Brewer takes another shot at CSD seat

By Rod Brewer

Candidate believes that eastern Elk Grove residents were unfairly treated in park fee issue

Rod Brewer said that the local economy has not rebounded and while Elk Grove's parks and recreation services may be doing fine, there is still much need for improvements in the Cosumnes Community Services District (CSD).

Chief among his concerns are the system of how the district charges parks fees to residents and the fire department's response times to emergencies, which was recently reported to have met the department goal 89 percent of the time last year.

"Those are issues that really promoted me to run again," he said.

Brewer is returning to the ballot for a seat on the CSD board after losing in the 2008 race.

He reportedly came in seventh place with 8 percent of the vote, according to Sacramento County election records.

Brewer said many people did not know he was in the race after the last election finished, despite that he worked hard to meet voters in neighborhoods.

"I felt I covered every neighborhood, and every nook and cranny," he said. "We (now) have the game plan to maximize my exposure to as many people as possible this time."

If elected, Brewer will make decisions that will impact firefighting and emergency medical services in Elk Grove and Galt as well as the CSD's parks and recreation programs in Elk Grove.

The Elk Grove resident is a youth baseball coach and works as a consultant and policy analyst for the California State Assembly. He was previously the capitol director for State Sen. Dean Florez (D-Shafter)'s office.

Brewer said that as a CSD director he will bring the voices of citizens to the district board.

"I'll bring a voice of the people as somebody who can look at issues and work with (CSD General Manager) Jeff Ramos and our new fire chief to really focus on how we can provide the maximum amount of services without creating additional taxes or fees on the homeowners," he said.

Last year, the CSD reportedly lacked the revenue to fully fund the maintenance for most of eastern Elk Grove's parks.

They had residents living in the affected areas vote on whether or not they are willing to pay higher annual assessment fees to avoid reductions in the upkeep of their local parks. Three neighborhoods approved the higher fees while the rest rejected them.

Brewer believes it was unfair for the CSD staff to only focus on fees for eastern Elk Grove residents rather than residents living in the rest of Elk Grove.

"I felt that was really another issue where eastern Elk Grove residents don't have that strong of a voice on the board," he said.

For his campaign, Brewer said he plans to pay door-to-door visits to voters and host campaign fundraisers.

He mentioned that he learned something critical about what locals wanted while he campaigned in the 2008 race.

"It's not so much they want change, they want results," Brewer said. "They want leadership and to know how we're going to rebound in this economy and how the CSD and the city can work to make that happen."