Welcome to Season 3!  We kick off our latest season with a new intro, new graphics and a new segment, Community Connections.  A few weeks ago we interviewed Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty!  Find out what his hobbies are, how he got into politics and most importantly who his favorite artist is (hint: it’s in the title). 

Our final episode of Season 2!  This one includes a recap of the City’s Award Winning Community Ambassador Program, council meeting updates from June 24 and July 1.  We also take a look back at the last twenty episodes and talks about each of our favorite episodes of the season!

Links mentioned in this episode

Lender Open House

https://bit.ly/SacLenders1

City Connect Mixer - July

https://www.cityofsacramento.gov/city-manager/oied/community-engagement/city-tools/city-connect

Entertainment Ordinance

https://sacramentocityexpress.com/2025/06/26/new-city-ordinance-allows-creation-of-entertainment-zones-for-special-events/

History of Housing Injustice (Greg, Lynette’s favorite episode)

https://youtu.be/TVweK3Qdrlg

Workforce Development and Memes (One of Danielle’s favorites) 

https://youtu.be/2WAvDO803nA

Halloween and Low Voter Turnout (one of Danielle’s favorites)

https://youtu.be/9YQ-80Q4ldY

Meet Youth Commission Chair Reyes Rios and Dominque Herndon (One of Ari and Danielle’s favorites)

https://youtu.be/69cEobz9pSE

What’s your Why? (One of Ari’s favorites) 

https://youtu.be/nrQGzNSG6Lw

In this episode the team talks about the work we've done in June. Including our City Connect Mixer at Roscoe's, Juneteenth at Land Park and a Laptop giveaway at City Hall. We also have a recap of City Council meetings this past week.

Links mentioned in this episode:

Railyards protest article

https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/sacramento/railyards-development-project-hits-roadblock/103-d458f313-c37d-4315-8fcc-c31c27c326bd

Entertainment zones article

https://www.capradio.org/articles/2025/06/25/entertainment-zones-aim-to-boost-sacramento-nightlife/

What are the 4 cities that have entertainment zones?

San Francisco, Sacramento, San Jose (Santa Monica, Santa Clara also working on entertainment zones for their respective cities)

Creative Growth Fellowship Program 

https://www.cityofsacramento.gov/ccs/oac/funding-and-grants/creative-growth-fellowship-program

Juneteenth Sacramento 

https://sacramentojuneteenthinc.org

Laptop Giveaway

https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article309316525.html

In this episode, the team gets a thorough update on the City budget from Lynette. Greg reveals the footage of our time at the Filipino Fiesta last week. The team also talks about upcoming events the Community Engagement Team will be at this summer.Links mentioned in this episode:City Council Meeting Recap 061125https://sacramento.granicus.com/GeneratedAgendaViewer.php?view_id=22&clip_id=6429Sacramento Filipino Fiesta http://www.sacramentofiesta.orgPride Marchhttps://sacramentopride.org/pride-march/Juneteenth Block Party at 40 Acreshttps://www.sthope.org/juneteenth-block-partyJuneteenth Festival at William Land Parkhttps://sacramentojuneteenthinc.orgCreative Growth Fellowship Programhttps://www.cityofsacramento.gov/ccs/oac/funding-and-grants/creative-growth-fellowship-program

The CE Team welcomes Workforce Development Manager Kevin Daniels to the podcast and Antonette Seeley our intern from Kevin’s program! 

Dixieanne Alleyway Project

https://sacramentocityexpress.com/2025/05/21/sacramento-to-premiere-dixieanne-alley-transformation-documentary-on-may-22/

Dorian Grey Movie 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Picture_of_Dorian_Gray_(1945_film)

Make a comment on this year’s City Budget!

https://sacramento.granicus.com/viewpublisher.php?view_id=22

Workforce Development 

https://www.cityofsacramento.gov/city-manager/oied/workforce-development

The CE Team helped host a party to celebrate the launch of the CityStart Initiative!  Learn more about the initiative and the work the equity work that the City is doing to bridge the wealth gap for Black residents in Sacramento!  

Links mentioned in the episode:

The LabRats

https://www.labratsband.com

CityStart Webpage

https://cfefund.org/project/citystart/

City of Sacramento CityStart Initiative

https://cityofsacramento.gov/citystartblueprint

City of Sacramento Financial Empowerment

https://www.cityofsacramento.gov/city-manager/oied/community-engagement/financial-empowerment

Grant Drumline

https://www.grantdrumlinemusic.org

Our Place

https://www.ourplaceevents.com

UniverSoul Cafe

https://www.instagram.com/universoul_cafe/

May 13 City Council Meeting Agenda

https://sacramento.granicus.com/GeneratedAgendaViewer.php?view_id=22&clip_id=6401

The CE Team Meets Reyes Rios, the Sacramento Youth Commission Chair person.  We also meet Domynique Herndon, program coordinator for the Youth Commission.

Links mentioned in the episode:

Council Updates

Proposed City Budget released this week

https://www.cityofsacramento.gov/content/dam/portal/finance/Budget/25-26-proposed/FY2025_26_Proposed_Operating_Budget_PgNum_Prnt_Web.pdf

Granicus link for Council Meeting Agendas

https://sacramento.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=21

Official Youth Commission Webpage 

https://www.cityofsacramento.gov/ypce/youth-civic-engagement/sacramento-youth-commission

The CE Team talks about the City’s boards, commissions and committees.  Learn about what a commissioner does, what duties they have and how you can become one yourself! 

Links mentioned in episode:

Sacramento Granicus - make public comment about the city budget!

https://sacramento.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=21

City of Sacramento’s Board and Commissions Website

https://boards.cityofsacramento.org

The Brown Act (history of the act 1950s)

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?division=2.&chapter=9.&part=1.&lawCode=GOV&title=5.

Commissioner Resources (including Commissioner Orientation Video)

https://www.cityofsacramento.gov/clerk/meetings-and-agendas/legislative-bodies/boards-and-commissions

Apply to Become a Commissioner (various requirements apply)

https://boards.cityofsacramento.org/application/

Meet Alicia Scholer, the newest CE Team Member! In this episode we talk with Alicia, our new Language Access Coordinator. Find out what the City already does in terms of language access and learn about what she’ll be working on from here on out!

Links mentioned in the episode:

Limited Entertainment Permit

https://www.kcra.com/article/sacramento-limited-entertainment-permits/64359315

City of Sacramento Language Access Audit

https://www.cityofsacramento.gov/content/dam/portal/auditor/Audit-Reports/Language-Access-Gap-Analysis-Survey-Results-and-Policy-Recommendations.pdf

Community Ambassador Program

https://www.cityofsacramento.gov/ambassadors

Get City-Issued Online Documents Translated

Simply email [email protected] and include the language and a link to the document.

311 and 911 Interpreters

If people call 311 or 911 right now and ask for an interpreter, they will automatically get connected to an interpreter


Live interpreters at City-produced events

Live interpreters can be requested for city events (must be city produced/hosted, not just city sponsored) with 72 hrs notice to [email protected]

It’s budget time at the City of Sacramento.  This year we have another deficit to deal with.  We review the budget cycle that the City does every year.  To give listeners a taste of what this process is like, the team participates in an activity from our City Manager Academy (CMA) program. Pete Colleto, the Director of the City’s Finance department, created the activity to give residents a deeper understanding of the complexity involved in allocating funding to specific programs, expansions of current programs and budgeting for new programs.

Links mentioned in the episode: 

Budget Reduction Strategies

https://www.cityofsacramento.gov/content/dam/portal/finance/Budget/Budget%20Reduction%20Strategies%203-7-25.pdf

Director Colleto’s Allocation Exercise

https://saccity.sharepoint.com/:w:/r/sites/InnovationTeam/_layouts/15/Doc.aspx?sourcedoc=%7B77e17146-5292-4778-ba4b-3cc7a05dc089%7D&action=edit

The City of Sacramento’s budget process graphic (scroll down to see the cycle on the Budget Division’s main page)

https://www.cityofsacramento.gov/finance/budget

Public Forum council meeting schedule (Look at the City’s Granicus page when May rolls around)

https://sacramento.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=21