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

  • City smuggles ARC EIR decision onto Tuesday’s Consent Calendar

    Transportation consultant believes ARC may result in new significant impacts or a substantial increase in the severity of significant impacts.

    ARC-location-overviewBy Roberta Millstein

    After the controversy over the approval of the Mace Ranch Innovation Center (MRIC) Environmental Impact Report (EIR) back in February 2017, and after having to pull the most recent son-of-MRIC item from the Consent Calendar (the project now misleadingly dubbed “Aggie Research Campus” or ARC), you would think that the City Council would have learned its lesson not to try to smuggle important items on the Consent Calendar, where items are meant to be uncontroversial and passed unanimously without any staff presentation or discussion from Council or citizens.

    If you thought that, as I did, you were mistaken.

    Readers may recall that the ARC is a proposal for a ~200 acre business park with housing and hotel to be built outside Mace curve on prime farmland.  When the City Council approved the EIR, they knew it was very possible, even likely, that updates to the EIR would be needed in light of changes to the project or changes to relevant conditions, such as traffic.  Now that the City is moving forward with evaluating the new ARC proposal, the time has come to revisit the EIR.

    Staff is recommending that the Council authorize the City Manager to enter into a contract with Raney Planning & Management, Inc. to prepare a Supplemental EIR and to approve a budget for that purpose, to be paid by the applicant.  However, there are at least three potential concerns with this recommendation.

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  • Reisig Endorsement Raises Concerns About Provenza

    As the race for District 4 County Supervisor begins to take shape, we are surprised to see incumbent Jim Provenza advertise that he is “proud to have [Yolo DA] Jeff Reisig's endorsement.”

    To us, it doesn't feel that long ago that we were fighting to bring change to the Yolo DA's office, and so naturally we view Supervisor Provenza's embrace of DA Reisig with concern.

    Lately (especially since the closer-than-expected 2018 election), DA Reisig has tried to fashion himself as a “progressive prosecutor.” We find this hard to square with his record of fighting progressive reform.

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  • Learn more about the draft Downtown Davis Specific Plan

    What do you want your downtown to look like?  How many stories do you want it to be?

    Downtown Davis Plan and Amtrak Study Workshop FlierBy Roberta Millstein

    Here are three ways to find out more about the draft Downtown Davis Specific Plan:

    1. Watch the Opticos Video Presentation to DPAC
      The October 24th Opticos presentation to the Downtown Plan Advisory Committee (DPAC) is available for viewing on the City video archives under  at https://www.cityofdavis.org/city-hall/city-council/city-council-meetings/meeting-videos – click on "Other."  The Opticos presentation at the DPAC meeting begins at about the 05:00 minute mark on the video and goes until 1:02:00. The presentation provides a good introduction and overview of the Draft Downtown Plan and also touches on the Draft Form Based Code.  It is followed by about 1.5 hours of DPAC questions and comments if interested in that part of the meeting.
    2. Community Meeting/Open House – Saturday November 2nd at 1:00 PM
      This Saturday (tomorrow) there will be a Community meeting at the Davis Community Church starting at 1:00 PM. It is for the general public and anyone is welcome. There will be a brief presentation at 1:30, but will primarily be an open house format for the public to come at their convenience. See flier above.
    3. Other Meetings
      Other meetings include a DPAC meeting scheduled for November 14th for committee discussion about the draft plan and two training sessions on the Form Based Code for code users scheduled for November 20th and December 11th. Meeting information is available at: https://www.cityofdavis.org/city-hall/community-development-and-sustainability/planning-and-zoning/downtown-davis-plan/news-and-updates.

    The draft Davis Downtown Plan itself is here: https://www.cityofdavis.org/city-hall/community-development-and-sustainability/planning-and-zoning/downtown-davis-plan. The Draft Downtown Davis Specific Plan and Draft Downtown Form Based Code are available for a 90-day public review and comment period ending January 14, 2020. Public comments should be submitted using the online comment form.

    More information on the Davis Amtrak Access and Connections Study is here: https://www.cityofdavis.org/city-hall/city-manager-s-office/davis-amtrak-access-and-connections-study

     

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  • Davis Post Carbon Association

    DPCAGreetings Residents of Davis!

    Let us introduce you to the Davis Post Carbon Association, a grassroots organization bringing together the community to address climate issues both locally and globally. We want to transition out of a carbon-based economy to a post-carbon economy by 2040. Post-carbon means (1) sequestering more carbon than we are emitting (also called being carbon negative), (2) designing our communities so that we regenerate natural resources, eliminate waste, and live in alignment with the needs of nature. We have six core goals to help the community fulfill this intention before it may be too late for our planet.

    1. Include everybody in our community so we can transition together instead of having to figure it out on our own
    2. Educate each other about the science of sustainability and how to apply it to our lives as individuals and members of a community
    3. Work with homeowners and businesses to help private organizations transition. 
    4. Work with government to help public infrastructure transition
    5. Support labor unions, activist groups, faith-based groups, and other organizations in their efforts to transition
    6. Raise funds to support the efforts of community organizers, educators, project facilitators, and to finance modifications of private and public infrastructure, lands, and operational systems (transportation, waste-management, energy utilities, etc)

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  • As the fires rage and the blackouts continue, Newsom ducks

    The guv sounds tough — but he has no plan. And he's ignoring the only (obvious) solution to the current and future crisis.

    Screen-Shot-2019-10-28-at-8.17.07-PM

    Gav talks tough about PG&E — until it comes to solutions.

    By Tim Redmond

    Gov. Gavin Newsom is sounding all harsh and tough toward PG&E as Northern California burns out of control again and the blackouts continue.

    At a press event that he promoted on Twitter, Newsom said that PG&E’s “years of greed, years of mismanagement, years and years of putting shareholders over people are over.”

    Watch the video: It’s classic Newsom. “We will hold them to account,” he says. “We will restructure” the company when it gets out of bankruptcy.

    And then … what?

    How is that “restructuring” going to work if PG&E remains a privately owned utility that sets up its own corporate structure? How are we going to “hold to account” a company when it’s already in total collapse – and Newsom has no plan to address that except to ask Warren Buffett to buy it?

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  • Soroptimists offer cash grants to women to boost their education and training

    Live Your Dream 2019 updated(From press release) Women who serve as the primary wage earners for their families and seek financial assistance to further their education or training are urged to apply for the Soroptimist Live Your Dream: Education and Training Awards for Women.

    Applications are available at bit.ly/LYDA-apply, or by emailing Soroptimist International of Davis at sidavis@soroptimist.net.

    The application deadline is Nov. 15. This year, the Davis club has $6,500 for grants, which will be awarded in amounts between $500 and $3,000. The top recipient’s application will advance to the Soroptimist Sierra Nevada Region level, where recipients could receive thousands more. The program culminates with three $10,000 awards. Recipients can use the Live Your Dream Award to offset any costs associated with their efforts to attain higher education or additional skills and training. This includes tuition, books, childcare, transportation or any other education-related expense.

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  • VCE Pays Back Startup Loans Early

    VCE_loan_repaid_early

    Pictured left to right: VCE Board member and Yolo County Supervisor  Don Saylor, VCE Chair and Woodland City Council member Tom Stallard, VCE Board member and Davis City Council member Lucas Frerichs, and VCE Interim General Manager Mitch Sears

    (From press release) Valley Clean Energy’s board of directors has announced that the local community choice energy agency is repaying its start-up loans early, years ahead of schedule.

    VCE was formed in 2016 as a joint powers agency comprising the city of Davis and the unincorporated area of Yolo County. The city of Woodland joined later, in 2017. Each agency lent VCE $500,000 to cover program implementation costs with a requirement that the loans would be repaid with interest.

    “Now, after less than 1½ years in operation, we are repaying the loans — far ahead of schedule,” said Tom Stallard, a member of the Woodland City Council who chairs the VCE board of directors. “The agency’s firm financial footing allows us to do so.”

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  • Sipping Nectar

    Hummingbird 2
    By Carey Ann Hunt

    Quickly out of nowhere it hovered in the air

    Not more than 3-4 feet away.

    Me? I just sat there sipping tea.

    The bird sipped too, though English Breakfast was not his flavor. 

    Nectar for him as he lingered there.

    Sipping the red abutilon flowers,

    The hummingbird vibrated, stirring the air.

    The whirr of those wings

    I could tangibly feel it.

    My heart was pounding,

    Hovering.

    Quivering.

    I sat there beaming perched on my chair

    I waited, stretching the moment as long as I could.

    He chest was dipped in emerald

    Ruby throated with opalescent wings.

    His wings were see-through they fluttered so fast.

    Grateful I was to him so close.

    I was enamored of every part of that moment.

    The morning, the sun, and sweet nectar. 

    The breeze in my hair,

    The last of the sweet smell of Jasmine until next year.

    He finished his mission,

    But, before he left

    He flew in right close and looked at me

    Startling me and causing me to splash my tea.

    My heart was racing but my mind was still.

    My body felt like it was vibrating just like those wings.

    That little body, with that much power

    Hovering.

    Quivering.

    The moment grew larger,

    As did my smile.

    His shiny bright eyes

    Gazing right there at mine.

    No more than my arm’s length away.

    I was left stunned as his lifted off,

    His wings left an impression as I closed my eyes.

    Sipping the moment and hovering there.

    Grateful to you little bird for your courage to look me in the eye.

    Hummingbird 1

     

     

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  • Mercer Clinic Pet Costume Fundraiser

    Sweet little Ezra in his dinosaur costumeLast chance to get a pet costume from fundraising effort by Mercer Clinic for the Pets of the Homeless at this Saturday’s Farmer’s Market, Oct. 26th

    There will be a Halloween themed fundraising effort for donations to be held at Farmer's Market this Saturday, Oct. 26th by Mercer Clinic for the Pets of the Homeless. They will have a variety of dog Halloween costumes along with toys for cats and dogs. For more information on Mercer Clinic see our website at mercerclinic.org or call (530) 756-5165.

     

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  • UCD teaches sustainable planning, but does not practice it

    If UC Irvine can produce affordable on-campus student housing, so can UCD

    UC-Irivine-3buildings

    Mesa Towers, UC Irvine: three 6-story buildings, opened Fall 2016, houses 800+ students

    By Eileen Samitz

    As a follow up to the recent excellent article by Roberta Millstein on the need for UCD to build far more on- campus student housing, I wanted to add to this subject and a few more points which were raised at the Oct. 22 City Council meeting regarding the UC finance overview presentation.

    To begin with, I completely agree with Roberta’s key message that our community needs to keep pressing UCD to build far more on-campus housing than the City-UCD MOU is trying to get away with, 2) much higher density housing on campus needs to be built than UCD is building, and 3) the projects need to be built sooner than later and not dragged out until 2033 as the MOU allows for at least 3,000 of the 6,000 beds to be provided by UCD.

    With UCD having 5,300 acres with a 900-acre campus. UCD is the largest UC in the system. However, UCD is unwilling to provide at least 50% on-campus housing like the other UCs have committed to. Why not?

    Further, UCD had its second biggest fundraising ever this past year, raising $234 million dollars. Yet, why isn’t any of it going towards helping to building far more, and higher density housing on-campus as it is fully capable of?

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