County Supervisor Rich Desmond is clearly concerned about the noisy Sunday night concert. Here is what he has been telling constituents who have contacted his office about it:

"Thank you for contacting me about the event at the Dubplate Kitchen, 3419 El Camino Ave, Sacramento, CA 95821 on Sunday, April 17, 2022. I appreciate you taking the time to reach out to my Office.

First, let me state that I am in complete agreement that this event should not have taken place in the manner it did. I was very upset and disappointed to hear that the event disturbed many resident’s peaceful Sunday, especially as many were seeking to celebrate their holiday traditions. We have received numerous complaints that the event had loud amplified music past 10:00pm and caused a great disruption to the surrounding neighborhood. Although I believe a permit should not have been issued for this event in the first place because of the close proximity to residential properties, limited facility accommodations, and other factors, the County is in the process of determining which specific provisions of the permit were violated.

Unfortunately, applications for permits do not go through my Office, and we have limited control of them. I am working with County staff and leadership to change that. I will be meeting with all the parties involved in approving these types of temporary use permits. Temporary use permits go through the Sacramento County Planning and Environmental Review for approval, but can also include the Sacramento Sheriff’s Office, and the Sacramento County Department of Transportation, depending on the circumstances.
I understand there has been concern about a follow up event planned later for this summer. I am opposed to that, and have already made my position clear to the County Executive. I am adamant about improving the County of Sacramento’s temporary use permit process to eliminate a disturbance of this nature from ever happening again.

Please feel free to contact my Office at (916) 874-5471 if you have further questions. We will do our best to provide updated information as it becomes available to us.

Best regards,
Rich Desmond
Sacramento County Supervisor, District 3"

That's a reasonable and timely response, one that shows our Supervisor feels a duty to the people he represents. But did you notice the part about "permits do not go through my Office, and we have limited control of them"? That's pretty revealing about structural barriers inherent in county government that interfere with municipal governace. The reality is that the unincorporated areas within Mr. Desmond's Supervisorial District (roughly 270,000 of his 315,000 constituents) do not have Mayors and City Councils like Citrus Heights, Elk Grove, Folsom, Galt, or Rancho Cordova do. All they have is Mr. Desmond. He is our communities' municipal government.

We get to elect our Supervisor and, if we don't like his/her performance, we can seek a recall. We do not get to elect or un-elect any of the other Supervisors - and therein lies the problem. You see, the entire Board of Supervisors weighs in on ANY municipal service decision that impacts our community - whether its a land use decision, a pile of litter that needs to be abated, or a permit for a concert. And that requires at least two other Supervisors besides ours: two other Supervisors whose seats on the Board of Supervisors are beyond our control. They can talk about how they care about us all day long, but the reality is they owe us no loyalty. They can make horrible decisions without suffering consequences. Perhaps the best example of that problem is the vote Supervisor Jimmy Lee cast in December 2014 to allow Winco foods to sell booze. Based on citizen concerns, the Arden Arcade CPAC had recommended against allowing that. The vote at the Board of Supervisors was split 2-2 until Yee cast a vote for it. It was his last action as a member of the Board of Supervisors due to his retirement that took place shortly afterwards. Yee, a long-time resident of the City of Sacramento's south area, wasn't familiar with the issues at Watt and El Camino. He just voted to go along with our former Supervisor Susan Peters. And he probably never gave it another thought.