By Judy Corbett, Robert Thayer, Stephen Wheeler and James Zanetto

The Feb. 5 Davis Enterprise article stating that the City Council will examine ways of pre-approving housing developments on sites at the periphery of Davis in order to meet the city’s long-term “regional housing needs” allocation runs counter to the entire momentum of urban development economics and city finance.

It is well known that by building dense, vital downtowns, with multi-story housing and walkable amenities, cities may not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions but actually build more positive property tax flows. Building at the periphery does the exact opposite by reducing income per acre from property taxes while increasing infrastructure maintenance including roads, water, sewers, flood control, street trees, police, fire and garbage collection.

Jeff Speck, author of “Walkable City Rules,” (Island Press, 2018) states that “communities that fund infrastructure with an eye to long-term return will invest in compact, mixed-use development — especially in historic districts — and not in sprawl.”

Beginning with the 1974 “Costs of Sprawl,” considerable research studies have shown that dense urban areas return far more revenue per acre than peripheral, auto-oriented development; the former actually subsidize the latter. (See the case studies website of Urban3: https://www.urbanthree.com/case-study/ )

Since the new Davis Downtown Plan addresses this, at least in the short term we need to avoid peripheral development that does not pay for its own ultimate financial impact on a wide range of city services. Portland, Ore., and the smaller California cities of Pasadena, Petaluma, Hercules and Lodi are examples of communities where the advantages of building strong downtowns can be observed today.

March, like February, starts early at Al's Corner.  We'll start off trashing the Davis Vanguard, as common a theme on Al's Corner as housing articles on the Davis Vanguard.  Recently posted:

Walter Shwe February 26, 2023 at 6:00 pm

Has anyone at Davis Vanguard lately tried to comment on an article or replied to a prior comment on an iPhone? The experience is atrocious. Articles always load slowly except late at night. Ads interfere with the top page buttons, particularly the Login button. Most importantly to you the Donate button is inaccessible. Earlier today I had to login by first tapping the Register button. Will anyone at Davis Vanguard ever fix these frustrating issues? I realize that ads help pay for site costs, but this is simply ridiculous.

Moderator February 26, 2023 at 6:26 pm

We’ll forward this comment to the webmaster and then remove it in a few hours. Thanks for your feedback.

Funny, myself and I believe RO and KO all pointed out that since the Vanguard added Newsy and other advertising that it has become an annoying, almost unusable piece of sh*t, and most especially on a phone, where you might as well drop your phone in the toilet and flush.  But no, we were ignored.  Maybe because we also, in not so many words, or maybe in so many words, also called the content of the DV sh*t also.   But hey, you should listen to your critics, because we know what is best for you.  But no, y'all wait until a fan-of-the- blog points out the very same thing.  Good going.

And one bit of housekeeping to our thousands or hundreds or tens or single-digits or negative-number of fans:  In February we ran over the previously-unknown-to-me 100 comment limit.  This caused a "Page 2" to be created that many did not find, and missed brilliant commentary.  To find Page 2, either dig up the corpse of Paul Harvey, or scroll to the bottom of Page 1 and click on the "Newer >>>" button.   Yeehaw

Happy Early March Everyone!  Happy Easter!  Happy Passover!  Happy Good Friday, if that is a happy holy day otherwise maybe a solemn one!  And then there are other holidays for all the people of the world and I am now going to list them all and celebrate all of them . . . or not!

(From press release) The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has announced its most recent group of Fellows, and eight of them are from UC Davis.  From the AAAS website:

AAAS Fellows are a distinguished cadre of scientists, engineers and innovators who have been recognized for their achievements across disciplines, from research, teaching, and technology, to administration in academia, industry and government, to excellence in communicating and interpreting science to the public.

In a tradition stretching back to 1874, these individuals are elected annually by the AAAS Council. Newly elected Fellows are recognized for their extraordinary achievements at the ceremonial Fellows Forum, a time-honored event at the AAAS Annual Meeting where they are presented with a certificate and blue and gold rosette.

Eligible nominees are members whose efforts on behalf of the advancement of science or its applications are scientifically or socially distinguished and who have been a continuous AAAS member for at least four years leading up to the year of nomination. Fellows have included Thomas Edison, W.E.B DuBois, Maria Mitchell, Steven Chu, Ellen Ochoa and Irwin M. Jacobs.

Election as an AAAS Fellow is a lifetime honor and all Fellows are expected to meet the commonly held standards of professional ethics and scientific integrity.

They are:

Danika L. Bannasch
Professor, Department of Population Health and Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine
“For contributions across the study of genetics and genomics for the benefit of animal and human health, and service to the profession.”

Annaliese Franz
Professor, Department of Chemistry, College of Letters and Science
“For contributions to catalysis and synthesis emphasizing organosilicon chemistry and biofuel production, and for the championship of diversity, equity and inclusion among faculty and students.”

Sarah B. Hrdy
Professor emerita, Department of Anthropology, College of Letters and Science
“For distinguished contributions to the field of evolutionary anthropology, particularly for understanding mammalian reproductive strategies and the evolution of human families and societies.”

Lynne A. Isbell
Professor, Department of Anthropology, Evolutionary Wing, College of Letters and Science
“For innovative scholarship and leadership in primatology and biological anthropology.”

Pamela J. Lein
Professor of Neurotoxicology, Department of Molecular Biosciences, School of Veterinary Medicine
“For exceptional contributions to research in environmental toxicity and for sustained activity in advising and mentoring.”

Maeli Melotto
Professor, Department of Plant Sciences, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
“For distinguished contributions to the field of plant biology, particularly for interactions between plants and both pathogenic and nonpathogenic microbes and plant breeding for crop safety and resilience.”

Roberta L. Millstein
Professor Emerit, Department of Philosophy, College of Letters and Science
“For distinguished scholarship and service to the history and philosophy of biology.”

Frank E. Osterloh
Professor, Department of Chemistry, College of Letters and Science
“For contributions to inorganic and materials chemistry with applications in energy conversion.”

Students at Pioneer Elementary School plant lettuce in the fall that was harvested in winter and made into salads. (Meghan Covert Russell/Courtesy photo)

(From press release) Davis Farm to School recently awarded 22 garden grants ­– totaling more than $11,000 – to local schools.

The grants, announced on Jan. 23, promote student learning about plants, insects, soil, composting and growing fresh and tasty food. Students plant in mosaic planters, raised beds, landscaped areas and more. The school gardens support California’s academic standards and provide important hands-on learning experiences.

Funds for the grants were raised through its annual fundraiser, The Village Feast, which was in October at Great Bear Vineyards. The money enabled garden grants for every school in the Davis Joint Unified School District, as well as to private schools including Peregrine and Davis Waldorf.

Max Russell examines strawberries at the Harper Junior High School garden. His mom, Meghan, leads the Davis Farm to School program, part of the Davis Farmers Market Alliance. (Meghan Covert Russell/Courtesy photo)

Meghan Covert Russell, executive director of Davis Farm to School, said, “This is the first year that we have been able to provide garden grants to every DJUSD campus, a step to helping all school gardens achieve equity in their maintenance and ability to serve students.”

In addition to garden grants, Davis Farm to School offers farm field trips to DJUSD second graders, in cooperation with Fiery Ginger Farm; and Little Chefs Field Trips to third graders, in conjunction with The Davis Food Co-op.

DJUSD Superintendent Matt Best said, “We are incredibly thankful for our close partnership with Davis Farm to School. Their support continues to provide our students with incredible hands-on learning experiences at our schools, as well as opportunities to explore our area’s farms, and learn about the ways to help preserve our planet.”

Davis Farm to School supports garden-based education, farm visits for students, farm-fresh foods in school meals, and recycling and composting programs at all Davis schools, in partnership with DJUSD. DF2S is a project of the nonprofit Davis Farmers Market Alliance. For more information, visit https://www.davisfarmtoschool.org/.

(From press release) The global day of climate action is just one week away! We cannot wait to see everyone on Friday, March 3rd at E 14th and B Street at NOON! Our march will step off at 12:30 and we will march to Central Park for a demonstration and community discussion. 

In one week, all of Davis is invited to join in this Global Climate Strike that will put pressure on our world leaders to end fossil finance. We need to make sure they know that tomorrow is too late to take action, they must act now. Fridays For Future Davis youth activists will be walking out of school with other youth around the world, and we need your support. We need you to join us in showing up and demanding action.

Please visit our event page for all of the information on how Davis will be participating in this worldwide action for climate justice: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wlvIupioT0hwQwjsCRXwsEsAfW3w8o6buoFhllHF1EA/edit?usp=sharing

Pre-Strike fun! On Tuesday, February 28th from 3-5 at the Central Park Solidarity Space we will be making signs for the Global Climate Strike on Friday. Please join us for some fun sign making time and to learn all about how you can help our Earth survive climate change.

Joseph Fletcher, manager at the Veterans Memorial Theatre leads members of the arts community on a tour of the upgraded facility at the Feb. 16 Arts Alliance Davis meeting. (Wendy Weitzel/Courtesy photo)

By Wendy Weitzel

More than 20 members of the arts community gathered Feb. 16 to see the newly improved Veterans Memorial Theatre and collaborate about their work.

The occasion was the Arts Alliance Davis meeting, open to anyone interested in or involved with local arts.

Joseph Fletcher, manager at the city’s Veterans Memorial Theatre, explained the recent upgrades to the city’s aging theater technology in the 1974-built facility. They include updated computer, video, lighting, and other electronics systems and technology.

Fletcher was hired in October 2019 – shortly before the pandemic mandated closure of theater operations for nearly two years – and led the improvements at the facility. Rachel Hartsough, the city of Davis’ arts and culture manager, said, “Fletcher was incredible about using this down time that we unfortunately had from COVID to apply for and receive multiple grants. Nearly $100,000 of upgrades to the theater came from Shuttered Venue Operators grants, and it’s really transformed the usability of the theater.”

That grant money went almost all into materials. Fletcher said he and his staff did much of the setup, saving the city what would have cost an additional 25 to 50 percent. Separately, the theater will get a much-needed new roof starting in March.

Dear City Council Members,

I am writing in regard to agenda item 3F “Terminate COVID Local Emergency.” Please pull this item from the consent calendar so you can discuss how this will change commission meetings and consider directing staff to propose methods for continuing to broadcast and record commission meetings.

While COVID had many negative impacts on our community an unexpected benefit was forcing us to rethink how we held our public meetings. Though the first City Council meeting was some what rocky with the “Zoom Bombers” in the end Zoom meetings created a great benefit for commissions and the public. Thanks to holding Zoom meetings it was easier for the public to attend commission meetings in real time and once the City began making the recordings available on the City website, it meant the public was able to watch meetings after the fact too. This created a excellent example of open government.

Further, Staff reported that having the recordings from the meetings aided greatly in writing accurate minutes for Commission meetings. Considering at times in the past the city website has lacked minutes for past meetings even over several years times, having the video of meetings raised the bar for public access to public meetings in Davis.

Now with the local emergency order ending I have learned from staff that there is no plan to continue broadcasting or recording many commission meetings. Letting this opportunity for public access fall to the wayside would be a mistake.      

I believe the City of Davis can continue to broadcast commission meetings and archive recordings at relatively moderate costs. For several commissions the meetings can take place in conference rooms and standard conference room teleconferencing systems are sufficient to allow staff to continue to broadcast commission meetings over zoom. This would also allow staff to continue to use zoom to record these meetings.

One question you may ask is does this mean remote commenters must be supported in the future? Using zoom to broadcast and record meetings does not necessitate making remote public comments available, but the council could decide to continue to allow this. There certainly is merit to allowing remote public comment for commission meetings in order to increase public opportunities to comment for people who cannot come to a meeting in person. Whether the council chooses to allow for public comment or not is certainly worthy of council discussion and a good reason to pull this item from the consent calendar for Council consideration.

In closing let me again ask the council to pull item 3F and direct staff to provide options for continuing to broadcast and record City of Davis Commission meetings. Continuing the enhanced public access discovered under the emergency order is certainly worth council and staff consideration.

Best Regards,

Colin Walsh

Vice-chair of the Tree Commission speaking for myself.

Public Forum on CAAP Feb. 26

Floods, droughts, wildfires, hurricanes….we all know that climate change is an existential threat, so what can we do?  The City of Davis declared a climate emergency and has drafted an updated Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (CAAP) that has aroused public concerns.  Are these concerns valid?  What does CAAP include and how might it impact you personally?  And what actions and regulations is the state proposing that will impact CAAP as well as you personally?  Come hear Kerry Daane Loux explain it all and answer your questions Sunday February 26 at 11:15 at Davis United Methodist Church, 1620 Anderson Road.  Kerry is Sustainability Coordinator for the City of Davis and project manager for CAAP.

The Final Draft CAAP document and other information is available at:

https://www.cityofdavis.org/sustainability/2020-climate-action-and-adaptation-plan-caap

Of special note, the Overview and Context for the CAAP on pages 11-12 are useful information in advance of our discussion.

FINAL DRAFT 2020-2040 Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (CAAP)  PDF

Shared by Helen Roland Cramer

Why is Darwin so often only shown as an old man with a beard?

By Roberta Millstein

Happy Darwin Day!  It’s been 211 214 years since Charles Darwin was born.

For your Darwin Day, here is a selection of some of my favorite Darwin quotes, all from On the Origin of Species, First Edition.  I hope you enjoy them!

The beginning of the book:

“WHEN on board H.M.S. 'Beagle,' as naturalist, I was much struck with certain facts in the distribution of the inhabitants of South America, and in the geological relations of the present to the past inhabitants of that continent. These facts seemed to me to throw some light on the origin of species—that mystery of mysteries, as it has been called by one of our greatest philosophers. On my return home, it occurred to me, in 1837, that something might perhaps be made out on this question by patiently accumulating and reflecting on all sorts of facts which could possibly have any bearing on it.”

Action Alert - Global Climate Strike, March 3rd. E14th and B Street, Davis at NOON - step-off at 12:30 march to Central Park for guest speakers and strike demonstration.

Dear Davis Community,

On March 3rd, Fridays For Future is staging the next Global Climate Strike. We will be striking to send a message to our world leaders telling them to end fossil finance and save our future from the climate crisis. 

Fridays For Future Davis members have been striking for the climate every Friday for almost three years, pressuring leaders in Davis as well as world leaders to start taking big enough steps to stop the Earth’s plummet into climate chaos. This Global Climate Strike is a time for the Davis community to join us and  Fridays For Future groups around the world in demanding climate action from our leaders both local and global. 

To everyone reading this who feels the pressure of climate anxiety and feels like there is nothing you can do, you are not alone in that feeling. We all know what it feels like to wake up to news of another 100,000 acres of California on fire. We all know what it feels like to see orange skies filled with ash and toxins. We know what it feels like to be living through a severe drought not knowing when California will run out of water. We all feel what is happening in the world and we understand the feeling of wanting to help but not knowing how. This Global Strike is a way for you to help and be heard!

We can stand together, strong and united, demanding our right for a life in the future be honored and protected. Please join us at 12pm on March 3rd at E14th and B Street, Davis for a march to Central Park with guest speakers and a strike demonstration. For questions and more information please reach out to our coordinators on instagram @fridaysforfuture_davis or through email [email protected]

By Roberta Millstein

As a Gen-Xer, I grew up watching a lot of fairly silly cartoons, Scooby-Doo among them.  The plot of Scooby-Doo was pretty much always the same.  The main characters would ask a lot of hard questions, and always end up unmasking the “bad guy,” who would utter a phrase along the lines of “if it weren’t for those pesky kids!”

Reading Item 5 of tonight’s City Council agenda makes me feel like I am in an episode of Scooby-Doo.  Commission meetings are too long, the staff report suggests.  They duplicate efforts, staff implies.

Yet it was the commissions who asked hard questions about DISC.  They asked, for example, about the carbon emissions from the project and better ways to mitigate them.  They asked about the percentage of affordable housing.  They asked about the number of trees and protection for burrowing owls.  They asked about the effect of the project on our downtown.

These were hard questions that were not asked by staff and not asked by the City Council.   They all ended up being issues in the campaign that resulted in voters rejecting the DISC project.

Now, it seems, staff would like to reduce the power of those “pesky” commissions with all of their questions.

Are the commission meetings really too long?  One easy way to make them shorter would be to put a time limit on presentations by developers and others; we can expect that commissioners have read the provided written materials.

Are the commissions really duplicating effort?  As evidence, staff provides a table where different commissions weigh in on the same topic.  What staff fails to mention is that they are looking at different aspects of the same topic.  For example, when Open Space & Habitat looks at a park, it considers habitat values. Rec & Park considers recreational values. Tree Commission looks at the number and species of trees.  Yes, these can overlap, but they are distinctive issues that require distinctive expertise. There is no duplication.

Commissions are treated as pesky by those who have to answer their hard questions, but commissions keep the democratic process in Davis strong.  If we want to revisit the commissions, let’s at least involve them – something that was not done for this meeting.  Our past and present commissioners can provide needed insight into this process.

Two articles today in the Davis Vanguard about ChatGPT. 

But ChatGPT is woke:

ChatGPT goes woke!

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11646463/Conservatives-test-AI-ChatGPT-uses-responses-prove-going-woke.html

One quote:

"Developing anything, software or not, requires compromise and making choices, political choices, about who a system will work for and whose values it will represent."

I certainly don't agree with some of the political views used as examples in the article, but clearly a political bias is shown when the machine calls out writing about subjects as being 'inappropriate'.  If you can't see how this could so easily be manipulated by whomever is in power, you aren't being real about the concerns.

By Susan Pelican

from James Corbett (check him out!):via Organic Consumers Association...

"As consumers of heavily processed, chemically treated, GMO-infested gunk, we in the modern, developed world have "solved" the problem of hunger that plagued our forebears since time immemorial by handing our food sovereignty over to a handful of corporate conglomerates.

The result of this handover has been the creation of a factory farming system in which genetically engineered crops are doused in glyphosate and livestock are herded into tiny pens where they live their entire lives in fetid squalor, pumped up with antibiotics and growth hormones until they are slaughtered and shipped off to the supermarkets and fast food chains....

But as bad as things may be, they're about to get even worse. As crisis after crisis disrupts the food supply, the "solution" to these problems has already been prepared. New technologies are coming online that threaten to upend our understanding of food altogether. Technologies that could, ultimately, begin altering the human species itself.”

Many of these are rolling in from Universities, including UC Davis (see the Sac Business Journal edition on new startups in the Sacramento Region) and include technological "advances" like Davis' Gotham Greens, (sold at Nugget in Davis)... -a high rise greenhouse which purports to save water (hydroponic) and land (??) AND is in PARTNERSHIP WITH UC DAVIS).

Know about this and invest your $ and your health in farmers markets, organic produce, eggs, milk, meat and bread.

The following was sent to the Davis Enterprise to be published as a letter to the editor, but as of the time of this posting they have declined to publish it.

Edit: The letter finally appeared in the 12 February 2023 print edition, but I don't believe that it ever appeared online.

By Roberta Millstein

The recent article, "Planning Commission OKs R&D facility for Second Street" elicited a number of comments on the Davis Enterprise's Facebook page where the article was posted. Of these comments, the one that was picked as the "Editors' choice for the web comment of the week" stated "In a town that's absolutely jam-packed with know-it-alls somebody will come up with an objection."

Why did the Editors pick this comment out of all the others?

Surely the 2nd Street project is exactly the sort of infill project that most Davisites preferred when they voted overwhelmingly to defeat the sprawling peripheral DISC project. I for one have no objection to it.

Will someone object? No doubt. Name me one issue that all Davisites agree on. I am guessing that there is no such issue.

But that isn't really the point of the "Editors choice" comment, is it? The point is to denigrate Davisites who dare to raise objections to developer's projects. Or maybe it's just to denigrate Davisites more generally.

So, I ask again, why would the Editors choose to reprint this comment in the newspaper? Is this the sort of discourse that the Davis Enterprise wants to promote? And if so, why?

We can do better and so can the Davis Enterprise.