Note: This article was originally published in the SF Chronicle and is reposted here with permission of the author. I think it expresses ideas that are very relevant for Davis, yet have been missing (as far as I know). -RM

The attack on my cafe is an inexcusable act of violence. But even in the middle of this ugliness, there are many points of light

By Manny Yekutiel

The windows at Manny’s in San Francisco are boarded up on Thursday. In an act of violence, people vandalized the Mission District cafe on Monday night during protests against ICE actions.

Earlier this week, protesters broke into Manny’s, my cafe and civic space in San Francisco’s Mission District, smashed the windows and spray-painted messages like “Intifada,” “Death 2 Israel is a Promise” and “Die Zionist” on my walls.

It was violent. It was antisemitic. And it was heartbreaking.

This kind of hatred has no place in San Francisco, the city that’s given me everything. And it has no place within the progressive movement — a movement I am a part of.

I created Manny’s as a space for dialogue, for civic engagement and for tough conversations. I’ve seen what’s possible when people sit down with those they don’t agree with. I still believe in that work. But what happened on Monday night wasn’t dialogue. It was destruction intended to cause fear, and it crossed a line.

Residents of Davis, Woodland & West Sacramento to participate in nationwide demonstrations on June 26 confronting the Trump administration’s illegal abductions, detentions, and deportations. #DisappearedinAmerica

(From press release) Residents will gather 4:30 - 5:30 PM in:

• Davis at City Hall, 23 Russell Blvd

• Woodland at the Courthouse, 1000 Main St.

• West Sacramento at City Hall, 1110 W. Capitol Ave.

to speak out for people who have been disappeared by the Trump Administration and demand an end to vigilante terrorism.  No Vigilantes! No Masks! 

On Thursday, June 26th, Yolo County residents will show up at three locations in Davis, Woodland and West Sacramento to join activists across the country for #DisappearedInAmerica, a national day of action led by a coalition of immigrant rights, faith, rule of law, and pro-democracy organizations. Together, Yolo County residents are mobilizing to shine a light on a disturbing reality: under Trump’s immigration agenda, people like Kilmar Abrego Garcia, Mahmoud Khalil, and Andry Hernandez Romero are being forcibly detained, deported, and disappeared. Yolo County residents are united in demanding transparency, accountability, and due process for all.

With the Trump administration doubling down on its abuse of power and government overreach, everyday residents are sending a clear message: In America, we don’t let the government secretly detain or deport people without trial — it violates our Constitution and our way of life. This kind of lawless behavior isn’t just immoral, it’s un-American, and we must draw a clear line against it. 

Indivisible Yolo is a chapter of the grassroots movement Indivisible (indivisible.org), which is based on the vision of a real democracy—of, by, and for the people. Indivisible Yolo’s mission is to promote progressive policies by activating people to engage in their democracy at all levels of government. We organize and advocate for our policy goals, and to get out the vote to elect candidates who pursue those policies. These complementary efforts ensure our democracy works for everyone and that those in power do, too.

(From press release) People of faith must support all those who are suffering.

As a first step, our community must come together, so the Celebration of Abraham is hosting a contemplative interfaith prayer vigil at the Davis United Methodist Church at 1620 Anderson Road on Tuesday, June 24th at 7pm. Abraham is inviting the entire community. We are hoping the people will bring snacks to share that they will stay and talk with others after the service. Many in our community are food insecure, so we are asking folks to bring a nonperishable food item that Abraham will collect and give to the local food bank.

By Elaine Roberts Musser & Dan Carson

On June 17, 2025 the City Council will “finalize” the 2025-2027 city budget, although it is not written in stone and subject to change. The grim reality is the lion’s share of Measure Q funding (recently approved sales tax increase) has already been spent on employee compensation, and there is absolutely no Measure Q funding left. 

Thus there is zero money to front load more funding for roads and bike paths as recommended by both City Council and City Staff.  $14 million is needed, but only $8.6 million has been set aside, the same inadequate pavement management funding as before. So the pavement will further deteriorate from its current abysmal state, and be exponentially more expensive to fix, adding tens of millions of dollars to the already huge backlog of pavement projects. And it will present particularly unsafe conditions for bicyclists, especially children going to school.

It should be noted the Yes on Q ballot statement, signed by all five sitting City Council members at the time, declared Measure Q was: “To support essential city services, such as…pothole repair… and bike path maintenance”.  Instead, the City Council devoted Measure Q funds to increased employee compensation, while the draft budget plan released May 20 would spend nothing more on roads and bike paths.

This is a bait and switch, an abject betrayal of the voters who approved Measure Q.

"we are going to have troops everywhere." - DJT

by Colin Walsh

The last time National Guard members were deployed over the objection of a Governor was 1965 when Lyndon Johnson invoked the Insurrection Act to protect Civil Rights marchers in Alabama. This came after a deputized mob of segregationists attacked and beat marchers at the Edmund Pettus Bridge. These marchers were demanding that black Alabamans be allowed to vote.

Make no mistake, Trump's deployment of National Guard soldiers and Marines is in fact directly related. Today the Federal government is acting to intimidate and exclude minorities from the US. This deployment is racially motivated. The brutal force of the federal government is now working for oppression of minorities.

Yesterday Trump vowed that "we are going to have troops everywhere." What is happening in LA right now is coming to all major cities in the US if the Trump administration get's their way. This is not Trump alone - this is right out of the project 2025 plan and is being pushed by the authors, enablers and orchestrators of the new MAGA policies. Trump is only the figure head. We must work together to oppose all of them.

Keep in mind - the republicans can not win at the midterm elections without extreme actions. Republicans are now unpopular in most of the country. The push of the administration is wildly unpopular. the "big beautiful bill is facing fierce public opposition. DOGE is being shown to BE the fraud and a massive grift of national data. not even Marjorie Taylor green wants the Palantir surveillance state. This is not what people voted for and the Republicans are going to loose seats.

Some will think this a leap, but consider how well planned project 2025s implementation was and how quickly many of the goals have been achieved. What we are seeing in LA is one of the first steps to disrupting the next election and cementing the implementation of an authoritarian state.

We must organize and do everything to stop this hostile take over of the US.

Photo of John Lewis being beaten by a deputized mob at the Edmund Pettus bridge. Peaceful protester being beaten by mercenaries hired as ICE agents in LA. what has changed is whose side the federal government is on. in 1965 they protected demonstrators working for voting rights. Today they are being deployed against protesters' working for human rights. Whose side will you be on?

Here some photos from Saturday's Davis PrideFest, held in Civic Center Park. Thousands attended the event, which had the biggest turnout in the 11 years since it started.  All photo credits to Wendy Weitzel.

Drag queen Ellis Dee dances with the crowd at the Davis PrideFest on Saturday, June 7 in Civic Center Park in Davis.

Wives Sharon Hale, left, and Dawn Student show their pride at Davis PrideFest on Saturday, June 7 in Civic Center Park in Davis.

Noise Violation kicked off the Davis PrideFest music on Saturday, June 7 in Civic Center Park in Davis.

Ada Vox (this picture and the next) was the headliner at the Davis PrideFest on Saturday, June 7 in Civic Center Park in Davis

By Elaine Roberts Musser

During the 6/3/25 City Council budget discussion, I stated: “There will be no Measure Q revenue left to frontload funding for roads and bike paths as promised in the Measure Q ballot language. This would be a bait and switch scam, an abject betrayal of voters who approved Measure Q.” Mayor Vaitla responded: “This accusation of bait and switch is inappropriate.…” I beg to differ.

Bait and switch consists of a misleading statement intended to deceive voters, that is likely to influence voters, and will probably result in harm.

Let’s take a look at what happened with Measure Q funding. The ballot statement, signed by all five sitting City Council members, declared Measure Q is: “To support essential city services, such as…pothole repair… and bike path maintenance”. Notice it did not mention employee raises. The City Council knew the specific ballot language about roads/bike paths was apt to convince voters to approve Measure Q. Yet the City Council spent Measure Q funds on employee raises, but nothing on roads/bike paths. That deception will result in the city’s abysmal roads/bike paths deteriorating further at exponentially greater cost.

As the budget is finalized on 6/17/25, the only way the City Council can nullify the Measure Q bait and switch is to cut costs in other areas of the budget - and redirect that funding towards roads/bike paths. Then, and only then, can Mayor Vaitla with justification, claim there was no bait and switch.

By Scott Steward

When prompted by public comment or by the City Council, the Davis Human Relations Commission (HRC) assigns subcommittees to collect Davis residents feedback on what residents are experiencing, to get direct feedback about Davis residents' experiences, with conflict, discrimination or other relations.  

Not surprisingly the Commission has heard much in the way of incidences of Islamic/Palestinian/Arab discrimination and Antisemitism (discrimination against Jews) in the last year and a half.  Two subcommittees were formed in late 2024 and remain in place today, the Muslims, Arabs, Palestinians and their Allies (MAPA) subcommittee and the Antisemitism subcommittee.  The MAPA report was completed and presented on April 2nd and recommendations from the report were refined and voted on by the commission on April 24th.

The Muslim Arab Palestinians and their allies (MAPA) Human Relations Commission Report is a compilation of “100s of conversations, and review of 100s of videos, photos, and screenshots from social media stories and posts, surveyed residents, DJUSD parents and staff, UCD faculty, staff and students of a relatively even mix of Muslims, Arabs, Palestinians and Ally respondents." 

The report is a 91 page representative sample of all the Davis sources and some data from external sources.

By Dan Carson and Elaine Roberts Musser

A newly published long-range financial forecast for the city brings dire warnings of shortfalls and outright deficits over the next few years. Below, we outline tough but fiscally responsible actions the Davis City Council should immediately take to rein in this serious fiscal mess, substantially of the City Council’s own making.

The May 27, 2025 analysis prepared by the Baker Tilly Advisory Group in collaboration with city staff found the city faces budget shortfalls of roughly $3 million each of the next two fiscal years. They estimate this would leave the city with a bare-bones General Fund reserve, in a period when the risks of recession and inflation are dramatically rising nationally because of severe funding withdrawals in Washington DC and Sacramento.

Second, absent some painful but unavoidable decisions, the analysis found that the city will likely be completely financially underwater within five years, with annual spending exceeding annual revenues.  In other words, we are rapidly moving from having inadequate reserves to having no reserves at all, as well as serious deficits projected to grow to $5 million annually. Even these numbers may be a bit optimistic. The forecast assumes 2.5 percent annual growth in city pay even though newly signed contracts allow up to 4 percent pay growth for many workers supported from the General Fund.

Few Davis residents likely know about this serious financial predicament. The forecast report was released to little fanfare and sparse news coverage in a Council workshop held in the late afternoon at the Senior Center, instead of the City Council’s usual meeting in the evening in Council Chambers. As this is written, no city press release has been issued to highlight these grim developments.

By Scott Steward

Prior to the Friday 3:30 start of the 90-minute League of Women Voters Yolo County moderated interview with Mike Thompson this past Friday, it was good to remember that the Congressman had voted for HR 224, which calls for the urgent delivery of food to Gaza. He was also in the 2024 minority that voted against an appropriations bill that blocks the State Department from citing statistics (numbers of dead and wounded) provided by the Gaza Ministry of Health.

So when the Congressman passed by on his way into the Woodland Senior Center where we were standing, with "Dollars for Democracy, not Genocide" signs, We respectfully asked him to speak out to end the killing.  He replied, "Yes, we should."  

Unfortunately, Mike Thompson, like most Democrats and almost all California representatives to Congress, voted three different times for what now amounts to $22 billion to use our tax dollars to finance 70% of all weapons used to enable Israel to accelerate the decimation of an entire nation and kill mostly women and children while doing it.  Current and historical atrocities on both sides do not excuse Israel's disproportionate response.