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Is it regionalism or life style choices that have the California GOP fighting within? And, who really runs Butte County GOP?

25 Mar

I don’t think I owe anybody at Butte County GOP any apologies. 

Oh, maybe Larry Wahl. I believe Larry Wahl has made sincere attempts to further the gas tax petition, but he doesn’t run Butte County GOP.  Jim Nielsen and his staffer Saulo Londono run Butte County GOP.

Londono, who wears two hats as Nielsen’s office manager and Butte County GOP manager,  is the guy who told me in a phone call that I was being misled by “somebody from San Diego“. He said Nielsen was “devoting his personal resources” toward the petition effort…   “to make sure it gets across the finish line…”  Sounded pretty vague, so I wrote him a note asking who paid for the petition gatherers at Safeway.

“I am the one who called Jim Nielsen’s office yesterday, and believe I had a phone response from you. You referred to Carl Demaio as “somebody from San Diego” so I don’t know how much you know about the gas tax petition, but will ask,  who is paying the signature gatherers who are currently collecting signatures on the gas tax petition (as well as many other petitions for various initiatives) at Safeway stores around Chico? “

His e-mail response was as vague as his phone message.

Juanita-

Thank you for your inquiry. As I stated in my voice message to you, the information you received is not accurate. The Senator is very committed to the repeal of the gas tax. He has held multiple rallies to collect signatures and has donated a lot of financial resources to the effort. 

The local Butte GOP is also committed to the repeal campaign, having used its platform to collect signatures and sponsor rallies. The Butte GOP does not have a year round office, so while there is no place for pickup of signature forms, the Butte GOP has the forms and has delivered several packages when they are requested. 

To answer your question, I assume that the petition gatherers are being paid by the Repeal campaign, and as I’ve stated the Senator is not only in support but has already donated significant financial resources. 

I also know that Congressman LaMalfa and Assemblyman Gallagher are just as committed as well.

Hope that answers your questions. We will continue to fight hard to repeal the gas tax and we thank you for your enthusiasm. Feel free to reach out to me directly if you have other questions or concerns. 

Saulo

Some problems with this response:

  • “the information you received is not accurate” – then insinuates I was told Nielsen was not committed to the repeal – no, I told him Carl Demaio had said he did not get any response from Butte County GOP – was that inaccurate?
  • “a lot of financial resources to the effort” – really? how much? And paid for what?
  • “The local Butte GOP is also committed to the repeal campaign, having used its platform to collect signatures and sponsor rallies” – Well,  Butte GOP may think they are committed, but that statement is not true – Butte County GOP did not sponsor the rallies, they were set up by local businessman Bud Caldwell, owner of Northgate Petroleum as well as the gas station where the two rallies were held.
  • “Butte GOP does not have a year round office, so while there is no place for pickup of signature forms”   Whoa!  doesn’t even have a Butte County office? no place to sign? I’d say, why bother with Butte GOP at all? In the time it takes to get ahold of Londono (who took two days to respond to me), you could download, print, sign your own petition and have it in the mail. 
  • “I assume that the petition gatherers are being paid by the Repeal campaign”   In other words, they are not in contact with Demaio’s people, they won’t mention Demaio’s name, and the campaign is called “Reform California” not “the Repeal campaign“.   He again claims Nielsen “has already donated significant financial resources.”  To whom? For what? 
  • “I also know that Congressman LaMalfa and Assemblyman Gallagher are just as committed as well.”  Yeah, well they’re both up for reelection too – just another co-inky-dink? 

 

Saulo Londono is a carpet bagger. I got a local Republican to admit Londono is not even from Northern California, does not maintain any office in Chico. I had frankly assumed that his beef with Carl Demaio was regional, but then I did a little further digging. 

I didn’t know, Carl Demaio is an openly gay politician, having publicly married his partner about two years ago. I’m going to guess, this is why local Republicans don’t want anything to do with him. At first I couldn’t believe they’d be so petty, in this day and age, but I think there’s a huge power struggle going on in the GOP, and lines are being drawn based on lifestyle choices. A paranoid, “them vs us” mentality has taken over. 

But they expect to take advantage of Demaio’s hard work and financial contribution by using the petition drive for rallies for their reelection campaigns. Cute.

I don’t know about the statewide Republican party, but Butte GOP is in trouble. Take a look at Chico Democrats sometime – all run by “local” people. You might not like Bob Mulhullond, but he’s lived here for about 40 years, you see him at the grocery store, the gas station, and public meetings he is not paid to attend. Former council member and long time politico turned embezzler Dave Guzzetti, scumbag that he is, sacrificed a child to Chico public schools.  Mark Stemen has been working and living in Chico for at least 15 years, having graduated from Chico State in the 90’s and returning to take a job. 

Meanwhile – here’s something funny – when I googled Londono, I found he had come to America from Brazil as a child with his parents, eventually moving from Colorado to San Diego to attend college. He came to Sacramento via Fresno, having only achieved citizenship in 2014.  He took over the Butte County GOP  a few years later. I just don’t believe he could possibly have any notion of our local needs with a track record like that. I don’t believe he could be committed to anything but his own resume.

I don’t like Chico Democrats or the Democratic Action Club, they’re a nasty pack of trough dwelling dogs ruining the manger for everybody.  But fighting a locally-based and entrenched group with some snot-nosed carpet bagger is just an invitation to your own ass-kicking. 

 

 

There’s still time to sign the gas tax repeal petition – tell your friends!

23 Mar

I hope more people will yak up this gas tax repeal effort – I just sent a letter to both local papers. It only took me about 45 minutes from start to finish – and I had pots on the stove.

It didn’t take very long for the 2018 gas tax and car registration increase to affect our quality of life – I’ve already noticed higher prices on staple groceries. Today the news confirmed as much  – Yoplait and Cheerios are up in price,  “due to transportation costs”. 

This tax increase has no “low income subsidy” –  poor families will pay a higher percentage of their income, just to get to work and buy food.  

Gas tax proponents claim the money will go to fix roads, but according to the San Diego Tribune, only half the money would be dedicated to traffic infrastructure, “The other half of the money would be spent largely at the discretion of local municipalities on a variety of projects.”  

The city of Chico already receives gas tax from the state, as well as over a million dollars a year in “franchise fees” from PG&E, Comcast, and Waste Management, for use of city streets, and look at the condition of our streets. 

California registered voters can still  sign the gas tax repeal petition that is being circulated by “Reform California”.  Signature gatherers have been working at Chico Safeway stores.  You can also download the petition to print, sign and send in at http://www.reformcalifornia.org/

Juanita Sumner, Chico CA

 

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I may have to apologize to local GOP – but probably not

22 Mar

Well, whattya know! There are signature gatherers at Safeway on Mangrove, and they are carrying the gas tax petition – along with a pile of other petitions I had no interest in signing.

I’ve walked past these people a couple of times, but because they have a big sign up for another petition I had no interest in hearing about,  I just ignored them. It looks like that’s all their collecting signatures for. They aren’t very professional either. I’ve met professionals before – these gals were hired out of the EDD, just to make a few bucks. I’d prefer to get somebody who knows something about the process, when we finally talked to the gals at Safeway they were clueless – one of them had her toddler in tow.

But who paid them? That’s my next question. When I contacted Jim Nielsen’s office, I got a call back from a really snotty guy who didn’t identify himself, referred to Carl Demaio as “somebody from San Diego” and said I’d been given “misinformation.”  He assured me that Nielsen was supporting this effort “with his personal resources” – but he didn’t say a word about the signature gatherers at Safeway, so I’m going to assume he knows nothing about them and they were paid for by Demaio and the folks at Reform California.

“somebody from San Diego”? That’s the kind of smack talk that’s going on within the Republican party, that’s why they can’t get anything done.

I also got a call from Larry Wahl, who said he’d seen signature gatherers at Safeway too – but he sure seemed surprised. I e-mailed him back and asked him who paid for them.  He also referred my e-mail to some guy at the Butte County GOP – Saulo Londono. Londono also runs Nielsen’s office, so I’m guessing he’s the mystery man who called me in response to my e-mail to Nielsen.  Great! Nice people running the GOP these days!

So, you know, I can admit it when I’m wrong – if the local GOP has paid for those local signature gatherers, well, my apologies. But I don’t think they did. I don’t think they even knew they were there until they went out for groceries.  We’ll see if I get any answers out of this Londono guy. 

 

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This pension scam is a lot more complicated than I realized

19 Mar

Dude sent me an interesting article recently that sent me on a snoop.  It’s taken me days to plop out this post because I just kept reading more outrageous stuff. 

https://www.dailynews.com/2018/03/12/new-retirees-in-gardena-pasadena-and-riverside-make-200000-pensions/

We now have pensions over $200,000/year – pensions – money given to people for sitting on their asses with their mouths open like seals at the San Diego zoo. 

“Transparent California released the figures Monday as part of an ongoing campaign to raise awareness about the growing costs of California’s pension system, according to Executive Director Robert Fellner. The total amount spent on retirement benefits rose to nearly $21 billion last year, a 43 percent increase from 2012.”

“‘It is siphoning resources from public services, it is driving taxes higher,” Fellner said. “The real driver of this cost is the generosity of these benefits.'”

I immediately think of Chico’s worsening streets, the disgraceful condition of Bidwell Park, and the bums overrunning all of our public spaces.   If we complain we are told we need to pay increased sales tax, with more bonds and assessments from the school and rec districts. 

And like Fellner says, it’s the benefits – both pensions and health benefits. We’ve talked and talked about the pension deficit here – but I’ve never gotten around to the benefits deficit… it makes me sooooo dizzy.

Southern California seems to have the most egregious offenders.

“In Pasadena, pension costs have nearly surpassed the cost of current employees in the city’s Police Department, according to Mayor Terry Tornek. “

Even though Pasadena and other cities have started new hires paying more, it’s not enough – there are too many old employees. I predict many cities, like Pasadena, will have sales tax increases on this November ballot.

“when the retiree payroll is bigger than the current payroll, it’s not a good situation,” he [Tornek] said. The skyrocketing costs of pensions is one of the reasons Pasadena plans to ask voters for a sales tax increase later this year. Employees already pay more toward their CalPERS contributions and more than $5 million of that burden has shifted from the city to employees, Tornek said.

“Obviously, we’d take some legislative or some legal relief, but we still want to be fair to our employees and we want to be competitive in the marketplace,” Tornek said.”

Fair? That’s a load of crap. In Chico, former City Mangler and current CARD board member Tom Lando floated a memo to City Council in 2006 that tied salaries “to revenue increases but not decreases…” Read that again Pollyanna. When I asked then city council member and current county supervisor Larry Wahl why he would sign something that stupid, he told me he didn’t understand it.  How does someone that dumb get elected, Larry?

When the voters finally figured that out, Lando’s salary, for example, had gone from around $65,000/year to over $150,000/year, in just a few years. Current City Mangler Orme now makes over $220,000, just in salary. He pays less than 10 percent of his share of pension.

Furthermore,  “ those already in CalPERS prior to Jan. 1, 2013, are not subject to the act’s limitations. The “classic members” are largely why pensions of more than $200,000 are still somewhat common even after the reforms, said Dane Hutchings, the league’s legislative representative.”

“Classic members” – like Ann Willmann at CARD.  

So, the next one of these people that uses the word “fair” in reference to these pensions had better not be standing in my arm’s length, I’m done with their BS.

In Butte County, we have agencies I bet you never heard of that will have us on the hook for pensions. I found three of them on “Pension Tracker”

http://www.pensiontracker.org/agencySummary.php?id=157#summary

Did you know we pay the director of the Butte County Mosquito and Vector Control over $100,000/year, and he pays less than 5 percent of his pension? I bet you never even heard of the California Interscholastic Federation, but you pay their pensions.  Then there’s BCAG, BCAQM, and many more. Through these agencies the taxpayers pay out hundreds of thousands a year in pensions and benefits for, many times, less than 10 full time employees per agency.   I  think there’s five at the mosquito abatement office. There are less at BCAG. They all have boards, they get to make their own rules, and until we start rattling their chains they will continue to loot the cookie jar. 

Workers, like the guys who actually drive around spraying the mosquitoes or mowing the play fields, are not full time and do not receive benefits. Only management get benefits in these agencies, which furthers poverty in our county. Can you imagine, doing a job like spraying mosquitoes, and having no health insurance or pension coming? Being kept as a “seasonal worker” – these people have to turn to welfare to make ends meet, and that’s not good for our economy, it’s just a further drain on the taxpayer.

When I looked at Pension Tracker, I saw the words “actuarial” and “market” valuation, and the term “smoothing.”  I’ll put it in a housewife’s terminology – and then I have to get some tortilla dough going – they have tricks to make the pension deficit look smaller to doofusses like us. I found a good blog about that –

http://neighborhoodeffects.mercatus.org/2012/06/07/actuarial-camouflage-part-i-asset-smoothing/

– I’ll try to pick it up there next time, on “Up Shit Creek Without a Paddle, with This Old Lady”.

 

Advisory – cars being predated at Peregrine Point Disc Golf Course on Hwy 32

16 Mar

About 10 years ago, my family joined a group of local disk golf enthusiasts to petition the city of Chico to legitimize a long-time “bootleg” disc golf course on Hwy 32 east of Chico – now Peregrine Point Disc Golf Course.  The course has since been managed by the Chico Outsiders, who have an agreement with the city of Chico taking responsibility for maintaining the trails and tees. But the extensive trails that lead out of the course are part of Upper Bidwell Park and the parking lot at Peregrine Point has long been used by hikers and mountain bikers and is owned by the city of Chico. 

About a year ago we noticed evidence that homeless people were camping in the parking lot – we found them sleeping in their cars. Increasingly we’ve also noticed evidence of cars being broken into.

There were piles of broken car window safety glass all over the ground.

There were obvious piles, like the one pictured above, but it was when I squatted down to tie my shoe that I realized how bad this problem really is. The sun came out for a brief moment, and all around me, the ground glittered with safety glass. I know the difference between safety glass and a shattered pop bottle. 

I don’t know who you would report to if your car was broken into at Peregrine Point. It’s city property, but I don’t know if it’s in the city limits. I do know, since it would be under $1,000, Chico PD would expect you to report it online – good luck with that. I think you can download a form to hand over to your insurance agency, if you are insured.  Neither of my kids’ cars are new, so we don’t have full coverage for them – too expensive. So, if something like that happened to one of our kids while they were shooting a round up there,  they’d be TSOL. 

My advice would be, don’t leave your car out of your sight anywhere in Bidwell Park.

Gas tax petitioners asking for more signatures to counter Governor Brown’s demand for full count delay

14 Mar

I got a notice from the Reform California people  – “leave it to Jerry Brown to pull another trick!  Gov. Brown plans to demand a full recount of all signatures to delay the process and potentially push us past November’s election.”

This is the kind of BS I expected – in Butte County, our lovely and unchallenged County Recorder, Candy Grubbs, can decide whether to take a sample or do a full count. I thought she made that decision based on her own politics – but apparently there’s a rule.

According to Reform California spokesman Carl Demaio, “Fortunately under the law, if we submit ten percent more signatures than we legally need, Brown can’t demand a full count and we qualify within 30 days on random sample!”

So they’re asking for more signatures, tell your friends – it’s easy to print out, sign, and send in the form. You will get follow-up emails, some of which ask for donations – you can opt out if those are annoying to you, but they will also send updates if you’re interested.

http://act.reformcalifornia.org/petitions/cartax/html/gen/

Remember:

  • California registered voters only
  • be sure to fill out the form completely, including the “signature  gatherer” portion, even if your signature is the only one you gathered.

Water rates showdown hearing in Sacramento – SoCal water group to take on “four corporate monopoly providers” – get involved!

14 Mar
2802049_2_20180311

James Marvin Bouler

My friend Jim Bouler passed away last week, his funeral is today in Santa Rosa. 

I met Jim through the water rates coalition I worked with, trying to keep a check on Cal Water’s and other private for-profit water companies’ rapacious rate increases. He represented a group from Sonoma County, and drove hundreds of miles to meet with others, as well as to rate hearings all over the state. He worked very tirelessly trying to rally us all together, he was very motivating. He will be missed – he was just a darned nice man.

Jim was such a force in the water rates group I was afraid nobody would rise up to take his place. Then yesterday I got this announcement from the group in Lancaster – The Coalition for CPUC Water Rates Reform. 

A Showdown Hearing in Sacramento! These citizens are driving all the way up from SoCal to meet the CPUC and take on “four corporate monopoly providers”. 

SACRAMENTO, CA – Caught in the middle of a consumer rebellion against the state’s highest water prices and four corporate monopoly providers demanding more profits, the California Public Utilities Commission is faced with a showdown decision here Thursday, March 15.

The hearing is in response to an administrative law judge’s proposed decision to give San Jose Water, California Water Service, California-American and Golden State water companies lower cost of capitol increases than were sought in the consolidated case. The judge’s decision was supported by the CPUC’s Office of Ratepayer Advocate, which is tasked with protecting the public’s right to reasonably priced and affordable water. 

The decision to grant a lower amount didn’t satisfy either protesting consumers or the companies. But the California Water Association, the investor-owned water utilities’ trade association demanded that the five appointed commissioners take the unusual step of throwing out the judge’s findings and granting the full increase.

In a strongly-worded six-page letter to commissioners on March 9, water association official John K. Hawks claimed the CPUC is unfairly favoring consumer interests over those of for-profit utilities, and stated, “CWA acknowledges that the Constitutionally Independent Commission is under political pressure from the legislature, the media, and certain activist groups (dominated by affluent and high-volume water users) to appear responsive to ratepayer interests.” He added, “The (proposed decision’s) stunning failure to apply the record in this proceeding suggests that external pressures played a large role in shaping this unjust outcome.”

Response to Hawks’ letter from leaders of the activist group was summed up by Lauren Karnstedt of Lancaster, who said: “Finally, we’re starting to get their attention after six months of trying to get people in authority to understand there are 6.2 million Californians who are being gouged on pricing with the full approval of the CPUC.”

The Coalition for CPUC Water Rates Reform was launched in Lancaster in early September 2017, and quickly aligned with its largest partner, Water Rate Advocates for Transparency, Equity and Sustainability (WRATES) in San Jose. Currently, the coalition claims supporters in nine California counties, all focused on not only their local issues, but on convincing their respective legislators to reform the CPUC’s methods in granting water rate increases to monopoly providers.

Thursday’s 3 to 4 p.m. public session of the Public Utilities Commissioners in the State Personnel Board Auditorium follows a series of private meetings between CPUC commissioners and their advisors and Class “A” water utility executives, attorneys and lobbyists.

Rita Benton of WRATES said the companies fighting the proposed decision on return rates for the Cost of Capital application requested an 80-minute oral argument meeting, but commissioners scheduled an all parties meeting. She said, “The commissioners have allowed the IOUs to turn this proceeding into a circus and disrespect the judge and the process by allowing these many ex parte meetings and letters after the presiding judge has rendered his decision.”

As to the California Water Association’s claim that the reform movement is led by “affluent, high-volume water users,” Benton said, “We, the ratepayers, do not have the benefit of high powered attorneys, lobbyists, special interest groups and/or executives to advocate for us. We rely on the CPUC and the ORA to advocate on behalf of the ratepayers and it is the statutory obligation of the CPUC to ensure the protection of the ratepayer and that rates are just and reasonable.”

Benton added, “There appears to be a double standard. It is OK if the water monopolies and their lobbyists influence the commission, but it’s not OK if the ratepayers speak out. The private water utilities are saying the administrative law judges should not be trusted to do their job.”

Karnstedt said, “This statewide coalition for reform started in a middle-income area of Lancaster, and includes partners in such communities as Chico, Bakersfield, Oroville, suburbs of Sacramento and Clear Lake. We met our 30-plus percent water conservation goals every month and continue to save water because we’re being charged more for using even less.”

She called the consumer uprising a classic David vs. Goliath rematch.

See  that, they named “Chico” as one of their partners!

So let’s give them some partnership – go to their website and Get Involved!

https://www.waterratescoalition.com/get-involved

They’re working hard, and like Rita Benton says, it’s all volunteer, they don’t have a big lawyer to do their bidding.  When I wanted to mount a protest here, the CPUC rep advised me to get a lawyer, because, he said, the process is very complicated, and any mistakes will get your protest thrown out. I tried to get both the county of Butte and the city of Chico to mount formal protests but they wouldn’t do it. So this group is willing to make a stand – I say, stand behind them. Get  ready to write letters, write letters, write letters.

 

 

 

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Council approves another $25,000 toward chambers remodel as Coolidge chuckles at complaints about street conditions

12 Mar

I’ve been seeing great letters to the Enterprise Record lately and decided to get back in the saddle. The media spin on the city chambers remodel really pissed me off – shills! So I wrote the following letter about the conversation I had with $taff regarding same – they just took another $25,000 for the project and council had the nerve to laugh about our complaints that they aren’t fixing roads.

Watch that here – jump ahead to Item 4.5 – and be sure to pay attention to comments made by Andrew Coolidge and laughter from other councilors at the end of Presson’s  report.

http://chico-ca.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=721

Here’s Presson’s written report:

http://chico-ca.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=720&meta_id=58377

Remember, this money came out of the pockets of everybody who uses Comcast. Isn’t that a SCREAM!?!

On March 6 Chico City Council approved a Budget Modification and Supplemental Appropriation, transferring $25,000 in available PEG (Public Education and Government) funds to cover additional costs associated with the Council Chamber Technology upgrade. 

This project, a complete gutting of council chambers for replacement not only of “technology” but new seating, carpeting, paneling, etc, started late last year and has run over Staff’s original estimate of $343,287.67.       

 PEG fees are paid by Comcast customers as required by city ordinance 2368, passed by council in 2007,  a fee of one percent of  gross revenues added to our bills, in addition to the existing franchise fee also paid by Comcast  ratepayers.

According to Staff interpretation, PEG funding is restricted to  “equipment purchases, upgrades, or a capital project such as this current project…the city is responsible for ensuring the general public has access to the Public Access Channel…”  

The new seats, carpeting and wall paneling are included, according to clerk Debbie Presson, because “unexpected things came up …we didn’t even have a diagram of what was going on in there… once we started tearing into the wall…” 

Then council had a big laugh – the very idea that this money would be used to fix city streets had them all in titters. 

Yes, how funny – they passed an ordinance adding a fee to our Comcast bills, and now they spend it as they please. What next, a sales tax increase? 

Juanita Sumner, Chico CA

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Is too much of your money is being spent at the “discretion” of others? Half the new gas tax to be spent “at the discretion of local municipalities…”

8 Mar

It looks like the gas tax repeal has made the ballot, and good for that.  Now we’re hearing, only half the money from the new gas tax was intended for road repairs, the rest could be spent “at the discretion of local municipalities…”   Ask yourself, when was the last time the road in front of your house was properly surfaced? How many sewer hook-ups with crappy patch jobs, how many crews pouring slobbers in pot holes that end up all over the underside of your car?

How about that $385,000 remodel on city of Chico council chambers? That was tacked on to your Comcast bill.  Are you sick of “discretionary spending” yet?

From the San Diego Union Tribune, January 18:

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/environment/sd-me-gas-tax-20180118-story.html

So where is the money going?

Roughly half of the revenue from the increased gas taxes and vehicle registration fees, about $26 billion in the next decade, would go to transportation infrastructure maintained by the state. That includes about $1.8 billion a year for the highway system.

The other half of the money would be spent largely at the discretion of local municipalities on a variety of projects, predominantly related to road maintenance but also improvements to transit, bike and pedestrian infrastructure. About $1.5 billion annually is projected for repairs to local streets and roads.

And get aload of the carrots they’re waving in front of us!

The state is also planning to roll out annually about $25 million for freeway patrols for stranded motorists on the most heavily congested freeways, $25 million in local planning grants and $5 million in workforce training.

Right – cops won’t even do traffic control or come to the scene of an accident unless there’s a major injury, you really believe they will do freeway patrols for stranded motorists? And here’s two more lies gas tax proponents just keep repeating:

With the taxes and fee hikes, Californians will pay an extra $10 a month on average, according to the state Department of Transportation. A legislative analysis found that drivers currently spend roughly $700 a year fixing their cars due to poor roads.

First of all, it will be more than $10 a month between increased gas prices and the hike in registration. Second, how many of you are paying $700 a year to fix road damage on your cars? 

Governor Moonbeam has lied to us before – for one thing, he told us he would not raise taxes without voter approval, and then he went right to the back door of the capital building with this gas and registration tax. He also told us the sales tax increase would be temporary, and that it would keep college tuition down – both lies.

Public workers have become The New One Percent, and they like it. They aren’t going to let go easily. 

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Under CARD director Tom Lando’s watch, Feather River Rec and Park District audit finds “possible instances of fraud within its gymnastics program”

1 Mar

The latest news out of Oroville is fraud at the rec district.

http://www.chicoer.com/general-news/20180228/feather-river-recreation-and-park-district-conducts-internal-investigation-after-audit

Tom Lando, who is also a board member at Chico Area Recreation District, is interim director at Feather River Rec and Park District. They have not had a permanent director since the last director was fired by the board without much explanation. The director before that, Ann Willmann, left FRRPD to  come to CARD after an investigation into secret cameras placed in district toilet stalls.

How do we keep getting stuck with FRRPD rejects? Willmann got over $20,000 salary increase by moving to CARD, without answering any questions about those cameras hidden in a little girls’ bathroom.

Lando has a long history too – as former city manager of Chico, he introduced the M.O.U. (memo of understanding between Chico city council and staff) that tied salaries to revenue increases, but not decreases…

That was during the building boom of the early 2000’s. Permit fees, property tax revenues, utility tax revenues – the money was flowing in like crazy.  The result was, Lando’s salary went from roughly $65,000/year to over $100,000/ year. He retired at about $135,000/year, just in salary, paying NOTHING toward his own benefits EVER. His latest replacement, Mark Orme, recently received a raise to cover the cost of his benefits share, now making $207,500 in salary, with total compensation (his benefits package is over $100,000) of $330,790/year.

Oink Oink Mark! $1,000/day! 

So Lando has left his mark on our town, and continues to leave his mark on our town.  City Assistant Manager Chris Constantin told me Lando still has a lot of influence with the city of Chico, I’m not surprised.

I don’t know what Orovillians will do about the continuing problems at FRRPD, but I wonder – is it time for a recall at CARD? 

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