As the city reaches capacity in district one, the next thing will be to split the district. We need competent thinking and experience during a transition like this. Tretheway has that experience and he is an independent thinker while Ashby is tied directly to the mayor and is beholding to his political team. That became quite clear as the campaign neared the end. The division of district one into multiple districts is around the corner and those of us in Natomas will need a level headed advocate so that we don't wind up with odd district boundaries or left out of the process as Ashby may do since she is only focused on her own neighborhood and the mayors goal of president of Sacramento.

This story is a clear example of the lack of journalism mentioned elsewhere. Assistant District Attorney, Albert Locher is correct in his comments. Before this story was put on the Sacramento Press pages, it should have been corroborated with other source material. This story is another sign of lax journalism and I do hope that the Sacramento Press will check it out and republish if it has truth and can be corroborated. Otherwise, it should be pulled.

The mayor has made a major error in thinking. The mayor is not the President of Sacramento and the council is not the Legislature. The great value of our local government is the equality of each council member and the impartiality of the mayor as meeting facilitator. Johnson, in his lack of understanding of government, is leading us to the intractable conflict between mayor supporters and independent thinkers. He should not endorse candidates or use his political machine (as he is with Ashby) to stack the council against balance and collaboration. The value of each council member is the equality of vote regardless of district size. Johnson is changing that dynamic and he is wrong. He will leave us with factions and not cooperation. It's too bad that the public and media cannot see the looming outcome that will damage our great city.

One other point about facts and the Natomas council seat. In all your focus on the mailers and trying explain things, you failed to report about the release from Matsui's office noting that she was able to get congress to approve the preferred flood insurance rates for our region, thereby saving us each about 400 to 1000 dollars a year. That important decision was made with Tretheway working directly with Matsui to get this done. If you look at the decisions on levee maintenance and the varied groups working together, you will have to give Tretheway major credit for looking out for Natomas pocket books. Remember the journalism.

Rather than the information age, we are living in the age of noise. Sacramento Press needs better journalistic practices so that the source of stories is clear. In this new cyber age, it's too easy to take the road of least resistance and just copy or reprint stories without regard to source or facts. It is up to the new cyber journalist to check facts, re-write the story based on those facts and move on. The main issue is to take a look at the race and really check facts. Is Ashby really a lawyer? Was she the force that actually got the funds for the library and firehouse? Is she using the mayor's political machine to bolster her campaign? It is the journalist that checks these facts and reports on them. The public doesn't need the opinions of media, but the reporting of facts so that we all can make informed decisions. What I see is speculation, innuendo and short cuts. We need journalism. I enjoy Sacramento Press, but encourage you to seek the facts and not piggyback off of the spin of others. You've got a great chance at making journalism valuable again. Don't miss that chance.