Sacramento Investment Without Displacement Coalition

United Latinos has been part of Sacramento Investment Without Displacement (SIWD) since the coalition was founded in 2020. We work with SIWD because we believe in protecting vulnerable neighborhoods from displacement and ensuring an affordable future for low-income communities in Sacramento. Alongside SIWD’s other member organizations, United Latinos has fought for (and won!) millions in funding for affordable housing, local hiring and training in new developments, and neighborhood improvement projects such as bike lanes, sidewalks, and public transit.

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What is SIWD?

Sac Investment Without Displacement is a coalition of social justice organizations, neighborhood associations, labor groups, residents, & community partners organized to protect vulnerable neighborhoods from the potentially negative impacts of large development projects in Sacramento. SIWD seeks to preserve and expand affordable housing and maintain the stability of neighborhoods impacted by big developments. The coalition does this work through negotiations with the city, large institutions, and developers to minimize the negative impacts of their projects on existing neighborhoods, businesses, and community institutions.

McKinley Park in Fall, Sacramento Tree Foundation, Licensed under Creative Commons.
McKinley Park, Sacramento Tree Foundation, Licensed under Creative Commons.

Our Work with SIWD

Aggie Square (Victory!)

Community concerns about Aggie Square, a huge, city-funded, 20-acre development in the heart of a low income neighborhood, eventually birthed SIWD. The coalition formed and entered into negotiations with the city, which ultimately resulted in SIWD and UC employee union AFSCME 3299 filing joint lawsuits against the city when community and labor demands were ignored. Most of SIWD’s demands were ultimately met, including:

  • secured $50 million toward affordable housing along Stockton Blvd corridor
  • 20% of permanent Aggie Square jobs to be filled by local residents
  • job training for local residents seeking Aggie Square employment
  • improved biking, walking, and transit infrastructure for surrounding low-income neighborhoods

Community Benefits Agreement Ordinance

SIWD is currently in negotiations with the city to draft a Community Benefits Agreement Ordinance (CBA.) If passed, any large development projects undertaken by the city would be guided by community oversight, with the intention of minimizing potential harm to the residents of the area being developed. This is huge – a good CBA could permanently ensure that city-funded development projects are held to a higher standard of accountability in Sacramento.

Our CBA Goals:

  • promote transparency and community accountability
  • mitigate gentrification
  • prevent displacement
  • protect residents and small/local businesses
  • promote inclusion and equitable access to opportunity
  • facilitate the production of housing affordable to all income levels
Learn more about the SIWD coalition’s work here.
“I grew up in Sacramento – and it broke my heart that i couldn’t afford to raise my children in the neighborhood I was from. It just keeps getting more and more expensive. I saw joining SIWD as an opportunity – especially with the COVID-19 pandemic, with our unhoused population growing day by day, and the city saying we don’t have a housing crisis.”

“15% affordable housing is not enough. We have an affordable housing need. Why cant we have 25% affordable housing? United Latinos is specifically pushing for more affordable housing in our work with SIWD.”
Josie Morales
United Latinos Representative | SIWD

What is a Community Benefits Agreement?

CBAs Protect Communities.

A Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) is a legally-binding contract signed by community groups and a developer surrounding a development project. A CBA requires the developer to provide agreed-upon amenities or benefits to the neighborhood and community impacted by the development. A good CBA should be created with substantial community involvement.

What is a CBA Ordinance?

A CBA Ordinance makes community benefits routine.

A CBA Ordinance is an adopted City Ordinance that creates a process for future CBA’s to be created when developments are proposed. A CBA Ordinance helps ensure that communities have consistent oversight over new developments in their neighborhoods. 

Why it all matters

Since 2022, SIWD members have been engaging with and educating their networks about what a Community Benefits Agreement ordinance could look like in Sacramento. SIWD engaged with over 300 community members on the CBA ordinance. Residents from 20 different Sacramento zip codes were represented in the survey. 96% of residents surveyed think a developer should enter into a Community Benefits Agreement if the City has: Given the developer money; Given the developer land; Waived fees; Waived mandatory reviews. SIWD also held four community workshops and conducted a community survey to gather feedback on the language for the CBA Ordinance.

To protect our neighborhoods from displacement, we need YOUR help. Follow us on Instagram and check out the SIWD website for updates.

A sign at UC Davis Med Center, with the Med Center building in the background.
Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press 2015

Partner Organizations

United Latinos is proud to partner with the many organizations that make up the SIWD Coalition.

Sacramento ACT
Environmental Council of Sacramento
Organize Sacramento
Civic Thread
Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment
Sacramento Housing Alliance
Sacramento Building Healthy Communities
Sacramento Community Land Trust
Environmental Justice Coalition for Water