Elections

The Davis Chamber of Commerce announced a few months ago that they wanted to have a more active role.  That they have as they have endorsed three candidates for Davis City Council – Lucas Frerichs, Stephen Souza, and Dan Wolk.

“Davis residents are strongly encouraged to support these three candidates because each of them has demonstrated a firm commitment to promote, support and advocate for the general economic vitality of the business community of Davis and the quality of life for the community,” the Chamber said in a press release.

Every Friday between now and the election, the candidates for Davis City Council will be asked to respond to one hard-hitting Vanguard question on the issues that matter to Davis, or at least to the Vanguard.

Last week the council candidates were given a question on Monday and asked to respond by midnight this morning. For next week, they were given the question this morning, by request of one of the candidates who preferred to have the weekend to work on the answer.

The Sierra Club Yolano Group recently posed a series of local environmental-related questions to the Davis City Council candidates.  Written responses are limited to 400 words for questions relating to the surface water project and 200 words for all other questions.

All responses are reported exactly as received from candidates with the exception that minor formatting changes were made to ensure consistency and to minimize space requirements. Responses were arranged alphabetically by last name for the first question and then rotated for each subsequent question.

The Sierra Club Yolano Group recently posed a series of local environmental-related questions to the Davis City Council candidates.  Written responses are limited to 400 words for questions relating to the surface water project and 200 words for all other questions.

All responses are reported exactly as received from candidates with the exception that minor formatting changes were made to ensure consistency and to minimize space requirements. Responses were arranged alphabetically by last name for the first question and then rotated for each subsequent question.

The Sierra Club Yolano Group recently posed a series of local environmental-related questions to the Davis City Council candidates.  Written responses are limited to 400 words for questions relating to the surface water project and 200 words for all other questions.

On Tuesday we had an opportunity to watch the council continue to struggle with a site-by-site assessment for how to deal with Crown Castle.  Not only do we have the views of the three incumbents, but both Lucas Frerichs and Brett Lee made public comments laying out their views.

Every Friday between now and the election, the candidates for Davis City Council will be asked to respond to one hard-hitting Vanguard question on the issues that matter to Davis, or at least to the Vanguard.

Last week the council candidates were given a question on Monday and asked to respond by midnight this morning. For next week, they were given the question this morning, by request of one of the candidates who preferred to have the weekend to work on the answer.

The Vanguard is going to be asking questions of the five council candidates.

It is our intention to fill in gaps in questions – that means instead of asking the same questions that come up in every forum, it is our intention of asking questions no one else is asking and hoping to fill in those gaps.

The Chamber of Commerce got the honors on Thursday night to kick off the council elections.  Overall, it would be difficult to argue that any of the candidates did poorly.  In fact, we would argue the opposite – they all comported themselves well and were able to articulate their positions.  Winners and losers will largely be judged based on people’s individual policy preferences.

We will also critique the Chamber’s format and performance a little bit, while acknowledging and praising the fact that they stepped out of the comfort zone and attempted to create an atmosphere that was very different from what we normally see.  There were few hitches, our worst fears were not founded, and the Chamber largely pulled off a very good opening act that other entities might consider emulating.

Few Sparks But Some Pointed Questions From the Chamber –

In what figured to be an atypical format stocked with soccer-style color coded cards, rebuttal cards, and a tightly-managed clock, the Davis Chamber of Commerce largely pulled these changes without incident.  For the most part, the council candidate answers were thoughtful, there were few sparks, and there were few heated words.

Tonight marks the unofficial kickoff of the council campaign season.  This is the time to begin evaluating council candidates on the issues.

THE VANGUARD Analysis of the Race and the Emergence of the Chamber –

While Davis City Council races are rarely determined by money, money can be an indicator as to who is contributing to whom and how much.

While Dan Wolk continues to lead all comers in contributions received to date, Lucas Frerichs, the last of the five candidates to enter the race, has exploded already into second place.

While Councilmembers Sue Greenwald, and recently Stephen Souza, have been very vocal on DACHA, three of the other candidates have had less known positions on DACHA.  The Vanguard inquired this week as to their views on what should happen with DACHA, and what they might do on the council.

Unlike Lucas Frerichs and Brett Lee, Dan Wolk has actually cast votes on council on DACHA.

Plus Candidates’ Statements for the Other Five Candidates –

In a development likely to raise more questions than answers the Vanguard learned on Saturday that Abe Matsui’s candidacy for the Davis City Council may be in doubt before it begins.

One source told the Vanguard on Saturday that there may be a problem with his voter registration in Davis.  Apparently his registration address was for a house that does not exist and, according to our source, there is no way to interpret that address as simply a typo.

by Dan Wolk

Davis boasts a long and celebrated history of environmental achievements. Our city is a bikeable, tree-lined oasis, filled with innovative housing and food cooperatives, and surrounded by protected open space and farmland, and a restored Putah Creek. However much these are now a settled part of our community, but every one of these achievements started with a pioneer who saw something others did not, or as a radical experiment of forward thinkers.

We need such forward thinking today. Over the next few decades, our economic, social and environmental resilience will be challenged by the all-reaching effects of climate change. We can look forward to increased competition for energy and water, environmental and economic challenges to our open farmland, and a future for waste where simply expanding a landfill is not the answer. We have made a good start with our Climate Action and Adaption Plan, which will see us carbon-neutral by 2050, but our true task is much greater than this.