Reynen & Bardis: Dynamic duo go bust, but not entirely out of the game

One of the Sacramento area's more spectacular collapses following the 2008 start of the Great Recession was the fall of local developers Christo Bardis and John Reynen. While they haven't ended up in the hoosegow like KOBRA kingpin Able Alizadeh (who curiously was just released from the Placer County Jail), their collective fall has been spectacular.

Followers of Elk Grove politics will recall that in 2006, the housing developers threw tens-of-thousands of dollars at Elk Grove City Council elections. Then came the housing burst of the housing bubble and the bankruptcy of their firm as well as personal bankruptcy's.

But hey, this is America and if nothing else, one should never be counted out. This is evidenced by the fact that both Bardis and Reynen each made individual campaign contributions last fall to Elk Grove Council  Members Gary Davis and Pat Hume.

Mind you, their $500 contributions are chump change compared to the cash that was sloshing around in '06, but as they say, $500 here and $500 there and pretty soon your are talking real money.

Not coincidentally, last month Bardis appeared before the city council hat-in-hand trying to get a refund, or in post credit collapse vernacular, a bailout.

While we urge the city council to reject any sort of refund or bailout, we nonetheless give a tip of the hat to the dynamic duo for staying in the game and hoping to influence the future Elk Grove.