Kelsey Fortune for Davis City Council, District 1
I was raised in small town Wisconsin to believe everyone should play an active role in shaping their community. I moved to Davis nine years ago to pursue my PhD in economics, determined to live in accordance with my values for respect, inclusion, and sustainability. I use my bicycle as my main form of transportation and have woven close relationships with a wide variety of people through my involvement in our community. I volunteer my time as the Associate Director of Purple Tree Café and on the Boards of Bike Davis and Cool Davis.
Faced with a climate emergency that threatens to exacerbate already unacceptable levels of inequality and is currently degrading our environment, I believe our diverse and compassionate community is our greatest strength. I see untapped potential for progress and action in the City of Davis. The people and elected leaders who came before us laid the groundwork for a vibrant, sustainable community, and our city government and citizenry can again become an example of an equitable and effective response. The city is also faced with an unsustainable budget, a public safety and justice system that does not best serve the people, an extreme dearth of both affordable and dedicated low-income housing, and lack of transparency, effective communication, and action from our City Council. Our children’s future depends on our ability to act now to address these problems. |
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My Priorities for Davis
Climate ResilienceWe are facing a climate emergency. We must act quickly to limit our impact and create a resilient community which is ready to accommodate locals and climate refugees when faced with extreme weather events. I am of the generation of climate anxiety and uncertainty of my own future because of our lack of action. We must stop giving lip-service to our lofty goal of carbon neutrality by 2040, and begin taking actions. Here are four things I will do on city council.
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Community Centered PlanningOur general plan was written in the '90s. This is unacceptable. Our downtown specific plan draft was ready in 2019, but we only just got an environmental impact report (EIR) this summer. This community led project was postponed by the current council in favor of pushing forward peripheral development. If you want to know what to expect from candidate, look at their past actions. I am the only candidate in District 1 that has shown with my actions that I would favor community led planning over developer proposed projects. The most recent example of this was my opposition to Measure H which would've approved the Davis Innovation and Sustainability Campus (DISC) which lost at the ballot box. Both of my opponents were vocal supporters of this project which required exceptions to our general plan, was not supported by the community, and took staff time away from pushing forward the community led downtown specific plan. I will do on the following.
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Fiscal SustainabilityAs an economist with experience working on policy, I know how to create a sustainable budget for our city. Here are three things that we can do to improve our fiscal situation.
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Economics |
My work as an economist primarily focuses on energy, transportation, and climate policy. The project I'm currently finishing focuses on the implementation of means testing in California's Clean Vehicle Rebate Project. "Meaning Testing" is economist speak to simply say that a policy varies for individuals or households based on their income. I utilize the variation in the size of rebates available to estimate the impact of subsidies on electric vehicle adoption. I also discuss the distributional impacts of this government spending. Every decision by a government body impacts people differently, and it's important to consider that with every policy to make sure that inequitable and regressive policies are offset.
I've included a link to a blog by some of my favorite economists that focuses on explaining energy economics in an accessible way. Check it out! |
Empowering our Community
One of the struggle I see within the city of Davis is a lack of collaboration and communication between staff, council, and the public. Public comment in meetings is often met with ambivalence or defensiveness and often seems unproductive. I have experienced this personally and as a board member of Bike Davis. We felt unheard, ignored, and frustrated while doing or best to help the community. In the past year, Bike Davis has had a break through in the way we work with the city. Rather than acting in response to staff and council in public meetings, we’ve cultivated a proactive working relationship with staff that allows us to be involved earlier in the process. It began with a temporary redesign of 5th St. between L St. and Poleline after the sewer work was completed last year.
The city’s original plan was to stripe 5th St. back to exactly how it was before the sewer work with two traffic lanes in each direction and no dedicated bicycle infrastructure. It has been in the city’s plan for many years to add bike lanes, so Bike Davis hired a consultant to redesign this section of the street. We presented the redesign to city staff as an alternative to re-striping without an updated design. Because they needed to re-stripe either was, the cost difference to implementing our updated design was minimal, and staff agreed. Before this was a very stressful place to bike as it required taking the lane or moving on to a narrow and not will marked multi-use path. Now this section of road is one of the most comfortable and low stress places to bike in all of town.
Since this collaboration, Bike Davis has been regularly meeting with city staff, so that we can assist each other in creating safe, human friendly infrastructure.
The city’s original plan was to stripe 5th St. back to exactly how it was before the sewer work with two traffic lanes in each direction and no dedicated bicycle infrastructure. It has been in the city’s plan for many years to add bike lanes, so Bike Davis hired a consultant to redesign this section of the street. We presented the redesign to city staff as an alternative to re-striping without an updated design. Because they needed to re-stripe either was, the cost difference to implementing our updated design was minimal, and staff agreed. Before this was a very stressful place to bike as it required taking the lane or moving on to a narrow and not will marked multi-use path. Now this section of road is one of the most comfortable and low stress places to bike in all of town.
Since this collaboration, Bike Davis has been regularly meeting with city staff, so that we can assist each other in creating safe, human friendly infrastructure.
Ojai is making waves.
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Shall the voters authorize, at the discretion of the City Council, the use of ranked choice voting, also known as instant runoff voting and allowing voters to rank candidates for elected office in order of preference, to elect City offices at-large, thereby amending the Ojai Municipal Code to no longer elect City Council members by district, if the City Council implements it starting with the November 2024 general election? |
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