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  • Part 3 Candidate Responses to the Sierra Club Yolano Group Questionnaire for the 2022 Davis City Council Election

    Sierra-club-yolano

    Energy Use and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions

    Introduction – As has been our custom for over 20 years, the Sierra Club Yolano Group prepares a wide-ranging questionnaire and presents it to candidates in races of interest to our local membership. The questionnaire for the 2022 Davis City Council race received answers from all 5 candidates in the 2 of the 5 City Council Districts for which an election is held in November, 2022.

    The candidates, listed in alphabetical order by their first name, are:

    District 1 (West Davis): – Bapu Vaitla, Dan Carson, and Kelsey Fortune

    District 4 (East Davis ) – Adam Morrill, Gloria Partida

    Questions were asked in the following general categories :

    Part 1 – Land Use and Housing Development – Peripheral Development

    Part 2— Land Use and Housing Development – Downtown Core and Student Housing

    Part 3 – Energy Use and Greenhouse Gas Emissions

    Part 4 – Transportation Management

    Part 5 – Toxics in the Environment and Other Environmental Issues

    Part 6 – Waste Management and Financial Contributors

    Parts 1 and 2 in this series can be viewed by clicking on that article's title above which is linked to the earlier publication.

    This is the 3rd in the series of articles and focuses on Energy Use and Greenhouse Gas Emissions and provides candidate responses to the following questions:

    Question #1 – Greenhouse Gas Mitigation for New Development

    Davis has declared a Climate Emergency and mandated carbon neutrality by 2040. Often 70% or more of a new project's GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions are due to transportation-related impacts which are not addressed in increasingly stringent building standards. Some have proposed that developers pay for mitigation of these GHGs because they cause public harm just as sellers of tobacco pay a tax for their associated public harm.

    Do you support in principal a GHG mitigation fee on new developments in Davis and why or why not?  If yes, do you have any ideas how such a fee might be assessed or used by the City?

    Question #2 – Commercial / Multi-Family Solar PV Ordinance

    There currently is a mandatory solar PV requirement for new single-family home and low-rise apartment construction in Davis. However, there are currently no similar requirements for new multi-family housing projects greater than 3 stories or for commercial construction.

     

    Do you support a proposed ordinance mandating solar photovoltaic systems on new multi-family housing, or commercial construction in Davis if not otherwise planned for a net-zero energy use?

    Question #3 – Other Energy Conservation Measures

    What additional steps could be taken by the City, its businesses, and residents that you believe would be most effective in reducing overall energy use and GHG emissions in Davis to meet our climate action and adaptation goals?

    Subsequent articles in the series in the coming days will focus on each of the general categories in Parts 4-6.

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  • Part 2 Candidate Responses to the Sierra Club Yolano Group Questionnaire for the 2022 Davis City Council Election

    Sierra Club logo

    Land Use and Housing Development – Downtown Core and Student Housing

    Introduction – As has been our custom for over 20 years, the Sierra Club Yolano Group prepares a wide-ranging questionnaire and presents it to candidates in races of interest to our local membership. The questionnaire for the 2022 Davis City Council race received answers from all 5 candidates in the 2 of the 5 City Council Districts for which an election is held in Novemeber, 2022.

    The candidates, listed in alphabetical order by their first name, are:

    District 1 (West Davis): – Bapu Vaitla, Dan Carson, and Kelsey Fortune

    District 4 (East Davis ) – Adam Morrill, Gloria Partida

    Questions asked were in the following general categories:

    Part 1 – Land Use and Housing Development – Peripheral Development

    Part 2— Land Use and Housing Development – Downtown Core and Student Housing

    Part 3 – Energy Use and Greenhouse Gases

    Part 4 – Transportation Management

    Part 5 – Waste Management

    Part 6 – Toxics in the Environment and Other Environmental Issues

    Part 1 in this series can be viewed by clicking on that article's title above which is linked to the earlier publication.

    This is the 2nd in the series of articles and focuses on Land Use and Housing Development – Downtown Core and Student Housing and provides candidate responses to the following questions:

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  • An evening with Leah Rothstein

    Document copy

    By Ellen Kolarik 

    It was November 18, 2019 and Richard Rothstein, author of The Color of Law was nearing the end of his presentation to a full house at Davis Community Church.  More than 200 people remained for the Q&A. 

    A member of the audience asked “How can we maintain that small town feel and still deal with our housing issues?”

    The reply? “That small town feel is a euphemism for a segregated community.”

    Those of us that were involved in putting on that event were excited and proud that our community was open to hearing tough information about who we are as a country and as a community.  But, how to move forward?

    Interfaith Housing Justice Davis (IHJD) formed as a response to Rothstein’s call to action.  IHJD is a loose coalition of faith organizations in Davis who advocate for changes in city policy to encourage more affordable housing, the first step in desegregating a community.

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  • Part 1 Candidate Responses to the Sierra Club Yolano Group Questionnaire for the 2022 Davis City Council Election

    Sierra-club-yolano
         Land Use and Housing Development – Peripheral Development

    ______________________________________________

    Introduction – As has been our custom for over 20 years, the local Sierra Club Yolano Group has prepared candidate questionnaires for some local elections in Yolo County.  The questionnaire for the 2022 Davis City Council race asked for candidates' views and opinions on a wide-range of environmental issues of interest to our local membership.

    The questionnaire received answers from all 5 candidates in the 2 City Council Districts for which an election is held this November. Listed in alphabetical order by their first name, the candidates are:

    District 1 (West Davis): – Bapu Vaitla, Dan Carson, and Kelsey Fortune

    District 4 (East Davis) – Adam Morrill, Gloria Partida

    Questions were asked in the following general categories:

    Part 1 – Land Use and Housing Development – Peripheral Development

    Part 2— Land Use and Housing Development – Downtown Core and Student Housing

    Part 3 – Energy Use and Greenhouse Gas Emissions

    Part 4 – Transportation Management

    Part 5 – Waste Management

    Part 6 – Toxics in the Environment and Other Environmental Issues

    The article below reports the candidates' responses to the questions posed to them in the first category, Part 1 – Land Use and Housing Development – Peripheral Development. The following 3 questions were asked of each of the candidates in this category:

    Question #1 – Measure H – Davis Innovation and Sustainability Campus

    Did you support or oppose the development of the Davis Innovation and Sustainability Campus mixed use business park in Davis on the June ballot as Measure H and why?

    Question #2 – New Proposed Peripheral Housing – Projects on Covell and Mace

    There are 3 new proposed large housing projects on prime farmland in east Davis for which pre-applications have been submitted to the City – Palomino Place, Shriners, and On-the-Curve. All will require General Plan amendments and Measure J/R/D votes by the citizens. Do you support these projects and, if so, would you require any changes from their pre-application? If you do not support these projects, why not?

    Question  #3 – Measure D (Measure J/R) Modification

    Do you support any modifications to the recently renewed (2020) Measure D (formerly Measure J/R)?  Why or why not?

    Subsequent articles with candidate responses to questions asked in the 5 other general categories will be reported in the coming days.

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  • Adam Morrill meet and greets

    IMG_5116((From press release) On the morning of September 1, 2022, Huei Young (http://www.hueis-garden.com/) hosted a private meet and greet in her famous garden for Adam Morrill, Candidate for Davis City Council, District 4.

    Huei is well known for her hosted nonprofit garden tour fundraisers. She has hosted tours for the Pence Gallery, MVT's eye testing and glasses program for children in need, Youth in Focus, STEAC (a short-term assistance program), Yolo Hospice, and Shriners Hospital for Children's Cerebral Palsy Program.

    Huei is an avid supporter of Adam. She endorses Adam, “I know that Adam is sincere in his desire to work on solving many of the city’s problems using practical and cost-effective means, and demanding accountability for the results… As someone interested in action to solve problems, he has no patience for kicking a problem down the road, leaving it for some future council to solve.”

    Adam Morrill will be tabling at the Nugget on Covell this Labor Day from 4-6pm. Please come by and meet him and ask questions.

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  • City Council August 30 Meeting – Mafia Bosses Post-Meeting Review

    IMG-4139By David L. Johnson

    The following article is a satire on the August 30, 2022, meeting of the Davis City Council. At the meeting, the council voted 5-0 to relocate the existing zipline in Arroyo Park in west Davis to another location in the park. The zipline is used by children but its use causes a sharp metallic noise which has disturbed neighbors. The statements in the article may or may not be true.

    Highlights

    • City of Davis Consigliere Inder Khalsa argued that using a child recreation facility – the Arroyo Park zipline – is analogous to free speech cases decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. Attorneys at CNN were perplexed by the Davis attorney’s comments. One legal analyst questioned whether Khalsa had walked into the wrong meeting.

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  • Valley Clean Energy (VCE) Appoints Executive Officer

    Mitch Sears

    Mitch Sears

    (From press release) The Valley Clean Energy Board of Directors is very pleased to announce the appointment of Mitch Sears as VCE’s full-time Executive Officer. Sears has served as the agency’s Interim General Manager since its launch in 2018.

    Sears has contributed his depth of experience to VCE gained through nearly 28 years with the City of Davis serving in various staff and management roles. Most recently he served as the City’s Sustainability Manager for over a decade, leading comprehensive efforts to address climate change, including implementation of community energy projects. Prior to that, he oversaw Davis’ Agricultural Land Conservation Program, helping permanently preserve over a thousand acres of Yolo County farmland.

    “We couldn’t be happier to have Mitch accept this permanent appointment,” said Jesse Loren, VCE Board Chair and Winters City Council member. “His leadership and vision during VCE’s formation and launch have carried the agency through many complexities and have positioned VCE well as we step into the future.”

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  • Join the Davisphere this Thursday, September 1

    WeekOne-Event-Overall-Poster-V2(From press release) Join the Davisphere this Thursday, September 1st at Central Park from 4-10pm for live music, beer and wine gardens and so much more!

    Many in our community miss Picnic in the Park, so the Davis Downtown Business Association is bringing something new! This inaugural event series will feature live music, family entertainment, traditional and exotic food and beverage, a beer and wine garden, local retail and service providers, arts and crafts, and nonprofit organizations. Each event will begin with acts from local performing arts groups and end with regional or touring bands on stage with professional staging, lighting and audio.

    Enjoy our lineup of vendors:

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  • Learning from the anti-Semitic incident on 113 overpass

    Anti-Semitic bannersBy Roberta Millstein

    As most Davisites have learned by now, at least twice over the past two weekends, masked men displayed antisemitic banners from a highway overpass in Davis (see Davis Enterprise article for details).

    The banners said, “Communism is Jewish” and “The Holocaust is an anti-white lie.”

    Several local leaders issued responses.  These responses, although all were well-meaning, miss the mark a bit.  I want to try to explain why.

    Chancellor Gary May said: “We are sickened that anyone would invest any time in such cowardly acts of hate and intimidation. They have no place here. We encourage our community to stand against antisemitism and racism.”

    This isn’t false per se, but it’s incomplete.  This isn’t just an act of hate.  As I will explain further below, the banners replicate common tropes (repeatedly told stories) about Jewish people.  Without calling out those tropes, many will not understand, or fully understand, what the issues are.

    Chancellor May is correct that anti-Semitism and racism are connected, but he doesn’t say how.  Again, more on this below.

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  • Move the Sky Track to Community Park

    image from davisite.typepad.comBy Colin Walsh

    The Sky Track Saga really saddens me. It seems like every step of the process has been fraught with actions that discredit our community.

    From the beginning, this equipment was a problem. Any history of an original proposal to update the playground equipment in Arroyo Park seems murky, and there doesn’t seem to have been a  specific proposal for a zipline like the Sky Track. Worse, no public notice was given to the neighbors. There was no proper approval of seating the equipment on a new playground pad and there was no study of noise impacts on the neighborhood for this equipment which was very different from what had been in the park previously.

    The sound impact was terrible on neighboring houses and so, understandably, neighbors complained.

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