Sacramento, California

Sacramento is the capital city of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. As of 2013, its population was 479,686.^[1]

City government

See also: Council-manager government

The city of Sacramento utilizes a council-manager system. In this form of municipal government, an elected city council, which includes the mayor and serves as the city's primary legislative body, appoints a chief executive called a city manager.^[2][3]

City manager

The city manager is the city's chief executive officer. The responsibilities of the city manager include overseeing the city's day-to-day operations, planning and implementing the city's operating budget, and appointing departmental directors and other senior-level positions.^[3]

Mayor

The mayor is a member of city council. He or she presides over council meetings and official city ceremonies. The mayor also represents the city on the state, national and international levels.^[2] Darrell Steinberg is the current mayor of Sacramento.^[4]

City council

The Sacramento City Council is the city's primary legislative body. It is responsible for approving and adopting the city budget, levying taxes and making or amending city laws, policies and ordinances.^[4] The widget below automatically displays information about upcoming city council meetings.

Membership

The city council consists of nine members including the mayor. While the mayor is elected at-large, the other eight council members are elected by the city's eight districts.^[4]

A full list of city council members can be found here

Advisory boards

A series of advisory boards and commissions that are made up of non-elected citizens, whom city council members have appointed and approved, advises the Sacramento City Council. The roles of these boards and commissions are to review, debate, and comment upon city policies and legislation and to make recommendations to the city council.^[5]

For a full list of Sacramento's advisory boards and commissions, see here

Elections

2016

See also: Municipal elections in Sacramento, California (2016)

The mayor's chair and four seats on the Sacramento City Council were up for election on June 7, 2016. Because incumbent Mayor Kevin Johnson did not seek re-election, the filing period for that race was extended to March 16, 2016.

While the June election was called a primary, it was functionally a general election. The only races where no candidate won a majority (50 percent plus one) of the votes cast in the primary advanced to the election on November 8, 2016. The November election was called a general election, but it was functionally a runoff election.^[6]

2015

See also: Sacramento, California municipal elections, 2015

The city of Sacramento, California, held a special election for city council on April 7, 2015. The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was January 9, 2015.

The city held the special election to fill the District 6 seat of former council member Kevin McCarty, who won election to the California State Assembly in 2014.^[7] The winner served a term that expired in 2016.

2014

See also: Sacramento, California municipal elections, 2014.

The city of Sacramento, California, held nonpartisan elections for city council on November 4, 2014. A primary election took place on June 3, 2014. The filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in Districts 1 and 5 was on March 7, 2014. The deadline for Districts 3 and 7 was March 12, 2014.^[8]

Four seats were up for election. These included Districts 1, 3, 5 and 7. Incumbents Angelique Ashby and Jay Schenirer ran for re-election in Districts 1 and 5, respectively. The former ran unchallenged. Districts 3 and 7 were both open seats.

A special election for District 8 coincided with the November 4 general election. The District 8 seat was vacated by Bonnie Pannell in April 2014. She was first elected to city council in 1998.^[9][10]

Budget

Sacramento's adopted operating budget for fiscal year 2013-14 was $819 million.^[11]

The city's fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30. The city manager proposes a budget annually to the City Council, who must approve a balanced budget.^[12]

2015

Sacramento's adopted operating budget for fiscal year 2015-16 was $951.6 million, with $403.8 million allocated for General Fund operations and capital projects.^[13]

Public safety

Some items that will receive funding from this portion of the budget include:

• Significant initial investment in a body camera pilot program for the Police Department in order to supplement existing in-car camera technology
• Funding for sensitivity training for police officers, including $40,000 for Fair and Impartial Policing Training
• $1 million for a Police Cadet program intended to recruit a diverse police force and to develop young adults into productive, responsible citizens through leadership training, team building, and hands-on activities
• Funding for ten additional security cameras and license plate readers affixed to city street lights
• $150,000 to contract consultant services for the development of a new Master Plan for the Fire Department^[13]

Public services

Some items that will receive funding from this portion of the budget include:

• $500,000 in one-time funding for the Housing Solutions Program in order to provide housing and supportive services
• $365,000 to fund assessment and final project development of a program to replace equipment in city facilities with energy efficient equipment
• $650,000 of funding for completion of the initial phase of a project to improve street lighting
• $2 million in one-time funding for park repairs
• $1.2 million in funding for delivery and stabilization of park maintenance and recreation programming
• $600,000 for the Summer Night Lights program, a violence-reduction program focused on inter-generational activities that foster a safer community^[13]

Economic development

Some items that will receive funding from this portion of the budget include:

• $2.1 million to promote development of additional housing, including streamlining of the regulatory process and new economic incentives
• $7 million for the Downtown Streetcar including the use of $3 million from the fiscal year 2013-14 budget
• $188,000 for the City’s membership dues to Greater Sacramento, the region’s new economic development organization which aims attract, retain, and grown sustainable businesses and jobs throughout the six-county region^[13]

Ballot measures

See also: Sacramento County, California ballot measures

The city of Irvine is in Sacramento County. A list of ballot measures in Sacramento County is available here.

Lobbying

In 2013, Sacramento's federal lobbying-related expenses amounted to approximately $440,000.^[14] The issues for which the city filed in 2013, as well as the number of reports, can be seen in the box below. The issues column lists the generic issues that lobbyists working for local governments are required by law to disclose on quarterly federal disclosure forms.^[15][16] The reports column gives the number of reports lobbyists filed in regards to each generic issue. To learn more about the details of the specific issues for which Sacramento filed reports, read the federal disclosure forms by clicking the "Issues" links in the box below.

Federal Lobbying Issues, 2013
Reports	Issues
4	Fed Budget & Appropriations
4	Energy & Nuclear Power
4	Environment & Superfund
4	Taxes
4	Transportation

Issues in the city

Nondiscrimination laws

See also: Employment nondiscrimination laws in California

In July 2015, Ballotpedia found that private employers in Sacramento, California, were banned from discriminating on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity. At that time, a total of 71 cities in America's largest 100 prohibited private employers from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation, while 69 of those cities also prohibited discrimination based on gender identity. Of the nearly 63 million residents in those 100 cities, 80.8 percent lived in cities prohibiting discrimination on both fronts, while 79.9 percent were covered by laws preventing discrimination based only on gender identity. That meant that 19.2 percent and 20.1 percent of those citizens lived in a city that did not prevent private companies from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, respectively.

Nondiscrimination laws can cover a variety of areas, including public employment, private employment, housing, and public accommodations. Such laws may be enacted at the state, county, or city level and prevent discrimination for all citizens in that jurisdiction.

Pensions

Sacramento is facing nearly $2 billion in long-term unfunded pension liabilities. The big three categories are:^[17]

• $950 million in retirement benefits
• $823 million in bond debt
• $167 million in other future costs, including insurance claims, development fee credits and landfill closures

Under agreements reached between the City Council and labor unions more than 20 years ago, most city retirees receive $300 a month for medical costs. Employees who retire from the Fire Department get roughly $750 a month. City leaders said the pay-as-you-go formula is not sustainable. To keep pace with future obligations to the medical benefit, he said annual payments by the city would need to increase by $30 million, leaders said.^[18]

City employees are required to participate in the California Public Employees' Retirement System. A summary of employee benefits can be found here.

Police and firefighters are currently exempt from paying into their CalPERS retirement accounts, something that Mayor Kevin Johnson and the City Council are looking to change. Firefighter and police contracts run through 2013, and any changes would have to be made by re-opening the contract or waiting for its expiration. As a result of rising emergency personell pension costs, the FY 2011-2012 budget laid off police and firefighters. The city estimates that a 4% contribution to the CalPERS system would save the city $4 million annually.^[19]

Councilman Steve Cohn that the city attorney's office provide a legal opinion on a possible ballot measure on pension changes. Cohn wants to know whether a ballot measure requiring added employee contributions to pensions would be legal, given that those changes could supersede the collective bargaining process.^[20]

A half-cent hike passed in November kicks in April 1, raising the total sales tax in Sacramento to 8.5 percent. The city will get about $5 million more before the current fiscal year ends June 30 and an estimated $27 million a year after that. There's still a general fund deficit projected at $9.5 million for 2013-14 and around $14 million each of the next four budgets. Those figures – outlined in a five-year financial forecast the council is set to receive Tuesday night – are based on current contracts with city employee unions and on expected increases in pension costs.^[21]

Police and fire pensions

Sacramento officials have reached a tentative agreement with the city's firefighter union, a deal that would save 44 jobs. Details of the tentative deal have not been released, the City Council has sought increased pension payments from firefighters to help fill a citywide $15.7 million deficit.^[22]

However, the police unions are not willing to make the same concessions, which could cost 19 officers their positions due to lack of funding. In 2011 several Sacramento officers were laid off because they were not willing to make concessions on pensions which limited the city budget.^[23] The city wants the officers to pay nine percent of retirement costs. If the union doesn't agree, 19 officers will lose their jobs. Police officers currently do not pay into their funds.^[24] The City Council voted 8-1 June 12 to approve a citywide budget that will result in 19 police officers being laid off at the end of the month after labor negotiators failed to reach a deal with the police union over pensions.^[25]

Website evaluation

See also: Evaluation of California city websites

A-
Budget	Y
Meetings	Y
Elected Officials	Y
Administrative Officials	Y
Permits, zoning	Y
Audits	Y
Contracts	Y
Lobbying	N
Public Records
Local Taxes	Y
Transparency grading process

The good

• Budget
  • Budget information is available online.^[26]
  • Budgets are archived to 2004.
• Audits
  • Audit reports are available.^[27]
  • Audits are archived to 2003.
• Meetings
  • Agendas and minutes are available for City Council Meetings.^[28]
  • Meetings are archived for over three years.
• Elected officials
  • The Mayor and city council officials contact information and detailed biographies are posted online.^[29]
• Administration
  • Administrative departments and officials' names and contact information is provided.^[30]
• Permits and zoning
  • Building permit forms are posted.^[31]
  • Zoning information is posted.^[32]
• Contracts
  • Information on bids and proposals are available.^[33]
  • Vendor portal is posted.^[34]
• Public records
  • Provides access to public records^[35]
• Taxes
  • Tax information and forms are available.^[36]
• Lobbying
  • City requires registering of lobbyists who lobby council.^[37]

The bad

• Lobbying
  • Information on taxpayer funded lobbying is not provided.
• Checkbook register
  • There is no checkbook register available

See also

• Cities in California
• Orange County, California
• Largest cities in the United States by population

External links

• City of Sacramento official site
• Office of the Mayor
• City Council
• Sacramento City Code

Footnotes

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