Davis Citizens for Representation

City Council to hear Charter Committee Final Report this Tuesday, Feb. 26

2008-02-24T08:45:00.000-08:00

The City Charter Subcommittee will present their final report to at the City Council Meeting this Tuesday. The Agenda is available here and you can view the final report here.

The Community Chambers are located in City Hall at 23 Russell Blvd (5th and B). The meeting starts at 6:30 and public comment could start as early as 6:45.

AB1294 arrives on Govenor's desk!

2007-09-22T16:57:00.000-07:00

AB1294, which could be a critical step toward adoption of choice voting in Davis, has passed both houses of the legislature and arrived on Governor Schwarzenegger's desk! The bill has progressed this far because of a groundswell of grassroots support from people like you. Now its time to take action one more time by contacting governor Schwarzenegger.

This bill would allow all California cities and counties to use choice voting regardless of their charter status. Current state law only allows charter cities to choose their election system--general law cities, like Davis, don't have a choice.

Please find a sample letter to Governor Schwarzenegger here.

Don't Wait. Contact Governor Schwarzenegger now!

55% Davis voters say yes!

2006-11-08T23:33:00.000-08:00

Thanks to everyone, we did it! With 100% of precincts reporting, Measure L passes by 55%. Check the media archive for news coverage of the win!

Three AM: 52.1% with 15 for 17 precincts yes so far!

2006-11-08T02:50:00.000-08:00

It's 3 AM and I've been refreshing the election results for the past five hours. Sitting here at J Street Co-Op with my fingers on "ctrl" and "r", I'm hoping my boss doesn't notice how tired I am at work tomorrow. It's easy to be excited and hopeful as the returns come in, though!

Sacramento News & Review Endorses Measure L!

2006-11-03T11:46:00.000-08:00

The Sacramento News and Review endorsed Measure L this week! This makes three area papers endorsing Measure L: the Sacramento News & Review, the Sacramento Bee, and the California Aggie.

Ken Wagstaff, Keltie Jones Endorse Measure L!

2006-11-01T12:04:00.001-08:00

We have two new distinguished endorsers of Measure L: Former Mayor Ken Wagstaff and current President of the Davis School Board Keltie Jones! Both are just in time for our ad in the Davis Enterprise ad which will appear this Sunday on page A-3.

Measure L Forum Broadcasts

2006-11-01T10:40:00.000-08:00

Three programs on Measure L and choice voting are available for watching on DCTV (cable channel 15) or for listening to on KDRT (101.5 FM).

The League of Women Voters produced a two hour Pro and Con Forum/Debate on Measure L. The New America Foundation sponsored a 90 minute educational forum. There is also an interview between Frank Maurer and Chris Jerdonek about choice voting produced last year.

Here is the upcoming schedule to see or listen to these programs:

Wed. Nov 1, 5 p.m. League Forum on DCTV
Thurs. Nov 2, 7 p.m. Choice voting interview on DCTV
Thurs. Nov 2, 8 p.m. League Forum on DCTV
Fri., Nov 3, 7:30 p.m. NAF Forum on DCTV
Sat., Nov 4, 1 p.m. League Forum on KDRT (RADIO)
Sat., Nov 4, 4:30 p.m. NAF Forum on DCTV
Sat. Nov 4, 8 p.m. League Forum on DCTV
Sun., Nov 5, 2 p.m. Choice voting interview on KDRT (RADIO)
Sun., Nov 5, 10 p.m. NAF Forum on DCTV
Mon., Nov 6, 7 a.m. League Forum on KDRT (RADIO)
Mon., Nov 6, 11 p.m. League Forum on DCTV

Forum on Measure L and Choice Voting Tomorrow Night

2006-10-26T19:44:00.000-07:00

The New America Foundation is sponsoring a free educational forum on Measure L and choice voting tomorrow night in the Davis Community Chambers from 7-9PM. The panelists will include former Davis Mayor and Council member (1980-1992) Jerry Adler, San Francisco State Political Science Professor Emeritus Rich DeLeon, local radio show host and DCTV producer Lois Richter, and City Council member Stephen Souza. Lynne Serpe, Deputy Director of the New America Foundation's Political Reform Program, will moderate.

The Community Chambers are located in City Hall at 23 Russell Blvd. There will be an opportunity for the audience to pose questions to the panelists.

The forum will be aired the following week on DCTV cable channel 15, with the first showing on Sunday, October 29 at 10 PM.

Davis mentioned by The Nation, Krist Novoselic

2006-10-26T18:06:00.000-07:00

The Davis Choice Voting campaign is mentioned by former Nirvana-bassist Krist Novoselic in this article in The Nation that appeared this week. Krist is the author of Of Grunge and Government: Let's Fix this Broken Democracy! and a board member of FairVote / The Center for Voting and Democracy.

Sacramento Bee endorses Measure L, choice voting!

2006-10-15T09:20:00.000-07:00

The Sacramento Bee endorsed Measure L and Davis choice voting yesterday!

Davis League of Women Voters Forum Tonight!

2006-09-28T16:03:00.000-07:00

The Davis League of Women Voters will hold a forum on Measure L in the Davis City Council Chambers tonight on Thursday, September 28.

The forum starts at 7PM and will last two hours. Yolo County Registrar Freddie Oakley will begin with an introductory presentation, followed by a 30-minute debate. Steven Hill will represent the pro side, and former Yolo County Registrar Tony Bernhard the con. Jean Canary of the Davis League of Women Voters will moderate. An hour-long question-and-answer period will follow, giving you the opportunity to ask questions.

The Davis City Council Chambers are located in Davis City Hall, which is at the corner of 5th and B Streets. The forum will also be aired live on Davis Government Channel 16.

Steven Hill Bio:

Steven Hill is the Director of the Political Reform Program of the New America Foundation and author of the recently published "Ten Steps to Repair American Democracy" (PoliPoint Press, May 2006, www.10steps.net). His previous books include "Fixing Elections: The Failure of America's Winner Take All Politics" (Routledge Press, 2002), which has been called "the most important book on American democracy that has come out in many years," and co-author of "Whose Vote Counts" (Beacon Press, 2001).

His articles and commentaries have appeared in dozens of newspapers and magazines, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, Christian Science Monitor, Salon, The Nation, Ms., San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News, Roll Call, American Prospect, New York Daily News, Miami Herald, Baltimore Sun, Chicago Tribune, Houston Chronicle and many others. He has lectured widely in the United States and Europe, and has appeared on C-SPAN, Fox News, National Public Radio, and numerous radio and TV programs across the nation and in Europe.

He was campaign manager in San Francisco of the successful effort that passed instant runoff voting for local offices, and was one of the organizers of San Francisco's successful efforts to enact public financing of campaigns for local elections. Steven Hill also is the former senior analyst and cofounder of the Center for Voting and Democracy/FairVote.

Measure L Impartial Analysis

2006-08-15T13:57:00.000-07:00

Here is the City Attorney's impartial analysis of Measure L, which was submitted to the City Clerk last week.

Also, no one submitted a "con" against Measure L!

Measure L Pro Argument is In!

2006-08-12T12:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Davis Choice Voting Yes on Measure L submitted its "pro" argument in favor of Measure L for the voter information pamphlet.

Thanks to Jerry Adler, Mike Harrington, Darnell Holloway, Joan Poulos, and Steve Souza for signing on and helping make this a strong and effective statement in support!

Choice Voting on November '06 Ballot!

2006-07-15T02:41:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday the Davis City Council voted 3-2 to put choice voting on the November 7, 2006 ballot as an advisory question!

"Should the City of Davis consider adopting choice voting, also known as instant runoff or preference voting, as the system to elect City Council members?
__X__ YES _____ NO"

Stephen Souza, Ted Puntillo, and Don Saylor all voted yes. Even Ruth Asmundson, who disagreed with the timing of the question, and Sue Greenwald, who disagreed with the phrasing of the question, both think positively of the idea of choice voting.

The event has already sparked several articles, including three in the Sacramento Bee in the span of three days.

Please let us know if you would like to publicly endorse the November advisory question to consider choice voting. Thanks!

City Council Meeting- Tuesday 6:30 PM

2006-07-10T19:18:00.000-07:00

Very Good News!

Tomorrow night (Tuesday, July 11) the city council will vote on a measure to put a choice voting advisory vote on the November ballot. Please join us at 6:30, tomorrow night at city hall (5th and B) to urge the council to make the right choice and witness a historic milestone.

City staff prepared a very informative packet for this meeting.

City Council Candidate Questionnaire

2006-05-24T12:21:00.000-07:00

Today Davis Citizens for Representation issued a choice voting questionnaire to the candidates for Davis City Council.

Here is the questionnaire:

Dear [Candidate Name]:

Thank you for running for Davis City Council. The citizens of Davis benefit from the vibrancy that results from giving voters many choices.

In our continuing effort to implement choice voting in the city of Davis, we would like to inform our 3,000-person membership where you and the other City Council candidates stand on the issue of choice voting. This issue could be the deciding issue in the election.

For this purpose, we are including a brief questionnaire. We ask that you respond via e-mail to this address by Monday, May 29 at 8PM.

First some background to the questions --

Last spring, after fourteen public meetings spread over 7 months, the 9-member Davis Governance Task Force issued its final report to the city of Davis.

Among its findings, the Task Force recommended 8-0-1 (unanimous except for one abstention) that Davis adopt choice voting for its elections, 9-0 that Davis not adopt district elections, and 9-0 that Davis adopt a city charter. (Note that a city charter is necessary to adopt choice voting.)

More information on choice voting can be found at our web site

With this information in mind, please rate your reaction to the following statements on a scale of 1-5: 5 (agree strongly), 4 (agree somewhat), 3 (agree and disagree in equal amounts), 2 (disagree somewhat), 1 (disagree strongly), or "have formed no opinion" (undecided). For each statement, please state the reasons for your response, limiting yourself to no more than 200 words:

Davis voters should have the opportunity to vote on a city charter and on whether the City shall adopt choice voting for its at-large elections.
The choice voting vote should be binding rather than advisory.
Both votes should take place during the November 2006 election.

If you have any questions about choice voting or this questionnaire, please do not hesitate to contact us at survey@davischoicevoting.org. Thank you for your time, and we wish you the best of luck on June 6!
Sincerely,
Davis Citizens for Representation
http://DavisChoiceVoting.org

General Campaign Meeting, Dec 3rd 2pm

2005-11-29T18:39:00.000-08:00

Come get involved with the electoral justice movement at our next General Meeting. Meeting will be held Saturday, December 3rd at 2:00pm at Cafe Roma.

Nearly 1800 written supporters onboard!!!

2005-08-16T12:40:00.000-07:00

Since we began our intensive grassroots presence in July, we've seen numerous stories, editorials, and letters to the editor about Choice Voting. Whereas in early July, few people had heard of Choice Voting, it seems that now, in mid-August, most people we run into have either heard something about it or have already signed our petition! All in all, around 1800 Davis citizens have added their name to the growing list of citizens who urge the adoption of Choice Voting! It seems all that's left is to keep doing what we're doing, and make sure the City Council follows through to place Choice Voting on the June '06 ballot!

Choice Voting Gets the Front Page - Again!

2005-08-08T15:42:00.000-07:00

The Davis Enterprise did a great front-page story on our Ice Cream election - check it out here!

Choice Voting: Easy as Ice Cream!

2005-08-03T10:27:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, July 31, 2005, 336 Davis residents of all ages participated in the town’s first-ever Choice Voting election, and chose the three most-preferred ice cream flavors. And they are…Chocolate, Mint Chocolate Chip, and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough!

The runners-up were Coffee, Cookies’n’Cream, Peanut Butter Cup, Vanilla, & Strawberry.

Children as young as six and adults old enough to know better easily filled out their ballots, ranking the flavors in the order they liked them. They were instructed that, if their top choice didn’t have enough votes to win, their vote could count for their next choice. Read the full story here!

Click here for a visual summary of results!

Click here to see the votes cast!

Click here to see full election results!

AND THE WINNERS ARE...

2005-07-31T00:03:00.000-07:00

Today, 336 voters, aging from 5 to 80 years old, participated in Davis's first ever community Choice Voting election!

While the winner is yet to be determined, the results are in. Folks of all ages understand Choice Voting, just as much as they know how to rank vanilla, chocolate, strawberry.

Of the eight ice cream flavors nominated, only three will be elected. We're processing the results as you read this, and we promise you'll be the first to get the "scoop!"

Cho-Ice Cream Voting

2005-07-30T23:47:00.000-07:00

What better way to understand Choice Voting than with ice cream!?!??! Read the July 28 front page story here!!!

We've nominated eight delicious flavors, and our mission is to elect the three most preferred flavors in all of Davis.

The election is today, Saturday, July 30, from 8am until 1pm at the Choice Voting table of the Davis Farmer’s Market in Central Park, and from 2pm until 6pm at the Baskin Robbins stores on 236 E Street in Downtown and on 640 W. Covell in North Davis, as well as the Ben & Jerry’s at 500 First Street!

The election won’t require any proof of age or registration, so parents are encouraged to get their children participating as well!

As an added bonus to counter the summer heat in Davis, Ben & Jerry’s has agreed to donate the three elected flavors to be given away for free at the Farmer’s Market on August 6!

Upcoming Events! | July 28 - August 3

2005-07-28T09:25:00.000-07:00

Come on down and join us! Give Zo a call on his cell at 603.305.3825!

Thursday, July 28: Gathering supporters outside of Safeway at Sycamore & Covell, 5-8pm

Friday, July 29: Tabling at the Food Coop at 6th & G, 4-7pm

Saturday, July 30: Cho-Ice Cream Voting at the Farmer's Market, 8am-1pm

Saturday, July 30: Voting continues 2-6pm at both Baskin-Robbins on 236 E Street and on 640 W. Covell, and the Ben & Jerry's on 500 First Street

Sunday, July 31: Tabling at the Food Coop from 2-7pm

Monday, August 1: Tabling at the Food Coop from 4-7pm

Monday, August 1: Presenting to the Yolo County Republicans at the Hallmark Inn, 7-7:15pm

Tuesday, August 2: Presenting to the Chamber of Commerce at 130 G. Street, 7:30-8:30am

Tuesday, August 2: Tabling at the Food Coop, 4-7pm

Wednesday, August 3: Tabling at the Farmer's Market, 4-8:30pm

Turning it up a notch!

2005-07-03T16:28:00.000-07:00

So here's where we're at:

In order to keep the City Council on track for letting the people decide on Choice Voting in June '06, we've been asked to show support from around 3,000 Davis residents, and to keep a continuous stream of letters to the editor (LTEs).

We've got a regular schedule of events at this point, and if you'd like to get involved with any of these or something new, contact Zo Tobi at 603.305.3825 or zo@davischoicevoting.org! Don't worry, you just provide the interest, we'll provide the training!

Mondays: Door-to-door canvassing from 4:45-9pm!

Tuesdays: Updating the City Council during their Public Comments session at 7pm, followed by a huddle in the main lobby or just outside the building, where we'll practice talking about Choice Voting and answering the tough questions, strategizing, and training new volunteers.

Wednesdays: Farmer's Market from 4-8:30pm - you can find us at our table!

Thursdays: Door-to-door canvassing from 4:45-9pm!

Fridays: Door-to-door canvassing from 4:45-9pm!

Saturdays: Farmer's Market from 8am-1pm, door-to-door canvassing from 2-8pm!

Sundays: Door-to-door canvassing from 11am-8pm!

Choice Voting at the Farmer's Market

2005-07-03T16:22:00.000-07:00

Choice voting supporters have begun tabling at the Wednesday and Saturday Davis Farmer's Markets in Central Park. We'll be doing so all through the month of July and beyond.

We are getting a great community response! Thanks to everyone's support and encouragement! And thanks to everyone for volunteering!