Sacramento’s District 2 needs stability, so The Bee is endorsing a veteran leader | Opinion
Among Sacramento communities desperate for local leadership, the city council’s second district surely tops the list. The area encompasses some of the oldest and most underserved neighborhoods in the region, including Old North Sacramento, Hagginwood, Woodlake, Del Paso Heights and parts of Robla.
To its lasting detriment, this district has suffered a string of recent representatives on city council who have been disappointing to say the least. The most recent disappointment, Sean Loloee, resigned after he was indicted by a federal grand jury in December on 25 charges, including conspiracy to defraud the U.S. Department of Labor. A grocery store owner, Loloee faces other charges such as wire fraud and possession of false immigration documents.
Several candidates are vying to replace Loloee, but The Bee is endorsing Roger Dickinson because he has the strongest understanding of what this district needs and a proven track record working collaboratively with numerous legislative bodies.
Dickinson has the greatest grasp of top-of-mind issues — and how multi-faceted and nuanced they can be. While some of his opponents are sincere enough, their candidacies seem more like protests against Loloee than anything else.
Dickinson is the clear standout in a large field — which, at last count, had nine people in the running — because he brings a wealth of knowledge that no other candidate can hope to match. A former state assemblyman for the Sacramento area and a former Sacramento County supervisor, Dickinson was previously the executive director of Transportation California, where he worked to help pass the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017, the largest transportation funding legislation in California history.
Dickinson is currently a policy director at the local nonprofit CivicWell, and serves on the boards of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Northern California, the Aerospace Museum of California and the Sacramento Tree Foundation. He is also a co-founder of Sacramento Metro Advocates for Rail and Transit, where he continues to pursue his long-held goals in the policy areas of health care, welfare reform, economic development, clean air, improved transportation and smart growth.
He has been a dedicated public servant to the people of Sacramento for over four decades. We believe he could be the stabilizing force District 2 desperately needs — and desperately deserves.
Dickinson has the experience and the relationships to put his district on the state and federal map for financial assistance programs that can help turn his communities into revival success stories.
The former representative has experience working with the Housing Concepts Coalition, and has advocated for affordable housing initiatives and collaboration with community organizations to bring in much-needed investments. He supports mental health professionals and social workers serving as first-responders in non-emergency situations that don’t require a police presence. Dickinson seeks to integrate these services into the city’s emergency response system, and wants to bring “high tech, green and clean” industries to North Sacramento, such as renewable energy sources and clean technologies that cannot be cheaply outsourced.
A bright day lies ahead for this district under Dickinson’s experienced guidance.
Along with our endorsement, we sincerely hope that Dickinson can help restore stability, community, dignity and good governance to District 2, which needs genuine care and attention from its representative — perhaps now more than ever.
Perhaps best of all, he already has a point in his favor over the last guy: Dickinson lives in the district.
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This story was originally published February 6, 2024 at 5:00 AM.