Elk Grove to Consider Awarding 'Key To The City' to NFL All Pro Lance Briggs, Water Skier Brian Detrick

June 22, 2015 | The Elk Grove City Council will consider awarding the coveted Key to the City award to two local professional athle...


June 22, 2015 |

The Elk Grove City Council will consider awarding the coveted Key to the City award to two local professional athletes at their meeting this Wednesday night. Being considered for the honor are NFL All Pro linebacker Lance Briggs and water skier Brian Detrick. 

Briggs is an alumnus of Elk Grove High School, The University of Arizona and has been selected to the Pro Bowl seven times and been a three time All Pro during his 12-year career with the Chicago Bears. During his time at Elk Grove High School, Briggs led the Thunder Herd to a State Sectional football championship..

Detrick, also an Elk Grove High School alumnus, became a professional water skier at the age of 20 and has competed in numerous international competitions. Currently he is ranked number one in California in his age bracket and seventh internationally in the Elite Skier Word Rankings. 

According to the City of Elk Grove, the Key to the City is "one of the highest honors" and is a gesture of appreciation. To be considered, the nominee must have accomplished a significant achievement in sports, entertainment, military service, public service, humanitarian efforts, or performed an act of heroism within city limits, be a visiting dignitary or reached 100 years of age. 

Briggs was nominated for the honor by Darren Mitchell while Detrick's came from the Los Angeles-based talent management and public relations firm, IVC Global Management. The item has been placed on the city council's consent calendar. 



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30 comments

Anonymous said...

No nepotism at play here at all, right?

Boss Hogg said...

Thanks for the idea Councilman Detrick. I think I'll give my cousin Cletus Hogg a key to Hazzard County!

Anonymous said...

Pat Hume voted against the Key to the City program. It appears his prophecy came true.

Bears Fan said...

Lance Briggs is exceedingly deserving of the Key to the City. He has been in the NFL 12 years which is years beyond the normal tenure for any football player. Aside from that, his philanthropic work which includes his camps are awe-inspiring.

Take a look at http://www.lance-briggs.com/

The City of Elk Grove nor the Elk Grove City Council have never honored Lance in the past and it is long overdue.

The city council can’t say the same for the other nominee who received a City of Elk Grove Resolution back in 2010 and is now getting a Key to the City. Who does that person know?

EGHS Alumni said...

I can see the logic in awarding a key to the city for Lance Briggs, but why Brian Detrick? If we are going to award keys to athletes, why not someone like Bill Cartwright? He went to Elk Grove High, played in the NBA, won three championships and if I am not mistaken, has ties with the EGHS basketball tournament named after him.

Anonymous said...

Not a big fan of the Detrick nomination. Not because it's a council members son but because the nomination is coming from a PR firm. Of course they want to increase the profile of their client but should every person nominated by a PR firm receive a key to the city?

Sione Fina said...

If Detrick thinks this is going to make him look good and make everyone forget about his wrong doing he's got another thing coming. It just makes Detrick, his son and the rest of the family look pathetic and like nothing but a bunch of media horrors! (Pun very much intended here.)

In conversations with the average apathetic Elk Grove resident even they get it and say it's time for him and his family to go. Just the bare bones facts as presented from public documents provided by the FPPC is enough to engender a very negative opinion of anything Detrick.

Step down Detrick. Repent for your misdeeds. Maybe, just maybe you'll recover somewhat.

Connie said...

After I came forward in November of 2011 with the In Memoriam Program to honor those admirable and dedicated public servants who served on our city’s boards and commissions and passed away, I also felt that something more should be done posthumously for their families as a lasting tribute their legacy to the city.

In June of 2013, after the Key to the City Program was approved, I sent an email to the Council asking the then Council to consider awarding the Key to the City posthumously to the families of those who served our on Board and Commissions. The Council took no action. I believed then, and I believe now, that it would be an honor to those families.

In the last six months, we lost two extremely dedicated people who served our city with principle and dedication – even before being selected to serve their respective committees -- Tom Russell and Sarah Johnson. Wouldn’t their families know how much their service was genuinely appreciated if they were awarded the Key to the City in honor of their loved one who passed?

With Wednesday’s consent calendar item, and the revamping of the Key to the City Program, I am requesting the Council consider this request.

If you support this request, please let the Council know. Thank you!

Anonymous said...

What is the significance of getting a key to the city? Do cities give their keys to esteemed visitors, prominent locals, and worthy organizations or is it just sports figures? Is this a decision made by a local vote or perhaps a local committee? Has a prominent local ever received the Key to the City...example would have been the late Sarah Johnson or Tom Russell. I'm sure there are also others that would be very deserving too.

Capt. Benjamin Willard said...

Let's just lay it all out on the line, so to speak. Mr. Detrick is the person pulling the strings to have this award bestowed on his son. We all know that. For what reason, God only knows. Perhaps for his own vicarious purpose, or to feed father and son's collective ego or perhaps in the pursuit of endorsements. It is probably being combined with Mr. Briggs to a.) give the award more stature so that younger Mr. Detrick can appear on the 6 o'clock news with an NFL star, and b.) to make it more palpable to the public in general. If the four remaining council members have any degree of integrity, they will but a kibosh on awarding the key to the city to the younger Mr. Detrick lest its significance is diminished to the point of becoming a punch line for commentators on this and other sites.

And yes, people like Ms. Sarah Johnson and Mr. Tom Russell should have been honored before they joined the dearly departed.

Anonymous said...

Another sign that Elk Grove is a bargain basement hick suburb.

Anonymous said...

If YOUR PR firm is nominating you, then you probably don't deserve the recognition or award. An LA PR firm to boot..not even a local entity. Boy these Detrick's sure have fat heads and swelling egos. How do they live with themselves?? I did not see mentioned in the nomination forms that young Detrick has several lawsuits filed whereas he is a party to the action. Great roll model....try to circumvent the law by not properly being licensed; got caught by the government; tangle with the local community activist; lose again; have your dad bail you out by paying your nearly 100,000 legal bill; apply for "Key to the City" as an outstanding citizen. Geez, can't we do better? I for one would strongly support both Sarah and Tom. Two better, more professional, more supportive Elk Grove locals you cannot find anywhere. Rest in peace and if there is any god, this Detrick award will be denied by the remaining four council members. I would suspect Detrick would have recuse himself leaving three of the four remaining buffoons having to support the agenda item for it to pass...lets hope there are two honest council members left....hummm, having a hard time figuring out who those two might be....sad!

Tom Russell and Sarah Johnson Admirer said...

Give me half a Tom Russell or half a Sarah Johnson over a full of himself Detrick any day of the week! And don't blame the LA PR firm, they're just doing their job. It's called damage control or reputation repair for a damaged client. If I were running the PR firm I'd make them pay up front for the service. I'm mean if they're taking 10 or 20 percent of his "professional" earnings....zero is still zero.

Give it to Tom and Sarah, two individuals who truly are shining examples of what we should all strive to be. Show Sandy Russell and Sarah Johnson's husband how much they are missed by our community.

Anonymous said...

Finally found the City of Elk Grove - Key to the City Review Panel - Special Meeting Agenda for May 7. 2015. Minutes were not available!

http://www.elkgrovecity.org/common/pages/DisplayFile.aspx?
itemId=233733

Program overview can be seen here...

http://www.elkgrovecity.org/city_hall/city_government/city_council/elk_grove_key_to_the_city/

Anonymous said...



"Currently he is ranked number one in California in his age bracket and seventh internationally in the Elite Skier Word Rankings."

Big freaking wow!

We have a nationally ranked professional golfer from Elk Grove; Spencer Levin.


Why isn't he being considered for a Key to the City alongside Lance Briggs instead?


Connie said...

To Anon ad 22:30

Thank you for this important info. I also checked the city's issued press releases for May of 2015. One was not issued to let the public know that a meeting of the Key to the City Review Panel would be held.

As the person who wrote the proposal for the Mayor's Awards as well as the application that is still on the city's website, I would have made the time to nominate both Tom Russell and Sarah Johnson as the applications are similar.

Why wasn't the public notified of a meeting so that applications could be submitted by the deadline? Where is the transparency? Something clearly needs to change here with this process!

Anonymous said...

Why didn't Johnson & Russell receive Keys to the City? Could it be because no one filed the paper work required?

I have no problem in particular at Detrick being given the honor, but I do think it should be through a local effort...not some PR firm in another city. Perhaps the rules should be reviewed and maybe the city could also do a better job of noticing these meetings. We don't have a daily newspaper and must get our updated city news from blogs..thank goodness we do have that source. If you pull up the cities web site this morning you will see three (3) upcoming events listed and when you click "upcoming events" it takes you to a calendar. We need more than one days notice of events happening in our community. Why can we no longer "search?"

Sorry...off topic. We've pretty much beat the Detricks to death, thought we needed a breather. Have a GOOD DAY!

Anonymous said...

Anon 22:30 I had to go on the internet and do a search to find it. Seems if we want timely news about Elk Grove that's the source we have to use. They (the city) forget that we are working stiffs and might need a couple of days notice to attend meetings.

Anonymous said...

Detrick and his family have no integrity and apparently, no shame. If the council awards him anything - and remember they are doing it on behalf of ALL of us as our representatives, then it truly makes us a laughing stock and a joke of a community. If the council has any smarts at all, they will convince Detrick to remove his son from consideration and he can use the excuse that it's a distraction that diminishes his accomplishments. We'll pretend we believe that.

Anonymous said...

Anon at 09:01 states: “Why didn't Johnson & Russell receive Keys to the City? Could it be because no one filed the paper work required?”

How could anyone file the paperwork if no one knew about the meeting! Where was the notice from the City of Elk Grove that stated, “The Key to the City of Elk Grove Review Panel will be holding a meeting on May 7, 2015? Applications will accepted by the deadline of XXX?”

How was anyone to know to submit applications when we, the public, were not even informed of a meeting?

Once again a "public" meeting held in secrecy. A violation of the Ralph M. Brown Act possibly?

Anonymous said...

Sadly with all these comments there will be almost nobody at the meeting tonight to offer up any of these opinions.

Anonymous said...

Unbelievable...Was trying to find out what every one was speaking about and pulled up the cities web site, clicked Upcoming meetings, 6 P.M. City Council Meeting and on that page clicked View city council agenda.........SORRY...the page you requested could not be found! NO AGENDA! Had to go back to the web site and go another route and finally got to the agenda..... What the he*l is this all about anyway?

Anonymous said...

Anon. 10:27....you're most likely correct. Many of the regulars no longer feel welcome in Our House and feel it is a waste of their time. IMO, this item will not be pulled for discussion simply because it is regarding one of their fellow councilmembers family and I fully understand that too. That's a tough one for them. We probably would be surprised at how many residents even know this is an agenda item tonight..what .05%?

Lynn said...

IMO...this is a distraction from some decisions are council are making that will directly effect the residents; for instance; the assessment fees in the Madeira/Laguna Ridge have been increased. Most certainly hope their community will enjoy the water park....the assessment fees in Franklin increased. Council pulling monies out of the reserve to fund the SEPA infrastructure....
This award.... a distraction and one, five, ten years down the road(the roads that are falling apart and that we the tax payers will be asked to pay more to fix) will be forgotten. This council will reach further and further into our pocketbooks....prepare yourselves...And as the city council will vote to float revenue bonds for soccer stadium.....expanding current boundaries....covering our farmland because other countries can provide food.
Corrupt as Bell, Bankrupt as Vallejo

Connie said...

Lynn,

While you have a very valid point, the central fact here is that the process was not followed once again. How many times have active citizens spoken up at public comment about the process not being followed? That lends itself to continued distrust in our local government; a government which is supposed to be all about “local control.”

How can the “people” have local control, or at the very least, be involved in the governmental process when they are left in the dark?

Spike Lee said...

Well Lynn, to your point about distraction. It's like that damn dog in UP....squirrel!

If you don't address the small stuff you truly have not hope whatsoever of changing the big stuff. The small stuff with the Key to the City is indicative of how our city conducts business, whether big or small.

I decided to try to track through the website the notification of this item. As noted by other posters here, there is no notice/request for nominations and no notice of when the committee meeting to discuss applications was held. In reviewing, it appears that comments from the public were to have been solicited at the committee meeting, but how was that to occur when the public was not notified of the meeting in the first place; let alone submission of nominations.

So this leads to the question of what else has the city failed to notify the about? What other public meetings? Etc., etc., etc.

Also, how did the committee members get placed on the committee to begin with? Who are they? I Googled them and I question why some of them are on there. Political favor perhaps? For example, Mike Jones. Google reveals a relationship with Brian Detrick, one of the nominees. The nepotism between father and son is obvious, but what about the favoritism between Jone and Detrick?

The whole thing is dirty. And how unfair to Mr. Briggs.

This is just a small microcosm of what is wrong with the local government. Yes, there are bigger picture items now and into the future, but how do you expect to stop/fix/correct those if you can't even do the small things correctly.

It is obvious to this concerned citizen that although our local electeds and city staffers can spell the words transparency, honesty, integrity and accountability, they sure as heck don't understand, practice, believe or live the words.

The right thing to do here is to throw the whole thing out and start over. Start with new committee members, new nominations and a whole new process that is in full view of the citizens. I'm sure Mr. Briggs would like to see that done as well so that the honor to be bestowed upon him is not tarnished by such backdoor, self-serving ineptitude.

Thinking Aloud said...

At this time considering Brian Detrick for a Key to the City would seem to be very poor timing. His father and mother are under FPPC scrutiny yet AGAIN based originally on Brian's alleged misdeeds which have led to the litigation which led to his father wrongfully spending almost $100,000 of his campaign funds to defend.

Brian has done some incredible things as a water skier, even enough to warrant consideration for a key to the city at some point. NOW IS NOT THAT TIME. He is young, he is on top of his water ski profession. There will be time to acknowledge his feats at a later date. To push this through while his father is a sitting councilman wreaks of nepotism at its ugliest.

After reading some of these comments indicating the application process was not announced to the public in a timely manner, perhaps it would be best to put off this item to a date to be determined so that the public can participate. I agree with several posters above that both Sarah Johnson's and Tom Russell's families should be considered candidates for keys to the city due to their tireless volunteer work on so many committees and issues since this city's inception.

As for Lance Briggs, he certainly warrants consideration as well.

Lynn said...

Connie,

I do not disagree with you. I hope everyone commenting on this site will speak before our council tonight. Our democracy allows 3 minutes.

Transparency in our city NOT, unless of course you are a stakeholder. Stakeholder meetings are "building industry group meetings held with our city staff. So unless you belong forget it. How and when do you think the real work and decisions regarding our last 1200 acres to be developed was determined.
Last council meeting; green sheet regarding SEPA; special meeting held with stakeholders and city staff that monday to come to an agreement. How many residents could be there or knew about that meeting. This is our community.
Transparency; many meetings behind closed doors....
When do residents get to be stakeholders? Or maybe I just need to ask our council for the definition of Stakeholder.....
The topper to SEPA; we taxpayers are frontloading the money for the infrastructure....5.5 from our reserves....

Transparency......yep it started with hiding what I considered bigger issues....and now.....well we residents cannot even be involved in the selection of honoring other residents.

CSD sent out notifications of park naming with lots of lead time and it is my understanding there has been much community interest and names submitted.

Maybe our city could learn something from CSD!

She Devil said...

Did I hear correctly tonight? The Key to the City Committee denied giving Brian Detrick the Key to the City and Ms. Gill overturned them? How is she able to do that? Why have a Committee if there are decisions are so easily overturned? Or maybe the real question is what gives her the authority? Or maybe, why have any committee, heck why have a city council if the City Manager can overturn all decisions that have been voted on?

Seriously, Ms. Gill is not an elected official. I did not vote for her. Nobody did. Time for her to be put in her place. Or better yet, time for her to go.

Connie said...

Just an FYI for those you commented on both Tom Russell and Sarah Johnson receiving a Key to the City posthumously.

Council member Darren Suen brought forth both families receiving a city of Elk Grove Resolution in honor of their loved ones who served our community and will be missed.

Darren received consensus and he personally called both spouses. He shared with me that they were very appreciative.

I am sure Dan from Elk Grove News will post an announcement when the resolutions are on the Elk Grove City Council agenda so that we may all be there to support the families.

Thank you to those who voiced their support! It made a difference.

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