ELK GROVE, CA (MPG) - After certifying its November election results, three familiar faces were sworn into office surrounded by family, friends and local dignitaries at the Dec. 11 Elk Grove City Council meeting. 

Incumbents Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen and council members Darren Suen, District 1, and Kevin Spease, District 3, took their oaths of office after being reelected to another term in their respective seats. 

Shouldered by her family, Singh-Allen, the first directly elected Punjabi-Sikh woman mayor in the United States, took a moment to reflect on the results and her family’s immigrant background. 

“I’m a proud immigrant to this country, and I am reminded today the power and the resiliency of the immigrants and refugees who call this country home,” Singh-Allen said. 

“As the first directly elected Sikh woman mayor, it is an honor,” Singh-Allen added. “The journey is not easy; I did not want to take this swearing-in ceremony for granted. This is an important moment for my family…”

Singh-Allen also thanked the voters, her family and Elk Grove’s business and labor communities for their support. 

“I love you all,” she said. “You give me strength every day to be a better mayor for this city.” 

Singh-Allen soundly defeated two challengers en route to her third two-year term in office. She earned 69.46% of the vote, while candidates Brian Pastor and Lynn Wheat earned 19.62% and 10.92%, respectively, according to Sacramento County election officials. 

 She also voiced appreciation to Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, who led the Pledge of Allegiance earlier in the evening and administered the oath to Singh-Allen.  

“Your leadership over the last four years, and now with the next two years, Mayor Singh-Allen, you live up to what the region really deserves,” Kounalakis said before giving the oath. 

Spease, a cyber security expert who was first elected in 2020, took the oath of office with the assistance of his wife, Angela Spease. He thanked the community while comparing Elk Grove’s city officials and employees to a “championship team.”  

“I typically don’t speak in such bragging terms,” Kevin Spease said. “But what I want you to understand is that as all of us go around the valley, we constantly hear: Elk Grove, you got it right.” 

“If there was a championship, we would win,” he added. 

Suen, who has served on the City Council since accepting an appointment to replace former councilor Jim Cooper in 2014, also opted to take the oath surrounded by family members, including his father, Edward Suen, and his three sons. 

Denise Suen, his wife, administered the oath for Darren Suen as his father held his right hand. 

“It’s just an incredible honor to continue serving this community and this region,” Suen said. “The work is very rewarding and I couldn’t do it without all the support of this community.”

The officials will return to the council to serve with District 2 Councilor Rod Brewer and District 4 Councilor and Vice-Mayor Sergio Robles. Both of their terms will end in 2026. 

David Loya, chief strategy officer for the Gathering Inn, the nonprofit organization that operates Elk Grove’s year-round homeless shelter, congratulated the councilors on an “astounding victory.” 

“As the Gathering Inn, we are so pleased to be a part of this community,” Loya said. “If there was a master class on being a mayor and council, this council should give it at Sac State University.” 

“We feel incredibly supported by all of you and this community,” he added.