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Category: Ethics

  • Sierra Club Yolano Group comments on Village Farms scope of work

    The following comments were submitted to the City of Davis by the Sierra Club Yolano Group on December 8. Transmitted via email to <SMetzker@cityofdavis.org>

    Biological Resources

    1. The Biological Resources should be studied in detail as outlined in the 5 December 2023 letter from Madrone Ecological Consulting, “Subject: Summary of Biological Resources Surveys Planned for the Village Farms Project, Yolo County, California.” but with the following suggestions:

    1. In the Aquatic Resources Delineation study, we recommend the timing of the determination of the extent of wetlands be expanded to include any times in which the area is water-inundated rather than at specifically identified times because inundation can occur during variable periods.

    2. We recommend the then current leasehold farmer not perform any cultural activities resulting in soil disturbances, including planting of cover crops, until the all wetland studies are completed.

    3. In the analysis for rare plants, we recommend all historical records be consulted.

    4. All surveys performed for determination of Biological Resources should be performed by specialists approved or certified to perform such studies under CEQA guidelines and performed in accordance with CDFW protocols.

    5. Environmental evaluation should also be performed considering the Yolo Regional Resource Conservation Investment Strategy/Land Conservation Plan (RCIS/LCP) in addition to the Yolo Habitat Conservation Plan & Natural Community Conservation Plan (HCP/NCCP).

    Traffic

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  • Davis City Council are FOOLS to Declare a Davis Position on Israel-Palestine (this Tuesday Evening)

    The Davis City Council is poised to pass a resolution this Tuesday night (12/12) on Israel-Palestine.

    Last Tuesday a couple of dozen people spoke during general public comment regarding this upcoming resolution. About 95% spoke in favor of a ‘cease fire’ by Israel. The speakers appeared to be organized by Jewish Voices for Peace who had “Not in Our Name” t-shirts, along with several persons of Palestinian lineage. One Jewish man, not from Jewish Voices for Peace, spoke of Hamas as a dangerous organization.

    Most who spoke asked for the resolution by the City of Davis to include a demand a ‘cease fire’. There were several who spoke of the genocide against the Palestinians. This word is a matter of intense debate and emotional weight. Others argue instead that Hamas had ‘genocidal intentions’ on October 7th but lacked the means to carry it out. While word definitions hold no inherent truth, groups of people define words to hold an agreed-upon meaning, and certain words and phrases invoke intense emotional reactions in regard to this conflict.

    I had a clear message for the City Council last week: “Don’t Do It”. As some may know, I stand firm in the belief that cities should only conduct city business and not get involved in national or global issues, no matter how seemingly righteous or important. But the potential repercussions from this resolution goes so far beyond that. This resolution has the potential to damage Davis both within and from without . . . and needlessly. We all remember the long and tortured tale of the Davis Ghandi statue, another dip of the Davis toe into international waters. What could go wrong displaying a depiction of  ‘a man of peace’? What could go wrong with supporting a declaration ‘for peace’?

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  • Israel Needs to Ceasefire

    Jew-for-ceasefireBy Scott Steward

    I want to thank the City Council's Mayor Will Arnold and Councilmember Gloria Partida for placing a "Proposed Resolution Calling for Peace in Israel and Gaza" on the December 12 City Council Agenda. 

    The current violence, persecution and loss of Palestinian lives is abhorrent. As much as Hamas is rightly condemned and routed for its most recent attack, it is not acceptable that Israel will not ceasefire and instead finds reason to continue to disproportionately kill thousands of civilians, mostly women and children, to randomly kill a small number of combatants. 

    The continued use of a government's military to kill a functionally incapable combatant, and in so doing kill a vastly disproportionate number of millions of displaced civilians, with munitions and by furthering the conditions of starvation and disease, is a war crime. 

    Israel needs to ceasefire. Thousands in Davis are part of this worldwide plea. 

    The Council's ascent to consider a ceasefire resolution was supported by some 15 public speakers and 10 callers, with a hundred people in the gallery in support, at the December 5th City Council meeting.  1 voice of public dissent.  "Ceasefire and Peace in Israel and Gaza" That would be an improved title for the draft resolution.  Why the word ceasefire was so obviously left out of the entire draft resolution, can only be guessed. The public needs to tell our City Council to add back the word ceasefire.  CityCouncilMembers@cityofdavis.org. 

    Davis groups for human rights, Palestinian human rights, Jewish Voices for Peace have been organizing around a ceasefire since October 17th, joining vigils and peaceful demonstrations to remind our members of Congress to sign HR 786 a "ceasefire resolution." The UN is trying to pass a "ceasefire resolution."  No one in the City Hall chambers on December 5th, speaking for a City resolution in support of humanity and sincere peace and repair for Palestine and Israel, was speaking to anything other than a ceasefire resolution. 

    I expect that Council members are honest about intending to constructively amend the draft resolution and to vote on the amended version on the 12th. Respectfully, Council, somewhere in the "Peace" resolution needs to be the word ceasefire.

  • Mom’s for Liberty Sues Yolo County Library – Let’s Talk About It, Davis! (An Al’s Corner Exclusive) Boogity Boogity

    Yup.  It's happening!   Mom's for Liberty is suing the Davis Library for violating their first amendment rights.

    And what better place to discuss it than on the free Davis bloglet that hasn't banned a bunch of people from its comment section:  Al's Corner!!!

    Welp — Unlike David Greenwald I'm not going to copy most of the article source material and nest that within a few badly-written sentences of my own.  Nope, I'm just gonna give you the link, and you can read it yourself 😐

    Moms for Liberty-Yolo County v. Lopez

    https://adfmedia.org/case/moms-liberty-yolo-county-v-lopez

    Mostly I wanted to scoop the Davis Greenwald on a major breaking local story.   And I don't even get the paltry drippings of a salary to do so.

    But even More Mostly:  let's talk about it, Davis!   This is major shit.

  • Al’s Corner – December 2023 (was some blah blah blah about “Taking Tuesday”)

    SUBJECT:  "Support the Vanguard on #GivingTuesday"  [Monday's Van Guard]

    I have a rule for Taking Tuesday — if someone asks me for money, or even uses the cringe phrase "Giving Tuesday", I never give them any money ever, and furthermore attempt to take money from them.  On Monday, the Van's Guard mentioned giving Tuesday, with open comments.  Did someone not consider that closing comments would be a good idea, given past experience?  Oh, yeah, you got rid of that pesky Alan Miller guy.  Still . . .

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  • Open letter to Mike Thompson, as growing Yolo numbers demand advocacy for an immediate cease-fire

    On Tuesday, dozens of us gathered to demand that our Representative, Mike Thompson, acknowledge global and local opinion in opposition to the continued attacks on Gaza. As his constituents, we reiterated our expectations that our views will be represented in calling for an end to the Israeli bombing of Palestinians. With signs, and dolls representing Palestinian deaths (most have been children), we raised our voices in support of peace and justice for the Palestinians living in Israel. Our action is part of the world-wide opposition to Israel’s horrifically disproportionate response to the Hamas attack on October 7.  Mike Thompson, as our representative in Government, we will continually call on you to recognize the global opposition to what Israel is doing to the Palestinians which cannot continue and must be opposed. We call on you to represent our views and act in our name by advocating for a Ceasefire Now.

    We understand that Israel is a sovereign nation, and that the United States has little power to influence its decisions except through withholding arms and money. (We realize that Congress just took military aid to Ukraine and Israel out of the new bill to fund government spending, so part of that decision has been made for now.) But public opinion is critical.  In aligning itself with Israel’s disproportionate response to the events of October 7, the U.S. is risking its position in the court of global public opinion. And this alignment will further erode whatever good standing we may have to exert an influence elsewhere and in the future.

    We know that the US historically has seen itself as a country representing the new idea that people of every  religion, race, and ethnicity could live together in a society based on concepts of individual freedom and justice, with a system designed to provide checks and balances for those in power. Our constitutional rights of speech, of expression, of the press, of worship, and of the right to criticize government represent a standard of freedom and justice upheld by law, admired as a model for democracy around the world. Israel’s treatment of Palestinians is grossly antithetical to these standards. Continuing to align ourselves with the Israeli Government considering their cruel and inhumane treatment of Palestinians is deeply hypocritical and signals to the world that we are unwilling to abide by the very ideals on which we say our own country is built.

    Mr. Thompson, as our representative, and as a United States Government official, we call on you to uphold the values this country enshrined in its foundational documents, and repeat our demand that you advocate for Israel to immediately, unconditionally and permanently stop the bombing of innocent Palestinian civilians. 

    Nora Oldwin & Dean Johansson

  • Can Local Caltrans Office be Trusted on DEIR’s Traffic-GHG Forecasts?

    By Alan Hirsch, YoloTD

    As you read this, the lengthy draft Environment Impact Report (EIR) for the widening of I-80 has been released for public review (see I-80 Widening draft EIR now available). It was first promised in early 2021.

    Readers should be warned not to take its results as truth, but rather as a forecast that has not been peer reviewed. The goal of public review of an EIR is to correct the deficiencies before the final document is completed and a decision to approve the project is made. If done accurately, the conclusions should inform government decision makers if the $330 million project‘s benefits outweigh the impacts.

    These background facts and past Davis Enterprise reporting might be useful as you read the draft EIR:

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  • I-80 Widening draft EIR now available

    (From press release) I-80 Yolo Widening project’s draft environmental documents, including the draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR), are now available for public comment. This project is to improve mobility in the I-80 corridor and this environmental study compares cost/benefits of alternatives, primarily focused on adding 16 miles of freeway lanes in each direction between Dixon and the 50-80 split.

    The draft environmental documents are available for review through the State’s CEQA Clearinghouse here: https://ceqanet.opr.ca.gov/2021060117/4

    The public is encouraged to comment on the scope, alternatives (were enough considered?), assumptions, and methods of the analysis as described in these draft study documents. For example, were traffic noise and localized air pollution addressed and mitigated? Were impacts appropriately described and effectively mitigated? These draft documents include the first Caltrans EIR in Northern California that must conform to new state law SB743 (Steinberg). This new law requires environmental impact studies to focus on the climate impact described as the GHG from the changes in vehicle miles traveled. Traffic congestion is no longer considered an important factor in the environmental analysis.

    The draft documents will also be posted on the Caltrans “Yolo80 Improvements” webpage: https://dot.ca.gov/caltrans-near-me/district-3/d3-projects/d3-i80-corridor-improvements. Yolo Transportation District (YoloTD) will post a link as well: www.YoloTD.org.

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  • Sign on to support greater oversight of Caltrans

    (From press release) CalBike, along with over 100 climate, mobility, and transportation justice nonprofits, signed a letter to Governor Gavin Newsom requesting greater oversight of Caltrans. The letter, spearheaded by NextGen California, made three specific requests:

    • An external audit of the State Highway Operation and Protection Program (SHOPP) to ensure that funds aren’t being illegally used to widen roads.
    • A third-party investigation of allegations by former Caltrans Deputy Director Jeanie Ward-Waller. Specifically, Ward-Waller said Caltrans District 3 is widening a freeway in what was supposed to be a repaving project. The letter requests an investigation of all Caltrans districts to ensure none are using funds for unauthorized road expansion.
    • A moratorium on all road and interchange expansions until the investigations are completed.

    Click on link to read the full letter and add your name

    https://www.calbike.org/calbike-joins-60-organizations-urging-more-oversight-of-caltrans/#Caltranspetitioncaltrans/#Caltranspetition

  • I’m Heading Over to the Riley Gaines Shˆt Show

    Go Free Speech!

    Untitled 12

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    I love a good shit show!

    I wonder how many cops in riot gear we'll have this time?   (I counted 100 at Charlie Kirk)

    I wonder how many Proud Boys will show up?  (I didn't see any at Charlie Kirk)

    I wonder how many protestors there will be?  (I counted 50 swelling to 100 at Charlie Kirk)

    I wonder how much property damage and confrontations with the police there will be?  (I observed at Charlie Kirk protestors aligned with Cops Off Campus threw eggs at cops, taunted cops with chants against cops, blocks people from entering, insulted attendees as racists and bigots, threw objects such as water bottles at attendees leaving, and as captured on film, smashed in the glass windows on the doors to the RecHall

    Across from the Mondavi Center – Protest begins in the grassy area at 5:30pm, Doors 6:15pm or earlier, Riley Show 7-9pm, After-Crap 9pm.

    Go free speech!   Go non-violet protest!  Protest in any other color!

    Do you also enjoy a good Shit Show?  See you there!