Michael Gelbman, who has worked as the ad manager of the Sierra Sun and North Lake Tahoe Bonanza, was named publisher of both papers.
The article is here.
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Controller launches review of redevelopment agencies
Posted on January 24, 2011 by jeffpelline
I received this press release:
SACRAMENTO – State Controller John Chiang today announced his auditors were beginning reviews of 18 redevelopment agencies (RDA) across the state in an effort to obtain facts on how RDA funds are used and the extent to which they comply with laws governing their activities.
“The heated debate over whether RDAs are the engines of local economic and job growth or are simply scams providing windfalls to political cronies at the expense of public services has largely been based on anecdotal evidence,” Chiang said. “As lawmakers deliberate the Governor’s proposal to close RDAs and divert those funds to local schools and public safety agencies, I believe it is important to provide factual, empirical information about how these agencies perform and what they bring to the communities they serve.”
The 18 RDAs selected for the reviews represent urban, suburban and rural communities. They are geographically diverse and represent a mix of varying populations. The reviews will look at, among other things, how the RDAs define a “blighted” area, whether they are appropriately paying for low- and moderate-income housing as required by law, whether they are accurately “passing through” payments to schools within their community, and how much RDA officials, board members and employees are being compensated for their services.
To assist lawmakers in their budget debates, the reviews will be completed in early March. The chosen RDAs are as follows:
· Redevelopment Agency of the City of San Jose (Santa Clara County)
· Redevelopment Agency for the County of Riverside
· Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles (Los Angeles County)
· Richmond Redevelopment Agency (Contra Costa County)
· Redevelopment Agency of the County of Sacramento
· Redevelopment Agency of the City of Pittsburg (Contra Costa County)
· Redevelopment Agency of the City of Fremont (Alameda County)
· Pasadena Community Development Commission (Los Angeles County)
· Redevelopment Agency of the City of Fresno (Fresno County)
· City of Palm Desert Redevelopment Agency (Riverside County)
· Placentia Redevelopment Agency (Orange County)
· Parlier Redevelopment Agency (Fresno County)
· Hercules Redevelopment Agency (Contra Costa County)
· Anderson Redevelopment Agency (Shasta County)
· Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Citrus Heights (Sacramento County)
· Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Calexico (Imperial County)
· Community Development Agency of the City of Coronado (San Diego County)
· City of Desert Hot Springs Redevelopment Agency (Riverside County)
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County Democrats host State of the Union get together
Posted on January 24, 2011 by jeffpelline
A reader forwarded this email:
Watch President Obama’s message with fellow Democrats in Margarita’s Bar, Tuesday, Jan. 25th.
The broadcast starts at 6 p.m. Arrive early enough to order your own drinks and appetizers or dinner!
Margarita’s
988 Plaza Drive
Grass Valley
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White House coordinator for climate change policy to depart
Posted on January 24, 2011 by jeffpelline
“Carol M. Browner, the White House coordinator for energy and climate change policy, will leave the administration shortly, officials confirmed Monday night. Her departure signals at least a temporary slowing of the ambitious environmental goals of President Obama’s first two years in the face of new Republican strength in Congress,” according to the New York Times.
“Ms. Browner, a former administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, was charged with directing the administration’s effort to enact comprehensive legislation to reduce emissions of climate-altering gases and moving the country away from a dependence on dirty-burning fossil fuels. That effort foundered in Congress last year, and Mr. Obama has acknowledged that no major climate change legislation is likely to pass in the next two years.”
The rest of the article is here.
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Winter issue of Sierra FoodWineArt magazine
Posted on January 24, 2011 by jeffpelline
The winter issue of Sierra FoodWineArt magazine is out.
An exact digital copy of the magazine is here.
Some highlights:
•The newly reopened West Shore Cafe and Inn at Lake Tahoe is on the front and profiled inside. (Photos by Greyson Howard). Also features on Alpine Meadows and Homewood.
•Fireside dining in the Sierra and foothills
•Good eats off I-80 on the way to skiing and snowboarding
•Grass Valley Art & Wine Walk, Grass Valley Wine Tasting
•Simplicity Bistro by Don Pelton
•Nevada City Mardi Gras and Ike’s celebrating 10 years
•Nevada City Winery
•Sierra Foothills Meat Buyers Club
•The King and I, Sierra Stages, Auburn Symphony and InConcert Sierra
•Auburn Old Town Gallery and Art Works Gallery in Grass Valley
•Artists Profile: Jerianne Van Dijk
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Video from blast that killed 31 at Moscow Airport
Posted on January 24, 2011 by jeffpelline
A video has been posted on You Tube of the blast that killed 31 at the Moscow Airport.
“An explosion rocked an international terminal of Moscow’s busiest airport on Monday afternoon in what Russian officials described as an apparent terrorist attack. The Health Ministry reported that at least 30 people had been killed and 130 injured,” according to the New York Times.
“Russian news agencies, citing witnesses, said the airport’s halls were filled with so much smoke that it was difficult to count the dead. A video posted online showed bodies and luggage strewn across the airport floor, barely visible under the clouds of thick smoke.”
The Times article is here.
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Subdizing developers at the expense of basic services?
Posted on January 24, 2011 by jeffpelline
Grass Valley is not alone in calling special meetings to discuss transferring money from their redevelopment agencies to city control — a move critics say is intended to “subsidize developers” at the expense of providing vital services, as I wrote the other day.
I also pointed to an L.A. Times report.
Now the Sacramento Bee has weighed in with a front-page story on Monday.
“Owners of land and buildings in downtown Sacramento pay roughly $31.2 million in property taxes every year, but only a slice of that goes to fund local government and schools,” The Bee reports.
“The bulk – more than $26 million – is siphoned off by the city’s redevelopment agency, which uses the money to subsidize development projects, build affordable housing, fix up rundown buildings and beautify streets.
“Gov. Jerry Brown proposes eliminating redevelopment agencies to help address the state’s budget deficit. His dramatic proposal has raised a question: Can California afford to keep spending a big chunk of tax money to fix up cities when core services are threatened?”
Kudos to the Bee and Times for raising the issue and asking the right questions. I have yet to find this kind of scrutiny of the Grass Valley redevelopment agency in the local media.
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CABPRO awards Logue “advocate of the year”
Posted on January 24, 2011 by jeffpelline
This from CABPRO’s website:
“CABPRO Board Member John Spencer, Executive Director Martin Light, Assemblyman Dan Logue and CABPRO Board Chair Kim Janousek at Penny’s Diner, Grass Valley, California. News links covering the event can be found at NC Media Watch, Rebane’s Ruminations, Sierra Dragon’s Breath (photo credit: CABPRO)”
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Justice Alito: Attends right-wing fundraising, skips State of the Union speech
Posted on January 24, 2011 by jeffpelline
Supreme Court Justice Sam Alito stirred criticism in November when he attended a right-wing fundraiser for the American Spectator, a right-wing magazine known for its role in helping to impeach President Clinton.
He dismissed his attendance as “not important,” though he helped to raise “tens of thousands of dollars for the magazine,” as ThinkProgress.org reported.
The Justice also finds it not important to attend President Obama’s State of the Union speech tonight.
He will be in Honolulu all week with students at the University of Hawaii Law School.
Last year, Obama rebuked the judges for their campaign finance decision that paved the way for big corporate contributions.
Whether Supreme Court Justice John Roberts attends remains up in the air.
As highest-ranking members of the federal judiciary, both of them ought to be present to honor U.S. District Judge John Roll, who was murdered during the Tucson shooting rampage.
How’s that for judicial arrrogance?
Speaking of arrogant, The Union and KVMR commentator George Rebane wants Congress to sit during the President’s State of the Union speech. “This hooey about civility and bi-partisanship is more patronizing of the voting public by the ruling elites,” George writes this morning.
You can always count on George to be divisive. In her campaign for Assessor, Sue Horne called George a “community leader,” however. Translated: $$$ contribution.
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