Consejo Municipal — Ciudad de Folsom

Sarah Aquino is an independent thinker who does her homework, asks questions, and isn’t afraid to go against the status quo.

As a member of the Folsom Cordova School Board since December 2014, Sarah has been a consistent and vocal defender of taxpayer dollars.  She has voted against adding non-essential positions such as a videographer, insisted that money be set aside to reduce the unfunded liability of the district’s post-retirement health benefits, and authored policy changes that increased the authority of the district’s bond oversight committees.

She co-authored the ballot statement against Measure E - the $80 million dollar sales tax measure on Folsom's ballot this November.

Sarah currently serves on the Citizens’ Advisory Committee for Folsom State Prison and California State Prison, Sacramento.  She is a past Chair of the Board of Directors of the Folsom Chamber of Commerce, former Library Commissioner for the City of Folsom, three-time PTA President at Russell Ranch Elementary, and former board member of the Folsom Cordova Education Foundation.

Sarah grew up in Fair Oaks, attended public schools in the San Juan district, and graduated from California State University, Sacramento.  She is a licensed life and health insurance agent and runs her family's insurance agency.

Her husband, John, is a physical education and adaptive physical education teacher in the San Juan district.  They have been married 19 years and have two children who attend public schools in Folsom.

About YK Chalamcherla

Humble Beginnings:

I was born in a farmer's family in a rural village in southern India. While growing up in rural areas, I realized the importance of a higher education, worked hard to pursue my University education and graduated with a degree in Computer Science Engineering. Later I moved to the United States of America during Y2K to fix computer related YR2000 issues, I am sure that a most of you remember those days of uncertainty. “YK came to the US during Y2K.”  My parents always believed in helping others, and I learned those same values from them, it gives me great satisfaction when I help others, especially in the community.

About my family:   I have been married for 22 years, my wife is also a State employee and a very spiritual person. We are blessed with two daughters, our oldest daughter is attending CalPoly, San Luis Obispo majoring in Computer Science, and our youngest daughter is a sophomore at Vista Del Lago High School, and let's not forget our little Dharma – she is a rescued dog and the most pampered and spoiled amongst our kids J.

Dedicated to Government Service:  I have been a public servant for almost 23 years beginning with the Indian Government, Singapore and with the State of California since 2008. Based on this experience, I have a very good understanding of how the government operates. Currently, I manage Technology Support Operations for Statewide MediCal Health Care Services & Beneficiaries Enrollment by coordinating with all 58 counties in the State. As you can imagine, coordinating with all 58 counties is a highly demanding job, but it gives me immense satisfaction to provide service to over 14 million MediCal beneficiaries in the State. I have been fortunate enough to develop great relationships with senior executives in various State agencies such as CalTrans, Department of Finance, and other State agencies as well as rank-and-file employees through my job which gives me an in-depth professional and personal view of the issues and problems that our citizens face.

Love with Folsom: I visited  Folsom in October 2002 on a weekend to attend a friend’s son’s birthday party. After the birthday party on Saturday, my family and I went to look around Folsom, we went to Folsom Lake College, and The Chelsea Ridge new home community attracted my wife . So we came back the next day and placed a deposit on a lot. We came to visit friends in Folsom and fell in love with this great community during a 2 day weekend.  A couple of years later we relocated from the Bay Area after finding suitable employment opportunities.

Contributions to Folsom Community: In addition to work, I have been actively participating in community service activities in Folsom Schools PTA/PTSO boards, Sober GradNight Volunteer activities at Vista Del Lago High School, helping with 5K/10K runs organized in our region, parks tree planting programs, and many others. During weekends, with help from a few other community members, we have been hosting the California State Jobs Awareness Workshops for the last 5 years to share the public-sector job opportunities. As a result of this, several hundreds of people from Folsom and surrounding areas were able to obtain State employment positions.

Besides my State Job, I also currently serve as a Commissioner for Folsom Parks and Recreations Commission. Board Member of the American River Parkway Advisory Board for Sacramento County, and Folsom Community Service Day steering committee member.  I have been an active volunteer in several community non-profit organizations for many years.

Vote for YK: Having extensive experience in government operations, and a passion for community service, I have decided to run for Folsom City Council to further impact and improve our overall Folsom livelihood. Most importantly I LOVE FOLSOM. I will work hard to earn your vote and represent your best interests.

Together, we will continue making FOLSOM a better place.

My name is Aaron Ralls. I am a 30 yr Folsom resident, father to 3 children ages 18, 15 & 12. I own two small businesses in Folsom and I have been married for nearly 20 years to my high school sweetheart. I graduated Folsom High School as will my kids. I have been a Folsom Baseball and Soccer coach for both of my boys for years. I am extremely active in the community. I work hard and I invest my time to help others throughout this town. 

While debates about the definitions of roadways raged online, I worked to rally support, for Roger Gaylord's last minute efforts to improve our traffic standards. He was successful in helping to author a policy that raised the bar, and will improve our roadways for DECADES. This is one of three important areas I'm campaigning to impact. I was also VERY vocal during our planning commission meetings in regards to our traffic issues. Meanwhile, many others seemed to have no problem with impacting our Level of Service (LOS) in regards to traffic as long as construction raged on. 

Homelessness - I've walked among several encampments trying to understand this very important problem. I have not published or advertised these outings. I have learned that it isn't as simple as providing food, clothing, shelter, or all three. Although I have given free haircuts, shaves and even helped to get one homeless man a job in town. Most of the ones I met are self admitted drug addicts and ex felons with NO desire to better their situation. I have also spoken with businesses that are affected by them. Drunken encounters, damaging businesses, leaving garbage, fights, vulgarity, theft, drug usage etc. So let me be crystal clear, my main focus is the good people of this town who are negatively impacted by this type of behavior. Encampments can grow and attract even more homeless when free food is simply handed out regularly. Experts like the ones at HART not only care for those in need, but work towards providing necessary rehabilitation, counseling, medical care, and integration training. I do however have a problem with these centers providing overnight accommodations in various areas only to open the doors in the A.M. and have them strolling thru our neighborhoods. I have met with and received phone calls from neighborhood groups upset with this. 

Dynamic problems need dynamic solutions. Number 17 in the nation isn't good enough, for me, and for our families. I want Folsom to be number 1. 

I want to address our recycling center, since it is a critical part of the local homelessness problem. There is no good reason that our local recycling facility should look like an open-air soup kitchen, in the Walmart parking lot. (Security Guard had to be hired within the last few months due to many issues arising from the homeless population.) Our recycling center should be easily accessible for our residents and everyone should feel safe going there. 

Finally, no outside influences over local resident influences. A good community means higher property values, which also means that it is desirable to build new projects here. It has never been more important to insist on projects that will benefit existing residents. That's what I have been doing on the Planning Commission, and that is what I will do on the City Council. 

I am one of the only candidates that did not seek endorsement from any of the large Political Action Committees as I did not want to be beholden to outside interests. Theses groups certainly do not have the best interests of the city at heart, only their own pocket books. I will not sit idly by and watch this city be manipulated by outside interests.

I hope you'll consider voting for me, I will continue to work hard for us all and be a voice of the people.
#Ralls4CityCouncil 

My political philosophy would be that of an american patriot.  Too often party lines blur what is simply the best for our country.  I do not see myself ever aligning completely with one group or the other, there is simply too much going on in this world we live in to do that.  With that being said I pride myself on doing what is best for the overall good of the community even at the expense of being unpopular with certain groups.  When elected I will take my sworn oath serious and always do what is right.

My higher education was obtained at both University of Hawaii, Manoa where I became an RN, and at UC Davis where I completed my training as a Nurse Practitioner and obtained my Master's Degree. I worked as a Nurse Practitioner on the Surgical and Trauma Services at UC Davis Medical Center for 31 years. During that time I also worked to establish a community organization in my neighborhood to ensure that development plans were compatible with housing, to ensure safe streets and transit corridors.  I also became active with the Folsom Historical Society, the Heritage Preservation League of Folsom, the Friends of Folsom Parkways and devoted countless hours to preserving historical resources, building trails, and planting trees along our many transportation corridors, trails, and in our parks. I've served on Folsom's Parks Commission in the past and am continuing to serve on our Arts & Cultural Commission. It is important to me to engage in our political process and in activities that support our community. 

I am originally from a small Southern California town called Yucaipa in eastern San Bernardino County. I attended the University of Redlands where I graduated with a degree in government. I moved to Sacramento in 2001 and to Folsom in 2002. My wife and I have been married since 2004 and have two sons, Eoin and Calvin.

In 2005 I landed a job in journalism as a staff writer for a magazine called Government Technology. I covered information technology in state and local government across the country. I was fortunate in the position to learn about the many ways local government has succeeded - and failed - in attempts to serve the public. I met with local officials all over the nation. I would ultimately go on to run my own spin off magazine there called FutureStructure. In that magazine we looked into all the ways governments can use technology to build smart cities that would, ideally, better meet the needs of citizens in the future. As editor I got the chance to travel the country speaking to government officials about how city infrastructure, transportation, water, waste and energy systems can all combine with data to help us make better decisions about the building for the 21^st Century.

In 2015 I left to join a small, family-owned business called Purchase Green. Purchase Green is an artificial grass manufacturer and I serve as the marketing and communications manager.

In my spare time I am usually either coaching little league or soccer. I also serve on the board of directors for Folsom National Little League. In the past I served the city of Folsom as a commissioner for the now-defunct Architectural Review Commission.

I am running on a platform I call SKI Folsom - Safety, Kids and Infrastructure.

Let me address safety first. Living in Folsom means you are no doubt familiar with the fact our city has a problem with speeding, on major thoroughfares as well as in residential neighborhoods.

I would like, if elected, to let neighbors decide whether speed control devices are something they want rather than a blanket city policy. I would also like to see a few more strategically placed solar speed signs. Presently those that exist in the city are privately funded. But most importantly we need more police presence in areas of chronic speeding. If elected it will be my priority to work with our new police chief to increase neighborhood traffic patrols to help curb speeding.

Along those same lines - do you ever look around you while you’re at a traffic light? Do you see how many people are on their phones? It’s terrifying. And countless studies show distracted driving is as bad as drunk driving. So why do we treat distracted driving so mildly? As your councilman I will propose a local ordinance that tacks on to state law steep, additional penalties for distracted driving. I believe repeat offenders should face significant fines. The current state penalty, at $25, is completely toothless.

Safety is a serious issue and if you’re a parent - or a human being with a conscience for that matter - the last few years have been horrifying. The school shootings seem like a monthly thing now as if they’re being scheduled. And we’d be fools to think Folsom is somehow immune. I applaud what FCUSD has done so far but I believe much more needs to be done to keep our kids and our teachers safe.

We need to boost police presence on all high school and middle school campuses. And I believe we need it at our elementary schools as well. What I propose is hiring, over the next five years, more officers to serve on Folsom school campuses.

Homelessness is another serious issue Folsom is facing. The entire state is seeing a massive rise in homelessness and no one has a cure all. And that’s because there are so many different reasons for homelessness. But we can not ignore it and hope it will go away. So there are two things I would like to do as your councilman to begin to address homelessness.

The first is I would like to create is a safe, supervised area for temporary homeless sheltering with shower and laundry facilities for those who want to get out of being homeless.

Secondly, as I proposed for school safety, I would like to see establish another city commission, this one on homelessness. This commission would be comprised of representatives from great organizations like HART of Folsom, Twin Lakes Food Bank, Powerhouse Ministries as well as area churches and other organizations. Plus, there would be regular citizen members as well. The commission’s job would be to scour the nation for best practices for addressing homelessness and bring these solutions to the council.

I don’t have all the answers to fixing homelessness - nobody does. But if we don’t start looking it’s only going to worsen.

Now I want to talk more specifically about kids. I’ve addressed school safety and bullying. I really believe it’s vital we give our kids a platform so we can hear from them the issues that they feel are important. That’s why if elected I will propose a quarterly City Council meeting expressly devoted to Folsom kids. These council meetings will be designed to let kids address their city leaders and empower them to speak their minds.

We can also do better about what we’re teaching our kids. The traditional subjects are great but we are sorely lacking in practical education. I don’t think it’s ever been more important that we as a community return vocational education to schools.

Finally, I’d like to talk about infrastructure. We need real infrastructure investments to prepare for the future instead of simply getting by in the present.

That’s why my primary objective on the infrastructure side will be to raise Folsom’s developer impact fees. There are radical changes coming to Folsom thanks to South of 50. Our city is going to be transformed, for better or worse. I believe that those making millions upon millions of dollars turning our open spaces into housing ought to be funding much more of the infrastructure we’ll need to be viable and competitive in the future.

One such project I’d like to pursue is a municipal broadband network, built and operated by the city of Folsom. Not only will a Folsom network be great for citizens, it will be a great economic development tool to attract businesses to relocate here.

Speaking of local businesses and infrastructure, as your councilman I will propose a tax incentive program for local businesses that offer telecommuting to employees. It’s a no-brainer that almost any office job can be done remotely these days - it’s simply antiquated thinking that keeps so many of us in the office 5 days a week. I want to incentivize telecommuting because it will help reduce traffic, it will reduce the number of roadway injuries and fatalities and it will reduce the environmental toll regular commuting takes on our city and our region.

Much of what I am proposing is to help Folsom thrive in the future. We must lay the groundwork now for what we want Folsom to be rather than, some day down the road, wish we would have done something sooner.