Post Scripts

by Jack Lee

I’m on my home when this ad comes on the radio and did I get an earful of the most disgusting political disinformation I’ve heard in years. It’s being run on KPAY and sure would like to get a copy of it. I want to go over exactly what they said and expose the lies and I also would love to expose who is behind it, who’s fronting the money? I’ll be checking in Sacramento to see if they are a registered PAC.

The ad was against Prop 23 (sponsored by Dan Logue-R and known as the jobs initiative). The pitch was its a job killer foisted on us by the evil oil companies in Texas. At the end of this deceptive hatchet job there’s about 10 seconds from a patriotic song follow by some guy speaking really fast and he says, “Sponsored by conservation voters” At first I almost thought he said conservative voters! Maybe that was the point? So who are these “Conservation voters” in Chico that paid for this attack ad? I recall that a few years ago a group by the same name sponsored liberal candidates for City Council. If you have any information on this group please write us and give us some names. All information will be considered confidential.

Update: I found a group using the name League of Conservation Voters for California and they were headquartered in Oakland. They listed the following contributors. Still looking for the Chico connection.

Alida R Messenger
New York, NY 10022 Self/Philanthropist $547,000 08/27/2003-
03/09/2007
Jabe Blumenthal
Seattle, WA 98112 Self/Philanthropist $12,500 08/13/2004
James Campbell
Kentfield, CA 94914 Self/Philanthropist $10,000 05/24/2004
John A Harris IV
Berwyn, PA 19312 Retired/Retired $298,000 02/10/2004-
05/03/2005
John Harris
Berwyn, PA 19312 Retired/Retired $150,000 08/28/2006
John R Hunting
Washington, DC 20002 Retired/Retired $150,000 10/20/2003-
04/19/2004
John R Hunting
Grand Rapids, MI 49503 Retired/Retired $201,000 05/25/2005-
02/14/2006
LCV Political Engagement Fund
Washington, DC 20036 $175,000 06/11/2010
The NEA Fund
Washington, DC 20036 $5,000 10/05/2009

by Tina Grazier

I watched “The Blind Side” again last night and was reminded of the incredible power of personal involvement in charitable efforts. The success that Michael Oher achieved would likely not have been possible except for the personal involvement of Leigh Anne Tuohy and her generous family. This story puts the notion of making a difference in perspective; generous personal acts can completely transform lives.

As a nation we have followed that model fairly well. Americans give generously of their time and money to many private charitable causes. But we have also followed another model that wastes valuable resources and fails to inspire transformation. In doing so trillions of dollars in tax monies serve only to keep individuals and families stuck in dependency. Add failing public schools into the mix and the revolving door dependency problem is made even worse.

It seems we have settled in and become content to leave this responsibility to our government and it’s a disgrace. A recent story in the L.A. Times highlights not only the financial waste for taxpayers but also the lack of appreciation and failure to use tax dollars as a means to a better life on the part of recipients:

“California welfare money drawn out of state,” by Jack Dolan, Los Angeles Times

Las Vegas tops the list with $11.8 million spent at casinos or taken from ATMs, but transactions in Hawaii, Miami, Guam and elsewhere also raise questions. Officials say budget cuts hinder investigations. ** Reporting from Sacramento — More than $69 million in California welfare money, meant to help the needy pay their rent and clothe their children, has been spent or withdrawn outside the state in recent years, including millions in Las Vegas, hundreds of thousands in Hawaii and thousands on cruise ships sailing from Miami. ** State-issued aid cards have been used at hotels, shops, restaurants, ATMs and other places in 49 other states, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam, according to data obtained by The Times from the California Department of Social Services. Las Vegas drew $11.8 million of the cash benefits, far more than any other destination. The money was accessed from January 2007 through May 2010. (emphasis mine)

Not everyone has the time or the resources to get personally involved in another’s life to the extent that Leigh Anne Tuohy and her family did. Not every person who is needy would be willing to take hold of such an opportunity to better his life. But the example serves as a reminder that there are better ways to help the needy. It’s time to seriously rethink our welfare and aid systems; tax dollar charity may assuage guilt but it just does not work.

by Jack Lee

Who won the debate last night? It was hard to read how the audience viewed it, but in my humble opinion the most interesting speakers were, and in no particular order, Scott Grumble, Quentin Colgan, Bob Kromer, Bob Evans and Mark Sorensen.

Mr. Colgan acquitted himself very well in the short allotment of time given to each candidate. He had to be brief and I think that helped him not say too much and expose the real Quentin, however I have to admit he was lively and sometimes humorous and he made it clear he was not beholding to a-n-y-o-n-e by ANY deals, links of association or money, and he (in his words more or less) was certainly not the pocket of global corporate interests like some other candidates, nor was he influenced or intimidated by uh,….by the Tea Party? This set him apart from the other candidates who chose not to even go there…good thinking too.

Overall Bob Kromer won it. He absolutely, hanbds down, gave the best performance of the night. He had the best responses to questions and he came across as the strongest candidate of all those present. He had that genuinely warm, witty personality that reminded me of another former great city councilman, Bill Johnston. If Bob Kromer doesn’t get elected in November this community has missed out on one very outstanding candidate!

Kromer is a retired business leader and he is very familiar handling multi-million dollar budgets (and we sure need that). He helped run a billion dollar corporation before retiring and moving to Chico. Kromer demonstrated a great deal of knowledge about the city, the city plan, the new environment plan and the beseiged city budget. Kromer commented about how the council should respect the wishes of the people and I think that really resonated with everyone. As you may know only recently 83% of residents said they didn’t want those expensive, high density projects in their neighborhoods, but the council pushed it forward anyway… because they wanted it. That’s arrogant and Kromer called them on it.

Kromer also stressed a strong desire to keep this city solvent so we will not be forced to lay off police and fire personnel. He disliked the latest idea of having a 5% across the board pay cut to help balance the faltering budget. He suggested a number of city bosses are earning well over $100,000 a year and they should give up a little more and that bottom rung employees ought to give up a little less. Makes sense to me, those employees on the bottom are are barely making it from paycheck to paycheck and the audience liked this idea too.

Scott Grumble (who’s a good talker- can’t deny him that) said he was thrilled to push environment regulations and costs off on the citizens and said, you have to spend a little to make a little. He was referring to using low energy light bulbs and such to save energy costs. He also liked the city plan for high density residential dwellings that would pack as many as 7 structures into a one acre lot zone for residential only. He never commented on how much the city had to spend on low income housing…which was odd since he’s pushed it. He also pushed us into a million dollar lawsuit that the city lost and he didn’t mention that either.

But, back on this city plan, even Quentin Colgan saw the foolishness of the high density plan for infill. He said he recently counted 42 cars in one of these HD areas. He didn’t see how that was helping traffic or anything else…me either. I believe it was either Kromer or Evans who pointed that the city spends as much as $400 a square foot for low income – high density residential structures. Don’t hold me to that square foot price, it might be off; I just recall it was really, really high… and for low income housing! What a rip – and it’s your tax dollars.

Continue reading “City Council Debate” »

by Juan Jesus DeLegga-Lee

Q. Should political campaign speeches, debates and advertising be allowed in languages other than English?

a. If no, do you think it should be illegal to do so because it is instigating cultural division and showing favoritism or loyalty to a power other than the United States?

b. If yes, please explain why.

Note to class: This is an open book quiz. Make your answers brief and to the point, you will be graded accordingly.

DATE: MONDAY, OCTOBER 4TH

TIME: 7 PM TO 9 PM

WHERE: CHICO CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS
411 Main Street, Chico, CA 95926

IT IS TIME FOR A CHANGE. ATTEND THE CANDIDATE FORUM AND MAKE YOUR VOTE COUNT. BE THERE – IT MATTERS.

By Steve Thompson, Chairman of the Butte County Republican Party

It’s been a busy week on the campaign trail as Republicans are nearing closer to a November victory. I thought I’d take some time to give everyone an update on our local Republican Party activities.

Republican Headquarters are now open and functional. Voters can find information about local, state, and federal races at 896 East Avenue in Chico, or 1550 Myers Street in downtown Oroville. We are always taking volunteers to help with staffing our offices and helping out with Saturday precinct walks.

Our voter registration program is in full swing, both locally and statewide. Since the primary, Republican voter registration has climbed statewide while democrat registration has decreased. Just last month San Diego County flipped from democrat to a republican majority.

We’re still taking in more candidates. Just last night the Butte Republican Party interviewed and endorsed seven more candidates for local office throughout the county. Candidates with conservative values are coming out of the woodwork and seeking the help and guidance that we can provide them.
Continue reading “Republican Corner: Campaign Update” »