What were they thinking?

We can't recall …

In May, a conservative-led group of community members launched a recall effort against Councilman Karl Ory and Mayor Randall Stone. The group’s No. 1 grievance? Their “inability to uphold Chico’s mission to make Chico a safe place to raise a family, an ideal location for business, and a premier place to live.”

The timing was perplexing for several reasons: Ory and Stone became part of the progressive council majority only in December, and their terms end November 2020, just months after any special election would have taken place. (Not to mention a special election would have cost taxpayers upward of $150,000.)

Then, in November, two weeks ahead of its 7,000-plus signature-gathering deadline, the group called off the effort. Organizers attributed its end to an expected switch to district-based elections. Ory posted a statement on his Facebook page in response: “It’s been a needless distraction. … Back to city business.”

Overlooking shelter

Last year, the Chico and Oroville city councils, as well as the county of Butte, voted to declare a shelter emergency. That opened up a significant amount of money from the state to address homelessness. But when local care providers applied for that funding (a whopping $4.9 million), not one of the projects chosen would create even a single bed for a person in need.

The decision was left up to the Butte Countywide Continuum of Care (CoC) and the process was highly criticized. The first round of voting was met with such uproar, in fact, that the CoC council decided to go back and try again. The second time around, though transparency was still questioned, some shelter beds came into play.

Either way, the whole process left something to be desired, and the Butte County Board of Supervisors over the summer voted to create a new division dedicated to homeless issues, including overseeing that funding.

Classy, councilman

At a council meeting early this year, a local civil rights activist laid into the Chico Police Department for the killings of mentally ill civilians in the past couple of years, including Desmond Phillips. During public comments, the woman, who is black, called Police Chief Mike O’Brien a white supremacist.

These comments resurfaced in May, during a council meeting that centered around the panel modeling more respectful and civil behavior toward one another and the general public, and Councilman Sean Morgan made a shocking—and ironic—statement. He argued that the activist’s previous comments constituted riot-inciting behavior that should be silenced, adding that “there’s a point where a personal attack becomes so egregious someone should get punched in the mouth.”

Vice Mayor Alex Brown’s response was calm but incredulous: “You just made a comment about inciting riot behavior … and you said somebody deserved to be punched in the mouth?”

“If you call me a white supremacist, then yes,” Morgan replied.

Worth the wait?

Just before the tent city that formed near the Walmart parking lot was cleared out, the retailer and the Walmart Foundation announced a $1 million donation “to help address the increased needs of the local homeless population,” including displaced Camp Fire survivors and the chronically homeless. The money was to be used by the Jesus Center, Torres Community Shelter and Safe Space Winter Shelter to establish a 24/7 low-barrier shelter.

Though a location on Orange Street was secured, the shelter faced considerable NIMBYism from, among others, Chico State University President Gayle Hutchinson. Then the Jesus Center backed out of the project in April. The next month, the North Valley Community Foundation, entrusted with the funds, returned them to the Walmart Foundation.

Walmart then made the providers apply for the money, and chose to award the lion’s share—$850,000—to the Jesus Center for its relocation and expansion project, the Renewal Center, which is years from completion. The rest was directed to the Torres Shelter to support 24/7 operations and staffing.

Safe Space, which was still actively pursuing the Orange Street Shelter, got zip, effectively killing the project.

Chief goes overboard

Back in August, Chico Police Chief Mike O’Brien was concerned about the potential threats to public safety during PG&E’s planned power outages—the shut-offs to mitigate the threat of wildfire.

Chico’s top cop wanted the authority to declare a curfew, essentially prohibiting people from gathering or traveling in specific public spaces when blackouts continued for days on end.

Unsurprisingly, it didn’t go over well with the community, especially business owners. But that’s not the only thing that merits it for inclusion on the CN&R’s “What were they thinking?” rundown.

O’Brien had conferred with the city attorney on the issue prior to vetting the idea with the City Council, the policy-makers, and it was placed on the agenda as an emergency ordinance. As the CN&R noted at the time, it went over like a lead balloon.

Suing the city

This past year was filled with drama on the dais in Oroville, complete with a lawsuit and allegations of wrongdoing. In May, Councilwomen Linda Draper and Janet Goodson sued the City Council, alleging Mayor Chuck Reynolds had violated the Brown Act when he removed them from the committees they’d sat on. Their attorney, Deborah B. Caplan, went a step further and said the action appeared discriminatory, being that Draper and Goodson were the only women and only liberals on the council and that Goodson was the only black council member.

In September, the council reversed course and reappointed committee members, with Draper and Goodson each being placed on one committee. In response, the pair dropped their suit against the city.

Chico State flunks PR

In August, Chico State gave the CN&R the runaround when reporter Ashiah Scharaga reached out to write a story about how the Camp Fire had affected enrollment. As we suspected, it had declined significantly—but most concerning was the 8.3 percent projected contraction of its freshman class over the previous year (it ended up being a 6.4 percent decrease).

It was like pulling teeth to get the campus’ public relations arm—University Communications—to release the figures and other info (see “Bad PR,” Second & Flume, Aug. 15).

Turns out, we weren’t the only outlet the flacks had given fits. After CN&R Editor Melissa Daugherty wrote about the interference, the student newspaper, The Orion, wrote repeatedly throughout the semester about the university’s heavy-handed attempts to stymie its news- gathering.

As the this newspaper has noted, the buck stops with Chico State President Gayle Hutchinson. So, really, attempts to hinder local media served only to give a black eye to her and the campus. Some public relations.

Accidental massacre

One of Chico’s most sacred spaces is Bidwell Park, so it was no surprise the community was livid when 27 valley oak trees were accidentally felled in Lower Park adjacent to the Chico Creek Nature Center.

What happened? Last March, a Cal Fire corrections crew was contracted for a city of Chico project to reduce fire fuels. The work was supposed to focus on thinning the grove’s catalpas—trees known for their heart-shaped leaves and narrow seed pods.

But with marks painted on trunks coded unclearly, the workers misinterpreted the assignment and collateral damage ensued. Whoops! As a result, city administration standardized marks for tree crews, including contractors, to make sure this was a one-time snafu.

Dropping the ball

Last December, the first test results of water in the Camp Fire zone came back positive for benzene, a known carcinogen. Immediately, Paradise Irrigation District (PID)—despite the fact that the contamination was found in its neighboring purveyors’ pipes—issued a do-not-drink order to customers. Its worry: people would be exposed to harmful chemicals that had leached into the pipelines by melted plastic. Problem is, PID was the only one to act. The state water board’s Division of Drinking Water issued no such warning, and the county Public Health Department twiddled its thumbs. Finally, in March, months after the contamination was first found, Public Health alerted Paradise residents of the potential hazards. Way to look out, guys.

Cringey congressman

Rep. Doug LaMalfa embarrasses his District 1 constituents fairly regularly.

But one of this year’s most cringe-worthy moments happened this past October at the nation’s Capitol. The Richvale rice farmer joined other fringe Republicans who charged into a closed-door impeachment hearing, alleging they’d been shut out of the “secret impeachment depositions.”

Thing is, Republicans were involved in those depositions—the committee conducting the interviews had GOP members aplenty. LaMalfa doesn’t serve on it, however, and he knows how this works.

Republicans couldn’t defend Trump on substance, so they attacked Democrats for the impeachment process. The stunt is one for the history books. Along with Donald Trump being the first POTUS to be impeached during his first term in office, LaMalfa will be remembered for standing by him and for his participation in this dog-and-pony show.

Crosses come down

On Oct. 15, Gold Nugget Days Inc. quietly removed the memorial crosses from the Skyway at the entryway to Paradise, saying they were in disrepair and that they’d attempted to contact next of kin for everyone represented. The timing certainly left something to be desired. Just over two weeks later marked the one-year anniversary of the Camp Fire, the tragedy memorialized by those crosses.

What’s more, the move came at the same time the town of Paradise was considering a permanent Camp Fire memorial, putting its support behind a project with a whopping $1.5 million price tag. Both were enough to make us shake our heads and say, “Why?”

Red Cross walks away

The CN&R was hyper concerned about the folks who were displaced by the Camp Fire, especially those who were living on the margins prior to the disaster and ended up in shelters around the region.

Thing is, we knew those shelters were temporary. That’s why we repeatedly asked Red Cross officials how long the organization would run its remaining facility at the Silver Dollar Fairgrounds. The answer: as long as it’s needed.

But that wasn’t the case. About five weeks after the fire, the organization began turning people away. In January, despite many reassurances to the contrary and less than three months after the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in state history, the Red Cross moved evacuees out. More than 600 people were staying there. That decision forced many people to literally live on the streets.

As the CN&R opined at the time, for those considering where to send charitable donations, we suggest local groups that are in it for the long haul.