Published
in Rio Linda Elverta News December 23, 2004 - Scroll for other articles
--Water Board debates News reporting--
Too quick for Board
By Jay O'Brien
The NEWS reported two weeks ago about
the newly elected Water District
"Reform Board". The Reform Board consists of a majority of the Rio
Linda/Elverta Community Water District (RLECWD) Board of Directors. As
we reported, the Reform Board established several "ad hoc" committees
of two Board members to investigate Water District issues and make
recommendations they find appropriate. These committees were
appointed at a special Board meeting called by Director Mary Harris at
extra cost to ratepayers.
At that December 6 meeting, newly seated Director and Board President
Darrell Nelson appointed the committees with the instruction "The lead
person from each committee should develop what they wanted to deliver
from that committee, what resources they would need, time line, the
topics they want to go after within that committee... I would like to
further define them at the next meeting."
As the next regular meeting was scheduled for two weeks later on
December 20, RLECWD General Manager Dave Andres told the Board that he
needed input from the committees by December 15 so that he could
prepare the agenda for the next meeting.
The NEWS, following the California Public Records Act, requested copies
of the correspondence between Andres and the Board Members so that a
follow up article could be prepared and published before the December
20 Board meeting. Andres complied promptly and appropriately with our
request, and the article we published last week
described what
President Nelson planned to place on the agenda for the December 20
meeting.
Unfortunately, our prompt and timely reporting to you, our readers, was
not looked upon favorably by some Board members. For example, Harris,
not understanding that The NEWS had requested and received the
correspondence from Board members that later became part of the agenda,
said that the press should only be given information after board
action, "...not to give Mr. O'Brien the agenda before we the board gets
it."
President Nelson and the Board explored the stipulation in the Public
Records Act that specifies the time limit for responding to requests.
Andres said the policy should be consistent for everyone. Andres
explained that if he was instructed to delay press requests for ten
days, he would feel obliged to also delay a request from Director Mary
Harris for ten days when she requests a video tape of a Board meeting.
The Board took no action attempting to limit public or press access to
what is public information as defined by State law; The NEWS will watch
this issue carefully and report should we be denied access to
information we feel we need to inform our readers.
One agenda item we identified was an effort to control public
participation at Board meetings, arguably in violation of California's
Brown act covering local governmental agencies. The item placed on the
agenda by President Nelson, if enacted, would require audience members
to stand and identify themselves before addressing the Board; also
included in the document was a restriction on citizen allegations of
misconduct or illegal activity by the Board, stifling the allegations
until they were first submitted in writing and an investigation
completed by the Board.
When President Nelson was leading the discussion of the committees he
appointed, he skipped over the onerous Citizen Participation item until
we called it to his attention. He then opted to not discuss the Citizen
Participation proposal, instead defining it as an item for the newly
formed Policy Committee to review.
President Nelson led the Board in renaming and prioritizing the
committees; First priority was the "Budget/Fiscal" committee; second
was the "Master Plan" committee; tied for third were the "Policy Manual
Update" committee and the "Employee/Retiree health/benefits" committee.
Other actions taken at the December 20th RLECWD Board meeting included
the approval of a contract to improve the water mains on 7th Street and
K Street; approval of a contract to install a booster pump at the well
site on Rio Linda Boulevard near Rafael Drive; and the naming of
Director Hal Morris as Public Relations Liaison. The method to serve
water to planned home sites in 20 acres at the County line east of 16th
Street was discussed with representatives of developers and
Cal-American Water service; Andres was instructed by the Board to meet
with Cal-American and the developers.
The Board took an unplanned recess at 9PM when it was reported that a
window in President Nelson's car was broken while it was parked
outside; Nelson took the problem in stride, even when he learned his
leather jacket was stolen from his car.
The next meeting of the RLECWD is scheduled for January 10, 2005, at 7
PM. It will be held in the new Visitor Center at Depot Park, 6730 Front
Street, Rio Linda. The Visitor Center is immediately north of the Water
District office.
Published
in Rio Linda Elverta News December 23, 2004 - Scroll for other articles
Luxury
Apartments on Dry Creek Road?
CPAC hears proposal
By Jay O'Brien
Nine members of the Rio Linda/Elverta Community Planning Advisory
Council (CPAC) heard a presentation by developer Eric Najadian and
Architect Bob Kuchman proposing a 70 unit apartment complex at Dry
Creek Road and E Streets. The 3.42 acre site on the southwest corner
would be called "Dry Creek Apartments" and, as proposed, would have 70
dwelling units. This was an "information only" presentation to CPAC on
December 14, 2004; no CPAC action was taken.
The plan proposes 24 one bedroom apartments, 32 with two bedrooms, 8
with three bedrooms, and six "town home" units. The apartments would be
built to be at the "high end" of the rental market; the developer calls
them "luxury apartments". The gated and fenced complex would include a
clubhouse and a swimming pool. The presentation included projected
pictures of a similar complex recently constructed in Elk Grove.
Mr. Najadian said he had met with First District County Supervisor
Roger Dickinson and had received his blessing. Najadian introduced
Cortez Quinn, Dickinson's Chief of Staff, who said, "Roger did believe
that this project would fit, here, and he is supportive of it."
Leighann Moffitt, Principal Planner for Sacramento County, explained
the new requirements recently imposed by Sacramento County's Housing
Element. Moffitt explained that 11, or 15% of the units, would
have to be "affordable units", or the developers would be obliged to
pay a $700,000 fee to the County.
Moffitt expressed the County's desire to work with the developers to
rezone the property for apartments and to include the required quota of
affordable units.
CPAC members and the residents in the audience agreed that the proposed
development was appealing, except for their concern repeated many times
that the development would cause an already overloaded Dry Creek Road
to become an even worse traffic problem. The present rush hour
gridlock problem on Dry Creek Road was vividly described by audience
members.
During the several-year approval process for the Elverta Specific plan,
CPAC recommended to the County that 16th Street and Raley Boulevard be
used to take north-south traffic from the Specific Plan area, adopting
a low-level crossing of the Dry Creek Parkway as originally proposed by
County Transportation planner Steve Hetland. The County rejected that
proposal, instead forcing the new traffic to the existing alignment of
Dry Creek Road. The addition of complexes such as the 'Dry Creek
Apartments' may help CPAC to get the County's attention; perhaps even
causing the County to reconsider the CPAC's preferred 16th Street
north-south route.
Other actions taken by CPAC December 14 included approval of a
residential accessory dwelling on Rio Linda Boulevard north of E; a
split of 10 acres into 5 lots on Delano east of El Rio; a split of 5
acres into 2 lots at E and West 4th; and a split of 4 acres into 2 lots
at West 4th and M. The next CPAC meeting is scheduled for January 11,
2005, at 7 PM in the Community Center. Public attendance and
participation is encouraged.
Published
in Rio Linda Elverta News December 23, 2004 - Scroll for other articles
Sex Offenders database on line
52 are listed here
By Jay O'Brien
The State's Attorney General (AG) Bill Lockyer launched a new web site
last week that provides access to sex offender information available
under Megan's law.
According to the AG, "California's Megan's Law provides the public with
certain information on the whereabouts of sex offenders so that members
of our local communities may protect themselves and their children.
Megan's Law is named after seven-year-old Megan Kanka, a New Jersey
girl who was raped and killed by a known child molester who had moved
across the street from the family without their knowledge. In the wake
of the tragedy, the Kankas sought to have local communities warned
about sex offenders in the area. All states now have a form of Megan's
Law."
A new California law, Assembly Bill 488, signed this year by the
Governor, provides the public with Internet access to detailed
information on many registered sex offenders.
When accessing the site, users are first required to certify that a
disclaimer has been read. It includes the statement "Anyone who uses
this information to commit a crime or to harass an offender or his or
her family is subject to criminal prosecution and civil liability."
Read the disclaimer carefully; be careful how you use the information
you are shown.
A search for Elverta's zip code, 95626, shows 12 listings. Rio Linda,
95673, had 41 offenders last week, but only 40 on Monday. The 41st
person is still in the AG's database, but is now listed at a Sacramento
address, not Rio Linda.
The "View Listing" selection for a zip code provides names, addresses
and a small photo of each offender. Click on "More Info" for each
offender to see a larger photo, date of birth, and other information.
Search for an address, a school or a park, and select a distance to the
offender; a map is displayed, showing the offenders on the map. Click
on one of the offenders to see details, including a picture of the
offender.
The AG's Megan's law web site was overwhelmed the first few days it was
available. The AG says that three million successful hits were
registered in the first 24 hours, and many more were turned away. As of
Monday, the lookups and displays are immediate.
Check it out at http://www.meganslaw.ca.gov
and see for yourself.
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