RANCHO CORDOVA, CA (MPG) - State Assemblyman Ken Cooley spoke at Rancho Cordova Luncheon on June 18 – the last in Zoom format.  Referring to the Navigators Monument at Douglas Road and Eagle’s Nest, Cooley said, “For many decades, the United States Air Force trained the navigators, who understood celestial navigation, long before the days of satellite tracking and GPS,” Cooley said, “so that somebody could thread their way through a difficult circumstance and find their way home . . . giving them a safe tomorrow.” 

Cooley complimented the Cordova Community Council for their part in bearing up the community during hard times. “At this moment we need (the Council) even more, because we’ve all had to pull back, change our routine,” Cooley said.  “People have struggled the last year with . . . a much higher degree of isolation and that always makes the problem seem more daunting.”

Cooley referred to the poet Rabindranath Tagore, who won the Nobel Prize for literature 108 years ago.  “He said something that I think is almost timeless and certainly something we all need right now,” Cooley said.  He quoted the poet.  “I slept and dreamt that life is joy; I awoke and saw that life was service; I acted and behold, service is joy.”   The assemblyman added, “We all ought to redouble our efforts and renew our devotion to acting in service to others . . . amplifying the joy in people’s lives through acts of good works and service.”

A representative of District 8 since 2012, Cooley was previously a Rancho Cordova city councilman, mayor and is a lawyer with a long experience as a Boy Scout leader.  In the Assembly, among other things, he is the Chair of the Assembly Rules Committee, the Chair of the Select Committee on Foster Care, and Chair of the Joint Rules Committee with responsibility for rebuilding California’s aging Capitol Annex. 

Cooley’s commented on his love of natural beauty and tied it in with the proposed development of the 41-acre Kassis property along the American River in Rancho Cordova. The property is valued as a wildlife habitat, especially for waterfowl, and also as a location where local children have been able to experience nature.  “I think that is just an absolutely unique piece of ground that is a part of our community,” Cooley said.  “It’s something that the City Council will need to struggle with, what is the right way to balance development with access for something that serves the interests of the entire community.  That, of course, is the true mark of serving in public life, this balancing act, of reconciling public values with private values.”

One question asked of Cooley concerned the extensive homeless camps in Rancho Cordova and throughout the State.  “I don’t know the solution,” Cooley said, “I don’t sit on the housing committee, but I know they’re putting special funds into schools to support homeless kids . . . repurposing entire hotels to accommodate homeless populations . . . and various kinds of wraparound services.  I’m very supportive of that.  That to me is kind of our own Rancho model.”

Another question addressed the difficulty finding affordable housing for people on small, fixed incomes.  Cooley supports a return to some component of affordable housing in every housing development.  “Policies need to provide a place for all people,” Cooley said.

In the prefatory remarks to Cooley’s address, Diann Rogers, CEO of the Chamber of Commerce, thanked Cooley for voting against several anti-business bills in the Assembly. With the return of open business, Rogers said, “What businesses need are customers.  Be customers.”

Cordova Community Council executive director Shelly Blanchard declared, “The Rancho Cordova Luncheon will return to the American River Room in City Hall next month, July 16. We are working up a special treat for that luncheon, but you are on notice that (the luncheon) cannot be attended in your jammies any longer.”

For more information on Cooley’s representation in District 8, see official site at https://a08.asmdc.org/.  His local office is at Rancho Cordova City Hall, Suite 130.  Official phone number is (916) 319-2008.