Work Progresses on Elk Grove's First Supportive Housing Project - Bobbie's $10 Million Taxpayers' Money Mistake
The Mayor's hubris and arrogance cost Elk Grove taxpayers millions of dollars that could have been better used than paying for her mistake
By all appearances, the Coral Blossom supportive and affordable housing project on the northern border of Elk Grove is progressing. As of April 19, site preparation at the Elk Grove-Florin Road site is in high gear.
The story of the Coral Blossom project will be part of Elk Grove Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen's longtime legacy, but not in the way she will want it remembered. And to be fair, the Coral Blossom legacy will also include California Assemblymember Stephanie Nguyen, Sacramento County Supervisor Pat Hume, and Elk Grove City Councilmembers Rod Brewer, Sergio Robles, Kevin Spease, and Darren Suen.
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They all have latent fingerprints on the project. But as a weak city government mayor who exerts oversized influence on city policy as a strong-mayor government would, and as the lead conspirator in this boondoggle with taxpayers' money, Bobbie Singh-Allen is the point person.
The Coral Blossom was first planned for Old Town Elk Grove as the Oak Rose supportive housing project. Instead of standing for the marginalized in society, Madame Mayor succumbed to the worst instincts of a handful of Old Town advocates and denied the project in violation of state law.
Despite knowing they had broken the law, Singh-Allen and her cohort pressed on. The result was that taxpayers had to pay $10 million to Long Beach, Calif.-based Excelerate Housing Group for denying their Old Town project, all because of the mayor's hubris.
Naturally, the mayor, like Donald Trump, blamed others for her mistakes. See the video below.
Along with the $10 million the mayor wasted defending a group of narrow-minded Old Town bigots who opposed the Oak Rose project, she also bought the Elk Grove-Florin Road sites. If you didn't know better, it could be argued that Excelerate Housing Group identified Elk Grove as an easy mark!
Regardless, when the Coral Blossom opens, it is almost a sure bet that Mayor Singh-Allen and her posse will be there smiling and mugging for the camera. Of course, as a former rib rock Republican, Madame Mayor learned how to triangulate this issue.
Readers will recall that when former President Joe Biden's stimulus package passed, it had no Republican support. But a not-so-surprising thing happened when the infrastructure project broke ground in Republican districts.
Those same Congress members who voted against the stimulus package showed up and took credit for it. Mayor Singh-Allen and these polticians have no shame.
Unless we are very wrong and Mayor Singh-Allen shows decorum and restraint, which is unlikely, she and others who voted against marginalized people in the Summer of 2022, when they denied the original Oak Rose project, will show up and take a victory lap for doing their part in addressing this pressing social problem.
