The Gang's All Here For Half Elk - Except Hume, Scherman

Elk Grove Council Member Sophia Scherman and her political protege, Council Member Pat Hume. Hume headed for internal exile? While li...

Elk Grove Council Member Sophia Scherman
and her political protege, Council Member
Pat Hume.
Hume headed for internal exile?

While linking a recent post on Facebook, a sponsored link popped out - Elk Grove's inaugural Running of the Elk Half Marathon. The event, which could become a big deal for Elk Grove someday, is slated for April 1 and has an honorary host committee loaded with a who's who of local politicians with a couple of notable exceptions.

The committee includes four of the five Cosumnes Community Services District members, state senators, local assembly members, school district members, council members from nearby city's and three of the five Elk Grove City Council members.

Notably missing from the honorary committee are two Elk Grove City Council Members - Sophia Scherman and Pat Hume.

For Elk Grove City Council observers, the fact that Scherman and her political protege Pat Hume are not on the committee are probably not surprised. After a very acrimonious 2010, fissures and alliances on the council were evident for all to see.

One one side is Sherman and Hume and on the other Mayor Jim Cooper and council members Gary Davis and Steve Detrick. While 2011 saw the five tap down things during council meetings, the divisions were still there.

For Scherman, the exclusion from the committee, whether by her own choice or not, its not that big of a deal, not counting her ego. With her council seat drawn out of existence effective with this years election, the longtime Elk Grove politician has already set her sites on the Assembly.

For Scherman's protege Hume, this exclusion, whether voluntary or not, could be an indicator of his role on the city council over the next two years.

With Davis running to be Elk Grove's first popularly elected mayor and Cooper and Detrick running for reelection to their respective seats, all three thus far have no known opponents. While all three will  undoubtedly be challenged, they are all well financed and barring some unforeseen campaign issue, should be able to secure their respective bids.

With Scherman gone and Davis elected mayor, Davis' seat will be vacant. Should the council decide to make an appointment to fill the seat rather than hold an expensive special election, who do you think Cooper, Davis and Detrick would support - someone loyal to them or on the same side as Hume?

If this plays out, Hume will undoubtedly be the one in several 4-1 votes. For Hume, that could spell trouble for his local political career.

Aside from his strong advocacy for inclusion of the Cosumnes River floodplain in the city's original sphere of influence application, which was stripped out, Hume has no substantial accomplishments during his tenure on the council. Fast forward to 2014 and Hume's scarce list of accomplishments will still be empty.

So while Scherman and Hume's exclusion from the Running of the Half Elk honorary committee is probably not a career killer per se, it is indicative of their respective political futures.

But hey, strange things can happen in politics. Maybe if Scherman wins her bid for the Assembly she can once again mentor Hume after being termed out and get him elected to the Assembly. Scherman has done it for Hume once, she can do it again.

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2 comments

Anonymous said...

Such a shame! I guess “the legacy” that was supposed to be, is gone forever; along with Mr. Hume’s pledge of the Rotary Four Way Test that he brought to the city council which are his “guiding principles for governing his political life along with his personal life.”

What a joke he is! Has he once told the truth about anything? Principle Number One!!

People have finally seen the “Little Emperor” for who he is! Too bad Hume had to use the Catholic Church in that hit piece to get reelected, that and that mailer that he “hires firefighters and prosecutors.”

Where are those city prosecutors you hired Council member Hume?

Anonymous said...

Welcome to Humeville! Give us your tired, your poor, your weak, and we will proceed to hoodwink you all. That picture you posted looks like a couple of puffed up dodo birds getting ready to take flight, and not a minute too soon!

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