Property tax protests

This is a very good post about fighting property taxes (read the comments too) here.

I have fought my appraised value for the last two years for this swamp land. I intend to keep doing it since my land (and structures to some extent) were misrepresented and are unsuitable for further improvement. No amount of work will solve the problem.

Time to make a clue deposit.

This is from July 9th, but I never said anything would be timely here.

From:
Wise County Messenger Sports "page:"

With four weeks remaining before two-a-days start for volleyball, Chico High School is still looking for a head coach. Pete Hart said the very few resumes he has received are from middle school coaches with no experience.

Hart is trying to fill the position vacated by Stephanie Jenkins who left in May to coach volleyball at Perrin-Whitt.

“It’s hard for small schools to find coaches anymore. There are so many new and big schools opening in the Metroplex that it is taking all the girls coaches,” Hart said. “It would be hard for me to do it myself during football season, but what else can I do? Anyone looking into coaching should go the girls route because there are jobs everywhere, not just in Chico. I know other Wise County schools and schools close by us who are having trouble getting qualified coaches.”

Well, duh. I don't care much for school sports, I think the programs should be shut down and the parents or kids who wish to participate can do so on their own dime. However, the arrogance of this comment can't be ignored.

Chico isn't a destination where a distinguished coach comes to coach until retirement. It isn't even mid-way in a coaching career. It is a starting place. The very people he is rejecting. But I'm sure he emerged from the womb with clipboard in hand and the mind of Ditka. Somehow he was robbed of a NFL head coaching job, or he wants to coach for the kids because the game is pure or some such horseshit as that.

From the salaries that Chico ISD is offering, I'm not surprised that all they can get are inexperienced coaches. But look at it this way: you can't do worse than you already have.

These people never cease to amaze me...

In the middle of a ban on fireworks, somebody launched aerial fireworks last night either on El Camino Real or Sierra Vista Drive around 10PM last night.

On top of it all, they launched on the wrong day. The hydrocephaly must be getting worse.

Hellbilly Deluxe

I thought I was through bitching. I thought maybe it was all my problem and I just hadn't adjusted to living out here even after several years.

I was wrong. My fire has been lit anew, and this time it doesn't look to be going out anytime soon. Stay tuned for more skewering of this shithole.

Well, well, well.

Today's edition of The Chico Texan had an article about the tax rate drop in Chico. But that wasn't the most interesting part. The Mayor had a few words to say about citizens criticizing the city workers stopping and talking to residents during work hours.

My last post may have seemed like that is exactly what I was complaining about. It could not be farther from the truth. I do not take issue with city employees visiting with people during their workday. Furthermore, the picture I posted was taken on a Sunday. Not exactly a normal workday, is it?

My issue (and the point behind my last post) is with use of city vehicles and property for private gain. Yes, we pay for the items via taxes. But if you need to use these items, do it through official channels. Most of the time that way doesn't get you anywhere. I have been trying for three years to get the city to assist me with a problem regarding my property that severely reduces its value, to the point of making it unsalable (hence my username). This isn't some cosmetic issue, this is a problem that rears its head everytime it rains. The city sent out a backhoe once for a pathetic show of assistance and to shut me up. I was then told I could make no other changes to the land and "not to alter the natural flow of water."

What really gets to me is the city discontinued its twice a year bulk trash pickup. Then they opened a city dump where you could pay a fee to dump items that previously you could dump for free during the bulk trash days. It is a duplication of effort. There is a county dump not three miles outside of town. Why exactly do you need a city dump then? Its closer? Please. The city sent out a letter stating that citizens with trucks should assist those without so everybody could take bulky trash items to the city dump. Three miles isn't that far, and the county dump is open more days and longer hours.

If you live in Chico, or ever driven through it you know bulk trash pickup is sorely needed.

Just a good ole boy...

I wish I could get this kind of service. This is a City of Chico vehicle that does not normally reside at this particular address on a Sunday. Before you say "But today is Friday!", check the EXIF on the picture. No, it wasn't making a friendly visit, it was pulling a trailer with power washing equipment.

Good ole boy network? I'll let you decide.

Sue me

So I changed my mind. This blog will become a documentation and skewering of small town life.

Here is an example of the apathy rampant here. Historic structures such as this are left to rot. The parking lot is routinely used, although I'm not quite sure if the people parking there own the lot.

haha

Thought you'd find something here, didn't you?