Daniel Watts, Candidate For Davis City Council, Visits DMTC

One of the pleasures of having run for Governor in the 2003 California Gubernatorial Recall Election is catching up on the various activities of the other 135 official (plus 11 write-in) candidates for the office.

This year, the second-youngest, and among the most-promising of these candidates, Daniel Watts, a UCD law student, age 27, is running for a seat on the Davis City Council. Last Thursday, he received front-page coverage in the Davis Enterprise newspaper:

As a member of the council, Watts said, he will work to protect students' tenant rights, prevent student profiling and harassment by police, and annex on-campus student housing into the city, so students can vote in city elections.

Watts is no stranger to student issues. In 2003, when he was 20 years old, he entered the California gubernatorial election to force candidates to address the issue of increasing tuition fees.

"My goal then was not to get elected, but to raise awareness of the rising student fees issue," Watts said.

He had planned to join the race for governor again this year, but the $3,500 filing fee proved too steep this time around. He paid for it in 2003 with winnings from his stint on "Wheel of Fortune" earlier that year.

Although student rights are his primary objective, Watts is also concerned about all residents' constitutional rights. He said the city needs to repeal ordinances that clearly violate the First Amendment rights of free speech.

Since I already knew Daniel from the Governor's race, and since DMTC's relations with the Davis City Council have sometimes been rocky, I hastened to invite him Friday evening for a tour of the DMTC theater.

It turns out Daniel used to play piano for various musical theater groups in the San Jose area when he was in high school; at least, until he departed to San Diego for college. One summer, he played "The Sound of Music" for two groups - to the point where the dilemmas of the von Trapp family loomed large in his life.

Daniel much enjoyed the tour of DMTC's theater. Of course, as a 501(c)3 non-profit group, DMTC cannot endorse political candidates, and as a Sacramento resident my endorsement need not mean much to Davis residents. Nevertheless, Daniel's past experiences make him naturally sympathetic to the needs of a non-profit theaters, and I'm happy to extend to him my personal endorsement for his current campaign.

Afterwards, Daniel E-Mailed:

And I just noticed that the YPT did Starmites last year! I played Trinkulus/Shak Graa in that show during high school, and I loved it. That was the first time the musical theater class drafted me to play an onstage role instead of the piano.

Yes, a candidate naturally-attuned to the needs of non-profit theaters!