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Community centers report higher participation; department hopeful budget restorations will restore pools and positions
Summary
Staff reported increases in community-center activity and youth participation and told commissioners that council has voted to restore some department items, including neighborhood pool hours and wading pools, pending final budget adoption on June 9; operational updates also covered skate park RFPs and summer camps.
Samantha Vu, recreation superintendent for community centers, said the city operates 15 community centers with a 38-person career staff and highlighted 2025 program figures: 2,038 youth enrolled in summer oasis across nine locations and $129,000 awarded through youth program scholarships to support participation.
"Community centers truly serve as a lifeline of community care and support," Vu said, outlining partnerships with Sacramento Public Library, YMCA and others and noting increased youth participation in 2026 estimates.
Director Jackie Beecham gave a department update on the budget process and said council had voted to restore wading pool operations and neighborhood recreation swim hours; staff expect the adopted budget on June 9 to reflect those restorations.
"We are expecting to see our wading pools and our recreation swim pool neighborhood hours restored, with the adopted budget on June 9," Beecham said. She added that council had also identified funding strategies to restore multiple positions, including park maintenance and youth workforce roles, while noting some vacancies will still be eliminated.
Operational updates from staff included an open RFP for the 28th & B Skate Park operator (bid closing June 5) with anticipated operations beginning fall 2026, summer skate camps scheduled for youth, and neighborhood pools opening dates in early June. Staff also summarized park-ranger calls and rapid-response cleanup activity.
The commission received and discussed the update; staff will provide more details after the budget is adopted.
