MESA – December 3, 2022 – Newsletter

Hi Neighbors,

Here’s a quick message about what’s going on in our neighborhood.

County Board of Supervisors Meeting on December 7: This coming Wednesday the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors will be hearing public testimony regarding possible proposals to reduce the jail population as a result of the Mays Consent Decree. Right now the County is planning to release over 1,000 inmates from custody. This meeting also includes a vote on expanding the downtown jail. You are encouraged to share your thoughts on this matter. Here are some ways to do just that:

Attached here is a letter that was written by Thien Ho, our new Sacramento County District Attorney. If you agree with him, please open the letter, sign it, and return the signed copy to Rochelle Ha at: rochellehao@gmail.com. Complete this by December 6th. His goal is to have 1000 letters with him when he attends the meeting.

Also attached here is a letter written by the Downtown Sacramento Partnership regarding the Mays Consent Decree and the construction of a new downtown jail facility. If you would like to add yourself and organization to this letter, please email llorandwilliams@downtownsac.org with your name, title and organization name by noon on Monday 12/5.

If you can, please attend,or call in to the Board of Supervisors Meeting on 12/7 at 11:00am. If you plan to attend, we are advising to get there at 10 am to fill out public comment cards. To learn how to call in to a meeting go here: https://bos.saccounty.gov/Pages/AboutBoardMeetings.aspx

Both our District Attorney Thien Ho and County Sherriff Jim Cooper will be there to present and support the jail expansion as well as their concerns for the early prison releases. To gain more information on this issue and for detailed information about attending, calling in and writing in—both as mentioned above and to your County Supervisor, please visit this document: Information on Mays Consent Decree and Sacramento Main Jail Expansion

Neighborhood Watch: Several neighbors from across Midtown and East Sacramento expressed interest in starting up Neighborhood Watch (NW) programs in their areas. SacPD has a dedicated team for NW and is in touch with MESA about setting up programs here. The idea is to have a small geographical area, say 1-2 residential blocks, with 8-10 people involved in the NW program. The area would have an identity, say 123 Mayberry St NW. There would be a lead for the group, and there would be key members who are in touch with SacPD and making sure communications are going out to the group. I’m including some documents SacPD provided to those interested in NW. Email info@midtowneastsac.org to be included on future messages.

Yellow Brick Road: Our Yellow Brick Road has hit some rough patches this past week. After a tent was placed on the southern sidewalk of the G Street Underpass, the City has not done anything to assist our families and volunteers to get a safe route to school. This has been troubling. There has also been a dog attack from a large dog kept in the camp on the northside sidewalk. Although no one was seriously injured, the dog was only subdued after the victim used mace on the dog. 311 has been notified and the Interim Director of DCR has been in contact with the people who were attacked and with several MESA members. If anyone is out on the G Street underpass and sees that there is no clear sidewalk or bike route for students to use, we encourage you to notify 311 either by calling or submitting a 311 request on the app. Your help is very beneficial to the future of this project.

Some Reminders:

Report Illegal Activity: The City of Sacramento and DCR want to make sure we know to report criminal activity to 311. If there is an emergency, don’t hesitate to call 911. And if it is a police non-emergency matter, please call 916-808-5471. See Something – Say Something. By reporting suspicious or illegal activity we are letting our City know what is going on here. Without speaking up, we won’t experience any reduction in crime.

Keep Spreading the Word: Over 250 people subscribe to this newsletter, and we want to keep spreading the word to others in our community. Please encourage friends and families to join our mailing list. And remember, if you ever want to unsubscribe, we understand. Just hit the link at the bottom of this email and it will be taken care of.

Amy Gardner