City Beat
Youth Fund or Boondoggle?
The name evokes innocence and generosity. Sacramento Children’s Fund Act of 2020. But the details quickly congeal into something more prosaic: money, about $12.5 million a year in city taxpayer dollars, destined for parts unknown.
In March, Sacramento voters may be asked to amend the City Charter and dedicate 2.5 percent of the general fund to a private revenue pool for youth-oriented nonprofit organizations.
Access Fight Heats Up
Watch out. Tacks and nails have been strewn along the Sacramento River Parkway bike trail near The Westin Hotel. Fencing has been cut and pushed aside at the city’s private park on Bell Air and Seamas in Little Pocket.
This is what happens when public officials ignore public interests and accommodate a fortunate few. Frustrations boil over. Civility disappears.
A Separate Peace
America is binging on outrage because liberals are arrogant elitists recklessly opening our borders and bankrupting the country, while conservatives are hateful bigots bent on destroying the environment and oppressing poor people.
Neither statement is true, but both stereotypes feed the outrage addiction that has become the default narrative of public dialogue.
Long Day’s Journey
Long Day’s Journey From Tokyo to Paris, tear gas included By Craig Powell September 2019 As astute readers may have noticed, I have been missing in action. After nine years of writing a monthly column for Inside Sacramento, without missing a month, I decided to...
Promise Zone
Tyrone Roderick Williams knows how to get money in Sacramento. He asks for it. So far, Williams has hauled in more than $175 million. His secret? Ask the right people.
Williams is director of development for the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency. As part of his job, he manages Sacramento Promise Zone. The zone is essential to Williams’ fundraising triumphs.
Promise Zone is a rare and coveted federal designation that connects Sacramento directly to federal agencies, along with state, corporate and nonprofit partners. Sacramento received the designation in 2015.
Last Breath
There’s one excellent reason why the Sacramento River Parkway trail is finally ready to roll past those obscene levee gates in Pocket and Greenhaven. The homeowners who despise public access have run out of gas.
For decades, a tiny but influential group of homeowners along the river have frightened City Hall with loud voices and litigation threats. They blocked public access to the river for 46 years, fencing themselves into private backyard compounds along the levee. Their success at self-isolation was a tribute to the effectiveness of political influence and perpetual whining.
