The Condition of Rio Linda/Elverta Roads

The following is an excerpt from a recent article I wrote for local newspapers regarding the poor condition of our roadways.  To read the entire article, please click here.

Rio Linda/Elverta roadways are in critical condition, as I’m sure you can testify to as you play “avoid the pothole” as you drive to work every day. This is because our deferred maintenance costs for just our pavement in Sacramento County is sitting at around $450 million, and the word “pavement” is important because it doesn’t include the deferred maintenance of things like bridges, sidewalks, and traffic signals. During the course of the next 20 years, the money Sacramento County will get from California due to the recent tax increases will only fix around 1/3 of our current deferred maintenance costs for our pavement issues.  This also doesn’t account for the deferred maintenance costs that are going to stack on top of this for the 2/3 of the roads that don’t get worked on between now and then.

This is the most optimistic scenario, because this is making the huge assumption that the State doesn’t raid this money and divert it to something else in the future.  As has been proven time and time again, when California is strapped for cash, they have no problem taking the money they need from the Counties and Cities.

If we want our roads to be fixed in anything short of the distant future, we are going to need to either make enormous investments at the local level (to the great expense of other programs), or pass a local tax measure dedicated solely to fixing the problem.  But the crafters of such a tax should be careful, as my Rio Linda survey I conducted earlier in the year showed that while 54% of you would pass a local transportation tax if it were dedicated solely to the roads, only 13% of you would pass a transportation tax if it included money for other things like public transportation. Either of these two plans poses challenges.

Homelessness in Rio Linda/Elverta

Sacramento Children’s Home – Nonprofit of the Year

Many of the Sacramento Children’s Home programs and events depend on volunteer support.  The Home offers community members numerous way to get involved: volunteer as a group of individual; work directly with the children at one of the two crisis nurseries; spend time with the boys in the residential treatment program; or volunteer at one of their events.  Approximately 860 people volunteered in 2016.

The Sacramento Children’s Home was founded in 1867 (just 2 years after the Civil War) and today it is the most comprehensive child and family service organization in Sacramento County, service more than 6,900 children and 4,600 families each year through a broad spectrum of residential, community-based, mental health and educational programs.  Throughout its 150 year history, the Sacramento Children’s Home has been at the forefront of trauma-informed care and developing new ways to improve the outcomes of children and families.

If You Need Help

Sacramento 2-1-1. By dialing 211, you will speak with a live person who will connect you with essential services in Sacramento County, including year-around, seasonal and temporary  emergency shelters or permanent housing resources.

Reporting Neighborhood Concerns – 311

The County of Sacramento handles municipal services in Rio Linda/Elverta. Services include responding to complaints about abandoned cars, graffiti and homeless encampments.  If you would like to report a neighborhood concern, such as a homeless encampment, please call 311 (or 875-4311 if you are calling from out of the area.).  You may also download the 311 mobile application to your phone to report concerns online.

2017 County Homelessness Initiatives

In the budget hearings that will go on over the coming months, Sacramento County will be discussing funding four different initiatives that will help solve the homelessness problem.  To read about them, click here.

Rate Assistance for Rio Linda/Elverta Utilities

The Sacramento County Department of Waste Management and Recycling and the Sacramento County Water Agency offer a $5.00 and $7.00 per month rate assistance credit respectively on the utility bill for qualifying customers.  If you receive both utility services from Sacramento County, you could receive rate assistance of up to $144.00 a year.  To qualify for these rate assistance programs, you must meet the following criteria:

• Receive the utility service from Sacramento County
• Live at the address for which the rate assistance is being requested
• Be currently enrolled in the SMUD Energy Assistance Program Rate (EAPR)
• If you are applying for the Water rate assistance, you must also own the home

You may also qualify for up to $100 a year through the Sewer Lifeline Rate Assistance Program.  If you qualify for the Department of Waste Management and Recycling and/or the Sacramento Water Agency Lifeline Rate Assistance Programs, you will automatically be enrolled in the Sewer Lifeline Rate Assistance Program (click here for more information).

Please fill out the application, check all the boxes that apply, make sure to sign it, and return it to us at the address listed below, by fax, or by e-mail. Rate Assistance Application 

Regional Parks Deploys Park Resource Team

Since January, the PRT has:

• Made 65 arrests
• Issued 150 citations

While the rangers continue their law enforcement efforts, County Parks maintenance staff work to remove debris accumulated from illegal dumping and flooding. This year, the maintenance team received the addition of a lightweight tractor and the support of a debris transfer vehicle—both courtesy of the County’s Department of Waste Management and Recycling.

For more information about Sacramento County Regional Parks, visit the Parks website, as well as its Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Regional Fundraising Day  Breaks All-Time Record

The Big Day of Giving is a program of the Sacramento Region Community Foundation’s initiative to grow local philanthropy, Big Day of Giving is a 24-hour online giving challenge that brings together the region’s nonprofit community to help raise much needed unrestricted funds and shine a spotlight on the work nonprofits do to make the Sacramento region the place we call home. For the past few years,the giving day has united our community, raising more than $16 million for local nonprofits from over 36,000 donors from all over the region, the state, the country, and the world.

The date for the 2018 Big Day of Giving has not been set yet, but I will keep you updated when it gets closer.