August 2013 - Page 3 of 5 - Davis Vanguard

Analysis: What Should Davis Do About Growth and Economic Development?

By David GreenwaldAugust 16, 201391 comments

housing It has been an interesting week as the Vanguard‘s response to an article in the Enterprise, that laid out the basics in the Cannery plan, has triggered literally hundreds of comments in four articles this week.

There is a message here, but it is a mixed message. There are multiple thoughts about how to proceed. There are some who believe we have all of the housing we need, there are some who believe that we need more housing for families, there are some who believe we need more rental housing, and there are some who are more focused on finding land for economic development.

Eye on the Courts: Why Prosecute For Perjury in Death Penalty Jury Selection?

By David GreenwaldAugust 16, 201310 comments

When the jury spent less than one hour deliberating before clearing Regina Roxanne Perez of perjury after she had been a prospective juror in the 2011-12 Marco Topete death penalty case, we were left with the question as to why the District Attorney’s office would spend time and taxpayer money pursuing this case.

Unfortunately, there are more questions than answers here.

Man charged with Felony Evading and Battery on Police Officer

By Vanguard Court Watch InternsAugust 16, 20132 comments

By Catherine McKnight

The court heard opening statements on Wednesday morning in the case of the state against Joel Verbish, where the main counts include felony evading a police officer, and battery and assault on a police officer.

In his opening, Deputy DA Robert Gorman asked the jury to “please participate” when officers and psychologists are testifying, and explained that this is a case of excessive force used by the defendant, Joel Verbish.

Can a Business Park Work at Cannery?

By David GreenwaldAugust 15, 2013132 comments

One of the critical questions posed by those who question a housing or mixed-used development is whether a business park can work at the Cannery site. Some have questioned the commitment of the site owners, whether it be Lewis Planned Communities or ConAgra, to seek viable developers for a business park concept.

That remains an open question to this day. However, the Vanguard has received a copy of a listing from LoopNet, a realtors’ database, that clearly shows that the Cannery was at least offered as a business park back in 2008 by Colliers International, a huge real estate firm, globally headquartered in Seattle, but with offices in Fairfield and Sacramento.

Commentary: The Right to a Fair Trial Collides with Transparency and Open Government in Marsh Trial

By David GreenwaldAugust 15, 20136 comments

The recent defense motion by Deputy Public Defender Ron Johnson that seeks to exclude the public from 16-year-old defendant Daniel Marsh’s preliminary hearing puts us in a quandary. Mr. Marsh stands accused in the double homicides of Oliver “Chip” Northup and Claudia Maupin of Davis.

On the one hand, the Vanguard has fought for open government and believes that transparency is a fundamental core value in a functioning democracy. If the government wishes to take away the liberty of a citizen, then it has to do so in a very open and transparent manner where all can see, monitor and scrutinize.

New Transportation Options – A Paradigm Shift

By uptownstudiosAugust 15, 201314 comments

By Rob White

This week was marked by the announcement that Elon Musk (of PayPal, Tesla and SpaceX fame) announced that he is making significant plans to explore a new high speed transportation option that could result in a 30 to 45 minute trip between Los Angeles and San Francisco. As explained yesterday to Bloomberg Businessweek, the Hyperloop is a “a solar-powered, city-to-city elevated transit system that could take passengers and cars” between major cities in very short periods of time. The technology also “immediately poses a challenge to the status quo-in this case, California’s $70 billion high-speed train that has been knocked by Musk and others as too expensive, too slow, and too impractical.”

The Bloomberg article goes on to further explain that “the Hyperloop would avoid many of the land issues because it’s elevated. The tubes would, for the most part, follow I-5, the dreary but direct freeway between L.A. and San Francisco. Farmers would not have swaths of their land blocked by train tracks but could instead access their land between the columns. Musk figures the Hyperloop could be built for $6 billion with people-only pods, or $10 billion for the larger pods capable of holding people and cars. Altogether, his alternative would be four times as fast as California’s proposed train, at one-10th the cost. Tickets, Musk says, would be ‘much cheaper’ than a plane ride.”

Prospective Juror Not Guilty of Perjury Charges Arising from Jury Selection in Topete Trial

By David GreenwaldAugust 14, 20137 comments

On Tuesday, defendant Roxanne Perez was acquitted by a Yolo County jury of a perjury charge based on what the district attorney’s office tried to claim represented untruthful answers on a survey and during voir dire for the trial of Marco Topete. Mr. Topete was ultimately found guilty of the 2008 murder of Sheriff’s Deputy Tony Diaz and sentenced to the death penalty.

During the lengthy jury selection process of the Topete trial in 2011, that was interrupted by the illness of Defense Attorney Tom Purtell, Roxanne Perez filled out her jury form and then was questioned about whether the fact that her son was convicted of a crime and serving prison time would influence her ability to render a fair verdict.

Another View on Cannery: Yolo Board of Realtors Supports Development Plan and Entitlements

By David GreenwaldAugust 14, 2013115 comments

In a letter dated July 26, 2013, to Mayor Joe Krovoza and city councilmembers, the Yolo County Board of Realtors has recommended approval of the development application for the Cannery site. Their letter asks that the letter of endorsement and support be submitted for the upcoming meetings of the Planning Commission and Davis City Council.

In the letter, the Board of Realtors writes that they “support The Cannery Project because we believe it will have a positive impact on the housing inventory in Davis. Currently, Davis only has about 80 homes on the market for sale.”

Attorney General Takes Aim At Harsh Mandatory Federal Sentences

By David GreenwaldAugust 14, 201311 comments

Holder Calls for an End to the Cycle of Poverty and Incarceration – In a continued signal of détente for the criminal justice system, US Attorney General Eric Holder made sweeping changes to the federal sentencing requirements by ordering federal prosecutors to cease listing the quantity of drugs in low-level drug cases, enabling them to sidestep federal laws that impose lengthy mandatory minimum sentencing requirements for possession of drugs and other related offenses.

In a speech at the American Bar Association’s annual meeting in San Francisco, Mr. Holder laid out his new policy which aims at modifying the Justice Department’s charging policies “so that certain low-level, nonviolent drug offenders who have no ties to large-scale organizations, gangs, or cartels will no longer be charged with offenses that impose draconian mandatory minimum sentences.”

Analysis: Cannery Going on the Ballot?

By David GreenwaldAugust 13, 201391 comments

For weeks the Vanguard had heard rumblings that, if the Davis City Council approves Cannery Park to go forward as development by ConAgra, the matter would be put to a vote of the people one way or another.

The Vanguard was told directly by an individual in town that if the Davis City Council approves the Cannery Park project, the matter will be put on the ballot by the individual if no one else steps forward to do it first. The question is what form it would take.

Fire Debate Erupts Over Boundary Drop, New Developments and Station Relocation

By David GreenwaldAugust 13, 20134 comments

Council was impressed about the impact of the potential Cannery Park development on fire coverage. An individual writing as Karen G asked, “Where is the fire department for this side of town?”

The individual continued, “Can someone please address how an already thinly stretched fire department is supposed to handle MORE? How are the people needing services supposed to WAIT even longer in a life threatening emergency? How is this town supposed to grow when it is having a hard time providing for itself (police, fire, schools) now?”

Federal Judge Smacks Down Stop and Frisk Tactics of the NYPD

By David GreenwaldAugust 13, 201329 comments

In a long-anticipated and awaited ruling, a federal judge – Shira Scheindlin – ruled that the New York Police Department’s “stop-and-frisk” policies violated the constitutional rights of minorities in the city.

Judge Scheindlin ruled that the city had “adopted a policy of indirect racial profiling by targeting racially defined groups for stops based on local crime suspect data. This has resulted in the disproportionate and discriminatory stopping of blacks and Hispanics in violation of the Equal Protection Clause.”

Commentary: Cannery on a Collision Course?

By David GreenwaldAugust 12, 201398 comments

The Davis Enterprise on Sunday ran the first of what will be a six-part series on Cannery, and it was a very thorough and well-done piece. And while it is perhaps unfair to judge before it is complete, particularly when part six is scheduled to be “Business Park versus Residential,” today I will use this piece as a starting point for what I consider to be the most critical discussion.

The article notes in the preclude, “As the site falls within city limits, the development is not subject to a Measure J/R vote.” The article begins, “After almost a decade of visioning, public outreach, delay, withdrawal, revival, planning and fine-tuning, The Cannery project and the ConAgra team behind the proposal appear only months away from leaping over their final hurdle in developing the housing project.”

Eye on the Courts: The Promise and Shortcoming of Neighborhood Courts

By David GreenwaldAugust 12, 20138 comments

A recent statewide publication trumpeted the DA’s Neighborhood Court program, stating that Davis has earned another distinction, “becoming the second California city to institute a restorative justice program to deal with misdemeanors as an alternative to the traditional court system.”

Yolo County has earned a lot of mileage from the program. DA Jeff Reisig notes that “courts are overcrowded, the system is costly, and there are too few judges and too few courtrooms.”

Sunday Commentary II: Can Davis Overcome Hurdles to Become a Major Player in Economic Development?

By David GreenwaldAugust 11, 201344 comments

Davis has attempted to put its best face forward on the loss of Bayer/AgraQuest. Last week, Kemble Pope, the Executive Director of the Davis Chamber of Commerce, joined with his counterparts in Sacramento and West Sacramento to talk about economic development on a regional scale.

“The recent news that Bayer CropScience will be expanding its presence in the Sacramento region is further proof that we have the right ingredients to start, grow, retain and attract innovative companies with high-paying jobs,” Mr. Pope and his colleagues write. “The cities of Davis and West Sacramento have much to crow about regarding the news, as does the region as a whole.”

Sunday Commentary: Is Dan Wolk Still the Front Runner?

By David GreenwaldAugust 11, 201311 comments

This week came the surprising announcement that incumbent Assemblymember Mariko Yamada was not going to endorse one of her fellow Davis candidates, either Joe Krovoza or Dan Wolk, but instead would endorse the relatively inexperienced and certainly unknown candidate on this side of the district, Matt Pope.

However, as we evaluated the decisions before the assemblymember, the move is not nearly so surprising at all. When we finally spoke to her late on Thursday afternoon, she said that the initial article, for the most part, got it right.

Commentary: Should We Go To Paid Parking in the Downtown?

By David GreenwaldAugust 10, 201368 comments

Contrary to the opinion expressed earlier this week, there is actually a good deal of consensus on the issue of paid parking in the downtown among those on the parking task force. More divided is the group on where the specific site should be in the downtown for a parking garage.

Those we spoke to this week question whether there will be a new parking garage any time in the near future, given the loss of RDA money and the uncertainty of new funding mechanisms.

My View: Justice For None in Developmentally Disabled Case

By David GreenwaldAugust 10, 201345 comments

No one, not even his own attorney, can deny that Tom Vukodinovich made a string of very bad judgment calls. He abused his charge that he was hired to do when he turned his position of authority and responsibility and used it to engage in at least a two-year string of sexual liaisons with a developmentally disabled woman, who the prosecution said had an IQ of 37.

But would justice have been served if Mr. Vukodinovich, who is 74 years of age anyway, were simply relieved of his duties and not allowed to serve in the capacity of bus driver anymore? That was a decision that the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office had to make.

Commentary: Why One Prominent Doctor Changed His View on Medical Marijuana

By David GreenwaldAugust 10, 201316 comments

Ten years ago last month I suffered a very serious blood clot. It got lodged in my heart as a pulmonary embolism and part of it broke off and ended up in my right shoulder. It was the most painful experience of my life and it took nearly a week for the doctors to figure out what was wrong with a 30-year-old who was otherwise in good health.

The pain was such that they were providing me with morphine combined with Percocet to combat it. As the pain lessened, I became increasingly aware of being doped up and eventually preferred a little pain to feeling “out of it.”

Moving Past the Loss of Bayer to Address Future Economic Development Opportunities in Davis

By David GreenwaldAugust 9, 201362 comments

Davis Chamber Director Kemble Pope and City’s CIO Talk About the Future – The city of Davis’ economic development community is still reeling from the news that came down two weeks ago, in which Bayer CropScience announced it would be expanding its facility, which required it to move from Davis, where the company AgraQuest was founded, to West Sacramento which had space available to accommodate the company.

On Thursday, business leaders Kemble Pope, the executive Director of the Davis Chamber, along with his counterparts Denice Seals from West Sacramento and Roger Niello from Sac Metro Chamber, put their best face forward in a joint op-ed in the Sacramento Bee.

Month: August 2013