World War 2 veteran and Pocket resident Richard Moss will turn 90 years old on March 27.

He will be honored this month with a resolution from the Sacramento City Council, a recognition certificate from Senator Darrell Steinberg and a letter of recognition from Congresswoman Doris Matsui whose office is working with the White House to get one signed by the president.

One could easily write a whole book on Moss’s life. During the past 90 years, he has been as brave during wartimes as he has been an ambassador of peace since then.

Moss was enlisted in the US Army at age 19 to serve in the U.S. Army 86th Infantry, Blackhawk Division which was named after the famous Sauk Indian Chief Black Hawk of Illinois.

Moss completed training at Camp Crowder, Missouri as a signal corp operator charged with insuring communication among the divisions using the first FM backpack radios and other technology. These multi-channel radio broadcasts allowed for increased security and signal boosting that supported and enhanced U.S. military success.

He was active duty in the European Theater Operations arriving in France on March 4, 1945 and then reliving the 86th infantry, Blackhawk division while crossing the Rhine River to Elbelhausen Germany in April. Thereafter, he advanced successfully across German to Oberndorf, Austria and finally assisted the processing of German prisoners of war.

Moss’s service continued with deployment to the Philippine Islands in August 1945. His division was still aboard ship in Leyte Harbor when the Japanese surrendered. The division completed closing efforts in Angeles, north of Manila until his return and honorary discharge in 1946.

Moss received the Good Conduct Medal, and he and his unit were awarded the Presidential Unit Citation and the Victory Medal.

Thirty-five years later, he returned to the village of Oberndorf, in peace, and met with the adult children of townspeople he met during the war.

Besides his accomplishments as a war veteran, his professional and community service to the city of Sacramento is unwavering.

Moss began his employment as an auditor with the California State Board of Equalization in June 1948 until his advancement to Chief, of Special Contracts and Provider Standards with the Department of Health Care Services.

He became an unwilling expert in the emerging process of dialysis and
worked long and diligently to develop regulatory criteria and fiscal impact at the state level from 1966 to 1973.

Moss was promoted to Chief, Provider Participation Section, Health Services for the State of California and continued to develop regulations for the safe administration of care and fiscal management of dialysis centers and nursing homes leaving his position to embrace retirement in July 1973.

Moss’s efforts at retirement failed dismally, so he began a tax and accounting practice to further occupy his professional skills until his second retirement in 1986.

During his many years of professional practice he also gave willingly of his time and energy to promote the well being of the community through his involvement in a membership drive for the YMCA, the Boy Scouts of America, Jobs Daughters, the Order of DeMolay and his Masonic Lodge. Richard enjoys spending time with his family, friends, golf and Masonic activities.

His family and friends couldn’t be more proud of him.

Born Richard Levick Moss on March 27, 1923, in Belleville, Illinois, the WW2 veteran married Margaret Schweitzer on July 20, 1946 and they were married for 56 years. They had four daughters: Janet Moss of Boise, Idaho, Elaine Weathersbee who lives in the Pocket, Kathy Garcia who lives in the Pocket and Phyllis Katich who lives in Alameda. He has four grandsons and one great granddaughter. After losing his wife, Margaret, he remarried four years ago to Inez Perrine.

Sacramento City Council Member Darrell Fong / Photo courtesy

What have we accomplished in a little over three months?

My staff and I have responded to 206 constituent affairs phone calls, attended six neighborhood watch meetings, held four community meetings, and hosted two office hours.

Our office hours have been a great opportunity to sit down and have one-on-one conversations with community members. At our community connections meetings, various City departments, including Sacramento Regional Transit, the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency, and the Sacramento Regional Sanitation District, all provided presentations on topics that ranged from the City budget and code enforcement, to the potential costs of a new retrofit to the water treatment plant may have on the City.

Work continues on the City of Sacramento website. The goal of the website is to give you an insight not only to your city council member’s office, but also a view of what the City as a whole does on a daily basis.

Below are the remaining office hours my staff and I will host this year at the Robbie Waters Pocket-Greenhaven Library Community Room:

Office Hours

Sat., Feb. 19          10 a.m.–11 a.m.

Wed., April 13       6:30 p.m.–7:30 p.m.

Wed., June 8         6:30 p.m.–7:30 p.m.

Thurs., Aug. 18      6:30 p.m.–7:30 p.m.

Sat., Oct. 15          10 a.m.–11 a.m.

Thurs., Dec. 1        6:30 p.m.–7:30 p.m.

The staff and I are currently working on our special events calendar. We want to keep many of the special events that Council Member Robbie Waters had, such as the Spring Egg Hunt and the 4th of July Parade. We also have a few new events we are going to try.

Upcoming special events

Saturday, April 16, at 2 p.m., District 7 will host the Pocket/Greenhaven Spring Egg Hunt at Seymour Park, which is located across the street from the former School of Science and Engineering at 6627 Gloria Drive.

Monday, July 4, come celebrate with us at the July 4th Parade. The event will start at 10 a.m. at the Yav Pem Suab Academy Charter School (formerly Lisbon Elementary School).

Please, if you have questions contact my office. My mailing address is: City Hall, 915 I Street, Sacramento, CA 95814. Phone is (916) 808-7007. Email is dfong@cityofsacramento.org.

Sacramento City Council Member Darrell Fong, District 7 / Photo courtesy

With the completion of the 2010 Census, the City Council has started discussing how the redistricting process will be handled.

On Feb. 8, the Council decided to create a Redistricting Citizens Advisory Committee (RCAC). This Committee will work on a parallel timeline with community groups, City staff, and the Council. The RCAC, once formed, will host numerous community meetings; I encourage everyone to attend. My office is working to schedule separate meetings that will allow you to provide your ideas on how the new boundaries should be drawn directly to our office.

Important considerations

As community members, we should consider, when we discuss developing a new boundary for our District, the following: (1) Districts that are equal populations; (2) Topography; (3) Geography; (4) Cohesiveness of districts; (5) Continuity; (6) Integrity and compactness of territory; (7) Communities of interest; and (8) Existing neighborhoods and community boundaries.

The Council will finalize new district boundaries by the end of September this year. The proposed timeline for the redistricting process is currently:

February – March: Community Education on Process

April: Census Data, Tools, and Community Outreach/Training

May: Proposals due to the City

June – July: Receive and Consider Redistricting Comments and Proposals

July – August: Council Selection Process

September: Adopt Final Boundaries

Office hours

We will be holding office hours on Saturday Feb. 19 from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the Community Room at the Robbie Waters Pocket-Greenhaven Library, located at 7335 Gloria Drive in Sacramento. These office hours are to provide you with an opportunity to discuss your concerns and ideas.

Please, if you have questions, contact my office. My mailing address is City Hall, 915 I Street, Sacramento CA 95814 and my phone number is (916) 808-7007. You can email me at dfong@cityofsacramento.org.

dfong@cityofsacramento.org

California is home to natural and man-made disasters: earthquakes, fires, flooding and even extreme weather situations, such as tornadoes, are not out of the realm of possibility here.

Because of the on-going potential for emergencies in the Sacramento region, city and county organizations and officials are co-sponsoring the Sacramento Emergency Preparedness and Self-Reliance Fair on Saturday, Oct. 16 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Guest exhibitors will include the Sacramento Office of Emergency Services, the American Red Cross, the Sacramento City Fire Department, the California Emergency Management Agency, the Drowning Accident Rescue Team (DART), the Sacramento Police Department, Army Corps of Engineers, United Animal Nations, Pacific Gas & Electric, the California Conservation Corps, CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) and many more.

Visitors to the event can learn about: building disaster-resilient families, having an emergency plan, emergency communication, emergency shelters, power generators, first aid kits, employment, wills, trusts, estate planning, budgeting and saving, a three-month supply of rotatable food, crime prevention, Neighborhood Watch, flood preparedness, water storage and purification, children’s emergency activities and much, much more.

This event is open to everyone in the community.

The event will be hosted by members of The Sacramento California Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Sponsors include the Sacramento City and County Office of Emergency Services, Council Member Robbie Waters, Council Member Bonnie Pannell and County Supervisor Jimmie Yee.

Individuals of all ages will have the opportunity to learn how to better prepare for natural and man-made disasters at this free event.

The Fair will include over 40 exhibits and displays highlighting topics such as: food and water storage, stretching your food dollar, employment, family evacuation plans, 72-hour kits, water purification, first aid, fire safety and much more.

Emergency vehicles will also be available for tours and close-up inspection, including an Army National Guard HH60 helicopter, a Coast Guard rescue boat, ambulance, highway patrol car and a CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) trailer. The Army National Guard HH60 plans to land around 10:30 a.m. and CERT will be performing several “triage” demonstrations throughout the day.

“The fair has been designed to provide useful information to families regardless of where they are in the wide spectrum of emergency preparedness and self-reliance,” said John Cassinat, president of the Sacramento Stake. “There will be meaningful experiences and valuable information for the person or family who doesn’t know where to begin, as well as for those who are well on there way to sustainable independence and self-reliance during most emergencies.”

The Fair will be held at a large property owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints located at 7401 24th Street in Sacramento.

This event is free and family oriented. Translators will be available for multiple languages.

“It is important that we as a community are prepared for any kind of unanticipated event,” Cassinat said. “The more educated we are as a community, the more resilient we will be.”

*THIS INFORMATION BASED ON SEMI-OFFICIAL RETURNS REPORTED BY THE SACRAMENTO COUNTY REGISTRAR OF VOTERS.

Since 1992, no incumbent Sacramento City Councilmember has lost a re-election bid; on Tuesday night, that all changed.

The June 8 Primary Election has changed the make-up of the Sacramento City Council.

The June 8 Primary Election was a defining moment in politics statewide: for the first time, the California Republican Party was running not one, but two women for statewide office, with Meg Whitman as the party’s gubernatorial nominee and Carly Fiorina as the GOP pick to run against Barbara Boxer in the U.S. senate race. Adding to this historic development was the local result – Sacramento City Councilmembers Ray Tretheway, from Natomas’ District 1, and Robbie Waters, representing Pocket-Greenhaven’s District 7, have apparently lost in their race to serve another four years at City Hall. It’s been 18 years since such an upset has occurred in Sacramento City politics.

According to semi-official results released June 9 at 1:48 a.m. by the Sacramento County Registrar of Voters, both incumbents lost to political newcomers, Tretheway falling to Natomas grassroots campaigner Angelique Ashby, and Robbie Waters being edged out by Ryan Chin and Darrell Fong. Tretheway, who claims he was a target because he would not support Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson’s strong-mayor initiative, had been recently seen by political watchdogs as very vulnerable, especially as Ashby scored a number of major endorsements and political allies (Johnson being one of them). Waters, who ran twice unopposed (most recently in 2006), faced a tough fight of his own, desperately trying to fend off two candidates that were as equally funded and organized.

The District 7 Race

According to the semi-official results, Chin was the big winner Tuesday night, taking in 38.45 percent of the vote; Fong came in second with 31.41 percent; Waters, the four-term incumbent and only Republican on the City Council, garnered 27.44 percent; and college student Diedre Hobart came in a distant fourth place. With no candidate earning a clear majority, the results set up a likely run-off election this November between the first- and second-place winners, Chin and Fong, respectively.

Waters, who has served on the City Council since 1994 and raised more money and spent more money in this election than any other City Council candidate, was fighting a determined battle in his re-election bid. Challengers Chin, a strategic communications officer with Sacramento State, and Fong, a retired Sacramento Police captain, seized early on to the anti-incumbent sentiment sweeping the U.S.

In their first public debate held last spring, the District 7 challengers came out swinging, saying that Waters was out of touch with the current needs of the district. Waters, for his part, pointed to a number of recent accomplishments, such as the building of a new library; however, the library issue had turned into a slight political misstep among some Pocket voters as the new building was named after Waters. Some screamed impropriety; Waters and his supporters have said the councilmember simply followed the wishes of library volunteers.

Also dampening Waters’ re-election momentum was news that his son, Dan, had been allegedly involved in a city scandal involving building permits in Natomas, an area off-limits to new construction due to persistent flood concerns. Although the councilman had no direct connection to the permit mess, Waters nonetheless appeared in a number of news reports discussing the situation and deflecting character attacks.

In a special interview prior to the election with Valley Community Newspaper reporter Celia Green, Waters had said that he hoped to serve one more four-year term and then retire from city politics. That retirement, it seems, will come early.

The District 3 Race

Although the Pocket-Greenhaven community saw quite the political upset, the District 3 race was anything but; Councilmember Steve Cohn, Midtown and East Sacramento’s longtime representative on the City Council, will remain in office for another term. The incumbent had faced a strong challenge from East Sacramento Chamber of Commerce President Chris Little and Midtown business owner Shawn Eldredge, but the incumbent persevered, winning his bid for a fifth term as the District 3 representative.

Cohn, who will now be one of Sacramento’s longest-serving councilmembers, garnered 53.95 of the vote, winning a clear majority and avoiding a run-off election in November. Little and Eldredge scored 37.73 percent and 5.52 percent, respectively, while candidate Jeff Rainforth garnered the remaining votes.

The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Race

A bruising primary election will likely turn into a bruising general election: candidates Scott Jones and Jim Cooper, both captains with the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department, did not win a clear majority of votes and will now face one another again in the November General Election.

In what has been one of Sacramento’s most hotly contested races, Jones and Cooper threw mud, hurled accusations, and laid charges of political impropriety and professional misconduct. The race has also come to represent a battle between two law enforcement legacies, as Cooper, endorsed by former Sheriff Lou Blanas, and Jones, endorsed by outgoing Sheriff John McGinness, attacked one another for their political connections as much as their administrative philosophies.

Jones came out on top in Tuesday’s race, but not by much, taking in 46.17 percent of the vote; Cooper came in second and garnered 41.37 percent of the vote; a third candidate, Bret Daniels, drew the remaining votes.

Sacramento County voters can expect the war of words to continue into the fall. The 2010 General Election is Nov. 2.

Sacramento Area Race Results listed as “semi-official” by the Sacramento County Registrar of Voters (winners listed in CAPS, % of vote listed in parentheses, incumbents listed as necessary):

Sacramento City Council, District 1

ANGELIQUE ASHBY (50.98%)

Ray Tretheway, incumbent (41.55%)

Efren M. Guttierrez (7.36%)

Write-in (.12%)

Sacramento City Council, District 3

STEVE COHN, incumbent (53.95%)

Chris Little (37.73%)

Shawn Eldredge (5.52%)

Jeff Rainforth (2.69%)

Write-in (.11%)

Sacramento City Council, District 5

JAY SCHENIRER* (47.04%)

Patrick Kennedy (34.32%)

Henry Harry (6.41%)

Terrence Johnson (6.04%)

Leticia Hilbert (6.00%)

Write-in (.19%)

*(As no candidate won a clear majority of 50-percent-plus-1-vote, Schenirer will likely face Kennedy in a run-off election in November, according to semi-official results)

Sacramento City Council, District 7

RYAN CHIN* (38.45%)

Darrell Fong (31.41%)

Robbie Waters, incumbent (27.44%)

Diedre Hobart (2.67%)

Write-in (.04%)

*(As no candidate won a clear majority of 50-percent-plus-1-vote, Chin will likely face Fong in a run-off election in November, according to semi-official results)

Sacramento County Board Of Supervisors, District 1

PHIL SERNA (71.60%)

Keith Weber (28.15%)

Write-in (.25%)

Sacramento County Board Of Supervisors, District 2

JIMMIE YEE, incumbent (78.05%)

Raymond Kemp (21.73%)

Write-in (.22%)

Sacramento County Board Of Supervisors, District 5

DON NOTTOLI, incumbent (70.01%)

Lovie Kirkland (29.75%)

Write-in (.24%)

Sacramento County Assessor

KATHLEEN E. KELLEHER (63.98%)

David A. Benson (21.60%)

Margaret Pennington (14.28%)

Write-in (.14%)

Sacramento County District Attorney

JAN SCULLY, incumbent (79.39%)

Julius M. Engel (20.44%)

Write-in (.14%)

Sacramento County Sheriff

SCOTT JONES* (46.17%)

Jim Cooper (41.37%)

Bret Daniels (11.77%)

Write-in (.70%)

*(As no candidate won a clear majority of 50-percent-plus-1-vote, Jones will face Cooper in a run-off election in November, according to semi-official results)

For complete Sacramento County election results, visit http://sacresults.e-cers.com/default.aspx. For information on statewide races and ballot measures, visit www.sos.ca.gov.

E-mail Ryan Rose at ryanrose@valcomnews.com.

Eighteen years after she retired as Sacramento’s mayor, Anne Rudin made it clear last week to a capacity audience at California State University, Sacramento that she’s totally opposed to current mayor Kevin Johnson’s plan to install a strong mayor system for the city.

Former Sacramento Mayor Anne Rudin, pictured here with former City Council colleague Michael Sands, made it clear she’s totally opposed to current mayor Kevin Johnson’s plan to install a strong mayor system for the city. (Photo by Art German)

She indicated that her answer to all three questions is a resounding “no.”

Rudin, who served 21 years on the Sacramento City Council, including two four-year terms as mayor before retiring in 1992, was introduced during the CSUS Friday forum by a former City Council colleague, Michael Sands.  The scene was the Hinde auditorium in the Student Union, an event sponsored by the Renaissance Society, a learning program at the university for retirees.

Sands, a retired attorney, served on the City Council with Rudin during the 1970s, “and we were good friends,” he added.  Sands now heads the Renaissance Society’s forum committee and introduced Rudin as the weekly speaker.

Johnson’s strong mayor plan would give him authority to hire (and fire) such key officers as city manager and city attorney. The strong mayor arrangement would also give Johnson (and all future mayors) wide discretion to make decisions for such current issues as developing the city railyards; restoring the K Street mall as Sacramento’s downtown hub; and relocating the current basketball arena site of the Sacramento Kings without necessarily obtaining approval from the City Council.

Although a cornerstone of his 2008 election campaign, Mayor Johnson has had difficulty implementing his vision for a change in city governance policy. Mayor Johnson’s plan had originally had been earmarked for the ballot this June but the action was disqualified by the courts.  The fate of the strong mayor plan is currently up in the air and it will be up to the City Council to decide on what final action to take.

Rudin said the current council-manager form of government is widely used throughout the U.S. and provides opportunities for the mayor to exercise leadership – “and he doesn’t just have to be a figurehead.”

But if the relationship is changed to one in which the mayor can veto an action that is supported by a majority of the City Council,  “it would make the council and the mayor ‘adversarial,’” she said.

“Is this democracy?” Rudin asked.  “Is there really a need for such a change?  I am sure that Sacramento would be tied up with legal disputes for a long, long time.”

Rudin said the change to a strong mayor system might also create problems for Sacramento in its relations with the county, which doesn’t have a mayor at all in its overall government structure.

Recalling her own years as mayor, she noted that problems with the other council members were inevitable from time, but we always tried to work them out. 

“You just needed to sit down and talk it over with the other people,” she said.

Such cooperation, she added, led to joint city-county planning for successful outcomes of the closing McClellan and other military bases during recent years.

At the end, Rudin did sidestep one comment from a Renaissance Society member.  As a reply to one questioner who asked if men or women would be more effective mayors, she replied, “I can’t answer that” and the forum was ended.

E-mail Art German at reporter@valcomnews.com.