March 2010 - Page 2 of 4 - Davis Vanguard

Federal Court Judge Denies NewPath’s Motion for Preliminary Injunction

By David GreenwaldMarch 20, 201013 comments

Federal District Court Judge Garland Burrell quickly denied NewPath’s motion for a preliminary injunction. The ruling is tentative and NewPath could attempt to argue and convince the judge to change his mind, but given the rationale by the judge, it seems highly unlikely that he would.

In part, in order to prevail on a preliminary injunction, the plaintiff has to show not only irreparable harm from changing the status quo, but also that they are likely to prevail in the ultimate litigation. The Judge ruled that there is no evidence that shows that they are likely to prevail. He concluded, “Since NewPath has not made a “clear showing” that it is entitled to the preliminary injunctive relief it seeks, NewPath’s motion for a preliminary injunction is DENIED.”

Five Candidates For Davis City Council

By David GreenwaldMarch 19, 201054 comments

In 2008, Davis elected three incumbents to the Davis City Council, meaning that the Davis City Council from 2008 to 2010 would be the same as the one from 2006 to 2008. That will not be the case this year, as neither Mayor Ruth Asmundson nor Councilmember Lamar Heystek will seek re-election.

Moreover, Mayor Pro Tem Don Saylor who will be Mayor in June, will leave the council at the end of the year as he is now Supervisor Elect Don Saylor having not drawn an opponent for the June election. He will be seated in January. Most likely, that will mean the new council will have to appoint a new mayor and a new councilmember, which should make for some interesting times.

Vanguard Analysis and Commentary on Ballot Arguments Submitted for the Sales Tax Measure

By David GreenwaldMarch 19, 20108 comments

Yesterday we looked at the new Measure J arguments and impartial analysis including the ballot argument against Measure R (2010’s Measure J). Today we will examine the sales tax measure.

As we have previously argued, back in 2004 when the original half-cent sales tax measure was proposed, the city had told the public that this measure would ensure continued city services and it looked at a variety of expansions of city services. The city argued at the time that without passage of this measure, there would be a huge cutback in the provision of services.

Campaign Issue: Process, Process, Process

By Elaine Roberts MusserMarch 19, 20103 comments

By E.A. Roberts –

The upcoming Davis City Council race is shaping up to be an interesting one. Lamar Heystek has elected not to run again, as has current Mayor Ruth Asmundson. Don Saylor may give up his seat and position as Mayor Pro-Tem on the City Council if he becomes a County Supervisor. Even Sue Greenwald was toying with the idea of running against Don Saylor for County Supervisor. It is almost as if the incumbents are deserting a sinking ship!

There has been much talk about the crushing workload of City Council members, for virtually no pay; and the partisan bickering with colleagues that makes sitting on the City Council particularly unpleasant. Essentially it has been posited that being on the City Council is a thankless job, with little in the way of rewards. That is unless a Council member has higher political aspirations, and is using his/her seat on the City Council as a launching pad to bigger and better things.

Whitcombe’s Son Signs Ballot Statement Against Measure J Renewal

By David GreenwaldMarch 18, 201027 comments

Vanguard Examines Measure R Ballot Statements –

Friday was the deadline for ballot statements in the two Measures that will be on the ballot for Davis voters. Today we will look at Measure R, which is the new Measure J’s designation.

Given the popularity of Davis seminal land use ordinance which requires voter approval on projects that the Council has approved which would convert agricultural land to urban uses, and to develop any land which is outside of the current boundaries of the city.

A Closer Look At City’s Reorganization Plan

By David GreenwaldMarch 18, 20101 comments

As we reported yesterday, due to the decision by council to attempt actually craft and wordsmith a development agreement at Willowbank rather than having staff make changes and come back to council for approval, the city has put off discussion of a reorganization plan and the budget for two more weeks.

While from a policy standpoint this is unfortunate, it does allow us time to evaluate both the proposed budget and organizational changes proposed by City Manager Bill Emlen.

City Priorities Off as Development Prioritized Over Urgent Budget Crisis

By David GreenwaldMarch 17, 201021 comments

Council Rams Through Development by 3-2 Vote While Re-Writing It From the Dais –

Last night, the Davis City Council spent three hours changing the development at Willowbank on the fly. Developers and city staff came forward with some last second changes to close the gap between developers and neighbors. However, there were still outstanding issues that remained. Nevertheless the city council through a series of 3-2 votes with Councilmembers Sue Greenwald and Lamar Heystek dissenting, approved the Willowbank Development with new proposals and new language.

One of the key new provisions was the incorporation of townhouses into one of the design features rather than standalone homes. Everyone found the proposal intriguing, but Councilmember Sue Greenwald and Lamar Heystek repeatedly asked for a more concrete proposal before approval. When the council proceeded to push through the item anyway, they voted against the project.

Heystek Introduces Strong Hate Crimes Resolution

By David GreenwaldMarch 17, 201050 comments

In an unusual move, Councilmember Lamar Heystek went to the podium during public comment to read his hate crime resolution into the record. He wanted to introduce the measure at 7 pm during public comment rather than the anticipated 11 pm or midnight when it would have been introduced had he followed normal protocol and introduced it during long range calendar items.

Mr. Heystek urged the council to act quickly in light of the most recent hate attack on campus Monday, in which a fifth swastika was found on the UC Davis Campus.

Co-Op Board Unanimously Rejects Boycott of Israel

By David GreenwaldMarch 17, 201020 comments

It had become a burning issue within a segment of the Davis Community, a proposed initiative that would authorize a Co-Op boycott of products made in Israel. Ultimately, the board has unanimously rejected such a boycott in a strongly worded resolution.

Among the reasons the resolution cites is that even the talk of the boycott has brought about disruption of the everyday business of the Davis Food Co-Op (DFC):

Commentary: Poor Timing For Duffel’s Move on Nugget Fields

By David GreenwaldMarch 16, 201017 comments

The Davis School District had been holding onto the 9-acre Nugget Fields, a parcel of land that was donated by the original developers of Wildhorse in the mid-1990s for use as a future elementary school. However, the district never needed the additional school and it has been used as soccer fields.

In 2008, the school district formed a 7/11 Committee, an advisory committee pursuant to California Ed Code which governs the use and sale of surplus school district properties to advise the school district regarding an alternative use for District surplus or real property prior to its disposition by sale, lease, or rental. According to Ed Code, this committee shall consist of not less than seven (7) nor more than eleven (11) members. The committee must represent a cross-section of the community.

Latest Hate Crime Attack Stuns UC Davis Community

By David GreenwaldMarch 16, 20103 comments

Another Swastika Found in UCD Dorm Hallway –

The rash of hate related incidents continued on Sunday nigh as police received a report from a resident adviser in Kearney Hall about a 5 inch by 3 inch swastika cavered into a bulletin board.

According to police, the swastika may have been carved into the bulletin board earlier but covered by fliers. As part of the investigation, the police department took crime scene photos and fingerprints and removed the bulletin board as evidence.

Hess Out As Community Development Director

By David GreenwaldMarch 15, 201052 comments

The rumors had been flying for two weeks from reliable sources that Community Development Director Katherine Hess would be making some sort of a lateral move out of the Community Development Department. The rumors heated up last week but City Manager Bill Emlen did not return calls from the Vanguard on Friday.

The Davis Enterprise however, reported this development buried deep within their story on the proposed elimination of the Recreation and Parks Department as a way to close a 1.7 million dollar hole in the 2010/11 budget.

City Proposes Elimination of Parks and General Services Department As Means of Reducing Ongoing Deficit

By David GreenwaldMarch 15, 20107 comments

The failure of the city to properly create the type of ongoing savings needed to balance its budget during the contract negotiations and the newly signed MOUs with the bargaining units, now means the wholesale elimination of departments and positions within the departments.

The city will have a budget workshop on Tuesday where it will fully discuss the options for reducing what is now being characterized as a 1.7 million dollar deficit, one million of which is on-going structure and an additional 785,000 dollars are due to the fact that the city used the reserves a month ago to close the deficit left by the failure to achieve all the savings needed in the MOU process along with the fact that the city’s budget assumptions were too rosy on the revenue side last June.

Commentary: Time For Councilmembers To Be Paid For Their Service To Our Community

By David GreenwaldMarch 14, 201036 comments

When Lamar Heystek announced on Friday for a second time, “the decision I announced on October 17, 2009 stands” it was a huge blow to those in the city of Davis who have been fighting for fiscal responsibility, against special monied interests, and against future sprawl development.

While many will undoubtedly come to support his decision to focus on his future marriage and family, from a public policy standpoint in Davis it points out a glaring problem in our system, as it is a system that if it does not completely preclude young councilmembers with young families, it certainly puts a huge strain on them.

Hundreds March in Davis For Ajay Dev

By David GreenwaldMarch 14, 201053 comments

Marchers Argue That Justice in Yolo County Has Been Corrupted by Grant Seeking Process –

Over 150 people gathered in Davis on Saturday morning and marched from the train station over to the Davis Farmer’s Market where they gathered in the park and addressed a large contingency and hoped that the nearby shoppers going about their business on a Saturday morning would be educated on what they see as a corruption in the Yolo County Judicial System.

Terry Easley, a family member and one of speakers, told the Vanguard that they had hoped to make the public aware of the way that the Judicial System in Yolo County is set up. “The way that it works,” she said, “has actually been corrupted and compromised by what we term the cash for convictions program.”

Heystek: “The Decision I Announced on October 17, 2009 Stands”

By David GreenwaldMarch 13, 201011 comments

Lamar Heystek announced this afternoon at 4:30 pm in vestibule outside of the Community Chambers that his decision from October stood and he will not seek re-election. He thanked the outpouring of support from community members who signed the “Draft Lamar” petition. He said that this was a difficult decision the past two weeks, but he is placing his private life over his public life. He was surrounded by a small contingent of supporters, his father, his brother Louis, and his fiance Pui San.

Lamar Heystek had originally announced his decision not to run in October citing at that time family concerns. However in recent weeks a group of citizens launched a petition to encourage him to re-think his decision.

Renewing California: The Challenge Of Rough Times

By Vanguard AdministratorMarch 12, 20104 comments

By Jack D. Forbes –

As we all know, our great state is facing terrible times, largely the result of the takeover of the Republican Party by ultra-fanatical and wealthy factions accompanied by the failure of many Democrats to adhere to the pro-democracy principles of their own party.

We have been led into a “Great Recession” nationally because of the continued efforts of the GOP, with Blue Dog help, to undo all of the banking and other reforms of the Roosevelt New Deal. We have been led back into the treacherous policies of the 1920s and even back into the 1890s, with apparently no enforcement of the anti-trust and other reform laws that our forefathers and mothers fought so hard to carve out of a vicious system of inequality.

New Intrigue Emerges: Will Sue Greenwald Run For Supervisor?

By David GreenwaldMarch 12, 201015 comments

While the Davis political world waits on the final decision for Councilmember Lamar Heystek as to whether he will change his mind and run for re-election, a new intrigue has potentially emerged in the Supervisor’s race.

Up until now, Davis Mayor Pro Tem Don Saylor was running unopposed for the seat that Helen Thomson is leaving in her decision to retire from public office and therefore not seek reelection. However, now a potential opponent has emerge, or shall we say re-emerged.

UC Police Continue Investigation Into Hate Incidents As Students Complain Of Slow Response

By David GreenwaldMarch 12, 20105 comments

Wednesday’s silent protest drew attention back to the issue of hate incidents that have occurred in the past month not only on the UC Davis campus, but across the UCs. On Wednesday, 100 students sat in silence on the quad, wearing black and taping their mouths shut.

While administrators and the Chancellor have been quick to criticize the incidents and send out communications, there has been a general sense of a lack of swift disciplinary actions.

Commentary: Leveraged Influence in Davis City Council Campaigns

By David GreenwaldMarch 11, 201019 comments

As campaign time roles around, there is the bi-annual debate over what a campaign donation means and whether certain groups can purchase influence through a process of bundling checks.

It was interesting yesterday morning I had a long discussion about this very topic with a community member who argued it should not make a difference who a candidate took money from if that individual was open to taking money and representing a broad-coalition of people.

Month: March 2010