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.
The Millers are smart, hardworking, hands-on owners. Now they face a challenge that seems insurmountable.
Rio City has a landlord problem. The landlord is the city. The Millers pay $250,000 a year in rent. They paid during lockdowns, unlike most Old Sac tenants on city property.
The Millers have approximately 4,000 square feet of indoor dining space. The outdoor deck adds 3,200 feet. The deck was built in the 1990s, when the city was eager to revitalize Old Sac.
Trouble began this year. The city shut Rio City for six weeks to repair main sewer lines in front of the restaurant. Actual work required just one week, but Rio City lost its Mother’s Day bookings. “That closed us from April 13 to May 24,” Stephanie says. “But gratefully, we managed to survive.”
In early June, the city declared the deck unsafe. There are no plans for repairs. Or money.
“Given the gorgeous views and the cool breeze over the water, the deck represents up to 70% of our food revenue,” Mark says.
The city is contractually required to maintain the deck. In 2022, the City Council directed staff to bid the project and finish repairs this year.
The city spent two years and $1 million planning a new deck. Construction costs added another $4 million. But this summer, the City Council approved a five-year capital-improvement program with zero dollars for Rio City deck repairs.
The deck is part of $1.4 billion in unfunded deferred maintenance projects. Unfunded employee pension and retiree obligations add another $1.6 billion. The city’s annual budget is $1.6 billion.
As former City Council Member Jeff Harris has written in our pages, the city’s budget deficits extend beyond the horizon.
Mark Miller submitted an engineering and construction proposal to strengthen the deck with steel beams. The city found the proposal workable but wouldn’t approve the $800,000 cost as an interim fix.
The Millers think the city cut the legs out from under their business. Closing the restaurant would cost hundreds of jobs. And leave another empty shell in Old Sac.
“For years the city has told us that they were serious about revitalizing Old Sac. But now that promise certainly rings hollow,” Stephanie says.
A few miles away sits another municipal failure. For the second year, Southside Pool is padlocked, thanks to resurfacing delays. After last year’s closure, the city promised the pool would reopen in 2024.
Last summer, mayoral candidate and Assemblymember Kevin McCarty delivered a giant replica check for $500,000 in state funds for Southside Pool repairs. Residents were thrilled. Despite McCarty’s state money, the city hasn’t delivered.
“The search for a qualified pool designer with the availability to promptly complete the design took longer than expected,” says Gabby Miller, parks department spokesperson. “High demand made commercial pool designers difficult to secure. This delayed the overall timeline for the project.”
Documents tell another story: needless delays caused by bureaucratic process. Records show a gap of more than 90 days between when the city received design drawings and opened bids. More than another month passed before the City Council approved the contract. One contractor said the city failed to act with efficiency or urgency.
City officials say they might open Southside Pool this fall. They promise to extend the season. Meantime, a neighborhood suffers sweltering heat without a pool.
Which brings me to Measure L, approved by voters in 2022. Mayor Darrell Steinberg sold Measure L as a permanent $10 million diversion from the general fund to help children.
Why can’t Measure L funds cover transportation for Southside kids and families to other pools?
City Council Member Katie Valenzuela, who represents Southside, was tossed out by voters in March. She insists real estate developers deserve blame for not paying development fees. She also voted—repeatedly— to raise municipal salaries, even as the city sped toward a fiscal cliff.
Rio City Café and Southside Pool are just two examples of civic failure. There are many others. Cities fail slowly, then all at once. In Sacramento, I’m sad to say, the decline is precipitous.
Cecily Hastings can be reached at publisher@insidepublications.com. Follow us on Facebook and on Instagram: @insidesacramento.
