Elk Grove City Council Regular Meeting - August 26, 2026
Elk Grove City Council Regular Meeting - August 26, 2026
The Elk Grove City Council met on Wednesday, August 26, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. at City Hall. The meeting included a public hearing on a moratorium for personal storage facilities, presentations on the city's investment portfolio, priority projects, red light camera expansion, community survey results, and traffic signal timing, as well as numerous public comments opposing the city's use of automated license plate readers (ALPRs). Key actions included approving a two-year storage facility moratorium, expanding the red light camera program, and appointing delegates to the League of California Cities conference.
Consent Calendar
- Approved minutes from prior meetings (July 22, August 12, and August 20, 2026).
- Accepted reports on city manager purchases, RFPs, and monthly disbursements.
- Adopted ordinances and resolutions on bicycle regulations, bond underwriting, appraisal services, drainage fee annexation, position reclassifications, lease amendments, equipment purchases, pavement maintenance, FUEL Network participation, website maintenance, budget amendments, animal services contract extension, and towing services contract amendment. All items passed unanimously (5-0).
Public Comments & Testimony
- Dozens of residents spoke during the general public comment period, overwhelmingly opposing the city's contract with Flock Safety and the use of ALPR technology. Speakers cited privacy violations, data sharing with over 3,200 out-of-state and federal agencies, error rates (e.g., 71% misreads in Roseville), cases of wrongful arrests and police stalking, and concerns about ICE access. Many urged the council to cancel the Flock contract and not replace it with another ALPR vendor. Some speakers also referenced a community audit showing unauthorized searches and potential violations of SB 34. A few residents mentioned safety benefits but were outnumbered by those demanding an end to mass surveillance.
Discussion Items
- 8.1 Moratorium on Personal Storage Facilities: Staff presented a proposed indefinite moratorium on new storage facility entitlements. Council members discussed the need for a time limit. Vice Mayor Suen suggested a two-year term, which gained consensus. The ordinance was approved 5-0 as amended.
- 9.1 Quarterly Investment Report: Chandler Asset Management presented the portfolio as of June 30, 2026. The managed portfolio was valued at $434 million, yielding 4.3% at reinvestment. The consolidated portfolio was $735 million. Council praised the diversification and performance.
- 9.2 City Council Priority Projects Update: Staff highlighted progress on the Main Street Library reuse, Laguna Creek Trail overcrossing, permanent homeless shelter, Grant Line Business Park, fleet electrification, and Corp Yard Master Plan. No action taken.
- 9.3 Red Light Camera System Expansion: Police Chief Davis and Lt. Williams presented traffic collision data (1,248 collisions in 2025, 9 fatalities) and proposed adding five new red light cameras at high-accident intersections, plus relocating one camera. The resolution authorized a nine-year contract amendment with Redflex for $2,350,800. Approved 5-0.
- 9.4 National Community Survey Results: The 2026 survey (432 responses) showed 88% rated quality of life as excellent/good (up from 84% in 2024), 91% would recommend Elk Grove, and safety remained top priority. Areas for improvement included traffic, code enforcement, and animal control. No action required.
- 9.5 Traffic Flow and Signal Timing Presentation: Traffic Engineering Manager Jose Gallardo explained signal coordination trade-offs, current coordination on 8 corridors, and ongoing projects. Staff recommended maintaining the current approach of prioritizing arterials while adjusting coordination. Council encouraged innovative solutions like AI and adaptive systems. No action taken.
- 9.6 Appointment of Voting Delegate to League of California Cities Annual Conference: Councilmember Robles was appointed as voting delegate, with Councilmember Brewer as alternate. Approved.
Key Outcomes
- Personal Storage Facility Moratorium: Adopted with a two-year sunset (5-0). Staff will study market demands and return with recommendations.
- Red Light Camera Expansion: Authorized (5-0). Five new camera locations approved; contract with Redflex extended through 2031, increased by $2,350,800.
- Conference Delegates: Councilmember Robles (delegate) and Councilmember Brewer (alternate) appointed.
- Consent Calendar: All items approved unanimously.
- Meeting Adjourned: At 8:52 p.m. in memory of Mark Jansen, a community leader.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening, everyone. I would like to call to order the Elkgrove City Council regular meeting. Today is Wednesday, August 26, 2026. The time is 6 p.m. Clerk. Thank you, Mayor. This meeting of the Elkgrove City Council is recorded with closed captioning. The recording will be cable cast on Metro Cable Channel 14, the local government affairs channel and the Comcast and Direct TV, Uverse Cable Systems. The recording will also be video streamed at Metro 14 Live.secCounty.gov. Tonight's meeting replays will be on Friday, August 28th at 1 p.m. and Monday, August 31st, also at 1 p.m. and on Metro Channel 14. Once posted, the recordings of this and previous meetings can be viewed on demand at the 3Ws.gov or YouTube.com slash Metro Cable 14. For members of the participating audience who may have personal electronic devices, please place them on silent mode during the meeting or on mute when you are not speaking. Yellgrove City Council welcomes, appreciates, and encourages participation in the city council meeting. City Council requests that you limit your presentation to three minutes per person per item so that all present will have time to participate. City Council reserve the right to reasonably limit the total time for public comment on any particular notice agenda item as it may deem necessary. Pursuant resolution number 20 2026-099. No individual speaker concerning public comment may address the city council for more than three minutes per item. If you wish to address the council during the meeting, please complete one of the blue speaker cards, which can be found at the back of the chamber and provided to assistant city clerk Brenda Haggard prior to consideration of the agenda item. As we continue on in 2026, we are also in the Zoom environment for our meeting. And so we will have some prompts in which we will be looking to see if we have attendees in the uh digital audience uh for all of our items where we have public comment. But unique this evening is that we have Vice Mayor Sewan calling in, and he is participating what we believe is by remote participation. And so Vice Mayor, if you can unmute yourself, it's just if you can let us know. Uh we believe that your remote participation is part of your service as an employee with the local agency and that you're on a work trip, but you're able to join us by remote participation. So if you could just confirm that, and then I'll have a second question for you after that. So let's see if your muting abilities are working. All right. Good evening, uh Mr. Clerk and uh my colleagues. I'm here. Can you hear me? We can. Uh you were good. You just muted yourself, so now you're unmuted right now. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Yes, uh, I am uh I'm I'm here and uh there's nobody over the age of 18 or anyone else for that matter in in my presence. Excellent. It's like you read my mind of not having anyone. That's one of our government regulations is that you do have to announce if there's anyone in the room with you. That sounds like that condition is not met, nor are you in a location for that. But if it changes at any moment, Vice Mayor, feel free to let us know before uh before you chime in and speak. Um but we'll we're under the assumption that's your condition. And again, I'm just confirming that you're there for uh a work business trip for your service as a local agency uh employee. So yes, thank you. Excellent. So with that, uh what I'd like to now do is move on to the roll call. And we're all going to get kind of used to the roll call tonight because we are teleconferencing one of the members of the city council.
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