Chico Taxpayers Association

Suzanne asked, “Upcoming (Nov 2024) ballot will have another Measure H to vote on. So, Chico will have another sales tax increase??? Say it isn’t so“

I emoted on that briefly here –

I asked the question “for what”. Today I read an article in the Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Association newsletter “Taxing Times” that answered that question.

Tim Bittle, Chief Counsel of HJTA writes, “As local governments demand that voters approve higher taxes, we thought it would be interesting to see how they’re spending the tax dollars you already give them.” He tells the story of a Bay Area Housing Bond (covering nine Bay Area counties) that was dropped from the November ballot because polls showed the measure would lose.

I think a lot of voters would agree that “The greatest need of most local governments is not to build housing, but to balance their budgets – budgets bloated with high employee salary, health insurance and pension costs.” But I wasn’t surprised to read that in the Bay Area’s proposed bond district, “more than 11,000 county and city employees receive $300,000 or more in annual compensation, in fact, a large percentage of that receive more than $400,000/year.”

So here’s Chico already having passed a one-cent sales tax measure, and now Butte County wants to put another cent on top of that. I hear Suzanne asking me right now, how many Chico and Butte County staffers are members of the $300K Club? Good question Suzanne, thank you.

I always check Transparent California because their figures are mostly up-to-date and have compared favorably with the Secretary of States publicpay.gov site.

https://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/2023/butte-county/

https://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/2023/chico/

There you have 8 county and 6 city employees who are members of the $300K Club. How about the county staff sergeant who turns a $114,000 salary into almost $450,000 in compensation – does he live at the sheriff station? Look at the compensation packages, wow, just imagine going to the hospital with that kind of insurance.

Transparent California also lists the individual’s Pension Debt, meaning, their share of the awesome doom that hangs over our local government finances. The unrealistic employee payroll contribution isn’t spit on the griddle, especially with the compounding interest on the unpaid portion. And they want to stick the taxpayers with the big nasty mess they’ve left. Like that roommate that never kicks in on the groceries. Or the rent. Or the utility bills.

The payments are siphoned out of every department, at the expense of infrastructure and other services. The city of Chico budgeted $18 million toward this year’s “catch-up” payment. Next year it will be over $20 million, and more every year.

Adding gas to the fire are the constant salary increases – after the voters passed the city’s Measure H, our manager and his head secretary took two salary increases adding up to 11% over the next year. Head Secretary will be making $198,000 in salary, which will add her to the $300K Club.

So, do you think we should give them more money? Of course you know my answer – NO on H.

No I don’t go to many meetings anymore – I had to blow off the last Ad Hoc development committee meeting to get some work done in my own life. Frankly, I’m tired of going to meetings and sitting through hours of reports and discussions without any chance to participate. At the development committee, the public was not allowed to raise a hand or participate in the discussion. Questions from the public had to be written down, and then the committee can decide whether or not to ask or answer them. There is no agenda and there are no staffers keeping notes.

Bill Brouhard is using this committee for his own gain, or at least, trying to. He’s a land broker, of course he wants more development. He’s using his bully pulpit to try and convince us we don’t have enough housing. Meanwhile, on next week’s agenda, another new housing subdivision comes up for approval. It’s just plain crazy!

Speaking of crazy, I asked a few questions about CARE Court in my last post, and Scott Kennelly came around to tell me I needed to go to a Butte County Behavioral Health Board Meeting. No, thank you, Mr. Time Vampire. I did my own research, and wow, was I shocked. Here’s an article from last year, where Kennelly explains why CARE Court is a moot issue. “having little or no practical relevance, typically because the subject is too uncertain to allow a decision.” I found this news story from a year ago, when Newsom made the mandate for all counties to implement CARE Court.

https://www.actionnewsnow.com/news/butte-county-explains-next-steps-towards-mental-health-courts/article_156bab86-34c0-11ed-b6ba-17d6927f029d.html

According to Kennelly, “At any time someone in care court can say they don’t want anything to do with this and walk, there’s no teeth…” And, at the time, Kennelly complained that BCBH did not have the staff or funding to implement it.

But what I found most distressing when I read more into this subject, CARE Court is not an option for drug or alcohol abuse, it only applies to the very mentally ill. Drug abuse will get a person sent to Drug Court, but only “nonviolent offenders whose were charged with a low-level crime such as drug possession.”

Seven counties implemented CARE Court last year, ahead of the state mandate.

https://www.cerescourier.com/news/local/care-court-and-running-so-how-effective-it/

“Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment (CARE) Court creates a new civil judicial division that handles petitions to get people with untreated schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders into county treatment programs. These individuals can be housed or unhoused. People with only substance use disorders, depression or other mental health issues do not qualify for CARE Court.“

Of the 30 petitioners, the article cites 12 “taken off the streets” without really explaining what that meant. Stanislaus County Assistant Chief Executive reads my mind – “I think at times people thought it was a silver bullet (for homelessness).” I naively thought it was the beginning of getting people off the street. I’ve dealt with friends, family and their circle of friends living on the street, and I honestly believe most people are on the street because of drugs, alcohol, and the mental and physical health issues related to substance abuse. But Kennelly is right – you can’t force people into drug treatment, that’s still against the law. I know I’ve never had the nerve, as bad as I wanted to, to tie somebody up and hold them against their will, force their meds down their throat, I could never do it. So we’re back to jail and prison, and overcrowding that has them right back on the street. No wonder Kennelly didn’t want to elaborate here, he has no solution.

Why do we even have a Behavioral Health Department?

Yeah, I know – the county has put a sales tax measure on the ballot – again, Measure H, a one cent sales tax. This of course means 2 cents on every dollar for Chico.

This comes as Chico’s retail sector is taking a dump, Downtown is about to undergo a total sewer revamp, and crime is ever on the rise. Oroville is also suffering daily reports of violent crime.

The other day my husband and I made a final decision – we’re not shopping at Safeway anymore, at all. For years we enjoyed the Safeway on Mangrove, walking or biking down to pick up household needs almost every day. But as we’ve watched prices go up, we’ve watched the Safeway near our house fall into decay. We’ve seen shoplifters, even intoxicated people actually opening and drinking liquor inside the store. We’ve watched management escort these people into the parking lot and leave them – leaving customers to deal with them? One guy, two bottles in hand, just walked over to Kwando, laid down on the sidewalk, drank himself sick, and passed out. For the past few years we’ve been reading one story after another about how Safeway management refuse to press charges for increasingly violent shoplifters. We notice there has to be another victim involved before the perpetrator is arrested, and it usually has to be bad.

Wow, when I think, my grandma used to shop at the Safeway on Nord, I get the shivvers. What a dump that place has become, it’s scary, I wouldn’t pull over there to make a 9-1-1 call.

Downtown is starting to look very bad. On that note, Tom Van Overbeek has called for a discussion at next week’s council meeting about abandoned, neglected, and unmaintained buildings – he doesn’t specify a particular part of town but you know he means Downtown and that’s where the focus will be.

There’s another meeting of the Ad Hoc development committee chaired by Van Overbeek and Addison Winslow – 2:30 Tuesday Sept 17. We’ll see what they have to say.

Valley’s Edge is not dead, Bill Brouhard is absolutely determined to shove it right down Chico’s throat, damn the voters. Mr. Brouhard told a gathering of the city’s new Ad Hoc Committee on Growth and Development that he believes developers should lead the conversation. He’s convinced City Council to establish an “Ad Hoc Committee on Growth and Development,” of which he is a member. He’s brought in reinforcement – a team of realtors to drive in his point: Chico doesn’t have enough housing.

At the second meeting of this committee, Chico real estate agents Brent and Derrick took turns trying to convince us that Chico doesn’t have enough housing, and that’s why housing is so expensive right now. But they also explained that people aren’t buying because interest rates are so high – if interest rates weren’t so high, people could afford more expensive houses. Of course, if interest rates go down, buyers come flocking in, and then there’s not enough houses, so prices go up.

Talk about circular reasoning – I hope you left your breadcrumbs, cause we been here before. At least twice in my adult life, City of Chico council, staff, and development community have told us that we needed to “build more housing for starter families” and “more affordable housing“. Followed by benders of annexation and development, government programs to encourage people to borrow more money for houses they couldn’t afford, and finally by the housing crashes of 1990 and 2008. Both causing major recessions that affected the housing market and the general economy for many years thereafter.

The above description is from my memory. Here’s the AI Overview generated by my search — The 2008 recession was caused by a number of factors, including a housing bubble, low interest rates, and government policies that encouraged home ownership:

• Housing bubble (a period when house prices rise beyond what is considered reasonable or sustainable, usually due to demand, speculation, or overzealous investing) – The housing bubble was a major driver of the economy before the recession, leading to record levels of residential construction.  
• Low interest rates – Mortgages were given to unqualified borrowers at low interest rates, which led to asset bubbles and a housing price crash when borrowers were unable to repay.  
• Government policies – Government policies encouraged home ownership, even for those who could not afford it, which led to lax lending standards and unsustainable housing prices.  
• Record household debt – The decades before the crisis saw record levels of household debt, which led to a balance sheet recession when housing prices began to fall.  
• Homebuilding decline – The housing market crash led to a decline in homebuilding, which reduced the supply of new homes.  
• Seller’s market – The lack of supply and increased demand created a seller’s market, which led to increased home prices.  

The 2008 recession was the worst economic downturn in the United States since the Great Depression.

Yep, that’s exactly how I remember it, and it’s what I’ve seen again over the last couple of years. First, “record levels of residential construction.” Chico has been building like crazy (unfortunately, not on Brouhard’s land). But you see, prices have not gone down. And here we are, again – “Seller’s market – The lack of supply and increased demand created a seller’s market, which led to increased home prices...” If you put up the For Sale sign, they will come. Brent and Derrick report people are back to bidding right now in Chico, and homes are going for more than asking price.

Our development community, encouraged by our “city leaders”, keeps stepping in the same pile of shit they’ve stepped in again and again. They keep telling us building will bring down the price of housing, and according to Brent and Derrick, that just brings more people and higher prices. This is a case of circular reasoning if I ever saw one.

Believe what you see, and what I see right now is another housing bubble.

I’m sorry to hear about the death of Adam Andrzejewski, head of Open the Books. He’s been quoted as saying, “In God we trust, politicians we must audit…”

You can quote me here – if you voted for them, it’s up to you to hold a candle to their ass, or take what you get. And if you don’t vote, don’t complain. And crapssake – educate yourself, don’t be a sucker!

Don’t take my word for it – look at different sources. This week my husband and I saw total bias – in both directions – in the news regarding the Kamala Harris interview. Various news sites were divided down the middle between those who claimed Harris had done a great job and those who said she didn’t. And then there’s the polls, which are coming in wildly different, depending on which source.

I saw an interview with a guy who does surveys and I’ll never pay attention to another survey as long as I live. What a scam – surveys are used to sway opinion, not to gauge it. Jimmy Stewart and Jane Wyman did a movie back in the 1940’s – when surveys were new – that explains how surveys are done and how they are used – Magic Town. You can find it on Youtube. It’s funny and educational.

I know the issues that are important to me and first among them is my personal economy. It’s not just the grocery store, look at your utility bills – the cost of living has skyrocketed just the last few years. I heard Donald Trump say he would “lower” our utility bills, I’m interested in hearing HOW. I do know that Kamala Harris, who, as state Attorney General, was given the opportunity to clean up the California Public Utilities Commission by bringing CPUC President Michael Peevey up on bribery charges. She had the goods on him, but told us, tough luck Kids, I let the Statute of Limitations expire…

Yes, google Michael Peevey – he was taking bribes from the heads of various utility companies, including PG&E. He was meeting with them in a luxury hotels all over Europe.

Peevey not only approved their constant rate increases but helped them hide information about their blatant and horrific acts of negligence in the San Bruno gas explosions and ratepayers forced to shoulder the enormous cost of mistakes made at San Onofre nuclear power plant. When this all became public, he was forced out of his job – with a pension and a fancy party – but never prosecuted. I found a lot of articles about frustration with Harris’ “malpractice” and “inaction”. This story details what she did, should have done, and didn’t do. Critics accuse her of “Democratic Party loyalty” instead of loyalty to the citizens of California. I believe so too.

https://www.kqed.org/news/10928651/critics-unhappy-with-kamala-harris-approach-to-san-onofre-probe

This article from 2020 says she set the stage for the wildfires that have become commonplace.

https://thefederalist.com/2020/10/12/consumer-watchdogs-say-kamala-harris-looked-the-other-way-while-utilities-set-stage-for-wildfires/

Yes I believe they are right, our Democratic leaders here in California are so beholden to PG&E – look at this article about PG&E campaign donations.

https://www.abc10.com/article/news/politics/california-politicians-campaigns-2-million-pge/103-4161feb9-1591-4ffc-9fda-d9c49d7173b8

When I was a kid, “Good Old Boy” was a common liberal label for conservatives. Meaning, you scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours. Well, how times have changed – now we have liberal Good Old Girls!

One final thing I’ll say is that if our local leaders want to lower the cost of housing they need to remember that part of the cost of housing is utilities. But they add a Utility Users tax of 5% to our water and PG&E bills and franchise fees on PG&E and Comcast. They also refuse to stand up to Cal Water or PG&E when they make their constant bids for rate hikes. The city can file a formal protest and that would go a long way, but they won’t because they make a lot of money off our utility rate increases.

I’m old, and I don’t know how much longer I can stand here waving my middle finger at The Good Old Boys and Girls, you people need to stand up and start making some noise.

Chico citizens are worried about the shigella outbreak, but as usual, city management pooh-poohs their concerns.

I have heard from a man who has had a positive test for shigella. He says it’s horrible, non-stop diarrhea, dehydration, and it’s easy to keep catching it when you have no place to wash your hands. The county health department has confirmed 44 cases so far. But staff has tested the water at One Mile, and denies any contamination? When we have people living in the park and using the creek as a toilet, the rest of us are supposed to believe we’re safe from catching it?

Shigella is a bacteria that spreads with contact, and according to this article, while it can be spread through public swimming areas like creeks and streams, it is hard to test the water for it. While it only takes one bacillus to catch this illness, it is hard to test streams, because the bacteria live in pods that float in the water. Experts say to be sure to collect a lot of samples, especially at “entry areas,” like the steps at Sycamore Pool. We don’t know how city employees conduct these tests. I do know, that in past, city officials have released test results, and they have accepted the lowest levels considered “safe” by health officials.

From the Safe Drinking Water Foundation – https://www.safewater.org/fact-sheets-1/2017/1/23/shigella

Shigellae may be more prevalent in surface waters, such as rivers, lakes and shallow wells, than in groundwater sources. Surface waters can be easily contaminated by sewage. Water treatment plants can remove Shigellae with the use of chlorine, so the bacteria are more prevalent in raw, untreated water. Shigellosis occurs more in the summer than in the winter. Communities that effectively treat sewage and keep water supplies safe drastically reduce the number of cases of shigellosis.

My advice is, don’t swim in untreated water. While City of Chico claims to empty and hose out Sycamore Pool once a month, it’s not chlorinated.* Here’s an article from Santa Cruz, California public health department

https://www.santacruzsalud.org/HSAHome/HSADivisions/PublicHealth/CommunicableDiseaseControl/Shigella.aspx

Creeks, rivers, lagoons, and ocean water may be contaminated with bacteria that can result in gastrointestinal illness. Protect yourself and your pets by not swimming or bathing in creeks, rivers, lagoons, and ocean water known or suspected of being contaminated.

In past, old timers have always told me, don’t swim in local creeks after July, some say June. Here’s a simple reason – there are cattle in the hills above Chico, all along Chico Creek. When my family camped at a campground off Hwy 32, there were cow pies in every direction, all over the creekside. Cattle carry giardia, a parasite that gets into water and infects humans and other animals such as your dog. It’s a real problem with children because they tend to swallow more water.

Now we have an aggressive bacteria that has been reported in Shasta and then Butte County – it spreads quickly by way of the unhoused population, through feces that is deposited along our waterways. The city takes a blind eye on the water quality in the park. Why aren’t they announcing the actual numbers on their tests? How about dates? These tests need to be done regularly as long as the county health department is reporting an increasing number of cases.

And it’s not just water – it’s drinking fountains, park fixtures such as picnic tables and benches, public doors and doorknobs, restaurant fixtures – don’t be afraid to ask your server when was the last time they washed their hands! Ask them how often the tables and chairs are sanitized. When there was a Hepatitis virus outbreak up the entire west coast, tourists in San Diego got it from eating in a restaurant’s sidewalk dining area.

Stay safe. Since the city of Chico takes such a laissez-faire attitude toward this outbreak, I’d avoid Downtown, especially outside dining areas. It’s so funny to look back on how the city of Chico reacted toward the COVID hoax, but learned nothing.

* BT asked me about how often the city actually cleans Sycamore Pool at One Mile. The website says every Thursday, but when I went over there last Thursday morning, I didn’t see anything. But this morning about 9am I saw crews emptying the pool, so I’m not sure what their schedule is. I know they’ve had a lot of concern over elevated levels of bacteria. But like I told BC, how does this weekly washing of one area in lower park guarantee there’s no bacteria in the water? Maybe if they’d just answer the question – how is Shigella spreading around town?

As more details emerged about the origin of the Park Fire, I wondered what kind of staffing goes into maintaining the park. I mean, where were the rangers when all this was happening?

Click to access webcityemployeesbydepartment_4.pdf

I was shocked – only two sworn park rangers? One is listed with the police department, the other with parks. A former ranger has been moved up to “Asst Parks Manager”.

Was this the reason for the slow response to the scene? The man was witnessed behaving erratically and driving his car in a dangerous and destructive manner. Calls were made, but by the time emergency responders arrived, the fire was out of control and on its way to destroying whole communities miles from Chico.

Here’s a scenario from a parallel universe – two rangers in the Upper Park, every day, seven days a week. These sworn officers would patrol the park road and all the swimming holes and parking lots from between the golf course/shooting ranger area and the end of the road. I believe this man would have been arrested if we had two rangers on duty every day and they worked the road and various parking lots diligently. Like Ranger Bob – he would have caught the guy, let’s face it you couldn’t get anything over on Ranger Bob.

How to pay for it? They just raised our sales tax promising us better and safer parks and instituted a $2 a day charge for bringing a car into the upper park. They said they would be hiring more sworn rangers – when? Crime has been a problem for years, when do we get more law enforcement in the park? Is it some kind of no man’s land?

I will just have to wonder what Ranger Bob would say.

The above post includes one of several emails I sent to city staff and council about illegal camping at and around the Peregrine Point disc golf course in Upper Bidwell Park, back in 2018. About a week after I sent this email, a fire started at the Peregrine Point disc golf course, threatening homes all along the east side of Hwy 32.

https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/California-Wildfires-Stoney-Fire-in-Chico-burns-13072329.php

https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2018/7/12/stoney-fire

It became known as the Stoney Fire. A man living along that section of Hwy 32 told us he’d seen the first responders “rescue” a man who admitted to having a camp fire. It eventually burned 962 acres and left dead standing trees that still present a safety hazard for park goers.

So the Park Fire was no surprise to me. We’ve watched Bidwell Park sink into a state of disgrace – overgrown trees, dead branches laying in dead weeds, power lines threading through a jumble of branches. Park trees touching private trees all the way down Vallombrosa. A recent fire that threatened homes near Lost Park even had former councilmember Bob Evans worried enough to write a letter to the editor.

We’ve seen the city’s safety contractors milling around Lower Park for the better part of a year, but we’ve seen no tree work, unless one of those giant branches falls directly across the road. I’ll never forget this story – a man in Glenn County was driving his daughter to Chico State. As they drove along the highway the man noticed a huge branch about to break in front of him. He had to make a split second decision – slam on the brakes at 50 mph, or jam it! He jammed it, and the branch fell across the trunk of the car, crushing it. He and his daughter were uninjured.

Think you might have to make a decision like that driving along Vallombrosa or South Park Drive? It’s not unlikely.

Just imagine Lower Park on fire. I live a block from Lower Park. I’ve been worried about my house burning down in the middle of the night for almost 10 years, since a man and woman were burned to death in a tent right along the fence bordering Vallombrosa. Then there was the freshly blackened spot we found one morning riding our bikes into the park at Crister.

This Park Fire lays at the feet of our city council, as well as the city manager and his management top-heavy staff. Ignoring years of warnings, ignoring good sense, they ignored our wonderful park while they poured money into Downtown and their own pockets. Now their neglect is coming home to roost, with the rest of us.

As I write I’m worrying about friends living in Forest Ranch, Manton, Paynes Creek, wondering about Anderson? The city of Chico takes their place next to PG&E.

As I sit out this latest heat wave, I can’t help but think about folks living on the streets, including people I know.

Here’s the question I have – how did they get there? I’ve known some of these people for years. They grew up in a house, with a mom and dad, and many of them were well-loved and well-educated. They had the usual traumas in life – disappointment, death, loss – these are things that happen to people. Life is not fair. But, life is also full of opportunities, and these people, for some reason, ignored those opportunities and chose the low-hanging fruit – unemployment, drug and alcohol, dysfunction, and oftentimes, criminal activities.

I can’t help but feel, the people that I know who have chosen the street life, knew better, are better people than that, deserve better. But I don’t know how to help them – they want to be in control of their own lives, but somehow they are not. They’ve handed their lives over to drugs and alcohol, for the most part, and those things are easier to get in Chico than a square meal.

What we can do is clean up the environment they’re living in, starting with the criminal element that is responsible for the drug traffic. In Redding they’re doing criminal warrant sweeps of homeless camps – in Chico they hold up their lawsuit and tell us they have to give two weeks’ notice before they clear a camp. “And you better not have any fucking drugs!”

When they clear the empty camp, they don’t make arrests, they just come in to clean up the disgusting mess. Depot Park has been closed for almost a month since the last sweep, dead brown dirt, garbage cans over-flowing with mattresses? How many of these campsites are infested with fleas? Remember they had to close Downtown Plaza a few years ago for a flea outbreak after they cleared the homeless encampment there.

When I watched the video from the recent special council meeting regarding the new Supreme Court ruling, somebody used the phrase “Third World Country”. I don’t think that’s an exaggeration.

This ruling will mean nothing more than a round-trip conga line to Oroville. Arrestees will be back to a new camp within a couple of days, maybe less. The jail is overcrowded as it is, and I’ll predict, having problems with runaway bacterial infections among the residents. And staff?

A friend of mine wonders, what is the city’s tactic here? Do they think they can just annoy these people away? You know who they’re annoying away – decent cops and other public employees who have to take the brunt of this shit. Why would you want to work here? You want to clean up homeless camps where you may very well get a nasty disease? How about Chico Area Recreation District staff? I’ll never forget the CARD employee who got locked in the bathroom he was cleaning at the skateboard park because some jerk had broken off the inside doorknob.

I just checked the CARD website – the skate park is regularly closed for periods up to 72-hours because of vandalism. The most recent closure was last week. We pay for employees to apply a fresh coat of paint to the “urban art zone” (bathroom) once a month.

Our town is mismanaged – and when the fish stinks, it’s the head of the fish that stinks. Again, here we have an 8-headed fish, including four council seats that need to be turned out, and a city manager who needs to be sent out on a rail.

Ironically, I’m watching a tv news story now about 2-time Mayor Andrew Coolidge announcing he will not seek another term because he’s accomplished everything he wanted when he ran. Really? Coolidge signed the first Shelter Crisis Designation that led to the Warren vs Chico lawsuit.