Sacramento City Council Special Closed Session Meeting - August 11, 2026
Sacramento City Council Special Closed Session Meeting - August 11, 2026
This special meeting of the Sacramento City Council was convened for a closed session to discuss three items: a public employee performance evaluation (City Clerk), a threat to public services or facilities (consultation with Police Chief), and labor negotiations with the Sacramento Police Officers Association. One member of the public provided comments before the council adjourned to closed session.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Wes Sams, lead organizer of Sacramento's City of Trees Parade, described himself as a volunteer for a small nonprofit that brings approximately 20,000 people downtown annually. He strongly criticized what he called arbitrary and increasing fees imposed by multiple city departments. Specifically, he stated: the city permit fee rose from $1,000 to $1,776 over five years; Sacramento Fire Department more than doubled its fees to $600 for sending three emails and charged about $1,000 just for inquiring about a fire permit without proceeding; and the Sacramento Police Department increased services from $9,000 to $14,000 for the same parade route, with an added hour of travel time that would cost $122 per officer for 22 officers, resulting in over $20,000 next year. Sams argued that these increases were imposed without public hearings or council approval. He noted that similar events are moving to Rancho Cordova and Elk Grove, where free city services and additional cash help are offered. He urged the council to roll back fees, reduce required services, restrain departments from unilaterally imposing fees, and greatly increase public funding for such events. He closed by asking, "Do we want to be the city of trees or the city of fees?"
Key Outcomes
- The council received public comment and then adjourned to closed session. No votes or decisions were made in open session.
Meeting Transcript
Thank you, Vice Mayor. Um, I call to order a special meeting for the purpose of a closed session. We have a quorum of council members and chambers. There are three items on the agenda. Item one is public employee performance evaluation, government code section 54957B1. Title of City Clerk. Item two is threat to public services or facilities, government code section five four nine five seven A. Consultation with the Sacramento Police Department Chief of Police. Item three is conference with labor negotiators, government code section 54957.6. Designated representatives Amara Keisha Smith, Aaron Donato, and Tim Davis, employee organizations or Sacramento Police Officers Association. I have one speaker for public comment, Wes Sams. Yeah, so please come speak. You wanted to speak? Yeah, absolutely. So you do have two minutes to address the council. Are they here? They are. Please proceed. My name is Wes Sands, and I'm the lead organizer of Sacramento's City of Trees Parade. Uh we're a spectacular celebration of the diversity, art, music, and culture of the Sacramento area. Um and we bring about 20,000 people each year to downtown in Old Sacramento for our free parade. We're a small nonprofit of completely unpaid volunteers like myself. Ever increasing and arbitrary fees from multiple city departments are making events like mine impossible or forcing us to move to more supportive municipalities. The City of Festivals grant has not increased proportionately or at all alongside these increases. Our city permit fee has increased from 1,000 to $1,776 in five years. SAC Fire more than doubled our fees last year, and they're charging $600 now for sending them three emails. And uh we had to pay about a thousand dollars just for asking what a fire permit would cost, even though we never got an estimate and didn't go forward with the permit. Last year, SAC PD increased our services bill from $9,000 to $14,000 for the exact same parade route and timings. And I was just notified last week that PD is adding an hour of travel time. That's $122 per officer times 22 officers for every job. That means we're going to be paying over $20,000 next year so that these uh guys can drive to work. These fees and increases are being imposed arbitrarily, I would argue, without public hearings and without city council approval, as far as I can tell. Events like ours are moving to Rancho Cordova and Elk Grove, where they offer free city services and even additional cash help. Sacramento needs to roll back these egregious fees, reduce the services these departments require, restrain departments from arbitrarily imposing new fees, and greatly increase public funding to support events like mine. I ask you do we want to be the city of trees or the city of fees? Do you thank you for your comments? Your time is complete. Vice Mayor, you may adjourn to closed session. Thank you. How embarrassing would it be?
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