The West Sacramento City Council, Redevelopment Agency, and Finance Authority met on August 6, 2026 (the mayor opened the meeting as the August 5th meeting; the official timestamp for this record is August 6, 2026, 02:04 UTC). This was the first meeting to offer both in-person and Zoom participation for public comment. The council unanimously approved the consent calendar, a delinquent utility charges resolution, and two future agenda item requests, and heard public testimony on peace initiatives, carport enforcement, and retail cannabis.
I got my hot team that's how matters. Madame Clerk, I'd like to confirm that the live stream and Zoom has started. So I can call the meeting to order. Yes, Madam Mayor. Everything is ready. Everything's ready? All right. It's a new day in our West Sacramento city and community with some community meetings, hearing process. We now have a Zoom component where members of the public can call in and participate via Zoom as a state law change. I just wanted you all to be aware as you start hearing opportunities for the public to be more involved, and we are now set and ready to go. I'd like to thank the city staff and our clerk who's going to be managing that process for us. So now that all the council members are present, I call to order the August 5th meeting of the City of West Sacramento City Council, the West Sacramento Redevelopment Agency and Finance Authority. We will begin with a land acknowledgement. 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 people still connected to this land on which we gather. One nation. 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 loud, threatening, offensive, abusive, or other disrespectful language that disrupts, disturbs, or otherwise impedes the orderly conduct of the meeting. And Madame Clerk, I'd like to ask for you to provide any further clarification that I may need to, we may need to provide for public participation. Certainly. Starting today, the public may take part in the city council meeting in person or remotely using Zoom. Information on how to join the meeting on Zoom is listed on the meeting agenda, and it's also available on the city's website. If you're attending the meeting in person and want to speak, please fill out a request to speak card and give it to either myself or Katie, the clerks. You must turn in your request to speak card as the mayor stated before the staff finishes presenting the agenda item you want to speak on. No additional in-person comments for an item will be heard following the conclusion of the in-person comment period. If you're attending the meeting on Zoom and want to speak, please raise your hand, your virtual hand, or use the QA feature when prompted by the clerk. Members of the public participating via phone may raise their hand by pressing star nine. No additional remote comments for an item will be heard following the conclusion of the remote comment period. Each speaker, as the mayor said, both in-person and remote will have three minutes to address the council in front of me. There is a timer, and you will be muted at the three minute mark. As the mayor stated, we are on item one. So remote attendees wishing to make a public comment, you may raise your hand at this time. If you're participating via telephone, please press please press star nine. Thank you, Madame Clerk. And for clarification, if the Zoom does not work. If any of our technology goes down, we will take a recess. The city staff is required to take an hour to try to resume our remote, our remote uh capacity for public participation. If we are unable to resume the city council will either decide to recess the meeting and continue at a future time, or if it is decided that the business of the city is very important and needs to proceed, the city council will decide to proceed without remote participation. Thank you, Madame Clerk. Appreciate all of your work and all of your planning for this. This is our first go at this, so I asked we ask for your patience, and we look forward to refining the process as we proceed with this meeting and future meetings. So now this brings us to item one to 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? Yes, we'll begin with our in-person speakers. Our first speaker is Susan Rappel. Thank you. Thank you. Hello, my name is Susan Ruppel. I'm a volunteer peaceful activist and steward of the Peace Pole Gardens Project. Our friends, family, and neighbors recently gathered for a dedication ceremony for the peace poll we installed at the main drain community garden in the Southport area of West Sacramento.