The city of Marysville just fired their city manager on a 3-2 vote of city council.
http://territorialdispatch.com/articles/2020/0731-Brown-Firing-Improper/index.php?ID=8619
I’m not saying this was a good decision on the part of the Marysville City Council, the point here is, it’s doable. And, they can do it “without cause“. While I feel there is plenty of “cause” to fire our city manager, it’s not necessary.
Of course there’s the severance package – Brian Nakamura got a full year’s salary to walk away. For Orme that would be a little over $200,000. But I think he’s made one poor recommendation to council after another. He told us the Paradise evacuees were a burden and a year later we found out they gave us a windfall in sales tax receipts. Now he wants a mask mandate – while some say this is a state requirement, others have pointed out that the governor has no such power, the mask mandate is a recommendation at best. But Orme has recommended using our local cops to cite folks not wearing masks. But no citations for illegal campers or folks handing out needles for them to shoot up in the park?
Orme has turned our town upside-down. Time for him to go. And, as I’ve said in past, he can take his little toadies Constantin and Dowell with him.
Chico Taxpayers Association 
Have we ever had a “good” city manager? As best I can recall, every one has been seriously deficient. Fred Davis was probably the best even though he did his share of dumb stuff.
No, it seems they’ve all been either incompetent or schemed to enrich themselves. Fred was a schemer – he tried to manipulate the RDA “citizens oversight committee” and he worked with Lando to float that MOU that attached salaries “to revenue increases but not decreases.” Before he died, Fred was the highest paid pensioner in Butte County.
Maybe we should dump council and elect our city staff.
Many cities don’t have a city manager and instead elect a mayor. We were once that way and could be again. https://www.fels.upenn.edu/recap/posts/1475
Hi Jim, I’m sorry I missed your comment, my internet has been sketchy.
This article is great – I thought we would have to switch to an elected city manager – let’s just DUMP HIM.
My cousin was a city council member in Vallejo in the 60’s, and he said their big mistake was giving their city manager “administrative powers”. He said cities all over California were doing it. Orme has many powers, people don’t realize, he actually runs our town. We need to get rid of him and elect better, more competent people.
I wanted to thank you for running this web site, and encourage you to keep it up. Many of our social problems come from a lack of social engagement. The social fabric breaks down because nobody cares. And you do, so thank you.
Chico government really is going in the wrong direction. Follow the money.
Thanks BC, I missed your comment until now, my internet is in and out.
I agree that social engagement is key, and Chico is at a low point for that right now. We have no community. We fight like cats and dogs over PC language while the real problems go unattended.
One real problem we have is that our county is dependent on the funding they get for bringing mental patients and jail releases from agencies all over California into our jails, hospitals and shelters. And worse, they’re not even spending it on those patients and prisoners, they’re putting it into their salaries and benefits, including their pension deficit. They received money for the jail expansion but dragged their feet putting the job out to bid. Now they claim costs have gone up beyond the allotment. Now they complain about overcrowding, and release dangerous people like John Conway onto our streets.
While various Facebook groups vent their frustration over the illegal camps in the park, the needle exchange, the increasingly violent crime activity, they never talk about where the perpetrators come from, how they get here, and why they get arrested and released again and again.
Yes, we must keep the conversation going. I’ve been looking at reports about the AB109 money and I’ll get that posted.
Here is a must watch video about the pensions.
Ask the people running for the city council seats why they aren’t talking about this. Ask them what their position is on pension reform.
None of them will be willing to talk about anything mentioned in this interview even though there is nothing more important facing this city.
Thanks Bob!