This is a weekly feature that will attempt to emphasize some of the more thoughtful and illuminating comments made during the previous week. This is not an exclusive list – but will represent all sides of the issues. But we want to encourage thoughtful and civil, but still insightful and, at times, critical comments. Hopefully this effort will strike the right balance we seek.
hpierce – “Poll Suggests Majority of Voters Favor Commuting Death Sentences to Life Without Parole”
If one wants to argue “moral” issues, I struggle more. OBL was responsible for the murders of thousands – yet probably never pulled a trigger with his victim directly in front of him, to see his humanity and to deliberately choose to take out a life to save his own freedom. By accounts, Topete did. OBL had no trial. Topete will. OBL was executed less than 10 years after his participation in his most horrific crime. Even if Topete is convicted and sentenced to death, I believe that it is more likely that he will expire of old age or prison violence than by the State.
Rightfully, the issue of whether there is a death penalty or not, should be a ‘struggle’ for society. I only know that if there was no death penalty, if one of my children or loved ones were sexually attacked and killed, what would I have to lose (from the State – God would be another issue) by ‘taking that vermin out’?
medwoman – “Spending Money Locally Keeps Money Local”
I really appreciated this article. It is a great reminder of the importance to our entire community of supporting our local merchants. I admit that I had not made this association quite so directly in my mind. I do see a difficulty however. I think our educators our in a bit of a bind with regard to supporting the local business owner by directing students and parents to them for purchases, vs referring to what may in many cases be a less expensive option at the Target or on line. A difficult choice to make if they know that a particular family is struggling financially.
rdcanning – “Poll Suggests Majority of Voters Favor Commuting Death Sentences to Life Without Parole”
The major costs of the death penalty are not necessarily the court costs, although death penalty cases are the most expensive because of the way they are conducted – which was mandated by the US Supreme Court and the state – two trials, special qualifications for jurors, etc. The main cost in California is due to the long appeals process which is required and the concomitant costs associated with long confinement. The state mandates a lengthy and expensive appeals process at public expense. There is also the extra expense of housing inmates in a high security setting for 15 or more years throughout the appeals process. (One state – Missouri – has experimented with eliminating special “death row” housing and had no big problems. Murderers are no more violent than others in prison.) Many of the 762 residents of death row are elderly (or have become so) and their medical costs are more. The way California does the death penalty is a waste of taxpayer money.
E Roberts Musser – “Commentary: Spending Money Locally Keeps Money Local”
So are Davisites now expected to suddenly stop purchasing online; not go out of town to purchase cheaper goods; not go elsewhere to purchase things they cannot find in Davis – all for the good of schools and “our kids” who were supported by Davis businesses? In other words, cash strapped citizens are now expected to sacrifice by paying more for expensive goods or just plain doing without, so they will be supporting only Davis merchants who supported Davis schools? Oh, and of course we cannot shop at just any Davis merchant, only the politically correct Davis merchants, those who have been deemed to have kept the money local (how are we supposed to know which merchants are politically correct?)? So of course that somehow leaves out our own “hated” local Target store? LOL Does anyone else see the absurdity of this position?
Jeff Boone – “Troubling Report on Government Surveillance”
So, you on the left… you were angry at Bush for allowing enhanced interrogation techniques (i.e., water boarding) of terrorists. You labeled this “torture” and demanded Bush tried for war crimes Obama came out against these practices. Then you voted him in office. Now, not only do we continue these practices, we also condone just assassinating unarmed terrorists. So Bush cannot water board terrorists, but Obama can shoot them in the head. You on the left also howled at each indication that Bush was keeping war-time secrets from the public. “Bush lied people died”, was one of your favorite chants. No nary a peep even though the Obama administration appears to have grown more secretive and less transparent.
E Roberts Musser – “Student Reporter’s Arrest Covering Protest Raises Chilling Concerns About Freedom of the Press”
If having a press pass doesn’t give the reporter a license to trespass, then it is clear Wolf disobeyed the law. If Wolf doesn’t like the law, then he needs to work to change it. But if everyone broke the law just bc they don’t think a law is fair, we would have complete anarchy and no order to society. Having said that, I find Wolf’s punishment highly amusing. He is essentially being asked to write an essay on how to change the law so it is fairer to journalists trying to cover a story. Which seems to show the University is perhaps conceding its regulations/the law is not fair on this point. So Wolf should do just that – write an essay on how the law needs to be changed so that a journalist can cover a story w/o being arrested for criminal trespass. But Wolf may find in trying to figure this issue out, it is not as easy a task as he thought it would be! Which very well may have been the University’s point. Don’t know. Let’s see what Wolf comes up with… I do think it very unfortunate and a bit over the top that Wolf could possibly not receive his diploma for a transgression this minor. I would say to lose his diploma over a minor trespass of this nature would be “cruel and unusual” punishment…
Rifkin – “Student Reporter’s Arrest Covering Protest Raises Chilling Concerns About Freedom of the Press”
In most circumstances, I would probably agree with you on this, Rusty. However, having given this case a good 45 seconds of thought, I don’t. How else could Josh Wolf have covered this story if he had not been willing to trespass? It’s not as if he could have quickly run over to the legislature, lobbied to get a bill written and passed and then started to do his job. The only real out in this for him is that his “punishment” is quite mild.
I think it makes sense to hold a journalist accountable if he breaks the law in cases where his breaking the law was not mandatory for him to cover the story or if, by trespassing or committing some other infraction, he put himself, or law enforcement officers or others in danger. But that does not seem to be the case here. I don’t really think you need to change the law itself. I think the best solution is to use better judgment on a case-by-case basis. The panel needs to ask the obvious questions: Did this journalist create any harm or hardship by his actions? Could he have covered the story from a distance where he did not need to trespass? Did he encourage others to break the law?
In every respect (as far as I know the details) it appears that he should have been given a pass. However, I don’t feel the same way about the protesters. If they trespass, they usually are hoping to get arrested, hoping to draw attention to their cause. They also, in some cases, are harming others, making it harder or impossible to conduct their business. Yet very often–as happened in the case at UCD where students were arrested for occupying Mrak Hall–charges are dropped when protesters commit trespass. Not prosecuting them and punishing them, upon conviction, ultimately causes the next group to try the same tactics. My feeling is that legal protest is a First Amendment right. But if someone feels it is necessary to break the law to get his point across, he should have to pay the price (which for trespass in a public building ought to be a stiff fine).
Observer – “Commentary: State of Denial”
True, voters can’t have it both ways and haven’t come to that realization yet. What a simple majority vote for the budget WOULD do is make it clear who is responsible for what. A Democratic budget would raise taxes to a point where there would be a backlash, as there was in 1978 on Prop 13, and eventually an equilibrium would come into being as exists in most other states.
sjkelleher@hotmail.com – “District Opponents Strain to Continue Attack on District’s Finance”
Well, if I remember correctly the district hired a superintendent who had never been in a district office and had only even been a principal for one year. The justification for that was he could learn about the numerous and varied aspects of the job while being supported by the veteran staff members in Budget, C&I and HR. These individuals were actually given additional compensation to account for the additional load. (Something that teachers were not given despite a measurable 20-30% workload increase.)
As much as I like Matt he has zero experience in the job. So he has a learning curve, Winfred has a learning curve and it’s unclear as to how they will be supported in this crucial position. I’m curious as to how they fill in the rest of Kevin’s position. Despite what Mr. Greenwald states there will be no net savings by hiring two youngsters to replace one veteran. I bet dollars to donuts that the new guy and Matt will cost more than Kevin did even with his enhanced compensation. Another poorly thought out decision from this Board. But, they’ve got all of that Measure A money to spend still. As Mr Musser pointed out it is fairly simple to ‘free up’ general fund money to pay for more administrators by using the windfall from Measure A.
Yolanda Ferguson (via facebook) – “Young Gang Defendants Face Uncertain Future Regardless of Outcome in Their Case”
I grew up in Boyle Heights where Father Greg has Homeboy Industries. He has helped so many young men and women, but he is right about jobs for all those youth that end up in the system. I was a gang member in the area in the early 60’s an…d I am a productive member of this society. People do change, but today they just want to lock you up and throw away the key. I now live in Broderick and they are trying to make Broderick like if it was Boyle Heights. What a joke.
Morpheus – “Young Gang Defendants Face Uncertain Future Regardless of Outcome in Their Case”
I appreciate the job you do, David, especially with keeping the spotlight on abuses by the current elected DA. However, not every case brought by that office is one of overreaching. I can’t help but think you would have a different perspective if these “misguided youth” had beaten you or a loved one senseless.
Jeff Boone – “City Faces Vexing Budget Problems”
I like the idea of not paying firefighters for time spent sleeping; however, I think the problem with that is California labor law on on-call compensation for controlled time. By law, if any non-exempt employee is required to remain on the employer’s premises available for work as needed, then that employee is on controlled time… which means they are on the clock and must be paid for the time. I understand that the Vallejo bankruptcy deal did not touch pensions benefits, but resulted in police and firefighter staffing reductions to help balance the budget. Seems ass backwards to me.
JustSaying – “Young Gang Defendants Face Uncertain Future Regardless of Outcome in Their Case”
Isn’t a little odd that you support hiring of convicted felons after you’ve repeatedly reported that incarceration and “the lessons that they will learn while in prison” makes them much worse and turns them into gang members when they weren’t before? Just curious: Why do all of the defense attorneys [u]successfully[/u] “argue” or “likewise argue” while prosecution’s reps keep trying, but only are able to “[u]attempt to[/u] argue.” This is not the first time you’ve reported this kind of attorney and/or witness mismatch. What’s lacking in the DA’s training and witness prep programs?
Mr. Toad – “District Opponents Strain to Continue Attack on District’s Finance”
It should be no surprise that French left having been passed over for Super, a job for which he was well qualified. Kuhlman misses the important role the head of HR plays in a school district. It is my experience that Asst. Superintendents of Human Resources are the ones who do the dirty work of laying people off and saying no in negotiations. Having a well compensated HR person can save a district lots of money. All this post-mordem whining really is too provincial. While Davis has rescinded 59 pink slips through the merciful beneficence of the voters and taxpayers Woodland has had no such support. As a result many really talented dedicated people will be losing their jobs there unless something changes. While some go on bickering you need to look no farther than the nearest town to see the impact measure is having on Davis schools.
jimt – “Young Gang Defendants Face Uncertain Future Regardless of Outcome in Their Case”
I think such incidents, and consequences for suspects/perps should get full coverage in newspapers, maybe presented in high school civics courses for the edification of the kids (but not suspects that are classmates from the same high school, of course). Parents are then reminded of the serious consequences of their kids hanging out with the wrong crowd, and help to ensure that their kids stay on the straight and narrow–which includes not associating with kids that like to dress and behave like gangbangers or ‘wannabees’. This formula worked in the past, it can work now. If there were resources, I would agree that more should be put toward youth programs–unfortunately that period is likely gone as bankruptcy looms at all levels of government; a sterner hand by the parents and inculcating a sense of personal responsibility are the options left to us; again they have a proven record in the historical record of being fairly effective.
davehart – “UC Student Opposition Grows to Confirmation of Regent Crane”
State workers, for instance, not working for the CSU system or UC, number about 180,000. How is it that such a small number of people have an inordinate amount of power. Look at local employees including all the safety an regular paper-pushers. They are a small number of our community. Maybe they have “power” through their connection to the community and in making a good argument for being treated decently. What is this magical “super power” that public unions have? David Crane talks about it. Talk about mumbo-jumbo!
Fight Against Injustice – “Jury Deadlocks on Whether Shooter Was Attempting to Murder Police”
It sounds to me that if the DA’s office would have charged him on negligent discharge instead of attempted murder, this case may not have had to go to trial at all. And the taxpayers would have saved the money a trial costs. The defendant admitted guilt to the robbery, the high speed chase, and it sounds like he would have pleaded guilty to the negligent discharge too. This case went to court because the defendant would not plead guilty to attempted murder. Why does the DA keep trying to bolster the charges beyond what the evidence dictates. This type of policy keeps costing the tax payers money and crowds the courts. The people need to insist that the DA’s office thoroughly investigates their cases. This case could have been settled. Remember the article in the past where the public defender’s office told the county supervisors that some cases didn’t need to go to court–they should be settled. Case in point.
Don Shor – “District Rescinds Layoffs, Explanation on New HR Director”
I think the district has sent exactly the right message by rescinding the layoffs as the first order of business after the passage of the tax measure. That message: these funds are to retain teachers. Not for pay raises. Not for facilities. So at least as a symbolic gesture, this is excellent.
JustSaying – “Jury Deadlocks on Whether Shooter Was Attempting to Murder Police”
Wow, this sounds more entertaining than your usual trials. How would you rate the performances, the prosecutor’s versus the defendant’s? They both sound dramatic. Mr. Parish: “Bang! Bang, bang! Bang!” Mr. Barahona: (Vehemently, when asked whether he meant to kill anyone as he fired four shots.) “Absolutely not!” One has to wonder how the jury would have ruled if the negligent discharge charges hadn’t been a last-minute addition for their consideration. Also, do you have many cases where someone ends up with two trials for the same night of connected, consecutive bad behavior? Good thing he didn’t roar through any more jurisdictions on his wild ride. Interesting report.
Musser – “District Rescinds Layoffs, Explanation on New HR Director”
to a certain extent, the district really has no alternative but to rescind the layoff notices. how would it look if they threw out layoff notices to people after a wad of cash was just handed to them? It would definitely add fuel to anti-district forces and they did not want that.
