Category: Uncategorized

Noise complaints, a petition, and City response

By Colin Walsh

On May 20 the City of Davis disabled the large brand new zipline playground equipment in Arroyo Park apparently in response to noise complaints from neighbors. The substantial over 30-foot-long equipment was only just opened at the end of April but was already quite popular with parents and kids.  Since closure just 4 days ago, already a change.org petition titled “Permanently bring back the Arroyo Park ziplines” has received 248 signatures.

Neighborhood sentiment was easily visible on Facebook and Nextdoor with many posts urging the City to reopen the Zipline.

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Yes On L Campaign Investigation Continues

By Colin Walsh

The Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) have ended an investigation into the No on Measure L WDAAC. The City of Davis provided Davisite.org a letter from the FPPC addressed to Alan Pryor “No on Measure L – No on West Davis Active Adult Community” Treasurer that states, “The Enforcement Division will not pursue this matter further.” This puts to an end an investigation into the No on L campaign committee that was originated by WDAAC developer and the Davis City Council.

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by Colin Walsh

In an item on tonight’s City Council agenda, Developers and City staff are asking the City Council to relax requirements at the Target shopping center on 2^nd Street by Mace. 10 years in, there are still store fronts there that have never held a store. Sadly, the City staff report urging the change has huge glaring problems.

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PART II: Obfuscation and Misdirection

By Colin Walsh

Part I of the article series “Vanguard Slams the Door on Required Public Disclosures” discussed information requests made by Rik Keller to the Davis Vanguard seeking in-person inspection of documents required by federal law to be made available and the Vanguard’s refusal to provide these, both figuratively and literally slamming the door in the face of these requests. This information request is directly connected to the investigative work that Keller and others (including myself) have been performing to publicly document possible ethical and legal violations by both the Vanguard and the Davis City Council in relation to a planned upcoming fundraiser that the Vanguard has advertised, Keller and others have also publicly called for the Vanguard to adopt principles/policies/guidelines regarding ethical journalistic practices and funding/donor transparency, including standards and guidelines advocated by the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) and the Institute for Nonprofit News (INN).

After the Davisite published Part I of this series, the Vanguard posted some of the tax records Keller requested to www.davisvanguard.org. On the face of it this may seem responsive to the requests and the previous article, but there is more to the story.

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By David Kupfer

This festival was absolutely the first of its kind some 50 years ago, an art happening/educational event produced for and by students to advance alternative ideologies and enjoy enlightening music and speakers, all focused around a shared appreciation and worship of our Mother Earth home planet.  It presaged Earth Day which occurred around the globe the following year and continues to this day. In the turbulence of the late 60s, a beautiful form of community expression manifested that lives on today. I grant you the nudity and clouds of weed smoke have disappeared due to the University’s prudish conservative character, but the spirit goes on.

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PART I: Vanguard Slams the Door on Required Public Disclosures

By Colin Walsh

On Friday, May 3rd, David Greenwald of the “The People’s Vanguard of Davis,” a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt company, refused to turn over nonprofit tax documentation. This appears to violate U.S Department of Treasury regulations and adopted Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidelines. As stated on the IRS website [my emphasis]: “tax-exempt organizations must make available for public inspection certain annual returns and applications for exemption, and must provide copies of such returns and applications to individuals who request them. Copies usually must be provided immediately in the case of in-person requests, and within 30 days in the case of written requests.” The IRS website provides more detail about the types of documentation that 501c3 nonprofits like the Vanguard are required to provide.

On Friday afternoon at about 4:10PM, Rik Keller and I visited the Vanguard office, located on the second floor of 221 G Street in downtown Davis. David Greenwald opened the door shortly after Keller knocked. At first it looked as though Greenwald would invite us in as he has previous times I have visited the Vanguard offices, but as we stepped forward Greenwald moved to block the entrance.

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Cartoon by Druiddraws 

By Roberta Millstein, Rik Keller, and Colin Walsh

Having raised concerns about the Davis Vanguard’s upcoming fundraising event in previous Davisite articles (see here, here, and here), we were gratified to see the Davis Enterprise bring the full moral authority of actual journalists to bear on our concerns regarding ethics and access in a pair of Sunday articles, one by reporter Tanya Perez and one a stinging “Our View” editorial op-ed.

We note that the advertisement of this event has undergone a number of changes subsequent to the publication of each of our articles and our comments at the Davis City Council meeting of April 23rd. The event went from having Mayor Brett Lee as a “host,” to having four councilmembers “featured” with each speaking and participating in a Q & A session (with Will Arnold there “in spirit”). And now it has been scaled back to a speaking-only event with no mention of Q & As. The Enterprise’s coverage of this event suggests that event will be even more attenuated than that, with Councilmember Lucas Frerichs saying that he can “only stay a short time at this event because he has another to attend” and Mayor Pro Tem Gloria Partida saying that she “might not speak at all.”

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By Colin Walsh

I love summer camp. I was lucky enough to get to go every year starting in about 4^th grade all the way through High School. First, I went to Frontier Ranch and then I went to Ponderosa Lodge both in the redwoods near Santa Cruz. 40 years later I still remember the lyrics we sang around the glow of the campfire with our goofy counselors:

I’ve come back to Frontier Rach just like I did the year before,
and I’m going to keep on coming till they won’t let me come any more

I would go back again if I could. Being in the forest, sleeping in tent cabins, archery, games, campfires – it was an experience that left a profound impression on me. Now as a father I love sending my kids to summer camp too. When they come home they are grubby, exhausted, beaming with confidence, and glowing with the joy of new friendships.

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By Rachel Rycerz

Saw the opening night of DMTC's "Pajama Game." Go see it! Excellent acting, fun songs, great choreography. There were many stand out performances.

I loved Morgan Bartoe as Babe Williams. She had it all — strong acting, expressive, with both humor and emotion, great stage presence, voice, dancing. She and Tate Pollock as Sid Sorokin made a believable romantic couple that you (or at least I) root for. Tate was also terrific all around in this role, solidly establishing his character and playing well with Aimee Rose Santone (a perfect Gladys, fantastic actor and spectacular dancer) in very different dynamics than their pairing as Phoebus and Esmerelda in Hunchback of Notre Dame. He also had a terrific duet with himself in "Hey There" (Go see it!).

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By Colin Walsh

I am writing this for my daughter. I mean that in several senses. She is becoming aware of the environmental crisis her generation faces and she wants to do something about it. At 11 she is already a person of action and she has been inspired to by Greta Thunberg. I am writing because my daughter is inspiring me.

I am also writing because, she is right, we need to do something. Actually, we need to do a lot of things.

Last weekend, I brought home these great reusable straws from the Food Co-op for my daughter and it was like the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny showed up on the 4th of July. She wants to live her ideals and I am proud of her.

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