Colossal waste of time – trying to engage a Chico city council member about why they perpetuate the CalPERS disaster

18 Oct

(Sorry the following is messy and crammed together – I cut and pasted it out of my e-mails, VERBATIM, I don’t have time to fix it)

Me:

Hi Randall,

I’m sorry I didn’t ask you sooner, but do you understand this, and if so, could you explain it in layman’s terms for my blog?

http://www.ci.chico.ca.us/government/minutes_agendas/documents/ORD2248-RetirementPlan-MiscellaneousMembers.pdf

Juanita Sumner

Randall:

It looks like a sample CalPERS agreement from some years ago – a rather boiler plate doc.  What did you need with it?  Things have changed quite a bit since this was written in 2002.  But mostly it doesn’t detail any terms with employees or otherwise.  It is just an Exhibit document that identifies Chico as a CalPERS member city (which has been the case for a while) with special notations about various details with such an agreement (i.e. retirements and separation from service, payout terms as standard in 2002).  Counties and cities do not all agree to the same benefits packages (which is the decision of the local governing body, in this case of course the City of Chico).
I’m not sure what else you were looking for with this document.  Can you please advise and I’ll try to help.
Randall
Me: (the next day)

It is a reference document from Item 4.4 in last nights agenda. I had to ask Presson for it, and it took her all weekend to send me a cut-and-paste copy. Then she decided to post it on the agenda site, which makes me wonder if she was legally required to do so.

I’ll ask you sincerely – do you thoroughly read the agenda reports? I try to, but I feel like I need a lawyer to understand this stuff.  Can you explain what “3 percent at 50” means, in English? 

Thanks, Juanita

Randall:

3% x years of service x final base pay (if at least age 50).  I’m certain you’re aware of that already.
You didn’t need it as a reference item to complete the agenda discussion.  In fact, the 2002 reference is one of the first times I’ve seen the Misc details.  They change based on bargaining details, but Chico hasn’t adjusted to that level since before PEPRA.  Since PEPRA already mandates a substantially reduced benefit, AND because Miscellaneous rates prior to PEPRA are already quite well known, who needs the reference definitions.  I don’t and you shouldn’t either.
I’ll be honest in that this seems as though someone’s trying to trip up the Clerk.  There is no reason (related to clarity) to have included this doc.  The Misc rates are already clear.
Randall
That document was referenced in the agenda for the discussion – why wouldn’t it be provided?
Me:

No, I sincerely don’t understand the formula, I don’t think most of the public understand this stuff.

Trying to trip up the clerk? Randall, I am making an honest attempt to understand how this city racked up $184 million pension deficit, and you’re accusing me of trying to “trip up the clerk”? 

I’ll  be honest – I think somebody is trying to trip up the taxpayers, the voters, and keep the general public, who make less than $40,000/year, in the dark as to how we are constantly being put on the hook for these outrageous pensions. 

Thanks though, for the discussion, I’m not accusing you of anything, but the city is in a mess, and it looks like council just threw gas on the fire.

Juanita

Randall:

Perhaps, but the Council obviously didn’t throw gas on a 2002 document referenced by ***every single Misc position offered for employment by the City***.

I have referenced these rates before with your public acknowledgement of your awareness of these formulas.  You’ve independently referenced these formulas in your blog over the years as well.  Numerous articles reference this formula as well including articles I’m certain you’ve read.  Other cities and counties make the reference to their formulas in every employee contract or offer of employment, including even references to positions that are being added in *any* California community (i.e. When Glenn County opens a new position, they list these formula rates in the posting of the position.  So does Butte, Tehama, all 58 of them, and all 482 municipalities).  I’m not sure a 2002 reference to Misc rates, Pre-PEPRA no less, was misunderstood or not understood.  Sure, simply citing the formulas is just as easy.  But if you were looking for a wet signature page to castigate those Aye votes over 15 years ago, then yes, it is a relevant reference.  I’m not interested in who to blame pushing two decades ago.  I’m interested in the fix, and that fix right now.

If the Clerk’s inclusion to the Item 4.4 was beneficial to you, great.  That would be the reason the Clerk would include it in the revised agenda packet.  That seems entirely prudent since you requested it.  But there are literally hundreds of other documents that have referenced this detail (read: the rates are quite well known.  I don’t need the 1978 reading of Proposition 13 to understand where property tax rates are.  If someone on the Council needed that reference, I’d say they shouldn’t be on the Council.  But if a member of the public is unclear about that detail, I’d say the Clerk should include it.

I’m not one to defend the Clerk – she fights her own battles.  But this one is a pitch in the dirt for information you already had.

Randall

a “pitch into the dirt for information you already had...” What kind of trash talk is that? 

Me: (from my phone, as I was doing chores in my tenant’s yard)

Randall I have perpetually said I do not understand the formula I also don’t understand why there is not a more public discussion of a formula that has put this city on the path to bankruptcy later the public employees will tell the taxpayers that we promised them these pensions we were never allowed into the conversation
Randall:
Good eye.  The resistance in adjusting the formulas *isn’t* a limited discussion.  It just isn’t as fruitful.  I understand you don’t understand influence of these variables.  But you certainly knew that 3% (or 2% of 2.5% or 2.7%, etc. etc. etc.) at (some minimum age) times the years of service is the formula.
But let’s say you didn’t.  You asked the Clerk and she provided it and then provided it to the rest of the community (because another resident wanted that original citation).  The formulas are of course part of every single CalPERS community in California.  They are referenced in the contracts as well.  They are referenced in all offers of employment (again, in every single community in California that uses CalPERS).  They are referenced in your blog posts about “90% of their pay” at retirement.  You couldn’t have determined that (except to take it on faith) without that formula.
Anyway, you’ve got your answer.
Randall
“you’ve got your answer…” Really?
Me:
Here’s what I don’t understand how does that formula result in Tom Lando getting $150,000 a year in pension
Randall:
Work backwards.  And since I can do absolutely nothing about Tom Lando’s pension, and since I am not even able to adjust *existing* contracts with employees past and present (there’s part 2 of your answer…these references are contractual arrangements at hire date and therefore are not subject to collective bargaining), and since Lando’s contract was negotiated long, long, long before I was on the Council (and perhaps before I was even born), and since it has zero *variable* influence on my budget calculations for the City of Chico, it is largely an unimportant detail for me since it cannot be adjusted accept by bankruptcy court.  And if we keep doing what we’re doing, we just might get that chance.
Now you have two answers.
Randall
Well, that’s an interesting answer – “cannot be adjusted accept [sic] by bankruptcy court...”  
Randall again:
Do the math.
This crack from a guy who can’t spell!  Actually, I did the math, I came up with a $45,000/year pension for a 15 year employee who made a top salary of $100,000 (I’m not a mathematician, frankly, I think you have to be a wizard to come up with these pensions)
(THREE PERCENT) at $x base salary times years of service.  Once you have that calculation done, calculate what that payment is in relationship to that final year’s base pay.  90%, right?  And they have COLAs (as you know).  COLAs are also contractual.  They aren’t part of the bargaining discussion.
Now try it with 2%.  60%, right?
Years of service (30 is a full career).  Base factor (a contracted number varying from municipality to municipality.  For example, Glenn County employees are *paid* less, but their CalPERS factor is higher for the same positions in Butte County.).  Final *base* pay.  Those are the three variables used in this formula.  Those are all the details you need to know to calculate someone’s pension.
What happens if you’ve served with CalSTRS for 10 years and 30 years with CalPERS.  That’s 40 years of pension payments, albeit calc’ed a little differently due to some options for the employee.
Well, there you have it, I guess that’s the answer I was looking for. 
Me:
OG that’s not confusing! I’m at work I’ll have to get back to you later thanks for the conversation
I thought about that conversation all day, I’m sure my dentist will notice the damage to his fine work.  I feel Stone was being flip and evasive – I asked a simple question, I was nice, he accused me of “trying to trip up the clerk”?  I’m struggling to understand how this city is going to get out of this financial mess without either throwing out the CalPERS agreement and waiting for the union to sue (and settle), or just keep putting the squeeze to the taxpayers for more money. Right now they just finished sticking it to developers, raising the nexus for developer fees to a whole new level.
Sewer fees for EVERYBODY are next. 
How much more will the taxpayers take?

Blast From The Past: 2013 article shows city is not really serious about dealing with our crime problem, just giving more money to the cops

18 Oct

Here’s an article from the Enterprise Record, February 2013 – except that MacPhail has retired, has anything changed?

Yes, the police budget has gotten bigger, we have hired more cops, and cops are making more money than ever. Our city council is finally talking about the pension crisis, but isn’t really doing anything about it.  Downtown Chico and Bidwell Park have become disgusting.

What next? We’ll see!

Chico police: Tallying up the cost of south-of-campus raucousness

By ALMENDRA CARPIZO-Staff Writer
Posted:   02/22/2013 01:06:44 AM PST
 

Click photo to enlarge

Chico police Capt. Lori MacPhailAll Chico E-R photos are available
 

CHICO — Out of the estimated 33 square miles of Chico, half of a square mile is receiving much of the attention of the police department.Every Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 4 p.m. to 4 a.m., an extra police shift is active, said Chico police Capt. Lori MacPhail. The C Team’s sole responsibility is to focus on south of Chico State University and downtown.

The C Team is made up of one sergeant and seven officers, she said. On those days, there is also an extra dispatcher on staff.

The cost of the C Team to patrol is between $1 million to $1.5 million a year, MacPhail said. Although the amount doesn’t seem too high, it’s important to note Chico police are assigning an entire patrol team to cover half a square mile.

The overall budget for the Chico Police Department is $22 million.

A high percentage of the calls and arrests that occur on weekends are alcohol-related — drunk in public, drunken driving or noise complaints.

From Jan. 12 to Feb. 11, there have been 59 alcohol-related arrests in downtown Chico and south of the university, according to police arrests records. Most of those — 42 — were for disorderly conduct, and the bulk occurred on weekends.

In 2012, there were 1,628 alcohol-related arrests, according to police records. That was a drop from 1,963 arrests in 2011 and 2,145 in 2010.

The Chico Fire Department doesn’t feel much of an economic hit when responding to the south of campus, said chief James Beery. However,

there’s clearly an impact just based on the amount of calls received compared to when students are out of town.Firefighters work two 24-hour shifts in a row, and that doesn’t change on the weekends, he said.

If calls happen to overlap, the department works on a “first-come, first served” basis, Beery said. The department can’t afford to have extra firefighters out there.

Fire Station 1, which covers the area south of the university, tends to respond to more alcohol, drug overdoses and assault calls, he said, but calls run the whole gamut.

There is another issue that police and fire are responding to more on weekends — fights.

When people get “all liquored-up,” there are fights, Beery said.

Some fights are occurring at parties, but officers also see them as people spill out of the bars, MacPhail said.

Although the parties are not getting bigger, they are becoming more violent, she said. People are stabbing each other and throwing things at officers.

Chico police do receive help if things get out of control, MacPhail said.

There’s a good relationship between it and the University Police Department, said Drew Calandrella, CSUC’s vice president for student affairs. University police serve as backup at times.

Costs are important, he said. Everyone is worried about costs — costs relating to assaults, residence halls having to deal with alcohol-related incidents.

However, the focus is on changing the behavior and culture of drinking. That’s an issue for the entire city, not just for south of campus.

MacPhail acknowledges this is not a police department problem, she said. Enforcement isn’t going to be the solution either. There needs to be an examination of the root causes and an open dialogue to find solutions.

Reach Almendra Carpizo at 896-7760, acarpizo@chicoer.com, or on Twitter @almendracarpizo.

No, the city is not really doing anything about the pension problem

17 Oct

From tonight’s city council agenda –

E. City Contribution. City agrees to pay the benefit employer contribution as established
by that certain “Contract Between the Board of Administration, Public Employees’ Retirement System
and the City Council of the City of Chico” which was in effect as of June 30, 2002, and to abide by all
tenns and conditions as established by such Contract so long as the contract exists between City and
PERS.

The referenced document was only added to the agenda on Sunday, less than 72 hours before the meeting.  

Click to access ORD2248-RetirementPlan-MiscellaneousMembers.pdf

Can anybody put this in layman’s terms for me? 

Same old same old – is the city really doing anything about the pension problem?

15 Oct

NOTE: After I bitched about it all day yesterday, city clerk Debbie Presson finally posted the document mentioned below on the city website – at this link:

Click to access ORD2248-RetirementPlan-MiscellaneousMembers.pdf

It should have been posted with the agenda – I think she realized that late in our conversation and quickly posted it. She’s supposed to have this stuff available for the public to review 72 hours ahead of the meeting. 

Also note – this woman’s raise is part of the same agenda item.

This week council will be formalizing contracts with our management employees, referring back to an agreement the sitting council signed in 2002, without providing the document in the agenda –

“Contract Between the Board of Administration, Public Employees’ Retirement System
and the City Council of the City of Chico” which was in effect as of June 30, 2002

Agenda available here:

http://chico-ca.granicus.com/GeneratedAgendaViewer.php?view_id=2&event_id=274

Refer to items 4.4 and 4.5.

I wanted to see that referenced document, so the morning after the agenda was posted (Thursday 10/12) I wrote an e-mail to “deputy” clerk Dani Rogers asking for it.  I got an immediate response:

I am currently out of the office and will return October 16, 2017.  If you need immediate assistance, please call Debbie or Stina at 896-7250.

Dani Rogers, CMC

Deputy City Clerk

City of Chico

So I resent my request to Mark Orme and Debbie Presson. 

I have not received any reply to the e-mail I sent yesterday, below. Is the clerk’s office open/staffed on Thursday/Friday? I made a request of an item mentioned in but not provided in the report for the agenda item, “Contract Between the Board of Administration, Public Employees’ Retirement System and the City Council of the City of Chico” which was in effect as of June 30, 2002″

I first received a response from Mark Orme –

Juanita,  I believe the City Clerk will be in the office today – unfortunately, she was the only person staffing the office yesterday, so we apologize for any delay.   Thank you for your patience.

Mark

Mark Orme

City Manager

For the Beautiful City of Chico

Again with the excuses? The clerk has at least two staffers to help her, with a budget of over $600,000 a year. Why can’t I expect that office to be fully functional?

Then this response from Debbie Presson, head clerk –

Juanita,

Unfortunately, I was not cc’d on your public records request so was therefore unable to respond.  Please note that the City Clerk’s office is staffed five days a week from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

I will check with HR to obtain the document in question and will respond accordingly.

Debbie Presson

Then another notice from Dani Rogers that she would be out of the office until Monday – do you see the comedy here folks?
Later that day Presson sent me the document, with this message;

Juanita,

Here is the document that HR believes you are requesting.  Please let me know if you need anything else.

What does that mean – “the document that HR believes you are requesting”?  I quoted the agenda in my request. 

It occurred to me that none of the sitting council were there in 2002 when the referenced document was signed. Have they been provided a copy of this document? 

And then I looked at the document, and the next question that occurred to me was, how many of them understand it? And then, have they even read it?

And then finally – how can I post this on my blog? It’s not cut-and-paste, I would have to have it on one screen and my blog on another screen and go back and forth typing it by memory. At this point I became frustrated with the clerk – I don’t know how many times she and Rogers have promised they’d send things in a cut-and-paste format, and I’ve had to ask them again and again.  I have stuff to do all day, really menial stuff, and I don’t appreciate this kind of runaround. I tried to politely but firmly let her know how I felt.

The document you sent is, of course, not cut-and-paste, but I’ll post it on my blog by typing from screen to screen if I have to. My intention, which I thought you shared, is to get the information to the public and allow for a fuller and more public discussion of these items.

Yeah, I know, it’s Sunday morning – nobody was more surprised than me with her almost immediate response:

I am sorry… I forwarded it to you as soon as I got it from HR and didn’t think to check it.

I will optimize it and make it reader accessible and send it to you later this morning as I am going in today to work.  It should be no later than 11:00 if you can wait that long.

Debbie

That easy? Even on Sunday? I  guess that’s why she gets over $135,000 a year in salary (I can’t remember the figure from her recent raise) – she’s available on Sunday! So, I will wait until 11 am and post the document. 

Not that I really understand it, or expect The General to understand it either. It’s all about the “2% at 50” type of formula. 

What finally occurred to me was, given the financial situation the city finds itself in right now, and now they admit it was the pension formula that put us here, why the hell wouldn’t they throw it out? 

UPDATE: As of 12:41 Presson has not sent me a copy I can cut-and-paste here, and I don’t have time to type it. If you want to read the document to which the agenda is referring, e-mail Presson at debbie.presson@chicoca.gov and ask her to send you a copy. Use the exact terminology I used in my request – you can cut-and-paste it from this blog!

 

Time to mau-mau the flakcatchers – trash deal isn’t rolling out the way they promised

13 Oct

Over the last week or so I’ve noticed people have come to my blog with searches for information about the new garbage franchise deal the city of Chico cut with Waste Management. 

You know, I’ve been bitching about this deal, here and in the newspaper, since 2012. But, as I predicted, General Public – the guy who always has something better to do than pay attention – has not heard a word about it until he got a card from Waste Management about a week ago.

Friends of mine just told me, as if they were the first ones to figure it out – did I know the city had changed their waste hauler without their permission?! 

I watch the agendas, available here:

http://www.chico.ca.us/government/minutes_agendas.asp

I wish more of you would do same, instead of waiting until the bad stuff happens, and then bitching about it after it’s too late  to do anything.

I also got a card from Recology, my old carrier, with whom I have been, rentals and all, since about 2000, when I told Waste Management to stay the hell off my property.   I had never signed up for Waste Management willingly – they took my account forcibly from a guy named Tom – remember Tom’s Dispose-All? For whatever reason, the county showed Tom the door, and gave all his accounts to WM – then known as Butte County Dispose-All.

This whole story stinks of racketeering and cronyism. Ask Butte County Landfill manager Bill Mannell what trash company he ran before he got the job at Neal Road dump. 

My service from Waste Management was horrible, so I switched to Recology, and I never had a single complaint in 17 years. As soon as Waste Management took over two weeks ago, I had problems. 

I could have set my watch by  Recology – they came at almost exactly the same time every week. Especially the garbage truck – every Friday, 11:27 am. At that time I knew my recycling bin had already been emptied and I could go out and get my cans off the street. I also knew I didn’t have to leave my cans out the night before because Recology never came to my house before 7am, I had plenty of time to  take the cans out in the morning.

Why is this important? Well I found out yesterday, when I came home from the grocery store at exactly 2pm to find a  transient, at least 4 full drawstring waste bags  hanging from his shoulders, making a move on my still-full recycling bin.

He had just finished taking stuff out of my neighbor’s bin. I pulled my car alongside my can and told him to “get the fuck out of there NOW!”  He immediately put his hands up and walked.  Smart man – I had my hand on that can of Whoop-Ass, and I was about to open it on him. I’m from Glenn County, where people don’t let their mouth write a check their ass can’t cash.

About 40 minutes later, the WM truck showed up and emptied my bin. 

I had a restless night, wondering what kind of town this was getting tobe. So, this morning I wrote a note to Ryan West at Waste Management – that’s rwest1@wm.com.  I cc’d city manager Mark Orme and my just-for-now county supervisor Maureen “I’m moving to a Del Webb retirement community” Kirk:

Hi Ryan,
 

Yesterday we put our bins out by 6am as instructed by our new hauler, but when I came home from a trip to the store at exactly 2pm yesterday I found my recycling bin had not yet been picked up. And here’s just what I’ve predicted – as I pulled along the street toward my driveway a man came along with at least 4 full drawstring bags over his shoulders, went through my neighbor’s recycling bin pulling items out, and then  walked over to my bin and started to raise the lid.  I pulled my car alongside the bin and told him to “get the ‘f’ out of there!” He held his hands out and left.

The recycling truck didn’t show up until after 2:30.

I’m not a paid law enforcement officer, I shouldn’t have to encounter people like that at the end of my driveway.  My husband was worried that I confronted the guy when I told him about it. He’s afraid this person might have attacked me. My kids  and my tenant’s kids and all my neighbor’s kids play in their front yards – we should not have to worry about people like that in our neighborhood.

I never noticed this kind of brazen behavior in my neighborhood before, and I’m going to lay it on Waste Management.  Recology had both our bins picked up by noon, 1 pm at latest. I’m not willing to accept lesser service because of this deal.  We’ve been told we could expect the same service and more!

I’ll tell you one thing, I won’t be putting my recycling bins out at 6am anymore, and I’ll be cleaning anything of “value” out of them before I put them on the street. I’m going to make sure there’s not so much as a plastic water bottle in there anymore. It’s just an invitation to the bums into our neighborhoods, and then they help themselves to anything that ain’t nailed down. 

Thank you for listening to my complaint, I hope it’s the last. I included Mark and Maureen to keep them up on the bum problem, and because they both advocated for the trash franchises. 

Juanita Sumner

But it doesn’t end there! This morning when  my husband took our dog for the usual walk in the park, he found bins all along the street leading to the park that had been put out for pick-up yesterday morning, but were still full. At exactly 2:38 this afternoon, I heard the trucks picking them up. So, those recycling cans were out there for two days, for the convenience of the little army of the night.

When I heard the trucks, I took out my cell phone (because I was outside doing chores in my tenant’s yard) and I wrote them another note.

Furthermore,  trash and recycling bins left out [in my neighborhood] for collection yesterday morning where still full this morning and I just saw the WM truck coming through to get the recycling bins 5 minutes ago at 2:38. 
 
This is not acceptable. 
Juanita Sumner
 

I’m sorry – am I a harpy? Well that’s what it takes. 

Our public employees have taken our fair market system and played it like a fiddle for their own personal gain. Management promised us they’d use the franchise money to fix the streets, but you saw how quickly city manager Mark Orme tried to talk council into using the money to pay down the pension deficit.  Listen – that didn’t happen because many of you squealed about it, and there’s an election coming next year. 

They promised us we’d get all kinds of new services – according to the WM website, all that extra stuff also costs extra.

They threaten us with fines if our can lids are “propped open” – you mean, left open by bums rifling through for valuables while our cans sit in the street for 12 – 48 hours, waiting for pick-up?

They say we have to pay for damaged cans – given the way the trucks handle the bins, and then leave them standing halfway out in the street? 

They say we are responsible for graffiti on the cans, when we are expected to leave them out before 6 am without any assurance they’ll be picked up quickly?

So, yeah, we’re allowed to complain, please do so. 

 

 

 

Tags:

Please stop feeding our bums

8 Oct
thumbnail_1005171400

Chico has a wild life problem

My husband and I went over to the Vallombrosa post office the other day and found the above-pictured mess behind the annex building. There in the background you can see the back of Mangrove Avenue Safeway, where they keep their dumpsters. Look at that mess!

thumbnail_1005171359

Donut party?

I’m assuming the donuts were taken from the dumpsters behind Safeway, the only place for blocks and blocks that sells donuts in this quantity. I wonder how much they throw away per day. I wonder how much of it would be welcome at various homeless shelters and food closets. I also wonder – why aren’t their dumpsters secured, why is it possible for somebody to get in there and take out trash and strew it all over the place?

The door to the post office annex was also broken. 

It reminded me of the two years my son spent at Mammoth Lakes California, attending their little community college, Cerro Coso. Mammoth Lakes is high in the Sierra, there are constant reminders of the bears that prowl the town.

dont-feed-our-bears

My son received a sticker like this from the college he attended at Mammoth Lakes California, they gave them to all the students.

Visitors are warned not to leave food in their cars at all. A boy at the college dorms left a half-eaten burrito in his car and came out the next morning to find the car window smashed and the interior of the car torn up.

These incidents are bad for tourism, and bad for the bears, which are an inseparable part of the town’s identity.

The stickers are the brain child of Mammoth Lakes “bear whisperer” Steve Searles. From the Mammoth Lakes Sheet –

“Not only is the message clear and to the point, it’s personal. Don’t feed OUR bears puts the onus on the community, which is always happy to step up to the plate and do what needs to be done to co-exist with bears. It makes people responsible for being part of the solution.“

Here in Chico, we have all kinds of wild animals – opossum, raccoon, turkeys right in my front yard, wild geese shutting down Manzanita Ave, fox in the park, cougar spotted as low as 5 Mile and a bear shot by police in the parking lot of the Enterprise Record.

But, this donut mess is not the work of Rocky Raccoon.  Neither did Rocky break the post office annex door – I saw two different locksmiths trying to fix it over a period of one week. The back door to the city municipal building was broken for weeks, I don’t know if it’s been fixed as of now. I believe those doors were broken by transients, who have free run of our town at night. 

In Chico, our wildlife problem is people who are brought into our community through programs we have for the indigent, including people freshly released from the prisons at Susanville and other incarceration facilities. They are sent here because we have programs – including a network of shelters, medical and psychiatric facilities, and other agencies that provide free services. When a person breaks completely down and is unable to fend for themselves at all, they will get a free stay at Enloe Hospital, possibly followed by a 45 day stint at the Butte County psychiatric facility at Oroville.

These people either make their own way here, or, in many cases, brought by Butte County Behavioral Health, as part of a network of “beds”, meaning spots in shelters.

When I heard about the daytime robbery/murder of a man who had only that day been placed in a housing facility for the indigent, I had to wonder, what was his story? When I checked Butte County Superior Court records,  I found the dead man had an arrest  record – mostly possession of drugs. I wondered what that might have had to do with two men chasing him down a street and shooting him to death – to steal his cell phone?

It’s not that I don’t have compassion for the dead man. But what about our community? What kind of criminals and their cronies is the county bringing in when they, essentially, sell beds in facilities to other cities/counties? Who are these people – are they actually mentally ill? Helpless? Or have they learned how to play the system? To get shelter when they need it, to dodge their enemies, creditors, law enforcement?

Near San Diego, which is currently having a Hepatitis A outbreak credited to the “homeless”, people feel there is an element among the homeless who are out to take advantage.

https://iheartbums.wordpress.com/page/4/

They  believe their problem is professional pan-handlers, and local business owners say these people actually get a little threatening if passers-by don’t give them what they want. I believe this is a problem in Downtown Chico, where the atmosphere gets particularly ugly after 10pm. As people start to hit the bars, they make easier targets. College students, young and on their own for the first time, inexperienced drinkers, are especially vulnerable.

In Mammoth Lakes they are afraid a bear might injure or kill a tourist.  Here we need to be thinking not only what the transient army is doing to our quality of life, but what they will do to the reputation of the university. A riot that temporarily ended our founders’ day celebration, a stint as “Number One Party School” in Playboy Magazine, and a rash of hazing and drinking deaths were treated very seriously by our civic leaders – why not the transient problem?

As a community, we need to stop feeding the transients.  The fund transfers taken by the county for bringing in transients are just salary fodder. The programs offered by the county don’t help these people, and many of them don’t really want that kind of help anyway. They want to continue a lifestyle of roaming the state, taking advantage of these programs and services, meanwhile predating on our community. 

And worse are the public employees who get paid 6 figure salaries to bring more transients in. Worse yet are the elected leaders who keep rubber-stamping the transfers.  

But really, we continue to put up with it – we’re the “enablers” here.

In Ocean Beach they see the problem as it really is.

 

Oroville council, cops, take 10 percent salary cuts in face of bankruptcy – meanwhile, raises all around for Chico management!

6 Oct

We were just talking about Oroville’s financial problems  – here’s their action plan:

http://www.chicoer.com/general-news/20171005/oroville-city-council-takes-voluntary-10-percent-pay-cut

As you know, Chico City Council just approved sweet new raises for city management, more than enough to cover their slightly increased PERS shares. With over $180 million in unfunded pension liabilities, the city’s mandated extra “side fund” payments are now over $500,000 a year and expected to increase to $1.5 million within the next couple of years. And come on – at that  rate, we’ll never get rid of the pension bomb.  

Did you know our city council get salaries? Last I heard, their salaries are roughly the same as reported for O-ville, although, I think, a little more. In the article, it says Oroville councilors can also opt for a health benefits package – in Chico, those packages have cost anywhere between $8,000/year and $21,000/year. When I last checked, Ann Schwab and Mark Sorensen were taking the most expensive packages available. Here’s the scam – they pay 2 percent of their council salaries – less than $1,000 a year, do the math – for these packages. 

What kind of package do you have? How much do you pay for it? 

In Hemet, which was left in ashes by Brian Nakamura, Mark Orme, and Chris Constantin, the local Taxpayers Association put an ordinance on the 2010 ballot that ended health benefits for city council members. The voters passed it with over 75% of the vote. It cost the HTA about $7,000 to float two ordinances – the second, term limits for city councilors, also flew through with about 75% of the vote.

https://chicotaxpayers.com/2014/04/19/hemet-taxpayers-association-eliminated-health-benefits-for-council-members-and-instituted-term-limits/

The city shall not pay for, fund, or otherwise contribute to, the premiums, charges, fees or other costs of health benefits made available by the city to elected city officials either during their term or after their term of office.

Just something to think about, as the city of Chico plunges further into debt and continues to cut services, cut services, cut services…

 

 

O-ville talking bankruptcy? Time for public employees to take a walk in “the real world”

30 Sep

Thanks again Dude, for this link – I’ve been too busy to read the papers lately, get a load of this story from the Oroville Mercury Register – Oroville going bankrupt?

http://www.orovillemr.com/article/NB/20170927/NEWS/170929752

“The city’s finance director Ruth Wright told the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) finance and administration committee last week that the word “bankruptcy” was being thrown around, though not at council meetings.”

Not at council meetings? Council still in denial? Well, here in Chico, we have a $186 million deficit, and council is fully aware. So they handed out raises to top management! Now that’s a plan!

“The city [Oroville] cut down its $1 million deficit to achieve a balanced budget this year but is not exactly thriving financially, operating with low staffing levels and recently negotiating a 10 percent pay cut for police, with more negotiations to come.”

A 10 percent pay cut for police? You could expect Chico PD to walk out on any such negotiations – they threaten to cut service – which is essentially a STRIKE – if they don’t get raises.

Oroville’s finance director Ruth Wright says CalPERS is the problem and CalPERS needs to fix it.

“’All cities and counties cannot keep up with the increases,’ she said. ‘I think it’s up to them (CalPERS). They need to do something. They need to do a better job investing.’ The organization announced in December that discount rates would drop from 7.5 to 7 percent over the next three years in an effort to make the fund more stable, but with impacts to state and local governments.

“’CalPERS has a few levers to pull in dealing with pensions, having to do with discount rates,” said Wayne Davis, head of public affairs for the pension fund. “We’re very much aware of what lowering the discount rate means.’”

Well,  “we all” don’t know what he’s talking about – “lowering the discount rate…”

From CalPERS – straight from the horse’s ass –

https://www.calpers.ca.gov/page/newsroom/calpers-news/2016/calpers-lower-dis

“Lowering the discount rate, also known as the assumed rate of return, means employers that contract with CalPERS to administer their pension plans will see increases in their normal costs and unfunded actuarial liabilities. Active members hired after January 1, 2013, under the Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act will also see their contribution rates rise. Normal cost is the cost of pension benefits for one year.”

Remember, I asked Chico Unified School District finance chief Kevin Bultema about this, right after the passage of Measure K in last November’s election, and he said the district would need to find more funding to pay pension costs or cut programs for the kids.

So, of course, this means a bigger deficit for Oroville, and don’t forget Chico.

“Oroville’s finance director said the number of city representatives coming to confront CalPERS has been growing. At the meeting last week, officials from cities such as Chico, Santa Rosa, Laguna Hills, Lodi, West Sacramento, Vallejo, Yuba City, Hayward, Manteca and Concord were there. A legislative representative for the League of California Cities also participated.”

Well, that’s funny – this hasn’t come up in the Chico paper, which is edited by the same David Little that edits the Mercury Register. Neither have we talked as a town about the $186 million deficit, or the $500,000/year “side payments” (in addition to the regular premium payments), which will balloon to over $1.5 million/year within the next three years.

And the sky is the limit, since our elected morons – both Chico and Butte County – keep giving out raises as though everything’s just rainbows and lollipops. They’ve acknowledged the mess we’re in – because they want us to pay more taxes.

The reporter finally talked to Chico finance mangler Scott Dowell – formerly with Chico Area Recreation District, which has a $1.7 million deficit for less than 35 employees. Dowell doesn’t think Chico will go into bankruptcy, but has been trying to work with CalPERS.

“Dowell was hoping the pension fund representatives would do some research on the possibility of freezing cost-of-living adjustments, meaning retirees would receive a flat rate every year. They would no longer receive additional money — currently up to 2 percent of their annual salaries — to account for changing inflation.

The other concept was switching all employees onto the same kind of pension plan as employees who started after Jan. 1, 2013. The Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act went into effect then, offering fewer benefits to new employees. That could mean the difference between retiring at 55 and 62, Dowell said.”

Both no-brainers as far as I’m concerned, and “the way it works in the real world”.

 

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Council to confirm $taff appointments – get a load of these salaries! How will we pay for the pensions?

28 Sep

From next week’s council agenda:

http://chico-ca.granicus.com/GeneratedAgendaViewer.php?view_id=2&event_id=273

CONFIRMATION OF DEPARTMENT HEAD AND DEPUTY DIRECTOR APPOINTMENTS

Section 605 of the City Charter states that the appointment of department heads is subject to confirmation by the City Council.  In order to meet this requirement, City Council is being presented with the employment agreements for Administrative Services Director (Scott Dowell); Assistant City Manager (Chris Constantin); Chief of Police (Michael O’Brien); City Clerk (Deborah Presson); City Manager (Mark Orme); Deputy Director – Finance (Barbara Martin); Public Works Director – Engineering (Brendan Ottoboni); Public Works Director – Operations and Maintenance (Erik Gustafson). (Report – Mark Orme, City Manager)

Recommendation :A. In compliance with Government Code Section 54953(c)(3), the Legislative Body shall first orally report a summary of the recommendation for final action related to the employment agreements for: Administrative Services Director, Assistant City Manager, Chief of Police, City Clerk, City Manager, Deputy Director – Finance, Public Works Director – Engineering, and Public Works Director – Operations and Maintenance: “The City Manager is proposing to modify the employment agreements with Scott Dowell as the Administrative Services Director, Chris Constantin as the Assistant City Manager, Michael O’Brien as the Chief of Police, Barbara Martin as the Deputy Director-Finance, Brendan Ottoboni as the Public Works Director – Engineering, and Erik Gustafson as the Public Works Director – Operations and Maintenance; and The City Council of the City of Chico is proposing to modify the employment agreements with Deborah Presson as City Clerk and Mark Orme as City Manager; and The Legislative Body is proposing to modify the appointment of Scott Dowell with an annual salary of $132,873, Chris Constantin with an annual salary of $185,000, Michael O’Brien with an annual salary of $154,679.99, Deborah Presson with an annual salary of $144,039.67, Mark Orme with an annual salary of $207,500, Barbara Martin with an annual salary of $117,541.49, Brendan Ottoboni with an annual salary of $138,009.37, and Erik Gustafson with an annual salary of $135,397.50.” B. The City Manager recommends Council Confirmation of the modifications as indicated above. C. The Mayor, on behalf of the City Council, recommends Council confirmation of the modifications as indicated above for the City Manager and the City Clerk.

UPDATE: As a friend of mine points out, “So Orme now makes $9,000 more than last year’s contract.  Maybe one block could have been resurfaced and that would last decades. Whereas, in Orme’s wallet — it goes for a 1%er lifestyle.  And Constantin was hired to do 3 jobs: finance, HR and administrative director.  Now he does one and gets more $$ now than he did for a couple of years! “

I’ll add, Debbie Presson has a bigger $taff now, does very little work herself, but has got about $10,000 in raises, just over the past couple of years. When asked to pay more of their pension, management $taff demanded and got raises that more than covered their new portion.

Here’s my prediction – Presson is spiking up and will retire within the next year.

Who is at fault here? Well, us, cause we elected the $heissers on council who keep approving these contracts. 

Mark Yudof on his $360,000 University of California Pension: “This is the way it works in the real world…”

28 Sep

Thanks Dude, for the link you sent regarding outrageous pay and pensions in the University of California system.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-09-27/six-figure-pensions-university-california-teachers-surge-60-2012

Here’s the source article from the Los Angeles Times:

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-uc-pensions-20170924-story.html

These are the kind of people who are bringing down the state, having already gutted our school system. 

 

“Pensions are a promise“?  Who made that promise – most of us were left out of the conversation. The workers made up the rules, saying the taxpayers would be left out of their “closed door” sessions. In fact, through “collective bargaining,” most of the actual workers are left out of the bargain. They have no idea how their pensions will be funded, and they don’t care.

The taxpayers didn’t promise any such thing, and if these people want these pensions they need to come up with a plan among themselves to save their pension systems. 

Remember when Dad would pull the car over, and scream at the top of his lungs, “DON’T MAKE ME COME BACK THERE!”

It’s time to put public pension suckers in the back seat.

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