OPINION: ROGER DICKINSON FOR DISTRICT 2 CITY COUNCIL

 Sacramento City Council District 2 has been in a state of chaos for the last three years with a Council member embroiled in a variety of issues, some petty and others major, that made it difficult for business and community leaders to work with him.  His resignation in January caused many community leaders throughout the district to look around and conclude that we haven’t been left behind, as many believe.  Instead, we have found that North Sacramento possess all the ingredients for economic growth and opportunities to become a very healthy and major suburb for Sacramento proper. What we need is a leader with vision who understands the diversity of the district and how to best prioritize the immediate and long-term needs of the community. We need someone who can lead the charge at City Hall and bridge our needs in mending/creating relationships among the neighborhoods and know how to obtain much needed resources for health, wealth, and safety.

North Sacramento has a pool of 9 candidates pursuing the opportunity to become the next Council Member for District 2, which is very exciting to see so many residents wanting to be part of the political empowerment process.  Unfortunately, only one candidate can be elected and because of the district’s unusual state, it cannot be someone who will be learning from scratch what it takes to work in a public policy body that will be facing a budget shortfall beginning this coming fiscal year.  What North Sacramento needs to do is elect a seasoned public policy maker who has the experience and knowledge in identifying and negotiating for work and resources desperately needed for District 2 to grow. Of the nine candidates who are running only one, Roger Dickinson, has the qualifying experience to fill that seat and put us on a track of positive change.  

Roger Eugene Dickinson is an attorney who has spent much of his life performing public service work and has lived in the district long enough to know the challenges the various neighborhoods are facing.  He spent eight years as a member of the Regional Transit Board of Directors and was chairman of the board twice. He also served on the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Commission, the Sacramento County Air Pollution Control Advisory Board, and the North Sacramento Community Plan Citizens Advisory Committee. As a member of the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors he met with many of us to see how we could improve our neighborhoods and funneled resources as necessary to help North Sacramento.  As a State Assemblymember representing North Sacramento, he again ensured the funneling of resources into the district and brought some of us on board to represent the diverse communities.  District 2 cannot go wrong with Roger leading the fight to bring the resources and public policies essential for ensuring the health, wealth, and safety of North Sacramento residents.  We can no longer risk this City Council seat to be a training position for novices.  We need someone to hit the ground running and that someone is Roger Dickinson. – SacLatino Magazine