Friday Update on May 4 2018
All,
A couple items this week:
- Most importantly, the new Downtown Piano has arrived and is ready for its first concert in the Main Street Mini Park. Head on down and play a tune!
- Staff is working on a status update on the City’s General Plan. Originally adopted in 1992, the plan is a very dynamic document with many components. A full status report will be going to the Planning Commission in June and then on to the City Council in July.
- The City Budget was the main topic at this week’s City Council Meeting. While there is a lot going on, the City finances are extremely tight going into our next two year financial cycle. The good news is the budgets presented are budget, but we are making some assumptions on the hotels and some development activity which need to come through!
- The preliminary agenda for the May 15 City Council Meeting includes State Reimbursement Requests, Engineering work for the Downtown Hotel Parking Lot and Alley Improvements, the Yolo Habitat Conservation Program and a cooperative agreement on Animal Services.
- This week Staff met with a major union organization looking to build a facility similar to the PG&E Gas Academy but for other vocational training. It was a GREAT meeting! We will see….
- PG&E is hosting an equipment rodeo at the Gas Training Academy on Saturday, May 5. Stop on by and check it out!!
- The Winters Garage Sale is scheduled for Satuday, May 12. This year has two themes: “Better stuff than last year” and “From collecting dust in your garage to mine”. Clear out that closet and garage, find someone in the core area to put your stuff on their lawn and make some money. Spaces (on an assigned basis only) are available at City Park for those out of towners. For more information or a space at City Park call 530-795-4919.
Finally, City-wide, we have people who are going into cars and stealing contents. The Police Department has done a good job of warning folks to “lock your vehicles” but sometimes breaking the old thinking that this is Winters and people just do not do such things gets by you. The other night, after working late, I went out to my vehicle parked behind City Hall and found the door open and that someone had gone through the unlocked vehicle. They took some change from the drink holder and that was about it. Like Dorothy, I found “I was not in Kansas anymore”. I didn’t report it because I know it is a waste of time.
At City Hall, we know the individuals who are essentially checking cars and casing the downtown area to steal items. One day we saw one individual looking inside one of our conference rooms, obviously looking for something to grab and steal.
The reality is that California (under Proposition 47) has essentially legalized theft and there is practically nothing which can be done to people who are stealing from you. As I have discussed this incident with folks, they suggest confronting the people, but the facts are that if you do that, you actually get in more trouble for confronting the thief than from them stealing from you. Imagine stopping someone in the act of stealing your property and going to jail because your stopping them was the crime and not the theft.
California seems to be changing how it deals with people who commit crimes to the detriment of those who do not. Pretty amazing and really sad.
Moral to the story- Lock your car!
Thanks,
John