Tag Archives: Brian Nakamura Chico Ca

Oroville is an interesting town

3 Oct

Some of you may know my husband and I just bought a new car  – in OROVILLE!  Oroville Ford was really nice. Although I was treated nicely and professionally at Wittmeier, I would say, Oroville Ford was the best car buying experience we’ve ever had. My husband agrees. 

I try to watch other towns around Chico – not just for the price of gas and groceries, but also their political scene. What other town nearby is having the same kind of problems as Chico? I mean, I’m asking, chime in folks.

I remember Oroville having a fuss over their rec district, going through a lot of money, some accusations were made about a district director using their influence inappropriately. But I don’t recall Oroville making any recent announcements about  being on the rocks.

I just casually met their new city manager – Randy Murphy – when he stood up to offer the only constructive suggestions at the recent CARD aquatic center meeting. Murphy suggested an aquatic center should be a regional effort, with other cities and the county helping out. Murphy was not even thanked for that suggestion, CARD staff just waited for him to stop talking so they could go on exhorting the audience to support those amendments that lower the voter threshold for bond measures.

A letter writer in yesterday’s Enterprise Record says Murphy only makes $127,000 salary as manager of Oroville, comparing that to Brian Nakamura’s salary as Chico City Manager.  I wondered what kind of benefits package Murphy gets so I looked at the city of Oroville website:

http://www.cityoforoville.org/index.aspx?page=1

Nice website. You’ll find the labor agreements at the Human Resources page, which you will find under “City Services” at the top of the main page. I didn’t read those yet, you know me – I was immediately distracted by the “Minutes and Agendas” button to the right. I had to look, and sure enough, O-ville has their minutes posted through September 17, 2013. I’m just saying.

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The fist puppets Downtown – manipulated from behind closed doors

21 Sep

Our town is broken, anarchy reigns. I used to think it might be fun to be an anarchist, but this really sucks.

I don’t know if you ever read Woody Allen’s short essay “A Brief Yet Helpful Guide to Civil Disobedience.” Allen discusses various tactics to annoy the shit out of government.  I know this may sound like a ripping good time, but I frankly prefer accomplishing something more practical. 

For years a lot of us have worked for more transparency in our city government. Not just because we’re nosy control freaks, but because we know, when you allow something to fester and rot behind a curtain you will certainly be left cleaning up a big mess when that curtain finally falls.

For a while, thanks in part to former councilor Larry Wahl,  the city website was usable by citizens who wanted to keep tabs but can’t walk away from their job or household responsibilities to go to these run-away meetings.  The committee meetings are shorter and better run, but held during most people’s work day. The council meetings are onerous – poorly agendized, time thrown out the door on stupid proclamations, trendy theology and off-topic chatter that goes out the door and around the block.  These meetings are more of a circus, a performance event, everything is scripted ahead of time.  Council all know how they will vote, they’re privvy to reports and communications from staff that we don’t get.  This stuff used to be more available on the website, for anybody, but lately it’s been hard to get anything out of staff, and more stuff is being taken behind closed doors, via memos and reports that the public never sees. 

Here’s an interesting story from Mary over at Truth Matters Chico:

http://truthmatterschico.com/2013/09/20/minutes-edited-to-cover-nakamuras-snow-job/

There she describes a report that was handed to council and some hard copies made available to the public, but none of it was recorded in the minutes or read into the video. It was never made available or mentioned on the website. This indicates to me that plenty of stuff goes on Downtown almost completely out of the public oversight. You have to be a fulltime council watcher to keep up with this stuff, and they know nobody can do that, not even Stephanie Taber. 

I attended the August Economic Development committee meeting, during which there was a discussion regarding future agendizing and scheduling of meetings for that committee.  Brian Nakamura has suggested dumping that committee a couple of times now because he says he doesn’t have enough staff to cover it. Shawn Tillman has supposedly been taking notes, but there’s no reports available on the website. Last meeting, they decided, I  thought, to change the schedule to include regular committee meetings, meetings at which the committee could “act” on various agenda items (make recommendations to staff or council), in alternative months, and then in between these meetings they would have what they called “listening meetings” with various local businesses. The “listening meetings” were to take place at various businesses around town. 

I told them the “listening meetings” sounded like opportunities for the business community to lobby the council, and that would be really inappropriate if the public were not included. They all agreed. The committee – Gruendl, Sorensen and Morgan – as well as Katie Simmons from Chico Chamber of Commerce and Audrey Taylor of Chabin Concepts (gets CBGF money) all acknowledged the Brown Act and the rules governing their activities as a committee. But I don’t believe they were sincere. Shawn Tillman, the staffer attached to the committee, said later he didn’t think it would be necessary to notice the “listening meetings” to the public, and frankly, if I hadn’t been there, I think that would have been the end of it.  I spoke up right away and said that would NOT be okay, that they needed to notice the same list of people who’d signed up to be noticed for the “regular” meetings. Tillman repeated what I said as though he was just told to eat a bowl of his own poop. Gruendl and the rest of the committee gave their lackluster affirmative.

They said the first “regular” meeting would be this month, on schedule, but just the other day I got the cancellation. They’d also said at the last meeting that the retail survey the city sponsored in part would be introduced at the October “listening meeting,” which was quickly metamorphosing into a series of workshops for Downtown businesses. I wondered, how will the public be included in that? Sounds like a Chamber event. But Katie Simmons made it clear that she’d be announcing that survey publicly, and the public would be welcome. She wouldn’t give me the details, she was pretty stubborn about that. 

Because they don’t want the public in those workshops, Dummass! At an earlier meeting, Tillman gleefully explained that the survey was going to show them “we’re not taking full advantage of the student population…” Wow, don’t be afraid to offend anybody Shawn, just blurt it out! Take advantage? As the mother of two college age people, I had to do a double take there.  And, it offended me as a consumer – here my city just used my tax dollars to help DOWNTOWN businesses find out how to better take advantage of my  college age kid, not to mention, my whole family. 

When I got the notice of cancellation for this month’s meeting last week, I replied to Tillman, including Gruendl and Sorensen, reminding them I’d asked to be noticed of all events scheduled for this committee, including the “listening meetings.” I also asked about the retail survey and whether the workshops would be open to the public. I didn’t get any response for two days, so I re-sent. This time I got an auto response from Tillman – he was out three days last week, won’t be back til Monday.  And, I got  this response from Gruendl. 

“The presentation of the retail market study will be at the October 15 city Council meeting at 6:30 PM. Instead of a September economic development committee meeting there will be an economic development committee meeting on its regular day in October on the fourth Wednesday at the regular time. “

Sure, they’d noticed me about the September meeting being cancelled, but when did they change their minds about the “listening” meeting in October? I’m assuming this was done in a discussion behind closed doors or on the phone or via e-mail with Katie Simmons.  And now we’ll see the survey, I guess, but we won’t be invited in on the Chamber activities.  

Simmons made a point to say, several times at the August meeting, that she’d be including the public in more of these business meetings that she schedules regularly with members of city staff and council. If you watch the Chamber website, you’ll see, these events are open to the public, at a charge, averaging $20 a pop. Or, you can just force your way in to the free business luncheons that she schedules over at the old Muni building. She can’t really say no if there’s a member of staff or a council member involved. Brian Nakamura speaks regularly at these meetings, including a meeting at which he disclosed that he was currently considering negotiating with Cal Fire to take over the fire duties of the city.  That conversation never went public, but it sure motivated acting Chief Carter to dump structural overtime and change the schedules at his fire stations.  You’d think that would have been a public conversation, but it was all handled behind closed doors with an “exclusive membership audience.” 

I did make one meeting, but it was a total pain in the ass, right in the middle of my work day I have to get cleaned up and change my clothes and forego my lunch to be spoon fed crap – no thanks.  They all know me anyway – the conversation is always different when I’m in the room – abbreviated, lots of body language and facial gestures. It’s always fun to get ahold of somebody who’s never heard of me, stupid enough to give me straight answers. That only happens once. 

Some of these people – and I’ll admit, some of them I know personally – really believe it’s okay to have secrets from the public. Makes them feel special, like one of the “in” crowd.   They think some information should be privileged.  That seems to be the going attitude Downtown these days. 

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City another $700,000 in the hole? wow – that’s about exactly what they appropriated for the new management salaries!

16 Sep

I just get insulted when the newspaper tries to cover for the government, the way the ER has been covering for our city council and $taff lately. I hate to be a reactionary, but I’m human, I react.

This morning, as if it’s a SURPRISE!, we hear that the city is $700,000 farther in the hole than Chris Constantin has recently reported.   Where could it have gone! Stolen by those Measure J opponents? No, that was the $900,000 they bitched about six months ago, this is apparently a new missing amount.

Well, I don’t have my calculator handy, but I’d say, it’s just about exactly the amount that Nakamura has appropriated – and that’s the appropriate word here – to pay the salary increases he gave to himself and his department heads when he “reorganized” the city. 

I feel reorganized – don’t you? I mean, my pockets are EMPTY! That was one hell of a reorganization – some political philosophizers  would call it, a redistribution of wealth. See, Nakamura redistributed money from certain funds into the General Fund, and then he used that money to pay the new salaries. That’s what we call a Lando.

Excuse me if I don’t understand why they are so surprised when those funds they pilfered have come up short. Duh, silly me! I’m not playing the game.  You’ve heard of the Emperor Has No Clothes game, where you pretend a naked man is suited up in the finest outfit you have ever seen. Well, in this game, we pretend we have a lot of money, when we really don’t. If you are the first one to shriek, “STOP SPENDING MONEY, WE DON’T HAVE ANY!” you are OUT! 

Chico City Council to hear fund deficit is significantly higher than anticipated

By ASHLEY GEBB-Staff Writer

POSTED:   Enterprise Record 09/16/2013 12:07:56 AM PDT

 
Click photo to enlarge

Sean MorganAll Chico E-R photos are available
 

CHICO — The Chico City Council will hear Tuesday that the capital projects fund deficit has unexpectedly grown by $700,000.Finance staff previously estimated that Fund 400 would have a negative balance of $2.5 million at the end of this fiscal year. Instead it’s now estimated to carry a $3.2 million deficit.

To prevent additional deficit, the fund’s current structural imbalance must be corrected.

Councilor Sean Morgan said he was angry upon first hearing the news.

“It’s like, how do we continue to find that we are further and further in the hole?” Morgan said. “My next question is, how does this happen?”

Fund 400 pays for major programs, buildings and facilities, and major equipment, and also operates as a holding fund for project administrative costs, according to the city staff report. Direct and indirect costs accumulate in the fund and are later allocated to the source by which they are funded.

The fund’s negative balance began in fiscal year 2011-12 and has been partially attributed to elimination of redevelopment agency-funded projects, and the number of projects that can fund overhead costs.

Over the years, as project funding shrank, indirect costs remained the same, causing $3.2 million in indirect costs to accumulate.

As staff developed the 2013-14 budget, $25 million in unexpended projects remained for the prior fiscal year. Because those projects were not completed and indirect costs were not reduced, the fund’s deficit grew, the staff report states.

“The good news is this should be the last surprise,” Morgan said. “The bad news is the budget we just passed in June — there is $700,000 not accounted for.”

Councilor Randall Stone said he too was frustrated by the news, but it wasn’t surprising. Councilors and staff have understood for a while that numerous funds have problems.

“We knew that given the nature of what has gone on for the last 10 years, the potential for something like this was very high,” he said.

The impacts still will be devastating, Stone said.

Anticipated revenue and savings benefits from elsewhere will not be able to compensate, making deeper cuts necessary.

And small areas the city has worked to preserve, such as the $20,000 to $28,000 it costs to keep Caper Acres open, will come under closer scrutiny.

“All of these little things that didn’t seem like much to many people were tremendous in being able to achieve our goals,” he said. “That gets eviscerated with an $800,000 debt.”

Whether concessions or more layoffs, there is no easy fix, Morgan said.

“I am only one council member but I will scream from the rooftops that we cannot afford to cut public safety any more for any reason. It’s going to have to come from somewhere else,” he said.

Challenges ahead are substantial, Stone said.

“You feel like that kid with his finger in the dike and seeing major cracks and holes developing,” he said. “We are not securing it. The hole just got much larger.”

Fund 400 remains the city’s second-largest deficit fund, after the private development fund, which itself is $9.4 million in the red. Combined with the airport and capital grants funds, they add up to more than $14 million in deficits.

Also Tuesday, the City Council will be asked to authorize recruitment for a vacant senior maintenance worker position, and hiring for the new economic development manager and a city engineer positions. Funding has been budgeted for all three.

The agenda also includes consideration and approval of work plans for the Architectural Review and Historic Preservation Board, the Arts Commission, the Airport Commission, the Bidwell Park and Playground Commission, and the Planning Commission.

PUBLIC MEETING

Chico City Council

6:30 p.m. Tuesday

Council Chambers

421 Main St.

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Yes, the clerk certainly does pick and choose what she puts in the reports and minutes

12 Sep

I hate to be a pest, in fact, I won’t tolerate a pest. Yesterday I found rat turds on my garbage can, so my husband went out and bought me a trap! It’s that time of year, everybody’s foraging – but I don’t put up with rats that close to my house.

Yes, I hate to be a pest – mostly because, people will only put up with a pest for so long. I’ve always known I’ve been walking on thin rice paper Downtown, trying to get information out of employees who may or may not like what I’m doing. I’ve had city staffers walk up to me out of nowhere and hand me documents – one woman said, “if anybody asks you where you got this, you don’t remember…” I’ve had them come up and tell me things, call me on my private phone, approach me at my kid’s games,  to tell me things aren’t good Downtown. This has been happening for a good five or six years, ever since I started to criticize the pay scale and the benefits. 

When I needed something from the clerk’s office, I’d ask for it. I’d tell them I didn’t want to be a bother, no hurry, etc. Debbie Presson was always almost too friendly, too cheerful, but I appreciated her cooperativeness. I remember when my neighbors and I had an appeal up before the city, we were told, we had to get it in within “calendar” days, not working days. It was Christmas time, and they counted both Christmas Eve and Christmas in the 15 days we had to turn in our appeal.  Debbie Presson was really nice – when my husband needed help with something, she told him, she’d be down there on Saturday morning, give her a call and she’d meet him at the door downstairs. That bothered me – at the time, I didn’t want her to go to the trouble, now I wonder, was she on overtime? And why can’t she do her job during the 9-5 M-F week? So, I figured – my mom liked to go to her office for the peace and quiet, maybe that’s what Debbie was doing. 

Knowing we pay dearly for Presson’s time, I’ve kept my requests to a dull roar.  But always Presson indicated to me that I could call her or e-mail her office anytime I needed anything! We had personal conversations I won’t repeat here. I started to get too comfortable with this woman because she was so kissy-nice all the time. 

You know me, I can’t swing with a good thing, I always have to shoot a hole in the dinghy. I started to find out, Presson has a lot of discretion. Discretionary rules always bother the hell out of me. Discretionary rules often set up a system by which “you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.” And sometimes I don’t want my back scratched, and I sure as hell don’t like scratching somebody else’s back. Yeeeeecccchhhhh!  I don’t play those games, I always get thrown out for bitching about stuff.

Below here I have the exchange I’ve been mentioning between myself and Debbie Presson, from December of last year, regarding incorrect minutes from the November finance committee meeting.  One thing I will point out – last year she had those minutes up within a month of the committee meeting in question, that’s why I asked her why she’d left out a whole conversation between me and Hennessy regarding the employee’s share.  

Then she says they will be discussing my questions regarding minutes at the January 2 2013 council meeting – I don’t remember it, and she only posted the minutes for that meeting a few days ago. According to the minutes, my letter was read to council and no action was taken. You have to get up there and call these people out physically if you want something – gee, I guess I had better things to do the day after New Years than go Downtown and try to Matt Dillon some legal propriety out of these idiots Downtown.

This is why I’m getting to the end of my patience with Debbie Presson and $taff and the talking heads we call our “elected representatives” – they play games, they jack me around, they are shysters.

In December of last year, having attended a Finance Committee meeting during which I asked detailed questions about the city retirement system and was given erroneous answers by the Finance Director, I read the report from that meeting and noticed that while another question I’d asked had been included in the report, they’d left the conversation about the pension system completely out, not one word.  So, I felt this was important enough to mention, I wrote the following e-mail to Presson and the council:

 

>>> juanita sumner  12/12/2012 6:49 AM >>>

Hi Debbie, Council members, 

 

I was just going over the minutes for  the Finance Committee meeting I attended earlier this month. I see that one question I asked, about the cost of certain consultant reports, was included in the minutes, but not the question I asked regarding what the city pays toward the “employee share” of pension premiums. Jennifer Hennessy stated at that time, “about $7 million.” Later she sent me an e-mail correction – the actual figure was closer to $10.1 million.

 

I wonder why my question and Hennessy’s answer are not included in the minutes? I asked this question during the discussion regarding the loss of Measure J. I was trying to point out, that while the city is complaining about losing $900,000 on a failed tax measure, they spend millions paying THE EMPLOYEE SHARE of pension costs, in addition to the employer share. Our city’s financial problems would be solved if the contracts were rewritten so that the employee pays their own share. Why isn’t this option coming up in the discussion? 

 

I also notice, the police advisory board gets verbatim minutes. I wonder, why aren’t all the committee meetings, including the ad hoc meetings, recorded verbatim? 

 

I’d like this letter to be attached to the next city council agenda as a “communication.” 

 

I’d also like to thank Fritz McKinley for answering my flood notice question. 

 

Thank you for your anticipated cooperation, Juanita Sumner

 

Presson answered right away to let me know she’d received the e-mail:

 

Date: Wed, 12 Dec 2012 17:34:27 -0800
From: dpresson@ci.chico.ca.us
Subject: Re: letter to council
To: juanita sumner

Hi Juanita….
 
I have received your email and I wanted you to know that I will check into the minutes as well as place your letter on the January 2, 2013 meeting under Reports and Communications.  I will however be in touch with you as soon as possible.
 
Have a great evening!
 

Debbie

When I didn’t hear anything or see any change in the minutes a week later, I wrote back, wondering if she needed proof – Mark Sorensen was the one who e-mailed me to tell me Hennessy had given me the wrong information. By this time, the whole employee share thing was getting pretty clear, and I felt like I was being pushed back in my attempts to bring it to public attention:

 >>> juanita sumner 12/19/2012 8:28 AM >>>

Hi again Debbie,

 

I wonder if you’d like me to forward you the e-mail discussion I had with Mark Sorensen and Jennifer Hennessy regarding the question I asked that was omitted from the minutes of the meeting? I’m sure Scott Gruendl and Mary Flynn also heard my question and Hennessy’s answer. 

 

My question and Ms. Hennessy’s answer (answers?) need to be part of the public record. I’m just wondering, why do the minutes mention the one question I asked, but not the other?  The record needs to be complete. This is another reason people don’t participate. I rode my bike through the park to that meeting, at 7:45 in the morning, just to ask that question, and it’s important to me that the question and the answer are part of the official record. Is it a waste of my time to attend these meetings? A waste of time for the public to pay attention? 

 

I’ll be at the next Finance Committee meeting, I’d like some kind of resolution to this problem by then  – thanks, Juanita Sumner

Presson answered me that day. She mentions council’s 2001 decision regarding “‘action only’ minutes, with some summary when needed.”  Well, I think what has become apparent in this conversation, is that Presson and her staff are either incompetent to provide proper “summaries” or they are willingly distorting the record. You decide. 

 

Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2012 19:56:57 -0800
From: dpresson@ci.chico.ca.us
CC: bnakamura@ci.chico.ca.us; DBrinkle@ci.chico.ca.us; KMasters@ci.chico.ca.us
Subject: RE: letter to council regarding minutes
To: juanita sumner

Hello Juanita.

I have researched your questions regarding the discussions that occurred at the 11/27/12 Finance Committee Report (minutes) and found that the report does not reflect all of your comments regarding employee share of pension and benefit costs and subsequent responses by staff. That report is currently under review and once the report is amended, we will provide the Council with the report, with a copy to you as well. Please note, it is always our intent to provide a thorough report from these meetings. The reports however, are typically in summary format. Council’s formal action in 2001 was to direct staff to provide “action only” minutes, with some summary when needed. That motion carried 7-0. 

On a side note, but still related to this topic…. City Manager Nakamura sent you an email following that November Finance Committee meeting which included two attachments pertaining to safety and miscellaneous costs as well as an overview of the range of healthcare benefits that employees can chose from and for which they pay a share of the costs. Would you mind confirming if you did or didn’t receive this information? We would like to make sure he has your correct email address.

As I had mentioned in my 12/12/12 email, your email will be included on the January 2, 2013 agenda under Reports and Communications. At that time, I will be able to address regulations regarding the types of minutes required. Hope that helps. 

I wish for you and your family a wonderful holiday and will see you on January 2, 2013.

Sincerely,

Debbie 

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Where’s $taff these days? Desaparecidos!

2 Sep

I was afraid our meeting yesterday would not be too well attended – I was afraid the gang would abandon me to take their tubes out to the Sac! But, we still managed to get a little group together, with a couple of new faces, and we had a very lively conversation.

I try to run these meetings orderly. Yes, I try to take charge, I’m the one who signs out the key. Yes, that lays the weight of responsibility on me, so I get to boss everybody around.

Hah! In my dreams! These meetings are a running yakfest. Yes, we interrupt each other, talk over each other, and even break into separate conversations among ourselves because the other guys are talking about something we’re not interested in.  But we have real conversations, and we exchange information, even if it’s just hearsay or suspicion. We exchange our fears and anxieties about  what’s going on in town. 

It started out pretty boring  with my report about the meetings I’ve attended. I realized, every detail of every meeting wasn’t important – I mainly wanted to tell everybody how council and staff were trying to “reorganize” the meetings. We  talked about the new format for the Economic Development committee, and why these meetings need to continue to be in the public.

I also tried to interest the group in joining the Marysville For Reasonable Water Rates folks in their September 21 rally, but that just didn’t seem to catch anybody’s interest. Sometimes I think I’m moving among boiled lobsters. Maybe I can make a stack of their boiled carcasses to climb out of this pot?

Unfortunately, sometimes the conversation just goes down the toilet, and yesterday’s meeting spiraled into an argument over Brian Nakamura. The ladies who came in yesterday were really concerned about what Nakamura is doing Downtown, but they didn’t seem to have any specific details. They just know, they don’t like him laying people off while he enjoys an inflated salary. They sense some sort of cover-up Downtown, but they don’t really have the goods on anybody. I can’t help it – I share their sense of dread, and I know a lot more stuff than either of them.

Others in our group support Nakamura,  trying to give him the benefit of the doubt. I’ll agree on one point – cuts needed to be made. The main sticking point for me, is how he came right in here and enriched himself and his friends out of our coffers, taking a $50,000 raise for himself and $30,000 raises for two guys he brought in. One friend of mine justifies these salaries by saying, essentially, it’s what other similar jobs are paying around the state. We have to offer these salaries to get quality people – apparently a guy from Gilroy turned us down because we didn’t offer enough!  That’s what people are paying these days!

Well, that’s what they told us about the price of the housing they were building when they tied their salaries to revenue increases but not decreases. We screamed that the new housing they were permitting was too expensive – they said, “that’s what people are paying!” As if, that made it okay? And of course, our city manager’s salary went from around $60,000 to over $190,000.  But my husband’s and other construction wages stayed the same, and if he wanted more, he could just get in his truck and drive.

I can’t justify these city management salaries. They have ruined the economy in our town. Those salaries have raised the price of everything from eggs to housing, without bringing in better jobs or raising wages in the private sector. That is the truth, I don’t care what you think of “Save Chico Now.” I have to laugh at people like Tami Ritter, who answer criticism of their poor job performance by telling people it’s not nice to complain! “Eat your shit with a smile, or I’ll smack you!” is what I get out of Ritter.   Tami, if you insist on surfing the public trough, you better be ready for the raw sewage.  I predict you will be eating it within the next 365 days.

I got plenty to complain about. I use the park, almost daily, to commute, and it’s becoming a total disaster, has been falling into disrepair for some time now. The road is getting dangerously pot-holed – yes, from the huge garbage trucks that drive through lower park at least once a week to pick the black garbage bags out of those cans. The park maintenance crew used to do that, but they’re desaparecidos – the disappeared ones.

A huge tree limb that should have been cut just fell across the entrance we use to get in. Somebody cleared it after a couple of days – not the tree crew – they’re  desaparecidos!  I don’t feel the trees throughout the park are safe, I think they need to put a giant skull and cross bones over the entrances – ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK – OUR PARK IS UNMAINTAINED!  Meanwhile, Ruben Martinez has enjoyed at least one $30,000 pay raise and Dan Efseaf’s salary has gone up about $20,000.  They’ve done that by getting rid of all the workers who actually do the work – desaparecidos!

So, I will say, I am in agreement with Save Chico Now, and the ladies who came in yesterday – we’ve got a pile of stinking fish Downtown, and the head of that pile is Brian Nakamura.

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Just how should parking revenues be spent?

28 Aug

Yesterday I hauled out of here at 7:45, and I mean hauled ass.  I can never get out of here in the morning, always have to go back for something, bike lock, ink pen, notebook, whatever. Just getting out my driveway can take me 20 minutes. If I’m lucky I don’t get halfway up the street and then realize I’m still wearing my pajama top.

I made the 8:00 Finance Committee meeting at about 8:04, having achieved flight somewhere under the freeway overpass, screeching into my chair just as Brian Nakamura and some other $taffers were taking their seats, and  Mark Sorensen was calling the meeting to order.

I had gone down there to ask some questions about the parking fund.  I find these meetings are the best time to ask questions, as long as they are relatively on topic. I must say, despite my feelings about their obese salaries, Chris Constantin and Frank Fields seem competent and are cooperative.  They give me an answer when I ask. The only part I have to figure out is, which question to ask.

Yesterday I wanted to know, what salaries are paid out of Downtown parking revenues, or Fund 853. I saw in the reports that fund takes in a little over a million a year – that’s just coin from Downtown parking meters – Whoa Nelly!

I also saw, half that fund goes to salaries and benefits, and I wondered – that can’t be just the parking meter crew. No, it’s not. Mark Sorensen mentioned, they take $120,000 for a cop, and no, he’s not assigned Downtown.

Well, I must say, that’s questionable. And that was the topic – just what should the city be able to do with the parking revenues. Fields, speaking on behalf of Constantin who is out of town til Sept 9, wants direction on that. It’s not his job to set policy, he’s just there to give us the facts. The fact is, we’ve been spending money “loosey goosey” (yes, that term has made it’s way permanently into the finance lexicon), and the Finance Department is asking council to put some limits on various funds, make some rules about spending.

Oh my geeshy sakes, isn’t that just Rocket Science! 

I know, we’ve heard this before, months ago. It’s not staff’s fault here, Constantin has been asking for direction, telling council they need to come up with new budget policies. Council has been moving like sap in Winter. I keep going to these meetings, months apart, and hearing the same conversation.  At one meeting, Constantin said departments had all been spending money without Finance Department oversight, and then just handing the bills to the Finance Department. Also, historically, whatever a department spent became their budget for the next year, encouraging departments to spend more to get more.  This is called “rollover,” and Fields says that while it’s really not a good way to run your finances, it’s “become the norm in government, I’m not sure why…”

Well, Frank is being too nice here. I know why, cause I remember an article in Tim Bousquet’s paper, years ago, about a lady named Jan who worked at the college. She said her boss had bought an enormous, gorgeous teak desk one year with what otherwise would have  become a “budget surplus,” meaning, their budget would have been cut. Rather than take a budget cut, this man bought himself a grandiose desk, at the taxpayers’ expense. This has become “the norm” in government.

And don’t forget, budget surpluses can also be taken as bonus by the department head – watch that episode of the office, where Staff is divided over buying new chairs or a new copy machine, and Michael “solves” the argument by taking the surplus as a bonus and buying himself a pimp jacket.

I have to get to work around my house now, I’ll pick this up later. 

Later:  Since I last posted, I have got a bunch of figures from Frank Fields, regarding the parking fund (853) but I haven’t had a chance to look them over. I also got some figures for the park fund (050) and wow, that’s a can of worms. I will get back after I’ve read over those documents – today  I am working out of town.

Later Later: Well, the documents Frank was so nice to provide me didn’t tell me anything really new – just kind of answered my suspicions.  Nor did he give me a document that I can cut and paste or figure out how to post in any way for you – I’ll work on it. Suffice to say, yes, they pay too many salaries out of the parking fund, salaries that, I’m sorry, have NOTHING to  do with providing anybody parking. 

What stunk about this meeting was, they have had the same discussion in front of me several times now, over months – and years previous with Hennessy – but nothing changes.  Staff certainly seems willing to have new rules for spending money – they don’t want to take the blame for the mess we’re in, they want to make sure we all know they are at the behest of council. So, the problem – the head of this stinking fish – is COUNCIL.

Furthermore, I’m blaming the two who told us they’d bring “fiscal conservatism” to this council – Sorensen and Morgan.   These two, especially Morgan, who is an ass, are doing nothing but fiddling our money away. They both signed another set of contracts agreeing to pay the employee’s share. With Morgan completed embedded at Chico PD (he brags constantly about going on frequent “ride-alongs” with his personal friend CPOA president Peter Durfee), I don’t see this changing anytime soon. We will continue to pay whatever the cops hold their hand out for as long as Morgan has anything to say about it.   Sorensen is way too friendly with the Chamber crowd. We’ll never get our financial house in order with Sorensen and Morgan handing out our taxes to their friends.

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Chico Taxpayers will meet next Sunday despite Labor Day

25 Aug

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

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

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

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

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

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

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A difference of opinion

9 Aug

Earlier this month, the News and Review ran the following Letter to the Editor from Linda Hathorn:

‘City manager sing-a-long

(Sung to the tune of “That’s Amore”)

When the moon hits your eye

Like a big piece of pie …

Nak-a-mura

When your city’s in the red

And you can’t get ahead …

Nak-a-mura

When the parks all get closed

If they’ll open no one knows …

Nak-a-mura

When you’re taxed to the max

And the workers get the ax …

Nak-a-mura

When the assets all get sold

And Chico’s out of gold …

Nak-a-mura

When the jobs all get cut

You’ll find one that is not …

Nak-a-mura

Please feel free to add a verse

It won’t even hurt your purse…

That’s amore

Linda Hathorn
Chico

 

To which Stephanie Taber responded:

Ditty wasn’t amusing

Re “City manager sing-along” (Letters, by Linda Hathorn, Aug. 1):

How insensitive and cruel. The ditty shows the ignorance and lack of information demonstrated by a member of the general public.

Brian Nakamura was hired to bring the city of Chico back from the brink of insolvency. How many City Council meetings, Finance Committee meetings, and Economic Development Committee meetings did she attend over the last six years? How did she arrive at her nasty little ditty—have help from the likes of Bob Mulholland or perhaps Ann Schwab or perhaps former City Manager David Burkland, or our tell-the-truth-and-nothing-but-the-truth former finance director, Jennifer Hennessy?

What’s being done must be done if the city is to survive the financial devastation that has been brought upon us by the current and former liberal councils. If you have better solutions, pay attention, attend meetings and speak up.

Stephanie L. Taber
Chico

I know nothing about Linda Hathorn other than she’s an employee of CUSD.  For all I know she’s part of Ann Schwab and Dave Guzzetti’s smear campaign on Nakamura. Unfortunately, this smear campaign seems to have some merit – I’ve found the same stories when I’ve searched Nakamura’s past.  He’s a carpet bagger, that’s for certain, and he’s left a steaming pile of doo-doo wherever he’s gone.

I bet a lot of people don’t realize how many issues Stephanie Taber and I do not agree on. This for example. I find this a very amusing little ditty. I could have written it myself, and I may write a few more verses. 

Stephanie has a lot of faith in Brian Nakamura, I don’t. I’ve read up on what he did in Oregon City and other towns. Get a load of this article from 2004 – can of worms, read it all.

http://www.lodinews.com/news/article_ed5fb0ba-75a7-5b19-ba63-518549aacceb.html

First of all, as of 2004, all the Nak wanted to do was get back to his hometown of Lodi! Just dreamed of it! What the hell is he doing here?

Second of all, he’s accused of a $600,000+ deal that benefited his friends – wow, that seems to be a pattern with this guy. We really should check out this consultant he hired to gloss over the garbage franchise scam he’s trying to pull. A deal like that puts a man in a position to take a bribe, and we wouldn’t want that to happen to The Nak!

In Hemet, a lot of people blame their current crime problems on the slash job Nakamura did on their police department. Instead of bringing in new hires at lower salaries, he just cut, cut, cut, raised administrative salaries like he did here, and left. 

Another pattern in Nakamura’s behavior, is when he gets accused of something, he runs. When he was accused of something in that $600,000 consulting deal, he left. When Hemet found out he was trolling around for jobs in other cities (including Chico) behind their back, HE DENIED IT! That’s lying. I just can’t abide with a liar. 

So, while I admire her drive in digging into public affairs, I don’t let Stephanie Taber pick my friends. We can work together without agreeing on everything. 

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When will they get some proper management at Chico Airport?

30 Jul

I’m blowing off this morning’s Internal Affairs discussion on liquor licenses because I’ve already heard what Kirk Trostle has to say: “I want more MONEY!”  I also got a kick out of the editorial posted this morning – it’s a – MAY- zing how many things me and Dave Little agree on, for two people who’d rather eat a Dodger Dog than be civil to one another. 

I will be taking in the Airport Commission meeting at 6pm, however. I know, 6pm, and no hors d’oeuvres or nothin’, that is gauche. 

But tonight, Brian Nakamura is going to give the report I been dying to ask for – where the airport gets it’s revenues and how it’s spends them. 

The airport is so neglected, it’s ridiculous. And when they do pay attention, it’s “we want service to Disneyland.”   Nobody seems to realize what an incredible manufacturing area it is, and how much it would mean to our city to get some big employers out there. In the old-old days, a manufacturer wanted to be next to the river, not only for hydro-power, but for transportation – raw materials in, processed goods out! Then it was the railroad tracks. Today, it’s the airport. We have one, but we have not set it up as a very good business zone. In fact, a friend of mine who owns a small manufacturing operation at the airport tells me constantly – Chico is business hostile. “They treat anybody who wants to start a business like they’re some kind of ‘Sugar Daddy’.” 

The biggest problem at the airport is Maria Rock, who owns the fueling station. The city spent hundreds of thousands of dollars protecting Maria Rock’s business from Danford Jay, an airport business owner who says he was given a verbal go-ahead by the city to open his own fueling station, but later told the Rocks have the exclusive rights.  Airport users complain that the Rocks run the fueling station a la Gomer and Goober, but staffer Debbie Collins told me she write these complaints off as “anecdotes” and refuses to act on them. 

We’ll never know if their daughter, city attorney Alicia Rock, had anything to do with it – who cares – the whole thing was inappropriate, and just another symbol of the mismanagement of our town. 

So, I’m  going down there  tonight, I’ll fill you in. 

And don’t forget, First Sunday meeting, August 4, Chico library, 9am. 

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Ask a stupid question…

23 Jul

The other day the Enterprise Record ran a pretty stupid editorial about the airport fire station closure. “Our view: In the best of a bunch of bad options, closing the Chico fire station at the airport makes the most sense.” 

Spoken by a person who obviously has no clue to the economic importance of the airport or how mismanagement out there is killing us financially.

Later in this piece, the editor mentions, almost as though he doesn’t really mean it, ” If he (or the future chief) is looking for other places to save money, perhaps firefighters can pay their own share of their pensions, rather than having the city pay the employee share. “

Today Editor asks, “Can the public have a voice in city budget?”,  suggesting, “The city could ask before it cuts. It might be surprised by the answers.”   Editor implies that we’d be okay with some of these cuts if we knew how much these services “cost”. What he fails to figure into “cost”, is the “employer paid member contribution,” aka, “the employee’s share.” 

What a dumb question – “Can the public have a voice in city budget?”   Better to ask, “WILL the public have a voice in city budget?” The next question would be, “Will the council listen?” 

The answer to both of those questions lies with the public.

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