November 2010 - Page 2 of 3

What Proposition 26 Means For Davis and Other Local Communities

By David GreenwaldNovember 18, 20106 comments

There is a lot of confusion about Proposition 26, and it is likely that the voters had no idea what they were actually voting on when they approved it 53-47% a few weeks ago.

In general, the measure converts local fees to taxes that require voter approval. The biggest impact will not even be directly on the public, but on fees imposed on various businesses in order to mitigate the impact of their products. Thus, environmentalists fear the loss of fees to mitigate the environmental impact of gasoline use, for instance. In another example, consumer advocates fear the loss of fees that would have gone to public education efforts to address the adverse consequences of alcohol and tobacco consumption.

Can the Plaintiffs Prove a Nuisance Exists with Criminal Street Gang in West Sac?

By David GreenwaldNovember 17, 20105 comments

Earlier in the summer, the prosecution presented witnesses from what they considered to be one of two seminal cases showing that the Broderick Boys Gang represented an ongoing public nuisance to the residents of the safety zone. One of these, the Memorial Park incident, appears to be far more complex than presented by the DA’s Office.

During testimony it became clear that while the victims, brothers James and Reese Hopkins, were indeed injured and injured badly in the fight that ensued at the park, they were also far from innocent bystanders caught up in the gang’s wrath. Instead they went to the park looking for trouble, looking for a fight, and trouble they got.

Twin Pines Files Claim Against the City of Davis

By David GreenwaldNovember 17, 201016 comments

In the never-ending saga of DACHA (Davis Area Community Housing Association), the non-profit Twin Pines Cooperative Housing Foundation has filed a claim against the City of Davis, claiming a misappropriation of public funds, intentional (or negligent) interference with contract and/or prospective economic advantage, and civil conspiracy.”

As President of Twin Pines Cooperative Foundation David Thompson told the council on Tuesday night, “By trying to cover up the DACHA scandal, city staff has now spent about one million dollars in public funds. The million dollars covers City Attorney expenditures; deferred payments or released funds from city staff to DACHA to pay for their legal expenses, city staff costs, lack of due diligence and mismanagement of the DACHA loan and property due to the non-collection of loan payments and delinquencies, etc.”

Yolo County Man Lands 7 Year Prison Sentence for Stealing Chinese Food

By David GreenwaldNovember 16, 201031 comments

Word to the wise, do not shoplift from Nugget, you will end up with serious prison time. On Monday, Judge Timothy Fall sentenced Michael Caddick to seven years in prison for being the lookout in a shoplifting heist that saw him aid and abet the stealing of Chinese food from the Woodland Nugget Market.

This marks at least the third case where we know of a person stealing a very small amount from Nugget and landing in prison for serious time. Earlier, a man faced life for stealing a package of shredded cheese, only to see the Three Strikes provision waived, but he still ended up with a seven-year sentence.

AG Race Remains Too Close To Call

By David GreenwaldNovember 16, 20104 comments

Accusations Fly As Ballots Continue to be Counted –

From the start, the California Attorney General’s Race figured to be one of the most important races on the downside of the ticket. The outcome of this race may, for example, determine what happens with the Proposition 8 challenges, where Steve Cooley would likely be able to find a way to get California back as a party on the defendant side and that would change everything.

Steve Cooley may also be inclined to join other AG’s across the nation in suing on Obama’s health care reform. Kamala Harris, for all her flaws (and there are many), is a strong opponent of the death penalty and has been pushing for sentencing and recidivism reform.

Word To The Wise: The Pension Crisis From A National Perspective

By Elaine Roberts MusserNovember 16, 20108 comments

By E. Roberts Musser –

Normally I stick to local issues, but I spotted an interesting article entitled “The pension time bomb” in the Nov. 19, 2010 issue of “The Week”. It discussed the pension issue from a national perspective, and of course the state of CA was mentioned. The insightful piece was very instructive and chilling.

First, it discussed why pensions are a problem. It gives two basic reasons:

City’s Water Project Faces Serious Hurdles At the State Level

By David GreenwaldNovember 15, 201017 comments

Water Project Could Be Facing Expensive Delays and Legal Challenges That Will Jack Up Costs –

As the City of Davis steams ahead toward approving its wastewater treatment plant, the surface water application submitted in conjunction with the Joint Powers Authority established with the City of Woodland faces very serious challenges before the Water Resources Board, under the Delta Flow Criteria established this August.

Even if approved, the project has the potential to be tied up in the courts for some time. New criteria for Delta inflow and outflow appear to severely limit the potential for any further claims on upstream river water.

First Expert Witness Takes the Stand For Defense in Gang Injunction Trial

By David GreenwaldNovember 15, 201022 comments

The defense called their first expert witness on Friday, Professor James Hernandez of Sacramento State. Professor Hernandez is a former law enforcement officer, having been assigned back in 1993 as a gang expert by the Department of Justice, and having served as a police officer in Pittsburg, California.

Professor Hernandez argued that the Nortenos are not a criminal street gang because they lack central command. They are not organized, but simply appropriate an identity they wish to use. He testified that there was no criminal street gang in West Sacramento and there never was.

Commentary: Governor Schwarzenegger Living in Denial Land

By David GreenwaldNovember 14, 201057 comments

Apparently Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger did not get the memo – he is a lame duck, he is no longer in charge, and even when he was in charge he did a poor job of getting budgets passed anyway. It is time to step aside and let Governor-Elect Jerry Brown have a shot at it.

In case you missed it, last week Governor Schwarzenegger, who is still refusing to be called a lame duck, called a special session of the legislature for December 6 when the new legislature is sworn in. The purpose?

Jessica’s Law Residency Restrictions Face Practical and Legal Hurdles

By David GreenwaldNovember 14, 201023 comments

In 2006 California voters passed what would be the latest in a string of ill-considered laws to protect children from sexual predators. At that time it passed Jessica’s Law, one of the string of laws around the country named for Jessica Lunsford, a young Florida girl who was raped and murdered in 2005 by a man previously convicted of a sexual offense.

Among the stringent requirements was the mandatory registration of “sex offenders” for life, to allow officials to monitor and track individuals, who range from dangerous sexual predators to people who happened to be convicted of relatively minor offenses, as we have seen in this county.

City of Bell’s Lessons Unveil Larger Problem with Auditing of Cities

By David GreenwaldNovember 13, 20104 comments

LA Times Investigation Raises Questions That Should Be Asked About Davis’ Audits –

It is easy to ignore the lessons of the City of Bell and to chalk them up to an extreme example of inattentiveness, corruption, and public graft. It is far more difficult to treat Bell as it properly should be understood, just as Vallejo was for bankruptcy, as a cautionary tale.

However, I believe Bell should be treated more than just a cautionary tale but also as the canary in the coal mine.

Commentary: Why MSNBC Was Hypocritical to Suspend Olbermann

By David GreenwaldNovember 13, 201026 comments

For a brief time last week conservatives thought they had an additional reason to crow when liberal commentator Keith Olbermann from MSNBC was suspended for the audacity, apparently, of proving MSNBC policies absurd.

That celebration must have been brief for conservatives when they were presented with the reality that not only do the commentators on Fox News donate money, but as Rachel Maddow showed with her brief expose, actually cheerlead for conservative candidates and solicit money for them on the air.

City Staff Recommends Nearly 100 Million Dollar Wastwater Treatment Upgrade

By David GreenwaldNovember 12, 201021 comments

At the now infamous July 27, 2010, Davis City Council meeting that dealt with several complex issues and yet concluded at 8:30 pm, city staff presented two current alternative projects for the Waste Water Treatment Plant.

The first was the Davis alternative and the second a Woodland-Davis Regional Treatment Plant. According to the staff report, “Staff believes that either option has the ability to result in a system that provides effective wastewater services to Davis residents and businesses. In essence, neither of the two options would be a wrong decision from an engineering or financial perspective.”

City Will Be Hit with 55% Increase in Pension Obligations Over Next Three Years

By David GreenwaldNovember 12, 201017 comments

In mid-July, Don Saylor became Mayor of the City of Davis. Shortly thereafter, the council met for a goal-setting session. Among the top goals were to “maintain a sustainable budget that buffers the city from state and county fluctuations,” and “consider methods to reduce and/or eliminate unfunded liabilities, such as investing contract savings into unfunded liability.”

To date, the council has done what to meet those goals? Nothing. We have had the Magical Mystery Tour that has sought to remake the city in Don Saylor’s six month term as Mayor, but the most important issue has seen zero progress.

News Goes From Bad to Worse as Budget Shortfall Twice What was Projected

By David GreenwaldNovember 11, 201023 comments

We already knew it was going to be a problem because the last budget passed was largely smoke and mirrors covering up a deficit as high as ten billion dollars. But now we know it is much worse than that.

According to the Legislative Analyst’s Office, a non-partisan agency that scrutinizes the state budget, “Our forecast of California’s General Fund revenues and expenditures shows that the state must address a budget problem of $25.4 billion between now and the time the Legislature enacts a 2011-12 state budget plan.”

Oakland Race Gives Insight into How Choice Voting Might Work in Davis

By David GreenwaldNovember 11, 201012 comments

Assuming that the issue of choice voting is not completely dead in Davis, the Oakland Mayor’s race might give us insight into how choice voting could work in Davis. It would undoubtedly give fodder to both sides of the fence.

In 2006, Davis’ voters heavily endorsed the advisory measure that instructed the city to consider enacting a choice voting system, in which the voters, rather than vote for a single candidate, would rank order their candidates by preference.

Take Back Our Democracy

By David GreenwaldNovember 11, 20102 comments

A House Party –

by Mary M Zhu

Our elections are now driven by massive spending; this is evident in November’s elections, the first to feel the effect of the Citizens United ruling from the Supreme Court.

Of the 74 party shifting contests, 58 benefited from massive contributions from unidentified organizations, corporations and wealthy individuals.

Commentary: Rush Now, Work Later

By David GreenwaldNovember 10, 201013 comments

Failure of Council To Discuss Zipcars Leads to Huge Amounts of Staff Time To Repair Damage –

Everyone complains about the council meetings running too late. I have sat there at 1:30 in the morning, wondering where my brain was and wondering just how in the heck could these guys make an intelligent decision if they felt half as tired and out of it as I did.

I have seen mistakes made after midnight, sometime devastating mistakes because people are just not as sharp, they fail to catch things, they fail to make that critical point, whatever it is.

Plaintiff’s Tactics Draw Ire from Defense, Judge in Gang Injunction Case

By David GreenwaldNovember 10, 201021 comments

The case for the plaintiff largely consisted of police officers testifying, at times secondhand, about long ago forgotten cases which required frequent referrals to official reports and excepted hearsay statements made by suspects, defendants, and alleged gang members. More on this point shortly.

The defense is now in the process of presenting their case and their goal is to go block-by-block to show Judge Kathleen White that the average resident does not believe there is a public nuisance presented by the alleged Broderick Boys Gang. Key words, average resident, meaning non-expert. And they believe, meaning that in their experience, they have not firsthand experienced a nuisance from the gang.

City Misleads Public on Zipcar Contract

By David GreenwaldNovember 9, 201026 comments

City Officials Less Than Forthcoming About Discrepancies Between City Claims and Zipcar Contract –

The Vanguard, which has defended to some extent the city’s Zipcar deal, has now learned that city staff knowingly put out a Fact Sheet that was at odds with the Zipcar Contract. The city staff allowed council to pass a contract when they knew there were problems with some of the language.

Furthermore, the city staff put out information to the public that reflected their verbal agreements with Zipcar but not their written contract, meaning the released information had no force of law behind it.

Month: November 2010