“ Call me on a Friday or Monday . I ’ ll still be the same guy .”
WARREN ’ S WIT AND WISDOM
Throughout his 30 + career as a developer and city leader , Allen Warren has been an integral part of or dealt with local politics . Here are some of his thoughts on the people , process and possibilities . --Ed Goldman
- “ My greatest accomplishments while in elected office : helping to lead the efforts with former Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson to keep the Sacramento Kings in Sacramento and building the Golden 1 Arena Center . I am also very proud of the new Norwood Sports Complex and the new Grocery Outlet on Del Paso Boulevard .”
- “ People run for office with , you hope , the best of intentions . They want to represent their community , improve the lives of its citizens . But then you get elected and you have to start telling some special-interest people and groups ‘ No .’ And because they feel they were entitled to your saying ‘ Yes ,’ they can turn on you .”
Warren shakes his head slightly but sighs with acceptance that people who ’ d supported him the first two times he ran for Sacramento City Council , and won -- including previous political consultants and other political figures , -- were secretly supporting his opponent . “ Well , I hadn ’ t gone along with them . I ’ d made up my own mind about the issues . So , I didn ’ t win a third term .” He shrugs and smiles , almost shyly , and says , “ It allowed me to get back to work .”
- “ Some people change sides when their political will and / or financial motivation are not blindly followed . In my assessment , most people who run and get elected are so intent on staying in office that their positions on major and even minor issues get altered . They end up appeasing people and the special interests . They want to calm the crowds and get people to like them , to support them now and when they run for their next office . “ His mood momentarily darkens as he says flatly , “ They are political cowards .”
- “ In my opinion and experience , politicians like to be the masters of their own little islands . They don ’ t take kindly to people wading onto their shore .”
- “ My biggest disappointments : We as local elected officials failed to properly address the lack of substantial housing for the homeless , and the City of Sacramento ’ s marijuana ordinance .”
- “ We as a city council could have done much better on the issue of homelessness . We could have approached the problem on a regional basis since it ’ s a regional problem and it ’ s only getting worse . We could have pulled all of the cities in Sacramento County together and shared the responsibility . We could have created little ‘ renewal villages ’ -- that ’ s what I called then in my third council campaign -- and lightened some of the burdens for each community . Instead , we failed as a body and left it to businesses and neighborhood people to handle it . It ’ s been a failure .”
- “ The idea of defunding the police is ridiculous . I appreciate the police , but they ’ re not perfect . And I also think we should all be policing our own communities , in addition to the men and women in law enforcement who are paid to do so .”
SPONSORED PROFILE
1825 Del Paso Blvd , Sacramento , CA 95815 ( 916 ) 929-6402 newfaze . com