News-Ledger WEST SACRAMENTO
USPS 388-320
S E RV I NG TH E W EST S AC R A M E N TO R E G I O N S I N C E 19 6 4 55th Year • No. 07
LEGALS PAGE 5
Wednesday, October 17, 2018
POLICE LOGS
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LOCAL SCENE
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COMICS & PUZZLES
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West Sacramento Historical Society Celebrates 25th Year Anniversary at Gala BY JAN DALSKE The West Sacramento Historical Society (WSHS) is celebrating its 25th Year Anniversary on Saturday, October 20th at the Black Box Theater in the Community Center. Guests are invited to dress to impress, as they will be walking down a red carpet for this special event. The West Sacramento Historical Society was established in 1993. Their mission is to preserve the history of West Sacramento and to provide an opportunity for individuals and groups to learn about and experience its rich culture. The Community Center opened in 2011 with a History Gallery dedicated to West Sacramento history. Tickets to this event are available on line through this website: www.brownpapertickets.com Prices are $35 for non-members and $30 for members. The group encourages you to purchase your ticket online but you can purchase one from a board member or on the day of the celebration depending on availability. Light refreshments are included with ticket but Lenises Cafe will be open to sell Beer/ Wine part of proceeds going towards West Sacramento Historical Society.
The doors will open at 2 p.m. The music will begin at 3 p.m. Samantics, a nonprofit, thirty person chorus will be providing the entertainment. They will be performing songs from Oscar’s Best Song nominees and winners. Samantics’ Director is Sam Schieber who lives in Sacramento. The choir performs in both the Sacramento and Bay Areas. They are a nonprofit local thirty person choir group. The Director, Sam Schieber lives in Sacramento as well as other members. Local singer, Eddie Voychez, also sings with the choir. The Choir performs in Sacramento and Bay Area. President, Alfonso (Sanchez) Voychez would like to share this message with you, “I believe that history, both knowledge of the past and the practice of researching and making sense of what happened in the past is crucially important to the well-being of individuals and communities. Besides learning history from books, we also need tangible interactions such as those you can find at historical societies, museums, preservation committees, historical landmarks, and many other community and preservation organizations. I believe the
Planning Commissioner Russ Liebig Seeks A Seat on the City Council BY JAN DALSKE Russ Liebig is a candidate for the West Sacramento City Council. He is proud to call West Sacramento his home. Since he moved to Broderick in 2005, he has dedicated many years giving back to the community. He is working to create a more sustainable and thriving West Sacramento. Russ and David, his partner of 13 years, feel fortunate to live on the north side of town. If he is elected, Russ will become the first City Council member to live north of West Capitol Ave. Russ wants you to know this: “I’m proud to call West Sacramento my home, and I support the direction the city is going. Given my background and experience, I believe I would complement the current City Council members with a unique perspective; I’ve served on the City’s Planning Commission for the past 11 years, and by trade, I’m an environmental scientist. During my time as a Planning Commissioner, I’ve been actively engaged in setting policy and development plans for the city to create vibrant, age-
friendly, and safe communities throughout the city. As an environmental scientist, I work mostly with fish and water resources, and I’m familiar with the environmental process that goes along with development, and especially the levee repair project”. His past experience on the Planning Commission will make serving on the City Council a natural transition for Russ. During that time, he has been an integral part of the changes that have taken place throughout the city. He has supported new and innovative businesses, like Burgers & Brew, Bike Dog, La Mesa RV, and amenities like the Barn, the River Walk. He champions the new parks and bike/ pedestrian trails. Russ feels that he has been an engaging leader in setting policy and spurSee Liebig, page 4
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
Man shoots sister in law BY MICHELE TOWNSEND
historical community can change the common perception that history is nice, but not essential.” The City of West Sacramento was incorporated in 1987. A number of local citizens were afraid that the new city would lose its identity. They wanted to preserve its remaining history. The driving forces behind establishing the WSHS were Bryan Turner of the WS Land Company and the late Virginia Seamans. They met on a regular basis. Virginia donated the initial financing to WSHS in honor of her late husband, Theodore Seamans. That was in early 1993. Later that year, others became interested. Those charter members included Virginia Seamans, Bryan
Turner, Jake Misfeldt, Phyllis Runyan, Margaret Crawford, Louisa R. Vessell, Dorothy Adamo, and Floy Gleason. Margaret Crawford and Phyllis Runyan, along with Treasurer Bryan Turner, worked together and submitted the non-profit status paperwork to both the State and Federal governments. A new Board was elected. The Articles of Incorporation was approved by
enhance community engagement, particularly among minority parents and stakeholders. In WUSD, neighborhood trustees should reduce achievement caps and improve the overall performance of the district. If both the City of West Sacramento and WUSD move to neighborhood elections in 2020, there should be a significant increase in voter engagement and participation in West Sacramento elections, including elections for county and state offices. By doing this, the election costs could be reduced by 50%. This year is the ideal time to schedule this transition. Everyone who is elected in the Fall will serve out their terms. In 2020, councilmembers would be elected from two neighborhood districts in the North that have been historically been less represented. And, a third councilmember would be elected in the City moved to a rotating Mayor. These initial boundaries would only be used once. The remaining districts would be finalized after the 2020 census, since those councilmembers will not be elected until 2022. Mr. Rafferty also represents the Latino In-
Joseph Marston, 28-year-old resident on Beardsley Drive, was in his back yard doing yard work, when he heard a gun shot ring out. “To be honest,” he said, “at first I didn’t think it was a gun shot! I mean, it sounded like one, but it was so close that I thought it had to be somebody dropping something, or something.” Then, the second shot rang out, and he took off running to the front of the house. Joe’s dad, Lauren Blackburn, was coming up the driveway yelling, “He shot her! Ron shot her!” Ron Mehler, a 76-yearold man lives a couple of doors down from Joe. The two are very close, as they’ve been neighbors for years. Ron is blind, and Joe has stepped to his aid in the past when some unsavory people were messing with him. ( Joe is also the man who ran into his next door neighbor’s burning house last Christmas and saved two of the three neighbor’s pets.) While Joe’s family called 911, Joe ran down to his neighbor’s house. He thought that because of their friendship, he might be able to calm his neighbor down. Ron and his wife Nelly are going through a divorce. Unfortunately, Nelly suffers from bouts of dementia, and her sisters have Power of Attorney over her. For this reason, her two sisters arrived with Nelly to gather some of her things. While going in and out of the house and backyard, Nelly’s sisters were making comments to Ron that severely scared him. With statements like, “We’re gonna take everything you’ve got!”, “We’re going to take you house!” and “You’re gonna be homeless!”, this 76-year-old man, unable to see what exactly they were taking, began to believe them. The more they talked, the more scared he got. It is unclear by Joe whether Ron got up and retrieved a gun, or whether he had one on him, but the result is the same. His wife’s sister lay dead on his porch. When Joe got up to his neighbor’s yard, he announced himself and told his friend Ron that he was there to check on him. Ron was sitting in a chair, in his front yard, with the gun still in his hand. Ron’s sister-in-law, Jenny, was laying on the front porch. Joe went to Jenny and checked for signs of life. Unfortunately, there was none. Jenny was already deceased. Joe turned to his friend and asked him to put the gun down. Ron said,
See Voting, page 2
See Shooting, page 4
the State of California in March 1994. Louise R. Vessell became President, Alan Cadero, Vice President, Kathleen VanBaaren, Secretary; and Bryan Turner, Treasurer. The new board held its first official membership meeting in September 1994. Typically, September is the month that the WSHS celebratSee Gala, page 4
City Clerk Received A Notice Regarding a Petition to Comply with the California Voting Rights Act BY JAN DALSKE This last week, the City Clerk received a lengthy letter regarding a “Petition to Comply with the California Voting Rights Act”. It was delivered by Certified Mail from Scott J. Rafferty Attorney at Law. Mr. Rafferty quotes the 2001 action by the State Legislature which determined that the use of at-large election by cities and districts that are characterized by racially polarized votes dilutes the influence of minority voting districts. He is giving notice that, in their belief, and supported by evidence, at-large voting dilutes minority electoral influence in the election of City Council members in West Sacramento, thus violating Elections Code Section 14042. He suggests that the remedy is to elect neighborhood council members from single-member constituencies. He feels that the City Council should consider this advice as an opportunity to engage each community within West Sacramento in a collaborative process that avoids adversary litigation. He believes that the City Council enjoys a great advantage in that the Washington School District (WUSD) has recently shown how
popular the demand for neighborhood elections is within West Sacramento and has obtained public input of maps that provide a strong basis to design the Council districts. Because minority voters have been diluted, the City Council is not equally accountable to or representative of all parts of the community. Generally, single member districts lead to greater accountability and community confidence. The benefits go beyond racial equity. In the case of West Sacramento, moving to neighborhood councilmembers will enfranchise the northern half of the district, which is not geographically represented by the Mayor of the current council. The citizens of West Sacramento know and like the proposal to elect their representatives from their own neighborhoods. The WUSD, which is almost coterminous with the City of West Sacramento, voted 4-1 to elect neighborhood trustees in the 2020 election. WUSD had community meetings throughout the City of West Sacramento, and the public response was overwhelming positive from all ethnic groups in all areas of the city. Electing by single member districts should