City of Chico Proposes Internment Camp for Homeless at Airport
This week, the city of Chico filed paperwork responding to the lawsuit brought against it to stop the evictions and harassment of homeless people.
Unfortunately, it appears they paid no attention to the community, service providers, or city and county officials who weighed in. At the Ad Hoc meetings that were held back in May, the received input from all kinds of folks about this issue; in general, most agreed that any solution needed to include access to services, storage, water and waste disposal, food, shade, and comprehensive services to get to the root of the problem and get people housed.
The proposed solution meets none of those goals. Instead, they have fenced in 571 camping spaces on a barren piece of land 6 miles from town near the Chico airport. No provisions for any type of services, no access to showers, no food, no way to store property (so they could safely leave to go to appointments, jobs or interviews) and only one single point of egress\ingress for nearly 600 people in case of fire. The area is fully fenced, has no trees, and has only one shade structure, which, depending on the angle of the sun, may not even provide much shade certain times of of the day. Not even so much as a bench to sit on or a table to eat.
Critically, there are also no provisions for electricity for charging a phone or a wheelchair.
There was a proposal for this site that could have accommodated 50 people safely and ensured they were engaged with wrap-around services. Instead of service providers, the city has proposed to pay for 24/7 armed guards for the site.
In one of the ad hoc meetings, the City Fire Marshall said he could not recommend this site because of the fire danger.
In multiple meetings, service providers and county staff agreed that 50 people was the optimal number for a safe and manageable camp.
We can’t predict what the judge will say to this proposal. But we can say the city is not acting in good faith. They are trying to do the minimum to get back to enforcement, while doing nothing to solve the actual problem.
As well, when the council refused to extend the Emergency Shelter Crisis Declaration, they opened themselves up to additional lawsuits at this site, including ADA compliance, Environmental Review. Not to mention wrongful death suits should people expire in the baking heat or be trapped by a fast moving fire.
It looks like an internment camp because it is essentially an internment camp, and homeless people are expressing fear and frustration about it.
This isn’t ethical. It isn’t fiscally responsible. It may or may not be legal, but it isn’t right. We should, once again, be able to expect more from city leadership.
We need your help to fight back.
Stand Up for Chico is a grassroots organization, run by volunteers. We want our community back. We want a town where a disagreement doesn't mean promoting vitriol and hatred. We want a town were someone can engage in public service without attempts to destroy their livelihood. We want a community that looks for solutions and lifts up those who are struggling with poverty, homelessness, mental illness and addiction, rather than just shipping them out of sight.
If you can afford to chip in $5, $20, $100, or even a small amount monthly, we promise you we will use that money to promote initiatives that reflect our shared values, not hatred.
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