All right, good evening and welcome to the meeting of Thursday, April 16th 2026.

Parks and Community Enrichment Commission.

This meeting is now called to order.

We couldn't find the gavel, so will the clerk please call the roll to establish quorum.

Yes, thank you, Chair.

Commissioners, can you please unmute your microphones for roll call?

Commissioner Linger.

Here.

Commissioner Uri Langer.

Langer.

Linger.

Here, present.

No worries.

Commissioner Yuribe is absent.

Vice Chair Robbins?

Present.

Commissioner Laver.

Here.

Commissioner King.

Here.

Commissioner Vasquez is absent.

Commissioner Flores is also absent.

Commissioner Ling.

Here.

Commissioner Boone.

Present.

Commissioner Florney.

Here.

And Chair Gaines.

Here.

Thank you.

We have a quorum.

Thank you.

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 speaker slips before the item begins.

You will have two minutes to speak once you're called on.

First, the speaker, oh, after the first speaker, we will no longer accept speaker slips.

And we'll now proceed with the land acknowledgement followed by the pledge of allegiance.

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

To the original people of this land, the Nissanon people, the Southern Maidu, Valley and Plains Miwok, Pat Winwin Tun 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 contribution and lives.

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

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

Thank you, Chair.

We do not have any members who wish to speak.

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

All right.

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

I motion.

I second.

All right, we have a motion from uh the vice chair and a second from Commissioner King.

All right, all those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed.

Abstentions.

All right.

The motion passes.

So we will now uh proceed to the discussion calendar.

So item number three, early budget work session update.

Review and reduction strategies and potential impacts.

It's gonna be meaty.

All right, is there a staff presentation?

Yes.

Good evening, Chair.

Hello.

All right, good evening, Chair, Vice Chair and Commissioners.

Jackie Beecham, Director of Youth Parks and Community Enrichment.

I want to thank our leadership team.

Some of them are here this evening with us for helping to prepare this presentation and of course our UFC team that works across the city every day to deliver the wonderful services that you see in our parks and in our programs.

I share this presentation.

Um I'll say a larger presentation with City Council in March to discuss some of the baseline strategies that are included to help solve the city's $66 million structural budget deficit.

Um so these are just baseline preliminary strategies that will be considered as part of the city manager's proposed budget.

Um we'll talk a little bit more about that timeline and what that process will look like as we get through the presentation.

All right, so as you know, Sacramento plays a critical role in the life of our city.

Our department is responsible for the maintenance of 243 parks, parkways, bike trails, natural areas that span over 4,000 acres.

Our department supports the healthy supports healthy safe communities through our programs and amenities that encourage active recreation and connect people to nature and of course one another.

So rather than list all of the programs and services that we provide, we do have a one-minute video.

I could share this over and over again.

All right, we might have to come back to that.

We'll come back to it.

Okay.

Let's see.

So our Yipse's operations are expansive and diverse, as you can see here.

We provide core services citywide.

We have our youth and older adult programs, our pools, community centers, park planning, maintenance, and our park ranger teams.

These services are delivered by 678 FTE, which equals 1,437 individual employees.

We are supported by a very diverse workforce that's also very reflective of the communities that we serve, and this is with a combination of full-time and seasonal and part-time staff.

Our total operating budget for the current fiscal year is $65.9 million.

This supports over 320 full-time and over 700 part-time staff.

Other funds that you see on the right include park maintenance CFDs and our start and fourth R programs.

These are offset by grant funds and program fees.

Start and fourth R programs are supported by 62 full-time and 300 part-time staff.

Here we have an overview of our fiscal year 26 operating budget by broader program area.

You see our park maintenance division budget is approximately 24 million dollars.

And other areas, including youth and knowledge programming, aquatics, and community centers, each account for roughly 17% of our operating budget.

Then we have our park ranger unit at just 2.4%.

I'm sorry, 2.4 million, 4% of our budget.

Here's another view by spending category, just simply to show, like many of the other departments across the city, that labor costs are a large portion of our overall operating budget at approximately approximately 64% of our total expenditures.

So here we get into our task at hand, and that's developing developing reduction strategies to help to solve the city's $66 million budget deficit.

This is now a third year in a row that we've been tasked with developing strategies, and it's required a really comprehensive and thoughtful approach to evaluate all of our programs and operations.

So strategies were developed to reach this required 15% reduction plan to equal $6.1 million.

In the last two years, we have significantly reduced FTE and positions.

We've strategically realigned and reorganized to focus on operational efficiencies, and we've implemented some revenue enhancements to help address the deficit, but while also minimizing impacts to the community and make sure that we are focusing on our core services.

This has obviously become increasingly difficult each year as we've come along.

We are limited with revenue enhancement opportunities.

We want to ensure that we're keeping our programs and facilities affordable.

And most of our reduction strategies, even though we've tried to phase them in in how we've, you know, approach this process, they still do have an increasing level of impact on our community.

So the strategies that are shown in the baseline that we presented to council, they include 11.2% of our general fund budget and the elimination of 102 FTE, which equals over 86 filled pos 86 positions, 86 filled positions.

So we've grouped these strategies into operational program areas that I'm going to go through next.

In youth and all ages enrichment programs, there are no proposed fee increases.

We have the elimination of vacancies and realignment of FTEs that will create a savings in youth programs, but it will result in the inability to expand any offerings, and that will also mean we have growing wait lists in a number of our programs.

Some of the higher impact strategies, so if you read the staff report, or if you've been reviewing the strategies, you'll see threes and fours.

Some of those strategies would include the elimination or reduction or elimination of stipend, some of our stipend programs and reduced offerings for some workforce development and civic engagement programs.

These total reductions in the initial baseline were 1.3 million dollars.

In our community center programs and operation budget balancing strategies, to start, we have the reduction of our facility fee waiver discount by fifty by 50%.

So there may be impacts to facilities discounts for non-youth organizations, but no impact to youth organizations that may qualify for our youth scholarship fund.

Strategies also include the reduction realignment of FTE that support operational efficiencies, but again limit the expansion as some of our really important youth and older adult programs that happen in our community centers.

So while we phased again, we phased our approach, we started as as you know minimal as possible to lessen the impact to communities that to our community.

A reduction of we ultimately ended here in our baseline with a reduction of operations at community center citywide that was selected for the baseline, where all eight community center locations would reduce operations from six days to four days per week.

This is a 27% reduction in operating hours that would significantly impact youth after school and older adult programs that you see happening across the city.

Our aquatics program reduction strategies would include the closure of four of the city's standalone waiting pools.

Some of the higher impact strategies include pool closure days at 10 at our 10 neighborhood pools during the summer season.

So they would go from six day a week operations to three-day week operations.

We would have three hub pools in the north, central, and south areas that would remain open six to seven days per week.

Um, and this would potentially have an impact of roughly 12,000 visits per summer.

So moving on to our park maintenance operations with our baseline strategies that include contracting out specialty maintenance services and landscape maintenance activities in our neighborhood and our community parks.

We don't anticipate, wouldn't anticipate significant impacts to maintenance service levels, but the quality of the service that we're seeing may be impacted if we were to contract that workout.

You know, our employees, they not only know our parks very well, but they have built relationships and trust with the communities that they serve.

Additional impacts could also include potential delays to urgent or emergency response efforts.

We all remember the storm of the winter 2023.

Um, they required all hands on deck.

That may become an issue if we were to contract these services out.

So as you know, in the last two years, we've identified operational efficiencies to support these budget reductions, eliminating 10% of our FTE department-wide and approximately 12% of our general fund budget while maintaining service levels.

Um developing the strategies, the direction to us has been to identify savings while minimizing community service level impacts.

But as you can see, many of these strategies still carry a significant impact to our employees.

So following the city managers proposed budget that will come out later this month.

We do anticipate further discussion amongst council community members, our commissioners during our budget hearing process and the consideration of all options to balance the budget.

We hope there will be the consideration of all options to balance the budget that will have the least amount of impact on service levels and our staff.

So moving on as we move forward in preserving core services and advancing council's priorities of homelessness, economic development, and public safety.

Um, we play a critical role in providing quality parks programs and facilities across our city.

I shared some information with council, and it was very timely from our city auditors national community survey that was shared back in March.

One of the highlights was that parks and recreation opportunities contribute to a high quality of life experienced in our city, with a majority of residents positively rating the quality of parks and recreation opportunities a significant improvement from 2023.

So despite us having a reduction in our resources over the last two years, I have to commend our staff for still operating very efficiently and doing the best we can with a very lean amount of resources.

Um, in still having these positive, this positive feedback from the community.

The survey also identified notable community priorities for funding that focused on core services, and these included strong support for youth programs, public parks, and senior programs.

So some of the most significantly impacted programs by some potential baseline strategies.

So Yipse will remain committed to preserving core services and advancing council's priorities as we move forward.

Our park rangers will continue to prioritize public safety and support efforts to address homelessness.

We will provide scholarships and fee waivers for our low low-income residents and resources for our seniors that may be on fixed incomes, for work workforce training for at-risk youth.

We'll deliver workforce development opportunities, recreation programs, aquatics, and events that will help to safely activate our parks.

We know that activation is really key in supporting public safety in our parks and facilities.

It will also have a positive impact on our local economy.

Community centers will continue providing access to safe spaces and youth and older adult programs and our priority neighborhoods and communities, and we'll make sure we're doing that through an equity lens.

We'll continue after school and summer camp programs that not only support youth safety, but also keep at the forefront of affordable child care for working families.

It's important that we provide that accessibility for our working families.

And we'll prioritize the maintenance of all 243 parks, parkways, bike trails, natural areas, and open space to ensure they are safe, clean, and accessible to all Sacramento residents and visitors.

So this says it should say questions and comments, but what's next?

Did you want us to try?

I think the video was able to be brought up.

We can try it.

Let's try that.

That would be great.

So while they're working on that, um, what's next?

The city manager's proposed budget is going to be released the week of April 28th.

And you know, um the council and and the public heard from all departments what I just shared with you, a more detailed version of what I shared with you, um, and selected strategies and an initial baseline.

So just very preliminary um baseline strategies.

The city manager's proposed budget that comes out the week of April 28th will include selected strategies and the fully baked proposed budget, preliminary proposed budget to balance um the budget deficit.

Council is going to hear the proposed budget overview from the city manager's office the first week of May, and followed by budget deliberations through the rest of the month with a final adoption that's going to come in June.

So there will be several opportunities coming up very soon through council discussions, where you will hear more about the proposed budget once it's released by the city manager's office to weigh in and um hear what council the council's discussions and also share what your thoughts are.

So and we're happy to answer questions too once we hear what that proposed budget looks like.

And here we have our video.

Together, we empower our youth, strengthen neighborhoods, and provide life-enriching programs for a beautiful livable community.

In 2025, Yipsey was more than programs and places.

It was a system of parks and recreation, powering opportunity across Sacramento.

Youth stepped into spaces where confidence could grow.

Skills were built for real jobs and real futures.

We invested in the next generation because opportunity changes what is possible.

Showing up, responding, and maintaining safe spaces that welcome everyone.

Community centers became places of connection.

Where older adults stayed active, meals reached those who needed them, and young people found a place to belong.

This work strengthens neighborhoods, builds economic resilience, reduces risk, and expands access.

Yep C plays a critical role in the life of our city through our people, parks, and programs.

Diverse, dynamic together.

Thank you.

And on a good we'll end on a good note.

Thank you to the wizard in the backplaying that for us.

All right, we're happy to answer any questions.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

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

Thank you, Chair.

We do not have any speakers for this item.

I'm surprised.

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

Commissioner Boone?

Yes, thank you for the presentation.

Um I know the budget happens outside of this meeting, and so I fully recognize like this is just a snapshot in a larger scheme.

Um, but I'm always so curious because it always feels like this really consolidated process.

Um I like to reference like the wizard behind you know the screens because I always think about at what point do we know we're approaching a deficit and at what point can conversations be had and can community actually plug in to be a part of that dialogue?

I know there's town halls, um, I know that there's surveys convened, but I'm always so curious from the perspective of staff, like at what juncture is it most critical or helpful for community to weigh in because I think I fear that you know, in 10 to 15 years, it'll be too late, and some of these services will be so scaled back that there's no um feasibility of ever scaling them up to what they were uh pre-COVID or right, or that they become so privatized that it's a it's a pipe dream to think like we have these after-school programs.

So I'm not talking in the context of how do we fix today's solution.

I'm more asking in the context of like how do we ensure that this does not become a perpetual issue 10 to 20 years, and what are we doing now to ensure that that process is addressed, I guess.

And recognizing like the city managers new, like I know there's a lot of different parts, but like what are we either failing to do or what could we be doing better as commissioners but also as like constituents?

That's a great question.

I mean, I think there's a lot that we can be doing.

I think it's never too late just to continue having the conversations.

There's stuff we can immediately be doing, participating in the process.

I think participation is key.

And you you mentioned, you know, there's very obvious, the very obvious um opportunities between participating in council meetings, your your involvement here, um attending town halls, there's a budget survey uh that gets that gets shared everywhere, every every year.

But but participating um in our programs, you know.

I think that being able to demonstrate how critical and essential the programs are.

Um, you know, having the data to demonstrate how important the work is that we are doing.

Um I I know we do have a new city manager, but I know that that is very important to her.

Um, and having that data and the metrics to make decisions and inform decisions is going to be really important for us uh moving forward.

We have to get more creative with how we are identifying funding sources also.

Um, so having, you know, make being able to make informed decisions, um, demonstrating that we are providing programs that are important and necessary for the community, I think is going to be really key.

So we as staff have to do that regularly, reassess, you know, are we doing what we need to be doing?

Do we need to hit pause on something?

Um, and I think our team's done a really great job of that the last couple of years, but also recognize is there something that maybe we're not equipped to be doing?

Should we be working more collaborative collaboratively with our partners to deliver something?

Um so there's a lot of things that we need to kind of be asking ourselves, and um, you know, I think really engaging on both sides, you know.

I think we can continue to work really well with um engage, do a better job of engaging with our partners, our community, our commissioners, um, to creatively address some of these issues.

You know, there's a lot of discussion around um additional or exploring some alternative funding sources.

I hope those conversations will continue regarding different potential measures, you know.

So those those are options as well.

But um, great questions.

I don't have all the answers.

Thank you.

Commissioner Laver.

Thank you, Jackie, for the presentation.

I had a couple questions on page 17.

Um, you know how the police department they get public grants at times or they get public funding or grants.

I'm wondering can the rangers apply for funding like that too to supplement the budget for that.

Did you say that again, please?

So I was wondering if the rangers for the park system can they get um public funding and grants outside the city budget to supplement?

Absolutely.

We are always we have a grants team, we are always exploring grant opportunities.

Um we actually have a meeting coming up to look at some potential grant opportunities that are coming up.

We I believe just secured a grant, a smaller grant for some AEDs.

We're always looking at potential grant opportunities for for our ranger team.

Um if you see something, please let us know.

Um there are certainly some larger grant opportunities than that, but please absolutely we we rely heavily on some of those funding sources.

And one last question too.

On the you know how the River Alliance, the um team that goes into the river and does all that cleanup, Mark Baker and his group.

Is it possible to have a team like that of volunteers that can go into parks to help your maintenance division and just collaborate to have like a focused effort, you know, a group could pick one park a week or something.

I don't know, but I thought Yeah, we have this really great program called the VIP program that's volunteer in parks.

But yeah, that's a tree planning effort.

And no, well, it's not just and and this is where I think we really leverage the incredible work that you all do as commissioners to help continue to grow that program because it's not just about trees, right?

We have so many other um opportunities that I think that we can really uh to commissioner boone's comments, you know.

I think um get more creative in how we are working together because it's beyond trees, right?

We we can focus some of our efforts in the areas that need it most.

We we know the areas that get a lot of attention where we have a lot of uh stewardship and participation from communities, but if we continue to grow the VIP program, we can really focus our efforts in some of the neighborhoods and parks that don't get as much love, right?

Um, and it's not just about planting trees, it can be cleanup efforts, it can be maintenance efforts.

Um we that is absolutely our vision for the VIP program, and I think that that's something that um as commissioners you can really help us to continue to grow and to deliver on.

And that ties into the 916 day.

Absolutely, yep.

I got a call the other day.

A company uh um wants to come, it's a second year in a row that they're gonna join us at South Side Park, and they're gonna bring like 10 or 15 employees to do a like a three-hour cleanup of the playground, and then they donate money to Johnny's playground.

It's pretty cool.

Thank you.

Keep it coming.

We love it.

Thank you.

All right, so before I call in the next commissioner, um, uh Commissioner Vasquez is unable to be here, but I did want to put on the record um that she she let me know that she would like to advocate um budget to fund staffing at the 28th and B Skate Park.

So she's unable to be here, but I just did want to put that on the record on her behalf.

Thank you for that feedback.

Uh Commissioner King.

Uh thank you for your presentation, Jackie.

I appreciate it.

Um I also appreciate a lot of your comments about activation and maintaining activated spaces in our parks and community centers.

Um I would implore us as a commission to look at community sponsors to groups of people, um, whether they're volunteers or for instance, I work closely with disc golfers, right?

In my park.

They are an active um very involved group of people, and they are willing to go above and beyond in my park, my trolley park to do work that is needed for their disc golf course.

Um, and I say that because it's one way to maintain activation in some of these parks that may not be as maintained or may struggle with maintenance moving forward as we look at some of these cuts into the budget.

And so um I think as commissioners, we should be creating those opportunities and bringing them back to park staff to say these are partnerships that could be made that can be happening.

And I think that's our job as commissioners is to look for those opportunities in our communities and to bring them back to staff.

So I just wanted to put that on record, but I appreciate your presentation.

And I'm really looking forward to the result of this budget.

So we'll see.

Commissioner Langer.

Yes, thank you, Jackie, for the presentation.

Thank you also to staff.

It I know there was a lot of thought and care that went behind a lot of this information.

So just deep appreciation for the work.

I took note of the equity-based approach that you mentioned.

I appreciate that.

Um I did wonder if there was any consideration when outlining some of these um reductions and and other things.

Um as to whether there were already programs in place to address some of those needs.

So I'm wondering if they had greater weight or if there were some of those, you know, connections with partners to discuss maybe some of these um supports and supplements or in this budget crunch.

Um so yeah, just wondering kind of if there are if there's any heavier weight given to the programs that are only provided by Yipsey.

And I have one other comment.

I thank you very much for the call out about VIP.

I would love the opportunity as commissioners to brainstorm and collaborate further on how we can grow the program and um yeah, just any ways that we can assist the community in in getting access to all the all the great things that Yipsey um has provided.

So thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

Um absolutely, you know, it that has been one of our strategies that we have taken into consideration over the last couple of years as as we've um worked to identify um various strategies is you know, an evaluation of what are what are things that we are doing and only we are doing, um, and what are things that we are already collaborating with partners on that they may they may be the subject matter experts in, or that we can you know support them in in providing services for us.

An example that we just talked about is the 28th and B Street Skate Park.

Um we actually have some really fantastic partners that we are working with to continue deliver to deliver services at the 20th and B Street Skate Park that um are more qualified and better equipped to manage that space than we are, and so you know, though those are some of the strategies that we're taking into consideration and certainly providing um more thought for those sort of opportunities otherwise.

There are some things we know that we deliver very well as an example, though it's not general funds, our fourth art program.

You know, it's affordable child care program on school campuses, a very unique model of child care that nobody else is able to provide right now.

Um, and so that's something that we would want to be able to continue to offer.

Our summer OASIS program is not impacted at all through any of these um proposed strategies because we know how critical it is to have a low-cost affordable summer care program.

Um and when we propose some of these strategies also um over the last couple of years, while we have no fee increases in in this in these proposed strategies, we did you know develop um and continue to grow the youth program scholarship fund with a lot of feedback from this commission as well to ensure that while we were implementing some of these strategies and potentially including fees for formerly free programs like Summer Oasis, that we had a mechanism to still remove some of those barriers.

So absolutely to answer your question, you know, and what and I think it's a going back to us.

What are our core services?

What are the things that are most critical for us to be providing for the community?

Safe spaces, having our centers open, having hot meals, you know, and accessibility for our youth and our seniors and our most vulnerable populations, having safe clean parks.

I mean, those are the most critical things for us to be offering, um, and that's really where we focus our our efforts.

Commissioner Ling.

Thank you.

Uh, and thanks for the presentation.

Um, I always learn a lot.

Um, I'm I am sure that your alarm bells are ringing, as are all of the commissioners here that like when we look at the impacts for service that we heard about today, or the potential impacts to services that we heard about today, that covers next fiscal year only, right?

And then 27 to 28 is an 81 million deficit, 28 to 29 is 99, and then the year after that is 102 million.

And so, like, I just see services like you've already said, you said that services have been cut, or you've had to go through this exercise three years in a row, and it's gonna be more like six years in a row.

Um maybe seven.

And so I worry that the services that we see at Yipsey today will not be there in 2030.

Um it's it sounds like you're already thinking of strategies and advocating for alternative funding sources, but I guess my ask is that the commissioners really consider reaching out to not only the people in your district, but your city council members and the mayor, and really talk about seriously alternative funding sources for parks.

The general fund can only stretch so much.

Um what is needed is reliable funding for these key programs into the long term.

And I worry though that that if that doesn't happen soon, we lose our opportunity and those programs are gone forever.

Um so I don't know if I have a question, but I guess my question is like I I guess my my question on that basis is like how how has Yipsey like mapped the next couple of years, if they have, because I know it's one of the problems with a lot of government budgets is that it's it's really looking at just the next year, and they don't really look much further beyond that.

Um so I wonder, I guess I wonder about uh Yipsi's long-term planning.

Uh you know, I I will say, and I appreciate um your comments, and I would 100% agree with you and encourage you all to work with your elected officials to have those conversations five years ago.

Um but better late than never, we need to be having those conversations now.

Um as I mentioned, you know, what the feedback that we heard in the auditor's report um changes from 2023.

Um, those are outcomes because of decisions that we made in 2023.

Um, and so we have been we have set in motion uh the decisions we're making today, we know are impacting outcomes years down the road.

Um our team is is um doing some really good work around some performance metrics, not just how many people are coming to our programs, but what is the impact, what is the quality of services that we're providing, um and we're trying to do a better job of of using that to make decisions in the types of programs that we're providing and where we're really focusing our resources and our energy and our effort.

And so I think you'll continue to see more of that, and I think that's why we've been able to do such a good job while continuing to reduce our resources.

But at some point we have to say we can't do any more.

Um, we just can't continue to be more lean.

Um, and so you know, we really need to decide um and really continue to focus in on what are those core things, what are those core services and where we're really focusing those efforts.

So I think the decisions that we made last year and the year before, can you know we're we're being thoughtful and strategic about what does that mean, not just next year, but the year after that and the year after that, and we're recognizing that right now.

Um I I really am proud of the team for the work they've done and thinking long term.

We'll continue to do that.

And I think those numbers, I was I'm sorry, excuse me.

Those numbers also are if um that you're reading the council report if we do nothing, right?

The hundred and so, but there will still be a there's will still be a deficit.

Uh you are not wrong.

Right.

But if you close, right, if you close 66 million this year and you do nothing to raise revenue, there will be 20 million next year, and then more millions the next, and we'll have to continue this exercise over and over again.

Um and I I appreciate that parks is really looking for what those core core services are.

Um, but I think it's a larger question of how we continue to support and fund those core programs long into the future.

Commissioner Lever.

So I heard that there is an effort to break signatures for transportation tax.

Have you heard about that?

For the city.

They wanted to address I have heard about that.

I just don't have information on it.

I would do to cost.

That they're trying to raise.

Have you thought about a tax sales tax increase?

Because I heard last year there were a couple people trying to initiate that, some parks leaders.

Is that something that could be the discussion?

Yeah, there have been some discussion around that, and I would encourage you to speak with your uh council member about that.

Okay.

Commissioner Flornet.

Um, thank you.

I just wanted to go back to what my commissioner Lang was saying earlier.

Um, he covered it really well, but the importance of making sure that these programs that do have to be cut now, because of the C cities deficit, they don't have to stay cut in the future, especially with youth workforce development programs.

Um, my friends, even my own experience with those programs has been really positive, and they've been really great at getting youth into the workforce.

For example, summer at City Hall made me aware of the opportunity to be on commissions and have a voice um in the city, and how parks and youth programs operate, and so I think that those programs are really important, and finding outside funding for those, really communicating with council members on how important these are to the community, and especially youth.

I mean, I've had people coming up to me lately and being like, I've heard stipends are being cut.

Like I've heard that this program I wanted to do may not exist, and I just want to really emphasize that and how important these are to the people that I'm communicating with for sure.

So, yeah, thank you.

The one caveat to that is they don't have to be cut, nothing is set in stone, like these are suggestions, and before I go to your lab, I'm actually gonna get on my soapbox real quick.

I have a whole soapbox written.

I do this every year because every year we've been in this position, and um, yes, I think it's important to note that like these are strategies that the city council does not have to choose, that the city manager does not have to put forth in this budget, and we as commissioners and the three people watching this online right now, like it is up to us to like really like have our voices be heard and pushed that like no, we want these things, these things are important.

Like, I know that public safety is a huge push, but prevention and early intervention is public safety, making sure that youth have a safe place to go.

That is public safety.

When it is 110 degrees, I want people to have access to pools instead of being hot on the street because we know what happens when people are hot on the street.

That is public safety.

What we do here and what the team does at Yipsey is public safety, and I cannot like drill that in enough.

Um, so that's first and foremost.

Um, so that's number one.

Number two, I've been on this commission for six years, and we have people who come in.

Um, you know, the public comes in, and I love when they come and talk to us and let us know what they are dealing with.

We've heard about lights on fields, lights in the parks, um, the cost uh for their community groups using the community center.

That's a big issue that people have.

Um, the pools not having enough amenities or not having hours, bathrooms not being either clean or available in parks, uh, the number of sports fields available.

All of that when people come and have public comment is because of the budget.

So every cut that we make to this budget, like exacerbates these complaints that people have, which like I said, I love when they come and I love when they talk to us, but I just want to say go talk to your city council member because six months ago they voted for a budget that made cuts to this department where they had to raise these rates.

Last year, I was up here singing a song every time about please do not raise the rates, and that's what had to happen because we have this huge budget deficit.

So, yeah, now people are coming in.

Oh, the it's raise.

Yeah, because that's what the city council decided on.

There was nothing I could do about it.

I'm just the commissioner.

So every single dollar that is taken from this budget is something that's going to affect the community, and so we really need to make sure that our city manager hears us and that the people hear us because I have a whole list.

I've gone through these budget strategies.

No, they're not cutting a day from the community centers.

The community centers are already open five days, they're not gonna be open four, absolutely not.

Pennell center, please.

Those seniors at Panel Center are going to riot if they are closed one day.

That is not that is not happening.

So everyone needs to like go through this budget or go through these strategies with a fine-tooth comb because I know our poor staff, they have they have done everything, they have picked this bone dry to figure out over the last few years, like what vacancies can we cut, what can we do that is not going to um that's gonna create the least amount of harm.

That has had that has happened.

I know they did not want to put Summer at City Hall on this list.

I know they did not want to put community centers on this list.

That did not want to happen, but that is where we're at.

But just because it's on the list, that doesn't mean that the city council has to choose that.

There are plenty of other things.

There are plenty of other departments who I'm sorry, I don't know if they're acting in good faith or not when they put their things on the list because every department has to put 15% down.

Now is the city council and city manager are they grabbing 15% from all those people?

I don't think so.

Doesn't look like it.

So I don't know if everyone's doing their fair share.

And we're gonna need to go and make sure that they are, because we are not going to end this budget deficit on this department.

That's what's not gonna happen.

So everyone needs to talk to their city council member.

My city council member my vang is the bomb, and she is not the problem.

So I don't have to talk to my city council member.

Everyone else needs to talk to their city council members to make sure that they are fighting for Yipsey and making sure that we are not cutting the things that are important to us because I don't want to live in a police state where all we have is police with great stuff and no parks and no fun and no community enrichment, and you don't have anything because yeah, why are your friends not being able to do the have the same opportunity as you?

That's ridiculous.

So it's not set in stone yet.

We can still go fight.

So we have to fight, the three people watching at home, you guys have to fight.

Everyone here has to fight.

We have this.

So that is my soapbox.

You guys are gonna hear the same thing again next year.

I'll save it for you guys.

Um, but yes.

Fight, fight, fight.

Right, Commissioner Lang.

I cannot follow that up.

Um, but here.

Um, and I I really appreciate the comments from the chair.

And you know, the the thing that jumped at me, because I see it all the time is you know, the the community pools.

They've gone from they're gonna go maybe from five days to three days.

Um, and I've you know, I don't know what time the Tahoe Park pool is open.

Um, but it's never open when I'm not at work.

Um, and you know, I know those pools are not for me, they're for kids and they're for everybody, but holy moly, like I just it's barely an amenity, it feels um, and it's just gonna become less of one.

Um the reason I raised my hand uh was to respond to Commissioner Laver's comments.

Um, I believe that that half cent sales tax that you were speaking of is it is a grassroots effort from Strongtown.

I think it's Strongtown Sacramento.

Um, and they are collecting signatures to put it on the ballot now, and that is not any sort of city initiative.

Um, which I find interesting, but um, you know, I think what we're talking about here is potentially a city, like a city council puts some sort of funding measure on the on the ballot, whether it's sales tax, whether it's a parcel tax, I don't, I don't know.

Um, I don't know all the ins and outs of what's possible.

Um, but I know that the general fund is stretched enough and that parks is limited in how it can raise its own revenue.

So it's different too if um it's raised by the or initiated by the city, it's like a two-thirds vote, or is it by initiative?

Two-thirds is a needed for approval.

Oh, I don't know.

Anyone know?

Either one.

Or new taxes.

I th I thought new taxes were 50%.

And I thought that was a new state.

No, it's two.

You need two-thirds vote if it's on the ballot, but the city council approves it.

I think it's different.

It's different if it's grassroots, grassroots sled, and it's a it's a signature petition.

So there you go.

Maybe we need a signature petition.

All right.

Any other comments on this one?

I'm all riled up now.

All right.

Well, uh, this item was received and discussed only.

No vote is required.

So we will move on to the next item.

Uh, the next item on the discussion calendar is item number four, the cemetery update.

Mmm, spooky.

Is there a staff presentation?

Yes, there is.

I'm glad everyone's fired up.

Um, good afternoon or evening.

Um, I'm Sarah Musser, Park Maintenance Superintendent with Youth Parks and Community Enrichment Engagement Division, our department.

Um, I'd like to share a brief overview of the historic city cemetery, one of Sacramento's oldest and most culturally significant public spaces, which was established in 1849.

The cemetery serves as the final resting place for many of Sacramento's early residents and offers a unique window into the city's history through its monuments, landscape design, and burial records.

Today it functions not only as a cemetery, but also as a public park and outdoor museum.

Community members use the space for walking, reflection, small gatherings, and educational exploration.

Through a collaboration with our committee, we've made it more accessible through interactive maps and self-guided tours, which are available online.

I'll talk a little bit more about the committee in just a moment.

The cemetery continues to allow limited cremate cremation burials within existing family plots, supporting the continuation of family lineage while preserving the integrity of the site.

Maintenance and preservation are led by city staff and strengthened through our partnership with the old city cemetery committee, a nonprofit that supports restoration, education, and beautification efforts.

We also have a small but dedicated volunteer base that contributes to ongoing upkeep.

In addition to daily public use, the cemetery is a unique community space with year-round programming.

This includes guided tours and the highly popular lantern tours, which brings history to life in a way that's both engaging, unique, and respectful.

These programs help deepen community awareness and connection to the site.

Our goal is to continue activating the space in thoughtful ways, balancing increased community engagement with the respect and preservation the site deserves.

There's also a strong opportunity to expand volunteer involvement and community-based projects.

In addition to our current volunteers, we receive support from sheriff supervised work crews, but our volunteer program growing will be key to enhancing both maintenance and programming within the historic site.

Overall, the cemetery represents a unique blend of history, open space, and community connection, and we're continuing to build on that foundation.

I'd love for to have any of you.

So hit me up, let's get a time on there.

You should see it.

It's really special.

And Joe, I know he's not here.

Sure, he's listening.

It's in his district.

He's gonna come out.

I promise you that.

Um, but I'm here to answer any questions if you have any.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Are there any members of the public who would like to speak on this item?

Thank you.

We have no speakers.

Thank you.

Vice Chair Robbins.

So uh thank you for your presentation.

Um, in maintenance wise, is it like headstone cleaning or what would be in that for volunteers to come and help uh honor the past on that?

Great question.

So there's gonna be our staff maintains the land and landscapes.

Um, if there's time, uh, monument restoration, stuff like that.

It does happen as it's an ongoing thing that needs to happen in a cemetery uh of with such an age.

Um, volunteers will do things like light landscaping.

We're gonna be doing a tree planting in there, complete tree planting season to replace everything that was damaged during the large storm.

Uh, native shrubs, uh, just general beautification of the area.

There's some plots that need some extra love and care.

So there's a myriad of things that can be done out there.

Um, I think it's just a matter of rephrasing it.

It's a very respectful to be out there, and um, you know, it's it's a great way to honor everyone that's out there.

It's it's maybe can be considered taboo at times, but from our perspective, it's a really great outdoor museum where educational opportunities are everywhere.

That's great.

And my second is uh tell me more about this lantern tour.

Well, it's a really exciting event that happens in October.

Um, and they sell out very fast.

I think they their tickets go on sale like September 1st at midnight.

I don't know, Sean can correct me if I'm wrong.

He's he's I've been doing this for a lot less time than him.

But um, they're really excited, they happen in the evenings.

It's a guided tour, they dress up, they do um a lot of different activities out there with a lot of volunteer participation, dressing up, um, and really enjoying the space in the evening and hearing some creepy tales.

That's great.

I would love to hear more.

I hope you could forward us like all the info about what we can do to help.

Absolutely, most definitely.

All right.

Well, thank you again.

Thank you for your interest.

Commissioner Florney.

Thank you for the presentation.

I have never been down to the cemetery, but now I would love to go down there.

So I appreciate the invitation.

I'll think I'll reach out to you on that.

Um, one other thing I did have to say is I know some youth volunteer groups that'd probably be interested in volunteering in the cemetery.

So I'd love to reach out to you with their contacts.

Please and maybe get them involved with volunteering down there.

Absolutely.

I also run the volunteer program, so some of those BIP questions hit me up.

Absolutely.

Getting youth out there, that's that's awesome.

Yeah.

Thank you.

All right.

Well, I have a quick question because I know there's like three cemeteries like right there.

So is it just the one, not like Oddfellows and the other one, right?

Or are those all together?

They look like they're together.

Um, but they're not.

So it's the historic city cemetery, odd fellows, and then Masonic.

Did I get the order right?

Gosh darn it.

City, City, Masonic, then Oddfellows.

So that's how that works.

And those are two private uh private cemeteries.

Okay, perfect.

All right.

Well, thank you.

Thank you so much.

Appreciate it.

See you next time.

All right.

Um, all right.

So that was receive and comment only.

No vote is required.

So we will now move on to the next item, uh, which is 916 day updates.

Good evening, commissioners.

Um, I'm here to discuss 916 updates.

Uh now that tree tree planting season should be over after this weekend, you all should have gotten a flyer from me for the Meadow View one.

Hopefully, some of you guys can make it to that.

Um, but I would like you to identify some potential 916 events in your district.

I have already begun site walks with districts two, four, and five.

Um, if you have potential parks that need a little extra attention, please let me know, and I will schedule a site walk with you.

Um also commissioner eBay came up with a list of potential sponsors we can reach out to uh to sponsor some of these 916 day events.

You should have a list in front of you of sponsors.

Um if you have extra time or uh an extra special relationship to any of these organizations, please write your name next to it or next to any that you would like to take responsibility for contacting.

Um this will ensure we're not duplicating contact or duplicating work, reaching out to the same person multiple times.

Uh if you have any organize organizations that are not listed, please feel free to write them in so we can add them to the list.

And that's those are my updates.

I don't know if you guys have your calendars nearby, or if you would like to schedule some time with me tonight, you're more than welcome to uh to do some site walks of some parks that you think need a little extra love.

And I'm available for questions.

Are there any members of the public who would like to speak on this item?

Thank you, Chair.

We have no speakers.

All right, Commissioner Robbins.

Or I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Vice Chair Robins.

Fine.

I don't want to get hit by the gaffle.

Um so I see like King Kong breweries on here.

What would Ask for a brewery for 916 day be?

Are we getting drunk after we paint some benches?

Or uh either a monetary sponsorship or if they have volunteer, like any of their employees that would like to come out and volunteer.

Okay.

So it's like, all right, that's where I was like, uh that was pretty funny seeing King Kong on here.

I'm like, is he donating?

I think it's spelling correctly too.

Yeah.

C O N G, yeah.

Gotcha back cong.

It's all good.

Um, yeah, that was my question on that one.

I just thought it was weird.

I was like, well, I guess you know, I'm kind of in the industry, so I'll just see what I can do for you.

Okay, thank you.

Commissioner Linker.

Um just wondering about deadlines.

Is there any particular date you would like to have all of this in place by, or what are we looking at?

I mean, as soon as possible, we do have some money in the gifts to share account, so we're not like completely bone dry, but of course, appreciate any extra sponsors that anybody can give us.

Um, as far as dates of like timelines of these events happen, uh we definitely need three weeks if we want L's help for any of these projects.

Um, so we need to let L and L know three weeks ahead of time.

And then of course, we would appreciate the council offices being involved.

So you might want to connect with the council member and see if if that time that you've selected or date that you've selected works for them as well.

Commissioner Lever.

Thank you for doing this.

Do you have a time frame like you could send us like when you want these events?

Because now it's like spread out over.

It can be this year.

Yeah.

I mean, the sooner the better.

And how many do you want per in district for like four events, three events?

We could do three or four.

It would have to be over the span of a few, you know, a few weeks or a few months, just depending on when they all start coming in.

We could do it through the fall through like November.

Yeah.

Okay.

Sorry, just I had to have one.

Oh, sorry.

Do you need to one more question?

Um shoot, it just went out of my head.

Um timelines, deadlines.

It just went away from my head.

It'll come back to me at the most inopportune moment.

So sorry about that.

I look forward to your 2 a.m.

call.

Oh, I remember.

Template.

Do you have letter or email?

I do have a sponsorship letter, yeah.

So I can send that over.

I'll send it to all of you.

And assuming it's a tax-deductible donation.

Yes.

Okay.

We've only do the gift to share program.

What's the name of the 916 day?

So now are we um like are we putting the 916 day logo like on the um like on any flyers?

I guess I'm sure we talked about this.

Um, but what makes it different than an event?

Like, you know, if I'm the tree planting in Meadow View this weekend, is that a 916 day event, or it's just not because we no that's that's in partnership with uh Office of Climate Action, I think.

Okay, yeah.

So um ours you will be clearly identifiable.

So whatever you guys bring to me will have our 916 logo on it.

Okay, so but let's say there was like another park cleanup.

Is everything that happens in the district 916 day, or is it just when we put a logo on it that says 916?

No, it's everything that's volunteer led will be 916.

Okay.

Yes.

Okay.

Any other questions?

Like volunteer led starting from us?

Yes.

Or if someone else has a volunteer one and I happen to go.

Can I count that?

Yes, you can count that.

Okay.

Yeah.

That it's all right.

All right.

That item was received and discussed only.

No vote is required, so we will move on to the next item, which is Department of Youth Parks and Community Enrichment Highlights.

Do we have a report out from staff?

Yes, thank you.

I have a few highlights for um covering March and heading into April already.

Uh summer program registration is open.

Yep C has a full lineup of summer camps, aquatic sports, and enrichment programs are open for registration.

Programs may be free or low cost for eligible eligible families through the youth programs scholarship fund.

The spring carnival at Hagenwood Community Center on Saturday, tw April 25th.

This is a free event and will run from 11 a.m.

to 1 p.m.

In collaboration with council member Plucky Baum, Yip C is hosting an older adult resource fair at Heart Center on Friday, May 8th from 10 a.m.

to 1 p.m.

Older adults will be able to explore a variety of valuable resources to support healthy and engaging living.

The event is free and pre-registration is recommended.

And I will send a flyer to everybody so they can get that out.

And some quick highlights for the Rangers for the month of March.

They uh serviced 996 calls.

Their rapid response team responded to 145 calls for service.

They assisted in seven major cleanups, and hosted um seven hours of ranger special event time and posted 185 park permits.

So we are we are definitely getting into our busy season and want to just appreciate the team for everything that they are doing.

And those are my updates.

Thank you.

Thank you.

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

Oh, sorry.

That's me.

There are no speakers for this item.

Oh, on this one, we usually don't ask about.

You said commissioners just usually don't ask public.

So I don't think it's like on the thing.

That's fine.

Sorry.

All right.

So we are going to move on to Commissioner Comments, ideas, and questions.

Open forum.

Commissioner Langer.

Some of the e-comments are our names are so similar.

I know we might have to go by first name.

Oh, we're both MLs.

That's not gonna work either.

So yeah.

That's okay.

That's okay.

Um, I did have a question, and I don't want this to impact staff too tremendously.

But I was um I was hoping we could get a tiny bit of branding support or sort of like some graphic support.

The one thing, and this is probably more a comment for Jackie, and I can follow up with her later.

Or Shannon, um, but so as I'm trying to promote and reach out to folks on you know, 916 days and tree plantings and all these sorts of things.

Um, it would be fantastic to have sort of like a unified branding for commissioners, whether it's even just in the you know, city of Sacramento font, or but something that says name district parks commission, something very streamlined and simple, but something that we can use as commissioners to amplify messages and to you know, kind of use on our socials and on on our communications that we're sending out to.

Um, you know, I'm I'm still getting ramped up in a lot of this work, but as I'm going out in the community and as I'm talking to more um, and you know, we'll be hopefully soliciting some um vendors and donors and things.

It would be awesome to have some sort of official, and I don't know what that looks like necessarily, but you know, just something that sort of is a is a stamp of of just tiny unified branding for us as commissioners.

So, anyway, just more food for thought than than anything else.

Yeah, we can definitely look into that with Deanna's help.

Um, hit the marketing team to look at a couple concept ideas.

Deanna seemed busy, so I didn't want to I didn't want to add something else to her list of uh deliverables.

No, thank you both.

All right, Commissioner Laver.

So I had a question on some of the e-comments I've seen now, past few months have talked about just cannabis, this clearance of in parks and schools.

Are you guys aware of that issue?

Of uh a gentleman commenting and talking about not allowing cannabis dispensaries near parks and schools.

Is that something that you're aware of?

Yeah, I'm asking you.

Does anybody know about it?

Okay.

I mean, I've seen the the comments, but well, there's some somebody I've seen the comments, but it's not something that's been on our agenda, and it's not necessarily anything that has to actually do with what we do on this commission.

Okay, thank you.

But uh, Vice Chair Robins.

So you're telling me I'm finally gonna get a commissioner polo, maybe.

Not kidding.

Uh yeah, I've been fighting for that for a while, but I don't know if this is the right time to do it, but I just had to say something about Commissioner Boone.

I know this was her last meeting, and uh, you know, being an excellent mother that she is, and you know, getting her journey of motherhood.

I just wanted to thank her for her service all these years.

We started at the same time, and I was the first uh to nominate her as vice chair, and I just I'm very proud of her, and I know there would always be a seat waiting, but you know, you gotta take care of the little ones, and then we're very proud of what you're doing, and I can't wait to see the amazing person she grows up to be because she has amazing mother in front of her, so I just love that.

And this is just not for well, it's just until we meet again, and I just can't wait that I'll be working for her one day.

So that's all I wanted to say.

Thank you so much.

Well, now I look bad because I was gonna wait till next month.

But thank you.

All right, well, I have some district eight updates, a lot happening in district eight.

Um, as Deanna said, there's a Meadow View Trail, a Meadow View Trail tree planting this weekend um from 9 a.m.

to 12 p.m.

We'd love to see you.

We as in not me, I'm out of town, but other people would love to see you there.

Um we have that one, and then um, I don't know if you guys know this, but Wood Park has a community garden and there are plots available and it is gorgeous.

Um, so anyone in South Sacramento, um, definitely you want to check that out at Wood Park.

Um, they are only $25 per year, which is great.

Um, on April 25th, um, Jacintow Creek is having a dog park cleanup.

Um, so that is a great opportunity to come volunteer.

We would love to see you, not me, I'm out of town, but someone would love to see you there to come volunteer.

So 8 to 12 at Jacinto Park, and super excited.

The Meadowview Farmers Market is back.

Um, this is year three of the market, Sunday, May 3rd from 9 a.m.

to 1 p.m.

at the Meadowview Light Rail Station.

So lots of great things happening in District 8.

All right, Commissioner Labor.

Just wanted to thank the Parks Plan and Department.

Um, we've heard that there's two new projects at Mirror Park and one at Grant Park.

And I think there's they'll be funded later in the year, but there are projects that'll be completed by the next year, maybe.

But I'm just grateful for uh Jason.

Thank you.

Are there any um members of the public who'd like to speak on this item?

Thank you, Chair.

We do not have any speakers.

Oh, look at that.

Well, that was the last item on the agenda.

Um, so before I conclude today's meeting, please go talk to your council members about this budget.

Please.

And if you can make it down to a city council meeting, uh, they're long, but if you can make it, please do.

Um, and with that, this concludes today's meeting agenda.

Thank you everyone for your participation.

This meeting is adjourned.