Okay, please call the meeting to order.

Good evening.

This meeting is called to order at 5:05.

Mayor, if I may take roll, Council Member Kaplan.

Councilmember Dickinson is expected momentarily.

Vice Mayor Talamantes.

Councilmember Pluckybaum is expected momentarily.

Councilmember Maple.

Mayor Pro Tem Gera.

Here.

Council Member Jennings.

I'm here, madam.

Councilmember Vang.

And Mayor McCarty.

Thank you.

Okay.

Councilmember Jennings.

Pledge and land acknowledgement.

Please rise with opening acknowledgments in honor of Sacramento's indigenous people and tribal lands.

To the original people of this land, the Nision people, the Southern Maidu, Valley and Plains Miwok, the Patwin Winton peoples, and the people of the Wilton Rancher, Sacramento's only federally recognized tribe.

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 in the active practice of acknowledgement and appreciation for Sacramento's indigenous peoples' history, their contributions, and their lives.

Please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Salute.

I pledge to the United States of America and the Republic for which is one nation under God and indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

City attorney, do we have a report out from closed session?

Nothing to report out.

So, Mayor, you have two special presentations.

The first is Jewish American Heritage Month, presented by Councilmember Kaplan.

Okay, please proceed.

Thank you, Mayor.

Good evening, everyone, and thank you for joining me.

Every May, our nation observes Jewish American Heritage Month, a time to recognize the history, culture, and indelible contributions that Jewish Americans have made to the United States.

Today I want to reflect on American Jewish experience, focusing right here in our own backyard, Sacramento.

Sacramento's Jewish roots are as old as the city itself.

In 1852, Moises Hyman and Albert Priest helped found what is now known as Congregation Benay Israel, which opened its doors in September of that year.

That congregation has had a remarkable distinction of being the first synagogue established west of the Mississippi River.

It is a testament to the fact that whenever these early settlers went, they brought their traditions, resilience, and deep-rooted responsibility of which we call Tekunalum to repair the world.

The contributions of Jewish Sacramentans extend far beyond those early years.

Throughout the late 19th and 20th centuries, visionaries like David Lubin revolutionized California agriculture and retail.

Lubin's passion for agriculture later led to the creation of a California State Agricultural Society and the foundation of the International Institute of Agriculture.

Along with Lubin's half-brother, Harris Weinstock, they opened a landmark clothing store that evolved into the legendary Winestock Lubin Department Store.

The first win stock location opened in 1874 on the corner of 4th and K Street.

Eventually, these stores were bought out and now became Macy's.

So generation after generation, the Jewish community has deeply integrated, has been deeply integrated into our civic, professional, and cultural life here in Sacramento.

Today, the region's Jewish community members, more than 25,000 residents, are ingrained in our everyday life.

You see this legacy through the Jewish Federation of the Sacramento Region, the Shalom School, our synagogues, and through the vital social services given by the family uh Jewish family service.

Jewish Sacramentans have continuously led by example in our courts, in our classrooms and city halls and our hospitals and everywhere and every corner that you look.

Yet as we celebrate these milestones and the joy of Jewish heritage, we must also acknowledge the realities of our time.

Here in California, we must recognize that the Jewish community is currently navigating a period marked by fear and a staggering rise in anti-Semitism.

When synagogues are vandalized and our friends and neighbors feel isolated, silence is not an option.

Because just this morning, a community member reached out to my office because they were enjoying a bike ride with friends and saw a swastika, graffiti, into the concrete of one of our local parks.

This is just one incident of many, a trend that must be confronted.

So, this month, every month, we must stand in solidarity against bigotry and discrimination in all its forms.

We must use education and empathy to ensure everyone in our community is safe and respected.

Jewish American Heritage Month reminds us that the American story is one of diversity and solidarity.

The journey of Jewish Sacramentans is a proud, quintessential American story of aspiration, imagination, and achievement.

So let's honor that history.

We see you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Continued, Councilmember.

Councilmember keep just keep talking.

Let us honor that history, their resilience, the joy, and then the enduring spirit of the Jewish people, and vow to protect those who carry the Jewish American history forward to continue to celebrate the vibrant contributions Jewish Americans bring to Sacramento every single day.

It is an honor to bring up my friends.

Jason Wiener, Jewish Community Relations Council immediate past president, Artist Sokolor, our Jewish Federation Outreach and Partnership Manager, Susan Solares, Daphne Ramhill, Rabbi Ben Herman, and Rabbi Licky Lob Ricky Lobell, president of the Board of Rabbis.

Jason, thank you for being here.

Friends, please stand with Jason.

I look forward to your comments.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Kaplan.

And thank you, Mayor McCarty and council members.

I am very pleased to be here tonight, and I'm very honored by the resolution for Jewish American Heritage Month.

Want to express our thanks to Councilmember Kaplan and her staff for working on this resolution and working with us to make sure that this month is recognized and honored, just like other months and other days and weeks that honor community members that make up this larger community.

Jews arrived in the Americas with the Spanish boats many, many centuries ago.

And those Jews, many of them had to keep all of them had to keep their religion secret because of the Inquisition that required them to either convert or die.

Jews arrived in the United States in the 1600s, establishing um communities, small communities as part of our cities.

And today, as as councilmember Kaplan uh detailed, here in Sacramento, our Jewish community is thriving.

We have community synagogues and institutions, we have Jewish life, um, and our uh people from our Jewish community engage in every aspect of Sacramento's life, from teachers to um community activists in just about any cause that exists, to our state government, to industry, and even here at the Dais on uh at the city.

We're proud of that history, and we know that as we uh continue to hear that the rising um tide or however you want to put it of anti-Semitism continues to affect the Jews in this city.

Um we hear it in our schools, and we hear it even here in this chamber.

Um, and I would just ask the council and our larger community to continue to work with us, to continue to stand with us against that uh hatred and misconceptions, to be a part of uh bringing continuing to bring Jewish community into the larger Sacramento community.

We welcome you at all of our events, we welcome you at all of our serv uh religious services and cultural um days, and we hope that you will continue to be a partner to us.

Thank you.

Thank you, council members.

Would you mind joining me down here for picture and celebration?

Can everyone remember?

Can everyone look right here when you're ready?

All come in together.

If I can have everyone look here.

Awesome.

Thank you so much.

I got one more phone for you.

Thank you so much.

City clerk, I just wanted to add something to our friends here from the uh Jewish American community.

I just wanted to uh amplify the the words of our member from District One and just uh recognize uh this uh this month and and and note that for 10 years I was uh a member of the state legislature, and as you noted, you know, there's usually one cultural recognition in bodies uh per year on unfortunately sometimes just one, and for years we recog we recognized or not or uh remembered um Holocaust Remembrance Day and brought up survivors um to the state capitol once a year.

That's a heavy day, of course, um as well as the survivors just aren't around as much or have a difficult time traveling.

So this is the first year that they didn't do that, and instead um are gonna celebrate here going forward Jewish American Heritage Month.

So I applaud that and uh it's an opportunity to recognize the leaders in our state, uh the issues of the day, uh the history of our Jewish American community, and also keep in mind that there are challenges as well, whether that's uh anti-Semitism, our city parks, or what we see in our education settings as well.

So I think it's an opportunity to to celebrate the community, but also reflect on the challenges ahead.

So welcome to uh your city hall, and uh we'll see you soon.

Next item.

We have a second special presentation, planning academy special presentation, and that is presented by you, Mr.

McCarty.

That's right.

Okay, we have uh representatives from our planning academy coming up.

Is there one individual that's gonna be the the leader tonight?

Yes.

Hello, uh good evening, mayor, council members, city manager, members of the public.

I'll speak briefly.

Um, I'm Alexi Riddell, a planner with your community development department, and then I'll be followed by a participant from this year's program.

Um, so thank you for taking time tonight to recognize the 2026 Planning Academy cohort.

Uh, for over 20 years, Planning Academy has helped Sacramento residents better understand how planning shapes our city, from housing and development to transportation, parks, environmental policy, and even the intersection of culture and planning.

Over that time, more than 600 community members have participated in the program.

It has been a privilege to help lead this year's program alongside my wonderful co-lead Laura Toller, and to spend the past few months with thoughtful, engaged, and caring group of residents.

I also wanted to just quickly share our deep appreciation for the many city staff and agency staff who generously spent time with the cohort each week sharing their expertise, answering thoughtful questions, and helping make local government feel more accessible.

Each year, I'm reminded how much Sacramento benefits from people who are willing to show up, ask questions, wrestle with complex issues, and invest their time in making their community stronger.

To our 2026 participants, thank you for your curiosity, your time, and your commitment, not just to this program, but to the city of Sacramento and your communities.

We have no doubt that many of you will stay engaged and that will work alongside many of you over the years.

Tonight, I'm thrilled to introduce one of our cohort members, Betty Merrill, who will share a few reflections on her experience this year in the program.

Welcome, Betty.

Thank you.

Good evening, Mayor, Council members.

My name is Betty Merrill.

As a recent graduate of CSUS with a degree in geography, concentrating in Metro Urban Planning, I came into the city's planning academy with a deep appreciation for data, maps, urban infrastructure.

But what this academy truly did for me was bridge that academic foundation with real world humanity.

It showed me that beyond the technical frameworks, planning at its heart is actually about placemaking for people.

The academy pulled back the curtains on the technical process of planning from the 2020 2040 general plan to the interdepartmental symphony that is required to run a city.

But we also looked at some hard truths.

We learn how our city is striving to undo over a century of inequities.

Not by erasing our history, but by intentionally planning for a future that prevents displacement and protects our most vulnerable populations.

This is why the partnerships that planning department has fostered, like with historic preservation and arts and culture are so vital.

They ensure that as we grow we don't lose our soul.

By working collaboratively, the city planning department isn't just supporting building structures, it's protecting our identity and fostering a sense of belonging for everyone, regardless of their zip code.

This is the heart of the transition from making spaces to creating places.

A space is just a location on a map, but a place is a destination with a story.

Through the academy, I've seen how intentional equitable planning turns a simple sidewalk into a vibrant community corridor.

I want to thank Laura Toller and Alexi Wardell and the entire city staff for their transparency and their dedication to our academy.

Thank you, Mayor and City Council, for investing in this academy.

It has empowered all of us in the 2026 cohort to be more informed advocates for our neighborhoods.

And we look forward to working together with you to make Sacramento a place we're all proud to call home.

Thank you.

Thank you, Alexi and Betty.

We have some of your graduates here to take a picture.

Okay.

Just wait one second.

I want to I want to share some comments.

So I know this has been around since 2002, so um over 20 years, going on 25 years and 600 uh graduates.

I know that the uh chief of staff for council member Dickinson was a graduate of the 2003 class, Brian DeBlanc.

And I know that because there he is, Brian.

I know that because in 2000 two, this was created.

I heard about it.

Oh, that's pretty interesting.

I was a neighborhood uh board member in Councilman Garrett's district, and I was gonna run for city council the next year.

I said, Well, I need to learn more about our our planning department.

There's this this program.

So lo and behold, I applied, and um I I really swear learned a lot, but I still remember to this day when we debate some of the issues as far as land use and planning and reflecting our neighborhoods or values.

The laws have changed.

Um the issues have changed, but you know, our crack city staff at the city departments and community people to want to make sure these things blend together uh remain.

So I just want to recognize our city department for knowing that this is a program that we spend money on, but it makes our city better.

It makes the programs that go before to evaluate projects better and makes the planning commission hearings I think more engaged, and it teaches residents as far as how they can have a voice and speak up as far as what neighborhoods look like, how we want to grow our city in the future.

So uh hats off to the city of Sacramento for launching this program.

I'm not sure whose idea it was in 2000 or 2001, but uh we want to thank them.

Um maybe some will tell me in a second, but also thank the 600 graduates, including uh the 20 or so here tonight who participated in 2026.

Congratulations.

And Mayor, if it's okay, really quickly.

Just briefly, just because she'd be so embarrassed, I have to do it.

I want to give a shout out to Aziza Nuspov from my office who participated in the planning academy, and I hope you'll come join us for this photograph.

Yeah, mayor, I'm just gonna uh call on myself.

Um I just also want to take this time to say congratulations to the Planning Academy of 2026.

Uh, the mayor had mentioned that there were 600 graduates.

I am one of those proud 600 graduates as well.

Um, because I was a council member, I actually signed up to be part of the planning academy so that I could learn the inner workings and the foundation of city planning.

And so I learned so much during my 11 weeks.

So I just want to take this moment and say congratulations uh for completing the academy by showing up for 11 weeks and being a sponge and taking it all in and learning everything about the foundations of planning.

In particular, I just want to give a shout out to um participants that are from my district.

Monica, I see her in the audience as well, uh, but I also see this program as um a way to build a bench of commissioners and and electeds, um, and I hope that all of you after graduating this academy really seriously consider uh running running for office or being appointed to a board and commission.

Um I think that is so important, it's really about building our own, and so again, congratulations, and I'm really proud of all of you.

I probably wasn't like a crazy camera.

Oh, we're going down?

This is really important.

Yeah, I'll get you to send me a picture.

She has all my friends.

Yeah.

Can we get your photo if I can in the photo?

I'm one of the leads.

Is that okay?

Okay.

Okay.

Let's get a little bit to your left.

Perfect.

And then I'm going to take a step back to the science.

Okay.

Ready, everyone?

What?

Okay.

Three, two, one.

Perfect.

Thank you guys.

Well, wait a second.

Thirty-second break.

You do your stretching.

No need for a seventh hitting stretch tonight.

We are.

Okay, we have uh Megan Voorhees here tonight from our Sacramento Convention and Cultural Services to uh present to us a discussion item on the TOT Transit Occupancy Tax Prairies Plan.

So before you start, I just want to set the stage here.

So I asked that we agendize um this issue tonight.

I know a few months ago we had um a robust conversation related to TOT related to the old Sacramento waterfront plan.

And you know, I think in my first year there's maybe two um big debates on this and discussion.

So one thing that I think um kind of crystallized that night is that um kind of two two principles is that is that one, this is a very unique fund.

We don't have a lot of opportunities to invest our hotel uh tax dollars back into projects, so want to make sure that we are investing them back into projects which generate more TOT, and that was uh the notion of creating this TOT funds of being very, very mindful and strategic and disciplined in zeroing in on our best return on investment for this, but also there's um a lot of great ideas that come to us, come to uh uh council members, come to city staff and not to um uh focus on on prior city councils sometimes an exciting one.

Oh, let's put it on the agenda next month or next week.

And so it's hard on us that we pick and choose sometimes the shiny objects in front of us.

So uh we we were talking to city manager and staff thinking that some of the council members are familiar with, of course, the the parks programming guide and the transportation programming guide, where we have city staff evaluate projects that them by criteria, and it can be updated on a regular basis.

So when we focus on making these investments as the city treasurer or budget department, how much did we have available to move forward?

We're having a wide eye view and not focusing on the person who clicked came before us most recently.

And I think this will give uh the community uh council members an idea or opportunities to put forward um projects for a consideration.

So as we go forward, it's uh it's our hope that we would uh look at some type of approach, and this is what uh the city staff is presenting uh with us tonight, an option for doing just that.

And uh with that, uh thank you very much, and uh please proceed.

Thank you for teeing that up, Mayor.

Uh, good evening, mayor, members of council, city manager.

I am Megan Van Boris, Director of Convention and Cultural Services.

Um, and as the mayor just described, the purpose of this workshop is actually to lay out how we might look at a broader policy regarding the transient occupancy tax.

Um, so as a part of that, um we're gonna we're gonna look at these three things as we go through the presentation.

First, to understand the current context.

Some of you may have been on council before, or were on council when last time we did a presentation that was more like a TOT 101, where we were talking about how the TOT works.

We'll revisit some of that, but then we'll also be exploring how different types of investments contribute to the visitor economy, including different impacts and different time horizons, and then to begin discussion around a more consistent and transparent approach to evaluating visitor economy investments moving forward.

So the transient occupancy tax is a voter-approved tax on short-term stays at hotels, motels, and similar lodging uses.

The current TOT rate is 12%.

It was originally the original tax was passed in 1964.

So the 12% is structured as a 10% special use tax, which flows to the community center fund and restricted for eligible tourism and facility uses, and then two percent that goes to the general fund.

So the guest pays the hotel, the TOT gets applied, those two things get split.

In the idea of like $100 basically, $12 would be generated, $10 of that would go to the community center fund, and $2 would go to the general fund.

So historically, the use of TOT in Sacramento was tightly connected to convention and public assembly infrastructure.

That included convention halls, related visitor-serving infrastructure, so all of the pieces that help support those convention halls, and tourism promotion through visit Sacramento.

The focus was really on the facilities and systems necessary to support tourism and convention activity.

When Measure N was expanded in 2022, it was reformatted to speak to broader visitor-serving facilities, which included, yes, included convention halls and whatnot, but also included theater and arts venues as a part of that, economic development projects to create local jobs within the context of tourism generation, and then also, you know, the other sort of financing and administrative administrative functions associated with uh associated with the code.

So cities across the country use TOT differently depending upon their market position, their tourism strategy, and their economic goals.

But commonly, TOT supports these kinds of things: convention centers, visitor-serving infrastructure, I might say, like you know, sports fields that allow us to host events, museums, and historic sites, tourism promotion and marketing, arts and cultural venues, etc.

So you get the general idea.

This slide here illustrates both the volatility and the resilience of TOT revenues over time.

We're starting in 2018.

We definitely have a longer picture.

But during the pandemic, uh TOT revenues declined dramatically from roughly 32 million to approximately 18.6 million, and today revenues have recovered to a projected FY26 level of approximately 40 or close to 43 million.

That recovery is important, but it's also important to understand the dynamics that influence future growth, and we'll get that get to that in a minute.

A significant portion of the community center fund is already committed to standing obligations.

Approximately half of the annual obligations are related to debt service.

The fund also supports convention and performing arts facilities, maintenance and operations of those facilities, cultural partnerships, tourism promotion, and then related enterprise activities.

I just want to call out a couple things in relationship to convention center operations, because I thought you might have some questions about that.

The convention center operations don't do not function purely as a traditional fee for service model.

I'll explain this in a second.

In some cases, the city strategically reduces or foregoes certain facility fees in order to secure convention and broader TOT activity associated with those events.

So we want the event, so we want to make sure that we're competitive in terms of being able to secure that, and that might mean that we might choose to take less in terms of fee for service coming into the convention center to make that possible because we get the hotel stays, the visitor spending, and the related economic activity.

In addition to that, during the convention center renovation project, there were a number of infrastructure and facility elements that were deferred or value engineered due to available bonding capacity, project timing, and construction constraints.

So some of those long-term maintenance and operational needs remain part of the enterprise picture today.

And so we see some of those expenses coming in.

So when you're looking at, oh, it's roughly like 20%.

I just wanted to explain what was driving some of that.

So at the most basic level, TOT revenue is driven by room supply, occupancy, and room rate.

One challenge Sacramento faces is constrained hotel inventory growth.

Since 2018, Sacramento has added approximately 634 rooms and at increase of just three hotels.

That data comes to us, thanks to the treasurer's office.

I'll give a shout out there for their report that they do with CBRE.

That matters because hotel supply impacts our long-term revenue ceiling and our ability to attract larger events and connections and conventions.

Not all visitation contributes to TOT in exactly the same way, but each segment supports the overall visitor economy.

Conventions provide important midweek consistency, though they often negotiate lower room rates.

Major events and festivals can create significant demand spikes and higher ADR or average daily rate.

Leisure and cultural tourism contribute through broader destination appeal, repeat visitation and family travel.

Film production can generate longer hotel stays, local vendor spending, and concentrated economic gap TV.

One of the broader strategic questions for Sacramento is how we grow destination demand over time.

Future hotel investment follows consistent and reliable demand, not occasional peaks alone.

Large events are important.

Conventions are important, but also long-term competitiveness depends on creating a destination people consistently want to visit.

One way to think about this is as an ecosystem.

A strong visitor economy requires all three layers working together, so foundational investments, things like convention infrastructure, sports fields, museums, districts, performing arts venues, visitor centers, etc.

Those are the infrastructure on which we can host other, you know, other things, drive activity.

Activation, recurring programming, nightlife, district activity, experiences.

And then in addition to that, demand drivers like conventions and festivals and sporting events and film production and other major events.

So no single investment category really functions independently, but they're all sort of functioning together to help us achieve our goals.

Talk briefly about Old Sacramento as a tourism asset, is one example of a place-based tourism asset within Sacramento's visitor economy.

I think it's important to call out because it's non-relocatable, right?

Like it happened here.

It's unique to Sacramento.

It combines history, museums, entertainment, dining, events, and waterfront experience.

These are the kinds of places people travel to experience.

And as we know, Sacramento history is world history.

Arts, culture, and history contribute to what gives cities distinct identity and visitor experience.

These are the things people want to see.

When people travel, they often travel toward districts, experiences, recognizable places, museums, and that cultural identity.

And we can see that reflected locally.

In FY2425, the Crocker Art Museum served more than 204,000 visitors.

What's particularly important is where those visitors came from.

Roughly half came from outside of Sacramento County, 17% came from outside the broader drive market, 11% came from outside California, and even international visitors were represented.

What that tells us is that these kinds of institutions are not functioning solely as neighborhood amenities.

They're also functioning as destination assets within Sacramento's broader visitor economy.

And I will just note here, yes, that UNESCO and the World Cities Cultural Forum.

We think about tourism, 40% of global tourism is cultural tourism.

Shout out to Sonia Bradley from Visit Sacramento actually here because we've been working very closely in recent years to really look at cultural tourism and how we support that better together.

That's led to symposiums with people.

That has led to videos that visit Sacramento has done.

It's a part of that to really help people understand what the destination really looks like.

And I think we're we have more work to do on that front, particularly as we figure out what we can do with cultural districts for the city, but we think that we're on the path.

Film is interesting because it operates across multiple time horizons simultaneously.

In the short term, you get hotel stays, production crews, visitor spending, local economic activity.

Long term you get destination visibility, recognizable locations, brand awareness, and creative economy development.

People often want to visit places they've experienced through film and media.

And I'll just give like a moment.

Many of you know my husband is in South Korea for the year.

And I'm interested in travel to that a lot, but that is one country that has really doubled down on its history, on its culture, on its music exports and its drama, and it makes a huge difference.

Their tourism has had a huge effect on one of those people.

So I'm just speaking from personal experience, but this is the stuff that can work when you see things there.

So for us in Sacramento, the question is what are those things, right?

We had one battle after another.

They filmed at the Reagan Mansion.

We had Lady Bird, you know, they filmed in the Fab 40s.

We have La Superior, right?

For one battle after another, all those places.

Or with Sacramento for whoever likes that.

I I enjoyed that movie personally.

But, you know, the dive bar, right?

So those are the things that people turn to, and when they see those things represented in media, then they want to find out.

They want to see more.

So film can generate both immediate economic activity and long-term destination identity.

One of the key ideas in this conversation or in this presentation is that tourism ROI occurs through multiple mechanisms.

Some impacts are direct, the things we see, room nights, attendance, visitor spending, some are enabling.

So they enable us to host major sporting competitions.

You know, they made they allow us to hold, like the convention center allows us to host these major conventions and other activities.

Our performing arts center allows us to host those kinds of things that keep us active.

And some are catalytic, which speaks more to that conversation regarding soul identity, why people want to come because it's unique, or why they might want to, they come for those other things and then they want to come back because there's something that they didn't get to see.

So that's destination identity, long-term competitiveness and overall visitor appeal.

Different investments do contribute differently over different time frames.

So some investments might generate immediate activity, see those listed there, and others contribute over medium time horizons through recurring programming and repeat visitation.

And I had a conversation with like Tessa about this a little bit because there's some events, right?

We see them once a year, but we have a long time frame from them.

So we have like, I hope I get this right.

Um, you know, when you have something like Iron Man that's regular or wine and grape, which is a convention center for like 10 years, that almost is actually creating that baseline appeal.

What will be the case with Terra Madre?

So I think that's important for us to think about how it contributes to that baseline activity.

And then long-term competitiveness, those things, those facilities, those museums, districts, infrastructure that build that destination identity and build that destination strength.

I mean, Tower Records.

It's a sacrament, it started here in Sacramento and it's still elsewhere.

That's a part of our story that's worth that's worth telling.

Okay.

So the question becomes how might Sacramento evaluate investments within that broader understanding of tourism and destination development.

I'll just note here that these criteria that are here are illustrative for the purposes related to the information that's in the presentation, but not like definitive, finalized or anything like that.

The idea was to begin to introduce some of these concepts within the broader understanding of what contributes to tourism.

But they do begin to frame questions around how we look at tourism impact, visitor serving value, economic return, destination competitiveness, and long-term contribution.

So the mayor already spoke to this, why a priorities plan.

Council has asked important questions over time, long-term priorities, future planning, and how investment decisions are made.

In a couple of conversations where we've had of this, uh, council members have said, hey, what's the two-year plan?

What's the five-year plan?

What's the 10-year plan for use of TOT?

But we hadn't necessarily had a conversation together about this broader conversation about what we're trying to do with the destination and how different things might contribute to that that would inform that criteria and ultimately those priorities.

So many, today, right now, many of the conversations occur project by project, but the idea here is to move towards a more transparent and repeatable planning structure.

So what could this look like?

Could include a priorities plan, could include priority categories, those evaluation criteria, scoring rubrics, annual review processes, and a ranking of projects against those things.

So the goal is not one off allocation decisions, it's a repeatable framework that creates transparency, consistency, strategic alignment, and ongoing review.

This and as the mayor pointed out, this concept is similar to how the city already approaches transportation priorities, parks programming, and other long-range planning frameworks.

And the benefit of actually having a wider lens before specifically narrowing to how we look at TOT is that we might find that there are other sources of revenue that we could be using for certain things that also impact the tourism, the destination, but might not necessarily be like if something that's on a longer time frame that we might, you know, we might invest other dollars in that, etc.

So the idea is to create a clearer structure for evaluating and prioritizing future investments over time.

Just to be clear, this work does not belong to any one department or organization alone.

All these folks, many of whom are in this room, contribute to what the visitor economy looks like, and we think that those perspectives will be really important in terms of putting together a priorities plan.

So we would propose that those voices be included in that.

And we also believe it's important to establish a clearer reserve policy for the community center fund.

So we're sort of transitioning from the pre-measure end period, where when it was all convention center, you just sort of you just dealt with that within the enterprise fund in relationship to those purposes.

Now that we have more expanded uses, we think it's really important for us to get clear on what time frame over what things are we doing with our capital improvements if we're tapping into that.

You know, we have some fees that cover our CIPs, but they're not, it's not all of those things.

So what seems to be appropriate threshold?

What are our reserve targets?

How do we setting aside fund balance for strategic flexibility, or the reality that we may have circumstances where the economy tanks and tourism gets hit, and so if we need to accommodate that, how do we do that?

So the idea of a reserve policy really helps to shape that right now.

Um, and so that's another thing that we hope to bring back to council in addition to the priorities plan.

This was done, I think, for the Department of Utilities, and so we'd be working with the treasurer's office to hopefully do that.

So just a couple things in terms of this this last slide building a strategic framework for the visitor economy.

Number one, transparency.

The aim here is to create a clearer and more consistent process for how visitor economy investments are evaluated and prioritized, to align those investments with Sacramento's long-term tourism destination and economic development goals, to balance new investment opportunities with existing obligations, enterprise sustainability, and longer-term financial capacity, recognize that different investments contribute differently across time horizons and tourism functions, and establishing an annual process to revisit priorities, evaluate performance, and respond to changing market conditions and opportunities.

Ultimately, this conversation is larger than TOT itself.

We're here tonight because council asked us to discuss the transient occupancy tax and what our priorities are for its use.

But underneath that is a broader question.

What do we want Sacramento to look like as a destination over time?

And how do we make investments through TOT and through other tools that strengthen Sacramento's identity, competitiveness, visitor experience, and long-term economic vitality?

What we try to do here through this presentation is to provide a shared framework for understanding how these different pieces work together and begin a conversation about how Sacramento evaluates and prioritizes these investments moving forward.

So to thank you for your time.

And I also want to reiterate what the request the staff recommendation is, which is essentially that council would direct the staff to create a priorities plan that it would bring back to council for review, informed by industry stakeholders, and interested parties along with a cash reserve policy.

The idea is that we would come back annually with that as well, with information about the bonding capacity, ranked projects, etc.

etc.

So it's it's possible that what we first would bring back would be the two policies, the reserve policy, and then the priorities plan policy, and then when you have adopted that, we could come back in pretty quick succession with the other things in terms of bonding capacity and ranked projects.

So I want to, if you can give us a little bit more time, I wanted to hand the mic over to my colleague and partner in this work and amazing supporter.

Mike Testa, just to say a few words.

Thank you, Megan.

Mayor McCarty, members of the council, city manager Smith.

My name is Mike Tess.

I'm the president and CEO for Visit Sacramento.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight.

Visit Sacramento the work that we do contributes a significant direct portion of TOT revenues, but the work we do we do influences 100% of the TOT revenues locally, whether it's conventions or festivals or food events or leisure travel, we are your tourism subject matter experts.

So I would add Megan to that list at this point.

I feel like she has an honorary visit Sacramento employee.

She grasps all these things so well, and I really applaud how much she's put into this.

Because it came a usable asset for the city of Sacramento.

In my first job in Sacramento, I worked for a political consultant, and I was the deputy campaign manager for a statewide proposition.

And one of the things I heard from voters over and over was we're gonna pass this thing, and then you're gonna use the money for something else.

And so as I started thinking about this conversation on TOT, I went back to what that ballot argument was and thinking that that serves as such a great rudder for the framework of this conversation because the voters passed Measure N by close to 70%.

Measure N's ballot title asked the voters if they supported allowing funds from the city's hotel tax to be used for tourism-related economic development projects.

I think it's also worth noting the folks who signed that ballot argument were former Mayor Daryl Steinberg, Councilmember Mai Bang, Amir Dean from Unite Here Local 49, Stephen Whitlock, representing the creative economy, and myself representing Visit Sacramento and tourism in general.

When evaluating what to spend TOT on, I think you have to ask yourself is what TOT is being spent on now effective.

The foundation of TOT in Sacramento is conventions.

Conventions are the largest driver of tourism to this region.

Conventions are often booked years out, and that influences hotel rates and thus TOT collections across the market.

When you book 200 hotel rooms of a 500 room hotel for 2029, those remaining 300 rooms become more expensive.

The simple law of supply and demand, right?

So that increases the value of TOT collections.

For events like Aftershock or Iron Man or March Madness, the same thing happens.

Aftershock is an annual event.

We've hosted it since 2012.

We expect to host it for many years to come.

I know the wine and grape symposium was mentioned that's a 10-year contract.

Terramadre America's is a 10-year contract.

So those are things that influence the price of hotel rooms years out.

So much of what TOT is spent on, obviously, whether that goes towards the bond payment for the Safe Credit Unit Convention Center or the investment to visit Sacramento is what's bringing those big events that are driving the significant gains that you've seen.

Megan mentioned this, and I think it's really important.

The TOT revenues are important, and that's what you see directly, but considering the global economy of TOT is really important as you decide how to invest this money.

You look at obviously the TOT, but the sales taxes that come in, the spending on local businesses, the jobs that are created, the ride shares, the bars, the restaurants, everything in between.

This is all part of that tourism ecosystem, and certainly that needs to be considered when you look at investment.

When Visit Sacramento has looked at opportunities to grow TOT revenues, we've looked at a couple things.

Obviously, we've got a great convention center with the safe credit union convention center.

The city invested money in that.

I think that has been a worthy investment and a wise investment.

What we don't have in Sacramento is uh sports facilities.

We don't go after amateur sports tourism because we don't have this facilities to put them in.

That's something that we've studied multiple times with multiple consultants.

Uh, and those facilities would allow us to bring in sports tourists, but I think the other benefit of that, probably a little dissimilar to the convention center, you've got local youth, you've got local amateur athletes who will be able to utilize a complex like that.

It is visitor serving, but it also serves the residents of Sacramento.

Sports facilities are things like BMX courses, flat fields for soccer, rugby, lacrosse, indoor for basketball, and volleyball.

The potential we see there is that youth sports is a $19 billion market annually that's larger than the NFL.

Um over 58% of youths participate in sports, which increases across all genders and ethnic groups.

Flag football, rugby, and lacrosse continue to grow, especially for girls in California as one of 19 states to sanction girls' flag football.

When we've studied some of those opportunities, and I'll give the example of the Surf Cup Sports Park in Del Mar, California, 24 fields, which is something we've looked at in Sacramento.

They host 35 events each year.

They generate 150,000 new hotel room nights into the market, attract 490,000 total attendees.

They drive 3.29 million in TOT, plus you add in sales tax, plus you add in the spending at visit uh businesses, and they drive 120 million in annual economic impact.

That would be like adding three aftershocks to the market annually.

So building that type of facility and pointing back to that ballot argument of measure N that 70% of voters passed would create that TOT investment that would be used for tourism related economic impact projects that would create jobs and strengthen the local economy.

Again, that rudder of the ballot argument.

Again, as all of you create this framework, and I applaud you for doing that.

There's nothing like spending money without a plan.

So uh I've heard a number of you say that TOT is an opportunity fund.

We agree with that, and I think thinking through that opportunity, investing in the right programs.

I know Vice Mayor, you've said this more than once for every dollar we spend on TOT, it should return three dollars.

That is exactly the right way to approach this.

So thank you for agendizing this.

Uh, Mayor McCarty.

Thank you for uh being thoughtful in how we invest to best serve the community.

Uh, we are your partner, and we're here to help and answer any questions you may have.

Okay, thank you.

I know we have a number of questions and ideas about this.

We have about a dozen or so public comments, so we'll hit those first.

Is the mayor said I have 12 speakers?

First is Doug Warren, Heidi Pyle, Jerome Gervais, Patrick Miller, Austin Otega.

Good evening, Mayor McCarty, members of the city council and city manager Smith.

My name is Doug Warren.

I'm the vice president of operations for welcome group, representing three Marriott hotels within the city.

We applaud the initiative by the city council to create framework on how to best invest TOT.

I appreciate the opportunity to be part of that conversation.

Creating meaningful criteria of this sort will allow the city to make educated and data-informed decisions that will best serve the residents of Sacramento.

When creating this framework, I encourage you to not only look at the direct TOT revenues, but at the entire tourism economy.

As the right investments will drive revenues, not only for government entities, but also for our business owners, our hospitality workers, investors who see opportunity in our market, and for residents across the city.

As experts in this field, know that all of us in the hotel community are at your disposal as resources to evaluate opportunities to further grow Sacramento's tourism economy.

Thank you for your time.

Heidi Pyle.

Good evening, everybody.

My name is Heidi Pyle, and I'm here tonight representing the Sacramento Hotel Association, our region's 97 hotels, and the more than 4,000 employees therein.

To help ensure the collective success of our industry, the Sacramento Hotel Association advises on and pays close attention to the decisions that drive overnight stays into our market that enhance Sacramento's reputation as a tourism destination and that offer growth in revenues to further grow the tourism economy.

When the City of Sacramento made the decision to expand the convention center, our hotel community came to the table with 50 million dollars to fund the new ballroom in the building.

We invested those industry dollars because we believed that our return on the investment by way of overnight guests would be significant.

And to date, that has proved to be a sound investment.

As the city works to create parameters around future TOT investments, we ask that you use that idea of strong tourism ROI as the foundation to your decision making.

And as was stated before, TOT revenues represent an opportunity fund, one that should create returns that enable ongoing investments to further grow TOT revenues for the city, support spending practices of our visitors with our local businesses, and bolster the region's four billion dollar visitor economy.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And Augustin.

Good evening, Mayor McCarthy, members of the City Council, and City Manager Smith.

My name is Jerome Carras.

I serve as the general manager for the Sheraton Grounds, as well as the president of the Sacramento Hotel Association.

As one of the headquarters hotel for Sacramento's convention business, we certainly appreciate the city's continued support of tourism and economic development.

However, I respectfully urge caution regarding any increases to the Sacramento's transient occupancy tax.

The city's ongoing investments in helping to fund year out conventions, music festivals like Aftershock, and sporting events like Ironman and culinary events like Terra Madre have significantly grown Sacramento's market appeal over the last couple of years.

Those events and collectively strategies of the Sacramento Hotel Association, the City of Sacramento, and Visit Sacramento are the reason that the OT revenues have grown by more than 36% post-pandemic.

This is to be commended, and I encourage all of you to continue making the decisions that grow further our market.

Sacramento's hospitality industry has only recently regained stability following the pandemic, labor shortages, inflation, and software travel demand.

Hotels already face significant financial pressure through existing TOT obligations, tourism marketing district assessments and rising labor costs utilities insurance and operational expenses.

Visitors and meeting planners compare total hotel costs across destinations.

They do not separate Texas assessment and parking and service fees, they simply compare the final nightly rate.

As cost prices, Sacramento becomes less competitive against destinations, such as Reno, Anaheim, Phoenix, and Austin.

Rather than growing hotel taxes again, I encourage the city to focus on growing visitation organically, improving downtown activities and public safety, and expanding the tech space through economic growth.

Sacramento should continue to position itself as an affordable, accessible, and thank you for your comments.

Our next speaker is Patrick Miller in Augustine Ortega.

Good evening, Mayor McCarty, City Council members, uh City Manager Smith.

My name is Patrick Miller.

I am the general manager of Hyatt Regency Sacramento.

As one of two headquartered hotels for conventions in Sacramento, I have the luxury of a front row seat to how the use of TOT expands uh expansion of the Safe Credit Union Convention Center has been beneficial for tourism stakeholders in our community.

The hotel community's $50 million investment in ballroom A, coupled with the city's TOT investment and the balance of the building, has provided sound returns in Sacramento's future as a convention host remains bright.

Of equal importance is the continued growth of our markets appeal beyond conventions.

While Sacramento's draw as a leisure destination has historically been limited, we've seen significant growth in weekend hotel occupancy due to leisure travel marketing, music festivals, sports events that continue to grow revenues in hotel occupancy across the market.

When determining the framework of how to prioritize the investment of TOT dollars, we encourage you to think big and target the opportunities that will provide the most significant returns.

Because if you do that, you will create an opportunity fund that continually allows for new projects in tourism growth of Sacramento.

Thank you.

Next speaker is Augustin.

Then David Huber, Alberto Regaldo.

Good evening, mayor council members, city manager, and members of our community.

I am Agustin Arteaga.

I'm the director and CEO of the Crocker Art Museum.

First, I want to thank you for your long-standing support of the museum and for the strong partnership we continue to share with the city.

That partnership allows us not only to serve our community through education and culture, but also to contribute directly to the city's broader economic and civic goals.

The museum was founded on the same vision that shaped Sacramento.

The belief that a successful city must often offer more than economic opportunity alone.

It must also provide quality of life, places that educate, inspire, and bring people together.

Today, Sacramento is growing rapidly, attracting conventions, visitors, and new investment.

As the capital of the California, the fourth largest economy in the world, we must continue building a city whose cultural offerings match that stature and help inspired those who come to this here to discover Sacramento and explore new opportunities to invest in the state.

People visiting for conferences and businesses or moving to live here are looking for meaningful experiences.

Sacramento has earned national recognition for its farm to fork identity, but our cultural institutions are also becoming an important part of the city's appeal.

The museum has achieved a level of recognition and respect throughout the state and increasingly beyond.

Our collections, programming, and exhibitions bring uh people here and attract uh Sacramento as a destination point.

Major exhibitions will bring more people to visit from across the region, generate generating activity for downtown businesses, restaurants, and hotels, and overall the economy.

The museum is proud to help.

Thank you for your comments.

Your time is complete.

Our next speaker is David Huber and Alberto Regaldo.

Good evening, Mayor McCarty, members of the City Council and City Manager Smith.

My name is David Huber, general manager of the Hilton Sacramento Art and West.

I serve as chair of the board for Visa Sacramento and a committee member on the Sacramento Tourism Marketing District.

First, I want to thank you for your foresight in establishing establishing a thoughtful and disciplined approach to investing Sacramento's transient occupancy tax revenues.

That level of an intentional planning is critical to ensuring long-term sustainable growth for our city.

By prioritizing a strategic vision, you create the ability to identify and invest in opportunities that deliver the strongest returns, not just for the tourism industry, but for the city of Sacramento and all of our residents.

We are already seeing what this approach can produce.

This summer, Sacramento will host the X Games for the first time in our city's history.

This is an example of high impact opportunity that drives new visitation, generates incremental TOT revenue, and strengthens our market profile.

Looking ahead, we encourage continued collaboration with the hotels community and visit Sacramento.

We stand ready to serve as a resource and partner, bringing insight, data, and industry expertise to help identify and advance the initiatives, initiatives that will deliver the greatest impact for all stakeholders.

Thank you for your continued leadership and commitment to Sacramento's growth.

Alberto Regaldo, Brent Sisoski, then Leo and James Allison.

Good evening, everyone.

My name is Alberto Regalado, and I'm proud to address you tonight as the president of Sacramento United Soccer Club.

Also to represent our greater Sacramento Youth Sports community.

This community includes kids from Oak Park, Meadow View, Greenhaven, Northgate, Nethomas, and well beyond.

I'm here to ask you to consider the development of a large flat field complex in Sacramento, specifically at Granite Regional Park.

We see an unparalleled opportunity to transform Granite Regional Park by expanding capacity to a premier world-class visitor destination.

This project is a massive self-sustaining economic engine for the city of Sacramento.

We understand that a project of this magnitude requires a serious look at funding, and that is why utilizing the TOT funds makes perfect financial sense.

The funding source for this project is anchored in Measure N, the Transient Occupancy Tax passed by Sacramento voters.

This isn't money pooled from vital neighborhood services or city's general fund.

It's a strategic investment of tax dollars specifically generated for tourism.

The beauty of the project is the built-in mechanism of cost recuperation.

The seed is that we utilize Measure N funds to construct the 20 to 24 field complex.

We host massive regional tournaments, drawing thousands of out-of-town families to the grounds and generating millions in hotel stays.

The interest, we have confirmed interest and commitments from USYS, US Club Soccer, MLS Next programs to bring their regional and national events.

They've all been discussed as looking for a location in Northern California and Sacramento would be the best.

The return is that under the state of play model, hotel room nights are tracked and tallied because travel teams are required to stay there.

And so it immediately immediately pays back into the system to the exact TOT tax.

The very fund used to build the project will be aggressively and continuously replenished by the success of the complex itself.

It's a textbook definition of a closed loop high return investment.

Members of council, uh, thank you for listening and for the opportunity to speak.

Thank you for your comments.

So next speaker is Alberto and Brent and Leo.

Hi, good evening.

My name is Brent Sisaki, and I've been in the soccer industry for a long time.

I started SAC Republic back in 2013 at the seventh employee of the Republic.

Was there for nine years, but most recently I am the vice president at SAC United, and I have two kids in competitive soccer.

Uh, both are McClatchy high school varsity soccer players as well.

What's big for us is it's part of it is travel.

All we do is we travel about six times a year to places like San Diego, Vegas, and even places like uh Ontario, California, and you know, down in Norco, and we go to different places like that, Greensboro, North Carolina.

Sacramento is better than a lot of those places, right?

And and when we go to these places, we fly into airports, we rent cars or take Ubers, we pay for parking, we go out to the restaurants.

Most recently in Phoenix and San Diego, we went to Suns Games, we went to Podrays Games, we toured Grand Canyon University, Arizona State.

Imagine that happening in Sacramento, right?

Um, one of the reasons why that's not happening right now is because we don't have the field space for it.

So, which kind of segues into my next thing at SAC United, we run a tournament called Boo Fest, and Boothest is 200 teams from Northern California that come in around Halloween.

I'm in charge of all the hotels.

I work with Visit Sacramento and others to book hotels, and we sell out our room block pretty much every year.

It's about 300 room nights a year.

That's with only 200 teams.

Imagine when we get a tournament with 500 teams, it's gonna just sell out everything.

So I think one big thing is that's important to be able to have that here in Sacramento.

The main reason, again, we don't is we don't have the field space.

And by having the field space by getting a venue like we're talking about for soccer, I think it's gonna benefit not only Sacramento, but imagine people coming to the Kings Games or Rivercats games or touring SAC State.

So my favorite line in working in soccer was there's more youth soccer players in Sacramento than football, baseball, and basketball combined.

So thank you for your comments.

Our next speaker is Leo, James Allison, Amir Dean, and Shira Lane.

We have four more speakers.

Hi, my name is Leo Sasaki, and I am an under-19 soccer player at Sacramento United Soccer Club, and I'm a varsity soccer player as well at Mogachi High School.

I've been playing soccer at Sacra United since I was eight years old, and the friends I've met and the people that I've met there have become some of my closest friends and family, and they all live around here in the Sacramento area.

Granite Park has been my soccer home since I was eight, and one of the things that we've always needed was four fields with lights.

Do the space issues the last two years.

I've had to train about 8 p.m.

to 9 30 p.m.

on school nights, and that's not really ideal in my opinion for about uh like homework and eating dinner and stuff like that, getting home super late.

And uh I really wish that teams like us would not have to train so late and add more fields to be able to train earlier.

And uh Sac United is honestly become part of my life and part of my family, and I am so excited to be able to see if this complex could happen and be able to see the next generation of soccer players from all around the country to get to experience it.

And I feel like even though I'm about to age out, I am excited to see kids from all around the country and kids from all around the Sacramento area be able to experience something like this and be able to have fields like this to build the memories that I built growing up as a kid.

Thank you.

Next speaker is James Allison, then Amir and Shira.

Good evening, council, uh City Manager Smith staff.

Uh my name is James Allison.

Uh usually I have a spiel that I jump into right about now.

But first and foremost, I'm a resident here in Sacramento.

I live here, I was born and raised here, I love Sacramento, and there's a reason that I'm here.

Uh there's a reason that I am a uh resident of District 4.

Uh, because I can walk 10 blocks down the street and be part of our city's incredible cultural economy that we have right here in Sacramento.

Uh it's something that excites me tremendously, and that some point soon uh I'm sure I'll have more of my friends that live down in District 4 with me.

Um, but when you hear from me most often, it says James Allison, executive director of the Power Alliance.

We're a property business improvement district that represents about 1400 businesses and about 30,000 jobs.

One thing that we don't represent a lot of is tourism and visitation.

Um what I can say with certainty is the reason that businesses chose Power In as the place to set up shop hundreds of years ago when the Pony Express was first come to town, was because it is an amazing thoroughfare here in our city.

We have an opportunity to have goods and services come in and out of highway 50, I-5, highway 99.

We've got an airport, uh, a great airport in my opinion, up north in the city.

I was here today to speak just generally about looking at new opportunities.

Uh opportunities like our district present um with things that are able to really take advantage of those same things that businesses businesses take advantage of.

Uh I was gonna be a bit more general, but I think I'll just uh you know speak to the elephant in the room.

We're also the home of SAC United, and where they would like to see a soccer complex.

And what I can tell you is that fewer places I've ever seen in my life that have a true desire from both the business community, the residential community, and the community that's already using it to see how we can grow the pie, because I can't let you not hear that, um, in an opportunity to build new hotels, have new room nights, and bring an entirely new visitation to the city of Sacramento.

So we're really excited to be a partner in that.

Thank you.

Amir Dean, and then Shira Lane will be our final speaker.

Good evening, council.

Uh my name is Amr Dean.

I'm with Unite Here at Local 49.

We are the hospitality workers union in Sacramento, and uh our members um are their hard work as housekeepers, dishwashers, cooks, um, front desk agents, and more create the transient occupancy tax that we are discussing today.

So uh we appreciate this discussion, and we uh are really happy to be um uh included in the consideration on how best to use the TOT revenue to benefit the people of Sacramento.

Uh we feel that considerations around investments in neighborhoods where my members live, South Sacramento, North Sacramento, Del Paso Heights, were really interested in that discussion.

Um, and overall, having the priorities of the TOT revenue discussed is really useful.

But the main point that I wanted to make today is that we want to ensure that there will continue to be a public process for each project that receives a subsidy.

Um, there must be a space for community input on all of these decisions, and when using public funds to subsidize a private business, um, the council should have the final review and say, and the public should have input on uh to ensure that the subsidy is in the public interest.

Thank you.

Our final speaker on this item is Shira Lane.

Hello, mayor, council, and city manager.

Um, my name is Shira Lane.

I am the founder and CEO of Atrium 916.

We are a creative innovation center for sustainability.

Um we actually moved to old Sacramento during COVID, and we activated a building that was untouched for about 10 years.

And today, that sees in 2025, we saw 142,000 visitors come through the atrium.

And I just want to say the impact of local art.

Um, the atrium has an incubator marketplace with over 150 local Sacramento makers, only Sacramento, um, and an accelerator program to help those makers transition to wholesale and scale.

As a nonprofit, we support local eco-friendly artists.

We are an economic driver.

A third of our budget actually goes and pays artists.

Um, and we created a third space in old Sacramento as we educate on waste reduction, and that is kind of part of the draw that people have come to.

We've become a destination that's made an imprint in that it's been a deciding factor for some investors moving to Sacramento, and I'm gonna shout out to Mike Brown on that.

Um, I wanted to talk about, I wanted to thank Megan for an amazing uh presentation, and I could not agree with this direction so much, but I wanted to talk about spike tourism versus uh consistent tourism.

Spike tourism is when they come for these festivals and events and things like that, which is great, and this is fantastic, but there's also a cost to that.

There's a cost that is like police, there's constituent frustration, there's a lot that comes to it.

But wouldn't it be cool if we had a consistent culture here that just any time you came to Sacramento it was awesome, and any time you could have this magical experience, and I ask you to imagine when you went and toured and visited a place.

What was that magical experience?

It thank you for your comments.

Mayor I have no more speakers on this item.

Okay, thank you.

Go to the uh council now.

First, I want to call up uh Vice Mayor Tolamantes.

But as you're getting ready, I will say that even before I was mayor, I was watching these council meetings every now and then, and you were banging on this issue of having a five, a ten-year, a long-term plan about how we allocate our TOT revenues because of course we love the old Sacramento projects that are the ones that come before us, but it's smart for us to be strategic thinking forward how we can invest in these projects and so they can continue to give us opportunity to reinvest and reinvest.

So, uh Vice Mayor Talamantes.

Thank you so much, Mayor, and you're absolutely correct.

2024.

Now, Councilmember Vang and I discussed TOT heavily, and I know Councilmember Vang helped champion Measure N so that we can spend these TOT dollars beyond the core of downtown and to be able to invest in different neighborhoods and different parts of Sacramento.

So thank you for the shout out and thank you to Councilmember Vang for all your work on it.

Uh I am so happy that we are finally here and discussing formal policy framework that establishes clear parameters and long-term direction and vision for our TOT dollars that we get to invest in.

For those that don't know, that may be watching at home, TOT dollars are generated by visitors staying overnight in Sacramento, and those investments should be guided and measurable goals, accountability, equity, and economic return.

So I would like to thank Think City staff for being here, Megan, your team, convention center team for working on this.

Because creating a two, five, and 10-year plan is so important.

I have a project in my district that I think could be great for the future.

It's not shovel ready nor even plans ready, but I want to be able to set the dynamics for maybe the future council members to be able to do something special on our waterfront on the Garden Highway.

I can maybe set the stage and other future generations can follow.

And that's the type of mindset that we need to take on these TOT dollars.

What is ready now?

What will be ready in the future, and what can we do?

So I'm really excited that we're gonna be working with Visit Sacramento, the downtown partnership, nonprofits, labor organizations, neighborhood leaders, and business groups to come up with an idea.

I do believe that we have so much potential.

And every year, Mike Testa with Visit Sacramento does a presentation here at the convention center highlighting what makes Sacramento so beautiful.

And it's my favorite conference to go to.

We wake up early at 8 a.m., which is a little rough for me, but I love it because it inspires me and it gives me so much hope in our city.

You know, we sometimes we laugh and we joke up here that we're the city of festivals, we are the city of trees, we are the city of light the beam, we are the city of Farm to Fork.

We are the Sacramento Kings.

You know, we're Sacramento Proud.

I mean, whether it's our Sacramento Kings, our Sacramento Republic, our Rivercats, now the A's, all the different youth sports groups that come here to council to advocate for our parks, and that came here today.

We're just Sacramento proud.

And additionally, one thing that I always like to highlight is that we're also a government town.

That is so special that we have the Sacramento, like California Capital here in Sacramento.

Like we are it.

The fourth largest economy in the world.

And we need to capitalize on that.

Because there's people that come all over California to Sacramento to lobby, to protest, to, you know, visit our legislators, and it's how do we, as Sacramento, turn those one-time visitors into long-term guests.

For them to come back and say, hey, yes, I want to come back to Sacramento with my family, or I want to do my bachelorette party in Sacramento, or I want to get married across the street in front of the state in front of City Hall.

It's it's how do we make it a destination?

And I think that we have various ways that we can go, and I do think that we have the appropriate people in place.

You know, with our new city manager, new leadership here at this at Sacramento City Hall.

Like we have the appropriate people and we have a vision, and I feel like we're finally heading in the right direction.

So I'm really excited for that.

If you can't tell.

But on this framework, there are a few things that just stand out for me.

Um I wanna make sure that there's clear parameters for one, what types of projects qualify for the TOT funding.

Two, geographic equity throughout the city.

We gotta make sure that our lower income neighborhoods are not left behind.

Economic return on investment, like Mike Testa said, and like I've been saying the whole time, a dollar in equals three dollars out.

We gotta make sure that what we invest in will produce more dollars so that we have more dollars in the future to spend on.

Uh, really enhancing public-private partnerships, uh, working with cultural and neighborhood tourism opportunities.

I mean, Visit Sacramento has done a great job highlighting Saigon Corner in South Sac, North Gay in North Sac, and uh just has done incredible work to highlight our cultural diversity.

Um, also long-term maintenance and sustainability of these projects.

Obviously, you know, we just talked about the convention center, we have some dollars that we need to continue advocating for it.

And we already made some commitments to old SAC, so we have to make sure that those dollars are already accounted for, and that we're not promising to like, I mean, we have one dollar.

If it's one dollar, it's one dollar.

We're not allocating it to four different projects.

Uh, performance measures and reporting standards, um, and also reviewing the last five years of TOT investments and really evaluating the outcomes and seeing if it truly drawed visitors to here to Sacramento.

Um, I also believe that we should do quarterly updates on TOT revenue and expenditures, so we can make informed decisions as we move forward with these decisions.

Now, I do want to say that every single member on this dais will have a project to introduce for these dollars.

Because we all have competing priorities and we all want to deliver for our communities.

And it's important for us to really work together to find out what is the best use of our dollars and what we can spend the money on now versus five years from now and ten years from now, and really using staff work and the consultants' work that are gonna be working with us to come up with a good plan.

I do believe that every single district should have access to information about what's eligible, and so that we can also fairly compete for these dollars and also have a transparent process, like this one of the speakers said.

And we need to bring forward projects that reflect our neighborhoods and our cultures.

So with that being said, I'm just really excited for for this and looking forward to hearing my feedback from my colleagues.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Councilmember Bank.

Thank you, Mayor, and really appreciate uh Vice Mayor Talamantes going first and kind of laying some of the recommendations.

I think it's part of the recommendations that both her office and my office have been discussing for several months and and two years now, and so really glad that we're finally having this conversation.

First, I want to thank Mike and Megan.

Thank you so much for your presentation.

And I too am very happy that we are now here today to have a conversation and actually discuss a framework for the TOT priorities plan, if that's what we're going to call it, because we already have a good model around our transportation and around racial equity.

So I think that's great.

As you heard from Mike Tessa, you know, when Mayor Steinberg and I went to Mike Tessa to discuss the measure, we went to the voters in 2022 with the intent that measure and would help us expand and allow flexibility for TOT dollars, uh, to have the opportunities.

And a large piece of this, uh I will say on record, is to make sure that we can invest in economic projects and underserved communities as well.

It's not the only thing, but it's something to consider.

Um, and as you all heard, that measure N now has been broadened, what the 10% can fund, which actually helps us um expand beyond our previous limits, right?

Before it was, as you heard from Megan, convention centers, uh, it was like public off-street parking related street work.

Um, and that was it.

It was very constricted.

Um, and now we have a wider range of tourism-related economic development projects, um, as Megan mentioned, theaters, arts, venues, and even sports facilities.

Um, and as you all know, we are here today because we don't actually have a policy that outlines a formal funding framework or structure for TOT.

Um, if you have a former mayor that wants to champion something or an ex-mayor, right?

It's kind of like the political will they count their votes, but I think it's important for mayor and council to have agreed upon framework because this is really about a city as a whole.

And so I'm really glad that we're here to have a conversation to have a to have clearer guidelines and to have a framework.

And a quote a question I often think about and in conversations with community members and even those that care deeply about um, you know, tourism is um a question I often think about is which should come first?

Supporting projects that can fill in hotels right now, or invest in broader economic engines that can drive new hotels and long-term growth and community benefit.

And I think the answer is both, right?

It doesn't have to be separate.

Um, I often think about Del Paso in District 2, the underinvestment in Councilmember Dickinson's um district.

I think about the Taco Plaza in district three or um Talamantes wanting to really have a revitalized um economic engine on the waterfront.

Um I think about my own district, MetaView, which was a conversation starter for why we are here today and other parts of our city that has been underserved and how do we strengthen these neighborhoods.

I don't think that those things are competing, but they're actually part of the larger picture.

I know that, you know, a year or two years ago, there was a brief conversation of that is that these dollars are not meant to use for underserved communities and just generating TOT, but I don't see those things as separate.

I see it as the whole entire picture.

Um, and so, yes, I absolutely agree that every dollar we invest should get should get more in return, right?

That we should maximize the most return.

Uh, but I will also say that if we only invest TOT in downtown, uh, there uh will not be those opportunities in other parts of the city.

Um, and I think it's important to also, as we're talking about this framework about diversifying our TOT project, because we heard from Mike Tessa and other community members about the large return on youth sport because during the pandemic, uh, the only thing that actually kept us generating TOT was actually youth sports.

It was like sports.

Everything else, right?

Restaurants were closed, right?

So I think also diversifying our projects are is really important as well.

Um so I'm glad that we're here.

And so uh I know the staff is uh seeking direction, and so here are some of my recommendations that I like to put forth.

Um, some of them also echo uh vice mayor Talamantes as well.

I think one, I think establishing two, five ten-year guiding tracks is really important.

Um, and also looking, so that's the first piece.

The second is completing a five-year review of prior TOT investment and performance.

I want to see the dollars that we have invested prior, um, and and to see what their performance are.

Um, you've already mentioned this, Megan, that we will have annual presentations, so that's part of it, but I think both Talamantes and I would like an annual reporting quarterly on revenue funded projects and return on investments.

I think that's key.

If it's not a you know a quarterly presentation, I think whether that's on consent so that as council members we can see these projects is really important.

And then my fourth uh fourth piece is uh really ensuring equitable distribution that applies through a racial equity lens.

That's really key.

Um, but that doesn't have to be separate.

So it's applying the racial equity lens, but also support the broader tourism economy while maximizing return on investment through measurable TOT projects.

And happy to send these over to you too, Megan, as well.

I know that uh Vice Mayor Talamantes and I was working on a proposal to submit, but I don't think we ever submit it.

So I'm happy to send you the language as well so that you could um take that based on the conversation tonight.

Uh, the other piece is also setting a bond capacity threshold for safeguard, a little bit very similar to the fund reserve policy, but I think it's really important that we set some kind of bond capacity threshold safeguard.

I was talking to our treasurer, and what we don't want happening is that we just milk it, right?

Uh, we want to be able to think through the safeguards as well.

Um, and the last piece um we heard from our union and labor partners is ensuring that we have workers and community input as we move forward on TOT projects and as we're having conversations about it, not just bringing it forth and saying, Oh, well, come to the chambers and make your public comment, but be very intentional about the ways in which we are including community and neighborhoods in the process of selecting TOT projects.

And so those are all my recommendations, and happy to also uh email that directly to you as well.

Um, but again, I'm really thrilled that we're having this conversation, um, and finally we could have a unified policy around the ways in which we allocate TOT funding.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Councilmember Maple.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um, and thank you very much for the presentation.

Um, and for me, just learning up, it's been the last, you know, four years of learning understanding and learning about what it can and can't be used for, and you know, every new idea that comes forth that someone's like, hey, we can use TOT for this, and we realize that we can't.

Um so I think it's it's it's good.

Um, I also really want to uplift and appreciate Vice Mayor Telemantes and Council Mayor Bang for their steadfast efforts to make this a priority because I think it's a very important conversation that we have.

We should have a coordinated framework.

Um, and as I wrote out my notes earlier, I realized that every box was checked by everything that both uh the vice mayor and counselor bang said.

Um so I won't belabor that.

I agree with everything.

Um, I want to say, especially in that we have an equity lens and that we make sure that we're finding ways that we can apply it to places outside of the downtown core.

I think that should go without saying because there's a lot that can bring tourism to a city, and we should be creative about what that is.

Um the downtown court is our economic engine, that should be a priority for us without a doubt.

And I think most of us, if not all of us, believe that.

Um, but that doesn't exclude the the ways that we can also increase that tourism and have opportunities in other places in the city.

I think that's really important.

I'm sure we'll hear some some great ideas from other members on here.

Um and I just also think that it's it's so important that we're we're having what may seem like separate conversations at times.

So, one in September, we made um economic development our number one priority as a city, as we as we set our priorities.

Uh, and then we said, hey, we really need to set an economic development strategy, which I know our city manager is working on.

Um, and so I just want to make sure that everything that we do on this front, while it is specific to TOT dollars is also very much aligned with the work that we are doing on our economic development strategy so that we're not so we're all rowing in the same direction no matter what we're doing.

Um but just yeah, really appreciate that we're finally here for this conversation.

I want to appreciate uh the two members who've uh thought to make this happen.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Kaplan.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um, thank you, Megan, for the presentation.

I think it's really helpful when you look at the presentation, the things that we talk about.

You've pretty much already laid out, so I just want to confirm a couple of things where you said I think it's important when we say how we make decisions that we really create a policy that is also based off of a data-driven model because everything we talk about and everything we want in the city also has an emotional, you know, draw to it.

And I think sometimes the emotions might override the rationality of what is what is best for the city and how do we make decisions.

So to the extent that you can quantify arts is hard to quantify, but arts pulls in that motion that we also know, and when you talk about the Crocker Art Museum, pulls in the tourism, you know, and what does it look like around that?

So I am fully supportive that we create a priorities plan, and I also want to echo some of my colleagues where it's the short, medium, and long term, but also I think what we're missing is the long term includes the debt financing.

So that's like your mortgage on your house.

We actually have to go out 30, 40 years.

What does that look like?

Um, because when we also look at short-term and long-term investing, what is the life of the project that we are creating?

What if at some point aftershock goes away?

What does that look like?

Um, and how do we replace it?

Aftershock will always be here.

I know it, um, just using that as an example, seeing if anybody's awake.

Um I like where you put on your slide that we should have priorities by category, because you know, you can't necessarily look at arts the same way you look at sports.

You know, sports can be an art form, but going to Crocker Art Museum versus a soccer game, two different things, and and what does that look like?

So it's almost as if we talk about equity investment among categories, and I know that we talk about equity investment and underserved areas, but let me talk about this.

North Natomas has been the one to build the hotels.

What about equity investment of areas that have the hotels also are the ones that are looked at and data is included of where do we invest because that might be more shovel ready of things that are put there and invested in those areas will actually increase the amount of hotel stays faster.

So I think when we look at equity, it's not just the areas, but also the areas that have the hotel rooms that can invest, because in my you know, vision of Sacramento, you go from old SAC all the way up to the convention center, and that could be like an investment of bourbon street of where it is safe and walkable, and you have the small shops and the restaurants and you have the art and the culture that everything is included, because when you have a strong and safe core, that's going to encourage more convention center bookings, more hotel stays, people coming because they're gonna get every part of TOT in one area.

So I know we talk about the greater city, but we also have to remember a strong core is the driver of people coming and tourism.

So we do have to make sure we have that strong core.

I want to make sure one of the things I think we have to look at when we're talking about this, I call it shovel ready.

When we talk about our plans, what can be built now and has that return on investment while we balance the build now versus a long-term.

Um, I think as we're planning that out, there has to be a way of how we measure what the impact is of doing something short term right now and investing versus the long-term investment.

And I want to make sure overarching and everything that we do that public participation is part of this, and and how we look at it.

So I think you spelled it out pretty pretty succinctly in your uh TOT priorities by category evaluation review process and procedures, and that it's something that council has a chance when we do the annual presentation.

Almost asking ourselves, are these priorities the same?

Because I think sometimes we get too locked in, and 10 years down the road, we've got the same priorities, but in reality, it's not what matches where we need to go or the return on investment isn't the same.

So almost every year asking us that same question is this right, is this how we're supposed to do it?

Is there anything that we need to change?

But I look forward to creating those those policy and parameters and appreciate all the work that you and your team and visit Sacramento and everybody else put in.

Appreciate it.

And mayor, I'm happy to move the motion to this.

I'll second that.

Council member Dickinson.

Thanks, Mayor.

Uh I have uh a couple of questions and a couple of comments.

Uh I I wondered uh stimulated by some comments uh uh made to me about this item coming up tonight and uh thinking about uh what uh Amr Dean had had to say.

People who work uh in uh the hospitality uh business obviously also need to have a place to live.

That that made me wonder whether uh it would be considered eligible to uh um support or finance housing with with some of this money.

And I don't know if that's uh ultimately a legal question uh or not, but I but so let me just ask it ask it this way rather than make it a legal question.

Has that has that been something that anybody has suggested or thought about up to this point, Megan?

Um certainly in some other places, right?

You look at the Tahoe where that you know, like you've got a really big uh tourism infrastructure here.

We've been pretty narrow in terms of the interpretations that we receive today in terms of the use of the funds.

Um so I think that's something that uh could potentially be looked at with city attorney's office.

I would imagine that we'll have to take a lot of this through because what I shared was an overall framing device for how we think about tourism and how we're building the destination overall, recognizing that too TOT is sort of one piece of that, but that um we likely need to actually go back then as we're developing the specific criteria and saying what is actually eligible for these things in relationship to the code, because we might choose to do other things.

So, for example, um, you know, we I talked a little bit about cultural districts.

This is aligned uh council member maple with um what is in the priorities plan, it's it's there for a reason because we know that those those districts as they develop, we're not using TOT dollars for that.

We're using innovation and growth fund dollars because we know that that opens up from an equity perspective, those kinds of things.

So we've we've maneuvered in in the past with some of these uses was like what's eligible based on what the code is, and then try to preserve in other places some of that capacity so that we can continue some of that work.

So certainly something that we can evaluate with the city attorney's office as a part of the whole examination to be sure, and I'll make a note of it.

Well, I I think it's worthy of uh consideration.

So uh maybe as you go through the process of developing exactly what the parameters are of acceptable uses of the money you can you can evaluate that.

Did you want to offer?

I could I know that economic development is rather broad, but the the Lake Tahoe example is really um insightful because that is uh economic development, but because of the need for workers to live there.

So we can work on something like that to answer the question for you.

Thank you.

That's one question.

Don't go over though.

Because my second question, uh I want to I want to follow up a little bit on your uh inclusion of of uh the statistic of for 40% of tourism now is is cultural tourism.

And um I I'm curious about how you think about that in terms of of Sacramento, other places uh that I've been to offer food tours, um cultural historic tours, things of that kind, but I'm I'm curious.

Do you do you have some uh contemplation of what that would consist of in your mind?

I do, I do have those things.

I tried to like dial it back just to focus on you know, just some framing for us to be able to consider.

But you know, I mentioned tower, tower records is included in you know, there's a specific image of you know the tower cafe and that whole district there, right?

Um it's a recognition of the past, and people really do connect to that.

People today, others.

It's one of the things that when I was doing the work in Cleveland and growing up where I did that the idea of the asset-based approach to community development, that was years of me working with community development professionals in Cleveland that would say like you're looking to your assets in terms of how you grow, and so you think about like what is the Sacramento story, and ultimately how has it manifested and what do we do with that?

So, for example, we you know, we're we just announced we've hired a new city historian to replace uh Marcia Iman, who was here for a long time.

We drew uh Ty Smith, who is the uh current and soon to be ours, uh current railroad museum director, and and he was the one who noted and and Marcia had also noted this too that Sacramento history is world history, and that we shouldn't um minimize that within the context of a story that we have to tell because things happened here, and so for us, as we think about you know, we have a little museum sitting at the end of Old Sacramento next to the railroad museum that isn't sufficient, and we have tons of tons of things sitting in McClellan in storage that the world wants to see.

We have McClatchy Foundation collection.

So I think some of that tells us those are things that we can build into.

And when we've been talking with the Sacramento History Alliance, the aim was like let's co-locate the museum with the archives together in a single operation, and that could be an iconic site, and you could imagine because we have the Tower Records collection, that that's a draw or an attraction for those kinds of things.

So it I'm using that as an example because it's those stories that we have that I think are really significant for helping to shape and help other people understand Sacramento's story in a global context.

But you know, take your old city cemetery.

I mean it's one of the first things that I visited when I came here, and I mean, like that's Sacramento's that's like City Sacramento story dating back, right?

Like I even discovered a mausoleum there that I am apparently in some way connected to in terms of four people.

Like, so that story, you know, is there?

How are we using that?

How are we activating those spaces?

In New Orleans, they do that.

You can go on tours.

You know, I went to cemetery tour, it's amazing.

It's uh insights into what culture is.

I don't think, you know, when we um we talk about culture, culture is economic infrastructure.

I used that South Korean example for a real reason because people tie to that, like that is that is what's growing worldwide.

So, how do we think about that within the context of our investments and not just on COT, and I want to say that again because I think their planning decisions we make, Councilmember Kaplan noted the K Street corridor, it is a critical corridor.

The whole thing from the convention and performing arts district on down to DOCO and into Old Sac.

That is like our corridor, and there's a lot of people that don't drive people down that corridor because of the way it looks right now, and our planning decisions shape what that experience looks like.

If you have offices on the main floor of that corridor, then it's dark when people are walking through in comparison to saying, hey, we're gonna prioritize or do what they did in San Francisco with their um fake and survivor program, Council Member Maple and I were there for that, where we said we're gonna take these spaces and we're gonna activate them with creative activity and balance the kind of activity that's there, right?

Not just bars.

It's important to have that.

What do our districts look like?

Are they heavily weighted in that direction?

When you look at Gen Z, their consumption patterns of alcohol look very different, and they're looking for different kinds of things.

So I feel like the conversation to be had, there's a wider conversation to be had about this overall, but essentially it's how we align.

How are how do our decisions align um across each of the investments that we're making?

How is it connected?

Um, and so I I hope to continue that conversation with you all and use this opportunity.

I mean, I think this is the first time we've ever been able to have this conversation.

I am excited about it too, because I think there's a lot of opportunity and possibility in Sacramento.

It's what drew me here and what keeps me here.

So I heard you uh uh uh um taking cultural tourism and connecting it to historic tourism, which is certainly a fair thing to do.

I do um I do think that as you develop this uh approach of where you think our priorities ought to be that we're defining what is cultural tourism, because that's if I understand it correctly, that's the fastest growing part of the tourism market, maybe outside of conventions, I don't know.

Um, but but uh for visitors not associated with a convention or some reason uh like that to come to a place like Sacramento or other cities or regions to cultural tourism is what seems to be growing.

So I think that's just an area to be uh very conscious of uh and intentional about as we're planning.

It just it struck me as you were talking about this that the council member pluckybaum and I have gotten together with folks from the history museum from the from the state to talk to talk about a history trail and uh in um downtown, but um it could be a lot more than that uh put potentially uh and so um it's an idea I've I've I've had for a lot of years on executed, but I but I think it's the kind of thing that speaks to bringing out the the history, but does it actually bring out the culture as well?

And I I see how you're connecting on it.

Uh so that's why I think that that um being very intentional about it is important in in our thinking of of how we're approaching this.

The um uh the third thing I wanted to uh raise actually uh ties to a little bit to just what I said, it's it's the state of California.

And uh as I think it's been noted, we obviously we're that we're the state capital uh uh of the state uh which brings uh uh thousand tens of thousands of visitors uh in and of itself.

Um I don't know if this is maybe maybe uh former assembly member McCarty has more recent numbers than I do.

When I was in the assembly, there were there were half a million uh that excuse me, there were a million people a year who visited the state capital, there were half a million a year that visited the railroad museum.

There were only uh about if I can remember the numbers, 40,000 that went to the old governor's mansion, and even smaller number that that went to the Stanford Mansion.

And I I tried to encourage state parks to look at those assets and do much more in terms of promotion.

If we get a million people to the state capital, then what else are they seeing in Sacramento?

I mean, a lot of them are admittedly there's their students, they're coming to see the capital, they're going back to home, wherever that that might be.

But there are a lot of people who visit the Capitol because it's the capital.

And so they they are, and we've all seen them, but what else are they doing?

Uh, and how do we take advantage of that?

Is there a way I uh I know you work with your state counterparts, state parks and the like, but I'm curious if you could talk a little bit more about how working with the state of California fits into the framework of what of what we're talking about tonight, if if you think it does at all.

I mean, those are they they have a huge number of of sites and museums, and I think John Frazier is an amazing partner in the work, even as we think about what happens within with um with old Sacramento and what is that experience look like now, and what do people expect?

Um there's a lot of things that we can't do in old Sacramento from a preservation perspective, but there are lots of things that we could do, uh, you know, from like digital representations and and you know, projections and those kinds of things is that activation, so how do we think about it?

I think a couple of things uh to share.

One is um that there's been folks in Sacramento who've shared with me this concept of the museum mile, which stretches.

I I would argue that it begins with the Latino Center of Art and Culture on Front Street, continues with the California Auto Museum, goes down to the Crocker into Old SAC, the Railroad Museum, and whatnot, but how do we think about either number one, and this is where alignment matters planning for that?

What is the experience look like?

How does planning impact that?

I got an opportunity to speak to the planning academy, and this is one of the things that I brought up.

How do we plan for what that experience looks like from a consumer, you know, from a visitor perspective or or whatnot?

That has implications, and it also has implications for how we brand and how we market that council member Plucky Baum has brought up, like what would a museum pass look like across all of those things, and so how are we beginning to think about that work?

The other thing that I think is unique about Sacramento.

I mean, when you think uh we're just doing a year-long celebration of the Royal Chicano Air Force, and I don't know if any of you have been to any of the exhibitions.

Uh the Crocker, I think still has their museum or their exhibition up, but that is something that is unique to unique to Sacramento specifically, and very much in like rooted in like, hey, this is this is civic progress combined with art and mobilization and organizing and all of that stuff, and that's just something that is really very special, and yet we have no place in Sacramento on an ongoing basis to be able to experience that.

And you know, this Smithsonian is collecting RCAF work.

We have a few murals, as we know, parking garage, South Side Park, uh in the tunnel, those are things, as well as um, you know, so there's those those kind of special things like even take an art hotel or an art street and people with aspirations more broadly, you know, to create those immersive experiences.

That was well before its time, right?

Now immersive experiences are all over the place.

You have things like Meow Wolf and Denver and Santa Fe and etc.

But we had those roots here, but what access to capital do they have?

What access to space do they have?

I think it's a critical question, and I think that connects directly out to your question about the state, because the state has an enormous amount of property, whatever they're doing in terms of the work with you know, uh SAC state and the move downtown, what does that mean, or how does that create opportunities for other state properties, uh, you know, either through CADA or in other ways to be able to enable access to arts and culture on an ongoing basis?

Because to be honest, the reality is most of those folks that are doing that work, they're like either they get pushed out because of the market or they get they get the luxury of being able to go into a space just before it's gonna come down, and that was the case with art hotels.

So, what are we doing as a city if that's all we're doing is enabling spaces for arts and cultural people in the short term to make way for whatever comes next, what does that look like?

And so the state could be, I think, an important partner in making some of that possible and helping us to think also about how do we help them finance those work, that work because I know that the folks who started M5 Arts, you know, Sean and Frankie have ideas about something that could be an economic engine and something that's unique to Sacramento.

So I think the point is that we do have the resources, we should be connecting all of the dots.

We have a little team to do this work, but there's that's what I mean in terms of there's so much possibility.

But if we do it right, connect the dots and establish these things as priorities, short, midterm, and long term, even on that angle, I think it would be enormously valuable for us as Sacramento.

Yeah, that's you know, I mean that there's there may be a multiplier effect there that that could be very beneficial, frankly, both to the state and and to the city is as well.

But I also think about your comment about people getting getting pushed out as areas redevelopment and you know part of part of our thinking maybe where's the next best place for the activity if it's if it's going that uh in this case may be uh the arts performing visual otherwise that that might get displaced from a from some places developing where is the where is the place that it makes sense both for audiences, visitors, as well as uh performers and and artists, workers, uh uh I've got a thought on that, but uh I'll I'll share that another time.

But I I think it does suggest that looking out over the horizon uh certainly makes sense as part of part of this.

There were just um thanks, those were the questions I had.

Uh you know, I think um with respect to to uh TOT that the old adage of keeping keeping your eye on the ball applies, and and we can't do everything for everybody with the funding here.

So uh from my point of view, uh it's it's going to be critical to be um strategic in our investments looking looking uh both at uh what produces even more uh return on investment, more transcendent occupancy tax revenue, but also also strengthens uh our own uh communities and uh you know uh the the thought uh passed through my mind as we were going through this discussion of when we built Rayleigh Field, we didn't do it to attract tourists, we did we did it for people who live here in Sacramento, but we have attracted tourists because people come to watch baseball from all over the world.

Uh and and so you know, in that case, the the secondary benefit was to attracting um visitors.

But I think as we as we think about what when we make attracting visitors, our first order of uh consideration at the same time we need to be mindful of what also strengthens our our community uh uh overall and um and our neighborhoods and uh in particular in that in that process.

Thanks, Mayor.

Thank you.

Councilmember Pluckybaugh.

Thank you, Mayor.

Uh obviously economic development is our number one priority, and making those investments is how we grow our economy to fund all the important work we do.

I do want to make one uh additional point though, which is that the cultural economy is much much more than just the central city and our commercial corridors are great opportunities for investment, as are the neighborhoods around our universities and our hospitals.

Uh, you know, we've benefited greatly from um you know all the opportunities we have from festivals and uh sports activities, both youth and professional.

Um we have tremendous opportunity from uh film and television, much of which were uh discussed earlier.

I had the opportunity earlier this year to see a taping of diners drive-ins and dives.

Uh you know, a small shoot like that generates a tremendous amount of uh economic benefit for the for the region in a in a pretty short amount of time.

I think you know, making sure that we continue to fund those um programs that provide those types of uh opportunities through matching funds and other incentives is gonna be an important part of this discussion.

But there are a few things our city uniquely excels at.

But arts and entertainment, we have tremendously high quality and and diverse opportunities for both uh, you know, um uh performing arts and uh museums, uh a tremendous amount of uh both diversity in that space and uh and opportunity at a reasonable price, but we also have unique filming locations, and that our housing stock is uh kind of looks like everywhere everywhere, Bill.

And so that there is an opportunity for us to to capture uh you know, uh a tremendous amount of investment from uh traveling um, you know, from uh films and and television uh opportunities seeking uh a place to make their to make their art.

But the one thing I would really like us to lean in on, and I think uh we are already as evidenced by uh you know all the hoteliers and service workers that are here tonight is hospitality.

We if we make the brand of Sacramento even more than uh city of trees and farm to fork.

If we make Sacramento the most welcoming city in this country, I think we will just continue to yield benefit down the road.

This needs to be a welcoming and comfortable place for guests, a place where people feel valued and cared for, a place that uh everyone feels like there's attention that's paid to them, and that they're that someone is anticipating their needs and providing a fl a friendly atmosphere.

When all of us go to uh other cities and have you know enjoyable experiences, a lot of it is about the ease at which we're able to get around.

If it's a if it's a walkable environment, if it's a place that uh has what we're looking for in a in a way that we can get to uh maybe not frictionless, but not at least not high friction.

And that is the vision for this the city and this region that I think will yield us the most benefit uh down the road is to lean into our strengths, focus on the things that we do really well food, arts and entertainment, and hospitality.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Councilmember Jennings.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um, tell you a couple things I've heard so far, because I've been listening to all the folks from the audience as well as the presenters, and I want to thank Mike and Megan for an incredible presentation.

But the things I've heard so far are think big to grow the largest returns, a commitment to Sacramento's growth.

And then we just heard about making Sacramento a destination.

All about all this is about growth.

Um, so in order to do that, I put down a couple of things that were negatives.

Sacramento doesn't have enough field space.

And because Sacramento doesn't have enough fill space, we really can't grow in the manner in which we need to grow.

So that that plan of five year, seven-year, ten year, I just added some numbers into it just to make sure that every three years we get a plan.

So I have a two or five or seven or ten-year plan just to take a look at it so we don't miss any anything in the very beginning, where all ideas matter.

Every person's idea matters that comes to the table.

I remember when I first looked at DOCO and uh bringing an arena downtown as opposed to the one we had in Natomas, and I thought it was the craziest idea ever until it wasn't.

And now that I go to all the games and I see what happens in Sacramento, you know.

If if I if I had taken my idea and put it taking it off the table, we would not have a DOCO in downtown.

And so I'm glad nobody listened to me then.

I'm hoping you listen to me now.

So, um all ideas matter, and I want to hear them all.

I want to make sure that we have a process that we get out to all the community.

I love everyone that's in this room, and everybody that I've heard, even my colleagues, but I want to hear my district.

I want to hear my city, I want to hear my region, I want to hear the ideas, and I want to find a way to get out there and listen to all those ideas so we know that what we're doing is what also the people want for this region as well.

So I think all the rest of the ideas are tied up in one of those B Hags, those big hairy, audacious goals that I just gave you.

But um, I want to make sure that all ideas matter, we do have a plan because failure to plan is planning to fail.

We don't want that.

Um, we want to make sure that we are a city of destination, that everyone will come to, and this becomes a place where we can grow and meet our full potential and make sure that we serve all neighborhoods, all neighborhoods.

Nobody gets left behind.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Councilmember Guerra.

Uh thank you, Mayor.

First of all, let me just say I support the motion moving forward, and I think it's important that we have uh a thought-out plan that evaluates success.

And bottom line, this has to be seen as an opportunity fund.

It cannot be an individual project fund, can't be a council priority slush fund.

It can't be everything to everyone, as Councilmember Dickinson just mentioned.

Uh, and we have to look at uh and how we can maximize the best uh the best uh return on tourism uh on this, because the the fact is our sacrament economy is in a fragile economy, and uh and while we're back in into maximum, you know, tourism uh levels and the hotels are full when aftershock is here.

Um, um it uh in any minute we can immediately go back and face the same issues.

And so I'd like to make sure that when we're looking at this, that the projects are transformative, that they are significant and really driving and growing that increased hotel uh uh construction, because the more hotel rooms we build, the more TOT we have for the future.

Not only to replace the current projects, but for the future, and that in itself will allow us to fund the art pieces, all the things that we want-the community spaces, the projects.

I would love to have extra revenue to support the Tet Festival and to be able to do what we used to do on Stockton Boulevard or just block the whole boulevard to do that.

But that is an expensive uh uh proposition and opportunity to do, and if we can't figure out how to uh grow our TOT dollars significantly, we will never be able to do the things.

We will just be uh adding little bits and pieces here and there to support the the efforts that we have now.

So it has to be transformative.

Now, we know that there's been a lot of work done.

I want to recognize Visit Sacramento for a lot of the research that they've done already on where there are areas of opportunity, uh and to the point that they've said there are benefits when we look at things like flat fields and sports areas because it's an asset that's returned back to the community.

Councilmember Jennings and I know the challenges when when we have our sports fighting over, you know, soccer fields.

Yeah, I mean the fact that that during the middle of the week, those are a challenge, you know.

Uh yet we know already, and then there's enough.

You knew you named the institute that when you look at family tourism, they spend 39% more than non-family tourism.

Parents will do some crazy things for their kids, you know.

They'll travel, and I know this because I'll travel to San Jose for three hours for my kid to basically compete for a 20-minute, you know, uh competition.

And uh, and we will spend two nights getting ready to be seeing where we're placed.

Uh and in that time frame, we've spent the two nights at the hotel, three restaurants, and visit an aquarium or whatever, but you know, exact and plus the gas, unfortunately, you know.

Uh but my point is uh rather than having to go there, our community can stay here, but also reap the benefits of addressing a shortage that we have.

So I and I feel comfortable that this process will bear itself out, you know, what can uh do that more.

But if we try to do everything, if we spread this to every little project, then we will have nothing that's transformative.

And let me just say, if we don't really think about how important it is for more hotel construction, when we fill up for aftershock, the question about supply and demand, we actually make it impossible for families who can't afford those high prices to come and visit us during those weekends.

Because at some point, you know, the hotels all of a sudden, like you have to go down to Lodi or or Woodland to get a hotel to come visit during those weekends when we're uh completely booked up.

So the more hotels that we can and with the projects that we do that can help us construct more hotels, it makes it also that the supply and demand becomes much more manageable and realistic, so that any weekend, as Council Member Plucky Baum mentioned, any weekend is a welcoming weekend for anyone to visit Sacramento.

That needs to be how we look at transformative, how we use these limited dollars.

Because if we use up the credit card all at once, then there's not going to be any room for any significant change.

So I I'm I'm gonna support the motion.

Uh I support this effort.

I do think that there is a lot of work already done uh on some of this, but it's important to have that transparency.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Okay, one more comment.

Uh Councilmember Pluckybaum, I think made a really good point on being a welcoming city.

Uh I guess maybe part of the direction can be for us to work with our city uh clerk's office to see how we can leverage our sister cities uh that we have throughout the world.

I mean, they're posted outside.

And I know that I went on a sister city uh trip recently and it just changed my perception of the city, of the state, and they just welcomed us so nicely that I'm like, okay, what can we do for our sister cities?

Because then they can go home and be advocates for us.

And so uh something to look at into and to work with our city clerk's office.

Thank you, Mayor.

And I forgot to mention that Visit Sacramento already has uh bienvenido Sacramento campaign, so which is welcome to Sacramento, you know.

So I appreciate their their uh, you know, uh early jump at at this at this effort to be a welcoming city.

Uh, we have a motion a second.

Just just some final thoughts here.

So um one of my overused phrases is is uh two things can be true.

Yes, and I hear two things I heard two things tonight that we like this idea, uh we want to be more focused and strategic and uh zero-in on projects that have greater ROI and set up this process.

Uh I heard that loud and clear, but I also heard there's a bunch of great projects in our districts across the city.

So yeah, that I have the same feeling.

I feel like when I was a kid, I, you know, I want my dad to go buy Christmas presents after Christmas, and he said you have sixty dollars to spend.

So we walked around and you knew how much you had to spend.

We didn't go walk around Target or seeers, whatever, for an hour and come back with a massive card of like five thousand dollars worth of stuff.

So I think that's the important thing that we're doing here today, is we're looking at all these ideas.

We're evaluating how much they cost, seeing why is everyone laughing over there.

Okay, and um, what's that?

Okay, yes.

I think we've all been in there.

Yeah, yeah.

So we would we just want to know that there's a bunch of amazing ideas.

They they're pitched to us in our district.

Um, and you know, you you could have this this idea that we could look at citywide, what we can do to make transformational impacts in areas across the city, um, but also keep the eye on the prize that this is one time shop, and you don't want to squander it and invest in stuff that doesn't get you more money to do more projects too.

So um it sounds like we have a an approach going forward, and so we look forward to this.

Just one um thing maybe want to clarify.

So this is this will be different than the parks programming guide and the transportation guide, in that our city staff are going to work with industry partners, you know, asking visit Sacramento for their board, the hotel association, others to be kind of technical advisors to look at these projects and evaluate them and give us the recommendations.

And I know you said an annual basis, but um I think that it could come to us uh more frequent than that because things change, projects change, um, you know, some project becomes less feasible because of the underlying analysis to see what it would cost to get it done, and also um the funding source changes too dramatically based upon the economy and what's happening in our city.

So um we love that.

Thank you to the hoteliers who are out here tonight.

We'd like to see more.

If you know anybody that wants to build a big new hotel in Sacramento, we have a great deal for you.

We'll we'll rebate you some of the money that you create for the future to to make it a win-win uh public-private partnership there.

So we're trying to expand that as well.

So with that, we have a motion and second.

All those in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

No zero abstentions.

Hearing none, item passes.

Thank you, Mayor.

I have uh 14 speakers for matters not on the agenda.

First is Ryan Masano, Diane Kisser, Sarah Dudley, Dr.

Goli Saba, Diana Cassidy.

Good evening.

Evening, um, I would like in the future, if it would be strongly considered to have the public speak before, so we don't have to sit and wait two hours listening to what I can politely call political bureaucrat functionaries.

You know, we our voice is the one that runs his city.

You are elected with less than 25% of the vote of the people of the city.

Twenty five less than twenty-five percent of the elected voters actually vote for you guys up there.

So you are not really the elected leaders of this city.

You're basically there because of the fairy tale world of the media and social media, but you just gotta be real about it.

Um the reason why there's such an explosive reaction to some of the things that I say is because the media and social media is promoting this fairy tale world that the average person is sucked into.

When you guys are on Facebook and YouTube and Twitter and all that stuff, which is all fake, it's there's bots and algorithms and shadow bans.

You won't find me on there because I'm not participating in a fake fairy tale world.

And I would encourage every American to get off at their earliest leisure.

So my website is MasanoNews.com.

For those who actually don't have conniption fits over the truth, unlike some people up there.

Um, that's a good place for you to go.

Masano news.com.

I want to remark that public officials who put the affairs of other nations before America shouldn't be in public office, especially when the other nation is the welfare state of Israel, which is a parasite living off of leeching on the American taxpayer.

We keep hearing about equity, diversity, and inclusion.

This is simply code for a termite attack on the white majority.

When we hear repeated terms about underserved communities, we are hearing the same language that was used to murder 100 million under communism.

Where mobs were encouraged to viciously slaughter tens of millions of people.

So I would keep that in mind before we keep going on with this language.

Next speaker is Diane Kisser, and I have a total of twenty thirty-five speakers.

Thank you.

My name is Diane Kaiser, and I would like to give you a belated thank you for your vote last week, seven to two vote to recommend continued funding for the heart senior center.

And those of us that were here last week, and we're here this week, and we'll be here next week, would really like to see this uh culminate into something very positive, and it looks like it's on the way.

You know, the Heart Senior Center is not only a cornerstone, it's also a touchstone for this community.

And it's really quite amazing what it does.

Not only does it give resources and direct services and classes, but there are people who go there to get the information for Social Security and Medicare.

This is where they get it.

So again, thank you so much for your vote, and we look forward to the Heart Center continuing to do as much as they do today.

And again, our thanks.

Speaker is Sarah Dudley and Goli Saba, then Diana Cassidy.

Thank you for acknowledging Jewish American Heritage Month, where you recognize the tremendous contributions of the Jewish community that it made they've made to Sacramento since the city's inception.

However, the Jewish community, after giving so much, needs the city to get back to it with accountability and action.

For the California DOJ 2004 hate crime report, the most recent hate crimes against Jewish people are 75% of all religiously motivated hate crimes, despite Jewish people being just two percent of the population with 310 reported events with 382 victims.

Welcome news for Sacramento's Jewish community is at least the federal government is acknowledging the scourge at the local level.

Leo Tyrell, who's from California, just announced a 15-city nationwide tour to specifically address anti-Semitism in our cities.

The DOJ has come to San Francisco and Los Angeles, and we are urging him to come to Sacramento to discuss Sacramento DATN Ho is seeking higher office despite failing miserably to address or correct his office's failure to prosecute and undercharging anti-Semitic hate crimes.

Actions of the Sacramento City Council, how the Muslim Brotherhood, through its political armed care, was able to carpet bomb California with anti-Semitic city resolutions, including the March 2024 resolution, which passed this body six to one.

The hearing was an eight-hour resource-wasting debacle and orgy of anti-Semitic hate, where numerous Jewish attendees had their lives threatened, myself included.

Where hostile mass protesters unlawfully disrupted the meeting but faced no consequences, among other procedural and legal regularities.

Sacramento has just one Jewish city council member representing our interests, and she's being campaigned against by our own mayor.

How I witnessed my friend beat nearly unconscious on J Street by anti-Semitic protesters, but had to beg the police, this council and the DA to even investigate it as a hate crime, much less prosecute.

The Sacramento City Council can and should reverse course by conducting a full audit of how the ceasefire resolution was drafted, proposed, and passed, rescinding that resolution and proactively reaching out to the Jewish community directly, not through self-described leaders, but directly to constituents and holding our police and local DAs fully accountable for investigating and prosecuting anti-Semitic hate crimes.

Thank you.

Next speaker is Goli Saba, Diana Cassidy.

Good evening, uh Mayor and Councilmember and uh City Manager Smith.

My name is Goli Saba and I'm a volunteer with the Sacramento Climate Coalition.

And I'm following up on our March 24th presentation to the council regarding the restoration of the funding for a Sacramento Public Bank viability and business plan in this year's budget.

Please hear the voices of so many engaged Sacramentans and act now to build this much needed public financial infrastructure.

We understand that we're in a deficit budget year, and that that is why we have researched and submitted a document with multiple options to fund RFQ.

Of all of the budget asks, this is one of the few items that when functioning can bring back millions and multiply our precious tax dollars to help fund our communities' needs.

Here are briefly two possible options.

One is using funds from the community reinvestment grant.

There's uh we would ask for 250,000 from the California Natural Resources Agency Community Reinvestment Project, which there's approximately 2.1 million still remaining in the grant.

The Sacramento Public Bank aligns with the stated goals of that grant.

Um the another option would be to allocate 200,000 from the Innovation and Growth Fund.

This currently holds a surplus of six million.

A Sacramento Public Bank would directly align with the stated goals of the city and of this fund.

Mayor and Councilmember Guerra, you were leaders in getting California Public Banking Bill AB 857 passed.

Since our city needs are only going to increase and federal assistance has been decreasing, please lay the foundation of building a public bank of Sacramento by introducing a motion and pass it to restore the RFQ for a business plan and viability study.

I'm also in support of the ranked choice voting because it enhances our democracy and can save over a million dollars each election cycle.

Thank you.

Speakers, Diana Cassidy, then Ann Marie Smith, then Tiffany Clark.

Um good evening, mayor, council, and city manager, who I'm sure will be back in just a minute.

I'm Diana Cassidy.

I'm with Third Act Sacramento.

We're a group of elders devoted to protecting the climate and democracy.

And like Dr.

Sava, I'm here to ask for your support for the public bank for the city of Sacramento.

Every once in a while, it might even be every generation, a solution can present itself that solves multiple problems.

And I think this is really why we're so excited about this public bank.

It can reduce fees for the city because we wouldn't be paying Chase or one of the big Wall Street banks, so it would save money for the city.

It would also allow the city to direct funds to a real need we have, which is affordable housing.

Like Dr.

Saba told you, the initial investigation, the report, the feasibility study would be a relatively small amount of money compared to the amount we would save.

And we would also be following really terrific leadership on this issue to keep local investments local and local money local.

You probably know that the East Bay region, San Francisco, and LA are much farther along with their public banks, and the state of North Dakota has had one for almost a hundred years.

So it's a common sense solution to a number of problems, and I appreciate your attention to this matter.

Thank you.

Anne Marie Smith, then Tiffany Clark, then Ellen Chapman.

Hi, I support the better ballot, but I'm here to talk about the public bank.

In fact, I'm gonna sing about it, and everybody is welcome to join, alright?

If you know the tune ICO ICO, you can do this.

The words are public bank, public bank today, and the key feature of public bank that we I want to sing about is that all the profits go to the people.

And I'm gonna shorten that all the profits to the peeps, public bank today.

So here's the first part: public, bank, public bank today.

Now your turn.

Public bank, public bank today, all the profits to the peeps for go public bank today.

All the profits to the peace to go public bank today.

And Marie, I've paused your timer.

Please address the city council, not the audience.

Thank you.

All the profits to the peeps we go public bank today, public bank, public bank today.

All the profits to the peeps we go public bank today, public bank, public bank today.

All the profits to the peeps we go, public bank today.

Thank you.

Next speaker is Tiffany Clark, Ellen Chapman, Josh Rosa.

Good evening, Mayor McCarty, Council Members, City Manager Smith, Sacramento Attorney Tiffany Clark here, urging you to put ranked choice voting on November's ballot.

I'm just one of a majority of Sacramento residents who support ranked choice voting for our city, according to a recent poll.

And my family members and I are just some of the many volunteers who have gathered signatures over the course of about six weeks, with incredible results so far.

Unfortunately, though, there is just not enough time left to translate all of the majority grassroots voter support out there into the signatures required to get the proposal on November's ballot.

But the good news is you can help by putting ranked choice voting on the ballot yourselves so that all voters can be heard on this.

I know most of you have already publicly indicated your support for ranked choice ranked choice voting, so I don't need to list all the benefits, but I'll just say that in addition to saving the city money, significant funds in the midst of ongoing budget deficits by consolidating two elections into one.

I'm excited about the prospect of our city setting an example for our state, which in turn can set an example for our country.

We've been told by those pushing for ranked choice voting at the state level that it could make a big difference to have this state's capital join the 52 other cities across the nation that, along with two states, have already adopted ranked choice voting.

And just imagine if we already had ranked choice voting at the state level.

In the governor's race, voters wouldn't be worrying as so many are right now about vote splitting and wasting their votes.

And so I do hope you seize this historic opportunity to make a real difference for our democracy by placing ranked choice voting on November's ballot.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next speakers, Ellen Chapman, Josh Rosa, Chris Jensen, Jim Biggs.

Hi, uh my name is Ellen Chapman, and I'm a Sacramento City resident and a member of the leadership team of Indivisible Sacramento.

Our organization is part of a large and diverse grassroots coalition, Better Ballot Sacramento that is working to place ranked choice voting for city elections on the November 2026 ballot.

The mission of Indivisible is to empower people to communicate with their elected officials and to engage more fully in the democratic process.

How we vote is at the very core of this process.

Sadly, our current voting system can be a disincentive to engagement.

In our current first past the post winner take all system, voting becomes a cynical strategic game where voters are forced to consider electability when voting in a primary, and where third-party candidates do not function as alternatives, but spoilers.

Ranked choice voting allows people to simply vote for the candidates who best represent their views without fear of benefiting the opposition.

Voters feel heard and they have buy-in to the system.

In short, they are engaged.

Ranked choice voting benefits voters in another way that should be of interest to this to this uh assembly.

Since it functions as an automatic runoff in one general election, it eliminates costly low turnout primaries.

It's a win for taxpayers and candidates alike and incentivizes participation on both ends.

What's not to love, and more to the point, why wait?

We are all we're asking today is that voters be allowed to decide for themselves this November if ranked choice voting is right for the people of Sacramento.

To do that, this body must act by putting it on the November ballot.

Your support for putting ranked choice voting on the ballot shows that you listen to and trust your constituents, an action they will not forget.

Thank you.

I have 28 more speakers.

Josh Rosa, Chris Jensen, James Beggs.

Okay.

Um thank you.

Mayor McCarty, thank you, Council members.

My name is Josh Rosa.

I'm a volunteer with Better Ballot Sacramento.

We're a coalition of local community organizations that all support adopting ranked choice voting for city council elections here in Sacramento.

Our coalition includes the League of Women Voters of Sacramento County, the Sacramento Central Labor Council, SEIU 1021, the Democratic Party of Sacramento County, as well as uh locally chartered Democratic clubs, including the Sacramento Latino Democratic Club, the Sacramento Stonewall Democratic Club, Sacramento County Young Democrats, Women Democrats of Sacramento County, and the Wellstone Democratic Club, and a whole bunch of others that I won't go on and on.

We also include civic leagues like Third Act Sacramento, the Black American Political Association, Indivisible Sacramento, who we've heard from tonight, and the Sacramento Area Black Caucus, as well as the Poor People's Campaign, as well as neighborhood associations that have all joined this coalition.

They understand what ranked choice voting is, and they're all asking this city council to please just give voters a choice, just let the voters choose whether to adopt ranked choice voting.

I won't go on and on about why ranked choice voting is good.

I've you've already heard a lot of that.

Um I will talk about its track record.

So ranked choice voting has been used by communities, local communities in the United States in more than 800 elections over the last 20 years.

And in those 800 elections, we've seen more than 40 million ballots cast by regular everyday voters who rank a ballot, and overwhelmingly, public opinion polls and other research shows that voters understand and prefer ranked choice voting.

So we ask you to let the voters have a choice.

Thank you so much.

I really appreciate your attention.

Next speakers, Chris Jensen, Jane Beggs, Andres Romas.

Mr.

Mayor, members of the council and city manager.

My name is Chris Jensen, and I am a resident of District 4.

Many of us yesterday spent time remembering those who have served this country and have now left us in defense of our democracy.

And I can't think of only a handful of things that could support democracy best than ranked choice voting.

I discovered ranked choice voting about 15 years ago when I was a community organizer and advocate for resources for independent living under the direction of Francis Grace Child, giving uh people with disabilities the right to live independently in the community.

I thought it was a good idea then.

I thought I think it's a good idea now.

When I discovered build better Sacramento, I got excited, and I discovered that Josh is one of my friends.

So I said, how can I help?

How can I help?

And so I'm gonna I'm volunteering with this and I'm standing in solidarity with them.

I think it's a great idea, and we're asking you to please that the voters decide by putting it on the ballot for November.

Um, so and with that, have a great evening, and thank you for your attention.

James Beggs, Andreas Ramos, CT Weber, LR Roberts.

Hello, Council, uh, Mr.

Mayor.

I'm a resident of District 4, and I'm out here supporting ranked choice voting.

I'm also a father, and ranked choice voting isn't about today.

It's about building a more resilient city and community.

We do this by increasing our democracy and by empowering our voters.

Structural change in democracy doesn't pay off in a year or two years.

It pays off over time when the citizens feel engaged.

When our community needs are net met, and Sacramento elections are more fair.

Sacramento has a unique primary system, and replacing this system with ranked choice voting will allow the city to reduce costs and increase voter empowerment.

This is a win-win for everyone.

Please vote to uh put this on the ballot and let Sacramento voters choose.

Thank you.

Andres, then LR Roberts, then Antonia.

Good evening, Mayor and Council.

Amanda Des Ramos, city resident, and here tonight in my capacity as chair of the Democratic Party of Sacramento County, to lend my voice in support of ranked choice voting and to urge the council to consider putting this measure on the ballot for November.

Similarly, won't go through all the policy reasons.

I do want to thank the council members for uh quite a I think a majority of support for this uh for this proposal and for all of you who have signed the measure.

Um, though I'm here in my capacity as chair of the Democratic Party, and we strongly support this, uh, and as Democrats, we care about little D democracy and ensuring all folks have access to the ballot box and to vote.

Uh, really, this is a nonpartisan or bipartisan issue because this is about ensuring everyone's ability to be represented and to have their vote matter uh in terms of who we decide and who we elect uh into public office.

Uh, but really what I want to focus on is on the urgency of the moment and why now and why it matters for this council to move this forward uh at this moment.

Uh this year, just about a month or so ago, the Supreme Court further further gutted the voting rights act.

And so we see voting rights under attack uh in this country because of what's happening at the Supreme Court, but also what's happening um in states throughout this country and what some folks are trying to do in California with a voting measure, a ballot measure this November trying to impose voter ID uh requirements.

We see these values under attack, but as Californians, we support voting rights.

We support our democracy, we support ensuring that it's easier for folks to vote and to ensure that underrepresented communities don't have to think strategically, but can actually vote their values.

And so this is what ranked choice voting allows.

Um, and so I think this is something that we have seen that you all have been champions of.

Our mayor uh in the assembly was a champion of voting rights with AB 759, uh, with being the legislative author of Prop 17, and this council with uh redistricting reforms and things like that.

Thank you for your comments.

Your time is complete.

Our next speaker is LR Roberts, then Antonia Lopez.

I'm LR Roberts, I'm in chapter in uh district five.

I'm also uh used to be on the Central Committee of Peace and Freedom Party.

Right now I go to those meetings because they're running me for office.

We had the fortunate uh uh happening of FLOCOF who came to our our uh central committee meeting and talked about uh these two issues ranked choice voting and public bank.

And we thought those were great ideas.

So Peace and Freedom Party is in favor of rank choice voting, saving money, and these days sounds like a wonderful idea, and also people are always saying, Well, I have to like he was saying, vote strategically.

This helps people vote how they really feel.

And the public banking, what I hadn't heard until Golden told me about it that it'd been going on in North Dakota for a hundred years.

That's wonderful.

I was real active against apartheid when I was in college in the 70s, and what the number of banks that had ties to South Africa and uh genocide, you know, I'd say don't bank at that bank, don't bank at that bank.

It's the idea of us having a bank.

I'm just so thrilled.

Please, please let's have these two things.

Thank you.

Thanks, speakers.

Antonia Lopez, Dr.

Kahir Raja, then Fred Harris.

Good evening.

My name is Antonia Lopez, and I'm one of the volunteers and recipients of the services of the Heart Center and the really uh older adult services for the whole city.

I want to, on behalf of our members, uh, manitos, the organization uh to which I'm the vice president, former president.

On behalf of us who come from all over the city, I think maybe one district is not represented.

Uh, we have 137 members.

We had 99 people attend the last Wednesday, and each week uh we see new people coming in, uh exploring it, trying it out, uh, some staying, and we continue to increase uh in in uh uh active membership.

We're the largest uh Spanish speaking operation in the city.

Uh it's be uh the Heart Center is a hub for us because of the welcome, not only the welcoming environment, but the resources that the leadership of the Heart Center has been able to facilitate for us.

But now what we want to do is talk about volunteers that the volunteers at the Heart Center are an unrecognized uh asset to the city.

We want to work with, we know that the extension of funding for this is a one-year uh operation.

We want to work with the city to see how the volunteers can be reframed, how we can be redefined.

We bring resources, we provide services, we do it for free, and it's time for the city to understand the kind of contribution that we make, not only to the operation of the program, but really to the health and well-being of adults all over the city.

We want to consider the heart center as a kind of model that can be used at the at Robertson at Pennell at Bell Coolidge, so that the kinds of uh services that volunteers bring at no cost.

We have experience, we have commitment, we have passion.

We we are doing this because it's good for us, but we also are doing it in the uh in the benefit of the city, and the city should really recognize the thank you for your comments.

Your time is complete.

Our next speaker is Dr.

Kahir Raja, then Fred Harris, then Tim Poole, all right.

Good evening, everybody.

Um thank you all for having me here.

I know many of you all here, so thank you.

Um I'm here I'm so I'm Dr.

Khadir Raja.

I'm the founder of the Miracle University Drop-out prevention movement in the city of Sacramento.

Um, really appreciate everybody's comments about helping to make the city a destination for everybody to come and visit.

Um, Sacramento has so much potential, and so I really appreciate the optimism in this room.

Um, really, I'm here today because uh I just want to validate the work of Ms.

Leah Schenck and Impact and Organization and the amazing work that MPAC does.

Um, we are a drop-off prevention movement, Miracle University.

Our focus is on ending the drop-off crisis of roughly 4,000 children who drop out of high school every year in Sacramento County.

Um our population of students that come to Miracle University are 90% foster care on probation, experiencing homelessness.

So our population is very much impacted by violence and a lot of the different issues that that affect urban communities.

Um we're very grateful for impact because many of our students they're not only impacted by violence, etc.

But there's no organization that really helps them to cope with the effects of violence, of trauma, of losing loved ones.

Um, and we have yet to see an organization that is a culture responsive, that is truly holistic, that truly takes it to the street, that truly meets with the families on the way that impact does.

Um we've had students.

I'll just give you an example.

Uh Dimani, she's a student from last year, went through a loss in her family, um, struggled through trauma, but she had impact to help Dimani.

Today, Dimani is graduating from Miracle University.

She's headed to college, and she is a true miracle.

But that would not be possible without the um the support of impact in helping Dimani overcome the effects of violence and and losing loved ones.

Um, and so we have so many examples of of students and youth that have benefited from impact.

Um, and so we love the work they do.

Thank you for your comments.

Your time is complete.

I have 20 more speakers.

Next is Fred Harris.

Tim Poole, Elizabeth Aranho.

Is Fred here?

I don't see Fred.

Tim Poole.

Tim Poole, thank you.

Elizabeth Aranho, then Richard Kena.

Amina Finas.

Hi, my name's Elizabeth.

I just wanted to come and make a statement.

Um I'm a victim of a lot of crimes.

And I haven't really received services that I'm supposed to receive, and I'm here to like say that and let you guys know because for example, like the district attorney's office.

I'm supposed to I'm I'm provided an advocate through the district attorney's office, and um they haven't really provided any services to me that they're required to, and I've made hundreds and hundreds of phone calls to try to receive those services that I'm entitled to, and um yeah, um just want to bring awareness to you guys as a victim of multiple crimes.

Um, so yeah, thank you.

Next speakers is Richard Pina, then Amina Finas, then Sue Combe.

Yes, um, see you, Kevin McCarty.

Also, I'm in district number three with Karina Telemantes and previously in Rick Jennings district number seven.

So I'm pleased to be here.

And I'm very encouraged with the makeup of the city council.

It's been a while since I've been here.

Uh, I think about 20 years ago, the makeup was totally different.

So this is very encouraging.

I'm pleased to see that.

Real quick, I want to talk about two issues.

Number one is the drug problems and the crime we have in South Nathomas.

Um there's needles found all over the place.

Uh there was a previous mayor, he he came out a few years ago and said, Hey, I'm gonna make it a priority.

I called his office, almost not interested, referred me to somebody else, which almost didn't want to do anything.

In fact, they didn't do anything.

And I also went to the uh Sacramento Police Department.

I went to my city council person at that time, which is prior to Karina.

No, no action, no action.

Needles are found on certain blocks over there on the ground.

I I like the idea of bringing people in from the outside, but we need to take care of some of the things here.

I think there are priority, which also lead to issues with some of the people identified that they're trying to reach out to the students and things of that nature.

That's number one.

The second issue I just wanted also uh talk about was with regard to uh the homelessness, because uh I had a problem with homelessness uh near my neighborhood because there's a levee there, and we had problems with too many homeless coming in there, and I got some good help from Eduardo from Talamante's office, and we were able to get those people out there and also it was a pouring over into Rick Jennings district, and they they move quick within about a couple weeks.

Thank you for your comments.

Your time is complete.

Our next speaker is Amina Finas, Suze Combe, Clyde Mosby.

Good evening, Mayor, Kevin McCarty, Vice Mayor, uh Karina Telemantes, and Council members and fellow community members.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak today and for your service to our city.

My name is Amina Phineas, and I'm a constituent of the 7th district, um, district seven, represented by council member Rick Jennings, and I'm a sacramental resident, a social work student at Sacramento State University, and an affordable housing advocate on behalf, and I'm here on behalf of impact um victims advocacy services.

I want to say that Miss Leah is uh a pillar of what healing justice means to our community.

I understand that the tourism and visit Sacramento were on tonight's agenda.

Um, they are very important, and I recognize them as an um as an investing in our city's growth and image, but I also want to ground us in something equally important public safety and the real experience of the community's most impacted by violence.

I recently experienced a violent crime within my own family involving a youth, and that moment, impact showed up immediately.

Grant boots on the ground, provided support and stability when it was really needed the most, and that response matters.

But we cannot stop there.

Violence is not random.

It is rooted in instability, housing insecurity, untreated trauma, and the lack of opportunity, especially for our Sacramento youth.

If we want a city that people want to visit, we must also invest in a city where residents also feel equally supported and safe.

That means funding both crisis response and prevention, affordable housing, mental health services, youth programs, and community-based support.

We cannot continue to meet our families only at the worst moments.

We have to invest in them before they get there.

I urge you to support the budget that reflects to support a budget that reflects both the vision of our city and the reality of its people.

Thank you.

Um Sue Combe and Clyde Mosby, then O'Shea Johnson.

Hello, um, it's Cologne.

Um, my name is Sue Cologne, and um I'm a victim of violent crime.

I was shot.

Um, I support impact, victims, advocacy um services, excuse me, and is a must.

It's important in the communities, especially where the victims live and their family members directly are affected.

Remembering the missing, helping the victims, doing court support, and so much more.

Impact services, um, include direct uh uh representation and meetings with law enforcement, school officials, media, interviews, press, um, um, services provided in the communities, organizing mobile voices for change, the public education campaigns to raise awareness about critical social issues such as sex trafficking, gun violence, and mental health, um, disparities.

If you or your family were impacted, would you want to know that your story matters, advocacy services for victims in the communities is so important, it matters the most.

Please remember impact, it's thriving programs help youth and members in the community impacted thrive, stay connected, heal, hope, so they could be those who visit the communities that you support.

Please consider how it matters when you make your decisions and how you're impacted by violence.

Thank you.

Next speaker is Clyde Mosby, Shay Johnson, and John Cornelius.

Hello, how are you doing?

Can you hear me?

Hello, are you doing?

First of all, I have to thank my pastor junior for allowing me this chance and get out of class.

My name is Claude Mosby, founder of Tough Talk, God Ministry Gospel, Voices to the Streets.

I stand before you today, not just as a speaker, but as a survivor of trauma, violence, addiction, incarceration, and solitary confinement.

Solitary confinement is designed to break the human spirit.

I know because I live through it.

I know what it feels like to sit alone with childhood trauma, pain, anger, and silence echoing through your mind.

But also know this people can change when somebody believes in them.

Too many young people in our communities are growing up surrounded by violence, homelessness, addiction, mental health struggles, and hopelessness.

Many gang members want to leave the streets, but they feel trapped because there's nothing waiting for them on the other side.

No guidance, no support, and no safe place to heal.

This is why Tough Talk and Impact exists.

We are building a trauma-informed movement focused on prevention, intervention, recovery, family reunification, peer support, and accountability.

We want to reach people before the funeral, before the prison sentence, before another mother loses her child, to the mayor, to city council, victim advocates, and community leaders.

We're asking for partnership, not pity.

We're asking for investment in healing, outreach, transportation, mentorship, health and support, and real opportunities for our youth because victims are not the only people harmed after violence.

Many victims are the children silently suffering before the violence ever begins.

I refuse to let pain define our future.

I refuse to let trauma silence our voices, and I refuse to give up on our youth.

Our stories matter, our voice matter, our communities matter.

Thank you.

Next speaker is Oshea Johnson, then John Cornelius.

Members of the council, how are you doing?

My name's O'Shea Johnson.

I am the director, I am manpower academy.

I've been up here a few times.

Um I'm here to support impact.

Um, so basically, um Leah Impact, we started off at the state fair, dealing with youngsters, fighting, things like that, and then it moved on.

Our relationship moved on to um an incident that was personal.

My niece actually was ran away, but she didn't know who she ran away with.

She ran away with a dude that was going to take her to Texas to sex trafficking.

So Leah, she came along, impact, and um, we actually busted them with the sheriffs in El Grove.

They were in Laguna, and they set up a sting.

It was like one o'clock in the morning, I think one or two in the morning.

Um, the young man, we ended up finding the young man and my niece, and we ended up finding another young lady that was with him, right?

Um, he tried to run, but the police had the area surrounded.

And um, so my point here is that impact is is is boots on the ground, right?

And then after that incident, when my niece, it didn't stop there.

She actually started giving her counseling, try to help her get a job.

Um, we also notified the police.

We went deeper than what they actually knew, because we realized that it was a young lady at the at the local school who was tricking the young girls to go with the dude.

So these girls was thinking like, oh, this is our boyfriend, but they're only like 13, 14 years old, he's 16, and they out, you know, running away, thinking that they finna go out of town, these guys is a rapper and all this stuff.

But we found all that out.

She dug so deep that she actually tracked it all the way to the school where the young girl who was saying, hey, go mess with these dudes or whatever.

She tracked all that and turned that information over to the police.

Um, and then again, impact came through.

Thank you for your comments.

Your time is complete.

Our next speaker is John Cornelius, Elizabeth Marino, then Rebecca Person.

Good evening, counsel.

My name is John Cornelius.

I'm a medical doctor in town, and I've lived, trained, and worked in Sacramento for over 20 years.

Um, I'm also on the steering committee for the forward party in Sacramento.

Um, yet I've never had a good enough reason to come into this room before today.

I'm here because, like so many Americans, I've recognized we are in a huge political mess.

Um, and voters are frightened, disempowered, and disengaged from the political process.

But there are solutions to these problems, and solutions that are independent of political party, but strengthen democracy for all of us.

Simply put, ranked choice voting is a part of that structural solution, and it empowers and excites regular voters to address many of our political problems.

So please put it on the ballot.

Thank you.

Next speaker is Elizabeth Marino, Rebecca Persons, then Keoney Bolton.

Good evening, Mayor McCarty, City Council members, and city manager Smith.

My name is Elizabeth Moreno, and I'm a senior manager for a State Department that's headquartered right across the park here.

And I'm a proud district four resident.

I live right over here in the Alkali Flats area.

And um, in short, I live in this city.

I love the city.

I care deeply for our community.

In my spare time.

I am a hospice volunteer, and I ensure that those at the end of life have a voice and a choice.

So speaking of having a voice and a choice, I'm here to support putting ranked choice voting on the ballot.

Rain choice voting gives people more voice and more choice.

It encourages candidates to appeal to a broader range of voters, reduces negative campaigning, and helps ensure elected leaders have wider community support.

Sacramento voters deserve the chance to decide if we want a more representative and less divisive election system.

And it would clearly save the city money as well.

So as a fellow fellow steward of uh public funds, I'm confident this aspect of RCV would appeal to you as much as it does appeal to me.

And while I'm certain for myself that ranked choice voting will lead us to a more vibrant democracy here in Sacramento at the very least, the public should have the opportunity to vote on it themselves.

Thank you so much for your time.

Next speaker is Rebecca Person.

Kayloni Bolton, Leah Shank.

I have 11 more speakers.

Okay, good evening.

Um my name is Rebecca Person.

I'm the dispatcher for Movement for Life.

I stand with Impact.

I am here today in support of continued funding for violence prevention, youth intervention, and community-based advocacy services for victims.

We have had 13 homicides in the city.

One victim was 16 years old.

One was three years old.

65 people shot non-fatal in the city of Sacramento.

Youngest victim, youngest gunshot victim is four years, was four years old.

Youngest victim, it was in Oak Park.

In cities like Sacramento, for one every one homicide, there are usually four to eight non-fatal shooting victims.

Every day in our communities, families are experiencing trauma, violence, loss, expectation, homeless homelessness, mental health crisis, and systematic neglect.

While prevention and interruption programs are important, we must also recognize what happens after the violence occurs.

Families are often left alone trying to navigate grief, fear, court systems, housing instability, retaliation, and emotional trauma without support.

Community-based organizations like M4L and Impact step in during some of the darkest moments in people's lives.

We advocate for victims, support families after homicides and shootings, connect people to resources, mentor youth, respond to crises, and help stabilize families before situations escalate further.

This work cannot be done without funding and investment.

Prevention is not just about stopping violence in the moment, it is about creating long-term healing, accountability, opportunity, and stability in our communities.

When we invest in grassroots organizations that already are already trusted in the community, we are investing in safer neighborhoods, stronger families, and better outcomes for our youth.

There are organizations, these organizations often reach people that traditional systems cannot.

I asked the city council to continue prioritizing funding for violence.

Thank you for your comments.

Your time is complete.

Our next speaker is Kaoni Bolton, then Leah Shank.

My name is Keone, and in 10th grade school was constant fighting suspensions and falling behind.

I had no GPA and no hope of graduating.

I feel like my future was already decided.

And I came to Miracle and Dr.

Raja, and I told him I wanted to work in the medical field.

And instead of doubting me, he helped me get there.

He brought people from Impact who understood what we've been through and gave us real guidance and empowerment to do better, make better choices and actually want more for ourselves.

With that support, I changed, got focused, and got on track.

I went from having no GPA to graduating a year early with the 3.4 GPA.

That's what Miracle does.

So when you're deciding of funding, just know you're giving students like me a real chance to change our lives.

Thank you.

Next speaker's Leah.

All right.

Good evening.

Good evening.

What you all have in front of you is a visual of what happens when prevention doesn't work.

You all have a hard copy and you have a physical visual right here in the gallery.

Mayor's Advocacy Month.

And there has been a widespread of conversation about budget, yet the families impacted, directly impacted by violence are never centered.

I am currently providing victims advocacy service for the K Street trial.

That is Sacramento Sacramento's most deadliest shooting in Sacramento history.

I am witnessing what happens when violence occurs, and everyone throws their hands up.

18 people shot, not one of them were helped or serviced or advocated for by OVP.

Leia Shank is typically the one on the scene.

Leia Shank with impact, the only one at the table that never has any funding.

I carry these families while the funders and the funded organizations move on and just wait for the next tragedy to happen.

Victims Advocacy Services is public service, it's public safety.

It is public safety.

OVP, Office of Violence Prevention, that you want to give $3 million to, it's not advocacy.

And when violence occurs, they stop.

You prioritize the value of our services when you understand the value of what it means to the families.

If this is done well, it gets replicated all over the country.

Sacramento is the capital of California, the fourth largest economy of the world, and we should be leading the front for advocacy services, especially during a time when advocacy is what our country needs most.

There's many families here in the gallery that aren't comfortable getting up speaking.

Spencer Reber is a name I want you to know.

16-year-old who took her life because she didn't receive the advocacy services that she has needed.

Okay.

Family is here.

We have family in the audience that are from K Street as well that don't feel comfortable getting up speaking.

And um, and they lost their children in the K Street shooting as well.

They received no services at all from any of the entities that are on the budget lines.

So advocacy matters and advocacy is a public health issue.

Thank you.

Next speaker is Julius Ebidal Hayson, then Cassell Wilson.

So Julius Cassell, then Deborah Grimes, then Selvon Griggs.

Good evening, Mayor, Council members, honorable council members.

Uh I just want to say I'm sitting up here listening, and I uh had conversation with uh council member Phil pluckaby pluckabum, is that how you pronounce it?

Got it.

Forgive me.

And one of the things that comes to my mind, Sacramento can be beautiful.

I've been down in Sacramento in Old Sac, DOCO, Delta Shores, but it's not a dream experience for everybody.

And you know, you and I, we've texted back and forth.

The family from Stockton that came down here and they had their son murdered.

It's not a dream destination for them anymore.

It's a traumatic experience that's gonna trigger them.

Probably whenever they see a yard house, they're gonna be triggered.

Um movement for life.

Whenever we've been called to be down at DOCO, uh Delta Shores, Old SAC, there's been absolutely no acts of violence.

Yet still we're not we're not seen.

And I'll say this too.

It's hard to sit here and listen to my sister Leah talk about the continuum services because we're not investing in the ecosystem.

And so when she's talking about what we don't do, because we when we show up to a scene, it's specifically to address the violence and then to make sure that there's no cyclical or retaliatory gun violence.

I'm not there helping her, and so it does bother me.

I'm not there with the families as long as she is, but we're all necessary.

And when we get to the point where we're only talking about funding one, we've been here, and I'll say this in closing.

For those of you who've been here, y'all three right there, sitting right there, y'all been together, y'all know it's been better.

Just because you say it's go is good going well right now, just because you say it doesn't mean it's true.

You've experienced better.

And I just want to remind you that we can do better, but you have to fund an ecosystem that addresses all these things and not pick which one you want to fund, which one you can do.

And if your comments, your time is complete.

Our next speaker is Cassell Wilson and Deborah Cimes.

Good evening.

I'm Cassell Wilson.

I'm one of the Oak Park shooting victims.

I'm here once again.

Um, beautiful City Hall meeting tonight, talking about all the investment that you guys would like to do and what you want to bring to the city and the visitors.

But I will tell you right now, of all my years, and I've been a Sacramento resident my entire life, since 84.

I've never felt so unsafe in life.

I don't go to the mall.

I don't walk, I barely walk my dog.

I don't let my son go outside.

We have been told specifically by the DA to stay inside because right now there's a war going on in our streets, a gang war.

I don't know anything about a gang war because I'm not a gang member, but I guess everybody needs to know.

So to me, that sounds like a public service announcement.

The only person who has come and has been holding my family together since our incident, March 25th, has been Leia Shank.

We're still struggling to get housed.

We're still struggling to put our life back together after it's been shattered for no apparent reason.

The police have no clue why this happened.

No one can explain to us, but we're being told to move on.

We're being told to pick our life up.

I come sit in here and I hear about how lovely everything is for everybody else, but life sucks for me and my family right now in every aspect of the word.

We don't even want to be in Sacramento anymore.

My mom's been here since she was a child.

My grandmother founded the National Council of Negro Women, the Sacramento chapter.

That's how long my family has been here.

So this is like heartache and heartbreak all over again because we're citizens here.

We've been great people here, but we don't receive any sources.

You guys funded them, the OVP or whoever is supposed to help people who are victims of violent crime.

We have thank you for your comments.

Your time is complete.

Our next speaker is Deborah Grimes, then Selvon Griggs, then Paula Lee.

Take your time.

Are these on?

They are.

Thank you.

Good evening, Mayor, City Manager, and members on this council.

I'm compelled to speak to an imperative paradigm shift.

Although the Office of Violence Prevention received CalVIP funding on behalf of the city, those funds are not a city commitment to community violence intervention and prevention.

To ensure the long-term sustainability of the CalVIP program, the city must move away from treating it as a series of isolated short-term grants.

True sustainability requires viewing violence prevention through a demonstrative ecosystem model, a framework where public safety, public health, and community trust are deeply interconnected.

The CalVIP ecosystem will prove its value dynamically through empirical measurable results.

Incorporating the Sacramento City Mayor, or I'm sorry, Sacramento City Manager into the oversight structure provides the vital structural bridge needed to enforce this model.

A sustainable CVI ecosystem does not rely on a single agency.

In this model, violence intervention is treated as a specialized professional tier of public safety.

The ecosystem balances four critical pillars.

The credible messengers, which is the frontline.

These are the street outreach workers and gang interrupters who build relationships with high-risk individuals.

There's simply no substitute for credible messengers, period.

The social economic wraparound, uh, these are the providers of cognitive behavioral therapy, the public health infrastructure, and law enforcement.

By anchoring CalVIP program and an ecosystem overseen by the city manager, Sacramento can build a violence intervention system that is structurally sound, fiercely accountable, and empirical to empirical data, and entirely independent of police department politics.

This transformation takes violence.

Thank you for your comments.

Your time is complete.

I have five more speakers.

Salvon Griggs, Paula Lee, Nikisha Woods.

Thank you.

Good evening, everybody.

Um I've been home four years now from doing 32 years in prison.

Uh used to be a liability to the city, to my family, myself, the community.

Now I'm home to be asset.

Uh and being home and being back in my community, going out to make relationships and establish relationships with my community, those at the highest risk gun violence, which is those is driving gun violence.

I'm a former gang member.

Uh they look at me as the founder of MetaView Bloods.

I'm not on that, but I'm trying to get them to understand my transformation and my growth, and to see that that is living a life based on retaliation, jail, and funerals, that's not it.

And they listen to me.

At least I'm in the trenches where they're not listening to their mothers.

They're not listening to the police, they're listening to the teachers.

And they're listening, they more identify with guys that come from what they're tripping off of or what they're on.

And being home is it's is it's funny to see the fight over money when that's a serious issue to be making sure we address.

Like they say, the ecosystem, the whole community violence where we're really addressing the trauma.

We're getting, we're getting to deal with things before the sirens get there.

I'm the I'm dealing with a lot of stuff before the sirens get there.

There's a lot of sirens that don't happen based on what me and my team do on having relationships with these people, with these young men.

And I use anything, any of my street credibility, just at least they'll listen to me.

And it ain't like they just listen to do what I say, but they'll consider what I'm saying to think about.

Okay, I might not want to just throw my life away for just 10 seconds of anger.

And we give them things to think about, but I know I just know we need more support.

Movement for life need more support to address that, those that drive in.

Thank you for your comments.

Your time is complete.

Paula Lee and Nikisha Woods, then Don Wilson.

Thank you.

Thank you for your patience.

You must be hungry.

I just heard that you may see our request as a sudden shift, Paula Lee, on behalf of Better Ballot Sacramento.

I just heard that you may see our request as a sudden shift in strategy, moving from a signature campaign to asking you to refer ranked choice voting to the November ballot.

We didn't really shift.

We got some funding and wanted to add support from registered voters that were not part of the strong coalition of civic and political organizations we built.

Just to show you more support.

We collected for six weeks using paid folks and volunteers at great expense, but we never had a million dollars.

However, we do have something, we do have a legal document ready to go as a charter amendment and a title and summary prepared by the city attorney.

This will save the city time and money if you use it now.

I understand you won't have time for the public hearings you would normally have, but you asked us to go out and educate and build support, and we did that.

This support is much greater than you would ever get in a hearing when people have to appear on work days, pay to park, and come to a council meeting.

So you haven't had a chance to hear from opposition either, I realize.

However, you know that's what a campaign will bring.

An opportunity to learn more, have a debate, and ultimately a decision by registered voters of this city.

We see that the rules covering moving quickly, that you can use the rules to move quickly if you want to.

And we hope you will listen to voters and forward this to Law and Ledge for June 9th so that we can make the November ballot.

And please not use lose three years of momentum.

We hope that by now you know the size and strength of our coalition and the number of voters.

Thank you for your comments.

Your time is complete.

Our next speaker is Pastor Nakeisha Woods, Don Wilson, and Kenneth Andrews will be our final speaker.

I might have to go over here.

Can you guys hear me?

Hold on, let me turn that one on.

Yes, go ahead.

Okay.

Good evening, Mayor and City Council members.

Um my name is Pastor Nakeisha Woods, and I stand before you tonight, not only as a pastor but as a servant leader.

I've been serving in the Twin Rivers Unified School District for 19 years.

I also serve as the California Council for Adult Education, legislative chair.

I've served in that realm for six years.

But I come before you now because throughout my life, even though I wear many hats right now, I even got a hat on today, I was a 17-year-old survivor of gun violence in North Highlands on A Street.

Probably one of the first uh drive-by shootings in North Sacramento back in 1993.

I received no support.

I received no advocacy.

I received no uh advocate from the district attorney's office, and I was placed in a very harmful situation.

Fast forward in my adult life, December 2023, my ex-husband and abuser of 20 years came to my home, the home that we shared with an assault rifle with a bulletproof vest on with my four daughters in the home and attempted to take my life.

I didn't get to call weave, I didn't need a referral, I needed somebody to pull up, and that pull-up was Leah Shank.

So I stand before you as someone who is not the traditional survivor because I'm educated, I'm powerful, and I know my voice.

But I also know when I called certain organizations, I didn't get the support that I needed.

But when I called Leah Shank from Impact, my sister, she pulled up on me.

She helped me, she supported me.

She took me to the DA's office when I didn't have the strength to, and she sat with me.

So I stand before you and I ask you to please help fund her.

Fund us that are boots on the ground that are doing the work.

I just worked 10 hours today.

I did a whole school tour, but I made sure I got here to show my solidarity and to show my love.

Thank you for your time.

Here's Don Wilson, and then Kenneth Andrews will be our final speaker.

Hello, everybody.

So when your life gets turns upside down, and you're not thinking about the resources, you're not thinking about resources who to call.

You're trying to just hold yourself together, hold your family together, be the glue.

Um this is why advocacy matters.

My son, who finally is right here and he's in a better mood today, he has been able to have Leia advocating for us.

He sees what that looks like, and we understand how important it is.

Unfortunately, or fortunately for us, we had the contact in Ohio who linked us with Leia.

A contact in Ohio linked us to an advocate here in Sacramento.

So there seems like there's a huge disconnect, right?

We shouldn't have to go, however many states over to Ohio, have them hear about the tragedy that happened that was all over the news for us to get linked to such a wonderful service.

So I stand here today.

Well, my son and I, on behalf of our family and all the other people who aren't, they still don't know that Leia or impact is around or is here.

I've talked to plenty of people, and I know a lot of people who have been victims of violence of whatever it is, whether it be a trafficking or gun violence, who, when I mentioned Leia, and it's happened recently, they're like, who?

What?

So we need that funding.

She is a source.

She is a great resource.

We talk about resources all the time in this room.

I haven't had any that have panned out except for Leia.

So we want to talk about a resource.

Let's get that funding over to her.

Prevention's great, but after prevention, when there's not prevention, when it didn't work, we need something that we know does.

Kenneth Andrews.

Kenneth will be our final speaker this evening.

How you doing?

My name is Kenneth Andrews, a program manager for Movement for Life.

Talk about public safety a little bit.

Two things.

The Office of Violence Prevention, it needs to be moved.

Just gonna be frank.

They don't have the license to operate in the streets as people like Ms.

Shank and my team from Movement for Life does.

We specialize in cyclical and retaliatory gun violence, targeting the highest risk individuals in the city, the drivers of gun violence.

And as you guys know, you guys have the numbers.

Each murder costs the city a million dollars.

When we do a conflict resolution or get in the middle of gang violence and deter that gang violence, we save the city millions of dollars.

And we have been doing this for years.

We will continue to do this for years.

But I'm asking that you guys don't continue to leave me outside with a cell phone and a prayer trying to save a life.

What we do is very important.

Even if you guys don't get to see the work that we do, you guys get to reap the benefits.

And in order for us to continue to do so, I would like to see the city put forth from some funding going towards building an ecosystem that we could work from.

And maybe we can save more lives than we already do.

The numbers not going to reach you guys because confidentially confidentiality matters in the line of work that I do.

So I'm not gonna be able to tell you who all I stopped from grabbing an assault rifle and pulling up in somebody's neighborhood and just firing a hundred shots.

But I need you guys to know that they are being stopped.

It could be at a higher rate with your support.

Thank you.

Mayor, have no more speakers.

Thank you, Madam City Clerk.

I wanted to address uh two of the uh the groups that came here tonight.

First of all, this is um Madam Matter's not on the agenda, so we can't really talk about these about agendis, but I can just give you a brief sense.

So for the folks that came here for um movement for life and impact, I certainly certainly know about your work and um we're we're finishing up our budget process, but we're interested in learning more about what we're trying to kind of at a loss here trying to figure out what the programs are, connection, what the specific ask is.

So if you can meet with uh the mayor's team, our city staff to understand more opportunities.

We have, you know, our city fund, which as you've been reading, is kind of tight.

Uh we do have um some resources in uh measure L for youth programming too.

There's every two years there's an opportunity to uh grant programs uh throughout the city, so we'll certainly take a look at that.

But most important, thank you for coming in tonight.

And then I wanted to speak to the group asking for um the matter to go on the ballot.

Um I I want to note that the measure is being referred to the law and legislation committee, but it will not be heard in time for the November ballot.

This is a massive monumental change for our city election.

Uh we like to think of ourselves like legal women voters.

We want to uh, you know, really be thoughtful in our decision-making process, and coming at the 11th hour, doesn't give the opportunity to focus on the city staff issues.

What that means for overseeing our elections and writing a ballot measure that that incorporates those issues, but really has ample opportunity with the electorate.

This would be a sea change in uh democracy locally.

So I think the warrant the issue warrants uh thoughtful discussion, uh, thoughtful dialogue and vetting most importantly through our our committee process, but um rushing it through at the 11th hour without proper vetting, just isn't democratic.

I think you had either was a right to put on the ballot through the signature gathering process, we respect that right, it didn't materialize, um, but uh coming here this late in the game uh just not viable, nor is not good, nor is it good government.

So it it the issue is referred to committee, but it will not be heard and vetted in time to be on the November ballot.

So with that, that concludes uh public comments for items not on the agenda.

We are now going to council members' ideas and questions and AB 1234 reports.

Councilmember Dickinson.

Uh thank you.

I just wanted to uh remind everyone.

Um we have a wonderful celebration coming up, celebrate North Sacramento coming up June 6th at Robertson Park from noon to 4 with uh music, entertainment, food, games, all kinds of all kinds of um great opportunities for people to enjoy the community.

It's being co-sponsored uh by the Mutual Assistance Network and uh our uh youth parks and community enrichment uh department uh along with me.

So come on out, join us, have a great time.

Uh June 6th, 12 to 4, Robertson Park 3525 Norwood Avenue.

Thanks.

Councilmember Maple.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

Um I would like to invite out every member on this dais, members of the community, and especially all of our city staff to the progress flag raising at City Hall.

Um that will take place on June 1st.

I want to make sure I have the right date at 11 a.m.

Right out here in the breezeway.

We'll be right um raising the the progress flag in coordination with our city's LGBTQ plus employee resource group or ERG.

Um, it's a really fun event, and it's a great way to kick off Pride Month.

So I hope you'll join us.

Thank you.

Councilmember Jennings.

Thank you very much.

Thank you very much.

Um just an announcement for everyone to know about a great event that's happening this Sunday, May 31st.

It's from 10 to 4 p.m.

at the Sierra Curtis Neighborhood Association, Curtis Fest, Artisan Fair.

It's a free annual outdoor art festival for our city's scenic Curtis Park, uh featuring nearly a hundred regional vendors showcasing their unique crafts, their artwork, their handmade goods.

It's um gonna be a wonderful evening of food, music, art, uh, and family fun.

So once again, it's on your calendar for Sunday, May 31st from 10 to 4 p.m.

at Curtis Park, right there, the beautiful scene at Curtis Park.

Uh come on out and have a great time.

I guarantee you you'll enjoy it.

All right, and uh for members of the public, we do not have city council next week because there's something much more exciting happening.

It's election day.

So we want to make sure that people go out and vote.

You can mail in your ballot, you can vote in person at our community centers, our libraries, um, you can mail it in.

I already said that one.

Um, and you could just drop it off in person before uh and pick up our drop-off from school.

And so please go out and vote.

Make sure that your voices are heard.

Thank you.

And this meeting is adjourned at 8.26.