Sacramento City Council

The Sacramento City Council is the governing body of the city of Sacramento, California. The council holds regular meetings at Sacramento City Hall on Tuesdays at 2:00 pm and 6:00 pm, with exceptions for holidays and other special cases.cite web |url=http://www.cityofsacramento.org/clerk/election_info/documents/BeingaCouncilmember.pdf |title=Being a Member of the City Council |accessdate=2008-07-18 |publisher=City of Sacramento]

Sacramento's city council is a nine-member mayor-council system of government. The council is composed of a mayor and eight council members, each of whom is elected to four year terms from their respective districts. Sacramento's government is a "weak mayor" system in that the council, not the mayor, retains executive and legislative authority. The management and operations of city affairs are not under the direct control of the mayor or the council; these matters are delegated to a city manager, who is appointed by Sacramento's Mayor and serves at the pleasure of the council.

Sacramento's councilmembers receive an annual salary of $58,477; the Mayor's salary is $111,106 per year.

History

Previous councils

:Sacramento, the oldest incorporated city in the State of California, has been governed by a council since the city's citizens approved a city charter in 1849. This charter, known as the "City Charter of 1850" in reference to the year that the charter was recognized by the California State Legislature, provided for the election of a ten-member "Common Council" made up of a Mayor and nine council members.cite web |url=http://www.cityofsacramento.org/webtech/150/dates.html |title=City of Sacramento 150th Anniversary: Historical Dates and Facts |accessdate=2008-07-17 |year=1999 |publisher=City of Sacramento] cite web |url=http://content.cdlib.org/view?docId=tf3w1003g0&chunk.id=c02-1.7.6.3.14&brand=oac |title=For the record : catalog of the public records, City of Sacramento 1849-1982, Sacramento County, 1848-1982 |accessdate=2008-07-17 |work=Online Archive of California |publisher=The Regents of the University of California]

:In 1858, the governments of Sacramento County and the City of Sacramento merged. As a result, Sacramento was governed by the Sacramento County Board of Directors (a predecessor to the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors) for the next five years.

:The revised City Charter of 1863 returned to a separate governing body for the City of Sacramento. The charter established a four-member "Board of Trustees" composed of a Mayor and three trustees. Two more trustees were added to the board under the provisions of the City Charter of 1891. Later, in the City Charter of 1912, the five members of the city's governing body were renamed to "City Commissioners".

:Revisions made in the City Charter of 1921 established a nine-member governing body, composed of a Mayor and eight council members. The charter established the group's current nomenclature, the "City Council". Councilmembers were elected via a preferential voting system, in which all of Sacramento's electorate were allowed to vote for multiple candidates. Once elected, the council selected one of the councilmembers to serve a two-year term as the city's mayor. cite news |title=The Sacramento Bee: 150 Years -- In history's spotlight: Richard Marriott
format=fee required
work=Sacramento Bee
publisher=The McClatchy Company
page=B2
date=August 26, 2007
accessdate=2008-07-21
url=http://www.sacbee.com/static/live/search]

Present council format

:Since 1971, the city has been divided into eight council districts. cite book
last = Heilig
first = Peggy
authorlink =
coauthors = Mundt, Robert J.
title = Your Voice at City Hall: The Politics, Procedures and Policies of District Representation
chapter = Efforts to Adopt Districts
publisher = State University of New York Press
date = 1984
location = Albany, NY
pages = pp. 48-50
isbn = 0873958217] Each district's boundaries are created using data from the United States Census so that each district contains a relatively equal number of citizens. Councilmembers, who must be residents of the districts that they are elected to, are selected by the voters of their respective districts for four-year terms. cite web
url=http://www.qcode.us/codes/sacramento/view.php?topic=city_of_sacramento_charter-iii-21
title=City of Sacramento Charter: Article III, Section 21
accessdate=2008-07-17
work=Sacramento City Code] Unlike the previous system, the city's voters elect the city's mayor to a four-year term via a popular vote.

:From the time that the district-based city council was established in 1971, the citizens of Sacramento have considered charters that proposed to consolidate the governments of Sacramento County and the City of Sacramento. On both occasions, in 1974 and again in 1990, the ballot measures were rejected by the citizens of both municipalities. cite book
last=Sparrow
first=Glen W.
editor=Leland, Suzanne M. and Thurmaier, Kurt
title=Case Studies in City-County Consolidation: Reshaping the Local Government Landscape
date=2004
publisher=M.E. Sharpe, Inc.
location=Armonk, NY
isbn=0765609436
pages=pp. 79-102
chapter=Consolidation, West-Coast Style: Sacramento County, California]

Council Districts

:Sacramento's city district boundaries are defined in an effort to distribute the city's population evenly, as required by state and federal law. cite web
url=http://www.qcode.us/codes/sacramento/view.php?topic=city_of_sacramento_charter-iii-23
title=City of Sacramento Charter: Article III, Section 23
accessdate=2008-07-19
work=Sacramento City Code] District boundaries are redrawn based on data from the United States Census. cite web
url=http://www.qcode.us/codes/sacramento/view.php?topic=city_of_sacramento_charter-iii-24
title=City of Sacramento Charter: Article III, Section 24
accessdate=2008-07-19
work=Sacramento City Code]

District 1

::District 3 covers the northern central area of Sacramento. Neighborhoods in District 3 include::*Arden Fair,:*Ben Ali,:*Boulevard Park,:*Cal Expo,:*Campus Commons,:*Cannon Industrial Park,:*CSUS,:*East Sacramento,:*Erikson Industrial Park, :*Hagginwood,:*Mansion Flats,:*Marshall School,:*Midtown,:*New Era Park,:*Point West,:*River Park,:*Sierra Oaks,:*Swanston Estates, and:*Winn Park/Capitol Avenue.

:Councilmember Steve Cohn represents District 3 of the City of Sacramento. He has been a member of the Sacramento City Council since 1994 when he was elected. Cohn is a Democrat. Cohn ran for mayor in 2000 but lost to Heather Fargo. He has been an attorney with SMUD since 1992. He has also worked with the California Public Utilities Commission. Cohn is an alumnus of Yale University and University of San Diego School of Law.

District 4

:

:District 6 is in Sacramento's southeastern central area. The district includes the neighborhoods of::*Avondale,:*College/Glen,:*Colonial Village,:*Colonial Manor,:*Elmhurst,:*Fruitridge Manor, :*Glen Elder, :*Granite Regional Park,:*Southeast Village, :*Tahoe Park (Tahoe Park proper, Tahoe Park East & Tahoe Park South), and :*Tallac Village.

:Councilmember Kevin McCarty represents District 6 of the City of Sacramento. He has been a member of the Sacramento City Council since 2004 when he was elected to replace Dave Jones who was running for a seat in the California State Assembly. An alumnus of California State University, Long Beach, McCarty served as policy director to then Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante prior to being elected to the council.

District 7

:

Noteable Councilmembers

Past Sacramento City Councilmembers with notable achievements include:
* The late Congressman Robert Matsui, who served 26 years in the United States House of Representatives.
* Current California State Senate Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, the first leader of the California State Senate from Sacramento since 1883.
* Former California Assemblymember Phillip Isenberg, Sacramento's Mayor for 6 years before serving 14 years in the California State Assembly.
* Former California Secretary of Health and Human Services Grantland Johnson, who also served as a Regional Director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the Clinton Administration and as a member of the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors.
* U.S. Magistrate Judge Kimberly J. Mueller, the second woman appointed to the Sacramento Division of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California.
* Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Lloyd G. Connelly, who followed his time on the Council with a 10-year term in the California State Assembly.
* Former California Assemblymember and Senator Deborah Ortiz, who served 10 years in the California State Legislature.
* Former Sacramento Mayor Anne Rudin, the first woman to be elected Mayor of Sacramento.
* The late former Sacramento Mayor Joe Serna, the first Latino to be elected Mayor of Sacramento.
* Current California Assemblymember Dave Jones.
* Current Sacramento County Supervisor Jimmie Yee.
* Current Sacramento Mayor Heather Fargo.

ee also

*Mayor of Sacramento, California

Notes

note label|succession_notes|a|a Elected via a special election to complete the remainder of the previous council member's term.
note label|succession_notes|b|b Resigned prior to the end of their council term after being elected to another office (e.g. Mayor, State Assembly, County Board of Supervisors, etc.).
note label|succession_notes|c|c Appointed to complete the remainder of the previous council member's term.
note label|succession_notes|d|d Died in office.

References

External links

* [http://www.cityofsacramento.org/council City of Sacramento: Office of the Mayor and City Council]
* [http://maps.cityofsacramento.org/Maps/Council/rev_2007/Council2007E/all_council-E-color-2007.pdf City of Sacramento: City Maps: Council Districts]