City Council Updates
Weโve got a lot of updates to share but will try to keep this relatively short.
This was the first meeting since early 2020 where the public could participate in real time. The city used Zoom and overall it went pretty smoothly. It does also effectively put an end to people rambling on past their time, since you are muted as soon as your three minutes are upโฆnot such a bad thing.
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The council replaced Andrew Jared, who has provided able and ethical representation to the city, with Vince Ewing, a conservative attorney with longtime cronies on the current council. There was no competitive process to solicit a replacement, this was done through a closed session in possible violation of the Brown Act. He also lost the city over $200,000 when he told them that Chico Scrap Metal would pay attorneyโs fees that went unpaid.
You can read more about this here: More Council Hijinks
๐.๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐-๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐
Postponed until 3/15 meeting
๐.๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐
California approved recreational Cannabis in 2016. Chico voters overwhelmingly approved it, with over 60% in favor. Yet here we are in 2021 and we still don't have a single legal dispensary.
Commercial cannabis will bring immediate jobs and additional revenue to Chico, things we desperately need as the pandemic continues. It is heavily regulated by the state, and must have security staff onsite at all times, video cameras inside and out, and much more. Dispensaries throughout the state have proven themselves to be good neighbors that don't contribute to an increase in crime. This is long overdue and the current council is once again stalling.
The council continued to stall, instructing staff to bring them additional options.
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This is all nakedly, brazenly political, but with the majority conservative council the political paybacks will continue. Kami finally attended one (yep only one, and weeks after she requested this item be agendized) GCHTF meeting and has so little knowledge about their work it is laughable.
The council voted to have staff bring them back information to โtake overโ the task force. Coolidge said he thought there would be a law suit for lack of compliance with the Brown Act (huh, 25 years without that being an issueโฆ), Denlay displayed her real agenda, saying she wanted โto bring more accountability and legitimacy to the echo chamber that is GCHTF.โ Mind you, she has attended ONE SINGLE GCHTF meetingโฆbut of course we all know this is about getting rid of dissenting voices and disempowering service providers.
When it was pointed out that Brown Act compliance would prevent critical service provider collaboration if they were involved, Morgan said, โwell, we will do our own thing and see which service providers want to play,โ a clear threat to service providers that he has spent years denigrating and playing against each other.
And Reynolds kicked it back to staff, commenting, โwe can make it an ad hoc committee and then perhaps sunset it in 6 months.โ
And with that, they will attempt to destroy a venerable and effective community collaborative that has operated for 25 years, and spawned the Torres, Shelter, CHAT and so many other organizations doing good work in the community.
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The City Council will review, and presumably rescind, the Housing Committee report that includes inclusionary zoning, a liberalization of permitting on ADUs, as well as vague commitments for the City to support affordable housing and look into community land trusts.
It's a big and complicated report, but most recommendations are worth defending.
๐๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ๐'๐ฌ ๐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ง๐ง๐๐๐ฅ๐ ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ ๐ก๐๐ซ๐, ๐ข๐ญ'๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ ๐ฉ๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐๐ข๐ฉ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐๐๐๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ซ๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฐ๐ก๐จ๐ฅ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ. The community input on the Housing Element update is basically over until the work is done in August, and we need more opportunities for people to learn about what these recommendations mean for the community, of to have the opportunity to speak their mind on city housing policy.
Postponed until 3/16
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This item should be getting a hard NO. The city is effectively gambling with our unfunded pension liabilities, issuing a bond and assuming it will do well enough to cover liabilities. This item deserves a deep dive and we will try to do that in coming weeks.
Staff and Council unconcerned with the fact that San Bernardino and Stockton were driven into bankruptcy after dabbling in this dubious practice. Continuing to move forward.
๐๐๐ฅ๐ฉ ๐๐ฌ ๐ ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ ๐จ๐ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ
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