Vanguard Radio: State Employees
Vanguard Radio interviewed Jim Zamora of SEIU who discussed the issues facing state workers in light of…
Commentary: What Does Seven Million in Budget Cuts Look Like?
DJUSD knows what it is like to try to reduce a $4.5 million deficit because they attempted to do so last year. $4.5 million would have meant at least 114 teacher layoffs, possibly a closed school, definitely some ended programs like music, art, maybe da Vinci High as well–at least as they knew it. But while Davis experienced threats, they never had to go through with it. The May revise came in better than the midyear budget estimates. The Democratic legislature restored funding cuts. Davis used one-time monies from its reserves and got a $1.7 million gift and was able to escape last year largely unfazed.
I say all of that because at its core, $4.5 million in budget cuts would have been devastating. Now imagine $7 million in cuts. That is what Woodland is facing right now. That is what the Woodland School Board did on Thursday night, they voted to reduce expenses by $7 million. That is more than twice the deficit Davis is facing right now.
Letter from the Webmaster
By Jesse M. Dundon – Fellow Vanguardians- I hope that you are as happy with the new…
Heystek Joins Vanguard’s Call Against New Taxes without Reform
Back on February 3, the Vanguard made a bit of splash by invoking the spirit of Bush I circa 1988, saying “Read My Lips… No New Taxes.”
In truth, despite how it sounded, it was not a declaration against taxes, or even new taxes. It was suggestion that Davis gets its fiscal house in order.
Focusing the Debate on Davis High School’s Stadium Renovation
Back in December, the DJUSD school board made the decision to prioritize the modernization of the football stadium over that of Emerson Junior High. This has generated a lot of criticism for the school district from a number of different quarters. In general this criticism has been ill-founded and based on misconceptions of funding and other factors.
The purpose of this article is to clarify some of the issues. While there seems to be a good deal of criticism to go around, it should be criticism that is fact-based rather than based on misinformation.
Westlake Grocery Deal in Doubt As Owner Allegedly Reneges on Handshake Deal
Westlake PlazaIn an interview with the Vanguard, the Davis Advocates for Neighborhood Groceries (DANG) say they thought they had a deal. Consultants for Farrokh Hosseinyoun, the majority owner of the Westlake Plaza Shopping Center on Lake Boulevard in West Davis had found a suitor for the Westlake Plaza’s empty grocery store spot.
Enter the Delano Family, owners of eight Bay Area Grocery stores bearing the same name. They operate Delano’s Markets in San Francisco, Mill Valley, Tiburon, Fairfax and Novato, many of them very upscale in appearance. Adding to the intrigue is the versatility of their product and the vast experience of the Delanos in the grocery business and their genuine interest in coming to Davis and Westlake Plaza.
Vanguard Analysis: Davis Fire Has High Cost Per Service Call
Davis FireOne of the big questions facing the Davis Fire Department is the issue of staffing and the issue of whether or not the fire department needs a fourth fire station. Data presented by the Davis Fire Department has often shown that Davis has a relatively low number of fire fighters per thousand people, a high population per station, and a low cost per capita.
The Vanguard’s analysis largely confirms those findings that would seem to suggest that davis is in need of more fire staffing, an additional fire station, and that it is run relatively cost effective.
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Thanks for your donation! On March 2, 2009, the Vanguard has taken yet another big step. Thanks…
District Teachers Face Agonizing Choices
SchoolsUnder ordinary conditions, it seems unlikely that one would find a person more supportive of teachers than myself. I come from a family of teachers, I have myself been a teacher at times, and I believe in general teachers are unpaid for the importance of the job that they perform. Most people who suggest that teachers have an easy job and work only nine months, have either never taught themselves or never put a full effort into teaching. I am constantly amazed that teachers have the stamina to teach for eight hours and then go home to grade papers (no easy task) and prepare lesson plans.
I say this because after reading the full comments from the teachers from Casar Chavez Elementary School who also spoke up during public comment on Thursday evening at the school board meeting, I’m not sure I could really disagree with them more.
Dunning Misunderstands the Need for Local Agencies to Maintain Reserves
The Vanguard has all but stopped responding to Bob Dunning columns from the Enterprise, but his column from Friday is so outrageous, irresponsible, and most importantly just plain ignorant it would be irresponsible not to respond.
The title of the column is “It’s Time We Let Go of Our Reservations.”
It is Time To End the Two-Thirds Rule
In theory the requirement in California to obtain the consent of two-thirds of the legislature to vote for a budget sounds like an idea that would promote consensus building and bipartisanship. I wish I could say that was in the intent, but it was more mundane. The intent was to prevent tax increases from being enacted. For many years it has accomplished exactly that; however as time has gone on, it has exacted a higher and higher price. It has prevented the type of wholesale structural changes that we need for reform to take place.
It has led to gridlock, forcing budget after budget to be adopted late. It has led to unnecessary delay, wasted time, and worse yet, in a crisis outright paralysis.
DJUSD Looks at State Budget Impact
SchoolsDTA Stakes Out Position Against Salary Cuts
For the first time, DJUSD last night began working with real budget numbers rather than rough approximations. The bottom line is that California education took a pretty hard hit and unfortunately, they did not get the kind of full categorical flexibility that they were hoping for. In the coming days and weeks, we will examine some of these numbers more thoroughly.
Word To The Wise: The Foreclosure Nightmare Part 2
City of DavisWake Up and Smell the Coffee!–PART 2
By E.A. Roberts
Part 1 was published Thursday February 19, 2009
Where Do We Go From Here?
1. Stop encouraging the policy of lending money to folks who do not have the wherewithal to repay.
Breaking News: Budget Passes – Maldonado Casts Deciding Vote
CaliforniaAfter an all night session – 45 hours for the entire session – the State Senate voted early this morning 27 to 12 to approve a massive state budget that includes spending cuts, tax increases, and borrowing money to close to $40 billion deficit. California has been at a standstill for the last five days as legislators grappled over a state budget. Governor Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders struck a deal with Senator Maldonado in exchange for providing the third needed vote to pass the state budget. The three Republican votes for the state budget came from Senator Abel Maldonado (R-Santa Maria), Senator Dave Cogdill (R-Modesto), and Senator Roy Ashburn (R-Bakersfield).
Guest Commentary: Addressing Safety Concerns and Design Changes to Fifth St Corridor
City of Davis by Steve Tracy
This past Tuesday evening the City Council considered changes to the design of the 5th/Russell corridor, between A and L Streets. Opportunities to put missing bike lanes on the street and deal with ongoing safety issues have been missed in the past. We hope this time the community can learn from the experience in other similar situations, set aside fear and emotion, and support a decision to create a safer street that will serve everyone better.
In February of 2005, the timing of the traffic signals was modified at the intersections where F and G Streets meet 5th Street. The new timing, called “split-phase” in traffic engineer vernacular, allows only one direction of traffic on 5th Street (eastbound or westbound) to flow at a time.
Word To The Wise: The Foreclosure Nightmare
City of DavisWake Up and Smell the Coffee!–PART 1
By E.A. Roberts
As more heartsick seniors come to me as a volunteer attorney for advice on foreclosure options, I feel compelled to comment on the following issues as I see them:
- Reasons for the plight of our vulnerable older adults;
- How we as a nation arrived at a “mortgage meltdown” scenario;
- Possible solutions to resolve the mess, on a global and more local scale.
Vanguard Radio Tonight
Join us at 6 pm on KDRT 95.7 FM as we continue to talk about the state’s…
Is this When the Planes Start Landing on the Lawn?
CaliforniaIt is ironic that Sacramento chose yesterday to honor Captain Chesley Sullenberger who heroically managed to land his imperiled aircraft into the Hudson River and averted disaster by saving his crew. It is ironic because the plane analogy is a metaphor for what is happening right now in Sacramento. In this case the state is out of fuel and needs emergency money in order to land and avert a crisis.
As Senator Cox spoke yesterday on the floor of the Senate, he made reference to a number of metaphors including a correction of Senator Calderon’s botched reference to “Chicken Little.” Senator Cox spoke about the straw that broke the camel’s back, implying that the state taxpayers could no longer bear the load of the tax burden (a tax burden that by most measures ranks somewhere in the middle of the country).
Inside the Numbers: A Further Examination of the DPD Turnover Rate
City of DavisYesterday’s Sacramento Bee ran an article that found that Citrus Highets and the Davis police departments have the highest staff turnover rates among other law enforcement agencies in the region.
To add fuel to the fire, the Bee recessitates old charges that the climate in Davis involving complaints of racial profiling and the Halema Buzayan case were the prominent if not primary culprits for this turnover rate.
“High-ranking officials from the two departments blame a variety of factors ranging from a new department’s normal break-in period to the way a racially charged incident was handled.”
The Bee quotes Assistant Chief Steve Pierce discussing issues involving the arrest of Halema Buzayan, then 16 in 2005, along with accusations of racial profiling.
