Chico Taxpayers Association

Yesterday I sent an e-mail to Assemblyman Jim Gallagher but realized it would have been better to call his office. That’s  (530) 671-0303, give him a ringle when you get a chance and ask his staffer what they are planning to do about ACA 1. 

I also wrote the following letter to the Enterprise Record, I’ll probably send a similar letter to the Winters Tribune, located in the hometown of the assemblywoman who floated this turd. She represents all of us, really, passing legislation that screws our lives, but she won’t accept comments from people outside her  district. That sucks. I don’t know if the Tribune will print letters from outside their readership, but we can try. This woman needs to be held accountable to all the taxpayers.

You better do something, or you might be looking into moving to Nay-vah-dah.

In December, state legislators introduced ACA 1, described as “a constitutional amendment which would give local governments improved options for funding critical infrastructure projects, including broadband expansion, local roads, and affordable housing projects. “

Casually mentioned at the end of the description, “ACA 1 would reduce the local vote threshold for approval of bond and special tax measures from a two-thirds vote to a 55 percent majority.” 

Proponents complain that “Since 2001, over 2,200 local revenue measures have been placed before voters. Nearly 80 percent of all two-thirds supermajority measures garnered more than 55 percent “yes” votes, but ultimately failed passage because they fell slightly short of the current two-thirds vote threshold.”

Just imagine if those revenue measures had passed – would you still be able to live in California today? 

This bill is a clever attack on Proposition 13. The legislature has a spending problem, and if they could, they’d have your paycheck sent to them and throw you a few dimes to pay your bills at the end of the month. 

The school district already passes bonds with a 55 percent threshold. Just imagine what the city of Chico and CARD would do with such an advantage. Look at your property tax bill  –  can you afford ACA 1? 

Ask yourselves – should 55 percent of the voters be able to impose taxes for their own special programs (salaries, benefits, pension deficit) on the rest of us? 

Contact your assemblyman, Jim Gallagher, at  (530) 671-0303, and ask him what we can do to prevent passage of ACA 1.

Juanita Sumner, Chico CA

Read below, about a bill introduced December 8 that will lower the voter approval threshold for a special tax from 2/3’s to 55 percent.

http://www.lakeconews.com/index.php/news/59148-aguiar-curry-introduces-constitutional-amendment-to-boost-local-investments-in-infrastructure-and-affordable-housing

The Author, Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, District 4 Assembly member from Winters, does not allow you to contact her if you’re not from her district, but here’s her website.

https://a04.asmdc.org/

If you want to let Aguiar-Curry know what you think of this clever attempt to disguise a tax measure as a housing measure, write to her hometown newspaper here:

https://www.wintersexpress.com/

Otherwise, write to your own assembly members and let them know what you think – in Chico that’s recently re-elected Jim Gallagher.

https://lcmspubcontact.lc.ca.gov/PublicLCMS/ContactPopup.php?district=AD03&inframe=Y

I’ve spent a lot of time here talking about serial criminals – names you see in the newspaper and the court rolls repeatedly, committing more violent crimes as time goes by. We have transients here who are reported again and again, same names, for offenses like stalking women in stores, shoplifting, physical attacks with items like machetes, pooping behind the counters in various businesses, exposing themselves to children, you name it. Oftentimes, even when police are able to find these “perps”, they are “counseled and moved along.” Business owners can request a form from the police, essentially “banning” the person from their place of business, but I’m not sure how that works. Somewhat like Michael Scott declaring Bankruptcy! 

The police blame the courts, the Butte County DA blames a shortage of jail space, AB109 and other legislation that encourages early release of convicted criminals. A lot of the transients on our streets these days have been released from Shasta County prison/jails. A recent Shasta County Grand Jury  report said that various county agencies were misspending AB 109 money – instead of adding living space to their jails, or funding programs to keep released criminals off the streets, they were using it to pay their salaries, benefits, and pension deficits. 

Since that report came out, I’ve heard of “additional beds” being added to Shasta County jail, but it seems Redding is still having an out-of-control transient problem, just like Chico. Here’s a story from Redding Ch 7 news about a repeat offender who almost burned down a local business one night:

//krcrtv.com/news/local/another-transient-fire-chief-moore-says-theyre-cracking-down-repeat-offenders-in-2019

Redding police and the business owner are both “familiar” with this woman, she’s been a “problem” to this businessman for some time. It started with rummaging in trash cans and spreading garbage around the premises, and now she’s set his store on fire. 

Isn’t this stalking? Why this businessman? 

Read on. The real story here is that the same 30 people have been arrested a combined total of 422 times. This drains police resources, somebody’s breaking into your house but the cops are busy “counseling and moving along”. 

Redding’s solution is a “Mobile Crisis Unit.” According to the police chief, ” the mobile unit will give officers a new tool, meaning when they come across someone that is not committing a crime but is in crisis, the officer will be able to call the Mobile Crisis Unit to respond and help that person.”

Increasingly, in towns like Redding and Chico, crimes like illegal camping, rummaging through private residence’s trash bins, trespassing, public urination and defecation, even waving dangerous weapons and injuring others, are treated like “crisis” instead of crimes. These people need to be arrested, charged, prosecuted, and sentenced either to jail or to a program that keeps them from repeating their crimes. 

Instead, our court system is a madhouse of incompetence.  Our constitution guarantees right to a speedy trial, but that is routinely waved as being impossible. Think – the quicker an accused person goes to trial the less money to be made by everybody all the way around. 

So, they are arrested and released, usually within 24 hours. They are given a trial date, but look at the Superior Court index for yourself – “failure to appear” is a common charge, again and again, over periods of years, for the same people.

The root of this problem is the transfer program, by which the counties receive money for taking both criminals and mental patients for a fee – last I heard, $550 per person per day. The county can hold these people without their consent for as long as 45 days. Then they are released, offered a ride to one or another homeless shelter – which they can refuse. Essentially, they are brought here and doped for 45 days, then turned loose to terrorize the town. 

The county Behavioral Health Department gets about $63 million a year (more every year) for those transfers. They should spend that money instead on improvements at the jail.

Thanks Bob, for this link:

https://www.presstelegram.com/2018/12/30/fppc-ups-the-ante-on-illegal-expenditures/

“Over the last several years, this column has exposed multiple instances of government entities using taxpayer dollars for political advocacy, a practice that is illegal under both state and federal law.  Because progress in stopping these violations has been difficult, taxpayers will be pleased to hear that on December 20th, California’s campaign watchdog agency, the Fair Political Practices Commission, conducted a hearing on illegal activity by the Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART).

The FPPC stated that BART used public funds to pay for a campaign of “YouTube videos, social media posts, and text messages to promote Measure RR, which authorized BART to issue $3.5 billion in general obligation bonds.” Under California law, spending money on a political campaign to pass the bond measure caused BART to qualify as an “independent expenditure committee” and required it to file campaign finance reports, but the transit agency ignored the requirement.“

Sometimes I don’t think anybody takes me too seriously when I talk about this law. They ask, “how else is a government supposed to push a tax measure?” The answer is, they’re not. They can put a measure on the ballot, they can put an “Argument For…” on the ballot, but that’s it. They’re supposed to recruit “civic” organizations to do their campaigning for them. If they can’t, that ought to tell them it’s not going to pass. Instead, like Chico Unified Schools, they break the law, knowing the majority of voters and taxpayers are ignorant of the law.

Read the article and then get ready to watch City of Chico and Chico Area Recreation District use all the same illegal tactics to run their revenue measure campaigns. The school district sent out slick fliers for their last bond measure – who do you think paid for those? 

In 2019 I resolve to keep local tax increases in the news. When I saw this story in the Yuba County based Territorial Dispatch I realized this is something Chicoans need to know about – yes, your elected officials and public staff will lie, cheat and steal for more money to pay their teetering pension deficits. I  don’t care what color lipstick they put on their pig – public safety, street maintenance, a baseball stadium! – it’s all about the pensions. 

Chico’s pension deficit, by the way, is now over $140 million. That’s why the city is looking to either raise the local sales tax or smack a bond on our homes. I think the employees should have to pay it – why should taxpayers making an average $43,000/year be on the hook for pensions of over $100,000/year? 

So, I wrote a letter to the Enterprise Record about it, write yours too!

On December 21 a Sacramento law firm filed an action on behalf of Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and two other plaintiffs in Yuba County Superior Court to invalidate Measure K – the “Public Safety/Essential Services Protection Ordinance”. Measure K, a one cent sales tax increase, appeared on the November 6 ballot and received 54.1% of the vote. The suit contends the measure needed two-thirds voter approval as a “special tax”.

County officials deny Measure K is a “special tax”. The text of the measure begins, “To maintain and protect essential services such as 9-1-1 emergency medical/fire response; improving wildland fire containment; maintaining 24-hours sheriff’s patrol; attracting/ retaining jobs, businesses, and qualified sheriff deputies; and other essential services…” Read the ballot title again – how can Yuba County supervisors claim this measure was a general tax? 

Other critics have questioned the use of taxpayer money to promote the measure, which is illegal in California. Regardless, the city of Chico and Chico Area Recreation District are currently working with consultants behind closed doors to bring forward separate revenue measures for the 2020 ballot. Taxpayer money is being spent not only on consultants but on staff time devoted to raising our taxes. 

While CARD has yet to disclose the kind of measure they will pursue, city officials have suggested a bond or sales tax increase for street maintenance – that would constitute a “special tax,” and would require 2/3’s vote.  

Don’t just vote and turn your back – pay attention, know your rights, get ready to hold local officials accountable.

I’ve been enjoying a wonderful holiday with my husband and kids, trying to think positive, trying to look ahead to 2019 with bright eyes. 

Here’s a “maybe” – Maybe it will be better than 2018! 

Lately I see searches in my stats that indicate people are worried about Chico. “increasing crime in Chico” is one of my top searches. The police chief tells us crime is down, but we all know that’s not true. Look at the Chico Police Logs – every day, there are multiple crimes reported, burglaries, drunk driving in unregistered cars with no insurance, battery on others, weapons and drugs found on people who have warrants out for their arrest. A casual glance says most of the “perps” are  “transients,” “homeless,” or using a PO Box – even General Delivery – as an address. One guy lists his residence as “1297 TRANSIENT, Chico CA”  Some of these people list house addresses – I’m guessing their name is not on any lease.

I will say, at least Chico PD is arresting these people, but let’s see where it goes. I take a name and run it through the Butte County Superior Court case index, here:

https://cabutteodyprod.tylerhost.net/Portal/Home/Dashboard/29

The first name I keyed in didn’t produce anything – for an 18 year old arrested for breaking and entering. So I entered another name. This time I found a guy who had been a serial pain-in-the-ass since 2012, one arrest after another for drunk in public, resisting and obstructing police officers, and then failing to appear in court for his appointed trial, only to have charges dropped when he was forcibly dragged  before a judge.

That pisses me off. We pay big bucks for that. You should really sit in on the court sometime, I have, several times, including a short lived stint as a candidate for jury, another time when a friend of mine was having legal problems. It’s ridiculous, we have judges who are completely senile, and staffers who sit racking up six figure salaries for doing absolutely nothing all day. The lawyers are happy because it means more money for them. It’s a day with Alice and the Mad Hatter, I’ll tell you that. And the victims get stuffed in a teapot while the criminals skate out the door.

The perp in question was eventually arrested on felony charges involving concealed weapons. Look over those arrest logs, enter those names yourself – you will notice the same pattern again and again. They start out with “drunk and disorderly”, or driving a “borrowed car” with no registration or license, within a few years they’re standing over a startled college student in the middle of the night, holding his clock radio, cell phone, and other valuables. I didn’t make that incident up, I found it on the police logs. 

If you check Butte County Accidents and Fires Facebook page, you see there are car thefts reported there almost every day – and that’s usually the owner asking for help. 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/butte.county.fires.accidents.crimes/

You see other  serial criminals there, arrested and released again and again, for crimes like taking a dump behind the counter of a fast food establishment while the pimply faced staff look on in horror. And it’s not late at night, transients have turned retail sectors into mad houses all day every day, harassing staff, customers, even threatening people with bodily harm. 

What could you do about it? Write an email to your Butte County Supervisor and ask them how much the county made from “transfers” to the Butte County Behavioral Health Department this year. You can check the budget for that information, but you should also let your supervisor know you don’t like it. These people are brought in for the $550/day, per person  (or more, that’s an old figure) transfer funding. We have to stop this practice, or Chico will be an insane asylum within a year. 

Here’s the most recent police log I found online, for late November:

Click to access weeklyarrestquery.pdf

I know people were mad about the “text tax” proposed by the California Public Utilities Commission to pay for “low-income” and transients to have free cell phones, but I’d long ago begun to believe the California Establishment doesn’t care what the taxpayers think. 

And then I checked my e-mail and found this from Carl Demaio, of Reform California.

Dated December 17, he says, “After an outpouring of public outrage, the crazy Text Tax proposal from Sacramento politicians has been withdrawn – for now…

A rare success for California taxpayers!

How did it happen? With YOUR support, Reform California mounted an immediate counter-campaign that included a digital ad buy, an online Stop the Text Tax petition that was signed by over 200,000 individuals in 72 hours, and aggressive outreach to the media to ensure they saw this bizarre proposal. You know an idea is extreme when even the liberal national media mocks it!”

Wow, 200,000 signatures in 72 hours!  Thanks Carl! I was afraid the defeat of Prop 6 would send Demaio back to his corner, but I see he’s come out swinging.

Carl Demaio is the man who almost single-handedly funded the “Yes on Prop 6” campaign, the measure that would have repealed SB1, a gas tax increase that was enacted last January by the state legislature. Demaio still believes, and I agree – Prop 6 suffered a narrow defeat largely because California Attorney General Xavier Becerra used misleading language in writing the ballot measure. State agencies like Cal Trans used taxpayer money to mount a misinformation campaign. Of course the media was no help, telling people the state would have no money for road work if Prop 6 passed. It was a marvel of propaganda.

Demaio warns us, “Because the Text Tax was only tabled for now, please continue to forward the “Stop The Text Tax” Petition to your friends: here’s the link.”

I signed it, I’ll ask you to sign it too. Here’s a good reason – despite the threats to cut off road maintenance if we passed Prop 6, crying they have no funding, directly after the election, on November 18, the Legislative Analyst’s Office announced California will have a “significant surplus” of $15 billion by June 30, 2020. Right now there’s about a $9 billion surplus. That’s BILLION, Honey.

While I haven’t heard any plans to remount a gas tax repeal for 2020, I do expect to hear more taxpayer outrage at the polls in two years. 

Oh, by the way, if you want to join French, Portuguese, Spanish, and other patriots in tax protest, get your yellow vest! Over 4500 people have been arrested in protests in those countries, I’ll ask, what the fuck is wrong with Californians? Too much ganja? 

Harbor Freight Tools in North Chico has good yellow vests for under $5 – I love that, make a bold statement for less than five bucks. And be safer on your bike! 

https://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result/index/?dir=asc&order=EAScore%2Cf%2CEAFeatured+Weight%2Cf%2CSale+Rank%2Cf&q=yellow+safety+vest

Harbor Freight is located at 130 W. East Avenue, Suite A, across the road from Raleys. If you sign up for their catalog you get coupons in every issue – for Christmas we got a 20 percent off coupon.

Like Carl Demaio says, “While we celebrate, we know it is only a matter of time before they cook up another crazy and extreme tax hike — and we’ll be ready to fight it with your help!”