Deep will be missed, but I support Sukhbir as she moves on. I know her powerful leadership abilities and mastery of Kundalini yoga will continue to inspire others while creating community. She, along with and through Deep, has made a difference in my life and others' lives for sure. Sat nam.

I can't help but feel like this is a really very ill-timed proposal. I live in a neighborhood where foreclosures are happening all around me, my home value has plummeted and even our own financial situation isn't looking too good. I'm glad to make "green" decisions for my home and do so whenever possible (and financially feasible), but to be honest, it would be very hard for me, and I presume, my neighbors, to willingly add to our tax bill just to "get involved with environmental efforts." I certainly hope that SMUD and the City of Sacramento are consulting with someone with a little common sense about what would actually work here; we're not Berkeley.

Steven, I'm sorry that you think this issue is so very obvious. Your attitude (i.e. "It's about time," etc.) presumes that everyone thinks this is as cut-and-dried as you do. Honestly, it's a pretty gray area for me. I figure the guy that pushes his shopping cart through my Colonial Heights neighborhood (who's friendly, respectful, and waves at the residents on their way to work) maybe pulls down, what, like $250 max on a typical recycle day, when all our bins are at our curbs? Fantastic. It's off the books, this guy can supplement what meager handouts he gets from city services and charities. Look, I don't argue that organized groups are better equipped to make sure money is allotted in a fair and appropriate way, I just think that this one guy doesn't really deserve to be persecuted. It just doesn't seem to me that he's stealing! I don't draw the same straight line between what he's taking and what you describe as "significant revenue loss for the city." I'm not saying I totally approve of people doing this, and they certainly should not trespass onto anyone's property, but when the bins are in the street? I'm just saying I don't think it's a black-and-white issue. And it seems I'm not the only one who feels this way. So, Steven, would you be able to consider that your black-and-white view isn't the only one?