation and green jobs to an audience of more than 250 people at the Cal/EPA building downtown. She was the latest in a string of high-profile speakers brought into town to speak on behalf of “Greenwise,” Mayor Kevin Johnson’s environmental initiative.

Contrary to the views of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which argues that businesses are stymied by many environmental regulations, Jackson said that regulations from EPA can help prod the formation of new green businesses.

By cracking down on pollution through regulation, EPA pushes companies to consider the pollution that comes from products, she said.

“You have to demand ‘clean.’ And we do that through our regulations,” she said.

Jackson said she was confident that environmentally sound technologies and products can be created.

“So there’s no doubt in my mind, as an engineer, that once this country continues to demand clean, green, sustainable, environmentally just solutions, that we can and will develop and invent and commercialize the technologies to make it happen,” she said.

State and federal environmental regulations can provide “the push” necessary to build demand for green products, Jackson said.

Johnson, who also spoke at the event, issued another call for Sacramento to be a national front-runner with its environmental efforts. He said a green economy can benefit the region in two ways: “One, we could create jobs with the green economy, and we can improve our environment,” Johnson said.

Julia Burrows, the project manager for the Greenwise program, told the audience about the status of the program’s efforts.

She said the Greenwise team is forming a group to finance environmental retrofits at schools.

Greenwise is also forming a business leadership council “to advocate for policy and to work on the bottom line in the region,” she said.

In addition, the Sacramento Area Council of Governments is working on efforts to bring more electric vehicle charging stations to the region, she said.

Kim Smith of Sacramento said after the event that Jackson’s speech was the second Greenwise function she had attended. “I just think it was an honor to have her here,” Smith, a Cal/EPA employee, said. “She’s a real person, and I enjoyed her conversation.”

Smith said she was enthusiastic about the Greenwise program’s upcoming efforts.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Guide to firefighters' pay and benefits

2011-06-12T23:37:33Z

The Sacramento City Council’s tentative decision last week to make major cuts to public safety brings police and firefighter jobs into the spotlight.

Six City Council members said they intend to raise the number of brownouts or alternating closures of fire services from two to four.

While the city has no plans to lay off firefighters, the public debate over possible cuts to public safety begs the question: How much do firefighters in the city get paid? How do their benefits work?

The brownouts may be part of the final budget the City Council is expected to approve on June 21. The city is facing a $39 million deficit.

The Sacramento Press published a guide to police officers’ pay and benefits on June 5, and is now looking at firefighters’ salary and benefits.

Firefighter pay

There are several kinds of unionized jobs in the Sacramento Fire Department, according to data on the city’s website. These job titles are firefighter, firefighter/paramedic, engineer, engineer/paramedic, captain, captain/paramedic and battalion chief.

About 500 employees hold these positions, Michael Stover, administrative officer for the department, said.

“It must be noted that the current pay rates for members of Local 522 (the Firefighters’ union) are frozen until January 2012,” Stover noted.

The salary for the firefighter job ranges from $53,534 to $65,071, according to salary data published on the city’s website. A firefighter/paramedic can earn from $58,888 to $71,579 annually, in base pay.

Engineers earn anywhere from $63,613 to $77,322. Salaries for engineer/paramedics start at $66,157 and go up to $80,415. Engineers, who conduct “specialized firefighting work,” drive the fire engines/trucks and operate the pump machinery on fire engines, must have worked as a Sacramento firefighter for four years, according to the city’s website.

Pay for captains ranges from $71,917 to $87,416. Captains are supervisors who must have worked as a firefighter for five years. A salary range of $74,794 to $90,913 is for captain/paramedics.

Battalion chiefs – supervisors who outrank captains – are paid anywhere from $92,745 to $112,732.

The department has eight sworn top managers – a fire chief, two deputy chiefs and five assistant chiefs, according to Stover. For example, a fire deputy chief earns between $112,629 to $168,943. Assistant chiefs are top managers who outrank battalion chiefs.

Read the salary data for all of these jobs here.

Retirement and other benefits for firefighters

Like police officers and managers, firefighters do not pay toward their retirement benefits. A recent audit of employee benefits by City Auditor Jorge Oseguera’s office said the city covers all CalPERS retirement system contributions for firefighters, police officers and managers.

Meanwhile, city employees in other fields pay retirement contributions.

The audit stated that the city could save roughly $7.9 million on average annually if all of its workers, including firefighters, paid 4 percent of their earnings toward their retirements. Unionized fire employees also receive a health and welfare benefit from the city, basic life insurance, 12 days of vacation per year with the ability to accrue two more floating days each year, 24 hours of holiday time and 12 sick days, according to Kimberly Isaacs, city human resources manager for benefits and retirement.

Additional information about firefighters’ benefits is outlined in the Sacramento Area Fire Fighters Local 522 contract with the city, which can be read here.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

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.

Council intends to make major public safety cuts

2011-06-08T07:44:49Z

The Sacramento City Council’s tentative decision Tuesday night to make severe budget cuts to public safety is not final, but it made a big statement.

Council members voted 6-3 to say they intend to make budget cuts later this month that include layoffs of 82 sworn cops and increases in brownouts or alternating closures for fire services.

A big caveat to the tentative decision is the council’s statement that it is still open to further negotiations with the city’s public safety unions.

Tuesday’s hearing drew intense public interest. Many people arrived more than an hour early to the 6 p.m. meeting. Shortly before 5 p.m., about 70 people waited in line for the doors at City Hall to open.

About 340 people were at City Hall around 6:15 p.m. The 230 seats inside the City Council’s chambers were filled, and another 110 people were outside, in the lobby and in a second-floor overflow area.

A City Hall police security officer estimated at 7 p.m. there were 400-450 people at City Hall.

City leaders are facing a $39 million deficit for the 2011/2012 fiscal year. The City Council is expected to approve a budget June 21.

Council members Jay Schenirer, Sandy Sheedy, Rob Fong, Kevin McCarty, Darrell Fong and Bonnie Pannell voted to say they intend to make public safety cuts, among other reductions, though they may still negotiate with unions for changes to the cuts.

Council members Angelique Ashby and Steve Cohn and Mayor Kevin Johnson voted against the tentative decision.

Schenirer proposed the tentative decision, stating that cuts to public safety were necessary in order for the city to get on a fiscally responsible track.

“The right thing happens to be the more difficult thing this year, unfortunately,” he said.

The proposal includes $12.2 million in cuts to the Police Department and $9 million in cuts to the Fire Department.

The suggested cuts include layoffs of 82 sworn cops in the Police Department and 68 civilian personnel, according to updated statistics provided Tuesday night by Sgt. Norm Leong, police department spokesman.

The department could restore 35 staff if it obtains a waiver on a federal grant, according to city officials.

“I just can’t, in good conscience, support a budget where we’re going to cut $12 million from police,” Johnson said.

In addition to its tentative decision, the council made a final decision Tuesday night to approve a federal grant for the Sacramento Fire Department. The funding from the federal government comes from the federal Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Grant Program.

The six council members also said they intend to make fire cuts that would raise the number of alternating closures, or “brownouts,” of fire services from two to four. Without the grant, the city would be weighing whether to make six brownouts.

The city manager’s office is not proposing layoffs for the Fire Department.

As part of the 6-3 vote, the council also said it intends to keep 11 community centers open without setting aside any money for them through the Department of Parks and Recreation. It’s unclear how that can be accomplished. Schenirer suggested that neighborhoods could help keep the centers open.

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.

Guide to salary and benefits for police officers

2011-06-05T18:45:55Z

The local media is abuzz about the city’s proposals to lay off 80 sworn Sacramento police officers, among other police staffers, to help balance the city’s budget.

But while information on the proposed layoffs has been reported, many Sacramento residents may not know the basic facts and salary information for police officers in Sacramento.

The City Council, which is wrestling with a $39 million budget gap, is expected to approve the city’s budget for the 2011/2012 fiscal year on June 21. The recommendation to lay off cops – as well as other cost-cutting measures – comes from the city manager’s office.

Here is a guide to help residents understand the salary and benefits for the average police officer in Sacramento.

Pay and benefits for police officers in Sacramento

The average police officer in Sacramento earns a salary of about $70,000, according to police spokesman Sgt. Norm Leong.

Police officers’ salaries increase through a range of steps. Leong explained that six months into the job, a police officer rises to the second salary step, and then each year the officer rises to the next step. There are five steps.

The Step 1 salary is $56,897. An officer at Step 2 earns $59,742, rising to $62,729 for Step 3. The Step 4 pay is $65,865 and jumps to $69,159 at Step 5. Read the step information here.

Most of the officers in the department earn about $70,000 per year, Leong said.

On top of the base salary, benefits for police officers include the city’s payments of about $28,000 into CalPERS each year for each officer, Leong said.

Management salary ranges are higher than the ranges for the average police officer. For example, a police captain – the department has eight – can garner a minimum salary of $113,872 and maximum earnings of $170,808. View salaries for management police personnel here.

The department has 701 sworn personnel, including 31 lieutenants, captains and deputy chiefs, led by the chief of police, according to Leong.

Police Chief Rick Braziel's salary is $207, 855, according to the city's website.

A consulting firm, Management Partners, studied the city’s finances and operations in an April 2010 report. The firm evaluated Sacramento in relation to Bakersfield, Fresno, Long Beach, Oakland, San Jose, Santa Ana, Stockton, Albuquerque, Austin, Denver and Oklahoma City.

Management Partners found that “per capita expenditures for the Sacramento Police Department ... are slightly below the average” of the comparable cities.

The firm wrote in the report that “care must be taken to avoid reductions in the core service of patrol and call response.”

Police retirement benefits explained

A sworn police officer can retire with benefits at age 50, Leong said.

In order to retire, an officer must have five years of work experience connected to the CalPERS system, according to Leong.

City police officers, firefighters and managers do not have to pay a percentage of their earnings to their retirement benefits, according to a recent audit of employee benefits conducted by City Auditor Jorge Oseguera’s office.

Instead, the city pays the full amount of their contributions to the CalPERS system, the audit notes.

By contrast, other kinds of city employees, such as those in the building trades and in the engineering unit, must pay a part of their salaries to their retirement benefits, according to the audit.

“If all employees contributed 4 percent to their pensions, the city would save about $39.7 million over the next five years – or about $7.9 million on average per year,” the audit states.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Council explores long-term budget issues

2011-06-03T05:19:26Z

The Sacramento City Council discussed Thursday how to make major changes to city operations in the next few years to resolve the city’s long-term imbalance where costs outpace revenues.

The city’s $39 million gap for the 2011/2012 fiscal year is part of an ongoing trend of budget shortfalls. Multi-million budget gaps will remain until fiscal year 2015/2016 as a result of the city’s imbalanced finances, according to predictions by city officials.

“We need to set the expectation of what the City Council wants to provide for the residents and the businesses of this city,” Interim Deputy City Manager Betty Masuoka said.

Seven council members were at the budget meeting – Mayor Kevin Johnson and Councilman Kevin McCarty were absent. Some of the council members said they wanted to explore the long-term budget problems on a regular basis after the budget is approved June 21.

The topic of city services was discussed during the meeting.

“We don’t even really have to be a full-service city,” Councilwoman Sandy Sheedy said, “but we have to maintain core services.”

Councilman Rob Fong said the City Council should examine the ways the city administers services.

“We need to look at how we deliver the services that our citizens have come to expect,” Fong said. “So, what I would ask is that we take a strong look with our best thinkers ... and say, ‘Shake the Etch A Sketch up ... erase the white board.’ ”

Councilman Steve Cohn said that discussions about how to change the city and its budget should involve the rank-and-file workers. He questioned the format of Thursday’s meeting, saying that the council should consider meeting with workers in a format that is less formal than a City Council meeting in which council members sit on a dais or stage.

Councilman Jay Schenirer asked Masuoka to draft a schedule for council members to work on the long-term budget problems.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

New group of city employees unionizes

2011-06-02T01:17:03Z

A group of 103 city employees including workers’ compensation claims representatives and administrative analysts will likely be represented by a new union, according to city spokeswoman Amy Williams and labor organizer Dee Contreras.

A majority of the group of workers, who had not previously been represented by a union, recently signed cards in favor of joining a new union, the Sacramento City Exempt Employees Association, Williams said last week.

The signed cards were verified by California’s Mediation and Conciliation Service, according to Williams.

By unionizing, the analysts and other workers in the group will be able to negotiate with management on policies that affect them, according to Contreras, who is organizing city employees in the new union. She is the former labor relations director for the city.

“The reality is, those people want to help the city,” Contreras said. “The goal is to do as much as they can to help the city, but to get recognition and to participate in that decision-making process.”

Williams said the city plans to formally recognize the new union next month.

“By law, we support our employees’ right to organize for the purposes of collective bargaining,” Williams said. “A majority of a group of employees has authorized a union to represent them. The city will grant that right at the end of the 30-day notice period, which ends on June 20.”

During the 30-day period after the cards were verified, a competing union can apply to represent the group of city employees, Williams said. But according to Contreras, no other union has said it wants to represent the group of 103 employees.

Contreras formally told the city manager’s office about her plans to organize three groups totaling 677 employees, including the group of 103 staffers, in February.

She said she is currently negotiating with the city’s human resources and labor relations officials and the city attorney’s office over plans to unionize the other two groups of employees. One of the groups includes managers and the other group includes staff assistants.

If Contreras eventually organizes all three groups, the total will likely be less than 677 people. That’s because city officials and Contreras have been discussing whether some of the employees in those groups should not be part of the union, according to Contreras.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Local libraries to face budget cuts

2011-06-01T05:27:58Z

The Sacramento City Council is likely to make major cuts to local library services, according to a preliminary vote by council members Tuesday night.

Seven of the nine City Council members voted that they intend to cut the Sacramento Public Library Authority by nearly $800,000 when they approve the city’s budget in June. The authority runs 28 libraries in Sacramento County and its proposed budget for the 2011/2012 fiscal year is $35.7 million.

Councilwomen Sandy Sheedy and Angelique Ashby voted against the plan to make $792,121 in cuts to libraries next month.

The City Council is expected to make widespread cuts to services to resolve a $39 million budget gap for the 2011/2012 fiscal year. Tuesday’s budget hearing addressed the city’s funding for its partner agencies, including the library and the Sacramento Convention & Visitors Bureau.

The Sacramento Public Library Authority has several government agencies on its board, including officials from the city, the county and other cities in the county.

“You’ve been cut past the bone,” Sheedy told Sacramento Public Library Director Rivkah Sass at the City Council meeting. “I think we’re in the marrow.”

The council made its decision after library supporters made public comments arguing against the cuts.

“It’s really the young people that really need us in the neighborhood,” Pauline Grenbeaux, president of Arden-Dimick Friends of the Library, told the City Council.

Allison Yamamoto, a sophomore at C.K. McClatchy High School, told council members that a library staffer sent her information on how to apply for a summer program focused on international leadership. Yamamoto said she applied and then received a scholarship to attend the program.

“Without the library, I would have never even had this opportunity,” Yamamoto said.

Meanwhile, city budget cuts planned for the Sacramento Convention and Visitors Bureau would shut down a visitor center in Old Sacramento and dissolve the Sacramento Film Commission.

However, no one spoke at the City Council meeting about cuts proposed for the bureau.

Read the city staff report about the proposed library cuts here.

The Library Authority’s proposed budget is here.

Read the city’s schedule for budget hearings here.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Mark Merin's battle with City Hall

2011-05-30T23:20:15Z

Sacramento civil rights attorney Mark Merin is once again in the spotlight.

This time, he’s being quoted by the local media for his role in a federal class-action case about homeless people’s constitutional rights and personal property. And, in the March issue of Harper’s Magazine, Merin’s work with Safe Ground is mentioned. The article, titled “Homeless in Sacramento: Welcome to the New Tent Cities,” focuses on Sacramento’s homeless and the city’s ordinance against camping.

These are only two of many examples of Merin’s highly visible and controversial advocacy work for Sacramento’s homeless.

Earlier this week, a federal jury released its verdict in Lehr v. City of Sacramento, finding that the city has mismanaged homeless people’s belongings.

Merin is representing a group of homeless people in the lawsuit. When police officers enforce the city’s ordinance against camping outside, they seize homeless people’s belongings, Merin claimed in an April 1 court document.

“We, who live in our comfortable homes, surrounded by all the clutter that we’ve accumulated, may not realize how devastating it is when someone comes in and just grabs the few things that you do have,” Merin said in an interview with The Sacramento Press earlier this month.

Meanwhile, Senior Deputy City Attorney Chance Trimm noted this week that the jury did not fault the city on four or six claims. The city may appeal the ruling to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Trimm said.

Merin is requesting compensation for his clients as well as attorney’s fees. He explained earlier this month how the payment process for his fees works.

“If we are successful and we win, in many cases, we’re entitled to get fees awarded by the court,” Merin said. “There’s a procedure by which we show how much time we put into it. The court evaluates the work and assigns an amount of money, and then we get that.”

In addition to criticizing the city’s interactions with the homeless in his lawsuit, Merin has appeared before the City Council to argue for Safe Ground.

“The minimum demand that is being made with Safe Ground is (to) designate some place (for the homeless). Don’t even give it to us, but allow us to take a space and say, ‘homeless people can be here, can leave their stuff here, can use this as a staging area to do something else,’ ” Merin said earlier this month in an interview.

“But if they’re constantly having to guard their stuff ... then they can’t even go anywhere. They can’t even go to the doctor’s appointment for fear of losing it.”

In September 2009, Merin provided his property as place for the homeless to stay.

Councilman Rob Fong said he has observed Merin’s comments to the City Council. Fong said he has also attended board meetings on homelessness at which Merin was present.

“My impression of Mark is I think he’s a very strident advocate,” Fong said. “I think he’s a thoughtful guy, too.”

Fong has worked on the issue of homelessness through the local Faith and Homeless Families program, in which religious groups assist homeless families with housing.

“I think, given where I am, I’ve tried to work within the system and to improve the system,” Fong said. “I think Mark has a different vantage point. I just think we’re probably both working in different ways for the same thing.”

Merin has also taken on Sacramento County in the past. His lawsuit over homeless people’s belongings included Sacramento County, along with the city, when he filed it in 2007. But court documents show the county settled the case last year.

Meanwhile, John Kraintz, president of Safe Ground, praised Merin’s work with the group, composed mostly of homeless people. Merin helps the group communicate its views to the City Council, Kraintz said.

“His input is always very valuable,” Kraintz said.

While the next step in the lawsuit over homeless people’s property is unclear, it’s apparent that Merin will play a big role in it.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

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.

City cuts not limited to police, fire, parks

2011-05-27T01:59:26Z

While proposed budget cuts to public safety departments have attracted a lot of public attention, the Sacramento City Council also discussed millions of dollars in proposed budget cuts to many other offices and departments earlier this week.

At a Tuesday afternoon meeting, council members examined cuts to departments and offices that include the mayor and City Council, Economic Development, Finance, Human Resources and Transportation. The city is in the throes of a budget crisis with a $39 million budget gap for the 2011/2012 fiscal year.

The City Council members decided on Tuesday to give a large chunk of its budget to the city’s general fund.

Council members’ budgets include revenues from cell phone towers and billboards. They moved $417,567 of $665,067 of these revenues to the general fund.

Councilwoman Bonnie Pannell was visibly frustrated by the council’s choice to move that money to the general fund, even though she voted to do so at the end of a discussion.

She said she utilizes her funds from cell phone and billboards on programs that help children in South Sacramento.

“What’s going to happen to the kids?” she asked.

Councilwoman Angelique Ashby said the council members receive hundreds of funding requests from community groups each week. She said that community groups that support the arts, sports and festivals will need to understand that the council members will no longer be able to help fund them.

“We simply won’t have the money,” she said. “We won’t be able to do that.”

While they took $417,567 out of their collective budgets, each council member will still have a pot of $55,000 in discretionary account funds in the next fiscal year. The $247,500 remaining from the pot of $665,067 in cell phone and billboard revenues will be moved into the discretionary accounts to help each council member reach the $55,000 figure, according to Dawn Holm, a city staffer in the budget, policy and strategic planning division.

The $55,000 for each council member is not a new amount, Holm explained. Council members had that amount of discretionary funding in their budgets in the 2010/2011 fiscal year, Holm wrote in an email.

The discretionary accounts are available for the City Council to help fund community projects.

The council also listened to Finance Director Leyne Milstein explain proposed cuts to various departments. Interim City Manager Bill Edgar and Interim Deputy City Manager Betty Masuoka are proposing a $707,406 cut to the Economic Development department, including four full-time employee positions.

The Human Resources Department could lose two full-time employee positions as part of a proposed $240,000 cut.

A recommendation to chop $480,884 from Transportation’s budget is also included in the city manager’s proposed budget.

Breaking the trend of cuts, the proposed budget recommends two new hires to the Finance Department. The new employees would be hired as revenue collectors, Milstein said.

It’s unclear at this point how many people will actually be laid off as a result of the proposed cuts to positions.

Also on Tuesday, Councilman Darrell Fong said he wants to explore the idea of making more cuts to Finance, Human Resources and Information Technology. He did not explain at the meeting why he wanted to make those cuts. The council did not act on Fong’s idea Tuesday.

Read a report on proposed cuts to many city departments here.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

City may appeal verdict in homeless case

2011-05-26T01:20:18Z

The city may appeal a verdict from a federal jury that partially faulted the city for the way it has managed homeless people’s belongings, according to Senior Deputy City Attorney Chance Trimm.

The jury’s decision in Lehr v. City of Sacramento was released Tuesday at Sacramento Federal Court. The trial, which involved homeless people’s constitutional rights and personal belongings, began May 9. The jury did not fault the city on four of six claims, Trimm said. However, in the mixed decision, the jury found that the city has seized and stored homeless people’s possessions without sufficiently informing them on how to get those items back.

The booking and handling of homeless people’s belongings by the city was not carried out through suitable policies, the jury also decided.

Plaintiffs Attorney Mark Merin claimed in an April 1 court document that the police have taken away and thrown out homeless people’s belongings such as tents, bedding, clothing and medication. Photos and an urn with ashes have also been taken by police, he claimed in the document.

Police officers take items from the homeless when they enforce the city’s ban on overnight camping, he further claimed.

Referring to an appeal, Trimm said, “It is being considered.”

If the city decides to appeal, it will file its case with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, he said.

The jury found that the city does not approach the property of homeless and non-homeless people in different manners, Trimm said.

Trimm and Merin have radically different views of the outcome of the class-action case.

Merin said Wednesday that his clients won the case and that the jury found there were “constitutional violations” of his clients’ rights.

As a result of the decision, the homeless people who lost their property are entitled to compensation that includes payments for emotional distress, Merin said.

He said the amount of compensation homeless people will receive won’t be clear until he and the city either reach an agreement or go to trial, he said.

The verdict had not been posted online by press time.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Council sets new hearing on parks, police and fire

2011-05-25T16:47:49Z

If you thought the last few budget hearings on proposed budget cuts to the city’s parks, police and fire services were heated, just wait until June 7.

At the close of a nearly four-hour budget meeting on proposed cuts to the Sacramento Fire Department Tuesday night, the City Council unanimously decided to discuss the cuts again on June 7.

But the June 7 meeting will be different from previous hearings because the council decided it will discuss all the controversial budget cuts – to the Parks and Recreation, Police and Fire departments – at that time.

Councilman Rob Fong said the cuts should be discussed all at the same time because the city does not have enough money to prevent cuts to those departments.

The council does not have funds to restore money to one of the three departments without cutting money from another of the departments, Fong said.

“When anyone comes and says ‘don’t cut us, just keep us whole,’ please understand what you’re really asking us to do is cut them,” Fong said.

“When the police say don’t cut us, they’re saying ‘cut the fire department’ ... because that’s where we are – it’s a zero-sum game. We don’t have enough money,” Fong said.

City leaders are wrestling with a $39 million budget gap for the 2011/2012 fiscal year.

Council members indicated Tuesday night that they will likely approve a federal grant for the Fire Department next month. Several council members said Tuesday night that they support the idea of approving the $5.6 million in federal funds from the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Grant Program.

The department has already been selected to receive the grant and is waiting on the council to approve it.

If the council signs off on the federal grant, the proposed cuts to the Fire Department would be lessened. The department would still face “brownouts” or alternating closures of fire services, but the number of brownouts would be less severe.

The department now closes two fire companies on an alternating schedule. The current budget proposal from Interim City Manager Bill Edgar and Interim Deputy City Manager Betty Masuoka would bump the number of these closures to six.

But the federal grant money would bring the number down to four, according to Fire Chief Ray Jones. The department would still see an increase from two to four, but not from two to six.

Jaymes Butler, municipal vice president of Sacramento Area Fire Fighters Local 522, told the council Tuesday that the cuts would hurt communities.

“Whole communities will be without emergency medical response and fire,” Butler said.

In a press conference before the City Council meeting, firefighters protested proposed cuts to their department.

When talking about the proposed cuts at the press conference, Butler said firefighters would be “laid off.” However, when pressed by reporters if there would be “out-the-door” layoffs, Butler said that 49 positions slated for cuts were not filled and no current workers would actually be laid off.

Earlier Tuesday, Mayor Kevin Johnson commented on the proposed budget cuts. When asked about proposals to save money with cuts to police and fire, Johnson said he'd rather hear from all departments and get information from them before the council makes a decision on what they can or can't do.

"I've said from day one I want to hold the line on public safety if at all possible,” Johnson said. “And that's police and fire. Certainly parks and being a full-service city are very important."

Video by Kathleen Haley

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

Firefighters protest proposed budget cuts

2011-05-25T03:49:35Z

About 150 firefighters and their families protested the city’s budget proposal Tuesday night to cut $9.1 million from the Sacramento Fire Department. As part of press conference held to protest the cuts, the fire department staffers stood in a large group outside City Hall to show their opposition.

The city is facing a $39 million budget gap for the 2011/2012 fiscal year. The idea to make cuts to the Fire Department is included in the budget plan proposed by Interim City Manager Bill Edgar and Interim Deputy City Manager Betty Masuoka. Final decisions on the budget will be made by the Sacramento City Council next month.

A group called Protect Sacramento, led by Sacramento Area Fire Fighters Local 522 and the Sacramento Police Officers Association, held a press conference Tuesday evening to protest the proposed cuts. The press conference was held shortly before the start of a City Council budget hearing on the Fire Department.

The proposed cuts “will put neighborhoods at risk, lengthen response times, and stand in the way of our ability to deal with real life-and-death emergencies,” said Jaymes Butler, vice president of Sacramento Area Fire Fighters Local 522.

The proposed budget cuts to the department could increase the number of alternating closures of fire equipment and staffers. The number of these proposed closures was unclear at press time because the City Council on Tuesday night may approve a $5.6 million federal grant for the department. The grant may lessen the Fire Department cuts. The money comes from the federal Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Grant Program.

The Sacramento Press will provide an overview of the Fire Department budget hearing Wednesday morning.

Read the budget schedule here.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Citizens create 37 redistricting maps

2011-05-24T02:32:31Z

Local groups and individuals created 37 maps by reconfiguring the eight City Council districts as part of the city’s redistricting process.

The number of maps turned into the city for consideration this year marks a significant jump from the 2001 redistricting process, when the public created 13 maps, said Maria MacGunigal, the city’s geographic information system manager.

Residents drew their city maps through the city’s new online redistricting tool. MacGunigal attributes the increased participation in part to the online program.

“The tools were more accessible,” she said.

The city conducted outreach and marketing for the redistricting process, she said.

City Council districts in Sacramento are rearranged with U.S. Census data each decade. The city’s charter says that the deadline for the city to restructure its districts is six months after Census data is released. This year, the deadline will fall in early September, according to city staff.

After 10 years of growth, the city’s districts are no longer even in size. The city’s population jumped from 407,018 in 2000 to 466,488 in 2010. At the current population citywide, 58,311 people should be placed in each of the city’s eight districts, according to city staff.

The 37 maps came from various sources, including neighborhoods and groups representing residents by race or ethnicity.

The African American Leadership Coalition wrote in a statement attached to its map that it aims to “promote voting rights and representation for all Sacramentans while protecting the voting interests and rights of African American communities to elect a representative of choice.”

The coalition also wrote that its map intends to protect neighborhoods and divvy up the districts so they have the same number of people.

In another example, a majority of board members of the East Sacramento Improvement Association submitted a redistricting map. The group said it wants to see a district include River Park, East Sacramento, Midtown and downtown, according to the statement accompanying the map. The current districts have three different City Council members representing East Sacramento, Midtown and downtown.

“It preserves the integrity of traditional neighborhoods and respects groups with shared interests,” the association wrote about its map.

At least two prominent constituencies did not create maps but are still presenting their views to the redistricting committee.

A local lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender coalition is advocating for the central city to be represented by one council member.

“We know that we have strong support in the urban core for LGBT issues – that’s split up, (and) we want to put it back together,” according to Rosanna Herber, a community activist involved in the coalition’s effort.

The group also wants the Central City to be joined with one of three other neighborhoods – Land Park, Curtis Park or East Sacramento.

The Downtown Sacramento Partnership also did not draw a map, but told the redistricting committee earlier this month that it would like to see the Central City in one district. The Central City is the heart of a region and a cultural center, said Wendy Hoyt on Monday, representing the partnership.

The citizens’ redistricting advisory committee can decide how it would like to handle the maps the public turned in, according to MacGunigal.

The committee could send one or more of the maps created by the public to the City Council, MacGunigal said. The committee could also create its own map or recommend a combination of ideas from the public maps, she said.

Comments and testimony from the public could affect the committee’s recommendation, MacGunigal said.

On July 12, the advisory committee will make recommendations to the City Council on how the districts should be re-formed. The council will ultimately make the redistricting decisions.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

New group to focus on gardening, health

2011-05-20T17:50:25Z

Local organizations focused on healthy communities are hosting an event in Oak Park on Saturday to educate the public about gardening and fresh food.

The new coalition, Grow Together Sacramento, will create a few small gardens and teach the public how to set up gardens at the event.

Paul Towers, state director of the environmental group Pesticide Watch, said the coalition will build gardens and focus on the question: “How do we get as much healthy food as possible into the hands and bellies of Sacramentans?”

The Pesticide Watch Education Fund is a partner in the coalition, along with City Councilman Jay Schenirer’s office, Sacramento environmental group Ubuntu Green, the Sacramento Area Community Garden Coalition and others.

Towers said Saturday’s event will be the first of many centered around building gardens.

Making healthy food more accessible to the public through gardening will be a key part of the coalition’s work, according to Towers and Schenirer.

“We find that Sacramento is a heart of some of the richest agricultural land in the country, if not world,” Towers said.

But many Sacramento residents don’t have access to healthy, fresh and local food, he said.

While Schenirer’s office is playing a role in the coalition, Schenirer said it will not be run by the city.

“We want ownership (of the gardening campaign) to be in the community,” Schenirer said. “Ownership doesn’t necessarily need to be the city or city bureaucracy.”

At Saturday’s event, residents can also talk to Bill Maynard, the city’s community gardening director, about the upcoming Martin Luther King Jr. community garden.

There will be a lottery for people interested in plots at that garden, which will open in June at 3668 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Maynard said. Residents who would like to be in the lottery should contact Maynard at the event or by phone at 808-4943. The garden will have 38 plots.

A small number of plots have been reserved for people with disabilities, he said. Those plots will be higher than the other plots, and people won’t have to bend down, he said.

“They can stand up and garden,” Maynard said. Or, they can garden alongside their plot in a wheelchair, he said.

Gardening is a hot topic right now at City Hall. Ramping up the number of community gardens in the city is the subject of a proposed ordinance. It’s unclear when the City Council will consider the proposal – Schenirer said he did not know when the council would examine it.

If you go:

Where:

40 Acres Complex at 3434 Broadway

When:

10 a.m.: Garden training

11 a.m.: Remarks by speakers including Mayor Kevin Johnson and press conference

A second garden training will follow the press conference.

The event is free to the public.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Jury deliberates in Sacramento homeless case

2011-05-19T00:35:12Z

Jurors are deliberating in federal court whether homeless citizens’ belongings were illegally taken and thrown away by Sacramento police officers between August 2005 and the present.

The trial, which centers on homeless people’s constitutional rights and their personal belongings, began May 9 at the Sacramento Federal Courthouse at 501 I St.

Plaintiffs attorney Mark Merin represented Linda McKinley, who was homeless in the past, and a group of homeless people in the class-action case against the city of Sacramento, according to court documents.

Merin is a supporter of the Safe Ground group, which presses Sacramento city leaders to designate land for homeless people to live.

In closing arguments on Wednesday, Merin claimed that city police officers have violated the U.S. Constitution by throwing out homeless citizens’ personal items.

“Nobody got their property back because it was tossed away,” Merin said.

Specifically, Merin has accused the city of violating the 14th Amendment by not giving homeless people sufficient warning that their belongings would be trashed. He also contends that the city has taken homeless citizens’ items in an “unreasonable search and seizure” manner that violates the Fourth Amendment.

Merin claimed in an April 1 court document that the police have taken away and thrown out homeless people’s belongings such as tents, bedding, clothing and medication. Photos and an urn with ashes have also been taken by police, he claimed in the document.

Police officers take items from the homeless when they enforce the city’s ban on overnight camping, he further claimed.

In Judge Morrison England’s courtroom Wednesday, Merin referred to the homeless campground that formed in 2009 and gained immense international media exposure.

“Tent City developed because there was no place for homeless people to go,” Merin said.

Meanwhile, the city of Sacramento disputes Merin’s claims.

“We don’t feel we violated any of the homeless individuals’ constitutional rights,” Senior Deputy City Attorney Chance Trimm said outside the courtroom.

The city claims that it did not throw out homeless people’s belongings. “Assuming any camping paraphernalia is taken from violators of the city’s camping ordinances, such property is booked and maintained at an evidence collection location by the Sacramento Police Department,” Trimm wrote in an April 1 court brief.

Merin wants the jury to order the city to give back homeless people’s personal items, according to court documents. The plaintiffs also want a court order against the city, and for the city to pay damages and attorney fees.

The Sacramento Press will report on the jury’s verdict when it becomes available.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

City Council aims to lessen police budget cuts

2011-05-18T15:46:54Z

The Sacramento City Council members made it clear Tuesday night that they do not want to make the $12 million in cuts to the Police Department recommended in the proposed budget. But it’s unclear at this point how the council will lessen the cuts to the department.

A crowd of police staffers and supporters, which swelled to about 400 at its high point early Tuesday evening, turned out for the City Council’s budget hearing.

The city is grappling with a $39 million budget gap for the 2011/2012 fiscal year. A total of 149 department staffers, including 80 sworn cops, would be laid off in the proposed budget, according to police spokesman Sgt. Norm Leong.

The city currently has 701 sworn cops.

“Twelve million (dollars) in cuts is too much for public safety to share this burden,” Councilman Darrell Fong, a retired police captain, said.

At the end of the City Council meeting, which ran longer than four hours, six City Council members voted not to move forward with the current proposed budget of $12 million in cuts proposed by Interim City Manager Bill Edgar and Interim Deputy City Manager Betty Masuoka.

The city manager’s office is responsible for proposing the amounts of budget cuts, while Police Chief Rick Braziel is responsible for divvying up how to make the proposed cuts at the department.

The City Council makes final budget decisions.

Six of the nine council members rejected the proposed budget because three were absent.

Mayor Kevin Johnson was at the NBA draft lottery in New Jersey, representing the Sacramento Kings. Councilwoman Bonnie Pannell was mourning the recent death of her mother and Councilman Rob Fong was in Los Angeles on a business trip, according to Councilman Steve Cohn.

RE Graswich, the mayor’s special assistant, presented the following statement on behalf of Johnson:

“In Sacramento, we’re in the fourth year of a devastating budget crisis and we continue to face difficult challenges. When I ran for mayor in 2008, I said public safety would be my top priority.

“That continues to remain true today,” Graswich said. “Public safety is a core function of city government. It plays a critical role in how we operate as a full-service city.

“It’s critical that as we move forward, we continue to practice fiscal responsibility, eliminate wasteful practices, capitalize on efficiencies and make collective sacrifices to provide the service our residents expect and deserve. I look forward to continuing to work with my council colleagues and finding the best solutions to solving the budget crisis.”

Greg Galliano, a 25-year-old Sacramento police officer, was one of many department staffers who urged the council not to make the cuts. He said the department is currently dealing with “massive call volumes.”

“If we take these cuts,” Galliano said, “we’re going to experience something that we’re not going to be able to protect you from.”

Leong explained the breakdown of the proposed layoffs: Sworn cops, 80; Community Service Officers, 38; Crime Scene Investigators, 14; Supervising Dispatchers, 6; Records Supervisor, 1; Administrative and Clerical, 10.

At a press conference before the City Council meeting, police staffers held up numbers that signified they could be among the numbers of people laid off.

Read the schedule of budget hearings here. Learn about the debate over cuts to the Parks and Recreation Department here.

The City Council is scheduled to adopt the city’s budget for the 2011/2012 fiscal year on June 21.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Police budget hearing draws hundreds

2011-05-18T04:17:18Z

A dramatic scene unfolded at Sacramento City Hall on Tuesday evening as more than 160 employees gathered for a press conference to protest proposed layoffs in the Police Department. The staffers held numbers up, signifying that they could be among the numbers of people laid off.

They were part of a crowd of more than 400 people that gathered at City Hall around 6 p.m. for a Sacramento City Council hearing on proposed layoffs at the Police Department.

About 80 sworn officers could be laid off if the City Council follows recommendations from Interim City Manager Bill Edgar and Interim Deputy City Manager Betty Masuoka’s proposed budget.

An additional 38 community service police staffers could be laid off. Community service officers’ duties include working with neighbors and controlling crime scenes, said Brent Meyer, president of the Sacramento Police Officers Association.

They also respond to traffic accidents and do crime prevention work, among other tasks, said police spokesman Sgt. Norm Leong.

The city currently has 701 sworn cops.

The city is examining severe cuts to city services to resolve a $39 million budget gap for the 2011/2012 fiscal year.

A new group called Protect Sacramento, led by the Sacramento Police Officers Association and Sacramento Area Fire Fighters Association Local 522, held the 5:30 p.m. press conference before the council meeting.

“We’re asking Sacramento residents to let their council members know that these public safety cuts are dangerous, they’re unacceptable and they must not be implemented,” Meyer said.

Michael Ault, executive director of the Downtown Sacramento Partnership, joined the press conference.

“We know there are tough decisions that need to be made, but they really should not be made on the back of public safety as it relates to the urban core,” Ault said.

The Sacramento Press will post a recap of the budget hearing Wednesday morning.

The City Council will examine the Fire Department’s budget May 24. Read the budget hearings schedule here.

Under the proposed budget, Fire Department “brownouts” would increase from two to six.

Two rolling brownouts are now in place, which mean that certain fire trucks and engines are out of service at various times, according to former Fire Department spokesman Jim Doucette.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

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.

Residents fight to keep community centers

2011-05-13T15:29:44Z

Sacramento residents packed into a Sacramento City Hall meeting room Thursday night to protest proposed budget cuts to community centers and other local parks programs.

About 45 citizens addressed the City Council, according to Mayor Kevin Johnson’s count. Citizens waited in lines for a seat in the the meeting room and to speak to the council.

The hearing on the Parks and Recreation Department was part of a series of meetings on how the City Council can resolve a $39 million budget gap for the 2011/2012 fiscal year.

Proposed budget cuts would slash hours at the Hart Senior Center in Midtown by half.

Some of the speakers contrasted the proposed community center cuts with city leaders’ efforts to bring a new sports arena to the area.

“You just knocked out all the senior people, so you better get us some seats up at your new arena,” Helen Blatta, a supporter of the Hart Senior Center, told Johnson.

Recommendations from Interim City Manager Bill Edgar and Parks Department Director Jim Combs would shutter the following community centers and clubhouses: Oak Park, Sim, Hagginwood, Robertson, Clunie, East Portal, Belle Cooledge, Evelyn Moore, Southside, Woodlake and Slider Centers and Clubhouses.

Clunie’s library at McKinley Park would keep operating.

The South Natomas, Coloma and Pannell Meadowview centers would stay open, according to a report from the Parks Department.

Jamillah Kirk, an office manager at Bret Harte Elementary School, was one of many speakers who urged the City Council to save the Oak Park Community Center. The community center provides positive activities for young people, she said.

“If you think Sacramento Police Department is busy now, you wait,” said Kirk, 39. “We are asking for trouble.”

After hearing from the public about the community centers, the City Council asked staff to study ways to put $1 million back into the parks budget.

The Sacramento Press will continue to follow the debate over proposals to cut community centers.

Slashing community centers would help the city save a little more than $400,000, but it is only one piece of nearly $1.8 million in cuts proposed to the parks department.

Also on Thursday, about 80 local high school students who participate in a law-enforcement training program attended the City Council’s public comment period to oppose proposed cuts to the Criminal Justice Magnet Academy. Budget cuts would end the Sacramento Police Department’s role in the program, according to police spokesman Norm Leong.

“You have role models that you can look up to,” Timothy Chang, a 17-year-old Grant Union High School student, told the City Council. “This academy has changed my life. It’s another family away from home.”

Read information about upcoming budget hearings here.

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.

Neighborhood Services could shrink to 5 staff

2011-05-11T00:57:10Z

The city’s Neighborhood Services Division is on the chopping block again this year after it lost its status as a department in last year’s budget cuts.

In June, the City Council is expected to make major cuts to close out the city’s $39 million budget gap for the 2011/2012 fiscal year.

The Neighborhood Services Division, which links neighborhoods to city issues and events and works with residents on local concerns, could lose two full-time employee positions to budget cuts. While two positions may seem like a low number, the division has only seven employees, according to Vincene Jones, Neighborhood Services manager.

In last year’s budget process, the Neighborhood Services Department became a division of the Parks and Recreation Department, two staffers were laid off and Jones’ title changed from department director to division manager. In recent years, Neighborhood Services’ staff has been cut from 16 employees to seven, Jones said.

Cuts to the division are recommended by Interim City Manager Bill Edgar and Interim Deputy City Manager Betty Masuoka.

“We support every neighborhood association that comes to us and doesn’t come to us,” Jones said. “We support every department, including mayor and council. It will be a decrease in our level of service, and that’s unfortunate.”

Jones declined to identify the employees who may be laid off. She said she thinks the position cuts will result in at least one layoff. Jones said she was unsure of how the second position cut will play out.

“It hurts, and it is the hard part,” Jones said, referring to the potential layoffs.

The city would save $140,556 by making cuts to the division, the text of the proposed budget states.

The cuts would scale back the division’s services “to the City Council, city departments and community organizations on a variety of projects, events, initiatives and collaborations,” according to the budget’s text.

Michael Moore, 52, a UC Davis Medical Center employee and member of the Boulevard Park Neighborhood Association, asked whether the division could be effective with a staff of five.

“As a recent graduate of the '11 City Management Academy sponsored by the Neighborhood Services Division, I'm extremely aware of the already-diminished services several years of increasing budget, and staffing cuts have caused citywide,” Moore said in an email Tuesday.

“Certainly the loss of two more (full-time positions) would only add to the reduced impact of this vital city department, and might bring into question whether the city can efficiently and pragmatically continue to provide the range of services Sacramentans have come to expect (if not demand) of our tax-supported municipal government. When does a department become so small as to be functionally useless?”

Read a list of the budget hearings here.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

City budget crisis: Past, present and future

2011-05-07T00:51:25Z

The city’s current budget gap of $39 million is grim. But the city’s financial situation is even more dismal when examined in the context of its budget cuts in recent years.

The city has laid off about 215 employees since February 2008, according to city spokeswoman Amy Williams. In addition, the city has taken 900 positions off its books since the 2008/2009 fiscal year and cannot hire employees for those spots, according to the city budget document. The city currently has 4,576 employee positions, Williams said.

Interim City Manager Bill Edgar and Interim Deputy City Manager Betty Masuoka are recommending the City Council approve an $812 million budget for the 2011/2012 fiscal year. Of that amount, $362 million would be the general fund.

The city defines the general fund, consisting of taxes and fees, as its main fund for operations.

The City Council is now weighing whether to lay off hundreds of city employees in the next few weeks.

Mayor Kevin Johnson was visibly distressed Tuesday night after Masuoka briefed the City Council on the budget cuts and layoffs suggested by the city manager’s office.

“Those brutal facts gave me a headache,” Johnson said. “We’re talking about laying off a lot of people. And that just doesn’t feel good for any of us.”

Edgar explains in the budget document why the city has a $39 million gap. Because the city is still in a recession, sales tax revenues are likely to stay flat, and property tax revenues are down, the budget document says.

Labor costs have risen due to union contracts, new Fire Department staff in Natomas and mandatory retirement payments for employees, according to the document.

And, the city must keep its vehicles in working condition and replace old public safety machinery such as ambulances and defibrillators, all of which costs money, the document states.

City employees from various departments could be laid off, including 80 cops.

Police officers have been shielded from layoffs for decades: No officers were laid off during Sacramento City Councilman Darrell Fong’s 30-year career with the Police Department, Fong said last week. He retired from the department in 2009.

Even though the department has not faced layoffs of cops, the number of positions has shrunk in recent years.

“We had 804 officers in 2007 and 704 in 2010,” police spokeswoman Laura Peck said.

The city currently has 701 sworn police officers.

Johnson said Tuesday that he wants to learn more about the context of the cuts in recent years. He asked staff to present information soon on the following questions:

“How much have we cut from our general fund over the last four years?” Johnson asked city staff. “And then, secondly, how has that impacted job reduction over that period of time? I’m just interested because that time period has been brutal for our community.”

The Sacramento Press will report on city staff’s answers to Johnson’s questions when the information becomes available.

On top of its past and current woes, the immediate future for Sacramento’s city government does not look bright.

City officials project in the budget document that the city will continue to face budget gaps until fiscal year 2015/2016. The gap for fiscal year 2012/2013 is $11.7 million and is expected to rise to $22.9 million in fiscal year 2013/2014.

In fiscal year 2014/2015, the city expects to be $18 million in the hole. The gap drops to a $13 million deficit predicted in fiscal year 2015/2016.

“Given the lack of any significant revenue growth in the forecast, the current level of annual expenditure is not sustainable,” according to the budget document.

Still, the discussion of the current $39 million gap is continuing, and it’s possible that council members could find ways to prevent some cuts.

For example, Council members Kevin McCarty, Darrell Fong and Angelique Ashby all said they like the idea of seeing whether the city could move the public safety headquarters from Freeport Boulevard to the city’s Richards Boulevard location. The city has extra space at its Richards Boulevard building, Fong said.

Moving public safety workers to Richards Boulevard could save the city an estimated $800,000 - $900,000 per year in energy savings and maintenance costs, Fong said, referring to an estimate from the Police Department.

The Freeport building is not energy-efficient, he said.

City leaders need to look for “creative options to save a few bucks,” McCarty said.

Read a list of all the upcoming city budget hearings here.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Utilities audit pinpoints $8 million in savings

2011-05-06T01:07:33Z

As much as $8.6 million could be saved in the city’s budget for fiscal year 2011/2012 if the City Council makes certain changes to the Utilities Department, according to a new audit released Thursday.

Because ratepayers pay for Utilities Department services, savings would not relieve the general fund gap but could lessen the burden on property owners and businesses.

Among other suggestions, the audit says the city could save money by not replacing backyard water mains that are still functional and cutting workers’ hours at water treatment plants.

However, it’s unclear at this point whether the city could garner the $8.6 million in savings, because the City Council must review the suggestions and decide whether to make them, City Auditor Jorge Oseguera said Thursday.

The audit, which focused on saving money by making the department’s operations more efficient, was conducted by consulting firms Public Financial Management, Inc.; Diemer Engineering, Inc.; EMA, Inc.; and Gershman, Brickner & Bratton, Inc.

City Councilman Steve Cohn said he was reading the audit Thursday.

“There were some interesting ideas,” he said.

Cohn said he didn’t know how feasible it would be to put the recommendations into effect, noting that city leaders will need to study the audit’s suggestions.

The audit also says the Utilities Department could find savings by creating an energy savings program for the department; gathering green waste in a more efficient manner; finding quicker travel routes for trucks by using software and educating the public to not place trash items in recycling cans.

The Utilities Department’s budget and rates for utilities services will be addressed during the summer after the City Council approves the general fund budget in June, Cohn said.

The Utilities Rate Advisory Commission will weigh in on proposed rate increases from the department.

Read the audit here.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Guide to city budget hearings

2011-05-05T00:25:51Z

Sacramento city officials have scheduled 10 public meetings on the city budget over the next seven weeks.

The City Council is wrestling with a $39 million budget gap and is considering recommendations from the city manager’s office to lay off hundreds of municipal employees.

The public is welcome at the budget hearings, which will be led by the City Council.

“It’s important that the public’s voice is heard,” city spokeswoman Amy Williams said. “These are hard decisions that lie ahead.”

During the next few weeks, Williams said she aims to keep as much budget information as possible on the city’s website.

A link to city budget documents is on the front page of the website.

All of the budget meetings will be held at Sacramento City Hall at 915 I St. The budget schedule may change, Williams said. Citizens can check the city’s website for updated information throughout the budget process, she said.

Here is the list of hearings on the 2011/2012 fiscal year budget:

When: Thursday, May 12, 6 p.m.
On the agenda: Parks and Recreation Department, budget assumptions, planned budget cuts

When: Tuesday, May 17, 2 p.m.
On the agenda: Convention, Culture and Leisure Department; Community Development Department

When: Tuesday, May 17, 6 p.m.
On the agenda: Police Department

When: Tuesday, May 24, 2 p.m.
On the agenda: Economic Development, General Services, Support, Transportation, Utilities, Charter Offices (City Attorney, City Clerk, City Treasurer)

When: Tuesday, May 24, 6 p.m.
On the agenda: Fire Department

When: Tuesday, May 31, 6 p.m.
On the agenda: Library, agencies that partner with the city

When: Thursday, June 2, 6 p.m. (Tentative meeting)
On the agenda: Budget options

When: Tuesday, June 7, 6 p.m.
On the agenda: Facilities and infrastructure budget (known formally as the capital improvement program), discussion of budget cuts

When: Tuesday, June 14, 6 p.m.
On the agenda: Update on city labor unions, finish plans for budget cuts

When: Tuesday, June 21, 6 p.m.
On the agenda: The City Council will approve the budget.

Source: city of Sacramento

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Intense city budget talks begin

2011-05-04T06:09:21Z

Sacramento City Council members began discussions Tuesday on the city manager’s recommendation to cut as many as 366 jobs in the budget for the 2011/2012 fiscal year.

One city union protested the proposed layoffs at City Hall before the City Council meeting, and representatives from two other unions expressed their opposition to the cuts during the meeting.

City officials presented the budget recommendations from the city manager’s office at Tuesday’s meeting and summarized the budget document.

As part of the meeting, Interim Deputy City Manager Betty Masuoka explained a chart on the job cuts recommended by the city manager’s office.

The city would need to slice 250 full-time positions to gain the $39 million in savings. But Masuoka and Interim City Manager Bill Edgar are making recommendations for cuts on top of the $39 million in light of the city’s ongoing financial woes.

City officials project that the city will continue to face budget gaps until fiscal year 2015/2016.

The gap for fiscal year 2012/2013 is $11.7 million and is expected to rise to $22.9 million in fiscal year 2013/2014. In fiscal year 2014/2015, the city expects to be $18 million in the hole. The gap drops to a $13 million deficit predicted in fiscal year 2015/2016.

If the City Council decides to cut all the positions that Masuoka and Edgar have suggested, 366 positions would be lost, according to page 28 of the chart Masuoka referenced.

It’s unclear at this point how many actual layoffs would result if the City Council decided to cut the 366 jobs. The numbers may change during the budget process. Plus, the city uses a process of demoting some employees while laying off others that can change the numbers.

Regardless, the City Council could decide to make hundreds of layoffs in the next few weeks.

“This budget is very painful,” Councilwoman Bonnie Pannell said.

Councilwoman Angelique Ashby indicated she would make efforts to avoid layoffs to police and fire employees. As many as 80 sworn officers could be laid off in the proposed budget, according to the Sacramento Police Department.

Ashby said the citizens she represents are concerned about police and fire staffing and levee improvements.

“I’ve got to find ways to make those my top priority,” she said.

Councilman Kevin McCarty asked city staff to prepare an alternate budget that would show the city’s financial situation if the City Council made no public safety cuts.

Mayor Kevin Johnson said he was concerned about the layoffs.

Marcia Mooney, business representative for Local 39, said there could be about 150 layoffs of members of her union, who work in city services including parks maintenance, utilities and solid waste, she said. Local 39 is pressing the City Council to not put the brunt of layoffs on rank-and-file workers.

Representatives of the Sacramento Police Officers Association and Sacramento Area Firefighters Local 522 addressed the City Council during the meeting.

“You’re making life-and-death decisions,” said Detective Mark Tyndale, vice president of the police union.

The police department, he said, has already been “cut to the bone.”

Jaymes Butler of the firefighters’ union said Fire Department cuts could hurt communities. The proposed budget would ramp up the number of Fire Department “brownouts” from two to six.

The next public budget meeting will be held Thursday, May 12. The Sacramento Press will publish the time and place of the meeting as soon as it can obtain that information.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Gus Vina named city manager of Encinitas

2011-05-04T05:22:29Z

Former Sacramento interim city manager Gus Vina is headed for the coast.

Vina, who resigned from his post in Sacramento in March, will start a new job on July 1 as the city manager of Encinitas in San Diego County. The Encinitas City Council announced Monday that it chose Vina, 50, for the job.

The city of roughly 60,000 is known for its beaches, surfing and flower-growing operations.

“I’m excited to be able to continue at the city manager level,” Vina said Tuesday, adding that the Southern California city will be a “completely different environment.”

The Encinitas City Council is not facing any budget troubles, Vina said. By contrast, the Sacramento City Council is grappling with a $39 million budget gap for the 2011/2012 fiscal year.

“We are pleased and very fortunate to have Gus join the city of Encinitas and look forward to his leadership,” said Encinitas Mayor Jim Bond in a Monday news release.

Vina earned $225,000 as interim city manager in Sacramento. He said Tuesday that he was still negotiating his salary with officials in Encinitas.

Vina had a 12-year career at Sacramento City Hall, working in a variety of management positions.

When he gave notice to the Sacramento City Council in March, he told The Sacramento Press he did not “have the confidence of the entire council.” Sacramento’s City Council chose not to promote him to the permanent city manager position in a 5-4 vote on Jan. 25.

Vina said he looks forward to working on projects in Encinitas involving beachfront restoration and street beautification on Highway 101. His priorities include updating the city’s long-term development strategy, known as a “general plan,” and monitoring city finances, he said.

The answer to one question remains unclear: Will Vina learn to surf?

“At almost 51, I don’t know,” Vina said, promising that he would be “open-minded” about the possibility.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Police surveillance cameras installed

2011-05-03T00:57:08Z

The Sacramento Police Department is almost done installing 13 new surveillance cameras at various public places in the city including at Seventh and K streets and at the Alkali Flat light rail station downtown.

The department used a $600,000 federal Homeland Security grant to purchase the 13 new security cameras, three mobile surveillance trailers and tools to preserve surveillance images. Additionally, the department can now use more than 60 Regional Transit security cameras because it spent some of the grant money to link its surveillance system with Regional Transit’s system.

Installation of the cameras, which started in February, will be complete by Friday, said Sacramento Police Department spokeswoman Laura Peck.

In 2009, the state announced the Sacramento Police Department was selected for the federal grant money.

The new cameras will give the Sacramento Police Department the ability to gather evidence of criminal activity when crimes are reported, Peck said.

Asked how long the police department will keep video footage from the cameras, Peck said the length of time will depend on the situation. The department used the new mobile surveillance trailers at a heavily attended outdoor concert hosted by KSFM 102.5 on Capitol Mall last weekend, she said. There were no incidents as part of the event, Peck said, so there is no reason for the department to hold onto the video footage.

“But, let’s say, for example, a crime had occurred, then the footage would become part of the investigation,” she said.

If that were the case, the footage would be maintained until it was no longer needed, she said.

The KSFM concert was the first event that occurred since the department obtained the surveillance trailers, Peck said. The department will use the trailers at every event that draws a lot of people, she added.

Peck said the locations for the cameras were selected because they are “high-crime areas.”

The 13 cameras are at six spots in the city. “At some of the larger intersections (Mack and Center Parkway, for example), multiple cameras were installed to cover the area,” she said.

Meanwhile, the Sacramento County chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union has opposed the cameras since the department announced in 2009 that it won the federal grant money.

The local ACLU is “opposed to the use of public money to put surveillance and cameras in public places to watch people who are not doing anything wrong,” said Debra Reiger, the chapter’s president.

“It amounts to watching everybody just so you can find someone doing wrong,” she added.

But Peck disagreed. “There’s no expectation of privacy when you’re in a public place,” she said.

Three people walking near Seventh and K streets Monday were not disturbed by the round surveillance cameras attached to poles above their heads.

Cameras are a “violation of privacy,” said Ron Johnson, age 66. But they are everywhere, he said, giving the example that his cell phone has a camera.

The cameras could prevent crime in the K Street area, according to Sacramento resident Kevin Davis, age 24. They will serve as a “24-7 neighborhood watch,” he said.

And Raylene Vance, 25, said the cameras could be useful if a crime, such as a shooting, occurs.

Click on the link below to view a map that pinpoints the locations of the 13 cameras.

View Locations for new police surveillance cameras in a larger map

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

City eyes 350 city jobs for cuts

2011-04-30T01:57:07Z

More than 350 jobs, including those of 80 sworn police officers, could be cut to balance the city’s budget, Interim City Manager Bill Edgar said Friday.

The city manager’s office released recommendations Friday on how to resolve a $39 million budget gap. The proposal released by the city is not set in stone: The City Council is responsible for making final budget decisions.

“This is the budget that everyone has dreaded,” Edgar said. “(This is) the budget where the chickens come home to roost.”

The city manager’s office proposes cutting 294 positions. In addition, Edgar said he is recommending that the City Council cut about 60 more positions to privatize maintenance of city golf courses.

In the coming weeks, representatives for the city’s unions are expected to negotiate with city officials over the planned budget cuts.

The proposed budget recommends that the City Council lay off 80 of the city’s 701 sworn police officers. The city manager’s proposal also suggests laying off about 70 civilian workers in the Police Department and cutting 18 vacant positions for sworn police officers.

Detective Mark Tyndale, vice president of the Sacramento Police Officers Association, said the union’s members are upset, scared and “very angry” about the proposed cuts to the department.

The union made concessions on raises in 2009 that resulted in $13 million in savings for the city, he said.

“We have stepped up, and we have given,” he said.

SPOA’s view is that the city unfairly gave raises to a few top city officials recently.

Tyndale also argues the city mismanaged money by paying raises to members of another city union, Local 39, after negotiations fell apart between Local 39 and the city in 2009.

(However, it should be noted that Local 39 members suffered layoffs as a result of the failed negotiations with the city in 2009. Local 39 Director of Public Employees Joan Bryant, who represents city workers that are not in the public safety field, recently argued that the city unfairly favors public safety workers on retirement benefits.)

Despite Tyndale’s anger over the proposed budget, he said SPOA will continue to “have a dialogue with city management” on the budget.

“We expect to be treated fairly by them,” Tyndale said.

The proposed cuts will reduce police services, said department spokesman Sgt. Norm Leong.

“It will have impacts to crime and to the service level we’re providing,” he said.

In one of many examples, Leong said the department would not be able to respond in person to property crimes like theft and home burglaries if there are no suspects on the scene. “We’re not coming out,” he said.

However, if there are suspects present, the department would respond, he said.

Sacramento City Councilman Darrell Fong, who retired from the Police Department in 2009 after a 30-year career there, said no officers were laid off during his tenure with the department.

“I’m really concerned about the cuts to public safety,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Fire Department also faces major cuts in the proposed budget. There are “whole communities that aren’t going to have EMS or fire response,” said Jaymes Butler of Sacramento Area Firefighters Local 522. “They’ll have to pull from another community.”

The numbers of layoffs and the cuts to services for the fire department are still unclear because the city has been selected to receive a $5.6 million grant earmarked for fire services.

However, Butler estimated that the cuts would result in the following actual layoffs: 14 captains, nine engineers, 35 firefighters and seven firefighter/paramedics.

Positions are different from actual layoffs, because the city sometimes saves money by cutting vacant positions.

However, Edgar said he doesn’t expect the number of positions – more than 350 – to differ much from actual layoffs.

“I think it’s fair to say that most of (the positions) are filled at this point,” he said.

The city budget document released Friday projects that the city will continue to face budget gaps until fiscal year 2015/2016. The gap for fiscal year 2012/2013 is $11.7 million and is expected to rise to $22.9 million in fiscal year 2013/2014. In fiscal year 2014/2015, the city expects to be $18 million in the hole. The gap drops to a $13 million deficit predicted in fiscal year 2015/2016.

Read the full text of the proposed budget here.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Low-cost support for Natomas moms

2011-04-29T02:39:41Z

Participating in a family-centered activity group in Natomas helped Katie Rozental feel less isolated when she was a new mom.

Rozental said she benefits from the Natomas Mothers’ Group, which offers a wide range of activities for mothers and young children up to age 5 for a membership fee of $40 per year.

“I’ve been in the group for almost five and a half years now, and I really don’t know what I would have done without (Natomas Mothers’ Group),” Rozental wrote in an email Thursday.

“There were times when I was a first-time mom where I felt trapped in my own house and just felt lost, and if I didn’t have the play groups to go to, I think I would have gone crazy! NMG has been an invaluable source of knowledge, friendships for both me and my children and support,” she said.

The group, which is welcoming new members, hosts play groups for mothers and their children about three times each week, said Leslie Whitesel, a leader in the group. In addition to the play groups, the group organizes field trips for kids, seasonal parties, and Moms’ Night Out events.

The group formed more than 20 years ago and now has about 34 members, she said.

Group members help each other when they experience major life events. When a member is pregnant, undergoing surgery or facing a death in her family, the Natomas Mothers’ Group holds its Sunshine Support activities.

“(For) anybody who needs extra support, we will ask for volunteers to bring them meals, or anything else they may need to get them through a difficult time – usually, it’s for a couple weeks,” Whitesel said. “For example, right now, there’s somebody who’s going to have surgery next week. All she wants is just somebody to take care of her kids – to get her kids out of the house, to take them to the park (and) take them to play with other kids while she’s recovering at home.”

The group is active in community service events, and has donated to Women Escaping a Violent Environment, a nonprofit organization that assists people in domestic violence and sexual assault crises.

Children also make friends through the group. Whitesel’s son, Joshua, who said he is “6 and three quarters years old,” said he met his best friend through the Natomas Mothers’ Group. He said he enjoys the group’s annual family camping trip.

“It’s like it’s a little tent neighborhood,” he said.

Email natomasmothersgroup@gmail.com to join the group.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Proposed budget would cut 100 cops, 50 fire staff

2011-04-29T00:39:05Z

Layoffs of about 100 police officers and nearly 50 Fire Department staffers are listed as possible budget cuts in the city’s proposed 2011/2012 budget, scheduled to be released Friday.

The city released a summary of the budget recommendations from Interim City Manager Bill Edgar and Interim Deputy City Manager Betty Masuoka late Thursday afternoon. The budget was largely put together by previous Interim City Manager Gus Vina, who resigned last month.

The city manager’s office recommends that police officer cuts should be made in the department’s special units. The summary said that 167 full-time employees would be cut in the police department. Of the 167 employees, 98 are sworn police officers, the summary says.

“This reduction will result in the loss of the special units in order to protect patrol (units) as much as possible,” the report said.

The proposed budget would also ramp up the number of Fire Department “brownouts” from two to six, and lay off 49 full-time Fire Department employees. However, the suggested cuts to the Fire Department were unclear at press time because the city has been selected to receive a federal $5.6 million grant earmarked for firefighters.

Parks and Recreation is slated for major cuts, as well. “All but three community centers will be closed, and all but three swimming pools will be closed starting the summer of 2012,” according to the budget summary. The budget recommendations also said that youth and senior programs will face “significant reductions.”

While the city manager’s office has released budget cut plans for the police, fire and parks departments, it’s unclear how many people will actually be laid off. The City Council is responsible for all final decisions on the budget, and the numbers of proposed layoffs often change during the city budget process. Union negotiations can change the numbers. When the city cuts positions, it uses a process of demoting employees that can also change the number of layoffs.

Read the summary of the proposed budget here.

The full proposed budget is expected to be released Friday. The Sacramento Press will cover the budget in depth on Friday.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

City loans California Musical Theatre $300,000

2011-04-28T01:17:51Z

The struggling California Musical Theatre in Sacramento will receive $300,000 from the city to help it stay afloat.

The Sacramento City Council unanimously decided Wednesday to loan the amount to the theater over the next three years. The theater can withdraw the money in $50,000 increments each quarter until the $300,000 total is reached, according to a report by city staff. The money will go toward the theater’s operations.

California Musical Theatre runs Music Circus, the Broadway Series and Cosmopolitan Cabaret.

“It’s an important piece of downtown,” Councilman Jay Schenirer said, referring to the theater. The business the theater brings to downtown is “incredibly important,” he added.

The city is taking $300,000 from its Community Center Theater Renovation Project for the loan.

Councilwomen Sandy Sheedy and Angelique Ashby noted that the money for the loan is designated for the arts and cannot be used in the city’s general fund.

When the theater withdraws money from the loan during a fiscal year, it must pay back the city the amount plus interest by June 30 of that fiscal year, according to the city staff report.

The theater cannot receive a bank line of credit because of its financial situation, the staff report said.

Still, the theater provides benefits to the city, according to the report. The theater employs more than 550 people, and pays $800,000 to the Sacramento Convention Center in rent annually, the report said.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

City Council weighs in on safe ground

2011-04-27T05:49:46Z

Should a group of homeless people be allowed to camp together in Sacramento without outside monitoring?

Safe Ground Sacramento, a group of mostly homeless people, says it should have the right to be “self-governing” and to operate an overnight camp independently.

But a few Sacramento City Council members said they disagreed with that idea Tuesday.

The City Council held a workshop on the safe ground issue as part of its weekly meeting. Over the past two years, Safe Ground Sacramento has asked the city to dedicate land for a site where the homeless could camp legally overnight. The city has an ordinance that bans overnight camping.

One of the group’s key principles is that its members are “self-governing” and that operations are led by elected members, according to a presentation by Safe Ground Sacramento Executive Director Stephen Watters.

The group is a community of people with “common needs,” Watters said.

“People watch out for each other and provide mutual support,” he told the City Council. “The community spirit that develops has turned people’s lives around.”

The Safe Ground Sacramento group asks its members to be drug- and alcohol-free and to not engage in violence. Members of the group camp overnight together, despite the camping ban.

But Councilman Rob Fong disagreed with the self-governance principle.

“I am not comfortable with a self-governing population,” Fong said. “I know that everyone I’ve talked to suggests that there needs to be a programmatic aspect to transitioning people out of homelessness.”

Homeless people need to be matched up with social services to help them find permanent housing, Fong said.

Mayor Kevin Johnson said he supported the safe ground idea but wanted the group to link to a social services program.

Councilman Kevin McCarty mentioned the model at Quinn Cottages, which combines housing with social services.

While Safe Ground Sacramento regularly lobbies the City Council to set aside land for homeless people to stay overnight, a spot has still not been selected.

Watters discussed the thorny issue of finding a location in an April 12 statement sent to City Council members.

“Members of the Safe Ground Sacramento Site Development Team, after concluding a series of meetings, have been unable to select an appropriate location that could be developed as a long-term housing site from the list of more than 1,900 city-owned properties provided by city staff,” Watters wrote.

“Parcels deemed appropriate based on size, proximity to public transit (i.e. Regional Transit bus and light rail stops), and other locational factors were found unacceptable due to various ecological, political and existing city planning factors when investigated in depth by the joint city / Safe Ground team.”

The group is now searching for two kinds of locations – an 18-month site as well as a permanent spot – and working on building relationships with the city and county governments and local business sector, Watters wrote.

No specific date for deciding a location was set Tuesday.

Read Watters’ statement here.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Council to discuss "safe ground" idea

2011-04-26T01:17:21Z

The Sacramento City Council will discuss the idea of setting aside land for the homeless on Tuesday night, but it will not decide on specific locations for a homeless living space.

Council members will participate in a workshop on the “safe ground” idea, promoted by a group that wants the city to provide a place for homeless to live together. The Safe Ground Sacramento group opposes the city’s ordinance against overnight camping.

The group, composed mostly of homeless people, has pressed its case for two years, but the city has not designated an area where the homeless can camp legally.

As part of the workshop, the Safe Ground group will present its ideas to the City Council.

Councilman Jay Schenirer, who initiated the upcoming workshop, said he wants the council to understand the safe ground plan. He pointed out that Safe Ground Sacramento now runs a campground for homeless people who are drug-free, and does not allow violence.

“For a cohort of individuals who are off drugs and violence, this is a viable alternative,” Schenirer said.

A designated living space is one of many methods that could address local homelessness, he said.

Safe Ground Sacramento is also looking at the idea of small cabins as temporary shelter for the homeless. John Kraintz, president of the group, said a community of cabins could be set up and paid for by businesses or churches in an “adopt-a-cabin” model. The cabins would have proper sanitation and clean, running water, he added.

“But first we need to get the land to put these things on,” he said.

The workshop will be part of the regular City Council meeting, which begins at 6 p.m. at 915 I St.

Read the city staff report on the safe ground workshop here.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

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.

Costly water treatment plant upgrades ahead

2011-04-22T04:47:06Z

When the City Council approved $7.4 million for design work to upgrade the city’s two water treatment plants on Thursday night, it inched forward on a long-term and costly project to overhaul the plants.

Remodeling the city’s aging water treatment plants will take years of work, may cost about $150 million and could involve significant utilities fee hikes for property owners and businesses in Sacramento, according to an April 21 report by city staff.

But the City Council and city staff agree that the treatment plants are so old that the remodel of the plants will be necessary. One of the city’s plants, located on the Sacramento River, was built in the 1920s. The other plant was built in the 1960s and is located on the American River.

“I think we’re living on borrowed time,” Councilwoman Sandy Sheedy said at Thursday night’s City Council meeting.

The council unanimously approved the $7.4 million, which comes from the city’s water fund and is not part of the general fund, according to Utilities Department Director Marty Hanneman.

City staffers said in their report to the City Council that the plants cannot remain as they are.

“Much of the existing infrastructure at the city’s water treatment plants has exceeded its service life and is at risk of failing,” the report said.

The City Council did not make any decisions Thursday on how to fund the $150 million in upgrades for the plant.

Right now, city staff is examining the idea of selling revenue bonds to pay for the projects. In that scenario, city ratepayers – property owners and businesses – would be charged an estimated 11 percent rate hike to help cover the city’s debt accrued from selling bonds, according to the city staff report.

If the council wants to set rate hikes, it could phase them out over a series of years, Hanneman said.

Hanneman said the 11 percent figure was an estimate that could change. The Utilities Department will present a funding strategy to the City Council in August, Hanneman said.

At that time, the City Council may discuss numbers that are significantly higher than $150 million, according to city staff. The department noted that it had additional upcoming infrastructure costs, such as the city’s need to replace pipes that are 100 years old, Jamille Moens, the department’s business services manager said.

Read the city staff report here.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Cars on K project drives forward

2011-04-21T01:07:23Z

City staffers are moving forward on the project to bring cars to K Street, saying Wednesday that the street will see its final days as a pedestrian mall in the fall.

Nader Kamal, a senior projects manager for the city, said the street may be ready for cars by November. People will be able to drive between Eighth and 12th streets once the project is complete.

Cars have been barred from K Street since the 1960s, when the city turned it into a pedestrian mall.

“It seemed to be the trend at that time,” city Transportation Department spokeswoman Linda Tucker said, referring to pedestrian malls.

Thursday, the Law and Legislation Committee — composed of four City Council members – will examine updates to an ordinance on pedestrian malls. The ordinance updates, which would allow cars on K Street, are technical changes. The updates will need to be approved later by the full City Council. The City Council decided last year to dedicate $2.7 million to prepare K Street for cars.

Kamal said construction on K is scheduled to begin in July. The construction work will include installing a new traffic signal at 11th and K streets, changing the existing traffic signals on the street and putting in stripes for two-way lanes.

City officials and the downtown business community have said that cars on K will help attract customers to shops on that street.

The increased traffic from cars “will create just a little more visibility on K Street,” said Denise Malvetti, a senior project manager for the city.

Vehicles will also make people feel safer on K Street because the cars will bring activity to the street, she said.

But Sacramento resident Linda Moss, 63, had a different view of cars on that street. “It’s pollution,” she said, while walking from K Street to a bus stop Wednesday.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

NBA's Sac meetings will be closed

2011-04-19T21:00:14Z

The public will have to wait for information on this week’s meetings in Sacramento involving two NBA officials as the meetings will be closed to media, Mayor Kevin Johnson said at a Tuesday morning press conference.

The two NBA executives who will visit Sacramento on Thursday and Friday are Clay Bennett, relocation committee chair for the NBA Board of Governors, and NBA Executive Counsel Harvey Benjamin, said Tim Frank, an NBA spokesman.

The closed meetings relating to the Kings’ future were requested by the NBA, Johnson said.

“They felt that they didn’t want a lot of fanfare,” Johnson said.

However, Johnson said he would meet with the local media to communicate information about the meetings after the NBA executives leave town.

“As soon as they leave, we’ll get right back in the room and tell (the media) all that (the NBA) is comfortable sharing,” Johnson said. “Certainly, I want our community, first and foremost, to know exactly where we stand.”

Johnson said that he wants to show the visiting NBA officials three things – that the team has corporate support, the Sacramento market is viable, and the city has a “clear path” for a new sports complex.

“They’re going to look at Sacramento and we get a chance to put our best foot forward,” Johnson said.

The NBA officials will also be introduced to regional Sacramento leaders, he said.

Johnson declined to name the businesspeople who pledged $7 million to the Kings in corporate sponsorships and suite revenues last week. He said he would identify them “at the appropriate time,” and that they will meet with the NBA executives before making any public announcements.

“I think we have an obligation to introduce the corporate sponsors to the NBA delegation that’s out here first,” Johnson said.

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

Interim city manager to earn $46,800

2011-04-12T01:01:01Z

The Sacramento City Council is expected to approve a contract Tuesday to pay new Interim City Manager Bill Edgar $46,800 for a three-month period.

If the City Council extends the contract, Edgar will earn $15,600 per month for his work for the city.

Edgar and Betty Masuoka started work as temporary city leaders on April 9. The City Council chose Edgar to be interim city manager and Masuoka to be interim deputy city manager on April 7. The pair will manage the city while the City Council searches for a permanent city manager.

The contract relates to Edgar’s employment and does not specify Masuoka’s pay. However, Edgar said Monday that Masuoka will earn $100 per hour.

The city is not paying benefits to Edgar and Masuoka, Edgar said. They will save the city money “or at least be cost-neutral,” Edgar said.

From 1993-1999, Edgar served as Sacramento’s city manager. Masuoka previously worked in the posts of assistant city manager and finance director for the city.

Edgar also said the city won’t need to pay payroll taxes for him because the city will be contracting with his company, Edgar and Associates, LLP, for his services. Contracts with the city don’t involve payroll taxes, Edgar explained.

“We want to get a permanent city manager on board as quickly as possible,” he said.

Read the city’s draft contract with Edgar here.

The City Council is expected to discuss the qualities it wants in a permanent city manager at its weekly Tuesday night meeting.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Create an online redistricting map

2011-04-09T01:21:09Z

Anyone in the city can use the city’s online tools to carve up the eight City Council districts and present their redistricting ideas to city leaders.

The mapmaking tool for the 2011 redistricting process is free to use, and the city welcomes maps from residents.

Maps developed and submitted by citizens will be shared with the City Council, the council’s redistricting advisory committee and the general public, said Maria MacGunigal, the city’s Geographic Information Systems manager.

Every decade, the city rearranges its council districts by applying U.S. Census data.The reordered districts should all have the same population, according to city staff.

“The primary objective of redistricting is to balance population,” MacGunigal said.

Another concern is the makeup of the districts: The balanced districts must not disenfranchise various groups of people, MacGunigal said. Issues related to disenfranchisement of racial groups were discussed at a Feb. 28 Neighborhood Advisory Group meeting.

The deadline to turn in maps to the city is May 16. All maps must be designed using the online tools – the city is not using paper maps, MacGunigal said. The City Council will make final decisions on redistricting in September.

The city worked with a consultant, Environmental Systems Research Institute, to set up the redistricting tool. ESRI created redistricting software, MacGunigal said, and city staff helped set up its design, function and delivery to citizens.

The online tools are sophisticated and give users the ability to share their maps with others.

“You can share your plan, you can create a group and invite users of the tool to participate with you,” MacGunigal said.

Users can work on the maps in sessions by saving their online work and returning to it – they do not have to create the map in one sitting.

The Census data shows that the city’s population rose from 407,018 in 2000 to 466,488 in 2010. With the city’s population at 466,488, each district must have 58,311 people.

District 1 is the largest, with 106,729 people. Districts 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 are relatively close in size, ranging in population from about 46,000 people to about 53,000 people. District 4, represented by Councilman Rob Fong, has 45,703 people, making it the least-populated district in the city.

The Sacramento Press tried out the online tools Friday for illustration purposes and to help citizens understand the process of making your own map.

First, a free account must be created.

Next, read the city’s instructions on how to use the online tools to cut up the districts.

The “create” tab is where the redistricting action takes place. Using the tools here, you can move pieces of one district to another district. Remember, the districts will need to each have 58,311 people.

Divvying up the population in the city is like playing with a Rubik’s Cube. It’s not quick or easy to bring all the districts to the same population numbers. When a user moves a piece of one district into another, the population may bring one district to the 58,311 goal but make another district much larger than 58,000.

Here is the existing map of District 1 before The Sacramento Press took a stab at it.

And here is the map of District 1 after The Sacramento Press brought it down to 58,313 people. (It was too tricky to bring it down to 58,311 on a journalism deadline.)

The Sacramento Press test map shows that it is a time-consuming process. Once a user lowers or raises a population to 58,311, the other districts may fall out of balance. While Ashby’s district was reduced to 58,313, District 2 now has too many people, with 80,119 people.

In addition, The Sacramento Press did not account for any of the crucial demographic data and how the map would affect neighborhoods. The online tool allows users to see the racial breakdown of how their maps affect communities.

City staff will hold training sessions next week that will demonstrate how to use the redistricting software. Three one-hour training sessions will be held at 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 7 p.m., Monday, April 11, at La Familia Center Computer Lab, 5523 34th St.

Training sessions will also be held at 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 7 p.m., Wednesday, April 13, at North Natomas Library Computer Lab, 4660 Via Ingoglia.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Zipcar attracts car-sharing fans

2011-04-08T01:26:35Z

Mary Beth Schwehr was already well-informed about car sharing when she stopped by the Zipcar tent at Cesar Chavez Plaza on Thursday.

Zipcar, a company that provides cars for people to use for short periods of time, has been operating in Sacramento for a little over a week. Company representatives were in Sacramento on Thursday to sign up customers.

Schwehr, a Sacramento County resident, said she has an older car but uses public transit to commute to work.

“I’ve been anxious for this to come to Sacramento for a long time,” Schwehr said. “Rather than having to drive my car on a day when I have some other errands that I have to do where transit doesn’t go, I’ll use the Zipcar at lunchtime and after work ... to do some errands.”

Rachel DuBose, an air quality planner for the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality District, also checked out Zipcar’s tent Thursday.

“At the air district, we really believe in getting our employees to walk and bike and ride share,” she said.

A one-year membership fee to use Zipcars in Sacramento is $50. The application fee is $25.

From Monday through Friday, the charge to use a Zipcar is $8 per hour or $66 per day, according to Dan Grossman, the company’s regional vice president. On Saturdays and Sundays, the cost is $9 per hour or $72 per day. The hourly and daily fees are on top of the membership fee.

The membership fee includes the car insurance, Grossman said. Customers pay for gas by using a charge card provided by Zipcar.

Zipcar, which formed in 2000, operates in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. The company has 530,000 members and 8,000 cars.

Grossman said he couldn’t comment on the number of Zipcar customers who have signed up in Sacramento.

Zipcar representatives parked a Honda Insight car at Cesar Chavez Plaza to demonstrate to prospective customers how the car works.

To use a Zipcar, a member makes a reservation online or by phone. Grossman held a card over a built-in modem attached to the window of the Honda. The card unlocks the door, he said, and the customer can find the ignition key inside. The cards to unlock the Zipcars are given to members, according to Grossman.

City Councilman Steve Cohn joined the small group of people at the Zipcar tent, saying that he and the Sacramento Air Quality Management District had both advocated for a car-sharing program in Sacramento.

“What this does is it enables people that have that occasional need (to drive) not to have to invest in a very expensive car, insurance (and) all the upkeep,” he said.

Cohn said the city is now contracting with Zipcar in an effort to save costs on the city’s vehicle fleet. The city wants to scale down the number of vehicles it owns and maintains, he said. To save money on city fleet expenses, the city agreed to use Zipcar services, Cohn added.

The city also gave Zipcar the use of 10 city parking spaces, he said.

Read the list of downtown locations where Zipcars will be available.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Green waste on-the-street pickup rates could rise

2011-04-07T00:45:48Z

Loose-in-the-street green waste pickup may become more expensive for residents, according to comments made by City Council members Tuesday night.

During a discussion of green waste at Tuesday’s council meeting, the council asked city staff to prepare detailed plans for raising the rates on loose-in-the-street pickup and reducing the level of pickup service from weekly to biweekly. Council members did not make any final decisions on the issue.

Gerald Celestine, a founding member of Friends of Fremont Park, said Wednesday that he thinks loose-in-the-street pickup works better than container pickup for Central City residents.

“We have more trees,” he said. “We have much more green waste.”

The idea of using multiple containers also doesn’t work, he said, because there is not adequate room in the street to place the containers. “Where would people park?” he asked.

The Central City’s situation may be addressed by city staff in the future: The City Council asked staff to provide more information about ways to deal with geographic areas that are particularly leafy.

The city’s systems of green waste pickup – containers and loose-in-the-street – are linked to a 1977 law. Voters passed Measure A that year, which says City Hall cannot force residents to use green waste containers.

While the city says that only 12,121 properties now use loose-in-the-street pickup, it must offer loose-in-the-street pickup because of Measure A.

By contrast, 103,787 properties in the city are using containers now, according to the Utilities Department.

The rate cannot remain at $13.71 per month because there are so few people now sharing the cost burden, according to city staff.

City staff argue that keeping the rates at $13.71 breaks state law Proposition 218, which says utilities rates must correspond to the costs of providing utilities services.

The rates should be higher, according to city staff, because so few people are still using loose-in-the-street pickup that their service is being subsidized by other solid waste rates.

Councilman Kevin McCarty noted Tuesday that city staff would work with the city’s Utilities Rate Advisory Commission on plans to raise rates for loose-in-the-street pickup.

Utilities Department staff has suggested raising rates for weekly loose-in-the-street pickup from $13.71 to $40 per month to match the costs of the service.

Alternately, staff suggested that the City Council could raise rates from $13.71 to $25, but scale down the service from weekly to every other week to align with the cost of service.

Staff also pointed out that the city still provides eight loose-in-the-street pickups each year to customers who use containers.

While council members said they want to explore the ideas of raising rates for pickup, McCarty and Cohn expressed hesitancy about the dollar amounts that staff proposed and noted that they weren’t agreeing to those amounts Tuesday night.

“Let’s not be on the record saying we approve either one,” Cohn said.

Council members also said they want to ask the public to vote in 2012 on whether to repeal Measure A.

“I’d like to go to the voters as soon as possible to take a look at repealing Measure A from 1977,” McCarty said Wednesday. “Clearly, times have changed, and I think we ought to look at reversing course on this 35-year-old policy.”

McCarty said there are a number of benefits to containers, including improved air quality resulting from fewer trucks picking up leaves and cleaner bike lanes.

Utilities Department spokeswoman Jessica Hess said the department has not yet set a date for when the green waste issue will be addressed at City Council again.

“We have a desire to correct the issue,” Hess said. “We are going to work on getting that expedited.”

Read the staff report here.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

State may fine Dan Waters $2,500

2011-04-06T02:06:44Z

The state’s Fair Political Practices Commission will decide later this month whether to fine Dan Waters, a former city employee and son of former City Councilman Robbie Waters, $2,500 for his role in altering a permit for a business he co-owned.

FPPC staff argue that Waters, the former customer services supervisor at the city’s development department, disregarded the Political Reform Act by improperly interfering with the permit process for Oshima Sushi in Natomas. Waters co-owned LEWA Inc., a cigar business located at a patio at Oshima Sushi.

An FPPC report claims that Waters intervened in a permit process in order to improve the business environment for the cigar shop.

While staff is recommending that Waters be fined $2,500, the decision whether to fine him will be made by the commission on April 11.

Waters has already paid the $2,500 proposed fine even though the commission has not made its decision, said FPPC Executive Director Roman Porter.

The FPPC is holding onto Waters’ check, Porter said. If the commission agrees that it wants to fine him $2,500, Waters’ money will then go to the state’s general fund, according to Porter.

The FPPC investigation of Waters’ role in the Oshima permit is not related to Waters’ role in approving 35 building permits for a flood zone in Natomas in 2009.

Read the FPPC’s report on Waters here.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

City treasurer explains Kings' contracts

2011-04-06T00:41:58Z

City Treasurer Russ Fehr explained the city’s contracts with the Sacramento Kings in a Tuesday interview, saying that the 1997 contracts anticipated a scenario in which the Kings may move.

Kings owners are legally bound to pay the city $77 million in lease revenue bonds before relocating.

Fehr pointed out specific paragraphs in July 1, 1997 agreements that say that if the Kings have not paid their loan, they cannot move out of town. The city’s concern that the Kings repay the loan in light of the team’s possible move is not a new development, Fehr said.

“It was thought of 14 years ago” in the 1997 contract, Fehr said.

The 1997 agreements were made between the city and the Kings’ former owner, Jim Thomas. The Maloofs assumed the debt to the city in 1999, when they purchased a majority share of the team.

A “team owner’s relocation assurance agreement” between the Sacramento Kings Limited Partnership and the city includes language saying that the Kings must pay their debt.

“That’s what we’re trying to enforce,” Fehr said last week, referring to the relocation agreement, which is a public document.

The agreement confronts the possibility of the Kings leaving town without paying the loan.

“The team owner hereby covenants and agrees it will not relocate the Kings from Sacramento, California to another venue if the city obligation is not satisfied,” according to the document.

If the Kings move to Anaheim despite the rules in the contract, they would still have to pay back the loan and would also be the arena’s owner.

The Kings face an April 18 deadline to ask the NBA if the team can be relocated.

View the contract here.

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

Community gardens to be discussed

2011-04-05T01:42:17Z

Four Sacramento council members will discuss ideas for growing the number of community gardens in the city on Tuesday afternoon.

City Council members Jay Schenirer, Sandy Sheedy, Darrell Fong and Steve Cohn sit on the Law and Legislation Committee, which analyzes ideas for local ordinances. The committee will examine ways to regulate community gardens and increase their presence.

Councilman Rob Fong spurred the committee’s discussion, according to a city staff report. The city should do everything it can to encourage community gardening and to explore urban farming, Fong said Monday.

“I just think we need to utilize our spaces well,” Fong said.

Committee members will evaluate a proposed ordinance that would lay out how residents could create community gardens on their private properties, according to Joy Patterson, principal planner for the city.

“The city already has a community garden program,” Patterson said, explaining that the proposed ordinance will relate to private citizens and private property.

The ordinance would set rules for community gardens on vacant, private land, Patterson said.

The proposed rules for community gardens would vary depending on a garden’s size. If a proposed garden is less than 16,600 square feet, citizens who want to maintain the garden could easily register their garden with their city and pay a small processing fee, according to the report.

The city’s zoning administrator would need to approve gardens for spaces that are larger than 16,600 feet because these gardens may have a bigger impact on nearby areas, according to the report.

The Planning Commission would be in charge of issuing permits for community gardens on private lands that are one acre or larger, the report said.

The proposed ordinance being discussed by the Law and Legislation Committee Tuesday would also need to be addressed by the city’s Planning Commission and the City Council, according to the staff report.

The city’s Parks and Recreation Department oversees eight community gardens. Bill Maynard, the city’s community gardening director, said community gardens produce oxygen and beautify communities.

The committee will meet Tuesday, 3 p.m., Sacramento City Hall, 915 I St.

Read the staff report on the community gardens discussion here.

View Community gardens overseen by the city in a larger map

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Petition campaign opposes city union effort

2011-04-02T00:31:59Z

A campaign opposing an effort to unionize city employees is under way and will continue through the end of next week, according to Cindy Bates, the city employee leading the opposition campaign.

Bates, a program analyst in the city’s transportation department, is circulating a petition against a current effort to unionize nearly 700 city employees, including top managers and administrative staff.

Former city Labor Relations Director Dee Contreras is leading efforts to form the union, which would be called the Sacramento City Exempt Employees Association.

Bates is one of the 677 employees who could be represented by the union if it forms.

“We don’t want to join,” Bates said in a recent interview.

She said Friday that she has so far gathered 45 signatures from employees opposing the union campaign. She is gathering the signatures at public areas, she said.

Bates acknowledged that her signature drive would not stop the unionizing effort. Rather, the petition clarifies that signers oppose the formation of the union.

Bates’ petition also would request a “decertification election” to verify if the union has an adequate number of employees supporting it. That election would only be possible if the union forms.

Bates contended it is unclear how union dues would be spent. Union supporters have provided “no road map on what they plan to do with that money,” she said.

She also said that supporters of the union effort have not provided a plan to address the city’s $35 million - 40 million budget shortfall.

In February, Contreras said city employees asked her to help them organize. “The city has not taken care of its unrepresented (non-union) employees,” Contreras said in February.

Contreras declined to comment on Bates’ petition drive Friday.

View the list of the jobs that would be represented by the union here. Read Bates’ petition here.

The Sacramento Press will continue to cover the unionizing effort when more information becomes available.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Abandoned Natomas structures torn down

2011-03-31T01:45:59Z

The partially built TGI Friday’s and Sonic Drive-In restaurants at Truxel Road and Gateway Park Boulevard in Natomas were being torn down Wednesday. One of the buildings was crushed by 5 p.m., while the other still has yet to be demolished.

Exchange Bank, which now owns the property, is demolishing the buildings in response to a city order.

Councilwoman Angelique Ashby started the process of removing the buildings in November, according to her public policy director, Michelle Kille.

The structures are located in a commercial area near many chain retail stores, including Walmart and In-N-Out Burger. The buildings were a blight in the community, Kille said.

“I am thrilled to see the structures on Truxel coming down,” Ashby said in a statement through Kille. “Those buildings have no place in our beautiful community.”

The restaurants were never fully built because the developer, Kobra Properties, went bankrupt in 2008, according to the Natomas Buzz.

Abe Alizadeh, who owned Kobra Properties, was arrested in January on suspicion of grand theft, according to the Sacramento Business Journal.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Two new spots on redistricting committee

2011-03-31T01:24:56Z

Two seats are still available on the city’s redistricting advisory committee.

The Sacramento City Council decided Tuesday to reopen the application period after Latino residents said they were concerned that Latinos were not represented on the committee.

“We were very dismayed to see there were no Latinos appointed,” Vanessa Cajina, president of the Latino Democratic Club of Sacramento, told the City Council.

Council members unanimously voted to add two more seats to the committee, bringing the number of seats to 15.

The new deadline for residents to apply online for the two new seats is April 3 at midnight.

The City Council did not say whether Latinos would be selected for the new seats.

The city reshapes its council districts once each decade, using U.S. Census data. Each district should have the same population when the districts are reorganized, according to city staff.

Nine of the 13 members selected for the advisory committee so far were named by individual council members and Mayor Kevin Johnson.

The other four members were chosen through the city’s Personnel and Public Employees committee. The committee nominated the following four people: Linn Hom, Natomas activist; Miranda Perry, League of Women Voters staffer; Phil Pluckebaum, vice president of River Park Neighborhood Association and Maya Wallace, a state employee.

The council is expected to officially confirm the 15 members on April 12, according to city staff. It’s likely that the 13 people already selected will be confirmed.

Read about the nine committee members selected by individual council members here.

Learn how to apply for an open committee seat here.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Johnson: Maloofs say they'll pay loan

2011-03-29T23:32:44Z

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson said the Maloofs told him Monday they would pay back the $77 million in lease revenue bonds they borrowed from the city in 1997.

Johnson told reporters about his conversation with the Maloofs at a press conference in North Highlands Tuesday.

Assistant City Manager John Dangberg sent a letter to the city of Anaheim Monday asking officials to stop negotiating with the Kings to be their new host city. If Anaheim won’t stop talks with the Kings, then Sacramento wants Anaheim to require the Kings to pay their debt to Sacramento, the letter said.

“The Maloofs have told me, time and time again, that they are going to fulfill the obligation and pay back the loan,” Johnson said.

They have consistently made their loan payments, he said.

However, the city sent its letter to Anaheim with taxpayers in mind, he said. The city is looking for “written assurance” that the Maloofs won’t ignore the loan.

“We need to make sure that our interests – the interests of the taxpayers – are protected,” Johnson said.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Council's closed meetings on Vina examined

2011-03-29T00:43:59Z

A number of recent City Council meetings relating to Interim City Manager Gus Vina, including the council’s January vote against his promotion, have been closed to the public. An attorney and open government advocate commented on the Brown Act Friday, saying he opposes “closed session” meetings on hiring and firing matters affecting the city manager.

Terry Francke, an attorney for the nonprofit open government group Californians Aware said city manager hiring and firing decisions should be made public.

Central to the issue of closed meetings is the way city officials interpret the Brown Act, a state law intended to make government meetings open to the public at the local level.

The City Council met in a closed session on Jan. 25, when it decided in a 5-4 vote not to promote Vina to the permanent city manager position. City Attorney Eileen Teichert said the closed session complied with the Brown Act.

“The closed session was duly noticed for the purpose of considering appointment or employment of the city manager, consistent with the Brown Act,” Teichert wrote in a Feb. 3 email. “The council’s decision in that closed session to proceed with a nationwide search was a byproduct of their discussions whether or not to appoint Mr. Vina as city manager.”

But Francke noted that the City Council made a choice to hold the meeting in closed session, saying that the Brown Act allows city councils to hold personnel discussions in closed sessions, but does not require it. In Francke’s view, the public should be welcome at discussions on city manager hiring and firing.

"People have a right to know about his or her qualifications and performance for two reasons,” he said.

“First of all, because they have a great interest in knowing the job is being done well, or, if not, what needs to be improved. Secondly, since this person is the most influential individual in the city structure, the council itself needs to be held accountable for choosing the right person and providing direction in a way that's appropriate to their responsibilities,” he added.

The council’s vote and decision to hold a national search for city manager was announced in the public City Council meeting held later in the evening on Jan. 25. But the discussion leading to the vote was held behind closed doors.

As a result, the public has no on-the-record information for why five of the members of the City Council voted against promoting Vina.

Vina told the City Council Friday that he was resigning with two weeks notice. His last day on the job will be April 8.

Council members Sandy Sheedy, Rob Fong, Kevin McCarty, Darrell Fong and Bonnie Pannell were the five who voted against promoting Vina in January. They are not speaking publicly about why they voted for a national search and did not promote Vina.

They did not return phone calls from The Sacramento Press Friday.

In early February, McCarty said he declined to comment on his vote because it was a “personnel” and “closed session” matter.

Teichert said in her Feb. 3 email that the council members cannot talk about the closed session meeting.

“The Brown Act, the privacy rights of the candidate, and the City Council’s confidentiality policy preclude disclosure of any confidential discussions during closed session,” she wrote.

But Francke said closed sessions on city manager hiring and firing signal that city officials are hiding from the public.

“If their decision, on this person, is shrouded from public accountability, their single most important decision is also shrouded,” he said. “And, if that's the case, then they're ducking accountability and public scrutiny, as well.”

Read the full text of the Brown Act here.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Vina transfers pressures with budget, unions to council

2011-03-28T02:09:57Z

The clock is ticking for the Sacramento City Council.

Sacramento Interim City Manager Gus Vina’s resignation on Friday morning means that the City Council must take immediate actions that will impact the city budget and labor negotiations with municipal unions.

Council members must find a new top city official one month before the city’s proposed budget is due. Vina’s resignation also means that the city’s labor unions will take up budget negotiations with a new city leader.

“We don’t have time to grieve,” City Councilman Steve Cohn said in an interview Friday.

Cohn was one of four council members who supported Vina’s earlier effort to become Sacramento’s next permanent city manager. In a split 5-4 vote on Jan. 25, the City Council decided not to promote Vina to the permanent city manager position. The five council members who voted to hold a national search for a new city manager were Sandy Sheedy, Rob Fong, Kevin McCarty, Darrell Fong and Bonnie Pannell.

Though the council did not promote him on Jan. 25, Vina said in February that he planned to compete in the national search.

But that plan came to a halt Friday, when Vina gave his resignation letter to the City Council and Mayor Kevin Johnson. He gave two weeks’ notice and will leave his post April 8.

“I need to move on and pursue other opportunities because I feel that for a city manager to be effective, you really have to have the confidence of the entire council,” Vina told The Sacramento Press on Friday. “I don’t feel that’s the case right now.”

Like Cohn, Councilwoman Angelique Ashby also commented on the need for the City Council to move rapidly.

“For me, he was the front-runner to be the next city manager for the city of Sacramento,” Ashby said. “Now, I think we have a pretty big challenge on our hands. We need to make some quick decisions. We need to come together as a council and really look at the future of our city.”

“And (we need to) find ways to be successful coming out of this situation,” she added.

Johnson’s office had not released a statement on Vina’s resignation by press time, even though spokesman Joaquin McPeek said a statement would be issued on Friday. Johnson supported Vina’s bid to become permanent city manager, saying in January that he hoped Vina would apply for the job in the national search.

The five council members who voted against promoting Vina in January did not return phone calls seeking comment on Friday. The Sacramento Press left phone messages with McCarty, Darrell Fong, Rob Fong, Sheedy’s office, Sheedy’s District Director Joann Cummins and Pannell’s office.

Turnover for the city manager position has been high lately. The City Council selected Vina for the interim post one year ago. Former City Manager Ray Kerridge resigned in February 2010.

New leader must grapple with city budget, union negotiations

The city’s government structure empowers the city manager to develop the city budget. While the City Council makes all final decisions on the budget, the city manager is responsible for preparing the proposed budget document.

Budget preparation at Sacramento City Hall is a weighty responsibility, especially in light of the city’s $35-40 million budget gap.

While the city is in the midst of a major budget shortfall, Cohn and Vina both expressed confidence that Vina’s departure would not delay the budget.

Cohn said Vina told him that the draft budget is on track and should be available to the public by the May 1 deadline. Cohn also said the city has experienced staffers working on the budget.

Vina said Friday that he is carrying out his budget responsibilities.

“We are very close to finishing the proposed budget,” Vina said. “It will be ready to meet the May 1 deadline.... I committed to council that I would get the budget done, and I will.”

But Councilman Jay Schenirer indicated that Vina’s departure will make the budget process more challenging.

“I think it’s a difficult time for the city right now,” Schenirer said. The budget process “was certainly a place where Gus was very strong,” he added.

While Cohn said he was confident that the budget work will get done on time, he expressed concern about labor negotiations, which are often a key part of balancing the budget.

The city manager’s responsibility as leader of labor negotiations for the city is critical, he said, especially when the city is asking the unions to make concessions.

“The bigger problem I see down the line is labor negotiations,” Cohn said.

Mark Tyndale, vice president of the Sacramento Police Officers Association, said his union was already talking to Vina about issues that would affect the city’s budget. Vina’s resignation interrupts that process, Tyndale said.

“These relationships are really important for us,” Tyndale said, noting that SPOA was able to communicate well with Vina, even when the union disagreed with him.

“With Gus departing ... it takes us back to square one,” Tyndale said.

However, another major city union may prefer Vina’s replacement over Vina.

Joan Bryant, director of public employees for Stationary Engineers Local 39, said on Friday that she strongly opposed Vina’s recent decision to award raises to Finance Director Leyne Milstein, Human Resources Director Geri Hamby, Community Development Director Max Fernandez and Police Chief Rick Braziel.

Local 39 represents city workers in the areas of solid waste, code enforcement and animal care, Bryant said. The union represented 1,600 full-time city employees, according to statistics provided by Bryant last September.

“I think he was rewarding his loyalists,” Bryant said.

The amount of money in raises that went to top officials could have paid the salary of a parks worker, she said.

Vina raised Hamby’s salary from $151,402 to $162,000. Fernandez’ salary jumped from $164,445 to $172,667. Milstein’s salary rose from $131,270 to $150,304.

Braziel received an 8 percent raise in June, four days before he told the public he would not leave the city of Sacramento for a potential police chief position in Seattle.

Maurice Chaney, acting city spokesman for the city, responded to questions about the raises on Vina’s behalf in February.

“Two of the three salary changes (Community Development director and the HR director) were envisioned as the next planned step of last fiscal year's consolidation process, which occurred last July and resulted in a cost savings of more than $4 million,” Chaney wrote in an e-mail to The Sacramento Press. “Salary adjustments specific to these positions were considered because of the associated increases in departmental duties that resulted with these mergers.”

Chaney also commented on the raise for Milstein.

“The finance director has played a crucial role during the last four years in assisting with a budget deficit that has affected all city employees,” he wrote.

On the topic of Braziel’s raise, city spokeswoman Amy Williams said in September that he deserved the money because he had voluntarily taken a pay cut in 2008 with the understanding that it would be restored later.

Is Sacramento an unstable city?

In the view of city employee Cindy Bates, Vina’s resignation will not destabilize the city government.

“He’s left competent leaders behind to take care of the ship,” said Bates, a program analyst in the transportation department.

But Sacramento Metro Chamber President Matt Mahood said Vina’s resignation is bad for business.

The business community must work with the city government, he said, giving the example of the requirement for businesses to receive city permits. An unstable city government discourages businesses within the region and those looking to bring business to the city, he said.

“There’s a lot of instability in the city of Sacramento, and that does not help foster a positive business environment,” he said Friday.

Mahood said the council members should change the way they interact if the city manager feels like he has to resign because he doesn’t have their support.

The council members need to align more with each other, he said, “and figure out a way to work together.”

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Vina resigns weeks before budget due date

2011-03-26T00:45:09Z

Interim City Manager Gus Vina’s resignation comes just weeks before the city must propose a budget for the next fiscal year.

In Sacramento’s city government, the city manager prepares a proposed budget and the City Council makes final budget decisions. Vina told the Sacramento Press on Friday afternoon that the proposed budget will be on time even though he is leaving April 8.

“We are very close to finishing the proposed budget,” Vina said. “It will be ready to meet the May 1 deadline … I committed to council that I would get the budget done and I will.”

He said he was leaving because he was not supported by the full City Council. “I need to move on and pursue other opportunities because I feel that for a city manager to be effective, you really have to have the confidence of the entire council,” he said. “I don’t feel that’s the case right now.”

The City Council voted 5-4 on Jan. 25 against promoting Vina to the permanent city manager position.

Council members Sandy Sheedy, Rob Fong, Kevin McCarty, Darrell Fong and Bonnie Pannell voted to conduct a national search for a new city manager.

Mayor Kevin Johnson said then that the council felt that Vina did a “great job” as interim city manager.

Vina said in February that he planned to compete in the national search.

It’s unclear at this point who will replace Vina as interim city manager, said city spokesoman Maurice Chaney. The City Council will decide the next steps, Chaney said.

“In terms of identifying who will fill that void, (that) has yet to be determined,” Chaney said.

The City Council selected Vina for the interim post one year ago. Former City Manager Ray Kerridge resigned in February 2010.

Read in-depth coverage of the impact of Vina’s resignation Sunday.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

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

Newspaper publishers: Brown Act not enforceable

2011-03-24T01:25:39Z

The Brown Act is not currently enforceable, according to an attorney and lobbyist for the California Newspaper Publishers Association. Thomas Newton discussed the status of the state’s law on transparency for local government meetings at a forum on open government held at Pacific McGeorge School of Law Wednesday.

About 30 people attended the talk, which was a Sunshine Week event. Local library associations and the Sacramento County League of Women Voters sponsored the event. Sunshine Week, which technically ended March 19, is an annual effort to promote transparency in government.

Newton said the state is not currently reimbursing local governments for the costs of creating and posting meeting agendas and reporting decisions made in closed sessions to the public.

Without $20 million in funding to the local governments, the law isn’t enforceable, he said.

“The Brown Act’s optional right now,” he said. “Most agencies are still posting their agendas … But if they don’t, in our opinion, there’s no way for the public to enforce that law.”

With the state’s budget crisis, Newton said he doesn’t think the state Legislature will fund the local governments for the Brown Act compliance.

“There’s no way they’re going to put that $20 million back in, faced with a $26-plus billion deficit,” he said.

To respond to the issue, the newspapers’ association is backing a California constitutional amendment proposed by state Senator Leland Yee of San Francisco, Newton said. The amendment would require local governments to notify the public of their meetings and the actions taken at the meetings.

Yee’s proposed amendment, SCA 7, will be heard by the state Senate’s judiciary committee on March 29.

The city and county governments of Sacramento continue to post public notices of their meetings and follow the Brown Act.

Susan Jimenez, a librarian for the California Energy Commission, attended the event. She said she thinks about open government in the terms of the public’s access to electronic information.

“Electronic records management is a big bugaboo that’s going to be something that needs to be solved and figured out for agencies,” Jimenez said.

Watch a Sunshine Week webcast in which panelists discuss electronic records and public access here.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

City manager search stalled

2011-03-23T04:50:25Z

The city’s search for a new city manager has been delayed for weeks, according to the consultant leading the search.

The exact reasons for the delay are unclear, but a discussion at Tuesday’s City Council meeting indicated that the delay involves miscommunication between the City Council, City Attorney Eileen Teichert, city Human Resources Manager Geri Hamby and the consultant, Stuart Satow, an executive recruiter for CPS Human Resource Services.

Council members had been scheduled to tell Satow their opinions on city manager characteristics Feb. 22, but decided then that they didn’t want to have that discussion at that meeting.

Satow said Tuesday that he has not yet received direction from the City Council members and mayor about the qualities they want in a city manager.

“We’re not too far behind the eight ball, yet,” Satow told the City Council. “But the longer we wait, the further back the recruitment’s going to go, and the later you’re going to have candidates for consideration.”

An issue related to the delay is how the City Council can discuss the qualifications for the next city manager in a way that follows the Brown Act, the public meetings law aimed at making local government meetings transparent to the public.

Teichert said Tuesday it would be legally appropriate for Satow to meet individually with council members to ask them about the qualifications they are seeking in a city manager.

At the Feb. 22 City Council meeting, Teichert discouraged the council from meeting in a closed session on the topic of the qualities they seek in city manager, saying the topic didn’t meet legal requirements for a closed meeting. She said that closed sessions are allowed to protect the privacy of particular employees. A closed meeting on qualifications for a city manager does not meet that standard, according to Teichert.

Councilman Steve Cohn said he disagreed with Teichert’s opinion on the matter, but he added that he would follow it. He said he had liked the idea of the City Council meeting to discuss the qualifications in a closed session and then making the input public.

Councilman Darrell Fong indicated it was not his fault that he has not yet provided information on the qualities he seeks in a city manager.

“I’ve never been contacted at all,” he said.

But Hamby responded that she had sent three communications to the mayor and City Council about how the consultant needed more information.

The council members decided to talk to Satow individually about the elements they’re seeking in a city manager.

Interim City Manager Gus Vina’s term ends in late June.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Mueller: From councilwoman to federal judge

2011-03-22T01:14:08Z

The wide range of professions represented by U.S. District Judge Kimberly Mueller’s friends show the depth of her long involvement in Sacramento’s legal and political worlds.

A mix of well-wishers that included state Senate President Pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg, black-robed judges and a retired animal control manager all gathered earlier this month to honor Mueller in her new position as a federal judge.

U.S. President Barack Obama nominated Mueller for the position and the U.S. Senate approved her candidacy in December. Mueller’s official ceremony or “investiture” for the position was held March 11 at the federal courthouse on I Street in Sacramento.

Mueller, 53, sat down with The Sacramento Press last week to discuss her career in Sacramento.

A past life in city politics

Mueller, the first woman to become a federal judge in the Eastern District of California, has roots at Sacramento City Hall. She said she loved working with constituents and solving local problems when she served as a city councilwoman from 1987 to 1992.

“City Council really was a way of being a public servant in an elected capacity,” she said, adding that serving on the council was a “great privilege.”

Though she was born in Newton, Kansas, and raised in Grinnell, Iowa, Mueller’s career has centered around Sacramento. She moved to Sacramento in 1981 after graduating cum laude from Pomona College.

“I grew up professionally here,” she said.

Ruben Mora, a retired animal control manager for the city government, has positive memories of working with her when she was on the City Council. In an interview, Mora said Mueller was considerate with her constituents and city staff.

“She’s a real caring person,” Mora said.

Mora, who worked for the city for 40 years, said he expected Mueller to achieve success because of her caring personality. “I felt like she was going to go a long way,” he said.

Mora attended Mueller’s ceremony earlier this month, where he watched state Senate President Steinberg give a speech in her honor.

Steinberg also has a City Hall connection with Mueller – he ran for Mueller’s City Council seat when Mueller left politics to attend law school at Stanford University in the early 1990s.

“He got his political start because I went to law school,” Mueller said.

A federal career in Sacramento

When Mueller left politics, she left it for good. As a judge, she doesn’t participate in local groups apart from the district court’s historical society and the Sacramento Trust for Historic Preservation.

She worked as a U.S. magistrate judge at the federal courthouse for eight years before she became a federal district judge. Mueller worked as an attorney earlier in her legal career.

Her husband, developer Bob Slobe, had suggested that she apply for the district judge position.

Mueller said Slobe told her: “I think this is the kind of thing that would appeal to you.”

It took her awhile to decide to apply, she said.

As a district judge, she now handles both civil and criminal cases that relate to federal law. Federal issues surrounding drugs, immigration and guns are the types of cases she manages, she said.

She earns a salary of $174,000 in her new position.

Tam Ma, a Sacramento resident and third-year law student at UC Berkeley, externed for Mueller a few months ago, when Mueller was still a magistrate judge.

“I think she really took a lot of time to sit down and talk to me,” Ma said.

Mueller said she doesn’t feel superior because of her success.

“The law keeps you grounded,” she said. “You will never know anything there is to know ... This profession is, in my mind, automatically humbling.”

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Jury: Weisz not guilty in Pops' death

2011-03-18T21:39:50Z

A Sacramento County Superior Court jury decided Friday that Michael Bruce Weisz of Sacramento is not guilty of second degree murder or voluntary manslaughter in the death of local security guard Leroy “Pops” Fisher.

Instead, the jury decided that Weisz was guilty of felony hit-and-run in the 2009 death.

Weisz is expected to appear in court April 15 for sentencing. Judge Maryanne Gilliard ordered that Weisz be kept in jail until the sentencing, citing Weisz’ separate driving-under-the-influence charges.

Weisz was arrested on driving-under-the-influence charges Dec. 8, 2010 when he was out on bail for the Fisher case, according to court records. A decision has not been made at this point on the drunk driving charges.

At court on Friday, Weisz’ family and other supporters repeatedly hugged each other.

“We’re very happy for Michael,” Weisz’s aunt, Donna Solden, said after the jury made its decision. “Our faith in God and love for each other has gotten us through.”

She said Weisz’s family is sorry for Fisher and sends prayers to Fisher’s family.

A woman who said she was Fisher’s widow declined to comment on the jury’s verdict.

On Sept. 23, 2009, Weisz and a friend were ordered by Fisher and a second security guard to leave Badlands, a Midtown nightclub, for inappropriate behavior. Sacramento Police Department spokesman Sgt. Norm Leong said at the time. The Police Department also said at the time that it believed Weisz ran over Fisher in his car.

Sacramento County Deputy District Attorney Sheri Greco had argued that Weisz intentionally ran over Fisher and fled the scene. Weisz’s attorney, Donald Masuda, had argued Weisz did not intend to run over Fisher. Masuda claimed that Weisz’s mental state was impaired after Fisher Tased him with a stun pen.

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

Gay community forms redistricting group

2011-03-17T01:10:57Z

Gay leaders in Sacramento are organizing an effort for their community to be considered in the city’s redistricting process.

The gay community has formed a redistricting committee through the Sacramento Rainbow Chamber of Commerce’s foundation.

Rosanna Herber, chair of the new committee, said the center of the city’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community is in Midtown and downtown.

“We would like to see those areas in one district,” Herber said.

The LGBT population wants to be considered a “community of interest,” which is one of the elements the City Council will use to redesign its districts, Herber said.

Steve Hansen, a member of the city’s advisory redistricting committee who is also active in the gay community’s redistricting effort, said the LGBT vote is now split between three City Council districts in the city’s urban core. Because three council districts represent the area, the gay community’s vote is weakened, he said.

“And we’ve never had a LGBT official on the City Council or on the County Board of Supervisors. Our electoral power has been diluted,” he said.

Specific numbers on how many people identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender in the city are unclear at this point.

The group is using statistics from city voters’ positions on Proposition 8 to show that LGBT community members and supporters are concentrated in the city’s urban core, Hansen said.

In the 2010 U.S. Census, people had the option of filling out information on whether they are married to or living with a same-sex partner.

The data on same-sex couples is expected to be released later this year or early next year, according to Hansen.

Scot Mende, the city’s new growth manager, confirmed that the city has not yet received any Census data on same-sex couples.

If the data is released after September, it may not assist the gay community’s effort with the redistricting process, as the city must complete the process by September, according to the city charter.

Mende said the city doesn’t have Census data to back up a strict geographic boundary for the LGBT community. Still, the city is open to the idea of an LGBT community of interest, he said.

“We are open to anecdotal evidence if someone can explain reasonably well where that community resides,” he said.

View the Sacramento Rainbow Chamber Redistricting Committee's map of Proposition 8 votes in Sacramento County:

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Jury deliberating on "Pops" case

2011-03-16T03:34:09Z

The jury assigned to the case of local security guard Leroy “Pops” Fisher’s death is now deliberating, following a day of passionate arguments by both the prosecution and defense attorneys.

At stake is the future of Michael Bruce Weisz of Sacramento, who faces charges of second-degree murder and felony hit-and-run with death or injury in the case of Fisher’s 2009 death.

The prosecution and defense attorneys made final arguments in Weisz’ trial on Tuesday in Sacramento County Superior Court.

Sacramento County Deputy District Attorney Sheri Greco contended that Weisz is guilty of both second-degree murder and felony hit-and-run with death. Donald Masuda, the attorney representing Weisz, argued that his client is not guilty of either charge.

Weisz and a friend were ordered by Fisher and a second security guard to leave Badlands, a Midtown nightclub, for inappropriate behavior on Sept. 23, 2009, Sacramento Police Department spokesman Sgt. Norm Leong said at the time. The Police Department also said at the time that it believed Weisz ran over Fisher in his car.

Greco argued that Weisz intentionally ran over Fisher and showed “conscious disregard” for Fisher’s life. “He was driving his car into Leroy Fisher,” Greco said.

Greco, who showed photos of Fisher’s severely damaged body after the event, also argued that Weisz should be charged guilty of hit-and-run resulting in death. She contended that Weisz intentionally drove away from the crime scene to San Francisco.

Meanwhile, Masuda argued that Weisz’ mental state was affected after being Tased by Fisher with a stun pen outside the nightclub. He said that Weisz did not intentionally run over Fisher.

Rather, Masuda argued that Weisz was trying to get away from Fisher. At the scene, Weisz had been Tased, was crying and was “trying to do the best he can to get out of the parking lot.”

Weisz, fleeing from Fisher, accidentally ran him over, according to Masuda’s argument. “It’s charged as a murder, but wasn’t a murder to begin with.”

Weisz’ and Fisher’s supporters who attended the hearing sat on opposite sides of the room. Some people on both sides of the room were seen crying quietly during Tuesday’s final arguments.

The Sacramento Press will update readers on the jury’s decision as soon as it is made and information becomes available.

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

City wants 65th Street bike lanes

2011-03-15T00:35:46Z

New bike lanes could be added to 65th Street if the city receives enough cash from the state.

The City Council is expected to approve the application for funding to install bicycle lanes on 65th Street between Fourth Avenue and Folsom Boulevard. The issue will be reviewed at Tuesday night’s council meeting.

The city’s transportation department estimates the new bike lanes will cost $337,000 to install. California would pay most of the project’s costs if it selects the city’s application for the state’s Bicycle Transportation Account grant program. The city would pay 10 percent of the cost from revenues from Measure A, a local half-cent sales tax applied to street projects, according to Ed Cox, the city’s bike and pedestrian coordinator.

“The city is seeking to put bike lanes at this location because there are few opportunities to cross Highway 50,” Cox said in an e-mail Monday.

Bike lanes at the 65th Street site would link bicyclists to several key spots, he said.

“This location happens to connect existing student housing at Fourth Avenue to the (Sacramento) State campus,” Cox said. “It also connects East Sacramento residents to the new Target store, and it connects residents south of Highway 50 to the 65th Street light rail station.”

Tricia Hedahl, executive director of the Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates organization, spoke positively about the city’s plans. She said bike lanes on 65th Street would link with the T Street bikeway, allowing bicyclists more access to points such as Sacramento State.

“This is a really important connection,” Hedahl said.

At the same time, she said she is concerned about the high traffic on 65th Street. If the city moves forward on the project, it should ensure that bike lanes are 6 feet wide and “very visible,” she said.

The city could create the bike lanes by October 2012 if the state decides to fund the project, according to Cox.

Read the report by city staff on the bike lanes proposal here.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Redistricting committee members appointed

2011-03-12T03:26:33Z

The City Council has appointed nine of the 13 members of the citizens’ advisory committee on redistricting.

Each council member and the mayor selected one committee member. City Clerk Shirley Concolino announced the appointees at Tuesday’s City Council meeting. Their names are listed below.

U.S. Census data helps shape the redistricting process, which occurs each decade. When new lines are drawn, each district should have the same number of people, according to city staff.

In a Jan. 18 report, city staffers wrote that the following elements will be assessed in the redistricting process: topography, geography, cohesiveness, continuity, “integrity and compactness of territory,” community of interests, existing neighborhoods and community boundaries.

The other four advisory committee members will be selected through a different process. The city’s Personnel and Public Employees committee, composed of four council members, will evaluate 34 applicants for the remaining positions on March 15.

Later, the full City Council will vote to approve the four committee members, according to Scot Mende, the city’s new growth manager.

The council is expected to decide on the four members in the next few weeks. The citizens’ committee is scheduled to start meeting next month, according to the schedule for the redistricting process.

The committee will make suggestions to the council on the redistricting process, and the council will make the final decisions on restructuring the districts. The City Council is mandated by the city charter to finish the process by September.

Political communications consultant Steve Maviglio will return to the realm of city politics as Mayor Kevin Johnson’s appointee on the redistricting committee.

Maviglio is a former volunteer spokesman and campaign manager for Johnson. The Sacramento Bee reported earlier this week that Maviglio is the new communications representative for Californians for Health Care and Retirement Security, a group representing government employee unions.

In an interview Thursday, Maviglio said he would focus on neighborhoods in the redistricting process. “My philosophy is that neighborhoods should be kept together as much as possible,” he said.

Steve Hansen, who was selected by Councilman Jay Schenirer, said some of the current districts don’t make sense because they break up Tahoe Park, Valley Hi and the urban core of the city. “Tahoe Park is split in half,” he said, between Districts 5 and 6.

Hansen, who serves as the vice chair of the Downtown Sacramento Partnership’s board, lives in District 1 but was selected by the District 5 council member. Appointees for the committee were not required to live in the same district as the council members who selected them.

Here is the list of appointees to the citizen’s advisory committee on redistricting:

Mayor Kevin Johnson: Steve Maviglio, political communications consultant

Angelique Ashby, District 1: Roman Porter, executive director of the state’s Fair Political Practices Commission

Sandy Sheedy, District 2: Bill Camp, executive secretary of the Sacramento Central Labor Council

Steve Cohn, District 3: Cyril Shah, commissioner, Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency

Rob Fong, District 4: Julius Cherry, former fire chief for the city of Sacramento

Jay Schenirer, District 5: Steve Hansen, vice chair of the Downtown Sacramento Partnership

Kevin McCarty, District 6: Bill Motmans, president of the Tahoe Park Neighborhood Association

Darrell Fong, District 7: Bernard Bowler, former board chair of the Sacramento Metro Chamber of Commerce

Bonnie Pannell, District 8: Sandra Frye-Lucas, faculty member of Sacramento Unified School District Florin Technology Educational Center. Ph.d. from UC Davis’ School of Education.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Toasting the Irish at Cesar Chavez Park

2011-03-11T01:57:46Z

Sacramento’s St. Patrick’s Day party will be held downtown this year instead of on L Street so the event can accommodate the thousands of expected festivalgoers, according to Lisa Martinez, director of outreach and marketing for the Downtown Sacramento Partnership.

The downtown organization and de Vere’s Irish Pub are organizing this year’s de Vere’s St. Patrick’s Day Party in the Park at Cesar Chavez Park from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Thursday, March 17.

“Our goal is to create a bigger footprint for the event,” said Martinez, Downtown Sacramento Partnership’s director of outreach and marketing.

From 5 a.m. to midnight on March 17, Ninth Street will be shut down between I and J streets for the event.

Last year’s St. Patrick’s Day event hosted by de Vere’s Irish Pub drew close to 7,000 people, according to the pub’s website.

Holding the event at Cesar Chavez Park at 10th and J streets provides a larger stage area and “more elbow room for our customers,” Martinez said.

More attendees would also mean more funds raised for Maryhouse, a Sacramento women and children’s homeless shelter that will receive 50 percent of the proceeds from the event, Martinez said.

Apart from toasting St. Patty’s Day and Ireland, attractions at the party include Irish dancers, a bagpipe show and several bands, including a U2 cover band from San Francisco called Zoo Station.

The event’s organizers hired 14 Sacramento Police officers to work the event, according to police spokesman Sgt.Norm Leong.

Last Call Sacramento, a designated-driver taxi service, will be at the event to drive any impaired partgoers home free of charge, according to Martinez.

Portable restrooms will be at the park. “We will have plenty of potties for everybody,” Martinez said.

Tickets are $22 online and $25 at the door.

Read more about the event’s attractions here.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Census: Ashby's District 1 grew 123 percent

2011-03-10T02:34:34Z

Sacramento City Councilwoman Angelique Ashby’s district has grown 123 percent since 2000, skyrocketing from a population of 47,670 in 2000 to a population of 106,729 in 2010. But it won’t stay that way for much longer – the city intends to chop it up in this year’s redistricting process.

The 2010 U.S. Census numbers relating to the city’s redistricting process came in Tuesday, three weeks earlier than the city had expected, said Scot Mende, the city’s new growth manager. And Ashby’s District 1, which includes North and South Natomas and part of downtown, is much larger now than any other district.

Maria MacGunigal, the city’s Geographic Information System manager, attributes the changes in District 1 to “unprecedented growth” in Natomas over the last 10 years.

The Census data shows that the city’s population rose from 407,018 in 2000 to 466,488 in 2010. With the city’s population at 466,488, each district must have 58,311 people.

The city must divvy up the districts so residents can be represented equally under the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965, MacGunigal explained.

“We need to draw the boundaries to as near as equal a population as possible,” MacGunigal said.

While city staff had expected Ashby’s district would have the largest population, they had predicted the city’s overall population to be more than 480,000. The city had estimated the population using information sources that included the U.S. Postal service, building permits and commercial databases, MacGunigal said.

“I was surprised that the population was a little lower than we had anticipated,” MacGunigal said.

Districts 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 are relatively close in size, ranging in population from about 46,000 people to about 53,000 people. District 4, represented by Councilman Rob Fong, has 45,703 people, making it the least-populated district in the city.

District 8, which covers South Sacramento, is a little larger. It now has 61,458 people, up 13 percent from 2000, according to the Census figures.

The city applies U.S. Census figures to its redistricting process, which occurs every 10 years. The city’s charter says the city has six months to reassemble its district boundaries after the Census data is released.

The city’s deadline for completing the redistricting process is Sept. 6.

View the city’s map of the new Census data here.

View a chart of the population changes in each district below.

Chart by Kathleen Haley and Brandon Darnell

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Police chief plans to reopen top positions

2011-03-09T06:06:54Z

Sacramento Police Chief Rick Braziel received support from the City Council Tuesday on a plan to bring back three or four job openings that have been eliminated in the department as part of budget cuts.

Braziel told the council and Interim City Manager Gus Vina that he must reopen some key positions because nine of the department’s top 11 officials, ranked captain and higher, will be eligible to retire within three years.

The city is facing a $35 million - 40 million budget gap for the 2011/2012 fiscal year. Braziel said he would be able to open the positions without asking the city for additional money.

“It’s not the right time, but we have to do it,” Braziel said. “We don’t have a choice.”

Braziel said he would pay for the top positions by moving over money currently saved for refilling other positions in the department. By moving the funding in this manner, he would be able to open the positions within his existing budget and not lay off anyone, he said.

The department could promote from within if it opens up top management positions, he said. The newly promoted staffers would gain executive experience, which is necessary because many executives serving in the department could soon retire, he said.

“I am shocked that nine of the command staff are basically aging out in the next three years,” Councilman Rob Fong said in response to Braziel’s comments.

Braziel asked the council and Vina for the authority to revive three or four executive openings during a presentation on succession planning at the department. The City Council did not make a formal decision on Braziel’s request, but voiced support for his plan.

“On behalf of all of us, I think we are very excited about you being proactive so we are aware of what’s going on,” Mayor Kevin Johnson said. “We do not want to be caught flat-footed.”

Vina also indicated that he supported Braziel’s plan.

“We can certainly work with the chief on that,” Vina said.

The Police Department has sliced its executive positions in recent years in response to budget cuts. Braziel said that before he became police chief in 2008, the department had 19 executive positions. The number has since dropped to 11, he said.

Vina said Braziel's plan should be part of the city budget, indicating that the positions could be reopened before the next fiscal year begins on July 1.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Chief Braziel to discuss succession plans

2011-03-08T01:46:58Z

Within the next three years, nearly 75 percent of the Sacramento Police Department’s staff, ranked captain and higher, will be eligible for retirement, according to police department spokeswoman Laura Peck.

Sacramento Police Chief Rick Braziel will address the department’s succession plans and other concerns regarding top staff at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting.

City Councilman Rob Fong requested Braziel make a presentation, saying he was concerned over former Sacramento Police Capt. Daniel Hahn’s move earlier this month to become Roseville’s police chief.

“Whenever there are openings in the region, people tend to look at our folks,” Fong said, adding that the city should ensure it’s not “grooming” chiefs for other cities.

In addition to Hahn’s recent move, Braziel seriously considered leaving last year to become Seattle’s police chief. Braziel ultimately decided to stay with Sacramento and stopped the interviewing process in Seattle.

At Tuesday’s City Council meeting, Braziel will discuss “the future of the organization,” Peck said.

The department will need to start preparing for possible retirements of its leaders, she said. Sworn officers are eligible for retirement contributions at age 50, she noted.

Braziel, 51, said last June that he planned to retire in three to four years. Peck said Braziel was unavailable to be interviewed Monday afternoon.

The City Council will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, 915 I St.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

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.

Trial involving Leroy "Pops" Fisher's death underway

2011-03-05T02:24:49Z

A friend of late Sacramento security guard Leroy “Pops” Fisher is urging the city’s gay community to attend the trial of the man charged with killing Fisher in 2009.

The trial involving Fisher’s death started last week in Sacramento County Superior Court. Michael Bruce Weisz of Sacramento faces charges of second-degree murder and felony hit-and-run with death or injury in the case of Fisher’s death.

Steve Thompson, who was a friend of Fisher’s, has already used Facebook and e-mail messages to ask more than 150 people to appear in court to honor Fisher.

“I want to bring as many people as can be allowed,” Thompson said.

He said he is reaching out to the gay community about the trial because he heard that Weisz has many supporters attending the court hearings. The presence of Fisher’s friends at the trial would show that Fisher had many friends and that “he is well-missed in the community,” Thompson said.

The Police Department said at the time that it believed Weisz ran over Fisher in his car.

Donald Masuda, the attorney representing Weisz, said Friday he was not bothered by the possibility of a crowd of Fisher’s supporters at the trial. “As long as they’re not disruptive, I don’t see any problem with it.”

In a comment to The Sacramento Bee in December 2009, Masuda contended that Fisher’s death was accidental.

The next hearing will be held 9 a.m. Tuesday, at Superior Court’s Department 12 in Sacramento, 720 Ninth St.

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

Checkup on city's development department

2011-03-03T02:10:39Z

Five months after a consultant released a scathing audit of the city’s Community Development Department, the department is making headway on correcting its practices, according to City Auditor Jorge Oseguera. However, it’s still unclear when or if the city can obtain $2.3 million in developer fees that the department did not collect.

Oseguera presented a report on the department’s overhaul to the City Council on Tuesday. The council accepted Oseguera’s report and did not take any formal action on it.

The October audit, conducted by Sjoberg Evashenk Consulting, Inc., faulted the department for not collecting more than $2.3 million in fees in recent years. The firm also accused city employees of violating state and city laws. The audit examined the department’s work from fiscal years 2007 through 2010.

Oseguera noted in his report that it’s still unknown if the city can collect the $2.3 million.

“According to the attorney’s office, the city is still evaluating whether the city may successfully recoup some or all of the previously noted $2.3 million in uncollected fees,” the report said.

Attempts to contact City Attorney Eileen Teichert on Wednesday afternoon for more information were unsuccessful.

Oseguera, who managed the consultant’s work on the audit, is also responsible for checking to see how the department applies the audit’s 40 recommended changes.

He gave the department positive reviews for its work to change its practices.

The recommendations cover an array of areas, including the department’s operations, policies, permitting practices and fee collection practices.

One of the recommendations, to verify that expired permits are voided, is fully in effect, according to Oseguera’s report. The department has “partly implemented” 35 percent of the changes, according to his report. CDD has begun work on 55 percent of the recommendations, while work on 10 percent of them has not yet begun, the report said.

“Overall, we are pleased to report that the Community Development Department has made substantial progress towards implementing the recommendations given the relatively short time that has transpired since the report’s release in October, 2010,” Oseguera told the City Council.

Oseguera said the department has made a “good start” on the work of applying the recommendations, but noted that he expects a “lengthy period” of time for the department to finish all the work.

The consolidation of Code Enforcement with the CDD, city budget cuts and the need for the CDD to form new policies and procedures are some factors that will lengthen the amount of time to finish the overhaul, according to Oseguera.

Councilwoman Sandy Sheedy praised Oseguera for providing an in-depth update on the department.

“I think this is going to help immensely,” she said.

Oseguera’s report briefly summarizes the department’s work on each of the 40 recommendations. One recommendation the department has “partly implemented” calls for it to create “an organizational culture that places importance on adhering to proper policies and processes while also meeting service level goals.”

The recommendation further says that the department’s leaders should show zero tolerance for violating permitting and fee rules. It calls for a new “tone at the top.”

One of the recommendations not yet applied says the department should examine how revenues were used in the past.

“Conduct a review of past Building Services’ revenues to analyze how the monies were utilized and determine whether the usage was appropriate, complied with regulations, and was in the best interest of CDD and Building Services’ operations,” according to the audit.

The city auditor’s office will assist the CDD on how to carry out that task, according to Oseguera’s report.

Read Oseguera’s report on the Community Development Department here.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

City eyes employee pay cuts

2011-03-02T06:39:06Z

The City Council is allowing the city manager’s office to explore new ways of closing the city’s $35 million - 40 million budget gap, including employee pay cuts and benefit rate hikes.

The strategies include a 5-10 percent pay cut for all city employees.

The City Council unanimously decided on Tuesday to allow city staff to consider a range of ideas for closing the budget shortfall.

Councilman Steve Cohn said that examining several options for budget cuts does not mean that he supports them.

“I’m fine with looking at a whole potpourri of different ideas,” Cohn said. “I don’t want that to be mistook for supporting any particular strategy at this point.”

The city would need to reach an agreement with its unions on pay cuts, according to a March 1 report prepared by Assistant City Manager Patti Bisharat.

City unions would also need to sign off on other possible strategies, which include hiking employees’ costs to maintain their health and retirement benefits, according to Bisharat’s report.

Interim City Manager Gus Vina said that the ability to assess numerous ideas for budget cuts would help the budget process. Under the city’s charter, the city manager crafts the city’s proposed budget.

“These items before you today give us maximum flexibility as we build a proposed budget for you that’s coming before you May 1,” Vina said. “This is not a proposed budget. There are no layoffs associated with our report tonight.”

A new effort to organize about 700 city employees who are not members of unions could add a wrinkle to some of the budget-cutting strategies.

Bisharat’s report assumes that there will be non-unionized employees. If some of the strategies are adopted, those employees could face pay cuts and see their contributions for benefits rise without negotiating with city officials.

However, if the unrepresented employees decide to unionize, the city would have to negotiate with the new union, according to Dee Contreras, who is organizing the effort to form the union.

Many of the city’s managers and supervisors would be represented by the union, the Sacramento City Exempt Employees Association, if it is formed.

In an interview before the City Council meeting, Bisharat said that her report was written with non-union employees in mind because no new union has been formed.

“I think the process to get a contract with the unrepresented (non-union employees) would be a pretty lengthy process,” Bisharat said.

If the unrepresented employees unionize, the city would work with the new union at that time, Bisharat added.

Read the city staff report on budget strategies here.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Residents discuss redistricting issues

2011-03-01T06:30:26Z

A group of nearly 40 residents and city staffers held an in-depth discussion on the city’s redistricting process Monday night at the Ethel Hart Senior Center. Residents explored a range of topics, including the role of race in the process.

The city redesigns its City Council districts every 10 years by using U.S. Census data. The 2010 Census data that the city will use is expected to be released in April.

The new districts must be drawn up and finished six months after the Census data is available, according to the city’s charter. The city’s deadline for the 2011 redistricting process will be Sept. 27.

At Monday night’s redistricting forum, hosted by the Area 1 Neighborhood Advisory Group, residents asked city staffers questions on how the new council districts will be determined.

City staffers explained that racial distribution plays a role in the redistricting process. The city follows the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965, which “prohibits minority vote dilution,” according to a redistricting guide published by the NAACP, the Asian American Justice Center and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

Resident Priscilla Barnes asked city staff, “What would be an example of disenfranchisement in the city?”

“Splitting up Meadowview,” responded Scot Mende, the city’s new growth manager. “Suppose you have an African-American community and you manage to elect an African-American councilmember in that district. Now you split it up ... They no longer have the voting power to elect someone of color.”

Barnes questioned the relevance of analyzing race in the redistricting process at the city level.

“Yes, it’s relevant,” said resident George Raya. “Otherwise you have an all-white council ... There has to be a representative from everybody.”

Barnes said after the meeting that she thinks applying race to redistricting in the city “assumes separation” of people by ethnicity.

Meanwhile, in April, the City Council will establish a 13-member citizens’ committee to advise the redistricting process. The citizens’ group will hold its first meeting on April 25, Mende said. The committee’s meetings will be open to the public.

View Central City Districts in a larger map

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Green waste debate to resume

2011-02-26T02:04:51Z

A city staff proposal to eventually stop loose-in-the-street green waste pickup and move to container pickup will not work for all city residents, Interim City Manager Gus Vina said in an interview Thursday.

In tree-laden areas such as Midtown, a container is not adequate to hold all of the fallen leaves, Vina said, explaining why he pulled the green waste issue from the City Council’s agenda on Tuesday.

“I want to make sure I’ve challenged staff enough on creativity and the solutions that are possible,” Vina said.

The plan that Vina delayed would have encouraged moving away from loose-in-the street pickup and raised rates for residents who continue that method of pickup. Assistant City Manager John Dangberg said the green waste issue will be on the City Council agenda again within a couple weeks.

The city uses two systems for green waste pickup because of a law that was passed in 1977. Measure A states that the city cannot compel residents to put their green waste in containers. Therefore, the city must continue to provide loose-in-the-street pickup.

The proposal that was pulled from the council agenda Tuesday asked the City Council to take steps to eventually overturn Measure A. This would allow the city to enforce containerized pickup as the sole method.

Voters would have to approve a counter-measure that would abolish Measure A.

City staff had planned to ask the council on Tuesday to consider draft language for a counter-measure “for use if the City Council determines at a subsequent time to call such a measure to the ballot,” the Feb. 22 staff report said.

But Vina said Thursday that changing the measure doesn’t solve the green waste problem for people living “in heavy areas where a container doesn’t do it.”

“Land Park and Midtown are good examples,” he said Friday. “Basically, we have lots of trees, and in older areas, the trees are big.”

The proposal also included major rate increases for people who choose loose-in-the-street pickup over containers as long as Measure A is still in effect. A resident who chooses loose-in-the-street pickup now pays a fee of $13.71 per month. One of the ideas suggested in the proposal would raise the rate to about $40 per month.

City staff explained in the proposal that the number of loose-in-the-street customers has declined over time – the 103,787 container customers far surpass the 12,121 loose-in-the-street customers. The number of loose-in-the-street customers no longer pay enough in fees to pay for the cost of the service, the report said.

“The current loose-in-the-street rate of $13.71 was sufficient to recover the full cost when 57,000 customers were putting their green waste in the street,” according to the report. “With only 12,121 loose-in-the-street customers remaining paying the same rate, there is now insufficient funding to cover the cost of the service.”

Because there are no longer enough customers to keep the rate at $13.71 per month, city staff say the rate should be raised.

Green waste pickup is a recurring point of contention between the Utilities Department, which favors containers, and some residents, who want to keep their loose-in-the-street pickup.

The department’s position, which is included in the staff report, is that the containers are cheaper and better for the environment than loose-in-the-street pickup. It takes two vehicles to do loose-in-the-street pickup, while only one is needed for containers, according to the department. Reducing the number of vehicles helps prevent pollution, the department points out.

Read the Feb. 22 green waste proposal that Vina withdrew from the council’s agenda here.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Firm hired for Utilities Dept. audit

2011-02-25T01:46:43Z

The Sacramento City Council hired a Philadelphia-based firm earlier this week to audit the city’s Utilities Department.

Public Financial Management, Inc., will receive up to $116,902 for its audit of the department, the council decided on Tuesday.

In a Feb. 22 staff report, City Auditor Jorge Oseguera wrote that he and his staff judged the seven firms that applied for the job on “proposed scope of work, timeliness of work product, each firm’s expertise and qualifications, project cost and references.” The city’s audit team also interviewed three of the firms.

The outcome of the process was Oseguera’s recommendation that the City Council hire Public Financial Management for the audit.

Last month, the council decided it wanted two audits of the department – one managed by an independent firm, and the other conducted by Oseguera.

Public Financial Management’s audit will focus on cost savings and the department’s operations, while Oseguera will audit the department’s billing practices. Oseguera said Public Financial Management will begin work on the audit during the first week in March. The firm is expected to present initial findings in late April, he said.

The Sacramento County Grand Jury heavily criticized the Utilities Department’s work in a January 2010 report. Read more about the department’s past problems here.

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.

City outsources tree pruning work

2011-02-24T00:51:57Z

The Sacramento City Council voted Tuesday to hire an outside contractor for tree pruning and removal work despite opposition from a major city union, Stationary Engineers Local 39.

Council members voted 7-2 to pay up to $3.7 million to Roseville-based Jensen Tree Service, Inc., for a contract that could span five years. The contract has a one-year guarantee of work – after that, the city manager will decide each year over the following four years whether to continue the contract, according to Craig Lymus, the city’s acting procurement manager.

A representative for Local 39, which represents urban forestry workers, among many other groups of city employees, said the work that Jensen Tree Services will carry out is usually done by city employees.

“I find this to be an affront to the public employees and the residents of this city,” Linda Norman, business representative for Local 39, told the City Council. “These dollars will be lost to the city’s embattled economy.”

Each year, the city will pay the contractor $749,000, according to Transportation Director Jerry Way. The money will come from a lighting and landscaping fund, he said.

Way told council members that his department is trying to balance its tree pruning work between in-house workers and outside contractors to save money. The city’s Urban Forest Service is part of the Transportation Department.

“We’re growing our outsourcing a little bit, because, you know, we’ve been hemorrhaging general fund dollars,” Way said.

Councilwomen Sandy Sheedy and Bonnie Pannell voted against hiring the contractor. Pannell raised concerns about contracting with an outside firm when the unemployment rate is high. “My problem is: Unemployment is 12 percent,” she said.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Mayor reacts to anxiety over Kings

2011-02-22T23:26:53Z

In response to public anxiety over speculation that the Sacramento Kings may leave the city, Mayor Kevin Johnson used a Tuesday press conference to emphasize local efforts to build a new arena and call on residents to attend Kings games.

News organizations across the state reported over the holiday weekend that the Kings are eyeing Anaheim as a new host city.

The decision by the Kings’ owners, the Maloof family, is expected to happen by March 1, when they must ask the National Basketball Association if the Kings can move, according to multiple media reports.

“We want the Sacramento Kings to be in Sacramento (and) we want to do everything we can to make that happen,” Johnson said. “But we cannot control that at this point in time. That’s a decision that they can make.”

Johnson said the Kings are expected to participate this week in a financial analysis process with developer David Taylor and the ICON Venue Group as part of a plan to eventually build a new arena.

“I feel like over the next year, the public and all of us are going to clearly know what it will take to do to build a new entertainment sports complex,” Johnson said. “I’m hoping we can get there.”

He also urged residents to attend Kings games. “I think supporting the team will be a huge statement that we can make.”

Read about the efforts of developer David Taylor and ICON Venue Group to bring a new arena to Sacramento here.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

City to welcome electric cars

2011-02-21T18:46:28Z

Sacramento City Hall expects to add several new high-tech electric cars to its fleet in the coming months, thanks to a federal Department of Energy program.

Five Chevrolet Volts will make up the first batch of electric cars coming to the city government later this year. The city can expect five Dodge Ram PHEV pick-up trucks to be available after the Volts, according to the Sacramento Municipal Utilities District, which is organizing a local electric car program. Specific timelines for the arrival of the cars are not yet available.

While the city will have some maintenance costs, the cars themselves will be free. The federal government gave grants to General Motors and Chrysler to provide electric cars to various entities for demonstrations, according to a Feb. 15 city staff report. The automakers chose to provide some of their electric vehicles to the Sacramento Municipal Utilities District, the staff report says.

The city will use a few of the cars because it’s one of SMUD’s partners for the demonstration project.

“SMUD is leading a regional coalition of other government institutions in demonstrating these vehicles in the Sacramento area,” said Bill Boyce, a supervisor in SMUD’s electric transportation program.

While Boyce said he expected the city to obtain electric cars this year, he added that specific arrival dates have not yet been set.

Sacramento City Councilman Darrell Fong spoke enthusiastically about the cars. “We’re getting these cars for free,” he said. “You can’t complain about that.”

While the city won’t have to pay for the cars, it will pay for some costs associated with them. As part of its role in the demonstration project, the city will give a maximum of $100,000 of “in kind support, including equipment installation and data collection,” according to the city staff report. The money will come from the city’s fleet internal service and capital improvement project funds, the report says.

Other costs to the city will come from operations and maintenance work for electric vehicle charging stations.

“The city will be responsible for the operations and maintenance (O&M) costs which are currently unknown given the lack of data on new equipment,” according to the report. “It is anticipated that during the pilot implementation of these projects, the (operations and maintenance) costs will be forecast and budgeted annually in the parking enterprise and the fleet internal service funds.”

Learn more about the electric cars program here.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Oseguera to pitch audit proposals

2011-02-19T02:14:44Z

City Auditor Jorge Oseguera will present to the City Council on Tuesday night a list of audits he wants to work on during the 2011-2012 fiscal year. Ideas for audits include examinations of the Utilities Department’s billing practices and payments to city employees on top of their base salary.

The Utilities Department will experience a double dose of audits. In addition to Oseguera’s audit of the department’s billing procedures, an independent consultant will review many of its other functions, including service, operations and staffing levels.

The City Council will decide whether to approve Oseguera’s list at its meeting. The rules for the auditor’s annual plan, which are outlined in the city code, allow for changes to the plan. The City Council must approve those changes, the code says.

Other areas Oseguera would like to audit in the 2011-2012 fiscal year include the city’s fleet management, city sidewalk repairs, Fire Department inspection fees, purchase cards and the 311 call center.

Oseguera wrote in a staff report that he uses a variety of sources and methods to choose his audits.

“For example, in order to identify and prioritize potential audits based on the level of risk to the city, the city auditor’s office completed a citywide risk assessment,” he wrote. “The city auditor’s office also solicited audit suggestions from the mayor, city councilmembers, city management, and city staff, and identified potential audit areas by reviewing city financial information, reports, policies, procedures, ordinances and regulations. Finally, the city auditor relied on professional experience and expertise to identify areas of high audit potential.”

Several of the audits Oseguera would like to work on in 2011-2012 come from his 2010-2011 audit list.

Oseguera’s office is currently working on three audits – one on the city’s health benefits system, one on revenue collection practices and the third on citywide policies.

He said in January that he would release the three audits by July 1, but in an interview on Friday, he said there is a possibility that all three might not be complete by then. His work to oversee the upcoming consultant’s audit of the Utilities Department has “sidetracked” some of his resources, he said.

“We’re trying to do as much as we can,” he said.

Read Oseguera’s list here.

Kathleen Haley is staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

New union courts nearly 700 city workers

2011-02-18T02:21:49Z

The leader of a new effort to unionize city employees took issue with Interim City Manager Gus Vina’s recent decision to raise three managers’ salaries and lower the salary of a fourth manager.

Dee Contreras, the former labor relations director for the city, is spearheading a campaign to unionize 677 city workers, including top managers and administrative staff. She retired in December but is once again involved in local labor issues – this time on the other side.

Contreras said in an interview with The Sacramento Press on Wednesday that she will serve as the staffer for the emerging group, which is known as the Sacramento City Exempt Employees Association.

“I will be working for them and representing them in their struggle,” Contreras said. “I don’t know whether the city will fight this or not.”

Contreras, who used to work for city management, criticized Vina’s decisions during the public comment section of Tuesday night’s City Council meeting.

City spokesman Maurice Chaney confirmed in a Thursday e-mail to The Sacramento Press that Vina recently made salary changes for four top managers – three raises and one decrease in pay.

Contreras claimed at the council meeting that Vina’s salary changes “raise the spectre of an unfair labor practice charge.”

She said that changes to employees’ salaries should not be made while a union organizing effort is in process.

“In general, an employee cannot give or take away from the employees while you’re in an organizing mode,” she said Wednesday.

But Vina disagrees. In response to Contreras’ claims about unfairness with the salary changes, Chaney, speaking on behalf of Vina, wrote, “Those comments are unfounded.”

The city is facing an estimated $35 million - $40 million budget gap for the 2011-2012 fiscal year. Chaney commented on Vina’s raises for Finance Director Leyne Milstein, Human Resources Director Geri Hamby, Community Development Director Max Fernandez and a salary decrease for Utilities Director Marty Hanneman.

Hamby’s salary was raised from $151,402 to $162,000. Fernandez’ salary jumped from $164,445 to $172,667.

“Two of the three salary changes (Community Development director and the HR director) were envisioned as the next planned step of last fiscal year's consolidation process, which occurred last July and resulted in a cost savings of more than $4 million,” Chaney wrote. “Salary adjustments specific to these positions were considered because of the associated increases in departmental duties that resulted with these mergers.”

Chaney also provided Vina’s rationale for raising Milstein’s salary from $131,270 to $150,304.

“The finance director has played a crucial role during the last four years in assisting with a budget deficit that has affected all city employees,” Chaney said. “As we enter another year in dealing with yet another deficit, Leyne Milstein's expertise, institutional knowledge of our city budget and fiscal experience was critical to retain as we navigate through this budget process. Therefore, a pay adjustment was made.”

Chaney further commented on Vina’s reasoning for lowering Hanneman’s salary from $186,101 to $167,491.

“The Utilities director, who transitioned from an assistant city manager to a department head, retained his previous position salary,” Chaney said. “After an across-the-board examination of city director’s compensation, a salary adjustment was made to parity salaries of other department heads.”

But Contreras, who aims to represent a group that includes managers, disputes Vina’s view of Hanneman’s salary decrease. Vina is reducing Hanneman’s salary to a rate that is below the salaries of other department heads, Contreras claimed.

Contreras sent a Feb. 4 letter to Vina about her organizing a campaign, which can be read here.

The number of people Contreras is attempting to organize represents a large slice of the city’s 5,001 employees, according to statistics provided by Chaney.

If the organizing effort runs quickly, the union may be formed in three or four months, Contreras said.

“The city has not taken care of its unrepresented (non-union) employees,” Contreras said.

Contreras retired from a special projects position with the city’s Labor Relations division in December. The Labor Relations Department became a division of the Human Resources Department when the city consolidated departments last year to save money. Before the consolidation, Contreras was the director of the Labor Relations Department.

While she represented the city as Labor Relations director, Contreras noted that she has worked for unions in the past, including the Service Employees International Union.

The people Contreras wants to organize include high-profile managers, such as assistant city managers and the city attorney. Other job descriptions for people being recruited include the titles of investigator, administrative analyst and staff aide. Read a list of the jobs that Contreras wants to include in the union here.

Contreras said she is now working to organize the campaign because city employees approached her to help them unionize.

“After numerous discussions and approaches, I agreed to assist them,” Contreras said.

City Councilwoman Sandy Sheedy commented on Contreras’ new role as a city labor organizer. “Dee is very effective,” Sheedy said. “She no longer works for the city, but she understands the city.”

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.

Big plans for River District

2011-02-16T06:21:01Z

Major changes are in store for the city’s River District, as the Sacramento City Council approved a set of future development plans Tuesday night.

The planning documents set a path for development of the area over the next 25 years, according to a report from city staff. The city’s plans for the River District, a 773-acre swath between the Sacramento Railyards and the American River, focus on ramping up residential, commercial, office and hotel development and moving away from industrial development.

Council members approved the plans in a 8-0 vote. Mayor Kevin Johnson did not attend the City Council meeting because he was out of town, said Johnson spokesman Joaquin McPeek.

The city wants to remodel the River District area into a “transit-oriented mixed use urban environment,” according to the Feb. 15 city staff report. The refashioned district would feature 8,144 homes, 3.9 million square feet of office space, 854,000 square feet of retail and wholesale, 1.4 million square feet of light industrial and thousands of hotel units, according to the report.

The plans would be a major change from the district’s current developments, which are mostly industrial.

City Councilwoman Angelique Ashby praised city staff’s development plans for the River District, noting that planned projects for the area would involve redevelopment funding. Gov. Jerry Brown has proposed disbanding redevelopment agencies and using redevelopment money on other local services. The city hopes to use $25 million in redevelopment funds on the River District in the future.

“One thing I do want to point out is that this is a really great example of why cities need to have control of ... redevelopment dollars,” Ashby said. “These are exactly the types of gems and pearls we’re trying to bring into our cities.”

Infrastructure upgrades, public resources and administrative costs for the River District remodel over the next 25 years will cost an estimated $323 million, according to the report. Fees paid by developers would cover $180 million of the amount.

If Brown throws out redevelopment agencies, work on the plans will slow, said Rachel Hazlewood, a senior project manager for the city’s Economic Development Department.

In addition to development, the city is also designating nine sites in the area as historical landmarks and setting up a North 16th Street Historic District. Sites that will be identified as historical landmarks include the PG&E Sacramento River Power Station at 400 Jibboom St. and Fire Station No. 14 at 1341 N. C St.

Read the city staff report here.

View River District Landmarks in a larger map

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.

Midtown teen center in the works

2011-02-12T02:32:38Z

In a case of young meets old, a group of civic-minded teens is getting closer to its goal of creating a hip space for youth at a senior apartment complex in Midtown. The city’s Planning Commission approved a permit on Thursday for the VIBE Urban Youth Lounge to operate at the Midtown Manor senior complex at 1725 K St.

The center’s groundbreaking is planned for March 12 and will coincide with the Second Saturday Art Walk.

VIBE organizers had planned to open the center in July 2010. Christina Giffin, executive director of the VIBE Foundation, said the opening was delayed because of lack of funding and because she took some time away from the project to take care of her baby.

“Honestly, what I really want from VIBE is just a place where no cliques or high school social class exists,” said Mylesha Ramey, 18, one of the people involved with the burgeoning teen center.

VIBE will be housed in a remodeled part of the senior center. City Councilman Steve Cohn, a board member on the VIBE Foundation, said the center is scheduled to open this summer.

“They’re really going to turn it into a really hip place,” Cohn said.

Giffin has worked with the teens to fundraise for the remodel. DesCor Builders donated $50,000 of in-kind services to the remodel, Giffin said. About $100,000 of design work was donated by Stantec Consulting Services and architect Ed Mojica, she said.

VIBE is now fundraising for $20,000 to cover the costs of a door, signage and concrete for the front entrance, she said. Giffin said she’s been volunteering on the VIBE effort for more than two years.

“I really just want to see this happen for the community,” Giffin said.

The teens will be supervised at the center, noted Giffin. “There will always be a young, really cool adult there,” she said.

The group plans to have a career center at VIBE, according to a Planning Commission report. There are also plans to have events like dance classes and poetry readings, the report said.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Development sought in North Sac

2011-02-11T05:41:09Z

The Sacramento Planning Commission gave the green light to plans to re-zone parts of North Sacramento to attract future development.

The commission made a recommendation, Thursday night, to the City Council to vote on plans that will allow for more commercial development near a Regional Transit line.

City staff formally refer to the plans as the Northeast Line Implementation Plan. Areas near a light rail line that has stations at Globe Avenue and Del Paso Blvd, and at Arden Way and Del Paso Blvd, are the focus of the proposals. The city’s plans also cite areas around Royal Oaks Drive and Arden Way.

The City Council is expected to vote on the plans next month. The commissioners approved the plans but did not comment on them.

In an interview earlier on Thursday, Greg Sandlund, an associate planner for the city, said, “We just see this area having tremendous potential.”

The areas around the light rail line are unique, Sandlund said. “It’s the only corridor outside of the Central City where you have light rail running along a commercial corridor,” he said.

***

In other light rail news, Regional Transit is making headway on work to bring a light rail extension from Meadowview Road to Cosumnes River College.

As part of its extension, the agency intends to purchase parts of the backyards of 47 homes, according to Diane Nakano, assistant general manager of engineering and construction for RT.

Nakano said the environmental process is expected to run until May.

View Northeast Line Implementation Plan in a larger map

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Councilman McCarty pitches soda tax

2011-02-10T02:03:59Z

Sacramento City Councilman Kevin McCarty is working on a proposal to tax soda and use the revenue on programs to combat childhood obesity. McCarty outlined his plan in an interview with The Sacramento Press on Wednesday.

McCarty said he is examining a soda tax of one cent per ounce of soda, with a cap of 10 cents per soda can or bottle. The tax would be confined to the city of Sacramento.

McCarty is considering having the revenue go to the city’s Parks and Recreation Department for recreation programs.

“You could use the money for recreation – to keep kids fit – but also keep them out of trouble,” McCarty said.

McCarty’s proposal is in its early stages. He said he is talking to City Attorney Eileen Teichert about the public process for his proposal. A soda tax may need a two-thirds vote from Sacramento voters, according to state law Proposition 26.

A soda tax bill authored by former state Senate Majority Leader Dean Florez (D-Shafter) did not advance through the Legislature last year.

The California Retailers Association, which opposed Florez’s bill, said it would also oppose McCarty’s proposal.

Bill Dombrowski, the group’s president, argued that the tax would be “inappropriate” because it could be used to help balance the city’s budget.

But McCarty argued that the money would go toward recreation programs. He said a tax makes sense because soda is connected to childhood obesity. “This is a tax on soda, which is one of the major drivers of childhood obesity,” McCarty said. “There’s an actual link.”

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Sacramentans can apply for redistricting panel

2011-02-09T07:12:31Z

Sacramentans can soon apply to serve on the City Council’s redistricting advisory panel. Four of the 13 panel positions will be available to the general public.

The eight council members and Mayor Kevin Johnson will each appoint a member of the panel. The remaining four spots are “at-large,” which means they will not be filled by appointees, said Scot Mende, the city’s new growth manager.

Applications for the four positions will be screened by the City Council’s Personnel and Public Employees Committee, Mende said. Then, the City Council will vote to select the four members, Mende said.

The city uses U.S. Census figures to restructure City Council districts every decade.

Read a schedule of February neighborhood meetings on redistricting here.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Vina still wants city manager job

2011-02-09T07:00:20Z

Interim City Manager Gus Vina received mixed signals from the City Council Tuesday night as it unanimously voted to extend his interim status until the end of June and to hire a recruiting firm in a national search for the permanent position.

City Council members agreed to pay up to $27,650 to the recruiting firm.

Meanwhile, Interim City Manager Gus Vina confirmed in a text message to The Sacramento Press on Tuesday night that he will compete for the permanent city manager position in the national search. The council decided in a split vote not to promote him last month.

At Tuesday’s council meeting, the city’s elected officials chose to hire Sacramento-based CPS Human Resource Services to manage the nationwide city manager search. The company will charge fees up to $27,650, according to a city staff report. The total fees may turn out to be a little less than that amount – a representative from CPS told the council the fees would be about $25,000.

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.

Streetcar back on city's agenda

2011-02-05T01:43:10Z

The planning process for a streetcar connecting the city to West Sacramento is still chugging along. The City Council last addressed the study of streetcar routes in July 2010.

A study of possible routes for the streetcar will likely get under way soon after City Council members hire a consultant for the task Tuesday night, Councilman Steve Cohn said on Friday. Asked why it’s taken months to start the study, Cohn said $300,000 in federal funding awarded to the city was delayed.

The City Council is likely to hire a national transportation consulting firm, Fehr & Peers, to conduct the study. Fehr & Peers will be paid mostly in federal funds, according to the city’s Transportation Department.

The city has $300,000 in federal dollars and $90,000 in local funds to put toward the study. The local funds will not come out of the city’s strapped general fund, the Transportation Department report says.

The sight of a streetcar shuttling between Sacramento and West Sacramento is still years away, according to Cohn. The project has many steps to undergo, including environmental review, design work and construction, he said. In addition, the city will need to obtain more federal funding, Cohn said.

He expressed optimism about the city’s chances of qualifying for more federal funding. “I think we can be very competitive on this,” Cohn said.

Read the streetcar report on the City Council’s Tuesday agenda here.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

City manager search could cost $35,000

2011-02-05T00:45:53Z

The city will conduct a national search for a new city manager in response to the City Council’s Jan. 25 decision against promoting Interim City Manager Gus Vina.

Recruiting fees could cost the city as much as $35,400, according to Sacramento’s Human Resources Department. An executive recruiting firm will be hired to conduct the search. The range in fees is estimated between $27,650 and $35,400.

One of two recruiting firms may be chosen by the City Council on Tuesday night. The two Sacramento-based recruiting firms are Wilcox Miller Nelson and CPS Human Resource Services.

The Human Resources Department’s report on the city manager search, which will be presented at the Feb. 8 City Council meeting, is now available online.

Mayor Kevin Johnson said Jan. 25 that he hopes Vina will apply for the city manager job during the national search. Asked earlier this week if he would apply for the job, Vina said, “I don’t know. I’m keeping all my options open.”

City Councilman Steve Cohn said Friday that the national search is likely to take a few months. He said a new city manager will likely not start work before July 1.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

City budget discussed in Pocket

2011-02-04T06:40:45Z

About 65 Pocket and Greenhaven residents gathered Thursday night to learn about current city issues. City staffers briefed the citizens on the city budget, green waste pick-up services and other topics during the community meeting, which was organized by City Councilman Darrell Fong.

Attendees were fully engaged throughout the meeting, asking plenty of questions. It began at 6:30 p.m. and by 8:30 p.m. few had left John F. Kennedy High School on Gloria Drive.

City Finance Director Leyne Milstein presented information to the group about the city’s $35-$40 million budget gap for the 2011/2012 fiscal year.

She noted that the $35-$40 million represents about 20 percent of the net general fund, which means the city expects to cut its budget by that percentage.

Resident Bob Pecora asked Milstein about ways the city could bolster the economy.

“We need to take the initiative ourselves and try to put measures into place that will help us to grow the value of our economy locally,” Milstein responded.

The issue of trash pick-up was brought up later in the evening. Resident Roger Fong asked Utilities Department spokeswoman Jessica Hess about problems with his loose-in-the-street green waste pick-up.

The city uses two green waste pick-up systems – green waste is picked up in the street or in containers. The Utilities Department is in favor of the container system, which it says is more affordable.

Roger Fong said that he pays more for his loose-in-the-street pick-up. But his neighbors, who have containers, still put their green waste in the street, he said.

“My neighbors don’t seem to understand ... I always pay my fee and they don’t.”

Hess said the department is going to soon take action on that issue.

The meeting covered the work of various city departments. But the city’s budget crisis was a central theme of the meeting.

Darrell Fong told his constituents that he wanted them to help him with budget decisions on city services.

“I’m going to get you involved to decide what services are important to you,” Fong told the group.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Citizens' group will study redistricting plans

2011-02-02T06:58:50Z

The Sacramento City Council decided Tuesday night that it will create a citizens' group to assist with this year’s redistricting process.

Council members voted 8-1 to form a citizens' advisory committee that would scrutinize redistricting plans suggested by the public. Councilwoman Angelique Ashby opposed the idea of a citizens' group, saying that the public should bring its redistricting plans directly to the council, instead of to a committee.

“I think the citizens should have direct access to us on this issue,” Ashby said.

But some of her colleagues on the City Council said that forming a citizens' committee would make the process more inclusive to the public. “Erring on the side of more citizen participation is what we should be doing,” Councilman Jay Schenirer said.

The council members decided the committee should have 13 members. Each council member and the mayor will appoint one person to the committee. The other four members will be at-large members.

Every 10 years, the city uses U.S. Census data to redesign its districts. City officials expect the relevant 2010 Census data to be released in April.

The city’s charter says the redistricting process should be completed six months after the Census data is released. To comply with the charter’s rule, the city’s deadline for the 2011 redistricting process will be Sept. 27, according to city staff.

City staffers wrote in a Jan. 18 report that city leaders will weigh the following elements in the redistricting process: topography, geography, cohesiveness, continuity, “integrity and compactness of territory,” community of interests, existing neighborhoods and community boundaries.

The city will also aim for each district to have the same number of people, according to city staff.

A series of neighborhood meetings on the redistricting process will be held this month. More information about the meetings can be found here.

Read the city’s redistricting website here.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Woo didn't break law, state says

2011-02-01T01:27:02Z

Allegations accusing school board member Darrel Woo of violating the Political Reform Act were dismissed by the Fair Political Practices Commission last week.

Shane Singh, who ran against Woo for board member of the Sacramento City Unified School District in the Nov. 2 election, accused Woo’s campaign of making improper payments to Woo’s daughter, among other allegations.

Gary Winuk, FPPC’s enforcement division chief, wrote a Jan. 26 letter to Singh about the state’s investigation. The commission “conducted an investigation and has found insufficient evidence to establish a violation of the Political Reform Act,” Winuk wrote. “As such, we are closing this case without further action.”

Singh said on Monday that he is glad the FPPC investigated and claimed that Woo ran a “questionable campaign.”

Alex Barrios, who worked as a campaign consultant for Woo, described Singh’s allegations as “a distraction” on Monday.

“The FPPC confirmed what we already knew, that there were no violations,” Barrios wrote in Jan. 28 news release.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Volunteers count homeless on cold night

2011-01-29T00:40:56Z

Mike Morris wore a headlamp late Thursday night as he searched for homeless people in McKinley Park and areas around the freeway at 29th Street.

Morris, with two other volunteers and a law enforcement officer, interviewed two homeless individuals Thursday night as part of the Homeless Street Count event organized by the Sacramento Steps Forward group. A third homeless person declined to be interviewed. The Sacramento Press shadowed the group.

About 400 volunteers turned out on a cold and foggy Thursday night to count the homeless living in Sacramento County. The count is done every other year to comply with the federal Housing and Urban Development Agency.

“I’ve never done anything like this before,” Morris said. “I didn’t even know this (count) existed, and I work for the Department of Human Assistance.”

The federal Housing and Urban Development Agency (HUD) awards about $14 million annually to Sacramento County for services and housing for formerly homeless people, according to Lucinda Serynek, spokeswoman for the Department of Human Assistance (DHA). HUD mandates that Sacramento County carry out the homeless counts, Serynek said.

While Sacramento Steps Forward managed the count, the data will be used by DHA, said Tim Brown, director of Sacramento Steps Forward, a group that address regional homelessness.

The 400 volunteers who participated in Thursday’s count were split up into small groups and sent to areas within Sacramento County, as well as parts of the county’s unincorporated area.

Morris was part of a volunteer interview team with two of his colleagues from the information technology unit at DHA. An armed law enforcement officer from the fraud investigation unit at DHA accompanied the volunteers as they searched areas near freeways and other remote spots.

“I didn’t realize how big of a deal it was,” Morris said, referring to the count. “It’s a pretty big effort.”

Teams did their searches as temperatures dropped into the 30s. Lt. Lori Babbage, the law enforcement member of the team, said it’s better to count homeless people at night because they won’t be moving around as much.

Homeless people move from spot to spot during the day, responding to various groups who don’t want them around, Babbage said. “We know they’re going to hunker down for the night.”

The teams asked homeless people a variety of personal questions. Kelly Newell, who was part of Morris’ team, said interviews included questions about mental health issues, substance abuse, disabilities, domestic violence and HIV.

Newell interviewed a cooperative homeless man who was sleeping near a tree in Midtown. “We won’t ask you your name,” she told the man, who answered her questions.

Another homeless man approached the volunteers. He listened as Newell explained the interview questions, but then walked away. Later that evening, the volunteers spotted him at 29th and E streets. This time around, he readily talked with Morris and Todd Dunbar, another volunteer in the group.

The man appeared to be more willing to talk when Babbage, who was wearing a vest printed with the word “Police,” was not near him.

The team fanned out at McKinley Park and searched the grounds and bathrooms thoroughly. A few joggers were doing laps around the park, but the only other people inside the park at 9:30 p.m. were a young couple sharing a blanket.

Brown said he thinks homeless people might not be sleeping at McKinley Park because law enforcement officers drive around the park and tell people to leave.

Isleton was the only part of the county that wasn’t included in the count, said John Culbert, GIS lead for the project. Areas were selected with input from many groups, including law enforcement agencies, park rangers, homeless people, citizen groups and homeless outreach workers, according to Culbert and Brown.

The count began around 8 p.m. and ended at midnight. Some groups finished their walks before midnight.

Numerous area law enforcement agencies participated in the event. Brown said there were no public safety issues with Thursday’s count.

In an interview Friday morning, Brown said he hopes to have a report on the new data from Thursday night’s walk in March. The report will be handled by the MKS Consulting firm.

County Supervisor Phil Serna joined the volunteers Thursday night.

“I think it’s important for local, elected leaders to see for themselves the extent of this challenge,” he said.

The public will be able to read the results of the count online in March, according to Serynek.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Auditor working on three city audits

2011-01-27T02:57:29Z

The city auditor’s office expects it will finish fewer audits by July 1 than planned because of high staff turnover in recent months, according to City Auditor Jorge Oseguera.

He said in an interview on Wednesday that his office will release three audits by July 1: one on the city’s health benefits system, one on revenue collection practices and the third on citywide policies.

In an interview last July, Oseguera said he planned to focus on four audits and hoped to start working on additional ones by this July. But Oseguera explained Wednesday that two of three staffers resigned in recent months, causing his office to take the fourth audit off the table.

The auditors left in the midst of their work on projects, Oseguera said. “But as they left, I obviously had to stop the progress and then re-initiate those audits with new people,” he added.

One of his previous staffers, Gerald Silva, was a former San Jose city auditor. Silva resigned last July after The Sacramento Press asked him to comment on sexual harassment allegations that involved San Jose’s auditor’s office when he was in charge. A second staffer left recently for medical reasons, Oseguera said.

Oseguera’s previous goal of starting additional audits by July also looks unlikely. He said his staff won’t able to start work on additional audits until they complete the three they’re working on now.

But the auditor’s office is fully staffed again. Oseguera hired two new auditors in November.

So how does Oseguera measure up to the city’s previous auditor?

Oseguera has been the city auditor for 10 months, and if his office completes the three audits by July 1, his office’s number of independent audits will be similar to the output of former City Auditor Marty Kolkin’s office. Kolkin’s office usually produced two or three audits each year.

Oseguera pointed out that his attention has also been given to additional projects, besides the three audits now under way. He was responsible for overseeing a consultant’s audit of the Community Development Department. He is also working on a report that will be released next month on how the CDD is applying the findings of the consultant’s October report, he said.

City Councilman Steve Cohn, chair of the City Council’s audit committee, said he is satisfied with Oseguera and that Oseguera has been carrying out the council’s directions.

“It took him a while to get a team in place, and he’s lost a couple people he’s had to replace,” Cohn said.

With the current size of Oseguera’s staff, only one or two audits can be addressed at a time, Cohn said.

Community Development Department Director Max Fernandez said Oseguera has spent an extensive amount of time with his department.

“There’s a lot of work being produced from the CDD audit,” Fernandez said. “He’s done a lot, and there’s a lot more to go.”

Oseguera made a similar comment about the overhaul at the CDD. “They have a lot of work before them, and they’re making good progress at implementing some of these very difficult changes,” Oseguera said.

Read city audits from 2003-2008 here.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Hot Italian receives green certification

2011-01-26T03:29:15Z

Nearly two years after opening, Hot Italian received the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver certification. The Midtown pizza parlor is the first restaurant in the city to achieve the high-ranking environmental designation from the U.S. Green Building Council.

Mayor Kevin Johnson joined owners Andrea Lepore and Fabrizio Cercatore at Hot Italian Tuesday to announce the LEED Silver status.

Johnson praised Hot Italian for its environmental efforts. “This is about pro-business, pro-environment and pro-pizza,” Johnson said.

Co-owner Andrea Lepore pointed out the restaurant’s sleek black-and-white color scheme, saying that it was environmentally friendly but not the color green.

“We really wanted to demonstrate that green didn’t have to be green,” she said. “It didn’t have to be brown. It could actually be black and white.”

Hot Italian’s building includes environmentally friendly tables, tile and display cases, and a compost bin, among many other green elements. The building’s wood beams are certified by the nonprofit Forest Stewardship Council, a group that advocates for environmentally sound forestry procedures.

Hot Italian is also part of the Green Restaurant Alliance of Sacramento.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.