Has the City Council already made up its mind concerning the proposed Mace Ranch business park?

Will the new City Council listen to its commissions and its citizens?

This morning, I learned of a new proposed Mace Ranch business park from a Facebook post from Councilmember Lucas Frerichs, a post that tagged the soon-to-be other four members of the Davis City Council (among other people).  The proposal seems reasonable to me on its face in terms of its size, purpose, and location, although I reserve judgement until I have heard more about it.  What shocked me, however, was Councilmember Frerichs’s proclamation that the project was “Coming soon!!” with “approval expected,” as captured in the screenshot at the beginning of this post.

I find this shocking because the proposal hasn’t even gone to the Planning Commission yet (as Councilmember Frerichs notes), nor has the City Council had an opportunity to hear from citizens. Will any concerns be raised that make the City Council think twice about the proposal?  It would seem that Councilmember Frerichs, at least, does not think so. 

When I called him out on this inappropriate remark – let us also remember that members of the City Council as a whole should not be discussing outside of Council meetings, lest they run afoul of the Brown Act, so Councilmember Frerichs should not be in a position to know whether approval is expected – Councilmember Frerichs’s response was to taunt me to write a Davisite article.

Well, I hadn’t planned on it.  I thought he would back away from his comment, not double down on it.  But if that is his reply, then Councilmember Frerichs, yes, here is the article you asked for. 

He did, it should be acknowledged, edit his comment to say “(Hopefully) coming soon!!”, saying that “since it’s my page/post, I can edit/delete as I see fit.”  And he deleted some of our exchange as well.  The  inappropriate remark, “approval expected,” remained.

But this is not about Facebook and what someone can or can’t do on their page.  This is about whether our new City Council (retaining Frerichs, Lee, and Arnold, adding in Partida and Carson) is genuinely interested in listening to commission and citizen input, and whether it is open to changing their views in light of that input.  I certain hope that it is.  Councilmember Frerichs’s remarks and actions today do not give me confidence in that, however.

And these remarks and actions come at the same time that the Council will be considering a proposal for a citizen-unfriendly proposal to shunt some of public comment to the end of meetings.  I’ve written on this already; more soon.  Taken together, it does not give a picture of a receptive Council.

I hope that I am wrong, and hope that I can look forward to hearing a robust and genuine discussion on the new proposed Mace Ranch business park, not a smoke and mirrors show.