All right, good evening, and welcome to the um Thursday, June 4th, 2026, Parks and Community Enrichment Commission meeting.

This meeting is now called to order.

Will the clerk please call roll to establish a quorum?

Yes, Chair.

Commissioners, could you please turn your mics on?

Commissioner Langer is absent.

Commissioner Uribe is absent.

Commissioner Robins, Vice Chair Robinson, is absent.

Commissioner Laver?

Commissioner King?

Here.

Commissioner Vasquez.

Present.

Commissioner Flores?

Yeah.

And then Commissioner Lang is absent.

And then Commissioner Flornoy?

Here.

And Chair Gaines.

Here.

You have a quorum, Chair.

Thank you.

I would like to remind members of the public and chambers who wish to speak on any items on today's agenda.

Please turn in a speaker slip before the item begins.

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

After the first speaker, we will no longer accept speaker slips.

We will now proceed with the land acknowledgement followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.

So please rise.

Please rise for the opening acknowledgments in honor of Sacramento's Indigenous People and Tribal Lands.

To the original people of this land, the Nissanan people, the Southern Maidu, Valley and Plains Miwok, Patwin Winton peoples, and the people of the Wilton Rancheria, Sacramento's only federally recognized tribe.

May we acknowledge and honor the Native people who came before us and still walk beside us today on these ancestral lands by choosing to gather together today in the active practice of acknowledgement and appreciation for Sacramento's Indigenous Peoples, history, contributions, and lives.

Midwatch, thank you.

Please remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance.

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 with liberty and justice for all.

You may be seated.

All right.

So the first item today is approval of the consent calendar.

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

There are none, Chair.

Thank you.

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

Commissioner Vasquez.

Thank you, Chair.

Um, yes, I would like an update on the follow-up log that's on the consent calendar.

I've got two items that have been there for quite a while, so I'm hoping for an update.

And maybe we can discuss it at the end and comments, but I just want to make sure that during the follow-up log, I'm saying that I would like the follow-up log updated, please.

All right.

Well, I do not um have that on me, so I'm going to ask if maybe Shannon, if you are able to pull that up and we can add that to maybe the end of the agenda.

Or do you want to talk about it now?

Uh like let me pull it up.

Okay, and that way we can know exactly which ones we're talking about with perfect.

All right, while we're getting that.

Any other commissioners like to speak on any items?

There we go.

Sorry about that.

And commissioners will work on the creation of a draft policy standardizing community engagement to present to staff.

And the action taken is at the chair's discretion may include in future uh agenda item as discussion time allows.

The next item is the park bond, and I just recently talked to our attorney, and she is working on drafting a response regarding this item.

Do we know when?

Well, at present there is not a, so really the legal advice you would need is if and when there is a park bond moving forward up until that point.

Um there isn't, so it's not particularly time sensitive.

So it's uh if it seems like we are going to be moving forward with a park bond, I'll get you a memo timely.

Director Beachum.

Oh, was that you are you technically is that?

I think I um I'm a brown eye, but okay, they just changed it.

Perfect.

That's it.

Thank you.

All right, so it sounds like I in the weekend action.

So uh I'll look into that.

I'll have an update in August.

All right, would any other commissioners like to speak on this item?

All right.

Is there a motion and second to approve the consent calendar?

I'll move to approve.

I'll second.

How's that?

All right, so we have a motion from Commissioner Laver and a second from Commissioner Vasquez.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed.

Abstentions?

All right, thank you.

The motion passes.

All right, we will now proceed to the discussion calendar.

Item three, uh, Cesar Chavez Plaza renaming kickoff.

Is there a staff presentation?

Good evening.

Commissioners, Jackie Beecham, Director of Youth Parks and Community Enrichment.

I want to start by thanking our team for helping to move very quickly on this item to support our city leadership team in addressing this very important issue that we are facing regarding Cesar Chavez Plaza Park.

Um they've been very supportive in helping to move the item forward, and also the city manager's public information office, um, Gabby Miller specifically, who's been really wonderful in working with our team so we can be prompt and responding to coordinate with the community with our parks commission with our council offices to address this.

So, as you know, um the city is initiating a community-led process to rename Cesar Chavez Park.

This is part of a broader effort to ensure that public spaces reflect the values, history, and diversity of Sacramento today.

The renaming process will center community voices, honor local identity, and create opportunities for all residents to participate.

So, what will the process look like?

It will begin here with you with our parks commission.

Our parks commission will serve as a kickoff for community outreach and engagement efforts.

Mayor Kevin McCarty appointed a subcommittee of three council members that will help guide the renaming process.

And they have asked, along with staff that parks commissioners support community outreach efforts within your networks and districts to help ensure that the process remains inclusive and community driven.

Our goal is to ensure that the new name of the park reflects Sacramento's culture, history, and shared values, and that we have an opportunity to engage with and hear feedback from diverse communities and all perspectives across our city.

So a little bit of a history.

There's a very robust history to share regarding the park, but just a quick background.

We had a landscape designer named John Keating that created a plan for the park in 1872 that shaped the informal plaza into a landscaped park.

The landscape plan was first introduced, was the first introduction of structured walkways and the prominent establishment of the formal plaza as a civic and social hub, and had increased use for public gatherings, markets, and events.

It evolved into a central gathering place for Sacramento residents.

It included livestock stock auctions and farmers markets, and reinforced its role as the city's front yard and an important setting for the city's major civic building, which is City Hall, where we are today.

In 1966, the park, the Plaza Park was redesigned and developed to add support amenities and infrastructure improvements.

And again, in 1980, in the 1980s, another comprehensive redesign involved a fountain restoration, cafe and seating areas, performance stage, and event infrastructure, and the introduction of public-private partnerships to help fund improvements and programming.

Also around this time, a historical marker was installed commemorating the Pony Express centennial and significance in Sacramento history.

Sacramento is one of many U.S.

cities used as stops along the Pony Express.

In 1992, a small building was constructed to house public restrooms and a restaurant cafe, which is visible still today.

So what do we hope to achieve through this process?

As you all are aware, the park name has become a subject of concern for city leadership and for our community.

To main trust, maintain trust and ensure public spaces remain welcoming for residents.

We are initiating a process that is grounded in transparency, equity, and broad community engagement.

We want to use this as an opportunity to build strong connection between the park and the community, and hope to identify a name that will truly reflect community voice and the culture, history, and values of our city.

So a little overview of the engagement plan through several phases.

The kickoff starts here tonight and will continue with some of our other commissions.

We have a project web page that is officially live.

It's not shared in your packets, but I can share it with you right now.

It's city of sacramento.org/slash CC renaming.

It includes a link to the survey that is not yet live, we'll be live next Friday, timeline, FAQs, and more.

We'll have temporary signage available in the park and surrounding areas.

We'll have a press release available, social media messaging, and we'll do extensive outreach with partners, cultural groups, and our downtown stakeholders.

This will also include special partner toolkits that all of our commissioners, all of you, all of our council members, and other partners will receive.

Phase two is where we'll be seeking our community input.

That will be from June to July.

That will include our online survey that opens up June 12th, so next Friday, and will be open through July 24th.

That will be a mobile friendly survey where we'll have continued outreach and engagement also at our park through many of the current activations that you see happening there.

If you've been out and about so far, we have concerts in the park that happen every Friday night in the park.

We have Bodega Market.

We just had one today, those are every Thursday in the park, several other special events.

There's a lot of activation happening in Caesar Chavez and around the park right now, as well as other council events that many of you have seen happening in your communities and districts, along with movie nights, concerts in the park, and many other summer events.

So we're asking for commissioners, subcommittee, and staff to help promote the survey and any engagement opportunities.

Phase three will be a staff review and subcommittee alignment happening in August and September.

So UFC staff will be compiling and analyzing all of the data and input received, feedback that we received through the survey and applying the naming criteria with the city's naming policy.

We'll present the findings to the mayor and the mayor appointed subcommittee for early alignment and guidance, and we'll bring the final recommended name that the subcommittee and mayor recommend to back to this commission.

The commission will review the recommended name and the findings and will forward the final recommendation on to city council in October.

After council considers the final recommended name, we are looking forward to a council adoption of a final name in late October or early November.

So how can you help?

Outreach is going to begin again here with all of you.

We'll be providing each commissioner with a partner toolkit that will include flyers.

I believe you all have a sample, and I can talk through that in just a moment.

It's going to be a partner toolkit.

You'll have flyers, shareable graphics that will have accompanying text for social media that will help to amplify the outreach.

It'll be available in English and Spanish.

If there is an event, other community partner, opportunity or idea for any sort of outreach that you wish to support or want to recommend, we welcome that feedback and also invite you to participate and share this information with anyone you see fit.

If they're in-person engagements, like I mentioned, concerts in the park, counselor community events.

We also welcome you to attend those events and encourage participation in the survey.

And again, we will be coming back to this commission after the subcommittee has reviewed the community feedback and is prepared to recommend the final name for council consideration.

So the flyer that I presented to you or that you see there, it's not in the presentation.

This is just a sample of what you're going to see in your partner toolkits will be providing you.

There are half sheet flyers that you'll have access to that have a QR code.

It will take you straight to the website and the survey link available in English and Spanish.

The flyers will be.

Again, also social media signage with digital photos and um and uh accompanying text to build a post.

And the website that we have will again outline the timeline.

It has FAQs and has a much more detailed history of the park.

I shared a very high-level overview, but it has a very robust um history of the of the land to help our survey takers be a little bit more informed about the park space.

Alright, so this is a very unique moment for Sacramento to shape the identity of our central, a very central public space.

We are committed to supporting our city leadership and making this process open, transparent, and genuinely reflective of the community voice.

And we want to thank you very much for helping us to kick this off and share in this very important work.

Again, we'll have our partner toolkits available for you next week prior to the survey launch, which will be on June 12th.

We have a lot of work to do, and we are really looking forward to working with all of you and helping us to do that outreach within the community.

And happy to take any questions.

I had one question.

Oh, one second.

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

There are none, Chair.

Thank you.

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

Commissioner Labor.

So I had a question on how are you gonna try to prevent what happened with the crisis or the issue that the name got rechanged, or you stop the name of Caesar Chevrolets.

Other ways that you could mitigate that, or it's kind of a hard question, but if you pick some name and then 20 years later, someone's gonna not like it.

Well, we will we're hoping to do very extensive outreach.

We would research any any name that we receive.

That's typically what we would do with our naming process.

Um, this park was named long ago.

Our naming policy, though it does require some updating, does require that staff research any particular recommendation prior to moving forward with a name.

Um we are open to exploring names that are not after individuals.

Um the survey, when you have an opportunity to take the survey, you will see that we are asking our participants to do some reflection on personal values, on values of our of our Sacramento community, and really thinking about Sacramento's history rather than maybe particular individuals as we're exploring what potential opportunities for names might be.

Yeah, I thought that'd be a good idea to look at other options other than a name of a person, maybe.

Absolutely.

That'll be considered.

Yes.

Thank you.

Commissioner Florinae.

Thank you so much, Jackie, for the informative presentation.

You kind of partly answered it already, but I was just wondering what kind of questions is the survey asking.

Because I know we want participants to fully understand the history of the park when they're suggesting a name, but what questions are like being asked specifically if you can answer that.

I can actually read the questions for you if you give me a moment.

I'll grab my computer.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you for your patience.

Okay.

So as I mentioned, we're really trying to get survey participants of the survey to think to kind of get them thinking prior to just making recommendations.

Though we aren't just providing a list of names, we are open text allowing any recommendations for names to come forward.

The questions will begin with an overview.

Again, we are leading survey takers to the website, which will have a very easy access link to the survey, but also open up with information more on the history of the park where survey takers can read a little bit more about the land.

So we'll provide a background on the park and ask the community that as they consider future name ideas to invite them to reflect on the history, cultures, and values that matter to Sacramento.

So we ask what themes or stories they feel should be reflected in the new park name.

And we list several options where the survey taker can select one, multiple or none, and it includes indigenous history and stewardship, Sacramento's early settlement and founding, cultural diversity, nature, ecology, and environment, community gathering and civic identity, the pharmacome movement, and agricultural heritage, labor worker rights, several options to really get people thinking and considering their values.

And if so, what historical cultural theme they feel is important to highlight.

And then we ask them, of course, what name they would like to submit for the park and why they think the name is meaningful for Sacramento.

So very open-ended, giving everyone an opportunity to share to share their feedback.

We also take an opportunity, optional, of course, to find out more about who our survey takers are and get information just about general park use, who's visiting the park, why are they visiting the park for what reasons?

That will help us as we move forward in this process and really think about activating Cesar Chavez Park a little bit more once we find a new name for that space and see what sort of improvements we can make there as well.

That sounds really comprehensive.

Thank you.

It should take less than five minutes, though.

Commissioner Vasquez?

Thank you, Chair.

And that was my question.

How long would it take?

Less than five minutes.

Yeah, that's fantastic.

It has four required questions.

Beautiful.

Okay, great.

And then you're talking about naming convention and to answer a question over here.

Can you please send the commissioners the current naming convention, the current naming policy that we have, and then any proposed changes?

I'm hearing you say that it needs some updates.

So I hopefully that's a part of the process that we would be involved with.

Yeah, so the naming policy is linked on the website.

They'll be available to commissioners and anyone who's it's actually available now.

If you visit city of Sacramento.gov/slash CC renaming, um, a CC park renaming.

Um that's something it's on our list uh to do.

Um it's a citywide policy that we'll need to be we will need to be addressing is something that we are we have been considering we would certainly bring to this commission for um recommendations.

Commissioner Flores.

All right, thank you, Chair.

Um, with the survey, I know I have a lot of questions, but um I didn't want to get too far ahead.

Uh regarding the survey and the ability to list names and ideas, is the survey also flexible?

Like you did mention, so maybe you maybe you can expound on it a little bit more.

If a if a community member says, I like this name, and then is there a field that says as to why?

Yes.

Now, is that an open field like a thousand characters, two thousand characters?

Because I know uh having conversations with staff, it's also it's always been the vetting process.

Like anyone can just say, Hey, let's name it the Joe Flores Plaza because Joe is cool, right?

Like, right?

I mean, that technically is the the history and the vetting, but like is that the the vetting itself the quality of vetting?

Like anyone can I suspect we'll get a lot of names that are quality, but how do we know it's quality unless they help us in uh doing some of that heavy lifting?

Because let's say we get a culturally significant, but it's not in my purview or I'm not aware of it, you know, like how we're gonna how are we addressing kind of the some quality names that may come up and then some of the reasons why, but if that reasoning is of quality, like kind of what uh commissioner labor was kind of asking about, right?

Like, how do we know the some of these potential names um rise to the top in a sense, and some of them are just like, like I said, the Joe Flores Plaza, like that's low on the list, right?

So how uh that was one question I do have is that level of vetting, like we're gonna let's say we get 30 names.

20 names are quality.

How do we know that they're quality?

Is my question first?

You know it's that's a really great question.

This process is obviously very unique and new for us.

We've been through the renaming process before, but not in this way.

Um, and so it's hard to really tell what um the turnout will look like, and but I would imagine that there will be many, many, many um recommendations.

And um, I think depending on the frequency and some commonality between some of the names is is what we would first use to kind of narrow down a sort of top list of recommendations, and then once we have a list of of the most frequently recommended names, start vetting them based on based on that data.

But we really won't know until until we have an opportunity to analyze and evaluate uh what some of the recommendations are.

I guess part of the fortunate thing sitting in this seat for quite a while is this is not the first time a name has come to Yip C and Commission, and there was multiple names, um, and this office and this commission being able to handle such a uh a charged uh emotional event.

So to see it again is uh, and especially with national implications and um so I know we've done it before and we can do it again, and so but given that some of us in this room were there that time, um is the issue of like ballot stuffing, right?

Let's say somebody bots it, right?

Like you get a thousand Joe Flores Plazas, right?

Like, how are we going to help mitigate some of the potential online shenanigans of ballot stuffing for lack of a better phrase?

Uh is there I I know one of the phases says hey, go back to the subcommittee.

Um so I know I have a question about the number of names probably presented in the subcommittee that will then trickle down to us in the commission.

Is it gonna be more one?

Is it gonna be three?

Is it gonna be five?

Are there some of the uh the parameters in this roadway of you know to November of like I said, shenanigans in that sense?

Unfortunately, there will be some of that.

Uh the number of uh uh of potential names and then the quality of the names, and then is there a top 10, top five?

Because if we're gonna be fair and equitable, making a motion is not necessarily fair and equitable in itself if there's multiple names.

If it's one or two, right, it's you vote for one or you vote for the other.

But let's say there's three quality names, five quality names.

How are we going to be fair and equable to five given the parameters of making a motion at the end of the day, right?

So given that uh uh I was there that time in 2019, uh August, and some of us staff live through those battle wounds, uh, and we know the importance of names and changing names and making sure the history of a name is correct.

Um so to mitigate that in the front to front-end mitigate some of those issues.

Uh, I'm I suspect some of those conversations were had in the in the background with the subcommittee with the mayor's office.

And so uh can you at least help us eliminate on some of the the thought process since we're not there yet, but we have to at least know it's coming uh because it has come before, so uh can you if you if you're able to, can you tell us some of that thought process?

Yeah, and again, I think a lot of it we will um kind of discover as we go through the process, but I know there won't just be one level of criteria applied to the evaluation, it won't just be what name has the most number of votes or recommendations.

Um, you know, we'll be evaluating, you know, what are Sacramento's values, what what what are we seeing reflected and and what's the value cultural value of the recommended names?

Um, what, you know, those are the sort of things that we'll be looking at.

Um, and I think I think it's the subcommittee's goal to bring forward a name that's most reflective of what the this is a community-driven process, it's most reflective what the community desires to bring forward, and and with the least amount of controversy, um, and something that is very representative of of Sacramento as a whole.

And so um I I don't believe that the subcommittee would move forward um conflicting or controversial choices.

I think their goal is to bring something forward to the parks commission that is going to be most agreeable and supportive by the larger community.

At this juncture, our plan is to just have this one survey.

But if we got to a position, we have a flexible enough process where if we needed to have another go out and have a final survey or do another assessment, say, hey, we have these top five names, right?

Or we have um that are very different, um, then that might be something we would consider doing as well.

That's not off the table.

Okay, because yeah, that's one one of my concerns, not not well, because we play a part in it, but given foreseeing what is going to happen, uh who's gonna take care of that burden of eliminating 20 good names to five to two to one, right?

Like, is it gonna be us?

Are we gonna get the five?

Is the subcommittee gonna help do that?

Or you know, like you said, I know this is gonna be a fluid conversation, so things could pivot.

But uh again, given what we have done together before in 2019, uh, and then the circle we want to get this right, and we've we have a playbook to kind of follow.

Uh, and then all the all the conversations we've had since 2019, you know, we've had um, you know, uh, we went through the COVID era, and then I know this commission has been very um well intentioned in when we do get namings of parks and elements, that it does have that level of equity.

I think we had an equity lens before the city even coined it, you know, the equity filter equity lens because we kind of did it one back 2019, then obviously the racial reckoning of 2020, 2021, and then all the names that's happened since, right?

We've always asked, hey, what what kind of criteria did you you know make in these names before we pass it to so I uh uh and I want to also reflect that part.

I know we're talking about the plaza across the street, but then I would also again sitting here for a long time uh at a previous iteration of this commission where then Chair Good and Vice Chair Lavelle did a subcommittee of looking at all at the time 230 names of the parts and at the time in 2020, 2021 where we were all looking at names that were problematic then, uh we did do uh I think the the staff report 2021 September is when Chair Good uh gave results that a couple of these names may need to be explored.

Um and I know this item is a recommendation to staff, and so however we recommend it to you, I'm I'm not trying to write the staff report, but I think there's an opportunity there to at least recognize the history that the commission has looked at the entirety of the park's names, and I think what stopped then was well, because we have the naming policy, you know, it's by city council decree making a special circumstance that we can then go move forward in making a name change happen.

Well, now we're here.

Now the special circumstance happened.

There's a special committee, and now we're on this pathway.

So I think when that staff report to city council does happen, if we can if if that part of the commission's report is reflected that hey, we did look at these names back then.

So it's not a new item.

We're not doing it because it's it's sexy in the news.

No, we did it in when it was uh a major issue in 21 and 20.

Uh and validate that work, and maybe that and when you write a staff report and gets codified at the end of the day, then that's the mechanism to then explore, okay.

Hey, in this in the plaza example, we did it like this.

Hey, there's these two names that got identified.

Let's use the plaza example that got codified in 26 as the starting point uh to take a look at those names.

So I I want to be reflective uh and mindful of the work previous work done and the previous work and possible work to come on some of those other names that were out there that were identified.

Uh and then this staff report could be that mechanism as we're as we were referenced or the staff report tonight referenced the you know this naming policy, right?

That there's a reason why the staff report does all that.

So I want to at least I don't know if it goes to the chair or it goes through staff that hey, just one little blurb of hey commission and 21 did take a look at that.

So I know I wanted to get that off my chest.

And then again, um just validating the multiple conversations throughout the years that this department is ready for an item like this with huge implications, right?

And because this this plaza topic is it's home in my in my family and my uh in my community specifically.

I have grandparents who immigrated who did uh who live in the Central Valley, and farm working is a big part of my history.

Um it's a big part of uh my in-laws, so they're the ones that immigrated.

Uh so my son is a product of that.

So when the news of this uh came down, and then and that immediate reaction is like we gotta change the name.

Okay, yes.

Believe women, let's do this, let's do it fair, let's do it uh equitable, let's do it transparent, given that we've had all these battles in the past, we're ready for this this this uh pathway.

Um this is not something that is gonna be taken light.

Like I said, uh it's there's gonna be a million names coming, and they're all gonna be great.

There's gonna be some shenanigans, and so we have to prepare for that because uh I know all these conversations have been had, uh, but I just at least want to if this is the kickoff that we acknowledge that part because this this journey is gonna take many twists and turns.

So if we can address some of these things before those twists and turns do happen, that we were prepared for it today in June, uh as a collective team because I suspect whatever commission meeting that does happen, it's gonna be a full night.

And I hate to be the bad guy to try to pick between five awesome names, right?

So um, but we'll see how fluid this is um and we'll go from there.

And I know we'll have many other questions, but just these are some top of mine, and I know I'm working on the naming project.

I have to follow the same process too.

Um, and you're right, it is to reflect Sacramento values and literally a pressure street is one of our shining park spaces, and let's name it correctly.

So uh with that, I know I rambled, but it's very personal to me in this case, and we're ready for it.

So I appreciate that feedback.

Thank you.

Commissioner Labor.

So we're the subcommittee members of those city council.

That's correct.

Okay, thank you.

And when we when we bring forward the recommended name um to Commissioner Flores's um point, there will be extensive background um information that supports the recommendation that's coming forward that will be available with that comes with the recommendation that shows why that name was is or name or names are being proposed for consideration.

Uh and and I want to acknowledge um the important role that this commission plays in this process.

We're starting here with this commission and we'll be ending with this commission in this process.

And I think that how we navigate this very unique situation will also help us to inform potential updates to our naming policy, right?

I think it's a great opportunity for us to take all of that into consideration as we're looking at potential revisions, and can learn from this experience as we go through it.

So thank you for all that feedback.

Commissioner Vasquez.

Which districts are on the subcommittee?

We have the vice mayor in District 3.

We have Mayor Pro Tem District 6, and we have District 4, Councilmember Blucky Baum.

All right, well, it looks like there are no other comments.

So thank you so much.

We look forward to participating in this process.

Thank you.

All right, so this uh was review and comment.

So we will move on to our next item, which is item number four, 916 state updates.

Is there a staff presentation?

Hello, I'm gonna get us kicked off.

Good evening.

I'm Sarah Musser, Park Mate and Superintendent with Youth Parks and Community Enrichment.

I'm here tonight to introduce Jennifer Holden, who's proposing a new community-based initiative called Park Sketchers.

As you all know, one of our ongoing goals is to encourage residents to discover and connect with park parks throughout the city, including some of our lesser-known neighborhood parks.

Programs like Park Sketchers support that goal by bringing community members into our parks for shared experiences that foster creativity, community connection, and appreciation for public spaces.

The concept is very simple.

Bring people together in parks to experience them in a new way by activating parks through positive low barrier activities.

We can help residents build a stronger connection to their local parks while highlighting the unique character of parks across Sacramento.

Jennifer is here tonight to share more about the program, its goals, and how it would operate.

So at this point, I'm gonna turn over to Ms.

Jennifer.

Good evening, everyone.

Thank you for this opportunity to speak with you this evening.

I had this idea.

If you've known me for a while, I am the Mangan Park Neighborhood Association leader.

I've been active in civic matters for five years on a variety of subjects.

And I get into rooms where people have conversations about stuff that's on their minds.

Um pilot program is an outcome of some of those conversations I have had with a variety of communities as I you know skip my merry way across uh Sacramento Neighborhood Associations and art chat rooms and uh you know also as a neighborhood association leader just what our concerns are about our parks and going to parks around the city.

And um, some of you have gotten texts from me where I'm in a different park that evening taking pictures, and I will pop you some pictures of parks in your your uh district.

So I love parks.

I love drawing, I love sketching.

And um I am happy to share an idea with you.

Sarah did a pretty good job setting it up.

Um I'm gonna kind of get a little quick here at this point, which is uh we could invite people to uh come together in their parks with whatever drawing materials they have.

And if it's their binder paper and their pencil or their ballpoint pin, that's fine.

All ages are welcome, it's a city park.

Everybody's welcome.

And you choose a part of your park to um sketch, draw, or if you do come with, you know, watercolors or something like that, you can paint.

And we, you know, it it starts off by we all come together, we say hi, we talk a little bit about what we love about the park, and then we go find a corner of that park and we sketch it.

We draw it, we paint it.

We have about an hour, hour and a half.

Come back together, share our work with each other, um, talk about what we saw in the park that we really love or admire or appreciate.

I think this is a great place to discuss 3 1 1 programs and how to report anything in the park that you might have also noticed that you want to report to the city.

And then people take pictures of their artwork to send into a parks department email address, and their artwork about that park can be posted on social media and distributed across the city networks as a way to promote that park and that community, and it gives the community something to rally around to share, and to remember a great day they had together in the park.

So that's the basis of the activities.

When people come together and they look at the same thing together enough, when they have something to share with the broader community, it builds community.

Increase access to visual arts opportunities.

Sacramento does not have the strongest visual arts community for a city our size.

I'd love to help get that going.

And then, yes, we're going to get people into their parks.

Oh, I am so sorry.

And I'm going to emphasize the part that no art experience is required.

If young families want to come in with their young children and a box of crayons, great.

Any art medium isn't welcome as long as it's non-toxic.

This program can also promote, you know, if you pack it in, you pack it out, leave the space cleaner than when you found it.

Not that it's a trash cleanup, but we could definitely promote, you know, if it's in the if it's ruining your picture, you could pick it up and put it in the trash can.

Um and then also just I think sharing uh the artwork with each other.

I have been to some events outside of Sacramento where we did this, and it is kind of touching to see what people notice and to see the park in ways you never thought you'd see it when you see it through other people's eyes.

So here's a little nitty-gritty.

Um, why is this a city thing?

Why why can we not just do this one park at a time?

So why am I here talking to all of you and putting this forward?

Because every city council district has some parks that are underutilized or underrepresented.

It's this is about promoting parks broadly in general across the entire city.

There are parks that people live a block away from and they don't know are there.

So it's not enough just to have a great little drawfest one day in the park and all go home and be happy.

This is this is a little bit of my passion about parks across the city, everywhere, the entire park system, making certain that it is as activated as possible and people know about the parks that are near them that they maybe didn't know were there because we've got so many parks, and some of them are kind of quiet.

So, how does that work?

We have eight city council districts, we have 12 months out of the year.

We have two months out of the year when being outdoors for two hours at a time isn't going to attract a lot of people.

I'm thinking like December and July or August.

Meanwhile, that leaves us 10 more months in eight city council districts.

So we could do one park in each city council district every year, and that would take up eight months worth of time.

So every city council district would have one park represented.

And it's my current idea that we would reach out to the neighborhood associations in that council district and ask them to nominate the parks, have them do a little search of all their parks and which ones do people know and which ones don't know, do they not know?

And then tell us about it, and we kind of take a little survey.

And then if we've got two more months left over where the weather is good, frequent participants, the people who do show up to a couple of events a year at least, we ask them what they want to do for the last two months.

Do they want to do an you know a well-represented park?

Something that would be, you know, very inspiring for them.

And then we have two months that are kind of participant vote.

And these would all be daytime, these would all be the weekends.

I'm thinking Saturday or Sundays, we can adjust the time of day based on the weather.

And maximum amount of time would be about three hours.

I don't at this point in time see any of these being so large that we would need to worry about being permitted for a park event.

I think we're going to be under the 50 people, and we can have a casual gathering starting at a certain time and with an ending time.

I think we're going to find two hours is about right, but you know, we can advertise it as three just in casers so that we've got a little coverage.

Um do you have any questions?

How have I done?

Is this Sarah's turn?

Yeah, I'll take one.

All right, there you go.

Um, I think the idea is to really think about programs like this to kind of incorporate into our 916 day events, which is why it's kind of fallen under this umbrella.

I don't want to wrap up this item yet and open it up to questions because I do want to invite Deanna to come up and give her her usual 916 day updates and then after that we'll be here to answer your questions.

Good evening, commissioners.

Uh, my 916 day update so far is we have done a few site walks.

Uh, one at Sacramento Softball Complex with Commissioner Uribe.

It looks like that's gonna materialize into a 916 project.

There's a lot to do out there.

Uh San Juan Reservoir and Stotch Park in Commissioner Robins District is also uh both of those things are viable 916 projects, and then South Side Park and Grant Park in Commissioner Labor's district have been walked.

So, my update to you is if you have any project ideas you would like to pursue for 916 volunteer events, please reach out via email with available dates, times, locations, and I'd be happy to schedule some time to go and check them out, and then from there we can decide on what tasks can be completed by volunteers.

Do you guys have any questions?

Okay, please reach out.

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

They're an unchair.

Thank you.

Commissioner Vasquez.

Thank you, Chair.

Um, my questions are of the sketchers program.

Is this an existing program?

Is this a proposed program?

Where is it housed?

What would the fees be?

What's the staff time?

I'm very confused as to is this an idea of a program or is this an actual program?

This is an adaption of a of a program that's focused a different way.

There is something internationally known as the Urban Sketchers International.

They um they are fairly professional, they travel the world and they work professionally as illustrators and artists.

They focus on cityscapes.

So, you know, most of the cities around us have an urban sketchers group.

Sacramento doesn't have one, which is a little odd.

However, when I think about the population of Sacramento and who who lives here, um I I found myself thinking it's not about starting up a cityscape sketching group for us, it's really about pulling communities together around something common, like their parks, to uh you know, fall in love with their parks.

So this is not an urban sketchers thing.

The other thing is urban sketchers tend to be professional artists.

There's a little barrier to entry, you kind of have to prove that you're ready to get in there.

Um and I wanted something that was low barrier, something that the high school students could do that families with young kids could do, everybody would be welcome to come in and do that.

So you can hear how I have been to some urban sketching events, I have met the people and learned about their organization, and taken something of the idea, but adjusted it for what I see as the needs of Sacramento and why Sacramento doesn't have one.

Um you know, we've got a different sort of population, we have different needs, and um our parks have needs also.

We have this amazing park system, so I'm trying to, you know, make some adjustments to fit.

Does that help you understand?

Yes, Ms.

Holden.

I understand the concept.

I think it's a lovely idea.

And I just want to thank you for your continued service in Sacramento to all of our districts and all of our parks.

You've been in a very um consistent advocate.

I appreciate that in you.

And I think maybe my questions are a little more technical and uh budget related.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Yeah.

Is this an existing program?

Is this something we're proposing?

What budget would fund it, and what would the budget be?

Um, this is not an existing program, it's a pilot program.

So it's an idea that we have um, you know, come with Jennifer to, you know, incorporate it into some of our 916 day events and some of our already established events to enrich them and build them up a little bit more.

Um, you know, we're always trying to expand our reach throughout Sacramento, so any additional thing that we can add that's fun that's gonna bring people out, we want to do.

And so, putting a spotlight onto our parks is something that's very interesting.

It's very something we're very interested in doing.

Wonderful.

And I'm hearing, um, I'm I guess I'm curious, would this be promoted through Yipsey?

Is this something that registration would happen through Yipsi?

I'm hearing that the art would be uh shared through our social media, so I'm assuming there's marketing team hours there.

What is the proposed amount of dollars this would cost the park department?

Uh we don't have enough budget established for that yet.

As I said, it's just gonna be incorporated into some of our events already.

Um it's gonna be volunteer led by our uh Jennifer that just kind of came up here and gave you this spiel.

Um, but I mean I can hand that off.

There's really no budget that's in that would be needed.

It's show up, we're already out there, bring your family, get to know your park.

There's no cost associated to that.

So they would not, would it go through our registration uh process through Gipsy?

We're still in the works of figuring that out.

Whether it needs to be a pre-registration program or just a drop-in, um, you know, there's still behind the scene things that we're still trying to figure out.

We're just providing it to you as information that, hey, this is an opportunity that we've been engaging with the public about.

Great.

Like that it's um in our 916 day realm or bubble or sphere, if you will.

Um, but I am very concerned about you know, our budget, which is so depleted at this point.

And I'm concerned that we have an existing facility, uh, our 28th and B skate park that is shuttered to the public for a $60,000 save, and that we're piloting new programs.

So I would like to, you know, maybe at the end of the day, come back around to what's it gonna take to get our existing uh programs that we've lost back or existing facilities back up and running before dedicating staff time to new projects.

This one sounds like it could be very easily run through neighborhood associations and uh 501c3 nonprofits, so I'm hoping to lean onto them.

Happy to share out this information.

Thank you so much.

Commissioner Flores.

Uh, yeah, thank you, Chair.

Um, maybe Jennifer can come back or um are there any because this is pilot?

Is there any demonstrations coming up, any pre-volunteer dates coming up already that's kind of incorporating this?

Whether it's whether it's the schedule program itself or like a a uh um, yeah, maybe it is a neighborhood association type event that's um at a park, right?

Is there already a couple of I'm a visual learner, I'm a doer, so I need to see it to kind of fully embrace it.

Uh is there any any couple of them coming up on the calendar uh uh informally so we can we can see it and be like, oh wow, this is what this presentation was about, you know.

Yeah, I guess that's my question.

At the moment they're not.

This is a pilot program.

So the pilot, the program itself would be our, hey, we're trying it out.

Okay.

Can I jump in real quick?

So is it correct me if I'm wrong because I'm hearing this under 916.

So what is this being presented as like, so I've been slacking, I haven't done anything.

So I could say, hey, since I haven't done anything for 916, can I do a park sketchers thing for that?

And that's kind of like the pilot, and that's how it would be kind of tucked under this, and that's kind of how like we would be paying for it because I have to do something anyway for 916.

Is that how we're hearing it?

And that's like how we're kind of gonna start out as the pilot and why it's a part of 916.

Well, I think the what we're seeing is a supplement to those things.

So it's an additional add-on benefit to 916 Day.

We're already in the park, we're doing a cleanup, and you know, sometimes we end early, sometimes, you know, but there's a lot of other things that can happen.

So we've had tabling out at our 916 days, we've had swag, we've had different, you know, organizations coming out.

Um, so this is just another thing to that.

I think this commission wants transparency, wants to give feedback, and so this is what we're trying.

Hey, we're gonna add, you know, an additional component to some of the things we're already doing at zero cost or very, you know, just staff time that's already working on 916 day.

There's nothing additional here, just an outside partnership that would be helping to facilitate, you know, an add-on to our already awesome 916 days.

Thank you.

Commissioner King.

Yes, um, thank you for sharing.

Thank you, Jennifer, for coming.

Um, I have spoken with Jennifer several times about this program.

Um, what I loved about it is that it is a partnership between parks and community-led, I would I'm gonna call an organization.

Um, and it is something new.

I think it's unique because it is very low barrier and free.

So it is simply an organized way to bring people who sketch together in our parks, um, and I see it as a great way to provide programming and partnerships with our community organizations, our neighborhood associations, and I'm hoping that this pilot will help to build more things like this.

Um, I've spoken before about you know, partnering with community-led organizations.

How can we provide free programming that are low cost or low barrier specifically for city staff, and I think this is a really good example of how that can work.

It is new, it's something that we don't normally see because we're often seeing already robust programming from provided from our city and our city staff.

So this is just to supplement the programs that might have gone away or been reduced as an alternative in activity, engagement, whatever you want to call it.

Um, I'm excited about this.

I've seen some of Jennifer's work, it's beautiful.

I think she's been very thoughtful about this presentation.

So again, thank you, Jennifer.

Um this the amount of research that you did was really um amazing, and I really do appreciate your work on this, and I'm excited to see this move forward.

Um just to see what it will be like.

So I am excited to attend.

I have zero artistic ability, so just wait for that.

Um, but from what I've seen, I think this could be a really great free program for our city of Sacramento and whatever we want to call them people, the people of the city of Sacramento.

And so yes, that's the word I was looking for.

Um, and so I hope you keep that in mind.

Um, but I yeah, I don't think I don't think this is gonna take a lot of uh focus away from other programs.

I think the city staff are also focused on those areas as well.

Um, this is just in addition to, but maybe I'm wrong.

I'm eager to see what your thoughts are.

Commissioner Flournoy.

Thank you, Chair.

I was just wondering how um outreach would work for this.

Like, would it be all added on as like a side note to 916 Day outreach?

So, like, hey, volunteers are gonna come work on this park, and if you want, you can also bring like your sketching materials and you can come join the Sacramento Park Sketchers.

So, how would how would that work specifically?

Yeah, I think it's gonna be a joint marketing effort.

Um, you know, hey, we have 916 day, and we're also gonna be featuring the park sketchers program.

Um, you know, I could also see where you know it happens outside of a 916 day, you know, in coordination with another event.

So it's gonna be park sketchers are gonna be there as like we got more stuff.

Nice.

Okay, that makes sense.

Thank you.

Commissioner Flores.

Thank you, and I don't want to take too much longer on this.

Uh um.

For example, I live near Bell Coolidge Community Center.

If I wanted to do the outdoor activity Monday, the Monday, Wednesday, Friday outdoor eight o'clock class with the the older folks that do the mobility.

That's a free class, correct?

I know.

Yeah, that's a free class under the the community.

I'm stepping back from 916 day, but um, but this is still Yipsey related at a community center of a program that is off the correct me I'm wrong, she the the lead person does it as a volunteer, but it's structured as somebody who can then uh there's like 50 people.

I see them every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, right?

So given that framework, and I think that kind of goes to what Commissioner Vasquez is kind of saying, like there are mechanisms to do something cool and awesome under an umbrella that is low barrier, low resource, volunteer led, and then people come through.

So I think there's a there.

I don't know if 916 day umbrella is the mechanism, but like speak, you know, Bell College can all use all the programming uh from volunteers and being scared, because there's the dog park, there's the trail, there's a trail and there's this and there's that, and that's just and that's walking distance from our neighborhood, and then don't sell yourself short.

I know you said five years.

I know we've been working together since 2019, so that's more than five years.

So um, so I think there's a there could be a there.

We could and you know, I know council member council members always doing events under their umbrella that utilizes Yipsey, so and and stuff like that.

So I think I don't know if 916 day might be the I that could be the the the first touchstone, but there's other paths and other umbrellas that this could fall under, and like I said, I have to see it in in motion to be like okay, well, maybe it needs to be over here.

So there's a there's a there, there and uh just you know, food for thought.

Thank you.

I can't answer your question about the community center though.

I saw staff of I know we're talking about community centers.

No, I I know that's community centers, but I know but we're this but because it's Yipsey and I know we're talking about 916 days, so I uh I apologize for kind of going outside.

No, I and I don't think I had a question, I think I just rambled and made a statement, but in in um identifying a pathway to to if this is something to move forward with, I think there are avenues to explore other uh there's potential other partnerships or other avenues of activation.

Like I said, under maybe even under council umbrellas.

An example, like I said, there's this nice person who does structured stuff within the community center.

Like I know there's a relationship there, but it's at I believe at zero or minimal, like, you know, so um because there's other uh tangible examples that are currently in the system that is mindful of the the resources that we do and do not have, um, but not to let a bad idea a good idea go to waste, so thank you.

Commissioner Vasquez?

Thank you, Chair.

Um, I would like to acknowledge uh Commissioner Flornoye's idea to do a chalk it up type event for 916 day, uh, which is also artistic bringing community together to create art for 916.

And I believe that the advice from the fellow commissioners was a 916-day event has to be a park improvement process.

So I'd like to revisit having chalk it up if this is the way we're gonna go with 916 day having art events uh in collaboration and in tandem and make sure that that idea can be captured because I think it's a really good one.

Oh, separately, Deanna, um I have a question for you.

Uh District 6 did our tree planting earlier this year, at which point I handed out our 916 day hats.

I I think my question is are you expecting another um event out of District 6 for 916?

I haven't had one come across my desk.

Is there one I should be expecting?

I'm so glad I asked.

Um so I thought our tree planting was our 916 day event.

Okay, so then we'll whip up another one.

Okay.

Commissioner Lever.

Thank you very much for your comments.

I just got a question on you'd mentioned like a process or a formula, how parks are picked.

Can you explain that a bit?

There was like a period you talked about eight months, twelve months.

How does that work again?

There's eight districts.

The goal is to have 10 events.

So eight would be within those districts.

So district one would have one, district two would have one, district three, so on and so forth.

And then the two remaining to get to 10 would be up to the group to vote.

Now, this isn't a stand in stone thing.

This is just an idea.

This is just an idea of how we would select the pro the parks within the first round.

We'd also love recommendations from you all.

Um I think Jennifer mentioned that you know your parks better than a lot of people.

So I think you can make recommendations on parks that might be good for the park sketchers program.

This is part of what we're here for is to hear recommendations of of parks that you think would be good.

And then multiple parks would be picked in each district.

One park for each district, one quarter, and then there would be this is a goal.

It's not, you know, that's what was presented.

So we want to do 10 events, and there's 12 months out of the year.

So each district would get a month, and the remaining two would be voted on or decided amongst the folks that are participating in the park sketchers program.

Have you looked at grants potentially or ways to help fund your goals, or what do you think?

At this point, it's just a pilot program, and we're expecting zero cost to implement it.

Yeah.

Then my last question is do you have ways that you can measure the success of what you're doing?

Yes, we can do informal uh surveys as well as formal surveys if as we do for a lot of programs to measure so we have quantitative and qualitative data.

Yeah.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

All right.

Any other questions for 916 day?

All right, then well, this item is receive and discuss only.

So thank you.

Thank you so much, Jennifer, for sharing um your idea, and I can't wait to see uh how it comes to fruition.

Thank you, all of you.

All right.

Um, so this was receive and discuss only.

No vote is required.

Um so now we will move on to the next item, which is item number five, uh civic engagement unit 2025 overview.

Looks like there will be a staff presentation.

Evening, Commissioner, Sean Swanson, recreation manager.

I work with, among other teams, the civic engagement unit.

Um I'm gonna give a brief overview of the uh report that was included in the agenda for the receive and discuss item.

And then I'm also gonna use the opportunity to give just a little bit of an update on what we anticipate for the civic engagement unit um in the upcoming year, as I know it was one of the items that was of concern with the budget discussions.

Um, so uh to start with uh civic engagement unit empowers Sacramento youth with knowledge, resources, and opportunities to advocate and engage with their communities.

The civic engagement unit is comprised of two primary components, the first being its support for the Sacramento Youth Commission, which was established in 1993.

A highlight of it was that in 2025, the number of members appointed to the SAC Youth Commission reached an all-time high of 18, where commissioners engaged in eight business meetings and 10 capacity training sessions facilitated by Yipsey staff.

Um the youth commission is a commission just like this commission is here.

I mean, they meet in these chambers and have similar types of duties, produce a work plan, and all the similar things that you all do as commissioners.

Um the second major component of the civic engagement unit is the Summer at City Hall Program.

Uh the San Mark City Hall program is in person at City Hall, where participants are immersed in local government firsthand and giving valuable insights on how to become an active citizen in their community.

The City of Sacramento's Department of Youth Parks and Community Enrichment has partnered with Natomas Unified, Twin River Unified, and Sacramento City Unified School Districts for over 12 years to bring this program to life.

And it's really a collaborative program that is run in conjunction with them, their staffs, and then we have MOUs for those programs.

At the end of the program, students present an advised project called Project City Hall.

They develop the project in small peer groups and present it at City Council meetings or at a city council meeting.

New for 2025 was the offering of semester at City Hall, an offshoot of the summer at City Hall program, incorporating many of the same principles and focuses.

Although this one is run entirely by Gipsy staff, and it's done in a format that balances with the school year's availability of students.

I'd like to draw your attention to the slide where we've got kind of an overview of some of the key demographics and just kind of describing the program.

The first one is a breakdown of how many commissioners we've had seated in the youth commission.

And as you can see, we've had increase year over year with 18 seated throughout the year in 2025.

It's a reminder that we have two seats for each commission or for each district, and then three for the mayor's office on that commission.

And those are appointed by the council members and through the same kind of process that you all would have gone through.

Currently, we do have three open seats for the commissions, four, six, and seven.

The second one is a graph showing the participation amongst our districts for all of our civic engagement programs.

Now, this is a combination of not just the youth commission, but also of all our summer at City Hall and Civistar at City Hall participants.

The third graph shows the education level of our participants.

Now, it's not the final education level that most of these participants are going to achieve.

It's truthful the grades that they are in at this point in time.

We tend to have very high achievers that gravito towards these programs.

But I think it gives kind of a nice breakdown of like who, what ages we're kind of serving right now.

As our summer at City Hall program is largely focused on, you know, the 10th and 11th graders, you see a higher participation level there, but our youth commission is all the way up to age 22 that we have on there.

So that's where the college representation is on that.

And then if you also look at the graph that shows the different ethnicities and race that we have in our participation, you can see that we're actually serving a really diverse group that I think is well representing the Sacramento community.

So there's a lot of kind of key things that I think are going really well with the programs.

And then I'd like to just give a little bit of an update kind of where we're at.

As we're in the budget discussions, Civic Engagement was facing some, and well, we haven't seen our new budget yet, but it's looking promising that we will have some restorations on there.

Originally there was looking like Summer at City Hall may be a program that was getting cut.

We anticipate that it is going to be restored.

And so the good news about that is that we did have in place for this summer still a version of summer at City Hall, even though we currently don't have the staff that would be running that program.

Currently, we only have one staff dedicated to civic engagement, and to be fully functional and run full programming, we would want at least two full-time staff and then a couple of part-time staff associated with that.

We anticipate those being returned in the next uh fiscal year for our budgets on there, and we have created a program where we're still going to be running a summer at City Hall program.

It's modified slightly.

We're gonna run two different cohorts the Monday Wednesday cohort and the Tuesday Thursday cohort, and then both cohorts meeting together on Fridays on there.

We're still gonna serve approximately 80 youth.

We actually just bumped up the wait list or the capacities on there and brought in several students off of the wait list.

Um but we believe from this one on here, and then with the restoration of those positions, we'll be able to return to full normal summer at City Hall operations for future fiscal years.

Um and that's the updates I have, and I'm available for any questions.

Thank you so much.

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

Chair there are none.

Thank you.

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

All right, I will start.

So thank you so much.

I know this uh program means a lot to a lot of people, a lot of young people who have participated um in the program.

So I actually just have like a demographic question for you.

I don't know if you would actually uh know this, but um under the uh the race and ethnicity where it says two or more.

Do you guys is the box just two or more?

Do you actually ask like what the two or more uh races are?

I believe we don't ask what the two or more races are.

I think it's just two or more, but I can double check on that and get back with you.

Okay, perfect.

Um, because just you know, a lot of studies have gone into data and like that that those could be very different things.

Um I mean uh and have very different outcomes for young people depending on what that is.

Um, and then also um I see that it is a very diverse group, but I notice that um we do not have a category for uh American Indian Alaska Native or Native American students, so that could be zero, or we could be grouping them under other, and you guys know I feel very strongly that we do a land acknowledgement, and then we don't do anything for our native people.

So I don't expect you to have that number, but if you could email me and let me know um if there are any native students that are a part of this year.

I'm fairly sure that it is a category that we do let them select, but I will double check on that for you.

Perfect.

Thank you.

All right, no one else has added their names to the list, so if that is accurate, um, like I said, this is fantastic um information to see.

Like I see all the districts represented.

I'd love, I can't tell if mine is the five percent or the six percent, but either way, I'll definitely make sure that district eight uh gets that number bumped up because this is a very very important program, and I love um you know that everyone has advocated to make sure that you guys get those positions back.

Um, you know, because as we all have seen with this budget stuff, uh civic engagement is very important, and our young people need to know uh how this works in the real world so they can continue to advocate for themselves.

So uh thank you so much.

Um, and yeah, no one else has added themselves to this.

It looks like you got off early tonight.

I was like, you got up early tonight.

Commissioner Vasquez.

Thank you, Chair.

Um, I think I did have a question earlier, and I'm glad you brought up uh the stats.

Is and forgive me if this is the wrong presentation, I don't have an agenda in front of me tonight.

Is this the one where district one had more uh participants than any other district?

Is that this presentation or the next one?

Uh I believe district one's pres representation and participants on this was higher than other districts.

Significantly so, correct?

Yeah, I believe so looking at the graph.

Yeah, to what do we attribute that?

Um I think their demand for or they tend to have a significant amount of students participating in the summer at City Hall program.

Um, and that maybe portion partially is a product of where uh so in the summer at City Hall program, traditionally the school districts I play a big role in selecting who the students are that participate in the program.

Um so they select each school district has a certain amount of slots that they have on there, and then they're the ones that select where or who the candidates are that they're gonna put into the program.

Um and I believe in this year it's possible that they had selected a higher proportion of ones that were particularly in D1.

Do we have more districts in D1 school districts?

I mean, do we have what is it like a Thomas and Twin Rivers?

Do they all encompass D1?

Is that maybe the maybe they should have less slots if they have more districts?

I mean, I'm just trying to figure it out because I remember looking at this graph and I was significantly like it's like D1 and everybody else.

So how do we Yeah, we I we can we can certainly look at that and I'll I'll take that under consideration as we look at MOUs for the different uh the different for next year on there.

Um they do pay for their own students as as portion of it.

Um, you know, as an MOU slide is a portion to consider as we look at how we we budgeted as well.

Commissioner Florinelli.

Thank you, Chair.

Um, I just wanted to say thank you so much for this presentation.

This program is very important to me because I was a part of this program for two years as a participant and then a peer mentor and so I'm very glad that students advocated for it.

And I'm very glad it will be returning.

So thank you so much.

Alright thank you so this item was receive and discuss only no vote is required.

So now we are going to move on to the next item which is item number six community centers overview it looks like staff is coming forward for a presentation.

Good evening commissioners my name is Samantha Vu I'm the recreation superintendent supporting community centers for Yipse.

As you guys may know community centers manages and operates 15 community centers and clubhouses throughout the city of Sacramento.

Our dedicated team of 38 career professionals including our program supervisors, career program team, customer service staff and custodial work together to ensure these facilities remain welcoming accessible and responsible to community needs.

Community centers truly serve as a lifeline of community care and support through our programming for all ages and abilities whether we're supporting youth and teens during after school hours or providing opportunities for older adults to stay active and connected or offering safe and welcoming spaces for community gatherings our centers truly play a vital role in strengthening our neighborhoods and enhancing quality of life in addition to our course services community partnerships are essential to our community partnerships with organizations such as Sacramento Public Library, the YMCA, Cista Bees, Cal Asian Chamber of Commerce, Youth Explosion among many others expand programming opportunities to better meet the diverse needs of the city.

The highlights from this fiscal year 2025 include 2,038 youth and teens enrolled in the summer summer oasis programs across nine park and community center locations 1290 awarded through the YPSF or the youth program scholarships which provided access to recreation and enrichment opportunities for 193 participants through April 30th 2025.

1,082 rental permits that were issued for weddings family celebrations community meetings and special events and then more than 288000 in rental fees were waived for nonprofit organizations and community groups which helped reduce financial barriers for accessing our public spaces the reservations office which is part of the community center team issued 526 youth athletic field permits 225 adult athletic field permits and then the youth athletic field permits served approximately 1400 to 15 thousand participants in 2026 so far youth participation has increased to an estimated 16,000 to 1700 participants.

In 2025 we waived over 10400 and more than 8700 waived so far in 2026.

If you haven't already I know Joe seems really familiar with our community center programs I would like to invite each of you to visit your local community center whether that's during our summer programs or even just checking out our senior programs which have been such a huge hit lately.

So with that thank you and I'll be here if you have any questions.

Thank you.

Are there any members of the public who would like to speak on this item there are none chair.

Thank you are there any members of or are there any commissioners who would like to speak on this item Commissioner Flores.

Thank you Sam thank you for the name check I was going to name check you back right now too.

Oh uh no I wanted to recognize you know community centers we all know play a big part of this city and uh when I was at that one council meeting where both the the aforementioned older folks who do bell coolidge Monday Wednesday Fridays took up literally that whole section right there but then they were shouting you out so just uh kudos to you and the team of how really important community centers are when a catalyst event like budget talks come how very important it magically becomes right so just whatever you all are doing keep doing that um because the community as you saw you know really uh appreciates the efforts that the staff that you know the treatment that and customer service that staff gives back to the community it you know it feeds itself and uh it was very beautiful to see how how happy they were to see you and your team so I just wanted to acknowledge that part out too uh and then I know Anthony's right there in the wing I know uh uh how to create an event at Maryon Park that required some permits and the staff customer service was awesome even though yes I am a commissioner but I was just a regular Joe citizen and just the accountability of making sure everything is correct uh to create a youth serving event um that you know past muster and to receive you know I I'm always happy when I get that email that says here is your permit because you earned it right so because we did it the right way but we can't do it the right way without staff saying hey don't forget this don't forget that what's your trash plan what's this what's the safety plan all that stuff because it's those minute those details that make a uh an event safe um but with staff with staff making sure that is a priority because then it's the invisible in the invisible logistics behind the scenes and the the the appreciation of uh attention to detail and that makes you know community centers and I know Robbie and I we do a community center event in October so it's just it's it's a it's a focal point in the community it sometimes goes unnoticed but when when it comes down to it they notice it back so just you know like I said kudos to the team that helps out the the customer service aspect of it that sometimes gets lost in everything that's out there but when we see this presentation every year I always try to make sure that you all get your flowers because without these community centers um it's not the Pennell Center but you know my my Bell Coolidge is small but mighty uh you know it's uh it's very appreciated so thank you very much.

Also thank you for showing up I know it meant a lot to them going back to them after that meeting and if you guys didn't get to see it there was I think a 93 year old senior who has been attending Bell Coolidge for quite some time so it's been uh a really great experience to watch us really make that center more robust so I appreciate it.

Commissioner Vasquez chair what are our proposed changes um do we have a budget update or what's proposed for community centers going forward.

Currently there are no proposed changes for community centers.

We worked really hard the last couple of years to make sure we're able to sustain our programs.

So there's not going to be no major changes at this time.

Beautiful thank you.

Alright well um I will just say you guys all know how I feel about community centers.

I live in district eight um and the Pennell Center is you know really a central focal point of our district you can see um you know obviously by the visits um you know how important the day uh the center is um to our neighborhood um I had spoken a couple months ago about the work event that I was able to have um for the state of California there and just how proud I was to share the community center there.

I'll be having um a family event there my grandma is turning 95 this month um you know we're having her party there um you know it's just really great to be able to have something in the community local you know I grew up in South Sack between district five and district eight so you know that's um always been a part of you know my Sacramento story so you know I love our community centers.

And I will give a shout out to Bell Coolidge.

My son has taken uh dance classes with uh Joanna for Joanna Joanna's kids are it for the last three years.

And I um just recently I had to go to her studio and it's actually, out in Carmichael, and when I made that drive, and I thought to myself, never again, and he would not be able to take, you know, afford because she's very affordable, so he would not be able to take affordable dance classes if it wasn't for her being a partner of the city of Sacramento and offering it at Bell Coolidge because I'm not making that drive so so grateful, you know, that the city has partnerships um like they have with Joanna, who's fantastic, and like I said, three years that he's been um taking classes with her.

So the classes that are offered through partnerships at the community centers, the staff, like I said, I've been able to get to know the staff at the Pennell Center.

Um, you know, Thea at the front desk at Pennell.

If you guys get to know her, she's she walks me through all the paperwork all the time.

You would think I'd know how to fill it out by now, you know.

But she's fantastic, like I said, the people at uh Bill Coolidge.

So, you know, if you guys are not familiar with your your centers, make sure you go.

Um, but we're just really grateful, you know, for the staff in the centers and all that they do, you know, for the the community.

So, you know, always great to have you guys.

Uh, thank you for all of all of this.

Um, it does not go unnoticed.

Thank you so much.

I'll bring those flowers back to our team.

All right.

Well, that was uh receive and file only.

No vote is required.

Uh so we are going to move on to the next agenda item, Department of Youth Parks and Community Enrichment Highlights.

Good evening again.

Uh Jackie Beacham, director of youth parks and community enrichment.

I'm going to kick us off with our highlights and begin with a quick update on where we were at in the budget deliberation and adoption process, and then I will allow our assistant directed director Shannon Brown to close out with some overall department highlights.

So, just want to share as we many of you are aware we've been navigating over the last month and a half or so budget deliberations.

I last presented to you an update on uh the proposed baseline strategies that were included in the proposed budget, and I want to express my appreciation to many of you who um uh showed up at council and and advocated for um the youth parks and community enrichment department to ensure that um all of the really critical programs and services that our department provides for the community um were heard and and um I believe all of your voices were heard because I'm hopeful that the outcome that we'll see on Tuesday will be in favor of restoring many of the programs and services provided by our team.

So we heard on um May 12th there was a discussion based on feedback from the deliberations on May 5th, where council members had identified the top three restorations among members to identify funding strategies of those three top items.

Two of them were from our department.

One of them were the restoration of our waiting pool operations, and the other was the restoration of our recreation swim hours at all of our neighborhood pools.

At that meeting on the 12th, council uh majority of council voted to restore those items.

So we are expecting to see our waiting pools and our recreation swim pool neighborhood hours restored with the adopted budget on June 9th.

Also at that meeting, council discussed additional items that were in the majority or top number of council memos that were submitted among council members, and council came back and discussed those items at the following council meeting.

Items discussed that were from Yip C included positions that support our older adult services department, included 26 park maintenance worker positions, included summer city hall positions, two positions.

Sean spoke briefly about those, and um two positions from our youth workforce development program.

Um council majority of council voted to identify funding to restore all of those items.

So we are hopeful that on June 9th, all of those items that I just mentioned, including our pools, will be part of the restorations in the proposed budget that goes before council.

There still are some reductions that we're facing besides the items that I mentioned.

We have several vacancies that will be eliminated.

We'll continue to be identifying operational efficiencies to ensure that we are operating as efficiently and responsibly as possible.

I'm really proud of the work that our team has done over the last several years to continue continue that work.

We will continue to have a deficit next year, even with these restorations.

But this is really great news for us if the budget is adopted with these restorations.

I think it just really shows the value that our department and our team brings to the community.

So happy to answer any questions, but we won't really know until we get through the 9th, and hopefully can bring back more information to you in August when we return from break.

Shannon?

Thank you.

So for the department updates for 28th and B skate park.

For summer, we have camps scheduled at the skate park.

There are no open skate park special events for summer as attendance in the hot months is limited.

The RFP for the skate park operator is currently open on planet bids, and all the current providers have been notified.

And the bid will close on June 5th.

Pending award notification and contract execution, the city anticipates operations beginning fall of 2026.

For summer 2026, we have several skate camps provided by Rob Skate and Ya Skate.

Registration is open and spaces are available for youth ages 7 to 14, Monday through Friday from 9 a.m.

to noon.

We have time blocks of June 15th through June 19th, June 22nd through the 26th, July 6th through the 10th, July 13th through the 17th.

And then the next skate block would be for youth ages 7 to 12 with Rob Skate Monday through Friday, 9 a.m.

to noon, July 20th through the 24th, July 27th through the 31st, and August 3rd through the 7th.

In addition to our seasonal and internal programs and contracted camps and classes, we're open for rentals.

For example, on May 30th, Project Lifelong rented the facility for a youth event.

SkateMD hosts their skate clinics there several times a year under the fee waiver for the youth with disabilities and fully supported by volunteers.

Uh was recently a site of the 2026 TYR Pro Swim Series, a premier four-day meet featuring top-tier national and international athletes and served as a high profile platform for Olympic veterans and rising stars gearing up for future trials.

Over 19 Olympians from multiple countries traveled to Sacramento along with 350 other elite athletes to compete for over 100,000 in prize money.

The meet was run in partnership with DART and USA swimming in coordination with the city.

The venue received high praise and is recognized as a world-class facility suited for national circuit events.

The summer aquatic season is starting at our neighborhood pools, and as local districts start their summer break.

North Natomas Aquatic Complex began its summer rec swim this week.

Johnston Robertson Doyle will open June 7th, and the rest of the neighborhood pools start on June 13th.

Our junior giants program is underway with nearly 900 youth ages 5 to 17 participating in T ball, baseball, and softball at Lamb Park.

Our hands-on parent and volunteer training event is coming up this Saturday, June 6th from 10 a.m.

to noon on Diamond 3.

Practice and games begin next week.

If you are interested in volunteering, visit our website for more information.

Expanded learning updates.

Come celebrate with us Saturday, June 6th, as our fourth R is celebrating its 40th year anniversary.

The party will be at North Natomas Aquatic Complex.

All of our splash pads are open citywide and functioning for the season.

Our park rangers responded to over 1,020 calls for service and over 160 homeless response calls.

Over Memorial Day weekend, our rangers responded to 100 calls for service, posted 90 picnic permits, and supported multiple special events over a three-day weekend.

And our rapid response team completed seven park cleanups last month.

And those are it for updates.

Thanks.

Thank you.

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

All right.

Oh, yes.

Oh.

Commissioner Vasquez.

Thank you.

There.

Thank you for the update on the skate park.

So at this time, it's just 7 to 14 or youth camps in blocks that are paid to private contractors.

Do we have any idea as to when it would open back up to the public or have free open, not free, but open public skate for adults?

I know the last time we cut the ribbon at the skate park, I think the average age of the participants were between 35 and 45 years old.

So we've lost the ability to serve that population.

Do we have any any ideas as to will we be able to recapture that?

I believe once the we receive the bids from the potential contractors that want to operate the facility.

Then in the fall we would definitely gear up and know what open camps or you know open skate time we'd be able to provide.

But until we get those, we really need to see what they're offering for operation of the facility.

But we'll provide you an update as soon as possible.

So we're asking them to tell us what they can provide instead of saying this is what we want you to provide.

Well, we provided a scope of what our needs, our needs are, but again, when they provide the proposal, we'll have, you know, really in depth of what they would be able to support.

Great.

Thank you, Shannon.

Thanks.

All right.

Well, we are going to move on, and since we are past 90 minutes of this meeting, I'm going to flip the schedule a little bit and I'm going to move directly to public comments matters not on the agenda, just in case we run out of time.

So are there any members who would like to speak on this item?

Um, there are chair.

We have two Carla Black and then Zeus.

Good evening.

Um, okay.

Good evening, Terran Commissioners.

My name is Carla, and I'm asking that this commission, I'm asking this commission to publicly agendize and discuss the city of Sacramento's proposed Title 17 cannabis zoning changes.

Staff and council seek to put drugs next to parks and use centered programs.

This commission exists to protect and enhance and promote the safe parks, recreation spaces, and community programs for Sacramento residents, especially for children and families.

Yet today the city is considering rolling back long-standing protections that were specifically designed to keep cannabis businesses further away from youth serving spaces, residential neighborhoods, churches, parks, and other sensitive uses.

Please ask yourselves why are we moving highly intoxicated, highly addictive cancer-causing products closer to the very parks, recreation facilities, and youth programs.

This commission works so hard to support.

And this is not theoretical.

Just recently in Sacramento, an armed robbery at a cannabis business turned into a deadly gun battle involving a dispensary security guard and armed suspects exchanging gunfire.

These are the types of public safety risks that come along with industries with this industry.

Armed robberies, violence, impaired driving, and dangerous criminal activity.

Children should not be placed closer to these environments.

Because these are proposed zoning changes directly affecting parks, recreation spaces, youth activities in neighborhoods, quality of life.

This commission should have a voice in the discussion before irreversible decisions are made.

I respectfully ask that you add Title 17 to a future agenda.

Publicly discuss the impacts these changes have on parks, youth programs, families, and surrounding neighborhoods and formally oppose weakening these protections.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Zeus.

You'll have two minutes.

Hi, Chair and Commissioner.

My name is Ziz and I am nine years old.

I like swimming and playing baseball and playing with my friends at the park.

I know that cannabis is a drug and drugs make people's brain six.

I'm asking the parks community.

Parks and community.

Enrichment.

Enrichment.

Commission to please discuss the city's new cannabis zoning changes at a future meeting.

This commission is supposed to protect kids like me.

So I don't understand why the city wants to move cannabis businesses closer to places where me and my friends play baseball and where other kids play.

Drugs are harmful for everyone, especially young people, because their brains are not fully developed, developed.

And these drug stores have even been involved in robberies and violence.

Please think about my safety and kids first.

I ask you to please discuss helping protect Sacramento's children and neighborhoods.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for being here and for your comments.

We really appreciate it.

All right, clerks, we are going to go back to commissioner comments ideas and questions.

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

Commissioner Vasquez.

Thank you, Chair.

I was absent last time, so I do have a double for you today.

Happy Pride month to everyone.

Happy Gemini season to all of our Geminis.

I've been very inspired this week thinking about our role as commissioners with uh budget cuts seeking to, you know, possibly cut commission uh time in half, cutting from 10 meetings to possibly five meetings.

I've been thinking about my Geminis and how my favorite Geminis have the ability to see all sides of an issue.

That's their special talent, right?

And I feel like as commissioners, that should be our special talent as well.

That not only do we listen to what our community members are asking of us and to their requests, but also watch the implementation of our of our parks plan 2040 and make sure that that's in alignment.

Talk to our council offices, see what their wishes are, and hear from Yipsey what their constraints are, what their goals are, what their plans are.

That really is seeing all sides of it and then combining in our own expertise to help advise the policies that are within that draft uh plan or excuse me, our finalized plan, parks plan 2040.

And I really enjoyed seeing uh in our agenda the points in the parks plan in our um in our agenda this month.

I really enjoyed seeing the actual policies pulled into the staff reports, and I hope that we can continue that going forward.

If we were to cut our time down in half, you know, the basis of that was uh determined last meeting I saw to be based upon how many meetings did a commission cancel.

What is the work plan of that commission?

How much of that work are they actually getting done?

And that is why I asked for an update on our follow-up log, because our work plan for the year has only one thing on it, aside from 916 day, which is for us to decide how do we want to amend any policies that we have for civic engagement?

And it is such a poignant time for that with what is happening now.

So, you know, we're halfway through the year and we haven't got it on our agenda yet.

That's something that we need to do.

If we feel that our commission needs to have 10 meetings a month, or excuse me, a year as opposed to five, we really need to make sure that we are not just receiving updates, but also completing the work that is asked of us of our community members.

You know, when I asked for this item to be put on our work plan for the year, Earl Warren Park was going through their choose the new amenities after a fire meeting, and I thought that could be a really great way to watch a process from beginning to end and figure out, collaborate with the things that we have asked for in the past, you know, how many voices were there, how was that community engagement managed?

I think that's a really good way of starting it.

And now seeing the Cesar Chavez naming, having a already a QR code and a website and a way for the entire city, not just District 4 to engage with, I think that's another really great example of a process we can watch from beginning to end.

See, does it really cost more?

How many more people can we reach out to?

And Jason Wiseman came to Colonial Village and made the demonstration, showed the proposed choices, opened up the survey, and now I have questions, right?

Survey closed.

What was the result?

Um, how is the community notified of the result?

What was the result?

Uh what did we choose?

Um, did the budget affect that?

You know, I have so many questions, and I'm I would really like for us to understand going forward the way that this is written in the follow-up blog is that the commission will come up with a plan and present it to Yipsey.

But I think that's not written correctly because this is a collaborative process, and this is what this commission is intended to do.

It's intended to see all sides of this issue to work with the department to see if the policy needs to be amended to work with the community to figure out how do they want to be heard, how do they want to participate in our parks plan?

Do we need a change to policy?

Um, so I have a couple of requests as this comes up and as this is agendized, using Earl Warren as an example.

And Jason, I thought you did such a great job at that community meeting.

So, Mr.

Wiseman, bravo.

I thought it was great what you showed up with there.

But the questions I would have for us to get started in our work plan for the year are from Yipsey, what is the current protocol for community engagement?

Specifically when we're asking them to weigh in on park amenity, you know, park naming.

Here's a really good example as well.

What do you currently do?

What's your current protocol?

Um, what would we like to see changed as commissioners?

What are the next steps in our work plan?

How are we going to come together?

In what month are we going to look at what is currently happening?

What else do we want to happen and how can we go forward so that we have a report at the end of the year?

And if we do get cut down to five meetings, you know, how are we going to prioritize that that work that we need to present back to council?

I heard in the Cesar Chavez renaming presentation that we really want this to be inclusive and community driven.

That's exactly it, right?

How do we use that as the theme for making sure our community engagement with our neighborhoods is inclusive and community driven?

When we open up those surveys, do we want to have a standardized number of days?

And if we don't reach the number of folks that we wanted to reach, what is the next standardized step?

How much longer do we open it up for?

What are the next steps as to how we're doing that community outreach?

Who else are we engaging to share our messaging?

Aside from us commissioners and aside from Yipsi, you know, what community partners are we using to share out that messaging?

Um, and again, how are the results displayed?

You know, folks who took those surveys and took the time, they're asking me, like, what happened?

And I don't really know, right?

So, how are we publicly posting those results?

Can we do that?

Um, how could we do that?

What's the best way to do that?

Um, were our namesake families notified?

This Saturday, you can all come down to Artivio Guerrero Park at 9 a.m.

to do a mulching volunteer event, along with the surviving family of Artivio Guerrero, right?

I think this is a really wonderful way to make sure that our community is engaged and that our families who have namesake parks are engaged.

You know, did we notify Earl Warren's family, who is local, that we were making amenity changes in their park?

I think we should do that, and I think that's a really great protocol to write into park changes.

So if we could hear back, what are the current policies or protocols when you're doing community engagement?

Because I know you have some, so that we can collaborate together on our work plan to see if there are any changes needed at all.

Um, you know, what languages do we want?

How do we want to incorporate equity?

We, you know, I for several years on this commission have been asking how are we prioritizing amenities that are being changed?

How are we prioritizing where those dollars are going to parks and how do you get in line?

Why is this not a public facing process?

How do people know that their requests are being listened to and where they are in the pecking order of when their parks will be fixed?

So I would really like to know.

You know, we were just uh relying on the park equity tool to do that.

It was coming and now it's gone.

We're doing the seed tool now.

And the wonderful seed folks who developed seed came to us and asked us what equity protocols do we want to see built into the seed tool for parks, and we haven't reached back out to them with any.

I have some great ideas as to how we can use the seed tool, but we need to get that back on the agenda to express to the people who are holding our equity measures what we want to see, how we want to use it, and then rewrite that policy into the parks plan.

That really is our charge as commissioners.

I really love that a toolkit is coming for Caesar Chavez.

You know, how can we make sure that you know this park is a is a correct me if I'm is this a regional park?

Is Caesar Chavez?

No, it's just a D4 D4 park.

Um, so how what is the difference between engagement for a regional park and a community park?

You know, is there a difference in budget?

Is there a difference in how we're reaching out aside from language changes?

Um, who are our main partners, our nonprofit partners that we're reaching out to, and how can we write a protocol to make sure that we have a current list of those family members of the namesake parks of the current uh folks who are taking care of their parks, the current volunteer groups who are in those parks all the time?

How are they uh corralled?

How do we know who they are so that we can reach out to them?

Can we build a little bit of policy in so we check those boxes when we are engaging our community?

So, um I would really like to see this get onto the agenda so that we can receive these kind of answers back so we have a place to start from.

You know, if this is something that needs an ad hoc committee, maybe we create one.

If it's not, then we just need to start working on it so that when this conversation comes to city council about what is the parks commission doing, what is their purpose?

What is the reason that they're meeting uh 10 times a year?

That we have an answer, that we are doing work, that we are making sure that our communities are heard, that we are doing what we said we were going to do.

Um is it time for a citywide update on the naming convention on the naming policy?

I think so.

Yeah, I really like what you said, Commissioner Flores about there's work that's already been done, and how is that captured?

You know, aside from going back and rewatching a September 2021 meeting, right?

How do we incorporate the reason that we made changes to policies into existing policy so that information is there somehow and somewhere?

I think that's really important.

Um, I really think it's a good idea to have new programs like park sketchers and pilot programs and art programs and different ways that communities can use our parks, but I want the pecking order of how our funds are being spent to be honest and fair, and that we understand what is waiting and what is next, so that we can incorporate those local partners, we can find ways to minimize the cost to the department.

Because I know when I see the 916-day end of year wrap-up, I feel like the largest budget there is staff time.

It's our marketing team, it's you know, community engagement.

That is huge.

It's so big every year that it makes me wonder is 916 day worth it?

Is it?

Of course.

It's a great idea to have a citywide 916 day led by parks.

Of course it is, but that is a huge expense to reach out.

It's a how do we make sure that those dollars are captured best?

How do we make sure that they're used in the best possible way?

So I that's my uh requests for the follow-up blog and the follow-up blog itself.

Um we had discussed in the past that when responses come back that they would be posted on the follow-up blog.

But I'm receiving emails that are to the entire commission that I can't respond to because that would violate the Brown Act.

So I'm not able to have that discussion.

I feel like that's an end game for our discussions when we get information back.

So I would like to see the uh answers that were coming on the follow-up blog directly to us be put on the follow-up blog as originally was intended.

Um, and I have received a message um while up on the dais about the sketchers plan.

I have a request for May Fong Park.

I will share that with you now.

Um wonderful.

Wonderful.

Okay, great.

Um, so I would also I would like to say some thank yous, and we're coming to the end of our school year here, and I have uh in district six a school that I have worked very closely with, which is West Campus High School, and I have some specific thank yous.

Um, one of them is to Lynette Megan, who does not ever fail to ask me when is the L application coming out?

How can I get the L application out to our students at West Campus?

When is this uh gonna open up?

I'm so grateful uh to Lynette Meegan for continuing to have that relationship open with district six and with me as a parks commissioner because she cares so much about the students at West Campus.

Um the Foundation for Excellence at West Campus has done such a wonderful job doing the same thing, asking me what are your volunteer events?

How can we get our kids involved?

Um so thank you to them and most importantly to the students, uh specifically the graduating class of 2026, who have shown up to volunteer with Yipse in every single district in every district.

I have worked with kids from West Campus.

So, students, congratulations.

I'm so proud of you, happy graduation, and thank you so much for all of the hours that you have brought to your parks.

I hope that when you come back and visit them someday that you look at the trees that you planted, you see the backboards that you painted, and uh you remember them fondly.

So thank you so much to West Campus.

Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Labor.

I just had a follow-up question on the public comment about the cannabis.

I mean, she they need to go to the planning commission.

Our commission here doesn't handle that.

Is that correct?

On the am I asking the right question or not?

Are you on?

Oh, I was just going to say that um, you know, I think the the comment we can we can I can talk with staff and we can determine whether or not there's an appropriate forum if the um an appropriate discussion to be had here in in terms of proximity to parks, but um, but I think you're right.

I think more likely it is at the planning commission, but we'll have a discussion with staff.

Also, tomorrow morning there's gonna be a um a company coming to Southside Park, and I wanted to invite Jackie to come.

They make a donation to GTS and a private company's gonna spend about two to three hours cleaning the playground and park and spend ongoing collaboration for about four or five years or longer that these companies reach out to me and uh feel blessed that that happens.

All right, thank you.

This concludes today's meeting agenda.

Thank you for your participation.

This meeting is adjourned.

Um