Our Mission
Friends,
The Mayor’s Office of Community Engagement and EngageSac.org is an effort by my office to better connect with the great work that is already happening every day in our neighborhoods. From participating in events to helping convene advocates united for a cause, the Office of Community Engagement is working every day to engage residents in civic issues that face our great city.
- Mayor Darrell Steinberg
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About Mayor Steinberg
Mayor Darrell Steinberg has served the people of Sacramento for 25 years and counting.
Elected as Sacramento’s mayor in 2016, he has guided the city through an unprecedented pandemic and the long overdue reckoning around race and equity.
In 2018, he campaigned for and won voter passage of Measure U, a one-cent sales tax, with a commitment to invest in economic development, youth and affordable housing. In the last three years, the City has invested more than $ 170 million on inclusive economic development and has devoted the vast majority of its more than $200 million in federal covid relief funds to uplifting the community by funding workforce training, grants to small businesses and artists, youth programs and other community investments.
As leader of California’s Big City Mayors, Mayor Steinberg successfully negotiated with both Gov. Jerry Brown and Gov. Gavin Newsom to make an unprecedented statewide commitment to addressing homelessness – a commitment that has brought millions of dollars of additional funding home to Sacramento.
Mayor Steinberg has also led the effort to diversify and energize Sacramento’s economy. He crafted an incentive package that helped attract the West Coast headquarters of Centene, a healthcare giant and Sacramento’s first Fortune 100 company. He also negotiated legal settlements that paved the way for the construction of UC Davis’ innovation campus, Aggie Square, which will bring thousands of new jobs to Sacramento while also investing millions in surrounding neighborhoods to prevent displacement of current residents.
Prior to becoming Mayor, Steinberg served 14 years in the State Legislature, and became the first Sacramentan to serve as President of the Senate in over 125 years.
As Senate Pro Tem, he worked with two Governors and multiple legislative leaders to help lead the state through its worst economic crisis in decades. His bipartisan work helped end the state budget crisis and earned him and three other Legislative leaders the 2010 John F Kennedy Profiles in Courage Award, one of the highest political honors in the country.
He authored landmark pieces of legislation such as the Mental Health Services Act, a tax on millionaires that now produces more than $3 billion a year to fund mental health services in California; and SB 375, the first bill in the nation to require cities and counties to meet aggressive climate goals as they plan their long-term growth. His legislative record in many other areas of vital public policy -- education, foster care, autism, housing, initiative reform among them -- earned him a reputation as one of the most effective legislators of his generation.
Mayor Steinberg left the Legislature in 2014 due to term limits and subsequently founded the independent Steinberg Institute, which today has become the leading voice on mental health policy and legislation in California.
As a young father, Darrell served on the Sacramento City Council, focusing on keeping neighborhoods safe, creating good jobs and providing quality after-school programs. He founded the Sacramento START after school program to help kids in disadvantaged neighborhoods improve their test scores.
No matter his office, he has always maintained a strong connection to Sacramento’s neighborhoods has been one of his top priorities since his early days as president of the Tahoe Park Neighborhood Association. Every weekend and many weeknights, the mayor can be found out mingling at events and gatherings.
Darrell Steinberg and his wife, Julie, have two grown children, Jordana and Ari. Darrell is a graduate of UCLA and UC Davis Law School.
Mayor's Office Staff
Nicole Cuellar -
Senior Policy Advisor
Sustainability, workforce development, transportation infrastructure & cannabis policy
Nicole Cuellar serves as Senior Policy Advisor for Mayor Darrell Steinberg and brings a commitment to equity in her work. Early in her career, she was often torn between opportunities to advance justice and pathways for championing the environment. She earned her B.S. in Society and Environment with an emphasis on global environmental politics from UC Berkeley and a Masters in Public Policy and Public Administration from Sacramento State.
Kelly Fong Rivas -
Senior Advisor on Racial Equity
Racial Equity, public health and safety
Kelly Fong Rivas is a community organizer by training and trade, serving as Senior Advisor on advancing racial equity, public health and safety for Mayor Steinberg. Racial Equity Advisor is a newly created position that reflects our City’s ongoing work to put meaningful engagement and equity at the heart of all city spending and policy decisions. She joined Steinberg’s team in December 2015 as his campaign manager and has been Chief of Staff for the previous five years. Fong Rivas’ work has included roles in the development of the city’s Department of Community Response, creation of the Substance Use Respite Engagement (SURE) Center, developing the city council’s Racial Equity Committee and the official city Land Acknowledgement. She has also managed crisis response for the mayor’s office through numerous significant events.
Tera Flores Hannah -
Executive Assistant
Tera Flores Hannah is the executive assistant to Mayor Steinberg. She was born and raised on the Pacific island of Guam and moved to California to study international relations and managerial economics at UC Davis. After completing her Master of Public Administration degree from USC, she worked for the Sacramento Metro Chamber and the Northern California World Trade Center coordinating lobby days, membership events, and the U.S. State Department's International Visitor Leadership Program. On any day, you can find her volunteering in the community, hanging out with friends at local restaurants, cheering on Sacramento sports teams, or planning her next adventure!
Joshua Gumacal -
Council Representative
Sister Cities, transportation, logistics, & administration
Joshua Gumacal serves as Council Representive to Mayor Darrell Steinberg. He has lived in Sacramento all his life and recently graduated from Cal Poly - SLO with a B.A. in Political Science with a concentration in Global Politics. He has worked as an organizer, camp leader and outreach coordinator for a local non-profit. In his free time Josh enjoys playing chess, pickleball, and reading.
Rachel Tochterman -
Communications Director
Rachel Tochterman is Mayor Steinberg’s Director of Communications. She is a public affairs and communications strategist with expertise in California politics and policy. Rachel has led extensive community outreach to address California’s biggest social and economic issues, including homelessness, domestic violence, tax policy, community improvement projects, education reform and civic engagement. She holds a Juris Doctorate of Law (J.D.) with a Capital Lawyering Concentration from McGeorge School of Law.
Allison Joe -
Senior Policy Advisor
Youth, music and entertainment, permitting, neighborhood economic development
Allison Joe brings a wealth of experience in community development, land use policy, and economic development. She has worked for nearly 20 years in various roles at the state and local levels, including serving as an appointee to Governor Jerry Brown at the Strategic Growth Council, and most recently as the Chief of Staff and Policy Director to (now retired) Councilmember Jay Schenirer.
Yesenia Solano -
Council Representative
Yesenia Solano serves as a Council Representative to Mayor Darrell Steinberg. She recently earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science with a minor in Spanish from Sacramento State University. During her final semester at Sacramento State, Yesenia interned with the Mayor’s Office of Community Engagement. Active on campus, she held roles as a Resident Advisor and an Odyssey Mentor. With a keen interest in public service, Yesenia has applied to pursue a master’s degree in public policy to further her engagement in civic affairs.
Jocelyn Navarro -
Deputy Director of Community Engagement
Deferred areas coordinator
Jocelyn Navarro serves as the Deputy Director of Community Engagement/Deferred Areas Coordinator. She received a B.A. in Government from Sacramento State. Jocelyn was an intern for U.S. Senator Kamala Harris prior to joining the City as a District Representative for Council District Three in 2017. While in the District Three office Jocelyn worked on community enrichment, economic development, and public infrastructure projects. She is currently pursuing a Masters in Social Work degree at Sacramento State (Stingers Up x2).
Chinua Rhodes -
Director of Community Engagement
Education, youth and community events
Chinua Rhodes joined Mayor Steinberg’s office in 2021 as the Director of Community Engagement. He is also a Trustee for Area 5 on the Sacramento City Unified School District. Rhodes is a father of five, and a community organizer as well. He grew up in South Sacramento, and is a product of Sacramento public schools. Rhodes has coordinated programs and grants supporting thousands of Sacramento youth and families and organizing around housing and youth justice initiatives.
Miesha Ross -
Director of Constituent Affairs
Constituent services and community engagement
Miesha Ross joined Mayor Darrell Steinberg’s team as the Director of Constituent Affairs effective December 2022. She is well known around the Sacramento area for her love of helping others and serving the community. As a long-time Sacramento resident, she began serving as a City Hall staff member in 2017. Ross made a tremendous impact in the Natomas community under then District 1 Councilmember Angelique Ashby. In her personal time, Miesha is an avid fan of the Dallas Cowboys football team and has a green thumb like no other.
Mary Lynne Vellinga -
Chief of Staff
Media relations, housing policy, & homelessness
Mary Lynne Vellinga is Mayor Steinberg’s Chief of Staff. She joined the mayor’s office in 2018 after 27 years as a reporter and editor at The Sacramento Bee. Mary Lynne spent four years as the mayor’s communications director before becoming chief of staff in May 2022. A native of Chicago, she has a deep interest in cities, and she quickly adopted her new hometown after moving to Sacramento 31 years ago. She has lived in the Pocket, Midtown and Land Park neighborhoods, and her two sons are proud products of Sacramento public schools.
Scott Whyte -
Deputy Chief of Staff
Internal affairs & economic development
Scott Whyte is a Deputy Chief of Staff for Mayor Darrell Steinberg. He joined Steinberg’s team when the Mayor took Office in December 2016 as the Director of Internal Affairs. He has worked for the City of Sacramento for the last seven years, serving in two different Mayoral Administrations. Scott has worked on a wide array of prominent city issues including public safety, economic development, and the City Budget.
Ciana Yniguez -
Executive Assistant
Ciana Yniguez is an Executive Assistant to Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg. Ciana is responsible for a range of administrative duties for the Mayor and staff. She has been with the City of Sacramento since 2014 and was an executive assistant to Mayor Johnson before joining Team Steinberg in November of 2016. She is a native of Sacramento and grew up in the Oak Park neighborhood and has a long history of community activism and engagement and is a past board member of the Oak Park Neighborhood Association.
David Augusto -
Deputy Director of Community Engagement
David serves as the Deputy Director of Community Engagement for Mayor Darrell Steinberg. David's Sociology and Urban Studies/Planning background from Long Beach State University laid the foundation for his deep understanding of societal dynamics and interest in community development. With seven years of dedicated service in the non-profit sector and as a community organizer in Sacramento, David has focused on championing causes close to his heart, including affordable housing, civic engagement, and empowering the next generation of young leaders.
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