Elections

Candidate Materials Confiscated At Candidate’s Forum?

Granda-Jose-2As we head into tonight’s Davis Vanguard-DMA school board candidates forum at Harper Junior High (doors open at 6:30), we are reminded that the beauty of an open and democratic society is the free and open exchange of ideas, the absolute sanctity of freedom of speech.

Meanwhile, the Vanguard is still working to get the full account of what happened on Friday night, at the candidates forum sponsored by NewStar Chinese School and the Davis High School PTA, at the Davis High School Library.

Campaign Analysis: So Far Measure E Seems in Good Shape

Measure-E-photoThe Davis School Board decided to take a rare risk when they put Measure E on the ballot.  It was largely untested.  Measure A, the measure that the new parcel tax in part renews, passed with the barest of margins just last year in 2011.  And Measure E not only renews the current parcel tax, but there is a good possibility that it will expand it, should the Governor’s Tax Measure, Proposition 30, not pass in November.

As we noted last week, Proposition 30 is passing with just 51 percent in the latest Field Poll.  A margin that has pundits and supporters concerned about whether it will pass.

School Board Candidates Written Responses – Part Two

schoolOn Monday, October 1, 2012, the Davis Vanguard and Davis Media Access (DMA) will be hosting a candidates forum for the Davis School Board candidates, to be held in the Harper Junior High Multipurpose room. The doors open at 6:30 PM and the forum begins at 7:00 PM.

The forum will have a unique setup in that candidates will be seated facing each other in a discussion format. Each of the five candidates will ask one question to be answered by themselves and the other candidates and then there will be time at the end for question and answer of the candidates.

Vanguard Seeks Written Questions in Advance of October 1 Candidates Forum

chalkboard

The newly-comprised Vanguard Editorial Board is sponsoring a School Board Candidates forum on Monday, October 1, 2012 at the Harper Junior High Multipurpose room.

All five candidates for school board: Susan Lovenburg, Nancy Peterson, Claire Sherman, Jose Granda and Alan Fernandez have committed to attend and participate.

Sherman Takes Unconventional Approach to School Board Candidacy

chalkboardClaire Sherman is not your typical candidate for school board.  She openly acknowledges that her stances on issues facing the district may make it difficult for her to be elected and that gaining election may not be her top priority, as she is not planning on raising or spending money beyond the costs of putting her ballot statement on the sample ballot.

Nevertheless, she believes that there are issues that are not be voiced in this community, that the current school board is too homogeneous and caters to the high-achieving student population.

Commentary: School Board and Parcel Tax Races Shaping Up As Barn Burners

schoolIn the city of Davis it seems that for a long time the city council was the center of political life.  The most intense races, the most interest was generated on issues of growth facing this community.

In the past, city council races have drawn numerous candidates, have been intensely waged along sometimes clear lines of demarcation.  But back in June, there were just five candidates for three spots, the campaign itself was focused more on personalities than clear political lines, and the intensity, with a few notable exceptions, was fairly low.

Now Five Candidates for Two School Board Spots

Fernandes-AlanAlan Fernandes becomes the fifth candidate for the Davis school board.  There are two seats in contention, one of them currently held by Susan Lovenburg who is running for re-election and the other held by Richard Harris who is not.

In an email to the Vanguard, Mr. Fernandes said, “I have decided to run for Davis School Board because I care deeply about public education in Davis and am concerned that there will be critical decisions that will be made in the future that will impact the long term success of our schools.”

Longtime Critic Jose Granda Enters School Board Race

Granda-Jose-2Jose Granda, often critic of the Davis Joint Unified School District, particularly on issues of taxation, has put his proverbial money where his mouth is and becomes the fourth known candidate for the office, joining incumbent Susan Lovenburg, Nancy Peterson and other recent entry Claire Sherman.

Because incumbent Richard Harris has declined to run for a second term, the filing period remains open until August 15 and there is a rumor that a fifth candidate may enter.

Lovenburg Talks About Her Re-Election, the District Budget and the New November Parcel Tax

Lovenburg-SusanLast week, Susan Lovenburg announced that she would run for a second term for the Davis Joint Unified School Board.  Her decision followed Richard Harris’ announcement that he would not run and instead planned to support a parcel tax.  Nancy Peterson has announced she will run for school board as well.

The Vanguard caught up with Ms. Lovenburg this weekend. Despite a tumultuous five years on the board, extended by a year due to budget considerations, Ms. Lovenburg told the Vanguard her decision reflected her commitment to education and this district.

Nancy Peterson Emerges to Challenge For School Board

Peterson-NancyJust a few weeks after Richard Harris decided not to run again and pushed the school board and district to support yet another parcel tax, Susan Lovenburg announced she would face re-election, and now we have the first challenger for the open position.

Nancy Peterson is no stranger to the school district, as she has three kids in the schools and has been a long-time volunteer and advocate.

Lovenburg to Seek Re-Election for School Board

Lovenburg-SusanIf it lacks the flare of the dramatic announcement of Richard Harris, who turned not only the prospective school board election on its head, but the entire community as well, Susan Lovenburg will have to be forgiven.

Her time on the board is perhaps as tumultuous as anyone’s, beginning with the late night meetings and dramatic decisions that punctuated early 2008 in the first of many fiscal crises that saw the young board propose and ultimately reject closing Emerson Junior High, DaVinci, and numerous programs like foreign languages, music, art and drama.

Measure C Surges to Resounding Win At Polls

schoolIn the end, it was over early on election night as the first polls showed, with 16,000-odd votes cast, Measure C passing with 72.5% of the vote.  And while the final numbers dipped slightly, it was effectively over at that point, with the final score 72.3% and 12,435 yes votes to only 4,756 no votes.

Unlike the razor-thin margin of Measure A, 1000 votes would have had to switch hands to have changed the outcome of this election.

Commentary: Election Day Thoughts and Analysis

Vote-stock-slideIt is a weird thing to be talking about Election Day, when just about everybody other than me has voted, but that is where we are.  I have had numerous conversations in the last few days with people in all sorts of capacities.

I still predict that Measure C passes.  I do not think it will get three-quarters of the vote as Measure W did back in 2008, but I also do not think this is going to be the squeaker that Measure A was last year.

Commentary: Opposition to Measure C Has Let Us Down

schoolDemocracy is not an outcome, it is a process, and I will always argue that the most important part about an election is not the outcome but rather the interchange of ideas.  Granted, in a lot of places, the idea of an interchange of ideas is a pipe dream, but in Davis we are still old fashioned enough to have a campaign based on ideas rather than simply slinging mud around and finding out what sticks.

And that is the part of the opposition to Measure C that has let me down.  We need to have a conversation in this community about education and not just about how great our schools are – which they are.

County Clerk Explains, Discounts Possibility of Privacy Invasion in Mail-In Ballot Election

ballot-mailEnough has been made about the possibility that mail-in ballots are less secure than other forms of voting that it seemed like a wise idea to speak with Yolo County Clerk Freddie Oakley, so she could explain what her office does to protect the integrity of the process.

The bottom line, it seems, is that if someone really wanted to find out how someone voted, there are narrow and limited opportunities to do so.  But enough safety measures are in place that it seems a remote possibility, at best.

What is the Obligation to Clarify the Public Record and Ensure that Lies Are Corrected?

schoolJose Granda has been given no less than two editorials and three or four letters to the editor in the newspaper to continue the same inaccurate information that he has espoused for two months and that prompted a Yolo County Superior Court Judge to have to strike portions of a ballot statement.

We sympathize with the local newspaper – after all they are trying to provide balanced coverage of a ballot measure whose support is imbalanced and whose opposition is led by two individuals who have for some odd reason decided that their best approach is not to attack the measure but rather to attack the electoral process, and to do so based on inaccurate representations of that process.

No on Measure C Placing Their Signs in the Wrong Spots and Other Reports on the Campaign

chalkboardThe Election is rapidly approaching for Measure C, the extension of the district’s current parcel tax for another five years.  We have received some reports from around the community about illegally-placed signage.

It appears that the No on C people have an inadequate understanding of the laws on permissible sign usage.  They posted a complaint on the Davis Enterprise comment section that “No on C signs are being stolen all over town. Is this the way C supporters are supposed to act?”

Guest Commentary: Measure C is About Saving School Music Programs

school-musicby Hiram Jackson and Greg Brucker

About 30 years ago, Davis schools faced the biggest deficits on record up to that time.  Significant cuts were made to the music program, and the school elementary music program was eliminated for three years.  This occurred in the years just before Davis passed its first school parcel tax in 1984.

Once the elementary program was reinstated, it took another 10 years to restore the whole music program to its previous levels of participation and excellence.  We are also faced with a similar decision in 2012 as to whether to continue funding for programs like elementary music.  But in light of how much Davis families appreciate that music performance is an essential component of a basic education, this is a choice that you can make at the ballot box.

Commentary: Bad Time For Such Tone-Deaf Leadership From DTA

schoolWe are in crunch time of a ballot measure that has avoided controversy until perhaps now.  On Thursday night, the Davis school board approved another 50 layoffs.  It is not the way we want to do things here in Davis, but such a move reflects an all-cuts approach to cutting the school’s current structural deficit that remains even if Measure C passes.

A $3.5 million structural deficit is merely the tip of the proverbial iceberg.  If Measure C does not pass, the Davis schools face a deficit nearly three times that, at $10 million.  In the face of such daunting numbers, you would think we would be pulling together to work as a team – district personnel, teachers, community members.

Commentary: What DJUSD Has Done For Us

schoolThe Business Community: Chamber and DDBA Step Up And Support Quality Education in Our Community

Everyone has their own unique stories.  They have their own lives and priorities.  What I can say on these pages is what DJUSD has done for us in the short time that we have been the “parents” of a special-needs kid.

For most of my time here in Davis, I had no kids in school, though it has always been my goal to have kids.  Last year we went from zero kids to three (twice), in a most unconventional way.  Suddenly we were “parents” of two school-aged kids, one of whom has very serious learning disabilities and emotional problems.