Record

Steve Cohn has brought an independent voice and conservation ethic to the City Council, sharing a vision that Sacramento should be America’s most livable city. He has a proven track record of leadership over the last 15 years, resulting in significant accomplishments, including:

1.Midtown renaissance: Steve contributed significantly to Midtown’s resurgence, which has garnered national attention, by focusing on housing first, including several City-assisted housing projects (e.g., Metro Square @ 27&H, Fremont Building @ 16&P, 1801 L Street and L Street Lofts, Sutter Brownstones @ 26&N, etc.), and higher density zoning, and second by making Midtown more pedestrian and bicycle friendly, with two-way street conversions, pedestrian crossings, bike lanes, and other traffic calming/complete street measures, angled parking, bike racks, etc. Steve also partnered with residents and businesses to increase code enforcement, improve police patrols, improve the business climate for restaurants/retail, streamline permitting, establish a Midtown property and business district (PBID), install street lighting, and set high standards for design review and historic preservation.

2.Capitol Corridor train service to the Bay Area has become the most successful intercity rail corridor in the country. Since Steve became first Chair of the CCJPA Board overseeing this service, we increased ridership and revenue over 300% in 10 years. In particular, Steve keyed negotiations between CCJPA and the State in 1999 to increase daily train service between Sacramento and Oakland to 6 trains in exchange for stopping rail service at Auburn instead of Colfax. The rest is history as we now have 16 daily round trips, virtual hourly service, and are the fastest growing rail corridor in the country (third highest overall ridership).

3.Pops in the Park/Screen on the Green – Steve started this famous outdoor evening concert series in 1995 and the companion film series in 2005, raising private funds to help build new and renovated playgrounds and parks in every corner of the District. Together with new street lights in some of our poorer areas, these projects have immeasurably improved the quality of life in our charming District 3 neighborhoods.

4.Blossoming partnership between City and Sac State – Steve spearheaded the Hornet Crossing for the Olympic Trials in 2000. He also pioneered the 65th St/University transit village plan and redevelopment area, and attracted the initial F65 and Upper East Side Loft developments. More recently, this partnership has blossomed into a plans for a bus/streetcar loop between 65th Street and campus, a green energy/clean tech center just to the east near Power Inn, a new pro football team playing at Hornet Field, and a landmark MOU between the City and Sac State.

5.Bike Renaissance – Sacramento now has the most bike commuters of any City in California and is 4th nationally behind Portland, Minneapolis and Seattle, while doubling bike commuter percentage to 2.72 in the ast 10 years. Sac also won the bronze level award by the League of American Bicyclists. Steve significantly contributed to these achievements by brokering the first-ever STA/SACOG transportation plans with more dollars for transit and alternative modes than conventional roads in 2001-03. He has also ensured that City Council District 3 (and Midtown in particular) has led the City to make bicycling a serious alternative mode through more bike paths, complete streets and road diets, neighborhood traffic management programs, converting one-way streets in Midtown to two-way streets and/or creating new bike lanes, hundreds of new bike racks in Central City, etc. Together with traffic calming, neighborhood traffic management programs, and more transit-oriented development, this is making a huge difference in making Sacramento more walkable.

6.Accountability – Steve has led the City Council to reduce utility rate increases to below the inflation rate, create a citizen-led Rate Advisory Committee, and hire an independent City Auditor. Steve is also Chair of the City’s Audit Committee, which oversees the Auditor’s performance of independent citywide performance audits and budget analyses. Steve also sponsored ordinances to institute campaign contribution limits, adopt online campaign reporting, and adopt lobbyist registration/disclosure reforms.

Friends of Steve Cohn for City Council 2010 | P.O. Box 19313 | Sacramento, CA 95819 | (916) 662-5443

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