Commission Impossible

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September 28, 2006

Kirk Risks It All!

Maureen Kirk has released this press piece (see above) detailing an upcoming bicycle stunt. After being challenged by a citizen she will attempt to cross east 20th Street and Whitman Ave. on a bicycle. I assume she'll be in a car lane. There are crosswalks at this intersection. This is something that we have to stop! Maureen Kirk, candidate for Supervisor is placing her life in danger with this stunt. Think of your supporters Maureen! Is the future of Butte County really worth the risk of riding a bicycle through this terrifying and life threatening intersection! Please Maureen, I beg you not to throw caution to the winds. While it may go against all things good and cycle friendly, please consider using the CROSSWALK!!! Your life is not worth proving the fact that the City hasn't fixed this light. It was just this reckless, wild side of Maureen that caused me to support Steve Bertagna in the Supe's race. Unfortunately, Maureen's grandstanding has caused Steve to meet fire with fire!

Steve Bertagna has decided that not to be out-done, he will fire himself out of a cannon into Bidwell Ranch, landing safely on a patch of fluffy meadowfoam. Steve was going to just throw himself onto the meadowfoam, but was unable to get the keys to the preserve. Since access was limited he derived the plan to fire himself into the open-space just to make the point that meadowfoam is spongy and resilient. While I think Steve's idea of firing himself from a cannon may not be the best, it doesn't rise to the level of danger that crossing an intersection on a bicycle does. Furthermore, Steve's family has a long history of farming and firing themselves from things. See this video of Alfonzo Bertagna, who had a long career as a projectile.

I know this is a dangerous intersection for cyclists. I know that the lethal accident here last year would have been less likely if the light timing was longer. Why turn a tragedy into a political stunt? Every intersection won't be safe for bicycles. Walk your bikes when that's the case. Maureen, for the last time, please reconsider. Take one look at this video clip and realize how truly dangerous cycling near intersections can be. But if you must do this please wear full motorcycle leathers and a motorcycle helmet, and have traffic guards present. Take no chances with this dangerous stunt. Use the crosswalk... for the children.

Posted by Lon at 03:42 PM | Comments (7)

September 27, 2006

Ringel Around the Rosies

Both of my faithful readers will have noticed that I often mention Ringel Park as a favorite haunt of the home-challenged. Lately the park has been in a state of planned disarray as the area is refurbished. The first things to go were the naturally-occuring napping natives. Next went all of the things they napped on (I should state that the bathrooms are staying). But there is a back-story to the enhancement to the entrance of our lovely downtown. The downtown Plaza Park design used up most of the North State cement stock that was available for 2006. In fact side-walks in Yuba City are being built out of peat-moss due to the lack of cement supplies. This left Chico in the a precarious position of locating a landscape architecture company that could design with less rigid concepts. In stepped Genesis Landscape Architecture. In looking at the design I can see they relied on an unusual concept for area beautification. They used plants. Some components of the landscaping are designed to highlight the fact that Chico is the "City of Roses". I did not know that. This will be a welcome addition to downtown Chico, and will replace the conglomeration of homeless folks with a conglomeration of foliage. This really appears to be a nice landscape design and a welcome addition to the renovation of downtown Chico's facade. Maybe it will bring more traffic to downtown merchants. Hmmm... I wonder where they'll park? See the preliminary Ringel Park Master Plan here. Additional components could be added based on City funding.

Posted by Lon at 10:45 PM

September 22, 2006

New Important Civic Group Forms!

Let me start this post by saying that "Friends" groups can do very good things for the community. Even those that I disagree with from time-to-time. But there seems to be a glut of "Friends" groups in Chico. There are Friends of the Arts, Friends of the Foothills, Friends of Downtown, Friends of Baroni Park, Friends of Bidwell Park, Friends of the Library, Friends of the Arboretum, Friends of Chico Community Ballet, Friends of the Honors, Friends of Soccer, and Friends of the River, to name a few. In order to bring a new era of creative naming for groups of people who like or support things, I'm forming the Friends of the Friends Don't Let Friends Start "Friends" Groups non-profit organization. We'll be selling T-shirts to help get the word out that it's time to start being more creative in expressing support for things. You can sign up on this blog. I'd also like to schedule speaking dates for "friends" groups who would like to hear about our concepts in alternative naming. Examples: Compadres of Chico Community Ballet, Lovers of the Library, Bro's to Baroni Park, and Dudes and Dudettes of Downtown. Please get involved now...for the children!

Posted by Lon at 04:45 PM | Comments (3)

September 21, 2006

More Nonsense from the Park Police

The pictures above are fake trees that are actually cell phone towers. There's nothing wrong with the idea of replacing 85' light pole towers with 110' light pole towers at Hooker Oak Recreation Area in order to improve cell service in Bidwell Park. But I suspect that even the extreme camouflage used in these examples would not pacify the "park police" that obstruct anything new in our community. When a teenager drives for the first time most parents are conscientious enough to give them a cell phone. It’s the sane thing to do. Why? Because, if they run into trouble you want them to be able to call for help. It borders on insanity that Chico’s “progressive” City Council would hear an appeal of a Park Commission decision that allows better cell phone coverage in Bidwell Park (and northeast Chico). The City knows that emergency phone service is important in the park. That’s why they provide call boxes in Upper Park. But a council majority may not be smart enough to see the safety value of un-tethered communication. The obstructionism takes a familiar form. “Not in Bidwell Park” is the mantra of those opposed to extending by 30’ light poles at a baseball field in the Hooker Oak Recreation Area (CARD operated). No Bidwell Park user will notice the difference. Unless of course they lay broken at the base of a less traveled trail, and are able to call for help. The proposed master plan for Bidwell Park says we should “Increase availability of telephones to maintain adequate protection levels and response times.” Cell phones are ubiquitous, portable, and serve this requirement better than a dozen new call boxes Concerns over radiation are ridiculous. We have similar antennae located in our urban core at similar heights (the downtown water towers). These are located adjacent to homes, and with the exception of strange reporting from the CNR (beneath the towers) there's been no noticeable effect. But placing the antennae 110' above a sparsely populated baseball field is a concern. It's nice to know that our City Council majority takes junk science so seriously. The people that want no cell service in Bidwell Park are political supporters of the “progressive” majority. This majority is bowing to demands that disregard common sense and public safety. On November 7th I will vote for Dailey, Herbert, and Sorensen and hope we can end this nonsense.

Posted by Lon at 08:54 AM | Comments (18)

September 18, 2006

Double Standards

The City Council will consider whether or not to allow the City Manager to submit a grant request ($230,000) for the improvement of a trail to "Monkey Face". In an of itself this action is no big deal. I hope the city is able to receive funding to make this trail improvement. What I find interesting (perhaps confusing, maybe even troubling) is that the trail to be improved has not yet completed its lengthy "approval" process through the Park Commission, or the City Council. The Bidwell Park Master Management Plan update is not complete, and the EIR (environmental impact report) for Bidwell Park has not been delivered by the consultants at EDAW. Unless the plan has changed (since the Master Plan is not complete it's hard to say), the trail directly to Monkey Face would be removed, and a longer route would be established to the lookout (see map above from the proposed Master Plan). However it is possible the grant money would go towards perfecting the direct route which suffers from significant erosion (not discussed in the Master Plan as far as I know). It seems like the city is willing to pick and choose which projects need to drag through years of studies, and which may be assumed "good-to-go" without the backing of a full CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act) study. The projects that receive the fast track appear to be those where vocal environmental groups haven't mustered opposition.

I first noticed this with the Horshoe Lake parking area and lead cleanup. This project occurred concurrently with the botanical study of the disc golf site off of highway 32. I knew that the Friends of Bidwell Park and California Native Plant Society were concerned about foot traffic around Bidwell's Knotweed and Butte County Checkerbloom. The modified, more environmentally friendly disc golf courses, were remapped to keep people away from these plants. Bidwell's Knotweed created a "no-play" requirement on about 1/3 of the 40 acre disc golf site. In the EIR for the lead cleanup around Horseshoe Lake there was no mention of Bidwell's Knotweed. Off trail foot traffic by non-disc golfers apparently was not a worry for this plant for this project. Bulldozing didn't register any concern either. The plant was located all over the site, it just didn't matter away from disc golf. I watched as Bidwell's Knotweed was fenced inside a construction zone and eventually bulldozed (see photos below), without a peep or any CEQA based rumblings whatsoever. A few miles away it was touted as Annie's legacy and put off limits to people that had coexisted with it for a decade or more. What bothers me about the proposed trail grant, is that it probably could be applied to the disc golf site as well. But that would never happen because of Chico's weird politics that pit park users against plant lovers. $209,000 originally directed towards disc golf was redirected towards the unfinished Master Plan due to the preservationist demands and threats of legal action. That money is gone forever, and much more has followed it. Meanwhile valid recreation funding opportunities go forward in other areas of Bidwell Park, with no requirement for a completed Master Plan. But only in those areas where the city is assured of no preservationist opposition. It's all rather silly and unfortunate.

Posted by Lon at 08:13 PM | Comments (8)

Don't be a Barney, attend this kickin' awesome party!

What were you doing in the 1980's? I was in high-school, the army, and then college. And I'll be able to relive them all on October 14th. Need an 80's refresher course? Check out this web site! This weekend I competed in the Nico Cardoza Memorial Golf Tournament at Oroville's Table Mountain golf course. It was the first time I'd ever played golf with a ball, and my team came in second-to-last place. I like to think that I contributed greatly to our score. I actually hit a ball that travelled backwards, defying physics, and astounding friends. In addition to giving me my first opportunity to drive a golf cart (very fun), the event raised about $20,000 to build a new play area in Caper Acres. Nico's dad put on the tournament and did a great job. It was our best fundraiser all year, and will be difficult to top. But we do have one more chance to get the community involved in this project. The band Simply Irresistable (covers 80's tunes) has offered to do a concert to benefit the project. After some discussion Sierra Nevada Brewery offered to donate use of the Big Room for the event. And so the Ultimate 80's Celebration was born. The event is being held on October 14th (a Saturday). It will include dinner, dancing, a raffle, auction, and silent auction. Tickets are $50 and seating is first-come-first served, unless you reserve a table (table for 6 = $350). Tickets can be purchased at Zucchini and Vine in downtown Chico. You can also purchase tickets or reserve a table at Solutions Cubed also in downtown Chico. For additional information you can contact the Nico Project via the web site for reservations or information specific to the 80's celebration. Solutions Cubed 256 East First Street Chico CA 95928 phone: (530) 891-8045 The project has raised about $85,000 towards a goal of $125,000. The 80's celebration may put us over the $100K mark, and will be a great party to boot. If you've got interesting auction items you'd like to donate we could use those as well. So please get out your Izod shirts, Members Only jackets, High-Top shoes, and parachute pants; find a babysitter (if you're at that point in life); and come on down for a great time supporting a great cause.

Posted by Lon at 08:46 AM

September 16, 2006

Sorensen Gets Police Nod, Nickell Left Out

The Chico Police Officers Association (CPOA) has endorsed Dan Herbert, Mark Sorensen, and Scott Gruendl for Chico City Council. Groups that represent public employees like police and fire associations make endorsement decisions based on political realities. Incumbents are more likely to be re-elected based on name recognition alone. So the endorsements of Gruendl and Herbert are not much of a surpise. Who they would support as the third candidate has been a topic of discussion around town. Mark Sorensen was selected over CHP Officer Tom Nickell. Nickell has made a number of statements highlighting his support for public safety, and made much of his career as a Highway Patrol Officer. That begs the question "why wouldn't the Chico Police Officers Association support a fellow peace officer in his candidacy"? I worked with Sorensen on the RDA committee, and I expect that the police association saw much of what I saw in Mark. His depth of understanding of Chico's budgetary and economic state is better than the rest of the new-comer candidates, and at least rivals that of the incumbents. The City of Chico is projecting 135,000 residents in the next 20 years (we currently have around 80,000), and the University is planning to add another 4,000 students (from 17,000 to 21,000). Because of these realities the nexus between public safety and re-establishing core economic principles in our City government becomes essential. Sorensen has stated that the City needs to "live within its means" and prioritize public spending to focus on core infrastructure and public service needs. Meanwhile the progressives are suggesting building a homeless KOA. I think that contrast alone could be the basis for the selection of Sorensen by the CPOA.

Posted by Lon at 02:03 PM | Comments (0)

September 14, 2006

Holcombe Hopes to Host Hobo Mitigation Bunk

My son asked me today why there are so many "hobos" downtown. He told me that the bathroom at Ringel Park was a hobo home (there was a guy sleeping there). I told him it was more like a hobo-haven, because they can't really live there. I'm not sure where he picked up the term "hobo". I can't recall using it, and I'm sure the speech police have changed the term to something like domocile-challenged-Americans. Anyway, he recognizes the problem because we're always approached by pan-handlers, and at least he's not calling them bums. There are a myriad of homeless shelters, half-way houses, Church groups, and others that help the homeless in Chico. With limited resources they rightfully help those that can do the most with a hand up. My hat goes off to all those people that help our less fortunate. But there are many in our community that cannot be helped. Sometimes there's a reason for that. Some of them are mean, dishonest, and fueled by drugs and alcohol. And local homeless shelters won't take them in. That's why we have a homeless problem. That's one reason why parks will be closed at night.

Andy Holcombe's suggestion that Chico create it's own version of Dignity Village is not a good one. In addition to acting as a magnet for out-of-town transients it just doesn't make any sense. This is more of the "new-age" social engineering that "progressives" seem to focus on. There are repercussions to thinking outside this particular cardboard box. Chico can live without being the soup kitchen for the North State. Questions include...who will clean up the camp? Where will we put it? Who will pay for the property? Who will manage it? Where do the homeless go when not camping? Who will protect the homeless from West Nile virus? What if they start disc golfing? It just seems naive and, to be honest, a little too "bleeding heart" for my liking. If there were a long term discussion and the community support for this endeavor blossomed, then maybe I'd feel differently. Here are some comments about Dignity Village that might not show up in the "Homeless Trade Journals"... Dignity's vision has led to donations of money, mountain bikes, a bus, and seeds, and the community is now hoping to secure a permanent location to establish itself. Yet, despite its achievements, the problems persist. Drug use and drinking continue, as does some physical altercations, and there have been difficulties maintaining fair leadership. Some feel that the community should be restricted to those in most desperate need, and others worry that the residents are "stagnating." The computers are used to play solitaire and cribbage instead of for job searches. "I was naive," says Bryan Pollard, who helped create Dignity. "People who are housed and have reasonably stable lives are not able to live in a healthy communal way - so how dare we expect society's most traumatized, most abused and most injured to do it?" By Nick Budnick, Willamette Week December 18, 2002 Issue While the article is dated it does refer to the kinds of problems this homeless population is likely to bring. Dignity Village can draw from the resources of Portland OR, a sizable urban area. Little Chico in Butte County with its meth problems should avoid this concept like the plague. We do not have the resources to take in the migration of homeless that would find their way to us if this camp were built. We can't even deal with the problem we have now. But if we're going to talk about this facility, let's consider putting it in Bidwell Ranch. I have a feeling that love of plants will supercede love of our most downtrodden neighbors. I've already seen that love of plants has superceded support for low-cost healthy recreation in one part of our park. In an effort to be open-minded on this topic I have a proposition for supporters of this idea. Open your backyards and front yards to the homeless. Run hot and cold water, electricity, and provide port a-potties on your property. After a few years we'll get together and see how it's worked out. If everything is fine then the city can purchase your property and we can have "micro-camps" that dot the city. If that doesn't work out I suggest we fund buses and drive our homeless-that-are-beyond-help up to Dignity Village in Oregon. Then they can take part in the flourishing hobo renaissance that Dignity Village represents.

Posted by Lon at 05:17 PM | Comments (5)

September 13, 2006

Planning Commissioner to be Appointed

Word on the street is that Planning Commissioner Kirk Monfort will be reappointed to Chico's Planning Commission. His status as a commissioner was derailed when he had to resign over an odd state law. The law prevents city officials from purchasing property within an RDA zone where they may benefit from improvements being made. Primary residences are exempted. Once Monfort can secure his new property as a primary residence the law will no longer apply and he may be reappointed. Monfort is a CSU Chico professor and had been on the Planning Commission for ~17 years. He's shown in this photo discussing how much fun he's had with his time off from the Planning Commission. He went tubing on Labor Day, set up a really fun Fantasy Football league with some other ex city officials, and has been teaching himself Ukrainian. The young people in the photo are all Ukrainian exchange students who have come to America to learn about RDA bonds and mitigation banks. Of course I'm kidding, this photo is just a staged PR photo from the Internet.

Posted by Lon at 07:08 PM | Comments (0)

September 03, 2006

Bidwell Preserve Comes With Costs

The December 2005 proposal to manage Bidwell Ranch as a mitigation bank by River Partners puts the price tag at $1,000,000 to get the bank started. A mitigation bank allows developers to buy mitigation credits for sensitive lands that they impact. So the use of vernal pools of Bidwell Ranch as a mitigation bank allows the destruction of sensitive lands in other areas/communities through a financial exchange. Now that's what I call protecting the environment! River Partners estimated that it would need to be paid $258,000 and would require an additional $20,000 annually to manage the site. An endowment of at least $500,000 would be paid up front to provide the annual operating costs. There's no word on who pays for trails/fences/gates in the Preserve. The dollar value of the mitigation bank is estimated by River Partners at $10,000,000. The cost of Bidwell Ranch will be around $7,000,000, and the cost to set up a mitigation bank estimated by River Partners is < $1,000,0000. So the net gain from a mitigation bank is estimated at $2,000,000. With interest we could be looking at a loss or breaking even. The numbers are all pretty fluid, but it's doubtful the mitigation bank is a windfall.

The original plan to develop all of Bidwell Ranch was torpedoed by a referendum a while back. That result will stand, the entirety of Bidwell Ranch should not be developed. A subsequent proposal that was mentioned in a recent ER editorial describes an offer to buy 200 acres for development at a gross income of $30,000,000-50,000,000. It looks like that won't happen either. With those funds we could have built an aquatic center and splash park, finished our neighborhood parks, refurbished 1-mile, built a BMX park, a disc golf course, fixed all of our trails, and bought land adjacent to North Rim trail in Upper Bidwell Park that is privately held and could be developed. We would still have added 550 acres to Bidwell Park, and could have set aside some portion of that for a privately run mitigation bank. What is truly a shame is that the liberal City Council majority could have put aside rigid ideology and sought compromise (well, not that rigid... a mitigation bank allows the environment to be destroyed elsewhere). A mitigation bank AND development of less than a third of Bidwell Ranch would have had huge net income AND expanded Bidwell Park. As it stands the 750 acre Bidwell Ranch will be transferred to a non-profit with no accountability to the people of Chico. We will never have unrestricted access to any of this land. It will never be part of Bidwell Park. Candidate claims of "I won't sell Bidwell Park" started as misleading and have become a lie. Recreational opportunities will include walking or biking on 12' asphalt roads but movement off trail is not allowed. In the end Chicoans will probably have access to less than 1% of what was once public property. I guess that's better than we have now. Educational groups can go off trail with a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers. If you want to repeatedly take classes off trail you will need to submit a use plan to the Corps. Allowable management practices in the "bank" would include mowing, controlled burns, goats and cows to remove brush, use of pesticides, biological controls, and the shooting of beavers.

Who Are River Partners? Can I start by saying there's no river in Bidwell Ranch? It seems a little strange to select river specialists to manage this "bank". But I guess vernal pools are close enough to rivers for government work. River Partners earns ~3,000,000/year and has 22 employees. It is based here in Chico. The majority of the work they do relates to river area restoration through replanting. As far as I can tell they have not managed a mitigation bank before!!! River Partners appear to have no experience managing areas with recreation components. They have only one other project of similar size (>700 acres) on their web site and it was overseeing a native plant introduction plan. About 1/3 of the River Partner's board show up as donors/supporters of Scott Gruendl and Maureen Kirk. That's just something for consideration, it's not an indication of back-room dealings. Another 1/3 work in the agricultural community. The board also includes Ken Grossman, who makes a mighty fine beer. River Partners appears to be a successful organization that has done a dozen-plus projects related to wetland restoration. If a mitigation bank is going to happen in Bidwell Ranch it should be by a local company.

Posted by Lon at 07:07 PM | Comments (15)