Inside pocket jul 2018 by Inside Publications

INSIDE

POCKET GREENHAVEN SOUTH POCKET LITTLE POCKET RIVERLAKE SOUTH LAND PARK

JULY 2018

LESLIE ROCK

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THE MOST INTERESTING PEOPLE, PLACES & CULTURE IN AMERICA'S FARM-TO-FORK CAPITAL

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ROUNDTREE CONDOMINIUM Affordable home in the highly desired Greenhaven/Pocket area. Beautiful gated community with built-in pool and park. Remodeled kitchen and bathrooms. Nice laminate Àoors throughout, dual pane windows and sliding glass door. New interior paint. New granite counter tops and kitchen/bathroom cabinets. Wow! $228,000 MONA GERGEN 916-247-9555

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BEAUTIFUL RIVERLAKE Prestigious gated community with private lake! 3 bedrooms 3 baths with remodeled kitchen, heat/air-5 years, whole house fan, skylights, newer metal roof, prof landscape, access to lake, dock, picnic areas. 1 bedroom/of¿ce and full bath downstairs. Amazing yard for entertaining. Huge windows with gorgeous views of the garden. $499,000 MONA GERGEN 916-247-9555

RIVERLAKE’S SOUTHSHORE 4 bedrooms 3 baths in private community with lake access. Close to restaurants, shopping and Sacramento River walk way. Downstairs bedroom and full bath. Spacious master suite with cathedral ceiling, large walk-in closet and jetted tub. Living room cathedral ceiling & high windows. Sparkling sport pool. 3-car garage with drive thru. $699,000 CONNIE LANDSBERG 916-761-0411

CLASSIC FRANCIS COURT HOME Here is rare opportunity to live on one of Sacramento’s premier streets! This classic Tudor home features hand hewn ceiling beams and ¿replace mantle, detailed wood ceilings and custom stained-glass kitchen cabinets. Spacious master suite features large walk-in closet; new master bath with pretty Silestone counters. Open family room. $1,100,000 PAULA SWAYNE 916-425-9715

CUTE SOUTH LAND PARK This one’s a charmer! And it’s an easy walk to Sutterville School from this cute convenient 2 bedroom home. Features include hardwood Àoors, updated kitchen, central heat and air conditioning, covered deck and backyard pool. Attached 1-car garage. Great neighborhood close to shopping, freeway access and downtown. $319,000 KELLIE SWAYNE 916-206-1458

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ELK GROVE CUL-DE-SAC Wonderful remodeled home on a large cul-de-sac lot. New interior and exterior paint. Remodeled kitchen and bathrooms. 3 bedrooms 2 baths, updates include wood laminate Àoors, lights, ceiling fans, counter tops, water heater, closet organizers and more. Workshop and shed in spacious yard. Large side yards. Raised garden beds and covered patio. $380,000 MONA GERGEN 916-247-9555

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ELK GROVE HOME 3 bedroom 2 bath home, with newer roof, HVAC, ducting, windows, plus whole house fan! Newer paint inside and carpet as well!! All the big ticket items are DONE! Just move in and enjoy this beautiful home. It has an updated kitchen, updated bathrooms, a large open living space and attached garage. A HUGE backyard. $315,000 DAN BARTLETT 916-462-1235, LES LOCKREM 916-835-0383

LAGUNA WOODS IN ELK GROVE Beautifully updated 4 bedroom 2½ bath home! Renovated kitchen with new granite counters, custom backsplash, stainless steel appliances and freshly painted cabinets. Bathrooms have also been tastefully updated. Other amenities include newer tile roof, whole house fan and all new carpet and laminate Àooring. Private backyard with sparkling pool. $619,000 ALEXIS JONES 916-715-0237

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GREENHAVEN DUPLEX Great location at the corner of Gloria Drive and Cove Court. Close to Greenhaven Lake, Greenbelt, schools and shopping. New exterior paint in 2017. Tile roof. Each side is 2 bed 2 bath with central heat and air. Easy drive to downtown and all freeways. Great investment to live in one side and rent the other. $589,500 LISA McCAULEY 916-601-5474

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EAST SACRAMENTO McKINLEY PARK RIVER PARK ELMHURST TAHOE PARK CAMPUS COMMONS

JULY 2018

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ARDEN ARCADE SIERRA OAKS WILHAGGIN DEL PASO MANOR CARMICHAEL

2018

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LAND PARK CURTIS PARK SOUTH LAND PARK HOLLYWOOD PARK THE MILL BROADWAY CORRIDOR

JULY 2018

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POCKET GREENHAVEN SOUTH POCKET LITTLE POCKET RIVERLAKE SOUTH LAND PARK

JULY 18

2018

THE GRID

EDUARDO CARRILLO AT THE CROCKER

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THE MOST INTERESTING PEOPLE, PLACES & CULTURE IN AMERICA'S FARM-TO-FORK CAPITAL

COVER ARTIST LESLIE ROCK This month, Tim Collom Gallery presents “Go Figure,” featuring ﬁgurative works by Leslie Rock, Melinda Cootsona and Margarita Chaplinska and other gallery artists. Shown on this cover is a ﬁgurative work by Leslie Rock. Tim Collom Gallery is at 915 20th St.;timcollomgallery.com

3104 O St. #120, Sac. CA 95816 (Mail Only)

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EDITOR Marybeth Bizjak mbbizjak@aol.com PRODUCTION M.J. McFarland DESIGN Cindy Fuller PHOTOGRAPHY Linda Smolek, Aniko Kiezel AD COORDINATION Michele Mazzera, Julie Foster DISTRIBUTION Sue Pane Sue@insidepublications.com ACCOUNTING Daniel Nardinelli, Lauren Hastings, Jim Hastings

916-443-5087 EDITORIAL POLICY Commentary reflects the views of the writers and does not necessarily reflect those of Inside Publications. Inside Publications is delivered for free to more than 75,000 households in Sacramento. Printing and distribution costs are paid entirely by advertising revenue. We spotlight selected advertisers, but all other stories are determined solely by our editorial staff and are not influenced by advertising. No portion may be reproduced mechanically or electronically without written permission of the publisher. All ad designs & editorial—©

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com or send check with name & address of recipient and specify publication edition. PUBLISHER Cecily Hastings

VISIT INSIDEPUBLICATIONS.COM Ad deadline is the 10th of the month previous. CONTACT OUR ADVERTISING REPS:

NEW ACCOUNTS: Duffy Kelly 916.224.1604 direct DK@insidepublications.com Sally Giancanelli 916.335.6503 direct SG@insidepublications.com @insidepublications

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JULY 18 VOL. 5 • ISSUE 6 7 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 28 30 31 32 34 38 40

Publisher's Desk Pocket Life Inside City Hall Pocket Beat City Beat Giving Back Sports Authority Shoptalk Home Insight Adventure Capitalists Meet Your Neighbor Spirit Matters 10 Great Things About America To Do Artist Spotlight Restaurant Insider

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Coming to

America THE IMMIGRANT EXPERIENCE DEFINES US

T Dr. Ching-Hua Wang

CH By Cecily Hastings Publishers Desk

he American experience is by and large the immigrant experience. Millions of people from all over the world have come to our great nation in order to find opportunity and freedom and to pursue happiness. Those last two things are unique to America. Our founders enshrined the phrase “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” in the Declaration of Independence. A few months ago, I was honored to receive a dinner invitation from Dr. Robert Nelsen, the president of Sacramento State University. He also invited the university’s provost, Dr. Ching-Hua Wang, who had been on the job about a year. Over Mexican food at the new Zocalo off Fair Oaks Boulevard, Nelsen shared Wang’s amazing immigrant story with me. When I couldn’t get enough of the great story, Wang filled in the details. As provost (the university’s second-highest position), Wang oversees the Office of Academic Affairs. It’s the largest unit on campus and includes the university’s seven academic colleges, the library and the continuing-education college. Before coming to Sac State, Wang served as the dean of the School of Health and Natural Sciences at Dominican University of California. There, she was also

a professor of immunology and microbiology, and she managed all extramural grants for the school. Before that, Wang was one of 13 founding faculty members at CSU Channel Islands. “While at Channel Islands, I led the development and implementation of eight science and health science programs and worked closely with colleagues in starting, advancing and growing the university,” said Wang. She was born in Beijing, the oldest of four children. “While growing up, I experienced one of the darkest periods of Chinese history,” she told me. “I witnessed tremendous turmoil and devastating hardships. My family was split into pieces, and I was sent to Inner Mongolia to get ‘re-educated.’ “When I was living in Inner Mongolia, I served as an elementary teacher at a one-room schoolhouse. My interactions with students from extremely poor families left an indelible impression on me.” In China, Wang earned a master’s degree in immunology and a medical degree. In the winter of 1981, she went to Ithaca, N.Y., to get her Ph.D. in immunology at Cornell University. “I had been so isolated and had no idea what Americans dressed like,” she recalled. “Before I left, I found a pair of bell-bottoms and thought I’d fit

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MILLIONS OF PEOPLE FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD HAVE COME TO OUR GREAT NATION IN ORDER TO FIND OPPORTUNITY AND FREEDOM AND TO PURSUE HAPPINESS. THOSE LAST TWO THINGS ARE UNIQUE TO AMERICA.

in. But it turned out that fashion trend had long passed! “Both my suitcase handles broke because—rather than bringing clothes—I dragged along all my treasured books. I only had two $10 bills to my name—the maximum amount of cash the Chinese government would let us exchange. And I spent one of the bills to tip a porter who helped me with a cart for my suitcases at the airport.” While living in the United States, Wang and her husband, Nian-Sheng Huang (a historian and published author who specializes in Early American history), had two children. The couple held green cards and remained Chinese citizens until the Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing in 1989. “With thousands being murdered for expressing their desires for freedom, we knew for certain that we’d never return there with our children,” Wang said. In 1990, they moved to California to work in the California State University system. They wanted

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“to teach students who are mostly first-generation college students and come from humble backgrounds,” Wang said. “People just like us.” After moving to California, Wang and her husband became proud U.S. citizens. Her favorite thing about this country? “Freedom!” she said enthusiastically. “I will never forget the amazing sense of disbelief that I felt when I first walked free on the campus of Cornell. I had never known anything like it. There were so many choices and so many opportunities! “Later on, I had the joy of learning about the history of our country and the millions of U.S citizens who gave their lives for freedom—not just of our own citizens, but to literally save the world from tyranny. “To this day, I am still filled with an overwhelming sense of gratitude for what our country provides to both our citizens and the entire world. It left me with a desire to give back for what was given to me. That will remain my pledge as long as I am alive.”

After we finished dinner, Nelsen turned to me, smiled and said, “I guess you have already figured out why I wanted this woman as a leader on our campus. She totally understands what many of our students are going through.” Here at Inside Publications, one of our loveliest employees is photographer Linda Smolek, who was born and raised in Malmo, Sweden. We hired her after she graduated from Sac State, where she earned a double major in photography and communications—an education that she fully funded herself. After high school, Smolek, an only child, stunned her parents by making all her own arrangements to attend Sac State as an international student. Arriving on her own at Sacramento International Airport, she took a taxi to her dorm room. In her freshman year, she met and fell in love with Jay Gerkovich, who later became her husband. They now have two children, who speak both English sand Swedish. I asked her

recently why she became a U.S citizen in 2013, after more than a decade as a green-card holder. “I wanted a voice in our country’s governance. I wanted to vote and be a part of decision making in our country,” she said. Her mother is Swedish, her father Croatian. “I had already dealt with the immigrant experience growing up in Sweden, which is a very homogeneous country,” she said. “In fact, the only discrimination I ever felt in my life was growing up in Sweden as the child of an immigrant father. Nothing like that has ever remotely happened to me in America.” As you celebrate a joyous Fourth of July this month, please remember these two immigrant stories and the simple statement “Freedom Is Not Free” engraved into one wall at the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Cecily Hastings can be reached at publisher@insidepublications.com. n

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Hooray for the Fourth! ANNUAL PARADE WILL END WITH A FESTIVAL

n Wednesday, July 4, the Pocket neighborhood’s annual Fourth of July parade will start at 10 a.m. at Lisbon Elementary School. The parade will go along Windbridge Drive and end at Garcia Bend Park. After the parade, there will be a community festival with food trucks, a kids’ play zone and a pet pageant. Parade entry forms are available in the Pocket News office at 1109 Markham Way. Lisbon Elementary School is at 7555 South Land Park Drive.

CM By Corky Mau Pocket Life

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For more information about the parade or festival, call Councilmember Rick Jennings’ office at (916) 8087007.

day, call (916) 395-4650 or email chairfunrun@gmail.com. Matsuyama Elementary is at 7680 Windbridge Drive.

The book, published by I Street Press, is available for $14.95 plus tax. For more information, call (916) 801-6293.

RUN FOR A CAUSE ON JULY 4

ROBBIE WATERS WRITES THE BOOK ON HIMSELF

JAZZ FILLS THE PARKS FOR TWO CONCERTS

Matsuyama Elementary School will hold its Fourth of July Fun Run on Wednesday, July 4. The 5k race starts and finishes at the school. The clearly marked route will take runners along the Pocket/ Greenhaven greenbelt. Check-in time is 7 to 7:45 a.m.; the race starts at 8 a.m. The registration fee is $20. Proceeds will help fund the school’s annual sixth-grade trip to Sly Park Environmental Science Camp. If you’re not able to participate on the day of the event, you can sign up as a “virtual runner.” For more information about the race or to volunteer to help on race

Former City Councilmember Robbie Waters has written his memoir. Entitled “Through the Years: The Legacy of Robbie Waters,” the book chronicles his childhood in Sacramento and his experiences as a councilmember, county sheriff and member of the Sacramento Police Department. The book looks at how Sacramento has evolved and grown since the 1940s. It includes colorful vignettes about major Sacramento events, such as the 1975 attempted assassination of President Gerald Ford at the State Capitol. The book also features numerous photographs collected by Waters’ wife, Judie.

Two jazz ensembles will perform in neighborhood parks this month. Jose Hernandez and the Mo’ Better Jazz Band will perform on Friday, July 13, at Seymour Park. The Vivian Lee Quartet will perform on Friday, July 27, at Marriott Park. Both concerts begin at 6 p.m. They are part of the Jazz in July concert series sponsored by City Councilmember Rick Jennings. Seymour Park is at 845 Florin Road. Marriott Park is at 1235 Grand River Drive. For more information, call (916) 808-7007.

JULY IS JOURNALING MONTH!

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described it as “a self-examination that is entertaining and devastating in equal measure.” Readers can request a copy of the book at the library’s front desk before the event. On Saturday, July 28, the nonfiction book “The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America” by Richard Rothstein will be discussed from 2 to 3:15 p.m. at the library. The library is at 7335 Gloria Drive.

NEW TAPROOM OPENS ITS DOORS NONFICTION BOOKS UP FOR DISCUSSION AT THE LIBRARY On Saturday, July 7, the book “Little Failure” by American author Gary Shteyngart will be the subject of a discussion in the Community Room at Robbie Waters Pocket-Greenhaven Library. The event begins at 1 p.m. The New York Times called the book “a hilarious and moving memoir,” and Library Journal

A taproom called Hop Junction recently opened in Riverlake Village Shopping Center. The taproom serves bar food and beers on tap from small and large producers. It’s open from noon to 10 p.m. daily except Tuesdays. Hop Junction is at 7600 Greenhaven Drive.

LIBRARY OFFERS COOKING CLASSES FOR KIDS This month, hands-on cooking workshops for children will be held on Thursday afternoons at Robbie Waters Pocket-Greenhaven Library. The 45-minute classes start at 2 p.m. Children 6 to 12 are welcome. No registration is required. For more information, call (916) 264-2700. The library is at 7335 Gloria Drive.

WATER FITNESS CLASSES SET FOR SENIORS The Asian Community Center will hold Aqua Fit classes on Tuesday and Thursday mornings in July. The classes are geared for active older adults who want to increase or maintain their mobility. Water exercises will focus on strengthening cardiovascular health, range of motion, muscular strength and overall vitality.

Preregistration is required. The cost for the month is $72. The classes are limited to 30 students; drop-ins are welcome, at $10 per class, if space is available. The classes will be held from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. at 1180 Corporate Way. To register, contact Anna Su at (916) 393-9026 ext. 330.

JENNINGS TO MEET WITH CONSTITUENTS City Councilmember Rick Jennings will hold District 7 office hours on Thursday, July 19, at 6 p.m. in the Community Room at Robbie Waters Pocket-Greenhaven Library. This is an opportunity for constituents to discuss community concerns with the District 7 team. For more information, contact Yoon Chao at (916) 808-7007 or ychao@cityofsacramento.org. The library is at 7335 Gloria Drive. Corky Mau can be reached at corky. sue50@gmail.com. n

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Is The Mayor Being Reckless? STEINBERG WANTS TO DOUBLE A ‘TEMPORARY’ SALES-TAX HIKE

f all you knew about the performance of Mayor Darrell Steinberg in office was what you read in the pages of The Sacramento Bee, two things would be apparent. First, you’d think Steinberg was that rarest of creatures: a politician incapable of making a misstep or a bad policy choice. Second, you’d be woefully ill-informed about the potential downside consequences of his policies—and some of the cynical political calculations behind them. Since the June primary, the mayor has been a man on fire. His first salvo was to publicly press the City Council and city voters to support his campaign to double the “temporary”

CP By Craig Powell Inside City Hall

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one-half-percent sales-tax hike known as Measure U, which was approved by voters six years ago as an emergency response to city service cuts in the Great Recession. He seems not to care that Measure U was sold to voters as a temporary tax designed to fill the coffers of a recession-battered city. Neither the mayor nor The Bee bothers to point out that city revenues have fully recovered from the recession. City revenues have risen 16 percent over the past two years and were up 6 percent last year. The mayor and The Bee have also failed to mention that the city’s labor costs soared 8.5 percent last year on the heels of pricey new city union contracts and soaring pension costs. How pricey? Under the new police contract, officers with more than four years on the job were given 17 percent pay raises (not counting the impact such raises have on city pension costs), while average annual increases in the CPI were less than 1.3 percent over the past four years. The city’s budget is out of control and facing substantial future deficits not because of any shortfall in city

revenue but because of spiraling city salaries; unconstrained pension and retiree health care costs; a failure to implement city staff’s repeated advice over the years to transition out of reliance on the “temporary” Measure U sales-tax hike (which expires next March) by setting aside prudent reserves from its revenues; the diversion of city revenues from the demise of redevelopment to wasteful and misguided city venture-capital programs; the diversion of hotel taxes to subsidize a second white-elephant $240 million expansion of Sacramento Convention Center, which already bleeds $18 million of red ink annually; a unions-enforced refusal by Steinberg and the City Council to outsource selected functions like convention center management, park maintenance and, yes, ambulance services, to lower-cost private-sector firms; and the mushrooming number of new programs launched in the past 18 months under Steinberg. While the mayor promises to spend the $100 million that a 1 percent sales-tax hike would generate ($50 million from renewing the expiring

Measure U tax hike and $50 million from the doubling of it) on antipoverty programs in low-income neighborhoods and building new affordable housing, the truth is that the mayor cannot lawfully make any binding promises on how the money would be spent. He’ll be asking the City Council and voters to approve a “general tax” hike, which requires only a majority vote to pass, as opposed to a “special tax” hike, which requires a two-thirds-majority vote for approval. A general tax hike is one in which there can be no restrictions on how the city spends the money. And with the city bleeding red ink for all of the reasons listed above, it is a virtual mathematical certainty that, unless the city dramatically changes its current spending practices (and there are zero signs of that), the entirety of the tax increase will be eaten by escalating city expenses.

TAMING THE CITY’S PENSION MONSTER The city’s annual pension contribution to CalPERS from its general fund is forecast to increase $54 million by fiscal year 2024–25, up from $75 million today to $129 million in six years. The bill is likely to go even higher due to changes in CalPERS funding rules. And should the stock market experience a major reversal (not a matter of “if” but “when”), the city’s pension bills will rocket up even more. It’s not like the city is powerless to rein in its pension and retiree health care costs. The latter benefit can be phased out by the City Council any time it chooses to, by compelling high-income retirees (firefighters and police) to cover their own retiree health care costs not covered by Medicare and encouraging lowerincome retirees to claim Affordable Care Act subsidies for which they’re eligible. Pension costs can be controlled, first, by controlling salary hikes, which determine pension-benefit payments. The city can also insist that all city employees pay one-half of all city pension costs, including half of the major cost of making up for unfunded pension obligations, a cost currently borne entirely by city taxpayers. Yes, it will require councilmembers to stand up to city unions that scream whenever such reforms are considered. But taxpayers should not be stuck with paying for well over half the cost of rich pension benefits that are far greater than most city taxpayers could ever dream of enjoying. The city should also be fully prepared to implement further pension reforms in the event the California Supreme Court grants municipalities the flexibility to trim pension benefits prospectively (i.e., trimming benefits that accrue from services rendered by employees in the future), as many court observers expect it to.

A REMOVABLE BARRIER If the City Council can summon the political will to trim labor costs (a

huge “if” given the outsized influence city unions have on the council), there still remains one barrier to council’s reclaiming control over the budget: mandatory arbitration of labor disputes with the police and firefighters unions, the city’s two most powerful unions. Decades ago, when no one was paying much attention, city voters ill-advisedly approved a charter amendment, sponsored by the two unions, to remove the City Council’s ultimate authority over large chunks of the city budget. Without mandatory arbitration, a city that reaches an impasse with one of its unions can, at the end of the day, choose to impose the terms of its “last, best and final” offer on the recalcitrant union, which preserves the council’s discretionary power to appropriate taxpayer money. But under mandatory arbitration, the council loses a great deal of control over the city treasury, and a thirdparty arbitrator wields the power to appropriate taxpayer funds. What’s more, under mandatory arbitration, the arbitrator is not allowed to negotiate a compromise settlement. Instead, the arbitrator can only approve the final offer of the city or the union. If the council proposes a labor contract that reins in pension costs, it will likely be stuck trying to convince an arbitrator to go along with the cost cuts. Studies show that labor costs are almost always higher in cities subject to mandatory arbitration provisions in their city charters. Sacramento would be very well-served if the City Council this August were to place a measure on the November ballot removing the mandatory-arbitration provision from the city charter. The power to spend taxpayer money should belong exclusively to the voters and their elected representatives, not unelected labor arbitrators.

INCREASING SALES TAXES INCREASES POVERTY Traditional liberals consistently opposed hikes in regressive taxes. Since sales taxes aren’t based on a person’s ability to pay the tax

or their income level, sales taxes are considered the poster child of regressive taxes. They most hurt the poor (including the homeless), seniors on fixed incomes and working families with modest incomes. Such people typically have little to no discretionary income at the end of the month. A hike in the sales tax means they have less to eat and can drive less, buy fewer items of clothing for their kids and purchase fewer prescribed medications. The affluent have the discretionary income to absorb a sales-tax hike without sacrificing any of the necessities of life. It is richly ironic that Steinberg is proposing to use the proceeds of a poverty-enhancing sales-tax hike to fund new anti-poverty programs in Sacramento’s lowincome neighborhoods. Given the abject failure of legions of state and federal anti-poverty programs to reduce poverty over the past 50 years, it’s borderline lunacy to hurt Sacramento’s poor with higher sales taxes to launch a new anti-poverty program that has almost no chance of relieving poverty.

STEINBERG’S PLAN We’ve known since the day after Measure U was approved by voters in November 2012 that cynical (and insincere) councilmembers were planning to seek a renewal of Measure U before it expired in 2019. But we didn’t catch wind of Steinberg’s plan to seek a doubling of Measure U until about six months ago. We assumed that Steinberg would do the prudent and fair thing and ask the City Council to submit to the voters a two-question ballot. The first question would ask, “Do you want to renew the expiring one-half-percent sales-tax hike?” The second would ask, “Do you want to double it?” That’s the prudent and fair approach to take, because many voters may want to renew the expiring tax hike to avoid city budget cuts but may have zero interest in doubling the tax hike. The two questions empower voters to make the distinction between the two very different questions.

But the mayor is reportedly planning to seek council approval for just a single ballot question: “Do you want to double the expiring Measure U tax hike?” He wants to deny voters the option of approving a renewal of the one-half-percent tax hike without doubling the tax hike. In other words, he wants to coerce voters into doubling the tax hike or face the prospect of city budget cuts. He pretty clearly plans to run a campaign designed to scare the hell out of city voters that, if they don’t double the tax hike, they’ll face draconian, worldending budget cuts. But if he really cared about avoiding the budget cuts and had respect for city voters, he’d offer them the choice of approving a renewal of the tax hike without doubling it, which a two-question ballot would do. The mayor’s hunger for ever-higher taxes is trumping his good judgment. Why is he doing it? Because, according to an individual familiar with the matter, his internal polling shows that he can get a majority of voters to buy into doubling the Measure U tax hike, but that offering voters the option of just renewing Measure U would undercut voter support for doubling it.

WILL FIREFIGHTERS UNION UNDERWRITE THE CAMPAIGN? We’ve received reliable City Hall reports that Steinberg is counting on the firefighters union to fund the lion’s share of the campaign to double the Measure U sales tax. Is that why he and the council decided to extend the term of the firefighters union contract until after the November election? Will the firefighters get their reward with a rich labor contract if the Measure U tax hike is doubled? And what will happen to Councilmember Jeff Harris’ longstanding effort to modify the firefighters union contract to jettison the current requirement that ambulance workers be crossqualified as firefighters, a needless rule that adds about $14,000 per year to the salaries of city ambulance drivers? Will Steinberg walk away TO page 15

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Telling Tales ROBBIE WATERS RECOUNTS HIS COLORFUL ADVENTURES IN NEW MEMOIR

here is only one Robbie Waters, and that’s probably a good thing. His legendary exploits, which stretch from police work to politics, would be dangerous to duplicate. Waters is 82 now and fairly quiet. He has successfully battled prostate cancer and skin cancer but has peripheral neuropathy in his feet, which means he needs a walker to get around. He can’t drive a car, and for a guy who always loved cars (T-birds, SUVs, police cars, anything with four wheels), the lack of freedom can be depressing. His wife, Judie, drives him around and drops him off, mostly at Freeport Inn. He phones her when he’s ready to come home. They live in Greenhaven, have been married for 58 years and communicate almost by telepathy. His life has been lived in public, which is no accident. That’s how he wanted it. He joined the Sacramento Police Department in 1958, when cops hid whiskey bottles in blue call boxes that stood on street corners. Unlike some of his early colleagues, Waters

RG By R.E. Graswich Pocket Beat

POC JUL n 18

wanted to be a respected, professional cop. He climbed the ranks and became a homicide lieutenant. And he began cultivating and generating more publicity than any other local cop, including chiefs. The publicity involved more than dogged detective work. Once, he was forced to serve as judge, jury and executioner. He was robbed in the parking lot of the South Land Park Post Office (he was there to visit a bar, not mail a letter), and he shot and killed one of the armed men who tried to rob him. The bullet pierced the crook’s forehead, between his eyes. The love Waters had for reporters and cameras didn’t always endear him to his superiors. Eventually, they bypassed him for captain. But Waters showed them. He took a leave, ran for county sheriff and won. He was a good sheriff until one night, when he got drunk, crashed his unmarked car and made headlines for getting locked up in his own jail. County voters rejected him after one term, but in an impressive act of political resurrection, Waters ran for Sacramento City Council, beat a diverse field and represented Pocket, Greenhaven and Valley Hi for the next 16 years. He left City Hall in 2010, beaten while running for a fifth term. For the past two years, he has been writing a book—not writing in the traditional sense, but telling stories about himself and recording

Robbie Waters and transcribing the words. The book is called “Through the Years: The Legacy of Robbie Waters,” and is published by I Street Press, the community publishing arm of the Sacramento Public Library. “I’m very pleased with how it turned out,” Waters says one afternoon at Freeport Inn. “I put everything in there, even the part about crashing my car. I knew if I left that out, people would jump on it and say I was covering up the story.” The book is no cover-up, nor is it sanitized or an angry retribution against people who have crossed Waters over the years. Waters is not angry about anything. He’s satisfied with his life, and the book shows it. “Through the Years” duplicates precisely the experience of sitting down with Waters over drinks and listening to him tell stories—

something I have done many times over the decades. His gravelly voice comes through on every page. On a few pages, that’s not a good thing. Waters makes several tone-deaf, dated references about encounters with AfricanAmericans, Asians and Latinos. An editor should have helped there. But otherwise the book is candid and precise as it reflects Sacramento through the eyes of someone who was there, saw much and remembered almost everything. Most chapters run a single page. The narrative is chronological, with police work intermingled with family life. In one chapter, Waters builds a home for his family in Greenhaven. Next, he describes what it’s like to get naked in a massage parlor and bust a prostitute. Police stories and his

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run for sheriff are the best chapters, presented in just-the-facts staccato. He has surprisingly little to say about his time at City Hall, a period of growth and fiscal calamity for Sacramento. He lists libraries and parks as his big accomplishments but says nothing about political intrigues, land-use decisions or budget priorities. He saves his fiercest attack for the late Mayor Joe Serna: “He was a sneaky, backstabbing, backroom kind of guy,” Waters writes. “Through the Years” is a book of anecdotes and news snippets, not of introspection or deep reflection. That’s appropriate, because that’s how the legend was built.

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FROM page 13 from his previous support for such a contract change in exchange for the firefighters’ funding his tax measure? Is it any wonder why voters these days are so cynical about the motives of politicians? The only effective way of sending the mayor the message that you won’t stand for being coerced at the ballot box is to vote no on doubling the sales-tax hike and force city politicians to do their jobs of responsibly managing city finances. A wrinkle: The California Business Roundtable is trying to qualify a state ballot measure that would require all local tax increases to be approved by a two-thirds majority of voters. It would also require that local tax measures specify how the proceeds of the tax would be spent. If it qualifies for the ballot and is approved in November, any renewal—or doubling—of the Measure U tax hike would require a two-thirds vote of city voters to pass, throwing a major wrench into Steinberg’s plans to raise taxes.

Craig Powell is a retired 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 (916) 7183030. n

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Place of Refuge IN OAK PARK, EXPLOITED WOMEN FIND A TEMPORARY HOME

Rachelle and Loren Ditmore

RG By R.E. Graswich City Beat

POC JUL n 18

achelle Ditmore has spent much of the past 18 years encouraging women to quit the sex trade and stop using harmful, illegal drugs. When women listen and accept help, Ditmore often gives them shelter. She finds places for the women and their children to stay and sleep, temporarily and

transitionally, even if that means they have stayed and slept in Ditmore’s house. But ask her what she thinks about men who exploit young women in Sacramento—ask her what she thinks about pimps—and you’ll hear a surprising answer. “The pimps in this neighborhood have my phone number, too, just like the women do,” she says. “They know they can call me for help. Pimps are not the enemy. They are broken people, just like the women.” Ditmore and her husband, Loren, run an organization called City of Refuge Sacramento in Oak Park. The couple started it when they were newlyweds almost two decades ago. Their goal was to help young women escape street life, drugs and sexual exploitation. Ditmore can’t remember how many women she has helped, but a conservative estimate would be between 150 and 200. City of Refuge operates from a handsome old brick building with black shade awnings on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, just up the road from City Fire Station No. 6. Ditmore can sit at a small table near the front door and watch the fire engine and ambulance come and go, which they do constantly. She can look out the window and recognize most of the people who walk, ride, run, roll, stagger or skate along the sidewalk past City of Refuge’s door. When she sees someone she knows, she stops her conversation, leaves the table, runs to the door and yells a greeting. Since she knows just about everybody in Oak Park, her conversations are a tapestry of breaks and non sequiturs, woven across interruptions and introductions, always returning to her mission of helping people in need. “We believe in nurture over nature,” she says. “When you help someone, when you nurture them, it’s never in vain.” Next door to City of Refuge headquarters is a big, empty lot, wide and deep enough for two houses at least. The land has been scraped flat, down to the weeds. Nothing is there except dirt and a fence to keep intruders and trouble out. But the empty lot is special. Its terrible past holds the future for City of Refuge. “We worked with the city and we now own that property. It’s ours,” Ditmore says. “We don’t have a dime right now to do anything with it, but we have big plans.” When the lot is developed, a new mission will rise from an awful memory. Three decades ago, a house on the property was

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frequented by Morris Solomon Jr., a handyman who rebuilt old homes. He was also an ex-convict with a history of violence toward women. And Solomon was a serial killer. Around 1986, he began murdering women in Oak Park, prostitutes and drug addicts, ghostly sisters to the women Ditmore would give shelter to years later. Solomon murdered at least six women, ages 16 to 29, before being captured by police in 1987. He hid a body on the lot that now belongs to City of Refuge. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The fact that something so terrible could be associated with that property, but that we could turn it into something that provides hope to people, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s an amazing opportunity,â&#x20AC;? Ditmore says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It means life comes full circle.â&#x20AC;? Solomon received the maximum penalty for six murders and is now waiting out his days on death row in San Quentin. In Oak Park, life moves ahead. Gentrification pushes south from Broadway. City of Refuge helps people left behind. The organization runs programs for young people. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Young people are an incredible resource. They grow up,â&#x20AC;? Ditmore says. The organization provides two residences to house sexually exploited women and their children. City of Refuge also has access to a room or two at the Oak Park childhood home of Police Chief Daniel Hahn. The rooms provide temporary and transitional shelter for women escaping the streets. Years ago, Hahnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mother, Mary Jean Hahn, who died in February, gave the house away rather than sell it. She expected the owners to treat the home as a community resource, and thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s what they have done. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Mary was the most amazing woman,â&#x20AC;? said the homeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s owner, RosaLee Hagstrom. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There was no contract or anything with us. She just trusted us to do the right thing. With the example she set, how could we not?â&#x20AC;? R.E. Graswich can be reached at reg@graswich.com. n

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The Art of Giving Back KERRI WARNER USES HER ARTISTIC SKILLS TO HELP LOCAL NONPROFITS

JL By Jessica Laskey Giving Back: Volunteer Proﬁle

Kerri Warner

erri Warner’s website describes her as a mixed-media artist, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. Warner is indeed a celebrated mixed-media artist known for collage, sculpture, mosaic and portraiture, but she’s also a deeply devoted community member who has held leadership positions at nonprofits such as Sacramento Ballet, HandsOn Sacramento and California Conservation Corps Foundation. And she’s donated her artistic skills to dozens of community projects. “I had never thought of using my art to give back to the community,” says Warner. “I really credit Michael Smith at Teichert for connecting those dots and opening the door for me.” Warner met Smith during her year with Leadership Sacramento, a program of Sacramento Metro Chamber that develops business and civic leaders through monthly classes and community-service projects. Smith initially asked for Warner’s artistic help on a volunteer project for River City Food Bank & Family Services, which was being rebuilt after a devastating fire. Warner created sculptures, refinished chairs and decorated the new lobby with portraits of Food Bank clients for her “Faces of Hunger” series. The originals were

POC JUL n 18

auctioned off to raise funds for the facility, and copies now adorn the lobby walls to make the space more inviting. “It was great to be able to work with the clients directly to hear how they wanted to present themselves,” Warner says. Since the Food Bank project in 2011, the Natomas resident has crafted artwork for 916 Ink’s The Imaginarium, Plates Cafe, Roberts Family Development Center and more. She’s also designed logos for NorCal Services for Deaf & Hard of Hearing. “All of these diverse projects give me the opportunity to learn something new,” says Warner, who got her start volunteering for Children’s Receiving Home as a teen and building sets, props and costumes for a community theater founded by her father and grandfather. “If someone says can you build a fence?, I say I don’t know and then figure out how to do it. Luckily, my husband has a lot of tools.” Warner credits her work with the Metro Chamber for introducing her to so many interesting organizations. “They do a great job of connecting the business community with nonprofits,” Warner says. “I get exposure to all of these groups doing wonderful things, and I get to help in my own way. I’m a firm believer in the idea that a little is enough if enough people do it.” For more information on the programs of the Metro Chamber, visit metrochamber.org. To see Warner’s work, visit kerriwarner. com. Jessica Laskey can be reached at jessrlaskey@gmail.com. n

The Heat

Is On DON’T LET HOT WEATHER SAP YOUR PLANTS OF LIFE

ast July, we had 11 triple-digit days, some topping 105 degrees. Such hot weather makes me want to stay inside, close the shades and sip a cool drink. However, gardeners know that plants need attention now more than ever. July is the peak time for water to evaporate from the soil and transpire from the plants, so we must be vigilant about watering. We also need to protect plants from heat and sun, monitor for pests, remove spent flowers, keep rampant growth in check and harvest regularly. Sacramento’s summers are bearable because of the Delta breeze, which drops temperatures 30 or even 40 degrees overnight. Most mornings

AC By Anita Clevenger Garden Jabber

are delightful, with temperatures in the 60s and brilliant blue sky overhead. If you can’t haul yourself out of bed before it gets unbearably hot, evenings offer some relief. You can even don a headlamp so that you can examine your garden hands-free after dark. There are some strategies for keeping your plants hydrated. Several inches of mulch will slow evaporation and keep roots cooler. Run sprinklers in the wee hours of the night or very early in the morning. Check whether soil is dry with a moisture meter or by digging into the soil, and adjust watering schedules and amounts accordingly. Potted plants need special care because their roots can get very hot and dry out quickly. Be sure that water is penetrating and moistening the soil, and consider repotting a plant if water runs out too quickly. I prefer a planting mix that contains coconut fiber, known as coir, which retains water well while still promoting drainage and aeration of the soil. Light-colored pots reflect heat and keep roots cooler than dark or black containers.

What should you do if a plant wilts during the day? First, see if the soil is dry. If it is, water immediately. If there is enough moisture, evaluate other causes. Sometimes plants wilt because they have gotten too much water or have developed a disease. Many plants require full or partial shade and will wilt and burn in the sun no matter how well they are watered. Even sun-loving plants can be injured when the heat and sun are especially intense. Protect fruit tree trunks by painting them with diluted interior white latex paint. Tomatoes, peppers and other fruit often get sunburned, developing brown, leathery patches. Tomatoes can also develop green shoulders or solar yellowing when it’s hot and sunny. To avoid sun damage, maintain a vigorous leaf cover on the plants and use shade cloth or screening to block some light. Temperatures alone can affect your crops. Tomatoes may stop setting fruit when temperatures are above 90 degrees during the day or below 55 degrees at night. Last year, many of my purple eggplants were a bright, sickly yellow. I was afraid that were unsafe to eat, so I

threw out at least 20 of them. After spending many hours scouring the internet to identify the problem, I finally decided that the hot weather had suppressed development of the purple pigment in the skin and that the color change was just cosmetic. As soon as temperatures dropped, the eggplants once again grew in a glossy black color. Summer is a great time to be a bug. We humans have to stay on the lookout for tomato hornworms and other pests that suck, chew, rasp or pierce plants. Spider mites love hot, dry conditions. They will drape webs on branches and suck juice from leaves, creating a stippled appearance. Blast them off with water, making sure that you hit the underside of the leaves to knock off their eggs. This technique also works to control aphids. You need a magnifying lens to see mite eggs, but clusters of yellow or orange bug eggs are clearly visible. Pick off the infested leaves and destroy them. Pick off immature and adult bugs by hand, or knock them into a bucket of soapy water. Use pesticides carefully and as a last resort. TO page 21

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Better Than Golf THE HUMBLE GAME OF DARTS HAS MANY CHARMS

ome of us who have been around Sacramento for a long time are thrilled when we learn the city is home to the world’s greatest something or other. It doesn’t matter what. Just learning that Sacramento claims ownership to something coveted in Tennessee and Chicago and Japan and Brazil gets us excited like children on Christmas morning. And when that world’s greatest something involves sports, our joy soars. Which is why I haven’t stopped talking about Magic Darts once I realized what it was: the world’s greatest emporium for darts and dartboards, sitting proudly on Auburn Boulevard north of Madison Avenue.

RG By R.E. Graswich Sports Authority

POC JUL n 18

John and Kelly Baxter I may be guilty of slight exaggeration here. Allen Louderback, who works as the retail manager for Magic Darts, says, “If you exclude Europe, we are probably the best in the world. We ship product everywhere. We’ve had people come to the store from China, Japan, Mexico, Brazil, New Zealand and other places, just to see it. This diplomat came by—I think he was the ambassador of Tanzania—to do some shopping.” What Louderback means is that there might—just possibly—be a dart shop equal to Magic Darts in England or Australia, places where darts are religiously observed. But in the United States and Asia, nothing comes close. Magic Darts is more than just a darts store (as if that wasn’t enough). It also stocks hundreds of pool cues and thousands of dice and cards. It

even sells mahjong tiles and neon beer signs. But darts are the main attraction. John Baxter, who owns Magic Darts with his wife, Kelly, was a professional darts player. He toured the world and made a fortune in tournaments before retiring to the relative calm of life as a Sacramento shopkeeper. One great thing about visiting Magic Darts, aside from the sheer volume of inventory that overwhelms the first-time visitor, is the customer service. Before they sell a darts set to a novice, they will teach you everything you need to know to be successful at darts. The knowledge won’t create an extraordinary darts player; that takes years of practice. But the Magic Darts customer will walk away from

the store looking good and talking a great game. Louderback ran me through his school. It took about 30 minutes. Right-handed or left? Lefties prefer darts with forward weight. Are your hands large or small, rough or smooth? Women throw slightly lighter darts. Face the dartboard more or less sideways. Weight on front heel. Head lined up over front foot. Arm straight out, horizontal. Bring dart back until the flight (the stabilizer behind the barrel) almost brushes your face. Throw. Body frozen except forearm, wrist and hand. Wrist does all the work. Be sure to follow through. “Pros will use just two muscles when they throw,” Louderback tells me. “You’re using about seven. If you keep that up, you’ll get tendinitis

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sleepdesign.com and youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll have to give up darts. That would be terrible.â&#x20AC;? Next to the practice board at Magic Darts is a photo of Phil Taylor, the greatest player in history with 16 world titles. In the photo, Taylorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s arm is following through. It looks like Michelangelo could have painted it. Taylor worked in a factory that made toilet parts in Stoke, England. He was discovered in a pub, playing darts. Great players are often discovered in pubs. The pub connection is intriguing. Some players believe drinking beer actually improves their ability to place darts precisely where they need to go to score the various point combinations to win. The experts at Magic Darts donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t swallow that theory. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t drink at all,â&#x20AC;? Louderback says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Maybe one or two pints help people warm up, but that would be it.â&#x20AC;? Women make excellent darts players. They tend to listen and learn better than men, so their form is often superior. They are patient. They tend to like the economy of the gameâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;a

set of three excellent darts can sell for anywhere from $50 to $200, and good bristle boards cost around $70â&#x20AC;&#x201D;and the fact that the game is domestic. â&#x20AC;&#x153;When women see their husband spending $100 on darts and practicing at home, rather than spending $300 on a single golf club and spending all day on the golf course, they like darts,â&#x20AC;? Louderback says. Basic competency can arrive quickly with darts, making the game fun and fast. The downside is something called â&#x20AC;&#x153;dartitis,â&#x20AC;? a mysterious psychological condition that turns excellent players suddenly hopeless. And thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the darts themselves. A few days before I visited, Louderback accidentally shoved a dart tip into his palm. Darts are weapons. They keep us humble. R.E. Graswich can be reached at reg@graswich.com. n

FROM page 19

For your Real Estate Needs...

Things grow and change quickly in the summer. Make sure that vigorous plants and weeds donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t take over and smother their frailer neighbors. Remove spent flowers to promote continued bloom. Pinch back Thai or Italian basil frequently and remove flower spikes to encourage bushy leaf growth. Keep tucking tomatoes into their cages or tying them onto supports. Harvest vegetables regularly to ensure continued production and quality. Can you do all of this and stay out of the heat and sun? Just in case you canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t tear yourself out of the garden as the day gets hotter, be sure to don a hat and sunglasses, put on sunblock and take along some water whenever you go outside. Periodically get into the shade or retreat inside. Pay attention to yourself, not just your plants. Anita Clevenger is a Sacramento County UC Master Gardener. For answers to gardening questions, call the UC Master Gardeners at (916) 876-5338 or go to sacmg.ucanr.edu. n

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High Spirits

Master distillers Brian Keck, Kevin Keck, Gail Keck, Mike Moore and Chris Johnson.

LOCAL FAMILY MAKES ORGANIC VODKA USING POTATOES

Dk By Duffy Kelly Shoptalk

POC JUL n 18

acramentans might remember Arden resident Dr. Kevin Keck, who served as chief of medicine at Kaiser Permanente, as a clinical professor of medicine at UC Davis and as the beloved leader of Cub Scout Pack 518. His 40-year career in health care took him, along with his wife Gail and three children (Phillip, Laura and Brian), to Portland. Board certified in pediatrics and internal medicine, he led the historic and

successful turnaround of Providence Medical Group as chief medical officer and worked in palliative and hospice care. Now he’s back home, and what a gift he and his family are bringing to Sacramento: J.J. Pfister Distilling Company, a state-of-the-art distillery that produces 650 bottles a day of certified organic, sustainably distilled, gluten-free, top-shelf vodka, gin, whiskey and brandy, all made from

potatoes. The gleaming facility has shiny brass and chrome pot stills, column stills, a tasting room with brick walls and rich wood paneling, a bottling room and a museum to honor the family’s entrepreneurial spirit that goes back to the 1860s, when Kevin’s grandfather, J.J. Pfister, brought the first knitting machine to San Francisco. (He made the country’s first full-body swimsuits, worn by bathers at the turn of the century.) So how did J.J. Pfister Distilling come to pass? This is where 31-year-old Brian Keck enters the scene. He, like his father, was born with a keen interest in science—chemistry in particular. He graduated from Santa Clara University with degrees in finance and chemistry before earning master’s degrees in chemistry at UCLA and in viticulture and enology at UC Davis. Klamath Falls organic potato grower and Keck family friend Mike Noonan approached Brian with an idea. Whole Foods purchases perfect potatoes from Noonan, leaving behind ones that are not the desired shape or size. That amounts to roughly 1 million pounds of potatoes per year. Noonan thought Brian and his father would be the ideal people to head up a distillery featuring spirits made from organic potatoes. Noonan knew Kevin as someone always up for a challenge. He was right. “I happen to know it’s very good for your brain to learn new things,” says Kevin. What tipped the scales for the Kecks was the unique twist the

Klamath Basin presented to the in a stream until they like the flavors proposition. The Klamath area is a coming through. “We’re tasting, “pinch point” for migrating birds feeling, smelling and relying on each traveling along the Pacific Flyway. other at every step,” says Johnson. The birds rest and fatten up in They make gin by steeping wetlands in the Klamath Basin. coriander, lavender flowers and Noonan’s farming practices call for juniper berries in the vodka base. organic fertilizing techniques, but The crew has recipes for a London potatoes need lots of nitrogen. Bird dry gin, a juniper-forward gin and a droppings are loaded with the stuff “New World” style that is more citrus and are ideal for adding nitrogen to forward. “We will be laying down the soil the natural way. Noonan some whiskeys, including a bourbon floods his fields during the birds’ and a rye, and a few brandies using migration period to create wetlands. Apple Hill apples and local grapes,” The wetlands provide birds a safe says Kevin. resting place, the bird droppings feed Gail heads up the aesthetics—logo, the soil and no artificial chemicals labels and facility decor—and oversees are needed to grow a huge crop of the museum, which showcases Greatpotatoes. “The largest population of Grandpa’s knitting machine. She also bald eagles in the lower 48 is located handles tastings and bookings. in this area, so we can be part of a Together, the family works on the nice environmental plus with our vision, the distribution and number product,” Kevin says. The Kecks crunching, all the while thinking donate 1 percent of their distilled of the overarching family principle spirits sales to help preserve and that helped make J.J. Pfister such create these wetlands. a respected success. “J.J.’s value How do the Kecks make vodka or proposition was customer service gin? and quality,” says Kevin. “We won’t They start by washing, grinding sacrifice on either.” and cooking the potatoes in water that’s heated to 190 degrees. Enzymes J.J. Pfister Distilling Company is at help break down the starches to 9819 Business Park Drive. For more simple sugars. Next, they push the information on tours, tastings and mix into a fermenter. After a while, private parties, email info@jjpfister. the mixture goes through stills, com or go to jjpfister.com. n which increase the alcohol content and capture the ethanol in a stepby-step fashion. As the liquid moves between a series of plates, the ethanol rises and the water falls away, leaving 95 percent alcohol when it reaches the top of the last plate. Then, with reverse osmosis and filtered water, the mix is proofed. Brian works with master distillers Mike Moore and Chris Johnson, whom he met at UC Davis. Moore and Johnson taste all along the Master distillers Chris Johnson, Brian Keck and Mike Moore. way, dabbing a finger

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Corner Comfort NOTHING IS THE SAME FOR THIS RANCH-STYLE HOME

t is not unusual for people to stop in front of Carla Serra and Gary Ackerman’s home in Wilhaggin just to admire the corner lot’s lush landscape. Elegant Japanese maples dot a curving berm edged with decorative rock. Showy, colorful annuals and perennials, in

CR By Cathryn Rakich Home Insight

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varying heights and textures, take turns blossoming with each season. Grapevines twist up a white arbor that frames a stately row of windows, bedecking a comfortably appointed porch. As captivating as the front yard is now, it was not always so. Mulberry trees, liquidambars, oleander bushes, a magnolia tree and a massive amount of ivy dominated the landscape. The roots were so overwhelming that the couple had to hire a logging company from Auburn to remove the trees, as well as a bulldozer to dig out the ivy. “We had a hard time because the roots had gone under the foundation,”

Serra points out. “We were pulling up roots that were huge.” Serra, recently retired as an orthopedic surgical nurse at Kaiser Medical Center in South Sacramento, and Ackerman, a dentist whose office is in Carmichael, purchased the 2,300-square-foot home in 2014 after looking for a neighborhood that would be convenient for both their commutes. “We were trying to find a middle ground and a nice area. This worked best for us,” says Serra. In addition to completely transforming the front and back yards, the new homeowners gutted the interior right down to the studs and renovated the entire house before

taking up residence in May 2015. “Other than the basic footprint, nothing is the same,” notes Serra, who also has a degree in interior and exterior design. The three-car garage, which was “basically falling apart,” says Serra, was the first to be overhauled so the couple could use it for storage while they revamped the rest of the house. Structural changes throughout the home included adding cathedral ceilings, removing walls, widening the hallway and installing additional windows. “The house was very dark,” comments Serra. A sliding glass door to the backyard was replaced with three sets of French doors. “We

wanted an open floor plan that also led to the backyard. So if the French doors are open, it adds to the space in the house.” The master bathroom was split in half to create a pantry in the kitchen and a laundry room near the bedrooms. Carpeting was ripped out and hardwood floors were installed. The original two fireplaces, one with dated lava rock, were redone with Italian porcelain tile. A sliding decorative barn door conceals a new wine bar off the living room. The kitchen was remodeled with white cabinets and black granite countertops, with a reverse color scheme on the island. “I designed the island to be like a furniture piece,” says Serra. “Storage, microwave and dishwasher are all incorporated.” The only things that were not removed in the overgrown backyard were the patio and “gargantuan” pool, which was green with black mold, according to Serra. The original owners “let each of their sons design a portion of the pool, so no angle matches anywhere. Eventually, we will have to do something about that.”

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The couple also made maximum use of the side yard, where they added a seating area with an outside fireplace made of flat rocks from Montana. The side of the house can be important, “especially on a corner lot,” notes Serra. “You can recapture space. A lot of times you lose acreage to the front yard, but most people don’t sit in the front yard.” The side of the house also is where the couple gardens. Four large water troughs hold an array of vegetable plants. Multiple fruit trees line up along the fence. There are plans for a shed that will be designed like a barn. “I’m very eclectic. I like what I like, and I just put it together, and it works for me,” says Serra, who has added decorative elements throughout the landscape. “I like a touch of Asian flair. But because it’s a ranch house, I mixed country in with it, too, so you see a little bit of everything.” Remaining on the list of future projects is finishing the master bedroom, which will include adding back a master bathroom. Serra, who has relaunched her business, Designs by Serra, since renovating her Wilhaggin home, has tips for people considering a remodel. “A lot of people don’t get professional advice,” she says. “They start a project and end up wishing they would have—or having to do things twice because they didn’t think of things. And if you really want something bad enough, get what you want. A lot of people want something and a contractor will talk them out of it, and they usually regret it.” If you know of a home you think should be featured in Inside Publications, contact Cathryn Rakich at crakich@surewest.net. n

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Honorees Edie Baker, Sheree Johnston with Inside Publisher Cecily Hastings

Adventure Capitalists TWO WINNERS OF THE WOMEN WHO MEAN BUSINESS AWARDS TALK SHOP

n April, Sacramento Business Journal announced the 14 winners of its 23rd Annual Women Who Mean Business awards. The winners were honored at the Hyatt Regency

JL By Jessica Laskey Shoptalk

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on June 15 for their leadership, entrepreneurship, perseverance, passion and commitment to their industries and communities. I recently spoke to two winners who own businesses across from each other on Folsom Boulevard in East Sac: Edie Baker, owner of Chocolate Fish Coffee Roasters, and Sheree Johnston, president and owner of East Sac Hardware—to find out what it really takes to be a woman who means business. Both women were nominated by Inside Publications publisher Cecily

Hastings, who won the award in 2017. “I championed both of these women because they have found great success in the retail sector. These days that is very challenging,” said Hastings. “Additionally, they both have been successful in fields that have been traditionally male-dominated.” Both Baker and Johnston are active members of the East Sacramento Chamber of Commerce. Johnston was a major donor to Friends of East Sacramento’s effort to save the Clunie Community Center and the McKinley Rose Garden in 2012.

What does this award mean to you? Edie Baker: I’m really honored. It means that our business is making a positive contribution to our local community and people are happy with our coffee and our business as a whole. Sheree Johnston: I’m very humbled to be one of the group chosen. On July 1, it will be 10 years since I took over the operation of East Sac Hardware at the height of the recession. We were at a fork in the road: close the store or forge a new

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e got back from a trip around 5pm on Monday and discovered the coils on the rail had broken and we could not open our garage door. We called and spoke to Russ. He was able to come over and do an after hours service call. He Àxed the coils and completed all repairs in less than an hour. We found their prices reasonable and they provided excellent customer service. He was very thorough and helpful. I had a great experience. - Ana K. on

path. With the help and hard work of my employees, family, trade reps and local tradespeople, we were able to achieve a new vision. It’s nice to be recognized. Why do you think it’s important to support womenowned businesses? EB: I believe it’s important to support all our local businesses. It’s important to keep us all sustainable so our communities continue to grow and stay economically viable. SJ: I know the struggles women face to be business owners. However, I don’t want to be looked at as a successful woman business owner. I want to be looked at as a successful business owner. Do you see a change in the business landscape in Sacramento? EB: I think there’s a great diversity of business owners here. It’s not just a young person’s game. More owners have had previous careers and are bringing those talents to their new businesses. There’s a great

camaraderie. When one business is successful, we’re all successful. Why do you love being a business owner in Sacramento? EB: Sacramento has been changing over the years and becoming a place on the map for so many things. We’re excited and proud to be part of this development. This venture has opened our lives to many different experiences, and we feel very lucky that Sacramento has embraced our business with such gusto. SJ: Over the past 30 years, it’s become harder and harder to stay in business in California. However, when all is said and done, the thing I love about being a business owner in Sacramento is being able to give back to my community. It’s very satisfying to see so many people enjoying themselves at an event your business helped sponsor. Any exciting projects on the horizon? EB: We’re continually growing our wholesale business—you’ll notice Chocolate Fish Coffee in many more

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restaurants and espresso bars. We recently opened our third location in Land Park, and there’s even more that I can’t talk about just yet! SJ: We’re currently doing a 10-year update. We’re refining our product mix to better serve our customers’ needs and launching a new store-within-a-store concept. We’re also continuing to work on The Grommet @ESH, which has helped more than 2,500 makers, inventors, entrepreneurs and small businesses launch innovative consumer products over the past two years. We’re always working to have the latest and coolest products alongside the old standbys. Chocolate Fish Coffee Roasters is at 4749 Folsom Blvd., 400 P St. and 2940 Freeport Blvd. For more information, go to chocolatefishcoffee. com. East Sac Hardware is at 4800 Folsom Blvd. Visit eastsachardware. com. Jessica Laskey can be reached at jessrlaskey@gmail.com. n

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The Doctor Is In AS A W AS WOMAN OMAN O OF FC COLOR, O LO R , S SHE HE IIS SA R REAL-LIFE E A L-L I FE DOC D O C MCSTUFFINS MCSTUFFINS

s a teenager in Richmond, Letitia Bradford knew she wanted to go into medicine. During a summer program for high school students at UC San Francisco, she decided she would study there—not realizing it was the most competitive public medical school in the country. She got in. Then, as a medical student at UCSF, Bradford decided to specialize in orthopedic surgery. A male adviser told her that orthopedic surgery is only for “strong guys.” She’s been practicing orthopedic surgery for 13 years. “Men will tell you that it’s all about brute strength,” Bradford says, “but it’s really all about technique. I get it done.” Bradford has always been good at getting it done, whether that was studying for her medical board exams with a newborn (“I don’t recommend it, but I got through it,” she says) or traveling from her home in the Pocket area to King City—a three-and-a-halfhour drive from Sacramento—two weeks a month to practice at the only community hospital for 100 miles. “Medicine is hard,” Bradford admits over a secret-menu tea concoction at Starbucks. “It’s long

JL By Jessica Laskey Meet Your Neighbor

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hours. You’re never on time for anything. You’re always rippin’ and runnin’.” Growing up in the foster care system, she played as many sports as she could, including volleyball, basketball and softball. That introduced her to the idea of studying sports medicine. While earning her bachelor’s in physical education at UC Berkeley, she participated in campus organizations like the Student National Medical Association. (She served as president of the local chapter and regional director.) She also played club basketball. A torn ACL deepened her commitment to becoming a physician. “My doctor had a horrible bedside manner,” Bradford recalls. “He treated me like a piece of meat. I vowed that I would never treat my patients that way.” In medical school, she was one of only five African-American females in training in the country. After completing her residency at UCSF, she moved to Yuba City in 2005 to be closer to her ex-husband and share custody of their now-21-year-old son. As a locum physician (a doctor who works temporarily to fill gaps in care), she was asked to work a stint at Mee Memorial Hospital, a community hospital and rural health clinic in King City. “It’s incredible to work in such a small community,” says Bradford, who is now the hospital’s director of orthopedic services. “You spend so much time nurturing relationships with people that they really become part of your family. You hold their

Dr. Letitia Bradford hands to calm them down. You care for multiple generations of the same family. You go to services for them when they die. A lot of people think we look at patients as just a problem to be solved, but they really mean something to us.” Bradford encourages others to pursue their doctoring dreams. When her 6-year-old son became interested in the animated Disney Junior TV show “Doc McStuffins” (whose main character is an African-American girl who wants to be a doctor), Bradford saw an opportunity to reach future female physicians of color. “Here was this little brown girl talking about medicine,” Bradford says. “My friends and I started talking about how we’re all like reallife Doc McStuffins.” They formed an informal group called We Are Doc McStuffins, and Disney Junior aired “We Are DocMcStuffins” shorts featuring

several real-life female physicians, including Bradford. She also helped found Artemis Medical Society, an organization of more than 2,500 female African-American physicians and medical students representing 39 states and six countries. In her work with Artemis and as a member of The Perry Initiative, which mentors young women to be leaders in medicine and engineering, Bradford hopes to inspire girls to greatness. “So much was given to me that I need to give back,” Bradford says. “The village helped me get where I am today, so now I’m going to help the village.” For more information on Artemis Medical Society, go to artemismedicalsociety.org. Jessica Laskey can be reached at jessrlaskey@gmail.com. n

Pastor, Get Your Gun FANNING THE FEARS THAT GROW IN THE DARK

he very first time anyone ever called me “Pastor” was during the early 1980s at First Baptist Church of Hopland, Calif. For 52 Fridays in 1981, I left my seminary classroom in the Bay Area and drove 100 miles with my wife, Becky, to my weekend pastorate. Parishioners often hosted us in their homes, but eventually they converted a Sunday-school classroom into a kind of bed-minus-breakfast room for their newlywed pastor. The church ladies strove for a homey feel, covering our poster bed with doily pillowcases and a homemade quilt. They welcomed me as their faithful, fun and fearless pastor. Fearless, that is, until I wasn’t. Our clapboard church building was wedged between an interstate highway and a railroad track, a highway for drifters. Late at night, the building moaned with unexplained noises. The empty building proved

NB By Norris Burkes Spirit Matters

to be an unsettling place for a young couple when the lights were off. There were summer nights when the wide temperature swings caused the floors to mysteriously squeak. Sometimes the winter wind harmonized with a thundering train, and we’d jerk from our sleep in fear that God’s wrath was coming through the walls. One Sunday afternoon, I raised my “security questions” to the deacons. “Who do I call if there’s a problem at night?” I asked. “Especially in the absence of a police force.” “Well,” suggested one older man, “If you’re a-scared, how’s about I loan you my .22 rifle?” I thought a minute about the NRA youth course where I’d qualified as a marksman first class. I accepted his offer, reassuring Becky I could revive my skills. I put my borrowed rifle under our bed and pulled it out at night. That’s when I’d walk the inside perimeter of the sanctuary looking for nonexistent intruders, swinging that rifle like some sort of third leg. One dark and stormy night, a man came pounding on our church door. At first, we played possum and tried to ignore him.

However, his knocking grew too intense. He seemed determined to break the door rather than retreat. We imagined a stowaway who’d jumped from a train in search of someone to harm. Becky egged me out of bed, and I ventured down the darkened church aisle with my flashlight. I stopped inside the vestibule, rifle at the ready, and loudly demanded to know the man’s intentions. From the other side of the locked door, he said only that he needed food and money. I tightened my grip on the rifle. I had a new wife to protect. I wasn’t inclined to entertain a stranger, even if it might be an angel, as suggested by Scripture. I recommended he go elsewhere but made no mention of my Remington argument. He heeded my prompting. In the years that have followed, I’ve done some serious soul-searching about rearming myself. I’ve had to ask myself, “What am I really afraid of? Who am I ‘a-scared’ of? Can a pastor really practice a gun-toting faith?” Hopland taught me that my desire to carry a gun only fanned the fears that I’d conjured up myself. That kind of fear can suck the meaning

completely out of life. When we succumb to those anxieties, we become the little boy afraid of the dark, imagining all kinds of no-good things. At the end of the day, I don’t like where those fears put me. So I lock my doors, keep reasonable vigilance and take comfort in Paul’s words of 2 Timothy 1:17: “For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” By the way, several weeks after our late-night disturbance, someone broke into our unoccupied church. They tore through our locked bedroom door and stole my trumpet, our pillows and the deacon’s rifle. Apparently, guns don’t protect themselves. Thus marked the end of my guntoting days. Norris Burkes will lead a free marriage retreat for military veterans July 20–22 at Sequoia National Park. For more information and registration, go to thenaturecorps. org/tour/sequoia. He will also speak at Sierra Arden United Church of Christ on Sunday, July 8, at 10 a.m. The church is at 890 Morse Ave. Burkes can be reached at comment@ thechaplain.net. n

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10 Great Things About America BY DINESH D’SOUZA

America provides an amazingly good life for the ordinary guy. Rich people live well everywhere. But what distinguishes America is that it provides an incomparably high standard of living for the “common man.” We now live in a country where construction workers regularly pay $6 for a latte, where maids drive nice cars and where plumbers take their families on vacation to Europe. Indeed, newcomers to the United States are struck by the amenities enjoyed by “poor” people in the United States. America offers more opportunity and social mobility than any other country, including the countries of Europe. America is the only country that has created a population of “self-made tycoons.” Only in America could Pierre Omidyar—whose parents are Iranian and who grew up in Paris— have started a company like eBay. Only in America could Vinod Khosla, the son of an Indian army officer, become a leading venture capitalist, the shaper of the technology industry and a billionaire to boot. Admittedly, tycoons are not typical, but no country has created a better ladder than America for people to ascend from modest circumstances to success.

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Work and trade are respectable in America, which is not true elsewhere. Historically, most cultures have despised the merchant and the laborer, regarding the former as vile and corrupt and the latter as degraded and vulgar. Some cultures, such as that of ancient Greece and medieval Islam, even held that it is better to acquire things through plunder than through trade or contract labor. But the American founders altered this moral hierarchy. They established a society in which the life of the businessman, and of the people who work for him, would be a noble calling. In the American view, there is nothing vile or degraded about serving your customers either as a CEO or as a waiter. The ordinary life of production and supporting a family is more highly valued in the United States than in any other country. America has achieved greater social equality than any other society. True, there are large inequalities of income and wealth in America. In purely economic terms, Europe is more egalitarian. But Americans are socially more equal than any other people, and this is unaffected by economic disparities. The American view is that the rich guy may have more money, but he

isn’t in any fundamental sense better than anyone else. People live longer, fuller lives in America. Although protesters rail against the American version of technological capitalism at trade meetings around the world, in reality the American system has given citizens many more years of life, and the means to live more intensely and actively. In 1900, the life expectancy in America was around 50 years; today, it is more than 75 years. Advances in medicine and agriculture are mainly responsible for the change. This extension of the life span means more years to enjoy life, more free time to devote to a good cause and more occasions to do things with the grandchildren. In many countries, people who are old seem to have nothing to do; they just wait to die. In America, the old are incredibly vigorous, and many people in their 70s continue to pursue the pleasures of life. In America, the destiny of the young is not given to them but is created by them. In most countries in the world, your fate and your identity are handed to you; in America, you determine them for yourself. America is a country where you get to write the script of your own life. Your life is like a blank sheet of paper, and you are the artist.

This notion of being the architect of your own destiny is the incredibly powerful idea that is behind the worldwide appeal of America. Young people especially find irresistible the prospect of authoring the narrative of their own lives. America has gone further than any other society in establishing equality of rights. There is nothing distinctively American about slavery or bigotry. Slavery has existed in virtually every culture, and xenophobia, prejudice and discrimination are worldwide phenomena. Western civilization is the only civilization to mount a principled campaign against slavery; no country expended more treasure and blood to get rid of slavery than the United States. While racism remains a problem in America, this country has made strenuous efforts to eradicate discrimination, even to the extent of enacting policies that give legal preference in university admissions, jobs and government contracts to members of minority groups. Such policies remain controversial, but the point is that it is extremely unlikely that a racist society would have permitted such policies in the first place. America has found a solution to the problem of religious and ethnic conflict that continues to divide and terrorize much of

the world. Visitors to places like New York are amazed to see the way in which Serbs and Croatians, Sikhs and Hindus, Irish Catholics and Irish Protestants, Jews and Palestinians all seem to work and live together in harmony. How is this possible when these same groups are spearing each other and burning each other’s homes in so many places in the world? The American answer is twofold. First, separate the spheres of religion and government so that no religion is given official preference but all are free to practice their faith as they wish. Second, do not extend rights to racial or ethnic groups but only to individuals; in this way, all are equal in the eyes of the law, opportunity is open to anyone who can take advantage of it, and everybody who embraces the American way of life can “become American.” America has the kindest, gentlest foreign policy of any great power in world history. Critics of the United States are likely to react to this truth with sputtering outrage. They will point to longstanding American support for a Latin or Middle Eastern despot, or the unjust internment of the Japanese during World War II, or America’s reluctance to impose sanctions on South Africa’s apartheid regime. However one feels about these particular cases, let us concede to the critics the point that America is not always in the right. What the critics leave out is the other side of the ledger. Twice in the 20th century, the United States saved the world: first from the Nazi threat, then from Soviet totalitarianism. What would have been the world’s fate if America had not existed? After destroying Germany and Japan in World War II, the United States proceeded to rebuild both countries, and today they are American allies. Now, we are doing the same thing with Afghanistan. Consider, too, how magnanimous the United States has been to the former Soviet Union after the U.S. victory in the Cold War. For the most part, America is an abstaining superpower: It shows no real interest

in conquering and subjugating the rest of the world. (Imagine how the Soviets would have acted if they had won the Cold War.) On occasion, America intervenes to overthrow a tyrannical regime or to halt massive human-rights abuses in another country, but it never stays to rule that country. In Grenada, Haiti and Bosnia, the United States got in and then got out. Moreover, when America does get into a war, it is supremely careful to avoid targeting civilians and to minimize collateral damage. Even as America bombed the Taliban infrastructure and hideouts, its planes dropped rations of food to avert hardship and starvation of Afghan civilians. What other country does these things? America, the freest nation on Earth, is also the most virtuous nation on Earth. This point seems counterintuitive, given the amount of conspicuous vulgarity, vice and immorality in America. Indeed, some Islamic fundamentalists argue that their regimes are morally superior to the United States because they seek to foster virtue among the citizens. Virtue, these fundamentalists argue, is a higher principle than liberty. Indeed it is. And let us admit that in a free society, freedom will frequently be used badly. Freedom, by definition, includes the freedom to do good or evil, to act nobly or basely. But if freedom brings out the worst in people, it also brings out the best. The millions of Americans who live decent, praiseworthy lives desire our highest admiration because they have opted for the good when the good is not the only available option. Even amid the temptations of a rich and free society, they have remained on the straight path. Their virtue has special luster because it is freely chosen. By contrast, the societies that many Islamic fundamentalists seek would eliminate the possibility of virtue. If the supply of virtue is insufficient in a free society like America, it is almost nonexistent in an unfree society like Iran.

The reason is that coerced virtues are not virtues at all. Consider the woman who is required to wear a veil. There is no modesty in this, because she is being compelled. Compulsion cannot produce virtue; it can only produce the outward semblance of virtue. Thus, a free society like America is not merely more prosperous, more varied, more peaceful and more tolerant; it is also morally superior to the theocratic and authoritarian regimes that America’s enemies advocate. America is far from perfect, and there is lots of room for improvement. In spite of its flaws, however, the American life as it is lived today is the best life that our world has to offer. Ultimately, America is worthy of our love and sacrifice because, more than any other society, it makes possible the good life, and the life that is good. Excerpted with permission from Dinesh D’Souza’s New York Times best-selling book, “What’s So Great About America.” n

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TO DO

THIS MONTH'S CULTURE & ENTERTAINMENT HIGHLIGHTS

2018 California State Fair July 13–29

jL By Jessica Laskey

1600 Exposition Blvd. • castatefair.org Ready for your corn dog and annual trip on the Giant Ferris Wheel? The California State Fair is back with all the rides, exhibitions, concerts, horse racing and weird and wonderful food you can handle.

Movies Off the Wall: “Idiocracy” Crocker Art Museum Film Series Thursday, July 5, 8:15 p.m. 216 O St. • crockerart.org “Idiocracy” is a cult classic that riffs on pop culture and our doomed future as a society based on stupidity. The courtyard opens at 7 p.m.—bring your own chair or rent a premier-seating cabana.

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Broadway at Music Circus California Musical Theatre “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” through July 1 “Disney’s Newsies” July 10–15 “Gypsy” July 24–29 1419 H St. • broadwaysacramento.com Catch the latest offerings from Sacramento’s summer tradition of Broadway-caliber theater-in-the-round featuring new musicals and cult classics.

Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers “Idiocracy” will show at Crocker Art Museum on July 5.

Active Chair Yoga With Alicia Patrice Sacramento Yoga Center Tuesdays and Thursdays, July 10–Aug. 30, 1:30–2:30 p.m.

Jazz Night at the Crocker Thursday, July 19, 6:30 p.m. 216 O St. • crockerart.org Lavay Smith and her band have lit up stages around the world with sparks of swing and traditional jazz with sounds reminiscent of Ella Fitzgerald and Dinah Washington.

2791 24th St. • (916) 548-7221 Using a chair to support the body when needed, explore the unlimited realm of possibilities for yoga off the floor. This class is accessible for anyone with knee, hip, vertigo or other challenge that makes getting up and down unpleasant.

RSVP Cabaret Night RSVP Choir Sunday, July 8, 5:30 p.m. 124 Vernon St., Roseville • rsvpchoir.org RSVP presents its first-ever cabaret-style variety show and dinner. Admission includes a catered buffet dinner, cabaret show, no-host bar and silent auction.

Drag and Comedy Extravaganza LoLGBTQ Sunday, July 15, 7 p.m. 2100 Arden Way • punchlinesac.com The fourth installment of the wildly popular comedy and drag show hosted by drag princess Suzette Veneti.

North Star Piano Trio Crocker Art Museum Classical Concerts Sunday, July 8, 3 p.m.

RSVP presents its ﬁrst-ever cabaret-style variety show and dinner.

216 O St. • crockerart.org Violinist Kristen Autry, cellist Alexandra Roedder and pianist Lynn Schugren make up this dynamic new chamber group that specializes in works by female composers.

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Enjoy food and drinks at the annual Let Them Eat Cake fundraiser.

Don't miss a comedy show hosted by drag princess Suzette Veneti.

16th Annual Let Them Eat Cake

Sacramento African Market Place

Sacramento Self-Help Housing Thursday, July 12, 5:30–8:30 p.m.

July 7 and July 21, noon–6 p.m.

723 S St. • sacselfhelp.org This annual fundraiser benefits the Sacramento Self-Help Housing organization, a leader in the “housing first” model of homelessness response that provides shared housing for nearly 200 homeless people at more than 45 sites. Guests will enjoy appetizers, beverage tastings and cake viewing, judging and sampling.

Bingo A-Go-Go CGNIE Sunday, July 8, 3–6 p.m. 1500 K St. • cgnie.org The most fun you’ll ever have playing bingo. This event will be hosted by Mr. and Miss Gay Sacramento as part of the Court of the Great Northwest Imperial Empire (CGNIE), which raises money for fellow nonprofits to promote human understanding.

2251 Florin Road • facebook.com/sacramentoamp Enjoy this indoor shopping bazaar featuring affordable handmade natural soaps and other skin products, perfume oils, African-American memorabilia, books, local music, African fashion and jewelry, food vendors, handmade dolls, handbags and more every first and third Saturday of the month.

DCI Capital Classic Sacramento Mandarins Drum & Bugle Corps Friday, July 6, 7 p.m. 8661 Power Inn Road, Elk Grove • mandarins.org Enjoy an evening of delicious food and drum corps entertainment all in one location. More than 1,000 musicians will perform their highly intricate precision marching and maneuvers, choreography and colorful pageantry. Food will be available for purchase. Jessica Laskey can be reached at jessrlaskey@gmail.com. n

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INSIDE

OUT

R Street Corridor board chair and developer Bay Miry and his wife Katherine Bardis enjoy the day.

Block Party Celebration on R Street CONTRIBUTED BY ANIKO KIEZEL The completion of the R Street Streetscape Improvement Project was celebrated June 16 with a day-long block party that included vendors, music and more. The improvements enhanced the streets and sidewalks along the R Street corridor between 13th to 16th streets and uniďŹ ed the two previous streetscape projects between 10th and 13th and 16th and 18th Streets. The overall enhancements included wider sidewalks, improved pedestrian crossings, tree canopies, street lighting, and upgraded storm drainage system.

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The Try Guy

f there’s one thing you need to know about William Ishmael’s home and studio tucked off Fair Oaks Boulevard near Watt Avenue, it’s this: He has artwork in the shower. If this sounds odd, allow me to explain why it seems natural in the stunning abode Ishmael shares (and designed) with his husband, landscape architect David Gibson.

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WILLIAM ISHMAEL EXPERIMENTS WITH MATERIALS TO CREATE ART WORTH TALKING ABOUT

Art is simply part of life for Ishmael, which you can tell from the wide range of artworks hung everywhere you look. Some are by friends, some by Ishmael. Others are collectibles from Gibson’s trips abroad. (The doors throughout their home, for example, are from 17th-century France). So why not have a painting hanging in the shower in the guest bathroom downstairs?

“We like looking at it,” the Kentucky native says with a shrug. “We thought our guests would, too.” Ishmael’s natural ease regarding the life artistic comes from more than 25 years as an artist, as well as 40 years as an engineer. (He worked on the Sacramento railyards from 1989 to 2007, an experience he references in a commission for the new Kaiser medical facility at 5th and J streets).

When painting quick watercolor landscapes on his breaks from work, he discovered the joys of large-scale painting and started to experiment with the unusual materials and techniques that now characterize his work. Ishmael is always trying new things. In the light-filled studio upstairs at his home, Ishmael’s current projects are laid out flat

on tables that take up most of the room. He’s experimenting with latex and sand over here, rust created with vinegar over there. His trials of India ink on Plexiglas hang together as a visual reminder of a solo show he did for Tim Collom Gallery. And the shower in the bathroom? You guessed it: It’s filled with paintings. “Once all the table space is taken, that means I can take a break,” Ishmael says. As relaxed as he is about his work environment, Ishmael takes his work very seriously. He spends the morning in his studio, then takes a midday break to attend meetings for his community

JL By Jessica Laskey Artist Spotlight

commitments. He was appointed to the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission in 2017 and chairs its Art in Public Places committee. He’s also on the board of Kingsley Art Club, which sponsors the prestigious Crocker-Kingsley art competition. “This flow works great for my life,” Ishmael says, pausing to ruffle his Labradoodle, Jasper. “I like alone time for a while, but then I get lonesome and like to be out in my community. Plus, I often need to leave a piece alone for a while to see what’s going to happen before moving on.” Ishmael is inspired by various concepts in his work, including the Buddhist maxim “form is emptiness.” He will explore the idea of wholeness and fragmentation in an upcoming exhibit at the Morris Graves Museum of Art in Eureka. But what is his foremost thought

when he’s creating works of art that tease the brain as well as please the eye? “Experiment,” he says. “And don’t be precious with the materials.” That would explain the paintings in the shower.

For more information about William Ishmael’s work, go to iamishmael.com. Jessica Laskey can be reached at jessrlaskey@gmail.com. n

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Ten Ten Room DOWNTOWN COCKTAIL SPOT DOES ADULTING RIGHT

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he word “adulting” has crept into the national vocabulary over the past couple of years. This unwieldy gerund is a catchall for 20-somethings and even some 30-somethings when they’re referring to activities that a responsible, grown adult should be doing. For instance, you might see a social-media post of a stack of paid bills, a tower of folded laundry and a bowl of salad with this caption: “Totally nailed adulting today!” What I think is missed in some of these ideas of adulthood is the simple pleasure of slowing down and luxuriating in a fine meal, a wellcrafted cocktail and the conversation of friends. It might feel a little oldfashioned to savor such simple things, but I’m pretty sure it’s the upside of adulthood—that is, being able to stop and appreciate the things you took for granted in your youth. Speaking of old-fashioned, Ten Ten Room, a dignified new Downtown cocktail lounge and restaurant, makes a lovely version of the classic cocktail by the same name. It also makes splendid versions of many drinks with familiar names to even the most casual bar patron: Harvey Wallbanger, Grasshopper, Manhattan. In fact, Ten Ten Room draws from postwar America for inspiration in much of its menu, aesthetic and confident swagger. Located at 1010 10th St., the small bar and restaurant took over the space formerly occupied by Megami Bento-Ya. That longtime outpost of simple, nontrendy Japanese fare shut its doors in 2016, and after an extensive remodel, Ten Ten Room opened last fall. The feel is dark and clubby. Not dance-club clubby, but old social-club clubby, with dark, polished woods, plush fabrics and burnished metals. In a library-style wall of shelves, glass bottles of spirits glint in what little

GS By Greg Sabin Restaurant Insider

light there is. When you’re sitting at the comfortable bar, chatting with a friend or a stranger, you definitely feel like an adult. The menu bristles with options pulled straight out of Sunset magazine circa 1957: meatballs with grape jelly, deviled eggs, shrimp cocktail. Each item is touched up with a highend preparation or added ingredient that elevates the dish and brings it into the now. A simple plate of potato chips and onion dip is far beyond the simple party food it emulates, with thickcut, house-made chips and indulgent, retro-fantastic dip. The deviled eggs get a punch from some “scotching.” A Scotch egg is a hard-boiled egg wrapped in sausage, then breaded and fried. Ten Ten goes a step further, deviling the egg before frying, so you end up with a nosh that stands up to the high-octane cocktails coming from the bar. In addition to traditional cocktails, the bar serves a few original creations that span the spectrum from tiki to cheeky. A drink called Forty Thieves is made with rum, coconut, pineapple and a float of sesame oil— an unexpected yet savory note that balances the drink beautifully. The Garden Party tastes of summer: vodka, strawberry, hibiscus and prosecco. It’s a warmweather treat. If you’re in the mood for more than a snack or looking for a preevent dinner spot a few blocks from Golden 1 Center, the limited but well-curated dinner menu offers some real standouts. First, let’s all applaud Ten Ten Room for serving reasonably priced, reasonably sized entrees. You won’t need a doggy bag, but you won’t leave hungry, either. Steak frites is $18, is a wonderful preparation and would be the pride of any steakhouse. The house-made

horseradish aioli punches the dish up, and the hand-cut fries are just right. Shrimp and grits ($16) show a sophisticated blending of cultures, taking the Southern staple and dressing it up with Spanish chorizo and romesco sauce. The resulting dish is complex yet comforting. There’s definitely no mention of this recipe in a 1950s homemaker’s guide. The casual sandwich menu is perfect for a Downtown lunch or a happy-hour bite. The garlic steak sandwich is reliable, and the shrimp po’ boy is a fair re-creation of the New Orleans standard.

Ten Ten Room is a welcome addition to Downtown. It’s a cocktail lounge and restaurant for folks who wish to savor the finer things as well as the simpler things. It straddles the line between hip bar and sophisticated haunt better than most that attempt it. It’s the rare place that feels as comfortable at noon as it does at midnight. Ten Ten Room is at 1010 10th St.; (916) 272-2888; tentenroom.com. Greg Sabin can be reached at gregsabin@hotmail.com. n

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INSIDE’S

DOWNTOWN Cafeteria 15L Classic American dishes with millennial ﬂavor 1116 15th Street • 916.492.1960 cafeteria15l.com

Chocolate Fish Coffee Roasters Award-winning roasters 3rd and Q Sts. • chocolateﬁshcoffee.com

de Vere’s Irish Pub A lively and authentic Irish family pub 1521 L Street • 916.231.9947 deverespub.com

Downtown & Vine Taste and compare the region’s best wines 1200 K Street, #8 • 916.228.4518 downtownandvine.com

Ella Dining Room & Bar New American farm-to-fork cuisine 1131 K Street • 916.443.3772 elladiningroomandbar.com

Esquire Grill Classic dishes in a sleek urban design setting 1213 K Street • 916.448.8900 paragarys.com

Firestone Public House Hip and happy sports bar with great food 1132 16th Street • 916.446.0888 ﬁrestonepublichouse.com

Frank Fat’s Fine Chinese dining in an elegant interior 806 L Street • 916.442.7092 frankfats.com

Grange Restaurant & Bar The city’s quintessential dining destination 926 J St. • 916.492.4450 grangesacramento.com

Hot Italian Remarkable pizza in modern Italian setting 1627 16th Street • 916.492.4450 hotitalian.net

R STREET

La Consecha by Mayahuel Casual Mexican in a lovely park setting 917 9th Street • 916.970.5354 lacosechasacramento.com

Ma Jong Asian Diner A colorful & casual spot for all food Asian 1431 L Street • 916.442.7555 majongs.com

Mayahuel Mexican cuisine with a wide-ranging tequila menu 1200 K Street • 916.441.7200 experiencemayahuel.com

Old Soul Artisan pastries and roasted coffee 555 Capitol Mall • oldsoulco.com

Preservation & Company Preserving delicious produce from local farms 1717 19th Street #B • 916.706.1044 preservationandco.com

South Timeless traditions of Southern cooking 2005 11th Street • 916.382.9722 weheartfriedchicken.com

Solomon’s Delicatessen Opening summer of 2018 730 K Street • Solomonsdelicatessen.com

OLD SAC The Firehouse Restaurant The premiere dining destination in historic setting 1112 2nd Street • 916.442.4772 ﬁrehouseoldsac.com

Rio City Café California-inspired menu on the riverfront 1110 Front Street • 916.442.8226 riocitycafe.com

Willie’s Burgers A quirky burger joint 110 K Street • 916.444.2006 williesburgers.com

Café Bernardo

French inspired bistro in chic new environment 1401 28th Street • 916.457.5737 • paragarys.com

European inspired casual café 1431 R Street • 916.930.9191 paragarys.com

Sac Natural Foods Co-Op

Fish Face Poke Bar

Omnivore, vegan, raw, paleo, organic, glutenfree and carnivore sustenance 2820 R Street • 916.455.2667 • sac.coop

Humble Hawaiian poke breaks free 1104 R St. #100 • 916.706.0605 ﬁshfacepokebar.com

Suzie Burger

Iron Horse Tavern Gastropub menu in an industrial setting 1800 15th Street • 916.448.4488 ironhorsetavern.net

Hook & Ladder Co. Hearty food and drink in an old ﬁrehouse setting 1630 S Street • 916. 442.4885 hookandladder916.com

Localis Local sourcing becomes a culinary art form 2031 S Street • 916.737.7699 localissacramento.com

Magpie Café Seasonal menus, locally sourced ingredients 1601 16th Street • 916.452.7594 magpiecafe.com

Shoki Ramen House Ramen becomes a culinary art form 1201 R Street • 916.441.0011 shokiramenhouse.com

THE HANDLE Ginger Elizabeth Chocolates Unmatched sweet sophistication 1801 L Street, #60 • 916.706.1738 gingerelizabeth.com

The Rind A cheese-centric food and wine bar 1801 L Street # 40 • 916.441.7463 therindsacramento.com

Mulvaney’s Building & Loan Farm-fresh New American cuisine 1215 19th Street • 916.441.6022 mulvaneysbl.com

Zocolo

FREE Initial

Living Trust Consultation

Mark J. Lamb Call (916) 485-2593 Attorney at Law

Wills•Trusts•Probate & Special Needs Trusts

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2725 Riverside Blvd., Ste. 800

Lambtrust.com

Burgers, cheesesteaks and other delights 2820 P Street • 916.455.3500 • suzieburger.com

Sun & Soil Juice Company Raw, organic nutrition from local farms 1912 P Street • 916.341.0327 • sunandsoiljuice.com

The Waterboy Classic European with locally sourced ingredients 2000 Capitol Ave. • 916.498.9891 waterboyrestaurant.com

Biba Ristorante Italiano Legendary chef, cookbook author Biba Caggiano 2801 Capitol Avenue • 916.455.2422 biba-restaurant.com

Federalist Public House Signature woodﬁred pizzas and local craft beers 2009 Matsui Alley • 916.661.6134 federalistpublichouse.com

The Red Rabbit Kitchen & Bar A focus on all things local 2718 J Street • 916.706.2275 • theredrabbit.net

Skool Japanese Gastropub Inventive, Japanese-nuanced seafood 2319 K Street • 916.737.5767 skoolonkstreet.com

Tapa the World Traditional Spanish & world cuisine 2115 J Street • 916.442.4353 tapatheworld.com

Revolution Wines Urban winery and kitchen 2831 S Street • 916.444.7711 • rev.wine

Temple Coffee Roasters 2200 K Street • 2829 S Street 1010 9th Street • templecoffee.com

Tastes inspired by the town square of Mexico City 1801 Capitol Avenue • 916.441.0303 zocalosacramento.com

Old Soul at The Weatherstone

Old Soul

OAK PARK

Artisan pastries and roasted coffee 1716 L Street (rear alley) • oldsoulco.com

GET PEACE OF MIND FOR LIFE’S “WHAT IFS”

Paragary’s

MIDTOWN Centro Cocina Mexicana

Artisan pastries and roasted coffee 812 21st Street • oldsoulco.com

La Venadita Hot spot for creative Mexican cuisine 3501 3rd Avenue • 916.400.4676 lavenaditasac.com

Mexican cuisine in a festive, colorful setting 2730 J Street • 916.442.2552 paragarys.com

Oakhaus

Lowbrau Bierhalle

Old Soul

Modern-rustic German beer hall 1050 20th Street • 916.452.7594 lowbrausacramento.com

Artisan pastries and roasted coffee 3434 Broadway • oldsoulco.com

Block Butcher Bar Specializing in housemade salumi and cocktails 1050 20th Street • 916.476.6306 blockbutcherbar.com

A modern take on a traditional hof brau 3413 Broadway • 916.376.7694 • oakhaussac.com

Vibe Health Bar Clean, lean and healthy breakfast and snacks 3515 Broadway • 916.382.9723 vibehealthbar.com n

Art Preview GALLERY ART SHOWS IN JULY

TOP RIGHT CLOCKWISE This month, Tim Collom Gallery presents “Go Figure,” featuring figurative works by Melinda Cootsona and Margarita Chaplinska. Shown: “Tea Garden” by Cootsona. 915 20th St.; timcollomgallery.com Archival Gallery presents an exhibition of new sculptures by Stephanie Taylor and photography by Jesse Vasquez July 10–31. Shown: a photograph by Vasquez. 3223 Folsom Blvd.; archivalgallery.com John Natsoulas Gallery presents Bud Gordon’s richly textured abstract paintings inspired by urban landscape, from July 5–Aug. 11. Shown: a landscape by Gordon. 521 First St., Davis; natsoulas.com Sparrow Gallery presents a mixed-media invitational group show July 14–Aug. 6. Shown: “Flow,” detail of a photo encaustic by Dianne Poinski. 1021 R St., first floor; sparrowgallery.com ARTHOUSE Gallery presents “At the Beach,” featuring the art of Tj Lev and LaLa, July 14–Aug. 6. Shown: “Dog Pile” by Lev. 1021 R St., second floor; arthouseonr.com

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6505 OAK HILL DR, GRANITE BAY $974,900 Folsom Lake Estates! Priceless views. 4 bedrooms and 3.5 baths, this wonderfully built home is truly special. BRANDON & MANDY SHEPARD 916.479.1936 DRE #01701893/#01894353

105 ATFIELD WAY, FOLSOM $604,900 Located in a highly coveted area, this home boasts upgrades galore. Backyard has a solar heated pool and patio cover. BRANDON SHEPARD | (916) 479-1936 DRE #01701893

122 ROYALTON CIR, FOLSOM $499,888 Legends Gated Community. This lovely home has a living room, family room, master retreat and fruit trees. NEAL ALIE | (916) 224-9640 DRE #01082100

D EN

935 GLIDE FERRY WAY, SACRAMENTO $489,900 Fabulous single story 2bed, 2bath home in Gated Coleman Ranch! Meticulously maintained. LYNN LUK LEE | (916) 628-2843 DRE #01188377

4119 WOODWILLOW LN., ELK GROVE $419,999 Laguna West Lakeside Gated Community. Large Family room, Formal Dinning, Large Master Bedroom. NEAL ALIE | (916) 224-9640 DRE #01082100

9546 BLUE MOUNTAIN WAY $342,500 2SHQ ÂµRRU SODQ ZLWK ORWV RI XSJUDGHV throughout. Beautiful kitchen has granite counters and upgraded cabinets. BRANDON SHEPARD | (916) 479-1936 DRE #01701893

9254 HARROGATE WAY, ELK GROVE $300,000 Move-in ready Former Model Home with a pool, beautiful newer roof, freshly painted, new stove and more! MARTHA MACIAS | (916) 616-6600 DRE #01263611

3928 23RD AVENUE, SACRAMENTO $235,000 Beautiful! Move-in Ready! Newer Roof, Dual Pane Windows, Tile Floors, Ceiling Fans, Private Gate. MARTHA MACIAS | (916) 616-6600 DRE #01263611

314 ROUNDTREE CT, SACRAMENTO $199,950 Freshly painted, newer carpeting and so many upgrades. Move-in ready. Call today! JOHN WONG | (916) 531-7150 DRE #00620116