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In the News
Council candidates talk environment at forum
By Claire St. John
Davis Enterprise staff writer
April 21, 2006
At a forum Thursday night, the five candidates for City Council competed to prove just how environmentally minded they are.
Hosted by the Yolano Group of the Sierra Club, the forum featured two questions dealt with issues outside of the City Council's jurisdiction, but were useful in plucking out candidates' varying shades of green.
The candidates - Mayor Ruth Asmundson, environmental lawyer Mike Levy, farmer and bookseller Stan Forbes, student Rob Roy and university lecturer Lamar Heystek - were given two minutes each to answer questions about the county's attempts to purchase Conaway Ranch through eminent domain, air quality, open space and UC Davis' West Village project.
As evidence of his concern for the environment, Forbes referred in almost every response to his 1996-2000 council term that resulted in a new General Plan and Measure J, among other things. Heystek twice mentioned his Dutch - and therefore environmental - heritage. Roy emphasized he didn't own a car. Levy pointed to his occupation. Asmundson talked about the council's extended bike path system.
The Yolano Group submitted its questions to candidates before the forum, allowing them to write measured, well-thought-out responses. But for the second hour of the event, candidates were left to the mercy of the audience, who had some questions of their own.
The first, from Samantha McCarthy, harkened back to last summer when Davis was in a panic over West Nile virus and plans by the Sacramento-Yolo Mosquito and Vector Control District to spray the bugs that carried it. Concerns are expected to be high again this year, compounded by an extended rainy season.
All five candidates recognized Davis' interest in nontoxic methods of controlling mosquitoes, and some blamed the council for not listening to residents last year when a meeting to inform the public about spraying got out of hand, causing a panel of experts to leave among shouts and recriminations.
“The purpose of those meetings were to educate the people about what they were going to do, not debate the issue,” Levy countered. “It is above the City Council's jurisdiction to deal with. What can we do here? We can educate ourselves.”
Asmundson agreed.
“If we have a better solution, I think we need to do that, but I think we need to have a good, healthy dialogue about it, without fighting,” she said.
Forbes said the council should be proactive in eliminating mosquitoes, to prove to the district that spraying could be unnecessary, and that the council needs to make the city's position clear.
Roy agreed.
“I would simply advocate for Davis,” he said. “Davis needs to have a say in the environment.”
Heystek criticized the council for limiting public input, adding later that he would encourage longer meetings if it meant he, as a council member, could get more information.
“I invite you, please, make our meetings longer,” he said.
Public input came up again when candidates answered questions about the current council. While Heystek, Forbes and Roy pointed to the failure of Covell Village at the polls as evidence that the council is headed in the wrong direction, they also strongly criticized the council's policy of limiting speakers to two minutes.
“ASUCD (Associated Students of UC Davis) limits how long senators speak,” Roy said. “We listen to people for more than two minutes and cut our own time, rather than rambling on and on.”
Asmundson, who is largely responsible for keeping council meetings shorter than in the past, said the public also can reach council members through e-mail.
“Council meetings are meetings in the public for the council to do its business,” she said, adding that she hears from people who are tired of missing sleep to watch council meetings.
Levy promised to keep council meetings as short as possible and find other methods of encouraging public discussion.
“I promise I'm not going to force you time and again to stay up until 3 in the morning and lose a night of sleep just to participate,” he said.
Finally, candidates were asked how they incorporate environmentalism into their daily lives, and how they would like to see more green in the General Plan update, due in 2010.
In a glimpse into their home lives, each described recycling efforts, bike riding, composting and more.
Roy upped the ante by claiming himself the only candidate who doesn't own a car, and whose outfit was entirely second-hand, down to the socks and shoes.
Asmundson revealed herself to be a strict mother with tales of Navy showers and rigid thermostat rules.
After modestly mentioning recycling and conservative energy use, Levy casually mentioned his job as an environmental lawyer.
“I work to plan California's resources every day,” he said.
Heystek said he takes used batteries to the dump and composts in his apartment, and Forbes called himself a child of the 1960s, with environmentalism so ingrained, he couldn't list all of the environmental measures he took.
As for the General Plan, candidates called for Davis to return to the environmentally forward-thinking city it claims to be.
“I'd like to see us be true again to our environmental standards,” Levy said.
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