Even though they could have stayed in front of their keyboards ordering stuff on Cyber Monday, local residents came out to Howe Park on Monday evening. December 2nd, for the third in a series of community meetings. The meeting’s theme was “The Vision Thing”, something seriously overlooked by the municipal leaders of our community.

Assembly Member Ken Cooley opened the evening by describing what it took for Rancho Cordova to become a city. He then challenged the audience to focus on making the community better; to be the leaders of the change. The audience next heard from a panel of experts about innovative developments and approaches in places other than unincorporated Sacramento County communities and about how conditions in the broader economy and initiatives led by entities other than Sacramento County can set the stage for a very different future than we might expect under “business as usual”.

After the panel discussion and an update on the Community Council concept, the attendees broke into small groups to talk about their wishes and dreams for the community. The small group presentations were then presented to the whole audience, followed by group discussion and a summary of next steps. In a nutshell, the group determined that it is up to us, the members of the community, to take charge of our situation. If we want anything to change, we must drive it ourselves, rather than rely on the County Board of Supervisors to act differently.

The meeting concluded with some specific requests:

• Use “Arden Arcade” (or anything other than “Sacramento”) in your mail return address. As long as the street address and zip code are correct, mail will be delivered.
• Provide names of neighborhood association contact people by 2/1/2020 so meetings can be held with least 3 neighborhood associations by 3/1/2020. The neighborhood-level meetings will follow the series of 3 community-wide meetings held in the summer and fall of 2019.
• Locate 6 volunteers by 2/1/2020, 2 each for the Advocates for Arden Arcade, the Country Club Alliance of Neighborhoods, and the Community Council. The latter’s leadership group is to be identified by 3/1/2020.

The meeting’s slides can be clicked-through below.