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Why has CARD neglected Shapiro Pool? Why would Laura Urseny say “there’s not much hope” when it can be rebuilt for less than a million dollars?

27 Sep

Chico Area Recreation District board heard a report from local pool builder James Dougherty on the condition of Shapiro Pool.  Shapiro Pool was built on school district property at Chico Junior High, but has been run by CARD for the last 20 or so years, not sure when CARD took over.

This report is a story of neglect. The things Dougherty has listed are all items that should have been included on an annual maintenance schedule, and kept up to date. There are building code, public health violations that have been going on untended for about 25 years. They have done nothing to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act – apparently most CARD facilities are not ADA compliant, they’ve only recently spent $60,000 on a consultant to tell them how to get ADA compliant. 

ADA was first passed in 1990. There is absolutely no excuse for a public recreation agency like CARD to ignore the law.

Worse – right in the beginning of his report, Dougherty casually mentions that he was handed another consultant’s report from 2009. This was all reported in 2009 and NOTHING was done. 

If you want to read the full report, you will have to ask Willman for a copy – she did not send me a copy I could share or a link. You can reach Ann Willman at annw@chicorec.com

The good news – and we all knew this –

  • the pool is big enough to accommodate local demand
  • the pool, deck, and surrounding grass areas are large enough to accommodate competitive swim meets

But here’s where everything goes downhill – 

  • the pool itself has features that are out-of-date and do not comply with current standards – such as gutters that make ” entry and exit difficult for children and mature adults.”  
  • the lights are inadequate for night swimming
  • the deck is cracked and that causes trip hazards – substandard patches have been made that exacerbate the situation
  • the pool plaster has deteriorated and there are sharp edges where metal has been exposed
  • they took out the diving board at some point but not properly, and now the remaining hardware “presents a trip hazard.”

Things were already going downhill 20 years ago when I took my kids to Shapiro Pool one day. The place was awful, the staff was awful, the kids there were out of control. The place got vandalized a  lot because it was obvious nobody cared about it, including CARD or the school district.

But here’s things I have only suspected:

1. The two pools have different loads during swim lessons, lap swimming and public swim sessions and CHSC and NISPS call for two separate recirculaüon and watertreatment systems. There is only one circulation system for both activity areas with equalizer lines connecting the two pools.

2.The pool re-circulation system is undersized to handle the flow per CHSC* FPSSR and FPSSA.

3. The bottom drains are undersized to meet current CHSC, FPSSA, and NISPS.

4. Thousands of gallons of heated, chlorinated, pH adjusted, alkalinity adjusted, calcium hardness flows through the gutters weekly, so the pool water level is normally kept below the gutter line and the code required skimming action is, for the most part, nonexistent. 

5. The chemical control is adequate, although staff reports some issues with tracking chlorine and maintaining desired chlorine levels, requiring frequent staff

attention.

6. The chlorine and acid feed pumps are of adequate size to handle the volume of the pool and the load.  The chemical feed lines are not double contained per current UFC ART 80 and OSHA standards

7. The chlorine and acid barrels are st01ed in such a way as to not meet current UFC and OSHA standards.

8. The steel high-rate sand filters keep up with the demand by patrons, however, is somewhat undersized to handle die six hour turnover flow rate called for by CHSC and NSIPS. In addition, this type of filter requires considerable backwashing time, using many more treated water gallons to clean the filter than do state-of-the-art sand filters. In addition, the backwash discharge plumbing does not have the CHCS and NSIPS “air gap clearance” above the backwash pit. 

9.  The heater is of conventional gas-fired, standard efficiency (75-78%)  It does not meet current “LowNox” air standards. 

Dougherty has included cost estimates. He says we could get Shapiro fixed up as good as new for about $568,000.  Compared to the millions they are asking to build their Taj Majal aquatic center, that’s peanuts. 

Here’s my guess – the CARD board isn’t really thinking about a swimming pool, they’re thinking they need to get a bond on our homes to pay down their pension obligation. 

Ann Willman has been telling the skateboard group she’s short of money and staff – well, that didn’t stop her from taking about a $10,000 increase over Steve Visconti’s salary.

http://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/SpecialDistricts/SpecialDistrict.aspx?fiscalyear=2013&entityid=1875

Willman pays NOTHING toward her benefits and pension package, we pay $24,000/year to keep her in stretch pants for the rest of her life.

While you are at that website, look at Durham rec district, which has a budget of about $300,000/year, compared to CARD’s $5 million plus budget. They spend about $35,000 a year covering their employees, who must pay toward their own packages because the dollar amounts listed wouldn’t get you into Oroville Hospital.  Their pool – only one of their very nice amenities –  is in excellent condition, hosts swim meets. They even train lifeguards for CARD. Their director only makes $63,000 a year, and he has less employees to help do the work.  

People actually drive from Chico to swim at Durham’s pool. That’s called “leakage”. 

I’m going to ask Willman, what is CARD’s unmet pension liability? I’ll get back with her answer.

 

 

 

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Guest blogger Scott Bailey: make skateboard park about skating and not a place to drink or do drugs

24 Sep

Scott Bailey,  a teacher at Table Mountain School in Oroville, has approached Chico Area Recreation District about dealing with the problems surrounding the skateboard park on Humboldt Ave. As he says, this discussion has stalled in CARD meetings for a couple of years now. CARD’s former maintenance manager Jake (can’t remember his last name) wanted to get rid of the park altogether, frustrated with a lack of action from the board, he finally left CARD. He was the guy who had to deal physically with the human filth and vandalism that has plagued that park almost since it was built. He also had to field complaints of inappropriate activities. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORcCRmJQP6I

BMX bikes are not supposed to use the skateboard park. When I found this video I was looking for one I’d seen about a year ago in which a small car was driven around our little skatepark, really fast and furious. Not to mention, the usual drug and alcohol activities that aren’t caught on video. 

So, below, Scott Bailey details efforts to fix the current skateboard park and maybe get a bigger one at DeGarmo Park. What impresses me, is that the aquatics center group was never asked to do any of this stuff. Read on. 

 

Prior to the skatepark being on the agenda with CARD for September, I met with Ann Willmann, the new general manager, to discuss the topic. Ann and I worked a bit together when she was in Oroville and she was instrumental in getting replacement skatelite (smooth skateable surface material) for the Oroville park. Our meeting in Chico was really just to discuss the major issues: underbuilt park, lack of draw for adults and families with cars, issues with non skaters (drugs and alcohol, homeless presence), too much “hang out” space, surrounding cities with nice skateparks and far less population size, what is needed to bring in adult skaters, and more.

Ann informed me that with the current unfilled staff positions and several projects she is currently working on, that she would be asking to table the skatepark agenda until January. This was frustrating because the skatepark has a history of being tabled. In fact, last summer CARD held a series of sub-meetings with local skaters to discuss similar issues and even though a draft was created of the results, they were never presented to the CARD board. Instead they were tabled. Needless to say, I walked into the September CARD meeting ready to defend why it is so important that we move on this now.

The goals of our group, Chico Skatepark Solutions, are to eliminate the grass and seating areas in and next to the park and to replace those items with quality skateboard amenities. Our plan includes offering things that will bring in adult skaters and families. Currently adult and family skaters travel to neighboring communities and beyond to skateboard nice parks. If we make the Chico park into a nice park with challenging events, those skaters will be in Chico and will help to increase the adult supervision in the park. Eliminating the “hang out” spots will also help to make the park about skating and not a place to drink or do drugs.

The Chico CARD board all seemed very interested in making the skatepark expansion happen and in moving towards the solution now. They specifically asked about the cost of such an endeavor and we let them know that the bare bones for building a skateboard bowl would be approximately $60,000, but if we want to make quality changes, it will be closer to $120,000. The board was very pleased that this was such an attainable number and even discussed parks money that the City Council oversees that may work for the project. It was decided that an ad hoc committee would be formed, including board member Jan Sneed, and possibly Tom Lando. Ann Willmann will also be part of the committee as will the Chico Skatepark Solutions group.

We are hopeful that this momentum will continue and that the skatepark expansion will happen in a timely fashion. We have recently been given permission from producer, Greg Hunt, to show his new Vans skateboarding film, Propeller, as a fundraising event and we are waiting for a reply from Sierra Nevada Brewery if they will donate the Big Room as a venue and also donate the dinner for the event. We have been in contact with Grindline and Evergreen skateparks to ask about help with developing plans for the area. We have also approached a printing company about making T-Shirts that will bring in some money and help show the community commitment to making this project come to fruition. Additionally, we have contacted Golden Valley Bank to potentially create a non-profit account under their 501c3 umbrella. Ultimately, we will become a non-profit organization ourselves as we move forward and in the future we will also help with a new skatepark at Degarmo.

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What about assessment districts?

20 Sep

Word Press provides statistics about my readers, my favorite of which is the search terms by which people arrive at this site.

This week’s prize goes to the individual who punched in “bullshit district assessments”. 

Because assessment districts are bullshit.   A district that is formed to take your money based on some service that you most likely would not have asked for and will very likely never receive. 

Take the Butte County Mosquito and Vector District. These guys just put a bond on all our homes a couple of years ago, through a process by which people who own more properties get more votes, and your assessment is based on acreage. Here’s the thing – homeowners who live on a quarter acre pay more than rice farmers who flood thousands of acres of mosquito habitat a year. 

Chico pays – I pay for 11 houses because that’s what the city of Chico has planned for my two acres. But I keep up with the spray notices – they only spray South Chico. My complaint is not that I want spraying – I haven’t seen a mosquito all Summer. So, why am I paying $20 a year for mosquito fogging? 

Where do they spray? Mostly the rice fields and towns like Biggs and Gridley. Why do they need the money? Mostly for management – see here:

http://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/SpecialDistricts/SpecialDistrict.aspx?fiscalyear=2013&entityid=1663

They have a Taj Majal HQ  over at Otterson Park where they have a manager, assistant manager, and office manager who take over $300,000 in salary just between them, and another $100,000+ in benefits and pension. District Manager Matt Ball told me they only paid 3% of their benefits and pension – he was glad to say that had been raised from 1%. 

Notice how salaries go down rapidly for the people who actually do the service. A pilot who spray toxins all over Butte County makes less than a guy with soft hands who sits at the office, in Chico, all day?

And then there’s CARD, who has cut their lower-paid, unbenefitted staffers, in favor of raising management salaries over $100,000 a year. CARD management pay nothing toward their benefits and pension, which are about the same as Butte Vectors.

http://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/SpecialDistricts/SpecialDistrict.aspx?fiscalyear=2013&entityid=1875

CARD will put a bond measure on the ballot in 2016.

Yes, assessment districts are bullshit. See how many assessment districts run out of Butte County:

http://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/SpecialDistricts/SpecialDistrictCounty.aspx?fiscalyear=2013&county=Butte

This adds to the cost of housing and everything else in our town and county, not only through assessments on our homes but because these outrageous salaries raise the cost of everything from housing to daycare to healthcare to groceries and gas. 

You might have seen the “ratesucker” commercial run by some auto insurer. It’s funny as hell, and it’s true – bad drivers add to your insurance costs no matter how good a driver you are. Well, bad voters, asleep-at-the-wheel rate and taxpayers, and corrupt politicians and public employees do the same thing to your cost of living. 

 

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$taff seems to be setting up a scheme by which they can raise their own salaries without council oversight – read it for yourself

24 Aug

There’s a city Finance Committee meeting Wednesday, 8:30 am. There is a ton of interesting stuff in the agenda, including what looks like pay raises for the police and fire chiefs. 

Click to access 8-26-15FCAgendaPacket.pdf

As usual, it’s loaded purposely by the clerk so that it can not be cut and paste, you will have to troll through the whole thing yourself, like I did. 

Frankly, the reports are so thick I don’t quite understand them, but I did see copies of a pay chart and a budget that were chock full of stuff you people should know about. $taff is also recommending policy changes that should not be swept by the public in an 8:30 am meeting. It looks like they are setting up a scheme by which they can bypass council and the public and give themselves raises. 

$taff and Council just finished telling us what great shape the city is in financially – why does the budget show a $7 million General Fund deficit?  The figures are confusing – on one line it says there’s $12 million plus in the sewer fund – on another line it’s shows a $3 million deficit. And the Park fund looks tapped – somebody better tell Tom Lando, cause he’s told CARD he will try to get money for the Aquatic Center study out of the city park fund. 

That reminds me – Lando and other CARD board members have been having “Intergovernmental” meetings with members of city staff and other agencies. These meetings are not noticed on the CARD website. I’ve been asking for months to be added to the notice list. First Steve Visconti told me I’d be added but never did, and now I’ve got new director Ann Willmann giving me the dis. She told me she’d add me after the July meeting and now they’ve had another meeting for which I have not been noticed.

I don’t care if I called her a human potato – I’m not taking that back, she deserves worse. She can call me what she wants, but as long as she accepts salary and benefits at the expense of the taxpayers, I’d like to see her do her fucking job.

NOTE: Willmann finally got back to me yesterday, excusing herself for being out of the office Monday. She said, “In regards to your question, the Board’s standing committees are consistently listed on the Agenda for the Regular Board Meetings.  This allows the Committee members to report to the Board and provide information if there was a Committee meeting.  However, all Committees do not meet monthly.  The only Committee meeting that was held between the Regular Board Meeting in July and the August 20, 2015 Regular Board Meeting was the Finance Committee.  We are aware of your request to be notified of upcoming Intergovernmental Committee meetings as well as AFAC meetings, and we will notify you when we have meetings scheduled for either of those committees. ” 

Yes, the worthless wad of Brown Act allows them to list stuff in their agenda that may or may not be discussed at the meeting. It also allows them to have sub-quorum meetings (not enough members of the committee to vote) without noticing the public at all.

Well, there you see, she’s said she’s aware of my request to be notified. But, if more of you don’t start paying attention, it’s not worth my time to bother with this crap. 

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Norman Elarth: “they will speak of uncontrollable external cost increases, rather than overcompensated and underfunded employees”

8 Aug

From the Chico Enterprise Record:

Policies help conceal false allocation of resources

Aquatic centers, solar power, new sports arenas around Sacramento, etc. Many are seeking the notoriety, above-market compensation, or even the cheap entertainment that becomes available by taxing the workingman. The question is why our politicians want to destroy our wealth by investing in entertainment and doubly expensive electricity, particularly since businessmen will not increase production and employment until workers are capable of paying down debt and increasing expenditures.

Unfortunately, while democracy and capitalism are both succumbing to government overspending, public greed, and the faulty allocation of financial resources, the problem is amplified by the leaders of government and its related entities. In order to maintain their power, they must increasingly provide a free lunch even more grandiose than the public can stomach, and hence we often find that their policies are shrouded in falsehood and deceit.

Thus, while our school board obscures the cash bonus and cumulative 9.2 percent raise given to our teachers, they completely hide the additional 4.3 percent of their salary that we will be paying into their pension fund for the years 2014 and 2015 combined. Another 4.3 percent will be added next year under Assembly Bill No. 1469. Their poorly managed total compensation for 10-months work will be about $60 per hour.

When cities and water and power companies help bankrupt our workers and the elderly with increased fees and rates, they speak of uncontrollable external cost increases, rather than overcompensated and underfunded employees.

— Norman Elarth, Chico

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Why does it take two months to get a simple report out of CARD?

7 Aug

I was looking at the CARD website when I saw a notice of an “Intergovernmental Committee” meeting. I could not attend – it’s not a regular committee meeting, and was only noticed on the website 24 hours ahead – so I asked CARD manager Steve Visconti to send me a report, and to place me on the notice list for upcoming meetings.

From: juanita sumner
Sent: Saturday, June 13, 2015 5:23 AM
To: Steve Visconti
Subject: intergovernmental committee

 Hi Mr. Visconti,

I notice the intergovernmental committee meetings are held on a very irregular basis and not noticed on the website until 24 hours ahead. That makes it difficult to the public to know when these meetings are going  to be held. I notice the last meeting was  a joint session with some members of city council or staff? The agenda is not clear. 

I would like to be notified ahead of these meetings and sent a copy of the agenda. I also wonder – how do I get reports of these meetings? I’d also like to get a report of the last AFAC meeting – it started late, and I had to leave before any discussion or action was taken. 

Thank you for your anticipated cooperation in this matter, Juanita Sumner

It took him more than a week to respond:

Steve Visconti
6/22/15
To: juanita sumner
Ms. Sumner, you are correct. The Intergovernmental meetings are generally on an as needed basis. The most recent meeting was with the City Manager to discuss a few issues related to the City budget and certain fees they collect that CARD has utilized in the past to construct new park improvements. I will notify our new General Manager Ann Willmann that you would like to be noticed on future Intergovernmental Meetings. She will be starting on July 6th.

 As far as meeting reports, I will notify Ms. Marciales as soon as she returns to the office the week of July 6th.

 Thank you for your inquiry.

 Steve Visconti

Interim General Manager

And that was the end of it, Visconti retired, July 6 came and went, but neither Marciales nor Willmann contacted me. Three weeks later I met Willmann when I attended the July 30 budget meeting at Lakeside Pavillion. At that time I asked her again about the report, which they are supposed to be able to provide on demand, but I didn’t press it at that time because the meeting was about to start and I did not have time to hang around afterward. She gave  me her card with e-mail address and first thing next morning I made  my request again. 

From: juanita sumner  
Sent: Friday, July 31, 2015 5:26 AM
To: Ann Willmann <annw@chicorec.com>
Cc: Jennifer Marciales <jmarciales@chicorec.com>
Subject: RE: intergovernmental committee

 Hi Ms. Willmann,

 I’m glad you gave me your e-mail – as you know, most card e-mail address are first initial, last name. I see where that would be confusing to people trying to get ahold of you.

 As I asked Mr. Visconti below, I’d like to get the report of the last Intergovernmental meeting, which Mr. Visconti had told me Ms. Marciales would contact me about.

 I’d also like to get on the notice list for the Intergovernmental meetings, as I had asked.

 Thanks for your anticipated cooperation, Juanita Sumner

She responded as though it was the first she had heard of my request. 

From: annw@chicorec.com
To: Juanita Sumner
CC: jmarciales@chicorec.com
Subject: RE: intergovernmental committee
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 2015 16:50:13 +0000

Dear Juanita, thank you for your email. I will follow up on your requests and also ensure you are on the requested notification lists. Have a lovely weekend. Ann

I am busy you know, I have a lot of irons in the fire, both personal and this, my “hobby” – so I let that go, telling myself, “she’ll get back to me next week.” 

Well, silly me. God I hate being dicked around. About a week later, I sent another request. I try to be nice, cause you’ve seen the way the city clerk treated me just for wise-assing her. 

From: juanita sumner
Sent: Thursday, August 06, 2015 7:31 AM
To: Ann Willmann <annw@chicorec.com>

Subject: RE: intergovernmental committee

 Ms. Willman,

 should I just come down to the office to get that report (most recent Intergovernmental meeting)? 

 Juanita Sumner

And she responded the way she should have responded to the mail I sent Visconti:

From: annw@chicorec.com
To: juanita sumner
CC: jmarciales@chicorec.com
Subject: RE: intergovernmental committee
Date: Thu, 6 Aug 2015 22:26:33 +0000

Hi Juanita, I have attached a copy of the minutes. If you would like to pick up a printed copy, I am happy to leave that for you at the front desk. If email is sufficient, please let me know.

Once we have the next meeting scheduled, we will email you with the information.

 Thank you, Ann

Why did that take two months?  To attach a one-page report to an e-mail.  For that matter, Visconti could have sent it to me in the first place. Did he think “interim” meant, “half-assed“?  He’s retired at 70 percent of $112,000/year CARD salary, they ask him to fill in for six months or so, and he acts as though he’s being put out when asked to actually do something. 

Well, excuse me – this is really Jennifer Marciales job, but that woman is impossible, at a salary of over $50,000/year plus benefits. She needs to go.

I know you’re all wondering – what’s this all about anyway Juanita? Just another chicken fight? I’m sorry I let myself get distracted, but I would like everybody to see how these overpaid public employees treat a person who asks a pointy question. Here’s the report – you  read it, and you tell me why they dragged their feet giving it to me.

To: Board of Directors

From: Intergovernmental Committee

Re: Report on Intergovernmental Committee held on June 8, 2015

Committee Members Present Tom Lando

Committee Members Absent

Jan Sneed

CARD Staff Present

Steve Visconti, Interim General Manager

Jennifer Marciales, Executive Assistant

City Staff Present Mark Orme, City Manager

A. Call to Order/ Roll Call

The meeting was called to order at 9:30 a.m., and roll call was taken as noted above.

B. Public Comments

There were no public comments.

C. City of Chico/CARD Discussion of Potential Future Partnerships

Director Lando discussed the need for another dog park in Chico, and asked Mr. Orme if the City has any property available for a potential future dog park. Mr. Orme stated that City staff is currently conducting a review of properties in Chico, and will provide information once the review is complete. Director Lando asked Mr. Orme to review the green space along Humboldt Avenue for a potential dog park and/or bocce ball courts.

MY EMPHASIS HERE: Director Lando asked Mr. Orme if he could provide the total funds available in the Community Park Fund and the Neighborhood Park Fund, and the criteria for utilizing those funds. Mr. Orme stated that he would review these accounts and provide more specific information.

Director Lando asked about the potential for a sales tax measure, and Mr. Orme stated that a community group would need to present it to the City Council.

Director Lando discussed concerns pertaining to the increase in homeless at CARD facilities. Mr. Orme stated that the City is working on a new platform with the police department that will hopefully assist in preserving the quality of life for the citizens of our community.

D. Adjournment

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 10:04 a.m. to the next Intergovernmental Committee Meeting of the Chico Area Recreation and Park District.

I also think that last bit about the homeless problem at the CARD center is very interesting – this is the unstated reason they moved the board meetings to Cal Park Lakeside Pavilion. Lando’s outrage over “quality of life for our citizens” only seems to extend to himself and the other board members and employees of CARD. The board just picked up and moved to Lakeside Pavilion. Abandoning the CARD center was the worst thing they could do. 

This is why they want to do the fancy rose garden – which will be locked to the public and only available to paying customers. They will remove trees right down to the creek, but I’m not sure how far they will encroach on the creek with the wrought iron fence. That’s another reason to attend the month CARD board meetings, hope to see you there sometime.

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CARD continues to run aquatic center committee behind closed doors

1 Aug

I attended a 3pm Chico Recreation District meeting at California Park Pavilion Thursday to find out that a committee selected at a  closed meeting had interviewed consultants to do a “feasibility study” on behalf of the proposed aquatic center. Their findings – nobody would do it for the $30,000 offered, so they had to up the ante to $50,000.

What this “feasibility study” will include is a guess because they won’t include me in the meetings where they actually discuss it. When I asked staffer Rob Hinderer why I wasn’t noticed for the interviews he replied,

Juanita, good morning!

 There was no AFAC Meeting. There were interviews with the RFP respondents. An interview panel was formed. They were the only persons present at the interviews other than myself and CARD GM, Ann Willmann.

 When the RFP decision is made, I will send out invites to all AFAC members, yourself included, to share the outcome of the RFP.

 Thank you,

 Rob

The last AFAC meeting I was noticed about started late because many of the members didn’t show up. When the meeting started, there was confusion – several of the members wanted to talk about the deplorable condition of Sharpiro and Pleasant Valley pools, and when they would be repaired. They were told those options would be included in the “feasibility study”, but of course, we haven’t seen the study.  The conversation was all over the place, I had to leave about 40 minutes into the meeting. They were supposed to discuss the Request for Proposals that had been sent out to consultants, but Rob Hinderer was still trying to pull the meeting together when I left. 

This 3pm Wednesday  meeting was called to discuss the annual budget. The AFAC matter was part of it because they had to agree on how much to budget for this “feasibility study.” The three consultants who showed up to be interviewed said they couldn’t do a good study for less than $50,000. An ad-hoc committee had talked about $75,000, but agreed on $60,000,  because they wanted to be sure they would have plenty of money to cover it, without having to ask for budget allocations. I don’t think that was the right tack – now they will not have to discuss cost overruns before the public, they just have the money there in a pot to spend it. Oh well. 

That’s why they had this meeting at 3pm on a Thursday at the Cal Park clubhouse, Lakeside Pavillion, instead of at a regularly scheduled meeting at the CARD center. Board president Jan Sneed has taken CARD behind closed doors because she knows they’re playing fast and loose with taxpayer money. 

Sneed tried to act the fiscal conservative. When a board member moved to approve the $75,000 expenditure, she held out for $60,000, just to show us what a penny pincher she is.

Well, she’s skeletized CARD with layoffs because they can’t afford to pay benefits for their workers. New CARD director Ann Willman, an ex-CARD employee who left a couple of years ago to take the helm at Feather River Rec in O’ville, is back in Chico at just over $100,000, according to the Enterprise Record. Her replacement in Oroville gets $70,000, and refused the benefits package because she said her husband already has one on his job. I think they were offering her a $5,000 benefits package. Willman’s predecessor Steve Visconti and most CARD management get packages that cost around  $25 – 30,000/year. 

I don’t know what Willman really makes because new state controller Betty Yee has taken down John Chiang’s  salary database. Now we have to believe what these public employees tell us, and well, you know they will lie to us.  They’re ashamed.

And I’m back on the same merry-go-round with Willmann that I rode with her predecessor Visconti. Here’s the last e-mail I received from outgoing Visconti:

From: svisconti@chicorec.com
To: juanita sumner
Subject: RE: intergovernmental committee
Date: Mon, 22 Jun 2015 16:17:41 +0000

Ms. Sumner, you are correct. The Intergovernmental meetings are generally on an as needed basis. The most recent meeting was with the City Manager to discuss a few issues related to the City budget and certain fees they collect that CARD has utilized in the past to construct new park improvements. I will notify our new General Manager Ann Willmann that you would like to be noticed on future Intergovernmental Meetings. She will be starting on July 6th.

 As far as meeting reports, I will notify Ms. Marciales as soon as she returns to the office the week of July 6th.

 Thank you for your inquiry.

 Steve Visconti

Interim General Manager

July 6 came and went, I got no response from either Willman or Marciales. Jennifer Marciales seems to think she’s paid to do her fingernails.  So, when I went to the meeting Thursday, I was surprised when a human potato walked up to greet me in my chair – “Are you Juanita?” It was Willmann, who had put on a bigger rearend since I had seen her last. I know the Oroville job was rough – Feather River Rec has been in financial arrears for some time, and then there was the incident involving a teenage boy, a camera, and a girl’s toilet. That didn’t play well for Willman, I’m guessing she ran back to Chico crying for Mama.

I repeated my request to Willmann and she gave me her business card, telling me to e-mail her. By law, she’s supposed to have these reports on hand for anybody who requests them, but I played along because the room was full of unfriendly people by that time. I e-mailed her promptly the next morning. 

From: juanita sumner
Sent: Friday, July 31, 2015 5:26 AM
To: Ann Willmann <annw@chicorec.com>
Cc: Jennifer Marciales <jmarciales@chicorec.com>
Subject: RE: intergovernmental committee

 Hi Ms. Willmann,

 I’m glad you gave me your e-mail – as you know, most card e-mail address are first initial, last name. I see where that would be confusing to people trying to get ahold of you.

 As I asked Mr. Visconti below, I’d like to get the report of the last Intergovernmental meeting, which Mr. Visconti had told me Ms. Marciales would contact me about.

 I’d also like to get on the notice list for the Intergovernmental meetings, as I had asked.

 Thanks for your anticipated cooperation, Juanita Sumner

And here’s what I got back – sounds like the same bullshit runaround to me.

From: annw@chicorec.com
To: juanita sumner
CC: jmarciales@chicorec.com; 
Subject: RE: intergovernmental committee
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 2015 16:50:13 +0000

Dear Juanita, thank you for your email. I will follow up on your requests and also ensure you are on the requested notification lists. Have a lovely weekend. Ann

In my past experience, this is a brush off, and I won’t hear from this woman again unless I put a hornet up her ass. We’ll see. 

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If you don’t attend another meeting all year, here are a couple that would be worth your time

26 Jul

Two meetings I will attend this week are the Airport Commission meeting on Tuesday (July 28) at city chambers, 6pm, and a CARD budget meeting Thursday (July 30) at 3pm at Lakeside Pavilion out at Cal Park.

The Airport Commission will be discussing the airport budget, with a report from consultants AFCO AvPORTS (sic). AFCO is working under a $190,000 contract. They will report on their efforts to get commercial air service back to Chico Airport.

I’m curious to see what they could possibly add to the conversation that Chico Chamber director Katy Simmons has not already told us. Here’s my guess  – they want about $300,000 allocated from the city’s general fund to pay a new airport manager. Then they want hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxpayer money, spent over the next five or so years, with no guarantee that commercial air service will be restored.

First there’s the matter of a $60,000 study as to “who flies out of the airport and where they go“. This seems to have been answered in a recent survey done by the Chamber, in which only about 60 individuals indicated they used the airport on anything resembling a regular basis. Why the city continues to pursue this avenue is anybody’s guess.

CARD will discuss their budget, looking for public comment, and I hope they get it. But, I’m not expecting many attendees at a 3 pm weekday meeting in Cal Park. CARD staff and the board seem to be bending over backwards to keep the public out of their meetings.

One budget issue that screams for public comment is the study they want to fund for the aquatic center – the price has jumped from about $30,000 to about $75,000. Yeah, for a study.

I would hope to see some other members of the public at these meetings.

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Dogpile on Mary!

11 Apr

Do you remember childhood? Remember being on the playground and hearing somebody scream at the top of their lungs, “DOGPILE!”  And a mob would form out of nothing and jump on some poor kid – usually, a real annoying kid.  Seen it. Done it. Gonna do it now.  It’s highly uncivil, but let me ask you – has Mary Flynn Goloff been civil?  

I’ve actually been holding back lately, but you know I’ve said it before – Mary needs to go. She needed to go from the get-go. She’s never contributed anything worthwhile to a conversation. I remember when she chaired the Economic Development Committee (yeah, it’s all coming back to you now…), I sat in on a meeting where a former Chamber CEO was making his farewell speech as he headed to another town, carpet bag in hand. Jim Goodwin told us that Chico wasn’t going to get any new jobs because our housing was too expensive. Perspective employers know they can’t pay the kind of wages it takes to own a $400,000 house, so they go elsewhere. One manufacturer, of a cool, space age, high tech jet, pulled up stakes and headed for Texas.

Why are houses so expensive here? Well, first there was Tom Lando’s attaching of salaries to “increases in revenues but not decreases.”  Staff and council started handing out building permits to raise their own salaries. By the time that hayride was over, houses had gone from less than $100,000 to $600 – 800,000, in the span of a couple of years. Tom Lando’s salary had gone up about $100,000. 

Then staff, with the blessing of council, started giving the cookie jar to their friends who helped them raise revenues. They’ve allowed developers to come in and get all kinds of cheap to free service – streets, sidewalks, sewer hook-ups. They’ve handed money to developers – the $7 million used to purchase the low-income section of Merriam Park went right into New Urban developer Tom DiGiovanni’s pocket, out of the RDA fund, meaning we’ll pay for it three times. Scott Gruendl arranged for  DiGiovanni to write a “parallel code,” so he wouldn’t have to get variances for the sub-code stuff he does. They just let him write his own code, with narrower streets, smaller setbacks, and stuff like, the wall of one house acts as the fence to the neighbor’s property – your neighbor’s kid can play basketball off the wall of your house, and you have to sue his parents to make him stop. Go look at Doe Mill – you think that’s standard code? But those yardless crappers will still run you over $250,000 each. What?

Goloff sat through that Economic Development meeting listening to Goodwin’s report, and whenever there was a break in the conversation she’d kind of look around the room and flutter her hands and say, “Well I just think Chico is a wonderful place to live.” She just kept repeating that, over and over. 

Yeah, nice if you’re a public worker, and make three, four, five, six times the median income. It’s real nice to live in a town like Chico, where people are desperate, on a big salary. You can have a maid, nanny,  landscaper, all these willing slaves to do your shit work for you.  But it sucks if you’re living on the median income or less, because the high salary assholes drive up the cost of everything from gas to hair cuts to daycare to eggs. I got my hair cut at Dimensions once. I went in and told them, Annie August sent me, so they knew she’d told me how much to pay. I used to get a nice ‘do, a little color, made me feel pretty when I was changing diapers and scrubbing rental toilets. As I sat in the chair getting my color and cut, a lady came in, announced she was visiting from “The City,” and sarcastically asked if she could she get a cut for less than $150? Oh sure! they told her. They did exactly what they did to me and charged her twice as much. I remember how those gals looked at me, “Shut Up!” I never went back. After having a woman like Annie August fussing over you, there’s just nobody else. But I saw what they did, and I never forgot it. That’s the way this town is – take advantage creeps.

And that’s what Mary Flynn Goloff is, a take-advantage creep. She never even understood what she was getting herself into with the job of councilor, she just wanted attention.  I don’t know which ones are worse – the ones who come in with agendas in place, or the ones who come in to be fawned over like some sort of Evita, and end up being used like a Fist Puppet by the ones who do have agendas. That would be little Miss Mary. 

She’s been to rehab at least twice for alcohol and prescription drug problems. She’s already had problems attending meetings – we found out later, she’d been in rehab at that time.  Nobody is going to forget her unannounced entrance at Harvest Bakery while on prescription medication. How can we help but be suspicious that she’s fallen off the wagon again? In an attempt to be civil, I will ask Goloff to buck up and finish her term, but to announce NOW that she does not intend to run again. Thank you Mary for your anticipated cooperation.

 

 

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