Month: February 2011

Board to Reconsider Conaway Deal As Criticism Mounts About the Lack of Transparency in the Process

Sacramento-River-stockBack in December, one of the more complex agreements about local water issues was literally rammed through by the Yolo County Board of Supervisors, literally at the last minute.  According to the County Counsel’s office, however, they complied with Brown Act in noticing requirements.

However, Supervisor Jim Provenza did not agree.  Supervisor Provenza told the Enterprise that he had received notice of the meeting at 4:52 p.m. Thursday, which the Enterprise reported was “the same time the county e-mailed The Davis Enterprise an agenda. Friday’s meeting started 20 1/2 hours later, at 1:30 p.m.”

California’s Prisoner Dilemma

prison-reformThe problem of soaring prison costs is nothing new in California government, even as the state faces largely unprecedented problems with its budget.

The recent polling by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) shows that 70% of the voters singled out prisons as a major area where the budget should be cut.  This exists, in fact, across party lines and geography.

“Taliban” Case Goes to the Jury Looking Completely Different Than It Did Coming In

Yolo-Count-Court-Room-600On Friday, the trial of four Yolo County residents charged with assault and accused of being, at the very least, sympathizers of the Taliban, wrapped up and went to the jury.  A Yolo County jury will have to sort through the four-week long trial and determine whether the three men accused of assault started the fight and were not provoked.

When the trial began, several weeks ago, there were four defendants, facing attempted murder charges among numerous counts of assault.  Now, the attempted murder charge long gone, the defendants down to three, and numerous charges dismissed due to lack of evidence, the picture is clearer but still murky.

Commentary: On Eliminating Redevelopment and Re-Thinking Spending Priorities

davis-bike-underpassThere is one good reason that I see to oppose Governor Jerry Brown’s plan to eliminate redevelopment agencies, and that is growth on Davis’ periphery.  Every year the City of Davis passes through a little over two million dollars from its redevelopment agency to the county, in order to get the county to agree not to develop on Davis’ periphery.

It is a tenuous deal, not only for the peril of the redevelopment agency itself, but also because for the county the allure of developing on Davis’ boundaries and keeping tax revenue from either residential or commercial interests may at some point overwhelm the $2 million that the city kicks in through its redevelopment.

Commentary: Does Sacramento Sheriff’s Department Have Blood On Their Hands For Handling of Home Depot Attack?

main_jailBack in 2009, according to the Sacramento Bee’s report, Richard Harden “chased the woman down at the Home Depot on Folsom Boulevard  and bashed her three times with a hammer, sending her to the hospital with injuries to her back, neck and shoulder.”

According to court testimony, when the store security subdued him by taking him to the ground, the perpetrator indicated that race was the motivation behind his attack on the Latina female whom he had attacked with a hammer.

Judge Fall Reduces Bail in Davis Gun Incident

benson-nicholas.jpgJudge Timothy Fall on Friday agreed to reduce the bail for UC Davis student Nicholas Benson, from one million dollars to 100,000 dollars, in order to enable the family to seek mental health support for Mr. Benson while his case is pending trial.

Mr. Benson, 25, was arrested on January 21 after his family called the police, fearing he was suicidal.  The incident, according to police sources, escalated from there and Mr. Benson was Tasered and finally taken into custody, but not before he allegedly made terrorists threats to police while carrying an assault rifle, shotgun and more than 300 rounds of ammunition in his truck.

District Issues Statement About Coach Firing That Answers Few Questions

basketball-courtIn a statement not likely to quell any of the rising chorus of dissent over the handling of the firing of girl’s basketball coach Jeff Christian in early January, the district issued its most direct comment on the situation.

The Coach, his attorney, and the school district finally met this week, a month after the firing, with the school district announcing that it stands behind its decisions to release Mr. Jeff Christian from his duties as basketball coach.

 

Commentary: Sheriff Deserves Praise for Decisive Action on Forensic Pathologist

Sheriff-PrietoThe Yolo County Coroner’s Office Needs to Sever Ties with Forensic Medical Group –

I don’t use this space very often to praise the actions of public officials.  There are a number of reasons for that that we won’t get into, but part of it is the watchdog function that we perform necessarily leads us in directions critical of the actions of those in local government.

We have been critical in the past and will be in the future of Sheriff Ed Prieto, but the Sheriff deserves praise for his handling of the coroner’s office and the firing of forensic pathologist Thomas Gill who worked for the Forensic Medical Group (FMG), a private company the county contracts with for doing autopsies.

Commentary: District Faces Multiple Layoffs and a Crossroad to Our Future

math-chalkboard.jpgThe worst-case scenario may actually be the most likely outcome, based on the reality before us.  On Thursday night, the Davis school district had to plan for that worst case scenario, announcing that they would have to lay off around 61 teachers to close what is now projected as a 7.1 million dollar budget deficit.

Observant readers might recall that the district faced a similar scenario last year, where it was facing 67 layoffs.  They were able to avoid those through a few factors.  The teachers took pay concessions which saved the district one million.  There were a large number of retirements due to teachers who took the district’s offer of a retirement incentive.  And there was fundraising by the Davis School Foundation.

Police Shooting in Elk Grove of Handcuffed Man Should Draw Serious Questions

police-shootingWhile the Judicial Watch covers mainly Yolo County, our goals extend more regionally, and certainly a matter of grave concern are the actions that occurred last weekend in Elk Grove.

What we know for sure is that last Sunday, an Elk Grove police officer shot a handcuffed man in the back seat of his police vehicle.  Initially, the Elk Grove Police Department had provided no explanation as to why the officer fired his rifle at the suspect, which ended up grazing the 32-year-old man in the face.

Vanguard Council Appointee Interview: Steve Williams

WIlliams-SteveIt took a bit longer than expected, but we now have the complete set of all ten candidate interviews.  Steve Williams is the final candidate to submit responses.  Steve Williams describes himself as semi-retired and living in the Wildhorse subdivision since 2000.

He has 37 years of work with city, county, and state government, including working for the City of Vacaville on their Planning Commission, the County of Riverside as a land use planner, and he also spent 32 years with the California Energy Commission.  He is currently working part-time as a Senior Technical Editor for the California Energy Commission; and is responsible for editing research reports going to the Energy Commission’s senior management, the Governor and the Legislature.

 

City Pension Reform: To The Pain

pension-reform-stockIn his Wednesday column this week Rich Rifkin did a brilliant job of laying out the exact problem that I have been harping on for a couple of years now, and that is the entire city model of impacts of pensions has been too optimistic because the assumptions that they are based on – the rate of return – as laid out by CalPERS (California Public Employees’ Retirement System) is too optimistic.

Mr. Rifkin does a good job of showing what happens when the assumption of 7.75% ARR (Annual Rate of Return) is reduced by just a quarter of a percentage point to 7.5%.

UC Davis Whistleblower Tells Her Story Trying to Help Empower Others Suffering the Same Fate

block-joy-1

Last week at the Davis Avid Reader, Amy Block Joy spoke publicly about her four-year-long ordeal, having reported malfeasance in her own department at UC Davis and the treatment she received from her colleagues and the university as a whole.

As she told the audience, she became a Whistleblower in August of 2006, and was asked to be silent while the investigation was taking place.  As a result of that isolation, she wrote a book about her experiences.

A Tale of Two Judges: Fall vs. Mock

Yolo-Count-Court-Room-600We spend a lot of time talking about the district attorneys on these pages, but just as important are the judges.  Most of the time, the judges are sitting back and making their legal rulings.  However, these rulings profoundly shape the cases and the evidence admitted.

Most of the time judges are restrained, but occasionally you see in them glimpses of their true spirit.  It was thus as the first of the closing statements were wrapping up in the never-ending Niazi trial that we got just such a glimpse into Judge Stephen Mock.

UC Davis’ West Village Frenzy: Students Flock To West Village Despite High Rental Rates

westvillageby Amani Rashid –

My dad taught me that only one thing that matters when it comes to housing in college: it’s all about affordability; well that and don’t live under insomniac tap dancers, apparently it results in many endless nights. But with all buzz surrounding UC Davis’ West Village apartments I’m starting to think there might be a little more to it than that.

The Ramble, the first complex of West Village, is said to open this fall, and although no models are open for public viewing at this time, the main office has been remodeled to look like the interior of the apartments and it has already seen hundreds of interested students.

School Problems Are Real, But So is the Opposition

math-chalkboard.jpgThe school district this evening will discuss actions that will be needed to deal with another three million dollar budget reduction for 2011-12.  The district will have a final resolution at their February 17, 2011 Board Meeting.

State law requires that they act to notify teachers that they will be on the layoff list by March 15, 2011.  Typically they issue more notices than are needed and then rescind layoffs once funding becomes more certain.

Chief Deputy Coroner Downplays Concerns About Autopsies Performed in Yolo County

forensic-pathology-1.jpgYesterday the Vanguard learned of a California Watch/ Frontline investigation that discovered that a man who had performed potentially hundreds of autopsies for Yolo County had his qualifications to perform autopsies called into question by an investigative report.

The Vanguard spoke on Wednesday with Yolo County’s Chief Deputy Coroner Robert LaBrash, who downplayed any concerns that there were problems with Yolo County autopsies, arguing that any autopsy performed by Dr. Thomas Gill would have been overseen by his office and had his findings signed off upon.

Vanguard Council Appointee Interview: Odds and Ends

council-appointment

The Vanguard has spent this week running interviews of the Council Candidates.  The timeline is moving very quickly on this.  In less than a month, a new councilmember is scheduled to be seated in his or her first regular council meeting.

This week, candidates are arranging times to have their candidate statements recorded for public broadcasting.

CalFresh Underutilization Means Lost Dollars and Empty Plates For Local Residents

calFresh-200x237by Alex Clark

Special to the Vanguard

In November 2010, the California Food Policy Advocates (CFPA), a statewide organization focused on improving the health and welfare of low-income Californians by increasing their access to affordable and nutritious food, released a report entitled “Lost Dollars, Empty Plates.”  The CFPA’s report analyzes the impact of CalFresh, known previously as California’s Food Stamp Program and federally referred to as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), participation rates on state and local economies.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), California is second to last among US states with regard to participation in the federally run Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and has continually ranked alongside states with the worst participation rates in the country.  The report claims that the lack of participation in this food-assistance program is harmful to both state and local economies, not to mention low-income households.

Vanguard Council Appointee Interview: Part Three

council-appointment

This was supposed to be the last of three articles highlighting responses from the applicants for the Davis City Council Vacancy.  However, at this point we still do not have responses from Steve Williams, so that would appear to be a separate article if we get them.

We do have the full responses from Linda Parfitt.  We are still waiting on the last five responses for Kerry Daane Loux.  So the plan at this point is to have a fourth article with the rest of the responses plus links for the other candidates.