Sacramento elections: The latest on ballot measures, City Council, school board races
Voters in the city of Sacramento were on the verge Tuesday of voting down a proposal backed by Mayor Darrell Steinberg to vastly increase the authority of the city’s mayor. A rent control measure was defeated by a wide margin, and an incumbent city councilman was in danger of losing his seat.
Here’s the latest on key races in the capital city, as of 9 p.m.
Strong mayor ballot measure
Among the most closely-watched local races was Measure A, the so-called “strong mayor” measure backed by Steinberg that would increase the powers of Sacramento mayors.
Early returns Tuesday evening showed Measure A trailing, at 57% to 42%.
“If the voters say yes, we are going to move with greater urgency and dispatch on all these issues,” Steinberg said Tuesday afternoon outside a downtown restaurant. “If the voters say no, we are going to continue to fight to make things better. My message tonight, no matter how it turns out, is let’s continue fighting for the city that we want.”
Steinberg had pitched the Mayoral Accountability and Community Equity Act as a way for the city to move faster in addressing the homeless crisis and uplifting disadvantaged communities. If approved, the mayor would be removed from the City Council, but would have the power to draft the city budget, which is currently done by City Manager Hoard Chan. The mayor would also gain the power to veto council decisions and budget line items. The council would be able to overturn mayoral vetoes, but would need six votes to do so.
Measure A proponents said the new seat would cause the council to become more powerful and more representative of the neighborhoods, because each member would have fewer constituents. But the measure’s critics said the council and residents would actually be weaker because the mayor would become a more powerful decision maker.
The measure also would also require the city to set aside at least $40 million each year for inclusive economic development, including at least $10 million for youth programs and services.
That was the main reason that caused Sacramento Area Fire Fighters Local 522 to oppose the measure. The powerful union had supported another strong mayor measure in 2014, but that version did not require the city set aside a certain amount of funds each year. The Sacramento County Democratic Party, Sacramento City Teachers Union and the League of Women Voters of Sacramento County also opposed the measure. Those groups were featured on red and black “No on Measure A” yard signs deployed around the city.
On the other side, the Sacramento Central Labor Council, the Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Sacramento Partnership and the Sacramento Regional Coalition to End Homelessness endorsed the measure. Mailers said the measure would make it easier for the city to open homeless shelters faster, and would allow the mayor to require residents wear masks long before Gov. Gavin Newsom’s statewide order.
Sacramento rent control
It’s looking unlikely that Sacramento will have a stricter version of rent control.
Returns Tuesday evening showed the measure trailing 62% to 37%.
If the measure is defeated, it will mark the end of a hard-fought battle by tenant advocates that lasted more than two years.
In 2018, activists collected the more than 44,000 signatures required to get the measure on the ballot. The following year, the City Council adopted a less-strict version of rent control, expecting the ballot measure’s proponents to pull their version. But one of the three proponents of the measure, Michelle Pariset, did not sign a letter directing the city to pull it.
The measure would prohibit landlords from raising annual rents more than the inflation rate for that year. The measure would use the Consumer Price Index inflation figure for March of each year. For March 2020, the inflation rate was 2.5%. The current city ordinance and state law prohibit landlords from raising annual rents more than 5% plus the inflation rate. They use the April inflation figure. For April 2020, the inflation rate was 1%. That means landlords cannot currently raise rents more than 6% from last year.
The measure would also create an independent rent board, modeled after panels in San Francisco, Berkeley and Santa Monica. The board would set annual rent adjustments, go to court to enforce the measure and have other responsibilities. In its lawsuit, the city said the rent board was “so logistically flawed as to be incapable of effective implementation.”
City Council races
With early results trickling in Tuesday night, incumbent Allen Warren was trailing his challenger to hang on to his Sacramento City Council seat representing North Sacramento, while Mai Vang and Pastor Les Simmons had essentially split the vote for the seat representing south Sacramento.
As of 8 p.m. Tuesday night, Vang had secured 50.33% of the vote, while Simmons had about 49.67%.
In the North Sacramento race for District 2, early results showed Sean Loloee had secured about 53% of the vote and Warren about 47%.
A real estate developer, Warren has been on the council since 2012. He was reelected by a wide margin in 2016, but failed to win a majority of the vote during the March primary.
Sac City school board
Lavinia Grace Phillips was leading Jessie Ryan for a seat on the Sacramento City Unified School District school board. Phillips had 53% of the votes in early returns and Ryan, the current board president, had 46% in the seat to represent the neighborhoods of Oak Park, Hollywood Park and North City Farms.
Ryan was first elected to the board in 2015.
In the seat representing eastern parts of the district, incumbent Christina Pritchett had 54% of the votes while her opponent, Jose Navarro, had 45%.
Jamee Villa led with 61% of the vote in the south Sacramento neighborhoods of Elder Creek and Fruitridge in Area 4. Her opponent, Naila Pope-Harden, received 38% of the votes.
Chinua Rhodes, a community activist, narrowly led in the south Sacramento neighborhoods of Meadowview and Parkway, or Area 5, with 50% of the votes. Rhodes serves on the city’s Parks and Community Enrichment Commission and Inclusive Economic and Community Development Committee.
His opponent, Vanessa Areiza King, had 49% of the votes.
This story was originally published November 3, 2020 at 9:01 PM.
