James Corless Named Next CEO of the Sacramento Area Council of Governments

September 21, 2016

Sacramento, CA–The Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG) has unanimously selected James Corless to serve as its next chief executive officer. He will start April 3, 2017. The decision comes after SACOG’s current chief executive officer, Mike McKeever announced he will retire on December 31, 2016. Upon the announcement of McKeever’s retirement, the SACOG Board of Directors undertook a rigorous six-month national search that included input from SACOG’s member cities and counties, SACOG’s staff, and public and private stakeholders. To support the transition, Kirk Trost, SACOG’s chief operating officer/general counsel will serve as interim chief executive officer effective January 1, 2017.

Benicia nixes Valero plan to run crude oil trains through Sacramento, Davis, Roseville

September 20, 2016

By Tony Bizjak

The Sacramento Bee

The 5-0 vote, taken after four years of bitter debate, represents a victory for environmentalists and offers relief to Sacramento-area leaders who said the oil trains would put local residents and habitat at risk of a catastrophic oil spill and fire.

Lower American River conservancy granted by Jerry Brown

September 16, 2016

By David Siders

The Sacramento Bee

In a measure to make the American River Parkway eligible for more state money, Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday signed legislation creating a conservancy program for the area.

ECOS Comments on 19J Project

September 5, 2016

ECOS supports the 19J project particularly for its sustainability and “affordable by design” features. We find the urban design features, building scale and location to have an approach consistent with the intent of the City General Plan, despite its modest height increase beyond the Plan’s approved limits. We recommend approval of the project, but strongly recommend that three conditions be applied to its approval.

A deed restriction shall be recorded whereby the rental cost of the 300 to 445 square foot units shall not exceed 30% of Sacramento’s median income.
A deed restriction shall also be recorded stating that no units shall be sold for 15 years from the date of initial occupancy.
Approval of the project shall require that the project owner/operators submit an annual report to the Planning Department verifying compliance with conditions 1 & 2 above.

We believe that in order to maintain the integrity of the project, these conditions must be applied.

View our letter here.

Developers play big role in Sacramento County supervisor elections

September 3, 2016

By Brad Banan

The Sacramento Bee

Rob Burness, a local environmentalist [and ECOS board member] who worked in the county planning office for about three decades, said the contributions pay off for developers.

“When push comes to shove, the votes follow the money,” said Burness, a member of the Environmental Council of Sacramento. “If you were to look at the significant votes, and the campaign contributions made to supervisors, you would find that they very rarely vote against a contributor.”