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Author: davisite2

  • Letter: Beck for supervisor

    BeckAs this decade begins, we walk briskly towards utter climate catastrophe. Before 2030 our planet will warm beyond 1.5 degrees and the worst of climate change will no longer be avoidable. Those aged 29 and younger, down to the child born as I write, will suffer the first cataclysmic effects of this disaster. But those over thirty will experience less and leave behind a world plummeting ever faster towards a fate that they hadn't the courage to change.

    But all is not yet lost. A new people are rising. Youth in communities across the Earth are standing up for a livable future · not a beautiful one, that has been taken from us. We ask only for a chance at life.

    Too often we are told by adults our ideas are impossible. Yet those very adults in power have kept us on the road to disaster. Obviously, what is politically "possible" isn't enough.

    But a broken system gives the youth little power of our own. Carrying signs, chanting, protesting, praying are acts of strength but they alone cannot save the world. We need our elders to begin listening and using their power to implement our ideas and solutions. Have they forgotten this was always their job? To follow the will of the people? We must elect adults who fulfill their promises.

    Juliette Beck, running for Yolo County Supervisor D2, is a voice of hope in a time of fear. She is dedicated to climate justice and pledges to make the imperative changes now, and to give youth a place in decision making. I'm confident Juliette will be true to her word. She is heartfelt, loving and inclusive. Juliette Beck will invite in every perspective to ensure that decisions which affect us all are made by everyone. She is firm in the belief that this is not a campaign of one, but of all.

    I give my strong support to this candidate and strongly urge others to do the same. The time for idle politics is over, the time for immediate action is upon us.

    Emma Larson
    Davis

  • The Wardrobe’s 2nd Annual Earth Day Celebration, 4/22/22, 4-7 PM

    2nd Annual Earth Day Celebration (1)(From press release) Clothing tells us the truth about age. In a world where fast fashion is becoming increasingly wasteful and creating a larger carbon footprint, The Wardrobe has been and continues to be focused on promoting slow fashion that is sustainable and long-lasting.

    Owner Heather Caswell has generally carried very small clothing lines in her store, focusing on unique clothing that is often made by local designers. Caswell promotes California Chic fashions which are colorful, comfortable, well made, playful but, more importantly, ethically sourced.

    She believes that the boutique is both a reflection of her own attitude and of the Davis community where it has been located and reinvented over the past 34 years.

    The Wardrobe is now in its 3rd location and has been a regional leader in carrying locally sourced goods. Eighty percent of their inventory is made in North America and a quarter of it is made right here in California. Each year Caswell makes a choice to have a more environmentally conscious business model and reduce the store's carbon footprint.

    Some of the practices they follow include using recycled bags and boxes (since day one), switching to LED lights, maintaining HEPA filters, and using natural non-toxic cleaning methods that are proven to make a difference. Every year they try to take another ecologically responsive step forward: last year they stopped using foil printed labels and logos.

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  • Yolo County Farm Bureau says vote “NO” on DiSC

    DISC overview shot

    (From press release) A goal of Yolo County Farm Bureau (“YCFB”) is to preserve and protect prime farmland that is fundamental to the ability of Yolo County farmers and ranchers to provide a safe, reliable supply of food and fiber.

    Pursuant to that objective we have evaluated the DiSC 2022 102- acre development, proposed on the east side of Mace Blvd, north of Interstate 80. This proposed project is pending decision by the City of Davis electorate at the June 7 election.

    This development would convert prime farmland into business and residential uses. YCFB has carefully considered the City of Davis project file, including submittals and the letter filed by Yolo County (12/6/21). YCFB board members have driven to the project area, looked at the project perimeters and current uses of adjacent lands.

    We comment at the outset that County correspondence emphasizes that the DiSC 2022 developers here have sought to annex and develop farmland that is completely outside the City of Davis “Sphere of Influence.” This area has not been included in a relevant LAFCo area suitability review. Thus, necessary studies have not taken place: the bottom line is that appropriateness of this use on this property has not been independently, publicly evaluated. This project does not deserve public support because it is an “opportunistic” conversion of farmland. It is not a carefully planned transition that we define as: Urban growth is considered but impacts on the agricultural lands and economy are included from the inception of the process, and are part of the equation.

    For our purposes, we are looking at the direct loss of 102 acres of very prime land and the impacts of the urban use on adjacent farming. This acreage is an important part of the necessary farming base that supports our equally critical agricultural infrastructure—the vendors and manufacturers of supplies, inventories and equipment. The more farmland that is lost—Yolo County is less able to keep its farmers and ranchers operating.

    Many interested in farmland preservation focus on “Mitigation” and what ratio—ag land turned into urban uses—to land that must be “preserved” for agriculture is appropriate. The various concerned and interested groups speak in terms of 3-1 or 2-1. We point out that every acre of prime farmland lost to urbanization is permanently lost. There is a loss of farmland no matter what ratio is used. Thus, we oppose this project because 102 prime acres are permanently lost.

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  • Sierra Club Endorses No on Measure H – No on DISC

    DISC overview shot

    (From press release) Citing grounds of “excessive traffic, greenhouse gas emissions, and poor land-use and planning”, the Sierra Club announces its opposition to Measure H in Davis CA on the June 7, 2022 municipal ballot.

    Measure H is a vote to allow the annexation of approximately 100-acres of Prime farmland on the northeast periphery of the City and the development of a business complex, hotel- conference center, and retail along with a 460-unit housing development. The project site is now farmed and serves as foraging habitat for numerous Special Status Species including Burrowing Owls, Swainson’s Hawks, and White-Tailed Kites.

    The endorsement of the opposition to this ballot measure follows an extensive evaluation process by the local Sierra Club Yolano Group, the Sierra Club Mother Lode Chapter Political and Executive Committees, and the Sierra Club California Local Measure Review Committee.

    The Sierra Club has long-standing official policies designed to minimize urban sprawl onto farmland and habitat and maximize intensive infill development. These include planning policies that further conservation of open space and preservation of natural areas and agricultural lands. The Sierra Club opposes sprawl as a pattern of increasingly inefficient and wasteful land use with devastating environmental and social outcomes.

    “While the Sierra Club is strongly supportive of efforts to stimulate economic development and provide housing, particularly for working families, we do not support the DISC development which will turn over 100-acres of productive Prime farmland into a massive, sprawling, auto- dependent business park", said Alan Pryor, chair of the local Sierra Club Yolano Group. "Although some on-site housing units will be constructed, there is no mechanism to ensure that the housing will be occupied by workers at the development project itself”.

    “This development is inconsistent with official Sierra Club land use policies encouraging infill development. Instead, the project is reminiscent of peripheral, sprawling, car-centric developments of earlier times that encourage long-range commuting. It is the antithesis of smart urban planning”, added Mr. Pryor.

    Of particular concern is the 12,000+ daily auto trips projected to result from the development adding further congestion to an already bottle-necked City thoroughfare, Mace Blvd., and the I-80 freeway. In addition to the wait-times and traffic disruption, this excessive traffic is the primary contributor to the over 22,000 metric tons per year of additional greenhouse gases projected to be produced by the project. This DISC project alone would increase the greenhouse gas footprint of Davis by almost 5% jeopardizing the City's mandate of carbon neutrality by 2040.

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  • Why NO on DiSC

    City-of-Davis-Measure-H

    By Marc Thomas

    The work from home trend in the business world has been slowly emerging and accelerated by COVID. Recently, Apple and other product companies are instituting a 3 day per week to Twitter which is now near 100% remote. And many are relocating to lower cost areas and reducing their real estate foot prints/costs.

    Other companies have gone totally remote, and many hardware/tech startups, such as the hardware/software startup I currently work with “started up” with a full remote team and does not have an office. The closest two team members are about 50 miles apart, the furthest two are probably 10,000 miles. It required a new way of organizing a team, collaborating, building and testing prototypes, getting approvals and overall, resulted in a considerable reduction in operating expenses, no bay area salaries, and zero expensive office costs…zero!. It was such a significant opex reduction that in addition to team members spending more time with families, the company was able to offer really good benefits appreciated by all.

    Startup businesses do not need expensive real estate for start-up, scaling, or going into mass production. One Mountain View startup in autonomous robotics took the steps to migrate from a Silicone Valley “old” model to a more agile and lower cost distributed organizational structure starting in SV, moving a short distance to Oakland, then fully embracing a remote model with team members all over the world and a manufacturing facility in Detroit! These changes enabled a more company friendly funding model as they were able to conserve cash by spending on what mattered, people and product, rather than on expensive facilities in expensive areas paying typical salaries demanded by Bay Area and CA professionals.

    The DiSC “business/innovation park” does not recognize this rapidly changing business trend, fails to recognize that there are lower cost (and local) areas to scale if the company must be local, and the housing portion will not solve the “affordable housing” challenge (remember the bay area residents with cash and the ability to work remotely), and does not address the environmental infrastructure and tax implications in depth and detail never-mind turning good/great agriculture land into concrete.

    At the current rate of change in the “work from home” trend, building an innovation/business part today will result in the empty and dead business parks of the future: Consider what Amazon did to “malls”…

    Any startup founder/team must have a very good story to tell an investor why they are spending the equivalent of multiple team members salaries and cash for a building space/office that is unnecessary, or used for a small percentage of the time at best, and increases burn rate without accelerating time to market or improving product.

    The desire (and need) to incubate companies locally is supportable, but incubating companies does not require the DiSC project as there is plenty of space in Davis to build out and or up.

    And I know another Davis company that has been here for 7+years, with 50+% of employees currently being remote, and going full remote by years end.

  • Nonpartisan LWV forum on Local District Attorney Race

    (From press release) The League of Women Voters Davis Area and the Woodland League of Women Voters will co-sponsor a nonpartisan election forum on the county district attorney race on Wednesday, April 27.

    The event will run from 7-8:30 p.m. at the Woodland Community Center, 2001 East Street in Woodland.

    Both candidates — Incumbent Jeff Reisig and challenger Cynthia Rodriguez — have agreed to participate. The forum will focus on candidate qualifications and vision for the criminal justice system in Yolo County over the next four years.

    Questions will be prepared by League representatives and written questions will be accepted from the audience, but no voice questions or statements will be allowed.

    People who want to attend the event are encouraged to register at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/league-of-women-voters-yolo-county-district-attorney-candidate-forum-tickets-317119110797. Seating may be limited because of placement due to the pandemic. Woodland TV (Channel 21) will be videotaping the event and livestreaming on their YouTube channel.

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  • Letter: Beck is a voice of hope

    Beck

    Juliette Beck

    As this decade begins, we walk briskly towards utter climate catastrophe. Before 2030 our planet will warm beyond 1.5 degrees and the worst of climate change will no longer be avoidable. Those twenty-nine years and younger, down to the child born as I write, will suffer the first cataclysmic effects of this disaster. But those over thirty will experience less and leave behind a world plummeting ever faster towards a fate that they hadn't the courage to change.

    But all is not yet lost. A new people are rising. Youth in communities across the Earth are standing up for a livable future…not a beautiful one, that has been taken from us. We ask only for a chance at life.

    Too often we are told by adults our ideas are impossible. Yet those very adults in power have kept us on the road to disaster. Obviously, what is politically 'possible' isn't enough.

    But a broken system gives the youth little power of our own. Carrying signs, chanting, protesting, praying are acts of strength but they alone cannot save the world. We need our elders to begin listening and using their power to implement our ideas and solutions. Have they forgotten this was always their job? To follow the will of the people? We must elect adults who fulfill their promises.

    Juliette Beck, running for Yolo County Supervisor D2, is a voice of hope in a time of fear. She is dedicated to climate justice and pledges to make the imperative changes now, and to give youth a place in decision making. I'm confident Juliette will be true to her word. She is heartfelt, loving and inclusive. Juliette Beck will invite in every perspective to ensure that decisions which affect us all are made by everyone. She is firm in the belief that this is not a campaign of one, but of all.

    I give my strong support to this candidate and strongly urge others to do the same. The time for idle politics is over, the time for immediate action is upon us.

    Emma Larson
    Davis, CA

  • Citizens try to recoup costs resulting from spurious lawsuit

    Scales-of-justice(From press release) Today in Yolo Superior Court, the attorneys for the citizens who wrote and signed the No on Measure H ballot statement, filed a motion for an award of legal fees and costs they incurred in their defense of a lawsuit filed by Davis City Councilmember Dan Carson. Carson had previously sued the ballot signers claiming their ballot statement was false or misleading.  

    The citizen Defendants (the “real parties”) named in the Carson lawsuit retained legal representation on a partially contingent basis which permitted the attorneys to seek an award of their legal fees if they were successful in defending the ballot language against Carson’s claims.  

    The Defendants’ filing states “The Court outright rejected three of Petitioner’s challenges and adopted Real Parties’ suggestions for the two modest edits it ordered.” 

    Alan Pryor, the Treasurer of the No on DiSC campaign and one of the Defendants stated “Carson’s lawsuit requested whole sentences in the ballot statement be stricken by the Judge. In his final ruling, however, made only two small changes that were suggested by authors of the statement.” 

    “In my experience, it is highly unusual for a sitting public official to sue their own citizens over ballot arguments,” said Beverly Grossman Palmer, an experienced election attorney and partner at Strumwasser & Woocher. “None of the attorneys in my firm can recall a similar situation in any of our collective years of practicing election law.”

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  • Three Students and Civilian Exclusion Order No. 79

    Tetsuo Ito 1By Aaron Wedra

    Our new exhibit at the Hattie Weber Museum focuses on the three Japanese-Americans enrolled at Davis High School during school year 1940-41: siblings Tetsuo and Tayeko Ito, and Miyo Hiromoto. All appear in the DHS yearbook of 1941, photographed with their classes and also as participants in many of the school’s activities. Despite mounting world tensions, the spring of 1941 was a tranquil period in Davis. Tetsuo, a senior, graduated in June and had been accepted by the University Farm to pursue a degree program for the following fall. According to his senior prophecy, his ambition was to be a concert singer. He was on the basketball and track teams, and in the orchestra and chorus. His sister Tayeko, a sophomore, was her class treasurer, and Miyo, a junior, was active in athletics, chorus, and publishing.

    Class of 1942However, the following December, everything changed for them. Shortly after Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, Executive Order 6099, issued 80 years ago this year, required everyone of Japanese descent living in specific areas of Washington, Oregon, and California to prepare to be “interned” in camps located in isolated areas in the interior of the country. The justification was that they posed a security risk.

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  • DISC is anything but ‘sustainable’

    Annexation Area DiSC 2022_070721By Stephen M. Wheeler

    Davis residents have begun receiving calls and mailings from backers of the so-called Davis Innovation and Sustainability Campus (DiSC 2022) in preparation for the June 7 election, when the project will be on the ballot as Measure H.

    Don’t be fooled by the rosy promises and endorsements on the developer’s materials: DiSC represents neither innovation nor sustainability. It is another big piece of suburban sprawl promoted by one of Davis’ most aggressive sprawl-builders, Dan Ramos.

    DiSC is essentially a greenwashed business park. Business parks are a traditional, much-discredited economic development approach in which cities designate a large area of land on their periphery for whatever commercial development they can manage to attract. These projects are highly motor-vehicle-dependent and undercut efforts to revitalize more centrally located downtown areas.

    DiSC materials talk about bike and pedestrian connections, renewable energy, use of native and drought-tolerant species for landscape design, energy-efficient construction, and shuttle buses to downtown. This is greenwashing. These environmentally oriented details are nice (and many are required by existing regulations).

    But they aren’t nearly as important as the fact that 1.34 million square feet of new commercial space would be allowed by a freeway exit far from downtown. Approving huge projects that will build out over 20-plus years — almost certainly in different ways than originally envisioned — is just not a good way for a city to move towards sustainability.

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