Dan Wolk

Dan and his wife, Jamima

Name

Daniel "Dan" Wolk

Office

City Council

Term

March 1, 2011-present

Phone

Email

Public Address

City, State Zip

Website

http://www.danwolk.org/

Daniel 'Dan' Wolk is a Davis City Councilmember, appointed by the Davis City Council to fill the unfinished term of Councilmember Don Saylor who was elected to the Yolo County Board of Supervisors. He has declared himself as a candidate for 2012 City Council Election.

On April 14, 2009 he was appointed by the Davis City Council to the Social Services Commission. He was later elected Chair by his commission colleagues on November 15, 2010.

He is a 1995 graduate of Davis Senior High School, Stanford University and UC Berkeley Boalt Hall School of Law. He currently is the Deputy County Counsel for Solano County. He is the son of state Senator and former Mayor Lois Wolk.

"TOP FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT DAN WOLK

1st: Dan grew up in Davis. The only city council member in decades to have done so, Dan attended Davis schools (including taking Mr. Willett himself in sixth grade) and graduated from Davis High School in 1995. Dan also participated in many of the activities children in Davis still participate in, including Rainbow Summer, AYSO, Camp Putah, Cub Scouts, Madrigals, Jazz Choir, and the Davis Children’s Nutcracker.

2nd: Dan has a young family. Dan is married to Jamima, a former professional triathlete and small business owner in town, and they have two daughters: Avery (3) and Layla (8 months). It’s also been decades since someone with such a young family has served on the city council.

3rd: Dan is dedicated to giving back to the community that has given him so much. After graduating from college and then law school, Dan returned to the area in large part to give back to his community. He founded the Legal Clinic of Yolo County, a free legal services provider for low income families, and chaired the Davis Social Services Commission. He is, of course, currently on the city council, which he has described as the “ultimate way” to give back to the community.

4th: Dan has a wealth of experience. Dan holds a B.A. in economics with honors and Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford University and a law degree from U.C. Berkeley (Boalt Hall). After college he worked at the Federal Reserve and then the Public Policy Institute of California as a research assistant. After law school he worked with Harriet Steiner in the public law division of McDonough, Holland & Allen. He is currently a Deputy County Counsel for Solano County, handling public finance, public contracting, and water issues. Through his education and work, Dan has gained a wealth of knowledge and experience, particularly in water, economics and the laws governing local and state government.

5th: Yes, Dan actually has some spare time. In his spare time, Dan enjoys cycling, running, camping, hiking, watching the Oakland A’s, and watching ducks at the UC Davis Arboretum with his daughters." -danwolk.org

"Davis is my home town; I grew up here, and I want my daughters to enjoy growing up here as much as I did. If I am elected to continue my service on the City Council, I will do everything I can to make a stronger, better Davis for the next generation.

While I have accomplished much during my short tenure, we still face critical issues and decisions today that will define what kind of Davis we will leave to the future. If elected, I will:

Address Long-term Structural Issues in the Budget. We face massive, unfunded liabilities and structural, long-term budgetary challenges. I will work aggressively to ensure our City’s long-term fiscal sustainability in addressing the City’s future obligations, such as pensions and retiree health care. I will also seek ways to restore sustainable revenues by encouraging new and innovative forms of economic development. When cuts are necessary, I will prioritize our future by preserving city funding for children’s programs wherever possible. This is a new era of innovation, compromise, and change. We must be ready for new ideas and shared burdens to make our City sustainable.
Safeguard our Water and Infrastructure. I will explore ways of funding new and existing city infrastructure improvements, and I will work to preserve and maintain our roads, bike lanes, and city green belts. Securing a sustainable water supply is an immediate issue for our city today, but tomorrow it will be a crucial issue for all of California’s communities. I will pursue surface water for our city in a way that is smart, sustainable, and affordable.

Prioritize Economic Development and the Downtown. Davis boasts a world-class university, an excellent K-12 school system, and is centrally located in one of the most fertile agricultural regions in the world. I see in our city the ingredients for a new Silicon Valley of Sustainability, an innovation hub for green technologies. I will make sure that the city stands behind, and not in front of economic development by cutting red tape, streamlining approval processes, furthering technology transfers from UC Davis and keeping those businesses in our community, and appointing a staff-level champion for business development. Moreover, I will work to make our downtown even better, by creating an Arts and Entertainment District, encouraging new entrepreneurial activity, making streetscape and building improvements, and bettering pedestrian, bicycle, and automobile circulation and parking.

Focus on Environmental Sustainability. I will develop smart, sustainable practices today to ensure a healthy, vibrant Davis tomorrow. I will explore innovative ways of expanding our community’s energy independence and a more efficient use of energy, such as employing a Community Choice Aggregation model, reducing our peak load through weatherization and other upgrades, expanding residential solar power, and pursuing our own public energy utility. I will manage our waste sustainably by partnering with DWR and others to pursue a community-wide waste reduction and composting program. I will follow a policy of smart, limited growth that helps us achieve economic and environmental independence, self-sufficiency and sustainability.

Pursue Affordable Housing for Seniors and Young Families, and Combat Homelessness. The demographic data are clear: our city is aging, and there are fewer young households. While there is no shortage of parents who want to move to Davis because of our safe and outstanding parks and schools, our existing housing stock is unaffordable and often not well suited to new families. No affordable housing for families means less funding for our schools and even school closures. At the same time, many aging householders who wish to retire and remain in Davis want smaller, more accessible housing. If elected, I will spearhead these issues and make attracting and serving young families and developing a “senior housing strategy” a top priority. I will also work to end homelessness in our community by 2020.
Our community faces budget challenges and large unfunded liabilities in infrastructure, pensions, and health care; critical questions about environmental sustainability, such as where we will reliably source our water; and a changing economic environment, where we must find a way to develop a sustainable local economy while providing adequate and affordable housing for young families and seniors.

Only a short while ago, I asked to serve on the Council to make sure that we address these issues now instead of leaving them to our children. While I’ve done a lot in my short tenure to address these issues, there is much left to do. I hope to continue serving, and make a better Davis for all of us." -danwolk.org

Dan Wolk was endorsed by the The Davis Enterprise for the 2012 City Council Election.

Comments:

Note: You must be logged in to add comments

2011-03-01 20:43:44   He was officially sworn in tonight and it was actually a nice, albeit short, ceremony. Congratulations to newly sworn Councilman Wolk. —Wes-P