The city council has implemented an ordinance on the use of plastic bags that will take effect on July 1. Davis Enterprise columnist Bob Dunning has opposed the city’s single-use plastic bag ordinance from the start.
In his column yesterday, he wrote, “The city of Davis’ conservation coordinator, in an ‘environmental update’ in this very newspaper, is recommending that it’s ‘time to start stockpiling those single-use plastic bags!'”
He continues, saying “holy guacamole, I thought we were trying to get rid of plastic bags … she wrote this under the heading of ‘Speaking of saving limited resources.’ … so now, apparently, a plastic bag is a ‘limited resource’ in need of ‘saving’ …”
He concludes, “The message is clear … if you want to have enough plastic bags to last through the summer, better start stockpiling now before they’re banned for good … limited resource indeed …”
On May 2, Jennifer Gilbert wrote: “Speaking of saving limited resources … time to start stockpiling those single-use plastic bags! Only two months remain until the city’s carryout bag ordinance goes into effect.
“Starting July 1, all retail stores and restaurants in Davis will no longer distribute single-use plastic carryout bags. Customers can carry their purchases without a bag, they can bring their own bag, or choose to purchase a paper or reusable bag for a minimum of 10 cents.
“The carryout bag ordinance does not regulate the plastic bags at the produce department for fruits and veggies, the bags in the bulk food aisle, or the bags at the hardware store for nails by the pound. The only bags that are regulated by the ordinance are the bags that retail and take-out food businesses give you to carry out your purchases.”
While we are not sure if the Davis Enterprise columnist is completely serious here, there would seem to be no incongruity between Ms. Gilbert’s statements and city policy.
The city ordinance, of course, deals with the further distribution of plastic bags. There are concerns in the environmental community about the production of these bags and the further dissemination of these bags which tend to end up as litter, eventually in the landfills, filling them up with bags that do not biodegrade.
In that sense we are trying to get rid of plastic bags – in that we do not want more manufactured or disseminated.
But what Ms. Gilbert is speaking of is something entirely different. Once those bags are manufactured and in circulation, she is suggesting ways to reuse those plastic bags.
The city itself has come up with a page on “fun ways to reuse plastic bags.” The idea here being, why throw them away and have them end up in the landfill when you can reuse and re-purpose them to get multiple uses.
It is not that plastic bags suddenly became some limited resource, the whole idea is reuse and avoid wasting products and immediately discarding them.
There is nothing inconsistent about these practices.
When the ordinance goes into effect on July 1, businesses will no longer be allowed to distribute single-use carry out bags to customers at the point of sale. They may make paper bags, or other types of reusable bags, available for a 10 cent fee.
Applicable businesses include all stores and restaurants located within the limits of the City of Davis that sell perishable or non-perishable goods. These include, but are not limited to, all grocery stores, convenience stores, minimarts, liquor stores, drug stores, restaurants and take-out food (i.e. fast food) establishments.
Non-profit thrift stores, including Goodwill, the SPCA Thrift Store, and All Things Right and Relevant, are not regulated by the ordinance and may distribute any bags they wish, without charging any fees.
The city’s website lays out the following options customers have when purchasing goods or food:
- bring your own bag (reusable cloth bag, paper bag, or plastic bag)
- purchase a paper bag for 10 cents
- purchase a reusable bag
- carry your items out of the store without a bag
The ordinance also places restrictions on the types of reusable bags stores are allowed to distribute.
—David M. Greenwald reporting
“the city of Davis’ conservation coordinator”
That sounds like something we could certainly do without and save the taxpayers some money.
BP wrote:
> That sounds like something we could certainly do
> without and save the taxpayers some money.
We will see a $0.25 tax on paper bags to fund an “assistant” conservation coordinator in Davis long before this position ever goes away…
P.S. Does anyone know if you have to pay $0.20 if you want something double bagged (I’m thinking it might be a good idea to ask for at least a double bag when Wok of Flame can’t put my to go hot and sour soup in a plastic bag any longer)…
SOD…..bag fees go only to the stores and not to the City so taxpayers are stuck with the City of Davis conservation coordinator’s $87,570 salary and compensation package (according to Transparent California’s 2012 figures).
Do you know what her job description is? Do you know what her tasks are?
David wrote:
> Do you know what her job description is? Do you know what her tasks are?
Has David ever posted the city manager’s or a firefighters “job description” or “tasks” when mentioning how much they are paid?
“Has David ever posted the city manager’s or a firefighters “job description” or “tasks” when mentioning how much they are paid?”
I can’t answer for the city manager position, but he has posted a description of the firefighters duties in the past, if not their formal job description.
The difference is we know about what firefighters do, none of us it seems knows what this position’s duties are, so it’s hard to evaluate a salary absent real knowledge of duties. I’m neither defending nor attack it at this point, I need more information.
David wrote:
> The difference is we know about what firefighters do
Most people think firefighters “fight fires” but many will go a full year without “fighting a fire”. When I talk about my fire fighter friends sitting around most days while the fire science “hang around” guys (that hope to impress them with their hard work and get a job someday) clean the trucks and the station they are surprised.
P.S. As I have said in the past I don’t know any city of Davis firefighters and I have no idea if they get any free labor from hard working kids taking JC fire science classes…
I am going to defend the City of Davis’ “Conservation Coordinator”. I have been to a couple of the classes she has given and she is very knowledgable. I think she is a great resource for our city.
Furthermore – aren’t we humans supposed to be the most intelligent species on earth. Yet some of us can’t seem to be able to figure out how to live without plastic bags.
Ha! Good one. Yes… we can’t seem to figure out how to deal without plastic bags… or WITH green bins. In the end, it is all what we’re used to. Good or bad, convenient or not – we tend to like the ruts in which we’re stuck.
“Furthermore – aren’t we humans supposed to be the most intelligent species on earth. Yet some of us can’t seem to be able to figure out how to live without plastic bags.”
LOL, I’m sure we can learn to live without an $87,570/yr. conservation coordinator too. Keep paying and voting for new taxes so we can be sure to keep all these important positions funded.
Where did you see that salary?
http://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/search/?a=davis&q=jennifer+gilbert&y=2012
Lucky the sales tax passed, below are the people in Davis (in 2012) with Total Pay & Benefits over $150K
STEVEN J PINKERTON CITY MANAGER $246,709
RICHARD J MOORE FIRE CAPTAIN $234,570
LANDY H BLACK POLICE CHIEF $224,388
PAUL R SWANSON FIRE DIVISION CHIEF $201,044
DARREN L PYTEL ASSISTANT POLICE CHIEF $197,007
STEVEN K PIERCE ASSISTANT POLICE CHIEF $192,856
ROBERT A. CLARKE PUBLIC WORKS DIR/CITY ENGINEER $191,455
KEN J HIATT COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR $188,046
BRUCE W FRY FIRE DIVISION CHIEF $187,578
SHAWN P KINNEY FIRE DIVISION CHIEF $184,203
JOSEPH A TENNEY FIRE CAPTAIN $180,937
MELISSA C. GUIDARA HUMAN RESOURCES ADMINISTRATOR $178,212
WILLIAM B CAHILL FIREFIGHTER II $177,382
MICHAEL K PORTER FIRE CAPTAIN $176,077
EMILY S LO FIRE CAPTAIN $173,353
HERBERT E NIEDERBERGER GENERAL MANAGER OF UTILITIES D $170,883
RONALD A ZOGHBI JR FIRE CAPTAIN $170,454
GLENN M GLASGOW POLICE LIEUTENANT $170,385
TIMOTHY M ANNIS FIRE DIVISION CHIEF (MARSHAL) $169,367
BRIAN R LYNCH FIRE CAPTAIN $169,302
ROBERT G WEIST III FIRE CAPTAIN $169,201
PAUL C. NAVAZIO ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER $165,847
MICHAEL C MITCHELL PRINCIPAL CIVIL ENGINEER $165,338
DANIEL J WONG FIREFIGHTER II $164,341
BRIAN E STILES FIRE CAPTAIN $162,732
ELVIA GARCIA-AYALA COMMUNITY SERVICES DIRECTOR $161,290
MICHAEL WEBB COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR $160,623
ROLAND J PUSSICH FIRE CAPTAIN $159,339
VICTOR P GONZALES FIREFIGHTER II $159,200
SCHUYLER T LACY FIREFIGHTER II $159,144
YVONNE QUIRING ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER $155,584
BRIAN FARID FIREFIGHTER II $155,208
ADAM PRICE FIREFIGHTER II $154,970
MATTHEW D GALLOWAY FIREFIGHTER II $154,120
JASON R BEST INFORMATION TECH ADMIN $153,961
JESSE P HODOROWSKI FIREFIGHTER II $153,697
BLAS R AYALA FIREFIGHTER II $153,643
THOMAS W WALTZ POLICE LIEUTENANT $153,386
ZOE S MIRABILE CITY CLERK $152,644
LUIS A PARRILLA FIREFIGHTER II $152,435
MICHAEL S PLESCIA FIREFIGHTER II $150,563
BRADLEY D GONZALEZ TECHNICAL SERVICES MANAGER $150,363
We had (in 2012) 188 “civil servants” with over $100K in pay and benefits.
P.S. Before we fire the “conservation coordinator” we might ask why we (as taxpayers) are paying more than $200K for “Adult Softball Officials”:
JAMES SIMON ADULT SOFTBALL OFFCL(2 PERSON) $35,067
WILLIAM H WHITAKER ADULT SOFTBALL OFFCL(2 PERSON) $35,067
TERRY M CHASE ADULT SOFTBALL OFFCL(2 PERSON) $35,067
CLIFFORD ISBELL ADULT SOFTBALL OFFCL(2 PERSON) $35,067
DAVID E TOBIN ADULT SOFTBALL OFFCL(2 PERSON) $35,067
PHILIP B. ABELE ADULT SOFTBALL OFFCL(2 PERSON) $35,067
That’s an old list, there are retired people on it.
If this is an old list here is what I suggest…
We need a full list of all current city employees and all city retirees and their total compensation showing the split between pay and benefits. I would also include the value of their paid time off, and an assessed value of their retirement age in that calculation.
I would expect that our six-figure compensated HR Director can get us started on that.
Maybe David can help with the information request. After that I would be happy to do the remaining analysis and develop a presentation.
Here is what a Human Resources Director in Sacramento is paid on average in the Sacramento job market:
Core Compensation Median % of Total
Base Salary $139,109 70.7%
Bonuses $8,017 4.1%
Value of Benefits
Social Security $9,183 4.7%
401K/403B $5,297 2.7%
Disability $1,324 0.7%
Healthcare $6,592 3.3%
Pension $9,269 4.7%
Time Off $18,108 9.2%
Total Compensation $196,898 100%
My guess is that when including the value of the paid time-off, and the value of earlier retirement, we are paying a very large premium for our city Human Resources Director.
And therein lies the problem and the solution for Davis’s lack of funding for everything else.
” I’m sure we can learn to live without an $87,570/yr. conservation coordinator too”
I am sure that we would certainly not need this position if everyone chose proactively and voluntarily to follow the “green principles” of living which can now be readily found on line, as propounded by many conservation groups and even in the suggestions made by our own Michele Millet on the Vanguard. Notice the word voluntarily. But we don’t.
Thus, the need.
i’d still like to know specifically what this position does.
Note too that Sacramento’s compensation for this and other roles is somewhat inflated due to the high percentage of government employees in the salary data. For example pensions are includes in the benefits even though very few private employers provide pensions these days. The salary data for the private sector would put the comparison even further off.
I don’t want get into a discussion regarding a specific persons salary and wether they deserve it or if the position is relevant, but I do want to say that I have had the opportunity to work with Jennifer Gilbert a little through my work on the Natural Resource Commission and as a citizen with questions.
From these experiences I can attest to the fact that she is an excellent resource. I have watched her give a couple of different presentation which were were professional, well prepared, informative, and articulately presented. I have gone to her with questions and she consistently responds quickly with accurate and relevant information.
Frrankly
“Maybe David can help with the information request. After that I would be happy to do the remaining analysis and develop a presentation.”
I think that this is a very generous offer on Frankly’s part. As part of this presentation, I would also like to see a comparison not only to the local private comparable compensation, but also to similar positions in other comparable commuiteis throughout our region or perhaps state. My point is that, of course, if one chooses only comparisons that one knows will be favorable to one’s point, of course the data will reflect that predetermined point of view.