Observant Reader asks a good question – why is city of Chico so quick to destroy records?

14 Nov

An observant reader sent this alert:

I just noticed something odd, and I thought that I’d ask if anybody knows if this is as out-of-place as it seems.

The agenda for the next city council meeting has now been posted:
http://chico-ca.granicus.com/GeneratedAgendaViewer.php?view_id=2&event_id=92

The last city council meeting was on election day, before the polls closed. The next city council meeting will be the first meeting in December, when the new council members are sworn in. This is the Lame Duck session (for lack of a better term). We have 2 councilors who know that this is their last chance to get things done, because they’re not coming back next month. This includes Mayor Gruendl. The new council is anticipated to be more conservative, changing the type of items that can be successfully tackled.

So what’s on the agenda? Destroying finance records. Say again?

“2.2. RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CHICO AUTHORIZING DESTRUCTION OF FINANCE AND HUMAN RESOURCES RECORDS IN THE ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES DEPARTMENT Adopt – In accordance with City of Chico Administrative Procedure and Policy Manual, section 11-9 and Government Code Section 34090, the Administrative Services Director requests permission to destroy historical records maintained by the Finance service area over five years old and by the Human Resources service area over seven years old. (The Administrative Services Director recommends approval of the resolution.)”

(They’re also going to talk about shuffling millions of dollars around between accounts, as recommended by the Administrative Services Director down in item 4.2)

The timing here is lousy, to say the least. I expected some spending to get passed, or some policy to be adjusted by the outgoing council. I didn’t expect this. Why do it in this meeting? Why not wait a month, when it would look far less suspicious?

The city does destroy records from time to time. As near as I can tell, destruction of various records have been on the consent agenda 5 times in the last 6 years (maybe more, but that’s what I’ve found; and not in November of an election year). The odds that it would randomly land on this particular council meeting? Roughly 1 in 30. That’s not impossible, but it is unlikely.

Now, I’m not making any accusations. I’m only observing that this looks suspect. Is this a big deal? Should we be worried about this? Can or ought anything be done? Or am I just overthinking this? I don’t know.

I could easily be overlooking something relatively obvious, so you may know something I don’t. If so, I’m always open to learn.

Thanks so much for saying – I noticed a few years back, they quietly passed a resolution saying they could destroy records after only a year.  I think that’s weird, given the stuff I’ve managed to mash into my computer or on disc for years. I also have a stand up filing cabinet in the corner of my garage that has city agendas and documents going back at least 6 or 8 years – why can’t they store stuff? 

In fact, I just found some hilarious notes from a morning meeting, I been trying to get around to blogging it.  You have to pay attention around here, you have to snoop, you have to call them on their bullshit. 

And yes, Orme and Constantin are moving money faster than a pair of New York City street barkers, moving those shells at the speed of light – where’s that dam-ned pea?!  

Thanks so much, I have to admit, I was ready for a long winter nap, but yeah, we got to pay attention. Thanks for the wake up. I will have to dust off my chaps and ride into town for the December meeting. 

Tags: , , ,

Looks like Marysville has beat their tax proposal – but it was a squeaker due to low turnout. We’ve got to get ready for a tax blitz in 2016

12 Nov

Looking at the election results for Yuba County, I see Marysville just barely turned back a sales tax increase proposal – Measure W. It looks like only 1800 people voted in that race, and almost 900 voted YES. It only seems to have been beaten by only about 60 votes.

I know, Marysville is a small town, but I think they have more than 1800 registered voters. 

I’ve been following Dan Walters lately – don’t tell him – and he’s warning that the Democrats might make a rebound in 2016, and bring a lot of tax increase and tax extension proposals along in their little knapsacks. I’m sure Chico will pursue a sales tax increase. Council will vote almost unanimously to put it on the ballot without petitioning the voters. 

Randall Stone has contacted me on several occasions to tell me he won’t support a sales tax. We’ll see. 

In the meantime, get ready to RUMBLE! 

Tags: , , ,

Get ready for Cal Water’s next rate increase proposal

12 Nov

I’ve quit reading the Enterprise Record – I found it is way more worth my time to read other area papers, they have more news. Today I was perusing the Marysville Appeal Democrat, and I see Cal Water is already coming back with another rate increase proposal. They haven’t announced this in Chico, and the Enterprise Record probably won’t be doing any story about it, anytime soon. 

The interesting twist in Marysville – Cal Water is going to stop collecting the city’s sewer fees, they say this practice has caused confusion among rates payers over exactly what they are paying for. ATTENTION – BULLSHIT ALERT!

This exact scenario may be playing itself out in Chico before you know it.

http://www.appeal-democrat.com/clearing-the-water-bill-in-marysville/article_61e6781e-3632-5f1e-afdc-0f1603a6235c.html?mode=jqm

Tags: , ,

Thanks for the link Chico Politics – City of Chico #8 on list of most fiscally distressed cities in California

10 Nov

Well, I want to take a vacation, but it’s hard to stop thinking about politics. I checked in with Michael Jones over at Chico Politics:

http://chicopolitics.com/2014/11/07/i-wish-i-wish-to-be-a-fiscal-conservative/

and found this frightening article from California Policy Center –  I hate it when I realize,  it’s worse than even I could imagine:

http://californiapolicycenter.org/californias-most-financially-stressed-cities-and-counties/

Why am I not surprised? Neither is “Publius”, who compares the scenarios from other cities on the list to exactly what Chris Constantin has been doing in Chico:

The supporting documentation for the article is entertaining as well. My favorite quote came from the LA TIMES article used to support the comments about Compton:

“A recent grand jury report found that the High Desert city of Victorville used a series of disparate, possibly illegal measures to stave off insolvency. Those included dipping into sanitation funds to help keep the city’s treasury afloat, loaning water agency funds to bail out the city’s electric utility and siphoning $2 million in airport bond funds to buy land for a city library.”

When they talked about borrowing from the sanitation fund, I felt like I was reading the Enterprise Record from a couple of weeks ago.

Some more entertaining lines:

“In Montebello, state auditors last year said they were troubled to learn that the city regularly used money designed for specific purposes to balance its budget — in apparent violation of the law.

‘It appears that the City moved money wherever it wanted, whenever it wanted, regardless of the law or the intended purpose of those taxpayer dollars,’ Controller John Chiang said in a statement.

Montebello officials said they are not close to bankruptcy but acknowledged that accounting problems were serious. ‘We borrowed money from all over the place, from all sorts of restricted funds. Every type of restricted fund, we have borrowed from it at some point to balance the budget,’ said Councilwoman Christina Cortez.”

It’s good to see we are at least following the Industry Standard when it comes to balancing our budget.

Yes, Publius is correct. If you go to a meeting once in a while, you will hear Constantin report exactly the same stuff. He’s running a shell game out of City Hall, and we’re all standing around watching him like we just fell of the turnip truck yesterday. 

Tags: , ,

Election is over, time to hibernate a while

7 Nov

Well, that election is good to be done with, one of the worst I’ve ever witnessed. On Tuesday as my husband and I drove into town we were greeted with a regular Christmas string of illegally posted signs, most of them Scott Gruendl. Downtown, somebody had posted big, ugly, hand-scrawled signs on prominent phone poles, asking people to vote for Jerry Brown –  illegal.   I haven’t been out around town again, I hope the candidates have gone out and taken all that garbage down. 

I got a call the day after the 2012 election – Larry Wahl asking me when I was going to go out and take down the Measure J signs. He’d already taken down about a dozen and asked me to pick them up at his office. I have most of those signs, still in great condition, to re-use in 2016. With those ugly hand-made signs in mind, I will do a more professional job on my makeover.

Like a good boat, this organization made it through the election, somewhat dinged up, ready for a stint in dry dock. Government meetings will slow down this time of year, and the contract negotiations will go on behind closed doors. I will keep checking the agendas and announcements, post anything important, but otherwise I’m going to put on my ‘kerchief and take a long winter nap. 

 

Dan Walters: low turnout results in government that is not representative of the people

5 Nov

Sac Bee columnist Dan Walters explains here how low voter turnout affects our political scene.

http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article3545823.html

Walters says we set a record for low turnout in June – 25 percent. He then predicted that less than 50 percent would turn out for yesterday’s election. Candace Grubbs warned us too – and they were right, it looks like less than 50 percent turned out.

When I saw the numbers on our city council election last night, I knew right away something was weird. Last night they were reporting totals for the leading candidates around 5,000 votes a piece, when in past, the top candidates have pulled in more than 10,000 votes each. In 2010 the losers were getting more than 5,000 votes – Bob Evans lost with over 10,000 votes. And there were more candidates to spread the votes between in 2010, but they still came out with more votes. That’s because over 20,000 more people voted in 2010.  

Another interesting factor is the number of “blank” and “under” votes, defined here:

From Florida State Division of Elections:

Under Votes: If total votes is less than or equal to the number to vote for, then subtract he total votes
from the number to vote for. If the system counts blank votes (as defined below) then under votes are
recorded only when there is a vote for more than one contest and at least one vote is cast but les than
the required number to vote for.

Blank Votes (optional): If there is no vote selection at all for a contest, then it is counted as one blank
vote.

Apparently, just over 8 percent of the people who bothered to vote at all filled in less than the three requested bubbles for Chico city council. I didn’t vote for any of the candidates, but I wrote in Joe Montes, so I don’t know whether I counted as an “under” or a “blank”. This was my “protest” vote, and I know they heard it. That’s a pretty sad  turnout, hardly an endorsement of the people. I hate to do the math – how much did Coolidge spend per vote? 

At one point Coolidge tried to take me to task for not endorsing him, asking me what I thought he was up to:

“I know you like to think we all have dreams of power, but really, seriously? what is this tremendous power? The $400 a month?? Are all the past council members in Chico rich and powerful and living in big homes because of their time on the council. Andre Grieco? Shelton Enochs?  Ronald Stewart? James Evans? Maragaret Worley?

Really?? Is this the fortune 500 of Chico? Are they living in Mansions off Keifer Road? Have you ever even heard of them in the last five years?? Please stop, it is so wrong to pretend everyone who wants to make their town better is evil…”

Andrew, your actions would be suspicious to anyone. You make fun of me for wondering – why would you spend nearly $30,000 (and that’s the most recent total) to get a $400/month job? Helloooo?  This election has made it clear – Chico City Council is now closed to the average citizen/taxpayer, only the high-rollers can run for this local position.

Like Dan Walters said, our lives are being run by wealthy white men over 50 years of age. 

Butte County Election Results for last night 

http://clerk-recorder.buttecounty.net/elections/archives/eln31/results-1.htm

CITY OF CHICO COUNCIL (3)    
    Total
Number of Precincts   38  
Precincts Reporting   38 100.0 %
Vote For   3  
Times Counted   16452/44289 37.1 %
Total Votes   44071  
Times Blank Voted   704  
Times Over Voted   23  
Number Of Under Votes   3104  
ANDREW COOLIDGE   8887 20.17%
MARK SORENSEN   8280 18.79%
REANETTE FILLMER   7899 17.92%
LUPE ARIM-LAW   6251 14.18%
FOROUGH MOLINA   5839 13.25%
SCOTT GRUENDL   5535 12.56%
RODNEY WILLIS   1299 2.95%
Write-in Votes   81 0.18%

Butte County Election Results 2010:

CITY OF CHICO COUNCIL    
    Total
Number of Precincts   42  
Precincts Reporting   42 100.0 %
Vote For   3  
Total Votes   68907  
Times Blank Voted   2282  
Times Over Voted   14  
Number Of Under Votes   9126  
MARK SORENSEN   13225 19.19%
SCOTT GRUENDL   10717 15.55%
MARY FLYNN   10448 15.16%
BOB EVANS   10320 14.98%
MARK HERRERA   9154 13.28%
BOB KROMER   9005 13.07%
QUENTIN COLGAN   2599 3.77%
BRAHAMA D. SHARMA   1686 2.45%
DAVE DONNAN   1635 2.37%
Write-in Votes   118 0.17%

Tags: , ,

State documents reveal nearly 3 billion gallons of frack water illegally released into Central California aquifers – meanwhile Big Oil donates $250,000 to Props 1 and 2 campaigns

2 Nov

This article discusses the implications behind campaign donations made for Props 1 and 2 by Aera Energy, “one of California’s largest oil and gas producers…”, owned by Shell and Exxon. 

https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2014/10/19/18762989.php

The author wonders, ” is the oil industry backing the bond so that the taxpayers will foot the bill, rather than Big Oil, for the clean up of water in aquifers contaminated by fracking wastewater filled with toxic chemicals?”

“The documents also reveal that Central Valley Regional Water Quality Board testing found high levels of arsenic, thallium and nitrates, contaminants sometimes found in oil industry wastewater, in water-supply wells near these waste-disposal operations. (http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2014/fracking-10-06-2014.html)”

I found this article when I was looking into Sean Parker, and why he had donated so much money and time to the Props 1 & 2 campaigns. Instead I found this stuff about Big Oil.  Ironically, while I sat posting this I was watching Matt Groening kick the shit out of fracking on The Simpsons. 

Tags: , , , ,

Chico Taxpayers Association – how I voted. I won’t use the word “endorsement,” it was more, hunt and peck…

1 Nov

Halloween was great, and in Mexico they will celebrate “Day of the Dead” all weekend this year, but next week we have Election Day, and that’s enough to scare the daylights out of any intelligent person.  I wish they’d move it, this is a season when I’d rather be doing happy things. But, people keep asking how I voted on various issues, so I thought I’d sit down and talk about it. This was one of the worst elections I’ve ever participated in.

I voted Kashkari for Governor without the slightest confidence – he’s going to get smeared. And probably deserves it, being an out-of-state carpetbagger with a lecherous gleam in his eye.  But, a vote for Kashkari is a vote against Brown, that was good enough for me. Sheesh, I might not have voted for him if I thought he’d win – at least Jerry was raised in California, that’s one thing we can say for The Moonbeam.

 I didn’t vote in the 1st Congressional District – I couldn’t vote for Heidi, she’s a egg-sucking trough dweller, but I’m sick of voting for Doug and getting The Business. Doug can’t be reached via e-mail, he’s just gotten too big. So, I decided to reach out and touch him via the ballot box – if I could actually, physically reach him, I’d pull that stupid hat down over his ears and kick him right in the ass. I DON’T support the Sites Reservoir or Prop 1, or water transfers, that’s why.  He’s not working that hard in Washington either, I want to see Obamacare overturned and these fat asses in Congress are just sitting around trash talking each other. I’d like to see LaMalfa and Harry Reid stripped down to tidy whities and go around until they turn into butter. 

In the Third Assembly District, I didn’t exactly vote FOR Gallagher, I voted AGAINST Reed. Gallagher is okay, in fact, I ended up liking him better than Chico candidate Ryan Schohr, who I had earlier supported because he was from Chico. Schohr supported the Sites Reservoir, and wouldn’t answer questions  I had about who was losing water in that deal, and where the water would be going. Gallagher supports “new water storage,” but focuses more on levee repair for flood control. On the other hand, Reed is all about relaxing immigration laws, getting more people on welfare, widening the trough. We don’t need any more people like Reed in Sacramento. I don’t think the Sites Reservoir is as immediate an issue as our border problems.

The Chico Unified School Board election was a total wash for me, I didn’t vote on this one. The two incumbents, especially Kathleen Kaiser, need to be termed out. They’re awful, go to a meeting sometime. The third candidate is not an  incumbent but identifies himself as the chair of the Measure E (recent bond) committee. I used to care about the school district because they have their dick in my tax bill, but homeschooling my kids really helped me to put  this issue in it’s place – the bond is a very tiny portion of my taxes, and I have the satisfaction that they never got my kids or their ADA money.  I’ll let you poor bastards who are stupid enough to turn your kids over to strangers figure that one out for yourselves. 

Assessor was a toughie. In the beginning I supported Al Petersen and frankly still think he was the best candidate. Why? Because he contacted me, he wanted to embrace the public. That’s a big deal for tax assessor. But I had to laugh – nobody cared. You people are meat heads – you let strangers stick you for money, but you don’t pay attention to how they do it. Do you close your eyes and think of Mother England? 

I had started to endorse Diane Brown because of her obvious experience in the job. But she miffed me when she came in to speak at the library – she looks at the homeowner/taxpayer with suspicion, she’s out to get us. She wants to get in your house and include your carpet and drapes in your assessment. She thinks anybody who doesn’t want to let her in is a crank cooker. 

The other side of voting for Connelly is, get him off the Board of Supes. The last few years, he’s let that job go to his head – I swear, look at the pictures, his head has gotten bigger! He’s lost all his modesty, acting like a king instead of a public servant. He’s got a swagger reminiscent of the Sheriff of Nottingham.  So, let’s give him the Assessor job – at least we won’t have to look at that pork face or listen to his smart ass blowing wind. And we all get to be titillated with fear and foreboding over who Jerry Brown will appoint to fill his seat! Talk about Halloween!

I don’t know if I should even waste time on Chico City Council – I didn’t vote for any of the candidates offered, instead writing in Joe Montes out of sheer frustration. I hope they know I voted for him because he’s the one who brought up the conflict of interest posed when City Council members approve contracts allowing for the city to conscript union dues that are funneled into city elections. Later I see that he is supporting the very people who asked him to step out of the election, without making any further statements about the conflict of interest, and I realize I threw my vote away on another Meat Head. 

Dead from the neck up = Meat Head. 

I’d also like to add that neither candidate/Mayor Gruendl nor candidate/Vice Mayor Sorensen made any public gesture toward getting the Chico Police Officers Association to turn in their campaign paperwork when it was a couple of years overdue. 

The CARD race is also a disaster. I would expect every candidate/incumbent in that race, including Dave Donnan, to come out next year in support of a property assessment on your house to build an aquatic center for the use of the Chico Aquajets. Maureen Kirk says Herman Ellis is a nice man, and that’s a qualification?  Kindly old Mr. Ellis is a fist puppet for Tom Lando, and very nicely does whatever he is told. If you vote for Jan Sneed you’re voting for a woman who will stick her fist in your face if she doesn’t like what you have to say.

As I’ve already said, Chico Taxpayers votes NO on A and YES on B. 

If I have time or if anybody wants to,  I’ll discuss the state propositions later, but just for curiosity’s sake, here’s how I voted:

NO on PROP 1.

NO on PROP 2. 

YES on 45.

YES on 46.

NO on 47.

NO on 48.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tags: , , ,

Oh gee, MY BAD! Presson posted the cops 460’s the day the newspaper ran the story…how about that!?!

30 Oct

http://www.chico.ca.us/city_clerk/campaign_disclosure_files/documents/CPOAForm460sSemi1stand2ndPreElection.pdf

 

Big deal right?

Well, it is a big deal. Until two days ago, she hadn’t posted anything since 2012.

I felt it was important to stay on Presson because she hasn’t been doing her job lately. I think the light but embarrassing scrutiny of the newspaper was enough to teach her a lesson, but if she doesn’t post the upcoming reports on time, I’ll be right on her again.  The report that really tells the story is the report they are supposed to file after the election. They didn’t file anything after the 2012 election. I think it’s prudent to be proactive, but you see how you are treated Downtown for asking too many questions.

Everybody always forgets to check after the election, and that’s when the real money is donated and spent. I don’t think candidates or PACs should be allowed to spend money within a certain time frame before an election, since they won’t be posting those expenditures until afterward. That’s when the real donations turn up – in 2012 it was the SEIU making the single biggest contribution to the “Yes on Measure J” campaign. That’s the same thing that happened in 2010 with Measure A – the ordinance that would have switched council elections to June. The SEIU was also the biggest single donor to the “No on A” campaign, but that didn’t turn up until after the election.

So, stay vigilant people, your “public servants” will live up or down to your expectations. 

 

Tags: , , , ,

Presson tells me one story and newspaper another – which is it Debbie?

30 Oct

From the ER story run day before yesterday:

The Chico Police Officers Association Political Action Committee filed its statement of organization with the city July 31. No other paperwork had been filed since, which means it is not in compliance with city and Fair Political Practices Commission requirements.

It could be at risk of fines from both the city and the oversight agency of $10 per day, and potentially dating back to 2012 because of some other gaps in its paperwork, said City Clerk Debbie Presson.

She has sent reminders that the reports were due and a notice that the group missed the filing deadline. She said she has not heard anything back.

“I’m hoping to resolve it,” she said. “My hope behind all of this is compliance and getting the forms in here for citizens’ review.”

Presson also confirmed several political action committees participating in the city election have not filed courtesy copies with the city, although they have filed with the county. She also contacted the FPPC on that issue.”

But in a e-mail I received Oct. 23, she said,  “This process is in place and is being reviewed with FPPC.  In addition, this office has been working with the CPOA in order to obtain compliance on the required filings.  However, fines have not been levied at this time.”

Yes, she was so mad at my question, she wrote her entire answer to me in RED! See the entire e-mail exchange here:

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

Well, which is it Debbie? Are you working with the CPOA toward compliance, or have you “not heard anything”?  Those are two distinctly different answers, I’d like her to pick one. 

I’d also like to know, who are the other PAC’s who haven’t filed? I don’t think there are any, I think she just threw that in there, or she’d name them. It’s not only public information, they’ve violated the law, and everybody needs to know who’s above board here and who’s not. The CPOA certainly is not, and Debbie Presson, an  officer of the city, isn’t doing anything about it. 

I don’t know why we have such a duplication – the county clerk is supposed to be responsible for elections, let’s give her the whole job and demote Presson to administrative secretary. She can’t even handle that, having taken months to get the minutes up to date – frankly I haven’t checked, I don’t even know if she has got the minutes up to date. 

 

 

 

Tags: , , ,

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →