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Davis Teachers Respond To DJUSD Budget Crisis
SchoolsThe Davis School District is facing a multiyear, multimillion dollar shortfall due to the state’s economic and budget crisis. Complicating the already problematic nature of the state’s economy is the political impasse that has gripped the state’s budget process. That has meant not only are local districts facing budget cuts, they are dealing with large unknowns. The word leaking out of Sacramento is that the big five have reached a tentative agreement that could be announced today. Many are expected the results of that to be devastating to local governments and schools.
And Still We Have No Budget
CaliforniaI rarely comment in this space about comments to other posts, but given that I am trying to bring together multiple threads into a single article, it actually works quite well.
The anonymous commenter said:
Drastic Measures and Grandiose Gestures by the School District
SchoolsThe headlines that came out of Thursday’s school board meeting were dramatic with the Superintendent suggesting that the top four administrators would take double the pay cut that they were asking teachers to take in order to send the message that they were serious about the school budget crisis. Beneath those sensational headlines is a truth that is every bit as bleak but perhaps not quite as sexy.
The truth is somewhere in between here. The first factor that people need to understand is that in some ways what was discussed on Thursday night was the choice of the school board. They were presented options the previous week and could have chosen to self-qualify.
General Plan Updating Process Begins
General PlanOn Tuesday night, the Davis City Council will start take steps towards developing a plan of attack for the next General Plan Update. According to the staff report:
A General Plan update would potentially address all of the Council goal categories of: Infrastructure; Fiscal stability; Downtown Davis; Housing; Sustainability; Safety and Health; Organizational Strength; Civic Engagement; and Long-Term Visioning.
Commentary: The limits of Open Government and the Council’s Right to Know
OPen GovernmentA few weeks the Davis City Council was trying to decide to what extent they had the right to demand to read the Ombudsman’s Investigation into the Yolo County Grand Jury report. In a lot of ways it was a strange discussion. Let us forget for a moment about the content of that report and focus only on the process at hand.
City Attorney Harriet Steiner ruled two things. First, that the city manager had the right to determine whether or not the council could see something. Second, that if the council did view these personnel matters or a report deemed to cover a personnel matter, it could subject the city to liability. In essence, the city attorney deemed that in a city manager model, the council has no more right to view personnel records than members of the public.
Basically the city council hires the city manager. They are responsible for evaluating his performance. It was that evaluative process that led to the city manager’s new contract that was approved last week in open session. However, as councilmember Sue Greenwald and Councilmember Lamar Heystek asked, how is the council supposed to evaluate the city manager, if they cannot review his work product. If they are in the dark about certain reports deemed “personnel matters,” how can they determine how well the city manager has done his job?
Vanguard Radio Tonight
Vanguard Radio Tonight at 6 pm Vanguard Radio on KDRT 95.7 FM will have two representatives from…
Former UC Davis Officer Claims Violation of Settlement Agreement
Documentary Evidence Suggests University Failed to Adhere to Their Terms of Agreement
UC DavisOn Monday the Vanguard ran a story on the lawsuit filed by former UC Davis police Officer Calvin Chang. The story has since been covered in detail in the California Aggie and mentioned briefly on the Davis Enterprise website. At this point, one of the hang ups has been that the university has not been served and thus not officially notified with the complaint. So at this point they cannot respond.
Read My Lips… No New Taxes?
City Needs To Solve Its Fiscal Problems First Before Going to the Taxpayers for a Renewal of Existing Taxes
At the risk of sounding somewhat well… Republican, there is something to this at least from the standpoint of local government. It is really not that I am opposed to new taxes, it is that there needs to be some incentive for the city to negotiate hard this with the various bargaining units. Let us back up a few steps first here.
Former Officer Files Suit Against UC Davis Charging Racial and Sexual Orientation Discrimination
UC DavisFormer UC Davis Police Officer Calvin Chang has filed a lawsuit against the UC Regents and UC Davis Police Chief Annette Spicuzza alleging complaints of racial and sexual orientation discrimination, housing discrimination, and retaliation.
In the lawsuit, Officer Chang, who is openly gay, alleges that he was subject to harassment including homophobic slurs and a death threat while serving as a police officer for the UC Davis Police Department. Officer Chang was at the time of his hire the only Asian-American officer on the campus and the first openly gay officer.
Vanguard Analysis: Enterprise Obscures Where It Should Shine A Light
City of DavisThe vote on Tuesday night on the B Street project was admittedly a bit confusing in its conception. However, the Davis Enterprise article made it more so, not less so.
The title of the article was “Project will get another chance.”
In a technical sense, that may be true. Council by a 3-1 vote passed a motion that would allow the applicant Marie Ogrydziak to bring her project back without having to pay additional fees. However, the motion directed her to work with the neighbors (who were overwhelmingly against the current project) and change her plans.
