Op-Ed
Diverse Viewpoints from Sacramento
Banner Billboard
For two decades, it’s been a familiar visual as motorists enter the underpass at H and 57th streets headed to Fair Oaks Boulevard. It’s a community billboard with an interesting history and a bright future.
Former East Sacramento City Council member Steve Cohn orchestrated the billboard’s placement. The 4-by-12-foot frame featured changeable vinyl banners, mostly to promote the Pops in the Park concert series.
The letters said, “GREAT ART MAKES A GREAT COMMUNITY.” In 2016, new Councilmember Jeff Harris expanded the billboard’s reach to include other nonprofits and neighborhood events.
Block Breaker?
The former Mary Ann’s Bakery in East Sacramento is the proposed location for a six-story housing edifice and parking garage. The project would fill the block between Alhambra Boulevard and C, D and 30th streets.
With 332 residential units and 322 parking slots, the development seeks to permanently change the neighborhood. A smaller building—say, three stories—would keep the area’s low-rise character. A six-floor structure threatens to destroy the ambiance of a historic community.
Victory Pause
The trees can breathe easier, for now.
A U.S. district court temporarily stopped the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from clearing hundreds of trees and miles of vegetation along the lower American River to make way for erosion-control work.
In granting the temporary injunction, the court found the plaintiffs would likely suffer “irreparable harm,” including the ability to use the affected portion of the river for recreation, such as hiking, dog walking and observing wildlife.
Now Or Never
Drive around Sacramento and history disappears before your eyes. We’ve lost the Alhambra Theatre, Tower Records and countless landmarks that gave neighborhoods their character.
Now, another piece of history is in danger, the beautiful Mediterranean-style A. Warren McClaskey Adult Education Center, formerly El Dorado Elementary, at 5241 J St.
For more than a century, the campus has been an anchor of East Sacramento life. Now we stand to lose it.
Built in 1921, the school bustled with students until state earthquake regulations required major upgrades. Rather than abandon it, the city school district transformed the site into an adult education hub, home to folk dance classes, computer literacy, English language instruction and community activities.
Justice’s Journey
Five decades ago, Joseph DeAngelo brought terror, rape, torture and murder to Sacramento and California neighborhoods from San Ramon to Irvine. His arrest in 2018 was national news and an emotional reckoning with shadows from our past.
In his new book, “The People vs. the Golden State Killer,” Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho offers a vivid and humane account of a predator who hid in plain sight.
The book isn’t a sensational true-crime chronicle. Ho delivers a thoughtful narrative about justice and the process of restoring dignity to survivors.
False Start
Potholes and trash piles might seem trivial, but these quality-of-life problems impact a city’s livability and image. For solutions, residents turn to their City Council representative.
Councilmember Phil Pluckebaum has represented East Sacramento and Downtown for one year. It’s time to question his commitment to his constituents and his job.
During last year’s campaign, I was in Pluckebaum’s corner. I attended debates, canvassed voters and invited Phil into my home to meet neighbors and hear the issues they faced. I was glad when he won.
