Green Page
Sports
Things keep getting better for FC Davis
Living
— Page B1
It’s backyard bird time
Ask Julie all your tough questions, except math ... — Page B2
— Page B3
enterprise THE DAVIS
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2020
County reveals strategic plan
NorCal Rapist case finally sees day in court
Look ahead
BY LAUREN KEENE Enterprise staff writer
BY ANNE TERNUS-BELLAMY Enterprise staff writer Homelessness, climate action and farmland preservation are among the issues the Yolo County Board of Supervisors will focus on over the next five years as outlined in the board’s 2020-2024 strategic plan approved last month. The plan will serve as the board’s guiding document going forward, shaping discussion and decisions on issues ranging from safety net programs to public safety, climate action to economic development. But as the board held its first meeting of the year on Tuesday, uncertainty remains over who exactly will be shepherding that strategic plan through the next few years. Three of the board’s five members are up for reelection in less than two months, including two longtime supervisors who face challengers on the March 3 ballot: Supervisor Jim Provenza of Davis and Supervisor Duane Chamberlain of the rural 5th District. Provenza, who is seeking his fourth term on the board, has two challengers: Davis attorney Linda Deos and climate action activist David Abramson. Chamberlain is facing off against Woodland City Councilman Angel Barajas. Supervisor Oscar Villegas of West Sacramento is unopposed in his re-election bid, though the write-in period
ANNE WERNIKOFF/CALMATTERS PHOTO
California Gov. Gavin Newsom presents the 2020-21 state budget at a press conference at the state Capitol on Jan. 10.
What Newsom’s budget says about state’s priorities CalMatters Stoked with liberal ideas, flush with another surplus, California in the Newsom era is getting the agenda America might have had, had America not elected President Donald Trump. As Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday unveiled his initial $222.2 billion budget proposal for next year, the priorities read like an extension of yet another Barack Obama — or maybe a first Hillary Clinton — administration: Public schools. Homelessness. Climate action. Consumer protection. School lunches. Affordable health care, even for undocumented people. Newsom even talked about maybe closing a prison soon. Pitching state legislators, who determine appropriations, the Democratic governor did some paddling to the right, as Jerry Brown would have
SEE COUNTY, PAGE A7
put it: There was a tax cut idea for small business owners. And proposals to pay down debt and pension obligations and build budget reserves got positive reviews even from the handful of Republican lawmakers left in the Capitol. And he paddled to the anti-Trump left, lashing out at Trump’s California heckling: “He’s tweeting, we’re doing something,” Newsom said. This first budget ask is just the start of a long negotiation. And a number of potentially contentious issues — tax hikes, for example — were pointedly not on it. But these presentations do serve as a guide to what matters in an administration. Here are this one’s key takeaways:
Narrative change Enough with the dark national stories about
California being a mess, said Newsom, who started his presentation with a sunny reality check: record low unemployment of 3.9%, 117 months of consecutive job growth, an average of 3.8% economic growth over the last five years, a $19 billion rainy day fund
with millions more tucked away in other pots of savings. The governor and lawmakers will be able to fund homeless, health care and education initiatives through a $5.6 billion surplus. The governor held up
SEE BUDGET, PAGE A7
Union wins millions in restitution for T.A.s BY CALEB HAMPTON Enterprise staff writer UC ordered to retroactively compensate student employees In 2017, United Auto Workers 2865, the student employee union at the University of California, filed a grievance against the university for hiring hundreds of teaching assistants for fewer than 10 hours per week — or 25 percent full-time equivalent — to avoid paying them tuition remission. As an employment benefit, UC students hired at 25 percent FTE or more are entitled to a have the
VOL. 123 NO. 7
UAW 2865/COURTESY GRAPHIC
SEE NISHI, PAGE A8
Data distributed by UAW 2865 shows the increase in graduate student interns hired at less than 10 hours a week at UC Berkeley to avoid paying tuition remission. university partially cover their tuition.
INDEX
Calendar . . . . . A6 Forum . . . . . . . .B4 Obituaries . . . . A4 Classifieds . . . .B5 Green Page . . .B3 Sports . . . . . . .B1 Comics . . . . . . .B7 Living . . . . . . . .B2 Weather . . . . . . A8
On Monday, an arbitrator ruled in the union’s
WEATHER
favor, UAW 2865 announced in an email to
SACRAMENTO — Nearly 23 years have gone by, but David Conley still vividly remembers his work assignment from January 1997. The now-retired investigator for Bank of the West had a specific task that day: retrieving still photos from video of multiple ATM transactions at a Woodland bank branch. It stood out because “it’s the only person I ever saw in front of an ATM with a mask on,” Conley testified Friday in Sacramento Superior Court. Sacramento County prosecutors say that masked WALLER man was Serial rape Roy suspect Charles Waller, who stands accused of committing a series of sexual assaults in six counties — including two in Davis — attributed to the long-elusive “NorCal Rapist.” Waller, a longtime safety specialist at UC Berkeley who lived in Benicia before his arrest in September 2018, was identified as a suspect through DNA evidence that authorities say linked him to some of the
SEE COURT, PAGE A8
City to fight appeal filed over Nishi BY ANNE TERNUS-BELLAMY Enterprise staff writer
its members Tuesday. UC Berkeley, where most of the affected students were employed, has been ordered to pay retroactive tuition and fee remissions to all affected student employees. The restitution from the university to its workers will total upwards of $5 million, the union estimated. The affected students were mostly undergraduate teaching assistants employed in UC Berkeley’s Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences department. According to data distributed by UAW
The Davis City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to continue defending the Nishi student-housing project in court. A Yolo County superior court judge ruled in favor of the city and developers in October, finding the project satisfies the city's affordable housing ordinance, does not discriminate against families and complies with the California Environmental Quality Act. A group called the Davis Coalition for Sensible Planning had filed suit over the project after the City Council placed the project on the
SEE UNION, PAGE A7
SEE NISHI, PAGE A8
HOW TO REACH US
www.davisenterprise.com Thu Thursday: He Heavy rain. Main line: 530-756-0800 Hi High 49. Low 37. Circulation: 530-756-0826
http://facebook.com/ TheDavisEnterpriseNewspaper http://twitter.com/D_Enterprise
WED • FRI • $1