Tonight is the monthly meeting of the Davis Historical Resources Management Commission (HRMC), of which I am a commissioner. The HRMC isn’t the most important commission the city of Davis has, I’d say that’s those are the Planning Commission and the Finance and Budget Commission. But, the city of Davis has restricted growth since the 1970’s and because of this there are a relatively large number of historical resources in the community and issues involving relocation, preservation, destruction, etc., all come before the committee.
In the current economic climate though, the city is cutting its budget by leaps and bounds just to stay solvent, nothing about development or movement/destruction is going to come before the board. So, we’re taking the opportunity to reassess the Commissions purpose and goals as well as get in some training for Commissioners and members of the community.
The Commissions largest project right now is working on insuring many of the city’s historical resources are documented and put on the State’s Registry of Historical Places as well as the National Register. This doesn’t guarantee that they’ll be preserved but it insures that they are at least fully documented so that their memory is, at least, preserved. Tonight’s meeting will be a discussion of resources that could be nominated to these registries, as well as putting up signage in the city to bring attention to them.
The city of Davis is at a crossroads. The city has been hit hard by the recession and this has only been compounded by it’s growth policy. The local school district is also being hit harder than most. If the city fails to weather the storm a new public policy might be instituted, one that is more pro-growth, and that possibly could effect the city’s historical resources and those arguments will come before the committee…
But do you like your new post with the City?
I do! We haven’t had a lot come before us but Davis for its size is rich in history and being a part of that is interesting, educational, and allows me to contribute to the community in some small way!