5 Candidates, 3 Seats: Pick the Next Davis City Council

Last Friday was the final day to enter the Davis City Council race. It appears that five candidates will compete for three available seats in the next election on June 5. Which three would you like to see on the council? 

Here is a bit of information about each candidate, two of which are newcomers and three of which are incumbents. They are: Brett Lee, Lucas Frerichs, Stephen Souza, Sue Greenwald and Dan Wolk. 

Share your selections in the comments below. 

The following excerpts are taken directly from each candidate’s website, starting with the newcomers: 

Brett Lee

Brett Lee is an industrial engineer and business planner with over 15 years of experience in the private sector helping major companies improve their efficiency, operations, productivity and service.

• Believes Davis needs access to Sacramento River water, but that the water-rate issue should be on the ballot. 
• Require that any growth be community driven, not developer driven. 
• Provide critical oversight to our City administration.
• Protect the character and viability of the downtown. 
• Promote improved pedestrian and neighborhood safety.
• Promote landlord and tenant responsibility.

Lucas Frerichs

[Lucas Frerichs has] served our community for more than 12 years in numerous volunteer leadership capacities.  Now is the time for new vision, experience, and direction for the City of Davis. We stand at the threshold of a new era in city-state financing, investment in city infrastructure, sustainable budgeting, environmental planning and community caring. I want to lead us into that era prepared and ahead of the game.

Stephen Souza

I’ve led efforts to save open space and agricultural land, to secure funding for public safety services, to balance our city budget and to address our housing needs while staying in accordance with the city’s 1% annual growth guidelines. But my work is not done. The issues before us today are:

• A balanced budget, taking care of our unfunded liabilities and needs
• Job creation and economic development
• A clean, safe and reliable water source
• Providing green, clean energy via solar farms

Sue Greenwald

As your City Councilmember for the last eleven years I have voted to:

• Protect and improve all of our neighborhoods
• Slow our residential growth
• Provide needed student housing
• Promote arts and entertainment downtown both to stimulate business and to enhance our lives
• Protect habitat and agricultural land, and re-establish Davis as a leader in environmentally innovative planning
• Impose greater fiscal accountability and promote high quality economic development
• Support Davis’ tradition of excellent schools and respect for diversity and commitment to human rights
• Keep Davis a uniquely livable town

Today I renew these commitments.

Dan Wolk

I am running for City Council to give back to a community that has given me so much. As at the state and national levels, these are very challenging times for our community — and actions the City Council takes (or does not take) now will have a profound impact upon our community’s future. I want to make sure that the City Council makes the right decisions, ensuring the community my daughters grow up in is an even stronger one than the Davis I grew up in.

• Address Long-term Structural Issues in the Budget.
• Safeguard our Water and Infrastructure.
• Prioritize Economic Development and the Downtown.
• Focus on Environmental Sustainability.
• Pursue Affordable Housing for Seniors and Young Families, and Combat Homelessness.

Of these five candidates, which three would you like to see on the council? Share your thoughts in the comments below. 

Like Davis Patch on Facebook | Follow on Twitter | Get Free Newsletter