Good evening and welcome to the Thursday, March 5th, 2026, Parks and Community Enrichment Commission.

This meeting is now called to order.

Will the clerk please call the roll to establish quorum?

Thank you, Chair.

Commissioner Langer.

Commissioner Yerby?

Here.

You hear me?

Commissioner Robbins?

Present.

Commissioner Labor?

Here.

Commissioner King?

Here.

Commissioner Vasquez.

Present.

Commissioner Flores?

Here.

Commissioner Lang?

Here.

Vice Chair Boom.

Present.

It's now Robbie Robbins, Vice Chair.

Oh, yes, it's still stated there.

Thank you.

My apologies.

That's okay.

And Commissioner Flor Flournoy.

Here.

And Chair Gaines.

Present.

Thank you.

We have a quorum.

Thank you.

And look at that.

Everybody's here.

Bravo to us.

All right.

So I would like to remind members of the public in chambers who wish to speak on any item on today's agenda to please turn in a speaker slip before 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.

And we will now proceed with the land acknowledgement and followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.

So if you will please rise for the opening acknowledgments in honor of Sacramento's indigenous people and tribal lands.

To the original people of this land, to the Nissanon people, the Southern Maidu, Valley and Plains Miwok, Patwin Wintun 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.

Migletch, thank you.

Please remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance.

One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

You may be seated.

So before we get started with the consent calendar, we do have a new commissioner.

I am so excited to introduce Morgan, I know with Flornoy, do I pronounce it?

Floronoy, yes, that's correct.

Awesome.

So we have a new commissioner who represents our youth seat.

We are so excited to have you.

The seat has been vacant for quite some time.

Um and so we are just overjoyed that you are joining us.

So if you'd like to share a little bit about yourself.

Thank you, fellow commissioners, for the warm welcome.

As you know, my name is Morgan Florinoy.

I am from District One, born and raised in Sacramento.

I'd just like to say that I'm so honored to be here today to serve my community and especially the youth of Sacramento, and I'm especially excited to work with you all and help our parks and community programs here.

So yeah, thank you.

Excellent.

Thank you.

All right.

Well, the first official agenda item today is the approval of the consent calendar.

Clerk, are there any members of the public who wish to speak on the consent calendar?

Thank you, Chair.

I have no speakers for this item.

All right.

Are there any commissioners who would like to speak on the consent calendar?

All right.

Seeing none, is there a motion and a second to approve the consent calendar?

So moved.

Aye motion.

Second.

All right.

So we have a motion by Commissioner Grebay and a second by uh Commissioner Vasquez.

Um all in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed.

Abstentions.

All right, the motion passes.

All right.

So we will now let's see.

Proceed to the discussion calendar.

Um, which is item three, finalizing the date for the 2026 volunteer recognition awards.

Is there a staff presentation or update?

Uh thank you, Chair.

There is no uh formal presentation.

We are just looking uh for direction to finalize the annual volunteer recognition uh night when that would be held.

Thank you.

All right.

So I believe we talked for 53 minutes last month about this.

And it looked like everyone but me was looking at January, so it will be in January next year.

So if that is fine, unless anybody would like to speak on that.

So with that, uh clerk, are there any members of the public who would like to speak on this item?

Thank you, Chair.

I have no speakers for this item.

All right, are there any members of the commission who would like to speak on this item?

Oh, you can.

You guys are more than welcome to.

We can keep talking about this.

All right, we'll see none.

It will be in January of 2027, will be our next volunteer recognition awards for our volunteers that we were recognizing for 2026.

All right, and that was receive and file.

So we will move on to the next item, which is item number four, 2026 summer programs overview.

Is there a staff presentation?

Yes.

I see lots of folks coming forward.

It's gonna be a big one.

I'm excited to be here today to share our upcoming programs for incredible 2026 summer season.

This summer, the program You know and love Summer Oasis Camp for youth ages five to 17 will return bigger and better at nine community center and park locations across our city.

We're ready to welcome youth and families into safe and enriching environments where every day feels like an adventure.

And when I talk about a venture, I want you to imagine a day at Summer Oasis.

On any given day, you could find campers racing through the neighborhood parks, playing sharks and minnow minnows, cooling off with snow cones after a full day of water games, and cheering on each other during a potato sack relay race or competing in our esports.

Campers are also exploring theme through their favorite activity, Slime Club, of course, adding in all their favorite mix-ins, parading through the parks on wheels day on their bikes, scooters, or skates, or you can find them singing along to their favorite song Golden from their favorite movie, K-pop Demon Hunters.

In addition, this year we are thrilled to offer a dedicated kinder camp opportunities as well as team camp experience at select locations.

In addition, our community recreation team is offering youth and adult sports activities this summer, including junior giants.

Junior Giants is a free non-competitive co-ed baseball and softball program for youth ages five to eighteen.

This is hosted at Williamland Park Ball Fields that uses a baseball as a platform to promote character development, education, health, and bullying prevention for underserved youth.

This program is administered through the Giants Community Fund in partnership with the City of Sacramento.

Registration through Junior Giants opens April 1st with practices beginning the week of June 9th.

All games are played on Saturdays, June 27th through August 1st, 2026.

In addition, we're committed to making sure that summer is accessible for every family in our community.

That's why we'll continue to offer financial hardship scholarships and the youth program scholarship fund, ensuring that no youth teen or taught misses out on the fun.

Participants enrolled in the qualifying programs such as CalFresh, Medical, and more are eligible for the YPSF scholarship.

Now I'll turn it over to Anna to talk about our aquatic offerings.

Thank you, Sam.

Hello, Commissioners.

I'm Anna Cook, Aquatics Recreation Supervisor, and I'm excited to present our aquatics programs for the coming summer.

Yepsey plans to offer a multitude of aquatics programs throughout the city, including recreational swimming, lap swimming, swim lessons, aquasize, lifeguard certification courses, and special events.

During the summer, recreational swim hours are planned for all 17 aquatic facilities throughout the city.

Yepsey partners with the Sacramental Public Libraries, Council Districts, and various community-based organizations to offer opportunities for discounted or free pool admission.

Swim lessons for participants six months and older are planned at all 12 neighborhood pools and the North Natomas Aquatics Complex this summer.

We are proud to provide equitable access to swim lessons to ensure learn to swim programming is available for learners of all ages citywide.

Space is available for over 2700 registrants.

Our basic water safety program provides youth and adults ages three and up with three 30-minute no-cost classes that focus on age and ability appropriate activities that teach important basic water safety and uh and basic swimming concepts.

Basic water safety classes are currently planned at Cabrillo, George Sim, Johnston, Mangan, McClatchy, and Oakie Pool with space for over 350 participants.

We'll also offer our junior lifeguarding camps, which provide youth ages 17 or sorry, excuse me, ages 12 to 15 years old with the foundation water rescue skills and help participants prepare for enrollment in a future Red Cross Lifeguard certification course.

Camps are planned at Clooney, McClatchy, Meadow View and Meadowview Pools, and the North Natomas Aquatics Complex.

We also plan to offer recreational swim teams at Clooney, Glenn Hall, Pennell Meadowview, and the North Notomas Aquatics Complex.

Throughout the summer, these swim team participants are offered the opportunity to compete in swim meets at both Pennell and NNAC.

Eligible applicants can register for aquatics programming at no cost through Yipsey's Youth Program Scholarship Fund that Samantha mentioned earlier.

The Heart Fund Pass program and our own adult swim safe scholarship.

And if you'd like to get an early start on the swim season, please join us April 4th out at the North Potomas Aquatics Complex for Eggapalooza event that features inwater egg hunts, games, and recreational swimming.

Thanks for your time this evening.

I'll turn it over to Sean Swanson.

Good evening, Commissioner.

Sean Swanson.

Among other teams, I do support the youth employment team.

All the programs that you just heard, both the programming at the community centers and in the parks, as well as the aquatics programs, all that registration opens on April 9th at 12 p.m.

The youth employment does operate on a slightly different schedule.

So our programs are a little bit different.

One of the big dates to be aware of is the week of March 10th through the 24th is when our LNL program applications will be open.

It's a different date because this is actually a program where the youth are hired as city employees.

So they do have to go through our normal city hiring process.

Additionally, we'll be offering our youth stipend-based programs.

These include the young leaders of tomorrow, primetime teen, and similar type programs.

These programs are focused on building job skills in youth, building competencies in youth to help them set up and succeed in life.

And then additionally, we also have stipend options for many of those programs.

Those programs we will be announcing the details of the programs a little bit further as we get closer to the summer, and then the registration for those programs will open up four weeks prior to the program.

Details about those programs will be available on our website.

Thank you for your time, and we'll be available for any questions.

All right, thank you so much.

All right, clerk, do we have any members of the public who would like to speak on this item?

Thank you, Chair.

No, we do not.

All right.

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

Uh Commissioner Flornoy.

Thank you.

Um, thank you, Mr.

Swanson, for that presentation.

I just had a quick question about the L program.

I know I have a lot of peers who'd be interested in participating in that.

So, how many spots are there available and is there like an interview process?

What is the application kind of look like?

Thank you.

I'm actually gonna ask Chris Wimberly, the superintendent over the LML program to answer it.

She's the expert on this.

Thank you.

So for our summer season, we have 122 positions that will be hired for for young people 14 to 17 years of age.

Um, the two-week recruitment period, um, we are looking at two weeks or 500 applicants, whichever comes first, so 500 applicants apply prior to the conclusion of the two weeks, the recruitment will close.

Thank you so much.

That's very helpful.

Commissioner Vasquez.

Thank you, Chair.

Um, can we expect to see any changes in pricing for the pools this year, or is it the same as last year?

There's no changes in pricing this year, everything remains the same.

Vice Chair Robins.

Thank you again, staff.

I know you guys work really hard.

I saw you guys last night, most of you will at the D3 Town all.

Thank you guys for being prepared and ready to answer questions, unlike some people in Twin Rivers, and this is the reason why they're on strike.

Um after that, I just want to tell you guys as a young kid that used to walk beautiful with the Doyle Pool.

I was wondering if there's any scholarships or free swim days coming up.

That's a simple question I have for the summer.

So for Rec Swim, um, we do have the um summer reading program available.

Um, read five books at your public library, turn that turn that paper in, and you get a free free swim pass for one youth and a participating adult with them.

Um, most of the time, D3 does do some sponsor days over at Doyle, so definitely you know, talk with your uh you know, your your council member on that as well.

Um we do also, you know, throughout the summer, we do have some some sponsored days um at all of our pools, and then we will have some events as well.

That's amazing to hear.

Thank you so much.

Commissioner Flores.

Uh thank you, Chair.

Um on the same same wavelength of the SAC Library uh partnership to the pool.

Uh I know like last year when we received the end of the year report on the magnitude of the uh the vouchers that were created from the reading, and I know I'm looking forward to that this year with a 12-year-old who loves the summer reading program, who gets the medal, and then by default we'll get the the pass to go to now.

Uh we love the North and Tolmos uh cyclone.

Yeah.

Uh so yeah, we're looking forward to that part.

Um, and then um uh you know, L is very uh you know personal to me because I in previous years to interview the youth and to hear how well they interview, and I'm sure the 500 slots go in less than two weeks, uh, because in those interviews it's just overflow of of youth, and so it's very hard to pick the 122 that is available because they're all such a high caliber, no matter where they are from the city.

So uh looking forward to the end of your reports on that part too.

So thank you.

Commissioner Ling.

There we go.

Try that again.

Thank you.

I am curious.

Um, I believe I read in the material that usually all of the camps in particular, and probably the aquatics programs, like their capacity fills up very quickly, right?

Um, but I'm curious if you could speak about kind of the demand, any like additional demand that you see and how are how um Yipsey is like trying to increase enrollment over time or increase capacity and serve those individuals that may be missing out because maybe they missed the deadline or the enrollment.

Um, just sort of like wondering about that commit capacity versus demand element.

Um I would say that answer varies a little bit by program area um and in general we try to meet demand as much as possible.

We are a little bit limited in some cases due to largely staffing, would be the portion, and the staffing generally is limited by what we have available as budgeted staff.

Um speaking on the aquatics end of things, it's about amounting staff we have available to teach swim lessons for uh camps or camp sacramento.

Um, for example, it would be more about how many cabin spaces we have or how many cabins are available.

Um community centers and sports, I believe, have slightly different uh challenges uh for them.

Um the youth workforce development uh piece, um, many of our programs have very high demand and very long wait lists for those programs.

We do wish we had more spots available and more funding for those ones.

Um we are very intentional about trying to run those programs a little bit across all of the council districts, but also largely focusing on equity uh based locations uh where we assess the need is the highest.

But um that that is our biggest challenge on there is uh staffing and funding.

Thank you.

I appreciate that response.

Thank you.

Commissioner King.

Yes, thank you.

Um I appreciate the presentation.

Um I know we have a lot of new commissioners um this year, and so I was hoping that we could get um maybe a brief summary of how our um area.

I'm sorry, our neighbors and our um our communities can access the scholarship program.

Is it something they need to apply for beforehand, or is it something they can do on the day of registration for these programs?

Yeah, so the YPSF scholarship or youth program scholarship fund is available year-round.

It is open right now.

I'd encourage all of you to share out the link, the application, have them apply beforehand, because once um April 8th hits for our registration day, um, we would already have apply the scholarship to their account and it could easily enroll into programs.

So I just ask of you to all share that information out to your um to your community.

Commissioner Vasquez.

Yes, thank you.

And is that information being shared out with our school districts so that they can invite their students to apply for that if they need to ahead of time?

Also, I heard you say April 8th.

Is it April 8th or April 9th?

Yes, it is April 8th at 12 p.m.

We go through each of the school districts and get them certified so we could share it out.

So each of our neighboring community centers are sharing it out with the sites closest to them.

Okay, great.

Thank you.

And I think the presentation says the ninth on it.

Yes, that was a mistake on our part.

It should be the eighth.

Okay, thanks.

Thank you so much, Ms.

Vu, um, being very helpful.

I had one more question.

Um, what is the availability of these scholarships tend to be?

And is it like a first come, first serve basis kind of thing, or do you review each application separately and then make a decision?

Uh Anthony Munoz, recreation manager.

Um, so we do have a fund uh that's replenished on an annual basis.

And in addition to that, we recently applied for a Measure L grant to make sure that uh our YPSF fund is never short.

So in this past year, uh we offered, I think just over three three was it, three thousand scholarships.

Uh 3,000 scholarships, over 100,000 issued um through all the eligible programs from community centers and pools, uh aquatics.

So we'll never turn anybody away.

And even if somebody doesn't meet the criteria for YPSF, we did offer um financial hardship uh opportunities, which the difference being that a financial uh hardship will qualify you for one particular program where YPSF is for all the eligible uh programs that the scholarship covers.

That's great to hear.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

I just had a quick um question about aquatics.

So I love love love the program that we have for lifeguards just to ensure that um you know everyone has a chance to become a lifeguard.

I know how expensive it was, and when I was growing up, it was just not something that was accessible to people.

Um, and so I was wondering, and if you don't have this answer, you can shoot me an email.

Um do we have enough funding to provide that um scholarship or whatever help we have that we had the amount last year for this year, because I know we've been in a deficit for a couple years now.

Are we still able to provide that same amount of help this year to have as many um scholarships for lifeguards?

Or lifeguard training, I guess I should say.

Um thank you.

Uh the lifeguard scholarship program is something that we actually started with the city.

It also helps us address our staffing needs as well.

Um, as you are probably aware, there's been a nationwide lifeguard shortage for several years now on there.

So it really helps us out.

Um, our lifeguard scholarship program is actually not separately funded for it.

Um, it's actually a cost that we absorb.

Um, but it is something that we are continuing to do.

Um, we continue to offer that scholarship to uh anybody that's gonna end up working for us that has a financial need so that they don't have to come up with the cost up front.

Traditionally, even for staff that work for us that didn't have a financial need, if and they finished the summer, we would refund the majority of the cost of their lifeguarding class at the end of the summer if they finished in good standing.

Um so for us it financially would still make sense for us to do it.

Wonderful.

Thank you.

Excellent.

Well, thank you guys so much.

We're looking forward to hearing um in the fall about all the right things that happened this summer.

Thank you so much.

All right, well, I believe that was receive and file.

So we will move on to number five, which is our Camp Sacramento annual updates.

Is there a staff presentation for this?

Yes.

Yes, there is.

Um, don't worry, you won't be hearing too much from me on this one.

Um I do support the camp sacramento team, um, but I have the pleasure of introducing Chad Richardson, our camp sacramental supervisor.

Uh this is actually Chad's first year as the camp sacramento supervisor, um, but definitely not his first year with CAP.

Uh Chad practically grew up at camp, um, and that is not hyperbole.

Um, but uh so I have the pleasure of turning over the presentation on Camp Sacramento to Chad.

Good evening, everybody.

I hope you're doing well.

Um I will try and keep it brief.

I did not write out a script like my awesome peers, but uh I will do my best to still give you some good information.

Uh so Camp Sacramento is one of the premier outdoor recreation programs from the city.

Uh started in 1920.

We just had our 105th birthday last summer, and we're still doing the same thing getting families from Sacramento, outside, enjoying nature, um, specifically up near Lake Tahoe, about an hour away from here.

Um in 2025, we served about 2400 campers total.

Um, 1,700 of those campers were in our family camp season.

That's kind of our bread and butter that's open to the public.

You can make reservations online through our online reservation system, and um so 1700 of those individuals were for that part of the summer, June to August, and then August to September.

We had another 700 campers just about for our postseason, which is kind of rental groups, private things.

Out of our 1700 campers in family camp, about 48% of those were youth campers, and about 81% were city of Sacramento residents.

So we're still really doing the same thing, getting residents up to the mountains to enjoy nature, get back to our wild roots, right?

Um we are making strides to make camp more accessible.

I know in recent years we've had some issues with weight loss or weight lists getting gridlocked and uh you know, people rebooking and having the same families over and over.

We've really been trying to bring new people into the fold.

As Sean mentioned, I grew up at camp.

I'm one of those people that goes year after year.

I've been there since I was two, but sharing that with new people is huge for me.

So we have changed our reservation system.

We no longer have 11 different reservation dates for 11 different sessions.

We now have one reservation date where all of our cabins that are available each summer go live online the August preceding said summer.

So cabins for 2025, everything available went live August 2024.

That was over a hundred cabins.

They were 100% booked online within 24 hours.

About 88% of those reservations were new campers that did not have reservations in 2024.

Um that's 93 families, just for the record.

Uh, we're also doing great at moving families off our wait lists in recent years.

For 2025, we brought over 30 new families off of the wait lists into camp.

And for 2026, we're staged to do the same thing.

We have over 30 families moved off the wait list already poised to go to camp for the first time in 2026, not to mention when cabins went live in August.

100 cabins across all sessions were booked within 24 hours.

Um that doesn't mean cabins stay booked, obviously.

Sometimes people cancel, cabins open up.

Uh, we just released this week 26 cabins across multiple sessions to the internet.

Those are available for anyone.

So if you wanted to go online right now and look at Ultra Camp, you could book a cabin at Camp Sacramento in one of those sessions.

Um again, another reason to bring some new families into the fold, start some good traditions there.

Um we are trying to keep people interested in coming back to Camp Sacramento, 105 years going on in 106.

We got to keep it fresh.

Um, so to focus on our natural resources and outdoor stewardship.

I have been working closely with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and uh working with them.

We have increased our fish planting up at Camp Sacramento, and we have made that the premier planting spot for the whole South Fork of the American River.

Um, that is a public waterway.

It does run right through camp, so our campers kind of have a little bit of special access there.

But this summer they planted over 3,000 pounds of fish.

I'm sorry, over 3,000 fish, which is 1,900 pounds.

Um, and some of these kids got to catch their first fish, they got addicted.

Parents are buying more fishing rods than ever thanks to Camp Sacramento.

Um we are also updating our facilities.

It is, as I mentioned again, 105 years old, and it's under the snow half the year.

Um, so things can start to fall apart.

We have seen some deterioration, everything's made of wood.

We've been working really closely with the facilities department.

They've been great in repairing our kitchen floors, our kitchen walls.

They are replacing a walk-in freezer unit that hasn't been working for a few years, um, repairing it, and uh the electricians are coming out and replacing all of our old sodium halogen 1974 light bulbs with new light bulbs that can help you see when you're walking across camp in the dark.

So it's great.

Uh, utilities has been huge also for us.

They are helping us repair our water intake line, which survived the wildfire a few years ago.

Um it's about that time.

It lit on fire, and now it's springing leaks here and there, and utilities has been great about coming up, getting sections replaced.

Um, they've been integral for keeping that standing another 105 years, hopefully.

Um then moving forward in a bid to get more families to camp.

We have two uh summer programs that are coming up this year, special programs, I should say, and uh that is our bonus summer session and our day of camp sessions.

The bonus summer session, oh, thank you, Sean.

The bonus summer session is a special weekend session where we offer all of our camp sack programming, uh kind of condensed down to last Friday to Sunday, and you get your archery, you get your tie-dye, you get all that fun stuff, shorter amount of time, and it's a little more cost effective because it's a little shorter amount of time.

Um that session will be 100% open every year, no rebooking, so that will have plenty of room for anyone uh kind of looking for a second chance at camp sack for the summer.

And then a day at camp is actually our day camp program where you get to experience some of the popular camp activities, and that is free for Sacramento residents.

Um you go online, you can sign up on April 8th at noon for either of these, and uh depending if you're a city resident, you can come up for a day for free, or you can attend the bonus summer session uh for a pretty discounted price if it was full and you were trying to get in.

And I think that's all I have.

If there are any questions, excellent, thank you so much.

Um Clerk, are there any members of the public who would like to speak on this item?

Thank you, Chair.

I have no speakers for this item.

Thank you, Commissioner Lever.

Thank you for your presentation.

I had a couple questions on page five.

I I think there might be an error on the date.

You have June and August 2026.

Does that mean 2025?

That it may have I would have to look at it, but it may be.

It's in the paragraph expanded opportunities.

But I so yes, we introduced these programs in 2025.

Okay.

Um, but they didn't have the traction that they we had hoped they had had.

Bonus summer session, we realized was scheduled right after the start of the Sack City School District school back to school dates, and it was like Tuesday to Thursday, so a lot of families couldn't make it up.

This year we've moved it Friday dinner to Sunday breakfast in an attempt to kind of clear that up.

We've also made the um we've also made registering a little bit easier online as well.

We've kind of streamlined that process.

So what you are seeing may mention um we had 90 or it was 79 new campers.

Is that the part you're looking at?

No, it's on page five.

I think it's an easy error, just it's 2026.

But I think you're talking about last year.

Maybe right, I'll have to take a peek.

Okay, but then another question real quick.

Um on page six, I see expand programs and services to support youth, health, special needs, educational programs.

I just got a quick question because I know access leisure has had a history there, but that was kind of before my time.

Tell me when you make that comment, what how are you trying to expand or what they're probably nonprofits I know about that could help coordinate or collaborate?

But I'm curious about what your plan is because it tied into the 2040 parks plan.

And I'm just curious about your special.

Um we are providing um, we're trying to get more youth up to camp with these programs specifically.

Um, and then we are providing more opportunities for youth to get up there in employment as well.

Last year, our staff was 80% youth.

Um, so we're we're making efforts to get you up there in multiple ways.

Um, in terms of access leisure type programs, um, that's more of a marketing push from us, right?

So we have open weekends, available weekends, kind of in our postseason group.

We're pretty slated in from June to August with our family camp months with what we can do.

It's back to back sessions.

Um, but in terms of postseason, those are groups that we are trying to have in, and access leisure are people that we are willing to work with.

I haven't worked with them since Jenny Yarrow left a number of years ago.

Um, but actively we are trying to still we have some open weekends that we are trying to fill with some groups like this.

And the camp overall is pretty accessible, looks it like.

It's I've heard different comments about um we did do an ADA accessibility survey back in 2019, I want to say, and we are not our buildings are accessible, but walking between the buildings is not necessarily the easiest thing to do, which may have to do with why access leisure stopped coming in the first place.

Um, but we are working on grading roads, laying down road base, things like that to improve accessibility all the time.

Do you have family camps that are like special needs kids and families?

Um no, but we do we we do have campers that come.

We don't do a specific special needs camp, but we do not discriminate by any means, and we have campers that come with special needs as part of their family unit.

So a family could bring could you have a special needs family camp?

Are you interested in doing that?

Um I would definitely not be opposed to doing that.

And then okay, we'll talk more about it.

But I would be very opportunities.

I have some connections that might help.

Okay, yeah, definitely.

A lot of people in Sacramento that have to travel far away to a camp.

And if we could make this camp more viable for local people, I think it'd be a good thing.

No, we're all about providing that service.

We're all like I said, we started 105 years ago to get people outside.

You know, it's a really palatable kind of outside experience, right?

You can go to camp.

You don't have to wander very far.

You kind of got this little bubble to take care of you.

So yeah, I think that's definitely something we'd be interested in.

Meet local connections, people can meet their friends in their neighborhood.

Yeah.

Thank you, sir.

No, thank you.

I appreciate you.

Commissioner Linger.

Um, great information, great camp.

That sounds super awesome.

Um, would you please talk a little bit about like a typical camper experience?

What is the length of the camp?

Is transportation provided?

Just some of the basics of what camp looks like to get up the hill for our Sacramento folks.

Yeah, of course.

Um we offer a couple different programs throughout the summer.

Our family camp program, like I talked about, the bread and butter is kind of divided into a shorter mini type session and a longer week-long session.

Mini session, you're looking at four days, three nights.

Um, the week long, you're looking at six days, five nights.

We do not provide transportation to camp.

Um it's it's more like a you know, families come up, they drive themselves.

It's kind of like a hotel without a building, right?

Cabins kind of spread across 14 acres.

There's a parking spot, they come up with the minivan full of all the kids' stuff, and uh they load out, they decorate their cabin, you know, they have all that stuff.

Um the time they show up to the time they leave.

Uh we try and give them enough to do to stay busy, but we don't ever put any pressure on them to do any of the activities.

So we kind of have pre-scheduled times for archery, for tie-dye, for hiking, for arts and crafts.

Um, and kids are kind of broken into age groups of their peers to kind of experience those activities together.

Um, we also do all camp activities where we kind of get together maybe in the evening and sing a campfire songs.

Uh maybe one of the 16-year-olds that works for me gets a pie in the face during a skit, something like that.

Um, but it's really kind of a breakfast to bedtime kind of deal, right?

Um, it includes three meals a day, breakfast, lunch, and dinner when you stay at camp, plus all the activity costs.

There's also a camp store where the campers uh can buy soda pops and ice creams, camp t-shirts, um, all that fun stuff.

Hats have been very popular the past couple years.

Um, and we keep them going and we try and keep those kids running in circles until they fall asleep at night and then wake up and do it all over again.

Thank you.

That's what we hear, hopefully.

Can you tell us about the scholarship program?

Oh, I'm sorry, yeah, I didn't, I forgot to mention the scholarship program.

Um, we have a scholarship program in conjunction with our nonprofit affiliates, the Friends of Camp Sacramento.

Um, basically working with other organizations, cottage housing and beyond Sacramento, they identify families that could not make it to camp financially otherwise.

And they basically Friends of Camp Sacramento foots the bill for those families.

Um they get to show up at camp, they get to be part of the crew, and they get to experience everything everyone else experiences free of charge.

Um last summer we had four families attend camp free of charge on this scholarship.

This summer they have budgeted enough money for eight families, which is about 10,000 bucks out of the nonprofit.

Um, and hopefully they can get all eight of those cabins filled.

We have the cabin set aside, ready to go.

Perfect.

So do people apply through Friends of Camp Sacramento, or do they apply and then talk to you?

Like, are they already set to go to camp and then they talk to you and you talk to Friends of Camp Sacramento?

How's the process work?

Friends of Camp Sacramento works directly with cottage housing and beyond Sacramento to get candidates.

Um my impression, they cannot self-umote themselves as candidates.

Friends of Camp Sacramento reaches out specifically to these other organizations and gets candidates that might be interested in going to camp.

Okay, so people cannot apply for a scholarship.

No, it is not an application.

It's you go through yeah, I think if you go through cottage housing and beyond um Sacramento, you can tell them you're interested and get put kind of in the running for that.

Um, but we do not have an application that we vet.

Friends of Camp Sacramento is the one who kind of vets and goes through the signups.

Commissioner Flornoy.

Thank you.

I heard you mentioning a lot of like youth workers that you have.

Do you hire them seasonally?

Um, and what is the outreach kind of look like for youth hiring?

Yeah, we do a lot of outreach just about every week.

We're lucky to have a really good relationship with the city aquatics division, and they have been in the habit in recent years of going to all the schools in the area and doing outreach, you know, set up a table at lunch, um, all that fun stuff.

So we've been really good.

Um, my assistant supervisor Cody is really good about going to schools, getting things set up, hand out flyers, hand out some candy, talk about what it's like to work at summer camp.

Um, my assistant supervisor Cody is really good about going to schools, getting things set up, hand out flyers, hand out some candy, talk about what it's like to work at summer camp, and um we've had really good success with that.

Most of our staff is uh a result of that.

And you know, it it works so well that we even had a girl last year apply, and she brought a flyer from when she was 14 years old that we gave her, and she said, Hey, I held on to this because it sounded like so much fun.

Um so we're doing a lot of outreach there, and that that's really the core of our crew is that youth because we have about 30 positions we can hire each year, and about 15 of those are slated to be youth uh 16, 17-year-olds.

So we do bring on quite a few, and we we try and uh build a really good team culture, and we try and get them coming back every year, try and get them to like the place.

So that's good to know.

No staff shortages there.

And if you need any high schools that you need to get in contact with or youth groups, I you can definitely reach out to me and I can give you those.

So thank you.

I appreciate that.

Of course.

Commissioner Lever.

Real quick, what's the capacity of the camp at any one time?

Uh, between 200 and 225.

That includes staff.

That includes staff.

Probably get up to 235 with my staff there, closer.

Um we we like to be around 200 just to be a good square number, but there's some wiggle room there based on cabin capacities.

Um, you know, you might have five people in a cabin instead of six, something like that.

About 200 is what you're looking at with every cabin almost full.

Commissioner Uribay.

Thank you.

Uh, my question is if a family's waiting on that day in August and they get in and they cancel, is there a fee that they get charged for canceling?

We do require non-refundable deposit um that goes with all of our reservations.

It is $100 for a mini-week, 160 for a week long.

And that is not a separate fee from your camp fees.

That is taken off the top of your camp fees, your final bill.

And then you mentioned a number about uh a reopening a wait list, and that's where you're talking about those cancellations wait lists to try to fill those family camps positions.

Yeah, so when those cabins get 100% booked in August, if they get 100% booked in August, whatever it is, wait lists become available um immediately.

So that it was August 16th last year, we went open online.

Um by seven o'clock, I was getting emails.

Hey, there's no more cabins.

Can I be on the wait list?

People get put on that list based on the timestamp on that email, and then we contact them in the order they contacted us as stuff becomes available.

So it's safe to say that there's like sold-out seasons year-round when including August, and then back to cancel, I mean, wait lists openings and stuff.

The past two seasons we've been 100% uh since we've gone to that single day, that single registration date, we've been 100% booked both years, which has been great.

I like it.

The last thing I'll add is this is like a suggestion, and it's only because I was having a conversation with a um someone who worked at SMUD, and we were talking about families and going on vacations and and she brought up unsolicited and tell her where I was a parks commissioner.

Hey Carla, shout out.

Um she was talking about how much she loved her camp Sacramento experience.

And I mean, she was going into it about hanging out with mothers and opening up bottles of wine while the kids were just off doing activities.

Once again, shout out Carla.

Um so it'd be great to see like a video promoting some of these things to uh Commissioner Langer's point was like, oh, you know, what does they look like?

I think it's it's something that I think a lot of families would like to see.

Um, because she was beyond surprised of uh the experience that she had, and she's she's waiting every August now to sign up.

So I think that's a great suggestion.

Thank you.

We will definitely look into making some media for that going on.

I know we made a video back in 2019, 2020, right?

Before things kind of went sideways there, and uh that's the last video we kind of had, and we've been making a lot of steps.

So I think that's a very great idea to kind of highlight what we've done since then.

Sounds good.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Yeah, I didn't know we could take wine up there.

That changes everything.

Don't give any to your kids.

If you can, I'm sorry, shout out Carla.

Number one rule 21 and over.

No, I was just gonna congratulate the the numbers of new families in there because I know a couple years ago was uh quick.

If you came here last year and you rebucket again, and it was the same one, and I got a shout-out uh Commissioner Ford and whoever else spearheaded that change.

Uh back to four more chair back at the uh SOS on that because you see the numbers right there and hearing that the new people to accept that and going up and experience that.

So I just wanted to thank everyone that on their hard work on that.

I had no uh fingers on that.

That was all everyone else that worked on that.

So thank you guys, and I'd love to see that change.

So thank you.

Thank you.

All right.

Well, um, yes, I would just like to um kind of reiterate that.

Um, if anybody was here a couple years ago, I felt very strongly about how the system was going.

Um, Anthony knows he had to take my phone calls um about this.

Um, and I am just so impressed by um how quickly you guys were able to just really you know be open to feedback, be flexible to hear um these changes and really looking at the importance of making this like open and equitable to people.

Um, I actually had taken a picture when I was reading the um report earlier and taking a picture and sent it to all my friends who I had been complaining about this too a couple of years ago and was like, look at look at this how how important this is because it was so important that people who had gone people like you who had gone still had access.

Like we didn't want to take that away, but it was so important that new people were able to go and attend and be able to be a part of this.

So I just really congratulate you and really the entire team just for like I said, being flexible and being creative.

I love seeing that you know, even now you guys are like, okay, well, hold on a second.

Um, some people can't afford this.

A week is too long, and so to see these bonus sessions that you guys are coming up with, and I know um for the past few years you guys have had the um the day at camp, but that you guys are gonna do two because you know, so there's more opportunity in that last year.

Oh, Tuesday, Thursday didn't work.

Let's change it.

You guys are constantly being um flexible to make sure that this is accessible.

Um, and I just really really love to see that.

So I just really appreciate you know, you guys constantly making sure that this is something that's open to everyone.

So we just really appreciate you guys and congratulate you guys on all the hard work because we see it in the in what you guys are doing.

Thank you.

We appreciate that, and we appreciate the feedback and all the advice.

Excellent.

Well, if there is nothing else, thank you guys so much.

Can't wait to hear, like I said, in the winter, how everything went.

Thank you very much.

Everyone have a great evening.

All right, that was receive and discuss.

So we will move on to the youth resource and employment fair.

Is there a uh yes, staff presentation?

Good evening again.

Chris Wimberley with uh youth workforce development operations.

Um I'm really here to just announce to you and invite to you all um to attend this Saturday.

We have our annual youth resource and employment fair up on the screen.

It is going to be from 9 30 a.m.

to 12 noon.

We have over 30 um CBOs, nonprofits, city departments, city units that will be in attendance.

We also once again have our second floor where young people will be able to get a professional headshot.

We have a fashion gallery that gives exposure for young people to see what it looks like, how you can be dressing if you're going to an interview, or what business casual may look like, and also showing them that this can be on a budget.

We actually went to thrift stores, put outfits together, and we show that it doesn't cost an arm and a leg to be able to go and do this type of um clothing.

We also will be encouraging them on the second floor to complete their government jobs account.

So, in order to be an employee for the city of Sacramento, the first step is to get this government jobs account, which then allows you to kind of put together your application, and so whenever you are applying for a city job, it populates your information.

Um, instead of you having to every time apply for something, you're having to do it all manually once again.

Um last year we had over 800 young people, 13 to 24 years of age registered to attend.

Something we're doing differently this year is it's only on-site registration.

Last year we had 300 individuals that registered, um, pre-registered, but we only had 150 of those individuals attend, and we saw on-site doing 650 on-site registrations.

So we kind of are doing this a little bit differently.

We're going to only be doing on-site registration.

They will be entering in on the H Street side of New City Hall, and we will have this place filled with all of our nonprofits, CBOs, financial industry uh agencies, and making sure that we have an opportunity for all of these young people to gain all of this information.

Um, it's been a wonderfully successful event um year after year.

We've made little tweaks here and there to make sure that we can make the accommodation of the space in which we have.

So we're hoping this year we will see um the uptick of our attendance.

We still have swag bags available for those that come and register.

Um, and so we're hoping for another successful event this coming Saturday.

We will be setting up tomorrow, um, starting at nine o'clock.

And then at two o'clock, we will be down here and transforming these two floors for this upcoming event.

So again, Saturday, March 7th here at New City Hall from 9 30 a.m.

to 12 p.m.

On site registration begins at 9 15.

And I'm here to answer any questions that you may have.

All right.

Commissioner Florino.

Thank you so much.

I am definitely a person who appreciates this event.

It's great that you guys do this every year.

And I definitely appreciate that shift in seeing the difference between on site registration and pre-registration.

But last year when I did attend, I saw a lot of like kind of traffic flow problems because there were so many youth that wanted to see all the resources and all the opportunities.

So are you going to be increasing staff to help with that flow?

Are you going to be like going like getting extra staff and going in line and setting people up that way?

What do you what's your kind of your strategy for that?

So with us flipping where registration will be taking place out in the front part on 8th Street.

Our goal is to have a controlled flow in.

We will have a set number that can be in your maximum capacity.

And then as people exit into the plaza, there will be signage advising that once you exit, there's no re-entry.

If they want to re-enter, they actually have to come all the way back around and get in line again.

Not I have a wristband, I get to go in.

So we're trying to do our best because I do recall last year at a point in time all of a sudden looking up, and it was just wall to wall people.

And so we did an immediate pivot and we stopped people coming in, and then you would have seen people lining up actually along this uh area over here.

I do so we had to do a little bit of crowd control that way.

Um everybody will be required to have a wristband on.

So we are registering young people, uh, 13 to 24.

If they have guests with them, they will have a different wristband.

Our hope is last year we also had to stop adults that were over the age the age area.

Um we were encouraging them to stand outside and wait for their child because we didn't have the capacity for everybody to come in.

So we're hoping that this shift will be a better fit for this and a better flow.

Um, but we continue to learn from this event and how to incorporate changes and pivot to different ways in which we can make it successful.

That's great to hear.

I'll definitely be letting all my friends who are going know of that change, and yeah, it's again appreciate that pivot.

Commissioner Laver.

So, how many people were registered for Saturday?

You don't know for this Saturday?

We have none.

It's all on site this year.

It's not a pre-registration.

Another quick question a second ago, you talked about you're gonna have it here.

Why don't you have it like in a bigger building or like a different site?

Why would you have it here?

I just don't know.

Some of the reason why we have it here is this is very much a central point for public transit.

And I forgot to mention that regional transit actually is partnering with us again.

You show the flyer that's right there, and you can get on to light rail or onto a bus for the duration of the event.

So coming down here or going out.

So this is really a centralized location for north, south, east, west of Sacramento.

It's also been a good location for us to expose the public and young people to the heart of the operations of the city of Sacramento, too.

So a lot of people have never come down here before.

So it has been a good thing for young people to see it because some of the programming and some of the uh employment opportunities are down here too.

And the employers set up like in the hallway or in the so what we will do is we have special events drops off.

Are they six by six by ten, six by eight tables?

Um we set them up, we'll have 13 tables set up out here in 1119, which is another room that we have.

I believe we have maybe 10 in that area, and then in the other lobby, we'll have another eight to nine.

So we use as much space as possible, and then we maximize the second floor with the the fashion gallery, the headshots, and the government jobs.

In the past, we had done like workshops and we actually had a longer event.

Um, but some of the challenges we were not finding.

We found some of our CBOs and nonprofits and some of our partners were leaving earlier, and they weren't staying until two o'clock.

We also used to have food trucks, and once the food truck started serving, everything else kind of shut down.

And also to be honest, we also had to be mindful of budgetary restraints too.

So we found that this is probably the third year that we've gone from 9 30 a.m.

to noon.

It's kind of in that sweet spot.

So you're not having if you're an employer, you're not spending your entire day here.

So you kind of are able to still have time in the afternoon.

But also young people, we're also trying to encourage them to understand the early bird gets the worm.

We will have somebody at the end of the line at 11:15 because on-site registration concludes at 11:15.

And unfortunately, if you're here here at 11:20, you will be advised.

We concluded our on-site registration.

So those are some life lessons that people need to also be learning.

And young people need to learn it sooner than later.

A notified D4 council member.

So I think he's gonna add it to social media or maybe newsletters.

I hope that helps you.

Thank you.

Commissioner Yuribe.

Very specific question on one of the vendors or any one of the vendors, if they're how'd I put this?

Is there anybody registering these young folks to vote?

So for this event, we do not have voter registration here at this event, and I don't know if this would be the appropriate venue or event to do it at.

We do partner with the voter registration.

They do come and are part of our summer at City Hall program.

We've also shared information and they've come to our primetime teen program sharing how to register at 16.

You can register, so in preparation for you to turn 18.

Um, but we have not had them come to this event specifically because we're really looking at that employer um aspect.

Terrific.

Thank you.

All right.

Well, I just want to say um kind of a pre-congratulations.

We know this is gonna be a huge success if any, if the last few years have shown us anything.

I just recognize what a huge undertaking this is.

So just for you and your team, um, you know, I just want to thank you guys for all of your hard work thus far.

Um, and you know, as you were sharing kind of like the ways that you guys had to pivot last year and then this year, and all the things that you guys are taking into consideration to make it just a better experience for the young people and for the vendors, you know, that's so important.

And um youth jobs is so important to me, and I think everyone up here because we recognize that it's not just like for young people, like yes, for some of the kids, it's like extra money, you know, to go to the movies, but for a lot of these kids, it's for their families, and that it's not just an opportunity for 800 young people to get a job for themselves, but for their families and ways that they can help.

And also, we look at you know, public safety and things like that, keeping them out of trouble during the summer because they have something to do and somewhere to go.

Um, so we just really appreciate um all that you guys are doing to support that.

So I know I know it's gonna be fantastic.

So thank you so much.

If anybody's interested in being here, let us know.

We will get you in.

Like I said, you have to be registered, but I think we can make some exceptions.

Thank you.

All right, so that was Receive and Discuss.

So now we are going to move to item number seven, which is 916 day updates.

Is there a staff presentation?

Hello.

Good evening, commissioners.

I am here to talk about 916 day and for our new commissioner Morgan Florinoy.

Uh 916 Day was declared by City Council in 2021 as a day to celebrate, uh, the date aligning with the area code 916.

Usually it happens September 16th, but this year we have decided as a commission that we would like to be celebrating all year long with events throughout the year uh in our parks in our green spaces.

Um, tonight we're here to discuss outreach and recruitment, securing community partners, sponsorship ideas, and upcoming projects for 916 day events.

We've had quite a few tree plantings uh early this year that will be concluding at the end of this month, as that will be the last month of our tree planting calendar.

Um, so I'm here to see what kind of projects you guys want to do.

I know Commissioner Flores has something coming up in May, particularly the Del Rio Trail cleanup, perhaps.

And then I know Commissioner or Vice, sorry, Vice Chair Robins has a painting project he would like to do.

Um, in addition to that, Commissioners Vasquez and Eurebe have been helping me with the sponsorship letter that is pretty much ready to go.

Uh I've sent it over to the two of you for edits if you have any, which I know Eurebay, you um responded that it looks good.

So just waiting on one more edit and then we can send it out.

Uh and hopefully we discussed uh divvying up sponsors this year.

So uh each commissioner will take uh a few sponsors that way we're not doing, you know, like last year.

Sierra and I were had a couple of kerfuffles where there were Rayleigh's, I think got contacted twice, so this will hopefully eliminate that possibility.

Um so yeah, I just basically wanted to open it up to you guys and see what kind of ideas you had for 916 day events this year, and uh yeah, I'll be helping uh recruit at the employment fair this weekend.

So floor is open.

All right, before we get started with us, are there any members of the public who would like to speak on this item?

Thank you.

Uh Chair, no, I have no speakers for this item.

Thank you.

Vice Chair Robbins.

Hello, cousin.

Happy belated birthday.

Thank you.

Um, yeah, thank you for all your help on the Garland Parks tree planting for 916A as well.

We planted 15 trees.

As much as we love to plant trees, it's almost that time of year, like you said, that we just can't do it.

Um I did mention that I would love to have some painting um projects as uh chair has a couple of painting projects before, where it's such an awesome before and after effect.

And I still haven't got uh any projects from park staff on that.

But other projects that we can do, uh any ideas, I would be more than happy, and I really defer to uh park maintenance to see what is a good challenge that we could probably do.

We could build uh something, you know, that's kind of where I'm throwing it out.

If I don't hear any back, I'm just gonna be um just looking for a crazy idea, so you know how crazy I could get with stuff, and I'll just let it to the park staff and see what we're gonna know.

But yeah, I look forward to doing painting projects.

I think that's the easiest one.

I know we have about nine colors that we are directed to use, but yeah, I would love to have uh a couple of those, so just throwing it out there.

Thank you, guys.

Okay.

Commissioner Boone.

Thank you, Deanna, for all your work on this, especially this pivot in the year where we're gonna try to spread things out across 2026.

That's gonna be really exciting.

Um, I know personally I'm looking to do a project um in D5, specifically Oak Park, um, in partnership with the church I attend.

Um, the young adult group, they are pivoting to do more service-oriented work.

And so this year, or this month they're doing like a partnership with the Wellspring Women's Center to do like a fundraiser and a donation drive since it's women's history month.

But um, it had come up in conversation that for the month of May, they wanted to do like a cleanup or some sort of project.

So if McClatchy has deferred maintenance, I don't know if we need to like pull the weeds or I don't think we can do the spray because it's hazardous, but um anything that is light um and simple, let me know because then if we can nail down a date in a project, I'm happy to share it with um the neighborhood association as well and the McGeorge campus.

So it doesn't have to be limited to the the church attendees, but um they did they do want to do something.

And if not McClatchy, if there's another, I don't know if um I actually think there's a tree planting coming up at McClatchy, but um, but yeah, we can get something on the books for that.

Do you know what month they're particularly in?

May okay.

But if that if that's not ideal, um you just tell me and then because there's an there's another, there's like they do laundry love where they sponsor this is another plug.

Um the last Saturday of the month, they pay for laundry um in Oak Park.

So if you if you bring your laundry, they'll pay for it to be done and they give soap and uh dryer sheets.

So it's called laundry love.

Um, it's like nationwide, but this church does it specifically in the Oak Park area.

So that's something they're already gearing up to do in the month of May, but they want to do like an outdoor type um service opportunity.

So you just you tell me.

I'll uh I'll connect with Sean from Parks Maintenance and see what we can come up with.

Commissioner Flornoy Uh, thank you.

I know Vice Chair Robbins was talking about kind of diversifying events, finding some more fun ones.

So um I was thinking, would it be possible to do like a chalk it up event?

So kind of get a bunch of boxes of like chalk and have like families come out to parks, maybe chalk up the sidewalks with some motivational messages for the new year, um, or just doing drawing designs, kind of whatever they want.

At my school, we recently did this because we have midterms coming up next week.

So one of the seniors organized a school event where everyone kind of came out and they got to chalk up the sidewalks.

And it was just really great to see everyone's creativity and those motivational messages to really keep pushing with our classes, getting those good grades.

But yeah, would that be possible at all?

Yeah, I can I I think we can do that and maybe connect with Commissioner Langer and D1 and see if we can pick a location for that.

Maybe that sounds fun.

Yeah, just uh a vices we would have to name it something else.

You gotta contact chalk it up.

Yeah, chocolate.

It would be a park day chalk or whatever, but I love the idea.

Thank you.

Commissioner Flores.

Thank you, Chair.

Um I know in some of the emails I sent you this month, uh trying to in D7 there are some co-located uh um park sites that have other city assets like uh at Reichmas Park, there's Fire Station 13.

So I suggested uh a possible uh maintenance there, but on that wavelength of like a a an art project that involves chuck, um at uh senior center, right?

So there's that that could be like a twofer in that sense, since uh we're spitting out ideas and motivational phrases to our older or what what is the director say our better folks 60 and better um so uh I know in some of that um for bang for buck more like hey uh not less bandwidth, but in because we do have limited bandwidth or limited resources, um co-located sites on D7 has some, so suggested a couple of them came up and uh so those ideas, I guess at the at the high levels for the rest of the team, like what uh what opportunities at city sites that have parks that have multiple uses that could uh um uh be for future events for this year.

And since we're spreading it across the the the calendar, uh so we can focus on those.

So I know that that was for that intentionality of um being creative, being diverse, and it's not just September specific.

So uh I'll continue to work with you on some to land a couple ideas because like uh Sarah sent a new idea, I think just today.

Yeah, the cemetery one.

And I was like, wow, that could be awesome.

So there's a lot of opportunities there.

So uh so thank you for that.

And I know I I rose my hand last month for outreach and partnerships, I think.

Not we'll be doing that in April.

Okay, so yeah.

Yeah, I didn't forget, but I know I didn't I wasn't good on getting it.

But I did see your video for Robbie's 916 day, so you're kind of already doing the work.

All right, appreciate it.

All right, that's it.

Thank you.

Yeah, and I'm gonna jump in here real quick, even though I didn't raise my hand because I think going on with what um Commissioner Flores was saying and what Commissioner Flornoy was saying, um, and I'm not saying I'm gonna do this, uh, but just thinking on the top of my head.

Um, like maybe what as we're thinking about being more creative.

I know we do a lot of things in the parks, but we also have community centers that we could be painting inside of those.

I know at like Panel Center they do a backpack drive.

So, like, you know, donating to back the the backpack giveaways.

I know we do they have noodles on wheels, um, you know, and I know that's like a federal program, but maybe I want to do an ice cream social with the seniors.

Like we have other things outside of the parks that we can volunteer for.

Yes, that we can do community enrichment pieces too.

Um, so I want us to think about those things as well.

Like I said, not that I'm gonna do it, but you know, we should all be thinking about that too.

All right, Commissioner Linger.

You um apparently we like to have fun in D1 because I had a similar fun type of um uh suggestion or um I guess just idea.

Um I know there have been some fishing in the park type of um events.

I don't know if that's done at the city level or if that's been I think it's done by fishing game.

I I was I think it's at the state level, but I don't know if there's maybe an opportunity to like explore a partnership with them, similar to the camp Sacramento.

There's plenty of these city kids who have never actually put a rod into their lakes that they live very nearby and ponds and other sort of um waterways.

So would love to explore something in that vein.

And I do apologize, I've been remiss in uh responding to the I haven't seen anything about the um marketing and the I know we had talked about some of the 9160 yeah events.

Um we'll get to the marketing piece probably in eight.

Okay, okay.

And I my um city email doesn't work, and so it's that's also been another um issue, but um I'm happy to to support in any way I can.

So yeah, I really love what you all are doing, and so thankful for all the work um done by the incredible staff.

So and for the fishing event, were you thinking the regional park that pond?

I think so because yeah, I think it's big, it's easy, you know, parking and just all the sort of considerations.

Um, but yeah, open open to other ideas too if there's something that works better.

I think that one's great.

Awesome.

Thank you.

Commissioner Leaver.

I just want to follow up on Robbie's comment a little bit.

Is there a way that you can share more like the deferred maintenance um issues that the city faces that we could differentiate?

Because I mean the tree planning, I get it, the cleanups, we do that all the time.

Yeah.

You know, Janine was saying there might be community centers you could paint.

There could be a lot of different things.

Then I thought about just a second ago.

Maybe there are contractors that could help out.

It might be a form of sponsorship or people might want to volunteer their services, maybe, because with the budget deficits I keep hearing about, there might be more collaboration that you could seek out so things just don't you know go south and never get neglected all the time.

Yeah, I uh I'll get with Sean from Parks Maintenance and see if I can get you the deferred maintenance list or at least some of the bigger items on deferred maintenance so that we can maybe take a look at that and choose a couple projects from that list.

What about and also in Anthony's district, the Northern Shack Trail?

We actually just did a tree planting last weekend on the Sack Northern Bike Trail at Altos Avenue.

Oh wow, how'd it go?

I wasn't there for my break.

Okay.

I wasn't there either because I had the flu, but I heard they had a tremendous amount of volunteers and it went well.

What about tree staking?

I've noticed there are areas that we could find out where tree stakes are needed and have a crew go out.

Typically, when we plant trees, we we plant them with stakes.

Um, but sometimes the stakes get removed from the unhouse community and used for firewood, or you know, kids walking home from school might take them out.

So uh that's a constant uh an issue with tree plantings.

But we always provide them.

Thank you.

Commissioner Florino.

Uh I had a thought, kind of bouncing off what Chair Gaines was saying earlier about community centers.

Would it be possible to do maybe a clothing swap at one of these community centers?

When I was a part of somewhere at City Hall, that's the city's youth program during the summer.

One of the link crews created a clothing swap in North Atomas regional park, and from what I heard about it, it was really successful.

A bunch of people brought their old clothes or just clothes that they didn't really want anymore, and people could kind of swap them.

So kind of like uh thrifting meat, promoting sustainability.

So maybe we could look into that doing it at parks or community centers.

Okay.

Commissioner King.

Yes, thank you.

Um, I love all of the creative ideas.

I just want to remind all of us to keep and consider um how we can partner um and make improvements.

So um I love the creativity, so maybe we do uh non-sponsored chalk event at a park that also has some sort of maintenance repair, weeding, those kind of things.

Um, you know, in the spirit of volunteerism, I love that we are bringing community spaces together.

Um, but I also want to keep that alive in the 916 day messaging.

So I would just encourage all of us to kind of consider that as well.

So Lindsay, if I'm hearing you right, it's park beautification in addition to like an art piece or like the clothing swap or not necessarily park beautification.

I'm just saying um helping our our city partners through volunteerism to improve our community spaces.

So whether it's a park, a community center, um we we leave something behind that means something, and that is gonna be there when we come back the next year.

Um that's all I'm saying.

So I love chalk it up, but I also want to help.

So um if we can try to think of some ideas that do both.

Okay, Commissioner, you're reading.

Yeah, I wanted to piggyback on that.

Um thinking about our community centers and some of these fun projects.

Uh, is it possible that either they exist at some of the community centers or we can request because um in my community, the Hagenwood neighborhood association, Hagwood Community Center Sims, um, they're requesting just a few buckets and handpickers to do some pickup days.

It's like an hour at a time.

Um, and you know, throw myself as a commissioner out there, make it a 916 day because I guess it's just walking around that community center that's really near that creek that needs constant uh love and maintenance.

And um I wrote down a title that I think we can work with here, guys.

Park chalk where nature draws us in.

I'll leave it there.

Thank you.

Back to you.

Okay.

Do you have a month in mind for the Hagenwood Creek cleanup?

They're willing to do as soon as possible.

Oh, but okay.

All right.

There are no other commissioner comments on our end.

There's anything else from you.

Nothing else from me.

All right, thanks, guys.

See you next month.

All right.

That was receive and comment.

So we will move on to Department of Youth Parks and Community Enrichment Highlights.

Thank you, Chair.

For ranger totals for February 2026, total calls for service were 841.

Uh, the rapid response calls, they responded to 66 calls, and participated in leading two large cleanups at Granite Regional Park and Hagen Oaks Bike Trail and posted a total of 54 permits this month.

In our community centers, we will be offering spring break camps.

Ipsy spring break camps will be held March 30th through April 3rd.

Kitts gives kids ages 6 to 12 a place to stay active, make friends, and explore sports, crafts, games, and STEAM activities while school is out.

Programs take place at community centers throughout Sacramento.

Yipsey will also be hosting a variety of special events and egg hunts in the spring.

Egg It On, which will be held Saturday, March 23rd, 11 a.m.

to 1 p.m.

at Oak Park Community Center, is free for all ages.

Extravaganza will be Saturday, March 28th, 11 a.m.

to 1 p.m.

at George Sim Community Center.

Ages 2 to 12, that will be free.

Aquatics Egapalooza, Saturday, April 4th, 11 a.m.

to 3 p.m.

at North Notomas Aquatic Center.

All ages, and $9 for adults, $7 for youth, and two and under will be free.

Spring Carnival will be held April 25th, 11 a.m.

to 1 p.m.

at Hagenwood Community Center, all ages, a free event.

The older adult resource fair, May 8th, 10 a.m.

to 1 p.m.

at the Heart Center, ages 50 and better.

It is free.

Spring Family Bingo, Thursday, May 14th, 6 a.m.

to 8 p.m.

at Oak Park Community Center, all ages free.

South Natomas Community Center will be hosting a yard sale Saturday, May 16th, 9 a.m.

to 2 p.m., 25 a table, free to attend.

And Bell Coolidge on May 16th will also be hosting a yard sale from 8 a.m.

to 2 p.m.

For park maintenance updates, grazing at North Natomas Regional Park will begin to set up this weekend.

So you will see sheep arriving tomorrow and Saturday.

Earth Day preparations are underway, including planting activities in District 1, District 3, and District 2.

Baseball field preparations for new season are taking place right now at Tahoe, Grant, Marshall, and Laguna.

Also, we are doing dog park beautification projects at Bell Coolidge and Bill Conland Dog Parks.

Additionally, volleyball and tennis nets have been replaced at Laguna.

Earth Day events are being planned for Parkway Oaks, Mayphong Park, McClatchy Park, and others to be uh calendared soon.

The Swanson Fountain at Lamb Park has been resealed to improve water filtration.

And tree plantings have been completed at Wood Park with upcoming plantings scheduled for Tahoe and Land Park on March 7th.

Finally, Southside Park Restroom have been upgraded with a new pump to improve water pressure for flushing.

And those are my updates.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Are there any are there any commissioners who would like to speak on this item?

All right, thank you.

Ohmissioner Key.

I'm curious about the sheep.

Okay, what do we have a list of parks the sheep are gonna be at?

Do we want to see the sheet?

So I know that they will be kicking off at North Notomas Regional Park.

They typically go to Del Paso Regional Park and potentially North Laguna, but I can get you uh more details on that.

But if you want to see them, you better go out to North Natomas uh tomorrow or Saturday.

They'll be there.

Excellent.

All right.

Well, um, looking at the clock.

I mean, we still have technically 40 minutes left, but because it's almost seven o'clock, I am going to change the agenda around a little bit.

Um, and I'm gonna go straight to public comments matters not on the agenda, just in case we run out of time.

Um, because I don't know how much commissioner comments we have.

So we're gonna go straight to public comments and then circle back.

Um, so are there any um members of the public who would like to speak on public comments?

Thank you, Chair.

Yes, I have two speakers.

I have Joanne Spraggis and Alar L A R Roberts.

Let's see who's first.

Um Joanne My name is Joanne Sprogus.

I sit on the board of directors of the Sacramento Garden and Arts Center, which runs the building or has the clubs that meet at the building at the Shepherd Garden and Arts Center in McKinley Park.

You're aware of this beautiful building, I'm sure.

Not I, I wasn't born yet, but our ancestors in this group put together the lobbying that caused that building to be built in the first place to house garden clubs and arts clubs, and they have made substantial contributions to the happiness of the neighborhood and the city, and actually the whole state, because many people come from outside Sacramento itself to attend meetings, to present at meetings, to see the shows, and to enter things in the shows.

And lease negotiations after 16 months have dragged to a halt.

The latest uh version of the lease was given to us by the city and says some things in it that don't work for us.

Things like our rentals that have been booked can be canceled, events that have already been scheduled can be displaced, and there is nobody to take the fallout except the volunteers who put it together, and we would still owe the rent on it.

Um please encourage the people who are dealing on the city's behalf to talk with us again and come up with a couple places where they can break down the nonsense and treat us better.

Thank you very much.

Thank you for your comments.

The last speaker is LR Roberts.

Um I'm LR Roberts.

I uh do a lot of legal observing at events here in this city.

Um I've been um documenting the harsh focus the city has on homeless people.

And an example of that is the police will go to Caesar Chauvers Park and tell homeless people they can't smoke.

Uh but I don't see them doing that with anyone else who smokes in the park.

And an example, um I live in Oak Park and two blocks north of me is McClatchy Park, and I see people selling things there, which someone's told me are stolen items little tables and stuff, and I think they're selling dogs.

So they smoke there all the time.

So there seems to be this inequality about who gets to smoke in the park, in my understanding is no one's supposed to smoke in any park.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments, Chair.

I have no more speakers on this.

Thank you, and thank you both for being here tonight and for your comments.

All right, and we are gonna circle back to Commissioner Comments ideas and questions.

So the floor is open.

Commissioner Boone.

Hi, um, so I will start with business first.

I've been coming back into the fold and haven't been able to attend the D5 um monthly meetings, and I know the Sean I need is not here currently, but I just want to put this out there.

I was curious on a status update for the splash pad at McClatchy Park.

I know parts were being ordered, it was set to be repaired for the summer season, but I'm just planting that seed now because I'm curious if it'll actually be up and running come summertime when it's hot.

Um so that's number one, and then number two, not business but personal.

I just wanted to share um thanks and and gratitude for the commission who's been so patient with me for those that aren't aware I had a baby in December.

Um, and so I'm again returning to life.

And so I just want to thank everyone who's been super um understanding and um supportive during this time.

She gets her shots on Monday, so I'm hoping she can join us for our next meeting because youth engagement is important.

Are we gonna email her the update?

About okay, perfect.

No about the splash band.

Or maybe a real-time update.

Sean's watching.

Oh, okay, perfect.

Look, where is all right, Commissioner Vasquez?

Thank you, Chair.

All right, this Saturday, um, as mentioned, thank you, Shannon.

We have a tree planting at Tahoe Park in our community cleanup, which I'm gonna say the year wrong, but I think it might be in like year 20 of this annual cleanup at Tahoe Park.

Um, really happy to be participating in that.

I've got 916 day hats.

Thank you, Ms.

Robins, for that.

Um, and it is also the start of California Arbor Week.

So, as it is the last month that we're planting here in Sacramento, um, as I mentioned every year, it was Councilmember Dickinson when he was in the assembly who uh brought the resolution of Arbor Week uh for California specifically to us.

So, happy California Arbor Week to everyone.

There are lots of events happening next week that you can attend from tree pruning and maintenance events to tree plantings.

So that's gonna be a really good time.

Um I'm looking forward to also uh College Glen's uh Little League, College Glen Little League, 8 a.m.

this Saturday.

So if you want to go out and see that first pitch on the parade before you head over to plant some trees at Tahoe Park, please join us.

That's gonna be a really good time.

And then on March 11th, we have our Earl Warren Park meeting.

As you know, our playground was lost to Arson.

So we're gonna have a great community meeting to figure out what kind of playground would you like to see.

What would you like to see at Earl Warren Park as we do uh repairs and maintenance and get our playground back online?

So very excited for that.

So um a big congratulations to Colonial Heights for continuing to have their relationship with the parks maintenance department.

Thank you so much to Matt Herman, to Daniela Martinez for coming out and helping to um navigate what our community members want to see at their parks with the parks committees of neighborhood associations.

Uh, if your neighborhood association doesn't have a park committee, I highly recommend it.

It's a great way to keep uh a running tab of what you're looking for in your park.

Um, also want to thank Colonial Village Neighborhood Association for helping to spread the word about their Earl Park, uh, Earl Warren Park meeting um in Spanish and English.

I think that's gonna be a very um good change as we're looking at how do we formalize these community engagement practices between neighborhoods, parks, and commission.

I think the language is such an important piece of that.

So I was really grateful and happy to see uh our flyers come out in Spanish and English for that meeting, and hope you can all join us.

Thank you.

Commissioner Langer.

Oh, there we go.

Thank you.

Um, just a quick update.

We had in District One on Valentine's Day, February 14th, the tree planning at Elderberry Park.

It was very wildly successful.

We had 60 volunteers show up from District One and well beyond.

They were very excited to be there and participate.

Thank you so much to city staff for always coming out, their expertise, their just I mean, level of engagement with the community has been just astounding and really something to watch.

Um, there were 17 trees planted, and um the existing trees also got mulch, and people were actually asking for more chores to do.

So maybe we should think about adding some chores to that list because they just could not get enough um volunteering.

It was really a great event.

Um on that note, we have another one coming up in District 1 on March 21st uh in North Lake.

I believe it starts at 9 a.m.

in North Point Park.

Um excited to get some more details on that in the days ahead.

Um, but yeah, come out and join us if you can.

Um, and we are also celebrating North and Thomas Little League opening day this weekend on March 7th.

So lots of fun things happening in District One, and thank you so much, City staff, for all you do to um make these things happen.

Commissioner Leaver.

I wanted to thank um City for working with the young artist in the South Side Park area.

The restroom was painted last Sunday, and I appreciate Shannon's effort on that.

And also the play dates at South Side Park are continuing.

It's a great connection that's happening, and um I'm trying to help Katie with some sponsors to help.

But I just appreciate having those who it's a long tradition, and it's very uh beneficial.

And thank you, Jackie and Shannon.

Commissioner Yuribe.

Yeah, I wanted to have an announcement here.

Celebrating North and Thomas from Councilmember Roger Dickinson's office.

They are having a celebrate first annual North Atomas Community Festival on June 6th.

And it's gonna be at Robertson's Community.

Arbanson's Park, which is part of the community center.

So I'll see you guys all there.

Let me know, staff if we need to publicly post that because it will be a commission meeting out there.

I'm just kidding, I just want all the support so we get out some uh love out there in North Second.

Commissioner Flores.

Thank you, Chair.

On the on Little League, yes, pocket softball on Saturday and Pocket Little League on Saturday opening day.

The weather has been cooperating, so that's that's pretty nice.

Um there's a couple of events going on in District 7 this Saturday at William Land Park in uh led by the Land Park Volunteer Corps.

Uh there's a tree planting there and and Land Park um Park Service Day.

Uh I'll be out there with uh helping them out a little bit later on in the month, uh March 21st, the District 7 uh Easter Egg Hunt in partnership with the Pocket Green Haven Community Association at Garsha Band Park.

It's gonna be at 10 o'clock in the morning.

Uh you can take pictures with the Easter bunny, and then there's gonna be thousands and thousands of eggs, and they go really, really quick.

Um, so and then there's all sorts of other egg extravaganzas going on in District 7.

Um, I do wanna shout out uh Deanna for earlier um coming up with some uh some volunteer uh opportunities and ideas.

Um the council member asked for a couple of events to come throughout this year, and so spitballing ideas with uh uh was strong with maintenance and the volunteer team and letting me know calendars and different type of ideas and some creativities.

Um part of it was dog parks.

So Shannon, I'm gonna send you an email about dog parks and maintenance and and I just heard your report, so I'm gonna follow up follow up with you.

Um and then also shout out to the event, Yipsies events.

I had a few questions sent Anthony's way and his team.

Um, yeah, they're the customer service linking them with uh with some partners in the district, uh answering a lot of questions.

So it's just shout out to the events team.

They're very um flexible, and you once you you say the idea, be like, oh, okay, how about we we use you do the uh the the application like this, so just that guidance and for somebody who's interacting with the city systems because that could be cumbersome sometimes, but just no, they they provide a great customer service there.

So uh just shout out to all the different facets of Yip C interacting with the community.

Commissioner King.

Yes, thank you.

Um so Airport Little League is having a cleanup in about two weeks on Saturday, March 21st.

Um they're looking for just a few volunteers to come and help do basic maintenance, um, yard cleanup, those kind of things.

And then that's in preparation for their big event, their opening day, which is April 4th.

Sorry, I had to double check.

Saturday, April 4th.

They're gonna have an opening day ceremony and a parade, which is super cute.

All the kids dress up and they decorate the cars and they drive through the neighborhood.

So um, I'm really encouraging neighbors to come out and participate in that, as well as any commission members who would like to come.

Um, usually it coincides with Earth Day, usually.

So I don't know if it's coinciding this year, but usually it's like a good stopover beforehand.

Um, and then you're out doing your earth day activities.

Um that's all I have.

So thank you.

Thank you.

All right, I have a bunch of staff shout-outs um because I left early last month.

Um so first on February 7th, we had a uh tree planting at uh Wood Park, and by we I mean I wasn't there, I was out of town.

Um, but I wanted to just thank the staff.

Um, so Jody Carlson, our Parks Arborist who created the planting plan, uh Dennis Harris, our volunteer coordinator, who we all know is just fantastic, um, who organized and led the planting, uh, Matt Mefford, our irrigation technician who dug all of the holes in preparation for the planting.

Uh Gabriel Almeida, um, who also dug the holes and assisted the day of the event, and Ignacio Moreno, our park supervisor who assisted on the day of the event, and then Deanna, who was there and took some pictures um on the day of the event.

So just thank you guys all for supporting our volunteers and supporting District 8 at this tree planting.

I really appreciate it.

Um, and then also um, I I want to paint a picture for you guys because on uh January 23rd and 24th, I planned probably uh I would say top three biggest events of my entire career, like my actual career.

Um, I was putting together a um community, a statewide event for community and youth and the state of California.

Um, and I had to decide where I'm gonna have this huge event, and I was like, I really want this to be comfortable for youth and community.

Um, and also nice enough to have the head of California Health and Human Services there, and so I had it at the Pennell Center.

Um, and I was really glad to have it there.

Um, that was I had our my nonprofit partners from the city actually call to thank me for having it there.

They said oftentimes when we have these big events and we have all of these like you know, huge people from the state there, it's like you know, at a hotel or at the Capitol, and the youth just don't feel comfortable, it takes a long time, you know, for them to warm up, and they were like, you actually had it like in their home in their backyard where they knew it was for them, and so that was really important.

So that was really exciting.

Um, you know, that they recognize the importance of um place and space to be able to have it um at Pennell.

So that's part of the reason that I chose it.

Um, you know, the staff was absolutely fantastic, obviously, and I will share all of their names.

Um, but what was really exciting for me one is to to be able to be in Pinnell in a different way.

You know, obviously I go there for events, um, but you know, one of our nonprofit partners, Sistabees, they used the dance room to make like a youth room.

So it was just for young people, and they completely decked it out.

Um, one of our partners from um LA hoops for justice, they do work with um youth who'd been incarcerated and using basketball, and so they use the basketball courts to do a whole um like workshop around you know, basketball for wellness and all of that.

So we were able to use the entire center.

Um, so that was really exciting.

But as a commissioner, what made me so proud was how many people came up to me and were like, wow, we have nothing like this where we live.

Like we don't have spaces like this.

This is so beautiful, this is so amazing.

You know, you guys are so fortunate to have this.

So um, it just made me obviously I looked good as you know, this is my event, but also as a commissioner, so proud to be able to share um this beautiful space that we have in South Sack.

Um, so it was just really amazing.

Um so I just really wanted to thank because I could not have done this without literally every single person at the Pennell Center.

Um, but Thea Smith, their customer service um person who walked me through the entire application process.

Um, we had to go on multiple site visits because I was like, I don't know what I need and what I'm doing.

So just fantastic.

Um, their custodial staff, uh Patrick Wahlberg, uh, R Seli Vasquez and their building monitors, uh, Jenny Chen, Wendell Calhoun, and Noelle Joyner, and obviously all under um, you know, the leadership of the supervisor David Gaines over there, fantastic.

Um, you know, so just really, really thankful for all that they did.

Because like I said, this was huge for my career.

Um, but just to be able to show, you know, something that I consider one of the crown jewels of District 8.

So I'm I just am really, really grateful, you know, for the team over at Pennell.

So I wanted to share that.

And so that is it for me.

Anything else?

All right.

Well, on that note, that concludes today's meeting agenda.

So thank you everyone for your participation.

The meeting is adjourned, 710.