Cofer, come back! She lost the mayor race, but Flo could still shake up Sacramento | Opinion
Flojaune Cofer, the progressive candidate for mayor of Sacramento, has lost the race to Assemblyman Kevin McCarty.
Sigh.
In these days of increasingly bad news from the federal level of government, I can admit I was stubbornly clinging to my hope for her comeback, as Sacramento County’s results trickled in over the last three weeks.
Cofer was an inspirational candidate from outside of Sacramento’s calcified political pecking order. That she was able to give a former councilman with legislative experience and big labor backing such a hard run was exciting, even for a hardened politico like me at the ripe old age of 35.
Both candidates deserve congratulations on the race, and when he’s sworn in this December, Mayor-elect McCarty would do well to remember that he now represents everyone, not just those who voted for him.
Meanwhile, Cofer should take a well-needed rest and recovery period, because frankly, we still need her.
Cofer should run for Sacramento County Supervisorial District 1 in 2026 — Phil Serna’s seat.
Serna must go
Serna, he of the bizarre temper tantrums, really should have had a challenger for his seat in 2022. But without anyone else on the ballot, he swung easily into his fourth term and is now the most senior supervisor on the board — despite acting like the most immature.
Last year, Serna exploded into a tirade against a disabled veteran who called him a “political hack” in a Facebook comment, launching multiple replies calling the man “pathetic,” “disgusting” and a “coward;” accusing him of being a Hamas apologist, and blatantly suggesting that a specific part of the man’s anatomy wasn’t big enough to run for public office “and ALL the sacrifice that comes with it.”
Serna seems burnt out, angry and apathetic toward issues he ought to be leading on, and I’m not the only one to have noticed.
Outgoing City Councilwoman Katie Valenzuela, whose District 4 is entirely within Serna’s county district, said she has often been “flummoxed” by Serna’s “lack of responsiveness and the seeming willingness to stay away from hard conversations with constituents.”
“Coming into office, I saw him as someone who would be the most understanding of (our) issues, because he represents the city,” Valenzuela said, “and I didn’t get anywhere” and that she “couldn’t get any real direction.”
Valenzuela said the “death knell” for their working relationship was during the COVID pandemic when the city had the opportunity to set up a Safe Ground camping site behind the Blue Diamond factory on C Street.
“Phil’s on the Zoom (call), and he’s like, ‘Well, I don’t know… you know, the W/X (Safe Ground site) didn’t really work that well,’ — which it did, by the way,” Valenzuela said, paraphrasing her conversation that day with Serna. “I remember the mayor looking like he was gonna throw his computer across the room.”
“I (was) just appalled at the lack of curiosity and the lack of interest in trying,” she said.
Cofer for County?
Cofer would be an excellent replacement for Serna, if only because she cares about the city and county, but especially so with her background in public health, and as an epidemiologist.
“I think the county has really suffered by not having anyone with a medical background for so long,” said former Sacramento mayor Heather Fargo. Former Sacramento County Supervisor Sandy Smolley had experience as a nurse, and so had Anne Rudin, the first directly-elected female mayor of Sacramento, Fargo pointed out.
“She would be walking in with 50% of the vote off the bat, just based off of what she’s done (in this election),” Fargo said.
“Dr. Cofer ran a very strong campaign and she has a bright future if she chooses to continue,” said current Sacramento mayor Darrell Steinberg. “She has a public health background, and she has not been afraid to step out.”
Neither Fargo nor Steinberg would go on the record about their working relationship with Serna, which says a great deal. Normally, long-time colleagues in Sacramento politics praise easily and enthusiastically.
Not in this case.
Supes are hand-tied
The current Sacramento County Board of Supervisors leans to the center-right, and especially now that District 5 is in the hands of Patrick Hume, darling of the developers’ set. He’s also a strong proponent of the Capital Southeast Connector that would bisect the rural areas and farmland to the south of the larger county and sits on the Connector JPA’s Board of Directors.
Should Cofer run for a seat on the board, she could help balance it back to true center and bring much-needed opposition as a progressive voice that currently lacks representation on the board. And, arguably, Cofer would be in a better position, and with more of a budget at her disposal, to do something about homelessness in the city of Sacramento.
Even more so, perhaps, than if she had won the mayor’s seat.
This story was originally published November 27, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
