And then there were three again. There was a brief period of time when it looked like candidates Sydney Vergis and Joe Krovoza would be anointed rather than elected to the Davis City Council. That was in a period where everyone believed that Mayor Ruth Asmundson would not run for a third term on City Council.
However, at the same time that the Mayor publicly announced that she would not run, a third candidate entered the race, Rochelle Swanson. She told the Vanguard last night that she now filed her paperwork and is officially a candidate for the Davis City Council. She did not send out a formal press release and she will not have an official announcement party.
“Davis deserves leadership dedicated to safe schools, open government, a healthy local economy and a stronger role in regional governance decisions. All my professional and community-based volunteer work over the last 20+ years has led in this direction and to my decision to run for city council. I have built a solid reputation as a leader, facilitating cooperative and constructive discussions that have led to success. I am proud of my track record.
As a parent of four children, the owner of my own business, and President of the Blue and White Foundation, I know first hand the challenges we all face. And unless we have a detailed future plan, we risk a strong and vibrant future. Nobody wants failure. We all want success. We want to keep strong in Davis the community values that make Davis, Davis.”
Ms. Swanson, 40 (at the end of March), is the mother of four children ranging from 8 years old to 19. She got her bachelor’s degree at UC Davis in political science and her law degree at McGeorge School of Law.
She currently owns her own business, RHS Consulting, that she says, provides a range of contracting and consulting for land use entitlements. She describes herself as a land use contractor and consultant.
She is married to Charlie Swanson, the owner of the Davis Graduate where she works as the community outreach person and Secretary of the Board.
Ms. Swanson’s involvement in the community includes a current stint as President of the Davis High School Blue & White Foundation which has raised money and supported the construction of the new high school football field. She has also served a member of the Rotary Club, serving on the Child Abuse Prevention Program Committee, a member of the Superintendent’s Parent Advisory Committee, Past President of Rotaract, as well as a member of the Yolo County Grand Jury (97-98), and the Youth & Education Commission for the City of Davis General Plan update in 2001.
In her press release, she mentions five issues, building stronger ties between the city and our schools; creating an environment of mutual respect, of open government, supporting our local businesses, helping bolster downtown vitality and neighborhood convenience, and making sure issues decided regionally are influenced by what we want in Davis environmentally and need fiscally.
What she does not spell out and where many will be wondering is where she stands on probably the two largest burning questions facing the city. First, the ongoing debate over how much and where to grow. It is surprising that as a self-described land-use consultant she never mentions in her statement land use policy or her position on Davis’ one percent growth policy, peripheral growth, open space, two-to-one agricultural mitigation, Measure J, and other related issues.
Second, while she mentions that she wants to insure decisions are influenced by what “we in Davis environmentally want and fiscally need,” she never mentions fiscal policy in Davis. The city of Davis is facing many huge fiscal challenges both in the short term and the long term. And while city management and the council recently just approved the latest MOUs with some of the bargaining units, those MOUs actually are only three year agreements and they really began last June. That means, two years from this June when the next council takes over, they will expire.
We need to know what she would do about Davis’ structural problems, issues like pensions, the $40 to $62 million unfunded health liability, the cafeteria pay out, and other related issues.
While those issues are obviously a bit heavy for an announcement statement, in the coming months not just Ms. Swanson but all of the candidates must address these vital issues to the satisfaction of Davis voters.
—David M. Greenwald reporting
Gradburgers and a beer to start each council meeting !
Yes, there are serious issues to be addressed, but I’m also interested in the basis of Ms. Swanson’s support for Palin in 2008 and Whitman in this upcoming primary. Does she consider herself to be fashioned of similar cloth? And what does she think about renewing the sales tax?
[i]Ms. Swanson’s support for Palin in 2008 and Whitman in this upcoming primary. Does she consider herself to be fashioned of similar cloth?[/i]
Hey mmaxtg, sometimes the best person to understand the progressive agenda, if that agenda includes football fields and pension grabs, is a Republican.
I too find it interesting that this land use consultant won’t talk about her position on Measure J or labor bargaining contracts. She says she’s interested in “open” government, but what does she mean by that?
Her palin and whitman support and of course her interest in a 10 million dollar football field in times of recession shows she’d be worse than souza and ruth put together.
So that will be a resounding NO to Swanson’s campaign. NO WAY IN HELL will I be voting for this neo con.
Greg,
You couldn’t put it better. I agree with you completely, in that a republican is progressive in that they believe in paying for things we can’t afford and don’t need like lofty pension plans and a 10 million dollar football field.
Hey who needs teachers and janitors when kids can play football in a nice big loud obnoxious football field.
The cream will rise to the top right?
Republicans are conservative too though. They don’t believe in feeding the poor, giving shelter to the homeless etc etc. They certainly don’t want people to have medical coverage. God forbid they’d have to wait a 1/2 an hour longer at the doctor’s office, because of their son’s broken thumb from a football game.
They actually have to wait in line with those dirty lazy disgusting poor people.
Let’s wait and see what she has to say on the relative issues to our city before you make up your mind based on stereotypes.
Does anyone else recall the days when the men’s room at The Graduate was decorated with a giant breast, surrounded by smaller breasts? I have not peed at the Grad in 25 years, but I am sure that sort of decoration is too politically incorrect to have lasted.
[i]”… the best person to understand the progressive agenda, if that agenda includes football fields and pension grabs, is a Republican.”[/i]
What pension grab are you endlessly talking about, Professor?