June 2011 - Davis Vanguard

Commentary: With the Budget Passed, Focus Turns Towards Minimizing Impact on Rank and File Workers

By David GreenwaldJune 30, 201142 comments

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The overall tone of Tuesday’s meeting was notably different. Unlike the previous week, there were no signs, the city employees sat quietly and respectfully and watched the proceedings. Did they take heed of some of the criticism from the previous week, or were they simply resolved to their fate?

While ringleader Bobby Weist of the Davis Firefighters sat on the sideline at this meeting, several other heads of unions and bargaining groups stepped up.

Vanguard Court Watch Editorial: Davis ICE Raid Raises Troubling Issues

By David GreenwaldJune 30, 20118 comments

A recent federal raid on a Davis home has raised serious questions, after resulting in a pregnant woman’s miscarriage and property damage that is still unaccounted for. The raid, conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents outfitted in paramilitary gear, was part of an ongoing child pornography investigation.

Shortly after 6 a.m. on April 26, eight to 12 ICE agents busted into an Oak Avenue home, destroying doors and denting floors with a battering ram. Although the agents announced upon entering that they were police and had a warrant, several residents of the home spoke limited English and hid from what they thought were attackers or terrorists. At gunpoint, the agents ordered the residents on the ground and handcuffed them. One terrified resident, a visiting scholar from Vietnam who was pregnant, suffered a miscarriage three days later.

Legislature Diverts Funding From Court Construction to General Fund

By David GreenwaldJune 30, 20119 comments

The legislature did on Tuesday what Judge David Rosenberg had admonished Davis Enterprise Columnist Rich Rifkin about, saying it could not be done, when they moved about 300 million dollars from the court construction fund to the general fund.

Back in mid-April, Davis Enterprise columnist Rich Rifkin challenged the new Yolo County courthouse project, arguing “One area where the state might save some money without too much pain is with its ambitious plan to build 35 new courthouses and to renovate six old ones. In 2008, Gov. Schwarzenegger signed into law SB 1407. It provides five billion dollars for these 41 projects.”

Council Passes Historic Budget 3-2 to Set Aside 2.5 Million in Personnel Costs to Put Towards Roads and Unfunded Liabilities

By David GreenwaldJune 29, 201158 comments

Council was going through what seemed to be the routine business of passing Tier 1 and Tier 2 cuts when suddenly it became interesting on Tuesday night. When the dust settled, the council went from a 5-0 vote to move forward with a proposal to direct the City Manager to restore $850,000 to road maintenance, find $500,000 to buffer an expected PERS lowering of annual rates of return and find $2.5 million in personnel cuts, to a narrow 3-2 victory with newcomer Dan Wolk becoming the decisive swing vote.

The first hints of trouble came as Dan Wolk successfully restored youth recreational funding. Suddenly Stephen Souza was arguing that the city council was going about this budget in the wrong way.

No Celebrating in Sacramento The Passage of the Earliest Budget in Years

By David GreenwaldJune 29, 201110 comments

The budget is on time for the first time in a long time, but there is no joy in Mudville. The goals of the administration are quashed and the only reason the budget was passed was the voters last November allowed a majority budget to be passed so long as there were no tax increases.

Last fall we argued that if Jerry Brown could not fix the system, no one could. At the end of the day, no one can.

Supreme Court Strikes Down Ban on Violent Video Games

By David GreenwaldJune 28, 201122 comments

In an interesting ruling that crossed political and ideological lines, the US Supreme Court struck down on Monday a ban on the sale of violent video games to minors in California, a bill written by Senator Leland Yee.

The Court’s 7-2 ruling, that again crossed ideological lines, ruled that the 2005 law violated free speech rights under the First Amendment, with the odd couple of Justice Stephen Breyer and Clarence Thomas opposing.

Brown Drops Tax Extension, Agrees to Majority Budget

By David GreenwaldJune 28, 201120 comments

It was in a lot of ways an amazing turn of events, as Governor Jerry Brown gave up any hope of striking a bipartisan budget deal on taxes, abandoned the idea of placing tax extensions on the ballot, and instead announced they would push through a plan that would rely solely on the support of Democrats in the legislature.

The Governor’s announcement was unveiled in a joint news conference with Senate Leader Darrell Steinberg and Speaker of the Assembly John Perez.

“Up in Smoke” – Wood Smoke Complaints Soared in Davis last Winter!

By David GreenwaldJune 28, 201118 comments

By Alan Pryor –

For the 2^nd straight year, a wood smoke complaint study was performed in Davis last winter. The results were recently released to the City’s Natural Resources Commission.

As in the immediately preceding year, citizens in Davis were able to register complaints about the smell of wood smoke or the effects it has on them for the last winter wood burning season (November 1, 2010 through February 28, 2011).

Judge Fall Continues to Exclude Late Discovery Evidence in Gang Trial As Gang Expert Testifies

By David GreenwaldJune 28, 20117 comments

Two weeks ago, in the Kalah trial, Deputy DA Ryan Couzens spawned accusations and anger as he attempted to get in testimony from Officer Duggins of the West Sacramento Police Department about a conversation he had with Marco Benitez.

Mr. Couzens attempted to establish that Mr. Benitez, a witness for the defense, was assaulted by Tommy Kalah, a brother and son to some of the defendants. The implication here was that Mr. Kalah had done this to intimidate the witness.

The Eve of the Historic Davis City Budget Vote?

By David GreenwaldJune 27, 201110 comments

The budget vote is set for tomorrow night and this figures to be an historic occasion in Davis. There are still a few issues that need to be played out.

Quite clearly, the council would be more comfortable with a budget that spelled out more clearly what the cuts would look like. However, it appears they prefer to put placeholder cuts on the budget now, rather than balancing the current budget with Tier 1 and Tier 2 and then setting a process to consider options by September 30 – a tactic that Councilmember Stephen Souza would prefer.

Commentary: History’s Slow Arc Towards Marriage Equality

By David GreenwaldJune 27, 201138 comments

Reflecting again on the momentous occasion in New York shows us both how far we have come, and yet how far we have to go. Embroiled in this debate are deep divisions over the role of faith in Government, the separation of church and state, and over who gets to set the country’s morality.

In a way, this debate played out this weekend within my own extended family.

Study Shows the High Costs of Wrongful Convictions

By David GreenwaldJune 27, 201119 comments

It was a study that occurred in Illinois, but it could have been written about any state at any time. The Center on Wrongful Convictions, based at Northwestern University, is one of many such centers that have popped up in recent years as researchers and attorneys become more aware of the problems of wrongful convictions.

This study, conducted by John Conroy of the Better Government Association and Rob Warden, the executive director of the Center on Wrongful Convictions, Northwestern University School of Law, focused on the costs of such convictions.

Sunday Commentary: A Lack of Respect

By David GreenwaldJune 26, 201142 comments

I listened very carefully to the comments on Tuesday night made by city employees. And I understand that a proposed pay cut is going to produce anxiety and anguish. It is the nature of the game. Nevertheless, I saw a real disconnect between what was spoken and what I observed for about four or five hours.

I heard several things from the employees. They felt disrespected by the process and some called it shameful. Second, that they love the city and provide it with a great service.

Council Holds Tough on Budget: City Manager’s Budget Released To Public

By David GreenwaldJune 26, 20113 comments

Despite the heat of the room, the anger of some of the employees, and the length of the meeting, the most remarkable thing about Tuesday’s meeting is that the proposed budget hardly changed. Given what we have seen in past years, that fact alone is remarkable.

Earlier this week, we criticized Interim City Manager Paul Navazio for tardiness in getting the budget proposal to the council and the public. So it is noteworthy that midday on Saturday, he took the time to email the media the final budget proposal.

Volunteers Needed For Bike Parade

By David GreenwaldJune 25, 20111 comments

“We’re looking for a few good volunteers,” said Bicycle Parade volunteer coordinator Dyke Mundy. “We will have over one thousand bicycle riders in our effort to break a Guinness World record. But we also need about 100 volunteers for the day of the event, and for the days leading up to the event.”

On October 2, 2011, the Davis Odd Fellows Lodge will lead an effort to break the Guinness World’s record (set last October in Davis) for the longest single line of moving bicycles. In 2010, the Guinness World Record was set at 916 bicycles moving in a single line. The effort this year hopes to shatter that record with 1,200 or more bikes.

New York Beats California to Same-Sex Marriage… And the Budget… And Fiscal Stability…

By David GreenwaldJune 25, 201161 comments

Late last night, the New York State Senate narrowly passed the bill that will allow same-sex couples to wed. Four Republicans joined all but one Democrat, to pass the measure 33-29.

The New York Times reported on a key Senate Republican from Buffalo who had “had sought office promising to oppose same-sex marriage,” and “told his colleagues he had agonized for months before concluding he had been wrong.”

Police Shooter Gets 29 Years

By David GreenwaldJune 25, 201115 comments

Judge Mock sentenced Ronnie Barahona to 29 years in prison after he was convicted of a single charge of assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer, with an enhancement for using a firearm.

Back in May, a Yolo County jury deadlocked on whether Ronnie Barahona, when he shot four times at police officers, was attempting to kill them as Prosecutor Clinton Parish claimed, or was merely attempting to get away. This followed a failed robbery attempt on a Sacramento ATM that culminated in a high speed pursuit and a subsequent foot chase.

Commentary: City Manager Fails to Follow Instructions on Budget

By David GreenwaldJune 24, 201113 comments

Bottom line: We Have No Idea What the Budget That is Due Next Week is Going to Look Like –

Last week, the Council made it very clear what direction they wanted to go. Mayor Joe Krovoza made the motion, seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Rochelle Swanson, to do four specific things, three of which were to be done in this budget.

Included in that was the restoration of transportation funding to the one million dollar level, the allocation of an additional half million in anticipation of potential CalPERS rate increases to be effective fiscal year 2012/13, and the assumption of Tier 1 and 2 cuts with the exception of the restoration of funding for the ombudsman, recreational programming and public safety reductions.

Commentary: The ConAgra Dilemma

By David GreenwaldJune 24, 201132 comments

Aside from the issue of council meetings running far too late, another problem I have with too many important items on the agenda is that it is difficult to adequately discuss them.

On Tuesday, a number of people came forward talking about the unsuitability of the Cannery site for a business park. They noted the lack of interest in the site and also the problems with Davis in general.

Yolo County Courts Seek To Fix An Error in Juror Instructions

By David GreenwaldJune 24, 20115 comments

The lesson for the courts is clear, never invite me to jury duty. This Monday I was excited to go to jury duty – I have always been called to jury duty only to have my session canceled before coming in.

This time, at least, I made it in the door before the case – which we covered earlier this week – was continued. I went in knowing full well that there was more of a chance of June snow in Yolo County than my being selected to serve on the jury, but I still wanted to watch the process from the inside.

Month: June 2011