[0:14] stream.

[0:22] >> We will call to order the

[0:23] Budget and Audit Committee

[0:27] meeting for MAY 26th, 2026. And

[0:29] welcome to those of you who

[0:32] have joined us. Why don't we

[0:33] call the roll to establish a

[0:34] quorum?

[0:35] >> Thank you. Council member

[0:36] Talamantes. Council member

[0:37] Maple. I am here, Council

[0:39] member Guerra and chair

[0:41] Dickinson here. Quorum.

[0:43] >> Thank you. And Council

[0:45] member Maple, would you lead us

[0:46] in the acknowledgment and the

[0:46] pledge?

[0:49] >> Please rise if you are able.

[0:51] Rise for the opening

[0:52] acknowledgments in honor of

[0:53] Sacramento's indigenous people

[0:55] and tribal lands to the

[0:56] original people of this land,

[0:58] the Nisenan people, the

[0:59] southern Maidu Valley and

[1:01] Plains Miwok, Patwin Wintun

[1:02] peoples and the people of the

[1:04] Wilton Rancheria. Sacramento's

[1:06] only federally recognized tribe.

[1:07] MAY we acknowledge and honor

[1:08] the native people who came

[1:10] before us and still walk beside

[1:11] us today on these ancestral

[1:12] lands, by choosing to gather

[1:14] today in the act of practice of

[1:16] acknowledgment and appreciation

[1:17] for Sacramento's indigenous

[1:19] peoples, histories,

[1:20] contributions and lives. Remain

[1:23] standing. Salute and pledge. I

[1:25] pledge allegiance to the flag

[1:27] of the United States of America

[1:29] and to the Republic for which

[1:32] it stands one nation under GOD,

[1:33] indivisible, with liberty and

[1:35] justice for all.

[1:38] >> All right, all right. Thank

[1:40] you all for joining us this

[1:43] this morning. If you wish to

[1:45] speak on any item on our agenda,

[1:47] you're welcome to to do that,

[1:50] you need to, to fill out a

[1:51] speaker form and deliver that

[1:53] to our clerk here at the front

[1:54] of the chambers. And then we'll

[1:56] make sure to call on you on the

[1:57] item in which you are

[1:59] interested. Please keep in mind

[2:01] that public comment is limited

[2:03] to two minutes, and you can see

[2:05] the clock ticking now as you

[2:07] stand at the podium, so be sure

[2:08] to keep an eye on that so you

[2:10] time your remarks so you get

[2:12] everything said that you that

[2:14] you want to get in. And with

[2:16] that, I think we can move to

[2:20] our consent calendar. So do we

[2:21] have any items that members

[2:24] wish to address on the consent

[2:27] calendar?

[2:28] >> I'll move consent.

[2:30] >> And we have a motion and a

[2:32] second on the consent calendar.

[2:33] Do we have any members of the

[2:35] public who wish to address. I

[2:35] have no.

[2:37] >> No speakers on the consent

[2:37] calendar.

[2:38] >> All right. If there's

[2:40] nothing further, then all in

[2:41] favor, signify by saying aye.

[2:42] Aye. Opposed? Say no. Any

[2:43] abstentions? Hearing none.

[2:45] Motion passes unanimously.

[2:48] We'll go on to item six, which

[2:50] is the audit of emergency

[2:53] medical services. And because

[2:54] it's an audit, here's our

[2:57] auditor. This. Good morning.

[2:58] >> Good morning, Chair

[2:59] Dickinson and members of the

[3:02] Budget and Audit Committee. I'm

[3:04] your city auditor. With me

[3:06] today is Joe Fleming, who is

[3:07] primarily responsible for

[3:09] completing this audit. And the

[3:11] recommendation that's before

[3:13] you is to accept the audit of

[3:15] the Sacramento Fire

[3:16] Department's emergency medical

[3:18] services and forward it to the

[3:23] full City Council for approval.

[3:24] So first, I'd like to provide

[3:26] some background information

[3:28] regarding ems operations and

[3:31] trends in ems in demand for ems

[3:34] services. The ems division

[3:35] within the Sacramento Fire

[3:37] Department provides basic life

[3:39] support, advanced life support

[3:40] and ambulance transport

[3:43] services for the city. 911

[3:44] calls first go to the

[3:45] Sacramento Police Department

[3:47] Dispatch Center, and then

[3:49] they're transferred to the. For

[3:51] fire and medical calls to the

[3:54] Sacramento Regional Fire ems

[3:56] Communications Center, who then

[3:57] provides the alert to the

[4:03] stations for units to respond.

[4:04] Sfd does not always respond to

[4:05] incidents with ambulances,

[4:07] trucks or engines. More

[4:09] recently, for non-emergency or

[4:11] low acuity calls, there are

[4:14] other teams that MAY respond,

[4:16] such as cases for substance

[4:19] abuse or mental health crises.

[4:22] And since fiscal year 2019,

[4:23] Sacramento Fire Department

[4:25] incidents for both fire and

[4:29] medical have risen about 15%,

[4:31] which is more than double the

[4:33] 6% growth that fire operations

[4:35] and ems staffing have seen.

[4:37] During that same period. The

[4:40] number of fire stations is also

[4:43] stayed the same at 24 since

[4:45] 2018. And then to help address

[4:47] this, ems has more recently

[4:49] also contracted with ambulance

[4:51] services to provide basic life

[4:55] support services, and many ems

[4:56] operational policies are set by

[5:00] the county ems agency, though

[5:02] Sacramento Fire Department does

[5:04] maintain its own policy manual,

[5:06] and the state also provides

[5:08] guidance and coordination. In

[5:09] addition, there are outside

[5:11] groups such as the National

[5:13] Fire Protection Association,

[5:15] nfpa that suggest performance

[5:16] standards that are widely

[5:20] accepted. So our audit

[5:22] objective was to evaluate the

[5:23] quality of the Fire

[5:25] department's emergency Medical

[5:27] service services delivery and

[5:28] identify opportunities for

[5:30] improvement. To do this, we

[5:32] looked at ems processes from

[5:34] all stages of the operations.

[5:36] So from the point when the

[5:37] dispatch enters the 911 calls

[5:40] to when ems personnel mobilize

[5:42] and respond to the incidents,

[5:44] and when patients are offloaded

[5:47] for care at the hospitals, if

[5:49] applicable. This provides the

[5:50] perspective of both the

[5:52] provider and the patient. And

[5:54] to do so, we review data on

[5:56] call answer times from the

[5:58] dispatch center. Turnout time

[6:00] data for Sacramento Fire

[6:02] Department personnel responses

[6:04] from patient surveys provided

[6:07] by the city's ambulance billing

[6:09] provider, and accreditation and

[6:11] licensure data maintained by

[6:13] the fire department.

[6:14] Additionally, we reviewed the

[6:16] various policies maintained by

[6:18] the Department, operational

[6:20] standards established by county

[6:22] ems agency, state ems

[6:24] guidelines and regulations,

[6:26] state codes, and best practices

[6:29] that are suggested by third

[6:31] party organizations such as

[6:36] nfpa. So, for our first finding,

[6:38] we address the impact of

[6:39] non-emergency calls or as I

[6:43] mentioned, low acuity on sfd

[6:44] operations. So we reviewed data

[6:46] on the disposition of all the

[6:48] different types of 911 calls

[6:51] that sfd responded to in

[6:54] calendar year 2020 for. So as I

[6:56] mentioned, low acuity calls are

[6:58] things like minor pain or flu

[7:00] like symptoms or other non-life

[7:02] threatening medical concerns.

[7:03] And then of the more than

[7:05] 98,000 incidents that we

[7:08] reviewed, most, 61,000 were

[7:10] medical and about 18,000 of

[7:12] those were low acuity. So in

[7:13] other words, for the most

[7:15] common type of incident,

[7:18] personnel were responding to

[7:19] non-emergency or non-life

[7:21] threatening about 30% of the

[7:23] time. And that means that

[7:25] personnel MAY be tied up with

[7:26] non-emergency calls when other

[7:28] actual emergencies are

[7:29] occurring. And this can create

[7:32] additional workload burden on

[7:35] ems personnel and financially.

[7:37] Rough estimate shows that

[7:38] responding to these incidents

[7:41] costs about $4.6 million across

[7:43] ambulance, fire, engine, fire,

[7:46] truck maintenance, fueling,

[7:49] repairs and staffing, and a

[7:51] combined unit spent 1.2 million

[7:53] minutes responding to these

[7:56] calls. About 20% of the

[7:58] incidents were homeless related,

[8:00] meaning that as a share of the

[8:01] city population, there were

[8:03] about four ambulance responses

[8:06] for each personal person

[8:07] experiencing homelessness,

[8:09] compared to about 0.15

[8:12] incidents for non homeless

[8:14] individuals in the city. And

[8:15] many of these calls were

[8:17] located in the downtown and

[8:21] midtown areas of the city. As I

[8:23] mentioned, ems now utilizes a

[8:25] multiple types of units that

[8:27] are designed to respond to low

[8:28] acuity incidents, with an

[8:31] alternative approach designed

[8:32] specifically for different

[8:34] needs. So, for example, they

[8:35] have teams of paramedics that

[8:37] respond to substance abuse

[8:39] related incidents with harm

[8:40] reduction kits and provide

[8:45] follow up visits. So our

[8:46] recommendation for this finding

[8:48] suggests that there is further

[8:49] collaboration that could happen

[8:51] with the dispatch center, which

[8:54] could allow for dispatch to

[8:56] directly dispatch alternative

[8:58] response units to calls, which

[9:00] is not currently a level of

[9:02] authority that they have. This

[9:06] would also include continued

[9:07] exploration of models like the

[9:09] nurse triage line, where

[9:10] non-emergency calls are

[9:12] potentially routed to a nurse

[9:14] over the phone, rather than

[9:15] sending out paramedics or emt

[9:19] to respond in person. In our

[9:20] conversations with the fire

[9:22] department and the dispatch

[9:23] center, they have indicated

[9:25] that they've researched this

[9:27] option and have identified some

[9:29] certain obstacles, but we

[9:30] believe that there might be

[9:32] additional consideration there.

[9:34] And then other strategies could

[9:35] include building out the

[9:37] existing behavioral Health

[9:39] Crisis hotline, which responds

[9:41] to individuals in mental health

[9:43] crises or rideshare options,

[9:46] where we can send a rideshare

[9:48] to transport individuals to

[9:49] doctor appointments or urgent

[9:52] care instead of taking them to

[9:54] the hospital with an ambulance.

[9:56] And additionally, we recommend

[9:57] that the fire department

[10:00] continues to expand its use of

[10:01] alternative response units like

[10:03] the Mobile Integrated Health

[10:05] Team, which did roll out

[10:09] earlier this month. So one of

[10:10] the challenges that they've

[10:12] indicated for these types of

[10:13] units is that the city might

[10:15] not be able to bill for some of

[10:18] these services. And so

[10:20] expanding their usage could

[10:21] benefit with also working with

[10:23] state officials and legislators

[10:25] to build out a way that we can

[10:27] get reimbursed for for those

[10:32] services. Our second finding is

[10:35] that while ems providers and

[10:36] hospitals county wide have

[10:38] reduced the time it takes to

[10:40] offload patients from

[10:41] ambulances into the care of the

[10:42] hospitals, there is still room

[10:44] for improvement to meet the

[10:46] offload standard time set by

[10:49] the county policy in 2023,

[10:52] Assembly Bill 40 was passed to

[10:53] streamline the transfer of care

[10:55] between ambulances and

[10:56] hospitals and added

[10:59] requirements like establishing

[11:01] a threshold for how much time

[11:04] the hospital has to take in

[11:07] clients. So the for example,

[11:09] you could set a 30 minute

[11:12] patient offload time for 90% of

[11:13] incidents, and it requires

[11:15] hospitals to develop protocols

[11:17] to reduce the patient offload

[11:19] times. When we looked at the

[11:21] 2024 data, we calculated that

[11:24] an additional 21 minutes per

[11:26] patient on average ambulance

[11:27] waiting times above that 30

[11:30] minute offload time, which was

[11:35] about 7000 hours in total and

[11:36] $970,000 in terms of ambulance

[11:40] operating costs. More recent

[11:42] data in 2025 shows that that

[11:45] time has gone down

[11:48] significantly from the even

[11:51] 2023 data, which was 73 minutes,

[11:53] and the county standard, which

[11:55] was 30 minutes at the time we

[11:57] looked at it, has slowly

[11:59] reduced to get to a 20 minute

[12:01] standard. So for fiscal year 26,

[12:04] that standard was 25 minutes.

[12:07] At the end of this calendar

[12:08] year, it's going to be closer

[12:10] to 23 minutes. And then JANUARY

[12:13] it's going to be 20 minutes. So

[12:16] our recommendation is to

[12:17] continue to work with area

[12:19] hospitals to ensure that we are

[12:22] they are in compliance with the

[12:24] patient offload times to reduce

[12:28] wait times for the ambulances.

[12:30] The fire department does

[12:32] currently meet monthly with

[12:33] representatives of the area,

[12:35] hospitals and insurance

[12:36] providers, as well as

[12:37] neighboring fire chiefs to

[12:39] discuss additional strategies.

[12:41] So we believe that continuing

[12:42] those discussions is going to

[12:45] be helpful. And they have

[12:46] mentioned that there there have

[12:48] been some changes implemented

[12:51] by the hospitals. And so

[12:53] continuing those changes will

[12:57] also benefit the city. Our

[12:59] third finding is that the fire

[13:00] department has not formally

[13:03] adopted turnout time standards

[13:05] to measure their performance

[13:07] against. So the nfpa standard

[13:10] is for units to begin traveling

[13:12] within 60s of being notified of

[13:16] the incident 90% of the time.

[13:17] Our review of the turnout time

[13:19] for 2024 was that we were

[13:23] meeting that 60s 60% of the

[13:25] time, and the performance was

[13:27] generally faster during the day

[13:29] and slower in the early morning

[13:32] hours. And at the dispatch

[13:34] level, the dispatch center is

[13:36] is also not consistently

[13:38] meeting the call answer times,

[13:41] which again set by the nfpa,

[13:43] 90% of calls answered within 15

[13:48] seconds between JANUARY 2019

[13:50] and MARCH 2021. They did exceed

[13:51] that benchmark. And then

[13:54] they've kind of fluctuated over

[13:57] the last couple of years on

[14:01] meeting that. So our

[14:02] recommendation is for the fire

[14:03] department to work with the

[14:05] dispatch center to regularly

[14:07] reach the call, answering

[14:10] benchmarking times. The

[14:11] dispatch center did state that

[14:13] they are planning to add

[14:15] personnel, which could help

[14:17] expedite call answering and

[14:18] processing times. And then we

[14:20] also recommend that the fire

[14:21] department formally adopt the

[14:23] nfpa standards specifically,

[14:25] especially for turnout times of

[14:30] 60s 90% of the time. And then

[14:31] our final finding is that the

[14:33] fire department's Continuous

[14:34] Quality Improvement Committee

[14:36] roles and responsibilities

[14:38] could be strengthened. The key

[14:40] Key Committee is currently

[14:42] exceeding the standards set by

[14:44] county policy to review patient

[14:46] care reports to look for things

[14:48] like gaps in service delivery

[14:51] or identify conduct violations.

[14:54] This work is done by staff on a

[14:57] volunteer basis, as funding

[14:59] constraints are always an issue,

[15:01] and it limits their ability to

[15:03] do fuller reviews of other data,

[15:05] such as patient feedback

[15:08] surveys and those that

[15:10] information is not currently

[15:12] utilized to improve or change

[15:13] the policies and practices of

[15:16] the operations. Additionally,

[15:18] in our review of the licensing

[15:19] and accreditation data, we

[15:21] found that there were some

[15:23] credentials that were listed as

[15:25] expired and the fire

[15:26] department's internal tracking

[15:30] system. Two of those 44 that we

[15:31] had identified were for

[15:33] paramedic licenses. And then

[15:36] lastly, among the fire

[15:37] department's internal policies,

[15:40] many of the them were outdated.

[15:42] About 85% of the policies in

[15:45] the ems division had not been

[15:50] updated in more than 25 years.

[15:53] We recommend for this finding

[15:55] that the committee roles and

[15:57] responsibilities be clarified,

[15:59] that the Committee is

[16:00] satisfying internal policies

[16:02] and those guidelines set by the

[16:04] state ems authority. We

[16:06] recommend that patient data

[16:07] survey data be incorporated

[16:11] into the quality improvement

[16:12] process and be provided to the

[16:14] Office of Public Safety,

[16:15] Accountability and Fire

[16:16] Department's internal

[16:18] investigators were warranted,

[16:20] and we recommend that processes

[16:21] by which employee

[16:23] certifications are reviewed to

[16:25] ensure that their current and

[16:27] to reinforce processes that

[16:29] prevent certifications from

[16:31] lapsing and we also recommend

[16:33] that the fire department

[16:35] perform a gap analysis to

[16:36] identify any missing policies

[16:38] that need to be added to their

[16:40] manual of operations. In

[16:43] addition to working on updating

[16:44] some of their policies that

[16:47] they currently have. This

[16:49] concludes my presentation. I'd

[16:50] like to thank the Fire

[16:51] department for their

[16:52] collaboration and assistance

[16:54] throughout this audit. The

[16:57] response from the department is

[16:58] included at the end of this

[17:00] audit report. And as you can

[17:02] see, they've already begun

[17:04] working on and addressing many

[17:07] of the issues we identified.

[17:09] And before we conclude, I

[17:11] believe the fire department did

[17:14] want to say a couple of words.

[17:22] >> So thank you, chief. Good

[17:24] morning.

[17:26] >> Good morning everyone. I'd

[17:29] like to start out by just

[17:30] thanking Forrest and her

[17:32] auditor team for what they help

[17:35] us with. As we went through

[17:37] this audit. The Sacramento Fire

[17:39] Department has significantly

[17:41] strengthened its ems division

[17:45] by taking part in the audit.

[17:46] Many of the community medical

[17:47] services that we didn't have

[17:49] before we have today because we

[17:51] work through this audit. It

[17:54] showed us places where we could

[17:56] either enhance or be innovative

[17:58] in the region. And you heard us

[17:59] talk about The Epoch Times, the

[18:01] ambulance patient offload times

[18:02] at the hospitals. That's

[18:03] something we have to

[18:04] collaborate with the hospitals

[18:06] with. And although there MAY be

[18:07] penalties for us, there's no

[18:09] penalty for the hospital for a

[18:11] slow patient offload time. So

[18:13] we have to foster that

[18:14] relationship with every

[18:16] hospital in the region to get

[18:18] the times that we do have. And

[18:20] as of APRIL, we're down to 28

[18:22] minutes, which I would have

[18:23] told you would have been

[18:25] unheard of several years ago

[18:26] when we were seeing sometimes

[18:30] for six hours, sitting for

[18:33] patient offload times. Many of

[18:35] the advancements are through

[18:38] our communication center. We

[18:40] have the backbone here in

[18:41] Sacramento County, a fire

[18:43] having a dedicated fire

[18:45] dispatch center is unique in

[18:47] Sacramento County that we use

[18:48] the whole system. And what I

[18:50] mean, the whole system, it's.

[18:53] We share a borderless boundary.

[18:55] So companies from the city and

[18:58] the county move across lines as

[19:01] well as medic units. That also

[19:03] gave us the ability to

[19:05] integrate with the 988 suicide

[19:08] crisis hotline, develop nurse

[19:09] navigation pathways with those

[19:10] other units that you hear us

[19:12] talk about. So the street

[19:16] overdose Response Team, the mcu,

[19:18] which is a crisis unit, and now

[19:21] mih, which the two previous

[19:24] ones sort and mcu, they are

[19:25] dispatched through text from

[19:28] dispatch, but the mi units are

[19:29] dispatched by radio, so that's

[19:31] something new. Since the audit

[19:39] started. I talked about we're

[19:40] actually a leader in the region

[19:41] in the ambulance patient

[19:45] offload times. We meet monthly

[19:48] with all the clinics, the rehab

[19:50] facilities, insurance providers,

[19:51] the hospitals, and sit down and

[19:53] work on ways to reduce those

[19:55] times, which makes our

[19:57] ambulances more available more

[20:00] often. Modernization and I, we

[20:02] talked about a lot, 10,000

[20:03] certificates that we manage

[20:06] with two people. A lot of those

[20:07] certificates, certificates that

[20:08] we hit on the 40 that were

[20:10] expired. Some of them are

[20:13] people that are, are employees

[20:15] that are going from emt to

[20:17] paramedic. Their emt license

[20:19] will lapse when they move to

[20:21] paramedic. We did not have

[20:23] anybody work on an ambulance

[20:26] that was not certified. So some

[20:27] of the other certifications

[20:29] that were lapsed were, I think

[20:32] there was 14 or 17 reserves

[20:33] that were licensed in our

[20:36] system, and we no longer have a

[20:37] reserve program. So those

[20:39] licenses go on. That lapsed

[20:43] category. I think when we talk

[20:49] about nfpa, nfpa is a.

[20:51] Recommendation across the us.

[20:54] If it's not adopted locally,

[20:55] then it is not something that

[20:57] you would typically use. Our

[20:59] dispatch center uses Apco,

[21:02] which is a public safety

[21:03] officials that regulate the

[21:05] times that we measure and

[21:08] dispatch. So for us as a city

[21:13] to adopt one nfpa

[21:14] recommendation, we would have

[21:16] to go through council to do

[21:18] that. And it would be there's a

[21:23] litany of nfpa books that it's

[21:25] it's daunting when you look at

[21:26] nfpa and the requirements of

[21:30] nfpa across the nation. So we

[21:31] tread lightly with nfpa, I

[21:33] guess is what I'm trying to say.

[21:35] So. And then the 62nd times

[21:37] that you see for ems calls,

[21:39] that's because you're not

[21:41] having to turn out in full

[21:42] turnouts before you get on the

[21:43] equipment. So you're, you have

[21:47] less time to get ready. And

[21:48] daytime versus nighttime, I

[21:49] think it's obvious that they're

[21:52] coming from a bedside versus

[21:54] being maybe out on the street.

[21:56] So those types of times do slow

[21:57] in the evening times or night

[22:00] time. If you have any other

[22:02] questions, I'd be I'd just like

[22:03] to finish by thanking both

[22:06] again for this team. And the

[22:09] ems team is behind me and

[22:10] answer any questions you might

[22:12] have for us.

[22:14] >> Thanks, chief. I would say

[22:15] don't don't go too far. There

[22:18] MAY be some questions for you.

[22:20] And as we get into discussion,

[22:23] we'll we'll see whether some

[22:27] questions come up or not. So I

[22:29] think first of all, do we have

[22:30] public comment on this item.

[22:32] >> We have no public comment on

[22:33] this item.

[22:34] >> Okay. Let's go to Mayor Pro

[22:35] Tem Guerra.

[22:37] >> Great. Thank you very much,

[22:39] chair. First, you know, and

[22:41] maybe chief, if you can come

[22:42] back up here because.

[22:43] >> You didn't get very far, say

[22:45] exactly.

[22:47] >> And one I let me just thank

[22:49] the auditor and the team.

[22:51] Obviously the audit is intended

[22:52] for process improvement. You

[22:55] know, how do we how do we look

[22:56] at improving our response

[22:58] issues. But I want to hone in

[23:00] on, on the finding number one,

[23:02] I think is the most significant

[23:06] that, you know, that 30% of

[23:08] those calls were of

[23:09] non-emergency were in the

[23:11] downtown area. And I think it

[23:14] was 20% were primarily on

[23:16] homelessness calls. And there

[23:19] were non-emergency calls. And

[23:20] in essence, there wasn't a rush

[23:24] to the emergency room for an

[23:25] immediate life threatening

[23:29] situation. And, and I guess let

[23:32] me break it down into three

[23:36] places, a, a place to call

[23:37] person to respond and a place

[23:41] to go here. And so first off,

[23:43] in the, you know, a place to

[23:47] call the nine eight, 8911, you

[23:51] know, for lack of a better term

[23:54] coordination here. How is that

[23:55] evolving? So if there's a

[23:57] mental health call of, of, you

[23:58] know, most of the time it's our

[24:00] first responders that are out

[24:02] there. Someone sees somebody

[24:03] that's talking to themselves

[24:05] walking in the middle of the

[24:06] street. You know, that's

[24:09] obviously a dangerous situation.

[24:12] And, and how are and clearly

[24:14] it's a visible mental health

[24:17] call. How does 988 and 911, how

[24:18] are they coordinating those

[24:19] calls together?

[24:22] >> So at the surface level nine

[24:27] eight is 988 is a suicide

[24:27] prevention hotline in

[24:32] Sacramento County. 911 means if

[24:33] someone's call doesn't get

[24:34] answered right away, they MAY

[24:37] go to 91198 8th MAY divert a

[24:40] call to 911. So if they can't

[24:43] handle the call themselves with

[24:44] their navigators, they're going

[24:45] to divert it to the fire

[24:48] department. So we have those

[24:49] units out on the street now

[24:52] today, which I'm not sure of.

[24:54] The measure, the the metric

[24:57] that we use, but between sort

[24:59] mcu and mih, those are our

[25:00] alternative response units that

[25:03] can take that call. Now, where

[25:05] before we were answering all

[25:07] those calls 100% with either an

[25:09] engine and a medic unit, we

[25:11] still MAY require a medic unit

[25:12] for some calls, depending on

[25:13] the severity of the call, if

[25:15] the person's cut themselves or

[25:16] something like that, and

[25:20] there's bleeding. So it's it's

[25:21] not a simple answer, I guess,

[25:22] is what I'm starting to say.

[25:24] But we do have more tools to

[25:26] answer the calls with, and the

[25:28] coordination comes at the

[25:29] communication center.

[25:30] >> Okay. The communications are

[25:31] good. And then when we're

[25:33] looking at the response here

[25:36] now, and I appreciate moving

[25:38] forward to the mobile crisis

[25:42] unit as well to reduce the

[25:44] amount of personnel that's not

[25:45] responding to an emergency call

[25:48] as well. And how, how are how

[25:51] are you guys looking at at

[25:52] where to deploy those? Because

[25:53] clearly, I mean, downtown

[25:55] obviously has the largest

[25:56] number of calls when it comes

[25:58] to that population, but we're

[26:00] seeing it throughout the entire

[26:02] city. Can you maybe talk a

[26:04] little bit about what, what the

[26:06] effort is to reduce the number

[26:08] of non-emergency calls by ems

[26:11] by using the, the, the mobile

[26:12] crisis unit?

[26:14] >> Yeah. So let me back up just

[26:15] a little bit to go forward.

[26:16] There's actually three

[26:17] different units out on the

[26:18] street. There's a street

[26:19] overdose response team. There's

[26:21] a mobile crisis unit that deals

[26:23] with psychiatric problems the

[26:26] most. And then you have the mih

[26:28] unit, which could be

[26:29] non-emergency in-home. Say a

[26:31] loved one needs a prescription

[26:33] filled, that would be an mih

[26:35] call. They can go in the home,

[26:36] help them with their script,

[26:38] and get it placed. There's a

[26:40] litany of calls that m h can

[26:41] run because they have a

[26:43] clinician with them, and a

[26:45] paramedic. Mcu handles the

[26:47] calls across the city as well,

[26:50] which is the crisis unit.

[26:52] They're handling the

[26:53] non-emergency psychiatric

[26:55] problems that sometimes elevate.

[26:57] And we have that continuity of

[26:59] care because we have a

[27:01] paramedic on the unit along

[27:06] with a navigator. So those are

[27:08] employed a lot in the downtown.

[27:10] But our companies as well, they

[27:12] have the ability to call what

[27:14] we call a Tad provider. And we

[27:16] have over 50 Tad providers that

[27:17] are working in the department

[27:18] now. And that number is growing

[27:20] daily, but that's transport to

[27:21] alternate destination, and it's

[27:24] a paramedic that can make the

[27:26] triage call that says, hey,

[27:28] this person needs to go to this

[27:31] type of a facility and the

[27:32] company on scene will stay and

[27:34] wait for a transport. And that

[27:36] transport can happen with a

[27:38] number of different units,

[27:40] including the sort and the mcu

[27:40] units.

[27:42] >> Okay, good. And then I guess

[27:44] the final and more and more of

[27:47] a, I guess, direction or your

[27:48] you MAY be already doing this

[27:50] or moving in this direction,

[27:52] but one. MR. Chair, I'll go

[27:54] ahead and move the

[27:55] recommendation to the Council.

[27:59] But also one of the concerns is

[28:01] how, how we're coordinating

[28:03] with the Community Wellness

[28:05] Response Team and the homeless

[28:06] Engagement and response team

[28:08] that are that are county run

[28:09] and could be maybe doing some

[28:11] of that work or maybe a

[28:12] response to that work so that

[28:14] we don't have an ems call, as

[28:16] you, as you mentioned, if the

[28:17] person, if there's a person

[28:18] who's cut themselves and needs

[28:19] a medical immediate response,

[28:20] well, of course you're going to

[28:22] have an ambulance there. But in

[28:23] many of these situations, at

[28:25] least when I've done the ride

[28:27] alongs, they're not immediate

[28:28] emergency response calls.

[28:30] They're they need to be

[28:32] addressed. But, but I think

[28:33] that's I think we still have a,

[28:37] a coordination issue on how to

[28:39] maximize both all the different

[28:43] teams, the, the mih, the mcu,

[28:46] the the cwrt and then the heart

[28:47] team. You know, I think that

[28:48] that I think is the

[28:50] coordination that I'd like to

[28:53] see moving forward in that

[28:54] effort. And I don't know if you

[28:56] have a you know, Captain Moore,

[28:58] I don't know if you've got some

[28:59] thoughts on this because you I

[29:00] appreciate your your, you know,

[29:02] the effort that you've done on

[29:04] this. And I think it's evolved

[29:05] a lot as well.

[29:06] >> So Captain Moore is not with

[29:08] us today, but he's working on

[29:11] the the care court for us and

[29:13] we continue to add to care

[29:15] court. But Deputy Chief Sharon

[29:16] is here and he does run the ems

[29:18] division. So I'm going to let

[29:19] him talk about the heart team

[29:21] and see a little bit to answer

[29:22] that question.

[29:23] >> Great. And the more files is

[29:26] what I hear, you know. Yeah.

[29:27] >> Hi, Sharon. Deputy chief, I

[29:29] oversee the ems and cms

[29:31] division. So for your question

[29:33] with 988, so nine, eight eight

[29:35] gets essentially two

[29:36] evaluations through the

[29:37] dispatch center. Law

[29:38] enforcement has a contract with

[29:40] nine, eight, eight. They're the

[29:42] first line. And then we at the

[29:44] comm center also have a 90 day

[29:45] contract as well for an

[29:47] evaluation of 988. So if an

[29:49] individual calls 911 with a

[29:50] behavioral health emergency,

[29:52] our dispatch center will send

[29:54] it over to 988 for an

[29:56] evaluation that is done through

[29:59] phone interview. If that

[30:00] individual hits certain

[30:01] benchmarks, they get referred

[30:04] to the c, wrt, which is ran

[30:05] through, well, space. And then

[30:07] they will respond to the field,

[30:12] to the individual. If. Cwcwt

[30:14] doesn't feel comfortable with

[30:15] the incident, it gets referred

[30:17] back to the 911 system back to

[30:19] the fire department. And then

[30:20] with that we will respond to

[30:22] unit out. Maybe because there

[30:23] was a scene safety issue, maybe

[30:25] they identified a medical

[30:26] component attached to the

[30:27] individual. So we'll send a

[30:30] first responder with an

[30:31] ambulance and then our mobile

[30:34] crisis unit, which is a

[30:35] paramedic who has a higher

[30:37] level of training for the

[30:38] transport alternative

[30:41] destination program with a

[30:42] clinician, a clinical social

[30:44] worker from sac County

[30:45] Behavioral Health. That's a

[30:46] zero cost contract that we have

[30:50] with the county that they did

[30:51] specifically with the fire

[30:52] department, and then those

[30:53] individuals will go to the

[30:55] scene. They'll make a

[30:57] determination on what the

[30:58] proper transportation to the

[31:01] for the individual looks like

[31:03] in the ems division and the ems

[31:05] division, we took an overview

[31:06] of. We want to send the right

[31:07] resource to the right patient

[31:08] at the right time. Not

[31:10] everybody needs to go to the

[31:11] emergency room. So we will try

[31:13] to identify what's best for the

[31:14] individual that we're

[31:15] responding to. And so they'll

[31:17] make a determination. We have

[31:18] the ability to take people

[31:20] strictly or straight to a

[31:21] behavioral health center for

[31:23] care. They can bypass the

[31:24] emergency room, or we'll take

[31:25] them to an emergency room for

[31:27] medical clearance if they hit

[31:29] certain criteria. So that's how

[31:30] we utilize nine, eight, eight

[31:32] and cwrt.

[31:33] >> How many of those are we

[31:35] actually moving to the crib?

[31:35] You know.

[31:38] >> I can I just ask a question

[31:40] to clarify, at least for me,

[31:41] what you've just described

[31:44] would be responded to with with

[31:45] what would it be responded to

[31:48] with a, with a truck and an

[31:49] ambulance. With an ambulance

[31:54] only a truck. Only non fire

[31:54] apparatus.

[31:56] >> So after nine, eight, eight

[31:57] does their evaluation and if it

[31:59] gets pushed back to the fire

[32:00] department, because for certain

[32:02] whatever reason they do, it's

[32:03] usually a first responder and

[32:05] an ambulance that will get

[32:08] dispatched for it. And then the

[32:09] company officer, the captain

[32:10] will make a determination on

[32:12] what's needed for the next part.

[32:14] They'll usually cancel the

[32:15] ambulance. Our mobile crisis

[32:18] unit will go out and then we'll

[32:19] they'll do an evaluation on the

[32:21] individual and determine the

[32:22] right course of action for that

[32:23] individual.

[32:26] >> So so an ambulance would

[32:27] respond.

[32:27] >> It could either be a

[32:29] paramedic ambulance depending

[32:30] on the individual, or we'll use

[32:32] one of our contract ambulances.

[32:33] >> Right. And then a

[32:35] determination that the captain

[32:36] would make a determination

[32:37] whether that really was

[32:39] necessary to have on scene or

[32:39] not.

[32:41] >> And and the lead paramedic

[32:42] on scene.

[32:43] >> Yeah, the lead paramedic on

[32:45] scene. Okay, okay. But

[32:46] nonetheless, you're you're

[32:47] you've got an ambulance at

[32:49] least out there.

[32:51] >> Yeah. If needed. Yes.

[32:52] >> Okay. I'm sorry. Go ahead.

[32:54] >> Oh, yes. And then the final

[32:55] place is, you know, the crib or

[32:57] the crisis receiving center. Is

[32:58] that is that your primary

[33:00] location to transport somebody?

[33:01] >> We'll take individuals to

[33:05] South County Medical Health

[33:07] Center, or we'll take

[33:10] individuals to Sierra Vista

[33:12] down in the South area. And

[33:13] then there's a couple other

[33:14] agencies that are coming on

[33:16] board with the county. The

[33:17] transports Alternative

[33:20] Destination program is

[33:22] organized and run by the county

[33:24] ems that's been approved by the

[33:26] state. So we have to operate

[33:28] within their purview. So they

[33:30] they're the ones that hold the

[33:32] contracts with the facilities

[33:34] that we can transport to.

[33:35] >> Okay. Well thank you, I

[33:36] appreciate that. Thanks.

[33:37] Captain Moore, I just and thank

[33:39] you for the helping and

[33:40] bringing the agencies together

[33:42] to try to coordinate better as

[33:43] well. And so, MR. CHAIRMAN, I

[33:45] think one of the the key things

[33:47] here is any, any, any other

[33:49] methods where we're diverting

[33:51] folks to additional like

[33:52] whether it's the crisis

[33:53] receiving center here downtown

[33:55] or Sierra down in the South

[33:57] area. I think that also helps.

[33:59] What is, what has occurred on

[34:00] the off load time? Because if

[34:02] they go to the er room, they

[34:05] got to stay there and it's

[34:08] almost $1 million in, in lost

[34:09] cost hours that we're losing

[34:12] there. So thank you CHAIRMAN. I

[34:13] think we'll move the motion

[34:14] there and then the direction on

[34:15] on the further coordination

[34:18] with the the heart team and the

[34:18] wcrt.

[34:21] >> So okay, we have a motion.

[34:24] >> We have a motion to accept

[34:26] the order and send it on to the

[34:27] council. Is there a second to

[34:27] that motion?

[34:29] >> I'm happy to second it.

[34:31] >> All right. We have a second

[34:32] from the vice mayor and vice

[34:33] mayor. You're next.

[34:35] >> Yes. First, I want to

[34:37] commend the fire department on

[34:41] getting the wall time down from

[34:42] 6 hours to 28 minutes. That is

[34:44] huge. And I know it's just, you

[34:46] know, I used to drive by Sutter

[34:48] and Kaiser, and I used to see

[34:49] all the ambulances just parked

[34:50] outside. And I thought they can

[34:52] be helping saving people. But

[34:53] right now they're just sitting

[34:54] there waiting to offload. So I

[34:56] just want to commend you on

[34:57] your work for that. And then

[34:59] just one question for for our

[35:03] city auditor. On one of the

[35:04] slides, you said, it said that

[35:07] nearly 20% of the fire

[35:08] incidents in 2024 were flagged

[35:11] as related to homelessness,

[35:12] because you're doing the

[35:14] homeless audit as well. Do you

[35:16] have a dollar amount of what

[35:19] that 20% looks like? What would

[35:20] be?

[35:23] >> We did a very high level

[35:25] calculation of what is 20%, the

[35:29] cost of 20% of the whole fire

[35:32] ems division budget. I'm going

[35:34] to have to look it up real

[35:41] quick, if you don't mind. We

[35:42] calculated if we just did a

[35:44] rough calculation of 20% of

[35:48] their 153 million a year budget

[35:51] would be about $30 million.

[35:52] >> 30 million. Okay.

[35:54] >> I mean, some of those are,

[35:56] you know, true emergencies,

[35:59] life threatening. So but yeah,

[36:00] okay.

[36:01] >> I think my ask then is for

[36:04] when you do your audit of

[36:05] homelessness and you bring it

[36:07] to council, if you can just

[36:08] include that number as a

[36:10] subcategory of city related

[36:13] expenses, that'd be great.

[36:15] >> Okay. We can try to think

[36:15] because.

[36:16] >> That audit into the staff

[36:18] report, just because obviously

[36:19] there are two different audits,

[36:23] right? But how much money the

[36:25] fire department is spending

[36:26] responding to homelessness

[36:28] related calls, I think is

[36:29] important to factor into the

[36:31] audit. I mean, that's still

[36:32] dollars allocated to this issue

[36:34] that we're trying to address.

[36:36] And so if there's a way that

[36:38] you can plug it into your staff

[36:39] report, that'd be great.

[36:40] >> Sure. Okay. Yeah. Because

[36:42] that is going to be specific to

[36:43] our expenditures on the

[36:46] shelters, but I'll see what we

[36:47] can do.

[36:48] >> Sounds good.

[36:49] >> Thank you. I can highlight

[36:51] it.

[36:52] >> Okay. Thank you, thank you.

[36:56] Just on the same point, I'm

[36:58] assuming of that 30 million

[37:00] some some of that is is

[37:03] recovered by Medi-Cal. Is that

[37:04] reimbursement? Is that true?

[37:05] >> I believe so, yeah. If they

[37:06] have.

[37:08] >> Do you have any kind of do

[37:09] you have any kind of estimate

[37:10] on on that.

[37:12] >> We did not look at look at

[37:13] their billings or reimbursement.

[37:15] So I'm not sure. I don't know

[37:19] if fire has some numbers. No.

[37:22] >> Yeah. Yeah. Any kind of any

[37:27] kind of sense of, of. How much,

[37:29] how much of the, how much of

[37:31] the homeless response ends up

[37:33] being covered by Medi-Cal

[37:34] reimbursements?

[37:35] >> I think what we could do,

[37:36] because there are different

[37:40] focuses. So yes, some of it is

[37:43] recovered through the Medi-Cal

[37:44] reimbursements. We need to get

[37:45] you that number. And we could

[37:47] drill into the straight line

[37:48] number of the 30 million as

[37:50] well. Instead of separating the

[37:53] two, the homeless audit and the

[37:56] ems audit, we can work with our

[37:57] biller and provide those exact

[37:59] numbers, and we can run it

[38:01] through, run it by farishta as

[38:03] well, so she can see the okay.

[38:05] >> I mean, I think that would

[38:08] give us a more complete and

[38:09] accurate picture of, of what

[38:11] the net cost.

[38:12] >> Yeah. There's, there's a lot,

[38:14] a lot goes into it too, because

[38:16] there's some of that percentage

[38:19] are people that call us out and

[38:21] then sign out. They don't want

[38:24] our medical advice. So there's

[38:25] a lot that goes into getting

[38:27] you that final number. But we

[38:28] can get it.

[38:30] >> Sure. Okay. Thanks, chief. I

[38:32] wanted to just explore this

[38:33] general topic a little bit

[38:35] further. And I see Brian back

[38:40] in the the back row, not quite

[38:44] ducking down, but. I. Brian,

[38:47] can you shed any further

[38:51] elaboration on, on this

[38:54] particular subject of, of

[38:56] emergency medical calls for,

[38:59] for homeless.

[39:01] >> Sure. Brian Pedro director,

[39:02] Department of Community

[39:06] response I have the unique

[39:08] experience and opportunity to

[39:10] have spent many years with the

[39:11] fire department and in the ems

[39:14] division. So I've looked at

[39:18] this from both sides. The. If

[39:19] you recall, the Department of

[39:20] Community Response was actually

[39:21] brought up to be the

[39:23] alternative response for the

[39:25] city to not have exactly what

[39:28] we have going on with fire and

[39:31] police going to calls that come

[39:33] out as 911 calls, but are

[39:34] alternative response calls

[39:38] other than what we have in dcr.

[39:39] So we're kind of running pilot

[39:40] programs right now. What we

[39:42] have in dcr, we have also an

[39:46] alt response going ours, I feel

[39:50] ties in in that all of our in

[39:51] our cities that are out

[39:54] providing outreach also provide

[39:57] that sort of that substance

[39:59] outreach along with it. So we

[40:02] also have the, the kits, the,

[40:05] the no harm kits that we hand

[40:08] out as well. We can transport

[40:09] and we do transport to

[40:12] treatment centers. One of the

[40:13] things I'm also looking at is

[40:17] in our shelters of carving off

[40:20] the people that that want to

[40:22] work, getting clean and sober

[40:23] into a separate part of our

[40:25] shelters so that when we take

[40:26] them to their appointments to

[40:28] get treatment for the

[40:30] injectables, for the chemical

[40:31] dependency, that then they go

[40:33] back into a shelter with others

[40:34] that are also trying to get

[40:35] clean, and not just into the

[40:36] general population of our of

[40:42] our shelters. So we are in

[40:44] connection with cw. We work

[40:46] with the county heart team now,

[40:48] so we already have the

[40:49] behavioral health at our

[40:51] fingertips in our outreach

[40:54] setting. We also have the

[40:56] backline to cw if we need a

[40:59] crisis response, and then we're

[41:01] looking at JULY to pilot our

[41:03] program where we're looking at

[41:06] taking the calls on the sac pd

[41:09] side, when they come in to 911

[41:12] and looking at calls that are

[41:14] Non-priority non-emergency

[41:16] alternate calls that we can

[41:20] respond to and then provide

[41:22] outreach or transport to either

[41:25] substance or behavioral health,

[41:27] the treatment to alternate

[41:30] destination is specific to the

[41:32] fire department as an ems

[41:34] agency, because they are an

[41:35] ambulance ems agency, so they

[41:40] need the the certification and

[41:41] and sac County ems agency to

[41:43] allow them to transport.

[41:46] Because dcr is not an ems

[41:49] agency, we can simply transport.

[41:52] So it is much easier for us to

[41:55] manage all response. And it's

[41:57] much closer. I mean, as you saw,

[41:59] 20% of these calls are homeless

[42:01] related anyway. It's likely

[42:02] people we already have

[42:03] relationships with, and then

[42:05] it's just a matter of

[42:06] transporting them to where they

[42:07] need is.

[42:11] >> So is that transport by the

[42:14] police department or is it by

[42:14] your.

[42:15] >> By our.

[42:19] >> Unit dcr staff? So this just

[42:20] occurred to me while you were

[42:23] while you were speaking that I

[42:27] know in the past there were

[42:30] lots of instances when the when

[42:31] the police would be called for

[42:34] a behavioral health issue and

[42:36] they would end up transporting

[42:40] a person, say to Qmc, for

[42:42] example. And so I'm assuming

[42:45] that still occurs.

[42:46] >> Yep. And so.

[42:48] >> Are we looking. Now this is

[42:50] making me wonder, are we

[42:51] looking at the total universe

[42:53] of, of what we're doing in

[42:57] terms of response to, to, to

[42:59] those who are homeless or on

[43:02] the street or even in shelters,

[43:03] as you've been describing,

[43:06] Brian, and who's the, who's the

[43:08] appropriate entity to respond

[43:11] and what's the appropriate

[43:13] intervention and resolution? I,

[43:15] this is making me wonder about

[43:17] whether we're taking a whether

[43:18] we should be taking a look at

[43:20] that whole, whole picture or

[43:21] not. I don't know if that's a

[43:23] question for you or not, but if

[43:24] you want to say something about

[43:25] that, I.

[43:26] >> Sure, yeah. Because most

[43:28] like if you look at just the,

[43:30] the, I mean, just homelessness

[43:33] alone, we're already, we likely

[43:34] already know all these

[43:36] individuals. We already offer

[43:38] the substance care. We already

[43:39] have connection to behavioral

[43:41] health. So it's, it's already

[43:43] there. We just haven't made it

[43:46] official that dcr is providing

[43:48] the alt response. We are in

[43:51] that we have a pilot now doing

[43:52] essentially what we're doing

[43:54] now, but we have the ability to

[43:56] have we have nine teams out

[43:58] there with any one of them

[44:00] making contact with somebody

[44:01] homeless, somebody with

[44:03] substance, someone with

[44:03] behavioral health. And then we

[44:05] have the ability to transport

[44:07] them if they need. The key is

[44:11] to, to grab the individual when

[44:14] they're willing to like I think

[44:15] today, right now, I'm willing

[44:19] to go try and help my treat my

[44:22] substance dependency. And so

[44:23] you have to be able to just

[44:25] pick them up then and take them,

[44:26] which we do have that ability.

[44:28] Now, if you're waiting for

[44:31] somebody to call, that's going

[44:34] to be far and few and crisis,

[44:35] I'd say there's a little

[44:38] misnomer on crisis because

[44:40] people that are actually in

[44:44] crisis are, are few and far as

[44:47] opposed to many people that we

[44:50] see around that just have a

[44:51] behavioral health concern of

[44:53] some sort that needs to be

[44:57] addressed. Those are the people

[44:58] we're trying to capture.

[45:00] There's very few actual crisis

[45:00] events.

[45:01] >> But you're encountering

[45:02] those people by being out in

[45:04] the field, not by responding to

[45:06] calls. Is that is that right?

[45:08] >> Say that again.

[45:09] >> The people you're

[45:11] encountering and you're

[45:13] describing, you're you're

[45:15] encountering them mostly by

[45:17] being out in the field and in

[45:18] contact with them, as opposed

[45:20] to responding to a call that

[45:22] says, I need help or, hey, this

[45:24] person's in trouble. Can you

[45:26] come help? Is that is that

[45:26] correct?

[45:28] >> Yeah. So we are responding

[45:30] to the 311 calls currently that

[45:32] are called for homeless

[45:34] concerns. And then the pilot

[45:38] will be tied into 911 to then

[45:40] dispatch us to those calls. So

[45:41] it'll be both.

[45:44] >> And okay, I see, I mean,

[45:46] we're a little beyond the scope

[45:47] of, of the audit, but it seems

[45:49] to me that if we want to

[45:50] understand where, where and how

[45:52] we get more effective and more

[45:54] efficient, we need to see this

[45:57] larger universe. And so it's

[45:59] not so much about what the fire

[46:01] department's doing per se. It's

[46:04] it's about how that fits in the,

[46:06] in the in the broader context,

[46:08] it seems to me and I, you know,

[46:10] yesterday morning I was coming

[46:13] in on on North 12th and at at

[46:15] Salvation Army, there was a

[46:17] fire truck and an ambulance,

[46:20] lights flashing. And I'm, I

[46:22] didn't stop to inquire, but I,

[46:24] I make the assumption that that

[46:26] that was a response to someone

[46:28] at the Salvation Army shelter.

[46:36] And I if if if that is so, then

[46:38] if my assumption is correct,

[46:40] then could part of that

[46:43] response be a, a function of

[46:44] your staff's not out in the in

[46:47] the in the field on a holiday

[46:49] morning? Or would it be more

[46:51] likely the, the nature of the

[46:53] call that went to presumably to

[46:54] 911.

[46:54] >> Right.

[46:57] >> So maybe chief wants to

[46:58] respond to that to her as well.

[47:00] >> Sure. And I think what we're

[47:02] trying to do is grab the call

[47:03] when it first comes in, because

[47:05] it'll come into pd first and

[47:07] get triaged there. And if it's

[47:10] a low level call that that

[47:12] doesn't. So it'll get handed

[47:14] over to fire if there's a

[47:16] medical component to it. And so

[47:17] if we grab the call on this

[47:19] side before there's medical,

[47:20] then we'll be looking at all

[47:23] the calls in the city for the

[47:25] person that's on the corner and

[47:27] looks uncomfortable and is

[47:29] bothering. Is it maybe in a

[47:31] sitting in a business and

[47:33] they're afraid to make contact

[47:34] with them or tell them to leave?

[47:36] That's going to go to pd to go

[47:38] take that individual out. It's

[47:39] probably somebody that we know

[47:42] anyway. And for us to take that

[47:43] call and go over there and find

[47:46] out that it's Bob and say, hey,

[47:48] Bob, you know, I don't want you

[47:49] here. Can we get you into

[47:50] shelter? Can we get you into

[47:52] behavioral health? Can we get

[47:54] you any kind of treatment today?

[47:56] Then that clears that call off

[47:57] of their plate. Pd didn't

[47:59] respond. Ambulances and fire

[48:00] trucks didn't respond. That's

[48:02] the whole purpose of

[48:03] alternative response is to not

[48:05] have these units respond. We're

[48:08] looking at a budget. It's it's

[48:10] it's a, it's, it's not only a

[48:14] cost savings, but it's, it's a

[48:15] force multiplier for police and

[48:17] fire.

[48:19] >> Absolutely, absolutely. Okay.

[48:21] Thanks, Brian. Chief, did you

[48:24] want to add something to this?

[48:26] >> Yeah. I think that Brian

[48:28] sheds a light on a lot of good

[48:31] things. I think what we are

[48:33] stuck with as a city is the 24

[48:35] over seven response that's

[48:36] needed to address these calls,

[48:37] like you addressed the other

[48:39] day, holidays and weekends,

[48:41] nights, the fire department is

[48:42] there and in place and has the

[48:44] backbone infrastructure to

[48:46] answer these calls. And I think

[48:47] the other thing that we often

[48:48] forget is there's no shortage

[48:51] of calls. So the calls that

[48:53] can't be answered or do

[48:55] increase due to being medical

[48:56] in nature, which a lot of them

[48:59] do. And we can get those

[49:01] numbers for you, but they're,

[49:02] they're the ones that the fire

[49:04] department is going to end up

[49:06] answering. Last year, we

[49:08] eliminated about 8000 calls out

[49:11] of the fire system. So and

[49:15] that's not all with our our

[49:16] alternate response, but that's

[49:18] us working with dispatch,

[49:19] working with dcr, working with

[49:21] all the partners that we have

[49:23] to reduce the calls to make us

[49:25] more available. So Brian's work

[49:29] that he does with alt response

[49:31] does help both police and fire.

[49:32] There is that medical component

[49:33] that's going to come back

[49:34] around, and that's what we're

[49:36] there for. That's why our units

[49:38] have the paramedics on the

[49:40] units. If a call does increase,

[49:42] you have the continuity of care

[49:47] from a no need medical aid to

[49:48] something that turns for the

[49:49] worse. You have a paramedic

[49:50] there that can take them all

[49:51] the way to the hospital.

[49:54] >> So. Okay, thank you chief

[49:57] and, and I think, I think we

[49:58] all appreciate the work that

[50:00] that you're all doing to, to

[50:03] try to, to calibrate the right

[50:04] response with the right people

[50:07] and taking the to them if they

[50:08] need transport to the right

[50:11] place and, and trying to do

[50:12] that as effectively and as

[50:13] efficiently as possible. And i

[50:15] think, as you know, as Brian

[50:16] said, to the extent that to the

[50:19] extent that we can divert calls

[50:20] from the fire department or the

[50:22] police department to an

[50:23] appropriate level of response,

[50:26] but doesn't require your the

[50:29] police response that it gives

[50:30] us a chance to you have the

[50:32] opportunity to do other things,

[50:34] as do the police. And there's

[50:35] no shortage, as you know better

[50:37] than I, of things that you need

[50:40] need to do. So thanks for

[50:42] working. I agree with my

[50:43] colleagues. Thank you very much

[50:44] for all the improvements you've

[50:46] made. I want to thank the

[50:48] auditor for for giving us a

[50:50] window onto this, which I think

[50:52] has been very helpful. I'll let

[50:56] you sit down and there's a lot

[50:59] to chew on here. But but my

[51:01] thought is that maybe in the

[51:04] context of the homeless audit,

[51:05] I don't know if this will fit

[51:08] in the scope, but but exploring

[51:10] more of this issue of the

[51:11] appropriate level of response

[51:13] with the right people getting,

[51:16] getting the, the person

[51:18] addressed to the right place,

[51:19] maybe, maybe that's something

[51:21] that we should look at in the

[51:23] in the course of that, that

[51:24] audit.

[51:26] >> Yeah. We're getting ready to

[51:28] release the next homeless audit

[51:30] next month. Okay. It's going to

[51:32] be focused more on the shelters,

[51:34] but I believe the next one on

[51:36] our work plan is

[51:37] inter-departmental coordination.

[51:39] So I think that would be a good

[51:41] place to, to explore that.

[51:45] >> Okay. Thank thank you. If oh

[51:47] mayor pro tem gara yeah.

[51:50] >> Thank you. And then on the

[51:51] inter-departmental coordination,

[51:53] you read my mind. I'd punched

[51:54] up right there because I, I

[51:56] want to want to thank Captain

[51:59] Moore and Brian Pedro for

[52:00] coming to a meeting that we

[52:02] pulled together on the pathways

[52:04] for cares court here. And so I

[52:06] think what I'd like to make

[52:07] sure that when we're looking at

[52:09] inter-departmental coordination,

[52:10] one of the challenges we've

[52:15] seen in to address the the, the

[52:18] cyclical part of, of repeat and

[52:21] frequent utilizers has been the

[52:22] ability for us to transfer

[52:24] information from, from the fire

[52:28] department, from dcrshis and

[52:30] also the other agencies that

[52:33] are contacting individuals so

[52:36] that when we are going to the

[52:37] Public Guardian that they have

[52:40] all of the information because

[52:43] what sometimes is not available.

[52:45] And and we tease this out with

[52:47] our city attorney's office is

[52:49] that an individual might have

[52:53] been at the er 5 or 6 times

[52:54] with at the crisis receiving

[52:57] center in and out of, say, the

[52:59] county jail five times. But not

[53:01] all of that is in front of the

[53:03] public guardian. When they go

[53:04] be before the judge or

[53:07] magistrate. And so the the real

[53:08] information about how to

[53:10] provide the best outcome for

[53:12] the individual isn't, isn't

[53:13] present. So I think that's an

[53:15] important piece on the

[53:17] dysfunction in communication.

[53:19] So that a person who truly

[53:20] needs either guardianship,

[53:22] receivership, or involuntary

[53:24] conservatorship, you have all

[53:26] of the information that is

[53:28] present and that unfortunately,

[53:29] it seems to be that there's

[53:31] still a data gap. So when you

[53:33] get to that point, I'd like to

[53:35] make sure that that is part of,

[53:37] of how do we how do we do

[53:38] process improvement for that,

[53:42] for the data getting to once it

[53:44] gets out of our agency into,

[53:46] say, the county or the county

[53:48] council or public guardian. So

[53:50] thank you, chair.

[53:52] >> Thank you. And thank you for

[53:55] you very much. We have a motion

[53:56] by Mayor Pro Tem Guerra,

[53:58] seconded by Vice Mayor

[54:01] Telemontes, to approve the

[54:02] audit and and send it forward

[54:04] to the full council. Any

[54:05] further comments or questions?

[54:06] If not, all those in favor

[54:08] signify by saying aye. Aye.

[54:09] Opposed say no. And any

[54:11] abstentions? Hearing none, the

[54:13] motion carries. Thanks very

[54:17] much. We're on to our next

[54:20] presentation. So let me let's

[54:23] let me get back to my agenda.

[54:26] It's the 2025 audit of city

[54:27] employees workforce diversity

[54:30] and salary trends. We'll turn

[54:32] it over to you for.

[54:35] >> Yes. All right. Well now

[54:37] good afternoon, Chair Dickinson

[54:38] and members of the Budget and

[54:40] Audit Committee. Again, I'm the

[54:43] city auditor. And with me is

[54:45] Chevelle Jackson and who is

[54:46] primarily responsible for

[54:49] conducting this audit. And the

[54:50] recommendation before you is to

[54:52] accept the City Auditor's 2025

[54:54] audit of city employees,

[54:57] workforce diversity and salary

[54:58] trends, and forward to the City

[55:03] Council for final approval. All

[55:04] right, so our office has been

[55:06] conducting employee diversity

[55:08] assessments since 2016, when

[55:10] the City Council first directed

[55:12] the city auditor to analyze

[55:14] employee diversity and compare

[55:16] the results to the demographics

[55:18] of City of Sacramento residents.

[55:21] This report contains chapters

[55:23] and analyzes city employee

[55:24] gender and ethnic diversity as

[55:28] of JULY 1st, 2025, and employee

[55:31] diversity trends from 2016 to

[55:36] 2025. The audit also has a

[55:38] detailed section on the

[55:38] improvements the Human

[55:40] Resources Department has made

[55:42] relating to diversity, equity,

[55:45] and inclusion since the last

[55:46] audit, the Office of Diversity

[55:49] and Equity integrated into the

[55:50] Human Resources Department and

[55:53] continue to continues to focus

[55:54] on building a representative

[55:56] and inclusive city of

[55:58] Sacramento. This slide

[55:59] highlights just a few of the

[56:00] improvements identified by the

[56:02] Human Resources Department.

[56:05] Since our last assessment in

[56:11] 2021, the report has a lot more.

[56:12] And then just a reminder that

[56:14] we did create a city of

[56:15] Sacramento Gender and Ethnic

[56:18] Diversity dashboard to allow

[56:19] users to analyze city employee

[56:22] gender and ethnic diversity of

[56:24] the data on their own. We have

[56:27] updated the dashboard for 2025,

[56:31] and this dashboard is updated

[56:34] annually. And again, just

[56:36] analyzes more, allows you to

[56:39] analyze the data in more ways

[56:41] than just how we have it in the

[56:45] report. First, we want to cover

[56:46] the gender and ethnic diversity

[56:48] of city residents, which is

[56:49] what we use to compare the

[56:52] diversity of city employees. So

[56:54] as a chart on the left shows,

[56:55] the three most populous ethnic

[56:57] and racial groups in the city

[57:01] are white, at 28% Hispanic or

[57:05] Latino at 29%, and Asian at 19.

[57:07] And then the chart on the right

[57:08] shows the gender composition of

[57:11] city residents. There are

[57:13] slightly more females at 51%

[57:18] than males 49, and the city of

[57:20] Sacramento has also updated

[57:21] Icaps to allow city employees

[57:24] to update a variety of personal

[57:26] details, such as gender

[57:28] identity, sexual orientation

[57:31] and more. It is a relatively

[57:33] newer option, so we only had

[57:35] about 100 city employees report

[57:37] this information this time

[57:39] around, so we did not include

[57:41] it in our analysis for this

[57:43] year. But hopefully next time

[57:44] around we'll have a lot more

[57:49] data that we can report on.

[57:51] This slide shows the overall

[57:53] gender composition of city

[57:55] employees by department

[57:57] compared to city residents. The

[57:59] red box shows the gender

[58:02] composition of city employees

[58:05] overall is at 36% female and

[58:07] 64% male. And then, as you can

[58:09] see, highlighted in yellow.

[58:11] Mayor and council is closest to

[58:13] the composition of city

[58:17] residents at 51% female and 49%

[58:20] male. And then if you are

[58:21] interested, the audit report

[58:23] does contain additional gender

[58:25] analysis for management and

[58:27] non-management employees. And

[58:28] then again, you can analyze

[58:30] more information on the

[58:35] dashboard. And this chart

[58:36] analyzes the demographics of

[58:38] full time and part time city

[58:41] employees by ethnicity or race

[58:45] and gender. As of JULY 1st,

[58:47] 2025. So you can see on the

[58:49] chart, about 31% of the

[58:50] employees that identify as

[58:53] white are female, and employees

[58:55] that identify as two or more

[58:57] races. Races are the most

[59:00] evenly split by gender, with

[59:04] 48% female and 52% male, and

[59:06] that's the closest to city

[59:10] residents. This table analyzes

[59:12] gender composition of full time

[59:15] and part time city employees by

[59:17] department. As of JULY 1st,

[59:20] 2016 two, 2025. So there's a

[59:22] lot of data, but just

[59:23] highlighting one of the

[59:26] departments you can see there

[59:27] has some departments. There has

[59:29] not been much change in those

[59:31] ten years, and in others there

[59:34] has been slight changes. So

[59:35] departments with more staff,

[59:37] such as the fire department. It

[59:40] is kind of harder to see

[59:45] changes very quickly. This

[59:47] chart shows the gender

[59:49] composition of legacy staff,

[59:51] which we identify in this

[59:53] report as those that were hired

[59:56] prior to JULY 1st, 2024,

[59:57] compared to the newly hired

[59:59] employees, which were those

[1:00:02] hired after JULY 1st, 2024. So

[1:00:04] the chart on the left shows the

[1:00:06] gender composition of all newly

[1:00:10] hired staff. There were 953

[1:00:12] newly hired employees. During

[1:00:15] fiscal year 2025. 52% of them

[1:00:18] were male and 48% were female,

[1:00:20] which is really close to the

[1:00:22] gender composition of city

[1:00:24] residents. When you compare

[1:00:26] that to the legacy staff for

[1:00:27] all staff, and then the chart

[1:00:29] on the right shows the gender

[1:00:31] composition of newly hired

[1:00:32] management staff. During that

[1:00:34] same time period, there were

[1:00:37] about 20 newly hired management

[1:00:39] staff during fiscal year 2025,

[1:00:43] and 55% of them were male, 45%

[1:00:47] female. This chart identifies

[1:00:49] the ethnic and racial

[1:00:50] composition of full time and

[1:00:52] part time employees by

[1:00:54] department, compared to that of

[1:00:56] city residents. And as you can

[1:00:59] see, there is a deviation from

[1:01:01] the city population and many of

[1:01:03] the ethnic and racial groups

[1:01:06] overall in the city and in some

[1:01:10] departments. This chart shows

[1:01:12] the percentage point difference

[1:01:14] of the ethnicities and races of

[1:01:16] full time and part time city

[1:01:18] employees in each department in

[1:01:20] relation to that of the City of

[1:01:22] Sacramento residents. So the

[1:01:24] scale

[1:01:25] >> At the bottom shows the

[1:01:27] extent difference. I do want to

[1:01:29] note that the color scale just

[1:01:31] reflects the direction and size

[1:01:33] of the percentage point

[1:01:35] difference. The use of red and

[1:01:36] green doesn't really convey

[1:01:38] that like one is a positive or

[1:01:44] one is a. This chart shows the

[1:01:46] trend of the ethnic and racial

[1:01:47] composition of all city

[1:01:49] employees for the past ten

[1:01:50] years. So as you can see, the

[1:01:52] white ethnic group has been the

[1:01:55] largest each year, but it has

[1:01:57] been trending downwards, while

[1:01:59] Hispanic or Latino has been

[1:02:01] trending upwards over the years.

[1:02:03] And then there are other groups,

[1:02:05] such as Asian and two or more

[1:02:08] that also appear to be trending

[1:02:12] up a little bit. This chart

[1:02:13] shows the gender composition,

[1:02:16] again, of the legacy staff

[1:02:18] compared to newly hired

[1:02:21] employees. The left chart shows

[1:02:23] all newly hired employees, and

[1:02:26] as I mentioned, there were 953

[1:02:28] during fiscal year 2025. And

[1:02:31] you can see of the newly hired

[1:02:33] employees, their gender and

[1:02:35] ethnic diversity is closer to

[1:02:37] that of city residents. And

[1:02:39] then the chart on the right is

[1:02:42] similar data for the 20 new

[1:02:44] management employees that were

[1:02:51] hired in 2025. We'll go into a

[1:02:52] little bit of the salary

[1:02:54] analysis that we also did. The

[1:02:56] chart shows the average

[1:02:57] salaries of full time employees

[1:03:01] by gender and ethnicity for

[1:03:03] 2025, as shown on the chart.

[1:03:04] Male employees, on average,

[1:03:06] have a higher salary than

[1:03:09] female employees in all ethnic

[1:03:11] groups. The lighter blue column

[1:03:14] is always higher, pretty much

[1:03:16] than the darker blue column.

[1:03:17] And in addition, those that

[1:03:19] identify as Black or African

[1:03:21] American did tend to have a

[1:03:26] lower average salary. This

[1:03:28] chart shows the average salary

[1:03:30] of full time city employees by

[1:03:32] gender for the last ten years.

[1:03:34] And as you can see there, there

[1:03:37] is still a gap between the two

[1:03:39] genders. But in 2016, the

[1:03:41] average salary for female

[1:03:44] employees was 84.5% of the

[1:03:47] average salary of male city

[1:03:49] employees. And 2025, it

[1:03:55] improves slightly to 85.6%. And

[1:03:57] then this chart shows a similar

[1:03:59] analysis for only the

[1:04:02] management employees. In 2016,

[1:04:04] the average salary of female

[1:04:06] employees was 84.4% of the

[1:04:09] average salary of male

[1:04:12] employees. And by 2025, it did

[1:04:17] increase to 86.6%. And then

[1:04:19] finally, this chart is similar

[1:04:21] to the last two charts, but

[1:04:23] analyzes all employees,

[1:04:26] excluding part time and sworn

[1:04:27] employees in the police and

[1:04:29] fire department. And when we do

[1:04:33] that, you can see that the the

[1:04:36] pay gap narrows significantly.

[1:04:38] So in 2016, the average salary

[1:04:41] for full time non-sworn female

[1:04:44] employees was 90.1% of the

[1:04:46] average salary of full time

[1:04:48] non-sworn male employees. And

[1:04:51] by 2025, the gap was narrowed

[1:04:57] to 97.2%. And then this table

[1:04:58] identifies the average salaries

[1:05:00] of full time employees by

[1:05:02] ethnicity, ethnic, racial

[1:05:04] groups, and gender, and the

[1:05:06] ratio of earnings relative to

[1:05:09] white males, which is the

[1:05:11] largest group in the city. And

[1:05:13] as you can see, male groups did

[1:05:15] tend to be higher on the list,

[1:05:17] and female groups tended to be

[1:05:22] more on the bottom. We also did

[1:05:24] an analysis of each department

[1:05:26] over time that contains gender,

[1:05:29] ethnic and racial or ethnic and

[1:05:31] racial and salary information.

[1:05:33] The analysis for each

[1:05:34] department can be found in

[1:05:36] chapter six of the report. And

[1:05:38] again, our online dashboard

[1:05:40] allows anyone to analyze all

[1:05:42] this data in any particular way

[1:05:45] that they would like. This

[1:05:47] concludes my presentation, but

[1:05:48] I'm going to hand it over to

[1:05:50] the hr department, who also did

[1:05:52] want to provide some additional

[1:05:54] information on their efforts.

[1:05:54] >> Okay.

[1:06:01] >> Thank you. Good afternoon.

[1:06:02] >> Hi.

[1:06:03] >> Good afternoon. Budget and

[1:06:04] audit committee members. I'm

[1:06:05] Samantha Hardy, the interim

[1:06:08] human resources director. Human

[1:06:09] resources appreciates the

[1:06:11] opportunity to highlight our

[1:06:12] initiatives supporting

[1:06:14] workforce diversity, equity and

[1:06:17] inclusive recruitment practices.

[1:06:18] This afternoon, Diversity and

[1:06:20] Equity Manager Amy Barnes will

[1:06:22] provide an overview of the work

[1:06:24] being led by the Office of

[1:06:25] Diversity and Equity and then

[1:06:27] Employment Services Manager at

[1:06:29] Ebony. Heaven will review hr. S

[1:06:30] recruitment strategies and

[1:06:33] ongoing efforts to strengthen

[1:06:37] outreach, access and workforce

[1:06:38] representation. And so with

[1:06:39] that, I will turn it over to

[1:06:43] Amy.

[1:06:45] >> Good afternoon.

[1:06:46] >> Good afternoon. Good

[1:06:47] afternoon, members of the

[1:06:49] Budget and Audit Committee and

[1:06:51] those in the dais and those

[1:06:53] online. Glad to be here. So

[1:06:57] let's jump right in. Workforce

[1:06:59] equity. This is our definition

[1:07:00] of workforce equity that we

[1:07:02] adapted from the city of

[1:07:05] Seattle. It is a workforce that

[1:07:06] is inclusive of people of color

[1:07:08] and other marginalized and

[1:07:09] underrepresented groups. And

[1:07:11] the most important piece of

[1:07:13] this is understanding

[1:07:15] structural and historical

[1:07:17] barriers. But also we want to

[1:07:18] reflect through the depth and

[1:07:23] breadth of the organization.

[1:07:25] Workforce equity is very

[1:07:27] dynamic, and while our report

[1:07:30] definitely reflects the trends

[1:07:32] that are encouraging, of signs

[1:07:34] of workforce diversity and the

[1:07:35] efforts that we are doing, we

[1:07:36] know that this is ongoing work

[1:07:38] and it doesn't stop. So to meet

[1:07:40] our workforce equity goal, it

[1:07:42] requires ongoing and sustained

[1:07:44] systemic effort that commits to

[1:07:45] engaging with staff, leadership

[1:07:47] and shareholders throughout the

[1:07:49] organization. So I really want

[1:07:51] to highlight that workforce

[1:07:52] equity is the principle and

[1:07:55] it's a practice. It's a process

[1:07:56] of ensuring fairness and

[1:07:57] justice within the

[1:07:58] organization's employment

[1:08:00] practices, creating an

[1:08:01] environment where all

[1:08:02] individuals have a genuine

[1:08:04] opportunity to succeed,

[1:08:05] contribute, challenge and

[1:08:07] advance, regardless of

[1:08:08] background, lived experiences

[1:08:10] or identity. So the key aspects

[1:08:12] that you see on the slide there

[1:08:14] are all dynamic nonlinear, and

[1:08:16] they're happening

[1:08:18] simultaneously. Some of our

[1:08:20] goals and efforts are to

[1:08:22] eliminate disparities, fair

[1:08:24] access to opportunities, career

[1:08:26] growth and advancement, fair

[1:08:29] treatment and respect, tailored

[1:08:31] strategies of support and

[1:08:32] resources as well. And of

[1:08:34] course, dismantling systemic

[1:08:37] and procedural barriers. Our

[1:08:39] race, gender and equity action

[1:08:41] plan is just one of those

[1:08:43] initiatives to help do that.

[1:08:47] And I do to make alive and

[1:08:48] operationalize all those

[1:08:50] dimensions of workforce equity

[1:08:52] collectively and citywide. So

[1:08:54] I'd like to thank Assistant

[1:08:56] City Manager Laney and interim

[1:08:57] hr Director Samantha Hardy for

[1:08:59] their leadership and

[1:09:01] facilitation. Leadership is

[1:09:03] critical in this area for to

[1:09:05] move these initiatives forward.

[1:09:06] I'd also like to extend an

[1:09:07] appreciation to former hr

[1:09:10] Director Shelly Robinson as

[1:09:11] well, for helping advance this

[1:09:17] work. From 2020 to 2025,

[1:09:18] Workforce Equity Goal was a

[1:09:20] central focus of the race,

[1:09:21] gender and Equity Action Plan.

[1:09:24] As a plan, it facilitated

[1:09:25] normalizing and organizing our

[1:09:28] equity work across the city and

[1:09:29] operationalizing racial equity

[1:09:31] and using a shared analysis and

[1:09:34] vocabulary, building capacity,

[1:09:36] implementing equity tools,

[1:09:38] partnering with others, using

[1:09:40] data and metrics, and also

[1:09:42] operating with a sense of

[1:09:43] urgency as well to meet our

[1:09:45] goal to reflect the city to

[1:09:47] better serve the city. This is

[1:09:50] just a brief timeline of those

[1:09:52] efforts. Our journey began and

[1:09:54] wanted to give you a breath of

[1:09:55] this, because this journey

[1:09:57] began in 2018 with the

[1:09:58] establishment of the office,

[1:10:00] but it was also the city's

[1:10:02] commitment to advance workforce

[1:10:04] diversity, not only inside the

[1:10:05] organization, but external. So

[1:10:07] the cohort began with the

[1:10:09] Government Alliance on Race and

[1:10:12] Equity in 20 1819. They're a

[1:10:15] cohort of city leaders began to

[1:10:18] work apply racial equity lens,

[1:10:20] look at data and really try to

[1:10:21] understand what was happening

[1:10:24] in their departments. And so 14

[1:10:25] outcomes and actions of the

[1:10:26] race, gender and Equity Action

[1:10:29] Plan were created in 2020. And

[1:10:31] then that little thing called

[1:10:33] Covid hit. And that's right

[1:10:34] when we were launching the plan,

[1:10:36] but we were still able to do

[1:10:37] that through the virtual

[1:10:40] environment. We also began to

[1:10:41] form and support equity teams,

[1:10:44] which began in 2324. And then

[1:10:46] we also established our equity

[1:10:49] team convening in 23 as well,

[1:10:50] so that it would maintain the

[1:10:51] ongoing work and capacity

[1:10:55] building of our equity teams, a

[1:10:57] central approach, which is a

[1:10:58] national best practice of the

[1:10:59] government. Alliance on Race

[1:11:01] and Equity, also known as gear.

[1:11:04] This approach is affectionately

[1:11:06] called view is visualized,

[1:11:08] normalized, organized and

[1:11:09] operationalize. It is the

[1:11:10] guiding framework that informs

[1:11:13] our office and our work. It

[1:11:14] shapes strategy, it shapes our

[1:11:17] efforts and capacity building.

[1:11:18] It's important that we start

[1:11:19] off with visualizing, because

[1:11:21] it's important to see and

[1:11:22] understand. What does it feel

[1:11:24] like to have a Sacramento that

[1:11:25] looks and reflects everyone,

[1:11:28] but also works for everyone?

[1:11:29] Normalizing racial equity and

[1:11:31] equity as a key value in our

[1:11:32] decision making and creating

[1:11:34] shared understanding, and then

[1:11:36] organizing building staff

[1:11:38] capacity and collaboration

[1:11:39] across departments to break

[1:11:41] down silos in order to make

[1:11:43] sure that this work takes root.

[1:11:45] And then operationalizing it is

[1:11:47] putting into action for

[1:11:49] decision making, analysis,

[1:11:53] measurement, and accountability.

[1:11:57] The gap since 2022 consistently

[1:11:59] has had 14 outcomes. It has 15

[1:12:01] departments, including two two

[1:12:03] charter offices, and we also

[1:12:05] were able to do a 43 equity

[1:12:06] point department assessment

[1:12:08] profile. We're currently

[1:12:10] working with city leadership to

[1:12:12] actually launch that redone

[1:12:14] assessment and profile that

[1:12:16] alternates with the employee

[1:12:18] engagement survey that is

[1:12:19] conducted out of the city

[1:12:24] manager's office. It is also

[1:12:25] we've also been able to do

[1:12:28] in-person as well as virtual

[1:12:29] foundational racial equity and

[1:12:30] role of government trainings.

[1:12:31] And of course, the first phase

[1:12:34] of our development equity

[1:12:38] leadership through action. The

[1:12:39] ongoing work and support. I

[1:12:41] really want to thank the equity

[1:12:43] teams for their work and

[1:12:44] dedication and leadership over

[1:12:47] the years. This work is takes

[1:12:49] not just the small and mighty

[1:12:51] team of the Office of Diversity

[1:12:53] and Equity. The hr department

[1:12:54] is behind this as well as the

[1:12:56] city Manager's office. But the

[1:12:59] equity teams in the departments

[1:13:01] working and talking with city

[1:13:02] leadership and trying to

[1:13:03] understand the nuances to this

[1:13:05] work are critical to advance

[1:13:07] this work moving forward. So

[1:13:09] this is just a brief timeline

[1:13:12] of the ongoing work and support.

[1:13:13] And the two things that I

[1:13:14] really want to highlight here

[1:13:19] is that this work is emerging

[1:13:21] from workforce equity. We want

[1:13:23] to look at other systems and

[1:13:24] processes and procedures with

[1:13:25] the race, gender and equity

[1:13:27] action plan, but not lose

[1:13:29] workforce equity. The other key

[1:13:31] piece is that we are

[1:13:33] integrating the results based

[1:13:34] accountability framework, which

[1:13:36] is Clear Path, Clear Impact

[1:13:39] Software program, but it's a

[1:13:41] which is also known as rba,

[1:13:46] which is about. Identifying key

[1:13:47] equity centered performance

[1:13:49] measures that advance equity,

[1:13:51] but also that tells the story

[1:13:53] of what those performance

[1:13:55] measures and those outcomes are.

[1:13:56] So that's really the

[1:13:58] transformation of the gap

[1:14:04] moving beyond 2025. What we

[1:14:05] learned. We learned that the

[1:14:09] most common gap outcomes that

[1:14:11] teams resonated with or felt

[1:14:14] they needed to work on were two,

[1:14:18] ten, 13, and 14. 2 in 10 were

[1:14:19] often paired together. As you

[1:14:21] can see, this was about career

[1:14:23] development or outreach

[1:14:25] strategies. 13 and 14 was about

[1:14:27] capacity building, career

[1:14:28] development and professional

[1:14:29] development. And so those were

[1:14:31] often paired together as well.

[1:14:33] Some of the changes that we

[1:14:36] have been able to see has been

[1:14:37] better collaboration across

[1:14:40] city departments. The

[1:14:42] normalization of this work and

[1:14:45] in the hiring and interviewing

[1:14:46] process, which you'll hear more

[1:14:49] a little in for the rest of the

[1:14:50] presentation. Departments being

[1:14:52] more organized in their efforts

[1:14:53] and more thoughtful about

[1:14:54] embedding equity at the

[1:14:56] beginning of the process.

[1:14:57] Expansive in thinking and

[1:14:59] looking at external

[1:15:00] shareholders and how community

[1:15:03] can help and collaborate. And

[1:15:05] in terms of advancing messages

[1:15:09] around outreach and encouraging

[1:15:11] communities of color as well as

[1:15:12] marginalized communities, to

[1:15:15] see the city as an employer.

[1:15:17] While the cohort that began in

[1:15:19] 2018 reflected the depth and

[1:15:21] breadth of our city leadership,

[1:15:25] the one lesson learned is that

[1:15:26] it's important to develop goals

[1:15:29] and performance measures

[1:15:31] without the input of staff can

[1:15:33] not necessarily make those

[1:15:34] performance measures take root,

[1:15:35] and that's informing our

[1:15:37] process about how we're

[1:15:42] transforming the gap currently.

[1:15:43] And in that transformation is,

[1:15:46] as I mentioned, equity centered,

[1:15:47] results based accountability

[1:15:48] framework, which we're very

[1:15:50] excited about. This is a very

[1:15:51] precise framework where you

[1:15:54] identify performance measures

[1:15:56] that are directly from the

[1:15:59] equity teams. They're equity

[1:16:03] centered. We've been able to

[1:16:06] collaborate with the Sacramento

[1:16:08] County Department of Family and

[1:16:10] Child Services at the county in

[1:16:11] order to access this clear

[1:16:13] impact software, which will

[1:16:15] enable us to do a turn the

[1:16:16] curve strategy on these

[1:16:17] performance measures. So we're

[1:16:19] very excited about that. That

[1:16:21] came off the heels. And as a

[1:16:24] result of the networking,

[1:16:26] because we had a race gender

[1:16:28] inequity action plan, we were

[1:16:29] positioned and invited by the

[1:16:31] Government Alliance on Race and

[1:16:33] Equity to participate in their

[1:16:34] jurisdiction evaluation

[1:16:36] learning exchange from OCTOBER

[1:16:39] 20th 24 to 2025. This enabled

[1:16:41] us to receive technical

[1:16:44] assistance, especially during

[1:16:45] budget challenges. To receive

[1:16:47] that technical assistance

[1:16:48] really boosted the way that

[1:16:49] we're going to collect data,

[1:16:51] the way that we report the

[1:16:52] results and the way that we'll

[1:16:54] be able to support the equity

[1:17:01] teams. Ongoing efforts 2025 and

[1:17:02] beyond. Employee resource

[1:17:06] groups want to highlight here

[1:17:07] that all of our new hires

[1:17:08] receive information about ERGs

[1:17:12] during onboarding and through

[1:17:13] the city's learning management

[1:17:15] system, including opportunities

[1:17:17] to get involved. Our office is

[1:17:19] also appoint an liaison for all

[1:17:22] ERGs as well. In addition, all

[1:17:24] employees receive annual

[1:17:25] communication regarding erg

[1:17:27] opportunities and participation,

[1:17:29] and in SEPTEMBER of 2025, the

[1:17:31] city implemented the Employee

[1:17:32] Resource Group policy to

[1:17:34] further the city's goal of

[1:17:35] reflecting the community we

[1:17:38] serve. And so our office is

[1:17:39] currently working with the

[1:17:41] office of, excuse me, the

[1:17:42] African American Leadership

[1:17:44] Employee Council, Asian Pacific

[1:17:47] Islander, erg, women's erg, and

[1:17:49] the lgbtq plus erg to support

[1:17:50] the establishment and

[1:17:52] recognition of these structures

[1:17:54] under the erg policy framework.

[1:17:56] I also want to extend an

[1:17:58] appreciation to the efforts of

[1:18:00] city staff. Emilio from the

[1:18:02] City Attorney's Office, Jessica

[1:18:03] from Community Engagement

[1:18:05] Council staff. Eduardo from

[1:18:07] Vice Mayor Telemontes office,

[1:18:09] along with the Vice Mayor

[1:18:10] Telemontes and Mayor Pro Tem

[1:18:12] Guerra to help bring staff

[1:18:14] community together to see the

[1:18:16] interest for a Latinx Hispanic

[1:18:22] erg. So really appreciate that.

[1:18:26] The developing equity action

[1:18:27] through leadership, that's our

[1:18:29] Delta program. So in 2024, we

[1:18:31] did listening sessions with

[1:18:33] staff, particularly staff who

[1:18:35] are not in offices or have

[1:18:37] access to offices. We wanted to

[1:18:38] understand how we can help

[1:18:40] build the capacity and include

[1:18:42] them in trainings and other

[1:18:44] initiatives and efforts around

[1:18:45] diversity, equity and inclusion

[1:18:48] and racial equity in that. And

[1:18:49] so we'll be that will be

[1:18:52] informing our program. Our

[1:18:53] future goals currently right

[1:18:55] now are to create managerial

[1:18:57] tracks, as well as develop

[1:18:58] learning journeys through the

[1:19:01] city's learning management

[1:19:03] system. We also, in 2025,

[1:19:04] implemented our Curiosity and

[1:19:06] Open Openness series, along

[1:19:08] with with our annual 21 day

[1:19:11] Racial Equity Habit Building

[1:19:17] Challenge. Lastly, we will be

[1:19:18] working with city leadership on

[1:19:19] the implementation of an equity

[1:19:21] point assessment to measure

[1:19:23] areas of organizational

[1:19:24] commitment measurement to

[1:19:25] continuous quality improvement.

[1:19:28] This will not only help us

[1:19:29] understand the needs of

[1:19:30] departments, but it will help

[1:19:32] us elevate strategies to a

[1:19:33] citywide level, as well as

[1:19:38] inform future work. The gap was

[1:19:39] intended to be a five year plan.

[1:19:41] We know practices, needs and

[1:19:43] strategies need to change. We

[1:19:45] are at an exciting time to

[1:19:46] strategically, strategically

[1:19:49] align and embed equity centered,

[1:19:50] be a results based

[1:19:51] accountability as an approach

[1:19:52] to implement city equity

[1:19:54] centered initiatives which are

[1:19:56] currently underway. Efforts,

[1:19:57] long range planning and

[1:19:59] strategic priorities of city

[1:20:01] leadership and council. As

[1:20:02] outlined in the Sacramento.

[1:20:03] Centered on Race and Equity

[1:20:05] Work Plan just approved by the

[1:20:07] Racial Equity Committee and of

[1:20:09] course, the one city, one

[1:20:10] Future Strategic Priorities

[1:20:11] plan that was just launched

[1:20:13] earlier this month as well. So

[1:20:14] now I'll turn it over to our

[1:20:19] colleague Ebony.

[1:20:25] >> Do we have a long session?

[1:20:27] >> Good afternoon. My name is

[1:20:29] Ebony. Hi. My name is Ebony

[1:20:31] Heaven, human resources manager

[1:20:32] for employment Services and the

[1:20:34] hr department. And I'd like to

[1:20:35] discuss a few recruitment

[1:20:36] strategies we've implemented to

[1:20:40] diversify our workforce.

[1:20:41] Employment services has focused

[1:20:42] heavily on modernizing

[1:20:43] recruitment processes to

[1:20:45] improve both efficiency and

[1:20:47] accessibility. One of the most

[1:20:48] significant advances has been

[1:20:50] the expansion of online civil

[1:20:52] service examinations, allowing

[1:20:54] applicants to complete

[1:20:56] examinations remotely and on a

[1:20:58] flexible schedule. This

[1:20:59] approach broadens access to

[1:21:01] candidates who MAY otherwise

[1:21:02] face barriers to attending in

[1:21:04] person examinations.

[1:21:06] Additionally, we've implemented

[1:21:08] automated scoring methods,

[1:21:09] particularly with training and

[1:21:10] development or training and

[1:21:12] experience examinations, which

[1:21:15] has significantly reduced

[1:21:16] manual processing time.

[1:21:17] Collectively, these efforts

[1:21:19] have shortened recruitment

[1:21:20] timelines by approximately 5 to

[1:21:22] 8 weeks, while also improving

[1:21:24] consistency, confidentiality

[1:21:25] and overall operational

[1:21:29] efficiency. A major a major

[1:21:30] priority for hr has been

[1:21:32] ensuring that recruitment

[1:21:33] practices align with the city's

[1:21:35] equity and inclusion goals.

[1:21:38] Since 2023, all staff

[1:21:39] participating on an interview

[1:21:40] panel are required to complete

[1:21:42] an implicit bias training

[1:21:43] focused on recognizing and

[1:21:45] minimizing unconscious bias

[1:21:47] during the interview process.

[1:21:48] We have also worked to

[1:21:50] modernize examination content

[1:21:51] and classification

[1:21:52] specifications by removing

[1:21:54] gender specific language or

[1:21:55] exclusionary language, and

[1:21:57] partnering with vendors to

[1:21:58] ensure equitable assessments

[1:22:01] and practices. In addition,

[1:22:03] Human Resources is reviewing

[1:22:05] minimum qualifications across

[1:22:06] classifications to identify

[1:22:08] opportunities to substitute

[1:22:10] experience certification

[1:22:11] demonstrated competencies in

[1:22:13] place of rigid degree

[1:22:15] requirements where appropriate.

[1:22:18] These efforts help to reduce

[1:22:19] barriers to employment and

[1:22:21] create more equitable pathways

[1:22:25] to city opportunities. We

[1:22:27] recognize that long term

[1:22:29] recruitment success requires

[1:22:31] proactive workforce pipeline

[1:22:33] development. To ensure this

[1:22:34] effort, we significantly

[1:22:35] expanded outreach efforts

[1:22:37] through social media platforms,

[1:22:39] community events, strategic

[1:22:41] marketing initiatives,

[1:22:42] including the use of city owned

[1:22:45] billboards. We also established

[1:22:47] a general intern classification,

[1:22:48] which allows individuals as

[1:22:50] long as as young as 16 to gain

[1:22:51] workforce exposure without

[1:22:54] requiring minimum

[1:22:55] qualifications. In addition,

[1:22:56] departments are being

[1:22:58] encouraged to strategically

[1:22:59] utilize nonunion

[1:23:01] classifications to help develop

[1:23:03] internal pipelines to fill hard

[1:23:05] to feel, hard to fill.

[1:23:06] Classifications are. These

[1:23:07] initiatives are designed to

[1:23:09] broaden access to employment

[1:23:09] opportunities while

[1:23:11] strengthening the city's

[1:23:15] workforce. Beyond recruitment,

[1:23:17] hr has also focused on

[1:23:18] improving the candidate and new

[1:23:19] hire experience through the

[1:23:21] implementation of a centralized

[1:23:23] onboarding platform. This

[1:23:24] platform automates

[1:23:25] pre-employment tasks,

[1:23:27] streamlines document completion,

[1:23:28] and provides employees with

[1:23:30] early access to important

[1:23:32] information and resources. The

[1:23:33] onboarding platform creates a

[1:23:35] more consistent and transparent

[1:23:37] experience citywide, while

[1:23:39] reducing delays and

[1:23:40] administrative burden. It also

[1:23:41] supports equity and

[1:23:43] accessibility by allowing

[1:23:44] employees to complete

[1:23:45] onboarding requirements

[1:23:47] electronically and at their

[1:23:48] convenience. These improvements

[1:23:49] better position employees for

[1:23:51] long term success and better

[1:23:53] engagement with the

[1:24:02] organization. While hr has made

[1:24:03] significant progress in

[1:24:04] modernizing and improving the

[1:24:06] city's recruitment practices,

[1:24:08] several workforce challenges

[1:24:09] continue to impact public

[1:24:11] sector hiring both locally and

[1:24:13] nationally. The city continues

[1:24:15] to operate in an increasingly

[1:24:16] increasingly competitive labor

[1:24:18] market, where many employers,

[1:24:20] both public and private, are

[1:24:21] competing for a limited pool of

[1:24:24] candidates. The challenge is

[1:24:25] especially challenging for

[1:24:26] highly specialized technical

[1:24:28] are hard to fill

[1:24:29] classifications where candidate

[1:24:30] availability and market

[1:24:33] competition is strong. At the

[1:24:35] same time, hr must continue

[1:24:36] delivering high quality

[1:24:38] recruitment services while

[1:24:40] navigating staffing limitations,

[1:24:41] budget constraints, and

[1:24:43] increasing service level

[1:24:44] expectations. Departments are

[1:24:47] seeking faster hiring timelines,

[1:24:48] improved candidate experiences,

[1:24:50] and greater workforce

[1:24:51] flexibility, all while

[1:24:52] maintaining compliance with

[1:24:54] Civil Service Board rules,

[1:24:56] equitable hiring practices, and

[1:24:57] operational consistency

[1:25:00] citywide. In response to these

[1:25:02] evolving needs, hr remains

[1:25:04] focused on long term workforce

[1:25:05] sustainability and strategic

[1:25:07] modernization efforts. We will

[1:25:08] continue focusing on

[1:25:10] modernizing classification

[1:25:11] structures, strengthening

[1:25:13] workforce analytics, and

[1:25:14] expanding educational

[1:25:15] partnerships, and identifying

[1:25:17] innovative ways to streamline

[1:25:21] hiring recruitment processes,

[1:25:24] equity, accessibility, and

[1:25:25] workforce sustainability will

[1:25:28] remain central to all

[1:25:29] recruitment and workforce

[1:25:31] development strategies. Hr is

[1:25:33] committed to ensuring the

[1:25:35] recruitment processes are

[1:25:37] equitable, transparent,

[1:25:38] accessible and reflective of

[1:25:39] the diverse communities we

[1:25:41] serve. The city's long term

[1:25:43] goal is not only to fill

[1:25:44] vacancies, but to build a

[1:25:46] sustainable, inclusive and high

[1:25:47] performing workforce that is

[1:25:48] prepared to meet the future

[1:25:50] organizational and community

[1:25:52] needs. This concludes our

[1:25:53] presentation, and we're happy

[1:25:54] to answer any additional

[1:25:56] questions you MAY have.

[1:25:58] >> Okay. Thank. Thank you very

[1:26:01] much for for that very thorough

[1:26:04] presentation. And Council

[1:26:06] Member Maple.

[1:26:07] >> Thank you, chair, and really

[1:26:09] do appreciate the thorough

[1:26:09] presentation. I think,

[1:26:11] especially because, you know, I

[1:26:12] think being reminded of a lot

[1:26:14] of the work that's happened

[1:26:16] over over several years before

[1:26:18] some of us were on here on this

[1:26:19] dais, including myself, is

[1:26:21] important. And then the work

[1:26:22] that's happened to address the

[1:26:24] things that have come up in

[1:26:25] previous audits is important,

[1:26:27] too. So I just wanted to open

[1:26:30] with that. I remember before I

[1:26:32] was elected to this council,

[1:26:33] several years before then, I

[1:26:36] was sitting in that audience

[1:26:38] advocating with then then

[1:26:39] Council member Angelique Ashby

[1:26:41] and others on the very first

[1:26:42] diversity and equity and

[1:26:45] inclusion audit. And that was a

[1:26:46] huge milestone. And I thought

[1:26:48] it was a great way, I believe,

[1:26:49] on any policy issue, whatever

[1:26:51] it MAY be. You have to

[1:26:53] understand first what the

[1:26:54] problem is. If there is a

[1:26:55] problem, have the data, have an

[1:26:57] understanding, and then to be

[1:26:58] able to actually address what

[1:27:00] comes next. A lot of times some

[1:27:01] of some folks will try to come

[1:27:03] up with a solution before you

[1:27:04] really understand what the

[1:27:05] problem is. And sometimes the

[1:27:06] solution is not actually the

[1:27:08] right one. And so I'm really

[1:27:09] glad that that we do this

[1:27:10] continuously. I think we've

[1:27:12] learned a lot over the years.

[1:27:13] And I think that because of

[1:27:15] that work, you all have been

[1:27:17] able to implement very real

[1:27:19] strategies internally in the

[1:27:22] city to make sure that we have

[1:27:23] we make the changes that we

[1:27:24] want to see, and we're already

[1:27:26] seeing the outcome of that. And

[1:27:27] I think that's that's evident

[1:27:29] if you look at the reports over

[1:27:30] time. So I just wanted to say

[1:27:32] that's exciting. And I'm, you

[1:27:33] know, I'm glad I'm looking

[1:27:34] forward to future ones and

[1:27:35] continuing that work. The only

[1:27:37] major question I had was around

[1:27:41] the gender pay disparities. So

[1:27:43] as I read the report, basically

[1:27:44] it's we didn't do like a study

[1:27:47] of the actual of actual pay of

[1:27:48] gender pay throughout the

[1:27:51] entire city. We kind of did an

[1:27:53] averages of certain positions.

[1:27:53] Is that right?

[1:27:55] >> It's very high level. I mean,

[1:27:58] doing a gender study by looking

[1:28:00] more detailed on every specific

[1:28:02] position and, you know,

[1:28:04] experience, education,

[1:28:06] qualifications of every person

[1:28:08] in each of those positions is

[1:28:09] just is beyond the scope of

[1:28:10] this audit. It's very high

[1:28:10] level.

[1:28:12] >> It would need to be, you

[1:28:14] know, if we wanted to do

[1:28:15] something like that, we would

[1:28:17] need to have you work on a

[1:28:18] different specific audit to do

[1:28:19] that work because it would be

[1:28:21] okay. I think that's really

[1:28:22] important to point out because

[1:28:24] I don't want anyone to, to read

[1:28:25] this, you know, and I know that

[1:28:27] you pointed out in there that

[1:28:28] that it's high level. But I

[1:28:30] just want to say for on the

[1:28:32] record that, you know, it's not

[1:28:33] necessarily that we're seeing a

[1:28:34] problem here at the city. We

[1:28:36] don't actually know that per se.

[1:28:37] We just know that there's some

[1:28:39] high level trends and there's

[1:28:40] trends also nationally. And so

[1:28:42] we can we can glean some things

[1:28:43] from that. But yeah, I just, I

[1:28:45] just think that's a good thing

[1:28:46] to point out because I don't

[1:28:48] want anyone to take, you know,

[1:28:50] I don't want the headline to be,

[1:28:51] you know, gender pay

[1:28:52] disparities without us really

[1:28:53] understanding that. And so,

[1:28:54] okay, with that, I'm happy to,

[1:28:56] to move this and just want to

[1:28:58] say thank you for the work. I

[1:28:59] know it's been iterative over

[1:29:01] time, but it always gives me I

[1:29:02] always get excited when I see

[1:29:04] this on the agenda. So thank

[1:29:04] you.

[1:29:06] >> All right. We have a motion

[1:29:07] to accept the audit and

[1:29:08] forwarded to this one. Go to

[1:29:10] the council. Yes. I'm not

[1:29:12] looking at it. Okay. It goes to

[1:29:14] thank you. And a second, by the

[1:29:20] by, Mayor Pro Tem. Do we have

[1:29:20] any speakers?

[1:29:22] >> I do have one speaker

[1:29:34] Lambert. Okay.

[1:29:35] >> Good afternoon.

[1:29:38] >> Good afternoon. This is this

[1:29:40] is exactly some of the things

[1:29:43] that I'm challenging at City

[1:29:45] Hall. First of all, I would

[1:29:48] like to thank the auditor for

[1:29:50] confirming what I already know.

[1:29:54] And also Army. Now, there was

[1:29:56] an article when I returned home,

[1:29:58] there was an article in the

[1:30:00] newspaper called Sacramento

[1:30:02] News and Review. People should

[1:30:05] study this, and my family

[1:30:07] showed it to me. When I moved

[1:30:08] home, it was called the ancient

[1:30:12] r Barnum and Bailey racist

[1:30:15] Scandal at City Hall, and that

[1:30:17] I have no idea how many years

[1:30:19] ago that was. But I'm looking

[1:30:21] at the same thing today. They

[1:30:24] tried to blame Donald Trump for

[1:30:25] resisting dei. But if you look

[1:30:29] at these graphs, there's been

[1:30:31] resistance we've documented

[1:30:33] before he even became PRESIDENT.

[1:30:37] Now here we look at blacks are

[1:30:38] always at the bottom of

[1:30:40] salaries. Are you telling me

[1:30:42] that black people who go to

[1:30:44] college and get degrees are

[1:30:45] still at the bottom? How is

[1:30:49] that possible? Also, why are

[1:30:52] whites always at the top?

[1:30:56] What's that about? Also Asians?

[1:30:59] I've often said it was my van

[1:31:04] who confirmed that 25% of the

[1:31:06] workforce at City Hall is Hmong,

[1:31:10] and Hmongs are not 25% of the

[1:31:12] city. That's a quota system.

[1:31:14] And I put that on record at

[1:31:18] City Hall. Quotas are illegal.

[1:31:21] Also, it said Army made a good

[1:31:23] point. She said the outcomes

[1:31:26] can't take root without staff

[1:31:28] support, and most of the people

[1:31:30] who are implementing this

[1:31:32] resistance are still on the

[1:31:35] payroll. At City Hall.

[1:31:36] >> I have no more speakers.

[1:31:38] >> Okay. Thank you for your

[1:31:39] comments. Thanks for your

[1:31:42] comments. This is this is

[1:31:43] important work. And the

[1:31:48] commitment has to be. One that

[1:31:55] that is. Felt throughout the

[1:31:58] organization. So we've taken

[1:32:00] some time today, but it's worth

[1:32:02] it. And, and it's both

[1:32:05] important to, to do this, this

[1:32:09] updating every period interval

[1:32:11] of, of time on a regular basis.

[1:32:13] And it's important to know what

[1:32:14] you're doing from a human

[1:32:16] resources perspective, to have

[1:32:17] the city workforce reflect our

[1:32:20] city. We know that we know that

[1:32:22] that is meaningful and in every

[1:32:24] sense, not, not, not just in

[1:32:27] numbers, but, but in pay equity,

[1:32:30] in positions of responsibility

[1:32:33] and management in every respect.

[1:32:36] So thank you for the

[1:32:38] presentations. We know there's

[1:32:40] still work to do. That's that's

[1:32:41] apparent from from what we see.

[1:32:44] But but I think the fact that

[1:32:48] we examine this is, is also

[1:32:49] reflection of, of the

[1:32:52] commitment that we have to, to

[1:32:55] strive even to be better over

[1:32:58] time. So with that, we have a

[1:33:00] motion and a second, if there's

[1:33:01] nothing further, all in favor,

[1:33:03] signify by saying aye, aye.

[1:33:05] Opposed say no. Any abstentions?

[1:33:07] Hearing none. Motion carries.

[1:33:11] Thanks very much. And we're on

[1:33:17] to our next item, which is item

[1:33:19] eight. Updates on current City

[1:33:20] Council member proposals that

[1:33:22] have been heard before the

[1:33:23] Budget and Audit Committee. And

[1:33:28] I think we have, Amy here to.

[1:33:30] Walk us through the spreadsheet.

[1:33:33] >> Great. Good afternoon, Chair

[1:33:35] Dickinson and members of the

[1:33:36] Budget and Audit Committee. My

[1:33:37] name is Amy Williams. I'm chief

[1:33:39] of staff to the City Manager,

[1:33:41] and I am pleased to provide an

[1:33:44] update this afternoon on our

[1:33:46] council proposal log items that

[1:33:48] have come before Budget and

[1:33:51] Audit Committee. I'd like to

[1:33:53] begin first with just a very

[1:33:55] brief overview of how the

[1:33:57] current proposal process works.

[1:34:00] This is a process that was

[1:34:04] instituted a few years ago to

[1:34:07] where the council proposes an

[1:34:09] idea. So Council Member office

[1:34:11] proposes an idea and submits a

[1:34:13] council proposal, request

[1:34:14] submission to the clerk's

[1:34:16] office, which then is reviewed

[1:34:19] by the mayor, city Manager and

[1:34:21] the City Attorney's Office. At

[1:34:24] that point, the proposal idea

[1:34:25] either there's refinements

[1:34:27] being asked back to the

[1:34:29] proposals, or it gets assigned

[1:34:31] to an actual committee. Once it

[1:34:33] reaches the committee, the

[1:34:35] proposer office then also

[1:34:37] presents this idea to a

[1:34:38] committee. So say budget and

[1:34:40] audit and then budget and audit.

[1:34:42] Here's this proposal idea and

[1:34:44] at that point in time gives a

[1:34:46] thumbs up or maybe asks for

[1:34:47] refinements. But if it gives a

[1:34:48] thumbs up, it then gets

[1:34:51] assigned to the department to

[1:34:54] work on the idea. So, and at

[1:34:55] that point is when I start

[1:35:00] tracking the log. And at that

[1:35:02] point, also, generally speaking,

[1:35:04] the staff assigned to that

[1:35:05] particular proposal idea

[1:35:07] reaches out to that council

[1:35:09] office, learns a little bit

[1:35:10] more, and again, I start

[1:35:11] updating and maintaining the

[1:35:13] log as it progresses. As this

[1:35:16] council proposal idea becomes,

[1:35:18] goes through the system. Just

[1:35:20] so you understand, the tracking

[1:35:22] log itself is actually housed

[1:35:26] in our Microsoft Teams under a

[1:35:27] OneDrive, under the OneDrive

[1:35:29] account, and is shared to all

[1:35:31] staff for visibility. It

[1:35:32] includes both current and past

[1:35:35] proposal for easy reference. In

[1:35:37] addition, just to add, we've

[1:35:41] added a new process to this

[1:35:42] entire process, which is called

[1:35:44] a closeout memo. So when an

[1:35:46] item goes through the entire

[1:35:47] process and an ordinance gets

[1:35:51] amended or a a program gets

[1:35:53] launched, we then send a memo

[1:35:57] out to formally request closing

[1:35:58] out that item and concluding

[1:36:00] that item from the act of

[1:36:02] tracking log. And it's put on a

[1:36:06] concluded log list. This helps

[1:36:07] with and it has will help us

[1:36:09] with transparency and

[1:36:11] accountability through this

[1:36:13] process. There are currently 18

[1:36:16] active council proposals being

[1:36:18] worked on and tracked, and

[1:36:20] today we will just be reviewing

[1:36:22] the three from the 18. And you

[1:36:27] all have copies of a large

[1:36:28] spreadsheet here. And there's

[1:36:30] copies for the community behind

[1:36:32] me if they're interested. So

[1:36:34] we'll start with the first item

[1:36:36] you'll see on the far left what

[1:36:38] happens is the log or the

[1:36:40] council proposal gets assigned

[1:36:43] a number. And this number is it

[1:36:46] marks the year 2025. And it's

[1:36:48] the first one of 2025. It was

[1:36:50] submit date was actually

[1:36:53] JANUARY 31st of 2025. And the

[1:36:55] subject item is the authorizing

[1:36:57] staff to begin the process of

[1:36:58] creating a mechanism to fund

[1:37:00] community infrastructure that

[1:37:02] boosts tourism markets, North

[1:37:03] Natomas, and improves

[1:37:05] opportunities for hotels and

[1:37:08] businesses. This council

[1:37:11] sponsors included Councilmember

[1:37:13] Kaplan and Plucky Bomb, and our

[1:37:15] department lead is Office of

[1:37:16] Innovation, Economic

[1:37:18] Development and the Finance

[1:37:19] Department. The mayor. This

[1:37:21] gives you several times. When

[1:37:22] the mayor did review. There's

[1:37:23] some refinements, as you can

[1:37:25] see in the status notes to the

[1:37:27] far right, this. This

[1:37:28] particular proposal idea had

[1:37:30] lots of refinements, kind of

[1:37:33] some some some tweaks along the

[1:37:35] way. But the mayor reviewed it

[1:37:38] a few times. It went to Law and

[1:37:42] Ledge in AUGUST 26th of 2025 to

[1:37:45] budget not my apologies. And

[1:37:47] meanwhile, what's happening? If

[1:37:49] you go to the far right where

[1:37:50] my status notes are, I always

[1:37:52] start with the item that's the

[1:37:54] most recent. So the date this

[1:37:56] was last updated was MAY 18th

[1:38:00] of 2026, and there has been a

[1:38:02] meeting with the hoteliers

[1:38:05] visit. Sac is deeply involved

[1:38:08] in this process. And so they're

[1:38:10] moving towards an assessment

[1:38:12] and looking at building out an

[1:38:15] assessment for this work. But

[1:38:17] if you go again down, you can

[1:38:18] see all the different dates and

[1:38:20] times that staff reached out.

[1:38:21] And maybe when there were

[1:38:24] pauses or questions being asked.

[1:38:26] And so this particular item is

[1:38:29] moving along. If there's any

[1:38:31] questions on that item, do my

[1:38:35] best. No. Okay. The next item

[1:38:38] we have here, submit date was

[1:38:41] OCTOBER of 2025. This is a

[1:38:44] request for illegal dumping. It

[1:38:46] was a request for staff to come

[1:38:48] up with a very specific, a

[1:38:49] specific program to address

[1:38:51] illegal dumping issues that we

[1:38:53] see citywide. We do address our

[1:38:54] illegal dumping and one offs,

[1:38:56] but this is asking staff to to

[1:38:58] look at the numbers, understand

[1:38:59] what's going on, and come back

[1:39:03] with an overall program,

[1:39:04] looking at being more efficient

[1:39:06] and comprehensive in our

[1:39:08] approach. And this and Council

[1:39:09] Member Dickinson, you can

[1:39:11] correct me if I'm wrong on any

[1:39:13] of those details, but you are a

[1:39:14] sponsor as well as Council

[1:39:16] Member Vang and Council member

[1:39:20] Maple, and the department lead

[1:39:22] is our recycling and solid

[1:39:24] waste, but it does include many

[1:39:25] other departments that are

[1:39:27] involved actually in developing

[1:39:29] this program. But our lead

[1:39:31] person is in recycling and

[1:39:32] solid waste. The mayor reviewed

[1:39:35] it on NOVEMBER, and then it

[1:39:37] went to be an a on the third.

[1:39:39] Now, you'll notice on this that

[1:39:42] the Council on the Legislative

[1:39:44] Body review to the far right,

[1:39:46] the council column is

[1:39:47] highlighted in green because

[1:39:48] when it's done, it's going to

[1:39:50] go to council next. So that's

[1:39:52] an indicator as to why. You

[1:39:54] know, that column is green. And

[1:39:56] the last update I got was on

[1:39:58] MAY 16th. And they are

[1:39:59] finishing up their data

[1:40:00] collection. And they're

[1:40:02] beginning their analysis.

[1:40:04] They're, they're hoping to come

[1:40:07] back in the fall. And all of

[1:40:08] this is listed, all the dates

[1:40:10] are up to date on, you know,

[1:40:12] where it's been and where it's

[1:40:13] headed. So it's, it's on its

[1:40:16] way.

[1:40:18] >> I just have a quick process.

[1:40:19] That's okay. Michael Benjamin

[1:40:21] my office no longer works there.

[1:40:23] And so we'll talk offline about

[1:40:25] who the best person for my team

[1:40:26] is to connect. Thanks.

[1:40:28] >> Thank you.

[1:40:29] >> Well, we're on that one, MR.

[1:40:30] Chair.

[1:40:30] >> Okay.

[1:40:32] >> I think I, I think I made

[1:40:34] the motion on moving that one

[1:40:35] and asked to be listed as a

[1:40:37] co-sponsor. That's that's all

[1:40:38] clarification.

[1:40:42] >> Well, I will definitely.

[1:40:44] >> Add that. And I will mention

[1:40:46] that I do have monthly meetings

[1:40:48] now with each of your staff

[1:40:49] scheduled and will be ongoing.

[1:40:51] So this will always be one of

[1:40:53] the items that I just bring up.

[1:40:55] So it's just going to be

[1:40:56] something we naturally talk

[1:40:58] about more often. And I

[1:41:00] understand I'm becoming a bit

[1:41:01] more. Maybe I'll be coming to

[1:41:03] budget a little bit more so we

[1:41:04] can just keep tracking these

[1:41:06] and moving them along and

[1:41:07] making sure the data and the

[1:41:09] information is correct. Okay.

[1:41:11] And the final one we have here

[1:41:13] is an item that came and submit

[1:41:16] date of NOVEMBER of 2025. And

[1:41:18] this is district two, Enhanced

[1:41:20] Infrastructure financing.

[1:41:22] District and council sponsors

[1:41:23] were Council member Dickinson,

[1:41:25] Vice Mayor Telemontes, Council

[1:41:26] member Maple and Council member

[1:41:28] Gada. And this was assigned to

[1:41:31] our Office of Innovation and

[1:41:33] Economic Development and our

[1:41:35] Finance department. This item

[1:41:37] has gone through went to to

[1:41:42] budget audit in DECEMBER of

[1:41:45] 2025, no. 2026 and went to

[1:41:47] council this spring. So what I

[1:41:49] understand is that we are doing

[1:41:52] some fiscal analysis right now,

[1:41:54] which is three months of work

[1:41:57] was what the estimate was, and

[1:41:59] then we'll be bringing it back

[1:42:01] to council as soon as we can.

[1:42:03] >> Yes, as soon as we can.

[1:42:05] >> As soon as we can be.

[1:42:07] >> Tracking that.

[1:42:10] >> Underlined. Okay, Amy. Thank

[1:42:13] you, Vice Mayor.

[1:42:14] >> So is this going to become

[1:42:16] the new process.

[1:42:18] >> Where you come to budget and

[1:42:20] audit to present where we're at

[1:42:22] on all these policies that we

[1:42:23] have passed?

[1:42:25] >> I, I don't know, I haven't

[1:42:26] been directed to, but Lore and

[1:42:28] Legend directed me to do that.

[1:42:29] So I would just assuming that

[1:42:31] that would be the case here.

[1:42:32] >> Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's

[1:42:34] great because, because I'm not

[1:42:35] on lore. And so it's great to

[1:42:36] hear like an update.

[1:42:37] >> But yeah, so.

[1:42:39] >> I think both the chair of

[1:42:41] law and legislation as well as

[1:42:42] I think it's very helpful to

[1:42:43] have these presentations on a

[1:42:46] periodic basis, on a regular

[1:42:48] basis, even though this

[1:42:50] information is accessible in

[1:42:54] teams. It's it has a home there,

[1:42:55] which I will admit I didn't

[1:42:58] know before. We had a similar

[1:42:59] presentation at the Law and

[1:43:00] Legislation Committee. So we

[1:43:02] can look at it any time, but I

[1:43:03] think it's still helpful, both

[1:43:05] for us and the public to have

[1:43:07] these these routine updates on

[1:43:10] on how the proposals are

[1:43:11] progressing.

[1:43:12] >> Well, like, are we going to

[1:43:14] do this quarterly or every

[1:43:15] other month? Or what's.

[1:43:15] >> The plan?

[1:43:17] >> I'm trying to remember what

[1:43:18] were we talking about quarterly?

[1:43:20] >> Well, I can tell you what we

[1:43:22] have done at Lore and Ledge,

[1:43:23] which was we I think it was

[1:43:25] quarterly. It was what we

[1:43:26] landed on. Yep. Just to make

[1:43:27] sure that everyone's updated in

[1:43:29] public about how things are

[1:43:30] moving, but not necessarily so

[1:43:31] much so that, you know, you're

[1:43:33] getting the same updates over

[1:43:33] and over again.

[1:43:34] >> Yeah, yeah.

[1:43:35] >> That's a great plan.

[1:43:37] >> I think that's the, the, the

[1:43:39] plan is quarterly.

[1:43:40] >> Okay, great. Thank you.

[1:43:42] >> Any other questions for Amy

[1:43:47] or comments? Thank you Amy. Who

[1:43:48] keep them keep them moving. And

[1:43:50] do we have some members of the

[1:43:51] public who wish to address this

[1:43:51] item?

[1:43:53] >> Yes. I have five speakers.

[1:43:56] Lambert, Douglas McPherson,

[1:44:00] Gail Silva, Greg Chapman and

[1:44:09] Ann Amato.

[1:44:12] >> This is outstanding. This

[1:44:14] long paperwork that they gave

[1:44:16] us because it gave me an

[1:44:18] opportunity to comment on who's

[1:44:20] on here. Now. We it's been me

[1:44:22] who actually brought up that

[1:44:24] we're concerned about MR. Baum

[1:44:27] not being on the rostrum a lot.

[1:44:30] He's late. He leaves a lot, and

[1:44:32] he shouldn't be part of any

[1:44:33] sponsorship till he tightens

[1:44:35] that up. So a lot of people

[1:44:38] watching his behavior, by the

[1:44:41] way, now on district two, I

[1:44:42] like the people that are

[1:44:44] connected with that. MR.

[1:44:47] Dickinson, Vice Mayor

[1:44:50] Telemontes Maple and Guerra. I

[1:44:51] know they care about district

[1:44:54] two, so they should be able to

[1:44:55] get a lot of things

[1:44:57] accomplished. Now, what

[1:45:00] concerns me about that is that

[1:45:03] somebody mentioned the

[1:45:06] Department of Economic and

[1:45:09] Innovation. That department,

[1:45:11] during measure u. And I went to

[1:45:13] a lot of measure u commissions.

[1:45:18] They did not properly allow the

[1:45:21] measure u Commission to q and a

[1:45:23] them that's a violation of the

[1:45:26] Brown Act. They should have.

[1:45:27] And when MRS. Dickerson was

[1:45:30] here, we never had that problem

[1:45:32] because she knew the procedures

[1:45:34] and minty was not there that

[1:45:36] night. So that's why they

[1:45:38] panicked. And they let that

[1:45:39] department. And by the way,

[1:45:41] that department receives a lot

[1:45:45] of economics from measure u.

[1:45:48] They receive a lot of money.

[1:45:50] And and guess what? I was

[1:45:54] scheduled to speak to them and

[1:45:56] ask for. And the rest of them

[1:45:57] panicked and they decided,

[1:45:59] we'll let the last nine minutes

[1:46:02] of the commission go to that

[1:46:03] department. And they didn't.

[1:46:05] Nobody had a chance to talk to

[1:46:07] them, so they should have to

[1:46:09] come back in front of the

[1:46:10] committee before.

[1:46:19] >> Next speaker is Douglas.

[1:46:19] >> Good afternoon.

[1:46:21] >> Good afternoon. Thank you,

[1:46:22] Chair Dickinson and members,

[1:46:24] for letting me speak this

[1:46:25] afternoon. It's not morning any

[1:46:26] longer. My name is Doug

[1:46:28] McPherson. I live in Midtown.

[1:46:29] I'm here to advocate for a

[1:46:31] public bank in Sacramento. As

[1:46:33] you know, this body approved

[1:46:36] $250,000 in MAY of 2023 for the

[1:46:37] completion of a viability study

[1:46:38] and business plan for public

[1:46:40] bank. That money was put on

[1:46:42] hold. A public bank is needed

[1:46:43] now more than ever in

[1:46:44] Sacramento, given the budget

[1:46:47] deficits, federal rollbacks and

[1:46:48] deep cuts in housing and

[1:46:49] climate funding that we are

[1:46:52] experiencing. I know this is a

[1:46:53] tight time for budgets, but I

[1:46:55] believe that our team of public

[1:46:56] bank advocates from our

[1:46:58] community have found sources

[1:46:59] for these funds, which we have

[1:47:01] shared with you in written

[1:47:02] comment and would not affect

[1:47:04] staffing. I would ask that you

[1:47:06] reintroduce the $250,000 into

[1:47:08] this year's fiscal budget,

[1:47:09] given that it was a great idea

[1:47:11] in 2023, and it's an even

[1:47:13] better idea today. And, Chair

[1:47:15] Dickenson, I would ask that you

[1:47:16] agendize this topic on future

[1:47:18] budget and audit committee

[1:47:20] meetings. Thank you so much for

[1:47:21] your time. I appreciate it.

[1:47:26] >> Thanks, speaker.

[1:47:28] >> Thank you, chair, members of

[1:47:30] this committee for the

[1:47:31] opportunity to speak. My name

[1:47:33] is Goldie Saba. I'm a volunteer

[1:47:34] with Sacramento Public Bank

[1:47:37] project of sac and Sacramento

[1:47:38] Climate Coalition. As you're

[1:47:40] aware, funding for an rfq, as

[1:47:42] my husband mentioned, was

[1:47:45] passed unanimously by by the

[1:47:47] Budget Audit Committee. You

[1:47:49] already know that the community

[1:47:50] members and organizations have

[1:47:53] been working for preparing for

[1:47:55] early on in this budget process

[1:47:56] to reissue funding for the sac

[1:48:00] public Bank rfq in MARCH 20th,

[1:48:03] the MARCH 24th, the mayor and

[1:48:04] Council were supportive and the

[1:48:06] mayor asked for a timeline of

[1:48:09] the past rfq and said that you

[1:48:10] would determine whether to

[1:48:12] place it on the agenda, on the

[1:48:13] Council or the Budget and Audit

[1:48:16] Committee. Just last week, the

[1:48:17] treasurer responded to us

[1:48:19] stating that he had no

[1:48:21] reservations based on his

[1:48:22] interest or time on this

[1:48:23] project, but just mentioned

[1:48:25] that no council member had

[1:48:27] submitted this in their budget

[1:48:30] request. So here's our ask. We

[1:48:31] request this committee to

[1:48:33] reaffirm their previous

[1:48:34] commitment with another motion

[1:48:37] to place the 250,000 for an rfq

[1:48:39] for a viability and business

[1:48:41] plan on this year's budget. Of

[1:48:43] all of the budget asks, this is

[1:48:45] the 1 or 1 of the few that,

[1:48:47] when functioning, can actually

[1:48:49] bring back millions and

[1:48:50] multiply our precious tax

[1:48:52] dollars to help fund our

[1:48:54] community's needs, we

[1:48:56] understand that this is a

[1:48:58] deficit budget year, and that's

[1:48:59] why we've researched and

[1:49:01] submitted a document with

[1:49:03] multiple options. There's a, b,

[1:49:04] and c. I'm not going to go

[1:49:06] through the whole thing with

[1:49:07] you, but just to mention that b

[1:49:09] and c do not involve any sort

[1:49:14] of cutting from any staffing. B

[1:49:16] basically takes it says,

[1:49:18] earmarking funds from community

[1:49:19] reinvestment grants. There was

[1:49:22] a we would take 250,000 from

[1:49:23] the California Natural

[1:49:25] Resources Agency Community

[1:49:27] Reinvestment Project.

[1:49:28] >> Thank you for your comments.

[1:49:30] Your time is complete. Next

[1:49:34] speaker is Greg. Then an. Thank

[1:49:35] you for your comments.

[1:49:36] >> Thank you.

[1:49:38] >> Thank you.

[1:49:50] >> Is Greg here? No. Animoto.

[1:49:51] >> Good afternoon.

[1:49:53] >> Good afternoon.

[1:49:55] >> Members of the Audit and

[1:49:56] Budget Committee. I'm an

[1:49:58] amateur. I'm a retired social

[1:50:00] worker and member of the

[1:50:01] Sacramento Climate Coalition

[1:50:04] and their public bank project.

[1:50:05] I'm here to ask your support

[1:50:07] for the public bank for

[1:50:09] Sacramento. While you're

[1:50:11] looking at budget cuts, I

[1:50:13] recognize that you can save the

[1:50:15] city a great deal of money

[1:50:19] while addressing urgent needs

[1:50:21] with establishing a public bank.

[1:50:23] The public bank can offer small

[1:50:24] business loans to those that

[1:50:26] are unable to obtain them from

[1:50:29] big banks. Funding to offer low

[1:50:31] cost loans for affordable

[1:50:32] housing, funds for other

[1:50:33] improvements for our community,

[1:50:37] like addressing homelessness.

[1:50:38] Public bank can offer low cost

[1:50:40] lines of credit. Keep public

[1:50:42] interest dollars in the public

[1:50:43] sector so you keep the money in

[1:50:45] the community, rather than

[1:50:47] going to Wall Street and to

[1:50:51] reduce overall borrowing costs.

[1:50:52] Currently, my understanding is

[1:50:55] that 50% of the cost of a bond

[1:50:57] measure goes to interest, and

[1:51:00] that money goes to Wall Street

[1:51:01] Public Bank and assist in

[1:51:03] funding bonding measures, offer

[1:51:04] underwriting issuance, bridge

[1:51:08] loans for local projects, and

[1:51:10] all this saves the city an

[1:51:13] interest and underwriting fees.

[1:51:14] Let's keep the interest money

[1:51:17] in our community. I ask you to

[1:51:19] please support the public bank

[1:51:22] and the funding that we need to

[1:51:24] do the viability and

[1:51:26] feasibility study the business

[1:51:28] plan as well. Thank you.

[1:51:29] >> Thank you, chair.

[1:51:31] >> I have no more speakers on

[1:51:32] this agenda item.

[1:51:33] >> Okay. Thank you to all the

[1:51:34] speakers. Councilmember Maple,

[1:51:36] did you want to make a comment.

[1:51:37] >> If I MAY, chair, and I

[1:51:39] recognize this is not on the

[1:51:40] agenda. So obviously we won't

[1:51:42] be able to make any decisions

[1:51:44] related to public banking here

[1:51:45] at this meeting. But I do want

[1:51:47] to say, generally speaking,

[1:51:48] that I've met with the

[1:51:50] proponents of this measure, and

[1:51:52] I personally think that this is

[1:51:54] something that is worth

[1:51:56] exploring. Absolutely. I do

[1:51:57] recognize the history as well.

[1:51:59] It was before my time on this

[1:52:00] council, but I do know that

[1:52:02] there was a history of of

[1:52:03] allocating money, and it never

[1:52:05] went that way. And there were a

[1:52:06] lot of different reasons behind

[1:52:08] that. So we don't have to get

[1:52:09] into that here. But I also want

[1:52:11] to say that there's there's big

[1:52:12] questions to one question for

[1:52:15] me is, you know, the $250,000

[1:52:17] that was from 2023, knowing how

[1:52:19] much costs have gone up, I

[1:52:20] really wonder whether that's

[1:52:22] the actual cost of doing the

[1:52:24] feasibility study now in 2026

[1:52:26] or 2027 versus in 2023. And,

[1:52:27] you know, we're being in

[1:52:29] government, we have seen the

[1:52:30] cost skyrocket on almost

[1:52:31] everything. So that's that's a

[1:52:33] key question. And then two, on

[1:52:35] some of the possible sources, I

[1:52:36] really want to appreciate

[1:52:37] everyone who showed up to speak

[1:52:39] and the work that they put into

[1:52:40] looking into the budget. It's

[1:52:42] not easy to do, but really

[1:52:43] finding ways that we could look

[1:52:45] into, and I think those are

[1:52:46] worth exploring, but we really

[1:52:48] don't have a way of knowing

[1:52:49] right now whether or not those

[1:52:50] are actually grants that we

[1:52:52] could pull from. We'd have to

[1:52:53] do some research into that. And

[1:52:55] so as much as that, you know,

[1:52:57] it MAY be disappointing, my my

[1:52:58] thought is, is that this is

[1:53:00] worth exploring in the in the

[1:53:01] next budget cycle, perhaps

[1:53:02] through budget and audit, if

[1:53:04] you want to do that. Chair. But

[1:53:05] I just I think it would be

[1:53:07] really challenging to try to

[1:53:08] move this forward in the

[1:53:09] current budget process. That's

[1:53:10] just my personal opinion. Thank

[1:53:11] you.

[1:53:12] >> Thanks. Thanks for those

[1:53:15] comments. I would largely agree

[1:53:16] with with them. I appreciate

[1:53:20] the the advocacy. And I think

[1:53:22] there's some conversations that

[1:53:24] that need to occur internally

[1:53:27] to, to, to determine the

[1:53:28] feasibility of. I appreciate

[1:53:30] the fact that you've made

[1:53:32] concrete suggestions rather

[1:53:34] than just asked for something

[1:53:36] you suggested where it could be

[1:53:37] funded from. And that that's a

[1:53:40] great, great degree of

[1:53:42] responsibility that many of us

[1:53:46] resist in similar circumstances.

[1:53:48] So this is still a live

[1:53:52] conversation. I think it's also

[1:53:53] instructive to watch what's

[1:53:55] going on in the in San

[1:53:57] Francisco in particular, and

[1:54:00] the Bay area as, as as well,

[1:54:02] which I know has been something

[1:54:05] of a of a limitation on the

[1:54:08] feasibility from the Treasury's

[1:54:10] point of view in pursuing this.

[1:54:12] So it is it is not a dead

[1:54:14] letter by any means. And I

[1:54:19] think I think there. Is the

[1:54:21] opportunity to to to talk talk

[1:54:23] about this further, see if it

[1:54:25] fits, see if it fits an agenda

[1:54:28] in the future. And thank you

[1:54:30] again for for being here and

[1:54:36] for being consistent and steady.

[1:54:38] This item requires no action.

[1:54:41] It was a update for us. So

[1:54:43] we'll move on to committee

[1:54:44] comments, ideas, questions and

[1:54:47] meeting reports if any. Seeing

[1:54:49] none, do we have any members of

[1:54:51] the public who wish to address

[1:54:52] us on items not on the agenda?

[1:54:54] >> Chair, I have one. Speaker

[1:54:54] Lambert.

[1:54:54] >> Okay.

[1:54:56] >> Speaking on matters, not on

[1:55:08] the agenda.

[1:55:11] >> This one I had to keep notes.

[1:55:13] I normally look up at you, but

[1:55:15] I got to really stay on this to

[1:55:16] get it right. First of all, I'd

[1:55:18] like to send a shout out to

[1:55:20] CHAIRMAN Dickerson for bringing

[1:55:24] up Medi-Cal for people who get

[1:55:28] picked up by fire or ambulance.

[1:55:31] I never knew that. And the city

[1:55:33] should know if they're being

[1:55:35] reimbursed. If they don't,

[1:55:36] people should be reprimanded

[1:55:39] for that. That's a county. You

[1:55:40] should know how much money you

[1:55:42] receive from Medi-Cal when you

[1:55:47] pick people up. Also. There was

[1:55:49] a study done called the

[1:55:51] leadership Group Race Equity,

[1:55:53] and Laney Milstein was part of

[1:55:55] that group, and we were trying

[1:55:59] to figure out where the

[1:56:01] $250,000 went. When I asked the

[1:56:03] Race Alliance committee, they

[1:56:04] said they didn't receive any

[1:56:07] money. And one of the main

[1:56:08] reasons why we're having

[1:56:10] problems at City Hall is that

[1:56:11] people are not paying attention

[1:56:12] to people who, like me, who

[1:56:14] come up here to talk. It's very

[1:56:17] rude as you learn that as a

[1:56:18] child, to not talk when other

[1:56:20] people are talking, but it's

[1:56:22] being recorded anyway. Last

[1:56:24] time I was here, I mentioned

[1:56:26] about the no written agreement

[1:56:27] about wide open walls, and

[1:56:30] people got emotional when I

[1:56:32] started asking the question of

[1:56:35] who wrote the seven checks,

[1:56:38] everybody got quiet. Well, the

[1:56:39] millennials have found out

[1:56:41] where those checks came from,

[1:56:43] and I don't have time to

[1:56:44] announce it today. But it's

[1:56:46] coming and it's going to shock

[1:56:48] a lot of people where those

[1:56:50] checks came from. We know where

[1:56:56] they came from. Now also. This

[1:57:00] race, this measure you

[1:57:03] innovation and economics, they

[1:57:05] should not get funded until

[1:57:07] they go in front of the measure

[1:57:08] you commission.

[1:57:10] >> I thank you for your

[1:57:11] comments. We have no one else

[1:57:14] to address us on matters, not

[1:57:16] on the agenda. So we're going

[1:57:17] to adjourn into closed session.

[1:57:19] If we get one more member of

[1:57:21] the council to join us.

[1:57:22] >> Yes. Thank you, chair. If we

[1:57:23] can get one more council member

[1:57:25] to join us, we will then

[1:57:26] adjourn this meeting directly

[1:57:27] into closed session rather than

[1:57:28] having to call to order that

[1:57:29] meeting.

[1:57:30] >> And we're going to let the

[1:57:33] auditor staff go have lunch.

[1:57:37] Thank you.

[1:57:37] >> Okay.

[1:57:38] >> Can you guys.

[1:57:41] >> Go to the. Session talking

[1:57:49] about thank you, thank you. The

[1:57:50] money was given to the wide

[1:57:53] open wall. Yeah. And then I

[1:57:58] guess seven. There could have

[1:58:09] been my screen projector was.

[1:58:11] >> So. Good afternoon. We are

[1:58:12] calling a closed session

[1:58:15] meeting to order. We're calling

[1:58:16] the special meeting for the

[1:58:17] purpose of a closed session. I

[1:58:19] have a quorum of council

[1:58:20] members and chambers. There are

[1:58:21] two items on that agenda. We

[1:58:23] have no speakers on any of the

[1:58:24] agenda items on the closed

[1:58:26] session agenda. The first item

[1:58:27] is conference with labor

[1:58:28] negotiators. Government code,

[1:58:30] section five four, 957.6.

[1:58:32] Designated representatives are

[1:58:33] Lainie Milstein, Aaron Donato

[1:58:35] and Tim Davis. Employee

[1:58:36] organizations are Sacramento

[1:58:38] Police Officers Association and

[1:58:40] Sacramento area firefighters.

[1:58:42] Local 522. The second item is

[1:58:43] Public Employee performance

[1:58:44] evaluation, government Code,

[1:58:48] section 54957 b one title is

[1:58:50] city Attorney and chair. You

[1:58:51] MAY now adjourn to closed

[1:58:51] session.

[1:58:53] >> All right.

[1:59:10] >> Adjourned in closed session.

Budget and Audit Committee

Agenda

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