Commission Impossible

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February 29, 2008

Life As We Know It

Image: First two questions of the online survey the city is providing. The responses shown are the default answers, not my own. Welcome to Commission Impossible's annual leap-year edition. The city seems to have caved to certain demands made by my blog readers to perform an online survey. Maybe not, but this was a pretty regular suggestion from Gregg, "Chico's Most Wanted" artist. Go take the survey here. Take it now! What else were you going to do? Forget reading what I write next, just go take the survey. If you don't take the survey your opinion of Chico's future will be ignored. Chico will crash into flames and be destroyed by a nuclear weapon set off just outside of city limits. Take the survey. Take it for the children. We are all counting on YOU! Other blog readers, including myself, have pointed out that people with access to multiple IP addresses could take this survey more than once. I've already taken it 107 times. Each time I said the city needed more protection for Butte County checkerbloom. Based on the wanton destruction perpetrated near Annie's Glen by Tuesday's bank robber I think additional steps are necessary. I would recommend building a steel cage around each checkerbloom plant. I need this for higher quality of life! Here are my "off the cuff" quality of life issues. They probably won't match yours. 1. I'm bothered by the fact that the city spends so much money on park plans and open space but very little on trail improvements. 2. I like that the Upper Park road is closed on Sunday and Monday because I'm trying to teach my son to mountain bike and the trails have been wet (closed). I would not want the road to be closed more often, but a couple of days a week is okay. 3. I like Chico's artists but I don't think the City's Art Department is run well. 4. The liberal majority council can be counted on to waffle on any issue that agitates some of the kooks around town. Each Councilor seems individually more moderate than the council as a whole. This discrepancy frustrates me. 5. I think a government that buys 700 acres with public money and fences it off has done a disservice to me. Knowing that they bought 1300 acres 13 years ago and people are calling on councilors to remove the public from that land makes me ponder revolution. 6. I think I could organize a pretty good revolution. 7. Going to Upper Crust for pastries and then heading over to 1-mile for a swim and Caper Acres for some good old fashioned capering is a great Saturday morning. 8. Chico has some excellent bike paths. With a little creativity you can ride bikes with young kids and avoid most high traffic areas. That's enough for me, but I'm imposing a blog rule. If you post something you must do the following... 1. Take the survey (I just have to take your word on this) 2. Tell us something you like about Chico 3. Tell us something you don't like about Chico Don't be a blog weenie. Post something.

Spotlight: I'm going to try spotlighting news stories in this blog. I don't know if I'll keep it up for long. I don't like making extra work for myself. Chico Unified and enrollment: The school district will start tracking enrollment on a monthly basis. Overall enrollment is down 500 students. There's no word on how the $68 million in bonds and taxes on new homes to date has been spent. Neighborhood plan moving too fast: A Southwest Chico neighborhood group wants the city to slow down its plan for their area. 4 years has not been long enough to really talk things out. Mayor found drunk but not disorderly: Not Chico's Mayor, but kind of funny... and sad. Editorial on Retiring Fire Chief: Chico's Fire Chief Brown is retiring. This editorial recommends replacing him with a budget wary Chief.

CI Challenge: Can you guess what it is? Winner: Mrs. Rainman, biology teacher and direction follower. See comment below for the answer.

Posted by Lon at 05:48 AM | Comments (16)

February 28, 2008

Rob In Hood

Image: Alleged bank robber looking confused after attempting to withdraw money without an account. Being a member of the press and a news maker is a tough job. This is especially true when you've got to depend on a second job for things like livelihood and retirement savings. But I work hard to be on scene for all the big things happening in Chico. That's how I found myself watching Gregg Payne get surrounded by Chico Police Officers, some of whom looked like they had their guns drawn. It turns out they weren't after Gregg, but instead were looking for a bank robber. I caught all of the serious action on tape. Please enjoy this video that shows all of the action and the suspect being taken into custody. The quality sucks because of YouTube, the original footage is pretty clear. If you enjoy this news venue you can make liquid donations to the Commission Impossible News Team at the local brewery any time. Update: Apparently this bank robber fellow had robbed an Umpqua Bank last week, stole a laptop from a doctors office over at Enloe, and spent somewhere around $8000 on drugs in the last few days. Quick thinking bankers tripped the alarm as soon as the guy entered the bank. Local police were just blocks away from the site when the bank was robbed, and a number of FBI agents were attending a seminar in the area. Not a good day to be a bank robber, but a good nab for the Chico PD. There's no word on whether or not he intentionally destroyed checkerbloom as described in the video below.

CI Challenge: Can you guess what it is? Winner: The human fly, our eye in the sky, and a lover of pie, Gregg Payne. See comments below for the answer.

Posted by Lon at 06:21 AM | Comments (22)

February 27, 2008

Water,Water, Everywhere

Image: Water use by city plus the total for the county for the next 25+ years. I listened to a short presentation on water use in Butte County. It was interesting and not too technical. The speaker pointed out a number of information resources in the form of plans and studies that were available. So I took it on myself to try to learn a little more about this resource. Everyone seems to agree that it is a precious resource. They also seem to agree that its value will be similar to oil in the future as population grows and clean water becomes more scarce. Plans to increase ground water storage capacity via dams or other infrastructure are basically nonexistent. The reason is primarily environmental concerns, and opposition from politically strong environmental advocates. This is the same reason we don't drill for oil off our coasts. It will have the same long term effect on pricing. People will argue that conservation is necessary. But many communities in Butte County don't have residential water meters. In fact Chico didn't require them on new homes until the 1990s. A 2003 report created for the Butte County Department of Water and Resource Conservation, or as I like to call them DOWARC, states that Chico loses 10% of its water (report is here). The water is produced and conveyed to Chico and then 10% just kind of "poof" goes away. I guess it's not lost, but more or less unaccounted for. Biggs and Oroville lost about twice that percentage. Chico has 7,603 metered single family residences and 11,431 that are unmetered (data from 2003). I think we'll find that as water becomes more valuable the ability to monitor water use becomes more important. Monitoring urban area water use seems to be another aspect of our infrastructure that is not up to par. For Butte County there was another statistic that I found interesting. The total amount of water used in urban areas equals the total amount of water used for environmental reasons. I don't really know what constitutes "water for environmental reasons". I assume it counts water diverted to fill wetlands, or to keep a stream running at a certain level. I wouldn't have thought that that water use is equal to all of the pools, sprinklers, cars washed, dishwashers, washing machines, showers, ice cold beverages with ice, and toilet flushes in all of our homes and businesses. Urban water use was about 5% of all County water use. Environmental use was also about 5%. The majority of the remaining water used was for agriculture. I doubt water used for environmental reasons is monitored for efficiency or effectiveness. It probably should be. As water becomes more valuable accurate measurement of use should be a concern. But let's not make the assumption that all water is used by urban living. It would seem that only a tiny portion of water used in Butte County is used for to keep our grass green and our bodies clean.

Non sequitur #1: I received an email from the city and thought I'd pass it along. General Plan Advisory Committee Meeting Wednesday, February 27, 2008 at 6:30 p.m. City Council Chamber Building, Conference Room 1 421 Main Street, Chico Topics Include Existing Conditions Highlights/ Vision Book Overview and Local Economy/ Economic Development

Non sequitur #2: David Little's column on Sunday gave me an atta-boy for the work I've been doing on the Sherwood Forest kid's disc golf course (see column here). Recognition is always nice. Yesterday we installed the sign for the kid's disc golf course that lists our hole sponsors and the project's major sponsors. A disc golf course, by its nature, is a minimalist project with not a lot of things designed to stand out. This sign is one of the course signatures, and will stand out. It deserves some attention. Gregg Payne came up with the design ideas and painted the sign for us. Dusty Carr, an Eagle Scout, assembled the 8' tall stainless steel arrows that form the sign's posts. A map of the course is included on it. Dusty is operating the post hole digger in the foreground of the top picture. Gregg's pants can be seen behind the sign. I'm not sure if Gregg is in them. The sign is mounted low enough so kid's can get a good look at it. I hope some of the dignitaries, luminaries, and vernal pool faeries that read this blog will attend our opening day next weekend (March 8th).

CI Challenge: Can you guess what it is? Winner: Mark Sorensen, Chamber of Commerce big wig, desirable City Council candidate, and encyclapediameterinskiiology of poet knowledge. See comments below for the answer.

Posted by Lon at 05:57 AM | Comments (13)

February 26, 2008

Bargaining Hunters

Image: Fashionable consultants like those shown above may be needed to hunt bargaining solutions to Chico's budget rigmarole. As I write this I'm still wondering if I'll be able to make the Finance Committee meeting Tuesday morning. As you read this I'll either be there or be getting my kids to school. These are the dramatic decisions that face a self-employed blogger. Even if I can't make it to the meeting the staff report for tomorrow's (today for you) Finance Committee has some interesting information. Recently I mentioned that some of the annual savings the Council approved at its 12/18/07 meeting (see post here). The cumulative savings over the previous 10-year budget forecast is in the neighborhood of $15.8 million. This would bring the deficit down from its estimated $50+ million. The Council approved the amount of the various cuts/changes but not the methodology. City staffers will make those decisions. Of the $15.8 million in estimated savings 60% require negotiations with bargaining units (unions). There is no guarantee that those savings will occur. In fact the $15.8 million could probably be described as a best case scenario. Additional savings are related to changes in negotiated MOUs (union contracts), staffing levels, and salaries for existing employees. These changes are estimated to save $6.1 million over the 10-year forecast. On the opposite side of the income statement are a couple of additional expenses that hadn't been previously accounted for. A reduction in tax income (sales and property) to the city is expected to increase the deficit by $7.2 million. An increase in the Public Employee Retirement System (PERS) rates, and an expected upward trend in those rates, have caused the city's Finance Department to increase the deficit by an additional $3.4 million. The Finance Committee will see a reduced 10-year projected deficit of $39.9 million which is down from $51.1 million. Everyone should see that as a positive development for Chico. However, there are a number of issues to keep in mind as this deficit reduction is discussed. 1. The 10-year budget still does not include costs associated with a growing local government. It assumes the status quo remains and no new personnel are added. 2. A structural deficit growing by $1 million annually still exists. 3. More than half of the $15.8 million in savings must be negotiated with unions before the savings can occur. 4. Any 10-year projection is very loose as far as accuracy goes. 5. A reduced deficit projection is a step in the right direction, but a best case scenario probably won't materialize. You can see the staff report here.

Update: Jenn Klein covers this story in today's E-R (see story here). The numbers look a little different than what was in the staff report, but generally it tells the same tale. Some of the spending cuts are being offset by unexpected increased costs, and some of the cuts require bargaining that hasn't happened and may not happen. Finance Director Jennifer Hennessy is quoted raising the spectre of Vallejo, which should be an eye opener for decision makers(see Vallejo post here).

CI Challenge: Can you guess what it is? Einner: The master of paint, dye, and stain, the very color conscious Gregg Payne. See comments below for the answer.

Posted by Lon at 06:30 AM | Comments (2)

February 25, 2008

Dereliction of Duty

Image: Artist's rendering of demonic oven that self destructed in November, nearly destroying yams and Thanksgiving. Actual oven is all electric. Some of you may recall the trouble my household faced last Thanksgiving when our oven decided to become self aware. Once it realized where and who it was, it decided life was no longer worth cooking for. It entered a period of self destructive behavior. Before we could organize an intervention it had committed self-cleaning Seppuku (see post here). Its manner of death was to lock itself with yams inside and ramp up to Super Nova temperature. It would not unlock, cycling power would not clear the error. I had to break open the oven door to save the yams. I'm a pretty handy guy. I installed my own multi-circuit irrigation system, outdoor lighting, and lawn. I run electrical and phone lines, frame walls, hang doors, hang drywall, and do other things that would make Bob Villa proud. I'm not terribly good at any of it, but my wife doesn't know that. You'd think I would have taken care of the blown-up oven by now. But I hadn't. Since I decided not to write this blog on weekends I found myself with extra time on Saturday. I got out my massive tool set and started to remove the oven (phillips and standard screwdrivers were needed). My wife stopped me. She pointed out that my spare time was not an indication that the preparatory work had been done to replace the oven. The replacement would be gas, and no gas line existed, nor had someone been contacted to install the line. The replacement would be a less expensive self standing oven that was 1" wider than the existing insert (and therefore 1" wider than our cabinets). Nobody had identified the manner in which the cabinets would be shortened by 1"(sledge hammer is my preference). So removing the oven would initiate a string of decision making that nobody was prepared to be responsible for. But I already had my tools out. I decided to go ahead and do some exploratory disassembly. Within a few minutes I told my wife "I can have this out in no time". This statement would normally initiate the process of locating and purchasing the replacement oven, shaving the cabinets down with a dozen types of tools, and hiring a gas line installer. But my wife asked a startling question. She asked if I'd found out what was broken. I had never bothered to look. You're all expecting this story to end in misery. Fire and smoke, a man and his tools defeated would be the obvious ending. Failure is funny. Men breaking things, or quitting in despair, is what we all expect. That's how men are often portrayed in today's commercials or other media. We're comical and lack wisdom and skill. To the contrary I repaired the failed mechanism after about 10 minutes. We had oven-baked cookies that night. It had been over 90 days since the oven broke, and it took about a half hour to fix it. The only excuse I have for not fixing it sooner is that it failed so spectacularly and I assumed it was gone for good. The moral of this story is self-reliance. We should all repair our own things. Or at least give it a try. I went 90 days without oven-baked cookies because I forgot to fulfill my household duties as a man. Don't let the same happen to you. The price is too high. Later that night my wife told me the remote for the TV had locked up. She asked if I knew what was wrong with it. I pressed a couple of buttons and cleared it so it worked again. She was clearly impressed and asked what I had done. I told her it was man-knowledge. Like the arcane workings of an oven's innards, or the reason my dad had a 2" diameter socket in his tool box, or the ability to read the cryptic pages of a 1964 automobile shop manual, the knowledge belongs to men. This knowledge is our purpose, and our duty. Men don't talk in soft and lilting voices, if we bother to talk at all. We wear clothes that don't match and were intended not to. We drive one-handed, window down, and elbow jutted out for the world to see. This week, to pay homage to men everywhere, I will hang on my garage wall my three slightly different sized sledge hammers. They are named Mjolnir, Destroyer, and Fred. Before I do that I've got to change a diaper and get my laundry done for the week. Because a man's work is never done.

CI Challenge: Can you guess what it is? Winner: The keeper of all knowledge useful to men and manliness, Gregg Payne, artist, viking, chieftain. See comments below for the answer.

Posted by Lon at 06:58 AM | Comments (6)

February 22, 2008

Roundaboutzilla

Image: Roundabout planned near existing entrance to Upper Bidwell Park from Land Image web site (top) and Google Earth with a graphic added by me (bottom). This town may be going roundabout crazy. There are three going in on the Manzanita corridor expansion project, and three were planned for the East 8th Street improvements. The ones on east 8th Street were pretty much shot down by neighbors (maybe one is left on Forest). But the ones on Manzanita seem like they'll go in. That project will begin this Spring. The main entrance to Hooker Oak Recreation Area will be moved so it is opposite Hooker Oak Avenue where a roundabout is planned. The biggest, strangest roundabout will go between the fire station near the entrance to Upper Park (I think it is station 5, correct me if not) and Wildwood Park. There's even a spur off of this new roundabout that points like a dagger into the heart of Bidwell Ranch. Okay not really, but the northwest road seems to jut off to nowhere. Where is it going? Is that where the new Wal-Mart will be? I'm sure there is some grand "outside the box" planning going on with this roundabout, but I seem to be missing it. It probably has to do with road widths, driving speeds, angular momentum, and a fair amount of whimsy. It just seems like a weird place to put a really big construction project. A lot of roads are being adjusted and a lot of asphalt is being added. The area where the roundabout is going to be could be used to extend the adjacent playground, add some tennis courts, basketball courts, or a frisbee golf course (I'm kidding about that last part). Like I said, there's probably a reason for the roundabout, but I'm not yet seeing it. Update: I was able to locate the plan below for the Eaton Road extension at the economic development web page for the city. This is the plan to get us out of our budget crisis. This has also been what River Partners has been working on for Bidwell Ranch's future.

CI Challenge: Can you guess what it is? Winner: Sean Baber who knows way too much about old British children's television. See comments below for the answer.

Posted by Lon at 07:20 AM | Comments (16)

February 21, 2008

Dead Wood

Image: Center for Economic Development blog activity may not bode well for economic development. I've been keeping an eye on the Butte, Glenn, Tehama Counties: Your Local Perspective blog, because I want to see what my local perspective is. I'm curious what community and business leaders have to say. So far they haven't said anything. It's totally possible that they're too busy doing economic development to write something. On the other hand it may be an indication that they don't do much economic development either. The Center for Economic Development who seems to own the Norcal blog I imaged above actually does some good work in the region (I've been told). They maintain demographic information for a number of counties, and the booklets they create can be informative for a business. That kind of information would be great for a blog. The unfortunate reality is that writing a blog that is relevant, and interesting, is not an easy thing to do. It's terrifically hard to do it 5 or so times a week. The Center for Economic Development seems to have jumped on the blog bandwagon and then forgot to write something. No big deal right, but this happens quite a bit. For someone like me this can be a tad frustrating. I look at things through a number of different prisms, one being a business owner, another being a guy who spends too much time on a blog. The E-R seems to have taken the stance that "more blogs" is better. Dead blogs nestled up against active blogs seems to be a fine way to market free content. And of course two blogs about the Raiders and one about Hollywood celebrities are absolutely necessary. I would do things differently. I would take the popular and active blogs and separate them from the others. They would go at the top of the page. I would separate new blogs from existing blogs, and give new bloggers a chance to "move up" after a trial period. This would also display new blogs and give them a chance to find readers. The monotonous list of Norcal blogs causes everyone to get lost. I would remove dead blogs and move inactive ones out of the limelight. This would support the efforts that are driving readers to the E-R web site. If a web presence is the future of the news biz then quality control over blogs would probably be a smart thing to consider. It may be that the E-R's egalitarian take on the world of blogging is better than mine. I would just focus on merit over multitudes. Who's to know? I think the person to ask is my good friend Anthony Watts, whose blog recently passed the 100,000 monthly unique visits after he took it outside of Norcal blogs. He seems to have found more success than the rest of us put together. The highest number I've hit was in the 7,000's for the month I posted the City salaries. I'm not even sure I'll keep at this gig for much longer. At least once a week I decide to quit. The pay sucks, the hours are long, and I feel like I'm married to my computer when I'm home. Then I go to work and use my computer all day. When did I become a techno nerd? On the other hand, who would post all the documents from inside the bowels of the city if I quit? Maybe I'll stick around for another week or two. Update: Whew!!! There's now something posted at the blog I referenced here. You can see the update here if you like.

Other Dead Wood: The U.S. military claims to have shot down the dead spy satellite last night with its first missile. Below is a link to a Pentagon press conference on the missile hit, where they say they can't be entirely sure that they met all of their goals for this mission. They should know after a couple more days of watching the satellite debris. There is a video of the satellite being hit. (press conference).

CI Challenge: Can you guess what it is? Winner: Gregg Payne, who has great stories and doesn't have a TV. I'll leave it at that. See comments below for the answer.

Posted by Lon at 07:36 AM | Comments (15)

February 20, 2008

A Valley Ho-Down

Image: Future Vallejo Blues Festivals may be a little too bluesy. I grew up in the same neck of the woods as Vallejo, CA (down near the Bay Area, not quite "in" it). When I was a kid I thought it was pronounced Valley-Joe. Then I thought it was Valley-Ho. But it turned out to be Vuh-lay-hoe. Anyway, Vallejo is in the unenviable position of possibly being the first California city to file for bankruptcy (see story here). This is a worst case scenario, but one that Chico could in theory face if things went south budget-wise, and things went south employee-wise. Vallejo was one of the cities that Chico's Finance department used as a case study, and it looks like it may capsize (financially speaking) around April of this year. There are some similarities between Chico and Vallejo. We both spend about 80% of our budget on public safety. We both have a structural problem with our budget. And of course both cities end with a phonetic "oh" sound. That pretty much makes us the same place. There are some pretty big differences as well. Vallejo has what used to be Marine World which has to be a huge sales tax magnet. It also has some spunky-chunky outlet shopping. I'm actually amazed they're in trouble. I ran across a 2006 Firefighter/Engineer ad for Vallejo offering an annual salary of $62K - $75K. In Chico the salary for a similar position looks to be around $65K. The Police Officer position looked to be $84K-$100K in Vallejo, and here in Chico looks to be in the $65K range. Those numbers are for regular pay and no benefits are included. One problem that Vallejo faces is a huge future liability from employee retirement benefits. I'm not sure if our retirements are structured differently than Vallejo's, but there was talk of changing the system for new City of Chico employees. If we're in the same boat as Vallejo but a few years on the positive side, we should look at doing this pretty soon. In 1991 our PERS benefit for public safety was 2%@50. In 2001 it changed to PERS 3%@50. I'm no public employee retirement expert but I believe the formulae described above are the age you can qualify for retirement (50) and the percentage times the years worked you receive as your benefit. So for 2%@50 if you worked for 30 years for the city and retired at 50 you would get 30*2% = 60% of your paycheck as a monthly benefit. The 2001 change to 3%@50 would give the same employee a 90% benefit. And of course from 1991 to 2001 the paychecks have gotten quite plump. Beyond the existing budget problem our city officials need to be looking at 20 years from now, and do everything within their power to reduce the taxpayers liability. More on Vallejo's situation... The City Council will meet in closed session Feb. 26 with the city's employees' organizations to try to find a solution to the budget crisis. In a report to the City Council dated Feb. 13, Vallejo Finance Director Rob Stout projected that without deep cuts, including assumed agreements negotiated with police and fire departments by June 30, the City will be $6 million in debt and will have spent every last penny of its $4 million in reserves. Gomes said the city has a plan to cut $20 million out of the budget in the next year. That emergency spending plan could devastate city services. The police and fire unions must agree on the spending cuts before it can be considered. The Feb. 26 city council meeting takes place the same day the City Council plans to vote on the plan. In a report to the City Council last week, City Manager Joseph Tanner said the city faces a $10.1 million general fund operating deficit for the current fiscal year and a negative available fund balance of $5.9 million on June 30, 2008. " Based upon the updated financial projections, the current estimate for insolvency is late April 2008," Tanner said. "It may become necessary for staff to recommend that the City Council consider filing and pursuing Chapter 9 bankruptcy in the event the city is unable to meet its existing obligations with its existing revenues," Tanner said in the report. Not good.

CI Challenge: Can you guess what it is? Winner: Gregg Payne the all knowing master of artwork and artists that show ninners and swords in their work.

Posted by Lon at 07:31 AM | Comments (2)

February 19, 2008

Sherwood Forest

Image: Eagle Scout Dusty Carr and one of his gigantic arrows. Part of Gregg's information kiosk design. Chico deserves cool things. As a community it deserves things that are just a little bit less "off-the-shelf". I think everyone that worked on the Nico Project saw that and put in the extra effort to add something to the community that didn't just come out of a box. The Sherwood Forest kid's disc golf course is getting some treatments that will make it unique in the world of disc golf, and hopefully a unique addition to Chico's recreation scene. The Robin Hood theme has generated some fun ideas. Holes will be named after scenes from the 1938 The Adventures of Robin Hood with Errol Flynn. There are names like Robin's Escape, The Golden Arrow, and King Richard's Return. Did you know that in England Elderberry branches were used to make arrow shafts? Interpretive signs will tell you that when you play through Sherwood Forest. It's sad that the environmental studies cost almost as much as the course. But CARD still managed to do it on the cheap. Volunteers collected money and put in the effort to build the project. It still has a couple of weeks of finishing touches before it reaches completion. It makes me wonder what could have been done in the last 13 years at the highway 32 disc golf site if improvements hadn't been thwarted. Not everyone's expression of love for Bidwell Park includes keeping people out of it. I'll be writing more on this project as the opening day nears. For now I just think it's cool to point out that for about the cost of four park benches something very unique to Chico is being built for our kids and families to play in. It will be open for use on March 1st, and an opening day will be held on March 8th at 10AM (a Saturday). We are going to give away 150 custom golf discs on the 8th. They'll go to kids first, then to whoever is left. Images Below: Custom tee markers tell you which hole you're on and show you the direction to the target. Image Below Below: Custom discs hot off the press.

Major Sponsors Chico Area Parks and Recreation District The Outsiders Golden Valley Bank Community Foundation Rotary Club Of Chico Chico Police Officers' Association Eagle Scout Dusty Carr - BSA Hole sponsors Practice: Doug and Frank 1. Jim Mellem 2. The Hoover Family 3. Chico Police Officers' Association 4. Anthony Watts 5. Sports LTD 6. The Giezentanner Family 7. Megan Thomas Petty, Esq. 8. Golden Valley Bank Community Foundation 9. Conroy Construction Inc

CI Challenge: Can you guess what it is? Winner: Jennifer "The Lion Hearted" Oman, see comments below for the answer.

Posted by Lon at 07:01 AM | Comments (6)

February 18, 2008

What Exactly Is A Nickell's Worth?

Image: Disc golf expedition a couple of years ago. I've been told that Councilor Tom Nickell has asked City staff to compile records related to disc golf for him. It sounded like he's asked for all records. That would be a lot of records. This discussion goes back 13 or so years, since around the time the city purchased the site that has been used for disc golf since the late '80s. At a recent Bidwell Park and Playground Commission meeting the Interim Assistent City Manager - General Services Director - Park Director (IACM-GSD-PD for short) Dennis Beardsley said that the commission would see the park's master plan in March. He thought the Council could see it by June. The commission has not taken a position on disc golf in Bidwell Park, except to say that the preferred EIR project was an 18 hole advanced and 18 hole beginner course (that's the largest option, smaller ones exist). Even that plan reduces use of the existing site by 25% or more by adjusting the course layout. The commission also said people could continue to use the site until the environmental studies were completed(I think that policy was expressed 7-9 years ago). I had sent Nickell an email asking what he was going to do with the information and offering to answer any questions he might have. He responded letting me know that he's just seeking background information on the subject. He said that there is no plan for a Council agenda item. It's good to see a councilor taking an interest in this topic and reviewing the history of the discussion. There is a lot of history, some of it good, and some of it bad. One thing that's pretty apparent is that no replacement site has ever been found and approved. You'd think using 25 of the 3700 acre Bidwell Park for this recreation would be something we could make happen in Chico. Since Nickell stated that he supported removal of disc golf from Bidwell Park during the last election his request is something park users like me will pay attention to. Of course all elected officials should be open to all information on a topic, as I'm sure Tom Nickell is. It's good to hear that he's doing his homework and looking at this topic.

Important Note On Nickels: Due to rising metal costs the nickel coin is now worth more than a nickel (5 cents) in material value. The nickel also recently had a higher material value than the quarter ($0.0535 for a nickel versus $0.05 for a quarter). Pre-1982 pennies that had a higher copper content than newer models make them worth $0.02, or twice their face value. Most of this data comes from a May 2006 article, but I think the cost of raw materials has continued to go up since then. So hold on to your nickels. They may soon be worth more than a dime. You could also ask for all of your change from a purchase in nickels. This would give you an automatic increase in money of about 7%. Demanding change in pre-1982 pennies would create a much larger return.

CI Challenge: Can you guess what it is? Winner: Anthony Watts and Tina Hoover duel experts in geology when it comes to semi-precious metals. See comments below for the answer.

Posted by Lon at 09:28 AM | Comments (10)

February 17, 2008

City Budget Problem Solved

Image: Previous City Manager shown picking out custom silver and black H3 as part of City perk package. Ninja bodyguards may be in picture, it's hard to say. City Budget Problem Solved By LAURA KLEINLITTLE - Commission Impossible Staff Writer Article Launched: 02/17/2008 12:00:00 AM PST Chico's new Enduring Eternal City Manager Dave Burkland shocked elected officials with his frugal request for additional compensation. It's unusual in this day and age for people to ask for less taxpayer money than they could potentially receive. In Burkland's case he asked for less money than his predecessor was paid, and the minimum amount the Council was willing to pay a new City Manager. He will be paid $190,000 plus benefits ($285K assuming 50% benefits), but without the traditional costly perks of the City Manager. When I asked longtime City Manager watcher Lon Frazzlebottom what the savings would be he responded. "You really can't overestimate the savings. I mean it, you really can't. Gone will be the pimped out silver and black H3 demanded by Greg Jones. Burkland will also do away with the expert Ninja bodyguards that Tom Lando first put on staff on the late '90s. Burkland's Interim Temporary Not-for-sure City Manager salary was $170,000 ($255K assuming 50% benefits). The savings can be calculated from that." I met with local accounting guru Pencilneck McGee to see if we could work out the savings from what's being called Burkland's Low-Ball Express. McGee worked feverishly at his abacus.."I almost have it... yes here it is... the net savings to Chico taxpayers will be -$20,000 to -$30,000 dollars annually. Wait, that can't be right, a negative savings means it's costing us money. Let me try it again... slide this here, move that bead over there, yes... yes... carry the red piece of wood... that's it! Damn, it looks like this will actually cost the city more money." As a local reporterette I was sure that the savings existed. So I telephoned Finby Dunklestein at the University's School of Public Finance. I asked him if it was possible for an increase in pay to actually reduce a budget problem. Finby responded... "You have to understand that public finance is not the same as private finance. Sometimes we call things that are not the same by two different names. That is called differentiation." " In public finance spending cuts can be achieved by not spending money you could have spent, even if you never had that money to spend. So if I say, hey instead of spending $4 million on that bridge why don't we spend $3 million, I just cut spending by $1 million, even though I haven't spent anything. It's all very philosophical. In the private finance world spending is based on actual dollars spent." That philosophical method of saving money seems to have caught on with other City employees. Chad Frodder, a groundskeeper at Baroni Park contacted me with his own offer of savings. "I've been out here for over a decade waiting for something to do, and now that the park is pretty much usable, I'm going to get promoted. I've decided not to accept a $5-$6 million increase in pay. That way I can save everyone's job at the city and wipe out the deficit." stated Chad. And just like that the budget problem has been solved. The catalyst is clearly the altruistic action by our new city leader. Burkland also flipped on its head one position often regurgitated by elected leaders. That is that we have to pay the most to get the best people for the job. It is clear from this reporter's perspective that we have now paid the least to get the best person for the job. And we never even had to compete with San Rafael to get him. Does this call into question salary comparison studies? Satire Alert: This post is satirical. Greg Jones and Tom Lando did not buy fancy cars and hire Ninjas during their terms as City Managers. The city cannot save money by spending more money. There is one aspect of this post that may not be satirical. We did hire somebody considered to be the "best man for the job" at the lowest amount we were offering. That is a trend that should continue.

CI Challenge: Can you guess what it is? Winner: Rainman, who today rained destruction down on all other CI guesses and reigned supreme in his knowledge of acronyms. See comments below for the answer.

Posted by Lon at 09:36 AM | Comments (7)

February 15, 2008

Shooting Fish In a Barrel?

Image: Representation of immediate debris field result from January 2007 Chinese anti-satellite test. The upcoming attempt to shoot down a crippled spy satellite highlights significant issues for America and the world. The satellite was recently placed in orbit, is unresponsive, unrepairable, and will plow into the atmosphere within few weeks if left alone. It also contains a full tank of gas. Not regular gas, but people killing gas, Hydrazine. Chances are the whole thing would burn up on re-entry, but some concern exists that the gas tank could survive and get dispersed over a populated area. So the military is going to try and shoot it down with a modified missile defense system. Aegis Cruisers will take as many as three shots at the satellite from the Northern Pacific sometime in the next couple of weeks. The satellite is traveling at 22,000 miles an hour, and the intercepting missile will attempt a kinetic kill. That means no explosion, just two really fast things hitting each other. I hope the military finds success, because blowing up satellites is a dangerous business. The Chinese launched an anti-satellite weapon against one of their aging weather satellites in 2007. It was a success in that it destroyed the satellite and surprised the world by displaying a capacity no other nation had. It was a failure in that it left ~2500 pieces of debris in place of the satellite. Each of those is a deadly projectile to anything else in orbit. China might be expected to attack U.S. satellites in a conflict over Taiwan. One article posed the question "Could the Chinese cripple U.S. military effectiveness with an anti-satellite attack?". The resulting answer was no (see "How China Loses the Coming Space War"). I'm sure other opinions exist, but the article makes what seem like valid points. Knocking down satellites requires the repositioning of assets over a large land area, a lot of technology, and cooperation from that little thing called physics. Unlike the rest of the world the U.S. has tremendous redundancy in its space systems, so even a perfect performance by the Chinese would not cripple our country's technology. Beyond military assets the U.S. can use commercial systems. In fact something like 80% of satellite use in Iraq for military purposes comes through commercial systems operated by U.S. corporations. A space war attempting to remove U.S. space dominance would have one very real effect. It would fill the orbit with so much debris that future space travel would be much more dangerous, and potentially impossible. Weapons aren't new to space. In the 1970's the Russians launched three manned missions to the Almaz spy station. The station had a cannon mounted to the bottom of it. You just point the station and fire. The cannon was never tested while manned since they weren't sure if it would tear the station apart. It was fired once remotely (see recent Nova broadcast Astrospies for more on this). The military seems to be taking some dramatic chances with the planned shooting down of the failed spy satellite. They could miss it completely, making our anti-missile system less of a deterrent. They could scatter the satellite debris into orbit causing problems for everyone. On the other hand they could hit it and all the pieces could evaporate during re-entry, which is the plan. But that would probably happen if they just left it alone. The attempt to shoot down a satellite is an interesting event with high-stakes ramifications. It can be seen as part of a cold war developing between China and the U.S. in safeguarding or eliminating space assets. While not as engaging a topic as school budgets, or city phone surveys, this is a story that has caught my interest. Image Below: Chinese satellite debris field in red with International Space Station orbit in green. The result of a single attack on a satellite.

CI Challenge: Can you guess what it is? Winner: Anthony Watts, master of all things spacey and sciency, as well as expert on Brazilian naming conventions. See comments below for the answer.

Posted by Lon at 09:02 AM | Comments (9)

February 14, 2008

The Mini Storage Kids

Image: Chico Unified School District wants to charge mini-storage development fees to account for the impact they will have on the school district's enrollment. Chico Unified School District comes to some interesting conclusions in its version of a Nexus study (see study here). The study lays out a case for increasing fees on new home buyers (development impact fees) to pay for the impact of growth on schools. The assumption is that new homes = new students. The school district wants to increase its building fee to $2.97 square foot of residential development (they currently charge $2.63 square foot), They also want to add $0.47 square foot for commercial/industrial development, and $0.16 square foot for mini-storage development. Neither of which currently exist. Here is a portion of what the school district published as its 10-18-07 budget message. "For a number of reasons including declining enrollment, increases in employee costs and incorrect income projections, Chico Unified School District has a $400,000 deficit this school year. Not correcting the problem now will mean we will be $2.5 million in the red next year. If we can't find solutions, the State of California will appoint people to come into our district, cut programs and staff, and bring our budget into balance. The bottom line is that we are spending more than we are making each year." Chico has experienced 4.2% growth on average since 2000. New development was responsible for about half of that. During that time enrollment seems to have dropped. Here is a discussion of the results of that growth from an August 2005 Chris Gullick ER article ... It would have been easier if the decline in enrollment in elementary schools had all taken place in one school, Rees continued, but the district was down an enrollment equal to of 11/2 -2 schools spread throughout the district. Keeping that many schools operating was a waste of money " We've gotten rid of an entire school's operating costs," Meeker explained. Estimated savings from closing Jay Partridge, $407,394, will still be realized even though the campus became Fair View High School. The costs of Jay Partridge support staff and operating costs of the building Fair View vacated total about the same as the previous estimated savings. Closing Nord was estimated to cut $164,707 from the budget, but that savings will be offset by a loss of state funding because the district will lose about 50 students to a new charter school created by the Nord community and approved by the board of trustees. Let's also not forget the high school bond that was never applied to its purpose because of reduction in enrollment. Student enrollment doesn't seem to be following population growth. Yet the district's study is specifically saying that it will. The City of Chico built 4952 new units from 2000-2007. That is an average of 619 units per year. This results in a 20.2 year build out of the 12,500 proposed to effect the CUSD system. Current density of construction is 5.5 units per acre, making 2272 acres of developable land necessary to meet the build out requirements the school district identifies. Ummmm, I don't think that's out there.

Summary: Development impact fees are applied to offset impact growth will have on a community. They don't exist simply to raise money. Raising fees and costs on new development makes the homes less affordable to young families. If those young families were buying homes and flooding our schools the impact fee would seem justified. It seems to me like an argument could be made that high home prices have resulted in lower enrollment at Chico's schools. Comparing enrollment concerns to historic population growth seems to reinforce that assumption. I'm currently a homeowner and have a child at public school. These impact fees will push up my home value and benefit my family. And it won't cost me a dime. But it seems to me that in the study Chico Unified is identifying population growth as a factor in increased enrollment, and in other public comments claiming reduced enrollment (that occured during population growth) is a significant portion of their budget problem. Which is it? Impact fees that run up home prices need to be justified and not gamed to help pay expanding employee costs. Adding the new fee to commercial/industrial construction is probably not going to increase the number of businesses willing to move here. And we've all heard that economic development will solve our budget woes. The one thing they might have spot on is that young families may be looking at mini-storage as the most affordable housing opportunity in Chico's future. They might consider placing some bus stops nearby.

CI Challenge: Can you guess what it is? Winner: Mark Sorensen, the Love Machine. See comments below for the answer.

Posted by Lon at 08:01 AM | Comments (10)

February 13, 2008

D' Strict Spending Limits

Image: City's projected deficit if no changes occur. Projections beyond a couple of years are pure guesswork. It is an ugly picture, and one produced by the Finance Department, not critics of local government spending. I sit here on a Wednesday morning typing one-handed while immersed in a dizzy floating feeling. Fevers can be fun. I'm holding my feverish imp of a daughter on my lap. She's just fallen asleep and feels like a personal heater against my stomach. I'd prefer not to be around her when I'm sick, but my wife needs to sleep a couple of hours a day... doesn't she? While floating happily in a highly tylenolized state I read through today's paper. What caught my attention were the article and editorial on Chico Unified's budget crisis. They are looking at a $3-$8 million dollar shortfall in 2008-9 and are preparing to lay people off. That's similar in magnitude to that budget shortfall facing the City of Chico. I tried to find Chico Unified School District's financial statement online but wasn't able to (Internet search skills degraded due to fever induced out-of-body experience?). I did find this 10-17-07 Power Point slide show describing the budget problem (see here). That presentation describes a 3% reserve the district must maintain as $3.2 million, which would put operating funds at around $100 million. So they are looking at a 3%-8% shortfall (assuming my guesses are correct). The City of Chico General Fund sat at $41 million in 2007-8. If the budget shortfall is $5-6 million then the city faces a 12%-15% shortfall. The school district and city government can both be described as unionized environments. The school district seems to be taking a much more direct approach to budget cutting. They will be under pressure from county and state regulatory bodies to balance their budget this year. The city on the other hand has at least a little time come up with a plan. Considering the source of the image above (Finance Department) and recent statements by non-interim non-temporary City Manager Dave Burkland, upper city management appear to be ready for prompt decisions. Back in December of 2007 the Finance Committee forwarded what looked like about $2.6 million in cuts and revenue increases to the City Council (see agenda here). About $2.4 million were approved, but of that $618K depend on union negotiations. I think it's fair to assume that the $1.8 million not including the personel stuff was the easiest of possible cuts. Some of it may not even be cuts, but instead efficiency improvements, which don't cost any less. With a 70% Council approval rate on the easy stuff I wonder if it will take another $8 million in proposed cuts to get the city down to $5-$6 million in cuts. I wonder if/when the city will take steps similar to the school district. It's hard for me to imagine other options, except of course a tax increase, whose discussion has been sidelined. I guess it's also important to point out that layoffs of local government employees, who are typically well paid, would not positively impact the local economy.

CI Challenge: Can you guess what it is? Winner: The mysterious, nebulous, and entirely to succint Anon. See coments below for the answer.

Posted by Lon at 07:50 AM | Comments (8)

February 11, 2008

Surveys Highlight Transit

Image: New General Plan 2030 flow chart includes using Blight-O to reduce dependence on redevelopment agency(RDA). On Friday I posted a draft version of the questions/script the city hired consultants may use when doing their telephone survey. That survey is associated with city services and budget issues. I don't know much about surveys or how they statistically verify the responses, but I thought the directions to the survey giver were as interesting as the questions. Meanwhile the General Plan has been performing surveys as well. In addition to a phone survey (results here), that is different from the script I recently posted, the General Plan consultants are taking live surveys. One posted on the General Plan web site (see here) was taken at the December 8th and 10th workshops. It included three questions, and the top answers can be seen below. There is also a workshop scheduled for CSU Chico and Butte College students and faculty this Wednesday at 7PM (see details here). The top live survey results seem to show different priorities than the previous phone survey conducted for the General Plan update. This probably indicates the difference in personality between workshop attendees and people that will take a cold-call survey. I'm not sure how consultants can combine the information. Do live survey results from people who are actively engaged in the planning process trump phone surveys? When student views are incorporated from the upcoming workshop what cross-section of students/faculty will we be hearing from? I don't know anyone that has attended a General Plan workshop, or that plans to attend them, unless it was part of their job. I don't know of anyone that has taken a city phone survey. It's hard to make a connection between the various survey results and the neighborhood I live in. I wonder if that's a common feeling.

CI Challenge: Can you guess what it is? Winner: Anthony Watts master of all things brassy and sciency. See comments below for the answer.

Posted by Lon at 07:42 AM | Comments (9)

February 08, 2008

News Flash!!! - City Draft Survey Questions

Here is a draft proposal for the city survey recently funded for $30,000-$40,000 (see survey here). It appears to be the 10th version of the survey. It includes directions for the person administering the survey, such as how to prompt responses to the questions. I've only briefly read through it. As far as surveys go it seems to be directed towards finding out about budget priorities and "quality of life" issues. Nothing stood out as leading toward a specific budget solution, and unlike the previous survey there was not a section emphasizing environmental issues. But as I said I did not spend a lot of time reading through it before posting it. I'd like to hear what readers think of the survey. There is one question that asks where you get your city news. Internet blogs is one possible answer. If you take the survey be sure to mention "Darth Raider" and Norcal Blogs. That's where I get my information.

Posted by Lon at 03:10 PM | Comments (9)

CANA Get A Witness

Image: "Avenue" boundary with some important landmarks. The City has a neighborhood plan available for viewing online (here's the plan). The plan is for the "Avenues" neighborhood north of CSU Chico. One of the groups associated with this plan is the Chico Avenue Neighborhood Association, or CANA (see web site here). That group's board includes notables Ed McLaughlin, Lee Laney, and Kasey Merrill. I think they could be described as leaders of Chico's left. I believe that Councilor Mary Flynn also lives in the neighborhood, but I'm not entirely sure on that one. The plan, while related to CANA, was not created by that group and does represent input from non-CANA residents of that area. At least that's what the plan says. The neighborhood itself is a complex area. Some streets are almost entirely occupied by renters, who are primarily students. They probably didn't have a lot of say in this planning. It is also the neighborhood that Enloe expanded into. I know a couple of residents unrelated to CANA who were really bothered by Enloe and the way it planned its expansion. Other neighbors demanded so much from Enloe that the discussion started to look like simple opportunism. The infrastructure improvements for the area are estimated to cost $24 million. The plan recognizes that that money may not be available. Improvements include important things like road, sidewalk, and sewer upgrades, and less important concepts like intersection bulbing. Bulbing is where the sidewalk corners of an intersection are expanded (downtown has bulbed intersections). When I first heard the term "intersection bulbing" I thought it had to do with lighting or flower planters. That's just more evidence that I'm challenged by my innate capacity for idiocy. If there are any planners/architects out there please let us know what the practical implications of intersection bulbing are. I assume they slow traffic, but are they mostly for beautification? Other portions of the plan suggest additional retail commercial development should occur. The 12 acre Chico Nut site is discussed for redevelopment. The adjacent Matador Motel which is 1 or 2 acres is also discussed. These are both in the northeastern portion of the neighborhood fronting the Esplanade. The plan states that the Matador Motel is in the City's Historic Resource Inventory. Some of the retail store ideas are funny to me. They mention music, video rental, and photographic supply stores. Good luck with those business opportunities... ever heard of the Internet... digital media... Preferential resident parking permits are discussed. This could be hard to accommodate throughout the area with the high, ever-changing, student population. A portion of the plan that I would have a problem with is a suggested city-wide alley assessment district. If this were enacted everyone in the city would pay taxes to improve old alleys. New Urban Builder's neighborhoods make use of alleys, but they are new and well built and don't need a district. My neighborhood, built in the 80's by Drake doesn't have alleys. So I'm not sure I'd want to pay a tax for alleys that I would never use. A city-wide park district fee is something I would get behind. Because everyone can use a park and in theory there would be a reason for me to travel across town to hang out in one. Not something I expect to say about alleys. I find the various plans the city creates interesting to read. I usually learn more about how the city does its job and get a better understanding of our community by reading them. But I often wonder if they ever get implemented, and whether they are more than a committee exercise. Sometimes I feel like we should call ourselves Chico, City of Plans.

CI Challenge: Can you guess what it is? Winner: Sean Baber, master of all things both agricultural and sugary. See comments below for the answer.

Posted by Lon at 06:49 AM | Comments (23)

February 07, 2008

PR at the PD

Image: Infant arrested after baby-shower / party ordinance transgression. Contrary to the subtitle for the photo above, it was taken by the E-R's Jason Halley during a 3 hour standoff with a man wanted for attempted murder (see story here). The six week old was in the Chico apartment during the standoff. Halley should get a get out of jail free card in the mail today. During the two ride-alongs I did last year I got the impression that our police force might like more recognition for the work they do. Looking at the job from a civilian perspective it appeared to be somewhat thankless with ample monotony. Wrastlin' gang-bangers could be seen as a break in the boredom, but how many of us regular folk care for that particular form of excitement? These guys don't often get called out to save a cat in a tree. When I saw the photo above several thoughts came to me. First, it was juxtaposed in my mind with the many anti-police comments made at the recent City Council party ordinance meeting. When you compare the genuine dislike and distrust for police expressed by some people at that meeting with the hands of the officer cradling the infant, it's hard to square those two views. Second, the police , who rarely get a cat in the tree moment, ought to purchase this photo and use it regularly and often in marketing material. Did I say marketing material? Yes, I did. The police, who use about 50% of our General Funds should be regularly telling their story. Not to convince the anti-party ordinance crowd that their feelings are misplaced. That will never happen. But to continually explain to the rest of us exactly what we're paying for. At least that's what I would do. Third, it reminded me of the altruism I recently experienced coming from the men and women of the police department. A project I'm working on for The Outsiders (also linked below) was recently the recipient of a generous Chico Police Officers' Association donation. In talking with that union's leader, Terry Moore, he said the CPOA has donated more than $200,000 to local projects/events supporting youth. In my opinion, unions of today are not working to ensure fair rights for their under-paid employees. They tend to thrive in government or highly regulated industries where competition is minimized. Unions are organizations of self interest. So there's a natural conflict between my self interest as a taxpayer and a union's self interest in increasing benefits for its constituency. I'm okay with that conflict. I'm less okay with politicians that pay little attention to tax payer concerns. Over the last year my opinion of local police has changed from indifferent to supportive. Some of that comes from taking the time to watch them do their job. Some of it comes from comparing their behavior to public criticism that seems over-the-top. And some of that comes from getting support from police officers for something that is important to me. I think the photo above represents an aspect of the work the local police do in our community. I think they should use that imagery to promote that perspective.

CI Challenge: Can you guess what it is? Winner: Sean Baber so fair, up in the air, working day and night, so our packages get there. See comments below for the answer.

Posted by Lon at 06:49 AM | Comments (6)

February 06, 2008

The Big Toe

Image: New permanent City Manager Dave Burkland wearing his "I'm A CI Guy" button. Interim Temporary City Manager Elect Dave Burkland has been appointed to the second highest position in the city. The top position is City Attorney who in the city flow chart floats off by herself in an impenetrable bastion of legal power. It's hard for an outsider to know whether or not Dave Burkland was the best qualified person to lead Chico out of its troubles. He knows the city, its employees, and its personalities. That background could be the most important component of directing an organization. But as an insider his ability to make decisions that hurt people he has professional relationships and friendships with will probably be tested. When in the Army I served as a squad leader in a couple of different units. In one unit I was promoted within my platoon. All of my buddies were now my subordinates. They knew where I slacked off when I was in their position. It was difficult to demand changes in behavior when all of my foibles were exposed. When transferred to another unit the same position was much easier to lead from. My subordinates never knew me as "one of the guys". As the only person in Chico that was nearly elected City Manager I feel a strong affinity with Dave Burkland. I hope he does well, and he's certainly the kind of person we should all want to succeed. With another mega lawsuit rumored to be coming their way he's probably got a lot of tough times ahead of him. Burkland only has to stay in his position 21 months to surpass our last City Manager's tenure. But to ease his transition, and ensure his popularity, here are some new policies he could recommend to the City Council... 1. Allow beer in city parks 2. Eliminate the no-couch on porches law 3. Create a mandatory couches on porches law 4. Allow beer on couches on porches in city parks

An Offer Of Support: I've embedded the video below. At the 5:35 minute mark there's an offer Bill Murray makes to Drill Sergeant Hulka that I'd like to extend to Dave Burkland (You can watch the entire 6:42 seconds if you like).

CI Challenge: Can you guess what it is? Winner: Kathy, the spectre of Commission Impossible, who is she, how did she attain all of this knowledge? We'll never know. See comments below for the answer.

Posted by Lon at 08:23 AM | Comments (8)

February 05, 2008

Politicization Infestation Nation

Image: Commission Impossible non-political political analysis based entirely on zombies. I thought I'd give everyone a chance to escape from the Super Tuesday politics hype by writing about zombie infestations. I think the topic of my post might also provide subtle hints at how zombies have always been part of our political process. The 1968 zombie film Night of the Living Dead ends with protagonist Ben being the lone survivor of a zombie attack. Ben, who was held up in the basement of a farmhouse, hears a posse arrive and exits the basement expecting salvation. He is mistaken for a zombie and shot in the head. Some have suggested that this scene references racism in American society. I don't know about that, but it is clearly the origin of the anti-party ordinance movement in Chico. Consider a party where a bunch of people you don't know show up, get wasted, wreck the place, and start killing each other. That's a classic zombie infestation. Then the authorities show up and shoot the one guy that had nothing to do with it... I'm pretty sure that was allowed under the party ordinance! Maybe not. More recently I read Max Brooks' World War Z. Some of the plot lines could be used in a Hillary Clinton commercial. - How the Walking Plague was initially covered up by corrupt governments - Why the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services downplayed the Great Panic - A zealous American President's mistake in putting his party's needs in an election year ahead of the safety of his people On the other hand one excerpt from World War Z might lead one to believe that zombie infestations reference labor unions from a more Mitt Romney'ish perspective. "The numbers [of zombies] are declining, thank heavens, but it doesn't mean people should let down their guard. We're still at war, and until every trace is sponged and purged and if need be, blasted from the surface of the earth, everybody's still gotta pitch in and do their job. Be nice if that was the lesson people took from all this misery. We're all in this together, so pitch in and do your job." A fun zombie film that I recently watched is the 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead. In this film survivors of a zombie outbreak seek shelter in a shopping mall surrounded by ravenous zombies. This is an interesting pro-capitalist twist, since normally it's the zombies that are in the mall, and the rest of us are outside. The Green Scene is also intruding on the zombie genre. In World War Z a number of pages are devoted to the environmental impact of a global zombie assault. Millions of zombies bobbing around in the ocean is one problem. Mass deforestation from non-zombie survivors who escaped population centers is another. If the zombies had also been carrying plastic grocery bags I think the entire planet would have been doomed. But the topic from that book that hit closest to home for me was the concept of "mega-swarms" of zombies. The zombie outbreaks in major urban areas like New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco created swarms of millions of zombies that scoured surrounding communities chewing up their resources and properties. Sounds like growth in Chico.

CI Challenge: Can you guess what it is? Winner: Jason Bougie, powerful representative of the local Bureau of Indian Affairs. See comments below for the answer.

Posted by Lon at 04:21 AM | Comments (9)

February 04, 2008

Just Say Nitric Oxide

Image: Commission Impossible voting guide. As part of my continued contribution to the public good I'm publishing my proposition voting guide above. You can read more about the various propositions on the ballot at the Secretary of State's web site (see here). Prop 91: Of the propositions only this one related to transportation funding comes close to floating my boat. Gas tax money loans to the state General Fund for non-transportation uses are restricted. But this proposition may allow long term loans of transportation money that aren't currently allowed. It could also reduce the stability of funding for local transportation projects and public transportation funding. Knowing that the people that put this on the ballot are also against it seems to bolster my position. Knowing that part of it was recently written into law just leaves me confused. Prop 92: Reduces community college costs, but increases the overall spending on education in California. California spends so much money on education that we ought to demand better performance out of our schools (40% of California's General Fund goes to education). Hold the line on additional spending. Prop 93: Preserve term limits. Some of this proposition makes sense, but the end-around attempt to give existing legislators more time in office is enough reason to dump this proposal. Prop 94-97: Four tribes are allowed to increase the number of slot machines in their casinos from 2,000 to 7,500. That's what these propositions are about. If you think bigger is better in the casino world vote yes. If you think the 1999 compact that places limits of 2,000 slot machines should stand vote no. I'm going to say NO to this crop of propositions. Presidential Candidates: I'm not making any recommendation on the national candidates, but here are some personal notes. Hillary Clinton - Future White House interns should be afraid, very afraid. John McCain - I thought Republicans were supposed to support tax cuts. Mitt Romney - Does anybody remember Max Headroom? Barack Obama - Does anybody remember Lurch from the Adams Family? Great Superbowl last night! I hope some of you watched it.

CI Challenge: Can you guess what it is? Winner: Downtown retail magnate extraordinaire Tom Hall. See comments below for the answer.

Posted by Lon at 08:05 AM | Comments (8)

February 02, 2008

Tiny General Funds

Image: Garage artist displaying his coveted art mini grant. The deadline for submitting requests for community group funding is February 29th, 5PM. One deficit cutting method would be to continue to allow submissions for funding only the 29th of February (leap years). Here is the page detailing submission requirements (see here). Some of this money is spent on economic development some on art groups and some on a variety of do-gooder organizations. Community block grant money and hotel bed taxes help fund these group. The total allocated for 2007-8 is $820,755 which is spread over 40-50 groups. While the city budget documents are difficult to unravel, it looks like ~$110,000 is spent on city employees administering this funding, and ~$62,000 was spent on professional services. Some of you may recall that these groups were facing a possible 30% reduction in funding (Council said no... didn't happen). It's interesting that 20% of the total funding may be going to consultants and city salaries and benefits ($172K out of $820K). I have no idea if that's an excessive amount, or what those expenses provide in return. Most city funding programs requiring submissions by 2-29-08 have other steep requirements. Things like business plans, insurance, and other group infrastructure make it difficult for new ideas or people to get involved. There is an art program that the general public can jump into. That's the art mini grant program. Artists, or aspiring artists, can apply for grants from $500 to $2,000 (see application here). I don't know how many mini grants are available, and it looks like you get paid after the project. That's not a great option for a starving artist, but is a responsible way to administer public funds. If you want to receive an art mini-grant be sure to download the application above and submit it before February 29th. Below I've included some mini-art that came home from elementary school on Friday with a mini-artist. I figure in another couple of years we'll be ready to apply for our first art mini-grant.

CI Challenge: Can you guess what it is? Winner: The inexplicably knowledgable, yet still mysterious, Kathy. See comments below for the answer.

Posted by Lon at 08:14 AM | Comments (4)

February 01, 2008

The End of An Error?

Image: The Bidwell Park Master Management Plan update begun in 2004 was estimated to take 16 months by the consultants EDAW. It may be approved by June of 2008. The first public meeting was January 2005. That's about 42 months. The update and EIR may appear in front of the Bidwell Park and Playground Commission in March. If it does it could be in front of the City Council by June. The total cost of the plan will exceed $600,000 when you include environmental studies previous to this plan for the Annie Bidwell Trail and the disc golf project, that have since been abandoned. With a price tag of around $1,000 per page the Bidwell Park Master Management Plan update (BPMMP) costs more than twice its original funding of $274,000. The purpose of the update is to incorporate the New Addition and BLM (disc golf site) land into Bidwell Park, and to update the pre-existing 1990 plan. The new properties were purchased in 1994-5 and increased the size of Bidwell Park by 1/3 or ~1350 acres. But it wasn't the purchase of the land that triggered calls for a plan update and expensive studies. It was planned access improvements that came up years later that started legal threats and prodded the city into updating its park plan. Disc golf wasn't the only project opposed by the people that would come to be the "Friends O' Park". They first opposed the Annie Bidwell Trail, an improved trail planned for the south side of Big Chico Creek. From the 1-7-2003 City Council minutes... By memorandum dated 12/31/02, the Park Director reported that at its 12/16/02 meeting, the Bidwell Park and Playground Commission approved (5 in favor, 1 opposed, 1 vacancy) a modification to the level of environmental review for one alternative trail route for the Annie Bidwell Trail to allow for multiple uses instead of pedestrian only. A timely appeal of the Commission’s decision was filed by Randall Abbott. The City Council has the option to take no action and uphold the BPPC decision, thereby denying the appeal, or by a vote of at least four Council members, call up the record of proceedings and set the matter for a public hearing. Those individuals who were in favor of having the Council hear the appeal were Randy Abbott, who also submitted 270 signatures in favor of hearing the appeal, John Dittes, Susan Mason, and Josephine Guardino. Michael Jones addressed Council urging them not to hear the appeal. One month before that council meeting (on 12-19-2002) the E-R's Laura Urseny reported on the Park Commisison meeting that generated the appeal to the council. Opposition focused on the places the Annie Bidwell Trail would run through riparian habitat, next to the creek. Putting a trail in those areas would impact wildlife and plants, opponents said, while encouraging the public to use that part of the park . That's exactly what the trail is suppose to do, park commissioners responded, but only in a way that's not damaging. " We don't have the intent to harm the park ," said Chair Wendy Coggins after the commission was accused of that by Randy Abbott, who admitted to mounting a campaign against the trail. " The city paid a lot of money for that park . They bought it for the use of its citizens," Coggins said about the south side. Literature bearing Abbott's name encouraged opposition to Park Commission and City Council proposals for new trails that may exclude mountain bikes and might impact "pristine" creekside areas. And... Trail opponents said they wanted to see the Annie Bidwell Trail stopped and funding pulled, but since the City Council initiated the project and allocated funding, the Park Commission couldn't respond, other than to say opponents would have another chance to speak during the environmental review progresses. The environmental review covers the Annie Bidwell Trail, two loops from the trail to the creek, the Yahi Trail, and two pedestrian bridges the city wants across Big Chico Creek. The city set aside about $95,000 for the EIR. Park commissioners wanted to know why such strong opposition hadn't been offered earlier in the two-year process. Opponents said they believed their concerns expressed at committee level hadn't been passed along to the full commission. Biologist Josephine Guardino said it would be wiser for the city to first complete a southside master management plan , identifying impacts and sensitive areas before discussing the Annie Bidwell Trail The second project on the new property was targeted a year later. The law offices of J. William Yeates was hired twice (once in 2003 and again in 2007) using scattergun attacks on the planning of disc golf. The latest legal blast, plus more than a hundred pages of CEQA comments from Guardino and Abbott, all attempt to hinder the project on technicalities. A city staff memo cites these comments as one reason $100,000 of additional funding for the plan was needed (see memo here). The Friends of Bidwell Park are also rumored to have sponsored a forum providing legal advice on making CEQA comments prior to the close of the park plan EIR process. It's important to look at the disc golf issue in its broader context. The effort to prevent any access improvements to the 1350 acres of Bidwell Park purchased with taxpayer money has been ongoing. It's as much about limiting use and access as anything else. The Annie Bidwell Trail is a casualty of this conflict, but so are the bridges planned for Bidwell Park. At least one bridge cannot be built within the timeline required for complete funding. The bridge, which was to be placed near Bear Hole for safety reasons, is another fatality of the long delayed park plan's completion. Additionally, Chico has seen public agencies purchase "open-space" only to fence it off from public access. Barriers, physical or otherwise, preventing access to public property should be a last resort, not the status quo.

CI Challenge: Can you guess what it is? Winner: The Mysterious yet obviously knowledgable "kathy", see comments below for the answer.

Posted by Lon at 08:47 AM | Comments (9)