October 2012 - Davis Vanguard

An Open Letter to City Council on Water Advisory Ballot Measure

By Matt WilliamsOctober 31, 20129 comments

by Matt Williams

GUEST COMMENTARY – First, the customary disclaimer. The author is a member of the Water Advisory Committee (WAC), but the opinions herein are his own and not those of the WAC.

As Council, Staff and the WAC have wended their respective ways through the last 10 months of the water system decision process, there have been a couple of situations where the WAC recommendation to Council and the Staff Report recommendation to Council have been at odds with one another. Until the events of last Tuesday night, in each case Council chose to defuse that WAC/Staff disagreement by returning the issue to the WAC for further consideration, where an updated recommendation was hammered out that both Staff and the WAC could support. In each case where Council followed that process, a good result happened.

Officials Believe Measure E Ballot Language a Non-Issue

By David GreenwaldOctober 31, 20121 comments

For months we have known that the district has put a measure on the ballot, Measure E, that would renew the current Measure A parcel tax levy (204 dollars) while creating a contingency to raise that amount by 242 dollars should the state tax Proposition 30 fail next week.

However, just ten days before the election, on Sunday, Davis Enterprise columnist Bob Dunning argued that he was “looking over the ballot language for our latest school parcel tax, Measure E, and it’s just confusing enough that it’s unlikely to survive a court challenge should someone decide to sue after it passes.”

Yolo County Sheriff Prieto Sued For Sexual Harassment

By David GreenwaldOctober 31, 201216 comments

For the second time this year, Yolo County Sheriff Ed Prieto finds himself the subject of a lawsuit from one of his employees. Victoria Zetwick, a 24-year veteran sheriff’s deputy working as a correctional officer, claims that over the course of 14 years (which dates back to Ed Prieto’s election in 1998, first becoming Yolo County’s Sheriff), she was subjected to sexual harassment which allegedly included “unwanted hugging and kissing.”

Ms. Zetwick, 48, is married to a sheriff’s deputy, as well. She claims in her suit that she saw Sheriff Prieto “hug and kiss several dozen female employees.” When present with both male and female employees, Sheriff Prieto, according to the suit, would hug the female employee but give a handshake to the male employee.

The Loss of Proposition 30 Would be Catastrophic in the Short-Term for Education

By David GreenwaldOctober 30, 201230 comments

VANGUARD ANALYSIS – Polling last week showed support for Proposition 30 had dropped to as low as 46 percent – still technically ahead in the polls, but conventional wisdom is that measures with less than 50 percent support, especially tax measures, are in trouble.

That means that K-12 schools will be hammered with six billion dollars in cuts, including about 3.7 million dollars locally – an amount that might be offset starting in July 2013 if voters in Davis approve the parcel tax Measure E that will not only renew previous emergency funding from 2011 but also add a contingency in case Proposition 30 goes down.

FPPC Complaint Denied: FFPC Finds No Evidence of Violation

By David GreenwaldOctober 30, 201211 comments

Last week we reported that Thomas Randall, one of the co-leaders of the No on Measure E campaign, had filed an FPPC complaint against the Davis Joint Unified School District and Susan Lovenburg, over what he is calling their campaign on Measure E.

However, that complaint has been unceremoniously been tossed aside by the FPPC. In a letter dated October 24, 2012, Gary Winuk, the Chief of the Enforcement Division, writes, “After review by staff, it was determined that the complaint does not contain evidence of a violation of the Political Reform Act since the flyer does not expressly advocate the passage of the measure.”

Poll Shows Real Opportunity for California to End the Death Penalty

By David GreenwaldOctober 30, 20120 comments

Same Poll Finds Three Strikes Reform Passing Overwhelmingly – Last week, the LA Times-USC Poll found that support by voters to repeal the death penalty has increased dramatically, which puts the measure in range, though not enough at this point to actually ensure its passage, as support still falls below the critical 50 percent threshold.

The gap is just three points – 42 percent in favor of its passage (which would end the death penalty) and 45 percent against, with a critical 12 percent undecided.

Impact of Hurricane Sandy

By David GreenwaldOctober 29, 201276 comments

ANALYSIS: Climate Scientists Disagree on Impact of Climate Change – A week before a seminal presidential election, a powerful storm has already crippled a huge section of the east coast, bringing the nation’s financial markets to a halt, shutting down federal offices in DC along with public transportation across the east coast, and threatening the unthinkable if the storm damage is bad enough – altering the course of the nation’s elections.

Just how powerful is this storm? Well, the hurricane portion of it is *just* a category one storm, with sustained winds at 85 mph. But forecasters are alarmed, first by the record low pressure and also by the convergence of a strong midlatitude storm along with a blast of arctic air which, along with the moisture from Hurricane Sandy, figures to bring blizzards and five feet of snow to inland areas.

Why Granda and Other Critics of the Parcel Tax Fall Short in the End

By David GreenwaldOctober 29, 20129 comments

VANGUARD ANALYSIS – For those who knew little about Jose Granda beyond his advocacy against the district’s parcel tax, he shows himself to be an interesting and compelling figure.

But reaction to his piece this Saturday in the Vanguard, Jose Granda Beyond Measure E, was mixed.

Sunday Commentary: Racial Prejudice – A Dark Stench That Remains Over This Nation

By David GreenwaldOctober 28, 201263 comments

Four years ago was a time of hope and change amid an economic crisis that came far closer, than most wanted to imagine or believe, to bringing down the entire western financial markets. In the middle of that crisis was the election of the nation’s first African-American President.

Experts were quick to warn that this did not necessarily end the days of racial prejudice against blacks. Indeed, four years later, the on-the-ground circumstances facing many are even more bleak than they were before.

Vanguard View: No Compelling Reason Not to Pursue Binding Vote

By David GreenwaldOctober 28, 201215 comments

Back in mid-June the Water Advisory Committee voted to pursue a binding measure rather than an advisory one. It was a close and contested vote, as it wound up 6-4.

Chair Elaine Roberts-Musser at the time said, “WAC members who favored a binding vote felt the surface water project decision should be made by citizens because it is citizens who will pay for the project.”

My View: Council Follows Vague Legal Advice Going the Advisory Vote Route

By David GreenwaldOctober 27, 201223 comments

A synopsis is here, of the legal advice provided to the Davis City Council by City Attorney Harriet Steiner, who also brought in a colleague to discuss her experience. The stunning part of this legal advice is how little actual legal advice was actually contained in the presentations by Harriet Steiner and Iris Yang.

I see no compelling legal reason to go forward as they have, and I think both Ms. Steiner and Ms. Yang create straw men arguments for going with an advisory vote rather than a binding vote.

Jose Granda Beyond Measure E

By uptownstudiosOctober 27, 201234 comments

By Jose Granda, PhD

GUEST COMMENTARY – I want to have an open line of communication with Davis voters so that they get to know me beyond the issue of Measure E. Position on a measure is a miniscule part of being qualified to lead the schools and impact the lives of students making a difference from the status quo. For this reason I also think Claire Sherman has the right qualifications to be a School Board member even if we are on separate sides of Measure E.

I am a product of the American Dream. I immigrated to the United States invited as a Foreign Exchange Student at the age of 16. I did not know English at the beginning of the school year but in three months of immersion and not finding anyone to speak my native Spanish language I learned English quickly. I graduated from high school in Dayton, Ohio. I attended engineering school at UC Berkeley where I obtained my Master in Mechanical Engineering and the PhD degree also in Mechanical Engineering at UC Davis. I became a Professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department at California State University, Sacramento since 1982.

Why Conservatives Like Bill O’Reilly and Me Support Proposition 34

By uptownstudiosOctober 27, 201213 comments

by Ron Briggs

GUEST COMMENTARY – Bill O’Reilly is the newest endorser of Proposition 34, the initiative that will replace the death penalty with life in prison without possibility of parole and make inmates work and pay restitution (rather than sit in private cells without doing anything, as they now do).

It might be surprising to some that O’Reilly, a political commentator on Fox News, a national leader among traditional thinkers, supports Prop 34. But a look at California’s death penalty shows why: California’s death penalty is simply a fiscal disaster that coddles criminals, enriches lawyers, and hurts victims.

What Exactly Will Davis Be Voting on in March?

By David GreenwaldOctober 26, 201224 comments

COMMENTARY: If I Vote No, What Does That Mean? – The Davis City Council made the mistake of most public agencies I have followed for the last twenty years – they listened to the advice of their attorney rather than political advice. It is not that City Attorney Harriet Steiner was completely wrong when she warned that a binding measure could restrict the city’s ability to make changes to decisions as the project moves forward.

Instead, following the advice of counsel, the city council has put themselves into a potentially lose-lose situation. On the one hand, they have essentially promised that they will follow what the voters recommend. But on the other hand, what the voters recommend will not carry with it critical components.

Opposition to Measure E Claims Threats and Intimidation

By David GreenwaldOctober 26, 201229 comments

Unfortunately, as we approach a critical election both nationally and locally, ’tis the season not only for sign stealing but also apparently threats and intimidation.

The Vanguard early on Friday morning received a press release and statement from Dr. Jose Granda, not only a candidate for school board but one of the leaders in the No on Measure E Campaign.

FPPC Complaint Against School District on Measure E Based on Political Not Legal Disagreement

By David GreenwaldOctober 25, 201232 comments

VANGUARD ANALYSIS: Mr. Randall’s Complaint Represents His Own Abuse of Process – Thomas Randall has filed yet another complaint against the Davis Joint Unified School District over what he is calling their campaign on Measure E.

In a press release actually sent out on Friday, October 19, he writes: “Thomas Randall, Jr. coordinator of the NO School Board Taxes Political Action Committee, a PAC that is campaigning against Measure E, has filed a complaint with the Fair Political Practices Commission Against the Davis School Board of Education and specifically against its President Ms. Susan Lovenburg. for their role in using taxpayer’s money for campaign materials produced at taxpayers’ expense and disseminated in print and on the internet with the purpose to pass Measure E.”

Do Mandatory Wood Burning Restrictions Mark a Sea Change?

By David GreenwaldOctober 25, 20128 comments

COMMENTARY: Council Ordinance Strikes the Right Balance Between Public Health and Privacy – The first time the issue of a wood burning ban came up back in January 2009, it became a tremendous point of controversy.

On the one side were some environmentalists and some health advocates concerned with both the impact of wood burning on the environment as well as health implications. On the other side were citizens who, for a variety of reasons, use wood during the few cold months of the year to heat their homes and provide themselves with some sort of aesthetic enjoyment.

Former Mayor Strikes Tone For Cost-Sharing Water Project

By David GreenwaldOctober 25, 20129 comments

Former Davis Mayor Bill Kopper, one of the regular members of the Water Advisory Committee (WAC) writes on the recent decision to go forward with the Woodland-Davis project, by hammering home the importance of the cost-sharing component of the agreement.

“Recently, the Water Advisory Committee voted to recommend that the city proceed with the Woodland-Davis project, provided that Woodland pay for 60 percent of the project and half of the Davis-Woodland treated water pipeline,” Mr. Kopper writes.

California Leads the Nation in Wrongful Convictions

By David GreenwaldOctober 25, 201213 comments

The first ever academic investigation into the scope and cost of wrongful convictions revealed on Wednesday that California leads the nation in wrongful convictions.

The project, California Wrongful Convictions Project, launched by the University of California at Berkeley School of Law (Berkeley Law), and Hollway Advisory Services, a criminal justice research firm, announced that their research found that at least 200 wrongful convictions have been thrown out since 1989 in California, costing those convicted more than 1,300 years of freedom and taxpayers $129 million.

Council Passes Mandatory Wood Burning Restrictions in One-Year Pilot Project

By David GreenwaldOctober 24, 201221 comments

It took a while and council had to sort out competing views from the public – one group of whom expressed concern about the intrusion into their private lives, the other concerned about personal or public health impacts of wood-burned smoke.

In the end, the council moved forward with a rather modest compromise measure by a 5-0 vote that will allow them to come back in a year and see what impact the measure had on the issue.

Month: October 2012