Some business owners I know want Flojaune Cofer to win the mayor’s race. That’s crazy, I say, a vote against the city’s future.
Whatever qualities voters might attribute to Cofer, alignment with the business community is not among them.
As a neighborhood activist, Cofer made no secret of following a democratic socialist political agenda that treats businesspeople as a trope—greedy capitalists, agents of commerce who conspire against common folk.
Anti-business agendas are foolish, at least in Sacramento, where most business operators are small, overworked and often transplanted from distant lands. In other words, common folk.
Still, progressive politicians embrace the anti-business angle. It sounds righteous and certifies the candidate as supportive of residents whose daily frustrations include paying too much for groceries, rent and insurance.
As a mayoral candidate, Cofer downplays her radical side. Her opponent, Assemblymember Kevin McCarty, learned decades ago to steer a middle course when appealing to voters.
Cofer often sounds like she’s mimicking McCarty, without McCarty’s legislative substance.
Here’s where business support for Cofer gets interesting. Several businesspeople tell me they like Cofer despite knowing she’s not business friendly.
They think they can change her. They believe they can convince Cofer that mayoral success requires working with the business community.
My business friends think once Cofer settles in as mayor, she will choose pragmatism over global ambitions and democratic socialist dreams.
Really? Probing deeper, I learned the real reason behind business support for Cofer has little to do with her. It’s about McCarty.
Some of my business friends have history with McCarty, disagreements dating back 15 years when he was on City Council.
They know McCarty is more progressive than he presents at election time, a common feature among local politicians from Darrell Steinberg to Roger Dickinson. Sacramento voters are overwhelmingly Democrats, minus the socialist appendage.
The strategy I describe here means my business friends are gambling they can rehabilitate Cofer. They know they can’t change McCarty.
As betting strategies go, coaching Cofer is a loser. I’ve played this game before. It won’t work.
In 2020, eager to see Steve Hansen ejected from City Council because he didn’t support access to the Sacramento River Parkway levee, I tried to help his opponent, an unknown novice named Katie Valenzuela.
I met with Valenzuela a couple of times and explained how City Hall worked based on my experience as special assistant to Mayor Kevin Johnson.
I wrote nice columns about her and emphasized her support for levee parkway access. My goal was to see Hansen gone. Valenzuela became the vehicle when nobody else had the guts to run against him. Somehow, she won.
Several political friends, old pros from my days in the mayor’s office, said I was stupid to support Valenzuela. They said she was a naïve and reckless progressive who would create four years of havoc at City Council. I told them they were wrong.
Katie is smart and coachable, I said. She wants a political career. She may stumble, but she’ll learn to work with people beyond the political fringe. She seeks respect from everyone.
Turns out my political friends were right. I was stupid. Entranced by her electoral success, Valenzuela leaped into the frigid waters of radicalized politics.
After just one term, voters bounced Valenzuela from City Hall. They replaced her in the March primary with a sensible, moderate alternative, Phil Pluckebaum.
Valenzuela is smart and passionate but not coachable. Her political career is dead.
In the mayor’s race, I don’t want my business friends to make the same mistake I made four years ago with Valenzuela. If they think they can work with Flo Cofer, I present my experience with Valenzuela to say they are crazy.
Cofer is smart and charismatic. She filibusters when asked details. She softens her positions. But when she talked about defunding police and supporting homeless camps, she meant it.
On the other hand, McCarty is a political pro. Transactional and result oriented. He means business, if you know what I mean.
R.E. Graswich can be reached at regraswich@icloud.com. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram: @insidesacramento.
