By OBSERVER Newsroom
Name: DR. FLOJAUNE “FLO” COFER
Occupation: Public health professional
List the top 3 issues you plan to address along with possible solutions.
1. Housing and homelessness: Our first priority must be putting people on a path to stability. In my first term, we’re going to work to cut homelessness by half, by expanding access to immediate services and permanent, supportive housing. We’ll also protect tenants and homeowners from losing their homes, and work to build much more affordable and attainable housing for rent and purchase.
2. Community safety: Safety starts with smart investments. When officials cut youth programs, violence went up. We need to restore those programs, address poverty, and ensure emergency services are structured to protect us all effectively.
3. Economic prosperity for all: Let’s build an economy that works for everyone. We’ll create jobs, support small businesses, expand economic opportunity in our neighborhoods, support the expansion of the creative economy, revitalize downtown, and connect our neighborhoods through expanded public transit and bike lanes. It’s time we build a city that lifts everyone up.
More than 40% of the region’s homeless are Black. How do you plan to address the issue and when do you expect to see results?
Addressing the housing crisis in Sacramento, which disproportionately harms Black people, is my top priority. Solving homelessness requires executive leadership, urgent action and long-term planning. First, we will work with communities to identify vacant lots that can be converted into safe rest villages – managed outdoor communities with access to electricity, water, and basic services. These will serve as safe, temporary shelters connecting individuals with comprehensive support services like mental health care, addiction treatment, showers, and cleanup. This approach has worked in other cities. These sites will attract people away from sleeping on the streets, stabilize the most vulnerable among us, and put people on a pathway to permanent housing.
We must also help the 1,500 kids and families with kids get stable housing. Our children especially need a stable, safe place to sleep every night. I will work with our school districts to pass policy and allocate funding to end childhood homelessness in Sacramento by 2028. Ending homelessness in children helps break the cycle.
Additionally, we will stop the flow of people entering homelessness by protecting tenants through strong tenant protections. We’ll also expand support for homeowners facing foreclosure.
Lastly, we will focus on long-term solutions by streamlining permits and cutting red tape to build affordable and entry-level housing options more quickly. Together, we can make Sacramento a place where everyone has a home.
How do you plan to work with the Sacramento police and fire departments to ensure they are protecting and not harming Black residents?
As mayor, my approach with the Sacramento police and fire departments will focus on one essential goal: ensuring that all residents are protected, not harmed. The Black Lives Matter movement has shown the world what many Black people already knew: that far too often policing harms instead of helps Black people, which understandably creates trust issues. First, we need to reframe how we think about public safety to include investing in upstream prevention. We’re not talking about weakening public safety, but strengthening it – by investing in violence prevention, mental health services, and community-based initiatives that actually make people safer. We’ve already seen these programs work. Sacramento went two years without youth homicides, before they were cut by our politicians. By restoring and expanding these efforts, we will create safer neighborhoods for everyone.
But it’s not just about prevention. We also have to ensure that police officers are responding to the right kinds of calls. Too often, officers are called to handle situations that don’t require a law enforcement response, whether it’s a mental health crisis or a code enforcement issue. We need to empower the Department of Community Response to take on these issues, freeing up police to focus on real crimes while ensuring that vulnerable residents aren’t met with unnecessary force.
This approach was championed by Sacramento’s former police chief, Daniel Hahn, and by the largest police union in the state, LAPD. “Police officers are sent to too many calls that are better suited for unarmed service providers,” said Craig Lally, the union’s president. “Such a shift would free up officers to focus more on violent crime, solve more cases and improve officer morale.”
We also need to acknowledge the mistrust many in the Black community feel towards law enforcement and respond to those concerns with empathy and action. I’ll work with the police and fire departments to make sure our officers are trained, supported, and held accountable to the highest standards. We will reduce over-policing and invest in the programs that address root causes – poverty, inequality, and trauma. It’s about making sure we are truly protecting every resident, and I’ll make that clear from day one.
How will you promote economic development?
Sacramento’s economic future relies on our ability to provide living wage opportunities for all Sacramentans – and foster an environment that supports new and existing businesses, including targeted policies to expand Black businesses and grow high-paying Black jobs. By creating a robust ecosystem for entrepreneurship, we can stimulate job creation and equitable and inclusive economic development. This includes expanding access to capital for small businesses, simplifying regulatory processes, partnering with our local universities and colleges, and investing in workforce development programs. Ensuring that Sacramento becomes a hub for innovation and entrepreneurship will help generate more economic opportunities and contribute to a more resilient economy.
Streamline regulations: Navigating local regulations can be daunting for entrepreneurs and business owners. I will simplify and streamline the approval process by cutting red tape and creating a one-stop shop for permits and licenses. This will make it easier for businesses to start, expand, and thrive in our city.
Strategic local investment: Securing funding is often a significant hurdle for growing businesses. We need city leadership that prioritizes local investment. When I attend Kings games in the downtown arena, I am frequently struck by the opportunity that we missed to feature local breweries instead of national chains. I am also saddened that there isn’t a single Black-owned business in Golden 1 Center. We need to capitalize on these opportunities to reinvest our dollars locally. Additionally, I will support initiatives that connect entrepreneurs with local financial institutions and investors to provide targeted funding programs and grants.
Workforce development: A skilled workforce is crucial for business growth. I have been in conversation with Sac State and UC Davis about locating campus satellites and dorms in the downtown area. This will provide students with access to the Capitol to support their professional development, as well as supporting the economic revitalization of the downtown area. I am committed to working with our business partners and educational institutions and vocational training programs to ensure that we are nurturing the talent and potential of our community and creating a well-prepared and vibrant workforce.
Strong unions: Many of the best jobs in the Black community are with labor unions. As public school teachers, my parents were both union members, which helped them raise me with enough financial security so that I could focus on school, friends, and community service. Unions strengthen the middle class and provide stability to families. As mayor I’ll support the growth of unions and strong contracts for workers.
How will you improve the quality of life for Black Sacramentans, including addressing the need for transportation safety and public parks and pools?
As mayor, I want to ensure that Sacramento is a city where all of us can thrive. Having access to public parks, recreation activities, and safe transportation options is a critical part of that. Our parks provide precious green space for our families to connect, play, think, and exercise. Every Sacramentan should be able to enjoy clean and safe parks within walking distance. But we know from the Parks Plan 2040 many of Sacramento’s most vulnerable and diverse communities, disproportionately Black neighborhoods, do not have that opportunity. In fact, the plan notes that we need 66 new parks in those neighborhoods. I will partner with communities, developers, and the City Council to set a plan for identifying resources and creating these parks.
I want everyone in our city to have access to clean, beautiful, and awesome parks within walking distance in every part of the city all year round. As mayor, I will cut red tape so that we can have more food trucks and special events at parks across the city. That’ll help our small business owners and benefit people enjoying the parks.
To be clear, our parks are a place to play, but not a place to live. By setting up safe rest villages on vacant lots around the city with input from residents, our unhoused residents will have safe spaces to live and receive services on a path to permanent housing, so they won’t need to sleep in our current neighborhood parks anymore.
I served on the Active Transportation Commission and know that public transportation shouldn’t be a last resort but a reliable, accessible choice for everyone. As mayor, I will advocate expanding free transit for youth and seniors, and work with Regional Transit to improve routes and special-event transportation. We’ll also prioritize safety by creating more protected bike lanes, ensuring people can get to work, school, and events safely.
Why should Blacks vote for you instead of your opponent?
The people of Sacramento want change, not more of the same. The status quo has got to go. My opponent has been an elected politician representing Sacramento for the last 20 years as conditions have gotten worse across our communities. Why would we trust the people who got us into this mess to get us out of it? Sacramento needs bold new leadership to bring real change. That’s what I’m bringing to the table.
I’m the only candidate not accepting donations from corporations or law enforcement. I’m committed to serving all the people, not just special interests and political insiders.
As a public health professional, I have the executive experience to implement a new vision for Sacramento. At the Department of Public Health I built a statewide coalition that expanded women’s health care in the Affordable Care Act, and decreased infant mortality by 14% – with the greatest gains for Black infants. I don’t just talk about change, I’ve actually made it happen. My opponent has had his chance over the last 20 years as our elected representative, and we’ve seen how that turned out for Black families, with growing poverty, homelessness, and incarceration.
I’m also the first Black woman to ever run for mayor of Sacramento. Voters have a chance right now to make history by electing the first Black woman president and the first Black woman mayor of Sacramento. Let’s make history together.