Category: Misc

Today is the day

The draft language for the countywide ballot measure, which is still being worked on by county counsel Bob Ryan, is discussed in today’s Bee. Oh, did I say measure? Make that measures, because the county is planning to circumvent (cf. GOB Bluth) the, you know, law, by keeping the tax and the use of the tax money as separate ballot items. (If the tax being voted on is for a specific purpose it requires a two-thirds majority.) This is the stupidest thing since No I don’t want to recall Gray Davis and Yes I want to replace him with Gallagher. (Definitely not how I voted on that.)

I’m no legal expert, but I really don’t see how that doesn’t still add up to two ballot measures that require a supermajority. How is the 2nd proposition worded in such a way as to not reference the aforementioned tax measure? I smell a rat here. I suppose it’s just politics (baby) but that doesn’t mean we have to just play along, despite what Roger Dickinson thinks.
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Bright lights, big city: The neon of Sacramento

In the lower-left corner of the SacRag home page, you’ll often find local pictures from the Sacramento group on the image-sharing site Flickr. One of the most prolific contributors to the group is Tom Spaulding (tspauld), who follows his muse to document an urban element most never really notice: Vintage neon signs.

I tripped across Tom’s work on Flickr several months ago, and came to look forward to each of his postings. Since he lives in Sacramento, much of the neon he finds is around town. But his field trips take him all over Northern California, and show a true appreciation of a faded era.

I dropped Tom an e-mail, and asked if he’d talk about his images of Sacramento’s vintage neon, and how he sees Sacramento in general. He reluctantly agreed:
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Nanny Dickinson scolds the unscrubbed masses

Yesterday Roger Dickinson just seemed like a misguided local politician trying to justify being in bed with the NBA. But this morning I’m starting to feel like the pressure must be getting to him. From the Bee:

“I think people would be well advised to wait and see first of all if there is a deal, and then once there is, to examine the terms and the entirety of the proposal,” he said. “People simply ought not, and need not, rush to judgment.”

“Would be well advised”? Are we the British prime minister now?
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It’s a free country…

KCRA has the recap of today’s news conference by People United, the grassroots group that is promising to oppose a publicly funded arena. Choice quote by the county’s man on the negotiation table, Roger Dickinson:

“Do we want the finest facilities to allow us to enjoy the great artists, the great sports of the world, or not? And that’s a choice people can make.”

I mean, feel free to disagree, but I think we should try to make Sacramento the greatest city since Rome. If you feel like we should live in mud huts and eat our own poo, then that’s your opinion and you’re entitled to it.

What could have been

Over the years, we’ve all heard rumors of where freeways in our region were planned to be built before right-of-way was sold off to developers. While packing up my house, I happened across an old Thomas Guide my friend Mike brought to my house about eight years ago since he knows I have an affinity for maps. I finally got around to looking at it last week, and it shows the alignment of the freeways that were proposed at that time.

guide.jpg

The guide is so old (“HOW OLD IS IT?” think Match Game) that it still shows I-5 south of downtown as a proposed freeway.
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Arena deal a pack of lies?

Marcus Bretón thinks it is. It seems like the Bee might be bowing to public pressure and trying to tell a less one-sided tale about the arena deal. However, for all Bretón’s throwing around of the “L” word, it’s not really clear what lies he believes are being told. Has anyone on the negotiation table ever said they don’t care if the arena deal goes through? Bretón sees the fact that the NBA is now sending their lawyer, Harvey Benjamin, to the negotiation table as a sign that the NBA “badly wants Sacramento and the Kings to cut an arena deal.” I say, that’s not big news–I don’t think the NBA has ever put out a vibe to the contrary.
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Shhhhh…Don’t Speak

A coworker actually just said, without irony or self-awareness, “Hot enough for ya’?”

This phrase, outside of Antarctica, really lacks the punch it did 500 years ago. Especially in a town known for heat, we should really shy away from it. Don’t you think?

There are enough bosses, family members and complete strangers who solidly fill the “Having-Fun-Yet-Not-If-I-See-You-First” school of humor crowding our daily lives. Aren’t there?

It’s ok to think those folksy heat comments about whores and churches and frying eggs and hell and the devil, but it’s really better if you keep them in your head for now. Thanks.