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Month: May 2018

  • Fact Checking Claims by Opponents of Measure H – Parks Tax

    Park
    Photo credit: Davis Wiki


    By Alan Pryor

    Measure H is a 20-year parcel tax for Parks Maintenance at $49 per year per residential parcel (or per apartment for multifamily dwellings) increasing at 2% per annum.

    The signers of the Argument Against the Measure and the Rebuttal to the Argument For the Measure are all the same, as follow;

    Michael Nolan, Acting President of Yolo County Taxpayers Association,

    John Munn, Former Member of the Board of Education of the Davis Joint Unified School District,

    Don Price, Emeritus Professor of History, University of California Davis,

    Pam Nieberg, Former Co-Chair, Yes on Measure O (City of Davis Open Space Ordinance)

    These signers are a disparate group of individuals representing fiscal conservatives and social progressives in Davis.

    In their Arguments Against Measure H and their Rebuttal to the Argument in Favor of Measure H, these signers made some serious claims and allegations against the City as a fiscally responsible agent and the trustworthiness of the statements made by the Measure’s proponents in fairly assessing the Measures’ impacts and honestly reporting them to the electorate.

    This article investigates these claims and attempts to quantitatively verify their accuracy. In doing so, some independent investigations and fact-checking were done and some of the information was obtained in response to direct inquiries to the campaign.

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  • Davis Police Officers PAC Pours Money into Reisig’s DA Campaign

    Pileofmoney-croppedBy Gilbert Coville and Roberta Millstein

    The Davis Enterprise has reported that the "Davis Police Officers PAC” donated $500 to Jeff Reisig’s campaign for Yolo County District Attorney.  Jeff Reisig, the incumbent, is being challenged by Deputy Public Defender Dean Johannson. However, the article only covers contributions up through April 21, 2018. 

    Since then, the PAC (officially called “Davis Police Officers’ Association Political Activities Committee”) donated $2000 on April 27 and another $14,000 on May 3, according to two Form 497 24-hour contribution reports filed with the Davis City Clerk.  Such forms must be filed when a PAC donates more than $1000 to a candidate’s campaign.

    In total, then, the Davis Police Officers PAC has donated $16,500 to Reisig’s re-election campaign so far.

    Readers may draw whatever conclusions from this information that they wish.

  • Follow up: Partida and Carson Campaign collaboration

    06Willows2The Davisite received several emails and comments about the recent stories about possible coordination between the Partida and Carson City Council campaigns and we feel it is important to answer a few questions and address concerns.

     

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  • Former Mayor Joe Krovoza Endorses Larry Guenther and Ezra Beeman

    Larry-Ezra

    Joe Krovoza (Davis City Council 2010-2014, Mayor of Davis 2011-2014) has given the Davisite permission to publish the following letter, distributed to his friends via email.

    Hello, Friends.  I hope and trust this note finds you well.  I am being asked who I support for City Council in 2018 — for the two open seats and it's Larry Guenther and Ezra Beeman.  Larry and Ezra will work tirelessly for Davis.  They understand and will advance what makes Davis unique: school-city connections; supporting seniors; parks; partnerships with UC Davis; a vibrant downtown; and so much more.

    Feel free to forward this on.

    My view is Larry and Ezra will be the best match for the leadership our new mayor Brett Lee will provide.  Brett will be outstanding; he has all the right values for Davis and the conviction to do what's best for Davis long-term; I want Brett to have a strong council that will contribute to his visionary and his pragmatic approaches. 

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  • Why the Nishi Site is Worse than Other Sites

    Nishi-overall-satelliteSouthwest-nishi-satellite Northeeast-nishi-satelliteIn a recent letter to the editor in the Enterprise, Bill Wagman asks, "What is the difference [between Nishi and Olive Drive] and why do there seem to be no concerns voiced about Olive Drive. Or are there concerns which have not been made public?"

    The answer is: It is possible that there are health concerns at other near–freeway sites such as Olive Drive. Peer-reviewed studies have found elevated health risks at many near-freeway sites. But the Nishi is of particular concern because it is adjacent to where the freeway goes from six lanes to three lanes, and so there are often backups on that portion of I-80, especially during weekend Tahoe traffic. More backups mean more car and truck braking. Braking releases ultrafine particulate matter into the air, and that causes health risks such as an increased risk of ischemic heart disease, an increased risk of lung damage, an increased risk of cancer, and an increased risk of developmental problems.

    Also, Nishi is of particular concern because the freeway is elevated next to Nishi, so the pollutants travel further, as peer-reviewed studies of similar sites have shown.

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  • Update – Carson campaign posts Partida signs

    BRIAN hOSTFIELDDan Carson's City Council campaign Facebook page posted a picture of Brian Horsfield the campaign's " Lawn Sign Guy" posting Carson and Partida signs. Note the Partida sign laying on the lawn in the background of the photo. 

    This comes after Carson made a point of not endorsing any other candidate at the Chamber of Commerce PAC Forum on April 2nd. Partida also declined to endorse any other candidate at the Chamber forum.

    The Carson campaign photo corroborates the Davisite Story run yesterday Partida and Carson City Council Campaign Working Together?

    Follow the link to see pictures Mr. Horsfield posting Carson and Partida signs at several local apartment complexes.

  • Partida and Carson City Council Campaigns Working Together?

    06Willows2Spotted today – a gentleman putting up Partida and Carson signs at multiple locations in a car emblazoned with both City Council candidates logos.

    On April 2nd at the Davis Chamber of Commerce PAC City Council Candidates Forum all of the candidates where asked who they would be casting their second vote for. Both Dan Carson and Gloria Partida declined to state. Today however someone was spotted putting up signs for both candidates.

    The Gentleman drove a car with custom emblems for both Partida and Carson adhered to it's sides, Partida on the driver side and Carson on the passenger side.

    This appears to be a specific example of coordination between the Carson and Partida Campaigns.

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  • How High Should the Downtown Go – And Why?

    IMG_1296In a recent post, Jon Li decried the process used by "Downtown Davis Plan Team Participatory Design Workshop." In addition to those concerns about process, in his view the right solution to Davis's economic problems is to turn the Downtown into 10,000 residences by building six stories, and higher, and having jobs and housing downtown."

    In reply, one commenter thought that "the charrette consultants went straight to tall, dense downtown buildings as a first solution" and that that "would probably gentrify downtown to the point where all the small independent businesses would be forced out because rents would go too high."

    Interestingly, then, we have agreement that there were problems with the process, but disagreement with the desired outcome: a tall, dense downtown.

    Would a tall downtown in fact improve Davis's economy?

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  • Why the Davis Downtown Economy is Falling Apart

    Bw-bicyclestatueBy Jon Li

    Do you wonder about the empty stores in Downtown Davis? Don't you wish there was somebody on the City of Davis Staff who is responsible for improving our local economy?

    Last week, the City of Davis held its "Downtown Davis Plan Team Participatory Design Workshop" for four days. It was lectures by highly paid outside consultants mouthing what the Davis Staff has decided is going to be in the Downtown element of the new Davis General Plan.  State law says ours is out of date now and must be updated. Davis Staff set up a process with as little public input as possible. They only want to legally check off the box "public input."

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