Saturday, August 30, 2014

(Butte County) Letter: Demand accountability for city’s fiscal problems


August 26, 2014
Chico Enterprise-Record

On July 28, Michael Bush distributed criticisms of the 2013-14 Grand Jury report to the city of Chico.
Dismissing the report and its contributors, Bush absolved the City Council majority of responsibility for the current $21 million deficit.
Bush sarcastically attacked Councilman Mark Sorensen, former City Manager Brian Nakamura, and journalists who identified the council's lack of fiscal transparency.
He fantasized that Sorensen manipulated the Grand Jury by simply seeking raw data and detailed accountancy records to provide better budgetary oversight regarding alleged financial improprieties.
Bush disgracefully maligned the councilman whose work has been characterized by integrity and due diligence.
Bush embraced a comically conspiratorial view of the investigation as some plot directed against the council's liberal majority. Did he forget that Grand Jury foreman Chuck Nelson was an altogether reputable liberal?
Bush exemplifies the amnesia and blame-shifting that helped produce the city's financial predicament.
In 2007, the city's deficit was $6 million. Some predicted it might reach $56 million by 2017, a 900 per cent increase in 10 years. Today's deficit is $21 million, a staggering 250 per cent increase in seven years.
Since the debt skyrocketed by "only" 250 percent since 2007, Bush complimented the council majority.
Blinded by self-deception, he supports the habits of overspending. In praising the council majority for "doing something right," he holds it blameless for the festering budgetary mess.
Bush encourages citizens and council members alike to forget about past fiscal misbehavior and allow it to continue into the future.
— Charles Geshekter, Chico

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