Time to GET MAD folks – while Butte County has neglected your evacuation routes and Chico has neglected fire prone Bidwell Park, they have continued to pour millions into their own pensions

With video of the carnage going on in and around Los Angeles on the news every morning, I heard today on The National Desk that the feds are threatening to cut emergency funding until the state legislature gets a better plan for fire control/prevention.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said “State and local officials were derelict in their responsibilities”. People are calling for the resignations of both Governor Newsom and LA mayor Karen Bass. I would like to add a few names to that list: Chico City Manager Mark Sorensen, Chico Parks and Natural Resources Manager Linda Herman, and Public Works Director Erik Gustafson. As well as the CAO of Butte County and the Public Works Director.

I don’t care about Bass – that’s LA’s problem. But after the Camp Fire, Governor Newsom promised to add to the Cal Fire fire prevention teams – that never materialized. He did nothing to help LaMalfa pass his Fix Our Forests bill . Likewise, neither Butte County nor the City of Chico have done anything about major fire hazards within their jurisdictions, despite major fires over the last 7 years that have caused evacuations. The city of Chico left dead vegetation and standing dead trees in Bidwell Park after the Stony Fire (2018) and refused to take a proactive stance against illegal activities in the park.

Butte County board of supervisors recently rejected plans to clear brush from or improve Doe Mill Road, denying that it is a designated fire evacuation route. Then why were people directed by law enforcement to use that road to get out of the Park Fire evacuation zones? It was a major route out of the Camp Fire, along with Garland Road. Both Doe Mill and Garland are so narrow in sections that two way traffic is nearly impossible. The surfaces of these roads make it dangerous for sedans. Brush lines miles of roadway – imagine driving through burning brush on a one lane dirt road with a conga line of hysterical evacuees right behind you.

How can we force changes to Chico policies? Call for the resignations of Sorensen, Herman, as well as Butte County CAO Andy “Maximo” Pickett and Works Director Joshua Pack. These people are derelict in their duties. Email your city and county district “leaders” and tell them they’re next if they don’t start hiring some better people at more rational salaries.

And when they tell you they don’t have the money, ask your county supervisor where they where they got $57 million for their latest pension bond payment. Chico’s annual payment has reached $18 million. That’s where your infrastructure funding has gone.

Time to GET MAD folks, GET REALLY MAD, and channel your anger at those who are the problem – your government officials.