I'm not a big fan of the committee because everyone wants to be called.

I mean, I'm sorry, I should tell them about it.

I think I know.

Okay.

I'm gonna go ahead and like we have a fan, we have a chair of a committee.

Well, I have to reconsider that.

We will call to uh order the let's try this.

We'll call it the uh budget committee meeting for May 5th 2026, and welcome to those of you who have joined us uh this morning.

Appreciate you being here uh as always.

Um if you wish to address the the committee, please uh fill out a speaker form and give that to the clerk at the front of the chambers, and then we'll make sure to call you on the item in which you're interested.

If you are speaking, keep in mind that uh you're limited to two minutes, and the clock will tick down.

You can watch that, so you make sure you keep your eye on that to get everything in that you want to be sure to say with that.

I think we should uh call the roll to establish a quorum.

Thank you, Chair.

Vice Mayor Talamantes, Councilmember Maple, Mayor Pro Tem Gata.

Here, and Chair Dickinson.

Here, quorum.

Thank you, and uh Councilmember Pro Tem.

Gareth, you would lead us in acknowledgment and the pledge.

Please stand.

Thank you.

Please rise for the opening and acknowledgement in honor of Sacramento's indigenous people and tribal lands.

See the original people of this land, the Nissanon people, the Southern Maidu, the Valley and Plains Miwok, the Putnam and Wintune people, 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 practice of acknowledgement and appreciation for Sacramento's indigenous peoples, history, contributions, and lives.

Please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance, salute, pledge.

I pledge allegiance to the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands.

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

Thank you.

Okay.

Yes, Chair, we have two items on the consent calendar, and I have one speaker, Lambert Davis, would like to speak on item two.

Okay.

Mr.

Davis, come talk to us on item two.

Lambert, would you like to speak on the consent calendar?

Yes.

Good morning.

The consent calendar number two.

I'm following the city auditor.

The city auditors have done a wonderful job, I think.

And I I hope that they uh are not cut their funding because it cripples them on what they have to do.

And one thing that they did, I was at the last budget audit meeting, and I had to go back and study what I said to you.

And I was trying to figure out where that came from, and I I said that they were on the payroll.

They're not on the payroll, but they did receive, and then the millennials showed me they received seven uh checks, seven different checks, and it was it was City Councilman Jeff Harris who said, for the record, he said it was a black eye to Sacramento City Hall in terms of fiscal responsibility.

Because as a business owner, I've never heard of a no written agreement to receive any kind of funding.

I don't care if it was in college, I don't care if it's in anything.

You have to sign an agreement to match where those funds went.

And according to the uh auditors's report.

Uh I still haven't found out who wrote those checks.

See, I'm on a mission to find out what department wrote seven checks that can't be audited, uh, versus a company like mine, which has been audited by the IRS, and we're still better business bureau credited.

We want to get an unwritten agreement for that amount of money.

Otherwise, it's a double standard.

Okay, thank you for your comments.

Chair, I'll move consent.

Alright, we have a motion and a second to adopt the consent items one and two.

Uh there's no other uh comment or question.

All in favor signify by saying aye.

So say no.

Any abstentions?

Hearing none, motion carries unanimously.

Thank you.

On to our next item, item three, disabilities advisory commission.

Commission's recommendation from the 2025 annual report.

Good morning.

Good morning, Chair Dickinson and members of the budget audit committee.

My name is Jesse Gotham, supervising engineer with Public Works Engineering Services.

For the past four annual reports brought forward by the Disabilities Advisory Commission, the DAC has recommended the establishment of a citywide ADA coordinator and that the centralized position be included in the city's budget.

The commission believes a citywide ADA coordinator will enhance accessibility programs across departments, work with internal and external stakeholders, provide citywide leadership on ADA issues, and would serve as a spokesperson advising on policy and programs to the city council and city manager while staffing the commission.

Currently, the city uses a distributed model where subject matter experts manage ADA responsibilities within their respective areas.

The public works engineering services continues to staff the DAC and coordinates commission items on behalf of the city because most accessibility issues in the public right-of-way are managed by public works and include improvements to ADA paths of travel, such as crosswalks, sidewalks, curb ramps, are implemented by public works CIPs that the DAC reviews.

These accessibility improvements to the right-of-way are documented annually in the city's ADA prospective plan and in other reporting documents.

For example, this year, six million dollars in accessibility improvements are forecasted for the 2026 construction season and included in CIPs and reported in the ADA prospective plan.

Various other departments and divisions collectively implement and follow the titles of the ADA with respect to their job duties and bring forward presentations to the DAC on occasion.

For example, Catherine Bandy, ADA manager for human resources, provides updates to the Disabilities Advisory Commission on updates for employee reasonable accommodations, among other items.

Youth Parks and Community and Regiment provides updates on their planning documents as well as the community development department.

SACPD has presented on the return me safe program, and the fire department has presented on trainings for firefighters for rescuing and alerting people with disabilities during fire emergencies or natural disasters.

In closing, the citywide ADA coordinator position, if budgeted, is estimated to cost approximately $200,000 per year and be classified as a program manager.

On behalf of the DAC, I'm here with Catherine Bandy and Samantha Hardy, interim director of aid human resources, to respond to any questions or comments.

Thank you.

Thanks for the presentation.

Thank you, Chair.

I have two speakers.

The first is Karina Miller Pullen.

The second is Keith Ellis.

So Karina.

Good morning.

My name is Corena Miller Pullen.

I serve on the city's Disability Advisory Commission, though my appointment began after the annual report in front of you was finalized.

I was 13 months old when 10 Sacramento residents filed Bardin V City of Sacramento.

I was 11 when the city's last ADA coordinator left office in 2009.

And I'm here today in 2026 because the position still does not exist.

I've personally experienced what happens when this city doesn't have one centralized person responsible for ADA.

Accommodations, accessibility, and inclusion get routed between departments with different priorities, different budgets, and different levels of training.

Things have not been smooth.

One in four residents in Sacramento live with a disability, and they are navigating the exact same mace.

Now, some of you may be thinking if we've gone 17 years without this position, why fund it now in a deficit?

Three reasons.

First, going 17 years without a lawsuit doesn't mean we're compliant, it just means we're lucky and no one has filed yet.

Then, second, DOJ's Title II web accessibility rule was supposed to take effect for cities our size last month.

The DOJ extended the deadline to April 2027 because too many cities weren't ready.

The city has staff working on pieces of this, as Jesse said, but um no one has cross-departmental authority to make sure every public-facing system gets there in time.

We have a year, and third, the deficit math argues for this position, not against it.

The next lawsuit will cost more than barden, which is 30% of our transportation fund for 30 years.

2020,000 to coordinate compliance is the cheapest line item in your budget.

I joined the commission to work on these gaps, and I'm asking you to help close the biggest one.

Please prioritize this position.

We have begged, and I'm begging now too.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And thanks for your service on the commission as well.

Keith Ellis.

Thank you, Councilmembers and Committee members.

My name is Keith Ellis.

I am the I have the privilege of holding uh the vice chair position for the disability advisory commission for the second year.

And um, as uh my colleague um very passionately made the case for I won't repeat much of what she said.

What this is about compliance, but it's more than that.

It's it's really about strategic leadership and living up to our commitments to each other is what it comes down to is you know, budgets are priorities, and when we don't prioritize certain things, it kind of means certain issues don't matter as much.

And really, what this is about is trying to make the city as accessible and as inclusive as we can possibly make it.

And doing that, we've taken a disparate and decentralized approach with mixed results.

Some good, some not so good.

So with this type of leadership in this type of role, working across the city, across departments, breaking down silos will make the city what we all want it to be for all of us.

Um, and I'll just say, yes, you know, this is a deficit, you know, year that's in terms of uh revenues, but this really speaks to who we are as a city, and that's what I would look towards you in terms of the leadership you would need to do in order to make this possible.

So with that said, I hope uh you can support us in considering this in this year's budget uh for the city.

Thank you so much.

Thank you for your comments and also for your service on the commission.

Uh, we have no other speakers' uh comments or questions from commission members.

Okay, yeah.

Well, first I when I one I appreciate the the comments from uh our commission, and I think one one thing uh uh at least providing direction.

Um I obviously wanted like the the um city manager's office to look at this and as a comprehensive part of the overall budget, but the one question I'd like to see is is there a direct benefit from having a coordinator that is working also with our risk management side.

Um, you know, there may be things where uh by addressing issues of uh ensuring that we have a uh a uh what do you call it an inclusive city, not only in our government or any other of our assets where there might be a benefit on the risk liability side, and that seems to be a growing uh challenge for our cities on our insurance costs.

So that's my only direction is uh uh is is uh one obviously we need to have a city that's inclusive for all.

We've seen ARP out here um saying that uh that their policies are not about seniors but about everyone in our city making sure that we have access.

So thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Maple.

Thank you, Chair.

Um, and also want to um align myself with uh Mayor Pro Tem about on those comments.

I I think that we need to be taking a look at this holistically in the budget.

Obviously, I'm I was really compelled by some of the arguments that were made.

Thank you.

Um, of course, we know uh if there's a lawsuit that can end up costing us, you know, potentially more than what this position would even cost.

Um, you know, but we also have to be very realistic about where we're at in the budget.

We know that what we're talking about this year, unfortunately, is um is layoffs in some cases and um cuts to other departments that are gonna be really tough for our um constituents, and and that's just the reality of the situation that we're in.

But uh with that said, uh I do think it's important to take a look at that because um I am also really as someone as a process person, I'm always really compelled by by an argument that we can work better across our departments uh to implement the things that we're trying to do.

Um, but I also see that as something that is usually a key role of the city manager's office and some of the assistant city managers and other staff that we have.

Um, and so maybe a great question for our assistant city manager here is um is this a role that's currently being played in some other way um by other staff.

Or assistant city managers, yeah.

First, I want to point your attention to the two o'clock where you're gonna hear about um the city manager's um uh kind of management plan, and one of those is the continuation of de-siloing and how do we do better and how do we not have barriers between departments.

I think we have a cadre of subject matter experts in this city that are extraordinarily capable of doing their jobs, um, and we do have the coordination from um Jesse and team and public works, and it is making sure on our part from a management perspective that we are maximizing and leveraging everything we have, and that is not necessarily um going to result in better outcomes by having one person um slinging the the, you know, or or quarterbacking that.

I think that we are really getting up to speed on our capacity to leverage within the department what we have, and and I do know it's a priority for the manager and what we're moving forward on.

Okay, thank you.

And then I will say too um that's really helpful, and I'll look forward to that discussion at 2 p.m.

Um, but my hope is that as this work continues on, because I know it's it's been an ongoing effort over many years that they that two-way communication with the display advisory commission um on that will be really helpful.

Um the other thing I wanted to discuss was the the second recommendation around electronics speaker slips, and this one's for our um city clerk.

I know that you have been working on a variety of efforts to improve technology as a part of how we produce these meetings, and so just wondering if you have any updates on that front.

I do, thank you.

Um council member maple.

Um, starting uh I'm drawing a blank July 1st, we have to implement SB 707 requires us to um allow the members of the public to participate remotely.

And so the package of the software we purchased um allows people to sign up in chambers for the same queuing system.

Uh we signed the contract today, or we are hopefully signing the contract today, and we'll have our kickoff meeting tomorrow to implement that new software.

Wonderful.

Um, and so then also on that note, I would sound um perhaps it would be a good idea as you have those meetings with that software provider that you incorporate um someone from the commission or someone who can bring that that perspective in those meetings just to make sure that we're aligning the technology that we're bringing on with the expectations.

Um, but that's really good news.

Uh, you know, I love technology, so I'm excited about that.

Um, okay, and so those are my two main comments, but mostly I just want to say thank you to the commission, commission members, and especially those who came here today to speak and for your work on on this on from an ongoing basis.

Um we know that we are a work in progress, like every city, and so we need your your your help and guidance, and so just really appreciate your your work.

Thank you.

Um thanks for those comments and uh thank you for asking about the second uh recommendation too, because I wanted to ask about that.

So I just to be clear, someone after July 1st, presuming that that it all works, can be sitting here in the in the audience and and sign up to speak uh electronically on their device, whatever their that's correct, their divisive choice is.

That's correct.

Okay.

Okay, that's I I agree with Councilmember Maypal.

I think we all agree.

That's that's a great that's a great step.

Um I do think uh uh the uh uh the idea of of a uh DAC coordinator uh a single per point of contact, a single person, does have merit.

And I I um here with the assistant city manager saying I I take that also uh to have uh uh merit as well.

So um I would like if we can to put the coordinator position just on our list for consideration during our budget hearings.

We're all gonna have things that we want to talk about.

So um I think it it's fair just to to add that to the list and give it give it the chance to be heard uh by the full council uh as a request, but then also that we uh ask the city manager to or whomever's gonna address this at two to to also be mindful of of this request as well, just as you've addressed it uh this morning.

Um I think that would be helpful in the context of that that uh discussion about management as well.

So with that, uh the uh if there are no further uh comments or questions.

I'm sorry, you want to further?

Oh no, I uh I think you you you hit on on I think the the dual merit here, but one thing I would like the the city manager to consider is um we did create a um a diversity equity manager because of a specific need.

We did create uh child care and early child development manager and economic development for specific needs.

So I I do agree that I think there are ways to uh to look at this area, but um for particular reasons we've created others.

So I'd like to see what the the pros and cons of of that and how it weighs in this in this role.

That's all.

Yeah, okay.

And I think we all understand uh and of course the commission members have been living with this for some time that the budget circumstances are challenging.

Um there's gonna be some very hard decisions that we that we have to make.

So this deserves in my judgment uh inclusion for consideration, but uh it is it is not the best of times, simply put.

Yes, vice mayor.

Okay, so so chair clarification is it that the recommendation for this position go to the 2 p.m.

or 5 p.m.

council meeting, and that's when we incorporate it.

I'm actually suggesting both that it um be incorporated in the in the discussion about management at 2 p.m.

because uh the comments that the assistant city manager made, which I think are quite relevant to this, but that uh as we look at all those things that we might potentially cut or restore in the context of the budget that we also do we put this position on the list as one just to to be there for consideration.

Okay, thank you.

Okay, I think the recommendation was to receive the report uh and comment on it, give directions.

So, I think we've done that.

All right.

If there's nothing further, we'll move on to uh the next the next item on our agenda.

And that's the measure you advisory uh commission.

Fiscal year twenty six twenty seven budget priorities and recommendations.

Good morning.

Good morning, Mr.

Chair, members of the city council.

It's a pleasure to see you all again.

Uh I'm going to try and use this device.

Uh I'm not exactly sure what I'm supposed to point it at, so let's see what happens.

My name is Tim Smith.

I uh I represent District 2 on the Measure U Commission, and I'm joined here by uh my fellow commissioner, Commissioner Salah.

Um recently, as uh as recently as a week ago, uh Measure U Advisor Commission uh came together to uh consider recommendations for 26 uh for fiscal year 2627, uh which I'll share with you uh very shortly.

Um as you know, uh the measure you uh part of the general fund totals approximately 150 million dollars.

Uh top line recommendations that we ask you to consider um are that uh the commission believes uh the council should continue to fund most programs at current levels in 2026-27.

Um, however, the council should adjust funding based on programs relative uh on programs relative ROI.

Uh programs that demonstrate a positive ROI should receive additional, should receive augmented funding, programs that demonstrate a negative ROI uh or cannot demonstrate a positive ROI should receive less funding.

Uh roughly eight million dollars in 2025 uh uh measure you spending reads as general fund.

Uh the council should consider uh recasting that as uh general fund expenditure uh to uh increase transparency around what actually is uh measure you funding.

Um also uh some programs use measure you funds for to apply for grants, which uh which can substantially increase funding for their programs.

Uh those should be highlighted and um to the degree possible uh supported, and then many programs funded by use measure you also get substantial funding from the general fund, uh which we and we consider this under our decisions.

Uh the council the council the commission also stresses the importance of holding measure you funded programs accountable for achieving key performance metrics and future budget cycles.

Um so uh as we consider uh increasing or uh specific budget recommendations.

Uh our first uh recommendation is to grow high ROI uh programs.

Um a few programs that were highlighted by the commission are uh economic development, which has a uh which produces nine dollars for every uh $1 cent spent, uh violence prevention uh and intervention.

Um those programs uh serve nearly uh 2,400 youth in the city and save money on the back end.

Uh participatory budgeting uh which is a volunteer multiplier.

Um the cities used it in the past to hear from the public regarding uh what the priorities are for the city's budget going forward.

Uh we consider it valuable process and believe that that the city benefits from using this process.

Uh and fair-free transit um helps get a lot of people to where they need to go, be that school, work, what have you.

Um, it's uh, it's an assistance program for for low-income uh commuters.

Uh we also believe in restructuring uh low ROI and uh programs or programs that don't demonstrate um ROIs clearly as some other programs.

Uh specifically uh we we uh highlighted community engagement.

Um the time put into podcasts flogs zins or otherwise seems to have low engagement.

Uh that should be reconsidered.

Uh also arts and creative edge.

Um, specifically our comments around this were that uh in a time of uh when we were considering making cuts to um various city programs or core services, it is difficult though not impossible to demonstrate the value of arts and creative edge programs.

Um we uh sorry about that.

There we go.

Um, we had specific recommendations regarding the police hiring pipeline.

Um it's presented as one program, which has about a five million dollar expenditure.

Um that needs to be recast.

It's really three different programs that does a wonderful job of engaging training and hiring youth.

It's also a CBO program and at our hiring and outreach program as a recall from the presentation that we received from the police department.

In five years they have uh recruited 41 police officers through the program and approximately uh 12 uh CBOs, community benefits officers through the program.

If you just look at it on those metrics versus what it costs, it doesn't seem like it's a very valuable but if you break it out into three different parts what you find is that they have 61 FTEs most of whom are you youth who train to go on and do something fantastic with their lives.

So we see great benefit in that.

Currently there are expenditures that are credited to Measure U that should be transferred to the general fund.

It doesn't or it should be cast as general fund expenditures.

It doesn't save the city any money but it uh does more it does represent the measure you uh program uh more accurately um and examples of that include uh general insurance uh slash termination uh which uh the cities are others which we spent 2.6 million dollars on uh this is a city operating cost as well as city uh city facility rein uh investment program which was 2.2 million um which is dedicated to support and upkeep of city owned facilities um city owned facilities excuse me um funding programs that with uh also uh we recommend that the um that we move in the direction of uh performance based budgeting or um basically holding uh measure you funded programs accountable for meeting certain metrics funding programs without pre-stated goals makes success uh apologies um that's a misprint that should read unverifiable uh this was prepared by a uh dedicated and sleep deprived uh colleague of mine on the measure you commission who had approximately 10 years to uh 10 hours to uh encapsulate uh everything that we wrote in uh not only a report but also in in uh these slides okay uh so uh uh just excuse me i'm sorry uh watch my twice uh historically most measure you funds program measure you funds funded programs have not uh stated up front uh the goals uh that they are pursuing uh funding uh we believe that um before the budget is adopted most uh most departments seeking measure you funding should be required to state the purpose uh that the aiding program is designed to achieve articulate outcomes um as well as an activity context so metrics around their throughputs and ownership um the person within the city structure who is accountable for achieving this and a failure definition which is the exact threshold the the exact threshold uh for defunding basically the very minimum that that a department is going to achieve um we also believe that there should be cadence and that there should be points at which uh departments check in around measure you funding uh a mid year check uh right around Q2 so that's around June uh and as well as an annual review that comes toward the end of the year um the timeline would need to be adjusted.

Um, let's see.

Uh again, if they meet their target they they they renew.

If they are if they they miss their or if they miss their target, um possibly there are there are reasons for that.

Uh there's a lot of things that happen outside department's control, and you just have to accept that as it comes, and then if they miss with no plan, um restructure.

Um, uh we uh leave you with these recommendations adopt high ORI strategic allocations, approve the eight million dollar general fund transparency shift, and endorse uh the accountability framework and to your two-year rule.

Uh and that's more or less the presentation.

Um I'm open for questions if uh anybody has any.

Thank you for the the presentation and and for your service on the on the commission.

I do have a question, Tim.

Yes, um, with respect to the police hiring pipeline, uh the commission is is the essence of the commission's view that it just should be broken out.

Not that it doesn't work, it should be doesn't work, just should be recast or recharacterized.

Yeah, basically it should it should be broken out so that um the different parts are identifiable.

Um the benefits of that I think are it will be easier to link each of those parts to um the purpose of measure you, um not to mention the fact that it uh doesn't it looks more efficient, and they are achieving efficiencies uh we believe.

Um yeah, that's those are the primary reasons to call you know the potential costs are that um it's easier to defund one of them if um if yeah, so you see it as easier to track and account, uh easier to uh to identify the outcomes to to um see if each one is being uh successful in terms of the outcomes sought and uh and to have greater accountability.

That's really great.

And to clarify that's specifically for the parts of the hiring pipeline.

There's a whole separate part of what is funded uh for the police through measure U, which has to do with um prevention and intervention programs.

Um by and large, that that that program is incredibly well received and both by the public and by the commission.

Uh, as a matter of fact, when that was presented, we had the best attendance we'd ever seen uh at a meeting, which was last month.

Okay, thank thanks, Tim.

Do we have other speakers on uh on this item?

I have seven members of the public that want to speak on this item.

Okay, we ready for that?

We take those and then we'll take committee comments and questions.

Thank you.

The first speaker is Lambert, then Richard Falcone, Dr.

Steve Winlock, Liz Awesome.

Measure you, I'm a big fan of Measure U.

I I attended a lot of meetings from uh Mayor Steinberg, tremendous uh vision on this.

Now, I just read I was at measure you last week.

It says required before budget adoption.

Something happened that measure you I hadn't seen in a long time.

The actual audience was crowded.

Usually, when I come to measure you commission, I'm usually the only one there.

So I've learned a lot about rules and procedures studying what Minty Cuppy has presented last week with nine minutes left, and the Rostrum and the city attorney should pay attention to this because I've interpreted this as a violation of the Brown Act.

It was nine minutes left in Measure U.

And the Rostrum, uh, Ash Ragani was there and others.

They made a decision with nine minutes left to let the economic department come up and make a pitch for nine minutes.

There were a couple of commissioners that protested it, which they should have because they could have just let the public comments go and then bring the commission back.

So if it's required before budget adoption, you should have the economic department, which receives a lot of money from measure you to have to come back in front of measure you commission and do their pitch again because they never were able to QA them.

You're supposed to allow the commission a chance to QA a department, and guess what?

I was one of the speakers that wanted to speak on economic development and also public comments, I was eliminated from that.

So that's a violation of the Brown Act.

Next speaker is Richard Falcone.

Then Dr.

Steve Winlock.

Good morning.

Hello, everyone.

Wow.

Serving in the arts here in Sacramento.

We have recently received a recognition from the Hispanic Chamber as a correspondent la comunidad because of our art.

And from the mayor's office as a nonprofit of distinction because of our art.

So it breaks my heart to see, and I am literally shaking, and I don't very often to see these recommendations.

Because when we talk a lot about growing the Office of Violence and Production, your artists do that for you and are already part of that, helping to make sure that there are opportunities for our youth outside of violence.

When we talk about economic development, your artists are already doing that.

Some of those dollars that are being brought back in economic development are because of the arts that are going on.

Participatory budgeting, don't even get me started on that.

I was part of participatory budgeting committee when it went in.

I have yet to see the results of the programs that were there, but artists were on board to help people become a part of it.

In time of fiscal turmoil, it is not just something we would want to trade funding off of essential services for arts are essential.

We have shown that time and time again, we would not have got through COVID if not for the second responders, your artists who helped to uplift our spirits, to uplift our hearts, and to help us keep going in this time.

And now we hear it is not essential.

You break my heart, everybody.

Don't let this happen.

There are creative opportunities.

If Oakland can introduce a cultural strategist program where artists are brought to the table to help with a lot of these issues that we're talking about today, Sacramento can do it too.

Ask us, we will be here with you to show you how to do it.

Next speaker is Dr.

Steve Winlock, then Liz Awesome, then David Webb.

Good morning, Council.

Good to see you all.

I am Steve Wenlock.

I'm a commissioner for the arts and cultural economy, creative economy, which we do promoting and encouraging and fostering the arts and innovation and also tourism, which is our area.

But I wanted to kind of share with you that when I saw the issue that says return on investment, as we talk about the creative edge plans, we've had an incredible return on investment as you start to look at our creative edge plan.

I have to tell you that I've been involved with this.

I sleep with this manual in a sense about looking at how is it guiding our culture and those involvement.

You know, the plan was created in 2018, and I was there to make that happen.

We involved the community, all of them being together and looking at what we're going to do for California, excuse me, for the arts in Sacramento.

But one of the things that comes out when we talk about return and investment, many of the goals that we've talked about are happening and being a part.

The piece about looking at the issue about return helping us make a creative economy in Sacramento.

Do you know one of the things that we focus on a lot is that issue about making sure that we're working with our artists to make them working artists in a sense.

Looking at our art organizations in a sense about making what they do to influence the culture and keeping them solid in a sense in a lot of ways.

So as we start to look at all of these areas, well, I meant to mention the goal one, which is the arts and education that is going to be involved for every student in this area.

It's it's powerful.

So when I look at these areas, I know we are doing a return for investment.

So I encourage the council to take a look and look at measure A again at you as we start to look at for our arts and make sure that we're funding the creation.

Thank you for your comments.

Our next speaker is Liz Awesome, then David Webb.

Good morning.

Good morning, thank you.

I guess I'm one of your artists.

Uh, and the kind of art I make is called zines, not zins, they're uh small eight-page booklets that share information with the community.

Like when I was unhoused in Sacramento, and the city of Sacramento didn't do anything to help me with that.

I created a zine based on information I learned from other unhoused individuals about how to create an air conditioner from my tent in the hundred and fifteen degree heat.

I learned that from creative people, and I passed that knowledge along using my creative skills, and that's what helped me survive that.

And then I uh I don't know, I don't know.

I survived that, and somehow I'm in the culture small business accelerator program, which I believe is uh funded by this or something near it.

I'm not the person to speak to about that.

Um, but the idea that a simple reclassification of eight million dollars could now take this opportunity that I'm trying to build that you're trying to build that that we've been working on is just it's it's I'm I'm I'm so glad that um Richard Falcone understands how I feel, and I wish that Tim Smith did too.

Um so funding programs without preceded goals makes success unverifiable.

But don't we need to do different things?

Don't we need to be working in new ways to talk about how to survive this hellscape that we are forced to live in?

Don't we need different solutions?

And those solutions often come from experimentation, from working fast, from trying things.

That's not just me, that's the tech industry.

That's uh, I don't know, that's a lot of other industries.

There's a lot of ways of thinking about processes, is about trying and moving and trying and moving.

And so, how can we know these goals before we've had a chance to work with them if artists are unfunded, if artists don't have the opportunity to change the cityscape to go into these buildings that have been dilapidated since I was five years old and turn them into working spaces and something that we can use, and they're all over the city, and they're all because of this money, and it's all so beautiful.

And I don't think you should stop at eight million dollars.

I think you should go into sixteen million dollars.

I think you can find it.

Thank you for your comments.

Your time is complete.

Our next speaker is David Webb, then Roshan Davis.

Good morning.

Good morning, everybody.

Um, I was asked to come here.

Sorry, I put some notes together.

So my name's David Webb.

I'm the founder of InvestorFi.

We're a Sacramento-based company, and we focus on connecting international and institutional capital to economic development opportunities in this region.

I just returned from the Global Business Forum in Philadelphia, uh, partnered by our World Trade Center Association of Northern California.

I'm hosting a global economic development conference here at Aggie Square from July 9th to the 12th.

My work sits directly at the intersection of capitals and cities.

It's clear that the city's facing a real budget problem.

The general fund gap is real, but arts and culture are being treated as discretionary.

They are not.

That was clearly demonstrated in today's presentation when economic development was separated from community engagement in arts and creative.

Based on that, I would love to hear the definition of what economic development is, but in modern economic development, culture is infrastructure.

When cities pull back from their culture, they weaken their own economic engine and they end up paying more later to rebuild it.

Culture is how city creates identity, and more importantly, signals to outside capital that the city has momentum.

From working directly with capital, I can tell you investors don't just evaluate deals, they evaluate trajectory, energy, and whether a place feels like it's moving forward.

My work and many of the work in this room are focused on translating that into actual capital flowing into this region.

Capital does not move into cities that they feel are pulling back from themselves.

Don't treat culture as expendable, treat it as economic infrastructure.

Because the reality is if Sacramento wants to compete for serious capital, it has to act like a city that understands how capital moves.

Thanks for your comments.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Roshan Davis, then Justina Martino, and then Marbella.

Good morning.

Good morning.

It's still morning, guess.

Yes, we got eight minutes.

Hey everyone, my name's Rashawn Davis, executive director of culture.

Um I don't envy where you guys are right now, having to solve a major budget deficit.

So I just want to start by saying that.

And a lot of cities across California are doing the same thing, but I'm here to point out the risk like a lot of folks have that occurs when you cut out the asset that is capable of generating new revenue for the city.

Arts and economic development are actually married.

And that's what we want you guys to actually see.

Right now it's being treated as it's a support function managed by within a fixed asset of resources.

In reality, they're economic drivers that increase foot traffic, that activate corridors, and that supports small business growth.

And we have a beautiful thing going.

I think you can see that.

We have an ecosystem where residents, creatives, and entrepreneurs are trained and ready to produce economic activity alongside you.

So if the goal is to grow Sacramento, then you can't cut out the thing that actually creates the growth.

If you do, our talent will continue to leave, small businesses will continue to shutter, corridors will continue to lose energy, and outside visitors spending will continue to drop because at the end of the day, you're reducing the conditions that revitalize neighborhoods and generate new revenue.

The creative economy is a 200 billion dollar economy.

144 classifications is the NACS codes, and only one is artists.

So it is a whole ecosystem that exists that is here to help push the city along.

So make sure that it goes into the economic development seat.

That's my time.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next speaker is Justina Martino.

Then Marbella.

Good morning.

Good morning, my members of the committee.

My name is Justina Martino.

I'm a local artist, arts advocate, creative business owner of Art Tonic, and I'm a former D6 commissioner for the Arts Culture and Creative Economy Commission.

I live in D6 and work in D4.

I am here to strongly oppose the recommendation to reduce or restructure the Arts and Creative Edge Fund.

The measure you report describes arts funding as non-essential during fiscal turmoil, but my business is proof of the opposite.

I am a graduate of the Culture Everyday Creative Program, a program made possible by city arts and culture funding.

Before that program, the weight of economy and the consistent devaluing of creative work, which we're seeing here today, had me ready to close my business.

Instead, the Everyday Creative Program empowered me to scale.

Today my business hasn't just survived, it has grown.

I am now in the position where I'm hiring and paying fellow local artists and creative entrepreneurs to work on projects.

That is a direct measurable return on the city's investment.

If looking for RRI, look at the 2022 Arts and Economic Prosperity 6 study in Sacramento County.

According to the study, the nonprofit arts and culture sector generated 241.7 million in total economic activity, supported 4,343 jobs, generated 164.8 million in personal income for residents.

The average arts attendee in Sacramento spends $33.13 cents per event on top of the ticket price.

Money that goes directly into our local restaurants, parking lots, and shops.

I know because I personally help conduct this study throughout the city of Sacramento.

The arts are not a luxury we fund when times are good.

They provide hope, connection, and economic recovery when times are tough.

Cutting this funding is cutting off a proven pipeline for small business growth growth and job creation.

Please keep the arts and creative edge fund whole.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And Marbella is our final speaker on this item.

Good morning.

Hey, good morning.

Good morning, Chair Dickinson and budget and ade.

So I'm here to first of all thank the city clerk Mindy because that Monday that we worked until 8 30 at night to get this recommendation passed, was made it happen because of Mendy Cooper.

And we wouldn't even be presenting had that not happened.

So we're so grateful.

I also want to thank Pete from the finance department because he worked with us first time we've ever had that kind of engagement early on before budget discussions really got going, and that was the first time, and it's been meaningful for us in this practice and for having his support and his office support.

I'm just gonna, I'm not gonna go over what's in front of you because you have the details, but I just want to point out a few uh programs that I feel very passionate about, and um, and that's the Office of Violent Prevention.

It's not that much money that goes into preventing violence.

We talk about safety, that's an important piece of safety.

They don't get that much money that goes out to the community and work with our communities and our you our youth.

And if you had been here and I urge you to watch that video or what of our meeting where we had over a hundred youth come and talk about the importance of this program and what it's done for them.

So please, it's only um, and I ask that you consider it for three three years because doing it year by year won't work for them.

It's not that much money, and it is a it is um safety program, prevention and safety.

And then the last there's more, but the one that I really want to point out is in our community and in district three, closing pools and opening them only three days a week won't work in our community because our children, our youth have no options but to go to the pool in the summer, they don't have swimming pools, other communities do, so I urge that not.

Thank you for your comments.

Chair, I have no more speakers.

Thank you.

Thank you all for your your comments.

Uh, and uh now we'll turn to committee comments and questions, starting with Councilmember Maple.

Thank you, Chair.

Um, and again, thank you to the commission for all your work.

Um I know this is this is probably one of our more detailed questions in terms of getting down into the numbers, really understanding the data, and I know that it's been um it's it's a it's a work of love.

So I just want to appreciate you.

Um, and like we often know on this dais and and beyond, that uh sometimes you know things that we uh come up with are controversial and people feel away about them.

So I also want to really appreciate everyone who came here to speak and your passion and energy that you brought into this, particularly about the arts and the creative economy.

Um I was really compelled by that, and I think that we know as a city um that there is a really direct connection between the arts and and economic development, and we see that all the time.

Uh, we also have some really great staff here.

I see Megan and others who often make those arguments as well.

Um, and so you know, there is an output, there is a direct connection and an output.

Um, and so I think, at least from my perspective, while I appreciate the report on that note, I I am in favor of keeping the investments that we do have uh in the arts because um I see that though that's a connection not just to the economy, but also to other things that we really care about as a city.

Like one thing we talk about here a lot is vacancy and vacant lots and vacant properties, and we're always trying to kind of ideate around what to do about that.

And there's obviously a direct connection to the arts community as well there.

So just wanted to say that.

One thing that um Mr.

Falcon actually mentioned, and it's something that I've been thinking about a lot over the last few years is uh is on participatory budgeting.

So we did we obviously had one pilot of that, and that was actually before I was on this council and a question I've had is whether or not we've done an analysis of how that program went, both the program itself and some of the actual participants in the program.

Um, and I don't know the answer to that.

So if there's anyone in the room, can it?

Oh, I see some I see movement.

Hello, take your time, it's okay.

Council members Ashrogani, special projects manager in the city manager's office.

I staffed the measure you community advisory commission.

As you know, a few years ago they recommended that the city engage in participatory budgeting.

Um we hired a consultant who facilitated that process.

That process was one in which residents directly decided how one million dollars in measure you funding would be allocated.

And based on my kind of understanding of the process and and having gone through it, was that that was really the emphasis of in terms of the results and and what was an outcome was that residents directly had that um ability to decide how the dollars were spent.

Um I don't want to minimize the grants and the programs that were funded, but as someone who does work with grants day to day, um I oversee our grant policies and our grants management system.

Many of the activities that we funded weren't like drastically different than other programs that we that we fund, whether it's workforce development, youth programs, other economic development programs.

I guess one of the bigger differences is the funding was concentrated in uh $500,000 in the north area, $500,000 in the south area.

Um kind of fast forwarding to the results of those programs.

We do have some data.

Um the way the projects were managed, though, it was across about eight different departments, and I want to say like 15 or 16 different staff.

So we never really took the time to figure out like how do we put all this data together?

Um we didn't, you know, invest the resources at the front end to kind of tell that story on the back end, and again, kind of coming back to what that process was all about from my perspective was really just giving residents that opportunity to directly decide how dollars were spent.

So we had what we did in terms of presenting those results is we allowed those um grant-funded organizations to present directly to the measure you commission, and that was really the extent of that.

If there is further interest in in getting more analysis, we we could try to do kind of a retrospective, but that would take some resources.

Thank you.

Um the reason why I asked that is because uh I think it's been a recommendation of the Measure You Commission every year since since that we continue to do some kind of participatory budgeting.

Um, you know, I think one, I think that's a question that we should take on as council and as a committee.

Is that something that we want to do, you know, maybe at a grander scale.

Um, but in order to do that, I think we do need to have an analysis done of what what did we see?

Um did we see success?

What things were what were our metrics for success?

I don't know the answer to that.

I wasn't here at the time, but did we meet those metrics?

Um, and then also I'm interested in like how did the community feel about it?

Did they feel a way about how of their participation?

Was that something that was so I don't know any of the answers to those things, but I think if um what I hear from the commission is it's this is an important thing that they'd like to see.

I know I've heard at least a couple council members say over the years that they are also interested in pursuing more participatory budgeting at maybe at a bigger scale in the future, but I think we need that piece first.

Um, so not to put more work on people's plates, but I do think that that's important because it was also an investment from the city to do that.

Um, and so I think we need to know those things.

So that's just my personal opinion.

I don't know if my colleagues share any of that.

No, I have some comments on that.

Okay.

Um, let me look through my notes to make sure I didn't miss anything.

Um otherwise, um, I do really appreciate the the um, especially I've noticed this year in particular, there's a real focus on the data and the return and are we seeing those connections?

And I think that's always a really good question to ask, uh, not just for measure you, but literally for our entire budget and all of the programming that we do as city of Sacramento.

I think we um should always be looking at whether or not we are setting clear goals and guidelines and we're measuring against those goals and figuring out whether or not the things that we're doing are effective because I did hear one of the speakers say, yes, we should try new things.

Yes, we should.

We should try new things all the time, and we do.

I'm actually really proud of us as a city.

We do a lot of really creative and um new things.

We often lead uh other cities, but you know, that also requires us to be able to look back and say, okay, well, what what were our priorities and goals and did we actually meet them?

And sometimes the answer is no, and that's okay.

Um, but we have to we have to be able to pivot and say, Okay, that didn't work, let's try something new.

And I don't think we always do that.

Um, so you know, from a from a broad perspective, I think uh I really appreciate that perspective in the report and the work that you put into that.

So those are my questions for now.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Um, thank you.

You know, one I I also want to agree, and then and in fact, I won't I um you know Richard Falcon reminded me of the work we did during the pandemic to engage communities and uh and many communities who uh aren't aren't familiar normally with our how to go up and find through Granicus all of our all of our information and actually engaging in community and uh in areas and even when we were at the book fairs, how at a younger age, young young people were understanding the benefits of what we had because of the use of art.

So I wanna uh recognize you know that work that was successful in my opinion here.

Uh also wanna just thank uh you know um, you know, Commissioner Tim Smith and uh Commissioner uh you know Connor Johnston as well, who uh have uh worked on the on the commission, and I I appreciate their work um and my previous commissioner Justina uh as well for uh their engagement and time on this and I I appreciate the fact that we can have these dialogues in uh uh with uh is our city, our city's very diverse and so I think that's an important part there.

But I I do also agree that focusing on on um the uh the the creative economy uh has benefited us as a city.

I mean I uh in fact when when I talk to people about Sacramento, uh I don't hear you know about it being uh when I travel around as it being a uh quote unquote Caltown.

No, they they bring up all the murals.

They're like, oh yeah, I was out there.

It's like they bring up the arts, the music.

It is such a different change over the last, you know, I would say eight to ten years, uh where we've shifted, where the the response from people around Sacramento when they come to visit is is one that they uh that that they hadn't expected.

So I agree, uh one I I think it's an important recognition on that.

Uh what I wanna highlight out of the report, what is this the takeaway?

I do support the two year review process.

I think that's a good habit to have.

Uh for this committee, at least for the budget and audit committee, uh, if it's not for the full council, at least for the budget audit committee, to look at what does a two-year review process look like?

And I think that uh will one engender more support from the public when they see how our tax dollars are being spent.

Uh many times people don't know all the work we do.

So it is an opportunity not only to highlight the good work that's being done by the city, but also to uh ensure that the the dollars that are being spent are being spent well and wisely.

And so I I would like to highlight that uh uh strength of the report uh Mr.

Chairman.

But I do want to thank all the commissioners uh who've been there for a long time.

I think Marvella Salas has been one of the longest serving commissioners uh uh for a long time and been active, so thank you again for your consistent support.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Uh Vice Mayor.

Thank you, Chair.

So I'm also okay with the two year review process, but also I wanna make sure that we're focused on actual programming.

What I'm seeing in a lot of the measure you dollars or other dollars that we have throughout like the commissions that come to PPE and to budget and audit is an ask from either commissioners or the council to do more audits.

More audits, more audits, more review, more come back, come back every two years, come back every two years.

And at what point do you just focus on the actual programs and the human beings and the people being served?

And that's my focus for this report.

I'm okay adding the two-year budget because I want to honor the commissioner's work, but also for us to be mindful that we just spend so much time reviewing and instead of using that I mean we should have reviews and we should have audits, and that's why we have an auditor, and that's why city staff comes every single year to do their budget, their presentations here on the dais about what they're working on and what they fund.

Um so there is that transparency, but also just focusing on the actual implementation, I think to me is the most important thing.

So maybe instead of a two-year audit, we do a four-year audit, and you go on so on and so forth, because by the time you say yes, we're gonna dedicate the money, it takes three or four months to issue the RFP, then it takes another two months to give the people the dollar, and then it takes about a year for them to spend it, then they're submitting receipts and reports back to the council to our city staff.

And so it's actually just a two-year budget or two year process just to be able to get the money itself.

And so maybe we extend it to four years or three years and we change that that year amount.

Um, but uh for me, I think Ash, one of the asks I would have is before the budget is passed, maybe a supplemental report.

If you can give me a pie chart of every single year's measure use spending, whether it's like directly on cities, city resources, city staff, and then CBO, and then breakdown, if possible, whatever's easiest of the CBO, like on focus area.

Was it creative edge economy?

Was it gun violence prevention?

Um, was it early learning?

If you can give me a little bit of a category of what it was spent on, that would be helpful for me as we adopt this final budget because we are in a budget deficit and everything is a competing priority.

Um, but everything that we do is interconnected from safety and gun violence prevention to creative arts, giving kids a safe place to play, a safe safe place to go do beautiful murals instead of doing graffiti.

Everything is interconnected, and so for me, before we adopt the budget, if I can get those numbers, that'd be great.

Yeah.

Well, right now you guys have the breakdown of what you guys want classified between a general fund to measure you here in this report.

So it'd just be actually maybe not every single year.

We can just do it for this year and last year.

That'd be fine.

Tick in with that.

I should make sure that that's doable before budget adoption, which is June 9.

Yeah.

Yeah.

He could just say that somehow.

Funding is currently categorized by programs in categories and departments.

We can do that pretty easily.

I think where it gets tricky is within those programs.

What percentage of the funding went externally out to CBOs versus funding staff?

Um, I mean, we can do our best to come up with something though.

Then in that case, I'm okay with whatever data we can get before the budget adoption, even if it's just CBO dollars versus city of Sacramento dollars.

That's okay.

Okay.

Thank you.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank thank you all.

I I also have a few um comments.

First of all, I want to uh I want to thank Pete and I want to thank Ash for getting uh the schedule set to allow the commission to weigh in uh in a timely way on their uh on their thoughts uh about the about the budget that that's been an issue since the beginning with the commission.

Um and uh I appreciate the comments uh whether it was Marve or Tim, that I think it was Marvea that said we got a chance to see this in time um to to get it in front of the council uh for inclusion in a meaningful way in the in the deliberations about the budget.

So so thank you both and and all the other staff who might have who have been part of that for that scheduling uh with a nudge or two.

Yeah.

So uh some additional um uh questions or or comments.

First, uh question uh and Pete, I think this one is probably for you.

This this eight million dollars that the commission identified that it believes uh is measure you money getting used for if I interpret what they've said correctly and essentially non-measure you purposes, and I would like to see that money moved to measure you purposes, and then replaced, not cut, but replaced with eight million general fund, uh not non-measure you general fund.

Is that is that feasible to do?

So I have um some thoughts about this, and uh first I want to thank, I want to echo the committee's thanks of the measure you commissioners.

They've been great partners, um, you know, helping with performance management, providing great feedback as well as engaging in the budget process.

Um the issue with the measure you fund is just historically we've put 150 plus million dollars of programming into a fund that generates uh for a tax measure that generates about 135 million dollars a year.

And so, you know, I I um definitely hear the measure you commission saying, well, wait a minute, you know, we're weighing on more than our resources.

Um for that 8 million in particular, a lot of those things are you know what I would say overhead associated with uh the measure you programming.

So that that should be in the the actual that should be included.

It's kind of part of the the cost of delivery.

Uh where I think we should work with uh the measure you commission is saying of that 150.

Well, maybe we should move some of those programs from measure you to the General Fund, especially if they're uh kind of the lower priority items um for the measure you commission, and really just kind of bring us back into reality with with the funds resources.

And um, you know, again, that's uh the both the general fund and measure you fund can be used for any uh legitimate governmental purpose, and so that's not cutting a program.

Moving it from the measure you fund to the general fund uh wouldn't result in that program getting cut, but it would be a more realistic picture of the measure you fund, and we're happy to have that conversation with them.

Yeah, what I what I uh what I hear is uh uh really a desire for alignment uh with the source of the funds and the the purpose for which the funds are getting used, and maybe that mused and maybe there's some additional conversation with the commission about the about the overhead element to to the programs uh that would be justified in terms of the alignment.

So I uh did you want to say something, Mimi?

Um I I uh reflecting on their presentation.

I think we need to do a tiny bit more homework also on the police hiring pipeline because CBOs are not involved in the pipeline.

I think they meant CSOs, and it's hiring a high schooler who then moves to a CSO position who then can move into a trainee or uh training position to become a police officer, it is the exact same program.

You're just progressing through the steps.

So they're not distinct programs, it is one.

And you you mark success by the progression through the steps.

And so I think if we could spend perhaps a little bit more time trying to get clarity on that, that that just even if the recommendation doesn't change that that we have a uh full understanding of what the program really means and how it operates.

Thanks for that.

I think it was CSOs too.

I uh I assume that it meant okay.

Um well thank maybe that's just some continued uh dialogue with the commission uh uh over the coming year to explore this this issue further thing.

Yes, thanks, Pete.

Uh I wanted to uh uh comment that I think the fare-free transit is uh is an excellent recommendation.

Um I think the city is is doing a reasonable part in contributing to that right now.

We need more we need more participation by the school districts, frankly.

Uh, and so I think all of us have uh a job to do in terms of uh of uh advocating with the school districts that they recognize the value of of this and and they are in many respects the the true beneficiary, aside from the students and the families, the school districts uh get uh attendance funding from the state when the kids show up at school.

So uh they they get a uh a direct monetary benefit out of ADA ADA, you know, average daily attendance, thank you.

Um so that I think that's uh where we need to focus more attention.

Um I am an unabashed advocate for participatory budgeting.

Uh I I have been part of it in the in the past.

I think it has enormous value.

And Ash, even though you said it didn't necessarily result in different types of programs being funded uh with that million dollars, it was who was making the decision that was different.

Uh it is it is a terrific way in my experience and my view to engage more people at the community level.

How you structure it, I mean, the way I've seen it is you define a geographic area, you uh have a pot of money and they can decide on say physical improvements in the in the area as opposed to programs.

But however it goes, uh I I it's tough to bring it back in the context where we of where we are in the in the budget, but I do think it's worth I personally think it's worth looking at uh in the upcoming year to see if there's a way to um uh to include participatory budgeting uh in some fashion in uh the way we go at spending the city's the city's money.

Uh uh I I am also uh an unabashed uh supporter of an advocate for the arts.

I think the arts contribute not just uh aesthetically uh and emotionally uh in some cases spiritually to to our our community, but I think they do have uh identifiable uh economic benefits as uh as well, and I think the creative economy is is representative of that.

But but the fact that the commission made this recommendation suggests to me that there needs to be more work on the part of those who are some of our speakers today and others uh in the arts community to have a dialogue with the commission members to show what the what the value is from your point of view.

Uh there's uh there's there's work to do, I think, in that in that regard.

Uh and so um I take it as a challenge, take it as take it as a challenge to uh work with the commission members to to give them uh the kind of background infotion uh and and uh examples and data that that you think will uh work to uh perhaps uh adjust their view to to see uh that that the arts are more of a source of uh return on it on investment uh as they're thinking of it than they um they perceive it now.

So with that, uh the again this is this is an item just to comment on and direction and uh, I'm just gonna summarize our homework.

So um per um uh vice mayor's request uh summary of uh the programs if we can pick out what goes outside and what stays internal.

Um I think it's a great idea to have arts folks come and talk to the measure you commit uh commission.

So maybe that's something we can facilitate for a future meeting, and then um bringing back the results of participatory budgeting outcomes back to this committee.

That'd be great.

Okay.

Yes, thank you.

Okay, thank you to all of you who have come to speak on that item and participate, appreciate that very much.

We're gonna go on to our next agenda item.

And that is citywide fees and charges for 26 27.

All right.

Uh good afternoon, Chair and Committee members.

Pete Coletto, the finance director.

I have uh Brian from the budget team who's going to present the fees and charges.

Uh just to just a reminder this will be coming to council for adoption at a public hearing on May 12th, and is part of the budget.

Um, another uh reminder is in this report.

Uh it included charging for residential parking and increased meter rates.

Those are not going to come to council on the 12th.

Those were included in the proposed budget document before printed, but those budget reductions have been restored.

So those are not uh being asked for consideration.

And with that, I will pass it off to Brian.

Good afternoon, committee members.

Uh, my name is Brian Martin, principal budget analyst with finance.

Uh, the item before you is the proposed fiscal year 27, uh citywide fees and charges.

Uh all the fees included in this report utilize the citywide fees and charge policy as a guideline to determine cost recovery levels.

Additionally, all fees included in the report qualify as exceptions to proposition 26, uh which prohibits the city from increasing taxes by defining them as fees.

Uh staff is recommending adding 86 new fees, modifying 530 fees, and deleting 19 fees affecting seven departments, uh less the fees tied to the residential parking program and increased parking meter rates proposal uh per P.

Excluding, or not, excuse me.

Excluding those fees, this will generate approximately 7.4 million dollars in revenue for the general fund and $652,000 for other funds.

The associated revenue adjustments are necessary to provide appropriate cost recovery related to city programs and services.

Any changes to items presented would affect the budget and require additional actions to balance.

Staff recommendation is to pass a motion forwarding this item to city council to conduct a public hearing, excluding the prior mentioned fees tied to the residential parking permit, the residential permit parking program, and increasing parking meter rates proposals.

If you have any specific questions about items included in this report, uh specific department staff are available to answer questions.

Looks like everyone's here.

Okay.

Thank you.

Any any questions or or comments?

Okay, Pete, I think or I wonder whether notwithstanding the fact that you excluded the uh fee increase parking fee uh increases in the residential parking weather in light of the conversations we're gonna have uh uh later today and and through the ninth whether it would make sense to uh not change the recommendation but provide information to the the council about what it would mean if those recommendations or something short of them were to be included.

Sure.

Um so in that list of budget bouncing strategies not used, you would see full cost recovery, and that was a bit over a million dollars.

Uh staff did run um did in response to questions looked at some scenarios.

So what would it look like if uh you got the first permit free and then had to pay for subsequent or first two permits freeze and had and had to pay for subsequent or visitor passes?

And so we do have some information and uh I'm happy to uh talk that through at five o'clock this evening.

And I think uh I I also if you've got information on uh parking fees uh or parking rates from uh comparable jurisdictions.

Yes, we did look at some other California jurisdictions and we can provide that information.

I think it would it just makes sense so that we don't get that to that question later and all of a sudden people say, hey, give that to us.

That we just do that in advance.

Um, uh, yes, and I just wanted to concur again the the problem here with uh the uh the change or the the recommendation to increase uh residential parking permit um uh in the programs.

And there's many places in our city where we're a hundred-year-old city.

I mean, there's a lot of homes in our area that don't even have driveways because you know they were built at a time where it was horse and carriage and they came in through the alleys, but we vacated the alleys, and so this the uh particularly for some of uh the neighbor older neighborhoods that uh that we have the the requirement to force them to park in front of to pay to park in front of their own home, I think is um uh one is is not acceptable, but second, uh in many times some of them are also we're dealing with the problem um adjacent with uh with a local business that that is impacting their ability to use it.

So uh that's my concern again, Mr.

Chairman.

Yeah, thank you.

I think you and I share uh communities that have the same age in that time frame.

Yeah, exactly.

Um any other comments or or questions?

Okay, I feel like we should ask people questions, but you must have done a good job, because nobody's asking questions.

So take take that as a yeah, thumbs up.

Uh uh I will make this uh one comment though.

Uh I'm certainly not going to oppose sending this on to the the council, but I have not changed my view on charging people uh part of their income to to come off the street and be in a micro um community.

So that that would deal with at the at the full council, but we can certainly forward this to the council for its consideration.

Um we have anyone who wishes to speak on this item, Chair I have no speakers on this item, okay.

In that case, uh Chair would entertain a motion to uh move this to the full council.

Yeah, uh Mr.

Chair, I'll I'll make the uh the procedural motion to full move to the council for dis for full discussion, you know.

Right?

We have a second uh by the vice mayor.

Anything further, comments or questions?

If not all in favor, signify by saying aye.

Aye, opposed say no, any abstentions.

Hearing none, the motion carries unanimously.

All right.

Do we have any?

Oh, we have an audit.

We have an audit to talk about.

Sorry, I was getting ahead of the game.

All right, um, we're on to item six, the audit of the Sacramento Police Department evidence and property section.

I'm back for a repeat.

Alright.

The audits can clear a room.

Yeah.

It'll get a lot cooler on here now.

Okay, I'll um should I get started or prefer to wait till everyone leaves.

Go ahead.

Okay.

I think you're okay.

Yeah, uh good afternoon, budget audit committee members.

My name's Kevin Christensen.

I'm the assistant city auditor.

I'm here today to present our audit of the Sacramento Police Department's evidence and property section.

So to begin with a little background, the evidence and property section plays a critical role in the criminal justice process by maintaining the integrity of evidence from the moment it's collected through its final disposition.

The function directly supports successful prosecutions, reduces legal and operational risk, and helps maintain public trust.

So the section operates under the department's own general orders, which requires that all evidence be stored, documented, and tracked to preserve a chain of custody.

As discussed later in the presentation, the department has also developed two draft procedural documents, provided it to staff which guide the day-to-day operations.

Operationally, the work centers around four core functions, which are intake, storage, distribution, and destruction.

So now I'll briefly uh walk through how we conducted the audit.

The objective was to assess whether the evidence and property section operates in compliance with policies, laws, and best practices.

We focused on warehouse operations between 2020 and 2024.

To do this, we receive uh we reviewed national standards and uh the department's draft policies.

We conducted a series of facilities walkthroughs and interviewed peer agencies and subject matter experts.

We benchmarked against guidance from uh the California Commission on Police Officer Standards and Training in the International Association of Property and Evidence.

Um given the volume of property related to homelessness, we engage shelter operators, department leadership, and city officials to assess best practices for handling and returning those items.

We performed statistical testing on high-risk items such as firearms, narcotics, cash, and jewelry, and verified them through inventory checks.

And finally, we analyze access controls, booking errors, and uh corrections.

So for our first finding, uh we concluded the department's evidence and location and retrieval processes are generally operating effectively with error rates well within uh acceptable industry ranges.

So the department has strong controls and controls in place for evidence handling.

Um, so based on our testing uh of high-risk items, which included drugs, firearms security, and jewelry.

Um, our testing showed that nearly all items were account were accounted for.

We found that um in terms of firearms, one item was not located, and uh there was a 99.6 overall percentage accuracy.

The item not located was a fingerprint, not a firearm.

Um, and uh all the remaining items um from the drug securities and jewelry were were located.

So um for this first finding, we had a series of sub-findings to suggest opportunities to strengthen storage and security practices.

So, first, with respect to ammunition.

Um, during our walkthroughs, we observed that there was ammunition being stored in open pallets in different places in the warehouse.

Um best practices called for ammunition to be stored separately in fire rater containers, and while access is restricted to the warehouse overall, this setup increases uh safety and security risks.

So we recommended there moving all the ammunition into um higher security fire rated storage and updated uh updates our policies accordingly.

So, second, for firearms.

Um, during our initial walkthroughs, we noted that during the disposition process, firearms were being removed from the more secured locations and kept in open cages out on in the um in the floor.

So during the process, during the audit process, um, the evidence and property staff did take corrective action by adding additional locking mechanisms to increase the security of this stuff.

Um, however, these practices have not yet been formalized in the written procedures.

So we recommended that they go ahead and do that.

And finally, um, for surveillance surveillance systems, we observed that the video monitoring workstation is located on the open warehouse floor that everyone has access to.

Um best practices call for restricting access to authorized personnel, and we recommended that uh they secure, they add additional security controls over those uh over those items.

So, second, um we focus on policies and high value items.

So our second finding um identifies opportunities to improve evidence and property sections policies and procedures, and we found that while comprehensive manuals do exist, they've remained in draft form since the beginning of the project uh to today.

Um, as a result, we found that management's ability to enforce standards and ensure consistency is limited.

Um so we recommended that they go ahead and finalize those.

We also identified uh opportunities to strengthen how high value items like jewelry and uh how jewelry is stored.

So the policies state that items over 100 are supposed to be secured in a safe.

We found during our property walk during the walkthroughs that some items um of that exceeded that value were not stored in the safe.

Um so we recommend uh clear procedures to ensure that these items are are moved in.

What's a Versidex?

Is that like the software company?

Yeah, exactly.

Um Versidex is basically their um they're on their software that maintains all of the property evidence, it um provides a chain of custody records.

It's like a QR, it's basically like a scan.

They put a barcode on um a package, scan it in, and it gets scanned as it moves through the process until disposition.

Um, okay, so um the third finding has to do with uh um the property of people experiencing homelessness.

So we identified an opportunity to improve efficiencies by changing how the department handles property collected during uh homeless enforcement actions.

So um I think if any of you have an opportunity to take a walkthrough of the property and evidence warehouse, there's a lot of this stuff.

Um it comes with it creates a whole bunch of issues in terms of scent um infestation issues, and uh the department spent significant amount of time and resources collecting, storing, and disposing of this property between uh the evidence and property staff and members of the impact team.

We estimated that 8,000 hours of staff uh at staff hours annually, which accounts for roughly uh five hundred and eighty-eight thousand dollars in annual costs.

Um this time is spent again by uh the property section staff as well as the impact team.

Um the work so we found that the work strains the warehouse can uh capacity, given just the bulk of this stuff.

It pulls officers away from other core duties and creates barriers for individuals attempting to receive their belongings.

So what we found is in many cases um individuals who leave incarceration do not go to do not travel to the property and evidence warehouse to collect these items.

Um so we in our benchmarking we found that other agencies have addressed these challenges by using third-party providers to collect store and return the property to the person when they leave incarceration.

Um they reported um savings in terms of staff time as well as returning these items to the person um experiencing homelessness, which commonly uh includes things like medicine, um identification, family heirlooms, that kind of stuff.

I'm sorry, can I interrupt just uh so I can uh clarify is is this property that is uh accumulated, uh is collected solely from those who are detained and incarcerated, or is it people who are moved say out of encampments, but they there's material left behind, and so it's collected and kept even though there's no detention or no incarceration.

So um our understanding is it's people that are incarcerated.

So basically when the when people are incarcerated, they're asked to separate items that are going to be discarded and um items that are going to be held in safe keeping now.

Um it is distinct, there is a distinguishable, I think, characteristic of these items.

These items are kept for safekeeping.

These are not items kept for evidence.

Yes, got it.

So the safekeeping, there are laws that are that um do state kind of time frames that this stuff um must be maintained.

Right.

Okay, and so the um the recommendation uh uh uh is a consult with DCR, but the thought is looking at the practice of of other jurisdictions that that they use uh non-sworn and civilian uh employees to carry out those functions.

Sure.

So in other jurisdictions, what we found is like contracts have been expanded with um their kind of outreach trash removal programs to basically take the items and store it in a warehouse, and they basically um they give the individual basically a card with a phone number.

When they're released, they call, they bring back the box to the homeless person, and then um, yeah, okay.

Did you want to comment on this?

I do.

Um we've just signed those contracts.

So we're gonna begin doing that.

Right, because we have a volume issue, right?

Of property storage, as well as an operational issue of we have time better spent doing other things.

And so this is a way to maximize and leverage our time.

Okay, so you've implemented the recommendation.

Okay.

I'm sorry, go ahead.

Yep, and um, so the second recommendation, the second part of the recommendation is for DCR to work with the department um to track the time saved.

So at the end of the year, um the if the uh the department and DCR can kind of justify the expenses.

Um, okay, so for uh the uh fourth finding we uh we were looking at um the evidence uh the issue of evidence disposition and accumulation.

So we found that evidence uh disposition practices have not kept pace with incoming inventory, leading with the growing accumulation of property.

Basically, the evidence that warehouses becoming overfilled.

Um so between 22 and 24, the uh department booked over 143,000 items, but disposed of uh 122 items resulting uh 122,000 items resulting in a net increase of more than 20,000 items in storage.

Um, so as you can see from the table, um their disposition processes um have improved, but intake remains generally outpacing removals, contributing to overcrowding.

These challenges are partly driven by legal and court requirements that extend how long evidence must remain in the warehouse.

Um, however, best practices do emphasize the importance of timely routine disposition and dedicated resources to manage the inventory effectively.

Um so we did identify some opportunities to improve the overall disposal timelines.

Now, uh specifically our analysis and recommendation focus on improving how quickly department disposes of property after they've received authorization to release it.

So we found that about 75% of the items that come into the property and evidence room require external authorization, such as from prosecutors at the district attorney's office or investigators in the department to move it to move it out of the warehouse.

This limits uh the control over how and when things can be disposed.

Uh however, once approved, the department does have greater influence over how quickly these items are cleared.

So we found that most items are processed within a few months as the um as the table indicates, but a smaller share of items remain in storage for extended periods of time such as years due to capacity scheduling and coordination challenges.

So we found that more consistent monitoring of authorized items, especially those pending between 60 and 180 days, as indicated by the Red Circle, could help reduce delays and improve throughput.

Additionally, we found that the current that the current procedures do not include clear performance goals for timely uh for timely disposal.

So we recommended that the department establish time bound disposal targets and prioritize these older authorized items to improve uh disposition and cut down on the backlog.

So for our fifth finding, uh we concluded the department's evidence and property section has implemented strong security controls to safeguard evidence, particularly in high risk areas such as firearms, narcotics, and currency uh storage.

So basically we were testing badge access to the facility.

Um our testing found no incidence of unauthorized access, indicating that current controls are functioning effectively.

Um however, the policies do not require routine annual audits of this stuff.

Um we found that the police department had had conducted a uh a badge access audit one year before the audit before the audit started, so um everything was pretty tight uh by the time we got in there.

Um so we recommended that the department formalize uh their procedures to require annual um access reviews.

And finally, for our sixth finding, uh we identified that departments uh that the department demonstrates strong performance in booking accuracy and error correction, uh exceeding best practice benchmarks.

So across the 143,000 items reviewed, uh the booking error rate was less than one percent, which was um, which again is is well ahead of benchmarks um so when errors did occur they typically identified and quickly corrected uh corrected corrected the uh issue within a few days and the processes aligned with best practices overall this reflects a well functioning system um so that concludes the presentation and I'm available for any questions thank thank you for that presentation uh do we have any members of the public who want to address this okay uh vice mayor thank you uh finding number six that's really good to hear that our errors are being corrected and uh that's really good to hear for the fourth finding on length of how long we keep things the numbers the days that you showed I know one to two years is um can you go back can we go back to the chart?

That one uh one to two years and 181 to three 365 days seem to be the bulk of after the 180 days is there it like is there are laws that govern depending on the incident and what happened and like is there a lot of laws in place that take place where like if it's this type of incident we have to keep the items for 30 days versus this kind of incident that's we have to keep the items for two years.

Is there more explanation behind this?

Well so um there are so there are basically a couple of different classifications of evidence that that that we were looking at like one is evidence that does not require authorization from another agency to dispose of which is kind of the stuff I think you're talking about where there are kind of timelines like okay after 30 days you can get rid of this unless they request an extension right that's commonly what the safekeeping evidence was so we found that they are processing that stuff at at a really really good rate I think the issue with that we were looking at here was um some evidence is uh requires again the um the sign off from other from other agencies now the the problem with I guess some with a lot of this evidence is that it's required to be maintained for other active cases going on like for instance it could be one piece of evidence that's tied to five criminal cases right one prosecutor will say okay well it's okay to dispose this piece of evidence for my case but the there are other cases going on.

So that's where you see this you know 100 and 181 to 365 and above that's stuff that they have to keep in there for these other processes whether it be for a civil case that comes after the criminal case or some other stuff like that.

I think what um what we what we had found was this 90 to 180 days is kind of the sweet spot for stuff that they know they that they can get out that's not tied to anything else but they just don't have enough kind of capacity to do it at that time.

Okay.

And then last week we um honored you know well we did had national um sexual sexual assault day where we we wore denim and you know um to raise awareness on that I know you guys did the audit of the date rate uh kits uh has where what's the update on that so um in our uh recommendation follow up which was you guys passed on consent um they have conducted the audit of the untested kits in the um in their uh in the possession in their in in the warehouse so that recommendation has been implemented um we did not recommend that they go that any kind of testing uh or um in engage in any kind of testing other than to consider it um because the law that we were looking at just required um the auditing the auditing of the kits to understand how many there are okay I know police is here so if you guys can send us an email um after this council meeting giving us an update on where we're at on that that'd be great thank you any other questions, comments um I have one on and I'm not sure the extent to which you um were looking at this, but it's uh chain of custody.

Uh because obviously that is uh critical on any process prosecution, just uh if if there's not a solid chain of custody protocol and uh implementation that that that that is a significant chink in the armor of uh of any prosecutor, um so I I do you did you look much uh you made some passing reference to it and uh uh in your presentation, but I'm I'm just curious whether you examined um the quality and care associated with chain of custody of evidence.

No, um thank you for the question.

I think um during the um in the sample and the the walkthrough.

So basically what we did was we requested, for example, firearms a list of all the firearms that are currently supposed to be in property and evidence.

We did a sample of that, and then we did a walkthrough to test whether the things on the list were in uh were on the shelf.

And if it wasn't on the shelf, were they able to provide chain of custody records through the Versedex system to determine where it was at that particular point in time?

So, for example, if we went um, if we were in the uh the long gun uh storage facility, and there was a gun, there was a firearm that was that had a number that was not there, we went back and pulled up the Versedex record to find out when it was signed out, who it was signed out to, and then uh what where it was.

So I think so the audit was on pause after that.

All of the stuff that was not that was not currently on the shelf, we requested records again, and we did another walkthrough and we were able to basically ascertain exactly where it was at that point in time.

Any anytime there's a handling of a piece of evidence, there should be an entry in the in the system that uh who has done that.

Precisely.

Yeah, and it's um you know how this stuff works is when it's kind of bagged and entered into evidence, it's put in basically a bag and there's a barcode.

So anytime it moves, right, there's basically like a barcode click of it and it shows up in the in the property in the versatile system.

Thank you.

Thank you for that.

Uh any other questions or comments?

Uh if not, uh the recommendation is to accept the audit and forward it to the council for approval.

So we have a motion by the vice mayor, and a second by council member Maple.

Uh, if there's nothing further, all those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye, opposed, say no, and any abstentions.

Hearing none, motion carries unanimously.

Thank you for the work.

Thank you for the presentation.

Thank you to the department for I think a pretty pretty approving audit.

Maybe some things to do, some things that are getting done, uh, but but uh going in the right direction.

Thanks.

Okay, any committee comments, ideas, questions, and meeting reports.

Hearing none.

Do we have any members of the public who would like to address the committee on items not on the agenda?

I have one speaker, Lambert, on matters not on the agenda.

Okay.

So I just got a text.

So now I know about the data requests.

What I wanted to end with was first of all, I wanted I was out of town, and when I got off of I-80 and uh Rayleigh Boulevard, I saw something that Mayor Steinberg had something to do with.

Um Alan Warren, believe it or not, Mr.

Liloli, and I believe Mr.

Dick is and I I'm not sure where the credit goes, but when I got off the freeway, and I grew up here, and as I got off the freeway on I-80 in Rayleigh Boulevard, I actually saw where Mayorsville Boulevard is starting to get paved, like it should be.

And right away, my vehicle was smooth coming off.

And so I kept going up Marysville Boulevard, and it's being paved.

See, I give credit where credit is due.

Where whoever at City Hall is supposed to get that credit, and you've done it just in time before Grant School gets out.

And so I I'm gonna take some credit for that because from Grand Avenue on, I've never seen it look more beautiful than that.

That that's impressive.

And it was at night, so when I came today, I went during the day, and I was impressed.

Which means you have all summer to go from South Avenue all the way to the uh split from Del Paso Boulevard.

And if you do that, then from Rayleigh Boulevard all the way to Del Paso Boulevard, this that long street will be paved.

That's a big deal to me.

Thank you.

It only takes money.

Okay.

Thanks very much.

Um, uh nothing else to come before the committee.

We are adjourned.