Cooper, Leary to go unchallenged?

This year three of five seats on the Elk Grove City Council are up for election. All three incumbents, Jim Cooper, Mike Leary and Sophia Scherman are seeking a third terms.

Republican Scherman will face Democratic challenger Katherine Maestas in what should be an interesting race, particularly since Scherman barely received one third of the popular vote in the 2004 race. To date, Cooper and Leary have no announced challengers.

With the conflict of interest controversies that confronted both Cooper and Leary over the last four years, specifically a scathing report from the Sacramento County Grand Jury and the ensuing unsuccessful drive to recall both, it is surprisingly yet probable both will go unchallenged in the general election.

In Cooper’s case, he has always appeared to be more constituent friendly, no doubt in part to his years of being the Sacramento County Sheriffs’ Department p.r. hack. On a gut level, Cooper generally appears to be more open to suggestions from constituents following the Grand Jury report. Like him or not, Cooper seems to have done a good job of forming alliances that have benefited him politically.

Why Leary is not facing any announced challengers is a bit more perplexing.

While Leary and Cooper both were strongly criticized in the Grand Jury Report, Leary has generally appeared to be more confrontational with fellow council members, members of the Elk Grove CSD and worse, his own constituents. Some might characterize Leary’s interaction with his constituents as “surly.”

Interestingly, much of his confrontational behavior happened following his 2004 reelection. Leary received a mere 40% of the popular vote in that election cycle – hardly the “political capital” for such behavior. Leary appears to be a vulnerable candidate.

So why no challenger for Leary?

Perhaps the dearth of candidates is another casualty of the foreclosure crisis. Who would want the unenviable job of governing a city facing financial crisis. Or maybe the prospect of having to sell your soul to real estate developers to fund the almost $100,000 it now takes to run a successful campaign has made thoughtful individuals shy away from public service.

Whatever the reason, it would be a shame to have two of the three council members not face challengers. The people of Elk Grove become the real losers.