Cecily Hastings

Mayor Kevin McCarty took a bold step at his first full City Council meeting in December. He voted with five colleagues to fire City Manager Howard Chan.

We don’t know if McCarty led the revolt, or if the list of failures under Chan and former Mayor Darrell Steinberg prompted the council to remove the city’s chief operating officer. Councilmembers offered no explanations other than vague remarks about fresh starts.

There was only the final vote—6–3 against extending Chan’s contract for a ninth year. Rick Jennings, Lisa Kaplan and council newcomer Phil Pluckebaum voted to keep Chan. It would be nice to know the motives of all nine members. Their reasons would be instructive. But we got nothing.

Last year’s elections showed city voters are almost divided over how we want municipal leaders to address local challenges.

Mayor Kevin McCarty and Councilmember Phil Pluckebaum both won tight races. They bring fresh perspectives to City Council, along with newly elected Councilmember Roger Dickinson.

Whether your candidate won or lost, we should all hope and pray the new council can tackle the problems facing our city.

Steve Benson, one of Sacramento’s finest and most beloved men’s clothing store owners, died in September from complications of the motor neuron disorder ALS, or Lou Gehrigs’s disease. He was 76.

Steve founded S. Benson & Co. fine men’s clothing in 1995. The East Sac shop was a high-end boutique with exceptional style and inventory.

Treasured for his old-school service, Steve was expert at custom-fitting clients or helping choose ready-to-wear apparel. Fathers and sons became generational clients.

The Old Sacramento Waterfront has a vacant, dark hole instead of a beautiful dining spot with the best views in town. Mark and Stephanie Miller closed Rio City Café Aug. 3, ending 30 years as a family-run landmark.

The café’s landlord was the city of Sacramento. City officials didn’t maintain the building as required under lease terms. Most egregious was the city’s neglectful approach to the river deck that produced 70% of the restaurant’s revenue.

Rather than make repairs, the city ordered the deck closed for safety reasons. And the city rejected efforts by the Millers to fund a temporary measure to reopen the deck while permanent fixes were planned, approved and funded.

I’ve met hundreds of small business owners in almost three decades as publisher of Inside Sacramento. Mark and Stephanie Miller, co-owners of Rio City Café, are among my all-time favorites.

I met Stephanie in 2015, when the Millers arrived from Denver to run Rio City. Mark’s father owned the restaurant for decades.

Rio City has the best river views in town, just north of Tower Bridge. “The deck location has been the site of so many community memories, from parties to wedding proposals,” Stephanie says.