Government of Sacramento, California facts for kids
The Government of Sacramento operates as a charter city (as opposed to a general law city) under the Charter of the City of Sacramento. The elected government is composed of the Sacramento City Council with 8 city council districts and the Mayor of Sacramento, which operate under a manager-council government. In addition, there are numerous departments and appointed officers such as the City Manager, Sacramento Police Department (SPD), the Sacramento Fire Department (SFD), Community Development Department, City Clerk, City Attorney, and City Treasurer. As of December 11, 2012, the current mayor was Kevin Johnson and the current councilors were Angelique Ashby, Allen Warren, Steve Cohn, Steve Hansen, Jay Schenirer, Kevin McCarty, Darrell Fong, and Bonnie Pannell.
Organization
Mayor
The Mayor of Sacramento is the presiding officer of the city, and is elected for a four-year term. Under the California Constitution, all judicial, school, county, and city offices, including those of chartered cities, are nonpartisan. The 41st and current Mayor is Kevin Johnson.
City Council
The Sacramento City Council is the governing body of the City of Sacramento. The council is composed of eight members elected from single-member districts for four-year terms. The council members as of September 8, 2015 were:
- Angelique Ashby, district 1, Vice Mayor
- Allen Warren, district 2
- Jeff Harris, district 3
- Steve Hansen, district 4
- Jay Schenirer, district 5
- Eric Guerra, district 6
- Rick Jennings II, district 7
- Larry Carr, district 8
Departments
The Sacramento Police Department (SPD) polices the city of Sacramento.
The Sacramento Fire Department (SFD) provides fire protection and emergency medical services for Sacramento.
The Community Development Department is responsible for property development application review, building permits and inspections, code compliance, and long-range planning.
Other governments
California
The Sacramento County Superior Court, which covers the entire county, is not a County department but a division of the State's trial court system. Historically, the courthouses were county-owned buildings that were maintained at county expense, which created significant friction since the trial court judges, as officials of the state government, had to lobby the county Board of Supervisors for facility renovations and upgrades. In turn, the state judiciary successfully persuaded the state Legislature to authorize the transfer of all courthouses to the state government in 2008 and 2009 (so that judges would have direct control over their own courthouses). Courthouse security is still provided by the county government under a contract with the state.
Sacramento County
Sacramento is also part of Sacramento County, for which the Government of Sacramento County is defined and authorized under the California Constitution, California law, and the Charter of the County of Sacramento. Much of the Government of California is in practice the responsibility of county governments such as the Government of Sacramento County. The County government provides countywide services such as elections and voter registration, law enforcement, jails, vital records, property records, tax collection, public health, and social services. The County government is primarily composed of the elected five-member Board of Supervisors, several other elected offices including the Sheriff, District Attorney, and Assessor, and numerous county departments and entities under the supervision of the County Executive Officer.
