In today’s column in the Davis Enterprise, Rich Rifkin calls on the city of Davis to end its practice, that began back in 1999, of having four firefighters on an engine.
He writes, “In the late 1990s, unlike most other cities in our region, the Davis City Council, influenced by union cash, increased fire staffing by one-third. Where we had three people assigned to each fire truck before, Davis has since had four.”
The rates have not been codified yet, but it is remarkable how similar the rates, as presented to the WAC on Thursday of last week, look to the rates of the Prop 218 process from last summer – you know, the process that raised the rates too fast and had to be modified to the September 6 rates which purportedly held increases to 14% per year (if you cut back on your water usage by 20%).
For those who forgot, here are the two-month projected rates from last year:
By Rachel MyersSnatching a purse off the arm of an elderly woman is one of the nastier offenses I can think of – the kind of thing that might make you shake your head and say to yourself “I hope whoever did that gets what’s coming to him.” And then you think for a second about just what he ought to have coming to him: community service, maybe – or even a night in jail. Stealing from an old lady is pretty mean, after all, and you’d want whoever did it to learn a lesson.
I guess that’s what the state of Texas was thinking when it sentenced Willie James Sauls last week for that very crime. Except in this case, apparently the lesson Texas wants us all to learn is “we don’t believe in rehabilitation” – for the crime of stealing a purse, Sauls was sentenced to 45 years in prison. The prosecutors in the case justified the long sentence by pointing out that Sauls has prior convictions and that he “already had chances to address the issues with his behavior.” And with that, they decided this purse snatcher should be locked in prison until he’s 82.
The quote that stands out in the recent meeting of the Water Advisory Commission (WAC) comes from the chair, Elaine Roberts-Musser, who said, “It isn’t that there isn’t going to be pain. It doesn’t matter which project you pick, there’s going to pain. Very big pain.”
The problem is that statement becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Assuming that any option will involve big pain seemingly justifies any rate hike and structure because, after all, pain is unavoidable.
Editorial Carried by Enterprise Notes How Hot This Summer Has Been – Governor Jerry Brown on Monday announced the launching of a new website to document the dangerous effects of global warming and call on those who still deny its existence to “wake up and honestly face the facts.” The website is Climate Change: Just The Facts.
“Global warming’s impact on Lake Tahoe is well documented. It is just one example of how, after decades of pumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, humanity is getting dangerously close to the point of no return,” said Governor Brown. “Those who still deny global warming’s existence should wake up and honestly face the facts.”
In the city of Davis it seems that for a long time the city council was the center of political life. The most intense races, the most interest was generated on issues of growth facing this community.
In the past, city council races have drawn numerous candidates, have been intensely waged along sometimes clear lines of demarcation. But back in June, there were just five candidates for three spots, the campaign itself was focused more on personalities than clear political lines, and the intensity, with a few notable exceptions, was fairly low.
The water project itself is complicated and the analysis of the politics of the water project is an even more difficult nut to crack. On Saturday, I gave some basic analysis, and I believe that a water project that raises rates quickly and painfully over a short burst of time is going to be more difficult for people on modest incomes than a phased project or a delayed financing project that costs more over the long run.While I stand by that analysis from Saturday, I think that Matt Williams and Elaine Roberts Musser made some points that should be considered.
Alan Fernandes becomes the fifth candidate for the Davis school board. There are two seats in contention, one of them currently held by Susan Lovenburg who is running for re-election and the other held by Richard Harris who is not.
In an email to the Vanguard, Mr. Fernandes said, “I have decided to run for Davis School Board because I care deeply about public education in Davis and am concerned that there will be critical decisions that will be made in the future that will impact the long term success of our schools.”
It has become a noteworthy phenomenon in and of itself. Every time we run a story critical of Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig, a handful of people defend the DA, not on the merits but by attacking the messenger, in this case the Vanguard.
In recent columns we have one reader deploring the Vanguard‘s obsession: “Please get help for your sick obsession about the district attorney,” they write. Another, “This was a nonstory that highlights the Vanguard’s bitter animosity toward the local DA.”
by Matt Williams – Once again let me start by saying that the opinions and perspectives presented here in this article are those of the author and not the opinions and perspectives of the Water Advisory Committee (“WAC”).
Yesterday David Greenwald talked a bit about his perspective on what some Water Advisory Committee numbers mean. I’d like to drill into those numbers a bit.
In the end, if this is indeed the end, the Davis Water Advisory Committee went where city staff clearly was guiding them and where they were most comfortable. I know that evaluation is not going to sit particularly well with some, and my only hope is that those will at least be willing to hear me out.
The WAC, in the end, did an admirable job, but by the end of the meeting on Thursday, it was clear which way they were headed, even as there were a large amount of questions that some simply did not want to pursue, at least at the last meeting.
Dear Readers: Earlier this week the Davis Vanguard was hacked. It seems to have impacted ability to…
Committee Postpones Vote Until Next Week – But Handwriting on the WallFor most of the night, city staff seemed to push the Water Advisory Committee toward the inevitable – the Woodland JPA option. Whether it was Attorney Jill Willis warning the WAC that transferring or severing water rights would mean several years of delays, the environmental considerations laid out by Erich Fisher or the rate comparison laid out by Doug Dove of Bartle Wells – it was clear what direction staff was pushing.
The terms risk and certainty were laid out on the table, and the consensus, at least among a majority core of WAC members, seems to be that the Woodland-Davis JPA is the less risky and more certain proposition.
Jose Granda, often critic of the Davis Joint Unified School District, particularly on issues of taxation, has put his proverbial money where his mouth is and becomes the fourth known candidate for the office, joining incumbent Susan Lovenburg, Nancy Peterson and other recent entry Claire Sherman.
Because incumbent Richard Harris has declined to run for a second term, the filing period remains open until August 15 and there is a rumor that a fifth candidate may enter.
Last week, we reported that Water Advisory Committee member Alf Brandt indicated at the meeting that he would be ready to make a motion at the August 9 meeting.
Itt appears from all indications Alf Brandt will make a motion for one of the Woodland projects and, as we have reported, there is some belief that if that occurs it will pass.
Braving the triple-digit August heat of Woodland, 250 protesters not only listened to an hour of speeches but marched down to the courthouse in a protest that marked the third year anniversary of Ajay Dev’s conviction on dozens of charges of raping his adoptive daughter.
“I’m here today because I know without a doubt, with 100 percent certainty that my brother, Ajay Dev, is innocent,” Sanjay Dev told the crowd on Wednesday evening at Woodland’s Freeman Park.
Last week the Vanguard noted that Jeff Reisig had lifted sections of his death penalty column from DA Jan Scully’s April Sacramento Bee column.
The Vanguard was not the only one complaining, as Deputy Public Defender Richard Van Zandt wrote: “Reisig goes one step further by extensively plagiarizing Sacramento District Attorney Jan Scully.”
One of the biggest issues facing the city of Davis is the fate of state legislation that would reform the public pensions system, which, along with retiree health care, is crippling the ability of cities like Davis to get out from under an economic downturn.
Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, meeting with reporters on Monday, promised public pension reform “definitely by the end of four weeks.”
By UC Davis News ServiceThe State’s third major assessment on climate change explores local and statewide vulnerabilities to climate change, highlighting opportunities for taking concrete actions to reduce climate-change impacts.
The third assessment, like its two predecessors, reflects a powerful collaborative process. Guided by a Steering Committee of senior technical staff from State agencies and outside scientific experts, 26 research teams from the University of California system and other research groups produced more than 30 peer-reviewed papers. They offer crucial new insights for the energy, water, agriculture, public health, coastal, transportation, and ecological resource sectors that are vital to California residents, businesses and government leaders.
The Vanguard has learned that UC Davis is investigating the source of the recent leak regarding the status of UC Davis Police Department personnel, to determine if the leak came from the UC Davis side of the equation.
