It is with pleasure that the League of Women Voters of Yolo County invites you to the 2026 State of the Community luncheon. This event was founded in 1994, making this our 32nd year.
2026 will be a challenging year for our League as we continue our grassroots, nonpartisan efforts to reach all corners of our County, including youth, rural and low-voting-participation residents.
California State Senator Christopher Cabaldon is our featured speaker and will highlight key achievements to date, discuss current challenges, and outline opportunities to better support the needs of Yolo County residents.
This event is a luncheon with food from a well-known caterer, Ludy’s Catering. If you want vegetarian or vegan options, please email in**@*****lo.org.
You can buy tickets as an Individual or for a discount as a group of eight by purchasing a Table. Reservations must be received by February 16, 2026.
Details
Location: Yolo Event Center, 1225 East Kentucky Ave., Woodland, plenty of parking. (map)
When: Doors open 11:45; Event start-end 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm
Food: Ludy’s Catering, vegan and vegetarian options available
Cost: $35 / Individual, $250 / Table of Eight, Sponsorships are also available
Scroll down to register by Monday, February 16, 2026 
Senator Christopher Cabaldon
California State Senate, District 3
Christopher Cabaldon served as mayor of West Sacramento for two decades, transforming what was once an old industrial town into a fast-growing, entrepreneurial city at the forefront of an emerging American metro. That transformation was chronicled in Governing magazine’s feature, “Small City, Big Goals: How an Unconventional Mayor is Beating the System”.
Under his leadership, West Sacramento was recognized as
“America’s most interesting small city,” “America’s most livable small city,” and one of the world’s “21 Smart Cities to Watch,” becoming known for innovative, how-did-a-little-city-do-that approaches to addressing complex social challenges.
The first mayor ever elected directly by the city’s voters, Cabaldon led groundbreaking initiatives in urban farming, universal preschool, flood protection and floodplain management, sustainable land use, next-generation transit and personal mobility, and college- and career-pathway internships. His work brought West Sacramento national and international attention, including a pioneering automatic enrollment program that sent every graduating high school senior a letter of college admission along with free tuition.
Beyond West Sacramento, Cabaldon has played influential leadership roles at the state and national levels. At the U.S. Conference of Mayors, he chaired the Jobs, Education & the Workforce Committee. He also served as chair of the national LGBTQ Mayors Alliance and previously led both the Asian/Pacific and LGBT caucuses of the League of California Cities.
His personal coming-out journey was featured in the Logo network’s internationally syndicated Coming Out Stories series. A column he co-wrote on marriage equality for USA Today, alongside Julian Castro and Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, was later cited in court cases affirming shifting social norms around marriage equality.
President Obama appointed Cabaldon to the national College Promise board, where he helped lead a successful nationwide effort to establish free college programs in hundreds of cities and states. An appointee of five governors, he currently serves as California’s delegate to the Western
Interstate Commission on Higher Education. His prior roles include vice chancellor of the California Community Colleges and director of the state legislature’s higher education committee.
As chair of the Sacramento region’s metropolitan planning organization and its transportation committee, Cabaldon pioneered integrated approaches to transportation, housing, environmental justice, air quality, and climate policy. This work earned numerous federal and national awards and helped shape some of California’s most significant transportation and climate reforms.
In 2019, Cabaldon was appointed to a tenured faculty post at Sacramento State University as the Hazel Cramer Endowed Chair and Professor of Public Policy and Administration, teaching courses in design thinking and public sector prototyping, state and local government, and urban economics.
He holds a B.S. in environmental economics from UC Berkeley and an M.P.P.A. from Sacramento State.
Sponsorships and Registration
This annual luncheon is our major fundraising event of the year, so please take a look at the Sponsorship opportunities below. Your support will help us provide voter education and registration opportunities through candidate forums, ballot measure education, support for the new UC Davis student league, speaker events, and tabling at our many nonprofit partner events.
To pay by check, mail both a check made out to League of Women Voters of Yolo County and the PDF Registration Form to:
League of Women Voters of Woodland
P.O. Box 2463
Woodland, CA 95776
Download Registration Form (PDF)
You can buy individual tickets or purchase a table for a group of eight.
Please register by Monday, February 16, 2026.
To be included in the printed program, purchase Sponsorships by Monday, February 23, 2026.