TLDR: If you support more housing in Davis, vote June 2nd. The No campaign has put blatant misinformation in the voter guide, and I am not going to let that slide without saying something. Supporters need to show up or this thing fails.
I’m worried that the people who support this project won’t feel urgency, while the opposition will turn out in force.
I have seen some sentiment here that is negative towards the well-funded campaign team. Here’s my honest take after actually going and talking to the Yes on V campaign team: these are people trying to get thousands of pages of EIR and development documents into a format regular voters will actually read. If they don’t campaign and create brochures, the project might die because not enough people are informed. If they do campaign, they get accused of having ulterior motives for funding it. It’s a no-win framing, and I think it’s being used against them unfairly, personally.
Nothing I saw or heard from that team gave me the read that they’re being misleading. And when I’ve analyzed the documents, it further confirms the information they are putting out. They came across as people who genuinely believe in this project and are doing the work to get it across the finish line. The developers themselves have been at the farmers market meeting folks to provide more details and information. I have also met with the opposition in person.
I’m a Davis native. I’ve read much of the EIR, the baseline features, and dozens of documents and articles involved in this project. I’ve spoken with people on both sides in person. I’m not being paid by either campaign. I have just done a lot of due diligence to research this project because it is a big development, and I want to make sure I make the right choice.
I want to flag something before they show up in this thread, because they will, as they did in the last Measure V thread, and their replies will be long and detailed and sound persuasive. This is the No on V campaign.
Their official Voter Guide argument rebuttal opens in bold claiming “the cheapest market rate house would be $740,000.” That number comes directly from a City of Davis report. But the report is clear this is the average price of medium density units based on the current market rate, not the minimum as stated as fact by the No on V campaign. Average and minimum are not the same thing. This is simple statistics. It’s a misrepresentation/misunderstanding, and perhaps a flat out lie, of data that was printed and mailed to Davis voters, and when challenged, the campaign continued pushing it anyway. Unfortunately it is not against the law to do this… To me, that is misleading voters and trying to influence the results in a disingenuous way.
Here’s what the actual housing plan includes:
• 140 Very-Low Income rental units (under 60% AMI; adjusted median income)
• 140 Low Income rental units (under 80% AMI)
• 80 Moderate Income homes (restricted to households making 80-120% AMI)
• 150+ townhomes and half-plexes starting in the $400,000s
• 850+ market rate homes on a range of smaller than average lot sizes. Based on current per square foot prices they are estimated to start in the $500,000s range (significantly less than the average Davis home sale price in 2025, which was roughly $1 million)
The remaining 400 or so homes are on lots larger than 5,000 square feet, including up to 310 custom builds, and I understand that raises eyebrows. But to me, this is how mixed-income housing actually works: higher-end units cross-subsidize the affordable ones. You can’t get almost 1,400 homes attainable to Davis families without some mechanism to fund them. This project is being honest about that tradeoff rather than pretending it doesn’t exist. And folks are using that to say this development “isn’t affordable.” The voter guide is not accurate and I find it curious the No on V campaign would misrepresent these statistics. I also realize even 400-500K is not affordable to some folks, but for Davis, that is the reality of what is affordable... mobile homes are going for nearly $300,000!
That is 360 deed-restricted homes, and hundreds of attached homes and small lot starter homes that are by design more attainable. The No on V campaign either purposefully lied about the $740,000 “minimum” to influence the vote, or simply did not realize this was not a minimum, even though it is clear in the City of Davis report. Every other major concern raised by the opposition was reviewed by independent experts through the EIR process and the conclusions do not match the No on V campaign talking points. When the findings don’t support their position, the response is that the EIR was inadequate. You’ll likely see that argument made in detail below this post if my intuition is correct. I actually hope they comment here so you can see it for yourself...
Considering they put blatant misinformation in the voter guide regarding the housing prices, I just urge people here to question what the No campaign is pushing in other aspects as well. My spidey-senses went off immediately when I received my voter guide, and it was not a surprise to me considering the other concerns they are arguing do not hold up to the independent EIR…
I am sharing all of this because I have been involved in the community on both sides of the campaign, speaking with both sides in person to get a better read on the measure, and to see blatant misinformation in the voter guide makes me feel disappointed and worried voters will be misinformed when casting their vote, and I wanted to share here. My honest read is that this project is well-planned, the concerns raised don’t hold up to scrutiny, and Davis has a long history of blocking needed housing through exactly this kind of organized opposition.
I hope we do not let that happen again. If you support this development, please Vote Yes on June 2^(nd) or on your mail in ballot. And make sure to tell your people to vote yes too if they share your support for the measure.
If you are not registered to vote but want to be for this measure, here is a link to make it easier to register! https://covr.sos.ca.gov/