“What happened to Marysville?” While at a funeral, that was the question asked by those away from the city for decades.
Former residents and visitors wanted answers. Buildings shuttered? Inhabited but neglected properties? How is the lake they used to ski on? Crumbling residential streets? Why are all the yards and trees dying?
Everything rises and falls on leadership (John Maxwell). Certainly, there have been decades of city council blunders. The council’s decision to become property speculators and bury citizens with $17 million in debt was a city killer. The B Street “investment” recently sold for less than $2 million.
The council’s halt to pumping Yuba River snow water into Ellis Lake produced an algae- laden slew. Millions have been wasted on egg-head pond experiments. Marysville may outdo New York’s embarrassment to restore Central Park’s Wollman Ice Rink.
That attraction was built and gifted to New York in 1949. It was a global landmark. Mayor Koch closed it as inoperable in 1980 as government was unable to maintain it and then conceded defeat. His restoration went $12 million over the $4.7 million budget, with completion a world away.
Marysville businesses have been encouraged to relocate by unfriendly bureaucrats and off-putting regulations. A starving man never requests a menu. The city is starving but acts fat, full and finicky.
“Electeds” were Covid tone-deaf. They sent police to close Upper Cut Barber Shop. Has any official come to the shop’s rescue as Gavin Newsom’s troops still harass barbers and want $140,000 in fines for cutting hair during Covid. Is the council good for anything?
The residents also have made horrible choices. Was it 1971 that they voted to use eminent domain to remove blocks of historic downtown? Meanwhile Old Sacramento restored their Gold Rush era structures and built a Railroad Museum.
An often-forgotten decision that economically cursed Marysville was made by voters in 1927. A plan for the citizens to purchase Marysville Water Company, a private entity, was defeated 927 to 433 in a special election. The water company property was valued at $372,500. The ability to control the city’s destiny was forfeited by succumbing to a private water monopoly.
The Federated Water Service acquired 75% of the Marysville Water Company stock for $344,255. The new owners then transferred the holdings to California Water Service Company which operated other systems around the valley.
Through the post-WWII years up to the 1970s Marysville water was affordable, with no meters. Lawns, landscaping and parks were lush.
However, in the 1980s forward, Cal Water Service (CWS) has become a major dividend producing corporation with a multitude of mega-paid executives. It moved to new headquarters in San Jose in the 1960s and began acquiring water districts in other states. California Public Utility District (CPUC) and its administrative judges collude with utilities for routine rate increases.
Marysville’s CWS added meters and spiking unaffordable rates. Take a drive through town to survey the impact. The CWS water rate is 2 times both Yuba City’s and Olivehurst Public Utility District’s, and more than 3 times what Linda Water District charges. These other providers are municipal districts beholden to the citizens and not the CPUC for rates.
In 2013, an uprising of Marysville residents filed a CPUC complaint against CWS that was rejected by a utility judge. Since 2003, Californian Water Service (CWS) had bumped rates nearly every year for a net cumulative 121.80% over ten years -- an average 12% annually. Additional increases were proposed at that time -- 18.4% in 2014, 20.1% in 2015 and 9.4% in 2016 or another 47.9 % over 36 months.
Angry citizens also asked the city council to purchase CWS and return to a municipal system. Soon council members received campaign contributions, lunch dates and a newly landscaped city hall from CWS. A few nonprofits also awoke to cash in their stockings.
Often, the council members’ excuse is “that (the problem) happened before they were there.” Grow up. So much for campaign materials saying they are the leaders we need. The council’s answer to problems is “same ol’, same ol’”-- more taxes (Measure C), no operational changes.
With the police department costing more than a million dollars a square mile, a million could be saved by using the Yuba County Sheriff’s Department (YCSO) for city enforcement. Much of MPD is a duplication of YCSO across the street.
Taxpayers cannot afford the CalPERS (government pensions) Ponzi scheme. Since the city and county are married to CalPERS the immediate fix for financial survival is eliminating government employees. First root-out duplication (MPD/YCSO) and then use private contractors for other services.
(Lou Binninger can be heard on No Hostages Radio podcast, live on KMYC 1410AM 10-1 Saturdays, read at Live with Lou on Facebook and at Nohostagesradio.com)
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