<\/p>\n
A rendering of a park built above Interstate 5, connecting Old Sacramento to downtown.<\/p>\n
Downtown Sacramento Partnership<\/p>\n
Last week, Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty and Councilman Phil Pluckebaum joined Rep. Doris Matsui to celebrate her efforts to secure $3.15 million<\/a> in federal funds to place a four-acre cap over Interstate 5 to connect the riverfront to downtown. Based on the most preliminary of cost estimates, Matsui\u2019s big announcement adds up to less than 1% of the money to build the project.<\/p>\n In January, local dignitaries gathered in downtown Sacramento to hail a $50 million donation by Meta\u2019s Mark Zuckerberg<\/a> toward a campus near the Capitol for Sacramento State. That announcement was led by Sacramento State President Luke Wood, but the quest to convert three agency buildings into an academic center is so preliminary that no project budget exists to make it happen.<\/p>\n In Sacramento\u2019s downtown, theater belongs on the stages of the SAFE Credit Union Performing Arts Center. But it has been creeping into our local politics with these podium moments of grand announcements with little behind them.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a sign of how creating a revitalized downtown Sacramento has many more questions than answers, despite the grandiose announcements of a college president trying to make his mark and a member of Congress trying to get re-elected.<\/p>\n It was a quarter-century ago when the late Robert Matsui represented Sacramento in Congress and pulled off a bit of a coup. On Dec. 2, 2001, The Bee detailed how Matsui had secured $3.5 million in federal funds for the very same idea, to build a deck<\/a> atop the very same stretch of interstate, from Capitol Mall down to O Street adjacent to the Crocker Art Museum.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m very appreciative and impressed with Matsui\u2019s efforts,\u201d said Sacramento\u2019s mayor, Heather Fargo, at the time. \u201cThis is going to be very positive for the Crocker, for downtown neighborhoods, for Old Sacramento, for West Sacramento and for getting people safely and comfortably from the city to the riverfront.\u201d<\/p>\n Two years later, the city spent the $3.5 million on a study of how to actually build the deck. But then year after year, nothing happened.<\/p>\n Doris Matsui\u2019s recent press conference was simply a reminder of how little she has done to further this idea during her 20 years in Congress. As political theater goes, her \u201cannouncement\u201d was a curious downtown stunt.<\/p>\n \u201cI would love there to be a happy path where we can say that we\u2019re going to be able to do this in three, five, seven years,\u201d Pluckebaum told The Bee\u2019s Graham Womack<\/a>. \u201cThat\u2019d be aggressive, probably. But odds are, it\u2019s going to take a while.\u201d<\/p>\n Pluckebaum was being kind.<\/p>\n Now the city has a major riverfront problem: Bids to replace the I Street Bridge are 50% over estimate, and no elected official, including Matsui, has a plan to find the additional $150 million.<\/a> Notably, there has been no downtown press event featuring a similar cast of officials to highlight their struggles on this project.<\/p>\n As for Zuckerberg, he didn\u2019t bother to come to Sacramento to announce the $50 million from his company, Meta. And that was perfectly reasonable.<\/p>\n The state has yet to set aside funds to help convert the three buildings into a new school of public affairs and a center to study artificial intelligence. Neither has the California State University system. It\u2019s a really cool idea. The fact that a contribution by Meta was directed by the state to this project is akin to a down payment that awaits the real financing.<\/p>\n There is some exciting progress happening, particularly in the downtown Railyards, as a state-of-the-art Kaiser hospital and a professional soccer stadium are rising from long-dormant lands. But then there are also downtown dreams nowhere close to reality that are being presented to the public as if they were.<\/p>\n The only time to roll out the podium is when there is real money behind a shovel-ready project to break some ground. Otherwise, these announcements mostly serve to elevate the people making the announcements, something the public should always question.<\/p>\n BEHIND THE STORY MORE <\/a> What are editorials, and who writes them? <\/p>\n Editorials represent the collective views of the editorial boards of McClatchy Media\u2019s California opinion teams.<\/p>\n They do not reflect the individual opinions of board members or the views of reporters in the news sections of The Sacramento Bee and its sister publication, the San Luis Obispo Tribune. Reporters do not participate in editorial board deliberations or weigh in on board decisions.<\/p>\n In Sacramento, the board includes Executive Editor Chris Fusco, California Opinion Editor Marcos Breton, opinion writers Robin Epley, Tom Philp, LeBron Antonio Hill, Cathie Anderson and op-ed editor Hannah Holzer.<\/p>\n In San Luis Obispo, it includes Opinion Editor Stephanie Finucane.<\/p>\n We base our opinions on reporting by our colleagues in the news section, and our own reporting and interviews. Our members attend public meetings, call people and follow-up on story ideas from readers just as news reporters do.\u00a0<\/p>\n Read more by clicking the arrow in the upper right.<\/p>\n Tell us what you think <\/p>\n You may or may not agree with our perspective. We believe disagreement is healthy and necessary for a functioning democracy. If you would like to share your own views on events important to California, you may write a letter to the editor (150 words or less) using this form<\/a>, or email an op-ed (650-750 words) to opinion@sacbee.com<\/a>. Due to a high volume of submissions, we are not able to publish everything we receive.<\/p>\n Related Stories from Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A rendering of a park built above Interstate 5, connecting Old Sacramento to downtown. 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