The city continues to flount it’s promise not to hold non-essential meetings

26 Jul

Here’s a letter I just sent to the Enterprise Record.

When Chico City Council decided to close meetings because of Gavin Newsom’s shut down, they promised they would only hold meetings for  “essential issues.” They instituted an online program called Engaged! and promised citizens would be able to participate despite social distancing mandates. While I have no idea how much they spent on Engaged!, I know it’s cost a lot of staff time trying to get it to work properly.

Since then council has held “special” meetings almost weekly, discussing less than essential subjects. The Finance Committee, the Police Advisory Board, the Bidwell Parks and Playground Commission and now, the Airport Commission, are all holding closed meetings, discussing non-essential subjects without the public in attendance.

Now staff tells me they are not able to put the BPPC or the Airport Commission meetings on Engaged!  They will be relayed on Comcast Channel 11. I believe this is a violation of the Brown Act. Not everyone is privvy to cable tv at $40/month (including the franchise fee paid to the city).

Council has proposed an “open” meeting for August, but has not divulged details as to how they will honor Newsom’s social distancing mandates. Since city chambers is not big enough, despite a recent $390,000 remodel, council has discussed shelling out more money for another venue.

Why not just stop having non-essential meetings? The only essential subject we have to consider right now is how to get our town up and running again before the city is bankrupt.

Juanita Sumner

Ann Schwab has got to go

26 Jul

Who is ready to pay me to move to Ann Schwab’s district? 

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CUSD School Board race 2020 – who will run, and what’s their position on the district’s new decision to keep schools partially closed?

23 Jul

In this upcoming election I’d like to get the voters to pay more attention to the school board race. This race is so under-voted in most elections, the two members up in this election, Elizabeth Griffin and Linda Hovey,  were both appointed due to lack of challengers. Neither of them has announced publicly that they will run for re-election. 

There is one challenger, a well-connected Sacramento politico turned rice farmer, Matt Tennis. Tennis, a Chico native who attended local schools,  is also a member of the Butte County Water Board, and has advocated the Paradise/Chico water transfer. That’s about all I got from a preliminary web search. 

According to his website and Faceblob pages, Tennis is running for school board with a campaign to re-open Chico schools. He is pushing for the district to apply for a waiver of the governor’s closure.

From the state website:

https://www.gov.ca.gov/2020/07/17/governor-gavin-newsom-lays-out-pandemic-plan-for-learning-and-safe-schools/

“There is a single exception. Local health officers may grant a waiver to allow elementary schools to reopen in-person instruction if the waiver is requested by the district superintendent, in consultation with labor, parents and community-based organizations. When considering a waiver request, the local health officer must consider local data and consult with the California Department of Public Health.

The Department also issued updated guidance for when schools must physically close and revert to distance learning because of COVID-19 infections. Following a confirmed case of a student who was at school during his or her infectious period, other exposed students and staff should be quarantined for 14 days. The school should revert to distance learning when multiple cohorts have cases or 5 percent of students and staff test positive within a 14-day period. The district should revert to distance learning when 25 percent or more of its schools have been physically closed due to COVID-19 within 14 days. Closure decisions should be made in consultation with local health officers. After 14 days, school districts may return to in-person instruction with the approval of the local public health officer.”

The board voted July 15 to re-open according to the Governor’s rules – groups split between morning and afternoon, and on a rotating schedule – Monday, Wednesday, Friday one week and Tuesday, Thursday the next. Face shields will be required and temperatures will be taken. 

https://www.actionnewsnow.com/content/news/Chico-parents-teachers-and-school-board-discuss-reopening-schools-amid-pandemic-571785901.html

I’m not sure if this is what Tennis wanted, or what the waiver would mean,  but I believe the board’s decision is a disaster for working parents. I’m just glad I don’t have school age kids anymore. I’ve never liked the idea of public school as free babysitting, but the fact is, working parents depend on having a safe place for their kids to learn. Our economy depends on it. What are parents supposed to do with their kids the other 2 – 3 days a week? Are they supposed to leave their jobs (including those who work 50 or more miles out of town) to pick their kid up at lunch time, and then what? 

As the child of working parents, I know this isn’t going to work. The state’s economy is going to tank if they don’t fully open the schools. Not to mention, the kids will get behind. And we can’t afford to get any further behind in education in this state. According to US News, California public schools have an overall ranking of 37 out of 50 states, with a 40 in “quality” and a 38 in “safety”.

Remember what strikes did to baseball and hockey? 

I don’t know how either Hovey or Griffin voted on this issue – one board member voted No, reasons unknown. 

I’d like to hear from some of you working parents what you think of this decision. 

UPDATE: The governor has put Butte County on the Shit List, so the district may have to go back to online learning in the fall. 

 

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Mel Granskog: Prop 15 funds will go to the General Fund, “we will have no say in how it will be dispersed”

22 Jul

I’ve been busy lately, it’s hard to keep an eye on everything. I’ve been reading up on various state propositions,  but I haven’t had time to talk about them. I’d like to thank Mel Granskog for doing his homework and writing a great letter to the editor. I think the most damning point he makes is that the money will go into the General Fund, “we will have no say in how it will be dispersed.” 

By  |

 

Prop 15, The Schools and Communities First Initiative, is being sold as a way to help local education.  This is a constitutional amendment to eliminate Prop. 13 that was passed in 1978.  Prop. 13 limited property tax to 1% of the purchase price, with provisions to increase each year by 2% or the inflation rate, which ever is less.

Initially the change would only impact certain categories of commercial property, so the homeowner may vote for it thinking it will not cost him any money.  If this passes, it will soon apply it to all property.  We need also to be aware that any increase in cost for a commercial operator will be reflected in higher costs for goods and services.  Most businesses have a very thin profit margin, making the product or service cheaper or lowering wages are not good options for staying in business.  Our legislators are trying to convince us that a tax increase on commercial property will not affect you.  What about rent increases?  We already have a shortage of affordable housing; will increasing the landlord’s property tax bill also increase the rent for the tenant?

I encourage you to read the proposition. You will find that most of the increased revenue will go into the general fund.  The remaining will be split between local governments and schools.  Once the general fund gets revenue, we will have no say in how it will be dispersed.

Our state government has adequate revenue; they just need to do a better job of controlling costs.

— Mel Granskog, Chico

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They won’t be accountable if you don’t hold them accountable

21 Jul

I spent most of yesterday on the horn with the city clerk – I got the notice for last night’s Parks and Playground Commission meeting last week, and it said the meeting would only be available on cable Channel 11, with an email address for public participation. When I asked City Clerk Debbie Presson about that, I could tell she was troubled. I know the Brown Act means a lot to Presson. I believe that she agreed with me that it was a Brown Act violation not to have the meeting available for everybody to watch and participate on Chico Engaged. 

My family can’t afford cable, and I don’t think we’re the only ones. We’re glad to be able to afford a meager phone/internet package. Besides, why should I have to have cable when the city has just spent a crap-ton of money updating the technology (as well as the furniture, wall paneling and carpet) in the city chamber, and who knows how much hooking up to  “Chico Engaged!”? That system has it’s flaws, but it’s better than Comcast Channel 11. 

So, I have to hand it to Debbie Presson – she worked her ass off all day yesterday setting up Chico Engaged for that BPPC meeting. I don’t know if that’s even her job, but she wasn’t about to let anything resembling a Brown Act violation go by on her watch. 

But now it’s gone from Granicus. Past council meetings are listed – cause you know what, I bitched about that too, so she added it. But no BPPC meeting. But I’m sorry, I’m not going to complain to Presson again – I could tell she was exhausted when she sent the last email yesterday. 

Why do I care about opening the meetings? Why don’t more people care? That agenda was loaded full of what people have been bitching and complaining about for months now – the condition of the parks and waterways due to illegal campers. The city has finally made it a formal policy, but they’ve been allowing it for years now. I still have the email in which Public Works Director Erik Gustafson told me these people have “4th and 14th amendment rights” to their garbage piles. 

Another big issue on the agenda was fire clearance – but just now, at the end of July? You’re not supposed to mow with metal right now, and you’re not supposed to do it after 11am. But they’re just now discussing their plan for fire clearance in Upper Bidwell Park? There are whole groves of standing dead trees along Hwy 32, left from the 2017 “Stoney Fire”.  Illegal campers pop up constantly in the CalTrans easement right next to the burn scar. In fact, less than a week before the Stoney Fire I reported illegal campers, and even sent Park Director Linda Hermann a picture of a burning cigarette left on a post at the entrance to the Peregrine Point disc golf course. 

Now that area is even more vulnerable, they haven’t mowed the chest high weeds, which are yellow and ready to go. One day we found another cigarette, lying on the ground near a trail. I know it had been thrown down still burning, because it had started to burn the pine needles it was laying on. By some miracle it had just gone out. I believe if it had landed in a patch of that grass we’d have had another Stoney Fire. 

Hey, it’s only been a couple of years, to this date, that my husband and I, driving into town along Hwy 32, noticed a city crew getting ready to mow that vacant lot there on Hwy 32 at Bruce. We wondered what they were thinking, 2:00 in the afternoon, late July, humidity in the single digits. Later that day we heard they’d started a fire and city fire engines were called to put it out. That’s a violation of the law. A man in Shasta County went to prison for 4 years after his lawn mower was blamed for the 2006 Bear Fire. A Tehama County man may still be in prison for the fatal fire he started putting his hot lawnmower in his shed.  But the city of Chico does what it wants without any accountability. Know why? Cause you’re not holding them accountable.

So yeah, that was an essential meeting last night, and it should have been open, or at least on Chico Engaged. I’ll say thanks again to clerk Debbie Presson, along with deputy clerk Dani Rogers, for working really hard to cover these capricious meetings. Council has made these decisions to have closed, non-essential meetings. The Park Commissioners made the decision to go ahead with last night’s closed meeting, without appropriate participation from the public. These are the people who need to be held accountable.

I’ve heard chatter about an open council meeting for the first week of August. But of course, with the social distancing, it will be a tough squeeze getting very many people into the chamber. And Governor Train Wreck is threatening to shut us down again. Wake up and push back Folks, or prepare to be boarded. 

 

 

 

Chico city council candidates turning in their paperwork for November 3 election

21 Jul

Summer half over, election deadlines are passing. Potential candidates for various offices are turning in their paperwork. Here’s the link to city election information.

https://www.chico.ca.us/election-information

In the city of Chico Districts 1, 3, 5 and 7 are up for grabs. There is a map posted at this site but it’s not the greatest. I couldn’t open the link for the “interactive map”, maybe you’ll have better luck. I just happen to know that the line  for my district runs right down my back fence, and then jogs over suddenly to take in a sitting councilor, and then jogs as abruptly back. I also know my district is not up in this election – so, as my uncle used to say, I do not have a dog in this race. 

Not that I don’t care. I don’t believe these districts were necessary – every member of this council will make decisions that affect my life, so I believe in “at large” election. I will certainly keep my eyes and ears open. And my nose, that’s for sure.

I hate the new city website, why they’ve changed things I can only suspect. For one thing, the Public Information Officer who was hired at full salary and benefits has removed stuff that used to be there – like the old campaign reports. She included Karl Ory’s 2017 Intention to Run statement with the current statements – if you look at the page, it looks like Ory is running when he’s made it clear he’s not. 

I also see paperwork from incumbents Schwab, Morgan and Stone.  Rich Ober, who has run in past, filed his intention statement in September 2019, before districts were finalized, so he has not listed his district.  Randall Stone filed a year ago, without a district.  None of the forms include the candidates’ street addresses.  Three new candidates have filed, they list “council member, city of Chico” as their street address, as if told to do so. 

I realize, in past, they’ve redacted the addresses of these people for privacy reasons. I didn’t like that then, because there’s a question of residency that should be proven to the people. If they expect us to swallow the districts, then we need to know where these people live. Are they so afraid of their constituents that they want to live in secrecy? That doesn’t sound good.

Kim Tietz put District 5 on her form and Kami Denlay Klingbell (for some reason she’s dropped her married name all the sudden) is running in District 3. I believe Stone is also District 5.  

Well, that’s what I know so far.  Next time let’s talk about the school board. 

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Time to recall Newsom – he’s shutting down Water Works Park

16 Jul

This morning as I stumbled out of bed and looked at the sky, I realized – it’s Dog Days. I don’t care what science tells you – Dog Days is when people and dogs GO CRAZY.

Add the COnVID, and you got total insanity. 

I recommend staying home. But don’t listen to me – Water Works Park is OPEN FOR BUSINESS! But you better get your ass over there now, because our Fascist Leader and Nose Picker in Chief Gavin Newsom is ordering the place shut down on August 3.

https://www.waterworkspark.com/#news-1

If you are sick of this kind of “leadership”, sign the Recall Newsom petition. I signed it at a gathering recently, and I’m printing it out for my husband later today. Here’s the link with the instructions and form to print. The deadline is November 17 – don’t wait until the last minute. 

https://recallgavin2020.com/update-june-27-2020/

Frankly, I’m sorry I haven’t spoken sooner – it’s funny how the little things are what tick a person off. Don’t mess with my Water Works Park Gavin!  

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Bare your face – it’s not a political statement, it’s a human statement (but yeah, wash your damned hands and stay the hell out of my body space!)

14 Jul

I know people  can get nasty in a crisis. I have seen the bottom pits of human behavior. But I haven’t seen anything like this COVID panic. Local Faceblob groups naming and promoting boycott of businesses they have determined not to be strict enough about masks? What is this, the McCarthy Era?  

Hey, if you can find a website that promotes boycott of businesses who do require masks, let me know! 

Frankly, I don’t want to poke, but it seems to me that most of the ugly, bullying behavior is coming from the mask wearers. I can’t believe how divisive the media has become.  Here, Chico Enterprise Record columnist Kyra Gottesman goes completely off the  deep end in a rant about an incident for which she has absolutely no proof whatsoever. This was not really worthy of print, it’s like something you should write in your diary and then burn it. 

Exhausted with the nonsense | Off the Record

EXHAUSTED WITH THE NONSENSE

By  | Correspondent

My grandmother used to say that out of all the things she ever lost, her mind was what she missed the most. For me, it’s my sense of humor that seems to have taken a bunk, gone MIA this week.

I’ve done pretty darn good the past five months maintaining some sense of hilarity about all the nonsense people spew and post on social media regarding all things COVID, most especially the face mask mandate, but this week, this week I’ve had it.

I’m done being nice about it. I’m done patiently explaining why. I’m done joking and jollying people about it. I’m done with listening to all the whining and complaining about it. I am done.

What finally tipped me over the edge was a woman in the grocery store who literally came right up on top of me while I was picking out some potatoes. She came up so close I could feel her over my shoulder and when I turned my head she was, well, in my face with no mask on.

“Excuse me but please social distance. I’m almost done. Also, they have masks at the front of the store. You could get one,” I politely said to her.

Well those were apparently the wrong 23 words to say because the next thing I knew she was spit-spewing screaming at me about “civil liberties” and “not being a Newsom puppet” and, and, and all the other ridiculous rhetoric the “poorly educated” that IQ45 “loves” so much regurgitate.

As I back peddled away and she kept following me other customers started to either stare or scatter. Finally she gave up pursuit and went back to the potato bin. I headed for a different part of the store and circle back later for potatoes.

With so many bars closed or operating with limited capacity I’m thinking there are probably quite a few unemployed bouncers out there who are quite adept at 86’ing the crazies. Imma thinkin’ grocery stores and other retail facilities should hire these guys.

Hire bouncers to eject people from grocery stores?  If the above is true, she instigated this incident. Instead of getting her goods and getting out of the way, she  tried to get in a fight with a total stranger. Maybe she should have been ejected. Is this where social intercourse is going in the Golden State?

I agree with her on social distancing and hand washing, which, as far as I’m concerned, should always be in  vogue. But the mask argument is weak and inconsistent. The most common statistic out there on a cloth masks is that a person is 4% less likely to inhale the virus if they wear a cloth mask as opposed to wearing no face protection at all.

I just don’t get people balking at this. I’ve asked folks … Do you wear a seatbelt in your vehicle? Do you rant at businesses that post signs reading: “No shirt. No shoes. No service?” Do you wear goggles, hard hats and protective gear when working in certain places (think construction sites) or handling dangerous equipment (think chainsaws and chippers)? Do you take off your shoes, your belt and remove everything from your pockets and allow a full body X-ray and, from time to time, a pat down by TSA before getting on plane? Do you stay seated, wearing a seatbelt with your seat and tray locked in the upright positions when the airplane captain (actually the little tiny symbol lights above the seats) tells you to? Do you wear a helmet when you ride a bike or motorcycle? Do you think it’s perfectly OK to drink and drive?If you answered yes to the first six questions and no to the last, if you are compliant or at least non-combative about these things because you believe these rules, laws or mandates are not infringements on you personal liberties but are put in place for public safety and health then please explain to me how wearing a piece of cloth over you nose and mouth is an abridgement of your rights.

These comparisons just don’t compare. Shoes and shirt in a restaurant is on par with hand washing. I would go so far as to ask some women to wear more adequate seat protection.  Car, motorcycle and airplane crashes kill millions a year, every year. The COVID doesn’t even come close. There no solid facts that a mask protects me anymore from COVID than standing 6 feet away from strangers. 

Yes, it most certainly is an abridgement of my rights to force another ridiculous “necessity” on me that has no proven benefit. I’m not forbidding you to wear a mask, so back the hell off. Literally, please. This woman has a very weird need to control the behavior of others, and that’s fascism. 

And here’s where she just casts herself into a tirade of hatefulness, hook, line and sinker. 

You can’t. Not logically. Not with facts. And, if you try to, I cannot listen to you anymore.  (Read that again, she’s saying she can’t listen to facts…) 

First of all, you self-centered privileged American  (she hates Americans? ) ; you don’t wear the mask just to protect yourself. You wear it to protect others if you are smart enough to understand that you could be asymptomatic and still be a COVID-19 carrier able to give it to someone else who could get very sick or even die. (all based on “could”, like most of the mask argument, this is just plain bullying…)

There is a lot that we do not know about this virus but, there is also a lot we do know about how viruses spread and how to mitigate that spread and those things are: wearing a mask, social distancing and washing our hands.  (Here she admits she doesn’t know much, but still insists masks are a given)

I wear a mask when I go out not for myself but for others, for you, even for the crazy potato-screaming woman. I wear a mask because I want to be part of the solution and not add to the problem. I wear a mask not because I am government controlled but because I am a responsible member of this society who actually cares about people other than myself. I wear a mask because it is, simply, the right thing to do.

She makes herself pretty clear here, that she’s ready to segregate the community between the “decent human beings” and the “morons”. 

Wearing a mask makes you a considerate, decent human being. Not wearing a mask makes you, well, a moron. End of conversation.

So this passes for “journalism” – how sad.  To think this young woman would believe she could change anybody’s mind with these insults and condemnations, poor little thing. I hope she gets her mind back, as well as her sense of humor. 

As for me,  I will continue to go out bare-faced so I can show my smile, with clean hands and from 6+ feet away. I see others doing same. It’s not a political statement, it’s a human statement. 

 

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The county of Butte shares a horrible guilt in the death of Ari Gershman

12 Jul

Yet another tragedy in the news, a murder committed by a man who had been in the custody of Butte County law enforcement numerous times in the past. He was released just earlier this year on his own recognizance, despite previous Failure to Appear. 

John Conway, the man ID’d by Sierra County officials as the suspect in the killing of a Bay Area man, has a long history in Butte County. He’s had two charges of “Failure to Appear” on separate cases just within the last year. He was out on a warrant, charged with grand theft auto, when he allegedly committed this murder.

I guess you could blame AB 109, the legislation that mandated transfer of “non-violent” criminals from state prisons to local jails. But AB 109 also provided funding for expansion and improvements at local jails to accommodate their new incarcerates. So how come Butte County jail is still releasing prisoners due to overcrowding?

The first item I found on this subject was this report from a 2014 Butte County supervisors’ meeting:

http://buttecounty.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=164&meta_id=27757

Three shelters in Oroville were granted AB 109 funding for housing prisoners released due to overcrowding. They were paid according to how many beds they had, at a rate of $550 per bed per month. That was comparable with what people were paying for a room in a apartment in Chico at the time.

The next item I found was an article from 2015

Butte County agencies commended for AB109 response

Some excerpts:

AB109 has been blamed for a 115 percent increase in “failure to appear” charges in the county, which are charges brought on when defendants miss a court date they promised to appear on.

“A defendant’s unwillingness to return to face charges after agreeing to do so delays justice, generates another case, and results in the issuance of a bench warrant,” according to the report. “This leaves prosecutors unable to dispose of cases in a timely fashion…”

In a “timely fashion” means they waste 10’s of thousands of dollars holding hearings at which the defendant is not present, rescheduling another hearing, yadda yadda yadda. You can hear the cash register ka-chinging all day down there. Taxpayer money folks, these perps don’t pay their own attorneys, the taxpayers pay.

All because they have not fixed the jail like they’ve promised again and again.  For years now, Grand Juries have brought up deficiencies at the jail, recommending remodels and expansions to improve simple stuff like sanitation. But here Sheriff Kory Honea mentions another GJ report condemning poor conditions at the jail. This is 2015, and Honea is citing the recent GJ report in his request for $40 million to expand the jail.

Sheriff Kory Honea said the “excessive” number of failure to appear charges demonstrates a need for a “different kind of correctional facility” in Butte County.

A jail is needed that provides a “sufficient amount of space to keep those people who ultimately have demonstrated time and time again that they refuse to come to court and address these problems,” Honea said.

The Butte County Board of Supervisors in August approved Honea’s request to apply for $40 million in state funding to expand the county jail, according to a previous Enterprise-Record report. The expansion would increase the number of beds for inmates, include a medical clinic and offer space for programs like the sheriff’s alternative custody supervision.

And there it is – in 2015, Butte County Supervisors approved $40 million in state funding, with a $4 million match from the county, to expand the jail. What happened to that? Read this July 3 2020 article from the Enterprise Record.

Grand Jury report reinforces need for Butte County Jail expansion

 “Despite budget challenges, some brought on by the Camp Fire, the Butte County Grand Jury report released last week echoed the urgency for expanding the Butte County Jail beyond its current buildings.”

Oh for Pete’s sake, you’re kidding me!

“The 2019-20 Grand Jury report released June 26 examined the inner-workings of the facility, which has an inmate population that fluctuates between 570 and 590 with a maximum jail capacity of 614. Part of the facility was built in 1963, with additional wings added in 1994 and further renovations occurring in 1999.”

But nothing later than 1999? Even though, “In 2014, through Senate Bill 863, the Butte County Sheriff’s Office received $40 million in grant funding with $4 million being matched by the county. The funds allowed for plans to expand the jail north of the main facility in a separate building, as well as an evidence and morgue building.”

And here’s their excuse – read on – they’re blaming the Camp Fire!

“But when bids went out for the drafted plan, the lowest bid the county received came in at $12 million over budget. The Enterprise-Record reported in December 2019 that part of this was due to the Camp Fire as the cost of construction and supplies went up, in addition to a portion of local labor being pushed out, according to Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea.”

They had the money in 2015, but they’re still taking bids in 2019? Where did the money really go? Read this 2014 report from the National Criminal Justice Reference Service http://www.ncjrs.gov

Follow the Money: how California counties are spending their public safety realignment funds (AB109)

Enforcement Cluster 1: Counties that Need More Law Enforcement Resources
Characteristics of counties in enforcement cluster 1: They have a low drug arrest rate, a
low number of law enforcement personnel, and low law enforcement expenditures.
(Coverage: 0.23; Consistency: 0.78)
Counties in this cluster do not have a high rate of drug arrests, and they have not, in
recent times, invested much in law enforcement personnel. They tend to rate below
average on number of full-time law enforcement personnel per resident and law
enforcement expenditures per resident. In other words, they have not heavily focused
economic resources on law enforcement compared to other counties. Thus, they appear
to be using AB 109 funds to strengthen these enforcement apparatuses.
The counties that best fit this characterization are Butte, El Dorado, Kings, Nevada, and
San Benito Counties. Table 3 below displays the relative rank of each of these counties
(out of 58 total counties) on their allocated budgets to Sheriff and Law Enforcement
spending units, alongside their relative ranks on drug arrests, full-time law enforcement
personnel, and change in full-time law enforcement personnel.

So Butte County, ranked No. 6 on the chart, does not fully fund law enforcement. The unfunded actuarial (pension) liability (UAL), for example, is the result of under funding.  Law enforcement has the biggest UAL. According to the report,  the AB 109 money has been going to hire law enforcement personnel, and that means, paying the UAL. 

At the same time they under fund law enforcement, the county board continues to approve “transfers” of mental patients and released prisoners to Butte County “beds” for $550 a day in transfer fees. The transfer money goes to the Butte County Behavioral Health Department. For what? Here’s a hint – the second highest compensated person in Butte County is the head of Behavioral Health, at $240,688/year salary with a $54,138 benefits package. In fact, there are 22 employees in BCBH that make more than $100,000/year in salary, and another 22 that make more than $90,000/year. So,  you can see where the transfer money goes.

And these people don’t go out on the streets to administer to clients – the police and sheriff have to engage them, counsel them, move them along. This is a huge subject of interest in Chico right now, I see people hitting posts here about the transient problem, the crime problem, and the desecration of Bidwell Park and our waterways. I see their posts on other social media. But I don’t know if people are making the funding connection. 

And now this. The County of Butte shares a horrible guilt in the death of Ari Gershman. The Sheriff’s Department has had adequate time and money to expand the jail to meet the demand. The court knew John Conway was a repeat offender with multiple charges of Failure to Appear when he was released on his own recognizance. But when Ari Gershman and his son got in their jeep and headed for a popular off-road vehicle destination, I doubt they knew any of that.  

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Paycheck Protection Program – who doesn’t love doling out taxpayer money?

11 Jul

Dave Howell opened a can of worms with his post about the Paycheck Protection Program. I had heard about this program on the news, but did not realize how much money they were talking about, or who it would be going to, or how.

Dave sent me the spread sheet with all the names, amounts, and lenders, and wow, that was interesting. You can see the spreadsheet – the link is here at Dave’s blog, Chico Taxes. 

Who’s Going to Pay For This?

The first line on the spreadsheet is “$5 – $10 million”  for Sierra Nevada Brewery restaurant. And here’s the stinker – Sierra Nevada founder Ken Grossman is taking it through Golden Valley Bank, a bank he co-founded here in Chico.

Grossman’s bank is lending millions out to local businesses. “How nice!” you say? I don’t think so. I found this article from Business Insider.

https://www.businessinsider.com/banks-could-pick-up-24-billion-ppp-processing-fees-2020-7

July 9 –   “More than 4,000 lending institutions that process loans through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) are in position to split between $14.3 billion and $24.6 billion in processing fees for those loans, per analysis of SBA data cited by The Wall Street Journal. That includes a total of between $1.5 billion and $2.6 billion that the two largest US banks and the program’s biggest lenders, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America (BofA), are set to split.”

Wow, Der Beer Man is going to make out like a bandit – doubling ending the system, getting free money, and fees to dole it out! 

“The fees banks earn for disbursing PPP loans depend on the size of each loan: 5% for loans below $350,000, 3% for loans between $350,000 and $2 million, and 1% for loans above $2 million. On top of those processing fees, banks that disbursed PPP loans will also earn 1% in interest on PPP loans that aren’t forgiven.”

For example, $15,000 for a $1.5 million loan.  Financed and secured with taxpayer money. The Wall Street Journal claim some businesses “will use the net proceeds of fees … to support small businesses and the communities and nonprofits we serve,” but that is not required. 

Apparently the feds are trying to encourage banks of all sizes to get in on the party. According to Abrigo,  “Lenders that are not already SBA 7(a) lenders, the rule said, ‘will be automatically qualified…'”  

http://www.abrigo.com/blog/2020/03/28/how-lenders-prepare-for-sba-7a-paycheck–protection/#

“The SBA Paycheck Protection Plan provides loans of up to $10 million that are 100% guaranteed by the SBA in order to encourage employers to retain employees or bring laid off workers back on the payroll. They are unsecured loans due in 2 years with a fixed interest rate of 1% (initially, the SBA and Treasury said they would be 0.5%, but raised the rates on April 2). They require no collateral or personal guarantees, and no upfront borrower fee payable to the SBA. Another major difference from the regular 7(a) program is that borrowers don’t have to show that they cannot obtain credit elsewhere.”

Wow, I don’t know about you, but this whole thing reminds me of the mortgage banking feeding frenzy of the early 2000’s – no collateral, no personal guarantees, and no upfront borrower fee? 

As you may know, it’s a lot easier to dole out money that’s not yours. Especially when you are doling some of it out to yourself. 

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