Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration on January 20th to Feature Dana Vickers Shelley from the Southern Poverty Law Center
The 20th annual Davis Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Celebration will take place on Monday, January 20, 2014 at 11:00 a.m. in the Varsity Theater, 616 Second Street. The event is free, and community members are encouraged to attend.
The program is presented by the Davis Human Relations Commission and the City of Davis. It will feature presentations and music to help commemorate the life and accomplishments of Dr. King in civil rights, peace and nonviolence. The focus of this year’s event will be access to education and the education of minority youth.
The keynote address will be presented by Dana Vickers Shelley of the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Alabama. Ms. Shelley is the Director of Public Affairs for the Center, leading the SPLC’s efforts to inform and engage policy, media, advocacy and community audiences with respect to its work fighting hate and bigotry, and seeking justice for the most vulnerable members of society. During two decades of work in progressive communications, her causes and clients have included the Democratic National Committee, the NAACP National Voter Fund, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Hyams Foundation, and the D5 Coalition on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Philanthropy. As a senior appointee in the Clinton administration, Shelley served as deputy press secretary to Commerce Secretary Ronald H. Brown. As director of strategic communications at the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Shelley was deeply involved in efforts to improve outcomes for children and families affected by racial and ethnic disparities within the child welfare and juvenile justice systems.
Ms. Shelley holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communications from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a master’s degree in public administration from American University’s Key Executive Leadership Program.
In addition to Ms. Shelley’s keynote address, a panel of community members, including Superintendent of Davis Joint Unified School District Winfred Roberson, will discuss access to education for minority youth.
Attendees will be entertained by well-known local musician Dick Holdstock and the Davis Freedom Singers, who will remember long-time Davisite Terry Turner’s contributions to civil rights efforts. The singers will also present several classic peace and freedom songs before leading attendees in a symbolic “Freedom March” through downtown Davis. The march will conclude the program at approximately 12:15 p.m.
For more information about the event, contact the City Manager’s Office at (530) 757-5602.
Public Workshop Will Explore “Solar Gardens”
Even with the solar energy industry booming, many people can’t get their piece of the sun. Why? Because, among other reasons, they are renters or they don’t have unshaded roof space for solar panels.
A public workshop will explore a possible answer to the problem, solar gardens, next Wednesday, Jan. 15, at 7 pm in the Community Chambers of City Hall. The featured speaker will be State Senator Lois Wolk, principal author of Senate Bill 43, a recently enacted law to encourage and facilitate solar gardens. The senator will talk about her reasons for initiating the bill and her hopes for its implementation.
The workshop, which is free, is jointly sponsored by the City of Davis and the Valley Climate Action Center (VCAC), a Davis non-profit which supports the implementation of the city’s Climate Action and Adaptation Plan.
Other speakers include Mark Braly, president of VCAC, and Mitch Sears, the city’s sustainability program manager. Braly will talk about the basics of solar gardens, various approaches to funding them, and how they fit into the current Davis FREE study funded by the state Energy Commission. Sears will discuss the city’s pioneering solar garden project, PVUSA, and the city’s position with regard to implementing Senator Wolk’s bill, SB 43.
The bill will require public utilities, such as Pacific Gas & Electric, to create 600 megawatts of “solar gardens” statewide. Some 20 MW are reserved for Davis. But how this will play out is currently in the hands of the California Public Utilities Commission. Eugene Wilson, a Davis environmental attorney and chair of the Natural Resources Commission, will explain the current proceeding and the position of the environmental groups which he represents.
Invited also is a representative of the Sacramento Municipal Utilities District (SMUD), which operates the region’s only solar garden which sells shares to utility customers and gives them credit on their utility bill. The program is called “Solar Shares.”
For further information contact Mark Braly email (markbraly@sbcglobal.net), phone (530)758-1463
Mark Braly, President
Valley Climate Action Center
http://www.ClimateActionCenter.org
