THE OLDEST URINAL IN THE WEST … yes, we have yet another activist group with a clever acronym forming in town, this time by the name of S.O.B. (Save Our Bathrooms) … my friend Mary Lee at pacbell.net, who may or may not be a charter member, says she’s “worried that the issue of retaining/demolishing the only WPA building in town in Central Park will be lost in the concerns about water rates, pepper spray, chancellors, etc.” … a genuine concern, no doubt, but maybe our embattled chancellor would agree to a Central Park photo op to help the cause … I mean, at this point she needs all the allies she can find …

Adds Mary Lee: “Nobody is arguing to retain the yucky bathrooms inside the building.” … indeed, it’s a hard sell that “yucky” business … “What we at the Hattie Weber and others are arguing for is to lock the building up and leave it there, at least until the rest of the park is redeveloped and we can see what, if any, problems it poses.” … given that the bathrooms have been in Davis even longer than the Above-Pictured Columnist, it seems as if letting than stand a few more months won’t hurt anything …

“With the ugly shade structure removed, it could well be the crown jewel in a redesigned history plaza.” … I’m not sure about crown jewels, Mary Lee, but I would like to see the building saved … “Demolition is irrevocable. Retention and reconsideration make common sense.” … amen … long live the Central Park bathrooms … long live S.O.B. …

A TRUE PUBLIC SERVANT … everyone who knew Richard Garcia was sad to hear of his passing last week … Garcia, just 59, was a small-tree specialist for the city of Davis for 35 fruitful years … even more than that, he was always willing to discuss his craft — and the issues of the day — with anyone who approached him … he was a man of a million opinions, who seemed always to have a smile on his face as he made his daily rounds …

We hear that phrase “public servant” often these days, and Richard was the very definition of the term … he gave mightily to the town he loved and he will be greatly missed …

EVEN MORE QUESTIONS … my friend Joe at pacbell.net asks “If Davis’ temerity in putting the surface water issue to a vote became a matter before the Woodland City Council at some point, would Tuesday night’s harangue by five Woodland council members constitute a Brown Act violation?” … technically, yes, but since it came from Woodland, the attorney general probably would give them a pass …

EVEN MORE WOODLAND-SPEAK … there was certainly nothing disrespectful in the tone of the five Woodland council members who appeared before the Davis City Council, but the very sight of this northern invasion was unusual to say the least … their appearance was especially odd given that Woodland has said all along that if Davis defaults on this water deal, Woodland is ready and completely able to go it alone … if so, why did all five feel it necessary to come to Davis to plead their case? … sounds like they may need us after all …

The sad part of all this is that our Woodland friends seem incapable of understanding that we have a democratic process going on here that produced nearly 4,000 signatures on a referendum petition, and until that’s dealt with, our council does not have permission to marry that handsome Northern Stranger …

— Reach Bob Dunning at [email protected]

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