City of Davis Archives - Page 425 of 479

Without a Fight, Fire Consolidation Plan Moves Forward

By David M. GreenwaldJuly 29, 2010

In one of the boldest and most innovative moves since I have been following the Davis City Council, the City Council unanimously and almost without comment approved a plan that would consolidate the leadership of the Davis and UC Davis fire departments under a single fire chief, a move that will save both entities a combined $250,000 a year.

The City Council voted Tuesday night to authorize staff to move forward with a plan to implement the first phase of the pilot project. The plan also calls for a shared fire dispatch center; a restructuring of administrative support functions; and standardized training, policies and procedures, according to a release from the city of Davis.

Senior Housing Guidelines Are Approved – With Nary a Whimper!

By Elaine Roberts MusserJuly 29, 2010

New Dynamic on the City Council?

By E. Roberts Musser –

On Tuesday July 27, 2010, the Senior Housing Guidelines were unanimously approved by the City Council. Go figure! I attended the Council meeting “loaded for bear”, ready to do battle for the Guidelines. Why such a pugnacious stance on my part? The Senior Citizens Commission together with City Staff, the Social Services Commission and ADA Subcommittee worked on these Guidelines for a very long time – nearly three years. The Guidelines did not initially make it onto any City Council agenda, because the events of the Senior Housing Strategy overtook them. Ultimately the Senior Housing Strategy was enveloped into the city’s bureaucratic vortex as a lost cause.

Council Goes Ahead with Application for Grant Involving Nishi Development

By David M. GreenwaldJuly 28, 2010

council-stock

In a fast-moving meeting that seemed to lack significant discussion on several key issues, the Council agreed to move forward with the Grant Approval process for the “Gateway/Olive Drive Specific Plan Update, Including Nishi Property and Circulation Improvements.” The council approved the proposal by a 4-1 vote with Councilmember Sue Greenwald dissenting.

Councilmember Greenwald expressed concerns about going ahead with planning for the Nishi property prior to an agreement from the university to allow university access on the back side of the property. She sees the site as potentially ideal for a business development but is concerned with the traffic flow issues from Olive Drive onto Richards Blvd.

City to Decide What to Do with DACHA Units

By David M. GreenwaldJuly 27, 2010

In early July the Davis Redevelopment Agency became the owner of the homes in DACHA. The foreclosure auction finally occurred after legal hurdles were breached when a judge dismissed efforts by Neighborhood Partners to declare involuntary bankruptcy.

A long series of events led to this outcome. The city of Davis had previously decided to lower the cost of shares and monthly payments to the members of the Co-Op. Included in that was a refinance by the city of Davis, meaning that the Redevelopment Agency became the effective bank for DACHA.

City Staff Report Recommends Pilot Consolidation of City – UCD Fire Services

By David M. GreenwaldJuly 26, 2010

As we have previously report, a confluence of several factors including the retirement of the Fire Chiefs at both the City of Davis and UC Davis and a bad economy necessitating cost-cutting measures has made what might have been a challenging task of getting all parties to agree to a consolidation of fire services at least one step closer to reality.

According to the city staff report, “With the concurrent retirement of the City of Davis Fire Chief and UC-Davis Fire Chief, as well as the City of Davis Division Chief of Operations, there is an opportunity to assemble and reconstitute the aggregate remaining chief officers to form a functionally consolidated, unified command team for singular management and oversight of both the City of Davis and UC-Davis fire departments.”

Commentary: Council Priorities Change with the Times

By David M. GreenwaldJuly 25, 2010

I did not get to watch the entire meeting on Saturday, so these are merely observations from the morning portion of the Council Goal Setting Session. We will get a fuller picture after city staff takes some of the raw material and finesses it. Still I think initial observations can be useful.

My first observation is, and this is a bit unfair, but that I always feel like I am getting a sell job when I listen to Bill Emlen talk about the state of the city. There is no doubt that the city, at least in terms of its goals, accomplished some of them. The city did bring the Bicycling Hall of Fame, that is certainly an accomplishment. They did bring in a Target and Trader Joe’s. You can decide for yourself whether that is a good thing. They have moved forward on the water projects. The city is moving forward on a sports complex.

Is Environmental Grant Proposal Backdoor Plan to Develop Nishi?

By David M. GreenwaldJuly 24, 2010

At Tuesday’s city council meeting, the ostensive action item is to apply for a Sustainable Communities Planning Grant. But reading through the plan itself, it becomes fairly clear that the grant is a means by which to develop the Nishi Property. “The proposed project is the “Gateway/Olive Drive Specific Plan Update, Including Nishi Property and Circulation Improvements.””

According to the staff report, “The primary goal of the grant program is to develop and implement plans that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and achieve the following objectives.”

After 15 Years, Noise Issues Finally Resolved For Neighbors of Montessori School

By David M. GreenwaldJuly 23, 2010

On July 15, Mark Wood, the city of Davis’ Chief Building Official, sent out a memo in which he announced that mitigation measures had been completed and that the neighbors consider the matter resolved to their satisfaction.

“I am pleased to report that the neighbors consider that these measures have resolved the issues to their satisfaction and if the day care maintains these measures, their current operation schedule and policies, the matter is closed,” Mr. Wood wrote.

Good News: Davis Manor Has a Grocery Store After Eight Years

By David M. GreenwaldJuly 22, 2010

If we have to struggle these days to find good news, the good news nevertheless is there. This year key voids for Grocery Stores have been filled first at Westlake Shopping Center and now at East Davis Manor. For good measure, Trader Joe’s is going into the University Mall which has been without a grocery store of any kind for a number of years as well.

According to reports in the Davis Enterprise, the Grocery Outlet store is expected to open sometime in the early part of 2011. Following a similar model to the one that Westlake IGA has employed, they have filed plans with the city to operate a 12,000 square foot store, occupying the eastern half of the old site which was Ralphs and later Albertsons. The other portion of course is occupied by the Dollar Tree.

Retiree Health Care, Number One Priority?

By David M. GreenwaldJuly 22, 2010

Good op-ed this week by Rich Rifkin in the Davis Enterprise. He argues that “the city has one overwhelming problem: our unfunded retiree health benefits. In a list of what should be the council’s top 10 priorities, solving this fiasco is No. 1. It’s also Nos. 2, 3, 4 and 5.”

Allow me to quibble and say that is one among three, I would put compensation/ pension issues along with it, along with lack of funds for basic city services such as road repair.

Commentary: When Enough is Too Much

By David M. GreenwaldJuly 20, 2010

For those of you who assume that at some point cooler heads will prevail and that we will eventually get a handle on the city’s fiscal crisis, look no further than the city of Bell as to why that might not happen.

The city of Bell for those who do not know, and I had to look it up myself is located in the Central portion of urban Los Angeles County. A small town in the midst of metropolis it had a population in 2000 of just 36,664. Bell is not an affluent community, in fact it is one of the poorest in Los Angeles County.

City Plans Pedestrian Improvements to Second Street but Ignores Second and B Intersection

By David M. GreenwaldJuly 19, 2010

The city has been planning Second Street Pedestrian Improvements for sometime now. The big question is why the city has not decided to deal with the more troublesome B and Second Street Intersection which would appear to be dangerous for pedestrians and hazardous for vehicles who are trying to make a left onto Second Street or turn in either direction onto B Street.

According to the city’s description of the process, “Four intersections of C, D, E and F will be improved with “build-outs” to reduce the pedestrian crossing distance, improve accessibility and provide traffic calming. Each corner will include new trees, plants and LED energy efficient light fixtures. Two designated bus stops will be improved and on street parking spaces will be re-striped to increase parking space. Storm drainage will be extended to improve gutter flow drainage at the “bulb-outs”.”

Water Agency Close to Getting Water Rights; Doubling Davis’ Water Rates

By David M. GreenwaldJuly 18, 2010

We have been talking about the water project for as long as this site has been in existence. Last year, the city of Davis and Woodland formed a joint powers authority to form the Woodland-Davis Clean Water Agency.

On Thursday, they hired Eric Mische as the agency’s general manager and announced that they are on the brink of getting water rights.

Commentary: Time to Re-Think Sister Cities

By David M. GreenwaldJuly 16, 2010

The Council pulled an item submitted on Tuesday by Mayor Don Saylor that would have established a volunteer position of Sister City Ambassador and appoint outgoing Mayor Ruth Asmundson to this position for the period 2010-12.

According to Mayor Saylor’s report, “The purpose of this position is to provide support and coordination for the several sister city programs and committees that have emerged over the years to link our community with people around the world. These programs enrich our community and build bridges in untold ways.”

Word To The Wise: Senior Housing Guidelines In Limbo

By Elaine Roberts MusserJuly 15, 2010

By E. Roberts Musser –

It seemed like it would be an historic occasion on Tuesday night, June 15, 2010. The Senior Housing Guidelines were placed on the Consent Calendar by City Staff for final approval. It was a long time in coming – nearly three years ago from inception in the Davis Senior Citizens Commission to the finished product being officially offered for endorsement to the City Council. Along the way, invaluable input was incorporated from City Staff, the Social Services Commission and their ADA Subcommittee, developers and the public.

In essence, the Senior Housing Guidelines encompass the following principles to direct the senior housing development process:

Final List of Appointments

By David M. GreenwaldJuly 15, 2010

The big battle Tuesday night in the opening session of the new council was over the appointments to the various bodies. Don Saylor announced these appointments during the meeting and the council discussed them and made some alterations. In yesterday’s publication, we had the original list of appointments but not the final list.

Councilmember Sue Greenwald believed, with a good deal of merit, that she was given the short end of the stick both in terms of numbers and importance of the appointments. She made this objection rather strenuously. She first tried to put off the discussion to the next meeting, hoping to avoid confrontation however Mayor Don Saylor believed some of these appointments needed to go into effect immediately. So eventually after some machinations, they did go over the appointments line by line.

New Council Era Begins With Battle Over Appointments

By David M. GreenwaldJuly 14, 2010

The day began with ceremonies and celebrations. It ended with celebration. In between however, the council waged an at times heated battle over appointments to various commission liaison positions, 2 by 2 committees, interjurisdictional bodies, and council subcommittees.

The day began on a high note. First, Rochelle Swanson was sworn as a city councilmember by School Board Member Gina Daleiden. Then Tim Taylor, School Board President President had the honors of swearing in new Mayor Pro Tem Joe Krovoza.

Commentary: Does It Seem Slow To Anyone Else?

By David M. GreenwaldJuly 12, 2010

On June 8, Davis elected two new members of the Davis City Council. Finally they will be sworn in on Tuesday, more than a month later. At the same time, Don Saylor will become Mayor. One of the interesting questions may be whether Joe Krovoza is immediately seated as Mayor Pro Tem. If he is, it would be difficult to see how anyone other than Mr. Krovoza would become Mayor after Don Saylor moves on to the Board of Supervisors.

The final regular meeting for the old council was June 29, 2010. Last week’s meeting was entirely ceremonial. This week’s meeting will be almost entirely ceremonial. Next week will have the first meeting of the new council and that appears to be a workshop. There will be a special council goal setting retreat on Saturday July 24, a regular meeting on July 27 and finally the special morning meeting on Monday August 2 which is largely non-business.

Sports Park EIR Includes Rezone of Two Existing Parks

By David M. GreenwaldJuly 11, 2010

One of the last acts that Lamar Heystek performed as Davis City Councilmember was to put on the long range calendar a discussion of Davis’ record retention policies. One of my continuing concerns is the fact that we discard video recordings of our City Council meetings after a period of six months or so. That leaves the only historical record of what happened in our meetings the minutes and whatever policies are enacted.

The problem with the minutes is that they are summary in nature and so we lose context for how issues arose and what was discussed. I bring this up at this particular time because I was attempting to backtrack to learn how and when the issue of rezoning two Davis Parks go grouped with the Sports Park Concept.

New Council: How Will City Staff Adjust to New Direction?

By David M. GreenwaldJuly 10, 2010

On Tuesday night, after what seems like ages, the new council will be sworn in with Joe Krovoza and Rochelle Swanson replacing Lamar Heystek and Ruth Asmundson. That much we know. What we really do not know is what these changes will mean for the city of Davis.

What the biggest open question is what these changes which will continue in January when Don Saylor leaves the council will mean for city staff. In a city manager form of government, the city is basically run by unelected city staff members.

New Dynamic on the City Council?

By E. Roberts Musser –

By E. Roberts Musser –

Recent Posts