City of Davis Archives - Page 392 of 470

Why Voluntary Wood Burning Restrictions are Not Working in Davis

By uptownstudiosJanuary 5, 201223 comments

By Alan Pryor

I read with interest Bob Dunning’s column a week before Christmas when in the midst of his angry tirade against proposed restrictions of single-use bags he proclaimed “that virtually all Davisites are courteous and considerate and don’t burn wood on “No Burn” day“. Well, as often seems the case, Bob Dunning must inhabit an alternate Davis universe from many of the rest of us. As those of us accustomed to taking long walks on winter evenings know well, there are parts of Davis in which an acrid odor of wood smoke is almost continuously present during calm winter nights – even on those nights in which voluntary wood burning restrictions have been called.

A Pall of Wood Smoke has Been Hanging over Davis and Sacramento for Weeks

As an example, over the last two weeks there have been a continuous series of voluntary Don’t Light Tonight alerts issued by the Yolo Solano Air Quality Management District (YSAQMD). This is due to a combination of high ambient particulate matter concentrations as well as low wind speeds in the region. In neighboring Sacramento Co., the Sacramento Air Quality Management District has already called more mandatory no burn-days since December 1 and issued more complaints against citizens violating those restrictions than they did during the entire wood-burning season last year.

Guest Commentary: YCTA Remains Concerned About Water Costs

By uptownstudiosJanuary 2, 201257 comments

by John Munn

The Yolo County Taxpayers Association commends the Davis City Council for recognizing the need for a pause in the rush toward higher water rates. Whether we bring in surface water or not, the primary concern of the Taxpayers Association is affordability, and we hope that the design and cost of facilities needed to meet water quality and quantity needs of both Davis and Woodland can now be re-evaluated based what we can afford.

Water concerns in Davis and in Woodland are somewhat different. Davis may be able to meet the selenium standard imposed by the Regional Water Quality Control Board for treated waste water by mixing water from different wells, but the quantity of water available from deep wells being used to meet water quality standards might be limited by both aquifer capacity and UCD water rights claims. The main constraint in Woodland is meeting water quality standards, and the City is currently being fined by the RWQCB for exceeding the selenium discharge standard.

Sunday Commentary: Transparency – The Greatest Lesson We Can Ever Learn

By David GreenwaldJanuary 1, 201218 comments

One of the greatest lessons from Watergate has apparently been lost on the latest generation of leaders, and that is that no matter how badly you believe you acted, the worst thing that you can do is try to cover up your crimes.

It is not, in fact, the crimes of Watergate – shocking as they probably should have been for operatives working under the President’s reelection committee to have broken into the offices of political rivals – but rather the elaborate and yet clumsy and hasty ways in which they attempted to hide these facts from the American people that led to the only resignation we have had of an American President.

Ten Most Read Vanguard Articles in 2011

By David GreenwaldDecember 31, 201117 comments

This is always a somewhat surprising list, in part because the link between the number of comments is not always direct with readership. The stories that are often most read have broader appeal, while the stories that are most commented on have narrower appeal to our community and our readership.

The other factor is also time, the longer the articles have been up on the site, the more read they may be. The two most-read stories this year both focused on the water issue, but not the one that has dominated headlines late this summer and fall, rather the Conaway Deal from last winter.

Bikes versus Everything Else: Davis’ Dual Personality

By David GreenwaldDecember 28, 201139 comments

Last week we received a press release from the City of Davis announcing that they will be closing the western bicycle path on Lake Boulevard, between Marina Circle and the Stonegate Country Club Entrance, until further notice. The path is unsafe due to the upheavals in the asphalt from the nearby stone pine trees.

The release goes on to explain that the city will be blocking the bike path and southbound cyclists will be directed to use the southbound bicycle lane. Northbound cyclists and pedestrians will be directed to cross Lake Boulevard and use the eastern path.

Commentary: A Different Approach To Regulating Plastic Bags

By David GreenwaldDecember 27, 201156 comments

There is a running thread in the commentary I have seen opposing plastic bag bans – many are acting as though this was an idea invented in Davis, and thus ludicrous. The fact is that there is a whole movement toward banning the use of one-time plastic bags and it is part in parcel with the general move against the use of non-renewable resources that fill landfills and do not biodegrade.

There have been almost knee-jerk reactions against such moves as excessive and unnecessarily burdensome. The biggest problem with environmentalism in a free market economy is that the free market does not account well for external costs – that is, costs that do not directly impact the production and consumption of the product but impose an impact on the economy nevertheless.

A Davis Water Plan to Move Forward

By uptownstudiosDecember 27, 201166 comments

by Brett Lee

As a candidate for city council, I have been asked for more specifics on my thoughts on the proposed surface water project. I have already written about my view that conservation and efficiency should be at the heart of any water project for our community. I do not believe it is something that we should try to “bolt on” later. To maximize our cost savings and reward efficiency and conservation, it is best that conservation and efficiency be built in from the very beginning.

As far as the “official” water project proposed by the City Council, I will try to directly state my views.

City Council Candidate Lee Puts Out Water Position

By David GreenwaldDecember 23, 201126 comments

As the city council has moved to re-think their previous vote from September 6, that put forward water rate hikes in advance of the Woodland-Davis water supply project, Brett Lee this week issued forth his own position on water.

Brett Lee is one of four candidates for three spots on the Davis City Council that will be on the ballot in June, and the only non-incumbent.

Fatal Accident At Russell and Lake Illustrates Danger of Stretch

By David GreenwaldDecember 22, 201154 comments

Back in late October, the County Board of Supervisors held off on raising the speed limit, on the stretch of Russell from Pedrick Road to Lake Blvd, to 45 mph from the current 35 mph.

At that time, Supervisor Don Saylor recommended for the four roads studied that there be additional study for the next year, to include consideration of traffic-calming measures and to look toward a state law change.

Council Creates Five Alternate Positions on WAC

By David GreenwaldDecember 21, 201112 comments

The Council made very few concrete policy decisions on Tuesday night, its last meeting of the year, but it did finalize motions made at the last meeting and also laid the groundwork for what promises to be another action-packed year.

The council made the decision to appoint five alternates to the Water Advisory committee, based in part on the recommendations of the committee not to outright expand it. Each would fill in for their designee’s picks in their absence.

Former Mayor Kopper Hammers Bee on Water

By David GreenwaldDecember 20, 201121 comments

Attorney Bill Kopper, former mayor of Davis and a member of the city’s Water Advisory Committee, issued a strong rebuttal against the editorial of the Sacramento Bee from December 9, “Is Davis set to scuttle Woodland water deal?”

Mr. Kopper writes, “The Bee’s editorial is stunning in its bias and misinformation. It ignores the ‘water deal’s’ impact on Davis ratepayers who will be burdened with paying for a $100 million wastewater treatment plant concurrently with a $200 million bill for surface water infrastructure.”

Sunday Commentary: Parents Need to Trust Their Instincts To Avoid Worst Nightmare Scenarios

By David GreenwaldDecember 18, 20118 comments

Few in the community are likely shocked by the news that a young soccer coach and licensed foster parent would be charged with 48 felony child molestation counts with a child under 14. These charges stem from alleged conduct with two children from June 2007 until November 2011.

It is sad that we are not more shocked by these charges, but even in a small community like this one, these charges and stories are not foreign to us. It is only when these stories penetrate into the inner circles of our private lives that they gain more resonance.

City To Repeal Water Rates Adopted in September

By David GreenwaldDecember 16, 201177 comments

Last year, the Davis City Council met late in the year, just before Christmas, to ratify an agreement to obtain summer water rights from developer Angelo Tsakopoulos. This year, the city council is meeting on December 20, five days before Christmas, to repeal the water rate increase.

According to the staff report, “The Council action to rescind the rate increase(s) approved in September will result in current fiscal year water utility revenues remaining in the range of $10.0 million, depending on actual water usage.”

CalPERS Holds the Line on Rates Despite Stanford Study That Suggests Assumptions of Earning Too High

By David GreenwaldDecember 16, 201123 comments

The surprise news this week is that rate hikes from CalPERS next July for local pension plans, like the City of Davis’, is expected to be far lower than previously expected, with an increase of less than 1 percent for most local pension plans.

These revised rates represent the second year of a radical smoothing plan from the California Pubilc Employees’ Retirement System that attempts to spread rate increases over a three-year period.

Dunning Criticizes Bee Editorial on Davis Water Issue

By David GreenwaldDecember 14, 201177 comments

As we said on Saturday, both the Woodland Daily Democrat and Sacramento Bee came out with scathing editorials, giving it to Davis for the delay on the water project.

However, both miss the mark, we argued, because they fundamentally do not get the unique nature of civic involvement in Davis – which, while inconvenient at times, is a great strength that other communities should strive for rather than ridicule.

Sunday Commentary: Moving on From Water

By David GreenwaldDecember 11, 201139 comments

Councilmembers Sue Greenwald and Dan Wolk really well captured my views on water this week. Dan Wolk first noted that, by putting the water issue on the ballot in June, it will monopolize the council campaign.

Sue Greenwald then followed that up by arguing: “I am not in favor of an election in June, because while this issue is incredibly important, I think that we are much more than one issue. There’re so many big issues in front us, I don’t think we should make a circus out of June.”

Regional Papers Ripping Davis on the Water Deal Miss the Mark

By David GreenwaldDecember 10, 201156 comments

Both the Woodland Daily Democrat and Sacramento Bee came out with scathing editorials, giving it to Davis for the delay on the water project. The papers come from very different places, and miss the mark in different ways.

The bottom line for me, though, is that both miss the mark because they fundamentally do not get the unique nature of civic involvement in Davis – which, while inconvenient at times, is a great strength that other communities should strive for rather than ridicule.

Commentary: Water Problems Were A Long Time Coming with the Principals Absent on Tuesday

By David GreenwaldDecember 9, 201145 comments

On Tuesday night, the council finally heeded advice that should have been taken long ago – to slow down the water project to get community buy-in. Missing from the discussion that night were critical figures that were the nucleus of the council’s problems, long before most of the members of the current council were even seated.

Notable in his absence was former mayor and now Supervisor Don Saylor. It was a seemingly innocuous photo in the Davis Enterprise in late 2007, where Don Saylor was shown with Bruce West, one of the principles at West Yost Associates.

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