Hello everyone.  I'd first off like to state that I have been a resident here in Sacramento for almost my entire life and I love it here.  But there are quite a few things that I just cannot go without stressing my opinion about.

First and foremost, the arena proposal that crashed and burned during the elections in November.  I realize that the election was a statewide election and that not every county in California really cares if the Kings stay or not.  But even in the counties surrounding Sacramento the results were pitiful.  The Kings gave us an identity with the rest of the country when we were only known as a hick town trying to act like we were a big city.  We cannot even show our appreciation by spending a quarter of a cent more in the downtown area and have a new arena built in about four years.  It'd be a win-win for us because we'd own the arena and if the kings left, we could at least lobby to the league to get a new expansion team here.  I guaranteee if they leave now, we'd get laughed out of the league office.  I guess we really don't know what a good thing we had with the Kings, because, make no mistake, they are going to leave after their contract is up if a new arena is not in the works.  To put this into terms I think even the non-basketball fans will understand, we're no longer going to get all the other stuff that makes stops here (Ringling Bros., Barnum & Bailey; WWE; Disney on Ice, Champions on Ice, Major concerts, Monster truck rallies, Motocross racing).  All this stuff is going to follow the Kings dust trail if the Kings blow town.

Now, on to my next topic of interest.  Why is California so hard on the cigarette smoking community when we are fighting so hard to legalize marijuana.  About seven years ago, I stood by and watched as the cost of cigarettes nearly tripled.  Now that they've gone up again, I've got to say enough's enough.    Now they're treatening us to either quit or be driven to the poor house to support our habit.  Someone should get all those tree-hugging, clean-air, safe-workplace environmentalists hooked on tobacco and see how easy it is for them to quit.  Yeah, for some people it's easy to start and stop whenever they want, just like any other addiction.  But there are the select few of us that no matter what we try, we are going to be smokers until the day we die.  In very small letters on the Nicoderm CQ ads on TV, it says "individual results may vary."  I Know for a personal fact that it's true, as several of my friends have tried it only to throw forty dollars down the toilet.  Instead of taxing someone who's just looking for a way to take the edge off occasionally, why don't you go after the people who can afford and really deserve a raise in their taxes.  The upper class has so many "Exceptions" and "Deductions" that they barely pay anything in taxes anyways while the average person, who makes up the majority of the smoking community by the way, gets taxed for everying but buying food.  It's hard enough to live here as it is without having some new tax come out every year.  I won't even go into the discrimination part of this tax increase.

Another thing tobacco related I want to discuss is the statewide ban of cigarettes in public areas such as restaurants, bars, sports venues, etc. because a waitress complained about having to inhale secondhand smoke in a bar.  It doesn't exactly take rocket science to know that if you don't like to swim, don't become a lifeguard, or if you don't like the smell of peroxide or iodine, don't get into medicine.  Why does everyone else have to suffer because of one person or group that may have lost a loved one to tobacco-related illnesses (Most of which chose to smoke, by the way) or don't like tobacco smoke.

Well, that's my piece.  I hope someone who reads this can relate to the dismay I feel about the way that California and Sacramento is headed.  We really need to get it together here because the other states are starting to laugh at us.  We sould've gotten the hint when there were more people leaving than coming to California.  The "California Dream" has become a nightmare.

Thank you for welcoming me to the forum.  I do feel strongly about where Sacramento is headed because I do love our little "cowtown."  You do have good points that are also a big influence on the decline.  I guess I feel so strongly about these things because I am a big Kings fan and would hate to see them leave (which is why I think the All-Star game next month is going to be a chance for Las Vegas' ability to support an NBA franchise).

Also, I've been out of the state and saw how differently things are there.  It blew my mind when I went to a Denny's for lunch and saw people smoking at the bar.  Also EVERYTHING was cheaper.  When did we feel like we had to compete with the Bay Area for most expensive place to live?  I know we aren't nowhere near that high, but we are headed there at a rapid rate.  Look at how quickly Regional Transit has been increasing their rates, claiming each time that the increases were to fund expansions to routes and Light Rail.