City of Davis

The Clean Water Agency (CWA) had a special meeting to continue the discussion from two weeks ago about two key elements of the Design-Build-Operate process that is paramount to making the water project as affordable as possible.

I am certain that the art community is not going to appreciate my views on this matter and that is fine.  I have been on the fence about the water tank art project.  On the one hand, I have argued that in these tough times, we ought to stop doing business as usual.

It would be perhaps fitting if the Davis firefighters, for the last several years the symbol of failed fiscal restraint in the City of Davis and really across the state and the nation, represented the undoing of Davis’ budget hopes.

There has been a lot of talk about democracy surrounding the water rate referendum.  Supporters of the referendum have urged those who agree with the city’s decision on the water supply project to vote, out of a sense of democracy.

There are those who believe that unions have out-served their usefulness.  The unfortunate fact of the matter is when people see conduct like the firefighters union retaliating against a local business for advertising in a publication that they do not agree with, the reaction of many will be the same as one of our readers.

The issue of the parking garage to be built with redevelopment money was pushed back, at least temporarily, as the council passed staff recommendations to implement focused parking and access improvements in the downtown, commission streetscape improvement and return to council by the end of 2012 with an updated comprehensive utilization analysis and conceptual plans for downtown streetscape improvements and preliminary designs for the mixed-use structure in the 34EF block.

In the continuing debate on water, that has now extended beyond the Prop 218 process and moved into a period of signature-gathering for a potential referendum or initiative, the issue of applying for a variance has surfaced as critical.

Westlake Market has been struggling to stay afloat in a tough economy as a small neighborhood grocery store.  Those hopes have been dealt a blow, as they became victims of an unknown boycott by the Davis Firefighters union.

Can We Be Both Cost Conscious and Socially Responsible?  And what if we cannot?

The Vanguard yesterday met for nearly two hours with city staff and Mayor Krovoza on the water issue.  There will likely be follow-up meetings, as well.  The Vanguard’s focus at this meeting was not in rehashing the debate so far, but in trying to understand the process moving forward.

The city council this week is doing what it should have done to begin with, evaluating the entire downtown parking landscape.  Some interesting ideas and directions arose out of the staff report, that suggests perhaps the opposite conclusion than they intended – wait and see how parking develops as other critical changes are implemented.

The Board of Directors for the Woodland-Davis Clean Water Agency (WDCWA) Thursday named Dennis Diemer as its new General Manager.  However, it is the fact that the communication came from Kim Floyd, or Kim Floyd Communications, that has drawn the attention of the Vanguard.

Ratepayers Paying Nearly $300,000 in Two Years For Communications Firm To Sell Water Project to Public –

In a series of documents obtained by the Vanguard recently, it is seen that the Clean Water Agency has contracted with Kim Floyd Communications, Inc. to engage in outreach efforts that can better be characterized as public relations in nature.

Davis got its first view of its new city manager, Steve Pinkerton, on Tuesday night, and we could already see a huge change in the nature of the fiscal analysis coming out of city hall.  Gone were the days of rosy projections and papering over serious problems.

Last night for the first time, Davis got to watch its new city manager, Steve Pinkerton, at work.  At this budget workshop, there would be no rosy and hopeful projections, only straight, hard facts.