I don’t subscribe to the Enterprise Record but every now and then I read the letters section online – I find that the most interesting section of the paper, which has gone to mostly ads and propaganda. Most times I am able to read it before the wall comes up, today all I got was the following, with a quick glimpse at the name of the author – Harvey Holland. I didn’t get to read the whole letter, but I liked the opening quote.
“Undergirding the homeless movement is an entitlement mentality, one that avails itself to the benefits of a free society, yet does not obey the laws that safeguard those rights.”
That really nails it for me – I can’t stand people who scream for their rights without accepting any responsibility for their actions. I’ve dealt with friends and family members who’ve adopted that philosophy – I call it, “The Me, Myself and Irene” syndrome. “Irene” representing methamphetamine, heroin, and/or waaaaay too much alcohol.
Yep, that’s the reality of Chico these days, entitled drug addicts and criminals. They know they won’t be held responsible for taking stuff out of your yard, taking your daughter’s bike or your 11 year old’s BMX from the garage. That used to be called “stealing”, but these days it’s just a fact of life – if you don’t lock your stuff up – even that curious looking doodad hanging from your porch eaves – they will take it and nobody’s going to do anything about it.
Even locking stuff up isn’t always the answer. Car thefts are just a fact of life, and if your car is older and worth less than $10,000 they’re not even going to attempt to find it, much less get it back. My friend Dave’s locked car was stolen from the parking lot at his apartment complex. When he finally got it back, there was over 1,000 new miles on it, it had been stripped of valuable parts like the catalytic converter, was full of garbage including chits from casinos and used syringes, and was in the possession of a woman with warrants on her. That’s the only reason he got it back – she had to abandon it when the cops arrested her, and the tow truck got it before the transients got ahold of it again. I don’t believe anyone was ever charged, they acted as though Dave should be lucky to get his car back at all, completely destroyed and nothing but trash.
The cops and Mike Ramsey saw Dave’s car as an old junker, but Dave knew it as a car he had copiously maintained for years and his only source of transportation. This is life in Chico – watch your ass.
Or, demand more from your local police force. The police department gets over half the budget to tell us they can’t do anything about crime – tell your city rep the cops need to pay more of their own pensions, that’s getting down to their bottom line. Demand more from your DA – write a letter to the editor asking who will run against Ramsey and offer your support. And demand more from your city representative – my rep, Kasey Reynolds, tells me they need to offer these crazy $100,000+ salaries to “attract good people”. Let your rep know, that’s now working for us, and tell them you’re ready to fund and vote for anybody wo runs against them. I supported Morgan Kennedy in the last race, and you know what – she made a pretty good showing, and if she ran again she’d probably do better. I know she had Kasey worried – Reynolds’ PAC, “Citizens for Safe Chico” set a new funding record for the city council race.
The real problem is, it’s not just the transients and criminals who have a stake here – our ruling class is really entitled, they don’t care about our experience, they’re looking out for the One Percent. Look at Mark Sorensen’s little stucco compound over on Manzanita – you think he’s really worried about what you’re experiencing? Stand up and say something, or YOU have become the problem.