Sierra Club Candidates’ Forum: Part Two

Part two in a series of three.

As you are reading, think about how it felt sitting there with a laptop and two recording devices trying to take down what the candidates were saying, praying that you do not drop anything, and hoping that some weird noise does not emanate from one of the machines.  Now imagine all of those things happening because the did to me that night.

However, people were kind, even if they wondered, “Why doesn’t that person put all those tools on the table in front of him and free his hands?”  The only answer I have is….ummm I didn’t want to interrupt the proceedings.  Of course by trying to do that, I probably interrupted the proceedings even more.

After the jump, learn all about how the candidates feel about Neighborhood Shopping Centers and  the water challenges that face Davis in the coming years.

Question #3 dealt with how the candidates felt about Neighborhood Shopping Centers and their plans to maintain them as they are called for in the city’s General Plan.

Councilman Souza said that the City Council, city staff, and the Business & Economic Development Commission should continue to work towards fulfilling the intent of the General Plan’s neighborhood grocery store policy. He stated there should be a study or market analysis that would determine exactly what type stores and what kinds of goods they sell would be appropriate in each neighborhood location. He also mentioned that it has come to his attention that the owners of Westlake Shopping Center filled their grocery store loading dock with dirt and that they may have violated the City’s Nuisance and Abatement Code by neglecting the parking lot and lighting.

Mr. Souza appeared to be saying the owners may have been deliberately making the site look unpleasant for potential buyers. “I have expressed to staff in the clearest terms that if violations of our municipal code have occurred, the offenders should be fined the maximum amount until they are in compliance. This process should be standard operating procedure in all neighborhood grocery stores.”

Mayor Greenwald stated this is a particularly thorny problem with the approval of two large stores that do not adhere to the code. One at Anderson and one on 2nd Street near Covell Blvd.  She refused to support the rezoning that allowed those stores to be built. She noted that the profit margin for grocery stores is small and they have to do a lot of volume to succeed. When there was approval of the larger stores, she felt it was clear it was going to hurt the smaller markets. The City needs to encourage rents to be cheaper. She has been working with TESCO to see if they would be able to come to Davis. The city has been looking at bringing a Trader Joes and needs to look at the possibility of low-income stores in neighborhood centers. She did say that the City has limited options. If they (the city) refuse to rezone, they can only hope that the landlord lowers the rent, recruits actively and succeed in finding a grocer. “I am interested in listening to ideas that the West Davis neighborhood might have concerning bringing shopping to the area.” She also mentioned the importance of neighborhood stores because they reduce the number of automobile trips taken by shopping residents.

Sydney Vergis said that while she has been on the Business and Economic Development Commission, this has been its “prime area of interest.” Neighborhood grocery stores are one of her top priorities. “We need to see what the City can do to see grocery stores and retail are viable options in local financial districts. It is her belief that neighborhood shopping centers “not only offer us a sense of community and diversity, but can also help us lead greener lifestyles. As energy prices rise due to peak oil, proximity to basic services such as grocery and retail stores will become more and more valuable as a way to reduce our vehicle trips, carbon footprints and consumption of non-renewable energy sources.” She pointed out that neighborhood shopping centers are a vital component to supporting a more environmentally conscious future and the General Plan policy fits with an emphasis on alternative transportation.

Councilman Saylor started with the comment that government cannot dictate the success of private business. He attended a number of meetings at the Stonegate Clubhouse, met with advocates of keeping a store option at Westlake Shopping Center and there just did not appear to be a way to keep a grocery store open there. “Westlake is the site of three failed attempts to operate a small supermarket.” He suggested that it can be argued that the site does not support a small supermarket. Saylor is looking at a need for studies on midsized store, but it must be done on a good faith basis with conditional use permits. The Planning Commission does have discretion in these areas. He wants to see this explored as he agrees with those that a store larger than a convenience store and smaller than the failed stores should be given consideration at the site.

Rob Roy mentioned that he was upset that State Market closed at University Mall. “The only place students can buy grocery items is Rite Aid and who knows, that may give you scurvy.” He also mentioned that it seems ironic that the only place in West Davis you can find fruit now is in Village Homes and residential places. He used this as an example that no one part of Davis should suffer at the expense of another part of town.

Roy is frustrated that West Davis lost its grocery store and then was in danger of losing its Junior High School. “Allowing neighborhoods to go without grocery stores is a bad sign for the community orientated and bike friendliness of Davis. While the folks near the Davis Shopping Center are relatively close to the Nugget or Co-Op, the folks in West Davis are left high and dry.”

Wow, this is the first time I have heard someone decry the problems of West Davis and extol East Davis, often thought of (I am a resident) as the ummmmm-lower income side of the railroad tracks! He closed with mentioning that a rising tide lifts all boats and if there is blight in a shopping center, then the other businesses in that shopping center will not be successful.

Cecelia Escamilla Greenwald pointed out that she is the only candidate that is a neighbor of the Westlake Shopping Center and how much she misses the store there. She pointed out that many felt that the recent grocery stores in the Center (Rays and Food Fair) were poorly run and priced themselves out of competition. She too, mentioned that the owner of the facility or shopping center was allowed to degrade the property…and then use that degradation as an excuse to change the square footage and put in a convenience store rather than a grocery store.  She also mentioned the environmental and economic impact of having to drive to a grocery store rather than being able to walk or ride a bike to the store. “It takes a half-hour to do a simple trip to the store that could have been done in ten minutes before with a brief walk, even when there are only a handful of items to purchase. As a councilmember, I would strongly support not only maintaining our neighborhood stores, but encouraging more neighborhood stores as a means by which people can do at least some of their shopping for key items.” Cecelia said she believes that a neighborhood grocery store can succeed in West Davis if they are well run and fill a niche. She also said that can also occur in East Davis and Central Davis.

Question #4 – How will you address the water challenges in Davis, specifically what do you think of building a wastewater facility and developing a water supply project at the same time?  There seems to be clear differences by sets of candidates on this issue. Three in support of pursuing both projects at the same time and three have reservations about doing so.

Sue Greenwald was exasperated because the question did not lend itself to a two-minute answer and there was no way to even try to answer in that amount of time. She took the opportunity of this question to mention that the she feels the unmet needs are actually a budget deficit.  The fiscal effects of doing the two projects simultaneously are staggering, it would be over $360 million, doubling, possibly even tripling our current sewer and water bills, “Paying water/sewer fees this high will severely hurt the ability of our schools to pass the taxes they need, and the City’s ability to pass taxes needed to maintain a high level of city services.” She commented that she understood the desire of the Public Works Department to want to undertake these two projects at the same time, even though the price is so high. She knows it is their job is to provide us with the best possible sewer and water service. But the job as the City Council, especially in a time of fiscal crisis is to make the hard decisions and prioritize. Her view is that the two projects should not be done at the same time. She mentioned she has talked with University experts in surface water, ground water, water conservation reuse and water economics as well as a top government official in water rights and wastewater permitting. She asked if it would be possible to phase in a wastewater treatment facility and a water supply project, postponing the surface water project until the wastewater project is paid off. “The reaction that I got was that this option would certainly be worth exploring, especially if the ratepayer is really looking at project costs of over $360 million.”

Sydney Vergis stated that wastewater treatments throughout the nation need an upgrade. The City needs to determine if groundwater, hard water and wastewater are related. If they are, then yes, we need to look at the option of pulling water out of the Sacramento River and doing both projects simultaneously. The City needs to look at what the trade-offs between the significant costs versus the risks relating to groundwater capacity, future costs of construction and time.

Cecelia Escamilla-Greenwald said it was an unenviable task to do both the water supply project and the wastewater treatment facility at the same time.  She feels there are also problems with the Sacramento River solution, even as there are current concerns about the water supply issue. With the Sacramento River solution she wants to know if water would be available during dry months or dry years. Her answer is to look at the feasibility of deep well aquifers as an interim solution to prevent the simultaneous expenditures hitting taxpayers. She also was worried that developing the water supply project would, under ideal conditions, bring twice as much water to Davis as we have now, leading her to wonder if the goal of doing the water supply project now is primarily to accommodate future growth needs.

Don Saylor began with the statement that this is the most important issue facing Davis right now. Boiling it down to water supply and quality of water as issues that have reached a critical point in our history. It has been determined that we are not meeting federal and state standards in terms of our water quality. State and federal standards have become more and more stringent based on scientifically valid assessments of the contaminants. We need to meet those standards on a timely basis or risk severe financial penalties. It is important to ensure a water supply that reliable and meets state and federal standards. There must be assurance that the water Davis discharges meets the minimum standards set by the state and federal agencies and does not harm wildlife, habitat or downstream human users. Saylor did mention water conservation as an important part of the efforts and plans under consideration. Davis is in a partnership with Woodland and UC Davis about the Sacramento River Water supply and takes a terrible risk if it waits on the project, because if you wait you go to the end of line in terms of the ability to use the water and there is no guarantee that the City will even be able to get in line. Finally, in response to concern about the rates, Saylor stated that Davis rate-payers currently enjoy some of the lowest rates in the region and will not be out of the range even after these two projects are implemented.

Rob Roy made no bones about the two issues of wastewater and water supply and the two projects being related. He wants to educate Davisites about how to have drought tolerant landscaping because of the excessive amount of water that is used in lawn maintenance. He mentioned the high price of these two projects and suggested water conservation as a tool instead. Some of the water conservation uses were ones that you might hear from a college student. “The old: if it’s yellow, its mellow policy.” He pointed out the danger of becoming like Australia where they are facing severe drought after “guzzling” up their pristine water resources. He is proposing a tiered pricing scale for water use. In regards to the two projects, he is concerned about the cost and the possibility they may rise before the projects are completed. He also believes we need to understand that technology may improve water systems and if we build now, we are opening ourselves to the possibility of having spent over $300 million on an antiquated system. Curb demand is his mantra.

Stephen Souza held up a glass of water and mentioned the amount of bacteria, selenium and salinity are not up to the new state and federal standards and that if we do not meet those standards soon, we will face severe penalties. This is a true environmental question. There are directly related conjunctive uses for the two projects that mean it is absolutely essential to pursue the two projects at the same time. The standards are set forth in the current 5 year permit without excessive customer rate increases or consumption of natural resources, the water standards have been established by the California Regional Water Quality Control Board. The standards are established in order to protect birds and aquatic habitat. He also mentioned that we do not currently meet the standards when it comes to the Willow Slough and the Yolo Bypass. In order to meet those standards, the City needs to upgrade to a tertiary treatment method and needs to do it soon, according to Souza. He knows the cost is a challenge, but the California Water Quality Regional Board does not take that into consideration. Souza pointed out the main source of our water is intermediate or midsized wells that are old and need to be replaced with deep water aquifer wells; however it should not stop us from trying to acquire surface water rights at the same time.