Hot/not 2009

’Tis the season for lists galore! What better time than New Year’s to take a “what’s hot, what’s not” look back at the year’s good, bad and unsightly.

HOT: Social networking
NOT: Playing FarmVille or Mafia Wars at work

HOT: Sacramento’s tap water
NOT: Nestlé’s water-bottling plant

HOT: The climate
NOT: Glenn Beck

HOT: Tyreke Evans and the Sacramento Kings
NOT: Inability to watch Stanford, Cal or USC in the Rose Bowl

HOT: Phil Angelides’ lead role in Wall Street version of Untouchables as chairman of the federal Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission
NOT: Wall Street making a killing in 2009

HOT: Old-fashioned vote counting
NOT: Bipartisanship

HOT: Obama’s “change” agenda
NOT: The compromises made related to that agenda because of the threat to filibuster in the U.S. Senate

HOT: Beautiful blue 10-foot beings
NOT: James Cameron’s ego

HOT: Mayor Kevin Johnson’s engagement to Michelle Rhee
NOT: Johnson’s “strong mayor” initiative

HOT: Downtown Plaza redesign
NOT: Capitol Mall redesign

HOT: Green buildings
NOT: Greenwashing

HOT: Local plays where the guy gets the guy or girl gets the girl
NOT: Seeing Oklahoma! for the 40 millionth time

HOT: Nonviolent UC Davis and Sacramento State student protesters
NOT: The privatization of California’s system of higher education

HOT: California as fiscal laughing stock to the nation
NOT: Elderly, blind, poor and mentally ill people go begging in a state taken hostage by the Legislature’s minority party

HOT: Mayor Kevin Johnson’s dedication to addressing the problems of Sacramento’s homeless
NOT: The fact that Sacramento still does not have a legally sanctioned campground for the homeless

HOT: Overarching goal of City Manager Ray Kerridge’s “fast-tracking” program
NOT: New homes being built in the Natomas flood zone without permits

HOT: Kings rookie Omri Casspi
NOT: Political battle over making Bethlehem Sacramento’s sister city

HOT: New Year’s Eve fireworks in Old Sacramento
NOT: New Year’s Eve Midtown ball drop (canceled!)