On May 13, one of the issues that the City Council discussed was the possibility of eliminating the position of an elected mayor. For now, the issue is going to be tabled and discussed at a later date. However, many citizens have voiced their opposition to this movement, citing that Elk Grove needs an elected mayor. 

The meeting was a continuation of the City Council’s discussion in April about possibly removing the position of Mayor of Elk Grove. If the City Council  had passed the motion on May 13th, the issue would be placed on the November 2020 ballot.  This would allow citizens to vote on it during that time. If the position of elected Mayor of Elk Grove  were eliminated then the City Council would get a fifth member. However, this would complicate how the council is run. As each council member represents a district in Elk Grove, the city would have to redraw the district map to account for the fifth council member. Additionally, the lines would be redrawn using census data from 2010, which would be grossly inaccurate. 

If the position of Mayor of Elk Grove were eliminated, it seems to be a possibility that the position of Mayor of Elk Grove could be rotated amongst City Council Members, just as the Vice Mayor position is.

Resident Feedback On Mayor Position

Many citizens provided their input regarding this issue. City Clerk Jason Lindgren stated that the City Council received 25 written comments (some were emails), 109 recorded messages, and 2 call-in commentators. Amar Shergill, who called in, had strong opinions about the topic. Not only does he oppose the elimination of the elected position Mayor of Mayor of Elk Grove, he believes that City Council Members Suen, Hume, and Detrick have ulterior motives. “It’s fair to say that if you had been successful in making Suen mayor, that Detrick, Hume and Nguyen would not then be trying to get rid of him during his first term,” said Shergill. Additionally, with the city in lockdown and the danger of a pandemic, Shergill does not believe it fair to give residents another massive issue to think about. 

Ultimately, the issue has been tabled for now and will be discussed again at another time. With so many comments and audio recordings, the City Council did not have time to listen to all of the feedback and continue with the rest of the agenda. The City Council will more than likely discuss this subject again after the election and when the 2020 census data has been released.