R.E. Graswich

Writer and Editorial Team

About This Author

R.E. Graswich is a journalist, author and media expert. His book “Vagrant Kings” is the definitive history of the Sacramento Kings basketball team. He was Special Assistant to Mayor Kevin Johnson, managed the Sacramento Voices program for the Maynard Institute of Journalism Education and worked for the Sacramento Bee, CBS 13 and KFBK.

Articles by this author

Civil Minded

I finally have something nice to say about the Land Park Interstate 5 bicycle bridge fiasco. The mess proves civil engineers are civilized people.

Even when faced with angry clients and legal threats and questions about their competencies, civil engineers working on the bridge never blew their cool.

At least not in public. And never in writing.

Bad Bet

Joe Gedeon was a bartender with a sense of humor. He would love the gambling ads that bombard Sacramento sports fans today.

You can’t watch an A’s or Kings game without getting hustled to make a bet. The irony would make Gedeon laugh.

Joe Gedeon poured drinks at Riverside Clubhouse two iterations ago. He predates the Clubhouse’s predecessor, Hereford House. He oversaw the bar when it was a Depression era speakeasy called the White House.

Anatomy Of Failure

If you wonder why Sacramento does such a lousy job with homelessness, consider those 102 acres on Meadowview Road.

The land behind the Job Corps Center encapsulates how City Hall deceives residents, squanders millions of dollars and lets a local social problem spiral into a national disgrace.

Those 102 acres are a snapshot of missed opportunities and political failures.

To find the story’s thread, I dug back to 1952. That’s when California decided to build a Highway Patrol training academy in South Sac.

Strike Three

I can’t say for sure when the experiment failed, but it was early in the baseball season. Around the time San Diego Padres fans outnumbered A’s supporters at Sutter Health Park.

Now the goal is to reduce the embarrassment, limit the damage and decide how the community endures another a year or two of A’s baseball without looking ridiculous.

This is what happens when a couple of rich guys pump their egos and advance their business plans by introducing a mediocre product nobody needs.

Majority Rules

Talking to a politician recently, I mentioned the need for elected officials to support public access along the Sacramento River Parkway.

This politician understands the problem: private fences blocking public access, a few homeowners trying to delay completion of the levee bike trail.

“I agree with you,” the politician tells me. “The city needs to finish the bike trail. The public needs access. But we have to respect those homeowners. They need compensation.”

Now I get frustrated. The politician, whom I’ve known for years and consider smart and informed, sounds oblivious to the biggest obstacle slowing the bike trail through Pocket and Little Pocket.

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