1. Adoption of the Inclusive Economic Development Framework and Mayor/Council Budget Priorities for Fiscal Year 2019/20 [Oral Report] File ID: 2019-00865
Dear Committee members, I’m a member of Friends of the Library, and I write to support extra funding for the Colonial Heights library.
Our Library, which is always busy, serves the children and families of some 28 schools in Districts 5 and 6. It hosts the summer lunch program, so important to so many. Our library also provides reading and other activities, especially to teens, who find a safe, positive place for them to spend time, at the computers, in the activities room, or out in the library garden. When I have come to return books into the book drop, sometimes a little before the library opens, I am always impressed to see 2 dozen or more patrons lined up, waiting to enter.
Unfortunately, the library is closed two days a week. With the extra $50,000, our library could be open every day and our extremely capable and helpful staff could extend vital services to more people who need them!
Please approve this proposed library funding. Thank you so much for your consideration!
As a resident of Tahoe Park, I support section 3.b. Pedestrian Infrastructure, Crossings and Lighting, specifically the allocation of funding for pedestrian improvements in District 6. From the months of March to June in 2018, three pedestrian fatalities occurred on Broadway in Tahoe Park, spanning from from Stockton Blvd to 65th St. Additionally, the Sacramento Vision Zero Action Plan has identified several corridors in Tahoe Park, including Broadway, 14th Ave, and Stockton Blvd, as being on the High Injury Network, those corridors that have among the highest levels of fatal and serious crashes for pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists in the city. It is imperative that funding be allocated to address these issues through the implementation of improved crossings, lighting, and the addition of other pedestrian safety countermeasures.
My name is AnnMarie Beasley Cisneros. I’m a District 5 resident, a member of Friends of the Library, and I want to support extra funding for my library.
The Colonial Heights Library serves about 20 neighborhoods in Districts 5 and 6. It serves the children and families of some 28 schools, as well as many families with younger children not yet in school. It will provide free books to hundreds of 1st graders, and offer summer reading and free lunches this year to many hundreds as well.
The library offers many special programs and services, as well as other services including materials to peruse and borrow, study rooms and homework help for school-kids, computers to use, and a teaching garden. The library gets about 10,000 visitors per month!
But the library is now closed two days a week, a disservice. An extra $50,000 would enable our library to be open every day and extend its vital services to more people who need them! I urge you to approve this proposed library funding.
As a resident of the Pocket Neighborhood in District 7 I support items:
3.Increasing Transportation Opportunities
a.Sacramento River Parkway Bike Trail
d. Neighborhood and Schools Ped/Bike Safety Study & Implementation Planning.
The Sacramento River Parkway Bike Trail would add environmental safe access to our city's core for over 36,000 residents in our neighborhood. The Neighborhood and Schools Ped/Bike Safety Study would look at how our students from outside the neighborhood could have better access to our schools. As a teacher at the School of Engineering and Sciences here in the Pocket I often hear of the difficulties my students face when trying to get to our site. Having safer access to our schools should be a top priority for our city.
-Will Cannady
President, Pocket/Greenhaven Community Association
As a member of the Friends of Colonial Heights Library and resident of District 6, I am in support of adoption of the extra funding for our libraries. The Colonial Heights Library is one of the most valuable resources in our district and does much more, that goes far beyond lending books, to the residents in our district. One of those important services, happening this summer, is the free lunch program for the children in our neighborhood. Without our library and the financial support it receives from the city the neighborhoods in District 6 would go without a lot of the services that foster economic equity, growth, good health and well-being.
Marianne Gonzales
Neighborhood organizer
Colonial Village Neighborhood Association
CREAtE District 6
The Stonewall Democratic Club of Greater Sacramento supports the funding for the relocation of the LGBT Community Center. This vital funding will ensure support and housing for some of the most vulnerable LGBTQ members of Sacramento. The Center has done amazing work, and we appreciate the City helping to ensure they can continue to expand its capacity and services for the benefit of all.
Tim Kamermayer
President
Sacramento Stonewall Democrats
Mayor Steinberg and City Councilmember’s- the Sacramento Regional Coalition to End Homelessness supports this framework and $100 million for affordable housing. The goal should be to expedite this funding with $50 million in year one and $50 million in year two - with $100 million after the first $100 million is spent.
I am filing this comment since I am in DC but wanted to make sure you knew of our support and stand with the Sacramento Housing Alliance and ACT.
Bob Erlenbusch
Executive Director
SRCEH
My name is Martin Rosenberg. I’m a District 5 resident, a member of Friends of the Library, and I want to support extra funding for my library.
The Colonial Heights Library serves about 20 neighborhoods in Districts 5 and 6. It serves the children and families of some 28 schools, as well as many families with younger children not yet in school. It will provide free books to hundreds of 1st graders, and offer summer reading and free lunches this year to many hundreds as well.
The library offers many special programs and services, as well as other services including materials to peruse and borrow, study rooms and homework help for school-kids, computers to use, and a teaching garden. The library gets about 10,000 visitors per month!
But the library is now closed two days a week, a disservice. An extra $50,000 would enable our library to be open every day and extend its vital services to more people who need them! I urge you to approve this proposed library funding.
My name is Howard Knudsen. I am a Certified Public Accountant, living in Natomas.
I have carefully reviewed the budget submitted to the Council and it is my personal opinion that the issuance of $250,000,000 in bonds will endanger the City's long term financial health as well as the City's ability to meet its longterm pension obligations.
Furthermore, this budget violates the Council's own budget guidelines adopted in February 14, 2017 . The mayor's budget violates the Council's fifth guideline, which states that "budget actions must be considered in a five-year context, with new revenues not counted or spent until realized." The mayor's budget proposes to spend Measure U funds before they have been realized. The Council should honor its guidelines and decline to support this budget.
The Sacramento River Bike Trail funding is grossly underestimated. You are not accounting for all the litigation the city will face as a result. Additionally, it is misleading to mark this as a transportation item as the Pocket already has a bike trail running through the middle of the neighborhood that is more accessible to more members of the community than the river trail would be. This is purely for recreational purposes. It is a gross misappropriation of city/Measure U funds to give one of the wealthiest neighborhoods a 2nd recreational trail before our underserved communities even get 1 bike trail or safe parks or walkable sidewalks for that matter. The only area that actually doesn't have a good alternative for cyclists is in the Little Pocket. I have talked to numerous citizens that were unaware of the existing trail system in the Pocket and they are furious that Measure U funds would be used for a 2nd trail.
This "feel good" budget will make a few happy, but it will likely bankrupt future generations of Sacramentans. With this proposed budget, the City hands out more "freebies" to unproven programs which have no guarantee of success, or even tools to measure what success might look like.
Dear Committee members, I’m a member of Friends of the Library, and I write to support extra funding for the Colonial Heights library.
Our Library, which is always busy, serves the children and families of some 28 schools in Districts 5 and 6. It hosts the summer lunch program, so important to so many. Our library also provides reading and other activities, especially to teens, who find a safe, positive place for them to spend time, at the computers, in the activities room, or out in the library garden. When I have come to return books into the book drop, sometimes a little before the library opens, I am always impressed to see 2 dozen or more patrons lined up, waiting to enter.
Unfortunately, the library is closed two days a week. With the extra $50,000, our library could be open every day and our extremely capable and helpful staff could extend vital services to more people who need them!
Please approve this proposed library funding. Thank you so much for your consideration!
As a resident of Tahoe Park, I support section 3.b. Pedestrian Infrastructure, Crossings and Lighting, specifically the allocation of funding for pedestrian improvements in District 6. From the months of March to June in 2018, three pedestrian fatalities occurred on Broadway in Tahoe Park, spanning from from Stockton Blvd to 65th St. Additionally, the Sacramento Vision Zero Action Plan has identified several corridors in Tahoe Park, including Broadway, 14th Ave, and Stockton Blvd, as being on the High Injury Network, those corridors that have among the highest levels of fatal and serious crashes for pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists in the city. It is imperative that funding be allocated to address these issues through the implementation of improved crossings, lighting, and the addition of other pedestrian safety countermeasures.
Anika Jesi
Tahoe Park Resident
My name is AnnMarie Beasley Cisneros. I’m a District 5 resident, a member of Friends of the Library, and I want to support extra funding for my library.
The Colonial Heights Library serves about 20 neighborhoods in Districts 5 and 6. It serves the children and families of some 28 schools, as well as many families with younger children not yet in school. It will provide free books to hundreds of 1st graders, and offer summer reading and free lunches this year to many hundreds as well.
The library offers many special programs and services, as well as other services including materials to peruse and borrow, study rooms and homework help for school-kids, computers to use, and a teaching garden. The library gets about 10,000 visitors per month!
But the library is now closed two days a week, a disservice. An extra $50,000 would enable our library to be open every day and extend its vital services to more people who need them! I urge you to approve this proposed library funding.
As a resident of the Pocket Neighborhood in District 7 I support items:
3.Increasing Transportation Opportunities
a.Sacramento River Parkway Bike Trail
d. Neighborhood and Schools Ped/Bike Safety Study & Implementation Planning.
The Sacramento River Parkway Bike Trail would add environmental safe access to our city's core for over 36,000 residents in our neighborhood. The Neighborhood and Schools Ped/Bike Safety Study would look at how our students from outside the neighborhood could have better access to our schools. As a teacher at the School of Engineering and Sciences here in the Pocket I often hear of the difficulties my students face when trying to get to our site. Having safer access to our schools should be a top priority for our city.
-Will Cannady
President, Pocket/Greenhaven Community Association
As a member of the Friends of Colonial Heights Library and resident of District 6, I am in support of adoption of the extra funding for our libraries. The Colonial Heights Library is one of the most valuable resources in our district and does much more, that goes far beyond lending books, to the residents in our district. One of those important services, happening this summer, is the free lunch program for the children in our neighborhood. Without our library and the financial support it receives from the city the neighborhoods in District 6 would go without a lot of the services that foster economic equity, growth, good health and well-being.
Marianne Gonzales
Neighborhood organizer
Colonial Village Neighborhood Association
CREAtE District 6
The Stonewall Democratic Club of Greater Sacramento supports the funding for the relocation of the LGBT Community Center. This vital funding will ensure support and housing for some of the most vulnerable LGBTQ members of Sacramento. The Center has done amazing work, and we appreciate the City helping to ensure they can continue to expand its capacity and services for the benefit of all.
Tim Kamermayer
President
Sacramento Stonewall Democrats
Mayor Steinberg and City Councilmember’s- the Sacramento Regional Coalition to End Homelessness supports this framework and $100 million for affordable housing. The goal should be to expedite this funding with $50 million in year one and $50 million in year two - with $100 million after the first $100 million is spent.
I am filing this comment since I am in DC but wanted to make sure you knew of our support and stand with the Sacramento Housing Alliance and ACT.
Bob Erlenbusch
Executive Director
SRCEH
My name is Martin Rosenberg. I’m a District 5 resident, a member of Friends of the Library, and I want to support extra funding for my library.
The Colonial Heights Library serves about 20 neighborhoods in Districts 5 and 6. It serves the children and families of some 28 schools, as well as many families with younger children not yet in school. It will provide free books to hundreds of 1st graders, and offer summer reading and free lunches this year to many hundreds as well.
The library offers many special programs and services, as well as other services including materials to peruse and borrow, study rooms and homework help for school-kids, computers to use, and a teaching garden. The library gets about 10,000 visitors per month!
But the library is now closed two days a week, a disservice. An extra $50,000 would enable our library to be open every day and extend its vital services to more people who need them! I urge you to approve this proposed library funding.
Council Members and Mayor Steinburg;
My name is Howard Knudsen. I am a Certified Public Accountant, living in Natomas.
I have carefully reviewed the budget submitted to the Council and it is my personal opinion that the issuance of $250,000,000 in bonds will endanger the City's long term financial health as well as the City's ability to meet its longterm pension obligations.
Furthermore, this budget violates the Council's own budget guidelines adopted in February 14, 2017 . The mayor's budget violates the Council's fifth guideline, which states that "budget actions must be considered in a five-year context, with new revenues not counted or spent until realized." The mayor's budget proposes to spend Measure U funds before they have been realized. The Council should honor its guidelines and decline to support this budget.
The Sacramento River Bike Trail funding is grossly underestimated. You are not accounting for all the litigation the city will face as a result. Additionally, it is misleading to mark this as a transportation item as the Pocket already has a bike trail running through the middle of the neighborhood that is more accessible to more members of the community than the river trail would be. This is purely for recreational purposes. It is a gross misappropriation of city/Measure U funds to give one of the wealthiest neighborhoods a 2nd recreational trail before our underserved communities even get 1 bike trail or safe parks or walkable sidewalks for that matter. The only area that actually doesn't have a good alternative for cyclists is in the Little Pocket. I have talked to numerous citizens that were unaware of the existing trail system in the Pocket and they are furious that Measure U funds would be used for a 2nd trail.
This "feel good" budget will make a few happy, but it will likely bankrupt future generations of Sacramentans. With this proposed budget, the City hands out more "freebies" to unproven programs which have no guarantee of success, or even tools to measure what success might look like.
Bill Motmans