Oct 27, 2020
The big problem with the Kings isn’t their history of failure, their dumb trades, mystifying draft choices, chronic mismanagement, clueless owners or inability to hire and retain people with the brains and talent to compete in the NBA.
The big problem is their potential to drag the city of Sacramento toward bankruptcy.
Can the Kings hurt the city’s fiscal stability? For decades, that’s been a mostly abstract question. Now the threat is real. The city’s vulnerability began 23 years ago, grew slowly and gained speed in 2015. Today, in an economy convulsed by pandemic, warning signs flash red.
Sep 27, 2020
Misjudgment is scattered across Darrell Steinberg’s campaign for strong mayor. His strategic mistakes would be alarming if committed by a rookie politician. Coming from Steinberg, whose political career stretches back three decades, the breakdowns are astonishing.
It’s as if the mayor wants his Nov. 3 power grab to fail.
Sep 27, 2020
One recent sunny day, I was wandering around Garcia Bend Park and met a family eager to spend some time along the river. They hoped to access the levee at Garcia Bend, but quickly realized that was impossible. The levee was fenced off. No admission. It’s a staging area for the Big Dig levee-repair project.
“Is there a way we can get to the levee?” the mom asked. Great question. Normally, I would have shown them a pathway. But this time I directed the family over to Zacharias Park, which was still open.
Sep 27, 2020
Sacramento soccer fans are patient. It’s the secret to their survival. Elder aficionados have waited 40 years to see a local side match the skill and excitement of the Sacramento Gold, which filled Hughes Stadium, won the 1979 American Soccer League championship and lost the final in 1980.
Someday local fans may cheer a stronger left foot than the one that made the Gold’s Ian Filby the best scorer in the league. And they may find a more clever coach than Billy Williams, who built the Gold into a United Nations of diversity with winners imported from England, Scotland, Latin America and South Africa.
Aug 28, 2020
To introduce his strong mayor proposal to voters, Darrell Steinberg needed to answer a simple question: Why?
Voters rejected strong mayor in 2014. There was no call to resurrect the idea in 2020 amid a pandemic and social unrest. Changing the city charter is complex. The process demands comprehensive public debate and a vote of the people. Steinberg had time for just two City Council meetings before the door closed on Nov. 3 ballot initiatives.
Aug 27, 2020
For years, levee lovers have known the offensive fences that block people from walking on the Sacramento River levee would disappear during the major levee repairs now underway.
State and city authorities told me (and anyone else who asked) the fences would be removed by construction crews and not replaced. The construction removal was strategic. It was designed to avoid arguments with a few people who live along the river and insist they need fences stretched across the levee for security and privacy.
