By Alan Hirsch, Davis Lorax

The controversial city council plan for commission consolidation and refocus is going into effect this summer. This is a rare opportunity for reform I hope is not missed. 

Let us begin by restating the overarching goals council set forward in this reform: 

Davis Council Resolution 24-079 May 2024

Guiding Principle for New Commission Structure

. City Commissions should act at all times with the understanding that guiding principles are at the core of their work.

1. Promote and embrace diversity, equity, and inclusion
2. Prioritize environmental and social justice
3. Make space for community engagement
4. Balance environmental and fiscal sustainability
5. Strive for innovation and human progress

The first meeting of the new Climate and Environmental Justice Commission on 7/22 Monday is precedent setting as it can begin to put implementation meat on the bone of these principles by:

1. Better Prioritize Environmental  Justice than in the past  (principal B)
2. Change meeting practices to allow more public participation. (principle A & C)  
3. Speed surfacing of new ideas and follow through on their implementation.  (principle E

As a first step in embracing council principles for this reorganization,  I suggest the  commission’s pass a resolution to  establish these ground rules for operation

by Scott Steward

My brother came over from the Bay Area, where they have a lot of great dessert shops, and we sat down on my mom's west Davis back patio for a picnic lunch.

I had stopped at previously at the Farmer’s Kitchen Cafe and picked up a beautiful (gluten-free) crust strawberry and raspberry pie, which we had with a small amount of ice cream, following our humus and vegetable platter with potato and green salads.

But the pie! "Best pie I've had," my brother exclaimed, and his wife agreed and the seven of us present were able to eat half of the large 12" diameter desert. 

This is the kind of consistently tasty and inspired eating you get from the Farmer's Family Cafe. Roseanne and her family have served sit-down no hurry service, and have provided a subscription menu, for years from the D Street location, but no more as of this July.

In the last eight months, Roseanne has had to pay PG&E $36,000 in energy bills. Energy bills have always been high for the businesses renting in the conspicuously inefficient 11,400 sq ft D Street building (est. built in the 60s), but the last 8 months are different. $36,000, and Roseanne—who is not one to want to move—is moving to a new location to be announced once all is settled.

Two systemic problems forced Roseanne's hand, and she is just one of the majority of businesses that have seen profits reduced by high utility bills. Not since Enron in 2000 have utilities increased so much in such a short period of time. The owners of these old buildings keep on collecting rent checks and do nothing about what it costs tenant businesses to keep buildings cool and food hot.

Window opens for citizen input on the scope of the environmental analysis

By Roberta Millstein

Another step has been taken for a proposed housing project to the east of Wildhorse, near the Mace Curve, using the misleading name “Shriners Property Project” (misleading because the project has no current connection to the Shriners).  The site is approximately 232 acres and is currently being farmed.  The developers are proposing a 1,200-unit residential community.

Because the land is zoned for agriculture and is outside of the current City limits, it will eventually be subject to a Measure J/R/D vote of Davis’s citizens.  But first, it must undergo environmental review to produce an Environmental Impact Report (EIR), and before that happens, the scope of the review must be decided on. That’s the stage we’re at now – the comment period for citizens and groups to give input on the scope and content of the environmental information to be obtained opened on July 12 and will continue through August 12.  

Further details of the project and the scope of review can be found here:

By Juliette Beck, Yolo climate justice advocate

Yolo County recently reduced their draft Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (CAAP) - potentially the most important document to guide Yolo County residents, businesses, farmers and decision-makers in our collective response to climate breakdown. 

As a member of the Yolo Climate Emergency Coalition that set this planning process in motion, I commend the hard work and thoughtfulness of hundreds of people that contributed their energy, time, thoughts, ideas and hopes. Our goal was - and still  is - to mobilize a Just Transition to an ecological, equitable, resilient county. 

The draft plan offers a number of important and valuable actions, but the county’s consultants - Dudek - fail to chart the just transition strategies needed to avert catastrophic climate change and the accelerating impacts.

Add your response to the draft CAAP by July 10 through the comment portal at yolocaap.org. Here are some recommended changes:

Your host:  Alan C. "Al" Miller

Pictured:  an extreme version of himself

City of Davis Extends Recruitment for Advisory Commissions

From Press Release

Post Date: July 03, 2024 4:00 pm

The City of Davis announced that applications to serve on one of the following City Commissions have been extended to July 19, 2024:

• Fiscal Commission 
• Senior Citizen
• Social Services
• Transportation

Due to a rescheduled City Council meeting in late July and an added commission recruitment, interested residents now have more time and options to submit an application for a City commission. Commissions have a critical role in the community and serve at the direction of the City Council. Commissions study issues within their scope of authority, analyze and recommend policies and programs and serve as public forums to hear resident interests and perspectives.