A fellow community member sent a great email to members of a  neighborhood association list I subscribe to. In it she opined that more residents must get involved in their communities in order for change to occur. I responded to her with my theory as to why more people don’t get involved. Of course my theory  is only based on my own experience. I recognize your mileage may vary..

Dear Brenda,

In my opinion it all starts at the top. We [Sacramentans]…

Shortly after I published Angelique Ashby’s smoldering letter to the Natomas community about the West Natomas fire,  District One Councilman Ray Tretheway sent his own email to the community, replete with canned sentimentality only Razor Sharp Ray could cook up on a moment’s notice.

I received Sunshine Ray’s letter via email this afternoon. In classic Tretheway style, he opens by sharing a riveting anecdote about having lost his own home to fire (who knew?), then goes on to state his commitment to…

“The question to ask is how many more tragedies before we get the fire station we need on the West side of I-5? Whose home will be next or will it be a school? Which brave firefighter will have to try to beat the odds because we don’t have enough help? And what price will that firefighter and his family pay?” - Angelique Ashby

Community leader Angelique Ashby, President of the Creekside Neighborhood Association, and Co-Founder of the Greater Natomas Crime…

Updated 8:30am - 7Oct08

Fargo was absolutely pathetic on every level last night. In 22 years as a business professional and voter, I have never witnessed such an egregious, vindictive public official so replete with resentment. One absolutely can not be an effective leader (let along consensus builder!) with that kind of emotion ruling one’s entire being. No way. Last night Fargo showed through her snarky grin, condescending sighs and defensive body language why there is so much division in this…

I went to a “town hall” meeting featuring mayoral hopeful KJ in Natomas a few weeks ago. I recall Johnson saying he didn’t think Sacramento had done a good job developing along its rivers. How Portland and other cities have done a far better job. Take San Antonio for example, said Kevin, to the delight of the small group of people in attendance, “..they’ve actually developed around a canal that isn’t even a real river!” cried Kevin,

To hear Kevin tell it,…

Why is Nancy Pelosi smiling as she signs the bailout rescue plan? Anyone? I can’t figure it out.

Why is Nancy Pelosi smiling as she signs the bailout rescue plan?  Comment your best caption for this image!

Here’s another great one…

And in related news…California may need some serious bread, man

Arnold wrote a letter to U.S. Treasurer today. In it he said CA may need a multi billion dollar loan to finance errrr the state of California if something doesn’t give by October 29th. He…

Lots of good stuff to talk about this (finally) cooler Wednesday.  Here are some topics I’m reading about and some thoughts..

Kevin Johnson says Mayor should make personal schedule public
First I heard of this, but Mayor Fargo does not share her schedule with the public. Surprise! Her position seems to be that it’s none of our damn business what she’s doing. This came to light when Kevin Johnson said he would make his daily appointment book public if he were mayor.…

What a fabulous letter from Cecily Hastings of Inside Publications. Inside Publications publishes newspapers such as Inside East Sacramento and Inside Arden [hey when is Inside Natomas coming?]. The basic premise of her support for Kevin Johnson is that eight years of Fargo is enough. Eight years is enough for a president, a governor, and should be for a mayor as well. I could not agree more. Great points all the way around.

Eight is Enough: Why I support Kevin Johnson…

In a development that validates what us anti gang tax gadflies have been saying all along,  the City of Sacramento has decided the Red Light Camera program (aka Say-queso-for-big brother-as-you-illegally-pass-through-a-photo-enforced-red-light), should remain in the hands of the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department for another several years, and in Public Hearing Item #13 at tomorrow night’s city council meeting, they will make it official.

Reason? Simple: When the city of Sacramento was managing the ten-light program in city limits, a state audit revealed…

A dozen “evangelical Christians” gathered outside KJ’s Baptist church this AM to protest his position on gay marriage. Johnson has said in the past that he “believes” marriage should be between a man and a woman, but recently said he will not support proposition 8, which seeks to ban gay marriage.

The demonstration wasn’t nearly as interesting as the quote that came out of it, attributed to a Christian REVEREND, who stated Johnson was a “weak person” for not supporting Proposition…