Letters for July 3, 2014

Union chief fires back

Re “Cops and awnings” (Second & Flume, by Melissa Daugherty, June 26):

In this week’s editorial, Melissa Daugherty again attacks the Chico Police Officers’ Association and Firefighters Association for the situation the city is in. She states that if the city could negotiate “reasonable wages and benefits” with city unions (especially police and fire), the city could afford to hire the 83 police officers that the Clean and Safe initiative proposes.

Again I ask, what is reasonable to put your life on the line not knowing if you are going to go home at night to tuck in your kids? The facts are the CPOA gave up over $800,000 in last year’s bargaining and over 18 percent in salary and benefits during the last three years. How much more do you want? Now we are not even competitive enough with other agencies our size to keep the quality individuals we already have employed here.

Peter Durfee
President, Chico Police Officers’ Association

Who’s the victim?

Re “Video sparks controversy” (Newslines, by Meredith J. Graham, June 26):

Only in a left-wing, liberal commie town like Chico can a police officer be lambasted for hauling a crash victim out of a wreck. If one looks at the video, there was a buckled steel beam that was torn loose from its footing—exactly what caused building 7 at the World Trade Center to collapse. People focus their affection on their pets because we live in a society of alienation with no real human intercourse. If I’m ever in a wreck and my pet dog, cat, moose, squirrel, rhinoceros—whatever—is in the wreck, the police have my permission to shoot the moose and rescue me instead.

Mike Peters
Chico

Pro-frackers misguided

Re “Goliath goes to court” (Newslines, by Ken Smith, June 26):

Sabrina Lockhart’s (spokesperson for Californians for a Safe, Secure Energy Coalition) excuse for opposing the fracking ban is lame. Oil and gas lobbyists have been in Washington, D.C., working hard to get Congress to end the ban on the export of domestic oil and to expand the export of natural gas.

Instead of interfering with a Butte County citizens initiative to protect its water and agriculture through a fracking ban she needs to go to D.C. to lobby to keep our domestic gas and oil from being exported as part of her energy independence goal. Better yet, maybe she could tell the corporations she works for that there are better ways to go about creating energy independence and thousands of new jobs. Develop clean/sustainable energy.

Caroline Burkett
Chico

What the supervisors need to do now is to live up to their word. On April 8, they voted 4-1 to support a ban on fracking and other kinds of extreme drilling, and so they asked county counsel to write an ordinance. It is completed now. Let’s contact all supervisors through emailing KaSweeney@ButteCounty.net; urge them to place it on the July 29 agenda. Then we all at last can see it and offer our support if it is a strong ban! Thus far, we have no evidence that this kind of unconventional drilling can be done safely, i.e., without endangering our water, air, agriculture, real estate values and health.

Grace Marvin
Chico

Liberal excuses

Re “The blame game” (Editorial, June 26):

Last week’s editorial was your second attempt to absolve the liberal council members of blame for Chico’s abysmal financial situation. Let me remind you, the council’s primary job is to manage the city’s finances.

You blame the city’s dire situation on the recession, the demise of the RDA, and other state takeaways, but in fact, those issues are just background. Council members are elected to navigate the city through these external challenges. Everyone knows tough financial times require tough decisions. Unfortunately, none came. The truth is, despite years and years of known increasing debt and despite warnings from numerous audience members and two council members, the liberal members of the council did nothing of substance to prevent our current situation.

As a result, it will be 10 years before we can fix our crumbling streets, or field an adequate police force, or manage our urban forest, or hire back the good city employees that had to be laid off. You write, “Council liberals can be faulted for their political passivity, but that’s about all,” when in fact they should be faulted for completely abdicating their fiduciary responsibilities to the citizens of Chico. Don’t believe me? Read the Grand Jury report.

Bob Evans
Chico

Editor’s note: For more on this subject, see “The bleeding continues,” page 10.

Well, at least our community can count on a sure thing. The News & Review knows how to feed bullshit to its readership. It’s like watching the News & Review staff suffers each week from Terminal Progressive Liberalism: a debilitating disease that causes growth in the cranial region of the brain to cease and the body to develop an immunity to the truth. I’ll have to send your latest “blame game” article of Liberal City Council financial mismanagement excuses to the one man who has taught the liberals of America how to “blame game” everything except three-legged dogs and God knows what’s gonna kill us, starve us, or deprive us of our perpetual intellectual command abilities when cashing our government fed welfare checks.

Yes, that would be President O’Liar. His Air Force One teachings of income equality have certainly caused many a Democratic party-ruled city council membership throughout our kingdom of These Politically Correct States of the USA, on how to cope while living in the post-George Bush Bankruptcy Gutter era. Just pouring a little “God damn it, it’s all your fault not mine” on your cereal each morning! That’ll cure that Terminal Progressive disease.

Rick Clements
Paradise

Check your registration

This Independence Day, honor our nation and democracy by making sure your voter registration is up-to-date for the November elections. Ask your friends and family if they are registered to vote at their current address.

The League of Women Voters of Butte County is committed to making sure voters have the information needed to participate in elections and ensure their votes count. At every election the LWV is present in our community offering an opportunity to register to vote, hear the candidates debate the issues and weigh the pros and cons of ballot measures. Nonpartisan information is made available via the Voters Guide and on www.smartvoter.org, the LWV’s election information website. The first step to having a say on the issues is registering to vote. Set aside just a few minutes to check on your registration status on the Butte County Election’s Office website http://clerk-recorder.buttecounty.net.

Every election is important to ensuring our laws and policies reflect the values and beliefs of all Americans. Celebrate America’s 238th birthday this Independence Day by updating your voter registration or registering to vote for the first time, and committing to vote and participate in the greatest democracy in the world.

Jane Wanderer
President, League of Women Voters of Butte County

Thanks for sharing

Re “Life after death” (Cover feature, by Ken Smith, June 19):

I would like to express my appreciation for Ken Smith’s article. It takes courage to make public such an intimate experience as the death of a loved one. Ken spoke with compassion, humility and humanity about a subject that is often shunned in our modern society. Actually, two subjects that are often perceived as taboo—mental illness and death. Mental illness can impact any one of us and death will impact every one of us as human beings. I know I can’t take away your pain, Ken, but I can let you know I hear your voice—eloquent, pained and fiercely loving of your brother, Craig.

Dalyn Carrier
Chico

Why the silence?

Is it not curious to folks that Butte County Farm Bureau (BCFB) refuses to speak to the issue of pot cultivation in our county while we know that it is our largest cash (federal income tax-free) crop at $400 million?

Know this: Pot is classified as a Schedule 1 narcotic drug. Therefore, pot will never be recognized as a legitimate business until the federal government changes that designation. It is an unregulated industry free from oversight of any kind including the Internal Revenue Service and Department of Agriculture. State law, to the contrary, does not supersede federal mandate.

Back to the local level, protecting our open space is BCFB’s primary objective. As a rural resident of Butte County, neighbor to a for-profit commercial pot grow, BCFB is failing me miserably by choosing to ignore the “elephant in the room.” Their silence has created a very dangerous situation for legitimate agricultural farmers as well as stable, rural county residents who are terrorized by the wanton disregard for-profit pot growers have for their neighbors.

Great leadership is maintained through speaking to relevant issues. Perhaps BCFB is losing its relevance, for actions speak volumes.

Dianna Wright
Butte Valley

Kicking butts

We are the Paradise Butt Kickers; a group of local high school students who are members of the Boys and Girls Club. We want to give an update on some of the activities that we have been involved in. Over the past few months we have succeeded in meeting with the town manager, the district manager of the Paradise Recreation and Park District, and the Boys and Girls Club community leadership board. We also have visited with five local businesses to share with them results of our entryway observations. They were very welcoming and we were able to leave educational packets with them.

Our group staffed a booth at the Chocolate Fest educating local people about smoke-free entryways and parks; we had 64 petitions signed for our cause.

We are looking forward to our summer community education activities, which will include a presentation to the Q.U.O.T.A Club and a park cigarette butt cleanup event and perhaps a meet-up with new town council members.

If your community group would like a presentation this summer from the Boys and Girls Club, Keystone Paradise Butt Kickers, please call me at 872-3662 or email me at rsosa@bgcnv.org.

Raquel Lee
Paradise