Sacramento exploring annexation of Arden-Arcade, Natomas and South Sacramento

[urban_encounter]

City exploring annexation of Arden Arcade
Despite incorporation bid, a councilman says merger
would be a better option.
By Ed Fletcher - Bee Staff Writer
Last Updated 6:33 am PDT Monday, April 23, 2007
Story appeared in METRO section, Page B1



Arden Arcade is a popular place.

Some residents are fighting to incorporate it. County officials desperately want to keep the revenue generated there. And now, some city of Sacramento elected leaders say the city should consider annexing the unincorporated county turf.

Sacramento City Councilman Steve Cohn said he respects cityhood backers' desire to break from the county but said he has an alternative.


"There is a an even better option, and that is annexing into the city of Sacramento," Cohn said.

Earlier this month, cityhood advocates were told their petition drive was successful, clearing the way for an intensive incorporation study and keeping a November 2008 election in sight.

Because Sacramento borders Arden Arcade to the east, north and south, annexing the 13.3-square-mile area east of the Arden Fair mall would create a "more seamless efficient government," Cohn said.

The city hasn't officially launched an annexation effort, but the council did authorize staff members to study the issue.

It also asked staff members to consider for annexation some areas of Natomas and south Sacramento.

The discussion about what's best for Arden Arcade illuminates a larger debate over whether the region is best served by larger regionally thinking governments or smaller governments with a careful eye on local neighborhoods.

Joel Archer, chairman of the cityhood campaign, said Arden Arcade residents aren't interested in I Street City Hall running things.

"Arden Arcade does not want to be a part of the city of Sacramento. The community does not want another downtown government," Archer said.

"What Arden Arcade wants is to be safer, cleaner (streets) and a more responsive government."

But that feeling is not absolute among residents.

Steve Eggert, a recent addition to the Arden Arcade community council, says small governments can result in parochial decision-making that doesn't take the wider community into account.

"I'm against Balkanization. I strongly favor annexation," Eggert said.

Sacramento County Supervisor Roger Dickinson said he doesn't want to lose Arden Arcade to either self-incorporation or annexation into the city.

"It continues to make sense for Arden Arcade to continue to be part of the unincorporated part of the county," Dickinson said.

He said the cost effectiveness for providing police protection, fixing streets and picking up garbage is diminished as chunks of the unincorporated area are removed.

Still, if Arden Arcade were determined to change governance, Dickinson said, he finds annexation would be less onerous than incorporation.

"If we keep chopping up the county into more and more jurisdictions, it will have an adverse effect on the ability of the county and the region as a whole to come to agreement on issues."

As a former member of the local intergovernmental agency in charge of the incorporation process, Sacramento City Councilwoman Lauren Hammond said she helped clear the way for two of the region's new cities -- and doesn't regret her actions.

All the same, she said she's "growing increasingly concerned about the number of new cities."

She said cities need to work together.

"We are going to have to learn to be more regional, from water to solid waste," Hammond said.

As for Arden Arcade, Hammond said annexation might make sense.

"You talk to folks in Arden Arcade, and many don't know they don't live in the city," Hammond said.

"It might be better to just annex and square off our borders over time."

Cohn suggests the environmental study and fiscal analysis triggered by the incorporation petition also should study the merits and cost of annexation as an alternative. But annexation requires separate action.

Sacramento County Executive Terry Schutten said in a statement released last week that given the city's possible interest, "it stands to reason" that annexation should be studied as an alternative.

Peter Brundage, executive director of the Local Agency Formation Commission, said it's not clear how thoroughly the annex- ation possibility will be examined as part of the current process. He didn't know how much such a study would increase costs and who would pick up the tab.

He stressed, however, that annexation requires a separate proposal before LAFCO considers it.

"The proposal is an incorporation. It's not one or the other," Brundage said.

But while incorporation re- quires a vote of the people, annexation -- once revenue agreements between the city and county are made -- could proceed without an election.

Archer said cityhood backers shouldn't have to pay to study annexation.

"Why should we have to pay to research an alternative that the community doesn't want?" he said.