When Elk Grove City Hall doesn't respond to a simple question, it seems like they are hiding information
From our perspective, city hall was asked a simple and fair question.
here is a saying that the cover-up is worse than the crime. That also is the situation at Elk Grove City Hall when they do not respond to a simple question.
During last week's update on the Sacramento Zoo relocation project at the city council meeting, senior civil engineer Samuel Grimm made a statement about a construction start date.
Toward the end of his portion of the presentation, Mr. Grimm made the following statement:
"As for schedule, our design work will continue through the end of 2026, for both onsite and offsite work. We anticipate releasing our construction manager at risk solicitation next month. And look for award of that initial contract in May pending fundraising efforts. And we're still looking for construction to start end [or in] 2027."
Regardless of in or end, it was unclear what construction date Grimm was referring to. Given that he was talking about offsite improvements, it would be reasonable to say he was referring to that aspect of the project.
Seeking clarification, on the evening of Thursday, January 23, Mr. Grimm, along with city manager Jason Behrmann and deputy city manager, were emailed the question as seen in the image below.
From our perspective, it is a simple and fair question. It wasn't even necessarily going to be used in a story.
Furthermore, if Mr. Grimm misspoke and suggested that construction of the zoo facility would start sometime in 2027, and city staff clarified the date, it would be understandable. It could have been a mistake made without malice.
We received one autoreply on Thursday from Ms. Reddig saying she was out of the office until today. As of this 4 p.m. post, there has been no word from Reddig or the others on the email.
Like a cover-up to a crime exasperating a situation, the problem is when a simple and honest question is unanswered - it raises suspicion. Specifically, it makes one contemplate if the city hall staff and elected officials have misled the public about the project.
We would like to know the answer to that simple question.
