http://www.chicoer.com/general-news/20170418/card-to-discuss-marketing-campaign-budget
The meeting will be at the CARD center on Vallombrosa, starts promptly at 7pm, and may very well be over by 8pm, so don’t be late.
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Stop the presses! CARD finally posting board meeting minutes on their website!
16 AprI sent a note to Chico Area Recreation District manager Ann Willmann because for years now I’ve turned to their website to look at reports of meetings and found them as much as a year behind in posting minutes.
Hi,
I wonder why there are not minutes posted for a board meeting since Nov 2016? I know the minutes have to be approved by the board, but I’ve been present when minutes have been approved, and they still haven’t been posted on the website.
Thanks for your response, at your convenience, Juanita Sumner
I’ve asked before, and been ignored, I was surprised by Willmann’s response:
Hi Juanita, the website has been updated. Thank you for your email. I have established a new process to ensure our minutes are posted in a more timely manner after approval. Ann
I couldn’t resist telling her it was about time. At least three consultants have been paid so far – make that six, including the informational meeting she presented for the board – to tell Willmann and her staff to get the public engaged in CARD’s business. Instead she seems to make every effort to keep people from knowing what’s happening – another question I’ve had to ask is, why so many “special” meetings – which only have to be noticed 24 hours ahead with a piece of paper on the front door of the CARD center.
Next time I see an 8-and-a-half by 11 piece of paper flapping on that door I’ll have to make a screeching turn into the parking lot and vault up there to see what’s happening!
CARD has already started a campaign to subtly make us believe we want to tax ourselves to pay down their $1.75 million pension deficit. Pay attention Folks, there’s pick-pockets about!
Bums putting the pressure on long time local businesses, meanwhile, $215,000/year city manager demands $63,000/year park rangers carry guns, make arrests
6 AprYesterday I went to Safeway on Mangrove to pick up some groceries, and I had to ask myself – am I shrinking, or are these carry baskets getting bigger?
So I couldn’t resist, when my checker made the usual small talk, I asked him about it. He didn’t seem too eager to talk at first, saying the baskets were sent by a contract distributor, that Safeway didn’t really have anything to do with it.
I said, “That makes sense, I notice there’s usually advertising on them.” I figured, the baskets are probably free or very cheap to Safeway because of the advertising. But the word “advertising” loosened my checker’s tongue, he said, “yeah, but with the transients stealing them and leaving them laying all over town, it was becoming bad advertising for Safeway…” So now they are just plain brown baskets, they don’t even have the Safeway logo on them anymore.
Oooooo! I get it! I actually found one of the old ones in front of my house on Palmetto. I watched it scoot along the gutter for a couple of days before I picked it up and took it back to Safeway. I just walked right in with it and dumped it in the stack by the door as I grabbed a wheeled cart. I figured a neighborhood kid had stolen it for a prank, and never mentioned it to anybody.
According to my checker, these baskets were being found in and along Chico Creek, particularly near One Mile. Well, again, that makes sense. The creeks and the park have become illegal campgrounds.
Yesterday walking my dog in middle park, I noticed another new trail, heading right into a dense tangle of blackberry and other non-native overgrowth.
Meanwhile, the city of Chico discusses arming park rangers.
http://www.chicoer.com/general-news/20170405/chico-park-rangers-could-become-armed-sworn-officers
“The city is facing increased “criminal behavior” in its parks and public spaces, O’Brien said. Park rangers are encountering a criminal element with “much greater frequency” than in the past.
“’We want both the public enjoying our parks and our park staff to be as safe as possible,’ O’Brien said. ‘The issues in the park include a more sophisticated criminal element, not simply kids trying to sneak alcohol into Bear Hole or people letting their dogs off leash as in years past.’”
When I asked the checker at Safeway if they’d reported their problems to the city or the police, he frowned and shook his head. A sour “yes” was his verbal answer. I offered, “but they don’t do anything?” A sour look and a shake of the head was the answer to that.
If you look at the city’s salaries, available here:
http://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/Cities/City.aspx?entityid=79&fiscalyear=2015
The first pages, sorted by salary, are full of police and fire employees, with salaries over $100,000/year, plus packages starting at $35,000, as high as $65,000/year.
Park ranger appears pages later, with a salary of about $63,000/year and a much smaller package.
The story in the paper says rangers have been told they have 15 months to make a decision – do they want to carry a “firearm” and make arrests in the park? Or get another job.
“On top of that, Orme ($215,000 in salary with an $80,000 benefits package) said there is no dramatic increase in revenue projected that would allow for more city employees, and resources are already limited.”
Look at the government compensation charts for the last few years – police and fire salaries have been going up-up-up. The city manager’s salary has increased by over $10,000 in the last five or six years.
I think Mark Orme should have to go out in the park and roust the bums.
CARD cut employee hours in 2013 to avoid paying for their healthcare
21 MarI’ve been cleaning through my drafts file, and here’s an article from 2013 that reports CARD cut a number of employees’ hours so they won’t have to pay Obamacare for those people. Urseny is so embedded – she didn’t even ask how many people would be cut to 28 hours. She didn’t even bother to talk to those employees about how they would manage. She has never done a follow-up to this story.
Meanwhile, management pays between 2 and 6 percent for benefits packages which range from $25,000 to $30,000/year. CARD spends about $500,000/year on management benefits for employees who make as much as $120,000/year in salary.
Chico Area Recreation and Park District hears about impact of Obamacare
By LAURA URSENY-Staff Writer
POSTED: 07/30/2013 12:01:24 AM PDT
CHICO — Like many getting acquainted with the federal Affordable Care Act, there are a lot of question marks for the Chico Area Recreation and Park District board and staff.Some of those were answered by Rose Krepelka of CARD’s insurance provider, InterWest Insurance Inc. of Chico.
“I can go for 15 minutes or for four days,” Krepelka told the board last week when she asked how deeply they wanted to delve into the Affordable Care Act — known as Obamacare.
She acknowledged there’s a lot of confusion about the new regulations, especially since some affecting businesses have been delayed to 2015.
CARD already provides medical coverage to full-time employees, but more employees will be eligible for medical insurance in 2015 with the new definition of full time.
Obamacare’s definition of full time is working 30 or more hours weekly on a regular basis.
At CARD there are 32 full-time employees, and part-timers vary from 120 to 180, depending on the time of the year and recreational offerings. The full-time-equivalent is 85, according to General Manager Steve Visconti.
Medical care coverage per full-time employee currently costs CARD about $10,000 yearly. With the new definition, CARD was forced to adjust schedules of some employees to keep them part time. Visconti said CARD’s budget couldn’t afford to provide coverage to more employees.
Individuals without medical coverage can start shopping in October, with the coverage launching in January. Individuals without insurance are subject to tax penalties at $95 per adult $47.50 per child. That jumps to $325 adult, $165.50 child penalties in 2015.
CARD’s part-time employees can find insurance from California’s health exchange, called Covered California, or from Medi-Cal, she noted.
Employees will be getting information on obtaining insurance through letters from companies like hers. In addition to that, Krepelka noted there will be “navigators and enrollers” who are trained and certified to help Californians understand Obamacare. Residents might run into them outside a big-box store or at a mall.
Krepelka said the jury’s out on how successful Obamacare will be. People who have been unable to get medical coverage because of their conditions will now be part of the system — and an expense.
Krepelka said the balance built into Obamacare is that young people, who don’t need much in the way of health care, will pay for the older people who are greater users of services.
Likely, existing insurance rates will increase for those already covered as well, she said.
“There’s information coming out weekly,” she noted, including a Californian’s ability to sign up for insurance that starts in October.
Covered California’s website address is www.coveredca.com. The exchange is also on Facebook and Twitter.
In other news, the CARD board approved the 2013-14 budget unanimously and with no discussion, but directors Jan Sneed and Herman Ellis were not at the meeting.
Time to stand up – contact CARD and ask for a copy of the survey
21 MarI have been too busy in my personal life to keep up much chatter here, but I’m hoping to post more about the CARD survey next week.
I am also hoping that people will call the CARD office (895-4711) or e-mail director Ann Willmann and ask for a copy of the survey presented to the board on March 16. The public is entitled to a copy of anything given to the board, so don’t pay for it.
Once you’ve read it over, be sure to call back and ask questions. I was relieved to see the League of Women Voter’s observer at the meeting last week, she asked pertinent questions about the survey. One thing she got out of the consultant was that respondents were chosen on the basis of where they lived.
Random eh?
We need more people like Margaret Bomberg in our community. Stand up people, or be had.
Caper Acres – four years later, nothing new
20 MarClosure of Chico’s Caper Acres is frustrating for city, parents
By LAURA URSENY-Staff Writer
POSTED: 07/31/2013 12:00:00 AM PDT
Conrad Nystrom of Chico celebrates Father’s Day with his sons Sam and Roman at Caper Acres in…
CHICO — The public and the Bidwell Park and Playground Commission weighed in this week on the budget-prompted closure of Caper Acres playground in lower Bidwell Park.Several parents spoke to the commission Monday voicing “disappointment” and “frustration” in the surprisingly quiet way the closure came about, without public input or brainstorming.
And commissioners themselves, still noting Chico’s budget woes, hoped to talk over the matter more. The fact that there was no Park Commission meeting in June, when budget strategies were discussed by the City Council, was a sore point.
Early in July, the city announced Caper Acres would only be open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays because of staffing issues. A diminished city staff couldn’t handle cleaning bathrooms, mowing, safety repairs and other actions.
But last week, a local cleaning business called ServPro said it would take over other kinds of park maintenance for free so city staff could attend to the playground. It opened to a six-day operation Tuesday, with the traditional Monday closure continuing.
However, ServPro can only handle the free maintenance through Oct. 1, and a group of local volunteers has started to meet to figure out alternatives for keeping the playground open.
Mom Abigail Lopez, one of the organizers of Caper Acres Volunteers, said she hopes the city can embrace volunteers as do local organizations like the Humane Society.
From a meeting on Saturday that Lopez organized, other ideas surfaced, like a Bidwell Park summit to share ideas.
Acting Park Commission Chairman Richard Ober commended the volunteers on Monday, and asked the matter be placed on an upcoming agenda so “volunteers’ work could be supported.”
“I want to know why the Park Commission and public were not able to weigh in on the closure,” parent Liz Gardner told the commission. She also asked for budget specifics.
Later, Park and Natural Resources Manager Dan Efseaff said he had lost $500,000 from his budget, and has been exploring cutbacks, including ideas about abandoning lawns or pulling down old structures that need to be replaced. He emphasized that it was “an exercise” and not a plan.
“It’s not a pretty picture,” Efseaff said.
Chris Boshazy, representing Service Employees International Union, noted the work — especially tree work — still had to be done, and should be done by city employees, not private tree companies.
The city has set aside $100,000 for contract tree work.
“That $100,000 could hire back someone,” he told the commission. “This is city employee work.”
Boshazy also said the Park Commission had more power than it realizes, handing them copies of the municipal code and job duties.
“The last few months have been extremely frustrating, the way decisions were made and how cuts were made, and the lack of role of the community,” Ober said, asking for a discussion at a future meeting.
“We haven’t been asked as a community to dig deeper into our pockets,” Ober said.
Other topics that came up in regard to Caper Acres included a user tax, asking participants in large events in the park to donate a dollar to Caper Acres, and participating in the Annie Bs fundraising program.
Parents also wanted to find a way so that donations could go straight into a dedicated Caper Acres fund, rather than into the city’s General Fund.
Efseaff noted that Caper Acres has been on the Park Commission’s work plan for several years, with features desperately needing update and replacement.
Reach Laura Urseny at 896-7756, lurseny@chicoer.com, or on Twitter @LauraUrseny.
CARD survey heavily led, questions close ended – when did 28 percent become “overwhelming support”?
17 MarI was surprised to find the CARD board meeting well-attended last night, but I think more people, including city staffers and commission members, were there to hear the discussion about CARD taking park impact fees from developers. I went to hear the consultant’s report regarding the assessment survey.
Survey? 400 people in a town of over 80,000? I know – but let’s look at it anyway.
The consultant also spoke of significantly leading respondents, even asking them to choose between pitches at one point.
Can you believe that? The callers actually read these to the respondents and asked them, which one of these pitches would make you want to tax yourself and your neighbors?
Of course, respondents were chosen by demographics – they called people who lived close to various parks, for example, and found those people would certainly support a tax!
They also reported a very real confusion between CARD parks (ball fields, playgrounds and neighborhood parks) and Bidwell Park, owned and maintained by the city of Chico. I think they will try to play that confusion to their advantage.
I will post more of the survey later.
CARD meeting next week chock full o nuts
12 MarChico Area Recreation District board will hear from their consultant Thursday. EMC ran a phone survey last month regarding a bond or assessment for CARD. I would like to ask them for a copy of the results, we’ll see what they say.
CARD board will also be discussing taking over the city’s park impact fees on development.
That’s Thursday March 16, 7pm, at the CARD center on Vallombrosa.
Call CARD and ask if you can participate in their survey
23 FebI got a question from a reader about CARD (Chico Area Recreation District) and their plans to put a revenue measure before property owners, so I gave them the link to the district budget:
http://www.chicorec.com/About-Card/CARD-Resources/Public-Resources/index.html
I wish more people would pay attention to what CARD is doing. I’ve heard the excuses – sure, we’re all busy. I been busy this week, up to my neck, I’m turning over a rental, so pardon me if I don’t have time for your whining. I get up at 5 am to do this kind of stuff, try that sometime! The stars are bright, the sunrise is brilliant, the morning air is fresh and the quiet will astound you.
At least don’t stand there like a stooge while these bureaucrats pick you clean. Get off your duff, turn off the tv, and stand up for yourself and your family. Write a letter to the CARD board and tell them to save their money – YOUR money! Tell them you won’t support another revenue measure, you want to see management pay their own benefits. Write a letter to one of the papers, but don’t just sit there waiting to be had.
Call the CARD office at 895-4711 and ask them how you can participate in the survey, see what they say, get back to me.
I sent this letter to the Enteprise Record yesterday.
Chico Area Recreation District board approved $28,000 for consultant EMC to conduct a phone survey in late February, to vet the voters regarding a proposed revenue measure.
Complaining they are not able to maintain their facilities with a $5.5 million payroll, CARD wants to put a bond or assessment on property owners and take over the city’s developer impact fees.
The real problem is that non-management staff have been restricted to 27 hours or less per week in response to the Affordable Care Act. This has led to cuts in some programs and deferred maintenance for facilities like Humboldt Skate Park and Shapiro Pool.
Meanwhile, management staffers continue to receive generous benefits, paying only 2 to 6.25 percent of their benefits package, out of salaries exceeding $100,000/year. An auditor reported their $1,758,200 pension deficit will grow by about $55,000 annually. The 2016-17 salary/benefits total of $5.5 million is $287,590 more than 2015-16, even after non-management staffers were restricted to 27 hours per week.
Of a $7.8 million budget, over $4 million comes from property taxes, park impact fees on development, and homeowner assessments. The agency spends less than $2 million on “services and supplies,” including maintenance of facilities. “Capital Funding” is shown as a negative figure.
Management over-compensation and deferred maintenance of facilities have led CARD to their current situation. If you receive a call from EMC, tell them you are not willing to further fund this agency.
“On the Waterfront” still rings true in many ways
16 FebToday I have a cold, so I am staying inside to watch movies on tv. What luck – the old movies channel is playing “On the Waterfront” with Marlon Brando and Lee J. Cobb.
I know – it’s “just a movie” – but it tells the story of the unions and how they are corrupt by nature. Based on a series of stories written by Malcolm Johnson for the New York Sun, OTWF dramatizes “the corruption and organized crime infiltration on the New York City waterfront… the inhumane treatment of longshoremen implicitly condoned by the unions, and the suspicious disappearance of anyone who spoke out against the system…”
As I sit at the keyboard I am listening to the “Johnny Friendly” character, played by Lee J. Cobb, explain to Marlon Brando’s “Terry” why his friend had to die, how many people had died for the control of the waterfront jobs. As they speak around the pool table, Johnny is continually given reports of the thousands of dollars his minions have conscripted from the workers.
Later Karl Malden asks the workers why they put up with the treatment from Friendly, ” what about your union?” The men cautiously tell the priest that anybody who raises any question about the treatment of the workers loses electricity in his apartment, “and then your lights go out..” “Name one place where it’s safe to talk without getting clobbered…” adds another man.
Did you know that in order to have a job with the Chico Police or Fire Department you are required to be to pay membership dues, whether or not you choose to be an actual member. You simply give up your right to vote in union matters, but you have to keep paying the dues that end up in campaign contributions at election time. The CPOA is routinely the biggest single donor in Chico elections.
This is a great movie, but here’s more information on the original stories:
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/malcolm-johnson/on-the-waterfront/
Chico Taxpayers Association 