Darrell Steinberg, Sacramento’s Outgoing Mayor, Reflects On City’s Equity Commitment, Growth And Challenges

By Stephen Magagnini and Robert Hansen | OBSERVER StaffDarrell Steinberg, speaking in his office Dec. 9, says he made racial equity a paramount initiative in his eight years as Sacramento’s mayor as part of an effort “to insist that we all try to change the culture at City Hall.” Roberta Alvarado, OBSERVER.Outgoing Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg – one of the best known and most ubiquitous public officials in Sacramento history – presided over a city facing deadly police and gang shootings, a growing army of unhoused and hard questions about how the city is run and spends its resources. In the aftermath of George Floyd and Stephon Clark, Steinberg became one of the first mayors in America to call for local reparations, specifically for Black Sacramentans whose ancestors suffered at the hands of racists who kept them out of neighborhoods, schools and jobs and used eminent domain to force them out of homes for construction projects such as the I-5 freeway.Steinberg, 65, a Millbrae native, attended UC Berkeley and UCLA and graduated UC Davis’ law school in 1984. He stayed in the Sacramento area, got involved in the faith community through the Jewish Community Relations Council, served on the city...