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August 24, 2007
Park Plan To Cost Tax Payers $600,000, "Friends" Blamed
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| On August 14th the General Services Director
(GSD), Dennis Beardsley, sent a memo to the City Council informing them
that he would seek more funding in order to finish the Bidwell Park Master
Management
Plan (BPMMP). The memo states that the current cost of the plan is $498,648. Beardsley states that he needs an additional $100,000 to bullet proof the EIR against legal threats submitted by the Friends of Bidwell Park over disc golf. That $100,000 will come from the General Fund. The one with a $56,000,000 10-year deficit. That puts the cost of the BPMMP potentially at $600,000. The original estimate for the plan was $274,000 (~$200,000 of which came from disc golf and ~$70,000 from trails and other park funds). Remember that this plan was demanded back in 2003 by the Friends' lawyers. This was part of their action to stop a disc golf course from being built. In the Spring 2006 newsletter for the Sierra Club Yahi Group, Susan Mason, the President of the Friends of Bidwell Park wrote... "So, Chico seems to have a split personality regarding Bidwell Park. They love to use it, boast about it, and write about it. They may not want to spend more of their tax dollars on it..." I have to point out that we're now going to spend 600,000 tax-payer dollars on the plan that they demanded. $100,000 of that is directly related to their inability to compromise on the issue of disc golf. There was another $50,000 worth of studies and plans that were thrown out in 2003. So we'll spend $650,000 on a plan they demanded. Some of that could have been spent on the park or other needs. Let's look just at the most recent need for $100,000 which the GSD directly attributes to answering the "Friends" legal threat in his memo. What could $100,000 be used for instead? 1. The Finance Committee talked about raising the business license fee by $20 for every business in Chico to raise $108,000, so if every business in Chico pays $20 dollars we can pay for the "Friends" latest legal adventure 2. The annual salary of 2 Park Rangers 3. The annual salary of 3 park maintenance workers 4. 4 play structures for kids, or one complete play area for a park 5. 4-18 hole disc golf courses 6. 6 new chess tables to go with the ones we already have 7. 60% of the annual funding for the Butte County Library 8. 1.5 years of funding for the Chico Creek Nature Center 9. 6 Years funding for the Chico Cat Coalition 10. The amount of money I would accept to end my campaign for City Manager, and thus save Cupcake This has become totally absurd. Here is the memo (1MEG PDF) |
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CI Challenge: Can you guess what it is? Winner: Brian Ray, see comments below for the answer. |
Posted by Lon at August 24, 2007 08:42 AM
Comments
I can tell what it isn't. It's not one of the "friends".
Posted by: Anthony at August 24, 2007 09:37 AM
Anthony,
I don't know all of the Friends of Bidwell Park, but you are correct that the image is not one of them.
Lon
Posted by: Lon at August 24, 2007 09:43 AM
Cupcake is being trained to hunt faerie shrimp. yet from your post last year
http://www.norcalblogs.com/commission/archives/2006/07/giant_fairy_shr.html
They are quite, quite, large. How big are you gonna grow that Cupcake? Are steroids involved?
Posted by: Anthony at August 24, 2007 10:49 AM
Anthony,
Those were giant mutated "fairy shrimp" (Branchinecta lynchi I think). Which were quite large in Bidwell Ranch. Quick action by the Battle-ready Environmental Crusaders (BEC, not to be confused with Butte Environmental Council, also BEC, or the Butte Environmental Commandos, also BEC) did a quick job of taking them down using assault helicopters. An image of this event is shown on the link you left, for people that missed it.
Cupcake is being trained to hunt "Faerie Shrimp", which is a totally different animal. The difference between the two are subtle, and only a trained biologist can make the distinction in most cases. The "Faerie Shrimp" (Shrimpus Sidhes Lonnusmakisupiss) has a large pair of butterfly like wings and generally carries a tiny magic wand. See the artist rendering from my last post.
You guys didn't think I was threatening to kill protected vernal pool fairy shrimp did you? That would be truly evil.
Lon
Posted by: Lon at August 24, 2007 12:10 PM
Jennifer Aniston or Courtney Cox. Two "Friends" I'd rather hang with than those found in Chico.
Posted by: Sean Baber at August 24, 2007 04:04 PM
Hey Sean,
No, and no, think mousier. But I can't believe I missed the "Friends" TV show connection. Maybe you should be doing this?
Lon
Posted by: Lon at August 24, 2007 04:23 PM
The only mouse I ever saw with legs like that was Annette Funicello.
Posted by: Gregg Payne at August 24, 2007 04:39 PM
Gregg,
You've completely glossed over Keri Russel (Felicity), Christina Aguilera (Bratz model), Britney Spears, (recipient of Hollywood Mom of the Year award 2007), and Justin Timberlake (subject of David Little's recent editorial "Justin Timberlake - From Back Street Boy to Modern Ghandi"). All of those Mousketeers have the gams to be the subject of that provacative image.
But since it appears my readership is not as up-to-speed on People Magazine lore as I am, let me provide a couple of "hints".
In addition to the image being relevant to the topic of this post, the subject has something in common with me. She has a penchant for old Fords.
Lon
Posted by: Lon at August 25, 2007 08:55 AM
Alan,
I can't post that. Bad Alan, baaaaad Alan.
Lon
Posted by: Lon at August 25, 2007 08:56 AM
Lon,
In addition to the image being relevant to the topic of this post, the subject has something in common with me. She has a penchant for old Fords.
Aha. Calista Flockhart, TV's Ally McBeal.
Posted by: Brian Ray at August 25, 2007 03:20 PM
B-Ray,
That's right, I figured the Ford reference would put somebody on the right track. It's going to take some high powered lawyering, the kind you'd find in McBeal's office, to fend off the Friends of Litigation.
Lon
Posted by: Lon at August 25, 2007 04:29 PM