Sacramento Supervisor Phil Serna chickens out of facing Natomas neighbors | Opinion
Hours before the scheduled decisive vote, Sacramento County mysteriously put the brakes on considering a controversial 25,000-resident community north of downtown in Natomas, and project opponents who gathered Tuesday evening at Westside Park had no idea why.
The local supervisor who has been championing his project, Phil Serna, had all the opportunity in the world to let his own Natomas community know what he, as chair of the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors, was up to.
A rally was intentionally held within walking distance of Serna’s home so he could readily attend. Serna had been formally invited. Organizers even provided Serna with his own folding chair, complete with his name on it to make sure he would know where to sit.
But Serna was a no-show.
Serna was ‘a little busy’
“His office told me he’s a little busy,” Josh Harmatz, a Garden Highway resident, told the 100 or so residents who gathered under an arbor at the end of a warm August day.
Of course he was.
The project known as Upper Westside, located just across Garden Highway and far too close to the Sacramento River based on binding city commitments, now has an uncertain future. The Wednesday meeting to approve or reject it has been “continued to a date uncertain,” says the updated meeting agenda.
Serna could have extended the courtesy of explaining the delay to City Councilmember Karina Talamantes, who represents South Natomas, but he did not.
Serna could have reached out to City Councilmember Lisa Kaplan, who represents North Natomas and lives nearby, but he did not.
“It’s not over,” Kaplan said. “Don’t give up.”
What did happen Tuesday afternoon, shortly before supervisors erased Upper Westside from the Wednesday agenda, was that a letter arrived at county headquarters. It was from Mayor Kevin McCarty and the city of Sacramento.
The bombshell letter
This letter objected in so many ways, it would have taken another meeting to walk through Sacramento’s litany of planning horrors about this project.
“Over the past six years the City has tried to work with the County on this project, including numerous meetings and letters to address the City concerns,” McCarty wrote. “Unfortunately, those concerns remain unresolved.”
The city identified all of nine problems with this project. The lowlights:
• The county looks to develop throughout Natomas on 7,500 acres of land never contemplated for growth in the city’s agreement with state and federal agencies that has allowed for the urbanization of the lands surrounding Sacramento International Airport.
• The county assumes the city will provide services like police and water, absent any agreements.
• Needed roadway and freeway interchange improvements are “not guaranteed.”
• Park acreage is well below city standards.
• There is no signed funding agreement on how to build four needed schools.
“I urge you to delay the hearing …to provide time for our two agencies to work collaboratively on these unresolved issues,” McCarty wrote to supervisors.
Then, and only then, did the county delay a meeting which never should have been scheduled in the first place
It is the city that is supposed to be the lead on deciding any future growth in this region based on an agreement that goes back to 2002. The county, led by Serna, has been snubbing the city for years by advancing Upper Westside through a county planning process. On this score, Tuesday was no different than any day for years.
What’s really happening?
What’s really going on? Time will tell.
“Either they don’t have the votes any more, or they are listening,” Harmatz said.
Talamantes and Kaplan, along with City Councilmember Roger Dickinson of District 2, have emerged as a united and effective political force north of the American River. The elusive Serna, meanwhile, is creating a conflict between the two largest governments in Sacramento that could drag on for years. Along with disrespecting elected leaders in the city, Serna won’t answer questions from The Bee and, clearly, won’t attend public meetings within walking distance from where he lives so that he can show his face and talk to residents concerned about what he is doing.
“This is my neighborhood,” Kaplan. “This is about the community.”
“I also feel that…the fight’s not over,” Talamantes said.
The city’s problems with the county in Natomas are not small. The county has essentially tried to ignore this for years. Serna has been gambling that the city would not stand up for its interests. Now Sacramento has.
The supervisors have blinked.
But after all these years, do they now see the light?
More to come.