Sacramento councilwoman Katie Valenzuela served with recall notice. What’s behind campaign?
A group of East Sacramento and central city residents have officially launched an effort to recall liberal City Councilwoman Katie Valenzuela, who has opened several sites for homeless services since taking office.
East Sacramento resident John Morales served Valenzuela with a “notice of intention to circulate a recall petition” Friday morning while she was walking her dog in midtown, she said.
She will formally respond, and then the group will get the opportunity to file papers with the city and collect signatures.
Morales is part of a new group of about 150 residents called Safe Neighborhoods and Parks (SNAP) of Sacramento, which is leading the effort.
If the group moves very quickly and collects thousands of signatures, the recall could be on the Nov. 8 ballot, and the city could hold a special election to replace her in the spring.
Morales did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment Friday. According to the notice, the group’s main complaints are a rise in homelessness, crime, and a decrease in property values.
“Katie Valenzuela has failed to carry out her responsibilities on the City Council, which includes providing Sacramento with safe and clean neighborhoods,” the notice read. “She has ignored constituents’ requests for much-needed action to address the growing problems of crime and lawlessness. She has pursued policies that actually worsen our homelessness problem, while doing nothing to keep neighborhoods safe ... local residents face an imminent threat to our personal safety, as well as the destruction of our private property, loss of our family finances, and the lowering of property values.”
Valenzuela said she is working on a formal response.
“It’s unfortunate that this distraction is going to take time and energy spent away from the work in our community,” Valenzuela said.
Valenzuela, a self-proclaimed Democratic socialist, started her council term in December 2020 after handily defeating incumbent Steve Hansen.
She has only represented the affluent East Sacramento for about three months, when the redistricting process caused the neighborhood to become part of her district. Previously, it was represented by Councilman Jeff Harris. Valenzuela is up for re-election in 2024.
“(Valenzuela) is a representative NOT elected by East Sac but elected in 2020 by the Land Park and Central district neighborhoods,” Morales wrote in an email to leaders of neighborhood groups Monday.
Shortly after East Sacramento became part of her district, Valenzuela proposed a safe parking lot for homeless people living in vehicles at Sutter’s Landing Park, near the East Sacramento border.
Valenzuela dropped the idea, but only due to the many different layers of agency approvals needed, not due to pushback, she said.
New Sacramento homeless site
She has not announced any East Sacramento homeless sites since. She has opened a Safe Ground sanctioned tent encampment at Miller Park, and a now-closed one under the W-X freeway.
At Safe Grounds, homeless individuals living in tents or vehicles get access to bathrooms, showers, medical care, security and rehousing services. She is also opening a Project Homekey site for homeless housing at a midtown motel.
She is against encampment sweeps and in December she voted to stop clearing homeless vehicles unless there is somewhere for them to go, which failed 6-3.
Andrew Acosta, a political consultant, said it’s unlikely the recall will succeed, and it could actually help Valenzuela win re-election. While people running for council seats have campaign contribution limits, electeds fighting recalls do not, he said.
“Now you have given her an opening to raise a whole bunch of money to go tell her story,” Acosta said. “You’re just going to give her a platform to have a longer conversation with voters.”
Valenzuela has held several events to raise money against the recall, some including Mayor Darrell Steinberg.
Recall can make candidate stronger
Those who beat recalls are often in strong positions to be re-elected, Acosta said, referencing the failed recall against Gov. Gavin Newsom last year.
However it’s also possible the recall could prevail, Acosta said.
“Polling at the city and council level, people are very unhappy with the homeless situation,” said Acosta, who’s also working on a homeless ballot measure for November. “I don’t know if they see what she’s doing as fixing anything, but I don’t know if they’re seeing what anyone is doing as fixing anything.”
The SNAP group has been circulating a flyer for “brunch and mimosas” to discuss “protecting our families and homes from encampments and voting for City Council representation,” next weekend in East Sacramento’s McKinley Village development.
This story was originally published March 18, 2022 at 3:33 PM.
