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Category: Trustworthiness

  • Who is Eric Jones?  A summary of the series with a quick wrap-up.

    By Roberta Millstein

    Who is Eric Jones?  I started with one article and didn’t know I’d be writing a series of them, addressing:

    1. Large numbers of maximized campaign contributions from Eric Jones’s former venture capitalist colleagues at Dragoneer Investment Group and other individuals from the high tech industry (link here).  The money comes from out of the district and so does Jones.
    2. Jones’s close connections to a Super PAC, New Leadership Now, that is pouring huge sums of money into his run for Congress (link here).
    3. Some of the Super PAC’s blatantly false claims about Thompson (link here).
    4. An update reflecting that the Super PAC spent $1.1 million on ads, including an Orwellian mailer, although as of May 30 that number exceeds $2.4 million. I have no doubt there will be  more on the way (link here).
    5. The extremely unlikely claim that Jones is a progressive, given his maximized donation to Republican Jonathan Bush, cousin of GW Bush, who is running for governor in Maine, with problematic views on health care, AI, and the environment — views that Jones seems to share. (link here).

    Beyond these articles, there are just a few more points than I want to emphasize:

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  • Village Farms: Too Big, Too Many Impacts, Costs and Unaffordable Housing

    By Eileen M. Samitz

    The Village Farms project, with 1,800 housing units on 498 acres at Covell Blvd. and Pole Line Road, is the largest residential project ever proposed in Davis with the worst impacts. It would take at least 15 years for the buildout, meaning many years of added congestion from construction traffic.

    An earlier version was proposed in 2005 as Covell Village, and Davis voters wisely rejected it because of toxics, the 200-acre floodplain, massive traffic, enormous infrastructure costs, and unaffordable housing. Twenty years later, Village Farms has all the same problems and more.

    The site is seriously handicapped. That is why the current developer, John Whitcombe, and partners including Tandem Properties, acquired the original 386-acre parcel at a bankruptcy auction for a mere $3.2 million. The original Crossroads developers abandoned it because of toxics, floodplain, and unmitigable traffic. Yet, the current developer is again trying to push it through despite the health, welfare, and safety issues, and unaffordable housing.

    Massive traffic and other impacts

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  • Mutual Housing needed $8.4 million from the City of Davis to build 69 affordable units, yet claims that Village Farms can do 360 affordable units with just $6 million from the developer

    The math destroys their own claim

    By David J. Thompson

    Mutual Housing needed an $8.4 million subsidy from the city to get a 69 unit project built in South Davis. The same format applied to the 360 units affordable units at Village Farms would need a city subsidy of $44,005,518.25.  And the developer is putting in $6 million and Mutual Housing affirms that it will work. Can it, do the math?

    On May 29, 2026, Mutual Housing of California wrote an OpEd in favor of the Affordable Housing at Village Farms entitled “We Know What it Takes”. They do, but it is their reality that is the opposite of what they say is in their OpEd.

    Mutual Housing claims they have developed 6 projects in Davis when they have done only 2.

    On the first of the two (New Harmony) Mutual Housing needed a subsidy of $8,434,391 from the City of Davis to get 69 units built in South Davis. That was $122,237 subsidy per each of 69 units.  Without that subsidy, New Harmony would never have been built.

    The same format applied to the 360 units affordable units at Village Farms would need a city subsidy of $44,005,518.25.

    Mutual Housing should be telling the citizens of Davis that $6 million from the developer will not be enough.

    Memo to Davis City Council from City staff:

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  • Clarifying Affordable Housing commitments (or lack thereof) in Village Farms

    By David J. Thompson

    Almost every day a Village Farms supporter (like Alan Pryor) makes unsubstantiated boasts about VF’s affordability features.

    However, in particular only the words in the Baseline Project Features have legal standing. Those listed components are only changeable by the city or the developer except by a citywide vote. The Development Agreement between the City and the developer can be changed without having to go to a citywide vote.

    As to Section 4 Affordable Housing there are only 9 lines in Section 4 of this 9-page legal agreement. There are no guarantees as to the pricing of any affordable for sale units nor any mention of them at all. 

    The false claims by VF supporters might win votes for the project but they are an empty promise of 1,000 homes starting at $400,000 to $500,000. If we had a commitment from the developer or the city of how many units will be in this sales price range that would be useful, but we do not. So the boasts of VF supporters are not substantiated but the reader is fooled. 

    That wording is nowhere to be found in either the Baseline Features or the Development Agreement.

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  • Response to Alan Pryor concerning Mutual Housing’s support of Measure V

    By David J. Thompson

    In today’s Vanguard (May 29,2026), there is an OpEd by Mutual Housing in support of the Village Farms project: “We Should Know: Village Farms Gives Affordable Housing Its Best Chance,” by Craig Adelman, CEO of Mutual Housing.

    Early this morning Alan Pryor, a frequent poster on behalf of Village Farms supported the OpEd stating among other items that:

    “Mutual Housing is the largest and most respected affordable housing developer in Northern California – and in Davis.”

    Both facts promoted by Alan Pryor in this statement are simply not true. I say that as over 40 years an advocate, funder and co-developer of affordable housing in not only Davis but throughout California and five other western states.

    Here is the remainder of my response to Mr. Pryor in today’s Vanguard:

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  • Letter: Former Yolo County Supervisor did not endorse Measure V either

    I have received calls from Davis residents stating that they have seen my name and/or photo on a communication endorsing Measure V. This is to clarify that I have not endorsed Measure V. I was never approached by the YES on V campaign and never gave my permission to be listed as an endorser.

    Jim Provenza

    Jim Provenza served on the Davis Joint Unified School District’s Board of Education from 2003 to 2007 and was the representative of District 4 on the Yolo County Board of Supervisors from 2008 until 2024.

  • I Did Not Endorse Measure V

    By Rena Nayyar

    I have recently learned that, without my knowledge or permission, I have been put on an endorsement list for Yes on Measure V (Village Farms).  How did this happen?  I have actively opposed Measure V (Village Farms) from the beginning because of its many problems even though I am a teacher in Davis concerned about school closures. 

    I have spoken in opposition to the Village Farms project due to its many impacts at multiple city and school board meetings, the local Sierra Club group, and to the Davis Teacher’s Association.  I have even helped table at the NO booth at the Farmer’s Market, and donated to the No campaign.  So, how could my name have possibly been put on an endorsement list?  How many other “endorsers” are also unknowingly on this Yes on Measure V list as well?  

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  • Is Eric Jones really a progressive? His donation to a Bush family Republican says otherwise

    Artificial Intelligence is “in”, quality healthcare is “out”

    By Roberta Millstein

    Is Eric Jones, running to unseat Mike Thompson in Congressional District 4, really a progressive?  His supporters often describe him that way, with Our Revolution, for example, stating that he has a “bold, progressive vision.” 

    Would a liberal or a progressive or any sort of committed Democrat donate to a Republican candidate from a well-known establishment Republican family?  One who seeks to dismantle health care support for his constituents?  Because this is what Jones has done.

    On October 28, 2025 — after Jones had already declared his House campaign as a Democrat — he donated the maximum amount allowed by the state of Maine ($2075) for a candidate running in the Republican primary for governor. The candidate is Jonathan Bush, cousin of George W. Bush and nephew of George H. W. Bush. Here is a screenshot showing Eric Jones’s donation to Jonathan Bush’s campaign:

    The full list of donors to Jonathan Bush’s campaign can be found at https://mainecampaignfinance.com/index.html#/exploreDetails/554869/10/0/51/2026 ; click where it says “2026 January Semiannual Report“. I have blacked out Jones’s address for a little bit more privacy, although anyone who really wants to confirm it is the same Eric Jones can click through to find it, as it is public information.

    Indeed, a number of Bush family members join Eric Jones in supporting Jonathan Bush’s Republican run for governor in Maine.  These include Former President George W. Bush and former First Lady Laura Bush. Here are screenshots showing their donations:

    The full list of donors to Jonathan Bush’s campaign can be found at https://mainecampaignfinance.com/index.html#/exploreDetails/554869/10/0/51/2026 ; click where it says “2026 January Semiannual Report“.

    In case that is not enough to convince you that Eric Jones is supporting a “real” Republican, consider the words of the Maine Democrats, who state that Jonathan Bush is “push[ing] his dangerous plan to cut health care for Mainers”:

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  • Who Pays the Price in Davis Schools?

    By Jasmine Pettis

    At a time when Davis Joint Unified School District (DJUSD) is asking families to consider closing neighborhood schools, one question remains unanswered: Have District leaders fully examined their own spending before asking the community to absorb the consequences?

    The answer appears to be “no”. Recent salary data shows that DJUSD’s superintendent received more than $427,000 in total compensation in 2024, with several central office administrators earning well over $200,000 annually. At the same time, the District is discussing the drastic step of school closures as a necessary response to budget pressures.

    DJUSD families have been told in Board Subcommittee meetings that there is “no fat left to trim.” That claim doesn’t hold up.

    The two realities of rising administrative compensation and proposed school closures demand scrutiny. Allow me:

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  • The billionaire venture-capitalist backed Super PAC supporting Eric Jones cites faulty time travelers

    Mailer funded by the Super PAC “New Leadership Now.”

    Or maybe they just lie?

    The latest mailer funded by the “New Leadership Now” Super PAC boldly declares: “In 2019, House Democrats voted on impeachment. Mike Thompson voted No.” One big problem: Thompson in fact voted YES in 2019 — check, e.g., Wikipedia.

    So, what’s their evidence? Next to the above blatantly false claim — I want to say “blatant lie” — there is a footnote citation. Take a look at the footnote in tiny print and you will see two citations from… wait for it… 2017!! So, apparently, those news sources were time travelers who knew that Mike Thompson would vote “no” in 2019, except they were apparently very bad time travelers (or maybe they were very bad crystal ball readers??) because he voted “yes”.

    You will probably need to click to read these, but the first date 12/6/17 and the second is also 12/6/17

    Sorry to be sarcastic here, but this is really bad. Bad bad bad. And if Jones doesn’t denounce this blatantly false claim (i.e., lie) in his name, that’s on him.

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