Life Jackets, Bikes & A Deficit

Local government is considering requiring life jackets for those people who are in our rivers, and it does make sense as the currents, rapids, and old holes from long-ago river dredging for gold are impossible to anticipate and protect against if you get caught in one, so yes, let’s be safer out there.

And, also being considered is allowing bikes on the K Street Mall during the Big Fix on I-5, which makes great sense, and even better to think about making it permanent, but creating a bike lane to protect bikers and pedestrians.

Sacramento city deficit is seen as ballooning to $200 million in the near future, big enough to ask what’s been going on and how can we fix it; and it is good to hear about this during a mayoral election, when voters have the option of bringing in new leadership if they agree the problems lie with the current team.

From Global to Greyhound

One of the best thinkers out there around the issue of global warming is Bjorn Lomborg and he penned this great article reminding us of the real catastrophes we could consider dealing with on an emergency basis, and global warming barely makes the list.

This is truly the kind of thinking we would be blessed to have from more public leaders.

Some very good thinking also comes from Europe around energy issues, and with its focus on cap and trade, plug in electric vehicles and other ideas, primarily grounded in market approaches to the energy issue, reminds us that regional and global energy cooperation really is beginning to shape itself, and that is a very good thing.

An award winning program to help women who have survived domestic violence, and their families, is The Grateful Thread, where discarded fabric items are unraveled and the thread is rewoven into marketable goods, an incredibly creative method of recycling and the rebuilding of lives.

We offered an idea—and had several meetings about it—in 2005 to involve the homeless in Parkway cleanup as a money making business in our report about the illegal camping in the Parkway’s lower reach, the ARPPS Homeless Job Training Project, see pages 34-36 for more information.

There hasn’t really been much follow up with it, which is too bad, as it has been working very well in New York as the Ready Willing and Able program that has won many awards for getting the chronic homeless—the same population of folks who make up the majority of those who camp illegally on the Parkway—back into the working life.

A new poll on the Sacramento mayoral race is out and there was a great one-on-one debate last night between the top two candidates, very informative and should be presented as an encore.

Elk Grove has petitioned to expand its boundaries southward, and there are some other local areas that are real hot for real estate sales, very good news for us all; and we are reminded that in the good-for-the-community move of the Greyhound Bus Depot to the Richards Blvd. area, we should not forget to make sure bus service goes to the new location regularly, to help those who take the bus, primarily low income folks, get there without difficulty.

Great weekend coming up, enjoy!

Coyote Watch

The Cal Expo arena plan has moved to the next level and while it is much too soon to celebrate, the credibility of the people and institutions involved is heartening.

The American River Parkway now has sings posted warning everyone about coyotes, in response to the reported attacks on about a half-dozen children in Southern California, and though none of the attacks resulted in serious injury, it is sure better to be safe than sorry, so be careful out there.

And a Parkway bike riding event that benefits the Parkway is coming up next month.

Carmichael parks is set to begin work on some new parks, and according to plan, should have four new parks finished within two years.

Enjoy the day, windy though it is.

Of Mice and Men

It always amazes me how adaptable nature is to human development, almost as if it is all really part of nature, all natural, the works of humans and of critters, and this story of the nesting swallows on the river barge is such a story.

Moving the bus depot from downtown is a very good thing as downtown bus depots traditionally attract the transient, often loitering populations that can cause some distress to the commercial establishments near by, but in the discussion by the city council to approve the move, the good point was made that we still need to remember that poor people are as worthy of our respect as the rich, and that is so very true.

The county has opened up Parkway adjacent parking for free use to help with the traffic congestion during the I-5 big fix by encouraging people to park their cars then bike on the Parkway bike trail to work, and that is very good, but better still would be if they left the access free, which, considering the common good resulting from it being easier to bike commute, would be worth the tradeoff.

And if the Parkway comes under nonprofit management, as we suggest, the resulting ability to generate philanthropic funding to supplement government funding could very well make up the difference and more.

One of the original organizers of Earth Day back in 1971 is still coming up with good ideas and his powerful electric car is one of them.

An ARPPS Letter was published in the Bee today, and here it is:

Of mice and men

Re "Rodents shouldn't trump humans in disaster recovery," May 19: David Stirling's commentary is a poignant reminder that we really do need to begin to restore some balance between our shared concern to protect the environment and private property rights, as it has gotten too far out of balance.

The creation of rights for animals is a form of environmental stewardship most people can support, but using those rights to pursue government actions that outweigh the property rights of human beings is going to an extreme few people will support.

We can have both, the protection of property rights and the protection of animal rights, but we need to remember that the balance has to lean toward human beings.

This is an issue similar to what is playing out in the ongoing discussions around the American River Parkway and how much space should be devoted to natural preserve vs. how much to developed recreation.

While both are crucial, the need for more developed recreation to address the needs of all parkway users, including the frail elderly and the disabled, has to become a higher priority.

- David H. Lukenbill, Sacramento
Senior Policy Director,
American River Parkway Preservation Society

Housing, Boulevard, Parks, and Arena

A prominent global warming scientist has apparently changed his position after new research he conducted, as this story from CBS notes.

Del Paso Boulevard, the main street of a wonderfully intact community that was once the city of North Sacramento, is slowly coming back, in a new way, but still is struggling with old problems, like the bike riding stabber.

Our state parks make a list of endangered places, and as with the Parkway, it is still a struggle for the public agencies that manage parks and open space to realize that it is time to move beyond increasing taxes to pay for parks and look to the type of public private partnerships that work so well with places like Central Park in New York and the Sacramento Zoo.

The premier parks are the ones that have the best chance to develop philanthropic efforts to help fund them, but even the less well-known can build a strong community support network with the proper work and management.

It takes a change in thinking we hope to soon see at the state level and here with our Parkway.

Home sales are up big time in Sacramento and it is great news, though the depressed housing market bas been quite good for the organizations, like habitat for Humanity, to buy price depressed properties real cheaply and help get more low income people into homes, a very good thing.

The arena effort at Cal Expo, right next to the parkway, is moving along very nicely and it appears to be the best location, with all of the right people lined up, to actually become a reality, which would do wonders for the Point West area and the region.

Be Careful & Have Fun

This is river time for many Sacramentans and we need to remember that it can be as dangerous—as we see on our two rivers—out there as joyful and remembering basic river safety rules can keep us happily in the latter.

And how about those sweet Delta breezes coming in last night, a nice cool down, but the heat is sure nice too, and there is great news about the Delta King being remodeled and getting ready to get back in the river, one of Sacramento’s finest treats is riding up the Sacramento on it, and maybe having an evening dinner on the way.

We couldn’t agree more with the editorial in the Bee this morning that the arena finally appears to be located in the right spot, handled by the right people, and is just a triple win for all. If all goes well with design and placement, there might even be a view of the river from some of the seats.

And of course, it being summer, there will continue to be struggles around air pollution, especially in Southern California, but it all shouldn’t affect our enjoyment of the summer, though the water looks a tad low, and the heat maybe a bit high, it still looks like a very nice summer coming up for all of us.

Finally, is it any wonder that some folks get upset with the environmental movement when, as in this case during hurricane recovery efforts in Florida, rodent's "rights" trump those of human beings?

Enjoy, and stay cool.

The Sunday News

The advent of Indian casinos is beginning to have the effect on Lake Tahoe gambling that many warned about, but is also having a very nice impact that most didn’t think about; the restoration of one of the most beautiful lakes in the country (and recently ranked number one as a tourist destination) to just a beautiful place to visit, stay awhile, have dinner; returning it, in a very updated way, to the ambiance of many years ago when those of us fortunate enough to have grown up here and of an age to remember when it was primarily "our" lake.

A very spiffy new car is being developed that has three wheels, leans like a motorcycle around turns, travels at speeds up to 100 miles per hour and gets 100 miles per gallon. Sign me up!

A very nice story about Midtown and its growth from the perspective of long time residents and newer business owners and developers, both speaking a lot of truth and giving the sense that this area will continue on its upward spiral and residents will need to learn from more urban areas how to live there and still find peace and harmony. Think thicker walls and windows, iron gates, closed in front porches, etc.

The June primaries aren’t stirring up much excitement except in our local mayoral race, and in this very political town, that is enough to keep us busy.

Enjoy your Sunday.