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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.

Author: davisite2

  • Biberstein Social Action Fund Applications available

    22nd Annual Request for Proposals—Proposals due September 27, 2024

    (From press release) Nonprofit organizations are invited to submit applications to the Biberstein Social Action Fund for grants in support of projects addressing poverty, discrimination, abuse and neglect, and the promotion of social justice in Yolo County.

    The Biberstein Social Action Fund was established in 2002 by the Board of Directors of Congregation Bet Haverim to honor Ernie and Hannah Biberstein, who are among the founding members of CBH, and who devoted much of their lives to community service and social justice. Hannah passed away in April 2011. This is the 22nd Anniversary of the Fund.

    The goal of the annual awards made from the Biberstein Social Action Fund is to help Yolo County organizations in their efforts to meet unfulfilled needs. Special consideration is given to new and/or innovative projects.

    An annual Call for Proposals is released each Fall. Grants ranging from $500 to $2,000 are awarded in December. The Biberstein Fund members review the proposals. Current Biberstein Fund members include Congregation Bet Haverim partners Ernie Biberstein, Amy Abramson, Anne Gieseke, Sandy Jones, Joan Sublett, Shoshana Zatz, and Rabbis Bess Wohlner and Jeremy Simons.

    Information about the Biberstein Award, including a link to the application, is available on the CBH website: https://www.bethaverim.org/engage/committees/biberstein-social-action-fund/

    Grant proposals must be submitted no later than September 27, 2024. Questions may be directed to the Biberstein Social Action Fund at: cbhbibersteinfund@gmail.com. Awards will be announced in December 2024.

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  • New Plan to Micromanage City Commissions Isn’t Good Government (Or Legal)

    Commission-Task-Memo-ATT-Flow-ChartBy Dan Carson and Elaine Roberts Musser

    Mayor Josh Chapman and Councilmember Bapu Vaitla recently began asking city commissioners for feedback on a proposal for “clarification of how items are placed on a commission meeting agenda.”  Chapman and Vaitla did not invite the public at large to weigh in on their proposal, but we feel compelled to do so in the public interest.

    To sum up, we recommend jettisoning this illegal and ill-conceived plan. It would empower even a single councilmember to micromanage and indefinitely block any commission-initiated proposal they didn’t like for any reason whatsoever. There are far better alternatives to promote teamwork and collaboration between the City Council and the city’s expert volunteer citizen commissioners.

    Current city policy allows commissions free reign to work on pretty much anything they want as long as it is consistent with the written charter established for them. Once a commission has explored a policy matter, the city’s Commission Handbook says it may submit items to the Council to be placed on the Council agenda for   its consideration.

    The Chapman-Vaitla plan, summarized in a flow chart [see graphic at the beginning of the article], overrides those policies. The Council and the city staff could continue to place items on commission agendas. Yet, in a big change, proposals initiated by a commission would now be subject to review and veto — by either any relevant council subcommittee (two councilmembers) or that commission’s assigned Council liaison (typically one councilmember).The Chapman-Vaitla plan says these new rules would apply whenever the council wished to “undertake a particular task/project/discussion.”  In other words, almost anything and everything a commission might ever want to do would be subject to veto by one councilmember. The Council and city staff would dictate what a commission can or cannot do, but the commission itself would have absolutely no control over its work. This is bizarre and extremely unwise.

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  • Three free public Election 2024 forums this month from League of Women Voters

    (From press release) The League of Women Voters of Davis Area (LWVDA) offers three free public Election 2024 forums this month.

    On Tuesday, September 24, 7pm, LWVDA hosts a ballot issue forum on ”Measure Q: City of Davis Essential Services”, with a one-hour Zoom presentation.” As proposed, Measure Q “adopts a new local transaction and use tax ordinance” that increases the sales tax by 1% (one cent on every dollar) to fund “City determined general governmental purposes”. Donna Neville and Josh Chapman offer the “Yes on Measure Q” campaign position while Elaine Roberts Musser and Alan Pryor will provide the “No on Measure Q” position. An audience Q&A will follow.

    To learn more and receive the Zoom link, sign up on-line at: https://lwvmeasureqforum.eventbrite.com

    On Thursday, September 26, LWVDA presents two live, in-person Candidate forums at the Davis City Council Chambers, 23 Russell Blvd. At 6-7pm, the Davis Joint Unified School District (DJUSD) Trustee Area 2 Candidate Forum features candidates, Lea Darrah (incumbent) and challenger Elizabeth (Lizzy) Griffith. At 7:30-9pm, the Davis City Council District 2 Candidate Forum features candidates Linda Deos, Dillan Horton and Victor Lagunes vying for the district’s open seat. League forums provide an opportunity for all candidates to present their qualifications and priorities to voters. Opening statements are followed by questions prepared by League members and an audience Q&A.

    To attend one or both of these in-person events, the public is encouraged to sign up at https://lwvdavisboearea2forum.eventbrite.com for the DJUSD Forum and https://lwvdavisdistrict2forum.eventbrite.com for the Davis City Council Forum, as space is limited.

    September 2024 forums are co-sponsored, recorded and live streamed by Davis Media Access (DMA). Following these events, recordings remain hosted online by LWVDA https://tinyurl.com/2apus8nm and DMA https://tinyurl.com/2zvv8jm2 until Election Day.

    The League’s public election events seek to promote ballot awareness and informed voter participation. Attendance is free, however, the League welcomes both on-line and in-person donations to help support ongoing voter service activities. More information about these and other 2024 LWVDA voter service events can be found at: https://lwvdavisarea.org

  • Letter: Support Measure Q

    IFJD masthead

    Measure Q is a 1% sales tax that has been sponsored by the Davis City Council for the November ballot and is expected to provide approximately $11,000,000 annually for general government use.    The council cannot commit to using the funds for any specific purpose.  However, the council has shared that these funds could be directed to infrastructure, emergency response, climate resilience, addressing homelessness and affordable housing among other things.

    Interfaith Housing Justice Davis (IHJD) is an alliance of faith groups in Davis that supports the full spectrum of housing, including providing shelter to the unhoused, affordable rental housing for low and moderate incomes and offering for-purchase opportunities for 1st time home buyers.  We envision a Housing Trust fund (HTF) that can help our city address these housing imperatives. 

    IHJD understands that passing Measure Q will not solve the affordable housing crisis in Davis but is the first step to developing a funding stream for the Housing Trust Fund.  IHJD and the greater Davis community must then press our council to fund the HTF in an ongoing and significant fashion.  If well-funded, our HTF could be the vehicle by which we provide programs that assist our fellow Davisites to stay housed, provide down payment assistance programs to get young families into Davis and to provide the gap funding needed by nonprofit affordable housing builders to build more affordable units.

    Please join IHJD in supporting Measure Q and use your voice to advocate for funding the HTF.

  • Will council let out-of-town landlord ignore Climate Policy?

    Time to enforce the Law at Oakshade Mall?

    By Alan ”Lorax” Hirsch

    Image001 1705

    Near Treeless North Parking at Oakshade Mall

    To give the landlord more flexibility to find tenants, Davis council is being asked to rezone the Oakshade Mall (Safeway)  located  at south Pole Line Rd x Cowell.  This is before council  on the Tuesday 8/27/24 agenda ( see  staff report  item #4).   However this landlord is notorious for their neglect of its trees and is in violation of city tree protection ordinance.

    So, while makes sense for city to update zoning in response to a changing retailing climate,  it also  makes sense to do updates in city’s  relationship with this out-of-town landlord in regard to the Climate Crisis and city’s  CAAP policies, changes to sustain  Davis’s quality of life by deal with global heating.

    More Shade is Existential

    It is forecast that half Davis’s  summer days will be over 100 degree in 50 years. Unshaded asphalt reachs 140+ degrees in those conditions.  Davis’s CAAP climate plan appropriately calls for more tree shade as part our adaption plan.  To have that shade in 50 year tree need to be planted now. And investing in tree is just good marketing sense of a long-term landlord-  as contrast with incentive for on-site property manager who  often just think about next quarter’s cash flow so look everywhere to cut maintenance cost.

    Image002 528

    30 year old oak at Oakshade Mall

    But beyond increased tree shade called for Davis CAAP climate plan, this shopping center development has for years been in  gross violation of the city’s  1990’s tree ordinance under which it was approved.  That ordinance required “50% parking lot shade in 15years”  The landscape plan the developer/landlords signed off as part of plan- check had them agree to no just plant trees, but maintain the newly planted trees to obtain that 50% tree shade level.  This was not an impossible requirement:  If you drive West of Cowell just 2 block to the Kaiser clinic you can see tree can be grown in Parking lots.

    Image003 375

    In the past, a large shade tree was (killed?) and replaced with small shrub…that was then topped

    However, the landlord & his property managers have not grown and maintain trees as agreed over near 30 years the mall has been in operation. And when trees have died they have either not been replace, or replace with a shorter species. And the irrigation system has been neglected.

    As you can see from attached recent arial pictures- (and picture in below linked article from 2018), the landlord has not met their legal requirement of 50% shade.   A visit the site will make obvious the gross number of  missing, stunted and dead trees.  The north parking area is nearly tree-free.

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  • Natalie’s Corner is topic of Sept. 4 Soroptimist talk

    (From press release) Former State Sen. Lois Wolk will be the speaker at the Wednesday, Sept. 4 meeting of Soroptimist International of Davis. She will discuss her work chairing the committee for Natalie’s Corner, the Central Park renovation named in memory of Davis police officer Natalie Corona.

    Officer Corona lost her life in the line of duty in 2019, not far from the park. The talk will be from 11:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. in the conference room at University Inn and Suites, 1111 Richards Blvd., Davis. Learn more about Natalie’s Corner at https://nataliescornerdavis.com/.

    The event is open to the public. Lunch from Dos Coyotes is available for $15. First-time attendees are free. Please RSVP by 5 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 2 for lunch by emailing president@sidavis.org. Guests are welcome to bring their own lunch.

    Soroptimist is a global volunteer organization that provides women and girls with access to the education and training they need to achieve economic empowerment. It was founded in 1921 in Alameda County. Soroptimist International of Davis was chartered in 1954. Local members join some 75,000 Soroptimists in 122 countries and territories to contribute time and financial support to community-based projects benefiting women and girls. Its core values are gender equality, empowerment, education, diversity and fellowship.

    SI Davis offers cash Live Your Dream Awards to female heads of household seeking education or training, and assists King High students through its Dream It, Be It: Career Support for Girls program. It also funds high school scholarships, and grants to nonprofits that align with the Soroptimist mission.

    SI Davis members meet twice a month on Wednesdays – once at lunchtime and once in the evening – and connect for other fun activities and service. Learn more at https://www.sidavis.org/.

  • Sierra Club Presents Awards to Diana Almendariz and Adelita Serena for Outstanding Service to Communities and the Environment

    Diana and Adelita

    Diana Almendariz and Adelita Serena (Photo credit: Juliette Beck).

    (From press release) The Sierra Club, the nation’s largest and oldest environmental organization, is pleased to recognize two outstanding environmental justice leaders – Diana Almendariz and Adelita Serena – for their dedication to protecting and enhancing the local environment for people and nature in the Yolo bioregion.

    The Sierra Club Yolano group’s geographical reach extends from Southern Colusa County through the entirety of Yolo County to Northern Solano County and is within the ancestral homeland of the Patwin-Wintun people. The awards were granted by the Yolano Group to the two indigenous women for their work to engage community members in protecting the ecological health and sustainability of the region.

    Diana Almendariz is a Cultural Practitioner of Maidu/Wintun and Hupa/Yurok traditions, heritage and experiences. She is a visionary culture-bearer, storyteller, naturalist, educator and visual artist who has been dedicated to the cultural and ecological revival of her Native homelands for over three decades.

    Almendariz teaches homeland-based ecological stewardship using traditional materials such as tule – a wetland reed – to make baskets, mats, cordage, dolls, and boats, blending arts, culture, and ecology into the learning.

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  • Four California Bills to Punish Free Speech and Academic Freedom at Schools and Campuses Are About to Become Law

    Being heard in California State Assembly and Senate Appropriations Committees Today

    Silenced

    By Scott Steward

    Three of the four bills are unbalanced and likely to increase the punitive environment (and the cost) of our California universities, state universities, and community colleges and send a "shut up or else" message to about 2.5 million mostly young adults, their instructors and administrators.

    Unfortunately, Dodd already voted to pass the two Senate bills to the Assembly, which is very sad for our college campuses.  Aguiar Curry already voted to pass the assembly bills, which is sad for our high schools.  I'll assume that Democratic majorities are all in on these bills. The bills are now being heard by the appropriations committees of the opposite houses today. Floor votes for the AB bills are likely in the Senate and floor votes are likely for the SB bills are likely in the Assembly soon. 

    That said – I would propose you let Dodd and Aguiar-Curry to recommend

    For Aguiar-Curry:

    NO on senate bills SB 1277 Pupil instruction: genocide education: the Holocaust.

    NO on senate bills SB 1287 Equity in Higher Education Act: prohibition on violence, harassment, intimidation, and discrimination.

    For Dodd:

    NO on assembly bill AB 2918 Pupil instruction: ethnic studies.

    And a "not encouraged by" AB 2925.  AB2925 Equity bill was more balanced, but there is concern over the vague nature of who would be implementing anti-discrimination training and what guardrails would be put in place to make sure that anti-discrimination training was developed inclusively – specifically that training included Palestinian voices along with other voices.

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  • Comments from Sierra Club Yolano Group on scope of environmental review for Eastside project

    The following comments are the Sierra Club Yolano Group's response to the call for comments on the proposed scope of environmental review of the proposed Eastside (misleadingly called "Shriners") project. See earlier article for details: https://newdavisite.wordpress.com/2024/07/14/notice-of-preparation-nop-for-so-called-shriners-property-project/ .

    Apologies for the weird numbering on the list — the SCYG Management Committee's intent should be clear.

    From: Sierra Club Yolano Group
    To: Dara Dungworth, Principal Planner
    Re: Eastside NOP Comments
    Date: August 7, 2024 

    Transmitted via email: <DDungworth@cityofdavis.org>

    Ms Dungworth – Regarding the Notice of Preparation (NOP) and the upcoming preparation of a Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) for the “Eastside” housing project (formerly referred to as “Shriners”), the Sierra Club Yolano Group offers the following comments and recommendations.

    1. Alternatives
      1. City staff has recommended that one the Alternatives to be analyzed in the EIR should have “Higher Number of Units – Same Footprint,” but it does not specify the number of units to be analyzed. We recommend that a minimum of 1500 units be analyzed and that the design of this Alternative incorporate a substantial co-op model (perhaps similar to Dos Pinos or Muir Woods) that prioritizes alternative modes of transportation, especially bicycling.  This Alternative would better achieve the following goals: more traffic/transit efficiency, better for minimizing negative impacts to air quality and climate change, more equitable and affordable, better able to serve underserved populations.
    1. Biological Resources
      1. We recommend the then current leasehold farmer not perform any cultural activities resulting in soil disturbances in environmentally sensitive areas, including planting of cover crops, until all of the biological studies are completed.
      2. In the analysis for rare plants, we recommend all historical records be consulted.
      3. We recommend all surveys performed for determination of Biological Resources be performed by specialists approved or certified to perform such studies under CEQA guidelines and performed in accordance with CDFW protocols.
      4. We recommend environmental evaluation also be performed considering the Yolo Regional Resource Conservation Investment Strategy/Land Conservation Plan (RCIS/LCP) in addition to the Yolo Habitat Conservation Plan & Natural Community Conservation Plan (HCP/NCCP).
    1. Traffic
      1. We recommend the traffic impact analysis be studied for cumulative impacts of all the four proposed properties on Covell and the Mace curve including this project, Village Farms, Palomino Place, and On the Curve, as would be done in an East Covell – Mace Curve Specific Plan to assess cumulative impacts.
      2. Below is a diagram which illustrates the relationship between the developments by indicating the ¼ mile walking distance of each proposed project. We recommend the proposed transportation mitigation be developed in light of these findings to minimize walking distance to public transit.
      3. We recommend a study to determine long it would take to evacuate the residents of the 1800 units from the two exits in case of fire, flood, etc., and whether that could provide for a safe evacuation.
    1. Air Quality
      1. Given that development is almost adjacent to the Open Space for Public Health and Safety housing exclusion zone around the landfill and sewage treatment plant, we recommend that an EPA-approved air dispersion modeling tool be employed to investigate potential harmful or nuisance odorous or particulate matter or other vectors be performed to determine the extent of possible exposure of residents of Eastside to emissions emitted from the Yolo County Landfill or the Davis Wastewater Treatment Plant.

    Excerpts from Davis General Plan re Exposure to Odors and Vectors from Landfill

    Section V: Community Facilities and Services Davis General Plan

    Chapter 9: Parks and Open Space May 2001/ Amended Through January 2007 (p. 228)

    “The land within one mile of the landfill and sewage treatment facilities is designated “Open Space for Public Health and Safety.” The intent is that residential development is prohibited within this area due to public health concerns including vectors and odors. In addition, this area poses a hazard to aircraft because of the large number of birds that congregate in the vicinity of the landfill.”

    1. Hazards and Hazardous Materials–
      1. We recommend a Public Health Vector Control analysis be performed as a result of the proximity of the development project to the Open Space for Public Health and Safety housing exclusion zone. Concerns could include vectors such as mosquitoes (from the wetlands by the wastewater plant) as well as rats and seagulls potentially carrying dangerous impacts (feces, West Nile virus, etc.) toward the new development.
    1. Hydrology
      1. Given the 100-year floodplain extends into the property, we recommend the potential impact of peak flows and volumetric capacity on the project and downstream system be studied using a 200-year flood event in the Drainage Report in addition to using a 100-year flood event.

    Map of 100-year Floodplain Extending into Property

    1. Noise
      1. We recommend noise analyses be performed to evaluate potentially loud noises from adjacent uses which have occurred in the past, e.g., sound guns to scare off birds from the landfill to the north of the property and from agricultural land to the north-east of the property.
    1. Cultural Resources
      1. We recommend that the Yoche Dehe Wintun Tribe and other tribal groups be consulted with more than a certified letter to notice them of the upcoming DEIR and consultations opportunities.

  • Fight for Our Future: A Yolo-Wide Election Kickoff

    Sunday, August 25, 4-5 p.m., Veterans Memorial Center in Davis

    Vota
    Volunteers canvassing in the Central Valley earlier in 2024 will be returning as election nears

     (From press release) Local progressive activists are saying, “We’re not going back!” 

    Winning the White House, restoring a House majority, and holding the Senate and key State House races will be front and center Sunday, Aug. 25 at 4  p.m. when Sister District Yolo and Indivisible Yolo, along with Democratic Party partners, host a Yolo-wide election rally. 

    Speakers include Michael Tubbs, former mayor of Stockton and candidate for California Lieutenant Governor, and Rep. Jasmine Clark, a top target for the GOP in the critical swing state of Georgia.

    Co-sponsoring groups include the Yolo County Democratic Party, West Sac Democratic Club, and Davis College Democrats.

    “It’s time for Yolo County to step up our voter outreach to elect President Kamala Harris and give her a Congress she can work with. We are delighted to have Michael Tubbs as our featured keynote speaker not just because of his outstanding work on behalf of populations often left behind, but also his Central Valley roots,” said Steve Murphy of Indivisible Yolo. “Come learn how you can take action, no matter how much time or resources you have.”

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