Sierra Club endorses “The Citizens’ Right to Vote on Future Use of Open Space and Agricultural Lands”

(From press release) Citing grounds of “preservation of agricultural lands and open space, in-fill development and densification and citizen oversight of sound land-use planning ", the Sierra Club announces its endorsement and support of Measure D in Davis CA on the November 2020 municipal ballot.

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Measure D is a ballot measure renewal of an existing City of Davis ordinance, “The Citizens’ Right to Vote on Future Use of Open Space and Agricultural Lands”, which gives the citizens the right to make the final decision on projects proposing to develop open space or agricultural land within or adjacent to the City. It was originally approved by the voters in 2000 as Measure J and overwhelmingly renewed as Measure R in 2010.

I am writing in support of Colin Walsh. I’ve known Colin for many years. Here I’d like to describe the Campaign to save Russell Fields to highlight the talents he’d bring to the Council. Though the first part of a larger West Village campus project had been built, in 2016 UC Davis proposed a comparably smaller amount of housing on Intramural Toomey, Howard and Russell playing fields between A St and California Ave - a recreation area for the whole student body.

Many in the Davis community, including student athletes and campus members, reacted strongly to having this beautiful open green space – lost. Anyone driving, biking or walking by could see these fields were used and enjoyed by all for recreation, and in high-spirited competitions, tournaments, intramural sports meets, and Special Olympics. 

The success of this campaign, of which I was a member, was due in great part to the spirit of collaboration that Colin brought to it. He collaborated with students and campus members, the community-initiated Friends of Russell Fields, and successfully worked with campus administrators and planners and the City Council to save the fields and relocate the proposed housing - a win-win for us all.  In particular, Colin’s networking with students from many different intramural teams and with community members helped them organize in order to amplify their voices to save the fields. Colin is a true team player.

This personal experience tells me that Colin will bring this same spirit of inclusive collaboration and problem solving to the City Council.  Please join me in voting for Colin Walsh.

Nancy Price

As wildfires continue to rage throughout California and elsewhere in the West, residents, ranchers and business owners in the greater Winters area are putting their lives back together after seeing their homes and businesses go up in flames.

Valley Clean Energy, the local electric generation service provider, urges locals to join the agency in offering support in the form of donations to the Greater Winters Fire Relief Fund created by the Rotary Club of Winters. VCE contributed $1,500, and so far, nearly $40,000 has been raised toward a goal of $60,000.

Many of the fire victims live outside the Winters city limits and are “our friends, our extended family, business owners, and parents to classmates of our children,” says Winters Councilmember Jesse Loren, a member of the VCE board of directors.

Join the League of Women Voters Davis Area and Davis Media Access for a Zoom forum from 3 to 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 27 for five candidates vying for three spots on the Davis Joint Unified School District Board of Education.

Zoom forums will also be held on Sunday, Oct. 4 for the nine candidates vying for three seats on the Davis City Council. The District 2 forum will be at 1 p.m., followed by District 3 at 3 p.m. and District 5 at 5 p.m.

This is the first time candidates will compete to represent specific city council districts and school board areas, which are different.

Larry Guenther cares deeply about the Davis community.

He is a people-person, which means his focus is on all of us who live here in Davis. He wants to build a strong Davis community that exists to support and strengthen all of us—regardless of age, gender, race, ability, or wealth.

If you believe in—and want—a strong Davis community, vote Larry for City Council (District 3).

Jordy Margid

Larry Guenther has some frustrations with Davis, but mostly, he has positivity.

He brings hope for a better future to Davis. But not just hope alone—hope teamed with ability and passion for making hope come to fruition.

He brings hope for more effective and people-oriented development projects. Hope for more advanced tech for all Davis. Hope for more effective, earth-focused solutions to our energy and waste needs. Hope for improved fiscal responsibility to better serve all Davis.

If you share these hopes, vote Larry Guenther for City Council (District 3).

Catherine Rudiger

(From press release) Greenbelt Chat with Colin Walsh on Thursday morning, Sept. 24, 7:30 am to 9:30 am!

Please come meet Colin Walsh, candidate for Davis City Council, District 2. Neighbors are invited to drop by the Greenbelt near the sculpture of the dog on the tricycle. Feel free to ask questions and share your concerns.

Literature and hand sanitizer will be available. Physical distancing and masks required.

By Todd Edelman

City of Davis people... why has there not been a ban on use of leaf blowers in the nearly month-long wildfire fallout event?

Why do feel the need to remove every leaf and bit of dirt from our landscapes?

Why do we allow ourselves to send dust clouds and noise to our neighbors when we might not even know their names?

Vote for Larry Guenther for City Council. The Council needs more voices committed to more transparency and procedural reform. Larry Guenther is committed to being that kind of voice. The City needs a healthy balance of the "expert" recommendations of staff and the considerable real subject matter expertise of the community and its Citizen Commissions.  

The Cannery project, with its litany of developer miscalculations and repeated applications for reconsideration of their ever-changing plan, is a text book example of failure in transparency and procedure. Cannery is just one example of a continued pattern of failure that is a huge problem for the city and its residents. All across the city we have been saddled with  months-long traffic problems and extra expenses without meeting our need for low income housing.

We need a city that does not regard the General Plan as an invitation to developers to come in with a half-baked request for an exception. The City Council needs to represent its electorate. There is a long history of the City Council's development decisions that documents its failure to do so. This goes all the way back to the saving of Central Park and the great Farmers' Market we now have there. If the City Council had had its way in 1986, we would have a three-tiered shopping mall, with incalculable damage to downtown business, crawling traffic and more climate carbon footprint.

We really have to get past the "business as usual" mentality, and Guenther will help us do that.

Don Price

(From press release) Lea Darrah, an advocate for children for more than 20 years, will be representing the Davis School Board as Trustee for Area 2. Under recently adopted policy, the Davis Joint Unified School Board election process established five trustee areas. As Darrah was the only person to file for candidacy in Area 2, she will be appointed to the office and her name will not appear on the Nov. 3 ballot, per CA Elections code 10515.

Darrah's term as the Area 2 representative is scheduled to begin in December. The district's Area 2 map consists of some neighborhoods in north to east Davis. But, as part of the full board, she represents all students in the DJUSD.

Uncertain about the difference between a single-payer system and a public option linked to the Affordable Care Act?

The League of Women Voters Davis Area will offer an educational program on Zoom from 7 to 8 p.m. Oct. 1 to help voters understand and compare the two choices. “Health-care Reform: Demystifying Future Health-care Options” aims to help voters better understand candidate positions in upcoming presidential debates and election forums.

The online event will feature two speakers: Anthony Wright, executive director of Health Access California, a statewide health-care consumer advocacy coalition, and Jodi Reid, executive director at California Alliance for Retired Americans, a statewide senior advocacy organization working to improve quality of life for seniors.

Speakers also will discuss the challenges Yolo County residents and providers have faced before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

To help speakers address questions from the public, please submit them in advance to komalh@lwvdavisarea.org. Audience members will be able to submit questions at the forum as well.

Use the following link to register for the event:  https://bit.ly/351CSuc. A Zoom link will be sent two days before the event.

The League of Women Voters Davis Area is a non-partisan organization committed to voter education and voter registration. To learn more, go to www.lwvdavisarea.org.

By Elisabeth Robbins with Mark Reynolds

My friend hurriedly evacuated her dream home northeast of Vacaville as flames advanced down the hillside. In the Mendocino National Forest, firefighters burned out a protective barrier around my son’s cabin deep in the woods.  That may, or may not, have protected it when Wednesday’s terrific winds swept fire through.  As of this writing, we don’t know.  At best, “Maybe I’ll have the view I’ve always wanted,” he said wryly.

These fires touch everyone.  For too many it’s a personal loss.  For others, it’s a loss to someone we know and care about, so it becomes our loss too.  We have all lost freedom of movement outdoors because of the highly polluted air.

And the fall fire season hasn’t even started.  Already  we have seen an astonishing amount of destruction, across the state and right here in Yolo County.  Over 2.6 million acres have gone up in smoke, exceeding the 2 million acres burned in 2018. That year, the damage and economic loss from wildfires, according to AccuWeather, came to $400 billion.

Join the League of Women Voters Davis Area and Davis Media Access for a Zoom forum from 3 to 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 27 for five candidates vying for three spots on the Davis Joint Unified School District Board of Education.

Zoom forums will also be held on Sunday, Oct. 4 for the nine candidates vying for three seats on the Davis City Council. The District 2 forum will be at 1 p.m., followed by District 3 at 3 p.m. and District 5 at 5 p.m.

This is the first time candidates will compete to represent specific city council districts and school board areas, which are different.

The Yolo Committee for Diverse and Inclusive Elections (YCDIE) will be hosting two virtual candidate forums on Saturday, September 12th. The first will run from 10 am to 12 pm and is for candidates running for the Davis Joint Unified School District and Los Rios Community College District boards. The second forum will run from 2 pm to 4 pm and is for candidates running for Davis City Council and the Yolo County Board of Supervisors (4th District).

The purpose of these candidate forums is to allow the voters of Davis to learn more about the candidates running for various local offices in the November election. The forums will focus on issues of equity, inclusion, social justice, and race as they pertain to local issues.

Both forums are free to the public, but attendees must pre-register using the links below. Questions about the forums can be directed to ycdiedavis@gmail.com.

Colin Walsh, a candidate for Davis City Council 2020 District 2, is hosting a Zoom Town Hall on Wednesday, September 9 at 7 p.m. Members of the community are invited to this opportunity to get to know Colin and share your thoughts on Davis. Details at Walsh4Davis.com.

Citing grounds of “excessive traffic, greenhouse gas emissions, and poor land-use and planning”, the Sierra Club announces its opposition to Measure B in Davis CA on the November 2020 municipal ballot.

Measure B is a vote to allow the annexation of approximately 200-acres of Prime farmland on the northeast periphery of the City and the development of a business park along with a 850-unit housing development. The project site is now farmed and serves as foraging habitat for numerous Special Status Species including Burrowing Owls, Swainson’s Hawks, and White-Tailed Kites.

The endorsement of the opposition to this ballot measure follows an extensive evaluation process by the local Sierra Club Yolano Group, the Sierra Club Mother Lode Chapter Political and Executive Committees, and the Sierra Club California Local Measure Review Committee.

The Sierra Club has long-standing official policies designed to minimize urban sprawl onto farmland and habitat and maximize intensive infill development. These include planning policies that further conservation of open space and preservation of natural areas and agricultural lands. The Sierra Club opposes sprawl as a pattern of increasingly inefficient and wasteful land use with devastating environmental and social outcomes.

Larry Guenther is the most honest man I know in Davis.

He has the instincts of a reformer, and the energy to move reform forward. He believes that the local expertise we enjoy on our city commissions is being superseded by non-transparent decision-making at City Hall.

If you live in District 3 and want this to change, vote for Larry for City Council.

Mark Grote