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ISSUE | TAXYPAYER DOLLARS REGARDING THE GATHERING INN LAWSUIT: Lincoln is continuing a legal dispute with the Gathering Inn over the nonprofit’s plans to open a 60-bed medical respite center for homeless adults discharged from hospitals. The city alleges the nonprofit obtained a state grant through a fraudulent application and failed to properly notify officials or meet community-engagement requirements.
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The lawsuit also alleges the nonprofit used letters of support from Sutter Health and other organizations that were written for an earlier proposed Roseville location, not the Lincoln facility.
The litigation comes as Lincoln is asking voters to consider a sales tax increase to pay for city services.
Here is where the City Council’s 1st District candidates stand on taxpayer spending for the lawsuit:
Holly Andreatta, incumbent
Andreatta declined to tell The Sacramento Bee whether she supports continuing to spend taxpayer money on the litigation. She said the city attorney had directed media inquiries about the lawsuit to him.
The Lincoln City Council, including Andreatta, voted unanimously in September 2024 to adopt a resolution authorizing legal action and a subpoena against the Gathering Inn regarding its purchase of the property at 1660 Third St.
During a February 2025 deposition, Andreatta acknowledged that the nonprofit’s CEO asked her during a 2023 breakfast meeting whether she would support opening a facility in Lincoln.
Andreatta said, “It was kind of almost in passing, ‘would you be supportive of us having a facility in Lincoln?’ And I said ‘I’m happy to have that conversation with you.’ And that was it. There was no details. There was no plans. There was no address. There was no negotiations. That was it. That was the entirety of that conversation.”
Andreatta told The Bee in May that she believed Lincoln residents should have a say in projects like the Gathering Inn.
“Not because of the use itself, but because it is their community,” she said.
Andreatta declined to comment in May on whether she supports the project currently, because she does not want to “conflict herself out of a vote in the future.”
Christine Treshchuk, challenger
Treshchuk said she is concerned about the amount of taxpayer money Lincoln is spending on the litigation and whether the public has enough information about its cost.
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She also questioned the transparency surrounding the project, which was funded through California’s Community Care Expansion program.
“This lawsuit raises the question about how communities are supposed to participate meaningfully in decisions that can have significant local impacts when state law limits local control,” Treshchuk said.
She said that if the City Council had been forthcoming with the community about its meeting with the Gathering Inn’s CEO and what was discussed, “the situation and potentially the outcome could have been different.”
Treshchuk said she was concerned about how the litigation is being paid for and the lack of a clear public picture of the total cost.
“My concern is where did the money come from to pay for this litigation and the public does not have a clear picture of how much taxpayer money has been spent on this litigation or what the total potential cost could be,” she said.
Why it matters
Lincoln voters will decide in November whether to approve a one-cent local sales tax increase that would generate about $6 million a year for general city services.
If voters approve the measure, Lincoln’s sales tax rate would increase to 8.25%, which would be the highest in Placer County. The measure requires a simple majority to pass. Because it is a general tax, the revenue could be used for any government purpose.
Meanwhile, the court case is ongoing, and the city is paying an outside law firm to handle the litigation.
Douglas White, one of the attorneys representing the city, declined to disclose how much the city has paid in legal fees so far, citing attorney-client privilege.
“Consistent with that, it is our office’s policy not to disclose privileged or litigation-sensitive information in active matters,” White said in April.
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