A brief overview of the police meeting in North Natomas

More to follow tomorrow when I've had a deep breath- but here is a short summary.

I feel 100% confident that our police are doing everything they can to solve the policing problem in Natomas and they are working hard to catch these robbers. Chief Brazil and Captain Hahn left me feeling that they are busting their butts to get this thing put away. Natomas Buzz will have information tomorrow on what you can do to protect yourself.

However, their hands are tied by a lame city council and mayor that need to be on the curbs as soon as humanly possible. Fargo and Tretheway contributed absolutely nothing, not one iota of useful commentary or information. Complete fluff, political stunt and garbage. I don't think anyone would have missed their presence.

Fargo's huge blunder of the night, I believe, was showing her true colors. She snapped at an audience member who asked what the city was doing to hold banks responsible for dilapidated properties that are drawing crime. Fargo snapped

"You can't blame the city for foreclosures, that's the feds."

More on why we CAN and SHOULD blame Fargo for the foreclosures and how to report code violations tomorrow.

Oh and thanks to Kevin Johnson for making an appearance at the meeting, observing and listening without making a show of his attendance. Professional, polite and exactly what I'm looking for in a mayor. He didn't need the stage to show his concern.

In the quest for information...

I was hunting for the official news release of the community meeting tonight at Inderkum High School to address an ongoing rash of home invasion robberies in North Natomas. I never did find the flier I was looking for but I did find something interesting...

Ray Tretheway (your city council member for Natomas!) has not updated his press release pages since 2006. That's right, an entire year and a half have gone by without any updates. Has he sent out press releases that haven't been added or is there really just nothing to report? I started a tour of Ray's links and realized he has not updates his calendar of events either. Or his online newsletters.

Now you may be saying to yourself: This isn't Ray's fault of course... the City is likely responsible for the information on that page and they haven't gotten around to it. That's all fine and dandy until you get to this disclaimer:

In order to further the effective electronic exchange of information and views between the City's residents and their elected representatives, the City of Sacramento provides each individual member of the Mayor and City Council with a page on the City's Website. The contents of this page have been chosen by the individual councilmember, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the City of Sacramento, its Mayor and Council, or other individual councilmembers.

So Ray has actually chosen to not update his pages?

Aren't we supposed to be a technology friendly city? And our own city council can't provide remotely timely information on their websites?

In case you missed the big announcement that I was looking for:

PUBLIC SAFETY IN NATOMAS MEETING

Tonight!

6:30pm, Inderkum High School Theatre

Take that North Natomas!

Is it that the bloggers are getting mad and word travels fast? Is it the rapid rise in crime in the area? Perhaps it's that the school district seems to think they're brilliant and wonderful managers. Either way, North Natomas is about to take another major hit over the head. This time, it's in the form of a community day school set on the same campus as a brand new elementary school.

That's right folks. The NUSD believes it can best serve the community by placing a group of students who need psychological services, have been expelled and have massive attendance problems right on your brand new elementary school! The Natomas Community Day School will, of course, be a heavily supervised well run program. Because we've seen the district is so good at that. (Can you taste the dripping sarcasm yet?)

For some unknown and unpublicized logic, the district is no longer interested in using the Sacramento County system of Community Day schools that are already established. They say they want to keep these students closer to home for easier reintegration. I believe it's a justification for a massive junior high school that will stand unused this year because of NUSD's poor financial management.

Despite what their information says, this is not "scare tactics." I have personally been the assistant vice principal at an alternative school where nearly all of my students had parole officers and had been in and out of juvenile hall. I'm not "scared" of these students and they deserve every opportunity to recover from years of bad parenting.

However, even I wouldn't be as bold and ignorant to put them on an elementary school campus and then promise the public that everything is fine because they'll be supervised. The things I've seen would shock any adult and not things you would ever want your adorable kindergarten son walking into in a boy's bathroom.

If you have a child who will attend Allen Hight Elementary or you live in the Creekside neighborhood or the far west side of Natomas Park, I suggest you get on the phone today and begin screaming and yelling about this decision. As best I can tell from old board agendas, the district waited until school was out to have a public hearing (on June 19th) and review the proposal. Their supposed "higher ratio" of teachers to students only includes a budget for one teacher and one social worker/administrator. That's a pretty bad ratio for a one room campus of troubled students.

I agree with the idea that Natomas students would be best served by a community school in our area. However, it makes the most sense to either put it on Natomas High's campus or locate it at Discovery High. Sharing resources and facilities with a school that is already equip to deal with older students makes the most sense. Instead, the district has chosen to do what it usually does- make a hasty last minute decision that is illogical and lacks vision.

What is going on in North Natomas and where are the police???

Joe Sacramento has posted it best so I will not try to outdo his writing. North Natomas is currently plagued by a rash of home invasion and armed robberies. Please be careful, look out for your neighbors and be suspicious of anyone who looks out of place. I have personally seen two suspicious older teens behaving oddly this week (I know odd, I taught high school) and I did nothing because I didn't want to appear intolerant or perhaps racist. I'm kicking myself now for not making a simple phone call.

If you're in Natomas Park, call Paladin Security immediately if you see anything out of the ordinary. Do not hesitate, do not wait and do not intervene yourself. They have a much, much faster response time than the police in Natomas. Pathetic, disgusting and yet totally true.

Email Heather Fargo, anyone and everyone at the city and try the Sac Bee while you're at it. Then go outside and sit on your porch tonight. Knock on your neighbors' doors and get to know them. Share a cup of iced tea and chat about how smoky the air is. You need to know who stays home during the day, who is available in an emergency and who is watching your stuff when you're gone!

When you're done freaking out that your own garage is not safe and would like to stick your head back in the clouds, check out Rick Kushman's new column "The Good Life" all about life in Sacramento. While I appreciate his bubbly enthusiasm, I'm busy checking my backyard for armed robbers.

Join PunditMom and the $27 election revolution

$27 buys you about 7 Happy meals or grande iced lattes. It will buy you a half a month of cell phone service, two months of Netflix rentals, a good book from Amazon or a cheap dinner at a local ethnic food restaurant. It will put six gallons of gas in your 15 gallon tank.

Or you can change the world. Simple huh? Money talks in politics no matter how much hope, change, idealism or fanaticism gets pumped into the system. It's all about the money in the end.

PunditMom is working on just that idea. If women (and men and anyone who cares!) took just $27 and poured it into a candidate he/she believed in, we could really and truly change the world. Maybe you don't have a presidential candidate who has won your heart and you're not excited about whether it's going to be Johnson or Fargo for mayor. You don't have to be- you can find the one person that makes YOU excited about the world and gives you hope again. Perhaps it's a local school board candidate, an assembly candidate who is down in the polls or your next door neighbor who would be amazing at any office but doesn't think he can pay for it.

Cough up your $27. So you stay home from Target once this week. You can do it.

I did.

It's hot- you need ice cream!

It's supposed to be as hot as 103 this weekend- what a way to celebrate the beginning of summer in Sacramento! The coolest place to be in town tonight is the Crystal Midsummer Night's Dream and Ice Cream Fantasy at Fairytale Town. Head over there tonight from 6 to 9pm for all you can eat ice cream, food, beverages, crafts, entertainment and more.

Love the idea of all you can eat ice cream and want to do it again? The Sacramento Zoo's Ice Cream Safari is Saturday, July 26th from 4 to 8pm. This feast features all you can eat Baskin Robbins ice cream and Coke products, live entertainment and great bands, face painting and more fun for the whole family. Our favorite part of the Ice Cream Safari is the Giraffle- you can win some amazing and fun prizes all while supporting the zoo.

While we're on the all you can eat theme, adults will also enjoy the King of Feasts at the Zoo. Enjoy live music while dining on exquisite samples of delicious Sacramento food, dessert, wine and beer. Tickets are $50 for non-members and children are allowed but discouraged.

Save money and have more fun locally!

If you're still driving to San Francisco or Oakland to catch a baseball game, you've really got to get local! You're spending $30 in gas, plus bridge tolls and parking fees when we have local ball right here. It's time to check out the Sacramento River Cats and find out what you've been missing. Nearly every game has a special promotion, including fireworks on Saturdays, Nestle Drumstick giveaways, KCRA 3 giveaways and much more. The food is delicious, the company is fun and you may even win a flying dog from the hot dog cannon!

Got kids? Don't worry, the River Cats planned for that too and have lots of fun kids' packages, events and activities.