Steinberg: Vote no on Measure G. There’s a better way to fund youth programs

We recently celebrated a happy milestone in Sacramento: two years without the homicide of a single person under the age of 18.

Luck and the focused efforts of our police department have undoubtedly played a role in this long run of relative peace among our youth. But to dismiss it as luck would be to discount the concerted effort among the leaders of our city to increase opportunities for children and teens to learn job skills, work with mentors and interact with their peers in a constructive, safe way.

Investing in youth is one of my top priorities as mayor. Shortly after taking office, my office launched the Thousand Strong program, which places high school students from around the city in paid internships. We signed a contract with Advance Peace, which works with at-risk young men to reduce gang violence.

So it may come as a surprise that I oppose Measure G, the youth funding measure on the March ballot. While I applaud the intentions behind Measure G, it poses a real threat to the other important initiatives we promised Sacramento residents when they voted for the Measure U sales tax.

Measure G would amend the city charter so that 2.5 percent of the general fund – currently about $12.5 million – would be placed in a new Sacramento Children’s fund each year, where it could be spent only on child and youth services.

This 2.5 percent set-aside would come on top of the $22.6 million in general fund dollars the city already spends for youth programs. Measure G would, in effect, lock more than $35 million in this special fund even if we slid into another recession.

During the Measure U campaign, I said your additional taxes would be spent to invest more resources in youth but also to alleviate the crisis of homelessness in our community, build affordable housing, and help fund catalytic projects in neighborhoods that had long been left behind.

We have started to make good on those promises. We have funded free transit fares for youth, “-pop up” events for teens on Friday and Saturday nights and new youth sports facilities, among many other investments.

My colleagues unanimously approved plans last month to issue $100 million in affordable housing bonds with a particular emphasis on helping those with extremely low incomes, currently $25,570 or less for a family of four. Money to pay back the bonds would come from the new Measure U, which is part of the larger general fund.

If Measure G passes and we establish a separate youth fund, I am very concerned that with the city’s future obligations, there will not be enough resources to follow through on my Measure U promises, including youth, but also housing and homelessness.

With thousands of people living on the street and others on the brink of losing shelter because of rising rents, we cannot afford to put our affordable housing initiative at risk. I sympathize with the argument that youth spending is the first thing that gets cut when budget times are hard. I agree that we need to make a lasting commitment to our youth.

On February 25, I will propose a better way to accomplish this goal. I will bring a measure to the City Council to be placed on the November ballot that will require the city to allocate 20 percent of revenue growth annually to youth programs. Any budget cuts to youth programs would have to be proportionate to those in other general government services.

Like Measure G, this proposed measure will remain in effect for 12 years. Unlike Measure G, it will not lock the city into a set percentage of spending with no new revenue source, and without regard to whether we have a surplus or a deficit.

Under this alternative proposal, our city’s Youth Commission will review proposals and weigh in with recommendations, but it will be up to the City Council to make the decisions about what individual projects and organizations to fund. Measure G would hand decision making over to a 17-member appointed board. This board would create a three-year plan and submit it to the Council for an up or down vote.

I am committed to placing this alternative youth funding plan on the November ballot later this month, before the vote on Measure G. That way, even if Measure G fails, we will have the opportunity as a city to commit to an ongoing spending program for our youth.

Please vote no on Measure G. There’s a better way.