Archive | public safety issues RSS feed for this section

City of Chico fiddles while Rome burns

18 Jan

It’s only been a couple of weeks since I reported an illegal camp in Bidwell Park. It took the city a few days – New Year’s weekend! – to get them out and then collect up the trash. We knew that wouldn’t be the end of it, and again yesterday my husband found an illegal encampment – this time right off a main trail, right out in the open, unabashed and unafraid of detection.

0117170736-1r

Some people just get too comfortable in the park.

When my husband was taking a picture of the tent a woman actually confronted him. He had our 10 year old diabetic dog, so I started to worry – what if one of these people had a pit bull or other killing machine type of dog? I started to question my husband’s insistence to walk the park with my old dog every morning, even though this routine has successfully kept her blood sugar down to manageable levels.

There you are folks – I don’t feel safe in Bidwell  Park, and you shouldn’t either. Arm yourself and be ready to defend yourself and your children/pets. 

When the woman shouted at my husband, “what are you doing?!” he responded, “what does it look like?” And he took a picture of her tent. He told her, “you know what you’re doing,” and that she had about 30 minutes to clear it all out before he’d report it to the police. 

When he made he way back home with Biscuit, the tent was gone. 

Yeah, the park looks like a hobo camp, why not? The city has allowed the park to sink into horrible disgrace. It’s not “natural,” it’s a manmade disaster of non-native species and septic swamp. Nothing has been done to maintain the health of the park for at least 20 years. The city turned maintenance over to “volunteers”, has brought in jail crews a few times, but has no cohesive plan for how the park should be maintained.  How many millions have gone to plans for Bidwell Park? I’ve lost track. 

City council voted last night to spend more money on staffing Chico PD. I will make my official prediction – the homeless problem will continue to get worse, Bidwell Park will continue to sink into disgust.

UPDATE: I will say, Mark Orme is quick to respond to my inquiries.

Ms. Sumner,

 Thank you again for your input.  I’ve cc’d the Police Chief and Public Works Director over Operations on this e-mail, as they may have additional feedback to give.  I can tell you that staff is evaluating every opportunity to move forward with an effort to deal with this situation more aggressively.  One potential program we are working on is furthering the bond between our public works team and the Police department.  They already have a great working relationship, but we’re looking at a creative approach to securing an even smoother ability to deal with these park issues.  It will roll out during the budget process.  As for now, the Police Department and Public Works will continue to monitor and conduct sweeps on a regular basis…although not as often as staff would like to be able to do, simply due to resource constraints.  

 Have a great day,   Mark

 Mark Orme

City Manager

For the Beautiful City of Chico

But there’s your answer – “resource constraints”. A hundred million plus budget, and this guy is complaining about “resource constraints”?

So I had to ask him about this.

https://chicotaxpayers.com/2015/09/29/chico-pd-announces-quarter-cent-sales-tax-increase-campaign-through-business-support-team/

The podcast is still available, listen to it yourself. Mr. Van Rossum spoke at last night’s council meeting in favor of increasing the police budget – without talking about his “Business Support Team” or mentioning that he raised a few thousand dollars through North Valley Community Foundation Annie B’s for Chico PD. I asked Orme if it’s still true, the police spend so much time at Enloe dealing with the homeless, they need a substation?

When I asked Dorian Kitrell, a director at Butte County Behavioral Health, why the cops were spending so much time babysitting the homeless,  waiting for county employees to pick them up for a ride to the facility in Oroville, he didn’t know what I was talking about. 

We’ll see what Orme says. I’m getting kind of tired of hearing about “resource constraints” from a guy who sits on a $100 million-plus budget and a $200,000-plus salary. 

 UPDATE UPDATE: I have to hand it to Orme, he’s quicker on that send button than Donald Trump!

Yes, the business support team is an independent group, not under the City’s auspices.  The person who usually speaks on their behalf is Ms. Donna Sherry.  I don’t have her contact information readily available, but it may be something you can reach out to Chief O’Brien to get.  As for the radio issues at Enloe, I know it has been an ongoing problem, however, one of the capital expenditures the City is evaluating this year is an upgraded radio system that would deal with this issue.  Again, the Chief would be the best person to speak to that concern.

 If you e-mail him on both of these matters, he is really good about getting back. 

 Hope this helps and gets you connected to the right folks,

Mark

So I wrote to the police chief:

Hi Mr. Obrien,

I was told by city manager  Mark Orme to forward the inquiries below to you.

First, I wonder when we can expect regular patrols of Bidwell Park. My husband and I keep encountering illegal campers on morning walks with our dog, and we don’t feel safe in the park or our adjacent neighborhood anymore. We feel the park has become a haven for criminals to predate our neighborhoods.  The online police reporting website does not have a button for “illegal campers” so we have made reports to the city manager and staff. 

Second, I wonder if you have contact information for the Chico Police Business Support Team, Donna Sherry.  I wondered about a fundraising effort made in 2015 through the Annie B’s drive, by Jack Van Rossum. He made comments on a local podcast show, Chico Currents, saying the police spend so much time at Enloe with homeless people, they need a private “substation” and special radios for communication. I wondered if this is still true and what became of the fundraising efforts. 

Thank you, at your convenience, for your anticipated cooperation, Juanita Sumner

I have not had any dealings with O’Brien, we’ll see what we get.

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE:

O’Brien responded with contact information for Officer Scott Zuchin. I had told Maureen Kirk about a tent spotted along Hwy 32 below the new  water tower, and she told the cops. Here was Zuchin’s response:

Greetings… The Target team linked up with realtor Tamara Lambert-Valencia from Coldwell Banker DuFour to address the encampment issue near the water tower located inside the new Oak Valley subdivision two weeks ago. This camp is no longer an issue. Target will continue to work with the realtor and developer as crime and safety issues arise. Please give me a call. I can arrange a neighborhood meeting with the Target team to discuss your questions and concerns.

I had told Kirk, I’d just seen it the previous weekend, and I saw it again the day before Zuchin responded. I told him it was still there, visible from Hwy 32, a green rain fly strung up over it, bike carts piled next to it. He responded again,

Please be more specific then. We may not be speaking about the same location. You may attach photographs to your email if that helps.

That answer pissed me off. I could tell, he didn’t even take a look. It’s visible from the road. I  gave him more specific directions, and told him he could talk to Kirk about it, she was the one who was complaining about break-ins to Cal Park garages,  etc, threatening to move herself and her husband to a “Del Webb Leisure Village.”

But yesterday, Saturday January 21, on their morning stroll in Bidwell  Park, my husband and  dog encountered illegal tents again.

0121170849b_resized

This tent was concealed in brush, but with a well-worn path leading right to it. I think the cops need more appropriate shoes.

They also saw piles of trash containing bike parts, the usual. So he took the usual pictures, and we made the usual complaint, this time to Zuchin instead of  the city manager. And this time we got no response.

That Orme, he responds very quickly, no matter the day of the week. This Zuchin person has the weekend off! What a boon for criminals! Wouldn’t you think the chief would give me a number that is good for weekends? I mean, if he’s really serious about wanting citizens to report this illegal activity. There’s no mechanism for reporting illegal camping on the Chico PD website.

So, I’ll tell you what, if my husband  finds campers again this morning, I’ll say  it’s official – Chico PD is turning a blind eye to illegal  camping.  They don’t want to do anything about it because it’s just more fodder for their threats to cut services if they don’t get more money.

 

Tags:

The problem with Bidwell Park: they’ve deferred maintenance but kept on paying their salaries and benefits

11 Jan

I e-mailed park manager Dan Efseaff yesterday regarding the backhoe that sank into the asphalt path in Bidwell Park. This is a heavily used commuter trail.  In good weather you will see people riding Downtown to their jobs.  My husband and I use  it regularly to get out and do various errands around town, most of which involve SPENDING MONEY. So I wanted Efseaff to know, somebody cares. 

I wonder when we can expect repairs to the asphalt path under the freeway. My husband and I encountered a city back hoe sunk into it yesterday. There’s a big sinkhole there.  I got a good picture for my blog if you want to see it –   chicotaxpayers.com

 The asphalt was just laid right over dirt – this path has been undermined by gophers for some time. There should be road base laid under asphalt, with proper preparations. The little sinkholes that have formed over the years are a hazard, especially for pedestrians. This back hoe sinking was bound to happen, but it’s just lucky nobody has been injured. I use the park paths regularly, and there’s hazards out there  that need to be addressed, including these asphalt paths laid improperly over dirt. 

 Thanks, Juanita Sumner

The response I got was nothing short of depressing:

Hello,

 Yes, unfortunately the City skimped on road base years ago when the paths and roads were paved, we sometimes tread on the asphalt as if it is thin ice—the backhoe broke thru as we were clearing a hazard tree across the path.   In addition, the recent weather conditions have accelerated the decline of a number of deferred maintenance issues.

 We will need to wait until the soil is dry enough for us to do a temporary repair (fill and compact properly).  We will then put on some gravel base to provide a temporary surface (and better base for the future), and then later schedule an asphalt repair when Right of Way starts that operation later in the year.  The temporary fix will reconnect the path.

 Long-term, we will seek funding options for more comprehensive repairs and fixes to Lower Park roads and paths.

 We are collecting an inventory of issues, so let us know if you see anything new (530-896-7800), but be careful in the Park the next couple of days as the wind and saturated conditions are of concern to us.

Thanks.

 Sincerely,

 Dan Efseaff |Park and Natural Resource Manager

530.896.7801 | dan.efseaff@Chicoca.gov

Yes Efseaff admits the park has been “skimped on”, while salaries have gone up and benefits have been paid.

According to Public Pay, Efseaff makes $93,000 in salary and gets a $47,000 pension and health package.  He pays 9 percent of his package – what, less than $5,000/year out of a $93,000 salary for 70 percent of that salary into perpetuity. 

Whenever I read this stuff I want to slap their hands – “get the hell out of my purse, Leech! 

Here’s a guy who admits, he just hasn’t been doing his job – he collects the salary and perks, alright, but he “defers” the work. Great! 

A “temporary” repair for a trail that is a major commuter route in dry weather? They will “seek funding options”? 

Here’s the city’s 2016-17 budget:

http://www.chico.ca.us/finance/documents/2015-16CityFinalAnnualBudget.pdf

The park fund has a lot of money in it, but management eats like pigs.  Park salaries outpace the budget by almost $5 million, leaving a deficit in the General/Park fund of $4,266,937.

So I gotta wonder – what does he mean when he says “seek funding options”? 

And, he makes the usual plea for us to help him collect his $93,000 a year salary – “let us know if you see anything new”? 

Don’t get your loafers dirty Dan. 

Tags:

You can’t always count on the cops – know your neighborhood, and keep an eye on it

8 Jan

My husband takes our dog Biscuit out every morning for a walk around the neighborhood. She’s diabetic and needs the exercise to keep her blood sugar  down, and my husband is on alert ever since a car was broken into across the street last year. We both feel it’s a good idea to walk the neighborhood regularly, different times of day, keep in touch with our surroundings.

No matter what the weather, they take their morning constitutional over to the park. After she came home soaking wet a couple of times, my husband  decided to make her a raincoat from a garbage bag.

She was not thrilled about the raincoat.

She was not thrilled about the raincoat. That’s not a happy face, and the tail is all wrong.

Of course she cowered and tried to shake it off at first, but as soon as she realized it meant WALK, she was on board. Now I put it on her anytime I want to take her outside.

What a fashion maven.

Taking Fashion Maven Biscuit out to the mail box.  There’s the correct tail posture. 

Of course, Badges has to have everything Biscuit has, so we fitted him with his own little jacket.

You THE MAN! Badges.

Marshall Badges and Deputy Ding-Dong during a rare moment in between dumpers.  

Badges wasn’t too sure either, but like Biscuit, he now identifies the raincoat with WALK, and he actually holds his head up to have it pulled on. 

Don’t let the weather keep you from being active. Get out there and keep an eye on your hood. 

Tags: , , ,

Move the recycling center – city has permitted too much housing in that spot, so should help Chico Scrap Metal move to a new location

5 Jan

Yes, Debbie Presson is incompetent and should step down.  As David Little reported in this morning’s editorial, “City Attorney Vince Ewing said he hadn’t prepared his legal opinion on the matter yet [Chico Scrap Yard]. Obviously the city clerk and the mayor didn’t realize that when they set the agenda. And so 11 people got up in front of the council to ask for a decision, only to be told it would be put off for two weeks.”

Presson really jumped the gun on that – the signatures were only turned in a couple of days before the meeting, the agendas had already been sent out. She had to send an amended agenda the day of the meeting. That’s not very good noticing, but hey, look who we’re talking about here. 

This is the same woman who once told me the noticing distance for a project was only 300 feet when it was actually 500 feet. When I pointed this mistake out to her she actually giggled. Her mistake meant a neighborhood meeting had to be cancelled and rescheduled, but who cares about the inconvenience of the public at the clerk’s office?   A few months later the distance was “administerially” changed to 300 feet, meaning Presson had to notice less neighbors of impending subdivisions and other projects. I had to wonder – how long had she been noticing only at 300 feet? When it was pointed out to her the rule was changed.

She also told my neighbors and I that the 300 feet extended only along the sidewalk, from the “front door” of the project. Our project was an empty lot, but she still refused to notice any of the neighbors that lived along the back border of the project, their back fences lining the lot. She said the distance was measured along the city sidewalk, and the notice only had to include the neighbors on the facing street. What a bitch.

Frankly, I’m guessing Mayor Sean Morgan, who can be found leaning over Presson’s desk quite regularly, encouraged her to agendize the matter quickly so he wouldn’t have to listen to the little mob that has formed around this issue. While I question Karl Ory and Mark Stemen’s motives in this movement, I know Morgan likens listening to the public to listening to a set of fingernails being dragged down a chalkboard.

I honestly believe Morgan would like to run this issue under the radar, but the city attorney nailed him on it.

Little complains this issue has dragged out for 40 years. Well, in that time, the city has permitted housing right up to the boundaries of the property. Instead of protecting an industrial area by moving the old houses that were present, they permitted one low-income development after another. You realize, over the past 40 years, staff and elected officials have changed so much, the right hand hardly knows what the left hand is doing. That area is a planning disaster.

Yes, Chico Scrap Metal is an important business. When my family  was buying and fixing up old houses we made trips in there several times a year, with stuff no one else would take.  But that part of town has changed. Would you like to live next to the scrap metal yard? Who would? Especially now that other recycling locations are closing and that neighborhood suffers a steady stream of garbage can miners every morning.  But the city permitted housing right up next to that site as recent as last year. 

The scrap metal yard has been sitting on the train tracks for years – hey, wake up! You should have sued the city to stop permitting housing in your armpit or to help you move to a more appropriate location when they built Ricky Court. 

I do believe the city should provide financial and staff assistance in helping Chico Scrap find a new place. 

But yeah, this just adds more to Chico’s “business hostile” reputation and chases more jobs out of town.

 

Tags: , ,

Camping in Bidwell Park is a crime – report it!

31 Dec

Yesterday, having reported an illegal camp in Middle Bidwell Park to city of Chico officials, my husband and I walked over to the site to find that the campers seemed to be gone but had left mounds of trash behind. In fact, we encountered more trash yesterday than we’d seen the day before.

These pictures were taken yesterday morning. 

1230160853

Here’s the pile we encountered Thursday December 29, still there – notice the dismantled bikes. Somebody had added – a real estate sign? – to the pile.

We noticed new piles, clothes,  trash bags,  kipple of all kinds.

1230160856r

I wonder if they steal from each other, and here’s somebody’s stuff that has been rifled and left.

 

This is located about a block or two from my home, my tenant’s home. We’ve always locked everything up – Chico was never that nice of a town that you could leave your valuables unlocked, that’s been known for some time.  

But lately we’ve been hearing about weird stuff, stuff that goes beyond home security.  One guy was caught stealing a woman’s panties off her back yard clothesline, in broad daylight. Her husband  caught him in the garage, having broken in through a back door to steal a bike.

A man on the  website Nextdoor reported someone had torn the door off a storage shed in his side yard, but said there was nothing of value, so nothing was taken. Lucky him!  I had been bothering my husband to buy one of those metal  sheds at Home Depot for our tenant’s bikes, so she wouldn’t have to keep them in her laundry room. He laughed  and told me, “that’s like telling the transients, ‘look, here’s some stuff for you…'”  He’s right, these people can just rip the door off a shed, hidden in your back  yard, you and  all your neighbors gone off to work. 

As I’ve said, Chico is not a nice little town anymore. How do we fight this? Report it, report it, report it. Demand action.  I’ll e-mail city manager Mark Orme and ask him who is responsible for cleaning up this mess and when that will be done.  I’ll cc both news editors as well as my third district supervisor Maureen Kirk. I may cc the entire council, but Reanette Fillmer is the one who has shown the most interest in this issue.

Please join me in reporting illegal campers. Follow up – if you still see the problem the next day, politely ask what has been done or why nothing has been done. Don’t be intimidated by their polite refusal to do anything – send your e-mail conversation  here, and I’ll print it verbatim. 

  • Mark Orme, city manager – mark.orme@chicoca.gov
  • Sean Morgan, mayor – sean.morgan@chicoca.gov
  • Reanette Fillmer, vice mayor – reanette.fillmer@chicoca.gov
  • Maureen Kirk, Butte County Supervisor District 3 – mkirk@buttecounty.net
  • Larry Wahl, Butte County Supervisor District 2 – lwahl@buttecounty.net
  • David Little, editor Chico Enterprise Record – dlittle@chicoer.com

NOTE: As of Sunday Jan 1 the trash is gone.  I don’t know who picked it up but will thank Orme for staff’s response. 

 

 

Tags: , , , ,

Bidwell Park becoming a hobo camp

30 Dec
1229160808cr

My dog investigates a pile of trash left behind by illegal campers in Middle Bidwell Park. We saw several bike frames and various parts laying among the piles.

My family lives a block from Middle Bidwell  Park – ooooo! Lucky us!

When we bought and fixed up this old crapper, we were re-assessed very eagerly by the old county ass-essor, Fred. He told me, our proximity to Bidwell Park added to the valuation of our house.  He jacked us good!

Now we live next to a hobo camp. Wonder what  that does to property value?

We walk our old dog Biscuit in the park every morning – she’s got the diabetes, just like a person, she has to have regular exercise to keep her blood sugar down.  So we walk the two or three blocks worth over to the creek every day, early, in the cold and damp, kind of a morning ritual

We let ourselves get into kind of a rut, taking the same main trail every day. One morning this couple was coming along with a pretty tough looking poodle – and you know, Biscuit is not one to back down – so my husband shooshed us off without warning onto a less-beaten path – The Fitness Trail!

The Fitness Trail runs between Vallombrosa and Petersen Drive in the park. The city spent I don’t know how much, putting in these “fitness stations” – I think they’re nothing but a liability, and would like to have seen the money spent on trail maintenance, but the  people who made that decision are already long gone, so what’s the use of complaining?

The park has become a disgrace. Non-native species  have been allowed to grow up and push out the native growth. Overgrowth is everywhere, smothering big trees, causing limb drop. Big trees have been falling, including a tree that smashed to a million pieces all over Vallombrosa a week or so ago and shut the street down while  crews swept it off to the side of the road. Where it still  sits, creating rot and blocking the view of the park from the street.  It’s not nature, it’s an eyesore.

The park used to be nice to look at, now I’m more concerned about the cops being able to see in there.

As my husband and I followed Biscuit up the unfamiliar trail, we suddenly spotted an obvious, well-entrenched homeless camp.  Five tents and an E-Z up were visible from where we stood.  All occupied. Garbage littered the ground in every direction, including a scattering of those poop bags the city provides to pick up after dogs. They were laying on the ground full of poop and tied in knots. Whose poop is anybody’s guess.

We skee-daddled – I don’t want to mess with those people. I remember how Ann Schwab snickered as I told the story of a guy named Jerry Paddy. I used to live and work in Sacramento, I used to ride the city bus. I had to change busses at K Street Mall, walk a few blocks up K Street. Every morning as I joined the mass of commuters I’d see this guy, dressed in bed sheets. We all called him “Jesus,” and we all walked within arms’ distance of this beaming idiot.

One day a man who was visiting a relative at Sutter Hospital noticed this Jesus character wrestling in the bushes near Sutter’s Fort with a woman. This passerby thought it was a sexual assault, and confronted  “Jesus”, who reached into his sheets and took out a 12 inch knife and stuck the poor man right through the gut. This is where Ann Schwab snickered, cause I used the word “gut”. I got news for you Ann – the poor bastard with the stuck guts wasn’t laughing, he was dead before they could get him into the hospital.

“Jesus” was a man named Jerry Paddy, and he showed no remorse for the murder. He went off to the state hospital wearing his idiot grin.

So this is what I’m thinking as I encounter that same grin in the park, or around town, or walking down the sidewalk in front of my home or  one of my rentals.

When we realized we were standing in a homeless camp, my husband and I went home and called the Park Division.  The woman who answered told me a ranger would be sent over to the location – The Fitness Trail, between Stations 3 and 4.  Later we realized, it was more extensive than that, but we figured the rangers would see it.

Next day  the tents and E-Z up were all still there, with more trash.

So, I e-mailed city manager Mark Orme. He said,

“Thank you for this e-mail.  To answer your question, yes, the City is following up on these reports.  I’ll follow-up with staff in relation to this specific site. “

Later he got back to me,

“Again, thank you for your reporting of this.   As additional follow-up, I can tell you that the Park Rangers did engage with this group yesterday, after the report was received.   Additionally, the Rangers have engaged and ticketed this group of illegal campers several times over the past week.  The Park Rangers are coordinating with the Police Department for follow-up today for this specific illegal encampment. “

Yesterday morning this is what we encountered.

1229160809r

The tents and E-Z up were gone, but they’d left all the trash. I don’t know whether the city came back to get it, but if it’s still there this morning we’ll take more pictures and get back to Mark Orme.

Malls are turning into crime zones

6 Oct
Mangrove Plaza

My husband  and I spotted this big ugly tag from the parking lot in front of Bubbles laundromat at Mangrove Plaza.

I think the biggest problem facing Chico right now is increasing criminal activity all over town. I won’t use the word “homeless” – that is not  the right word for the transient street people that are ruining our town.

One reason this problem has festered into such a mess is the agencies that get funding for feeding, housing, and otherwise facilitating these people. They blame mental illness, bad luck, tough breaks – things that every human being has to deal with in life, regardless of station. One difference being, how we all cope. Do you cope by shitting all over the rest of our parade?

Another difference being, how we are treated. It seems the more responsibility a person shows in life, the less slack they are given when they have a little mental breakdown, bad luck, tough breaks. The suits come after your money, your car, your home, your kids.  But today I read about a consultant who will be speaking before “homeless advocates” next week who says we should spend $30 – 50,000 per person on no-strings-attached housing for transients.  You have to be a total loser to get compassion from the homeless advocates.

According to Butte County administrative officer Paul Hahn, we already spend half the county budget on mentally ill and homeless individuals. I’ve sat in meetings listening to members of county Behavioral Health staff talk about adding “bed” (a space in a shelter facility) after bed to the county’s various facilities, 10’s of thousands of dollars per individual. That’s not to mention the salaries and benefits at Butte County Behavioral Health.

http://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/Department.aspx?entityid=4&fiscalyear=2015&departmentid=1117

Wow, I was shocked this time, looking at the new information recently posted by the State Controller’s office. Can that be true? An administrative salary of $298,000? $54,000 in benefits? That’s – excuse me, I’m not a professional – fucking nuts!

So, get my point? A person who is yanking in that kind of dough to sit in meetings discussing the homeless problem

http://www.orovillemr.com/article/NB/20160411/NEWS/160419957

https://www.newsreview.com/chico/all-hands-on-deck/content?oid=20684307

would want to keep the conversation going as long as possible. By their own admission they enjoy a budget of over $57 million.

Click to access BehavioralHealthDepartmentOverview2013.pdf

Chico Police Department and Chico Chamber of Commerce also masturbate away a considerable amount of time and paid energy toward the homeless. Regular public meetings held in different parts of town have been worthless. The last time I had a complaint about an incident I witnessed at Bubbles Laundromat there on Mangrove, Katie Simmons simply told me she’s meeting with those business owners on a regular basis. But the problem not only persists at Mangrove Plaza, it’s getting worse – should I send Simmons, who is paid with money received from the city of Chico “Community Block Grants”, a copy of the photo posted above? 

Tuesday I realized there are certain businesses that continue to be part of the problem. Mangrove Plaza merchants could do a lot more to help themselves. Like, how about cleaning up the sidewalks in front of your store Folks? Tuesday afternoon, my husband and I strolled by one pile of dog shit after another, stuck to the sidewalk in front of businesses like Sports LTD and Heel and Sole Shoes. You really have to watch your step on that sidewalk, all the way around toward Safeway, or you will get shit on your shoes.  And the general appearance of the sidewalk looks like Downtown San Francisco – looks like it’s never had  a broom to it. It gets worse as you wind your way toward the sandwich shop, Bubbles Laundromat, and then Rite Aid. The filth continues right into Rite Aid, where the smell of human excrement will take you a step back.  Not even the perfume and cigarettes stench of the dry cleaners covers up the scent of human filth that is starting to pervade that section of Mangrove Plaza.

The public sector is not going to do anything about this problem.  It’s time for property owners and citizens to step up.  I think we need an ordinance that says malls like Mangrove Plaza need to hire their own, on-site security patrol. I don’t believe the police department should have to patrol private property.  When you have a piece of real estate where no one is going to be at night, you are inviting creeps to do whatever they want. It is a crime zone, and it will get worse.

I know the management at Safeway cares. I feel for the employees at Safeway – they have to park in that parking lot at all hours. We don’t go to Safeway after dark if we can help it and neither do our adult children. Remember when Mangrove Safeway was considered “The Nice Safeway”?   One afternoon  we ran into a friend of ours at the check out, and we were discussing some ne’er do wells at the south entrance. They’d tried to start something with our friend when he didn’t respond to their request for a hand-out – he’s a big man, he’s used to people making remarks. He’s always telling us what a trial it is to live in his Chapmantown neighborhood with them walking right past his gate, sometimes tossing cigarettes into his grandson’s play yard.   He says he’d like to rip their arms off, but he knows he’d get the shit end of that stick from the cops, so he holds his temper.  The manager happened to overhear our conversation, and asked our friend about his encounter,  then went immediately out the front door and confronted the creeps, telling them they had to leave. 

Safeway Corporation doesn’t care, they don’t have to work there. Same with the owners of the malls at the south end of town, where the cardboard signs and shopping carts are stored in the bushes along the road. 

Chico PD should be patrolling Bidwell Park, but that’s another post.

 

 

Tags: , , , , ,

Randy, you have got to be kidding

4 Oct

I noticed a person had come over to this blog from city councilman Randall Stone’s campaign website. I won’t direct you there – I’d rather direct you to this:

Because at least Robert Preston is entertaining. Stone is just obnoxious.

Saved the Esplanade? Is that the way you remember it? 

I have been studying the candidates, and I’m not looking forward to this year’s election. 

Tags:

There’s no more time for “civility” in the “homeless” conversation – let’s just say it like it is – too many of us are enabling the bums

25 Sep

 

Texas consultant Robert Marbut spoke to local “homeless advocates” the other day and told them that Chico/Butte County is headed for trouble if we don’t quit “enabling” transients.  This is a message that has played across the pages of local newspapers and been the subject of too many meetings, but this guy is an “expert” so heads were turned.

http://www.chicoer.com/general-news/20160923/consultant-gives-to-do-list-for-chico-homelessness

 

It’s about time we had a real conversation about “the homeless problem.”  But, there are too many people in our community who stand to benefit from keeping the status quo. 

http://www.orovillemr.com/article/NB/20160411/NEWS/160419957

https://www.newsreview.com/chico/all-hands-on-deck/content?oid=20684307

Meanwhile, League of Women Voters hosted a symposium on “civility.” I’m sorry, civility is a shield that bureaucrats use when the taxpayers ask too many questions. I’ve sat in meetings asking, why so much money for county behavioral health, why so much staff time and money going to the benefit of these criminal transients, arrested and released back into our community time and time again?  I’ve used the words “enabling behavior,” and I’ve been treated like a skunk at a garden party. I wish the LWV observer would show up at one of those Local Government Committee meetings, where Stairways manager Mike “Trucker Hat” Madeiros tries to glare down anybody who questions the spending or the salaries. According to Butte County Admin Officer Paul Hahn,  over half the county budget goes to programs for mental health and indigent “residents”. 

When I’ve complained here about policies and money given to the Torres Shelter, I’ve had shelter director Brad Montgomery up my ass. He tried to tell me the Torres doesn’t get tax money.  This post sure shut him up.

Chico a homeless Mecca? Butte County funds the programs that bring them flocking

Go out around town sometime. Try riding your bike through Bidwell Park. Go Downtown in the wee hours. Walk your neighborhood at 5am.  I’m tired of being civil. 

 

 

 

 

Tags: , , , , ,

Oroville puts sales tax increase on the ballot – is their retail sector ready for this?

20 Sep

 

A few years ago I did a post about how great it is to shop in Oroville.

https://worldofjuanita.com/2013/11/22/shop-in-oroville-nice-clean-streets-plenty-of-parking-friendly-folks-and-great-stuff/

Well, forget that – Oroville city staff is bent on raising their sales tax – a full cent!

 

For what? Bill LaGrone’s $158,000 salary and $73,000 benefits/pension package.  A couple of years ago, Oroville police chief Bill LaGrone talked Oroville Silly Council into making him “Public Safety Director”, giving him both the police and fire departments. They might have thought they were saving money – did any of these people do well in math? They’re paying this guy the equivalent of two salaries anyway.  And holy freaking cow – what kind of benefits does a person get for $73,000/year? Retirement in a palace in Dubai?

Oroville police department salaries are on par with Chico, even a little higher. Because? You got me – a town of 18,000 residents? Here’s something I forget – the incorporated city of O-ville does not include Thermalito or Palermo, who have no police department, and are under the jurisdiction of the county sheriff.  In fact, a lot of what we think of as “Oroville” is actually county, the city of Oroville is a very tiny little burg.

Small, and too poorly run to justify salaries like this:

http://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/Cities/City.aspx?entityid=81&fiscalyear=2015

City-Data reports that Oroville employs about 23 police employees – including dispatch, but not including LaGrone – at an average salary of $66,000. That stacks up well against Chico police salaries, for a town about four times as populated.  The average employed Orovillian makes about $30,000, which is about half the state average income. The median family income is reported between $36,000 – $47,000/year, with about 20 percent of the residents living on $20,000/year or less.  Knowing that, you might predict – the crime rate in Oroville is high for California,  alarming for such a small town, with such a well-paid police force – see for yourself here –

http://www.city-data.com/city/Oroville-California.html

more here

http://www.bestplaces.net/economy/city/california/oroville

Oroville is our county seat, so I read on one website that the population goes up by about 7,000 during the day due to the influx of employees working at the county, city and schools. These people are most likely the folks who take the high salary county and city jobs and drive back to their homes in Chico – drive to Oroville some morning, see the conga line.  See the brand new cars.  Then drive home about 5 pm – see the same conga line, same people, driving their expensive cars back to Chico.  I’m guessing they don’t even slow down in the retail district, or even gas their cars in O-ville.

I’m shocked that the city council could  be stupid enough to put this tax on the ballot. Only one  councilor opposed it, and only because he wanted it pegged specifically  for public safety.  The rest of the council went the general fund route, because it would require only the simple majority – 51 percent of the voters who actually show up at the polls. Sounds like a slam dunk.

And it also seems pretty obvious that they aren’t shaking down their own residents as much as the outer lying folks who drive in to shop there. 

Well, that’s okay. I’ve already become very adept at internet shopping.  Farewell, O-ville, City of Fools. 

 

 

Tags: , ,

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →