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enterprise THE DAVIS
FRIDAY, MAY 8, 2020
City facing revenue shortfall thanks to COVID-19; budget cuts loom BY ANNE TERNUS-BELLAMY Enterprise staff writer Staff furloughs, pay cuts, a hiring freeze and less funding for capital improvement projects are likely on the table as the city of Davis prepares to deal with the budget implications of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The impact is likely to be similar to that of the Great Recession which resulted in a significantly smaller city workforce, one that remains well below 2008 levels. “Overall, we’re actually looking at a $22 million loss from COVID-19,” city consultant Bob Leland told the City Council on Tuesday. “That compares to a $20
million loss for the Great Recession.” Leland said the reduction in sales tax revenue flowing into the city’s General Fund is “immediate and major” given the closure of so many local stores during the shelter in place. Similarly, revenue from the transient occupancy tax paid by
local hotels has plummeted and will continue to remain low until UC Davis begins holding conferences and symposiums “with people showing up in person.” Development-related fees will likely be reduced as well if projects don’t move ahead, Leland said. “During the Great Recession, a
Enterprise correspondent How should teachers teach their students? This simple question has produced many answers throughout the millennia, but none of them may have been as unique as the approach of the “conscious teacher,” and no one may have given it as much thought as local retired teacher Deborah Poulos, whose new book, “The Conscious Teacher,” has just been released. Poulos, who grew up in San Diego with a chemistry professor on the Manhattan Project as her father, moved to Oak Ridge, Tenn. as a first-grader. “As an elementary student I struggled to learn to
read,” she said. “I entered that class as a stranger. In the reading group my first day, I was sitting on the floor in a row in front of ‘The Big Red Storybook’ up on an easel in front of us. We were like birds on a wire. I was near the end of the line, but eventually it was my turn. “I got off to a good start, stumbled, and then completely fell apart. The teacher went on to the last student on my left, and the group returned to our desks. I sat at my desk, book in hand, feeling exposed as stupid in front of all these potential friends. And the routine continued every day, like torture.” Poulos seldom volunteered to read in class after
SEE REVENUE, PAGE A4
Crime numbers shift during crisis
A ‘conscious’ approach to learning BY JARROD BANIQUED
great number of projects were stalled for years,” he noted. “Whether that will turn out to be the case this time remains to be seen.” The loss of all that revenue will require corrective actions — including $5 million per year in
BY LAUREN KEENE Enterprise staff writer
MEL SOLOMON/COURTESY PHOTO
Deborah Poulos shows off her new book, “The Conscious Teacher,” which emphasizes the importance of truly knowing each student. that — until she had an epiphany in the seventh grade. “The teacher had brought in a class set of Time magazines and said we were going to read it for understanding. He said we would go down the
columns of desks asking each student to read a paragraph or two, and then we would pause to discuss the meaning.” She was riveted to every word as her classmates
SEE LEARNING, PAGE A5
Statistics released by the Davis Police Department this week show upticks in several crimes since the start of the coronavirus shelter-in-place order, including burglaries, robberies and auto thefts. During the roughly month-and-a-half between March 19 — when Yolo County and the state of California advised people to stay at home to help curb the COVID-19 spread — and May 5, Davis had 39 break-ins compared to 27 for the same period in 2019, while robberies and stolen-car reports more than doubled from three to seven and seven to 15, respectively. For the four-month period starting Jan. 1,
vehicle thefts were up a total of 37 percent, from 27 to 37, prompting the Police Department to issue a crime alert earlier this week. While citizens should stay aware and take precautions to reduce their chance of becoming a victim, Police Chief Darren Pytel noted that “overall, we’re not seeing huge changes in crime — it doesn’t take large numbers to see significant percentage increases.” “The primary message out there is that Davis has always been a magnet for property crime,” Pytel added. Even under shelter-in-place conditions, “it continues to be a problem.” Overall, property crimes decreased nearly 10 percent during the SIP order,
SEE NUMBERS, PAGE A4
Council backs Measure J/R renewal UCD disburses relief funds to students BY ANNE TERNUS-BELLAMY Enterprise staff writer Davis residents will likely be voting on their right to vote come November, after the City Council on Tuesday voiced support for the renewal of Measure J/R without any significant changes. The council will vote in June or early July to place renewal on the ballot. Formally known as the “Citizens’ Right to Vote on Future Use of Open Space and Agricultural Lands,”
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the ordinance was first approved by city voters in 2000 (as Measure J) and then renewed in 2010 (as Measure R). The ordinance will expire on Dec. 31, 2020, if it is not renewed by voters in November. The citizens’ initiative grew out of concern two decades ago about urban sprawl and development of agricultural land and open space on the city’s borders. The measure requires a vote of the people before land can be redesignated
INDEX
Arts . . . . . . . . . .B1 Mother’s Day . . A6 Kid Scoop . . .B11 Classifieds . . . .B7 Obituaries . A4-A5 Sports . . . . . . .B6 Forum . . . . . . . .B4 Senior Life . . . . A6 The Wary I . . . . A2
from agricultural or open space to any urban use. Five such votes have occurred since the ordinance was first enacted in 2000, with the first three failing. Those failures — of Covell Village in 2005; Wildhorse Ranch in 2009; and Nishi 1.0 in 2016 — prompted some in the community to suggest Measure J/R was doing more harm than good by essentially
SEE RENEWAL, PAGE A2
WEATHER Sat Saturday: Mostly sunny. High 91. su Low 55. Page B5 Lo
BY CALEB HAMPTON Enterprise staff writer After receiving $34 million in coronavirus relief funding through the federal government’s CARES Act, UC Davis began disbursing the money to students this week. Chancellor Gary S. May announced in April that half the funding — roughly $17 million — will go directly to students in need. The remaining $17 million in CARES Act funding will go towards operational costs, which have been impacted by COVID-19 and the transition to remote instruction. UC Davis is allocating the one-time relief checks to eligible undergraduate
students based on need, which is determined by their 2019-20 financial aid status. Pell Grant recipients are each receiving $1,000. Students who receive other types of grants are receiving $750. Students eligible for Subsidized Direct Loans but not grants are receiving $500. UC Davis graduate students are all receiving a one-time check worth $600 regardless of their financial aid status. Undocumented students and students with DACA are not eligible for federal relief funding provided by the CARES Act. Those students will receive equivalent
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SEE RELIEF, PAGE A5
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