By Roberta Millstein
Yesterday, I posted the ballot arguments for and against Measure Q, which would increase Davis's current retail transactions and use tax from 1% to 2%. Here are the rebuttals to those arguments that will also appear on the November ballot. See the County's website (where these arguments are also posted) for more details: https://ace.yolocounty.gov/417/Measure-Q—City-of-Davis
Rebuttal to argument in favor of Measure Q:
By Roberta Millstein
This November, Davisites will vote on Measure Q:
To support essential City services, such as public safety and emergency response; crime prevention; pothole repair; parks, road, sidewalk, and bike path maintenance; and addressing homelessness, affordable housing, and climate change, shall the City of Davis's Ordinance be adopted establishing an additional 1¢ sales tax providing approximately $11,000,000 annually for general government use until repealed by the voters, subject to annual audits, public disclosure of all spending and with all funds staying local?
This would increase Davis's current retail transactions and use tax from 1% to 2%. To pass, a majority (50% + 1) of the votes cast by City of Davis voters must approve the measure. As implied by the text above, the tax has no automatic sunset date; it will be in effect until repealed by voters.
Further details are available at the County's website: https://ace.yolocounty.gov/417/Measure-Q—City-of-Davis
Here is the argument in favor that will appear on the ballot:
Comments are due by Monday, August 12. Details are on this earlier post:
You can send your input, comments or responses (including the name for a contact person in your agency) to:
Attn: Dara Dungworth, Principal Planner
City of Davis Department of Community Development and Sustainability
23 Russell Boulevard
Davis, CA 95616
ddungworth@cityofdavis.org
Window opens for citizen input on the scope of the environmental analysis
By Roberta Millstein
Another step has been taken for a proposed housing project to the east of Wildhorse, near the Mace Curve, using the misleading name “Shriners Property Project” (misleading because the project has no current connection to the Shriners). The site is approximately 232 acres and is currently being farmed. The developers are proposing a 1,200-unit residential community.
Because the land is zoned for agriculture and is outside of the current City limits, it will eventually be subject to a Measure J/R/D vote of Davis’s citizens. But first, it must undergo environmental review to produce an Environmental Impact Report (EIR), and before that happens, the scope of the review must be decided on. That’s the stage we’re at now – the comment period for citizens and groups to give input on the scope and content of the environmental information to be obtained opened on July 12 and will continue through August 12.
Further details of the project and the scope of review can be found here:
As the group of students, staff, and faculty whose meeting with Chancellor May in December 2021 led to a plan to eliminate fossil fuel use by UC Davis (Fossil Free UCD), we are pleased to see the release of the Fossil-Fuel Free Pathway Plan (FFFPP), as reported in the Davis Enterprise. We are grateful to Chancellor May for his continuing dialogue and leadership.
The FFFPP calls for eliminating 95% of fossil fuel use from university operations by 2040. Equally important is the shorter-term goal contained in the plan: a 75% reduction of fossil fuel use by 2030.
This shorter-term goal is essential because deep and swift emission cuts from burning fossil fuels is the only appropriate response to the dramatic consequences of climate change we are already experiencing. To meet this 75% reduction target, UCD will need to work together with other UCs and our state and federal legislators to secure funding.
As a leading university, UCD educates our students for a successful future. Our teaching mission comes with a responsibility to ensure that we graduate our students in a world where they enjoy a stable climate. UCD is showing by example that we can greatly reduce the use of fossil fuels within years, not decades. This leadership will hopefully inspire other universities and government entities to swiftly enact plans to go fossil-fuel free as well.
UCD affiliates who wish to join our ongoing efforts are encouraged to contact us via our website at https://fossilfreeucd.org/
Cort Anastasio
Patrick Cunningham
Mark Huising
Brianna Mcguire
Helene Margolis
Elizabeth Miller
Roberta Millstein
Emma Saffel
Suzana Sawyer
Stephen Wheeler
Sandy Xie
On behalf of Fossil-Free UCD
By Roberta Millstein
Just a quick heads up to let folks know about an opportunity to weigh in on the proposed I-80 widening project. The subcommittee of Councilmbers Arnold and Neville have drafted a letter for City Council consideration that recognizes the objections raised by many Davisites to the project and expresses concerns. See proposed letter here: Download 04-Subcommittee-Recommendation-Transportation-Letter
I think it is a fairly weak letter, and would urge something stronger, but I think it's also important to acknowledge that it is at least more of a stand than the City Council has been willing to give prior to this. So a comment on the order of, "thanks, this is good, but we can do better" seems appropriate.
As a reminder:
The City Council needs to re-think and re-do its current plan
By Roberta Millstein
Elaine Roberts Musser has put together a petition protesting the City Council's recent decision to move forward with merging some commissions, which would reduce expert citizen input into City matters and effectively eliminate some of the issues that commissions currently are able to address. The petition asks for the City Council to stop its current direction and to give the proposed commission merging a better, more thorough, and more inclusive analysis. I have no connection with petition, other than having signed it myself — I am just passing along the word.
The petition is located here: https://www.change.org/p/reverse-city-council-decision-to-move-forward-with-merging-commissions-1e9f0d8d-0697-4f45-85ad-6a7720e2b8b3
(There are more signers than it would seem from the webpage, as ERM was collecting signatures prior to putting the Change.org online).
If you follow the link, you will see the reasons given for objecting to the Council's decision. The petition ends with the follow requests:
It’s a good reminder that “hate” is a very limited way of talking about racism.
By Roberta Millstein
I recently got into a conversation with some people on Facebook about whether Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s recent remarks about Chinese people and Ashkenazi Jews regarding COVID-19 were racist. The conversation was too hard to have on Facebook, so I stopped engaging, but I think it’s worth looking at his remarks in more detail because I think they are quite damning, and yes, racist.
I take his remarks personally because I myself am an Ashkenazi Jew, but since RFK Jr. is running for President of the United States, and since apparently some Davisites think he is a good candidate, it’s important for all of us to take a second look.
The video of his remarks is here. The quotes below are my transcription. I edited lightly (removing stutters, etc.), and may have missed a small word here or there, but I am confident that I have it mostly correct.
(From press release) Soroptimist International of Davis recently awarded grants to two nonprofits, to improve the lives of women and girls in Yolo County.
The club distributed $3,000 in Community Grants between the two organizations. Make it Happen for Yolo County received $1,900, and Grace in Action received $1,100.
Make it Happen will use its Soroptimist funds to provide at least four young women in the UC Davis Guardian Scholars program with the furniture and appliances they need to furnish their apartments at the start of the school year. Guardian Scholars are students who have experienced foster care.
Grace in Action will use its Soroptimist grant money to provide stop-gap services for very low income individuals, and those without safe shelter. It will pay for motel rooms, hearty lunches, laundry vouchers, transportation passes and haircuts.
The following was emailed as an attachment to the Social Services Commission yesterday for their meeting this evening (7 PM, Monday May 15) where they will be taking up proposed changes to Davis's Affordable Housing Ordinance.
by Roberta Millstein and Alan Pryor
5/14/2023
Introduction
The Davis Affordable Housing Ordinance (available at https://library.qcode.us/lib/davis_ca/pub/municipal_code/item/chapter_18-article_18_05?view=all) is now implemented on a temporary basis to account for changes in state law requiring economic justification if minimum affordable housing requirements for new projects exceed 15% of total housing units. The current temporary ordinance is scheduled to expire on June 30, 2023, with proposed changes under consideration by the Social Services Commission at its May 13, 2023 meeting.
However, even with these proposed changes, the existing Affordable Housing Ordinance has provisions which we believe do not provide social justice, equity, and fairness in terms of meeting the needs of the City’s low-income population because it is biased toward the financial benefit of developers rather than maximizing the availability of affordable income housing in Davis.
We recommend the following changes to the temporary ordinance if it is renewed by the sunset date of June 30, 2023 and to a revised permanent ordinance.
We elaborate on each of these recommendations further below.
Davisite 