Chico Taxpayers Association

A Marysville Water Warrior  friend of mine sent this  – no link, just an attachment. I hate that, but this is important news, that you will NOT see in the Enterprise Wretched, so I’m running it here. It’s from the San Francisco Chronicle.   Maybe you remember – Peevey was the guy I was asking you to write letters to.  You might also remember the post I made regarding the make-up of the CPUC – they’re all ex-employees of the utility companies. Read it for yourself:

San Bruno mayor calls for top official’s removal from blast probe

Jaxon Van Derbeken

Updated 3:56 pm, Monday, July 28, 2014

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A Chief of Staff of California Public Utilities Commission president Michael Peevey (photo removed, sorry) advised a PG&E executive on ways to deflect a request to disclose public information. Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle | Buy this photo (07-28) 14:44 PDT SAN FRANCISCO — The California Public Utilities Commission’s president should be removed as head of the regulatory agency in light of San Bruno explosion-related e-mails that show state officials are “subject to undue influence” by Pacific Gas and Electric Co., the city’s mayor said Monday. Mayor Jim Ruane said the e-mails, including an exchange in which commission President Michael Peevey’s chief of staff advised a PG&E executive on ways to deflect a request to

disclose public information – and the executive replied, “Love you” – showed that state oversight of the utility “is corrupted.”

The utilities commission “has lost its ability to carry out its mandated function as a watchdog for the public,” Ruane said.

While the commission’s reaction was muted, PG&E said it was looking into whether the executives who wrote the e-mails had acted in an “ethical manner.” And the head of PG&E’s parent company apologized that a utility official wrote in an e-mail that he had “no respect left” for a state senator who represents the neighborhood where eight people were killed and 38 homes destroyed when a natural gas pipeline exploded in San Bruno in September 2010.

Large fine looms

Ruane called on Peevey to be removed both as commission president and as head of regulatory proceedings into whether PG&E should be fined more than $2 billion for safety violations related to the explosion.

The mayor made his comments outside the commission’s San Francisco office, in a press conference that officials called after obtaining the e-mails in a lawsuit settlement with the utilities commission. In one e-mail exchange last year, Carol Brown – Peevey’s chief of staff – suggested to PG&E official Laura Doll that the company fight a public-information request related to a safety seminar that the commission was planning to hold. Brown said PG&E could send a “sweet note” deflecting the request and then “wait for them to throw a fit.” Alternatively, PG&E could answer “any simple question” but refuse to answer others, Brown said.

Doll replied in an e-mail, “Love you.”

In another e-mail, Doll invited Brown to “get together or just have a phone call to talk about Mike’s (Peevey’s) potential remarks at the safety symposium.”

PR tip

Another e-mail exchange showed that Peevey himself critiqued PG&E’s public relations strategy when it was indicted on federal criminal charges in connection with the San Bruno case earlier this year. Peevey told a PG&E executive that the company’s handling of the news was “inept.”

San Bruno officials said Peevey’s critique was improper, given his role as arbiter of the still-unresolved regulatory case against PG&E. Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Hillsborough, joined Ruane in calling for Peevey’s removal from the case.

“He obviously has a bias,” Speier said in a statement. “If Mike Peevey wants to be a consultant to PG&E, then he should resign.”

Peevey, a former president of Southern California Edison Inc., will complete his second six-year term on the commission at the end of 2014. He was originally appointed by former Gov. Gray Davis and was reappointed by former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Gov. Jerry Brown has the power to replace Peevey as president. Brown is on an official visit to Mexico, and his office did not respond to a request for comment.

Complaint against PG&E

In addition to calling for Peevey’s removal as commission president, San Bruno officials filed a complaint with the state agency against PG&E for “knowingly and intentionally attempting to illegally influence the outcome” of cases related to the 2010 disaster.

The city also asked for the appointment of an independent monitor to oversee the utilities commission and PG&E, “so the public can once and for all be confident that the actions of this public agency will no longer be subject to undue influence by PG&E.”

The utilities commission said in a statement that it “takes seriously all allegations of bias and rule violations and will evaluate the motions when filed by the city of San Bruno.” PG&E President Chris Johns sent a letter to San Bruno officials and the utilities commission saying the company is “absolutely committed to conducting ourselves in an ethical manner at all times. I want to assure you that we will review the e-mails involved in this matter to ensure that this high standard was upheld. If it was not, we will take appropriate action.” Karen Paull, chief counsel of the utilities commission’s watchdog arm, the Officer of Ratepayer Advocates, said there are strict rules against informal talks between state officials and utility executives during enforcement proceedings such as the San Bruno case.

“If you allow back-channel communications, like we have seen in the e-mails, you cannot have a fair process,” Paull said.

Apology to Hill

The head of the utility’s parent company, PG&E Corp., issued an apology Monday to state Sen. Jerry Hill for comments a PG&E executive made about him in a January 2012 e-mail to a utilities commission official. The executive, Brian Cherry, PG&E’s vice president of regulatory affairs, said in the e-mail that “I have no respect left” for Hill, D-San Mateo, who has frequently criticized the company and the utilities commission since the San Bruno disaster. PG&E Corp. CEO Tony Earley told Hill in a letter that Cherry’s comments “do not in any way reflect the company’s point of view and are unprofessional.”

“While we may disagree at times, I have always appreciated your passion and even-handed approach on many policy issues affecting the communities we are all fortunate to serve,” Earley wrote.

Hill said he appreciated the spirit of the letter.

“I think Tony Earley means well and wants to make changes,” Hill said. “But it’s difficult because of the size of the bureaucracy and the long-standing historical culture that needs to change.”

Jaxon Van Derbeken is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: jvanderbeken@sfchronicle.com Twitter @jvanderbeken

http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-London/2014/07/17/Australia-repeals-its-hated-carbon-tax

I first heard about this on PBS’/Deutsche Welle World Journal. You never hear this kind of stuff on the American networks. 

Nothing like this will happen in California as long as we are stuck with the Democratic Party. California has become a sink hole for the liberal politician who knows just how to squeeze the public teat. 

Here in Chico, it would be nice if we could get some city representation that worked toward practical goals that resulted in a lower cost of living and more jobs for constituents, instead of jumping on every feel-good salary scheme that comes down the pike. I’d like  to see some bluster behind a letter to Jerry Brown and other state heads, telling them their taxes and their onerous regulations are killing jobs and ruining families. Like Tony Abbott said, these taxes hurt families, and they don’t help the environment. 

That’s something I’d like to see from one of our city council candidates – a letter to the governor, asking for some relief from these onerous taxes and regulations. What I think I will hear first is a call for an increase in the sales tax to fund more police. We’ll have to see what happens. 

I’m still on vacation, I guess, but of course I can’t help look at the news, it’s compulsive. 

I was really glad to hear that the Supreme Court says public sector unions can’t collect fees from home health care workers who object to being affiliated with a union.  These people, usually paid minimum wage, were made to pay “fair share dues” to unions. I don’t know if this ruling applies to anyone else, but it sure opens the door.  In past the city of Chico has been made to collect “fair share dues” from cops whether they wanted to be union members or not. I’ve always wondered, how many cops in Chico are unwilling to follow Peter Durfee? But have to pay anyway? I hope this ruling has wide reaching effect. 

I’m glad to see Brian Nakamura gone, but now we have Orme, I don’t know if that’s much of an improvement. I read a memo Mary Fitch provided on Truth Matters, written by Orme to staff, telling them they shouldn’t be discussing salaries and other matters among themselves, and I have to say – the guy is a little jackboot creep. I always picture him in one of those brown Nazi uniforms, with the cute little bill cap.

They made a big deal about Orme taking a $9,000 lower salary. Excuse my French, or German actually – Big Fucking Deal. He still got a raise over his Ass Man salary, which was alot higher than the salary he was pulling in Hemet (Remember Hemet!), and about $30,000 more than former city mangler Dave Burkland was getting.

Our park remains closed most days, trees are going untrimmed and the park roads are becoming completely riddled with potholes. One day a week a Waste Management truck, provided with a key, drives through the park collecting trash. Fritz McKinley, before he became  desaparecido, told us the garbage trucks were the number one destroyer of streets, and Brian Nakamura claimed that was why they needed to pay more franchise fees, but here he gave them the contract to empty trash cans on the vulnerable park road – this man’s words and actions never added up right. This to save, what, salaries and benefits for two staffers? Probably both paid less than $60,000/year. According to “indeed.com,” the average Northern California garbage truck driver makes $30 – 37,000 a year, and that’s union scale. Benefits – well, the garbage companies are required to pay workman’s comp and SSI, I presume, but that will not amount to $50,000 a year for the rest of your life. I’m guessing they are on taxpayer subsidized Obamacare, or go to the ER and then can’t pay, like all us other indigents. 

Peter Durfee thinks his job is dangerous – let’s see that fat pig out behind a garbage truck five days a week, I can’t believe he’d last more than a day out of his air-conditioned fully equipped cruiser. 

I wonder if everybody heard the story of how we got stuck with Nakamura in the first place. Remember how Hemet reacted to the news that Nakamura was leaving for Chico – they were surprised, and a little miffed, because as he was promising loyalty forever to Hemet, he was scooting up to Chico behind their backs to apply for the job here.  The news was leaked here in Chico – according to Tom Gascoyne in his story in the N&R, “this reporter head about it from a local business owner…” I heard it was Budd Schwab, in a conversation with Gascoyne at Duffys. I have that on reliable sources, so that’s what I believe.  Both of these men are regular Duffy’s dwellers, and I have a couple of moles at Duffy’s. Budd leaked the news to Gascoyne, and who knows who else, Hemet got really pissed at Nakamura, and, here’s what nobody will admit – we had to hire the motherfucker because he threatened to sue us. 

And now here we are. Mark Sorensen left holding a bag of dog doo. At least that’s funny.

It has really come home to me how much  trouble the city is really in, since I tried to get my Utility Tax rebate. In past this has been a 45 minute task – drive down to the city, take the stuff in, stand while they check every page of my bills, add it up – but I’d walk out with cold green cash. This year the woman told my husband they’d have to keep the paperwork for review, but she said they’d “cut a check” the next day. Long story short, it was about  three weeks of bitching at Chris Constantin, who put me off, put me off, telling me the check had been cut and sent when it really hadn’t. I finally got it Friday. I don’t know how much of Constantin’s time I took with my chain rattling, but do the math – that boy is expensive. I felt like an old rich broad who’d hired an escort. My $53 rebate must have cost them at least a few hundred dollars.

 Have you been following the conversation on the “move your ass off the sidewalk” ordinance? One citation? And Idiot at the ER says this is working? Go to Gen Kai restaurant and have an order of tekka maki at a window seat – we got a transient problem people, and Chico PD is doing NOTHING. I told Kirk Trostle, the problem is not limited to Downtown, like the conversation has been. I told him about incidents I’d seen at Rite Aid – including a man in a big 4WD truck who got so frustrated with a transient who was wandering the parking lot, he punched the drunkard through the window of his truck as he was exiting the parking lot. I watched the whole thing, I couldn’t blame the driver. I told Trostle I’d watched a clerk sell an intoxicated man a bottle of booze at 10 am, and as far as I know, there’s been absolutely no investigation. I felt for the clerk – the man was in his face, demanding. The clerk just wanted rid of the guy, but that’s against the law. 

Trostle is still trying to make a special zone out of Downtown – it’s on the Planning Commission agenda for next week – trying to make Downtown restaurant owners pay all these extra fees, as much as $5,000 per business, directly to Chico PD.  It’s just a revenue grab, it’s not going to do anything about our very convoluted “drinking problem.” 

Meanwhile, the cops just admitted, they’ve been on an 18 month “hiatus” from breaking up homeless camps in the park, the channel, etc. I’m getting sick of these fatasses and their slovenly refusal to do the jobs they are overpaid for. Trostle and Durfee, just keep it up boys – you’ll have the entire town up your ass before you know it.

Well, back to work. 

Something I’ve worried alot about the last few years is, how our public employees affect our elections. I assumed that most public workers would be pro-tax, and since we have so many of them in Chico and they seem very mobilized, I  was afraid we’d be getting a lot of new taxes and tax increases shoved on us.

I know Tom Lando has been pushing a sales tax increase – I listened to his pitch at a CARD meeting. I also listened as former CARD administrator Jerry Hughes told a group of aquatic center supporters that they should wait for pending legislation that lowers the voting threshold for passing bonds to place their bond initiative on the ballot.

We also have retired public employees like Patrick Newman who are spreading the nonsense that Chicoans don’t pay enough, and that’s why we don’t get any service. Chico police officer and union president Peter Durfee has been saying, cops don’t get paid enough. Over the past year or so I’ve watched Chief Kirk Trostle try one revenue ploy after another, using alcohol related tragedies as a wedge to pass what amounted to local alcohol tax measures, which are illegal in California. He was like a dog, trying one door after another until he could nose his way into the meat locker.

I saw Jerry Brown pass that sales tax increase a couple of years ago, and then I watched as the state admitted, they’d still be cutting college programs, the sales tax increase wasn’t enough. I couldn’t believe people weren’t angry enough to throw that bitch out of office last month, but yeah, like Cronkite said – the general public may actually be too stupid to vote.  

In 2012, I was shocked to see how close Measure J came to passing. My husband keeps telling me, it was a decisive vote, but I keep wondering – how could 14,257 people vote yes on that? The margin wasn’t wide enough for me – only about 2,000 votes. That used to be alot of votes in Chico, back when the city population was 45,000 or so. Now we have about 44,000 registered voters, in a town approaching 90,000 people, who have moved here from everywhere under the sun.  Things can get skewered in one direction, and just keep going.  

So, I must say I was really happy to run into an old co-worker of my husbands, at WalMart, where, you know, ‘murica shops. I like to hear the news, I try to keep it light, no politics. I don’t know exactly how our friend came onto the subject of the “mosquito tax,” but from there, we got fast into a rousing conversation about how CARD and all the other public agencies were trying to get their hands into our wallets to pay their pensions. And, I wasn’t saying anything, I was just standing there waiting for the checker to give me the total. I tried to shut up. I really didn’t have to talk – our friend was saying everything I wanted to say.

Of course, the man behind me, I guess feeling a little left out by our loud camaraderie, launched into  a diatribe about the dog food he was buying by the case. His dog was a little miffed, he announced, at being switched over to chicken, but Hell, it was almost a dollar cheaper a can! 

I detected a hint of, well, kind of discomfort. This guy felt uncomfortable with our conversation, so he was changing the subject. I felt like saying, ” tell your dog chicken is higher in protein,” but I turned to my friend, as I handed my check to the gal at the register, who had already jumped in on the dog food conversation, and I said, very loudly, “Thanks for giving a shit, Brian – it’s good to know SOMEBODY is paying attention.” 

Some people deserve what they get, but that doesn’t mean the rest of us deserve to be dragged down with them.