Lessons From the Listening Sessions - Drop the Floodplain from the SOI Application

By Wayne Gallup

Elk Grove's "Listening Sessions" have been a costly, time-consuming, and well-done example of gathering pubic input on their proposed Sphere of Influence. Having attended all of them, there is absolutely no doubt that nearly all the individuals and organizations who spoke want the Cosumnes River flood plain dropped from the SOI. The reasons are factual, sound and convincing.

Similarly, it is overwhelmingly believed that the Memorandum of Understanding being negotiated by the City and County for "joint vision", is an unenforceable document offering the flood plain no protection from almost certain development if Elk Grove were to annex it.

Real leadership has appeared at the City Council for the first time in recent memory, with Councilman Davis' proposal that Elk Grove drop the flood plain from their SOI. Councilman Hume, predictably, opposes it. The other three Councilmembers ride the fence, testing the wind and thinking hard about how to weigh in at the April 14 City Council meeting. Are they listening? Do they care?

The inclusion of the Cosumnes River flood plain in the Elk Grove's SOI has been shown, beyond any reasonable doubt and through the City's own listening sessions, to have been a bad idea. That can be easily fixed by voting to remove it, and the Council can once more turn its energies and resources toward resolving the City's other pressing issues.

The spotlight will be hard-focussed on Elk Grove's five City Council members on April 14. The case for dropping the flood plain from the SOI has been solidly made, and at the City's own request. The case for keeping it in is transparently questionable at best. At the end of the day it will be very clear which Councilmembers "listened", and which did not. I would guess that Elk Grove's reputation and more than one political career hangs in the balance.