Davis City Council and Davis Joint Unified School District meet for the first session of the school year

Agenda items include e-bikes and a potential youth member to serve on the City Council

By MADELYN SEVIGNY — city@theaggie.org 

On Sept. 16, members of the Davis City Council and Davis Joint Unified School District (DJUSD) met to discuss collaboration between the City and DJUSD on the use of e-bikes by students commuting, as well as the possibility of a student from DJUSD serving on the city council as a nonvoting member.

The discussion on e-bikes began with a presentation by Davis Police Chief Todd Henry and Police Sergeant John Renger. 

Henry explained that e-bikes have become increasingly common in Davis. Standard e-bikes are heavier than a normal bicycle, can accelerate faster and do not require a driver’s license or formal training.

California recognizes three classes of e-bikes: Class 1 e-bikes provide assistance only while being pedaled and only at speeds under 20 miles per hour. Class 2 e-bikes, also known as low-speed throttle-assisted e-bikes, allow the rider to engage the motor without pedaling. Class 3 e-bikes are similar to Class 1 e-bikes, except that the motor assistance must stop when the bicycle reaches the speed of 28 miles per hour.

The state of California as a whole has also seen an influx of e-motos — electric-powered motorcycles or dirt bikes that fall outside the California classification of an e-bike — according to Henry. These vehicles are generally not street legal, and are therefore not allowed on any bike paths or public roadways.

Henry stated that students' parents need to be brought into the conversation about what kind of transportation devices should be considered legal in Davis. 

“The focus here, I think, is two fold: one, to make riders aware of the laws surrounding some of these devices, but also really to make parents aware of some of the laws revolving around these devices.” 

Henry explained that education is necessary because manufacturers may label e-motos as e-bikes, causing parents confusion.

“[E-motos] are being labeled by manufacturers as e-bikes, and parents, probably unbeknownst to them, are purchasing these for their kids,” Henry said. “These devices can reach speech up to 50 miles an hour and they have the appearance of an e-bike [...] to make it appear to be compliant with state law, but they're extremely dangerous.”

Henry said that addressing the issue of illegal devices requires multiple methods and explained how the police department plans to enforce policy around illegal devices.

“The goal is to make contact with riders, and in many cases contact the family too, especially when we see them driving a device that's absolutely illegal to be on the road,” Henry said. “Starting here in about a month we are going to start issuing citations [...] the focus is really on kind of egregious behavior [...] or we see someone on an illegal device.”

During the public comment section, Mark Huising, a Transportation Commission chair and a bike scanner, a role where that scans student bikes to let parents know they have arrived at Patwin Elementary, emphasized the importance of education on e-bikes and the need for those driving motor vehicles at school sites to pay attention to children on bikes.

“I am all for educating,” Huising said. “I am really encouraging us to not fall into the trap of just educating the kids and their parents on e-bikes, but make that education for the subset of parents who clearly need it [while driving].”

City Councilmember Bapu Vaitla then asked Henry about the possibility of Davis enacting stricter legislation around e-bikes and e-motos compared to California state law. Chief Henry stated that it is possible by local ordinance, but state law ultimately supersedes local law. 

“There are jurisdictions who have created local ordinances [...] but the difficult part is the preemption of state law,” Henry said.

The discussion then moved to the item of DJUSD youth accessibility to serve on City Commissions. 

Both Mayor Donna Neville and Vaitla expressed support for the idea of having a youth member on a city commission. 

Councilmember Vaitla said that he wanted to find a way to ensure that there is always a student who is serving, and that there will be no period of extended vacancy between youth representatives. 

“It's been about how you maintain continuity,” Vaitla said. “Whether it's youth that are in high school or undergraduates [...] because commissions are a 4 year term there tends to be a lot of turnover. Some of the ideas that have been floated in the past is that there is some intermediary student organization that takes responsibility for assuring that continuity.”

Vaitla also expressed support for a youth member to serve on the City Council.

“Before COVID […] Sacramento, in my understanding, got really really close to having a nonvoting youth representative on city council.” Vaitla said. “I am very open to that idea here in Davis. I think it would change the tenor [...] of a lot of policy conversations.”

DJUSD Superintendent Matt Best shared that DJUSD already has mechanisms to elect students to positions of leadership, and there is currently a strong student interest.

“My superintendent student advisory had 92 applications just from senior high [school] students,” Best said. “Students want to be involved in changing the trajectory of their schools, their city, their lives — there's more now than I have seen in a long time.”

City Manager Daryel Dunston expressed concerns about wanting to protect minors from harmful situations and time constraints that students may have considering that council meetings may run for a considerable amount of time. Dunston also stated that the decision on whether to include a youth member would ultimately be made by the city council at a later date.

The next City and DJUSD meeting is scheduled for Nov. 18. More information about upcoming City Council meetings or DJUSD school board meetings can be found on their websites.

Written By: Madelyn Sevigny — city@theaggie.org