Summary of Incorporation meeting on 10/21/24
A big turnout of 70-some attendees showed up at Howe Park on Monday evening, October 21st, for Supervisor Rich Desmond's community meeting about municipal incorporation. The Supervisor's opening remarks were familiar: Counties were never intended to have a municipal services delivery role like Sacramento County does. And the majority of those responsibilities fall on his shoulders as the District 3 Supervisor because over 90% of his constituents are residents of urbanized, unincorporated communities. He said he is trying to do his best to provide the best services he can within the constraints of the governance structure. It was clear that the audience appreciated his attempts to improve County services.
Ken Cooley, who used to represent much of District 3 when he was an Assemblyman, spoke of his experiences as a founder - and eventual Mayor - of the City of Rancho Cordova. He talked about the challenges of moving voters from complacency to action, likening the difficult pursuit of cityhood to the Herculean job of bringing a wagon train over the Sierras. The efforts have clearly paid off, as residents of today's City of Rancho Cordova are way better off now than the residents of unincorporated Rancho were.
Michael Seaman of California (un)Incorporated gave a presentation about how the failure of Measure D in 2010 eventually led to a series of community meetings about incorporation in 2019. Those meetings, sponsored by the Country Club Alliance of Neighborhoods, the Advocates for Arden Arcade and the Greater Arden chamber of Commerce reached a high point in December 2019. Then the Covid19 pandemic put matters in a hard pause. That was then, this is now, he said, and Supervisor Desmond should be commended for offering to re-start the conversation. Today's circumstances are quite different than they were: the economy has changed, the electorate has changed, and there are new leaders - like Supervisor Desmond - who understand the value of local control for unincorporated communities and support the quest for local control.
Then Jean Hurst, a legislative advocate for urban counties as well as for the statewide association of LAFCOs, talked about how the state's periodic financial challenges have resulted in a mind-boggling arrangement whereby the state has coped with school financing and vehicle registration fees to the point where it is now very hard to create new cities. She stressed the need to convince the state ( a daunting task) that paying for the start-up costs of a new city is worthwhile. Her handout has details:
New City Incorporations-Desmond Meeting 10.21.24 LH.pdfTo wrap up the meeting, Michael Seaman showed slides (see below) about Next Steps for the local and state/federal levels, essentially saying people need to let elected officials know of their concerns and issues. The audience then had a number of questions and comments seeking or providing clarification. When Supervisor Desmond asked the audience if they wanted to have more community meetings on the topics of incorporation and local control, many enthusiastic hands were raised. Future meetings might take the form of "fireside chats" and could be held in different locations around District 3. People interested in being notified of those meetings are encouraged to contact Supervisor Desmond's office.
