DAVIS, Calif. — Former Davis school board member Alan Fernandes is urging voters to approve Measure W and the proposed Willowgrove development this November, arguing that a city that declares “Davis is For Everyone” must make room for families, workers and people with intellectual and developmental disabilities who increasingly struggle to find housing in the community.
Fernandes, who served two terms on the Davis Joint Unified School District Board of Education, framed his support for Measure W around the familiar “Davis is For Everyone” yard signs found throughout the city, questioning whether the community’s stated commitment to inclusion extends to housing policy.
“So I have a question for my neighbors as we head toward a vote on Measure W and the Willowgrove development this November: do we actually mean it?” Fernandes wrote in a commentary.
Fernandes said declining enrollment became a central issue during his time on the school board and affected many of the difficult decisions facing the district.
He attributed part of that decline to the city’s housing shortage, arguing families who would otherwise raise their children in Davis have been unable to find housing they can afford.
“We spent a generation debating growth in the abstract while the consequences landed on our classrooms and forced us to lean on inter-district transfers to keep schools viable,” Fernandes wrote. “Measure W would help mitigate these systemic problems caused by our no growth policies.”
Willowgrove would include 1,250 homes and, according to Fernandes, already has an approved subdivision map that could allow construction to begin as early as 2027 if voters approve the project.
Fernandes said that timeline could potentially allow families moving into the development to enroll children in Davis schools by the 2028-29 school year.
“That is an almost unheard-of timeline, and it matters enormously to a district trying to plan its future rather than just react to its decline,” he wrote.
Fernandes also pointed to the types of housing proposed for the development.
Of the project’s 1,250 homes, Fernandes said 250 would be affordable units constructed without taxpayer subsidies. Another 288 would be what the project describes as “attainable by design” townhomes intended for first-time buyers, young families, teachers and other members of the local workforce.
Fernandes argued those homes could provide opportunities for families who currently find themselves priced out of Davis and living in communities such as Woodland, Dixon or West Sacramento.
The former school board member also highlighted recreational facilities proposed as part of Willowgrove, including what he described as a $21 million park and recreation complex financed entirely by the developer.
The facilities would include lighted soccer and softball fields, pickleball courts, a tournament-grade gymnasium and trails serving residents throughout Davis.
“I have watched many proposals move through this city’s Measure J/R/D process, and I have never seen one this thoroughly negotiated, responsive to residents, or fiscally responsible to the city that will host it,” Fernandes wrote.
But Fernandes said the portion of the proposal that deserves particular attention is a commitment to reserve at least 20 homes for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
He argued adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities can be particularly vulnerable in an expensive housing market because a lack of affordable and accessible housing may force them away from their families and established support networks.
“In a housing market this brutal, adults with I/DD are routinely among the first squeezed out and forced to leave the community they grew up in, separated from aging parents and support networks built over a lifetime, simply because there is no home here they can afford or access,” Fernandes wrote.
“Willowgrove treats that population as a deliberate part of the community from day one, not an afterthought,” he continued. “I am not aware of another Davis project that has made a commitment like this — inclusion built into unit counts, not just words that make us feel good.”
Fernandes tied that commitment back to the “Davis is For Everyone” message displayed on signs around the community.
“So I’ll ask again: if Davis is really the place those signs say it is, this project puts that belief to the test,” Fernandes wrote.
“Not belonging only for those who already own a home here, and not only in the abstract, but belonging that shows up in 250 affordable homes, 288 starter townhomes for the teachers in front of our children’s classrooms, and 20 homes built for adults with disabilities who deserve to stay in the community they call home.”
Fernandes concluded by explicitly endorsing Measure W.
“I hope Davis voters will look at what this project delivers and VOTE YES on Measure W: for our schools, our families, and the neighbors we’ve too often left behind,” he wrote. “If we believe what our lawn signs say, this is our chance to prove it.”
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