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NO on H: BC and Bob respond to Measure H proponents

12 Oct

The following is a comment BC made on my last post.

An editorial was recently submitted to the Chico News and Review by a local politician in support of the Measure H tax increase. it is responded to here, point by point.

Want better roads? Better parks? Better public safety? Better housing solutions? A vote for Measure H is a vote for a better Chico.

Response: Of course, voters want better roads, a cleaner park, and a safer environment. But there is nothing in Measure H that mandates the funds be spent on any of those items. The additional funding will be spent where existing funding goes: salaries, benefits, unfunded pension liability and catch-up provisions, and unfunded post employee benefits

Rapid population growth, the Camp Fire, COVID-19 and increased community needs have stretched our finances. Maintaining roads, preserving Bidwell Park, keeping neighborhoods safe and creating durable housing solutions takes resources the city simply does not have.

Response: There have been more than adequate resources from State and Federal programs to offset COVID-19 and the Camp Fire. The suffering at a personal level is significant and not to be discounted. Many burned out families are still waiting for restitution. But at the City level by some estimates, the Camp fire was a money maker for Chico. Population growth, along with deteriorating roads and parks are all issues that predate COVID and the fire. The reason there is no funding for these issues is city pension liability. There are the pensions, and everything else.

Chico is only one of eight California cities over 50,000 residents without a local sales tax. Of those eight cities, Chico’s general fund budget is the lowest per capita.

Response: This type of comparison is vapid. How are the other 8 cities without a sales tax doing? This line of poor reasoning also shows up in comments like: Chico has less employees than other cities our size, we need more. Our director of “XYZ” makes less that comparable directors, he needs a raise. Every other city of our size sends its employees to the national conference in Hawaii/Las Vegas/Washington, DC, our people should go as well. It all leads to an escalating size of government without any critical thought or analysis. (E.g. Why do employees need a raise when they are well paid, and there is a line out the door of qualified applicants who will take the position?)

The sales tax will add $1 to every $100 spent (groceries, rent and prescription medications aren’t taxed) and will generate $24 million a year to invest in our community.

Response: It would take $2.4 Billion in sales to generate $24 million in revenue @ 1%. Pulling $24 million out of the local economy so it can be redistributed to City employees, benefits and pensions is not an “investment”. If you want to know how any new tax revenue will be spent, look at how the EXISTING money is spent.

Measure H spending decisions will be made locally. We’ll be able to will make improvements to Chico that not only will enhance our daily lives but also create jobs. Chico would be able to support local social service agencies and provide housing assistance.

Response: How are those “locally made” decisions serving you currently? The roads are bad, the park is a run-down and the local agencies are underfunded. Raising taxes does not create jobs, except for the tax collectors and the administration that you have to set up at the city level to monitor the tax.

Measure H has support from across the political spectrum. Seven former Chico mayors endorse Measure H, as do seven of the eight council candidates.

Response: The measure is supported by local politicians who view growth of government as a public good. They have a vested interest. This is the equivalent of going to a Friday-night high school football game, and asking the fans in the grandstands if they like football.

Thanks BC! – I also liked Bob’s response –

These were the people on whose watch the pension and OPEB deficit blew up and who spent our money very unwisely in other areas. They created today’s problems. So now we are supposed to take their advice?

All this tax will do is enable the current local politicians to continue the bad spending of the seven former mayors who caused our problems.

When will people wake up and stop listening to those who got us into this mess? Listening to Schwab discuss a tax increase is like listening to an arsonist lecture you on fire prevention.

Thanks BC and Bob for pointing out the flaws in the H campaign, and why we should vote NO on H.

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There are a lot of reasons to vote this November: Brian Dahle isn’t just a vote against Newsom, he’s an experienced and strong candidate with working class values

10 Oct

This morning I read an article that made me realize, there’s more than a sales tax at stake in this election. I hate getting my panties in a knot over the news, but today I read that Gavin Newsom signed legislation to ban plastic film “produce” bags by 2025.

I really hate that guy.

The other thing that pissed me off was why – they are saying that since the single use plastic film grocery bag ban was instituted, “There was a 72% drop in grocery bag litter in the state just one year after it was fully implemented…“

https://abc7news.com/grocery-stores-banning-single-use-plastic-bags-meat-produce-senate-bill-1046/12298432/

I won’t say that’s not true for the year after implementation, but now the cow’s out of the barn again – people got used to paying their nickel, and I’ve noticed some vendors don’t charge the nickel anymore, and people are back to using “single use bags” whether they are plastic or paper. I just saw a plastic Raley’s bag blowing down the freeway yesterday.

And no, they’re not the flimsy film plastic anymore, they’re higher mil plastic that’s going to sit in the landfill for years.

This new law is also tied to the compost mandate presented earlier this year. Waste haulers and their customers are required to sort food waste, including pizza boxes, dirty napkins, and other “food soiled paper”, into their yard waste bins. Proponents say produce bags will end up in yard waste bins, because yeah, some people use produce bags to store food waste under their sink next to their trash can. This “pollutes the stream”. So they want grocery stores to switch to compostable produce bags. These are already available to consumers.

Compostable Bags

Do you wonder if the Supreme Commander ever thinks about how his actions add to the cost of living for the rest of us?

So I’m voting for Brian Dahle. who has more in common with me, my family, and my friends, than Gavin Newsom. Dahle grew up on a working farm, and like members of my farming family, he has taken the time to serve on public boards, worked his way up into state politics. A Lassen County supervisor for 16 years, he has since served in the legislature, from 2012-19. It takes more than good intentions to run this state. Dahle has experience in the legislature, dealing with other legislators from all over the state. I think he has a better idea of what is good for the people of this state than an entitled Bay Area socialite.

There are a number of issues in this election that should bring us all to the table. I hope people are energized to vote, and I’m hoping Dahle will bring more people to the polls.

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Steve Wolfe: City staff have “insinuated” that the Measure H funding will go towards infrastructure and services. This voter will believe that when pigs become aeronautically enabled.

8 Oct

The Butte County clerk has noticed us that she will be mailing ballots with the county voter’s pamphlets on Monday (10/10/22). You can see the pamphlet here, start doing your homework:

https://buttevotes.net/306/Local-Measures

Measures H and L are for city of Chico, click on those measures for the city attorney’s analysis, and for H, the Arguments For and Against.

Measure L doesn’t even get a discussion. The proponents – Kasey Reynolds, Sean Morgan, Rob Berry – didn’t post any Argument For, and I didn’t have time to post an Argument Against. I’m voting No on L, for reasons explained here:

“Quality of life” Measure L is a backhanded attempt to stop lawsuits against the city of Chico and relieve them of any responsibility from damages caused by their bum camps

As for Measure H, you can read proponents’ arguments, and my responses – same arguments we’ve both made in our letters to the editor. I’ll say though, the proponents’ letters have sounded like form letters, weak, insincere, and sometimes using the same words – especially their mantra about the tax not applying to “food, rent or prescription medications…” Wow, as if those are life’s only necessities. None of the yes letters have been from frequent letter writers, so they seem unnatural, as if they’ve been put up to it.

By contrast, I’ve seen some very original and sincere letters coming from folks like Dave Howell, Joe Azzarito, and here’s a good one from longtime letter writer Steve Wolfe, recently posted in the Enterprise Record.

To reiterate an earlier article, this is a poor Measure.  Measure H requires only a simple majority for passage with the money going into the general fund, to be spent at the discretion of the City Council.  In addition, there is no “sunset” clause which would allow the voters an opportunity to audit the measure at a future date.

It is difficult for one to believe that the city is in desperate straits financially when one considers the funding available through sales tax, property tax, vehicle registration fees, utility users tax, etc., all of which must be on the increase considering the city’s burgeoning population.

In addition, consideration must be given to the $200 million in failing infrastructure (roads/sewer) due to years of admitted deferred maintenance while staff funneled amounts into an ever increasing pension deficit; last year $11.5 million, this year $12 million, $18 million by 2025 and on and on. Which doesn’t seem to faze city staff as I read where the PD just received another raise. City staff have “insinuated” that the Measure H funding will go towards infrastructure and services. This voter will believe that when pigs become aeronautically enabled.

I suggest a measure dedicated to city infrastructure. That of course would require a 2/3 majority vote, but at least the voters would know where the money was going. That measure this voter could support.

Steve Wolfe, Chico

I’m glad to see Wolfe has done his homework on the budget, and he’s making rational suggestions, while also entertaining us with his wit! I also believe there are plenty of people out there like Wolfe, who would be glad to contribute if they saw a light at the end of the tunnel – a 2/3’s measure dedicated to infrastructure, specific amounts toward specific projects, and even a sunset date.

My husband and I have also heard from folks around town, people we do business with all the time, longtime local business owners. Whenever we’ve mentioned the tax measure we’ve started a spirited discussion among owners and customers – they’re pissed at the city – they know the money has been coming in, and they want to know why it isn’t being spent on long-needed infrastructure maintenance and repair. They’re mad about the bum camps, and they blame incumbents Coolidge, Morgan and Reynolds, by name. They know about the salaries and the generous benefits. And more than a few of them still remember how badly Chico management treated the Camp Fire refugees, lied about surplus population numbers, and got money that probably should have gone to Paradise and other burn victims. Chico voters are a little better informed than H proponents might realize.

By contrast, 10 years ago when the city put a cell phone tax on the ballot, Measure J, fellow CTA members and I were surprised how few people had even heard about the measure. Folks we spoke to on the street were shocked to find out they’d been taxed for years via their cell phone bills, that it was illegal, and that a lawsuit had forced cities all over California, including Chico, to put it on the ballot for voters. When the Chico Tea Party group held a rally at City Plaza, with information regarding city salaries and benefits, we found out local taxpayers had no idea how generously compensated Chico Staffers were, and still are. And people were outraged, J was beaten pretty soundly. But it took a dedicated group of Chico Taxpayers, Chico Tea Party, and Chico Republican Women to get the word out.

So thanks Dave, Joe, and all the folks who have worked to expose the truth – our city is very well funded, we don’t have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem.

We really can do better – NO on H.

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Those pesky rules!

6 Oct

The proponents of Measure H are really running a hard campaign, and they aren’t letting rules get in their way. The flyer I received the other day is full of those promises they can’t make for a simple measure.

That first line is really troubling, insinuating the city only has $3 million in the road fund. The city received 10’s of millions in emergency funding for the Camp Fire and later for COVID, over $12 million in American Rescue Plan Funding just two months ago. And they claim there’s only $3 million for road maintenance? Meanwhile, they “allocate” pension funding out of all the funds, including the roads fund. Barbara Martin, who was just promoted to Administrative Services Director, told me that a percentage of payroll for each department fund is allocated to the Pension Stabilization Trust. That, remember, is in addition to the “payroll’ share, going to the annual “catch-up” payments made at the end of the fiscal year.

The second claim, housing – I think I covered that pretty well in my last post. They’ve already given over $32 million in emergency funds to developers to build low-income housing that isn’t needed, which will tank the housing market for a few years before attracting thousands of new residents with whom we will have to share our deteriorating infrastructure. ‘Nuff said?

Public Safety? What does this paragraph even mean? It’s so full of vague phrases – “increase proactive policing”… “expand training”…”protect 911 emergency response times“…? No, they can’t make specific promises, but what the hell are they even insinuating here? I really don’t think they could tell us, they’re just saying what they think the voters want to hear. Their promises aren’t worth the flyer their printed on. A 2/3’s measure would have specific amounts dedicated to specific programs, written directly into the ballot measure.

I saw a sign like this in Kasey Reynold’s front yard. In the ballot measure, it says she’s not supposed to campaign, as a council member, but I guess that doesn’t include her yard. The only others I’ve seen were being removed by a Cal Trans worker from the public right-of-way along Hwy 32.

“Make Chico Better” ? That’s their slogan, I think it’s really weak and insulting. First of all, Reynolds, along with Morgan, Coolidge and Tandon, signed the Shelter Crisis Designation, and then proceeded to lumber through that Warren vs Chico lawsuit like Godzilla in a Lego village. That has led us to the state of perdition we find ourselves in, and every time they promise us they’re going to fix it, the judge hits the entire town with a cease and desist order. Our parks are trashed because of decisions council has made, and we’re on the hook for $1.5 million/year to maintain the $3 million pallet shelters for the next 5 years? They can’t even tell us, but they expect us to raise our sales tax to pay for it. They’re not saying anything about that in their flyers or signs or social media.

Furthermore, it’s insulting in that we’ve watched them reeling in the money hand over fist, do they really think we believe they don’t have enough money to fix our roads? They just raised sewer rates (Dave corrected me, it was 67%, not 60 as I reported) but they need sales tax too? They’ve been permitting unprecedented levels of new housing – most of which will generate new property taxes, permanent prop tax that will increase incrementally every year – but they still need a sales tax increase? They think we don’t know about the “catch-up” payments? They sure don’t mention that either. I hate being treated like I just fell of a turnip truck.

We have to ask ourselves, when will it stop? Here’s that answer – when we vote NO on Measure H.

And finally, here’s a tactic that really made me disgusted with the H proponents – they just won’t follow the rules. I found these pictures at the Yes on H Facebook, identified as a city employee taking a group of kids door-to-door to hand out Yes on H flyers and signs. I asked the clerk, and she said that while city employees are allowed to do what they want on their own time, they’ve been informed that they are not allowed to wear their city “uniform”. Look closer at the picture – not only is the city employee pictured wearing a city logo shirt, he’s got them on three of the four kids.

https://www.facebook.com/YesOnHChico

Yeah they’re adorable, but rules are rules. Especially when they’re made by the people who are running the measure.

I think H proponents should have to remove these pictures from their Facebook site, but I’m not going to pull the clerk’s ear any further, I trust her to do whatever is appropriate. The city of Chico put this measure on the ballot, and they make and enforce all the rules for the campaign.

Many campaign donors look at it like more of an investment – take Measure H donors, please!

6 Oct

It’s always good to see who is behind a campaign and how much money they’ve put into it. Sometimes we find, these donors look at campaign contributions as more of an investment than the rest of us.

Here’s the link to the most recently filed report from Chicoans For The Sales Tax Measure 2022 — aka, Yes on Measure H. It’s a quick read, but very interesting – thanks Dave for the Heads Up.

https://public.netfile.com/pub2/RequestPDF.aspx?id=204866944

The biggest donors on this report are the Chico Police Officers Association and local developers Slater and Son. The CPOA was also the biggest donor behind ill-fated CARD Measure A. The Chico Police Department is also the biggest expense the taxpayers have, taking over half the new budget of $211 million. The salaries lead the pension deficit, so the cops also have the biggest pension deficit. Generous contributions to candidates at election time have kept council members from pressing CPOA members to pay more rational shares of their pensions and benefits.

Meanwhile, developers Howard and son Brandon Slater enjoy their fair share of public housing contracts, most recently receiving the contract for the new Jesus Center and transitional housing on Fair Street. That project is funded by the city of Chico.

I don’t know about you, but I’m not seeing the housing shortage the city (and Measure H proponents) are claiming – read this article, this is what I see whenever I drive around town.

https://krcrtv.com/news/local/nearly-1400-affordable-housing-units-in-chico-proposed-while-camp-fire-survivors-move-out

CHICO, Calif. April 16, 2022 — Construction of affordable housing in Chico is picking up, while tenants are moving out.

Brendan Vieg, the City of Chico’s community development director for planning and housing, released the new development statistics during the Chico Chamber of Commerce’s community development update Thursday.

Affordable housing, historically not comparable to those numbers, is keeping up this year. Vieg says 476 affordable housing units are currently under construction via apartments, duplexes and more. This work can be seen at the 59-unit project located at the old Jesus Center near downtown, the 60-unit project at the intersection of Bruce Road and East 20th Street, 97-unit Laval Ridge project off State Route 32 and east of Bruce Road, the 100-unit Creekside Place project across from Marsh Junior High School and the 106-unit North Creek Crossing project inside Meriam Park.

And a lot of it is being built with public money – “Those affordable housing projects represent solely those that have already broken ground, but something both the in-construction and in-development projects share: where the funding is coming from.

“Vieg says a total of 10 projects are being funded through disaster tax credits and CDBG Disaster Recovery Funds. Chico received over $32 million of this post-Camp Fire due to the influx of around 20,000 people who were displaced and eventually moved there in 2018.“

The Measure H flyer I received today claims that the revenues from H “would support“, among other things, “housing“. So you see, Slater and Son are making an investment, not a donation. They will receive millions in funding out of those revenues. There’s no oversite on jobs like that, when it’s taxpayer money, the sky is the limit. No fiscal responsibility, no competitive nature, the contractor charges what they want once they secure the contract.

Howard Slater used to say something along the lines of “for every dollar you spend in planning, you save $7 in building…” Well I’d say, he’s using the same philosophy in regards to greasing the wheels that turn his business empire – the public trough. For every $30,000 donated, you get how many million in return Howard?

And we must realize, the cops look at it same. Every election the CPOA are the biggest donors.

I’ll add this last “I told you so” – when Paradise was burnt to the ground and people fled for their lives, city of Chico management treated them like a pack of fleas, claiming they were overwhelming services like roads and sewers. Orme cried poormouth while receiving millions in disaster relief. I told you all that was BULLSHIT, and here’s staffer Vieg admitting it.

“Over three years after the blaze, these people are moving out.

“‘Our population swelled to over 112,000,” says Vieg. ‘Based on the Census, they have come in with a number of 101,475. So that’s kind of a big reflection of, again, a greater out-migration in our community.'”

At the time, Orme claimed 120,000. He used that number to file for and receive millions in disaster relief. Council spent the money as they saw fit – doled it out to their buddies in the unions and the developer community.

The most interesting reports come after the election is over, because the smart ones don’t donate until the last quarter. That would be the Service Employees International Union, which is the biggest union Downtown. That’s another time, on This Old Lady.

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New group comes out against Measure H: Chico Says No

2 Oct

https://chicosaysno.weebly.com

VOTE NO ON MEASURE H

Why Should You Vote No On the Chico City Council’s Measure H Sales Tax Increase?

  • There is No Guarantee How the Money Will Be Spent

The measure contains a long list of possible uses for the money (many vague) but no details, dollar amounts or completion dates are assigned to anything.  Instead of necessities like street maintenance, the money can be spent on unsustainable employee costs, boondoggles and possibly hundreds of millions in new bonds (debt)! Remember, the money from the garbage tax was supposed to be spent for street maintenance but was siphoned off for the pensions. And that is only one example of our money being mismanaged!

  • There is No Citizen Oversight Council

Our city councils have proven over and over they can’t be trusted to spend our money wisely.

  • The Tax is PERMANENT Despite What The City Says

The ballot measure deceitfully says the tax will be in effect until “ended by voters.” Do you think the City will ever put a repeal on the ballot?  Of course NOT!  So it will require professional signature gathers to collect in excess of 12,000 signatures to get a repeal on the ballot and that will cost thousands of dollars.  Who is going to pay for that?  No one!  You will NEVER get a chance to repeal this tax.

  • The Tax is REGRESSIVE

Working people, poor people and those on fixed incomes will pay a disproportionate amount of their incomes and savings for this tax. In 2019 a City consultant said the per capita cost would be about $200 a year and that’s before the worst inflation in forty years.

  • This Is No Time for Another Tax Increase

Inflation at a 40 year high, looming recession, 22.4% of Chicoans living in poverty, record debt, taxes and the cost of living are already too high, etc.  And the City just passed a 67% sewer rate increase! Among other taxes, the City already taxes us 5% on gas, electric, telecom, water and has “franchise fees” of 2% on gas and electric and 10% on garbage. We have enough taxes!

  • The City’s Revenue Has Been Growing for Years

The City has never had more money to spend and the streets and the rest of the City’s infrastructure have never been worse.  The City’s revenue is up 40% FY15-16 through FY20-21 and when the audited financial reports come out for last fiscal year revenue will be up again. (As usual, the City doesn’t publish the audit financials until 6 months after the FY closes!)

  • The City Has a Spending Problem, Not a Revenue Problem

For many years money that should have been spent for essential programs like infrastructure maintenance has been siphoned off for massive unfunded liabilities which continue to grow anyway.  These liabilities are unsustainable. A tax increase will NOT solve this problem but only enables the City to delay taking action resulting in more tax increases later.

Instead of voting for a tax increase, demand the City Council reform these unsustainable liabilities so they are not passed down to your kids and grandkids! Download this flyer here and distribute it to everyone you know! Thank you!

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The letters section: I’m going to kick Brandon’s ass

30 Sep

Well, I woke up in the middle of the night with my election letter in my head, so I got up and dashed it off to the Enterprise Record letters department early Wednesday morning. You can read it here, straight from the jackass’ mouth. Er, ah, keyboard. Heee-haw!

Measure H proponents would have us believe that if we would just vote “conservative” this November, we could trust council with an unrestricted tax. Sometimes a “conservative council” does not make very “conservative” decisions.

Last year, our “conservative council” approved $300,000 in American Rescue Plan money for an architect to design “parklets” for Downtown bars and restaurants, hundreds of thousands more promised to build them. $120,000/year to DCBA for the skating rink. But there’s not enough money to fix the streets in our neighborhoods?

The same council just approved a 60% sewer rate increase, after spending millions in grant funding to hook more people up, all the while claiming that Paradise refugees were “overwhelming” our sewer plant. Now they’re talking about hooking the town of Paradise up to the same sewer plant?

The “conservatives” all signed the Shelter Crisis Designation that led to the Warren vs Chico lawsuit, then botched that. They spent $3,000,000 building pallet shelters, we’ll pay another $1,500,000/year to maintain them, but illegal camps persist.

Councils, and all their promises, come and go, leaving us with problems they don’t have to answer for. Measure H is a permanent new tax, and goes to the General Fund. There are no guarantees on a simple measure. Look at the record – last year, $1,200,000 budgeted toward streets, $12,200,000 to the pensions.

We can do better. No on Measure H.

Juanita Sumner, Chico CA

And then this morning I saw Brandon Slater’s letter. Slater, the son and heir of developer Howard Slater, is one of the folks who signed the Arguments For in the ballot pamphlet. That list of names is important – do your research – almost every name on that list is somebody who will benefit directly from city monies, including Measure H revenues, which will go into the General Fund. Slater, for example, has the contract to build the new apartments on the former Jesus Center site. Give me a name, I’ll tell you what they got.

Slater is making the argument that I made fun of in the first paragraph of my letter – he says the liberals and conservatives are in total agreement that the money needs to go to the streets! Well, Pollyanna, don’t we all wish we lived in your Dream Kingdom!

In fact, Slater’s saying that there is no partisanship on council, that this tax measure is a bipartisan effort. Wow, that’s just a lie Brandon. Furthermore, he ignores the poor spending decisions made by the conservative-led council we’ve had since 2020. The council became even more conservative with the departure of liberal lunatic Scott Huber, whose replacement, Dale Bennett, was named by the council conservatives. They named retired police chief O’Brien to Kami Denlay’s seat, a guy with a personal interest in seeing the pensions paid up.

And of course, Slater himself has a direct interest in the perpetuation of the “Homeless Industrial Complex”, into which the city pours millions a year. So does Measure H co-signer Laura Cootsona, who gets a salary to run the Jesus Center operations.

I think my letter is a good response to this guy, but you’ve seen other “yes on H” letters, all using the same points – especially that lame line about the tax not applying to groceries or medicines. Well, if you can wear your groceries, wash yourself with them, clean your house with them, and eat a banana when you have a head-ache or a fever, you may be able to avoid paying this tax. Oh yeah, you’ll have to walk to work – or ride that magic banana. And be sure to pack your lunch – because the tax applies to gas, bicycles, car/bike parts and maintenance, and any prepackaged/prepared food.

Today a friend of mine asked me about other revenues the city collects – let’s talk about that next time, on This Old Lady Kicks Brandon’s Ass.

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You don’t have to wait for your local election guide to come in the mail – it’s already available on the county website

28 Sep

Go to this link, and you’ll find all your local candidates, from local councils and boards to the Senate and Assembly races. You’ll see the local measures, including City of Chico Measures H and L. I don’t know when the clerk plans on mailing, but here it is – do your homework before you vote.

https://buttevotes.net/DocumentCenter/View/1003/Voter-Information-Guide?bidId=

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Letter to the Editor: City misusing American Rescue Plan funding, contact your district rep and tell them you want some money spent on the street in front of your house

19 Sep

I hope you are enjoying this rain as much as I am. My husband and I spent the weekend cleaning gutters and putting away stuff that can’t get wet, routing out winter clothes and bedding, etc. Get ready, 10 months ago there was flooding on the Sac, freeways were flooded, and there were mudslides in SoCal. It’s absolutely amazing how quickly things turn around in California.

But don’t forget to pay attention to what your government is up to. After I attended that Internal Affairs Committee meeting last week, I felt compelled to write a letter about it. I’ll guess, most Chico taxpayers don’t know about the day meetings, they don’t read the agendas or reports, and 9 months or a year later they are caught completely off-guard by headlines saying the deal has already been done. Or they drive Downtown once or twice a year and notice all these big changes but don’t realize – it was paid for by the taxpayers, not the DCBA or the Chamber. We’re all paying for it out of COVID Emergency Funding that was supposed to be used for the benefit of the entire town, not just a handful of cronies.

And, for those of you who do enjoy shopping in the Downtown business district, there will be fewer parking spaces, smaller sidewalks, and I’ll predict, more drunken behavior than ever. So I thought I better write a letter to the editor about it, maybe it’s not too late to stop this obvious misuse of funding.

At the September 12 Internal Affairs Committee meeting, staff and committee members discussed ending the city’s COVID Emergency status. The city is still operating under a state of emergency, the county ended theirs in April. The city has received over $20,000,000 in American Rescue Plan funding since the state declared the COVID shut down, another $12,200,000 received just last month.

Downtown bar and restaurant owners, already receiving PPP funding, are eager for the city to pour more COVID money into their businesses. Staff reported that many Downtown businesses had been allowed to extend their seating areas into the public right of way. The city paid for the installation of “K-rails” – large cement buttresses used to cordon off parking spaces and sections of city sidewalk for use by bars and restaurants.

Business owners attending the meeting expressed their concern that the temporary “K rails” are “unattractive”. The city manager announced she had awarded $300,000 to a local architect to design and build “parklets” so that businesses could continue to commandeer the public right of way, even after the Emergency declaration has been ended. She reported 42 parking spaces had already been “eliminated” by parklets now in use.

She also commented, “$300,000 does not begin to cover this.” She is asking council to approve the use of hundreds of thousands in American Rescue Plan funding to put parklets at Downtown bars and restaurants.

If you disapprove, now is the time to contact city council, before more money is spent.

Juanita Sumner, Chico CA

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Scott Huber tells us to put our money where our mouth is? What is this, WWE?

16 Sep

I saw this recent letter to the Enterprise Record from Scott Huber, who quit Chico City council in disgrace after citizens confronted him for breaking the law by aiding and abetting illegal campers. He had also taken a summer job out of state – over 1,000 miles away in Wyoming – leading a lot of us to question his dedication to his position here. He quit in a huff, insisting he feared for his family’s safety over remarks made on social media, as well as a barrage of emails sent to him at his new employment address.

Hey, if you can’t stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen. I thought his excuses were questionable – just lame, really. For one thing, he’s no angel, he’s a very contentious person. He was very offensive in remarks he made from the dais, and unapologetic about breaking the laws he was hired as council member to uphold. I’m sorry, I didn’t buy his whining excuses then, and I don’t buy them now. He got mad because he wasn’t getting his way, he tried to ditch out on his duties, he got busted and publicly humiliated, so he went dragging his blanket into the corner to sit in his underwear watching cartoons and eating Captain Crunch. Tipper said Al didn’t change out of his bathrobe or shave for two weeks after November 2000.

If he was so fearful for his family’s safety, why did he stay in Chico to continue to dabble in local politics? And I have to wonder – he’s FOR the tax measure, while his friends Karl Ory and the other liberal candidates are posing AGAINST it? What the hell is going on down at Democratic HQ these days? Looks like a lot of posing and posturing to me.

Below, Huber parrots staff, complains that if other cities are doing it, why shouldn’t we, and then insults us all with an ugly charge to “put their money where their mouth is”. Who is he talking to?

“Four years ago Chico City staff identified that it would take $188 million dollars to catch up with long deferred road maintenance and repair costs (Chico Enterprise-Record, February 24, 2018). Over and above that it was estimated that the annual cost of maintaining and improving city streets was running about $7 million to $8 million dollars per year. Ironically, the city’s annual roadway maintenance budget is just $1.2 million.”

Yes, Chris Constantin went before every committee and commission and board of the city and painted a picture of doom and gloom, unless we passed a sales tax measure. That paragraph looks right out of the power point presentation. But read it – “long deferred maintenance...” Who deferred that maintenance? Council, after council, which included people who still sit on council and other local boards, and another guy who just got hired as city manager. And who agreed to put that money into the pension payments? Council, at the direction of Staff. Who agreed to a mere $1.2 million for the roadway budget? Well, that’s not correct, I checked the budget – that’s for all capital improvements, including roads. And Huber approved it, along with the rest of council. What an ass.

“The minimum statewide tax rate in California is 7.25%, and cities are allowed an add-on rate of up to 1.00% for local needs such as road repair https://www.cdtfa.ca.gov/taxes-and-fees/sales-use-tax-rates.htm . In most areas of California, local jurisdictions have added district taxes that increase the tax owed by a seller.

“Chico is one of only eight cities in California over 50K people that do not have an add on sales tax.  Of those eight, we have the lowest budget per capita for the general fund.“

So he’s saying, that because other jurisdictions have been able to rope their voters into paying higher taxes, we should do same? My mother’s voice echoes in my head: so if your idiot friends all decided to jump off a cliff, you’d do it too? Why should we raise our sales tax based on towns like Oroville, which is still crying poormouth after a successful full-cent tax increase measure?

Unlike Oroville and other local jurisdictions, Chico has a strong retail sector with three major shopping districts, multiple new car dealers, and probably more bars and liquor stores than any town really needs. A Walmart and how many big chain grocery and retail stores – including two major home improvement chains and a local building supplier? Sheesh, CVC towers popping up all over town. All situated centrally among tiny towns with no Walmart, no car dealerships, no nationally known beer manufacturer, no major hospital.

Yes, hospitals include sales tax on many things, like those $50 aspirins they give you, crutches, bandages, splints, the baby supplies that come with your new child, etc. They only things they can’t tax are doctor/nurse services, your room/food service, and your prescriptions, everything else is taxed.

By the way, when the proponents of this measure mention that “visitors” will pay a large share, you should remember, they mean anybody who doesn’t live in Chico, like our friends and relatives in Biggs, Gridley, Paradise. Even folks from towns in Glenn and Tehama County come here to shop, eat at restaurants, enjoy movie theaters, and look for medical care. Is this any way to treat people who support your economy? Like cash cows?

And here’s where Mr. Birdwatcher goes trash mouth:

“With these hard realities in mind, the question of putting a sales tax to the voters has been proposed, debated and rejected by various configurations of the City Council repeatedly. Finally, despite opposition that has been both predictable and political, Chico voters have an opportunity to “put their money where their mouth is” and actually do something to make Chico safer. A large bipartisan group of Chico residents and business interests support the small tax and it will not be applied to groceries or medication.“

Here’s a person who does not allow anybody to disagree with him. If we question this tax, it’s “predictable and political,” meaning he closes his ears as soon as we open our mouths because he believes he will not like what we say. If he doesn’t like our “politics” he doesn’t have to listen to us. Fascists like Scott Huber do not belong in positions of public trust.

And then it gets contentious. This is the kind of phrase my grandpa always warned me not to use, cause it might lead to teeth hitting the playground. “put your money where your mouth is” are fighting words. It means, put up your fists. It’s offensive to me that this jackass thinks he can call people out like that, after he said he fears for his family’s safety. What a heap of doodoo.

Finally, he makes the promise that he don’t have to keep.

“Help make Chico’s roads safer, please join me in supporting Measure H.“

One more time – repeat after me – Measure H is a simple majority measure, passed with 50% + 1 additional participating voter. It is a permanent tax with no dedicated purpose. The revenues from this measure will go into the General Fund to be spent at the whim of council, whatever council. You have to look at past spending, and ask yourself, do we want to put more unrestricted money down this rabbit hole?

No, No, No on H.

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