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

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  • Letter: Provenza for preservation of open space and farmland

    EnterprisePic (4) - cropSupport Jim Provenza

    I am delighted to write in support of Supervisor Jim Provenza. I have known Jim for a long time. He is very accessible to the residents of the county. In several incidents, I reached out to him to solve issues with the county. He contacted the right persons and resolved the issues in no time.

    Jim's priorities at Yolo County include the preservation of open space and farmland in Yolo County, the protection of our water supply, and the promotion of services for children, crime victims and senior citizens. He is committed to ensuring that Yolo County delivers essential health care and effective public safety protection.

    Supervisor Provenza has 30 years of county and state government experience, and a long career in public interest law. For the 23 years, he has worked as a special assistant district attorney. He is also a past member of our school board. We are fortunate to have him as our supervisor.

    Hamza El-Nakhal, 

    Davis

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  • Poppenga Letter: Provenza strong advocate for educational excellence

    EnterprisePic (4) - crop     Jim Provenza is an outstanding public servant who has represented District 4 on the Yolo County Board of Supervisor with distinction.  His list of accomplishments is long, but his commitment to providing support for our youngest citizens has earned my endorsement for his re-election. 

         As a current Trustee of the Davis Joint Unified School District (DJUSD), I am acutely aware of the importance of helping every child enter public school with the best chance for long-term success.  Jim serves as Chair of Yolo First 5 and is past Chair of the Yolo County Children’s Alliance (YCCA).  First 5 Yolo’s mission is to assist our community to raise children who are healthy, safe and ready to learn from day one.  YCCA helps to empower our young children, especially our non-English speaking children, by providing their parents access to essential services and helping to develop their parenting skills. 

         Jim previously served two successful terms on the DJUSD Board of Trustees and was a strong advocate for educational excellence and children with special needs.  As a lawyer, he has represented women and children in domestic violence and child abuse cases.  Jim understands that helping children succeed is hands down the best long-term investment that a community can make.  Jim has many other interests as well (e.g., environmental sustainability and protection and programs to support our elderly) but his demonstrated commitment to our children and their families deserves continued support as Yolo County Supervisor.

    Robert H. Poppenga

    Davis

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  • Commissioner receives poor treatment from City Council

    City Council needs to stop shooting from the hip

    CC-re-BTSSC

    The Council in deliberation. Note that the caption is incorrect; "bicycle" should be "bicycling"

    By Roberta Millstein

    The City Council has a disturbing pattern of making shoot-from-the-hip decisions on the dais without proper deliberation and analysis.  This past Tuesday one commissioner, and commissions more generally, were caught in the crossfire.  (There was also a poor decision on pesticides on the same night).

    To understand what happened, you’ll need a bit of the backstory, starting with the November meeting of the Bicycling, Transportation, and Street Safety Commission (BTSSC) – whose members also behaved improperly, as will become clear.

    (more…)

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  • Letter: Delighted to endorse Deos

    Deos-for-supervisorI am delighted to endorse Linda Deos for the Yolo County Board of Supervisors! The election will be held on March 3, 2020. Linda is running in District 4 for the seat currently held by Jim Provenza, who is seeking his 4th term. District 4 includes all of Davis north of Covell Blvd, most of Davis east of the railroad tracks, and all of South Davis. We support a change to the representation and perspective of the Fourth County Supervisorial District.

    Linda is interested in issues that have been ignored or mishandled for many years. Of note is the huge increase in the number of children in foster care in Yolo County. Due to Board of Supervisor directed changes, the number has increased from 388 in 2014 to over 670 in 2019. 55% of those children are placed outside of Yolo County.

    (more…)

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  • Abramson: Davis Vote to Spray More Pesticides is Disappointing

    Spray 2The Davis City Council voted to increase the City of Davis's use of pesticides, with only Will Arnold voting no, on Tuesday January 28th at almost 11pm. This rolls back the Councils previous decision on November 7, 2017 to move the city away from using a range of pesticides. No City Commissions were consulted before the item came to council, despite extensive involvement from Parks, Open Space, and Natural Resources Commissions prior to the 2017 decision.
     
    County Supervisor  Candidate David Abramson provided Davisite a letter he wrote to the City Council following the decision. Abramson is a Candidate for Yolo County Supervisor for the 4th district.

     

    Hi City Council Members Brett, Gloria, Dan, Lucas, and Will.

    I am quite disappointed in the 4-1 decision of council to green-light the pre-emergent pesticide. Had I known this was going to be an action item instead of an "informational item" as highlighted in the agenda, I and likely many others would have been there to speak out against it.

    (more…)

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  • Commissions and Quorum-Buffers

    By Todd Edelman

    The high wheeler bike share bikes are rusting, the tomatoes are hibernating, the persimmons are throbbing, the Creek’s not so full, I-80 is roaring and stinky, the sun’s shining perhaps a bit more than it should… it’s mid-winter in Davis and I was just temporarily suspended from the Bicycling, Transportation and Street Safety Commission (BTSSC).

    Any situation like this is Davis is subjectively-analytical, and dynamically-objective, but there’s several factors at play dealing more with facts (with spin, if only because none of us have infinite context.).

    For now I am going to give what I hope to be an accurate accounting of the quorum piece of the matter at hand, and some suggestions… and then later on (today, tomorrow etc.) will provide some details on activity of the current membership of the BTSSC, including myself:

    Quorum: My position is that this didn’t have to be an issue at all, or at the very least less of one.

    (more…)

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  • Gun Violence is the Focus of February Programs at Davis Methodist

    Moms Demand Action, a grassroots movement for gun safety, estimates that, by early February, more people will be killed by guns in America than are killed by guns in other high-income countries during the entire year.  Yet, despite wide-spread demands for sensible gun reform, the number of deaths by firearms continues to grow.  Davis United Methodist Church is offering two programs on gun violence on Sunday mornings, February 9, and 23, from 9:45 to 10:50 at the church, which is located at 1620 Anderson Road in Davis.

    (more…)

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  • Statement from Equity Advocates on SB 50

    Screen Shot 2020-01-30 at 5.54.10 PMReacting to the failure of SB 50 to move out of the Senate, the groups Alliance for Community Transit-Los Angeles (ACT-LA), Public Counsel, PolicyLink, Western Center on Law and Poverty, Public Advocates, and the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation made the following statement:

    It is time to reject false choices and get serious about affordable housing and community stability.

    The debate around SB 50, and SB 827 before it, has too often been reduced to a false choice: protect the status quo of exclusionary zoning or embrace a trickle-down market-based model. While this simple NIMBY-YIMBY binary fuels online arguments and frames the public narrative, millions of Californians continue to suffer without appropriate solutions. We reject the status quo, but we also reject the notion that the low-income communities and communities of color most harmed by the planning and zoning decisions of the past should be forced to accept new policies that fall short of true equity and inclusion.

    (more…)

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  • ARC Biz Park Needs Proper Vetting

    The Natural Resource Commission needs to look into the ARC Business Park

    By Colin Walsh

    ARCBizPark

    A schedule of Davis Commission meetings for the ARC Business Park was posted back in November that included some tentative hearings before certain City Commissions but seemed to omit other important Commissions. Notably absent were dates before the Natural Resources Commission, the Recreation and Parks Commission, and the Tree Commission. It should also go to the Unitrans Advisory Committee.

    In this article I will address examples of why the ARC Business Park must go before the Natural Resource Commission (NRC).

    (more…)

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