Sports Aggies slip against Fullerton
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FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020
Salinas aims to get young adults out to the polls BY ANNE TERNUS-BELLAMY Enterprise staff writer Just 20 percent of young adults in Yolo County who are eligible to vote are actually voting, something the county’s head of elections calls “shocking.” “That right there is a crisis in our democracy,” according to Jesse Salinas, the county’s assessor/clerk-recorder/ SALINAS registrar of voters. Assessor/ “It is so important clerk-recorder/ that we turn that registrar around.” Speaking Wednesday evening at a forum hosted by the Davis chapter of the League of Women Voters, Salinas said evidence shows that if people start voting when they’re young, “they will become lifelong voters. “So we’ve got to catch them when they’re young.” To that end, the county elections office will be trying to catch some of those young people — specifically, UC Davis students — during the March 3 presidential primary. A satellite elections office will be set up in the Memorial Union on campus on Election Day where students will be able to register and vote, said Salinas. Thanks to recent legislation, same day voter registration is now the law of the land, enabling California residents to register in person and cast a conditional ballot on Election Day. During the post-election canvassing conducted by county elections offices throughout the state, those registrations are then checked to ensure the
SEE VOTING, PAGE A7
Amber Tanase greets her dog, Bandit, at the Sacramento Winter Triage Center in Sacramento. MAX WHITTAKER/ CALMATTERS PHOTO
Options on homelessness What’s the first move? BY MATT LEVIN CalMatters
G
ov. Gavin Newsom has taken grief for failing to fulfill what seems like a pretty achievable campaign promise: appointing a homelessness “czar” to help the 150,000 Californians living in shelters and on the streets. Newsom’s quest, which at various points had the mayor of Sacramento, the state secretary of health and human services and a Washington-based consultant co-wearing the “czar” crown, culminated earlier this month in a Truman-esque “buck stops here” declaration. “You want to know who’s the homeless czar?” Newsom said, index finger pounding the podium. “I’m the homeless czar in the state of California.” Well, good czars are hard to find. But that’s partly because homelessness is a complex and difficult problem, with options that range, at best, from imperfect to limited. Some choices
might bring people in from the streets over the long term, but are expensive and time-consuming. Others might prevent people from becoming homeless in the first place, but are difficult to efficiently target. Poll after poll suggests Californians want something done about homelessness, ASAP. So, we’re temporarily making you czar. Here’s a menu of talkedabout “solutions” rated with expert input according to speed, cost, and political feasibility. What would be your battle plan?
Option 1: More permanent housing Subsidized apartments that charge people experiencing homelessness minimal rents with no limits on how long they can stay. Built by nonprofit developers and paid for with public dollars, they “support” residents with in-house or visiting case managers who bring
tenants to health appointments, show them how to use appliances and connect them with job and safety net programs. Permanent supportive housing primarily helps the chronically homeless, who often have severe disabilities such as serious mental illness, drug addiction and physical ailments. Cost: Nonpartisan research consistently says permanent supportive housing is very effective at keeping the chronically homeless housed, which saves on health and law enforcement costs. But the upfront cost of building it is a lot, especially where it’s needed most — $500,000 per unit in Los Angeles, for example. Newsom recently pledged $750 million in new emergency homelessness funding for the entire state. If you used all of that to build new permanent supportive housing in L.A., you’d get 1,500 units. Los Angeles County alone had nearly 16,000 chronically homeless people in 2019.
Speed: It takes one to three years in California to build this kind of housing. You can do some things to speed up the process, such as get rid of environmental reviews for new projects. But unless you’re buying a motel and converting it (more on this later), this is still going to take some time. Political support: Many homelessness advocates tout permanent supportive housing as the solution most worthy of more dollars, and the governor and big city mayors champion it frequently. Neighbors may not love the idea of new low-income housing on their block, but they hate it less than shelters. But ask Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti how the cost and time of building new supportive housing plays politically. Once a rising star among Democrats with national ambitions, Garcetti has seen his popularity falter as a $1.2 billion voterapproved bond has generated
UC, service workers reach tentative deal Transit commission seeks removal of member BY CALEB HAMPTON
BY ANNE TERNUS-BELLAMY
Enterprise staff writer
Enterprise staff writer
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 3299 union announced Wednesday that it reached a tentative contract agreement with the University of California. The union represents about 10,000 UC-employed service workers, including custodians, food service employees, truck drivers and animal technician assistants. “UC is pleased that after working with AFSCME leadership to address joint concerns and resolve our outstanding differences we have reached a multi-year agreement for our valued employees,” the UC Office of the President said in a statement
A city commission is requesting that the City Council on Tuesday dismiss one of its members for, among other things, “consistently prolonging meetings, derailing discussions, failing to yield the floor and not accepting the decisions of the commission.” The Bicycle, Transportation and Street Safety Commission approved a letter requesting the dismissal of Commissioner Todd Edelman by a 4-2-1 vote at its January meeting and the council will consider the request at its Tuesday meeting. Back in October, three commission members — Chair Eric Gudz, Vice Chair Frances Andrew and Commissioner Mike Mitchell — first wrote to the council calling for Edelman’s removal. “We are very sorry that we feel compelled to take this action, but our patience has run out,” their letter said.
SEE WORKERS, PAGE A2
VOL. 123 NO. 11
INDEX
Arts . . . . . . . . . .B1 Comics . . . . . . .B8 Sports . . . . . . .B1 Calendar . . . . . A3 Forum . . . . . . . . A8 Pets . . . . . . . . . A7 Classifieds . . . . A9 Movies . . . . . . .B2 Weather . . . . . . A2
WEATHER Tod Early fog, Today: th then rain. High 61 61. Low 50.
“We believe that Todd Edelman has been given more than enough time to become a productive member of the Bicycle, Transportation, and Street Safety Commission. Instead, Mr. Edelman continues to disrupt the effectiveness of commission meetings. He shows a lack of respect for the chair, commissioners, and all involved by consistently prolonging meetings, derailing discussions, failing to yield the floor, and not accepting the decisions of the commission. “We are calling on you to remove Todd Edelman from the BTSSC immediately,” the letter said. “If he remains on the commission, we feel that we have no recourse but to resign from the BTSSC.” At a subsequent meeting in November, Edelman read a prepared statement in response. “I regret that my behavior has elicited the negative reaction shown in the letter,” Edelman wrote. “I sincerely apologize for the times I was clearly out of order and
SEE OPTIONS, PAGE A6
disrespectful to the chair and other commissioners.” “I do not apologize for my extreme passion in making Davis a better place for everyone moving inside and to and from Davis. I believe that my style was clear for the many months I attended BTSSC meetings before I was on it, often the only member of the public present. I admit that I personally don’t generally mind if people get angry at official meetings in the city, unless of course it’s a personal or worse type of attack. I don’t see my goal as to calmly opine on infrastructure which can kill people or programs that can exclude them, and go against city policy and goals.” Additionally, Edelman said, “I agree that often times my actions would contribute to meetings going over the scheduled ending time, but it’s very clear — and I believe most would agree — that we have simply too
SEE COMMISSION, PAGE A7
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