Bobby Valli plays Suisun City

Come see Bobby Valli Salutes Frankie Valli at 7 p.m. Friday night at the Nelson Center. (Click for map)

The annual concert is a benefit for the Suisun City Police and Firefighters Booster Club, which supports the Police K-9 Unit and provides equipment purchases for the City's volunteer Fire Department.

Limited complementary seating will go fast to those who get there early!

Come enjoy the evening and show your support for public safety in Suisun City!

Suisun City Fun: Choral Society Annual Concert

Did you know the Solano Choral Society is playing their annual concert in Suisun City on May 10?

The Society, under the direction of Helen Intintoli, will present its around the world in song at the Harbor Theater on Main Street. (Here's a map link for you!)

The Harbor Theater is a great place to see live theater and music. Stop by and you won't be disappointed.

The performance is at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15.

Reach the box office at 864-7100.

>>Here's the Choral Society's info page>>

Foreclosure Clinic set for May 22

The Suisun City Foreclosure Task Force and Economic Development Department are hosting a Foreclosure Clinic at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday May 22 in the City Hall Council Chamber.

The clinic is designed to offer information on

• Current real estate market conditions
• Talking to lenders about foreclosure
• Budget & expenditure management
• Loan modifications & refinancing options
• "Short sale" & tax ramifications

Click here for more information about this event.

View Larger City Hall Map

Public Works releases park reconstruction bid package

The Suisun City Public Works Department has issued a notice to contractors calling for bids to reconstruct Goepp Park.

For bonding purposes, this project is estimated at $800,000 to $900,000.

Go here for all the info.

Western Railway Museum Completes Its Largest-Ever Expansion

This from the Western Railway Museum, a terrific indoor/outdoor family friendly place to learn about America's railway history on Highway 12 east of Suisun City. Take a picnic and enjoy the day exploring

The Loring C. Jensen Memorial Car House! Grand Opening Celebration

on May 3, 2008

On Saturday May 3, 2008, the Western Railway Museum invites the community to celebrate the grand opening of its newest display building, the Loring C. Jensen Memorial Car House. The 37,000 sq. ft. facility helps the Western Railway Museum permanently preserve its priceless collection of electric railway artifacts and interpret these artifacts for the public.

Celebration activities include tours of the new building and the 38 historic trains on display inside, train rides throughout the day, and an ice-cream social from 1pm - 4pm. Visitors on May 3 can also tour the Exhibit Hall, picnic in the Museum's spacious park, and shop in the museum store. Parking is free. Admission is just $10 for adults, $9 for seniors 65 years and older, and $7 for children 2 - 14.

The building is another major investment in the infrastructure of Solano County's most popular museum. It provides appropriate preservation of the core collection of electric railway equipment, and increased public accessibility to the collection.

>>Click here for more on the new car house>>

Here's what the Vacaville Reporter said about the event

Kids & Kites to take over Waterfront District

Come join us this Saturday (May 3) for the Spring Kids Festival & Kite Day in the Suisun City Waterfront District!

This is a truly unique opportunity for families and kids to come enjoy a relaxing and fun day along the beautiful Suisun City Marina. Starting at 10 a.m., we'll have:

• Petting zoo
• Pony rides
• Jump houses
• Snacks & BBQ
• Face painting
• Unique arts and crafts for Mom & Dad

At 11 a.m., we'll have exciting jet ski demonstrations by Diablo Jet Ski Action right in the Suisun City Marina. Line the Promenade and enjoy the speed and safety demonstrations. This is only a warm-up for full-on jet ski course racing by Diablo Jet Ski Action on June 7 during the "It's a June Thing" event.

Other Scheduled Features:

• 1:30 p.m. Solano Youth Theater performance
• 2:30 p.m. D.O.C. Band performs
• 4 p.m. Opening Day Boat Parade and Fleet Blessing

Bring your kite and let it fly in the legendary Suisun City winds from the brand new Sheldon Plaza (on the north end of the Waterfront District at Driftwood Drive)! This expansive turf area and adjacent vacant lot are a perfect setting to let your favorite kite fly.

Join us for this spectacular day!

We have a lot going on in the Waterfront District - new restaurant, retail and hotel construction, along with new restaurants, and a kayak rental shop right on Main Street!

Recall campaign in Suisun City faces opposition

This appeared today from the Daily Republic's Ian Thompson:

SUISUN CITY - The residents wanting to oust Suisun City's mayor and two councilmembers have started collecting the 2,100 signatures they need to put the recall on the ballot.

'It has been excellent,' recall advocate Dwight Acey said of the response.

Acey and six other recall advocates were stationed outside Raley's Supermarket on Monday in hopes of getting shoppers to sign petitions.

The group wants to kick Mayor Pete Sanchez and councilmembers Jane Day and Mike Hudson out of office after the council approved a Wal-Mart Supercenter in eastern Suisun City.

The group also has tied in issues such as last year's City Council raises and street repair problems into the effort.

Visit the Daily Republic website for the full article.

For information on why we post partial material from the Daily Republic, see this recent post.

Political activity disclaimer: Nothing in this blog posting, or anywhere else on this blog, should be construed as either favoring or opposing any issue of political controversy or position taken with regard to same. Government employees are barred from using their official positions or the resources of any public agency in any campaign activity. The sole purpose of this post and any other regarding the current recall election, and/or any local, county, state or national election is conveying publicly available information to assist in facilitating an informed electorate. For this reason, we avoid posting letters to the editor, unsigned editorials and columns. We believe strongly that the democratic process should be protected and carried out in an honest, forthright manner so the community may be improved by the excercise of our cherished electoral rights. No officeholder, candidate or advocate for any ballot measure, proposed or actual, have had input to the content of this posting.

Rush Ranch open house a success

Rush Ranch held its annual open house on Saturday.

The ranch is a terrific resource in the Suisun City area as both a time capsule for the way the area was established in large working ranches, but also a great place to get out and experience the varied terrain and ecosystems that make up the Suisun Marsh.

Check out the Vacaville Reporter's account of the day here.

Learn about owls

The Suisun Wildlife Center is offering this really cool program that I saw in the Vacaville Reporter:

That's the invitation issued by the Suisun Marsh Natural History Association for its two-night event: 'Owls - Silent Hunters of the Night' Thursday and Friday.

The Thursday program, 7:30-9 p.m. at the Wildlife Center in Suisun City, includes an audio-visual presentation, up-close viewing of native California species and a hands-on study. Friday is an afternoon-to-evening field trip to view local native species.

The course is $5 and children are free with a participating adult. Registration is limited. Call 429-4295 between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. to register. No walk-ins accepted.

Learn to photograph the Suisun Marsh

Check out this fun way to explore the Suisun City area that I saw in the Vacaville Reporter:

A one-night workshop on full-moon night photography will be held May 17 at the Rush Ranch Open Space. It will be taught by Tim Baskerville of the Nocturnes.

The session will start off with a few docent-guided tours (in daylight!) of the Ranch and the three hiking trails surrounding it. The 2-mile marsh trail leads down to the edge of Suisun Marsh, and the hike up Suisun Hill Trail provides scenic vistas of the Marsh, the Ranch, and the adjacent hills - all unique parts of this gentle, quiet landscape.

The Ranch itself provides a wealth of interesting subjects to photograph at night - a number of old buildings (corral, stable, barn), plenty of old farm equipment and weathervanes. After the tour, participants will meet in the new visitor center for a brief introduction to Night Photography, followed by plenty of detailed information about the evening's "shoot."

Emphasis will be on evaluating existing lighting situations and exposing specific films accordingly.

Supplemental lighting possibilities will be discussed and demonstrated, with an emphasis on "Light Painting" techniques. Transparency, B&W, color negative films, and digital will be discussed and compared. This is an intensive workshop limited to 15 participants, closely supervised on location.

For more information, visit www.thenocturnes.com/workshops/rushranch.html. Partial proceeds from the workshop will benefit the outreach and education programs of the Rush Ranch Educational Council.

There is a $100 fee and the deadline to register is May 1, 2008. For information call 645-9860 or e-mail: nichols@thenocturnes.com.

Suisun City walks to promote health

This from the Vacaville Reporter:

The Suisun City Department of Recreation in cooperation with NorthBay Healthcare and Main Street Yoga will hold "Walking Your Way to Health," a series of 2-mile walks along the waterfront designed to improve participants' health.

The program will take place every Sunday in May on the Suisun waterfront and will begin with registration at 10:15 a.m. with registration. Walking begins at 10:30 a.m.

Participants should wear suitable and comfortable footwear. The first 100 people to register will receive a free gift bag.

Upon completion of the fourth Sunday's walk, participants will receive a free one-week membership to the YMCA and more. For more information or questions, contact Sballman10@yahoo.com.

State grant to make Suisun City streets safer

This from the Vacaville Reporter:

SUISUN CITY - A generous grant from the state Office of Traffi c Safety will make Suisun City streets safer through enforcement and education, authorities said this week.

The $440,000 Selective Traffic Enforcement Program (STEP)grant allows for the purchase of LIDAR speed detection equipment, overtime pay for officers involved in special enforcement operations, the ability to conduct more such operations and also to conduct more DUI/Driver's License Checkpoints.

Targeted by these efforts will be DUI drivers, drivers with suspended or revoked licenses, unlicensed drivers, motorists participating in illegal street racing, illegal vehicle equipment, motorists running red lights and those violating seatbelt regulations.

Funding for the grant comes from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

What's up with the Daily Republic posts?

If you've enjoyed this news site for a while, you may have noticed a distinct change in how we display news articles.

Where once we posted the entire article, particularly from our local paper The Daily Republic, we now post only a snippet. You may be wondering: "What happened?"

After a discussion with the paper's Publisher & Editor Bill James, we agreed to limit the amount of article we post for free on our blog, and provide a link directly to the Daily Republic's website if you want to see the entire article

Here's why: The Daily Republic pursues a business model that involves readers subscribing to the paper to access the full news articles, which are proprietary, copywritten products of the newspaper. While many newspapers use a variety of different business models - many involving free access to their content - the Daily Republic has every right to run its business in the way its owners and managers believe is most advantageous.

Here at Suisun City Hall, my job as public information officer is to distribute information about Suisun City as widely, honestly and objectively as possible. While copying news stories is a useful way to accomplish this task, I also want to support a local business as it pursues its business model.

So we have this compromise: I can post the headline, top five paragraphs and, occasionally, the photo from the paper's website if I direct you to the Daily Republic's website for the full story.

The result has been posts that have a little more context and background from me that may, in the end, actually be more interesting for you.

Coming Sunday: New Police Beat System

The Suisun City Police Department will kick off a new patrol beat system starting Sunday that will dedicate police officers to particular sectors of the City and increase accountability.

Not only will officers gain specific experience about what is happening where and who is responsible, it will provide Police Department planners with a higher level of information to carry out enforcement strategies and community service enhancements.

Here's how the Daily Republic's Audry Wong described it in her article under the headline "New patrol beats to foster accountability"

SUISUN CITY - Starting Sunday, police will begin a new beat system that Chief Ed Dadisho hopes will create more accountability among residents and officers.

The city will be divided into three beats: western, eastern and central. A sergeant and four officers will be assigned to each beat, Dadisho said, with the officers divided between day and night shifts.

Traffic officers and the crime suppression team will also conduct patrols throughout the day.

The sergeant assignments are Ted Stec in western, Andrew White in central and David Kasid in central.

For years, police divided the city into 11 sectors and officers patrolled the entire city. By stationing officers in beats, Dadisho said they will become familiar with neighborhoods.

To read Audrey's entire article, visit the Daily Republic website.

Life in the public service fishbowl

Everyone who works at building a career has faced the question: Do I leave my current job to which I've made a serious committment for an exciting opportunity that will pay more?

It's one of those times of personal reflection and goal-setting that is usually discussed and decided over weeks and months of family discussions around the dinner table or in the family room. Not only might the decision set a new course for your family, but it may also impact your current employer.

Now imagine that your employer is 28,000 City residents, most of whom have a serious opinion about your work product but all of whom are directly or indirectly impacted by your job performance. Particularly if you lead a major City function, such as the Police Department. And, of course, all of this plays out for all to see in this interactive, connected Internet age.

That's just the position our Police Chief Ed Dadisho found himself in recently as he weighed a job opportunity in a Southern California community. It's all part of life in the public service fishbowl that all of us in the public sector understand and appreciate.

Here's how Daily Republic reporter Audrey Wong started her story in today's paper under the headline "Police chief rejects new job offer, stays loyal to Suisun City":

SUISUN CITY - Police Chief Ed Dadisho could have lived closer to his relatives, made more money and run a larger department if he accepted an offer to become police chief in Baldwin Park.

His conscience wouldn't allow him to take the job, however.

'I talk to my officers about character and building character. I talk about loyalty, and for me to leave, I couldn't swallow that pill . . . my officers truly believe in me,' Dadisho said.

Dadisho conceded that although the offer was lucrative, it was one he had to refuse.

'It's never been about the money for me. I truly feel law enforcement is a calling for me,' Dadisho said. 'It afforded me to be closer to my family, but I gave a commitment to the city.'

After speaking with his wife, Dadisho said he is prepared to stay two to three more years in Suisun City at the least.

So how much money are we talking here? The former Baldwin Park police chief reportedly made $240,000 a year in salary and benefits. Chief Dadisho makes $162,480 in Suisun City.

We all got a glimpse of the kind of man leading our Police Department. He's a good example of what makes Suisun City a special place to live and work, and exemplifies the dedication apparent among employees at every level in City Hall.

For more of Audrey's story, visit the Daily Republic's website.

Dan O. Root a Distinguished School!

California Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell announced Wednesday that Dan O. Root Elementary School in Suisun City was named as a California Distinguished School!

We knew our local kids and teachers were great, but it's fantastic that the state caught up with the good news!

Here's the link to O'Connell's announcement.

Here's a bit of what Daily Republic reporter Nika Megino wrote in today's paper:

"Dan O. Root Elementary School has been recognized as a 2008 California Distinguished School, state Superintendent of Schools Jack O'Connell announced Wednesday.

The Suisun City school is one of 343 exemplary public elementary schools in the state to receive the recognition. Principal Jodie Phan said it's an exciting time for the school.

'It's a huge honor for us as a school,' Phan said. 'We have programs in place to meet the needs of all our students and we're always looking for what's best for our kids.'

Schools become eligible for the recognition based on their Academic Performance Index and Adequate Yearly Progress results of standardized testing."

To read all of Nika's story, visit http://www.dailyrepublic.com

Congratulations to everyone at Dan O. Root Elementary and Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District!

Y Closed Temporarily

The North Bay YMCA is temporarily closed. The YMCA leases the facilty from the City and operates all its programs independently. City officials are aware of the temporary closure and in contact with YMCA officials.

Here's what Daily Republic reporter Ian Thompson wrote this morning:

"SUISUN CITY - If you want to use the North Bay YMCA in
Suisun City, you will have to wait until Monday.

Residents who showed up Wednesday morning at the YMCA on East Wigeon Way were greeted by a sign taped to the front door that stated the center was closed for a day-long staff meeting.

'It's too bad,' said Margie Howard, who took her nephew to the YMCA. 'It would have been nice to get some warning beforehand.'

Rodney Chin, the YMCA's executive director, later said the center will remain closed until Monday. Chin refused to say specifically why the center would be closed, stating only that the staff was doing repairs and discussing what direction the YMCA might go."

For the full Daily Republic story, visit www.dailyrepublic.com

We'll keep you posted as information develops.