Sacramento residents are hopeful as preliminary results pour in from the March 5 election, with some saying new leadership could help resolve some of the city’s homelessness and public safety issues.
As of March 11, mayoral candidate Richard Pan led with 23 percent of the votes, or 12,495. That’s 349 votes ahead of Flojaune “Flo” Cofer, also at 23 percent.
Steven Hansen and Kevin McCarty have 22 percent each. The results will be updated every Tuesday and Friday until certification, according to the Sacramento County registrar of voters.
Resident Kristina Rogers, the president of the neighborhood association of Land Park, located within a mile of the state Capitol, told The Epoch Times she believes Mayor Darrell Steinberg and District 4 Councilwoman Katie Valenzuela have failed to address public safety concerns and new leadership could help turn things around.
“The biggest issue has been this lack of support of law enforcement and police ... their attitude about public safety, it’s not the same as everyone else’s, so bringing back some reasonable candidates is going to bring back some common sense,” she said.
Ms. Valenzuela is trailing with 39 percent of votes for District 4, compared with 56 percent for Phil Pluckebaum.
For the mayoral race, incumbent Mr. Steinberg termed out after serving since 2016, leaving the spot up for grabs.
Ms. Rogers told The Epoch Times that she believes that Mr. Pan and Mr. Hansen would be “reasonable” candidates to succeed the current mayor, as they both emphasize public safety.
A recent influx of crime and homelessness may have boosted a sense among voters that many of the city’s issues have been ignored under current leadership, Ms. Rogers said.
“Enough people now have had crime come to their own door that they realize they have to really understand who these candidates are and understand what their ideologies are, before they just vote for somebody,” she said.
Resident Amy Gardner, founder of Midtown-East Sac Advocates—a group of 300 community activists who rent or own homes and businesses in the city—said she’s hopeful new leadership will help Sacramento.
“Policy can change on a dime,“ she said. ”So I would say that if we’re going to get new representatives ... [they’re] going to be listening to the constituents and can make some good changes for our city.”
At issue for Ms. Gardner are equal rights for citizens, as homeless RV encampments flood some of the city’s streets without being ticketed, which she said wouldn’t apply for law-abiding citizens if they were to illegally park their cars or RVs. Because the homeless have been allowed to use drugs in broad daylight, sleep where they want, and keep pets off leashes, some residents have met with risks while walking past encampments, she said.
“People are being victimized by violent crimes,“ she said. ”And those people, rightfully so, feel that the city is not taking care of them. ... I do think we have laws on the books that should be enforced to make it so the average person can be out and about in the world and be safe.”
Near her neighborhood, encampments block the way to a public school, and students walking by must be wary of stepping on drug needles, Ms. Gardner said. Unleashed dogs have also been an unaddressed issue, with frequent dog attacks leaving residents fearful to walk the streets, she said.
“Sometimes these kids are having to deal with going by encampments where you have unleashed dogs who are extremely dangerous,” she said.
“As someone who’s been bit more than the average Joe, I do feel sad for kids who have to just buck up and walk through the underpass and deal with these violent dogs.”
In Sacramento, dogs or cats older than 4 months must be spayed or neutered, but because the law isn’t equally applied to the homeless, some of their pets are what’s known as “unaltered,” according to the city’s own definition.
In a December 2023 lawsuit against the city, Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho cited multiple occasions in the past few years on which Mayor Steinberg and Ms. Valenzuela allegedly have prevented enforcement action against the homeless, illegally parked RVs, or encampments. In the suit, Mr. Ho claimed that the mayor, in 2019, stopped the clearing of an RV encampment under what has since been called “Darrell’s directive,” resulting in worsening conditions.
In June 2023, a Sacramento Superior Court judge sent a letter to the city alleging daily incidents of “physical and verbal assault, public sex acts, open fires, nudity, urinating and defecating on walkways” near the courthouse.
According to a public survey with more than 3,000 responses, many residents have been assaulted at gunpoint by homeless people; a girls’ soccer game was postponed because of syringes on the field; and children have to walk through feces and urine on their way to school, Mr. Ho said in the lawsuit.
