Brandon Black
BY BRANDON BLACK
For THE NATOMAS BUZZ | @natomasbuzz
Measure A is a proposal to move Sacramento forward. You will hear a lot during this campaign about a power grab and how this concentrates too much power in one person’s hands. That power however, already exists in the hands of an unelected city manager. While we have an amazing city manager in Howard Chan, that has not and will not always be the case.
Councilmember Angelique Ashby had to fight tooth and nail for simple city services to come to Natomas. I’m talking about things as critical as ambulatory services. If we had an accountable mayor form of government, as would be the case should Measure A pass, that could have been done much sooner. Instead, Natomas had to wait over two years for adequate and necessary public health and safety services.
Measure A also allows Sacramento to respond much faster in times of crisis. Our current structure is not capable of responding to extraordinary threats such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Though the City Council moved as expeditiously as possible, it still took many months for federal CARES Act dollars to make it back out into the community. During that time we lost an incredible amount of small businesses that may have benefited and had an opportunity to employ our diverse workforce.
It’s time for Sacramento’s next chapter and for us to have the ability to truly hold our leaders accountable. I hope you’ll join me and our broad coalition in supporting Measure A.
Brandon Black has been a Natomas resident for 20 years and has been an advocate for Natomas and for the broader Sacramento community for more than a decade. Currently, Brandon serves as president of the Natomas Democratic Club and works as a small business advocate.
