Newest articles on The Sacramento Press written by Keith Sharward

Natomas Community Group to Donate Equipment to Police & Fire Depts.

2011-08-01T22:30:09Z

Investigative & Lifesaving Gear to Honor Fallen on 9/11

A volunteer neighborhood association in North Natomas collected over $6,600 using old-fashioned community fundraising to purchase equipment for their nearest fire and police stations in anticipation of the upcoming ten year anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and to honor the sacrifices of hundreds of public safety personnel who perished on that day.

The gifts will be presented to captains of the police and fire departments in a ceremony at the association's fourth annual National Night Out celebration in Witter Ranch Park on Tuesday evening.

Witter Ranch Community Alliance, which covers nearly 1,400 detached homes and over 400 apartments, raised the funds in partnership with Sacramento's all-volunteer non-profit Drowning Accident Rescue Team (D.A.R.T.). With proceeds from a huge community yard sale, a hot dog barbecue, individual donations, and soliciting area merchants, and by negotiating discounts with equipment suppliers, they succeeded in purchasing a MultiRAE portable gas and explosive compound detector for their new fire station (opening in a couple of weeks) and a Cellebrite forensics system for Sacramento Police Department's Kinney Station in North Sacramento.

"We told them our plans and asked them what they wanted, and that's what they said they needed, so our community worked very hard to deliver," said Janice Brannon, former WRCA board member and chairperson of the committee for the effort. "We are honored to be able to do this for them."

"Witter Ranch Community Alliance was formed in response to concerns for our community's safety, so it's absolutely fitting that we do this for our partners at our police and fire departments," said Keith Sharward, WRCA co-founder and board member. "They do so much for us so it's wonderful that we can do this for them."

"This just goes to prove how dedicated our community is on public safety. This is about saving property and saving lives," said Jason Alexander who serves on WRCA's board and volunteers for D.A.R.T. and the fire department's Community Emergency Response Team (CERT).

Fundraising efforts had been going strong but were not keeping pace with the aggressive deadline. Then came news from their neighborhood Wells Fargo Bank branch that they would contribute generously towards the effort. "I was profoundly touched by the generosity of this donor to our cause," Brannon said. "I knew then that we were going to make our goal."

No taxpayer dollars are involved in the purchase.

"This couldn't have come a better time for us," said James Maccoun, captain of Sacramento Police Department's North Command. "Our budget has been cut to the bone so these sorts of purchases are increasingly difficult for us. Having the Cellabrite system here at the station will save our officers a lot of time and help with certain types of investigations."

"This will really help us in our response to calls regarding possible gas leaks," said Jaymes Butler, one of the captains of Fire Station 18, currently WRCA's nearest station several miles away, and vice president of Sacramento Area Firefighters Local 522. "This MultiRAE detector might save a life someday, and that life could be that of a firefighter."

Also scheduled to attend the ceremony in Witter Ranch Park at 6 PM Tuesday are Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, Sacramento City Councilmember Angelique Ashby, Sacramento County Supervisor Phil Serna, and a representative from Assemblyman Dr. Richard Pan's office.

Disclosure: Keith Sharward is co-founder and Board Member of Witter Ranch Community Alliance, an all-volunteer association for the Gateway West and Park View neighborhoods of North Natomas, and a member of the Natomas Crime & Safety Leadership Team.

Councilmember-Elect Angelique Ashby Launches "Community Connections"

2010-08-21T02:22:56Z

Angelique Ashby Announces Series of Community Forums Throughout District One

It's become common, often expected, for politicians to have goals for the first 100 days in elected office. But what about goals for the 100 days prior to taking office?

On Monday, Angelique Ashby commemorated the 100 day countdown by unveiling Community Connections, a series of district-wide meetings seeking ideas, thoughts, input and experiences related to the challenges and successes throughout the region.

Ashby was elected to Sacramento's City Council on June 8 with 51% of the vote in a dramatic three-way race, unseating incumbent councilmember Ray Tretheway after nearly ten years in office in District One (Alkali Flat, Downtown, The River District / Richards Boulevard, North and South Natomas, and Gardenland-Northgate). Since Ashby secured over 50% of the vote, there is no need for a run-off in November. However, according to the city's charter, her term does not begin until after November's General Election. Her four year term begins November 23.

"It has its advantages," Ashby said about the delay. "On one hand, it's a little challenging because a lot of folks think I'm in office already and we're full of energy and can't wait to start taking care of the peoples' business. But on the plus side, it gives us the opportunity to work towards a smooth transition and to make sure our plans and partnerships are solid."

"My commitment to you as residents and business owners in District One is to represent the District's needs and goals and to maintain the highest quality of life standards possible in each of our diverse and unique neighborhoods," Ashby wrote in her announcement. "Community Connections is an opportunity for collaborative input and dialogue in formulating a comprehensive plan that seeks to strengthen our community and our neighborhoods."

Comprised of three meetings around three central themes -- Public Safety, Economic Vitality, and Quality of Life -- information gathered at the forums "will be used as a guideline identifying key areas of concern in District One and will provide the community support needed to direct the efforts of my four years as the elected councilmember in this community," Ashby said. "I need everyone's insight, support and partnership to set us off in the right direction from Day One."

The methodology Ashby will be using is not at all new to her. "It's actually the same formula I use in my work," Ashby said, referring to her career as a consultant designing and implementing programs and service delivery systems in the social services field. "In fact, we used the same process back in 2008 when we formed the Natomas Crime & Safety Leadership Team." A forum of nearly four dozen community leaders convened to prioritize issues, brainstorm solutions, and choose a team of leaders to advance the action plan that had the group's endorsement. "We accomplished all five of our objectives in just one year's time. It's a proven system and I have no doubt we will be able to put it to work for us again."

The meetings are open to the public and scheduled as follows:

1: Public Safety
Thursday, September 9, 6 to 8 PM
Homecoming Apartments, 4800 Kokomo Drive

2: Economic Vitality
Date, Time & Location To Be Announced Soon -- Check for Updates

3: Quality of Life
Wednesday, October 27, 6 to 8 PM
South Natomas Community Center, 2921 Truxel Road

Tretheway Signgate 2010: Cover-Up Worse Than the Crime

2010-04-14T03:57:55Z

When I caught incumbent Sacramento City Councilmember Ray Tretheway’s district director Dan Roth and campaign manager Corin Choppin on video tampering with campaign signs of challenger Angelique Ashby on Friday morning, I honestly didn’t think it would become such a huge story. It began as a video shared with fellow Ashby campaign supporters and volunteers on YouTube. It quickly became front-page news, led television newscasts, and even appeared in newspapers across the country. It has since spiraled into a tangled web of defensive rationalizations, backpedaling, empty apologies, and ultimately a catalyst for an investigation into the possibility of serious violations of campaign laws.

Dan Roth is an employee of the City of Sacramento – our tax dollars pay his salary. Corin Choppin works for Capitol Campaigns, so his salary comes from donations to Tretheway’s campaign – a campaign almost entirely funded by people who are ineligible to vote in our District. There is truly no valid explanation for why Roth and Choppin conspired to tamper with signs that show Sacramento’s firefighters and police officers’ support of Angelique Ashby’s campaign. Roth breached a sacred wall of separation between City business and campaign business in accompanying Choppin in such unethical conduct. As seasoned political operatives, they absolutely know better, but were caught red-handed. The only proper response is to accept whatever consequences lie ahead, up to and including termination from their posts – but neither Roth nor Choppin have done that.

Instead, they concocted a tale of fiction: that the signs were placed illegally (code section 15.148.600(K) allows campaign signs for 90 days prior to an election in areas adjacent to streets and sidewalks), that they were supposedly “doing Ashby a favor” and “kind of did the neighborly thing, honestly, and removed the signs” (does anyone believe that?) and that they were acting on a complaint sent to the city’s 3-1-1 center, even though no such complaint was ever sent to the center. When caught in these lies, Roth sank further in the quicksand, telling reporters on Monday that he himself was supposed to be the originator of the email to 3-1-1 but “I think I probably was like, ‘I’m running late,’ slammed down my computer, (and) I didn’t hit ‘send.’ ” Such contortions of logic would be downright laughable if the situation were not so serious.

Roth and Choppin could learn from some of Dale Carnegie’s famous relationship building principles: always tell the truth; do not mislead anyone; if you make a mistake, admit it immediately and emphatically; and do not tolerate anything less than the truth from anyone else. They have failed on all of these principles.

As the person who accepts full responsibility for placing the signs in question only after I reviewed city code section 15.148.600(K) governing placement of political campaign signs, I will state for the record that I believe the signs were positioned in accordance with the rules. If it turns out that our City’s Code Enforcement department differs in their interpretation and concludes they are out of compliance, I will visit City Hall to accept my citation and either pay the fine or challenge the citation in court – and when I do so, I will be sure to bring a long list of locations throughout District One that have had blatantly illegal signs installed for many months and will insist that those cases be treated with the same scrutiny.

Maybe I’ll forward a copy of that list to Dan and Corin so they can help clean them up...

Keith Sharward is a Board member and co-founder of Witter Ranch Community Alliance and a member of the Natomas Crime & Safety Leadership Team.

Tretheway Denies Impact of RT's Bus Service Cuts on Natomas Residents

2010-04-03T01:02:40Z

As of June 20, weekend bus service in Natomas will be reduced dramatically. North Natomas loses all of its weekend bus service and South Natomas loses much of its weekend bus service, despite false assurances from incumbent city councilperson Ray Tretheway.

This week, in response to a fiscal emergency caused by reductions in state funding, the Sacramento Regional Transit District Board of Directors voted to cut bus and light rail services throughout the region, effective June 20. Tretheway is also on RT's Board of Directors.

According to RT's northwest route map, Natomas currently receives weekday service on Routes 11 (Truxel Road) and 89 (Gateway Oaks), with service 7 days a week on Routes 13 (Northgate), 14 (Norwood), 86 (San Juan - Silver Eagle), and 88 (West El Camino). Based on service reductions described in RT's published summary, bus routes 13 and 14 are losing their weekend service, and bus route 89 is being eliminated altogether.

Routes 13 and 14 were the only routes that included any North Natomas stops (see maps for Route 13 and Route 14), so this has the effect of cutting North Natomas off of weekend service entirely. South Natomas loses its critical Northgate weekend service, although routes 86 and 88 will continue their weekend runs -- at least for now.

Considering where all of the city's low income housing was constructed in the past several years (much of which is concentrated near Del Paso and Truxel Roads) and the economically challenged Northgate corridor, it appears Natomas residents with the least amount of resources were disproportionately impacted by these transit service cuts. These are our neighbors who are more likely to depend on public transit, many of whom have varying work schedules and are more likely to rely on weekend bus service to get to their jobs.

Candidates for the June 8 city council election responded to constituents’ concerns about these service cuts at a debate hosted by the Natomas Community Association Wednesday night, moderated by the League of Women Voters of Sacramento County.

Angelique Ashby responded with concern that Tretheway did not advocate for Natomas residents with the greatest need. “RT has been cut, and this week we took another huge disproportionate hit,” Ashby said. “I don't understand -- and Ray is on that board.”

Tretheway claimed that the bus service cuts would not have much of an impact on Natomas. "I'll assure you that no [bus] lines in Natomas, South or North, were cut, with one exception, for weekends at all," Tretheway said. "One goes through North Sacramento, ends up to Natomas Marketplace and out, so it's got, the last leg is Natomas. That one was cut on weekends. All the rest I fought to restore. They were on the cutting block a week ago Monday -- every one was restored."

However, upon carefully reviewing RT route maps, RT's Issue Paper, and the bulletin posted on RT’s home page, the only Natomas route that was restored from the original proposal was Route 13 (Northgate), and that restoration only applies to weekdays, not weekends. All of the other proposed Natomas service reductions were voted into effect, in spite of Tretheway's assurances to the contrary.

Either Tretheway is quite confused and does not know what he voted for this week in his capacity as an RT Board member, or he is being dishonest to his constituents. Neither is acceptable.

Residents throughout Natomas are tired of paying for services and not receiving their fair share. Many in North Natomas are sharing the same frustrations of broken promises that residents in South Natomas have been feeling for decades. In just two months, voters will have the opportunity to elect an intelligent and articulate leader who is willing to work together, build partnerships, listen to the community, and advocate for the region – someone who will fight for the people of Natomas and help our region and Sacramento as a whole meet its potential.

Keith Sharward is a Board member and co-founder of Witter Ranch Community Alliance and a member of the Natomas Crime & Safety Leadership Team. He endorses Angelique Ashby in her campaign for Sacramento City Council's District One (Natomas/Downtown).