I got good news in my email box – Finance Committee meeting scheduled for next Wednesday – June 28 – to decide whether or not to fund the ice skating rink at City Plaza for next year. And here’s something interesting I found in their report – they lost a lot more in 2021 and 22 than staff had previously reported. Read further.
If this was Major League Baseball, Somebody would be getting fired right now. Here’s Somebody’s report.
https://chico.ca.us/sites/main/files/file-attachments/6.28.23_fc_agenda_packet.pdf?1687390810
Over the years, City staff have evaluated and considered ways to enhance the downtown experience for our community, as well as an attraction for outside tourism. The plaza was an underutilized asset in the winter time and therefore, we narrowed in on the concept of the Downtown Chico Ice Skating Rink to further enhance the holiday festivities in our downtown. As a family-friendly event, this provided a means to provide an experience that people of all ages can enjoy. By having a cost-effective event for families downtown, there are other intrinsic values that it brings to get more people downtown. The Downtown Chico Ice Skating Rink was initiated and started in 2021. The original intent was to transfer management and full operating/rental costs to another group, such as the Downtown Chico Business Association (DCBA) or the Chico Area Recreation District (CARD) after the first year of operation. Therefore, the first year (2021), City staff managed the operations with support from DCBA and the second year (2022), DCBA fully managed the operations of the program with City staff still managing the setup of the rink.
Ways to enhance the downtown experience? Well, how about getting rid of the panhandlers, perverts and pedophiles? The people who break into our cars while we’re eating a super-spendy dinner or perusing overpriced crap stores? The people who shit on the entry ways of businesses and vandalize anything that can’t run away. Stop treating these people like privileged visitors and start treating the rest of us with some respect and maybe we’ll decide to come out of our homes and spend some money.
The fact that neither CARD nor DCBA came rushing forward to run this dud should tell us even more. CARD is a recreation district starving for revenues – if they thought this thing would pan they would have jumped on it. As for sponsorships – in 2021, local businesses came forward with $116,100 in donations. For 2022 only $65,196 in sponsorships. Sounds like city staff and council were the only ones who didn’t notice the rink was not only a failure but it made the public really mad. The city of Chico needs to stop doctoring their own Kool Aid.
Ottonboni also claims, “The plaza was an underutilized asset in the winter time“…? No, say what you really mean Kid – it was used as a homeless shelter, illegal campers ignored by Chico PD and city management. Downtown business owners/tenants and the general public were getting really mad. It sat there for years, got so bad, there was a flea infestation. They closed the plaza for over a month for cleaning and fumigation, and then they just let the campers take it right back.
In order to get the bums to stay out of their skating rink, the city fenced the plaza off to EVERYBODY. The first year they actually fenced off the parking places directly surrounding the plaza, eliminating how many parking spaces? So, the plaza became even more unusable to shoppers and others who pay taxes to enjoy a lively and thriving central core.
Their plans were a miserable failure – a financial loss equating to more than the salary of the staffer who picked up the idea from that consultant and pitched it further to the city – Brendan Ottoboni. Ottoboni actually left the city a couple of years ago only to come back to a new department head position and a $40,000 raise.
Ottoboni asks the committee and council “for direction”. I sure would like to give him a direction – my husband says “go to Hwy 99 and head south….” I’d like to tell him he’s a department head now and he needs to buck up and make a suggestion, like the suggestion he made that got us into this mess in the first place. If you really want a good shock read the rest of the report. Here’s a good one – to date, the city has laid out almost $500,000, out of the General Fund, for “starter costs“.
I love the passive-aggressive terminology – “negative project cost” – just say LOSS you little weasel! “The first two years resulted in losses of funding directly linked to program costs and revenues. In 2021, the program had a negative project cost of $142,557.76, and in 2022, a negative project cost of $188,779.43.” Those are not the figures I was previously given by staff. In 2021 they reported a $29,000 loss to the news media, and finance staff just gave me a figure of about $176,000. And that includes “$70,053.64 of net revenue from the DCBA.” They seem to be digging themselves deeper every time we hear about it.
“The estimated amount of funds anticipated for the startup costs this year are approximately $200,000. This will be our initial capital outlay and staffing time, with net revenues from the operations to cover a portion, if not all of this initial outlay.“
Yes, they spend OVER $200,000 on salaries for this thing. For one year.
But get a load of this – Ottoboni still wants to continue funding this train wreck – boy I just want to kick this guys ass – “While the direct revenues did not cover the startup and operational costs in each of the first two years, City Council, staff and the community have concerns on the ability of this event to be fiscally sustainable. However, there are other intrinsic values that this brings to one of our community features, Historic Downtown Chico… “
And then this – “anecdotally we have heard that businesses generally performed better
during the period of the Downtown Chico Ice Rink operation…” It’s the end of June, why don’t we have the actual figures in this report? Mr. $184,000+/yr can hand us “anecdotes”?
So, every time they mention funding this dud again, I will mention the Taxpayer Protection and Government Accountability Act, coming to the 2024 ballot. I’m not sure I need protecting, but I’d like some accountability.
Chico Taxpayers Association 