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

Author: Roberta Millstein

  • Comments to the Open Space & Habitat Commission concerning DiSC 2022

    Screen Shot 2021-10-03 at 8.45.43 PM
    The following was emailed to members of the Open Space and Habitat Commission (OSHC) on Sunday.  The OSHC is scheduled to discuss the revised MRIC/ARC/DISC project, now dubbed DiSC 2022, at its Monday Oct 4 meeting.  If you wish to comment on the project yourself, see instructions on the agenda for the meeting, located here.

    Dear members of the Open Space and Habitat Commission,

    I am writing to you as a former commissioner (10+ years) and Chair of the OSHC, having completed my term last December. I was involved in analyzing what is now being called the DiSC 2022 project in all of iterations, so I hope you find my comments helpful in your discussions.

    To begin, I am pleased to see in the minutes from your last meeting the following: "[Ms. Reynolds] said the Commission also had the option of agendizing the Addendum to the project's Environmental Impact Report ("EIR") later this year if the Commission wanted to provide comments on the Addendum to the EIR. That meeting would have to happen before December when the project is scheduled to go before the Planning Commission, she said." I strongly urge you to do this. The OSHC has a history of productively discussing and giving comments on EIRs, as it did with earlier versions of DISC as well as Nishi and other projects, with the comments thoughtfully crafted from the Commission carrying more weight than comments from individual members. For example, you might wish to ensure that the biological surveys have been properly updated and that greater awareness of approaches to climate change are being taken into account, such as the lost opportunity for regenerative agriculture on the property if the project is built.

    Another important piece of background: in the last iteration of the project, the developer kept insisting that Mace 25 was not part of project, even though it clearly was. This led to mistrust in the community. Because of that mistrust, people are now concerned that this smaller project without Mace 25 is just a foot in the door for the already rejected larger project to come later. I urge you to recommend that the developer state, as a sign of good faith, that this is not their intention — designating the ~100 acres to the north of the project as ag mitigation would be the clearest way to do that.

    The rest of my remarks will focus on the Staff Report and related attachments, located online here.

    (more…)

  • DISC is back… and so is bad process

    8E95805A-8A18-4D60-AE6F-0C4FDE0CA708
    Staff and City Council favor developer interests over citizen input

    By Roberta Millstein

    This past Tuesday (Sept 7), the City Council formally set in motion the process to evaluate the twice-reborn industrial park/hotel complex on prime farmland outside the Mace curve, now dubbed DISC 2022. Readers will recall that this project was handily defeated at the polls less than a year ago. Now it is back again with half the acreage, fewer amenities, and a smaller proportion devoted to revenue-generating commercial uses. 

    Also back again is staff acquiescing to the developer's extremely short requested timeline. 

    There have been some improvements in process this time around. The project was made a regular agenda item, allowing for greater citizen awareness and discussion, though apparently a number of people were still caught by surprise. And all of the relevant commissions are scheduled to be consulted from the outset, something that citizens had to fight for the last time. 

    However, staff's Tuesday proposal was that each commission can only evaluate the project once. Why? The developer wants this on the ballot by June 2022 and staff wants to comply with that, stating there is not enough time for commissions to have more than one meeting concerning the proposal. Why do they want to go along with the developer?  Well, you will have to ask them, but it is certainly not a timeline that favors citizen input, remembering that commissions are intended to be a conduit for citizens to give feedback to the City.

    (more…)

  • How to vote in the gubernatorial recall election? Step one – vote!

    Wheretovote

    By Roberta Millstein

    If you are registered to vote in CA, you should have received your ballot for the election to recall Governor Gavin Newsom by now.   If for some reason you aren’t registered, August 30 is the last day to register to vote; after that, you can “conditionally” register and vote at your county elections office or polling location after the voter registration deadline, up to and including Election Day (Sept 14).

    Voting is easy!  In Davis, there are several voting assistance centers and ballot drop boxes.  See the graphic at the top or this page for details.  Or you can mail in your ballot – it has to be postmarked by Sept. 14. Each ballot will come with prepaid postage. So no excuses not to vote.  If you're not in Davis, check out your local options.

    And your vote really matters in this election – even more so than usual – so please take the time to vote!

    The biggest challenge that Governor Newsom has to overcome is voter apathy – people thinking they don’t need to vote because Newsom is a slam dunk (how’d that work out for Gray Davis?) or who just aren’t that excited about Newsom.  Well, I have to admit I’ve not always been happy with his decisions, either.  But then again, I can’t think of any politician in my lifetime I’ve been totally happy with. 

    Governor Newsom has done nothing bad enough to deserve a recall and the candidate everyone thinks will most likely win, Larry Elder, would be terrible.  Elder thinks that people who are concerned about climate change are “alarmists,” he supports overturning Roe v. Wade, and he wants to eliminate the minimum wage (link).  He would be terrible for California, especially if he had the opportunity to appoint a Senator if Senator Feinstein were to retire.

    Davis tends to overwhelmingly vote Democratic, as does California as a whole.  So if we mobilize to vote “NO” on recalling Governor Newsom, we can help make sure that California doesn’t head down a dangerous path.  So please vote “NO” on question 1 on the ballot.

    (more…)

  • Three petitions = three frustrated and unheard constituencies

    Three-petitions

    By Roberta Millstein

    What do trees being cut down at Sutter Davis Hospital, the Mace Mess, and Cannery traffic safety have to do with one another?

    At first glance, not much.  They are in three entirely different parts of town.  Two of them do have to do with traffic and safety in part, but each has its own features.  For example, residents near Mace Boulevard are concerned about the addition of over-engineered road structures they were not consulted on, and in light of increased traffic and other problems, would like them removed.  And neither traffic safety at the Cannery nor the Mace Mess seems to relate to the removal of mature trees done without any input from the relevant City Commissions.

    But those who have been following the Davisite might have noticed a commonality: in all three cases, citizens felt strongly enough about the issue to create a petition, as described in the following articles:

    When citizens are moved to create and sign petitions, it’s a signal that they feel that their voices aren’t being heard through normal channels, such as comments at the City Council or letters to the editor of the local newspaper. With a petition, citizens are trying to speak loudly, with one voice.

    (more…)

  • WWJTD?

    How to take back some control in the COVID era

    IMG_0530

    Your author, walking the walk

    By Roberta Millstein

    With COVID cases re-surging in California and locally as a result of the highly transmissible “delta variant”, it is hard not to feel powerless.  Maybe you got vaccinated (I hope so – if not, please do).  Maybe you are still wearing a mask when indoors in public places (I hope so – if not, please do – Yolo County is now recommending it).

    And yet, we sit here and watch the numbers rise yet again, the product of yet again opening too soon even as the voices of many epidemiologists told us not to.  Our political leaders bowed to public pressure and who suffers?  Well, everyone, individuals and businesses alike.  We’ve taken the shortsighted route and with numbers trending up again we’re headed back to the bad scenarios we thought we left behind.

    What can we do?  I ask myself, WWJTD?  That is, What Would John Troidl Do?  In these times I am especially missing the wise guidance of John Troidl.

    IMG_0515I don’t know for certain what he would say, but as he did so many times while he was still alive, I expect he would urge us to get tested regularly.  Yes, even if you’ve been vaccinated.  Being vaccinated dramatically reduces your chances of contracting COVID, but it doesn’t eliminate the possibility entirely, and I don’t think it eliminates the possibility of transmitting the virus, either.

    (more…)

  • Surprising outcome and a few oddities at Planning Commission meeting

    Housing-ElementBy Roberta Millstein

    This is just a short update to follow on the Davisite’s earlier articles concerning the Housing Element Update (see here, here, and here).

    This past Wednesday (June 9th), the City of Davis’s Planning Commission met for a second time to discuss the recommendations of the Housing Element Committee (HEC)– the first meeting was May 26.  At the earlier meeting, most of the comments from the public concerned 10 recommendations that the HEC had passed.  And a good number of the comments came from UC Davis students who were apparently reading from the same script, since their comments were identical or nearly so.

    So, one might have expected that the June 9 meeting would be more of the same.  But that was not the case.

    (more…)

  • Good decision-making process involves staff and City Council too

    Screen Shot 2021-06-03 at 4.27.34 PM

    The following letter was emailed as a comment for tonight's special City Council Subcommittee on Commission Process meeting.

    Dear City Councilmembers and Commission Chairs,

    It is extremely difficult to comment on this item without knowing more about what will be discussed. However, one concern I have – and I will just have to see where things go today – is how this group became a “Subcommittee on Commissions.”

    The original letter that triggered this subcommittee, a letter that I co-signed, was titled “A Proposal for Improving City of Davis Decision Making.”  It included provisions regarding City Commissions, but it was not limited to that.  It also included provisions regarding “transparency, information, disclosure, and public engagement” as well as provisions “for developing and making decisions on Staff proposals submitted for City Council action.”  It was not just about how commissions operate.

    It would be a missed opportunity if this subcommittee were to narrow its concerns from the letter’s original scope.  Indeed, it would be a sad irony, given the letter was in part prompted by commissioners feeling that they were not being heard and seeing their communications to the city lost in translation.

    (more…)

  • Should Davis spend millions of dollars on a ladder fire truck?

    UC Davis Ladder Fire Truck no 34

    UC Davis's Ladder Fire Truck – Truck 34

    By Roberta Millstein

    Is now the time for the City of Davis to be spending millions of dollars on a ladder fire truck when it currently only needs this type of truck approximately once per month at most, when it can currently borrow UC Davis’s ladder truck for free?

    What information do we need to answer this question?  What do we know and what do we need to know?

    According to the Davis Enterprise, on March 16 the Davis City Council “expressed unanimous support for acquiring a ladder truck for the Davis Fire Department and directed staff to move forward both on securing a detailed cost estimate for a truck as well as developing plans to modify the downtown fire station to accommodate it.”

    The estimated costs discussed thus far are as follows (with the City possibly being able to obtain some grants to offset some of these costs):

    (more…)

  • Remembering John Troidl

    John TroidlIt is with a heavy heart that I announce the passing of John Joseph Troidl.  The Davis Enterprise has the story here.  As regular readers of the Davisite know, John was a passionate defender of public health, whether it was proper protocols and practices for COVID-19 or poor air quality at the Nishi site.  His postings to the Davisite can be viewed here. 

    John had a PhD in public health as well as an MBA, and he also taught public health at several universities.  He was an advocate for Health in All Policies and wanted Davis to adopt it.  He was never afraid to fight the good fight and stand up for what he believed in, but always with a smile and an easygoing manner. 

    I will miss him.  I encourage people who knew him to put their remembrances and thoughts in the comments below.

  • Senator Portantino Champions Ratepayer Equity Legislation

    SB 612 creates fair system for managing legacy energy resources and reducing costs for all ratepayers

    (From press release) State Senator Anthony Portantino (D-La Cañada-Flintridge) has introduced SB 612 which requires that California electric ratepayers have fair and equal access to benefits associated with investor-owned utility (IOU) legacy energy resources and that the resources are actively managed to maximize their value. The bill, sponsored by the California Community Choice Association (CalCCA), will have its first hearing on April 26 before the Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee.  The bill would benefit community choice aggregators such as Valley Clean Energy, which serves electricity customers in Woodland, Davis, Winters and the unincorporated areas of Yolo County.

    Legacy energy resources are a major concern because they account for billions of dollars in above-market costs in IOU energy portfolios, and the utilities rely on California ratepayers to pay the costs. They include capital-intensive utility-owned generation facilities and expensive long-term renewable energy contracts with third parties.

    Under SB 612, legacy energy resources would be handled in more prudent ways that reflect new market realities and that reasonable steps are taken to minimize above-market costs that accrue to ratepayers.

    (more…)