Davis, CA – I have already opined recently that housing rather than the city’s fiscal situation is the most important threat facing the city of Davis.
Commentary: Fiscal Situation in Davis is Not Good; Housing Crisis is Disastrous
That is because the lack of housing—as I argued in that August 20 piece—is going to dwarf the impact of any revenue measure.
Measure Q will plug a temporary hole in the budget, but at the end of the day, it is really a temporary fix or a band-aid. So as far as I am concerned—take it or leave it.
I know a number of folks who are angry at the city, but not wanting to punish the city this way. I know others who want to send a message—a notion that, while understandable, I’m skeptical of. (Did the council really learn anything when their parcel tax and three innovation center measures went down? I don’t think so).
The sales tax is a symptom of a much larger problem anyway—the failure of the city council AND the community to plan.
We see that failure not only in our housing problems, but also in our revenue problems.
For me the most telling data point is the expected revenue from the sales tax. In Davis, we are expecting about $11 million from the tax increase. In West Sacramento, where they have an identical measure on the ballot, the one percent increase in sales tax will generate nearly twice that at $20 million.
That should be one gigantic wakeup call for the community, the council, and a point that the opposition to the tax should be driving home.
The point here is that the city of Davis just doesn’t have enough retail. We have been pointing this out for a decade (see the article from 2016 that generated 257 comments—Davis Lags in Per Capita Retail Sales).
The point I would make with respect to this current election is that this sales tax increase is really not a big deal—in the sense that people just aren’t going to feel the impact very much and since a lot of other areas are proposing the exact same tax, it doesn’t seem likely that it would even put Davis at a disadvantage.
However, the $9 million gap between what Davis and West Sacramento will get is a big deal. It means at some point Davis will need more revenue and, at some point, they can’t keep squeezing blood out of a turnip.
Moreover, most of these problems are self-inflicted. Davis fought tooth and nail against large retail venues including Target. Davis has a new downtown plan which is not likely to add much in the way of retail to the downtown that has seen a precipitous decline in downtown businesses.
I was talking to someone the other day, and they pointed out if you want to campaign for city council, camp yourself in front of Costco in Woodland and you’ll hit a fair amount of Davis residents who are doing their weekly or monthly retail shopping and helping to feed the Woodland City coffers rather than the Davis coffers—and not out of malice or anything, they are simply voting with their feet and their pocketbook.
Just bringing in Target nearly 20 years ago was a major ballot battle. It squeaked out a victory in 2006, but Davis has done almost nothing since then.
Davis wanted to be different. I’m not a huge fan of big box overall and especially in Davis. But then Davis turned down several ways that could have allowed it to be different and still thrive, by voting down three innovation centers.
There is a reason why UC Davis is putting its billions into Sacramento rather than Davis. How much of an economic impact would Aggie Square have had to Davis rather than Sacramento? UC Davis just doesn’t want to deal with Davis anymore.
They’ll put housing for students in, but their major investments are going to places like Sacramento now, not Davis. That’s not an accident. UC Davis is voting with their feet. Davis residents may apologize for this staff and argue that Aggie Square wasn’t the right development for Davis anyway, or whatever they want to argue—however, the situation Davis finds itself in speaks for itself.
Davis’ policies—supported by the citizens of Davis with both their ballot votes and their feet—have resulted in a situation where even revenue measures don’t get the bang for the buck of other communities.
The people I have talked to still believe that Davis can be a great place to live. But as I have warned for the last decade, the window is closing. Investments are going elsewhere. The city’s downtown is not in great shape and it’s getting worse. The city’s retail base is actually declining—which is pretty remarkable.
And unfortunately there is really no leadership here to get the city on track.
In closing, let me make this point again. Look at what happened last fall in Davis. There were several Measure J projects that wanted to go before the voters. The council said, no. They can wait until 2025 and 2026 (when they will have a far less chance of getting approved).
Instead they wanted to focus on a revenue measure and clear the lane for that. So what do they do this spring? Oh, they anger a portion of the electorate by pushing through an ill-advised commission merger.
So now they have housing measures that are likely to fail and a revenue measure that has unnecessary opposition and we still don’t have a viable plan going forward
That’s what we are up against.
Costco generates about $500K in gross sales tax revenue for their cities (in CA) per year. That kind of income would be nice for Davis. But of course in Davis it’s Satan’s Big Box Retail despite the fact that everybody shops there anyway. Maybe if Costco agreed to put in a 100 square mile rainforest next to the parking lot; the radical Davis voters would accept a new Costco here.
“Oh, they anger a portion of the electorate by pushing through an ill-advised commission merger.”
You’re still hung up on that stupid commissions stuff. I told you before and I’ll say again, only some of the commissioners and loud vocal fringe care about this stuff. The majority of voters are hardly aware of the commissions nor really care about them. It doesn’t really effect anything. I think you’re too overly involved and sensitive to the Davis vocal fringe.
“The people I have talked to still believe that Davis can be a great place to live. But as I have warned for the last decade, the window is closing. Investments are going elsewhere. The city’s downtown is not in great shape and it’s getting worse. The city’s retail base is actually declining—which is pretty remarkable.”
It’s not just the state of the downtown (which is the most glaringly obvious sign) that reflects Davis’ weakened economy. In most things that decline it starts with the small things. Usually it’ starts with slowed and lack of maintenance. For example: for the first time I can remember in over 15 years Manor Pool’s diving board was closed for the entire summer…I’m assuming due to some sort of maintenance or replacement issue? Arroyo Pool had a water pump problem for the mushroom fountain (and slide I think) for the entire summer (or close to it). A few years ago the city repaved the southern part of the North Davis Green Belt. They stopped right at Covell Park near the tennis courts. When I run on the western side of the North Davis Greenbelt, the pavement is cracked and bumpy and a serious tripping hazard. The city is aware of this but has done nothing.
I find myself more often going to the surrounding towns for shopping and entertainment. Davis is fast becoming a bedroom community for me. It’s a long way away from the excitement that I had with one of my first downtown purchases: scoring Radiohead tickets at the downtown Tower Records on F Street.
At this point, David, I don’t know what you think the city council is supposed to do. The voters have rejected business parks. The city doesn’t build retail. Zoning changes are fine, but unlikely to make much difference.
There is no site in the current city limits for a large retail store, except if someone wants to repurpose one of the moribund shopping centers. That won’t happen. No sane developer wants to run that gauntlet, especially after what happened with the U Mall. Nobody’s building large retail stores now anyway, nobody’s building malls.
The city doesn’t control or have any influence over the steady erosion of retail downtown and the changeover to food service there.
“It’s going to take leadership” is actually just a platitude.
Hardly anybody is “angry” with the city.
Very few people care about the commissions.
Two council members weren’t even challenged for re-election. And, for the record, I’m very happy with the one that represents the council district where my business is located. Great constituent service, thoughtful, does her homework.
Apparently, the residents of Davis prefer higher taxes to economic development. Evidently, they perceive the costs of economic development (traffic etc.) to be worse than having to do an occasional run up to Woodland. In fact, Davis residents apparently are fine doing some of their major shopping in Woodland, just as they’ve done for the 50 years that I’ve been here.
I would point out that in most of California, a ten-mile drive along an uncrowded county road to shop nearby would be considered perfectly normal. Actually, it would be considered quite pleasant.
So putting a revenue measure on the ballot is actually a responsible and reasonable thing to do. The city’s budget needs it, the residents likely have no stomach for the service cuts that would otherwise be required.
Tell you what: you write the speech that you think a council candidate should give with respect to all of this. Then we can evaluate why that speech isn’t being given.