photo by Karen Laslo
Chico Police Chief Mike O’Brien
commentary by Dave Waddell
Last March, I spoke at a League of Women Voters of Butte County forum having to do with public access to law enforcement records.
That Sunshine Week forum, which included Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea and police reformers Emily Alma and Margaret Swick, gave me an opportunity to vent a bit about the most secretive public agency I’ve dealt with as a journalist: the city of Chico.
At the forum I said something that, if anything, is even truer today: Chico city government has no respect for the people’s right to know.