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

Author: davisite2

  • Adam Morrill announces candidacy for City Council, District 4

    Adam-morrillBy Adam Morrill

    I’m pleased to formally announce my candidacy for Davis City Council, District 4.

    I was born and raised in the Bay Area where I met my high school sweetheart and wife of 22 years.  We both came to Davis as undergraduates and after graduating decided this is where we wanted to raise our family.  I have been active in the community as a volunteer firefighter, CPR instructor, basketball coach, and AYSO referee.  I have spent 25 years of my life as a Davis resident (20 of which as a homeowner) and I have witnessed the gradual decay of a once prosperous city due to neglect and a lack of vision and planning.

    City-council-districts-d4I’ve entered the race because I am a solution and results oriented person and I want Davis to be a place where my kids want to raise their own families and where they can afford to own their own home.  I want to fix our crumbling roads and sidewalks and ensure there are fiscally responsible plans to maintain them.  We need to proactively maintain our urban forest, greenbelts and parks so that they can remain one of the great assets of our city.  I want to work with local businesses to revitalize our downtown to make it a destination for our residents and visitors to Davis.

    We need leaders who push for strategic infill development that will provide entry level housing to young families and workers, as well as dedicated Affordable Housing, not unaffordable housing that permanently destroys prime farmland.  We need leaders that will work cooperatively with our local non-profits, faith-based organizations, and the county to address the homeless crisis in our city.  They are the experts and should take the lead, while we should support them rather than wasting funds and trying to duplicate their efforts. 

    We need leaders who will provide innovative support and resources for our public safety staff to effectively deal with violent and property crime while also actively engaging and building partnerships within the community to compassionately attend to the issues associated with homelessness and mental health.  We need leaders who will not just give lip service to attaining carbon neutrality by 2040, but lead by example with the city taking concrete steps NOW to immediately lower the city’s carbon footprint.

    I am the person to do the job, and that’s why I am running for Davis City Council, District 4.

    Contact: adam@adam4davis.org

  • Yolo County Upgrades to 100% Renewable Ultragreen Electricity From Valley Clean Energy (VCE)

    VCE(From press release) The Yolo County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously this week to upgrade to Valley Clean Energy’s 100% renewable, 100% carbon-free UltraGreen service. This action will include all County VCE business accounts that are not already covered by existing solar/renewable projects.

    Taken as a whole, this decision is an important step toward ensuring that 100% of Yolo County’s electricity for its operations will be sourced from renewables, further decreasing the County’s dependence on fossil fuels and decreasing carbon emissions.

    “We know that the power sector is one of the largest sources of carbon emissions,” said Yolo County Board of Supervisors Chair, Angel Barajas. “Moving toward 100% renewable, 100% carbon-free electricity for County facilities is a powerful step we can take to fight climate change. It’s directly aligned with our 2011 Climate Action Plan. And at only 1.5 cents more per kilowatt-hour, we find it provides a great cost/benefit ratio for our local communities.”

    Yolo County’s goal is to transition all remaining accounts to 100% renewable electricity in the upcoming billing cycle. Funding will be included in the 2023-24 County budget for that purpose.

    “As the local not-for-profit public energy provider, VCE strives to provide simple, cost-effective ways for our customers and communities to take action on climate change,” said VCE Executive Officer Mitch Sears.  “With this move the County becomes our largest UltraGreen customer and helps drive the clean energy economy forward.” 

    Valley Clean Energy is a not-for-profit public agency formed in June 2018 to provide electrical generation service to customers in Woodland, Davis, Winters, and the unincorporated areas of Yolo County. VCE’s mission is to source cost-competitive clean electricity while providing product choice, price stability, energy efficiency, greenhouse gas emission reductions and reinvestment in the communities we serve.

  • Please Donate to Help Us Stop Indiscriminate Open Pit Mining in Yolo County

    Imagecdn.mightycause

    Photo of Prime Farmland Set to be Destroyed by Proposed Open Pit Mine

    The Sierra Club Yolano Group, together with its local partner, Yolo Land and Water Defense, is desperately trying to stop a massive new sand and gravel open-pit mining operation. This proposed project will forever destroy 300 acres of productive prime farmland just off of Cache Creek a few miles west of Woodland. Almost in the city's backyard, this huge new surface mine will leave behind a wasteland of methyl mercury contaminated impoundment ponds, no guarantees of successful farmland reclamation, potentially serious decreases in local groundwater levels, and greenhouse gas and priority pollutant emissions far greater than estimated (see below for more detailed information about the project's environmental shortcomings).

    Our lawsuit challenges improper mining project approvals. Over vigorous objections about the lack of appropriate environmental protections as required under California law, this project was recently approved by the Yolo County Supervisors when they certified a defective Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and awarded lucrative 30-year sweetheart mining rights to Teichert Mining. The company is a subsidiary of a billion-dollar mining and construction behemoth. To stop this ill-advised and destructive project unless necessary protections are put in place, the Sierra Club with our partners recently sued Yolo County and Teichert Mining to rescind certification of the EIR and project approvals.

    The Sierra Club and a number of members of both organizations have already made very substantial contributions, but we urgently need to raise $12,000 more to continue this lawsuit all the way through trial. Please help us force Teichert Mining to act responsibly so that our children and future Yolo County generations can enjoy unpolluted habitat, productive agricultural land, safe and reliable access to good quality water, and clean, breathable air.

    Please consider making a tax-deductible donation of any amount.

    1) By Credit Card or Paypal – Click on the online donation link here (https://www.mightycause.com/story/Yolanogroupsc)

    2) By Check – Send your check payable to Sierra Club Foundation, c/o Yolano Group, 2736 Brentwood Pl in Davis CA 95618.

    (more…)

  • Soroptimists award grants to three nonprofits

    ThrivingPinkGrant2022

    Yolo County teens Bella and Abby participate in Thriving Pink’s comfort bag making at its Volunteer Day. The bags contain breast cancer-specific wellness and support items to be given to patients at local infusion centers and healthcare offices. The nonprofit received a Soroptimist grant for its Youth Education and Support outreach project directed at teen girls. (Courtesy photo)

    (From press release) Soroptimist International of Davis recently awarded grants to three local nonprofits: Thriving Pink, CommuniCare Mobile Medicine and Mutual Housing of California.

    The club distributed $5,000 in Community Grants between the three organizations. “Our committee received high quality grant applications that aligned with the Soroptimist mission, vision and values,” said Lisa Adda, SI Davis president and chair of its Community Grants Committee. “Our core values are gender equality, empowerment, education, and diversity/fellowship, and our committee prioritized those in awarding these funds.”

    Adda said this year’s grants help women and girls “with education as it relates to breast cancer, empowerment through emergency shelter, and diversity ­by reaching an important audience.”

    (more…)

  • Where have all the babies gone?

    Screen Shot 2022-07-09 at 10.22.28 AMBy Dave Taormino

    Davis has been gradually losing its innate college town character. The level of civility in civic discourse continues its decline as demonstrated in the recent Measure H campaign. The 1960 – 70s mid-western ethos that prospered when Davis and UCD set out on their mutually aligned growth paths has deteriorated with urban-like political fighting. The midwestern neighborly values that were once well established have given way to a divisive approach to community engagement. In housing development discussions, the person you disagree with is characterized as evil, dishonest, a liar, etc. Why? In part because Davis’s 40 years of restrictive housing and growth policies has spawned and feeds unintended and unnecessary discord with little visible, offsetting benefits.

    Here are some of the impacts:

    1. Less than 40% of our TOP City management live in Davis. Nearly all the major City decision makers and their families live elsewhere. Their family life and personal civic involvement is not here.
    2. The percentage of Davis Police and Fire Department personnel who live in Davis is much lower than the TOP management. In essence, their family and hearts reside elsewhere.
    3. The vast majority of North, North Davis homeowners are individuals employed at UCD or a Davis business. They cannot afford to live here. A sizable number have children commuting daily with their parents to attend Davis schools, a good outcome for us.
    4. In the Cannery, roughly 80% of the buyers had no relationship to Davis or UCD, although some had grown children living here. Most came from the Bay Area and Marin County, exactly where the Cannery developers heavily advertised. It was an intentional strategy not intended to attract local UCD faculty, staff, and other Davis workers. In the 546 homes, an unbelievably low number of school age children actually live there. Something like 26 new students resulted from Cannery’s 546 homes plus apartments. In the 80’s and early 90’s a “Cannery-type neighborhood” would have generated 300 – 400 new students. Where have all the families with or capable of having babies gone?
    5. Approximately 1,000 Elementary through High School students commute daily to our schools. Without these commuting students some neighborhood schools would close. Imagine the rancor and anger that would result should neighborhood school closures be considered. The civic anger, neighborhood vs neighborhood would likely be greater than the recent Measure H arguments. The School District has done a masterful entrepreneurial job in “recruiting” out of Davis parents/children to attend our neighborhood schools. For how long can those creative efforts be sufficient? A university-oriented community NEEDS GREAT schools. Great schools require children from childbearing age parents living here and as a result contributing to a wholesome, family friendly, inclusive community. That was “the 1960’s and 1970’s Davis civic perspective” when UCD embarked on its original and now continuing growth plan.

    The list could continue, but you get the point.

    (more…)

  • The City Council should require masks at meetings

    023D5980-5DAE-4BAA-8091-9CB9DB5D4A18An open letter to the new Davis mayor and the city council:

    I attended the city council meeting in person this week for the first time in over two years. I wore a N95 mask for the entire meeting. A few of the audience also wore masks. Unfortunately, none of the councilmembers or city staff did likewise (although the city attorney had one on for at least part of the time).

    Also this week I had to call city hall on business and was informed on the phone that masks are required in city facilities for both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals.

    The Yolo County COVID website states: "Yolo County strongly recommends you wear a well-fitting, high quality mask in indoor public settings when COVID case rates are moderate to high (above 7 cases per 100,000)." The current weekly average case rate is 45.8 cases per 100K individuals, six times higher than the recommended minimum level for masks, and higher than the average state rate of 36.8.

    By holding public meetings and not requiring masks the Council and staff put themselves and members of the public (and by extension their families) at increased risk for COVID infections.

    Given how well the city and community have responded to the COVID pandemic in the past two years, I am disappointed the council has not seen fit to require masks for themselves, staff, and attendees at meetings. Please follow the county health officer's recommendations.

    The pandemic is not over.

    Robert Canning

  • Community Canopy – Free Shade Trees!

    Free-shade-trees(From press release) Tree Davis is committed to enhancing and expanding Davis’s urban forest. As part of our mission, Tree Davis’s Community Canopy Program, in partnership with the City of Davis, offers free trees to homeowners in Davis. 

    This is the last season for homeowners to take advantage of this grant program! Now is the time to bring cooling shade, beauty, and improved public health to your home and neighborhood. Supplies are limited so please contact Tree Davis today: https://www.treedavis.org/city-of-davis-community-canopy/ . Our trained staff will visit you at your residence this summer to help you select the right tree for your front yard.

    Plantings begin in October and we can either work with you to plant your tree if you wish, or we will plant the tree for you.

    This is your last chance to request a tree for fall plantings. Please share this information with your friends and neighbors! Spread the word and contact us today to line up a consultation.

    For more information visit www.treedavis.org, (530) 758-7337, or contact info@treedavis.org

     

  • Public Reconsideration and Action on G Street

    7765CD8E-D863-4393-9156-5C1A55CAD799

    Why is G Street still closed?

    During the height of the pandemic, most businesses on G St. in downtown Davis, between 2nd and 3rd, initially supported the emergency action to temporarily close G St. This was specifically to help restaurants and bars carry on with their business outdoors.  More than two years later, eateries have now regained use of their indoor dining rooms but the street remains closed to vehicles with no store-front accessibility to businesses or parking. Minor aesthetic improvements were made and it’s still unattractive.

    The Downtown Davis Business Association polled all downtown businesses. The results of the survey were overwhelming – 92% of businesses said “Reopen G St. to two-way traffic.” The City Council was informed of the results of the survey in November 2021.  Many of our downtown businesses do not support the city’s action that keeps G Street closed.

    We ask the city council to put the matter of G St. on the agenda at the Tuesday, July 5th meeting for public discussion. The business owners and the community who are impacted by this “temporary emergency action” deserve a fair and open process to study and adopt a plan that suits all of us. Our emails to the council have not been adequately answered. We’d like more conversation and follow through. The City Council meeting held in 11/2/2021 on Zoom, with this item on the agenda was woefully inadequate in terms of allowing full public discourse.

    You can support our effort to get this matter added to the city council agenda by contacting us at:  arteryinfo@omsoft.com and allow us to add your name to the letter; please speak up.

    Additionally, you may email all members of the City Council directly at this email address: citycouncilmembers@cityofdavis.org

    Thank you,

    G St. Businesses
    The Artery
    Illusions
    Sole Desire
    Davis Barber Shop
    Mahin Alterations
    Abaton Consulting
    Law offices of Roberta S. Savage
    Copyland
    Bankers Lending Group
    Volleys Tennis Shop
    Katmandu Restaurant
    Brooks Byrd

  • Measure H versus Measure B voting patterns

    What happened?  Drilling down into the data

    Keep-calmBy Matt Williams

    Precincts
    To get to an apples to apples comparison of the results of Measure H and Measure B, one has to start with the understanding that the Yolo Elections Office reported Measure H in two consolidated precincts

    … one for the western portions of Davis plus Downtown and Olive Drive (seen in light blue in the left graphic below), and

    … the other for the northern, eastern and southern portions of Davis (seen in the darker blue in the left graphic below).

    Back in November 2020 the reporting of Measure B came in eleven (11) consolidated precincts, which are shown in the right side of the graphic below, with the precincts that had more than 50% “Yes” votes shown in green and the precincts that had more than 50% “No” votes shown in light blue.

    Side-by-side

    Fortunately, the underlying precinct boundaries did not change between 2020 and 2022, so a one-to-on comparison of the two Measure H consolidated precincts can be made to their Measure B equivalents.

    (more…)

  • Post-election statement from No on H campaign

    No on H 2022_Sign Design_Final w SC Endorse Seal(From press release) We are pleased by the overwhelming defeat of Measure H, which we believe would have resulted in a development that was harmful to Davis.

    It was a true grassroots effort of many volunteers over many months, who poured countless hours of their personal time into the campaign. It was also the result of many passionate supporters who donated to the campaign, displayed lawn signs, wrote letters to the editor, and participated on social media.  We thank everyone who was involved in the effort.

    We hope the resounding defeat of Measure H  leads to more collaborative community discussions that engage Davisites in creating future projects which will be truly sustainable and environmentally progressive.