The City of West Sacramento convened its December council meeting (also sitting as the Redevelopment Agency and Finance Authority), opened with a land acknowledgment and the Pledge of Allegiance led by Parks Commissioner David Janz, and noted there was no closed session. The meeting featured unusually extensive public comment—primarily urging a long-term lease for Three Sisters Gardens—followed by a recess and warnings regarding the public comment code of conduct after disruptive/offensive remarks (not fully captured in the transcript) prompted an adjournment/recess and strong statements from elected officials about harassment and civility. The Council then approved the Consent Calendar, formed a new Tourism Marketing District with a unanimous vote, held a dense utility rate workshop and directed staff to proceed with Prop 218 notices under Scenario 4 (EU Commission recommendation), approved a 5-year MOU for a School Resource Officer (SRO) cost-share with Washington Unified School District, and selected the Mayor Pro Tem via two failed motions.
Three Sisters Gardens lease requests (majority of Item 1 speakers; 19 speaker cards; time reduced to 2 minutes each):
Mid-meeting disruption and code of conduct:
Purpose: Finance Director Roberta (last name unclear in transcript) and consultants HF&H presented updated water and sewer cost-of-service studies, requested Council direction on a rate scenario, and authorization to begin the Proposition 218 notification process.
Key context and system information (staff):
Consultant: HF&H (Rick Simonson) scenarios and rate mechanics:
Public testimony (Item 10):
Prop 218 process and timeline (staff):
All right, now that all the council members are present, I call to order the December Council meeting of the City of West Sacramento City Council, West Sacramento Redevelopment Agency, and Finance Authority. We will begin with the land acknowledgment. We would like to acknowledge that the land on which we live, work, learn, and commune is the original homelands of the indigenous people of West Sacramento 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 which we gather. The council did not meet in closed session. There is no report. We would like to invite our guests to join council and staff in the Pledge of Allegiance and Mr. David Janz, our Parks Commissioner, would you please come up to the podium and lead us to the Pledge of Allegiance. Thank you. 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. Thank you, Mr. Janz. As is noted on our agenda, city council is prohibited by state law from discussing or taking any action on items that are brought up under item one for public comment but it provides an important opportunity for a public forum the public is given an opportunity at this time to discuss City Council 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 return it to the clerk and if there is anybody discussing an item on the agenda I will ask you to pause and wait for the agenda item to come up and speak there once the staff report has been read we open up the item for public comment and the clerk will announce your name for you to walk up 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 the comments be limited to the specified number of minutes which is three minutes also in front of the clerk actually I will ask how many people there are to speak in public comment and decide then Also in front of the clerk is an analog flip chart which indicates which agenda item the council is currently considering We also recognize that for some speaking in public can cause anxiety So we requested there be no applause or boos cat calls or other demonstrations Or I will narrow down the time to speak to 30 seconds each person Furthermore so that we may 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 and not speak in a loud threatening offensive abusive or other disrespectful language that disrupts disturbs 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 30 minutes to speak Madame clerk how many speakers are there at this time we have 19 speaker cards for item one 19 speaker cards if we gave each of them three minutes it would be an hour so we will narrow it down to two minutes per person at this point but I'm Can you keep track of the clock for the two-minute mark? Thank you. And then can you please call the people up to speak guy Stevenson? I'm speaking on behalf of this three sisters garden, and I think that is a Useful thing and I think it's great for the community. It also helps young people stay focused stay away from all kinds of bad stuff you know drugs and all that that that I love it I drove drive by it all the time and I would like to see the city extend their lease for that area because they're very productive in running it and the food that they do grow and stuff there actually goes to the community so