May I stress the need for courageous, intelligent, and dedicated leadership... Leaders of sound integrity. Leaders not in love with publicity, but in love with justice. Leaders not in love with money, but in love with humanity. Leaders who can subject their particular egos to the greatness of the cause.
	- Martin Luther King, Jr.

City Land Without City Residents

The fight over Del Paso Park is result of one the strangest city borders in the United States. The border of the City of Sacramento inexplicably extends miles from the city's neighborhoods into the unincorporated suburbs of Arden & Carmichael.  This land includes the the Haggin Oaks Golf Course, the Children's Receiving Home, the Natural Sciences Museum (now gone), and Del Paso Park.

For decades, the residents of Arden & Carmichael have struggled over this peculiar piece of land that locals refer to as either “The Peninsula” or “The Thorn”. This land, while part of the City of Sacramento, doesn't contain any city residents.

It is surrounded to the north, east and south by the unincorporated communities of the County. Due to its unique location, the only people who use the park (and are affected by it) live outside the City of Sacramento.

In other words:

1. Those, who actually use the park, have no control over how it is run.
2. And, those who control the park, do not use it.

“A Park Too Far”

This leads the root cause of the problem. Because County residents cannot vote in City elections, and that the only ones affected live in the Couty, City decisions are made without fear of repercussions. 

The communities of Arden & Carmichael must endure the decisions of a government that does not represent them.

The result is lack of City attention to the park, which currently, and throughout the history of the park, has fostered unlawful behavior that has spilled into the surrounding neighborhoods. Ultimately, this has lead to a series of events that have harmed the community, and for which we have no redress.

Parks are Abandoned

The following speech was given by Commissioner Lindsey King to the Parks and Community Enrichment Commission. She spoke passionately about how the parks of Sacramento City District 5 have been abandoned and left derelict.