Elections

Measure I Opponents Discuss Criticism of Water Project – Most regular Vanguard readers are familiar with the arguments in favor of the surface water project that is going to be on the March ballot for Davis residents.  However, many are wondering how the opposition to the water project will make their case.

As our opening coverage of the water project election, the Vanguard sat down with three representatives of the No on Measure I campaign – former Councilmember Michael Harrington, WAC Member Mark Siegler, and Pam Nieberg, a longtime community activist.

Most Ratepayers Will Pay More Under Bartle-Wells Rate Structure – For a moment, forget about the larger issue of whether or not you support the surface water project.  Last night the Davis City Council, by a 4-0 vote with Brett Lee abstaining, decided to pull the Loge-Williams model off the table and look at one of two possible Bartle-Wells fixed rate models – one with a uniform block rate and one with an inclining block rate.

The city has set up a process whereby the voters would vote on whether to approve the water project prior to the ratepayers completing the Prop 218 process.  In yesterday’s column, Bob Dunning argued that the voters ought to know the costs prior to the election and suggested at multiple points that the council and other decision-making may want to “keep the unwashed masses in the dark,” suggesting “what the city wants here is a blank check” in case of cost overruns.

We found his arguments compelling with regard to the concerns about going forward with the election prior to the rate process competition, but we recognize at the same time this is probably seen more as a timing issue than an attempt by the council to keep the voters in the dark about the costs.

It is increasingly looking like Davis Enterprise columnist Bob Dunning is intent on running part of the No on the Water Project campaign from the second page of the Davis Enterprise.  Under existing rules, he largely has the right to do so.

It has been a long and eventful week, but the Vanguard finally caught up with Lucas Frerichs, who finished second in Tuesday’s Davis City Council election.

On Election Night, Dan Wolk did what everyone expected him to do, as the Mayor Pro Tem-elect won by an overwhelming margin, winning every single precinct in the city of Davis.  The other candidates were tightly-bunched, but in the end, two longtime incumbents ended up being defeated.

Tuesday was a late night, particularly for the Davis City Council candidates who, because of the closeness of the election and the still unexplained phenomena whereby city of Davis precincts are slow to report, the final outcome was not sealed for anyone other than Mayor Pro Tem-elect Dan Wolk until 1 am.

It was not supposed to end this way, or at least so we thought.  In the end, perhaps the voters really had had enough.  In June of 2010, the Council majority met for the final time, their legacy an uncertain one at best, punctuated by the failed Covell Village, a booming structural deficit, looming unfunded liabilities and of course the fight between Ruth Asmundson and Sue Greenwald caught on film.

Every member of that council will be gone from public office except for Don Saylor, who serves on the Board of Supervisors in Woodland.

Frerichs and Lee In; Souza and Greenwald Out

As expected, Dan Wolk cruised to a first place finish and in July he will become the Mayor Pro Tem and eventually succeed Joe Krovoza as Mayor.  It was not a huge surprise that Lucas Frerichs would finish second – after all, he has spent a decade in service to Davis and ended up raising the most campaign money.

The stunner is that both of the long-term incumbents lost – both Sue Greenwald, a three-term councilmember, and Stephen Souza who would finish fifth in the five-person race after winning both in 2004 and 2008.

The Davis ChamberPAC send out notification that it had purchased around 4000 door hangers that would be distributed throughout Davis today at around 9 am.

According to the notification, “These door hangers advocate for a ‘Yes’ vote on Measure D and for support of Davis City Council candidates: Lucas Frerichs, Stephen Souza and Dan Wolk.”