The Bee endorses a veteran leader for a key Sacramento County Supervisor seat | Opinion

The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors will have a new representative next year with the retirement of the 4th District’s Sue Frost. While this editorial board had more than its share of disagreements with Frost, we find ourselves in agreement with her pick to replace her on the board.

Rosario Rodriguez is currently serving as a council member of the Folsom City Council, and recently completed a term as mayor. Of the three candidates for the 4th District seat, Rodriguez stood out as the most prepared and knowledgeable applicant about the district and the many obstacles the county can expect to face in the next four years.

The 4th District includes the communities of Citrus Heights, Folsom, Orangevale, Antelope, Rio Linda, Elverta, Gold River, Rancho Murieta, North Highlands, Carmichael, Old Foothill Farms and Fair Oaks — all well-established and typically conservative-leaning suburbs, in the northeast and eastern regions of the county. It is home to a little more than 301,000 people, but is by far the smallest district in the county in terms of population, according to county data.

Rodriguez is the owner of Sutter Street Taqueria, in Folsom’s Historic District, which she opened in 2016. A self-described “moderate Republican,” Rodriguez’s experience as a small business owner will assist the board with understanding the challenges Sacramento County businesses face. She previously served on the Historic District Commission, and was a board member for the Folsom Chamber of Commerce, the Twin Lakes Food Bank and the Folsom Economic Development Corporation.

Does that mean we’ll always agree with her politics? Of course not, but Rodriguez clearly demonstrates a passion for serving the community, and shows strong potential to to be a rational voice on the board. And she seems interested in the many challenges of the job as supervisor, unlike her predecessor, whose opposition to the public health response to the Covid crisis was a grand and unfortunate distraction.

While the policies of candidate Braden Murphy are progressive and in contrast to Rodriguez, he spent far too much time in our interview criticizing Rodriguez’s tenure on the Folsom City Council than in demonstration of any political knowledge or experience.

The other candidate, Bret Daniels, has spent much of his career on the Citrus Heights City Council, but his candidacy seems to offer a style of leadership that may be even more extreme than Frost, and that would not represent this district overall, nor the broader interests of the county.

Neither Murphy nor Daniels seem ready to sit on the Board of Supervisors.

Rodriguez, comparatively, has a wealth of experience, background and stability that speak well of her ability to succeed in the seat. She led the Folsom City Council to unanimously adopt a 5-year strategic plan last year, and adopted a $246 million budget that kept a watchful eye on an anticipated structural deficit of almost $600,000, which the city said is due to inflation.

California’s own budget deficit will be a serious issue for the next iteration of the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors, who will have to decide on numerous cuts to keep vital services running, and Rodriguez is the best placed of all candidates to provide intelligent counsel and help residents through tight times.

This story was originally published February 13, 2024 at 5:00 AM.