[OldNorth] Re: [Davishistorymembers] Antonen Reply to DHS

[Valerie Vann]

I think we're being patronized and told we've become too uppity.
Getting kicked off the Calendar feels like perhaps just the initial
shot across the bow. (There has not yet been an answer on that.)

I'm all for city staff furthering their career development and
improving their skills, but it seems to me, as one of their employers,
that a higher priority should always be the needs and interests of the
citizenry, especially as those citizens are assembled in democratic
organizations.

Long term planning is all very well, and we've done a lot of that
here in Davis. But presently we seem to be having considerable 
difficulty interpreting those plans and implementing them. 

We're in something of a crisis mode right now, with several urgent
and complex issues confronting us. We have new members on the Council,
Planning Commission, and some other key commissions who are
still getting up to speed on those issues, as well as becoming
familiar with (and in some cases, aware of the existence of)  
our particular issues, and the tools already in place to address
them, such as the Neighborhood Guidelines. We need the help of staff 
who've been there in the process and know the territory.

So it is not a good time to be starting all over from scratch
getting someone up to speed when we're faced with opposing
views well supported with full time people, lots of money and
deep experience at getting their way with local government.

At the very least, we should have had the bare courtesy of prior
notice and an opportunity to comment on the proposed change.
It would also have been helpful to have had at least a transition
or break-in period with both the experienced staff and the
"new hire" instead of this ill-timed October Surprise.

Valerie Vann
valerie at vanngroup.com