I’m sorry to hear about the death of Adam Andrzejewski, head of Open the Books. He’s been quoted as saying, “In God we trust, politicians we must audit…”
You can quote me here – if you voted for them, it’s up to you to hold a candle to their ass, or take what you get. And if you don’t vote, don’t complain. And crapssake – educate yourself, don’t be a sucker!
Don’t take my word for it – look at different sources. This week my husband and I saw total bias – in both directions – in the news regarding the Kamala Harris interview. Various news sites were divided down the middle between those who claimed Harris had done a great job and those who said she didn’t. And then there’s the polls, which are coming in wildly different, depending on which source.
I saw an interview with a guy who does surveys and I’ll never pay attention to another survey as long as I live. What a scam – surveys are used to sway opinion, not to gauge it. Jimmy Stewart and Jane Wyman did a movie back in the 1940’s – when surveys were new – that explains how surveys are done and how they are used – Magic Town. You can find it on Youtube. It’s funny and educational.
I know the issues that are important to me and first among them is my personal economy. It’s not just the grocery store, look at your utility bills – the cost of living has skyrocketed just the last few years. I heard Donald Trump say he would “lower” our utility bills, I’m interested in hearing HOW. I do know that Kamala Harris, who, as state Attorney General, was given the opportunity to clean up the California Public Utilities Commission by bringing CPUC President Michael Peevey up on bribery charges. She had the goods on him, but told us, tough luck Kids, I let the Statute of Limitations expire…
Yes, google Michael Peevey – he was taking bribes from the heads of various utility companies, including PG&E. He was meeting with them in a luxury hotels all over Europe.
Peevey not only approved their constant rate increases but helped them hide information about their blatant and horrific acts of negligence in the San Bruno gas explosions and ratepayers forced to shoulder the enormous cost of mistakes made at San Onofre nuclear power plant. When this all became public, he was forced out of his job – with a pension and a fancy party – but never prosecuted. I found a lot of articles about frustration with Harris’ “malpractice” and “inaction”. This story details what she did, should have done, and didn’t do. Critics accuse her of “Democratic Party loyalty” instead of loyalty to the citizens of California. I believe so too.
https://www.kqed.org/news/10928651/critics-unhappy-with-kamala-harris-approach-to-san-onofre-probe
This article from 2020 says she set the stage for the wildfires that have become commonplace.
Yes I believe they are right, our Democratic leaders here in California are so beholden to PG&E – look at this article about PG&E campaign donations.
When I was a kid, “Good Old Boy” was a common liberal label for conservatives. Meaning, you scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours. Well, how times have changed – now we have liberal Good Old Girls!
One final thing I’ll say is that if our local leaders want to lower the cost of housing they need to remember that part of the cost of housing is utilities. But they add a Utility Users tax of 5% to our water and PG&E bills and franchise fees on PG&E and Comcast. They also refuse to stand up to Cal Water or PG&E when they make their constant bids for rate hikes. The city can file a formal protest and that would go a long way, but they won’t because they make a lot of money off our utility rate increases.
I’m old, and I don’t know how much longer I can stand here waving my middle finger at The Good Old Boys and Girls, you people need to stand up and start making some noise.
Chico Taxpayers Association 
Drove by City Plaza last night around 11PM. Amazing!! I don’t know how to describe it: Infested might be the correct word. The Plaza is not usable for any normal person. Doorways are filled. At this point, why not take the abandoned storefronts like LaSalles, the old Enterprise Record building, and turn them into homeless shelters. Downtown is the worst I’ve seen. There is no Downtown really, outside of the cheap alcohol providers and a decent overpriced bakery. Sad, very sad.
Wow, my husband and I have talked about it but we haven’t been out at night in Chico for probably 10 years. We just got worn out from the increasing unpleasant atmosphere. We started traveling more and seeing towns that had found better solutions and we got more and more frustrated with not just Chico but Butte County in general.
The Chico City Council and County Board have both declared Shelter Crisis Designations in order to get money from the state. In 2018 Andrew Coolidge swung over to the liberal side, passing the first declaration. For a little over $4 million that dried up faster than spit on a griddle. Otherwise it would have died, I always wonder how that would have changed things. Not long after, it came before the county. Larry Wahl and Maureen Kirk actually agreed on something – “sounds like a win-win to me ($$$$$)!” they laughed, and the board approved a countywide declaration unanimously. Here’s a recent update of the SCD deal and all the rules that go along with it.
Click to access 2.%20SB%201395%20%28Becker%29%20-%20analysis.pdf
So now the city council, as if butter wouldn’t melt in their mouths, is trying to get out of it. That really makes me mad because when it came time to review the declaration and let it expire in 2022, the entire council, including the “CONSERVATIVES” voted to renew the deal. They made little pussy speeches about not understanding the agreement, being afraid of the judge – towns all over California didn’t sign it, and now they send their transients and excess prisoners to Chico!
Yeah they could use storefronts if they wanted, the SCD allows them to put an emergency shelter in a commercial (non-residential) zone with little or no review, no CEQA, no noticing of the neighbors. It’s called “use by right” and it also refers to the building of low-income/affordable housing. That came up in the conversation about the Downtown 7-11, I’m not sure what was going on there.
The first and sufficient problem for me is you can’t make them stay inside. Shelter resistance is real, that is a conversation that needs to be had. Second, as Mark Sorensen once explained to me, that would be taking a property that was generating (property and sales) taxes and turning it into a property that sucks taxes.
I think you have hit on a core problem – for the last 15 or so years, the city has worked to turn Downtown Chico into some sort of special zone. Chief Kirk Trostle wanted an “Entertainment Zone” with special rules and special fees and taxes. It’s obvious they think they can make some sort of super revenue source out of Downtown, but they’re just killing the Golden Goose. When I was a kid, Downtown was thriving because there were businesses that attracted people of all kinds from all over the county and parts beyond. The shops and restaurants were even affordable to the college students. At some point the city started to look at the college and their binge drinking problem as a revenue source, and alcohol sales Downtown became a cornerstone of their financial plan. They’ve really stuck it to business owners, and I think that has backfired on them, given the number of vacancies and failed businesses over the last few years. Wait until they announce the coming sewer work!
I always come back to the same conclusion – our council is not qualified to make a lot of these decisions, and they are easily led by others who have gain to be made.