I fell off my chair listening to Mrs. Right. She was right-ON!
It was easy to see and hear what Tom, Addison and Coolidge were up to when they axed Kasey from the ad-hoc committee. Their move was totally disgusting and triggered PTSD with me as well. My office computer told me to settle down, so I took a drink. My fear is that Chico will continue with their high-rise ghetto apartment complexes on single family and R2 zones. Our quality of life will be flushed down the sewer as has happened in most cities that adopt this BS type vertical development. Screwing families out of their dream homes with a fenced-in yard for the kids to have fun in instead of the apartment complex where bullets fly through the walls and ceilings from crazy neighbors and drug deals gone bad.
When it comes to raising our taxes again, I say no, no and NO to all of them!
Thank you for your summary of the CCC meeting. I detect some cynicism, humor and frustration. Just some quick thoughts:
1. What the heck is so hard about increasing the volume at these meetings? Isn’t there an audio-visual expert somewhere on the City of Chico payroll somewhere?
2. I almost laughed out loud when imagining Tom and Addison on the same ad hoc committee- but I kind of like that unlikely union. With such differing viewpoints, maybe some good compromise recommendations will be born.
3. With the hundreds and hundreds (are we at 1,000 yet?) of new apartments going up in Chico as well as single family homes and hotels, that’s even more reason to invest in our airport. You know, our airport received a highly coveted Essential Air Service designation. Many small communities applied and less than 20 were granted. This means we can receive grant monies from the Department of Transportation and FAA for our airport.
The airport is already used for CalFire planes, other emergency aircraft, plus a few private planes of course.
If our City leaders are invested in the growth of our city, attracting businesses to our City and our county as a tourist destination, then it seems obvious that the airport revitalization should be generously approved and funded.
1. Thank you for this service. Not only thorough but clever and funny. I giggled through at many parts and know completely who Mrs. Right is. 😅
2. Thanks for acknowledging the downside to rent control that prevents owners from raising rents at pace with inflation. Competition is what helps prices.
If they must implement further rent control (CA already has reasonable rent controls), putting in a provision that allows owners to amortize costs of upgrades and higher quality replacements into rent doesn’t change the profit margin, but it sure keeps places from becoming slums. Chico did this after the Paradise CampFire before the state’s (more or less reasonable) law superseded it.
3. I’m confused and kind of alarmed at the freezing out of Kasey on the development “committee.” Why, and why would Tom agree to have a 50-50 for/against configuration when that doesn’t remotely reflect the balance of the council?
4. I agree with you about how stupid the masses can be with referendums (“direct democracy”), but the few can also be stupid—and corrupt—and live in echo chambers (this is clear on both extremes). I appreciate your arguments in this matter, though. Not sure I’m ready to abandon Churchill’s “Democracy is the worst form of government except for all the others that have been tried.” YMMV.
5. Rents have come down a fair bit (I’ve lowered mine twice since 2020 on both existing and new tenants). Food and energy prices are volatile for reasons beyond state or national policy but inflation is slowing significantly as supply chains are restored globally and corporations are meeting consumer limits on their orgy of price increases to try to restore their Covid era losses. That said, I agree with you that the state tax efforts hit the middle class hard—harder than necessary.
6. I kind of wish Ory was telling the truth about the snowboarding accident, lol. The guy has a temper but he’s also sat down and talked to me about policy in depth, and wasn’t nasty when we disagreed, and he didn’t use the interchanges to posture for his circle. I always like decency. As they say, when you want to get something done, you don’t just sit down with people who already agree.
Thanks again for the great piece, and for attending those meetings so those of us who work Tuesday nights don’t have to.
1. Thank you. I think my humor gets lost on some, and others think I have none.
2. It is a no win, and intervention brings other problems. Government should stay out of it if at all possible.
3. Yes. Pissed me off all over again. She certainly doesn't have anyone on the council who is sticking up for her, and she is such a team player, she gets taken advantage of for it.
4. Democracy and "direct democracy" are not the same thing. If you are interested, read the Federalist Papers #10 to get Madison's side of it. I'm trying to write an article on this in multiple parts. It has undermined our republican design. It has been terrible for us.
5. Prices are a function of supply chains, production efficiency, and competition, but inflation is a result of monetary policies affecting the value of the dollar. We are getting squeezed from both ends.
6. He has a surprisingly funny side too. I once made a comment to him about his nuclear-free zone ordinance, and he said "That was Chico's most successful ordinance." That's funny.
There you go making me chuckle again. That is a funny thing he said! Wondering if it was before the missile silos went in. Shoot my copy of the Federalist papers (endured from undergrad at Cal—gr8 instructor) went up in fire in 2018. Gotta get me a new copy
I fell off my chair listening to Mrs. Right. She was right-ON!
It was easy to see and hear what Tom, Addison and Coolidge were up to when they axed Kasey from the ad-hoc committee. Their move was totally disgusting and triggered PTSD with me as well. My office computer told me to settle down, so I took a drink. My fear is that Chico will continue with their high-rise ghetto apartment complexes on single family and R2 zones. Our quality of life will be flushed down the sewer as has happened in most cities that adopt this BS type vertical development. Screwing families out of their dream homes with a fenced-in yard for the kids to have fun in instead of the apartment complex where bullets fly through the walls and ceilings from crazy neighbors and drug deals gone bad.
When it comes to raising our taxes again, I say no, no and NO to all of them!
Thanks Rob for another great recap.
Tom Bond
Thank you for your summary of the CCC meeting. I detect some cynicism, humor and frustration. Just some quick thoughts:
1. What the heck is so hard about increasing the volume at these meetings? Isn’t there an audio-visual expert somewhere on the City of Chico payroll somewhere?
2. I almost laughed out loud when imagining Tom and Addison on the same ad hoc committee- but I kind of like that unlikely union. With such differing viewpoints, maybe some good compromise recommendations will be born.
3. With the hundreds and hundreds (are we at 1,000 yet?) of new apartments going up in Chico as well as single family homes and hotels, that’s even more reason to invest in our airport. You know, our airport received a highly coveted Essential Air Service designation. Many small communities applied and less than 20 were granted. This means we can receive grant monies from the Department of Transportation and FAA for our airport.
The airport is already used for CalFire planes, other emergency aircraft, plus a few private planes of course.
If our City leaders are invested in the growth of our city, attracting businesses to our City and our county as a tourist destination, then it seems obvious that the airport revitalization should be generously approved and funded.
Well spoken!
A few thoughts.
1. Thank you for this service. Not only thorough but clever and funny. I giggled through at many parts and know completely who Mrs. Right is. 😅
2. Thanks for acknowledging the downside to rent control that prevents owners from raising rents at pace with inflation. Competition is what helps prices.
If they must implement further rent control (CA already has reasonable rent controls), putting in a provision that allows owners to amortize costs of upgrades and higher quality replacements into rent doesn’t change the profit margin, but it sure keeps places from becoming slums. Chico did this after the Paradise CampFire before the state’s (more or less reasonable) law superseded it.
3. I’m confused and kind of alarmed at the freezing out of Kasey on the development “committee.” Why, and why would Tom agree to have a 50-50 for/against configuration when that doesn’t remotely reflect the balance of the council?
4. I agree with you about how stupid the masses can be with referendums (“direct democracy”), but the few can also be stupid—and corrupt—and live in echo chambers (this is clear on both extremes). I appreciate your arguments in this matter, though. Not sure I’m ready to abandon Churchill’s “Democracy is the worst form of government except for all the others that have been tried.” YMMV.
5. Rents have come down a fair bit (I’ve lowered mine twice since 2020 on both existing and new tenants). Food and energy prices are volatile for reasons beyond state or national policy but inflation is slowing significantly as supply chains are restored globally and corporations are meeting consumer limits on their orgy of price increases to try to restore their Covid era losses. That said, I agree with you that the state tax efforts hit the middle class hard—harder than necessary.
6. I kind of wish Ory was telling the truth about the snowboarding accident, lol. The guy has a temper but he’s also sat down and talked to me about policy in depth, and wasn’t nasty when we disagreed, and he didn’t use the interchanges to posture for his circle. I always like decency. As they say, when you want to get something done, you don’t just sit down with people who already agree.
Thanks again for the great piece, and for attending those meetings so those of us who work Tuesday nights don’t have to.
1. Thank you. I think my humor gets lost on some, and others think I have none.
2. It is a no win, and intervention brings other problems. Government should stay out of it if at all possible.
3. Yes. Pissed me off all over again. She certainly doesn't have anyone on the council who is sticking up for her, and she is such a team player, she gets taken advantage of for it.
4. Democracy and "direct democracy" are not the same thing. If you are interested, read the Federalist Papers #10 to get Madison's side of it. I'm trying to write an article on this in multiple parts. It has undermined our republican design. It has been terrible for us.
5. Prices are a function of supply chains, production efficiency, and competition, but inflation is a result of monetary policies affecting the value of the dollar. We are getting squeezed from both ends.
6. He has a surprisingly funny side too. I once made a comment to him about his nuclear-free zone ordinance, and he said "That was Chico's most successful ordinance." That's funny.
There you go making me chuckle again. That is a funny thing he said! Wondering if it was before the missile silos went in. Shoot my copy of the Federalist papers (endured from undergrad at Cal—gr8 instructor) went up in fire in 2018. Gotta get me a new copy
You can find it online. Not copyrighted. He describes the problem as majority factions. Damn, those men were pretty smart. It's a solid argument.
I too, have become the “Get off my lawn”, grouchy old lady and have no patience with these people!
Damn kids!!!