Letters for May 10, 2018

Hypocrites all around

Re “Off the market” (Newslines, by Ashiah Scharaga, May 3):

All seven on the Chico City Council unequivocally support decommissioning the Jesus Center on Park Avenue, as was obvious at the meeting on May 1.

Providing food and clothing in our downtown was never popular. When Bill Such was cut loose, the writing was on the wall; the new business-oriented director was hired to end the madness. The sort of madness prescribed by Jesus: feeding and clothing the poor, right here, in our midst. (Matthew 25: 34-36).

The purpose of closing the Jesus Center, rather than improving and expanding it, is to get the homeless out of downtown. To deny them the public space, especially City Plaza.

With any other class of people—people of color or you-name-it—our three “liberal” council members would have stood on principle, or postured as such. But, the homeless are unworthy of inclusion. So, we can try to hide the motive, but the motive is to exclude people. Chico is a wannabe-affluent enclave, with a mean streak.

Complicit or complacent are the frauds associated with “social justice” and “diversity”: liberal Christian churches, Quakers, the Peace and Justice Center, the Chico State Department of Social Work, etc. Hypocrites, one and all.

Patrick Newman

Chico

‘Shed-plicity Village’

Re “Support for tiny houses” (Letters, by Laurel Heath, May 3):

The Yahi chapter of the Sierra Club has financially endorsed Simplicity Village.

Let’s correct Yahi’s depiction that Simplicity Village is “tiny houses.” A bed-in-a-shed does not make a tiny house any more than two-beds-in-a-shed make a tiny duplex. They are sheds: “Shed-plicity Village.” Describing them as tiny houses is misleading.

To gain community support, progenitors of Simplicity Village stated they will help only “local homeless”—decent people that for lack of a better term, fell one paycheck out of their home. They were outspokenly adamant that this project would not attract more transient homeless to Chico: those who leave garbage and a festival of toilet paper on our creeks and waterways.

Yet Yahi’s rationale is that Simplicity will somehow help our creeks and waterways, which suggests they believe it will indeed serve transients that trash our waterways. Yet since services attract people, Simplicity will attract more transient homeless, which will further impact our waterways.

Yahi is endorsing Simplicity, which suggests Simplicity isn’t what it purports to be. Yet if Simplicity does what it promises, it makes Yahi’s financial endorsement a questionable use of funds. Or is it simply friends funneling club money to friends? Nothing ironic there.

Peter Bridge

Ord Bend

Housing first works

For those seeking a cleaner, safer Chico, “housing first” (HF) has repeatedly produced positive results. HF is a recovery-oriented approach to ending homelessness, based on quickly moving unhoused people into independent/permanent housing and then providing additional supports and services as needed.

Peer-reviewed studies of housing first cite:

• Greatly reduced returns to the street and greater gains in quality of life.

• Substantial and rapid improvement in housing stability and selected health and justice outcomes.

• Significant reductions in probability of hospitalization, community functioning and number of days experiencing alcohol-related problems.

Viewed in terms of cost-effectiveness: In a study in central Florida, the savings in public costs for shelter, criminal justice, health care, emergency room and behavioral health were $20,000 per person. In a Denver study, the total costs for providing an individual with housing was $13,400. The costs for all services used by a person living outside was assessed to be $15,733.

While a punitive approach to dealing with the homeless is the same tired response to symptoms, housing first is a plan with demonstrable results that actually seeks to help people regain control of their lives, making Chico a cleaner, safer place.

Scott Huber

Chico

Ring-kissing Republicans

When the Don “Corleone” Trump crime family arrived in Washington, their sights were not set on providing leadership that would benefit America. They were fixated on expanding the financial influence of the Trump Organization.

Donald Trump has kept total control of the Trump Organization but ceded day-to-day management to two of his sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, who started peddling their father’s power to effect international real estate deals.

Daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner were appointed to highly classified positions within the Oval Office. They exploited their connection to the U.S. presidency, hyping the Visa EB-5 program to Chinese investors; a $500,000 investment in the U.S., in particular Kushner-related real estate, in return for a permanent United States residency card. Ivanka secured three trademark deals with the Chinese for her jewelry and spa businesses, and has deals pending in other countries.

The Trump Organization has raked in $15.1 million in revenue from political groups and federal agencies. Another $2.4 million went to Trump Tower Commercial LLC, and hundreds of thousands more to the president’s various hotels and corporate holdings.

We have a crime family running the presidency; the absence of accountability and oversight by the Republican-held Congress is criminal.

Roger S. Beadle

Chico

Election shout-outs

Voters will choose a new auditor-controller for Butte County on June 5. My choice is Kathryn Mathes. Kathryn brings 35 years of experience as a certified public accountant having worked in both the private and public sectors in that capacity as well as an entrepreneur. Her government experience includes positions in both the Butte County Assessor’s Office and the Butte County Auditor’s Office, which she left to sharpen her skills in her current position as accounting manager for the city of Chico.

The Butte County auditor-controller is responsible for accurate handling of both expenditures and receipts of funds for an annual budget exceeding $550 million. Kathryn is the only candidate that has worked as both an auditor and a controller and is the only CPA in the race. Because of Kathryn’s professional and personal qualifications, I believe she will provide the best professional leadership for that important office.

The auditor-controller answers only to the voters, so it is incumbent upon us to choose the best qualified candidate for this important position. Please join me in voting for Kathryn Mathes for Butte County auditor-controller.

Kim Morris

Paradise

Jessica Holcombe has my vote as the Democrat with the strongest voice to challenge—and defeat—Doug LaMalfa. Her educational and legal background, coupled with her life experiences and charisma, make her a formidable candidate.

I respect Holcombe for her intelligence, depth, grit and personal attributes of kindness and compassion. She was not born into wealth and privilege and is grateful for the financial aid she received in order to go to college and law school. Jessica is passionate about widening the social safety net for others.

As a former congressional intern, she will enter Congress with insight on how legislation is accomplished, making her a strong and effective advocate. Her website, holcombeforcongress.com, highlights her specific proposals for legislation, including health care for all and other vital issues.

I encourage readers to vote for this capable and dynamic woman to be our U.S. representative in District I.

Silona Reyman

Chico

The decision of whom to vote for in the District 3 supervisors race is easy, looking at past election results.

Bob Evans lost in the 2010 Chico City Council election and was later appointed to the council to finish the term of Larry Wahl. After serving two years, he ran again on his record as an incumbent and lost. He then ran for a supervisor seat in 2014 and lost. Three elections, three losses.

Tami Ritter won a seat on the Chico City Council in 2012. After four years on the council, she ran as a sitting incumbent and lost soundly. The public judged her four-year record as a City Council member and rejected her for another term.

In contrast, Norm Rosene has never run for office, but his community service record is impressive. He served on the appointed Butte County Airport Land Use Commission, helped to start the Chico Air Museum, serves on the board and in the field for the North Valley Animal Disaster Group, and has been working to bring back airline service with Jet Chico.

Norm grew up in Chico and understands the community and its needs. The choice is simple on June 5. Vote for Norm Rosene.

Nathan Heyman

Chico

I’ve lived in the mountains and foothills of Northern California for more than 50 years. I’m volunteering for Marty Walters for U.S. Congress in our California District 1.

Our large district encompasses 11 counties. We are currently poorly represented by Doug LaMalfa, a wealthy 1-percenter who does not face the issues that the residents of District 1 face. We must elect leaders who believe in integrity and who put country ahead of party.

Marty Walters is one of us, a single mom who raised three kids on her own. She has a deep grasp of rural issues and astute ideas to help our issues of fire, water, internet, getting money out of politics, renewable energy and health care.

I’m volunteering for her because I have seen her independence, strength, practical smarts and problem-solving skills. She’s an environmental scientist, intelligent, and has the gravitas and experience to get things done. Please read about her at MartyWalters.com

Kari Freidig

Auburn

Another forum

Independent Like the North State is hosting a candidates forum for California’s Congressional District 1 race on May 17 at 8 p.m. All seven candidates are invited, regardless of political party.

The candidates’ forum will be conducted as an online video conference. Given the district’s vast geography, this will enable voters from all across the North State to log on and conveniently watch the candidates’ presentations. Both viewers and candidates can join us from the comfort of their own home or office.

The candidates’ forum will be broadcast live on radio station KFOI 90.9 FM and it will be rebroadcast at a later date on public television station KIXE.

Hillary Fine

Redding

Those were the days

Remember the days when, at any time of day, you could drive south on The Esplanade from 11th Avenue through town all the way to Park Avenue without stopping? Seventh street was a little bit delayed. It could be done in both directions.

A nice, steady 28 mph and you just cruised through town, did not matter what time of day. Not anymore. Seems like a new pattern on different days and time of day. Why is this? Who decides this? Some traffic analyst who doesn’t drive through town every day multiple times? The lights at Eighth and Ninth and Broadway and Main are constantly changing as well. Frustrating!

William Strom

Chico

Correction

In last week’s Newsline “Half a dozen hopefuls,” by Meredith J. Cooper, a reference to the Rebuild America Act was misattributed to Marty Walters. It is, in fact, part of Jessica Holcombe’s platform. We regret this error, which has been corrected online.—ed.