Having spent the past year on the Sacramento County Grand Jury, I can confirm Superior Court Judge Steven Gevercer is right when he says the grand jury exists “to make government accountable.”
Being a juror carries the responsibility to investigate local government. The aim is to improve efficiency and effectiveness, and promote accountability and transparency.
Interested in becoming a grand juror? Online applications open Nov. 20 and run through December. There’s a formal interview process, which I’ll discuss in a minute.
There’s big trouble with the bike and railroad bridge that crosses Interstate 5 and Riverside Boulevard near Sutterville Road. Here’s how the city tried to hide the story.
Word spread this summer over concerns with concrete that holds the new bridge together. It’s hard to keep everyone quiet about potentially inferior concrete on a bridge above an interstate.
Call them desperate, duplicitous or naïve. But authorities at City Hall figured they could bury the facts and cover up the details.
City officials stonewalled my questions about the bridge, a high-profile structure that arches over the freeway and connects the new Del Rio Trail with the Sacramento River Parkway bike path.
Heritage oaks have stood along the American River Parkway for more than 300 years.
Valley, blue and live oaks provide shade and shelter for wildlife. Tree canopies cool the river water, critical for spawning salmon and trout. Squirrels and birds rely on the acorns for food. People bike, hike and picnic under twisted branches.
If left to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, as many as 700 trees, including sycamore, alder, ash, cottonwood and 100-foot-tall heritage oaks, will topple.
A new public toilet in San Francisco made news with its first flush. The story wasn’t about plumbing. It was about adventures in bureaucracy.
Thanks to a bird’s nest of bids, permits, reviews and inspections, the toilet required two years and a budget of $1.7 million.
Authorities later said the price was closer to $200,000. But the point was made. Cities fumble simple, basic projects. Sacramento has a simple, basic project that makes San Francisco look speedy—a bike path 108 years in the making.
