City Council, school board will discuss shared interests

In the spirit of improving “intergovernmental communication,” all 10 members of the Davis City Council and the Davis Board of Education will pull up chairs together Thursday, for the first time in two years, to discuss a handful of issues common to their respective jurisdictions.

The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the Community Chambers at City Hall, 23 Russell Blvd. It also will be broadcast live on Comcast Channel 16 and AT&T U-Verse Channel 99 and can be viewed live at www.cityofdavis.org/media.

Three items are scheduled on the fairly brief agenda: shared services and facilities between the city and the school district, coordination of funding opportunities and the Safe Routes to Schools/Street Smarts program.

No changes are recommended for shared facilities and services, city and school district staff members say in their report, because the agreements that are in place have worked well enough in the past.

“For the past two decades, the city and the Davis Joint Unified School District have worked together to pool resources, when appropriate, to fund services and facilities used jointly by the community,” the report says. “This general approach has led to a system of shared services that is both envied and commendable in this region. While staff in both organizations continue to consider additional ways in which services might be shared, we are not at this time proposing any new structures.”

However, the absence of a staff recommendation doesn’t preclude the council and the board from making changes themselves.

The staff report outlines many of the ways that the two agencies share services and costs, including joint use of the community gym at Davis High School, the crossing guard program and emergency planning services.

The full staff report can be viewed online at http://city-council.cityofdavis.org/council-meetings.

The future revenue discussion, then, will provide the two groups with “an opportunity for city and district staff to share information about timelines for any foreseeable revenue measures either agency may be planning.” According to Kelly Stachowicz, deputy city manager, this could mean discussion about future parcel tax measures.

The two bodies, represented by Mayor Joe Krovoza and Councilwoman Rochelle Swanson from the city and board President Sheila Allen and Vice President Gina Daleiden from the school district, also get together monthly for two-by-two meetings.

Before the discussion items are heard Thursday, the elected officials will present the City/School District Partnership Award to an undisclosed winner.

— Reach Tom Sakash at tsakash@davisenterprise.net or 530-747-8057. Follow him on Twitter at @TomSakash

Tom Sakash

Tom Sakash covers the city beat for The Davis Enterprise. Reach him at tsakash@davisenterprise.net, (530) 747-8057 or @TomSakash.

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