Davis

SundayÕs story on DACHA is good but does not give the full story. That story gets more outrageous as the facts come out. In looking into this, it appears that the DACHA board was composed of ineligible members since 2006. That unduly constituted board is alleged to have broken numerous California laws, borrowed $4 million in public funds from the city of Davis, and against a legal opinion, distributed $200,000 of those public funds to themselves. All of this with a city-appointed representative on the board and city staff attending most meetings.

Over the past four years, the city staff have covered up the allegations, hidden facts from the council, continued to meet regularly with the unduly constituted board and allowed extraordinary gifts of public funds to be spent defending the actions of the unduly constituted board or on the improper distribution of public funds to residents. The city attorney should be acting to get the publicÕs money back.

At this point, the city attorney has spent upwards $150,000 on the activities of DACHA and DACHA probably has spent about $125,000, either because its members were allowed by staff not to pay back their loan to the city, or used borrowed public funds, and possibly spending other public funds, which was not authorized by the city.

As a taxpayer, I am mad. Part of the legal advice given by the city was that the unduly constituted DACHA board could distribute more than $200,000 to its members against the legal opinion the city had received from Goldfarb and Lipman as prepared for Twin Pines Cooperative Foundation. Should our city lawyers have been doing so much of DACHAÕs legal work and cavalierly giving the publicÕs money away?

In reading The Enterprise article, it seems the foreclosure action is not only mean-spirited, but part of a continuing cover-up that will create difficulties for the DACHA residents and larger legal bills for the taxpayers, while providing no answers as to what really went on. The council should postpone foreclosure and carry out the independent investigation I called for in my op-ed piece of March 5.

Delaine Eastin

Davis

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