‘It’s liberation’: Sacramento lowriders celebrate after city repeals anti-cruising rule

Olivia Fonseca stood near her light blue 1952 Chevrolet Deluxe, parked along Broadway late Saturday afternoon in Sacramento.

Four days earlier, Fonseca appeared virtually as a member of a group that had formed in recent months, the Sacramento Lowrider Commission, urging City Council: End Sacramento’s 34-year anti-cruising ordinance, which council quickly unanimously agreed to do.

And now, with an assortment of classic cars starting to slowly maneuver up and down the boulevard, near the 4 p.m. start for an event planned before the council’s action, Fonseca and others could celebrate.

“My gosh, it’s liberation,” Fonseca said. “That’s what it means ... you don’t have this fear factor that we’re out here and we’re going to get stopped and we’re going to get a ticket.”

Cruising seems to have never totally gone away in Sacramento.

Lowriders representing car clubs have been visible around the city any given weekend night during the summer and local police reportedly quit enforcing the anti-cruising ordinance in recent years. It can now officially be done without worry.

An hour in, moods seemed largely relaxed with traffic sluggish along Broadway between about 21st and 26th streets, but there were few complaints and zero law enforcement presence.

The event attracted scores of cruisers, but also passersby who walked along Broadway with their families.

“I think it’s a great idea,” one of the onlookers, local photographer Harvey Bilt, said of the cruise as he stood near family members. “It amazes me there was a law like that originally.”

Bee coverage from March 20, 1988, two days before the city passed the anti-cruisng ordinance, noted that cruises Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights could draw thousands.

“We have to put a stop to it,” then-council member Joe Serna Jr., who later served as mayor, told The Bee. “The problem on Franklin is that the cruising draws an unsavory element. We had beatings there a few years ago.”

The ordinance is now seen as discriminatory, The Bee reported Wednesday. Councilman Eric Guerra said lowriders are often mistaken and blamed for side shows, revving engines and tire marks. But the reality is, these events are generally family-friendly.

Sacramento Lowrider Commission member Francine Mata noted that a diverse cross-section of society cruises, telling The Bee on Friday, “We have a lawyer, we have business owners, we have stateworkers, we have people that are in the political area that all lowride.”

Saturday’s event had the atmosphere of a mainstreet parade mixed with a classic car show and tailgating before an oldies concert.

“It reminds me of the old days,” said 60-year-old Johnny Ramos of Stockton as he stood holding a strawberry drink by his black 1967 Buick Riviera in the parking lot of Mexican restaurant Los Jarritos.

The event drew minor criticism. A security guard for Mainstage dispensary at 2320 Broadway, who gave his name as Marcell, stood by a 76 gas station where many cruisers appeared to be parked by pumps but not purchasing gasoline. The guard said he and others were having to stand in the parking lot to make sure the dispensary’s customers could park.

“It just comes down to respecting other businesses on Broadway,” he said. “I can’t say I’m pleased with that.”

Many other cruisers, though, appeared to be conscientious about their presence Saturday. Ramos said car clubs in the area had gotten together and were making sure to pick up trash. A bag could be seen tied to a street sign pole along Broadway, appearing to contain bottles.

Sacramento City Councilmember Katie Valenzuela, who helped spearhead efforts to get the anti-cruising ordinance removed from city code, said Friday afternoon that members of the Sacramento Lowrider Commission seriously follow up if there are complaints.

“What you hear from every lowrider that you talk to, every club member that you talk to, they will say almost on their own without prompting that they have to make sure that they do it well because they don’t want to ruin it for everybody else,” Valenzuela said.

This story was originally published June 5, 2022 at 5:00 AM.