Renewal of Measure U in Sacramento

September 10, 2018

The Environmental Council of Sacramento (ECOS) has submitted a letter in response to the renewal of Measure U in Sacramento. The content of the letter is below.

Dear Mayor and City Council:

The Environmental Council of Sacramento (ECOS) agrees with the concerns about the renewal of Measure U expressed in a recent letter from neighborhood groups and their supporters to the Sacramento City Council. We are also concerned that a permanent extension of the City’s local sales tax measure (Measure U) without significant changes in community engagement, budget process, and oversight will mean that City residents who will pay this tax will have no way to ensure that the funds collected are used for the greatest and most equitable community benefit.

ECOS generally supports the four proposals outlined in the letter submitted from the neighborhood groups:

  1. There should be meaningful comminity engagement for all plans and pending decisions that represents our diverse communities. This process should begin well before a final plan or decision is released, and all comments and documents received in that engagement should be publicly available. Engagement should prioritize low-income communities and communities of color.
  2. Once per year, with the annual budget, the City should conduct an assessment of the impact on disadvantaged communities by the previous year spending and proposed spending for the next fiscal year.
  3. The City should implement a participatory budgeting process to get meaningful public input on the spending that will be proposed for each annual budget. This process must conclude before any final budget is proposed for the next fiscal year and include meaningful community engagement. Any final recommendations should include a racial impact assessment of proposed spending.
  4. There should be meaningful citizen budget oversight through a citizen oversight committee that has the ability to convene meetings when the committee deems necessary and to provide recommendations to the City on budget spending and proposals.

We request that the City Council take formal action to adopt these requests before the November election. We look forward to working with you to institute these long-needed changes to the City’s planning and budget process.

Sincerely,
Ralph Propper
ECOS President

To access the letter in PDF, click here.

It took decades, but there’s finally a plan for open land in south Sacramento County

To say the South Sacramento Habitat Conservation Plan has been a long time coming is a vast understatement.

Two decades after the seeds were first planted, the plan is finally ready for Sacramento County supervisors to consider on Wednesday. They should approve it.

Developers would get a simplified and predictable process for federal and state environmental permits. And conservation groups would get large, interconnected areas of protected habitat, open space and undeveloped farmland.

The Sacramento Bee Editorial Board, 2018

Click here to read the full article.

Inadequate Swainson’s Hawk Protections in Elk Grove

Swainson’s Hawks in California

The Swainson’s hawk (Buteo Swainsoni) was listed as a threatened species in 1983 by the California Fish and Game Commission. This listing was based on loss of habitat and decreased numbers across the state.

Click here to read more about the Swainson’s Hawk.


The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has released an analysis of Kamilos’ Swainson’s Hawk Foraging Habitat Mitigation Proposal at Van Vleck Ranch. They have advised the City of Elk Grove not to use this mitigation program.

Click here to read CDFW’s analysis.

Hidden money, weaponized disinformation and a dark development

By Scott Thomas Anderson

July 19, 2018

Sacramento News and Review

Who’s behind the leading phone survey and sponsored Facebook campaign that are trying to assuage Folsom residents about a massive attack on open space?

Folsom Ranch, an embattled series of housing developments, is on track to be the largest of its kind in Sacramento County in decades—which means an enormous loss of open space, agricultural land and wildlife habitat.

I scanned the room for reactions and paused at former Mayor Bob Holderness. After leaving his elected post, Holderness became a consultant for prominent developers and then spearheaded the campaign for Measure W, the 2004 ballot initiative for the city to annex the land on its southern border, which would be taken over by Folsom Ranch. Today, Holderness represents Westland Capital Partners, a major developer of Folsom Ranch, as well as AKT Development, a major seller of its land.

His jump from elected leader to special-interest contractor was mirrored by former City Manager Martha Lofgren, who helped prepare the South of 50 project on the taxpayers’ dime until 2006, and is now serving as legal counsel for the New Home Company, one of the project’s main developers. But wait, there’s a three-peat! Former city planner Mike McDougall is now a top-ranking manager for Folsom Ranch.

Similar to The Folsom Way’s story-weaving in The Bee—and the meditative voice-over work on its sky-soaring Facebook video—Holderness discusses the South of 50 project as if it was approved by locals when they passed Measure W. But that vote for the city to take control of the rolling land’s future, instead of leaving that up to the county, nowhere mentioned 11,000 homes and suburban sprawl. In fact, the measure specifically forbade housing without a new, secured water supply, which remains in doubt.

Did Holderness know who was behind The Folsom Way? Before I could think more about it, he stood up and decided to jump into the kerfuffle unfolding in the chambers. Holderness strolled over to the podium. “I’m frankly disappointed to see that two of our planning commissioners don’t have a good understanding of what their role is in our city government,” he said. “Perhaps they didn’t understand their assignment, and that’s unfortunate.”

Commissioner Mallory, who’d just finished arguing that consultants have too much power in the city, glanced wearily up and replied, “You, sir, are one of the consultants.”


Photo by Devon McMindes

Click here to read the full article.

Prioritizing Surplus Government Land for Affordable Housing

On July 9, 2018 the Sacramento Housing Alliance and the Environmental Council of Sacramento submitted a letter to the Mayor of the City of Sacramento for the purpose of making inquiries into the adherence to the surplus land statute.

Here is an excerpt from the letter. Click here to read the full letter (PDF).


Dear Mayor Darrell Steinberg,

The Environmental Council of Sacramento (ECOS) and Sacramento Housing Alliance (SHA) are writing to inquire as to the City of Sacramento’s efforts to fully comply with the Surplus Land Statute, as amended by AB 2135 (Ting, Statutes of 2014)1, which requires prioritizing surplus government land for affordable housing. In short, the law requires all public agencies to offer surplus land to “housing sponsors” – that is, affordable housing developers –provided said developers have written and requested to be notified, and, should those sponsors express interest, enter into good faith negotiations for 90 days (Gov. Code, §§ 54222, 54223). Only if a compromise cannot be reached can the city sell it on the open market. We are proud to see that as our representative in the California State Senate, you voted in favor of AB 2135, which added important changes to the Surplus Land Act in 2014.

We are prompted to offer this reminder of the Surplus Land Act because of concerning trends in the sale of city properties. Reviewing recent sales of seven city owned lots, only one was sold to an affordable housing non-profit (City of Refuge, who plans to build a homeless shelter for women and children on the land). The other six were sold to for-profit entities. Most alarming is the case of 4722 9th Ave and 4601-4625 10th Ave, where the city rejected a proposal to build 130-195 affordable rental units in favor of market rate apartments.

… (continued)


Again, click here to read the full letter (PDF).

Seeking nominations for Environmentalist of the Year

Don’t forget we are seeking nominations for this year’s Environmentalist of the Year awards!
 
Is there someone who has achieved a special accomplishment in regards to our environment in approximately the last year, or someone you think has been overlooked in being recognized for their long-standing work for environment?
 
Let us know! Send an email to office[at]ecosacramento[dot]net with the name of the nominee and a paragraph on why you think they deserve the award. It can be an individual, group, coalition, agency or project. The award categories are flexible.
 
 
In addition, we would love to have you join the planning committee for the Environmentalist of the Year awards. We are currently meeting every other Wednesday at 6pm at the ECOS office. The next meeting will be July 25. Please join us!
 
Thank you for your consideration!