Archive | August, 2014

Yeah, you called it – Obummercare!

31 Aug

Bob sent me this link today, asking, “Hey Juanita, you aware of this aspect of Obummercare?”

http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2014/02/08/obamacare-final-payment-raiding-assets-low-income-poor-americans/

In this article, Paul Craig Roberts explains what an insurance agent described to my husband and I as “paying down.”  Under the (ha ha) “Affordable (oh Jesus I can’t stop laughing!) Care Act,” when you own a home, no matter your income,  you are forced to sell that home and any other assets, and spend every last dime on medical bills before you can receive any assistance.  Roberts is right –  “Obamacare herds the poor into Medicaid (in California MediCal) which requires some enrollees to forfeit homes and other assets they might have to the state to cover the cost of their medical care.’

See, we don’t qualify for MediCal/CAID  because we own a house. Period. I think they allow you to own one car, don’t quote me on that. In order to qualify for MediCal, they said we’d have to “pay down,” everything we own. We’d have to hit rock bottom paying medical bills and be destitute before they’d give us any MediCal, and then you know what you get.

My family “qualifies” to pay $800 a month for Obummercare, and then we’d pay another $12,000 deductible, and then something called The Bronze Plan would kick in, but I can’t get any answer out of Enloe – I don’t think they take the Bronze Plan. We’d probably have to go to Oroville Hospital, with the rest of the welfare cases, and then, you know, see what we get for our $9600 a year plus $12,000 deductible – I’m guessing, a gurney in the hall. 

I always think of the movie Reservoir Dogs, where the Quentin Tarantino character is given his code name, “Mr. Brown.”  He’d probably say the same thing about The Bronze Plan. “Mr. Bronze? That’s sounds a little too much like Mr. Shit….” I agree. 

Well, I got a loaf of bread to get in the oven, I’ll talk at you later!

 

 

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Sustainability Task Force to discuss new “green” building requirements

30 Aug

From: MStemen
To: chicotaxpayers
Subject: FW: City of Chico STF agenda 9/11/14
Date: Sat, 30 Aug 2014 01:08:43 +0000

FYI.
Take care,

Mark

From: Jessica Henry
Date: Friday, August 29, 2014 4:36 PM
Subject: City of Chico STF agenda 9/11/14

Please see attached agenda and attachments for the next City of Chico Sustainability Task Force meeting on 9/11/14. This has also been posted on the City’s website,http://www.ci.chico.ca.us/government/minutes_agendas/sustainability_task_force.asp.

Have a great holiday weekend everyone!

Thanks,
Jessica Henry, ARM-P
Administrative Analyst II
City of Chico, Community Development
530-879-6820 phone, 530-895-4726 fax
jessica.henry@chicoca.gov
PO Box 3420, Chico, CA 95927
411 Main Street, Chico, CA 95928

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Montes responds – still won’t tell. Shame on you Joe Montes.

28 Aug
Joe MontesAugust 26, 2014 at 1:24 pm 

 

Hi Juanita, I would like to clarify the record. I was invited by one person to attend a meeting with him and another person under the premise that important business development demographics would be shared that would be helpful to my campaign – as you know I’m interested in developing business in Chico. When I arrived at the meeting it quickly turned into a POLITE but focused conversation on why I should drop from the race because, as a newcomer to Chico who was gaining popularity, I would very likely end up splitting the vote with Andrew Coolidge. Although I did not like what I heard, I obviously accepted and acted upon the information after speaking with many others over the next two weeks – nearly everyone confirmed that term of residency was important in Chico.

I have not given names because I do not believe it is important. I want to emphatically state that neither Mark Sorensen, Reanette Fillmer, Andrew Coolidge, Sean Morgan or Larry Wahl had any part to play in my decision to drop from the race. In fact, I didn’t even know Reanette until fairly recently, and Mark, Larry, Andrew, and Sean along with many others repeatedly asked me not to drop from the race.

On another point, I never used the term “ambushed” with Melissa, but I can see how she could reach that conclusion. I don’t believe the two people I met with were trying to hurt me, so I don’t think it was an ambush – I think they were simply trying to protect Chico. I haven’t provided much information on these events in the past because I just didn’t know my departure was an issue. Otherwise, I would have provided you and others information sooner. I appreciate the work you’re doing for the citizens of Chico and I hope in the near future I can contribute as much to this wonderful city as you have. Thank you Juanita. – Joe Montes

I’m sorry, this is not clarifying Joe, this is throwing more mud on the situation. We have people trying to cut the voters out of the process, trying to manipulate our elections, and you act as though this is none of the public’s business. Shame on you Joe Montes.

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Name names Joe

26 Aug
joe@joemontes4chico.com
5/09/14
To: juanita sumner
joe@joemontes4chico.com
Hi Juanita,

You may already have heard the news, but I wanted to let you know 
directly that I have decided to withdraw from the Chico City Council 
race. Many people (a growing number) believe it is very likely that I 
will split the vote and potentially cause conservatives to lose a seat 
they might otherwise gain. I don't want that to happen and I am 
willing to set aside my own personal interests for the greater good. I 
wanted to let you know so that you can release my speaking spot on 
5/25 to another candidate, if appropriate.

Thanks Juanita.

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Coolidge gets pushy, so I cut comments about him out of my last post

25 Aug
ndrew Coolidge
Add to contacts
8:51 AM
To: juanita sumner
coolidgechico@gmail.com
I never met with Dave. It isn’t true and I didn’t say it. I’d take a polygraph if you please or swear upon a bible. You need to remove the comment.Andrew Coolidge

Sent via mobile email.

Chico politics have sunk to a new low – SOMEBODY bullied Montes out of the race because he calls council on their conflict of interest with the unions

24 Aug

(You know, it’s always good to ask questions. People accuse me of making stuff up, but they never seem to offer anything better. If Joe Montes would like to step up and let us know exactly what’s going on here, he’s more than welcome. But I smell a rat, and I’ll beat the bushes if I have to.)

 

Well, Joe Montes finally admits that he was pushed out of the council race by people he won’t name. Read that here:

http://www.newsreview.com/chico/wheres-joe/content?oid=14550145

Melissa D. calls it an “ambush” – Montes received a friendly invitation to meet and was instead gang-jumped by a group of conservatives who very impolitely asked him to step aside. He won’t give any more details than that, so I am left to guess.

(This section cut due to some heavy pressure from Andrew Coolidge…)

I’m guessing these little gang-jumps take place in facilitator Larry Wahl’s office out on Nord (Update: Michael Jones has since informed me that Joe Montes told him that Larry actually tried to  talk Montes into getting back in the race – if this is true I certainly apologize for that accusation, but none of the following. ). Larry has invited me to “strategy” meetings at his office – I realized, the strategy was, “shut Juanita up.” Whenever you tender an opinion Larry Wahl does not like, he at first tries to sweet talk you out of it, then he just plain gets nasty up your ass. When neither tack worked with me, I got dumped from Larry’s mailing list. Not until I got a belly full of his efforts to cut property rights and bully his opponent out of the latest supervisor’s race. 

I also suspect Mark Sorensen and Reanette Fillmer were behind Montes dropping out of the race. The conservatives have decided to go Cop Friendly, and  Joe kept talking about the conflict of interest that is presented when councilors accept campaign financing from the unions with which they bargain contracts. That’s about as clear as the nose on your face, but Sorensen and Morgan are ignoring this and hoping the public does same. 

Reanette Fillmer, on the other hand, is a CalPERS toadie and  a cop groupie. Her first priority is to “fully staff” the police department. She says she’s concerned  about city finances as well but offers no plan to get employees to pay their own benefits and pension. Like Sorensen, who receives a pension from the city of  Biggs, she’s conflicted right up her ass. 

These people are a pile of garbage. I believe they also talked Loretta Torres out of the race, although that’s certainly no loss. 

Chico is in deep trouble folks. We have match of fist-puppets – either you can go with Gruendl and his little mob or Sorensen’s little mob. Ever watch “Gangs  of New York”?

If Gruendl gets re-elected again, Chico voters deserve what they get

21 Aug

I can’t believe what an idiot Scott Gruendl is. How does this guy manage to get elected again and again?  My conclusion – Chico has become swamped with outsiders who vote by party instead of informing themselves as to what’s really going on.

Gruendl’s answer to Skywest leaving Chico airport? He continues to whine and moan about getting more people to fly out of Chico instead of drive to Sacramento or SF. The first question that comes to mind is, why was Scott driving 102 miles an hour into Chico if he could have flown to see his sick sister in the Bay Area?

Simple answer – flying and airports suck. Unless you are travelling hundreds of miles from home, it’s not worth the crap you are expected to put up with from the airlines.

Think about it – we’ve talked and talked about how people want to drive right up to the front door of businesses Downtown instead of parking in a centralized garage and meander through the gauntlet of filthy extended hands and minefield of human and animal waste to get where they are going. Yeah, I want to make a specific purchase or pick up some food, I’m not going  Downtown for a pleasant jaunt. The same applies to people who are travelling long distances – it’s just too damn convenient, for a million reasons, to take your own car.

If you park in a parking garage Downtown, you are left to tote your purchases around some pretty unsavory characters – with your hands full of bulky items, you are a sitting duck for a purse snatcher. And let’s not forget about your car – they don’t provide security in the parking garages Downtown, and they’ve had problems with cars being broken into and vandalized.

 Likewise, if you choose to fly out of town, you are left with a decision to pack as little as possible into a tiny tote that fits in the compartment over your head, or put your bags out there – like Freewheelin’  Franklin, you are never quite sure if you will ever see them again.

And, I don’t know if  Chico Airport provides any security in the parking lot, and it must get pretty dark and lonely out there at night.

I’ll never forget when our friend Dana the Bitch flew down to visit from Washington. She couldn’t get a flight to Chico until the next day, so instead of having her pay to stay in some fleabag at the airport, we drove to get her. When we met her she informed us that she’d brought a bag of gifts for all the Chico Deadheads, so we’d have to go and pick it up.

We went to the pickup point and waited about a half an hour. When Dana asked about the hold up, they told her that her bag had accidentally been loaded on a plane to Brazil.

This is a true story.

Dana is a hot little redheaded bitch. A small person physically, she has learned to puff herself up when threatened. She takes on the persona of an 1850’s river boat captain, raising profanity to a practical art.  You just had to be there, especially when they told her the plane hadn’t taken off yet, but that they just weren’t going to retrieve her bag. They told her she would have to put in a claim form and wait for it to be sent back from Brazil

And then this little fireball became agitated.  If this happened now, she’d probably be dead, but in the pre-911 days, the airport people were more malleable.  The little man behind the counter started to apologize fast, she was making one hell of a scene, and some of the other passengers were starting to join in.

Long story short – it took us an hour and a half, but we left with  the bag.

I won’t even bother to tell the story of my husband and son being abandoned in San Francisco by Skywest, by an agent who wouldn’t refund the tickets they’d bought, because I  know it’s a common story, an experience that’s been had over and over.

 Gruendl  continues to be one of the worst hypocrites I’ve known.  Instead of acknowledging that the airport has been seriously neglected by a city council asleep at the wheel, and that the airport fund has been completely tapped to pay pensions, he turns to us for charity – if only you people would pitch in for what we want!

If  this guy gets re-elected,we’re up shit creek without a paddle.

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How do they get away with this every three years?

16 Aug

I’m sitting here in shock over the announcement that Cal Water got 20 of the 38 percent they asked for in a rate hike. And here’s the kicker Girls – retroactive back to January of this year. The CPUC had delayed the decision, so they agreed to make it retroactive. The announcement claimed the average retroactive amount would be $56, just glued on to your next bill. That’s based on the assumption that we all spend the lion’s share of our time at work and school, flushing public toilets and drinking bottled water.  Mine will more likely be over $100 – God I’m a pig. 

I got a comment from John B., reminding me, Cal Water asks for a rate increase about every three years. It’s automatic or something. 

my comment is about the 20% increase in water rates that was just approved, how do they get away with this every 3 years,they ask for raises to build new water tanks,repair/replace infastructure,new office to cut down cost,but when these things are done the cost still stay in place,so if they ask for 500k to build a water tank in there rates they are getting that 500k every 3 years forever.why do we not see a decrease when projects that the money was for are complete maybe a little for upkeep. they have increases in effect from 20yrs ago for completed projects. take out the public in cpuc

He’s right, they make it sound temporary, but they never use the word “sunset,” or give a date. They just use these excuses to perpetually hike our rates to cover their pensions, like I said in my letter to the ER:

Chico Cal Water ratepayers have been wondering about the “WRAM” charge on their bills. WRAM is the “Water Rate Adjustment Mechanism,” by which Cal Water manipulates our rates monthly to cover what Chico manager Pete Bonacich calls “operating expenses.”

Contacted by Action News 24, Mr. Bonacich described “operating expenses”. “We still have to have people go out and read our meters, we still have to have people go out and check our well sites, and maintain our pumps and things like that.”

Like Chico Police, Butte Vectors, CARD and other public and quasi-public employees, Cal Water employees get defined benefits, for which they pay zero to nine percent. They expect us to pay the rest. The Chico water rate increase notice I received in my bill included “$556,000 to retain the same level of employee health care, pensions, and retiree health care benefits for General Office personnel…” and another $423,000 for field workers’ benefits, for one year, but only “$163,000 for water infrastructure improvements between 2013 and 2016.”

We are faced with a wave of tax and rate increase proposals to pay for pensions for workers who pay little to nothing for 70 to 90 percent of their highest year’s pay, available as early as age 50. Please join Chico Taxpayers Association in protesting unsustainable compensation. Protests from Chico ratepayers have resulted in a decrease in the water rate increase proposal which is currently before the CPUC – together we can and do make a difference.

I meant that about making a difference. They wanted a 38 percent rate hike, and while I’m sure they asked for more than they really wanted, I’m also pretty sure they would have got that 38 and liked it plenty if we hadn’t squawked about it.

I won’t give Chico much credit, Marysville and Lucerne and some other towns made a lot more noise. We owe them a lot of thanks. Those letters got one CPUC commissioner to at least set it aside, he asked for more comments from ratepayers. I’m guessing if we’d given him more, we might have got a better shake than 20. Oh well. 

John says, “take out the public in cpuc [California Public Utilities Commission]…”  This has already been accomplished – our governors, from Gray Davis on to Jerry Brown II have built a commission out of former employees of the utility giants. The current president of the CPUC, Michael Peevey, once headed Edison South and other power companies. 

Screaming bloody murder about this stuff is good, but we have to start voting for some new people. We have to start in our local elections, get rid of these union plants. 

 

 

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Staff robbed the airport fund to pay their pensions, and now Redding will get increased commercial service because they put money into their airport

16 Aug

Why is Mark Orme surprised that Skywest has cut service to Chico? Is he new around here or something?

I’ve attended the Airport Commission meetings on and off for a few years now. Their agendas read like a broken record – get commercial air service! And, there has always been an underlying fear that Skywest would bail out on us completely.  From my own and experiences I’ve heard about, it’s no loss. Skywest was awful, leaving people stranded in Frisco with no refund.

Jim, how about that story you told me about the fueling problem on your Skywest flight? That is a great story about how Chico airport is run – or not.

Orme reveals that the city’s plan to save the airport over the last year has been to encourage people to use Skywest. That’s the plan? These people are bigger idiots than I could ever imagine.

A couple of years ago, a friend of mine who is a tenant and plane owner at Chico airport told me the real problem – the runway at Chico airport is not long enough for the new jets they’re bringing in. The tarmac needs to be lengthened. Redding did such a project a couple of years ago, and I think it cost less than a million dollars. Now they announce on Ch 7, as Chico loses Skywest, Redding airport will be getting more flights. That’s because they lengthened their tarmac to meet modern needs. Chico instead pilfered the airport fund, which Orme reminds us, has been in the red for some time, to pay their CalPERS payments.

Chico Airport has suffered from a lack of management for over 10 years. I can’t remember when the airport had a full-time manager. The fund has been in the red for several years.  Now, they suddenly find funding to hire a manager? I’m just going to guess – this guy is a friend of Orme’s or Constantin’s.

Orme says it’s time to get over the loss of commercial air service. I agree. I think it’s long past time they started better serving their tenants and pilots who pay fees to park and fly out of our airport. Last year, according to staff, they lost 130 planes. 130 yearly parking fees.  I don’t know the dollar amount on that, but they were bumming about it. 

These people who are banging for commercial air service in Chico better get their heads out of their asses and think – they really think a commercial air liner is going to land on our pot-holed old tarmac, short, I don’t know, what, 100 feet? That’s a lot when you’re landing a jet people. And then there’s the fueling station – I’ll let Jim tell you about that.

Ride the Tiger?

15 Aug

The first question I would have for Reanette Fillmer is what’s a  CALPELRA Labor Relations Master (CLRM) ?

 

PEOPLE

RETURN TO PEOPLE INDEX

Reanette Fillmer

Consultant

t: 530.520.5775
f: 415.678.3838
rfillmer@publiclawgroup.com

Experience

Ms. Fillmer is a human resources consultant with the firm and has over 25 years of experience in public and private sector employee relations and human resources. Ms. Fillmer works with our public sector clients on a variety of human resources and personnel issues including: integrated disability management (FMLA/CFRA/PDL/ADA/FEHA), employee and labor relations, arbitrations and mediations, organization management, strategic planning, terminations, policies and procedures review, and recruitment. Her years of experience in both the public and private sector make her a valuable addition to the firm’s consulting team.

Related Experience

As a Human Resources Director with the County of Tehama, Ms. Fillmer oversaw all aspects of labor and employee relations including bargaining, mediation, arbitrations and PERB hearings, EEOC claims, contract interpretations, settlement agreements, and disciplinary issues. She also provided advice to all County departments regarding regulations and policies related to the Civil Rights Act, EEOC claims, ADA and FEHA considerations, workers compensation, recruiting standards, staffing and employee issues and investigations of complaints. Prior to taking a position with Tehama County, Ms. Fillmer served as the Human Resources Manager and Payroll Manager for the Sacramento Superior Court.

Community Activities

  • Member of CPAAC
  • Member SHRM
  • Member of Tehama County Employer Advisory Board
  • Past member of Board of Directors for CSAC EIA
  • Served on CSAC EIA Primary Workers Comp Committee
  • Served on Legislative Committee and the Benefits Committee

Certifications

  • Professional in Human Resources (PHR)
  • CALPELRA Labor Relations Master (CLRM)

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