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| Image: Photos from Saturday's Shasta Series - Chico Challenge. Photo1: Mark and I addressing the crowd at the player's meeting. I'm on the right showing disc golfers how I would look if I could fly like a fighter jet. Photo2: Darren H. posing after his hole-in-1. This was his happiest disc golf day ever... Photo3: Interactive public art. One player's disc landed in the dragon's mouth, and he left it there for the rest of the day so we could all enjoy the peculiar result of that throw. Photo4: The pros, clean-cut, and using baby strollers for golf carts. I can't show you the amateurs since they look a lot like a biker gang, also using baby strollers for golf carts. 78 players from around northern California braved wet weather on Saturday to play in the Shasta Series Chico Challenge disc golf tournament. A temporary course was set up at Community Park using portable baskets. There were a few kids, and a few pros, but most players fell into the amateur category. Competitive disc golf is something I've never been that interested in. I've played some tournaments (not very well). But for me it's always been about getting some fresh air and hanging out with friends and/or family. If you throw in a little beer at the end of the day then you've reached my version of nirvana. We braved the misty rains and short lived gusts of wind as discs sliced threw the air in a 360 degree arc. It was fun to watch. While playing I wondered what all the frowny, sour-puss, disc golf haters were doing. Probably writing nasty letters about their nasty anti-social feelings. What a waste of the short life we are given. During the game, a young guy named Darren threw a hole-in-one. These rare and elusive occurances hang with you for the rest of your disc golf life. By the end of the day Darren ended up winning his division and the handicap competition. Later, at an awards ceremony at the Bear, he picked up trophies and prizes in excess of all other participants. He appeared to be the happiest disc golfer ever to walk the earth. I had fun mixing with competitive players, and refreshing my understanding of the rituals of a tournament. There's no talking while people are on the tee or putting, the lie of the disc is sacred, and of course the handshake at the beginning and end of the round. But the best part of the day was watching a young guy visiting our town for an education have a great day in our community. And I got to have afew beers at the end of the day, so that helped make it a great day for me as well. Plus I took third in the old man's division. |
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| Image: Recently deceased, peace loving rasta-buffalo. The ER is reporting that yet another rastafarian buffalo has been killed attempting to cross highway 149. Yesterday the Chico City Council began selling marijuana out of the 3rd floor of City Hall at very low prices. Shortly thereafter, word of the bong-breathing bureacratic blunt blowout spread to the hemp centric buffalo commune adjacent to highway 149. Several buffalo were killed attempting to reach the council's marijuana dispensary on Thursday. Today, another buffalo was killed, apparently also looking for the popular pot peddling politicians. This madness must end before another bustling bison breaks bad for bountiful buds. |
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| Image: Things to do... This morning I'm working on disc golf stuff. So I don't have a lot of time to produce ground-breaking, earth-shaking, blog fodder. While I'd like to talk about important news stories like suicidal buffaloes, pot pondering politicians in the pokey, or the dangers of posting flyers in federal forests, I can't really get to that. In the meantime, I have received a couple of notices regarding upcoming community events. Both events support recreation in Chico. The Tour de Ed proceeds help cyclists in town. And the Valentine's Party supports the recreation of luuuuuvvvvv... The former is on the 27th of this month, and the latter on the 14th. Not everyone in town takes part in cycling, mostly because the alien technology spandex superhero suits they wear are so hard to come by. Just ask Ralph Hinkley. But everyone takes part in the recreation of luuuuuvvvvv... Perhaps you could do both? |
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| Image: Google Street View of 1500 Humboldt Road. Do you ever wonder why government costs so much money? Of course unionized employees negotiating their own pay and benefits has something to do with it. But I ran across a city bid document for a new roof. The roof to be replaced is at 1500 Humboldt Road. Google names this the Sweeney and Sweeney Insurance building. From Google Maps and Google Street View, it appears to be a good sized building. Just eyeballing the roof puts it at about 5 times the size of nearby residences. So it could be a pretty big project. However, the bid also references the project as the "garage roof" so maybe it's not that massive (note: I'm not sure if the city owns this building, leases it, or why it comes up as an insurance company on Google). The sealed bid process, which begins February 18th, is described in this pdf file. The document is 37 pages long. Like I said, it's a big building, but 37 pages? The requirements specified in the document so far exceed the act of placing a roof on a building, that the city must be paying for infrastructure it really doesn't need. What do I mean by that? The city needs a competent roofer. They're going to pay for a front office in a contractor's business that can manage the boilerplate legal requirements in the 37 page bid contract. Prospective bidders must provide cash just to place the bid... (d) Bidder's Guaranty. All bids shall be presented under sealed cover and shall be accompanied by cash, cashier's check, certified check, or bidder's bond, made payable to the City of Chico, for an amount equal to at least ten percent (10%) of the amount of said bid, and no bid shall be considered, unless such cash, cashier's check, certified check, or bidder's bond is enclosed therewith. And that cash will not be returned to anyone that bids until a contract is signed for the project. So you provide 10% of the money to the city, and they sit on it for a period of time while they negotiate with you and all of the other bidders. That costs money. You've got to adhere to the all important apprenticeship standards, whatever those may be... APPRENTICESHIP STANDARDS - In accordance with the provisions of Part 7, Chapter 1, Article 2, Section 1777.5 of the Labor Code of the State of California, the prime contractor shall be responsible for fully complying with the provisions of this Section, as well as any regulations adopted by the Director of Industrial Relations, for all apprenticeable crafts of trades, and shall also assure compliance by his/her subcontractors with respect to such apprenticeable crafts or trades. I'm just glad all of my apprentice bloggers don't know about Part 7 Chapter 1 Article 2 Section 1777.5. I guess it could be worse. Section 1777.6 says you have to take apprentices to a Martini hour twice daily, so at least that's not in there. The good thing is that the roofing company will have professional help with all of the details the city requires for the project. The engineer will specify all details. (a) Authority of the Engineer. The Engineer shall decide all questions which may arise as to the quality or acceptability of materials furnished and work performed, and as to the manner of performance and rate of progress of the work; all questions which arise as to the interpretation of the plans and specifications; all questions as to the acceptable fulfillment of the contract on the part of the Contractor; and all questions as to claims and compensation. And... (d) Interpretation of Plans and Specifications. Should it appear that the work to be done, or any matter relative thereto, is not sufficiently detailed or explained in these specifications, plans, and the special provisions, the Contractor shall apply to the Engineer for such further explanations as may be necessary, and shall conform to such explanation or interpretation as part of the contract, so far as may be consistent with the intent to the original specifications. In the event of doubt or question relative to the true meaning of the specifications, reference shall be made to the Engineer, whose decision thereon shall be final. It's great to see the City take a leadership role in defining and completing the project. Uh-oh, what's this... (h) Responsibility for Damage. The City of Chico, the City Council, or the Engineer shall not be answerable or accountable in any manner for any loss or damage that may happen to the work or any part thereof; or for any material or equipment used in performing the work; or for injury or damage to any person or persons, either workmen or the public; for damage to adjoining property from any cause whatsoever during the progress of the work or at any time before final acceptance. (i) Indemnification Clause. The Contractor shall indemnify City, its officers, boards and commissions, and members thereof; its employees and agents from any and all liabilities which might arise out of or relating to this contract. Should City or any of its officers, boards and commissions, and members thereof, its employees or agents, be named in any suit, or should any claim be made against it or any of them by suit or otherwise, whether the same may be groundless or not, arising out of or relating to this contract, Contractor shall defend City and said officers, boards and commissions and members thereof, its employees and agents, and shall indemnify them for any judgment rendered against them or any sums paid out in settlement or otherwise. And... (k) No Personal Liability. Neither the City of Chico, the City Council, the Engineer, nor any other officer or authorized assistant or agent, shall be personally responsible for any liability arising under the contract. So you have to do exactly what the City/Engineer tells you... but if the roof falls down because of that it's your fault. Hmmm... that's going to cost some more money. But a hard working roofing company could still get all this figured out. They could get in, work hard, and get out with a profit. They just have to work their guys a little harder than usual. (b) Hours of Labor. The Contractor shall forfeit, as penalty to the City of Chico Twenty-five Dollars ($25) for each laborer, workman or mechanic employed in the execution of the contract by him, or by any subcontractor under him, upon any of the work herein mentioned, for each calendar day during which said laborer, workman, or mechanic is required or permitted to labor more than eight (8) hours in violation of the provisions of the Labor Code, and in particular, Sections 1810 to 1816 thereof, inclusive. In addition to working too hard, you'll have to be sure you don't work too soft. (b) Character of Workmen. If any subcontractor or person employed by the Contractor shall fail or refuse to carry out the directions of the Engineer or shall appear to the Engineer to be incompetent or to act in a disorderly or improper manner, he shall be discharged immediately on the requisition of the Engineer, and such person shall not again be employed on the work. So what's the big deal? The city is just protecting us and our taxpayer money right? Yes and no. The bid requirements go so far in removing any responsibility from city officials, and requiring so much from bidders, that it must be driving up the cost of the project. It seems to me that the main purpose of this bid document is to remove responsibility from city decision makers, no matter what the cost to the project. I can tell you that I've been involved with business-to-business projects that exceed the dollar amount of what this roof job will be. They were completed with minimal contractual requirements. Why? Because the creation of, and adherence to, contracts like this degrade efficient business relationships. This 37 page bid is essentially an insurance policy on a project entered into by two fully-insured entities. It just seems wasteful, and perhaps a bit paranoid, to me. |
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| Image: Once more in the breach, dear friends. I sure hope it doesn't rain on February 20th. Our "Give a Day, Get a Disney Day" volunteer project at the Sherwood Forest is filled to the rim, with Brim. In this case Brim means volunteers. We've had something in the area of 50 people sign up for the work day through the "Hands on Network" or Disney web site. If these people show up and work the whole day (9AM-2PM), they'll get a voucher for a free ticket to a Disney park. About 60% of these people are moms, dads, and kids. The rest came in from a CSU Chico group. When you add Outsiders' board members, family, and friends we're talking about maybe 70-80 people. And this morning I received an email from someone asking if a group of 11 and 12 year girls, who have their own volunteer group, can help out. You can't say no to that. It's possible we could hit 100 people who are considering coming. Being a volunteer project, and one incorporating little kids, I need to plan for anywhere from 25-100 people. And to go smoothly, we'll need people managing sign-in and sign-out, providing tools, acting as project managers, etc. It's turning into a great trial run for building disc golf improvements at highway 32. When we first proposed the idea of improvements to CARD they were very receptive. We met with CARD's Jake Preston who liked the proposal we made. He asked what part of the improvements we wanted to be responsible for, and we said "all of them". He just smiled and said "done". CARD is paying for the material costs that we estimated, and the Outsiders are coordinating the volunteer effort and procurement of the materials. I have two big concerns right now. First, that the weather will postpone the project. And second, that we won't have enough work, or tools, for everyone that shows up. I can control the latter problem, and the former is up to the gods of recreation, whoever they might be. |
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| Image: Are you ready for the latest episode? In the last two weeks the soap opera that is disc golf took many twisty turns. Chad's evil twin showed up and bedded Dianna, who lost her memory after Eliza served her poison wine. Young Stephen won the lottery but was immediately diagnosed with a strange disease that caused him to abandon his marriage with Cristal, the bohemian virgin. If those things weren't bad enough, someone associated with a city funded non-profit called disc golfers terrorists and accused them of shooting a Park Commissioner's house. Then a Park Commissioner entrusted with negotiating a contract with the disc golf non-profit contacted a financial donor specifically to berate them for supporting disc golf. These are the days of our lives... Shots fired: I submitted an FOIA request to the city and received some startling and quite strange communications. Councilor Nickell submitted a transcript of a phone conversation and an email he received to the City Attorney and City Manager's office. The transcript of the phone conversation occurred on 1-18-10. The call was received from a phone line associated with the Chico Creek Nature Center at 7:47PM on a Monday. I am removing the name of the private citizen and won't divulge who actually made the accusations. I think the accused may have grounds for a libel suit, and I don't want to get in the middle of that. The transcript reads in part ... Did you know the police are at Jane Turneys house because of a 50 caliber bullet in her house that caused a leak. She lives next door to [name removed], and I am not saying Lon did it. You are fostering terrorism, you need to put an end to this shit and you are backing them. There was also an email to Councilor Nickell dated 1-19-10 that reads... "Bullet cam from direction of street by [name removed] house, not the air. We know [gender removed] has guns. Officer said it was bigger that a 45, most likely a 50 caliber. This is a shot fired at a political leader. Officer has bullet. If you find out who is in charge, I will ask them to check registation of [name removed] guns against bullet. I know you don't condone this Tom, but our leaders have coddled this threatening group to long." A police report (call# 100180152) states that the reporting party, who in this case is Jane Turney, believes the bullet in her roof may have occurred on New Year's Eve. It was removed by a roofer when servicing a leak. It seems like there might be a more obvious explanation about what happened that doesn't involve a disc golf intifada. Obviously it's a ridiculous charge. Disc golfers are not terrorists, or threatening. We have very few ties with Al-Qaida. Councilor Nickell, to his credit, responded to the accusations by telling the accuser to only contact him via official city channels in the future. This level of background animosity has been typical of the small group of people that continue to oppose disc golf. BPPC Bias: The disc golf non-profit has been negotiating an operating agreement with the city and the Policy Advisory Committee of the Bidwell Park and Playground Commission for quite a while. The committee is made up of Mary Brentwood, Rich Ober, and Jane Turney. I was under the impression that things were going well. Adjustments were made to the agreement, and we recently received support from the BPPC (4-1 vote) for a proposal for city funding. The council voted unanimously on 1-19-10 to match funding for the disc golf project. 4 city councilors have even donated to the project. On 1-22-10 a project sponsor was contacted via email. This is 3 days after the council unanimously voted to match funds for the project. The email read in part... "I am writing to let you know of my extreme disappointment in learning that you have supported a non-profit group in Chico, the "Outsiders". [...] Perhaps you are unaware of the environmental damage that has occurred to the land because of the disc golf activity on Hwy. 32, the location that the course is going to be built. With pages of mitigation measures in the Environmental Impact Report pertaining to this site, I am appalled that you are supporting this effort in any way. The construction of the course will lead to continued degradation of the environment there, and several environmental impacts have been deemed to be "less than significant", which means that they will happen, but not at a level triggered by the study. So much for "sustainability" for the environment there. The Blue Oak Alliance would be equally appalled at your decision, since the damage to the blue oaks on the site cannot be fully mitigated, and they will suffer damage from the disc golf play over time. Soil scientists have been at the site, and have observed areas of erosion so advanced that no mitigation measures will ever be able to restore them." The email account Googles back to an account used by Park Commissioner Jane Turney to submit comments to the Wal-Mart EIR. I guess it's possible she didn't send the email... that somebody used her account. I think that's unlikely, and so I'm getting the impression she is biased against disc golf. Obviously if she has "extreme disappointment" in support for the project and is appalled that someone would support this effort "in any way" then she can't support the project herself. That's an expression of bias. The City Council said we needed to raise matching funds to build the disc golf course at highway 32. They didn't say that one of their Park Commissioners would be trying to scuttle financial support for the project through the back door, while negotiating our contract through the front door. A contract is a quasi-judicial decision. There is case law that supports the disqualification of city officers from making decisions where their bias has been demonstrated. The best thing for the process, and for public confidence in the process, is for it to move forward without bias. The way to make that happen should be pretty straightforward. Summary: I'm one of the first people who will tell you that too much time and money has been spent on the topic of disc golf in Chico. Why on earth are calls being made to councilors calling park users terrorists? Why is a seated Park Commissioner working against a unanimous City Council vote? You've got good people in this community coming unhinged because they lost on an issue. Get over it folks. Move on to bigger things like cats in the park, or people smoking in public. Spend your time solving some real problems in Chico. Why continue poking us in the eye? We're going to start poking you back. |
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| Image: Things you might expect to hear from Councilors regarding job creation. I had a brief talk with a couple of councilors last Friday. I asked them how the Chamber of Commerce gathering went. This was not the "State of the City", but was expected to be a forum where the public asked some hard questions. The councilors said there were a lot of questions along the lines of "what is the council doing to create jobs"? It seems to me that those questions indicate a lack of understanding of what the council can, or should, do. There are very few things that the City Council could do to actually "create jobs". They could direct the City Manager to cut all city employee pay in half, and then direct him to hire twice as many people with the resulting savings. That would violate 7 contracts and put the city in court for the foreseeable future. But they could do that, and if implemented would double the number of jobs at the city. It would also cause all existing city employees to file for bankruptcy. One councilor said providing good quality of life was a magnet for jobs. "Quailty of life" is a wishy-washy term, but let's assume it means clean streets, low crime, and happy parks. Good quality of life is certainly a magnet for retirees from the Bay Area. At least it was before they lost a decade's worth of equity in their homes. Many of the things that contribute to a high quality of life contribute to higher home valuations, which can act as a barrier to new employment. A ratio of low cost-of-living to quality of life would be more likely to increase jobs. Approving Wal-Mart's expansion probably would have increased jobs, but not to any significant degree. I think denying Wal-Mart's expansion does exemplify an unfair decision driven more by politics than reality. At the same time, that decision does not significantly impact our community. Had Wal-Mart been allowed to expand Chico wouldn't be all lollipops and rainbows today. And giving lip service to things like green jobs isn't going to do anything to put people to work. So how does a City Council create jobs? Improving business related infrastructure is about the only thing they could do. Allowing unfettered growth is another thing, although not one that is likely to occur. Zoning more land for industrial, light industrial, and retail uses would prepare Chico to support more jobs. Projects like the Cohasset Road widening dealio helps. Improving access to Hegan Lane business park would be a good idea. As far as I know there is movement along some of these fronts. The reality is that the Council can't do much to change the jobs outlook for Chico. The state or federal government could. They could cut taxes, giving people more money to spend on things they don't really need. It's interesting that the House of Representatives recently allowed donations to Haiti to be counted on last year's taxes. From Nancy Pelosi's web site... On January 20th, the House unanimously passed H.R. 4462 to provide an immediate benefit for those who have already given and incentive for those who are considering a charitable contribution and on January 22nd, the President signed the bill into law. We must do everything we can to help the people of Haiti and the aid workers working so feverishly on the ground to help them. The bill allows individuals making a charitable contribution after January 11th and before March 1st to victims of the earthquake in Haiti to claim these charitable contributions on their 2009 tax return. Absent this change, taxpayers would need to wait until next year to claim a deduction for these contributions on their 2010 tax return. The bill also includes a provision allowing those who text messaged a donation the ability to use a phone bill as proof of donation. Somehow allowing a tax-free donation is a recognized tool to free up funds for Haitian relief. If that logic holds for Haiti, wouldn't it also hold for the United States? Lower taxation frees up capital. Free capital purchases more goods and services. More goods and services being purchased creates jobs. |
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| Image: Dennis Beardsley retiring to a life of fishing and focusing on his budding career as a rapper. Last night I took my wife on a super-romantic and special date. We attended Dennis Beardsley's surprise retirement party. Parties like that reinforce my feeling of being an outsider. When I began the effort to keep disc golf in Bidwell Park back in 2003 I felt like I was stepping into some other world. It felt that way again last night. Linda Herman, who organized the party along with Dennis' wife Sally and volunteer coordinator Lise Smith-Peters, said the event was an effort put together by the "city-family". And as people spoke about Beardsley's time in Chico it was clear that deep friendships had been created, and that people respected his leadership. For a lot of us, leadership means picking up the flag and charging the hill. I think for managers at the city it may be more like getting out of the way when two armies decide to slaughter each other, and then cleaning up the mess so non-combatants can enjoy a picnic on the battlefield. For years I failed to understand what Dennis' job was. Early on I assumed that if people made a logical and solid argument the city staff would promote that position to decision makers. That's not the way it works. It's quite a bit more complicated. Maybe one day I'll explain how I think the city works, but it is sufficient to say that dealing successfully with city staff is about 1/3 of the job. Dave Burkland described Dennis as a "fishing buddy". Linda Herman said he was a mentor that helped her through a personal rough spot. Councilor Jim Walker, whose time on the BPPC pre-dated Beardsley's time at the city, listed park improvements shepherded by Beardsley. There are a lot. ER Reporter Laura Urseny even spoke, complimenting his grace at city meetings and availability to the press. Greg Melton, of Land Image, described his work with Dennis as "career-defining". It was an odd experience to look into this window of the "city-family". More odd was the juxtaposition of my experiences with Dennis, mostly from city meetings, with his personal relationships. Here was a respected and admired administrator entering into his life of retirement. I couldn't help but envy his friendships, accomplishments, and future. David Little told me a story that happened back on November 18th, 2008, the night the council voted to remove disc golf. Beardsley and some co-workers were at Duffy's celebrating the end of the disc golf saga. Little asked him something along the lines of aren't you glad this is over? Dennis replied that it's not over. I think he understood where the community was, even though the council didn't. A few months later, after the referendum, Beardsley made the decision to post signs at the highway 32 disc golf course. The signs declared the site to be the future home of a "permanent disc golf facility". Beardsley made the decision to use those words. They defined the city's position and broadcast it to the public. So in some sense he planted the flag on the hill. Let the picnics begin. |
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| Image: State of the city. I ran into the Mayor yesterday while walking my bike through campus. When I asked her how her day was she stated that it wasn't going terribly well. She cited Robert Speer's review of the State of the City in the latest episode of the News and Review as a reason for her chagrin. In part, Speer writes (see here for entire CNR editorial)... That was quite a love-in Tuesday night (Jan. 26) at City Council chambers, when the city of Chico staged—I use the term purposely—its own State of the City gathering for the first time. It wasn’t at all like past State of the City events. Heretofore these annual exercises in municipal self-accounting and self-promotion have been sponsored by the Chico Chamber of Commerce and presented before a breakfast crowd of business owners, people who aren’t shy about asking sharp questions. The events have also been formatted to allow each of the seven council members time to speak, which has usually led to some spirited back-and-forth about city policies and practices. Councilman Larry Wahl, in particular, has been famous for calling his more-liberal colleagues to account for what he sees as their anti-business and anti-libertarian stances. There was none of that Tuesday night. The whole thing was carefully scripted, beginning with a slide presentation—prepared by City Clerk Debbie Presson and narrated by Mayor Ann Schwab—touting the city’s accomplishments during 2009, from finalizing the Bidwell Park Master Management Plan (no mention of the $600,000 cost) to winning an award of excellence for the new City Plaza (no mention of cost there, either). There's more to Speer's review and I would encourage people to read it. As someone in the news business he noticed the lack of critique involved in the event. Little honest introspection and dialogue was presented. It came off as a marketing vehicle. Had I watched the entire event I probably would have bought into the Chico time-share unveiled at the end. I myself didn't watch the entire State of the City. An adjacent channel was covering the purchase of a new "Man-Cave" by Brad Pitt. Whether or not this is indicative of a Brangelina divorce I don't know. We can all hope that they stay together, otherwise I'm not sure who will adopt and raise Haiti. Possibly Madonna. When I did watch the State of the City I vacillated between mild approval and feeling like I drank a six-pack of cream soda (if you've quaffed that much cream soda you understand what I mean). However, on the Mayor's behalf, I'm going to offer a positive review of the State of the City. I'm going to give it 2-Smiley Face stickers and 1-Frowny Face sticker. 1 Smiley Face: I thought Mayor Schwab's narration and description of city accomplishments was well done. It's very easy to criticize the cost of large projects. It's very easy to find fault with specific portions of projects. I do it all the time. It's also easy to point at the high pay some city employees receive and just demand that they do a great job for great pay, with no recognition. They have balanced the budget during tough economic times. In all likelihood they have even tougher times ahead. It is worthwhile to look back at their accomplishments, let go of the criticism, and recognize the contribution they make to the community. Our city's employees and our public servants deserve a pat on the back every now and again. Mayor Schwab did that. She took the high road and put a happy face on the city. That should be okay. I think if we billed the event a "State of the City Employees" we'd better understand why it was produced the way it was. 1 Smiley Face: Whether it be the draught downing democrats at Duffy's, or resource raising republicans at Rotary, the people of Chico are good people. We should try to have a positive outlook for the future of our town. We should try to work together so solve our problems. Mayor Schwab made these points. Since I've started writing this blog I've met so many great people. That includes the people that work at CARD, the many non-profits in our town, the young people from CSU Chico, and our hard-working, clean-cut, police force. It also includes our park users... the horse people (not centaurs), hikers, dog-walkers, swimmers, rock climbers, mountain bikers, runners, hangliders, and frisbee flingers. All good people. I get where the Mayor and the City Clerk, who put together the State of the City video, were coming from. They wanted to display the positive aspects of last year's accomplishments. There is a place for that. 1 Frowny Face: A number of our elected officials work in jobs funded by the taxpayer. Our city workers definitely work in jobs funded by the taxpayer. Unemployment nationwide is over 10%, and closer to 13% in our town. In contrast, government worker unemployment is estimated to be around 3.6%. I think I could make an argument that City of Chico employee unemployment is pretty much 0%. The public mood is somber, and could be fairly described as fearful of our economic future. The "State of the City" meeting failed to reflect the public mood, and seemed out of touch. The rosy picture seemed more appropriate to a corporate retreat than a public presentation. There is a place for celebrating the accomplishments our city workers string together over the year. I think Mayor Schwab did a fine job with that. In the future they should avoid the "Yeah Me!" appearance, especially when the rest of us are stocking up on Top Ramen. |
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| Image: Giotto di Bondone (1267-1337), Basilique Assise, Legend of St Francis, St Francis Giving his Mantle to a Poor Man. There's been bad news on the city budget front... sort of... maybe.... Before I get to that I want to recognize the glorious level that government spending has reached in our country and state. The federal debt has reached $12,245,872,000,000. We have a population of 307,000,000. So each person in the US owes roughly $39,900. Recent suggestions by our government that they will increase the debt ceiling by $1.43 trillion would add $4,766 to that individual debt. As the head of a family of 4, my wife owes the federal government $179,000. I'm just happy she wears the pants in the family, otherwise that crushing debt would depress my every living moment. On the state front, California has a population close to 37 million, and a long term debt of $83.5 billion (note: I should probably double check this number... seems too low). This means each Californian owes about $2,300. Now, that state debt is more reasonable, especially considering the fact that we can benefit from things like public lands and roads. I know it seems unrealistic to consider the debt of government as our own debt. I'm not really going to have to write a check for $180,000 to pay for my family of 4 (I'm sorry, my wife isn't really going to have to write that check). It seems unrealistic, but it's not. The fact is she will have to write that check. And it will be on top of our existing tax liabilities. We should probably be happy that our city is not suffering this crushing debt. But the reality is they too are having problems. And we will have to pay for it in one manner or another. Preliminay estimates by the Finance Department suggest that next year's City of Chico budget deficit may reach as high as -$4 million. The published estimate is -$1.7 million. This is not long term debt, as I discussed earlier regarding federal and state money. This is the day-to-day checking account balance. The Finance Department was clear that this was a rough estimate that shouldn't be considered highly accurate until more data is available. The data needed to refine the city budget estimates is the sales tax income for the city. I will go out on a limb and forecast that sales tax income for the City of Chico will continue to decline for the period this estimate will cover. If the city is currently estimating a deficit -$2.3 million worse than the estimate they made last year, then I think a 10 year budget deficit in the area of -$30 to -$40 million is likely. The 10 year deficit is currently estimated to be -$18 million. If this turns out to be the case then all of the budget cuts, while significant, will have made little impact on the 10-year deficit predicted back in 2006. It's hard for me to imagine what the city will cut if this preliminary predicition becomes reality. An 8-10% cut in General Fund spending would be needed to close a $4 million gap. It's fair to say that the city is tracking their deficit, and making spending corrections on-the-fly. It's also fair to say that they have not implemented financial planning that attempts to produce ongoing budget surpluses. It's kind of like bailing out a boat with the emphasis being on using the smallest bucket available. |
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About Me: Fasten your seatbelts for an exhilarating trip through Chico's public policy; I guarantee it's marginally better than public access TV.
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