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

Month: October 2020

  • Six Mayors Endorse Colin Walsh for City Council

    Six-former-mayorsThe Colin Walsh for Davis City Council District 2 campaign announces the endorsement of six former Davis City Council Mayors: Jerry Adler, Michael Corbett, Sue Greenwald, Bill Kopper, Joe Krovoza, and Ken Wagstaff.  Walsh has also been endorsed by former Councilmembers Stan Forbes and Mike Harrington.  These endorsements follow the Sierra Club’s earlier endorsement of Walsh.

    Former Mayor Krovoza stated, “He's a kind, thoughtful and reflective person. Most important, Colin is an independent thinker. He's balanced, informed, transparent and open in his thinking.”  He continued, “Colin will seek to understand all sides of issues and then consider the path forward.”

    Former Mayor Corbett noted that “Colin will stand up to the financial influences of developers who are trying to shape the city to their advantage. He will push for a new citizen based general plan that addresses: a stable economy, climate change, income and racial equality, connects bicycle paths, and preserves the character of our town.”

    “Colin is hardworking, honest, and principled. He will respect the right of citizens to be heard. A master of city planning detail, he will hold developers to all aspects of their agreements with the City,” according to former Mayor Wagstaff.

    “Colin has the judgment to honor our unique small town character while applying sound environmental planning principles,” affirms former Mayor Greenwald, adding that “Colin won't blindly follow out-of-town boilerplate consultant reports and approve every developer application with only minor tweaks.”

    In response to the endorsements from the six former Mayors, candidate Walsh stated, “I am honored to have the support of so many past Davis Mayors. Having lived in Davis most of my life, these are community leaders I have watched shape our City. I will work hard to live up to their belief in me and the forward thinking and high standards that they set during their own tenures.”

    For more information on Colin Walsh’s campaign for Davis City Council, visit https://www.Walsh4Davis.com/

  • Letter: Fortunate to have Provenza in difficult times

    JIm-ProvenzaLife is so difficult right now, but we have been fortunate to have Supervisor Jim Provenza’s leadership and experience when it matters most. A man of integrity who puts service above all else, Jim's continued work on our behalf is imperative.

    Jim’s style isn’t what one expects in politics. He gravitates toward complex tasks instead of the limelight. As a volunteer with the Friends of the Yolo Crisis Nursery I saw this when the Nursery nearly closed. Jim rolled up his sleeves and made sure our most vulnerable children and their families would be cared for. These children are highly diverse, and in need of equity and inclusion. Jim has been their champion all along.

    Under Covid, Jim fast-tracked essential supplies to the Nursery and other agencies serving young children. He also led the way to raise funds to support our fragile nonprofit network.

    Over the years, Jim has continually earned my respect and my vote and I hope you’ll join me by voting for him November 3, 2020.

    Veronica Stanton

  • Pros and Cons for Measure B (DISC)

    Davis-LWVBy the League of Women Voters Davis Area

    The Question:  Should residents approve annexing agricultural land to develop the Davis Innovation and Sustainability Campus (DISC)?  Annexation of county land for city-related uses has required citizen approval since voters passed the “Citizens Right to Vote on Future Use of Open Space and Agricultural Lands” ordinance in 2000 (as Measure J) and renewed it in 2010 (as Measure R). 

    The Situation:  Davis has studied options for an innovation park with the goals of leveraging UC Davis' international reputation for academic and research advancements in agriculture, biotech, green-tech, and food science research.  As the options were studied, four options initially appeared to be available but these have since been reduced to one (see Appendix for a more detailed history).  The project site is agricultural land that has been productively farmed for many decades.  Moving forward with the project will put an end to farming on the site.

    (more…)

  • Criminal Negligence

    By Dan Urazandi

    There have been a series of crimes at my shop that have forced me to consider crime in Davis. Most of us take it for granted that Davis is safe like it was a decade or two ago. Many of us are learning otherwise as we are victimized by criminals. I hope a few more can be convinced without having to become victims and that corrective action will be taken before things get even worse, particularly as covid policy is emptying California jails.    

       In 2018 and 2019 my son and I were victims of two assaults with deadly weapon while minding our store. This year's crime was a burglary, we were hit with a smash and grab on 9/24. I was aghast and furious that the police would not assign an investigator to the case. They seemed unconcerned with property crime, which begins to explain its massive increase in the last few years. So we handled the case ourselves; when the suspect came back on 10/9 to sell me stolen merchandise from other stores he burglarized and, yes, some he had burglarized from me, my son and I put him under citizen's arrest after some struggle. When I handed him over to DPD they acted for the first time in this case with expedition by letting him go one hour after picking him up. That's after we found him, caught him, fought him and arrested him for them. The thief couldn't have been stupider and we went far beyond what a citizen should have to do to catch this serial burglar, but he went free anyway.

    (more…)

  • Public Comment to DJUSD School Board Last Night — Funny Money in Measure B Argument?

    Fact-checkBy Matt Williams

    The following Public Comment was submitted by e-mail to the DJUSD School Board with copy to DJUSD CFO Amari Watkins.  The Public Comment was read into the record by Superintendent John Bowes.  As noted in the text of the Public Comment, I have been dialoguing with Amari Watkins over the past three weeks.  What came out of the due diligence homework leading up to that dialogue was a complete surprise.

    ==============

    Members of the DJUSD School Board, over the past three weeks I have been in e-mail communication with your CFO Amari Watkins regarding the current and future status of DJUSD’s Community Facilities District No. 1 (CFD #1).  Amari has provided the 1989 Resolution documents that created and govern CFD #1, which I have reconciled with the numbers from the four most recent DAVIS JOINT UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT MELLO‐ROOS COMMUNITY FACILITIES DISTRICT NO. 1 SPECIAL TAX REPORTs (“the reports”) prepared by DJUSD’s tax administration consultant, SCI Consulting Group.

    Bottom-line … subject to Amari’s (DJUSD’s) provision of any additional legal and/or election documents … the numbers from “the reports” say that CFD#1 will have reached the point where the language from the Rate and Method Resolution, “The special tax shall be levied and collected only so long as it is needed to pay the principal and interest on debt incurred …” will reach both its logical and fiscal conclusion during or before DJUSD’s Fiscal Year 2021-2022 … possibly as early as during or before Fiscal Year 2020-21.  Said another way it appears to be clear that CFD #1 will be fully paid off at the end of Fiscal Year 2020-21, or at the latest Fiscal Year 2021-22.

    The implications of CFD #1 ending for the DJUSD annual revenue stream are significant.

    (more…)

  • Letter: Multiple grounds for a no vote on Measure B

    Measure B (DISC) is perhaps the worst development project that has ever come before Davis voters. Above all, it will have major adverse and irreversible environmental effects, and instead of helping to solve the housing problem, it will only aggravate it. Finally, it will do nothing to solve the city’s major fiscal issues, and indeed only exacerbate them.

    A year ago, Davis leaders declared a “climate emergency” and declared it would achieve carbon neutrality by 2040. This massive project (over twice the size of the Cannery project) will spew more than 37,000 metric tons of carbon emission every year from the traffic it generates, according to the EIR, a net increase of 8% in Davis’ existing carbon footprint.

    The project will generate 24,000 additional car trips daily, and the EIR (Appendix F, p. 123) says that at 14 intersections traffic will deteriorate to Level F. This does not take full account of the cumulative traffic impacts produced by the building of the many many thousands of units completed, under construction and approved in the last few years.

    Moreover, the developers are in no way committed to mitigating in any way the inevitable traffic deadlock.

    Furthermore, the EIR notes that DISC will create a minimum need for 3,760 housing units to accommodate the jobs generated. But it will only provide 850 units, and 83% of them will be at high-end market rates.

    Finally, this development, even on its own terms, will not provide the revenues to offset the city’s serious fiscal deficit, quite to the contrary. The city’s Finance and Budget Commission was deeply skeptical of the developers’ claims, three doubted that there would be a net fiscal profit, and one even called the fiscal projections a “fairy tale.” This does not even take into account the major infrastructural spending by the city necessary to try and mitigate the environmental impacts.

    What’s not to abhor? Please vote No on B.

    Dan Cornford
    Davis

  • Letter: The Road Ahead

    IMG_3892DISC for me represents a 20+ year commitment to going down the wrong road.  It represents a reversal of fundamental tenets that have shaped Davis for the better.

    DISC is sprawl plain and simple. It circumvents every good planning principle that Davis has stood for. It places retail, office and dense housing on the periphery while destroying 200 acres of farmland. It is the antithesis of what we should be doing in the era of global warming as DISC depends on car commuters and makes a joke of the City’s mandate of carbon neutrality by 2040.

    Furthermore, DISC will destabilize existing businesses and compromise our ability to fill existing vacancies. Even before Covid, DISC was a poor plan for a community that values a strong downtown. But, Covid on top of DISC boggles the mind.  The SEIR states that cannibalism from DISC will cause sustained commercial vacancies of up to 313,000 sq. ft.

    The good news is that we have an alternative option that would take us down the right road.

    We have enough land in Davis to serve our commercial needs. In 2019, the city’s justification for converting 3820 Chiles Rd. from commercial to residential reads “the existing current inventory of vacant land for 0ffice and R&D/Flex uses will meet demand for the next 43 to 69 years”.  We also have a Downtown Plan that is full steam ahead and calls for intensifying residential and commercial in the core. Joe Minicozzi, hosted by Cool Davis in March, was unequivocal that investing in the ground Davis already has, that has existing services and infrastructure, is the best path to economic stability and revitalization.

    I want to add that Colin Walsh, candidate for City Council District 2, is the one council candidate who has studied every aspect of DISC and has taken a lead role against the project. In Colin you will find a candidate who will make the tough decisions to do what is right, and not what is politically expedient.  He has the resolve and commitment to go down a better road.

    Pam Gunnell
    Davis

  • Area arts organizations confront racism

    By Wendy Weitzel

    Members of the local arts community met virtually on Oct. 7 to support each other and share how they are reimagining their work in the time of COVID-19.

    Arts Alliance Davis was formed a few years ago as a grassroots effort to give artists and their supporters the opportunity to gather, collaborate and create meaningful impact. Meetings, typically every other month, are open to anyone. The October meeting, via videoconference, included 17 artists or representatives or arts organizations.

    Much of the discussion focused on anti-racism. Davis resident NJ Mvondo, a self-described Black artist and community organizer, recently launched the interactive Healing Art Project to provide a positive platform for dialogue about systemic racism. Mvondo runs Multiculturalism Rocks!, an organization celebrating cultural diversity in the arts. The Healing Art Project is a treasure hunt for two-dimensional art – displayed in merchant windows in downtown Davis and beyond – encouraging patronage to local businesses.

    (more…)

  • Letter: Vote Larry Guenther for Davis City Council

    GuentherI have lived in Davis for 50 years and have known Larry Guenther for the last 10 of them.  He is always friendly, respectful, and a good listener.  He is also down-to-earth and a problem-solver.  He will make an excellent addition to the Davis City Council, and I endorse him highly!

    Dorte Jensen
    Davis

  • 2020 Sierra Club Yolano Group Questionnaire and Responses from Davis City Council Candidates

    Part 5  – Toxics Reduction

    by Alan Pryor

    Introduction – Every 2 years the Sierra Club Yolano Group prepares questionnaires for candidates in local races we deem to be seriously contested and/or where there are clear differences between the candidates on matters of interest to the public and/or our local Sierra Club members. We use questionnaires with written responses to allow the candidates to directly express their views and opinions in their own words. We report these in a series of articles on a range of environmentally-related topics.

    This is Part 5 of the series in which we report candidates' responses to a series of questions regarding toxics reduction in the City. The candidates responses are in alphabetical order based on their first name.

    ___________________________________________________

    1st Question re: Pesticide Use Reduction

    Preamble: Davis recently banned the use of pollinator-killing neonicotinoid class of pesticides and phases out the use of the herbicide glyphosate (the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Round-up product) next year. However, the City Council declined to require that only certified organic pesticides be used in the City’s Parks and Open Spaces as recommended by the Natural Resources Commission and endorsed by the Sierra Club Yolano Group.  

    Question: Do you support restricting pesticide use on City properties to only those certified as “organic” and why or why not?

    (more…)