 Good evening. This is what's going on. I'm John Lee. Our guest this evening is Rob Davis. He's a candidate for the Davis City Council Rob, I want to thank you for being on our show. Thanks for having me John. I really appreciate it for sure Just so you know, I'm gonna do this live so you understand what we're laughing about I've got two dayquil here. I'm in the middle of a cold. So I'm gonna take my dayquil. I was gonna do that two minutes ago I'm sorry, but I didn't beat the clock so You're running for city council. Why are you running for city council? Yeah. Well, good question. I guess that's what everyone wants to know What would in the midst of the challenges that we're facing as a city what compels someone to run or encourages someone to run? I think for me You know as I think about it There are two linked ideas that always come forward in my mind when people ask me that question One is I think any city Is is constantly in a process of defining its vision of what it wants to be And of course that vision Means things like we want to we want to be able to live here in this place securely for a long time We want a healthy population not just today But we want to have in place the things that will keep us healthy tomorrow, whether it's economically healthy Whether it's socially healthy strong vibrant or environmentally we need to live in this place This is more than just a space on the planet. This is home and so to achieve that You know, it may be even unstated goal of long-term sustainability me and my children and other generations that come after We need a vision, you know, we need to constantly reform that vision And I think a city council member I mean the first concept is and why I want to run is because I think a city council member helps Helps articulate that vision city council members not responsible for articulating it but but enabling I use the concept of you know The midwife of helping to birth a vision And I think that that's a that's a process that doesn't begin and end You know, obviously over a four-year period. It's throughout that process. It's listening It's it's understanding where things need to change and not being afraid to then, you know Once that vision is is articulated or as it's articulated I should say then the second part is all right We've articulated what we want to be now What do we need to do to get there? What are the day-to-day week-to-week month-to-month and year-to-year decisions that we need to make? To keep us economically environmentally and socially healthy and so I don't I don't think the two can be separated I think an ongoing attempt to articulate and refine a vision for our city is one and I I think I'm good at that and want to Be part of that. I'm you know Because I I think I'm good at it because I've had a lot of experience around the world sitting in communities with community members from a variety of backgrounds Listening to them talk about the challenges and assets in their community essentially and then using that to forge a way forward I've done it elsewhere and I think I can help to do it here And then the day-to-day week-to-week month-to-month That's the hard decision making that comes that because really I mean I think it's easier to rally around the vision than to really agree on the means to achieve it And so I think the other thing is to make the hard decisions so that if we want to go in a direction We have the resources Mobilized and cared for the investments. I'll use that term in people and in our you know in our Infrastructure so that we can continue those things. I look at I look at my life And I've been involved in both not at a government level But in the organizations I've worked for in communities that I've worked with in various places around the world and I The decision-making, you know the the regular decision-making which is where most of our disagreements lie I think that's the hard work of leadership, but it's it's something that I I Want to participate in I think we're all different and some of us when we see challenges and problems You know we want to be in there discussing solutions and helping move things forward And I that's the kind of person I am and I look forward to being able to play that role but you know not in the absence of Deep listening taking into account various views because I'm a good listener because I value the opinions of other people Because I understand there are multiple perspectives in a community that things that people feel very passionately about That that work of even the week-to-week month-to-month is Needs to be a very patient one needs to be very patient and Focused on the process of allowing that to happen in a transparent way. So the things I value, you know, I do value Transparency I do value participation. I do value multiple perspectives. I I value conflict in the sense that Conflict is to me a sign that we are Challenging each other. We're not fully in agreement about how to move forward But it's not a bad thing if it's used productively. We sharpen each other We sharpen each other's ideas. We challenge one another and I want to be part of that challenging and I want to be challenged And so those skill sets that I've developed I feel confident I can bring to bear on the city You know to to meet the challenges that our city faces. So I mean I Could talk more about skill sets that I bring but I mean those are the two large, you know Sort of perspectives that that I think lead me to say I want to be I want to be part of the Leadership team helping to lead the city over the next four years Well, I I do want you to talk about your skill sets and we'll get into that But I I think if we do a little biography, it'll make your skill sets make a little more sense So what was it like when you were a little boy? What do you care about? What were your values when you were growing up? Yeah, it's a good question It seems like a world away. I grew up in South Central, Pennsylvania Used to be called, you know still called somewhat the Bible Belt of the North, you know It's a it's a very conservative area. It's the home of the Amish the Mennonites Who are our neighbors? You know really a small town guy. I mean smaller than small town village grew up. I mean I understand in some sense more intuitively the rural nature of our region than I do the cities because that's the that's the that's the world I came from very much a farming community but a community that was that was in flux in the sense that demographically It was experiencing a tremendous amount of growth driven by you know it's proximity to Philadelphia and major metropolitan area Baltimore and You know that that farmland As I was growing up was was was disappearing And out here we talk about some of the most productive irrigated farmland out there It's really the some of the most productive productive non-irrigated farmland so my family was Conservative in many respects politically certainly I Often think of you know, I grew up in the in the really I was a child of the you know during the civil rights movement I was eight years old when when you know, Dr. Martin Luther King was was killed and in my family There were two things I think in that era that really that really change that really struck our family and then changed it fundamentally one was civil rights and You know, I love my mom and dad But but their whole upbringing and everything and and our isolation from really any diversity very white community Led to a lot of confusion about what this all meant and they were quite hostile towards the civil rights movement, I would say Yeah, that's not an that's not overstating it fear And so as the country was changing they were people that Fearful of what was embodied in civil rights would mean The interesting thing is here. I was a little kid And I would I loved baseball. I mean I That was it in my town. There was no other sport. We had no swimming pool. We had no tennis courts We had nothing but a baseball diamond and we would play while there was snow on the ground point is I idolized You know those baseball heroes and my and I won't get to all the reasons how this can be No, it wasn't he was from Pennsylvania, but actually I was a St. Louis Cardinals fan is so Bob Gibson Pitcher an amazing pitcher, you know still has the lowest earned run average in a season of any pitcher in major league history in 1968 and he pitched complete games any pitch complete games He wrote a book if you can imagine this he you know when I was a kid And I think they say you know book days at school. It was scholastic book He wrote a book and I remember getting it as probably an eight or nine year old I don't remember exactly and it was a story about how he had been forced the great Bob Gibson When he was in the minor leagues had been forced to stay in a separate hotel room from his teammates And I just couldn't believe it And so while my parents were experiencing turmoil and doubt about civil rights. I was saying No, there's injustice. I don't think I had that word yet There's something wrong That this man who is amazing and who I would idolize every afternoon throwing that ball against the barn door How can this be and it really set my mind to wonder about some of those things and It was a real there was a real disconnect It wasn't till much later as a teenager that I really challenged my parents about those views and it wasn't till later still when I was able to travel Abroad and really experience Immersion in other cultures that I was able to put words to some of the things that I was experiencing But it was cognitive dissonance really and it was difficult the other thing that I would say about that childhood growing up And it's much more difficult to talk about even now is You know, I was the Vietnam War and that all of I was I was young You know, I was young, but I was the youngest of a Basically almost the youngest grandchild or child in the you know in that generation And so all my cousins and my brother and my future brother-in-law were all off to Vietnam or Involved in that war in one way or the other and came back fundamentally changed and not for the good They were traumatized. I think many of them experienced PTSD again who had the language then But they were violent. They were disconnected from community. They engaged in a lot of self-destructive behavior And and frankly I was puzzled by that and so You know, it's funny. You grew up in a rural isolated little community in South Central, Pennsylvania but the world was crashing in on us as it was I guess to everybody in our generation and It just posed a lot of questions for me and I think ultimately it didn't drive me away I mean people changed people in that area have changed quite a bit. I Still love it there, but I think fundamentally That world pouring in as it was for the TV set and through the marches and through even my sister who you know Was was arrested at a protest in I think it was in New England You know, all of a sudden this little town couldn't contain all of the all of sort of the curiosity that I had Never thought I'd come to California per se never thought I'd travel never did travel Until I was 18 years old never gotten a plane that those things those questions were there as a result of the world coming in and You know those the high school years Were years of I guess like any high school student even today here in Davis Questioning questioning authority. That's probably normal, but it was in the context of what felt like pretty convulsive changes I mean 68 I wasn't a teenager yet, but 68 around the world Was a year of profound change the invasion of Czechoslovakia the the Paris riots What happened in the u.s. The various urban Riots that were happening the 68 Democratic Convention a lot of violence everywhere a lot of Ferment everywhere caused a young child and then a teenager to really ask, you know, what what? What's underlying people's rage and anger and then beginning to name and understand concepts of injustice and feeling like that was something That I needed to understand better That's not a full biography, but that was my family. I my mom's gone. My dad's still alive a very proud World War two Navymen Who? You know taught me and what I honor him for though I disagree with him so much on his politics is just that you know the value of honesty and integrity and integrity he he he He is a man of integrity and I and I you know I think I really aspire He's a man of his word and a man who with all his faults is able to is able to maintain that sense of Of rightness and commitment To my mom for over 50 years and then to our community where he was an informal leader Left quite a mark on me certainly So college Well, I don't talk too much about that. Although. It's where I met my wife and we've been married for 32 years now It was it was it's it's hard to talk about it in the sense that it is a very different life We grew up in fundamentalist Christian families Both of us and met at a at a very very conservative Christian college, which academically was quite good but In terms of our own views of the world and in faith You know, I'll just leave it to say we're not we're not there anymore what I learned all Well, I think we all have Yeah Evolved maybe transformed maybe I Mean I think you know the the responses that were the answers that were given us to the big questions by that upbringing You know couldn't be they couldn't hold those answers couldn't hold up As soon as you step outside that very narrow culture and and don't get me wrong I respect again a lot of the people that were there in those places. I mean, these are my teachers These were my neighbors. I don't disrespect them, but you know Once when you travel around outside of you know, you're you're that that that kind of bubble Into the broader world and and internationally which we've done a lot I mean, you know been to 30 or almost 40 different countries The answers that are given in that context growing up just don't fit anymore People believe other things and and people are wonderful despite that they're not like you and that they were considered to be bad People by the standards of how you were brought up and all of a sudden you find I mean, you know You know, it's interesting I've done a lot of work in Islamic countries and you know I mean even I think more so now than than a few years ago, you know The word Islam raises I think fear in people's mind because of what's happened And yet where have I experienced the the greatest depth of hospitality is probably in Peshawar, you know, Pakistan Where have I experienced it again is is you know in in Afghanistan as I was there I can remember getting lost in the streets and being led home by the arm bite by well-meaning people that fundamentally changes your understanding of you know of people and That was the process from, you know, basically college onward was seeing the world Just seeing the world and as a result of seeing it realizing that people Are do amazing things are capable of amazing things show wonderful hospitality Welcome the stranger and what it makes you want to do is it makes you want to bring that beautiful thing you see in cultures Which is somewhat absent here. I wouldn't say we're a culture known for our hospitality here in the US or Necessarily, but it makes you want to bring the best of that home and make you know Make your home and make your community a welcoming place and make it a place that that Values, you know the stranger and values the person who lives on the edge This is what I learned what I've learned in many cultures in many places around the world I think I'm a better person for it Well, that sounds like a segue to where your work is and how you got involved in that Well, I mean the work of the the traveling overseas was never, you know, touristic traveling It was it was for work in maternal and child health primarily And and that work, you know took me into communities You know from Haiti to Mali Mauritania, I won't even cite all the countries in West Africa and been to Ghana I've already mentioned Afghanistan Pakistan India Philippines and typically in each of those places, you know, it would be More I worked largely in more rural areas again, which is where poverty is is, you know We often talk about Going that last mile, you know dealing with poverty on the last mile or dealing with that public health challenge out They're at the last mile being the most expensive the most costly because these are the people that are most, you know marginalized both geographically and and economically and socially and It's really true and it is costly and so my work took me Not always by choice into those areas Where I saw people not only surviving in very difficult situations, but thriving what we were bringing Really was You know some Information some technology that could help improve the health of children Basic things some education a lot of dialogue It's funny. I was I was thinking about, you know, I was I've been thinking about this in relation to Davis most especially because you know, I really do feel that The health of our city is is is is is somehow emerging of this of the social the economic the environmental And I know there's a tendency, you know, we're in this fiscal, you know, very Difficult fiscal situation now here in Davis, which we should probably talk about a little bit more but There's a tendency to say, you know what we need to get our economic house in order and then we can deal with the Social challenges whether it's homelessness or addiction, you know, you got to have money to do those things My experience in Africa is actually just the opposite of that. I can remember I Could give many anecdotes one that that sticks in my mind is the very first time I went to Mauritania I was on I was with a team traveling up into the up onto the very edge of the desert where villages were literally disappearing Sand dunes were moving in and it was a severe drought. We were at the tail end of a very severe drought That had really destroyed the livelihoods of a lot of people and and we were going around doing health assessments in communities And actually doing some basic census work to see who was left and I can remember going into a community You mean it's kind of hard to describe it you would you if you arrived there you would say how do people survive here? There was no apparent water source people are living in tents. Anyway The children in that community were amazingly healthy We were weighing them and they were amazingly healthy and when we arrived in the village I remember that one of the leaders of the village approaching our vehicle and saying Whatever you bring for us make sure you take and go go and see the children first What he was what he was doing. He was making a statement about them go go and see the most vulnerable first and I had been to other communities where I had arrived and heard leaders say what did you bring us? Tell me what you brought us. I mean what you brought me In fact in that on that very day I've been to a village like that and many of the children had been sick and In this village and in others where I was but on that same day where the where the village leader came out and said Go first to the children the children were all doing relatively well And it showed me with it showed me that what matters is the commitments we make Later when I was doing research in that in an area not too far from there I remember I used to do these simple little pile sorts we put a pile of stones or something like that on the ground and We would ask the people in the community just sorted out sorted out by the relative size of different groups in terms of their well-being Bam do it in a hurry people know their communities in these small towns You know that this number of people is you know is well off and this people is okay And then these people you know are not doing well and then they'd have this other group and I remember in Mauritania They'd say mind oh she they don't have anything. It was typically it was typically widows and orphans and I can remember them talking very clearly and cogently about what the community did To make sure that these people were taken care of because my and oh she they have nothing, but they have us The point being as I look at the challenges of Davis when I want to add to that sure Well, no, I just want to bring it back to Davis because we can't you know the social challenges We face whether it's addiction or homelessness or or you know, I'm thinking of Foster Services where people are really you know sometimes coming out of those programs hurting Directionalists whatever it might be We can't wait. We don't have to wait. We can make commitments and we can follow through even though our resources are limited and I don't even know how I got off on that, but it really matters to me. I want to add to it. Okay. Go ahead. So This is historic Abraham Maslow the guy invented self-actualization in the hierarchy of needs in the early 1930s Was in this group with Ruth Benedict the cultural anthropologist and she said you know Abe all the people you've been working with have been Jewish urban people just like yourself So you don't know anything about cross-culturally how valid your psychological analysis really are so Abe went with a Couple who became a couple and got married and had a kid So up to Saskatchewan to an Indian Territory and it had a panhandle and at the end of the panhandle was a poor white town Well these people in the 1940s in the middle of World War two and were Indians were all self-actualized and Abe's going wait a minute Maybe five percent of the people being self-actualized, but not 95 percent of the people Not everybody living up to their full potential and so he said okay What's going on here? What's different and he identified two things and the second one related directly to what you were saying I'm going to tell you the other one first though, and then the other one was Kids 18 months old 12 months old 13 18 can walk They come to the door. They want to go to you know, it's clear to everybody in the room They want to go through the door and they want to get in the next room Polite white people what we do is we go. Oh you want to go in the room you open the door for them And they walk through now. That's that's if you're nice. Okay, other people just ignore the kids What happens in their cultures all the adults stand around and watch the kid the kid opens the door by himself And then the adults all applaud So from the very earliest age the kids get recognition and stature for accomplishment But the other thing was in September in Canada is real close to winter Yeah, and what happens is they put everything they're willing to give away on their blanket in the quad in the center of The community and if you ask everybody in the community who the richest person in the community was they'd all point to the same 30-year-old guy who was single who put everything he had on the blanket because he knew whatever that they left for him We'd be more than enough to get them through the winter But they also knew that if he came to their house They'd be more than happy to give them a meal or a place to stay for the night So it's very reciprocal. Yeah, there's the idea is to hold up the bottom. Yeah. Well, and that's right And I that's I'm really I like that story. Look, I'm not I'm not had to give some sort of vague I don't know what people hear when they hear stories like this What I want to point out though is that the learnings that I've had around the world Show me what can be done even in dire situations even in difficult situations If we're intentional if we're intentional about holding up our values if we're intentional about commitments to strong community and and and I think that's a word that I really want to I really want to I Want to say a lot and I want to use a lot and I want to mean Intentional, you know, so many of the decisions, you know that whole vision process So much of of bringing it to fruition is then being intentional about following through on commitments It's being intentional about making sure that, you know Our financial system enables us to get to the point we want and and to be honest when we're not getting there for example to be intentional about meeting the needs of of those in our community who are struggling and And not waiting until we have everything in order In order to be able to bring, you know to do the other things that we want to do But moving forward to you know not You know we need to we need to take steps to reduce our carbon footprint now not when it becomes economically Convenient to do so it's not going to ever be it's never going to be and you know, that's the point I mean, you know anywhere. I've been in the world. There's never really a good time to deal with the marginalized I mean it's always hard work, especially if mental health issues are involved It's never going to be easy. We're never going to have enough wealth to do it. Well We're never going to have all the exact right policies in place It takes a community to look out for those who are struggling with those issues and and and I've seen that and I've experienced that and I think part of leadership in this context is being able to not design all the programs But to nurture the willingness of community members to step forward to volunteer to give up themselves and we have in Davis You know a human resource potential and capacity That is just I you know, I've said it before it's it's unmatched in many of the places that I've seen and a willingness to step up And be part of solving problems Outside of government structures this doll this all does not have to flow through a government format I mean, I think I think the state and the local government in terms of a city council Sometimes needs to be a facilitator of it Sometimes needs to encourage it be a cheerleader and sometimes just needs to step back and let the wonderful things that people are willing to Do happen for the betterment of the city and I think we can do that I mean, I don't think that that's not happening, but I I think there's more maybe we can do to nurture it There's more encouragement we can give to it. I mean I could give examples of that Even today I was mentioning to you before we came on You know a group of us received the recognition from the from the supervisors for work We've done on neighborhood court. I was only one of several, but you know the people that were there We stood around and talked about it. No one was no one's paid us a dime to do any of this We've put in many long hours of others far more than me And you know it went a long way to be able to stand next to the supervisors with Those involved from the district attorney and to receive a thank you You know that gives you a lot of encouragement to say yeah, this this does matter Yeah, this is hard work. Sometimes we get in the throes of it. It doesn't seem like we're making progress But a little bit of recognition a little bit of encouragement a little bit of saying, you know We need this to happen. We need what you guys are doing to continue. We need your volunteerism Can be a huge spark to continuing it and I think elected you know elected officials can can do that I want to do that. That's not the full answer. I'm not claiming it is But but it's a piece of what we're going to continue to need to evolve and be as a city as our resources are constrained As we live in a context statewide and even nationally that can't seem to move beyond some of the fiscal imbalances that that we've experienced Though things are growing again as we still continue to face challenges, especially at the city level We're gonna have to evolve many more ways of meeting our needs and become I think and we'll become a more resilient city as a result Well you walked up to all the fiscal issues that The city is confronted with why don't you lay out the fiscal map as you see it well It's the financial problems confronting this. Yeah, I mean the bottom line You know, I mean quite simply and people can can go to the to the city council website and look I think it was December 17th go and look at the presentation done by the city manager You know any a city in California? I guess anywhere, you know, we can we can run an annual deficit if if we have reserves if we if our fund balances are positive in a given year, it's not It's not Unthinkable that you may have a negative balance for that year We're kind of moving into a new world where our balances will be depleted We I mean we're probably gonna end this fiscal year FY 1314 in June 30th with a fiscal balance of probably Again these things change, but it's projected about 3.6 million dollars Our I'm how large a budget we're taught that's in our general fund and that would be Expenditures in the realm of we must be approaching or just over 40 million. Okay, so so three million over yeah over 40, but our Our structural imbalance next year will actually turn that positive figure negative and if we don't do anything We will see the year to year in the years after that. We're facing five million dollar annual annual structural imbalances not cumulative but each year five million additional now something we'll have to give Something we'll have to give What's driving that? What's driving it is really four things and some of it we don't control At this point in history What's driving it? Well, some of it is decisions. We've made about water The city has to purchase its water and water bills are going up and the city's water bills are going to go up So we need to conserve but even if we conserve bills are still going to go up other three are related to employee compensation retirement Medical for those who are in our system now and those who are already retired and then cafeteria plan which is payout To people if they opt out of the medical care. Those are the four major drivers that are driving that five million Structural imbalance that would balloon out, you know, if we didn't do anything about it would lead to a deficit of 28 million over the next five years. We we can't have that we can't do that And what we have is we have a trajectory and I think people understand compounding of rates But we have you know, we have a rate of growth of expenditure Because of those drivers that is outstripping the rate of growth of our revenue at this growth at this time So those imbalances have to be dealt with they have to be dealt with They're actually worse than what I just said though and and I think that is what makes it really difficult to talk about this because Not fully accounted for in that five million or more annual structural imbalance is Is a backlog of infrastructure repair primarily roads Now we have a situation now where our roads are deteriorating We've done a pavement condition index analysis had it done by professionals verified by University of California Davis professor You know, we're we have some streets that are failing and of course the longer you leave a street The more expensive is to fix it and so we have an interest in in sort of upfront front-end loading Repairs on those streets, but this is a process. It's gonna need to go on for some years But the the structural imbalance that I laid out there Does not allow us to maintain or improve the condition of our streets In fact, our streets will deteriorate further We probably need an additional and the numbers vary and I probably don't have them exactly right I could look them up, but you're probably an additional maybe five to seven million a year to keep our pavement in conditions so that You know we can we can use them and and that we're not facing increased costs of repair Well, you can see and then and then there may be other infrastructure upkeep on parks and city buildings that are not included in that And I don't even have figures for at this point point is That's a lot of money And you know a city's budget is not you know We a lot of people look at national budget and see the you know the US government running deficits year after year and having a large debt And of course you can do that if you if you if you're able to control your money supply But the city doesn't do that obviously and so our budget here is much more similar to a household budget We got to make ends meet you can't borrow your way out of it and cities have Gone bankrupt and I'm not saying that Davis is there We're certainly not but it happens meaning that our situation as a city is not unlike what what people face in their homes So, you know, what do we do about it? You know, what do we do about it? And you know, I think We'll be hearing more from the city council in the next couple weeks about what some of the choices are short term But these gaps are difficult to fill and there is no magic bullet, you know, there's not one thing that you can say if we do this It's going to be a combination of several things. We will be seeing I'm certain proposals for tax increases Certainly a sales tax increase our current sales taxes at 8% we keep We keep a penny and a half of every dollar based on that here I think there'll be a proposal to increase that to 8.5 percent other cities have that. Yeah It's it would take us to about probably near the mean for California Woodland Woodlands at 8.25 Sacramento, I'm not sure where they are. I think they might be at 8.5 And I think that's a recent change in any case If we increase that much and again, you know sales tax is always tricky, you know When you when you project out what it's going to yield But I mean the projections the city is doing right now as I could yield an extra 3.6 million Doesn't get it. Remember the figures that I had out earlier five plus five plus There's also and this is not something that that is is anyway in secret is it secret is in the men again It was in the city manager's report an additional parcel tax I mean taxes will go on the ballot, you know any tax Sales tax is considered a general tax because it's not used. It's not earmarked It's not specified for any use requires a majority plus one must be on the same ballot as a city council You know my own view would be if that's going to be a solution. It should be very time-limited It we should you know to build accountability about how the money is used to assure that it's used effectively a Parcel tax. I'm not sure what the plan for that is that could raise depending how it's structured could raise an additional three million So you start to see what some of the potential is but again Keep in mind that even if we're meeting, you know That filling that structural imbalance in a year There's two other factors going on one is the continued backlog of streets Which needs to be factored in and the other is the continued disparity between the growth rates of Revenue and expenses because even if we increase it, you know those those those taxes and sales tax Sales can increase as the economy improves, but will it catch up to the trajectory of expenses? I don't know. I'm doubtful. So we're in a situation where you know taxes a lot of people Will talk and should we should talk about? Yes, you know, it's a broad concept that well one of the ways that we face this over the longer term is through economic development I'm sure glad you're running this interview. So thank you for segueing to the next question well Good good good. Good. Thank you. Well, we're talking about solutions now because you know, we're not gonna sit You couldn't have done a better job of reading my mind Rob. That's all well I think I think when people hear I think first of all, I don't think that we do a good job Here defining what we mean by economic development and I think it's a it's a scary word So I think we should start by saying what economic development is not right economic development is not building new homes on the periphery of Davis You know housing complexes over a relatively short period of time Become a net drain on the city because you still have to provide services and the fees and things that are front-end loaded The number I heard was four hundred fifty thousand dollars for a house if you pay more than that then your property tax revenues Come close to compensating for the service you will be received Well, I would encourage people and you can find it online to go and look at the projections that were made for Canary The newest project that's going in and then there will be units up there that will surpass that But that's the analysis. Well, yeah, I haven't actually heard it put that way But what I can tell you is the analysis the fiscal model that was used shows that Not the cumulative Benefit to the city to the general fund of Canary, but the year on year after about year 10 turns negative And again, that's related to cost escalation the provision of services You know city staff compensation all of those things grows faster than the revenue generated by property and other taxes there So economic development is not that though economic development It does not mean homes it and it really and and other people say well economic development Then is is building business parks, you know again on the periphery and people are fearful of that and the issue of sprawl Of course But you know, that's not all that economic development is there there there is an innovation task force now That's been put together by the city That has been exploring sites around the city where an innovation part could be I've been asking for you know Even back of the envelope figures about what revenue streams can typically come from a place like that They're the advantage of course of business as you you get jobs. You have multiplier effects And so, you know those that work of course get an income and can spend that on goods Hopefully in the city and that generates sales tax good. That's part of the multiplier But you also have Property tax from that and you have non-secured property So if you have a business like a robotics company that needs to buy new equipment That's all taxable and that flows into the cost some of that flows into the city's coffers But the other thing about economic development But that doesn't equal economic development economic development is is more than just business parks And and if we're going to have them I would say I'm willing to examine The possibilities obviously on you know lower productive farmland Or land that is just not suitable for farming like Nishi is not really suitable Some of the land west the hospital or land that is Protected in a way so that it's not going to lead to sprawl I think we have some opportunities there and I'd like to look at them But I think we we need we need some ballpark numbers to see what are the revenue streams that that activity of the year yield But beyond all that I mean, I think there's so much we can do within our with what we already have in our downtown To make it a place that you know people we talk about Densification of our downtown and what that means is it means more properties where people can live where more businesses can get Established in and in a revenue sense It means more property taxes you redevelop but we live in a post redevelopment agency world And so there's not a lot of money lying around on the floor that we can put towards redevelopment So what I want to do I mean I certainly I certainly want to explore You know what you can the the array of things that we can do to densify our downtown To bring in more retail into that space to bring in more You know therefore tax revenue into that space more property tax through redevelopment and densification meaning building higher You know how we can use it to track attract more people to come to our community to enjoy our entertainment our food I mean these are things that we need to make investments in because they will generate streams So all of those things can be a piece of economic development the the thing that I want to Make sure I'm communicating is that The tension the fear that people have about that turning into some sort of free-for-all sprawl I'm cognizant of that concern And so that the tension that I live with is that I'm also committed to preserving our peripheral farmland Why because it's a resource for our future just like all the other things in our city are a resource for our future And so I want I am not for a free-for-all. I'm for intentionality About saying where our best options. How do we link to the greatest recent one of the greatest resources? We have here the University to enhance our relationship and build on the great research Work that's going there bring it into a business you know Business development within our city so that we're actually creating linkages with that resource and we're actually building Businesses that meet the needs of the periphery that is the farmland around us for an example So how can we I don't know I don't know I don't have a magic wand But I I want to be clear that when I talk about and I'm willing to talk about economic development as a piece of how We begin to grow the revenue we need to live here. How do we make it? How do we do it in a way that's consistent with who we are that preserves precious farmland? That builds on the strengths of the university that meets the needs of our local watershed Farmers ag maybe not just here but further out but begins here and and provides good meaningful jobs for young people in our community So I think all of those things are part of the solution and that's why I say if you're looking for a magic bullet We're not going to find it. There is going to be some tax increase That's what we need in the short run, but I think what we need is we need city council That's going to really lay out some clear goals Not just write them on a piece of paper and put them away We have plans out there, but it's going to take the steps to try to move this kind of complex set of things together to develop revenue I Will I know you're looking at the clock and we need we need to move on Please I mean, I think it's more difficult and I actually hesitate to even bring it up, but You know, I think we have to ask the question on the on the cost side Is there more that we can do now? I've been everything I've been talking about is revenue, but there is that cost side No The bottom line is I think if you talk to most people in the city government I mean we've we've reduced our city staffing over the last five years by a hundred positions 22% And so, you know right off the top it seems like We've cut to the bone kind of any more what services are we going to lose? But I Think we have to ask is it possible are there things we can do, you know Our employee compensation is a significant part of The challenge Can we simultaneously communicate to our city staff that we think you're Fantastic we value your work, but we need you to help us hold the line on on growth of expenditures How do we do that? How do I sit with a city employee and have that conversation? That's a hard one But I'd be lying to say I didn't think that that city council needs to be willing to to go in that direction, right? I don't want to I I Think it I think it's very hard to send a consistent message of valuing people while you say, you know You're gonna have to hold the line on your salary. We're gonna have to reduce, you know, we're gonna have to cut back but I Want everything to be on the table. Yeah Well, you know, we're we're still a part of a town of Democrats and pretty labor friendly so When people have been elected the city council in the past they've been open to what laborers had to say well, I look I We have a long history in this country and actually worldwide That shows me the absolute value of organized labor. Absolutely and and I don't you know, I Would never want to lose that and and and organized labor exists to collectively bargain And I say yep great do it Lay out your needs lay out what you know, you're the people you're representing need for their families and then give me the opportunity to lay out my needs to this is a negotiation This is bargaining. No and in the time of fiscal challenge I think what we need to do is we need to make those discussions Respectful, I think we need to be honest. I think it really requires leadership that is Seen to be fair and what I mean by that is fair in the sense that they're not throwing money away Willy-nilly, but are really focused on the fundamentals able to pull back and really lay out what is our fundamental core business as a city and make sure we provide those and Do not engage in superfluous spending, you know, I think Well, I won't go in that direction. I'll simply say that I think that's the responsibility the next four years Given the realities I laid out They're not going to be easy times We're gonna have to look at each other in the face and say, you know, how are we gonna accomplish this? But I I think Going back, you know, going back to who I am as a person I I want to engage in those conversations in a respectful way and Acknowledge that I don't have all the answers and that I don't think anybody does but together We're gonna figure out a way to get this stuff done. We don't have a choice. We are gonna continue to live here We're gonna continue to host students in this community from all over the planet We're gonna continue to be part of a thriving Region an ag region that is thriving and is doing well We're gonna continue to be part of that and we're gonna continue to move our city forward but we're gonna face hard choices to make that happen and I Do I relish being part of that relish may not be the right word, but I do think I'm What I'm doing now day-to-day is preparing myself to be in that place to be in that role and to do it faithfully And with an ear to hearing the concerns that arise as a result of it So I want to say one more thing about economic development, and then I'd like you to close by talking about leadership so I used to have this joke and that was ten years ago the Gang of eight the eight most powerful people in the world were meeting in France and the French the Canadian Prime Minister was bilingual. He was French and English and President W. Bush Said to the Canadian the problem with the French is they don't ever work for entrepreneur Now the obvious joke is So So on the face of it It's a joke on Bush Yeah, it certainly is but I've been I've been thinking about it, and I've been thinking You know the the French economy is The most socialist in the negative sense economy in the world. They have 54 I don't know about the the Chinese and the Russians. I'm not going there Among among industrial Western nations the French economy is 54 percent public sector So the reality is is the French have lost the idea of entrepreneurship Now that's one insight the second insight is the way I can remember how to spell it is that it's E.E.E.U. So it's Entrepreneur and and so the way I translated it this morning and thinking about this conversation was Put an M in front of each of those vowels for the beginning and then it's Entrepreneur is me me me for you Hmm, and so the point is when somebody goes into a business They're making a tremendous investment in the future. They're ecologists They care about the potential of the environment because they want it to be healthy and sustainable in the future for their good They're they're making an investment. Yeah, let me let me pick up on that because it's something that I want to say I mean, I think we can get into these dichotomies, you know that that entrepreneurs or business people, you know Our selfish and self-centered. I don't know. I hear these kind of things There's a couple things that I I observe I look at our downtown businesses and I know some of the business people down there pretty well partly because I use the downtown frequently You know, I'm struck by a couple things one thing I'm struck by how often members of our community approach those businesses in the downtown and elsewhere and Requests support for private activities and community good yeah community event and and and how much and look at the paper You know when people are giving thanks how many of our local businesses are part of it But more than that they are a critical part of our social fabric in the sense of being in place and actually helping create place Taking space well I look at you know someone like Janice lot there at Newsbeat or you know, Rosalie Payne over at nest where I I mean I say them because they're people I know a little bit better. I was on the parking task force They are present there They are creating the space that is downtown that I walk through They're they're merchants. They're financing. Yeah. Well, they're they're helping to make it happen And they're but they're also looking out, you know, they're aware of what's going on on the street They're aware of what's happening in the community That's a valuable thing that extends beyond just the idea of them being in a transit I'm I'm not just in a transactional relationship with them I'm in a relationship where they are a significant part of the social fabric of my community And I think of other larger businesses, you know some that we definitely want to keep I mean, I think you know shilling robotics or maroon They've expressed the desire to stay attached to Davis now without be forever and ever I don't know do does that mean we bend over backwards and say well, we got to keep them We'll do anything no, but I do think it means that we Acknowledge the value they bring to our community and we say and we engage in a intentional conversation about what is good for you What is good for us? Can we work out a way to make this work because what you bring to the community is a good? What what you bring in terms of jobs and opportunities and even I think some of the research being done is Valuable to us, so I just want to say that I think again intentionality is important But also acknowledging that we can't just create cardboard cutouts and say that's the entrepreneur he or she is x y and z They play a much more nuanced and and I think a valuable role They're not the whole piece the nonprofit sector with that I work with is another critical piece of that social fabric But we're all part of it And we all are working together towards what I hope is the sustainability You know of our of our community and what certainly what we want to work for So you've got a couple of minutes to close talk about leadership the city manager and the relationship with the city council is a way to end Well, you know, we're a general law city So we hire, you know, it's like a lot of the boards I've been on throughout my whole career the board especially in a policy governance kind of environment the board hires that key executive director in this case the city manager in this case the board is the city council set some clear ends and Then should evaluate that person on the basis of whether they're helping to achieve the end set I mean that in a nutshell is it Just like in the nonprofit board Just like the nonprofit board that board that city council is responsible for setting the policy guidelines That's where the policy is set in our case in a representative democracy It's set through input of our commissions and our and our You know citizens through a variety of forums But at the end of the day the policy set there and then the guidance is given to the city manager who then instructs and Overseas staff to accomplish those ends. I Have I have a lot of questions in my mind and it's and they're and it's out of ignorance I'll acknowledge about how that process of setting ends and Assessing the performance of city manager city manager and city staff on the basis of whether achieving those and how that's actually working in our city I can tell you my own background in In as a board member and as a CEO. I think I've thought a great deal about performance evaluation I I've done a lot of work on on assessing progress towards goals and so I bring I Don't just bring a perspective on economic development in those things I bring a perspective on how we build accountability through setting clear ends and making sure that we're Holding staff accountable to achieving them And it's something that I'm really looking forward to learning more about and if possible improving so that we achieve greater transparency and accountability So why are you running? Well, you know based on these last 15 or 20 minutes, I would say I'm running because I think we have To be intentional about our direction at this point. We really do have to we do have to step I won't say step back. We have to sit down and say what are what's our core business right now? How are you gonna pay for it? That's about as far as I want to go with vision right now But we have to deal with that and then I'm ready to roll up my sleeves and say all right week to week Months a month over the next four years. How are you gonna accomplish that? And I'll be fair and I'll listen to people and I and I look forward and I value the opportunity to be in a role Where I can I can help shepherd that process forward Thanks, thanks John. Thanks for being on our show. Yeah, I really appreciate it. Thanks for running for office. Okay This is Rob Davis. He's been with us talking about the problems confronting the city of Davis This is what's going on. Thanks for being with us. Good evening