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Davisite Banner. Left side the bicycle obelisk at 3rd and University. Right side the trellis at the entrance to the Arboretum.

Month: June 2018

  • Democracy and general public comment: A reply to Jon Li

    Brett_LeeI want to thank Jon Li for his thoughtful response to my earlier article, an article that objected to the recent proposal to limit the time for general public comment at the beginning of Council meetings, shunting the rest of general public comment to the end of the meetings.  His remarks provide the opportunity for me to reflect more on the nature of democracy as it pertains to our humble town.

     Jon asks us to think about the real purpose of public comment and about the nature of a representative democracy, and rightly so.  It is my view that recent events, both regionally and nationally, have shown us that just showing up to the polls and voting during elections is not enough.  Citizens can and should be more engaged than that.  Of course, ultimately we do rely on our elected representatives to make decisions.  But it is incumbent on us to let them know where we stand on issues, to raise concerns that they may not have thought of, to give them the information that they need in order to be able to properly represent us.

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  • DTA Questions Raise for Highest Paid Admin

    DTA LogoBy Dianna Huculak, President of the Davis Teachers Association

    At the end of the school year, educators in our district received an email from Director of secondary education Troy Allen, which among other things, told us that our students would not be able to have new textbooks next year because of increased compensation for teachers.   Based on this email, many teachers expressed to me that they felt guilty that their salary increase hurt their students.   To me, and others who have worked in Davis for a period of time, this rhetoric from district office is all too familiar- a district message frame-repeated to the community that unfortunately pits nurses, counselors, teachers, psychologist, and all support staff against the children that we protect, nurture and serve.  It creates a false dichotomy which says anything that goes to the support the livelihood of the people in our school community, must take something away from children.   It disrespects and minimizes the role of our school communities to create healthy spaces for children to grow and to learn.   Moreover, it’s not enough that teachers had to picket, write letters, show up at multiple school board meetings, for what basically amounted to a cost of living adjustment- we are also supposed to feel guilty about it.   What I didn’t realize at the time, was that apparently, this logic only applies to teachers.

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  • Chancellor May, Leidos, and the Border Regime

     

    May Leidos

    Image From Leidos website and Chancellor May 

    By Nick Buxton

    I’m glad to hear the university administration read my piece, although I wish it had led to some self-reflection about the ethics of education leaders holding corporate board positions – even more so when they are in the defense industry. Instead they have deployed a PR defense tactic of mis-characterizing my argument rather than addressing its core concerns. The fact that a university administration also spends public money defending a private corporation shows the costs of universities becoming ever more corporatized in recent years.

    My article did not argue that Leidos was responsible for the latest Trump policy of separating children from their families, nor did I say that Chancellor May was responsible for this. However it is clear that Leidos is part of the border regime, and that May as a Board representative therefore naturally bears some responsibility and accountability for its activities.

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  • Sad and Mad About Superintendent Pay

    DJUSD Money2Dear Davis School Board Members, (boe@djusd.net)

    I am so very disappointed in your leadership and continued support of the Superintendent’s agenda and request for additional salary for top administrators. You have been saying all year that teacher salaries are a priority yet your actions speak otherwise. Stop adding admin positions and stop increasing their pay!

    This year I had an amazing student teacher, the kind that only comes around once every few years, and we lost her to a school 15 miles away. Although she loved being at Pioneer – she could not turn down $1,000 more take home pay per month plus a much better benefit package. After all – she has student loans to pay back!

    Although I have worked for this district for 21 years and have maxed out on academic units, my pay is so low it requires me to hold a second job in order to support my family. In addition, I am unable to afford to live in the community in which I dedicate most my time and resources teaching and caring for its young people.

    I am sad, mad, and very disappointed!

    Culien Anderson
    Pioneer Elementary

  • Council public comment

    Brett_LeeBy Jon Li

    The Mayor Pro Tem is proposing that city council meeting public comment be limited to a half hour at the beginning of the meeting, and time given at the end of the meeting for public comment. That is the way it is done at most city councils around the country.

    The Davis community activists have demanded the right to longer time for public comment. I believe that recent city council meeting experience is that a few activists have tried to take over the agenda of the meeting during public comment, and on many occasions attempted to derail the council from its meeting agenda purpose.

    What is public comment for? Roberta Millstein claimed "Let's recall what general public comment is for: 1) it's for members of the community who want to speak to items on the agenda, but can't stay late, and 2) it's for members of the community to speak to items that are not on the agenda. "

    I think you forgot what the purpose of public comment is. Then we can talk about what it is for, and then we can talk about the more effective approaches to setting ground rules to achieve identified goals.

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  • UC Davis Statement On “Chancellor May, Leidos Corp., and “heart-wrenching political tactics” for refugees”

    May72502_0UC Davis Statement On "Chancellor May, Leidos Corp., and “heart-wrenching political tactics” for refugees" Published on the Davisite.org

    On behalf of Chancellor Gary S. May and UC Davis, I must address the accusations and incorrect information made by Nick Buxton in his June 20 article, “Chancellor May, Leidos Corp, and ‘heart-wrenching political tactics’ for refugees.” In addition to the inflammatory and wildly inappropriate placement of Chancellor’s May’s picture with that of children detained by ICE, Buxton made false statements related to May’s Leidos Board seat and how that position impacts his role here at UC Davis. 

    For starters, Chancellor May has been transparent about his board service from the very beginning. He disclosed his board service and salary candidly with the search committee that ultimately recommended unanimously to select him as the next UC Davis Chancellor. The UC Office of the President and UC Regents were also informed about his board leadership prior to selecting him. He has discussed this topic with the campus community and during many media interviews. He continues to make himself available to anyone who wants to discuss this with him in person. 

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  • Problematic changes proposed for Davis City Council meeting comments

    Brett_LeeThe City Council is considering some changes to its meeting format, according to the Davis Enterprise:

    One suggestion was to limit general public comment at the beginning of the meeting — requiring that it end at a specific time — and continuing it for those who still wish to speak after all other agenda items have been dealt with.

    The reason for the possible change?

    “The idea is that as we start with a new council in July, that we find a way to make the meetings more accessible for the public and make them function more smoothly,” [Brett] Lee said.

    So, meetings will be more accessible for the public if we force some members of the public to wait until the very end of the meeting to make general comments?  No. That would make meetings less accessible.

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  • Chancellor May, Leidos Corp., and “heart-wrenching political tactics” for refugees

    May detention centerBy Nick Buxton

    UC Davis Chancellor Gary May has joined the chorus of voices rightly condemning the separation of children from parents seeking asylum in the US. In a public statement on June 19, he condemned the “heart-wrenching political tactics” affecting refugees and voiced his support for DACA students. These are important statements, but they would be even more powerful if he took action to back up those values, which in this case he could easily do by stepping down from his position on the board of one of the leading corporations involved in the inhumane border regime.

    According to Sacramento Bee, May earned $288,280 in cash and stock in 2015 as a member of the board of Leidos, a Virginia-based defense and technology company. Leidos is an important supplier of surveillance equipment to the Department for Homeland Security Border guards, boasting of supplying 70 programs worth $200 million in the last five years. The company has expanded significantly in recent years and its CEO has boasted to investors of how it is benefiting from Trump’s agenda.

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  • Davis is a DAM fine town (for swimming in particular)

    Main_250hWhen I first came to Davis for my job interview (the one that would result in my addition to the Philosophy Department at UCD), one of my future colleagues said, with a bit of a sarcastic snort, “Too bad Paul couldn’t be here.  He’s been telling all of the candidates about Davis’s masters swimming group.”  My head whipped around:  “Davis has a masters swimming group??”

    A good masters swimming group is hard to find.

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  • Fact checking can be so very, very illuminating!

    By now you must have heard of the big issue of children being separated from parents at our boarder with Mexico ……. this is highly controversial and within the past 24 hours five current and former First Ladies have weighed in on this situation…. express concern and at times outrage at how this situation is being managed by the current administration.

    Part of the management of the situation is a considerable amount of communication "spin".  Here is a link to an article from the Washington Post which does a great job of sorting out the spin from the truth.  

    In these modern times it is important to be able to separate fact from fiction or even more critically fact from near fact or semi-fact.  And we need to be prepared to sort through these claims as we go about making decisions that affect us and/or others.  For example, "More cars means less traffic".  You might have heard that one lately.  Still makes my head shake.

    Anyway, here is the link to the Post:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2018/06/19/the-facts-about-trumps-policy-of-separating-families-at-the-border/?utm_term=.54b235edb54f&wpisrc=nl_most&wpmm=1

    I subscribe to the online version….. you might want to, too.

    John