Tag Archives: CPOA

I have a couple of questions for Tyler Rainey: How did he rack up $9898.26 in overtime in 2021, and $18,212.36 in “other pay”? What the hell is “other pay”? Read the contracts folks – you’ll have more questions.

I was surprised to get an almost immediate response to my last letter, from none other than the president of the Chico Police Officers Association (Union). But I wasn’t surprised that all Tyler Rainey had was “False”. He sounded like Jim imitating Dwight on “The Office”

I can’t reprint his letter here so I gave you that little giggle. And then I went back to the contracts for more ammo.

I found even more outrageous stuff. See, I think it’s a little unreasonable and irrational, the way council caters to the cops – 8 minutes equals a half hour of overtime? Read on. And then read the contracts yourself, I couldn’t fit it all in 250 words.

In my recent letter, I quoted the very generous CPOA contract:

https://chico.ca.us/sites/main/files/file-attachments/2021cpoa_mou_signed_0.pdf?1673455511

The city recognizes 11 “established holidays” – including Christmas Eve and the day after Thanksgiving. The contract states, “City shall provide ten (10) hours of Holiday Time Bank pay… Employee’s Holiday Time Bank shall be credited with one hundred and thirty (130) hours…”

Overtime is “work in excess of their normally assigned work shift or regularly scheduled day off.” Eight minutes beyond the end of their shift is 1/2 hour of OT, every 45 minutes is rounded up to an hour. They get 1-1/2 hours of CTO for every hour of overtime, or they can take 2 hours of STO. “Upon separation from city service” unused STO hours “are converted back to CTO, and employee shall be compensated…”

CTO “shall be limited to a total maximum amount of $60,000 each calendar year. If the requests
submitted by Employees exceed the amount available for payout… payout for each Employee shall be prorated so that the total of all payouts does not exceed $60,000 per calendar year.”

“Effective the first full pay period of July 2022, the City shall increase the salary schedule by 5%.” And again in July 2023. Chief Aldridge claimed 19 new hires since January 2022.

Did Tyler Rainey use his “CPOA Time Bank” hours to compose his letter? “The CPOA Time Bank, established for use by CPOA Employees for the sole purpose of performing or conducting CPOA business without loss of pay” City Contribution – 100 hours.

Juanita Sumner, Chico Ca

All I knew about Tyler Rainey was what he told us – he’s president of CPOA. You can find out more by checking with Transparent California. I have a question – how’d you rack up so much overtime Tyler?

https://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/2019/chico/tyler-rainey/

Police Officer (2019)

Regular pay:	$72,945.60
Overtime pay:	$19,457.91
Other pay:	$11,526.64
Total pay:	$103,930.15
Benefits:	$34,284.40
Pension debt:	$27,853.53
Total pay & benefits:	$166,068.08

$19,457.91 in overtime – another $11,526.64 in “other pay”. That’s how you take an reasonable sounding base salary of $72,945.60 and turn it into $103,930.15. That was 2019 – I searched the most recent files for 2021 and found this:

Name	Job title	Regular pay	Overtime pay	Other pay	Total pay	Benefits	Pension debt	Total pay & benefits
Tyler Rainey	Police Officer Chico, 2021	$71,825.00	$9,898.26	$18,212.31	$99,935.57	$38,150.15	$34,994.37	$173,080.09

Well, that’s so interesting. His base pay goes down about $1,000, his overtime is only about half – but look at that, he’s doubled his “other pay”. Think that’s when he was elected president of the CPOA? Because that’s about the time former president Peter Durfee decided to make his successful run for county supervisor, so he had to give up some of his “duties” with CPD. Look back at my letter – Rainey gets paid by the taxpayers for doing CPOA business. When I looked at their campaign contribution reports, I see that includes regular luncheons with other CPOA members. Great – we pay them for the time they sit plotting to screw us. Talk about a kiss afterwards!

Something else I’ll point out is that Transparent California figures the employee’s pension deficit using their salary plus the measly contribution they make toward their CalPERS costs. I’ve done the math on their figures, it’s good. Rainey has racked up a personal pension deficit of $34,994.37, that he also expects the taxpayers to pick up.

Tags: Chico Police Department overtime, CPOA, mandatory overtime, Tyler Rainey CPOA president

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Categories 100K pension club, Uncategorized

Fiscal morons about to cut nearly $2 million deal with Chico PD

12 Mar

City management and council met in closed session a couple of weeks ago to discuss the cop contracts. Here’s the link to the latest proposal:

http://chico-ca.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=2&event_id=100&meta_id=44013

I cut an excerpt here, in which the city manager reports, we don’t have the money to give these raises, but he is assuming our situation will get better? That’s pure speculation, and I think it’s irresponsible.

They say the cops are offering to pay (BFD) 12 percent of their pension. 12 percent of the cost of 90 percent of their highest year’s pay at 50 years of age. Oh, please! “New hires” pay 50 percent – just watch, in future, they’ll say that creates a conflict in the ranks, and they’ll want wage increases to cover that 50 percent.

Financial Capacity The City is projected to end the 2014-15 years with a negative $4.5 million general fund balance and no General Fund reserves. However, the 2013 financial measures, improvement in the economy, and operational savings allowed the city to finish 2013-14 with over $4 million to carry over into 2014-15. Preliminary information indicates that the same conditions exist for 2014-15, and the City estimates it will have additional funds to carry over into 2015-16, albeit it will not be as much as 2013-14. The City Council approved a deficit reduction plan that anticipated contributing $800,000 in 2014-15 towards the deficit. The strengthening of the City’s position allows the City to contribute about $3.3 million in 2014-15. The policy question before the City in negotiating this MOU shows a policy direction of balance. A very conservative approach would require that any and all available funds must go to pay the deficit before any additional expenditures in operations. However, this approach is not feasible due to the City’s need to continue to provide quality services as expected by our community. The conditions seen in the Police Department in terms of the attrition rate, ability to recruit, competitiveness of compensation and overall operations indicate a condition of instability. This is similar to what other cities are facing where large numbers of officers are leaving. In the City of San Jose, the lack of comparable salary and benefits has led to a staffing level that fell from almost 1,400 sworn offers to under 800 with more officers leaving than being retained. While Chico’s situation isn’t as dire, if the City does not balance the need for competitive compensation with other internal changes (which are underway), Chico will risk being under the same pressures as San Jose. This MOU will fit well into the City’s goal of turning the situation around and helping to strengthen the Department’s ability to serve the community.

Tags: Chico PD, City of Chico, CPOA, Mark Sorensen fiscal moron

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Guest Post: ER letter writer finds better shopping outside Butte County

12 Dec

Every now and then I check the letters section of the Enterprise Record to see what other people are talking about – this morning I found a somewhat like-minded person.

Letter: Butte County sales leaking over to Glenn County

POSTED: Chico Enterprise Record 12/11/14, 4:34 PM PST

Butte County sales leaking over to Glenn County

I used to live in Willows and drive to Chico to shop. Now I live in Chico and drive to Willows to shop.

There’s a big difference in the size and offerings at the Walmart in Willows as well as less traffic and parking hassles. Another plus is that you don’t have to stand in line for 20-plus minutes to return an item.

While I am in Glenn County, not only do I end up buying groceries as well as other items at Walmart, I have dinner at the Black Bear Diner and I often make a stop at CVS, Dollar General and/or The Dollar Tree.

— Maxine Rodgers, Chico

Ms. Rodgers says she shops in Willows to avoid the lines and parking hassles – that’s true. I think she’s talking about Walmart mostly, but it’s always interesting to check out the rest of the scene – there are some interesting specialty shops in both Willows and Orland, and there’s good Mexican meat markets and bakeries, for example.

Ms. Rodgers may not be aware, there is a movement in Chico to raise sales tax to pay for stuff Downtown. That is a good reason to shop in Glenn County too. Please save your receipts and send them to Chico City Council.

Don’t forget to stop at the gas station in Ham City before you cross the river – send that receipt to the council too!

Tags: city of Chico bankruptcy, City of Chico credit rating drops, City of Chico embezzlement, City of Chico malfeasance, City of Chico sales tax increase. City of Chico finance, CPOA

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Turkey makes you sleepy – try to stay vigilant over the holidays!

24 Nov

With the holiday season bearing down on us, it’s hard to think about our city’s problems, but it’s hardly a good time to go to sleep at the wheel. The employee contracts expire in December – I think that’s on purpose, Folks. They have Tom Turkey and Santa Claus running interference, so they try to get away with a lot of stuff behind closed doors.

If you haven’t seen the new employee contract proposals, look here:

http://chico-ca.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=519&meta_id=42694

http://chico-ca.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=512&meta_id=42165

I’ll say, the clerk has gotten a little better at posting this stuff on time, but there’s still discrepancies – some meetings are still missing minutes, some are even missing agendas. I don’t have time to snoop into that, but I’m guessing something happened at those meetings she doesn’t want people to know about? Just asking!

I don’t go to the meetings anymore because it’s just public theater. The real news is in the documents. I used to think it was important to go to the meetings, participate in the soap opera drama – no, that is how you give your “tacit consent.” Don’t let them hand you a pile of crap – do your own digging. I’ve had some comments lately from people who actually read this stuff, and I’ve seen links getting used to important documents off this blog, so I know SOMEBODY is paying attention.

Thank you Somebody!

I want to enjoy the holidays like everybody else, and the city tends to shut down anyway, meetings go underground, just get cancelled. But, let’s not forget, George Washington mustered his half-starved and freezing troops to attack on Christmas Eve. The Viet Cong made their most successful attack on US troops over their New Year holiday, supposedly the most important holiday in Vietnam. Tet is probably even more significant now than it was before 1968.

So keep your ears open and your eyes peeled, you don’t want to wake up to a hangover in January.

Tags: Chico employee contracts, Chico Police Department, City of Chico, city of Chico bankruptcy, city of Chico labor contracts, CPOA, Mark Sorensen Chico Ca

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You’re a liar Mr. Trostle

21 Oct

Over the last few years, the police department under Kirk Trostle has proposed various ordinances that would result in fees being paid directly to the police department. He’s succeeded in getting a “social host” ordinance that includes a “service” fee for police being called to unruly parties, with provisions for charging a landlord if they can prove landlord knew about the party(ies). Trostle also tried to foist a local “alcohol tax” but was told by the city attorney that this was illegal under California law. But he has succeeded in putting police department fees in the new alcohol licensing process, staffer Mark Wolfe saying this might add $5-6,000 to the average license application.

Trostle said he’d used his “alcohol tax” to do compliance checks or “stings” on local liquor vendors and also to train liquor business employees to deal with underage and drunken customers. I responded that this is the ABC’s job, and Trostle made some ridiculous remarks, saying the ABC doesn’t do anything. Even Mark Sorensen agreed with me, they were asking to duplicate the ABC’s duties. But, I notice, the whole conversation continued and now Trostle has convinced the city to make him a direct part of the alcohol licensing process and let him skim a new fee off the top. This fee will go toward the bloated salaries and benefits in the police department, so Orme and Constantin have decided to throw it out like a piece of meat at advancing wolves. Those guys would throw the bride out of the sleigh in a New York minute.

And then last week I saw this piece in the ER – The ABC is doing stings in town, “along with the Chico Police Department.” A program funded by the ABC, in full, after Trostle told me the ABC doesn’t do anything. In fact, I had e-mailed the ABC after Trostle made the remark, got an immediate response, saying the exact opposite. I also thought the officer who responded seemed a little taken back by the remark. And now we see the truth – Chico PD just conducted a successful sting operation, busting three of five businesses checked, with money from the ABC. According to Mike O’Brien, “This will be the first of many as part of this grant”

According to the Enterprise Record, “It’s been at least a couple of years since a similar operation was conducted in Chico, O’Brien said. The Chico police Target Team use to do them when it was staffed.”

Chico PD is only three members short of being “fully staffed.” As you know, these people take salaries of $65,000 to $120,000 a year, now with mandatory overtime, but they don’t have time to do compliance checks on liquor stores? Give me a break. These guys are money hungry pigs who won’t do their fucking job unless they get extra pay for it. “When a majority of businesses are selling to minors, especially because Chico has a high student population, it’s worrying, [O’Brien] said.” Even though they are fully aware we have an alcohol problem in this town, they hold out for more money before they’ll do their sworn duty.

The contracts are up right now, please write letters to your council members and to the paper – we need to dump the provision that the city collects their union dues that get turned right back into city elections. Here’s Fillmer’s latest flier – how did she pay for this?

The cops endorse her because she’s going to sign that proposal they just put up, including 5 percent raises. But you’ll notice she wouldn’t let the CPOA put their name on it because Michael Jones has been giving her a bad time about taking money specifically from CPOA.

But she'll take the fire department's endorsement because Michael Jones only asked her about the cops?

But she’ll take the fire department union’s endorsement (and money?) because Michael Jones only asked her about the cops?

I don’t know who’s paying for all this because Debbie Presson refuses to put the campaign reports on the website. She says we need to come down to her office and look at them. Wow, you know what Debbie, you should be careful what you ask for.

POSTED: Enterprise Record 10/15/2014 05:38:04 PM PDT1 COMMENT

CHICO >> Three businesses are facing potential consequences after clerks at each location reportedly sold alcohol to minors during a decoy operation by agents of the California Alcoholic Beverage Control along with the Chico Police Department.

Three clerks, who work at the Shell Gas Station, 952 Nord Ave., Chevron Gas Station, 1025 Nord Ave., and Anthony’s Liquor, 2101 The Esplanade, were cited for selling alcohol to minors, Chico police Lt. Mike O’Brien said.

Authorities made compliance checks at five Chico locations, but only three sold to the minor decoys, he said. It was a short operation, but to have that many indicates that there’s a problem.

People who sold alcohol to minors face a minimum fine of $250 and or 24 to 36 hours of community service for the first violation.

ABC will also look into taking further action against the three businesses where alcohol was sold, O’Brien said.

The penalties may include a fine, a suspension or the permanent revocation of their alcohol license.

Authorities also conducted a decoy shoulder tap operation, which requires a minor to stand outside a liquor or convenience store and ask people to buy them alcohol, according to police. The minor must indicate he or she is under 21 years old and cannot buy alcohol. If the adult buys alcohol for the minor, the buyer is arrested and cited.

The penalty for furnishing alcohol to a minor is a minimum $1,000 fine and 24 hours of community service, according to the press release.

O’Brien said only one person was cited, but he did no immediately know how many people had been approached.

It’s been at least a couple of years since a similar operation was conducted in Chico, O’Brien said. The Chico police Target Team use to do them when it was staffed.

Chico police currently has an ABC grant that allows for the operations and Tuesday’s event was just a test run to see what the compliance check would yield, O’Brien said.

When a majority of businesses are selling to minors, especially because Chico has a high student population, it’s worrying, he said.

“This will be the first of many as part of this grant,” O’Brien said.

Tags: Chico Police Department, City of Chico Ca, CPOA, Kirk Trostle Chico Ca, Reanette Fillmer Chico Ca

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ER ran my letter, here’s a few comments from Faceblob

11 Sep

We’ve seen letters to the editor, the police seem to be pushing a sales tax increase “for public safety.”

Folks, the cops get over $20 million a year and fire gets another $17 or so. Million. Our budget is only about $42 million, do the math. According to a recent revelation from Downtown, the cops [sorry – correction – I’m sorry I screwed this up – cops and fire between them get 72 percent, over half of which goes to the cops] get about 72 percent [more like 42 percent] of the General Fund [almost half the total budget], and they still can’t do their jobs. While the college students seem to have been keeping the fire department off their butts lately, the cops have gone on vacation as our crime rate goes up, up, up. We had a fatal stabbing at Downtown 7-11 last week, and a tussle with a guy who was later found to have a knife at Rite Aid on Mangrove. Compare that to the number of cops who have EVER died in Chico – one. And those are just the incidents that made it into the press. Chico is becoming much more dangerous for the general population, while the cops, who eat half our budget, walk away from their duties saying they don’t get paid enough.

Months ago, I sat in a meeting Downtown, with Chief Trostle and now-retired officer George Laver, and told them how bad the situation was getting at Mangrove Plaza. I told them how twice I’d been in the Payless Shoes store when shoplifters had just about run over customers getting out the door with shoes. Payless takes a responsible stance – their clerks are told to stay put, never follow anybody out of the store. Wise thinking, you can get dead so fast, over a radio or a pair of shoes? Forget it – that’s the cops’ job.

All it would take is an undercover cop at that shopping center for a week, just a guy in shabby clothes, or a woman dressed like a housewife, and you’d be able to figure out who’s who and what’s going on down there. I think the cops could learn something by talking to the people who work in those businesses, but Trostle just sat there as I told that story, the muscles in the sides of his head moving like boiling milk. I told him about an encounter I’d seen between some customers and a screaming drunk in front of Rite Aid. I told them about a guy who stood in front of me in line, stinking drunk, and bought a bottle of whiskey at 10:00 in the morning. I got no response. I don’t even know if they approached the management of either business.

Our police problem is not financial, it’s mental. They think they’re too good to serve people. What they’re doing in “public service” is anybody’s guess. Oh, I’ll answer that – they know the money is great, the benefits are unreal, they don’t have any illusions about doing society any favors. As soon as they put on that uniform they start to breathe their own farts and their attitude goes right through the top of their silly little hats.

I sent the following letter to Chico Enterprise Record two days ago, we’ll see if they run it:

Any candidate or incumbent who wants to be elected to Chico city council in November should be quizzed extensively about the employee contracts which will be back on the table in December. So far none have discussed the contracts in detail, nor have promised to curtail excessive compensation. They all complain that employee negotiations are complicated, and promise to save the city with cuts elsewhere, but won’t elaborate. So far, cuts have resulted in the disgraceful deterioration of our streets, our parks, and public safety in general.

One provision of the contracts that needs to be changed is the city’s collection of union/political action committee dues, even from employees who do not want to be union members. These same funds are channeled into every city election, throwing the odds ridiculously.

And, as pointed out by former candidate and administrative law judge Joe Montes, it creates a terrific conflict of interest. The city councilors sign the contract that allows the money to be collected, at taxpayer expense, and handed over to PAC’s that turn right around and hand it back to the council candidates of their choice, either through direct contribution or through “indirect” support such as mailers and billboards.

This election will be a turning point for Chico. As the public safety unions become more powerful, the average citizen will see their influence over their locally elected leaders get weaker and weaker. Speak while you have a voice – join Chico Taxpayers Association.

UPDATE:

The ER ran my letter yesterday. I noticed there were a few comments – I don’t participate in Faceblob, so I brought the comments here, where anybody who can use a keyboard is allowed to participate in the conversation, not just people who are mainlining their social life through a box. I’d like to see this conversation go beyond “the usual suspects”.

Angela Sullivan • a day ago

Juanita you are wrong about the power of “public safety” unions. The fire union is powerful, the police union is not. The fire union was taking raises when then the police union was giving money back to the city. The police department is losing officers to higher paying agencies where the fire department has hundreds if not thousands who would do the same job for half the pay. You should recognize the difference.

This woman is not speaking to my letter, she’s a cop groupie who attacks the fire department. That is so distressing – aren’t they all public safety workers? Why do they act like characters from Super Troopers or Gangs of New York? Aren’t they supposed to support each other? But you’ll hear this same rant from police Chief Kurt Trostle – “the firefighters get paid to sleep and play X-Box!” He said exactly that when Stephanie Taber and I were invited to meet with him at the police station one day. He is very juvenile, like a big pouting teenager. Angela is also playing with the facts – look at the salary charts, the cops have continued to get salary increases despite the theatrics played out in city chambers.

Michael Jones answered:

Michael Jones Angela Sullivan • 16 hours ago

I agree the Fire union members are more overpaid than police. And if it can be independently confirmed that Chico pays below market rates for police, then perhaps they’re not overpaid. But they make a lot more than the sheriff. Did you know that Dave Main Chico fire captain makes more then the Secretary of Defense? Is anybody really OK with that??

I don’t know what he bases this claim on, that fire fighters “are more overpaid” than police. Maybe he will come around with the background on that. Does he mean they take more overtime? Also, he just showed a chart that blows the “Chico pays below market rate for police” out of the water – look at Chico Politics. It is clear that both are fire and police are paid well above the average.

http://chicopolitics.com/2014/09/10/ann-schwab-corrected/

I don’t really understand this entire remark, but I will say, no, it’s not okay with me that both our police and fire chiefs make more than the Secretary of Defense. Furthermore, they make more than four times the median income. They are paid by people who live on less than a quarter of what they make, just in salary, then we pay their benefits. No, this is not okay with me.

Tags: Chico Police, City of Chico employee contracts, City of Chico pension obligation, CPOA

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Michael Jones: Police union plays hardball

7 Feb

Yes, we just watched Chico City Council approve police employee contracts that allow for salaries three to four times the median Chico income and only demand employees pay nine percent of their total pension cost, and then saw Scott Gruendl turn around within two weeks and make a speech about how much financial trouble our city is in.

Yes, the cops own Gruendl, and his friends Sorensen and Morgan, donating thousands of dollars to those three campaigns in every election, and/or spending as much on their endorsement. See for yourself, at Michael Jone’s blog, Chico Politics.

http://chicopolitics.com/?p=513

Here Jones has documented the inappropriate relationship between certain councilors and the police department. They get their talking heads elected, and they enjoy salaries in excess of towns in Marin and Napa counties where the median income is twice as much as Chico’s.

I know, friends of mine are incensed over Randall Stone’s outing of police officer Todd Boothe’s Facebook antics. What ever happened to the investigation we were promised? It got swept under the rug just like we said it would. Durfee wants Stone off the Police Advisory Board and out of any decisions involving the police department? Oh, come on. If that’s the case, then Sean Morgan needs to take the same door – he told me in an e-mail that he is very close friends with Peter Durfee, has known him since going to school with him here in Chico, and makes frequent ride-alongs with Durfee in his patrol car, at all hours of the night. When I asked Morgan if he could attend an August Sunday morning CTA meeting, he answered,

“I’ll chose a Sunday and come on down. I’ll give you a heads up. Won’t be this Sunday as I’ll be out with your favorite police officer until 4:00 AM.”

If they want Stone out, then Morgan goes too.

Thanks Michael Jones and friends for going to a lot of trouble, a lot of research, and then putting it up in an easy-to-read format.

Tags: Chico Police Officers Association, Chico Politics, city of Chico bankruptcy, CPOA, Mark Sorensen Vice Mayor of Chico Ca, Michael Jones Chico Ca, Randall Stone Chico Ca, Scott Gruendl Mayor of Chico Ca, Sean Morgan Chico Ca

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More views on the cop flap

30 Nov

Below I have posted two more letters about Randall Stone and Chico PD.

Chico Enterprise-Record

POSTED: 11/29/2013 12:33:30 AM PST

I find the comments attributed to Councilmember Randall Stone (Chico E-R, Nov. 21) to be an insult to not only the citizens who attend the Chico Police Community Advisory monthly meetings but to the other board members who have taken their personal time on a voluntary basis to attend those meetings. To say “It’s like lunch with the chief but it doesn’t have any value”; “most of the members miss most of the meetings”; and the most egregious comment of all, “The topics are relatively mundane.” How uninformed and arrogant he is.

Topics discussed over the last year centered on exactly what have been the most important topics that have affected our community — homelessness and its causes, the Grand Jury report on mental health, downtown anti-social behavior, Police Department staffing, etc. All meetings start with citizen/community input. The meetings last exactly one hour and in that time impart of great deal of information regarding issues facing the city and our Police Department. To call them “mundane” shows the ignorance of the man who uttered that.

Stone has struck a tone not befitting a member of the Policy Community Advisory Board but also that of a council person. He needs to be dismissed.

— Stephanie L. Taber, Chico

Frankly, I’ve been to the PAB meetings, and the only other member of “the public” besides me was Stephanie. Kirk Trostle has never exactly invited the public into these meetings. Just recently, I found that Trostle had stopped posting the notices for these meetings on the city’s agendas pages, and I had to ask city clerk Debbie Presson to please start posting them again.

I also agree with Stone that these meetings are like “lunch with the chief,” an inappropriate use of high-salaried officers like Lt. Linda Dye. Dye and Lt. Jennifer Gonzales spent almost an hour total giving the assemblage of bloated trough dwellers their take on homelessness and mental illness, based on a one week course at Butte College.

The other people at the meeting I attended were on public salaries, including Chico Chamber of Commerce director Katie Simmons, whose salary is heavily subsidized with Community Block Grant Funding from the city. These meetings are just chatter-babble intended to make them look like they’re “doing something about it.”

Chico Enterprise-Record

POSTED: 11/29/2013 12:33:30 AM PST

The Nov. 21 front-page article concerning the controversy over the racist photo illustration allegedly posted by police officer Todd Boothe on the Internet reminded me of the adage that when you point a finger at a problem, there are those who will study the finger ad infinitum. It seems to me that the primary fact here is that a member of the Chico Police Department may be guilty of a racist posting and that any investigation ought to focus on that accusation. Investigating Councilman Randall Stone’s behavior in this matter looks like nothing more than a smokescreen to shift the focus away from the main issue.

I applaud Stone for bringing the matter to public attention. What we need in government, whether it’s the police department or the finance office, is transparency.

As for Peter Durfee, the Chico Police Officers Association spokesperson, I would suggest that if he is sincere about wanting to improve relations between the citizens of Chico and its Police Department, then he should first tone down the abusive in-your-face rhetoric and stop making ridiculous charges about due process and such. I am convinced that Chief Kirk Trostle is quite capable of handling this matter and will reach a conclusion satisfactory to all parties involved.

— Charles W. Bird, Chico

I do agree with Charles Bird, but I’m tired of talking about the Facebook page. I wish people would focus on the real matter at hand here – the contract talks. That’s why I wrote this letter, which ran today.

I hope Chico voters will not be distracted by the “flap” between Councilor Randall Stone and the Chico Police Department. The real issue here is not free speech or racism, it’s the “employee share” of pensions and benefits.When Stone spoke to the Chico Taxpayers Association earlier this year, he said in order for Chico to regain fiscal solvency, the various employee groups would have to agree to pay their “employee share”. Especially fire and police, who pay 4 and 0 percent, respectively.

The Police Department subsequently made an offer to pay their entire 9 percent share, but only if given a raise proportionate to the cost. According to Mark Sorensen, “The proposal would have cost the city about an extra $500,000 over the term of the contract, and gave up some management rights.”

Stone has exposed the nature of the contract talks and why so many people want to keep them behind closed doors. Now Stone is being ostracized and persecuted by the Police Department and their cronies. This is exactly the kind of behavior City Manager Brian Nakamura described at a recent tea party meeting.

Please join the Chico Taxpayers Association in asking council and staff to come up with contracts that require employees to pay at least their full “share” — only 9 percent of the total cost of their generous benefits and pension packages.

What decent person would expect taxpayers living on less than a third of their generous salaries to also pay their benefits?

— Juanita Sumner, Chico

This is the copy I cut and paste directly from the ER, and I have to ask – why did they go to the trouble to change “Tea Party” to “tea party.” They had to make an effort to do that, why in the world would a newspaper that claims to be besieged by letters lately take the time and trouble to change two upper case letters to lower case? I just don’t get that.

I hope we can keep this conversation going, and get some results out of the council. If not we need to dump the three that are up for re-election in November 2014 and get some new faces in there.

Tags: Chico PD, City of Chico, CPOA, Kirk Trostle Chico Ca, Randall Stone Chico Ca, Todd Boothe racist Chico cop

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Time to take back the cop shop

24 Nov

In past I’ve been friendly with Tea Party members, and I still will be. But when I got this notice today, saying Randall Stone should be dismissed from the Police Advisory Board because he made public harassment by a Chico police officer, I had to tell them, we’re 180 degrees apart on this one Folks.

Below is the section of the code pulled out by Tea Party maven Stephanie Taber. It says member of the PAB must sign an agreement promising to lie to the public about what’s going on in the police department. Yep, that’s what it says – PAB members are not allowed to tell the public when there’s a problem in the cop shop. Read it yourself.

219.11 CONFIDENTIALITY
(a) Matters relating to personnel issues are governed by various laws of the State of
California and the City of Chico as well as various labor contracts. Personnel matters
are confidential. No member of the Police Community Advisory Board may divulge
any information regarding a personnel matter that has been deemed confidential by
the Chief of Police.
(b) Every new member of the Police Community Advisory Board, prior to hearing any
personnel matter, must sign an agreement, as prepared by the City Attorney, agreeing
and promising to maintain the confidentiality of any personnel matter.
(c) Only the Chief of Police or City Manager (or City Manager’s representative), with the
advise of the City Attorney, has the authority to determine what information related to
any personnel matter may be made public.

I think I know Stephanie Taber well enough to say this – if she’d found out something she didn’t like in one of those meetings, she’d squeal like a pig. And of course, that would be legal, because she’s a member of the public. Of course, those meetings were not being properly noticed to the public until I squealed like a pig to city clerk Debbie Presson. I had to bitch about it a couple of times, but finally she said, “As of yesterday, Police Department staff was asked to include the agenda (as had been past practice) under the “Minutes and Agendas” page as that is where citizens look for such items. They will be doing so for all future meetings. “

See where she says, “as had been past practice“? Trostle just dropped the notice from the notice page, apparently he didn’t think it was important to let the public in on these meetings. When I’ve been to these meetings I’ve noticed Trostle is uptight and hates answering questions. I’m sure he’d just drop these meetings if allowed.

Presson offered to put me on the notice list, but I realized, maybe it’s not so smart to be on that list. I thanked her for getting the notices put back up, that’s enough.

And, I told Mark Sorensen too, but he didn’t seem to think it was important. He told me, “Police Advisory Board Meeting is on the web site” and sent me a link to the obscure police page it was listed on. That’s what Sorensen always does when I point out a problem to him – admits I’m right, but gives me private band-aid information instead of getting the problem fixed. Does he just expect me to disseminate this info? No, here’s what he thinks – the public doesn’t care enough to pay attention, that’s what he thinks. Sorensen can be a really snotty little prick when you press him, no holds barred. When he wants something, he’s going to get it, and he wants to be credited with “turning the town around.” Instead, I think he’s going to be that kid who knocks the puck into his own goal – Sorensen and Nakamura are going to put the last nail in our coffin.

Tags: Chico Ca, Chico Police Advisory Board, Chico Police Department, CPOA, Kirk Trostle Chico Police Chief, Stephanie Taber Chico Ca

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Trostle needs to GO!

21 Nov

Sent to Chico PD Chief Kirk Trostle at kirk.trostle@chicoca.g0v

Chief Trostle,

I think you are making a mistake trying to kick Councilor Stone off the PAB. We all know this is about Stone’s asking you police officers to pay your own benefits.

Boothe should be disciplined for calling a council member “an idiot” because of his stance on employee pensions and benefits. I believe Boothe has created a “hostile work place.” In fact, from a citizen’s point of view, you have created a “hostile environment” for all of us, refusing to pay your own benefits when our town is in this kind of situation. Then allowing your subordinate to harass an elected officer publicly? That’s really poor judgement on your part.

I think you should also consider stepping down. You are obviously not suited to a management position.

Juanita Sumner

Tags: Chico Police Officers Association, chico police racist Facebook postings, City of Chico, CPOA, Kirk Trostle Chico Police Chief, Randall Stone Chico Ca, Todd Boothe Chico Police Officer

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