Op-Ed
Diverse Viewpoints from Sacramento
End The Confusion
The Sacramento River Parkway is a crucial route for many residents who get to work by bike and an important resource for recreation. It’s a transportation facility of regional significance.
The parkway provides 65 miles of off-road riverfront paths when combined with the American River Parkway, plus dozens of additional miles of off-road bicycling and walking paths that connect many neighborhoods to our rivers.
As a native Sacramentan and frequent user of our river parkways, I’ve learned to navigate the complicated and confusing on-road connections between completed segments of the Sacramento River Parkway.v
No Legitimate Reason
No Legitimate Reason State flood board overreaches with fences By Patrick Kennedy October 2023 In 2022, the Sacramento Area Council of Governments board of directors, which I currently chair, adopted a regional trails plan that lays the groundwork for a...
We Can’t Wait
The story is bleak. An unsheltered population grows by more than 250% in six years. Sixteen encampments. Daily assaults. Hypodermic needles on soccer fields. Children walking to school through human feces and urine. Unanswered calls to city authorities for help.
As district attorney for Sacramento County, my mandate is public safety. While our office would never prosecute someone for being homeless, laws apply to everyone, even unhoused people.
I was recently asked by Mayor Darrell Steinberg to offer diversion to every unhoused person faced with prosecution. The mayor’s proposal would mean dismissal of every misdemeanor committed by an unhoused person. No input from victims. No evaluation of the crime.
Uncivil War
Hate speech and the lack of decency at City Council meetings are a shock. How did we get here?
Here’s my story. When letters to my councilmember and mayor went unanswered, I attended council meetings, first virtually, then in person. At my first council meeting, I learned other attendees were there to vehemently campaign for their personal ideologies.
I learned there was no room for alternate opinions. Audience members who disagreed with my comments turned to social media to criticize and mock me. I saw uncivil behavior at council meetings, including shouting and heckling.
Care Commitment
For the first time in years, stakeholders in Sacramento are committed to a single plan to end homelessness. While the situation is bleak on the streets, this commitment is new and can be a game-changer.
The key to success is the shared vow of all partners to move forward with action, services and resources. This means we work together.
No Kidding
In November, voters elected three new City Council members. Two represent a new generation of leadership, Oak Park’s Caity Maple, 31, and Karina Talamantes, 33, of Natomas. Both earned their jobs in vigorous campaigns where they reached constituents and gained trust.
Soon, they will be joined on the council dais by another young person with a voice in council deliberations.
But this person will be different: hand-picked, never winning an election, never engaged with Sacramento voters. Why? Because a different City Council, in power days before Maple, Talamantes and Lisa Kaplan came on board, decided it was a good idea to have someone—maybe a high school sophomore—sit alongside them and weigh in on complex issues.