Leary hammered on 10,000 job growth campaign claim during city council meeting

Elk Grove citizen calls out Leary on campaign claim

During the Wednesday, October 22 meeting of the Elk Grove city council meeting, council member Mike Leary's campaign claim that he created 10,000 jobs was put to task.

In recent weeks Leary campaign literature has claimed that under his leadership 10,000 jobs were created during the city's first eight years of existence. This claim has become the centerpiece of his campaign, yet until the citizen's grilling, Leary has been unwilling to cite the source for this claim.

This issue arose during the public comment section when Elk Grove resident Patrick Flannery questioned the 10,000 job claim. Flannery, who had Leary's 10,000 job growth flyer that includes a photo of the recently closed Elk Grove Brewery, said information provided to him by the California Employment Development Department said there were 3,700 job created during the same time period.

"The state of California Employment Development Department says between 2000 and 2008 there were only 3,700 jobs were made here in Elk Grove," Flannery said. "I have a flyer here from Mr. Leary that says he brought in 10,000 jobs."

A clearly irritated Leary waved a single piece of paper and said he received his figures from yet-to-be-published SACOG (Sacramento Area Council of Governments) report that Leary claims will say Elk Grove employment grew from 14,800 jobs in 2000 to 24,650 in 2005.

Council member Sophia Scherman said that she would personally call SACOG to verify Leary's claim on job growth. City staff was also directed to identify the correct number.