The West Sacramento City Council met on November 5, 2025, to discuss a range of topics including public comments on VIA transit and the city's cannabis social equity program, proclamations for Veterans Day and First Responders Day, a presentation on the Yolo County Transportation District's Short Range Transit Plan, and a public meeting on the formation of the West Sacramento Tourism Marketing District. The meeting was called to order at approximately 7:00 PM and adjourned after routine business.
She probably oh, there we go. Madden Clerk, are we prepared to start the meeting? I don't know what to do with that. Okay, sound the gavel. It's okay. Good evening, everyone. I am honored to call to order the November 5th meeting of the City of West Sacramento City Council Redevelopment Successor Agency and Finance Authority. Whether you're here in person or you're streaming us live online, uh thank you for being here tonight. Uh we've got quite a few important topics to discuss, and I will do my best to get us out before midnight. That was a joke. If it's a joke, um, let's start with our land acknowledgement. We would like to acknowledge that the land in which we live, work, learn, and commune is the original homelands of indigenous people of West Sacramento who have stewarded this land throughout 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 people still connected to this land on which we gather. Thank you. We would like to invite our guests to join our council in the Pledge of Allegiance, and I would like to bring our VFW commander Leo Allatore to the podium to lead us in the pledge this evening. So we will move on to our agenda. Presentations by the public on matters not on the agenda within the jurisdiction of the council. Also, in front of the clerk is an analog flip charge which indicates which agenda item the council is currently considering. Once the staff report has been read and the council questions and public testimony have begun, we do not accept any further speaking requests on that particular agenda item. If you're addressing a specific agenda item, please turn in your cards as soon as possible, but definitely before the conclusion of the staff report for that particular agenda item. Furthermore, so that we can maintain a civil discourse here in the chambers, we ask that those in attendance and those who address the city council abide by the code of conduct posted by the request to speak cards and the on the podium and just not speak in loud, threatening, offensive, abusive, or other disrespectful language that disrupts, disturbs, or otherwise impedes the orderly conduct of this meeting. Uh city clerk, do we have any um requests to speak under item one? We have one public comment from Guy Stevenson. Mr. Stevenson, please join us. If I'm wrong, I'll take ownership and say that I apologize, and I and I mean that sincerely. I agree with her that it's not right to specifically go after any city, because I know you guys know a little bit about VIA. Do I agree with the way they operate? Absolutely not. Uh and believe me, if I had a choice or I could do something about it, they wouldn't be driving any of those vans over here in West Sack. And that's truly how I feel. They're dangerous, they're aggressive, and they're gonna hurt somebody, and then the city will get sued. Uh and I do have a pet peeve about VIA, and I'm not gonna lighten up off of it. I just don't like stupid drivers. And uh I had an experience the other day where I rode into VA and this person decided they wanted to drive through because they wanted the exit down on Enterprise, and they wanted to drive through the construction site. That's a definite no-no. So I reported her and I told them I was gonna take them to court, so I don't know. But anyway, um you guys really and the people like Stephanie Chan and and the people that run that department, they really need to come out of their office. If they're gonna speak about it and they're gonna put their uh what they think is best for a via, they need to go out and ride in these vans, check out the people that are driving them, check out the general looks of these vans, because you people have West Sacramento on your doors, so they think that those people are employees for the city. So I have a I like I said, I have a real big pet peeve about it, but I'm asking you, city council members and you, mayor, you guys really need to uh some time ride in one of these vans, talk to the drivers because the data that they're getting, I don't have any idea where they're getting that data because it's not true. I think they try to do it to uh to their benefit. You know, they don't want to admit that there's problems with via, but there is and I absolutely don't like them. They're worse in Sacramento, they're great over there, via because they have via over there, but they're also maintained by regional transit, and they have a shop, they have uh truck wars, they have all that. They don't over here. So I'm just asking you to please check into it and try to straighten it out. If you guys don't want to do anything about it, that's totally up to you. But I'm telling you, if one of these people end up getting somebody killed or hit, then it's gonna come back on the city and bite them. So that's all I'm saying. And again, I apologize, all right.