August 2011 - Page 4 of 4 - Davis Vanguard

Commentary: Change I No Longer Believe In

By David GreenwaldAugust 6, 201179 comments

obama-change

I really dislike writing about national politics, as it is too polarizing and tends to induce meaningless partisan debate. Sometimes though, you just cannot avoid it, and this week really is about the national calamity that faces this nation.

There was a time when I bought into the Obama hype about hope and change. It did not take long for reality to sink back in. But to be fair, the near collapse of the nation’s financial markets, along with a collapse of the real estate market and the near collapse of the US auto industry did not happen under Obama.

Appellate Court Strikes Down DNA Testing for Arrestees

By David GreenwaldAugust 6, 201124 comments

The First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco has struck down a 2004 voter initiative that took effect in 2009 that required anyone arrested on suspicion of a felony to be swabbed on an inner cheek for genetic material, which would then be forwarded to a database accessible to state and local police and the FBI.

While courts have upheld the DNA testing of those convicted of crimes, “An individual… who has not yet been the subject of a judicial determination of probable cause, falls closer to the ordinary citizen end of the continuum than one as to whom probable cause has been found by a judicial officer or grand jury,” Presiding Justice J. Anthony Kline said in the 3-0 ruling.

As Talk of Another Recession Grows, Reality Must Hit Home Locally

By David GreenwaldAugust 5, 201184 comments

City Employees Must Make Concessions or Face Layoffs by September 30 –

City employees who hope they are going to ride out this council and hope for better days are in for a strong dose of reality. In June, the council approved a budget that will cut 2.5 million dollars in personnel costs from the budget. The hope of council is that concessions can be made before a self-imposed September 30 deadline to avert layoffs.

The reality is that layoffs are coming, as are more cuts. For too long, the city employees’ salaries and benefits increased to the point where they became unsustainable. While many were warning of this problem for years prior, reality finally hit home with the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008.

Redistricting Means Garamendi for Davis and Pain for the Republicans

By David GreenwaldAugust 5, 201125 comments

John Garamendi represented Davis once previously, as State Senator. In fact, every time he comes back to Davis to speak, he remembers the community fondly.

Right now it looks like Davis will fall into the 3^rd Congressional District, included with parts of Yolo, Solano, Sacramento, Lake, Colusa, Glenn, Sutter and Yuba counties.

Commentary: Council’s Mistake Only Makes Their Job More Difficult

By David GreenwaldAugust 4, 201117 comments

Someone asked on yesterday’s column, whether this mistake came from the previous council, and whether I’d be giving them a pass. The simple answer is no, the previous council had a track record for obfuscation that dissolved any effort at giving them a benefit of the doubt.

The citizens of this town have been misled by their leadership for so long on issues like employee compensation, water, development, the economy, and more recently ZipCars, that I cannot blame people for feeling that the council was trying to pull the wool over their eyes this past week when they hired Steve Pinkerton and claimed he was being hired at just $3500 more than Bill Emlen.

Interesting Coalition Emerging Against the Water Rate Hikes

By David GreenwaldAugust 4, 201113 comments

For the first five years I have worked on the Vanguard, the opposition to the water project and expected rate hikes has come from the left. On the previous council, it was Sue Greenwald and Lamar Heystek who questioned the need for the project and pushed back against costs. Had the council majority had their way, this thing would have been rammed through with even less consideration to costs than was done eventually.

So it was not surprising on Tuesday to hear Sue Greenwald pushing for additional measures to seek to contain costs. What is perhaps surprising is that the emerging coalition that is at least hoping to slow down the rate of water hikes looks very different from the environmental community that had fought the water issue the previous four years.

Governor Signs Senator Leno’s Legislation to Curtail Wrongful Convictions

By David GreenwaldAugust 4, 201110 comments

On Monday, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law a measure that would help prevent wrongful convictions. The legislation, authored by Senator Mark Leno, ensures that no judge or jury convicts a defendant, or approves an aggravating factor in a crime that allows for a stricter penalty, based solely on the uncorroborated testimony of an in-custody informant.

The bill implements a 2006 bipartisan recommendation of the California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice – a law that former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger had vetoed several times, despite the fact that similar laws are in effect in at least 17 other states

Council Gets Numbers Wrong on City Manager Contract

By David GreenwaldAugust 3, 201142 comments

Mayor Joe Krovoza has confirmed with the Vanguard that the numbers that were reported for the city manager’s contract were erroneous. According to him, “The term ‘gross wages’ is what should have been used.”

The Council’s news release read, “The contract is similar in structure to Bill Emlen’s, and its total compensation will, at most, represent a 3,500 [dollar] increase over Emlen’s last full year of 2009.”

Another Fatality Reminds Us of Need for Davis-Woodland Bike Route

By David GreenwaldAugust 3, 201111 comments

I drive on the county roads every day going between Woodland and Davis. Even during the day, it’s a hazardous bike ride dodging cars and farm equipment with no shoulder and sometimes limited visibilities and other distractions.

At night it is even worse, and what happened on Sunday night was bound to happen. Terry Tanner, a 71-year old resident of Davis was riding on County Road 99 north of Covell Boulevard at about 9:45 p.m. in the middle of the southbound traffic lane when a car going in the same direction hit him, according to a release from the California Highway Patrol.

Reisig Takes Full Credit For Streamlining Yolo County Court System

By David GreenwaldAugust 3, 201120 comments

In a press release issued on Tuesday, Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig attempted to take full credit for a reduction in court delays that, over three years, have been reduced by nearly 20 percent according to his office. The local media dutifully reported on this, doing little to no checking with the other key players.

As one person told the Vanguard, “He is accepting full credit for something he’s only partially responsible for.” Indeed, if anyone deserves credit it might be Judge David Rosenberg who, as presiding judge, has helped to streamline the functions of Yolo Superior Court.

New City Manager Contract – Too High?

By David GreenwaldAugust 2, 201114 comments

On the surface it would appear that new City Manager Steve Pinkerton is getting a hefty raise over both his current contract and the contract of Bill Emlen, Davis’ previous City Manager. But from the start, both Mayor Joe Krovoza and Mayor Pro Tem Rochelle Swanson disputed that notion.

According to the Mayor’s press release last week, Mr. Pinkerton’s salary, as proposed, will be $188,000 per year. The proposed contract includes provisions that he will pay two percent of the eight percent employee contribution towards his pension, and is required to take three unpaid furlough days in the upcoming fiscal year.

Water Rate Advisory Committee – Paper Tiger or Meaningful Oversight?

By David GreenwaldAugust 2, 20118 comments

Pressure on the Davis City Council to do something about the magnitude of water rates continues to mount. At the largely ceremonial August City Council meeting that met in the morning yesterday and fulfilled the statutory requirement for the council to meet at least once a month, Councilmember Stephen Souza asked to agendize on the next meeting’s agenda an item about creating a Water Rate Advisory Committee.

Mr. Souza told the council it should be styled after Dixon’s committee formed this spring in response to concerns about rate hikes there.

Free Advertising From the DA: Jury Questionnaires on Reading Habits, Does It Cross the Line?

By David GreenwaldAugust 2, 201125 comments

Pop culture brings us the classic moment at the end of Star Wars, where the aging protagonist is about to turn over the reins to his protégé. Looking at his former pupil, Obi Wan says, “You can’t win, Darth. If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine.”

Perhaps the more contemporary example works better, when Keith Olbermann first began his show, then on MS-NBC, and he went about attacking Bill O’Reilly who was the heavyweight of the cable political talk shows.

The Anti-CHA Movement in Davis and the ConAgra Dilemma

By David GreenwaldAugust 1, 201133 comments

An op-ed appeared in the Davis Enterprise this weekend talking about Davis’ “two” vanishing generations.

Before we go much further, we need to know something about the authors of this article, Doby Fleeman, Clark Dodsworth and Jeanne Jones. The article itself does not help much, describing rather nebulously that the “authors are members of the Davis Chamber of Commerce Government Relations Committee.”

Radical New Message From Chancellor Katehi With Growth Implications For Davis

By David GreenwaldAugust 1, 201117 comments

In a communication that is perhaps a week old, Chancellor Linda Katehi calls it, “Defining the future of UC Davis.” And with talks of “a path to academic excellence” and “a drive for economic growth,” reading between the lines it sounds a lot like a recipe for population growth in Davis.

She writes, “The steadfast support of the state of California has been a foundation of our success, and the university in turn has educated generations of California residents and been an engine of economic development.”

Vanguard Court Watch Editorial: $AVE OUR $TATE: KILL THE DEATH PENALTY

By uptownstudiosAugust 1, 20117 comments

The worst crimes across the nation for which people have been sentenced to death have a common theme of incomprehensible cruelty and suffering inflicted on helpless people. In the face of such crimes it is hard for some to object to the death penalty.

However, a recent study, by Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Arthur Alarcon and Loyola Law School Professor Paula Mitchell, of correctional records reveals the stunning toll that legal proceedings take on the financial resources of our state. In the face of the staggering cost of capital punishment, California can no longer afford the legal proceedings required, by law, to put a person to death.

Month: August 2011