Don Saylor: “I feel disrespected and treated without dignity”

Late Tuesday night, and actually more accurately early Wednesday morning, the Davis City Council had a long discussion about what to do with the Cannery Park development project.

Part of the reason that the staff recommended that consideration of Cannery Park should be put off has to do with expectations perhaps that there would be a renewed development project with the adjacent site which is right now just outside of the city limits and that had been the location for the Covell Village development project.

Toward the end of this discussion Don Saylor made a statement that was rather surprising in its tone:

“I want to make one small observation, in our council ground rules, under the first paragraph, it says that each councilmember should treat each other with respect and dignity even when disagreements arise. I feel disrespected and treated without dignity when my motivations are questioned and it is assumed that I am leading to something that I have not said.”

You can watch the full statement on the youtube link below.

However, I have to say when I heard this, I was taken aback by the tone. Because first of all, not one of the comments made by Mayor Sue Greenwald or Councilmember Lamar Heystek were personally directed toward Mr. Saylor. There was general discussion about what the plans were for the Covell Village development site. This was legitimate since it was mentioned in the City Staff report.

Councilmember Heystek said:

“November 2005 is not in our distant memory. I think it would be disingenuous to assume something for the North Central area. I think as a body, we are kind of tone-deaf.”

And for people who opposed Measure X and the development at Covell Village, it made perfect sense to remind the council of the bitter and cantankerous vote that occurred less than 15 months ago. Moreover, that this measure was very soundly defeated by a large sector of the population.

There was a debate during the meeting as to what that vote actually meant, and that is fine. But none of that debate could be interpreted as a personal swipe at anyone. And in fact, I would interpret it as concern about the language in the staff report that strongly suggested that the issue that was just defeated would be revisited.

Councilmember Saylor speaks in a very monotonic and measured manner. That is simply how he speaks, whether you talk to him in person, listen to him at a council meeting, or listen to him give a speech. This style I think serves him well for meetings of this sort, but when he gives a public speech, it tends to translate rather poorly.

In this case, Saylor’s measured speaking style probably saves him. Because if you listen to what he says, rather than his tone, he is essentially whining. He was not disrespected and he was certainly not treated without dignity by his colleagues on the council. There was simply concern given the staff recommendation language about what the intentions were for this controversial development site.

For Mr. Saylor to take these questions as a personal affront, is rather appalling.

I think this sort of behavior strikes at the very heart of many people’s concerns about Saylor as an individual. It certainly did nothing to add to the discussion. And as we have seen in the past when he feigned indignation about using a parliamentary maneuver in order to reconsider a city Park’s consultant proposal, and then a few weeks later admitted that he had done as much, I think it harms his credibility. He clearly counts on the fact that this is occurring after midnight and few will get to witness it.

Mr. Saylor’s tenor does very little to improve the tone on the council. More frankly on an evening that began with a strong show of unity on the part of the Davis City Council dealing with the county and the perceived threat from there, for Saylor to complain about such a trivial matter, severely undermined any progress that had earlier been made toward unity and reconciliation. In short it Saylor’s comments were undignified and uncalled for.

—Doug Paul Davis reporting

About The Author

David Greenwald is the founder, editor, and executive director of the Davis Vanguard. He founded the Vanguard in 2006. David Greenwald moved to Davis in 1996 to attend Graduate School at UC Davis in Political Science. He lives in South Davis with his wife Cecilia Escamilla Greenwald and three children.

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32 Comments

  1. Anonymous

    Claiming “disrespect” is a technique that seems to be increasingly used to attempt to negate an opposing point of view. Rather than respond to the point, the defender claims s/he was disrespected, thus attempting to use the rules of behavior (real or imagined) to divert the discussion from the underlying point. Don Saylor does this on a regular basis at Davis City Council meetings.

    Within a 24-hour period on Tuesday, Don Saylor was both the object and the perpertrator of this technique. Supervisor Mariko Yamada made the same accusation of Davis representatives (including Saylor) after they asserted that city planning should be done by the city.

    Folks, disagreement and disrespect are not the same thing.

    Nonetheless, Don should get a pass on this one, given the lateness of the hour.

  2. Anonymous

    Claiming “disrespect” is a technique that seems to be increasingly used to attempt to negate an opposing point of view. Rather than respond to the point, the defender claims s/he was disrespected, thus attempting to use the rules of behavior (real or imagined) to divert the discussion from the underlying point. Don Saylor does this on a regular basis at Davis City Council meetings.

    Within a 24-hour period on Tuesday, Don Saylor was both the object and the perpertrator of this technique. Supervisor Mariko Yamada made the same accusation of Davis representatives (including Saylor) after they asserted that city planning should be done by the city.

    Folks, disagreement and disrespect are not the same thing.

    Nonetheless, Don should get a pass on this one, given the lateness of the hour.

  3. Anonymous

    Claiming “disrespect” is a technique that seems to be increasingly used to attempt to negate an opposing point of view. Rather than respond to the point, the defender claims s/he was disrespected, thus attempting to use the rules of behavior (real or imagined) to divert the discussion from the underlying point. Don Saylor does this on a regular basis at Davis City Council meetings.

    Within a 24-hour period on Tuesday, Don Saylor was both the object and the perpertrator of this technique. Supervisor Mariko Yamada made the same accusation of Davis representatives (including Saylor) after they asserted that city planning should be done by the city.

    Folks, disagreement and disrespect are not the same thing.

    Nonetheless, Don should get a pass on this one, given the lateness of the hour.

  4. Anonymous

    Claiming “disrespect” is a technique that seems to be increasingly used to attempt to negate an opposing point of view. Rather than respond to the point, the defender claims s/he was disrespected, thus attempting to use the rules of behavior (real or imagined) to divert the discussion from the underlying point. Don Saylor does this on a regular basis at Davis City Council meetings.

    Within a 24-hour period on Tuesday, Don Saylor was both the object and the perpertrator of this technique. Supervisor Mariko Yamada made the same accusation of Davis representatives (including Saylor) after they asserted that city planning should be done by the city.

    Folks, disagreement and disrespect are not the same thing.

    Nonetheless, Don should get a pass on this one, given the lateness of the hour.

  5. Doug Paul Davis

    Those of you who are excusing this as a late hour thing, let me suggest to you that during the brief communications portion of the meeting at the beginning meeting, Saylor referenced the rule that he referred to in the midnight hour. This was not an accident, this was very calculated.

  6. Doug Paul Davis

    Those of you who are excusing this as a late hour thing, let me suggest to you that during the brief communications portion of the meeting at the beginning meeting, Saylor referenced the rule that he referred to in the midnight hour. This was not an accident, this was very calculated.

  7. Doug Paul Davis

    Those of you who are excusing this as a late hour thing, let me suggest to you that during the brief communications portion of the meeting at the beginning meeting, Saylor referenced the rule that he referred to in the midnight hour. This was not an accident, this was very calculated.

  8. Doug Paul Davis

    Those of you who are excusing this as a late hour thing, let me suggest to you that during the brief communications portion of the meeting at the beginning meeting, Saylor referenced the rule that he referred to in the midnight hour. This was not an accident, this was very calculated.

  9. Davisite

    Very interesing , Doug.I will go back and look for this on the city’s streaming video. Your observation that this was a planned and premediated attempt to present himself as misunderstood and abused fits in perfectly with the manipulative(and distainful) way he deals with the Davis voter.

  10. Davisite

    Very interesing , Doug.I will go back and look for this on the city’s streaming video. Your observation that this was a planned and premediated attempt to present himself as misunderstood and abused fits in perfectly with the manipulative(and distainful) way he deals with the Davis voter.

  11. Davisite

    Very interesing , Doug.I will go back and look for this on the city’s streaming video. Your observation that this was a planned and premediated attempt to present himself as misunderstood and abused fits in perfectly with the manipulative(and distainful) way he deals with the Davis voter.

  12. Davisite

    Very interesing , Doug.I will go back and look for this on the city’s streaming video. Your observation that this was a planned and premediated attempt to present himself as misunderstood and abused fits in perfectly with the manipulative(and distainful) way he deals with the Davis voter.

  13. Davisite

    Just viewed that brief communication.
    It is clear that his comments were inserted here to lay the groundwork for his later”spontaneous” comments.
    Good call, Doug.

  14. Davisite

    Just viewed that brief communication.
    It is clear that his comments were inserted here to lay the groundwork for his later”spontaneous” comments.
    Good call, Doug.

  15. Davisite

    Just viewed that brief communication.
    It is clear that his comments were inserted here to lay the groundwork for his later”spontaneous” comments.
    Good call, Doug.

  16. Davisite

    Just viewed that brief communication.
    It is clear that his comments were inserted here to lay the groundwork for his later”spontaneous” comments.
    Good call, Doug.

  17. Richard

    politics is a contact sport, and when people engage in this kind of strategy to deflect criticism or even just opposing points of view, all you can do is laugh at them

    –Richard Estes

  18. Richard

    politics is a contact sport, and when people engage in this kind of strategy to deflect criticism or even just opposing points of view, all you can do is laugh at them

    –Richard Estes

  19. Richard

    politics is a contact sport, and when people engage in this kind of strategy to deflect criticism or even just opposing points of view, all you can do is laugh at them

    –Richard Estes

  20. Richard

    politics is a contact sport, and when people engage in this kind of strategy to deflect criticism or even just opposing points of view, all you can do is laugh at them

    –Richard Estes

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