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PRESS RELEASE American River Parkway Preservation
Society (ARPPS) Rob Kerth The award will be presented to Rob during the ARPPS Board of Directors Awards luncheon January 5, 2009. Rob Kerth’s ties to North Sacramento are directly related to his concerns and outstanding work over the years to ensure the community he grew up in was able to recapture the sense of community he remembers as a youth. Organizational Leadership Contact Information David H. Lukenbill, Senior Policy Director PRESS RELEASE ARPPS Article Published in By David H. Lukenbill - Special to The Bee Most people in Sacramento are concerned about how best to help the homeless. All of us hope and pray that the unfortunate folks struggling without homes, and their associated problems, will someday be helped into being able to live a life of security and health. We at American River Parkway Preservation Society are no exception to this concern, particularly how it impacts the American River Parkway and the adjacent communities. Helping the homeless is often a devil's bargain, as those who work in the field know all too well, and we can generally divide the homeless into three groups. First, those who are willing to work and just need some help in getting back on their feet, but have not yet developed the capacity to do so. Second, those who are mentally ill, require long-term housing and treatment, and generally cannot do much about their situation without medical help. Finally, those who are alcoholics, addicts (though some would include these in the second group) and petty criminals, who generally will not cooperate with programs offered to them. Recently, our local government decided to become part of the national 10-year plan to reduce chronic homelessness – a combination of the second and third groups. A key part of the plan is the adoption of the "housing first" model. Our organization is a supporter of the housing first approach to helping the chronic homeless. Housing first is built on the common-sense concept that until homeless people are actually housed, they will not have the internal resources to devote toward rebuilding their life. Housing first specifies two methods of implementation. One is housing and services concentrated in one area, and the other is housing scattered in individual units throughout the community with services delivered by treatment teams. The concentrated method is particularly destructive of the communities it is housed in, and the examples in the various neighborhoods in our community bear that out. A recent article in The Bee noted that a south Sacramento neighborhood is concerned about concentrated homeless housing moving into a converted 74-unit apartment complex. They are right to feel concern, as the complex will quite possibly degrade their neighborhood as the concentration of homeless services has degraded the 12th Street and Richards Boulevard area. The impact of those concentrated services has been spilling over into illegal camping in the parkway, aggressive panhandlers on the K Street Mall and increased crime in both areas. The other major benefit in the scattered-site approach is that the homeless, rather than being surrounded by other homeless who, in effect, help create and maintain the very same failure-oriented situation they are trying to escape from, are scattered into neighborhoods of regular folks whose influence is much more salutary. During the formation of this project in Sacramento, our organization advocated for the scattered-site approach to alleviate the illegal camping along the parkway. However, our advice was not taken, and illegal camping by the homeless in the parkway (to stay close to the concentration of homeless services in the 12th Street and Richards Boulevard area) is now spilling over into the midtown areas of the parkway. The concentrated approach now being pushed in the poor community of south Sacramento will invariably have the same effect on the surrounding neighborhood and commercial district as the existing concentration of homeless services has had on downtown and North Sacramento. The situation is currently getting worse in the North Sacramento area as there is a major illegal camp along the parkway, clearly visible underneath the Highway 160 at the corner of the Northgate Boulevard exit and Del Paso Boulevard entrance. Look to your left as you exit from downtown along 16th Street and make the stop at Del Paso Boulevard. This camp has been there for some weeks. The North Sacramento Chamber of Commerce has been advocating something be done about the illegal camping in its neighborhoods for years, and though periodic cleanups have occurred, the problem keeps falling back into the same rut of decaying neighborhoods, increased crime and a degraded business atmosphere. We can do better, much better, and our neighborhoods as well as the homeless need us to do better. We have two suggestions. The first is to conduct regular sweeps by the police, accompanied by homeless advocate and treatment organization representatives through the parkway to eliminate the illegal camping that is still prevalent. The second, regarding the implementation of the housing-first approach, is that the scattered-site method, with stringent screening, be used to help the chronic homeless, rather than the concentrated method. About the writer:
PRESS RELEASE American River Parkway Funding Some public resources are so valuable, like the Parkway, that they lend themselves more to acquiring a permanent and dedicated source of supplemental funding through philanthropy rather than taxation. In light of a new tax being proposed on Parkway adjacent property owners to help fund the Parkway, it is a good time to reiterate our position on Parkway funding. We have advocated that baseline Parkway funding come initially through a Joint Powers Authority (JPA) of the local government entities with an interest in the Parkway and that the JPA contract with a nonprofit organization to provide daily management and supplemental funding for the Parkway through philanthropic efforts rather than taxation. This method has proven successful with valuable public resources like Central Park in New York and the Sacramento Zoo. The formation of a JPA as part of the new tax proposal is also being discussed and the JPA model to involve Parkway interested government entities is a very important step in reaching the level of regional involvement with the Parkway necessary for long term stability and we support this effort. A JPA is being used for similar purposes very successfully in Southern California: “The San Dieguito River Park Joint Powers Authority was formed as a separate agency on June 12, 1989, by the County of San Diego and the Cities of Del Mar, Escondido, Poway, San Diego and Solana Beach. It was empowered to acquire, plan, design, improve, operate and maintain the San Dieguito River Park. The vision of the River Park is to preserve and interpret the natural and cultural resources of the river valley from the river's source on Volcan Mountain, north of Julian, to the Pacific Ocean in Del Mar” Retrieved January 8, 2008 from sdrp.org. An additional two points regarding any new taxes being imposed for the Parkway: 1) Sacramento County residents are already being taxed for parks and any new taxes providing service for the county should be approached in the appropriate way, through a county-wide tax proposal which requires a 2/3 vote. 2) The Parkway adjacent property tax is essentially unfair as it taxes some property owners for a regional resource benefiting all residents and the Parkway is a regional resource, as reflected in virtually all of the reports about it, and certainly in our membership which includes members from Auburn, Davis, Elk Grove, Folsom, Gold River, Granite Bay, Rocklin, Roseville and Sacramento. The American River Parkway is an absolutely wonderful resource, and even with the many problems it has, it is treasured by the regional community. With this deep well of support, it would seem that structuring the opportunity for long-term philanthropic support solely dedicated to the Parkway through a nonprofit organization partnering with a JPA, would be the approach most embraced by the community. Organizational Leadership Contact Information David H. Lukenbill, Senior Policy Director
PRESS RELEASE American River Parkway Preservation
Society (ARPPS) DAVE LYDICK The award will be presented to Dave during the ARPPS Board of Directors meeting January 5, 2008. Dave—with a degree in Recreation Administration from CSU Chico and married for 26 years with a 22 year old son—has been working in the parks field since 1975 and for Sacramento County Parks since 1979. He began as a Park Ranger and was promoted to Chief Ranger in 2002, and in 2006 became the Deputy Director for the American River Parkway & Regional Parks Division. Dave has always provided a supportive and honest voice to the many citizens and community organizations whose work involves looking out for the Parkway and has been a dedicated public servant advocating for the Parkway. His integrity and concern for the Parkway have been evident in the lengths to which he consistently makes himself available to respond to community concerns, present a voice during community meetings, and deal with the complicated issues involving public safety on the Parkway. The morass of interests and issues surrounding the illegal camping on the Lower Reach of the Parkway has been one area where his tact, diplomacy, kindness, and integrity have endeared him to all sides of the ongoing discussions. His deep support for the recreational treasures of the Parkway and ensuring the safety of the community fortunate to enjoy them is well-known and deeply appreciated. Public service, in its highest calling, is the clearest form of advocacy, and it is our pleasure to honor the public leadership and integrity of Dave Lydick by presenting him with the 2007 Slobe Parkway Advocate Award. Organizational Leadership Contact Information David H. Lukenbill, Senior Policy Director
Published in the Sacramento Union www.sacunion.com Guest EditorialThe American River Parkway: David H. Lukenbill, Senior Policy Director American River Parkway Preservation Society www.arpps.org The American River Parkway is one of the premier recreational and natural resources in the capital region; over 4,000 acres of walking, equestrian, and bike trails, fishing and rafting spots, picnic areas, parks, golf courses, islands and a beautiful river drifting through one of the major urban/suburban and richly historic areas of the nation. It is also being sadly mismanaged by Sacramento County to the point that even basic maintenance is falling drastically behind every year, and the overall annual budget shortfall—when factoring all that should be being accomplished—has been declared by one Parkway organizations to be $8,595,427. Our first guiding principle is: Preserving the Parkway is not an option, it’s a necessity and from this perspective the way to preserve, protect, and strengthen the Parkway as a vitally necessary ingredient to our quality of life, is through two initiatives. The first is to provide daily management for the Parkway through a nonprofit organization, and the second is to work for the Parkway to become part of a National Heritage Area (a program of the National Park Service) encompassing the historic Gold Rush landscape in the American River Watershed. With an independent nonprofit organization providing management, the ability to accomplish long range goals for the Parkway, such as the federal designation or endowment fund development, will be greatly increased. Regarding the funding shortage, some feel a Benefit Assessment District is the best way to raise funds for the Parkway, but we don’t agree with that approach for three reasons: 1) Benefit Assessment Districts tax the property of those who benefit from the entity but how that would be determined fairly in this case is uncertain, as many people who live close to the Parkway don’t use it while many living far away do. 2) It delivers the funds to the same local government entity—Sacramento County—that has already failed in managing the Parkway for several years—with a threatened closure in 2004— with no clear promise or perceived capability that anything has changed. 3) There is a better way. Part of a better way is a Joint Powers Authority (JPA). A JPA makes sense, is fair to the newer cities such as Rancho Cordova and Arden Arcade—if it incorporates—could create a stable base funding stream and provide balanced governance oversight of a contract with the managing nonprofit. Bringing in the cities
as partners in a JPA addresses the current political and economic
climate facing the County—the difficulty
of raising taxes and the continuing incorporation of new cities—causing
the County’s financial situation to continue to deteriorate
leaving even less future funding for the Parkway.
PRESS RELEASE American River Parkway Preservation
Society (ARPPS) SACRAMENTO: The 2006 research report: “The American River Parkway, Protecting its Integrity and Providing Water for the River Running Through it: A Report on the Auburn Dam Policy Environment” was released today. This is our second annual report released as part of World Rivers Day, http://www.worldriversday.bcit.ca/ a global celebration of our rivers. The report can be accessed on our website at www.arpps.org/news.html . What has long been needed to protect the integrity of the recreational and natural assets of the Parkway is a constant and stable source of cold, fresh water running fast enough to allow optimal conditions for the salmon and the year-round recreation that make the Parkway a treasured resource. Recently, because of Katrina, Sacramento learned it is the least protected major city in the country from flooding. Given our history of flooding, this is a public policy issue of the highest level of urgency, and, in conjunction with the necessity to protect the integrity of the Parkway, on May 22, 2006 ARPPS came out in support of the only option providing 500 year flood protection for Sacramento, the Auburn Dam. One of the most asked questions regarding this issue, once people realize it is the only 500 year level flood protection option is, “Why isn't everyone in support of this?” In search of the answer to that question; which led us into the complexity of the history of the pastoral ideal, the nuances of new age religion, local hydrology, the history of dams and other water infrastructure in California, global warming, and the free flowing rivers movement; we are now able to offer our report to the community. Michael Rushford, President American River Parkway Preservation
Society
ARPPS 2006 Research Report: Executive Summary
PRESS RELEASE AMERICAN RIVER PARKWAY PRESERVATION SOCIETY (ARPPS) ANNOUNCES Mary E. Tappel The award will be presented to Mary during the ARPPS Board of Directors meeting October 9, 2006. Over the past several years, in many capacities, most recently as the organizer of the lower American River Parkway* River Keepers, Mary has been a dedicated, deeply committed, and leading community voice advocating for the lower Parkway. Mary is an environmentally-knowledgeable Parkway user and environmental activist who lives close to the lower Parkway. She has been very active in Sacramento’s Creek Week**, for nearly 20 years now, having led and organized creek, river, and neighborhood clean ups throughout North Sacramento for the past 15 years. For the past 5-7 years, she has led many of the most popular Creek Week field trips, the local evening beaver walks. Mary works for the State Water Board as an Environmental Scientist, where she has worked with Adrian Perez, one of our State’s Environmental Justice leaders, for over 20 years. She also maintains some of the Water Board’s public outreach websites, which promote public engagement in watershed cleanup and restoration. She has completed some five years of contractual work for SAFCA, protecting the lower Parkway’s extensive native riparian restoration plantings from both excessive beaver pruning and destructive human vandalism, developing new low cost ecological methods along the way. She has always maintained a strong environmental and social justice perspective in all her work. Mary continues her dedicated advocacy for the Parkway, often appearing in front of the Sacramento City Council and Sacramento County Board of Supervisors to press for more effective and affordable public safety and maintenance to keep the Lower Reach area of the Parkway safe and clean. Mary backs up her public requests by getting out on the Parkway regularly, focusing, with many others from all walks of life, on organizing volunteer efforts initially to keep one area near the Rusty Duck clean and safe, and then expanding outwards from this area as the success of the effort has allowed. Mary is doing the absolutely vital work of coordinating volunteers from all walks of life in now successfully protecting the public against Parkway crime in the area formerly having the dubious distinction of being the most dangerous in the Parkway. Mary works continually to involve all of the stakeholders in the process of dealing compassionately with illegal campers and others who are responsible for causing and/or sustaining public safety and/or environmental problems in the Parkway, while insisting on the primacy of equal public safety for everyone, and environmental and social justice for everyone. Mary is currently working with the largest local homeless support organization, Loaves and Fishes, other Parkway organizations, a wide range of area neighborhood and conservation groups, Sacramento County Park Rangers, the Sacramento City Police Department, Sacramento County Sheriff’s deputies working in the Parkway, the City of Sacramento Department of Utilities Stormwater Management Program Community Action grants, and the North Sacramento Chamber of Commerce, where she is a member of the American River Parkway Task Force. Mary is an excellent example of the type of committed advocacy the Slobe Parkway Advocate Award was created to recognize, and it is our honor and pleasure to be able to present it to her. *Meaning the Lower American River Parkway from the CalExpo/Bushy Lake area and Paradise Beach/River Park neighborhood downstream to the confluence with the Sacramento River **Sponsored and organized by the Sacramento Urban Creeks Council Organizational Leadership PRESS RELEASE THE AMERICAN RIVER PARKWAY PRESERVATION SOCIETY ANNOUNCES SUPPORT FOR AUBURN DAM, AMERICAN RIVER LEVEE STRENGTHENING, AND RAISING THE HEIGHT OF FOLSOM DAM Sacramento, CA: May 22, 2006: The Society is announcing its support for the construction of the Auburn Dam, the strengthening of the American River levees, and the raising of Folsom Dam, to protect the natural and recreational integrity of the American River Parkway, the health of the salmon, and flood protection for Sacramento. In January we announced our support for a major new dam on the American River to capture and control the American River Watershed run-off, which, through flood-condition releases from Folsom Dam, was devastating one of the most important parkways in the country. Since then we have witnessed the following:
Since then, based on the continued and focused interest by national, state, and local government on flood protection and water supply in the Sacramento region, we are now confident that the planning for Auburn Dam will embrace the changing needs of the region, and, with the proposed raising of Folsom Dam and American River levee strengthening, will provide the storage, (and flow capacity when needed) to protect the integrity of the Parkway, the health of the salmon, and provide 500 year flood protection to the Sacramento region. Michael Rushford, President American River Parkway Preservation Society (ARPPS) PRESS RELEASE
Sacramento, CA: January 10, 2006: It is time for those concerned about the American River Parkway to join with us in announcing support for the construction of a major new dam on the American River to capture and control the water, which, through flood-condition releases from Folsom Dam is devastating one of the most important parkways in the country. In addition to the obvious benefit to the Sacramento region’s citizens from a major new dam offering 500 year—or more—flood protection, the protection of the Parkway from flooding will pay substantial recreational and habitat dividends, allowing a deeper, more stable level of year-round enjoyment. After the evidence of New Orleans, and local flood conditions of the past few weeks, it is clear that in order to protect the Parkway’s recreational and natural assets for use by the citizens of Sacramento and provide optimal conditions for the salmon, a major new dam needs to be built somewhere on the American River. The Parkway river flows during the first weeks of January, due to the need to release water from Folsom Lake to accommodate the expected run-offs from new storms, were running at 35,000 cubic feet per second, about ten times the optimal flow for human and salmon use. It is only through the capture of the watershed run-off and the subsequent creation of the lake behind a new dam, that controlled flows and temperature will be available for the salmon and the year-round recreational needs of the growing population of the Sacramento region. The Auburn Dam, planned for the North Fork of the American River, is the only proposal currently being put forth, and while there are some indications the proposed storage lake it would create needs to be larger, we will follow the congressional evaluation of that project to see if it addresses the demands imposed on the Parkway at the highest run-off levels. Whatever comes from that evaluation, the fact remains, we need a major new dam on the American River, whether it is the Auburn Dam or some other proposal yet to emerge. Michael Rushford,
President American River Parkway Preservation Society (ARPPS)
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Sacramento,
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| The
Trail of Fears: The
American River Bike Trail is idyllic, as long as you don't
get maced, mugged or beaten with a
rock. Article by Sacramento News & Review, December 2, 2004 |
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