Elections

The last financial statements are now in from Measure A.  While this seems to be one of the more contested parcel taxes we have seen, the amount of organized opposition, even this time, is fairly small, as the No on Measure A committee named “Davis Taxpayers Against Measure A” received a total of 740 dollars from three donors.

Two of those donors should be no surprise to anyone: Jose Granda who has been been one of the more outspoken opponents of this measure chipped in 130 dollars, while Thomas Randall chipped in ten.  The third donor bears some scrutiny: six hundred from Voters for District Elections.

While I am waiting for the first person to step forward with a proposal that cuts six million from the school district’s budget, I have read the comments from the last few days and frankly I am appalled by some of the arguments used in the debate, particularly by people who ought to know better.

As they say, all are entitled to their own opinion, but they are not entitled to their own set of facts.

On Monday, layoff notices to 63 employees were reviewed by an administrative law judge.  According to district sources, the rank order of those layoffs will be determined by the hiring dates of the employees, with the last ones hired being the first ones laid off.

We will know in two weeks how many of those layoffs will have to go out.

One of the big things one must learn when commentating on any issue is that situations are rarely static. Instead, they are fluid and evolve over time.  If you get locked into one view, you will invariably find yourself looking at the wrong things.

It has been nearly a week since Bob Dunning’s piece ran on the school district’s letter regarding senior exemptions.  In terms of my view of the situation, it has remained fairly static.

One day after Bob Dunning put at risk the district’s prospects for gaining the passage of Measure A, the parcel tax measure that requires a two-thirds majority, Superintendent Winfred Roberson and school board President Richard Harris issued an apology about the timing of the letter sent out last week to a group of seniors about the senior exemption for Measure A.

As the Vanguard reported on Monday, the key issue with the letter was that the district office was flooded with a significant number of requests during the past few weeks for information and help in filing for the senior exemption for Measure A.

Yesterday, Davis Enterprise Columnist Bob Dunning issued forth a missive aimed at the school district’s efforts to pass another parcel tax that would help bridge what is now a six million dollar budget gap.

Mr. Dunning accused Superintendent Winfred Roberson of “Politicking on the public’s dime.”  Wrote the columnist, “Our superintendent of schools  has decided to take matters into his own hands by sending out a letter on official district letterhead to this town’s senior citizens, urging a “Yes” vote on this critical school funding measure.”

In this morning’s Davis Enterprise, Bob Dunning makes a pretty sweeping charge that the Superintendent is “Politicking on the public’s dime,” apparently without checking facts or without a lot of accuracy.

Writes Mr. Dunning, “Our superintendent of schools  has decided to take matters into his own hands by sending out a letter on official district letterhead to this town’s senior citizens, urging a “Yes” vote on this critical school funding measure.”

The Davis Enterprise, in a decision that will surprise no one who has been paying attention for the past four years, has endorsed Measure A, the school parcel tax, arguing, “We must do what’s necessary to preserve excellence in our schools.”

“The Davis schools are facing an emergency. And if we value education — like we all say we do — we must respond in appropriate fashion,” the editorial begins.

I live in Davis for a reason.  It has great schools with great children, teachers, administrators, parents and staff.  But all school districts have great children.  The problem is that not all communities understand what a vital role high quality schools play in creating a great community. 

I think this town gets it.  We have a lower crime rate.  When a recession hits, our homes retain more of their value than some surrounding communities. We have neighborhoods where people look out for each other.  Much of this value added is because we have the best schools in a 10 county region.

It was interesting to read Bob Dunning claim this morning that an important election is an odd time for an experiment.  I agree that Measure A is an important election, one of the more important that we have faced in this community.  The community has a chance to continue its commitment by locally funding half of the deficit left by inflation and cuts to state funding for education.

The experiment he talks about is the all-mail ballot.

In the past week, to the surprise of few, the Davis Teachers Association and Winfred Roberson came out in favor of Measure A, an increase to the parcel tax to help the district minimize the number of layoffs and programmatic cuts, as the result of ongoing cuts to the state budget for K-12 education.

Voters will decide in May via a mail-in ballot whether to increase the parcel tax by $200 per year.

On Tuesday night, Councilmember Rochelle Swanson, whose concern for the school district is primary in her view, was sounding the alarm on declining enrollment.  She used the issue as a justification to support a 600-unit development at the Hunt-Wesson site.

“I’ve been talking to the school district about their declining enrollment. We’re at 180 this year, 200 next year, and it’s not looking any better,” Councilmember Swanson said on Tuesday night.  “I said, as a Councilperson, what is the one thing that I can do that can help make a difference and it’s resounding.  ‘We know you’re not a fan of growth but we’ve  got to have some market-rate affordable housing, we have to have something for the families to come here.  Otherwise we are going to continue to see declining enrollment.’”

Tim Taylor, an incumbent for the Davis Joint Unified School Board, is currently the board president.  For the past five years, Mr. Taylor has show tireless effort in maintaining the high quality of the school systems in the district.

Mr. Taylor is both proud and honored to be a member of the board, and has stated that if he is re-elected, this will be his last term.  He sat down with the Vanguard to answer a few questions concerning his candidacy and experience as a board member, as well as the achievement gap, the parcel tax, and other issues that are crucial and need to be addressed for the educational system.

On Thursday, October 28, 2010, the Davis League of Women Voters held a ‘Candidates Night’ for the DJUSD Board candidates.  With elections coming up on Tuesday, November 2nd, this served as a good way for members of the community to see the candidates in person as they expressed their views. 

The League posed two main questions: one regarding declining enrollments, and another about the state budget; both followed by questions from the public.

The race is almost over, with November’s presence just beyond the horizon, the elections for the Davis School Board are nearly here.  Sheila Allen, incumbent for the school board, and elected in 2005, sat down with the Vanguard to discuss some of basic information community members, especially those who haven’t been following the election as closely as they have hoped, may be curious about. 

This year has fewer students enrolled.  In fact, when compared with last year’s enrollment numbers: K-6th has 72 fewer; 7th-9th is short 39 from last year; 10th-12th is 30 fewer.

Sweet potato pie, coffee, and curious community members; with the elections for the Davis school board taking place on November 2nd, the Incumbents had a meet-and-greet at a local community member’s home. Here, curious voters had the opportunity to meet the Incumbents face to face, and to get to know one another, while enjoying delicious deserts provided by Claire Slotton.

Gina Daleiden and Sheila Allen were representing themselves at the event, while Tim Taylor was unable to attend.  All in all, approximately twelve people stopped by the  event, which fell on the same night as the debate held on UC Davis’s campus.

The Vanguard wraps up its fourth and final interview with school board candidate, Tim Taylor.  Mr. Taylor is currently the board president, having first been elected back in 2005.  After five years on the board, Mr. Taylor told the Vanguard that he actually feels at this point in time like he knows what he is doing.  He said it takes a good year or two to figure out how the board and the district works.

“I do feel there is some logic to continuity, and continuing what I have learned instead of just moving aside,” said Tim Taylor.

In the third interview with a school board candidate, the Vanguard sat down to talk to Gina Daleiden, the local Davis High Graduate who was first elected to the board back in 2005.  Given the challenges that lay ahead, Ms. Daleiden called this a critical time in our school district and said that she loves this school district and will work hard to keep the district on the right path despite the challenges.

“I’m running for re-election,” she said, “because it’s a critical time in our school district and this is the school district that I love and I don’t mean that lightly.  When I say my heart is with this district and with these students I truly mean it from a very long time ago.”