Sacramento County Board of Supervisors Meeting - August 7, 2024
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Sacramento County Board of Supervisors Meeting - August 7, 2024
This meeting of the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors was held on August 7, 2024 (note: the transcript references August 6, 2024, but the assigned date is August 7). The meeting included public comments, consent calendar approvals, a presentation on election administration, public hearings on various items, and nominations. Supervisors addressed youth funding, business license fees, property code enforcement, and other community issues.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Off-Agenda Public Comments (Morning Session): Multiple speakers, representing Hooked on Fishing Not on Violence and other community groups, urged the board to allocate 1% of the county budget to positive alternatives for youth and families affected by lack of resources. Speakers emphasized the need for funding for programs addressing trauma, gang activity, and drug issues. Some speakers referenced state legislation (ACAA, AB 628) and called for a letter of support from the board. Supervisors acknowledged the speakers, noting that Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) decisions are made later in the year and highlighted existing county investments such as the Black Child Legacy Campaign ($30 million over 10 years), youth mental health programs, and family resource centers.
- Sandy (public commenter): Read a prepared statement distinguishing democracy from a constitutional republic, citing Ayn Rand.
- Ron Owens: Expressed concerns about COVID-19 vaccines and blood clot risks; urged supervisors to stop offering vaccines. Supervisor Frost expressed support for stopping vaccines.
- Kenneth Calvin, Tammy Beckman, Perry Fenucci, Sarah Madsen: Read a series of resolutions and statements regarding alleged insurrection by the State of California, calling for a restored government and adherence to the U.S. Constitution. They provided copies to the board.
- Pete Paulding: Spoke about the Army Corps of Engineers' erosion projects on the American River, stating that the proposed alternatives provide only a 12-13% increase in flood protection and that multiple agencies have raised concerns. Urged careful review.
- Nancy: Also commented on the erosion projects, criticizing Corps' outreach as one-way and requesting facilitated meetings.
- Lisa Kirk: Discussed governance issues with the Locke Management Association (hybrid Brown Act/Davis-Stirling board), suggesting possible dissolution and county takeover of common areas.
- Sandy (afternoon): Asked about election fraud cases in San Joaquin County and whether Sacramento County has safeguards.
Consent Calendar
- Items 2-25 (Consent Matters): Included ordinance amendments, contracts, and other routine approvals. Supervisor Hume questioned item 2 (tax collection fees) and item 4 (Watt Avenue Safe Stay project). Supervisor Desmond and Supervisor Frost expressed support for the Safe Stay project, while Supervisor Hume raised cost concerns. Supervisor Kennedy noted the investment is for long-term use. Motion to approve all consent items passed unanimously.
Discussion Items
- Item 26: Presentation on Election Administration – Registrar Hang Nguyen presented an overview of election processes, including voter registration (873,000 active voters), vote center locations, ballot drop boxes, security layers, and efforts to reduce paper waste (saved 40 million sheets of paper in 2023). Supervisors asked about ballot box placement, conditional voter registration, verification of citizenship (state-level via DMV/Secretary of State), and voter roll maintenance. Supervisors expressed confidence in the department's work and acknowledged challenges from misinformation.
- Item 27: Public Hearing on Benefit Category Change for Beach Hill Apartments – Staff recommended a change and increased service charge ($136.56 to $464.89 per year) for street lighting. No public comments; one protest ballot received (100% in favor). Board approved unanimously.
- Item 28: Rescission of Tax Defaulted Land Sale – Finance Director Chad Rind explained the sale of a parcel that had an irrevocable offer of dedication to the city; the buyer requested rescission. Board approved unanimously.
- Item 29: Business License Fee Amendments – Staff proposed increases for general business licenses (29% over 3 years), tobacco, massage establishments, and others. A sergeant from the Sheriff's Office discussed enforcement operations against illicit massage parlors (65% of undercover operations resulted in illicit acts; $100,000 spent in 6 months). Supervisor Hume opposed, calling it a burden on legitimate businesses. Supervisor Desmond moved to approve with direction to explore a fee holiday for compliant massage establishments. Motion passed 3-2 (Frost and Hume opposed).
- Item 30: Waiver of Appeal Fee – Property owner Afshin Sazagari requested waiver of a $700 appeal fee related to code enforcement costs. Staff recommended denial due to lack of documentation. Supervisor Hume moved staff recommendation; motion passed with Supervisor Frost abstaining.
- Item 31: Appeal of Abatement Costs – Mr. Sazagari appealed $4,000 in abatement costs for a fire-damaged property. Staff detailed multiple breaches and enforcement actions. Supervisors noted property owner's responsibility. Motion to deny appeal and confirm costs passed unanimously.
- Item 32: Abandonment of Old Walnut Grove Thornton Road – Staff recommended vacating a levee portion of the right-of-way, reserving utility easements. Approved unanimously.
- Item 33: Nominations – Board made appointments to various advisory bodies, including Greg Hendricks (Arden-Arcade CPAC), Jose Goras (Children’s Coalition), Carissa Cinco, Lauren Herberlin, Natanya Karat, Kushi Shukla (Youth Commission), and others; many continued to future meetings.
- Item 34: County Executive Comments – Announced Sacramento Republic FC County Employee Night on September 14; noted record adoptions at Animal Care (875 live releases in July 2024, up from 367 in July 2023); recognized fundraising for animal care via Mojo's golf tournament ($30,000 net raised).
Key Outcomes
- Votes: Consent calendar (unanimous); Item 26 (receive and file); Item 27 (unanimous); Item 28 (unanimous); Item 29 (3-2, with direction to explore fee relief for compliant massage businesses); Item 30 (passed with one abstention); Item 31 (unanimous); Item 32 (unanimous).
- Next Steps: Staff to explore mechanisms for rewarding compliant massage businesses; Supervisor Desmond and County Executive to schedule a discussion on homelessness enforcement and capacity following the Supreme Court ruling.
- Adjournment: Meeting adjourned in memory of Mercedes Ruth McCullough.
Meeting Transcript
Good morning. Welcome to this August 6, 2024 meeting of the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors. Would the clerk please call the role and read your message? Yes. Supervisor Cerna. Here. Desmond. Frost. Hume Kennedy. Here. And you have a quorum. This meeting of the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors is cable cast live on Metro Cable 14, the local government affairs channel on the Comcast and ATNTU versus cable systems. The meeting is closed, captioned, and live streamed at Metro14Live.sackCounty.gov and can be heard live for free on 96.5 FMKUBU radio. Today's meeting will be repeated Friday, August 9th at 6 p.m. on Channel 14. This meeting can also be viewed at YouTube.com forward slash Metro Cable 14. The Board of Supervisors fosters public engagement during the meeting and encourages public participation, civility, and use of courteous language. The board does not condone the use of profanity, vulgar language, gestures, or other inappropriate behavior, including personal attacks or threats directed towards any meeting participant. Seating is limited and available on a first come, first served basis. Each speaker will be given two minutes to make a public comment and are limited to making one comment per agenda or off agenda item. Please be mindful of the public comment procedures to avoid being interrupted while making your comment. To make a comment in person. Please fill out a speaker request form and hand it to clerk staff. The chairperson will open public comments for each agenda or off agenda item and direct the clerk to call the name of each speaker. When the clerk calls your name, please come to the podium and make your comment. If a speaker is unavailable to make a comment prior to the closing of public comments, the speaker waives their request to speak. And the clerk will file the speaker request form in the record. The clerk will also manage the timer and allow each speaker two minutes to make a comment. You may send written comments by email to board clerk at SACCounty.gov and your comments will be routed to the board and filed in the record. If you need an accommodation pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act or for medical or other reasons, please see clerk staff for assistance or contact the clerk's office at 916-8745451 or by email at Board Clerk at Sat County.gov. Thank you in advance for your courtesy and understanding of the meeting procedures. Thank you, Madam Clerk. And uh as we uh have an item on the agenda later uh that there's nothing more important to our democracy than our elections. I would like to uh invite uh our registrar, who I believe is uh the best registrar in the country, uh, to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. I think liberty justice. Thank you. First item, Madam Clerk. Your first item is public comments relating to matters not on the posted agenda. And let me pull up your list. Our first speaker is uh Marvell Wilson and I will repeat what the clerk has already said. We have 30 minutes at the beginning of the meeting. Anything that goes over the 30 minutes, we will hear later. And each speaker has two minutes. Good morning. Good morning. Once again, we're here. We're back to uh advise that we follow the directive of the last panel who sent us to Dave Devante and then from him to Jur Chang to find that just as Mr. Cerner prescribes or describes that we're facing meager and scarce resources for the challenge that we have for our young people. And uh also he used the word compete. So we must compete with this T in the within the TOT frame for uh resources to help our youth.
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