A true learning experience for Watts
By Crystal Lee | Enterprise staff writer | May 28, 2010 09:40
Daniel Watts conducts an a cappella group during rehearsal May 18 at the Mondavi Center for the UC Davis School of Law commencement ceremony, which took place a few days later. Watts just finished his second year of law school. Sue Cockrell/Enterprise photo* Editor's note: This is the last in a series of profiles on the five candidates for Davis City Council.
Finals week is tough enough without simultaneously running for Davis City Council.
But candidate Daniel Watts has no fear.
Watts, 27, just finished up his second year at the UC Davis School of Law, after juggling a week crammed with final exams and an onslaught of candidate forums organized by various community groups.
'We had four of these debate forums and I had three finals - Thursday, Friday, Saturday - in the same week and two of them overlapped,' Watts said. 'I was really busy. But I read faster than most people and I am good at getting what needs to be done, done. So, I will just sit there and do what I have to do, and then move on to the next project.'
Watts has promised that, if elected to the council on June 8, he will focus his energy on speaking out for student rights and the constitutional rights of all Davis residents.
In fact, he points out, he has already effected change by getting the city to amend outdated municipal codes that were still on the books. One ordinance banned cursing in public, which, Watts said, is a blatant violation of First Amendment rights.
'More than any other candidate, I've already had an impact (on the City Council),' Watts said, at a forum hosted by the League of Women Voters earlier in the month.
He said the city needs to crack down on numerous other offenses, including many committed by local business owners. Restaurants need to clearly describe menu items, for example, and businesses cannot impose surcharges or require minimum purchase amounts for credit card use, Watts said.
Residents should be able to file complaints for such violations by filling out a form on the city's website, he said. The city should then follow up on complaints and enforce the law, he said.
'It's worth it for the city to collect money,' Watts said. 'If people are violating the law and there's a municipal penalty imposed on them before it goes to the state, then the city can (collect on) the penalty instead of the state getting it.'
Over the course of his campaign, Watts said, he has learned more about other important community issues. The budget is a big one, he said.
Watts said he is willing to make the hard decisions necessary to bring the city's finances into balance.
'There's a lot of common sense things that people aren't talking about, like contract employees,' Watts said. 'Hiring employees on an ad hoc basis without the pension liabilities that come along with hiring full-time employees. ... I would do that for a lot of positions.'
That may mean layoffs, Watts acknowledged, but the city needs to figure out which employees are absolutely necessary.
'If they're unnecessary, then the city shouldn't be employing them,' Watts said. 'A lot of them don't even live in Davis, so it's not even like you're laying off Davis residents and making them go look for a job. These are people that commute to Davis, they take our money, they do a job that, in some cases, is superfluous, and they leave every day and we're stuck with the bill for the rest of eternity because they're part of the pension system.'
Watts said he believes the Davis City Council should be thinking of its residents' welfare above all else.
'The City Council, they shouldn't be concerned at all with people that don't live in Davis, except for those that are within our sphere of influence. Like the students that are part of the Davis community,' Watts said.
'But (non-residents are) not registered voters, they're not affected by City Council, they don't pay taxes, they don't patronize the businesses, necessarily, unless they show up on weekends or something. The City Council is not representing people that live in Vallejo or Vacaville, which is where some of the firefighters, city employees (and police officers) live.'
He said a friend of his is a Davis police officer, who lives in the suburbs of East Sacramento.
'He's taking his gigantic salary, of 70-grand or 80-grand, and he's spending it elsewhere,' Watts said. 'He doesn't stay in Davis on weekends. He goes back to his family. So, we have no obligation to represent him because he's not a Davis resident, he's not even close to a Davis resident.'
Lest it come across that Watts wants to pass out pink slips like candy, he said that is definitely not the case, but he does want to make sure the city is not wasting its dollars.
'We shouldn't just willy-nilly fire our employees, but if they're doing a job that is not necessary, then we should get rid of them,' he said. 'Or if we could do it cheaper by hiring someone else, like a student intern looking for work. We have an entire campus of 33,000 students ... and they will work for very little.'
He said he supports the half-cent sales tax renewal, Measure Q on the June ballot. If the tax is not renewed, the city will lose a source of funding equal to about $3 million a year.
'I support it because, otherwise, the city would have to cut a lot of things, but I think it's unfortunate that it's needed,' Watts said. 'In a perfect world, if we had enough money, or if we could survive without it, or if the public employees' unions hadn't held the City Council hostage for the last 10 years, then I would not want sales tax increases.'
Watts said one of his goals on the council would be to wean the city off its reliance on the existing half-cent sales tax.
Another goal, he said, is to ban the use of leaf blowers.
'They're noisy, they pollute, they consume gasoline, they kick dust in the air and they're annoying in general,' he said.
Watts said he is pleased with the response from residents, including many UCD students, to his campaign. But, if he had to do it all over again, there is one thing he would change.
'Next time around,' Watts said, 'I'll probably need to raise some money. ... I would like yard signs, maybe, next time.'
- Reach Crystal Lee at clee@davisenterprise.net or (530) 747-8057. Comment on this story at www.davisenterprise.com
Where he stands
* Direct Davis police to release aggregate data on race, gender and age of detained citizens to stop profiling abuses
* Annex UC Davis and adjacent areas into city
* Create voting student representative on City Council
* Create city/UCD website providing legal services for renters in disputes with landlords
* Cut city staff salaries to balance city budget
* Continue repealing unconstitutional city ordinances
* Require Davis businesses to obey state law, eliminate fees for credit card purchases
* Stop Davis PD from beating protesters and blocking nonprotesters from observing protests
* Establish free 'bike share' program downtown
* Remove barriers to providing services to the homeless
* Coordinate with law school, legal observers, to monitor police abuses during Halloween, Picnic Day, protests
* Use City Council pulpit to draw state attention to UC Davis
* Install bigger, more visible street signs
* Ban gas-powered leaf blowers
* Trim trees covering street signs
* Light streets for safety
Candidate vitals
Name: Daniel Watts
Age: 27
Education: J.D. candidate, UC Davis School of Law; history and political science, UC San Diego
Occupation: Student, UC Davis School of Law; projects editor and articles editor, UC Davis Law Review; teaching assistant, political science department, UCD; clerk, Wikimedia Foundation, San Francisco
Civic involvement: Chairman, ACLU at UC Davis School of Law; ran for California governor in 2003 recall election; president of International Society in Oamishirasato, Chiba prefecture, Japan; lobbied Davis City Council to repeal unconstitutional portions of the municipal code
Recognition: Outstanding Oral Advocate Award; Graduating Senior Award, UC San Diego; graduated with honors, Warren College, UC San Diego; regional semifinalist, National Mock Trial Competition; gubernatorial candidate, 2003 California recall election; 'Wheel of Fortune' champion
Contact: E-mail danielwatts@gmail.com or visit http://votewatts.com
Finals week is tough enough without simultaneously running for Davis City Council.
But candidate Daniel Watts has no fear.
Watts, 27, just finished up his second year at the UC Davis School of Law, after juggling a week crammed with final exams and an onslaught of candidate forums organized by various community groups.
'We had four of these debate forums and I had three finals - Thursday, Friday, Saturday - in the same week and two of them overlapped,' Watts said. 'I was really busy. But I read faster than most people and I am good at getting what needs to be done, done. So, I will just sit there and do what I have to do, and then move on to the next project.'
Watts has promised that, if elected to the council on June 8, he will focus his energy on speaking out for student rights and the constitutional rights of all Davis residents.
In fact, he points out, he has already effected change by getting the city to amend outdated municipal codes that were still on the books. One ordinance banned cursing in public, which, Watts said, is a blatant violation of First Amendment rights.
'More than any other candidate, I've already had an impact (on the City Council),' Watts said, at a forum hosted by the League of Women Voters earlier in the month.
He said the city needs to crack down on numerous other offenses, including many committed by local business owners. Restaurants need to clearly describe menu items, for example, and businesses cannot impose surcharges or require minimum purchase amounts for credit card use, Watts said.
Residents should be able to file complaints for such violations by filling out a form on the city's website, he said. The city should then follow up on complaints and enforce the law, he said.
'It's worth it for the city to collect money,' Watts said. 'If people are violating the law and there's a municipal penalty imposed on them before it goes to the state, then the city can (collect on) the penalty instead of the state getting it.'
Over the course of his campaign, Watts said, he has learned more about other important community issues. The budget is a big one, he said.
Watts said he is willing to make the hard decisions necessary to bring the city's finances into balance.
'There's a lot of common sense things that people aren't talking about, like contract employees,' Watts said. 'Hiring employees on an ad hoc basis without the pension liabilities that come along with hiring full-time employees. ... I would do that for a lot of positions.'
That may mean layoffs, Watts acknowledged, but the city needs to figure out which employees are absolutely necessary.
'If they're unnecessary, then the city shouldn't be employing them,' Watts said. 'A lot of them don't even live in Davis, so it's not even like you're laying off Davis residents and making them go look for a job. These are people that commute to Davis, they take our money, they do a job that, in some cases, is superfluous, and they leave every day and we're stuck with the bill for the rest of eternity because they're part of the pension system.'
Watts said he believes the Davis City Council should be thinking of its residents' welfare above all else.
'The City Council, they shouldn't be concerned at all with people that don't live in Davis, except for those that are within our sphere of influence. Like the students that are part of the Davis community,' Watts said.
'But (non-residents are) not registered voters, they're not affected by City Council, they don't pay taxes, they don't patronize the businesses, necessarily, unless they show up on weekends or something. The City Council is not representing people that live in Vallejo or Vacaville, which is where some of the firefighters, city employees (and police officers) live.'
He said a friend of his is a Davis police officer, who lives in the suburbs of East Sacramento.
'He's taking his gigantic salary, of 70-grand or 80-grand, and he's spending it elsewhere,' Watts said. 'He doesn't stay in Davis on weekends. He goes back to his family. So, we have no obligation to represent him because he's not a Davis resident, he's not even close to a Davis resident.'
Lest it come across that Watts wants to pass out pink slips like candy, he said that is definitely not the case, but he does want to make sure the city is not wasting its dollars.
'We shouldn't just willy-nilly fire our employees, but if they're doing a job that is not necessary, then we should get rid of them,' he said. 'Or if we could do it cheaper by hiring someone else, like a student intern looking for work. We have an entire campus of 33,000 students ... and they will work for very little.'
He said he supports the half-cent sales tax renewal, Measure Q on the June ballot. If the tax is not renewed, the city will lose a source of funding equal to about $3 million a year.
'I support it because, otherwise, the city would have to cut a lot of things, but I think it's unfortunate that it's needed,' Watts said. 'In a perfect world, if we had enough money, or if we could survive without it, or if the public employees' unions hadn't held the City Council hostage for the last 10 years, then I would not want sales tax increases.'
Watts said one of his goals on the council would be to wean the city off its reliance on the existing half-cent sales tax.
Another goal, he said, is to ban the use of leaf blowers.
'They're noisy, they pollute, they consume gasoline, they kick dust in the air and they're annoying in general,' he said.
Watts said he is pleased with the response from residents, including many UCD students, to his campaign. But, if he had to do it all over again, there is one thing he would change.
'Next time around,' Watts said, 'I'll probably need to raise some money. ... I would like yard signs, maybe, next time.'
- Reach Crystal Lee at clee@davisenterprise.net or (530) 747-8057. Comment on this story at www.davisenterprise.com
Where he stands
* Direct Davis police to release aggregate data on race, gender and age of detained citizens to stop profiling abuses
* Annex UC Davis and adjacent areas into city
* Create voting student representative on City Council
* Create city/UCD website providing legal services for renters in disputes with landlords
* Cut city staff salaries to balance city budget
* Continue repealing unconstitutional city ordinances
* Require Davis businesses to obey state law, eliminate fees for credit card purchases
* Stop Davis PD from beating protesters and blocking nonprotesters from observing protests
* Establish free 'bike share' program downtown
* Remove barriers to providing services to the homeless
* Coordinate with law school, legal observers, to monitor police abuses during Halloween, Picnic Day, protests
* Use City Council pulpit to draw state attention to UC Davis
* Install bigger, more visible street signs
* Ban gas-powered leaf blowers
* Trim trees covering street signs
* Light streets for safety
Candidate vitals
Name: Daniel Watts
Age: 27
Education: J.D. candidate, UC Davis School of Law; history and political science, UC San Diego
Occupation: Student, UC Davis School of Law; projects editor and articles editor, UC Davis Law Review; teaching assistant, political science department, UCD; clerk, Wikimedia Foundation, San Francisco
Civic involvement: Chairman, ACLU at UC Davis School of Law; ran for California governor in 2003 recall election; president of International Society in Oamishirasato, Chiba prefecture, Japan; lobbied Davis City Council to repeal unconstitutional portions of the municipal code
Recognition: Outstanding Oral Advocate Award; Graduating Senior Award, UC San Diego; graduated with honors, Warren College, UC San Diego; regional semifinalist, National Mock Trial Competition; gubernatorial candidate, 2003 California recall election; 'Wheel of Fortune' champion
Contact: E-mail danielwatts@gmail.com or visit http://votewatts.com
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