Your Vanguard . . .

by the Davis Vanguard Editorial Board –

Over the years when regular readers of the Vanguard happened to run into one another on the street or at the Farmers Market, asking about the day’s articles and comments in  David’s Blog was frequently part of the ensuing conversation.  For some the term David’s Blog was both a descriptor and a limitation.  In the five years since Matt Williams first posted in July 2007 about a loophole in Measure J we’ve all seen both the Vanguard and David grow, and part of that growth has been a recurring refrain from David that “if the Vanguard is going to be truly valuable to the Davis/Yolo community, it needs to evolve into more than David’s Blog.”

Three months ago, the Vanguard took the most recent step in that evolution by creating an Editorial Board comprised of Robb Davis, Bernie Goldsmith, Tia Will, Matt Williams, Cecilia Escamilla Greenwald and David.  Bernie has since had to pursue employment away from Davis, so the Editorial Board currently numbers five.

Why an Editorial Board? The answer to that question is pretty simple.  If the Vanguard is going to evolve into something more than David’s Blog, it needs to have more voices than just David’s.  To his credit, David knew that and has transformed that knowledge into concrete action.

But creation of an Editorial Board is not enough.  If this blog is going to evolve into Your Vanguard it needs more from each of you.  This article and the comments it will spawn is an opportunity for each of you to take a bit more ownership of Your Vanguard by thinking about and giving feedback on what topics and stories you would like to see covered more frequently in the Vanguard.

To give you a jump start on what some of those topics and stories might cover, the members of the Editorial Board put together the following list of story topics that the Vanguard has covered.  The list is a starting point.  If you think of a topic area that isn’t on the list, please jump in and ask that that topic be added.   If you see a topic that you feel passionate about, consider writing an article or series of articles about that topic.  What better way to make Your Vanguard truly yours?

So here is a list of the issues and issue areas that the Editorial Board came up with as a first pass reflection of the interests of Davis and Yolo County.  Which ones resonate for you?

For those of you who are inclined to write about one or more of those topics, we have kicked around the idea of having some regular “columns.”  Just a few ideas on that score have been:

These are just a few ideas.  We would love to hear more from all of you . . . after all this is your Vanguard.