Beyond the Purges - How Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen is Building Her Elk Grove Political Machine

Near the end of the December 10 Elk Grove City Council meeting, there was a little-noticed and quickly handled agenda item. While it went unnoticed and was swiftly dispatched, it was an indication of the powerful political machine Elk Grove Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen is building at City Hall and throughout the city.

That item was to discuss appointments to the city's various committees and commissions. During the city council meeting, there were no changes made to the committees, and why should there be, given that FOBs - Friends of Bobbie - have been appointed to the most influential positions.

All of the positions on the Planning Commission, Arts and Creative Economy Commission, the Measure E Citizens' Oversight Committee, and six of the nine members of the Diversity and Inclusion Commission are appointees of Singh Allen. They are all FOBs.

When she assumed office in late 2020, Singh-Allen accomplished something former Mayor Steve Ly could not do in his four years as Mayor - she began her purge of the important, relatively speaking, commissions. Singh-Allen convinced a compliant city council to give her the power to oust people she did not want on commissions and committees and replace them with her loyalists.

The one person she did not immediately purge was former Planning Commissioner George Murphey, who voluntarily resigned in April 2024 after serving for almost 17 years. With Murphey's exit, all five Planning Commissioners are Singh-Allen loyalists.

Last year, Singh-Allen completed her purge when she disbanded the Elk Grove Arts Commission. Singh-Allen proposed, and her four city councilmen obediently approved the disbandment of the five-member commission and replaced it with the seven-member Arts and Creative Economy Commission, which included only two from the disbanded group.

To be sure, there are a few other scragglers from pre-FOB days, but those are on committees of limited significance often have difficulty filling vacancies.

By filling the committees and commissions with her loyalists, the Mayor accomplishes several feats. The first thing is that Mayor Singh-Allen burnishes her influence at the expense of her four city councilmen - she is the Alpha Dog.

Do you think any of them dare object to any of her nominations? Now the city councilmen will say this is proof of their exceptional cooperation, but really, they are serving at the pleasure of the Mayor.

These purges are how a politician in a weak-mayor system builds influence within a body where they are just one of five votes. Furthermore, if the commissions are filled with FOBs, will any city staff dare cross them lest they draw the wrath of the Mayor?

How can the Mayor use this influence to improve her political power? There is one thing that immediately comes to mind - she could easily sway her four compliant city council members to approve a ballot proposal that would change the Mayor's term from two to four years.

Furthermore, the Mayor can have all her appointees advocate for and support such a ballot proposal because if they don't, they may not get reappointed.

Think about it - Mayor Singh-Allen has political ambitions for something more, and if she can make the Mayor's term four years, it will allow her more flexibility in running for higher office. If she has a four-year term starting in 2028, she could run for another office halfway through a term in 2030, and if she loses, she will still have her mayoral position.

The Mayor could get this placed on the 2026 Elk Grove ballot, and if approved, the Elk Grove mayoral term could become four years, starting in 2028 - a presidential election year. By doing this, in 2030, assuming she hasn't left office by then, Singh-Allen could run for a higher office, perhaps challenge an Assemblymember, or, depending on the outcome of this year's 7th District Congressional race, run for a retiring Congressmember's seat or challenge the incumbent.

Admittedly, this is a far-fetched scenario. Nonetheless, given Mayor Singh-Allen's ambition, don't underestimate the measures she will take to leverage her growing influence to advance her career.