I'd like to call this meeting order at 2 05 p.m.

Clerk, please call the roll.

Thank you, Councilmember Kaplan.

Councilmember Dickinson.

Councilmember Plucky Balm is expected momentarily.

Councilmember Maple.

I'm here.

Mayor Pro Tem Getta.

Here.

Councilmember Jennings.

Here.

Councilmember Vang.

I'm here.

We expect Mayor McCarty momentarily.

Vice Mayor Talamantes.

Here.

You have a quorum.

Uh Councilmember Kaplan.

Will you please lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance and land acknowledgement?

For the opening acknowledgments in honor of Sacramento's indigenous peoples and tribal lands, to the original people of this land, the Nissanon people, the Southern Maidu, the Valley and Plains Meadwalk, the Putwin Windtoon peoples, and the people of Wilton Brancheria, 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 today in the active practice of acknowledgement and appreciation for Sacramento's indigenous peoples' contributions, history, and lives.

Please remain standing for the pledge.

And pledge.

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

One nation under God, indivisible politicality and justice for all.

Thank you so much.

There's nothing.

Thank you.

So today we are kicking off our council meetings with two special recognitions.

Uh the first one is by Mayor Pro Tem Gera and I, and it's for Child Action's 50th anniversary.

Round of applause.

Come on over, Blake.

Since 1976, Child Action has been dedicated to promoting the healthy growth and development of children and families in Sacramento.

Today, Child Action serves approximately 20,000 children, 10,000 parents, and 4,000 providers in our county.

Without assistance, child care can consume 20 to 50% of a family's income.

Child action connects families to affordable and reliable child care.

And it elevates the standard of child care and provides crucial support to families through training, technical assistance, professional development, licensing support, and quality improvements.

Child action also uh tabled and participated in Mayor McCarty and I's backpack drive drive, where we gave away over a thousand eight hundred backpacks to kids.

And I just want to thank you for your service and for your partnership to the city of Sacramento.

And now I'd like to pass it off to Mayor Pro Tem Gera.

Thank you very much.

You know, first of all, I want to thank you and all the partners at Child Action for your continued work.

And when the City of Sacramento decided to take the leadership in our region to create a city-county partnership, you know, child action was at the forefront of making sure we were connecting with all of our families and providers to making sure we uh find out what are ways that we can one support families but also address the shortage of child care.

Many families have to pay sometimes more than their mortgage for access of child care.

Uh believe me, we are no strangers to that.

I have a personal thank you for child action because child action also helps train people into the career uh and get them connected with the services to be become a provider.

Uh my mother at the age of 50 began her second career from being a farm worker, you know, working in the fields to becoming a provider and getting her licensing and training and being active with child with with uh with the uh ECE community uh really made a difference and it has created a new chapter for many people's lives, not only those of the families that they serve.

I'm a very extremely appreciative for uh your work, and we we are excited for another 50 years to helping families who are growing uh in the time of need.

So, with that, thank you very much, uh Vice Mayor, for doing that, and thank you to Child Action.

A big round of applause for child action.

The mic's yours.

All right.

Well, good afternoon.

Thank you, Vice Mayor Telemantes and Mayor Pro Tem Guerra for bringing this forward and to the entire city council for this recognition.

On behalf of child action, I am honored to accept this resolution as we celebrate 50 years of service serving children and families in our community.

This recognition reflects a vision of our founders Lynn Patton and Jackie White, and a dedication of our staff, past and present, who have committed themselves to supporting families and strengthening our region.

It also reflects the power of partnership.

We are especially grateful to the city of Sacramento for your leadership and commitment to children and families.

The city has truly been a model for what it looks like to invest in early care and education, not just as a service, but as essential infrastructure that supports families, strengthens the workforce, and drives our local economy.

We are proud to stand alongside you in this work, and we look forward to continue to build upon the stronger future for the children and families we serve.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Yeah, for sure.

Congratulations.

Okay.

But if you went because there's a robot here.

One short.

All right.

And now we're moving along to the second resolution recognizing May 3rd to May 9th as Capital Region Business Week.

For more than 60 years, the U.S.

Small Business Administration has celebrated National Small Business Week to acknowledge a critical contributions of America's entrepreneurs and small business owners.

And I just want to say to all the people that have decided to invest in Sacramento, thank you.

To our small businesses, thank you.

To our large businesses, thank you.

You truly are the backbone of our economy.

And we need you now more than ever.

And if we really want to make sure that Sacramento thrives, we need to make sure that you are involved in the conversation, that we're supporting you and your journey as a small business owner, and then we move our city forward.

So this resolution is just so um so perfect for the times we're dealing with today, you know, like with our with our growing budget and our growing city.

Uh, we need all the small business support and the small business retention in the city of Sacramento.

So thank you guys so much for being here.

And so for today, we uh are handing off this wonderful resolution to Heather Lucy, Director of the Sacramento District Office, U.S.

Small Business Administration, and Sophia Cannon, uh director of Women's Business Center, California Capital Financial Development Corporation.

Welcome.

Thank you so much.

Thank you to the mayor's office and to all the city councilmen.

Uh this has been uh an honor, and this actually is our tenth year as Capital Region Small Business Week, all powered by SMUD.

So we are very, very blessed and fortunate to have them backing us throughout the week, backing all the small businesses and all the events that are going on.

We're very grateful to the city and the county of Sacramento to provide um the support necessary for small businesses to start and grow and expand in our territory.

So thank you.

Thank you for being here.

Hi, everybody.

My name is Sophia, and I'm the director of the Women's Business Center, and it has been a pleasure working with the uh Capital Region Small Business Week for the last 10 years.

Um, what we do this week is we celebrate entrepreneurs and small businesses because all year long we're working to provide them technical assistance um through the many programs that we have.

Shout out to the Business Solutions Center because we are a partner with them, and so um just so much great work that we have been doing um throughout the city.

And so this is just one amazing week.

I'm in part of National Small Business Week that we get to celebrate, and so we hope that we'll see you at a few events.

But thank you very much for this recognition, and we will continue to do amazing work in this city to help entrepreneurs just thrive and support our economy.

Wonderful.

Thank you so much.

And uh if we can't do for a photo up front, and then our economic development staff, I see you back there.

Um and Smud, come on over.

And City, come on, you guys, I'll go.

Oh no.

Okay.

Thank you for having me.

Yeah, I might just vote you.

For the pictures of there, because they're gonna come out so much better than my iPhone 4.

I don't forward, but it's still gonna say it's not that far off.

It's so tiny.

It still has the button.

Oh my god.

It's time for real.

Yeah, it's good time.

Maybe some people on this side.

Okay.

Three, two, one.

One more over here.

Perfect.

Thank you.

I think we got to take care.

All right, moving along to our consent calendar.

Are there items that people would like to pull?

Because I know I'm like to pull number item 12.

Yes.

And then uh Councilmember Maple, what items.

Yep.

I was hoping to pull item 12 for a separate discussion.

Um and then item 10, please, for just for a comment, not to pull.

Comment.

Mayor Pratem Gera.

Yeah, I was gonna pull item 12, but uh also uh item uh three as well.

Three, okay.

Not pulling it, just comment comment, okay.

Councilmember Kaplan.

Um comment on item three and thirteen, and I support polling item twelve.

Okay, and then councilmember Dickinson.

I have a question on it for join the list of item 12 folks, too.

And then Councilmember Bang.

Uh I just wanted to comment on item three.

Okay, sounds good.

So are there members of the public signed up to speak?

Yes, Vice Mayor, I have four speakers on the consent calendar.

Would you like to take those?

Yeah, we'll take those first.

Thank you.

Patrice Hill on item nine, Faith McKinney on item nine, then paid, then we'll take Payden with item 12.

So my name's Beanne Daisy Antiago, and I wanted to talk in support of agenda number nine.

As a recent graduate from Sacramento State with my bachelor's in studio art, I want to have opportunities more to stay in the Sacramento area to grow my profession in the arts.

And it's been a little bit challenging recently because of lack of support and funding to have those type of opportunities to where I've been having to look elsewhere into different counties or cities.

But I think there's a lot of creatives and innovators in Sacramento, and it would help a lot to have that funding to keep them here and to keep our city more Sacramento and to us.

Thank you.

Next speaker is Patrice Hill.

Good afternoon, Council.

Uh, my name is Patricio.

Um, I'm a poet, an educator and director of Sacramento Area Youth Speaks, which is a critical literacy and poetry program here in Sacramento.

Um, I've done work in this community for 20 years.

Um art saves lives, art heals, art brings people together.

Um, we're able to process our pain and trauma uh through expressions of words.

I stand before you today because we have created a space for Sacramento young people uh to express their truth through poetry and spoken word with very little resources.

Um we go to festivals nationwide, and Sacramento isn't represented in the capacity that it could be.

Uh being the capital of California, we have to support our artists.

Um artists bring uh a creative economy to a city, but also um we bring words, we we make events stronger, we make communities more impactful.

Um I stand before you today because words save my life, and they also save the lives of young people that I work with.

Um in 2021, we were able to have the national youth poet laureate of the of the nation right here in Sacramento, right here from uh this city where there is not a lot of arts funding.

So if we can do a lot with a little bit, please give us more.

Um, this shouldn't even be a question, right?

I need um y'all to make sure that we uh the artists have access to more funding.

Um, but the arts are not decoration.

Um, they're a vibrant piece of the community.

Um, that the $381,600 for the Office of Arts and Culture.

Um, we need it.

We need a lot more of it too.

Um, but we can start with that.

So please invest in the arts, invest in young people, and invest in the creative uh pulse and culture of this city by supporting artists.

Thank you.

Faith McKinney is the next speaker.

Following faith is Edward King on item three.

Good afternoon.

My name is Faith J.

McKinney, founder, founding director of Black Artist Foundry, a 501c3 nonprofit arts organization that supports black artists.

I strongly support the city council accepting 381,600 in funding for the Office of Arts and Culture.

Public funding for the arts is not optional.

It's a matter of equity, access, and long-term investment in our communities.

In a sector where black-led organizations receive less than 1% of philanthropic funding, public dollars play a critical role in ensuring artists are resourced, supported, and able to contribute to the cultural economic life of Sacramento.

Black Artist Foundry is a direct example of this impact.

Through the Office of Arts and Culture Small Organizational Sustainability Fund, we were able to transition from a fiscally sponsored project to an independent 501c3 organization, strengthening our capacity to serve artists and build long-term infrastructure.

This funding is not about just about programming, it's about sustaining artists, supporting organizations like ours, and correcting systemic disinvestment.

Artists should not only benefit from these decisions, they should be a part of how they are made.

Thank you, artists, for showing up and providing your e-comment.

Please accept this funding and thank you for your consideration.

Edward King on item three, then Peydon Martin on item 12.

Uh good morning and thank you.

My name is Edward King.

I have the joy and privilege of serving as the chief program officer of United Way California Capital Region.

Speaking on item three, I want to just thank you and your staff and your leadership for advancing the recommendation for this very thoughtful project around guaranteed income and our foster youth.

This program reflects a shared commitment to preventing youth homelessness among young people exiting foster care, which is one of our most vulnerable populations in our community.

Our approach is straightforward and grounded in what we know works, uh providing 200 transition age foster youth uh with an income for up to 30 months alongside wraparound supports like housing, navigation, workforce development, and financial coaching.

Uh, United Way has had the privilege of administering guaranteed income programs locally uh for the past five years, serving more than 500 households and distributing nearly four million in direct support.

Through that work, we've seen how consistent income creates stability, uh, allowing young people to stay housed, continue their education, and plan for their future.

What makes this moment especially significant is that this effort represents a shift from short-term pilot programs to a sustained public supported model.

To our knowledge, uh you all are innovators.

This is one of the first in the nation to do so.

Uh, we're especially grateful that this proposal aligns so closely with Measure L's vision, uh, focusing on prevention, equity, and long-term outcomes.

At its core, this is about ensuring that young people leaving foster care have a real foundation to build from, not just services, uh, but stability, because no young person should leave the foster care system uh and immediately have to worry about whether they can afford a place to sleep.

This is about giving them the chance to move forward, not in crisis, but with confidence.

So again, I say thank you.

Thank you.

And Payden on item 12 Greetings, Honorable Council and City Manager.

I speak with you today regarding the plans to lay off approximately 26 park maintenance workers.

These are some of the lowest paid employees in the city, making around $35,000 annually.

Laying these employees off will in no way solve a $66 million budget shortfall.

Our parks maintenance division works in the coal, rain, blazing heat, pandemics, clean poop and drug needles out of playgrounds and sports fields.

These cuts hurt seniors, the youth, city operations, and the community at large.

These employees are not making it rich here in the city of Sacramento.

But they can rely on good benefits and retirement.

They value the work they do and they put food on the table for their families.

The $2,892,301 proposed for contracting out dwarves the savings captured by these devastating reductions.

It is unacceptable that the city council will consider increasing the cost of service contract or expanding contracting out our services while the city is considering laying off so many of its lowest paid employees.

We implore you to do the right thing for the community and the employees, reduce or cancel service contracts to save the jobs of the individuals whose purpose it is to support the city of Sacramento and leave the community safer and cleaner.

Our members show up every day for the community.

The city owes it to them to explore alternatives to a layoff that will not even result in savings that could cover one percent of the budget deficit.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Thank you.

So okay, so I'd like to move the consent calendar with pulling item number 12 for a separate vote.

And perfect.

Councilmember Kaplan seconded that one.

So we will do council member comments on these items, and then we'll go back to item number 12.

So we'll start with item number three.

We have Councilmember Gera, Councilmember Kaplan, and Councilmember Bain.

So Gara first.

Great, thank you, Vice Mayor.

First, I just wanted to say uh thank thank you to all our staff and also to United Way for all the great work that they do and to highlight how this program to support uh you know foster youth is not uh a in an island of itself.

Uh part of this, it will work with all of the other wraparound services that we uh have in our region and the other partners we have, particularly Wellspace and Pivot SAC in Sacramento that you know with the Sacramento Employment and Training Agency, we've made sure that we have a workforce plate, workforce center uh in uh in Stockton Boulevard, Fruit Ridge, South Oak Park area.

And so I'm excited to support this because it does uh link all of the wraparound services to make sure that we have a successful path for our uh for our youth uh moving forward, particularly our foster youth here in Sacramento.

And then finally, I'm gonna jump ahead a little bit and just you know, uh thank uh an old college friend college friend Patrice Hill for her over two decades' worth of work with youth and poetry, and it's just it's good to see another SAC State alum there.

But yeah, thank you.

Okay, uh Kaplan.

Thank you, Vice Mayor.

Um, I am want to echo what uh councilmember Garrett said, but uh in the early 2000s, I advocated for foster youth and additional services while representing um UC uh San Diego's child uh network and learn the stories of how so often our our foster students who could go to college but had to make a living and didn't have the funding for that next step.

And so knowing that we are working with foster youth and a guaranteed income gives them that opportunity to know that they have stable housing, that um now because of Senator Ashby community college is free, and knowing that when we pass Measure L, um I had an early conversation with uh Dr.

Dante early at United Way of wouldn't this be amazing because we know the good that guaranteed income does for our families, but so often foster youth are left out, and this could truly make a difference in their lives.

Seeing this truly come into fruition and know the good that it's going to do.

Um, we won't be the last in the nation, but if we are the first, I truly hope this catches wildfire to do more for our foster youth.

Thank you.

Now, Vang and then Dickinson.

Thank you, Vice Mayor.

Um, I just wanted to take this moment to thank city staff.

I want to name Renee in particular for all her hard work uh to actually get uh to this moment, and I also want to thank our oversight commission as well.

Uh we passed Measure L about four years ago to support our young people, and today we are finally actually releasing the funds in accordance to the adopted plan that we adopted for the Sacramento Children's Fund strategic investment plan, which um directs the city council to allocate 20% of it for guaranteed basic income for our transitional age foster youth.

And I'm just really proud that we're here in this moment because so many young people aging out of foster care often face no financial safety net.

They don't have any financial safety net, and a modest guarantee income can literally be the difference of saving their lives.

Um, that's the difference between staying housed and being homeless and really building stability for their lives.

And we know that uh through best practices that this strategy has worked for so many um transitional age foster youth, and so I'm just so proud of our city uh for having the courage and our commission for having the courage to to lead in this direction and look forward to seeing uh the great outcomes from this program.

And so I'm just so proud of our city uh for having the courage and our commission for having the courage to to lead in this direction and look forward to seeing uh the great outcomes from this program.

Thank you.

I just want to join uh those uh in applauding uh getting to the cusp of this program uh being implemented in 2008, 2009, somewhere in that vicinity.

Uh I had the opportunity to chair a national task force on children aging out of foster care for the National Association of Counties.

Um it was uh uh a very profound experience, but some of the the date of that time, which I don't think really has changed much over the years, uh, was uh quite uh dramatic.

Um within two years of aging out uh of foster care, more than 50 percent of foster care children are either involved in the criminal justice system or homeless.

Um what was even more telling was uh at that time, and I don't have reason to believe that it's changed much in the years since uh the rate of PTSD among foster children who had aged out was greater than the PTSD uh incidents uh among the troops coming back from Afghanistan and Iraq.

Let that settle in for a moment.

And that is what makes programs like this to uh uh provide stability and promise to those who have aged out of the foster care system so important.

So uh this initiative uh is uh one that uh I believe will make a huge difference for those who are able to uh benefit uh from it.

Uh and it will become a model for what we should be doing more widely and broadly for all those uh who are aging out of of foster care uh and uh even even beyond for um stabilizing our society and addressing ultimately uh income uh and wealth uh inequality.

So this is uh a very significant step uh and it should be duly noted.

Thanks.

Councilmember Dickinson, item four.

I just had a uh question on item four.

If somebody's if anybody someone's here who could I apologize for not getting this to you in advance of the meeting, but I was just curious as you come up whether there's an opportunity in this in this contract to uh get uh light duty vehicles that are zero emission.

Um yes, there is um Alison Kirstetter Public Works Fleet Manager.

Um there is the opportunity, and we have purchased several F 150 lightnings from Elk Grove Ford.

Um, so any time that we have that opportunity and it will fit the operational need of the department, we will do that.

Okay, and and so that's a uh element of the of the arrangement with Elk Grove Ford in terms of order that you're looking for EVs.

Yes, we recently purchased I think five F-150s for the um that are lightnings for the um 26 fiscal year.

So um we are pursuing that if we are able.

Great.

Okay, I appreciate that.

Thank you.

Thank you, thank you.

Thank you.

Councilmember Maple and item 10.

All right, thank you, thank you, Chair.

Um, I just wanted to say this is uh maybe the second or third step in the process.

We have one more to go, so I won't uh speak at length about it, but did want to say um this is part of the process of renewal for the Oak Park uh business district, business improvement district.

Um, I see that Sean Rooney's in the crowd.

Thank you for being here for all the work that you do on the district every day.

Um, as many of you know, because I say it all the time.

We have uh quite a lot of PIDs in my district.

This is one of them, uh, but they're so vital to the work that we need to do every day to keep the the corridor clean, keep it safe, um, and make sure our business is safe.

So uh looking forward to having the final item come here.

Hopefully when all the ballots come back and great success.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And then item 13 is Councilmember uh Gera and Councilmember Kaplan.

Um already spoke on item number just three, not 15.

Oh, okay.

And then Councilmember Kaplan, I am 13.

Um, I just want to thank our EFC staff.

Uh my children participate in fourth R.

So this is personal and approving the contract and the uh expanded learning opportunities with four schools, uh, three of them which are in my district.

I know how important it is that uh affordable after-school programs that not just watch our kids but help them with homework is so thank you for being nimble.

Thank you for working with Natomas Unified.

Um, and uh I really appreciate that this is gonna reach 660 students, it's gonna make a difference.

Wonderful.

And uh Fourth R is celebrating their 40th anniversary of recreation and child care on June 6th.

So I know it's gonna be a big happy celebration.

So keto's to all the work.

All right, and so we have a motion and a second on consent items, not item number 12.

Um all in favor, please say aye.

Aye, no's abstentions, one abstention.

Okay, item number 12.

Uh city manager.

Thank you, my vice mayor.

Um, if I could ask uh director Beecham to come up to the podium, please.

Good afternoon, Council.

Jackie Beecham, director of youth parks and community enrichment.

If you would go through um the grant proposal, or excuse me, the contract and explain to council the reason why you're contracting out, and then I'm certain council will have additional questions.

Sure.

I'm actually gonna invite Sean Ellsworth, our park maintenance manager, to talk through the details of the agreement.

Good afternoon, Sean Aylsworth.

I'm the park maintenance manager.

Um so uh this um agreement that we are looking to uh uh enter into is for two new parks that are within district one.

It would be Lake Lakeshore and Lakeview Parks.

They are neighborhood parks that are part of a new development.

Um the funding for these parks, uh the maintenance of these parks is supported by SAC Services uh CFD, which I believe is 21805.

Um so what there has been is been a history, and it goes long before that I've gotten here, probably maybe close to 2010, but I would have been here for about five years.

So as new parks have come on board, uh the decision has been to bring those on with a contractor versus increasing city staff as each park comes on.

Um it's been a practice that again has been going on for the last since 2010, but every new park that's been here since I've been on board has been brought on in this process.

Um the history of it of how it you all came to is not fully aware, you know.

I'm not fully aware of its history of how it became to what it is.

Again, the history goes back, you know, to 2010 from what I understand.

So this is a ongoing practice that we have done.

Um it's definitely um something that we have had recent discussions with uh our business representative local 39.

Um so we are very supportive of seeing if there are alternatives to this.

Um we can definitely postpone this to another time for further discussion as we explore the opportunities uh with local 39.

We have I would like to say I have a great relationship with Payton.

Um, and we have been always very active and working together and looking for solutions a couple weeks ago.

We met uh with several of the uh team members to really talk through what they think are some cost saving measures that we could help with this initiative.

So we're very active in in trying to find a solution that does not necessarily uh continue this process, but we do recognize that there are you know limited funding options for us to maintain new parks as they come on board.

And we have a few council members lined up to speak.

So council member Maple.

Thank you, Chair.

Um so thank you for the explanation.

I appreciate it.

I know we um have received some questions about this, and um, I guess one of the main questions I have is you know, nothing happens in a vacuum.

You know, there's the city council, there's the budget, there's everything that's happening all at once.

Um, there's also a proposal on the table from staff as it relates to the budget to reduce park maintenance worker positions, and so um I guess my question would be this this contract in and of itself is not intended to replace or to be connected to that.

Is that correct?

That is correct.

It's never been an intention to replace any of the staff that have been in place even back in 2010.

So we have not used this as any tool to replace staff, you know, or displace staff in in a you know, in you know, in in practice of bringing on a contractor.

So this has just been, you know, a reality discussion of how do we continue to maintain these assets, these brand new assets as they come on, without you know, really you know, obtaining new staff and new equipment, you know, the capital expenditures and everything that comes with it.

It was a pragmatic solution that has been again in process for many years.

Okay, that's really helpful.

So it sounds to me that some portion of this is kind of a de facto policy that we've had in place since at least 2010 that you're aware of.

Um, and so my my thought, and we'll see, I'll see what my colleagues have to say is that that we do push this because I think it is an important conversation to have in the context of the entire budget because we are having obviously very uh important conversations about people's livelihood and the workers that do a lot of this work already that are city staff and employed versus um the contracts that we have.

But also, there's a lot of other questions that we're not gonna be able to discuss today, right?

Like whether or not we have enough workers to be able to do the work that's currently done under this contract, whether or not there's a cost benefit analysis, all the things that need to go into that.

So I just I would love to see a bigger discussion about this at a future date.

Thank you.

And I'd be very supportive of that.

So there is no, yeah.

I mean, we've had that flexibility definitely.

So councilmer maple is that a motion to continue the item?

Okay.

Okay.

And then Councilman Pleckibaum.

Is there any functional difference from the public's perspective in parks that are managed by contract versus parks that are managed by city staff?

Any one more time?

Can the public tell which parks are contract managed versus well?

I think the biggest difference that can be observed is obviously these aren't city staff.

So anyone who's in the park will notice that this is a contractor.

Um I think what gets lost in some of that is the personal connection that our staff has with uh many of our park members.

Uh there's I mean, we have a great relationship as as as park staff, and I think that's the greatest thing that gets lost is some of that personal touch.

Um, none of this does not uh you know, again, our staff is still there daily, taking care of the restrooms, you know, make policing the park, pricking up trash, doing you know, removing trash.

So our staff are in there.

This is basically only for landscape function duties, not the entirety.

But yes, the the biggest difference is the people.

I mean, without a doubt.

Thank you.

I'm prepared to vote for Dave.

But if you want to continue, that's fine too.

Okay, Councilmember Kaplan.

Thanks, Sean.

Um, as we know, Ace Vito generally does a lot of because if you're looking at 2010, it's all the new parks uh in North Natomas where they do a fair amount of full landscaping.

Um, I know they do some outside, but a lot is mostly Notomas, Airfield, Blackbird, Cove Park, Even Tide, Fong Ranch, Matsui, Meadows, and a bunch of others.

And then and this contract would add on Sun Haven Lakeshore Lakeview, which is the new parks that are opening this year in my North Lake community.

Right.

Um, so does um according to the North Matomas finance plan, is it correct that homeowners in that area pay a little extra money for parks maintenance?

Um, so that is my understanding, but I do not have a full uh reading of the CFD three document or or even in this case the CFD document for uh sex services, which is excuse, yeah, 2018.05.

So there is that provision that there is a maintenance uh district that is providing supplemental for it, but I have not specifically read through uh to see if it is totally delineated for certain things.

And and I think as part of what I'm supporting pushing this, is because I think we need to maybe pause and look at it and and how does because North Nathomas pays extra taxes, uh, want uh that extra money that they're paying used for for parks maintenance and keeping our parks clean while at the same time I am very supportive as we face these budget deficits.

I my first priority is our city staff.

And instead of contracting out, which has been the norm, you know, I'm okay pausing, and is there a way of where we keep the 26 park maintenance staff that are potentially up for losing their jobs?

Can they feel the work here?

Is there that adjustment?

Um having parks uh and paid and staff look at that and come back.

Can that be fulfilled?

And is there some part that can't be, but can CFD cover it, especially with these new parks coming on?

Because there is an expectation with new parks that they are kept clean, but I also want to understand in keeping the parks maintenance staff, can they fulfill those those extra duties?

Um, and how do we do it?

Because Acevedo's been in North Nathomas for a long time, but I will agree with you.

I know those who are at our parks, I know our city staff, and my priority is how can we save our city staff?

But looking at the bigger picture, understanding in budget.

Uh I want to make sure that our taxpayer money is one uh supporting our city staff, uh, not contracting out, but also keeping our parks clean unless we need so the contribution just you and I'm sure you may have this already off the top of your head for our for park maintenance is two million for CFD three.

So there is definitely opportunity to see how we can flex that with you, you know, with your support and your guidance to see how we can definitely help uh the situation.

And again, we as park maintenance and our relationship with our union, we are very concerned about you know this being you know becoming a reality.

So we're very actively working with both of them because again, there are impacts to city staff when we look at changing park low uh park workloads, but we are definitely um all in for looking at an alternative.

I know our director um who's got some very creative uh you know thoughts in her head, um, definitely has some uh alternative strategies that she's been working on.

So I think um there will be uh I think opportunity for that discussion, but I will leave that for the director.

Which I really appreciate because you know, with the park maintenance that we were gonna leave and then have to contract out, we are only gonna save a half a million dollars.

And for me, I want to save those 26 positions and our families who are gonna be the hardest hit.

And if CFG three can help a little bit of that, um I know Natomas, uh North Natoma's homeowners would be supportive of that.

So thank you.

And again, just to be fair, and because this may come up conversation tonight, you know, that that delta between the two um contracting and the um current staffs that we have again that delta can obviously is flexible.

I mean, we're looking at different economic conditions that may uh force the third party providers to bring up quite substantially their uh cost to that.

So again, that delta could actually be even smaller, which I could see would be a great benefit not to do something along those lines.

Thank you.

I really appreciate it.

Mayor Pratem Gera.

Yeah, very thank you very much.

Yeah, I mean, I think this while this has been a pattern in practice, I think it is one of those where we we need to make a uh a uh hard look at how we're using uh our resources and not siloing with our current employees and even beyond that, uh even with our say our DOU facilities.

If we're looking at water treatment plants, now this is just this is a park issue in the north part of the district, but if but if we're looking at our other like water treatment plants facilities or any of our enterprise funds as well, I think we need to look at those as well and how we're using our current employees and supporting our current employees in the skills that they have for those uh for those services and those needs.

So I support moving this forward, and you know, if we've got someone who knows how to work heavy equipment that's part of parks, why can't they be supporting another part of our uh city's division as well?

So thank you.

Uh support the motion here.

So just to go, you know, add on to that.

I mean, yes, there are a tremendous amount of like for like services, correct, like which which would be landscape maintenance.

That of course, Department of Public Works is responsible, DOU is responsible for.

So yeah, it is definitely a worthy discussion.

Thank you.

Thank you for answering all our questions.

And I'm in line in alignment with my colleagues.

Looking forward to seeing what you guys can bring back so that we can support our city workers.

And you know, it's when you get to know the city worker out at the park, you get to know them, you get to know their person's last name.

You can bring them donuts, like it just creates personal relationships in the community um going hand in hand with being a good customer service agency as a city of Sacramento and building relationships.

So looking forward to seeing you guys come back, have more conversations and being able to move forward.

Thank you.

Thank you.

All right, so all in favor of continuing this item, please say aye.

Aye.

No's abstentions, absence.

Okay.

All right, it passes.

And now we're moving along to the public hearing.

So I'd like to open the public hearing on the renewal of midtown property and business improvement district.

Welcome.

Suzanne, thank you.

Good afternoon, Vice Mayor and members of the city council.

I am Suzanne Tam with the finance department.

The item before use the public hearing for the renewal of the midtown P bid for a 10-year term.

Renew of the midtown P Bid will continue to provide services and activities that create a special benefit to assess properties within the district.

At this time, staff recommends opening the public hearing upon the close of the public hearing.

Staff will count the ballots and come back to council as a consent item on May 12th with a ballot tabulation results.

Thank you.

And staff is available for questions.

We have uh councilmember Plucky Baum.

Any comments?

I do have one speaker on this item, Lambert.

The reason why I'm speaking on uh PBID, I'll just use the acronyms you use, is because this is District 4, and district is good to see Mr.

Pluckingbaum here today on the roster.

So I barely got in here on time, but he's here.

As a person who grew up here, I didn't understand PBID until I left and went out, went away out of state.

And then once I was out of state, I learned what a PBID was while I was in college.

And when I came back to Sacramento, I noticed the neighborhood I'm from, Del Paso Heights, they don't have a PBID.

And so I said, Well, let me look into that.

And so when Alan Warren was here, he enlightened me on this.

There's a lot of people in Del Paso Heights that have property.

There's a lot of people in Del Paso Heights that have businesses.

Why can't we have a P bid in Del Paso Heights?

There's a P Bid in District 2, but district two has over 20 communities, and it's one of the most gerrymandered districts in California.

The most communities in the district in one district is 10.

There's never more than 10, other than district two.

And I learned that when Mr.

Warren was here because he showed me the map.

There's places in Del Paso Heights that now are called East and West Del Paso Heights and Del Paso Heights.

You can't pull that off on a native.

When I was here, I never heard of East or West Del Paso Heights.

You know, that's that's using the money to weaken the power of the dollar.

That's what that is.

That's Jerrymandering.

Vice Mayor of no more speakers.

Councilmember Blucky Bomb.

Moves to our recommendation.

Okay.

I'll say that.

Open and close public hearing.

Yeah, yeah.

Close the public hearing, move staff recommendation as second by Councilmember Dickinson.

Okay.

All in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

No's abstentions.

Okay.

Passes 8 0.

And now we will move along to item 15 approval of resolution to initiate the California public employees retirement contract amendment process.

To include retirement.

This is a lot of words.

Good afternoon, Vice Mayor Talamantes and all members of the city council.

Um this is really a procedural matter as required by CalPERS when the appointed officers moved out of being covered by the unrepresented resolution and having their own resolution and moving into unit 24.

We now have to amend our CalPurse contract again to have the classic members one percent cost share for contributing to PERS.

The contract amended to incorporate the language specifically identifying appointed officers.

So this is step one and a multi-step process, and I will be back here again for a similar item in approximately 45 to 60 days.

Okay.

It's been moved and seconded.

All in favor, please say aye.

No's abstentions?

Okay.

And one absence, one absence.

All right, thank you.

Good to go.

I'm here for the next one.

Oh, next one.

Okay.

Item 16, go for it.

All right.

Um, so this item before you, uh, it is on the discussion calendar as this is including unrepresented employees and not represented before you is um asking for you to approve um the unrepresent updates to the unrep reso, uh the appointed officers reso to incorporate the um new contributions for health care um to be in line with what has been approved for our represented groups to date, um, also incorporating Juneteenth into the unrep reso, um, and then some salary schedule changes that are only um affecting specific classifications that have a historical tie to a SCA classification where we are asking to admise those specific positions and the one per same exact one percent that SCA got so that we stay consistent with our practice for those specific positions.

Thank you.

One second, okay, and then we have one uh public comment.

The reason why I'm speaking on this is a lot of people that I know who work for Sacramento have told me that this is a tremendous disadvantage for them because if you're not covered by the city of however your your situation is down here, it's like the the least the first hired or the first fired in this kind of situation, it doesn't cover them.

Um I've had a lot of family and friends tell me about this move right here, and this any time I see unrepresented, uh that's what that means.

You're not represented.

How can you be represented by the protections of the st of uh unions and things like that?

If it is, I mean it's just so plain, unrepresented.

I wouldn't do anything unrepresented.

Me, uh, we're represented by the better business bureau.

I must be represented, otherwise, how are you gonna be protected if the system goes against you?

And we and in a budget deficit, you'll see that when they cut people, it's usually a lot of people that are unrepresented.

No matter how they cut it, they're gonna go to unrepresented because they don't have the backing of a union.

I don't know how any employee would try to be in some work for the city and be unrepresented.

That's a tough goal right there.

I mean, if somebody sues us, the better business bureau represents us.

So those of you who don't understand the difference, that's why you're in a structural deficit.

You have to note a difference of being protected.

Vice Mayor, I have no more speakers.

Councilmember Pleckibon.

Thank you.

If the maker and the second area the motion are uh open to it, I would recommend we remove the restriction for director and above.

I don't think we should treat uh departments differently.

This is just a salary range adjustment, doesn't affect pay, it just gives flexibility inside departments to negotiate with staff.

Uh can we get city staff to come up here?

How will this uh amendment to the current motion change the resolution?

Um will the salary schedule changes before you are specifically for those classifications that have that tie to a SCA position that has been our practice for any other positions on the salary schedule that are unrepresented.

We um don't have a specific direction at this time to come back in terms of evaluating those ranges, and we would need to do an analysis on what is like a market comparison on those ranges.

So we have documentation that supports any potential change to salary adjustments for those specific classifications.

Okay, thank you.

Um I I would say it's making a motion that I I'd be open to having the issue looked at, but I think for today, stick stick with this.

If I may, we're talking about a one percent range increase.

I don't think it should require a lot of study.

Uh I what I heard though is that it had to do an analysis to let me say if it's the trouble inflation has gone up more than a percent.

Yeah, uh what I heard though is it's happening to lay the foundation basically.

So that I I'd be very open to it coming back, but yeah.

I I go through this the procedural steps.

Yeah, I'm happy to support the motion, and we can look into uh Councilmember Plucky Bomb's request and make sure that we have Sally adjustments because I know that there was conversations that were had about looking at all classifications to seeing whether the positions are still within range with the cost of living today.

So it can come back.

Um, but we have a motion and a second in favor of the current resolution as adopted today.

So maybe we'll do a roll call vote for this one.

Councilmember Kaplan.

Hi.

Councilmember Dickinson.

Hi.

Councilmember Pluckybum.

Councilmember Maple.

Hi.

Mayor Pro Tem Gana.

Hi.

Council Member Jennings.

Yes.

Councilmember Vang.

Yes.

Mayor McCarty is absent.

Vice Mayor Telemontes?

Yes.

Motion passes.

Okay.

And then we will bring it back.

Councilmember Plucky Bomb.

Good to go.

Okay.

Um, and next step.

We have our priorities strategic work plan and performance management framework.

All right.

Thank you, Vice Mayor.

So today we present you the council goal and priority work plan.

This is an important step in aligning the organization's work with the direction established by this council.

This work plan reflects the significant efforts staff has undertaken to translate your goals into clear actionable priorities that will guide departmental work and support measurable measurable progress across the organization.

This is a critical process for the city as we continue to strengthen how we plan, execute, and evaluate our work.

The work plan strengthens how we plan.

Oh, excuse me.

It will ensure the organization remains focused on our priorities that you have identified and create a stronger line of sight between policy direction, operational implementation, and community outcomes.

It provides us a framework for accountability, helping staff clearly define what success look like looks like and how progress can be tracked over time.

As a part of this effort, we are also introducing the foundation of a performance stat approach, which will help us measure both performance and productivity more deliberately and consistently.

This represents an important evolution in how we will manage the organization.

It will allow us to better understand not only what work is being completed, but how effectively we are delivering results, how we're making progress, and where there may be opportunities to improve.

For you as the governing body, the process provides you greater visibility into where we are going, how resources are being aligned to your priorities, and how staff is advancing the work that matters most to this council and the community.

It creates a shared framework for evaluating the evaluating process, making informed policy and budget decisions, and ensuring the organization is moving forward with clarity, discipline, and purpose.

In order for this process to be successful, transitions such as this takes the buy-in of the policymakers and employee buy-in.

So I will continue to work with the team, the directors, to licit feedback on challenges with this process and concerns so we can move together together.

Move forward together.

This is not meant to be an I got you for any of the staff members.

This is meant to for me to say how can I help you be successful.

The framework is a living document, it's made to be flexible.

Um we need to balance priorities with our resource levels.

So I want to thank the team for leaning into this process.

This process is new.

There is probably some hesitation and concern, but you know, as I stated before, we do want to move forward together, and this will help you align your priorities with our staff capacity and with the budget process as well.

So again, I want to thank the team, and I'm gonna turn it over to Ash.

Thank you, Madam City Manager.

Good afternoon, Ash Radani, Special Projects Manager in the City Manager's Office.

I'm gonna be presenting the update here today.

Um I first want to thank the city manager for really setting this expectation that we connect strategy to measurable results.

Um, I also want to thank the department directors and their teams who have done this work while maintaining their daily operations and navigating significant budget reductions.

So what I'll walk through today is how all this comes together.

So this really reflects months of alignment across departments to turn priorities into action.

Last September, you held your off-site priority setting workshop.

Immediately following that workshop, departments got to work.

They established priority vision statements, they identified initiatives to help advance the priorities, and they set milestones to help track progress on those initiatives.

Over the past couple of months, we've tried to bring this all together by integrating focus areas and objectives that really set the benchmarks for how we're gonna measure success and and what we need to envision to be successful.

So today is really a transition phase where we're going from planning and and gradually going into implementation and measurement.

So what we're presenting today is really the qualitative layer, it's kind of the strategy and the substance, the why and the what.

Over the next five months or so, we'll start to work on the measurement layer, which is really gonna involve setting those targets that we want to achieve to measure our success, as well as performance measures, and we'll sort of get into the distinction between those two a little bit later in the presentation.

But in terms of the timeline that we're looking at, we really wanna align with the fiscal year beginning on July 1st.

So the idea here is the current fiscal year that ends on June 30th, 2526.

That's gonna set a baseline against which we want to show improvement in 2627.

So the challenge isn't vision, it's really about closing the gap between intention and results.

The right tools will tell us whether we're making progress by how much and whether we ultimately succeeded.

The core question is simple.

Did this actually make a difference?

The priorities really set the direction and they tell us where to focus our resources, but we wanna know more than just activities.

Are we actually making a difference in the lives of residents?

And so historically, we've really tracked effort and activities, not necessarily impacts.

So some examples would be how many calls were answered, how many permits were issued, how many people were served.

What we really need to pay closer attention to is whether those calls actually resolve the problem, whether the business actually stayed open, whether lives actually improved.

So this work is about real people, not just programs and whether their lives improved.

So in economic development, thinking about how entrepreneurs, how quickly they can get their permits and get their first customer.

In public safety, thinking about residents feeling comfortable going outside into their neighborhoods and feeling safe.

And our unhoused population, thinking about how quickly they're able to transition from a shelter to long-term housing stability.

So this work is about real people, not programs.

What's new here is the commitment to clear goals, honest data, and follow through.

So we're trying to draw this connection between the hope and the vision that residents have and that you all have for the future of our city and the tangible results that people experience in their lives.

So we're really trying to introduce these as the tools that we're gonna use to track and measure our success.

So we're calling this one city one future.

It's what connects the priorities, the work and the results into one system.

We start with the priorities.

We've already established those economic development, public safety, and homelessness.

We then have the strategic work plan, the detailed version of which is in the staff report.

It includes those elements.

Really, the core of it is the initiatives that departments are working on.

That's what we're doing and how we're gonna advance those priorities.

But as the city manager alluded to, we are gonna be introducing a new performance management approach where this is gonna be the proof.

It's gonna tell us whether or not we've been successful.

And so, first I'm gonna walk through the initiatives, really focusing on the objectives and the focus areas, and then we'll transition into that performance management model I talked about.

So, starting here with economic development.

So, backing up just a little bit, this is how our priorities translate into actual work across departments.

So the vision statement for economic development is to be the best place to do business through policies and investments that retain and create quality jobs, improve the health and vitality of our communities, and support the responsible development of all of Sacramento's neighborhoods.

There's three focus areas here: jobs and economic mobility, neighborhood and commercial development, and vibrant destination.

So now I'll walk through each focus area under this priority to highlight the objectives and initiatives.

So under jobs and economic mobility, the objective is that residents across all neighborhoods have access to more high-quality employment and economic advancement resources.

This is primarily supported by our economic development team through their enhancing business attraction and retention as well as growing targeted industries, supporting and growing small businesses.

Under neighborhood and commercial development, we're seeking to reduce timelines through streamlined approval processes and underutilized properties, converting those to productive use, expanding housing supply and economic opportunity through Sacramento's neighborhoods.

This includes the streamlined Sacramento Initiative, as well as identifying vacant and underutilized public and private properties to activate those.

Under Vibrant Destination, the objective is that residents and visitors have access to a diverse and evolving mix of food, entertainment, arts and culture, and leisure experiences across districts grounded in Sacramento identity, culture, and history.

These initiatives range from streamlining streamlining entertainment permitting to activating the old Sacramento waterfront to driving economic activity in our parks and recreation spaces.

Shifting to the second priority, public safety.

The vision here is that public safety in the city of Sacramento is the collective effort to protect life, uphold constitutional rights, prevent harm, and create the conditions where every person, especially our youth, can live, learn, work, and thrive without fear.

It includes prevention, emergency response, preparedness, recovery, and the coordinated delivery of police, fire, medical, behavioral health, environmental, and community-based services.

Under this priority, we have four focus areas.

So crime reduction, alternative response, first responder quality and trust, as well as traffic safety.

So starting with crime reduction, the objective is that residents, businesses, and communities will be less impacted by crime and will benefit from strengthened community violence reduction programs.

PD is seeking to reduce crime through its data-driven strategies.

We're also evaluating our violence reduction programs as well as advancing our youth programs that prioritize public safety.

Under alternative response, the objective is that residents experiencing barriers to care, behavioral health, substances, substance use, or homelessness-related needs receive timely responses matched to the nature and acuity of their situation.

This one's a little bit interesting.

Both the fire department and the Department of Community Response are piloting different alternative response models.

This is going to give us really good data in terms of outcomes and effectiveness as well as cost-effectiveness of these different approaches so we can figure out which alternative response model makes the most sense to institutionalize moving forward.

Under first responder quality and trust, we actually have two objectives.

So the first is that communities experience positive relationships with first responders through transparent ethical service and investment in employee development and wellness.

Both PD and FIRE are investing in their employee development and wellness, and PD is looking to strengthen their quality the quality of their police services.

The second objective is that the fire department workforce reflects the diversity of the community it serves, and they're seeking to advance that through the expansion of their diversity outreach and recruitment program.

Under traffic safety, the objective is that residents benefit from improved street safety conditions citywide through the implementation of targeted high-impact safety engineering improvements, and public works is implementing that through their quick build and interim safety projects.

And lastly, shifting into homelessness.

The vision here is a reduction of people experiencing homelessness and the associated community impacts through the creation of innovative, sustainable and compassionate solutions.

There's three focus areas: long-term housing stability, unsheltered homelessness, and governance and funding.

Under long-term housing stability, the objective is that more people experiencing homelessness are connected to permanent supportive housing, meaningfully reducing the city's unsheltered population.

The second objective is that households identified to be at high risk of homelessness are assisted with their housing instability through a unified countywide prevention program.

Under unsheltered homelessness, the objective is that people experiencing homelessness have access to safe supported shelter options.

And the initiatives under this objective include expanding and evaluating interim and non-congregate shelter models, as well as expanding the city's clean and safe efforts through its incident management team services.

Lastly, on governance and funding, the there's actually two objectives here.

The first is that the city and its regional partners operate under updated governance frameworks, strengthening cross-jurisdictional coordination.

And the second objective is that homelessness services are sustainably funded through secured state and federal grants.

All right, so this now we're kind of shifting into the framework that makes all of this real.

We're implementing a model that's based on performance stat.

This model has implemented been implemented throughout the country.

It's existed for more than 20 years at the local, state, federal levels.

So you may have heard names like Louis Stat, that was Mayor Greg Fisher's initiative in Louisville, Kentucky, State Stat, which was Governor Martin O'Malley's initiative in the state of Maryland, HUDSTAT, which was the Department of Housing and Urban Development's approach here, and then BlightSTAT, which was used in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina to address vacant and blighted properties.

So it only works if leadership uses it consistently.

At its core performance stat is a series of ongoing data-driven meetings with staff to identify key challenges, diagnose problems, devise solutions, and track results.

Last year we did an internal inventory at the request of the Measure U Commission to provide them with all of the performance measures that are tracked in the city, and that list came out to over 700.

And so what I want to leave you with here is that you can be drowning in data, but without kind of the leadership and the commitment to drive improvement.

We're really not necessarily going to move the needle.

And so this whole effort is premised on the idea that when leaders show up regularly with data and answer for results in front of their peers, performance improves.

I'm going to go through the four kind of pillars here now in this Sacramento STAT model.

So it number one requires accurate and timely data.

We have plenty of data, no shortage of it.

But stat meetings are where department heads are going to present their data directly to the city manager.

They're going to talk about trends.

We're going to identify areas where improvement needs to occur.

And then this is probably the most important piece is that where we identify performance deficits, we are going to have relentless follow-up.

At the beginning of each of these meetings that are going to start off on a quarterly cadence as we kind of get these off the ground.

It just hasn't necessarily had the kind of structure that makes it easy to share this data publicly and tell our story about the changes that we're actually creating for people.

So just to kind of walk you through the full model of what it will look like once we add the quantitative layer here, the actual measurement pieces.

Well, once we get to the quantitative piece, so as a reminder, one of the objectives under Vibrant Destination is that Sacramento's entertainment, cultural, and waterfront offerings are expanded and more accessible to residents and visitors.

One of the initiatives is to streamline entertainment permitting.

And so now we get into setting these measurable targets.

You can see we start with by June 30th, 2027.

In this case, the results that follow are what we want to achieve by the next fiscal year.

So under this model, average entertainment permit processing time would be reduced by 30% from the previous fiscal year's baseline.

And then at least 75% of applicants rate the permitting process as clear and accessible.

And so that's really looking at like what's the customer experience, what's the user experience of how residents are interacting with these services.

And what's really important here is like this requires planning up front.

We have to anticipate that at some point we're going to deploy a survey tool to measure the before and after of whether anything actually changed.

Some milestones that help tell us whether we're staying on track is by month three, potentially launching an online portal.

By month six, updating an ordinance if it needs to be updated, and by month nine, deploying that first survey so we can get some data on what that applicant satisfaction rate looks like.

Then, lastly, we have some performance measures there.

These um are gonna also be some leading indicators that are gonna help us determine whether or not we're gonna hit that key result by the time we get to the end of that fiscal year.

It's largely going to be the focus of these STAT meetings and these STAT sessions where uh departments are presenting those data so we can see the trends.

Um, and if needed, we can intervene, take action, uh, pivot as needed.

Um, a lot of this is about informing the deployment of resources and the tactics that we are implementing to pursue and advance these strategies.

So every objective in this framework represents a real person waiting for something to change.

Like we said, department leaders are gonna sit across from the city manager with their data and answer the question did things actually change for residents?

So we're not only talking about change for residents in our city, but we're also talking about culture change within the city to do this.

Um we're starting with a pilot, and we're gonna scale what works.

So we're currently in this phase zero, which is this design phase through uh June 30th, getting departments buy-in the and ownership over this framework.

Um again, phase one is gonna be a pilot year.

Um we are focusing on your priorities that you identified, and so the initiatives that we presented align with eight departments, and so these are really gonna be the departments that are piloting this framework, and then in year two, the FY28 fiscal year.

We want to scale this out based on the lessons that we learn in the pilot year.

So at its core, this is about connecting what we say matters to what actually changes for residents.

We're building a system where priorities, work, and results are visible and accountable.

This will take time, and we're starting deliberately with a pilot learning what works and scaling it across the organization.

But the goal is simple one system, one story, one way of delivering results for the people we serve.

Thank you, and happy to take any questions.

Thank you.

I spare public comment.

Public comment first.

Thank you, Mary.

I have a second speaker.

Thank you, Mayor.

I have seven speakers on this item.

The first is Lambert, Chris Valencia, Josh Oaken, James Allison.

I would hope that including the city attorney and the entire Rostum would hear this because you you need to listen to this.

And I'm starting to hear terminology that's familiar to me as I have dealt with City Hall.

Now I'm hearing deliberate a lot, deliberate speed in the South, in the deep south, they used to use a term called deliberate speed.

And that's that was a uh part of a technology strategy to deceive you.

Deliberate speed if you don't know what that is.

Also, there was a guy named John Silva.

A lot of people on that Rossham don't know who he was, but I did.

I met him, and he was the one who told me, I think your business can get a lot of help at City Hall.

And so he sent me to City Hall, and I cannot tell you how many encounters I've had with things like this type of uh language, like leadership strategy.

Uh, you want to get things in front of your peers.

Well, what if I'm not one of your peers?

I'm not really a socialite or uh a person that likes to spend a lot of time visiting with strangers in order to get things accomplished in my world.

I'm not really worried about peers.

I'm I'm worried about integrity.

And if you don't have integrity, it'll come out dealing with me.

Now, I've been hearing people talk about entrepreneurs.

Do you have anyone in this city who's created a cheesecake business that's gone viral in the deep in uh Southern California?

It creates jobs, a computer cannot make a cheesecake.

A crew does.

Chris Valencia, Josh Oaken, James Allen.

Good afternoon, Mr.

Mayor and members of the City Council.

My name is Chris Valencia, and I'm here on behalf of the North State Building Industry Association.

And it's over 500 members building housing here in Sacramento.

Sacramento does not experience city government in one department at a time.

They experience one city.

Services must be coordinated, accountable, and focused on outcomes, regardless of which departments owned which piece.

Silos exist internally, but should be broken down to enhance the overall operation of the city government.

The city operates in effect like a shared fiscal corporation funded by its residents and businesses.

And like any organization responsible for public resources, it should be held to clear standards of discipline, performance, and accountability.

This starts with transparency.

We urge the council to require updates on measurable results.

The public should be able to see clearly whether initiatives are actually improving outcomes for residents, not just moving through the internal process.

Growth, safety, and accountability are not competing priorities.

They reinforce each other.

A safer city attracts investment.

Investment strengthens the tax base.

A stronger tax base allows the city to deliver to deliver better services for everyone.

The decisions made in this room over the next few weeks will shape Sacramento for years to come.

We urge you to be bold, to be disciplined, and to remain accountable to the residents and businesses who are counting on you.

Thank you.

Josh Oaken, James Allison, Karina Pullen.

Good afternoon, Mayor and Council.

My name is Josh Oaken on behalf of the Sacramento Association of Realtors, representing over 6,000 members.

I appreciate the council and city manager bringing this uh bringing forward the strategic work plan and performance management framework.

This is especially important as the city makes budget decisions to address challenges like housing affordability and home ownership.

Housing production and access should be a core priority within this framework because it connects directly to economic development, public safety, and overall quality of life.

Success should be measured by outcomes like how many homes were built, how quickly projects move, projects move, and whether processes are predictable.

The focus needs to be on real results, not just programs or activity.

From an economic development standpoint, housing is foundational.

When it's easier and more predictable to build, you start to see more investment, more activity, and a stronger tax base that supports city services.

There's also a clear connection to public safety.

Stable housing supports safer, more predictable neighborhoods, and when communities feel secure, residents and businesses are more likely to invest and stay engaged.

This all ties back to efficient efficiency and accountability.

Residents expect the city to deliver results, not just plans, and that means clear metrics, coordinated departments, and regular reporting on real progress.

Growth, safety, and accountability are not competing values.

They reinforce each other.

A safer city attracts investment, investment strength and strengthens the tax base, and a stronger tax base funds better services.

Thank you.

James Allison.

Then Karina Pullen Good afternoon, Mayor, Council members and staff.

My name is James Allison.

I'm the executive director of the uh Power and Alliance.

We're a property business improvement district that represents Sacramento's manufacturing and commercial core, and about the 30,000 jobs within that.

I wanted to come up, and originally I was going to just, you know, list off a couple of the challenges that we've had historically that I think that this plan really serves to uh kind of address.

Uh, but candidly, I think that you know I'm optimistic at seeing a lot of what we've seen today, and I think I'll respond to kind of something that really spoke to me from the presentation.

We in, I think the business community, but I think the residential community, I think all real stakeholders here in Sacramento have experienced the same sort of feeling over the last handful of years, and that's it really sucks to work with the city of Sacramento.

But it's really tough to point a finger because you love working with every person at the city that you work with.

It's great employees, it's great city staff members, it's great council members, and yet suddenly somehow, for some reason, that objective, that goal uh just doesn't quite seem to make it to that fruition point.

Uh, and I think that this plan really addresses that wonderfully.

I think that it's really a optimistic point that kind of spoke to me when we said that this isn't really a plan to put staff members on on notice or anything like that.

It's really an accountability tool, and it's also really a uh a strategic tool that candidly I'm going to take personally some uh uh ownership of and start stealing from a little bit within my own world.

So I I just want to come up and say that this is the first time in a long time that we in a unified community have felt as optimistic if we as we have in a long time, uh, and really give kudos to all of the council members sitting up there for your selection in our city manager.

It seems to be the right choice.

So thank you very much.

Karina Pullin, then Madeline Noel, then Kayleigh Olgerson.

Good afternoon, Mayor and Council members.

My name is Corinna Miller-Pullen, and I serve on the city's disability advisory commission.

Thanks to the mayor shout out.

Um you gave me my job.

You don't know you did, but I appreciate it anyway.

Uh I'm here in my individual capacity.

And before I get begin, I need to tell you quickly about what has happened to me in this building.

This morning at the budget and audit uh committee, I had effective communication.

I had ASL interpreting because I knew ADA would be on the agenda, and I requested it in advance.

The committee told me that the conversation would continue under the city manager's report at 2 p.m.

and again under the budget at 5 p.m.

I had no way to arrange for interpreting on few hours' notice.

Um, but here I am.

I tried the assistive listening devices the city provides.

I don't know if you can hear that.

Everyone I tried was filled with constant and intermittent static.

I think you can still hear it.

I came to do civic work on a topic uh I was told would be discussed in three meetings today, and I had effective access in one of them.

I want you to hear something else.

This morning, the assistant city manager said in response to my comments uh to the budget uh that the city has plenty of subject matter experts, and that having one person in charge isn't necessarily a good thing.

Uh this afternoon, the city manager's office presented you a framework that names a lead for every one of 31 strategic initiatives.

Two senior leaders in the same office on the same day gave opposite answers, and the only priority where they say centralized accountability doesn't necessarily work is the one with federal civil rights mandate behind it.

There is no city subject matter experts on disability whose job description allows for oversight, compliance, and all aspects of disability.

Specialized expertise needs to replace good intentions.

Disability is deeply connected to every priority this council has adopted economic development, public safety, homelessness.

I'm willing to be quized right now.

The city has no one whose job that is.

Thank you.

Madeline Noel, then um Kaylee Olgerson.

Good afternoon, Mayor, Council, and City Manager Smith.

My name is Madeline Knoll.

I'm with the downtown Sacramento Partnership, a property-based improvement district representing 102 city blocks in our downtown core.

I want to commend our new city manager and city staff for putting forward a very strategic focused, disciplined work plan that's going to actively shape the future of Sacramento along with the decisions that are actively being made with the structural deficit.

This is going to affect our residents, businesses, and our broader community.

We can see that these pre three priorities, economic development, homelessness, and public safety are all closely connected.

Public safety is foundational.

When we create a safe, welcoming space in our public realm, economic activity follows.

Once we have our economic activity in place, once the city actually helps it perform well, we actually strengthen our tax base.

That's nighttime economy, arts and culture events and festivals to find Sacramento's brand and reducing barriers to these to help these activities thrive is going to actively grow our tax base.

And once we have that tax base, it helps sustain essential city services like homelessness.

So we can see that these priorities are cyclical, and if we get them right, we can create a safer, stronger, and more sustainable future for Sacramento.

Thank you for the direction in this work plan, and we look forward to partnering with you and achieving these goals.

Kayleigh Olgerson is our final speaker on this item.

Good afternoon, mayors and members of the city council.

My name is Kayleigh Olgerson, and I'm here on behalf of our member of the Sacramento Metro Chamber of Commerce and our member businesses throughout the city of Sacramento.

The business community has consistently identified economic development, public safety, and government accountability as essential to Sacramento's long-term success.

So we appreciate seeing these priorities translated here into an actionable and measurable framework.

For employers, residents, and investors alike, confidence in local government matters.

When City Hall sets priorities, tracks progress, and communicates results transparently, it creates the predictability that businesses need to invest, hire, and grow in our city.

Having a structured accountable approach to translating council priorities into measurable results is long overdue, and we commend the city manager's office for building this with genuine departmental ownership.

As this framework advances, we encourage the city to remain focused on efficient on efficient implementation, customer service, and ongoing partnership with the business community.

Sacramento has tremendous potential, and a modern, accountable city government is critical to realizing it.

We stand ready to work in partnership with the city to support the evolution of this effort and help advance Sacramento's long-term success.

Thank you for your consideration tonight.

Thank you.

That concludes our public comment.

I think Vice Mayor, your first thank you so much.

And that's why we decided to hire Mara Kisha.

And this presentation is just perfection of what we're looking for.

We're looking for measurable success.

We're looking for data.

We're looking to see if what we're doing is changing lives.

And I feel like the words that you guys put in this presentation are just like perfection to my heart.

I want to point out two of them.

The first one is slide number 29, where it says every person in this room chose public service because they believe things can be different.

That is just spot on.

If you are in the city of Sacramento, you believe that things can be different.

And you are working for the people.

And we need to be the best customer service agency that the communities people of Sacramento have seen.

So that slide was just perfect.

And then the other one I want to highlight is every objective in this framework has a person behind it.

A resident who is waiting, a family for whom things need to be different.

We need to make sure that the work that we do changes lives.

And we need to make sure that the work that we do is making an impact in our small businesses.

That the work that we do is incentivizing people to come invest in Sacramento, to come build in Sacramento and to move to Sacramento.

So just kudos on this presentation.

And looking forward to the like implementation plan and the next steps.

Good job.

Thank you.

Councilmember Guerra.

Thank you.

I think the vice mayor couldn't have said it best about the great direction and the start and the show of confidence here.

So I again kudos to that to our new city manager and the team here who are supporting in this effort.

I want to uh focus my attention on strategic initiative 29, and I do think that there is a sense of urgency, at least in updating our uh city county partnership agreement, um, and and particularly because uh the laws have changed significantly on that on that piece.

And one of the things that was uh increasingly noticeable last week when I um pulled together a meeting with our uh city attorney's office, our DCR fire department, county council, um, the public guardian, our our DA's uh office, and also um uh Shaban Qatari and our team at the with at the county's department of public health was that um that that the laws on uh both CARES Court and SP 43 were not implemented.

So we as we move forward and did some great work in reducing those large 200 encampments, 300 people encampments, and we see that that uh success, we still see a very distinct um uh challenge with um with folks who have mental health and substance abuse issues in and one of the uh glaring factors that we noticed was that uh that with the new change in SP 43, there were 243 cases that were initiated, but not a single one uh progressed forward to inpatient treatment out of that in the last year.

Uh and with CARICORT, you know, with I want to thank our city attorney's office um of the petitions that the city's put forward, only one has graduated.

And what came out of that meeting was that we have a unsynchron, we have a problem with unsynchronized data.

The ri the ration, the reason by why that has occurred is is the unsynchronized data that we have.

And it was uh it was uplifting to see how everyone on the team there was saying this is the data we have, this is the data we have, but we can't actually link it all together.

Uh and so I do think that helping us uh operate forward while we figure out the larger governance structure.

This is a tool within uh uh that structure that uh we have at our disposal.

And so I would just say that um uh on one of the initiatives that that we can better um uh uh move forward with, uh, as they say sharpen your tool.

This is one that that could I think immediately be sharpened by the recent changes in laws that have been done.

But thank you for this, and I'm excited to see all of the efforts moving on both public safety, economic development, and this particular piece affects all of those uh as well on the issue of homelessness.

So thank you, uh city manager.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Um I just want to say uh just I really breathe a breath of fresh air when I was listening to the presentation, which I thought was wonderful.

Thank you, Ash.

Um, and I think a lot of us on this diet, as myself included, are always really asking a lot of these same questions of ourselves as it relates to our constituents in the community about how we deliver services as a city.

Um and I think we think a lot about process improvement because of the nature of our jobs.

So, for example, um, you know, I often view my office as a liaison between city departments and and city staff.

So oftentimes our constituents will reach out to us, they're frustrated because of their trash cans or their street lights, or there's a homeless encampment somewhere, or whatever it may be.

Um, and and our job is figuring out how do we help this person have a better experience with uh what what I know to be world-class wonderful city services, but um sometimes things fall through the cracks.

And so I I find I love this approach because it seems to be this bit bigger.

It's how do we make sure that everyone in the city of Sacramento that we have that full 30,000 foot view all the time, but we're also taking that down into the deeper level.

We're looking at the data.

And I really loved in particular um not just tracking activity, which I heard you say, and this is sometimes that something that I see too.

Um, you know, we we'll say, well, look, we did this, this and this, but we're not always saying taking the step further and say, well, what does that mean?

You know, what does that mean to the community, to the public?

Um, and what are the goals that we're actually trying to accomplish.

So this is I'm I'm so impressed.

I also want to give my my kudos um to the city manager and and your team on this because um I and I also want to say thank you for the proactive communication uh and doing and bringing this forward, bringing it to us, not just the city council, but also to the public.

It's so important for the public to see this presentation and understand that you know it is constant improvement.

That's what we do in government.

None of us is perfect, but we we do seek to provide the best services, and this is just one part of what we do.

Um, and so I'm really excited about it.

Um one of the things in particular I want to point out is we've had a larger discussion as a city, I think, over the last several years, really led by council member Vening um and others, and Councilmember Jennings and others on this council about equity.

And so I want us, I challenge us to think about take that equity lens and think about that as we do each of these strategic initiatives and our vision is not just how does it uh improve experience or what is the experience, but also what does it mean for those who may have different experiences in our community.

Whether you live in South Sacramento or Lamb Park, whether you live in Del Paso Heights or East Sacramento, there those things might be different answers.

Um, and whether or not the tools and the things that we're providing can give you a more equitable experience.

So just um a lens that we can take across all of it, I think is really important because I know that we're starting to think about that in context of the budget and other policy issues.

So I think that's important.

Um and the last thing I'll note is I'm really excited to see how this plays out in the context of housing development in our city.

Um I know myself, Counselor Pluckybond, the mayor, and others uh are always thinking about how do we build more faster and uh meet the needs of the community, which we are um like many other cities really struggling with.

Uh we have a much greater housing demand than we do capacity.

Uh and so we have to get creative about that.

And so we've had great initiatives like Streamline Sacramento, but I think taking this constant lens of like how do we get these projects done faster?

How do we have the right uh you know incentives for housing?

What are the things that are standing in our way is something I'm really excited about.

So I'll look forward to seeing the outcomes of this and the constant follow-up and the updates that you bring forth.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Dickinson.

Thanks, Mayor.

Um, I'm gonna join my my colleagues in applauding this work uh that we're discussing this afternoon, and uh say that I know this isn't easy.

This is this is this is the product of uh a lot of hard work.

Uh it's not it's not a simple uh undertaking to try to uh address this kind of uh of uh performance and management um framework.

Uh it is also I think as you mentioned may have mentioned, Ash, it's a living, it's a living exercise.

It it's not static.

Uh and that's important.

It is critical, I think, for these kinds of of efforts to have clear clear policy definition, to have clear goals and objectives, to have clear performance measures.

Because uh if that's not the not the case, then when you get to uh assessing the performance either of programs uh or individuals, uh then that uh creates potential problems because people weren't quite sure what it was supposed to be to be that they uh that they do.

So I I think this is an excellent, excellent start.

Uh I'm sure you will will want to refine it as well.

And I'm I'm happy to see that you recognize that uh this is this is with the first three uh priorities, the beginning and ultimately to move beyond it to the entire um length and breadth of the uh of the city.

In that in that connection, uh I I do want to raise the uh uh issue of the disability uh access uh uh accessibility coordinator, disabilities accessibility coordinator, um disabled access coordinator, I guess I should say, uh as something that uh I think not perhaps uh in the immediate context uh of the three priorities, but in the context of how we organize the city and have that clear policy direction goals and objectives and measurements, measurement performances, whether that is the kind of position that that we ought to have in the in the city.

So the idea of the comment made this morning at the budget and audit committee was just to get that in the conversation this this afternoon on the on the list.

I have a uh a couple things that I wanted to talk about more specifically with respect to the strategic initiatives in particular that you've delineated and as a preface to that, say that that uh I think the core of what we do is focusing on outcomes.

And you alluded to that at the beginning.

Don't don't measure process, measure outcomes.

Uh define what those outcomes are and then see if we are getting to those outcomes or not.

And if if we are, then terrific.

If we're if we're not, then we adjust to figure out how we get to those outcomes.

But having those outcomes defined uh is critical to this whole framework from my point of view.

With that um uh in the public safety uh category uh on enforcement, I do think that that I think that the major element of that is uh design and structural um, but there's an element of enforcement too, and I didn't see that that mentioned.

So that may be purposeful, I don't know.

I just I just um suggest that uh enforcement uh be considered as an addition to that strategic uh initiative.

Uh it's it is alluded to, but again, in the strategic initiatives, I don't think there's uh uh related to public safety, because I'm gonna say this again in another context.

Um I don't think there's enough recognition of prevention, the importance of prevention.

Maybe you're incorporating that crime reduction.

I mean you mentioned uh prevention in a couple places, but I think prevention personally, I think prevention is such a key element of uh a key strategy, if you will, um to get to public safety that it it really deserves emphasis in perhaps more than one way.

Um with regard to homelessness, um I think that there's there's perhaps more uh that could be elaborated on uh again in terms of uh prevention.

Uh what's much mentioned is update the counties uh city-county approach, countywide, update the countywide uh homelessness prevention program number 25.

I'm just happening to be looking at it.

Um it's got to be more than that.

Uh I I mean it's not about just uh updating the prevention program, although I'm sure those who wrote that had in mind implementation, but it ought to say that.

You know, what are we doing what are we trying to do?

What are we what's the outcome we want?

It's not just updating the program.

It's it's preventing more people who are at risk of homelessness from becoming homeless.

That's that's the outcome.

That seems to me that uh we're we're going for in that respect.

And then one thing I I didn't see, although maybe you all uh incorporated it some in your thinking, uh it's I I think that we ought to explicitly be talking about how we we do a better job of coordinating uh with other governmental entities.

This is in the homelessness context, particularly the county.

And I know it says update the agreement, city-county agreement, but again to beat a little bit of a badly beaten horse.

We don't provide human assistance services.

We don't provide other uh health services.

That's the county.

And if if we're if we're not as coordinated as we can be in terms of uh programmatic and operational implementation with the county, we're not gonna be successful in getting to the outcome, which is reducing ultimately reducing homelessness.

So that was something I thought could use a little bit more elaboration uh with respect to the strategic initiatives.

But uh I don't want those comments to diminish uh what I would say overall, which is uh this is a terrific effort.

Um it's great work.

Uh it is uh an exciting start, uh, and it is a start, but it's it's an exciting start to see.

Um it'll take some uh I'm sure some some effort for the entirety of this of the city staff to see it as we see it, but that's also critical.

The setting the tone comes from the top, but it doesn't work with without being nurtured uh uh at the individual uh employee level, so so that uh there's a belief that that this is an approach that that makes sense.

And uh so I would only as last point emphasize the the critical nature of engaging uh each and every employee in the city uh and helping uh them hopefully recognize the importance, the value, mostly the value and the significance uh of this approach and the and this work.

Thanks.

Thank you, Councilmember Plucky Bong.

Thank you, Mayor.

Uh City Manager Ash, if there's an opportunity as you're rolling this program out for uh my office to um demonstrate uh test what what you're doing, I am um exceptionally excited about this opportunity.

I think um you know us leading by example is a good place to start.

Um so if there's uh a chance for that, I would welcome it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Council member Jennings.

I don't know if I'll be as quick, but I'll I will be quick.

Um, most of it's already been said.

Um I think this is an exciting start.

I am so excited to see what all of us have seen presented over the last period of time.

We have a continuous improvement measurement system.

I know what our implementation roadmap is.

I can see it clearly, and everyone in here I hope can see it as clear.

I understand our goals of one city with one future, all working together to move in the same direction.

And this is a management, I mean uh uh performance measurement plan that I think will stand the test of time.

It's not something that's here today and gone tomorrow, it's something that we will continue to utilize.

And what I'm hopeful is is that even though we have three goals that we're focused on today economic development, public safety, and homelessness, there will be more that will be added in the in the years that they come in the time that comes in front of us.

And we'll use this exact same system because all of us will be familiar with it.

It tells me very clearly where we've been, and it tells me where we're headed.

And it should help do that to each of the constituents who read it.

And so I think the thing that helps me the most is I believe in inspecting what you expect.

And in this system, it says, are the things that we're doing actually making a difference?

If we ask ourselves that question every single day that we look at this plan, we then know whether our plan is moving us in the right direction or whether we need to change directions in order to get the results that the city deserves.

So I say good job, city manager, great job.

I'm impressed, and looking forward to continuing to see this document take us forward for years to come.

Thank you.

Councilmember Kaplan.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um just want to echo kudos, Ash, City Manager.

Um you are following through.

We as a council came together, gave direction, and now you're providing us what you think that report and direction should be.

Um, and I'd say you're on the right track.

Uh in school board terms, I learned it as uh CCLI, continuous cycle of learning and improvement, and now we've put down into a document.

And now we've put down into a document.

This is this is these are our goals.

Now I look forward to the reports that you give us of where are we heading, how are we heading?

Does the data prove out we should still be heading there?

And then as we complete the wheel, do we need to improve it, change it, stop it?

Um, so that it allows the council to give you direction on potential policy shifts.

Um, just a couple things I want to just point out, maybe to think about suggestions.

Um item four of support and grow small businesses.

I think it bears out as we talk about the wonderful diversity that we have in the city of Sacramento.

A lot of our small owned businesses are family-owned, and I think we need to call out working with the Hispanic Chamber, Black Chamber, and Asian Chamber are specific into the niches.

And I know those smaller businesses sometimes a language is a barrier to make sure that we can get them up, they stay viable, they say compliant, um, and those chambers have their feet to the ground and can best suit when we collaborate and work with them.

On item six, we missed something of a Catholic project to include SAC State coming downtown and the 50 million dollars that came in from Meta.

That I think that will really change the nature.

Um, so I would like to call that out as as a as a transformative Catholic uh development that would be coming downtown.

Um item 10.

Um, I want to think bigger while we look at activating old Sacramento Waterfront, which I was uh heavily in supporting with former Mayor Steinberg.

Um, why are we stopping at the waterfront?

Well, let's just say that we're starting at the waterfront, but we should activate it through to DOCO, and our ultimate goal should be to activate it through to the convention center so that K Street to Old Sacramento is one big entertainment small business catalytic driver for downtown of safety for the city of Sacramento.

Um, and then uh item 15 as we look at advancing youth programs that prioritize uh safety.

I really look forward that one, you know, what are we funding?

Why are we funding, and what is the data prove out?

Because now that we have Measure L, we have certain strategic funding, but I think we really have to look at as we've seen an uptick in youth violence that we we are really strategic about what we're doing and how we're um funding um youth programs that really address the core of public safety, which goes to well, not this issue, but but prevention is the key because it's how do we align with our schools that know kids that may have trouble?

Um, are with they we aligning appropriately with programs so that that it's it's we're not operating in silos because schools see it every day, but not always is that working in alignment with our CBOs and public safety on item 17.

I just want to say kudos.

We at City Council, uh, even prior to me joining were how do we pilot an alternative response model?

I think we really need to implement it.

So I just want to call out thank you uh for doing that.

And then as we move into uh homelessness, um, I really look forward to data and policy-driven decisions because hundreds of millions of dollars has been invested, and this is you know, a number one thing we hear from our community.

Is it working?

Where did the money go?

What is the data say?

Why are you investing here?

Is this the best use of your money?

Um, and having all of that in one area would be great.

One thing I saw somewhat missing when we look at city county partnership that I've been working on a lot is um, and I know DCR has been working.

Uh there was kind of like a Creeks Collaborative that was pulled together, and especially those of us north of the river.

Um, our canals are owned by other jurisdictions, not the city.

So we do need to call out strategic partnerships with RD 1000 American River Flood Control District, uh, Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency, the Creek Council, River City Waterway Alliance, um, to make sure we're all in alignment because you know, we need to make sure our waterways, it's fundamental, stay safe and clean, but we also address them in a more strategic manner of getting people off our canals and into services and housing.

I do support uh looking at prevention as a key, more so in how uh we look at homelessness and where that falls under.

I'll I'll leave that to you.

But I think we also need to somewhat call out the problem that every study has said one, we need to get them off the streets and into housing, but two to have a truly strategic and impactful uh outcome, they need services.

But when we accept state funding, we can't mandate that.

So what does it look like and how do we address that?

Knowing that for truly to make the impact that we need, it's just not housing, but it's housing and services.

And there is some data to show that it's the first six months are the most strategic.

So how does that um all come together?

But I really just want to say this is this is amazing, good job.

Um, it was it was a pleasure reading this as we go to to data and impact.

So thank you for your leadership in this.

Thank you, Councilmember Vang.

Thanks, Mayor.

Um definitely we just want to echo my colleagues and I want to thank City Manager for our hard work, but also want to thank Ash uh for all your hard work.

I know you've been the data person in our city for several years now, and so it's really great to see you up here presenting uh on this on this data performance stat and really great to see a strategic plan for our city around our three priorities.

I know this plan is really just a framework that translate uh our priorities into organizational action.

Um, and it's great to see uh on the slide the various department leads, like who's supporting each of these initiative.

Um, so that was really great.

And I just I just have two items really.

I'm not gonna go through all of the um various uh strategic initiative, but just uh two items that I I I want to center as we are, you know, this is a living document, right?

It is not static, um, it is continuously changing.

And so two things I just want to uplift is ensuring that as we are working on this plan and updating it as we go, um, that we are in alignment with the Sacramento Center on Racial Equity, the score work plan, and that that is embedded into our priority strategic work plan.

I know that we have the GIS tool, the C tool uh dashboard as well, um, and even with the tool and data, the question will always be when I look at this plan, how are services and resources allocated where it is needed most?

Right?

Like it is we can have these services, but services for whom, right, and how, I think that's really key.

And so making sure that we apply that racial equity lands is really important.

I just want to make sure that as we're working on our score work plan and we are developing our racial equity plan, that it is in alignment literally with this plan as well, and that's gonna be critical.

And so just want to center that.

Um, and then this the second piece is you know, as I'm looking at this document, I do see it as more of a management tool for internal for city staff and departments.

And something that I just, you know, we're already doing this through our council offices.

I know that departments reach out to community too, but for the strategic initiative in particular, um, I think it's important.

I don't know if we name it in here or if it's already happening, and I'm looking at city manager, but how are we engaging community partners, the chambers, the CBOs in these strategic initiatives?

Um, yes, our city staff are the expertise of city services, but if we are also because in your slide, I thought what was really powerful is that um there was this section that said department leaders will sit across the city manager with their data and their answer.

Did things actually change for residents?

And we can only know that if there's actually feedback, there's a feedback loop with community, right?

And so for me, just making sure that in this strategic plan that we have um a very thoughtful feedback loop with community partners with residents, chambers, and CBOs.

I think that is really critical.

I I don't want to make the assumption that that is happening, so that's why I want to name it.

I want to name it as we're talking about this plan, uh, because it can only be impactful if there is a feedback loop with community.

Um, and so those are the only two things that I wanted to add.

Um, in terms of the three priorities we already voted on it economic development, public safety, homelessness.

I will say this again, and it was great to see the vision of the public safety component, uh centering our youth um and our parks as well.

Because as you know, before I became a councilwoman, this council and mayor did vote on a resolution that broaden the definition of public safety, and so it was great to see that included.

It I mean, I see it somewhat in the public safety slide, um, but I think an emphasis on youth violence prevention is is really key.

I see strengthening community violence reduction programs in the objective, but I think really naming the the prevention piece is gonna be critical for that.

And I'm sure there's you can go back and and and add that to um to that public safety section.

But those are those are all my comments and really looking forward to the report back.

I know that this is just um this is about continuous improvement, and this is an implementation plan, right?

It's a two-year implementation plan.

So I look forward to hearing back after the pilot year and how and how we did and and looking at the outcome.

So just great job to the city manager and uh kudos to you, Ash.

I know because you're the data person and you put a lot of work behind here, so I want to take a moment just to thank you for your hard work.

Council member.

Sorry, well, you know, I I punched up before uh uh you know, Councilmember Vanks told my thunder, but I wanted to give a big uh round of applause for uh yours and my former classmate in the Saks Aid Masters program of public policy, uh Ashrogani.

Let's give him a big round of applause because I thought that this is a doctor uh Dr.

Robert Wasmer would be proud here.

Yes.

Okay, well, I think you all said it all, but just a few things.

So, city manager, yeah.

This fine individual's been sitting there in the in the bullpen of the city manager's office waiting for the opportunity to talk about his love.

This is his love language, data innovation and presentation, connecting the dots for all of this, and no better person to work on this.

And I I think that's the key, is that we want to demystify all of this to the 550,000 people and spot on our priorities, economic development, public safety, homelessness.

I think those are 100% spot on.

Yeah, we have a few others we could add, I concur.

But you know, if you look at where we all uh dug in and zeroed in on the nine of us, uh, this certainly certainly is that and I uh will that without getting too much into detail from what we already hear is maybe just to keep it simple.

I would like for the public to know, because they don't all know these are our three priorities.

We've talked about that our big retreat, and we all talked about it here and there, but kind of you know, rebrand this and focus on you know what that means and what we're going to be monitoring.

And I think in this era 2026 and on, you know, people expect us, like you talked about the other cities and the mayors and jurisdictions.

How we measure this?

Are we doing a good job?

Are we going in the right direction?

We're we we're we're imperfect, we don't have always success on all these things all the time, I'm certain.

But how are we focusing on these and give us ways how we can have you know regular scores?

And sometimes we overdo these things, we put data up on there, and then you have to be someone like you who has an advanced degree to understand the so-called data.

But you know, I I want you to be able to call your long-lost cousin and tell them about this, and they can go on the site and read it in plain English.

Like, what is it that we're trying to accomplish?

What are the things that we're measuring, how are we measuring them, and how are we doing?

And so it's a living uh breathing thing.

And so I think that's besides making improvement upon this.

That was my goal is how the public can monitor us as far as are we are we making progress on our key priorities.

So with that, thank you.

And again, um, as the council said, thank you to our city manager and her team for taking our priorities seriously and coming back with a strong work plan.

Thank you.

This is a uh informational item, no vote, correct city clerk.

Okay, thank you.

So mayor, we now move to council comments, ideas, questions, a b123 reports.

Seeing none.

Seeing none.

Um, is there a city manager's report?

No.

No, thank you.

Um, I do have two speakers for matters not on the agenda.

Lambert and LR Roberts.

Yeah, I tell you, a lot of people are studying Mr.

Plucky Ball.

I mean, he leaves leaves at a an inopportune time.

It's not a good look.

Not you know, he was late today and he just left now.

So not a good look, but what I wanted to say was congratulations to the uh city manager.

I was impressed.

Uh you resemble, you know, you hear a lot of people talk about alumni in here.

And I'm impressed with somebody who graduated from a blue blood uh university in the deep south.

Uh because that was that could not have been easy to do uh when they didn't used to allow black people to even come on a campus like that.

And uh one of the universities that I'll promote is Boise State University.

I graduated from there, and there they taught us how to do business.

There was a guy there named Joe Albersons.

He's the owner of Alberson's grocery chain.

There was another guy there that I met, his name was J.R.

Simplot.

J.R.

Simplot supplied potatoes to McDonald's before I got there.

And they still supplying them today.

So when you get uh influenced as a teenager by people like that, when you step into this arena, uh, you're not as forgiving as a lot of people are here.

It's not that difficult to stay in the black.

You have to be physically disciplined.

You will never hear to the Bay and Back cheesecake in a deficit because we know math.

And when it's your money, you'll handle it better.

But when it's not your money, that's the problem.

Because if it was your money, you would be homeless doing it the way you're doing it.

Thank you.

L.

R.

Roberts is our final speaker this afternoon.

I'm L.

R.

Roberts.

I ran a business in um District 5 for 15 years.

It is outrageous that the city wants to cart part cut parts of senior disabled and child programs, layoff parks workers yet have the money to have eight cops arrest three people this morning at Ice Building.

And the sergeant showed up three times.

How expensive was that?

And have them processed in the jail.

I have requested to know the fee amount that the county charges the city every time we do that.

We have had yet another shooting incident, but while we're busy with cops doing that downtown, we've had another shooting incident in Oak Park this weekend.

The one before involved a four-year-old.

What are our priorities, guys?

Um, real quick.

Um the foster youth issue, Richard and I raised three kids uh who I had not given birth to.

Uh CPS failed completely, and uh one was never rescued by anybody that eventually he came to live with us after several suicide attempts.

Um one died of AIDS after being molested at the receiving home, which is what they do is they use this private charity that's horrible.

Um so we we have some problems with uh foster care.

Uh in addition, these kids could not go to the private charter that they forced down our throats illegally in Oak Park because they had no parents of record.

Oh, um, and lastly, I put it in writing my request in writing.

Um, the ice building is illegally washing the sidewalks for four hours every day.

Now, if I did that, I'd get in trouble.

I'm only supposed to wash my sidewalk if there's something dirty on the sidewalk, something in unsanitary.

I'm certainly not supposed to water every single day for four hours.

So, how come ICE is being allowed to do that?

So I put this question in writing.

So, Mayor, that concludes the business of the city council.

Okay, thank you.

Well, we'll we will adjourn and reconvene at 5 p.m.