Off Beat: Marysville off the road, in a ditch

Marysville was always the small city that dreamed big, usually bigger than its resources — or political astuteness — would allow.

Surrounded by levees, Marysville's city fathers wanted to break out into the wider expanses of unincorporated Yuba County: District 10 to the north and Linda in the south.

It was Marysville's manifest destiny.

But those dreams were always dashed, and now the city finds itself in a ditch after skidding off the road of prosperity.

Why did it all go so wrong?

Can you blame the city councils of the last 40 or 50 years? Sure, go ahead, blame all you want.

Redeveloping the seedier part of time brought in a shiny new department store way back when, producing bountiful sales tax revenue.

But times and economic conditions change. The big department store went away. It lasted in town probably longer than it should have. It probably should have been built in Yuba City in the first place.

Those annexation dreams date back for decades, but the city was never able to garner any support from the folks who were targets of the annexation.

They saw a dysfunctional city government, a downtrodden downtown, a hotel that was an eyesore, and they said no thanks.

The real end for Marysville's hopes came in 1995 when the Yuba County Local Agency Formation Commission rejected the city's bid to gobble up 296 acres in District 10. LAFCO said no thanks.

Annexing the Peach Tree Mall in Linda never got beyond the talking stage.

Fittingly, perhaps, the city's general plan — or at least the one on the city's website — is dated August 1985. There's not much point in planning when there's nothing to plan for.

So the city has hobbled along for many years, occasionally seeking a hand from its taxpayers and usually getting the back of the hand in return.

Last week, in a blast from City Hall, city officials blamed voters for rejecting a 2008 sales tax measure. What a surprise that was. It was, of course, a familiar refrain.

In 1997, the city tried to persuade property owners to OK citywide benefit assessment districts for parks, traffic lights and street lights. Voters said no then, too.

"The people have spoken," then-Mayor Jerome Crippen said. "We will do what they want us to do. That is what we always have said."

Back during that earlier budget crisis, city officials discussed other measures to raise funds and cut costs: Closing some city parks, privatizing Beckwourth-Riverfront Park, selling Plumas Lake Golf Course, leasing out the city water system and selling a redevelopment note at a discount.

They don't sound so bad now.

Harold Kruger is a veteran reporter and copy editor for the Appeal-Democrat. His column, "Off Beat," appears Sundays. Call 749-4717 or e-mail hkruger@appealdemocrat.com