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THURSDAY FEBRUARY 10, 2011 Breaking news at: Murder Mystery Pastimes www.redbluffdailynews.com See Page 4A RED BLUFF Spartans Hoops SPORTS 1B Sunny 67/34 Weather forecast 8B DAILYNEWS TEHAMACOUNTY DAILY 50¢ T H E V O I C E O F T E H A M A C O U N T Y S I N C E 1 8 8 5 Teachers, board spar County to buy 7 new cop cars By ANDREA WAGNER DN Staff Writer Tehama County Supervisors authorized several moves to buy and sell inventory in a handful of depart- ments Tuesday. The Sheriff’s Department will purchase seven new police sedans. Four older vehicles from the Health Services and Social Services Agency will be disposed of. CalFire will be purchasing new radios and pagers. The County Treasurer/Tax Collector will be auction- ing off some 90 tax-defaulted properties. The Sheriff’s Department had deferred purchasing the new vehicles last year, said Bill Goodwin, county administrator and purchasing agent. “We’re pleased we can do it this year,” he said. Sufficient funding is available in the department’s 2010/11 fiscal year budget. Six full-size police sedans for $182,894, and one undercover full-size police sedan for $26,027 from See CARS, page 7A Group covers cost of logo Daily News photo by Tang Lor Teacher Julie Buer offers the school board a solution that could help save the school money on retiree healthcare benefits. By TANG LOR DN Staff Writer During an at times emotional school board meeting Tuesday, teachers in the Red Bluff Union Elementary School District addressed the board on its decision to not ratify a tentative contract agreement. In an hour-and-a-half public comment session speakers voiced their frustration, offered solutions and urged the board to reconsider its decision. They continue to give in order to help the district save money, but the board has been unresponsive, teach- ers said. Concessions In the tentative agreement teach- ers offered four concessions with the most debatable centered around healthcare benefits. Teachers offered to pay for any increases in healthcare costs and proposed a sliding scale of the dis- trict paying fewer years of benefits as teachers retire in the upcoming years and no benefits after a retiree reaches 65 years old. The district’s stance is a hard cap on employee benefits and no retiree benefits. About a third of the teachers are set to retire within one to two years. Now those teachers are considering staying if it means they will be going out with nothing, they said. An emotional Diane Black said the issue was very personal for her. She had informally announced she was going to retire within the next four months. Now she is informally retracting her retirement because she cannot afford to retire. She pointed out to Board Presi- Brown drops plan to sell state buildings SACRAMENTO (AP) — California Gov. Jerry Brown announced Wednesday he is dropping a plan hatched by former Gov. Arnold Schwarzeneg- ger to sell 24 state govern- ment buildings to private investors because the high cost of rent did not make sense for taxpayers. The state had been in negotiations to sell the properties for $2.3 billion and use the proceeds after paying off construction bonds to help close the state’s general fund budget deficit. Under a deal approved by lawmakers, the state would have con- tinued using the space by entering into a 20-year lease with the new owners. The Associated Press reported in April that the deal would end up costing the state $5.2 billion in rent over 20 years, likely sad- dling taxpayers with costs beyond whatever the state would net from the sale. That assessment was con- firmed by the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office, which found the sale shifts taxpayer costs to the future. The state con- troller and treasurer also opposed the sale. “No doubt there’s a huge budget deficit and the Legislature and the gover- nor tried to do everything they could, but it’s still very daunting,” Brown said Wednesday. “The sale of the buildings really didn’t really make much sense. It didn’t make much sense because it in effect is a gigantic loan with interest payments.” Brown said selling and renting back the space amounted to a 10 percent loan and that the sale would have been “the ultimate in kicking the can down the road.’’ The AP also reported in April that the Schwarzenegger adminis- tration quietly removed appointees from two over- sight bodies that must sign off on the sale, replacing critics of the move with people who support it. The See BROWN, page 7A 7 5 8 5 5 1 6 9 0 0 1 9 Red Bluff Outdoor Power dent Leonard Stohler, a retired teacher from the district, that he received the benefits he is now denying. “It’s absolutely unbelievable that the board will not do its part in vot- ing to accept the TA (tentative agreement),” Black said. Ratifying the tentative agree- ment was not an easy decision, but in these economic times, they decided it was best to concede, teacher Debbie Marshall said. Yet the board has not shown any will- ingness to bargain. The board’s interest is to keep the district solvent, Stohler said. In response to the teachers’ claims that they were giving up something, Stohler said, “Is there any possibility in the world that what you came up with is not what we came up with as our bottom See SPAR, page 7A By JULIE ZEEB DN Staff Writer CORNING — Jerry Lequia presented City Manager Steve Kimbrough with a check at Tuesday’s City Council meeting to cover the costs to put up the city logo in the council chambers. The council was asked at the Jan. 11 meeting to approve the size and loca- tion and the construction of a small wall at the corner behind the council in the chamber to paint the logo, which will include the words In God We Trust. Cost estimates given at the Jan. 11 meeting were $2,800, or $1,400 if the project could be done now since a city worker was available, so some of the cost would already be in the budget, Kimbrough said. Councilwoman Toni Parkins objected when it was brought up at the Jan. 11 meeting that funding would be coming from the city’s building mainte- nance fund. That fund is used to the fullest every year and Parkins’ concern was, should there be need for a repair, the money would not be there, she said. Lequia answered Parkins’ question by offer- ing to head-up a group of community members to seek donations specifically for the project. In about a month’s time the group was able to raise $1,460 with more dona- tions being made even after the check was pre- sented on behalf of the Corning Tea Party Patriots and other community members, Lequia said. “I’d like to thank the generous members of the community,” Lequia said. See LOGO, page 7A New reserve officers join RBPD By JULIE ZEEB DN Staff Writer A swearing-in ceremo- ny was held Wednesday morning at City Hall for four reserve officers who will be joining the Red Bluff Police Department after a few weeks of train- ing. “These guys are a big benefit to our force and it’s mutually beneficial,” said Police Chief Paul Nanfito. “It will help augment our patrol staff and we provide them with experience and skills that will be helpful for them in their career whether here or else- where.” Officers sworn in include Brian Quigley, Jerry Jungwirth and Scott Curtis of Red Bluff and Alan Gilbert who is from Chico. All four men said they are hoping to gain the experience needed to go into law enforcement full- time. The reserve officers, who will be under the gen- eral supervision of a full- time officer, will provide back-up and assist with things like traffic control, which helps mitigate the cost of traffic control, Nanfito said. The four will need about three to four weeks Daily News photo by Julie Zeeb Alan Gilbert signs paperwork after being sworn in Wednesday morning as a reserve officer for Red Bluff Police at City Hall by Deputy City Clerk Cheryl Smith. Behind him Scott Curtis, Jerry Jungwirth and Brian Quigley, who were also sworn in, wait their turn to sign paperwork. of training before they will be in uniform, Nanfito said. “This brings our total number of reserves to seven and hopefully 10 soon,” Nanfito said. “1984, when I was a reserve, was the last time we had this many reserve officers, but we’re back in the same (economic) cir- cumstances.” The officers will enter as level two reserves, which means they are unpaid, Nanfito said. “I appreciate their will- ingness to participate (as reserves),” Nanfito said. “They’re going to face all the risks of a full-time offi- cer and they’re doing it for free.” See RBPD, page 7A GAUMER’S Jewelry & Museum Open Sat. 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