Question 10. of the 2006 City Council Questions to Candidates
How do you view race related issues in town and if elected what would you do in regard to this issue?
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Michael Levy: Race related issues are inherently charged with emotion. It is essential when such issues arise that everyone maintains a respectful and positive attitude and tone. Vitriol and personal attacks exacerbate difficult situations, and prevent mutual understanding and collaboration. As an environmental lawyer working for the State of California, it is my job to accommodate the interests of as many different stakeholders as we can when we make a regulatory decision. I am also a trained mediator with 50 hours of formal mediation training from the Court of Appeal, and I serve as a volunteer superior court judge. I've tried or settled cases involving difficult racial issues, family disputes, landlord/tenant disputes, and other very emotional cases. On the Council, I would handle such issues as I handle them in my career: With an open ear, with an open mind, and with respect
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Ruth Asmundson: Davis is significantly more "white" (70%) than most of California (47%). As a result, the minority populations are smaller than in other comparable cities we are 18% Asian, 10% Latino, 2% black, and 1% other. While as a member of the Davis City Council, I have advocated for increased diversity in the City of Davis workforce just as I did for the Davis school district when I served on the School Board. However, in the current housing market, most of the entry level of Davis employees must live outside of the City so increasing the diversity of the work force is not sufficient to expand the diversity of our City population.
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Stan Forbes: Davis is better than most cities I believe on race issues. That is not to say we don't have them. We need to be sensitive, open to complaint, and responsive when they occur. The police review panel recently established should help. So should the continuing efforts of the HRC as a forum for those who have complaints and the efforts of the schools to promote diversity.
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Lamar Heystek: We must take all allegations of profiling and other forms of discrimination seriously, but we should not rush to judgment on them rather, we have an obligation to ensure a fair, transparent and constructive process for people who have such complaints to air them publicly if they wish. As Council Member, I will support such a process at the advisory commission level.
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Rob Roy: I worry about the several cases of racially motivated vandalism in Davis. I worry about allegations of racial profiling made against the DPD. I worry about Davis not being as racially diverse as it should be if you compare it to neighboring communities. I want diverse to be diverse. I grew up in Sacramento, which TIME Magazine and Harvard called the most diverse city in America, while I love Davis and have lived here for years and have been familiar with the community since I was a child in the 80's. I think Davis can be more diverse and that can be done through affordable housing and promoting a real culture of diversity within the town.
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