Market support

The fight over the future of the Saturday farmers’ market in downtown Chico may be over, at least for the next 6 1/2 years. Tuesday (June 17) the Chico City Council voted 6-0 to adopt an initiative that grants the market an initial six-year franchise agreement, beginning Jan. 1, 2015; allows it to expand on site; and calls for the market to pay the city a $5,000 per year fee. After that deal expires, a new eight-year contract will be put before the voters in the general election.

City Clerk Deborah Presson told the council that the Friends of the Farmers’ Market had collected enough signatures—5,654 as validated by the County Elections Office in a sampling—to qualify the initiative. More than 9,000 signatures were gathered altogether. Adding the matter to the November ballot would cost the city between $5,000 and $10,000, Presson said.

After hearing 12 speakers, most in favor of the market, the council had three options before it—put the matter on the November election ballot, adopt the initiative as is, or order a report on how the market affects downtown businesses. Interim City Manager Mark Orme had recently presented the Chico Certified Farmers’ Market (CCFM) four options that included moving the market to Sundays and moving the market to the City Hall parking lot at Fourth and Flume streets. The CCFM rejected those options and asked that the initiative either be adopted by council or put to a vote.

Karl Ory, a former Chico mayor and member of the Friends of the Farmers’ Market, told the council that the initiative “wasn’t written on the back of a napkin.” He said there was an open process behind the effort in which the farmers were asked what they needed to keep the market going.

“Honor the petition of 9,200 residents and put it on the ballot or adopt it,” he said. “Don’t wait too long. The initiative doesn’t go away.”

Ory was followed by regular council meeting commenter and dentist Michael Jones, who said he knows of no one who wants to close the market, but that the initiative process was misleading in that it “doubles the market in size, which was not clear when people signed” the petition.

The discussion on the future of the market came on the heels of an all-day meeting that detailed many of the problems facing the city and that was not lost on those addressing the council.

Market supporter Mark Stemen made note of that. “As I listened today, I learned we have a lot of problems in Chico,” he said. “The farmers’ market is not one of them.”

Former Councilman Tom Nickell said what is at hand “is not a war. It’s just two groups trying to get together. Put this on the ballot. If the voters say no, it’s done. You have other problems to deal with.”

Mike Trolinder, a regular at public meetings who advocates for expanded parking, said the 9,000-plus citizens who signed the petition all have something in common. “They come downtown for the farmers’ market,” he said. “How do we get people to come downtown for the downtown?”

When the speakers were finished, Vice Mayor Mark Sorensen said that, based on the number of signatures gathered, it was “clear that the initiative would be successful on the ballot.”

Sorensen, who’s criticized the market and its impacts on the downtown, made a motion to adopt the initiative and it went unopposed, with Councilwoman Ann Schwab abstaining due to her owning downtown property. Sorensen also made a motion to direct the city manager to look into Saturday parking meter enforcement. Mayor Scott Gruendl questioned whether the issues should be separated, and based on advice from the assistant city attorney via phone, the items were split.

Ory then pointed out that since the move to study an expansion of parking fees was not agendized, the council couldn’t vote on the matter. Sorensen then moved to place the issue on the next council agenda.

Moving forward, Natalie Carter, the CCFM office manager, said the farmers’ market initiative includes wording that allows the market and the city to make changes that are mutually agreed upon.

For his part, Orme said he is not sure what is left to negotiate.

“That’s a great question,” he said by phone. “We will find out when we schedule a meeting to determine what issues need to be addressed. We have to find out how this rolls out legally.”