Jan 28, 2024
When the Great Recession took hold in 2009, Sacramento found itself in dire financial straits. Revenues plummeted. Nearly 20% of the city workforce was laid off. It was tough times.
Has the current City Council learned from those days? Apparently not. No member of today’s council was at City Hall in 2009 to deal with the municipal fiscal emergency. Now they face a similar situation, but with different causes.
Since 2016, the city finance team warned of deficits down the road. The budget now shows a $47 million shortfall for the next fiscal year. State law says the budget must be balanced. This means the council must either increase taxes or make drastic cuts.
Jan 28, 2024
Many years ago, Ray Kerridge, then city manager of Sacramento, invited me to lunch. Between his salad and my cheeseburger, he asked a profound question.
If I were on City Council, where would my loyalties stand—with the district that elected me, or the entire city?
I fumbled for an answer and made up something diplomatic. If I didn’t look after people in my district, nobody else would. But my City Council decisions would impact everyone in town, not just one council district. My loyalty goes to the city.
Jan 28, 2024
Buggles, a pit bull mix with a tongue-forward smile, had skin infections across his face and body. Lilo faced death without immediate medical care. Markie’s new family received free dog food and preventive medicine after adopting the easygoing mutt.
All three stories reflect the work of Friends of Front Street Animal Shelter, a nonprofit established in 2001 to help animals at the city shelter. Last year, Friends brought in $750,000, mostly from individual donors.
Dec 28, 2023
Julie Soto didn’t intend to become a published author. But, like the plots of the romance novels she writes, it seemed destined to work out.
“In romance, you’re kind of guaranteed a happy ending,” Soto says. “If you already know how a book will end, you have to make it fun along the way.”
Soto approaches her creative endeavors with a sense of fun. The Sacramento native began in musical theater. She performed in youth and community productions before moving to New York after graduation from Sacramento State.
Dec 28, 2023
Inside Arden January 2024
Following a 20-year career in commercial art and conceptual design, Whitney Lofrano is now a full-time artist known for her vibrant abstract paintings accompanied by soulful stories.
