Note: I have always thought it was part of my role to say the things that other people are afraid to say, for fear of rocking the boat or retribution. But this needs to be said.

On November 12, the city Law & Legislation Committee considered agenda item 6, Councilmember Proposal Request for Committee Consideration – Declaring a State of Emergency Regarding Traffic Deaths. This was introduced by Council Member/Vice Mayor Caity Maple and also sponsored by Mayor Darrell Steinberg and Mayor Pro-tem Karina Talamantes. The item was amended before the committee meeting to remove item 3, ‘Direct the City Manager to work with the Police Department to ramp up enforcement of traffic laws, especially around distracted driving, speed enforcement, and crosswalk violations’ which was opposed by most of the transportation advocacy community including Civic Thread and SABA, which led community discussion of the proposal and made recommendations for improvements. This is a sign of progress, though many have questioned whether it will make a difference, given that there is only support for and not specific funding tied to quick-build projects to make our streets safer, now.

How did we get to the point of emergency?

I believe City of Sacramento City Manager Howard Chan is the person most responsible for creating this emergency. Chan has opposed including any funds in the city budget for addressing the crisis. When the proposal from Sacramento Active Transportation Commission for $10M in funding to address the problem came before the council, he nixed it. Chan has a regressive understanding of public safety, which counts the number police officers and ignores other threats to the safety and lives of citizens. Chan is uninterested in public health. Chan has supervised the Department of Public Works, accepting and promoting the idea that roadways are for moving cars, and not community resources for access and life. Chan has created a city staff culture that avoids innovation and accountability, live in fear of getting sued or getting fired. Chan carries out projects and programs that he is interested in, and ignores everything else.

There have been several periods of time when the number of traffic fatalities exceeded the number of violent deaths due to guns and knives. Chan’s response was to allocate more money to the police, and none to traffic safety. In case you were under the illusion that they police enforce traffic safety, they do not in any meaningful way. Staffing has been moved out of traffic enforcement and into other police activity, and there is almost no traffic enforcement for the last eight years or so. Of course, many people are glad of this, because traffic enforcement is one of the most prominent ways in which police show their bias against people of color, using traffic stops as pretext.

Chan has promoted people within Public Works who have a 1970s understanding of the transportation network, elevating several far beyond their level of competence. While I’m being blunt, Ryan Moore, Assistant City Manager – Public Works, Utilities, is one of those promoted. He was responsible for signing off on crosswalk removals that resulted in the death of walkers crossing the street, and for that, he has been promoted several times.

Of course Chan is not solely responsible. The city engineers who designed our roadway network for the convenience and dominance of motor vehicle drivers over all other users of our streets are partly responsible. They knew they were designing streets that were unsafe for people walking and bicycling, and they didn’t care.

The city council is responsible in two ways. They accepted the long-term unwritten but forceful city policy that general funds are not to be spent on roadway safety except as grant matches. And they failed to stand up to Chan when he refused to allocate budget and refused to follow their direction. As he did for almost everything the council directed him to do. Though most council members gave voice to the importance of street safety, Katie Valenzuela was the only one who stood up to Chan and tried to hold him accountable. She questioned why so much of the city budget was going to the police, and police staffing, when there are effective alternatives for addressing many public safety issues. Traffic deaths and severe injuries are a public safety issue, as well as a public health issue. For this, the powers that be in the city put up and funded a candidate to run against Katie.