Good evening and welcome to the April 3rd, 2025, 5.30pm Parks and Community Enrichment

Commission. The meeting is now called to order. Will the clerk please call the roll to establish

a quorum? Thank you, Vice Chair. Commissioner Ford.

Commissioner Uribe. Present.

Commissioner Robbins. Present.

Commissioner Laver. Here.

Commissioner Kain. Present.

Commissioner Vasquez. Here.

Commissioner Flores. Is absent. Commissioner Kengis. Present.

Vice Chair, I'm sorry. Chair Gaines. Is absent. Vice Chair Boone. Present.

Thank you. We have a quorum. Thank you, clerk. I would like to remind members of the public

in the chambers that if you would like to speak on an agenda item, please turn in a speaker

slip when the item begins. You will have two minutes to speak once you are called on. After

the first speaker, we will no longer accept speaker slips. We will now proceed with today's

agenda starting with a land acknowledgement followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Today's

land acknowledgement will be read by Commissioner Kengis and the Pledge of Allegiance by Commissioner

Robbins. Please stand.

In honor of Sacramento's indigenous people and tribal lands, to the original people of

this land, the Nisanon people, the southern Maidu, valley and plains Miwok, Patwin Windtune

peoples and the people of the Wilton Rancheria, 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 today in the active practice

of acknowledgement and appreciation for Sacramento's indigenous peoples, history, contributions

and lives. Thank you.

Will you still stand? Put your arm over your heart. I pledge allegiance to the flag of

the United States of the Republic. The Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God,

individual, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you.

Our first business today is approval of the consent calendar. Clerk, are there any members

of the public who wish to speak on the consent calendar?

Thank you, Vice Chair. I have no speaker slips on this item.

Thank you. Are there any commissioners who wish to speak on the consent calendar?

Commissioner Vazquez.

Thank you. Are we doing the follow-up log altogether with the consent calendar?

Yes.

Okay, great. Thanks. I saw that the item to add our email addresses was completed and

I got an email saying that they were all added to the website, but I really wanted to have

a chat about that, about the website, to see how can we update like the volunteer recognition

awardees as well as does everyone have access to their PCEC emails? Is that something that

everyone wanted? And there was one more thing on the website that I wanted to update as

well. So I was hoping that would be a conversation, not just the updating of the email addresses, please.

I think we can add it back to the follow-up log and staff can follow up.

I can certainly add it. So the two items were adding volunteer recognition awardees and then just

checking in with the council or sorry, commission to make sure that they are receiving. Okay.

Yeah, and just, I mean, if you want to do it offline, that's fine, but just making sure that all the

commissioners have access to their PC email address or if that's the one they want to use, especially seeing

letters coming from the public today that has all PCEC addresses, I want to make sure everyone's getting, you know,

contacted. And it was the 916 day and the volunteer recognition that's out of date on the website. Okay. Thank you. Yeah, thank you.

Are there any additional commissioners who would like to speak on the consent calendar? No. Is there a motion and a

second for the consent calendar? Thank you, commissioners. I have a motion by commissioner Ford and a second by commissioner King.

All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. All those opposed say no. Thank you. The consent calendar passes.

Before we proceed to the discussion calendar, we do have a another order of business. We're going to welcome our newest

commissioner from district two, Anthony Uribe. We'll turn it over to you for a couple of moments if you'd like to share and

introduce yourself to the commission and those in the chambers. Yeah, thanks so much. Good evening, everybody. I'm excited to be

here. My name is Anthony Uribe. I want to thank that warm welcome from vice chair Boone from all my fellow commissioners and

from the staff of city Sacramento. I'm excited to get to work. I'm excited to be the D2 parks commissioner. I'm looking forward to

learning from all of you here on the commission and I promise I won't suggest that we have a taco festival at every single park,

at least not right away. But I'm just, just again, to my excitement and thanks again. Appreciate it. Welcome. Thank you.

Welcome. We're happy to have you. Okay, we will now proceed with the discussion calendar. Item number one is the approval of the

parks. Sorry, actually, I'm on the wrong page. The discussion calendar item number three, the 2025 Yip See Summer Programs

overview. It looks like we have a presentation. Thank you, staff. Good evening commissioners. My name is Samantha Vue. I'm the

Recreation Superintendent supporting community centers and our summer Oasis summer sites at community centers. The youth parks and

community Richmond department presents summer Oasis. This is our dynamic summer camp program for youth and teens ages six to 17.

Previously known as kids camp in teen scene summer Oasis realigns the resources to better serve our community. The realignment has allowed us to

increase program capacity by offering engaging mix of traditional indoor and outdoor summer fun. And summer Oasis is offered across 11

Sacramento community centers, club houses, select parks, bringing our summer camp fun to all of you. Summer Oasis offers the day camp

between June and August price between 80 to 50 and 115 per session and rates vary based on each of the camp locations with the cost being at

most $5.75 a day. Financial hardship scholarships, the youth program scholarship fund scholarship and payment plans are available for all of our programs. And I'll turn it over to Anna.

Hello, commissioners. I'm Anna Cook. I'm an Aquatics and Creation supervisor with the city and I'm excited to present our Aquatics programs for the coming summer. We plan to offer a

multitude of aquatic activities throughout the city, including recreational swimming, lap swimming, swim lessons, aqua size, lifeguard certification courses and special events. During the summer season,

recreational swim hours are planned for all 17 aquatic facilities throughout the city. Yipsi partners with the Sacramento public libraries, council districts and various community based

organizations to offer opportunities for discounted or free pool admission. We also have swim lessons for participants six months and older. They're plans at all 12 neighborhood pools and the North

and Thomas Aquatics complex for this summer. Space is available for over 2,700 registrants. And in addition to swim lessons, we also have our basic water safety program that provides youth and adults ages three years and up with

three 30 minute no cost classes that focus on age and ability appropriate activities. They also teach important basic water safety concepts and basic swimming. These programs are currently planned at Cabrio, George Sim,

Johnston, Mangan, McClatchy and Oki pool with space for over 350 participants. We'll also offer junior lifeguard camps which provide youth ages 12 to 15 years old with the foundation of water rescue skills and help participants prepare for the American Red Cross.

We have a summer swim team at the North and Thomas Aquatics complex. We have a summer swim team at the North and Thomas Aquatics class lifeguard certification course. We have camps planned at Clooney, Johnson, McClatchy,

Thomas Aquatics complex. April 12th will be at Pinal Meadowview on April 19th at North and Thomas Aquatics complex for in water egg hunts games and recreational swimming. Thanks for your time this evening.

Thank you, staff. Clerk, are there any members of the public who wish to speak on this item?

Thank you, vice chair. I have no speaker slips on this item.

Thank you. Are there any commissioners who would like to speak on this item?

We'll start with commissioner King.

Hold on, you'll be second. Me first.

Oh, yeah, thank you. Okay. I have a question for you.

With the budget being impacted this year, are the daily admission price going up at the pools?

Yes, so we have recreational swim at our 12 neighborhood pools. We $5 for adults, $3 for youth, which is a $1 increase for both youth and adults.

And North and Thomas Aquatics complex will be $9 for adults, $7 for youth, which is a dollar increase from last year.

Okay. Thank you. And for clarification, those are fees that were approved last year at council during budget and audit with council approval to be implemented for the current fiscal year.

Thank you.

Thank you, commissioner King. Commissioner Labor.

I just had a quick question. Southside Park, the pool has been closed for three years.

And I heard quite a few events and programming at other pools in the city.

Can there be an update on an event or two or something at Southside Park for that neighborhood?

I think it's quite a bit of diversity in that area that could benefit in the neighborhood.

Evening commission, Sean Swanson, Recreation Division Manager. I work with the Aquatics team.

The latest update I have on Southside on the resurfacing is all positive.

We seem like we are on track to hit our goals of opening for the summer.

All the programming that Anna did mention is planned full programming at Southside for the summer.

Additionally, we do plan on doing some special recognitions for when we do reopen the pool and actually working with a gift to share.

It looks like we have collaborations already for a free opening day at the pool that we planned.

More details to come as we get a little bit closer to that.

But yes, we'll certainly be highlighting Southside this summer.

Commissioner Voskis.

Thank you for the presentation.

My question is kind of like Commissioner King's question, but about summer camp.

So can you explain what the difference is in price between camp last year and this year and if there would be any changes to the program?

Hello, Anthony Munoz, Recreation Manager with the Community Centers.

So last year the program was free.

Well, our kids camp, basically in community centers we ran kids camp and teen scene.

It was a free program.

We were already running summer races at a couple park locations.

So it's just an enhanced opportunity now.

Where basically it's an indoor outdoor camp where they're just going to see a lot more activities throughout the day.

Thank you.

I know when my children attended camp summer races camp it was going to be like Monday through Friday, register per week for the different themes of the session.

And then when we got there we were told about all these special day trips they were taking like to the water park and the water park.

And they're going to a lot of places which we didn't understand in advance were happening.

So I'm wondering are those trips still happening or is that one of the expenses that we cut?

So at our community center locations we'll still have pool days.

But with the, we're our field trips, we're making them more local this time.

So near our community centers we're not going to be traveling.

Outside of the city of Sacramento the way that we might have in the past.

So we're just reenvisioning the resources that we're using right now.

And we're trying to stay city of Sacramento based utilizing our own resources, our parks, our facilities, the North and Thomas Aquatics facility.

So just making sure we keep things in house.

Wonderful.

And so we're going to be doing a little bit of a tour of the city of Sacramento.

A number of of locations to pick up and monitor their quality so just making sure we keep things in house.

Wonderful.

And so to go from zero to eighty two or a hundred.

What's the difference between the two ranges for the camp?

I'm Sorry?

Can you repeat that?

I feel like I heard that there was two different prices for what camp could cost?

Is that by age?

No it's not by age so it's it's by location.

There's a couple locations that are short by a week.

are short by a week.

So a couple of our outdoor park locations are just shortened.

So it's all, it's based on price per day.

So a couple of the locations just aren't as long

based on staffing levels and where support is needed.

So there's a couple of camps that are shorter

and because they're shorter in the length

of the amount of weeks, they're cheaper in price.

A lot of sense.

Yeah.

And then scholarship wise is camp something

that people are eligible to get a scholarship for?

Yes.

So the summer Oasis is a youth program scholarship fund.

It's an eligible program for that.

Right now, it's in part of the director's updates,

but we have not specifically for that.

We've issued 498 scholarships to date this fiscal year.

About $11,000 we've seen used on our programs,

but on April 9th at 12 noon, registration will go live.

We're expecting that a lot of those scholarships

will be applied towards those summer programs.

We'll see probably a large increase

in the amount of funds that are used.

And we'll be able to report back next month

on kind of what we've seen and the success

that we've had with the scholarship program.

Wonderful.

Thank you so much.

Yeah, you're welcome.

Thank you, staff, commissioner Ford.

See you.

Thank you for the update.

Now, I just want to thank you all

for doing the outreach on the scholarships.

I saw a lot of online.

I had a lot of parents comment on that.

They appreciate the scholarships.

I also, one of the things that the feedback

that I had received a couple of years ago

was like how hot it is in the summer.

And so they appreciate now the combination

of indoor and outdoor.

There's a lot of times it was outdoor.

So I just want to thank you all for those improvements.

Thank you.

Appreciate that feedback.

Thank you.

This item is to receive and discuss.

So no vote is required.

We'll move on to the next item.

OK.

We'll now proceed with item number four, community recreation

program updates.

Is there a staff presentation?

Awesome.

Thank you.

Good evening, commissioners.

My name is Heather Koppf.

And I'm a recreation general supervisor

with the Youth Parks and Community Enrichment Department.

I support our community recreation team.

And I'm here today to talk about that program area.

The community recreation program area is supported by myself,

recreation manager Katie Hauser.

Tyler Ebenoff is our program supervisor,

three program coordinators, Zikia Brazil, Luis Gonzalez,

and Scott Jensen.

This team plans and implements sports for all ages

and manages programs and operations

at the Sacramento Softball Complex and a 28th and B

Skate and Urban Skate Park.

The Department of Youth Parks and Community Enrichment

provides instructional youth sport

leagues that are focused on fundamental skill development,

team building, and sport specific play

through practices, games, and camps.

Annual offerings in this area include junior giants, softball

and baseball, NFL flag football in the fall, junior NBA

basketball in winter and early spring.

And brand new this year, we are also

offering outdoor youth basketball camps in the spring

season to better meet more neighborhoods in our city.

In adult sports, staff manage a very busy year round schedule

of softball tournaments, field rentals, volleyball rentals,

batting practice opportunities, special events,

the annual sports for life soccer tournament

at Granite Regional Park, and softball leagues

and at Grant Park to Aho Park and the Sacramento Softball

Complex.

I'll leave you with a little bit of good news.

To junior giants, registration actually opened on April 1st.

We partner with the Giants Foundation to put on that program.

And after two days, we already have 505 kids registered

for that program.

And we were actively seeking volunteers.

So I would hope that you spread the word,

looking for volunteers.

This isn't a one-time volunteer situation.

We do look for a commitment for the whole summer.

So help spread the word.

And all of that information is on our website.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Clerk, are there any members of the public

who wish to speak on this item?

Thank you, Vice Chair.

I have no speaker slips on this item.

Thank you.

Are there any commissioners who wish to speak on this item?

Commissioner Vazquez.

Thank you.

Looking at our budget reduction strategies that

have been presented to the city, I'm really concerned

about 28th and B skate park and junior giants.

So I'm wondering, are there going to be any changes this year

to 28th and B?

Is there going to be summer camp?

What's going on with our skate park?

Sure.

So I can't answer both those questions, both the skate park

and junior giants.

No change to junior giants.

So junior giants is a partnered program with the Giants Foundation.

Our only cost is our staff time.

So our coordinator, Scott Jensen, fully supports that program.

We have reccades and then a plethora of volunteers

who help us out all summer.

So no changes there.

For the skate park, as you mentioned,

commissioner, that is just a strategy for the budget deficit.

And so we'll know when you know once our elected officials

make those decisions.

For now, we're status quo.

Open five days a week.

We have contracted programming on Monday nights

with Project Lifelong.

And we are scheduled for four weeks of camps this summer.

So looking forward to that.

Right.

Can you tell us a little bit more about the camp?

Sure.

Yeah, I do not have the flyers quite yet,

because it is a contracted camp with Project Lifelong,

which is a nonprofit that provides use skate opportunities

throughout the city and throughout the region.

Really, they're all throughout the Sacramento area.

And they haven't given us the dates quite yet.

But it'll be the same age ranges we were looking at before,

possibly some extended hours and some specialized programming

from the skate community.

They can actually skate.

I don't know if any of you can skate, but I can't.

It's very difficult.

So yeah, we're looking forward to that.

More info coming soon.

Thank you.

And when you say the same age range,

what is the age range for camp?

And full disclosure, I said on the board of Project Lifelong,

and I don't know.

Oh, great.

Yeah.

Well, maybe you'll learn when I learn then.

But as far as the dates go, but the age range should be 5 to 17.

Wonderful.

And will they be all the same time in camp?

Haven't heard yet.

We'll find out soon.

OK, great.

And will that be opening up with the same April date

as all the other programming?

That is our goal.

Yeah.

Would that be an eligible scholarship program?

No, it is not.

It is a leisure and management contracted class.

So it is not eligible for the YPCFF scholarship at this time.

So would the day skate be eligible for scholarships?

It is.

Yeah, it's on our list.

So youth are able to sign up for a session pass utilizing

the scholarship, and they're welcome to use the skate park

utilizing that pass.

Yeah.

And I don't know if you're the right person

to answer this question.

But just as a whole, what are the programs that

are not eligible for scholarship?

I can tell you about the programs that are eligible.

Jackie, would you like to see?

Yeah, there's a detailed list on the scholarship form

that outlines all the programs that are eligible.

Any directly YPC-delivered youth programs

would be eligible for the scholarship fund.

So ones that are contracted out would not be?

Are not.

Correct.

And what kind of sports would that include?

I'd have to refer you to the actual list.

We offer dozens and dozens of programming.

So I can pull the list to begin to share with commissioners.

I believe you've received it last month.

We can send it to you again.

Great.

Thank you.

Are there any other commissioners

who wish to speak on this item?

OK.

This item is to receive and discuss.

So NOVO is required.

We will move on to the next item.

We'll now proceed with item number 5, 916-day updates.

Is there a staff presentation?

Good evening, commissioners.

So 916-day, the goal is to confirm the 916-day project

site locations from the locations that were listed.

I think last month we discussed Del Paso Regional, Miller,

and Granite Regional, as well as Del Rio Trail and Sacramento

Northern Bike Trail.

So far, I have District 1 at Del Paso Regional,

District 3 at Miller Regional, and District 6

at Granite Regional.

So my hope is to get you guys to confirm project site locations.

And then maybe we can jump ahead and choose some dates and times

that work for us for 916-day.

So next up would be District 2.

Do you have a project site that you have chosen?

Del Paso Regional was one that definitely

wanted to sign up for representing Del Paso Heights

in that area.

Thank you.

Yeah.

And then District 4.

Miller.

D5.

James East.

Miller.

Do we know if Commissioner Flora is also?

No, but I'll find out.

And then D7 and D8.

They're not here, so I'll confirm those.

And then Commissioner Kengis.

It's my understanding that the end of my term is June 30.

Oh, that's right.

OK.

Thank you.

Commissioner Boone.

I'll most likely support all three, so you can count me there.

Right.

So September 16 actually falls on a Tuesday this year.

So we were going to look at weekend dates, the weekend

before and the weekend after 916-day.

We're looking at the 12th, 13th, and 14th

for being before 916-day and then the 19th, 20th, and 21st.

Does anybody have preferences on when

they would like their event to happen?

No preferences?

Can you say the dates again?

Sure.

So the weekend prior to 916 would be Friday 912, Saturday 913,

and Sunday 914.

And then the weekend following 916-day

will be Friday 919, Saturday 920, and Sunday 921.

We're strategizing.

Since we're going to be doing it together.

OK.

Can we tentatively hold 913 for our site?

Yes.

And then we'll email and discuss times.

Perfect.

Thank you.

913 this Saturday?

We'll just take the 20th.

OK.

For granted?

Defer to the council members.

So waiting for the company.

OK.

Sure.

And then in addition to choosing dates and times,

the April goal will be to secure community partners

and initial donors.

So anybody that is supportive of your council districts

that would like to volunteer, we'll start with them.

And then you guys can just email me

over who you expect to be supportive of your event.

And then Yipsey Marketing will be available for video shoots

in mid-May.

So I have some more dates for you guys.

Those dates are May 12, 14th, 15th, and 16th for video shoots.

Can you repeat the dates?

May 12, May 14, May 15, and May 16.

Thank you.

I know you'll send an email because you always do.

I will.

Yeah.

And so our April goal is just to remind everyone,

secure community partners and initial donors,

and then work with Parks Maintenance

to identify tasks at each site.

So we'll be doing some sidewalks together with Parks Maintenance

once we have dates and times solidified.

And then we'll be partnering with Marketing

to start getting the ball rolling on that.

So does anybody have any questions or Commissioner King?

Go text to me back.

And we're going to do Miller Park at 9.20.

On which day?

9.20.

So he's doing that.

Perfect.

He's D7.

Yes.

OK, perfect.

And Commissioner Ford.

I just wanted to add that we're working on the fundraising

and identifying donors.

So we probably could provide an update next time we meet.

Does that sound good?

Yep.

Yeah.

And I think we're thinking roughly,

just based on previous years, we're

looking at about 300 volunteers through these projects.

So maybe like 100 per park.

And so that'll be the goal, but we'll probably

surpass that just given the different districts

that we represent.

I agree with you.

I think so, too.

Thank you, Commissioner Ford.

Are there any additional Commissioner comments?

All right.

And good teamwork.

Good teamwork, guys.

OK.

This item is to receive and discuss.

So NOVO is required.

We'll move on to the next item, which

is Youth Parks and Community Enrichment Directors Report.

Thank you, Vice Chair.

I have quite a few items to update you on this evening.

To start, as Anthony shared, we committed

to providing an update on our scholarship program, each meeting.

So to date, we have 498 scholarships issued,

and over $11,000 has been used.

Again, we expect an increase in usage

after our big summer registration date on April 9.

So we'll be looking forward to updating you again

in May on how much of that scholarship program is being

utilized.

For our community centers in District 2

at Hagenwood Community Center, we have a handful of special

events coming up.

There's a Spring Fling Special Event on April 26

from 11 to 3.

That will include carnival games, group games, snow

cones, all sorts of fun.

We also have a Kids Night Out Spring Fling on April 24,

where they will be tie-dying t-shirts.

They'll have a silent disco, games, and crafts.

There will be a hotspot also on the 24th

that includes the same games and activities.

In District 3 at South Nathomas Community Center,

our South Nathomas youth and teens

will be participating in Running for Rhett on Sunday, April 27

at Land Park.

We also have Kids Night Out planned.

It's National Crayola Night.

That's on Friday, April 25 from 6.30 to 8.30.

In District 4 at Southside Clubhouse,

we have a Kids Night Out Bingo Night planned for tomorrow,

Friday, April 4th from 6.30 to 8.30.

In District 6 at Coloma Community Center,

we're having a Spring Party, Part T,

I'm assuming a Tea Party.

On Thursday, April 10th at noon.

And in District 7 at Bell Coolidge Community Center.

With over 40 participants in our other classes,

we've added a new session of Strength and Balance,

taking place on Fridays at 10.30 a.m.

And there is a Community Yard Sales scheduled

for Saturday, April 26th from 8 to 12 p.m.

And finally, in District 8 at Pinell Metaview Community Center,

there will be another Kids Night Out event

on Thursday, April 24th from 6.30 to 8.30 p.m.

All of this information is available on our website

and of course on social media

and at each of our community centers.

Moving on to Park Rangers for some March stats.

In March, Rangers responded to 870 calls for service.

Our Rapid Response Team responded to 72 calls for service

and collectively posted over 106 park permits

across city parks.

For our Park Maintenance Division and Council District 1,

they've completed all interpretive signage,

it has been replaced at Fisherman's Lake

and seasonal grazing has also begun.

We had new park furniture installed at Egret Park

in the month of March that included benches

and trash can receptacles.

We also replaced canopies and have some going in

at Regency, Magnolia, West Hampton, Kokomo, Wild Rose

and North and Thomas Regional Park.

In Council District 2,

Sac Northern Bike Trail Weed Abatement Mowing

is currently taking place.

We also have an Arcade Creek Cleanup

at Dalpasa Regional Park planned

for this weekend's Earth Day events.

In Council District 3 at Red Tail Hawk Park

we have shrub cleaning and painting

for Earth Day this weekend as well.

In Ninos Parkway there's Weed Abatement and Mowing

that's gonna be happening next week.

At Sanco Park Public Works will be repaving

and restriping the driveway and parking lot prior

to the season opener that is scheduled for May 1st.

In Council District 4 at Miller Regional Park

we're working on repairing the North restroom

and snack bar from vandalism.

And we are also working with Public Works

to replace sections of the parking lot

that need some repair.

At Washington Park there's a new

water saving irrigation controller

that's going to be installed this month.

We will also be installing a new

water saving irrigation controller at O'Neill Park

and all of our backstop boards have been repaired

at O'Neill Park on the Northwest ball fields.

And at Mirror Park the splash pad has been tested

and the plumbers are gonna be coming out

to clean the nozzles just in time for our summer season.

In Council District 5 at Airport Little League

we have the Rivercats scoreboard that was installed.

Actually there was a ribbon cutting there this morning

for that event.

At Toorley Park we're getting replacement

interpretive signs to take place of the old faded ones.

At Del Rio Trail we received 10 new

concrete trash can holders from Public Works

and we're gonna be placing those out this month.

At McClatchy Park that splash pad has also been tested

and is ready for summer opening.

And at Megan Park, Mingan Park excuse me,

we have new hay bales for the archery range

that are going to be replaced this month.

And a safety exclusion zone fence

that's been installed behind the archery range.

In Council District 6 at Lawrence Park

we had installed some foul ball netting.

It was damaged, partially damaged,

had to be removed from the wind.

We're working on making better repairs

so it can be reinstalled this week

now that we hopefully have some better weather

so that netting is gonna be going up this weekend next week.

At Colonial Park we have new solar light

that has been purchased for the flagpole.

We're looking to install that in the next couple of weeks.

And also new doggy waste bag dispensers

will be installed at Colonial.

At Guerrero Park we have an Earth Day event this weekend

which includes spreading mulch

and improving the planter beds.

And that splash pad has also been tested

and is ready to go for summer.

At Oki Park the splash pad has been tested

and plumbers will be coming out to fix a leak

and clean the nozzles.

And at all of our parks in D6 that have sports fields

we are going to have the new water saving irrigation

controllers installed by mid-May.

In Council District 7 at Land Park

we have five new solar lights for our flag poles

and improvements to field number five

that are now completed including a new fence,

backstop, metal signs, benches and new ball mix.

Also on the Del Rio Trail that goes through District 7

we open the new parking lot off of Riverside and San Mateo

working with the Rangers in parking

to turn it into a paid lot.

We're also working with LNL to have all of the trees trimmed

up eight feet along the entire trail

and this project will be completed by the end of summer.

We have Earth Day events at Charlie Jensen

for District 5 and District 7.

And in Council District 8 at North Laguna Park

we have new benches that have been placed along the pond.

The Shasta soccer field has been renovated

and all parks in District 8 with sports field

will have new irrigation controllers installed

by mid-May as well.

Moving on to our Youth Workforce Development Team.

This Saturday, April 5th, come out and support

the 2025 Citywide Earth Day event.

These crews are gonna be supporting events

throughout the city.

I mentioned some of them in collaboration

with our park maintenance team

with the Office of Climate Action and also volunteers

signed up across the entire region.

I mentioned some of them already

but I'll say again, District 1 we have Lilac Park,

District 3 Redtail Hawk Park, Districts 5 and 7,

Charlie Jensen Park and Del Rio Trail

and District 6 Guerrero Park.

Our winter junior recce cohorts at

Pennell and Hagenwood Community Center

celebrated the conclusion of their program

with 28 youth ages 16 to 18

that completed the workforce development program.

And we're hoping to see many of these youth

come and work for us this summer

in many of our summer programs.

Our WIOA program has expanded recruitment

to include current high school juniors

along with current seniors.

This is a paid work experience program

that provides pre-employment and 21st century skills

in addition to supportive services.

I believe we had some of our commissioners

that came to our 2025 Youth Resource and Employment Fair.

We had a phenomenal turnout that was on March 8th

here at City Hall and close to 800 youth

ages 13 to 24 attended this annual event.

It was a really great opportunity.

We've already, we will already be starting our plans

for the 2026 event after we wrap up our summer programming.

You heard from our camp team earlier,

Camp Sacramento is adding two new opportunities

for the summer and new bonus session

has been added for families this summer,

again running August 4th to 7th.

And we're gonna have a senior week for ages 15 up

that will also be offered during the weeks of August 18th

to 21st.

You also learned about more of our summer aquatics programming,

a reminder for our underwater egg hunts

that are gonna be coming up this spring.

We have Pellinels egg hunt coming up

on Saturday, April 12th from one to four

and at North Natomas Aquatics Complex

on Saturday, April 19th from one to four.

North Natomas hosted a large USA swimming age group swim meet

with athletes from all over the western half of the US.

This included teams from Hawaii and Alaska.

Of the 950 athletes, 240 were from California

and our complex continues to,

our regional complex continues

to support many of those events.

And also speaking of high level meets,

springy people to Sacramento.

Right now, staff might even be live streaming on their phones.

We have the North Natomas Aquatics Complex.

You can see it live streaming on Peacock right now,

the finals for this large swim meet that's happening there.

Beautiful weather.

There is even some autograph opportunities

for some Olympic hopefuls.

So encourage you all to take a look.

And to close it out on,

I think what we all have been talking about

around our budget, the city's budget deficit.

I don't have much to update from last month,

other than that, I believe the day we met

or the following week that we met.

I informed you that city departments had been working on

identifying budget reduction strategies.

So this includes revenue increases and expense reductions.

We provided this menu of options to council

in an effort to close our budget gap.

We are taking this approach so that council

can make more strategic decisions

versus pursuing across the board cuts

across the entire city.

Our projected budget gap for the coming fiscal year

is $62.2 million.

And last month in March,

council took action to use projected savings,

anticipated this year,

and that reduced our remaining budget balancing target

to $44.1 million.

So citywide, there are 189 departmental

and citywide individual strategies

that provides over $106 million

in general fund savings.

43 of those 189 strategies are from YPC.

They've been broken down into categories

with expense reductions ranked on a scale of one to four,

based on service impacts.

Of course, we know this decision is not going to be

an easy one for our council members.

And we are committed to sharing the information

with council, with the public,

with all of our commissioners, of course,

so that you can advocate for the priorities

that are most important to you

and your community and the constituents that you represent.

You can see all of the strategies posted on our website

and that that is posted at cityofsacramento.gov

slash finance slash budget.

You could read the entire document there.

We expect the city managers proposed budget

to be released at the end of April

and then budget deliberations and hearings

will begin, I believe, on May 13th here at council.

So we look forward to bringing another update

to the commission at the beginning of May,

but encourage you to take a look at the list

that has been made to the public.

If you have questions about certain strategies,

please feel free to reach out to staff.

We are happy to talk you through

what some of those strategies mean

and the sort of impacts that they have.

As Heather shared earlier,

there's a lot of concern and questions

around what that means.

Right now we are a status quo

and so none of those strategies will be implemented

until council takes action

and approves the budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

And I'm happy to take any questions.

Thank you, director.

The next item is commissioner comments, ideas and questions.

Are there any commissioners who wish to speak?

Commissioner Vasquez.

Thank you.

If I could back up to the director's report

is this what I had my hand up for?

If it's here, you can proceed.

Wonderful, thank you.

So for the water meters that are new to save water,

do we have a handle on which parks have new trees

that can't take less water with the new irrigation savings?

That would be a question for our park maintenance manager,

Shaw Nailsworth.

Good evening commissioners, Shaw Nailsworth,

park maintenance manager.

So when we talk about water savings,

the water savings is to meet the specific needs of the turf

which doesn't necessarily mean a reduction

that any of the trees would normally otherwise get

is to prevent overwatering versus,

so when we talk about water conservation,

it's using that water that is precious

as best as we can and manage it as best as we can

to keep the parks thriving and their color in the trees.

Okay, great.

So they existing, I'm assuming there'll be less water used.

Correct?

Yes, they are water saving in that they are not designed

to throttle back anything that would be detrimental

to the trees or the canopy of the trees or the turf.

It's specifically to use those resources,

which is a precious resource, wisely as we can

and to make sure that it is a useful benefit

for the vegetation there.

Beautiful.

I think maybe a recommendation I would have

for a suggestion is for all the trees

that have been planted in the last five years

in those parks, maybe working together

with the volunteer program to have what we call

across the state a watering brigade

is what volunteers call themselves to go out

and make sure that the newer planted trees

are getting more water,

because especially in the hotter summer,

they're gonna need more than the existing trees

will be cut back to maintain that turf.

Well, definitely consult with our arborists

to see what the benefits of that would be

and I appreciate that recommendation.

Well, thank you, Sean.

Commissioner Ford.

I do have a few more questions.

Okay, let's go to Commissioner Ford

and we'll come back to you.

I'm gonna hold off for Commissioner updates and ideas

just so that we're in that section.

Oh, now, okay.

Sorry, we're still in the, okay.

Well, great, thank you.

I just had, obviously, just wanted to point out

as we're thinking about the budget,

like want to be supportive and wanna ensure

that this commission is available to support

any of those strategies that you've outlined in the budget.

For those who you are not aware,

the parks department is actually the one

that has the third highest budget

in operations in the whole city.

So I could see how much this is gonna be impacted, right?

And so I think one of the questions I had was maybe

for Jack, or whoever else is,

I know the measure L funds just closed our application.

I'm wondering if there was any programming or operations

within the parameters of measure L

that would, were applied for in terms of subsidizing

anything that we're projecting to cut.

Sure, so the implementation of measure L

is obviously separate from our operations.

However, we did submit applications for programs

and projects to be considered for measure L funding.

It's my understanding that while those proposals

are currently being reviewed by panel members,

they'll be bringing the highest ranked recommendations

to council sometime in the next month or so.

Would you say, Jen, is that correct?

Is it a journey?

I believe sometime in the next month or so,

they'll be bringing some recommendations,

maybe a little bit longer.

But it is likely that council will be having discussions

around measure L and budget,

making budget decisions at the same time.

Got it, thank you.

We'll let us know how we can support.

I think the other one,

the other thing that I just wanted to share

is I think there's a deadline coming up for,

I think it's the youth program at the city,

like essentially the volunteer opportunity

or internship opportunity for youth to volunteer

at city hall.

So just wanna remind folks to share with your districts.

I know when we have our staff presentations,

we're always like, why not our district?

Why don't we get any slots?

So I think it's also on us to really outreach

and point that out to folks.

Thank you.

Commissioner Ube.

Yeah, directly each one you mentioned

in your report about the learning and landscape program.

Ellen L, and this is not necessarily a question,

but just a shout out to that program,

to those in the audience, to my fellow commissioners.

Just, it's a great program,

the work they're doing is fantastic.

I'm only saying that because when I was working

a full-time job, I was like, you know what?

It was a great idea to sign up

for the learning landscape program as a counselor.

And it's an amazing thing that has youth

between the ages of 14 to 17,

having them have work experience,

getting ready for the workforce,

and they clean up our parks.

We rake leaves out there.

We clean the sets that the students,

I mean, students that kids are out there playing.

So it's a great program.

I just wanted to give them a shout out.

And again, I'm just really excited to be a commissioner

on this wonderful commission.

So back to y'all.

Thank you, commissioner.

I touched too many buttons,

so we're gonna go back to commissioner Vazquez

because I moved her out of the queue.

Thank you.

Sorry if I was muted or unmuted or sorry about that.

Great, well, since we're gonna do both at once,

and I do have a couple more.

So my question was budget related as well.

Seeing 28th and B skate park having all hours removed

except for private contracting made me very nervous

as a strategy.

I feel like it's a gem of our city.

And it is the only indoor skate park in Northern California

until you get to full summer all the way to the Bay Area.

So I just wanna, I wonder when we're talking

about the level strategies, what is the level?

Is the level based on how many dollars it would save

or the impact on the community?

It's, there are several factors taken into consideration.

Certainly the amount of dollars that are saved,

the impact, the savings that it would present,

the impact on the community and service levels.

Is it in the central service?

Is it safety related?

Is it, can that service be provided elsewhere?

Are we offering other opportunities

or is another organization or entity offering opportunities

like that elsewhere?

And what is the staffing level impact?

Because we can't do what we do without our workforce.

And so by eliminating certain programs

that are perhaps delivered in a different way,

what would the staffing level impact be?

So I wouldn't tie yourself so much to the one, two, three,

four, it's just one lens to look at how those were ranked.

But I can say, if there's a particular strategy

that's really important to you, I'm happy to talk offline.

So you can understand a little bit more

about how we came to that recommendation,

but I would encourage you to advocate

with your council member,

if that's something that you really hope to maintain.

There are also several other factors.

You know that we are, you all know that we are grappling

with a significant deferred maintenance burden.

So when we're looking at strategies

like the skate park, for example,

that has a significant deferred maintenance burden,

it continues to be a challenge for us to address.

And there are often safety related matters at that facility.

That's something we may consider as well.

So every strategy was looked through in a lot of detail.

Our program staff and administrative staff

spent hours and hours and hours evaluating

all of these things.

And you know, last year we were very fortunate

for all the work that our teams did

to have very nominal impacts to our operations.

But I think it's important to take a look

at all of the city-wide strategies, all 189 of them,

because it is pretty unfortunate

to see the situation we're going to be in.

And there are some very tough decisions

that are going to be made.

So despite, while some of those strategies

are very difficult to kind of review

and recognize that those could be things

that we're dealing with,

it could be much worse.

And I'm hopeful that our council members

will make decisions that will really have the least amount

of impact on our ability to provide core services

and of course ensure that we're taking care of our workforce.

Yeah, absolutely.

And I understand not looking at the levels too seriously,

but it's my understanding that they would choose

a level one, level two,

and then maybe piecemeal around a solution.

So I know one of the proposed strategies

is to close all public pools,

which is like a serious strategy.

So are they listed, are they connected to the levels

based on that impact order?

So council, to be clear,

they may have the option to select all of the level ones

or all of the level twos, but that is not,

it is really up to their discretion.

Each department ranked their own levels.

So I encourage you to take it seriously,

but also recognize the lens

that these strategies were ranked by.

We ranked our own strategies.

I did not rank FHIRS strategies or PDE strategies.

I only evaluated with my team YPCS strategies.

And certainly, I think our view was, okay,

we can close the skate park.

Does it, does it certainly not something we want to do,

but that strategy may have had less of an impact

versus closing pools

because pools create a safe swimming environment,

alternatively to going to lakes and rivers

where there's not a supervised environment,

whereas we do have other skate opportunities

across the city and other places that youth can go

to enjoy that sort of outdoor amenity.

So those are the sort of weight that we were providing

as we were evaluating these opportunities.

Certainly our pools and our community centers

are very important and critical

to providing safe spaces in a supervised way for our youth.

And we really tried to creatively sort of phase in

some of these strategies,

so we're not seeing full closures

until you get to the very bottom number four, right?

We try to have the least amount of impact

as you work through those levels.

But like I said, we have 43 strategies.

It took a tremendous amount of thought and detail

and consideration for our team on every single one of those.

So if there's a particular strategy

you would like to talk through,

it would probably be best if we spoke offline

and I grabbed our team that was involved

in helping put those recommendations forward.

Thank you.

And are we gonna have the budget on an agenda item next month

so that the public can also hear those answers

that we're receiving?

That's yet to be determined.

The city's managers proposed budget

is gonna be coming forward in April,

so at the end of this month prior

to our next commission meeting.

But my hope is to bring some sort of budget update

and overview for this commission at the next meeting.

Okay, great.

Well, I would ask our agenda makers

that you make sure it gets on the budget

so that our public can come and speak

about what strategies are important to them.

And we can understand the impacts

that this would have on communities.

And I hear what you're saying about the phasing out.

And I do feel that happening with 28th and B skate park.

We've gone from reduced hours to now contracting out camp

and not having the city host camp,

which both of my children went to skateboarding camp there

as kids and learned how to skate there

and turned into project lifelong participants.

And now our lifelong learners of determination

and independence and things that that particular sport

brings to young people.

So I really don't wanna see us lose the amenity

of 28th and B skate park.

It is the only indoor skate park, as I mentioned before.

And that's something that if we are handing the keys over

to a private contractor,

maybe our kids wouldn't be able to afford it.

They can't even apply for a scholarship for it.

So I wanna make sure that the public cares me

that if this isn't only agenda next week,

the budget, which is actually in our powers and duties

to host a workshop about the budget and proposed changes,

that you come here and you take the opportunity

to participate in your community

and to talk to the commission and the department and staff

and let them know what's important to you.

So switch gears from 28th and B skate park and say,

thank you to staff, specifically to Joey and Dennis

and Matt in district six for coming out

and speaking with Colonial Heights Neighborhood Association

and working through some of the changes they wanna see

in their park long-term and short-term

and working on the mural

and helping us to design some work days.

Through that process, we realized that the community

was using the wrong park enhancement form.

I think this is something that we should discuss

publicly as well.

So community members can understand

where they apply for changes,

how they ask for safety changes,

how they request a new amenity.

I feel that we identified during that meeting

that the link we had shared with them has changed

and that the way that those collected,

were collected in the past has changed.

And so community members feel that they're putting

in their request into the ether

and they're not coming back.

So we had a great conversation about how to make sure

that they are getting through to the right person.

So if we can maybe add that to our website,

very front facing, like if you would like a change

to your park, here's our park enhancement form,

here's how you make a request

and then responding back, I would love to hear,

what is the expected time that a park staff

would reach back out to that person who requested that

so we can make sure that there's a trust,

a level of trust between our neighbors and our parks

that they love so much.

Thank you for answering my questions about the budget.

For the scholarships, when everything opens up,

I know there's a 30 day turnaround to get those approved.

I'm wondering, do we, I would expect that

there's gonna be a shock for some families

who get on there on April 9th and apply for camp

and suddenly it's not free, it's $80.

So is there, do we have, are we prepared for that?

For like extra staff and maybe some quick

return around time than the 30 days?

Yes, we are prepared.

Wonderful, I'm happy to share out scholarship process

so we can get that going too and make sure

that people are prepared.

Like Commissioner Ford, I did see it online as well,

but I'm signed in to make sure I'm seeing that.

So happy to share out that in whatever languages

you have it available in, specifically for my district.

I would love to see the scholarship,

you know, invitation in Spanish.

That would really help me in district six.

Come out, as you heard, Earth Day is Saturday morning.

We're gonna be doing some mulching at Guerrero Park

and I wanna thank specifically Teresa and Anna Guerrero,

the daughters of Artiglio Guerrero

who have sent along their thank yous

to this commission and to staff for making sure

that their park's taken care of.

So thank you for that.

So come on out on Saturday and we'll see you there.

Commissioner King.

Yes, thank you.

Thank you for your report, Director Binkham.

And I also wanted to just send a huge thank you

to the park staff, specifically around some of the updates

that are happening in district five.

We really do appreciate it down there in district five.

And specifically today we were at the opening day

of the new ball, I don't know what it's called,

the ball sign, somebody help me here.

The scoreboard, thank you, the ball sign.

So with the partnership between the Kings

and the airport little league

and then along with Parks Department,

we were able to get that done.

That was a three year project that we had been working on.

So really, really excited that that happened today.

I know the kids are super stoked.

Opening day is on Saturday.

So if anybody wants to come out, it's really cute.

They do a parade and they all dress up

and we all stand outside and wave

and they throw candy at like 10 people.

It's really great.

So please come out and support that.

And then also Earth Day, I'll be at Charlie Jensen Park.

Supporting that.

So please come out and support your community for Earth Day.

We really do appreciate it.

Thank you.

Thank you, commissioner Ford.

I forgot to mention that for the commissioners,

if you're not aware, our work plan was passed last week

or this week at council.

So thank you for everyone that provided input.

We got a lot of good feedback on that on a side note,

but commissioner Vasquez,

I'm aware that you reached out to my council member.

Just wanted to make sure that you know

that I feel very empowered to share my recommendations

with her and I work really closely with the council member

on a lot of different areas.

And so just no worries on this end.

I feel very empowered to share anything

that I would want with the commission.

Thank you.

Commissioner Labor.

My mic on.

Okay.

I wanted to thank Sean and Joey's team.

I found out that we're going to do a volunteer

on the 12th of April, I think like 50 Boy Scout troops

are going to come to Southside Park.

And then I found out earlier today

that a company is going to donate sand.

We're going to add about four yards to the park

and a sandbox area.

And then I found it earlier too

that our Miller Park event for Saturday,

someone just texted me that we filled up our numbers

to fill that up.

I hope that's true.

And also I wanted to thank the gifts to share program.

They've done a great job at managing donations

for our special park and playground there.

And shout out to Barbara Smith.

Thank you.

Thank you, commissioner.

Commissioner Robbins.

I'll try to be quick.

As I know we got a lot of speakers coming on after this.

I just want to thank Park staff again

for the Northgate tree planting we had

with Vice Mayor Korean Telemontes.

Jody and Dennis did a great job getting volunteers

we planted 16 trees in a very short amount of time.

So I'd love to see the roll up to sleaze attitude

everyone had.

Commissioner Joe Flores came out here, helped out

and former chair Devin LaValle came out

with his Tiger Scouts and planted some trees.

So thank you to SMUD and Tree Foundation

that continuing ongoing tradition

of planting trees in Sacramento.

That's all I have to say.

Thank you.

Thank you, commissioner.

Commissioner Vazquez.

Thank you.

Commissioner Ford, thank you

for bringing up our annual report

which was passed as we put it in.

And something I did want to clarify

we had about a 30 minute discussion item

as we looked at that draft together to forward on.

And there was significant confusion with this commission

as to whether or not we could pass policy recommendations

and that is our job.

That is what we are here to do.

That's what a commission is for is to find those gaps

and pass them on to city council and say,

hey, I think this is where we can be helpful.

So I just want to remind everyone what our role is

and to feel empowered when you have questions

from your constituents to know that yes,

it's up to us to make these policy recommendations

as is our charge in the commission.

So I hope that we all do feel empowered.

And if we have any questions going forward

as to what is our role that we offline

with our own individual city council members

as well as chair and vice chair and whomever else

you need that clarification for.

Thank you.

I'll share the final commissioner comment

in this section before we move on to public comment.

On behalf of chair Gaines who requested

that I do provide an update as to the passing

of our work plan and our annual report,

it was obviously received well.

We got great feedback from commissioner,

or sorry, councilwoman Kaplan who said,

our work plan was exactly what she envisioned

when she established the idea of creating a process.

The feedback from council member Jennings was that

our programs really do create a long-term investment

in our communities because ultimately children

and youth and community members like his own

come back to parks and they see the impact that they had.

So he shared a story with chair Gaines

about his grandchildren planting trees themselves

personally and every time they visit him,

they ask to go see the trees and to see that they're well

and that they're healthy.

And so he was very impressed with ultimately all

that we do as a commission and ultimately all that we do

as a collective community.

And so I hear the comments and the challenges

that we might need to navigate in future,

but I do wanna give us a round of applause

for the fact that we did do a great job on our first go.

That ultimately this is our first attempt

at doing something and I wanna recognize the effort

and energy and acknowledge that there was no malicious intent

in anything that we did,

that ultimately there's a significant learning curve

as we all stand here today before you

and that we wanna be accessible, we wanna be reachable

and ultimately we wanna be the best we can be.

So I wanna close with that in our commissioner comments

and I'd like to move now to the final item

which is public comments.

Before we get into that, I do wanna remind members

of the public in the chambers

that you will have two minutes to speak

once you're called on.

Our lovely clerk here will call you up by name.

Once you're here at the podium,

you'll see the timer in the upper left corner.

It'll have two minutes counting down

and it'll begin to flash at you as it gets to the zero.

At that point, the mic will cut off

and we'll ask that we move to the next speaker.

You cannot concede your time

and so in case that word is unfamiliar to you

like it was to me last month,

you can't pass your time on to someone else.

So it's two minutes per person.

And at 725, we do have to vote to extend the meeting

and if we don't vote to extend it,

the meeting will end at that point.

So I just wanna flag those items

before we go to our last item, which as I said,

is public comments matters not on the agenda.

Clerk, are there any members of the public

who wish to speak on public comments

matters not on the agenda?

Thank you, Vice Chair.

I have eight speaker slips on this item.

Our first speaker is Gage Marchini.

Thank you.

Good evening, commissioners.

My name is Gage Marchini.

I am on the board of directors

for the Sacramento Garden and Arts Center.

And we are here today, me and many of my colleagues

here in red are here today to talk to you about

an issue we are facing that is affecting our ability

to continue our offerings, our programming in the community.

If you're unfamiliar with us,

there are 26 member organizations that form

the Sacramento Garden and Arts Center,

we're a nonprofit that was organized

to partner with the city in operating and programming

at the Shepherd Garden and Arts Center

over near McKinley Park.

Now, we have operated with the city as partners for decades.

This center was built for our organizations.

We were there before it was built.

We were part of the effort to get it built

and we fundraised to pay for the furnishings

and equipment inside of it.

Last year, we received notice that beginning January one

of this year, our fees would be going up.

And this was going to have a detrimental effect

on our organization's ability to continue our offerings.

We have tried to work with the city, we have had meetings,

we have written letters, and we initially

got a very positive response.

We didn't ask for more, we didn't ask for a bigger discount,

we asked to stay the same.

And initially, the city told us that they would honor that.

And in exchange, they asked for us to take on

a greater responsibility for management and scheduling.

And after we made that effort and had a follow-up meeting,

the city notified us that they were reneging

on that previous agreement.

Thank you for your comment.

Our next speaker is MJ Killie.

Good evening, commissioners.

I'm also a director on the board

of the Sacramento Garden and Art Center.

I also am a member of Ikebana International, chapter 26,

the Sacramento Floral Design Group, and Tsugetsu.

On an annual basis, the member clubs

host about 288 meetings at the Shepherd's Garden.

Unfortunately, the frequency of these meetings

has been decreased in recent years

due to the increased facility rental charges.

These meetings are generally free to the public

to attend, to learn about various topics promoted

by the member clubs.

Although some scale specific workshops or classes,

may require an additional fee to cover the instructor, time,

or supplies.

Even if the community members are not interested in joining

a club as a full-time member, 18 of the member clubs

host annual shows, which range from one to three days.

100% of the annual shows are free for the community

to attend and enjoy.

There's displays and programming.

On an average, the annual shows bring in 300, 600 visitors,

with the most highly attended shows drawing 1,000 to 3,000

visitors.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comment.

Our next speaker is Judith Simple.

Good evening, commissioners.

I am part of the Sacramento Weavers and Spinners Guild,

one of the many members here tonight.

While the Shepherd Center provides opportunities

for people of all ages, many of the member clubs

retain significant involvement from community members

in their golden years.

The programming of the member clubs

allow the seniors to not only engage socially,

but to share their knowledge and information

with their fellow members and also with the community

in general.

The integration of collaborative opportunities

offered by the member clubs support the city's age-friendly

community action tiers.

Creating more opportunities for senior youth collaboration

beyond just volunteer opportunities

will help to combat ageism and ensure senior inclusions

in social life in Sacramento, broadening

the scope of existing community events run by the city

and others that are currently targeted to youth,

so as to include other older adults as well as build

inclusion.

The Shepherd Garden and Arts Center member clubs

have members ranging from 10 to 96 years of age

with a majority of club members exceeding 50 years.

The action plan directs the city of Sacramento

to address the needs of seniors as part of the park's plan 2040

update process and park project actions

to increase the use of park facilities by older adults.

The Shepherd Garden and Arts Center programming

provides a vital resource for our community seniors

to be engaged in accessible but dynamic artistic and

horticultural activities while also providing

socialization and community support

through partition in the member clubs they are active.

Thank you for your comment.

Your time is now up.

Our next speaker is Doughty Newman.

Hello.

My name is Doughty Newman.

I'm president of the American Balm's Eye Association

Sacramento.

Our club has been meeting at the Shepherd Garden Arts Center

since 1958 when it opened.

We've held our monthly meetings and our two-day show

at the Shepherd Garden Arts Center for the past 67 years.

The city has historically maintained

this collaborative partnership with the Sacramento Garden

Arts Center and its role in the Shepherd Center

and community for its 84-year existence.

The Sacramento Parks Plan 2040 encourages the parks department

to pursue cooperative with community-based organizations

and entities to increase the services, events,

and activities available to the community

throughout the parks facilities, such as the Shepherd Center.

The Sacramento Garden Arts Center

is the hub of which the member clubs provide

free and accessible activities, shows,

and social events for the benefit of our entire city.

With recent increases in rental fees

and the projective loss of 50% discount,

92% of the 26 clubs have indicated

that they will need to either disband or relocate

as they cannot afford to stay.

Migration of clubs away from the Shepherd Center

would be a loss of community resources for which this center

was constructed and as well as lost revenue for the city.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comment.

Our next speaker is Joanne.

Take your turn.

Good evening, commissioners.

My name is Joanne Sprogus.

I'm a member of the Sacramento Branch of the American Fuchsia

Society, and I sit on the board, like many people who've

spoken to you, of the Sacramento Garden and Arts Center.

The American Fuchsia Society was founded in 1929.

It's the international registrar for all new varieties

of fuchsia.

The Sacramento Branch was founded in 1942

and has met at the Shepherd Center

since that building opened all the way up

until this year when the increases in rent

threatened our very existence.

In negotiations so far, the Sacramento Garden and Arts

Center has attempted to partner with the city,

and we are still anxious to do so.

We will handle the reservations and the collection

of rental fees for all of our member clubs,

and our scheduler will act as a single point of contact

with the city.

And in return, we ask that the city extend its income

and we ask that the city extend indefinitely

the discounted fee arrangements from 2024.

In the belief that this was required,

we have secured an energetic, thorough,

and highly competent volunteer scheduler.

We have also paid for, customized, and implemented

a software program to handle the reservations

and to communicate with the city's scheduling office.

Government is tasked with many things.

Tonight, you have presented many ideas for what you do.

These are ideas, what we have, these clubs do,

are things you don't have to worry about.

All we ask is a place that we can afford to meet

to pursue the ideas that have worked for 80, 100 years.

Thank you.

Thank you.

For your comment, our next speaker is Jan.

Visual aids always help.

I'm Jan Goreng.

I study Ikebana, Sugetsu.

I also do flower arranging in English,

but this is a part of my life that I don't wanna give up.

I wanna help you tonight.

You are looking at saving money and I can help you.

You just tell the people in your scheduling office,

they can take coffee breaks because our staff

is going to schedule all of our meetings.

We're gonna send you a list of all the people who met

and we're gonna send you money at the end of the month.

You don't have to do a thing.

Have one person who will answer our calls if we need help.

You don't need the whole staff.

You don't need all of the emails coming and going.

We're gonna do it for you.

You have 189 ways to save money.

Now you have 188.

It's been a pleasure visiting with you.

Please come out and see us.

We would love to teach you the fine art

of Japanese floral design.

Goodbye.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Fair comment.

Our next speaker is Susan.

So I don't see Susan in the crowd, so we'll move on.

Our next speaker is David.

Good evening.

I'm David Johnson.

I'm a member of the Camelia City Porcelain Artists

and also a member of the board

of Shepherd Garden and Arts Center.

At the outset, I want to ask you,

as a board, will you meaningfully engage with us

to form a partnership?

I ask, no, I implore you to engage with us

in good faith to form a partnership

for the betterment of Sacramento

and add us to your May agenda

so we may have a two-way conversation.

Can we get on the May agenda?

Does anyone know?

Okay, well, you think it over and when you decide,

please let us know if we can come to your May agenda,

to your May meeting.

Also, I want to point out that the Perennial Plant Club

offers grants to schools in Sacramento.

Now, for the closing.

The Shepherd Garden and Arts Center was built

not as a source of revenue for the city,

but as a celebration of the contributions

of Sacramento's culture that are made by its various clubs.

Rightly so, because culture is the integration

of the divine with everyday life.

It uplifts our spirit, both physically and socially,

and is as essential to any community's health.

The Shepherd Center is also a testament to civic pride,

a thing not talked about too much these days,

but which is the social application

of personal self-respect.

Sacramento and with it, the Shepherd Garden Arts Center

flurries to the time when civic pride

was every reasonable person's,

every responsible person's concern.

Now, our.

Thank you for your comment.

Your time is now up.

Thank you, Vice Chair, I have no more speaker slits.

I want to thank each of you who came out tonight

to express your concerns.

I firmly believe that that's what this space is for.

I appreciate you all showing up in solidarity

from one another.

It's my understanding that staff will continue

to work with your organization and council office

to hopefully find a solution.

This concludes today's agenda.

Thank you everyone for your participation.

This meeting is now adjourned at 6.51.