By E. Roberts Musser
Reasons to do this project sooner rather than later:
While we have, up until this point, focused on Veolia’s role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, perhaps the bigger problem that Veolia should face in gaining a contract with the Woodland-Davis Clean Water Agency should be their handling of water issues in this state.
Violations, High Cost, Poor Performance Leads Eight Other Municipalities in the Last Decade to Prematurely Terminate Contract with United WaterThe questions about one of the contractors under consideration, United Water, associated with the CDM “team,” have been raised, both in public and by members of the Clean Water Agency.
As we presented two weeks ago, Davis has been thrust into an unenviable bind by the creation of the water project – the choice, perhaps, between doing business with evil large companies and higher water rates.
The latest revelations of the Davis firefighters taking out their anger at the Vanguard on a struggling local business, Westlake Market, is a reminder of a much larger issue – that of a pattern of abuse of union power and misconduct on the part of the Davis firefighters.
On Saturday during Farmer’s Market, a small group of mostly young people walked through the crowd – these were Occupy Davis protestors.
It sounds good, the simple notion of pitting students and water against each other. After all, in the ideal world we should just decide every project, every expenditure, every law on its own individual merits.
The Clean Water Agency (CWA) had a special meeting to continue the discussion from two weeks ago about two key elements of the Design-Build-Operate process that is paramount to making the water project as affordable as possible.
I am certain that the art community is not going to appreciate my views on this matter and that is fine. I have been on the fence about the water tank art project. On the one hand, I have argued that in these tough times, we ought to stop doing business as usual.
It would be perhaps fitting if the Davis firefighters, for the last several years the symbol of failed fiscal restraint in the City of Davis and really across the state and the nation, represented the undoing of Davis’ budget hopes.
There has been a lot of talk about democracy surrounding the water rate referendum. Supporters of the referendum have urged those who agree with the city’s decision on the water supply project to vote, out of a sense of democracy.
There are those who believe that unions have out-served their usefulness. The unfortunate fact of the matter is when people see conduct like the firefighters union retaliating against a local business for advertising in a publication that they do not agree with, the reaction of many will be the same as one of our readers.
Combined with Selenium Accumulating in Davis Wetlands’ Wildlife, This is a Likely Death Knell for Davis’ Hope for a Wastewater Variance or Extension Admittedly, the surface water project forum held recently by the City of Davis was well-orchestrated and rather boring with few surprises until near the end. Then, in response to a delicately-phrased question by Elaine Roberts Musser about the financial reliability of Woodland as a partner in the surface water project (an argument initially raised by some other than Ms. Musser), Woodland Councilwoman Martie Dotie assured the Davis attendees in no uncertain terms that Woodland is 100% committed to the project..
The issue of the parking garage to be built with redevelopment money was pushed back, at least temporarily, as the council passed staff recommendations to implement focused parking and access improvements in the downtown, commission streetscape improvement and return to council by the end of 2012 with an updated comprehensive utilization analysis and conceptual plans for downtown streetscape improvements and preliminary designs for the mixed-use structure in the 34EF block.
In the continuing debate on water, that has now extended beyond the Prop 218 process and moved into a period of signature-gathering for a potential referendum or initiative, the issue of applying for a variance has surfaced as critical.
by Steve TracyDavis Bicycles! began to survey the two parking structures downtown last March so the community could have a respectful and well-informed discussion about the need for more parking supply, particularly very expensive additional supply in a third structure. A few members of our organization’s Board set out to collect some data. Most of our counts until September were done when we were downtown for miscellaneous errands, shopping, eating, going to movies, or for other entertainment. In other words, times we might be looking for parking spaces for our own cars except we were generally on our bicycles.
Westlake Market has been struggling to stay afloat in a tough economy as a small neighborhood grocery store. Those hopes have been dealt a blow, as they became victims of an unknown boycott by the Davis Firefighters union.
Can We Be Both Cost Conscious and Socially Responsible? And what if we cannot?
The Vanguard yesterday met for nearly two hours with city staff and Mayor Krovoza on the water issue. There will likely be follow-up meetings, as well. The Vanguard’s focus at this meeting was not in rehashing the debate so far, but in trying to understand the process moving forward.
The city council this week is doing what it should have done to begin with, evaluating the entire downtown parking landscape. Some interesting ideas and directions arose out of the staff report, that suggests perhaps the opposite conclusion than they intended – wait and see how parking develops as other critical changes are implemented.
The Board of Directors for the Woodland-Davis Clean Water Agency (WDCWA) Thursday named Dennis Diemer as its new General Manager. However, it is the fact that the communication came from Kim Floyd, or Kim Floyd Communications, that has drawn the attention of the Vanguard.
