Up until recently developers could start construction projects in Sacramento without a permit or a single fee being paid. Permission was granted verbally. That may change with a vote on a new program on May 24th.

The old program called the facilities permit program was suspended last year after the city attorney found it violated city code. A few on the city council criticized the program. They found out that the program was used to start construction on the Nestlé bottled water plant. Apparently the city council had no issues with the program when developers benefited, but as soon as a company that did not donate to their political campaigns benefits the program ended.

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Developer dollars make businesses disappear at least for Sacramento County staff. Looks like a developer has told the Sacramento County Planning Department that an entire shopping center did not exist. The developer was there to save the day with their new construction project. The county could not see past the dollar to see that an entire shopping complex already existed. I love this quote from the Sacramento Bee article.

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President Barack Obama has named a prominent Democratic fundraiser from Sacramento as ambassador to the Republic of Hungary.

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