LAST "LISTENING SESSION"

By Wayne Gallup

The "listening sessions" are over, and the one glaring fact that emerges from Elk Grove's demand for the Cosumnes River flood plain is that no believable rationale for wanting it has ever been put on the table.

The stated reason for wanting the flood plain under City control boils down to the fact that four families of flood plain landowners want to be under Elk Grove jurisdiction. Has the City spent vast amounts of money to date in accommodation of these four families? Or is there a further agenda?

The Community of Wilton's opposition to the Sphere of Influence is not a quarrel with the landowners in the flood plain. What they do with their property is their own business, and God bless 'em. Our issue is intense distrust of Elk Grove's motives for proposing annexing to the Cosumnes River. In a nutshell, if they have no intention of building in the flood plain, as stated, why are they willing to go to war over it? This is the Elephant in the Council Chambers that Elk Grove keeps trying to sweep under the rug. But it just doesn't fit.

The City's protestations of being preservationists ring hollow. Elk Grove is the poster city for development, and for not having done it all that well. Their claim to fame is not management of wildlife and agricultural lands. No development in the flood plain, they say? Who killed the airport, and why?

So many questions. So few answers.

Why is the County going along with this charade? They have the structure and experience in place to manage agricultural lands. Elk Grove does not. The City and County are spending time and money negotiating a "joint vision for the flood plain," a document that is admittedly unenforceable, and can be opted out of at any time. Why bother?

Do the City and County really believe the general public to be the simpletons they treat us as? One saw a growing sense of anger and frustration at the "listening sessions." Staff is going through the motions, as directed, and will present voluminous material to the City Council. So, will the Council "listen," or have we been playing in the sandbox all these months?

There is a clear choice between two Council actions on April 14:

1. Drop the Cosumnes River flood plain from Elk Grove's SOI as the "listening sessions" have overwhelmingly decreed, or-

2. Dig in, blow smoke, delay and distract. Require more time and study. Wait for the EIR. Show, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that there IS an agenda to emerge at a later date. Elk Grove is quite likely not spending big bucks on acquiring the flood plain for altruistic reasons. So who, really, is to benefit from this expenditure of City time and money?

We may have a clearer picture on April 14.