So the Mayor is “refocusing” his efforts on the arts.  Short of press conferences and announcements, I am a little confused about what those efforts have been up until now. I continuously hear from artists in the trenches that they have no idea where the so-called “effort” has benefited actual artists (for full disclosure, I have been married to one of those artists for over two decades).

I usually don’t lift an entire paragraph from the Sacramento Bee, but after reading the story on the subject this morning, I had to read the following three times.  And I am still not sure what it means:

The initiative is focusing on bringing the arts community together with novel projects such as a recently started Flywheel Creative Economy Incubator.  That effort will bring together 10 artists, nonprofits and social entrepreneurs the initiative feels are doing cutting edge work, in a partnership with Sacramento’s Urban Hive.

WTF?  Ok, all the gobbledygook aside, how will “the initiative” determine what “cutting edge work” is, and who will be the arbiter of cutting edge?

With all due respect to the Mayor, I sincerely appreciate him bringing to the light the need to highlight the arts in Sacramento.  But this new effort just sounds a lot like another reason to issue another press release.  I hope I am wrong.

Kudos to the Red Rabbit

Public art is often a touchy subject.  It is the quintessential damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation.  You are just not going to please everybody.  But it is an important part of our region’s landscape.

Two cases in point:  The Indio Arch and the Red Rabbit.

When the City installed Gerald Walburg’s Indio Arch on K Street at 4th Street, it was very controversial.  Back then, City leaders were attacked for spending public money on the piece.  Then fast forward two years and it started showing up on postcards as a cherished Sacramento landmark (still is).

More recently, the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission and the County were criticized for the purchase and installation of the Red Rabbit (“Leap”) in the new gazillion dollar Sacramento International Airport Terminal B.  Everybody seemed to have an opinion on the 56-foot sculpture by Lawrence Argent, and many not good.  Now, it seems like Shelly Willis, Manager of Sacramento’s Art in Public Places program deserves kudos for the selection of the piece, and sooner rather than later.  Leap was recently chosen as one of 50 winning entries (out of 500) by Americans for the Arts Public Art Network.  Look for those postcards shortly.

Early on, perhaps even episode one of Sacramento Current, I made a prediction.  I said then that there is no way that Mayor Kevin Johnson avoids a public debate with his opponents.  At the time, I thought the Mayor would at the very least participate in the League of Women Voters forum.  While watched by few and not a format that allows for spirited discussion, at least it would have been an opportunity to see our leader with his opponents.  Sadly, I was wrong.

Whether you are a supporter of Mayor Johnson or a detractor, it doesn’t matter.  The fact is that never before has a sitting Mayor purposefully and systematically avoided meeting with constituents for an open dialogue on what he or she has accomplished (or not) and where he or she will take the CIty in the coming term. 

Is the Mayor going to be re-elected?  Almost certainly.  But that is not the point.  His handlers say that he has not appeared with his opponents because they are not “viable”.  Is that really his/their call?  The people of Sacramento deserve a leader who will look them in the eye and stand toe-to-toe with those who do not agree with him.  The people of Sacramento have been let down.

Capital Public Radio is running ”one minute” with the mayoral candidates video clips on their website.  To view it, click here.  It’s not much, but apparently it’s the best we are going to get.  A sad day for Sacramento.

Lunch Spoiler Alert:  If you are squeamish, you might want to skip this particular post.  And if you are an animal lover, before you yell at me, please know that I am too.

Ok.  Much has been discussed about the great Sacramento “Claw versus Bin” debate.  We all know the drill.  Half of Sacramento think it is a God-given right to have their yard waste picked up off the street every week and the other half think it’s a waste of scarce public funds.  I get it.  Really, I do.  But I want to add to the following question to this important public discourse:  what about dead bloating cats?

So, here’s what happened.  On a recent Monday, a seemingly well-fed cat met its demise on my neighbor’s driveway, a driveway that abuts my driveway.  On Tuesday, my wife (who we will call Yoko to protect the innocent) does what she has been told to do at numerous neighborhood meetings:  call 311!  While the cat was not in our yard, Yoko wanted to spare the kids at the house the disturbing sight of a cat in the beginning stages of rigor mortis.  She’s like that.

The 311 taped messages informed us that if callers want quicker service, they are encouraged to email, which Yoko did.

She received a nice email from the 311 call center telling her:

“Thank you for using our online service. Small animals under 10 lbs can be disposed of in the garbage can. If the resident does not want to put it in the garbage can they can leave it at the curb for Animal Care. Animal Care officers work 8am-10pm daily, we can add this address to the list and someone can respond to pick up the cat but it can possibly take a few days.”

A little gross, but fair enough.

Then as I am sitting at my desk slaving over another Sacramento Current episode (because we obviously are meticulous in our preparation), I see a classroom of kids walking toward my house delivering May Day flowers.  This, of course put me on red alert as I sprinted to the garage to find a tarp to cover our new friend before scarring those kids and ruining May Day forever in their minds.  Mission accomplished.

To make a long story short, the body was finally boxed and placed on the curb because garbage day seemed too far away and the weather was getting warm – you can fill in the rest.  And there it sat. . . and sat. . . and sat.

So for the next several days, we got to witness surprised dog walkers, hungry cats (apparently a dead cat smelling like kimchi is a delicacy in the feline world), and what may be the largest fly convention since Jeff Goldbloom headlined at Comic-Con.

Finally, six days later, our new neighbor disappeared into the night.  One assumes, and hopes, it was picked up by animal control.

I know that we all have to suck it up in these difficult times.  I know the City has seen devastating cuts and unprecedented layoffs.  But this small incident again reminded me how we need to look at all of our City services and prioritize what is really important.  For those who support the more expensive claw, and I am on record as not being in that camp, shouldn’t those costs instead be allocated toward more pressing needs with public health implications?  At least in this economy?  Or better yet, If the City has $680,000 lying around in the future, as it did prior to chasing an arena, maybe we can look a little harder at what City services those funds could help restore.

Just a little catfood for thought.