Thank You to the City of Rancho Cordova

You may not all realize it, but you are role models. I live in Arden Arcade, an area north of the river and below Interstate 80, bound on the west by Ethan Way and on the east by Mission Avenue in Carmichael.

In 2004, early members of the Arden Arcade Study Team hired a firm to perform an economic analysis to see if Arden Arcade was viable as a city. We’ve come a long way since that first study showed that Arden Arcade had a very strong economic base. Even with the current economic situation, a newer study shows we are still viable as a city.

Once of the first things the study team did was talk with officials from other cities who incorporated from Sacramento County and become independent cities. Rancho Cordova, Citrus Heights and Elk Grove all incorporated within the past 10 years, so we looked to those cities for inspiration, guidance and information. As a matter of fact, Rancho Cordova’s incorporation was passed by voters in 2002, so there is a lot of current information available that would prove to be extremely helpful to us in our incorporation process.

The first thing we learned was that incorporation is not an easy or short process. It took Rancho Cordova nearly 20 years of advocacy for city-hood before it became a reality. The struggles didn’t stop there. Negotiations between your city and the County of Sacramento over “revenue neutrality,” took years to settle and included some legal battles. Your city-hood movement paved the way for us, because you set precedents that will help us when we have to negotiate revenue neutrality with the County of Sacramento.

Today, Arden Arcade is nearly through the LAFCo (Local Area Formation Commission) process required to get city-hood on the ballot November 2010. It has not been easy because we were the first incorporation proponents who were required by LAFCo to pay for the necessary environmental impact reports and a comprehensive fiscal analysis up front. Other cities like Rancho Cordova were allowed time to raise the money during the process. This first hurdle seemed overwhelming, since we had just finished raising money to pay for the petition process and thought we had time for fundraising. Those early LAFCo payment requirements would have stopped us, but the three local new cities along with Arden Arcade residents and businesses pitched in and contributed money to help us begin the LAFCo process.

As we’ve moved steadily forward,  leaders from your community have spoken to Arden Arcade residents at community meetings, sharing the amazing progress you’ve made in creating a new, strong community with tremendous potential. Hearing from them about how your city cleaned up derelict cars, questionable businesses, and provided help to neighborhoods to clean up yards and streets, as well as the partnership you have with the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department to make Rancho Cordova safe, shows our residents that we can do the same in Arden Arcade. Hearing about it first hand is very powerful.

As a matter of fact, your Police Chief, Reuben Meeks and City Council member David Sander have agreed to speak at a community meeting in Arden Arcade next week on October 22nd along with Sacramento County Deputy Sheriff John McGinness about how they are able to provide solid police staffing when other cities are cutting back. This is good news we need to hear as we struggle with law enforcement and other cutbacks required by the tough Sacramento County budget. We expect about 500 people to attend this community meeting and your example will help us visualize a better future for Arden Arcade. Knowing that we can use the model your city developed for law enforcement and other improvements gives us confidence and hope.

I attended Mills Junior High School in Rancho Cordova as a teenager in the early 1960s and have watched your community grow and change over the years. It gives me great pleasure to see you thrive and prosper, provide a safe environment and create a strong sense of community. Thank you. Plan to celebrate with us in November 2010 when we take the next step toward becoming a city.

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Posted by Pat Cole on Oct 16 2009. Filed under Viewpoints. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.