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Bee Endorsement: District 4 election is a bellwether for Sacramento’s warring politics

Of all the races in Sacramento, the battle for the City Council’s District 4 seat is the bellwether for the unsettled state of city politics. Progressive incumbent Katie Valenzuela, with a base of trade union and social activists, is facing a challenge from Phil Pluckebaum, backed by monied business interests, developers and the police union.

The political divide is widening in town, and that is to Sacramento’s great detriment. District 4, spanning downtown and Midtown and East Sacramento neighborhoods, has become the fault line where the friction is greatest between the warring forces. It is also where the residents desperately need effective leadership to improve the urban core and its surrounding neighborhoods.

In a close call that is reflected in a dissenting perspective by members of the Editorial Board, the Bee endorses Pluckebaum. He stands the better chance of creating alliances with a majority of council members to advance the overall interests of the district. If elected, he will need to reach out to those who opposed him and be willing to say no to the developers and elected officials who supported and financed his campaign.

District 4 is the epicenter of the Sacramento region’s homeless crisis. The shifting encampments in Midtown and downtown present daily challenges for residents, businesses and responding government agencies. Sadly, the city’s two major Safe Ground sites near downtown are now closed, with no nearby alternative for homeless people other than the streets.

Pluckebaum is admittedly a mixed bag on this issue. He is wrong to see any value in District Attorney Thien Ho’s lawsuit against the city for its response to the homeless crisis. It’s a publicity stunt that doesn’t do anything to house homeless people and serves only to distract attention and resources from that effort.

But he is right to question the city’s strategy of only looking to city property for safe ground sites when there are private lots that could be far more workable for both the homeless and residents. And he is right in his pledge to hold the county accountable for providing the necessary mental health and substance abuse services to those who need them.

Read more at: https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/election-endorsements/article285303317.html#storylink=cpy