A Tale of Two Elk Groves

When I attended a recent political forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters, I was prepared to jot down information to help win the war against the incumbents running for Elk Grove City Council. I was convinced there’d be sufficient fodder to feed the undecided voter, leer away party affiliated supporters and change the minds of those committed to making the same mistake ‘thrice’.

With pen in hand, I was ready to fire off an artillery of words worthy of downing Ms. Scherman, Mr. Leary and Mr. Cooper, making either incapable of wining a third term.  Twelve years, after all, seemed an inappropriate time in office, not to mention an unwarranted reward, for either of them.

As I waited for the episode to begin, I started writing things down which had enticed me to move to Elk Grove in the first place.  Things like size.  The population back when we arrived was barely 30,000 - maybe 50,000 if one included the area west of 99 called Laguna (back then, Laguna wasn’t ‘really’ considered Elk Grove to me...it seemed too modern.) The house my wife talked me into buying.  An old house...nearly 70...seemed ancient to me at the time.  My fear was it would become a house with a bottomless pit when it came to upkeep.  But, after further investigation, I discovered the workmanship of the 1990’s was no match for that of the 1930’s.  It was - and remains - a solidly built home made by hands that knew what they were crafting.  I still see the rough saw marks on the 2 x 6 (actual size) solid redwood floor joists in the cellar.

When we arrived, we quickly began to know our neighbors… and them us.  There’d be knocks at the door and cookies delivered.  Pleasant interruptions when doing yard work inviting many long, drawn out conversations about our town’s history. It was these conversations that would instill in me my sense of obligation to protect and preserve what was so endearing to those whom I had befriended.  We were, as a family, truly blessed in our quality of life.

Then, in what seemed like an ‘over-night-mare’, homes began to appear to the east, the north, the south and the west.  Aged cedars, grazing animals and acres upon acres of open fields began to be replaced with thousands of replicated single family homes.  Corners become littered with strip malls and the once open, airy community I knew began to resemble a herd of cattle headed toward slaughter.  The quality of life my family and I had grown to love had, in a few short years, profoundly deteriorated.  I blamed our city leaders and planners.  They blamed the county.  In the end, it didn’t matter.  30,000 people had exploded to nearly 150,000.  A prized jewel had become permanently tarnished by a handful of self centered elected individuals who, when initially elected, promised to protect the very quality of life they destroyed.  They exchanged a rural, neighborly community with a community of strangers, crime and foreclosed homes.

As the forum went on I was amazed at the audaciousness our incumbents exhibited in their attempt to justify their past eight years in office.  They clearly exhibited a lack of humility when explaining past decisions, ignorance when offering up to-little-too-late solutions and arrogance when asking for our vote.  It seemed peculiar, suddenly, to even be there and painful to listen to such political dogma. None of them seemed conscious of their role in the changing face of our community.  They appeared, to this resident, content to ramble on with feeble dialogue explaining away their accountability...and how allowing those four more years would be just the right amount of time to fix our problems.  Well, this voter isn’t buying their political propaganda. Things may be what they are...and yes, it’s true we can never go back...but, it’s unthinkable to this resident the notion that Mr. Cooper, Mr. Leary or Ms. Scherman should be awarded four more years as a reward for failing during the past eight. I ask the 120,000 new residents to consider this when they vote on November 4th because in matters of character, integrity and trust - history does matter.

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