Yuba City leaders press temple organizers for parade safety, transit plan ahead of Nov. event

Police and council leaders told the Yuba City Council on Tuesday that preparations for the annual multi-day Sikh event scheduled for Nov. 2, 2025, remain incomplete, and they urged the temple’s organizers to finalize transportation and security plans quickly.

The city’s police chief, Jim Runyon, said a monthly planning process involving county and state partners, the temple, the FBI and other agencies has identified safety upgrades for the route, but key elements — notably bus service for tens of thousands of visitors and contracts with traffic and security vendors — remained unsettled. “We have to find a way to get those amount of people from River Valley High School to the temple. I can't stress that enough,” Police Chief Jim Runyon said.

Council members said the city has a responsibility to protect public safety where the event occurs and where attendees move through Yuba City. Vice Mayor Boomgarden called the celebration “culturally significant” but said the city’s safety requests are “industry standard” and necessary because the temple sits outside city limits and some controls require county cooperation. “Please just…