The mayor kicked off his initiative last year and says it resulted in 1-point-7 million volunteer hours. This year’s goal is even higher – three million hours. The man leading the effort will be the city’s first Chief Service Officer, Keith Hart. Hart wants to focus on four priority areas in Sacramento: public safety, education, environment and homelessness.
Hart: “These are areas that we continue to want to focus on, but really drive down into those issue areas and pick some areas we want to build some high-impact service initiatives around.”
For example, Sacramento has one of the nation’s highest flood risks. So for public safety, Hart wants to create a grassroots flood safety awareness campaign:
Hart: “Reach out to the special needs populations – those senior citizens in homes, those people living in low-income communities – to really reach down and make sure they at least have the basics around education and emergency management.”
Before moving to Sacramento, Hart led the governor of Maryland’s service initiative and then became a private consultant. He plans to launch a “citywide service plan” in September.
