Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty and City Manager Maraskeshia Smith, the two most influential public officials within the city limits, will participate in a live Q&A with The Sacramento Bee Thursday, March 26.
Sacramento Bee staff
The Sacramento Bee
Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty and City Manager Maraskeshia Smith are the two most influential public officials within the city limits. Marcos Breton, The Bee’s director of community outreach and opinion journalism, will interview them both during a live Q&A on Thursday, March 26, along with City Hall Reporter Ishani Desai.
As a Bee reader, you have the opportunity to come to our East Sacramento office and ask them questions as well. The event is free, though guests will need to sign up for tickets in advance.
Smith is new to Sacramento, having started in her position in January, and is the first Black woman to be the city manager in the city’s history. She manages the city’s $1.6 billion budget and oversees nearly 6,000 city employees.
McCarty was raised in Sacramento and served on the city council and the California Assembly before being elected the 57th mayor of Sacramento in 2024.
The health of our city depends on McCarty and Smith working collaboratively, something their most recent predecessors could not achieve. In fact, the last 30 years of city history have been marked by the inability of elected leaders and city managers, who are appointed by the council, to share power as the city charter dictates. And it’s not as if the city of Sacramento isn’t already contending with budget deficits, homelessness, a lack of affordability, skyrocketing rents, crime, and every other challenge facing every other city in California.
How will these two leaders be different from previous city leaders who couldn’t work together? And what will they do to make Sacramento the city we all want it to be?
This exclusive event will take place at The Bee newsroom at 1601 Alhambra Blvd, Suite 100.
To attend the event, sign up here; space is limited, so we are limiting tickets to one per reader. Bring questions or send them in advance to Breton at mbreton@sacbee.com.
Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and our event starts promptly at 6 p.m.
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