Dude sent me this article from Bloomberg:
“[Jerry] Brown said he has a ‘hunch’ the courts would ‘modify’ the so-called California rule, which holds that benefits promised to public employees can’t be rolled back. The state’s Supreme Court is set to hear a case in which lower courts ruled that reductions to pensions are permissible if the payments remain ‘reasonable’ for workers.”
Before getting all his/her hopes up, the cagey taxpayer would immediately ask, “so, what’s ‘reasonable’?” And then, “who gets to decide what’s ‘reasonable’?” Remember, judges get pensions too.
As I was pondering that, I got next week’s council agenda from the clerk – I’m on the clerk’s notice list, which is just a matter of e-mailing debbie.presson@chicoca.gov and giving her your e-mail address. You can ask for notifications of any and all committee meetings too, stay on top of this stuff instead of bitching about it 10 years after.
Oh look – Reanette Fillmer is still advancing her discussion about city of Chico pensions! She asked council, months ago, to agendize a discussion of our employer [taxpayer] -paid benefits and how they compare to other cities in California.
I’m not sure how helpful that would be, knowing that most of California is in trouble over pensions right now, but it’s damn sure interesting – see here:
http://chico-ca.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=2&event_id=280&meta_id=57592
I have never seen this information before, I’ve only heard bits and snatches at meetings – the rest of my knowledge is based on “facts not in evidence” – making guesses from other stuff I hear and watching the expressions on their faces. The last figures I saw showed the city of Chico paying about 26 percent of the pensions – now look! 46 percent! To the employees’ same old 12 percent or less.
That is how we got into this mess, and so far, the city of Chico is just digging us deeper into it.
I don’t know what Fillmer’s agenda is, but we all need to pay attention right now. The last thing we want is for “pension reform” to turn into “leave the taxpayers holding the bag,” which is what the unions want.
And let council members know how you feel
sean.morgan@chicoca.gov
reanette.fillmer@chicoca.gov
mark.sorensen@chicoca.gov
ann.schwab@chicoca.gov
andrew.coolidge@chicoca.gov
karl.ory@chicoca.gov
randall.stone@chicoca.gov
While you’re at it, send them a couple of pictures of the street in front of your house.
Chico Taxpayers Association 
The last thing we want is for “pension reform” to turn into “leave the taxpayers holding the bag,” which is what the unions want.
If that’s what the unions want, that’s what the unions get. Like you said, the judges get pensions, too. And they are all members of a public employee union. How many of them would rule to end their gravy train? And the politicians are nothing but tools of the public employee unions. And besides, they are on the gravy train, too. Look at all the city council members who are gummit employees or sucking off the public teat in some other way. Believe me, they will bleed the taxpayers white and when there’s no more blood left only then will things change. Government is just another form of mafia.
But you are right. We must raise Hell about all this. Every time anyone emails a city council member or any bureaucrat they should attach pictures of the pot holed roads, even if the email has nothing to do with the roads. They must always be reminded that we know there is NEVER enough money to fix the roads but ALWAYS enough money for raises for bureaucrats. And we will never forget.
The other thing is don’t refer to this corrupt little city as Chico. For instance, instead of saying “in Chico” say “in this corrupt little city” or if someone asks you where you are from say, “I am from the corrupt little city of Chico.”
You’re right – I can’t believe Fillmer isn’t trying to pull something, I’m going to try to watch the meeting Tuesday to see what she’s up to.
And don’t forget to send some pictures of the street in front of your house, the broken down sidewalks, bum camps, etc. They hate that, it really gets under their skin.
Found out this afternoon I was the victim of crime and this was for the third time in the last 2 and a half years.
Another property crime. After my last two go arounds I’ve learned there’s no point wasting any time with Chico PD as they are completely useless when it comes to property crimes (and pretty much everything else, too). The only point of having anything to do with them is if your insurance company requires that you file a police report. Then of course the cops still do nothing as you have to go online and fill out all the paper work yourself and then wait for their system to email you the report.
I am pretty sure the perp was a transient. Last time, too and I told the police and they were not interested and would do nothing. They also warned me not to try to catch the perp myself. So they won’t do anything and expect me to do nothing, too.
It’s really infuriating that our taxes go to make this corrupt little city a magnet for transients and for cops who do nothing when the criminals victimize you. And this corrupt little city takes ever more of our money (for example the recent trash tax increase). But that’s what this society has become. You get victimized by the criminals and by the government. They’re all criminals.
Well, I guess I should apologize for saying Chico PD is useless when it comes to property crimes. After all, government employees are heroes, especially police and fire, don’t you know?
Let’s just say property crimes are not they’re strong point (or any other crime either). But they do excel in collecting six figure pensions.
Don’t apologize – it’s the cops who need to apologize.
When a car was broken into across the street from my house, in broad daylight, the woman who called it in had to call them twice to get a cop to come out. Officer Zuchin responded, acted very annoyed, and almost ran me down speeding out of the neighborhood.
When a daytime shoplifter came into my friend’s shop and stole a piece of merchandise right in front of him, running out the door toward the projects down the street, it took the cops four hours to show up. When they did, they both brought take-out food, which they proceeded to lay down on his glass counter top and eat. When they were done with their greasy meals they didn’t take any formal report, but stood in my friend’s shop for almost half an hour telling him the theft was his own fault.
No, I wouldn’t call a cop for anything, frankly, I have friends who are scarier than the cops, and a lot more reliable.
Wow, that’s really outrageous. The other day an acquantance told me an expensive bicycle was abandoned in front of her house, (Most likely stolen then abandoned.) She called the cops and they wouldn’t come out and get it so she offered to take it down to the police station so hopefully it could be returned to its owner. The cops told her not to bother. It really seems they do the bare minimum the public will tolerate to get their six figure pensions.
If I were a kid today looking for an occupation with a bright future, I think I would seriously consider private security because government run policing is so useless.
My husband has found stripped bikes in the park twice and left them standing by the park entrance.
I hope your friend will write a letter to the paper, that actually does piss off the suits.
When they were done with their greasy meals they didn’t take any formal report, but stood in my friend’s shop for almost half an hour telling him the theft was his own fault.
Well, at least we know they eat something other than donuts…
Sorry, shouldn’t make fun of the heroes.
Dammit Bob, you’re incorrigible.
Just think what the suits would think of this…bet Orme and the school board would blow a gasket if they were forced to watch this (the scam of taxation)…
The Dollar Vigilante – I love that! Interesting video, thanks!
“Remember, judges get pensions too.”
Yes !!! Keep this in mind. When Stockton declared bankruptcy the judge put the pensions as a top priority. So while the taxpaying city residents saw cutbacks in police and fire, full pensions were protected.
Yes, we have to put a torch to the behinds of our elected people, let them know we won’t stop until they do something.
I don’t think Trump’s plan goes far enough – raising employee share one percent a year? No, it needs to be at least 10 percent a year to fix this mess.
The Dude loves The Dollar Vigilante. He lives in Acapulco overlooking the Ocean in a gated community, with a housekeeper, and a driver for less than a few grand a month.
Yeah, you can live cheap in Mexico.