(video by Alex Grant)
Tag: Chico City Council
Chico commits to a fossil-free future Council declares climate emergency as storm rages
photo by Karen Laslo
Alma Miranda
by Leslie Layton
Pounding hail, bolts of lightning and tornado alarms drowned out plaintive voices of the shyest of the teens who spoke before the Chico City Council Tuesday night.
To many in the chamber, nature had also spoken in a thundering, biblical voice.
To others, of course, the racket was produced by a mere flash flood.
As rain water filled the streets of Chico, trapping a few vehicle passengers and flooding some homes and businesses, the City Council voted 5-1 to pass a resolution declaring a climate emergency. It commits the city to act on climate change and prepare for extreme weather events.
The resolution states “it makes economic sense… to be proactive rather than wait for more wildfires, severe storms, heat waves, and floods which threaten public health and safety… ”
Let’s embrace responsibility and help the unhoused Individual stories eclipse overused term ‘criminal vagrant’
photo by Karen Laslo
Chico City Councilmember Scott Huber.
by Scott Huber
After recent experiences, I’m compelled to present a counter-narrative to those who have spoken out against a “Code Blue” cold-weather shelter (and other sheltering ideas).
At the Feb. 5 Chico City Council meeting, a minority of speakers expressed their reasons for opposing a city-sponsored cold-weather shelter. Their reasons included (paraphrased) “sheltering these people is not Chico’s responsibility, it is the responsibility of Butte County or the non-profits.” Others asserted that because this form of shelter would be open to anyone it would allow for “drug addicts, criminals and sexual predators” (again paraphrased).
Cold-weather sheltering is a safety measure, potentially a life-saving measure. Since when did saving a life come with so many prerequisites? Imagine a person falling overboard, and the potential rescuer shouting out “Sorry you’ll have to wait for the county!” or “Have you ever been convicted of a felony?” This implies that some lives have more value than others, a notion that I trust most people reject. The reality is that neither the county nor the non-profits are immediately able to provide cold-weather solutions, and we are — so we must be the ones to step-up.
Conservative candidates take an election-day campaign to campus Free ice cream a bonus for students who pause near BMU polls
photo by Karen Laslo
Conservative Kasey Reynolds, running for Chico City Council and co-owner of a legendary downtown ice cream shop, provided free ice cream to Chico State students on Tuesday across the walkway from the campus polling place at the Bell Memorial Union.
By state law, election-day campaigning — “electioneering” — can be conducted if it’s 100 feet or more from a polling-place entrance.
About six students protested the last-minute campaigning with signs that noted that Reynolds was endorsed by the police union and contending that she doesn’t support “queer people,” “people of color,” “homeless people.” Reynolds and fellow conservative Matt Gallaway, also a Council candidate, were both present.
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.)
But in what he calls an act of “civil disobedience 101,” activist and ordinance opponent Patrick Newman was led from the chamber in handcuffs Tuesday after he refused to stop reading from a recent court ruling that struck down a disorderly conduct ordinance in Boise, Idaho, targetting people who were sleeping outside and on private property.
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.