Yesterday we asked our readers what comments and concerns they had about the website and asked for them to solicit features that they wanted to see added or improved. When we first launched the site, that was a long list of complaints and suggestions, so clearly we have made progress.
Today it is simple – what would you like to see us cover in 2015? What issue areas are we not covering that you would like to see us cover more? Is there an area of local government that would like see covered more fully or extensively?
We will remind our readers once again that our budget in some ways dictates what we can cover. At some point we would love to hire a full time reporter – but that takes resources to do.
So once again, I’ll remind you that a number of our readers make periodic contributions to help us run the Vanguard. In the past month we have been moving to get people to become subscribers.
For as little as $10 a month you can become a subscriber.
So if you haven’t already signed up to become a subscriber – Please donate today by clicking on the link. You can also make a one-time payment starting at $120 to become a subscriber. You can do so either by credit card at the previous link or by mailing a check to Davis Vanguard, PO Box 4715, Davis, CA 95617.
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So tell us what you would like to see and we will work to make it happen in 2015.
—David M. Greenwald reporting
Picking up on your article about what to expect in 2015, I would appreciate a periodic update on some of the affordable housing projects, especially the ones the city has had to become more involved in, e.g., Pacifico, DACHA, etc. Those seem to drop off the radar unless there is a crisis and with 2 new possibilities and some history of poor project management, I think the readers would benefit from updates. Thanks for asking!
I would also like to find out why Pacifico (that I ride by at least once a week) has been about 50% vacant (in our 1% vacant town) for about 10 YEARS…
A DACHA follow up would be great I am interested in getting the TOTAL legal cost to the city.
The story that may take some digging is to find out the ongoing cost per month per unit of the “affordable” housing in town. In most towns the program have so many layers of management and provides so many “unaffordable” prevailing wage jobs that we are not helping as many poor people as we could be.
I think Pacifico went bankrupt about 3 or 4 years ago. A City of Davis official told me at the time that Twin Pines (Watkins and Thompson) had originally “managed” the Pacifico Cooperative and that, much like with Dacha, all the money went into the pockets of the “management.” By the time the residents were able to get rid of Twin Pines’ “management,” that city official told me it was too late, Pacifico never recovered, and the City of Davis had to foreclose on them. … I don’t really know if what I was told was correct; or what its status is now. There was a Davis Enterprise story in September which said the City wants to turn those empty units into “affordable housing.”
David is a statistics guy, I think a regular piece that compares statistics of Davis to other comparable cities would be interesting. I think Davis is struggling with its identity and the residents of Davis can be helped by reading comparisons. It is fine to be different, but it is always good to recognize when you actually are different and also understand what the consequences will be to being different.
Frankly: I think a regular piece that compares statistics of Davis to other comparable cities would be interesting. I think Davis is struggling with its identity and the residents of Davis can be helped by reading comparisons.
Other people seem to be doing that work:
Davis Enterprise, Jan. 2, 2015: Demographic stats: How does Davis compare?
LCFF and LCAP
I’d like more information about the city budget. What is our energy bill? Break it down so we know what we spend for heating, air conditioning and lighting. We have a contract for an energy audit. Let’s hear about that. Since there is an audit, what steps are being taken as a result. Increasing energy efficiency usually results in a rebound–we save some energy but use the savings to pay for using more energy elsewhere. I’d like to know how much energy we use now, how much we expect to save by implementing efficiencies and track total usage so we know when/if our total consumption increases.
municipal funding tends to be convoluted so we often hear the project was funded from a specific source. Make those muddy waters a bit clearer to us. A breakdown of income from various classes of businesses vs the cost of providing services for those businesses would be interesting.
I would like the feasibility of a davis public utility to get a fraction of the push we’ve seen for innovation parks and I’d like a series of article that looks at the costs of growth to the community. So far the coverage is simply one-sided.
i read something the other day about our general plan and a population of 64,000. We have topped that. Where are we going with that? When we look at our population, how many students living in town are included in our numbers as well as the university?
We are measuring night sky brightness at 10 times brighter than last spring. Sources say Christmas outdoor lighting accounts for a 30 to 50% increase. Will our children grow up with only a few dozen stars visible in the night sky? David, may I suggest you take your kids out tonight and show them Orion and Cassiopeia? The moon is bright but what you see tonight is the night sky of the future.
We used to have a few oranges ripe enough to eat by Christmas week but most were ready in January. Last year they were ripe by Christmas. This year they were ripe by Thanksgiving and we have picked and eaten more than half. Our perception of summers for the last six years is they are much milder, many more pleasant days and fewer shorter hot spells. We feel like we’ve got El Cerrito weather. I’d like Don Shor to write about weather changes and crops/gardening locally. Does he see changes? Are we going to change weather zones? And if we have a weather buff, a look at changes in local weather patterns.
Frankly, I’d love an editorial mandate for posters to speak for themselves, state their own opinions and motivations and refrain from telling us what they believe we believe, why we believe it, what political group we belong to and what motivates us.
Interesting suggestion, which I’ll consider. Climate variability is going to be an important topic this year, with current projection of a dry January on top of very low chilling units accumulated to date. Possible very negative impacts on ag, the local economy, and gardeners. Thanks for the idea.
1. I’d like to see a follow-up to the Nancy Peterson DJUSD “investigation” where the law firm conducting the investigation didn’t call a single witness offered by the volleyball coach.
A better breakdown of where the investigation spent it’s time, which smells. It may have been an overcharged, one-sided investigation. This could also pinpoint to other inefficient use of investigative monies, maybe even the need for a new procedure or firm.
2. UC Davis issues. The Vanguard is great at getting into City issues, but does anyone dig into UCD issues?
2. If you even hint there is something wrong at UC they will crush you.. They spend more each year covering up wrongdoing than fixing it. The press releases they give to the public and employees are two different things, and often contradict each other –
“we have had a better year than ever! Over $700 M in research money”
“we can’t afford raises, and have to raise tuition 5% each year for five years”
Get my drift?
What an opportunity for an insider to keep us informed!
I would like the Vanguard to continue to cover DJUSD.
I would like to know that the objectives of public education, not just the letter of the law, are being met on DJUSD campuses.
I would like to know that DJUSD is actively creating a positive school climate for the adult workers and the students. A good discussion would be–what is success as measured on a school climate poll? If 70% of the 70% of students polled “feel safe on campus”, is that “passing”?
In particular for DJUSD, but elsewhere to, I would like the Vanguard to be critical of statistics. For example, out of 100 students, 70% of 70% would be 49 students. If 49 out of 100 students feel safe, is a school safe?
I would also like to see the Vanguard expose when the letter of the law is not met on DJUSD campuses, such as unsafe physical conditions.
I would like to know that DJUSD hires imaginative capable lawyers, consultants and administrators who help the district evolve into a better place and not devolve into a trap for everyone who works and studies within its borders.
The other topic I’d like the Vanguard to address is — I’d like the Vanguard to expand the discussion of racism. According to the SF Chronicle, California was supposed to be majority Latino last March (2014).
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Latinos-set-to-surpass-whites-in-California-in-5146876.php
Once in the majority, will the future Latino and Asian leaders be ready to lead all Californians, of all races? Will whites continue to be in charge disproportionately to their numbers? Will our communities become better for blacks, once whites are no longer in the majority?
Good topic, but I have seen the results of this where I work already. Most of them do the same things their predecessors did, and as quickly as possible abuse and eliminate anyone not like them. Most of them cannot overcome the Basic Instinct of revenge or retribution, and immediately hire their friends and relatives, qualified or not. This also included political persuasions, and LBGTQIA as well.
I have also had the new management try to enlist me in these little wars, and seen the retribution when you don’t play the game. One faculty member outed another in a crude email that should have gotten her fired.
Business as usual, with a different press release.
This post is all over the map. How does racism tie to a changing ethnic demographic, it doesn’t.
I guess you could sample current leaders, like Mayor Kevin Johnson, who some love, and Oakland mayor Quan, who has many detractors.
I guess white liberals will continue to be over-represented for some time as it takes a while for newer residents to learn the ropes, cultural norms, methods and procedures, build a base of support, etc. Asian Americans, who often have more traditional values, may choose to vote along with their white and multi ethnic conservative brothers and sisters.
You wrote “Will our communities become better for blacks, once whites are no longer in the majority?” sounds silly and leading.
Maybe California would become better for African Americans if we shut down our southern border to illegal immigration, and took up the conservative values that lead the Golden Sate to be number 1 in education decades ago, not number 47.
[moderator] This is a thread for suggesting topics, not debating them.
And I’d like information on the DJUSD budget. I am plagued by athletic field lights so I have a particular interest. When they schedule games at night instead of after school and weekends, what does it cost them to use the lights? When they leave the lights on for hours after the field is empty, whose budget gets charges? When we teach our kids to conserce energy and turn off the lights, doesn’t it give them the message that athletes are elite and don’t have the same constraints on their behavior as other people? Why does the football team get funds but other interest groups get nothing?
MrsW: I would like to know that the objectives of public education, not just the letter of the law, are being met on DJUSD campuses.
That is where researching LCFF and LCAP will get you.
“That is where researching LCFF and LCAP will get you”
Researching the LCFF and LCAP will tell you intentions. On the ground observation will tell you how well the intentions are translated as they percolate down to individual students and actions as well as whether or not the employees have bought into the intentions. For example, let’s say only a part-time Vice Principal is funded, based on some need-based statistics. What happens when there is a need on the VP’s day off? Can a parent take for granted that the Principal will step up on the VP’s day off?
LCAP is also a process for addressing issues like you raise. It allows for public discussion of addressing what’s wrong and what’s deemed important, and how you want to determine accountability.
LCFF is a means for funding higher needs students and issues related to insuring better success for them. Local school districts get to define where the money goes.
There’s a lot of unprecedented flexibility, here, but few people appreciate that.
I’d like to see the Vanguard cover UCD more. The Enterprise only publishes press releases, i.e., fluff pieces, about UCD. There are a number of suspect things going on on campus with respect to teaching priorities, budget, campus priorities and values. Talk to faculty from different departments, talk to graduate students and undergrads, see what you turn up. Given the influence of campus on the town and the number of people in town who work/go to school on campus, this is an important piece of the Davis picture that is not being covered.
Has the level of trust by the average citizen toward responsible governmental representatives increased or decreased in recent years?
Yes.
1. How about a story on how well the new water rates are working, at generating the necessary revenue to pay for the surface water project. Would be nice to know. Also would be good to follow all the utility rates that are on our City bills. Are we in for more increases, and if yes, which utilities and why? How is green containerization concept coming?
2. We need to hear more about the budget. All aspects, including upcoming labor negotiations; infrastructure repairs and whether they will be part of the budget or still set aside as “unmet needs”; which city buildings are in the most need of repair and how much will it cost to fix them; will the city outsource more city services to private companies? What has happened to the idea of encouraging volunteers to take over city functions? Follow closely the parcel tax issue.
3. Keep on top of the innovation parks issue and economic development. What are the tax revenue generation projections for innovation parks and other economic development? Any new businesses express interest in locating here? Which ones? What are the developers planning to do in order to mitigate impacts of new innovation parks, e.g. transportation, housing? How is city going to address issue of timing, in putting innovation parks on the ballot for Measure R approval? How is the city helping to foster further economic development, other than just innovation parks? How is the Jumpstart program faring?
4. What about the issue children who have no access to dental care? Since the City Council decided against fluoridation of the water for the time being, what has been done by the city to protect children’s teeth?
5. Why are volunteers being turned away as tutors for students in the DJUSD schools, because the volunteers are not part of the Bridge program? Anecdotally I have heard our schools are resistant to help from outsiders (anyone outside the school system) unless they are part of a bona fide school instigated program, despite there being a lack of tutors for students. This issue was raised by one of the candidates running for school board (Poppenga). Again heard it anecdotally when a group of senior citizens at URC offered to tutor at schools but were turned down by DJUSD. There may be legitimate reasons, but turning away willing tutors who are not part of the Bridge program seems to be a systemic problem. I’ll bet there are many UCD students willing and able to assist DJUSD kids.
6. Specifically what will be done with the money from the sale of the Grande property by the DJUSD? It is my understanding the DJUSD has promised to fix the DHS MPR and upgrade Emerson. Is that really where the money is going? How much will it cost, and for precisely what?
Anon: Why are volunteers being turned away as tutors for students in the DJUSD schools, because the volunteers are not part of the Bridge program? Anecdotally I have heard our schools are resistant to help from outsiders (anyone outside the school system) unless they are part of a bona fide school instigated program, despite there being a lack of tutors for students.
This issue was raised in the strategic plan that the district recently adopted. I think part of the issue is that ideally, all volunteers need to be fingerprinted and have a background check. There are also some other related policies that are generally followed by many other school districts and public organizations that work with children (like churches). I don’t think the district has that process in place outside of the Bridge program, but I understand that there is pressure elsewhere on the district to make this happen.
Anon: Specifically what will be done with the money from the sale of the Grande property by the DJUSD? It is my understanding the DJUSD has promised to fix the DHS MPR and upgrade Emerson. Is that really where the money is going? How much will it cost, and for precisely what?
The latest facilities master plan process had the DHS MPR and Emerson upgrade as the top priorities. I remember that there were estimates for those costs from 5-6 years ago, but likely new estimates would have to be made before committing.
In 2015, please continue Court Watch. Keep up the good work! Happy New Year, everyone.
It may seem like a small issue, but I’m interested in some reporting on the drinking/bar scene in downtown Davis. I sit as a panelist on Neighborhood Court and we see many cases that directly or indirectly involve over-consumption of alcohol. I also see some rather disturbing posts on FB from people (20 to 30 years younger than me) who report gang-related activity as part of the scene. Our city has had to deal with the drinking culture around UCD on Picnic Day, but there is an ongoing issue here that is, on the one hand, a drain on police services and, on the other, an allegedly a big economic contributor. I’d like to know if it is a net economic “benefit” and what it means for our community to have this social phenomena so entrenched in our downtown on Thursday through Saturday nights.