Though the Parkway is not mentioned in this Bee article, it is obvious that the ongoing shortage of funds available for basic maintenance in the Parkway will shrink even more this year.
The solution we have proposed for stabilizing funding for the American River Parkway is to establish a Joint Powers Authority (JPA) of local government entities, to govern the Parkway and contracting with a nonprofit organization to provide management and a supplemental fund raising capability through philanthropy, which you can read about on our website in our Press Release from January 20, 2009.
This is the model being used by the Central Park Conservancy to manage Central Park in New York—and the Conservancy raise’s 85% of funding needed by Central Park—and the Sacramento Zoological Society to manage the Sacramento Zoo, which they have wholly done since 1997 under contract with the City of Sacramento.
An excerpt from the Bee article.
Sacramento County has been talking a lot in recent weeks about the possibility of massive cuts to the high-profile sheriff's and probation departments as officials try to close a projected $187 million general fund shortfall in the fiscal year starting July 1.
Missing in the discussion, however, has been the impact on smaller departments - the agencies that test scales at grocery stores, run elections and pick up stray dogs.
The dollar amounts might not be shocking, but the impact of the cuts would be massive, officials say.
"We all want the money and there's only so much to give," said Jill LaVine, Sacramento County registrar of voters, whose department is proposing to lay off 10 of its 38 employees.
LaVine had requested $9.2 million for her fiscal 2009-10 budget, but the County Executive's Office has proposed $5 million. This means the Voter Registration and Elections Department would have to cut $4.2 million by the end of June.
The cuts, as proposed, wouldn't affect the May special election. But for the June 2010 primary election, there would be no sample ballots published, no mailing out of the vote-by-mail ballots (you'd have to pick up your own), no Spanish translations of election materials, no outreach programs.
