Law and Legislation Committee Meeting Summary - April 4, 2023
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Law and Legislation Committee Meeting Summary - April 4, 2023
The Law and Legislation Committee of the Sacramento City Council met on April 4, 2023, at 1:00 PM to consider several items, including a noise control ordinance amendment and three councilmember proposal requests. The meeting included public testimony and resulted in unanimous votes on all items.
Consent Calendar
- Approved the Law and Legislation Log (File ID: 2022-02180) by a unanimous vote (Jennings, Kaplan, Valenzuela in favor; Guerra absent).
Public Comments & Testimony
- Item 2 (Noise Control): Two speakers from Planned Parenthood (Candelaria Vargas and Maya de la Rosa) expressed strong support for the ordinance, citing urgent need to protect patients and staff from harassment at healthcare facilities.
- Item 5 (Tenant Anti-Harassment Ordinance): Twelve speakers provided comments. Supporters, primarily from ACE (Action for a Cleaner, etc.) and tenant advocates, shared personal experiences of harassment and argued that existing state laws lack effective enforcement. Opponents, including representatives from the California Apartment Association and the Sacramento Association of Realtors, argued the ordinance is duplicative and would burden small landlords, recommending instead increased tenant education and use of existing resources like the Renters Helpline.
Discussion Items
- Item 2 – Noise Control Ordinance Amendment: Staff presented a proposal to amend Chapter 8.68 to create a 100-foot quiet zone around healthcare facilities aimed at preventing obstruction, harassment, or intimidation of persons entering or exiting. The amendment also includes technical updates. Councilmember Kaplan inquired about the deletion of protections for churches and schools; staff confirmed those will be addressed in a future phase. The committee unanimously approved the ordinance and forwarded it to the City Council for adoption at the same evening's meeting (5:00 PM).
- Item 5 – Tenant Anti-Harassment Ordinance (TAHO): Councilmember Maple's proposal to create a local anti-harassment ordinance with a private right of action was discussed at length. Chair Valenzuela expressed support for exploring the ordinance as a tool for enforcement, while Vice Chair Jennings and Councilmember Kaplan emphasized the need to first evaluate existing city programs (e.g., Tenant Protection Program, Renters Helpline, rental housing inspection) and identify gaps. Vice Mayor Guerra noted concerns about unintended consequences and suggested directing staff to produce a comprehensive analysis. After extensive debate, the committee unanimously passed a motion directing staff to conduct a gap analysis of current protections, bring back data, and return to the committee for further consideration.
- Item 3 – SEIU 1000 Contract Bargaining: Chair Valenzuela proposed a resolution supporting the bargaining process for SEIU Local 1000. Councilmember Kaplan offered an alternative resolution broadening support to all city unions and their right to good-faith negotiations. The committee discussed concerns about singling out one union and the council's role in state bargaining. They voted unanimously to forward the amended resolution (supporting all unions) to the City Council for consideration under option 2 (directing staff to commence work and sending to council without further committee review).
- Item 4 – SB 407 (Foster Care Placement): Councilmember Kaplan requested the City take a formal position supporting SB 407 (Wiener), which would require that foster care placement discussions include information about a child's identity (e.g., LGBTQ+ status) to prevent trauma. Staff noted the city is not directly involved in foster care, but the committee agreed the issue aligns with city values. They unanimously approved a motion to forward support to the City Council and to consider an update to the legislative platform to cover such issues.
Key Outcomes
- Item 2: Unanimously approved noise ordinance amendments; forwarded to City Council for same-day adoption.
- Item 5: Unanimously passed motion for staff to conduct a gap analysis of existing tenant protections and return to committee.
- Item 3: Unanimously approved forwarding an amended resolution supporting all city unions to the City Council.
- Item 4: Unanimously approved forwarding support for SB 407 to the City Council and updating the legislative platform accordingly.
Adjournment at 2:44 PM.
Meeting Transcript
All right. It's one o'clock. I will call this meeting of the law and legislation committee to order. Will the clerk please call the roll to establish a quorum? Councilmember Kaplan. Councilmember Jennings. Councilmember Gera is expected momentarily, and Chair Valenzuela. I am here. Um Vice Chair Jennings, would you mind doing the land acknowledgement today? Absolutely. Thank you. And pledge allegiance. Would you please rise for the acknowledgement in honor of Sacramento's indigenous people and tribal lands lands? To the original people of this land, the Nision people, the Southern Maidu people, the Valley and Plains, Mi Wak, Patam Whitam people, and the people of the Wilton Rancheria, Sacramento's only federally recognized tribes. May we honor and acknowledge the native people who came before us and still walk beside us today on these ancestral lands by choosing to gather together today in the act of practice of acknowledgement and appreciation for Sacramento's indigenous people's history, contribution, and lives. Pledge of allegiance, please. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you, Vice Chair Jennings. All right, I'd like to remind members of the public here in the audience and online that we um take public comment for each item. If you're in the room and want to have public comment on any item, please fill out a speaker slip in the back of the room and submit it here at the front of the room. We will close the roll for that once we take the first public commenter at the beginning of public comment period. And if you're online, please raise your hand and zoom, and we will call you in the order you raise your hand once we finish comments here in the room. So with that, um we will move into the consent calendar. Um, Vice Chair, I want to note your outstanding request that we revisit the items that have been sort of stale on the log. I will call them for a while. So I hope maybe you, me and our staff person Consuelo can meet soon to huddle about how to manage those. Um but in lieu of that for now, this is our list, and our item is only item on consent. Do I have any questions or comments on the log? All right. All right, it's been moved and seconded. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Great. No opposition, no abstentions, and with council member Guerra absent for now. All right, we will move straight into item number two on our discussion calendar. Proposed ordinance amending and deleting various sections of chapter 8.68 of the Sacramento City Code related to noise control. Um, as the city staff comes out to present this item, I will note that this is an unusual timing of an item. Usually we hear something at Law and Ledge and a week or two goes by, and then we hear it at City Council. We are doing this in the same day today because we recognize the urgency of the situation being experienced by many of our clinics. And I really do want to applaud um the co-team and the city attorney's team and everybody else who has been working really, really hard on this item. I will say it again at five o'clock, but our our city attorney, Susanna Collarwood, sits on the statewide committee of city attorneys working to protect what is now a California constitutional right to reproductive health care access. And I'm really, really um proud of the ordinance that's being brought through to us today. So, Peter, um, take it away. Right. This will be a brief presentation. Good afternoon, Chair and Board. Uh, today we're here to discuss a proposed ordinance amending and deleting various sections of chapter 8.68 of the Sacramento City Code relating to noise control. Deputy City Attorney Angel Angel Solis is uh here with me today to answer questions at the end of the presentation. On March 21st, 2023, staff provided an update to the committee on the progress made with the changes and approvals to the noise ordinance. The committee requested staff to bring back a completed changes to the uh ordinance to this committee, and then take it directly to City Council this evening.
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