Last updated on April 18th, 2018
Assemblymember Jim Cooper (D-Elk Grove) was awarded the California Grocers Association (CGA) 2018 Legislator of the Year Award during CGA’s annual Grocers Day at the Capitol event on early this month.
Cooper was honored for “being an exemplary public servant and a friend of the grocery industry in California,” said CGA First Vice Chair Kendra Doyel, Ralphs Grocery Co., who presented the award.
The former Elk Grove mayor and retired law enforcement officer also was recognized for his efforts to legislatively address the growing theft epidemic facing the grocery industry statewide.
“Assemblymember Cooper had the courage to take those in his own party who saw nothing wrong with the status quo that has encouraged more people to steal with impunity,” said CGA President and CEO Ron Fong.
For 30 years, Cooper worked in law enforcement, serving in the Sacramento Sheriff’s department at all levels, where he worked undercover in the narcotics unit and gangs unit for nearly a decade; earned a Bronze Star for Bravery during the Good Guys hostage crisis in 1991; and served as the department’s spokesperson.
“He has been a champion of the grocery industry and the greater business community, as well as a tireless advocate for public safety,” Doyel said. “It is for these reasons that we are proud to honor Jim Cooper for being an exemplary public servant and a friend of the grocery industry in California.”
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