Davisville
Former House of Representatives Speaker Tip O’Neill said “All politics is local”. He was talking national politics, but it gets really personal when you start debating about the burg where you live.
So far, some people who have liked my column have sent me emails. Some of the ones who don’t have written letters to the editor. Last week a letter writer wrote a critical letter to which I wish to clarify a few points:
My writing style is informal, in an effort to be analytical in an informative way. So I usually try to not be personal but to project a view from the entire city. I consider my writing to be conversational, a public dialogue between my readers and me.
A defender of sprawl? I have lived the last 11 years in a 70-year-old 300 square foot cabin in high density housing in the oldest part of downtown Davis. The debate in Davis now is between the anti-growth people like the letter writer who want to pretend that we are still a small town and people who think we live in a city and think you shouldn’t HAVE to drive to Sacramento for a job or to go shopping. The first group’s code label is to accuse the second group of being growth advocates. We have a lot of houses, and no economy to support us, which was the main point of that column. I nostalgically recall the Davis of 20,000 people when I arrived in 1966, long before the letter writer arrived and added to our growth. Does that mean we should go back to before the writer arrived? I don’t think we can. I think we need to work with the population we have. Our state-obligated growth rate of 1.8 percent is still too much for most of us. Very few citizens, certainly not I, advocate adding more land for residential development.
Mean-spirited? I prefer to think of it as critical. I have always hated the 1987 General Plan, more than anyone else in the city, because it is based on myths about our local economy that have not been true since the 1970s. My prognostications about the 1987 plan have unfortunately been born out. Fee structures have led to only residential growth. Our city is out of balance because we have a sombrero – a tiny head of a downtown economy and a giant brim of residents which can only be supported with outside jobs. All the cars leaving Davis every morning with people who must spend prime community time on the freeways commuting is a tremendous resource loss to our city. The dark sky ordinance may have some merit, but where is the council’s vision for improving our economic viability ? We have no leadership coming from the council majority, only obstruction.
Shopping Centers? The writer claims that the past council made a mistake by allowing a 40,000 square foot store. But the industry changes every 10 years and most competitive stores are at least that large. Is this a preview of the opposition for the proposed Nugget for north Davis?
Neighborhood shopping? Most people in Davis do not have neighborhood shopping and must drive their cars to their preferred store. And yet the general plan and the council majority depict a population that largely walks or rides their bike to grocery shop or do errands. This does not reflect the reality of most people’s lives.
Police Staffing? According to information from the League of California Cities, Davis’ 1.0 officers per thousand population compares unfavorably with a median of all California cities of 1.4, and even the 50,000 to 100,000 average of 1.25. To bring us up to those averages would require at least ten more sworn officer positions.
New Police Station? I have been advocating this facility for years. This council listened to the chief’s report, and then approved it. But where is the money going to come from? Our council must grapple with the funding shortfalls for all of our major public projects. Compromises on new park amenities have been discussed at length. Where does the police station fit into the bigger picture ?
These last two are quite contradictory because the letter writer was the leader of the opposition to Measures H and I a year ago, the defeat of which has put both the city and the school district in the financial pickle that makes a new police station and increased police staffing such a financial challenge.
Don’t check my facts, and substitute opinions ? I try to be accurate, but some times I am wrong. A column on the op-ed page is intended to be opinions. (That is what the “op” part stands for.) The reader has to be the judge. That was why I called my newsletter the Test of Time. One objective analyst called me 80% right. I strive to be higher. I try to cram information into my writing so that when the reader gets done you have been provoked into thinking in new ways about things that matter, especially to Davisites. This is a forum and I am in the middle of a dialogue with you the reader. The Davis Enterprise editor assures me that she will print your letters in response, pro and con. The debate continues.
Jon Li earned a degree in economics and political science from the university down the street in 1971. During the 1970s, he lived and worked in Placerville, Santa Rosa, Marysville, Woodland, Sacramento and the Bay Area. Since 1982, he has lived in Davis and calls it home. Jon can be reached at jli@yolo.com.
