Jim sent this video, an early pitch for the CARD bond.
Produced by a group called everybodygoodbody, this shows us just how much money they are willing to sink into this bond measure. I don’t know if CARD provided funding for this video, but yesterday I got a note from CARD director Ann Willmann regarding employee pension contributions.
“The management staff has 3 PEPRA PERS members, therefore they pay their 6.25% employee portion. There are two CLASSIC members who currently pay 2% of the employee portion.
Our pension Liability for the 2015-16 fiscal year was $1,758,200 which is an increase of $57,480 from the previous year.”
As you can see, CARD management pay little to nothing for their pensions, which amount to 70 percent of their highest year’s salary at age 55. Willmann currently yanks in over $100,000 a year – I can’t get the exact figure out of CARD, but the public pay website says she makes over $120,000/year just in salary. But still expects the public, with average household income at about $40,000/year, to pick up 98% of her pension. Ann, you’re a pig.
Meanwhile, like the auditor told the CARD board, their pension deficit “will never go away…will never go down…” He gave the room every expectation that the pension deficit is going to go up at least $50,000/year in perpetuity. In fact he said as employee salaries go up the increase amount will go up. He smiled like a goon as he said it.
Because this board, including pensioneer Tom Lando who gets more than $11,000/month in pension paid by the city of Chico, refuses to make the employees pay their own pensions.
Sneed, Mulowney and Ellis are up in 2018, and they need to go. Sneed has been on the board through CARD long decline. She was on the board when CARD agreed to take on the skate park, and now she and the rest of the board want to give the skate park back to the city. She was on board through years of neglect of Shapiro and Pleasant Valley pools, refusing needed maintenance for those pools while encouraging the Aqua Jets to hold out for a big, taxpayer funded “aquatic center”. The public rejected that, so now she’s come back with a “sports complex”.
We know they won’t build it, not on the first bond anyway. The first bond will go to their salaries and benefits, stuff for their offices. Think people – the school district has passed three bonds since they first promised to “fix the schools” in 1998. How many bonds will CARD tack on to this one in years to come?
Chico Taxpayers Association 
Why don’t we call this the “Field of Dreams” Notice how few details are in the video. It’s everything everybody could ever want. How cute. Of course they don’t give a poop how much it will cost or who will pay for it. Also notice that the location is way out on the Skyway past the golf driving range. Not the center of town.
So replacing the Shapiro pool has now become a sports complex. Holly hell!
Also notice the key words “To support a growing population” Which is government speak for the existing residents paying for growth. So we get screwed over by growth and have to pay for it too.
Jane Dolan came to CARD to tell them the deal on the land is not a slam dunk because of environmental restrictions, but here they are telling people that’s the location. Talk about peddling lies.
And you’re right – the current building fees do not include money for something like this, they want a bond.
Funny you should bring up environmental concerns. Remember meadowfoam, fairy shrimp and vernal pools? Remember how they couldn’t build the new Enloe Medical Center on 20th St back in the 90’s because of environmental concerns?
Well somehow all that wasn’t a problem for the new Courthouse. Or Meriam Park. Why is that?
Oh yeah, it’s all coming back to me. That’s what Jane Dolan and husband Bob Mulhullond came to the CARD board meeting about earlier this year – they said it was premature for this group to hang this land out to the public like a piece of fly bait when the environmental review process is still out.
I don’t know how Digiovanni got around all that stuff, but he’s definitely got his thumb somewhere Downtown and at the county.