Letters for June 12, 2014

Sacramento sucks—like a vampire

Re “Second Saturday, still RIP,” by Nick Miller (SN&R Editor’s Note, June 5):

Downtown used to have a lot more activities like street fairs, festivals and concerts, especially in Midtown. But our city's leaders couldn't handle success. They shut down the Thursday night K Street market, clamped down on Second Saturday, raised fees, and made it increasingly more expensive and cumbersome to stage anything like the Midtown vendors' street fair we used to have on Capitol Avenue. As the city smothered downtown events and entertainment, we started hearing the whine of “Sac sucks,” “There's nothing to do here,” “Downtown's dead,” “We need a new entertainment and sports complex to revitalize downtown.” Coincidence? Or concerted effort to funnel all the downtown fun money into one central complex for the increased profit of the 1-percenter investors? Sac sucks, all right—like a vampire.

Jan Bergeron

Sacramento

Don’t make arena the next Yankee Stadium

Re “Arena benefits for all” (SN&R Editorial, June 5):

The downtown Entertainment and Sports Center has been described regularly by Mayor Kevin Johnson as a project that is bigger than basketball. It is unfortunate that the new Sacramento First Community Advisory Council is ignoring the voices of residents interested in seeing permanent change result from their more than $300 million investment in a new sports center. With so much potential for change, I find it hard to believe that Johnson and the city feel that a 13-person council can offer adequate representation without an open forum or greater community involvement. The Community Advisory Council is a business coalition.

This project has been labeled since its beginning as a chance for revitalization. Who is to benefit from this revitalization? Community-benefits agreements have done great things for their communities, like L.A. Live in Los Angeles. When closed-door agreements are made, they become embarrassments, like Yankee Stadium.

A new sports complex was not intended to be a legacy for the mayor. It was to take us all into a future where Sacramento can be more prosperous and dynamic. As the capital of California, we should be an example of what our great state can do when citizens are involved in decisions and treated as partners in government.

Hans Chun

Sacramento