City Beat

It’s not news that mayoral candidate Flojaune Cofer is OK with homeless camps in city parks. She wants to defund cops, too.

But there’s something else on Cofer’s mind—the end of Sacramento as “full service” city.

Dismantling city services is one of the more bizarre ruminations from a novice politician who thrives on outlandish public policies.

Cofer’s cheerleading for free-range homeless camps and a shrunken police force is typical for progressive candidates. Decriminalization politics are standard in San Francisco and Oakland.

But Cofer veers into another universe when she supports consultants who want to make Sacramento a contract city, where unionized public employees are replaced by private companies and vendors.

Finally got around to reading the city auditor’s “Preliminary Report on the City’s Homeless Response.” Hated it. Then I read it again. Loved it.

People told me the report was a lightweight, whitewashed effort, a statistical compendium lacking analysis on how the city’s political leadership failed to manage encampments, drug sales, fires and crime.

On the surface, critics were right. The report makes zero effort to analyze decisions that turned Sacramento into a national disgrace, a place where tents line sidewalks, enforcement is discouraged and residential pleas for help are answered with, “Sorry, nothing we can do.”

There’s something wonderful and worrisome about a political novice running for mayor. A rookie brings fresh ideas and perspectives. Trouble is, what happens if the rookie wins?

This year’s wonder and worry is embodied by Flojaune Cofer, a far-left progressive in her first run for office. Her newcomer status wouldn’t matter if Cofer sought a smaller job, maybe school board. But Cofer wants to start at the top.

Her decision comes at a precarious time. Mayor Darrell Steinberg departs after eight years of disappointment. He promised to solve the homeless crisis and failed. There were 2,700 homeless people in town when Steinberg was elected. Now there are 10,000.

Many years ago, Ray Kerridge, then city manager of Sacramento, invited me to lunch. Between his salad and my cheeseburger, he asked a profound question.

If I were on City Council, where would my loyalties stand—with the district that elected me, or the entire city?
I fumbled for an answer and made up something diplomatic. If I didn’t look after people in my district, nobody else would. But my City Council decisions would impact everyone in town, not just one council district. My loyalty goes to the city.

People file lawsuits for money, publicity or vengeance. District Attorney Thien Ho is different. He wants documents.

Ho’s lawsuit against city officials over negligent management of homelessness brought relief to residents and outrage from Mayor Darrell Steinberg. A key target of Ho’s litigation was overlooked: pretrial discovery.

Ho wants the city to enforce local ordinances and state laws and clean up the streets. To understand why the city failed, he needs to see private emails, text messages and memos that guided city officials to their acceptance of tent camps and drug markets.

The city wants the suit dismissed.