RANCHO CORDOVA, CA (MPG) - Campaign Whistlestop is a Rancho Cordova tradition. Real campaign trains carried candidates across the country, talking to citizens, helping them decide how to vote. October’s Rancho Cordova Luncheon was focused on the races that were not covered at the September Rancho Luncheon.  A strictly timed 3 minutes was allowed for each candidate to speak.

State Senate, District 6

Roger Niello, Republican, www.rogerniello.com.  Niello has been extremely concerned with trends of homelessness and crime in our State and local areas, and when local governments try to address this, they are hampered by policies set at the State level.  Niello wants to work on improving the regulatory environment, and building infrastructure, flood control, and water supply.  Niello is confident in his ability to work with legislators on either side of the aisle. 

Niello has lived in the Sacramento area since he was 7. He helped run his family business, Niello Auto Group, for many years.  Education included degrees from Cal Berkeley and UCLA. He was in the California State Assembly for six years, Sacramento County Supervisor for nearly six years, and was president and CEO of the Sacramento Chamber of Commerce. 

Paula Villescaz, Democrat, www.paulavillescaz.com.  Villescaz was unable to attend the Campaign Whistlestop event or participate in a later interview.  She is a lifelong Sacramento resident, has served two terms as president of the San Juan School District Board of Trustees, and was an assistant secretary of California Health and Human Services Agency during the pandemic.  She attended Cal Berkeley and now is a director of Legislative Advocacy for the County Welfare Directors Association. 

State Assembly, District 7

Ken Cooley, incumbent, Democrat, www.kencooley.com. Ken Cooley has lived in Rancho Cordova for 40 years, advocated strongly for cityhood and was elected as an inaugural City Councilmember in 2002.  He is a lawyer, a graduate of Cal Berkeley, and his early work was as an insurance industry advocate. He became active in the League of Cities in 2004.  “There are 500 cities in this state,” Cooley said, “but I was moved right through the ranks of leadership to the top level . . . My career is one of how I deploy myself; I chose to do that in public service.”  He said this would be his last Whistlestop. “I don’t expect to run again, but I feel my work is underway.”

Josh Hoover, Republican, challenger, www.hooverforassembly.com.  “We rank 50^th in literacy in the nation in California,” Hoover said.  “Our public education system has a lot of improvement that can be made. “Other focuses include restoring accountability to the criminal justice system, and homelessness. Hoover feels the root causes of mental health and substance abuse should be addressed first, with housing a close second.  “I feel very good about our chances to win this race, because of redistricting . . .  There are 80 Assembly races this year and only two of them are labeled as toss-ups, meaning they could go either way; this is one of those two.

Hoover is chief of staff to California State Assemblyman Kevin Kiley, and he is an elected member of the Folsom Cordova Unified School District Board of Trustees. He holds a degree from UCLA and USC.

Cordova Recreation & Park District 1- Board

Brian Danzl, incumbent, www.danzl4parks.com.  Danzl has been an athletic coach and is a longtime community volunteer.  “In the 12 years I’ve been on the Park District,” Danzl said, “we went from having almost no money, through the County, to now we’ve got over 15 million dollars in reserves . . . we’ve built new parks; we continue to just grow and grow.” Because of a disagreement the City and the Park District discontinued their standard 2x2 meetings, Danzl said. The Brown Act requires the District to agendize the meetings, and the City refuses to attend if a public agenda is required.

Jack Zwald, challenger, www.jackzwald.com.  Jack Zwald is an education policy advisor for the California Department of Finance, a former member of the Sacramento County Public Health Advisory Board, and past president of the Kiwanis Club. “I guess our main goal would be to turn around the relationships of the Park District with its neighbors,” Zwald said, “and make it positive so that we can start collaborating in areas of combined interest to provide better public services and safety for our community.”  Zwald pointed out the lack of required 2x2 meetings between the District and the City of Rancho Cordova.  He disagreed that having healthy reserves is a good thing calling it, instead, “hoarding,” and suggested using the money for investments to speed up the completion of projects.

Cordova Recreation & Park District 2

Inez Reyes, incumbent,  www.reyes4rec.com. “It’s been 16 years that I’ve been on the Park Board, and we have worked very hard on what we call, ‘the transition.’” Prior to the City’s incorporation, Reyes said, parks were being maintained, not built.  The transition was challenging and a whole set of skills built up around the change. 

“Mr. Matus said something about the Park District – it had disarray,” Reyes said.  “In the last 5 years we spent $15.5 million on completing 96 projects . . . We have put together a beautiful, very precise and concise orientation for new candidates.  Only Mr. Matus attended, the others didn’t even attend.” 

Between 1998 and 2006, Reyes worked as workforce development employment training administrator for the County Office of Education. She is also a real estate broker.

Mark Matus, challenger, www.markmatus.org. Matus is an information technology specialist with the State of California, specializing in audiovisual productions, web design, and social media marketing.  “I was born in Rancho Cordova and lived in the area most of my life,” Matus said.  “Also, my father has had a business in Rancho Cordova since 1976.” He and his family visit (Prospect Hill) Park every single day and are involved in sport organizations six days out of the week in some capacity. A basketball court has had a huge gap that ran all the way down the middle of the court and presented a danger.  “I find it interesting now in an election year . . . our basketball blacktop is being fixed, literally the week the ballots go out . . . I will do my part to improve the conditions in our older and established parks, provide clean, safe parks and establish amenities and repair relationships with our sports leagues, every single day.”

Cordova Recreation & Park District 5

Terri Leimbach, incumbent.  Leimbach is a member of the County Consolidated Redevelopment Agency Oversight Board.  She was elected to CRPD in 2014 and re-elected in 2018.  In addition, she has a Master’s degree in management, and is a retired accountant from a recreation and park district; her experience is specifically in recreation and park districts. She serves on the Special District Advisory Board of LAFCo (Local Agency Formation Commission).  “The progress that we’re making is the result of a great strong board and strong leadership of the district,” Leimbach said.  “We’ve had 10 years of clean audits from an independent CPA firm. We have 5 million in general reserve and 10 million in special reserves . . . Before that we had no reserves.”

Daniel Langan, challenger, www.daniellangan.com.  Langan’s decided to run for CRPD Board when their babysitter found used needles in a nearby park.  The homeless population is a problem. I plan on working with the City Council to provide a permanent solution to our citizens,” Langan said.  He said the parks need better lighting, physical security and video surveillance.  “I want to advocate for some splash pads or even a community pool.”

Langan is a youth pastor at a local church, has coached Little League baseball for several years, and is assistant JV boys’ basketball coach at Cordova High.

Shelly Blanchard, executive director of the Cordova Community Council delivered the introductions for each candidate. Each presented their cause and most participated in a brief interview in the days immediately following the event.