Reading the Tea Leaves - Chaires For Elk Grove City Council

August 2, 2014 | One of the more interesting aspects of reviewing financial disclosures for Elk Grove City Council candidates is to ...


August 2, 2014 |

One of the more interesting aspects of reviewing financial disclosures for Elk Grove City Council candidates is to interpolate contributors and future actions that person or their opponents might, or more importantly, might not take should they be elected.

For District 4 candidate Nancy Chaires, there are some few contributors worth considering the implications for both her and her main opponent, Steve Ly.

The biggest of course is the $5,000 contribution Chaires received from the United Food and Commercial Workers. This union primarily represent workers in collective bargaining with grocery chains such as Raley's/Bel Air and Safeway.

In this regard, Chaires is unlikely to support another Walmart in Elk Grove. Outside of locating at or near the Outlet Collection at Elk Grove, Walmart's further expansion doesn't seem feasible in the next decade or so. Nonetheless, Jacques Loveall can never be  too sure. Conversely, will Chaires be willing to take a stand for Walmart employees and help them improve their lot in life by advocating for higher wages?

Then there is the $1,500 contribution from former California Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez. Given Nunez' contributions of over $6,500 to Mayor Gary Davis, who has his unbending support of building a $120-million taxpayer-funded soccer stadium employing scores, or perhaps hundreds of minimum wage part-time benefit-less employees, in hopes of attracting a professional soccer team that could line the pocket of Nunez, we have to say Chaires is strangely aligned with the Mayor.   

Frankly we are puzzled why Nunez didn't hedge his bet and give a similar, albeit smaller donation to Ly.  Ly is being supported by Davis and has tacitly supported the scheme, so in a tight race why not contribute to both? Perhaps Nunez calculates Ly will blindly support Davis in this endeavor regardless, so why waste the money?

Chaires also received a generous donation of $1,000 from a Washington DC-based political action committee (PAC) dubbed the DRIVE Committee. DRIVE is a PAC from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, and as an out-of state PAC, it can be interpreted that the Teamsters see Chaires as a rising star in the California Democratic party that they want to ensure the loyalty of should she win this November.

And finally there is the modest $500 contribution from local McDonald's franchise operator, Steve Ramirez. On a very obvious level Ramirez wants to make sure he has more than one friendly ear on the city council when he builds more free-standing outlets of the worldwide fast food purveyor for future Elk Grove residents in SEPA or SOI areas, sans outdoor trash receptacles.

But could something more be at play considering the often negative publicity of McDonald's?

First, there is the well-documented negative health effects associated with the food dished out by the likes of McDonald's. Even though Elk Grove has nothing if not a proliferation of fast food outlets (see map below), it does run contrary to the city's attempt to create an image of a health-conscious hip destination.

More likely, Ramirez is hedging against any move, remote as it may be in a progressively unenlightened place like Elk Grove, to impose a city-wide minimum wage similar what San Jose and more recently San Diego have done.

Ironically, while Chaires and Ly will gladly take contributions from unions to protect their well-paid members, it is unlikely either will have the courage to take a stand and do something to improve the life's of hundreds, if not thousands of minimum wage retail and fast food workers populating Elk Grove's work force, 67-percent of whom are not teenagers. 

By the definition of some conservatives, both Chaires and Ly are displaying classic symptoms of limousine liberals. Does the shoe fit?

Until Chaires and Ly do something to actually address this and show they are true Democrats who stand with workers, Walmart and McDonald's can continue to claim victory. 


View Elk Grove Fast Food Elk Grove's Real Destination!- in a larger map


Post a Comment Default Comments

5 comments

Anonymous said...

Flat bland hot windy sprawling fast food nail salons gun stores smoke shops vape palaces strip malls cheap looking apartments lack of symphony light opera and ballet very few upscale restaurants dollar stores cookie cutter houses.

Texas?

No, Elk Grove brought to you by the rubber stampers.

Anonymous said...

MLS soccer dreams? Read this story.

http://www.sacbee.com/2014/08/03/6601050/kings-owners-in-talks-to-buy-sacramentos.html

Hypocrisy from Democrats? Read this.

http://www.sacbee.com/2014/08/02/6601133/california-democrats-accepting.html

EGN's Targets said...

EGN has found another target, Nancy Chaires. Since Gary Davis is going to run unopposed, EGN needs another candidate to go after with its continued biased blogging. Davis has been EGN's “target du jour” for years now.

EGN hasn’t succeeded in that Davis won the mayoral race by a landslide. So given EGN’s effect on local elections, Chaires should use it has a prediction.

The only positive press EGN has given is for the self promoting media hungry Detricks. EGN must be following them around hoping for some crumbs.

Bob L said...

To Targets:

Maybe Davis won by a landslide because of the apathy and lack of knowledge exhibited by the Elk Grove voters.

He's always good for a sound bite on the local news, with no one holding him accountable for all the wasted tax dollars gone into feasibility studies and chasing an MLS dream that if it came to fruition, would undoubtedly bankrupt our city.

Remember five or six wonderful , educated, and dedicated citizens came forth when Davis gave up his seat to run for mayor. Yet, the council was so concerned with the potential political shift of power, none where selected and we ended up with Bob Trigg, who has been asleep at the wheel for two years.

Plenty of blame to go around and just about everyone has to share that blame. Wake up voters!

Time for some new blood on our council.

lynn said...

It has been time for new council for a long time! As long as apathy rules we cannot expect anything different. Davis received less than 50% of the vote. I do not consider this a landslide. JMO

Follow Us

Popular

Archives

Elk Grove News Minute






All previous Elk Grove News Minutes, interviews, and Dan Schmitt's Ya' Gotta be Schmittin' Me podcasts are now available on iTunes

Elk Grove News Podcast




item