Political fight ends: Folsom councilman resigns after mayor questions his residency
Folsom City Councilman Roger Gaylord resigned last week, marking the end of a bitter political fight sparked by his purchase of a home in El Dorado County.
Gaylord purchased the home in Pilot Hill in May with intentions to move there once his term concluded in December. But after the sale of his Folsom home, Mayor Sarah Aquino questioned whether Gaylord was still living in the city and yanked Gaylord from several community boards.
For Gaylord, his June 10 resignation, effective immediately, brings to a close a short and sometimes turbulent political career in Folsom for a young, conservative councilman who narrowly won a seat in 2016 in a stunning upset over a 16-year incumbent.
In May, Gaylord purchased a new home in El Dorado County as a second home, with plans to stay in Folsom with his family until the end of his term, he said. The coronavirus pandemic forced his family to reconsider their financial plans and they put their Folsom home on the market, he said. The house sold just 13 days later.
Gaylord had told city staff as early as April about his relocation plans and that he intended to find a rental apartment in Folsom to maintain his city residency.
But on June 8, Aquino emailed Gaylord that his voter registration still listed the address of his sold Folsom home, adding, “I am concerned you no longer meet the eligibility requirements of a council member ... namely, that you be a registered voter of the city.”
Aquino immediately pulled Gaylord from his positions on several community boards, including the Sacramento Homeless Policy Council, the 2x2 with the Folsom Cordova Unified School District and Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District.
Gaylord said he interpreted the move as harassment, and that “I just wasn’t going to stand for it.” Two days later, he resigned.
Aquino said her removal of Gaylord from his appointments “was not politically motivated at all.”
“I do believe in following the state law and city charter, even when it’s inconvenient,” she said.
The Folsom City Council plans to fill the vacant position by appointment to finish out Gaylord’s term through December. Candidate applications are due to the city clerk by Monday and the council will review applications and potentially appoint the new council member during its meeting the next day.
Why did Folsom councilman resign?
The events leading up to Gaylord’s resignation apparently come down to whether he was actually living in the city of Folsom after selling his home at the end of May.
City Manager Elaine Andersen texted Gaylord April 16 that “there seems to be quite a bit of ‘awareness’ in different circles” about his home listing, adding, “as always, wanted to let you know that I am here to help in any way,” according to text messages obtained through a Public Records Act request.
“I’m not going anywhere at this point,” Gaylord responded. “I mentioned this to you an (sic) (city attorney) Steve (Wang) just Incase (sic) it sells and I’m renting a place.”
“Totally get it,” Andersen replied.
Gaylord said he did not expect his Folsom home to sell as quickly as it did and he began looking for a rental. In the interim, he said he spent time at his parent’s home in Folsom and made it his temporary mailing address.
“There was a back and forth, for sure” Gaylord said.
Earlier this month, he found an apartment to rent, he said. On June 6, he told Andersen in an email that he had a new apartment on Sutter Street.
But the following Monday, Mayor Aquino sent an email to Gaylord pointing out his address with the county elections office still listed his old Folsom home that was sold.
“If he wanted to rent a property in the city sure, but he actually has to put his head on a pillow in Folsom and as we know the home he owns is in Pilot Hill in El Dorado County,” Aquino said.
She immediately pulled Gaylord from his positions on the community boards. The next day, she emailed him to say her decision would stand and “the fact that you have not voluntarily or proactively shared any of this information does not give me confidence that you are actually living in Folsom.”
Gaylord said he mistakenly believed changing his mailing address would have automatically updated his voter registration, and corrected the error with the elections office the day Aquino notified him.
He argued that he didn’t tell council members directly about his relocation plans for fear of violating the Brown Act, and that city staff members such as Andersen knew about his situation and should’ve served as liaisons.
“Your reasoning feels like harassment, or a vendetta,” Gaylord emailed Aquino back. “With all due respect, your confidence doesn’t serve as a (litmus) test for my ability to serve my position, (or) whether or not I’m a voting resident of Folsom.”
A subsequent tense teleconference call between Gaylord, Aquino, Andersen and Wang made the situation “even worse,” Gaylord said in an email to the group June 10.
“This whole thing was utter nonsense,” Gaylord said. “Even if I was to commit five days a week to Folsom away from my family ... I know I would get this constantly.”
A political outsider
Gaylord had built up a reputation over the years as hyper-engaged with residents in Folsom, regularly polling people and sharing information on social media, particularly in the popular Folsom Chat page on Facebook.
He had unsuccessfully run for council twice before finally breaking through and securing a seat in 2016, beating out 16-year Councilman Jeff Starsky by 591 votes, or just over 1 percentage point.
At the time of his election, Gaylord attributed his win to a strong social media presence and grass-roots organizing efforts, like vinyl wrapping 30 cars promoting his campaign.
Gaylord has described himself as an outsider candidate. When he won in 2016, it was a rebuke of the “status quo” political establishment in Folsom, he said.
With that reputation came trouble. Gaylord had to pay a $6,500 fine after the state’s political ethics agency said he had violated reporting requirements from a previous campaign. Gaylord didn’t dispute the charge, arguing the mistakes were made when he was a political novice.
In a city where political leaders regularly embraced new development, Gaylord had been one of the few voices on the council to consistently criticize and question it. Residents, Gaylord contended, wanted to keep Folsom small. Accepting massive growth such as a project south of Highway 50 — with more than 11,000 new homes — at face value wasn’t representing the interests of the public, he said.
He had made establishing term-limits for council members a pillar of his election campaign, telling The Bee in 2018 that “when elected officials spend decades in certain spots, you tend to lose focus and lose touch with your constituents.”
Voters approved a ballot measure proposed by Gaylord in November 2018 that would restrict council members to four consecutive four-year terms.
Gaylord announced earlier this year he did not plan to seek a second term in order to focus on his family and career.
“Believe me when I say that this is not a decision I’ve made lightly, however I need to dedicate the same (if not more) energy on my family, my career & myself once my current term is up in December,” he said in a Facebook post in April.