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Category: Ethics

  • Davis youth represents in the Global Day of Climate Action

    Climate-march

    (From press release) On Friday, youth in Davis walked out of school to make their voices heard! On this Global Day of Climate Action, during a time when hundreds of thousands of youth marched for climate justice Davis youth joined them. Youth from Davis Senior High School, UCD Davis as well as adult allies of Fridays For Future Davis and Davis community members joined together to demand climate action and the end to fossil financing.

    Youth climate activists and organizers Eliot Larson, Mattias RowenBale and Desmond Beach led the march from E 14th & B Street down to Central Park where youth participated in a die-in. Youth between the ages of 13 and 25 years old staged a ‘death from climate change’ as a visual example of what will happen if our leaders continue down a path of inaction. 

    Die-in

    After the die-in youth were invited to speak and share their thoughts, concerns and hopes with the Davis community. There were powerful speeches and heart wrenching calls for action demanding our world and local leaders take action today.

    We were then led in song by freshman at UCD, Sam Saxe-Taller who brought our voices together as one before we gathered for a round table discussion with Davis City Council members Gloria Partida and Bapu Vaitla. Ms. Partida and Mr. Vaitla were led by youth in productive and inclusive conversation  discussing proactive ways the community can come together to fight the climate crisis as well as listening to the concerns of youth in this uncertain time.

    Going forward, Fridays For Future Davis will continue to strike every Friday at the corner of 5th and B Street from nooin-1. Today was their 176th week of striking on Fridays.

    A huge thank you to the many organizations and adult allies who join Fridays For Future Davis to help make this Global Climate Strike possible in Davis. And congratulations to all of the youth who bravely stepped up to take action!

     

  • Welcome to Al’s Corner – “Pouring Gasoline on the Dumpster Fire of Davis Politics” – March 2023

    image from www.sparkysonestop.com

    March, like February, starts early at Al's Corner.  We'll start off trashing the Davis Vanguard, as common a theme on Al's Corner as housing articles on the Davis Vanguard.  Recently posted:

    Walter Shwe February 26, 2023 at 6:00 pm

    Has anyone at Davis Vanguard lately tried to comment on an article or replied to a prior comment on an iPhone? The experience is atrocious. Articles always load slowly except late at night. Ads interfere with the top page buttons, particularly the Login button. Most importantly to you the Donate button is inaccessible. Earlier today I had to login by first tapping the Register button. Will anyone at Davis Vanguard ever fix these frustrating issues? I realize that ads help pay for site costs, but this is simply ridiculous.

    Moderator February 26, 2023 at 6:26 pm

    We’ll forward this comment to the webmaster and then remove it in a few hours. Thanks for your feedback.

    Funny, myself and I believe RO and KO all pointed out that since the Vanguard added Newsy and other advertising that it has become an annoying, almost unusable piece of sh*t, and most especially on a phone, where you might as well drop your phone in the toilet and flush.  But no, we were ignored.  Maybe because we also, in not so many words, or maybe in so many words, also called the content of the DV sh*t also.   But hey, you should listen to your critics, because we know what is best for you.  But no, y'all wait until a fan-of-the- blog points out the very same thing.  Good going.

    And one bit of housekeeping to our thousands or hundreds or tens or single-digits or negative-number of fans:  In February we ran over the previously-unknown-to-me 100 comment limit.  This caused a "Page 2" to be created that many did not find, and missed brilliant commentary.  To find Page 2, either dig up the corpse of Paul Harvey, or scroll to the bottom of Page 1 and click on the "Newer >>>" button.   Yeehaw

    Happy Early March Everyone!  Happy Easter!  Happy Passover!  Happy Good Friday, if that is a happy holy day otherwise maybe a solemn one!  And then there are other holidays for all the people of the world and I am now going to list them all and celebrate all of them . . . or not!

  • Global Day of Climate Action: March 3

    Copy of 2023 03 GCS US - Instagram Post(5)(From press release) The global day of climate action is just one week away! We cannot wait to see everyone on Friday, March 3rd at E 14th and B Street at NOON! Our march will step off at 12:30 and we will march to Central Park for a demonstration and community discussion. 

    In one week, all of Davis is invited to join in this Global Climate Strike that will put pressure on our world leaders to end fossil finance. We need to make sure they know that tomorrow is too late to take action, they must act now. Fridays For Future Davis youth activists will be walking out of school with other youth around the world, and we need your support. We need you to join us in showing up and demanding action.

    Please visit our event page for all of the information on how Davis will be participating in this worldwide action for climate justice: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wlvIupioT0hwQwjsCRXwsEsAfW3w8o6buoFhllHF1EA/edit?usp=sharing

    Pre-Strike fun! On Tuesday, February 28th from 3-5 at the Central Park Solidarity Space we will be making signs for the Global Climate Strike on Friday. Please join us for some fun sign making time and to learn all about how you can help our Earth survive climate change.

  • Will City Council stop broadcasting and recording commission meetings?

    Dear City Council Members,

    I am writing in regard to agenda item 3F “Terminate COVID Local Emergency.” Please pull this item from the consent calendar so you can discuss how this will change commission meetings and consider directing staff to propose methods for continuing to broadcast and record commission meetings.

    While COVID had many negative impacts on our community an unexpected benefit was forcing us to rethink how we held our public meetings. Though the first City Council meeting was some what rocky with the “Zoom Bombers” in the end Zoom meetings created a great benefit for commissions and the public. Thanks to holding Zoom meetings it was easier for the public to attend commission meetings in real time and once the City began making the recordings available on the City website, it meant the public was able to watch meetings after the fact too. This created a excellent example of open government.

    Further, Staff reported that having the recordings from the meetings aided greatly in writing accurate minutes for Commission meetings. Considering at times in the past the city website has lacked minutes for past meetings even over several years times, having the video of meetings raised the bar for public access to public meetings in Davis.

    Now with the local emergency order ending I have learned from staff that there is no plan to continue broadcasting or recording many commission meetings. Letting this opportunity for public access fall to the wayside would be a mistake.      

    I believe the City of Davis can continue to broadcast commission meetings and archive recordings at relatively moderate costs. For several commissions the meetings can take place in conference rooms and standard conference room teleconferencing systems are sufficient to allow staff to continue to broadcast commission meetings over zoom. This would also allow staff to continue to use zoom to record these meetings.

    One question you may ask is does this mean remote commenters must be supported in the future? Using zoom to broadcast and record meetings does not necessitate making remote public comments available, but the council could decide to continue to allow this. There certainly is merit to allowing remote public comment for commission meetings in order to increase public opportunities to comment for people who cannot come to a meeting in person. Whether the council chooses to allow for public comment or not is certainly worthy of council discussion and a good reason to pull this item from the consent calendar for Council consideration.

    In closing let me again ask the council to pull item 3F and direct staff to provide options for continuing to broadcast and record City of Davis Commission meetings. Continuing the enhanced public access discovered under the emergency order is certainly worth council and staff consideration.

    Best Regards,

    Colin Walsh

    Vice-chair of the Tree Commission speaking for myself.

  • Davis Responds to Climate Change

    Public Forum on CAAP Feb. 26

    Floods, droughts, wildfires, hurricanes….we all know that climate change is an existential threat, so what can we do?  The City of Davis declared a climate emergency and has drafted an updated Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (CAAP) that has aroused public concerns.  Are these concerns valid?  What does CAAP include and how might it impact you personally?  And what actions and regulations is the state proposing that will impact CAAP as well as you personally?  Come hear Kerry Daane Loux explain it all and answer your questions Sunday February 26 at 11:15 at Davis United Methodist Church, 1620 Anderson Road.  Kerry is Sustainability Coordinator for the City of Davis and project manager for CAAP.

    The Final Draft CAAP document and other information is available at:

    https://www.cityofdavis.org/sustainability/2020-climate-action-and-adaptation-plan-caap

    Of special note, the Overview and Context for the CAAP on pages 11-12 are useful information in advance of our discussion.

    FINAL DRAFT 2020-2040 Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (CAAP)  PDF

    Shared by Helen Roland Cramer

  • March 3rd Global Climate Strike

    Copy of 2023 03 GCS US - Cover)(2)

    Action Alert – Global Climate Strike, March 3rd. E14th and B Street, Davis at NOON – step-off at 12:30 march to Central Park for guest speakers and strike demonstration.

    Dear Davis Community,

    On March 3rd, Fridays For Future is staging the next Global Climate Strike. We will be striking to send a message to our world leaders telling them to end fossil finance and save our future from the climate crisis. 

    Fridays For Future Davis members have been striking for the climate every Friday for almost three years, pressuring leaders in Davis as well as world leaders to start taking big enough steps to stop the Earth’s plummet into climate chaos. This Global Climate Strike is a time for the Davis community to join us and  Fridays For Future groups around the world in demanding climate action from our leaders both local and global. 

    Copy of 2023 03 GCS US - Cover)(3)To everyone reading this who feels the pressure of climate anxiety and feels like there is nothing you can do, you are not alone in that feeling. We all know what it feels like to wake up to news of another 100,000 acres of California on fire. We all know what it feels like to see orange skies filled with ash and toxins. We know what it feels like to be living through a severe drought not knowing when California will run out of water. We all feel what is happening in the world and we understand the feeling of wanting to help but not knowing how. This Global Strike is a way for you to help and be heard!

    We can stand together, strong and united, demanding our right for a life in the future be honored and protected. Please join us at 12pm on March 3rd at E14th and B Street, Davis for a march to Central Park with guest speakers and a strike demonstration. For questions and more information please reach out to our coordinators on instagram @fridaysforfuture_davis or through email davis@fridaysforfutureusa.org

  • Welcome to Al’s Corner – “Pouring Gasoline on the Dumpster Fire of Davis Politics” – February 2023

    image from www.sparkysonestop.com

    February starts early at Al's Corner !  To kick off the month, here are some ground rules:  at Al's Corner, you are welcome to make (judged by some others to be) glib comments that you think are humorous in regard to articles pertaining to tragic situations !   See below:

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  • The City’s Failure to Plan for Emergencies

    Fixing power pole

    PG&E crew working into the night to fix a leaning power pole near Cesar Chavez Elementary

    By Roberta Millstein

    The recent storms have made it amply clear that the City lacks any sort of coherent plan for dealing with storms (and presumably other sorts of emergencies).  Every action taken in response to the recent storm was late, and in some cases, inadequate. 

    Yet these storms were comparable to other big storms that Davis has experienced in past years.  And even if they weren’t, the storm that occurred over New Year’s Eve and into New Year’s Day ought to have been a warm up, with lessons learned for the storms Jan 4-8, all of which were well-predicted by weather forecasters. 

    The City seemed to make things up as they go.  To be clear, I am not faulting rank-and-file staff, who clearly were working hard under difficult circumstances.  It has also been reported that the City did a good job finding shelter for people lacking housing.  I am grateful for these efforts.  I am faulting the City Council  and the City Manager for failure to provide leadership.  There should have been plans in place for these kind of events long ago.

    Here are the areas that need to improve.  I have broken them into short-term, medium-term, and long term, in the sense that the things in the short term can and should be fixed right away.  The others will take a little longer.

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  • Nonprofits: Apply for a Soroptimist grant

    (From press release) Soroptimist International of Davis is accepting applications from local nonprofit organizations for its annual Community Grant funding. The deadline is March 7.

    For 2023, the club has $3,000 budgeted for Community Grants, which give a boost to local projects that improve the lives of women and girls. Nonprofit organizations whose work supports the Soroptimist mission are encouraged to apply for up to $3,000. Awards will be distributed in late spring. Applicants will receive notice of their application’s status by May 1.

    Grant applications are evaluated for their alignment with the Soroptimist mission, vision, core values, community impact and feasibility. Any nonprofit, including previous recipients, can apply. Applicants are asked how the requested funds would address the needs of women and girls in Yolo County, and support Soroptimist core values of gender equality, empowerment, education and diversity.

    To apply, visit https://www.sidavis.org/grants. Questions may be emailed to Grants Chair Mary Chapman, Community at marechap29@gmail.com.

    Soroptimist is a global volunteer organization that provides women and girls with access to the education and training they need to achieve economic empowerment. Soroptimist International of Davis has several fundraisers a year, and reinvests all of its profits in its programs and projects. Signature programs include Live Your Dream: Education and Training Awards for Women, and Dream It, Be It: Career Support for high school girls. It also funds high school scholarships, anti-trafficking efforts, and these Community Grants to area nonprofits.

    The international service club was founded in Oakland in October 1921. SI Davis was chartered in 1954. A second club, SI Greater Davis, chartered in 1985. Local members join some 75,000 Soroptimists in 122 countries and territories to contribute time and financial support to community-based projects benefiting women and girls. For more information on the club, visit https://sidavis.org or like its Facebook or Instagram pages: @SoroptimistDavis.

  • Smoke menace

    PastedGraphic-1 5
    By Darell Dickey

    Polluted air makes me sick.

    Every year when the cold settles in I am precluded from working in my yard and taking walks. I cannot participate in outdoor activities due to the air pollution produced from fires lit by Davis residents.

    The EPA informs us that burning organic matter releases numerous toxic air pollutants including benzene, formaldehyde, hydrocarbons, and of course fine particles. Smoke can trigger asthma attacks as well as heart attacks, stroke, and heart failure. In my case the smoke from fireplace burning aggravates my autoimmune disease and advances my heart disease. Though many people in Davis suffer serious health risks associated with air pollution, and though the city has declared a Climate Emergency, the City of Davis has no firm rules against fireplace burning.

    Instead of treating the toxic smoke appropriately as a health hazard, the City of Davis defines it as a “nuisance,” the same as an over-grown yard or another unsightly condition. And the smoke is considered a nuisance only under limited conditions.

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