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

Category: Politics

  • Blogger receives ARC docs before Commissions and citizens do

    Sustainability-ARCBy Colin Walsh

    On Thursday morning, a local blog referred to a set of environmental sustainability "guiding principles" released from the developers of the Mace ARC business park. I looked on the City's ARC website but I could find no such document. Puzzled, I emailed City Manager Mike Webb, and received the following response:

    Dear Colin,

    I am responding to this message on Mike's behalf.

    David Greenwald contacted staff on Tuesday afternoon asking if we had received any new materials on Aggie Research Campus from the developer. The only additional item that we had received was their Environmental Sustainability Guiding Principles for the project. Considering a public document was requested, it was provided accordingly. The attached document was received last week from the applicant and will be posted to the City website later today along with the Natural Resources Commission memorandum when it is ready for posting. Our staff is not able to immediately post each document as it is received. We endeavor to post them in a timely fashion and it will be posted later today along with the staff memorandum to the Natural Resources Commission.

    The Natural Resources Commission and the Planning Commission will both be receiving the document with their meeting packets consistent with our regular and accepted operating procedures for commissions. Staff will be seeking the Natural Resources Commission feedback on the applicant's proposed Environmental Sustainability Guiding Principles and the Planning Commission workshop is an informational project introduction. The packet for the Natural Resources Commission will be posted on the City website this evening and the Planning Commission packet will be posted tomorrow evening.

    Thank you,

    Ashley Feeney
    Assistant City Manager

    (more…)

  • Followup to: Mace ARC Business Park Developer Trying to Omit Details until after Vote

    Mac-ARC-map-under-mag-glassTree, Recreation and Parks Commissions will now review before the vote; still unclear what sort of project detail will be left out

    By Roberta Millstein

    On Tuesday, I published an article that detailed the fact that despite numerous requests and promises from the City, some key commissions would not be reviewing the Mace ARC Business Park until after the Measure R vote (see article here).  I had also forwarded my article to the Davis City Council.  Early yesterday evening, I received the following email response from Assistant City Manager Ashley Feeney:

    Dear Roberta,

    The ARC project has applied for a General Plan Amendment, Pre-Zoning, a Sphere of Influence Amendment and an Annexation. These are the land use entitlements that would be the subject of a Measure R vote should they ultimately be approved and referred to the ballot by the City Council. Baseline project features would also be established and memorialized as part of the Measure R vote. These initial entitlements would establish land use for the project area. The project will require future implementing entitlements that have been described on the City's ARC webpage.

    (more…)

  • Letter: Deos has the right priorities

    Deos-for-supervisorI am pleased to be supporting Linda Deos for county supervisor. I went to lunch with her last fall, and was very impressed with her willingness and ability to listen, and her passion for uplifting those disenfranchised in Yolo County – her priorities of affordable housing, protecting the environment and alternatives to mass incarceration will be a refreshing and much needed voice on our Board of Supervisors.  

    I am thrilled that Linda will advocate passionately for immigrants, people of color, and other marginalized folk. As an immigration defense attorney myself, I often see bias in county agencies resulting in needs in our communities' not being met fairly and accountably.

    And finally, we really need a strong, progressive woman on that Board!

    Ann Block

    Davis

  • Mace ARC Business Park Developer Trying to Omit Details until after Vote

    Mac-ARC-map-under-mag-glassThe City’s promise to include full commission review is being broken

     By Roberta Millstein

    The developers of the Mace ARC Business Park are avoiding a full analysis of their project proposal and omitting important project details until after citizens have voted on the project.  City staff seems to support them in this, and City Council isn’t asking any questions – even though they had already promised that the proposal would be seen by all of the relevant City commissions. 

    Without a full public disclosure of the project and proper impartial commission analysis, citizens will not have the information they need to make an informed decision.

    For those who don’t know the legal context, this project will require a city wide vote – because the 200 acres proposed for the ARC business park outside Mace Curve is outside the Davis City limits with an agricultural land use designation, it is subject to a Measure R (formerly Measure J, now Davis Municipal Code Chapter 41) vote.  One of the provisions requires:

    (more…)

  • Voting information and deadlines

    Vote-CAThis is just a friendly, civic reminder that Tuesday February 18th is the last day to register to vote in the California primary coming up soon on March 3. You can do that online here.  Or, you can "conditionally" register to vote after the 15-day voter registration deadline by following these instructions: https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/voter-registration/same-day-reg/

    If you want to check your registration status, you can do that online here: https://registertovote.ca.gov

    Republicans have a closed primary. You must be Republican to vote in it.

    However, Democrats have an open primary, so on the day of the primary, any independents or folks registered with a third party can opt to vote in the Democratic contest.

    Roughly 1 out of 4 registered votes in California are independents ("no party preference.") That's a lot of people! If you are one of them and want to make sure you get to vote in a presidential primary, here's how:

    (more…)

  • Letter: Deos for positive change and community engagement

    Deos-for-supervisorI'm writing in support of positive change and community engagement and thus in support of Linda Deos for the 4th District of the Yolo County Board of Supervisors, which covers most of north (of Covell) and east (of Hwy 113, J and L Streets) in Davis. I've read with interest various letters in support of both Linda and the incumbent, Jim Provenza; both appear to be good people who support their community. Letters in support of Mr. Provenza stress his accomplishments while on the Board and, as one might expect when a person sits on the Board for twelve years, there is a notable list. Board members are paid to accomplish things.

    The question one might ask, then, is why make a change? Incumbents traditionally have this advantage in a campaign. To this question, my response is, the making of public policy is strengthened locally by representation on our Board from as many segments of our community as possible. In these troubled times, such inclusivity matters tremendously, not only at the national and state level but also locally—it starts here.

    Diversity of representation, however critical, should not be gratuitous, however. Linda Deos—not as part of her job but in her passion for giving back to her community—has volunteered on six area boards and commissions, including the Yolo Basin Foundation, health, cannabis and disability access advisory groups.  All of this effort has been carried out on top of her legal work with members of the community who are facing bankruptcy, or who are overwhelmed by credit and student debt. With this record of contributions in an unofficial capacity, imagine what she can achieve as a County Supervisor! Linda has the capability to meet and to exceed Mr. Provenza's record if she is given the opportunity.

    I encourage voters in the 4th District to vote for the future by electing Linda to serve the district and to represent your interests to the County.

    Michele van Eyken

    Davis

  • Letter: Deos Leading for Yolo County

    Deos-for-supervisorI want a leader on the Yolo County Board of Supervisors, someone who has fresh ideas and solutions for the new decade. I want someone who will not only question the need for a new county jail but will look at ways to reduce the incarceration rate that we have. Eliminating the cash bail system that keeps poor people in jail while awaiting their hearings is one way to accomplish this goal. Because 65% of our jail residents cannot post bail, they must stay there until his or her trial. They are in jail, often for months at a time, despite not having been proven guilty of any crime. It's a modern-day debtor's prison.

    It costs as much to house a prisoner in California for a year as it does to send a student to Stanford for the same amount of time. That’s a lot of money that could be used to provide more robust social services programs that lift up our county residents.

    I want a leader who will return our foster care program back to one that works for families that are in distress.  We need to stop shipping hundreds of Yolo County children to foster homes far from their families.

    I want a leader who understands climate change as the existential threat that it is. Someone who is able to work with other committed supervisors and residents to do the hard work of making significant and urgent changes to our county’s operations model.

    You have a choice of leadership for the 4th district Yolo County supervisor race for the first time in many years. The leader that I want for Yolo County Board of Supervisors is Linda Deos. She is the future.

    Elizabeth Lasensky

    Davis

  • Strong turnout for Davis’s “Reject the Coverup” Impeachment Rally

    Blue efforts are ongoing

    Davis trump impeachment rally 2020 02 05 5th x B (4) crop

    Davis trump impeachment rally 2020 02 05 5th x B (18)On Wednesday evening, nearly 100 people showed up (on short notice!)  at 5th and B to protest the failure of the U.S. Senate to call witnesses, much less convict, Trump for Abuse of Power or Obstruction of Justice.

    Davis trump impeachment rally 2020 02 05 5th x B (20)People driving by enthusiastically honked in support.

    Photos of the Davis crowd made Rachel Maddow show….along with photos of the other 270 rallies across the U.S.

    Later that evening, IndivisibleYolo and Sister District CA-3 previewed their new volunteer HQ on Olive Drive near Rocknasium, the first step of Blue Wave 2 campaign to flip the Senate and Presidency red to blue in November 2020.  Arizona races are the target Red to Blue area for Davis.   Over 60 people showed, celebrating that the two groups have together raised over $14,000 to fund this office space.

    Last week there was also a Davis House party run by the group “The Verbs” to raise money for Democratic Senate Candidate for Arizona, Mark Kelly. It reportedly netted over $70,000.

    – Submitted by a Davisite reader.

  • Vanguard Publishes Demonstrably False Information

    Misinformation persists even after the author and board members are notified

    VanguardBy Colin Walsh

    On Monday February 3rd the Davis Vanguard published a story titled “Monday Morning Thoughts: Strange Decision on Commissioner Punctuates a Strange Night for Council” by David Greenwald (link). This is not a big groundbreaking story; it mostly focuses on the Council’s decision to suspend a Commissioner for two meetings and takes the opportunity to make fun of people who spoke at public comment. Sadly, it also had the effect of again dragging a hard-working City of Davis volunteer Commissioner’s name through the mud. What is most notable about the Vanguard article is that it has specific false information that distorts what actually happened.

    The third paragraph of Greenwald’s article about the January 28th City Council meeting states,

    The council then attempted to split the baby so to speak – instead of ousting Mr. Edelman, they suspended him for two meetings, February and March, with some sort of conflict resolution process.  That was not enough for the three commissioners who all resigned, leaving the commission short of a quorum.

    The second sentence is demonstrably false. This sentence clearly states that three commissioners resigned after the January 28th Council meeting, but the January 9, 2020, BTSSC agenda had already announced the departure of Commissioners Andrews and Gudz (link). If it was on the January 9 agenda, then the announcement was made at least several days before, possibly as far back as the December BTSSC meeting (link).

    Jan 9 BTSSC agenda_highlighting

    (more…)

  • Letter: Deos for change

    Deos-for-supervisorI'm voting for Linda Deos for real change.

    I strongly support term limits in California politics and agree with those imposed on our state legislators. I think the longer an elected office-holder is in the same job the more entrenched they become with their same ideology and their same old ways of doing things. That's no longer enough given the huge challenges facing our planet, our country, and our county.

    For instance, on a local level, Yolo Co. still has an extremely regressive criminal justice system that disproportionately hammers even non-violent low-income defendants of color and minority youth.

    We still have an exploding homeless population that shows no signs of abating. Yet our Supervisors are only using short-term band-aids to try to alleviate this glaring problem and have yet to enact a long-term comprehensive plan to address our homeless and housing crisis.

    Yolo Co. is still increasing its carbon footprint every year while the world is burning and the Supervisors have yet to declare a climate emergency or implement policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that have already been adopted by the City of Davis and more progressive communities.

    Enough is enough. Jim Provenza is a very nice man and truly believes in what he is doing. But he has had 12 years to make his mark on Yolo Co. and there has barely been a dent in improving the lives of the most vulnerable people in our midst.

    It's time we changed the make-up of our staid, male-dominated Board of Supervisors and their same old ways. Endorsed by one of my favorite local progressive heroes, Public Defender and 2018 Yolo Co. District Attorney candidate, Dean Johannson, Linda Deos will work for the little and forgotten people in our county.

    Linda Deos gets my vote.

    Alan Pryor

    Davis