News

Elections for the WRCA board of representatives will be held at the general meeting on January 26, 2009, but first we need to nominate active WRCA members for the five board positions that are available. Nominations will be accepted through January 19, 2009, but please submit them as soon as possible.

You may nominate any active WRCA member, including yourself, by e-mailing judah \at\ WitterRanchCommunity.org or by speaking with Judah at the general meeting on Monday, December 29, 2008.

Nominations will be treated as confidential (i.e., individuals who submit nominations will not be identified), but nominees will be contacted to make sure they accept being considered for election. If you know the e-mail address or phone number of the person you are nominating, please include that information with the nomination you submit so that we have a better chance of reaching them in case we don’t have their contact information on file.

The election process will be briefly explained at the meeting on December 29. The anonymous ballots used for the election will include a space for write-in candidates, but here again each candidate must be an active member and be willing to serve on the board of representatives.

Feel free to e-mail Judah with any questions you might have, or better yet, bring them up at the meeting on Monday because someone else will likely have a similar question.

At its general meeting on Monday, November 24, WRCA members voted to draft a letter and circulate a petition among residents in the vicinity of Witter Ranch Park to request that the city’s Parks & Recreation Department immediately and permanently shut off the field lights at the park.

The field lights at Witter Ranch Park have been a concern of residents in our neighborhood from the moment they were first introduced. They were installed over the strong objections of residents in the area several years ago, prior to the neighborhood being represented by our community association. People who live on the park’s perimeter or in its vicinity have reported numerous problems at the park over the years, especially on evenings that the field lights are in use.

At only 9 acres, Witter Ranch Park appears to be the smallest park in the entire city of Sacramento that includes field lights. Unlike 10+ acre community parks that typically feature plenty of parking and other amenities suitable for hosting events for people outside the immediate neighborhood, most in attendance at the meeting believe that Witter Ranch Park lacks sufficient parking, and is too close to homes for field lights to be compatible with the neighorhood.

The draft of the letter is posted for review and neighborhood comment. Residents of the Gateway West and Park View neighborhoods are invited to send feedback to Keith [at] WitterRanchCommunity [dot] com no later than Saturday, December 12.

By Keith Sharward, Co-founder

“He who does not prevent a crime when he can, encourages it.” —Lucius Annaeus

In our neighborhoods’ fight against thuggery and intimidation, this past week or so, we’ve gotten knocked onto the mat.

We must catch our breath, stand up, shake ourselves off, and assume the position to fight back to assertively defend our neghborhoods — together.

The ante has gotten raised. It’s no longer just nuisance juvenile monikers being written — these are multiple gang or gang-influenced declarations of territory in almost all of our neighborhood parks in the last few days and weeks.

Many of you are noticing, documenting, and reporting graffiti to the city via 3-1-1 — and I applaud you for that. I shudder to think of how bad it would be if we were not doing that. However, we are sometimes seeing cases that, for some reason, are not being handled effectively — perhaps the ball is getting dropped or there is miscommunication on the precise locations of the damage.

I urge everyone to report graffiti to the city’s 3-1-1 center as they see it — even if if it is reported by someone else: the more (legitimate) reports we make, the higher likelihood of our getting it tended to quickly. Always get a case number, and if it’s not gone in a few days, for an updated status — it might have gotten erroneously closed, which is what I suspect happened in the Witter Ranch Park tags that for some reason are still there after many weeks.

I also urge everyone to change your driving patterns so that you include one or more of our parks on your route in and out of the neighborhoods, especially after dark and particularly after curfew (10 pm). As always, report all suspicious activity to SacPD’s non-emergency dispatch at 916/264-5471 and if you see a crime in progress, call 9-1-1 from a landline or 916/732-0100 from a cell phone.

And then report it here on our community’s Yahoo! Group so we all benefit and possibly connect cases.

Please don’t give up, folks… I know it’s tough but we all need to rise up to challenge this assault on OUR park assets. A few of us getting our hands dirty on these issues but we need more help.

Today Natomas community leaders, Sacramento Police Department, the City of Sacramento’s Neighborhood Services Department, and others participated in an exciting grand opening celebration of the new Natomas Police & Community Resource at 2701 Del Paso Road, Suite 140, inside the Safeway shopping center [Map].

Creation of the NPCRC goes back to February of this year, when Creekside Neighborhood Association and Regency Park Neighborhood Association co-hosted a crime and safety forum for North Natomas community leaders to discuss police & fire issues. Attendees discussed top community concerns and strategized on methods for addressing them. One of the outcomes was the Natomas Crime & Safety Leadership Team and a concept to pursue: opening a resource center where the community can volunteer and help organize events and activities for and with the police department and other City departments.

While by no means a long-term substitute for the community center and police substations long included in the North Natomas Community Plan, the resource center creates an interface with the city and an opportunity to increase police presence in North Natomas, along with a place where neighbors can go to file an online police report — a service that is expected to be appreciated by the community, given the closure of police substation service counters due to budget cuts.

Even though the city is grappling with a $58 million in budget cuts this year and many more millions expected in future years, the costs to the city in opening the center are minimal. “It is really not much of a drain since the space and furnishings, including computers, were donated,” said Angelique Ashby, President of Creekside Neighborhood Association and co-founder of the Natomas Crime & Safety Leadership Team, adding “the only costs are lights, phones & Internet.”

“The community has really spoken out about wanting to get involved – over 50 neighbors have come out and asked to volunteer in the center,” said Ashby. “This is something community members fought for, found the location for, and volunteered to staff because they felt it was needed in their community.”

Attending the ceremony and festivities were numerous Natomas residents, community association members and leaders, and representatives from city government, including Neighborhood Services, Code Enforcement, Police, Fire, City Council, Youth Services. Mayor Kevin Johnson also attended to offer his congratulations to everyone who participated.