FOLSOM, Calif. — The Folsom City Council selected member Mike Kozlowski as its mayor Tuesday in a 3-2 vote, marking the second time he has been elected into the position.
City residents elect council members, but it is the City Council who annually elects the mayor amongst themselves in December, according to Folsom city spokesman Chris Shepard.
Kozlowski's mayoral term will last until December 2024, when the council selects again. He was previously elected into the position in December 2020 to serve for the majority of 2021, according to the city's organizational history.
Kozlowski said he thinks the challenges he will face during his mayoral term now will be similar to those he faced in the year following the COVID-19 pandemic's breakout.
“I think the challenges are somewhat similar, not in terms of the health crisis that was going on with COVID, but in that the health crisis of COVID caused us to have really serious challenges economically,” he said after Tuesday's meeting.
He said sales tax revenue to the city has flattened out since COVID.
“Everything that we need to operate the city costs more, and our revenue is not growing in the way that it used to,” he said.
Kozlowski’s current term as a council member ends in 2026. He was elected to council by voters in 2018 and reelected in 2022.
It is possible for the council to select the same person for a role two years in a row, Shepard said. Andy Morin was the last city council member to serve consecutive terms; he served as mayor of Folsom in 2005 and 2006, according to the city.
Council members receive a salary of $600 per month; the mayor receives a salary of $700 per month, per the city’s candidate’s guide.
Kozlowski also works as an account executive for Johnson Controls, an international company that produces fire, HVAC and security equipment for buildings, according to his biography on the city’s website.
District elections, separate races divide council
Kozlowski received a 3 out of 5 council votes to become mayor.
He and council members Sarah Aquino and Rosario Rodriguez voted for Kozlowski. Councilman YK Chalamcherla and Councilwoman Anna Rohrbough, who beat 24-year Folsom City Council incumbent Kerri Howell by a narrow margin of 266 votes for the District 5 seat in 2022, voted for Chalamcherla to become mayor.
Kozlowski serves District 1 of Folsom, a section of the city north of East Natoma Street. Folsom City Council transitioned to district elections in March 2022, according to Folsom's website.
Since races for Folsom City Council seats have moved to district-based elections, Rodriguez and Chalamcherla, both elected at large in 2020, have sought public office in different political arenas.
Rodriguez, who finished her year’s term as mayor Tuesday, is running for the District 4 Sacramento County Board of Supervisors seat currently occupied by Sue Frost, according to the city council. Frost announced in an email to supporters in August she will not be running for reelection, according to Rio Linda Online News.
Chalamcherla, who served as vice mayor from December 2022 until Tuesday night, is running for the District 7 California State Assembly seat currently occupied by Assemblyman Josh Hoover, who used to serve on the Folsom Cordova Unified School District board.
Members elected Aquino as vice mayor Tuesday; she was elected to council by Folsom residents in 2018 and reelected in 2022. She served as mayor in 2020 and vice mayor in 2019 and 2021, according to the city.
Aquino serves Folsom's District 3, which Chalamcherla lives in. If he wanted to run for City Council in 2024, he would face Aquino.
Chalamcherla said through laughter Tuesday he had been talking to his wife “about moving” so he could be eligible to run for city council in a different district.
“I do think there is a little bit of a problem (or) conflict of interest of having folks serve in the mayor and vice mayor role when they’re running for higher office just because…it does blur the lines a little bit of when are you representing the city and when are you campaigning,” Aquino said on the dais Tuesday night.
Aquino said that when Rodriguez was unanimously elected as mayor in December 2022, she was not running for a Sacramento County supervisor seat.
“There was no indication that she would be running for supervisor because we all thought Supervisor Frost was running for reelection,” she said.
