West Sacramento City Council Meeting: October 15, 2025
West Sacramento City Council Meeting: October 15, 2025
The West Sacramento City Council, Redevelopment Agency, and Finance Authority convened on October 15, 2025, at 7:03 PM. The meeting began with a land acknowledgement, pledge of allegiance, and public comments. Key actions included the adoption of a resolution to establish the West Sacramento Tourism Marketing District and the presentation of two proclamations.
Consent Calendar
- Items 4 through 7 were approved unanimously without discussion or public comment. (Motion by Councilmember Ocala, second by Councilmember Orozco; all ayes.)
Public Comments & Testimony
- Ron Anderson (former Planning Commission member) expressed disappointment that the council had not yet appointed a new Planning Commission after nine months of a minority decision, urging the council to resolve the issue within the week.
- Matt Weaver criticized the city for slow, complicated processes (citing inconsistent maps for retail cannabis, Measure N, and the tourism district) and urged more inclusive, action-oriented leadership.
Discussion Items
- Proclamation – Filipino American History Month (October 2025): Councilmember Guarina Orozco presented the proclamation, recognizing the contributions of Filipino Americans. Recipients included Greg Garcia (board president of Philippine National Day Association) and students from the UC Davis King Hall Filipino Lawyers Association (Noah Shin, Nikki Stewart). Council members expressed support for representation and cultural celebration.
- Proclamation – California Flood Preparedness Week (October 18–25, 2025): Read by the Mayor. The proclamation highlighted West Sacramento's 50 miles of levees, federal funding ($25.54M in 2022, $72.3M in 2023, $52.8M in 2024), and completed construction of Yolo Bypass East Levee South and North projects. Council members and flood control staff (Jen Gwen) emphasized ongoing work toward 200-year flood protection and urged residents to maintain flood insurance.
- Regular Agenda Item 8 – Resolution 25-107 (West Sacramento Tourism Marketing District):
- Presentation: Megan Styles, Economic Development Manager, explained the district (a 2% assessment on hotels with 50+ rooms for stays under 30 days). Annual revenue estimated at $400,000+ based on 2024 TOT taxes. The district would be governed by hoteliers via a nonprofit association. Assessments would begin January 1, 2026, after final public hearing on December 3, 2025.
- Public Comment: A hotel general manager (from Holiday Inn Express and SpringHill Suites) supported the district, noting that West Sacramento lacks visibility and that similar districts have succeeded elsewhere (e.g., Sacramento’s tourism marketing district funding shuttle buses for Aftershock festival).
- Council Discussion: Councilmembers expressed strong support, noting the district would provide stable, dedicated funding for marketing West Sacramento’s entertainment, hotels, and small businesses. Concerns about the A's impact on hotel occupancy were noted (no remarkable increase yet), but the district was seen as a long-term investment.
- Outcome: Resolution adopted unanimously.
Key Outcomes
- Adopted Proclamation: October 2025 as Filipino American History Month.
- Adopted Proclamation: October 18–25, 2025 as California Flood Preparedness Week.
- Adopted Resolution 25-107: Declared intention to establish the West Sacramento Tourism Marketing District; set public meeting for November 5, 2025, and public hearing for December 3, 2025. (Vote: 5-0.)
- Council Assignment Reports: Updates on YOLO transit contract renegotiation, CARTA tolling project on I-80, Metro Chamber trip to Boston, Yolo Animal JPA, and Mayor’s Japan trip (including hydrogen plant tour and flood control presentation).
Meeting Transcript
Yeah, I'm happy to. I know Megan did it here. Yeah, I absolutely have to left too if anybody wants to talk about it. No, but I can do it. Yeah. Okay. She finally said, are you gonna do it or not? Oh yeah, we can definitely figure it out. I am in support of I just that you're reading. Okay, cool. Thank you. Yeah, did you put your name? Yeah. I'd like to do it. And I'm just like I don't want to look. I don't know something. No. And I have a job. At the end of the day, my job isn't to necessarily get in dark with people this thing. It's like girl right now. I'm like, I like that. All right. All right. Now that all the council members are present, I call the October 15th meeting of the City of West Sacramento City Council, West Sacramento Redevelopment Agency, and Finance Authority. We will begin with the land acknowledgement. We would like to acknowledge that the land on which we live, work learning commune is the original homelands of the indigenous people who have stewarded this land throughout the generations. We acknowledge and we thank the original inhabitants who have occupied, maintained, and secured this place, and who still exist on this land. We respect and celebrate the many diverse indigenous peoples still connected to this land on which we kept yeah, they're council did not meet in closed session this evening. And we would like to invite our guests to join council and staff in the pledge, which will be led by Mr. Greg Garcia. If you can stand up from your place and uh lead us in the pledge from your um where you're sitting the United States of America. One nation are uh individual justice. Thank you, Mr. Garcia. As is noted on our agenda, City Council is prohibited by state law from discussing or taking any action and items that are brought up under item one for public comment, but it provides an opportunity, an important opportunity for a public forum. The public is given an opportunity at this time to address city council and issues not listed on the agenda. We do ask that anyone wishing to address the council on this or any other item this evening to please fill out a request to speak card and turn it in to the clerk. We accept the request to speak cards up to the conclusion of the reading of the staff report on any particular agenda item. And once the staff report has been read and we open up the item for public comment, the clerk will announce your name for you to walk to the podium to speak. Now in front of the clerk, there is a timer to ensure that everyone has a chance to be heard, and we ask that all comments be limited to the specified number of minutes. Also in front of the clerk is an analog flip chart, which indicates which agenda item the council is currently considering. So we request that there be no applause or booze, cat calls or other demonstrations. Furthermore, so that we may maintain a civil discourse here in the chamber. We ask that those in attendance and those who address the city council abide by the code of conduct, post it and not speak in loud threatening offensive, abusive, or other disrespectful language that disrupts disturbs or otherwise impedes the orderly conduct of the meeting. Now this brings us to item one presentations by the public on matters not on the agenda within the jurisdiction of the council, and each person has three minutes to speak. Madam Clerk, are there any requests to speak under public comments? Yes, ma'am. Ron Anderson. Mr. Anderson, nice to see you.
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