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Category: Politics

  • Flip-flopping Eric Jones first casts himself as a progressive, but now endorses right-wing policies

    Jones is “ashamed” of supporting Prop 50 and endorses “sunsetting” of federal programs

    By Roberta Millstein

    Eric Jones, former partner of the venture capital firm Dragoneer Investment Group, seems to be shifting dramatically rightward in the wake of (or in order to gain?) the endorsement of Republican Ray Riehle, his former opponent in Jones’s attempt to become the congressional representative for California’s District 4.  What’s going on here?  There are several aspects, so let me unpack.

    First, I remind readers that Jones still has financial interests in Dragoneer and that his run for Congress is largely funded by 1) his own money, 2) by maximized direct donations from his former Dragoneer colleagues and other high tech executives, and 3) by a Super PAC that has so far funded only Jones, coming from some of the same sources as the direct donations.  Each of these three categories individually amounts to millions of dollars.  This is Silicon Valley, venture capitalist, AI/high tech, data-center-favoring money, not money that is looking to benefit citizens.  Details can be found here.

    As I noted in an earlier article, Jones has sought to present himself as a progressive, implying affiliations with Ro Khanna and Bernie Sanders and touting his endorsement from Our Revolution (removed from two Our Revolution web pages and now mysteriously reappeared).  As I document in the same article, that appearance of being a progressive was always misleading, given his donation to a Republican candidate for governor — a member of the Bush family — and support of AI-driven health care, among other things.  But his mask seems to be slipping further.

    Generally, it is a sign of desperation when a candidate dramatically changes his stripes.  Does Jones think he can woo Republican voters?  Maybe so — after all, he founded an organization whose specific goal was to figure out what voters want (see previous links).  And did Jones craft a new platform to gain Riehle’s endorsement?  It’s hard to explain why else Jones would now say:

    “I supported Prop 50 as a response to the gerrymandering effort in Texas. But after speaking with thousands of voters at their doors, I am extremely disappointed — ashamed, even — of the way this was carried out in our own state.”

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  • Senior Citizens Commission Bites the Dust

    By Elaine Roberts Musser 

    In checking over the Senior Citizens Commission agenda, it was incredibly sad to see that it is “concluding its work”. In other words, it’s disbanding. What is particularly disheartening, is knowing that my successful fight, many years ago, to save this commission (when the City Council was attempting to eliminate commissions at the time), was ultimately unsuccessful so many years later.  Does anyone honestly think that senior citizen issues will be addressed, when their concerns are split between three different commissions not designed to handle senior issues? The upshot will be that seniors will no longer have a meaningful voice in Davis.  

    Because of Councilmembers Vaitla and Chapman and their plan to defang commissions, they have single-handedly destroyed the Senior Citizens Commission, the Tree Commission, and the Utilities Commission. Along with that, they have eviscerated the power of the other commissions – by insisting that no new items be placed on commission agendas without City Council permission.  And the rest of the City Council, to their shame, have gone along with this nefarious plot. That controversial commission agenda policy was to be reviewed after a year, but no such assessment ever took place.In other words, we were lied to. 

    It has become patently clear the current City Council is hostile to public input. They are not interested in independent review or advice from commissions composed of ordinary citizens. We have entered a more authoritarian form of city government, much like what is going on at the federal level, a revolting development.

    Elaine Roberts Musser is Former Chair, Senior Citizens Commission and Former Chair, Utilities Commission

  • Eric Jones, Red-Boxing, & the AI Money Nobody’s Talking About

    And update to the series on the race for congress in California CD04 (Links below)

    By Judy Tipple

    [Reposted with permission of the author. See original at https://rosietheboomer.substack.com/p/eric-jones-red-boxing-and-the-ai]

    OK, I admit it… I’m a political nerd. Many years of campaigns, more FEC filings read than I’d like to admit. And I had never heard of “red-boxing” until a friend flagged it to me last week. Wait till you hear what it means — because once you see it, you can’t unsee it on every campaign website you visit.

    Before I get to that: credit where it’s due. Roberta Millstein at Davisite already dug up the core of Jones’s Dragoneer ties and his Super PAC connections. Read her full series here: Who is Eric Jones? A summary of the series. This piece adds a few new pieces to her picture.

    1. Red-Boxing: The website is talking to PACs, not to you

    Jones’s campaign site has a page — not in the main menu, you have to know where to look — that reads less like a pitch to voters and more like a memo to an ad-buyer. It tells you what you “need to see,” what you “need to hear,” on what timeline. That’s a known, legal-but-gray tactic called red-boxing: campaigns aren’t allowed to privately hand a Super PAC their ad copy, so instead they post it publicly and let the PAC “discover” it — no phone call required, no coordination on paper. It’s used by both parties nationwide, so it’s not unique to Jones. What is fair to point out: he’s built his brand on refusing PAC money, while his own site is doing PAC-facing work in plain sight. That is red-boxing.

    2. Follow the money, follow the name, follow the family

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  • “WRECKAGE: A Musical Tragicomedy” to be performed in Davis and other NorCal locations

    (From press release) WRECKAGE: A Musical Tragicomedy, Written by Michael Gene Sullivan. Music and Lyrics by Daniel Savio, Music Direction by Daniel Savio and Will Durkee. The show is directed by Lisa Hori-Garcia.

    Wreckage will be performed for one night  INDOORS on Wed. July 22, 2026 at 7:00 pm (music at 6:30 pm) at

    Davis HS, Richard Brunelle Performance Hall   315 W 14th St., in Davis.
    Tickets are FREE but an RSVP is required: sfmt.org/rsvp-davis  ($20 suggested donation)

    WRECKAGE: A Musical Tragicomedy runs July 3 – Sept. 7, 2026

    Opening Shows: Fri. July 3, and Sat. July 4, 2026- Dolores Park – San Francisco 

    Running throughout the Bay Area in SF, Ukiah (Mendocino), Cotati (Sonoma), East Bay, Mill Valley, Santa Cruz, San Jose, and Davis.

    All shows are FREE and open to the public unless otherwise listed.
    Paid Ticketed performance: Z Space’s Steindler Stage: Wed., Aug. 19, 2026 – 7:00 pm (Indoors).

    Three (3) shows will require RSVPs: 

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  • Eileen’s Update

    No on Measure V Campaign Gratitude

    The No on Measure V campaign would like to express our sincere gratitude to the many Davis voters who voted to reject the Village Farms proposal for the many reasons we explained in our articles, literature, and online at our NoOnMeasureV.org website.

    It is unfortunate that this project divided the community, but ultimately, the majority of voters understood that the project was unacceptable due to its many impacts, including toxics, flooding potential, massive traffic, enormous infrastructure costs, habitat destruction along Channel A, as well as endangerment of the vernal pools and the endangered species of Vernal Pool Tadpole Shrimp, and especially due to the unaffordable market-rate housing and the seriously inadequate affordable housing plan. The housing proposed would have been unaffordable to parents of young kids and would not have yielded hundreds of kids, and the and the long timeline of at least 15+ years did not coincide with the School District timeline, so it would not have helped the schools.

    This issue is now behind us, and hopefully we can come together as a community and work on solutions instead of school closures. This process needs to start now, and the School Board needs to move forward and approve the formation of a parent-based subcommittee, as recommended by California Best Practices, to work on solutions with the School District to avoid school closures without delay.

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  • Award-Winning Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (CAAP) Presented July 7th

    By Scott Steward

    Kristen Wraithwall is the Manager of the Sustainability Division. The Sustainability Division operates within the Health and Safety Department of our Yolo County. Kristen will present the Update on Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (CAAP) Implementation Progress at this Tuesday’s (July 7th) Yolo County Board of Supervisors Meeting at 9:00 AM.

     Zoom meeting: By PC: https://yolocounty.zoom.us/j/84359964086

    Kristen, her staff, the Climate Action Commission, and the County have made consistently strong progress in climate action despite very difficult budget circumstances. This Sustainability work continues to provide our county with grant-funded programs that Yolo County cities and other California counties look to as models for what can be accomplished in their own jurisdictions. Yolo County’s Climate Action and Adaptation Plan received the Sacramento Valley Section APA Award of Excellence in Resilience and Sustainability (May 2025) and the Beacon Award from the Institute for Local Government (November 2025). 

    Vehicle use remains the #1 source of greenhouse gas emissions in Yolo County, so it is no surprise that 2026-2027 CAAP priorities emphasize transportation, including the implementation of countywide Zero-Emission Vehicle (ZEV) programs. Transportation is followed by building energy efficiency in coordination with Valley Clean Energy, Natural & Working Lands water conservation and carbon soil enhancement, recycling, and public cooling infrastructure.

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  • Did Eric Jones’ wealthy donors help him advance to the General Election by funding his lesser known Republican opponents?

    (From press release) In an explosive story in The Press Democrat Friday morning, it was confirmed that Eric Jones’ wealthy donors spent more than $100,000 to split the Republican vote and guarantee that Eric Jones would make the general election. 

    The donors in question, George Dixit (Dean) and Rishi Dixit, are a married couple from Santa Monica and were the only two donors to Mandy Gushar, John McKenzie, and Sharon Brown. Gushar, McKenzie, and Brown maintained no social media presence and hosted no publicly advertised events. Each candidate hired the same campaign treasurer and their biggest campaign expense was the filing fee to get on the ballot. 

    Rishi Dixit also started and funded a SuperPAC, California Leadership Fund, that raised $75,000 attacking Raymond Riehle, the leading Republican candidate, in a variety of mailers and text messages. Riehle was endorsed by six county Republican central committees and was not attacked by any other candidates – just Jones’ donors.   Eric Jones defeated Raymond Riehle by just 1.5%. McKeznie, Gushar, and Brown received 10.4% of the vote combined.

    “This is another example of Eric Jones and his wealthy venture capitalist donors trying to buy a seat in Congress,” said Mike Thompson for Congress Campaign Manager, Thomas Dowling “80 percent of voters rejected Eric Jones’ message and we look forward to sending Eric back home to San Francisco in November.”

    Congressman Thompson was the top vote getter, beating Eric Jones by 19 points.  Despite having nearly $11 million in support, Congressman Thompson goes into the general election leading Eric Jones by a 2:1 margin.

    Read the full story here and below:

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  • The DJUSD Board Has Lost the Public’s Trust

    By Elizabeth Coolbrith

    The issue facing Davis is no longer Measure V. The issue is trust.

    For months, Davis parents were told that declining enrollment posed a serious threat to our schools. School closures, boundary changes, and district restructuring were presented as looming possibilities. Families understandably worried about the future of their neighborhood schools.

    At the same time, Davis Joint Unified School District leadership became deeply involved in the public discussion surrounding Measure V. District leaders repeatedly linked the Village Farms development to the future health of Davis schools, arguing that new housing would bring students and revenue. Many residents came away with a clear message: support Measure V or face the possibility of school closures.

    That perception matters because California school districts are expected to follow a clear principle during election campaigns: educate, don’t advocate. Public agencies may provide information about ballot measures, but they should not use their positions or public resources to persuade voters toward a particular outcome. The distinction exists for a reason. Public institutions are entrusted with informing the public, not campaigning.

    Many parents questioned whether that line remained clear during the Measure V campaign. Superintendent Matt Best conducted presentations throughout the community discussing why the district supported the project and how its approval could benefit local schools. Whether intentional or not, many residents felt these communications sounded less like neutral information and more like advocacy.

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  • How Yolo County Staff Blundered Review of Illegal Fireworks Businesses on Agricultural Land

    By David L. Johnson

    Introduction

    The focus of this article is how top level Yolo County administrators, including the Office of the County Counsel, ignored illegal fireworks businesses on property owned by Sam and Tammy Machado in Esparto.

    Based on a Public Records Act request, this author received a large collection of emails that document a series of negligent mistakes made by county employees. These emails are limited in number because of legal privilege and an ongoing investigation into the explosion and fatalities. However, of the numerous emails received by this author, not one county employee stated in writing to a representative of Sam Machado, or among themselves, that Yolo County passed an ordinance in 2001 banning the possession, storing or selling of dangerous fireworks – even when county employees knew there were fireworks stored at the site. More important, if the county had taken code enforcement action, the explosion, fire and fatalities would have never occurred.

    The lack of action for code enforcement in regard to the Machado property also includes the Chief of the Esparto Fire Protection District, as documented in the March 26, 2026, report entitled “Yolo County Civil Grand Jury 2025-2026 Esparto Fireworks Explosion: Officials Knew, None Acted.”

    As stated in the Grand Jury report:

    “In the evening of July 1, 2025, massive explosions obliterated a family farm located at the northwest corner of County Roads 23 and 86A in Esparto. This incident, commonly known as the Esparto Fireworks Explosion, claimed the lives of seven workers….The explosion leveled the site and ignited what was named the Oakdale Fire, which expanded to 78 acres including nearby properties….Seven employees of a company called Devastating Pyrotechnics were killed instantly….”

    The county’s lack of action ultimately led to the tragic deaths of:

    Name             Age

    Jesus Manaces Ramos – 18

    Angel Mathew Voller – 18

    Jhony Ernesto Ramos – 22

    Joel “Junior” Jeremias Melendez – 28

    Neil Justin Li – 41

    Carlos Javier Rodriguez-Mora – 43

    Christopher Goltiao Bocog – 45

    The victims included three brothers – Jesus Ramos, Jhony Ramos, and their eldest stepbrother Joel Melendez.

    The First Red Flags

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  • The Sleeping Giant Is In Your District Too: Follow The Money, Part VI

    Grow California spent $1.5 million in my backyard. Then I found out they’re doing it all over the state. And the endgame isn’t Sacramento — it’s 2028.

    By Judy Tipple

    I’ve been following this money for months. In April, I wrote about the Silicon Valley venture capital network behind Eric Jones’s congressional campaign in CA-04 (Part I: Wrong Seat, Wrong Moment). When the same donor fingerprints showed up attacking a candidate in my own Assembly district, I kept pulling the thread (Part IV: They’re Doing It Again). What I found goes well beyond two races in the North Bay.

    The primary is over. The votes are counted. And now it’s time to show you the full picture, because if you live anywhere in California, this maybe happening in your backyard too.

    Here is the common thread running through all of it: tech and crypto money flowing into Democratic primaries, looking for candidates who won’t get in the way of their industry interests; who won’t tax their unrealized gains, who won’t put guardrails on AI, who won’t ask hard questions about data centers reshaping energy grids and water supplies across the state. They can’t do this through Republicans. Democrats hold 75 percent of the seats in both legislative chambers, and in a midterm year with a Republican in the White House, that’s not changing. So they’re doing it through us.

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