Letters for March 15, 2018

Keep the road closed

Re “Open the gate” (Second & Flume, by Melissa Daugherty, March 1):

Upper Park is one of the coolest places in the state, but it is slowly being degraded. So far, there are just small piles of garbage and the occasional blaring sound system as you walk along the trails. Opening up the road to cars will allow people who don’t care about actually hiking in to simply pile a lot of crap in their truck, haul it up there and leave it wherever it ends up.

Some people, like those in Melissa Daugherty’s situation, where her son is unable to walk into the park, may not be able to experience everything out there that they wish they could. There are things I wish I could do, too, but will not be able to do because of some circumstance. I accept that I won’t be able to do everything and move on to what I can do. I normally agree with most of the opinions of this newspaper, but I disagree with opening Upper Park to cars.

Mari Moore

Chico

Two on guns

Re “Preserve our rights” (Letters, by Garry Cooper, March 8):

It’s long past time to say it: Second Amendment = freedumb.

Beau Grosscup

Cohasset

Apparently Garry Cooper received his historical perspectives from somewhere other than public schools, as his critique of Jaime O’Neill’s column on guns is so fantastical it requires a response.

Cooper writes, “[I]f it weren’t for American citizens arming themselves, our country would not exist.” Sadly, Cooper is apparently under the impression that nothing has changed since the Revolution. In fact, that war was between muskets and muskets, and the English were greatly hampered by the inability to maintain a supply line across the Atlantic that required a time from six weeks to three months.

His belief that today an armed and unregulated citizenry, even if all had AR-15s, could prevail against our modern military led by a “tyrannical government” is absolutely ludicrous. Yet, he writes, “Gun ownership … serve[s] one main function—to deter tyranny by a centralized government.” If he’d review some more modern history, he’d note that the Ukrainians, however well-armed, didn’t fare too well in deterring a military-armed modern Russian army led by a tyrannical dictator (whom from all appearances Trump wants to emulate). AR-15s don’t fare very well against tanks, aircraft and napalm.

Cooper should quit wasting his time writing letters to the editor and focus on writing a script for Blade Runner.

Dean Carrier

Paradise

A plea for hope

I worked as a case manager at Esplanade House for over two years. Let me tell you about the Esplanade House I remember:

We were a team of two drug and alcohol counselors and three case managers, plus so many other people. Our staff were caring, hard-working people and volunteers, including tutors, counselors and psychologists who loved helping families. The child care center was full of Esplanade House kids, trained and caring staff, and a volunteer reading program.

And, above all, the Esplanade House had a dedicated leader, who, when faced with cuts to her staff dictated by Tom Tenorio, said she would take a pay cut to save losing another case manager position. Unbelievably, this incensed Tenorio and he fired her. The morale at Esplanade House plummeted and the staff was reduced to a skeleton crew. The turnover rate soared.

How sad that others’ willingness to sacrifice for the good of the program was an affront to Tenorio’s ego and visions of power.

Thank you, Gary Incaudo, Greg Webb and Lynne Bussey, whose vision and financial commitment created and sustains Esplanade House. May your voices and others be heard, current management removed and hope be returned to Esplanade House.

Jan Owen

Chico

Majority rules

Oops, they did it again!

After 2 1/2 hours of various agenda topics at the March 6 City Council meeting, during which Chico’s housing crisis was mentioned perhaps a dozen times, when it came time to actually do something about it, the conservative sect of the Chico City Council voted to … do nothing.

Andrew Coolidge, who is up for re-election this fall, cast the first stone to derail Karl Ory’s proposal that the council agendize for discussion the “Veterans and Affordable Housing Bond Act of 2018.” Ory’s request only asked that the council agree to have an open discussion of the act, to determine whether or not the city might want to support it—a seemingly reasonable request considering all the lamentations over the local lack of affordable housing. But in an all too common maneuver—Coolidge, [Reanette] Fillmer and [Sean] Morgan ([Mark] Sorenson left the meeting early) chose to play blind, deaf and dumb to any discussion that might open their minds to a potential housing solution, and the motion died.

Props to Councilman Ory for trying to break through the gridlock of an entrenched council majority to bring needed progress, and being willing to be shot down one more time.

Scott Huber

Chico

Almost criminal

It is downright heartwarming to see the last actions of Chico City Council. They realize that petty theft is increasing as poverty increases, so they have thought of a compassionate and legal way to help the poor (poverty is a crime right?). By supporting the Reducing Crime and Keeping California Safe Act, we will soon be able to identify the most desperate of the needy and place them where they can have food, housing and medical care at the local jail. Of course, this is the most expensive way to deal with poverty, but for the City Council, our money is no object in their quest to serve the neediest in our community.

Sterling Ogden

Chico

BHS not the answer

Butte Humane Society (BHS) wants the city contract for animal services, but is it financially healthy? IRS Form 990 (FY 2016-17) on its website shows that, compared to 2015-16:

• Gifts, grants, contributions and fundraisers dropped 44 percent.

• Gifts and contributions alone (public support) were the lowest in five years.

• Revenue from the clinic, rehoming and adoption fees dropped 16 percent.

• Total revenue dropped 32 percent.

• Revenue minus expenses were in the red by $260,000.

Capital campaign consulting fees were $86,000 and BHS spent 96 percent of its savings and borrowed $40,000. Capital campaigns are risky. Besides funding the campaign, money is needed for daily operations. Experts say that two years of operating expenses should be set aside beforehand to cover daily operations.

Charity Navigator, a highly regarded evaluator of over 9,000 charities, rated BHS 2 stars out of 4, a grade of C, ranking low on financial health, accountability and transparency in FY 2015-16. Check out why on charitynaviga tor.org

Unless the city maintains control of animal services, it could become captive to BHS budget shortfalls and end up paying far more. Currently, the city is a better steward of taxpayer dollars than Butte Humane Society.

Armeda Ferrini

Chico

Correction

Last week’s Newslead (“Council backs crime act,” by Ashiah Scharaga, March 8) misidentified JD Estep, a member of the public who addressed the panel. We regret the error, which has been corrected online.—ed.