We kicked off the new year with our Joint APWA/ACEC lunch meeting on January 4th. Our guest speaker was newly elected Assemblyman, Ken Cooley. Ken was formerly a city council member and mayor of Rancho Cordova. Ken represents District 8 which includes the communities of Arden-Arcade, Carmichael, Citrus Heights, Rancho Cordova, Rancho Murieta, Rosemont, Wilton and other portions of unincorporated Sacramento County.

Ken spoke about the need to constantly focus on quality of life issues and how we can improve things. He thanked ACEC for our efforts in Washington DC to avoid the fiscal cliff and specifically thanked Mark Smith for his efforts locally. Ken referenced his history and involvement with the California League of Cities and his interest in seismic activity (he is head of the California Seismic Committee).

As a new assembly member, Ken was very appreciative of the opportunity to speak to our organizations. He was asked about the future of the Water Bond (not sure), use of private consultants (needs more review), and redevelopment agencies (not optimistic).

Ken left us with a quote from Thomas Edison: “There can be no progress until enough people are dissatisfied.” We should be close…