A Reporter's Life

On videotape, with all her family there, no less. What an utter humiliation.

That is an even crazier system of electing a mayor than here in Davis. At least the vote by the city population ultimately affects who is mayor. The council member who receives the most votes in the election becomes the mayor a year or two into their term and holds it for two years, I believe.

Davis is infamous for Julie Partansky, a council member and mayor in the '90s. You may not know the name but I'm sure many people who have heard of Davis know about things she has instituted. Toad tunnel. Dark night initiative. Grazing homeless. Historical potholes. All her. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

I wanna hear more about Partansky, if you'd like to fill me in. Sounds interesting. Hasn't Stephen mentioned the frog tunnels at one point or another?

I think Partansky might have still been mayor when I was in Davis; I seem to remember seeing TV news footage of her riding around on a bicycle with a basket in the front.

You see, Davis people live in their own little world. A very hilarious world. I worked in Davis for a year-and-a-half, and it was definitely a unique experience. When I began working in Woodland (15 minutes away), we could almost always tell which customers were from Davis and which ones were not.

I'm not sure where to begin with the Partansky stuff. The toad tunnel made The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and I think that helped put Davis on the map. I mean, who else would think, "Let's spend $30,000 to build a tunnel under a road so the toads don't get squished"?

For that matter, who would think, "Let's plant fruit trees so the homeless can graze on them"? Yes, "graze" was Partansky's word.

Layla,

Funny stuff... they used to elect mayors that way in Poway, now they're elected by the general population.

The council still picks the deputy mayor, and it's often a way for some council members to get back at others they don't like. It works better when it's a set rotation --- like they do with school boards when selecting the "president."

In all, though, mayors in California really don't have that much responsibility. They run meetings and sign stuff. The rotation thing can suck if someone doesn't know how to run meetings well.

What was the reason they voted down the stay at home mom?

(by the way, thank you for letting me know I'm not the only person on the planet who randomly attends city council and school board meetings)

First of all, Partansky's listed profession is "artist," and, while that is not a bad thing, I think it does give you a bit of an idea of how she thought. I have seen some of her artwork and I wasn't overly impressed, but that is my personal taste.

The grazing quote is always a good one. And the toad tunnel is still there. You can see it by the Post Office where they built a miniature town called Toad Hollow. Interestingly, no toad has ever been witnessed using the tunnel.

Other quotes and notable Partansky moments:
-She suggested that the police who work at the twice weekly Farmer's Market, directing traffic and performing crowd control, dress up like fruits and nuts.

-A pothole in a parking lot behind a building was causing problems for motorists and many people complained about it. But she suggested that the age of pothole made it a historic landmark and that it shouldn't be touched. Others agreed but I believe it was filled.

-She proposed that traffic circles be installed in the city instead of costly traffic lights at intersections. Not that crazy of an idea even though most intersections in town are rather small and bike circles are used on campus. However, she did justify it by saying that "traffic circles are very European and anything that makes Davis more European is a good thing." I'm still waiting for the city to install some old castle ruins and introduce the plague.

-Because of light pollution, all light posts should only project light downwards (not all that bad an idea but there have been some complaints, I think regarding safety).

I'm sure I'm forgetting something.

While looking through a book of work that Robert Crumb did in the Yolo County area, I came across a business card he designed for Julie Partansky in the early '70s.

Tom: The stay-at-home mom actually runs a very good meeting. However, she tends to postpone decisions if possible. For instance, she said at one meeting, "I think we should wait until after the 9th Circuit rules." That cracked me up, because we all know that appeals courts -- especially the 9th -- will rule when they want to but, in the meantime, life goes on.

And, at a time when the citizens are demanding answers about the money going into a huge lawsuit, she's been trying to keep it all behind closed doors. The combination alienated her from several fellow council members. She never wants to discuss anything until after it's been voted on by the council, which doesn't make the citizens (or the press -- both papers) happy.

That said, though, I have a feeling she's a very nice person when she's not trying to be a politician.

As for attending meetings, I haven't gone to a school board meeting yet, and I currently have no interest in those things. As for the council meetings, well, I happen to live next door to the place where the meetings are held. That's my excuse. ;-)

By the way, get your blog and site back online!!

The whole East Coast/West Coast traffic circle thing is amazing. On the East Coast (here I'm thinking New Jersey and other places around New York City), where traffic circles have been around for years, the local municipalities are getting rid of them. These circles are accident magnets. Meanwhile, Seattle suburbs seem to be on a waiting list to get traffic circles.

Ah, traffic circles. The person who thought them up must also have been the first person to make a 'California stop.' They recently created one of those pieces of circular insanity about five miles from here, and I've driven through it a couple of times. It was completely empty and I still didn't like it. Cars aren't supposed to ride on merry-go-rounds.

If people knew who had the right of way in a traffic circle, they're not too bad. But all it takes is one idjit to barrel into the circle without yielding (or another idjit to stop in the circle and let car after car enter in front of him) to mess things up. It takes years and several circles for people to adjust if they haven't seen them before. I think they are fine but not worth it. People are not getting to be better drivers.

Layla, my site's back up... see how obedient I can be?

Very good, Tom. Now fetch me some coffee, please. ;-)

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