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Category: Politics

  • Letter: Vote for Adam Morrill

    A few Monday’s ago I attended the debate between folks running for city council and was very impressed with Adam Morrill. We spoke at intermission. He is intelligent, open, and eager to take on the problems at hand. He engages well with people and is a good communicator. I like his position on the issues and see that as a long-term resident of East Davis, he understands the problems facing District 1 and citywide. He opposed Measure H which Davis voters rejected.

    I believe we need new City leadership and vision for a better future for Davis. We need a council member like Adam who will connect with the community and discuss issues that concern them. I am in strong support of Adam Morrill and encourage Davis voters to elect him.

    Ann Privateer

  • Who to vote for in District 4?

    By Scott Steward

    All the Davis City Council candidates, and incumbents, face a civil servant and first responder debt load, A housing crises, that is shared with the state, but is controlled by checked out residential and business space rent collectors (a windfall owners tax to pay for redevelopment would be welcome).  And not a whisper from the City objecting to the NO-HOUSING option for Brixmor University Mall re-development.  From 2,000 units to 700 units to zero Brixmor housing units – what kind of tragedy are we taking part? 

    What can City Council Members accomplish?  Seemingly not a lot if they want to be re-elected and begin to enter the paternity of electeds.  For that reason, because of their youth, strength of character and willingness to dislodge the status quo, I would like to have either Bapu Vaitla or Kelsey Fortune as my City Council Member for District 4.  What?  Can't happen.  Vaitla and Fortune are the two best candidates running out of the five.

    Fortune is a economics PhD <http://www.fortunefordavis.com/> candidate who dives deep into sustainability and community resilience and Bapu Vaitla's work <https://www.bapu4davis.org/about> at UCD is complementary to Fortune's as a professor of Economics.  He also works with women and girls health policy and is a member of the Davis Social Services Commission (one of 16 Davis volunteer citizen Commissions.)

    Both are running against each other in District 1 where, unfortunately, Dan Carson is also running (Dan's record of damaging City governance is well documented <https://newdavisite.wordpress.com/2022/09/25/davis-deserves-better-than-carson/>.) I hope District 1 voters nod politely when he asks and then vote for Bapu or Kelsey.

    Gloria Partida and Adam Morrill are well meaning, and will serve District 4 to the best of their ability, but I can't say one would be markedly better than the other.   Partida has not attempted to tell the unions and first responders no more raises. She did not use her authority as Mayor to separate the council from measure H or increase City decision making transparency and she followed the lead of Dan Carson much to readily.  That said I am hopeful that Gloria will find more of her voice without Caron's presence.    Gloria has been part of most every social justice event that I have attended and has addressed the youth climate movement, though we hope she becomes more comfortable pressing for more rigorous progress on both these fronts.

    With Morrill, he is new and suggests he will reform the City's habit of hiring expensive consultants (to tell us all about what we won't ultimately do – again.)  I am troubled by what feels like Morrill's antagonistic stance to Davis' build-it-green legacy.  Davis is still the town that brought us the earliest implementation of title 24 (building energy efficiency ordinances) and Morrill said some pretty silly (being kind) things about the wrong-headedness of energy rebates (rebates that built the trillion dollar solar industry and Tesla).

    Morrill, Partida, Fortune and Vaitla, two of these will need to combine with Frerichs, Arnold and Chapman and together they would need to be fierce in their unity if they are to go against the might of first responder and city professional unions to reshape fair agreements.  I think it might take more than just this council's fierce agreement, it might take a coalition of city councils to reset the bargaining that delivers $500K to a five department fire chief <https://newdavisite.wordpress.com/2022/10/09/effects-of-excessive-increases-in-city-of-davis-employee-compensation-from-2011-to-2021-on-the-citys-1/>.  I'm glad there are unions and good pay, but it takes away from any momentum, to create fiscal sustainability, and it takes away from public engagement when the leaders just shrug and say "that's the way it is." 

    Cost control is one half of managing budgets, but we know our city needs more businesses.  Retail and services are great but we could use private agriculture, IT, and manufacturing as well. Tim Keller's article  What Economic Development Looks Like in Davis (and What It Doesn’t <https://www.davisvanguard.org/2022/10/guest-commentary-what-economic-development-looks-like-in-davis-and-what-it-doesnt/>) provides good ideas of where we need to go.  So who among our City Council candidates are  equipped to make the 5th street corridor an in-fill innovation park and stop shopping old notions of business development?  That and who has the skill and desire to see that developer agreements stick?  Finally, we don't want Woodland and Davis to merge into some kind of dystopian freestanding single family home suburb of the Bay Area – so housing needs to be built up – attractively, affordably and in a way that preserves farmland.  

    I believe we have more to hear from both Gloria and Adam before District 4 can decide.

  • Indivisible Yolo and Sister District Yolo need your help

    Keep Abortion Legal(From press release) We are in the last few weeks of campaigning. Indivisible Yolo and Sister District Yolo need our casual members to step up and join our phone bank, texting and canvassing teams. You have your choice of where to contribute, but don’t get caught looking over your shoulder on November 8th wishing you had done more. Do more now. Join me and Peggy in Reno this weekend. Here are the dates to help Nevada and California representatives who support women’s reproductive rights

    Phone Bank for NV, CA, and AZ
    Training sessions/meetups:
    Thurs, Oct 13, 6:30-8:30 pm
    Sun, Oct 16, 2-4 pm
    Mon, Oct 17, 3-5 pm
    https://www.mobilize.us/indivisibleyolo/event/484921/

    Texting Meetup
    Thurs, Oct 13, 12-1 pm
    https://www.mobilize.us/indivisibleyolo/event/486276/

    Canvassing in Reno, NV
    Sat, Oct 15 and/or Sun, Oct 16
    https://www.mobilize.us/indivisibleyolo/event/487197/

    Canvassing in Tulare, CA
    Sat, Oct 29
    https://www.mobilize.us/indivisibleyolo/event/487197/

    Canvassing in Stockton, CA
    Sun, Oct 30
    https://www.mobilize.us/indivisibleyolo/event/487197/

  • Part 1: Civic Goodness

    The following has been reposted by request and with the permission of the author.  The original is here: https://annieasksyou.com/2022/10/11/part-1-civic-goodness/
    Indivisible Yolo (CA) members Scott Steward and Peggy Bernardy in Reno, Nevada

     

    Note from Annie: I am devoting my blog posts this week to honoring two of the tens of thousands of Americans who have been doing the hard work for us all prior to these crucial midterm elections.

    Scott Steward and Peggy Bernardy are active in the progressive organization Indivisible Yolo in Yolo County, California. (Indivisible is a nationwide organization that has blossomed since its beginnings in reaction to Trump’s election in 2016.)

    In the political campaign world, it’s widely believed that contact with individual voters is the most productive way to persuade them to vote. And of all the methods of communication in this tech-heavy era, face-to-face contact tops the list.

    In his Today’s Edition newsletter, Robert Hubbell referred to those “who are doing the incredibly difficult work of ‘retail democracy’ in hostile territory. When I hear their stories,” Hubbell said, “I renew my resolve.”

    And so do I.

    Here, in Part 1, Steward, a self-described six-year veteran of such personal contact, writes about his experience in Reno, Nevada–a critical state in this election. And he introduces Peggy Bernardy, who’s making her sixth trip to Nevada just this season.

    In Part 2, Peggy answers my questions.

    Scott’s Report:

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  • Partida Statement On Old Fraud Conviction

    20200707-partida-gloria-700x395Statement By Gloria Partida

    There has been discussion on social media over the past week concerning whether I was truthful in answering a question that was asked by an audience member during a candidate forum sponsored by Yolo People Power on September 26, 2022. I was asked whether I had ever been arrested or convicted of a crime.

    I responded by giving examples of police encounters I had had while driving. I also affirmed in my response that I had the experience of being arrested.

    Have I ever been convicted of a crime? Yes. Do I currently have a conviction? No.

    Answering this question in a way that doesn’t create misunderstanding, takes more than the brief response time allowed in the forum. Moreover, I have received legal advice that I am under no obligation to disclose this prior conviction, given that it was reduced to a misdemeanor and set aside.

    QuoteThe events around this occurred in 1996, and resulted in charges being filed against me. The details of this incident involve my extended family and the circumstances are deeply personal and painful. The bottom line is that I followed all legally authorized processes to resolve the matter, including what was needed to obtain court orders to render the incident a misdemeanor for all purposes and obtain an expungement of my record. When I filed for a new term on the City Council and declared that I met the eligibility criteria, I did so in good faith and in accordance with the law. I have been assured by my legal counsel and the District Attorney’s office that my response was in full compliance with the law.

    In response to Alan Pryor’s statements regarding my background, I do not have a criminal conviction. I did have a prior conviction from 22 years ago. That conviction was dismissed and set aside by the Yolo County Superior Court in 2005, based on my “continued law-abiding lifestyle, education and involvement in family and community.”  Simple fact: I do not currently have a conviction.

    Seventeen years ago, my court case file should have been updated to correctly show a “dismissal” of the charges. I learned only recently that, due to a record-keeping error, the Court website was not properly updated to show this dismissal until I notified them several days ago that the court website contained incorrect information. Contrary to Mr. Pryor’s assertion that the court website was “scrubbed” the Court Clerk’s Office acknowledged that the website had not been properly updated.  The Court Clerk then sealed the record, as required by Senate Bill 731, which took effect on July 1 of this year. No scrubbing involved, just compliance with applicable legal requirements.

    I did not have any legal obligation to disclose this when I filed my papers for candidacy.  At that point, I was asked if I had a felony conviction, and I did not have one. The prior conviction had by then been reduced to a misdemeanor and dismissed. You have a right to hold me to a high standard, and my sincere hope in sharing this information with you is that you will take into account my long history of commitment to our community. I sincerely hope that all of my work in the community will allow you to put this issue into the proper context.

    —————–

    link to Alan Pryor's previous article "Does Gloria Partida’s Conviction for a Felony in 2000 Disallow Her from Holding an Elected Public Office in California?"

     

    link to answer Gloria's Answer at forum

  • Does Gloria Partida’s Conviction for a Felony in 2000 Disallow Her from Holding an Elected Public Office in California?

    And did Gloria Partida sign a false statement and wrongfully fail to disclose the conviction as required by law in her Statement of Candidacy in 2022?

    Attestation

    By Alan Pryor

    The Alleged Felony Crimes, the Conviction, and the Sentencing

    Based on official court records, Gloria Partida, current at-large Davis City Councilmember who is running for reelection in the newly created District 4 (East Davis and Wildhorse), was apparently charged in 1999 with four felony counts of “Forgery, Statute 470(A)” and one felony count of “Fraud to Obtain Aid, Statute 10980(C)(2)” for offenses committed in 1995 and 1996.

    The following screenshot of the initial charges filed in Yolo County Superior Court was obtained from the Court’s document retrieval system (see https://portal-cayolo.tylertech.cloud/Portal/Home/WorkspaceMode?p=0, using “Partida, Gloria Jean” to search). Note that as of the evening of 10/10/2022, the records appear to have been scrubbed from the Court’s website although they were available earlier in the day:

    Filed Charges

    The initial complaint against Ms. Partida was filed on 3/12/1999 and she was arraigned on all of the charges on 3/30/1999.

    At the Preliminary Hearing on 2/2/2000, Ms. Partida entered a conditional plea of “guilty/Nolo” to the Fraud to Obtain Aid felony charge with the stipulation that no time in a State Prison would be imposed upon sentencing on the assigned date of 3/20/2000.

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  • Letter: Oliver Cromwell on Carson

    By spending an out-of-town developer’s dollars to mount a middle of the night stealth campaign against six of our Davis citizens Carson should not even dare to run. Cromwell said it better (see below).

    Carson’s spending against his own citizens is the most harmful action by an elected Davis council member that I have ever witnessed.  Carson blithely used unethical and possibly illegal methods to launch an ugly attack on what should be an unsullied civic process.

    I am dismayed that this bullying developer’s stooge wishes to exercise any further vote. Months after his improprieties he has not apologized to those he harmed by his now admitted “mistake”.

    It would also be a mistake to re-elect him knowing now how he abuses power.

    With his blatant record, how can any citizen be assured that Carson will ever again exercise fair and impartial judgment on behalf of our city? His further decisions on development as a council member will now always be questionable. In a somewhat similar case, the Santa Clara Grand Jury this week found that Santa Clara council members "may have violated city and state ethics laws.”

    I ask the citizens of District 1 to vote for Bapu Vaitla or Kelsey Fortune, Anyone But Carson, to prevent any further stain on the proceedings of this next Council.

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  • Effects of Excessive Increases in City of Davis Employee Compensation from 2011 to 2021 on the City’s Ongoing Budget Crisis

    Part 2 – The Rich Get Richer!

    Compensation to the Top 10% Highest Paid City of Davis Employees has Increased at a Far Faster Rate then Increases to the Lowest Paid City Employees and, for Upper Management and Fire Department Personnel, it is Much Higher than Comparable Compensation Levels in Woodland

    by Alan Pryor

    INTRODUCTION

    On October 1, the author published Part 1 of a 2-part series showing how City of Davis’ employee total compensation levels rose far in excess of inflation over the past decade. It further showed the extremely adverse long-term impacts this has had on our City’s budget and the shortfalls that have occurred as a result.

    This Part 2 in this series of articles looks at how these excessive compensation increases have favored top City management and Fire Department personnel while salary increases given to lower paid employees have more modestly kept pace with inflation. Further comparisons are made between total compensation levels in Davis vs Woodland showing how upper management in the City of Davis receives far greater compensation than their counterparts in Woodland while functionally performing the exact same duties.

    FORWARD

    Part 1 of this series of articles on employee compensation in the City of Davis looked at increases in annual compensation given to City of Davis employees from 2011 through 2021. These annual increases were then compared to annual increases that would have been given if the increases were instead limited to a standard government-calculated inflation rate index; the Bay Area Urban Wage Earners & Clerical Workers Consumer Price Index (the “Bay Area CPI”). The differences between compensation that would have otherwise been paid were then used to determine the impacts these raises had on the City budget over the ten-year period (see https://newdavisite.wordpress.com/2022/10/01/effects-of-excessive-increases-in-city-of-davis-employee-compensation-from-2011-to-2021-on-the-citys/).

    Average annual increases in compensation, including both pay and benefits, were far in excess of the inflation rate during this period of time resulting in an average total compensation (Pay and Benefits) paid to full-time, year-round City employees of $176,949 in 2021. Had total compensation paid to the City employees been held to the annual rate of inflation each year during the 2012-2021 time period, the average total compensation paid to City employees would have instead been $129,262.

    These excessive raises in excess of the inflation rate have resulted in cumulative increased costs to the City totaling $69,933,505 from 2012 to 2021. These monies could have otherwise been beneficially used to provide the infrastructure maintenance the City Council claims they are unable to afford.

    Further highlights from that analysis in Part 1 are presented in Appendix B to this article.

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  • Developer asks for reconsideration of conditions for Bretton Woods

    Bretton-Woods-Tentative-Site-PlanThe following background information for the Planning Commission meeting on Wednesday, October 12th was shared with the Davisite yesterday: 

    The following is my position on the Paths:

    “Why am I requesting reconsideration of path Map Conditions?
    Staff’s insistence on wide concrete paths destroys the character of Bretton Woods. It will have both physical and mental negative ramifications on its residents.

    This is not the pedestrian path design that I campaigned on and that went to the voters for approval. It’s not the path concept envisioned by the Development Agreement nor the one that the Planning Commission and City Council approved to be submitted to voters nor is it the plan the voters thought they would be getting when they voted yes on the project.”

    Cordially,
    Dave Taormino

    ~~

    October 3, 2022

    Dear members of the Planning Commission:

    At your Commission hearing next week, October 12, you will be presented with a request for reconsideration of a handful of conditions that were imposed on the Bretton Woods tentative maps after the Development Agreement was executed. In some cases, we are requesting reconsideration because the staff interpretation of the conditions at the design level exceeded the condition, and in others, because the condition imposed is the opposite of what was presented to the public from 2016-2020, as well as the Development Agreement and Preliminary Planned Development. After two years of thoughtful consideration talking to future residents, working on engineering, and computing the cost of implementation we have reached the conclusion that these particular conditions, as imposed, are either infeasible or do not align with the vision for Bretton Woods or are contrary to specific Development Agreement negotiated terms.

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  • Letter: Comments on Mr. Morrell’s take on homelessness in Davis

    I am writing to share my deep concern about the comments that Adam Morrill, a candidate for city council (District 4) has made regarding homelessness and those who experience homelessness.  His comments should trouble all of us. Despite our move to district elections, we remain one city and one community. I have spent well over decade working on issues related to homelessness, serving on the boards of Davis Opportunity Village, the Yolo County Homeless and Poverty. I am also a member of the Interfaith Housing Justice Group. Mr. Morrell’s approach to dealing with the homeless issue lacks an awareness of the scope of the problem as well as an understanding of the limits of the resources of local nonprofits.

    In the Davis Chamber of Commerce forum, he was asked about his approach to addressing homelessness. Early in the forum he referred to unhoused individuals as “violent transients.” He said that he thought a better solution to addressing homelessness than “kind of moving people along who are continually problems, people who aren’t interested in services” is “deeding over the sidewalks to the landlords because then it results in a “trespassing issue rather than just a camping issue.”” This approach will lead to criminalizing unhoused people. But he didn’t stop there, he went on to say that the city shouldn’t be in the business of social services and that these efforts are duplicative of what the nonprofits have already been doing. The nonprofits cannot solve the issue—they simply do not have the resources.

    My deeply held view is that all humans deserve to live with dignity, and that includes the right to be in stable housing and to receive appropriate services. And I believe local government – because of its role in housing policy, enforcing building codes, and protecting public health — has an important role in dealing with issue.  Mr. Morrill has a very restricted and troubling view of what it takes to build a community where everyone is safe.

    I urge those who live in District 4 to vote for Gloria Partida.

    Helen Roland Cramer