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Measure A supporters, detractors sound off about proposed parcel tax to support CARD facilities

Sign, seal, deliver All-mailed ballot system put to countywide test

Field, and provides recreational programs at six additional locations, including the Dorothy F. Johnson Center, Chico Creek Nature Center and Humboldt Avenue Skate Park.

If Measure A is approved, CARD has assembled quite the list of priorities for the additional revenue. This includes park expansions and completions; bathroom, field and playground repairs and upgrades; accessibility improvements, per the Americans with Disabilities Act; and added security, lighting and parking.

“To me, the measure is critical to moving Chico in a positive direction,” Lando said. “Without the measure, we have enough to operate CARD, we have our normal programs, but we can’t really build facilities.”

According to the ballot language, CARD’s allotment of county property tax has not kept up with inflation rates. This, coupled with the support it receives from user fees, grants and donations, has not generated enough revenue to improve and maintain district facilities and build new projects.

Lando argues that, in particular, Chico is “woefully inadequate” when it comes to providing enough swim and gymnasium space. Local schools cannot hold swim meets in Chico because its current pools aren’t up to standards and are in need of substantial work. And recently, the board was approached by local pickleball enthusiasts in search of places to practice and play.

“I think we’re way behind on our ability to recreate and relax in this community,” Lando said. For Juanita Sumner—who runs a blog called Chico Taxpayers Association that focuses on halting “excessive taxation by incompetent government”—a tax isn’t the panacea for CARD’s problems. It’s a way for the board to free up money to pay down its pension obligations, she insists.

She understands the importance of recreation: During summers in the early 1990s, Sumner used to bike to Pleasant Valley Pool almost every day with her family, she said. Her sons were avid swimmers, and they loved that neighborhood pool.

But what Sumner has seen since, she said, is CARD facilities degrade or get shut down (e.g., Shapiro Pool, which was closed in 2016 due to significant renovation costs) at the same time that the district approved higher salaries and benefits. That’s one of the reasons she’s against Measure A.

Willmann said CARD employees have picked up more pension costs every year since her appointment in 2015, and that is something the district will continue to push for moving forward. Last year, CARD made a roughly $740,000 payment toward its pension debt, put $700,000 into a pension reserve, and adopted a plan increasing its annual payments.

“We recognize that that is what we need to do in order to be fiscally responsible,” Willmann said. “With or without this revenue measure, we will continue in that vein and we have a plan to pay our pension liability.”

Sumner said that while CARD employees are paying more now, “it’s such a tiny amount,” and “really the lion’s share [of costs are] the pensions and the salaries.”

CARD has maintained that the tax will go into a separate fund and be managed by an oversight committee, with annual reports on projects and expenses. According to the measure’s text, the district “intends to use funds collected … to help fund and finance all of the projects listed above, unless the Board determines in any given year that changes in state or federal funding make doing so infeasible or inadvisable.”

To Sumner, “that sounds like an out.” Lando, however, was adamant that the funds will be spent as promised. “None of this money, none of this money will go to pay for those pensions. It’s going to go for these facilities,” he said. “I believe CARD’s done a wonderful job and served the community well. We haven’t kept up. The community’s grown. … I just hope the community can appreciate the need. Yes, it is a tax, but it’s well worth it.”

—AshiAh schArAgA ashiahs@newsreview.com

ELECTION continued on page 18 b utte county election officials have been taking hundreds of calls from voters during the run-up to the March 3 primary election. Many requests, clerk-recorder candace grubbs said, have been to check addresses against official records. other voters who received nonpartisan ballots have asked for new ones because they want to vote in a party’s election.

“We’re always glad to respond,” grubbs told the cn&r. “We do have a lot of seasonal help in the office, but if they don’t know the answer they will send it up the chain of command.” butte county is one of 15 counties that have opted into an all-mailed ballot system through the california Voter’s choice act—legislation passed in 2016 that was billed as modernizing the state’s elections. ballots complete with pre-paid postage were on their way to all the county’s registered voters earlier this month. gone are precinct-specific polling places. Voters are now required to send their ballots through the mail, drop them in a designated county drop box or submit them at a full-service vote center, where voters can receive disability and language assistance, as well as registration and ballot help. the preferred method of voting can vary from household to household, grubbs said, adding some may take into account the security of their own mailboxes. the decision to shift to an all-mailed system came after the camp Fire, which displaced thousands of residents, grubbs said, adding that the timing made sense. Fire survivors who claim a permanent address in the burn scar but are temporarily living elsewhere will still be able to vote on local issues pertaining to them. they’ll receive local ballots at their current, temporary mailing address, regardless of location. Some ballots are being mailed to survivors who have fanned out across the country. it has, however, turned into one of the biggest hurdles election officials have had to clear.

“How many of the people that were part of the camp Fire have moved out of the county completely? and so won’t be coming back?” grubbs said. “We’ll probably have a better look at that after the primary.” early numbers show a decline. the number of registered voters in the county currently stands at 114,000, which is down from 124,000 before the fire, grubbs said. Staffers have continually updated voter files as new information comes in, and grubbs said she imagines things will shake out a bit more come november. about 70 percent of the county’s voters already had been casting their ballots by mail before the shift. Voters who received their ballots at home also were voting at a higher percentage than “polling place voters,” grubbs said. With a 100 percent mail-in system, turnout is expected to be higher, she added. nevertheless, grubbs said she advises people to not procrastinate. ballots must be postmarked by election day. Voters also can refer to voter information booklets and the

county’s elections website for more information, including locations and hours for drop boxes and vote centers. if all goes according to expectations, a higher percentage of results should be counted by election night, she said. Voters can check the status of their vote-by-mail ballot at voterstatus.sos.ca.gov, which shows when a ballot was mailed and received by their county government.

—Andre Byik andreb@newsreview.com A ballot drop box stands inside chico’s city hall at 411 Main st. pHoto by andre byik Any Voter AssistAnce center PostAge-PAid mAil Butte county BAllot droP Box