Politics Archives - Page 2 of 11

Rosedale Elementary vice principal and equity leader says she has been suspended Parents worry that backlash on social media prompted administrative leave

photo by Leslie Layton

Rosedale Assistant Vice Principal Joana Campos Castañeda speaking with concerned parents earlier this week.

by Natalie Hanson
posted April 27

Parents are calling for change after a Rosedale Elementary assistant vice principal, who acted as equity leader for the school, said she has been placed on administrative leave.

Joana Campos Castañeda, known at Rosedale as Ms. Campos, alleges that she has been suspended for insubordination after voicing concerns about the school’s approach to inclusion, while serving part-time as equity team lead this year.

Chico Unified School District (CUSD) administrators have declined to comment on any disciplinary action or investigation, and Castañeda is still listed as Vice Principal Joana Campos on Rosedale’s website. read more

Survey designed to build support for sales tax measure produces good response Trust will be a problem for the City of Chico

photo by Leslie Layton

Deadline for returning the “Essential City Services” survey is April 22.

by Leslie Layton
posted April 21

A mailer from the City of Chico with a survey to be returned by April 22 is a piece in a three-phase campaign to win support for a city-wide 1 percent sales tax. The survey asks city residents to rank their spending priorities in order of importance.

Chico is one of about eight “full-service” cities in the state that don’t have a local sales tax; it receives a small portion of state sales tax revenue only. Full-service cities provide public safety and other services. read more

Referendum petition fails to meet deadline

posted Jan. 13
At a press conference today, David Welch, spokesperson for “No On Butte County Gerrymandering,” announced that the group fell short by just a few hundred signatures in its effort to petition for a referendum on the newly-adopted Butte County district map.

Group members, arguing that the redistricting map adopted by the conservative majority on the Board of Supervisors was heavily gerrymandered, said their work was hampered by the holidays, the Omicron variant and rainy weather. “The gerrymander of our county, against the backdrop of Republican gerrymandering across America, has aroused a level of passion I’ve rarely seen for a local issue,” said Welch, vowing that other options would be explored. — Karen Laslo read more

Referendum effort launches over redistricting Group claims gerrymandering to dilute Latino and urban vote

photo by Karen Laslo

District 3 Supervisor Tami Ritter at today’s press conference.

posted Dec. 17

A “No on Butte County Gerrymandering” campaign launched today to circulate a petition for a referendum on the redistricting map adopted in a Dec. 14 split vote by the Butte County Board of Supervisors.

Speakers at today’s press conference said the map that was adopted was gerrymandered to disenfranchise urban voters in Chico by splitting the city into four districts. The map, which establishes two western agricultural districts, was approved by supervisors Bill Connelly, Tod Kimmelshue and Doug Teeter. read more

Redistricting battle heats up Two supervisors protest the slice-up-Chico map as gerrymandering

photo by Karen Laslo

Supervisor Debra Lucero (left), and Supervisor Tami Ritter (right), at Nov. 17 press conference.

District 2 Supervisor Debra Lucero, speaking today at The Hands in a press conference, warned that the Butte County Board of Supervisors’ conservative majority may attempt to pass a gerrymandered map at a special 1 p.m. Nov. 22 meeting.

The county spent some $80,000 on consultants who drew up several redistricting maps, but instead are considering a map proposed by Paradise Supervisor Doug Teeter that slices the city of Chico into four parts and the city of Oroville into three. Lucero says Teeter’s map was designed by a Republican strategist and she and District 3 Supervisor Tami Ritter argue it would dilute Chico’s representation and give lopsided power to agricultural interests.— Leslie Layton read more

Lucero: Public discourse on Tuscan Water District comes — but late "The public had not been part of the formation process"

photo by Karen Laslo

District 2 Supervisor Debra Lucero

by Debra Lucero
guest commentary

The Tuscan Water District story is unfolding in Butte County. This isn’t the first time large landowners have joined together to try to “preserve their way of life and heritage.” It has happened all over the state and more recently, in San Luis Obispo where the proposition to form a new, powerful California Water District failed.

So, how did this current effort in Butte County get birthed?

The former Butte County Water Conservation & Resource Department director, Paul Gosselin, (now the State of California’s deputy director of SGMA – Sustainable Groundwater Management Act) and a former longtime Sacramento Local Agency Formation Commission executive officer, John O’Farrell, came up with another idea — one that could circumvent the arduous San Luis Obispo process and even the Board of Supervisors. read more