By Marcos Bretón -
[email protected]
Published 12:00 am PST Sunday, January 13, 2008
Sacramento is facing a $55 million budget deficit, has critical development projects pending downtown, and Mayor Heather Fargo offers this bit of wisdom:
We each need to change one light bulb to a compact fluorescent because it's good for the environment. Oh, and be sure to walk more and drink tap water to promote a "green Sacramento."
No lie. Such were the primary points Fargo made during a "State of the Downtown 2008" speech to an auditorium filled with regional leaders and serious people last week.
Delivered at Memorial Auditorium, her talk was amazingly lacking in substance, and ultimately depressing considering our complex times.
There is no political risk in promoting the idea of a "Green Sacramento." It's like saying we should all be nice to each other.
If you really want to make Sacramento green, why give a dumbed-down version of how to do it? Fargo knows the issue, has pushed the city toward embracing lowered energy use and carbon emissions. Why not tout that in a serious, detailed way that resonates with people?
When you have a room full of large-scale developers, as Fargo did, why not use your pulpit to educate them on how "green" building materials can be cost-effective too? Why not show them that they can still make their money and build projects that are better for the environment?
The point is, there was no point, no vision, no risk, no message of any real substance.
There was also no sense from Fargo of how the city will respond to Sacramento's budget shortfall and the inevitable pink slips for city workers and cutbacks in city services.
Others were left to articulate the brutal work of developing the downtown railyard in a depressed economy. Fargo wanted to announce that the downtown Greyhound bus station may be moving after 20 years of failed tries – but there is no deal yet. So she announced that there may be an announcement. Maybe.
And then she tried flattering the Westfield Mall conglomerate after the City Council had disparaged the owners of the Downtown Plaza last month. No matter. Westfield sued the city the next day.
The impression left is of Fargo not as a strong mayor, but as one frustrated voice on a City Council incapable of managing a tough, powerful, city tenant.
"It was a missed opportunity to talk about the future of downtown, no question," said Matt Mahood, president and CEO of the Sacramento Metro Chamber of Commerce.
In March, Fargo is scheduled to give her "State of the City" speech before Mahood's group. Here's a tip: Try harder. March is also when time runs out for Fargo challengers to get their names on the June ballot. Fargo is running unopposed for a third, four-year term.
There has been a lot of clandestine smack talk around town about how Fargo has no vision – how she can't marshal five votes on the council; is driven by issues others see as arcane; is about the process over results; plays it safe; and leaves tougher issues to others, such as City Councilman Rob Fong.
But Fong says he isn't running, and a host of supposed political talent is staying on the sidelines and sniping – but never on the record, of course.
(Insert chicken sound here).
It was tough watching Fargo struggle as she walked to the podium to give her flawed speech. The effects of multiple sclerosis are clearly progressing.
But it was even tougher listening to her because Sacramento needs much more from its mayor.
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