Tag: homelessness

District 3: The incumbent and the challenger Councilmember Bennett ducks interview opportunity with ChicoSol

Northeast Chico’s District 3 stretches from a piece of Lower Bidwell Park to the northern border of the City and westward to Cohasset Road.

by Yucheng Tang
posted Oct. 11

The District 3 City Council race feels like deja vu to many Chico voters.

Two years ago, Monica McDaniel and Dale Bennett both ran for the District 3 council seat, with McDaniel narrowly losing by about 200 votes. This year, the two are once again competing for the same position.

McDaniel remembers feeling incredibly nervous while waiting for the results and frustrated upon learning she had lost. McDaniel believes this year there could be a different outcome. read more

Safe Space leadership plans to meet with City officials City threat to shut down intake threatens winter sheltering program

by Leslie Layton
posted Jan. 4

Jan. 6 update: Chico City Council held an emergency meeting today after Safe Space was forced to move intake from the downtown building. (Intake today will be held at 5:30 p.m. at 285 East 5th St.) A meeting will be held Tuesday between City and Safe Space managements, and Council members Sean Morgan and Addison Winslow. read more

Unhoused people say they’re targeted, misunderstood A BB gun shooting interrupts an autumn morning

Sidebar to part II in ChicoSol series on homelessness in 2023.

On a Friday morning in September, North State Shelter Team (NSST) volunteers keep the mobile shower unit running during their weekly visit to the alternate site campground. Hope Commons Church has brought coffee and rolls for unhoused campers. Suddenly, a ping ping ping interrupts quiet conversations. read more

How City sidelined the “quickest and simplest option” for unhoused people Winslow: "the government owes safety and security to everyone"

photo by Karen Laslo
City staff cleared Depot Park Aug. 31, evicting people from what had become the last large encampment.

by Addison Winslow
guest commentary posted Sept. 3

The Warren v Chico settlement forced Chico into a reckoning with homelessness; such a reckoning that city policy now has the effect of a boulder rolling down a hill. Not once since I was sworn into office last December has the City Council been asked for or given direction on homelessness.

Taking the settlement forced on us by a federal court as the entirety of our City’s policy to address homelessness puts Chico in a rut. Because the court decided that a shelter bed only qualifies as a token for eviction if it is indoors, we have sidelined the quickest and simplest option to improve conditions of people camping in public spaces: managed camping in an environmentally responsible location. The biggest absurdity of this is that, as part of the settlement agreement, we have sanctioned campgrounds (three of them, technically, though all at the same intersection), and regulation is just piecemeal or nonexistent. read more

State sends Chico back to the drawing board – again Revisions underway on City's eight-year housing plan

by Natalie Hanson
posted June 21

Chico city officials say that after nearly a year, the City’s plan for building new housing under state law — the Housing Element — could be approved this summer. But the process is already far behind schedule, as the state just slapped the latest draft with demands for more revisions for the second time in one year. read more

Project Roomkey extended in Butte County Some motel space will be available through March 2022

photo by Karen Laslo
District 2 Supervisor Debra Lucero

by Leslie Layton
posted Dec. 17

The Butte County Board of Supervisors made funding available this past week to extend Project Roomkey – the state program that utilized federal funds to house at-risk homeless people during the pandemic.

In a 5-0 vote, the board on Dec. 14 approved a proposal brought forth by supervisors Debra Lucero and Tami Ritter that allocates $1.5 million from the county’s General Fund for motel rooms for unsheltered senior citizens or individuals with chronic health conditions who need isolation or quarantine during the pandemic. The rooms will be available until the end of March and the occupants will receive services to help them maintain quarantine, such as meal delivery. read more