Updated - March 6, 2023
Why some residents in the city of Sacramento are without a council district. The impact that the legalization of commercial marijuana is having on the ‘Emerald Triangle.’ Stockton’s Symphony remembers its CEO Philip West who passed away in February.
Residents without a council district
The city of Sacramento is home to roughly half-a-million residents. For the first time in city history, of the some 520,000, about one in 10 are missing city council representation. That is almost 58,000 Sacramento residents without a city council member. An absence that was expected due to the latest redistricting that takes place along the Census every decade. In the meantime, residents impacted are represented by Mayor Darrell Steinberg. But without a council member, some residents question how the city can invest in neighborhoods without hyper-local representation afforded to the overwhelming majority of people within city limits. CapRadio Sacramento Government Reporter Kristin Lam joined Insight to discuss their reporting on why there is a large area in the city without a council member.
Emerald Triangle
California voters approved the legalization of recreational marijuana in 2016. But Prop 64 was far from a light switch with even-handed impacts across the state. The cannabis industry-- which includes taxes, regulations, ordinances, and permitting-- varies greatly from one city and county to the next. It’s complicated, to say the least, but the human cost can arguably be felt most in what’s long been called the “Emerald Triangle” located in the far stretches of Northern California which includes Humboldt, Trinity, and Mendocino counties. It’s there where you’ll find a long-established industry where individual, smaller growers operated, and even thrived prior, to Prop 64. But six years after the commercial legalization of marijuana, residents say a crash in weed prices is having cascading and detrimental impacts on the local economy. Alexei Koseff is a Capitol Reporter for CalMatters and has been covering the ongoing challenges of California’s cannabis industry. He joined Insight to share his latest piece where he traveled to the “Emerald Triangle” to learn more.
Remembering Philip West
For nearly 100 years the Stockton Symphony has been a wellspring of community pride and has inspired generations in San Joaquin County through the power of music. It is one of the oldest continuously operating orchestras— only surpassed by the San Francisco Symphony and Los Angeles Philharmonic. But like most in the arts, the early days of the pandemic were some of the most challenging periods in the symphony’s history, largely cutting them off from the community they love and threatening their livelihood. But Philip West, the symphony’s CEO, turned the challenge of the pandemic into an opportunity to grow, and build deeper bonds through innovative programs. But last week, the symphony announced that Phillip West passed away unexpectedly after complications from a medical procedure. Peter Jaffe, Music Director and Conductor of the Stockton Symphony, joined Insight to share West's life and work as well as how they plan to honor him in upcoming performances.
Correction: In a previous version of this post Philip West's name was misspelled. It has since been corrected.
