(WEST SACRAMENTO) -- It was not the thousand-signature petition or one public citizen plea after another regarding the Three Sisters Garden location lease that made last night's city meeting heated.
The 5th & C street site demanded the attention of Mayor Martha Guererro and city council members in a way they did not expect. So much attention, they had to recess last night.
The OpGov.ai platform picked up the contention, reporting a large "portion of the meeting was consumed by public comments, predominantly advocating for the Three Sisters Garden's lease extension, leading to a visible bureaucratic bottleneck as the City Manager clarified the stringent process for adding items to the agenda."
Yes, that all happened.
Not having the renewal of the Three Sisters Garden lease on the agenda brought sentiment and seething accusations.
First sentiment. The garden, throughout West Sacramento, is so much more than a registered non-profit for residents. Audrey Campbell drove from Elk Grove to tell elected officials as a volunteer farm hand, her assistance soothes her grieving soul.
"I'm a 28-year-old widow," Campbell said of the 30-minute drive to the site. "I just lost my husband in August, and the garden has been the most incredible space for me to slow down in life, reconnect, watch something grow, and understand that I'm going to be okay in life."
Andrea Campbell shares how important Three Sister Gardens is to her at last night's meeting.
But the sentiment turned quickly when Maria Grijalva began hurling accusations at City Manager Aaron Laurel, calling him a pathological liar for telling Mayor Guerreo that adding the matter to the agenda was a two-step process that could not be done immediately. This caused Grijalva to compare the administration to that of West Sacramento's longest-serving Mayor, Christopher Cabaldon.
"He would say, 'Put this on the item,' and boom, it would get placed on the agenda," Grijalva said.
Then her words became very personal, heard in this video.
She spoke ill of Councilwoman Quirina Orozco's child, causing the councilwoman to leave the dias.
"Miss Verna had to leave because everybody knows that her DUI just probably got swept under the rug," Grijalva said.
Verna left as well.
By law, elected officials are not allowed to respond to public charges or defend themselves against accusations, true or false.
After calling the council the "mean girls club," Mayor Guerrero attempted to shut her down to no avail. The resident pointed to the clock, which showed she had 38 seconds left. She charged that she had been told that "you can get arrested for saying what you say to the city council," which ironically charged her up more till a police officer had to go to the podium.
The West Sacramento meeting was called to recess due to an outburst by a resident.
"Please don't please don't talk to our police officers that way," Mayor Guerreo said. "He's being he's being very respectful, Maria."
The microphone was muted at one point, and Mayor Guerreo spoke in Spanish to the resident to communicate more effectively.
It didn't work.
Councilwoman Sulpizio Hull came back out to the dais and demanded that the chambers be cleared.
"I just got it under control, Verna," Guerrero said to Sulpizio Hull, who responded, "That does not look like it's under control."
Councilman Alcala demanded that the chambers be cleared last night.
Though Grijalva's disruption brought a recess, it did not stop residents from telling what the Three Sisters Garden site means to them and the community. The president of the Sacramento Architecture and Design Foundation, Pauly De Bartolo, reminded officials, "I provided you all with a detailed letter a couple of weeks ago, but tonight was important enough to be here to express my support for the Three Sisters Gardens team and their commitment to this community."
Noting he is not a fan of public speaking, Erin Larson was willing to get up to the podium as a volunteer at the College Corps program at UC Davis Three Sisters Garden, which has donated 40,000 pounds of food.
"That's how much food Three Sisters Gardens has given out to people in need so far," Larsen said. "And that number grows every day."
Guy Stevenson spoke up for the youth, noting the need the space offers adolescents.
"It also helps young people stay focused, stay away from all kinds of bad stuff, you know, drugs and all that," Stenvson said. "I drive by it all the time, and I would like to see the city extend their lease for that area because they're very productive in running it, and the food that they do grow and stuff there actually goes to the community."
Following adolescent engagement, Samuel Ramos mentions the education aspect, needed in West Sacramento, saying "there aren't many things uh in the community for people to get involved in like this," Ramos said. "I think we would benefit as a whole if we kept this location."
Other speakers shared how, during the government shutdown, Three Sisters Garden was their sole source of food.
Martha Guerrero engages with a resident whose actions led to a brief recess during last night's meeting.
OpGov.ai is reaching out to each elected official and the city manager to address the outburst that OpGov.ai reports was a "severe disruption during public comment, where one speaker made highly inappropriate and personal accusations against council members and staff, forcing a temporary recess and stern rebukes from the Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem regarding civil discourse."
You have to give AI credit for its accuracy in this case.
If you would like to add anything to this report, please email me at reporterangelaunderwood@gmail.com.
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