<\/p>\n
Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty, pictured at a September news conference outside Faces Nightclub, outlined his priorities during his State of the City address, including expanding homeless housing, reforming mental health services and bringing major league sports to the region.<\/p>\n
HANNAH RUHOFF<\/p>\n
hruhoff@sacbee.com<\/p>\n
Mayor Kevin McCarty outlined plans to build more tiny homes, bring a Major League Baseball team to Sacramento and lobby for changes to the state court system that would connect people with severe mental illness to potentially lifesaving services.<\/p>\n
During an hourlong question-and-answer session at the Crocker Art Museum with Fox 40 anchor Nikki Laurenzo, McCarty highlighted The Sacramento Bee\u2019s five-part series chronicling Chris Carlisle\u2019s efforts to save<\/a> his 32-year-old daughter, Califia Carlisle, once a promising young college student, from a desperate and dangerous life on the streets. His efforts to secure help through CARE Court have fallen flat<\/a> because Cali has refused services.<\/p>\n McCarty said the five-part series by former Bee columnist Tom Philp \u201cshook\u201d him and sparked immediate action.<\/p>\n \u201cI sent it right away to the Speaker of the Assembly, to the Pro Tem of the Assembly and to Governor-elect (Xavier) Becerra, and I said we need to work,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n During a City Council discussion about behavioral health services<\/a> last month, McCarty said that he was leading an effort by a coalition of big-city mayors to push for changes to CARE Court that would make it easier to order involuntary treatment.<\/p>\n \u201cCali said \u2018no,\u2019 so she\u2019s still there on Howe and Folsom,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is something that\u2019s very, very frustrating to mayors across the state and we\u2019re not able to fully address homelessness without focusing on this issue.\u201d<\/p>\n McCarty said he expected county supervisors to cooperate with the city in a new partnership agreement, but Sacramento County\u2019s behavioral health department has historically been ideologically opposed to involuntary care for people with substance use disorders.<\/p>\n Other topics discussed at Sacramento\u2019s State of the City<\/p>\n In other respects, McCarty described himself as a \u201cboring\u201d and \u201csteady\u201d mayor looking to build on efforts to reduce the city\u2019s unsheltered population and bolster revenue for the city through economic development.<\/p>\n Tiny homes collaboration: McCarty announced a collaborative grant program inspired by Robin Moore, a former preschool teacher who took it upon herself to build tiny homes in her backyard to house homeless families. Under the program, three local nonprofits will receive up to $10,000 per unit to build three to five tiny homes on their properties.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of groups said, \u2018we want to help, what can we do?\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cThis allows the private sector to help with homes as well, especially the faith-based community.\u201d<\/p>\n The three partners are Collective Liberation, Calvary Christian Center and Color the Block\u2019s Estate Farms, which is located outside city limits.<\/p>\n Data centers: Large-scale data centers aren\u2019t coming to Sacramento<\/a> anytime soon because the city\u2019s zoning code does not permit them, but McCarty planned to hold a City Council study session about them in February. He said he wanted to assess demand for computing infrastructure among local governments and businesses, as well as the potential environmental effects and impact on residents\u2019 quality of life.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to make sure that we focus on the long-term impact for Sacramento residents and taxpayers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Parking fees: Despite complaints from midtown businesses and residents about higher parking costs, McCarty said the city would not reduce parking fees or enforcement hours. The revenue generated by higher parking fees was a key factor in closing a $66 million budget gap<\/a> this fiscal year.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were looking at laying off police officers and firefighters, or making revenue increases such as parking,\u201d he said. \u201cWe need to grow our economy, that\u2019s how we turn it around.\u201d<\/p>\n Sports: Sacramento and West Sacramento officials remained hopeful about bringing a Major League Baseball team to the region. McCarty said that officials were looking for an architecture firm to design a proposed stadium in West Sacramento.<\/p>\n He also said that Sacramento was \u201cin the mix\u201d for a Major League Soccer team and suggested an announcement could come soon.<\/p>\n
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