Rebutal Arguments on Measure I
On December 8, the Vanguard ran the Impartial Analysis by City Attorney Harriet Steiner along with the arguments for and against Measure I, the water initiative that will be on the March 5, 2013 ballot.
The arguments in favor of Measure I were signed by the Davis City Council: Mayor Joe Krovoza, Mayor Pro Tem Dan Wolk, and Councilmembers Rochelle Swanson, Lucas Frerichs, and Brett Lee. The arguments against Measure I were signed by former Councilmembers Sue Greenwald and Michael Harrington, along with Mark Siegler and Michael Bartolic of the WAC, and Pam Nieberg.
Commentary – Let’s be honest, does it surprise anyone that when the city announced in its council agenda it had reached agreement with three bargaining units on a new contract, that neither Fire nor DCEA were among them?
COMMENTARY – The argument has been presented that outdoor water use beautifies Davis. It is an interesting notion, but ultimately I think the argument falls short.
A little over a year ago, on September 6, 2011, the city of Davis thought it had the ability to push through a water project that had not been appropriately vetted – not by community and not by city staff. The city council thought this could be done without any sort of rate study or review by independent hands.
On November 13, 2012, Interim Fire Chief Scott Kenley presented an audit of the Fire Department Operations to the Davis City Council. At the time, the item was informational only. However, Chief Kenley now comes back to council with an action plan on ways that will offer opportunities for cost savings to the city, while still maintaining a high level of service.
City Largely Holds Firm on Structural Reform – The city council has reach agreement with three of its bargaining units – Davis Police Officers’ Association (DPOA), the Program, Administrative and Support Employees Association (PASEA) and the Individual Management Employees on new contracts.
There was a critical moment in the city council meeting on Tuesday night when Councilmember Rochelle Swanson, wrestling with the issue of the rate model, asked WAC Chair Elaine Roberts-Musser a simple question – whether the information they were receiving differed significantly from the information the WAC had received the night when they made their decision to recommend the Loge-Williams rate structure.
As a father, I found myself, as I watched and listened to the reports, holding back tears, thankful that I knew my children were safe and sound. Realizing how precarious life really is.
In his Thursday column, his tenth on the subject of water since November 13, Davis Enterprise columnist Bob Dunning argued that “we’re much closer to [a] workable plan.”
On Tuesday night, the Davis City Council voted essentially to pull the Loge-Williams Consumption Based Fixed Rate Model from consideration. Despite repeated efforts by Councilmember Brett Lee to at least allow the WAC to consider CBFR, Mayor Pro Tem Dan Wolk held firm.
Despite strong praises for the Loge-Williams Consumption Based Fixed Rate (CBFR) water rate structure, the council, fearing public confusion about their water rates during the election, essentially elected to scrap the model in favor of a more conventional model, at least for the time being, sending the issue back to the WAC for a discussion and analysis on Thursday.
