I’ve been frustrated with the city of Chico’s approach to housing. For one thing, I don’t think a city has any responsibility for “providing” housing, they have a responsibility for regulating housing.
They are supposed to designate areas in which housing can be built, based on good planning practices as well as environmental and other legal restrictions. They are supposed to make sure housing in the city is up to city code, and that streets, sidewalks and sewers are maintained. But I do not believe there is any law stating that the city is responsible for providing the actual housing.
But a city profits from development – starting with builder fees, plan check fees, inspection fees, and ending up with more property tax and sales tax revenues, into perpetuity. Unfortunately the city of Chico is collecting the fees but is not keeping up with the infrastructural requirements for all these new residents. Every time I drive that section of Bruce Road between 32 and Skyway I wonder how they will fix that bottleneck at that funky little subdivision – it looks to be physically impossible. And if they build out Valley’s Edge, that part of town will shut down completely, all day, every day. You won’t be able to pull a needle out of that mess with a tractor.
It is ridiculous for the city to proclaim we need Valley’s Edge to solve our ‘housing crisis’ – who will be housed at Valley’s Edge?
Here’s how the city could help provide more affordable housing – talk to the county and the state and the feds, who are supposed to provide for social welfare. Put more pressure on those agencies like HUD to do their jobs.
For one thing, HUD could reinstate the emergency rent programs, which appear to have been unfunded since 2021. I’ve known many people – families and single people – whose marginal jobs hardly covered their rent. We need these people, they fill essential jobs. When they have emergencies such as illness or an eviction or loss of job that isn’t their fault, it would behoove all of us if they had the support of a taxpayer funded agency. When I looked at HUD’s website it said that neither the emergency rent program nor the landlord incentive program had any money left.
Landlord incentives? They offer to pay $1,000 if you sign up to take Section 8 vouchers and another $500 each time you sign a rental agreement with a qualified renter(s). But read further – not only is that program unfunded, but the Section 8 program does not offer any type of security deposit, nor does it guarantee the renter will pay their rent or take proper care of the unit. HUD needs to either provide their own housing or guarantee landlords more protection.
I would ask both HUD and Butte County to fund and manage more building/renovation of existing housing for families falling under the Chico median income of about $60,000. Neither private landlords nor developers nor the city of Chico should be expected to run a charity.
I know you’ve noticed this – the city of Chico has it backward – the more housing they approve, the more expensive housing gets…
I hope you are all a titter about our upcoming holiday. When you consider the trouble our founding fathers and mothers went to, you’d be an ass not to be grateful.
Unfortunately, the city of Chico isn’t planning any activities. What?
CARD is hosting a “community picnic” on Saturday July 1 at Community Park on 20th Street. A daytime affair, there will be no fireworks but there will be music and “entertainment”. Frankly, it’s just not the same for me if it’s not on the Fourth.
Private events listed for Tuesday the Fourth include parties at bars like the Tackle Box, as well as an outdoor drinking party hosted by the developers of Merriam Park. Both of those will take advantage of the annual fireworks demonstration at the nearby Silver Dollar Speedway. Of course if you want to get in to the races you have to pay for a ticket but the fireworks can be enjoyed just about anywhere in town.
Meanwhile, Biggs, a tiny town just south of Chico, has a pancake breakfast, a parade, a faire, and fireworks. And if you’ve never been to Butte Meadows, you might want to check it out next Tuesday –
ButteMeadows 4th of JulyParade Tue Jul 04 2023 at 10:00 am UTC-07:00 Location Sierra Steel Harley-Davidson Chico, CA Advertisement Come ride in ButteMeadows annual 4th of Julyparade! Meet at Sierra Steel on the 4th of July at 10am and we will ride up to ButteMeadows to be in the parade! The theme for the parade is “Team USA”
According to other announcements, there will be judges convened at the Mercantile. The general requirement is patriotism and points will be awarded.
Fourth of July is a big holiday, as it should be. When my husband and I traveled up to Portland in the days before 4th of July 2021 – the height of COVID – we saw that towns all the way up Hwy 5 were planning their own celebrations. Banners touted fireworks, rodeos, parades and other events. One town was looking for entrants to a pie eating contest.
I remember Chico of the past, of course – here’s a past event you might remember – a repost of a repost from 2016 –
This event has not reappeared since 2016. Chico Running Club hosted that last pancake breakfast, I believe, at the suggestion of club member and former mayor/council member Randall Stone. That was the last year we had Bob’s Pancake wagon, celebrity pancake flippers, and a band on that forlorn bandstand at One Mile.
If you’re sitting in the lobster pot, it’s hard to know when you’re done. You have to take that fork, aim it right at your ass, and punch it in there, hard. Here’s a fork – you have just been stuck with a one cent sales tax increase, a sewer rate increase, and now you’re staring at a well tax for a well you don’t own… (more on that later) What does it take to get you out of that pot?
I got good news in my email box – Finance Committee meeting scheduled for next Wednesday – June 28 – to decide whether or not to fund the ice skating rink at City Plaza for next year. And here’s something interesting I found in their report – they lost a lot more in 2021 and 22 than staff had previously reported. Read further.
If this was Major League Baseball, Somebody would be getting fired right now. Here’s Somebody’s report.
Over the years, City staff have evaluated and considered ways to enhance the downtown experience for our community, as well as an attraction for outside tourism. The plaza was an underutilized asset in the winter time and therefore, we narrowed in on the concept of the Downtown Chico Ice Skating Rink to further enhance the holiday festivities in our downtown. As a family-friendly event, this provided a means to provide an experience that people of all ages can enjoy. By having a cost-effective event for families downtown, there are other intrinsic values that it brings to get more people downtown. The Downtown Chico Ice Skating Rink was initiated and started in 2021. The original intent was to transfer management and full operating/rental costs to another group, such as the Downtown Chico Business Association (DCBA) or the Chico Area Recreation District (CARD) after the first year of operation. Therefore, the first year (2021), City staff managed the operations with support from DCBA and the second year (2022), DCBA fully managed the operations of the program with City staff still managing the setup of the rink.
Ways to enhance the downtown experience?Well, how about getting rid of the panhandlers, perverts and pedophiles? The people who break into our cars while we’re eating a super-spendy dinner or perusing overpriced crap stores? The people who shit on the entry ways of businesses and vandalize anything that can’t run away. Stop treating these people like privileged visitors and start treating the rest of us with some respect and maybe we’ll decide to come out of our homes and spend some money.
The fact that neither CARD nor DCBA came rushing forward to run this dud should tell us even more. CARD is a recreation district starving for revenues – if they thought this thing would pan they would have jumped on it. As for sponsorships – in 2021, local businesses came forward with $116,100 in donations. For 2022 only $65,196 in sponsorships. Sounds like city staff and council were the only ones who didn’t notice the rink was not only a failure but it made the public really mad. The city of Chico needs to stop doctoring their own Kool Aid.
Ottonboni also claims, “The plaza was an underutilized asset in the winter time“…? No, say what you really mean Kid – it was used as a homeless shelter, illegal campers ignored by Chico PD and city management. Downtown business owners/tenants and the general public were getting really mad. It sat there for years, got so bad, there was a flea infestation. They closed the plaza for over a month for cleaning and fumigation, and then they just let the campers take it right back.
In order to get the bums to stay out of their skating rink, the city fenced the plaza off to EVERYBODY. The first year they actually fenced off the parking places directly surrounding the plaza, eliminating how many parking spaces? So, the plaza became even more unusable to shoppers and others who pay taxes to enjoy a lively and thriving central core.
Their plans were a miserable failure – a financial loss equating to more than the salary of the staffer who picked up the idea from that consultant and pitched it further to the city – Brendan Ottoboni. Ottoboni actually left the city a couple of years ago only to come back to a new department head position and a $40,000 raise.
Ottoboni asks the committee and council “for direction”. I sure would like to give him a direction – my husband says “go to Hwy 99 and head south….” I’d like to tell him he’s a department head now and he needs to buck up and make a suggestion, like the suggestion he made that got us into this mess in the first place. If you really want a good shock read the rest of the report. Here’s a good one – to date, the city has laid out almost $500,000, out of the General Fund, for “starter costs“.
I love the passive-aggressive terminology – “negative project cost” – just say LOSS you little weasel! “The first two years resulted in losses of funding directly linked to program costs and revenues. In 2021, the program had a negative project cost of $142,557.76, and in 2022, a negative project cost of $188,779.43.” Those are not the figures I was previously given by staff. In 2021 they reported a $29,000 loss to the news media, and finance staff just gave me a figure of about $176,000. And that includes “$70,053.64 of net revenue from the DCBA.” They seem to be digging themselves deeper every time we hear about it.
“The estimated amount of funds anticipated for the startup costs this year are approximately $200,000. This will be our initial capital outlay and staffing time, with net revenues from the operations to cover a portion, if not all of this initial outlay.“
Yes, they spend OVER $200,000 on salaries for this thing. For one year.
But get a load of this – Ottoboni still wants to continue funding this train wreck – boy I just want to kick this guys ass – “While the direct revenues did not cover the startup and operational costs in each of the first two years, City Council, staff and the community have concerns on the ability of this event to be fiscally sustainable. However, there are other intrinsic values that this brings to one of our community features, Historic Downtown Chico… “
And then this – “anecdotally we have heard that businesses generally performed better during the period of the Downtown Chico Ice Rink operation…” It’s the end of June, why don’t we have the actual figures in this report? Mr. $184,000+/yr can hand us “anecdotes”?
So, every time they mention funding this dud again, I will mention the Taxpayer Protection and Government Accountability Act, coming to the 2024 ballot. I’m not sure I need protecting, but I’d like some accountability.
Hump Day, at last, thankyouverymuch. I’ve had a busy week – I got a notice that the Vina Groundwater Agency wants to tax my well – I have no well. What? That’s just fishing for revenues. I also got a notice from Waste Management that my bin was overfull last week – complete with a picture of our tenants’ bin, lid propped up two inches by a wayward piece of cardboard. My tenant’s child had a birthday party, and he tried to stuff all the packaging in one load instead of leaving it piled upside the house. They threaten an $8 fine – I see cans exactly like that up and down my street every trash day, I wonder – how many of you are just paying these fines without thinking about it? For two inches of cardboard sticking out in dry weather? Sounds like Waste Management is fishing for revenues.
Chico’s turning into Cleveland – everything’s a shakedown. So I wrote a letter to the editor about it!
I knew the skating rink wasn’t supposed to be a revenue generator – it’s “Good Will”, according to Mayor Andrew Coolidge. But, I was shocked when staff reported the rink had lost $176,363.
The rink was first proposed by a tax measure consultant in 2018 – he said resistant voters in a small Tahoe town passed their sales tax measure after the first season their rink was open. Chico’s rink was also a ploy to get illegal campers out of Downtown Plaza for Christmas shopping season. It served less than a quarter of the residents, but everybody paid for it – so far, more than $300,000 from the city’s General Fund.
I don’t know how much the city spent on the new parking kiosks, but I’ve heard and understand complaints from Downtown businesses. Here’s my question – why pay to shop or eat Downtown when retail centers and restaurants all over town have free parking?
The kiosks are a revenue measure. Before COVID the city took in more from parking fines than meter revenues. They lost a lot of that revenue during the shutdown of local businesses, now they need to pick up the pace. A kiosk is a lot quicker to ticket than a human meter reader.
The city continues to squeeze the taxpayers to cover their bad decisions. Tired of being a cash cow? Join the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, support the Taxpayer Protection Act (on the 2024 ballot), which will overturn Measure H and require 2/3’s voter approval for tax measures.
* As of staff report dated 6/28/23, that’s $188,779.43…
In April I attended a Finance Committee meeting but the discussion seemed weirdly clipped – at one point, I swear to Gawd, both Staff and committee members lowered their voices as if they didn’t want anybody to hear what they were saying.
The subject was the skating rink. A finance department staffer told the committee that the skating rink had an operational loss of …. what? Her voice was so thin, I couldn’t hear the figure, but I definitely heard her saying there was a loss and council would “have to make a decision...” At one point committee chair and current mayor Andrew Coolidge slumped down in his chair, folded his arms across his chest, his comments almost inaudible, but I could hear him clearly say, “well…it’s good will… “
Somebody always has to pay for good will, and in this case, it’s the taxpayers.
In the old days, when I went to these meetings, I would just wait until the person was done talking, and, if I didn’t hear something clearly or didn’t understand, I’d hold up my hand to ask for clarification. I try to be businesslike at these meetings, I read any reports that are provided ahead of time, and I write stuff down. I keep it short, no chitter-chatter. That was how the old meetings used to be, there was a good rapport between the public and staff, and many staffers were very glad to answer questions. I’ll never forget when the consultant at the garbage tax meeting who beamed at me and said “Good question!” Chico was a smaller town then.
Well, not anymore. Mark Sorensen, our newish city manager, has put an end to “back and forth” conversations at meetings. You have to fill out a card and wait your turn to “speak”. And, they are no longer as willing to answer questions. In fact, Sorensen has instructed staff that all questions from the public must be posed as a formal “Public Information Act Request”.
So, when I emailed staff after the meeting to ask some questions,
“Hi – Reading the budget report presented at the last Fin Comm meeting, I have several questions – 1) how much money did the skating rink make this 2022-23 season? I see a figure of ($113,835) on the “City Recreation” Fund and I wonder, is that the loss from the rink? 2) What other recreation does the city sponsor out of that fund? 3) Also, where did the original $277,000 fund balance come from? Thank you, at your convenience, for either answering my questions or forwarding them to someone who can – Juanita Sumner”
I received a friendly palm of the hand in my face.
Hi there Juanita, You will need to fill out a PRA request form from the City Clerk’s office for the information that you are requesting. It’s easy though! Just follow the instructions located here:
Yes, very sweet and polite, but a new hurdle to “sunshine”. You have to create an account, password, sign in, blah blah blah. Just a hurdle, not a roadblock. I Jackie Joyner-Kersee’d it and waited for a response, about 10 days later I received it.
Was there a loss on the rink? The answer – “Ice Rink made over $237,375 in revenue, and expenses were $413,738. As of 5/31, City Recreation Fund expenses over revenues (come on, just say L-O-S-S) is $176,363. See income summary being released.” The income summary was attached, more on that later.
I had also asked what other activities were included in the City Rec Fund, because the city used to have what could be considered recreational expenses, for example, they used to pay the lifeguards at One Mile. But it looks as if that’s a new fund, created for the rink. “Currently, City Recreation Fund activity only relates to Ice Rink.”
Last, I had asked where the money had come from to fund the rink in the first place. I had seen a figure of $277,000 in the “revenues” column, I thought that was their seed money, and I assumed it had included any generous donations from Downtown businesses or the DCBA or maybe Tonya Harding. I guess I should have given a page number – they didn’t recognize the figure. But it didn’t matter, the answer I wanted was where they got it.
“Staff is not clear on $277,000 fund balance number from question. Fund started fiscal year with $157,442, which was what was remaining from original $300,000 transfer from the General Fund in fiscal year 2021-22.“
They lost $29,000 on the 2021-22 ice rink, that was on the news. I posted it here:
So they had $300,000 to start, they lost $29,000, but had $157,442 left over. I’d had to look at the budget again, it’s all there. But there are pages and pages of crap in the budget, it will make you blind looking at that shit, needle in a haystack. So I thought I was allowed to ask staff when stuff just didn’t make sense to me. Nope, asking staff just started to cost money.
“The City doesn’t have a duty to engage in questions/answers under the Public Records Act process, however the City is making an exception as a courtesy. The City will only provide records in response to future requests.“
You have to pay per page for documents, and they don’t have to explain anything, you just get a pile of figures, like this:
The document posted there by the city attorney/staff in response to my questions is interesting but it doesn’t specifically answer my questions. In fact there’s stuff that should inspire more questions. But we are no longer allowed to ask questions of staff, at meetings or otherwise. We can only make public information requests and then try to figure out what it all means on our own.
Ironically, I just got the same information from a staffer who shall remain nameless. This email from Mark Sorensen to Council, is part of a discussion about the agenda of this month’s Finance Committee meeting, which will not be made public until June 23rd. I notice he uses exactly the same words I got in the response to my questions.
From: Mark Sorensen <Mark.Sorensen@chicoca.gov> Sent: Tuesday, June 13, 2023 10:51 AM To: All City Council <All-City-Council@Chicoca.gov> Subject: Ice Rink
Mayor and Council:
We’ll be bringing the item to Finance Committee for additional conversation, but please find attached and below some data points regarding the 2nd year of operation of the ice rink.
We’ll be discussing ideas for changes that can be made to improve the economics of the effort. In the current budget, the ice rink for this calendar year is not funded.
Ice Rink made $237,375 in revenue, and expenses were $413,738. As of 5/31, City Recreation Fund expenses over revenues is $176,363.
Currently, City Recreation Fund activity only relates to Ice Rink.
The fund started fiscal year with $157,442, which was what was remaining from original $300,000 transfer from the General Fund in fiscal year 2021-22.
Well, that’s interesting – the rink is not included in the current budget. And then this weird aside –
For reasons that we do not yet understand, DCBA forwarded net revenue (for their part of the operation) that was $5,000 less is revenue than their report showed. However, they sent us back a $30,000 deposit we had given them at the outset of our agreement with them, which offset total costs in the fund.
What “net revenue” is he talking about? What $30,000 deposit? We are not privvy to agreements made between the city of Chico and Downtown Business Association, but that’s interesting. Somebody pays you back money you loaned them, and you look at it as income that offsets your costs? That’s government accounting for you. I don’t believe the rink provides that much benefit to Downtown Businesses, we’re offered no documented proof. If I were a Downtown Business, I’d feel like I was dealing with The Mob.
The city is making a decision as to whether or not to put the skating rink in next year’s budget – I say NO. Chico is not a rich town like Redding, we don’t have millionaire donors, we have to stop living beyond our means. This council that uses our taxes like Monopoly money needs to be told that. Contact council – hey, I think you can use the address Sorensen used – All-City-Council@Chicoca.gov Tell them you are sick of paying for the lifestyles and privileges of the One Percent.
I had to laugh out loud when I saw the letter in the News and Review – a group of Downtown merchants, howling that the new parking kiosks are bad for their businesses. I recognized at least one name that had advocated ‘parklets’. I wish I could ask Sue Reed of Bootleg why it’s okay to put bar tables in a parking space so that alcohol serving businesses can serve more booze, but now she’s worried the kiosks are making it difficult for her patrons to get a parking space? Hey Girl, make up your mind.
Parklets are essentially permanent. Less than half a dozen – about $200,000 in American Rescue funding, just for installation. The bars that use them will pay rent, but the taxpayers will lose more parking Downtown.
Councilmember Tom Van Overbeek claims the kiosks will help turn over the spaces, keeping college students from hogging all the parking? Well, aren’t you able to talk to your meter by way of your phone, and continue to pay for that parking space all day? How does that keep a person from hogging a spot?
All I see here is guaranteed revenue for the city. David Smith made that point very well in his letter to the Enterprise Record. I believe he’s right – parking should be free Downtown. He really nailed it – those meters are nothing but a cash cow. Actually, we’re their cash cows.
Some day we really ought to MOOOve down to city chambers and take a big crap on the rug. I’m ready when you are.
I don’t know if anybody would be able to tell us – how many lawsuits is the city of Chico involved in right now? That information is not available on the Butte County Court Case Index, and if you want an answer from staff you have to submit a formal request for information and wait until the cows come home (and yeah, I mean that literally) to get an answer.
I actually did submit a request regarding the negative figure I found for the “city recreation fund” but nine days later I’m still sitting on my three legged stool waiting for Bossy to get me an answer.
But a reader sent me a tip regarding a recently filed lawsuit naming the city of Chico, three specific Chico PD officers, and id’d other involved police officers as “Does 1-50” Here’s what I found online.
The names are included but you have to “log in” to read the complaint. This is public information but see how hard they make for you to read it. I got a copy of the complaint from my reader. Apparently, officers pulled over a car that did not match the description of the car they were looking for and, according to the filed complaint, proceeded to go beyond reason in their treatment of three minors. One girl’s arm was literally twisted until she cried. A minor boy was removed from the car – I can imagine how scared he was that he would receive the same treatment as the girl he was with.
This reminded me of the story we all read about a college student who was attacked by Chico PD in 2016 after they’d seen her video taping the arrest of another person. This video, which I found on youtube, is really disturbing. I’ll tell you what really disturbs me – the officer involved, Steve Dyke, has been involved in numerous questionable actions, and he’s still a member of Chico PD. Google his name, it’s shocking that a man like that is still carrying a gun.
CAUTION: This is a video of what amounts to a sexual assault by members of Chico Police Department
Similar behavior to that you see in the video above was described in the report in the filing for the recent lawsuit. The girl involved was a minor, a teenager who made the mistake of going out without her mother after dark. Her arm was twisted until she cried, and much like what you see in the video above, the officers showed no mercy or pity. If you have teenagers, think about that next time they want to go anywhere in Chico without you.
If you have a child that’s considering enrolling at Chico State, I’d try to convince them to look at other colleges. I recommend University of Nevada, Reno, my kid had a great experience there, and they have a much better reputation than Chico State. Check out this link.
As the reader who sent me the information observes, “The city manager and chief will try to hush this up…probably a quick settlement at taxpayer expense the public will never hear about.” Yes, that’s true, they won’t talk about it publicly, they’ll hide behind “privacy”. And they’ll roll over and we’ll pay.
This is public information, you’re paying for it. This is your city, own it.
At last night’s council meeting the fire department was awarded a 10% raise to pay 5% more of their pension costs.
Pay Range Increases. 1) Effective the first pay period after ratification and approval, the City shall provide a five percent (5%) General Salary Increase (GSI) to IAFF members as specified in Exhibit B, retroactive to September 11, 2022. 2) Effective July +l, 2023, the City shall provide a five percent (5%) GS! as specified in Exhibit B.
3.10 RETIREMENT PLAN… Effective July 42, 2023, each bargaining unit member shall pay, through payroll deduction, an additional one percent (I%) of PERSable compensation in addition to previously agreed cost sharing amounts above, with employee cost share totaling five percent (5%) for Classic members and two percent (2%) for PEPRA members.
City Manager and former city council member Mark Sorensen claims, “There is no additional fiscal impact beyond what has already been budgeted.” He doesn’t want us to know how this will affect the pension deficit, and no member of council bothered to ask.
They just gave the police 20% raises, but I didn’t see any mention of higher shares. The police have already agreed to pay the additional 3%.
Here’s how these deals raise our pension debt – raising their salaries raises their pension cost, far beyond the tiny shares they are being asked to take on. Furthermore, they are not paying more, they’re only paying a portion of the city share. These agreements raise the cost without raising the payment, that’s just gas on the fire.
Sorensen knows what he’s doing, but he doesn’t care about the consequences. When he took his public salary, he drank the Kool Aid. No matter what happens to the city of Chico, no matter what happens to our “quality of life,” our property values, our kids – Sorensen still gets his money.
On a side note, I asked Staff about the ($113,000) I saw in the “city recreation” budget, and I was told I would have to fill out a public information request. We’ll see what we get there. When I did that, I saw that a lot of people have requested information about the parking kiosks, the cost, who was the consultant, etc. I’ll keep an eye on that.
The parking kiosks are another nail in the coffin for Downtown Chico. The city held a meeting with Downtown business owners the other day, even invited customers. Not only are people disgruntled, one attendee got a parking ticket during the meeting, even after he’d paid for his parking space.
Here’s something that was mentioned at the meeting that is not mentioned anywhere on the city website – if you use your credit card for these machines, you pay a credit card fee every time you park or add time to your meter. Wow. I remember when ATM’s came out, they were great! My husband used his card to buy lunch almost daily – the first month, he racked up over $30 in fees – at that time, that was about six lunches. That was the end of our ATM days. That’s one reason we are really careful how we use our debit and credit cards as well.
Thing is, if you want to use coin, aside from having a bag of coins stashed in your car, you need to drive to the kiosk, find “available parking”, get out of your car and feed the machine. Then you drive back to your space – what, and hope nobody took it? What?
Here’s something that was not mentioned at the recent meeting, but has been discussed in those day meetings – the meter has your app, and from that point on, it tracks your phone. You know you can be tracked with your phone right? You get those creepy reports from Google telling you where you’ve been the last 30 days? Former City Ass Mangler Chris Constantin reported that staff was using cell phones to track people during COVID, driving out to wherever they spotted “congregations” so they could threaten those businesses with sanctions.
Well, now the city is using your phone to watch your shopping habits. They want to know certain details, such as how far you have to walk to spend money after you park your car, they discussed that. They call it “marketing research“, I call it, “Big Brother is watching you…” And now Big Brother can send you advertising based on your shopping habits – don’t you just love those ads that slow down your mailbox? If you don’t think that’s creepy, you might want to watch Batman Forever, we have achieved Edward Nigma’s “box”.
Councilman Tom Van Overbeek has admitted as much, saying in his letter to the editor that this app will track you and make sure you are either out of that parking space or get a ticket. I wonder what they intend to do about the Downtown business owner who walked into that meeting waving a paid receipt and a parking ticket.
People have accused me at times of just complaining without offering any solutions. Various businesses offered their solutions at the meeting – most want free parking days or hours, such as free parking until 11am. They are willing to accept the kiosks, as long as there’s a way to wheedle out of it.
Here’s what my husband thinks, and I’ll agree: Downtown just shot itself in the foot again. For us it doesn’t matter – not personally – we don’t own a business there, and we haven’t patronized any business Downtown for years. But, I’ve watched one council after another pour out money for a “viable Downtown” – just throwing good money after bad. Whenever the government gets too involved in the private sector, you get problems. A viable retail sector runs itself. The city has thrown it’s dick in, and that’s where the problems are coming from. All they want out of those meters, is revenues, let’s face it. That’s what Van Overbeek seemed to be concerned with – how fast the ticketing process works. And then he blames college students – that would be funny, if it weren’t so insulting.
Van Overbeek and his cronies on council refuse to listen to the survey they ran a few years ago – people want a “clean, safe” Downtown. They meant, they don’t want bums breaking into their cars, looking over their shoulders at their ATM’s, or putting their hand on their car door to ask for a handout. They don’t want to have to lead their children down a sidewalk with filthy people sprawled out over it, or encounter human feces in front of a business entry. Use a public bathroom? Forget it. And that’s daytime. Add darkness and drunks, and Downtown becomes completely family UN-friendly at night.
Actions this council has taken very recently have just been more nails in the coffin – $1 an hour to park? Wow, there’s acres of free parking and more retail options at malls and retail centers all over town. Yeah, Raw Bar is nice, but Big Tuna and Izakaya Ichiban are just as good, less expensive, and – here’s the thing – have free parking and other retail options in the same center. And no bum tents or sprawling drunks or feces in the doorway. There are streets all over town like Nord and East that feed major retail centers, that haven’t been maintained properly for many years. But they’re putting a quarter of a million in American Rescue Money into parklets for bars Downtown?
One bail-out after another, and Downtown is still in trouble. Want to know why? While they play around with the candy toppings, they don’t provide any substance. The sewer hasn’t been maintained for 100 years. That’s what’s really going to tank Downtown – they will have to shut it down for a couple of years to tear out the streets to fix the sewer. Where will they get the money for that?
Chico Taxpayers Association 