City business groups are talking big with their wallets in support of Phyllis Newton, one of seven candidates seeking the District 4 City Council seat covering Land Park and the central city.

Better Sacramento, a group of local business owners and developers, filed paperwork on Tuesday indicating it had spent $15,546 on mail pieces and consulting in support of Newton. The organization has emerged as a political and philanthropic interest over the past year.

Newton, an attorney and director of a disaster relief organization, was also the beneficiary earlier this month of mailers paid for by the Sacramento Metro Chamber of Commerce. The chamber spent roughly $33,000 on the mailers, according to campaign documents.

Better Sacramento is also continuing its involvement in the District 8 race in south Sacramento, where former NAACP branch head Betty Williams is seeking to unseat Councilwoman Bonnie Pannell.

The group already spent $30,000 on Williams campaign signs. Now, new documents show Better Sacramento has funded a mailer and paid for consulting in opposition to Pannell to the tune of $13,885.

© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.

Article source: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/05/17/4497834/city-beat-business-groups-continue.html

What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com

Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can’t play nice. (See our full terms of service here.)

Here are some rules of the road:

• Keep your comments civil. Don’t insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the “report abuse” button to notify the moderators. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.

• Don’t use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don’t say anything in a way you wouldn’t want your own child to hear.

• Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.

• Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand. If you want to discuss an issue with a specific user, click on his profile name and send him a direct message.

• Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.

• Don’t repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.

• Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That’s spam and it isn’t allowed.

• Don’t use all capital letters. That’s akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.

You should also know that The Sacramento Bee does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the “report abuse” button to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at feedback@sacbee.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won’t and vice versa.

If you submit a comment, the user name of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them, but you may ask our staff to retract one of your comments by sending an email to feedback@sacbee.com. Again, make sure you note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us your profile name.

Article source: http://blogs.sacbee.com/the_state_worker/2012/05/jerry-brown-furlough-plan-would-drain-sacramento-economy.html

“Whether the tax initiative passes or fails, the UC still loses,” said Cheryl Deutsch, 27, a graduate student in urban planning at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Article source: http://www.boston.com/business/taxes/articles/2012/05/17/even_with_tax_calif_could_face_chronic_deficits/

It’s time for Manny being Manny again. And it’s also time for a questionable minor-league promotion for a twice-caught cheater.

If the Oakland A’s want to give Manny Ramirez yet another chance, fine. It’s business. But the A’s Triple A farm club, the Sacramento River Cats, seem to be going a step beyond with their promotion timed to Ramirez’s 10-game minor-league stint starting Saturday. He’s preparing to join the A’s May 30 when he finishes his second 50-game suspension.

Ramirez makes his debut in Sacramento May 25 and the River Cats are offering fans the chance to purchase “Manny Packs,” which include ticket vouchers and a Manny Ramirez River Cats T-shirt.

Ramirez, of course, retired from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays last season rather than serve a 100-game suspension for his second positive test for performance-enhancing drugs. Because he sat out last season, the suspension was reduced to 50 games when he signed a one-year minor-league contract with the A’s in February.

So we have a question for the River Cats. What message are you sending to kids when you promote a two-time drug cheat? The same one that dads send to their kids when they give a standing ovation to a player returning from drug suspension — steroids, cocaine back in the ’80s, or other. When the player has done nothing to rehabilitate his standing, maybe with some community work?

Seems the message is clear: We don’t care about your character, kid, as long as you can paint the corner of the plate at 98 mph, or take that fastball over the wall in left-center.

End of rant. Thank you.

Article source: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/dailypitch/post/2012/05/river-cats-manny-ramirez-promotion/1

Sunflower Farmers Market opened a long-awaited new grocery store in the Land Park neighborhood on Wednesday morning. Over 400 people waited at the entrance for the 7:00 AM ribbon cutting ceremony. The first 200 customers in line received a canvas grocery bag filled with food products. Steve Black, Vice President of Operations for Sunflower Markets, said the earliest customer had arrived at 3:15 AM. Several customers in the line were still wrapped in blankets.

Sunflower Markets is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona and has 37 stores in eight states. The Land Park store is their third store in California and the company is in the process of opening several more in the state this year.

The new store fills a vacant retail space in a small shopping center at the intersections of Land Park Drive, Sutterville Road and Del Rio Road. Previous grocery tenants included the original Cardinal Market in the 1950′s, Compton’s Market and other grocery outlets. The space has been dormant for nearly four years and at one point, rumors were running strong that Trader Joe’s might open a store at the location. Other tenants in the center include La Bou Bakery, Parkside Pharmacy and Macau Restaurant. The building underwent significant reconstruction in preparation for the new market.

The Sunflower Market occupies about 20,000 square feet with 15,000 square feet of selling space. Black said, “This is our smallest store in our company, so it was a little bit of a challenge in that we couldn’t get all of our products in here.”

Black described some of the different departments in the store. “Produce is the center of our market. Over 25% of our sales are produce. The heart of our business is fresh produce.” Another large area is the meat department with a selection of natural and organic meats. Black said, “We do homemade sausages every day. We have butchers in the store so you can come in and get special cuts of meat or if you don’t know how to cook a certain cut of meat they can explain it to you.”

Other sections of the store include bulk foods, yogurts, and a natural living area with vitamins, supplements and herbs.

Black is especially proud of the coffee products. He said. “We have a coffee director that goes to El Salvador every year. He buys the coffee straight out of the fields.” The coffee is then roasted by Sunflower Markets for distribution to the stores.

Black explained that their weekly sales advertisements overlap on Wednesdays so customers can shop two ads on the same day.

Katy Bassett is the store manager and was very excited about the grand opening. She said, “It feels absolutely fantastic. Yesterday we had a soft opening and it was incredible. It was beyond our expectations.”

Bassett lives in the Land Park area of Sacramento and has worked in grocery stores for over 20 years. She said they hired about 80 people, with most of them coming from the surrounding neighborhoods in Sacramento. She said, “These are our home-grown Sacramento people.” Bassett moved quickly around the store, greeting customers, answering questions and chasing a constant stream of requests broadcast over the loudspeakers.

Lucinda Cox brought her two young daughters to the early opening. Cox lives about two miles from the store and said she has been waiting for a new store to open. She said, “We’ve been waiting for an organic store with fresh vegetables and fruits. If I miss the farmer’s market, I know I can come here.” Cox and her daughters weren’t quite early enough to earn the free bag of products. She laughed, “We tried, but we weren’t in the first 200. I think we were about 210.”

Debbie and Steve Fanshier came from Rosemont for the opening. The Fanshier’s arrived at 6:00 AM (96th in line) and have shopped at other Sunflower Markets. Debbie said, “I like organic food, the prices look good and it sounded like something fun to do. We’ve been to a store similar to it down in the Burbank area. That’s where we first became acquainted with them.”

As the first wave of customers finished their shopping, the lines began to form at the check-out stands. All registers were operating smoothly and any snags were apparently worked out in the previous day’s soft opening.

Article source: http://www.sacramentopress.com/headline/67939/New_Sunflower_Market_opens_in_Land_Park_neighborhood

ANAHEIM, J. Lowe: How long are Californians going to fall for the same old arguments from Sacramento politicians? If taxes are not raised, many programs will be cut. Cut them. We have school systems that can’t adequately teach our youth, yet teachers keep demanding raises, and when poor test results are revealed (California is 47th out of 50 states in science proficiency), they blame the test.

For about 40 years, politicians (mostly Democrat-controlled) never met a social give-away program they did not support, regardless of cost or their fictitious belief that  tax revenue would constantly rise and would pay for the programs.

Now we learn that Gov. Jerry Brown miscalculated the budget deficit, which is now estimated to be $16 billion. Who could have guessed in this economy that taxes revenue would not be as great as in years past? A first grader, but probably not one from the California school system.

The funny thing though is the article below the “budget-cut” article. This article explains how if unions, teachers and other over spenders pass Brown’s “tax” plan, the schools will actually see an increase of $17 billion. So pass my plan for budget reduction, and I will give you more money to spend: ridiculous.

Is it really that hard for the loons in Sacramento to understand how to fix the budgetary ills? How about eliminate redundant state departments, reduce services, stop granting overly generous raises and pensions, shrink government, stop granting entitlements and finally realize that a state can be funded or run when you rely predominately on tax revenue. Especially since the number of taxpayers is shrinking because it is easier to put your hand out for an entitlement then work.

______

STANTON, Sandra Stubban: Here’s a news flash for you, Gov. Brown: I’ll “stand up,”

• When you and your spend-happy cronies in Sacramento (legislators and unions) “stand up.”
• When you admit that the high-speed rail is a train to nowhere and you will never have the money to build it.
• When you stop promising the moon to everyone and then admit you don’t have any money when it comes time to pay for those promises.
• When you do something concrete about the outlandish pensions of some state employees and union members.
• When you cut your salary and the other members of the state Legislature by at least 5 percent, abolish your ridiculous per diem’s and actually do something constructive.
• When you submit a real balanced budget with no smoke and mirrors.
• When the state controller is allowed to dock the salary of those erstwhile legislators when they do not produce that balanced budget as promised.

The people of California have done their part. Now it’s your turn.

______

LAGUNA NIGUEL, Fred Bearden: It is ironic that the very spending cuts that Gov. Jerry Brown threatens if his “temporary” seven-year tax increase is not approved are just the tip of the spending cuts that we desperately need to happen.

It is pathetic that the threatened cuts are the only spending cuts he can identify. It is disastrous that he and his fellow Democrat henchmen are so obtuse they cannot realize that we have a spending problem, not a revenue problem.

They have already taxed California into last place as a desirable state in which to do business, and now they simply cannot understand why we poor citizens would not immediately agree with them in this insane quest for yet more taxes.

They foolishly expect us to believe that if we give them more taxes to impose, that would be the final solution and we would never have a deficit in California again.

What absurd folly. They are addicted to spending and they say, just like a drug addict, “just give me one more fix and I’ll be cured.” That’s not the way the world works, and they are apparently too stupid to understand that. The issue is whether we the voters are as stupid as they are.

We need leaders who can see our state’s problems without looking through union colored glasses. We need leaders who can figure out how other states can do more for its citizens with fewer taxes while providing a better business environment and better education. If other states can do this, why can’t we?

Brown has failed.

Say no to more taxes and yes to impeachment.

______

DANA POINT, Herb Lieberman: Gov. Jerry Brown recently told us how dire the budget situation is in California. He says unless we approve his tax increase we can count on him cutting funding for education and vital services such as fire and police. I respectfully ask that Gov. Brown look at other options such as:

• Why does the California taxpayer pay double to house someone in prison than say Florida or other states?
• Why doesn’t Brown look at some of the hard choices Gov. Scott Walker and the people of Wisconsin have made to solve the same problem without a tax increase?
• We are losing industry and jobs everyday to other states. Has Brown sought to find out why? And correct it?

I say “no,” taxpayers deserve better than the choices of raising taxes or cutting education and vital services. Other states have done it why can’t California?

Hold students and teachers accountable

FULLERTON, Scott Irwin: What am I missing here [“California to seek waiver from law,” May 11]? Why are parents confused and teachers demoralized over the aspect of increasing the proficiency of their children and their students respectively?

I am concerned about those parents who don’t comprehend the concept of having their child’s learning proficiency correspond to their grade level. Is this a “strange” concept? I guess it is, which itself is disconcerting.

And why is a teacher demoralized over the expectation that their students have a level of learning equal to their grade level? Well, surprise, they will need to up their performance level, if they can, and move from “student monitors” to teacher, and actually teaching their students something that will be evaluated with the expectation of meeting specified levels.

I think to most concerned parents, and those dedicated teachers, this is a long time in the making, and they will step up to the plate. It is definitely an attainable goal, but I am sure there are many teachers who are really afraid, and justifiably so, of having their teaching efforts monitored and evaluated. They will have to start working in an environment most non-union people work in everyday. If they don’t meet expectation, they could be looking for a new job.

Children need a mom and dad

SEAL BEACH, Matt Lorenzini: I really was impressed with Thomas Pari’s letter [“Debating Obama’s gay marriage reversal,” May 11]. His writing is concise and compact. There are so many examples of faulty reasoning, even if there is heart-felt emotion; it is amazing he could state them all in just 72 words. To address each one would require way too many words of my own. So, I’ll just deal with his first staggeringly silly implication: “There is symmetry between what President Abraham Lincoln did when he freed the slaves and what President Barack Obama did when he came out in favor of same-sex marriage.” The evil of discrimination on the basis of a superficial human characteristic like skin color is not the same thing as making a distinction between the sexes.

Males and females are fundamentally different. Our parents knew this. That’s why when we were little boys they taught us not to hit girls. All the major religions know this. That is why they speak of the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman. Our civic institutions recognize this. That is why we have male and female restrooms. Nature tells us this, as well. Reproduction can only happen when male mates with a female. And even natural law, as defined by that inner conscience that instructs the will about right and wrong, tells us this.

Just ask yourself if you had a child, and, God forbid, something happened and that child were left orphaned, which family arrangement would you prefer adopt your child, all things like love and care and emotional support and socioeconomic status being equal: Gay, lesbian or heterosexual? Would you really say “It doesn’t matter”? Even something as inexact and unscientific as common sense tells us that dads and moms each give to a child something valuable different. Two loving adults can “care” for a child, even as a coach, or a teacher or a friend might.

In some ways, any responsible adult can provide for a child. But caring and providing do not constitute the whole of parenting. Mom and dad each offer something that is uniquely theirs to give to the child. We should always teach this ideal to our children, and encourage them to aspire toward it themselves, when the time comes. And, if we are wise, we will vote that our government do the same: only a man can be a dad, only a woman can be a mom and a child should have a mom and a dad. Therefore, let’s define marriage the way it has always been defined: male/female. This, not Obama’s epiphany, is a demonstration of “courage in the face of stupidity.”

Obama starting to act dictator-like

NEWPORT BEACH, Ted Robinson: Records show that Obama the Magnificent has set new presidential records for amount of fundraisers, time on the golf course and probably even extravagant family vacations for his present length of time in office.

Well, OK,  I guess when given that amount of power maybe it is human nature for some types to take advantage and assume the lifestyle of a king.

But when it’s carried to the next step, to that of an emperor, it becomes a little much. This would seem to be the case when he said last week that the military everywhere is fighting wars “on my behalf.”

Try to picture former President Dwight Eisenhower saying that the invasion of Normandy was done on his behalf. But now, like dictators from Charlemagne to Putin, “He” has decided to insert himself into all possible histories. In the White House archives he’s adding his own accomplishments to the biographical sketches of every single president since Calvin Coolidge, except Gerald Ford.

After awhile one gets exhausted pointing out the mountainous narcissism going on here, and can only step back almost in admiration of such cosmic-level self-love.

MORE OF YOUR LETTERS ON CALIFORNIA’S BUDGET:

[rssfeedme cat="letters" feedpath="/tag/state-budget/feed/" max="5"] [rssfeedme cat="letters" feedpath="/tag/california-politics/feed/" max="5"]

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @OCRegLetters

HOW DO I GET PUBLISHED? CLICK HERE FOR OUR WRITING TIPS ARCHIVE

WRITE A LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Letters to the Editor: E-mail to letters@ocregister.com. Please provide your name, city and telephone number (telephone numbers will not be published). Letters of about 200 words or videos of 30-seconds each will be given preference. Letters will be edited for length, grammar and clarity.

FOLLOW US @OCRegLetters

WRITE A LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Letters to the Editor: E-mail to letters@ocregister.com.
Please provide your name, city and telephone number (telephone numbers will not be published).
Letters of about 200 words or videos of 30-seconds
each will be given preference. Letters will be edited for length, grammar and clarity.

Article source: http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/-354490--.html

In the industry, 70 percent occupancy is generally considered the point at which hotels can raise room rates and generate more revenue.

Now, the goal is to either maintain or build on that, especially in the key summer travel months.

“It’s still early on in the year, but most likely in the summer months, business will increase,” said PKF consultant Ashish Patel. “Coming into the spring, the (regional) market appears coming back. That’s evident throughout Northern California.”

Even with regional variables, the Sacramento area’s occupancy rate in March topped Marin, Napa and Sonoma counties. San Francisco continued its robust pace with a 78.4 occupancy rate in March.

The average daily room rate in the Sacramento area in March was $95.52, up slightly from $94.96 in the year-ago period. Revenue per room in March was $68.87, up from $65.46 last year.

PKF officials noted that the Sacramento area had a building boom of hotels from 2004 to 2010, and the area’s occupancy rate is just now catching up to pre-recession expectations.

Mike Testa, senior vice president of sales for the Sacramento Convention and Visitors Bureau, said he has seen interest pick up in Sacramento as a meeting and conference destination for groups of all sizes.

Testa said event organizers are booking facilities and lodgings further in advance of the event date, and attendee numbers are on the upswing.

“We had a situation where we were booking more groups but attendance was not going up,” Testa said. “Instead of 1,500, you might have 600 or 700. But now that’s changing.”

Through the first quarter this year, San Francisco continued to shine as a primary tourist destination, and the numbers reflect the city’s high percentage of four- and five-star hotels.

Through three months, San Francisco hotels had an average occupancy rate of 73.9 percent, with an average daily room rate of $197.37 and a revenue per available room average of $145.86.

Article source: http://www.modbee.com/2012/05/16/2202466/sacramento-area-hotels-pass-70.html

California Governor Jerry Brown took
office last year on a promise to deploy political skills honed
over three decades to break the most populous U.S. state out of
its annual fiscal crisis.

After 16 months, the 74-year-old Democrat is having as
little success as his Republican predecessor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, in governing the state with the world’s ninth-
biggest economy as it slips into a $15.7 billion deficit, up 70
percent since January.

Brown’s attempts to deal with political gridlock and a
vulnerable fiscal structure since voters passed tax-limiting
Proposition 13 in 1978 may mean real pain. Income taxes on top
earners may be increased to the highest in the U.S. Severe cuts
loom for universities, school children, the elderly and the
poor. And California’s credit, rated lowest of any state by
Standard Poor’s, may be reduced further, risking higher
borrowing costs.

“I’m not sure California’s budget system responds much
anymore to political acumen,” said Raphael Sonenshein,
executive director of the Edmund G. “Pat” Brown Institute of
Public Affairs, named for the governor’s father, at California
State University, Los Angeles.

“Every governor since the passage of Prop. 13 has faced
these budget catastrophes and have said their goal was to get
rid of the problem,” Sonenshein said in an interview. “I think
most Californians would be happy if it just became a manageable
problem so we could think about something else.”

Political control of California’s budget by either party
has been eroded by ballot measures spelling out how the state
must spend its money.

Constitutional Amendment

A 1988 constitutional amendment, for example, locks in a
minimum level of spending for public schools and community
colleges. In 2004, voters guaranteed funding for local
governments and prohibited the state from reducing property-tax
proceeds to cities and counties. The landmark Proposition 13
reined in property taxes and required a two-thirds vote by
lawmakers in order to raise taxes.

“The budget is a pretzel palace of complexity,” Brown,
who was governor for two terms in the 1970s and 1980, told
reporters in presenting his revised spending plan May 14.

Since he took office in January 2011, the linchpin of
Brown’s attack on deficits has been higher taxes.

His first budget rested on a plan to ask voters to extend
$9 billion of expiring taxes and fees that Schwarzenegger raised
in 2009. Republican lawmakers, whose votes were needed to reach
a two-thirds majority, refused to permit voters to decide.

Finding Republicans

“Finding Republicans to cross over I think has been
frustrating for him and probably more so than he anticipated,”
said Bill Whalen, a fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford
University near Palo Alto.

“Schwarzenegger was able to get Republicans to cross
over,” Whalen said. “Pete Wilson was able to get Republicans
to cross over. Ronald Reagan was able to get Republicans to
cross over, back in the day.”

“It worked for previous governors, so why not believe that
he could do it too?” said Whalen. “But it’s been elusive.”

Without the tax money, Brown had to negotiate spending
reductions with fellow Democrats who control the Legislature.
They proved unwilling to wipe out what was then a $26 billion
deficit with cuts alone.

Instead, they passed a budget that counted on an improving
economy to produce $4 billion more in revenue than what fiscal
analysts predicted. That money never materialized.

This year, Brown and his allies decided to take his plea
for more taxes directly to voters through a ballot initiative.
He turned in more than 1.5 million signatures last week to
qualify for the November election.

Sales, Income Taxes

Brown’s plan would temporarily raise the statewide sales
tax, already the highest in the U.S., to 7.5 percent from 7.25
percent. It would also boost rates on incomes starting at
$250,000. Those making $1 million or more, now taxed at 10.3
percent, would pay 13.3 percent, the most of any state.

That push has been complicated by other groups who want to
put their own tax increases on the ballot. The governor’s
measure will compete with one championed by the California State
PTA and Molly Munger, the daughter of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A) (A)’s
vice chairman, Charles Munger.

Munger’s plan would increase taxes on income of $7,316 or
more, from 0.4 percent for the lowest earners to 2.2 percent for
individuals making more than $2.5 million a year. It would raise
$10 billion annually for 12 years.

In March, Brown was able to convince the California
Federation of Teachers to merge their tax-increase plan with
his. That may help the governor’s plan pass, as surveys showed
voters favored the group’s measure.

Poll on Plan

A poll on the governor’s tax plan in April by the Public
Policy Institute of California (85265MF) found 54 percent of likely voters
expressed support when read the ballot title and a brief
summary. Thirty-nine percent said they’d vote against it.

Brown’s bid to raise income taxes on the wealthiest
Californians drew support from 65 percent of likely voters,
while his proposal to raise sales taxes was opposed by 52
percent, the poll showed.

“Money is not in a piggy bank,” Brown told reporters May
14. “It comes from the people and the people are sometimes more
successful than at other times in terms of their businesses and
their income.

‘‘So when the money isn’t there, government has to cut
back,’’ Brown said, ‘‘or you have to borrow or kick the can down
the road.’’

1 Million Jobs

California, with an economy bigger than Russia’s, lost more
than 1 million jobs in the recession that started in 2007,
reducing the most-indebted state’s revenue by 24 percent. For
the past four years, California lawmakers have trimmed spending
and temporarily raised taxes to combat deficits of more than
$100 billion combined.

California is one of nine states where revenue has trailed
expenditures since July 1, according to a report by the National
Conference of State Legislatures. California had the third-
largest gap relative to its general fund, 4.8 percent, trailing
Alabama and Washington, the report said. The figures predated
Brown’s deficit revision May 14.

The Golden State is among 33 states that haven’t seen tax
revenue rebound to levels prior to the global recession that
began in December 2007, according to a study by the Nelson A.
Rockefeller Institute of Government in Albany, New York. Tax
receipts in California are down 0.6 percent from their peak in
2008, compared with a national average of 2.9 percent, the
report showed.

California has the lowest credit rating of any state from
Standard Poor’s and Fitch Ratings, at A-, six levels below
AAA.

SP Outlook

While SP raised its outlook to positive in February, the
credit rating company said yesterday that the larger deficit may
threaten to undermine the state’s potential for credit
improvement. Balancing the budget even with higher taxes,
Gabriel Petek, a San Francisco-based analyst said in a report,
will require ‘‘significant policy choices in a short time frame
on the part of the legislature.”

Unlike some other states, California hasn’t stockpiled
enough money in growth years to compensate during downturns,
said Doug Offerman, Fitch’s senior director for U.S. public
finance. Expenditures increased during boom years, making it
more difficult to adjust to revenue losses, he said.

“This has combined over the past decade to give the state
a repetition of fiscal crises every time the economy goes
down,” Offerman said in a telephone interview from New York.
The state’s reliance on income taxes from higher earners also
leaves it vulnerable to downturns.

“California faces a revenue structure that’s very
cyclical,” Offerman said. “This is an economy that’s prone to
swings.”

To contact the reporters on this story:
Michael B. Marois in Sacramento at
mmarois@bloomberg.net;
James Nash in Los Angeles at
jnash24@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Stephen Merelman at
smerelman@bloomberg.net

Article source: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-05-16/brown-confronts-california-intractability-as-gap-widens

Sacramento is more than three percentage points ahead of any other major U.S. market in its reliance on government employment.

G. Scott Thomas

Email

Nowhere does the government sector wield more economic clout than in Sacramento.

Nearly three of every 10 workers in California’s capital region — 28.4 percent — are employed by federal, state and local governments. The Sacramento metropolitan area contained 800,900 nonfarm jobs as of March, with government positions accounting for 227,700 of that total.

Sacramento is more than three percentage points ahead of any other major U.S. market in its reliance on government employment. The two runners-up are Bakersfield at 25.2 percent, and Madison, Wis., at 25.1 percent.

On Numbers analyzed the latest employment data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 
 

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Latest from The Business Journals
North Dakota jobs almost untouched by recession; See where New Mexico ranks

Follow this company




for the nation’s 100 largest metros, determining the percentage of all nonfarm jobs that are provided by the government sector.

Federal, state and local governments employ 22.2 million workers across the country, equaling 16.7 percent of the U.S. workforce of 132.7 million.

Twenty-three markets rely on the government sector for at least 20 percent of their nonfarm jobs. Another 33 markets are above 15 percent.

At the very bottom of the scale is Grand Rapids, Mich., whose 33,900 government jobs constitute just 9.1 percent of its total workforce. That’s the lowest percentage in any of the top 100 markets.

Click here for the On Numbers database of government employment across the country.

See all your followed company news on your personalized dashboard.

To access the full benefits of bizWatch and receive a weekly email with aggregated news on all the companies you are following, please provide your email address below.

You must have a bizjournals account to follow a company.
Please Log In or Register.

Article source: http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/news/2012/05/15/sacramento-relies-on-government-jobs.html

For the never-say-die Kings fan, Jan. 9 was an important day.

It was the premiere of Small Market, Big Heart at the historic Crest Theatre in Downtown Sacramento. A documentary designed, as their promo states, “to share the compelling 26-year story of the people of Sacramento and their battle to get and keep a professional sports franchise”

The film played once more on January 21, on KXTL FOX 40, but then went silent.

On Tuesday, May 15, the outstanding documentary and collective vision of producers James Ham and Blake Ellington as well as director Tobin Halsey, will finally be available across the nation by way of the Small Market, Big Heart website (www.smallmarketbigheart.com) for the first time ever on the Internet. The trailer can be viewed here:

The story didn’t get the happy ending makeover the producers had hoped for, as the new entertainment and sports complex in the Sacramento Rail Yards has been put on ice, at least for the time being.

The updated version being released tomorrow includes a newly filmed epilogue by Sacramento’s Mayor Kevin Johnson that brings the film current.

“A sequel is in the works,” Ham said via telephone, “but we felt this was the proper time to allow the film to be seen by a larger audience. Basketball fans everywhere need to know this story.”

When the trio sat down to discuss the possibility of making a documentary that would, not only inform the masses about the history of the Kings tenuous stay in Sacramento, but look to inject locals with a newfound rabidity for their only professional sports franchise, they looked to a similar situation that had occurred several years before in Seattle, Washington.

The film Sonicsgate shared the gut wrenching story of Seattle’s loss of their beloved basketball team. Call it a model for what Ham, Ellington and Halsey were looking to do, but with one huge difference.

In Seattle, the team was already moving to Oklahoma City and the story was one of “what happened?” and “why did we lose our team?”

For the makers of Small Market, Big Heart, the struggle was just beginning as they built the film as events were still unfolding.

“We saw an opportunity to tell an incredible story in real time,” said Ham. “To try and humanize the fight of the people of Sacramento.”

Ham, an editor of Cowbell Kingdom, an ESPN True Hoops affiliate, took offense to the fact that his local team and major source of passion, could leave town on the same sort of merits that the SuperSonics abandoned Seattle.

“Each of us have our own motivations for delving into a project like this,” stated Ham. “For me, I have two young sons that I want to raise as basketball fans and I have plenty of people I consider friends that work inside the walls of Power Balance Pavilion.”

For co-producer Blake Ellington, the mission was simple – do whatever he could to inform people that, not only that this team should not have to leave, but they darn well better stay.

Ellington is the managing editor of Bleedblackandpurple.com, a Kings blog he set up several years ago. He is also the founder of Here We Stay – a grassroots movement that began in October 2010 as an effort to keep the Kings in Sacramento.

“Here We Stay is a movement that was created and based on the principles that Kings fans needed the opportunity to have a voice in the process of building a new entertainment and sports complex in Sacramento and, in effect, ensure that their favorite NBA franchise stayed in town,” said Ellington.

“I felt that until that point, it was a conversation that was being held by city leaders and the team’s owners, but didn’t really take into account the feelings and passion for the team that the people of Sacramento had consistently shown over the last 27 years.”

Not only was Here We Stay a rousing success, it spawned several other “Here We…” movements, including Here We Stay nights #1 and #2 as well as Here We Build.

But the fight wasn’t over for Ellington, so he teamed up with Ham and Halsey to create Small Market, Big Heart.

“We wanted to put it out there for the Sacramento community, business leaders, politicians and fans that the desire to get something done and the desire for the fans to express their love for the team was something that needed to be seen on a large scale,” said Ellington.

“It needed to be out there for people to see in the form of a story; something that was tangible for others to see and connect with. Maybe people that weren’t involved with the grassroots movements and didn’t know the history behind what has gone on in Sacramento regarding the team, would get a chance to see that first-hand and get involved themselves.”

You can follow the group on Twitter @SMBHdocumentary or on their Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/SmallMarketBigHeart.
 

Article source: http://www.sacramentopress.com/headline/67847/Small_Market_Big_Heart_gives_Kings_fans_the_whole_story