OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Sacramento City Council Meeting – May 28, 2024: Pride Month, Jewish Heritage, Consent Calendar, Public Hearings, Auditor’s Work Plan, and Public Comments

City Council — Tuesday, May 28, 2024
BodySacramento, California
SessionCity Council
DateTuesday, May 28, 2024
StatusFILED
Video Record
Meeting Thumbnail
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0:00

Beautiful good afternoon, everyone.

0:21

The Sacramento City Council, please come into order.

0:24

Would the clerk please call the role to establish a quorum?

0:26

Thank you, Councilmember Kaplan.

0:28

Councilmember Tao.

0:30

Councilmember Valenzuela.

0:32

Here.

0:32

Vice Mayor Maple.

0:33

Here.

0:34

Councilmember Jennings.

0:35

Here.

0:35

Councilmember Vang.

0:36

I'm here.

0:37

I expect Councilmember Gatta and Mayor Pro Chem Telemante shortly.

0:41

Mayor Steinburn.

0:42

I am here.

0:44

Councilmember Tao, would you please give us the honor of leading us in the land acknowledgement in the Pledge of Allegiance?

0:59

Your mic.

1:02

Please rise for the opening acknowledgement and honor of Sacramento's Indigenous people and tribal lands to the original people of this land, the Nissanon people, the Southern Maidu Valley, and Plains Miwok.

1:16

Putwin Wintoon peoples and the people of the Wilton Ratcheria, Sacramento's only federally recognized tribes.

1:24

May we acknowledge and honor the Native people who came before us and still walk beside us today on these ancestral lands by choosing to gather together today in the active practice of acknowledgement and appreciation for Sacramento's Indigenous Peoples history, contributions, and lives.

1:42

Thank you.

1:42

Please remember standing for the Pledge of Allegiance.

2:03

Well, a very good afternoon, uh early evening to the members of the public, the city staff, and my colleagues.

2:12

I uh set off uh Mike earlier uh apologies to all the members of the public that are in the audience for our starting uh 35 minutes late.

2:22

We had a uh an afternoon meeting that went on a little longer than we expected, and a lengthy closed session, and sometimes it happens, but I also recognize the inconvenience to all of you and say uh thank you for your patience and welcome.

2:36

Um let us begin tonight with two special presentations.

2:42

And I want to begin with presentation number one, recognizing Pride Month, presented by both Councilmember Vang and Vice Mayor Maple.

2:51

Thank you so much, Mayor.

2:52

Uh so honored to co-present a resolution uh with Vice Mayor Maple to honor and celebrate our LGBT and queer community this June, but not just in June, all year round.

3:03

Um, I also just want to give a shout out to my incredible uh chief of staff, Asia Lee, the youngest chief of staff at City Hall, uh, who helped led this effort and who also identify as queer, so I want to send to her and thank her for her leadership and everything she does day in and day out.

3:18

Um really honored to be presenting this resolution.

3:21

Um pride is not just about celebration, it's about identity, equity, and dignity.

3:27

Um, and it's not just about uh parades, rainbow rainbow parades and flags, right?

3:33

But it's really about honoring the struggles um and acknowledging the progress and advocating for a future where everyone can live authentically uh without any fear.

3:42

Uh for far too long, and still now the LGBT community, our queer community, have been continue to be marginalized, discriminated against, and denied their basic human rights.

3:52

Um and so this month is really uh a reminder of the work that we still have ahead to ensure that every single individual can live to their live to their full potential.

4:03

Um I also want to acknowledge someone that I look up to, readings that I do is really by Audrey Lorde, and she's a black queer activist, and she has a quote that says there is no such thing as a single issue struggle because we do not live single issue lives.

4:18

And I share this quote because as a woman of color, I often think about intersectionality.

4:22

Intersectionality reminds us of our struggles uh and that they're interconnected, that the fight for LGBT rights uh cannot be separated for the right, uh separated from the right for racial justice, the fight for racial justice, gender equality, immigrant rights, disability rights, or any other social justice cause.

4:39

And so really wanting to center and uplift that.

4:42

And tonight we have the honor of recognizing several organizations and also one of our amazing uh employees or resource group.

4:49

Um, I know in a few moments uh Elena's gonna come up and speak a little bit about our LGBT uh employee employee resource group.

4:56

I just want to thank them uh for creating this space, this safe space for our LGBT city staff and employees.

5:03

Um, and then I also want to acknowledge several uh community-based organizations that I would say oftentimes don't get highlighted in mainstream news when we talk when we celebrate pride, right?

5:14

And so I want to um uh center and highlight some of our grassroots organization who are here today and want to thank them for their advocacy and the services they provide to our LGBT community.

5:23

Uh I want to name a few of them Decolonize Market, Love Liberated, the Sacramento Filipino X, LGBTQIA, the Reclamation Project 916, and our transgender and queer youth collective.

5:35

There's so many organizations that's doing great work here in the city of Sacramento, but really just wanted to highlight a few of those.

5:41

Uh before Elena and Judah come up to speak, I will love to hand the mic over to Vice Mayor, Vice Mayor Maple as well, as uh we're both co-presenting the resolution for Pride Month.

5:53

Thank you, Councilmember Vang.

5:54

Um, I'm so excited to be co-presenting Pride Month resolution with you.

5:57

Um and this is something that's near and dear um not just to me but also to my team.

6:02

Also want to give a shout out to my chief of staff, Ryan Brown in the back for all the work that you do and um and your your care on this issue and many of the issues that go on in Sacramento and through your various roles.

6:12

So thank you, Ryan.

6:13

Um so I'm honored to be uh doing this in honoring our employee resource group, LGPTQ employee resource group, uh and as well as the queer and trans serving nonprofits in our region that Council Member Vang listed.

6:25

Um this is especially difficult time for the LGBTQIA community across the nation as anti-queer and anti-trans legislation has been introduced uh at the state level and at the local levels all over this nation.

6:37

So that's something that people are it's very visceral that the people in our community are experiencing every day.

6:42

And I think that that's why it's more important than ever that we as individuals and us as leaders take stances on these issues.

6:49

We've taken significant strides in Sacramento to ensure that the rights and well-being of transgender individuals affirming the city's role as a leader in this advocacy.

6:58

So one of the things that we did uh most recently was this city council voted to declare Sacramento a transgender sanctuary city.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Homelessness██████████████████████22%
Community Engagement████████████12%
Procedural███████████11%
Public Works██████████10%
Public Safety█████████9%
Public Comments███████7%
Cannabis Regulation██████6%
Performance Management█████5%
Public Health████4%
Summary of Proceedings

Sacramento City Council Meeting – May 28, 2024

The Sacramento City Council met on Tuesday, May 28, 2024, at 5:32 p.m. (35 minutes later than the scheduled 5:00 p.m. start due to a longer-than-expected afternoon meeting and closed session). The meeting included special presentations for Pride Month and Jewish American Heritage Month, approval of a consent calendar with eight items, three public hearings on assessment districts, continuation of a third-party appeal, approval of the City Auditor’s work plan, and extensive public comments on matters not on the agenda. The meeting adjourned at 7:41 p.m.

Special Presentations

  • Pride Month (June 2024) – Councilmember Mai Vang and Vice Mayor Caity Maple co-presented a resolution honoring the LGBTQ+ community. Speakers included Elena Wagonet (City LGBTQ+ Employee Resource Group) and Judah Joslin (Transgender and Queer Youth Collective), who called for actionable change beyond symbolic recognition. The council also recognized several grassroots organizations.
  • Jewish American Heritage Month (May 2024) – Councilmember Lisa Kaplan and Mayor Darrell Steinberg co-presented a resolution. Rabbi Rubin and Marion Leff (Jewish Federation of the Sacramento region) spoke, thanking the city for its support amid rising antisemitism.

Consent Calendar (Items 1–8)

All items were approved by a single motion (8-0). Key items:

  • Item 1: Resolution 2024-0176 – Initiated annual proceedings for the Citywide Landscaping & Lighting Assessment District for FY2024/25, with a public hearing set for June 18, 2024.
  • Item 2: Received and filed the Third Quarter Financial Report for FY2023/24.
  • Item 3: Resolution 2024-0177 – Identified projects funded by the Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Account (RMRA) for FY2024/25, including Vision Zero projects on Florin Road, Broadway, and Franklin Boulevard.
  • Item 4: Resolution 2024-0178 – Established the 9th Street Separated Bikeway Project (T15245200) with a $132,000 budget increase and a $100,000 transfer from the State and Federal Grant Match Project.
  • Item 5: Motion 2024-0145 – Approved Supplemental Agreement No. 2 with SCS Engineers for landfill engineering services, increasing the not-to-exceed amount by $163,599 to a new total of $368,699.
  • Item 6: Motion 2024-0146 – Awarded a $594,921 construction contract to Dave Gross Enterprises Inc. dba Adams Pool Specialties for Southside Park Pool Renovation.
  • Item 7: Motion 2024-0147 (two-thirds vote) – Approved supplemental agreements for Emergency Bridge Housing at Grove Avenue, Meadowview Navigation Center, and X Street Navigation Center, totaling $5,330,158 in new funding and extending terms. Total contract amounts: Grove Avenue $3,991,097 (extended to Feb. 28, 2025), Meadowview $4,767,842 (extended to Oct. 31, 2024), X Street $7,380,303 (extended to June 30, 2025). Also waived the 10-day posting requirement.
  • Item 8: Motion 2024-0148 – Removed Halia Salinas-Collins from the Parks and Community Enrichment Commission for lack of attendance.

Public Comments & Testimony on Consent Calendar Items

  • Item 1 & 2: Zion Tatis urged the city to support Black businesses and criticized roadwork disruption on Broadway.
  • Item 7: Multiple speakers (Courtney Wagner, Micah Popovich Hostler, Sunrise, Iris, Susan Alhawk, others) expressed opposition to the spending on shelters, arguing for more support for self-governed encampments like Camp Resolution. They claimed a city agreement with Camp Resolution is being reneged and called for permanent affordable housing instead of sweeps. One speaker, Verbal Adam, a neighbor of Camp Resolution, praised the encampment for helping extinguish a fire near his home.

Public Hearings (Items 9–12)

  • Item 9: Neighborhood Lighting District No. 96-07 – Resolution 2024-0179 adopted, confirming the $ assessment for FY2024/25. (No public testimony.)
  • Item 10: Neighborhood Landscaping District – Resolution 2024-0180 adopted, confirming the budget and assessment. (No public testimony.) Councilmember Kaplan noted inequities between capped and uncapped districts and thanked staff for offsetting costs in disadvantaged areas.
  • Item 11: Power Inn Road Maintenance District – Resolution 2024-0181 adopted. Councilmember Guerra thanked staff; no public testimony.
  • Item 12: Third-Party Appeal of Contemporary Commons (Z22-079) – Continued to June 18, 2024, by motion 2024-0149. This was the last automatic continuance; the applicant and appellant both requested it.

Discussion Calendar (Item 13)

  • City Auditor’s Proposed Work Plan for FY2024/25 – Interim City Auditor Farishta Ahrary presented the plan, noting a 30% vacancy rate in her office. Key audits in progress: Fire Department EMS, Police Department (military equipment use, evidence/property), homeless response, animal care services. Planned audits: pedestrian safety, planning division, illegal cannabis cultivation, and utilities. The council adopted Resolution 2024-0182 approving the work plan, with direction to the Budget and Audit Committee to narrow scope and focus on high-priority items. Public comment on this item was limited to one speaker (Zion Tatis) who spoke about road maintenance, but the mayor redirected to off-agenda comments.

Information Items (Items 14–16)

  • Item 14: Notification of Final Map Approval – Panhandle 105 Phase 1 (District 1). Received and filed.
  • Item 15: Notification of Master Parcel Map Approval – 6861 18th Avenue (District 6). Received and filed.
  • Item 16: Notification of Final Map Approval – Terrace Park (District 1). Received and filed.

Public Comments – Matters Not on the Agenda

24 speakers addressed the council. Key themes:

  • Camp Resolution: Multiple speakers (Shelby, Delphine, Mac, others) urged the city to honor its agreement with the self-governed encampment, provide water and electricity, and prioritize permanent housing over shelters. They argued the encampment costs far less than city-run shelters and provides stability for vulnerable residents, including disabled individuals.
  • Police Budget and Safety: Guy Stevenson argued against police budget cuts, calling the department essential. Charles Fost praised city parks and the mayor’s stance on free speech.
  • Animal Control: Daniel Adderholt criticized Front Street Animal Shelter’s response times and lack of funding, calling for more resources.
  • Measure L: Verbal Adam, vice chair of the Sacramento Children’s Fund Planning and Oversight Committee, alleged that city staff bypassed the commission by hiring a consultant (Third Plateau) for $249,000 to create a strategic investment plan without commission input. He threatened to block the plan unless the city complies with the code.
  • Historic Preservation: Laura McDonald supported listing the Millard Sheets Studio Design Building at 1950 Arden Way on the Sacramento Register of Historic Places and opposed its demolition.
  • Veterans and Memorial Day: Richard Alcala, a veteran, reported that a Memorial Day ceremony was disrupted by protesters. Mayor Steinberg expressed sympathy and thanked him for organizing the event.
  • Jewish Community: Sarah criticized the council for not condemning antisemitic signage at the Sac State encampment and for not acknowledging Israeli Memorial Day and Independence Day earlier.

Council Comments – Ideas, Questions, AB 1234 Reports

  • Councilmember Guerra: Requested the City Manager revisit the Al Fresco program (outdoor dining) due to overly stringent requirements. Also asked for follow-up on Measure L Commissioner concerns. Announced support for the Sacramento Northern Bike Trail improvements and the Rail-to-Trail concept.
  • Councilmember Kaplan: Requested the City Manager follow up on Measure L concerns raised by Verbal Adam. Invited community to the North Natomas Farmers Market (June 1) and a Juneteenth Celebration (June 7).
  • Vice Mayor Maple: Announced an Aggie Square Community Engagement Meeting (May 30) and an electric lawn equipment showcase (May 30). Also promoted a “Walk with Katie” (June 6).
  • Councilmember Thao: Asked for a briefing on the Measure L commissioner’s concerns. Announced a Dixie Ann Neighborhood Cleanup (June 4).
  • Councilmember Jennings: Promoted the Curtis Fest Artisan Fair (June 2).
  • Councilmember Vang: Invited to the State of District 8 (June 1) and the Meadowview Farmers Market opening.

Key Outcomes

  • Consent Calendar (Items 1–8) approved unanimously.
  • Public hearings (Items 9–11) concluded with adoption of resolutions.
  • Item 12 (Contemporary Commons appeal) continued to June 18, 2024.
  • Item 13 (City Auditor’s Work Plan) adopted with direction to narrow scope.
  • Information Items (14–16) received and filed.
  • The council directed the City Manager to follow up on Measure L commission concerns and to revisit the Al Fresco program.

Meeting Transcript

Beautiful good afternoon, everyone. The Sacramento City Council, please come into order. Would the clerk please call the role to establish a quorum? Thank you, Councilmember Kaplan. Councilmember Tao. Councilmember Valenzuela. Here. Vice Mayor Maple. Here. Councilmember Jennings. Here. Councilmember Vang. I'm here. I expect Councilmember Gatta and Mayor Pro Chem Telemante shortly. Mayor Steinburn. I am here. Councilmember Tao, would you please give us the honor of leading us in the land acknowledgement in the Pledge of Allegiance? Your mic. Please rise for the opening acknowledgement and honor of Sacramento's Indigenous people and tribal lands to the original people of this land, the Nissanon people, the Southern Maidu Valley, and Plains Miwok. Putwin Wintoon peoples and the people of the Wilton Ratcheria, Sacramento's only federally recognized tribes. May we acknowledge and honor the Native people who came before us and still walk beside us today on these ancestral lands by choosing to gather together today in the active practice of acknowledgement and appreciation for Sacramento's Indigenous Peoples history, contributions, and lives. Thank you. Please remember standing for the Pledge of Allegiance. Well, a very good afternoon, uh early evening to the members of the public, the city staff, and my colleagues. I uh set off uh Mike earlier uh apologies to all the members of the public that are in the audience for our starting uh 35 minutes late. We had a uh an afternoon meeting that went on a little longer than we expected, and a lengthy closed session, and sometimes it happens, but I also recognize the inconvenience to all of you and say uh thank you for your patience and welcome. Um let us begin tonight with two special presentations. And I want to begin with presentation number one, recognizing Pride Month, presented by both Councilmember Vang and Vice Mayor Maple. Thank you so much, Mayor. Uh so honored to co-present a resolution uh with Vice Mayor Maple to honor and celebrate our LGBT and queer community this June, but not just in June, all year round. Um, I also just want to give a shout out to my incredible uh chief of staff, Asia Lee, the youngest chief of staff at City Hall, uh, who helped led this effort and who also identify as queer, so I want to send to her and thank her for her leadership and everything she does day in and day out. Um really honored to be presenting this resolution. Um pride is not just about celebration, it's about identity, equity, and dignity. Um, and it's not just about uh parades, rainbow rainbow parades and flags, right? But it's really about honoring the struggles um and acknowledging the progress and advocating for a future where everyone can live authentically uh without any fear. Uh for far too long, and still now the LGBT community, our queer community, have been continue to be marginalized, discriminated against, and denied their basic human rights. Um and so this month is really uh a reminder of the work that we still have ahead to ensure that every single individual can live to their live to their full potential. Um I also want to acknowledge someone that I look up to, readings that I do is really by Audrey Lorde, and she's a black queer activist, and she has a quote that says there is no such thing as a single issue struggle because we do not live single issue lives. And I share this quote because as a woman of color, I often think about intersectionality. Intersectionality reminds us of our struggles uh and that they're interconnected, that the fight for LGBT rights uh cannot be separated for the right, uh separated from the right for racial justice, the fight for racial justice, gender equality, immigrant rights, disability rights, or any other social justice cause. And so really wanting to center and uplift that. And tonight we have the honor of recognizing several organizations and also one of our amazing uh employees or resource group. Um, I know in a few moments uh Elena's gonna come up and speak a little bit about our LGBT uh employee employee resource group. I just want to thank them uh for creating this space, this safe space for our LGBT city staff and employees. Um, and then I also want to acknowledge several uh community-based organizations that I would say oftentimes don't get highlighted in mainstream news when we talk when we celebrate pride, right? And so I want to um uh center and highlight some of our grassroots organization who are here today and want to thank them for their advocacy and the services they provide to our LGBT community. Uh I want to name a few of them Decolonize Market, Love Liberated, the Sacramento Filipino X, LGBTQIA, the Reclamation Project 916, and our transgender and queer youth collective. There's so many organizations that's doing great work here in the city of Sacramento, but really just wanted to highlight a few of those. Uh before Elena and Judah come up to speak, I will love to hand the mic over to Vice Mayor, Vice Mayor Maple as well, as uh we're both co-presenting the resolution for Pride Month. Thank you, Councilmember Vang.

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