District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert didn’t spend all her time last year prosecuting fraudulent COVID-19 unemployment claims. Her office was busy on many fronts, including important work to reduce human trafficking.
Authorities chased sex buyers and sex exploiters in operation “Hot Spots,” a countywide sting with law enforcement partners and more than 30 community organizations called Sacramento Together Against Human Trafficking.
The efforts concentrated on areas long notorious for the sex trade, including Stockton Boulevard, Auburn Boulevard and Watt Avenue in North Highlands.
A sheriff’s election is often an exercise in maintaining the status quo. Many times, the retiring incumbent picks a favored replacement, and the endorsement is enough to win the race.
Once in office, the sheriff typically wins several re-elections and stays on the job until he chooses to depart on his own terms.
Scott Jones was elected sheriff in 2010, the handpicked replacement for John McGinness. Recently Jones posted on social media, “I have decided NOT to seek re-election as Sheriff of Sacramento County next year, and instead retire after what will be over 33 years with the Sheriff’s Office, including 12 years as Sheriff!”
Sacramento County taxpayers will assist Afghan refugees with a $5 million contingency fund set up by the Board of Supervisors, but only if federal authorities fail to come through with aid.
The fund reflects the county’s belief that numerous refugees will resettle here. Sacramento County is home to one of the largest Afghan immigrant populations in the U.S. Many live in unincorporated areas of Arden Arcade.
County Executive Ann Edwards says many new arrivals will be non-special visa holders with limited language skills, facing hardships due to cultural challenges. Those refugees may not receive the same federal assistance given to special visa holders.
Eager to address systemic racism and equity, the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors is creating a new agency focused on public safety, justice and community input. The move acknowledges “the role of structural racism in the criminal justice system” and the importance of approaching the problems with an “equity lens,” the board says.
The agency’s formation will allow various county departments to meet with community stakeholders and strive for jail reductions and diversion programs.
The federally mandated headcount of homeless individuals in Sacramento County was last conducted in 2019. It revealed more than 5,500 people experienced homelessness on a given night. This year’s count was canceled by the pandemic.
While the 2019 survey showed an increase of nearly 20 percent from 2017, residents don’t need an official report to know homelessness continues to grow.
Sacramento County will have a new Board of Supervisors next year. Exactly how new is an open question.
Three board seats are up for grabs in 2022, but county residents might have just one serious choice with the retirement of veteran member Don Nottoli. Incumbents Phil Serna and Patrick Kennedy hold the other two seats under consideration. Both will run to keep their jobs. The big question is whether they will have viable opponents.
