Excerpted from The Sacramento Bee
By Gary Delsohn
April 5, 2000

Were it not for his eight wild years as an undercover drug and gang cop in Rancho Cordova, Jim Cooper, a Sacramento County sheriff's lieutenant, would not be on the verge of becoming mayor in the new city of Elk Grove.

"The only reason I moved to Elk Grove in the first place," said Cooper, designated mayor-elect at an informal City Council meeting Tuesday night, "was I was working undercover and I'd be at the store in Rancho and there was someone I just bought dope from."

By all accounts, Cooper was quick on his feet, able to handle his nearly blown cover. But even he knows the hundreds of phony drug buys and gang busts, as well as his work as an always-on-call media spokesman for the Sheriff's Department, didn't fully prepare him for life as an elected politician.

Elk Grove residents voted to incorporate into their own city last month, and the top five vote-getters -- Cooper led the field of 21 -- were selected to the City Council, which will be sworn in July 1. That's the same day Elk Grove cityhood becomes official.

"Small-town politics is worse than anything," Cooper said this week. "Everything is intense. I thought my eyes were open before, but now they're really open. I have new-found respect for people who run for elected office. It's tough." Cooper, 36, a rising star in the Sheriff's Department, may think running for office is tough, but he had advantages over others in last month's race.

Because his face was constantly on television during the several years he spent as spokesman for former Sheriff Glen Craig and his successor Lou Blanas, Cooper was one of the few candidates with high name recognition.

He had also been active for years in local sports leagues and schools, lecturing kids on the dangers of drugs and gangs, and giving inspirational pep talks about working hard and following your dreams. And in an election where getting additional police protection was a major issue, Cooper had a built-in platform on which to run.

"I thought he was knowledgeable at the forums he attended, and he was respected in the community because he was on TV so much," said Melinda Braido, a local cafe owner who finished 1,000 votes short of making it to the council.

"It was amazing how many votes he got from that. He did a good job with what he had, and he is very sincere about the community, but I don't think he had to work as hard as some of the others."

Cooper raised $14,000 in the race, a third as much as the biggest fund-raisers, and still was the top vote-getter. He outpolled the second-place finisher, Michael Leary, a sergeant in the Sheriff's Department, 13.2 percent to 8.9 percent.

The man who makes no pretense of his desire to eventually run for Sacramento sheriff was so confident of his election standing that on President's Day weekend, while candidates were making their final election push, he took his family to Disneyland, where one of his daughters was competing in a cheerleading contest.

"It wasn't cockiness," said Cooper, who has occasionally been accused of just that by some who know him. "It was confidence. I knew I was in good shape."

Cooper was in good shape for a variety of reasons, including having endorsements from Blanas and Craig. But his career as a deputy sheriff, which no doubt played a large role in his success, has also handed him his first political controversy.

By 2001, the new city must decide who will provide police protection for its 66,000 residents. They are now covered by the Sheriff's Department because Elk Grove has been unincorporated. But Elk Grove the city must either form its own force or enter into a contract with the Sheriff's Department, Sacramento police or some other agency.

Blanas has made no effort to hide how important such a contract would be to his department. To lose Elk Grove or other new cities would mean a sharp drop in revenues and influence. And since Sacramento police officials have said they are not pursuing such a contract, it's highly likely that the sheriff would get the nod.

Cooper has said he thinks a contract with the Sheriff's Department would make the most sense for Elk Grove, as deputies already patrol the area. But Robert A. Ryan Jr., Sacramento County legal counsel, issued an opinion one day after the March 7 election that said state law prohibits Cooper or Leary from playing any role in the issue.

If they lobbied fellow council members or vote for the sheriff's contract, Ryan's opinion said, the contract would be void and the county would have to repay Elk Grove.

"As a result," Ryan wrote, "care . . . should be exercised as the new city forms and discussions regarding potential contracts for law enforcement services commence."

Cooper said he strongly disagrees with Ryan. Elk Grove will soon hire its own city attorney to advise the City Council on how to proceed, Cooper said.

"I ran as Lieutenant Cooper. The voters knew who I was, and that's why they voted for me. Me and Mike have over 30 years law enforcement experience between us, and if we can't advise our fellow council members on which way to go, that hurts the city of Elk Grove, not us."

Ryan said the state government code is clear on the matter and if the new city wants to do business with the sheriff, it will have to do it without Cooper and Leary's help.

Cooper may not prevail on this, but don't look for him to be deterred any time soon.

"I've been around a lot of public officials because of the time I spent as department spokesman," he said, "and I've seen people handle things well, and I've seen them handle them poorly. Quite frankly, I always thought I could do this as good or better than those folks."