Inside the pocket jun 14 by Inside Publications

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EXCEPTIONAL HALFPLEX You owe it to yourself to check out this lovely and well equipped home. The only shared wall is in the garage. 4 bedrooms, 3 full baths and a .14 acre lot. Check out the granite counters, wet bar with wine fridge, and downstairs bedroom and bath. $345,000 CHRIS BRIGGS 834-6483

S LAND PARK HILLS AT ITS BEST Amazing renovation features 3 bedrooms 2½ baths with open concept living! Fantastic kitchen and baths boast quartz and custom cabinetry. Kitchen and living and dining combo connects to the yard through a beautiful wall of glass! $488,900 JAMIE RICH 612-4000

SOUTH LAND PARK TERRACE Spacious 3 bedroom 2½ bath home is light and bright throughout. The kitchen has lots of storage and a great eating area with views to the backyard. The well-manicured yard is ready for your personalization in the Àower bed areas. Meticulously maintained for your enjoyment. $469,000 TIM COLLOM 247-8048

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QUIET S LAND PARK Seller is the original owner of this custom home in a South Land Park cul-de-sac. 3 bedrooms 2 baths on .27 acre lot. Updated baths, original kitchen, hardwood Àoors under carpet. Newer roof, windows, HVAC. Call to see. JAMIE RICH 612-4000

RIVERGATE HOME Wonderful four bedroom home on a quiet street. This home has a great Àoor plan with lots of light! Private living room, kitchen family room combination and spacious master suite. Sliding glass doors in family room and master suite leading to generous sized backyard. $299,000 PAM VANDERFORD 799-7234

REMODELED SLP Amazing South Land Park 3 bedroom 2 bath home! Upgrades include remodeled kitchen and baths, real hard wood Àoors, shutters and crown moldings. Also featured newer dual pane windows, raised vegetable garden, Àowers galore in private, mature, woodsy yard! $400,000 MONA GERGEN 247-9555

SOUTH LAND PARK Potential abounds in this 3 bedroom ranch style home! Great circular Àoor plan, oversized family room and hardwood Àoors under the carpet waiting to be rediscovered. Beautifully paneled den with ¿replace. Great SLP opportunity. $475,000 CHRIS BRIGGS 834-6483

LOT ON THE RIVER Must see this beautiful lot! A rare opportunity to build your own home on a riverfront lot in the Little Pocket area close to the freeway and downtown. Riverside Blvd close to 35th Ave. Go by, walk around the lot and enjoy the Sacramento River. Call agent if you have questions. $259,000 MONA GERGEN 247-9555

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QUIET CUL-DE-SAC Nestled in a popular Greenhaven neighborhood, a comfortable well-maintained 3 bedroom 2½ bath home, with a functional Àoor plan with living room, separate family room with ¿replace and a screened patio to enjoy warm summer nights. Spacious rooms, 50 year roof, dual pane windows and built-in pool with solar heat. $345,000 STEPHANIE GALLAGHER 342-2288

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Signs of the Times POLITICAL LAWN SIGNS ARE FREE SPEECH, BUT ALSO DIVISIVE

BY CECILY HASTINGS PUBLISHER’S DESK

ith an election coming up early this month, political campaign signs have been prominently displayed in our neighborhoods for many weeks. This year, there are city council races in three of the four districts we serve. In the county, there’s a competitive race for district attorney, not to mention a couple of very competitive races for the state assembly and senate and a hotly contested race for the U.S Congressional District 7 seat. Within the city limits, campaign signs tend to be small ones posted on front lawns, with an occasional larger sign or two. In less congested neighborhoods, a few property owners post large signs along busy thoroughfares. This past weekend, I was in Napa and was astounded by the number of bold, 4-by-8-foot political signs along beautiful bucolic Highway 29. Within a single mile, I stopped counting at 25. Signs of this size are legal but regulated under state law. Some cities restrict their use to 30 days before an election. Other cities restrict them so much that no one even uses them.

While political signs are as old as our republic, new printing technologies have made them less expensive to produce, and they now come in more durable materials. They are more readily used these days to endorse a voter’s candidate of choice. Most political campaign consultants dislike them. They say they don’t produce winners and are a pain to store and distribute. On the other hand, candidates love them because they provide visible proof of the candidate’s support. Polls usually aren’t conducted for local races, so voting trends can be tough to call. It is understandable that candidates and their supporters want to count something to gauge their progress with the electorate. And I wonder if anyone ever made their decision based upon a lawn sign. I’ve seen some pretty effective campaign strategies that employed lawn signs. Four years ago, District 3 City Councilmember Steve Cohn was challenged by Chris Little, a relatively unknown and comparatively underfunded candidate at the start of the race. But Little walked every precinct and talked to voters early and often—all the while amassing a list of supporters who wanted lawn signs. A few months before the election, hundreds of Chris Little signs appeared almost overnight throughout the neighborhood. No doubt it signaled to Cohn that he had a real race on his hands. Three-term incumbent Cohn ultimately prevailed with 53 percent of the vote to Little’s 38 percent, but Cohn significantly outspent him. Sacramento district attorney candidate Anne Marie Schubert was

the first in my East Sac neighborhood to put up lawn signs this election cycle. This led to a bit of confusion among voters. I had several readers wonder why we didn’t include her in our question-and-answer coverage of the district’s city council race. The city code allows political or campaign signs on behalf of candidates for public office or measures on election ballots, provided that the signs are not erected earlier than 90 days before the election and are removed within 15 days after the election. A sign cannot exceed 6 square feet in area, or about 2 feet by 3 feet.

Another relatively common practice is for candidates to post signs on commercial property without the owner’s permission. It’s illegal to post political signs in public right of ways. Yet as I ride my bike on the mile-long stretch of Elvas Avenue in East Sac, I see numerous illegally posted signs for three council candidates on the railroad right of way. I see the same practice in other parts of town for other candidates. When they appear in parks I take them down myself. To me, that illegal practice just shows an amateurish campaign desperate for attention. Although commercial property owners have the same right to post as residents, their signs often

exceed the city’s legal size limit. Another relatively common practice is for candidates to post signs on commercial property without the owner’s permission. In many cases, an unsuspecting property owner doesn’t see it for a while—maybe never. The candidate hopes he or she will get away with it long enough to gain some visibility. While retail business owners also have the right to post political signs, I am always surprised when they do. My sense is that a business owner might not want to risk alienating potential customers. Truth be told, I am not a fan of political lawn signs. My husband and I put up signs many years ago but have sworn off it for several reasons. I believe that political signs tend to polarize neighbors. I’ve heard stories of neighbors yelling at each other in their yards over political differences. That is not good. With a country desperately polarized politically, I’d prefer our neighborhoods be gentler and more tolerant places. I find it easier to develop relations with neighbors without getting into politics. As a publisher covering local political races, I’d rather not have my neighbors know my voting preferences. While major newspapers routinely endorse candidates, they have relatively faceless editorial boards that zealously assess candidates for endorsement. We, on the other hand, strive to embed our business into the communities we serve. Even though we employ dozens of writers, I tend to be the public PUBLISHER page 7

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Jousting Match DEBATE HIGHLIGHTS DIFFERENCES BETWEEN COUNCIL CANDIDATES

BY R.E. GRASWICH POCKET BEAT

packed house watched Sacramento City Council candidates Julius Cherry and Rick Jennings agree, sidestep and verbally assault each other in a spirited District 7 debate sponsored by Inside Publications May 8 at Robbie Waters Pocket-Greenhaven Library. It was my honor to serve as moderator. The event was the first opportunity for the public to hear directly from the candidates in a classic debate format. After directing Jennings and Cherry through a series of prepared questions, I turned the forum over to the candidates and invited them to question each other. Cherry, an attorney and retired Sacramento City fire chief, surprised Jennings, CEO of a nonprofit for families and a former school board member, by asking him to sign a “fair campaign” pledge against political attack ads. The pledge would require both candidates to “hold a joint press conference to publicly condemn and repudiate any such negative campaigning,” no matter which candidate was being attacked.

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After signing his copy of the pledge, Cherry pushed the document toward Jennings and asked him to sign. Jennings declined, noting, “This is the first time I’ve seen this.” He said he needed to review the document. Jennings added it would be “irresponsible” to sign an agreement without a complete understanding of it, including its legality. “I’ll wager my attorney’s license it’s legal,” Cherry said. Cherry made several references to what he called “dark money” coming into the District 7 campaign on behalf of Jennings. Cherry said secretive funds were being used to produce direct-mail pieces attacking him. Such campaign ads, known as independent expenditures, are common in politics. Shadow groups that operate under benign, nebulous names raise money independently and pay for the ads. Under state law, independent-expenditure groups are prohibited from having direct contact with any candidate. Jennings told the audience he could be the victim of an independentexpenditure attack from Cherry supporters. He added there was no legal mechanism for a political candidate to control independent expenditures, and thus no way for a candidate to accept responsibility for negative ads produced by independent expenditures. In the moderated portion of the debate, I asked the candidates a variety of questions important to residents in District 7, which includes Greenhaven, Pocket and Valley Hi. The questions ranged from the candidate’s positions on Sacramento River levee homeowners who have

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7385 Greenhaven Dr Suite 1 | Sacramento, CA 9583 | www.iyatkd.com blocked public access with private gates, to their thoughts on the arena and “strong mayor” initiative on the November ballot. Jennings and Cherry both expressed sympathy for levee homeowners whose privacy may be compromised by public access to the river. Yet both said they support public access. “The gates are going to come down,” said Cherry, noting the city will have to determine appropriate compensation for levee homeowners. Jennings accused Cherry of being inconsistent on the levee-access question, adding the essential concern was safety for residents whose backyards would be exposed when the private gates are removed.

Both candidates did some sidestepping. Another area of controversy involved Mayor Kevin Johnson, who has endorsed Jennings. In various campaign materials, Cherry has used the phrase, “I’m not the mayor’s favorite candidate, but I’d like to be yours.” Jennings accused Cherry of dirty politics by highlighting the close relationship between Jennings and Mayor Johnson. “It’s the truth,” Cherry said. Mayoral initiatives exposed two other fault lines in the District 7 race: the strong-mayor charter revision and public funding for the downtown

arena. Jennings favors both, while Cherry opposes both. Jennings said strong-mayor initiatives have worked in numerous cities. Cherry countered that the charter revision could inspire corruption. On the arena, Jennings said the project was “transformative,” an opportunity that would not be repeated for decades in Sacramento. Cherry focused on the debt service required for the $258 million publicarena subsidy and said the city could not afford it. Both candidates did some sidestepping. They largely ducked questions about campaign funding limits and political reforms. From the moderator’s chair, the event was fascinating, a study in contrasts. I have known Cherry and Jennings for years and like them both. The debate gave the audience a chance to confirm the characteristics that distinguish the men: Jennings is not as smooth or polished; Cherry does not speak with the same urgent passion. Both have inspiring personal stories, and both have long histories in District 7. My impression is Jennings is the hungrier of the two. Finally, there’s this: the presence of two African-American men as finalists to represent a city council district that’s about 18 percent black testifies to the color-blindness of our community. That’s a victory no matter who wins. R.E. Graswich can be reached at reg@graswich.com. n

PUBLISHER FROM page 5 face of our papers. In my own East Sacramento neighborhood, I’m involved with neighborhood and business associations and run a nonprofit that maintains McKinley Rose Garden and Clunie Community Center. We need to solicit volunteers and raise funds each year, and any polarization among neighbors makes those jobs more difficult. We also need to work with whoever wins the local elected offices on coverage of issues in our neighborhoods. Political recriminations are always possible. I’ve seen some deep memories among elected officials. Lastly, I believe political signs tend to make our neighborhood streets less beautiful. Sadly, struggling neighborhoods tend to have far more illegal signs and postings than better neighborhoods. The freedom to publicly endorse candidates is an important part of your constitutional right to freedom of speech. But so is the right to keep your voting preferences private.

At a recent city council meeting, Councilmember Steve Hansen recalled a great quote I first heard years ago from Lady Bird Johnson: “The clash of ideas is the sound of freedom.” Maybe—despite my own thoughts to the contrary—that is the appeal of posting political signs on one’s property.

DAY OF GIVING UPDATE The Sacramento Region Community Foundation and its partners spent months gearing up for the BIG Day of Giving on May 6, which I covered in my column last month. They hoped to raise $1 million in donations and $250,000 in matching funds. The results far exceeded that goal: $3,020,000 was raised from 18,915 donors among 394 local nonprofit organizations. Sacramento ranked second in the entire country in terms of total donations. To those of you who joined the effort, we offer a great big thank-you! Cecily Hastings can be reached at publisher@insidepublications.com. n

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Steer Clear SIDEWALK FRUIT VENDORS ARE BREAKING THE LAW

buying is safe,” he said. “You just don’t know with the street vendors.” Bottom line: Kingpins profit significantly on the backs of street vendors, and the produce is not trustworthy. Steer clear.

ROAD RAGE BY SHANE SINGH POCKET LIFE

idewalk fruit stands are a common sight in the Pocket and Greenhaven area. Where do these fruits come from? Impossible to say, which means serious health issues can result from merchandise purchased from these sidewalk vendors. Under local health and safety codes, cut fruit can’t be sold in a cart without a sink and refrigerator, and whole fruit can’t be sold on a street or sidewalk. According to Bob Rose, the city’s chief of code enforcement, “There are health implications for food items. Is the food safe? Are the pesticide levels appropriate?” Rose explained that the sidewalk fruit economy is ruled by local “kingpins” who obtain the produce and employ the street vendors. The vendors get dropped off to sell the fruit, often working long shifts without water, shade or restroom facilities. “Vendors out there all day in the heat without running water, soap and hygiene are one of the many issues,” Rose said. Rose noted that the best way to enforce the city code is to confiscate the produce. “This hurts the

POCKET JUN n 14

Some Pocket streets, like this one shown above, still have not been repaved after the city's 2010 water meter installation project

kingpin,” he said. “The street vendor likely doesn’t even know that it is illegal.” The city works with the county’s Environmental Management Department to conduct stings and confiscate illegal produce. “Our point is to educate the vendors,” said Rose.

“We try to go after the kingpins rather than the individual vendors.” Rose recommended buying your produce at a certified farmers market rather than from a sidewalk vendor. “The consumer will at least then know that the stuff that they are

Remember the construction that took place in 2010, when city contract crews tore up streets and sidewalks in the Pocket to install water meters? At the time, there were complaints about substandard repairs to concrete and landscaping. Now, those problems are becoming worse. Said Pocket resident Crystal McMurtry: “My street was torn up. They dug trenches, dug up the sidewalk and made these holes. The asphalt packing they did to fill the holes is sinking. Some places are worse than others. Now, besides the speed bumps, you are dealing with holes. Wish they would repave to fix it.” McMurtry consulted a city website that tracks road resurfacing. Her street is one of the last slated for resurfacing. “It’s not fair that we had a nice street and it now looks like a Third World country road right here in Sacramento!” she said. “In addition to the holes from the water meter installation, the road now has weeds and cracks.” McMurtry is frustrated. “We love our neighborhood, and my husband has lived in the area most of his life,” she noted. “But if we were homebuyers looking in the neighborhood today and knew nothing about the great history here, the conditions of the streets that were

included in the meter installation process would be a negative factor in our decision-making process.” She has made inquiries with Councilmember Darrell Fong’s office. We will check to see if any improvements have been made to her street.

played basketball in the Christian Youth Basketball League, baseball through Pocket Little League and soccer with Greenhaven Soccer Club. “These organizations got me hooked on sports as a SCHOOL SPIRIT small child,” he said. This fall, he’ll head High school graduation is just to UCLA to study around the corner. So now’s the mechanical engineering. perfect time to recognize John F. “They have one of the Kennedy High School senior Joey Healow, who will graduate this month top-ranked programs in the world, and you with a 4.5 grade point average. He can’t beat Westwood didn’t exactly take an easy load, weather,” he said. “I excelling in Advanced Placement developed a passion for courses in calculus, physics, world this field when I took history, U.S. history, English Student participants from last year's Matsuyama Elementary School July 4 Fun Run an AP physics course at language and composition, English literature, government/economics and Kennedy last year.” For his senior project, Spanish. and field with jumps and throws as course. The race begins at 8 a.m. at Healow built a dune buggy. When he wasn’t busy with Matsuyama Elementary School (7680 well. The bleachers will go in next: He’s an example of the kind academic pursuits, Healow played new bleachers for both the home Windbridge Drive), which is also the of person our community and an three varsity sports: water polo, perfect place to watch the subsequent and visitor sides. The last phase is excellent public education system can Spirit of the Pocket parade. For more a permanent ticket/restroom/snack basketball and volleyball. We asked him to pick his favorite. “I don’t think produce. We wish him all the best at bar building.” Sweitzer expects the information, go to matsuyama.scusd. UCLA. I have a favorite,” he said. “I like project to be completed by the end of edu or email ChairFunRun@gmail. them for different reasons. Basketball the summer. com. was definitely more serious than the This work is long overdue. Recent SLY PARK FUN RUN STUDENT TRAP others, and we accomplished more, conditions at the Kennedy playing Community members of all ages getting deep into playoffs and playing surface have been horrendous on This column has raised questions at Sleep Train Arena. However, water are invited to support the 19th annual about the sanity of building a new good days. (Don’t ask about rainy polo and volleyball are tons of fun and Matsuyama Elementary School Fun days.) Student athletes have suffered campus for Brookfield School next to give me a release valve from the stress Run/Walk on July 4. Proceeds will be injuries as a result of the damaged The Trap, a saloon at 43rd Avenue used to send the school’s sixth-grade of AP classes.” Healow was named and Riverside Boulevard. For a while, turf. Our final two words on the students to a weeklong camp at Sly to the basketball and water polo All renovation: About time! the school project appeared dead. Park. Metro teams. Then, a cyclone fence appeared and Registration is $15 before the Before Kennedy, Healow attended heavy equipment began to grade the SUMMER READING event, $20 on the day of the race. Martin Luther King K-8 and Sutter parcel. Participants can select a 5k or 8k Middle School. As a youth, he At a community meeting, residents FREEBIES expressed frustration over the lack of information from city hall. Now, construction crews are kicking up dust and noise. This project demands attention.

FIT FOR FEET

Neighbors need to beware of local street side fruit stands

After years of neglect, the sports facilities at John F. Kennedy High School will receive upgrades, thanks to bond measures passed in November 2012. “They have begun the stadium and will demo the entire site,” said principal Chad Sweitzer. “The first phase is an all-weather turf track

Read books! Win prizes! Free for all ages! Now that we have your attention, it’s time to sign up for the summer reading program at Robbie Waters Pocket-Greenhaven Library. Kids who sign up are eligible for a free ticket to a Kings game. (Children with free tickets must be accompanied by an adult with a paid ticket.) For more information, drop by the library at 7334 Gloria Drive. Shane Singh can be reached at shane@shanesingh.com. n

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Balanced in Name Only SMALL BUDGET SURPLUS IS NO CAUSE TO BREAK OUT THE CHAMPAGNE

BY CRAIG POWELL INSIDE CITY HALL

here is only a tiny handful of policy wonks who actually look forward to the release each year of the city manager’s proposed city budget for the fiscal year that starts on July 1. I’m one of them. City budget manager Leyne Milstein drove that point home in my interview of her last month, joking that I was one of only three people who have actually read the document that only a wonk could endure, much less enjoy. But endure it I did and, knowing that most of you don’t spend your nights curled up with the city budget, I’m offering you the CliffsNotes version of it this month. The good news is that after five years of battling chronic budget deficits, city manager John Shirey is proposing a $383 million generalfund budget that actually ekes out a small $2 million budget surplus. (The total city budget, which includes fee-collecting “enterprise funds” like city utilities, the convention center and marina, is actually $872 million, but most attention is paid to the city’s general-fund budget, which funds basic city services such as police, fire, parks, etc.) That means no cuts next year in services or city employees.

POCKET JUN n 14

All three of the city’s primary sources of income (property, sales and utility user taxes) are expected to grow modestly next year with Sacramento’s very modest economic recovery. The city will see a onetime bump in property taxes from the rapid return of housing prices to 2008 levels, which will lead to a quick restoration of reassessments for many (particularly newer) homeowners. The 11 percent utility tax on city utilities is generating a gusher of new taxes for the general fund as a result of three years of double-digit hikes in water and sewer rates. (The final year of hikes kicks in on July 1.) But the city decided in 2012 to set aside those fresh revenues ($3.8 million next year) to fund a new subsidy program to insulate low-income homeowners (but not low-income renters) from the impact of the major run-up in water and sewer rates. Given the city’s coming fiscal problems (see below), don’t be surprised if this new welfare program gets the ax sometime in the next few years. The one-half-cent sales tax hike approved in 2012, Measure U, is expected to bring in $31 million next year, up from $29 million this year. The city, having already used current Measure U money to reopen all browned-out fire stations, plans to use it next year to hire 14 new sworn police officers and preserve 10 police positions that are funded with expiring grants. Measure U, however, expires in five years, and city officials have announced no plans to adapt the city budget over the next few years to a post-Measure U world. My city hall sources report that city officials hope to make the case to voters in

2018 that an extension of the tax is essential to avoid cuts in city services, which may be considered by some residents who voted for Measure U a breach of faith since it was sold as a temporary fix of the city’s temporary budgetary problems.

The good news is that after five years of battling chronic budget deficits, city manager John Shirey is proposing a $383 million general-fund budget that actually ekes out a small $2 million budget surplus. On the expense side of the budget, the city is actually “bending the cost curve” and reining in health-care costs for current employees. From 2009 until 2013, the city’s cost of health care per employee rose from about $10,500 to more than $15,000. By offering city employees a $2,000 incentive (all right, call it a bribe) to shift from traditional insurance coverage to a high-deductible, healthsavings-account-based health plan, the city, for the first time in memory, is actually holding the line on healthcare costs on a year-over-year basis. With the arrival of the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare), the city is dealing with the ACA’s

requirement that benefits be provided to all employees working “full time,” meaning 30 or more hours per week. Like private employers, the city is making sure that part-time employees do not exceed 30 hours per week without having a darn good reason for doing so. Also, the city is expected to be caught by the ACA’s 40 percent excise tax on “Cadillac” health-care coverage beginning in 2018 due to the generosity of its coverage. The Cadillac tax kicks in on individual coverage valued at more than $10,200 annually and family coverage valued at more than $27,500 annually. One question that remains unanswered is whether the city could reduce its health-care costs for current and retired employees if it were to shift health coverage for lower-paid workers from city plans to plans offered under the ACA, taking advantage of the significant ACA subsidies. Several cities around the country are actively considering such shifts. Human resources director Geri Hamby, however, was unavailable to discuss the issue. A major uncertainty for the city in planning next year’s budget is that it’s negotiating new contracts with each of its major unions. The city and the police union are locked in binding arbitration that will result in a highrisk “winner take all” resolution, with one side or the other prevailing based on the terms of its last best offer. The city is trying to compel police to pay their full “employee’s share” of pension contributions, which amounts to 9 percent of their salary. The only significant change in the city’s fiscal circumstances since Measure U was approved by voters in

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Call Terry Mulligan 768-3796 2012 has been the councilâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s approval of the arena deal and issuance of up to $325 million of arena bonds. The arena bonds will impose a projected $21.9 million annual hit to the general fund, softened by the $6.5 million annual lease payments (which will increase 3 percent annually) from the Kings owners. The city plans to cover the net $15.4 million shortfall, at least in the first three years, by borrowing more on the arena bonds and by tapping a modest one-time $6 million liquidity reserve that the city plans to fund from the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hotel tax. After the first three years, the city expects to cover the shortfall through a major increase in city parking profits, according to city treasurer Russ Fehr, despite the fact that close to one-half of city parking garage spaces are being handed over to the Kings owners as part of the arena deal. But there is a disconnect between Fehrâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s projection that the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s parking profits will increase by $7.5 million and Milsteinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s far more modest projection that city parking revenues and expenditures will grow

by 1 percent to 2 percent annually for the next five years. Fehr claims that the city plans to rapidly grow parkingmeter profits by expanding the number, hours, rates and locations of parking meters in the city. If so, either no one told Milstein or sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not buying the projected rapid rise in parking profits.

On the expense side of the budget, the city is actually â&#x20AC;&#x153;bending the cost curveâ&#x20AC;? and reining in health-care costs for current employees. Fehr claims that measures to hike parking profits are not being designed merely to raise revenue for the arena. According to Fehr, the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s public works department developed the measures to â&#x20AC;&#x153;modernizeâ&#x20AC;? the parking system and use it most

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efficiently. This is, to put it charitably, balderdash. The plan to increase parking profits was developed solely to fund the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s arena obligations. If the plan to greatly increase parking profits had originated in the public works department, the city budget director would have been privy to the plan and wouldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve included the higher profits in the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s five-year budget forecast. Why is this rather obscure budgetary issue so important? Because the Legislature enacted a statute in 1943 limiting how local governments can use profits from municipal parking. It provides that such profits can be used only to fund a municipalityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s parking operations and may not be used for any other purpose (like making arena bond payments). Fehr is trying his best to portray his plan to spike parking profits as an ongoing city effort to â&#x20AC;&#x153;modernizeâ&#x20AC;? city parking and make it more â&#x20AC;&#x153;efficientâ&#x20AC;? in order to shoehorn his arena financing plan into the state law that strictly limits the use of muni profits to supporting parking operations. In my view, and as a

president from Texas used to say, that dog wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t hunt. A taxpayer suit may be brought against the city to enforce the state law restriction on the use of parking profits (or under Proposition 26, which limits the amount a government can charge for certain fees to the â&#x20AC;&#x153;reasonable costâ&#x20AC;? of services). If such a suit succeeds in embargoing parking profits from being used to make arena bond payments, the city will have to scramble to fund the $15.4 million annual arena bond funding shortfall through other means, most likely by using the tried-and-true method of cutting city services. The city manager is projecting that the general fund will return to deficit in two years, starting with a $2.2 million deficit in 2016, a $12 million deficit in 2018 and by 2019, due to sharp increases in pension contributions mandated by CalPERS and the 2019 expiration of Measure U, leaping to $41 million of red ink. If higher parking profits are either CITY HALL page 14

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Steinberg’s World CORRUPTION AT THE CAPITOL COMPLICATES THINGS FOR THIS POCKET POLITICIAN

BY R.E. GRASWICH

clothing, a guy with striped shirts and brown shoes. He polished up his act in the Assembly from 1998 to 2004, acquiring a taste for pinstriped suits and skilled barbering and a slower cadence in speeches.

POCKET BEAT

he senator from the Pocket was at a coffee shop trying to make a point about his integrity, explaining that he was proud of his career and he was not like some of his colleagues, the corrupt ones. As the senator spoke, people walked in front of him to get coffee. The interruptions broke the pace. “Sorry, excuse me, hello there,” the senator would say before returning to the thickets of political integrity and senatorial corruptions. “I believe I have conducted myself with integrity,” he was saying. “I feel terrible about what’s happened. I have a hard time sleeping.” None of this is how Darrell Steinberg envisioned the final months of his career in California statehouse politics, a chapter that ends this November when his term expires and he is replaced in the State Senate. This was supposed to be his victory lap. Steinberg should be smiling and taking bows as the first politician from Sacramento to lead the Senate as president pro tem since 1883. Instead, the Pocket resident is alternatively defending himself and apologizing for the sins of others: senators Rod Wright, Ron Calderon and Leland Yee, who were convicted (Wright) or are facing changes (Calderon and Yee) of crimes stretching from perjury to corruption and conspiracy. Rule No. 1 in politics is never explain and never complain. Steinberg is doing both. At this point, he

Senator Darrell Steinberg chats with a member of the public at a recent event

expected to be preparing for his next move, which should have been smooth and easy. His friends say he wants to become Sacramento’s mayor. Now, that may not be so simple. The State Senate’s corruptions are hardly Steinberg’s invention. The institution has a checkered history of creating criminals. Yet Steinberg was in charge when the latest felonies were alleged. He was the boss. The buck must stop somewhere. So rather than dressing up final bits of legislation, rather than meeting with consultants to figure out the smoothest path to the mayor’s office, Steinberg has been scrambling around Sacramento, visiting coffee shops and parks and meeting with voters, all to make people remember him as a good and honorable man,

the Pocket neighbor who could be found many mornings jogging down Greenhaven Drive and shopping for groceries at Nugget Market on Florin Road. “I’m here to answer all of your questions. I’m not ducking anything,” he says. In some ways, Steinberg is the perfect local politician. A lawyer trained at UC Davis, he’s smart enough to have done other things for bigger paychecks, but he was drawn to the power and prestige of elected office. His power was immense as Senate president pro tem, but he downplayed it. He was never “Slick Darrell.” As a Sacramento City Council member from 1992 to 1998, he was known for bad haircuts and mismatched

Rather than meeting with consultants to figure out the smoothest path to the mayor’s office, Steinberg has been scrambling around Sacramento meeting with voters, all to make people remember him as a good and honorable man. While there is nothing common about Steinberg, there has always been a commonality about him: a goofy smile, an awkward greeting, a squeaky voice that made him likable and approachable. When he became president of the Senate, he would attend his son Ari’s soccer practices like just any other dad, albeit a dad who got on his cell phone to argue with the governor. The common-man character served Steinberg well, because it was authentic and never contrived. POCKET LIFE page 14

POCKET JUN n 14

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POCKET LIFE FROM page 12 It helped separate Steinberg from his screamingly ambitious and vain colleagues, at least in public, masking his own ambitions in a haze of normalcy.

He has no plans to become a man who reached for stardom only to be destroyed by it. The fates of Wright, Calderon and Yee, men hunted by county attorneys and federal prosecutors, have made everything so much more difficult in Steinberg’s world. Now he must scrub away the senatorial stench, despite his presence as Senate leader. “I want them to leave,” he tells the crowd at the coffee shop, and he launches into an explanation of the sleazy system. His defense provides

POCKET JUN n 14

a thin semantic distinction between special-interest political contributions and outright bribery. “Do interest groups give campaigns money and then ask for a vote?” he asks. “Yes.” And he complains how the U.S. Supreme Court has legalized the dirty process and how voters refuse to intervene with publicly financed campaigns. What comes next? Probably mayor. But here, too, is trouble. Kevin Johnson will certainly run for a third term in 2016 if his “strong mayor” play passes in November. Steinberg and Johnson are not friends and don’t trust each other. Neither would savor the aggravation of a combative mayoral campaign. So the senator from the Pocket, works to heal his wounds and regain his footing. He has no plans to become a man who reached for stardom only to be destroyed by it. R.E. Graswich can be reached at reg@graswich.com. n

not realized or are legally prevented from being used to fund arena bond payments, the general-fund deficit would likely grow to around $53 million. The city is being hammered with a third round of pension contribution hikes from CalPERS. The first two hikes were to deal with losses in the pension fund’s portfolio and a reduction in its forecasted earnings rate on invested funds from 7.75 percent to 7.5 percent. The latest contribution increase (to be phased in over five years) is both good news and bad news. The good news is that city employees are living much longer. The bad news is that the city must pay for their pensions for a longer time. Cumulatively, these increases will raise the city’s annual CalPERS contribution by $33 million over the next five years, from the current $49 million to $82 million. In terms of salaries, the city’s current pension contribution rate for public safety workers will rise from 31 percent of salary to about 42 percent. For all other city employees, the rate will increase from 14.5 percent of salary to almost 19 percent. Also looming on the horizon is the possibility of a fourth increase in the pension contribution rate should the CalPERS board conclude that the new 7.5 percent earnings assumption is still too optimistic, as pension reformers, a major ratings agency (Moody’s) and even the Government Accounting Standards Board assert. While the city manager’s proposed budget reflects a small surplus, it relies on weak government accounting rules that ignore the current costs being run up for city retiree healthcare costs, as well as deferred maintenance of city facilities. Because the city hasn’t been setting aside funding for retiree health-care costs until very recently, the city is facing a $470 million unfunded liability for such costs. The city is accruing $29 million per year in such costs, which are owed to city employees for services rendered in the current year, but which are not reflected in the city’s

general-fund budget. If the current costs of providing retiree health-care benefits were included, the projected $2 million surplus would become a $27 million deficit, while the $41 million projected deficit in 2019 would become a $70 million deficit. This year, for the first time, the city manager is proposing a contribution to a trust fund for such costs as part of the annual budgeting process. While the $1 million allocation is largely symbolic, it’s a start. Unfortunately, it’s also designated as a one-time allocation, not a recurring one.

The city is being hammered with a third round of pension contribution hikes from CalPERS. Another off-budget expense that misses the general-fund budget is the accrual of deferred-maintenance expenses. The city currently has a $37.4 million backlog of deferred maintenance on city facilities and intends to accrue (instead of paying) another $1.5 million to $2 million in deferred-maintenance expenses in the coming year. If the city council is wise, it would protect its physical assets by using its $2 million surplus next year to fully fund current maintenance costs—and set up a funding plan to work off the $37.4 million maintenance backlog as soon as practicable. Author’s note: This column went to press before the May 20 city council meeting at which the council was expected to approve the arena deal and the sale of arena bonds. Craig Powell is a local attorney, businessman, community activist and president of Eye on Sacramento, a civic watchdog and policy group. He can be reached at craig@ eyeonsacramento.org or 718-3030. n

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Excellent Taste FOOD, WINE AND MORE ARE ON THE AGENDA AT ANNUAL EVENT

BY JESSICA LASKEY LIFE IN THE CITY

ith the return of our Sacramento summer comes some exciting annual outdoor events. Welcome the sweltering season with Land Park Community Association’s A Taste of Land Park on Sunday, June 8, from 4 to 7 p.m. on 14th Street between Vallejo and Markham ways. Your $30 advance ticket ($35 at the door) will not only help support the LPCA and its crucial work in the community—which includes enhancing William Land Park—but will also buy you access to a decadent afternoon of food tastings from neighborhood eateries, wine and beer pairings from regional beverage makers, live music, art galore and a Wall of Wine that’s not to be missed. (As you can guess, guests must be 21 or older.) While this is all fun and games for adults, little ones can have fun, too, with Kids Night Out at Planet Gymnastics (3202 Riverside Blvd). The kids’ gym will offer child care—including pizza, movies and playtime—from 3 to 7:30 p.m. on June 8 so parents can party undistracted

POCKET JUN n 14

Don't miss A Taste of Land Park on Sunday, June 8

nearby. To reserve a spot, call 4474966 or visit planetgymnastics.net. Questions about the event? Contact event coordinator Kelly Mishell at (310) 251-4197. To purchase tickets, go to landpark.org or stop into Vic’s Ice Cream (3199 Riverside Blvd.) or Espresso Metro (2104 11th Ave.).

TWILIGHT THURSDAY AT THE ZOO Get ready to party hearty at Sacramento Zoo this summer with the return of Twilight Thursday, a special members’ night and many more wild adventures. On Thursday, June 12, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., zoo members can enjoy

a special after-hours event that will include keeper chats, a wildlife stage show, face painting and more exciting excursions. Feel free to bring your own dinner, or fuel up at Kampala Cafe. Not a member yet? Get in on the fun by calling 8085888. The warm weather and longer sunlight hours mean that zoo denizens are skippin’ and hoppin’ late into the evening. Now you can, too! On Thursday, June 19 and 26, the zoo will remain open until 8 p.m. for Twilight Thursday, a familyfriendly fest full of fun activities, dinner specials, live music and more. Check out saczoo.com for special theme nights coming up this month.

Have you ever had dreams (delusions? nightmares?) about being locked in the zoo overnight? Now you can make those fantasies a reality with Family Overnight Safaris on Saturday, June 7, Friday, June 13, and Friday, June 27, from 5:30 p.m. to 9 a.m. the following day. These exciting, educational evenings include behind-the-scenes access to some of the zoo’s nocturnal animals, games, activities and a chance to sprawl out under the stars and catch some winks (if the lion’s roar doesn’t keep you awake). Dinner and breakfast are provided. If being queen for a day sounds like something you’d like, then you’ll love King of Feasts on Saturday,

June 21, from 6 to 9 p.m. This annual gourmet food and wine luau for adults will feature fare from dozens of fine local restaurants and bakeries, premium beer, wine and spirits, live entertainment including Polynesian dancers and a silent auction. Buy your tickets now by calling 808-5888 or visiting saczoo.org. With much mirth comes some sadness, though. On March 31, the zoo lost one of its North American river otters, Wilson, who was thought to be around 14 years old—that’s old for an otter! “Wilson will be a tough loss for everyone,” says zookeeper Erik Bowker. “He was an amazing otter to work with due to his incredible intelligence and love for foods of all kind. He was a wonderful ambassador for his species and drew the attention of kids and adults alike. His ability to interact with the public delighted many, as he often stood nose to nose with children at the glass of his exhibit. He will be greatly missed.” For more information, call 8085888 or visit saczoo.org. Sacramento Zoo is located at 3930 W. Land Park Drive.

NOT-SO-SMALL WONDERS You may be aware that Sacramento Zoo is in the process of rebuilding its Small Wonders of Africa exhibit to better display and care for the animals inside. Well, students from 16 Merryhill School preschools and elementary schools in Sacramento and Roseville, made it their goal to do more than a small thing for the zoo: On May 3, they presented the zoo with a $13,000 check to help with the exhibit. Merryhill students had been learning about the six species of animals featured in the exhibit, which will include straw-colored fruit bats, banded mongooses, aardvarks, Wolf’s guenons, red-billed hornbills and crested guineafowl. They held fundraisers such as T-shirt and artwork sales to donate to the zoo’s reconstruction project. While they may be small, these kids clearly have big hearts.

Fairytale Town offers several summer camps for youngsters, including Farmer Brown’s Junior Farmers for children ages 4 to 6

GREEN THUMBS If you’re itching to get down and dirty with the summer season in full bloom, lend a hand at Land Park Volunteer Corps’ work day on Saturday, June 7, from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. (The schedule has been moved up an hour to accommodate the heat of the day.) Park beautification is an ongoing project of the corps, and the help they get from Land Park residents is invaluable. This is a case in which many hands really do make light work. Fuel up with a complimentary breakfast from Espresso Metro and cool off after a day of digging with lunch provided at the picnic tables at Base Camp (behind Fairytale Town). For more information, call lead coordinator Craig Powell at 718-3030 or email him at ckpinsacto@aol. com. As always, donations are greatly appreciated. Mail your check to Land

Park Volunteer Corps, 3053 Freeport Blvd. #231, Sacramento, CA 95818. Base Camp is located at 3901 Land Park Drive.

IF THE SHOE FITS School’s out—if you’re looking for a way to help burn off some of that kid energy, there’s no better place than Fairytale Town. With outdoor play structures, puppet shows, fundraisers, campouts and summer camps galore, there’s something for everyone at Sacramento’s favorite kid zone. Puppet Art Theater Company’s playful puppetry will take on the classic girl-meets-boy-runs-awayfrom-boy-and-leaves-breakablefootwear fantasy “Cinderella” on Saturday, June 7, and Sunday, June 8, at 12:30, 1:30 and 2:30 p.m. Tickets are only $2 for nonmembers (in addition to park admission) and $1 for

members. Not a bad price for a live show! If your family is looking for some nighttime entertainment, why not schedule a Family Campout at Fairytale Town on Friday, June 13, from 5:30 p.m. to 7 a.m. the next day? This overnight adventure includes a theater performance, arts and crafts activities, a scavenger hunt, bedtime stories and a sing-along, as well as breakfast the next day. Prices range from $25 to $30 per person, with a member discount available. For more information, call 808-7462. Yet another way the whole family can spend time together doing something fun—and delicious—is by attending Fairytale Town’s annual ice cream extravaganza, A Midsummer Night’s Dream & Crystal Ice Cream Fantasy, on Saturday, June 28, from 5 to 9 p.m. Don a costume for a magical midsummer’s evening and enjoy all-you-can-eat Crystal ice cream, live entertainment, no-host food and bar, activities, an “olde worlde” marketplace and more. Advance tickets are $15 for adults and $5 for children ages 2 to 12. Day-of tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for children ages 2 to 12. For more information, call 808-7462. Now for the truly entertaining part: summer camps for kids. Options abound for keeping little ones learning during the summer months… For children ages 4 to 6, there’s Farmer Brown’s Junior Farmers (June 16-20 from 9 a.m. to noon), where kids learn how Fairytale Town’s menagerie is cared for, with plenty of hands-on activities; and Rock School (June 23-27 from 9 a.m. to noon), where kids can channel their inner rock star and experiment with instruments including guitar, bass, drums and keyboard. For children ages 6 to 12, choose Adventure Play (June 16-20 from 1 to 4 p.m.), where campers will learn about basic survival skills, weather identification, plants and animals as well as take nature walks, make bird feeders, construct cardboard forts, use a solar oven and more; or Curtains Up! (June 23-27 from 1 to 4 p.m.), a theater arts camp that will have LIFE IN THE CITY page 19

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Everything & the Kitchen Sink WHEN D&J BIDS ON REMODELING PROJECTS, HUNDREDS OF REFERENCES SUPPLIED

BY JESSICA LASKEY

SHOPTALK

arius Baker has been in the business of remodeling kitchens and baths for

33 years. As the founder of D&J Kitchens and Baths Inc. (he’s the “D” in D&J—his business partner, John (“J”) Scofield, retired in 2011), he knows his way around a remodel from the pipes to the paint, the foundation to the fittings. So he’s the guy you want to ask if you need advice about an upcoming remodel.

“You might be really surprised at the things past clients might discuss with you that you would never consider at the early stages of a project.”

Daruis Baker, the founder of D&J Kitchens and Baths Inc.

should check license information

most of this bright businessman’s

solving issues/problems throughout

and currency at the state contractor

actions, there’s a method to his

the project?

license board and call the Better

madness.

Business Bureau to see if they have a

“Calling references will give you

“You might be really surprised at the things past clients might

track record there. However, there is

a lot more information than simply,

discuss with you that you would

you pick to do the job,” Baker says,

no better way to get the best report

‘Yes, they did a good job, on time and

never consider at the early stages of a

in a rare moment of quiet between

on a company than to talk to folks

on budget,’ ” Baker says. “You might

project.”

visits to job sites and meetings with

who have been down the road with

learn about things people would do

clients. “There are things you should

that company. I honestly feel it is

differently if they did it over.

look for in your selection process

the single biggest mistake consumers

aside from how long any particular

make when they don’t check

company’s employees were to work

investment in improving their home

company has been in business. Some

references.”

with. Were they considerate of my

for years to come.

“The most important thing is who

of these companies have survived

Baker himself supplies potential

“You should learn how the

family? Did they respect the rest

For Baker, more information is good information, especially when a client is looking at making a major

“Don’t be swayed by the bottom

(the economic downturn) ‘in spite of

customers with a seven-page

of my property? Were they clean

themselves,’ so to speak.

document containing the names and

and tidy? Did they communicate

there’s no money tree, but you’re

contact information of all his past

well through the course of our

investing—you need to get the most

clients—his projects number in the

relationship? Were they helpful in

out of your money. IKEA might come

“There are many ways to check on a company you’re considering. You

400s—organized by ZIP code. Like

POCKET JUN n 14

line,” Baker cautions. “Obviously

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in with the lowest bid, but how can

recycling systems (bathroom water

you think that [product] will last you

being recycled to irrigate property, for

a long time?”

example).

The longevity of a project is coming

But regardless of how gray, green

into play more than ever before—

or otherwise a project may be, Baker

Baker has noticed an overwhelming

recommends considering one other

trend in the baby boomer population

crucial reality of a remodel.

of “aging in place” (revamping their

“Be sure to consider the emotional

current homes with accessibility

trauma of living through a remodel,”

features like widened doorways,

Baker says. “I tell folks I will

safety bars and curbless showers)

guarantee one thing over all else:

instead of selling their current home

You will get to the point where you

to downsize.

want us out of your house—and we

“Now people are deciding to make

won’t even be there yet. Therein lies

this house what they want,” Baker

the value of references. I have people

says, “so they can go out of it in a

tell me that they didn’t realize how

box.”

much it would mean to them that the

In addition to the advancing age

workers left the toilet seat down until

of some of his clients, Baker has

they had them in their house day

noticed an uptick in the interest

after day.”

surrounding green remodeling—“the

So go ahead, call any one of Baker’s

whole ‘green’ thing,” as he calls it.

hundreds of references. We bet they’ll

To meet a growing demand for more

tell you he left the seat down.

eco-conscious housing features, the city of Sacramento is working on a

In need of a new kitchen or

series of guidelines and building codes

refreshed bath? Call Baker and his

to address the increased interest in

team at D&J Kitchens and Baths Inc.

residential projects such as gray water

at 925-2577 or go to djkitchen.com. n

Sac / Elk Grove (916) 399-1900 Davis / Woodland (530) 662-1900 LIFE IN THE CITY FROM page 17 aspiring actors, writers and designers learn all the necessary skills to write, design, produce and perform their own short play at the end of the week. For more information on all Fairytale Town events, call 808-7462 or visit fairytaletown.org. Fairytale Town is at 3901 Land Park Drive.

EVERYTHING’S COMING UP ROSES The Old City Cemetery gives new meaning to “deadhead” with its early-evening deadheading event on Monday, June 2, from 6:30 p.m. until dark. Traipse through the Old City Cemetery’s Historic Rose Garden and help ready the rosebushes for next season by removing spent blooms and tidying up the garden. Tools and training will be provided and light refreshments will be served, so you can refuel throughout the evening. If you’d rather learn about the cemetery’s human history, don’t miss

BergamoSchools.com the tour on Saturday, June 7, at 10 a.m. focusing on Sacramento’s rich theatrical history, as told through the stories of cemetery residents who were part of our capital’s exciting theater scene between 1849 and the 1920s. Are you spooked easily? If not, join the frighteningly fun tour The Unlucky 13 on—when else?—Friday, June 13. Costumed storytellers will lead brave tour goers through the cemetery and its many superstitions. Test your luck with door prizes and other fun-filled activities, and don’t forget to look up: It’ll be a full moon that night! Friday the 13th tours will take place at 6:45, 7:30 and 8:15 p.m. and are $13 per person (which includes food). Tickets are available at brownpapertickets.com/event/640321. For more information, call 8085621 or visit oldcitycemetery.com. The Old City Cemetery is located at 1000 Broadway. Jessica Laskey can be reached at jessrlaskey@gmail.com. n

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A Growing Business GREEN ACRES NURSERY & SUPPLY TO OPEN FOURTH SITE IN ELK GROVE

installation, but we sell to designers and contractors to complement their businesses. Our core competencies work well with others’. We help each other out.” This neighborly nursery is now planning its most exciting expansion yet: a 27,500-square-foot store in Elk Grove that’s due to open in 2015.

BY JESSICA LASKEY SHOPTALK

ur staff has especially green thumbs,” Ashley Gill says, in perhaps the understatement of the century. Gill and her family own Green Acres Nursery & Supply, a haven for hobby gardeners and professional landscapers alike. With three locations, in Roseville, Sacramento and Folsom, that’s a lot of plant product to look after. “We focus on plants 365 days a year,” Gill says. “We buy from the top growers across the state and select the items those growers specialize in, so we’re getting what they do best and bringing it to market.” This focus on picking peak merchandise is thanks to the nursery know-how of Gill’s father, Mark, who founded the company in 2003 after working for a large, independent nursery in his hometown of Las Vegas. He identified a need in the Sacramento area, specifically in the development-heavy (and backyardabundant) area of Roseville, for topquality plants at competitive prices, so he moved his family to California. Ashley Gill, at the time, was attending school at the University of the Pacific to pursue her interests in communications, marketing and public relations. When her father founded Green Acres, however, it made the most sense to move home to help launch the business. “It really came together organically,” Gill says, who also works with her younger brother, Travis (who oversees operations), and her dad’s brother, Kevin. “Growing up, (Travis) always wanted to follow in

POCKET JUN n 14

This neighborly nursery is now planning its most exciting expansion yet: a 27,500-square-foot store in Elk Grove that’s due to open in 2015.

Ashley Gill of Green Acres

my dad’s footsteps, so he came to work here, and I saw that there was a really solid job opportunity doing marketing. We all just ran with it.” As Green Acres’ de facto marketing director, Gill has been able to mesh all of her disparate skills and finish up her degree at California State University, Sacramento, while working nonstop to help her family

grow their greenery business. In 2007, they opened their Sacramento store (in a former garden center off Jackson Road) and in 2012, the Folsom outpost followed, with an expanded inventory that includes patio furniture and outdoor grills and accessories. “We focus on what we do best,” Gill says. “We don’t do design or

“We purchased the land at the end of last year,” Gill says. “We’ve only retrofitted spaces so far, so this will be our first out-of-the-ground build. We’re going to combine the best elements off all three stores to build our dream nursery.” With Gill’s marketing savvy, her dad’s leadership and the rest of the family’s commitment to excellence, it’s safe to say that Green Acres is the place to be. How does your garden grow? Let Green Acres show you how and call its Roseville store (901 Gallery Blvd.) at 782-2273; its Sacramento store (8501 Jackson Road) at 381-1625; or its Folsom store (205 Serpa Way) at 358-9099. For more information, go to idiggreenacres.com. n

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YOU ARE INVITED! An Afternoon with Author Kiyo Sato Thursday, June 19, 2014 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm Enjoy an afternoon with the author of Dandelion Through the Crack — Kiyo’s Story, a true story told through the eyes of the author of her Japanese-American family’s struggles in California. It is a compelling story of starting a family, coping during the Depression, being swept off to concentration camps, and ultimately succeeding despite terrible odds and oppressive prejudice. Kiyo Sato is an inspiration. Come meet her.

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INSIDEPUBLICATIONS.COM

A Big Idea: Little Parks SACRAMENTO LOOKS TO JOIN THE NATIONAL PARKLET MOVEMENT

BY SENA CHRISTIAN BUILDING OUR FUTURE

arking spots are only for cars, right? Wrong. These spots can actually become openair mini-parks where people sit, eat, drink, converse and enjoy the scenery. You can already see these parklets, as they’re called, in San Francisco, Portland, Los Angeles, Seattle, Philadelphia and Nevada City. Now, Sacramento is poised to make room for some of our own. A makeshift parklet that sprung up outside the MARRS building in Midtown on national PARK(ing) Day last September revived interest in creating more green space in urban settings for the public to enjoy. The first PARK(ing) Day occurred in 2005 when employees from the art and design company Rebar fed some parking meters in San Francisco, laid sod and hung out until the meters’ time was up. Back then, people thought, you don’t hang out in parking spots. Those are reserved for cars. “It's kind of like how you can’t walk through a drive-through,” says Matt Winkler, operations general supervisor for the city of Sacramento’s parking division. “You’re not supposed to do that.” But maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea after all. City staff began examining how parklets could exist here in response to calls from merchants and pedestrian and bicycle advocates. “Word of mouth spread and next thing you know, people are asking how can we get that program here?” Winkler says.

POCKET JUN n 14

Parklets are open-air mini-parks where people sit, eat, drink, converse and enjoy the scenery.

In October, the city council first heard a presentation from staffers about the benefits of parklets, which are basically low decks installed in adjacent parking spots as an expansion of the sidewalk. The council approved a two-year pilot parklet program in March. If it proves successful, the city will move toward making these features a permanent part of the local landscape. Parklets are part of a bigger vision by the council to beautify utilitarian spaces

and promote a bike- and pedestrianfriendly culture. Winkler says the program emulates San Francisco’s successful parklet endeavor. The City by the Bay officially installed its first parklet in 2010. Now, there are more than three dozen. Sacramento is accepting applications from businesses interested in becoming one of six to 10 to be granted a revocable encroachment permit to cordon off pavement for a parklet. A review

committee composed of, among others, representatives from Downtown Sacramento Partnership, Midtown Business Association and Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District will determine who gets the permits. The air quality district is offering $1,000 grants for projects that include two spaces for bike parking. “The Midtown Business Association is in support of parklets because they encourage our community to be less dependent on cars in a dense urban

area, create a unique public space and challenge our city to continue to invest in unique urban design,” says Emily Baime Michaels, the association’s executive director. Permit recipients will be selected in July. Construction on the parklets should be complete by September. Applicants must meet a laundry list of criteria. The business must be front-facing the street and in a 25-mile-per-hour-or-less zone, and the plan must include appropriate lighting for safety, nearby garbage and proper drainage. Manholes can’t be covered and the decks must be enclosed with rails and meet all requirements of the Americans With Disabilities Act. The review committee will also consider remediation plans for loss of parking in high-density areas. The committee wants to see that the applicant has solicited input from the public and adjacent businesses. “I want to make sure everybody wants this,” Winkler says. Parklets aren’t necessarily cheap. According to Winkler, they cost a business anywhere from $15,000

to $100,000 to construct. They’re also not permanent. If, for example, roadwork needs to be done or the hosting business closes, the city will remove the feature. According to Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates, parklets make neighborhoods more inviting, reduce sidewalk and traffic congestion, improve air quality and increase the visibility of businesses. At a city council meeting in March, SABA executive director Jim Brown said the parklets signal that streets are not only for cars. “What is so important to us about this is it’s a step toward acknowledging that our streets are public places,” Brown said. “They are not the exclusive domain of cars. This is one of the first steps in making our streets a safer, calmer, friendlier place to visit and to do business.” Sena Christian can be reached at sena.c.christian@gmail.com. n

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Reimagining the Bike Rack ARCHITECT CREATES A CIVIC PRODUCT THAT COMBINES FORM WITH FUNCTION

Seen from a certain place in between, well, that depends on you. “There is a sweet spot to view the racks, but even then, it’s designed to change depending on whether you’re 6 feet tall or a child who’s 3 feet tall,” Silva says. “It deconstructs itself.” It’s time for a little background. Silva’s design is part of Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission’s

BY R.E. GRASWICH

Art in Public Places program, whose

CITY BEAT

mission is precisely what the name suggests. Sometimes, public art

ehold the lowly bicycle

generates controversy—a naked

rack, simple and essential,

Poseidon and a giant red rabbit

a functional chunk of urban

leaping to catch a plane come to

infrastructure that’s become the

mind. Other times, public art seems

ubiquitous successor to the hitching

to blend naturally, like a slender

post.

tree spreading its branches around a

Where people once tied horses,

library.

today they lock bikes. The bike rack

The Silva bike racks are a

doesn’t have to be pretty. All anyone

different beast. They are functional.

really expects are solid anchorages

If they don’t attract bikes, they will

and the ability to deter a 42-inch set

have failed. They must deliver an

of bolt-cutters.

essential service, which means they

Now meet Jason Silva, an architect

have to be more resilient than the

from Curtis Park who trained at Cal

aforementioned bolt cutters. And

Poly in San Luis Obispo. He’s drawn

they have to be beautiful.

to the mystique of art in artless

There was no easy route for Silva.

places, of designs that captivate and

The arts commission made an open

inspire, of perspectives that shift as

call for designs. Twelve visionaries

the viewer moves.

responded, Silva among them. A jury

And imagine a bike rack that

panel trimmed the number to seven

doubles as an art piece and seems to be something else entirely, depending on where you stand. This is Silva’s postmodern hitching post, coming to a park near you. “As architects, we typically deal with the basics of a building,” Silva says. “We create shelter, functional spaces, places to live and work. But occasionally, we get to do something that’s more like sculpture.”

POCKET JUN n 14

in January. Two months later, amid Jason Silva has designed a bike rack that is also a piece of art

much learned contemplation and head nodding, the jury voted Silva the

This is one such occasion.

The Silva-imagined bike racks defy

winner. “It was a very close competition,”

Supported by $50,000 in capital

description. In fact, the description

improvement dollars marshaled by

changes as you approach. Seen from

says Shelly Willis, executive director

City Councilmember Jay Schenirer,

straight ahead, the rack looks like a

of SMAC. “But Jason’s design was

Silva came up with a design for

tubular person riding a bike. Seen

fantastic. As an architect, he’s

15 artsy bike racks that will soon

from the side, it looks like three

familiar with the technical aspects

blossom across Schenirer’s district,

distinct pieces of metal sculpture.

of how to create such a complicated

from Oak Park to South Land Park.

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design. One of the requirements was

District 5, which includes Curtis

you must be able to actually build it

Park, Oak Park, Hollywood Park and

and keep it within budget.”

other neighborhoods on the city’s

Silva calls his design “anamorphic,”

south-central side. When you see one,

which means it changes appearance

you will know you’ve reached a special

depending on the viewer’s location.

place in Sacramento.

He hopes to get people in cars to

“The bike rack project is a unique

notice the shifting perspective as they

opportunity to create some amazing

drive past the bike racks, and thus

art that’s both functional and

encourage motorists to leave their

inspiring for District 5 communities,”

cars and ride bikes.

Schenirer says. “I love the fact that

Then there’s the problem of

you can walk down the street and

building the darned things. Silva can

watch an art piece change perspective

launch into a 10-minute soliloquy on

while it’s providing a service.”

the technical challenges of turning a

Which leaves us with one final

fancy art concept into several pieces

tantalizing question: How come

of metal that bolt to the sidewalk and

it took so long for a creative mind

protect bicycles.

to design a bike rack that’s both

“You’re talking about laser-

beautiful and safe for our bikes?

cutting a half-inch plate of steel and

“Unfortunately, bike racks are a

welding the base pieces and grinding

catalog item,” Silva says. “They are

and powder coating,” he says. “It’s

an afterthought. No one bothers to

specialty work. I’m building a test

think about how much better we can

model out of cardboard first.”

do.”

The first non-cardboard Silva rack

Until now.

is being anchored at McClatchy Park near McGeorge School of Law. Others will be placed around Schenirer’s

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INSIDEPUBLICATIONS.COM

Designing Woman A STORYBOOK COTTAGE IN CURTIS PARK GETS A CHARMING MAKEOVER BY JULIE FOSTER HOME INSIGHT

“It was important to me that we kept the cottage scale and feel of the home and that the addition looked original to the home.”

elding her professional and personal lives came easy to Joan Muttera. An interior designer since 1976, Muttera remodeled her 1926

POCKET JUN n 14

Curtis Park home with her former partner, Vince Dutcher of Dutcher Construction Company. The home’s previous owner, a 90-year-old woman known in the

neighborhood as The Fern Lady, lived in the two-bedroom, one-bath brick cottage for 50 years. When Muttera moved in, not much had been updated during the previous five decades.

There was a laundry room but no washer or dryer hookup. (The owner preferred to use an outdoor HOME page 28

INSIDEPUBLICATIONS.COM

A curved walkway leading up to the house and a retaining wall encircling a large Deodar cedar were constructed from broken brick to emphasize the house’s fanciful look.

HOME FROM page 26

The home is filled with details, including the arches found throughout the house

POCKET JUN n 14

clothesline.) The house had knob-andtube wiring, copper water pipes and a gravity-flow heater. Muttera wanted to update and expand the house without sacrificing any of its considerable charms. “It was important to me that we kept the cottage scale and feel of the home and that the addition looked original to the home,” she says. Her experience as an interior designer made hiring subs for the electrical, plumbing and cabinetry work a snap. Muttera and Dutcher also did plenty of the work themselves, painting the interior, replacing the window sashes, ropes and weights and refinishing the redwood jambs on numerous doublehung windows throughout the house. “The process was really time consuming,” she says. They added diamond-pane windows in the kitchen, breakfast nook and living room to enhance the home’s storybook feel. The kitchen received a face-lift, including new appliances, custom cabinets and dark marble countertops. Several of the cabinets have glass panels so that Muttera can display her collection of dishes, which includes a few pieces of her grandmother’s Haviland china.

In the dining room, a new curved staircase with a wrought-iron handrail leads to the second-story addition. Natural light from a large window at the top of the stairway illuminates the staircase. Configured out of the attic, the 700-square-foot suite consists of a master bedroom and bathroom. Muttera designed the plan. The bedroom’s stunning coffered ceiling engages the eye. Two large walk-in closets provide welcome additional storage. Painted in Restoration Hardware’s Silver Sage accented with crisp white trim, the room is soothing and elegant—no fussy details. The original attic rooflines are evident in the bathroom. Two dormer windows, on the street side of the home, provide natural light. Two sinks are set in vanities topped with classic Carrara marble. “I wanted a clean, classic feel for the addition,” Muttera says. “It is a bit less traditional than the downstairs but still has that sort of feeling.” A cabinet in the bathroom displays Muttera’s collection of 1930s powder jars, all in shades of soft pink. “My mother and I would go to flea markets and antique stores when I was a girl,” she says. “I fell in love with the figurines on top of the powder jars.”

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Homeowner Joan Muttera

Outside, Muttera showcased the home’s storybook quality by painting the beams over the front porch. “Our neighbors said they didn’t realize the brick house had beams until we painted them,” she says. A curved walkway leading up to the house and a retaining wall encircling a large Deodar cedar were constructed from broken brick to

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7790 RIVER GROVE CIR 7412 FLOWERWOOD WAY 7435 RUSH RIVER DR 6640 S LAND PARK DR 8054 LINDA ISLE LN 21 YUBA RIVER CIR 7966 COLLINS ISLE LN 913 GREENSTAR WAY 7230 RUSH RIVER DR 1007 ROUNDTREE CT 20 SAGE RIVER CIR 919 GULFWIND WAY 6228 FORDHAM WAY 7347 SOUZA 38 BLUE WATER CIR 7336 IDLE WILD 1035 SILVER LAKE DR 6780 STEAMBOAT WAY 7310 HAVENSIDE DR 7307 PERERA CIR 31 YUBA RIVER CIR 6221 N POINT WAY 795 PORTUGAL WAY 760 SKYLAKE WAY 1014 JOHNFER WAY 6490 RIVERSIDE BLVD 7 WALNUT BAY 401 SAILWIND WAY 14 PARK WEST CT 7524 ALMA VISTA WAY 669 CUTTING WAY 6298 FORDHAM WAY 907 SHORE BREEZE DR 7337 FLOWERWOOD WAY 548 SHAW RIVER WAY

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emphasize the house’s fanciful look. The unique concrete roof tiles were custom made. “They allow you to choose the color as well as what percentage of moss you want included on your tiles,” Muttera says. Muttera stresses the importance of having a solid plan at the initial stages of a project. “Many people will complete portions of a project, then find themselves backed into a corner when it doesn’t all come together,” she explains. Personalizing with family furnishings or antiques you love is key. When working with clients, Muttera draws inspiration from what they like and already have in their homes. “People generally know what they want,” she says. “But they often can’t achieve the look they want.” If you know of a home you think should be featured in Inside Publications, contact Julie Foster at foster.julie91@yahoo.com. n

INSIDEPUBLICATIONS.COM

HAVE “INSIDE,” WILL TRAVEL 1. Colleen Perez near the visitor center at Valley Forge Park, King of Prussia, PA 2. Chase Haman’s graduation from Texas A & M with Haman/Vogeli families 3. Joyce Wing with iconic landmark, Burj Al Arab, in Dubai 4. Bill and Jo Anne Bernhard in Arromanches, France in front of the D-Day Museum 5. Larry Friedman and Susan Orton at Iguazu Falls in Brazil 6. Ted Cobb at Wave Rock near Hyden in Western Australia

Take a picture with Inside Publications and e-mail a high-resolution copy to travel@insidepublications.com. Due to volume of submissions, we cannot guarantee all photos will be printed.

POCKET JUN n 14

Making Friends A KERFUFFLE OVER A MISSING NEWS BOX HAS A HAPPY ENDING

BY DUFFY KELLY

nside Publications surely picked the right guy to tangle with. You may have read a couple of recent stories about one of our newsstand boxes going missing from Cafe Latte at Riverlake Village Shopping Center. Well, thank heavens the owner of Cafe Latte, Daniel LaVelle, just so happens to be an ice king: the kind of guy who can turn giant block walls of impassable ice into something artistic and beautiful. Quite literally, he is a competitive ice carver with a 15-year history at a Chicago Marriott and a career traveling the ice carving circuit. He’s won the No. 2 spot in the nation several times for his creations, which include life-size sculptures such as a horse and buggy, a pod of dolphins, and Santa with his sleigh and all those reindeer. When it came to the problem with our paper’s missing box, it was LaVelle who called to break the ice with us and work toward solving the case. Turns out the box mysteriously reappeared at his restaurant. It was in fine shape. He covered it up and safely put it in a storage area. He invited our publisher and chief financial officer to his eatery to chat and return the box. He invited me down for a blended chocolate chai tea (which incidentally tasted more like a luscious milkshake than anything tea). And it was there, while slurping on that yummy thing, I realized: Wow, I am sitting with a nationally acclaimed champion ice carver! And it was there I was reminded of the beauty of local businessmen and women, the brave souls who face

Daniel and Teresa LaVelle, owners of Cafe Latte

down Starbucks and 24 Hour Fitness every day. LaVelle was living in the Pocket when he was working as the executive chef for Rancho Murieta. After more than a decade of commuting, and falling in love with the Pocket, he decided to buy Cafe Latte, where he could work alongside his wife to serve food to the community. “I love the people here. There are dozen people I could call, and in a heartbeat they would be here to do anything for me,” he said. Since LaVelle has been at Riverlake Village Shopping Center, he’s struck up relationships with local schools where he serves hot lunches. He’s met people like Bill and Inez, who popped in while I was there and ordered just what I was having. “What’s your last name, Bill?” I asked. “I don’t know. I’m so old, I forgot.” But since LaVelle has been at the center, 24 Hour Fitness and Starbucks have moved in. “That’s

really tough when Saturday mornings all the exercisers and Starbucks drinkers come in and take every parking spot so my customers have nowhere to park,” he said. Or when people drink their Starbucks lattes while sunbathing in the peace of his inviting outdoor patio. Ouch. So imagine when our delivery driver mistakenly tried to place a newsstand inside his coffee shop. It was a miscommunication on our part about location that caused alarm. Imagine the questions that may have run through LaVelle’s mind: Who are these people coming in to put their papers in my shop? Will they be just another threat to the local charm of my shop? Did anybody directly ask me if it was O.K. to put papers in my store? I thought long and hard about this. Even dreamt about it. After putting myself in LaVelle’s shoes, I realized how blessed we are to have had this difficult exchange about the

newsstands, and I feel grateful that I was selected to write about it. Even though LaVelle and Inside Publications were at odds and coming at this from opposite angles, we met at bull’s-eye. We met at the heart of both our missions: the neighborhood. Like LaVelle, we wholeheartedly believe in serving our community. For 20 years, we have been firmly committed to connecting our neighbors with local businesses, schools, churches, artists, volunteers, thespians and, yes, local food. We believe in celebrating the positive energy and contributions of people like LaVelle who give our community their unique gifts. We want to help them stay in business because it’s these very businesses that bring Mayberry to corporate mayhem. Our writers look for the bright, shining sides of people and events. We look for good intentions. We strive to tell the inspirational stories that can give us hope in each other, courage to start our own businesses and pride in our neighbors. By this, we seek to help the LaVelles among us continue to thrive, even if Starbucks’ new store is just a coffee bean’s throw away. Sometimes we make mistakes. And sometimes we are lucky enough to be able to correct our mistakes. We all made a mistake when dealing with this newsstand. But we are all human and we all had good intentions. With LaVelle’s crushed-ice blended chai tea in hand, we have come together quite well. Now it’s time to try Cafe Latte’s hands-down favorite: eggs Benedict. Or should we try the potato platter with mushrooms, peppers, onions and melted cheese? n

INSIDEPUBLICATIONS.COM

Teachable Moments WE ARE ALL MEMBERS OF ONE FLOCK

BY NORRIS BURKES SPIRIT MATTERS

ast Thanksgiving, my wife, Becky, challenged her secondgrade class to write thank-you notes to those people for whom they were grateful. “How about God?” suggested a towheaded boy. “Well,” said my wife, pausing for clarity in a public school environment, “maybe you can save those thankyous for your bedtime prayers. Suddenly, a pigtailed pontificator stood and pointed her accusing finger toward a little boy who had recently shared that he was Buddhist.

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“He can’t!” she proclaimed. “He doesn’t believe in God.” “That was rude!” Becky said. Then, not one to miss a teachable moment, Becky turned to her whiteboard and added the girl’s name to a discipline list. Years earlier, I introduced a similarly teachable moment to an Air National Guard commander when she dropped by for an impromptu visit. “How are you, chaplain?” she asked from outside my open office door. Keeping protocol, I stood to answer; but perhaps since I measured at least a foot taller than she, she insisted I keep my seat. “What are you working on today?” she asked, seeming genuinely interested in a friendly chat. “I’m trying to write a retirement prayer for a squadron commander, but I’m having trouble finding the right fit.” “Fit?” “Yes,” I said. “The retiree is a Buddhist, but since our audience will likely be Christian, I’ll need something acceptable to both. Silence.

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I kept talking. “I’m thinking about using this Buddhist poem our retiree has selected for the ceremony handout.” I passed it to her and watched her lips silently move, her facial contortions building on every word. “You should use a Christian prayer,” she suggested. “After all, this is a Christian Air Force.” Now it was my turn to wear a disappointed expression. “You don’t see it that way?” she asked. Like Becky, I paused to reflect. Then, recognizing the careershortening possibilities of my answer, I respectfully stood to share my thoughts. “No, ma’am. I’m sorry, but I don’t.” While I can’t recall my exact words, it was something like this: “Ma’am, we serve in an Air Force that is made up primarily of Christians, but I don’t think that our majority status makes us a Christian Air Force.” Sensing I needed to serve the whole enchilada, I forged ahead. “We are sworn to protect the Christian majority just as much as we pledged to protect and serve the minorities of all faiths.” Then, I took my seat, sure that my position expressed the principles in the 10th chapter of John’s Gospel. Most Christians recognize this chapter as the one where Jesus so famously introduces himself as the “good shepherd.” However, Jesus also includes a cryptic saying that seems to oppose those who sequester themselves in theologically gated communities. “I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them,

also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.”

“We are sworn to protect the Christian majority just as much as we pledged to protect and serve the minorities of all faiths.” Unfortunately, neither of the two ladies mentioned in this column seemed to get that part of the scripture. At the end of that school day, my wife phoned the girl’s mother to share her thoughts on pluralism in a public school. Not surprisingly, the mother gave an answer not unlike her daughter’s. As for my commander, she expressed no further objections to the poem/prayer. Unfortunately, five years after my conversation with the commander, a malignant brain tumor put a tragic end to her promising career. However, my guess is that her best teachable moment came when she was welcomed into heaven with salutes and open arms from all of Jesus’ flocks. Norris Burkes is a chaplain, syndicated columnist, national speaker and author of the book “No Small Miracles.” He can be reached at ask@thechaplain.net. You can read more of his columns on his website, thechaplain.net. n

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Giving Back A FORMER CLIENT NOW VOLUNTEERS TO HELP HER PEERS

Abdullah is a godsend. “Sameerah knows just what people need to eat,” says Berry. “She knows if they’re diabetic or vegetarian, and she also knows about their different cultures. She makes a connection with them, and that’s very important.”

“We stumbled along before she came,” says Berry, “and now I don’t know what we’d do without her.”

BY TERRY KAUFMAN LOCAL HEROES

ameerah Abdullah could have just fallen through the cracks. Like so many residents of downtown single-roomoccupancy hotels, she was living hand to mouth, struggling with the demons of addiction and mental illness. When she walked through the door of the nonprofit agency TLCS, she was at the lowest point in her life. Today, Abdullah is the picture of dedicated volunteerism. Over the past three and a half years, she has organized and energized TLCS’s food distribution program, making a difference in the lives of scores of mentally ill seniors in the downtown area. Through her efforts, homebound elderly residents of several of the hotels receive custom care packages personally delivered with love. “Their rent is $550 to $600 a month, not including utilities, and they receive an average of $700 to $1,100 a month,” says SRO case manager Sharon Berry. “There’s no cooking allowed in their rooms, and they share a bathroom and laundry room. How can they afford to eat? Either they go to Loaves & Fishes or they’re being robbed by the corner grocery store.”

POCKET JUN n 14

Volunteer extraordinare Sameerah Abdullah helps a client load his groceries at TLCS

On a meager budget of $200 a month, the TLCS program stocks its pantry with food purchased from Senior Gleaners, sent over from Sacramento Food Bank or donated by

local businesses. On Friday mornings, residents from 20 nearby SRO hotels and senior apartments, as well as many homeless, line up for food. For those unable to leave their rooms,

TLCS’s SRO program office has one part-time and two full-time paid staffers, so it relies heavily on volunteers like Abdullah. Most are former clients of the program. Few have had the impact that Abdullah has had. “We stumbled along before she came,” says Berry, “and now I don’t know what we’d do without her.” When the case managers are out of the office, Abdullah runs things. Abdullah is candid about her journey to this point in her life. “I was busted for drugs, and I had to come here to use the phone every day,” she says. “I started pulling myself together. My faith is strong, and I decided to use my energy to be productive.” When she first came to TLCS, she was living downtown in Hotel Sequoia with sex offenders and parolees, cleaning up after everyone and compulsively recycling. She had also raised four children and held many physically demanding jobs. She wasn’t afraid to take on a new project.

She started at a desk job, â&#x20AC;&#x153;not thinking she could do anything,â&#x20AC;? says Berry. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s done that and more. She single-handedly runs the food closet. She multitasks like nobodyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s business. There arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t enough words to express the gratitude we have for her every day.â&#x20AC;? Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a never-ending challenge: people walking in from Greyhound buses, sleeping on the doorstep, waiting just to use the phone or get a cup of coffee. TLCS provides support and services to the mentally ill homeless and elderly. Having been on the other side of the handouts, Abdullah knows exactly what these people are going through. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve lived in this community,â&#x20AC;? she says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;When they come in here, they have problems, and we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t need to make them worse. We give them coffee and a place thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s warm and safe. If I was in that position, I would want my family to know that Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m taken care of.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;This woman here is the definition of a hometown hero,â&#x20AC;? says TLCS

development director Erin Johansen. â&#x20AC;&#x153;She has compassion because she experienced this stuff herself, plus she has a boatload of energy that she can channel and do amazing things.â&#x20AC;? Johansen says that the SRO program has seen its primary funding sources dwindle or disappear in recent years. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s funded by a ragtag of cobbledtogether resources,â&#x20AC;? making someone with Abdullahâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s skills and vision indispensable. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This community saved my life,â&#x20AC;? says Abdullah. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This is how Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m giving back. I live for that. All I have is love. Now my kids are proud of me, and Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m back on track. Now I get respect, but I give respect too.â&#x20AC;? For more information about TLCS, go to tlcssac.org. Donations of nonperishable food products, such as canned goods, cereal and rice, are always needed and welcomed. Terry Kaufman can be reached at terry@1greatstory.com. n

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Bee Friendly CREATING A BUZZ IN YOUR GARDEN

BY ANITA CLEVENGER GARDEN JABBER

he news has been full of reports that bee populations are declining across the world for reasons that scientists still don’t fully understand. Farmers and home gardeners worry about how our food crops will be pollinated if Colony Collapse Disorder continues. You and your neighbors can make a difference by creating a colorful pollinator paradise in your home gardens. Plant a variety of flowering plants, provide appropriate water and shelter, and the bees will come. How best to do that? It depends on the type of bees. If you weren’t aware there were thousands of different species of bees, you are not alone. Most people think that all bees live in hives and make honey. Actually, we know what honeybees are, but we don’t understand them very well. Did you know that they were brought to North America by early European colonists? Did you know that millions of honeybee hives are moved across the country in order to pollinate many key agricultural crops? Did you know that honeybees scout for sources of nectar and pollen, then return to the hive to tell their sister worker bees

POCKET JUN n 14

Christine Casey in the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Garden at UC Davis

where to go? The workers are all business. They fly directly there and visit every flower. No flitting allowed! Then they make a beeline home. If you look closely at bees in your garden, you will discover many are not honeybees. There are a thousand native California bee species ranging from tiny iridescent green bees to big black or golden carpenter bees. Nearly all of them are solitary, not hive dwellers. Individual bees make their nests in the ground, in hollow stems

or reeds, or holes in wood. Native bees are threatened, too, because their habitat is declining as people clear weeds from hills and roadsides, cover up soil with pavement and mulch, and cut down dead trees. A visit to UC Davis’ HaagenDazs Honey Bee Haven shows how beautiful a bee-friendly garden can be. Despite its name, this half-acre garden is designed for all bees. To accommodate honeybee foragers, each variety of plant is grouped in an

area at least three feet square. Bees vary considerably in size and tongue length. Some bees use colors and others use chemical cues to find their hosts. Accordingly, the garden has plants with blossoms in many shapes, sizes and colors. Plants are chosen that bloom throughout the seasons because different species of bees are active at different times of the year. In this garden, bees find many places to nest, including blocks hung in trees, bare undisturbed soil and sandy areas between pavers. There are rocks to shade their nests. Bees need water and congregate at dripping faucets and puddles. The haven has specially designed blocks to collect water and simple water-filled basins with stones in them for the bees to rest upon. The Honey Bee Haven has at least 10 to 15 diverse bee-friendly plants blooming in each season of the year. Christine Casey manages the garden. When asked for plant recommendations, she is especially enthusiastic about Ceanothus, also known as California lilac. If a California garden doesn’t have this plant, she says, it’s not a bee garden. It’s possible to have one variety or another of Ceanothus in bloom from January until frost. She considers catmints (Nepeta) one of the best plants for bees and advocates other members of the mint family such as salvias. Bees are attracted to composite flowers such as asters, daisies and sunflowers. They like members of the rose family, too. Single or semi-double roses that open to reveal their stamens attract more pollinators than those that are packed with petals. Eighty-five different native bees have been identified in the Honey

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Bee Haven. Sacramento Historic City Cemetery’s perennial garden, Hamilton Square, has been studied by UC Berkeley researchers who found 65 varieties there. Other pollinators, including moths and hummingbirds, also frequent these gardens.

Some people are reluctant to have bees in their garden because they are afraid of them. You have to work at it in order to be stung. Bees are going after flowers, not people. Some people are reluctant to have bees in their garden because they are afraid of them. Casey says that you have to work at it in order to be stung. Bees are going after flowers,

not people or their food, and will sting only if stepped on or trapped. Most of the best bee-friendly plants thrive with infrequent, deep irrigation. If you are planning to reduce or eliminate your lawn and replace it with a water-efficient landscape, why not create a bee haven of your own? Anita Clevenger is a Sacramento County UC Master Gardener. Master Gardeners advocate integrated pest management practices and advise gardeners to use pesticides with great care because of potential impact on bees and other good bugs. For answers to gardening questions, call the Master Gardeners at 875-6913 or go to ucanr.edu/sites/sacmg. UC Davis’ Haagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven is a half-acre bee-friendly garden on the college campus, next to the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility on Bee Biology Road. For more information, go to beebiology. ucdavis.edu. For plant lists and other tips on bee-friendly gardening, go to helpabee.org. n

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Like a Photo THIS ARTIST FOUND SALVATION IN CREATING HYPERREALISTIC CHARCOAL DRAWINGS

BY LESLEY STEIN ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

nnie Murphy-Robinson, an award-winning artist and teacher, is just as passionate about the art she creates in her Carmichael studio (in a garage converted by her husband) as she is about teaching art at Roseville’s alternative Adelante High School for troubled youth. But her road to success hasn’t been easy. Murphy-Robinson’s formative years were turbulent, to say the least. She ran away from home, used drugs and alcohol and ended up in juvenile hall before doing a stint in the army. Fortunately, this Sacramento native was able to turn her life around by embracing art and education. After earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in art, she picked up teaching credentials. For five years, she taught ceramics at Sac High before moving to Adelante, where she teaches both drawing and art history. Now in her 17th year of sobriety, MurphyRobinson says, “I have been in recovery basically since I started getting serious about art.” Known for very realistic, deeply personal, often haunting charcoal drawings of her two daughters, Murphy-Robinson has shown her work locally at John Natsoulas Gallery, b. sakata garo and Crocker Art Museum, as well as in Miami, New York and Los Angeles. Her portrait of Mayor Kevin Johnson hangs at city hall. At Carmichael’s Boulevard Coffee Roasting Company, Murphy-Robinson recently discussed art, education and drawings as realistic as photos.

POCKET JUN n 14

Artist Annie Murphy--Robinson

Why did you choose to become a teacher? For practical reasons. Before I went to graduate school, I was a substitute teacher and I really liked it. I thought it was a great job. Teaching has saved me. It’s given me purpose. What are your goals as an educator? In the realm that I’m working in, my No. 1 goal is to give the kids the help they need. My job, more so than teaching two-point perspective drawing, is getting to know the students, earning their trust and finding them help. At the same time, through art I can help the students find their voice. By teaching them art

techniques, they learn to convey their feelings visually. It gets them noticed and gives them a sense of power. What motivates you in the classroom? The thing is, these kids know I’ve been there. They trust me. I know their struggles and what they’re going through. And that goes a long way with them. I love my job because I think I’m making a difference. What are some challenges you find in teaching art? Mainly the kids who don’t want to learn. So I tell them to put the pencil on the paper and move it around. As long as it’s not lewd or crude, drug or gang related, they can draw whatever

they want. The other challenge I face is that I’m always worried what’s going to be the next required course to go. Right now, fine arts is still a requirement to graduate, thank God. How do you describe your own artwork? I call it hyperrealism. I like to draw things that resonate with me. Mostly, I draw my kids because they’re little me’s, and they’re beautiful, but not all sweetness. The portraits I do of my children move beyond portraits. There is always something to do with the past, but also something to do with transformation. Some people might look at that and be fearful.

I’d love to do commissions but I don’t project too much into the future. I try to stay in the now. I’ve learned in recovery: one day at a time.

Through art I can help the students find their voice. By teaching them art techniques, they learn to convey their feelings visually. It gets them noticed and gives them a sense of power.

Does your work have a message? What I want people to get from my work is for them to feel connected. I try to convey a sense of being in the moment and that there is beauty in everything. My job as an artist is to create the vision and to fascinate the viewer. I want the viewer to say, ‘I’ve got to look at that more and I’ve got to know what’s behind this.’ Can you describe your technique? I work with 42-by-60-inch-wide, 100 percent cotton rag paper, and I draw with fine compressed charcoal. After putting on a mask, I open the studio door and use an electric sander

to remove sizing from the paper. It opens up the weave and softens the paper. Then, I select an image I’ve photographed and begin drawing, starting with the eye. You strike me as a perfectionist. Is that accurate? Absolutely, and my art dictates that. I’m known for it. People always say, ‘It looks just like a photo.’ But it’s not. I would have blown up a photo instead of taking 140 hours to draw it. Do you have a mentor? Although I’ve never taken a class from him, it would be local artist and Sac City College professor Chris Daubert. He gave me my first show at Sac City’s Kondos Gallery.

What does the future hold for you, especially after your children are grown and out of the house?

Some of Annie Murphy-Robinson’s portraits will be on exhibit at city hall’s Robert T. Matsui Art Gallery until September. For more information about the artist, go to anniemurphyrobinson.com. n

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The Hills Are Alive MUSIC IN THE MOUNTAINS BRINGS DIVERSE ACTS TO GRASS VALLEY IN JUNE

By Jessica Laskey RIVER CITY PREVIEWS

usic in the Mountains’ 33rd SummerFest season starts June 11 in Grass Valley. Lend an appreciative ear to the festival’s impressive array of musical acts, from classic Beatles to Celtic fiddle and more, in three concert series at multiple beautiful venues. The Concerts Under the Stars series takes place on the Great Lawn at the Nevada County Fairgrounds and features assorted musical acts that are sure to delight and entertain: “Grand Fiddler’s Rally” at 8 p.m. on Saturday, June 21 (Alasdair Fraser’s Sierra Fiddle Camp celebrates the fiddle music of Scotland with more than 150 musicians); “The Fab Four: The Ultimate Tribute” at 8 p.m. on Friday, June 27 (“The best Beatles show in the world,” according to the Los Angeles Times); and “A John Williams Spectacular” at 8 p.m. on Saturday, June 28 (the MIM Festival Orchestra and Chorus presents music from Williams’ movie soundtracks). The Orchestra Series takes place at the Amaral Center at the Nevada County Fairgrounds (11228

POCKET JUN n 14

The Beatles tribute band, the Fab Four –The Ultimate Tribute, will be a featured act at the Concerts Under the Stars series at SummerFest 2014. The event starts on June 11 in Grass Valley

McCourtney Road) and includes family-friendly fare: “Family Music Faire” at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, June 21 (Nathaniel Stookey’s “Lemony Snicket: The Composer is Dead” Family Concert and Interactive Music Faire, conducted by Pete Lowlen); “Young Geniuses” at 3 p.m. on Sunday, June 22 (the world premiere of groundbreaking young composer pieces that explore the mind of a teenage music master); “Tales from the Exotic East” at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 25 (featuring Alexander Borodin’s “Polevetsian Dances,” Henry Cowell’s “Persian Set” and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Scheherazade”); and “Nordic Fantasy” at 3 p.m. on Sunday, June 29 (Scandinavian folklore set to music

by Edvard Grieg, Felix Mendelssohn and Niels Gade). The Chamber Works series will play at selected venues in Grass Valley and features a slew of masterful musical works: “Young Composers Project” at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 11 and Friday, June 13 at Peace Lutheran Church (828 W. Main St.) features 27 world premieres by talented regional youth musicians; “Feste del Caribe” at 7 p.m. on Thursday, June 19 at the Center for the Arts (314 W. Main St.) celebrates Cuban jazz trio Gardenia Azul alongside the MIM Festival String Quartet and Woodwind Quintet; and “The French Connection” at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 26 at the Amaral Center (11228 McCourtney Road) features pianist-in-residence

Konstantin Soukhovetski playing the “Faure Piano Quartet in C minor.” Ready to take a jaunt to Grass Valley to hear everything that MIM has to offer? For tickets and more information, call (530) 265-6124 or go to musicinthemountains.org.

SINGULAR SENSATION As the days get more and more sweltering, Sacramento denizens know there’s one place to go to get their fill of entertainment and air conditioning—the Sacramento Music Circus season is back up and running with “A Chorus Line” playing June 24-29 in the Wells Fargo Pavilion.

PREVIEWS page 42

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JUNE 24 - 29 A multiple Tony-winning singular sensation. Featuring music by the brilliant Marvin Hamlisch, including “What I Did For Love,” “I Hope I Get It,” and the show-stopping “One.”

JULY J JU U LY LY 8 - 1 13 3 JULY 8 - 13 With a spoonful of sugar and a whole lot of magic, the quintessential nanny in this Disney classic will delight all ages. Featuring “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” and “Chim Chim Cher-ee.”

JULY 22 - 27

Rodgers and Hammerstein’s sweeping tale of love transcending war won a Pulitzer Prize and 10 Tonys, and features “Some Enchanted Evening” “Bali Ha’i” and “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair.”

AUGUST 5 - 10 Travel to the mystical Scottish Highlands village of Brigadoon where, with true love, anything is possible, even miracles. Featuring a soaring score by Lerner and Loewe.

AUGUST AUGU A U G U S T 19 - 24 Teeming eming with song, dance and hilarity, his bawdy musical comedy by Jerry this Herman erman and Harvey Fierstein won six ny Awards in 1984, and inspired the Tony 1996 ﬁlm “The Birdcage.”

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PREVIEWS FROM page 40 California Musical Theatre has come a long way from the suffocating circus tent theater of yore, but the shows are the same classic musicals you remember attending as a kid. “A Chorus Line” promises to bring the nostalgia—the music by Marvin Hamlisch (including songs “What I Did for Love,” “I Hope I Get It” and the iconic “One”) is recognizable from the first three chords—and the dynamic dancing that has made starry-eyed chorus kids of us all. Since most of us aren’t exactly kids anymore, California Musical Theatre and its president and CEO, Richard Lewis, have implemented a new schedule this year to accommodate the often three-hour run time of many Music Circus shows: Due to an overwhelming demand from patrons, all evening performances will start at 7:30 p.m. (instead of the usual 8 p.m.) and a Sunday matinee at 2 p.m. has been added for all shows. Now you can catch all the shuffling before you shuffle off to Buffalo! For tickets and more information, call 557-1999 or go to californiamusicaltheatre.com. The Wells Fargo Pavilion is at 1419 H St.

SUGAR, SUGAR Sure, Second Saturday is all abuzz in midtown, but it’s also hoppin’ over at the Delta Days Second Saturday Artwalk from noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday, June 14 at Old Sugar Mill Wineries in Clarksburg, just 15 minutes south of Sacramento. Meet the monthly artists (June features the work of Sharon Gerber Scherer), observe plein air painting and taste wine from 10 local wineries as you revel in the lovely Delta breezes. Is all that art and fresh air making you hungry? You can bring a picnic lunch or purchase food from vendors on site to enjoy with your glasses of grape juice. For more information, call 744-1615, ext. 8011, or email artdeltadays@gmail.com. Old Sugar Mill Wineries is at 35265 Willow Ave. in Clarksburg.

POCKET JUN n 14

TO THE BEAT OF A DIFFERENT DRUM Ready for an aural and visual feast for the ages? Don’t miss the 35th annual Moonlight Classic, the longest-running drum and bugle corps competition in the Western United States, at 6 p.m. on June 22 at Hughes Stadium at Sacramento City College.

Don't miss Crocker Art Museum’s Art Mix/Pride party from 5 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, June 12.

RAINBOW CONNECTION June is Pride Month, celebrating Sacramento’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community, and no one does it bigger and better than the Crocker Art Museum’s Art Mix/Pride party from 5 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, June 12. Let the high-flying feats of Body Waves from the Topsy Turvey Queer Circus take your breath away, groove to live music, meet local drag divas, watch short films produced by the Sacramento International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, take in some stunning art by local artists who are part of the Sacramento Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Center and lend a hand to help build the Sacramento LGBT Center Pride Parade float. The event is free for museum members, only $10 for nonmembers, $8 for college kids and drinks are under $5 all night. Talk about partying hearty! Wondering what the youths are up to these days? Check out “Mu Phi Epsilon Presents” at 3 p.m. on Sunday, June 8. The concert will feature the winners of the Sacramento Alumni Chapter of Mu Phi Epsilon International Music Fraternity’s 2013 scholarship competition, which includes University of the Pacific clarinetist Michael Salas and CSUS bassoonist Taylor Haugland. Space is

limited, so buy your tickets early by calling 808-1182. To accompany the Crocker’s new exhibition “African American Artists: The Harlem Renaissance, Civil Rights Era and Beyond” (more on that in a moment), the Jazz in the Courtyard performance at 6 p.m. on Thursday, June 19 will feature jazz vocalist and recording artist Vivian Lee singing standards from the likes of Ellington, Brubeck, Monk and Gillespie. And now about that new exhibition: “African American Art: Harlem Renaissance, Civil Rights Era, and Beyond” opens June 29 and will be on display until Sept. 1. The exhibition includes 100 paintings, sculptures and photographs by African American artists drawn from the collection at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. As the only West Coast venue for this exhibition, the Crocker got quite a coup! The 48 featured artists include William H. Johnson, Alma Thomas, Jacob Lawrence, Sam Gilliam, Renee Stout and other renowned artists active before, during and after the Harlem Renaissance. For tickets and more information for all Crocker events, call 808-1182 or go to crockerartmuseum.org. The Crocker Art Museum is at 216 O St.

Hundreds of young competing corps members will descend on the field to present their best performances of marching percussion and brass, front ensemble and color guard. Hundreds of young competing corps members will descend on the field to present their best performances of marching percussion and brass, front ensemble (vibraphones, marimbas and other percussion instruments) and color guard. Each creative corps, which can contain up to 150 members, ages 8-21, will execute an 11-minute performance and will be judged on musical performance, general effect on the audience and color guard. (Past performances have included a field of mirrors, an entire corps decked out in gladiator gear, a James Bond-themed performance complete with tux-clad corps members, an actual horse race, and plenty of other mind-boggling, eye-popping presentations.) Participating drum corps include the Blue Devils from Concord (15time national champions); the Blue Devils B, also from Concord (two-time national champs); the Mandarins from Sacramento (eight-time national champs); the Santa Clara Vanguard from Santa Clara (six-time national champs); the Vanguard Cadets, also PREVIEWS page 44

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PREVIEWS FROM page 42 from Santa Clara (three-time national champs); and many more. For tickets and more information, visit Sponsors of Musical Enrichment (SOME)’s website at someinc.com or purchase tickets at the gate. General admission is $20, reserved VIP seating is $30. Hughes Stadium at Sacramento City College is at 3825 Freeport Blvd.

HEY, JUDE! Where can you hear singing seniors, a crooning chorus and a veritable bouquet of Beatles tunes? At “Come Together,” the multimedia Beatles tribute performance of the Sacramento Gay Men’s Chorus on June 6 and 7 at the Crest Theatre. In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Beatles’ historic appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” this show will feature choral interpretations of Beatles classics along with vintage still photos and video footage featuring Beatle mania in America, the U.S. civil rights and gay rights movements of the 1960s, and images from rallies and rock festivals throughout pop culture history in the United States. “Come Together” will feature a vocal quartet and dancers, with choreography and “choralography” by Darryll Strohl, as well as dancing seniors, LGBT parents and kids and the melodious music of the Sacramento Gay Men’s Chorus. For tickets and more information, go to sacgaymenschorus.org. The Crest Theatre is at 1013 K St.

WINDS IN THE WILLOWS Looking for something to do to ring in the merry month of June? Don’t miss the Sacramento Valley Symphonic Band Association’s annual Carmichael Park Community Band Festival on May 30 and June 1 at the Carmichael Park Amphitheater. Bring a picnic and some lawn chairs and sprawl on the grass in the sun as you listen to the song stylings of community bands (including the Sacramento Symphonic Winds) from across California.

POCKET JUN n 14

“Come Together,” is a multimedia Beatles tribute performance of the Sacramento Gay Men’s Chorus on June 6 and 7 at the Crest Theatre

This festival has been one of the largest community band festivals in the state for more than 20 years. Music will be played from noon to 6 p.m. on Saturday, May 30 and from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday, June 1. And don’t worry about your pocketbook: admission and parking are free.

Bring a picnic and some lawn chairs and sprawl on the grass in the sun as you listen to the song stylings of community bands. For more information, call 4892576 or go to svsba.net or sacwinds. org. Carmichael Park is at 5750 Grant Ave. in Carmichael.

will have you exploring guided breathing and mediation, reading poems by American female poets, and writing poetry with and about bodily awareness. No experience is necessary—just an open mind. As the class is limited to six women, register soon by emailing Mergen at alexamergen@gmail.com or calling 606-9952. The class will be held in a private office meeting space at 2131 Capitol Ave.

HEART OF GLASS Lindsay Filby’s first gallery show, “Big Hard Color,” premieres at the Alex Bult Gallery on June 12 and will be on display through July 5. A fourth-generation Sacramentan, Filby studied fine art at Sacramento City College, Cuesta College and California State University, Sacramento, until she decided that

she wanted to focus on glass because she loves “the color and the freedom” it gives her. This show will mark her first foray into a gallery setting, and it was at the behest of Matt Bult—a collector, fellow artist and the father of gallery owner Alex—that Filby will finally show the world just what she (and her art) is made of. The preview reception will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. on June 12 and the opening night reception will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. on Second Saturday (June 14). For more information, call 476-5430 or go to alexbultgallery.com. The Alex Bult Gallery is at 1114 21st St., Suite B. Jessica Laskey can be reached at jessrlaskey@gmail.com. Please email items for consideration by the first of the month, at least one month in advance of the event. n

BODY OF WORK Talk about a mind-body connection. On Wednesday evenings from 6:30 to 8 p.m. from June 4 through July 2, bring your brain and a healthy dose of curiosity to a five-session poetry workshop for women, “At Home in Our Bodies.” During five class meetings, workshop coordinator Alexa Mergen (a poet in her own right)

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Tuesday, June 10 Courtyard Marriott at Cal Expo 1782 Tribute Road Sacramento, CA 95815

Tuesday, June 24 El Macero Country Club 44571 Clubhouse Drive El Macero, CA 95618

Wednesday, June 25 Hampton Inn Folsom 155 Placerville Road Folsom, CA 95630

Monday, June 30 Hilton Garden Inn Roseville 1951 Taylor Road Roseville, CA 95661

All events are from 6:15 to 8:00 p.m. Healthy appetizers and beverages will be served.

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Cafe Bernardo 5.0 WHATEVER YOU DO, DON’T CALL IT A CHAIN

BY GREG SABIN

Each location also has its own bar with its own separate identity and attitude. On 15th Street, it’s R15. In Midtown, it’s Monkey Bar. On K Street, it’s KBAR. The names aren’t particularly creative, but each bar feels authentic—not an easy thing to do. The newest addition to the Bernardo family is Cafe Bernardo at Pavilions, the upscale shopping center on Fair Oaks Boulevard near Howe Avenue. Opening an eatery in Pavilions is quite a brave undertaking. First, many of Sacramento’s best restaurants have had homes at Pavilions (think Mace’s and Mitchell’s Terrace), and many other good restaurants have come and gone there. Add the fact that Bernardo opened in one of the great food spots in our town’s history, the former home of David Berkley Fine Wines & Specialty Foods, and you’ve got one risky proposition.

RESTAURANT INSIDER

aragary Restaurant Group has been a fixture of the Sacramento restaurant scene for decades. Along with the Haines brothers (33rd Street Bistro, Riverside Clubhouse, etc.) and the Selland family (Ella, Selland’s Market-Cafe, The Kitchen), the Paragary group blankets the region with its different personas. There’s the flagship Paragary’s Bar & Oven, temporarily closed for a large-scale renovation and set to reopen in late summer; Centro Cocina Mexicana, the Mexican-American standby on the party block of J Street; Esquire Grill, the reliable if predictable steak-and-potatoes retreat of theatergoers and lobbyists on K Street; Hock Farm Craft & Provisions, the recent downtown entry in the farm-to-fork field; and Cafe Bernardo, Paragary’s fast-casual/ order-at-the-counter/midprice go-to, with five locations in two counties. Before we continue, let’s define our terms. There’s a distinct difference between Paragary Restaurant Group and a restaurant chain. Like the Haines and Selland groups, Paragary Restaurant Group is a regional restaurant group that owns and operates several eating establishments in the region. Some of these establishments might share a name, but they are not cookie-cutter replicas of a single restaurant. A chain is an attempt to make each location as identical as possible. In order to maintain standards and meet customer expectations, products

POCKET JUN n 14

Clean and contemporary design are featured in the dining area and community table

are sourced from central locations sometimes thousands of miles away, recipes are followed without deviation and economies of scale are exploited to their fullest. In most chains, there’s no room for fresh, local ingredients or for experimentation by talented cooks. There’s no possibility for a unique experience. A regional restaurant group, however, uses each location to its fullest, customizing the menu,

decor and service to the place and people it does business in and with, respectively. Paragary’s most popular and repeatable enterprise is Cafe Bernardo. Each restaurant feels unique. The 15th Street location is a wee bit industrial, the Davis location a bit town square-ish, the Midtown location continental and neighborhoody. No single Cafe Bernardo defines the brand.

Cafe Bernardo also pays homage to the dearly departed grocery store by naming its bar Berkley Bar and focusing its efforts on California wine and craft cocktails. David Berkley was a food lover’s paradise. Part market, part deli, part bakery, part wine merchant, it was

Brunch J O I N U S F O R O U R F AT H E R ’ S D A Y

C H A M P A G N E

CHAMPAGNE BRUNCH

Served 10am - 3pm Sunday, June 15, 2014 Call for reservations and details.

F A T ’S ASIA BISTRO

2585 Iron Point Road Folsom 916-983-1133 1500 Eureka Road Roseville 916-787-3287 www.fatsbistro.com

If you're in the mood for a cool and light lunch, give Cafe Bernardo's arugula and strawberry salad a try

Arden-Arcade’s answer to Taylor’s Market and Corti Brothers. Its prepared foods were unbeatable, the skills of its wine buyers undeniable. Moving into that hallowed ground is a brave move for any restaurateur. While Cafe Bernardo doesn’t quite replace David Berkley, it does a fine job of treating the local bounty with respect. It also pays homage to the dearly departed grocery store by naming its bar Berkley Bar and focusing its efforts on California wine and craft cocktails. Several wines are available on tap, by the glass or the bottle at reasonable prices. The well-appointed bar even has a bit of a winery feel, with reclaimed barrels and cork accents. The menu is similar to that at most other Cafe Bernardo outposts, so I won’t spend much time on it other

than to say the execution is spot on and the service first rate. Dinner specials rotate nightly and deserve a try, especially the pan-fried petrale sole on Fridays. Breakfast is served seven days a week. While each Cafe Bernardo feels unique and fresh, the menus are the thing they most closely share. Thankfully, the food is reliable and well priced and always presented with impeccable service. The cookie cutters are tucked away but consistency never fails. A chain this is not.

French-inspired pastries, cakes and breads handcrafted on-site every morning by artisan bakers and chefs!

FRIDAYS Doughnut Day &

Cafe Bernardo is at 515 Pavilions Lane; 922-2870; paragarys.com. Greg Sabin can be reached at gregsabin@hotmail.com. n

SUNDAY Croixnut Day (ﬂavor changes every week)

FRENCH TEA SERVICE $25/PERSON Set menu includes: tea sandwiches, assorted pastries, macaroon, tarts and choice of organic tea (reservation required)

Located on the corner of 9th & K in downtown Sacramento M-F 7-6, Sat 8-6, Sun 8-4 | 551-1500 | info@estellspatisserie.com

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