Month: May 2022

Sunday Jams

"Sunday Jams” at Lutheran Church of the Incarnation (LCI)

On Sunday, May 1 at 11:30 am, nine people came together to make some folk music at Lutheran Church of the Incarnation (LCI) shortly after its 9:30am worship service and 10:30 education and coffee hour. Many brought instruments: guitars and ukuleles could be seen, there was a piano and many voices. Each brought their own favorite folk songs to share with the others, and the group quickly caught on, singing Irish folk tunes, classics like “Shenandoah”, “This Land is your Land”, “Blowin’ in the Wind”, “If I had a Hammer” and many others.

It was a moment to share something deeply needed among this fellowship of friends, and perhaps in our world today: unity through the healing power of the arts. “Sunday Jams” is a tradition that will continue at LCI: the next jam session will be Sunday May 22 at 12:00 noon, playing the music of the Beatles. All are welcome! LCI is at 1701 Russell Blvd. Davis, 95616 (corner of Russell & Arthur, just west of 113).

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May 18, 2022
This Sounds and Smells Fishy – More Noise Ordinance Follies

By Robert Canning

Almost a year ago, City of Davis staff attempted to slip a change to the City’s sound ordinance through the city council with little discussion and no commission input. The proposal was pulled back by staff after questions immediately arose about the intent and substance of the change, and how they related to a controversial (and noisy) piece of playground equipment in Arroyo Park.

Now, the staff are bringing a new proposal to the Recreation and Park Commission and asking the commission to review the report of a sound consultant and give “feedback” on new locations for the Sky Track equipment based on the staff report and a survey of Davis residents who live within 1,000 feet of the equipment. The staff report quotes at length from and discusses the sound consultant’s report. But basically, the sound consultant parrots the line from a year ago that the city should use the average of sound over time rather than the maximum allowable sound as the basis to evaluate whether the Sky Track produces is too noisy.

It is puzzling why the consultants continue to use the Leq metric since that does not appear anywhere in the Davis Municipal Code section on sound (Sec. 24.020). In fact the ordinance specifically states that “Noise Level means the maximum continuous sound level or repetitive peak level produced by a sound source or group of sources…” It’s unclear why the staff report states on page 2 of the report that the consultants “determine that the “City Standard is a Leq”. Isn’t it the city’s job to tell the consultants what the code says? We shouldn’t be asking noise consultants to give a legal interpretation of the city code – to the city. And there is no timeframe referenced in the city code, which would be required if an average measurement is to be used. A change in the language of the ordinance regarding maximum allowable sound levels, as has been pointed out before, has ramifications beyond the issue of Arroyo Park and are akin to last year’s fiasco should not be contemplated without more public input.

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May 17, 2022
Welcome to Al’s Corner – A Place to Comment on Local Stuff – #1

This is Al's Corner – A Place to comment on Local Stuff, free from the censorship of biased people. Free speech rocks! Recent happenings at Netflix & Twitter give hope that Cancel Culture in the U.S. is dying. Recent happenings in Davis local media . . . not so much. Al's Corner is a place to speak your mind on all things Davis, even as other local forums become more exclusive, more moderated, and more noisier echo chambers that don't welcome dissent, recognize humor, or allow 'incorrect' opinions. That's why I created Al's corner — comment here on local media content and comments, without having to deal with the Thought Police.

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May 17, 2022
Leadership Award & Asian Heritage Celebration

To celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, the Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs (APAPA) association held a special event to honor Davis AAPI leaders and UC Davis Asian student groups on Saturday, May 14th at the International House in Davis.

The fundraising event, titled Leadership Award & Asian Heritage Celebration, was put on by the APAPA Davis Chapter and APAPA at UC Davis. The celebration featured past Davis elected officials, business leaders, educators, students, and community members and raised funds that will be used to further APAPA's internship programs that provide opportunities for students to work with local and state elected officials and gain invaluable leadership skills.

Special remarks were made by former AAPI Mayors of the City of Davis, Ruth Asmundson and Brett Lee, as well as APAPA Davis Board Members Sharon Guo, Wei Zhang, Christina Vo, Andrew Kim, Alan Wei and Aaron Wedra.

UC Davis student group awardees, recognized for their outstanding contributions, included the UC Davis Bayanihan Clinic, the UC Davis Hmong Student Union, and the UC Davis Vietnamese Student Association.

Davis Leadership Awards were given to Kevin Wan, Davis Downtown Business Association Vice President and owner of Sophia's Thai Kitchen; Emily Lo, Davis Fire Department Battalion Chief; and the entire team at Newstar Chinese School.

Attendees also enjoyed two dance performances by iDance Sisters and Red Maple Cultural Connection.

The APAPA Davis and APAPA at UC Davis board members give thanks to all of their sponsors, special guests, and celebration attendees for supporting the next generation of AAPI leaders and helping to advance AAPI communities through leadership and civic engagement. Learn more about the non-profit at http://www.apapa.org.

Submitted by Aaron Wedra

May 16, 2022
Affordable Housing Expert argues that Affordable Housing at DiSC does not Comply with City of Davis Municipal Code

Site map showing the Residential Area of DiSC adjacent to the Advanced Manufacturing Area. Most of the residential units will be market rate, not Affordable.

By Matt Williams

Each morning for the next two weeks I will provide Davisite readers and Davis voters with an article on one of the dozen issues that I covered in my presentation on Thursday at University Retirement Community which had Dan Carson presenting for Yes On Measure H. For everyone’s reference, at the end of this article I have listed those dozen issues that argue strongly for a “No” vote on Measure H.

What is the most important reason to vote “No” on Measure H?

On Tuesday I got a telephone call from David Thompson, the president of he Twin Pines Cooperative Foundation and co-principal of Neighborhood Partners LLC, which has developed and has in development over 1,400 units of low-income integrated nonprofit housing valued at over $200 million. His Affordable Housing projects in Davis include:

Creekside
Eleanor Roosevelt Circle
Cesar Chavez Plaza
Tremont Green
Moore Village
Twin Pines
Owendale
Dos Pinos

David has forgotten more about Affordable Housing than I will ever know. So when he asked me if I was interested in understanding how there is considerably less Affordable Housing in the DiSC project than is required by the City of Davis Affordable Housing Ordinance, I was quick to listen.

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May 15, 2022

Fact Checking Matt Williams’s Affordable Housing article

By Matt Williams

This table provides fact checking for the article Affordable Housing Expert argues that Affordable Housing at DiSC does not Comply with City of Davis Municipal Code

What is the most important reason to vote “No” on Measure H?	A header
On Tuesday I got a telephone call from David Thompson, the president of the Twin Pines Cooperative Foundation and co-principal of Neighborhood Partners LLC, which has developed and has in development over 1,400 units of low-income integrated nonprofit housing valued at over $200 million. His Affordable Housing projects in Davis include: Creekside Eleanor Roosevelt Circle Cesar Chavez Plaza Tremont Green Moore Village Twin Pines Owendale Dos Pinos	Factually correct
David has forgotten more about Affordable Housing than I will ever know. So when he asked me if I was interested in understanding how there is considerably less Affordable Housing in the DiSC project than is required by the City of Davis Affordable Housing Ordinance, I was quick to listen.	Factually correct
David started our discussion by asking me whether I had received the recent promotion piece for Yes on Measure H, which says, “Measure H enhances and advances more of what we love about Davis by creating affordable housing.”	Factually correct … confirmable on the Yes on DiSC website
After I told him that I had indeed seen that statement, he replied “That statement by DiSC is simply not true!” DISC is purposefully choosing to provide less affordable housing as a percentage of the total than any previously proposed site that has come up for a citizen vote.	Factually correct. He absolutely shared that opinion with me.
The reason is both simple and straightforward. Prior to 2018 all citizen vote proposals provided at least 25-35% of the housing units as permanently affordable under the provisions of Article 18.05 of the City of Davis Municipal Code … the City of Davis Affordable Housing Ordinance … which states.	Factually correct.
To the maximum extent feasible, each developer must meet the ownership affordable unit requirement as it pertains to the project, as set forth below: (a) Standard ownership affordable housing requirements. Any development that is comprised in whole or in part of ownership units shall comply with the following requirements, which shall be included in the development’s affordable housing plan. (1) Affordable Housing Requirements, by Residential Product Type. (A) For projects comprised of market rate single-family detached ownership units on lots larger than five thousand square feet in area, the developer must provide for a number of affordable housing units equivalent to twenty-five percent of the total units being developed, including the affordable units, by means of one of the methods set forth in this section. […] General plan implementing policies also require that, to the extent feasible and subject to existing law, rental housing developments with five to nineteen units shall provide fifteen percent of the units to low income households and ten percent to very low income households; and in rental housing developments with twenty or more units that twenty-five percent of the units be affordable to low income households and ten percent of the units be affordable to very low income households. General plan policies also require that affordable rental units remain affordable in perpetuity. (Ord. 2418 § 1, 2013)	Factually correct. Every word is copied verbatim and pasted directly from the Municipal Code
David went on to explain that DISC is applying under the “Interim Affordable Housing Ordinance” which substantially reduced the requirement to 15%.	Factually correct
The interim Affordable Housing Ordinance was passed by City Council in February 2018 with the stated plan that it would sunset on December 31, 2018. That sunset never happened, and its interim policy is still in effect.	Factually correct. The Vanguard has published that very information in past articles.
However, that interim policy with its lowered 15% was written specifically to apply to land already in the city, and was/is based on the December 11, 2015 Economic Report prepared for the City by A Plescia & Co entitled Preliminary Project Economic Analysis For City of Davis Affordable Housing Ordinance. That Plescia report begins as follows:	Factually correct.
The primary purpose of this summary report is to present preliminary information related to the projected economic implications of potential affordable housing ordinance requirements on certain urban scale residential ownership and rental development prototypes. The project economic analysis summarized in this report addresses the estimated financial feasibility (including profitability) information for certain identified residential ownership and rental development prototypes.	Factually correct. Every word is copied verbatim and pasted directly from the Plesia Report document
The preliminary project economic information presented in this report can be used by the City of Davis to inform the process being undertaken by the City of Davis in regard to its consideration of amending its existing Affordable Housing Ordinance as it relates to the identified residential ownership and rental development prototypes addressed in this memorandum. […] For purposes of this preliminary project economic analysis, the identified residential and mixed-use prototype alternatives are assumed to each be developed on a hypothetical 2.0 acre infill development site within the current urbanized area of the City of Davis.	Factually correct. Every word is copied verbatim and pasted directly from the Plesia Report document
Why within the current urbanized area of the City?	Header
Because land costs in the City had risen to the level of hundreds of thousands of dollars per acre.	There probably were a number of reasons, but this is the root cause reason. So this statement can be characterized as an opinion rather than a fact.
Land that is outside the urbanized area, like the DISC site, does not suffer from high land costs. It resides on agricultural land outside the City Limits that was purchased for considerably less than $10,000 per acre … NOT hundreds of thousands of dollars per acre.	Factually correct
That economic reality, and the clear words of the Plescia report mean the affordable housing requirement for DiSC should remain at the 25-35% threshold contained in Article 18.05 of the Municipal Code	Opinion / Conclusion / Position
In November 2019 hundreds of Davis residents applauded Richard Rothstein’s talk on the “Color of Law,” which critiqued the role of government in reducing housing for people of color. Many of us want a future Davis to be more inclusive and expansive of housing for low income residents and racial minorities.	Factually correct
DISC does the opposite by providing considerably less housing for low income residents and racial minorities.	Opinion / Conclusion / Position
David is unequivocal in his opinion that the interim Affordable Housing Ordinance simply does not apply to DiSC, and until and unless the DiSC project changes its Affordable Housing Plan to comply with the provisions Article 18.05 of the City of Davis Municipal Code, the only choice is to vote “NO” on Measure H. David Thompson has clearly stated that it is the most important reason to vote “No.” None of us should want to live in a Davis that accepts fewer homes for those most in need and people of color.	Opinion / Conclusion / Position plus a recommendation for solving the problem identified.
As noted at the beginning of this article, each morning for the next two weeks I will provide Vanguard readers and Davis voters with an article on one of the dozen issues listed below that I covered in my presentation on Thursday at University Retirement Community. Reasons to Vote “NO” on Measure H • Massive Traffic Problems • No Firm Plans to Mitigate Traffic • Unmitigated Greenhouse Gas Emissions • DISC will Cannibalize Existing Downtown and Local Businesses in Davis that are Still Hurting from the Pandemic • Projected Financial Projections to the City are Questionable or Misleading • We Cannot Trust our City Staff and Council to Protect Us from Rapacious and Predatory Developers • Critical Farmland, Habitat, and our Last Views of the Sierra and Sacramento Skyline will be Lost Forever • A Yes Vote Gives the Developer Lucrative Entitlements with No Guaranteed Baseline Features in Many Critical Areas • The Project Will Exacerbate the Housing Shortage in the Davis Area • The Scale of the DiSC Business Park is Much Too Large for a Small College Town Like Davis • An industrial-research development while we are in a serious drought?	N/A

May 15, 2022

Letter: 2 reasons for voting No on H: Muzzling citizens & exclusionary housing

Dear Davis Citizens:

Two reasons for voting No on H.

Council Member Carson tried to silence six voices opposed to Measure H. The six Davis citizens incurred a $71,000 bill to defend themselves, and now Carson is suing them for his legal costs of $76,358. Those volunteer voices are potentially paying $147,000+ from their personal savings.

On the other hand Carson has incurred no personal costs because his attempt to muzzle citizen voices opposed to Measure H was financed by the DISC developer.

That has prompted me to raise my own citizen voice … Council member Carson’s developer-funded stealth tactic should not be rewarded!  That alone is reason enough to vote No on Measure H.

However, there is a second reason to vote No on H. There’s Less Affordable Housing than the norm!

I received a Measure H piece, stating,

Measure H enhances and advances more of what we love about Davis, Affordable Housing.

Simply not true. DISC is providing less affordable housing as a % than any site set for a citizen vote.

Prior to 2018 all citizen vote proposals provided at least 25-35% of the housing units as permanently affordable. DISC is applying under the “Interim Affordable Housing Ordinance” which substantially reduced the requirement to 15%.

However, the interim policy with its lowered 15% was written specifically to apply to land already in the city.  Why?  Because land costs in the City are hundreds of thousands of dollars per acre.

The DISC site does not suffer from high land costs.  It resides on agricultural land outside of the city that was purchased for likely less than $10,000 per acre.  Therefore, the affordable housing requirement should remain at 25-35%.

In November 2019 hundreds of Davis residents applauded Richard Rothstein’s talk on the “Color of Law,” which critiqued the role of government in reducing housing for people of color. Many of us want a future Davis to be more inclusive and expansive of housing for low income residents and racial minorities.

DISC does the opposite by providing considerably less housing for low income residents and racial minorities.

Please join me in voting No on H.

David J Thompson
Davis

May 14, 2022
No on DiSC’s statement on vandalized Yes on H signs

The No on DiSC/No on H campaign denounces the recently discovered vandalism of a large Yes on Measure H sign posted on Covell Blvd at Risling Ct., possibly in the public right of way. Although we have been frustrated by the misrepresentations of the Yes on DISC campaign (including the signs themselves which give no indication of the true nature of the DiSC project) this type of petty property crime is not an appropriate means of advocacy.

The No on H campaign has also been experiencing rampant sign theft. Large numbers of the signature orange “No on H” traffic jam signs have been stolen across the city. Most notably, on 2 separate occasions more than 10 signs were removed from multiple homes in 2 different neighborhoods.

If your sign has been stolen or damaged, or if you would like a “No on Measure H” lawn sign, please contact the campaign through the website https://www.VoteNoOnDisc.com/

May 13, 2022
Rainbow crosswalks on their way for Davis Pride
Davis Pride volunteers move stencils on May 30, 2021, while painting temporary chalk on a Fifth Street crosswalk in Davis. (Wendy Weitzel/Courtesy photo)

(From press release) Rainbow crosswalks, live music, drag queens and skating are all coming to Davis in preparation for International LGBTQ+ Month in June.

The popular rainbow crosswalks will be painted around Davis’ Central Park on Sunday, May 29. Volunteers will begin spraying the temporary chalk paint at 6 a.m., and continue until 9 a.m. To volunteer for this or other pride events, visit https://www.davispride.org/volunteer.

Meanwhile, the city of Davis will hang Davis Pride rainbow banners throughout town, and fly the rainbow flag at City Hall for the month of June.

Business owners are asked to show their support by hanging a rainbow flag poster in their window. Posters are free, and available by emailing admin@davisphoenixco.org.

Celebrate Davis Pride with several events, June 11 and 12 in Central Park, 301 C St. Produced by the Davis Phoenix Coalition, activities include:
- Diva Disco Skate Night, starting at 7 p.m. on Saturday, June 11, under the Davis Farmers Market Pavilion. The night will include music, lights and food trucks.
- Run/Walk for Equality, a 5K run or walk from the park, and a 1K Rainbow Run for youths – and those who prefer a shorter trek – on Sunday, June 12, beginning at 8 a.m.
- The Davis Pride Festival begins at 11 a.m. on Sunday, June 12. It includes performances by several local and international music acts, a drag queen revue, educational booths, food, drink and vendors. The Davis Pride Committee is working in partnership with the Davis Craft and Vintage Market.
Other events include a Bike Party Davis Ride with Pride on June 24, and a Drink with Pride Night at Sudwerk Brewing Company (date to be determined).

The Davis Phoenix Coalition, is a nonprofit working to foster diversity, eliminate intolerance, prevent hate-motivated violence and support LGBTQ+ youths. It was founded in the aftermath of a 2013 anti-gay attack on Davis resident “Mikey” Partida. Proceeds from Davis Pride support the coalition’s anti-racism and anti-bullying campaigns, support to LGBTQ+ youths and their families, and outreach with area police departments, churches and schools. To donate, go to https://davisphoenixco.org/donate.

Sponsorships are a way to show support for equity in the community. To learn about the available benefits, email Sandré Henriquez Nelson at davispride2015@gmail.com. To become a vendor or volunteer, visit https://www.davispride.org/. To learn more, visit the website, and follow Davis Pride on Facebook and Instagram.
May 13, 2022
Six former Davis mayors condemn Councilmember Carson’s actions

We are concerned that Davis City Councilman Dan Carson’s involvement in the Measure H campaign and his efforts to pass Measure H set a terrible precedent for Davis and harms our citizen-based democratic processes.

Carson is the first elected official in Davis to lead a developer’s campaign committee to annex land to the city for a subdivision. He is also the first member of the city Council to use developer money to file a lawsuit to strike down his fellow citizens’ ballot arguments against annexation.

Councilman Carson’s lawsuit did not produce any meaningful changes to the citizen’s ballot arguments. A judge changed one word and converted a troy measurement to a metric measurement. That’s it. The apparent purpose of the developer-funded lawsuit was to squelch the speech of the opponents to Measure H. Mr. Carson and his deep-pocketed backers probably assumed that the citizens would not be able to afford to litigate the ballot argument.

Special interests like developers already have a financial advantage and regularly outspend citizen campaigns by more than twenty to one. Mr. Carson and the Measure H developer have come up with a new tactic to press their financial advantage even further — file a lawsuit against the citizens. Win or lose, it makes no difference. Citizen defendants will have to pay tens of thousands of dollars for a legal defense, further curtailing their ability to challenge the developer’s project.

Just the possibility of another developer suing the citizen opponents of a project could scare Davis residents from standing up and speaking out. That’s not the Davis way. Winning a political debate shouldn’t depend on the size of your pocketbook. Instead, make your best case and then let the voters decide.

The problem with Carson’s conduct in the Measure H campaign is that he has blurred the line between his role as an elected representative of the people of Davis and his advocacy for a development project. This conflict of interest was on full display at the April 5 City Council meeting, when he took up a Measure H matter that was not on the agenda and gave a lengthy political speech. Even Mayor Gloria Partida admonished Carson this was improper.

As past mayors of the city of Davis, we can assure Davis citizens that Dan Carson is charting new political ground and that it is not good. We would ask that Councilman Carson carefully reconsider what he is doing with respect to Measure H.

Joe Krovoza, Sue Greenwald, Mike Corbett, Ken Wagstaff, Ann M. Evans, and Bill Kopper (former mayors of Davis)

May 12, 2022