Spoiler alert, if you are not interested in horse race analysis, do not read this. It has been a rare week in Davis where the big story has been not the city council election, but rather the judicial race.
That is good news for some, a sense of relief for others, and bad news for those on the outside looking in… at least perhaps.
On Tuesday, I received an interesting email, “Most people I know are voting against the parks parcel tax. I’m still thinking about it.”
The email surprised me a bit. We ran a parks article and even most of the conservatives seems to have not much of a problem with the idea of extending the well-underfunded tax.
Jon Li, Former Candidate and Longtime Activist in Davis, Appears to Have “Fingerprints” on May 8 Attack Mailer –The Vanguard has learned of the probable involvement of Jon Li, at least in the planning of the Independent Expenditure campaign funded by three Sacramento-based unions, and consulted by James Burchill.
Full details remain sketchy, as Jon Li did not respond to multiple attempts to reach him by phone on Monday. Moreover, neither James Burchill nor the unions have returned calls from the Vanguard or other local reporters.
The Vanguard was founded six years ago for two purposes: first to report on stories that no one else was reporting. And second, to provide the rest of the story. Over the years, the Vanguard has evolved to a site that we believe is a watchdog site, that has hard-hitting reporting that, at times, has to criticize public officials for their conduct.While the Vanguard reports with an edge, we recognize that the world is not black and white. Not everyone agrees with us. And even those who agree with us on somethings, disagree on others.
Last week, the Vanguard was concerned with the fact that West Yost Associates, a local business with multimillion dollar contracts with the city, contributed 1000 dollars to the Chamber PAC’s efforts. That led us to ask the city whether a committee that received contributions in excess of 100 dollars could support or oppose city council campaigns.
The Vanguard asked the city attorney and city clerk how Davis Code section 12.01.035, which imposes a contribution limitation on persons who make contributions to independent committees that support or oppose candidates, is applied to committees that may support or oppose more than one candidate and also support or oppose ballot measures.
Every Friday between now and the election, the candidates for Davis City Council will be asked to respond to one hard-hitting Vanguard question on the issues that matter to Davis, or at least to the Vanguard.
Last week the council candidates were given a question on Monday and asked to respond by midnight this morning. For next week, they were given the question this morning, by request of one of the candidates who preferred to have the weekend to work on the answer.
Someone yesterday reposted my account of what was, in my words, a most serious breach on January 26, 2010. What happened on the dais was an ugly display by two individuals. What happened outside the council chambers was an ugly display by one individual.
The flyer doesn’t really capture the most important moments of what happened that evening. I am not going to recount it other than I think that was a moment that will be with me for the rest of my life.
The 2012 Davis City Council campaign, which had been fairly dull and predictable, suddenly turned very interesting on Tuesday as voters were sent an attack mail piece purportedly to be against Sue Greenwald and in favor of Stephen Souza.
An independent group, backed by Sacramento-based unions the Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 447, IBEW Local 340 and Operating Engineers Local Union 3, sent out an attack mailer to Davis residents reminding them of Councilmember Sue Greenwald’s publicized incident with former Mayor Ruth Asmundson.
On Monday, the Vanguard questioned the propriety of an entity, West Yost Associates with multimillion dollar contracts with the city, contributing 1000 dollars to the Chamber PAC’s efforts. The question now arises, based on the opinion of City Attorney Harriet Steiner, whether this money can even be used for material or efforts in support of a city council candidate or candidates.
When the Chamber PAC was activated and council candidates were endorsed, the Chamber sent out a press release stating, “Preliminary fundraising efforts have successfully raised donations from numerous businesses and individuals. In order to encourage transparency, the Chamber PAC will be releasing weekly financial disclosures of all money raised and spent to local media outlets.”
The gloves are coming off in what was tame Davis Council Election as an independent group backed by Sacramento-based unions the Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 447, IBEW Local 340, Operating Engineers Local Union 3 in Support of Stephen Souza and in Opposition to Sue Greenwald has sent out an attack mailer to Davis residents reminding them of Councilmemeber Sue Greenwald’s publicized incident with former Mayor Ruth Asmundson.
Last week the Vanguard asked the Davis City Council candidates what tangible steps can be taken to promote economic viability and jobs in Davis. Reading through the answers, one big realization is that there needs to be a second question in the coming weeks about redevelopment, because in order for the city at this point to do anything but play cheerleader, we will need to find a new funding mechanism.
There are some interesting ideas posed by some of the candidates. To me at this point there are a couple of conversations that I think need to occur with the community.
The Davis Chamber PACs decision to get involved in the political process and their admirable level of transparency provides an entity like the Vanguard with the opportunity to scrutinize their books. One thing that we would like to avoid is the appearance that they are being punished for doing the right thing in terms of transparency.
On the other hand, as we noted just last week, the influence of development interests are certainly a matter that should be noted and scrutinized.
Today at Bike Forth on 4th and L, there will be a Transportation Candidates forum at 7 pm. In advance, the candidates were given questions concerning transportation issues.
Davis Bicycles! and the Davis Bike Collective sent five questions to the Davis City Council Candidates concerning transportation issues.
I remember a few years ago I had a discussion with a Bee reporter who covered Davis, among other areas – Yolo County and beyond. The point that was conveyed at that time is that the Sacramento Bee does not cover Davis, it covers issues that are interesting to the region. Makes sense.
Looking back since the start of 2011, I was curious how many times the Sacramento Bee had covered City of Davis politics. It was not a whole lot, as one might expect, but perhaps more than I would have expected. It actually covered five different issues.
In a strong message for fiscal responsibility, the Davis Enterprise delivered what can only be viewed by most observers a stunning decision as to whom to endorse, eschewing Chamber favorites Stephen Souza and Lucas Frerich, and ultimately endorsing Dan Wolk, Sue Greenwald and Brett Lee.
The Vanguard learned on Friday afternoon that the primary reason the Enterprise did not endorse Lucas Frerichs was concern over his ability to stand up to city employee groups and take other unpopular and difficult positions during critical junctures.
Every Friday between now and the election, the candidates for Davis City Council will be asked to respond to one hard-hitting Vanguard question on the issues that matter to Davis, or at least to the Vanguard.
Last week the council candidates were given a question on Monday and asked to respond by midnight this morning. For next week, they were given the question this morning, by request of one of the candidates who preferred to have the weekend to work on the answer.
The Davis City Council Candidates met on Wednesday night for their second major candidates forum, this time hosted by the League of Women Voters. Once again Jean Canary served as moderator of the event.
Vanguard Believes Chamber PAC Needs More Diverse Business CompositionAt the start, we need to be clear that we completely support the Davis Chamber of Commerce’s efforts to become more involved and engaged in Davis City politics. For too long, the Chamber has taken a secondary role on such matters, despite outspoken complaints from themselves, their members and many in the community that efforts to develop Davis economically have fallen flat.
Moreover, we believe that Chamber Executive Director Kemble Pope’s move for transparency is a strong show of faith in the process. He has opened up the Chamber PAC’s books for weekly scrutiny. And after a little prodding, we learned the composition of the Chamber PAC that voted on endorsements.
By Alan Pryor,Treasurer,
Yes on Measure D for Davis (www.YesonDforDavis.org)
What is the Parks Maintenance Tax (Measure D)?
Measure D is a City measure on the June 5, 2012 ballot to renew the current Parks Maintenance Tax that was first approved by voters in 1998. It was renewed by 79% of the voters in 2002 and 70% of the voters in 2006. If approved by at least two-thirds of the voters in June 2012, Measure D would again renew the current Parks Maintenance Tax at the same rate of $49 annually for residential parcels and $40 per 1,000 sq. ft. for non-residential parcels, not to exceed a maximum of 10,000 sq. ft. If approved, the tax would expire in six years (2018) if not renewed. The current ballot measure includes the same exemption for low-income residents as the current Parks Maintenance Tax.
On Saturday, May 5, 2012, from 6:00 to 8:00 PM The Davis Vanguard (David Greenwald) will host a Cinco de Mayo City Council Candidates Meet & Greet Celebration. The barbeque, bounce house, meet & greet will take place in the parking lot between the UC Davis store and the movie theatre parking lot on F Street across the street from the AT&T store.