Gallaway gave $250 to Judge Roy Moore PAC Committee backed Alabama Senate candidate who lost amid sex allegations

photo by Karen Laslo

Matt Gallaway

by Dave Waddell

Chico City Council candidate Matt Gallaway donated $250 last year to a political action committee (PAC) backing Judge Roy Moore, a controversial Alabama senatorial candidate, federal election records show.

The contribution was first referenced in a campaign flier put out by Chico Democrats as Chicoans mailboxes continue to be flooded with mailers in the lead-up to the Nov. 6 election. In what will probably become the highest-spending campaign in city history — and with partisan control of the Council at stake — more than $300,000 and counting has been contributed to candidates and PACs involved in the race. read more

PAC backing Chico conservatives banking big bucks Police union, businessman help bring total funds to $43,000

by Dave Waddell

Chico’s police union and a longtime businessman have supplied big bucks to bolster a political action committee (PAC) trying to keep conservatives in control of Chico city government.

A $5,000 donation from the Chico Police Officers’ Association, as well as Tom Dauterman’s unusually large $10,000 contribution, were booked in recent days by the PAC, called Chico Citizens for Accountable Government (CCAG).

CCAG reported raising $22,000 during the first half of October, more than doubling its 2018 fund-raising to a total of $43,000 through Oct. 16. CCAG is working to elect incumbent Andrew Coolidge and newcomers Kasey Reynolds and Matt Gallaway to the Chico City Council. Even before the October infusion of fresh money, the three conservatives and CCAG together had raised more than $200,000. read more

Council passes new Sit and Lie Ordinance Ordinance opponents stage quiet protest; one detention

photo by Karen Laslo

Audience members turn their backs on the Council in protest.

by Leslie Layton

About 20 opponents of a law that bans sidewalk lounging near businesses turned their backs on Chico City Council Tuesday night as it voted 4-3 to reinstate the so-called Sit and Lie Ordinance.

The protest was quiet and emphatic and different in character from the orchestrated disruptions at the Sept. 4 City Council meeting when Mayor Sean Morgan ordered the chamber cleared and the panel proceeded to advance the ordinance in an almost empty auditorium. (ChicoSol journalists were barred from that meeting.) read more

Chico police didn’t ask for return of Sit and Lie law Councilman Coolidge resurrected contentious ordinance

photo by Karen Laslo

Councilman Andrew Coolidge

news analysis by Dave Waddell

Contrary to Chico’s latest urban legend – one sparked and fanned by certain news media and politicians in the midst of a City Council election campaign — Chico police did not “ask” for the highly controversial Sit and Lie Ordinance to be resurrected.

The distinction of raising Sit and Lie from the dead belongs to a single individual: City Councilman Andrew Coolidge, who’s seeking re-election in the Nov. 6 balloting.

The current Council, controlled by a 4-3 conservative majority, is expected to restore the Sit and Lie Ordinance to city law at its meeting tonight – three weeks before the election, and as voters are receiving their mail-in ballots. The ordinance outlaws sitting or lying on sidewalks next to businesses during certain hours. read more

Senate Confirmation Vote Sanctions Hatred of Women point of view

photo by Karen Laslo

Counter-protester at Chico Women’s March 2018

by Karen Laslo

I saw him standing on the corner of 4th and Main streets in downtown Chico on January 20th during this year’s Women’s March for Women’s Rights, Human Rights and Unity. His sign and the sneering smile on his face told me what he thinks of women.

Particularly offensive is the sign’s reference to a speculum, a medical instrument used for examinations that saves women’s lives, but here he was using it and the humiliating “C” word to abuse, denigrate, insult and express his hatred of women. And contrary to the sign’s assertion, women don’t want “extra rights.” We want — no, we demand — that the laws of human rights that already exist be enforced: namely, the right to govern our own bodies and the right to not be sexually harassed, raped and/or physically abused by men. read more

Chico’s conservative candidates haul in $200,000 Esplanade League fined, quits; FPPC still probing conservative PAC

photo by Karen Laslo

by Dave Waddell

When it comes to political action committees (PACs) operating in this year’s Chico City Council race, some things have changed while one has remained the same: Big bucks contributed by big developers to a PAC backing conservative candidates.

In fact, three conservative City Council candidates and the developers’ PAC supporting them have hauled in an unprecedented $200,000 in contributions for the Nov. 6 election, compared to a total of about $85,000 for three liberal candidates. read more