OFFICIALS WITHIN OUR GOVERNMENTAL SYSTEM WILL DEMONSTRATE THEIR COMMITMENT TO FIGHTING FOR TRANSPARENCY & ACCOUNTABILITY BY:

Operating through a two-way open forum in which everyone has easy access to public information, decisions, and actions, as well as low-barrier ways to participate in local government meetings

Following through on promises made to constituents, and being open and willing to hearing and finding resolution to concerns from the community regarding said promises​

Erring on the side of oversharing and being overly transparent with their constituents, ensuring that information is accessible for folks who aren’t able to attend or watch meetings live, don’t speak English as their first language, are unhoused, or have any other intersecting identities that make engaging with local government activity challenging or out of reach

Genuinely valuing communication with, and accountability to, those they represent, and more specifically those who are oppressed and exploited by our current power structures 

Demonstrating an understanding of the power held by our dominant cultures and communities, and explicitly and publicly committing to building liberatory policies so that our marginalized community members have equitable access to health, safety, and ability the ability to thrive

Understanding how inequity makes civic engagement inaccessible, and actively working to change this; examples are virtual townhalls, easily digestible fact sheets, language interpretation, and public hearings

Collaborating and co-creating accountability policies and practices with  guidance from the community and community-based organizations so that no decisions are made about us without us 

Transparency & Accountability

Featured
Sacramento County: Choosing Urban Sprawl Over the Community
BoS, Environment, Transparency, Housing
Sacramento County: Choosing Urban Sprawl Over the Community
BoS, Environment, Transparency, Housing
BoS, Environment, Transparency, Housing
City Budget Part 3: Sacramento Police Department Gets $28M Raise, City Faces $66M Deficit
Steinberg, Kaplan, Talamantes, Valenzuela, Maple, Guerra, Criminal, Budget, Transparency, city council
City Budget Part 3: Sacramento Police Department Gets $28M Raise, City Faces $66M Deficit
Steinberg, Kaplan, Talamantes, Valenzuela, Maple, Guerra, Criminal, Budget, Transparency, city council

TL;DR: the Sacramento Police Department seems to be able to get anyway with doing anything they want, including murdering our community members, breaking the law, violating peoples' constitutional rights, and engaging in targeted racial profiling and discrimination. So, they deserve a raise, right?

Steinberg, Kaplan, Talamantes, Valenzuela, Maple, Guerra, Criminal, Budget, Transparency, city council
City budget part 4: A Measure U Perspective
Valenzuela, Vang, Criminal, Budget, Transparency, city council
City budget part 4: A Measure U Perspective
Valenzuela, Vang, Criminal, Budget, Transparency, city council

TL;DR:

unsurprisingly, Measure U funds are disproportionately being spent on policing INSTEAD OF solutions that would actually help to solve our housing and homelessness crisis. We STILL desperately need metrics around how Measure U funds are being spent, AND they should be easily accessible to the public!

Valenzuela, Vang, Criminal, Budget, Transparency, city council
City budget part 2: The RydeFreeRT saga
Steinberg, Education, Environment, Health, Budget, Transparency, city council
City budget part 2: The RydeFreeRT saga
Steinberg, Education, Environment, Health, Budget, Transparency, city council

TL;DR: Sacramento City Manager - and all around disappointment - Howard Chan attempted to remove funding for the RydeFreeRT program (a program that costs the City $1M...by contrast, this budgeting cycle we gave the police a $30M raise), but thanks in large part to community mobilization, this program will remain funded for another year! Unfortunately the City only covered $250,000 of the cost, with the remaining $750,000 being split between Sac RT and the Sacramento, Natomas, Elk Grove, and Twin Rivers Unified school districts. Permanent funding for this program will continue to be fought for.

Steinberg, Education, Environment, Health, Budget, Transparency, city council
City budget part 1: The Audacity of Howard Chan
Budget, Transparency, city council
City budget part 1: The Audacity of Howard Chan
Budget, Transparency, city council

TL;DR:

Bruh, how you have the audacity to try and give yourself another raise when you're already the highest paid city manager in the state AND your city is facing a $66M budget deficit? The audacity of Howard Chan is astounding! 

Budget, Transparency, city council
Sacramento City Councilmember Mai Vang & Being a Community Steward
Vang, city council, Transparency
Sacramento City Councilmember Mai Vang & Being a Community Steward
Vang, city council, Transparency

This month, SJPC is focusing on local elections. As a reminder to our readers, SJPC is a 501c-3 and therefore cannot endorse candidates running campaigns. For this month’s newsletter we are centering two candidates whose most recent runs for office have come to a conclusion as of the March 5th primary: Sac City Councilmembers Mai Vang and Katie Valenzuela. We are striving to use this month to focus on the importance of grassroots candidates and building progressive majorities in local governing bodies. 

Vang, city council, Transparency
Darrell Steinberg's Failed "Compromise"
Steinberg, Kaplan, Valenzuela, Vang, Transparency, city council
Darrell Steinberg's Failed "Compromise"
Steinberg, Kaplan, Valenzuela, Vang, Transparency, city council

In January of this year, following a council meeting in which dozens of community members showed up to demand that Sacramento address the tragedy unfolding in Gaza, Councilmembers Katie Valenzuela and Mai Vang proposed a draft of a ceasefire resolution, calling for an immediate end to Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip.

Steinberg, Kaplan, Valenzuela, Vang, Transparency, city council
Alt to 911 - NOW OPEN 24/7, 365!
Kennedy, BoS, Health, Transparency
Alt to 911 - NOW OPEN 24/7, 365!
Kennedy, BoS, Health, Transparency

This write-up was informed by a conversation between SJPC and Dr. Corrine McIntosh Sako, Chair of the Sacramento County Mental Health Board. Direct quotes from Dr. Sako will be sprinkled throughout this write-up!

Kennedy, BoS, Health, Transparency
You want me to keep paying more and getting less?
Steinberg, Education, Criminal, Budget, Transparency
You want me to keep paying more and getting less?
Steinberg, Education, Criminal, Budget, Transparency

Today, we’re reporting back on a conversation we had with Eleanor Oliver, a member of Decarcerate Sacramento, who took the time to share their story regarding the criminal legal system with us!

Steinberg, Education, Criminal, Budget, Transparency
Lies Law Enforcement Tells Us
Criminal, Budget, Transparency
Lies Law Enforcement Tells Us
Criminal, Budget, Transparency

This week we’re taking a look at the false narratives, lies, and propaganda fed to folks in the Sacramento area (and across the country) about the “necessity” of law enforcement (LE).

Criminal, Budget, Transparency
Side Eye: Sacramento Goes Silent
Steinberg, Transparency, city council, Side eye
Side Eye: Sacramento Goes Silent
Steinberg, Transparency, city council, Side eye

For months now, the Sacramento City Council has been suffering from a plague of malicious callers using vile racial slurs during public comment at their weekly meetings. These commenters are a continuation of a problem which began several months ago, when a specific individual, Ryan Messano, came to meetings in person to spout off white supremacist, anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.

Steinberg, Transparency, city council, Side eye
Reform Is an Impossibility
Jennings, Valenzuela, Vang, Steinberg, Criminal, Health, Transparency, city council
Reform Is an Impossibility
Jennings, Valenzuela, Vang, Steinberg, Criminal, Health, Transparency, city council

At the June 20th Sacramento City Council meeting, the City's Office of Public Safety Accountability presented their Audit of the Sacramento Police Department (SPD): Misconduct Complaint Cases

Jennings, Valenzuela, Vang, Steinberg, Criminal, Health, Transparency, city council
Help guide Sac County's climate policy!
Environment, Transparency, Budget
Help guide Sac County's climate policy!
Environment, Transparency, Budget

On December 16, 2020, the Board of Supervisors (BOS) adopted a Resolution​ declaring a climate emergency and directing the formation of a permanent Climate Emergency Mobilization Ta​sk Force.

Environment, Transparency, Budget
Jail expansion update & ADP reduction
Health, Transparency
Jail expansion update & ADP reduction
Health, Transparency

At the end of 2022 we saw Sacramento County bring back its plan for jail expansion, despite the community having previously blocked an expansion on 3/10/21 (to learn more click here). Once again, the public has been lied to & the county is breaking promises made to explore solutions other than a jail expansion.

Health, Transparency
Manipulation tactics from the SPD
city council, Criminal, Transparency
Manipulation tactics from the SPD
city council, Criminal, Transparency

Once again, the Sacramento City Council was faced with a request for even more money and ‘protective’ equipment for the Sacramento Police Department.

city council, Criminal, Transparency
The Closing of Financially Troubled Sacramento Housing Nonprofit and the Death of Fair Housing
Housing, Social Justice Culture, BoS, Kennedy, Serna, Desmond, Hume, Budget, Transparency
The Closing of Financially Troubled Sacramento Housing Nonprofit and the Death of Fair Housing
Housing, Social Justice Culture, BoS, Kennedy, Serna, Desmond, Hume, Budget, Transparency

At the March 28th Sacramento County Board of Supervisors (BOS) meeting, the Board approved $1.7 million to pay property owners back rent and to repair damage toward Sacramento Self Help Housing (SSHH) homes under county contract (item 47).

Housing, Social Justice Culture, BoS, Kennedy, Serna, Desmond, Hume, Budget, Transparency
Sacramento's outdated Lobbying Ordinance needs improvements!
Transparency, city council, BoS
Sacramento's outdated Lobbying Ordinance needs improvements!
Transparency, city council, BoS

Did you know that the Sacramento City Council has an Ethics Commission? Well, if you didn’t, now you do! And we’re gonna tell you about the important work they do!

Transparency, city council, BoS
Changing SPD Policy Language: A Necessity for Accountability
Transparency, Criminal
Changing SPD Policy Language: A Necessity for Accountability
Transparency, Criminal

During the 2/13/23 Sacramento Community Police Review Commission meeting, the Northern California chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) gave a presentation on the state of police use-of-force policy within the Sacramento PD. This presentation (given by Allyssa Victory, ACLU Staff Attorney) was mainly focused on the implications of Sacramento City’s current use of force policies within its police department.

Transparency, Criminal