City Beat

Ranadive to attend Kings fan rally; event moved to Thursday

2013-05-20T18:20:45Z

Vivek Ranadive is scheduled to make his first public appearance as the newly-approved owner of the Sacramento Kings at a fan rally Thursday at downtown's Cesar Chavez Plaza.

The event - dubbed the Long Live the Kings Rally - was originally planned for Wednesday. It is scheduled to run from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Mayor Kevin Johnson is also slated to attend the rally, along with Kings mascot Slamson and the Kings dancers. Johnson had announced that homegrown rock band Cake would attend the Wednesday rally, but that announcement appeared to be premature.

]]> "The members of Cake are absolutely thrilled by this historic win for Sacramento," said mayoral spokesman Ben Sosenko. "In the excitement of last week's victory, Cake's participation was announced prior to fully finalizing their availability due to a staff miscommunication. While unable to participate in this week's rally, Cake looks forward to commemorating this special moment with the people of Sacramento in the near future."

"This rally is an opportunity for Kings fans, the city and region to come together and celebrate the beginning of a lifetime of Kings basketball in Sacramento," the Kings said in a statement.

Kings to stay in Sacramento

2013-05-15T20:54:02Z

By Dale Kasler, Ryan Lillis and Tony Bizjak

DALLAS - The NBA Board of Governors voted 22-8 to keep the Kings in Sacramento, League Commissioner David Stern has announced.

While the proposed move by the team to Seattle was turned down, the issue of who will own the team has not been settled.

"We will talk to the Maloofs and seek in the next 24 to 48 hours whether we can help facilities a deal between the Ranadive group and the Maloofs for the sale of the franchise in Sacramento," Stern said of the Kings owners.

READ THE FULL STORY: NBA Board of Governors denies relocation bid to move Kings to Seattle

Sacramento moves forward with tighter gun store regulations

2013-05-08T21:20:52Z

City Hall took a step this week toward placing tighter regulations on gun sales in Sacramento.

The City Council's Law and Legislation Committee voted on Tuesday to recommend that new businesses seeking to sell firearms be required to obtain special use permits. The proposed ordinance will now be passed on to the full City Council for a vote.

Gun and ammo stores are currently classified as retail stores under current city code and can open in industrial or commercial zones. A special permit restriction would require the shops to get approval from the city's planning and design commission, which would analyze proposed sites and could place conditions on the establishments.

]]> Councilman Jay Schenirer, who has advocated for tighter firearm and ammo restrictions in the city, said the recommendation made this week "is an important first step in preventing the oversaturation of gun stores in certain neighborhoods."

"We have a long way to go to reducing gun violence in our city," he said in a written statement. "(Tuesday's vote) is hopefully a first step toward reducing the availability of firearms."

Solar panel farm planned for Sutter's Landing Park in midtown

2013-05-07T21:58:34Z

The City Council is expected tonight to approve the construction of a solar panel farm on about four acres of land at Sutter's Landing Park in midtown.

City officials had originally proposed placing a much larger solar farm atop the former landfill in the park. But that plan was opposed by environmental groups, who said the old dump is a pivotal feeding ground for the threatened Swainson's hawk.

The scaled-back solar facility will now be placed on 3.7 acres of asphalt next to the dog park at Sutter's Landing. Solar panels will also be placed in the dog park for shade and on a carport structure in a nearby parking lot.

]]> The 1.5 megawatt facility will produce enough energy to power about 400 homes.

Conergy, Inc., which is seeking a 20-year lease for the land, secured a $1.6 million federal grant for the project through SMUD. Construction is expected to begin by the end of May.

Mayor to Seattle's Hansen: 'Take the high road' and back off

2013-05-07T20:07:23Z

Mayor Kevin Johnson is so confident that the Kings are staying put, he's got some advice for the guys trying to buy the team and move it to Seattle: back off.

While saying he understands why they are fighting, the mayor said today that hedge fund manager Chris Hansen and Microsoft executive Steve Ballmer should "take the high road and be gracious." Hansen and Ballmer have said they are still exploring their options after the NBA's relocation committee recommended by a 7-0 vote against their plan to move the Kings to the Emerald City.

"Once the relocation committee spoke as loud and as clear as it did, I would probably take a step back and understand that I'm probably not going to get this team, so how can I put Seattle in the best possible position to get a team moving forward?" the mayor said.

]]> The mayor added, "in some respect, you're poaching, you're taking somebody else's team." While some reports have suggested Hansen could still move forward with buying the Kings and keep them in Sacramento, Johnson said "it's not a scenario that we're planning for."

Johnson said he would travel to Dallas next week, when the full NBA board of Governors is expected to take a final vote on whether to approve the Maloof family's sale of the Kings to Hansen and Ballmer - or to a Sacramento group led by Silicon Valley software exec Vivek Ranadive.

"I'm sure there are 101 things that could go wrong or slow things up, but we're all very hopeful that coming out of May 15 (the NBA meeting) there will be a final decision," the mayor said. Johnson said he was not fearful that the decision could be delayed, but that "there are just things that come up."

"I think we're all on pins and needles waiting for the final decision," the mayor said. "I'm confident and I expect that we will win and we will be able to keep our team in Sacramento. With that said, we are not gloating, we're not over confident."

Live chat replay: Next steps in Sacramento's fight to keep NBA Kings

2013-04-30T18:38:30Z

Next steps in Sacramento's fight to keep the NBA Kings

Sacramento budget: more cops, but only with pension help

2013-04-29T19:15:12Z

The Sacramento city manager has proposed hiring dozens of new police officers - but only if the city's existing cops agree to pay into their pensions.

In his 2013-14 budget released Monday, City Manager John Shirey proposed hiring 58 uniformed police officers with funding from a recent increase in the city sales tax. Those officers - hired over the next 18 months - would beef up street patrols and help the department investigate more violent felonies.

But Shirey said he would withdraw that recommendation if the Sacramento Police Officers Association, the union representing city police officers and sergeants, does not agree to have its members pick up the full employee contribution into their pensions by July 1.

]]> Most city employees pay an employee share of pension contributions; the city picks up an employer share. The police union is the largest in the city that does not pay into its retirement plan.

Dustin Smith, the head of the police officers union, said the organization and city officials are in "active bargaining sessions" and that more talks are planned.

"We're still hoping we can bargain some type of deal that works out for both the community and the officers who serve it," he said.

The City Council will receive its first formal briefing on the budget at its May 7 meeting and is scheduled to adopt the budget June 11.

Funding from Measure U - the sales tax increase approved by city voters in November - will help fund 80 positions in the Fire Department, almost all of which will be filled by sworn firefighters.

Dozens more positions in the parks department will be filled. That increase will allow the city to open 11 swimming pools and five wading pools, extend community center hours and provide more maintenance at city parks.

The 2013-14 budget does include an $8.9 million deficit, which Shirey said would be addressed mostly through the elimination of vacant positions. The city has said Measure U sales tax revenue would be used only to restore services lost during the economic downturn, not to fill budget gaps.

While this year's budget is the first since 2008 that does not include layoffs in the city workforce, Shirey said modest increases in sales and property tax revenue combined with the city's future pension obligations mean the city is not in the clear.

The city's annual contribution to the California Public Employees' Retirement System will increase by nearly $17 million by 2019 to make up for investment losses to the pension fund, city budget officials said.

"The pension costs really are the Pac-Man that's eating our budget," Shirey said.

Chat live: NBA Kings waiting game: Seattle vs Sacramento

2013-04-29T18:00:00Z

NBA Kings waiting game: Seattle vs Sacramento

New Kings arena drawings released

2013-04-24T16:41:28Z

New drawings of the proposed Kings arena at Downtown Plaza have emerged.

See the drawings in a photo gallery here.

Some of the drawings - put together by architectural firm AECOM - showed up on display at the mall on Tuesday. The renderings show an arena on the L Street side of the current plaza, with a large, open pedestrian gathering area where the middle of the mall now sits.

The inside of the arena shows windows along the top of the upper bowl, much like Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. There's also a rendering of a VIP suite and a bar dubbed the Bunker Club.

Update: Councilman Schenirer now a mayor pro tem

2013-04-23T23:02:10Z

What do you get when you combine a mayor who travels a lot with a vice mayor who's about to have a baby?

This isn't a bad joke. It's actually a question the Sacramento City Council faced tonight.

The council took the unusual - and maybe even unprecedented - step of appointing a mayor pro tem to run council meetings when Mayor Kevin Johnson and Vice Mayor Angelique Ashby aren't around. Councilman Jay Schenirer earned the honor, which comes with the added benefit of a couple of extra words in his title but no more money.

]]> Johnson has been known to miss a meeting or two - especially with this Kings saga continuing - and normally the duty of running the meeting falls to Ashby. But Ashby is expecting her third child on May 9 and said she expects to miss a couple of council meetings.

The pro tem position will be in effect until Ashby returns to the council.

Watchdogs criticize 'Public Sector Suite' in Kings arena plan

2013-04-05T22:04:43Z

A local watchdog group is criticizing Sacramento for including a "Public Sector Suite" at the arena being planned for Downtown Plaza.

That suite was included in the 18-page "term sheet" approved by the City Council that lays out the financing for the $448 million facility.

According to the term sheet, the city "shall have an option to use one complimentary, furnished luxury suite at the" arena "including tickets and preferred parking to all (arena) events included as part of a typical license agreement." The suite could be used "for any official city purpose."

]]> City officials would have to pay for food and beverages in the suite. The investment team partnering with the city on the arena plan would also provide the city with 10 complimentary tickets to Kings games.

Eye on Sacramento, a watchdog group that has been critical of the arena deal, blasted the arrangement. The group called the provision "one of the dirty little details of the arena deal."

"The 'Public Sector Suite' provision negotiated by self-interested city officials demonstrates that the arena deal really serves the arrogant interests of city officials," the group said in a written statement.

Officials said the suite would serve as a valuable resource for promoting the city.

"The public sector suite would primarily be used for economic development purposes in attracting new and retaining corporations and businesses in Sacramento," city spokeswoman Amy Williams said in an emailed statement. "In addition, the suite could also be used by non-profits and other community based organizations that do good work locally."

It's unclear how prevalent these kinds of arrangements are in arena deals. However, the city negotiated a similar provision in an arena financing plan approved by the council last year that eventually collapsed.

Mayor Johnson, Sen. Steinberg arrive home after Kings pitch

2013-04-04T19:20:56Z

Mayor Kevin Johnson and state Senate President Darrell Steinberg arrived home today following their presentation to a panel of key NBA owners in New York, during which they made their case for keeping the Kings in Sacramento.

The pair was greeted by a cheering crowd of about 15 Kings fans in Terminal A of Sacramento International Airport. They quickly departed the airport to begin the final two-week push to convince the league to keep the team here and reject a deal the Kings' owners have to sell the franchise to a group in Seattle.

Johnson said "we don't really know yet" what will be asked of the Sacramento contingent by NBA officials over the next two weeks. NBA Commissioner David Stern said Wednesday the league needed time to investigate arena plans and team purchase offers in both Seattle and Sacramento before making a decision over the fate of the Kings.

]]> Johnson said the league would likely conduct "a lot of fact-finding" in the coming days.

"The NBA now has to go back and do its due diligence on the very strong Sacramento agreement," Steinberg said. "We laid out a very strong case on the regulatory front (regarding possible environmental challenges to the project)."

The mayor reiterated that Sacramento had impressed the league.

"We laid out a compelling case," he said. "I know for a fact the NBA does not want to move a franchise."

Sacramento delegation to rally in NYC before pitch is made for Kings

2013-04-02T19:13:33Z

The Sacramento delegation sent to New York to make a pitch for the Kings will begin its campaign this afternoon with a rally in the Big Apple.

The group has planned a party at the Public House on East 41st Street. Among those in attendance will be City Councilman Allen Warren; prospective local Kings investors Phil Oates and Kevin Nagle; Mike Tavares, a leader of the Crown Downtown fan club; and Kings fans who live in New York.

The rally is also scheduled to coincide with the arrival in New York by local radio personality Carmichael Dave, who has spent the past two weeks travelling the country in an RV promoting Sacramento as the home of the Kings.

]]> Meanwhile, Mayor Kevin Johnson and his top aides continue prepping for Wednesday's pitch to the NBA. Johnson and a team of ultra-wealthy investors will make that presentation to a committee of league owners, urging the NBA to block the Kings' planned move to Seattle and accept a bid by a group seeking to keep the team here and build a new downtown arena.

Conceptual drawings of new Kings arena released by city

2013-03-22T22:30:25Z

The city still hasn't nailed down a plan to finance the project, but today it released what it is calling a conceptual drawing showing a new Kings arena at the Downtown Plaza site.

The drawing, by architectural firm AECOM, show the arena facing L Street between 5th and 6th streets.

It also shows a line of new towers along J Street along the northern border of what is now the mall and a tree-lined pedestrian walkway area on K Street on the western edge of the plaza.

As of 3 p.m. today, city officials had not come to an agreement with billionaire Ron Burkle over the financing of the arena. City Manager John Shirey is still aiming to have the financing term sheet completed in time for the City Council to vote on the plan Tuesday night.

Sacramento arena talks continue, but no deal yet

2013-03-22T19:02:51Z

City officials remain in negotiations with the investors trying to build a new arena at the site of the Downtown Plaza, but have still not reached an agreement on the project's financing terms.

Amy Williams, a city spokeswoman, said at noon today that the talks were ongoing but that no deal had been reached. City Manager John Shirey had initially said he wanted an arena "term sheet" to be finished by Thursday in time to post it on the agenda for Tuesday's City Council meeting.

Shirey still wants the arena plan to be voted on by the council on Tuesday.

]]> Meanwhile, two public forums scheduled for today and tomorrow on the arena remain scheduled.

The first forum will be held at 5:30 p.m. today at the Robertson Center, 3525 Norwood Ave. Another forum is scheduled for 9 a.m. Saturday at the Pannell Center, 2450 Meadowview Rd.