Inside downtown may 2016 by Inside Publications

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EAST SACRAMENTO McKINLEY PARK RIVER PARK ELMHURST TAHOE PARK CAMPUS COMMONS

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COVER ARTIST Madelyn Templeton Madelyn Templeton is a local artist who has showcased her work in more than six different galleries. She's a junior at Sac State working towards receiving her BA degree in art. Contact her at madelynejoantempleton@gmail.com

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LOCAL MAY 16

PUBLISHER Cecily Hastings publisher@insidepublications.com 3104 O St. #120, Sac. CA 95816 (Mail Only) EDITOR PRODUCTION DESIGN PHOTOGRAPHY AD COORDINATOR DISTRIBUTION ACCOUNTING EDITORIAL POLICY

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You’ve told your BFF. Now talk to a GYN. You’re a doer. So when it comes to changes in your own body, why is it that you put it off? It’s time to take action and talk to a professional (no offense to your friends). Attend one of our informational events, where you can meet our gynecology experts and learn more about our treatment options. Register online at dignityhealth.org/women or call 916.851.2444. Wednesday, May 11 The Falls Event Center 8280 Elk Grove Blvd. Elk Grove The event is from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Healthy appetizers and beverages will be served.

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Join the Debate INSIDE HOSTS A MAYOR’S DEBATE WITH NEIGHBORHOOD FOCUS

BY CECILY HASTINGS PUBLISHER’S DESK

e at Inside Publications are proud to announce a mayoral forum on Wednesday, May 11, at Clunie Community Center from 7 to 9 p.m. Mayoral candidates Darrell Steinberg, Angelique Ashby, Tony Lopez and Russell Rawlings will participate in the forum, which we organized and are sponsoring. The moderators will be Inside Publications writer Bob Graswich and KFBK radio personalities Kitty O’Neal and John McGinness. For this event, we partnered with East Sacramento Improvement Association, Sierra Curtis Neighborhood Association, Oak Park Neighborhood Association, Land Park Community Association, South Land Park Neighborhood Association, East Sacramento Chamber of Commerce and Eye on Sacramento. These organizations have submitted questions pertaining to their neighborhoods and the city in general. We have incorporated those questions into a challenging format to ask the candidates about neighborhood issues and their plans for the future.

One question we received was whether each candidate, as mayor, would consider neighborhood association advisory councils. From what I understand, this idea has pros and cons. I look forward to learning the candidates’ views. The top two candidates made their way into public service as leaders in their neighborhood associations. Our media partners are KFBK and iHeartRadio. The event will be available via podcast and videocast, both live and after the event. This has been an interesting race so far. However, some people feel the contest lacks the intensity of the 2008 race between Kevin Johnson and incumbent mayor Heather Fargo. This month, Bob Graswich writes a second article about the top two candidates for our city editions. The entire region has a stake in who becomes the next mayor of Sacramento. Unfortunately, voter turnout is typically lower in June than in November in a presidential election year. If one candidate receives 50.1 percent of the vote in June, he or she wins outright. If nobody clears that bar, the top two vote getters will match off again in November. Steinberg and Ashby have raised a lot of money for their campaigns, so look for a flurry of advertising leading up the June 3 election. I believe viewing political ads is the worst way to make an informed decision. I encourage voters to rely on unbiased media coverage as they decide who to vote for. Much is riding on who will lead the city through what I and others hope will be its renaissance years. I think voters will benefit from our mayoral forum. Please join us at

Clunie Community Center on May 11 or watch the debate on kfbk.com that night or later before you vote. To RSVP for the live event visit evite.me/ T858WSshhW.

Much is riding on who will lead the city through what many hope will be its renaissance years. BIG DAY OF GIVING THIS MONTH Sacramento Region Community Foundation and its partners have spent months gearing up for the BIG Day of Giving on Tuesday, May 3. The online giving event starts at midnight at givelocalnow.org. For 24 hours, Sacramentans will be encouraged to donate to local charities. Each gift is tax deductible. Using your credit card, you can donate anywhere from $25 to $10,000 to the organizations of your choice. You will receive email acknowledgement of your gift within an hour. You can also donate using your smartphone. Another benefit is the matching funds that accompany your gifts. Since the event is part of a national day of giving called Give Local America, foundations all over the country participate. Donations are eligible not only for local matching funds but national funds, too. Deciding where to give is the fun part. You may know local nonprofits you want to support. If not, the website allows you to search profiles

of participating organizations. If you have given to nonprofits before, expect them to market to you for this special day. Last year, BIG Day of Giving raised $5,583,619 in donations from 23,216 donors, benefiting 529 local nonprofits. More than 10,000 of the donors were new to the event last year. This year, 570 nonprofits will participate. I recently read an article by Paul Bedard in Washington Examiner about our nation’s giving habits. It gave me another reason to be especially proud to be an American. I wanted to share an excerpt: Americans are a charitable group, in fact the most generous in the world, according to the new Almanac of American Philanthropy. In a first-ofits-kind survey, the almanac found that Americans out-donate Britain and Canada 2 to 1 and nations like Italy and Germany 20 to 1. What’s more, more than half of every single income class except those earning less than $25,000 donate to charity. The much-maligned top 1 percent in the U.S. economy fork over one third of all donations made. Even in death. What’s more, Republicans appear to give bigger gifts, but Democrats pour in the smaller donations in a big number. … Americans also have high hopes for charities, choosing them over government agencies to solve the nation’s social problems, by a margin of 47 percent to 32 percent. And as a result, they want to protect tax deductions for charity, 66 percent to 21 percent. Cecily Hastings can be reached at publisher@insidepublications.com n

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Study in Contrasts CANDIDATES FOR MAYOR PRESENT STARK CHOICE FOR VOTERS

BY R.E. GRASWICH

very political campaign needs a narrative. Without one, a campaign drowns in a river

of rhetoric. The narrative is the campaign’s story, the fundamental connection between candidate and voter. In the race for Sacramento mayor, Darrell Steinberg and Angelique Ashby present narratives in contrast, like ice and fire. Steinberg boasts about his political reach: his ability to draw upon Angelique Ashby

20 years of experience in elected

Darrell Steinberg

office and six years as president of the California State Senate. He’s

being done,” she says. She beat an

with the city’s most politically astute

areas are pretty much what matters

a professional politician who can

incumbent when few people figured

public employee union, Sacramento

most now.”

“connect the dots,” he says, with

she had a chance.

Area Firefighters Local 522.

unprecedented access and knowledge,

Those two narratives are essential

Ashby is a bundle of energy, always

A similar platform belongs to Steinberg, whose years away from

benefiting the city with gravitas never

as voters decide which candidate

thinking about her next move. Her

municipal governance didn’t make

seen before in the mayor’s office.

should move to the center office on

narrative—“against all odds” could be

him forget the fundamentals. He

the fifth floor at city hall and replace

the subtitle—is woven with intuitive

speaks in soft, professorial tones. He

Kevin Johnson.

calculation, extreme confidence and

answers questions before they can be

capacity for risk.

asked.

Ashby has a different story: about a girl who loved to dance and whose life was upended by her parents’

There’s Steinberg, the political

divorce. Pregnant and alone at 19,

insider whose proudly liberal

she worked her way through college

philosophy didn’t prevent him

says. “As mayor, I’m going to focus on

Sacramento’s economic base has to

and law school and ran for city council

from earning respect and support

economic development, public safety

be expanded,” he says. “We have to

because the city failed to build a

from conservatives across the state.

and the continued growth of arts and

diversify beyond our reliance on the

promised park in her neighborhood.

And there’s Ashby, outspoken and

culture in Sacramento. Those three

public sector. There’s nothing more

“They had empty lots with signs

business friendly, willing to make

that said ‘Future Park.’ Nothing was

political enemies and habitually cozy

DOWNTOWN MAY n 16

“My platform is pretty simple,” she

“We love our state employees, but

important than managing the budget.

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I know, because as president of the

worker retirement issues. Measure U

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expires in 2019.

The city’s entire budget hovers

Steinberg is willing to risk political

around $952 million, crumbs

currency on homelessness, a problem

compared to the numbers that poured

he regards as a priority. He says, “It’s

across Steinberg’s desk at the Capitol.

unacceptable. We have to expand

About $404 million supports the city’s

our capacity to provide housing for

general fund, which is negotiable and

people.”

pays for police and fire services and

Ashby pointedly refers to herself as

parks. The rest involves enterprise

the future of Sacramento, implying

funds, such as water, sewer and

Steinberg reflects the past. While

garbage, with users billed for services.

15 years separate the candidates,

Mayor and council have little to say

Steinberg carries baggage. Under

about that.

his leadership, four senators

Steinberg helped cut billions as

Yee (racketeering), Ron Calderon

The state’s budget was unsustainable.

(corruption), Rod Wright (residency

Ashby had a crash course in

fraud) and Ben Hueso (drunk

budgetary panic when she joined the

driving).

council in 2010. Her North Natomas

“I didn’t hide out during that

constituents were devastated by the

period,” Steinberg says. “I went

recession.

out and met with the public. I faced

in Natomas. Home values dropped 45 percent. The community was under

Despite the company he kept, Steinberg has never been directly hit by scandal. He’s a family man with

protection. Fire response was slow. A

two children. After two decades in a

new firehouse became Ashby’s first

nasty game, his personal reputation is

victory.

spotless. For narrative purposes, that may be Steinberg’s best story. Ashby settled into suburban

moratorium,” she says. “That was a

normalcy after college. She and

huge win for the community.”

her husband have three children.

The new mayor will lead a city

“I’m so glad Courtney sold our smaller home and helped us buy this bigger one… otherwise I wouldn’t have room to play with my two brothers and furry sister.”

reforms.”

prompted by inadequate flood

“We got the new fire station

Every Home Deserves A Good Story

the tough questions. And we passed

a federal construction moratorium

built despite the recession and the

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The state’s big problems played out

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Porter & his twin brothers, Reed & Grayson

The youngest is 3. The “Mom from

in economic recovery, thanks to

Natomas” narrative is superficial but

temporary tax dollars from Measure

accurate.

U and investment stimulated by the

Experienced leadership and

new arena. The city must deal with

statewide reach or passion for the

inadequate funding for city employee

neighborhood: That’s the option

pensions and health care, but neither

between Steinberg and Ashby.

candidate is eager to drill into public R.E. Graswich can be reached at reg@graswich.com n

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The Cost of $15 NEW LAW COULD RESULT IN ‘WAGE HIKE TSUNAMI’

BY CRAIG POWELL

INSIDE CITY HALL

conomically, minimum wages may not make sense,” our governor recently said, according to a recent Bee story, but “morally and socially and politically, they make every sense because it binds the community together and makes sure that parents can take care of their kids in a much more satisfactory way”—provided, of course, that parents don’t lose their jobs as a direct result of California’s unprecedented minimum wage hike. In addition to giving short shrift to the basic laws of economics, the governor is ignoring the Rule of Unintended Consequences, as the new wage mandate is poised to hammer the city of Sacramento and other local governments with a “wage hike tsunami,” as one analyst recently put it. In a mere four days, the governor and union backers of a statewide ballot measure to increase the state minimum wage from $10 to $15 an hour announced a deal to enact the wage hike legislatively and passed it through both houses of the Legislature on a largely party-line vote, with Republicans unified against it. Arguably one of the most farreaching pieces of economic legislation

DOWNTOWN MAY n 16

in decades, the California wage hike sailed into law without meaningful legislative hearings, without public testimony and without the sort of close scrutiny by critics that all laws deserve, let alone one with potentially devastating consequences. (Sound reminiscent of Gray Davis’s hamhanded, disastrous deregulation of the electrical industry?) Politically, the backroom wage deal was a grand slam for political progressives, who won without having to spend millions campaigning for the measure in a November election. The rushed legislation short-circuited a public vote but received largely fawning support from California media outlets, including The Sacramento Bee.

Supporters of “Fight for $15” don’t seem to care much at all about the economic impacts and potential unintended consequences of the wage hike. We are now officially in the nevernever Land of economics. No state has ever before adopted such a dramatic increase in its minimum wage. No state has ever imposed a minimum wage that is so far above the prevailing market rate for unskilled

labor. As Brown’s statements reflect, supporters of “Fight for $15” don’t seem to care much at all about the economic impacts and potential unintended consequences of the wage hike. To them, it was a “moral” fight, a blow against income inequality, and such concerns, in their minds, trump all others. If a $15 minimum is moral while a $10 minimum wage is, by implication, “immoral,” then what’s there for us to do but to enact the “moral wage,” pat one another on the back and march off into the warm and balmy climes of progressive paradise? But God gave us both a head and a heart, and I like to believe for good reason. You see, even a progressive morality triumph cannot trump the basic and unchangeable laws of supply and demand. When you are compelled to pay more for something, you end up buying less of it. This iron law of economics applies to labor every bit as much as it applies to bananas, iPhones and Hondas. If an employee now making $10 an hour is not producing $15 an hour of value for his employer, he or she will not remain an employee of that employer at $15 an hour for very long. They will either be laid off, replaced by automation, see their hours cut or, if fortunate, be told that their job is being relocated to a lower-cost state (which would be, well, any other state, except New York, which enacted its own $15 minimum wage at the same time California did). And what’s with the governor’s (and progressives’) moralizing about a $15 minimum wage? If an employer is willing to hire someone at $10 (but not $15) and a prospective worker is

ready, willing and able to go to work for that employer for $10, how is it in any way immoral for them to do so? How is it only moral for them to have an employment relationship at $15 an hour? Is it moral to deprive an unskilled, inexperienced young person the character-building opportunity to work a job at $10 an hour when studies show that those who hold down jobs in their late teens and early 20s develop work and discipline skills that propel them into dramatically higher average lifetime earnings compared to young people who’ve never worked in their critical formative years? The governor’s moral compass is badly out of kilter. If the governor’s complaint is that heads of families working jobs at minimum wage don’t make enough income, then he should consider far more effective (and much less destructive) ways to increase incomes for the poor than raising the minimum wage, such as expanding the earned income tax credit. Increasing the EITC wouldn’t badly undermine the already limited opportunities young people (particularly youngsters of color) have for finding their all-important first job as the $15 minimum wage will. One of the tragic failings of the rushed deal to enact the $15 minimum wage is its one-sizefits-all $15 minimum wage across every region of the state, instead of acknowledging the economic reality that the California’s coastal areas (San Francisco Bay Area, LA and San Diego) already have substantially higher market labor rates than the lower-cost communities of the Central Valley, including Sacramento.

The governor of Oregon signed a new minimum wage bill into law in March after extensive stakeholder input. It smartly sets different wage rates for high-, medium- and lowcost areas of the state. In high-cost Portland, the minimum wage will reach $14.75. In midsize counties, the rate will reach $13.50, while the rate in rural areas will end up at $12.50—a full $2.25 less than the Portland rate. Why is Oregon’s regional approach such an improvement over the blunderbuss approach devised by Jerry Brown and the unions? Because a minimum wage hike will cause less job destruction and damage to the local economy if the wage hike is modest relative to the current market rate for unskilled labor. A $15 minimum wage in San Francisco may not be a huge pill to swallow since few workers in prosperous SF work for the current $10 state minimum wage or even at its higher city minimum wage. But in Sacramento, where labor costs are significantly lower than in San Francisco and many more people work for the current state minimum wage, the 50 percent hike in the minimum wage will imperil the jobs of a great many more people and threaten the viability of many more businesses. How did Sacramento and the Central Valley, which has never fully recovered from the Great Recession, end up getting treated so badly under the new $15 minimum wage law? It looks like several factors were at play. First, our Central Valley legislators were caught completely asleep at the switch when the legislation sailed through both houses of the Legislature on a single day. Second, the rush to get the deal enacted within just four days shortcircuited all of the normal channels for legislative review and cheated the public out of the opportunity to offer any input. Finally, state leaders, almost all of whom now represent coastal districts, really don’t care that much about the Central Valley. Can the governor and the Legislature fix this problem by creating different minimum wage rates in different parts of the state based on different local cost levels? Yes, they can. The new law is a

statute that can be fairly easily amended. But will they amend it? That depends on how big of a stink Central Valley residents, businesses, local government officials and legislators make at the State Capitol over the potential damage this outsized minimum wage hike could do to our jobs, our businesses, our economic growth and the endangered budgets of our local governments.

Can the governor and the Legislature fix this problem by creating different minimum wage rates in different parts of the state based on different local cost levels? You’re going to start hearing a lot about a particular phase in the next few years: wage compaction. Wage compaction most often occurs when a firm starts increasing the starting salaries of its new employees in response to rising market demand for such workers. Such hikes, however, can often result in starting salaries that are higher than what a firm is paying its existing employees who are at least somewhat more senior to recent hires. That’s wage compaction. Most employers respond to the problem by raising the salaries of its slightly more senior employees until they command a salary above those who are below them in the organizational pecking order. But if not managed carefully, such salary adjustments can have an awfully expensive ripple effect on the salaries of employees all of the way up to the top of a firm’s salary schedule. That’s the challenge that the city of Sacramento will face in dealing with the state’s new $15 minimum wage. The city has many employees receiving the current $10 minimum wage (up from $9 as of Jan. 1),

most of whom work in its parks and recreation department. When the city council approved a new city minimum wage of $12.50 late last year, city staff estimated that it would increase city costs by $2.5 million annually once fully implemented. Based on last year’s estimates, it’s likely that a $15 minimum wage will increase the city’s direct costs by $5 million annually, not counting the ripple effect on costs it incurs to address wage compaction and to deal with major new pressures from city bargaining units to increase wages across the entire income spectrum. National labor leaders are insisting that the minimum wage hikes in both California and NY to $15 will affect not just wage floors but wage ceilings as well in future contract negotiations. There’s a recent local example of such a ripple effect. In January, the board of directors of the Arden Manor Recreation and Park District responded to the Jan. 1 increase in the state minimum wage to $10 by raising the pay rates of all of its employees, even though the district has been tapping declining cash

reserves to cover its chronic budget deficits for the past two years. With unions egging on elected officials to address wage compaction by raising salaries for its members up and down the salary scale, the risk of municipal budget blowouts is very real. One independent analyst recently predicted that the direct costs and ripple effects of the new law could end up adding as much as 20 to 30 percent to existing salaries in California cities and counties, plus another 7 to 10 percent in pension costs triggered by the salary hikes, driving up overall labor costs by as much as 30 to 40 percent (David Kersten, “Minimum Wage Aftershocks Will Cause Public Sector ‘Wage Hike Tsunami,’” UnionWatch.org). Cost hikes of such magnitude would almost certainly lead to major city layoffs and substantial cuts to public service levels, apart and aside from the impact of the city’s coming fiscal cliff in 2019 (when pension contribution rates spike and the city’s Measure U temporary half-cent sales tax expires). CITY page 13

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100 Years Strong LOCAL BOY SCOUT TROOP CELEBRATES A CENTURY OF SERVICE

deacon named Wesley Hetherington took charge. He shaped the troop for the coming decades, and membership grew. In the mid-1950s, the troop hit hard times, and membership shrank to nine Scouts. A group of adult leaders led by Stillman “Duke” Towne asked some former members, now grown, to help build the troop back to its glory days. George Morrow, who’d been an Eagle Scout in the 1940s, took over as scoutmaster, and the troop began to grow again.

BY SCOT CROCKER INSIDE DOWNTOWN

ne hundred years ago, Woodrow Wilson was president of the United States, America was on the verge of entering World War I, and a group of boys from Sacramento’s First United Methodist Church banded together to form the city’s first Boy Scout troop. Today, it is one of the most successful and prosperous troops in the region. To celebrate its centennial, Troop 1 will hold an anniversary celebration for all past and present Troop 1 Scouts, parents and supporters on June 11. The public is invited. The celebration will be a milestone for a troop that began humbly at a Midtown church. It all started when about two dozen boys decided with their parents to start a troop. The Boy Scout movement was sweeping across America at the time. Boy Scouts had started in England just eight years earlier. In 1909, Chicago publisher W.D. Boyce learned of Scouting while visiting London. Back home, he incorporated the Boy Scouts of America in 1910. Founded six years later, Troop 1 is reportedly the oldest continuous Boy Scout unit west of the Mississippi River. Other Scout troops were

DOWNTOWN MAY n 16

Troop 1 is reportedly the oldest continuous Boy Scout unit west of the Mississippi River.

founded earlier, but none has the same unbroken record of service. In its early years, the troop worked in the community, most notably

selling Liberty Bonds during World War 1. Troop 1 remained a pretty average troop for almost 15 years but really took off in 1929 when a

“There just isn’t any obstacle a troop can’t overcome if it has a bunch of adults who know Scouting and are willing to help,” says Morrow. “Troop 1 has been around for 100 years for two reasons,” Morrow adds. “First, we have solid leadership from parents and adults. Second, we have a great program for the Scouts, from building leadership skills to hiking and camping and advancing in rank, including a focus on Eagle Scout development.” Troop 1 has produced 414 Eagle Scouts, including 322 since 1972, when Eagle Scout service project requirements became more formal. DOWNTOWN page 15

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“My 1929 home was one-of-a-kind with great historic and sentimental value. Steffan knew exactly how to showcase and market its unique characteristics to sell it quickly. He went above and beyond, managing every step of the process while I was out of town. I recommend Steffan without hesitation!” —Carolyn Schimandle Steffan Brown ł 717-7217 ł SteffanBrown.com CITY FROM page 11 City officials need to sound the alarm over the potential devastating impact this new law may have on Sacramento. It looks to this observer that the potential impact of this law could be comparable to the destructive impact the Great Recession had on the city’s finances and services. While Sacramento doesn’t have a legal claim for reimbursement against the state for such costs as an unfunded mandate (according to the Sacramento city attorney’s office), the city, as the largest city in the Central Valley, needs to promptly take a leadership role in organizing Valley communities to press the governor and the Legislature to provide statefunded relief for local government to offset the costs of complying with the new $15 minimum wage, as well as to amend the new law to impose a lower minimum wage on lower-cost Valley communities. The new $15 minimum wage will be a much bigger burden on local governments that on state government. Why? Because only a relatively small percentage of the state’s total budget is spent on state employees, while close to 80 percent of the city’s budget is spent on labor costs. A 30 percent increase in labor costs would drive up city costs by $95 million, roughly one-quarter of the city’s entire general fund budget and close to the entire annual budget of the city’s fire department. If the state balks at providing relief to local government for minimum wage costs, the city must implement a very tough negotiating policy with

its unions that would restrict raises to only those hikes specifically mandated by the new state law and to forgo raises to address wage compaction or “equity adjustments” arising from the new law. Sacramento residents will be far better off if city officials learn to deal with wage compaction at the lower end of its wage spectrum for some indefinite period of time rather than have the city start writing checks it cannot cash to solve wage compaction inequities. Craig Powell is a local attorney, businessman, community activist and president of Eye on Sacramento, a civic watchdog and policy group. He can be reached at craig@ eyeonsacramento.org or 718-3030.

LETTERS City Councilmember Jay Schenirer wrote the following in response to Craig Powell’s April column, “RT on the Rocks”: For the past two years, the Sacramento Regional Transit District has been engaged in a systemwide improvement initiative. Catalyzed by the business community around the downtown renaissance and the opening of Golden 1 Center, the RT board clearly understood the need to look at all of the operations of the district, putting quality at the top of the list. RT has focused on ensuring the safety of riders, cleanliness of vehicles, streamlining operations, generating additional revenue and, ultimately, providing a transportation system worthy of our great city. Since I became chair of the RT board in

January 2015, I have received an outpouring of support in this effort and RT has welcomed all feedback, positive and negative, including the report from Eye on Sacramento.

If RT is to become a transit system worthy of a world-class city, it will need the resources of a world-class city. Clearly, RT has its challenges. The recession brought unprecedented cuts in bus and light rail service, employee furloughs and layoffs. Late-night light rail service was restored in 2012, and RT is still working to bring bus service back to 2010 levels. However, Craig Powell’s portrayal of RT as an overindulgent spendthrift is misleading and inaccurate. Comparing RT’s finances with the household budget of a family of four is an oversimplification, and he ignores the environmental factors as well as the reform efforts currently underway. RT and transit agencies across the nation have consistently advocated for stable, reliable funding for operations and maintenance. Competition for limited funds and uncertainty at the federal level year to year create significant challenges in long-term fiscal planning and budgeting. RT receives one-sixth of a cent from local

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taxes, unlike other transit agencies that receive a half-cent, full cent or more to fund their operations. In addition, the significant drop in gasoline and diesel prices led directly to decreased tax revenues and RT’s current-year budget deficit, necessitating the increase in fares. Both the 1.1-mile Green Line to the River District, opened in June 2012, and the 4.3-mile Blue Line to Cosumnes River College, opened in August 2015, were built using capital funding, which is money designated for infrastructure and that cannot be used for operations. Fare evasion and security concerns are being addressed with the hiring of 25 additional fare checkers and a new app to report security issues. The “two recent murders” that Powell referred to occurred two years ago. The two incidents were the first since RT’s light rail system opened in 1987 and prompted an extensive security peer review. RT will also be hiring additional “cleaners” to address the challenge of cleanliness. RT is looking to technology and creative solutions to provide convenience for customers, such as the recent implementation of a mobile fare app. Uber and Lyft are also options that complement transit and can serve as the first mile or last mile of a transit trip. Alternative transportation options can help close the gap to better serve the mobility needs of our communities. If RT is to become a transit system worthy of a world-class city, it will need the resources of a world-class city. n

DOWNTOWN n INSIDEPUBLICATIONS.COM

Steven Winlock THE LAND PARK HE LOVES

BY JESSICA LASKEY VOLUNTEER PROFILE

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Steven Winlock knows it by heart—in more ways than one. The newly elected president of Land Park Community Association has performed as a singer, dancer and actor all over the globe. “The arts have always been a part of my background,” sayss Winlock, a city arts commissionerr who has served on the boards of Music Circus, Broadway Series and Runaway Stage. “I know how important it is to support arts groups. It takes a lot to put on a show. The arts commission is here to do what we can to make sure the arts are happening in our community. We’re the support structure.” Winlock and the LPCA board do the same for the community of Land Park. The Sacramento native fondly remembers spending time picnicking in William Land Park with his family, which was then based in Rancho Cordova, and hoping that

one day he could make his home in the beautiful area. His childhood dreams came true more than 25 years ago. Now, he works to keep the community he first fell in love with

as vibrant and viable as ever. “I love being able to run around the park and visit the zoo and Fairytale Town,” Winlock says. “That’s why the work we do at the LPCA is so important. To have the community you want to live in, you have to be willing to volunteer and spend time making that happen.” Land Park Community Association will hold its annual fundraiser, A Taste of Land Park, on Sunday, May 22. For tickets and more information, go to landpark. org n

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DOWNTOWN FROM page 12 Each project requires 100 to 120 hours of time by the Eagle candidate and volunteers. The troop estimates that it has invested more than 50,000 hours in community service for Eagle projects. That doesn’t count other community service projects Troop 1 has engaged in over the years, from putting flags out on Veterans Day to visits to nursing homes at the holidays. Arguably, Troop 1 has

invested more time into community service than any other Sacramento group. “Boys Scouts have always been about community service and giving back,” says Walter Neal, Troop 1 committee chairperson. “Troop 1 Eagle projects can be found throughout the Sacramento region. They all have made Sacramento a better place. We continue to look for opportunities to help others. It

harkens back to the Boy Scouts’ original slogan: Do a good turn daily.” Ask any Scout or parent about the Troop 1 experience, and most will say the highlight was Camp Cody. Nestled in the backwoods off Highway 50 near Kirkwood, the summer camp was built and is operated by Troop 1. Camp Cody, which has three lodge buildings, a lake, meadows and mountains, is used only one week each summer. Older Scouts lead the camp in every way. It’s often said that Camp Cody is the best backwoods camp in the Sierra. This summer will mark Morrow’s 72nd straight year at Camp Cody. Many Scouts know him as the camp cook. “I’ve seen a lot of boys go through the troop and attend Camp Cody,” says Morrow. Today, Troop 1 is stronger and healthier than ever. It has about 75 Scouts, huge parent and adult leader involvement and an alumni group that represents some of Sacramento’s leading business and community leaders. In its first few years, Troop 1 consisted of members of First

United Methodist Church, where the troop met each week. Later, troop members came from around town. Today, Scouts come from Roseville, Carmichael, West Sacramento, Natomas and other parts of the region. It’s not uncommon for the children of Troop 1 alumni to join the troop. “We are very proud of our 100 years of service to our youth and the community,” says Neal. “It’s been a fun and rewarding experience for almost all who attended the weekly meetings at First Methodist Church in Midtown, spent a week at Camp Cody and learned to live by the Scout oath and law.” Troop 1 will hold its 100 Years of Troop 1 celebration starting at 6 p.m. Saturday, June 11, at The Center at Twenty-Three Hundred at 2300 Sierra Blvd. For more information, go to troop-1.com/100ofone. Scot Crocker can be reached at scot@crockercrocker.com n

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Now You See Him THE DISAPPEARING ACT OF A FAMOUS MAGICIAN

BY R.E. GRASWICH CITY BEAT

acramento does a good job honoring offspring who leave town and conquer the peaks of fame and fortune in arts, letters and law. Names like Joan Didion, Herb Caen, Anthony Kennedy, Wayne Thiebaud and Russ Solomon are proudly anchored to Sacramento. Even Tom Hanks, whose time here was hardly longer than a movie trailer, is claimed with native pride. But in one notable case, Sacramento has blown it. One of history’s greatest magicians, a master artist whose skill and legacy conjure high praise from pros like Penn Jillette, Ricky Jay and Lance Burton, has been forgotten in the city he called home. His name was Channing Pollock. He spent almost 14 years in Sacramento—essential years, between the ages of 10 and 23, when he discovered his talent and set out on magic’s path. When he died of cancer 10 years ago in Las Vegas at age 79, the magic world wept. Genii magazine, the industry bible, published a special edition. Newspapers in London

DOWNTOWN MAY n 16

and New York mourned Pollock with obituaries. In Sacramento, his death was ignored. No obit in The Sacramento Bee. No public nts. acknowledgments. At Grand Illusions magic and costume shop in Carmichael, owner Steve Johnson describes an iconic figure when asked about Pollock. “An elegant, sophisticated practitioner whose skills have never ” been exceeded,” Johnson says. “He was a truee master, and rd that’s not a word n. I use very often. Cards, doves, g, coins, conjuring, you name it. ock Channing Pollock ate was the ultimate professional magician.” k Told Pollock grew up in nd Sacramento and m graduated from gh McClatchy High School, the modern magician goes silent.

“I didn’t realize that,” Johnson says. He’s not alone. Pollock graduated from McClatchy in 1944. Gangly and shy,

he worked in the school cafeteria. Today, it’s easy to imagine Channing

walking to class through Land Park from his parents’ home at 2031 15th St. He knew the neighbo neighborhood. From un 1944, the 1936 until Pollock family—his father, Robert, a clerk She Oil, mom for Shell Marjor and older Marjorie half-br half-brother Bob— bounc from Curtis bounced Park to Midtown. f The family lived 27 4th Ave., at 2730 2424 1st Ave. and 2500 W St. Pollock was accustomed to mov moving, a practice that would suit his vag vagabond craft. T McClatchy The Nu Nugget yearbook fro 1944 from sh shows Pollock’s gr graduation po portrait on page 34 between 34, C Claire Pickrel and M Milton Pond. The f future magician’s p pose is enigmatic a he gazes into as the camera. It’s a look he would trademark for performances in movies and TV and appearances Preside Eisenhower for President and Queen Elizabeth. At Grace Kelly’s wedding to Prince Rainier, Pollock provided the magic.

Tempting Treats for Mom! Big temptations, small bites. 1200 K St. #9 | 638.8949 | aboutabitebakery.com Pollock was renowned for never smiling or speaking until his act ended. His show focused on doves and card manipulations. His specialty was close-up work. He beckoned a bevy of doves to fly from silk handkerchiefs. His long, slender fingers made cards fan and disappear. He didn’t mind being photographed. A 1963 French film, “Judex,” stars Pollock as an avenging detective who torments haughty criminals. The movie contains extended close-ups of the

dove routine. A YouTube video from Paris in 1959 reveals his card manipulations in slow motion. Pollock performed in formal attire—black cutaway jacket and tie—and bewitched audiences with his remarkable good looks. The Paris video identifies him as “the handsomest man in Europe—and elsewhere.” The handsome face wasn’t ignored at McClatchy. The 1944 Nugget features a prominent photo of Pollock and Naomi Phelps dancing in

Steve Johnson, owner of Grand Illusions, the largest magic store West of the Mississippi

Unique Bite Sized Desserts & Gifts Memorial Auditorium at their senior ball. The caption says, “It’s a lovely way to spend an evening.”

Told Pollock grew up in Sacramento and graduated from McClatchy High School, the modern magician goes silent. After high school, Pollock spent two years in the Navy. In 1948, he and Phelps married and moved into her family’s home at 3421 East Curtis Park Drive. Channing worked at Leeds Shoes. He attended Sacramento City College. He wanted to be a forest ranger. A visit to the State Fair on Stockton Boulevard changed everything. Captivated by a hustler’s magic cards, Pollock bought a deck for $3. Two years later, with a baby in diapers, the couple moved to Whipple Street in Hollywood. Pollock enrolled at Chavez College of Magic. From a State Fair card trick, the magician found his magic. Pollock became an international sensation, but he was no slave to show business. In 1970, at the height of his fame, he retired to 1 Reef Point Road in Moss Beach. He was 43. Sacramento forgot Channing Pollock. But Pollock didn’t forget Sacramento.

Bios list Sacramento as his birthplace. He claimed he was born here. But the claim was an illusion. Pollock’s birth certificate shows he was born in Cement, a Solano County village outside Fairfield. Cement was a company town. It closed and vanished when Pollock was a baby, like a dove fluttering from a handkerchief. R.E. Graswich can be reached at reg@graswich.com n

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Taste of Greatness LAND PARK COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION’S ANNUAL FUNDRAISING EVENT SET FOR MAY 22

BY JESSICA LASKEY

LIFE IN THE CITY

pring has sprung, which means one tasty thing for Land Park residents: It’s time for the Land Park Community Association’s annual neighborhood extravaganza, A Taste of Land Park, this year taking over 12th Avenue from 4 to 7 p.m. on Sunday, May 22. Chow down on scrumptious offerings from the area’s best eateries, wineries and breweries, groove to live music, covet the Wall of Wine, shop local art in the Artist’s Corner, and hobnob with your neighbors under the beautiful canopy of trees along 12th Avenue. The entrance to the festivities will be on 17th Street. For more information about the LPCA’s biggest, and only, fundraiser of the year to support its programs, grants and advocacy in Land Park, go to landpark.org.

DO YOU HEAR THE PEOPLE SING? You will when you lend your ears to the Young Actors Stage production of “Les Miserables,” one of the most popular musicals of all time based on the Victor Hugo novel of the same name. Check out dozens of

DOWNTOWN MAY n 16

California Middle School got a new soccer field

talented local youngsters tackling this theatrical classic at the 24th Street Theater on May 20, 21, 22, 27, 28 and 29. Directed by troupe founder Liorah Singerman, the production features well-known songs such as “I Dreamed a Dream,” “Master of the House” and “Do You Hear the People Sing,” rousing numbers by composers Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg that are sure to get stuck in your head. Up-and-coming youth actors in the cast include Alex Greenlee as Jean Valjean, as well as Ana-Riley Portal, Kate Brugger, Emma May Gordon, Clara McNatt, Alexi Ishida, Tylar

Traum, Asa Williams, Milan Williams, Julia Avila, Wyatt Varley and more. Tickets are $15. Performances will be at 7 p.m. on Friday, May 20 and 27; at 2 and 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 21 and 28; and at at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Sunday, May 22 and 29. For tickets and more information, go to youngactorsstage.com. The 24th Street Theater is at 2791 24th St.

FIELD OF DREAMS You may have noticed that the California Middle School soccer players have an extra spring in their step these days. That’s probably due to the new and improved soccer field

that was just completed on campus thanks to the efforts of Teichert Inc., the Land Park Schools Foundation and the Land Park Soccer Club. According to an article by student reporter Colby Tell in the school’s paper, “The Californian,” the project included taking down both of the old backstops on the front soccer field, installing portable goals (which means the team can rotate their location, eliminating the muddy pit that often forms in front of permanent goal posts) and widening the playing field by eight yards. Because Teichert was already involved in the installation of new water pipes and mains in the area, the 128-year-old local construction company generously donated time and labor to the project. “We are honored to be working in the Land Park area and felt this would be a way to show our appreciation for the support the community has given us and our crews,” says Mary Rotelli, Teichert’s chief operating officer. “We appreciate the kind words and patient reactions that the students, teachers, families and neighbors of Cal Middle School have had to us making these improvements in your neighborhood.” For more information, go to calmiddle.org. California Middle School is at 1600 Vallejo Way.

CONTEST FOR BEST DROUGHT-TOLERANT LANDSCAPE Kit Carson International Baccalaureate Candidate School’s Design and Technology Class is holding its second annual design

Another reason to update your living trust: A lot has changed since you signed your old trust… • You’d rather eat dirt than wear some of the things worn back then. • You don’t use floppy discs, cassette tapes or dot matrix printers anymore. • Your mobile phone is thousands of times smarter than your old home computer. • Your family has grown up. Your “kids” may have even had kids. • The laws affecting your trust have also changed. So have estate planning strategies. • Your old trust may no longer protect you from unnecessary taxes or trips to probate court.

Shouldn’t your trust work the way you want? Call me or visit www.wyattlegal.com. I’ll review your old plan without charge. Save yourself or your spouse from a huge hassle if something happens.

law office of brian d.wyatt ,PC contest to find the best droughttolerant front yards in Sacramento. “Last year’s winners pioneered innovative landscaping designs that represent a rising tide of drought-tolerant beauty throughout Sacramento,” said Jed Larsen, who teaches the class. The contest, called Beauty Without Water, honors pioneering Sacramento residents who have responded to the drought with landscaping creativity and ingenuity. “By replacing grass yards with landscapes that showcase drought-resistant plants, scenic bark/ rocks, and other inspired features, these residents have found a way to beat the drought without sacrificing beauty,” Larsen added. To enter the competition, send up to four photos of your front yard, plus a short written description, to JedLarsen@scusd.edu. The deadline for submission is Sept. 1. The winners will be featured in an upcoming issue of Inside Publications. The contest is open to Sacramento residents in Inside Publication’s readership areas, which include East Sacramento, Land Park, Curtis Park,

Midtown, the Pocket, Greenhaven, Arden and Carmichael. Kit Carson is in East Sacramento. For more information, go to kitcarson. scusd.edu.

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKING Hearty congratulations are in order for six stellar students in the Sacramento area who work as junior volunteers for the Mercy General Hospital Guild and received scholarships last month for their commitment to the medical field. Scholarship recipients were Audrey Denny of Rio Americano High School; Nicholas Liberty of Jesuit High School; Isabella Sullivan-Powers of Rio Americano High School; Karla Davila Hernandez of Cristo Rey High School; Esi Adadzewah of John F. Kennedy High School; and Shradha Singh of C. K. McClatchy High School. According to Olivia Lage, scholarship coordinator for the Mercy Guild, the recipients all plan

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careers in the medical field and are being rewarded for their significant contribution to the community as junior volunteers, which included 1,371 hours of volunteering at Mercy General Hospital. Congratulations to all and good luck in your future careers! Are you interested in helping the next generation of medical professionals achieve their education and career goals? The Mercy Guild’s major annual fundraiser, the Opportunity Drawing, will take place at 11 a.m. on Thursday, May 26, at Casa Garden Restaurant. Enter to win prizes like a trip to the Sonoma wine country, a one-night stay at the prestigious Donatello in San Francisco, River Cats tickets and many more valuable prizes. Proceeds from the event not only go to support scholarships for young hospital volunteers such as those listed above, but also to procure specialized equipment to be used to enhance patient care. For tickets and more information, call the Mercy Guild Office at 7317189 or email event chairperson

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Karen Suhr at karen.sylvia.suhr@ gmail.com. The Luncheon Social Hour will start at 11 a.m. and lunch, which includes a three-cheese garden lasagna, salad Niçoise and pineapple upside down cake, will be served at noon. Casa Garden Restaurant is at 2760 Sutterville Road. For more information, visit dignityhealth.org.

JOIN THE CASA CREW Have you ever enjoyed a delicious meal at Casa Garden Restaurant and wondered where they find such nice wait staff? The answer is simple: volunteers! The restaurant that has raised funds since 1974 for the Sacramento Children’s Home with its gourmet luncheon fundraisers is fully staffed by the Los Niños Service League, and they need more community-minded locals to join their ranks to work in the dining room, kitchen or garden. For more information on becoming LIFE IN THE CITY page 20

DOWNTOWN n INSIDEPUBLICATIONS.COM

LIFE IN THE CITY FROM page 19 a volunteer, stop by the recruitment coffee at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, May 17 (and be sure to RSVP at 452-2809). Who knew doing good could be so fun? The foodie festivities continue this month with the restaurant’s Second Annual Mother’s Day Brunch from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday, May 8 (last seating at 1 p.m.). Enjoy bottomless mimosas, a traditional buffet and a carving station and know that you’re helping a great cause while making Mom feel special. Interested in buying handmade items while also enjoying a delectable lunch? Check out Crafters Corner from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on May 5 and 6. Enjoy free entry to shop for unique craft items made by Casa volunteers and tuck into a luncheon of turkey enchiladas with chef’s choice salad or grilled romaine salad with shrimp and a strawberry margarita torte for dessert. To make a reservation, call 452-2809. For more information, go to casagardenrestaurant.org. Casa Garden Restaurant is at 2760 Sutterville Road.

TEA, TOURS AND TIGERS, OH MY! Did you know that your AARP card can get you a backstage pass to the wild and wondrous life at the Sacramento Zoo? Senior Tea and Tours continue this month from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Mondays, May 2, 9 and 16. If you’re age 55 and over, enjoy a

Stick around that same day for Nature Explorers from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and investigate the wilderness in your own backyard. Join the zoo and the Sacramento Library to read stories, play and explore the wonders of the natural world with a new topic each month. (This month’s topic is soil and compost.) Activities are free with paid admission to the zoo. For more information, call 808-5888 or go to saczoo.org. The Sacramento Zoo is at 3930 W. Land Park Drive.

THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND

Senior Tea and Tours continue this month at Sacramento Zoo

docent-led tour of the zoo designed just for you and then settle in for a tea break featuring lemonade, tea, coffee, finger sandwiches, breads and cookies. But don’t get caught sleeping: This event is immensely popular and requires registration two weeks in advance. Eager to get in on the tea and tour action? Call 808-5888 to sign up. Navigate the jungle of estate planning with the free seminar presented by Mark S. Drobny, a California State Bar certified legal specialist in estate planning, trust and probate law, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on

Wednesday, May 4. This informative seminar will cover a variety of topics in an entertaining manner and help you design a plan that fits your needs. For more information or to RSVP, call 808-8815. New event alert! Grab your friends, bring your thirst and an empty stomach to the new Wine and Brew at the Zoo event from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 14. Enjoy samples of local wine and beer from some of your favorite wineries and breweries and conquer your appetite with grub from local food trucks while taking in the luscious landscape of the zoo during this exclusive after-hours event. Do you have a teddy bear in need of some TLC? Bring it to the Stuffed Animal Veterinary Clinic on Saturday, May 28, and a Stuffed Animal Veterinarian will assess the overall health of your fluffy friend and make a diagnosis based on the symptoms. Exams are just $3 per stuffed animal. Repairs with exam are $5, and stuffed animal adoptions with exam are $4. Proceeds benefit the Greater Sacramento chapter of the American Association of Zoo Keepers.

This gorgeous spring weather is the perfect time to dig out your garden gloves and lend a helping hand to the Land Park Volunteer Corps, now in its seventh season of maintaining and beautifying William Land Park for neighbors to enjoy. Starting at 9 a.m. on the first Saturday of each month (May 7 this month), meet at Base Camp behind Fairytale Town and join your fellow neighbors to help trim, clean, weed, mulch and otherwise spiff up Land Park as the spring growing season continues. Enjoy coffee courtesy of Espresso Metro, tasty pastries from Freeport Bakery and delicious donuts from Marie’s Donuts to get your energy going to tackle the record dozen team projects for this year, all under the supervision of experienced Corps captains. For more information, contact lead coordinator Craig Powell at 718-3030 or via email at ckpinsacto@aol.com. Donations are always welcome and can be sent to: Land Park Volunteer Corps, 3053 Freeport Boulevard #231, Sacramento, CA 95818. Base Camp is behind Fairytale Town at 3901 Land Park Drive.

FUN AT FAIRYTALE TOWN Introduce your little one to the magic of puppet shows with Fairytale Town’s Puppet Art Theater Company production of “Hansel and Gretel,” performing at 12:30, 1:30 and 2:30

LIFE IN THE CITY page 23

DOWNTOWN MAY n 16

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SOUTH LAND PARK TERRACE Conveniently located on a corner lot in a wonderful South Land Park neighborhood. 3 bedrooms 2 baths, 1453 square feet with open Àoor plan, living room ¿replace and dual pane windows. 2-car garage, bonus room and RV access. $398,000 CHRIS BRIGGS 834-6483

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LIFE IN THE CITY FROM page 20 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, May 7 and 8. You know the story well enough (after being left in the forest to fend for themselves, Hansel and Gretel discover a house made of gingerbread that belongs to a wicked old witch), but seeing it performed with puppets adds an extra entertaining dimension. Tickets are $2 for non-members in addition to park admission and $1 for members. Tickets can be purchased at the Fairytale Town main gate or at the entrance to the Children’s Theater 15 minutes prior to show time. Already stressing about what to do with the tykes come summer? Check out Fairytale Town’s Summer FunCamps, 16 exciting and educational themed camps that are sure to keep your kids entertained for hours. Each weeklong camp is designed for a specific age group and features a unique topic, including visual and theater arts, literature, puppetry, animals, gardening and more. Morning sessions are held from 9 a.m. to noon and are offered for children ages 4-6 and 7-9. Afternoon adventures occur from noon to 4 p.m. and include a supervised lunch and recess time followed by curriculumbased, open-ended activities, dramatic play, story time and more for ages 4-9. To sign up or for more information, call 808-7462 or go to fairytaletown. org. Fairytale Town is at 3901 Land Park Drive.

INSIDE PUBLICATIONS ATTENTION ALUMNAE Calling all St. Francis Catholic High School graduates! The St. Francis High School All-Alumnae Reunion Weekend will be June 24-26 at St. Francis High School, starting with an All-Alumnae reception on Friday, June 24. On Saturday, June 25, classes will meet off campus on their own and Sunday, June 26, will feature a Mass and Family Pancake Breakfast. Connect with former classmates and rekindle old friendships at an event that’s sure to bring back memories. Is this the first you’re hearing of the reunion? The school might not have your most recent contact information; visit stfrancishs. org/alumnae to reconnect. For more information, contact Dawn Winston Cullo (class of 1991) at 737-5020 or dcullo@stfrancishs.org.

BOOK BUDDIES Looking for a place to spend a few hours doing something fun and informative indoors? Look no further than your local public library branch, including Belle Cooledge Library (5600 S. Land Park Drive), Robbie Waters Pocket-Greenhaven Library (7335 Gloria Drive), Martin Luther King, Jr. Library (7340 24th Street Bypass) and Ella K. McClatchy Library (2112 22nd St.), to name a few. Some event highlights this month include Free Comic Book Day at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 7, at Robbie Waters, which will feature an afternoon full of activities, free comic

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A wise man once said, “The Luck Store is at the corner of Hard Work and Opportunity streets.” For over 35 years, SVS has relied on more than luck to successfully serve you. Our goal has been to harness the skill and dedication of our team to keep your investment going, long past the warranty. SVS: We’re in it for the life of your ride. “I have taken various Volvos to SVS for over 30 years and have always been beyond pleased. - Sherry G, Sacramento “Sacramento’s Volvo Service” 2009 Fulton Ave. Sacramento (916) 971-1382 svsauto.com books, a prize raffle and costume contest. Interested in expanding your book collection? Don’t miss the Friends of the Library Book Sale running May 28 through June 4 at Robbie Waters. Find great deals on a variety of gently used books for all ages, DVDs, audiobooks and much more. All proceeds benefit the Friends of the Pocket-Greenhaven Library. If Ella K. McClatchy is closer to home, now’s your chance to make Mom an extra-special present at 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 7. Get ready for Mother’s Day by making your mother a hand-crafted jewelry box out of cardboard boxes and egg cartons and decorating them with markers, sequins, jewels and other decorative materials. She’ll love it! If you want to take a gander at some beautiful professional artwork, take a peek at “Out of the Box,” a show of new collages and assemblages by local artist Lisa Culjis, starting with a special reception at 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 21, at the exhibition space at

Ella K. McClatchy. Culjis creates unique collages and assemblages using old photographs, ephemera, discarded books and miscellaneous small treasures collected from estate sales, antique stores and items that friends pass along. Culjis will return on June 4 to offer a free workshop on the fundamentals of collage creation. Watch this space! Do you have an aspiring wizard in your family? Don’t miss the Harry Potter Party for school-age children at Ella K. McClatchy at 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 28. Put on your wizard robes and get sorted into houses, make your own wands and test your Harry Potter knowledge, then stay to enjoy Harry Potter themed snacks. Accio fun! For more information on all Sacramento Public Library events, go to saclibrary.org. Jessica Laskey can be reached at jessrlaskey@gmail.com n

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Measure Y: Vote Yes TAX ON POT IS A SMART INVESTMENT IN OUR KIDS AND THEIR FUTURE

BY JAY SCHENIRER

ur city’s kids need our help. Lack of access to quality programs and supports has put our young people and our city at a disadvantage. If we want our young people to be successful and if we want to train the next generation of our workforce and build a healthy future, we must ensure that our youth have the resources they need to be successful in education, career and life. Measure Y can do that. The good news is that we know what works. Decades of research have shown that when young people have stable adult mentors, truancy rates go down and that after-school programs keep kids off the streets and out of trouble. The bad news is that services for kids are always the last to be funded and the first to be cut. This is underscored by the fact that the city currently spends less than 1 percent of its discretionary general funds on services for kids. In order to provide the ongoing and dedicated funding our children need and deserve, I have authored Measure Y, which will be on the June ballot. Measure Y will establish the Sacramento Children’s Fund and help thousands of children across the city, including those most in need: our city’s homeless youth. Measure Y is a smart way to invest in our children. It limits administrative costs to 10 percent, requires that every funded program be evaluated for effectiveness and funds only high-quality programs. A citizens’ oversight committee will ensure transparency. Most importantly, funds can be spent only on direct services for kids,

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primarily through community-based organizations that compete through a competitive bid process.

Creating the Sacramento Children’s Fund will have a meaningful and positive impact on the lives of thousands of children in our city. Let’s not just tug on heart strings. There are clear examples when Sacramento’s kids have been shortchanged in the traditional budget process. During the recession, the general fund was profoundly impacted. In the fiscal year 2011-2012 city budget, the

parks and recreation department, our major provider of services to youth, was decimated. Some examples: Three city pools were closed, 11 community centers and clubhouses were severely cut, and teen programs served 300 fewer youth. Department staff was reduced by 40 percent. In comparison to the other 11 city departments, only one other (community development) had a higher percentage of staff eliminated. Clearly, our kids do not fare well in difficult economic times. Look at Measure U, which increased the sales tax to restore “essential public safety services … and other essential services including park maintenance, youth/senior services, and libraries.” In February, the city finance director’s report on Measure U expenditures in the last fiscal year showed that, of the $25.44 million spent, 75.2 percent supported the police and fire departments. Kids programs provided by parks and recreation got 17.1 percent. Does this reflect the will of the voters? Who was last in line? And lest we forget, after-

school youth programs focused on prevention can promote public safety and reduce crime. Finally, after my staff’s extensive analysis of the city’s expenditures on children and youth in fiscal year 2014-2015, we learned that less than 1 percent of the general fund is spent on kids services. Not only do the examples above reflect how poorly our kids fare in the traditional budgeting process, but they also illustrate the tacit understanding that Sacramento kids do not have paid lobbyists who can fight for their justified portion of the general fund. For these reasons, youth programs need a dedicated funding source that is protected from politicians. In 2015, the state of California legalized the marijuana industry. Those business activities will be taxed. The question is where tax revenues should go. We could simply allow those revenues to go into the general fund, where all city services will compete for them. Alternatively, we can take this opportunity to invest in our young people and in our own future by focusing this modest amount of revenue on a single, vitally important cause: our children. We need after-school programs for our kids, art and music in schools and job-training programs for our young people. Creating the Sacramento Children’s Fund will have a meaningful and positive impact on the lives of thousands of children in our city. I hope you will join me in supporting our youth by voting yes on Measure Y. Jay Schenirer represents District 5 on the city council. n

Measure Y: Vote No MARIJUANA TAX NOT THE RIGHT WAY TO SUPPORT SACRAMENTO’S YOUTH

BY JEFF HARRIS AND ANGELIQUE ASHBY

easure Y proposes to take tax funds generated by marijuana cultivation and manufacturing, currently allocated to the general fund, and dedicates that money, in perpetuity, to programs for children and youth. At issue here is how do we support our youth while promoting sound fiscal policy decision making? The Great Recession necessitated many tough decisions to keep our city solvent. We had to make drastic cuts in all areas, and the parks and recreation department was hit especially hard. Many of our youth programs were cut. Now is the time to rebuild those programs through direction of city council using general fund dollars. Measure Y would not fund this process. It would dedicate 70 percent of the revenue to private nonprofits for new programs; it could not be used to rebuild the youth services division of our parks department. Although Measure Y proponents say that only 1 percent of our general fund is spent on youth, the truth is that we spend far more than that. We currently fund many youth initiatives through parks, pools, libraries and community centers. The council recently approved $620,000 for youth programs (from the general fund) through the gang prevention and intervention task force. We also allocated $3 million to B Street Theatre and $600,000 to St. John’s Program for Real Change. When we built a new crosswalk at Theodore Judah School or resurface

the McKinley pool, all of these expenditures directly benefit children and youth but would not qualify for Measure Y funding. When viewed in this light, we spend more than 6 percent of our general fund on kids. Can we do more? Yes we can, and the fiscally sound way to do it is by depositing all new tax revenue to the general fund and using that resource to balance all of the many diverse needs of the city like public safety, parks, youth services, infrastructure, economic development, affordable housing and addressing homelessness, to name a few. All of these things in aggregate create a more functional city that benefits our youth and all of our citizens. This measure would lock millions of dollars of new revenue away for a sole purpose: to pay for youth programs principally through private nonprofit organizations. It also allocates up to 15 percent of that revenue for a new and unnecessary bureaucracy. This is “ballot-box budgeting,” plain and simple. It would limit the ability of this council (and all future councils) to make balanced decisions in rebuilding our city departments and in allocating money where it is most needed. Considering that the council has already demonstrated a will to fund new youth programs, and that almost everything we approve benefits kids in some way, there is no compelling reason to circumvent our working system and sequester money for the special passion of one councilmember while decimating broader community needs. Adopting Measure Y would set a precedent whereby any councilmember could try to “lock up”

new revenue streams, leading to a very dysfunctional city process. As we enter the next five years of projected budget deficits, approving Measure Y means making drastic cuts in areas other than youth programs. It violates our adopted budget principles, which state that we “maintain a fiscally balanced, sustainable budget and look for ways to proactively grow revenues” and “do not make spending decisions in isolation.” We need to exercise fiscal responsibility and sound policy to

achieve our goals. Promoting the health, safety and sound development of our children is prominent amongst them. Let’s support youth the right way. Vote NO on Measure Y! (Editor’s note: On April 3, The Sacramento Bee’s editorial board urged voters to reject Measure Y.) Jeff Harris represents District 3 on the city council. Angelique Ashby represents District 1. n

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Saving Lives AN INNOVATIVE IDEA FROM A PEDIATRIC CARDIOLOGIST

BY TERRY KAUFMAN LOCAL HEROES

n 1999, pediatric cardiologist Dr. Stuart Berger was working at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin when a surge of sudden cardiac death episodes occurred among young athletes in Milwaukee. “Three died; two were resuscitated,” recalls Berger. “We just scratched our heads and asked why, all of a sudden, was this happening?” The majority of cases were due to underlying heart problems that had been undiagnosed. “Five in 11 months in Milwaukee,” says Berger, now the chief of pediatric cardiology at UC Davis Children’s Hospital. “But this was going on all over the United States.” The deaths, though not common, were horrible. “These were athletes in their prime,” he says. “We realized that we needed to be sure that parents and athletic directors were made aware of the things that could indicate cardiac problems.” Berger and his colleagues knew that the best likelihood of survival was linked to immediate CPR and the availability of automated external defibrillators (AEDs). “We pushed to get defibrillators into every school

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Dr. Stuart Berger is a pediatric cardiologist at UC Davis Medical Center

in Wisconsin,” Berger says. The campaign, named Project ADAM in memory of Milwaukee student

athlete Adam Lemel, was launched in November 1999. It had an immediate impact, says Berger: “It saved lives.”

That success inspired Berger to reach out to his cardiology colleagues in other states, starting with Georgia and Pennsylvania. Project ADAM has been adopted in 11 states; Berger’s goal is to implement it in every state in the country. When he was recruited by UC Davis, he saw it as the perfect opportunity to bring Project ADAM to California, starting with Project ADAM Sacramento, the first California affiliate of Project ADAM. The mission of Project ADAM is to mandate an AED in every school and to require that every student is trained and certified to administer CPR before graduating from high school. “Every person in the country ought to be able to perform CPR,” says Berger. “And every school should have at least two people trained to use an AED.” He points out that AEDs can do no harm and that those who step in to render aid are protected by Good Samaritan laws. The cost of installing an AED and conducting training can run about $1,500. Every school that has chosen to make the investment has managed to raise the funds. “There’s always a way to do it, through fundraising, philanthropy, car washes, whatever,” says Berger. “They’ve always come up with the money.” The payoff cannot be quantified. “Over the past seven years, hundreds of lives have been saved directly as a result of CPR and AEDs in the schools,” Berger notes. Antelope resident Angela Vacta can attest to the importance of CPR and AEDs. On May 7, 2015, she received HEROES page 27

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McGeorge.edu/MSL HEROES FROM page 24 the worst call of her life about her 7-year-old daughter, Karla. “The main office at school called and said that Karla fell,” Vacta recalls. “They called back and asked how fast I could get there. They called again, but the woman handed the phone to the principal, who was crying.” An ambulance was taking Karla to the hospital; her heart would not start after teachers spent 25 minutes doing CPR. She remained in a coma for four days but miraculously recovered. A

previous student at her school had not been so lucky. “Every school ought to have an emergency action plan,” Berger says. “It should include what to do, who’s been trained, where’s the AED.” For more information about Project ADAM, go to children.ucdavis.edu/ projectadam. Terry Kaufman can be reached at terry@1greatstory.com n

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Who Decides? BILLION-DOLLAR DECISIONS BY THE SEAT OF THE PANTS

BY WALT SEIFERT GETTING THERE

he Sacramento Transportation Authority, whose board consists of elected officials from Sacramento County and the cities within the county, is considering a transportation half-cent sales tax measure that would raise $3.6 billion over 30 years. A draft measure divvies up the tax revenue between roads (75 percent) and transit projects (25 percent) and calls out the construction of specific transportation projects. If placed on the November ballot, two-thirds of county voters would have to vote yes for the measure to take effect. How did the funding allocation in the measure get determined? Who picked the transportation projects included? Who decides which projects are viable and should be funded? You might imagine that hordes of faceless technocrats analyze reams and streams of computerized data, weigh transportation options at national, state and local levels and plot their effects on vital issues such as safety, the environment and public health. These technical experts would also examine cost effectiveness, travel times, economic impacts, sustainability and quality-of-life

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issues to maximize the return on tax dollars. If you are of a cynical bent, you might believe that vested business interests, including the housing, road construction, automotive and oil industries, exert profound and disproportionate influence on transportation decisions. Their lobbyists would be promoting projects that benefit them financially. More idealistically, you may suppose transportation consumers weigh in through contacts with their elected representatives, surveys and focus groups. Or that altruistic and well-informed bicycle, pedestrian and public transit advocates, with no

profit motive, have sway in what gets planned and built. At the local level, a little bit of “all of the above” is true, though there is far less of the analytic approach than is possible or prudent. Ultimately, it falls to elected officials to sort everything out. They make the final decisions. They should ask for information, hear from stakeholders, consider staff advice and evaluate all factors. That’s the way our democracy works, but the system certainly has flaws. It’s probably most flawed at the national level, where big-business interests have often dominated the discourse on transportation. The most notable example is the interstate

highway system, which fundamentally changed how America traveled. Automakers pushed the interstate system and forced its massive concrete conduits deep into cities. Justified in part by the idea that they could help city residents flee a nuclear attack, the interstates made long-distance travel by cars between cities far more practical and common. What interstates did inside cities has been disastrous. They divided and decimated neighborhoods and abetted sprawl. They encouraged commutes by auto instead of transit. They made walking and biking more difficult by building hard-to-cross barriers. Local decision making has its own flaws. At a March workshop on the potential transportation sales tax, no STA board or staff member mentioned global warming, the pre-eminent environmental threat of our time. Forty percent of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming come from transportation. No one mentioned safety, though Sacramento fares poorly in trafficrelated fatalities, injuries and property damage. No one mentioned public health, though traffic crashes kill people outright. Further, our auto-centric system results in a lack of physical activity through walking and bicycling for short trips, which contributes to the epidemic of diabetes. Instead, board members chiefly seemed to be concerned about ensuring their jurisdictions got a slice of the funding pie and in defending the arbitrary 25 percent allocation of funds to transit. To its credit, the draft plan does have a “fix it first” maintenance orientation and has some bike projects. Yet it also includes

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Automakers pushed the interstate system and forced its massive concrete conduits deep into cities. Transit is important, but should transportation be viewed as a roads/transit dichotomy? That’s an unfortunate and totally inaccurate simplification of how people get around—especially since people often walk or bike to get to transit. Seven of the STA board members are also on the Regional Transit board. That can be seen either as a useful leveraging of knowledge or

a conflict of interest. There is no “Regional Pedestrian and Bicycle Board,” even though far more people walk and bike than use transit. Walking and biking are the healthiest and most cost-effective forms of transportation, but no one on the STA board represents those modes in an official capacity. Emil Frankel, former assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of Transportation, wrote about making transportation choices: “… decisions are usually made based on immediate needs and political considerations, and decision makers are typically not informed about which projects could provide the greatest returns on investment.” Frankel was writing primarily about economic impacts, but there’s little question that transportation decisions could and should be much better informed. A comprehensive, and far more visionary, approach that considers all important ramifications is sorely needed. Walt Seifert is a bicyclist, driver and transportation writer. He can be reached at bikeguy@surewest.net n

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Urban Delight PALO ALTO TRANSPLANTS TAKE ROOT IN SOUTHSIDE PARK

BY JULIE FOSTER HOME INSIGHT

ollowing their move to Sacramento from Palo Alto in 2010, Anthony Montanino and Catherine O’Brien began searching for a home in East Sacramento. “We looked at a few homes, but everything we made offers on needed so much work,” says Montanino. “Rooms would have to have been knocked down.” When their real estate agent suggested they look at a new house in the Southside Park neighborhood, they were skeptical. They’d

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“We love the location, right in the heart of the art scene.”

both lived in Sacramento before, and Southside Park wasn’t their first choice for a neighborhood. But once they saw the 1,100-squarefoot, twobedroom Mediterraneanstyle house, they changed their minds. It wasn’t just the home’s two balconies, front courtyard and backyard that swayed them. The house, tucked into Uptown Alley, is just steps from Southside Park’s swimming

pool and children’s play area—perfect for their visiting grandchildren. O’Brien enthusiastically lists her neighborhood’s perks: “Southside Park has a great neighborhood association,” she says. “We can walk to the farmers market and the Crocker and Old Town. And Anthony can walk to his studio above the Fox & Goose.” Montanino is an award-winning artist who studied under Gregory Kondos, Jack Ogden, Larry Weldon and Oliver Jackson. The couple’s house is like his paintings: filled with bright color. Because the house had been built just before they moved in, they needed to make only a few changes. “The first thing we tried to do was get some light in here,” says O’Brien. In the kitchen, they added glass inserts to two cabinet doors and removed the doors on another cabinet altogether. They replaced the drab brown granite countertops with sleek white Corian. Knocking out a wall between the kitchen and the staircase opened up the space. New mercury glass

light fixtures created a brighter spot for casual meals. They swapped out the heavy wood front door for one with a large glass panel, bringing in more natural light. In the living room, they installed a large skylight and a gas fireplace. “I hated the idea of a house without a hearth,” says O’Brien. O’Brien, who helps people declutter their homes, says the couple strives for a zerowaste home in all they do. “To that end, we sold everything we replaced or gave it to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore,” she says. In Palo Alto, their refrigerator had been painted with a portrait of Mexican painter Frida Kahlo. The couple called it their “Frida fridge.” Leaving that appliance behind, O’Brien received a consolation prize: Montanino painted a replacement Frida on a wall near the staircase. Two balconies provide treehouse views of the neighborhood, and the front courtyard gives them a spot for relaxed Sunday-morning people HOME page 32

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HOME FROM page 31 watching as folks head to the farmers market under the freeway. “We had a patio in Palo Alto and could hardly ever use it except for a couple times a year,” Montanino says. “It was just too cold.” Their Sacramento backyard needed a bit of work. “It was just a patch of green grass with some DG (decomposed granite) around the edges,” says O’Brien. They initially installed pavers and planted baby’s tears between the cracks. After the drought killed the plantings, they opted for a concrete patio. To transform the barren space into a cozy spot with abundant greenery, O’Brien transplanted house plants along the fence, and friends stopped

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by with more plants. They planted a fastgrowing morning glory above the fence and let it drape along a wire, creating a flower-laden privacy wall. “We are so happy with what is happening in Sacramento,” says O’Brien, who now writes a blog about life in Southside Park. “And we love the location, right in the heart of the art scene, which is perfect for Anthony.” To read Catherine O’Brien’s blog, Southside Park: Forty-Six City Blocks of Surprise, go to southsidepark.blogspot.com. To view Anthony Montanino’s art, go to anthonymontanino.com. If you know if a home you think should be featured in Inside Publications, contact Julie Foster at foster.julie91@yahoo.com n

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Body Art GALLERY SPOTLIGHTS INTERNATIONALLY ACCLAIMED PERFORMANCE/SCULPTURAL ARTIST

Adding to the Latin lasciviousness will be a glimpse into the Cuban heritage of Septime Webre, the artistic director of the Washington Ballet, in his captivating piece of prerevolution Cuba, “Juanita y Alicia.” Craving still more spice? Local artists will take part in select performances to add extra zest to a program that is sure to set you aflame. For tickets and more information, call the ballet box office at 552-5800 or go to sacballet.org. The E. Claire Raley Studios for the Performing Arts is at 2420 N St.

BY JESSICA LASKEY RIVER CITY PREVIEWS

xplore the world between light and dark, life and death in the fascinating exhibition of “Mysterious Theater Forms: The Work of Sha Sha Higby” on display at ARTHOUSE on R from May 14 through June 3. International performance/ sculptural artist Sha Sha Higby is known for her evocative and haunting performances using the exquisite and ephemeral body sculpture she meticulously creates and moves within. Elaborate sculptural costume, dance and puppetry explore magic and emotion, creating an atmospheric world within the borders between death and life. Higby started making dolls and pursued the art of puppetry and sculpture in her early years, which evolved into the “moving sculpture” medium she now performs throughout the United States and in Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Singapore, Australia, Switzerland, England, Belgium, Germany and Holland. She’s also the recipient of numerous grants and awards, including the National Endowment for the Arts Solo Theater Artist

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SING FOR SPRING

International performance/sculptural artist Sha Sha Higby is on display at the ARTHOUSE

Fellowship and the California Arts Council New Genre Individual Artist Fellowship. A selection of Higby’s costumes, sculptures, jewelry, working drawings and masks will be on display, and there may even be a surprise performance. Meet Higby in person at the opening reception from 6 to 9 p.m. on Saturday, May 14. Interested in learning from the master herself? Higby will host workshops on Masks and Movement from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, June 4, and on Casting a Moving Archetypal Image the same day from 2 to 5 p.m. For more information on Higby, go to shashahigby.com. For more information on the show, go to arthouseonr.com.

ARTHOUSE on R is at 1021 R St.

HOT TO TROT Get ready for some sizzle: The Sacramento Ballet performs its highly anticipated and scintillating program “Latin Nights” on May 5-25 at the E. Claire Raley Studios for the Performing Arts. Co-artistic director Carinne Binda, former ballet mistress for the legendary Rudolf Nureyev, will bring the first act of Russian choreographer Marius Petipa’s “Don Quixote” to life like you’ve never seen before. (Petipa, considered the father of classical ballet, is also the creator of “Swan Lake,” “The Sleeping Beauty” and “The Nutcracker,” among others.)

Spring has sprung, which means the strings will strum at the Sacramento Youth Symphony’s Spring Concerts at Sacramento City College, featuring the Premier Orchestra and the Academy of Music ensembles on Sunday, May 1, as part of the venerable organization’s 60th anniversary season. The concerts will include Vivace and Classic Orchestra at 2 p.m., followed by a performance of the Academic String Orchestra and Symphonic Wind Ensemble at 4 p.m. Stick around for the 7 p.m. performance of the Premier Orchestra under the tutelage and able baton of SYS artistic director and conductor Michael Neumann. The Premier Orchestra program will include Ludwig van Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, Gioachino Rossini’s overture to “William Tell” and selections from John Williams’ score of “Star Wars.” PREVIEWS page 36

JOIN US!

SACRAMENTO NEIGHBORHOOD MAYORAL FORUM-DEBATE

Wed. May 11

7 - 9 p.m. Clunie Community Center Candidates Tony Lopez and Russell Rawlings are also joining the forum Co-Sponsors: East Sacramento Improvement Assn., Land Park Community Assn., South Land Park Neighborhood Assn., Sierra Curtis Neighborhood Assn., Oak Park Neighborhood Assn., East Sac Chamber of Commerce, Eye on Sacramento

Moderated by Bob Graswich & NewsRadio KFBK’s Kitty O’Neal and John McGinness Attend live in person or watch/listen streaming live and later on kfbk.com

Angelique Ashby

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PREVIEWS FROM page 34 For tickets and more information, go to sacramentoyouthsymphony.org. The Sacramento City College Performing Arts Center is at 3835 Freeport Blvd.

RIGHT HERE IN RIVER CITY Looking for a fun way to spend the day with the family on Second Saturday this month before heading off to gallery-hop in the evening? Check out the River City Marketplace from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on May 14 in Fremont Park and get your hands on some fantastic original finds. This free, family-friendly afternoon will showcase our region’s most talented “makers”: artists, clothing designers such as Ana Apple, and small-batch food creators. While you shop, enjoy live music from local bands, refuel with fare from local food trucks, enter the raffle giveaway for a chance to win cool prizes, and let the little ones blow off steam in the Kids’ Zone with activities for all ages. For more information, go to rivercitymarketplace.squarespace. com. Fremont Park is at 1515 Q St.

NINTH TIME’S THE CHARM Surely you know the famous strains of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. (Now it’s in your head, isn’t it?). But did you know he also wrote an opera? Listen up at the Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera’s concert at 8 p.m. on Saturday, May 7, at the Community Center Theater and learn a thing or two. Grammy Award-winning conductor David Alan Miller will join the SPO to conduct its season finale allBeethoven concert, beginning with dramatic movements from his only opera, “Fidelio,” and concluding joyously with the magnificent Symphony No. 9, “Ode to Joy.” For tickets and more information, call 808-5181 or go to sacphilopera. org.

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The Community Center Theater is at 1301 L St.

SMALL BUT MIGHTY The adage “good things come in small packages” will be proven oh-so-right this month at the microARTCollection show in collaboration with DaDas Art Gallery Boutique. Representing the most extensive selection of contemporary micro art in the Sacramento region, microARTCollection is composed of artwork by established and emerging artists who specialize in drawing, printmaking, collage, painting, mixed media, ceramic and/or sculpture. The kicker? The majority of the pieces showcased in the collection are no larger than a matchbox. Although some of the artwork on view will not be available for purchase (certain pieces are part of microARTCollection’s inventory that dates back to 1987), there will be a significant number of exceptional pieces that can join your personal collection. Artists represented include RobertJean Ray, Willie Marlowe, Linda Welch, Lou Bermingham, Maureen Hood, Marbo Barnard, Joseph Mele, Pablo Galvan, Carol Dalton, Lisa Neal, Barbetta Lockart, Ken Waterstreet and Ronald Peetz. For more information, call 5381082. DaDas Art Gallery Boutique is at 3655 J St.

GET DOWN AND DIRTY Do you have a dirty secret? Fleet Feet does, and it wants to let you in on it during its Dirty Secret Trail Run on Saturday, May 7, in Cool. The wildly popular annual trail run, now in its sixth season, sells out every year. And it’s no wonder. After tackling a course of either 5.8 miles or 10.3 miles, runners will be treated to a pancake breakfast. But be sure to bring a change of clothes, since the name doesn’t lie: You will get filthy! To register or for more information, go to fleetfeetsacramento.com.

Artwork by Robert-Jean Ray will be on display at DaDas Art Gallery Boutique

THREE CHEERS FOR THE CHANDELIER If you have walked into the lobby of the Teel Family Pavilion at the Crocker Art Museum lately, you may have noticed a stunning addition to the museum’s collection. If you looked up, that is. Celebrated glass artist Dale Chihuly’s 8-by-6-foot “Golden Teal Chandelier” has now joined the Crocker’s permanent collection. The subtle tones of bluegreen, blue-gray and gold suit the contemporary look of the Teel Family Pavilion (which opened in 2010) and complement the hues of the museum’s historic building. The aqua and gold tones further allude to Sacramento’s rivers and the gold found therein, referencing both regional history and the artwork for which the Crocker is most famous.

“We have long believed that the Crocker should have a statement piece in the museum’s foyer and have wanted a Chihuly chandelier in this location for many years,” says Scott A. Shields, the Crocker’s associate director and chief curator. “We have been looking for the right one: the right shape, the right height, the right color. ‘Golden Teal Chandelier’ is perfect.” The chandelier is a fitting prelude to the Crocker’s three summer glass exhibitions, the first of which, “Little Dreams in Glass and Metal: Enameling in America, 1920 to the Present,” opens June 19. “Glass for the New Millennium: Masterworks from the Kaplan-Ostergaard Collection” (featuring works by Chihuly) opens July 10, and “The Luster of Ages: Ancient Glass from the Marcy Friedman Collection” PREVIEWS page 38

INSIDE

OUT

CONTRIBUTED BY LINDA SMOLEK & ANITA CLEVENGER

Spring has sprung at the Old City Cemetery. Visit the cemetery for a piece of Sacramento history and lots of beautiful flowers. The cemetery is at the corner of Broadway and Riverside Blvd.

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PREVIEWS FROM page 36 opens July 17. Watch this space for more information! If you have little ones, you probably know that with beautiful weather comes extra energy, so why not channel those toddler heebie-jeebies into an exciting Artful Tot class, held the first Tuesday of every month at the museum (this month from 10:30 a.m. to noon on May 3)? During each class, toddlers explore art-making with different materials in new ways, from printmaking and color mixing to clay and fabric. Adults learn how to encourage experimentation and self-expression while nurturing their child’s creativity. Families are welcome to arrive any time during this drop-in program, and be sure to dress for mess. The program is for children from 19 to 36 months old and their caregivers. Classes are $7 for museum members, $10 for nonmembers (includes one child and one adult) and $5 per additional person. Fun will be had by all family members at the Crocker’s Classical Concert at 3 p.m. on Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 8. The Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera Brass will perform a program designed to inspire music appreciation and practice in children and let their parents bop along to some beautiful tunes. A question-and-answer session will follow for children to ask the musicians questions about their instruments and experiences. Space is limited and this concert is expected to sell out. Tickets are $6 for museum members, $10 for students, youths and Capital Public Radio members, and $12 for nonmembers. Celebrate Sacramento’s Bike Month in funky fashion with Art Mix: Bike Funk-o-Rama from 5 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, May 12. Create pedalpowered art, check out customized rides and be wowed by a Marcel Duchamp-inspired, bike-propelled movie by Kelly O’Connell. Spoketacular bike experts will be on hand to keep you riding right. This event is for guests 21 and over and it’s free for museum members and free with general admission for nonmembers. Enjoy food and drink

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Don't miss the Sacramento Children's Chorus performance on May 1

discounts during happy hour from 5 to 6 p.m. and $5 drink specials all night. It’s time for Familypalooza, the Crocker’s free annual family festival for all ages from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday, May 29. Inspired this year by Dr. Seuss’ Whoville, the museum will become an enchanting, colorful land designed to excite and delight. Enjoy games of skill and thrill while the Vegetable Circus gets you singing and dancing. Check out the Mad Science lab where you can learn the how and why of things.

“Who” wouldn’t love that? For tickets and more information for all Crocker events, call 808-1182 or go to crockerartmuseum.org. The Crocker Art Museum is at 216 O St.

YOU SAY YOU WANT A REVOLUTION It’s the best kind of revolution: the singing kind! Join the Sacramento Children’s Chorus at 4 p.m. on Sunday, May 1, at the Carmichael

Seventh Day Adventist Church for its spring concert, “The Singing Revolution.” Four choirs featuring more than 150 children will sing under the direction of Lynn Stevens and Melanie Huber. The concert will include works associated with Frank Sinatra, The Beatles and Pete Seeger, as well as songs of freedom and peace including the Finlandia theme by Jean Sibelius. Concertgoers will also be treated to a preview of songs scheduled to be performed this summer during the touring choir’s international travel to Helsinki, Finland, as well as Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. In fact, the title, “The Singing Revolution,” refers to a time in the late 1980s when song helped restore the independence of these Baltic states. For tickets and more information, call 646-1141 or go to sacramentochildrenschorus.org. Carmichael Seventh Day Adventist Church is at 4600 Winding Way.

TOUR DE FORCE Rarely do you get to see a oneperson musical, and rarely do you get to see a performer tackle such complex material as you will when you see Analise Langford-Clark in “Arlington,” a new chamber musical by Victor Lodato and Polly Pen, presented by California Stage through May 1 at the Three Penny Theater. Fair Oaks Theatre Festival regular Langford-Clark wrestles with our tempestuous times as a contemporary incarnation of Henrik Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House” heroine Nora Helmer. Musician Jonathon Blum accompanies and Bob Irvin directs this stirring show that has mesmerized audiences in San Francisco and New York. Performances are at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and at 2 p.m. Sundays, through May 1. For tickets and more information, go to calstage.org. The Three Penny Theater is in the R25 Arts Complex at 1721 25th St.

GO WEST Faith Sponsler's artwork will be featured at Beatnik Studios

Saddle up, pardner, for the best auction of the year from Witherell’s auction house: the Western Design

Gala To Aid Nature Center PARKWAY GEM TO HOST FUNDRAISER WORDS AND PICTURES

BY SUSAN SKINNER

ffie Yeaw Nature Center will hold its spring fundraiser—an art show, art auction and gala called Where the Wild Things Are— on Saturday, May 21. The honorary chairpersons are art collectors Estelle Saltzman and Russ Solomon of Tower Records fame. In the past, the event has been chaired by Marcy Friedman, Congresswoman Doris Matsui and artist Greg Kondos. A portion of the proceeds from the event will provide free natural science enrichment programs to schools. Sacramento Fine Arts Center partnered with Effie Yeaw for the art show and live and silent auctions featuring work by Sacramento artists. The show was juried by Shelly Willis, executive Auction runs through May 11 at Witherell’s showroom on C Street. Giddy-up: You don’t want to miss it! The catalogue features several significant historical stunners, including an Edward Bohlin saddle encrusted in silver, an “Indian Maiden on Buffalo” image from 1901 (a version of which, incidentally, Witherell’s CEO Brian Witherell and his father, Brad, used on the cover of their 1999 book, “California’s Best: Old West Art and Antiques”), a rare life-size zinc Cigar Store Indian, and a study for the recently restored Sacramento Train Station mural from between 1909 and 1941, one of nine studies for murals that were painted in Southern Pacific railroad depots across the West. “We hold back items all year long for this auction,” says Witherell, who is also a featured appraiser on “Antiques Roadshow.” “This is the

Twilight sightings of wildlife are likely at Effie Yeaw’s outdoor gala

director of Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission, and Jon Stevenson, owner of Trumpette. Celebrity artists Jian Wang, David Peterson, Gregory Kondos, Maria Winkler and the late

Earl Boley donated works to the live auction. David Sobon will serve as auctioneer, and Fox40 news anchor Bethany Crouch will emcee.

highlight of our auction year, the one that’s always the most fun and exciting.” The Western Design Auction will be on display at Witherell’s showroom through May 1, and highlights from the show will also be exhibited in the entrance-way showroom to Witherell’s annual Old West Show in Grass Valley on May 6 and 7. For more information, call 446-6490 or go to witherells.com. Witherell’s is at 300 20th St. The annual Old West Show will be hosted at the Nevada County Fairgrounds at 11228 McCourtney Road in Grass Valley.

5 p.m. on Sunday, May 15, at Raley Field. The festival will feature fun for the whole family with a performance by Mikey Pauker, Israeli food, cool stuff for little ones in the Raley Field Kids Corner, shopping, crafts and more. Pre-register and find more information at jewishsac.org or call 486-0906. Raley Field is at 400 Ballpark Drive in West Sacramento.

OY, YAY! Celebrate your Jewish family heritage with the aptly named 2016 Jewish Heritage Festival from 1 to

MASTERS OF ART Find out what the future art world will look like at “Rudiment Ground,” an exhibition of work from eight artists currently enrolled in the UC Davis Art Studio MFA program on display at Beatnik Studios from May 3-26. The featured artists include Henry Bell, Yuan Chen, Mike Cole, Benjamin Ehrmann, Vincent

The fundraiser takes place from 5 to 8 p.m. at Effie Yeaw Nature Center in Ancil Hoffman Park. Tickets are $75. Valet parking is free. Table sponsors are welcome. For more information, go to sacnaturecenter.net. Art in the silent auction can be viewed before May 21 at Sacramento Fine Arts Center at 5330 Gibbons Drive, Carmichael. For more information, go to sacfinearts.org. Administered by the American River Natural History Association, Effie Yeaw gets more than 90,000 visitors per year. “The center has a special history in this community,” says Effie Yeaw fund developer Betty Cooper. “Caring supporters keep us open and available for future generations.” Susan Maxwell Skinner can be reached at Sknrband@aol.com n

Pachecho, Arielle Rebek, Muzi Rowe and Faith Sponsler. The Art Studio MFA Program is a two-year, critically engaged studio program that provides an opportunity for interdisciplinary study in the visual arts. As part of a small tight-knit community, students explore a wide range of media and approaches to studio practice, which culminates in an exhibition at the end of their first year prior to working on their theses. Congratulate the candidates in person at the opening reception on Friday, May 6 from 6-9 p.m. For more information, call 400-4281 or visit beatnik-studios.com. Beatnik Studios is located at 723 S Street. Jessica Laskey can be reached at jessrlaskey@gmail.com. Please email items for consideration by the first of the month, at least one month in advance of the event. n

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Art Preview GALLERY ART SHOWS IN MAY

Windows to the Soul: The Evolution of Paintings by Jennifer Laurel Kelleris at the University Union Gallery through May 19. Shown: Tenderness in oil and mixed media. University Union, 2nd Floor, Sac State, 6000 J St. jenniferlaurelkeller.com

ARTHOUSE on R presents Mysterious Theater Forms featuring works by Sha Sha Higby. The exhibit runs through June 10. 1021 R Street, arthouseonr.com

A show called Blended Vision will be shown the Special Events gallery at the 33rd Street Bistro in May with works by photographer Aniko Kiezel and painter Michael Bolton. (Bolton won the East Sac Art Contest this past fall.) Shown is a giclee by Kiezel. The 33rd Street Bistro is at 3301 Folsom Blvd.

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Red Dot Gallery features works by Kathy Dana through May. Dana’s “Expressive Sole ©”series captures personality through the language of shoes. Works by Diane Ruhkala Bell, Lisa Neal, and Laura Caron are also featured. Red Dot Gallery; 2231 J St., Suite 101

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In the ER GIDGET LOVES HER MOONDOGGIE

BY NORRIS BURKES SPIRIT MATTERS

n a fall day in 2003, I’d worked an exhausting afternoon of uninterrupted trauma and drama in the Emergency Department of Sutter Medical Center in Sacramento. Just as I was getting ready to go home, the nurse manager directed me toward our trauma room, where an elderly woman had just lost her boyfriend. I presented myself to the woman, disrupting a one-way conversation she was having with the deceased figure of a 92-year-old man on the gurney. She introduced herself as Gidget, a

nickname from a 1959 surfing movie staring Sandra Dee, and later a 1965 TV series with Sally Field. If you don’t know the fictional Gidget, imagine someone who babbles nonstop like a tweenager. Combine that with the image of a pretty girl surfing in a pair of Spanx. Like the Gidget of Hollywood fame, she was chatting a mile a minute about her beloved boyfriend, whom she called Moondoggie, after the boyfriend in the Gidget movie. With a roaring rush of words, she maintained the busy sound of loneliness, alternating her questions between “Is he really dead?” and “What am I going to do?” Without giving me a chance to respond, she kept talking. “I was just with him a few minutes ago,” she said, all the while rubbing the man’s hand. “I lay down to sleep for about 20 minutes and he was gone when I woke.” It felt like Gidget was trying to resuscitate her Moondoggie with her incessant stream of uninterrupted consciousness.

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At some point, the ER supervisor signaled me to help Gidget find an ending because the hospital needed the room for an incoming trauma patient. Unfortunately, we couldn’t let the grief go on all night.

She was chatting a mile a minute about her beloved boyfriend, whom she called Moondoggie. “Did a taxi bring you here tonight?” I asked. “Yes.” Gidget got the hint. “Is it time to leave?” I answered indirectly. “You have a lot to do tomorrow.” A few minutes later, we stood in the Emergency bay, waiting for another taxi. Gidget continued her pinging monologue, like a submarine trying to echolocate an ally. Sadly, she wasn’t pinging on much—not even me. I was swapping thoughts between caring for her and the incoming emergency. But somewhere in the fog of my mental meandering, I finally heard the echoes of her stories and her pings located me. I placed the back of my hand gently on her cheek. Both her hands sprung up to enclose mine and caress my hand as if it were Moondoggie’s.

She whispered into our joined hands, “Your hand’s so warm.” I smiled. Suddenly, the incoming ambulance was pulling into the driveway. “I guess other people need you, too.” I nodded. “Like me.” “Probably,” I said. “Thank you,” she said. Just then, her taxi driver appeared at the curb. We said quick goodbyes and Gidget abruptly disappeared safely inside his car. I can’t tell you what happened to Gidget after that. That’s because working as a hospital chaplain is like trying to pastor a parade. I’m not always blessed with knowing patient outcomes or the impact I made. But I did feel the impact Gidget had on me that night. I’d almost let the exhaustion of the day distract me from my purpose. But something brought me back to Gidget. I was there for her. I’d heard her words; I’d heard her heart. I took her hand and was taken by the exhaustive love she had for her Moondoggie. On my way back into the ER, I paused a moment outside Moondoggie’s room and leaned inside, giving him a nod, as if to say, “That’s quite a gal you have there!” Norris Burkes is a chaplain, syndicated columnist, national speaker and author. This story is excerpted from his book “No Small Miracles.” If you would like him to speak at your church, community event or veteran or healthcare organization, contact him at norris@ thechaplain.net. n

HAVE “INSIDE,” WILL TRAVEL 1. The Bult family's annual Hawaii trip celebrating the lives of Paul Thiebaud and Betty Jean Thiebaud 2. Lauren Morford, Claire Rogers, Delaney Ridenour and Chloe Rogers at Faria Beach in Ventura 3. Mike, Dolores, Nick, Kristine and Blake White at the Dalí Theatre-Museum in Figueres, Girona, Spain 4. Marc and Vicki Sazaki at the church at Shepards' Field in Bethlehem, Israel 5. Ulla Schreuder at St.Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands 6. Harry and Carol Seperas in Hamburg, Germany 7. Sam & Barb Hom, Naomi Turner, Patty & Dave Osaki in Uvdal, Norway in front of a 17th century stave church

Take a picture with Inside Publications and e-mail a high-resolution copy to travel@insidepublications.com. Due to volume of submissions, we cannot guarantee all photos will be printed or posted. Can’t get enough of Have Inside, Will Travel? Find more photos on Instagram: InsidePublications

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INSIDE

OUT CONTRIBUTED BY ANIKO KIEZEL

On the underside of the east and west stretches of Highway 50, there is now a 70,000 square-foot mural called the Full Underbelly which depicts a tree canopy. The design contains references to native birds that currently nest under the freeway, as well as bee swarms depicted in gold leaf. As one travels to different parts of the mural the branches above reflect the changing of the seasons. The mural was created by LC Studio Tutto, which is an art and design team comprised of Sofia Lacin and Hennessy Christophel.

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2016 SEASON WELLS FARGO PAVILION AT THE

SINGLE-SHOW TICKETS ON SALE NOW!

THEATRE GUIDE HELLO, DOLLY

TREE

Hello, Dolly is an ebullient and irresistible story of the joy of living. It glitters with happy songs, shines with loving scenes, and showcases the personality of one of the most fabulous characters on the musical stage, Dolly Gallagher Levi.

A white woman from Louisiana knocks at the door of a modest home in Chicago’s South Side, where an African-American family resides. The woman’s father has died, and she has discovered some letters revealing another love, a black woman, and maybe another set of kin. This is a story of beginnings and endings, betrayal and love, three generations twist and grow in astonishing ways and a surprising place where the roots of the characters meet.

Thru May 15 Harris Center for the Arts 10 College Parkway, Folsom 608-6888

MUD BLUE SKY

Thru June 6 B Street Theatre-Family Series 2711 B St, Sac 443-5300

Air travel was once considered glamorous. But when three seasoned flight attendants are reunited at a motel near O’Hare Airport, the grungy accommodations and looming morning flight make them question their lives in the friendly skies. Joined by an unlikely fourth companion, a teenage boy adrift on prom night, their typical layover is turned upside down. Mud Blue Sky offers a heartwarming yet comic look at work, motherhood, and missed connections.

THE ROVER

Thru May 28 Big Idea Theatre 1618 Del Paso Blvd, Sac 960-3036

Two sisters, Florinda, betrothed to a rich merchant she doesn’t love, and Hellena, bound for life in the convent are determined to experience life and love. They escape to Naples during Carnival, where they encounter the dashing Belvile and his band of rambunctious exiles. In this proto-feminist comedy of manners by Aphra Behn, the first professional female playwright in the English language, the madcap misadventures of the banished Cavaliers clash with the ladies’ rebellion against patriarchal authority in a ribald subversion of societal norms filled with disguises, duels, and all manner of debauchery.

THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES

Thru May 15 Sacramento Theatre Company 1419 H St, Sac 443-6722

Legend has it that the Baskerville family has been cursed since Hugo Baskerville offered his soul to the devil and was killed by a spectral hound. The recently-deceased Sir Charles Baskerville believed in the curse and was apparently running from some foe when he died. Intrigued, the crime-solving duo Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson investigate. Expect laughs and suspense as these two old friends return to Sacramento Theatre Company for another adventure in this new adaptation of the classic Victorian who-dun-it.

Thru May 22 Celebration Arts Theatre 4469 D St, Sac 455-2787

SEASON SPONSORED BY:

LEGALLY BLONDE · JUNE 14-19

The hilarious Reese Witherspoon ﬁlm is now the smash hit musical comedy that turned Broadway and MTV hot pink. Sorority star Elle Woods is an underestimated blonde who doesn’t take “no” for an answer. When her boyfriend dumps her for someone more “serious,” she hits the books and, with her dog Bruiser, sets out to go where no Delta Nu has gone before: Harvard Law School. Along the way, Elle proves that being true to yourself never goes out of style. With “Omigod You Guys,” “So Much Better.”

HELLO, DOLLY! · JUNE 28-JULY 3

This ebullient and irresistible musical theatre classic glitters with happy songs, high-energy choreography and elaborate costumes. The indomitable matchmaker Dolly Levi rediscovers love for herself as she introduces romance into the lives of wealthy shopkeeper Horace Vandergelder, his niece and two sheltered clerks. Features “It Only Takes a Moment,” “Put on Your Sunday Clothes” and the title number, one of the most beloved songs in American musical comedy.

12 ANGRY JURORS

May 5 – May 15 Three Penny Theater 1721 25th St, Sac 501-6014 or 996-8115

The Actor’s Theatre of Sacramento presents 12 Angry Jurors by Reginald Rose. This story has been adapted and directed by Christine Lovette.

THE DRESSER BY RONALD HARWOOD Thru May 21 California Stage Theatre 2509 R St, Sac 491-0940

Based on the author’s own experiences as a dresser to Sir Donald Wolfit, this bracing, this heartbreaking drama is an elegy to a bygone era. Backstage at a theatre in the English provinces during WWII, Sir, the last of the great breed of English actor/managers, is in a bad way tonight, as his dresser Norman tries valiantly to prepare him to go on stage as King Lear. Unsure of his lines as well as who and where he is supposed to be, Sir is adamantly determined to roar his last. Back in his dressing room after the performance, the worn out old trouper dies, leaving alone his company and the loyal dresser after one final bow.

THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE

May 11 – May 15 Sacramento Theatre Company 1419 H St, Sac 443-6722

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is performed by students of Sacramento Theatre Company’s (STC) School of the Arts enrolled in the Ensemble Musical Workshop. The Ensemble program serves students (ages 6-12) and culminates in a full-length production on STC’s Main Stage. These workshops, taught by professional directors and actors offer students the experience of participating in a fully-produced musical with sets, costumes and lighting.

SEUSSICAL · JULY 12-17

Explore the witty, wild and whimsical world of Dr. Seuss as you’ve never seen it before. Travel back to your childhood to the land of the Whos and the Jungle of Nool, and rediscover the delightfully zany characters imagined by one of the most beloved storytellers of all time. Created by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty (Ragtime, Once on This Island), this is one visit to the doctor that neither kids nor parents will mind, a delightful musical where anything’s possible.

CABARET · JULY 26-31

Welcome to Berlin’s infamous Kit Kat Klub, where the Emcee, Sally Bowles and a raucous ensemble take the stage nightly to tantalize the crowd into leaving their troubles outside. But as life in pre-WWII Germany grows more and more troubled, how long can the show and the decadence surrounding it go on? This Tony®-winning Kander and Ebb classic has some of the most memorable songs in theatre history, including “Cabaret” and “Willkommen.”

NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT · AUGUST 9-14

Matthew Broderick and Kelli O’Hara starred in this smash hit on Broadway in 2012. The new song-and-dance spectacular features the music of George and Ira Gershwin in a sparkling, spirited, high-stepping musical comedy. To a songbook of the greatest American standards ever sung, a cast of bootleggers, chorus girls, playboys and politicians creates hilarity in a glorious Long Island mansion in the rip-roaring 1920s. With “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off,” “I’ve Got a Crush on You” and “Someone to Watch Over Me.”

THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME · AUGUST 23-28

OPTION TO THE SEASON: This brand new musical is the only stage collaboration from two masters of American musical theatre, Alan Menken (Disney’s The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast) and Stephen Schwartz (Wicked, Pippin). With a lush, emotionally rich score and beautiful choral arrangements, it’s a dramatic retelling of the epic but tragic Victor Hugo novel. Darker than the Disney ﬁlm, closer in plot to the novel, the musical showcases the ﬁlm’s Oscar®-nominated score and introduces stunning new songs.

TICKETS STARTING AT $45!

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Seeing Into the Future THIS ARTIST SPINS CRAZY IDEAS—AND SOME OF THEM COME TRUE

BY DEBRA BELT ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

teven M. Johnson’s business card reads “Artist, Whimsicalist, Possibilitist.” It’s an apt description of a man who’s spent the better part of six decades drawing what he describes as “cleverly conceived nonsense”: contraptions like the Chaise Lawn (a lawn mower that doubles as outdoor furniture), the Closet Car (“Every girl wants one of these”) and the Portable Fallout Shelter (dreamed up during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962). “My temperament has always been future-oriented,” Johnson explains over lemonade at Bella Bru near his Carmichael home. “I love the idea that you can think into the future—and to what degree you can predict it.” Johnson’s artwork has proven to be fairly prescient over the years. He predicted the trend of pre-torn clothing in a drawing in 1975, as well as computer screens inside a pair of glasses in 1992—long before Google Glass came to be. Johnson even offered up some of his kooky creations—flippers with fish hooks attached, a helmet with a hairstyle, loafers with flashlights in the toes, among others—for a naming contest in 2010 and 2011 as part of his “Museum of Possibilities” feature on Neatorama. com. “Drawing is a format that lets me run with my imagination,” Johnson explains. “Artists don’t mind wasting time thinking things up.” Johnson has hardly been wasting his time. While keeping up a steady side business of inventive illustrations and a witty website called Patent

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Steven M. Johnson

Depending, he’s also worked as an urban planner, a newspaper artist for The Sacramento Bee and a future trends analyst for Honda. The Bay Area native studied architecture and journalism at UC Berkeley and Yale University. But it wasn’t until 1973, when Johnson

was 35, that he truly tapped into his creative potential. “Before I began to think of myself as an inventor, I was doing cartoons with an environmental theme for Cry California, The Sierra Club Bulletin and Wilderness,” Johnson recalls. “An editor for Sierra Club asked me to invent future recreation vehicles.

One of those drawings got published in Harper’s when I was 37.” That first foray into predicting the unpredictable proved fruitful for Johnson. Since then, his work has been featured in publications like Road & Track, Utne Reader, Whole Earth Review, Esquire, The Futurist, Design Mind, Good and Fast Company, as

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well as Japanese magazines Box and Brutus. Ten Speed Press published three editions of his book â&#x20AC;&#x153;What the World Needs Now: A Resource Book for Daydreamers, Frustrated Inventors, Cranks, Efficiency Experts, Utopians, Gadgeteers, Tinkerers and Just About Everybody Elseâ&#x20AC;? in 1984, 2001 and 2012, and St. Martinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Press published his book â&#x20AC;&#x153;Public Therapy Buses, Information Specialty Bums, Solar Cook-A-Mats and Other Visions of the 21st Centuryâ&#x20AC;? in 1991. Johnson self-published an expanded second and third edition of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Public Therapyâ&#x20AC;? and a new book, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Have Fun Inventing,â&#x20AC;? in 2012, as well as his most recent tome, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Patent Depending: Vehicles,â&#x20AC;? this year. Johnson travels to comic conventions, expos and fairs to hawk his wares and meet other like-minded creatives. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I started getting into expos in 2009,â&#x20AC;? says Johnson, who has an uncanny ability to recall dates with calendarlike precision. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I love meeting all these different people and artists I

admire. I even shared a booth at the Maker Faire in San Mateo with a UC Berkeley astronomer. I fell into doing fairs, but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s becoming a lifestyle.â&#x20AC;? All that travel means lots of long drives, but Johnson is not one to be deterred from working wherever he can. To wit, he invented an automobile drafting board that sits at an angle against the dashboard and is outfitted in black Naugahyde to match the carâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s interior. (He points out heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not aware of any laws prohibiting drawing while driving.) With his sketch pad at hand, his head full of ideas and the open road ahead, the 77-year-old isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t planning on slowing down anytime soon. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not like Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve had this master plan at all,â&#x20AC;? Johnson admits. But if his artwork is any indication, this artist, whimsicalist and possibilitist has the future pretty much figured out. To see the inner workings of Johnsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s creative cranium, visit patentdepending.com n

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All Greek to Me TIME FOR THE MEDITERRANEAN DIET

BY GREG SABIN RESTAURANT INSIDER

hen the hot days of May approach, I invariably find myself leaning toward a Mediterranean diet. Gone are the soups and stews of winter, replaced by the bright, vegetable-rich dishes of the sunny shores of the Aegean. So if you’re in the mood for less pork roast and more pita in your diet, check out this trio of Greek eateries.

OPA! OPA! The variety platter at Opa! Opa! is a great deal and a fantastic way to waltz your way through the most popular dishes of Greek dining. It comes with spanakopita (phyllo triangles filled with spinach and feta) and dolmades (stuffed grape leaves), along with feta cheese, olives, pita, gyro (thinly sliced, seasoned meat) and falafel. One word about falafel: Eat it fast. The deep-fried chickpea fritter is an amazing delicacy, but never have I experienced a food with shorter staying power. Wait 10 minutes to consume your falafel, and instead of a warm, crispy, heartily spiced ball of goodness, you get a dull, sometimes greasy, rock-hard lump not worth digesting. No matter what, never, never eat a falafel that you don’t see come straight out of the fryer and onto your plate. The highlight of the variety platter is the gyro, wonderfully spiced, tender and absolutely fantastic with a little dip of tzatziki. The meat is fantastic. If you go to Opa! Opa!, save room for something sweet from Sweeties, the dessert shop next door. With petite carrot cakes, lemon bars and

DOWNTOWN MAY n 16

A salad from Opa! Opa!

cheesecakes, along with baklava, cupcakes and cappuccinos, Sweeties is the perfect ruination of your otherwise healthy Mediterranean diet. Opa! Opa! offers a limited number of beers in the bottle and wines by the glass, and the service is decidedly doit-yourself, with ordering and pickup at the counter and no table service. But if you’re looking for fast, casual, well-priced (most entrees are under $10), and relatively healthy dining, Opa! Opa! is just what the doctor ordered.

Opa! Opa! is at 5644 J St.; 4514000; eatatopa.com

CAFE EUROPA Tucked away in a strip mall near the corner of Howe and Arden, Cafe Europa is an unprepossessing little gem. Focusing on traditional Greek fare, the menu reads like many other Hellenic hangouts in the area: kabobs, spanakopita, dolmades and all the usual sides. Where Europa really stands out, though, is its gyros. The ubiquitous Mediterranean treat of

seasoned meat and toppings wrapped in a pita becomes more than the sum of its parts in the cafe’s family-run kitchen. The “supreme gyros” packs beef or chicken in a pita with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, fried potatoes, feta and tzatziki sauce. It’s not fancy or clever, but it’s probably the best gyro in town. The meat, tender and flavorful, packs a well-seasoned punch, and the cool tzatziki (yogurt sauce) brings the hearty combo together well.

Finish off your meal with a sweet treat

If you haven’t had gyro, you’re missing out on one of the finer things in life. Typically served at Greek and Middle Eastern restaurants, gyro is a mixture of ground meat (lamb, beef or chicken) and spices, packed on a rotating spit and cooked slowly, each exterior layer getting shaved off as it’s needed, hot and crispy. Think of it as Mediterranean meatloaf. Cafe Europa has the best baklava I think I’ve ever had. Dense with honey and nuts and uncountable layers of phyllo, this ridiculous treat will sweeten the sourest of days. Cafe Europa is at 1537 Howe Ave.; 779-0737; cafeeuropasac.com

PETRA GREEK This casual, order-at-the-counter place on 16th Street combines the informal nature of a street-side grab-n-go with the cooking chops of a sit-down restaurant.

Sure, this isn’t fine dining. They put French fries in their gyros, which, unless I’m mistaken, isn’t canon. But the chicken souvlaki (chunks of chicken, well seasoned and grilled on skewers) is spot on, with plenty of flavor and no lack of punch. The variety of dishes is impressive. Gyros can be packed with chicken, pork or a mixture of beef and lamb. Plenty of vegetarian dishes are available as well, including grilled halloumi cheese, salads and grilled veggie pita. Petra, which stays open until 3 a.m. Wednesday to Saturday, is a perfect place to end a night of imbibing. Petra caters to the late-night clientele with smothered French fries and burgers guaranteed to soften the next morning’s inevitable hangover. Petra Greek is at 1122 16th St.; 443-1993; petragreek.com Greg Sabin can be reached at gregsabin@hotmail.com n

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May: Farm-to-Fork WHAT’S FRESH THIS MONTH AT OUR LOCAL FARMERS MARKETS

FAVA BEANS

ARUGULA

ENGLISH PEAS

A member of the pea family, these beans have a nutty taste and buttery texture. Look for sturdy green pods with velvety fuzz. They need to be shelled and peeled before eating. Favas are high in protein and dietary fiber. Eat it: Steam them until tender and serve with olive oil, salt and lemon.

This edible annual plant, sometimes known as rocket, belongs to the same family as mustard greens and kale. Its peppery green leaves are green in salads. Arugula is a rich source of certain phytochemicals as well as vitamin A. Eat it: Tossed with extra-virgin olive oil and freshly squeezed lemon juice and topped with shaved Parmesan.

Also known as shell peas or garden peas, these sweet legumes enjoy a short season in late spring and early summer. Their pods aren’t edible, so shell them immediately before cooking. High in protein, they’re also low in fat. To eat: Boil them briefly until crisp-tender, then add to a pasta salad

GREEN GARLIC

ASPARAGUS

ENDIVE

This perennial is one of the first plants of spring. Its tender young shoots are delicious when steamed, roasted or grilled. Nutrient dense, it’s rich in B vitamins, vitamin C, calcium and iron. Eat it: Toss the spears in olive oil and balsamic vinegar, then roast outdoors on a hot grill until charred.

Sown in spring, chicory seeds produce a root that’s harvested and placed in a dark, humid “forcing room.” The result: endive, the second growth of a chicory root. Crisp, with a sweet, nutty flavor, it’s a good source of potassium. To eat: Separate the leaves and top each one with a spoonful of chicken salad or edamame with miso dressing.

Also known as spring garlic or baby garlic, this young plant is a highlight of the spring farmers market. It looks like an overgrown scallion and has a mild yet garlicky flavor. Plants in the garlic family are known to lower blood pressure and cholesterol. Eat it: Use it raw in a salad or cooked in a frittata.

DOWNTOWN MAY n 16

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