Debra Answers BUTTE FORWARD'S Smear Campaign Against Her

• ALLEGATION: Lucero supported the crazy needle distribution fiasco in Chico.  
• FACT: The Butte County Board of Supervisors has no jurisdiction in the City of Chico. We unanimously voted to ban needle exchange programs in the unincorporated areas of Butte County. Here is the link:  https://buttecounty.granicus.com/DocumentViewer.php?file=buttecounty_f79e2932-8606-4e0f-a367-0aa6c9a8f57e.pdf&view=1  As you know, we have no jurisdiction in the City of Chico.  
• ALLEGATION: Lucero opposed building infrastructure projects needed to help the Town of Paradise rebuild.  
• FACT: I am in favor of rebuilding Paradise. I do have concerns about the Paradise pipeline project as well as the sewer project. My concern is the proposed cost of these projects and who will ultimately pay for them. The projects are a push by the state for consolidation and I’m concerned what it will mean for businesses and individuals - both on the ridge and in Chico. I’ve never known the state or feds to pick up the total cost of ANY huge project like a pipeline or sewer. There is always a local cost and estimates have this at $320 million. 
• ALLEGATION: Lucero opposed making it easier to build affordable housing in Chico.  
• FACT: I am completely in favor of affordable housing projects and champion these ideas. I really don’t understand this allegation. I bring back funding concepts from nearly every meeting I attend at the state and federal level and work collaboratively with private/public partners to get something … anything done. The truth is there was “next to nothing” in affordable housing built in the past eight years in Chico. That will change dramatically in the next eight years with nearly 1,000 units slated to happen by 2023 in Chico. This is mainly due to the Camp Fire and tax credits and CDBGR funding. In contrast, 219% of medium to high housing was built in the same eight-year period. 
• ALLEGATION: Lucero opposed removing the homeless from public spaces and suggested turning the Chico Mall into a homeless shelter. 
• FACT I do not want people living in our parks and waterways. I have always said this. I have also said that you can’t simply move people without a place to go. The truth about the pallet shelter is that it would not have happened if I had not asked Bill Connelly during a recess to change his vote. The Board had voted 3-2 in favor of the Pallet Shelter (Kimmelshue, Ritter & Me) but it needed a 4/5 vote because it required a budget change. Bill came back from the recess and changed his vote. I was vocal about the absurdity of the space at the airport when people would not even put their animals out there due to the heat. We need an RV park or parking lot situation and possibly a camp of some sort in addition to the pallet shelter. I did suggest looking at various vacant buildings and could have mentioned the Sears building but honestly, I don’t remember this statement.  
• ALLEGATION: Lucero has gone to war with local farmers on several issues. She claims to be a champion of keeping our water local but voted to sell water behind Oroville Dam  to Southern California!   
• FACT: The Board of Supervisors has a long-standing agreement to sell water to Southern California cities. This agreement occurred long before I was on the board and continues to this day. The vote my opponents are referring to was a unanimous vote by our board - 5-0. In other words, I voted along with the other four supervisors to maintain our agreement. If we don't sell the water; we have to pay the state more than a million dollars. As for the other allegation concerning farmers: I have gone to bat for farmers and take issue with this statement. Not all farmers think like the Farm Bureau. I think it’s a huge mistake on the part of the 71 agriculturalists who have united to create a CA Water District with a one-acre/one-vote structure. It is undemocratic and unconstitutional and should be challenged. Additionally, the farmers have just made it easier for the state to deal with 1 entity vs. 71 entities when emergency measures must be issued in times of drought. This has been the plan of the state for decades, according to DWR Bulletin 118 from 1978 - to store water in an aquifer that is drained. The state knew there would be no more large-scale dams or projects due to the environmental concerns and damage. The state needs the Tuscan Aquifer for its groundwater market which it is instituting. TWD wants to be a player in that market and will own the water it recharges through the various PMA’s or Project Management Actions like the Paradise Irrigation District (PID’s) project. The state needs the storage. If locals think the water will stay here, I think they are mistaken. Paper water can go anywhere.  A water bank is in Butte’s future and the winners will not be the small farmers or domestic well owners. It will be the large industrial agriculturalists who bank the water. They will use taxpayer dollars to get grants to do the work and bank the water to sell for personal profit. It’s happened in the San Joaquin Valley and now those folks are up here making the same types of decisions. The two largest landowners are not local and will be controlling the lion’s share of the water interests. 
• ALLEGATION: Lucero has treated the county budget like her own personal piggy bank. She travels from city to city across the country attending fancy junkets on our dime.  Flights, hotels, meals…taxpayers always pick up the tab.   
• FACT: This is perhaps one of the most blatant lies of the bunch. First of all, I have never been to St. Louis, Mo. on the county dime for an event. Secondly, I have been unanimously appointed to California State Association of Counties (CSAC) and the National Association of Counties (NACo) for the past 4 years. These appointments require travel. My last trip to Washington, D.C., was completely paid for by the PEW Charitable Trust due to my work as the Chair of the Resident Counties Advisory Board. I didn’t travel for nearly two of my four years so this is a complete misrepresentation of the facts. Rob Berry requested a freedom of information act to get all of my travel records and apparently didn’t find them enhanced enough so he made up some more. 
• ALLEGATION: She even hired her husband to work in her office where he collected $58,000 in salary and benefits. How is that even allowed?  
• FACT: I did not hire my husband. I do not have the power to hire anyone. My own assistant's supervisor is the county's Chief Administrative Officer, not myself. The County of Butte hired my husband. He answered the recruitment process just like anyone else with the approval of the CAO and Human Resources. When I was elected and going through meetings with administration, the first thing I asked Shari McCracken (previous CAO) was who should I get to be my assistant. She said, “Someone you know that has your back.” My husband and I have worked together for 20 years and this was a new situation. I remembered that Bill Connelly had had his mother work for him for years. So I didn’t see any difference. When I realized there was a public misperception, Ray resigned immediately.  I did not want a distraction to interfere with my job as supervisor. This occurred in 2019.

Dark Money ads attacking me are full of lies by a PAC funded by Tuscan Water District and Development Proponents 

A Political Action Committee (PAC) called Butte Forward, created for the express purpose of “Opposing Debra Lucero for Supervisor 2022” (FPPC#1446709), released slick ads, using scare tactics and blatant lies. Financial filings show major contributors include the most vocal proponents of the Tuscan Water District, building contractors and elected officials including: 

ELECTED OFFICIALS

$7,500 - Support Sean Morgan for Chico: Reject the Recall   

$5,000 - Gallagher for Assembly 2022  

$3,000 - Connelly for District 2 2024  

OTHER DONORS

$2,500 - North Valley Building Systems, Inc.   

$2,500 - J.W. Bamford, Inc.  

$2,000 - Stephen J. Schuster, President, Sierra Moon Mutual Water Company  $2,000 - Linda Willadsen, President, Willadsen Orchards   

$1,500 - Joel Kimmelshue, Agricultural Scientist, Land IQ    

$1,000 - Mark E. Kimmelshue, President, Associated Rice Marketing Cooperative  $750 - Daniel Hutless, President, Ord Bend Farms, Inc.  

$520.22 - Ralph Wilkerson, Co-Owner, Radio Trucking  

$500 - Almont Orchards, Inc.  

$500 - C.E. Becker & Sons Enterprises 

$500 - Daniel (Rocky) L. Donati, Danoti Ranch 

$500 - Kirk Kimmelshue, Region Vice President Anheuser-Busch 

$500 - Kyle Dalrymple, Inc.  

$500 - PBM Supply & Manufacturing, Inc. 

$500 - Paiva Farm Management, Inc. 

$500 - S&S Enterprises 

$500 - Sean P. Earley General Mgr., Richvale Irrigation District   

$400 - Gail Moffitt, Moffitt Farms 

$400 - Walter L. Stile Jr.,  Principal WL Stile and Son  

$300 - Hutton Family Farm 

$300 - Darren F. Rice, Rice & Sons 

$300 - Anita Terra, Inc.   

$250 - Biggs Farming Group 

$250 - Craig Bilsborough, Grower Representative, Farmers International, Inc.  $250 - Heritage Insurance Agency, Inc. 

$250 - Jolene Sheppard, Business Owner, Kelby Sheppard Land Leveling 

$250 - Karen Kimmelshue, bookkeeper, Environmental Alternatives  

$250 - Lester S. Herringer Jr., Farm Manager M&T Ranch  

$250 - Lorraine F. Nock  

$250 - Thomas L. Willadsen, Farmer, Willadsen Orchards, Inc.  

$250 - Shubert’s Inc. dab Shubert’s Ice Cream & Candy  

$250 - Travis J. Fortner dba Fortner Hedging  

$200 - Bruce McGowan, Richard McGowan Farming, Inc.  $200 - Casell Farms  $200 - CP Sheppard Farms 

$200 - Duke Sherwood Contracting, Inc. 

$200 - Diana Sherwood, Controller, Duke Sherwood Contracting  

$200 - Merlo General Farming, Inc.  

$200 - Ronald E. Jones, Farmer   

$125 - Joseph H. Connell, Professor/Advisor UC Cooperative Extension, Butte County  

$125 - Lee Heringer, President Butte County Farm Bureau  

$150 - By the Numbers Bookkeeping & Business Assistance  

$100 - Atchison Enterprises  

$100 - Durham Auto Parts $100 - Gary M. Lindberg  

$100 - Great Escape Travel  

$100 - H. Jud Carter  $100 - Jeff Shimizu, President, Shimizu Brothers, Inc.  

$100 - JSR Family Farms LLC, Geraldine Carlos 

$100 - Linda Leete, Teacher, Chico Unified School District 

$100- Mark Allen Chrisman, Interim CEO Chico Chamber of Commerce  

$100 - Michael Bertain, Physician Consulting 

$100 - Nancy J. Griswold, Griswold Farms 

$100 - Pantaloon Ag Enterprises, Inc. 

$100 - Paula K. Cassady  

$100 - Robert Foster Ranch  

$100 - Richard E. Jones 

$100 - Stuart Thompson   

The ads  use culture war tactics, such as blaming me for the high gas prices, Chico’s homeless crisis, and ‘needles.’ The ads also include lies about my travel schedule and use of county money. 

The organization’s website and Facebook page are registered to Nick Mirman, owner of Headlamp Communications. Mirman is also Chief of Staff for Republican State Assemblyman Jordan Cunningham of San Luis Obispo (D35). The filing phone number is an anonymous Google account (530) 332-8048.