City Council ’08 Candidates, cont.

Three Down, Three to Go

The voters of The People’s Republic of Davis will elect 3 members to our 5 person City Council on 03 June 2008.

On 04 March 2008, we introduced you to the first candidate to file in the Davis City Council ’08 race, Sydney Vergis.  A total of six candidates filed for the election with the County Clerk: Sydney Vergis, Stephen Souza, Don Saylor, Rob Roy, Sue Greenwald, and Cecilia Escamilla-Greenwald (no relation). (Cecilia & Rob do not yet have campaign websites.)

In this post we’ll introduce you to two more candidates: Don Saylor and Cecilia Escamilla-Greenwald.  In the near future, we’ll interview all of the candidates.  If you have questions that you’d like to pose to the candidates in the forthcoming interviews, please send your questions (for one, some, or all candidates) to tips@davisvoice.com.

After the jump, read more about why two of our comrades think they’re qualified to make decisions for us.

Don Saylor is seeking his second term to the Davis City Council.  Saylor was first elected to  the Council in March 2004, after serving as a member of the Davis School Board for two terms from 1995 through 2003.

He is a retired state  administrator with a public service career spanning over 30 years, including service as a local planner in Wyoming and Massachusetts, a financial analyst for the non-partisan California Legislative Analyst and several  management positions in California state government.

If you read the Davis Enterprise, Don’s name should ring a bell as he holds “office hours” in locations all over town on a weekly basis.  These open and well publicized sessions offer the opportunity for any Davisite to sit down with Don and raise grievances, ask pointed policy questions or simply chew the fat.

Even Don’s opponents are willing to admit that he is a dedicated public servant who always does his homework, shows up for just about every public event in Davis, and has the pulse of our city under constant consideration.

One of Don’s challengers in this election, Cecilia Escamilla-Greenwald, is also known to frequent public policy and political events around town.

Cecilia is best known in town for serving as chairperson of the City of Davis Human Relations Commission for four and a half years from January 2002 to June 2006 (The Davis Enterprise article incorrectly states that she served for six years.)

The final year of her tenure involved a debacle over the Commission’s power and purview after several instances of alleged police misconduct gained attention within the community.  The HRC fought for a police review commission with subpoena powers that would be independent of the Davis Police Department.  Ultimately, the HRC was disbanded and Escamilla-Greenwald choose not to reapply.

As a result of this very public brouhaha, a new police ombudsmen position and a three member oversight board were created.

Cecilia is a UCD alumna and founding member / past president of the Davis College Democrats.  She is currently a labor relations representative for Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1000.

In the future, look for more substantive reporting on where all of the candidates stand on the issues that get you all riled up.

For a full editorial disclosure on the Yolo & Davis Election 2008 candidates, click here.