Sacramento will elect 3 new City Council members next month. Here’s what you need to know
The Sacramento City Council is on the cusp of major turnover with three open seats on the November ballot. That means almost half of the city’s eight council districts will have a newly elected representative come January.
The political change follows the city’s once-a-decade redrawing of political boundaries, which resulted in a map that created opportunities for newcomers.
Here’s what you need to know about the new districts and the candidates running for office.
District 1
Candidates: Lisa Kaplan, Alyssa Lozano
Neighborhood: North Natomas
Incumbent: Angelique Ashby, who is running for State Senate
Kaplan and Lozano, like Ashby, are both moderate Democrats, but neither has Ashby’s endorsement. Ashby, who represented the neighborhood since 2010, backed a third candidate for the district who did not advance past the primary.
Kaplan, who is favored in the race, collected just short of the 50.01% of the primary vote that would have let her avoid the November runoff. Kaplan has been a member of the Natomas Unified School District since 2001. During a recent debate, she said that experience prepared her for the role of councilwoman.
Kaplan, 47 and an attorney, has received campaign donations from the city police and fire unions, in addition to business groups and developers — the Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, California Apartment Association, California Real Estate PAC, Angelo K. and Katina Tsakopoulos, and Mark Friedman. Mayor Darrell Steinberg has also donated to her campaign. Council members Rick Jennings, Eric Guerra, Katie Valenzuela, Jeff Harris, and Mai Vang have endorsed her.
Alyssa Lozano, 43, a realtor and head of the Natomas Chamber of Commerce, at the debate highlighted the fact that she was born and raised in North Natomas.
Lozano has mostly received small donations from private citizens, but also by Rep. Kevin McCarty, D-Sacramento, and former state Sen. Deborah Ortiz-D, Sacramento.
On homelessness, both candidates said they support Measure O, the business-backed measure that would require the city open new shelter beds and also allow officials to sweep more camps from public spaces.
Lozano has proposed the city open a Safe Ground at a city lot in North Natomas where roughly 100 tiny homes and trailers have been sitting unused for over a year. Kaplan said she’d like to see a homeless site in North Natomas along transit routes, and wants to see an audit of current homeless programs and spending before proposing specific sites.
Both candidates agreed the city needs to hire more police officers, and also both support the $1 billion California Northstate hospital and medical school planned for the former Sleep Train Arena site.
Kaplan said she does not want the city to give a subsidy to the for-profit hospital and medical school unless it achieves full accreditation. An academic accreditation agency put the school on probation in March. Lozano said she is not yet sure whether she supports a city subsidy for the project, and said her son might attend the medical school.
District 3
Candidates: Karina Talamantes, Michael Lynch
Neighborhood: South Natomas, Gardenland/Northgate
Incumbent: Jeff Harris, whose River Park home is no longer part of the district, due to redistricting
The race between Talamantes and Lynch, both people of color with big name endorsements, has been heating up. Talamantes almost earned enough votes in the primary to skip the runoff. She claimed 49% of the vote in the primary, compared to Lynch’s 40%.
Talamantes, 33, is chief of staff to Ashby and a member of the Sacramento County Board of Education. She is seen as the more liberal candidate. Although she works for moderate Ashby and has received money from the police and fire unions, she is also endorsed by Valenzuela, a self-proclaimed Democratic Socialist and the council’s most liberal member.
Talamantes is also supported by Steinberg, and council members Vang, and Sean Loloee.
Lynch, 34, director of a large youth nonprofit, has received donations from developer and landlord groups, including the California Real Estate PAC, Angelo K. and Sofia Tsakopolous, Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, California Apartment Association, I Street Public Affairs, and Mark Friedman. He is also supported by council members Harris, and Jay Schenirer.
During a recent debate, Lynch claimed Talamantes was a “City Hall bureaucrat,” while Talamantes tried to show that her years working in City Hall taught her how to get things done.
It’s not the first time the two have sparred. In June, Talamantes, who is endorsed by the Democratic Party of Sacramento County, accused Lynch of lying on a mailer claiming he was “the Democratic choice.” Talamantes sent mailers to voters criticizing Lynch for accepting donations from the California Apartment Association, which has lobbied against rent control measures.
On homelessness, Lynch and Talamantes both said they support Measure O, and neither has yet proposed specific sites where they want to open shelters or housing.
District 5
Candidates: Caity Maple, Tamiko Heim
Neighborhood: Oak Park, Hollywood Park, parts of south Sacramento
Incumbent: Jay Schenirer, who is not seeking reelection after 12 years
Maple led Heim in the primary, 43% to 36%, but either candidate could win. Both have endorsements from influential Democrats and other organizations.
Maple, 31, a homeless advocate and former marijuana lobbyist, is the more liberal candidate of the two, but stops short of calling herself a Democratic Socialist. She pledged not to accept campaign donations from law enforcement, developers and real estate. In addition to Ashby, she’s mainly received donations from unions — Sacramento Central Labor Council, SEIU Local 1000, Sacramento Central Labor Council. She’s also supported by Valenzuela, Talamantes and the Democratic Party of Sacramento.
Heim, 43, a state worker and Active Transportation Commission member, has received donations from city police and firefighter unions. She has also received money form real estate and developers, including the California Apartment Association, the California Association of Realtors, the Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, Mark Friedman, Sotiris Kolokotronis and CFY Development. She’s supported by Steinberg, Schenirer, Harris and Jennings.
Ahead of the primary, the California Association of Realtors spent $60,000 on ads against Maple, who supported a local rent control measure two years ago.
On homelessness, Heim said she would not be in favor of opening more shelters in the district until other neighborhoods allow them. One of the city’s only large shelters, at X Street and Alhambra Boulevard, is located in the district. Maple said she wants to place people in permanent housing units right off the streets, instead of placing them in shelters. During a recent debate, Maple highlighted that she lived in her car for a time in college, and has been on the ground talking to many unhoused people since 2020 with her nonprofit. Maple is against Measure O, while Heim is in favor of it.
Heim, who is Black, highlighted that she has worked closely with the Black Child Legacy organization and also the police to reduce gun violence and help the community “heal.” Heim is not in favor of reducing the police budget, she said. She is unsure how she would feel about increasing it. Maple said she is against the police budget continuing to grow, but is unsure whether she wants to cut it.
This story was originally published October 9, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
