COMMUNICATIONS
IN RELATION TO THE
C
ITY OF ELK GROVE
MAY 28, 2025
REGULAR MEETING
On tonight’s Consent Agenda, there is generous bequest for the Animal Shelter from Walter Gerard Hart in the amount of $153,000. We wish to express our deepest thanks for his gift, and wanted to share a little information about Mr. Hart.
Walter Gerard Hart —known to his friends as Jerry —passed away on December 22, 2024, at the age of 83. Born in Pennsylvania, Jerry grew up in the Midwest and California, served as an intelligence officer in Germany in the 1960s, and later became part of Cali fornia’s emerging computer industry. .After retiring, he lived in South Carolina, Arizona, and finally Elk Grove, where he often spoke of adopting another Dachshund like his beloved Abercrombie, but never did—always concerned about what would happen to the dog if he passed first. Jerry’s generous donation to the Elk Grove Animal Shelter reflects his lifelong love for dogs and his deep desire to help them find the companionship he so cherished.
A memorial plaque will be placed on the wall at the Animal Shelter in recognition of his gift.
From:
To: Jason Lindgren
Subject: Public comment on the proposed budget 2025 - 2026 Date: Monday, May 26, 2025 4:14:36 PM
Attachments: City ltr to on 2025 budget.docx final.pdf
[EXTERNAL EMAIL]
May 26, 2025
Dear Mr. Lindgren,
Attached to this message is a pdf letter to the Council, Mayor and staff.
It is my comments
and request regarding the agenda item for the proposed budget. Will you please distribute it to them?
The relevant staff are your budget staff and the police department, because it is about them.
I noticed the section in the May 14 about posting comments online.
I included this in the body of my letter.
Please note that I have moved the rest of this section (the section on cryptocurrency crimes committed against me) to the P.P.S. at the end of this letter. I did so in case the City posts this public comment online in accordance with Government Code 54957.5. If you do, please redact the entire body of the P.P.S.
I hope that is not too much trouble.
I moved that section to the end of the letter to make it easier to redact. It's all on a separate page.
If you need anything else from me please feel free to say.
Best wishes,
Mark Graham
Sent
SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION
ITEM NO 9.02
05-28-2025
City ltr to on 2025 budget
May 26, 2025
Dear Mayor and Council and staff,
Thank you for your time, effort and devotion to the City. I have a couple of comments and recommendations on the proposed City budget for 2025 – 2026.
My comments on the City budget are about the police department’s ability to investigate cryptocurrency crimes, which appears to be inadequate, the need for increasing that ability and possible ways to do so.
Cryptocurrency crimes are growing and hard to solve
Cryptocurrency crimes are growing fast. More and more people buy and own cryptocurrency.
The price of one Bitcoin is over $100,000. It has gone up greatly, more than 50% since the election last November. Other cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum, Litecoin, and all the others have gone up too.
A thief can steal cryptocurrency with cooperation of the victim, as by extortion, or by breaking into or hacking into their cryptocurrency account. Either way the money is sent from the victim’s cryptocurrency address to the thief’s cryptocurrency address.
There is no recourse when cryptocurrency is sent out of your cryptocurrency account. There is no way to get it back. These factors both make cryptocurrency theft very appealing to criminals.
You cannot tell the identity of the recipient of a cryptocurrency transaction from the publicly available information directly. The money goes to a cryptocurrency wallet address that is 30-40 characters long, all numbers and letters. That’s all you know. Here is a sample Bitcoin wallet address.
bc1qeppvcnauqak9xn7mmekw4crr79tl9
That’s where the money went. There is no way to look up the person’s name.
In some cases depending on the receiving cryptocurrency exchange, their Privacy Policy, and their willingness to cooperate with a police investigation, police may be able to learn the criminal’s name. It requires tracking the flow of stolen money and asking the receiving exchange for cooperation.
Cryptocurrency crimes committed against me
Letter to the City Council on the proposed budget for 2025 – 2026 Page 1 of 5
I have been the victim of several cryptocurrency crimes. They involved attempted and actual extortion.
Please note that I have moved the rest of this section to the P.P.S. at the end of this letter. I did so in case the City posts this public comment online in accordance with Government Code 54957.5.
If you do, please redact the entire body of the P.P.S.
Limitations on the police departments ability to investigate cryptocurrency crimes There appear to be two problems preventing the police department from investigating and solving these crimes committed against me. One is reluctance to do the work and the other is lack of adequate man-hours. As far as reluctance to do the work, I don’t know what the Council can do about that. For what it is worth I think it is common in police departments. The lack of man hours (insufficient police department staff available to investigate cryptocurrency crimes) is a problem that the Council can address. That’s what I am asking you to do.
What I heard from Sergeant Daniel Emerson months ago was that there is only one detective who investigates cryptocurrency crimes. He has 50 cases that he is currently working on and there are another 75 cases waiting, in line. I have emailed and talked with him by phone. He seems very capable and smart. But he cannot do this alone.
Possible solutions; more detectives needed to work on cryptocurrency crimes In the P.S. of this email I will show several quotations and a graph from your proposed budget.
Basically what I am asking the City to do is provide for the police department so that it has more capability (more trained detectives) to investigate cryptocurrency crimes. I don’t know where the money will come from. You are the experts on the budget. Can you think of how to pay for this or how to make it happen? That is my request.
Among the $51 million you will spend on the police department compensation, the 25 detectives and 3 forensic investigators (according to the graphic on page 202) why is there only ONE detective who works on cryptocurrency crimes?
Why has the police department (and the City itself) left him in a position where he is currently working on 50 cases (as of about 6 months ago Sergeant Emerson told me this) and has another 75 cases waiting to be worked on?
How can the City change this?
1. Can the police department train some of its 25 detectives to also investigate cryptocurrency crimes?
2. Can the City use some of the $2 million discretionary income from the Sky River Casino to hire more detectives?
Letter to the City Council on the proposed budget for 2025 – 2026 Page 2 of 5
3. Are there currently people being trained to be detectives, in particular cryptocurrency detectives, so that they will soon be doing this work without the City adding another FTE?
4. Will the Council add money for one more cryptocurrency crimes detective to the proposed budget? Please do!
Will the Council address this at the May 28 Council meeting or before it votes on the proposed budget?
Feel free to ask me any questions you may have.
Thank you and best wishes,
Mark Graham
P.S. Here are some statements from the proposed budget.
The City’s proposed General Fund (discretionary) Budget is $97.4 million for FY 2025-26.
There are 14 new full-time positions budgeted in 2025-26.
There are 2 new positions proposed in the Police Department:
Animal Services Event Specialist, FTE 1.0
Customer Service Representative, FTE 1.0
In 2016 the City signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Wilton Rancheria Tribe for the Sky River Casino. FY 2024 was the first year the City received the annual recurring revenue, equaling $4 million. The $4 million is purposed as follows: $1.5 million for Police and Code Enforcement, $500,000 for Road Maintenance, and $2 million as “City tax in- lieu” that can be used for discretionary purposes.
The Police Department budget for FY 2026 is $69,226,803 (page 47 text and page 54 graphic).
It is by far the biggest item under expenses by function, which add up to about $97 million.
In the 2026 budget for the police department compensation will cost $51,291,272.
The community identified needs and priorities for Measure E include, “ensure the Police Department is attracting, retaining, and adequately equipping public safety professionals and pursue new, innovative approaches to reducing crime.
Letter to the City Council on the proposed budget for 2025 – 2026 Page 3 of 5 There is a graphic of all Police Department staff on page 202.
The Investigations Bureau includes a Forensics Unit and a Detective Unit.
According to this graphic the Detective Unit has 25 detectives. Is this the number of employees? The number of Full Time Equivalents (FTE)?
It also says there are 3 forensic investigators and 1 supervising forensic investigator.
At the top it says 2025 – 2026. This appears to be the proposed budget.
Continued on next page.
Letter to the City Council on the proposed budget for 2025 – 2026 Page 4 of 5
GENERAL PUBLIC
COMMENT SUBMITTED
IN RELATION TO THE
CITY OF ELK GROVE
MAY 28, 2025
REGULAR MEETING
The ciTy of elk grove
recognizes, honors, AnD AppreciATes
Shirley Peters
WhereAs, Shirley Peters established the Greater Sheldon Road Estates Homeowners Association (GSREHA) in June 1989; and
WhereAs, The focus of GSREHA has been and continues to be the preservation and protection of Elk Grove’s unique
agricultural/residential area. GSREHA is one of the oldest active neighborhood organizations in the City of Elk Grove; and WhereAs, Credit for GSREHA’s longevity and numerous accomplishments is owed to Shirley’s tireless dedication over the past 28 years ~ where she has served not only as a leader and pillar of the community, but also as a thoughtful mentor, an inspirational role model, and simply a kind friend with an open heart; and
WhereAs, Shirley shares her passion and sensibility, taking on the challenges of the evolving, modern world, encouraging our community towards progress while remaining rooted in the respect of our proud heritage and shared traditions. The City of Elk Grove is humbled and privileged to continue its decades long friendship with Shirley Peters.
noW, Therefore, Be iT resolveD that the City Council of the City of Elk Grove hereby extends its heartfelt gratitude honoring the talents and dedication of Shirley Peters, thanking her for her positive contributions and citizen activism, and first and foremost for “Keeping it Country.”
signeD this 4th day of December, 2017.
STEVE LY, MAYOR
STEVEN M. DETRICK, VICE MAYOR STEPHANIE NGUYEN, COUNCIL MEMBER
PATRICK HUME, COUNCIL MEMBER DARREN SUEN, COUNCIL MEMBER