What Does Systemic Change in California Look Like?

We're doing a specific group of podcasts this summer-- conversations focused on what systemic change looks like, particularly here in California, in the wake of George Floyd’s death.

Each conversation features two people: a young leader who has galvanized others by speaking out and leading demonstration and campaigns, and a "veteran" activist/ decision maker who has been working on race equity and justice issues for decades.

First up: Activist Stevante Clark and Chief Bon Harrison
These are two people who often look at law enforcement from opposing sides: a former police chief, and an activist whose brother's death at the hands of police officers made national headlines and led to California's groundbreaking police-use-of-force law.

The second conversation: Student Xavier Clark and Assemblyman Kevin McCarty
We look at some proposed laws on racial justice and equality that are being put for a vote by the state legislature, followed by California residents on the November ballot. Talking about them are a 19-year-old college student who helped to get 15,000 people protesting on the streets of Oakland last month about police brutality, and a state politician who proposed some of these new laws.

These conversations could have gone in any direction -- listen to find out how the two men agree on some things, disagree on others, and decide where to take this conversation next.

Hear How These Two People Are Shaping Sacramento's Skyline

We were so impressed with the things these two people said at our "Groundbreakers Q&A,” and how they represent the "old" and the "new" of Sacramento architecture, design and urban planning.

Kris Barkley, design director of Dreyfuss + Blackford Architecture (sitting on the right in this photo), is taking great care of his firm's 70-year-old history and reputation, leading projects like renovating the Modernist gem of SMUD's Headquarters Building (originally designed and built by Dreyfuss and Blackford back in 1959), and building the new Powerhouse Science Center on the Sacramento River.

Nikky Mohanna is definitely one to watch as she builds innovative new residences in Sacramento, like the just-opened 19J Midtown and the about-to-break-ground 10K. She has forward-thinking ideas about urban planning and the uses of buildings for live/work/play, and she's bringing a "let's think outside the box" mindset to her discussions with Sacramento's city planners, construction firms and architects.

These two were so much fun to interview. And you can listen for yourself in our podcast of this great conversation.

Getting the "Farm to Fork" Movement into California's Public Schools

First, a shout-out to Curt Miller of Miller's Citrus Grove in Penryn. He was tired of sitting around at farmers markets every weekend, so he contacted Sacramento City Unified School District and asked if they would buy all the citrus they wanted, and he would deliver it himself. That's how many students learned about -- and loved -- mandarins. Miller was one of the first farmers to work with Sac City Unified to get its "Farm to School" efforts into high gear.

That's one of the many interesting facts we learned in this great "Food for Thought" panel talk we held last month. ( There's also a useful "Farm to School" resource list of organizations listed here that panelists mentioned during their talk.)

It's a great 90-minute discussion, but if you're pressed for time, go to the 58:05-minute mark to learn how smaller school districts can emulate Sac City Unified's efforts and/or to the 1 hr-7 minute mark, where panelists give their most recent successes in getting Farm to Fork into Schools.

Refer to the "Podcast Play by Play" section to zero in on specific parts of the conversation.

Our First TV Appearance!

Thanks to Fox 40 in Sacramento for hosting us on their Studio 40 Live show!

Executive Director Vanessa Richardson got to talk a little about California Groundbreakers, and promote our second “Grapes and Groundbreakers” wine social, scheduled for September 5 and focused on “Wines from the Tower Bridge Dinner.”

See and hear it for yourself!

Hear about the “Future of Transportation in Sacramento”

California’s Capital City is getting attention nationwide for its alt-transportation methods, from red Jump bikes and scooters to shared electric cars and an entirely-revamped bus network.

But it’s not always a smooth ride. There are multiple complaints about how Jump bikes are blocking sidewalks, and Jump scooters are not that safe for their drivers or the people they run into. There’s talk of the City planning to impose a fee-per-ride ordinance that Jump says is expensive and prohibitive to expanding its services. The streetcar project is in jeopardy, with project bids for construction way higher than expected, and far beyond the project budget. And can SacRT ever get anyone to ride its light rail?

The future of transportation in Sacramento is off to a great start, but how will these bumps in the road affect it? And how will we — as users, taxpayers and voters — affect and be affected by these new transit methods?

Listen to the podcast of the discussion we held this with the people who are in charge of taking us where we want to go, but differently — on Soundcloud, iTunes and the other major podcast-gathering websites.

A "Groundbreakers Q&A" with Sacramento's Art Mavens Liz Moe and Estella Sanchez

Liv Moe, founding director of Verge Center for the Arts, and Estella Sanchez, founder and executive director of Sol Collective, play big roles in shaping Sacramento’s arts scene, supporting and promoting local artists, and getting their efforts talked about in cultural circles around California and nationwide. They’re two major reasons why the Capitol City’s cultural scene is on fire, and why it has such a passionate community rooting it on.

Listen to this great conversation with Moe and Sanchez about the state of the arts in Sacramento, what they’re working on now, and what they want to happen so that the city’s artists get the support they need and the recognition they deserve.

Listen to "Bringing Economic Equality to the Neighborhoods that Need It"

After the Stephon Clark shooting put Sacramento in the national spotlight last year, one of the City’s big initiatives now is this: Come up with the right jobs strategy that boosts all of its neighborhoods, especially those with less-than average employment rates and high poverty.

So how will all that go down? What will the funding be spent on, and who and where is it benefiting? How can the City’s government, businesses, and nonprofits and turn these efforts into economic growth and good jobs that boost people’s incomes and improve the neighborhoods they live in?

We hosted a Pop-Up Panel discussion around these questions, “Getting Economic Growth to the Neighborhoods that Need It.,” with some California Groundbreakers who are giving their all to do just that.

They are (from left to right) Nicholas Haystings of Square Root Academy; Melissa Anguiano from the City of Sacramento’s Department of Economic Development; Tyrone Roderick Williams of Sacramento Promise Zone; Dianna Tremblay of ICA Fund Good Jobs in Oakland; and Mariah Lichtenstern of DiverseCity Ventures.

Listen to our podcast of this great discussion — and find out how you can help them with their efforts.

Groundbreakers Q&A with Sacramento's "First Couple" of Real Estate Development

We’re talking with some of Sacramento’s mightiest movers and shakers this year, people who are bringing changes, making waves and putting California’s capital on the map in bold font.

Our first “Groundbreakers Q&A” conversation of 2019 was with two of Sacramento’s most well-known groundbreakers — literally — who are building up new hot spots in the city (and just got married recently). Katherine Bardis and Bay Miry like to go into under-the-radar parts of town and revitalize them (Miry ‘s R Street Corridor and the 700 block of K Street; Bardis’s housing community, the Mill, on Lower Broadway). As Sacramento grows up — and upward — they’re two of the people responsible for what that growth will look like.

Listen to some of this great conversation we held at Ruhstaller in February as Bardis and Miry talk about:
* their favorite buildings in Sac (that are not theirs)
* the significance of specific projects they’ve worked on
* how they see the "Bay Area effect" and the impact of gentrification on Sacramento
* innovative projects elsewhere in the U.S. that they want to bring here

How You Gonna Vote on . . . .? Listen to our "Policy and a Pint: Midterm 2018" Podcasts to Figure it out!

Election 2018 is in full swing -- and now is the time to figure out how you're going to vote!

We’ve been holding discussions with panelists who, whether they are "for, " against" or "neutral," give us the straight talk on local/statewide propositions and races, and what it means if you vote yay or nay on each.

Listen to these “Policy and a Pint” podcasts before you mark your ballot. We’ve covered:

• Proposition 1 - Bonds for affordable housing and veterans’ housing loans

• Proposition 2 - Using the “millionaire’s tax” to create bonds that build housing for the homeless who need mental health services

• Proposition 3 - The water bond

• Proposition 5 - Changing property-tax assessments for certain homeowners who want to sell

• Proposition 6 - Repealing of the 2017 gas tax

• Proposition 10 - Making rent control laws easier to establish in California

• Proposition 12 - Banning sales of meat and eggs from farm animals that live in cages smaller than a specific size

• City of Sacramento’s Measure U - increasing the city’s sales tax, and making it permanent, in order to pay for city services and invest in other big-ticket items

And then, of course, be a good voter and submit your ballot!

The Sound and The Fury: Listen to Sacramento's Music Makers

Our first event with live music  . . . and ideally the first of many.

We had local musicians Dirty Chops Brass Band (pictured) and Todd Morgan book-end our Pop-Up Panel on "The Sound and the Fury: Sacramento's Music Scene" with great live performances, to give the audience a sample of the great musicians living and playing in the capital city.

It's no Austin yet. Sacramento has done some good things for the music scene, but it still could do a lot more. Our great panelists -- local musicians, club owners, concert promoters -- give some great advice in this conversation we held at CLARA in Midtown Sacramento in June.

Listen to the podcast, which also features more music from Todd Morgan and the Element Brass Band.