SEPA Part I - Elk Grove Mayor Gary Davis Promises 25,000 High-Paying Jobs - Video

August 14, 2015 | Elk Grove's Southeast Policy Area (SEPA) in the city's last large contiguous parcel of undeveloped land....



August 14, 2015 |

Elk Grove's Southeast Policy Area (SEPA) in the city's last large contiguous parcel of undeveloped land. At 1,200-acres, it represents a once-in-a-city's-life opportunity to truly create something special and to meet unfulfilled needs.

In the case of Elk Grove, the city's biggest need is to create high-paying jobs. We are not talking about low wage service and fast food jobs that abound here - we are talking about jobs that can support a family who wants to live in Elk Grove.

To that end, since its inception the SEPA has been wrapped in the sort of new urbanism that was suppose to take root in Elk Grove's Laguna West area. One of the key components city leaders have long held is that it will be the city's jobs magnet.

At the Wednesday, August 12, 2015 Elk Grove Mayor made three claims. One of the claims was bold, one was ambiguous, and one was pure malarkey.

The bold assertion was that the SEPA would bring 25,000 jobs. As you will see in Part II, for the last 25 years Elk Grove has had land with existing infrastructure to bring major employers and yet those jobs have never materialized. 

The second was Davis' assertion that the SEPA's jobs to housing ratio is one-to-one. Does that mean there are going to be 25,000 homes or people to 25,000 jobs? Mayor Davis, please clarify your comments - they are ambiguously misleading.

And finally, there is the super-majority the Mayor and Vice Mayor Pat Hume spoke of needed to rezone anything in the SEPA. This appears nothing more than spin to offer political cover for any one council member who may be in need of it at a particular point in time. 

From our perspective, the vast majority of council votes are unanimous with a few 4-1 votes thrown-in for good measure. The last few cases of 3-2 votes that we recall included the Walmart liquor license in 2013 and Hume's effort last summer to kill the soccer stadium scheme.

Will the council really vote 3-2, when the time comes, and it will come, to kill a SEPA rezone request from the likes of a very generous campaign contributor like Christo Bardis?

Part II Cont. here. 








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12 comments

Anonymous said...

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12 acres = 1,700 to 2,000 jobs at a 4 to a 1,000 square feet, 80% net land ratio.

(12 acres x 43,560 square feet per acre x 80% land use efficiency divided by 1,000 times 4)

Where are the 25,000 jobs coming from?

Do you believe in the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus?

The job / housing imbalance is so out of kilter even with the token number of jobs that MIGHT be created at the project site.

Elk Grove will become a crime ridden dump because the vast majority of the parents have to drive out of town to get decent paying jobs, leaving their "precious little snowflakes" an opportunity to wreak havoc during their absence.




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Anonymous said...

When the Mayor brings a company to Elk Grove with high paying manufacturing biotech jobs then you will have something to brag about Mayor Davis. At this point you're just blowing hot air and we all know it. You don't even have a plan on how you are going to accomplish this or the expertise to even accomplish it at this point. Our cities history of the last 15 years will back this up. I'm surprised the roof at city hall didn't collapse when he made that irresponsible statement.

Anonymous said...

Surprised I didn't hear a word from the Mayor about a Food Truck Mecca being a part of the commercial area. With 25,000 jobs those 3rd shift higher-end earners are going to need a place to dine. Maybe even a Gracies Coffee stand for the truckers traveling down Kammerer Road.

Anonymous said...

Davis has been blowing hot air, referencing every promise he has made. This fact has become a public joke. When is he going to stop making a fool of himself? We are embarrassed having Davis as our Mayor.

Anonymous said...

I'll ask Mayor Davis what many are asking, ‘I wonder if this guy can do all that’? Do we have a miracle worker in our midst and here he has been holding out on us all these years with a Food Truck venue, Ice Rink or a weiner roast? Well hold on to your hats folks...those high-paying jobs are finally on the way. You Devil you...holding out on us!

Anonymous said...


LMBO Anon.8:25

Looks like someone beat us to the punch again. Rocklin has Bass Pro Shops opening Sept. 9th and Rockler Woodworking and Hardware opening Oct. 10th. Would have filled those available spaces near I-5 if someone had been on the ball. Hour late and a dollar short again.....

Anonymous said...

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Why would the business park developers need more roof tops to justify building office and industrial properties?

Go look at the freeways during rush hours.

There are thousands of long suffering commuters that have to drive from this suburban wasteland to job centers in Roseville, Rocklin, Folsom, West Sacramento, Woodland, Davis and Sacramento.

Elk Grove is the land of Bass Ackwards land use planning and development.


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Anonymous said...

I wonder...did our Mayor ever consider that Elk Grove may just be what it now is, a small farm surburb with good schools-some nice grocers-medium priced eating joints-trails for biking or walking-sports for the kids, etc., etc.? It is not or will it ever be some commercial hub on the outskirts of Sacto. We might get some big box store on that vacant land at Bruceville/EG Blvd. we've heard talk of for 10+ years or maybe near the long awaited Mall that will probably never be built. I'm even afraid SEPA may go wanting for home buyers, thinking developers are taking a hugh risk entering that market. Remember we have Delta Shores with their hugh housing plans and commercial to compete with.

I also wonder why our city leaders are not welcoming input from the community, keeping the community fully informed in our local newspaper, giving speakers time to finish their sentence before cutting them off with a warning. We are a community with a disconnect between the people and the leaders...something that needs to be fixed if we are to become that great city they speak of. That's also the job of a successful Mayor, Lead by example!

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful idea....LEAD BY EXAMPLE.

http://www.soulcraft.co/essays/lead_by_example.html

Anonymous said...

Keep on building more rooftops.

Empty the groundwater table.

Watch the land sink.

Watch the city run out of water and become a ghost town.

http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article31527953.html

http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2015/07/28/california-drought-could-wipe-cities-off-map-if-their-water-runs-out/

Anonymous said...

I would rather live in Delta Shores.

It is closer to the Delta

Better shopping and restaurants in Sacramento.

Faster commute to Sacramento.

Why I would choose Delta Shores instead of living in the SEPA

All of the above plus IT'S IN SACRAMENTO and not Elk Grove. I thought Kevin Johnson was sub par until I read about what is going on in this city.

Anonymous said...

Is it just me or do you agree, that a statement such as that is very irresponsible for a Mayor to make? A firm number and nothing to back it up. We have to be the laughing stock of Sac County...major "Dumbed-Down". It's very frustrating being a taxpayer in this community and that IMO is not lost on those businesses we would hope to have come to our city. They'll sell you to the highest bidder....recent lawsuit proves that!

Wonder if the new EDD did an Elk Grove GOOGLE?

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