DAVIS, Calif. -- Dec. 11, 2008 --  Momentum appears to be building for a grocery store solution in West Davis as the activities of Davis Advocates for Neighborhood Groceries are attracting more notice in the media and by elected officials.

"Westlake Plaza still looking for a food store," trumpeted the headline of a story in the Davis Enterprise newspaper on Dec. 4, which provided a roundup of recent grocery store recruitment efforts. Noting that the Westlake Plaza Shopping Center has been without a grocery store since 2006, the Enterprise noted: "But the neighborhood association that rose up when the grocery store went away -- Davis Advocates for Neighborhood Groceries, or DANG! -- is still working diligently to attract a grocery store and make it profitable."

The article quoted former Davis Mayor Maynard Skinner as lauding the commitment of the neighborhood group toward a grocery store solution:

"The DANG folks are determined, and they would like very much to have one there," Skinner told the Enterprise. "I think, given the problems that we've had, they would be very loyal."

The People's Vanguard of Davis," a local blog devoted to politics and public affairs, recently named the Westlake Plaza situation as the No. 1 issue for Davis in 2009, and blog editor David Greenwald invited representatives of DANG to appear on his local public affairs radio show that airs on KDRT-FM 95.7.

DANG co-founders Russell Snyder, Kathy West and Eric Nelson from DANG took to the airwaves Dec. 10 for the hourlong program and discussed the history of the center, the poor city planning decisions that have contributed to the store closings, and recent interest by grocers in locating in West Davis. The broadcast is also available on the web by visiting KDRT's broadcast archives page and clicking on the "Davis Vanguard Dec. 10, 2008" link.

West, meanwhile, invited Saylor to hold one of his informal "office hours" at the Westlake Plaza Shopping Center, and members of the local community came out on Dec. 11 to meet the councilman at the Stonegate Video and pastry shop to discuss DANG activities and other issues of concern to West Davis, such as the fate of nearby Emerson Junior High School, which has been threatened with closure.

Saylor heard an empassioned plea for support from shop owner Rubisel Sanchez, who, in between helping customers, told of how his small business is struggling without an anchor grocery store in the shopping center to increase traffic.

Saylor offered to meet with any prospective tenants to emphasize the city's commitment to a grocery store at the center, and said he would like to attend a future DANG meeting to learn what other steps the city could be taking to support DANG.