The COVID-19 pandemic. A dramatic rise in homelessness. Destructive protests that left some of Sacramento's midtown businesses shuttered, even years later. During his eight years serving as Sacramento's Mayor, Darrell Steinberg led the city through crisis after crisis. As he begins to look back at his record, the major development projects built or launched during his terms are not the first accomplishments he lists. "I feel proud of helping lead the city in a calm and steady way through some of the most tumultuous times in recent history," he explained. Steinberg started the job in 2016 with a wave of momentum that he had helped create.Before he served as mayor, he was the President Pro Tem of the state senate, where he played a key role in securing state help in the development of the Golden 1 Center and Downtown Commons, the adjacent entertainment project known as DOCO. That deal kept the Sacramento Kings basketball team in town, as they were on the verge of moving to Seattle. Years later, as Sacramento Mayor, he says that development was at the center of his favorite week of his entire mayorship. It was the week in April of 2023 that the Kings broke their 16-year playoff drought and played the Golden State Warriors in a seven-game series. "I was never happier seeing, being the mayor of this city during a time when people were so happy," said Steinberg. "These are the things that also bring people together. It's where people of all our diverse backgrounds have a common love for city." Also under Mayor Steinberg's leadership, the SAFE Credit Union Convention Center was renovated and expanded, a $180 million project paid for in part with private funding. It reopened in June of 2021, and events are now booked there years out. Later that year, adjacent to the convention center, the SAFE Credit Union Performing Arts Center reopened after a full $100 million renovation, also paid for in part with private funding. In that project, Steinberg jokes that he came close to earning a contractor's license as the renovations were behind schedule and they faced the pressure of a scheduled opening date for the national touring production of the Hamilton musical. "This would be a national headline and we would harm our reputation. So over the course of a couple of months, everybody, including the actual contractors, the labor unions, the city team, everybody, we got together and we barely made it. And Hamilton opened on time," Steinberg recalled. Another big accomplishment was the SMUD Museum of Science and Curiosity, known as MOSAC, which transformed a vacant PG&E power station along the Sacramento River. It opened in November of 2021, after a risky decision led by Steinberg to approve a construction loan with city money. He says the decision paid off, and MOSAC is now one of the areas he considers "placemaking." He defined the word this way: "I've been using it a lot lately. It resonates with me. More places for people to gather, more places for people to have fun, more places for people and families to create memories. And that's what I think we've done a lot of, despite all the challenges these last years." Some projects are still underway. As mayor, Steinberg presided over the launch of U.C. Davis's Aggie Square which will bring research programs, tech companies, housing, retail and more to the Oak Park neighborhood. Because of Sacramento's form of government, often called a "weak mayor" system, Steinberg's accomplishments all came from a series of negotiations. He only has one vote on the city council, the same as any other member of the council. "The job of mayor is to lay out a vision and then to persuade the community, your colleagues, the city management to go in that direction. And it is not easy," said Steinberg. But that was not the hardest part of the job. "I think what has been hardest for me is to bear the feelings, including the anger and frustration of my constituents during a very challenging time for our city," Steinberg explained. That anger and frustration was on full display again and again, sometimes in very personal ways. In March of 2018, Stevante Clark made national headlines as he jumped up onto the dais during a council meeting, directly in front of the mayor. Clark was grieving the death of his brother, Stephon Clark, who was shot and killed by Sacramento police officers. In February of 2021, protestors damaged the outside of the mayor's home and threatened his family over homeless issues, in what a city spokeswoman called acts of terrorism. In the spring of 2020, some protests in downtown and midtown Sacramento turned destructive after a series of cases, locally and across the nation, where Black Americans were killed by police. Four years later, some businesses still haven't recovered and some buildings are still boarded up. Steinberg is well aware that some business owners still hold him responsible. "There are things that you can control and there are things that you cannot control," said Steinberg. "Do I feel and know that we were prepared and that our police department was ready to address potential violence? The answer is yes, they were. They actually had some very difficult decisions to make in real-time. And these are the sorts of things that maybe people don't fully appreciate in the moment." He has also been the target of anger and outrage as the homeless population skyrocketed. Some have accused the mayor of not doing enough to protect residents' health and safety. Others have accused him of not doing enough to protect the city's unsheltered residents. However, in the extraordinary challenge of the homeless crisis, Steinberg says he's proud of what he achieved. While homelessness had historically been considered, and funded, as a county issue, he created a way to get the city the money to ramp up from 100 shelter beds initially to 1,300 beds as he leaves office, with hundreds more planned. "We would not have had a 41% reduction in unsheltered homelessness between 2022 and 2024, I believe, if I hadn't insisted, that the city do more than it is ever done in its history," he said. Steinberg believes the longer-term solution will stem from a deeper shift in the approach to the homeless issue. He does not believe people have a right to sleep on the streets. He's a proponent of people having a legal right to housing and services in the U.S., but along with that would be a legal obligation for people to accept that housing and move out of their public encampments. As Steinberg leaves office, he secured two last big victories in his final few weeks. The legacy projects took eight years to launch, in part because they were interrupted by another major challenge— the pandemic. The projects came together just a month before he left office. Using hotel tax money, he was able to shelter through negotiations on other projects, there is now $40 million to modernize the waterfront, making Old Sacramento a new destination for more people. The plan includes upgrading the docks and boardwalks, and creating or improving more public spaces. Steinberg announced the plan for the waterfront just days after announcing an MLS soccer stadium and entertainment district in the downtown Railyards. He is excited about the prospect of 'bookending" his career as mayor with the work to help Sacramento hold onto its NBA team a decade ago, and now putting the city in a position to attract Major League Soccer. The 12,000-seat arena will be built to expand if Sacramento lands an MLS team, and the surrounding entertainment district will fulfill the dreams people have had for decades to redevelop a prime downtown location. "We're a major league city. I feel really good about it," said Steinberg. "I feel really great for the people of Sacramento because they deserve it."See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter