By Sara Beth Williams–
During a candidate forum held Tuesday, Oct. 13., Citrus Heights City Council District 2 candidates Charles Stone and incumbent MariJane Lopez-Taff offered differing assessments of police staffing, public safety and city spending.
The forum, hosted by Citrus Heights neighborhood areas Seven Eight Nine (CHASEN) during their monthly meeting, gave candidates from the Citrus Heights City Council District 2 and from the San Juan Water Board Division 1 the opportunity to answer questions about local community issues.
City council candidates were asked multiple questions regarding local issues, including police and crime, homelessness, the Sunrise Tomorrow plan, and conditions of roads.
On crime, Stone criticized what he described as a low rate of crimes being solved by Citrus Heights Police, citing data sourced from areavibe.com, along with data from 2024 and 2025 reports from the California Incident Based Reporting System, a statewide data repository managed by the state’s Department of Justice used by police and sheriff’s departments to track, manage, and report data. Copies of CIBRS reports were available to audience members at the forum Tuesday night.
“We lose our best officers to higher pay, to do less work, and not have the problems that the city brings them,” Stone said. Later he suggested that the city should consider obtaining an outside local community prosecutor.
Lopez-Taff said the Police Department is in charge of arresting criminals, but does not prosecute offenders in the city. She also said the Police Department has a “fabulous” relationship with the district attorney’s office.
On police staffing and funding, Stone said a public records request made by him reportedly showed the police department is down to 56 employed officers, which he called “way understaffed.” Stone further said the police department is underfunded and that officers who were initially assigned to solve crimes were moved into “reactionary” positions.
“That fact that we are potentially defunding the police is a lie,” Lopez-Taff said in a resposne, explaining that when officer positions were moved around during restructuring, the police department budget was increased.
Lopez-Taff also said she agreed she would like to see the police department fully staffed and funded more, but noted that “at the end of the day, that means higher taxes.”
On homelessness, Stone said unhoused individuals have different needs and need to be offered resources accordingly, but that they cannot be forced to accept help. He also said the issue is very personal for him, with his sister being homeless for several years.
Lopez-Taff said homelessness needs to be addressed at the regional level and that money that is being allocated toward housing for the homeless should go toward recovery facilities to help combat mental health and addiction disorders that the homeless may be experiencing.
Regarding road maintenance, Lopez-Taff said the city had to wait 25 years to receive property taxes after initial city incorporation in 1997 and thus had to forgo some basic city surfaces, including road repairs, which are expensive.
“If we continue this three-year [pavement plan] process and continue to put $4 million of our own general fund money into the process, I believe this is absolutely a sufficient plan,” Lopez-Taff said.
Stone said citizens have had to “suffer with our roads” in poor condition because the city has put 25 cents of every dollar into a rainy day fund. Stone also agreed that if the city continues to put in $4 million from the general fund for another two years, the roads would be brought up to acceptable standards.
Lopez-Taff defended the rainy day fund, saying that the money is used for matching grants that often help with Complete Streets infrastructure projects.
Regarding the Sunrise Tomorrow Plan, Lopez-Taff said the plan developed “organically” from the citizens in Citrus Heights and that the plan is also designed to be adaptive and flexible to the changing market.
Stone said while he agrees the Sunrise Tomorrow plan is a good idea, it is all dependent on property owners agreeing to develop, and he feels it did not “in any way accommodate a new arena.”
Lopez-Taff currently serves as mayor of Citrus Heights through the end of this year and was elected to the city council in 2022.
Stone has served as a Judge Advocate General attorney, serving 26 years as an environmental crimes investigator, and has also served as a past president of the American Legion post 637. Stone has also served in the National Guard for 19 years.
An estimated 60 people attended the joint forum Tuesday night, according to CHASEN President Bill Shirley. For those unable to attend the forum, a full video recording is available on the neighborhood area’s YouTube channel here.
Citrus Heights City Council District 2 represents the areas east of Sunrise Boulevard and north of Greenback Lane to the Placer County line.
