The Social Justice PolitiCast

Today Sky & Gabe are back to run through what’s happening at the City this week (mostly budget related), as well as flagging some Sheriff shenanigans on the County side.

Here’s a CBS article on the fee increases suggested by City management to close the budget gap.

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Today Gabe gives us the recap on the ICE resolution item from City Council from last week, and then he and Sky dive into what’s coming up at the City & County tomorrow.

Budget & Audit Committee, 11am

City Council, 2pm:

City Council, 5pm:

County Sheriff Community Review Commission, 6pm:

Here’s an email template created to help with public comment on the ALPR item. 

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Today Gabe is joined by Moiz from the Asian American Liberation Network to discuss item 29 on the Sacramento City Council Agenda for their 2pm meeting on Tuesday, April 28th. The toolkit can be found here. We're asking people to show up and make public comment, and demand an ordinance from the city that actually protects not only our immigrant neighbors, but all of us who know the overreach of law enforcement and the harm is causes. 

Follow AALN on IG 

Check our running agenda tracker for the other items we've flagged for the week. 

Today Sky is joined by Varun Arora from House Sacramento to talk about the Missing Middle update item on tomorrow’s 5pm City Council agenda. What is densification? What are the changes being proposed? Why are some housing advocates still wary of tomorrow’s discussion? Varun gives us the scoop.

Also! Our friends at Strong Sactown are hosting a pre-meeting power hour before the meeting tomorrow. 4pm at Immortal cafe. Register here.

No County Meetings tomorrow, but here are our flags for both the 2pm and 5pm City Council meetings:

2pm:

5pm:

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No City Council this week, so Gabe and Sky walk you through some upcoming opportunities for public engagement: 

Then we point out a couple of things that may be worth noting on the County BoS agenda for tomorrow:

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Today we’re joined by Ember Ward, to fill us in on the work they’re doing with the Sacramento Rise Hub. The Rise Hub is a network of various services and resources for immigrant communities. Their mission is to connect at-risk individuals, their families, and communities with essential community systems such as legal services, schools, labor unions, and local governments.

For more info, check them out at www.sacrisehub.org 

There are no meetings this week! Enjoy the break!

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Today Gabe is joined by former D4 City Councilmember, Katie Valenzuela, to discuss public banking related to item 17 on Tuesday's 2pm City Council Meeting. The toolkit for those looking to make public comment can be found here. 

Check our Running Agenda Tracker for all the details on the flagged items for this week. 

Audio alert - this episode we experimented with an in-person version of the show, and something went wrong with Skyler’s mic. Please give us a little grace in the audio department on this ep.

This week Skyler is joined by Jeff Kessler, who works with Vacancy Fee Sacramento. Jeff’s org works towards pushing the CIty to use fees and potentially a vacancy tax to promote development & stabilize lease prices, addressing blight and economic justice in one fell swoop. Vacancy taxes & fees are both being discussed at tomorrow’s Law & Legislation meeting at 11am, so this is a great primer for that discussion, which is on our “attend and advocate” recommendations this week.

Follow Vacancy Fee Sacramento on Instagram!

Here’s what’s coming up tomorrow at City Hall:

Law & Legislation, Tuesday, March 17, 11am

City Council, Tuesday, March 17, 2pm

City Council, Tuesday, March 17, 5pm

Other meetings happening this week at the County that are not addressed in the episode but worth watching nonetheless:

Public comment from the budget item last Tuesday

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Today, Gabe and Keyan give us an overview of last week’s happenings at City Council, and then dive into a discussion about the Sacramento Police budget, why it’s so high, why they usually seem to get what they want, and what we can expect during the budget workshop on Tuesday. 

Here’s what’s coming up tomorrow at City Hall:

City Council, Tuesday, March 10, 2pm

Other meetings happening this week that did not raise any flags for us include:

Some light reading, for context:

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Today, we are joined by former City Councilmember Katie Valenzuela, who gives us the rundown on the upcoming weekly budget discussions coming up all throughout the month of March, what to look out for, and why these conversations or so important for the community to be keeping an eye on. 

Here’s what’s coming up tomorrow at City Hall:

City Council, Tuesday, 3/3/26, 2pm

Item 16: 2027 Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency (SHRA) One-Year Action Plan Federal Programs Allocation Process Workshop Number One

City Council, Tuesday, 3/2/26, 5pm

Item 3: Resolution Establishing Business Operating Permit Fees for Cannabis Consumption Lounges (Continued from last week’s meeting)

NO COUNTY BOS MEETINGS THIS WEEK!

Some light reading, for context:

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