The flatlander published the below article before shortly before the community voted against the Nishi project measure A only 2 years ago. With Nishi 2.0 on the ballot this spring, The Davisite is publishing this article to begin the conversation on this very controversial project.

The Nishi Proposal
By Robert Milbrodt

In our form of government, citizens are the masters and government is the servant.  Yet, the City of Davis has long had these roles reversed.  Measure J, adopted by voters in June 2000 and renewed as Measure R in June 2010, was meant to encourage the City to adopt a deliberative community process.  Such a process would engage citizens throughout any planning process that anticipates significant changes to our town.  At the end of this community driven process, voters would then be asked to collectively ratify or reject their own work product.  That’s democracy.

What would a democratic planning process have looked like regarding Measure A?

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By Jim Leonard

Deception is normal.

We naturally camouflage our behavior in order to protect ourselves and exploit others.

One way to look at it is: good can only appear to be good but evil can appear to be good or evil; evil, thus, has a superficial advantage.

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by Jim Leonard

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A second hand item.

Second to what?

Second to none other than

That voice inside your head.

As if somehow box store items

Are pristine in their past.

Untouched by experience.

As if that whisper of “that’s so mine”,

Knows the difference between new or not new,

You know when it’s yours,

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Despite erroneous media and staff reports to the contrary, the streetlight issue is not resolved.  

The Council will hear the item tonight, Tuesday night, February 20th at 9:15pm.  

If you still have streetlights that glow orange and are bowl-shaped on the bottom, those lights are scheduled to be replaced soon with PG&E’s streetlight brand-of-choice.  The Council needs to hear from residents of the older neighborhoods, where these replacement lamps will be installed.  

Write if you cannot be there:   citycouncilmembers@cityofdavis.org

PROGRESS

We commend PG&E for listening and making progress.  They have agreed to go with a 2700k light rather than a 3000k light.  That number is good, but it is not the light that Davis residents chose in the 2014 field survey,  and despite what the staff report implies, color temperature is NOT the primary issue here.

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With discussions over the June elections heating up, it is perhaps not surprising that discussions about what does and does not constitute civil discourse are also heating up in Davis.

Luckily for us, these rules have long been established, so we need only take this opportunity to remind ourselves of what they are. The devil is in the details, but the basic idea is this: do not commit the ad hominem fallacy. That is, do not attack the person. Criticizing their arguments or actions, however, is legitimate.

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by Alan Pryor and Rick Heubeck

Background

Four years ago three members of the Davis City Council (Lucas Frerichs,  Rochelle Swanson, and Dan Wolk) voted to approve a Development Agreement between the City of Davis and the New Home Company (the Cannery site developer) that granted entitlements to the New Home Company to construct 547 residential units and a Commercial District on the 100 acre former cannery site. Then Mayor Joe Krovoza and Councilmember Brett Lee opposed the project

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