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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

  • State advocacy efforts mobilize local artists

    CFTA_reopenBy Wendy Weitzel

    Artists need their work to be seen and heard. But a statewide arts advocate says the arts industry is being overlooked in the pandemic.

    Julie Baker, executive director of California Arts Advocates and for the statewide nonprofit Californians for the Arts, told some 25 participants at a Dec. 9 Arts Alliance Davis video meeting that their organizations need to demonstrate how essential they are.

    “We want to be seen. We want to be part of the solution,” Baker said from her Nevada City base. “We’re an industry. We’re not a cause. We can support California socially and emotionally. We know that’s what the arts can bring.”

    California Arts Advocates is the only statewide group that works to protect arts funding for the whole arts community. Baker said arts are 8 percent of the state’s economy, yet artists are often not seen as essential – or even recognized as workers. Two-thirds of artists are self-employed and don’t qualify for traditional unemployment. Some are truly starving artists.

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  • Biased behavior and retribution in the Davis Citizen Advisory Commission appointment process

    Opposing Measure B cost three sitting Commissioners a reappointment recommendation

    Screen Shot 2020-11-30 at 4.25.56 PMBy Alan Pryor

    This Tuesday, December 1, the City Council will consider recommendations made by a subcommittee of Mayor Gloria Partida and Councilmember Dan Carson for seats on various City Citizen Advisory Commissions.  Their formal recommendations to the Council can be found here. This article discusses bias by that subcommittee in their recommendations made for reappointments to these Commissions.

    Mayor Gloria Partida and Councilmember Dan Carson were also both on the Council subcommittee who negotiated the deal with the Davis Innovation and Sustainability Campus (DISC) to put it on the November ballot as Measure B. Both then also signed the Argument for the Measure on the ballot and both strongly promoted Measure B itself during the campaign.

    The City’s website notes that its supposedly-independent citizen advisory commissions “have a critical role in the City of Davis” by providing an “important avenue for determining the community’s feelings about an issue.” 

    But three sitting commissioners who applied for reappointment to 3 different commissions were all denied a reappointment recommendation:  Alan Pryor (Natural Resource Commission), Matt Williams (Utilities Commission), and Todd Edelman (Bicycling, Transportation, and Street Safety Commission). What do all of us have in common?  All three were active opponents of the recently-defeated Measure B on the November ballot in Davis.

    But all other Commissioners, save one, who requested reappointment received favorable recommendations including some of whom had termed out. None of these recommended commissioners had publicly opposed Measure B and many were ardent supporters of Measure B as evidenced by Letters to the Editor in the Davis Enterprise or other means, including:

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  • Post-Election Roundtable with Local Leaders

    Unnamed 5Yolo Democratic Socialists of America is hosting a zoom round-table to discuss how local leaders understand the 2020 election results, as well as how this new landscape will affect the political struggles we wage in our respective communities and workplaces.

    Featuring Sally Mandujabn, a public education teacher hailing from a long line of organized labor, Dillan Horton, who ran for Davis City Council, and Neetha Iyer, a teaching assistant a head steward at UAW 2865.

    There will also be a Q&A portion at the end – we want your input!

    You can register for the event at tinyurl.com/YoloDSAElectionRoundtable

  • Council sub-committee rejects re-appointment of all three No on B Commissioners

    1 - City_of_Davis_logoinverted

    Sub-committee members Carson and Partida were DISC's most strident supporters on Council

    (From press release) On Tuesday, November 24, City of Davis Staff released the Agenda for the December 1 City Council meeting. Item Four concerns recommendations for appointment and re-appointment for City Commissions, with terms starting from January.

    2 - DiscoveryThe recommendations are made by a Council sub-committee, newly composed of Mayor Gloria Partida and City Councilmember Dan Carson. (For a few years the sub-committee was now Former Mayor Brett Lee and now Vice-Mayor Lucas Frerichs.)

    The appointments and re-appointments apply to 12 of the City’s Commissions, composed of sworn-in volunteers who normally complete two full terms of four years each before being termed-out. Earlier in the fall, current Commissioners – whether they termed out or not – were asked if they wanted to continue to serve. 

    Three current Commissioners – Todd Edelman from the Bicycling, Transportation and Street Safety Commission (BTSSC), Alan Pryor from the Natural Resources Commission (NRC), and Matt Williams from the Utilities Commission all expressed a desire to stay. None are recommended for re-appointment by the sub-committee.

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  • Finding ways to work together

    Celebration-of-abraham-logoThe Celebration of Abraham thanks the Davis-Area Interfaith Religious Leaders Network (DAIR-LN) for offering a ZOOM Interfaith Prayer for a More Perfect Union on Monday, November 2. The service, the night before the national election, featured Davis faith leaders offering reflections, music, and readings for our country and our community. The faith leaders focused on three themes: Be kind. Be strong. Stay together. Our community needed to hear the message and we need to hold the service in our heart as we go forward. For those of you who would like to revisit the service, DAIR-LN has posted the service on their Facebook page. 

    To continue efforts to find ways to work together, on behalf of the Celebration of Abraham, I invite you to be part of our interfaith community conversation, as we Celebrate the 18th Annual Celebration of Abraham: “An interfaith perspective on the practice of humility in difficult times.”  on January 31, at 3:00 p.m. With the on-going COVID restrictions, this will be a virtual event, held via Zoom webinar beginning with excellent speakers from the three Abrahamic faiths. We are continuing to work on the format, and we will include a moderated panel where participants can ask questions.

    Let’s continue the dialogue among our faith communities! To sign up for updates on the planning, email hroland2@gmail.com.

    Again thank you to DAIR-LN for providing calm and centering the night before the election,

    Helen Roland, President

    Celebration of Abraham

  • A Discussion with Davis Mayor Gloria Partida

    With a chance to ask questions

    By Matt Williams

    On Friday, November 20th, at noon, Davis Mayor Gloria Partida will discuss the issues of the day and then take questions from the public. The webinar is free and open to the public. Please register in advance. To join us please sign up here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_kswA1_FqRoG1VYL6S-FuQw

    Davisite readers can post questions for the Mayor here in this thread that they feel will be good ones to have addressed during the webinar.  The questions posted here will be forwarded to the Mayor.  Presubmitting question(s) will give the Mayor time to consider her answer(s), as well as give webinar attendees an idea about the topics their neighbors are interested in.

    For example, one question might be as follows:  “Gloria, the residents of District 4 voted “No” on Measure B by a 3,591 to 2,328 margin.  That is 60.7% against and only 39.3% for Measure B. What are your thoughts about that outcome?”

    Another question might be “Gloria, 14,341 people voted in the three Council elections on November 3rd, and in those same three districts 15,110 people voted on Measure B … a 5% higher turnout than the Council candidates got.  What are your take-aways from those results?”

    Democracy works best when citizens actively participate.  So, here is a chance for everyone to participate.

  • LWV hosts forum on California health-care reform

    LWV-DavisJoin the League of Women Voters Davis Area on Wednesday, Nov. 18 from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. for a free virtual voter-education health-care forum, “The Future of State-Based Health Reform in California.”

    With health-care reform back in the news, the event will consider what California can implement a state-based financing approach to a system that provides universal care, controls costs and improves outcomes.

    Dr. William Hsiao, an internationally known health economist at the Harvard T. H. Chan School Public Health, will give a 25-minute presentation on the health, economic and political background for reform and his views of how to move ahead with a single-payer plan in California.

    Cindy Young, a leader in the California single-payer movement with more than 30 years of experience as a policy analyst for organized labor, will comment on Dr. Hsiao’s views and offer her own perspective.

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  • Valley Clean Energy Completes Repayment to Smud

    VCE(From press release) Valley Clean Energy (VCE), Yolo County’s local public electric generation service provider, continues to make significant fiscal strides just 2½ years after its founding.

    In October, VCE made its final installment payment to the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD), reimbursing the utility for its assistance with operating services during VCE’s launch in 2018. The $1.5 million in deferred charges and interest were paid off on schedule, which demonstrates VCE’s financial discipline while continuing to offer clean electricity at competitive rates.

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  • Pre-Thanksgiving Market has early hours

    JumbleberryPieSM

    Real Pie Company’s Jumbleberry Pie is among the many pie choices available at the Pre-Thanksgiving Davis Farmers Market on Nov. 25. Pre-orders are encouraged. (Wendy Weitzel/Courtesy photo)

    (From press release) The Davis Farmers Market’s annual Pre-Thanksgiving Market is changing to early hours this year. The annual extended-hour market, on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, will be from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Central Park, 301 C St., Davis.

    On Nov. 25, the market will have a bounty of seasonal produce, table décor, meats, cheeses, olive oil, honey and wine. Several bakeries will be there with fresh-baked items like pumpkin, apple, pecan and berry pies; breads, stuffing mixes and cookies.

    The rest of the year, visit the market from 3 to 6 p.m. on Wednesdays, and 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays. For more information, visit https://davisfarmersmarket.org or visit it on Facebook or Instagram.

  • Picnic in the Park makes changes

    Wednesday music and beer to move downtown

    PIPlogo(From press release) The Davis Farmers Market is returning to its roots, putting the focus of its Wednesday market back on the farmers.

    COVID-19 health guidelines halted concerts and alcohol consumption at the market. There haven’t been the usual crowds filling Central Park for Picnic in the Park, yet farm-fresh produce sales are up.

    Since 1995, the Wednesday market has extended its hours into the early evenings. While not abandoning the Picnic in the Park name, the Davis Farmers Market plans to discontinue the music and beer garden.

    Meanwhile, the Davis Downtown Business Association is eager to pick up the music and alcohol portion of the event, and incorporate it into Open Air Davis, as early as next spring.

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