(From Press Release) The Graduate Student Association, which represents UC Davis’s 6,600 graduate students, last night endorsed Yes on Measure A, the campaign to approve the Nishi Gateway Innovation Center and significant investments into our city. The vote was a clear majority. The GSA’s vote to endorse Measure A follows the Associated Students of the University of California at Davis’s (ASUCD) unanimous embrace of the Nishi Gateway earlier this year.
“Graduate student housing has been a severe issue for a long time and we need any efforts to resolve it,” said Ralph Washington, President of the Graduate Student Association.
“With an additional projected 6,000 students over the next five years, grad students will continue to be a community disporportly negatively impacted by the Davis housing crisis,” said Jacqueline Barkoski GSA External Chair.
From the very beginning, the university was a close partner in developing what we now know as Yes on Measure A. Eight years of negotiations between the city, county, university, community partners, and the team behind Nishi ultimately resulted in a unanimous vote by the Davis City Council to place Measure A on the ballot.
The university’s Long Range Development Plan also incorporates the Nishi Gateway and improvements that would be advanced if voters approve Measure A, specifically the new undercrossing and bypass road linking Nishi with the campus. “The University and the City of Davis have been planning collaboratively and exploring possible roadway, bikeway, and open space connections with the Nishi property, in hopes of gaining mutual advantage to the vitality of the campus, downtown and the greater Davis community,” the university wrote.
If Davis voters approve Measure A, housing for 1,500 students will be constructed at an average rate of only $450 a month per student. 1,500 local jobs will also be created, many for students. Of particular importance to graduate students, Nishi’s 325,000 square feet of research and development space will attract cutting edge businesses, many of which began in the laboratories and classrooms at UC Davis. Nishi is designed to promote ‘tech transfer’, converting university research into commercially viable products, and many graduate students are part of this process.
Resolution Endorsing Measure A, Nishi Development Project and University-Related Research Park
Sponsors: Don Gibson, Integrative Genetics and Genomics Graduate Group, Jacqueline Barkoski, UCD GSA External Chair
WHEREAS, the UC Davis Graduate Student Association (UCD GSA) seeks to advocate on behalf current and future University of California Davis graduate student needs including, accessibility to campus, affordable housing, and economic opportunities; and
WHEREAS, advocacy and support of local measures which directly benefit University of California, Davis graduate students is critical to improve the standard of living; and
WHEREAS, the critical housing shortage in Davis has reached a vacancy rate of 0.2% causing rents to rise 10% annually over the last two years; and
WHEREAS, lack of quality affordable housing is a major driver lead the 20% of Masters students and 16% of PhD students live outside of the city of Davis which increases pollution, traffic, and harms integration of the student community; and
WHEREAS, Nishi Gateway Innovation Center is ranked as the #1 in sustainability goals in California by the Strategic Growth Council due to focus on walkability, biking, high density housing, and a mixed used district involving research park; and
WHEREAS, the Nishi Gateway project would receive a Gold LEED rating and all buildings of Nishi Gateway are certified at the LEED silver level or higher; and
WHEREAS, $23 million in funding from the passage of Measure A will lead to traffic abetment, addition of bike-car separated lines on Richards, creation of a new traffic bypass way from the Richards tunnel and improvement of Richards Boulevards and Olive Drive; and
WHEREAS, the addition of an innovation park would create research space for UCD graduate students to turn their research into startup companies in the city of Davis; and
WHEREAS, by 2020 a planned additional 5,000 undergraduates and 1,000 graduate students will be attending UC Davis; and
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the UCD GSA endorses City of Davis – Measure A, Resolution NO. 16-014, Series 2016;
THERFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the UCD GSA External Chair and GSA Secretary will inform the UCD graduate student community before the election on the GSA position in support of Measure A; and
THERFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the UCD GSA Chair and GSA External Chair maintain a priority to advocate for additional housing in the long range plans at UC Davis, in the City of Davis, Yolo County, and in the state of California.
Interesting that this article has garnered no comments. My first reaction this morning was – did the GSA hear both sides, has the no side been in contact with them, why isn’t there the teeth gnashing over this one that there was ASUCD?
Same thoughts in my brain, DP.
Maybe none of the Vanguard’s commenters know anything about the process by which this decision was made? It’s hard to say anything in the absence of information.
Hi Roberta,
I think that you may have this right. I read the article and , I suspect like others, having no information, and no knowledge of how the GSA operates, simply had nothing to say.
RyanKelly: Glad to get the comment that some random non-aligned, altruistic graduate student walked in there cold and got the endorsement. Since you are such a critical thinker, may I offer you some choice, affordable land for your turnip garden? It’s about 25 miles west of the Golden Gate Bridge.
I weigh it like this – students believe we have a housing shortage. The No on A side either doesn’t care or wants to put the shortage on the university to solve.
I wonder if Mike will let us know how many of the 100+ Yes on A people asked No on A to present before the made Thier endorsement.
South of Davis: I can tell you for sure that not one of those 1,000 wonderful, high-octane, Yes on A supporters contacted anyone in the No on A campaign before that nice, altruistic graduate student got the endorsement.
ps : you are gonna be shocked when you learn how many owners of those public businesses who allow Yes to put a sign up because Tandem Properties buys services are gonna vote HECK NO on Tuesday. I am getting quiet reports from many business people I know. They don’t like being strong armed by Ruff or Whitcomb, and they take those feelings to the ballot box. Or, they just think Nishi is a traffic nightmare, and they are not going to let it screw up the entire southern end of our lovely downtown. (Or, and where are those 4700 new cars a day into the downtown grid going to park?)
pss 3 more days of this lawn sign and reefer madness …. what are those guys sitting on Nishi smoking where they think ADDING thousands of new cars is going to FIX the mess?? Crazy.
The proposal for the endorsement was put forward by a graduate student, not Nishi. Yes on Nishi wasn’t invited either.
RyanKelly: Glad to get the comment that some random non-aligned, altruistic graduate student walked in there cold and got the endorsement.
Since you are such a critical thinker, may I offer you some choice, affordable land for your turnip garden? It’s about 25 miles west of the Golden Gate Bridge. Wire the money to my account in the Cayman Islands.
Meow…
Very ‘intelligent’ ripost.
Mike, You sure are into burning bridges these days. I don’t know why you think that your public criticism of ASUCD and the GSA forwards your cause. You actually don’t have a right to be involved in any aspect of these two groups. You are not a member of either organisation. They do not owe you anything and after these comments I doubt that you would have much in the way of a response to their concerns about housing and jobs. You are all about traffic.
You’re blatantly wrong, Ryan… Mr H is ALL about Mr H. And stirring pots if he thinks it is advantageous to him and/or his ‘clients’… he is not ‘about traffic’, unless the issue is a useful tool…
I’m doing my best to avoid personal criticism of Harrington as requested.
David: where’s the Dark Underbelly on this stuff? You just post a press release, and there is zero critical analysis from the DV as to the issues.
Just like I’ve printed your stuff with the same. We had a couple of critical analyses earlier this week on the Yes on Measure A side. And a couple critical of the No on Measure A side. Tried to be careful where we jumped in. But if you want to publish something critical, we’ll be right there.
So, two student groups report that they support Nishi, and only one student posts and article in opposition to Nishi.
I said it before… With minor exception, this is a battle for the future of the city between the olds and youngs.
I think it might be the most important vote in the history of the city.
Will we be a retirement village for the privileged old stasis group, or a dynamic place of demographic diversity fitting for a city hosting a world class research university?
Will the enemies of future change win, or will the future win?
Will business win some more space and some more customers? Will the city win some more tax revenue? Will students win some more housing? Or will we return to business as usual with not enough of any?
I really hope the No people get beat and beat badly to send them a message.
Time will soon tell, my dear neighbor Frankly. It’s close.
But Nishi’s facts are so bad that a $20,000 campaign, run by a handful of “geezers” as Davis Greenwald calls us, is keeping up with a campaign spending close to a half million dollars with fleets of young operatives scouring the city for votes, going to each door 2-4 times.
David wanted to “imbed” with us for a couple of days to learn how the heck we kept pace with these UCD triathletes, but we told him no because we’re shy to show him our walkers.
I have criticized the No side for making too much out of the Nishi vote, now I have to criticize you for doing the same.
another bunch of useless “union” numnums…. UAW teamsters thinks they can get away with more idiocy….and yet that is who the Grad Student Association is funded by and “represented” by and so on..
When the idiot TAs some decades ago “chose” to sign up for the UAW/teamsters to represent them…
they didn’t realize that those “specialists”, most of whom didn’t even have a HS diploma, would now be trying to run their lives in academia….. now they all get to pay “dues” or “fair share”…
Since several of the Union contracts are expiring soon, such unions were behind the “sit in” at the Chancellor’s office recently and so on….paid protestors and such just like in 2011 on the pepper spray..
stay tuned as more and more evidence is “brought forward”……
This union represents the TAs/Readers….and the grad students who are GSRs are not represented, though they try to enforce on them regularly ….
should I bring up HOW they got their foot in the door some decades ago?
and the fraudulent methods those unions used?
of course, some of the decisions that the “union attorneys” pushed for reduced the numbers of positions available…..did those UAW/Teamsters attorneys think they could out manuever the UC attorneys…. LOL yes they did and many are now paying for THAT…
PS> UNIONS stick together….they think that the union jobs created by Nishi will result in something good…….nahhhhhhhhhh
PS> Anyone notice that THIS old geezer is a strong NO on Nishi aka NO on A..
AKA NO on anyone who is for it.. unfortunately, I have to make an exception for Matt since he is the only one who was not ON the council when it was “unanimous”….
Even Dodd is against the oil tankers, so he says…. we ALL just got a giant flyer from his IE on THAT latest topic…
do I believe HIM? nahhhh..
how do I know Dodd is lying? his lips are moving…. LOL
Vote Mariko and get someone whose record holds water….
I think unions have a place….but not everywhere at all times……however, I feel much better supporting someone whose agenda includes supporting elders, and those who care for them…..
than those corporations which support big oil, big med, big pharma, big whatever…..
unions have little place in the UC system….their “reps” on campus have traditionally been those who would have been fired if not for union “protection”….
the UC attorneys are much sharper than the ‘union attorneys”>……..see my posts on other threads related to all of this.
PS> I told Eileen that as soon as I got some time, I would volunteer, and as soon as I had some money freed up, I would put more into the old geezers side…..this old geezer still works 24/7 and has WAY bigger fish to fry…..
PS> Ask Chuckie Cunnigham what happened to the SENIOR village of low income units in Woodbridge? that bit of ancient history is STILL not built yet….how many decades later?
oh and now they claim they cannot do it….it has be be bigger and more units to make it worthwhile.
Fix the damn sidewalks Chuckie before your company ruins the NISHI land also…
[moderator] Off topic.