EG Economic Development Director Grilled Over Unfinished Mall, Empty Grocery Store

May 24, 2013 |

With the Memorial Day holiday right around the corner, Elk Grove Economic Development Director Randy Starbuck might have felt he was the proverbial hot dog being grilled following his quarterly report to the Elk Grove City Council on Wednesday night.

Randy Starbuck

Starbuck, who as director of the city's Economic Development Department is the point person to recruit businesses to Elk Grove, reported on the various trade shows attended, economic trends and major economic developments. Among the major successes during the first ending March 31, was the opening of the two major retailers and three others who will open later this year.

Among the positive overall economic trends Starbuck reported was the increase in residential housing permits issued by the city, the restart of housing construction in four previously approved subdivisions, dropping vacancy rates, raising commercial rental rates and a drop in unemployment in Elk Grove. Starbuck said that according to the California Employment Development Department, Elk Grove unemployment has dropped to 5.8 percent from a high of 9.2 percent in 2010.

"Unemployment is going down," Starbuck said. "There are a number of things moving in the right direction."

Seizing on the unemployment statistic comment, Elk Grove City Council Member Jim Cooper offered a contrarian view on the decrease.

"Randy, isn't true that a lot of people ran out of benefits and stopped reporting," Cooper asked. 

"You do have that issue as well," Starbuck replied.

During the public comment section, Elk Grove resident Michael Monasky criticized the efforts of Starbuck's department noting the report does not mention the empty retail space that was formerly occupied by Bel Air on Elk Grove Blvd.

"I would like to know what is happening there," Monasky said. "We lost a real resource right in the heart of Elk Grove."

Monasky further criticized Starbuck's self-described tardy report saying it mentions nothing about  about  job development. While rhetorically quesioning why the Bel Air store and its job were loss, Cooper offered an explanaiton.

"It's Wal Mart, non-union grocery stores," Cooper said.

Starbuck ironically reported the recent opening of the Bruceville Road Wal Mart store as one of the major economic developments in the first quarter. Interestingly Cooper, Davis and Vice Mayor Steve Detrick all opposed the opening of the store with Detrick using the original proposal for a so-called Super Center on Sheldon Road as a springboard to his current council position.

Davis also criticized Starbuck for not acting aggressively enough to get construction restarted on the unfinished Elk Grove Promenade Mall. Davis asked Starbuck if he attend this years International Council of Shopping Center convention to which Starbuck responded he did not saying he felt it would not be a good use of taxpayers money and that he will be meeting with the current owner of the mall, the Howard Hughes Co., next week.

"I just want to go on the record disagreeing with that strategy," Davis said. "The point is we need to be more aggressive than Howard Hughes. If we sit around waiting for Howard Hughes to take action, it is like waiting for molasses to roll down a hill."

Davis went on to say that Starbuck needs to continue reaching out directly to retailers who might be potential tenants of the mall.

"If we are not going to be consistent with that strategy, then we are not going to have success," he said. "You were on the right track, but you have to get back on it." 
   
Davis also said Starbuck needs to be more involved in the Southeast Policy Area (SEPA). As the last major unplanned area of Elk Grove, Davis said it is crucial that the area be planned in such a way to attract employers and that Starbuck should be involved in that process.

"If we don't do that, then we are going to wait a few years, and they are going to be coming back and asking us to convert it to residential because it didn't work," Davis said.

For his part Starbuck said that is why he attends trade shows so that he can identify businesses that can expand. Starbuck did not quantify what involvement he has in the planning of the SEPA as it relates to attracting employers. 

Davis also instructed Starbuck to include updates in future reports on his activities to find a tenant for the vacated Bel Air store on Elk Grove Blvd.

10:24 | 3 comments | Read More

Elk Grove City Council Nixes Aquatic Center Bid Reimbursement Request

The Elk Grove City Council turned back a request from a bidder for the city's aquatic center that sought to be reimbursed for bidding on the project.

By a 4-0 vote (Vice Mayor Steve Detrick was not present) the council denied a request from the P3i company that sought to be reimbursed up to $155,000 for the cost of bidding and development of a plan a plan for the city's proposed aquatics center should their bid be denied.

Assistant City Manager Rebecca Craig noted during her presentation to the council that the proposal is "scoped as a high risk project." PSi is the only bidder who qualified for the request for proposal.

During council questioning, Craig said that the aquatics center would likely end up with two operators - one for the commercial water park and another for the competitive center which would include among other things a diving platform facility and an Olympic sized swimming pool. She also said the commercial component would need to subsidize the competitive facilities so the center would not operate at a net loss to the city. 

During their deliberations, the council uniformly expressed skepticism about the request noting the putting together a bid and proposal is the cost of doing business.

Council Member Jim Cooper noted the city is putting $14 million and 20-acres of land towards the center and the commercial component will make a good return.

"I have a hard time as a council member sitting up here doling out $155,000," Cooper said. "That is not a ton of money, but it is significant."

14:15 | 3 comments | Read More

EGPD Officer Spots Stolen Car, Lands Two Men in Jail

A watchful Elk Grove Police officer's eye resulted in the arrest of two Sacramento men who were driving a stolen car.

According to Police reports, officers observed 26-year old Marlon Wall driving a car that had been reported stolen. After initiating an enforcement stop, officers detained Wall and his passenger, 26-year old Valaxay Vang and discovered both had outstanding warrants out for their arrest.

A search of the vehicle led to the discovery of narcotics. Both suspects were arrested and taken to the county were they both remain in custody. 

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Elk Grove City Manager - Budget Good For Now, But Could Face its Own 'Fiscal Cliff' in Future

May 23, 2013 |

At their regular meeting tonight, Elk Grove City Council members were told that the city's budget for the next two years looks fine, but could face its own version of the fiscal cliff in as little as two years.

Those comments came as Elk Grove City Manager Laura Gill made the initial presentation of the city's proposed budget for fiscal year 21014 which starts on July 1.

"While I consider the two year plan to be a good news in nature, the five year projection indicates that revenue will cover projected operational costs over the next two years," Gill said. "However, we face our own version of the fiscal cliff in fiscal year 2015, 16 because of a couple employment benefit issues."

Gill warns of 2015 fiscal cliff.

Gill identified those issues as the Affordable Health Care Plan which is scheduled to take effect on January, 2014 and the employment retirement benefit increases administered by the state employee retirement system, CALPERS.

"What has happened is that the Calpers has sustained quite a bit of investment losses during the great recession," she said. "The Calpers board has approved a plan which recoup those losses over a shorter amount of time which means that the employer contributions to pers will increase substantially."

According to a report from the Sacramento Bee, Calpers is asking government employers to raise funding by 50 percent over a five year period starting in 2015. 

Regarding the Affordable Health Care Act, Gill said there is quite a bit of uncertainty on how it will affect health insurance premiums. Gill said the proposed budget for 2014 reflects a 16 percent increase in premiums the city will pay.

Because of these two factors and the uncertainly of their financial effects over the next two years,  Gill said unrepresented employees, primarily those outside the police department, will not have current wage and benefit concessions given back. However Gill proposed that once the books are closed on the current budget, unrepresented employees will be allocated a pool of $135,000 in raises for retention purposes.   

As for the overall 2014 budget, it has a proposed increase of $10 million to $164 million and the general fund budget will go up by $3 million to $54.8 million. The proposed budget also includes five new positions including a full time police dispatch manager, one finance analyst and a compliance specialist for the the city's recently adopted climate action plan sustainability element.       

A budget workshop will be held during the June 12 city council meeting. By statute, the budget must be approved prior to July 1.

The proposed budget will be available tomorrow afternoon at city hall and in the city's website.

21:07 | 8 comments | Read More

Previoulsy Deported Felon Arrested by Elk Grove Police

May 22, 2013 |

A routine traffic stop yesterday afternoon led to the arrest of a man who had been previously been deported as a convicted felon.

According to Elk Grove Police, 31-year old Juan Robeldo of Sacramento was stopped on the 9100 block of East Stockton Blvd. for a vehicle code violation. A records check revealed the suspect had an active warrant for his arrest and was found to be a previously deported felon.

The suspect was taken to the county jail where is he remains in custody on an U.S. Border Patrol hold and three other charges. Robledo is not eligible for bail.

13:46 | 1 comments | Read More

Maplight Scores Victory For California Election Financing Transparency

May 22, 2012 |

Oakland-based Maplight.org announced yesterday that California Secretary of State Debra Bowen has agreed to make campaign financing information easier to access.

This development comes in response to a letter MapLight wrote to the Bowen last month, co-signed by a coalition of media, transparency, and reform groups, asking her to provide a downloadable version of this database, which details who funds our elected officials' campaigns. 

This new transparency is a major victory for MapLight's work and for democracy in the state of California. It will help citizens hold their elected officials accountable," Maplight President Dan Newman said. "We hope that it inspires similar transparency for public data in states across the country."

The downloadable version, which the Secretary of State has promised to launch by Labor Day, will be a major improvement for transparency. Currently, it is only possible to access California campaign finance data online for one committee at a time, making it impossibly time-intensive to answer questions such as "How much has company X given to lawmakers?" 

To get bulk access to the state's campaign finance data, one currently must request a CD-ROM copy of the database, which can take up to two weeks to receive in the mail.

When millions of dollars are being raised and spent every day during election season, a downloadable version of the database, made available daily, is what Californians need and deserve in order to know who's funding public elections. 

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Rumsfeld Rules - Is Elk Grove Suffering From its Own Version of Mission Creep?

May 20, 2013 |

In recent weeks former U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has been making the rounds on the media circuit to promote his new book, Rumsfeld's Rules.

One show Rumsfeld appeared on last week was America Public Radio's Marketplace. During the interview Rumsfeld was asked about the seemingly contradictory message on one of his rules and the "mission creep" of the Iraqi War.

Are there lessons on 'Mission Creep' the Elk Grove City Council can learn from DOD Secretaries McNamara and Rumsfeld?

While Rumsfeld was, at best oblique, the topic of mission creep and his response came to mind when reviewing this week's Elk Grove City Council meeting agenda. Specifically, item 10.4 whereby the city will pay an vendor to bid on the aquatics center.

While the discussion of paying a vendor to bid on a project is a separate discussion (see side bar below), it appears that Elk Grove City seems to be caught up in its own version of mission creep. For Elk Grove it could be more accurately called unfulfilled project creep.

Think about it, how many plans, several of them grandiose - some might say delusional, has the city undertaken that have gone unfulfilled yet cost us hundreds of thousands of dollars? A simple jog of the memory reminds us of several and undoubtedly readers can probably point out several others that don't immediately come to mind.

Perhaps the biggest was the civic center project that the city council spend spent hundreds of thousands of taxpayers dollars on for architectural plans that are now collecting dust on some shelve inside city hall.

Of late, the city has laser focused on pursuing several athletic endeavors from the proposed softball fields  a while back to the more recent aquatics center. Of course the city continues to spend tens of thousands of our dollars on consultants, studies and travel in pursuit of landing a Major League Soccer Team even though the City of Sacrament clearly has taken a commanding lead in this pursuit.

This is not to say all of the city's unfulfilled projects plans are unwise. For instance, the city has developed plans to open a stop on Amtrak's San Joaquin route that to date remains unfulfilled.

Then there are those categories of projects that many correctly assert would regionally connect us, reduce car traffic, improve air quality and provide a real service to citizens that the city has shown no inclination to pursue and one can even argue has shown varying degrees of outright hostility towards.  Can you say Light Rail?

So while the city might spent $150,000 more of our money to pay some consultant to develop a proposal that they could bid on, the city council and staff might want to consider self-medicating themselves with some Ritalin, quit spending taxpayers money on consultants and travel junkets and focus on realistic infrastructure plans that benefit the taxpayers and not their political agendas or personal egos.

To paraphrase one of Rumsfeld's more notorious quotes, this might be asking to much with our local government as there are several "known unknowns" when it come to their scheming with taxpayers dollars.  

Side Bar - Paying to Bid?

Item 10.4 on this week's Elk Grove City Council agenda meeting has the audacity to recommend that the City reimburse each bidder up to $155,000 to cover their costs to submit a bid proposal for the design of the waterpark.

Perhaps this a win-win, no-lose policy using taxpayers money. Win-win, because the losing bidders win their money back, even if they lose.

We cannot find or recall any recent example of this in other levels of government, except maybe Department of Defense contracts and we all know how convoluted those are. By pulling this latest economic incentive rabbit out of their hat, the Elk Grove City Council is sending a strong signal that says 'we are a desperate city and will pay you to bid on our projects.'

We all know that others are watching and will want the same deal. Win-win, no losers, except for the taxpayers of course.

12:37 | 9 comments | Read More

Isleton Cajun (Crawdad) Blues Festival Has Summer's Best Musical Lineup

May 19, 2013 |

The 2013 Cajun & Blues Festival set for Father's Day weekend, Saturday and Sunday, June 15-16 on Main Street in the Delta hamlet of Isleton is just around the corner.

National headliners like blues legend/Grammy winner Elvin Bishop and two impressive Cajun bands flying in direct from Louisiana, The Lost Bayou Ramblers and The Magnolia Sisters (with Grammy winner Ann Savoy) will top the line-up. 

Also on the bill are Bay Area Louisiana music favorites, Andre Thierry & Zydeco Magic, The Creole Belles with Andrew Carriere, and the 2012 Blues Music Award winner, Terry Hanck and his sizzling blues/soul band. Portland, Oregon's blues diva, Karen Lovely is a barnburner. Oakland's rising blues stars, Howell Devine (Arhoolie Records recording artists) will play both days. The country blues trio represented the Bay Area at the 2013 International Blues Challenge in Memphis and were finalists among over 400 contestants.

Sacramento favorites The Kyle Rowland Band, Catfish & The Crawdaddies and The Sacramento Blues Revue are also on the bill, along with Modesto's Blues Box Bayou Band. Rio Vista's own Derek Abel and his blues band will also bring the blues party to his hometown. Davis' Gabe Lewin completes the stellar line up. Full band links, bios and set times are at www.isletoncajunfestival.net. 

Presented by the Isleton Chamber of Commerce led by new president Lynette Brister, former Chamber president Jean Yokotobi and talent producer Mindy Giles (Sacramento's Swell Productions) the two-day family-friendly festival is promoting the strongest music line-up yet. 

Over 20,000 pounds of fresh Delta crawdads cooked by Isleton's master c-dadster, Kenny Silva, and festival food from vendors will feed the thousands of attendees. The traditional crawdad eating contest and best costume contest will be held Saturday afternoon. 

The Jim Ott Brass Band, a 30 piece brass band, will welcome fest goers on Saturday near the large free parking area on the north side of Main Street. 

Tickets are $15 per day for ages 12 and over. Those under 12 are free. Advance tickets online will go on sale at the festival website @ www.inticketing.com on May 7. Tickets are also available in person at the Isleton Chamber of Commerce office at 23 Main Street.

 

08:41 | 1 comments | Read More

Sheldon Heritage Festival Seeks Crafters, Vendors For Inaugural Sept. Event

May 18, 2013 |

The Sheldon Community Association, in partnership with the Elk Grove Food Bank, is seeking local artists and craftspeople wishing to participate in The Sheldon Heritage Arts and Crafts Fair slated for Sunday, Sept.29. 


The event will highlight the City of Elk Grove's unique rural area and feature entertainment, food vendors and crafters. Booth spaces of 10 ft. by 10ft. are available for $35.  Space is limited and will be reserved on a first come, first served basis.  

For more information please contact  Rick @ 916-747-5976,  Linda F.  @ 916-690-8980 or Linda C. @ 925-323-2569.  Email inquires should be sent to  sheldonheritagefair@gmail.com.  

All proceeds, net of expenses, will be donated to the Elk Grove Food Bank.  Sponsorship opportunities are also available.

09:37 | 0 comments | Read More

Delta Stewardship Council Adopts Plan Amidst Massive Opposition

By Dan Bacher | May 18, 2013 |

In spite of overwhelming opposition from environmentalists, fishermen, family farmers, elected officials and the majority of Californians, the Delta Stewardship Council (DSC) on Thursday, May 16 unanimously adopted what it described as a "comprehensive management plan" for the Delta. 

The Council also certified the final Programmatic Environmental Impact Report (PEIR), despite opposition to the report from every single person who spoke during the public comment period, ranging from Delta farmers to a representative of the Metropolitan Water District. In addition, the Council adopted regulations that will implement the policies of the Delta Plan. 

“State law told us to develop a legally enforceable Delta Plan that will guide state and local agency actions on water use and the Delta environment,” said Delta Stewardship Council Chair Phil Isenberg, who previously served as Chair of the privately funded Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative Blue Ribbon Task Force to create so-called "marine protected areas" on the Central Coast, as well as Chair of Arnold Schwarzenegger's Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force, which recommended the construction of a peripheral canal or tunnels. 

Wendy Stokes, Chair of Restore the Delta, speaking at the protest at the Delta Stewardship Council meeting in West Sacramento on May 16. Photo by Dan Bacher. 

 

“We will now be able to focus on implementing the policies and recommendations that will help achieve the State’s coequal goals of providing a more reliable water supply for California and protecting, restoring, and enhancing the Delta ecosystem while protecting the unique values of the Delta as an evolving place," Isenberg claimed. 

A press release from the DSC revealed how the Delta Plan is intimately tied to the Bay Delta Conservation Plan to build the peripheral tunnels.   

“The Delta Plan is California’s plan for the Delta and is intended to be a single enforceable blueprint that requires and encourages sustainable actions now, and lays a strong foundation for future projects and programs that will improve statewide water supply reliability, provide a vibrant and healthy ecosystem, and preserve, protect and enhance the rural, agricultural and recreational characteristics of the Delta. The Plan will eventually include the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) when the BDCP is completed and successfully permitted,” the release stated. 

Delta advocates, who held a protest featuring the "Death of the Delta" coffin at the Radisson Hotel in West Sacramento before the meeting, disagreed strongly with Isenberg's contention that the plan would protect, restore and enhancing the Delta ecosystem "while protecting the unique values of the Delta as an evolving place." They said the flawed plan would "drain the Delta and doom salmon and other Pacific fisheries." 

Delta plan perpetuates unsustainable status quo 

Bill Jennings, executive director of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, began his presentation at both the rally and in the public comment period at the meeting by stating, "Good morning, welcome to the resumption of California's water wars." 

"The Delta Plan fails to comply with the law, and perpetuates an unsustainable status quo that enriches a few powerful water brokers at the expense of reliable water supplies and healthy fisheries," said Jennings. "It is a classic shell game to benefit special interests and, if implemented, would represent a death sentence for one of the world's great estuaries." 

"The Council has squandered a marvelous and unique opportunity," emphasized Jennings. "Because the Council failed to identify and analyze the root causes of California’s water crisis – over-appropriation, unreasonable use, failure to balance the public trust – the Delta Plan and EIR largely recommends that agencies should continue to do the same things that created the crisis in the first place. The Plan and EIR ignore history and are predicated on an artificial reality. They’re little more than omelets of half-truth and distortion to justify predetermined conclusions." 

Referring to the failed Cal-Fed process designed to meet the "co-equal goals" of water supply and ecosystem restoration, Jennings said, "Instead of vision, we have a warmed over CalFed Lite!" 

"Instead of perpetuating the destructive water export policies, the Delta Plan should be focused on developing regional water solutions that reduce reliance on the Delta," said Wendy Stokes, a Delta farmer and chair of Restore the Delta. "The Delta Stewardship Council has abandoned the path of sustainable water policies to help endorse the Peripheral Tunnels. Agriculture will not be able to afford this expensive water. The majority of the $60 billion cost will be paid by the families of Southern California through their higher water bills." 

Water “reliability” – code for more water 

"The stated purpose of the Delta Plan is to provide water ‘reliability’ for Southern California users. ‘Reliability,’ in this case, is code for more water," said Nick Di Croce, co-facilitator of the California Environmental Water Caucus, and board member of the California Water Impact Network. "The delta cannot be saved, and its ecological crisis cannot be addressed, by taking out more water. The real crisis for the delta is that state and federal agencies have committed to deliver five times more water than is available; these unrealistic commitments need to be revised." 

Stockton City Councilmember Kathy Miller, representing the Delta Coalition, blasted the Delta Stewardship Council and the Brown Administration for failing to conduct an analysis to determine how much water is available for export. 

"Until this water availability analysis is done, there is no way to know how much water is available for export," she said. "The Delta Plan nevertheless endorses building huge Peripheral Tunnels. This places the cart before the horse." 

She also criticized the Council for not addressing the dire economic impacts of the tunnels on the city of Stockton, a community where the population of people living in poverty has risen 56 percent in the past decade. "We need an open hand, not a closed fist," she said. "We need policies that enhance jobs creation and capital investment." 

The Delta plan’s true purpose: get around biological opinions 

The tunnel opponents said the true purpose of the Delta Plan is to get around the court "biological opinions" that restrict water exports in order to protect Sacramento River Chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead, Delta smelt, green sturgeon and the southern resident population of killer whales (orcas), which forage on Sacramento River Chinook salmon, from extinction. 

"The courts have found that water exporters have threatened the very survival of several fish species. Now, instead of reducing water exports, the Delta Plan endorses simply moving the point of export to a different spot in the Delta," said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of Restore the Delta. 

Independent scientists have found that the removal of more Delta flows through the Peripheral Tunnels would hasten the extinction of Sacramento River winter Chinook salmon, Delta smelt, longfin smelt and other fish species. "Yet, that is what the Delta Plan endorses," said Jennings. 

Jennings concluded, "We have urged the Council to analyze and incorporate the findings of the legislatively mandated flow reports by the Water Board and Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Delta Protection Commission’s Economic Sustainability Plan. Following an extensive proceeding involving agencies, academia and non-governmental organizations, the Water Board concluded that a substantial increase in Delta outflow and a return to a more natural hydrograph were necessary to protect public trust resources. The Delta Plan EIR didn’t even consider that report as a major source of information." 

Dick Pool, Secretary of the Golden Gate Salmon Association, criticized the failure of the plan to address the recovery needs of Central Valley salmon. 

"The salmon cannot be restored with only habitat changes in the Delta," said Pool. "There is a large body of science including the state and federal agencies that recognize that only a combination of both upriver habitat and Delta actions can restore the salmon populations. Delta operations, specifically the pumps in the South Delta, with their strong impact on upstream water movements and reservoir operations, severely impact the survival of juvenile salmon above the Delta. The Delta Plan fails to address these issues." 

Salad Bowl Science 

Nicky Suard, owner of Snug Harbor Resorts in Walnut Grove on the Delta, summed up the lack of credible science in the Delta Plan and the EIR when she described it as "Salad Bowl Science," where the plan officials "pick and choose" the science to justify their pre-determined goals. 

"Don't pass this plan," Suard urged the Council. "It will destroy the Delta and everything in it." 

In her written comments to the Council, Carolee Krieger, President of the California Water Impact Network (C-WIN), shredded the Final Delta Plan. 

"We find the Final Delta Plan utterly deficient," said Krieger. "It is nothing more than a continuation of the policy that has destroyed the largest estuary on the west coast of the continental United States and instigated the state's water wars. As such, it is not a solution to our water crisis, but a disastrous adherence to the status quo." 

"It speaks to special interests, not the public interest," she stated. "It has been an unconscionable waste of taxpayer money, in that it sedulously avoids any course of action that would lead to the pragmatic and equitable distribution of our water while simultaneously protecting the Delta." 

The pleas of Suard, Krieger and everybody who spoke against the plan and EIR’s adoption fell on deaf ears. 

As was the case in the parallel Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative, Delta Vision and Bay Delta Conservation Plan “collaborative” processes, the goal was to present a façade of an open and transparent process where the “input” of the “stakeholders” was considered when the outcome of the process, the privatization of the public trust, was predetermined by state officials and corporate interests. 

Council refused to conduct necessary analyses: 

Restore the Delta, California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, the Environmental Water Caucus and the Delta Coalition said they had implored the Council to undertake a series of necessary analyses because the responsible agencies have refused to conduct them. These include: 

• A water availability analysis essential for addressing over appropriation and separating real water from paper water and the legal rights to it. 

• A benefit/cost analysis indispensable for maximizing the use of limited resources for the greatest good for all Californians. 

• A public trust analysis crucial for ensuring that the common property rights of all Californian’s are protected and balanced against those of special interests. 

• A beneficial use assessment addressing the extent that consumptive water is wasted and unreasonably used. 

For more information about the campaign to stop the peripheral tunnels, go to: http://www.restorethedelta.org

09:12 | 0 comments | Read More

2014 Budget, 'Old Town Plaza' Use Policy Tops Lengthy City Council Agenda

May 17, 2013 |

After several relatively short meetings, next Wednesday the Elk Grove City Council will face a lengthy agenda that will feature an initial presentation of the city's 2014 budget.

According to information released this afternoon with the agenda, the actual first presentation will be presented to the council Wednesday night. According to a recommendation from city budget director Katy Baumbach, the budgt could be approved as early as the June 12 city council meeting.

In addition to the first budget presentation, among significant items the council well hear include a rezone request and a proposed use policy for the city-owned empty lot in Old Town Elk Grove now referred to as the Old Town Plaza.

Wednesday's meeting starts at 6 p.m.     

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'Star Trek: Into Darkness' film review by Gary Chew

May 16, 2013 | By Gary Chew |

Maintaining linkage with itself has to be one of the underlying secrets of success for the durable“Star Trek” franchise. The linkage with all the star trekking from its outset when Gene Roddenberry got the space fable launched in 1966 to the very motion picture that's just been released called “Star Trek: Into Darkness” makes it clear its genesis was in broadcast television.

The Trek characters continue, even if they are now younger and played by others who, in many instances, weren't yet born when the series began. At present, we remain in the prequel mode of this enduring future of which Jim Kirk and Mr. Spock --- as well as the rest of the star ship Enterprise crew --- serve well the importance of justice, loyalty and honor whether it be in deep space or on a dusty street in a lonesome, desert town with two hombres facing-off with six shooters instead of Phasers.

Since we're talking sci-fi, the connections made forward and backward in time are more easily, yet cleverly employed to keep “Star Trek” up to at least Warp speed. (That, in spite of the fact that “Into Darkness” introduces a new space ship that makes the Enterprise look like a toy and can better the Enterprise's “warpiness.” Wow!

Director J. J. Abrams gives us more of Chris Pine as Kirk and Zachary Quinto Spock. The other, long-running likeable, familiar characters are also well cast. Most of the fresh Trek faces resemble the Shatners and Nimoys, etc., from those thrilling star dates of yesteryear --- thus keeping many talented people in the movie business employed and all the world's beloved Trekkies stoked, entertained and full of popcorn.

An added role to this 2013 “Star Trek” shows up as the character's younger self; I won't spoil you with the specifics. What's fun watching this new adventure is that (thanks to the conceit of time travel) scriptwriters Robert Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Damon Lindelof have drawn from an earlier “Star Trek” and reversed characters' lines in scenes that stage similarly to the other film. For example: what Kirk says to Spock in one movie is, almost word for word, the same thing that Spock say to Kirk in the other “Star Trek.” It's another savvy feat to keep veteran Trekkies on board with the new, younger actors, while giving new fans a nice, big, fat sci-fi story. After seeing it, the latter day fan can watch the older “Star Trek” story and join in on the neat knowledge about what's been flip-flopped in the scriptwriting.

By the way, it's difficult to write about all this without spoiling it for the old Trekkies or the new Trekkies.

Shouts outs for the new film again go to Pine and Quinto. Other significant performances come from Benedict Cumberbatch, Peter Weller and Bruce Greenwood.

Since seeing the new film, I've watched the earlier“Star Trek” feature that connects most to the new release; and in all candor I must say that this latest edition makes the older film look like a slow freight chugging into the Neutral Zone. You must watch fast when viewing “Into Darkness.”

Unlike my old Trekkie friend, Mike Lazar of Sacramento, I haven't watched every “Star Trek” TV episode or, for that matter, all the feature films; but “Into Darkness,” bests the bunch I've seen, which includes the 2009 version with Pine and Quinto I award the new “Star Trek” 3.5 stars … and for myself, 5 stars for figuring out a way to tell you all you really need to know about this stunningly visual 3-D movie without using nary a spoiler.

Chew Reviews: Movies to Think About
 
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Copyright © 2013 by Gary Chew. All rights reserved

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