April 2010 - Page 3 of 3 - Davis Vanguard

Grand Jury Application Extension Offers An Opportunity To Take Back the System

By David GreenwaldApril 11, 20100 comments

The Yolo County Grand Jury is extending its deadline to look for applicants to the Grand Jury Pool. The Grand Jury plays a crucial role both in determining who gets indicted for crimes and also in terms of investigating local agencies for possible wrong doing.

It was the Yolo County Grand Jury that shined light on problems in the Davis Fire Stations including drunken firefighters sleeping off their inebriation as well as hostile work environment created by too close a relationship between the union and management.

City Staff Pushes Forward on Development As Though It Were Business As Usual

By David GreenwaldApril 10, 201021 comments

On an item that might seem to be a relatively mundane status report on development, a few things really jump out as staff seems to be pushing for new development and following the council 1% growth guidelines despite 362 units that city staff admits have been approved but “stalled” due to current housing market conditions. That’s what the council faces on Tuesday night as it considers an item entitled “Residential Development Status Report” but is actually not merely the informational item the title implies, but rather an action plan that could Davis on a path to far more development in the next three years.

Despite admitting that the housing market is in poor shape, the city would appear to be pushing for 692 units through 2013, a number that apparently includes 362 units that are already approved.

City Council Candidate Environmental Forum

By David GreenwaldApril 9, 20100 comments

The Sierra Club Yolano Group is hosting a City Council Candidate Forum on Thursday, April 29 at 7 p.m. in the Community Chambers, 23 Russell Boulevard, Davis. City Council Candidates will answer questions submitted in advance by the Yolano Group Management Committee on important environmental and community issues and will also respond to questions from the audience. The forum will be taped and broadcast by DCTV on our local government channel.

Forums are a great opportunity for participating in the political process. The environmental forum is intended to be educational and informative, addressing issues important to the Davis community. The public will have the opportunity to participate in the forum by submitting their own questions in addition to those submitted to the candidates by the Management Committee.

Vanguard Analysis: Candidates Forum Mostly a Lackluster Performance

By David GreenwaldApril 9, 20106 comments

Format Also Contributed to Lack of Substance on the Part of City Council Candidates –

chamber-debate-10-1

The community on Tuesday got their first real exposure to the council candidates as the Chamber of Commerce hosted its annual candidate’s forum. For the most part, it was a disappointing affair with poor questions, a difficult format, and answers lacking both substance and real understanding for the underlying problems facing Davis.

Part of the problem was coming up with a substantive answer in sixty seconds to often very complex questions. Another problem was that each candidate did not get to answer every question. For example, Rochelle Swanson never got any of the fiscal questions that she believes will be the hallmark of her campaign.

Vanguard Court Watch on Facebook

By uptownstudiosApril 9, 20100 comments

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DACHA Board Supports City’s Foreclosure of DACHA

By David GreenwaldApril 8, 20103 comments

Last week the Vanguard reported that the city of Davis had initiated foreclosure procedures against DACHA and put the entire array of properties up for bidding, the Davis Area Cooperative Housing Association which had been formed as a cooperative affordable housing project. DACHA has been beset by lawsuits and back in 2008 the city loaned DACHA 4.15 million dollars in an effort to shore up its finances.

That loan reduced the carrying charges for its membership but also brought on more controversy and accusations. The downfall of DACHA appears to be nearing completion. Last year, Twin Pines Cooperative Foundation had won a judgment against DACHA. Because of that judgment, they were assessed with a levy on their assets and have been unable to pay their loan repayments to the city.

Sac Bee Gets Into the Act; Sticks Its Nose into Davis Internal Matters

By David GreenwaldApril 8, 201098 comments

The Sacramento Bee yesterday ran a story under the headline, “Davis Councilman Won’t Budge, May Force Costly Special Election.” In it, the Sacramento Bee firmly sticks its nose into an internal Davis political dispute as Don Saylor who ran unopposed in a supervisor’s race this year, has said repeatedly he intends to remain in office in Davis until he takes office as a member of the County Board of Supervisors.

Writes the Bee: “A city councilman’s decision to stay in office could cost Davis taxpayers $100,000 or more – even as the city faces a $1 million budget deficit. Don Saylor is running unopposed for Yolo County supervisor in June. But he says he won’t resign from the council until he is sworn in as supervisor in January. That could force an expensive special election for his seat in early 2011.”

2010 Chamber of Commerce City Council Forum

By David GreenwaldApril 7, 201016 comments

The 2010 candidates for Davis City Council met on Tuesday for the first time in a debate as the Davis Chamber of Commerce hosted them for a luncheon. Not surprisingly the questions focused on the economic and fiscal environment for Davis.

Debbie Davis, editor of the Davis Enterprise was the moderator for this event that was well attended by members of the Davis business community. All five candidates, Joe Krovoza, Jon Li, Rochelle Swanson, Sydney Vergis, and Daniel Watts participated.

Commentary: Why is the City Council So Unpopular?

By David GreenwaldApril 6, 201018 comments

In 2007, the city commissioned a survey on citizen satisfaction with municipal services. At that time, satisfaction was off the charts with 94% of residents reporting satisfaction with current city services, 83% reporting a positive experience with Davis City Staff when they had interactions, 98% were satisfied with the appearance of the city of Davis, 92% with recreational opportunities, and 97 percent reporting satisfied with the overall feeling of safety in the neighborhoods.

At the same time, about a 47% rated the current financial situation of the City as Excellent or Good. That translated back in 2007 to 70% support for a renewal of the sales tax and 50% support for an increase in the sales tax.

Stanford Study Suggests Davis’ Pension Crisis Has City and Much of State on the Brink

By David GreenwaldApril 6, 201049 comments

Last week the Vanguard reported that the city of Davis was about to take a hit both in terms of pensions and retiree health benefits. The projections offered by finance director Paul Navazio show that PERS contributions rates would climb by about 8.5% on the safety side and a mitigated five percent on the non-safety side.

Using those numbers which are aided by CalPERS rate-smoothing mechanism, the city of Davis is looking at paying out between 9 and 10 million dollars from the general fund by 2013-14.

Will the Davis Fire Department Merge with UC Davis?

By David GreenwaldApril 5, 201021 comments

Last year, the city commissioned the consultants, Citygate to do a study of fire staffing needs. Much to the chagrin of those who have advocated for a fourth Davis firestation, Citygate found that such an expensive endeavor may not be necessary.

Their findings agreed that Davis needs more than 12 firefighters on-duty. However, the report concludes that “In the combined developed area of Davis and UCD, four fire stations staffed with a total of 15 firefighters on duty are wholly adequate to cover the entire area, if deployed as one system.” Therefore, for the foreseeable future there is no need to build an additional station in North Davis.

Commentary: April Fool’s Day Comes Late to the Enterprise

By David GreenwaldApril 4, 201047 comments

Okay I just read the Enterprise editorial on how to solve the “problem” of Don Saylor leaving the council, and my first reaction is that this must be a late April Fool’s Joke. Talk about a solution in search of a problem, this is one.

But apparently the Enterprise has gone the comedic route, because they came up with a hare-brained scheme if I ever saw one.

How Do We Distinguish Between the Candidates? Follow the Money

By David GreenwaldApril 4, 20104 comments

There is one huge question facing the city of Davis. It is not the issue of growth, which while important in this election has largely been focused on the question as to whether Measure J (in the form of Measure R) gets renewed.

No the biggest issue is that of the fiscal health of the city and it will define the entire course of the election. The question question is who will take firefighter money?

UC Davis Math Professor Protects You From Politicians And Experts In New Book, Survival Guide For Outsiders

By David GreenwaldApril 3, 20101 comments

“We are easy marks for those who want to control what we believe. So, we must be on guard, questioning our own assumptions and watching for the tricks of manipulators….we should be cultivating more humility and less certainty.” – Sherman K. Stein

Have you ever been listening to the news, and the statistics in the story don’t make sense to you? Sherman K. Stein would say you’re on the right path – at least, you’re questioning what you hear.

In his new book, Survival Guide for Outsiders: How to Protect Yourself from Politicians, Experts and Other Insiders, Stein offers wide-ranging information to the layperson on how the media, government and other organizations use fuzzy math and data to push their agendas. Dr. Stein is a professor emeritus of mathematics at UC Davis.

Furor Emerges Over Short Pedroia Sentence; Woodland Mayor’s Letter

By David GreenwaldApril 3, 201044 comments

In a county where many complain about disparate treatment in the Criminal Justice System between people who are white and of privilege and those who are minorities, the 8 month sentence that Brett Pedroia received for performing multiple sex acts with a minor has stuck out for quite some time.

The fact of the matter is that not only is Mr. Pedroia the brother of Red Sox second baseman and former MVP and Rookie of the Year Dustin Pedroia, but his family is a prominent and respected family in the business community of Woodland.

Poll: Expansion of Parcel Tax Possible; County Tax Unlikely to Pass

By David GreenwaldApril 3, 201015 comments

44% Give a Positive Response to Davis School Board; City Council only Gets a 21% Positive Rating –

A poll conduct on March 13 and 14 by Ziegler Associates was presented Thursday night at the Davis School Board Meeting. Jay Ziegler who conducted the poll told the school board that an amazing statistic was the 86% of those polled who agreed with the statement, “parcel tax is a small price to pay for our schools.”

He believes that it is possible that the district could get the voters to approve a $600 parcel tax measure if they are convinced it is needed to maintain some of the existing school programs.

Neighbors Ask For More Assurances on Willowbank Fearing the Weakness of Relying on Developer Agreement

By David GreenwaldApril 2, 20104 comments

Swainson Hawk Incident Illustrates the Futility of Relying on Developer Agreements –

On March 16, the Davis City Council by a series of 3-2 votes approved the Willowbank Park development with some proposed changes that Councilmember Stephen Souza helped put into place. At the time the neighbors while seemingly appreciative of those proposed changes, were leery of the council doing this without ironclad assurances that they would be enforceable and carried out.

The problem here is that while developer agreements are binding, they are only binding between the council and the developer. There is no assurance to the neighbors that conditions will be adhered to. Moreover, as one neighbor raised this past Tuesday, by going ahead with the project before the council even saw concrete proposals for the townhomes, the council was effectively surrendering its leverage.

City Puts DACHA Up For Sale

By David GreenwaldApril 2, 201018 comments

In December, the Davis City Council behind closed doors approved bringing foreclosure procedures against DACHA. Now in the Davis Enterprise is the public notice of the public sale of DACHA.

The notice in part reads, “Davis Area Cooperative Housing Association, A California Nonprofit Corporation, as Trustor, in favor of Redevelopment Agency of The City of Davis as Beneficiary, WILL SELL AT PUBLIC AUCTION TO THE HIGHEST BIDDER.”

Yolo County District Attorney Re-Opens Investigation into Gutierrez Shooting

By David GreenwaldApril 1, 201056 comments

The Vanguard has received word that the District Attorney’s Office is re-opening the investigation into the shooting of Luis Gutierrez. At this time, the Vanguard is uncertain what that entails.

Last week, the Vanguard ran a story that questioned the official version of events based on the location of several bullet strikes in relation to where Mr. Gutierrez was eventually killed on the street adjacent to the south sidewalk on the Gum Ave overpass over Highway 113. Based on that story, the Vanguard requested additional information from the county assuming that the investigation of the Office of District Attorney was complete.

City Fuse is Lit on Retirement Benefits

By David GreenwaldApril 1, 201010 comments

Mixed into the discussion on Tuesday night on organizational restructuring and additional budget cuts by the city as the result of the failure to achieve the cost-savings needed through the recent round of employee bargaining agreements, was a very alarming discussion on what will become sky-rocketing costs for city retirees.

It appears based on the calculations that the city is looking at as much as four to six million dollars in additional costs for retirees over the next five years. That will put a huge strain on the yearly budget and probably force additional service cuts considering projections of a fairly flat revenue. All of this will be to pay for increases to employee compensation from the middle part of the last decade.

Month: April 2010