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| Image: Dennis Beardsley retiring to a life of fishing and focusing on his budding career as a rapper. Last night I took my wife on a super-romantic and special date. We attended Dennis Beardsley's surprise retirement party. Parties like that reinforce my feeling of being an outsider. When I began the effort to keep disc golf in Bidwell Park back in 2003 I felt like I was stepping into some other world. It felt that way again last night. Linda Herman, who organized the party along with Dennis' wife Sally and volunteer coordinator Lise Smith-Peters, said the event was an effort put together by the "city-family". And as people spoke about Beardsley's time in Chico it was clear that deep friendships had been created, and that people respected his leadership. For a lot of us, leadership means picking up the flag and charging the hill. I think for managers at the city it may be more like getting out of the way when two armies decide to slaughter each other, and then cleaning up the mess so non-combatants can enjoy a picnic on the battlefield. For years I failed to understand what Dennis' job was. Early on I assumed that if people made a logical and solid argument the city staff would promote that position to decision makers. That's not the way it works. It's quite a bit more complicated. Maybe one day I'll explain how I think the city works, but it is sufficient to say that dealing successfully with city staff is about 1/3 of the job. Dave Burkland described Dennis as a "fishing buddy". Linda Herman said he was a mentor that helped her through a personal rough spot. Councilor Jim Walker, whose time on the BPPC pre-dated Beardsley's time at the city, listed park improvements shepherded by Beardsley. There are a lot. ER Reporter Laura Urseny even spoke, complimenting his grace at city meetings and availability to the press. Greg Melton, of Land Image, described his work with Dennis as "career-defining". It was an odd experience to look into this window of the "city-family". More odd was the juxtaposition of my experiences with Dennis, mostly from city meetings, with his personal relationships. Here was a respected and admired administrator entering into his life of retirement. I couldn't help but envy his friendships, accomplishments, and future. David Little told me a story that happened back on November 18th, 2008, the night the council voted to remove disc golf. Beardsley and some co-workers were at Duffy's celebrating the end of the disc golf saga. Little asked him something along the lines of aren't you glad this is over? Dennis replied that it's not over. I think he understood where the community was, even though the council didn't. A few months later, after the referendum, Beardsley made the decision to post signs at the highway 32 disc golf course. The signs declared the site to be the future home of a "permanent disc golf facility". Beardsley made the decision to use those words. They defined the city's position and broadcast it to the public. So in some sense he planted the flag on the hill. Let the picnics begin. |
Dennis Beardsley
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Lon
About Me: Fasten your seatbelts for an exhilarating trip through Chico's public policy; I guarantee it's marginally better than public access TV.
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It was really nice of everyone to pitch in and buy him that polar bear coat to take out on his fishing trips. The shades are polarized and that watch even has sonar and a GPS navigation system built in.
Look out fishes!
Faux polar bear... we should be clear about that.
Lon
They say that the art of politics is not in getting things done, but rather to appear to get things done. From all appearances, Dennis was a great administrator.
Mark
Mark,
When I realized what Dennis' job really was I also realized that overly ambitious projects with high price tags were not within his sphere of authorization. Likewise, projects whose approval (or denial) were delayed were also decisions made at a higher lever.
Typically those decisions are made at the council or Mayor level. If any elected leader feels that projects are not being accomplished, or cost too much, then they have a responsibility to speak up. But none have.
If a project is scuttled, you can pretty much guarantee that a decision was made above Beardsley to do it.
The list of projects completed under Beardsley since 1997 is conisderable. I could identify flaws in each and every one of them. But from Wildwood Park to the Plaza Park to Annies Glen, each is unique and I think will contribute to Chico's character in positive ways.
Can we, as a community, afford to be that unique? That was a council decision, and they said spend the money.
Lon
OK. So we couldn't afford real polar bear fur.
Faux polar bear is still nice and warm though, since it's made from baby harp seals. I guess they're a lot easier to hunt with a wooden stick than polar bears.