It’s not easy to get a state agency to do what you want, especially when the request involves breaking rules and ignoring precedents and safety concerns.
But somehow, property owners near the Sacramento River levee turned the Central Valley Flood Protection Board into an ally.
They convinced the flood board’s top bureaucrat to authorize temporary fences that block public access to the levee.
Find out what is happening in Pocket the month of November!
Five weeks after his arrival, the new executive officer at the Central Valley Flood Protection Board appeared to ignore state law when he quietly signed three authorizations for private fences to block access to the Sacramento River Parkway and levee.
Two additional fence authorizations soon followed.
By allowing temporary fences, Christopher Lief reversed years of flood board practice and seemingly violated a California regulation that requires the board itself—not executive officer Lief—to authorize levee fences.
Homelessness is more than a housing crisis. It involves mental illness, drug addiction and criminal behavior, often committed by homeless individuals against others in encampments. While unsheltered individuals suffer, so does the quality of life in some of our neighborhoods.
Sacramento County takes a balanced approach using what I call the “four C’s”—compassion, coordination, capacity and consequences.
Can a gas station that never got built cost taxpayers more than $28 million? Yes, when that unbuilt gas station involves Crocker Village.
Turning an industrial site into a neighborhood of homes, shops, parks and offices is never easy. Crocker Village was no exception—a difficult infill project from inception two decades ago.
The village sits atop a former polluted rail yard. It required deep, expensive environmental remediation.
Find out what is happening in Sacramento during the month of October!
