Sacramento City Council candidate and law enforcement officer Henry Harry is troubled by youth violence in Sacramento.

Harry, an Oak Park resident and a 13-year Sacramento County deputy sheriff, said youth violence is one of the key reasons he’s running for Lauren Hammond’s District 5 City Council seat.

There are ways to prevent youth violence, Harry said, but too many young people are dying in Sacramento. “And it breaks my heart to see it,” he said.

The Sacramento Press is interviewing City Council candidates in advance of the June 8 election.

Harry, 44, is one of five candidates running for the District 5 seat. Hammond, the sitting councilwoman, is competing in a race for Assemblyman Dave Jones’ seat.

Neighborhoods in the district include Oak Park, Curtis Park, Tahoe Park West and Colonial Heights.

Violence involving black and Latino youth in Sacramento should be a priority for the city, Harry said.

“I am not ashamed to say there needs to be an agenda to address that in those communities,” Harry said. “So, if you want to call it a black agenda, if you want to call it a Hispanic agenda, I make no apologies for it.
But I think it’s just a city agenda to deal with those issues.”

He said he has lived in the city of Sacramento for two years and in the South Sacramento area for five years.

A founding member of the Sacramento Oak Park Foundation, Harry has worked with youth in Oak Park for the past several years.

“I started to see that you can do so much with a badge and a gun, but you can do so much more with helping these kids,” he said.

It’s possible to confront problems and violence affecting youth with little funding, he said. “A lot of the issues with these young folks can be addressed without money if you can inspire the mentors to get involved.”

Harry further said at-risk youth could be helped by city police if the department starts a program focused on youth mentoring.

Another area of his campaign focuses on eduction. Harry acknowledged that council members do not have jurisdiction over the Sacramento City Unified School District board. Still, he said he could speak out on education issues as a City Council member.

“Imagine your City Council person being a pit bull for education and coming with a two-prong attack,” he said.

He explained that his first focus or “prong” for education would be to make school board members more accountable to the citizens. In his second focus, he would work to inspire parents and children on education issues.

The education system in Sacramento has failures, Harry said.

He also wants to see public officials answer more questions from the public. The city government could be more accountable if public officials, such as the police chief and the interim city manager, would regularly answer questions from citizens on the record, he said.

Harry earned his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Union Institute & University in Sacramento.

Harry has raised significantly less money than some of his opponents. Campaign filings from March show that Harry has gathered $808.

Patrick Kennedy leads all five candidates in fundraising — he has taken in $109, 684. Jay Schenirer’s funds amounted to $82,712 in March. Terrence Johnson has raised $9,430. Assistant City Clerk Stephanie Mizuno said Leticia Hilbert has raised less than $1,000.

District 1:
Information about candidate Angelique Ashby’s campaign can be read here.
Read about candidate Efren Guttierrez’ campaign here.

District 3:
Candidate candidate Shawn Eldredge’s goals are explained here.
Learn about candidate Chris Little’s plans are outlined here.
Candidate Jeff Rainforth is profiled here.

District 5:
A story on candidate Terrence Johnson’s campaign can be read here.
Learn about candidate Patrick Kennedy’s plans here.
Candidate Jay Schenirer’s goals are explored here.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.