Category: Health
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15 mph DESIGN SPEED in Davis!
My strong feeling is that all local streets – including Downtown – should have a 15 mph design speed. This is already a number most are familiar with, as it's used alongside e.g. speed tables on school routes and even the sharp turn from 2nd St to L St.The design speed is a speed that most people feel comfortable moving at in motor vehicles. People on bikes can also feel a design speed, but they are nearly infinitely more inherently safe than motor vehicles to others in the public ROW. 15 is also a bit faster than most cycling speeds.Traveling by bike on most greenbelt paths in Davis at 15 mph feels too fast – the paths are under-built – and perhaps the biggest design flaw in post 1970's Davis, sadly and ironically complemented by the clinically-insane wideness of many streets in West Davis, Mace Ranch and South Davis… but also much older streets in Old North, etc.
Does it seem slow? Perhaps. However, consider that for most journeys by motor vehicle a relatively short distance is on local streets. So any journey lengthening will be minimal.Or can it even be shorter? Yes! 15 mph speed design is best complemented by elimination of existing mandatory stops; to be replaced by yields. It's these often unnecessary stops that lengthen journey time the most. Getting rid of them also decreases pollution (gas, particles and noise) and makes people less likely to feel the need to speed to the next stop sign.So it can be both safer and faster! -
Remembering John Troidl
It 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.
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Yolo SPCA now has kids face masks as well as new fabric designs in adult sizes for fundraiser
Children’s and Adult’s Mask Patterns: (Note: only children’s masks have adjustable elastic)
Small child’s masks (3-4 year old or small 5-year old) (top row) #17 Rainbow hearts and paws; #20 – Happy kitties; #23 – Happy dogs
Medium child’s masks (5-12 year olds) (center row) #18 – Rainbow hearts and paws; #21 – Happy kitties; #24 – Happy dogs
Adult masks (bottom row) #19 – hearts and paws; #22 – Happy kitties; #25 – Happy dogsYolo County SPCA now has masks for the entire family in our “Spring-has-Sprung” fundraiser for the Community Cat Kindness Fund. There are also some new fabric patterns! The children’s sizes come in 3 fabric designs have adjustable elastic (via beads) and come in a small size for a 3-4 year old (or a small 5 year old), or a medium child’s size for 5-12 year olds. We also have the matching adults’ sizes in these 3 newest fabrics (see photos). These masks make wonderful gifts as well, particularly if you need to mail a gift since they are so easy and inexpensive to mail.
#19 – Rainbow hearts and paws – adult (close-up)We encourage ordering early for the best selection and since some of the original fabric designs are in limited supply. To cover its costs, we ask for a minimum donation of $15 per mask. These masks make great gifts and are easily mailed to gift recipients inexpensively. All of the masks have bendable nose bands and are made of quality materials, including the Cali Fabrics elastic and made with 100% cotton fabrics, including a very soft tea-dyed muslin for the inner fabric.
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City is blocking bike lanes? The City of Davis' only response to recent crashes in the vicinity of Pole Line Road and East Covell Blvd has thus far been Enforcement1. Actively, the Davis Police Department has been monitoring some locations in the area. Passively, the City has placed a radar speed sign on WB East Covell between Manzanita and Baywood Streets, right about here.
Why is the radar speed sign in the bike lane? The City places similar signs – and they and private contractors place various construction signs – off to the side on streets when there's space to do so, so they clearly understand the advantage of doing so. But when there's no space, they place the signs on the side of the street, and on most collectors and arterial streets in Davis this means it's in a bike lane.
"Putting a radar feedback sign on Covell to invite drivers to slow down: good. Putting a sign in bike lane: not good," says Nicolas Fauchier-Magnan, the President of Bike Davis, who usually goes by Nico.
"Obstructing the bike lane, on a street where drivers routinely go 50 mph or more is simply irresponsible.
"Come on, City of Davis," continues Nico. "You should know better, and you can do better. Please fix this terrible blunder before someone gets hurt. There is plenty of space on the grass, outside of the bike lane, to safely place this sign."
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LWV hosts forum on California health-care reform
Join the League of Women Voters Davis Area on Wednesday, Nov. 18 from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. for a free virtual voter-education health-care forum, “The Future of State-Based Health Reform in California.”With health-care reform back in the news, the event will consider what California can implement a state-based financing approach to a system that provides universal care, controls costs and improves outcomes.
Dr. William Hsiao, an internationally known health economist at the Harvard T. H. Chan School Public Health, will give a 25-minute presentation on the health, economic and political background for reform and his views of how to move ahead with a single-payer plan in California.
Cindy Young, a leader in the California single-payer movement with more than 30 years of experience as a policy analyst for organized labor, will comment on Dr. Hsiao’s views and offer her own perspective.
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Leaf blower ban – contact City Council today
By Todd Edelman
City of Davis people… why has there not been a ban on use of leaf blowers in the nearly month-long wildfire fallout event?
Why do feel the need to remove every leaf and bit of dirt from our landscapes?
Why do we allow ourselves to send dust clouds and noise to our neighbors when we might not even know their names?
Why do some falsely portray a ban as an assault on a largely Latino workforce?
WRITE the City Council NOW!
Agenda – September 15, 2020
Item 6 (8:15)
Natural Resources Commission Recommendation on Updating/Strengthening Leaf Blower Ordinance and Request for City Council Direction (Public Works Utilities & Operations Director Stan Gryczko/Management Analyst Adrienne Heinig)Recommendation:
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League of Women Voters offers look at health-care reform options
Uncertain about the difference between a single-payer system and a public option linked to the Affordable Care Act?
The League of Women Voters Davis Area will offer an educational program on Zoom from 7 to 8 p.m. Oct. 1 to help voters understand and compare the two choices. “Health-care Reform: Demystifying Future Health-care Options” aims to help voters better understand candidate positions in upcoming presidential debates and election forums.
The online event will feature two speakers: Anthony Wright, executive director of Health Access California, a statewide health-care consumer advocacy coalition, and Jodi Reid, executive director at California Alliance for Retired Americans, a statewide senior advocacy organization working to improve quality of life for seniors.
Speakers also will discuss the challenges Yolo County residents and providers have faced before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
To help speakers address questions from the public, please submit them in advance to komalh@lwvdavisarea.org. Audience members will be able to submit questions at the forum as well.
Use the following link to register for the event: https://bit.ly/351CSuc. A Zoom link will be sent two days before the event.
The League of Women Voters Davis Area is a non-partisan organization committed to voter education and voter registration. To learn more, go to www.lwvdavisarea.org.
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Ongoing safety problems with Pacifico
The following email was sent to the City Council on late Tuesday evening and is reprinted here with the permission of the author.
Hello Mayor Partida, Council Members Lee, Frerichs, Carson, and Arnold, City Manager Webb and Assistant City Manager Feeney,
My comment to the City Council regarding Pacifico didn't make it through tonight. Nevertheless, I briefly want to remind all of you of the situation in our South Davis neighborhood.
The acts of crime and intimidation are continuous and not getting better. In fact, random hostile acts of intimidation have increased in number and the act of crime itself has increased in severity.
The most recent incidents that have compromise safety and well-being include:
- attempted rape
- prostitution in the parking lot
- theft and intimidation to Pacifico residents by Pacifico residents
- loitering combined with heavy consumption of alcohol on the bike path and near homes
- drug deals and coercion in the parking lot
- bb rifle shooting on the green belt by a known violent and dangerous criminal who frequents Pacifico
- a dumpster fire that was suffocating and threatened my family and home.
Those who currently have their safety and well being compromised due to the Use at Pacifico include:
- my family and visiting family and friends
- neighbors, families, and friends in homes (Oakshade West Neighborhood Association and beyond)
- neighbors, families, and students in apartments/duplexes (Octave and Sharp and Flats, Avalon, Brisa)
- neighbors and Pacifico residents, including disadvantaged women, children and elders – some of our most vulnerable.
These dangers affect everyone in this neighborhood. Many horrible things have happened and continue to happen.
I respectfully request that a plan for Pacifico be of top priority and the subject be put on the long range calendar. Thank you.
Gratefully yours,
Tracy De Wit
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Valley Clean Energy donates face masks to RISE Inc.
Angel Barajas, a member of the Valley Clean Energy board of directors, left; and Tessa Tobar, center, program and community engagement specialist for VCE; present some of the 500 washable face masks to Tico Zendejas, executive director of RISE Inc.(From press release) Valley Clean Energy (VCE), the local electricity provider for Yolo County and the cities of Woodland and Davis, is doing its part to keep local residents safe and healthy during the COVID-19 pandemic.
VCE purchased 500 high-quality, washable and U.S.-made face masks and donated them to RISE Inc., a nonprofit organization that serves the Latinx community and has organized the delivery of social services to western Yolo County for more than 30 years.
Woodland City Councilman Angel Barajas, a member of the VCE board of directors, said RISE was chosen to receive the gift because it “does an incredible job servicing residents in the rural Yolo County region.”
Davisite 
On July 1st Davis Vanguard covered the announcement of Federal funding of 86 million dollars for the Yolo-80 Managed Lanes project.
I appreciate most the comments of Alan Miller, Alan Pryor and Richard McCann. I hope I can add something below.
The MTC area gets a lot of income from its bridges, and uses it for public transportation. Consider that Davis and SACOG-area drivers pay into this when driving south to San Jose, west to Oakland and San Francisco, and so on, but people from those areas make no similar contribution our region – really, the east side of the Northern California Megaregion – when traveling to Davis or Sac or of course towards Lake Tahoe.
Caltrans dropped the long-promised new bike-ped bridge across the Bypass, replaced by some improvements on the west side of the Bypass. Combined with new infrastructure such as separated lanes and a lot of shade trees in West Sac, the whole corridor could be optimized for faster e-bikes and provide a good alternative for many, especially in east and the east part of South Davis. But… nope! Or so it seems.
The graphics in the Caltrans presentation on the Yolo 80 Corridor planned for the BTSSC meeting this Thursday show only buses in the managed lanes, which is not what’s really planned for the managed lanes. Nasty! The managed lanes are mostly in added lanes, and if these lanes are available for private vehicles off-peak, for a premium, or free for a carpool then induced demand happens – see also Alan Pryor's comment in the Vanguard article – and we eventually lose.
It’s also not clear how this project interfaces with the 80-Richards project.
It’s not clear how much congestion there will be during the long construction period.
It’s not clear if any general re-paving will decrease noise (new technology makes this possible).
It’s probably unlikely that Caltrans will support a discount on Capitol Corridor during the construction period.
But yeah, rail. What’s up with the future Capitol Corridor improvements? How does this project related to our impending new General Plan? My favorite idea is to build a highway bypass south of town and then put the railway below grade so that it also no long splits the City in two (in retrospect, it would probably have been better to not build anything south of the 80-rail corridor). Anyway, all the new space roughly in the center of Davis could be the location of a lot of new dense, mixed-use development which could facilitate low-vehicle ownership or at least use, as it would eventually be convenient to UCD and Downtown by bike, to both Sacramento and especially the Railyards, and to points to the west by rail. It would also be much quieter in parts of the City with this sort of ring-road solution. In general terms it would complement my concept for building above 113 roughly between Russell and Covell. I've also proposed a noise-mitigation and solar-generation project for the I-80 corridor through Davis.
Related to this whole thing and that next to last point, over three years ago when I was on the BTSSC I initiated a sub-committee on 80 and related. It never went anywhere and was dissolved as the other Commissioner who joined it moved to Sacramento and no one else on the Commission wanted to pursue this… route. Sigh. Please demand that BTSSC members ask some hard questions this Thursday!