Don't forget, this Saturday is the big pro-cityhood launch. 4 pm, Country Club Center in the old Gottschalk's parking lot area. Local firefighters who support incorporation will be there to bbq for you (who knows how to manage a fiery grill better than Sac Metro?). There will also be classic cars, kids stuff, and a concert by American Idol semi-finalist Stevie Scott. Ten bucks gets you in and fed. That's a better deal than you're going to find anywhere else. And we won't even try to hand you one of those butt-ugly Stay Sacramento signs. Although I've heard rumours that there may be some uhhh... other signs... and t-shirts... available there... just a rumour...
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If you're in need of a good laugh, Stay Sacramento has posted a list of all the wonderful things the county has done for us, which proves we don't need incorporation. About a third have a bit of merit (like the new sidewalks at some underserved elementary schools). Another third are all of the good things that have been done for the wealthy and powerful folks like Lou Blanas who can get the ear of a supervisor whenever they want. The last third are ridiculous. I'm all for neighborhood beautification, but that thing along the median of Watt avenue? The one that looks like some birds and fish got caught in some medieval torture device? Come on, really? New cameras so we can go on the net and check traffic at key intersections like Auburn and Watt? Can we also get an update on whether there are any hookers open for business there? How about someone to investigate on the three homicides in our community last month? Or at the very least, what about someone to do something to prevent the constant tagging along Howe near Staples and Home Depot. My personal favorite is the creation of the community planning council - which they immediately point out has been suspended. How much benefit do we expect to get from a closed office?
I am getting so completely sick of the elitist attitudes I'm seeing from these folks. Not that we can do anything about it. Stay Sac doesn't bother to allow anyone else to post to their site, so their propaganda machine can't be threatened by pesky little things like truth. And yeah, I fully realize I'm starting to sound like the illegitimate child of Glenn Beck and Michael Moore. Deal with it. After all, I am the snarkmaster.
Stay Sac has also come up with a new slogan that they are attaching to every page - "Cityhood is a risk we can't afford." In that spirit, I am hereby adopting a new slogan for this blog - "Staying Sacramento, while logically impossible, is a certain guarantee - of failure." What do you think? Too wordy?
Ed:
ReplyDeleteI think the problem with the list StaySacramento posted is that it doesn't say where the funds for those different projects came from.
The budget LAFCO proposed would still include funding for some of those things, and it does include a road fund.
One issue that does come up when you look at that list is what's going to happen with the CHP?
As I understand it, we won't have the CHP and it's not clear that the law enforcement budget covers what they were providing.
I'm really enjoying your blog. I hope someone links it to the cityhood site. I also reposted your meat entry to my facebook. Keep up the good work! And, yes, your slogan is wordy, but true!
ReplyDeleteOne of our regulars here, Michael Seaman, has been having trouble getting a comment to post lately. He passed along the following and asked me to add it here...
ReplyDeleteDr. Paul -- I'm no expert on law enforcement, but there are some very knowledgeable people running for city council who are former cops. I believe them when they say the new city can get traffic enforcement right.
Here's how I understand it: CHP now provides contracted traffic enforcement for Sac County. The new city can contract with CHP also (or another law enforcement agency), but most importantly the city will have direct authority to enforce traffic laws. Which means the new city can write its own traffic tickets, decide on where, within the city, traffic enforcement needs to be beefed up, etc. For example, if the new city wanted to, it could ticket drivers who exceed the speed limit on major roads (like the CHP already does), but it could also ticket people who violate traffic laws (such as speeding or not stopping at stop signs) inside residential neighborhoods, something that's not a priority for the County/CHP. What happens now is the County says to CHP, go forth and enforce traffic laws and CHP decides what's needed and where. CHP has never approached my neighborhood association to ask what our concerns might be. How does a neighborhood that suffers from cut-through speeding, for instance, get the attention of the CHP now? You have to go through Susan Peters. Good luck with that. And even if she wanted to help, she cannot just snap her fingers and make it so. She has to get at least two other County Supervisors who don't represent us and don't care about our community) for support.
Once we get our own city council, though, citizens can go to council meetings and ask for action. The council (people we see in the community in everyday walks of life) will have to be responsive. That does not mean the new city will drop everything and saturate the petitioning neighborhood with traffic cops. Instead, the petitioning neighborhood will see their requested action item debated at a council meeting, see the results for themselves, and be able to hold the council accountable. If I was a city council member, I'd probably ask the traffic staff to meet with the petitioning neighborhood and come back to a future council meeting with a recommendation on a plan of action if one is merited.
BTW, the revenue from traffic fines will flow back to the city. As it is now, if a ticket is written for, say, speeding on Watt Avenue, who knows where the money for the traffic fine goes? And while we're on that subject, the new city will be able to cite the county's own speeding vehicles (if any, of course...) such as the massive waste haulers that shortcut through Arden Arcade on their way from points north to the Keifer Road dump.
Deana, thanks for the kind words. If you're at the celebration tomorrow, please come up and say hi. You can ask any of the candidates who I am - they all know only too well. :-)
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