By Shannon Savage
Citizen Staff Writer
Posted to blog Friday, 6:05 p.m. PST By Editor Jeff Forward
With seven years of service to Elk Grove under her belt, district five City Council Member Sophia Scherman has officially announced that she plans to seek re-election.
“We built this city from the ground up,” Scherman said. “It was very exciting and very stressful. (But) now that we’re there, there are some things that I’d like to see through and be a part of. I have no reason other then that.”
Scherman has lived in Elk Grove for almost 36 years.
“I’ve been here for so long and I’ve got so much history,” Scherman said. “I can remember when something was tried and it didn’t work and then something else was tried and it didn’t work.”
Scherman remarried in 1968 and moved to Elk Grove to be closer to her husband’s family.
“His mother lived here,” Scherman said. “He was born and raised here. I just thought that my girls needed family ties.”
At the time, politics were the last thing on Scherman’s mind.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I’d be where I am today - in politics,” Scherman said. “(I had) no college education. That was probably my greatest fear that someone would say something.”
But Scherman pushed through those fears when she decided to run for a seat on the then Elk Grove Community Services District Board in 1997.
“I would get my tax bill and I would look at everything that was coming out and I didn’t understand some of the stuff,” Scherman said of her reason for seeking office. “I just happened to go to a meeting. I went to meetings for two years before I decided I wanted to run for election. I just thought that I wanted to be part of that decision making body and be the voice of the people.”
Although Scherman had experience running for a seat on the CSD board, she said city council elections are much more tense.
“It was a little easier in the past but because our city has grown I have to reach so many more people,” Scherman said.
Even after campaigning twice for city council there are always surprises, but dirty politics don’t scare her, Scherman said.
“I have nothing to hide,” Scherman said. “My life is an open book.”
Once someone is finally on the council it is still isn’t all gumdrops and roses though. Receiving threatening e-mails about beavers or constant criticism about certain problems in the city is also par for the course. To handle the good with the bad Scherman said she just thinks about the big picture.
“I have pride after a project is completed when I think who it is benefiting,” Scherman said. “Of course you those criticisms. There’s so many decisions to be made it’s very difficult for people to (always) be happy. It gets stressful at times but I try to think of it always in a positive way.”
To wade through the rhetoric and focus in on the pros and cons of an issue Scherman said she draws two columns on a piece of paper and notes resident’s comments.
“I see this is why they don’t want it,” Scherman said. “And then I look over here and see this is why they do want it. Whichever column comes out that is the most pessimist, I go to the pessimist side.”
But Scherman said it is in her nature to be able to make hard decisions.
“I was the oldest of four children,” Scherman said. “My mom was a single mom and then I became a single parent.”
Since Elk Grove is still a fairly new city, there are a number of different platforms a candidate could take. Scherman said she plans to focus on establishing better grounds for growth and getting the CSD and city parks agreement settled.
But just having a strong platform might not win the race. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were raised in the 2006 election to help secure votes. Scherman said that figure might only rise for the 2008 election.
In previous elections, the Building Industry Association has played a big role in donating money to candidates. No matter how much anyone donates to Scherman’s campaign, she said she cannot be bought.
“My record speaks for itself,” Scherman said. “I play no favorites.”
To those who say seven years on the council is too long and the city is ready for new blood, Scherman said she welcomes the competition.
“I encourage people to run for office like I did,” Scherman said.
Although Scherman encourages the competition, currently no other candidates have announced their candidacy for the district five seat.
Even with unknown opponents, Scherman said her chances of winning are outstanding.
“I will be re-elected,” Scherman said. “I’ll be re-elected if that’s the wish of the people. They are the ones that will make that (retirement) decision for me in the end.”
