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July 31, 2007
Swimming Upstream
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| I swear, I intended to give the existing
parks, future parks, and park facilities thing a rest today. I was all
geared
up to do a post on why black dogs cause less global warming than white
dogs,
and was even willing to live with the inter-canine racial undercurrents
of that topic. But then Jenn Klein writes an article in today's E-R about increased enrollment in CARD's swimming programs. Enrollment is up 50% in some CARD swimming programs. A CARD representative cited a number of program changes that influenced increased public participation. I'm going to put on my marketing cap and solve the mystery of the increase in swimmers. CARD changed the format of their program guide PLAY! recently (cover shown above). And there's something about this summer's guide that might cause people to want to swim, or take their kids for lessons. Can you see what it is? That's right! They're using a pleasing block font that makes people involuntarily recall time spent in the womb. And what activity is closest to lounging around the womb? Bingo! Swimming lessons. Just another example of how advertising works. If you have any other insight let me hear it? Now back to my rant about parks. Chico has three public swimming pools. They are Shapiro Pool (Chico Junior High), Pleasant Valley Pool (used to be at PV High School, but was recently moved to Bidwell Junior High School due to blog reader outrage, see comments below), and Sycamore Pool (1 mile - Lower Bidwell Park). Of the three pools, two are falling apart. A local pool builder has suggested that the only way to fix Shapiro Pool is to tear it out and put in a new one. An additional problem with Shapiro Pool is that it's on the Junior High property, and apparently due to State requirements they can't give up any additional property to the pool. It makes little sense to rebuild Shapiro Pool since that site doesn't accommodate growth in pool use through 2030. It would be better to locate a site for an aquatic park and build a new pool there. DeGarmo Park's unused acreage is one location being discussed. Sycamore Pool, a centerpiece of Chico life, is falling apart. The City is about to put in a new inflatable dam which should reduce mechanical stress on the pool (from varying the water height). Deep fissures are visible along the walls of the pool, and some portions are visibly bowing. At some point, maybe during a winter storm, a wall could simply collapse at Sycamore Pool. I've heard that the cost of environmental studies to rebuild the pool could exceed $1 million dollars. The cost to rebuild the pool will probably be higher than that. On a side note, I mentioned in a CARD Master Plan Citizen Advisory Committee meeting that I love swimming at 1-mile. A number of people commented that the water quality was dangerous, and the pool was a filthy infectious morass. Okay nobody said the last part, but the consensus was that people thought it was yucky. My question to all you naysayers is where else in Chico can Norcal bloggers and Norcal gang-bangers swim with the fish and search for sea-glass? But to change the impression that the water is not clean we should rename it Sycaless Pool. More marketing genius? I think so. Pleasant Valley Pool is reportedly in good shape, and should last another 10 years or so. So what's the point of this post? Increases in swimming lesson enrollment at CARD is a result of good marketing and image use, and program changes that make those classes easier to attend. Increased enrollment will also come with the natural growth of Chico through 2030. Our pool facilities can not handle the increased growth and need to be replaced or fixed. A park bond and converting neighborhood lighting and landscape districts to a city-wide district might allow us to do those things. |
Posted by Lon at 07:34 AM | Comments (6)
July 30, 2007
Conservatives Voted Against Lowering Park Fees
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| I've been brushing up on my "park knowledge" since I'll be applying for the newly open City Manager position. I think my experience on various citizen advisory committees will allow me to sit through any number of tiresome and pointless public meetings*. If appointed I'll be hiring artist Gregg Payne as my Assistant City Manager, and changing the city motto from "better, faster, smarter" to "no Payne, no gain". I've been reading through the 2003 Nexus Study on park fees produced by the consultants at Economic Planning Systems. In the original copy of the study the recommended development impact fees for parks were set at ~$3,600 per single family home. About half of this money was for land aquisition, and the remainder for park construction. I later heard that the fee was reduced** by the City Council to $2,064 per single family home, and the money is only used for land aquisition. This morning I finally found the updated Nexus Study reflecting the lowered development impact fee (here is a link to the study in its final form). I know what you're all saying. Those damned conservative councilors backed their developer buddies in not going with the higher impact fees. Oddly enough, that's not what happened. Here are the 2003 minutes where the council adopted the lower fee schedule (page 238, minutes can be found here). |
| A motion was made by Vice Mayor Jarvis and seconded by Councilmember Gruendl to accept the Park Fee Nexus Study, adopt the following resolution amending the fee schedule recommended by the consultant and initiate amendments to the General Plan to maintain consistency between the fee assumptions and plan. The motion failed by the following vote: AYES: Gruendl, Jarvis, Nguyen-Tan NOES: Bertagna, Herbert, Wahl, Kirk ABSENT: None DISQUAL: None A motion was made by Councilmember Nguyen-Tan and seconded by Councilmember Gruendl to accept the Park Fee Nexus Study, adopt the following resolution amending the fee schedule at the lower rates of $2,064 and $1,746 and initiate amendments to the General Plan to maintain consistency between the fee assumptions and plan, as recommended by staff, with the exception of maintaining the ability to acquire the Big Chico Creek greenway west of SHR 32 with funds other than park facility fees. RESOLUTION NO. 49 03-04 — A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CHICO AMENDING THE CITY’S FEE SCHEDULE (AMENDMENT NO. 279 - PARK FACILITY FEES) AYES: Gruendl, Jarvis, Nguyen-Tan, Kirk NOES: Bertagna, Herbert, Wahl ABSENT: None DISQUAL: None |
| It's entirely possible that conservative councilors voted against lowering the fees from the original recommendation of ~$3,600 because they thought $2,064 was still too high. But that's not reflected in the minutes. Regardless of that, the fees as they are today were set by our more liberal councilors at the time. If they are too low the people who voted them in are the ones who should explain why they supported those fees. There may be very good economic reasons for adopting a reduced development impact fee for parks as opposed to the consultant proposed ~$3,600. I'm curious to learn more about that. *Citizen advisory committees can be tiresome and pointless. But they are still a significant way to be engaged in Chico's decision making process. More people should take part in them. **To be entirely clear the development impact fees were never reduced for developers. The consultants who produced the Nexus Study made a recommendation, and specific City Councilors voted to reduce the fee from that recommendation. As far as I know the $2,064 single family home fee was still an increase over what existed prior. |
Posted by Lon at 11:53 AM | Comments (17)
July 29, 2007
There Goes the Neighborhood... Park
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| Wouldn't it be nice if Chico could build
unique parks for its kids, like the one above, that we would
all be proud of? Wouldn't it be great if instead of finger pointing and
multi-decade
delays
we
actually worked together to make great developed park lands? The first
step in doing that is looking at where we are and talking about where we
might want to go. I thought I'd go into a little more detail on neighborhood park acreage. Neighborhood parks in my opinion should be 5-12 acres, but could be smaller, and are designed to serve people within about a half-mile of the facility. A completely built park will typically have multi-use fields (soccer, baseball) or a recreation component like a basketball or tennis court, a children's play structure, picnic area, and restrooms. CARD and the City of Chico both own neighborhood parks. Generally the city will build the park, and then decide whether or not it wants to manage it. If not it may be handed over to CARD. Really Good: A great example of a neighborhood park is Oakway Park that sports all of the above and is adjacent to Emma Wilson elementary school. The school's proximity provides more facilities accessible by neighbors when school is not in session. This is a CARD park. Not so Good: Neighbors of the First and Verbena park decided to leave it as open space and not develop it into a neighborhood park. It may have a picnic area, but no other recreation components are planned. Owned by the City. At Highland/Ceres the city kicked in extra money to build a park with all of the amenities (restrooms, recreation components, etc) at about half the usual price (~$60/year), and the neighborhood turned down the project. Owned by the City. At Baroni Park neighbors decided to fund a park with no basketball court or restrooms ($60/year), a basketball court has been anonymously donated ($40,000), but still no potty for the kids. It has taken nearly 2 decades to build this park. Owned by the City. Existing Neighborhood Park Facilities: CARD - Dorothy F. Johnson Center: 3 acres CARD - Oakway Park: 7.9 acres CARD - Peterson Park: 4.1 acres City - Baroni Park: 7.3 acres City - Hancock Park: 3.8 acres City - Nob Hill Park: 2.9 acres City - 1 Mile Recreation Area (lower Bidwell Park): 23 acres Total Acreage* = 52 acres *in a previous post I stated that the city had 19 acres of neighborhood park land. That included Highland/Ceres which I have removed from this list. It did not include the 1 mile area which should be considered a neighborhood park, so I've added that. Undeveloped Neighborhood Park Land: City - Highland/Ceres: 5 acres City - Humboldt Park: 2 acres City - Humboldt Road Site: 7 acres City - 20th/Notre Dame: 7 acres City - Alamo/Henshaw Site: 7 acres Total Acreage = 28 acres From the City of Chico/CARD Area Park Fee Nexus Study Report (Feb 14th. 2003) it can be seen that the target acreage per 1000 people when Chico reaches "build out" is 5 acres/ 1000 people. Reader Bob Best pointed this out in a previous comment (build out is when the city develops all property within its sphere of influence that supports home building, estimated population is ~134,000 by 2030, ~150,000 within CARD's operating area which is larger than the city boundary). But the 5 acres / 1000 people is broken down by the type of open space. Neighborhood Park - 120 acres by 2030: 0.9 acres/1000 people Community Park - 214 acres by 2030: 1.6 acres/1000 people Linear Park* / Open Space - 335 acres by 2030: 2.5 acres/1000 people Total: 670 acres by 2030: 5 acres / 1000 people *Linear parks are those wide green belts or irregular areas between developments or along roadways. They don't provide for recreation but are nice outdoor areas. Neighborhood Park Acreage Deficit 0.9 acres / 1000 people = 120 acres needed - 52 acres of park - 28 acres of undeveloped park = 50 acres still to be acquired Currently the city is exceeding its standard of 2.5 acres / 1000 people for linear parks and open space (currently providing 2.67 acres / 1000 people), but falls short in providing neighborhood and community parks (1.94 acres / 1000 people versus the 1.6 + 0.9 = 2.5 acres / 1000 people which is our standard). The target the city of Chico has set for itself is that it will provide as much neighborhood and community park land to its citizens as it provides linear parks and open space. It has been purchasing lots of "open space" (although not opening it to the public) and ensuring linear park land is part of new housing areas. It is behind on acquisition and construction of other parks, and in particular neighborhood parks. All of this assumes that the 0.9 acres / 1000 people standard for neighborhood parks is adequate. Peer communities Redding, Rocklin, Lincoln, Yuba City, Roseville, and a few other park districts have an average neighborhood park standard of 3.7 acres / 1000 people (2.8 acres / 1000 people more than Chico). Of course these communities are not meeting their own standards, they are providing about 2.36 acres / 1000 people. Currently Chico has about 0.57 acres of neighborhood park per 1000 people. If you take out 1 mile in lower Bidwell Park it drops to about 0.35 acres / 1000 people. If we increased our goal from 0.9 to 1.5 you can see the acquisition problem we face. Neighborhood Park Acreage Deficit 1.5 acres / 1000 people = 210 acres needed - 52 acres of park - 28 acres of undeveloped park = 140 acres still to be acquired |
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| Summary: Chico
is not providing enough park acreage for neighborhood parks to meet its established standard.
On top of that the 0.9 acres / 1000 people standard is too low. Peer communities that have higher standards
are doing better but are also falling short of their own targets. This is common since a lot of financing from parks comes from the contributions of developers when they build new homes. Communities always play catch-up. However, blaming low development impact fees has a component of scapegoating associated with it. Some of our liberal councilors happily voted for the existing nexus fee schedule. And our entire council supported massive annexations which do not pay impact fees that build parks, but do increase the city's responsibility within it's sphere of influence. A cost effective method of creating new parks would be to start converting some acreage in our open space to developed parks. A park specific public bond could be considered for funding. Here are some open space areas, many of which we own, that could have some acreage developed. Bidwell Ranch* - 700 acres open space Little Chico Creek - 15.9 acres linear park Mudd creek - 6 acres open space Comanche Creek - 15 acres open space Tiechart Pond - 32.7 acres open space First and Verbena - 16.4 acres open space Lindo Channel - 150 acres open space * ~200 acres could be extracted from mitigation bank and be a site for a large recreation component. |
Posted by Lon at 09:08 AM | Comments (5)
July 28, 2007
Community Weighs in on Jones' Resignation
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| More information on why City Manager Greg
Jones is leaving Chico has been trickling out of City Hall. Since CI
broke this story many local notables have been contacting us offline to
report on some of the reasons behind Jones' departure, as well as opinions and impact related to the event. Planning Commission gets some blame: Citing stress caused by Planning Commissioners Luvaas and Merz, City Manager Greg Jones decided to move on to greener pastures. He was particularly bothered by the need for Native American cleansing ceremonies that were required before meeting with Planning Commissioners. Jones also said that he could never concentrate on the content of a John Merz preservationist soliloquy because his attention was inexplicably drawn to the extreme curliness of Jon Luvaas' hair. "If John would have talked less and Jon would have gotten his hair straightened we could have made a go of it" Jones lamented. What the City Council said: Councilor Scott Gruendl pointed out that neither the $56 million dollar budget deficit, nor the abrupt departure of city staff occurred while he was mayor. Gruendl stated "I attribute my trouble free term to the walkability of my neighborhood, and the fact that I meet most of my neighbors while walking my dog". Mayor Andy Holcombe responded by placing Gruendl in a headlock, giving him noogies, and repeating "who's the Mayor now!" over and over again. Jones' departure also precipitated a new policy recommendation from Councilor Tom Nickell. Nickell said that now was a good time to discuss his idea of replacing city staff with retired peace officers. Councilor Larry Wahl agreed with Jones' concern over Planning Commissioner Jon Luvaas' hair stating "I think he does that hair thing on purpose, it's really hard to work with". New Councilor Mary Flynn was less concerned about Jones' leaving stating it would have little impact on her ability to correct math homework during council meetings. "However, I do expect to use fewer smiley faces in my grading due to his departure" she said. Councilor Steve Bertagna suggested that implementing Hawaiian Shirt Fridays at the city would help attract a new city manager. Councilor Ann Schwab disagreed, and felt that hawaiian shirts might be insensitive to Hawaiian-Americans or people that are shirt-challenged. City Staff Weighs In: When contacted during his vacation in the Caribbean with the news of Jones' resignation former Senior Planner Patrick Murphy stated "the daiquiris here are really big". Planning Services Director Steve Petersen stated that Jones' leaving would put a crimp in the "good-cop, bad-cop" dynamic they had going on. Jones, who is widely considered a nice guy, stated that Assistant City Manager Dave Burkland, who is also widely considered a nice guy, would be a good interim replacement for him. Jones also commented "It was really hard to be the nicest guy at the city with Burkland always making cupcakes for the staff. Sometimes I thought his niceness was an attempt at mocking me". When contacted Burkland said "I wonder if Jones knew I was mocking him"? General Services Director Dennis Beardsley suggested that losing the City Manager might cause the cost of the Bidwell Park Master Management Plan to increase. He also cited moderate winds, excessive sunshine, and dogs barking in the distance as possible causes for increased costs related to that plan. From the media: Editor of the Chico Beat, Tom Gasgoyne, suggested a roast for Greg Jones might be in order, and reminded us that fundraising tickets for the Beat's roast were still available. Gasgoyne commented "Jones' departure date should still allow him to attend our fundraising event, and with a $200,000 salary he should be able to float us a ten-spot or two". Norcal Blog's Bullfighter Dan Nguyen-Tan expressed concern over being scooped by Commission Impossible by 7 minutes on posting the Jones story. "The information super highway still has some latency problems" stated Nguyen-Tan. Moving to Vacaville to cut down publishing delays was an option he was considering. The E-R's Jenn Klein had this to say about the CI scoop, "Copying and pasting an email is not really reporting, although I have to say Lon is really good at copying and pasting, if nothing else". Editor David Little responded "our Norcal bloggers are an important part of community involvement in the news cycle, and with Lon Glazner's Commission Impossible we certainly get what we pay for." The CNR's Evan Tucbvjkwski, Tuchibsaly, Tookvn*ly... Evan T. said that the News and Review would be well positioned to report on Jones' departure as well as any other city staff that resign before next Thursday. |
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| Good Luck Greg: All
kidding aside I'd like to wish Greg Jones luck in his new job. It's too
bad he couldn't stick around, but the reasons he gives for leaving are
beyond reproach. Family should always come first. He also showed admirable political restraint in not citing a lack of improved disc golf courses as an additional reason for his resignation. I feel your pain Greg. satire alert: none of the quotes are real |
Posted by Lon at 08:26 AM | Comments (0)
July 27, 2007
City Manager Greg Jones Resigning
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| City Manager Greg Jones has resigned. A press release is going out this afternoon regarding his resignation. Here is the email that he sent out this morning. The attached is being released publically this afternoon, but I wanted to give many of you that I have had the opportunity to work with a heads up. I have enjoyed tremendously the time I have been given here in Chico, and have met many wonderful people that help make this community so unique. I hope that in some small way I have contributed to the promising future I see for the City, and that we can stay in touch as fellow caretakers of that promise for the communities we serve. My last day with the City will be September 13th. Regards, and thanks again. Greg Here is the press release mentioned in the email: CITY MANAGER GREG JONES DEPARTING TO BECOME CITY MANAGER FOR THE CITY OF HAYWARD, CALIFORNIA City Manager Greg Jones announced to the Chico City Council and City staff in an internal memorandum today that he is resigning from his position as City Manager to accept the City Manager position for the City of Hayward, California. Jones indicated that due to personal family reasons, he recently began seeking employment in the Bay Area to be closer to his children and two special needs grandchildren who reside in the Bay Area. “I have enjoyed my almost three years year in Chico tremendously, and have extremely mixed emotions about this decision, but I need to do what is best for my family.” Jones stated that while the City faces many significant challenges, “many tools are in place that will serve the City well into the future to better manage these challenges. The capacity of the organization has increased significantly and will continue to grow.” Examples he cited included Council adoption of Ten Year Financial Planning, the reconfiguration of the organizational structure to include a Neighborhood Services Department and Capital Services Department, establishment of several organizational change task forces, including establishment of a Mission, Vision and Values statement for the organization, a focus on Customer Service, introduction of Outcome Based Budgeting, and establishment of Board & Commission work plans to name a few. “The community is fortunate to have a great group of dedicated employees that serve it well. The recent initiatives undertaken by the organization are successful only because of their participation and dedication to excellence,” Jones said. Jones is recommending that Assistant City Manager Dave Burkland be appointed as. Interim City Manager until the City Council has the opportunity to decide on the process to find a replacement. Jones indicated his last day with the City of Chico will be September 13. Mayor Andy Holcombe indicated that the City Council will meet in closed session on August 7 to discuss plans to replace Jones, as well as the appointment of an Interim City Manager. For more information, please contact Mayor Andy Holcombe at 896-7200. |
Posted by Lon at 11:38 AM | Comments (0)
Fallow Fields
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| As part of CARD's Master Plan it has been
putting together an inventory of property and facilities. Yesterday I
wrote about the acreage needed to meet the goals described in the 2003
CARD/city park nexus study*.
A look at recreation facilities shows that our community is also not providing
opportunities
similar to
other
communities
in our region. The recreation facility inventory is pretty straight forward. You just count what you've got. Then an analysis is done of other communities to see how you stack up. Communities Chico is being compared to include Rocklin, Yuba City, Roseville, and Redding. Based on peer communities a standard of service is determined. For example, the standard of service for public swimming pools might be 1 per 20,000 people. The method of inventory and resulting numbers can get complex. School district properties are not counted as public parks since they are not open to the public at all times, and could be fenced off at the whim of the school district at a later date. The school district also tends to do less maintenance than would be expected at a public park. Baseball, basketball and other facilities at schools are not counted. Neither are private facilities at gyms, churches, or colleges. Here are some of the facility estimates being looked at now. These numbers can change. Multiuse fields (soccer, flag football, etc): Number of Chico facilities 2007 - 21 Number desired based on peer communities 2007 - 27 Deficit 2007 - (6) Number of Chico facilities needed by 2030 - 40 Baseball/softball fields: Number of Chico facilities 2007 - 15 Number desired based on peer communities 2007 - 22 Deficit 2007 - (7) Number of Chico facilities needed by 2030 - 33 Outdoor basketball courts: Number of Chico facilities 2007 - 10 Number desired based on peer communities 2007 - 18 Deficit 2007 - (8) Number of Chico facilities needed by 2030 - 27 Tennis Courts: Number of Chico facilities 2007 - 8 Number desired based on peer communities 2007 - 17 Deficit 2007 - (9) Number of Chico facilities needed by 2030 - 25 Swimming Pools (includes Sycamore Pool): Number of Chico facilities 2007 - 3 Number desired based on peer communities 2007 - 4 Deficit 2007 - (1) Number of Chico facilities needed by 2030 - 6 Disc Golf Courses: Number of Chico facilities 2007 - 0 Number desired based on peer communities 2007 - 2 Deficit 2007 - (2) Number of Chico facilities needed by 2030 - 3 Skateboard Parks: Number of Chico facilities 2007 - 1 Number desired based on peer communities 2007 - 2 Deficit 2007 - (1) Number of Chico facilities needed by 2030 - 3 Inline Hockey Rink: Number of Chico facilities 2007 - 0 Number desired based on peer communities 2007 - 2 Deficit 2007 - (2) Number of Chico facilities needed by 2030 - 2 I've always felt that Chico prided itself on being an active outdoor community. I think we've done a poor job planning and building parks. Part of that may be due to Bidwell Park, which gives all of us the impression that Chico has lots of parkland. However any improvements for Bidwell Park are likely to be resisted. That includes life saving bridges and improved parking to reduce erosion. So we are still short of facilities for organized sports and nearby neighborhood parks. I'm not sure if the recreation facility "needs" listed above are realistic goals. But they do show where we stand compared to other communities in our region, and we're certainly not at the top. *A nexus study is used to justify development impact fees, in this case for park construction. New development is only required to fund additional infrastructure required by new residents. Development impact fees are not supposed to address existing deficits in infrastructure. |
Posted by Lon at 12:00 AM | Comments (2)
July 26, 2007
Even More Help On The Way?
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| Yet another reader has proposed a possible Chico Beat fundraising roast target. I guess I'm lucky that both of my regular readers have some skill and knowledge regarding image manipulation. And it's good that they're using their powers for good and not evil (helping out a local business is good, right?). I am a little concerned that the image of me above was used. I usually only dress like that when my family is out of town, so I'm not sure how the photo was taken without my knowledge. If this event goes well I'll be happy to perform at a roast for the E-R and CNR since I wouldn't want to appear biased in my support of one print newspaper over another. |
Posted by Lon at 12:56 PM | Comments (5)
Deficits as Far as the Eye Can See
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| (photo, CARD's DeGarmo Community Park Opening) Chico seems to be running deficits on all fronts. Everyone's pretty aware of the budget problem by now, even though last November the topic was swept under the rug and labeled as a political spitball. But there are other deficits that relate to quality of life issues that I think are important to be aware of. Chico is not purchasing park land and building recreation facilities at a rate necessary to meet our anticipated population growth. By 2030 Chico is supposed to have 120 acres of neighborhood parks (each park ~5-12 acres). We currently have 34 acres (19 run by the city, and 15 run by CARD). Based on the 2003 CARD/City nexus study developers were to provide funds to purchase another 37 acres. I believe the City Council reduced the development impact fees on new development by about 40% subsequent to the nexus study. That would mean that new development would pay for ~20 acres. So we have money or property for roughly half the acreage that we need for neighborhood parks (120 - 34 - 20 = 66 acres). Since the CARD Master Plan is being created this number will change, but in 2003 dollars we would need about $23 million dollars to purchase 66 acres and make minor improvements ($350,000/acre). I'm sure there is unimproved park property already owned that isn't in the above calculation (Baroni, First and Verbena, Ceres/Highland) so the cost of the 66 acres could be reduced. On community parks (25-100 acres in size) we are doing a little better, but still need three more in the next 23 years. Other significant problems exist in our park system. The City and CARD don't have a clear delineation of responsibility. CARD is more costly than the city as far as maintenance per acre of neighborhood parks (CARD = $7,273/acre ; city = $5,838/acre from 2003 EPS memo). For that reason some elected officials might shy away from handing more parks over to CARD. I asked CARD's General Manager Steve Visconti why their costs were higher. He said that they maintain their property to a higher level to ensure programmed recreation (soccer, baseball leagues) have appropriate facilities. Other CARD officials cited poor maintenance by the city that prevented fields from being used for their intended sports as justification for CARD's higher cost. General Services Director Dennis Beardsley has suggested that CARD and the city enter into a joint powers agreement where officials from both bodies regularly discuss and recommend changes to the park system. This might alleviate some of the bipolar disorder that exists in our park system, but would only be a half measure to solving the multi-jurisdictional dance us park watchers often see. Discussion of CARD's place in the community are occurring because it is updating its master plan. The city will soon update its general plan. This gives the city an opportunity to address issues within its park system. There should be a clear delineation of park responsibilities. Here are some ideas that I like. CARD should manage community and neighborhood parks. The city should manage Bidwell and specialty parks (like the plaza). A single lighting and landscape district that encompasses all of CARDs service area should replace the neighborhood districts formed for specific parks. Development impact fees will be revisited as part of a new nexus study or update, and Chico's fee structure should be similar to that of other communities our size. And finally, the powers-that-be should consider putting on a ballot a bond issue specifically designed to purchase parkland and build a couple of large recreation facilities (like an aquatic center or soccer complex). The bond should have nothing to do with "open space" or wetland preservation. I think there also needs to be a shift in park development priorities. Both Meriam Park and Mountain Vista developments set aside large tracts of land as open space preserves. In part this was done to satisfy their main detractors, local environmentalists. Together these developments will contribute $8,000,000 (very rough calculation) towards park infrastructure. However neither development has a 5-12 acre neighborhood park within it (Meriam Park may get there by combining school property with a park, but that's fudging it a bit). Since the city is demanding high density infill, and walk-ability, it seems obvious that leaving parks outside of new large developments is counter to those philosophies. If the development can't be profitable with both parks and natural open space set-asides then some of the "open space" should be converted to parks. We should all keep in mind that while we see a large deficit in park acreage and recreation facilities into the future our city council has purchased and fenced-off nearly 800 acres of "open space" property. It seems to me that its time to change priorities and begin focusing on an efficient and adequate park system for our populace. That means no more "no trespassing" signs with million dollar price tags. |
Posted by Lon at 08:38 AM | Comments (2)
July 23, 2007
More Help On The Way?
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| A reader sent me the image above as an example of additional
"roasts" the Beat could have to help raise money. There are a lot of positive,
dynamic, and valuable community leaders like the one suggested above that
could take part in these events. I think it is wonderful that members of the community are putting on their thinking caps to help the Beat find a way out of its apparent troubles. Chicoans are very giving people. I want to be sure that everyone knows that the event suggested above is not actually planned, and the sponsors etc. are not to my knowledge associated with any Beat fundraising event. Maybe we should roast the Norcal Bloggers to help the Beat? Or at least the ones that live in Chico. |
Posted by Lon at 08:28 AM | Comments (2)
July 22, 2007
Being Charitable
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| In Sunday's E-R there's a great story about a
local business that is succeeding and franchising itself.
Meanwhile, over at the Chico Beat's web site there are indications that
the business is facing some
financial obstacles. I thought it might be possible for one business to
learn from another. The Burger Hut has succeeded by giving patrons lots of options to go along with their product. You have a few cheese options, and lots of condiments and other options (I like jalapenos the best). Can you imagine if they only served mayonnaise as a condiment? How many people would buy a burger if it only had mayo? What if the business demanded "eat the mayo burger, or get out!" They probably wouldn't be positioned for growth today. Meanwhile, over at the Beat's web site they've redirected their main page to a "Roast" of money-man Kelly Meagher to benefit the Beat. It is a unique marketing strategy to convert your business into a charity. As far as I can tell the previous marketing strategy of being angry and further left than the CNR has not resulted in a lot of paid advertisers. Maybe the Beat should strike out beyond serving only mayo. I'd be happy to write an article or two for them. The first would be titled "How the Beat should change to attract advertisers". A solid recommendation would be to replace the stream-of-consciousness-rant writing styles with that strange thing called "reporting". Another recommendation would be to ask non-advertisers why they don't do business with you, and make changes based on that input. The Beat tried to create a movement, and unfortunately for them did so in the guise of a business. Business success is measured in revenue. As a business they need customers to create revenue. The customers are not readers, the customers are advertisers. Those customers pay to get their advertisements in front of a broad readership. Having your company's advertisement show up next to an anonymous editorial calling Chico Police racist murderers is not good for business. I wished the Beat luck when it started, recognizing it was competing with the successful CNR, and that running a business is hard. They've isolated themselves from customers through sometimes irrational and sometimes angry reporting. I doubt they will take any suggestions I make seriously. But I'd like to wish them luck on this latest effort, converting a business to a charity. Of course now instead of collecting money from advertisers and providing readers in return, they'll be collecting money from donors and providing content in return. So in the end I guess nothing has really changed. |
Posted by Lon at 08:09 AM | Comments (15)
July 20, 2007
300
| 300 - The Post: This is my 300th post,
and so I must pay homage to the movie "300" by making this blog epic.
And of course I'll be defending the blog from a horde of ancient Persians
later on. The movie "300" is one of my all time favorites. In fact since the movie came out I've been dressing as a Spartan at work. It's hard to type at the computer holding a shield and spear, but Spartans just do what they have to and don't complain. Comedian Sarah Silverman described how the movie was titled "300". She said it was its rating from 1 to 10 on how "gay it is". I'm not sure which definition of gay she was using, but I thought that was pretty funny. I'm not sure if I'll waste my time (or yours) on a second 300 blog posts. But please enjoy this milestone. And do me a favor, add a little Spartan attitude to your life. |
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| There's Something About Mary: It was reported
in the E-R that Councilor Mary Flynn suggested
that the City Council temporarily give up its monthly stipend to
do its part in alleviating Chico's $56,000,000 budget problem. Councilor Mary Flynn said since the council was asking city employees and community members to look at taking hits, she also wanted to step up. Flynn proposed the council look at giving up the small monthly stipend and benefits it receives from the city, at least on a temporary basis. Councilors receive about $600 a month, with the mayor getting an extra $120. " I think it's fair that we're all doing our part," Flynn said. I've been impressed by her demeanor. Flynn seems to have taken a watch and learn approach that is giving her an appearance of maturity and thoughtfulness on the Council. I understand the sentiment of giving up the stipend, and it does qualify as "leadership by example". But it does not solve anybody's budget problem. It would seem to be style over substance. When you consider that the City Manager and City Attorney together earn between $350,000-$400,000/year you realize that the elected councilors are woefully under compensated for their time. Wiping out council pay entirely would save about $50,000 annually. But we're shooting for $6,000,000 year reduction. The Council stipend is not the problem. My advice to Mary... avoid the "feel good" suggestions and go after the budget problem like a fiscal hawk. Believe me, you are already doing your part as far as pay cuts go by serving on the council for $600 month. While giving up the stipend would be a "Spartan-like" decision, it would be nothing like 7 councilors defending the budget against a horde of "benefit increase" seeking unions. Stop the horde Mary, or raise taxes.. your call. |
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| Death By a Thousand Cuts: The half-million dollar Bidwell
Park Master Management Plan is about to get more expensive. I've been told
that there have been so many EIR comments that the city doesn't have staff
time to respond to them all. I'm not sure if that means that they will free up more budget to pay staff to do the work, or if it means that they will hire consultants to do it. Some of our councilors and one city planner also told me that they expect to be sued over the Master Plan for the park. And it's not us crazy disc golf folks threatening legal action. I think it's time for all good Chico councilors to lock shields and repel the legal threats and obstruction coming from some of our "friends". Spending half a million dollars on a plan to find out if you can build a $50,000 (or less) disc golf course is asinine. Granted, the plan covers more than disc golf, but that topic is what's creating these dramatic increases and fear of litigation. Hey I have an idea, maybe the council could give up their monthly stipend in order to pay for disc golf. That would be a very "Spartan" decision. |
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| Persian Encampment: The entire council
deserve credit for abolishing the ancient Persian encampment proposed by
Barbara Vlamis (BEC) and John Merz (Compadres O' Park) at Epick
Homes Sycamore Glen / Mountain Vista subdivision. Environmental groups wanted the single family homes to be replaced almost entirely with high density apartments. There would have been a similar number of people in the area, but they would have been treated to fine apartment living, the kind of living that all 3rd worlders enjoy or aspire to. At a Planning Commission meeting a lawyer for Epick stated that forcing them to replace homes with apartments, considering that Epick had purchased 80 acres of wetlands for mitigation, was illegal. Planning Commissioner and anti-disc golf advocate (but otherwise nice guy) John Merz called that statement nothing but "smoke and mirrors". Later at the Council, city attorney David Frank reiterated that the city couldn't legally force the "apartment" solution on the developer. So much for smoke and mirrors. With the encampment destroyed, we can now move a few more Spartan families in. Good job councilors. |
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| What Would King Leonidas Do (WWKLD)?:
While I believe that private property rights and fair application of General
Plan development
rules should trump "growth" politics, Chico's first priority should be
fixing the budget problem. That should include an update of nexus related fees and other development related costs. It should also include new rules ensuring redevelopment funds are only spent on infrastructure that has a life span at least as long as the life of the bond issue. I believe the City Council recently approved the fire fighters union (IAFF) contract. The fact that they did so before they had detailed budget discussions is a concern to me. The city may have negotiated a good contract. But with 3/4 of the budget going to human resources and the majority of that going to police and fire there seems to be a disconnect when a contract is approved before public discussion of the budget occurs. There really needs to be a concerted conservative and liberal effort to deal with growth impacts, infrastructure improvements, and growing costs related to city workers. I'd be happy to deliver a shield and sword to Mayor Holcombe if he thinks it will give him some Leonidas-like inspiration. |
Posted by Lon at 06:49 AM | Comments (0)
July 19, 2007
Shout Out!
| I just wanted to point out that my good friends at the Kiwanis Chico Community Observatory have started a new "Norcal Blogs" blog (see it here) to catalog Interstellar Studios PBS backed production of "400 Years of the Telescope". Kris Koenig, Anita Berkow, and the many other people that support the observatory are to be commended for their fantastic addition to Bidwell's Middle Park, and this new endeavor is likely to be as successful. It's nice to see Interstellar Studios get up and running, and producing science-based content that we can all learn from. As a kid I always wanted to be an astronaut, and had a brief flirtation with astronomy. I've had a couple of engineering designs go up into space as part of science packages, and I think that's as close as I'm going to get. Having some Chico locals move into the international astronomy scene is another example of why Chico people are great. Here's a repost of the first blog entry they put up several days ago. Please stop by and follow their efforts. Welcome to the weblog of Interstellar Studio’s PBS production “400 Years of the Telescope”. We invite all of the Northstate to share with us this adventure of work and passion, and join us vicariously through this blog. We will do our best to keep you updated on day-to-day events in the field, as well as the studio. Look forward to blogging from different crew members, and candid video footage from the field, plus sneak peaks at material to be included in the final production. Over the next few months we will travel to some of the world’s greatest observatories, and historical sites significant to astronomy. These include observatories in the American southwest, Virginia, Hawaii, the Canary Islands and Chile. Our historical wanderings will take us to Ireland, to Cambridge, Stonehenge, Chichen Itza, Florence, and Holland. You’ll see how we re-enact Copernicus’ death and the development of technology that changed the way humanity sees itself in the universe. From all of us at Interstellar Studios, welcome to the journey. |
Posted by Lon at 12:17 PM | Comments (1)
July 18, 2007
Butte County is Full of Nuts!
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| Butte County is full of nuts... and rice, and some other
agricultural products. That's the word coming down from county Agricultural
Commissioner Richard B. Price. The county's
2006 crop report is available
on the county web site and discusses our region's economic engine. That
would be food. The estimated gross value of agricultural products for 2006 was $454,212,000. That's roughly a 3% increase over 2005 values. It is also a 34% increase over the 10 year average for the county. With Butte County's diverse terrain our agricultural output includes not only almonds, walnuts, and rice, but also things like timber and cattle. The top ten agricultural products in Butte County (2006) by value are... |
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| 1 RICE 2 ALMONDS 3 WALNUTS 4 DRIED PLUMS 5 NURSERY STOCK 6 TIMBER 7 CATTLE/CALVES 8 FRUIT & NUT CROPS, misc. 9 PEACHES, Clingstone 10 APIARY POLLINATION 11 DISC GOLF |
$125,387,000 $104,456,000 $79,803,000 $44,056,000 $19,905,000 $19,653,000 $9,490,000 $6,795,000 $5,932,000 $5,804,000 $4,000,000 |
105,673 acres 38,137 acres 29,400 acres 10,230 acres 198 acres 62,797,000 board feet 14,500 head ? 2,388 acres 40,029 colonies normalized "fun value" |
| That's a whole lot of John Deer action going
on out in the county. I don't see cotton on the list above, which is too
bad. As a California born Okie I come from a long line of "cotton-pickers".
Both of my parents picked cotton as kids and school was let out during
harvesting time so they could do a little manual labor. Below is a tribute to all y'all cotton pickers out there, and maybe to all the families that left the farm in the last couple of generations. Johnny Cash did it better, but what are the chances of that being on Youtube? |
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Posted by Lon at 08:24 AM | Comments (2)
Chico's Revenue Stream
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| A reader sent me this image that combines Councilor Tom Nickell's suggestion of charging drunk people that need rescue with the revenue increasing option identified by city staff of allowing corporate sponsors for our park system. There may be other innovative options we can use to make a dent in Chico's $6,000,000 annual budget shortfall. Other examples might include selling Penicillin at the downtown fountain, renting city-owned trees to squirrels, and fining Planning Commissioners for each time they use the word mitigation twice in the same sentence. No budget fixing stone should be left unturned. |
Posted by Lon at 12:00 AM | Comments (4)
July 17, 2007
Banking on a Tax Increase?
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| The City Manager, Greg Jones, has provided an updated
list of budget deficit reduction options for the City of Chico. If you
recall the June 5th list included 54 means of increasing revenue or decreasing expenses. The options are now broken down by an A-F grade, and the list seems to have grown from 54 to 57 options, although I haven't done a side-by-side comparison to see what changes might exist. A-rated items are explained as more likely to allow for continued or increased service levels and minimum impacts on labor relations. F-rated items items would cause significant impacts on service levels, current city programs, and labor relations. 50% of A rated options are tax increases. Most labor related changes have lower ratings. From this standpoint I think the report leans towards recommending tax increases. A sales tax increase of 0.25%-0.50% has been suggested, but would have to be supported by the public to be enacted. The updated list as well as other information can be found in the agenda with staff reports for the upcoming Finance Committee meeting. The Finance Committee consists of Councilors Flynn, Gruendl, and Wahl, and meets on Wednesday to begin discussing budget issues (7-18, 8AM, Council Chambers building). Of somewhat additional interest is the request the City Council made to staff asking them to review tax rates in other communities in our region and compare that to per capita general funds revenue (amount of city revenue per citizen). The resulting table is shown above. From the first two cities listed I can deduce a couple of things about tax rates and per capita general funds. If you want a low tax rate and high per capita revenue you need to grow your community. If you want to keep a high per capita revenue but avoid growth you need to raise your tax rate. Of course there's probably a middle ground Chico could shoot for. |
Posted by Lon at 08:54 AM | Comments (0)
July 16, 2007
Will Rescue Heroes Take Visa?
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| Has Councilor Tom Nickell taken a vow to introduce a
new law-per-week in Chico? It seems like every time I read the paper he's
proposed something new, and its always a headline. There was banning
skateboards and bikes at the downtown plaza, banning cars with loud speakers
downtown, putting retired police in Bidwell Park, and recently charging
citizen's for some rescue attempts in the park. In particular he wanted
drunk people to pay their way if they needed to be rescued. There's some validity to the idea, and examples of this kind of policy exist throughout the state. People sometimes have to reimburse fire departments for fighting fires caused by negligence. In some locales a DUI arrest comes with a bill for the public agencies that had to arrest you. But as the E-R pointed out in its recent "hits-and-misses" the idea of charging drunks for their own rescue has some problems. But is the real issue that somebody is drunk, that they made a bad decision, or that they are breaking a law when rescue is needed. If remuneration is required because somebody in need of rescue is on the wrong side of the law, then you might charge illegal immigrants if they need saving. Or people that run stop signs. If it's because they made a bad decision then of course anybody in need of rescue is likely to get a bill. And if it's just because they're drunk then I think somebody should explain the moral value system represented by that law. Why is somebody drunk in the park less valued than somebody sober who needs to be rescued? How do you value somebody stoned? Since you would be forcing people to pay for an otherwise free public service should they be given the option of choosing a rescue package(The platinum package has the life-flight service, while the bronze package is a ride to Enloe on a pedicab)? It should also be said that not a lot of doctors, professors, and lawyers need to be rescued after boozing in the public park. So a law like this would target a pretty specific economic and age group. Recently I watched as a dozen people from 3 or 4 public agencies showed up at Sycamore Pool (1-mile) to rescue 4 trapped salmon. There was special transport vehicle and lots of fish-rescue equipment. It must have cost the public hundreds of dollars to rescue these fish. These are the same fish that you can pull out of the Sacramento River and toss on the barbeque. Once the fish were rescued everyone clapped at a job well done. With that experience in mind, I wonder how drunk young people will stack up against wild salmon if we start requiring remuneration for publicly funded rescues. |
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Posted by Lon at 08:38 AM | Comments (2)
July 14, 2007
A Little Research
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| I've spent much of the last two weeks learning the new features of the Chico E-R's new web site. This was made more difficult because the web site was not actually updated until this week. I remember passing a construction site here in Chico quite a few years ago. The motto of the company doing the work was along the lines of "We pay meticulous attention to detail". That's kind of how I view my own efforts. Paying attention to detail is really not enough for me. I like to pay meticulous attention to detail. In fact I would say that I actually fastidiously pay meticulous attention to detail. That's why after so many hours of reviewing the new E-R layout, I have yet to get beyond the photo of Editor David Little associated with a description of the new design. You can learn alot about people based on their work area. For example from the photo above I know that David enjoys sipping tasty Sierra Nevada Pale Ale when working at his computer. Using some high tech image analysis software, I can also see that David's computer is browsing the Justin Timberlake fan club web site. I believe the photo was taken during research for his recent editorial "Timberlake: From Back-Street Boy to Modern Ghandi". |
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| Over Little's right shoulder (left side of photo) is hanging the credo that many reporters and at least one editor at the E-R live by. And enhanced image of the credo is shown below. |
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| Probably the most intriguing aspect of my deep research into David's photo is the image of Tom Gasgoyne that hangs in his office. I was also able to enhance this photo and below is the graphic that I resolved. Gasgoyne's handwriting, while hard to read, appears to say "David, thanks for teaching me the paper-biz! BEFF Tom". As far as I can tell BEFF stands for Best Editor Friends Forever. Notice that Gasgoyne is wearing the classic Star Trek engineering patch, which matches the one on Little's right shirt sleeve. That's just further proof that being a Trekkie is the surest way to find common ground. As far as my other efforts in evaluating the E-R's new web site, it all looks good. Keep up the good work E-R. |
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Posted by Lon at 12:00 AM | Comments (4)
July 13, 2007
Smart Start For Kids
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| My son and I have been playing Legos for years. In fact
our big box of Legos even includes pieces I received for Christmas when
I was about his age. Last Christmas I went online to find out if I could buy some unique Legos as stocking stuffers, and I noticed that the company had produced a free piece of software for digital design of Lego models. Using the software you can select "bricks" from a palette, assemble them, rotate them, change colors, automatically create instructions for models you build, check the price of your models with the click of a button, and order the parts for your design online. My son has been able to use the basic interface of the software since he was 5 (selecting and connecting bricks). Recently Lego released version 2.0 of its digital design software (it can be downloaded from here). The screen capture above of a "robot attack" is a design I made yesterday for fun. The price to buy the bricks for that design is $13.54, and it uses 80 pieces. Some Lego customers have uploaded models using thousands of parts to the Lego factory web site (link above). It's hard to imagine a toy more versatile and educational than Legos. If you or your kids play with Legos you might take a look at this software. A custom designed Lego model would be a great Christmas or birthday present for a kid, and this software makes that kind of gift a possibility. Pretty cool... maybe I can get a giant hyper-space battleship with a squadron of vacuum fighters designed in time for my son's birthday. I'll have to remember to design something for him to play with as well. |
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Posted by Lon at 12:00 AM | Comments (3)
July 12, 2007
Sustainable Art
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| A new mural funded by PG&E popped up in downtown Chico in time for last Saturday's "Art Walk". The message of the mural was conceived by the Youth Nexus teen group that wanted to convey a message of unity through diversity. The peace symbol and caricatures of earth, wind, fire, and water are designed to portray this message. They are also appropriate considering the sponsor's (PG&E) efforts to make use of renewable energy sources. The mural sits at one of the previously un-beautified entrances to the downtown area, on a wall owned by PG&E at their Camellia Substation next to Big Chico Creek. The Youth Nexus Supervisor, Beth Carmichael, coordinated design work sessions with the teens. Artist Gregg Payne helped convert the message into imagery and supervised the young people when painting the mural. Lia White, and Rick Fritz of PG&E also contributed to the design ideas, with PG&E donating $5,500 to fund the mural project. This is a great example of privately funded public art and the cost to the sponsor was reasonable. The return on investment through improved public relations, although difficult to calculate, was certainly higher than would have been achieved with more expensive marketing efforts they might have considered. The general public benefits from this artwork at no public cost. PG&E deserves our thanks, as does Youth Nexus and Payne who worked hard to improve our common living space. |
Posted by Lon at 11:24 AM | Comments (1)
July 11, 2007
What a Bargain
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| I've been reviewing the collective bargaining agreements for the police (CPOA), safety employees (CPSA), fire (IAFF), and clerical (SEIU) unions in Chico, because that's the kind of thing I do for fun. Actually, I was looking around the city web site and ran across the SEIU MOU (memorandum of understanding), and read a little bit of it. This is basically the contract between the city and the union. All city / labor agreements can be found here. For some reason the pay increase formula for the SEIU caught my attention. Every year the SEIU union members employed by the city receive a raise of...well it's complicated. You take the annual increase in worker productivity and divide it by the normalized statistical value of customer happiness. This is then multiplied by the ratio of city projects finished under-budget versus those that are completed late or at higher than budgeted expense. Well... maybe that's not how it's done. In fact the SEIU city employee pay raise has nothing to do with worker productivity, customer satisfaction, or completed projects. For the SEIU you take the percentage increase in net city revenue over last year - 5% and compare it to the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers + 1%. The lower of the two numbers is the annual raise. For 2006 the number was 5.7%. However, even if the city loses money SEIU employees are guaranteed a 1% raise. Each union has a slightly different formula for their annual raise. I think the IAFF has a minimum 2% increase and omits the CPI-U connection. The CPSA on the other hand does not get a raise if the General and Park funds decrease. But otherwise the union negotiated annual pay raise formulas are pretty similar. Connecting salary increases to revenue increases at the City produces an interesting result. For example, it's widely known that previous union benefit and salary increases (that are much larger than private sector numbers) are a major component of Chico's budget problem. In order to ensure we keep our service levels up where citizen's need them we've been told we may need to increase our taxes. Increasing our taxes will increase city revenue. Increasing city revenue will increase union employee annual salary increases and benefits based on the formulas previously discussed. Increasing union salaries and benefits are how we got to the point of needing increased taxes. Sounds like a never-ending circle. |
Posted by Lon at 04:53 PM | Comments (3)
July 10, 2007
Opening Day
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| We took the construction fences down at the Nico Cardoza
Memorial Park Project in Caper Acres on Monday. Today when Caper Acres
opens to the public the
kids
will
have a new area to play on. The opening coincides with what what would
have been Nico's 3rd birthday. That was an unintentional, but fitting coincidence. I
think he would have enjoyed the place we built. I have an urge to start naming the people that made this happen, but it would take quite a while. The list of volunteers and contributors for the project exceeds 700 people. What I will say is that this project wasn't built with large cash donations or a couple of big sponsors. It tapped into middle class Chicoans and dozens of different businesses. And 90% of the cash we raised was spent on things kids can actually play on. I personally think that the sea monster is now one of Chico's finest public art pieces, and it's designed for kids to have fun on. Gregg Payne, Robin Indar, and Rick Satava are the artists that pulled it together for us. Here's a web page that has followed the last 8 weeks of construction if you'd like to see the building process. We are holding a ribbon cutting ceremony at Caper Acres on July 19th at 8AM to celebrate completing the Nico Project. The public is of course invited. |
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Posted by Lon at 12:00 AM | Comments (3)
July 08, 2007
Inside Scoop
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| Yesterday I had a chance to talk with someone that works
on the 2nd floor of the city building and asked them what the feeling is
amongst employees. The general opinion is that the Planning Department
is an awful place to work because of the new Planning Services Director
and
the politics
involved in being a planner. Working with the Planning Commission and Council is seen as a hardship. This is especially true when other city jobs exist, in the same line of work, that don't require dealing with politics (public works for example). Planner's efforts are continually second guessed and changes are made "at the podium" by politicians or their appointees causing frustration in the department. What makes the whole situation worse is that there are really only two planners left at the city with the experience to deal with the political bodies at public meetings. There is also a widespread belief, even among senior staff, that the Planning Services Director Steve Peterson will be fired. Morale problems, including the losses of two senior planners, are being blamed on his management. While "politics" sometimes causes hardship for planners, that is not seen on the 2nd floor as the "straw that broke the camel's back" as far as recent departures are concerned. Peterson's position may be made more precarious because of politics. If let go he could easily be scapegoated as the cause of all problems with Chico's planning apparatus. The reality is that all three legs of the planning process (Commission, Council, department) have problems. All three legs also seem to be working towards solutions. The Planning Commission work plan is prioritizing predictability and streamlining of the appeal process. The Mayor has sent two letters to the commission clarifying their role, and the General Plan update should address planning inconsistencies. And finally, the Assistant City Manager, Dave Burkland, is camped out at the Planning Department trying to get a 3rd party perspective on problems there. It will be interesting to see which solutions succeed and which fail. |
Posted by Lon at 10:15 AM | Comments (5)
July 06, 2007
One Of These Things Is Not Like The Other
The Planning Commission identified 5 top priorities with the highest priority being enhancing predictability and transparency in their process. The Planning Commission work plan is 25 pages long with a number of addendums. The Architectural Review Board (or ARB) has 2 priorities with the top one being to "Review and Revise the Architectural Review Permit application materials checklist". It is 12 pages long. Both work plans follow the same format, probably because they both came through the Planning Department staff. But both work plans cover significantly different territory, and the Planning Commission is likely to have a much more dense workload, if only because they are attempting to do more. This left me wondering why the estimated consulting expenses for both efforts were an identical $80,000-$100,000. There's no way that both projects were estimated at the exact same expense. I don't believe the estimates are real or based on any specific knowledge associated with consulting services in the two different areas. Since Chico's budget is so far in the red, it would be prudent for work plans to make use of real budget estimates. Just throwing a dart against the wall and picking a dollar amount to distribute to the Council and the press isn't good enough anymore. If the city wants to fix our budget problem they could start by asking for the actual fiscal impact of these work plans, instead of accepting a figure clearly derived from the Microsoft copy-and-paste accounting method. Poor cost estimates have caused numerous projects, like the Bidwell Park Master Management Plan, and the City Plaza, to wildly exceed budgets. I would hope somebody would learn from those experiences. |
Posted by Lon at 04:25 PM | Comments (2)
July 05, 2007
The Longest Day
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| Above is a photo of my son next to all the beer I drank
yesterday. To be honest that's only the beer I had in the morning, and
I switched to tequila in the afternoon. Actually, that's a pile of trash from "beer can beach" on the Sacramento River near the Scotty's Boat Landing inlet. This is a favorite stopping point for tubers and is about half-way between the Irvine Finch boat launch and what used to be the "wash out". We cleaned up a little bit, but after reading the E-R's story on yesterday's tubing crowd I doubt we made a dent in it. As an addendum to the E-R story I can report that tubing was NOT popular on the Sacramento river between 7:45AM-9:45AM. We didn't see any tubers while canoeing, but did spy an egret, heron, deer, fish, and a baby and adult otter (we decided the adult otter was probably the "otter-pop"). |
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| As part of my continuous effort to re-report everything
Jenn Klein writes,
and to post photos as close to Ty Barbour's as I can
using a $200 digital camera, here is my coverage of the 4th of July Bidwell Park event.
I arrived late and missed Mayor Andy Holcombe's speech, but I'm pretty sure he expressed a deep love of disc golf and said that his support for unions was based on civil war history. I did hear Supervisor Jane Dolan, Assemblyman Rick Keene, and Congressman Wally Herger speak. Keene's speech pricked my politically correct sensibilities, which I appreciate. He said that a growing popularity of hyphenated Americans acts to reduce common ground. As speeches go it was a little off the beaten path for these kind of events, which is probably why it stood out. Dolan deserves the "Good Sport Award". After the speeches a magician goaded her into helping him out on stage. He said some things about her, in jest, that my wife would kick my butt for saying. He actually said he was going to try and "de-age" her and that she was worried about her looks. Yikes, as a husband-American I find this offensive! She had a box put on her head for about 5 minutes, in 100 degree heat, and played along with it. I don't think she was happy about being part of the show, but she put on a happy face for the public. The crowd for the speeches was quite a bit smaller at this event than in years past. I think it's because the pancake breakfast was cancelled. There seemed to be a much larger crowd at Sycamore Pool (1-mile) so I don't think heat kept everyone away. Or maybe it was because Karen Laslo wasn't there to protest the war? I hope she didn't miss it because of a flat tire on her bike or some other calamity. Other notable elected officials at the 4th of July celebration were Vice Mayor Ann Schwab and Supervisor Maureen Kirk. It looked like the Park Director (GSD really), Dennis Beardsley, was holding his annual barbeque for the Sycamore Pool lifeguards as well. I think Ranger Bob was standing guard over some orange soda and turkey dogs, but who can be sure. Maybe he was just making sure Beardsley wasn't trying to sneak in some beer. |
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| While the E-R coverage of the 4th seems to have ended
with the Bidwell Park celebration, I felt it was important to continue
my efforts to cover local events. At the end of the night I attended an
illegal fireworks show. The show paid homage to the rebellious and explosive
nature of our country's birth. The fact that one of the fountains was named
"Golden Shower"
was just icing on the cake. As somebody that has experience using C4, detonation cord, grenades, anti-tank missiles, and a variety of automatic weapons, I think banning these fireworks is pretty much an example of the "nanny-state". Yes people can get hurt with fireworks, just like they can get hurt driving or taking a bath. You can't protect stupid people from being stupid, and when you try to you end up taking things from the rest of us. Flouting unreasonable laws was a specialty of our Founding Fathers, and I'm glad some of our residents are still up to the task. |
Posted by Lon at 10:09 AM | Comments (5)
July 04, 2007
Happy Birthday
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IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776 When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world. He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good. He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only. He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people. He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within. He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands. He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers. He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance. He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures. He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power. He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation: For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us: For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States: For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world: For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent: For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury: For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences: For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments: For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us. He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation. He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands. He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions. In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends. We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor. New Hampshire: Massachusetts: Rhode Island: Connecticut: New York: New Jersey: Pennsylvania: Delaware: Maryland: Virginia: North Carolina: South Carolina: Georgia: |
Posted by Lon at 12:00 AM | Comments (9)
July 03, 2007
Is It Time For A Magnum?
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| I recently heard a rumor that Tom Selleck was purchasing
a home in Paradise. Actually, I believe he would need to purchase two homes.
One for himself, and another for his mustache. One of my favorite television shows is James Garner's "Rockford Files". Tom Selleck played a pre-Magnum P.I. role as private detective Lance White in that show. Lance was the consumate do-gooder who had everything fall into his lap. Whereas Rockford was an ex-con who couldn't catch a break. Jim Rockford: Lance, where did that come from? Lance White: It didn't come from anywhere Jim it's just a hunch. I get a hunch, it turns out to be right and the case is solved. I don't know how you make a living as a private eye Jim. You don't seem to know any of this stuff. I think Chico should embark on an economic development plan to bring old TV actors here en-masse. If we could get the cast of Dynasty, Falcon Crest, or god forbid Dallas to come to Chico, our tourism would boom. Imagine if New Urban Builders would build a copy of Southfork Ranch at Meriam Park (sustainably of course)? I would totally walk over and check it out. Food for thought. |
Posted by Lon at 06:51 AM | Comments (4)
July 02, 2007
Screaming Green Meanies
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| The anonymous"Green Man" wrote
in the Chico Beat... Because the Frisbee trespassers are, so it is said, of the "progressive" community, they somehow deserve a hearing, I guess. Whereas, of course, if a crew of developer-types suddenly decided to snatch up 40 acres of park land for a polo field, such effrontery would be met with howls of outrage, table-shaking demands that the Chico Police Department leave off shooting bears and black men long enough to march up there and fire off taser barrages, until each and every offending poloist lay, writhing, beneath their whimpering ponies. So there you go Chico City Council, once again the anti-disc golf crowd shows just how reasonable they are. Councilor Tom Nickell, as a supporter of the anti-disc golf folks and a peace officer himself, really ought to take a look at the crowd he's thrown in with. They seem to have no respect for the Council, local peace officers, or moderate and reasonable discussion about park use. More from the "Green Man"... And now I hear the Butte Environmental Council has weighed in in favor of the Frisbee squatters. Great. Why the hey would these defenders of wilderness embrace a pack of park-trampling Frisbee-flingers? Well... like I said, Frisbee is a courting ritual. Connect the dots. BEC never took a stance on disc golf (maybe that is a stance). Some members support it, and they should. It gets people in the park and in touch with nature. But this diatribe is just another example of how the anti-disc golf folks drive wedge after wedge through their own base of supporters. Another example... a lot of college students make use of the disc golf site. No more than 20% of disc golfers are aware of the debate going on. 100% will be aware if the City Council removes the recreation. Ann Schwab and Andy Holcombe are up for re-election, and historically received much of their voter support from within a mile of the university. People like "Green Man" paint with such a broad, ugly, brush that it covers mostly supporters of liberal councilors. Then there's this... I used to think it was just rich people who were allowed to fart up the park. That explained the golf course, the shooting range, the booze, the power lines. But no. You actually don't have to be rich. Just connected. "Fart up the park", who talks like that? And yes, I agree, only the wealthy have access to elitist things like electricity and booze. The only way "Green Man" could think that is if he's transient, in which case I hope he gets some help. I'm not sure why local conservatives aren't vocally supportive of continued use of the park for disc golf. I'm talking about both elected officials and other somewhat conservative organizations like the Chamber. I believe there is support, but no one's sticking their neck out. They should. Personally, I'll support any official reasonable enough to recognize that recreation is important in Chico. I don't care if they're conservative or liberal. Park use and health should transcend political ideology for Chicoans. That by itself is a primary difference between those of us that support people in parks, and those that adhere to the religion of preservation. |
Posted by Lon at 08:23 AM | Comments (8)
July 01, 2007
Down and Dirty With Invasive Non-Native Soil
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| Dr. Frolinger is shown above working on one of the most
expansive dirt restoration projects in Chico history. His group the "Troubadours
of Terra Firma" have been working on the issue of invasive dirt in Bidwell
Park for years, and have nearly completed the city funded project near
the Manzinita-Vallombrosa intersection in Lower Park. "A lot of people think we are building a pedestrian bridge, but this is about removing invasive soils from the creek bed" Frolinger said. Using tweezers his group identifies and separates soil by type. Non-native dirt is then transported out of the park to holding areas. When asked how the dirt arrives at it's current location Frolinger spins into an enthusiastic arm waving soliloquy. "Some of the dirt is transported by natural occurrence, such as floods and bird droppings. But much of it occurs due to the proximity of trails and human interaction with thin native soils. The advent of high traction tennis shoes have caused a tremendous increase in the deposition of soils through man-made causes. Beyond that, human caused global warming has influenced soil deposition through a complex chemical process known as "evaporation", where soil is made less dense and more easily transported into the park by non-native invasive wind." Frolinger said. Frolinger continued, "I envision large strips of adhesive similar to that on "post-it notes" at all entrances to Bidwell Park. Cars, bikes, horses, and pedestrians would cross these strips and have non-native soils removed from contact surfaces as they enter. We really need to start looking at the park with a "clean room" mentality." |
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| Frolinger explained how he determines whether soil is
native or invasive. "If you look at these two photos of soil [shown above
for the reader] the one on the left is clearly native soils. On the right
we see dramatic differences in content and coloration that denote invasive
non-native soils. Some of the most aggressive invasive soils seem to come
from the nether regions of nudists frolicking around Salmon Hole. This
is one of the reasons we created our bumper sticker "Keep Upper Park
Pantsed". Unfortunately, when we came up with that slogan, we didn't
know that "pantsing" meant dropping someone's pants in embarrassing circumstances
without the pantsee's foreknowledge." The city funded restoration project is designed to restore the soils in one area of Big Chico Creek to a pristine condition. "We're attempting to restore the creek bed to its state on August 24th, 1843, at 3PM. After exhaustive research using Google, aspects of the science of phrenology, and an inventory of shovel blades from across the north state, we've determined that date represents the optimal health of the soil" stated Frolinger. Restoration of the entire creek system is expected to be completed in early 2015, at a cost of $23 million. The completion date could be delayed if flooding, bird droppings, moderate winds, or human activity in or near the creek occurs during that time frame. |
Posted by Lon at 08:22 AM | Comments (1)