Rancho Cordova City Councilmember Linda Budge talks in 2018 about the history of the historic Mills Station Building. Budge, 78, joined the council in 2003 when Rancho Cordova incorporated, at a time when leaders were focused on reshaping the city’s image and gaining local control.
Autumn Payne
Sacramento Bee file
Linda Budge has spent more than 50 years watching Rancho Cordova grow — and more than 20 helping decide how it would.
Now, after five terms as mayor and more than two decades on the City Council, Budge said she is weighing whether to run again as her term expires this year.
Budge, 78, joined the council in 2003 when Rancho Cordova incorporated, at a time when leaders were focused on reshaping the city’s image and gaining local control.
More than two decades later — as the city has grown to more than 85,000 residents — she said Rancho Cordova is emerging as a hub for technology and advanced manufacturing. Budge has had a front-row seat in helping to shape that growth.
“I’m the planner in the group,” Budge said.
Budge has lived in Rancho Cordova since 1971 and has held elected or appointed roles since 1978, including positions with the Rancho Cordova Chamber of Commerce and the Cordova Community Planning Advisory Council. She later started a consulting business, advising retailers and fast-food companies across the United States.
Linda Budge, left, joins other Rancho Cordova leaders — from left, Ken Cooley, Dave Roberts, David Sander and Robert McGarvey — on Rancho Cordova’s first day as a city on July 1, 2003. During her time on the council, Budge has served as mayor five times, vice mayor five times — including this year — and mayor pro tempore once. Randall Benton Sacramento Bee file
She said efforts to incorporate the city date back to the early 1960s, driven in part by frustration with Sacramento County land-use decisions and a lack of local representation.
The push to incorporate the city was fueled by the fact that Sacramento County and the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency had concentrated low-income housing in the area and were planning to add a homeless assistance center, Budge said. Residents felt they did not have enough representation in local government.
“The perspective of low income housing at that point in time was completely different than it is today,” Budge said. “Today, we understand, especially with all these houses reaching $700,000, $1 million, there’s got to be something affordable somewhere, right?”
Today, Rancho Cordova offers multiple affordable housing options, including Mather Veterans Village for homeless and disabled veterans in the Sacramento region. The project is set to break ground on a new phase on April 9.
That shift reflects how the city’s priorities have evolved over time, Budge said.
The first city council was mostly composed of members of the city’s Chamber of Commerce and community council, which Budge said was “lucky.”
“We all got along really well, and that’s why establishing common goals was pretty easy,” Budge said.
Rancho Cordova City Councilmember Linda Budge celebrates the razing of the First Value Inn in 2013. Budge, who has served on the council since the city’s inception, has championed making Rancho Cordova a destination for affordable housing and innovation. Randall Benton Sacramento Bee file
In its early years, the City Council focused on what Budge described as cleaning up Rancho Cordova’s image and building the structure of a new local government.
That effort included the transformation of Folsom Boulevard, a project Budge called one of her proudest accomplishments.
“We took Folsom Boulevard from five lanes of concrete, a train track and 240 four-by-eight billboards, and turned it into the walkable boulevard that it is today, with all those trees and all the flowers,” Budge said.
Since then, the city has shifted its focus from image to growth.
“Aside from being the fifth-fastest growing city in California, we are also transitioning into a high-tech hub,” Budge said.
An arena is currently in the works for the city’s burgeoning downtown, and Mayor Garrett Gatewood frequently touts the city’s AI and robotics ecosystem, creating education and jobs around AI and other tech-related industries in Rancho Cordova. Budge called the AI boom in the area “remarkable” and noted its importance in providing jobs for residents.
Maintaining a balanced budget has remained a priority, she said.
“From Day 1, being financially viable has been a main priority, and we’ve had a balanced budget ever since,” Budge said.
Budge also praised the Cordova Community Council, a nonprofit organization founded in 1959 that plans community events and celebrations year-round.
“We may not have all the retail in the world in Rancho Cordova, but we have more fun than anybody else,” Budge said.
During her time on the council, Budge has served as mayor five times, vice mayor five times — including this year — and mayor pro tempore once. Budge now represents the 5th District — which spans most of central Rancho Cordova east of Whiterock Park — after City Council maps changed in 2023.
She said she is also considering life beyond public office, including “a couple of books to write” based on stories from her 100-year-old mother. She also wants to spend more time with her husband, Lee Garrison, a retired civil engineer with whom she shares five children and 14 grandchildren.
With her term set to expire this year, Budge said she has not yet decided whether she will seek re-election.
“That is the absolute question of the year,” Budge said, adding that she is not ready to answer it yet.
The nomination period for Rancho Cordova’s election opens July 13. The filing deadline is 5 p.m. Aug. 7.
This story was originally published March 24, 2026 at 12:14 PM.
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Camryn Dadey is The Sacramento Bee’s Elk Grove and Rancho Cordova watchdog reporter. She is a 2022 graduate of Sacramento State.