District Three Candidates Meet in League Forum

Davis City Hall with an old style bicycle statue out front

By Lauren Smith 

DAVIS — The District Three city council candidates Larry Guenther and Lucas Frerich attend a forum Sunday evening hosted by the League of Women Voters to answer questions from the public.

QUESTION: The city faced financial problems before COVID, how can it dig itself out of an even deeper hole now?

Larry Guenther: “Even once we get a [COVID-19] vaccine, the results of this economic downturn is huge,” Guenther stated. He suggested creating a “task force with our commission members, with staff, with financial representatives from the university and get a community going and get the engagement going to solve a lot of these problems.” Guenther also stated that we need to look at economic development in “another way.” He emphasized city-owned solar and felt that other similar programs are “really important.”

Lucas Frerichs: Frerichs wants Davis to “focus on diversifying revenue from the city.” Frerichs stated that increased ability for “economic development is one place where we can look for additional opportunities for additional revenue.” He provided an example of this stating that the several new hotels that are almost finished “will bring much needed additional revenue to the city in the form of transient occupancy taxes.”

QUESTION: What can be learned from other California cities that have high housing costs, low availability and limited affordable housing? 

Larry Guenther: “We need to use money from development to rework existing housing stock into affordable housing” Guenther stated. He also emphasized that it is “really important to look at specific situations… every community is different,” and we need to find which “solutions work for Davis.”

Lucas Frerichs: Frerichs stated that in cities such as Santa Barbara“the city councils started to say yes and approve additional housing where appropriate.” He said that those approvals need to be happening more in Davis. Frerichs also suggested bringing back the “annual town and gown conference” where multiple university and college towns from California will gather and talk about ways to tackle access to affordable housing.

QUESTION: What is your position on Measure B, and if Measure B is approved how will it affect downtown and Mace traffic?

Larry Guenther: He stated that Measure B will make the Mace mess significantly worse. While Guenther states that “the overall design” of Measure B is good and that the city does need to “leverage the university,” he is not in support of Measure B. He feels that there are some “big issues with financing and estimates” that have been produced. He also stated that those concerns have not been addressed.

Lucas Frerichs: Frerichs stated he is “personally in support” of Measure B and voted to put it on the ballot for Davis community members to vote on. He further said that Measure B is “needed for economic development.” He briefly addressed the environmental impact Measure B will have, but suggested that if Measure B is not passed here, it will be passed in another neighboring city and they will reap the benefits. 

QUESTION: How would you serve the supported housing needs of groups such as intellectually or developmentally delayed adults and their families?

Larry Guenther: Guenther stated that while funding programs may be “an issue,” working with Team Davis, NGOs, and county and regional groups to “utilize some of our affordable housing or specific housing for [this community] is pretty critical.” He also stated that the city needs to use “existing resources to our best ability” and work in partnership with the county.

Lucas Frerichs: He stated that it is important to “protect the things we already have” such as Team Davis, Summer House and Pine Tree Gardens. Frerichs also stated that we “need to partner with affordable housing nonprofits to provide housing for this community.”


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5 Comments

  1. Jim Frame

    As is often the case with forums and debates like this, the event was mostly content-free.  About the only thing we learned for sure is the candidates’ positions on Measure B; the rest was platitudinous.  I’m not knocking the candidates for that, it’s the nature of having to answer questions that don’t concern specific policy proposals, especially during a campaign when you want to avoid saying anything that could be turned against you.

    1. Bob Fung

      I saw this article today at CNN.   Here’s a quote from the article:  “…main job (of moderator): truth seeking. Make the debaters prove their claims. Asking simple follow up questions, such as “can you list examples to prove your point” or “what proof do you have for that claim,” is so easy. Not even the most partisan viewer should have a reasonable objection to that line of questioning.”   Do you think that this could help make forums more valuable to the audience?

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