The Enterprise doesn't let candidates write letters to the editor. Of course, that doesn't stop certain candidates' organized supporters from holding letter-writing parties, gathering for tea in living rooms throughout the town to scribble slight variants of the same theme: "Candidate X is a loyal supporter of schools, public safety, and business. Candidate X is the only choice for the job."
My supporters are far less organized. So when the Enterprise offered to let me take over one of their regular columnist spots, I took the chance to get published. The only catch: the column had to be about bicycles. Easy enough.
DAVIS BICYCLES: Things I learned on the South Davis Bike Path
Davis Enterprise | May 28, 2010
Editor's note: This is the last of five columns on bike-related topics by the candidates for Davis City Council.
Dirt in my eyes again. Knuckles numb with cold. This had become my morning routine.
Forgetting my gloves in winter - that's my own fault. But those leaf blowers - those gas-guzzling machines that kick up dirt on the bike path - those were sent from hell to destroy me.
The bike path was fun. It let me ride from my mobile home in South Davis to the law school, bypassing most obstacles that confound the drivers of Davis. I'd sneak under roads, entirely avoiding downtown, jetting along the Arboretum, and shooting out onto the roundabout in front of Mrak Hall. Pedaling from my 'affordable' prefabricated house to my 9:30 a.m. constitutional law class took only seven minutes if I hurried.
Riding to school never feels like crossing a border, but it is. The campus isn't part of Davis. It's in unincorporated Yolo County, and thousands of students whose daily ride extends only from dorm room to classroom cannot vote in city elections. On the City Council, I'd work to annex the campus, West Village and adjacent areas into the city. It'd take time, but it's important.
The bike path wasn't perfect. On the way to King Hall, I'd dodge jogging housewives, baby ducks, confused pedestrians, homeless people and dusty leaf blowers. When I'm on the City Council, I'll ban those leaf blowers. They're noisy, polluting and they drive the good people at Rakes 'R' Us out of business. Palo Alto banned leaf blowers, and its cyclists and asthmatics are happier for it.
I'd leave the homeless alone, though. They have no place else to go, and as long as they stay off the bike path itself, I don't mind aging hippies sleeping in the bushes.
We're a wealthy city, and we pride ourselves on our concern for the less fortunate; the homeless deserve respect. They certainly don't get much respect from the Davis police or the City Council, and that's unfortunate.
Another biking obstacle students avoid is the infamous Davis bike cop. Like all police in Davis, he's got a bad rap with students. On Halloween, police on foot stopped students at random, violating the Constitution by initiating searches without reasonable suspicion.
At a candidates debate last month, a Davis mother of a teenager walked up to me afterward and told me about her son. He's a teenager and a good kid. But police decided one night they didn't like the look of him, so they followed him, slowly, for seven blocks. If anyone else did that, it'd be stalking. But if police do it, it's an 'investigation.'
Luckily, police on bicycles are less prone to such 'investigations' - bike cops playing stalker just look silly. Maybe all our cops should ride unicycles and juggle kumquats. They'd be too embarrassed to harass students except when absolutely necessary.
To deal with these obstacles, we need a municipal ordinance establishing affirmative rights for Davis residents: Police can't use tasers or physical force unless the subject gets violent, police can't racially profile or stalk students because of their age, and citizens may sleep under bushes if they're not bothering anyone. We could call it a Davis Bill of Rights.
It's unique, sure, but then we'd be known as a haven of civil liberties, and that's loads better than being known as the toad tunnel town.
Not that there's anything wrong with toads, or other scaly, slimy creatures. On my rides home from the law school, my favorite part of the trip was gazing out at Putah Creek. When I managed to escape the law library before nightfall, I'd stop to look for turtles resting on mossy stones in the mud. They'd sit there, silently, for hours on end, doing nothing. Almost as if waiting for someone to tell them what to do.
Kind of like the City Council - at least, until I'm on the dais.
- Daniel Watts used 'Wheel of Fortune' winnings to run for California governor in 2003 against Arnold Schwarzenegger on the single issue of 'lower student fees' for college students. During the course of this City Council campaign, he convinced the council to repeal two unconstitutional municipal ordinances. This summer, he'll intern for the Wikimedia Foundation, which he says will be 'awesome.' E-mail him at danielwatts@gmail.com
Dirt in my eyes again. Knuckles numb with cold. This had become my morning routine.
Forgetting my gloves in winter - that's my own fault. But those leaf blowers - those gas-guzzling machines that kick up dirt on the bike path - those were sent from hell to destroy me.
The bike path was fun. It let me ride from my mobile home in South Davis to the law school, bypassing most obstacles that confound the drivers of Davis. I'd sneak under roads, entirely avoiding downtown, jetting along the Arboretum, and shooting out onto the roundabout in front of Mrak Hall. Pedaling from my 'affordable' prefabricated house to my 9:30 a.m. constitutional law class took only seven minutes if I hurried.
Riding to school never feels like crossing a border, but it is. The campus isn't part of Davis. It's in unincorporated Yolo County, and thousands of students whose daily ride extends only from dorm room to classroom cannot vote in city elections. On the City Council, I'd work to annex the campus, West Village and adjacent areas into the city. It'd take time, but it's important.
The bike path wasn't perfect. On the way to King Hall, I'd dodge jogging housewives, baby ducks, confused pedestrians, homeless people and dusty leaf blowers. When I'm on the City Council, I'll ban those leaf blowers. They're noisy, polluting and they drive the good people at Rakes 'R' Us out of business. Palo Alto banned leaf blowers, and its cyclists and asthmatics are happier for it.
I'd leave the homeless alone, though. They have no place else to go, and as long as they stay off the bike path itself, I don't mind aging hippies sleeping in the bushes.
We're a wealthy city, and we pride ourselves on our concern for the less fortunate; the homeless deserve respect. They certainly don't get much respect from the Davis police or the City Council, and that's unfortunate.
Another biking obstacle students avoid is the infamous Davis bike cop. Like all police in Davis, he's got a bad rap with students. On Halloween, police on foot stopped students at random, violating the Constitution by initiating searches without reasonable suspicion.
At a candidates debate last month, a Davis mother of a teenager walked up to me afterward and told me about her son. He's a teenager and a good kid. But police decided one night they didn't like the look of him, so they followed him, slowly, for seven blocks. If anyone else did that, it'd be stalking. But if police do it, it's an 'investigation.'
Luckily, police on bicycles are less prone to such 'investigations' - bike cops playing stalker just look silly. Maybe all our cops should ride unicycles and juggle kumquats. They'd be too embarrassed to harass students except when absolutely necessary.
To deal with these obstacles, we need a municipal ordinance establishing affirmative rights for Davis residents: Police can't use tasers or physical force unless the subject gets violent, police can't racially profile or stalk students because of their age, and citizens may sleep under bushes if they're not bothering anyone. We could call it a Davis Bill of Rights.
It's unique, sure, but then we'd be known as a haven of civil liberties, and that's loads better than being known as the toad tunnel town.
Not that there's anything wrong with toads, or other scaly, slimy creatures. On my rides home from the law school, my favorite part of the trip was gazing out at Putah Creek. When I managed to escape the law library before nightfall, I'd stop to look for turtles resting on mossy stones in the mud. They'd sit there, silently, for hours on end, doing nothing. Almost as if waiting for someone to tell them what to do.
Kind of like the City Council - at least, until I'm on the dais.
- Daniel Watts used 'Wheel of Fortune' winnings to run for California governor in 2003 against Arnold Schwarzenegger on the single issue of 'lower student fees' for college students. During the course of this City Council campaign, he convinced the council to repeal two unconstitutional municipal ordinances. This summer, he'll intern for the Wikimedia Foundation, which he says will be 'awesome.' E-mail him at danielwatts@gmail.com
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