- As we begin 2026, Sacramento and California are at a crossroads of rising national tensions, rapid technological change, and deep questions about affordability and identity.

What should we really be watching for in the year ahead?

Joining us today is the Sacramento Bee's California opinion editor, Marcos Bretón.

Marcos, as we look forward into 2026, I'm curious, what is the underlying mood that you're sensing of the residents and citizens of California and what they're focused on?

- I sense, uneasiness, concern about the direction of the state and the state's place in the nation, where the there's hostility from the Oval Office directed at California in a myriad of ways.

We're going to have a, a generational change and a, a, systemic change in our leadership in California, in that we have whats probably the most wide open governor's race in my lifetime.

- Yeah.

- Where-- - Full of people that most of us don't even know or recognize, they don't register.

- Or they have to overcome our perceptions that, that they've already fulfilled, that the roles that were best for them.

And to be the governor of California, you have to rise above and you have to project, optimism.

But also, a sense that we're, we're, we're different in California.

We do things differently.

And so far - and we're still early, but so far none of the folks who have committed to running have been able to break through in any meaningful way.

- Let me, let me get a reaction from you on something related to that.

My sense in going out and talking to everyday Californians is that for the governor's race, either no one has registered because it's a bunch of sort of like nondescript lilliputians who don't seem to be up to the job heroically or, to use a word.

Or that they consider the governorship to be irrelevant to their lives or that we're ungovernable anyway, so who cares?

- Well, we're not ungovernable, but we, uh, we do suffer from the tyranny of a one-party state where the Democrats don't have to pay attention to the Republicans.

There's no, there's no meaningful opposition.

And we've had a succession of really lackluster, weak, cowardly leaders, in the legislature.

And so it's just a - the legislature is a place where, where they, they don't want to do hard things.

And the governor, the governor that we have now in Gavin Newsom has been most successful in doing what he always does is burnishing his own personal brand.

But if you if you look at his campaign promises when he first ran, in 2018 and, and, and sort of, you know, do an assessment of to progress to goals, like if I, if he were like one of my employees and I were evaluating them, he would have made very little progress toward his goals.

- No year end bonus for him then?

- No year in bonus for Gavin Newsom.

However, I've spent the last several weeks really trying to train myself to try to think about Gavin Newsom in a different way now, because he's still nominally the governor of California, but he is the front runner for the Democrats for the 2028 election.

And, and I have noticed that he has made headway among national Democrats for being able to confront Donald Trump, combat Donald Trump, out Donald Trump, Donald Trump, you know, and, and that's not nothing, as a, as a California resident, it does leave me a little bit cold in that a lot of the issues that that were present when he became governor will be there when he leaves.

But, it does make me wonder if, like, we're in a time now where, the, the, the leaders who are breaking through are breaking through because of their personality, and people are more concerned about that than, than having them get anything done.

- I'm glad you said that, because it would appear that what another way of framing what you said is it's all style over substance.

Because in truth, one of the... the ironic things is it appears, at least as I travel about the country, he is far more popular outside of California - - He is.

- Than he is, because the style is what sells.

But the substance in terms of his accomplishments falls fairly short.

- And, and, and he's upset about that.

And it reminds me of when Kevin Johnson was the mayor of Sacramento and, and Mayor Johnson would say to me, “Marcos, why is it that people like me more outside of Sacramento than inside of Sacramento?” My response was because we know you, Mayor.

And so we know Gavin Newsom and, and we took him at his word that he was going to build all this housing and, and help deal with the homeless and, and those two things have been abject failures.

However, uh, his move to orchestrate, uh, proposition 50 was, politically speaking, only, and as theater was brilliant.

And he has-- he knocked Trump back on his heels and so when Democrats look around, they say, who, “What other Democrat has done that?” Kamala Harris has disappeared.

Tim Walz, who was her, her running mate; his political career is over and no one else has broken through.

And so, so I think this is going to be the year-- this is Gavin Newsom's last year as governor and his first, like, official year as the, as the frontrunner, for the Democrats in 28.

- So this brings me to how just in a couple of months, tides can ebb and flow and-- - Sure.

- Fortunes can be completely turned around because, in summer, in less than a year ago, everyone was writing Gavin Newsom's political epitaph.

In terms of that, he is over.

- Now he's kind of like the Phoenix who has been reborn, and he should get credit for taking a big gamble.

Of course, one might say he didn't have a lot to lose, given the epitaphs that were being written in taking on prop 50 in the first place.

That being done, I want to shift to, all that is left in California, and that if he did move on from California, or when he does from the governor's seat, what his successor is left with.

What do you think are the three big issues that we all are going to be focused on, that if somebody can speak to those, it'll move the needle for him.

- Well, so the big issues that people feel are in their pocketbooks, um, uh... Their ability or inability to, to find, affordable, stable housing, and, and the just the abject failure of, of, of dealing with homelessness in, in California to the point where I think a lot of people have just given up on the issue.

-Mhm.

- And I have to admit that, I'm far more jaded about this issue than-- - You and I have probably talked about this maybe a decade ago.

And, and at that point, I was a big believer in all the talking points.

No longer.

Um, and I, I, I, I feel like we, we've reached a point where, we are not willing to, to mandate treatment for people who can't take care of themselves.

We just can't get there.

- And, and what do you think is behind that?

- Well, I, I think that I think there's this there's intense pushback from, from, mental health advocates and, and legislators who are sympathetic to them.

And I think that there's a, there is a fear that we're going to return to what we had in California when I was growing up, when you were growing up.

The institutionalization of people, I think, left such a scar on our body politic that, we still talk about this issue and people always go there that we don't want to institutionalize.

But, but I think if you, if you strapped a lie detector test to advocates and to people who work with those on our streets every day, they'll tell you that we're, we're, we're dealing with a lot of folks who can't make decisions on their own, and we can't even have the conversation in California.

And if, if I were to-- - No, cause youll get canceled.

- You will get canceled.

And we can't have a lot of conversations in California.

- And some would say that that's one of the problems with a one-party state.

- Yes.

- Is that if you are part of that one party, you have absolute power, which as we know historically, the old saying is, corrupts absolutely.

I want to speak to somebody more local on that issue.

Kevin McCarty, staked his early tenure on addressing homelessness.

He's in, you know, he's been in the seat for a while now.

What's your observation in terms of, how he's doing on that issue and the progress that he forecasted that he was going to make?

- I think mayor McCarty is trying to, make moves that are, as invisible as possible.

I think that he's, he's coming on the heels of two, two predecessors who, who, who made a lot of noise about dealing with homelessness and, and, and I'm not going to say they failed.

They were able to increase some capacity for shelter.

But, but a lot of the hopes that we had for this thing, I think have evaporated.

And so I think people now, want and are getting, you're seeing far more arrests, and bookings.

- Well people are fed up.

- People are fed up.

I don't blame them.

I don't blame them.

I mean, I, I work in Midtown.

I see it every day.

But, but we, we I think-- So, I think mayor McCarty is trying to do what he can afford and and trying to manage expectations of people in terms of what, what... and then the things that he can afford.

- Let's tie this into another issue, because homelessness is driven by mental illness, but it's also driven by affordability as well.

And one of the things that as I walk around and go about through the region that I hear about all the time is, “Scott, my kids are about to go, go away to college.

I'm afraid that my kids are never coming back.

They love Sacramento, we love Sacramento.

But we're going to follow our kids because what the hell is going on with somebody trying to do something so that my kids can afford to come back here and live a life, buy a house, raise a family, send their kids to decent schools?” That is, I will tell you, between that and A.I., those are the two big conversations that I end up having with people on the street all the time.

- Well, to his credit, mayor McCarty did speak about a desire to take, some of the tax money from the sale of high-end homes in Sacramento and create a fund for first time homebuyers.

Now, there's no that as of this airing, there's no real, details about how that would work, whether we should even do it that way.

But, but that's where we are right now.

Where, leaders are, are kind of spitballing, solutions to, like a 30 to 40-- a generational problem where we haven't built enough housing.

My-- I, I'm fearful that my children won't be able to make a living in Sacramento.

Won't be able to find meaningful jobs in Sacramento.

Much less buy a home for themselves at 27, which is what I did.

- Yeah.

And what does that say for-- in terms of, you know, the future of not only this region but also California?

Because that's real... that's real.

And that is something where it is that families around kitchen tables are making decisions every single day.

- I mean, I think it says... it-- put-- to put it bluntly, I think it says that our generation was far more concerned about protecting what was just around us than, than creating opportunities for the generation that comes after us.

And, and I... listen, I own it as well.

I have-- It was not top of mind for me until my children reach an age where it's like, okay, theyre transitioning into adulthood, what is there for them in Sacramento?

And I think the answer right now is not nearly enough.

And, and they may leave and I may leave, as well, because right now, there just aren't enough opportunities for young people.

- Let's talk about, at the end of 2026, who should we be holding accountable for the state of housing accessibility?

For - we dealt with homelessness - for, job availability and finally for public education, which we don't talk that much about within this region.

But boy, the statistics really suck.

- So let me start on public education.

Okay, so I've been a broken record on this for more than a decade.

As a former parent of Sacramento City Unified, a district that, once again is on the financial precipice.

Uh... a district that is, majority, Latino, African-American, Southeast Asian.

And I would hold up a big mirror to all the parents, all the politicians in Sacramento.

And you can name them from Darrell Steinberg to Dave Jones to, to Kevin McCarty, to all these people who were too afraid to, to confront the California Teachers Association.

And they allowed our public schools to be by and about teachers pay and nothing else.

And so there's one constituency that has done well and that is the teachers.

Now, you say that in Sacramento - that's sacrilege.

Okay?

And I'm the only person who's been crazy enough to say it for the last ten years.

But, but when I look at where Sac City Unified is now, I say, I told you so, um, and, and nobody wanted to take it on.

And, and so we are where we are.

But, but, uh, uh, the, the achievement gap is still real.

And if, if, if, if public schools in California are not about equity, real equity for real people, then then I don't know what they're about.

Well, no.

I'm sorry.

I do know what they're about.

They're about, they're about paying teachers more at the expense of everything else.

And if you challenge that, you're in for it.

And unfortunately, we haven't had any politician, not one who has been courageous enough to deal with it.

On the other issues.

Who do we blame?

We blame the Democrats.

The, the sample size is large enough at this point.

The Democrats run everything.

- Yep.

- So if California is not affordable, whose fault is it?

It aint the Republicans, it's the Democrats.

Which Democrats?

All of them.

It's Gavin Newsom, it's the speaker.

It's the leader.

All of them.

They're too afraid to take it on.

And so that's where we are in California.

Nobody wants to hear that.

Nobody wants to talk about that.

But that's just the truth.

-Now, you know, it's interesting in, in what you just said, the Democrats control everything that ultimately they're accountable for it.

Right now we're in a situation where it is that president Trump and the Trump administration, is, making notes and taking names in terms of coming after those that he perceives as his adversaries or even enemies.

He's actually used that term.

California, especially because of Newsom's success in being able to bait him and get under his skin, is right there in the bull's eye.

What is-- what is it that we need to be looking out for in 2026, in terms of how that lack of progress is actually doubled down on and exacerbated by the fact that Trump-- the Trump administration may exact retribution on the state for things that are not substantive, but are more political.

- They're more political.

I, uh-- listen, I'm no fan of the president.

Didn't vote for him.

And think he's terrible for the country.

I will say, and he, he has hurt California.

- But he, he may not be 100% wrong.

Right?

- Uh... Well, it depends on the issue.

It depends on the issue.

- Oh, I-- I'm saying yes, on the issue.

- It depends on the issue.

But, but, in terms of, like, as a Californian, who-- uh, I care about the state and care about my community, I, I feel like the, the Democrats have done far more damage, um, uh, to our everyday lives.

California Democrats have done far more damage to our everyday lives than Donald Trump ever could because they-- the-- as a one party state, we have the power to deal, with, with our, with our housing, with our mental health and, and, and lack of, of, of, of drug treatment.

We have the power to take on these high tech companies because we should all be concerned about our privacy right now, or lack thereof.

And, and we should be really concerned about these chat bots and these different technologies that are, are, are proven and showing theyre hurting young people.

And all of these things are in their power.

And yet every year, every year, I feel like I'm writing the same things every year where there's just a real lack of, of courage to take those issues on.

- Now, that is actually an interesting point in that you used to have a colleague at the Bee named Dan Walters.

- Sure.

- And, when Dan would write his column, he'd been there for so many years that sometimes there were just perennial issues and you knew that the Dan Walters column on this subject was going to come down.

- Yes.

- And, and I asked him about it one day and he, he told me he says it's because it never gets solved.

It just kind of stays there because the system doesn't actually want to solve it.

They just kind of play like an insiders game with each other.

Everybody knows their role.

Everybody gets paid.

You know, because of the fact that it just goes on and on and on.

And that's a that that is a terrible thing to take place.

But that actually goes to the fact that absolute power corrupts absolutely.

And in that one party control, it does raise an issue in terms of not whether there's ability, but whether there's will.

And I want to come back to, another issue related to will and ability, because you write a lot about civic identity.

- Mhm.

- I consider the Kings to be a part of our civic identity.

And if I was describing our civic identity via the lens of the Kings, it sucks.

- Terrible.

- Tell us your view on not only the Kings, but sort of like the role that they play in our identity within this region, and whether or not there's an insiders game of lack of accountability in terms of their performance.

And I know I'm reaching here.

- No, no, no.

I actually been giving this a lot of thought because I reflecting on this time of year in 2012 when, my first day of, of, of work that year, the story was breaking that the Kings were going to move to Seattle, and that became a very real threat.

And there was just a big public campaign, led locally by former Mayor Kevin Johnson and a cast of thousands.

- I was a part of it.

- We all were.

And it was just a point of pride that that the team stayed and, you know, the arena downtown was fantastic.

And, the, the, the construction, the investment around it and, and all of those things were, were positives.

And, you know, we, we kept the, the most visible business in Sacramento from leaving, which is a good thing.

But to, to consider now that all these years later, the team is still as bad as ever.

Or maybe worse.

- Oh, it's worse.

- Worse, um... is just so disheartening.

And I haven't gone to a single game, this season, I struggle to watch them on television.

And, you know, having been a former sportswriter, myself, you know, it always begins and ends with, with ownership.

If you look at the successful franchises, even the ones in small markets, in smaller markets in Sacramento, Oklahoma City and San Antonio are thriving because you have ownership that believes in stability, in hiring smart people and getting the hell out of their way.

And the guy here Vivek Ranadivé in Sacramento just is not that guy.

He seems to think that he knows everything.

And because he's good at making money, he has hired and fired, a revolving door of GMs and coaches, extending them one month and then six months later, firing them.

That's a mark of a losing franchise.

And it's, it's on him.

He's the, he's the, the person who's been there from the beginning.

- Now, see, I while I don't disagree with anything you said, one of the things that, that I've heard offered on that is he just ain't rich enough and that our arms are, aren't long enough to box-- - I don't buy that.

- With the other teams that-- - I dont buy that at all.

Theyre plenty rich enough.

Theyre plenty rich enough.

- And that we can't afford, who we need to afford.

- Well, the thing is, it, it depends.

Like is someone is a-- is like-- is someone a coach or a GM?

Listen, it's a, it's a, it's a small world.

You're not going to come to Sacramento if you're constantly being second guessed and if you have to constantly fend off, an owner who seems to think that he knows more than anybody else, that's where we are.

That's where we are.

And it's really unfortunate.

And I hope I hope it changes because the people, the fans deserve much more than that.

- 2026 we'll see how it goes.

- See how it goes.

- See you this time next year.

- Fingers crossed.

- All right sir.

- All right.

And that's our show.

Thanks to our guest.

And thanks to you for watching Studio Sacramento.

I'm Scott Syphax See you next time.

Right here on KVIE.