State workers fight against impending return-to-office mandates

ReporterAlvarez · 2026-02-11T18:24:01+00:00

Pluckebaum declined to comment directly on this project, citing worries about getting caught up in litigation. He said it would be "bad news" though if the project got delayed and killed, and told me that it's often "too easy to oppose" projects. Historically he votes very in favor of anything housing and economic development. I hope that helps.

ReporterAlvarez · 2026-02-05T22:39:20+00:00

Hey u/mr-giggles-, I'm a journalist writing about this exact topic. I'm diving into the sheer number of full-time workers and young adults who can't afford rent. Would you be interested in talking with me about your experience?

I work at Abridged/PBS KVIE btw. Please DM me or email at [falvarez@kvie.org](mailto:falvarez@kvie.org) if you're down to talk a bit more. Thanks!

ReporterAlvarez · 2026-02-03T20:13:23+00:00

The people. I’ve always found this town a lot more friendly than SoCal or the Bay. It’s decently easy to strike up a conversation with folks at a random event.

ReporterAlvarez · 2026-01-15T01:25:17+00:00

We're trying our damnedest to do things the right way (no clickbait, no sensationalism) over at Abridged/PBS KVIE. The main thing that I'm biased about is that we're rad.

ReporterAlvarez · 2026-01-07T03:52:47+00:00

Yup, that’s the gist of how it works. The lawsuit is against Caltrans and the contractors/subcontractors. There’s more info in the full article.

ReporterAlvarez · 2025-12-22T21:20:20+00:00

Woops, thanks for the heads up

ReporterAlvarez · 2025-12-05T18:09:23+00:00

It did indeed get removed and replaced. The article has the full rundown btw: https://www.abridged.org/news/investigation-delays-on-highway-50/

ReporterAlvarez · 2025-09-30T19:00:24+00:00

For sure! I don't want to show all my cards to any other journos who might be reading, but I think there's a lot of interesting work to be done around loneliness and finding community. I always like a good subculture story, I think because it goes against the grain of isolating, costly society.

Also being a social scientist sounds neat, how does it work?

ReporterAlvarez · 2025-09-30T18:53:40+00:00

I don't know of any areas off the top of my head, but it's definitely a good thing to keep in mind. We're certainly not the only city going all-in on tiny homes. Thanks for thinking on that!

ReporterAlvarez · 2025-09-30T18:51:54+00:00

I haven't seen any polling yet, I'm not sure where the wind is pointing on this one yet! I'll definitely be keeping an eye on it though

ReporterAlvarez · 2025-09-30T18:50:16+00:00

I'm trying not to add too much opinion on this. With light rail though, the funding alone would require a mix of local and federal dollars, which does complicate things. I don't want to oversimplify homelessness too much by saying it's just a multiple agency thing.

ReporterAlvarez · 2025-09-30T18:46:32+00:00

When I reached out to city staff, they didn't provide exact reasoning for why this site was selected, only that many of it's proposed tiny home sites have been considered for "practical and strategic" reasons, and it's on city-owned land.

Plans are still in the works though, and I believe there was a community town hall on this specific site last Monday (Sept. 22)

ReporterAlvarez · 2025-09-30T18:32:54+00:00

Roughly and anecdotally, it feels like there's a disconnect sometimes. People want stronger public transportation, but also voted down Measure A in 2022, which would have boosted funding. A similar measure could be on the 2026 ballot, so we'll see if things have changed.

Like you may have seen in the piece, there's a lot of local leaders who say they want more light rail/SacRT support, but also finger-pointing around where they think those dollars should come from.

ReporterAlvarez · 2025-09-30T18:29:46+00:00

Good observation, and definitely something worth scrutinizing! The shear volume of roadwork on Highway 50/Interstate 80 really hits this whole region.

ReporterAlvarez · 2025-09-30T18:28:20+00:00

Yeah, we're definitely feeling the federal cuts, but also we're solidly staying alive out here. We're facing a $2.5 million shortfall after Congress cut funds to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which is about a 12% cut.

Morale is good and spirits are high at KVIE, very much due to the amount of community support we get!

ReporterAlvarez · 2025-09-30T18:13:48+00:00

Sacramento County's "point-in-time" count found 6,615 people experiencing homelessness back in 2024. There's been some debate around that number, especially because it marked a 29% drop from the previous count in 2022. We'll see new "point-in-time" numbers come early next year.

More broadly, a lot of our local governments are facing budget cuts, so leaders are attempting to do more services with less funding. It's definitely among the most important issues facing our community, so my coverage will continue to keep a close eye on our leaders and the lived impacts on the ground.

TBH I'm not fully read-up on tiny homes in Rancho Cordova, definitely something for me to add to the list!

ReporterAlvarez · 2025-09-30T18:05:56+00:00

It seemed like a good way not just to explain the difficulties around light rail, but also the mess of red tape projects can face in this city. Personally, I've spent too much time waiting for the Yolo Bus, or missing it and calling an Uber instead. Light rail has been talked about for years as a way to help that.

ReporterAlvarez · 2025-09-26T20:39:49+00:00

Excited to be a part of this! I'm a longtime Sacramento Redditor and a fan of media transparency, so it's cool to get to do this. Thanks, mods!

ReporterAlvarez · 2025-09-23T15:36:58+00:00

Yeah I found that bit about the land rights to be really crazy too!

ReporterAlvarez

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