Marysville City Council votes unanimously to formally oppose Cal Water rate case – let’s try to get the city of Chico to do same

20 Aug

From our friends at Marysville for Reasonable Water Rates

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Marysville-For-Reasonable-Water-Rates/176321489194208?fref=nf

MARYSVILLE IS LOOKING AT AN EXTRA $846 CAL WATER CHARGE PER HOUSEHOLD/BUSINESS

PLEASE SHARE!!!!!!

First the good news: The Marysville City Council voted 5-0 for Intervener Status in this General Rate Case for Cal Water. That means the City will formally oppose the rate increase. FINALLY the Marysville City Council is taking a strong stand. 

The numbers just didn’t add up in Cal Water’s presentation before the council. They never do. (Like they constantly say the average water bill in Marysville is $39.) The audience and the Council questioned it.

Mayor Samayoa asked some very pointed questions. The Mayor called them on the numbers not adding up. Power Point slides were not matching the words coming out of their mouths. Let’s just say….coming to Marysville does not mean that you are in PO-DUNK, USA. We are not as stupid as they would like us to be.
During the Cal Water presentation they explained that every ratepayer in Marysville will be looking at an extra $846 charge for infrastructure. They tout that they have been serving Marysville for over 80 years. Where has the money gone? To those huge million dollar salaries for their executives? To support the San Jose Corp building? To the Cal Water Shareholders? Obviously not into our pipes and infrastructure.

This $846 charge will be per household/business. It will not pay for a drop of water. It is to pay for repairs and upgrades that should have been done over the past 80 years.

Councilman Simmons asked a very good question. He asked if the other cities that Cal Water is proposing to “combine” with Marysville (as one unit to establish rates) do not meet their conservation quota, does that mean that all of the cities in that unit will be penalized (WRAM etc)? Cal Water did not answer with words. Councilman Simmons’ question was met with silence. So, the answer would be YES!! If another city has major repairs or updates, that would impact the rates in Marysville.

Marysville needs to fight back. We cannot leave that fight up to the City Council. The people have to finally get lathered-up and speak-up. A Formal Complaint to CPUC will take the signatures of 40 plus ratepayers. Are ya ready to sign?

We will begin gathering information for the steps to take back our water system. Stay tuned here for updates.

Wouldn’t it be great if Mayor Mark Sorensen and the Chico City Council would take a stand too? 

Write to Mayor Sorensen at mark.sorensen@chicoca.gov and ask him to agendize this discussion. 

When will the crime problem stop getting worse and start getting better? The evidence says it’s still getting worse

19 Aug

This morning, riding bikes in a markedly deteriorating Bidwell Park, my husband and I found evidence of car break-ins at the parking area there at the gate above 5 Mile, where Centennial hits Chico Canyon.

I was shocked that a person had just driven right up and parked on top of an obvious crime scene.

I was shocked that a person had just driven right up and parked on top of an obvious crime scene.

 

From the piles of glass, it looked like at least four cars had been violated.

From the piles of glass, it looked like at least four cars had been violated.

As my husband was snapping the photos, a neighbor came along with her large German shepherd. She asked us what was going on. We pointed out the glass on the ground, and she seemed shocked. I don’t think she would have noticed it if we hadn’t pointed it out to her.

I was shocked that people would just drive up and park their cars at the scene of the crime and wander off down that trail.

I’m not reporting this to Chico PD, because I don’t know any of the details, and I would assume that the owners of the cars would report it.  But, I’m reporting it to you, and I hope the word gets out.

I’m not going to assume anything, except that several cars had their windows busted out in this spot. I’m guessing it wasn’t a rash of people locking their keys in the car. I’m also guessing that it happened at the same time, quickly, because the glass looked all the same, as though it hadn’t been laying there very long. I’m no Columbo, but I’ll guess if you park there the chances are pretty good your car will be broken into, I think that’s a pretty safe guess.

Later in the morning my husband took me to a North Chico hardware store, and overheard the cashier telling the customer ahead of us that he should never leave valuables in his car, and always lock it up when he was going to be away from it for any amount of time.  Car break-ins are becoming common all over town.

We heard a lot about the “carjacking” over on Vallombrosa.  I’m not sure what separates “carjacking” from “car theft,” unless it’s the fact that the victim actually made contact with the thief, chasing the car as it sped off. In one early report, I heard the car was left running in front of her house, unattended. Later it was said the keys were left in it. She said she just went into the house to get a few things, etc. I hate to go all Jack Webb on you, but the cops have the discretion to cite a person for leaving their car keys in the car, and I’m pretty sure the insurance company takes a dim view of that kind of behavior. Leaving a car running unattended is a threat to public safety.

Wake Up People!

The car broken into across the street from my house had a purse left laying right on the seat in full view – her window was smashed so fast a woman looking out a window across the street didn’t even see it. She just saw a man walking away.   A friend of my kid’s left his IPOD on the seat of his car at Bear Hole, in full view, and his wallet under the seat. His window was broken out and both were taken from his car.

I think this is a matter of professionals who know how to get into your car quick, know what to take and how to cash it in. I’ve heard some interesting chatter about various ways thieves break into cars, but for the “smash and grab,” they’re not after the car, they’re after valuables they  can carry away in a backpack.

So, you think you’d see people walking around with little hammers or something – those would be heavy and hard to conceal. And pretty damned incriminating. There’s a funny little trick these thieves use – tempered glass from broken automobile spark plugs. They’re called “ninja rocks”, and as of 2003, the California penal codes lists them as “burglary tools.” But they’re alot easier to conceal, and probably just about as easy to discard on the run.

Want to see how fast it happens? Watch this video:

and here’s Part II, where he busts a toilet with a sledge hammer – this guy is a scientist!

I’m guessing these are common around Chico. I’m guessing many of the “street people” we see weaving their way through town and along Chico Creek are professional criminals who find the homeless highway a very convenient getaway, going from town to town, stealing as a way to make ends meet.

The cashier at  the hardware store told the man ahead of us, “we need to clean them out.” There was something sinister in the young man’s face as he said that.  I remember Lloyd Brown – beaten to death by two drunken Butte College Students who discovered him sleeping in an alley. I don’t want that kind of campaign.

The cops have gotten raises, and the city is talking seriously about hiring more cops. The county Behavioral Health Department got over a million dollars in grants to deal with the mentally ill, and have recently closed escrow on a new Chico Behavioral Health Center. Why are we still having this problem with “street people”?

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I’ve had enough of David Little’s bullying

15 Aug

NOTE: I’ve closed comments on this post because last night I got a mail box full of pictures of obese police officers. Unfortunately, they were all real, but none of them were Chico cops so I didn’t see the point. That wasn’t the subject of the post – David Little edited my opinion because he didn’t like what I thought of his actions. That’s not good editing, I’ve written to too many other papers where the editor had a difference of opinion with me, and said so, but printed my letter verbatim. 

But, sorry for the baby temper tantrum – I’ll go on writing letters to the ER, we’ll see if Little will continue to print them, and how.

The Enterprise Record printed a letter with my name on it two days ago, but it wasn’t the original letter I sent them over a week ago. Here’s the letter I sent.

On Thu, Aug 6, 2015 at 7:29 AM, juanita sumner wrote:

In October of last year, right before a city election, I asked the city clerk and council why the campaign reports were no longer available online. Reports that had been easily available for years had suddenly vanished,  the current filings had also disappeared.   

The clerk responded [read her full response at chicotaxpayers.com ] ,   “There is no regulation requiring the documents to be uploaded to the City’s website unless an agency has implemented mandatory electronic filings (Gov. Code § 84601(d)). ” She acted as though I was harassing her.  The reports were restored to the website briefly, but disappeared again sometime after the November election. 

In her response to my inquiry, the clerk said that the city was going to have a new system “up and running by the first of the year”, but here we are again, with the reports in disarray. The old system worked beautifully right up until October of 2014. 

I’d like to thank Randall Stone for raising this issue to the public. I’m very concerned that neither the Mayor nor  the Editor think this is any of the public’s business. 

This problem lies in the charter – the clerk works for council, not the voters. I’m with Jim Matthews – the charter needs to be changed to make the clerk an elected official so that person is answerable to the voters. 

Juanita Sumner, Chico

I was starting to wonder what had happened to it when David Little got back to me the following Monday:

Date: Mon, 10 Aug 2015 09:01:19 -0700
Subject: Re: letter to editor
From: letters@chicoer.com
To: juanita sumner

Regarding the line “I’m very concerned that neither the mayor nor the editor think this is any of the public’s business,” that will be deleted from your letter for print unless you can show me precisely where that was said. At least in the case of our editorial, you are drastically changing our words.

David Little, editor
Chico Enterprise-Record, Oroville Mercury-Register
400 E. Park Ave., Chico, CA 95927
Telephone: 530-896-7793
Twitter: @ER_DavidLittle

Why is this guy such a creep? Please note, I didn’t use anybody’s words. I didn’t put quotation marks around that line, he did. It was not a quote, it was my opinion. That’s what the opinion page is for.

I’ll say here, the letter Stephanie Taber wrote criticizing Randall Stone has mistakes. For one thing, she refers to Todd Boothe’s public Facebook page as a private e-mail, saying Stone had disclosed a private e-mail. That’s a lot different than what Stone had done – alert the public to a vicious and demented member of the police department who was behaving very inappropriately on a website that could be seen by anybody who searched his name. 

But I’ve been through this with Little before – he’s not a journalist, he’s a propagandist. Here he doesn’t like my opinion, so he edits it. Or, in this case, forces me to edit.  I didn’t want his edit, so I had to rewrite my letter.  I apologized to the asshole and sent a rewrite – and later I felt really cheap. 

I’ll never write another letter to the Enterprise Record. I’ve had enough of David Little. He’s a bully who uses his position to further his and his friends’ agendas.  I don’t read the Enterprise Record anymore, there are so many better newspapers locally and throughout the state. Channel 7 (KRCR) even carries stories that the ER misses on a regular basis, check out their website here:

http://www.krcrtv.com/

One of the worst things about the ER is Topix. Little announced a few years back that because of rude remarks and personal attacks, Topix was being closed to folks who do not have a google, twitter or facebook account. Did the ugly attacks stop? No. They’ve kicked Rick Clements off a couple of times, only to let him back on – I’m going to throw this out there – Larry Wahl is a very good friend of Rick Clements. 

People don’t like the way I talk – at least I don’t spread misinformation. Little ran a letter weeks ago from a woman who said I called Chico PD officers “fat.” I asked Little to ask her to “show precisely where that was said“, but he didn’t answer me back. 

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Cal Water is not being honest with ratepayers regarding new rate increase – write to your county supervisor!

14 Aug

NOTE: If you received your Cal Water bill this week, it says there’s a insert enclosed explaining the new water rate increase application. There was no insert in my bill. This could be a problem for Cal Water, there is a legal noticing process with time limits. If you didn’t receive the insert, please send an e-mail to the Public Advisor’s office – that’s Claudia.Portillo@cpuc.ca.gov  Please tell her the bill said you were supposed to receive the notice, but it’s not included. Please cc Third District Supervisor Maureen Kirk at MKirk@buttecounty.net

There is good news on the water rate increase – Third District Supervisor Maureen Kirk has contacted the California Public Utilities Commission and is investigating the process by which a person “becomes a party” to a rate increase case. A “party” will received e-mail notices from the CPUC whenever any motion is filed or anything else happens on that rate case. That’s really nice, compared to what I tried to do – call them up and ask them for the information. They acted as though I’d called the White House to order a pizza.

One of these days I will post the list of “actions” ratepayers can take regarding a rate increase and the series of chutes and ladders by which we are required to file the action.  Watch out for the slide! I really appreciate Supervisor Kirk going to the trouble to do this. 

The bad news is, the process is not much easier for a county supervisor than it is for a regular citizen. The paperwork they’ve been sending Supervisor Kirk is nothing short of onerous. When I asked the CPUC rep if we needed a lawyer to fill this stuff out, he denied that, but suggested we get our county council to do it.  

I suspect like this man who was sent to “help” us is just another flakcatcher, but I’m going to study all the stuff he sent us. By the same process we can file a formal protest, but  that’s another pile of onerous paperwork. 

What I know about this rate increase case is that they are proposing to merge our district with Oroville and Marysville, where the rates are already so onerous, Cal Water has had trouble raising them further. They want to spread them out across a larger district, make us pay for long-needed improvements to those city’s infrastructure. That might be nice for Oroville and Marysville ratepayers, but most of them are protesting this hike anyway.

But this morning Supervisor Maureen Kirk sent me some really good news – the Office of Ratepayer Advocates has already filed a protest on this latest rate increase. It includes “Requests not included in the Proposed Application”.  

II. ISSUES

ORA is still reviewing Cal Water’s Application, but has identified several issues that it intends to review and potentially address during this proceeding.

A. Requests not Included in the Proposed Application Should be Stricken

The application includes multiple requests that were not included in the proposed application. The Rate Case Plan states “[t]he application shall conform to the content of the PA (Proposed Application), as approved by ORA.”1 Pages 16-17 of the General

Report of California Water Service (dated July 2015) include the following new requests not included in the Proposed Application:

o Special Request: Eliminating 10% Cap on WRAM Amortization

o Special Request: Continued Authorization for Balanced Payment Plan

o Special Request: Permanent Credit Card Program

o Special Request: Temporary Metered Service Tariff

o Special Request: Public and Private Fire Protection Tariffs

o Special Request: Rule 15 Main Extensions Clarifications

o Eight Additional items were added to the Special Request regarding Memorandum and Balancing Accounts

As ORA was not given opportunity to perform a deficiency review on these requests, and these requests do not conform to the content of the Proposed Application as approved by ORA, they are outside of the scope of this application and should be stricken.

Furthermore, I just received my Cal Water bill yesterday. On my bill it says, “Please review the enclosed bill insert about Cal Water’s required General Rate Case filing…”  But hey, there’s no such insert in my bill. And, I’m assuming, if there had been, it wouldn’t  say anything about that list above. I’ll have to call them today and also drop a line to the CPUC advisor and anybody else I can cc. 

Please write a note to Third District Supervisor Maureen Kirk, thank her for her efforts on our behalf, and ask her what you can do to help. That’s MKirk@buttecounty.net

If Kirk is not your supervisor, you might also write to your own supervisor and ask them  to give Maureen any help they can.

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Norman Elarth: “they will speak of uncontrollable external cost increases, rather than overcompensated and underfunded employees”

8 Aug

From the Chico Enterprise Record:

Policies help conceal false allocation of resources

Aquatic centers, solar power, new sports arenas around Sacramento, etc. Many are seeking the notoriety, above-market compensation, or even the cheap entertainment that becomes available by taxing the workingman. The question is why our politicians want to destroy our wealth by investing in entertainment and doubly expensive electricity, particularly since businessmen will not increase production and employment until workers are capable of paying down debt and increasing expenditures.

Unfortunately, while democracy and capitalism are both succumbing to government overspending, public greed, and the faulty allocation of financial resources, the problem is amplified by the leaders of government and its related entities. In order to maintain their power, they must increasingly provide a free lunch even more grandiose than the public can stomach, and hence we often find that their policies are shrouded in falsehood and deceit.

Thus, while our school board obscures the cash bonus and cumulative 9.2 percent raise given to our teachers, they completely hide the additional 4.3 percent of their salary that we will be paying into their pension fund for the years 2014 and 2015 combined. Another 4.3 percent will be added next year under Assembly Bill No. 1469. Their poorly managed total compensation for 10-months work will be about $60 per hour.

When cities and water and power companies help bankrupt our workers and the elderly with increased fees and rates, they speak of uncontrollable external cost increases, rather than overcompensated and underfunded employees.

— Norman Elarth, Chico

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Why does it take two months to get a simple report out of CARD?

7 Aug

I was looking at the CARD website when I saw a notice of an “Intergovernmental Committee” meeting. I could not attend – it’s not a regular committee meeting, and was only noticed on the website 24 hours ahead – so I asked CARD manager Steve Visconti to send me a report, and to place me on the notice list for upcoming meetings.

From: juanita sumner
Sent: Saturday, June 13, 2015 5:23 AM
To: Steve Visconti
Subject: intergovernmental committee

 Hi Mr. Visconti,

I notice the intergovernmental committee meetings are held on a very irregular basis and not noticed on the website until 24 hours ahead. That makes it difficult to the public to know when these meetings are going  to be held. I notice the last meeting was  a joint session with some members of city council or staff? The agenda is not clear. 

I would like to be notified ahead of these meetings and sent a copy of the agenda. I also wonder – how do I get reports of these meetings? I’d also like to get a report of the last AFAC meeting – it started late, and I had to leave before any discussion or action was taken. 

Thank you for your anticipated cooperation in this matter, Juanita Sumner

It took him more than a week to respond:

Steve Visconti
6/22/15
To: juanita sumner
Ms. Sumner, you are correct. The Intergovernmental meetings are generally on an as needed basis. The most recent meeting was with the City Manager to discuss a few issues related to the City budget and certain fees they collect that CARD has utilized in the past to construct new park improvements. I will notify our new General Manager Ann Willmann that you would like to be noticed on future Intergovernmental Meetings. She will be starting on July 6th.

 As far as meeting reports, I will notify Ms. Marciales as soon as she returns to the office the week of July 6th.

 Thank you for your inquiry.

 Steve Visconti

Interim General Manager

And that was the end of it, Visconti retired, July 6 came and went, but neither Marciales nor Willmann contacted me. Three weeks later I met Willmann when I attended the July 30 budget meeting at Lakeside Pavillion. At that time I asked her again about the report, which they are supposed to be able to provide on demand, but I didn’t press it at that time because the meeting was about to start and I did not have time to hang around afterward. She gave  me her card with e-mail address and first thing next morning I made  my request again. 

From: juanita sumner  
Sent: Friday, July 31, 2015 5:26 AM
To: Ann Willmann <annw@chicorec.com>
Cc: Jennifer Marciales <jmarciales@chicorec.com>
Subject: RE: intergovernmental committee

 Hi Ms. Willmann,

 I’m glad you gave me your e-mail – as you know, most card e-mail address are first initial, last name. I see where that would be confusing to people trying to get ahold of you.

 As I asked Mr. Visconti below, I’d like to get the report of the last Intergovernmental meeting, which Mr. Visconti had told me Ms. Marciales would contact me about.

 I’d also like to get on the notice list for the Intergovernmental meetings, as I had asked.

 Thanks for your anticipated cooperation, Juanita Sumner

She responded as though it was the first she had heard of my request. 

From: annw@chicorec.com
To: Juanita Sumner
CC: jmarciales@chicorec.com
Subject: RE: intergovernmental committee
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 2015 16:50:13 +0000

Dear Juanita, thank you for your email. I will follow up on your requests and also ensure you are on the requested notification lists. Have a lovely weekend. Ann

I am busy you know, I have a lot of irons in the fire, both personal and this, my “hobby” – so I let that go, telling myself, “she’ll get back to me next week.” 

Well, silly me. God I hate being dicked around. About a week later, I sent another request. I try to be nice, cause you’ve seen the way the city clerk treated me just for wise-assing her. 

From: juanita sumner
Sent: Thursday, August 06, 2015 7:31 AM
To: Ann Willmann <annw@chicorec.com>

Subject: RE: intergovernmental committee

 Ms. Willman,

 should I just come down to the office to get that report (most recent Intergovernmental meeting)? 

 Juanita Sumner

And she responded the way she should have responded to the mail I sent Visconti:

From: annw@chicorec.com
To: juanita sumner
CC: jmarciales@chicorec.com
Subject: RE: intergovernmental committee
Date: Thu, 6 Aug 2015 22:26:33 +0000

Hi Juanita, I have attached a copy of the minutes. If you would like to pick up a printed copy, I am happy to leave that for you at the front desk. If email is sufficient, please let me know.

Once we have the next meeting scheduled, we will email you with the information.

 Thank you, Ann

Why did that take two months?  To attach a one-page report to an e-mail.  For that matter, Visconti could have sent it to me in the first place. Did he think “interim” meant, “half-assed“?  He’s retired at 70 percent of $112,000/year CARD salary, they ask him to fill in for six months or so, and he acts as though he’s being put out when asked to actually do something. 

Well, excuse me – this is really Jennifer Marciales job, but that woman is impossible, at a salary of over $50,000/year plus benefits. She needs to go.

I know you’re all wondering – what’s this all about anyway Juanita? Just another chicken fight? I’m sorry I let myself get distracted, but I would like everybody to see how these overpaid public employees treat a person who asks a pointy question. Here’s the report – you  read it, and you tell me why they dragged their feet giving it to me.

To: Board of Directors

From: Intergovernmental Committee

Re: Report on Intergovernmental Committee held on June 8, 2015

Committee Members Present Tom Lando

Committee Members Absent

Jan Sneed

CARD Staff Present

Steve Visconti, Interim General Manager

Jennifer Marciales, Executive Assistant

City Staff Present Mark Orme, City Manager

A. Call to Order/ Roll Call

The meeting was called to order at 9:30 a.m., and roll call was taken as noted above.

B. Public Comments

There were no public comments.

C. City of Chico/CARD Discussion of Potential Future Partnerships

Director Lando discussed the need for another dog park in Chico, and asked Mr. Orme if the City has any property available for a potential future dog park. Mr. Orme stated that City staff is currently conducting a review of properties in Chico, and will provide information once the review is complete. Director Lando asked Mr. Orme to review the green space along Humboldt Avenue for a potential dog park and/or bocce ball courts.

MY EMPHASIS HERE: Director Lando asked Mr. Orme if he could provide the total funds available in the Community Park Fund and the Neighborhood Park Fund, and the criteria for utilizing those funds. Mr. Orme stated that he would review these accounts and provide more specific information.

Director Lando asked about the potential for a sales tax measure, and Mr. Orme stated that a community group would need to present it to the City Council.

Director Lando discussed concerns pertaining to the increase in homeless at CARD facilities. Mr. Orme stated that the City is working on a new platform with the police department that will hopefully assist in preserving the quality of life for the citizens of our community.

D. Adjournment

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 10:04 a.m. to the next Intergovernmental Committee Meeting of the Chico Area Recreation and Park District.

I also think that last bit about the homeless problem at the CARD center is very interesting – this is the unstated reason they moved the board meetings to Cal Park Lakeside Pavilion. Lando’s outrage over “quality of life for our citizens” only seems to extend to himself and the other board members and employees of CARD. The board just picked up and moved to Lakeside Pavilion. Abandoning the CARD center was the worst thing they could do. 

This is why they want to do the fancy rose garden – which will be locked to the public and only available to paying customers. They will remove trees right down to the creek, but I’m not sure how far they will encroach on the creek with the wrought iron fence. That’s another reason to attend the month CARD board meetings, hope to see you there sometime.

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Jim Matthews: change management positions to elected offices, vote out $taffers who show arrogance toward the public

5 Aug

From yesterday’s Enterprise Record:

Make city department heads elected positions

I am very concerned about the recent behavior of Chico City Clerk Debbie Presson by hiding important documents and information from the public. It is her job to protect and serve the voters in Chico, and she isn’t doing it. As taxpayers we deserve better of our highly paid city officials.

Perhaps we need to change all of the management positions at the city to elected offices. That way we can vote out people who show such arrogance toward the public.

— Jim Matthews, Chico

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Latest proposal by Cal Water will merge Chico district with Marysville – where water rates are 300 – 400% higher than surrounding communities

5 Aug

I guess you all heard Chico surpassed the water reduction target imposed by Cal Water and The Moonbeam. 

Well nobody cares, get ready for another rate increase. 

Here’s something I know you’ve all seen – my family went a few ccf’s over budget – what a bunch of soooooouuuuiiiieeeeee pigs! But you know what’s funny? We still paid a WRAM charge of about $4. “Water Rate Adjustment Mechanism” – they didn’t make enough money to cover “operating expenses” (their pensions) so they just cut up the deficit and tacked a portion onto everybody’s bill. Isn’t that kind of crazy – they say I went over my allowance, but they still stick me for not using enough? 

Welcome to California!

We have to fight this new proposal, write those letters to your county board of supervisors in care of clerk Kathleen Sweeney:

KaSweeney@ButteCounty.net

Ask the supers to write a letter to the CPUC protesting this merger. Here’s why:

From Lou Binninger in the Territorial Dispatch:

Marysville residents are already in shock over the region’s highest water rates, 300-400% higher than the surrounding communities of Linda, Olivehurst and Yuba City. By moving 10-minutes away Marysville people could save enough on their water bills over a year to make a month’s payment on a house.

With water rates scheduled to go up another 26% by 2016 council members may face some gnarly voters if another tax measure shows up on the ballot.

Read more at 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Marysville-For-Reasonable-Water-Rates/176321489194208?fref=nf

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No, Debbie Presson is not going to post the 460’s – is she doing it on purpose? or just incompetent?

4 Aug

Here’s the original post from October 2014 –

Juanita Sumner's avatarChico Taxpayers Association

RE: CPOA 460 late, no reports available online

Debbie Presson
Attachment
10/23/14

Documents

To: Chris Constantin, Mark Sorensen, Mark Orme, dlittle@chicoer.com
Cc: juanita sumner
1 attachment (1484.4 KB)
Download 2014_Political Reform Act.pdf (1484.4 KB)
2014_Political Reform Act.pdf
View online
Download as zip

I would like to respond to Ms. Sumner’s latest email regarding a process that is regulated by the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC).   While I don’t expect Ms. Sumner to print my response nor include the documents that are attached (which have been OCR’d in order for the reader to copy and paste from the documents), I feel it is important to respond so that accurate information (with documentation) can be presented to the public instead of being provided with vitriol that is not meant to inform our citizenry but instead to disparage those individuals Ms. Sumner writes about.   I also recognize by trying to provide this information that I only open myself up to…

View original post 1,004 more words

Presson responds

3 Aug

I posted city councilman Randall Stones efforts to get city clerk Debbie Presson to return the campaign contribution reports to the website.

https://chicotaxpayers.com/2015/07/29/thanks-to-councilman-randall-stone-for-taking-city-clerk-debbie-presson-to-task-over-her-refusal-to-post-the-campaign-reports/

Here’s the link to his Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/ElectStone/posts/732600713534996?comment_id=733024570159277&offset=0&total_comments=22&notif_t=feed_c

Last week Presson responded to his accusations as though he was out of line for bringing this to the attention of the public. 

From the Enterprise Record, last week:

“I think it’s very unfortunate in light of what this organization has been trying to do for the last few years, which is to rebuild public trust, to have one of the elected officials go out there and imply wrongdoing has occurred without talking to me,” Presson said.

Now,  remember, this woman is the one who is supposed to be bringing things to the attention of the public. Tsk tsk. She has not been working on rebuilding public trust, she’s used the public trust like a Depends.

Debbie Presson has created a hostile environment for the citizens Downtown, and if you complain, she tries to throw it on you. When I complained about the campaign reports disappearing from the website last year I got this response (the red ink is hers, I just cut and paste it exactly as she sent it):

https://chicotaxpayers.com/2014/10/24/yeah-debbie-presson-is-a-bitch-and-shes-not-going-to-post-the-460s-is-she-doing-it-on-purpose-or-just-incompetent/

Yes, I call names. I can’t afford to buy a mouthpiece so I have to use my own. I have to browbeat these (excuse me) assholes into doing their job. Sorry, but whatever works. You got a better idea, get your ass in there and show me up. Randall Stone isn’t getting any Brownie points for doing it without obscenities, that’s for sure. 

But, he has apparently got Ms. Presson to return some of the reports to the website. She’s only posted 2005 – 2012, with 2007 left curiously out. No reports for the 2014. In fact, they are supposed to file those reports on a regular basis between elections. Why aren’t they posted?

In that previous post, I asked, does she do this on purpose, or is she incompetent? Several folks are having a conversation on Stone’s Facebook to the effect that the city of Chico is behind in the technology. I think that’s true, and I think one man is right – Presson keeps it that way on purpose. She does everything she can to block the public from getting public information.

What’s maddening is, Presson makes no apologies for being incompetent, she uses it as an excuse. 

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