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Category: Politics

  • Why such deceitful attacks on affordable senior housing at the expense of the real needs of very low income Davis seniors?

    By William Powell and David Thompson

    We have never seen such an exaggerated litany of attacks against needed affordable housing for low income seniors in Davis. This is from the perspective of our combined 60 years of serving the needs of low income seniors in Davis.  The future needs of low income seniors in Davis should not become cannon fodder by the representative of the No campaign in their false war on affordable senior housing. We believe Davis seniors deserve better and that Davis voters deserve an honest debate.

    So, as long time Davis senior housing providers, we are taking on two issues of the No on Measure L representative – keeping in mind that Winston Churchill once said: 

    “A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its trousers on.”

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  • Experiencing intimidation from your landlord concerning Prop 10?

    Rampart-letter(From Sacramento Tenants Union Facebook page) Are you or anyone you know experiencing intimidation from your landlord directly due to Prop 10 (Repeal Costa-Hawkins to allow cities/counties to adopt rent control) and voting for the Nov. 2018 election?

    It's happening elsewhere in California; let us know if this despicable behavior is happening in the Sacramento metro area, too!

    Email: SacTenantsUnion@gmail.com

    [Image description: A letter from Rampart Property Management in Los Angeles, which manages more than 12+ apartment complexes. The letter informs tenants of a pending rent increase in response to the ballot measure.]

  • Uncivil Discourse at the CivEnergy Forum

    Yes-On-LThe Yes on L side did not behave well at Sunday’s CivEnergy forum. 

    This inappropriate behavior certainly wasn’t CivEnergy’s fault.  They had picked an excellent moderator in the form of attorney and former City Council candidate Linda Deos, who asked fair and neutral fact-finding-oriented questions about the West Davis Active Adult Community (WDAAC) project.  And along the same lines, CivEnergy’s Bob Fung crafted from audience comment cards two more neutrally worded questions.  Actually, all were framed in terms of discussions rather than questions, a touch that I rather liked.  Deos further warned forum participants to keep their answers focused on the project and not make them personal.  Alas, that was not to be.

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  • Melissa Moreno Has Support of Educational Leaders

    I am writing to express my strong support of Melissa Moreno for the position of Yolo County Board of Education Trustee. The County Board of Education provides support for programs that serve our most vulnerable youth. Melissa’s combined life experience, community service, academic training, and professional experience make her ideally qualified for this position.

    For the past eight years I have served as the Yolo County Board of Education Trustee for Area 2, the position Melissa now seeks. During a portion of this time, I also served on the California School Boards Association Delegate Assembly and the California County Boards of Education Board of Directors. This service has allowed me to see firsthand the requirements, challenges, and opportunities involved in the important work of county offices of education and county boards of education, locally and throughout California.

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  • Moreno best qualified for board of education

    As a parent of children who attend Cesar Chavez Elementary School in Davis, I care about quality education for all children in Yolo County.

    That’s why I support Dr. Melissa Moreno for Yolo County Board of Education Trustee, Area 2.

    Moreno, who has a Ph.D. in Education, has the leadership, education, and community service experience we need on the board. And she has demonstrated a deep commitment to diversity and inclusivity throughout her life and career. Her record of accomplishments in these areas includes founding the Ethnic Studies program at Woodland Community College, where she’s currently a professor and program director.

    The board of education is responsible for serving the most vulnerable students and families in our community. No one is more qualified for this job than Dr. Moreno.

    Vote for Melissa Moreno on Nov. 6 and visit www.moreno.ycboe.org for more info.

    Jerry Jimenez
    Davis

  • What to do post-Kavanaugh

    Blue-waveTime to act.

    I've been so emotionally caught up in this Kavanaugh Supreme Court nomination for the last few weeks, and now I find I can't even think about it. Too horrifying.

    My way of dealing today is to pick a bunch of Senate and Congressional races and send them money. Ask your friends around the country for suggestions.  Mine were very helpful.  538 is a good source to identify close races. Look at websites to see if candidates support your values. Support women and people of color when you can.

    There are, of course, other ways to act. But I think this November election is crucial. If the Senate and House remain red we are truly screwed. So if you can't afford to donate, please volunteer in other ways. Send postcards. Make phone calls or texts. Help get out the vote.  Indivisible Yolo is one local organization that you can join forces with, although there are others. 

    You don't even have to be excited about it. I'm not. I'm numb. But I feel slightly better for having supported a bunch of races, and will keep an eye out for more that I can support.

    Other suggestions are welcome in the comments.  Let's support and encourage each other.

  • WDAAC Does Not Meet Real Housing Needs for Davis

    by Alan Pryor and Pam Nieberg

    Forward – Davis already has by far the oldest average population in the region and this project will compound that population imbalance. Despite the abundance of young University students, according to 2016 US Census Bureau estimates the percentage of people in Davis under the age of 18 is 16.1% compared to 25.5% in West Sacramento and 26% in Woodland. Looking at younger children, the disparity is even greater with 3.8% of the Davis population under the age of 5 compared to 8.1% in West Sacramento and 6.7% in Woodland.

    Clearly, because of the age-restrictions imposed on buyers, this project will do little to directly increase the housing stock for young families. And because of this dearth of kids in town, our schools are so starved for young students that we need to import over 650 students per day just to keep school doors from shuttering and moth-balling our existing neighborhood schools. And we pay dearly for schooling those imported students with the highest school-related parcel taxes in the region. We clearly need more young families with children in town to fill our schools and maintain our vibrancy in Davis yet few families can afford to come to Davis because of sky-rocketing home purchase and rental prices.

    What Davis really needs is smaller-scale, more dense, and  affordable housing designed for both seniors AND families of modest means. The last thing we need is a sprawling, senior-only Sun City-lite developments like you see in sunbelt states. A development with smaller homes laid out in a curvilinear fashion with different designs (instead of rows and rows of near-identical box-like houses) would attract far more seniors AND the families preferred if the project were designed with a close-knit neighborhood setting in mind.

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  • Professor Melissa Moreno for Yolo County Board of Education, Area 2

    Dear Editor,

    As a peace officer, I expected those who serve our communities, including peace officers and elected officials, to possess a deep and abiding desire to help people –all people, without hesitation or reservation. Professor Melissa Moreno possesses this essential quality, along with proven leadership in the field of education.

    As an educational leader, Professor Moreno understands the value of cultural inclusivity, and has put this value into practice in her 25 years of educational service to students and families. In her work as a community college professor teaching Ethnic Studies, she excels as a teacher, mentor, and guide for students seeking cultural knowledge. She has lengthy experience as a community advocate, including advocating for community members in Yolo County by acting as a leader in developing the Safe Yolo resolution to protect immigrant families.

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  • Cumulative impacts of all the developments in Davis

    PublichousingBy Dan Cornford

    I do not have time to comment extensively right now on Roberta's piece. But I do want to say that I agree 110% with what she says. I am just sick and tired of all the pro-growthers accusing anyone who does not oppose their rampant pro-growth propaganda as being some old white, rich NIMBY, as someone who could not afford to buy his first house until I was 53, despite being a full professor at a CSU, and only then could I buy when I inherited a modest amount of money after my father died.

    Roberta is right that no candidate for council had the courage to squarely take on the pro-growthers. I have been saying and writing for two years that the Council, its commissions, and of course the pro-growthers, never stop to consider what the CUMULATIVE IMPACTS of all these developments will be in tandem with the unmandated growth of UCD over the next 5-10 years. What will be the environmental impact on a relatively small city of this growth in all respects (to say nothing of the fiscal impacts and burdens)? The fast expansion of UCD, notwithstanding their LRDP, and their recent MOU with the city, is no cause for comfort. (I mean, to take one example, if UCD does not meet its already inadequate building timetable, they will face a massive fine of $500 per unit. That's really going to force them to meet their timetable isn't it?)

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  • Growth – The Elephant in the Room

    PublichousingNo one in Davis talks about growth.  We talk around growth, sure – the need for specific projects, or the need to preserve farmland.  But we never talk about growth. 

    Consider our most recent City Council election.  Did one of the candidates present themselves as pro-growth or slow-growth?  Not that I can recall.  “Smart-growth,” maybe – an infinitely flexible euphemism if I ever heard one.

    I suspect that no one wants to talk about growth because not a moment passes before the conversation-distracting “pro-developer” and “NIMBY” labels (and similar labels) are slung.  But we desperately need to talk about growth.  We’re growing now and we are facing questions about future growth in the immediate future (Measure L and the West Davis Active Adult Community) and beyond.

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