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

Category: Ethics

  • Get a Front Row Seat to the Green Revolution Taking Place in Yolo County

    Tuesday 5/28 – This Yolo County Climate Action Commission Meeting is a must-see – 4:00 to 6:30 pm

    BigShift

    By Scott Steward

    Big plans. The Commission (and UCD) turn plans into implementation. Big dollars are going to be spent (UCD plans on spending $58M a year for the next 17 years), and if you are an EV enthusiast, a water protector, a Green House Gas Reduction professional, activist or a professional activist – at least get the meeting agenda notes to read if you can’t attend – 4:00-6:30 on Tuesday, May 28th.

    As many of our regular Council meeting attendees know, these are necessarily procedural meetings. This is just a courtesy to new attendees: the meeting has Zoom access, and brief constructive comments are encouraged.

    Item 5a: Request for Proposal for the County’s conversion to a ZEV fleet – Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Action Plan RFP Release

    Item 6. Kristin Sicke,  Executive Officer of Yolo Subbasin Groundwater Agency, will deliver a report on the Agency’s status and progress toward rational regulation of water in the area.   You might recall the Davisite.org OPED about our county’s water situation.  We are now at a point where well permits are allowed, and for the interim, the Groundwater Agency has not finished its methodology for sustaining water levels in the area.  

    The big worry is that in the “study area” (Capay Valley and North and other areas), farmers and residents are experiencing sustained drops in water levels and have given much of their time to tell the County about it.  Drops associated with existing wells, even after these last 3 average/wet years.

    (more…)

  • Open Discussion: Library vs. Mom’s for Liberty: Library Loses — Free Speech Wins (of course)

    LibraryTransferring a few comments from Al's Corner, to open the discussion:

    Beth Bourne and M4L have been vindicated.

    The library has to change its policies and pay $70,000 in damages and fees.

    (more…)

  • Transparency is Part of Inclusivity & Diversity

    YoloTD cac false equity 1

    What message will the CTC send Thursday?

    By Alan Hirsch

    Letter to California Transportation Commission CTC@catc.ca.gov

    Chair Carl Guardino and Members,

    CC  CTC Equity Committee  Chair William Walker

    Re: Disagreeing Better on Transportation Projects

     

    Mr. Guardino:

     

    Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan used to say:

        “You are entitled to your own opinions. But you are not entitled to your own facts.”

    The California Public Records Act (and the Brown Act) were designed so we work from the same facts—that there is sharing of information – so in dialog agencies don’t strategically withhold information to put electeds official as well as the public at an unfair disadvantage in reviewing projects.

    Transparency is Inclusivity.

    However, I want to bring to your attention a situation where Caltrans seems to be strategically withholding information from the public on a $1/2 billion project.

    In June 2023 the CTC staff report recommended NOT to fund Yolo80 toll lanes out of TCEP funds, rating it medium priority. In that staff report CTC staff rated Yolo80 31st out of 48 projects.   Caltrans rated Yolo80 last in priority (24th) out of 24 of their projects. (extract from June 2023 staff report attached)

    This of course raises question why it is now rated a priority for advance funding. In the CTC discussion on 5/16. Would not you and other commissions like to know? 

    In fact 11 months ago, I tried to find out.

    (more…)

  • Yolo officials like Diversity & Inclusion– except when big money is Involved

    YoloTD cac false equity
    By Alan Hirsch

    DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) is given lot of lip service in progressive circles in Yolo County. But it can turn performative – especial if those in power have already made up their mind on a solution and don’t want to be contradicted- i.e. surface and take in to account diverse opinions.

    That is what has been at play for Yolo County on Yolo80 widening with local electeds having made up their mind 3 years ago to add toll lanes to a 17 mile stretch of I-80.  After that they have worked to turn the legally required public process into a  check the box exercise, excluding diverse view point from being considered– even when the diverse  viewpoints are backed by top transportation experts from UC Davis.

    We are now at the end-stage where Davis Mayor/Yolo Transportation District Chair Josh Chapman is overtly discouraging public participation: he said openly it don’t matter what members of Davis public think — hiding the fact the project is not yet fully funded and public input to the California Transportation Commission (CTC) can still make a difference.

    This DEI hypocrisy in Yolo County will continue unless people call out the hypocrisy. The  public can be heard at the CTC’s Equity Committee meeting Wednesday. It is especially focused on this behavior like this by  in local transportation jurisdictions.

    Emails are needed to the “CTC-EAC” (California Transportation Commission- Equity Advisory Committee) to note the performative nature of Yolo80 Environmental process (Caltrans District 3 and YoloTD) – and also to oppose funding the new toll lanes  until the process is made truly diverse and inclusive in the search for a solution.

    Write to  CTC@catc.ca.gov   Subject: Equity and: Funding widening Yolo80 with Toll Lanes.

    Issues to note to the Equity Committee: (cut and paste into email?)

     

    (more…)

  • Final I-80 EIR released – an embarrassment of errors that sets up Caltrans for Legal challenge

    I-80- causeway narrower lane cross section
    By Alan Hirsch

    On Wednesday May 1, the 1971 page (plus 345-page appendix)- final EIR for yolo80 was released. The 139 comments take up nearly 71% of the pages.   – 108 of the 139 were from individuals, not government agencies, cities or  environment groups with paid staff.  This highlights the  fact this science-defying proposal from Caltrans has become “the most controversial freeway project in the state.” 

    ———————–
     NOTE: The last chance to comment on the funding will be at California Transportation Commission Meeting Thursday May 16, By Tuesday send any comments. (esp inadequately funded mitigation plan, induced demand negates any congestion relief, no environmental justice plan for tolls)
    to CTC@CATC.CA.GOV
    Subject: Widening I-80 with a Expensive Toll lane.
    Pro-Tip: use 14 or 16 pt font for short email.

    ————————–

    The EIR concluded that despite the widening the freeway will generate 158M more miles of driving (VMT) a year…equal to adding over 11,000 more cars to the road and should be built based on “Statement of  Overriding concern” as it has benefit to reducing congestion- Even  though everyone agree this is wrong as congestion will return within less than ten years.  It is also strange given  their VMT Mitigation plan only offsets 55 Mil VMT miles year of the additional driving and ignores the nearly 50Million of additional a truck.

    Adding capacity via toll lanes only guarantee richest member of community- and groups of Tahoe travelers  never faces congestion.

    The EIR also ignores any analysis of increased danger from narrowing lanes and permanently removing shoulders. (see diagram)   

    The ability of the proposed mitigation plan to provide a carbon/VMT offset is taken to higher degrees of absurdity to somehow claim the project tolls will fund adequate mitigations- and have money left for a social equity/environmental Justice  program into perpetuity.

    Public not told about public hearing on toll levels.

    (more…)

  • Open Discussion: Bob Dunning Terminated by Davis Enterprise Owners (an Al’s Corner Exclusive)

    Adfc46d7-dadc-4553-a16a-0777ff3b922bIn a bozo move by the owners of the Davis Enterprise, Bob Dunning was terminated without so much as a thank you after 55 years of service to the paper (and Davis).

    Shelley Dunning pays a very sweet tribute in a 7-minute video on her Facebook page:

    facebook.com/shelleydunning

    She also outlines how cold the termination was.  I doubt that will sit well with the Davis community.

    Bob's column will continue at: 

    thewaryone.com

    Please share your thoughts here in comments regarding this poorly-handled move by the owners of the Davis Enterprise.

    Full disclosure:  Bob Dunning once wrote a column about how I should be on the City Council 😐

    Note:  Pardon the pictured haircut, Bob, this is what A.I. gave me when I described the incident!

  • Open Forum on the Pro-Palestine Encampment on the UCD Quad

    598f7067-85aa-4d13-8b6b-0aab5b7ef1c9I went to two Seders this year.  At the first one, no one mentioned the Israel-Gaza war.  It did seem a bit the elephant in the room.  Just before the second Seder, I received an email from the host, referencing an online blog essay by author Ilana DeBare.  It suggested:

    I suggest opening up your seder to discussion, not just readings. Ask guests—in advance so they have time to consider—to bring their own thoughts and feelings about Passover and this war, and suggest that they come with open ears and an open heart. Let down the defensive walls that we’ve been carrying for months. At the Seder table, we can hopefully feel safe and able to listen to others, even if their views are different from our own.

    So in that spirit, I'm inviting the citizens of Davis to express their thoughts about the encampment on the Quad on the UC Davis campus.  While y'all are hashing this out, I'll be in the kitchen eating gefilte fish.

     

    (more…)

  • Al’s Corner – MAY the Farce be with Ewe

    F0c1e298-a6b9-4787-8d01-7b930495390cWelcome to MAY on Al's Corner.  Where you MAY discuss the clown-show that is Davis politics.  At 5:30pm on Tuesday, the AWARDS will be given out.  Maybe we'll finally learn who the person nominated is who does "good" and "bad" according to at least one commenter, and what "bad" they did. 

    But I doubt it.

    So talk about anything 😐

  • Four Million CA Households Fleeced for Utility Profits and Never-Ending Rate Hikes.

    Objecting to cpuc

    By Scott Steward

    State leadership is about to let utilities gouge you. Three days before the end of the 2022 legislative session, legislators passed AB 205, a utility flat tax introduced by Newsom as a rider. The bill passed without public discussion.  

    Now, the CPUC is allowing utilities to hit four million ratepayers with a $24/month utility tax. The hardest hit will be those with a small energy footprint, working families and seniors living in apartments and small homes, as well as people with rooftop solar. (Find out more about the STOP THE UTILITY TAX here). (CALL TO ACTION, MAY 9TH IN SACRAMENTO).

    The Utility Tax will add to the pain that these four million households are already feeling from never-ending rate hikes, which have increased by over 30% in California in the last two years.

    The CPUC is letting the utilities increase taxes, electricity, and gas rates without a cap, which means the pain will only get worse in the years to come. The $24/month tax is just the start. Utilities have made it clear that they intend to raise the utility tax to $80 a month or more.

    More than 250 nonprofit groups and 20 legislators supported AB 1999, which would have capped the Utility Tax at a sensible $10/month and pegged any increases to inflation. But Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas pulled the bill out of the Assembly Utility and Energy Commission (that had the votes to pass the bill).

    (more…)

  • Why Are People Dancing Around Some Unspoken Issue Regarding a Human Relations Commission Award?

    Unspoken-BSomething scandalous appears to be going on with the choice of a Thong Hy Huynh Award by the Human Relations Commission.  If you're looking for the answer, you won't find it here.  But that's not because I'm dancing around the issue, it's because I honestly don't know what the issue is, and for some reason those who do know what it is only want to imply to the public that there's a issue, but they don't want to say what person they have an issue with, why, or give any details.

    (more…)