Chico Taxpayers Association

According to this article, ” Kratom users rely on this fast-acting formula to enhance their energy levels and overall well-being…” The article mentions nothing about the dangers of Kratom, selling it as an energy supplement.

Here’s what the National Institute on Drug Abuse will tell you about Kratom powder.

https://nida.nih.gov/research-topics/kratom#safe

Adverse effects range from mild to severe. Some people who use kratom have reported mild side effects, such as nausea, constipation, dizziness and drowsiness.^{3, 4} In case reports, clinicians report seeing patients with a wide range of very rare but serious adverse effects associated with kratom exposure—including mental and neurological symptoms (confusion, tremors and seizures), heart and lung problems (high blood pressure and slow breathing), gastrointestinal problems (nausea and vomiting) and liver problems.^{1, 23} Researchers continue to study potential adverse effects in humans, animal models and cells, including possible damage to the cardiovascular system.

The Drug Enforcement Administration is more to the point – they call Kratom a “drug of concern”

https://www.dea.gov/factsheets/kratom

Kratom is a tropical tree native to Southeast Asia. Consumption of its leaves produces both stimulant effects (in low doses) and sedative effects (in high doses), and can lead to psychotic symptoms, and psychological and physiological dependence. Kratom leaves contain two major psychoactive ingredients (mitragynine and 7-hydroxymytragynine). These leaves are crushed and then smoked, brewed with tea, or placed into gel capsules. Kratom has a long history of use in Southeast Asia.  In the U.S., the abuse of kratom has increased markedly in recent years.

At low doses, increased alertness, physical energy, and talkativeness. At high doses, sedation,,Addictive: causes hallucinations, delusion, and confusion,Nausea, itching, sweating, dry mouth, constipation, increased urination, and loss of appetite. Long-term use can cause anorexia, weight loss, and insomnia.

And here’s what Web MD has to say

https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-1513/kratom

Kratom (Mitragyna speciosa) is a tree native to Southeast Asia. The leaves contain a chemical called mitragynine, which works like opioids such as morphine.

Kratom has pain-relieving effects like opioid drugs. It also has many of the same serious safety concerns as other opioids.

People commonly use kratom for withdrawal from heroin, morphine, and other opioid drugs, as well as cough, depression, anxiety, and many other conditions, but there is no good scientific evidence to support these uses. Using kratom can also be unsafe.

Kratom is banned in some states and countries due to serious safety concerns. The US FDA has warned consumers to avoid using products containing kratom.

Despite the above warnings, Kratom continues to be legal. The warnings are true. When our friend used it to get off alcohol and other substances, he vomited his way into very frightening seizures. When we tried to get him to stop using it he acted like an animal and stopped talking to us. We were finally able to get him to a doctor, who told him Kratom was dangerous. She gave him pharmaceuticals that worked – he’s off drugs now, and doing a lot better.

That was a dark time for my husband and I, it’s hard to convince yourself to get involved with friends when they act like they don’t even know you. But this was a friend we wanted to hold on to. So I looked for help. I tried to talk to my city council representative, Kasey Reynolds, about the prevalence of Kratom in the local tobacco and liquor stores, and how it’s used. Many cities across the US and California have banned it. She wouldn’t engage – let’s face it, the city of Chico likes this kind of trade, it’s produces a lot of sales tax revenues.

City council has the power to refuse licenses for alcohol stores and smoke shops. When was the last time you heard of them not approving a new liquor store or smoke shop, despite recent raids by the ABC?

And now Mike Wolcott is running ads for a highly toxic, addictive substance that produces sales tax. What next Mr. Drug Peddler? And he wonders why I won’t subscribe to his little ad rag.

UPDATE: At last night’s council meeting (5/7/24), council approved two new alcohol serving businesses despite the fact that the Alcoholic Beverage Commission (ABC) determined that they were both located “ in an area with an undue concentration of alcoholic beverage licenses.” (Downtown Chico) Police Chief Billy Aldridge “did not oppose a determination of public convenience or necessity. ” What does that even mean – ask your council rep if they understand what they’re voting on, I don’t think they particularly care. Both items had been placed on the consent agenda, neither was held for any type of conversation before council agreed unanimously to allow two more alcohol serving businesses within block of each other in the Downtown grid.

According to California Code,

(a) For purposes of Section 23958, “undue concentration” means the case in which the applicant premises for an original or premises-to-premises transfer of any retail license are located in an area where any of the following conditions exist:(1) The applicant premises are located in a crime reporting district that has a 20 percent greater number of reported crimes, as defined in subdivision (c), than the average number of reported crimes as determined from all crime reporting districts within the jurisdiction of the local law enforcement agency.(2) As to on-sale retail license applications, the ratio of on-sale retail licenses to population in the census tract or census division in which the applicant premises are located exceeds the ratio of on-sale retail licenses to population in the county in which the applicant premises are located.(3) As to off-sale retail license applications, the ratio of off-sale retail licenses to population in the census tract or census division in which the applicant premises are located exceeds the ratio of off-sale retail licenses to population in the county in which the applicant premises are located.

I frankly believe those are all excellent reasons to deny an alcohol business to open in a particular area, but the city of Chico seems to be on a bender lately.

I had to renew my driver’s license, I did it online. They asked for voter registration information, even though I know my registration is up to date, I filled it out. I’m not sure what happened, but three days later I got a notice from the county clerk asking me to restate my residence address.

I read it over a few times, I was corn-fused. You can register to vote without a legal residence? With nothing more than cross streets and a brief description? Then excuse me, why the hell do they need my residence address? Assessor parcel number?

Here’s another question – if I can register to vote from a street corner, can I run for office in that district?

Sometimes, I’ll say, I lose faith in the government. How can they guarantee there’s no voter fraud when they allow people to register to vote from a street corner? But I have to provide a physical address in addition to my PO Box number – again, corn-fusing.

I believe voter fraud is real. I don’t believe county clerks across the country have the resources to check every voter. There’s no voter ID anymore, we all vote by mail, so how can they guarantee who’s turning in a ballot, registered at a street corner? Coincidentally, the 2020 election brought in a historic number of voters, “the century’s highest turnout.”

https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/04/record-high-turnout-in-2020-general-election.html

Where did all those new voters come from? Were they eligible to vote in the district in which they registered? How were they informed about the issues, and by whom? Soooo many questions.

But I turned it in with my residence address anyway, because I believe that in order to be eligible to vote in a community, a person should have a somewhat permanent and serious stake in that community. I don’t think a physical residence address, at a real residence, is too much to ask.

I also believe that allowing people to vote without solving the problems that have left them without a physical residence address insinuates that living on the street is acceptable. It’s not. Furthermore, I believe that encouraging them to vote is not done out of any sincere wish to empower them but out of desire to manipulate their political power.

Last I’ll say, it undermines and devalues our elections, and our confidence that our votes make any sort of difference. But I’ll vote anyway, they won’t get rid of me that easily.

I had a question from BC a few weeks ago –

I have said it before, and I will say it again:  When it comes to municipal finance in California, There’s the cost of pensions, and there’s everything else.

What is the size of chico’s unfunded liability today?  A couple of years ago it was more than 100 million dollars.  Do I have that right, I’m not trying to be inflammatory?

I don’t think questions are inflammatory, and hey, you’re not that far off! But I didn’t want to bother staff with this question – you only get so many before they cut you off. They act like they pay for their own time! So, I googled it – “city of chico ca current pension liability 2024″

Here’s what I got –

This is the annual report from CalPERS about how much money the city owes for un-supported city wages and benefits. Yes, unsupported – meaning, these positions are not fully funded. The city essentially borrows the money from CalPERS, at incredible rates. CalPERS said they could pay alot of the cost with stock market investments. That hasn’t worked out very well over the past 20 or so years, leaving CalPERS, along with all its “members”, in a heap of shit.

The city has gone along, like many CalPERS members, making the smallest possible payments. The employees pay a tiny fraction of the cost, while the city pays a little bit more – leaving a huge deficit, known as the Unfunded Actuarial Liability. You can look those words up in a dictionary – it means, the city actually didn’t have the money to promise these outrageous salaries and benefits, but they promised them anyway, and now the city is actually liable for the money.

Here’s the best answer I could get for BC – In 2021, the pension deficit was $64,293,003. In 2022, which is the most recent figure given in the report, it was $92,247,723. That’s over $28,000,000 more in a year.

The question is, who is going to pay it now? The city gave us a new tax, Measure H. They claim it’s brought in about $24 million, with which they said they would make all these wonderful road improvements. Instead they’ve budgeted an $18 million payment toward the pension liability. Whoa-ho-ho Nelly! By 2024 it’s projected to be about $25 million.

The payments they’re making are tanking our budget, but they don’t amount to spit on the CalPERS griddle. The problem is, let’s face it – employees need to pay more. Alot more. And Council needs to stop approving new hires – duplicate management positions, a consultant actually told them they are “management top-heavy”. How many $200,000/year management positions does it take to fill a pothole? Look at the staff salaries – I count at least three people in Public Works at over $200,000 in total compensation. Sorensen just created a new management position for Brendan Ottoboni last year.

Instead of asking employees to contribute a rational share, or downsizing management, Council has approved spending another $100,000 trying to save Measure H, which is under threat by the voter-initiated Taxpayer Protection Act. The TPA will overturn Measure H, because the city slid it under the door with less than 53% approval by the voters. The TPA will require 2/3’s approval of all local tax measures. So Mark Sorensen has led City Council to approve an initial $100,000 (we’ll see how many additional “allocations” they make over the next six months) to get that turkey back on the ballot with the required changes, just in case the TPA passes. It will require 2/3’s approval from Chico voters. Last time it got about 52.8%.

So hey BC, they’ve scheduled a “special” Finance Committee meeting for this Wednesday at 8:30am, go in there and ask some questions.