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As the city of Chico moves forward with a sales tax increase and a sewer tax, the state Supreme Court throws a shadow on trash franchise deals

14 Jan

I don’t join many clubs, but I’m happy to be a member of Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association because they take their job more seriously than our elected leaders take theirs.

For a donation of as little as $15 you can help HJTA spread the word about taxpayer rights and use their legal muscle to hold public agencies accountable. When concerned Chicoans contacted them about Council and Staff’s illegal attempt at a Pension Obligation Bond, HJTA quickly filed a Cease and Desist order, threatening to sue the city of Chico if they moved forward without putting a bond measure on the ballot.

I just received their free newsletter, a story about trash franchise fees caught my eye. It looks like the franchise fee the city added to our trash bills is illegal. The California Supreme Court upheld that decision in “Zolly vs the City of Oakland. The franchise fees were found to be a tax, and needed to be put into a ballot measure.

When the city made that deal, Brian Nakamura said it was about “getting all these trucks off our streets” by eliminating consumer choice. Then he told us the franchise fees would go toward repairing the damage done by the trucks. Neither of those promises were kept – every year the franchise fees are dumped into the General Fund and used for whatever whim of council.

I don’t know about you, but I’d rather see a total resurfacing of my street – a major “feeder” to many neighborhoods, overdue foe 30 years – than a stupid ass skating rink for the use of the priveleged few.

But you know, it’s the privileged few who run our town and make the rules to their advantage.

According to HJTA legal council Laura Dougherty, we can challenge our city’s franchise fee. In fact, during that first conversation back in 2012, our new city manager Mark Sorensen, then a council member, said this: “Let’s call it what it is, a trash tax.” Looks like Sorensen knows it’s illegal, but now that he’s yanking a $211,000/yr salary out of the city coffers, he’s keeping his trap shut.

So I’ll do some research as to how we would submit a protest to the trash franchise. Laura Dougherty says, “Hopefully all a ratepayer needs to do now is send a copy of the Zolly decision to their city…” I’ll get back to you with whatever I find out.

Sewer rate increase hearing set for Tuesday (1/17/23) – if you haven’t mailed your protest get it in soon or attend the hearing

12 Jan

My husband and I sent our sewer protest vote by mail the other day – at this point, if you have not mailed yours, I’d recommend delivering it to the city clerk in her office, or attend the hearing next Tuesday, 6pm, City Hall.

Here’s what’s important to remember – you don’t have to convince council of anything – you get to VOTE on this. Each parcel is worth one vote, and 51% is all it takes to stop this tax. Tell your neighbors – this is a permanent tax, allowing for an annual increase without any further notice or hearings.ew

51% was all it took to shove a full cent sales tax measure up our collective patoot, let’s turn that back on them.

All Cal Water customers in the city should have received notice and are eligible to vote. If you can’t find your notice, contact me here. All you need to do is write your name and address on a piece of paper, with “I protest the City of Chico’s proposed changes to the sewer rate charge”.

Yes, the city of Chico, under Mayor Andrew Coolidge, plays dirty and low. It was Coolidge’s idea to try to get a Pension Obligation Bond without putting it on a ballot, and Morgan, Reynolds, and Tandon went with him on it. But their dirty tricks are no excuse for a lazy public – get off your ass now, or every time you sit on your toilet you’re going to pay more.

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10 years of political activism in Chico – it hasn’t always been fruitful, but it’s been educational

28 Dec

Well, I’ve been doing this blog for over 10 years now, and let me tell you, it’s been an education. The most important lesson I’ve learned is that the community has to get involved, real people have to do most of the heavy lifting if we want to achieve anything. And, those people have to be convinced that their actions will have merit and they will make progress toward the goals that are important to them personally.

Frankly, sometimes it’s hard to convince myself any of that is true. But it is, and let me tell you about it.

When I started this blog in 2012, the city had put a cell phone tax measure on the ballot – a tax on the privilege of owning a cell phone. Like many people observed, the city has nothing to do with our cell phone service, they don’t even guarantee that the companies they license to operate here will provide the service we pay for. But they were trying to get a tax on our phone bills, because the city was teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, and they were desperate. They already collect the maximum 5% on our PG&E, water, and landline bills, but if you’ve paid attention as long as I have, you see they never have enough money.

The main reason for Chico’s fiscal insolvency, to this day, is their ever-increasing pension deficit. When I started this blog, city management paid absolutely NOTHING toward their pensions, and other staffers paid very little, less than 5%. Our former city manager Tom Lando, now collecting over $160,000 in salary at Paradise Irrigation District, paid nothing toward his $150,000/year pension. Yes, Tom Lando gets $150,000/year plus cost of living adjustments, when he never paid a dime for it. The taxpayers are paying for that, which amounts to paying him twice for a job done once, and not very well.

Once the public found out about the sweet pension deal, they applied some pressure, and council began slowly correcting the imbalance – shifting a tiny amount of the pension cost onto the employees. Today, the biggest employee share is 15% – for pensions of 70 – 90% percent of their highest year’s salary. And, here’s the problem – that’s 15% of what is paid, not what’s owed. CalPERS is tanking and our cities along with it because the system allows public agencies to accrue these huge deficits on the belief that either the stock market or the beleaguered taxpayers will pay it off. They refuse to ask the employees to pay a rational share, or accept lesser benefits.

As you can see, the public has a lot more pushing to do if we will ever right this ship. As it stands, the city is tanking under the pension deficit, and the demands for more taxes have only begun with the new sales tax increase.

Last year Andrew Coolidge tried to convince council to institute a Pension Obligation Bond. That would have been new debt, and it would mean the taxpayers would be on the hook for the pensions forever. That’s why such a bond would have to go to the ballot. One council member tried to tell the others they needed to go to the ballot, but the other six decided to try to shove it in through illegally. Only when they received a cease-and-desist order from Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assoc, did they pull their illegal request. I think that’s a good thing to know about people – Andrew Coolidge, Kasey Reynolds and Sean Morgan, just to name a few, were ready to do something illegal to get us to pay down their pension deficit. What do you think they’ll pull next?

Well, don’t look down, buy they’re pulling it out of your toilet – a sewer tax. Rate increase notice mailed out in the days before Christmas – gee, that doesn’t look suspicious, does it?

I’ve posted information about that increase and the steps we need to take to throw it down in previous posts. I’ve written letters to the paper. But I don’t know if anybody is listening, because, as city council knows, it’s Christmas and New Years and a lot of Chico sewer customers are just plain out of town.

The notice is very plain and deceptively junk maily – it should say SEWER RATE INCREASE NOTICE in boldface on the outside of the envelope, but it doesn’t. But if recipients of those notices don’t reply with a formal written opposition by January 17, they will change the mechanism by which they figure your monthly rate, and then continue to raise it annually without any notice or opportunity to object.

People have got the wrong attitude these days – “it’s none of my business”. Yes it is. And your neighbors’ business, at least when it affects your business, is also your business. Yes, it’s okay to knock on your neighbors’ door and ask, “did you receive a sewer rate increase notice?” If they say yes, ask them if they’d like to talk about it. If they say no, write down their name and address and ask the city of Chico why you received a notice and this or that neighbor did not.

And below is a link to a junior high level article about getting involved in your community. Give it a read, there might be a quiz later. Or you could just go back to bed. Be sure to lay on your stomach, makes it easier for them to give you a good screwing. I don’t care if you’re offended by that, especially if you voted YES on Measure H.

https://www.cnn.com/2016/11/15/politics/ways-to-be-more-politically-active-trnd/index.html

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Getting ready for 2023 in Chico California

21 Dec

Well, a Happy Winter to all of you. For me, the new year starts with Winter Solstice, because that’s when the days start getting longer, and sheesh we all miss the sun (don’t tell her that, she’ll just get a big head and cook our ass off next summer).

My husband and I got our holiday ahead of time – we skinnied in a trip to Oregon after the Thanksgiving rush was over and before the Christmas rush began. We took our Newsom Bonus Bucks (the gas rebate we actually got from the oil companies) and spent the whole wad. Boy did we have fun.

I love California, it’s my home. But here’s some things I like about Oregon.

No sales tax and cheaper prices. Of course the property taxes are outrageous, and they have a “luxury” tax on cars. So I won’t buy a house or a car there. But let me tell you another thing I observed – every town on the freeway has a very lively retail sector, many businesses, small and large, doing very well. And here’s another thing – they have the same chains, but there’s more selection, and oftentimes cheaper prices. I’ve just about given up on Chico retail – poor selection, high prices, crime in the stores and in the parking lots.

I’d say, Oregonians are not only friendly, they are more business friendly, and that’s why they have huge corporations like Nike and Columbia. They don’t just bring many, good paying jobs, but those businesses are grateful in many other ways. We stayed near the Nike “campus”, and all around there we enjoyed hiking/biking trails through beautiful parks and clean, gorgeous waterways, Nike having paid for much of it. In the middle of the park, they’d built a huge recreation complex, a gym, a huge aquatic center, indoor tennis courts, it was incredible. We watched families of all backgrounds, dropping their kids off in expensive sedans and total crapper work trucks. All around, banners announced this or that kids’ program. We need to attract the kind of businesses that add to our community – but we get pot dispensaries, smoke shops and liquor stores/manufacturers, because they produce a lot of sales tax. Maybe CARD should ask that LA dispensary to sponsor their new aquatic center, already having the support of a major alcohol distributor.

Most towns we visited on I-5 do have a runaway transient problem, but here’s what they do in Portland – they have a big, laminated ID on a lanyard, worn by those who have had any kind of “run-in” with police. They have to wear the lanyard with their ID on it, for all to see that his person has been “contacted” by police. If they enter a business and won’t leave they are arrested, instead of “counseled and moved along”. When a guy entered the sandwich shop in which we were eating and walked up to a table to panhandle, the owner immediately told him to get out or get arrested – and he turned on a dime and walked out. I’d like to see more of that in Chico. Instead, we have people on BCFAC who’ve been arrested like 40 times for the same and worsening offenses.

Here’s an interesting story about what one citizen in Oregon did when confronted with a worsening theft problem at his business –

https://www.wweek.com/news/courts/2022/11/30/once-a-target-of-catalytic-converter-thieves-an-auto-repair-shop-takes-matters-into-its-own-hands/

That’s another thing I like about Oregon – the true Oregonians, who fight for their state, their families, and their way of life. But, like Dale Arden, I’m a California girl, so instead of limp-dick outta here, I’m going to stay and bitch at the rest of you to BUCK THE HELL UP! I just saw the returns for Measure H, and I am as disgusted with those of you registered voters who didn’t vote as I am disgusted with you voters who voted Yes without asking the pointy questions. I hold you all as responsible for the deepening mire as any local elected official. You get a big lump of coal in your stocking this year – and you made it yourself.

But here’s what I’ll say to council members – you passed a tax measure by the skin of it’s teeth, with less than 53% of the voters showing any confidence in your handling of money. You better get your asses in gear and get some streets fixed and the park returned to “normal” ASAP, because Morgan and Coolidge and Tandon the lip-syncer are all up in 2024. Winslow won this time, and both Kennedy and McDaniels made pretty good swipes at their competitors. The new districts make it a lot easier for a new person to win – in fact, a person can move into the district less than a month ahead of the election. Council majorities have flipped more times than Butte Creek has jumped it’s banks, so you better start listening to your constituents or get ready for Koyaanisquatsi in 2024.

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Ask questions People! How many sewer rate increase notices did the city send out to people who will not be allowed to vote on the increase? How will this affect the voting process? Notices that are not returned as a protest are registered as a ‘yes’ vote – will they be counting the notices sent to people who can’t vote as ‘yes’ votes?

11 Dec

I had a lot of questions about my sewer rate increase notice, but it seems to me the most important issue is how these notices were distributed and how they will be counted. According to the Community Water Center, only those who receive and pay a sewer bill should have received these notices, and only those people are allowed to vote. Furthermore, notices that are not returned are counted as ‘yes’ votes.

“If a property owner or tenant who pays a water bill directly does not submit a written protest, it is
counted as a vote in favor of the increase... If a majority (50% +1) of property owners or tenants who pay a water bill directly within the service district submit written protests at the hearing, the provider cannot raise rates as proposed.“

But I received a notice, and I’m not hooked up to sewer, so that led me to wonder – how many notices did they send to non-sewer customers, and will those notices be counted as ‘yes’ votes? I sent an inquiry to the clerk and my council rep earlier this week, and I didn’t get so much as a “received your email…” response. So I wrote a couple of my questions into a letter to the editor.

This whole conversation has been kept behind closed doors for several years now, as part of a further discussion to sell the sewer plant to Cal Water. They’re also discussing hooking Paradise up to our sewer system, which seems somewhat contradictory to claims that our sewer plant is reaching capacity. This rate increase was never part of the sales tax increase discussion, and now they’re trying to shove it through at Christmas?

Something stinks here alright. Wake up and smell the poo-poo Chico.

Merry Christmas – have you received your sewer rate increase notice? City of Chico wants to base your sewer charge on your water usage, at a rate of $1.22 per 100 cubic feet. You already paid $1.52+/ccf, and now the city of Chico wants another $1.22, whether it goes to the sewer or not.

That’s right, they want to double charge you, even for water that will not be processed at the sewer plant – water used to irrigate trees, wash your car, fill your swimming pool or hot tub.

Here’s another problem – the notice system is flawed. The only people who will be allowed to vote on this rate increase are those who are actually receiving sewer service. Then why did I receive a notice when I’m not on sewer? In this process, any property owner noticed who does not return a written protest is counted as a ‘yes’ vote. So, how many notices were sent out to people who will not be allowed to turn in a protest vote? Will those folks be counted as ‘yes’ votes?

I believe the notifications should be resent, and the hearing should be postponed to a later date, giving staff time to answer our questions as required by Prop 218. This is not just a rate increase but a change to the structure of the charge, allowing the city or whomever owns the sewer plant to increase the rate annually without public approval.

Juanita Sumner, Chico CA

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Tell your council rep, the election is over – time to get to work

22 Nov

I know I’ve been writing a lot about Downtown lately – well, the other day, my husband and I were actually forced to go Downtown, to deal with our bank. I found out everything I’ve suspected is true.

The first note I’ll make is how dirty the sidewalks are. And it’s not soda, there are dried pee puddles in corners and porticos all over the place. Our bank shares a portico with a popular eatery, there was a huge pee stain right next to the door of the restaurant. Yes, it’s pee, don’t try to bullshit me – just like that huge stain in the lobby of the city chambers. The sidewalks Downtown are sticky with urine and filth, I felt a compulsion to throw away the shoes I was wearing, but opted for an alcohol wipe-down when I got home. This was a Thursday morning, I hate to see what a Saturday or Sunday morning would look like.

We had to make an appointment with our bank staff before the bank opened, because, we were told, they are currently short of staff. I could understand why – who would want to work Downtown? The first thing that comes to my mind is, where do they park? How far and through what do they have to walk to work? Cause after everything opens at 10am you’d be lucky to find a parking spot. I assume they are told by their employers to scout for spots in the adjacent neighborhoods, the neighbors have complained about that for years.

While city staffers try to tell us otherwise, there is a parking shortage Downtown. And not everybody can walk, ride a bike, or afford a taxi/rideshare. We encountered an older lady who lives outside the city limits, but does a lot of business in town – that is so common. Does Chico want to drive away business from people who live on the wrong side of the city limits? Council wants a viable Downtown, but they seem to be choosing alcohol related businesses over general retail. This lady told us, she comes into town as much as an hour ahead of an appointment just to secure a parking place. There she was, walking around, milling in front of various closed businesses, trying to stay two steps ahead of the panhandlers. We were panhandled three times as we waited outside our bank, once within an illegal proximity of the ATM machine.

I also got a good, up close look at the current parklets, and they’re filthy. While proponents claim people “just love outdoor dining,” I can’t imagine enjoying sitting there in a plastic chair, bumping elbows with drinkers, right next to moving cars, smelling the cocktail of exhaust fumes and garbage cans, waving off the flies and the panhandlers … wow, gross.

The last times we ate Downtown we were entertained by transients right outside our windows, and that was bad enough. Outside one restaurant, a woman stood in front of the window, acting as though she was using the window asa looking glass. She stripped naked, replacing her filthy clothes with a freshly-shoplifted dress – tag still hanging. She left her discarded clothes in a heap on the sidewalk and wandered away. At another restaurant. a really dirty man clutching a bundle of rags to his bosom repeatedly rolled across the window at our table, demanding our attention as we tried to enjoy our spendy meal.

I can imagine the entertainment available out on the street. It’s not that I don’t have compassion, but these people are not innocent, they know they are being obnoxious in their behavior. They’re not part of the community, and they don’t want to be part of the community – I believe they are screaming for help. They’re mentally ill, many of them criminally insane, and they need to go to a hospital where they can receive treatment instead of tormenting the rest of the community. I believe we all have a tenuous grip on our mental health, and as a community we need to make progress toward mental health, not allow some people to drag us all down into the nightmare.

Another elephant in the room is the perpetual atmosphere of alcohol and drugs Downtown. Council wants to ignore our historic community drinking problem, allowing bars to move into the streets? When grown men get so drunk they will piss in the street, in front of the doorway of a business, under an ATM machine, that’s just lawlessness. And that’s the atmosphere we have in Downtown Chico after 9 pm. I had to laugh when one bar owned insisted his business is “family friendly”. Yeah? Your 9 year old an alcoholic? Does he piss in the corner of his bedroom and then sleep in it?

Meanwhile, the pavement in front of my house is separated from the base. Years ago, we were told that if we agreed to be incorporated by the city, our neighborhood would receive “better service”. We’ve had one sewer hook-up after another, sloppy patches that turn into serial potholes, the street needs a total resurfacing. We were told the enhanced garbage rates would be spent on the streets in front of our homes, wow, that was another Whopper.

So, yeah, I’m angry about the way Council spends money, and I hear from other angry people all the time. One woman is is a block away from a sewer toll line for which the city has no schedule for completion. Then there’s the residents of Guill Street who have to drive blocks out of their way every day because the city has funding to fix their bridge but has not yet scheduled the repairs.

Tell your council rep the election is over, time to get to work.

Do you agree with Council’s spending priorities?

20 Nov

No, I have not received any response to my complaints about campers in Upper Bidwell Park, and as of Friday, the campers were still in place. I’ll keep you posted.

I just watched a story on the news about Gavin Newsom’s promise for more “homeless” funding if jurisdictions have an aggressive plan to “clean up ‘our’ streets...” I don’t know if more money is a good thing, given the spending habits Downtown – proof that money can get you into Trouble. With a capital ‘T’ and that rhymes with ‘P’ and that stands for Poor House.

On a related note, Friday I saw a story on Ch 12 news saying that three Downtown businesses have shown interest in applying for a total of six permanent parklets. It was a very poorly researched and written story. The reporter didn’t include the cost of the parklets or who will be paying. He admitted to me that he got the story from City of Chico staffers. I attended the meeting – staff reported 7 parklets would cost about $978,000 – that’s over $140,000 per parklet. According to the reporter, these three businesses will only pay $1500/year for the use of two parking spaces each, or $750/parking space/year. The reporter mentioned to me that American Rescue Plan funding will be used for construction, but for some reason he didn’t include that fact in the story. There was no mention of building fees, which are being waved because the city is doing the work. Which raises the question of prevailing wage. None of that was included in the story, included below.

“They were just designed to be temporary ways for businesses to still serve people during the pandemic, but The Banshee owner Will Brady says it’s brought a big boom to business... ‘It’s probably 25% more revenue that we’re generating,’ said Brady.”

That is a problem for me. The parklets were intended to offset the affects of a government shut-down, and onerous spacing restrictions for customers. Since the local government had set “emergency” standards that threatened business’ bottom lines, it seemed appropriate at that time to allow these businesses to expand into the public right-of-way. But we’ve already suffered the “emergency” long enough, and it’s time to get back to business as usual. I think it’s going too far when a business owner admits the taxpayers have paid for him to increase his revenues 25% over what they were before the shut down.

I also resent that Brady threatens to lay off staffers if he doesn’t get the parklets. “He has hired even more staff because of that, so not having the parklet would be detrimental. ‘We probably would have to lay off 10 then,’ said Brady. ’10 out of 40 of us who work there would probably have to go and we really didn’t want to do that.‘” Well, since he brought that up, I’ll ask, what kind of jobs does Brady provide? What kind of salaries does he pay? Are his employees able to support themselves without public assistance? Where do they park, or do they sleep on the kitchen floor?

Council has decided to allow interested businesses to apply for permanent parklets with new rules – only two parking spaces per business, and “has to look more appealing than the current concrete or plastic blocks…” Here’s another problem I see – the taxpayers not only paid to rent and install those ugly cement and plastic blocks, they paid for the designs that will be recommended to replace them. And the taxpayers will be paying for the construction. The only payment asked of the business owner is the $750/parking space, per year.

Here’s their ploy – “’The idea is that, for it to be something that looks like it belongs to the city and is part of the beauty of downtown,’ said Downtown Chico Business Association (DCBA) Vice President David Halimi.‘” But not the taxpayers, who will not only be losing parking spaces but will only be allowed to use the parklets if they purchase food or beverages at the restaurants who pay the rent. That is a theft of public property, as far as I’m concerned. What next?

Not only does Halimi claim that lost parking revenues will be offset by the rent paid, he told the reporter “That’s on par with the annual cost businesses with permanent outdoor dining spots have to pay now.” But those businesses, like Crepeville and Tres Hombres, all paid for the fees, design and construction of their outdoor dining areas. And yes, they still pay rent.

Here’s what’s coming – “The city says it wants to see how these permanent parklets look and how much money is brought in, to make this a possible option for more businesses in the future.”

Our city council and staff seem to think American Rescue Plan money is just manna from Heaven, found money, like they just turned over the couch cushions and there it was. I don’t think using public money for the benefit of a handful of people is appropriate. If you agree, contact council and let them know about it.

https://www.actionnewsnow.com/news/three-downtown-chico-businesses-apply-to-keep-parklets-past-deadline/article_8532d624-670b-11ed-ba92-3fb077832a35.html

CHICO, Calif. – Downtown Chico parklets might be here to stay for some businesses. Last month, Chico City Council voted to not extend them past Dec. 1 deadline, but some may become permanent.

The parklets were first introduced during the pandemic after the city announced the local emergency.

They were just designed to be temporary ways for businesses to still serve people during the pandemic, but The Banshee owner Will Brady says it’s brought a big boom to business.

“It’s probably 25% more revenue that we’re generating,” said Brady.

He has hired even more staff because of that, so not having the parklet would be detrimental.

“We probably would have to lay off 10 then,” said Brady. “10 out of 40 of us who work there would probably have to go and we really didn’t want to do that.”

City Council’s decision to not extend the parklets still stands though. The Banshee, Naked Lounge and Duffy’s Tavern are all applying to make their parklet permanent.

The city will work with all the other businesses that still have parklets on a time to help take them down around the Dec. 1 deadline.

There are several rules they’ll have to follow. The parklets have to shrink and can only take up two parking spaces.

“We feel like we can keep three tables that way and we can be full all the time then,” said Brady.

It has to be in front of the business and has to look more appealing than the current concrete or plastic blocks.

“The idea is that, for it to be something that looks like it belongs to the city and is part of the beauty of downtown,” said Downtown Chico Business Association (DCBA) Vice President David Halimi.

The city will meet with each business next week and as long as all the paperwork and design plans are in, they’ll meet in front of city council for the final decision that can come as early as Dec. 20.

If it’s accepted, they’ll get a grant of license letting them keep the modified parklet for $1,500 a year for the two parking spots they’ll be blocking.

“So that just basically offsets the revenue that space would’ve brought to the city,” said Halimi.

That’s on par with the annual cost businesses with permanent outdoor dining spots have to pay now.

The city says parking will still increase throughout Downtown Chico though. The parklets are currently blocking 26 spots and in December, at least 20 of those spots will open back up.

The city says it wants to see how these permanent parklets look and how much money is brought in, to make this a possible option for more businesses in the future.

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Note to Council: $275,000 for another study, really? You got your tax increase – how about just fixing stuff for a change?

12 Nov

Yes, the election is over, we have a new one-cent sales tax measure – now’s the time to pay attention. You don’t have to be a CPA to see how the city of Chico mismanages money. Here’s a good example – I just sent the editor a letter about it.

A recent discussion about turning Downtown parking spaces into restaurant dining areas brought up some interesting problems.

Staff reported that the original allocation of $300,000 in American Rescue Plan funding would not be sufficient – seven parklets penciled out at over $978,000.

The city having already spent $25,000 on parklet designs, Internal Affairs Committee recommends the remaining $275,000 be used for a parking study. The goal – showing that Downtown has sufficient street parking to allow conversions to parklets, but is still in need of another parking structure – Pretzel Logic 101.

At that point in the conversation, Committee Chair Kasey Reynolds announced that Downtown streets will have to be torn up soon to replace sewer pipes dating from 1908. Remember the Downtown business whose toilet had been mistakenly hooked up to the storm drain, creating a septage pond in Little Chico Creek? I wonder how many other problems are lurking beneath Downtown streets, while council discusses another superficial remodel.

Reynolds also announced, “we have a lot of empty buildings Downtown right now…” Gee, could it be the failing sewers, dilapidated sidewalks, disappearing parking spaces? Remember when the sidewalk in front of Kona’s collapsed, and the city denied responsibility for months? Kona’s moved to Nord Avenue. Sports LTD moved to Safeway Plaza. How many other businesses have left Downtown because of lack of parking and services?

Note to Council: $275,000 for another study, really? You got your tax increase – how about just fixing stuff for a change?

Juanita Sumner, Chico CA

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Spending priorities out of whack: Kasey Reynolds calling for a Downtown parking study on behalf of parklets, while admitting Downtown sewer pipes have not been replaced since 1908

11 Nov

It looks like people are following the parklets discussion so I’ll continue – I actually do have a point to make, I just keep coming to other points on the way. There are so many things about this Downtown Remodel that piss me off I’m having a problem putting my finger on the core issue – spending taxpayer money to prop up floundering businesses just because they’re located Downtown? My street isn’t getting fixed? City screaming poormouth-needs-a-tax while spending money on trendy fads? You pick one.

Yesterday I think I hit it – the sewer pipes Downtown are from 1908, and they’re talking about spending $275,000+ on a parking study. They want to twist the study to show that there is actually more than enough parking Downtown, so they should be able to eliminate more parking spaces to provide parklets for Downtown restaurants and bars.

Downtown streets and sidewalks have gone unmaintained for decades – eons! – while the city has gone about making cosmetic changes that have nothing to do with infrastructure. Yes, Downtown sewer pipes – and water pipes! – date back to the turn of the century, as do sidewalks. Over a hundred years of non-maintenance finally came home to roost in 2013 when popular Downtown sandwich shop Kona’s was summarily closed because the sidewalk in front of the door collapsed.

Unsupported sidewalk shuts downtown Chico sandwich shop, bakery

The business remained closed for two weeks, and then only partially open, while city management postured and flustered and tried to deny responsibility for the problem, even while admitting that sidewalks are city property. The building owner had to pay for fencing to close the sidewalkto prevent passersby from falling in the hole. In April, they were still arguing about who should pay.

Underground wall at Kona’s in Chico finally getting fixed, but on whose dime?

The cause was found to be the collapse of an underground brick supporting wall, due to saturation from the adjacent gutter and the watering of street trees. That indicates years of negligence – you know they haven’t used brick supporting walls since horse and buggy days. Just think about that the next time you are walking along a city sidewalk, tripping over concrete shoved up by trees – you gotta wonder what’s going on under the sidewalk too!

Here’s the thing – Kona’s was also a bakery, they supplied bread for sandwich shops all over town, including my standard, Chico Locker. But City of Chico manager, Brian Nakamura, refused to pay for repairs, arguing that the building owner had the liability. Reminder – current city manager Mark Sorensen was on council at the time. When local outrage finally reached a peak, the repairs were made, but I don’t know who finally paid for it.

One thing I know – Kona’s is located on Nord now. Is this why, as Kasey Reynolds noted at Monday’s IA meeting,  “we have a lot of empty buildings Downtown right now…” ? The city is an onerous overlord, charging special fees to locate Downtown, but not necessarily providing the corresponding service.

Another business that left Downtown corridor is Sports Ltd. Owner Matt Smith complained there is not enough parking Downtown, and I’ll agree. I’ll never forget shopping there when we were a young family – we needed bikes for the kids, a cargo box for our car, and other gear. We wanted to Support Local Business! Here’s how it went – we’d park where we could, buy what we needed, and then Matt would stand out on the busy sidewalk with me and my kids and the stuff while my husband went to get the car. That’s okay for young people, I guess, but we sure were glad when the store moved to Safeway Plaza on Mangrove, where we can always find a parking space within sight, no crossing streets with hands full of packages, towing tots by the hand.

Downtown is going through a lot of changes, always trying to stay viable. But over the years, stores like Sports LTD have disappeared, replaced by spendy restaurants, bars – “a pink hotel, a boutique, and a swingin’ hot spot!“. Downtown does not serve the general population, and the general population should not be on the hook for upgrading these businesses.

The Internal Affairs committee forwarded staff’s recommendation that the $275,000 in American Rescue Planning that has not yet been spent on parklet designs go to a parking study. Staff says this study will be conducted with license plate tracking equipment already on hand, so I’m not how much it will actually cost. Chair Kasey Reynolds seems determined that this study will show the need for ANOTHER parking structure, which will loosen up those pesky street spaces for parklets.

Reynolds sees cars as a problem Downtown, opining that Chicoans have “gotten comfortable driving right up to the front door of a business…” She seems to forget the constant break-ins reported in the existing Downtown parking structure, calling for all of us to chip in on another structure.

Here’s an interesting note – the parking lots at the mall generate property taxes, which are paid by the private property owners. Same for big grocery store owners and Walmart. These shopping centers provide not only free parking but security service. Shopping centers provide a variety of businesses, and drive up convenience. I don’t think council is thinking straight on this one. And as usual, they expect us to foot the bill for their brain farts.

So, excuse me, I don’t see the parking study as important, I think the money should go to audit Downtown sewer and water infrastructure, and the FIX IT. All of it. No more parklets or fancy garbage cans until we get down to the meat and bones of our city. Stop studying and START FIXING!

POST SCRIPT: After I finished this post, my husband reminded me of this recent “mishap”

Sewage pond in Little Chico Creek traced to illegal plumbing connection

– a local eatery’s sewer pipe had been mistakenly hooked up to the storm drain, creating a “sewage pond”, and the city inspector didn’t catch that during the cursory inspection? A college class found it during a stream survey. Our town has a serious problem, and it’s gone on for years, because we’ve allowed it. Wake up Chico, before you’re up to your forehead in shit!

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In this town that we call Home

10 Nov

I want to finish talking about the parklets discussion because I think it’s a good example of how council and staff do business. At the Monday (11/7) Internal Affairs Committee meeting, the committee (Reynolds, O’Brien and Tandon) approved Option 2 for the parklets plan –

https://chico.ca.us/sites/main/files/file-attachments/11-07-22_internal_affairs_agenda_packet.pdf?1667501630

2) Direct staff to analyze downtown parking needs and make a recommendation on whether to expand the Outdoor Café program to include Parklets. Authorize the use of the remaining ARP funding allocated for Parklets to update the City’s parking study and potentially develop a Parklets program

I’m sensing that I’m not the only skeptic – I think they’re getting some outrage from Downtown business owners who are losing parking spaces. Forty-two parking spaces, so far. I’ll guess, given past conversations, that they’re also hearing from residents who are sick of shoppers being pushed out of the Downtown core, taking spaces in the neighborhoods, even blocking alleys and driveways.

Here’s Kasey Reynold’s take on it – “here ‘we’ have gotten comfortable driving right up to the front door of a business…” She opined that people in Chico have “become too comfortable in their cars“. She also announced plans to tear up Downtown streets for new sewer pipes within the next couple of years, and a push for a new parking structure Downtown. She also dropped an interesting fact – vacancies are up Downtown – according to Reynolds, “we have a lot of empty buildings Downtown right now…”

No, your street was never mentioned, neither was mine. Entire neighborhoods with failing septic tanks and years old promises of trunk lines were not mentioned either. Neither were the overnight break-ins and other “quality of life” issues. In a town of a million complaints, these people are spending American Rescue Money on a Downtown revival.

Committee member O’Brien: “we’re all supportive of Downtown and what makes it vibrant!”

The prevailing attitude seems to be that Downtown is the only important business corridor in Chico, while in fact, not one Downtown business makes the list of top sales tax contributors. When you get off the freeway entering Chico, you’re not Downtown, you’re looking at hobo camps. When you enter from the north or south of town you’re in two of the most neglected, poorly planned parts of Chico. But as far as council and staff are concerned, their only area of interest is the “U” District, “The Entertainment District”, aka, Downtown Chico. And they’re determined to get parklets, even though only four businesses have come forward with plans to use them, and neighboring businesses are seeing them as a financial problem.

I grew up here folks, and Downtown Chico has never been so vibrant as it was in the 1960’s, when Highway 99 came right through town. Ever since the movement for Downtown to become “a destination, not a drive-thru…” I’ve watched them dump money into trendy projects that never came to any good end. The bulbing of sidewalks that places the pedestrian in the street as a traffic calming measure. The cement garbage cans that have been beaten to crap by the transients. Bike trails placed in the street as an experiment, then removed, all at the taxpayers’ expense. Almost half a million for a new City Hall, and now a total remodeling of the third floor of the Administration Building. And at Monday’s meeting, Kasey Reynolds announced that the sewer pipes Downtown are from 1908 and within the next couple of years all of Downtown is going to be torn up for new sewer pipes.

If you voted for Measure H, I hope you will soon feel like the dummass you are. More on the parklets next time, in This Old Shithole We Call Home.

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