I received my absentee ballot today. These days I get pretty excited when I see that envelope in the mail. Admittedly, earlier in my adult life I wasn’t too interested in politics. I was too busy doing other things. I guess I never had a reason to care. After all, it was easy to buy a house back then, and groceries and gas were inexpensive. Life was relatively simple in the relatively small Sac Town.

That’s not the case any longer. Life in Sac Town is more complicated for many reasons–some of them national, some of them local. Most importantly, Sacramento is now a big city that demands a competent, attentive,  and forward-thinking government to serve its diverse community impartially and responsively, and we as citizens have an acute responsibility as voters to ensure we have such a government.

The bad news is: We currently do not have such a government. The good news is: It’s election time again, and we have the option of choosing a mayoral candidate who seems to genuinely want to force us out of “park” (forgive the bad pun), and into first gear. Is he the perfect candidate? No. Far from it. But is he better for the city than the sitting mayor? Yes. By far. And tonight as I watched the 10/14 city council meeting on video via the city web site, I was painfully reminded why.

But back to the ballot again for a moment. It truly is a blessing to be an American and have the right to vote, isn’t it? But the blessing is not free. One of the many costs of freedom is the responsibility incumbent on each of us to ensure the mission of our government is being carried out impartially and responsibly at all times–especially at the local level where we have a higher degree of influence. We do this by voting for the best person for the job, and by monitoring our government’s practices, decisions, expenditures, and so forth, and SPEAKING UP and demanding change if/when we discover opportunities for improvement and/or malfeasance.

It seems to me many Sac Town residents (and the local media), have by and large done a crappy job of watching our local government in the past 8 years. Maybe this is because in better times we didn’t need to. But these aren’t better times. Crime is sky high and budget dollars have all but disappeared. These are drastic times. And drastic times call for firm and reliable leadership. Leadership that is responsive, accountable and responsible with our dollars.

Unfortunately we have very little transparency at city hall (the mayor won’t even publicly share her daily appointment book!), because the mice (council members and city manager) have been playing while the cat (us) has been away. The council has grown a distorted sense of entitlement, and literally changed the definition of public service to suit itself.  An example of this is how curtly city council members treat residents who take their precious time to come to the city hall and share concerns. The council treats them like common thieves at her majesty’s mercy.

Think I’m exaggerating? Have a look at the video I referenced above. In the “Jump to” drop down menu below the video, select “John Dahilig - Code Enforcement.” Listen to Mr. Dahilig implore the city council to do something about the CC&R violations in his neighborhood in North Sac. Watch and listen in horror as Fargo and Pannell treat him like a transient. Also, check out the one labeled “John Dahilig - Conflict of interest” (about the complaint filed by Citizens for Accountability against Ray Tretheway for his Sac Tree involvement) and watch Fargo staunchly defend Rayzor Ray’s honor and declare the complaint moot because Ray recuses on all Sac Tree related business.

At the end of the video spot about Tretheway (you gotta love John Dahilig, I will have more on this Tretheway complaint–this appears to be the third or fourth by a citizen) you will see Robbie Waters ask the city manager for some type of report. Fargo immediately interjects and tells the ceiling (she won’t make eye contact with Waters) that she doesn’t want to “waste any time on that..”  That’s Fargo’s entire mantra; she doesn’t want to waste any time on anything that’s important to anyone besides her.

Anyways, back to Mr Dahilig Sr’s complaint about the abandoned cars and furniture, overgrown weeds, spider webs, and myriad of other violations he has tried to report.  He suggests the city should be more PROACTIVE with its 38 code enforcement units, and maybe even leverage the police force to assist with identifying eye-sore violations and reporting them to the city. Mr. Dahilig says he has called the city multiple times and they are not responsive.  He also echoes what many of us have been saying ad nauseam: SACRAMENTO IS THE CAPITAL CITY, WE SHOULD BE SETTING THE EXAMPLE! He also boldly states Sac is one of the dirtiest cities (and if you listen closely, you can hear–I think–Fargo interject “nooooo”).

Fargo reluctantly tells Mr Dahilig: “At this time we have more of a REACTIVE PROCESS for code enforcement…”    What an understatement.  Fargo’s entire administrative policy is REACTIVE. That is why the city is in such disarray.  Fargo is a firefighter. Trouble is, she doesn’t work for ther fire department. She and the city are always fighting fires because they do not have the planning skills their council seats demand.

But if Fargo’s response to Mr Dahilig’s heartfelt concerns was a laugh, councilwoman Bonnie Pannell’s was a riot–of tragic proportions. Bonnie Pannell proceeds to lecture Mr. Dahilig  like he is a public nuisance who has committed a criminal offense by suggesting the city is not being responsible in its enforcement of code violations.

Apparently Judge Judy Pannell doesn’t like the implication that the city is a SLUM LORD allowing some of its outlying neighborhoods to transform into burned-out slums reminiscent of those depicted in I Am Legend (Does “The Compound” apartments ring a bell?). Pannell gives Mr Dahilig a stern lecture and SLAMS THE DOOR SHUT with a truly unforgettable line I can only hope her future opponent will play over and over and over ad infinitum:   “there’s no way to change the system………………………………. unless we get more money.” (Message to Bonnie: Code enforcement fines is a way to get more money!).

There is NO WAY to change the system.

Sound familiar? That’s right, the pessimistic fruit does not fall far from the tree. Pannell appears to be just as negative, dismissive, and arrogant as her consensus-building leader.

You call this leadership, Mrs. Fargo? You call this progress? I don’t. You and your staff lack the most rudimentary customer service skills taught in nearly every respectable company in the United States. You could all learn a lot from private enterprise. The first thing we would instruct you to do is lower your council PERCH so it is FLOOR LEVEL with the podium so residents, your customers, the people you serve, are not forced to look UP at you. If anything they should be looking down on you; you serve them, not the reverse! Next thing we would teach you is to get those computer screens out of the way so we can see you all. For all we know you could be watching episodes of Sex in the City while we are addressing you! I could go on and on…  and I will….

NO RESIDENT SHOULD EVER BE TREATED LIKE MR DAHILIG WAS TREATED. Pannell never even acknowledged his frustration or showed an iota of empathy or compassion.  I bet he walked away from this council meeting wondering why even came in the first place, and vowing to never return. That is the kind of discouraging, accountability-less culture Heather Fargo has created at our city hall.

Watch the video of the city council meeting if you get a chance. And tell me: Is this a city that appears to be working for everyone? Or is it only working for a few select neighborhoods and corridors–such as Fargo and Tretheway’s South Natomas neighborhood, where–here we go again–the city just shoveled $459,000 into a new playground at the South Natomas Community Center. Where did they get the money? I thought we had a $58 million deficit? According to Fargo, she says it is “South Natomas-only money.”

South Natomas only money? I thought we weren’t supposed to distinguish between the two Natomases? Smells like an earmark to me.

Looks like the city has been sitting on ONE MILLION DOLLARS for “South Natomas Neighborhood Improvements” while at the same time they are browning out fire stations, slashing our police budget, and denying residents mandated public services (like a fire station). Bear in mind insurance funds covered the new playground at Jefferson Park to replace the burned down Fort Natomas (which was mysteriously leveled by a wayward teen from Placer COunty who was only “trying to keep warm” one freezing cold night in May).

In conclusion, the city council is not serving the people as it should. It is clearly not treating its residents like CUSTOMERS, despite its boasting about the 311 service and everything else. That’s all lip service.  Our council has forgotten they are public servants. NEVER should ANY resident feel intimidated or nervous to “address” the council. That is disgraceful. Residents should feel at home in THEIR city hall, not like they are addressing parliament.

I once worked for a fantastic leader who, shortly after promoting me to a management position, scheduled my first one on one with her in her office. As soon as I sat down, she tossed me a freshly revised org chart (example) with my name towards the very top. Before I could even look at all the names of the people under me she said, “Flip it over, it’s upside down.”  Her point was that I was to serve all those people “under” me, not the other way around.

That is a lesson I have never forgotten, and one our mayor and council have evidently never been taught. I hope KJ gets it, and I hope he can teach it to them because many of these people do not come up for re-election until 2010!

My periphrastic quest for a one line synopsis of Sacramento’s well-documented ills has finally concluded. It hit me as I watched the city council meeting video. The problem with Sacramento is the city council.

PS: Thank you John Dahilig Sr and Jr for standing up for us tonight. YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME.