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Month: December 2019

  • Why dropping SAT/ACT admission requirements isn’t a “dumbing down”

    The tests do, in fact, discriminate against low-income students

    Bubble-sheetBy Roberta Millstein

    A recent letter to the editor in the Davis Enterprise decried the move to drop the SAT and ACT as part of the college application process.  The letter writer states that to get rid of these standardized tests would be to “dumb down” the educational process, suggesting that people need to accept that not everyone’s abilities are the same and that some students just need to work harder.  The letter writer rejects out of hand the suggestion that the tests “discriminate against minorities and the poor.”

    Letters like this remind me that there are a number of facts about these standardized tests that are not well known.  So, in the interests of education (yes, a double meaning here), I thought it would be helpful to rehearse some of them.  I will focus on the SAT because that is the test I am more familiar with.

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  • Bats Ignored in Environmental Review for Mace Business Park

    2019-12-23_17-43-09Will new ARC SEIR do better?

    This letter was sent to Assistant City Manager Ash Feeney on December 23, 2019.

    Dear Mr. Feeney,

    I am writing to draw your attention to a significant omission in the Mace Ranch Innovation Center Project Final Environmental Impact Report dated January 2016. At no place in the FEIR is there any consideration for Mexican free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis), or for Hoary bats (Lasiurus cinereus).

    Just over 2 miles from the MRIC/ARC site is “One of the largest seasonal Mexican free-tailed bat (Tadarida brasiliensis) colonies in California. An estimated 250,000 individuals strong.” (https://baynature.org/2013/07/25/yolo-bats/). This colony roosts under the Yolo Causeway bridge and has been well documented in the Davis Enterprise and the Sacramento Bee (https://www.davisenterprise.com/community/see-bats-at-the-causeway/, https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/environment/article31141712.html).

    I have personally observed bats flying over the MRIC/ARC site during summer months, but there is no mention of bats in the FEIR, or any of the underlying documentation.

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  • Reflecting back on VCE’s year

    What a year it's been!

    VCEBy Tom Stallard

    The end of each calendar year offers an opportunity to sit back and reflect on the goals reached over the past 12 months and to look forward to a new year of possibilities and challenges.

    At Valley Clean Energy — your local not-for-profit electricity provider— we’re working hard to fulfill our mission to deliver clean electricity, energy product choice and greenhouse gas emission reductions, all with local control at competitive prices.

    Since June 2018, we’ve been serving 55,000 customers in the cities of Woodland and Davis plus the unincorporated area of Yolo County. That number will grow when customers in Winters are enrolled after the city became an official member of VCE this month.

    Thanks to the creativity and dedication of our professional staff, and the visionary leadership of my colleagues on the board, the past year has been jam-packed with accomplishments. Here’s a brief review:

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  • We live in the most interesting of times.

    6381962287_6b2da07cd6_b
    In the era of so much uncertainty there is plenty of reason for despair. But there is also plenty of reason for hope.

    Energy has been buzzing to address the greatest challenges of our time in this time of urgent need.

    Groups like the Sunrise Movement and the Youth Climate Strike are pushing forward national and local climate action at a pace never seen before. Labor groups are organizing for fair pay, secure employment, and dignity. Right here in Davis, there are groups and individuals developing local and national Green New Deal initiatives and support, and our City Council has passed strong climate goals for the next 20 years.

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  • University Mall proposing to become another Mega-dorm, EIR comments deadline is this Friday Dec. 20th

    U Mall Fig 3-8 v3
    By Eileen M. Samitz

    The deadline for comments on the Draft EIR for the monolithic University Mall mega-dorm proposal (University Commons) is this Friday Dec. 20th at 5pm. The email addresses to send comments in are to City Staff at smetzker@cityofdavis.org  and elee@cityofdavis.org.

    The proposal is to demolish all of U-Mall leaving only Trader Joe’s (the Arco station is not part of the project) and to replace it with a “mixed-use” project of a wall of 7-story buildings towering over the retail with 264 apartments with almost 900 “beds” (see attached illustration). 25% of the units would be 4-bedroom which makes clear, as the project name “University Commons” suggests, that it is targeting students. Since the City has approved almost 4,000 beds designed specifically for UCD students in four mega-dorms in the City already, the last thing we need is yet another mega-dorm.

    The Russell and Anderson vicinity is already hugely impacted with traffic and this project would make it gridlock. U Mall now is difficult enough to find parking, yet the proposal wanted to add over 46,000 square feet of retail (the size of a Safeway grocery store) adding only 2 more parking spaces to support it!

    This project proposal is too large and out of scale for that site, and would be luxury apartments with no affordable housing. None of this helps the City’s need for housing for our community’s workers and families and does nothing to provide affordable housing needed. In addition, it encourages UCD to continue neglecting to build the needed student housing on its enormous 5,300-acre campus with a 900- acre core campus. UCD is the only UC which has not agreed to provide 50% on-campus housing, yet it is the largest UC having so much land.

    The U-Mall needs to redeveloped into an expanded and updated retail center which is the environmentally superior alternative in the EIR, not another mega-dorm, or possibly a dramatically scaled down mixed-use project if the parking and circulation can work. The City needs the sales tax and this site was intended for retail serving the entire community, not serving UCD’s student housing needs. The City needs the sales tax and this site was intended for retail serving the entire community, not serving UCD’s student housing needs. We have few sites left in the City to offer retail and this is one of the most important.

    For information including the details of the project and the Draft EIR documents to review and comment on by the deadline this Friday Dec. 20th at 5pm please see the Davisite article posted today at:

    https://newdavisite.wordpress.com/2019/12/15/the-new-u-mall-proposal-a-monolithic-mega-dorm-fraught-with-problems/

  • Rising homelessness in Davis: what comes next?

    Tent

    By Bapu Vaitla

    It’s hard to talk about homelessness. Many of us in Davis consider ourselves to be compassionate progressives sincerely wishing to support our community’s unhoused, but we’ve clearly failed to find answers. Tensions are rising, with local businesses reporting aggressive interactions downtown and Police Chief Pytel stating at the last City Council meeting that “one of the greatest tragedies we have in the city right now” is the degree to which homeless people victimize each other, with serious violence and theft occurring continuously. The most recent debate concerns the proposed location of a homeless day respite center near L & 5th streets. Some residents have cited safety concerns, while others, including Chief Pytel, feel that the center is a necessary first step to meaningful change.

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  • The new U-Mall proposal – a monolithic mega-dorm fraught with problems

    Davis needs an expanded retail project at U-Mall, not another mega-dorm

    By Eileen M. Samitz

    U Mall Fig 3-8

    Project description

    The owner of University Mall, Brixmor Property Group, has proposed a renovation of this important community shopping center that opened in 1966. The effort would demolish 90,563 sq. ft. of the existing University Mall building and replace it with a mixed-use development comprised of 136,800 sq. ft. of retail space, 264 multi-family housing units, and a 3-level, 246,000 sq. ft. parking structure.  The existing 13,200 sq. ft. Trader Joe’s store would remain, resulting in a shopping center with 150,000 sq. ft. of retail space. The ARCO service station on the southeast corner of the site is not part of the project. 

    This “University Commons” project would total 795,300 sq. ft., meaning the retail space would occupy just 17% of the building area. The single greatest use of space would be the residential area, comprising 412,500 sq. ft., or almost 52%.  Parking would consume 246,000 sq. ft., or almost 31%.  Brixmor says the residential units could be rented by anyone, but concedes that most of the apartments will be occupied by students.  In other words, the project would become an ultra-dense residential project with window dressing retail that would likely focus on being student-serving, rather than the original intent of having businesses that serve the entire Davis community.

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  • Valley Clean Energy Welcomes Legacy Solar Customers

    VCEThe Valley Clean Energy board of directors has adopted a policy governing how legacy solar customers — those who installed solar systems prior to VCE’s launch in June 2018 — are enrolled with the local electricity service provider.

    “We’re thrilled to begin enrolling solar customers, also known as Net Energy Metered customers, beginning in January,” said Tom Stallard, VCE board chair and a member of the Woodland City Council.

    “Solar customers have already demonstrated a financial commitment to renewable energy, and it will be great to have them in the fold, helping all of us take a big leap toward a more sustainable future for our communities.”

    Beginning in January and continuing through December 2020, PG&E solar customers will be automatically enrolled in VCE service during their existing PG&E true-up month. As with all VCE customers, these solar customers will have the choice to opt out and stay with PG&E.

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  • Reducing and Preventing Homelessness

    Homelessness
    On Monday, December 16 at 6pm, the City of Davis Social Services Commission is hosting a free talk by Rohit Naimpally on evidence-based best practices to prevent and reduce homelessness. Rohit is the senior policy & research manager for J-PAL North America. J-PAL's co-founders recently won the 2019 Nobel Prize in Economics.

    This will be a good opportunity for us to discuss what we can do about the recent increase in homelessness in Davis and Yolo County. The talk will be at the Davis City Hall Community Chambers. 23 Russell Blvd. The event is free and open to the public.

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  • DJUSD Accused of Limiting Special Education Enrollment

    Special Education System Fundamentally Conflicted

    Daisy

    By Aaron Wright

    I wrote “Daisy Has Autism” to give a voice to those struggling with the state of special education services in Davis. “Daisy” was also a sorrowful goodbye to the town that I loved and called home for nearly 20 years. I felt obligated to shed a light upon the neglect, marginalization, and removal of disabled children from our community. I prepared for a backlash to my book, but I believed our community still capable of driving a legitimate discussion about the treatment of children.

    Tragically, as publication neared, that confidence was destroyed. When DJUSD student Max Benson was killed at the school where our administration had placed him, the coverage in Davis was anemic. No discussion regarding the absence of an appropriate education program within the community to which he belonged took place. Had any non-disabled child in Davis been made to take a bus 80 miles a day because of a lack of educational materials or teachers, there would have been a furor.

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