West Sacramento
News-Ledger Wednesday, December 2, 2015 Page 1
NEWS-LEDGER Entire Contents Copyright News-Ledger 2015
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52nd Year No. 14
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Serving the West Sacramento Region Since 1964
Local Scene
See what’s going on. Calendar on page 9
Comics & Puzzles
Page 6
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
Police Log will return next week Due to the holiday the police log took a break but will return next week. Happy Holidays and stay safe!
Faces and Places:
Mid-Cal Cycle West Sacramento Annual Toy Run Photos by Stephen Crowley photosbycrowley@yahoo.com On Saturday, Nov. 28 about 30 bikers collected toys for the West Sacramento Police Food and Toy Drive, collecting close to 100 gifts and a whole lot of food. Staying in West Sacramento, the bikers bar hopped a little bit picking up gifts at places like West Sac Sports Bar and Grill, Elkhorn Station Roadside Bar and Grill, Vince’s Ristorante, and Mecca Club. Shown here are photos from the start of the ride, Mid-Cal Cycle, the main organizer of the event. See additional photos from this event page 8
A windshield tour of the first mayor’s West Sac By Monica Stark editor@news-ledger.com
Councilman Johannessen takes ownership of Toyota’s fuel cell electric car
(Editor’s Note: Being the newbie editor of the Ledger, West Sacramento’s first mayor, Mike McGowan, wanted to give me the crash course on the city from his perspective. What follows is a “windshield tour” of his West Sac.) West Sacramento has a future that’s almost limitless. Standing above the rural south area, the city’s first mayor Mike McGowan looks to the land that stretches northbound and westward. “That’s all West Sac.” And then pointing north, he said, “This will be the new downtown Sacramento in the next seven to 10 years.” Obviously it’s on the brink of change. And if McGowan’s predictions are correct, the owners of all the oil tanks and industrial silos will sell off their land to developers and take their business elsewhere. “Not in my lifetime,” he chuckles, “but probably yours.” With a population of about 50,000 now McGowan contrasts West Sacramento to the days prior to cityhood. The year was 1987 and the population was somewhere around 22,000 to 25,000. Days have long passed when West Sac was the “redheaded stepchild”, the “ugly duckling of the brood” -- the unincorporated area of Yolo County without any local government, despite its then-growing industrial area, ports, and rice mills. “We decided we wanted to be our own city. As the first mayor, I am extremely proud.” With 70 percent of the population in favor of cityhood, McGowan said the first council started with tremendous support with the
Test owning a fuel cell:
By Chris White Special to the News-Ledger
Photos by Monica Stark
Shown here is West Sacramento’s first mayor, Mike McGowan at the south edge of town. Excited and worried about changes to the city, he hopes with development comes a sense of “heart” and community, traits that helped shape the city today. community. Did folks really care? Well, yes. He saw there was no apathy and that level of enthusiasm hasn’t waned. “Folks come here and soak it up. They get involved with their kids’ activities. It took me aback a little bit early on. There were arguments as to which way to go. People were actively involved in learning how to get things done. People wanted to see progress.” Building a city brick by brick McGowan said the development of the city included some sociological, some structural stepping stones. “We had to improve law enforcement, schools and build businesses up, the tax base; we
needed better housing, and to improve community programs and services we take for granted.” At the time, the council didn’t know Raley Field was coming, but fortunately the infrastructure for it was in place so when opportunity came, “the stuff was in the ground,” ready to be developed, he said. “There was lots of planning” in those early days. To build the city, “we had to plan, plan, plan, work, work, work and wait, wait, wait. We didn’t realize the fruits of our labor and sometimes See Windshield tour, page 2
“Even without the hydrogen this is a nice car,” Mark Johannessen said as he was filling his new Toyota Mirai for the first time. Mark, a West Sacramento resident and city council member, is the second person in the region to take delivery of Toyota’s production fuel cell electric vehicle. Just 24 hours into ownership, Mark said people are already stopping him in parking lots and asking questions about his cool car. “They look at the front and say they’ve never seen anything like this.” Hydrogen and fuel cells are not new to West Sacramento. As home to See Fuel, page 2