At the risk of being out of touch with the what’s *really* happening in Sacramento, I mention this sacbee.com article about a new outdoor ice skating rink scheduled to open Friday in Folsom. The details can be found at visitfolsom.com.

This article makes me wonder, however, if it is a smart idea to spend money on “extras” like this in an effort to boost local business.

A report from Folsom city staff puts the total cost of operating the rink for two months during the holidays at $248,000 – $68,000 more than it is predicted to bring in.

I get that the intent with this project is encourage folks to shop and eat locally, but could the $248,000 be better spent helping local businesses lower their prices? Decrease their lease payments? Or is just full steam ahead and let’s see what happens?

Especially with the news that so many of the region’s cities are scrambling to save money and cut corners.

In an effort to control costs, Folsom has a freeze on hiring and discretionary spending, Miller said. But even that won’t be enough to close the budget shortfall, which could be as much as $5 million for the current year if the city were to do nothing.

Your thoughts?

I was in the Natomas/Truxel area the other day and noticed that the new Sonic/T.G.I. Friday’s construction had all but stopped. Fast forward a few days and the Computer Pages once again come to my rescue.

Via KCRA.com

At the intersection of Truxel Road and Gateway Park Boulevard, construction has been halted for a Sonic drive-thru and a T.G.I. Friday’s, which were scheduled to open two years ago.

Sonic blames the slowing economy for not completing the project. It plans to finish its Lincoln location first.

Two years ago! Man, brutal. I think we can do without another chain restaurant (Hear that, Guy?), but I’ve always wondered what the Sonic was all about. Well, apart from those irritating commercials.

I was enjoying the ehow.com recently when I came across this article on “How to Spend the Perfect Weekend in Sacramento” and it got me thinking. What is your perfect weekend in Sacramento? This article does a good job of hitting the mainstream spots. But, what is it missing? I know we like to provide information on specific events here at the Sac Rag, but I’m looking for some every week type things to do that I may not find on the Chamber of Commerce site.

Any suggestions?

Apparently the economy is like, bad or whatever. But you wouldn’t know it if you examine the booming casino market, as evidenced by the long lines to fill out applications at the new Red Hawk casino going up in El Dorado Hills. I suppose you could see this as a good sign–even in these volatile times there is enough walkin around money walkin around to create 1,700 jobs in our area. But one would hope that we Californians might have learned a thing or two about money and risk over the last few weeks!

This morning the Bee reports that 200 out of 240 full time staffers are being offered voluntary buyouts. Apparently you get an offer of 2 weeks’ pay for every year on staff. Yikers.

Kudos to the Sac Bee for its newest salary database on all of the state’s teachers. “See how well your school district pays its teachers.” Not “See how much your kid’s teacher makes.” The tool allows you to look up district average salaries and other data, and compare salaries across districts in a region or across the state. A useful tool without any of the privacy issues. This should be the model for all of the Bee’s salary databases.

I do think it is interesting that the spin has been spun somewhat on this one… “Are teachers in your area making what they deserve?” That sentiment is absent from Melanie Sill’s editorial on the backlash to the State worker pay database. Back then it was all about doing a public service, giving us information about worker compensation because “state spending [is] under pressure.” Now, it’s all about making sure your kid’s teacher is getting a good paycheck? Maybe I’m splitting hairs, but I sense that the Bee is making some much needed course corrections here.

This just in… The McClatchy company is announcing a one-year freeze in employee wage increases.

This means that if you are scheduled to receive a merit or salary review between September 1, 2008 and August 31, 2009, your review will occur one year later than scheduled. For example, if your next salary review date is March 1, 2009, the salary review will be postponed until March 1, 2010.

Ouch. The tough times continue. And two weeks’ notice, that’s rough. However, if you’re working for McClatchy and you’re…still working for McClatchy, this is somewhat of a relief?

In a front page story today, the Bee chastises voters (presumably some of whom, you know, work at the Bee) for making the state “ungovernable” with our insistence on both mandatory spending and no tax increases.

Only 4 percent [of voters], according to a recent poll, have a “great deal” of confidence that lawmakers can do the right thing on the overdue spending plan.

But the same voters have passed laws that virtually guarantee annual spending increases for education, severely restrict what can be cut from transportation and local governments and make it virtually impossible to raise taxes.

The research that must have gone into pinpointing the voting records of every single California voter boggles the mind. Especially since nobody born after 1960 can be blamed for the passage of Prop 13 in 1978.

Continue reading “Bee to Voters: Budget Woes Are Your Fault” »

Much was made of the recent closing of California Fat’s this week, much more, in fact, than the closing of Brother Oliver’s earlier this year. Each establishment was just short of being iconic, but the suburban Oliver’s didn’t quite have the cultural cache that anything with the name Fat attached to it does.

It is, however, not just the locals who are having difficulties in our worsening economy. Within the last few months, we’ve seen the closing of Macaroni Grill on Alta Arden (now where am I going to get chicken parmagiana after seeing dissected bodies? Oh, that’s right, the bodies left town too. Alta Arden is like a ghost town now. Thank God for Chick Fil-A.), Wendy’s on Fair Oaks, and Pick Up Stix everywhere. I’m not saying that some of these national chains will be missed for their standout cuisine, but I’d rather have a chain or big box retailer than an empty storefront any day.