What Councilman Darren Suen said over 7 years ago about Elk Grove's rural area
In the coming months, Elk Grove Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen and the City Council will face what could be a difficult political decision. That decision will be whether or not to gut the city's longstanding promise to preserve the city's unique rural area on the east side.
Known as the Sheldon area or more commonly referred to as the rural area, the landmass contains several large parcels with existing single-family dwellings. The area predates Elk Grove's incorporation in 2000 by several decades.
The city is processing a developer's application that will transform a portion of the existing rural area into a high-density active-senior community, known as the Summer Villas. Located on the southeast corner of Sheldon and Waterman roads, the subdivision would accommodate up to 499 single-family dwellings on 72 acres and would require a significant amendment to the city's General Plan.
Not surprisingly, residents of rural areas are organizing an effort to convince Singh-Allen and her councilmen to deny the application. As part of the process, the residents should start counting their votes among the five city council members.
One person who appears to be with the rural area residents is District 3 Councilmember Kevin Spease. Even though the rural area lies entirely within District 1, represented by Councilman Rod Brewer, Spease grew up along Sheldon Road and has implied his support for preserving the area, as promised.
Brewer, who won the District 2 seat in 2022 without winning any rural precincts, could be pressured. If Brewer is convinced to vote for the rural area, that leaves one more move to thwart the development.
Mayor Singh-Allen and District 4 Councilman Sergio Robles are indifferent to the pleas from the rural area, and it is probably in their political interest to support the developer. That leaves District 1 Councilman Darren Suen.
With this perspective, it is worth considering what the Dean of the City Council said over seven years ago at a Sacramento Local Agency Formation Commission meeting as the city was seeking expansion. Essentially, Mr. Suen noted the city has promised to keep the rural area intact (see video below and see his entire commentary here).
With the advent of by-district voting, which Suen interestingly opposed, the veteran councilman no longer has to worry about supporting residents in rural areas. The quandary for rural area residents is how they convince Suen to support their desires.
That will be a strategy the rural area residents and their supporters will need to develop. Given that Elk Grove elected and high-ranking public officials lack the character to live up to their promises, this will be no small task.
As of today, Thursday, August 14, 2025, it has been exactly 7 years, 6 months, and 7 days, or 2,745 days, since Mr. Suen made that promise. In the next several months, rural area residents and voters will learn if he is a man of his word.
#8647 #NoKings #ProDemocracy
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1 comment
Gazing into my crystal political ball, I see that Brewer is the only one who needs the rural vote, seeing that he represents that district.
The remaining three Councilmembers represent other districts and rural voters will not be voting in their next election. The Mayor receives votes city-wide, but from a mathematical perspective, the rural vote will neither make or break her next election run--she frankly doesn't need their votes.
So, mix in campaign contributions received from the project proponenrts and the limited political clout of the rural area, and I see Brewer voting NO (to gain reelection) and the others voting YES. The YES votes will be accompanied with well-crafted speeches about the need for more housing, our hands are tied, I'm holding my nose, seniors need housing, the project will be closely monitored, blah, blah, blah.
4-1 approval, next project please.
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