Dollars & Sense
Business leaders want city to make practical choices
By Jeff Harris
June 2026
Every city has pressure points. In Sacramento, one point is the growing disconnect between what the city spends and what it can afford.
Sacramento Regional Business Leaders Council steps into this discussion with a clear voice. Formed in 2012, the group is a roughly 60-member coalition of business leaders from banking, manufacturing, agriculture and development. Its focus is how governmental decisions affect the cost and feasibility of doing business in the region.
Its chief executive is John Vignocchi, a local affordable housing developer. He explains, “We’re trying to help Sacramento realize its full potential through advocating for common-sense government policies.”
“Business owners are very direct,” he says. “They contribute to the job base, the tax base and the overall Sacramento economy. So when you talk about the frustrations of the business community with the way the city is being managed or politically manipulated, you could say that they’re not particularly content with some of the decisions the City Council makes.”
Sacramento faces a structural deficit, even as revenues reach record highs. That contradiction helps define the situation. This is not primarily a revenue problem or a matter of rising costs. It’s a spending problem.
That perspective came into view during a meeting between Vignocchi and City Manager Maraskeshia Smith. The discussion centered on steps the city could take to close the budget gap. Smith is a good listener. Her management style is rooted in practicality.
She hears from residents that they want her to “deliver basic city services.” She says, “We need to stop saying, ‘This is how we’ve always done it.’ We need a culture shift in the organization.”
Regional Business organizes its approach to the city’s deficit around three pillars: cut non-essential programs, outsource services where appropriate and eliminate costly regulations that drive up expenses.
These aren’t new ideas. What’s changed is the urgency and growing expectation that City Hall must act on the ideas.
Sacramento has expanded programs into areas that are hard to sustain. The question for policymakers isn’t whether these programs have value, but whether the city can fund them without compromising core services.
None of this is lost on Smith. Her conversation with Vignocchi reflected an understanding of the problem, even without complete agreement on solutions. Several long-term cost-saving measures are incorporated into her proposed budget.
But final decisions aren’t hers. The city manager proposes a budget. The City Council reviews, refines and approves it.
The council is increasingly asked to confront a tradeoff: reduce or eliminate programs that have been added over time or reduce the workforce that delivers services.
Regional Business brings a perspective shaped by the private sector, where cost controls and efficiency are constant pressures. Vignocchi argues more leaders with real-world operational experience could change how municipal decisions are made.
Running a city is different than running a business. Cities need financial discipline balanced against public obligations that don’t always translate into cost-benefit terms.
Ultimately, the numbers will force the issue.
Sacramento is at a point where incremental budget adjustments aren’t enough. The choices will require the council to move beyond general agreements about the problem and into specific decisions about what stays, what goes and how services get delivered.
The City Council should listen to the ideas of Regional Business and follow the city manager’s lead.
The business community is paying attention. City staff is doing the math. The question is whether the City Council will make the hard decisions that follow.
For information on Sacramento Regional Business Leaders Council, visit regionbusiness.org.
Jeff Harris represented District 3 on City Council from 2014 to 2022. He can be reached at cadence5371@gmail.com. Follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram: @insidesacramento.
