Park Commission needs to be completely “renovated”

27 Aug

Last night I had a dilemma – two meetings at the same time. I really wanted to get over and hear what Assemblyman Jim Nielsen and Senator Doug LaMalfa had to say about Obamacare last night, but I decided to go to the Park Commission meeting instead. I’m glad I did, because Laura Urseny’s report doesn’t tell the half of it.

Urseny’s report just sounds like a little groove fest – the meeting was actually pretty contentious.   For one thing, Dan Efseaff and Lise Smith-Peters kept trying to tell the commission that there is already a fund and a volunteer program in place, all the Caper Acres Volunteers need to do is come down and join in. But Caper Acres Volunteers seem to want more. Nobody is saying exactly what they want in this conversation, it just went around and around like a clogged toilet for an hour.

Commissioners Lisa Emmerich and Mary Brentwood kept bringing up the crucial point – if this group wants to collect money for the park, they need to establish themselves as a non-profit – form a 501C3 committee. I believe this is correct – I’ve looked into turning CTA into some sort of non-profit or PAC. You are not allowed just to collect people’s money unless you are going to file the proper paperwork, that’s basically the deal. Nobody would come right out and say it, but it was pretty clear to me – either the Caper Acres Volunteers must form a 501C3 or they just have to join Park Volunteers and do what they’re told by Lise Smith Peters and Dan Efseaf.

Caper Acres Volunteers representative Abigail Lopez indicated that she was willing to “look into” forming a 501C3, “if that’s necessary.” She said she’s already had offers of money donations as well as volunteers. The sticking point with these people is a good one – they are not too comfortable handing more money over to city staffers, without some rock-solid agreement that it will all be “spent on Caper Acres.” 

Well, grow up. What do you think that means? Dan Efseaf gets paid $93,000/year to oversee Caper Acres – his salary can come out of any such fund. See how that works? That’s how they’ve drained almost every fund Downtown to pay for their salaries and benefits when they are cutting services every day, locking up our parks, closing down community fixtures.

One man stood up to make a very important point, which “reporter” Laura Urseny point blank ignored – Chris Bolshazy (sp?) from the SEIU(!) came in to tell the commission, essentially, that they are derelict in their duty if they don’t complain about being left completely out of this decision to close the park.  Well, DUH! Why does this commission even exist – I ask myself that every time I attend one of these meetings. Bolshazy told the commission they need to read the city charter – good idea! This commission is just a discussion group, a “think tank”, they don’t DO anything. And, oftentimes, any recommendation they do make is overturned by city council. These commissioners are not elected, they do not represent the public – these positions are just political spoils. 

I mean, I like Mark Herrera, but when he said last night that the city “doesn’t have enough money to take care of the parks,” I wanted to slap him upside the head.  Here’s a guy who made a loud protest about trees being removed but not the couplets project that necessitated the removal.  He can’t get more pissed off about this? Where’s the real angst Mark? 

The Park Commission needs to be completely redone. The park is one of our most important assets in Chico – why is there no Parks Committee made up of our elected representatives on City Council? We have the Internal Affairs committees, Finance, and Economic Development. They have a “Mayor’s Business Advisory Board” with Scott Gruendl and Mark Sorensen that is not open to the public. They have a “local governments” committee made up of representatives from the city and county and various public entities. But no member of council sits on either the Parks Commission, or, get a load of this – the Airport Commission? Both of those entities are run by a bunch of feel-good  – sorry to say this – IDIOTS – who don’t have the slightest clue to the code or what they’re supposed to be doing. And even if they tried to do something, they are completely held off  by the forehead by $taff. Here we have the parks closed without any input from the “Parks Commission” and the airport fire station cut without any discussion by the “Airport Commission.”

These two commissions take up $taff time – last night Ruben Martinez, at his newly inflated salary of over $170,000/year, sat at that meeting with his usual stone-face posture, just sitting, staring, somewhat alert in case somebody asked him a question, but just sitting there. Next to him sat Dan Efseaf, at about $93,000 a year, and then little $62,000/year Lise Smith-Peters, who lists herself as “Mary” in the salary charts. There sat over $300,000 worth of staff beef, looking like they’d all rather be eating Dodger Dogs.

Efseaf and Smith-Peters were certainly “working”. They seemed to get a little exasperated toward the end – the whole conversation seems moot to me. Here it is: Caper Acres Volunteers wants to run Caper Acres, they want to have a fund “dedicated” to Caper Acres, but $taff wants them to join the existing volunteer group and hand any donations over to the existing fund.  CAV is understandably uncomfortable with that, but I’ll give them an ice cube’s chance in hell of starting their own non-profit.   We already have Tom Barrett, the guy who was dropped from the Park Commission because he had a nasty habit of sending rude e-mails to citizens, who has started his own non-profit, The Bidwell Park Foundation. I expect this to be as big a scam as the Bidwell Mansion Foundation. Barrett can even pay himself a salary – I’m guessing, that’s the whole reason behind his “foundation.” We’ll have to see. I don’t think Lopez has any such intentions, but I don’t know if she has any idea what she’d be getting into. You can really get into trouble with a non-profit if you don’t have good, salaried, legal advice. 

What I would suggest to Lopez and her friends is, stand up to city staff, and tell them to get their asses out there and do their fucking job or you’re going down to Home Depot to buy a good set of bolt cutters, In fact, that gate may be pretty easy to lift off the hinges, I’ll have to look into that. 

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

City of Chico meeting schedule for week of August 26, 2013

25 Aug

Bidwell Park and Playground Commission, Monday August 26, 6:30 pm, City Chamber Bldg, Council Chamber:  The only item on this agenda is commissioner Richard Ober’s request to agendize a discussion about creating a “public/private non-profit partnership” between the city of Chico and the Caper Acres Volunteers. This is total news to me. The Caper Acres Volunteers Facebook has not been updated for almost a month, there’s nothing on it about the meeting they had at the end of July, and I have yet to hear any news about this handful of moms starting a legal non-profit. I will try to make this meeting, I haven’t attended one of these for years. 

Here’s that link:    http://www.chico.ca.us/document_library/minutes_agendas/bidwell_park_and_playground_commission/BPPC_Agendaandreports_13_0826.pdf

Finance Committee, Tuesday August 27, 8 – 10 am, City Chamber Bldg, Conf Rm 1: This meeting is chock full of interesting stuff – did you know the city takes in over a million dollars a year in Downtown parking revenues, and spends over $500,000 of it on salaries and benefits? Something tells me the fellows who service those parking meters are not taking in that kind of salary, I’m guessing, this is another fund that is being hit heavily for other than it’s intended purpose.  $taff is in fact requesting that this fund be opened up to all kinds of allowed expenditures, stuff that doesn’t have anything to do with securing you a parking space Downtown. 

Other items include a continuation of the user fee study, as well as the usual budget and finance department updates from Chris Constantin. If you can’t make the meeting, at least look over the agenda – over 100 pages, including a Downtown parking study and pages and pages of incriminating financial figures. 

Here’s that link:  http://www.chico.ca.us/document_library/minutes_agendas/finance_committee/8-27-13FinanceCommitteeAgendaPacket.pdf

Economic Development Committee, Wednesday August 28, 4 – 6 pm, City Chamber Bldg, Conf Rm 1:  THIS MEETING HAS BEEN ERRONEOUSLY POSTED AND NOTICED AS BEING SCHEDULED FOR TUESDAY THE 27TH.  Sean Tillman sent out a blast of e-mail corrections that loaded my mail box like a diaper, but has not corrected the notice on the website yet. I keep waiting for his name to disappear from the $taff roster, and I keep being disappointed.

I had been looking forward to this meeting, because at the last meeting I attended, Tillman excitedly promised the results of the shopper’s survey undertaken earlier this year by Tri-Counties Bank, sponsored in part with our tax dollars.  Audrey Taylor from city consultant Chabin Concepts even mentioned having some sort of exciting “event”,  “in August”. But I don’t see anything about that on this agenda. Instead they will be continuing the conversation about merging this committee with the underground “Mayor’s Business Advisory Council,” which operates without public oversight. I’ve asked to attend MBAC events and been refused by $taff, as well as Ann Schwab and Mark Sorensen. Only Ann would even tell me who else is in this secret committee – PG&E? So, I don’t know if this is a good move. I’ve heard, at last week’s council meeting, they’ve re-opened the conversation about hiring a new Economic Development Director, also behind closed doors. I’m sick of all this sneaky business with the Chico Chamber, DCBA, and various consultants who come around at Community Block Grant Funding time. This issue needs more sunshine. 

There will be a “report” from “Team Chico” – another behind closed doors effort between the City of Chico, Chico Chamber, Downtown Chico Business Association, 3CORE and the Alliance for Workforce Development and who knows what other “stakeholders”. Their meetings are not noticed to the public, Tillman reports whatever he feels the public needs to know. These reports are all full of rainbows and lollipops, nothing substantial.  But, city money, in the form of Tillman’s salary and benefits, is being spent on these consultants, many of whom also get CBGF money. I read the slick report included in the agenda, and some of the information is no longer correct (Hwy 32 widening was KO’d the other night), a lot of it is just soap bubbles. 

Here’s that link:   http://www.chico.ca.us/government/minutes_agendas/documents/8-27-13EDCommitteeAgendaPacket.pdf

I wish more people would take time to attend these meetings, just once. I hate to think people just like to sit around complaining but doing nothing! 

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Chico Taxpayers will meet next Sunday despite Labor Day

25 Aug

I got  the heads up that our next First Sunday meeting falls on Labor Day weekend, but I’m forging full steam ahead anyway. I like consistency. What better way to spend an hour or so of your Labor Day weekend? You like sitting on the highway with the other lemmings? You like driving hours into the “wilderness” only to find 800 people vying for two parking spaces and a picnic table? I’ll be down at the library, enjoying what may well be the last peace and quiet of 2013. 

Next Sunday I’ll bring in some pages of city employee contracts I’ve printed out, and if anybody else shows up, we’ll redline some stuff that needs to get cut. What fun! I want to get these details out to the public, so it would be great if we could make some points to write in letters to the editor.

If we can get Stephanie Taber to come in, maybe we can get her to give us a report on meetings she’s attended over the past month. I’ll drop her a line and ask her about that. She covers not only the city meetings, but the Chamber of Commerce meetings. Last month she was present for a conversation with Brian Nakamura – usually only members are allowed in these meetings, or, like their “Business Crawl,” non-members are  charged a lot to get in.  I’ve got Katie Simmons to let me in by reminding her how inappropriate it is for the city manager to be talking to an “exclusive membership” audience, but was not able to attend last month. Stephanie reported that Nakamura discussed out-sourcing the fire department, and wow, what do you know – all the sudden interim chief Keith Carter comes up with a brilliant new rotating station plan that cuts fire department overtime! Wow! 

What bugs me is Nakamura is having these conversations without the public. I’ve also heard they’re again planning to hire an Economic Development Director – what? with the money they are “saving” by shuttering up our park? 

It’s time to pay attention. We need folks to attend these meetings. I’ll try to keep a meeting schedule for the week ahead posted here, but it’s tough – maybe I’ll post a list of all the damned chores I have ahead of me today, not to mention, some kind of plan for dinner! 

I hope some of you can make it next Sunday, I’ll be there, testing out the free wi-fi. 

Tags: , , , ,

Rick Clement’s response to Tom Gascoyne’s “Political Science 101”

24 Aug

The following is the opinion of Rick Clements in response to Tom Gascoyne’s “Political Science 101” article posted August 22 in Chico News & Review. I disagree with a lot of what Rick is saying here, but it’s his post : 

Regarding Tom Gascoyne’s article “Political Science 101”; published in the Chico News and Review Thursday August 22, 2013, let me offer the new Chico State and Butte College students a different perspective regarding Chico’s destructive politics that has plagued this community for the last two decades. Let’s call it Political Science 201A.

Since our Progressive Liberal friends, a Far Left faction of the Democratic Party, took control of the City council, their only goals were to gain access to the taxpayer’s monies in order to politically fund their self serving political philosophy; control the growth and type of voter base to effectively “manage” their advantage at the polls, and then to enrich their friends, board appointments, and commissions, and city staff, in order to get their votes to be re-elected. Tom, as is his duty to his fellow Progressives, provided a predictable and mostly inaccurate accounting to you as new students, regarding the recently past Measure A special election. Mainly, he left out its real purpose for occurring. Locals revolted after having been forced to stand by and watch Chico’s financial solvency, its infrastructure, its public safety and the city services, all being collectively destroyed with little or no regard to the public’s needs.

No, Measure A wasn’t about denying anyone, especially the student’s, their right to vote; rather locals just got sick and tired of watching the new students being conned, used and manipulated year after year when an election time rolled around; by using their old and worn out tired false allegations, their clever written propaganda, and, their usual “save the world” slogans to get students to join their Liberal causes. But what currently has been the net results of those con job edicts and special elections that the Progressive Liberals pulled on the student body voters in order to get their way? Every special election the Liberals have caused or defeated in the name of saving Chico from every problem the world has known has left its citizens to live with these now undisputable facts:

The city is broke, the Progressives spent all the city’s finances and drained all it’s reserves, 24 million gone…pooof…. the Grand Jury, after being asked to investigate found by an audit that the books were being cooked and the public trust was intentionally violated; resulting in many staff employees losing their jobs. Police and fire protection ranks were intentionally depleted to pay for an Arts Director and constructing a bicycle path to nowhere. The new Arts Director (their friend) they approved a pay scale at $60,000 a year plus benefits. They and the Unions who funded the election campaigns, awarded huge salary increases and overblown pensions to upper staff of City management and CARD Directors to keep those Democratic votes for their re-election coming in, while the roads in Chico degraded into the worst form of disrepair they’ve ever been. Let’s go back further in time.

Their No Way Jose, Save the Park campaign prevented homes for a growing family population from being built, (yeah people pro-create don’t they…they’re called children), jobs were lost and what was the town left with? A lawsuit settlement that cost the taxpayers over 9 million in City reserve revenues being depleted; and the park property they were professing to protect for us; when all was said and done, they slapped a bob-wired fence around it all and hung “No Trespassing signs on the fence that remain to this day.

Yeah their political versions of business acumen and methods of saving us from God only knows what’s next, keep costing us taxpayers millions. Currently, they just lost yet another 10.9 million dollars that could have funded city services and kept Caper Acres open, in a similar lawsuit loss to the City. That means, the presiding judge found their reasoning’s and methods to control our lives and where we choose to live, while controlling our commerce, to be illegal and that contractual agreements, or sound fiscal policies mean nothing to them.

Chico’s self proclaimed community activist Jessica Allen who led the effort to defeat Measure A; she and Kelly Meager caused a special election to occur in order to force the county to allow legally, growing of medical marijuana. The plan strategy wasn’t well thought out. Why? Because their need to just win the election baby, resulted in bulldozers that came flying out of their garages and began to raze open and visible scares in the mountains, destroying the environment, and polluting the water sources, just so people who saw others get rich using a collective, could cash in, self medicate and put those $100 easy to get doctor prescriptions to valuable use.

The only requirement needed to get a doctor’s prescription: YOU MUST BE BREATHING!

Of course, like President O’Liar always does, our Progressive Liberal council members have always proclaimed and complained that when their stupidity became publicly obvious, yes folks, it was always George Bush’s or someone else’s fault. But never theirs God forbid.

No students, we locals that used Measure A, we just wanted to take back our city government and council to save our town and businesses from financial ruin that these incompetent people have caused. We wanted more police to counter the 300% increase of stabbings, gang violence, drive-by shootings, student muggings, rape and murders, all caused by their depleting the public safety protection funding we all paid for and deserve.

As of their last meeting, yet again, the Progressives just recently voted on a proposed sit/lie ordinance that our businesses and town citizen’s wanted to facilitate a return to a normal pleasant downtown experience; yet as the self serving Progressive Liberals always do and have always done, they declared by their votes, that they could care less about the rest of the town’s residents. Art and arts funding, to them and their base of supporters just wanting another handout of more taxpayer monies; their arts crusade was far more important then your safety and protection while attending college and shopping downtown while living here in Chico. Randall Stone, the council’s biggest bullshit artist, said “Approving that Ordinance would have been the stupidest thing we ever did”. Really Randall?

Just because you proclaimed the fines the tickets carried could never be paid by the homeless and poor, did you as a big time successful financial planner Randall Stone, ever think that instead of issuing financial fines on the violators that those tickets could be satisfied by violators performing levels of community service hours instead?

Naw, the violators holding those citations would just get tired of working for free and move on to another town. That would jeopardize the Liberals not getting a vote out of them come election time. Hey that free stuff brought 11 million illegal aliens across the US border. Why wouldn’t it work here too with the homeless?

Yes folks, Progressives and their activists do prey on young minds entering college, and who by nature, these young minds are eager to save the world. But students, hear this; people here are very tired of the Far Left journalists and the self proclaimed activists who constantly use you students and blitz you with their “blame this and save that” ritual of writings; like a broken record, year after year, just to get you to vote for their Liberal causes. Let me cite one more brilliant use of their governmental style of public protection. They passed an ordinance a while back, where by law, you the offender, have to pay the City of Chico a fine of $1,000.00 if you detonate your nuclear bomb within the city limits. Seriously? Are you kidding me? Yes it’s true folks, and its on the books. Welcome to the Chico/Berkley Brain Dead Utopia City of Never Ending Social Catastrophic Viruses the Corporations created. How do you kill the threat? Raise Taxes!

This Progressive Liberal civic mindset example of a governing Ordinance, was the creation of a minus ten intelligence; an example of what we civilians live with daily. It would insult even a pre-school deaf, dumb, and blind child’s intelligence let alone a college student’s. You really want as a student to join these people? Hey they got free food stamps!

Imagine students, being forced to live daily in their reconditioning camps, citing their mantra of “we know what’s best for you” over and over. A socialist government that wants to constantly remind you that the conservatives, Independents, or any other form of mammal that exists on this earth whom disagrees with, or challenges their political socialist philosophy; you are required to identify them, attack them with talking points, and smear those people who only want to destroy your rights as Americans. If you trust them, they’ll raze our town with miles of corporate cement, (by the way…check out the City Plaza they built and overspent on), then they’ll pollute our park’s beauty with ugly subdivisions which will destroy our water quality and create the scientific environment which will cause squirrels to mutate and be born with two heads and a dog’s tail…BUT NEVER FEAR, THE PROGRESSIVES ARE HERE AND ONLY WE PROGRESSIVE LIBERALS CAN SAVE MANKIND OR YOU THE STUDENTS!!! Just give us unfettered access to the taxpayer monies please, and vote for every tax increase we mandate to keep the dough coming in. You know we don’t work for free! We’re PROFESSIONALS!!! Students, It’s nothing but pure and plain bullshit.

So here’s how you can contribute your time and resources to cure this insanity in Chico.

Educate yourself towards achieving a successful career and fulfilling your dreams, and above all, attain a financially secure income for you, yourself, and no one else but you personally.

Your future and your education is far more important during your college day’s of life’s tenure. Because of the hi-tech information age society you’ve been born into and must participate within; educating yourself is the most serious type of important you will ever face. Your days here at college start that journey.

Worthy charities are worth your time yes; but there’s nothing charitable about politics. Especially here in the garbage can of local Chico politics. Remember, even though bull manure politics have been colored ten different ways, they still came from, were created by, and will always reek of, someone else’s self serving Bullshit. Save yourself first students! No one’s telling you not to engage in intelligent debate or vote. The world, as it has for over a million years, will be waiting for you to save when you graduate. Smart is sexy; and being homeless or ignorant sucks…everyday of your depending on others life!

Avoiding that kind of life depends solely on you being smart enough to respect yourself; to believe only what you see; half of what you hear, and to determine correctly what future effects, if any, will your actions cost you and those who surround you! THAT”S THE TRUTH that every senior citizen like me and someday you, has learned, or will learn, God willing, about life. And while you’re on the ride…have fun. Fun is smart too!

Rick Clements and my two Dogs.

Hwy 32 widening: Will CalTRANS carry out their threat to sue us because we didn’t collect developer fees? ANSWER – probably so!

22 Aug

NOTE: This is an old blog, I’m not posting comments here anymore. I posted a comment received recently on a new blog. Thanks!

This morning I sent the following e-mail to Mark Sorensen, at msorense@ci.chico.ca.us. No, that address is not a typo, he leaves that last letter off his name for whatever reason.  I’ll keep you posted as to his response, if I get any.

Hi Mark,

 
I was not able to stay for  the Hwy 32 widening conversation – that first item was pretty badly agendized, and the discussion was poorly handled. One thing Scott will need to learn to do is SHUT UP. He rambles too much. Maybe you councilors ought to be held to 3 minutes a piece?
 
Anyway, I had wanted to ask – I sat in on a meeting years ago with Wayne from CalTRANS. He told us they were poised to sue the city of Chico  because of those subdivisions – including, by name, Meriam Park, Westside Green, Barber Yard, among others – that had been approved without dedicating funds to widen 32. At that time Lando opted NOT to collect the fees from Tom DiGiovanni and the other developers, but to take the money from the RDA.
 
So, did DiGiovanni or Giampoli or Greening or any of the other developers/project owners named specifically in that lawsuit demand ever pay any road impact fees? At that time, we attended a charette at which Varga told us Meriam Park was going to take our traffic rating on that side of town from “A-B to D”, regardless of road improvements. I also remember, Tom DiGiovanni got $7 million in RDA funding for the sale of the low-income part of Meriam Park to a Fresno Developer – the city paid with RDA funds. So, did ANYBODY ever pay road impact funds on Meriam Park? 
 
And, finally, how are we going to avoid the lawsuit from CalTRANS? 
 

thanks, at your convenience, for your anticipated cooperation – Juanita

UPDATE: Mark got back to me pretty quickly:

the city matching funds for the project are expected to be 100% development impact fee supported. The problem is an old one, in that development impact fees are not collected until construction begins (or is completed) on actual structures. Whereas there are some advantages to fixing the traffic problem before it becomes really bad. 

 

At this point in time that particular development impact fee fund is in a deficit position. 

 

The low income project should have paid their development impact fees, but that is just a tiny portion of the Meriam Park project. 

“And, finally, how are we going to avoid the lawsuit from CalTRANS? “

 

Its might not be a lawsuit, per se. But CalTrans could oppose projects if the impacts on their roadways will be too severe and un-mitigated. This was a portion of the discussion on Tuesday night. 

 

But, when we come right down to it, the city can not continue to spend money that it does not have. Some sort of a reasonable funding source must be found. That might include developers developing a solution, and it might include holding off on the project for a period of time (EG: one or more years) until a reasonable method of funding is found. …. 

But I had to ask him to explain, you know I’m pretty thick:

Thanks for responding Mark,

 

I’m not sure what you mean, let me run this by you:

 

The developer (Ashcroft? of Fresno)  has paid the impact fees for the low-income portion of Meriam Park, but no road impact fees have been paid for Meriam Park, is that correct? What about Forgarty? Any of the others named in that lawsuit threat? I realize the fund is empty now – did they ever pay? 

 

Also, could you give me an example of what you mean by “reasonable funding”?  

 

Thanks for your help understanding this issue – and, I’d also like to invite you to our next CTA meeting, Sept. 1, 9am, library. I can get the room earlier if you’d like,  for some discussion of these latest developments Downtown – thanks, Juanita

He resent my e-mail with his responses in red:

The developer (Ashcroft? of Fresno)  has paid the impact fees for the low-income portion of Meriam Park, but no road impact fees have been paid for Meriam Park, is that correct? What about Forgarty? Any of the others named in that lawsuit threat? I realize the fund is empty now – did they ever pay? 

 

The low income housing project should have paid the appropriate development impact fees before or during the construction of that housing project. I’ll ask city staff to provide the calculation and indicate what was paid in the way of development impacts fees. (digressing for a moment) Fees that were probably paid with RDA, State and/or Federal grants or loans. And of course, the property is now off of the property tax rolls. 

 

Development impact fees are usually not collected until construction begins (or is completed) on actual structures (homes, buildings, etc). The vast majority of Meriam Park is still vacant land. Same is true of the Oak Valley Subdivision (Fogarty) it is vacant land on which impact fees would not yet normally have been assessed or paid. 

 
 

Also, could you give me an example of what you mean by “reasonable funding”?  

 
A GREAT example would be to use development impact fee surpluses on hand at the city. The problem is that the fund is already in a deep deficit position. See Fund 308 on page 87 of the following PDF: 
 

Clearly the Council did not find any of the 3 alternatives presented on Tuesday to be “reasonable”. 

 

If and when the State Department of Finance actually allows the City to use the remaining (approx) $6 million in RDA bond proceeds for projects, the HWY 32 project could be a candidate for consideration. 

 
 

Thanks for your help understanding this issue – and, I’d also like to invite you to our next CTA meeting, Sept. 1, 9am, library. I can get the room earlier if you’d like, and probably get at least Stephanie and Sue to show up for some discussion of these latest developments Downtown – thanks, Juanita

 

At this moment, I don’t know if I’ll be in town for the Labor Day weekend….

I thanked Mark, for responding.  But the whole thing really pisses me off. Developers don’t pay their way, they never have. But, try being a developer, dealing with the City of Chico! It’s a meeting of nasty dogs, don’t get too close, you will get bit.  

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss…

21 Aug

Sheesh I hate those night time meetings. I keep saying I won’t attend another one – for what purpose? The usual circus, freak show and bullshit storm? Sitting all night fielding their garbage, three minutes to puke out my thoughts, and then sit/stand and wait while they wax moronic for another 50 minutes? 

What I really hate is, they get to respond to your remarks, say whatever they want, but you don’t get to respond to their response. That’s why I went down there last night and asked them to leave the morning meetings alone.  I’m not sure what they actually voted to do, but it sounded as though they will actually be adding meetings.

At last I got in on a real  movement – remember Folks, what Arlo Guthrie said, in Alice’s Restaurant and Massacree:

 “One Guy is NUTS, Two Guys are (not politically correct), but THREE GUYS, THAT’S A MOVEMENT! “

Well, more than three guys stood up last night to tell council that the committee meetings are important. In fact, the Art Commission made a regular run on the place – out of 15 speakers I’m going to say at least nine spoke directly in favor of keeping the arts commission in tact. A lot of them just spoke about how bad we need art, but most of them spoke of the need for more public input in general. Jessica Allen actually said she agreed with me – stop the presses!

Several members of council, including Ann Schwab, expressed the same sentiment. Schwab remarked that many people don’t like to come to council meetings. Boy is she right. For years I’ve sat through meetings she agendized and ran poorly, hours into the night discussing “proclamations” about human trafficking and corporate personhood. Goloff seemed worse – my husband timed her one night – it took her almost 5 minutes to explain how to fill out a speaker card.  

I almost expected last night’s meeting to be better run, but it was more of the same shit we got from Schwab and Goloff.  Five items agendized as one, and the conversations all over the place. Gruendl even joked about speakers having three minutes to discuss 5 items – oh ha ha Scott, you suck.

Mark Sorensen, Mary Goloff and Scott Gruendl all said public meetings cost a lot of money. Mark Sorensen says they take staff away from other important activities, but wouldn’t elaborate. I’m saying, BULLSHIT BRUDDAH! What do they do Downtown that they can’t do in front of the public? They have conversations with stake holders, do special favors for people “under the wire” as Bob Summerville likes to say, that’s what they do down there.

Just when I thought they were going to move to end the committee meetings,  Scott did something funny I saw him do during a committee discussion about canning the Economic Development Committee – he actually ended up expanding that committee, with some of the meetings occurring between staff and local business owners, other at the city building, and all supposedly open to the public. They’re even hiring a new Economic Development Director, as if we can afford another management salary. All out of a suggestion Nakamura made to get rid of that committee.  

Ha ha Brian. I see Nakamura sitting at those meetings like a corpse, I know his life is hell, I’m waiting for him to quit and move along to the next teat.

Likewise, last night Gruendl agreed to leave the committees in place, adding “special study sessions.” He also says, right now the clerk is working with a new Granicus setup to allow the meetings to be interactive or something. 

I really don’t understand how Gruendl’s plan saves any money, and the interactive bullshit will only be available to the owners of Smart phones. Great, another investment in already been there technology, just like the phone system at the cop shop. But, if it allows the committee meetings to stay in place, that’s okay with me.  I guess.

I also wanted to stay for the Hwy 32 widening conversation – I wanted to tell those idiots to make the 19 developers who necessitated the widening PAY FOR IT, but why bother? They dragged the previous item out for TWO HOURS, a discussion about scheduling work committees. What the hell? At about 8:45, with a mob romping out on the front lawn waiting for the sit/lie conversation, Gruendl took a break, beginning the Hwy 32 widening discussion at 9pm. Great – the reports took at least 20 minutes, and they were just getting into them when I got home and turned on my box. Tom Varga was going on and on about how sorry he was the project was so screwed up, yadda yadda. This is the man who told us, with the approval of Merriam Park, that our traffic rating on Hwy 32 was going to go from A to D – even with the widening.  He said, at that committee meeting, that traffic would only get worse and worse in Chico, get ready for GRIDLOCK, he said.  Last night he was all full of news about grants he wanted to secure – with matching amounts from US, to pay his own fucking salary, and I assume, that of Ruben Martinez, his partner in crime.  I tuned out, it doesn’t matter – we’re fucked people, this town is on it’s last legs. In five years we will have Bay Area style traffic on and around our freeways, regardless of how many of our property tax dollars are sunk into these “improvements”. 

This is why the committee meetings need to stay in place, the night time meetings are too onerous to attend. As I walked my bike around the building, the lawns in front and on Fourth Street were busy with “sit/lie” protesters, a literally ugly crowd, members of which kept wandering back and forth through the lobby doors, keeping the air conditioning running full-tilt boogie, to see if their item had come up yet. Bill Mash was doing his best to rile them up.

I think the sit/lie ordinance Lori Barker came up with is useless. This whole discussion was a waste of staff time, I knew they wouldn’t pass it when they asked Barker to take all the teeth out of existing ordinances gleaned from other towns. There are already laws against blocking a public sidewalk, being drunk in public, and camping on public property, but for some reason I won’t speculate here, the cops won’t enforce these laws. I’ll never forget  those people who burned to death in Bidwell Park because the city turns a blind eye to transients living in the park. 

I guess the news is, Chico is still poorly run, the change in “leadership” hardly makes a blip on the radar. 

 

 

Tags: , ,

Brian Nakamura finally moving to push the public out of public meetings

20 Aug

Tonight Brian Nakamura will make drastic changes to the committee meeting schedule, eliminating most meetings, and scheduling any remaining committee meetings to run with council meetings.

I don’t expect a lot of you to understand why this is a bad move because you don’t bother to show up so you don’t know what will be missed if Nakamura eliminates these morning meetings. We all know issues are decided by the time they get to council. We also know how it is to attend and try to speak at a council meeting – wait all night, and then get three minutes and no response to bullshit they spout after you sit down. Or, you can wait til  the end of the meeting to talk while they’re putting on their coats, gathering up their junk, and chattering among themselves.

They want to have the committee meetings quarterly, and one suggestion has them scheduled right before city council meetings. Why? Staff is down there from 8 – 5, talking about stuff we should know about – how would it save money to cut the public out of the meetings?

One councilor I talked to about this tried to act sympathetic, but admitted to me, he thinks they can get more stuff done without the public.  Oh great, that’s what we want! These guys being allowed to swing all kinds of deals behind our back, like:

  • the sale of Downtown parking lots to a high density developer – when they tried to have this conversation in a meeting, Nakamura tried to keep the public from talking about the real reason behind “surplussing parking lots” by claiming it was a Brown Act violation
  • the franchise agreement with the garbage haulers – they finally admitted, they’re not doing this to please the customers, so why do they need the customers in the conversation?
  • alcohol zoning – I also got a councilor to admit to me, this effort is being limited to Downtown, just like I suspected. Downtown bar and restaurant owners should be mad because they’re being singled out for punishment, and establishments across town should be mad because they aren’t getting as much service from Chico PD as Downtown
  • the fund deficits – why are the maintenance districts that homeowners pay into EMPTY? This I found out at a morning meeting last January. The maintenance districts that homeowners pay into for stuff like keeping medians mowed and shrubberies watered and trimmed have been sucked dry – these districts have been funded out of the general fund for over a year now. Where did that money go? Are the homeowners not paying enough, or was that money inappropriately shifted to pay salaries and benefits, like the Gas Tax and so many other funds have been pilfered?

These are all issues I have found out about during those morning meetings, and that’s why Nakamura wants to cut off the committee meetings. He wants the public out, we ask too many questions.

The councilor I talked to also stupidly admitted to being able to yak at staff whenever he feels like it. He asked me if he should have recorded a recent conversation with Debbie Presson.

Well, yes. Debbie Presson is our city clerk, she gets paid about $135,000 a year, and complains that her staff has been cut! She says she doesn’t have enough staff to cover these meetings but I don’t really get that – there’s only one meeting at a time, that’s easy enough to make sure of – there are only three committees, and they meeting only once a month at different times. I’m clueless as to why Ms. Presson is allowed to enjoy 10 minutes of casual shit-shooting with a council member, or anybody, but can’t just sashay downstairs to a meeting and take the notes herself. The meetings have been recorded in past, I really don’t understand how NOT recording meetings saves money, but  that’s the kind of doublespeak we get from Nakamura, and Presson as well.

Presson should have to account for her time, who she talks to, and what they discuss in some kind of log, available for review by the public. She should also have to sit at a public desk, where I can sit there and listen to her conversations from the visitor’s area if I feel like it. E-mails going in and out of that office should be available on the city website for viewing by the public.

This councilor I talked to says he is all for sunshine, “moreso than most”. I’m sorry, but if he votes for this move, he’s not for sunshine, he’s for cutting the public out.

Tags: ,

California is the fattest little piggy in the land, but Momma sow is about to make a run for it!

17 Aug

Thanks to CTA co-founder Casey Aplanalp, who sent me an article from Reason.org – “Taxpayers, Pensioners Riding a Wave of Bankruptcies in Detroit and California,” by Adam Summers.

Here’s the link: http://reason.org/news/show/wave-of-city-bankruptcies-pensions

Summers observes, “One might say that California has been the ‘leader’ in municipal bankruptcies. Other than Detroit and Jefferson County, Alabama, which is looking to shave $1.2 billion off its $4.2 billion debt and emerge from bankruptcy by the end of the year, the largest municipal bankruptcies have been in California,” Hearkening back to the $2 billion Orange County bankruptcy of 1994, he lists a string of California cities that have since declared or are in pending bankruptcy.  

And then, “While not all municipal bankruptcies and financial emergencies are due to overly generous pension promises that can no longer be kept, pensions remain a common theme among many of the bankruptcies. A Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research report noted that between 1999 and 2010, pension spending grew an average of 11.4 percent a year in California’s largest cities and counties – more than any other spending category and more than twice as much as spending on education, public safety, welfare, health and recreation.”

One example of a California city that is in deficit not due to pensions is Mammoth Lakes. Mammoth Lakes is a resort town, with a spendy ski resort that caters to the LA crowd. They got into trouble when, after several dry winters with low tourism rates, they got hit with a lawsuit from a developer. Over the development of their airport. Wow, sounds familiar,

But  in Chico, it’s the pensions and benefits in general – look at the budget. There’s a chart that shows how $taff and council bargained those contracts – with the public shoved completely out –  with council agreeing to pay more and more of the “employee share”, until most employees pay 4 percent to nothing for 70 – 90 percent of their salaries, available at age 50.  I don’t know how any intelligent person would think that’s sustainable, I can’t believe the kicking and screaming that’s come out of trying to get these leaches to let go and stand up like human beings to their own responsibilities. 

Governor Brown and the California legislature passed some pretty pissant  “pension reform,” requiring NEW HIRES to pay 50 percent of their pension premium. I would have thrown that deal right back in their limousines if I’d had the chance, what a joke.  First of all, “new hires” means, they’ve never worked for any public entity in any city, county or state. Almost every retirement system in the US has a deal with CalPERS – once you’re in the system, you can go anywhere, and your package is protected, you get the same deal everywhere.  Second, 50 percent is not enough. The whole deal needs to change. Instead of the taxpayers paying most or all and the employees contributing whatever they feel like, it needs to be exactly the opposite – employees pay their own way, and taxpayers contribute for long term loyal service as a bonus to hardworking employees.

Summers seems to agree. He says we not only need to increase the part employee’s pay, and make them pay it, but, “the experience of California shows that it will not be enough. It is simply too easy under existing defined-benefit pension plans to fudge the numbers and pass along unaffordable costs to taxpayers that will not be known for many years. Switching to 401(k)-style retirement plans, as the private sector has done for several decades, would make government pension contributions much more transparent and stable.”

And not just new hires, but current employees. New rules for only certain new hires “would only stop the bleeding, as it would still take years to accumulate significant savings. If state and local governments are to really achieve savings quickly, they must broach the “third rail” of pension politics: decreasing the unaccrued future pension benefits of current employees.” 

Here in Chico, we have a $48 million “unfunded pension liability”.  I believe the employees should pay most of that, especially given their salaries, drastically in excess of the average family’s means. I’m not making a moral statement here, I’m talking Common Sense. I’m tired of hysteria. I’m tired of the guilt trip I’ve been getting lately about people’s feelings. I’m tired of the bullshit  that has passed for a conversation on this issue, and I’m ready to take it to another level.

 

 

 

Latest from Hemet – cash strapped disaster area now shaking down landlords

16 Aug

Landlords wishing to rent out their properties in Hemet will now be required to register with the city.

The City Council voted 4-1 in favor of the registry program Tuesday, Aug. 13. Shellie Milne, who cast the no vote, said she is in favor of the ordinance, but not the idea that property owners will have to pay for both a business license and to register for the program.

“I certainly don’t want to punish the many, many, many good landlords we have,” Milne said.

The ordinance seeks to address substandard housing, maintenance and living conditions at rental properties that affect residents and neighborhoods, and lower property values, according to a report from Community Development Director Deanna Elliano.

It would hold absentee or poor landlords accountable for their properties and tenants, she added.

The idea came out of the Restoring Our Community Strategy citizens’ advisory committee, the 15th ordinance borne from ROCS, which was started to improve the quality of life in Hemet.

“This is what ROCS is about,” committee member Frank Gorman said.

The ordinance is aimed primarily at apartment complexes and single-family homes or duplexes not occupied by the owner. Most senior mobile home parks are not part of the program.

“It’s a shift from a reactive to proactive code-enforcement program,” Elliano said.

Under the ordinance, a property owner seeking to rent out a residence must first complete a registration form and pay registration and inspection fees.

Properties would be inspected each year to identify substandard or unsafe conditions or lack of maintenance.

In addition, property owners or their managers must complete a Crime-Free Housing seminar.

Registration must be renewed annually unless the property has a “Good Landlord” designation, which allows for renewal every three years. That designation would go to properties that are in compliance with city codes and that do not produce a lot of police activity.

“Ideally we’d like to have all the properties in the ‘Good Landlord’ standing,” Elliano said.

The fee will be set at a future council meeting. Elliano said other cities average about $88 for similar programs.

That money would cover the costs of getting the property’s information and for inspections. Additional fees would be charged if inspectors have to return to a property.

The fees are not intended to make a profit, but cover the costs of the program, Elliano said.

Owners of rental properties are supposed to pay $40, plus $1 per unit, for a license to operate in the city. But many don’t Elliano said, and finding those properties, especially single-family homes, could prove difficult.

Elliano said the city could compare names on water bills to tax rolls and also rely on business licenses and title companies.

Refusal to register a property could result in an administrative citation, and continued non-registration could lead to the landlord not being authorized to rent the unit, Elliano said.

The city could potentially place a lien on a property if the owner does not maintain it or correct the sub-standard housing conditions, and the city has to fix the nuisance. Properties that continue to have a history of code violations that go uncorrected could be subject to court action.

The registry will be phased in, with apartment complexes expected to comply by Dec. 31 and single-family homes and duplexes by July 1.

Follow Craig Shultz on Twitter @PE_CraigShultz and online at blog.pe.com/author/cshultz

Facing the enemy

16 Aug

I’ve tried to get up earlier lately – 4:30 – 5 am, the stars are just outrageous. Orion rises from the East, in all his glory, ready for the Autumn hunt. It’s Dog Days folks – that time of year when dogs and old ladies go crazy.

Speaking of things that drive you crazy, yesterday I was invited to have breakfast with some folks who wanted to know more about the unfunded pension liability that currently hangs over our heads like the sword of Damocles.  Here, we think we live in a nice little town, but our city $taff is constantly pointing to perils and mishaps that might befall us if we don’t wise up and shake down some more tax monies. 

To make a long story short, I was invited by one man who already seemed to get it, to speak to a group that largely wasn’t going to get it.  Maybe not ever.  

I sat through their meeting, during which various members gave thoughts on the 20-something city employee pensions over $100,000. Many of them admitted they were public employees themselves. Most of them admitted, right off the bat – they knew members of the 21, played golf with them, did business with them – “some of these people are our clients…”  

Others opined that it’s not the employees’ fault that they were tempted by Satan and gave in.  Where’s Aunt Esther when you need her? People have lost their sense of shame, maybe it needs to follow them around in the form of a mean old lady with a handbag. 

One gentleman summed it up – “just because I didn’t opt for a public sector job doesn’t mean I am going to sit around and whine about the salaries…”  For a minute I thought, “I’ve wasted my time down here…”

But a few, including the fellow who invited me, seemed to be genuinely concerned about the course our city is taking. One man actually used the word, “unsustainable.” 

And, I realized, I have spent the last year and a half preaching to my little choir at the library, people who have already pledged their dedication to watch dogging the city and wrestling with our spending problem.  Facing a hostile audience is far more productive. Frankly, I hope I got up some asses yesterday. Maybe I should have been a proctologist! That’s where I do my best work! 

Speaking of hostile audience, get a load of this exchange I had with David Little over my letter run this morning. For one thing, I had to resend – I noticed, I’d sent my letter before John Salyer sent his letter, but my letter had not run. This happens about 30 percent of the time, especially when Little is away from the desk for whatever reason. But when I saw it this morning, I saw that for no reason they had edited my letter. Read on.

On Thu, Aug 15, 2013 at 1:48 PM, juanita sumner  wrote:

Hi,

 
I haven’t seen this letter run, and I know John Salyer sent his letter after mine, so I’m wondering if mine was lost in transit, and I’m resending. Sorry for any inconvenience – JS
From: juanita sumner
Subject: letter to editor
Date: Sun, 11 Aug 2013 15:14:05 -0700

What was ex-mayor Dan Herbert thinking when he approved the “memo of understanding” that linked city salaries to “increases in revenues but not decreases”?   That MOU resulted in raises as high as 22 percent.  

 

That deal was outed to the public by journalist Richard Ek. Maybe Herbert thinks Ek was “throwing stones” (Letters, 8/11/13), but Ek’s scrutiny led to the end of that provision in the public contracts. Unfortunately, management was quick to replace it with another provision that the taxpayers pay most or all of city employee’s benefits and pension premiums. With the salaries already inflated, the resulting benefits and pensions packages have just about broken our collective back. 

 

Can Dan Herbert explain how the pay raises that new city manager Brian Nakamura immediately secured for himself and other department heads, over $500,000 in “supplemental budget appropriations,” will solve our fiscal crisis? I am focusing on the budget, even though city management continues to throw up distractions like the closure of our public park and threats to roads and public safety unless we taxpayers are willing to put up more money – now a garbage tax? 

 

The city already enjoys a $43,000,000 budget, despite the slight of hand called “reorganization.” Too many city employees still enjoy salaries three, four, five times the median income, paying little or nothing toward obscenely generous benefits packages. 

 

Questioning the actions of elected officials and staff is every citizen’s right and responsibility.  

 

Juanita Sumner, Chico Ca

Little answered:

From: dlittle@chicoer.com
Date: Thu, 15 Aug 2013 19:54:04 -0700
Subject: Re: FW: letter to editor
To: juanita sumner

I’m away on business, but I know we received. Thanks for your patience. It will run.

David Little
Editor, Chico Enterprise-Record/Oroville Mercury-Register
DFM NorCal cluster editor
400 E. Park Ave., Chico, CA 95927
Telephone: 530-896-7793
Twitter: @ER_DavidLittle
I wrote back
On Fri, Aug 16, 2013 at 5:28 AM, juanita sumner  wrote:

I see it this morning – I’ll tell you what’s weird – it’s been edited. Why? 

 
I put the date of Herbert’s letter, somebody inserted “to quote Herbert’s letter” – ? 
 
This is going to sound silly, but I don’t like my letters edited unless there’s a good reason. A little mix-up in wording can change the meaning of a sentence, or make a letter sound  confusing and stupid. If there’s a problem with a letter, please send it back.   I don’t think it’s appropriate to edit a letter to the editor.
 
Sorry to be a nuisance, but that never happened before, so I thought I’d better say something  – Juanita

Watch the change in tone

From: dlittle@chicoer.com
Date: Fri, 16 Aug 2013 06:08:37 -0700
Subject: Re: letter to editor
To: juanita sumner

We edit all letters for clarity and content. If you look in the “letters policy” in the newspaper every day, it says words to that effect.

So I just had to ask

What does that have to do with the edit to my letter? My letter was clear and the content was correct. And within the word limit – whoever edited actually added words. 

 
 The problem being, people don’t know where to look for Herbert’s letter now, but I guess they can figure it out.  I spend a lot of my personal time on these letters, just to have some jackamoe edit my thoughts? 
 
This will go on my blog, so people know what to expect when they send in a letter – thanks, Juanita
UPDATE: here’s the response I got from Little – Big Brother Speaks!
From: dlittle@chicoer.com
Date: Fri, 16 Aug 2013 08:03:48 -0700
Subject: Re: letter to editor
To: juanita sumnerSomebody here who’s a copy editor thought your letter was clearer the way it ran. When you meet the writer who doesn’t need editing, please introduce me. I haven’t met such a writer yet. Everyone (even editors) need editors.

This man thinks he knows better than the letter writers what their letters should say? 

But when a guy sent in a letter saying I’d had Chico PD called to my house, Little wouldn’t retract it, or even call the police to check into it. I had to call the man myself, he admitted he’d made the story up, and wrote a retraction the next day.  I guess I was lucky Little bothered to print the  retraction. 

Somebody needs to start a newspaper in this town. Don’t look at me, I ain’t no Daddy Big Bucks. 

UPDATE UPDATE: I’d like to respond once more to Little, and tell him, his paper needs PROOF readers – another stupid mistake in Laura Urseny’s CARD board meeting story – she spells Ed Seagle’s name “Segale”. This kind of stupid error, which could be caught with a quick read through,  abounds in the ER, I just never say anything.   It does bother me – a newspaper that is more concerned about spinning the news than spelling it right?

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →