Updated 10/23/08 @ 10:40am.
When Eric Hogue asked me on his Capitol Hour radio show last week if I thought the council could be salvaged, I was optimistic. I opined the council might have a chance with a quality leader. Oops. I stand corrected. It’s going to be a long two years with this comedy troupe in charge. But one thing’s for sure, not everyone will be laughing..
If you didn’t make it out to last night’s council meeting, you missed quite the show ! There was non-stop entertainment courtesy of the dumbfounded city council, impassioned pleas from residents and union folks, and of course the unique opportunity to scold the mayor for allowing population growth to outpace public safety for the past eight years (an issue she just politicized this week when she declared our police force has been lying down on the job –”new year’s eve chatting”– and their chief is to blame for our budget quagmire).
But fear not! Fargo has flop-flopped and Joe Sacramento is at your service with another verbose review– replete with quotes, videos and even a little treat for councilperson Hammond (is it Lori or Lauren?) that you will not want to miss!
Last night was my first time attending a Sacramento city council meeting. In a nutshell, this particular meeting (about the Sac PD’s proposed budget cuts) was slightly less intriguing than watching pigeons fight for perch position at Downtown Plaza. Then again, anyone who has been following our election season soap opera knows there is likely more to be learned from an episode of Dog the Bounty Hunter, than a city council meeting hosted by Heather the Globe Hopper. Perhaps that is why people didn’t bother to come out. I know many I talked to beforehand said, “What’s the use? They don’t give a crap anyways.”
Regardless, Chief Rick Braziel explained the compromises to a weary throng of mostly frustrated South Sac and Natomas residents… and half the Sacramento Peace Officer’s Association. He explained the scary compromises his department would be making effective immediately. His list read like an obituary page, and had the effect of one, too.
Residents were restless and chortled and sighed through most of the session. The cops were half entertained and half outraged. There were a whole lot of cops in that room. I bet last night was the only time in city history the ratio of cops to residents was in the acceptable range–at least in one room. For the first time since about 2001 I actually felt safe inside city limits. It was nice while it lasted.
All those hard-working folks who came out to show support for their union (and jobs) provided a stark reminder that many of those line items in Chief Braziel’s budget are connected to actual men and women of our COMMUNITY who are A) doing a job that most people would never do; and B) making sacrifices that most people can not even fathom. Nevertheless I had a short nightmare of someone yelling “gun!” in the middle of that crowd. Can you imagine getting caught in the crossfire that would ensue? Yikes!
Even still, there was plenty of non ballistic crossfire in the meeting, not to mention downright absurdity. There was Sandy Sheedy and Bonnie Pannell’s snipes at one another, not to mention McCarty’s feigned impassioned plea for SPOA spokesperson Brent Meyer to help him “hatchet” the budget (”it’s not a scalpel, it’s a hatchet!”), dropping tasteless metaphors to describe the budget problems such as “cut off an arm” and “cut off a leg” and how no one wanted the city police to be “armless” ..?? Was he inebriated? I was really wondering when he posted a spreadsheet on the overhead with a zillion rows of numbers so small you would have needed binoculars to read them.
Then there was Chief-of-police-in-training Lauren Hammond’s brazenly rude treatment of resident Angelique Ashby in response to Ashby’s heartfelt plea that the council get serious about making Sacramento a safer place to live, else more cops (as Hammond had stated earlier) and residents would be bolting for safer communities. Hammond didn’t care what Ashby had to say about losing good residents, she was only concerned about being misquoted.
Hammond lectured Ashby that she had been referring to DISPATCHERS (not police officers) earlier when she cited recruiting and attrition issues, and that Ashby had misquoted her. When Ashby challenged her, Hammond grew hostile, interrupting Ashby with a bullying “I KNOW what I said..”. Well, Ms. Hammond, as this video proves, you DON’T know what you said. And we think you owe Mrs. Ashby a HUGE public apology in next week’s council meeting:
Why Hammond was presenting her ideas about recruitment and the academy during a hiring freeze? We will leave that one for another day..
Overall I left with far more questions than I had answers. My first question: Is it standard protocol for council members to joke amongst themselves and carry on side conversations while their peers and people from the audience are addressing them? Robert King Fong and Kevin McCarty did this incessantly last night as did Ms. Hammond and Robbie Waters. In fact at one point Waters moves from one side of the council to the other and sits next to Fong and engages in a full on, private conversation with him as others are speaking.
Never mind the fact that these people are PUBLIC SERVANTS with an express contract with the people to SERVE them, have they ever heard of DECORUM? I want to know where they ever got the idea that it was ok to chat amongst themselves while others have the floor. Is it because they have never learned the basic principles of meeting etiquette and professionalism? Is it because they simply do not have a role model to follow? Or is it because they are just plain aloof, inattentive and RUDE? I choose ALL of the above. I only wish just ONE person would have stopped talking when they noticed one of the council people having a side conversation, and said something like, “Excuse me Mr. McCarty, sorry to interrupt your conversation, just let me know when you’re done and I’ll continue..”
Not to be outdone, Fargo herself had a jolly good time jaw-jacking with the city clerk and others openly while people were speaking. Before the public speakers took the podium, she dutifully reminded us not to clap for speakers until all of them had spoken. Her reason? It wouldn’t be “fair” to those whose opinions were not as popular or some such rubbish. At that second there was a notable collection of groans and sighs and snorts of disgust in the room, and several people even were heard saying “Oh come on,” and “You’ve got to be kidding,” and “So WHAT!?” Pretty consistent with the reaction to just about everything Fargo has blurted out this campaign season.
But the most compelling moment of the night award goes to Rhonda Erwin. At the tail end of the meeting, just as the council bots thought they had escaped the kind of tongue-lashing most residents feel they deserve, this South Sac resident literally busted through the council doors, filled out a slip, walked down to the podium, and…..
What what Rhonda saying in summary? I think she is basically telling her council person “Get your priorities straight!” I happen to feel the same way about my council person, Ray Tretheway. I may differ with Rhonda on root causes and solutions to these problems, but I share her OUTRAGE about the crime problems plaguing Sacramento and the skeleton crew of police officers that have been tasked with responding to it! Would YOU want be a Sacramento police officer in these times? Would YOU Fargo? Sheedy? Tretheway? Fong? McCarty!?
Some people have stated Rhonda is blaming the wrong people for the crime problems. Maybe. But I am not one to home in on my differences with fellow residents when it comes to solving a problem that is affecting all of us. I tend to focus on what we might have in common to build a coalition of voices to speak out against the way our city has been mismanaged. What I share with Ms. Erwin is OUTRAGE. Whether Rhonda’s motivations are X or Y, the bottom line is that she, like many of us, is outraged. And I applaud her for bringing her outrage to the attention of her council person.
No matter your neighborhood or political loyalties, these are scary times in Sacramento. People are dying and being terrorized, and our elected officials are sitting around blowing hot air up each other’s you know what. And our MAYOR is making the situation even WORSE by blaming our police department policy! How is this acceptable!? It isn’t.
Somehow Fargo weaseled out of explaining her “new years eve chat” and “white collar crime investigations” statements to the press. Instead she flipped the flop and did her typical Jeckyl-Hyde thing. She treated the chief as though she actually appreciated him. She was sweet and docile. Nothing like the bitter, defensive, closed-off political animal she usually is. Maybe all those cops intimidated her. In the end, Fargo and her gang sheepishly thanked the chief and agreed with his cuts—-that is after all the pontificating, posturing and narcissistic grandstanding at the expense of tired residents who endured the whole thing.
I didn’t see or hear anything noteworthy from a single one of our council members. The only thing I am absolutely clear on is this: They have nothing of any substance to add to the public discussion. Nothing. McCarty is begging for help (please quit if you can’t figure out the budget, dude) and using his council seat to promote Fargo’s mayoral candidacy. Fong is giving pep talks to the chief like he’s his sinsei. Sheedy is making wisecracks to get laughs at the expense of her colleagues and constituency. Tretheway appears to be on sedatives (can you blame him?). Pannell believes “the system can’t be changed.” And Hammond is wasting everyone’s time talking about how to improve the academy and recruiting during a hiring freeze. Waters? Fargo? Kerridge? Cohn? Couldn’t tell you. All no-shows.
Kevin McCarty, among his other fatherly pearls of politically-motivated wisdom, reminded Sacramento last night that there were “no free lunches” in life. “Nothing is free” said Forest McCarty. He could not have been more untruthful.The laughs are still free on I Street, compliments of the city council… every Tuesday night. In fact it’s one big comedy show.. a comedy show of tragic proportions for us Sacramento residents.
PS: City council: please re-arrange the chambers so the audience can see the face of the speaker. You have the council set up like a courtroom! And you treat residents like they are on trial! Hammond!
Source: http://sacramento.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=8 (click Oct 21 video link)
More on Rhonda Erwin: http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/Content?oid=309130
Wow. That first clip is appallling. Too bad we have to wait until 2010 to start voting these morons on the council out of office. Let’s hope and pray that they do not run opposed yet again…
Agreed that clip is appalling. I should have went out. Got lazy. I see now more people need to come out. I picture a mob like scene. I was sure wrong about that.
Joe you have got to be tired after that one. I honestly do appreciate all the effort. Take a well deserved rest. We’ll let you off the hook for a few says. Great read. Unreal videos. Unreal situation here in our city. And to think we voted for this buffoonish clowns!!
Ha that picture is f’g funny. The Breakfast Club of city hall. Bwa ha haaaa. Tretheway is my favorite, all bundled up and tweaking. I love that dude. He is like a skinny liberal version of mccain
Joe that was one of the worst examples of elected leaders I’ve seen in person in a long time. I admit to being taken back a bit when I walked in and saw the full house since that is far the norm…but I ended up sitting in the right hand side in the middle of all the police who showed up, and I too felt pretty safe.
Angelique was way more composed than I would have been after being treated so poorly, she made our argument and she made Hammond look petty and ridiculous.
But I do have to disagree with your opinion of the last speaker, Rhonda Erwin, voicing her opinions on Sheedy aside, I thought she was very much antagonistic towards the police dept and I’m sorry, but when people start in saying their youths are dying and being locked up as criminals, my take was she blames quite a bit of it on the police. In my opinion, the blame needs to and should go right back to the homes and the parents. I am sick and tired of more handouts - if your children are in trouble with the law, shooting at other kids, etc. then you need to step up and start holding your parents accountable. Quit asking others to parent and start actually doing it. I also thought her plea for all the community involvement not being funded was weak. Is the work everyone in Natomas is doing as volunteers being funded? I didn’t think so. We too attend meetings, leave our dinner (actually, I never even ate dinner that night, it was so late when I got home), and spin our wheels trying to fight city hall. I would suggest to Rhhonda that she introduce herself to Capt. Hahn and find out how her community could work with his dept. not against it.
Whew….okay, my rant is over, that’s just my opinion anyway so who really cares. It was great to recognize some Natomas people at the meeting….I hope this serves as a wake up call to everyone to get involved.
Joe, apparently you haven’t attended many public forums. Go to city councils, state assemblies, U.S. Senate…they all gab incessantly as people talk. C-SPAN is where our council learned their abysmal manners. They do need to be ashamed. As to this meeting, it is so much locking the barn door after the horses are gone. They scream now that they are losing tax revenues but I don’t remember them getting angry when tax revenues were soaring a few years ago. That is when they should have attempted to modernize the police force, not now. But on to another point: It has always been my contention that more people get involved in political discussions when their own lives are on the line. As people were cashing in their personal ATM machines (i.e. their homes) five years ago, they didn’t give a crap about the police force. Now that they have no more equity, and they have to live in Natomas, lo and behold they care about local politics. Maybe this will help improve on 20% of registered voters who showed up to vote in the last mayoral race. Get out and vote Heather out.
Becky, I hear what you are saying. We definitely do not have a panel of leaders at city hall. In my estimation a few see themselves as ADMINISTRATORS, a few see themselves as JUDGES, and a few others think they are COMEDIANS. I bet you could put them in those three buckets by name. Try it.
How did it get that way? There is no leader to set the tone. If the public were to see what we saw a few nights ago, they would have a very different take on what qualities the next mayor needs. I can tell you right now it better be someone who leads by example and is not afraid to coach and mentor those folks behind closed doors to teach them the basics of professionalism. Ray Tretheway is the only one who conducted himself with class.. either that or he was playing Solitaire on his computer….
As for Rhonda Erwin I agree some of her short comments were interesting … I have invited her to expand on them in this space. That said, I fully agree with you: Parents must do their part and impart morals and values in their children. I have written many times about my frustration with absentee dads and negligent moms that leave their children to navigate the world without solid role models. Of course that is one of the main ROOT problems, and we all know it. I bet Rhonda knows it too.
But to be fair, I think we should always differentiate between emotional appeals and expository ones. In other words, Rhonda was venting. Her extemporaneous speech was based on her own feelings and experiences. What I heard was a very emotional, heartbroken woman. I wasn’t dissecting her words, I was only feeling her emotions over Sacramento’s despicable crime problems. It makes me emotional too.
This is a GRAVE situation with mortal consequences. I hope everyone continues to empathize with one another’s OUTRAGE about the crime problems here. We may not agree on the exact root causes or who exactly is to blame, but I think we need to focus on what we have in common, not how we differ. And what we have in common with Rhonda Erwin is this: WE SHARE IN HER OUTRAGE. Right?
I think we need to leverage our collective OUTRAGE to force change in this city, and stop focusing on the precision of our words. That said, I agree the blame game is a slippery slope, and it’s a good idea to keep cops (and other citizens who are busting their tails to raise their kids) out of that line of fire.
Hi Mike!
True! I have avoided them! Now I wish I hadn’t. Important thing though is that I’m not avoiding them any longer. And every day I become a little bit more informed than I was the day before. This blog has been a true instrument for learning, and I am grateful for all the lessons people (like you!) have taught me here.
One day when I get this figured out and channel my OUTRAGE properly, I’m going to be dangerous.. you watch.. keep your eye on me, Mike
Thanks for popping in.
PS: I revised the text under the video of Rhonda Erwin to clarify my interpretation of her speech and add some additional thoughts that formed today. Updated text:
What what Rhonda saying in summary? I think she is basically telling her council person “Get your priorities straight!” I happen to feel the same way about my council person, Ray Tretheway. I may differ with Rhonda on root causes and solutions to these problems, but I share her OUTRAGE about the crime problems plaguing Sacramento and the skeleton crew of police officers that have been tasked with responding to it! Would YOU want be a Sacramento police officer in these times? Would YOU Fargo? Sheedy? Tretheway? Fong? McCarty!?
Some people have stated Rhonda is blaming the wrong people for the crime problems. Maybe. But I am not one to home in my differences with fellow residents. I tend to focus on similarities. And what I share with Ms. Erwin is OUTRAGE. Whether Rhonda’s motivations are X or Y, the bottom line is that she, like many of us, is outraged. And I applaud her for bringing her outrage to the attention of her council person.
No matter your neighborhood or political loyalties, these are scary times in Sacramento. People are dying and being terrorized, and our elected officials are sitting around blowing hot air up each other’s you know what. And our MAYOR is making the situation even WORSE by blaming our police department policy! How is this acceptable!? It isn’t.
Somehow Fargo weaseled out of explaining her “new years eve chat” and “white collar crime investigations” statements to the press. Instead she flipped the flop and did her typical Jeckyl-Hyde thing. She treated the chief as though she actually appreciated him. She was sweet and docile. Nothing like the bitter, defensive, closed-off political animal she usually is. Maybe all those cops intimidated her. In the end, Fargo and her gang sheepishly thanked the chief and agreed with his cuts—-that is after all the pontificating, posturing and narcissistic grandstanding at the expense of tired residents who endured the whole thing.
I didn’t see or hear anything noteworthy from a single one of our council members. The only thing I am absolutely clear on is this: They have nothing of any substance to add to the public discussion. Nothing. McCarty is begging for help (please quit if you can’t figure out the budget, dude) and using his council seat to promote Fargo’s mayoral candidacy. Fong is giving pep talks to the chief like he’s his sinsei. Sheedy is making wisecracks to get laughs at the expense of her colleagues and constituency. Tretheway appears to be on sedatives (can you blame him?). Pannell believes “the system can’t be changed.” And Hammond is wasting everyone’s time talking about how to improve the academy and recruiting during a hiring freeze. Waters? Fargo? Really?
I must agree that Ray has always managed to present himself as a nice guy although in his case, he’s probably doing himself a favor by not speaking too much, lest he reveal his lack of depth. Someone, hopefully it’s Kevin Johnson, needs to take real leadership and set some basic good manner rules for them to follow. How do they expect people to speak up in front of them if they are guaranteed to be belittled or treated rudely? I read to some underpriviledged kids at the Sac Food Bank after work and hands down every one of these kids treats me with more respect than Angelique received from grown adults (so they say).
I agree, we’re all outraged at the sorry state of budgetary affairs our police dept is in. Tough times means more crime and we should have more police, not less of any fire or police service. And yes, as Mike pointed out, we are trapped in Natomas as selling our house in a good economy would be tough enough, but the crime rate and reputation we have been given by our city council has us trapped like angry rats. Angelique was right, I guarantee you if more of us could sell and get out, we would. What we saw in the general plan 8 years ago when we bought is a far cry from the reality of today.
I am glad to see more people getting involved. Don’t forget to show up on Saturday afternoon to hear how Ray and the gang are giving the developers even more of a free ride than they already have on the N Natomas General Plan. Hope to meet some of you in person….always hard to get snarky with someone you’re met in person. And Joe, thank you for hosting this website, it really does help to let some venting out.
Mike must have meant, “You have not been to that many Council Meetings where the Council is comprised of raving lunatics?”
When the bureaucrat apparatchik Dangberg, now Kerridge’s right hand goon, was leading CADA, they tore up the Mandela Gardens to make way for some additional mind numbing apartments and aggrandizing some developer buddies. alienating the citizens and inviting some humongous lawsuits, and in general demonstrating a callous disregard for the people of Sacramento…THEREBY violating one of the cardinal basic principles of urban design…mainly CITIZEN INVOLVEMENT…
The time to get rid of the entire crew at the City seems to have well past…
Joe inspired me to go the meeting. I was one of the ones chortling and snorting as Joe so accurately put it. It was a joke. I will tell you why I didn’t speak up Joe= because these morons would not even be able to process my commentary. I think that is why a lot of people do not speak up. They think that this bunch of slackers are so far beyond repair it is not even worth their time.
My two cents
Young Joe, you are as impassioned as anyone in this city. In fact I would venture to say your commentary has easily been the most relentless and consistent in all of the city for the past six months. Whereby I think you were missing some things early on you appear to be a dangerously quick study and you’re not above correcting yourself. That takes balls. One of the problems in the city is that people in government don’t learn from their mistakes and won’t take responsibility when they make them. You have shown them by example how to learn from their mistakes and admit when they’ve screwed up. I think this blog has come a long way from when you first started it, and I continue to be impressed by your expanding body of knowledge and willingness to accept anyone’s point of view into the mix, even if others are put off by it. I can not find fault in the evolution of your site and I hope you continue to expand you political intelligence because I think you have all the tools to be a major voice of reason in this city and God knows we need some. Interestingly enough young Joe, I knew exactly what you meant about Rhonda Erwin the first time. Guess I understand your angle these days. I knew you weren’t promoting her implications about parenting and what not. I knew you were merely drawing attention to how angry Sacto residents are. In light of all these things young Joe I have decided to promote you to Sergeant Goofball. No no no no need to thank me. Just take the damn stripes and keep wrting!!!
Joe I agree with Dickinson. Additionally I encourage you to stand up and speak out and let the chips fall where they may. Who cares if anyone knows who you are. If you think they are miffed by you now wait until they know there is a headstrong heartfelt man behind all these protestant words. They will be inflating their drawers every time they see you walk into a room. I say go for it. I am with you in spirit dude.
Cole has a point.
Joe I could not make it to the meeting. So thank you for writing this. I howled in delight through most of it and feel the video on Ms L Hammond was very appropriate due to how poorly she treated Natomas resident Angelique.
Joe I also have another question that is not on this topic and I don’t know your email address to email it to you. So I will just ask here. You seem to be a big fan of Angelique. May I ask why? On your radio show which I also heard you said you had communicated with Angelique and these other people in Natomas such as Keith and someone else yet I have never seen these people reply to any of your articles and I sure have not heard them mention your web site-especially Angelique who has been quoted by the Bee and appeared on television newscasts too.
So do these people you say you confer with support your web site and your views? Or are you just trying to draw attention to their efforts out of the goodness of your heart? I think it would be interesting to hear you ideas about these questionsJoe my husband was in politics for many many years before he retired and one thing he always used to say is that you should always question the motives of someone who keeps you as a secret friend. ARe you a secret friend to these people you support?
Thank you Joe
Hi HPR. Welcome back. Haven’t seen you much lately.
I’m glad you liked my bombastic review of the council meeting.
I think you pose a good question about alliances.Thanks for asking.I think this is a good opportunity for me to clear the air on some things as well..
First let me state that to my knowledge Eric Hogue, Marcos Breton, and KFBK are the only ones who have mentioned my site publicly. Breton did so to bash it; Hogue because he is a proponent of “rugged individualism”; KFBK to draw attention to the “You’re Fired!” graphic I posted of Fargo last spring.
Why no shout-outs from others in Natomas? I can only theorize. Early on I posted a plethora of intentionally flammable articles about the crime in Natomas, the thugs terrorizing it, and how in my opinion blame for these unacceptable conditions fell squarely on the shoulders of Heather Fargo and the city government for deprioritizing our public safety. I also commented on what I perceived to be the absence of Natomas community outrage about these conditions.
After the crime meeting here in Natomas you’ll recall I observed how the Captain had been cracking little jokes throughout the meeting (which I OPINED were inappropriate, especially out of respect for the victims of all the crimes going on in Natomas, who I OPINED would not think they were funny), how Angelique should have passed the microphone to residents so we could hear their questions during Q&A, and how many people’s hands were still in the air when they shut down the meeting. I felt that meeting was a waste of time and just another opportunity for Fargo and Tretheway (who were also in attendance) to feign concern and waste the public’s time. My opinion. My feedback. Take it or leave it. But no….
At least one –presumably influential–person tripped. They didn’t like my opinion. I awoke the next morning to find a menacing email and a very nasty comment, both ripping me for bagging on the captain about his jokes. I felt like I had been completely misconstrued because I even stated in the article how much I appreciated the captain and our police force.
But hello!?
I am the taxpayer. I can have any opinion I want. I am not going to sugarcoat my opinion so no one gets their feelings hurt when my neighborhood is under siege. My words are NOTHING compared to what people blast at their public officials in other parts of the country. You would think I was Huey Newton the way some of these people have treated me. But you know what this blog has taught me more than anything? It has taught me that if you’re in the public eye, and someone makes an observation about you that hurts real bad, hold off on the retaliation… because once you start breathing again and calm down you’ll realize their observation is probably TRUE.
If people who visit this site do not want to publicly associate with me, that is their prerogative. I don’t fault them for it. I think in general people are averse to change and they generally don’t want to align themselves publicly with people who have strong convictions… especially when political aspirations may or may not be involved. That’s cool with me. It’s not like I get paid for this…..
Thanks for reading.
Oh, and, does that answer your question?
Joe, will you run for City Council in 2 years?
Also, is there any way to get any statisticis/numbers on just how many people are moving out of Angelique’s neighborhood because of safety issues?
I, for one, would recommend your blog to anyone who wants to know the TRUTH about what’s going on in Sacramento. When I first moved here in 1995, it was quiet & affordable. Now it’s an expensive wasteland. It used to be fun to walk on J Street in Midtown & visit all the funky, unique shops (anyone remember Tree Of Life, Choices, Lioness, The Open Book, The Urban Herbalist, Beers, etc. etc.???). Now it’s just a congested mess of expensive restaurants, empty lofts & parking nightmares.
Joe — Now you see why I only go to council meetings when I absolutely have to. However, I blame you personally for getting me interested enough in this one to watch it on the web. Painful as it was to watch, I *thoroughly* enjoyed being able to simultaneously cook dinner and swear loudly at the council from the privacy of my own home.
Lawless Jane — I moved to Sac in 1987 and have seen midtown change–some for the better, some for the worse. But don’t write the obits for Beers and Choices yet! Many of these amazing local merchants are still in midtown, and we should support them. The Weatherstone is once-again an independent cafe, Peter Keats’ Time-Tested Books in its new space is absolutely wonderful. The old school Lucky Cafe still whips up an artery-clogger of a breakfast. (I will spare Joe’s readers the extensive list of all the little classic restaurants and cool shops that are still alive and kickin’ in midtown. But there are literally dozens–many run by people who are an important part of the fabric of this area and should be credited with its vibrance.) It’s not all expensive restaurants. Lofts and infill development are changing the face and the pace of this great neighborhood, but you can’t give it a blanket dismissal. (But, heck yeah, I miss Lioness!).
Thanks all for the words.
6, what exactly were you cooking, and was the quality of your meal compromised by the quality of the meeting?
Lawless, thank you. I have considered it. And I’ll leave it at that for now
Have a great night!
Joe Sacramento? What a great name! Dude this site rocks. I didn’t even know it existed until today. Looks like a have boat load of reading to catch up. Count me in to come out to meetings. I will get involved. Just put up the times and places reminder up. Thanks for doing this. I’d do it myself if I had the time. This city is like two decades behind where it should be and I’m sick of numbskulls trying to defend it. We don’t even have metered water yet! We are in the stone ages! Wake up people!
Addendum: Joe - I’d encourage you to run for city council, too, but I’d hate to see you turn into a jaded, cynical pol.
(Dinner was lovely, BTW…the significant other has confirmed that the tri-tip roast turned out magnificently and he enjoyed watching his girlfriend do a Jekyl-Hyde-esque switch from Rachael Ray to truckdriver every few minutes. Just call me a Renaissance woman.)
Haha! Rachael Ray! Talk about a Jeckyl Hyde. She went from sweet, innocent chef girl to raving money making capitalist sell out in the time you could heat a bowl of soup in a microwave. Then again Sting sold “Brand New Day” to Jaguar, too. And now Player’s “Baby Come Back” is playing in Swifter mop thingy commercials. Groan. Is there anything that is safe from the dirty hoofs (hooves?) of corporate greed mongers anymore?
I am delirious from all this writing today. Plus I held about fifteen meetings and trained an analyst on a new system… my hands are NUMB.
And by the way, did you hear they are saying this might be one of the wettest winters in a loooooong time? Even some of Gore’s staunchest supporters are starting to grumble, “Ok tell me how the rain forest works again?”
But not me. No way. We here in Natomas are praying Gore (and Fargo) are right… at least until they fortify the levees!
Joe, I appreciate you, your site and the much needed awareness that you bring. I’ve attended so many meetings, workshops, summits, city counsel sessions, county supervisor sessions, state capital hearings, town hall meetings….I’ve attended more funerals of murdered youth than I can remember and I’ve attended more court sessions than I care to. I’ve watched— heartbroken–my community sitting in courts divided into victims and suspects. I’ve stood at candle light vigils and memorials with youth crying, in psychological frozen states and I seen no grief counsels. (Yet, grief counselors were at the movie premier, for Harry Potter fans, who could become traumatized when a lead -fictional- character dies)
I attended the gravesite where a mother fell to her knees and cried “Don’t make me go, don’t make me see him put in the ground covered in dirt” I saw her carried to where her child was buried. (He was not a gang member and the governor and the Carrington Fund Corporation has offered a $50,000 reward and still no one apprehended….) I watched another mother in the middle of her sons funeral move, as if hypnotized, walk to the front of the church and cry “Please let this go as quickly as possible I can not sit here I just buried his brother” after her second son was shot and killed…I’ve seen a teen body dead in the middle of the street covered in a tarp. I left the scene of a shooting rushing to the hospital only to learn another teen had died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. Not every tragedy is life flight to area hospitals… I no longer try and vent in sessions but that night I was venting…
I’ve seen a city / county/ organizations, some people…respond with conditional and unconditional love. I’ve witness the boundaries on love, support, resources…where love should have no boundaries.
I choose to stay home that night and watch the session on cable. I’m exhausted. I no longer like to vent nor do I want to… I labor for change.. It wasn’t until Councilmember Sheedy’s juvenile, irrational, unprofessional, disrespectful behavior…. and when I noticed the forum shift from public safety to politics….that I left my home–yes, outraged– to again attempt to move people into seeing people first–the tragedy first–the suffering first— in the city of “Sacrament” where politics and greed are all to often “Top priority” Everyone on the counsel already knew my heart, thoughts, direction when I walked into that door…. Anyone viewing it, who does not know me or unable to see my heart, could be a little confused.
For Becky: Sorry you missed your meal. It doesn’t look like it but I’ve missed many dinners sitting in sessions. This weight is from eating on the go. I seldom get to have a home cooked meal –the councilmembers know I’m here and there…. so they understood my comment because they know I seldom get to eat at home with my family. I could not give “praise” to law enforcement and I don’t know that I would if I had more than 3 mins. It’s not that I don’t appreciate the many fine officers. But I give all honor, glory and praise to our Creator not man. So I apologize if you’re offended but I’m not trying to make friends. I try and make a point–LIVES outweigh hidden or not so hidden agenda’s of politics and greed. And those who I attempted to make that point with understood it. That night, I again saw a forum which needed to shift from a power-over people (the unprotected) to a power- with. I don’t sugar-coat. I fight in truth any other way people can fight back and many are afraid of the truth. I don’t have to introduce myself to Captain Hahn. I’ve sat in meetings where he was in attendance for 4 years from North Sac to South Sac. I appreciate the advice but we know each other. I do not blame law enforcement nor antagonistic towards the police dept. I am however antagonistic towards anyone who puts politics and greed –who circle over our dead youth like vultures—over the lives and suffering of people. I agree parents should be held responsible and accountable… In 4 yrs of addressing the violence we’ve had that discussion. I’d walk on a treadmill elaborating on it and I’m attempting to step towards healing not walk in reverse. I will say, solely making parents the scapegoat for a failed society, negligent leadership…. is not thinking outside the box. It’s another attempt at trying to solve a puzzle without a picture…And while many are looking for the parents in the picture—I’m looking for Waldo, the one who hides, camouflages themselves within government, alleged representing all the people… places pacifiers in Maggie Simpson (many community members) mouth as Bart Simpson (many of our representatives) run amuck administering havoc…Also, perhaps it was weak because I wasn’t pleading attention to community involvement not being funded. There’re many unsung heroes not written about in papers, not funded, and not wanting praise or to be recognized who are tackling crime/ youth violence. And I surely wouldn’t fight or argue greed with greed. I would not have pleaded. I would have demanded. Nor do I ask —and surely wouldn’t beg– for anyone to love, reach out or extend themselves to wayward youth or their families. If it’s in their hearts it will be done and if it is not it is what it is…. their prerogative.
Again Joe, I sincerely, thank you. And Please understand my heart because truly - honestly- our similarities do outweigh our differences. We really want the same thing. And sometimes when at the Cross where Wrath meets Love we’ll get to our destination of solutions by heading in different directions but working simultaneously collaborately. And in the Spirit of Love- God is Love- we’ll get there together.
Sorry for the length of this email. It won’t happen again. Thank you for all the work that you do.
Rhonda Erwin
Rhonda Erwin you can write as much as you want any time you want. You are welcome on my site.
1 love, Joe
Rhonda Erwin…I felt the tears start to well up as I read your post.. for those of us who have been victims of gang violence or who have stood in a cemetery as we buried our friends or family members do to the violence in this town, we have no choice but to speak up. God bless you and thank you for your commitment and involvement in our our community.
Rhonda - thank you for taking the time to visit Joe’s site and I appreciate hearing more about where you were coming from. I admire your courage, I can’t pretend to know what your life must be like with all that death and sadness. Your frustration comes through loud and clear, and I hope some of those “leaders” in city council are reading this.
I do not know any other side of Capt. Hahn than what he has done with our community associations, and seems to care very much. I’m sure you have a perspective we have not yet been faced with yet, but all of us are tired of how our mayor and city council has been treating all of us citizens.
Joe: Thank you WOW–It’s nice to know I’m welcome on your site. (You are lethal– I’d hate to have to fight you–I don’t know if I have the strength. And from pain there is strength but dang this would be one battle I wouldn’t look forward too—I wouldn’t want more pain–lol) But seriously, thank you for your kind words. You really touch my heart.
Jim Knapp: Thank you also for the kind words. God bless you. If you’ve lost a loved one due to violence I pray they become another of the many Sac doves of peace to surround the vultures that profit off the deaths of our youth. I learned on this journey that when our children leave us they become our second breath. When we have to catch our breath because we don’t want to breathe anymore, when we’re suffocating, surrounded in pain they are within our hearts giving us that second breath. Sometimes it seems if it weren’t for the pain thumping and thumping our hearts just might stop beating. It’s pain that keeps us moving but it’s love that comes within the pain to show us our children are in our hearts, our walk, our talk, our movements. They take us everywhere we need to go. Once we carried them with love and by the Grace of God, our children don’t really leave us they come back and carry us with love. God bless you and thank you
Becky: I apologize. I was abrupt earlier on. I’m so use of having to fight to be seen and heard. I’m among the unprotected - the ones who cries from one Sac neighborhood to another but we are seldom seen or heard….Yes, we are all tired and in the words of MLK; “We are all woven from the same garment; what affects one of us directly affects all of us indirectly.” I know you’re angry and outrage and I feel for everyone affected by this violence. I never want anyone to think my pain or my anger overshadows their pain and anger. Pain and tears are colorless and come within every economic / social status…and we should value and respect the pain and outrage of everyone. Thank you for seeing my heart and I’d like you to know I see your beautiful heart now as well.
Joe asked me what drove me down to city hall that night. I told him it was Sandy Sheedy and some within a union who seem to overshadow people, pain, suffering with politics. But as I wrote to you all I realize I was driven down there, by the Grace of God, by my son and the sons and daughters of so many more who I carry in my heart. They carry me to where I need to go. I needed to meet you wonderful people. I need to see love in the midst of so much pain. Thank you Joe —Thank you all
Rhonda
PS: I’m off your site now I don’t want to be a bummer. I love the tone you are in and I LOVE THE ENERGY before I came along…… It’s time for me to ext and stage left (little humor) But I don’t want to bring down what has been a good high to read. Go get um
Rhonda
Oh Rhonda. Didn’t you know? People don’t want to hear about real tragedy. They would rather grab some popcorn and watch the fictional, safe version of it on CSI or Forensic Files or 48 Hours or Law and Order. No real stories please.
Rhonda you are not a bummer here. Your words are always welcome.
One of the best articles I have ever read as a resident of Sacramento for 30 years. I can already tell Johnson is going to hate this web site throughout his tenure as mayor if you are impartial and from everything I have read so far you are. I am surprised this web site has not been recognized more widely given the quality of the thought and analysis. I love it and thank you for it.