“Quality of Life Measure” gets ballot OK

As you’ve probably heard, the twofold arena tax measures will officially be on the ballot this fall. All it took was some last-minute hammering out of the details of the arena deal to make sure the points were in writing. So in other words, before they could agree to go forward with the ballot initiatives that cannot explicitly raise tax money for the arena, they had to make sure that the deal to build said arena using tax money was in writing.

I urge all potential Yes voters to remember this–they are purposely circumventing the law to win approval for a deal that was negotiated and signed in private, to fund an arena with a tax that has a greater impact on the poor and allow a private company to keep all the profits from said arena. I can’t remember a more shady political scheme than this. It’s not about our support for the team, it’s about turning down a terribly lopsided deal. You can do it, Sacramento!

Spirits Are High at “Streets”

On August 1, Streets of London opened their full bar. That’s right, full bar. Prior to Tuesday, only beer and wine flowed through the jolly, unwashed customers of the local watering hole. But now every reveler can bask in the glory of cosmos and lemondrops while listening to the Stones on the jukebox. Don’t expect Tom Cruise and Brian Brown behind the bar just yet, though. Information gleaned from my last visit (including the comment from one of the bartenders, “Is Crown Royal whiskey or Scotch?”) indicates that the lovely barmaids still prefer the ales and lagers to the multi jiggered cocktails. So, things might change a little at the convivial joint, but odds are most things will stay the same (especially if they continue to fry everything, including the cocktails, in the same oil they’ve been using since the Clinton administration).

CBS13 feeling The Rag’s heat?

Happened to be watching the CBS 13 newscast at 10 pm last night, and heard Sam and Pallas announce some big changes on the newscast coming soon, mostly schedule related but also regarding their coverage of local news. No word on whether the big blue set is going away, but I couldn’t help but have a moment of self-centeredness and think that this here Website might have made some people think.

Oh, and Kurtis Ming has to go. Like, far away.

More on arena economics

Thanks FauxPaws for helping me beat the drum! Got busy making widgets yesterday and neglected to point out that Daniel Weintraub now says what I said last week, that the Maloofs’ rent should not be considered as a contribution to the building costs. Further, he went on to demonstrate that under a conservative estimate (assuming the low end for things like parking fees and naming rights) the Maloofs’ spending and income for using the arena are a wash, meaning that their only contribution to the entire project is the $20 capital repair fund. Assuming the higher end they come out ahead. We taxpayers, on the other hand, are out $1.2 billion.

Here’s a question: If the arena would be publicly owned, wouldn’t it make sense for it to be open several times a year for free events? I don’t think I’ve heard that proposed in this deal.

Arena deal just gets better and better …

… if your last name is Maloof, that is. From R.E. Graswich in this morning’s Bee:

Sacramento City Councilman Steve Cohn figured taxpayers would get a raw deal from the new Kings arena proposal. Then he ran the numbers. It’s much worse than Steve dreamed. “Incredibly, we would be better off building the arena and giving it away to Joe and Gavin Maloof,” said Steve of the happy Las Vegas brothers who own the Kings. “The rent they will pay is less than what they would pay in property taxes, by 2 or 3 million dollars a year.” As proposed, the public will own the new arena. That means zero property taxes.

Here’s the rest. Read it and open your wallet … or vote “no” on the arena measure that won’t be mentioning “arena” in it.

World-class city or world-class suckers? I’m not opposed to a downtown sports venue — love Denver’s and San Diego’s — but this deal doesn’t work for me. As for the Maloof’s recent civic generosity … oh, puh-lease.

Getting informed

Sac Rag contributors and commenters certainly have a variety of opinions, and it seems most have fairly strong feelings regarding how local government should be run. My stance has always been to encourage people to learn as much as they can, to get in touch with their decision-makers to voice their opinions, write letters to the editor of newspapers, or possibly run for office themselves.

There are also courses offered through local jurisdictions and organizations that give citizens an up-close look at how things are run, why they’re run that way, and what it would take to make improvements. Here are three such programs for which you may consider applying:
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Free family movies!

Regal Cinemas, operators of Natomas Marketplace 16 and Laguna Village 12, has free G and PG rated movies at 10:00 am on Tuesdays and Wednesdays this summer. So if the heat comes back and you need something cool to do with the kiddies they’ve got “Rugrats In Paris The Movie” and “Charlie & The Chocolate Factory” (I think this is the Burton one, because the Gene Wilder one is a G and it’s actually titled “Willy Wonka and…” according to IMDB) this week, and “Muppets From Space” and “Two Brothers” (I assume it’s this one) next week.
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Break-up of the year

After more than a decade together, declining Arbitron ratings has caused the break-up of my favorite morning show duo, Shawn and Jeff. A loyal listener since they first started on KWOD in 1993, I made the switch to The Zone with them in 2002, despite my much stronger preference of KWOD’s playlist. For those of you who haven’t listened to The Zone, they’re about three months behind the curve as far as songs go. Before it got sold to a broadcasting corporation, the then-independently-owned KWOD would play a song for months, then The Zone would pick it up and tout it as “brand new!” and play the heck out of it when you were already so sick of it.

For years, Shawn and Jeff provided me with the ideal start to my day — they kept things light, didn’t cause much controversy, and let listeners into their personal lives as they each got married and started their own families. There are morning radio shows on the air whose programming is more cerebral, but I really don’t want to think too hard when making the sleep-wake transition since I have the rest of the day to concern myself with reality.
Continue reading “Break-up of the year”

Joe Sun in the house (for now)

Apparently the City’s push to “revitalize” by marginalizing lower income folks extends beyond the arena deal. The city is attempting to push out Joe Sun, a longtime fixture of the K Street mall, so that the entire block can be sold to Joe Zeiden, owner of Z Gallerie, for redevelopment into high-end retail. (Note for the literal-minded: the patrons are “lower income,” not the owners: “Joe Sun & Co. has sold blue-collar work clothes to Sacramentans for 88 years”)

Now, I have no clue what commercial real estate is worth, so to me $15 million for that plot does seem ridiculously high. But I think it’s more ridiculous that the city, which has let K street stagnate for years, suddenly wants to force out a 30-year old family business to bring in a high end chain store. With blocks and blocks of empty storefronts down the street. It’s just really sad, is what it is.

Also, this must mean that Zeiden already owns “Records,” the used record store next door to Joe Sun. How sad!

Attention criminals!

Do not get excited by the fact that I am so deliriously enchanted with the end of the heat wave and the return of the Delta Breeze that I am tonight leaving most of my windows open (with screens, of course, hello, West Nile virus). I have three very large dogs and one small yappy one. OK, so the small one is all bark, no bite, one of the big ones is old and losing her hearing, and the two youngsters are very friendly.

I also have a parrot who’d as soon bite you as look at you. So don’t get any ideas.

Cool breeze! Cool breeze! I don’t remember ever appreciating it so much.