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

    Thompson graphic 2Dear 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

  • No on DiSC’s statement on vandalized Yes on H signs

    IMG-4080The 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/

  • Rainbow crosswalks on their way for Davis Pride

    PrideCrosswalk2021

    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.

  • Six former Davis mayors condemn Councilmember Carson’s actions

    D990E760-85E9-4B6F-A119-2D7DC1CCFA89We 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)

  • Letter: Who wants DiSC?

    DISC overview shotWho wants 12,000 more daily car trips on Mace Blvd? 

    Who wants to annex and pave over 102 acres of prime farmland and environmental habitat OUTSIDE the City of Davis boundary?

    Who wants to violate every principle of effective city planning by developing 80,000 square feet of retail businesses beyond the city’s downtown?

    Who wants an additional 460 housing units that would deplete scarce water resources and distress our already fragile infrastructure, including roads, schools and downtown parking?

    Who wants a project that may violate air quality standards and add a 4.5 percent increase to Davis’s carbon footprint?

    Who wants a project that proponents say will “Combat Climate Change”? (Been to Mar-a-Lago lately guys?)

    Who wants a project that will develop 1.34 million square feet of office space when most businesses are transitioning to remote work-at-home employees? (Seen those massive empty development projects in China?)

    Vote “NO” on H.

    Here’s what Joni Mitchell said:

    “They paved paradise and put up a parking lot
    With a pink hotel, a boutique, and a swinging hot spot
    Don’t it always seem to go that
    You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.”

    David L. Johnson
    Davis

  • Mural helps neighborhood branch out, connect

    MuralPainting1

    A drone image shows volunteers finishing the Elmwood Street Mural on May 1. (Brian Bennett/Courtesy photo)

    By Wendy Weitzel

    In 2017, Joy Klineberg thought it would be fun to help another Davis neighborhood paint a street mural. Once she did, she was hooked.

    She remembered thinking, “This is so cool, Elmwood should do it too,” referring to her Central Davis neighborhood near the Church of Latter-day Saints. “Little did I understand what an undertaking it is to do such a large and public project.”

    She and Judy Catambay, one of the artists who was involved in the 2017 East Davis pavement painting, got to work. In 2018, they applied for and received a $5,000 City Arts Grant. Through many setbacks and delays ­– including COVID – the project was finally completed on May 1.

    The Elmwood Street Mural was designed with neighbors’ input in mind and included their labor, and $3,000 in cash and supply donations. The Grant funded the lead artist. The painting features an elm tree surrounded by a hexagon shape. It pays homage to Elmwood Drive’s zelkova trees, which are in the same family as the elm.

    The hexagon shape evokes a stop sign. “Our street is very wide at the entry because it was originally planned as a high school site. … We often have people turn onto it speeding, thinking they are going down a throughfare, so the neighbors wanted a mural that would both welcome people into our community but also get them to stop,” Klineberg said.

    They also have lots of pedestrian and bike traffic, and “we wanted to give people both a destination and a pause in their journey.”

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  • Letter: Why was the Yes on H campaign chair involved in the City-County negotiations?

    The City's staff report for the tax sharing MOU says the "discussions . . . have included the City Council subcommittee of Mayor Partida and Councilmember Carson, along with city staff, and the City Attorney."

    The staff report goes on to say "The Bradley-Burns sales taxes generated from points of sale on the project site will be shared 50% County and 50% City. This share applies to Bradley Burns only and not to the Davis local 1% sales tax as approved under Measure Q"

    The involvement in this process of Councilmember Carson needs to be emphasized, because in the City's financial analysis of DiSC presented to the Finance and Budget Commission in December, the City's financial consultant EPS projected the City would get 100% of all annual sales tax revenues and the County would get 0%.  The negotiated terms of the MOU reported by both the City and the County reduce the City's projected net tax revenue by over $350,000 per year, and reduce the City's "best case" projection from $3.88 million to $3.53 million.

    Since $3.88 million is no longer accurate, City should explicitly direct the Yes on Measure H campaign team to cease-and-desist any further use of the $3.88 million figure in its messaging or materials.  Given Dan Carson's dual role as a member of City Council and as the Honorary Chair of the Yes on Measure H campaign team quickly and efficiently conveying that cease-and-desist statement should be easy to accomplish. 

    With all the above said, "Why was the Yes on H campaign chair involved in the City-County negotiations?" – negotiations that produced such an unfavorable result for the City?

    Don C. Price
    Davis

  • Letter: Growth and Gridlock in Davis

    Isn’t there a better way to provide funding for city services than paving over prime agricultural land with an industrial park? We have an internationally recognized agricultural research university and the city is proposing to despoil the very essence of that educational field: the land. The university hasn’t asked for this project or even endorsed it.

    I’ve lived in Davis for 37 years and have watched leaders plead again and again for sprawl on our periphery, touting the need for often-delusive revenue to cover unchecked city spending. Like many, I put roots down in Davis because it offered what I desired most, excellent, innovative city planning, strong schools, and a strong city spirit. In the past, Davis was known nationally as a charming small college town with abundant bike paths and lanes, surrounded by farm land and open space.  I left southern California specifically because of regional gridlock and air quality. Why are Davis leaders trying to replicate those problems here?

    Are we in a race with other communities to build the most car-centric, traffic-choked developments: Is there something inherently wrong with maintaining  a small community that values its neighborhoods and agricultural roots?  Why don’t city leaders demonstrate some  economic creativity and re-imagine a  government that can sustain itself without gobbling up all the open space that surrounds it.  Or shall we let regional developers dictate our future?

    The commuter gridlock that has already invaded East and South Davis is spreading throughout the city. Is this to be our future?  Besides death and taxes, it’s the one sure thing that will happen if the proposed development, Measure H, passes. Yes, ‘more cars are coming anyway’ as a result of the ‘Waze’ traffic app. Why make that worse by adding another 12,000 car trips to the mix?

     Please help maintain the current quality of our city and vote No on Measure H.

    C.H. Pickett
    Davis

  • The Whole Story about DiSC’s Claim of $3.88 Million Net Revenue to the City

    Seven ways in which the City and the Yes on Measure H campaign make DiSC 2022 appear economically far rosier than is likely

    By Matt Williams

    The City and the Yes on Measure H campaign literature for the DiSC project emphasize that one of the important benefits to the City of Davis General Fund is a “$3.9 million net revenue gain for the City of Davis annually to address the city’s $7 million funding gap and maintain our quality of life without a tax increase.”

    The net annual revenues projected to accrue to the City that have been presented to the voting public use the most optimistic “best case scenario” to make their pitch … but other less rosy scenarios exist.  During the December meeting of the Davis Finance and Budget Commission (FBC), Commissioner Jacobs suggested multiple times that it would be helpful to City Council if the consultant were to run the analysis using a worst-case and best-case scenario.  Unfortunately, that suggestion was not implemented by the City.

    Scenario analyses are particularly valuable here in Davis because, for a variety of reasons, past development projects in the City have rarely yielded the revenues the City expected to them to produce. The $3.88 million surplus projected for this Measure H project may be the theoretical best case, but it does not recognize potential adverse impacts on this rosy projection. As shown below, if all of the seven impacts quantified in this document are considered, net annual revenues to the City could actually result in a deficit of $770,000.

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  • Democracy Isn’t Just for Countries

    By Miranda Duncan

    We champion democracy as the ideal system of governance, where freedom can flourish.  All voices are equal and have a right to be heard.  When it comes to the workplace, though, we’re reluctant to embrace democracy.  In the business sector, we expect there will be one person at the top making all the decisions for others to follow.  Why do we demand democratic rule for our country and reject it in the workplace? 

    Nowhere is rejection more obvious than from the U.S. Small Business Administration.  May 1st heralds International Workers Day, and during the first week of May, the SBA will acknowledge small businesses across the county for their resilience, ingenuity and creativity.  No cooperatives, however, will be featured during Small Business Week.

    Let’s give credit where credit is due.  Small businesses strengthen our economy by employing 60.6 million people, accounting for 47.1 percent of the workforce.  Small businesses have added 10.5 million net new jobs over the past 20 years, and in 2014, a study showed small business contributed $5.9 trillion to the GDP (U. S. Small Business Administration, October 2020). 

    Not included in those numbers, though, are the 465 worker cooperatives in the United States today, employing approximately 7,000 people, and generating over $550 million in annual revenues (Democracy at Work Institute, U.S. Federation of Worker Co-ops, January 2020).  “Why,” you might again ask?   

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