Mayoral candidate alleges bribes to keep Sac city manager in place; Does this happen in Elk Grove?
Bribery and politics go hand in hand - you can't have one without the other.
During the December 17 Sacramento City Council meeting, a former mayoral candidate made a stunning allegation.
Dr. Flo Cofer, who narrowly lost the recent Sacramento mayoral election to Kevin McCarty, said she was offered two bribes to retain Howard Chan as the city manager. The allegation was revealed during public comment during the hearing on the extensions of Mr. Chan's proposed but rejected employment contract.
Dr. Cofer stressed that Mr. Chan was not party to or aware of the bribery offers (see video below).
Of course, bribery and politics go hand in hand—you can't have one without the other. That situation reminds us that what happens behind closed doors between elected officials, bureaucrats, and the donors who pull the strings is always hidden from public scrutiny.
If Cofer's allegations, which some on the Sacramento City Council said should be investigated, are affirmed, it confirms long-held suspicions about TraPos. Specifically, many elected and government officials are amenable to bribery.
In the close Cofer-McCarty race, which was down to the wire, whoever extended the alleged bribes was hedging their bets. That is what crafty operators do.
So far, there haven't been any revealed allegations of bribery in Elk Grove, albeit about 10 years ago, there was a widespread story about a former Elk Grove City Council member who accepted gifts, as you might call them, from a developer with a sketchy background. That story was never verified, but it persists.
This framework makes you wonder what politicians are really saying when they make unrehearsed comments. California Lt. Gov. Elini Kounalakis made one such off-the-cuff comment at last week's Elk Grove City Council meeting.
As the Lt. Gov. swore in Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen, she quipped about her father, well-known developer Angelo Taskaplous, founder of AKT Development and the mayor.
Breaking from her scripted remarks, Kounalkis, president of AKT Development Corp. before her foray into politics, said, "My father, Angelo Tsakopoulos, who adores you, madame mayor if I can say..."
Kounalakis, who is running for California governor in 2026, could have been name-dropping her dad's name to flatter Singh-Allen in hopes of building her roster of supporters. Even if that is so, it does suggest a level of intimacy between big-money interests and those who give the green light to projects.
Campaign contributions are nice, but what about a little extra on the side?
As history has shown, it is not uncommon. We are not suggesting Singh-Allen has taken bribes - yet, nor has the AKT company or its representatives offered bribes. But as Elk Grove grows and elected officials become ensconced and increasingly arrogant, the temptation to extend bribes and their acceptance by TraPos will happen and reveal themselves.
That much you can be sure of.
