As I sit out this latest heat wave, I can’t help but think about folks living on the streets, including people I know.
Here’s the question I have – how did they get there? I’ve known some of these people for years. They grew up in a house, with a mom and dad, and many of them were well-loved and well-educated. They had the usual traumas in life – disappointment, death, loss – these are things that happen to people. Life is not fair. But, life is also full of opportunities, and these people, for some reason, ignored those opportunities and chose the low-hanging fruit – unemployment, drug and alcohol, dysfunction, and oftentimes, criminal activities.
I can’t help but feel, the people that I know who have chosen the street life, knew better, are better people than that, deserve better. But I don’t know how to help them – they want to be in control of their own lives, but somehow they are not. They’ve handed their lives over to drugs and alcohol, for the most part, and those things are easier to get in Chico than a square meal.
What we can do is clean up the environment they’re living in, starting with the criminal element that is responsible for the drug traffic. In Redding they’re doing criminal warrant sweeps of homeless camps – in Chico they hold up their lawsuit and tell us they have to give two weeks’ notice before they clear a camp. “And you better not have any fucking drugs!”
When they clear the empty camp, they don’t make arrests, they just come in to clean up the disgusting mess. Depot Park has been closed for almost a month since the last sweep, dead brown dirt, garbage cans over-flowing with mattresses? How many of these campsites are infested with fleas? Remember they had to close Downtown Plaza a few years ago for a flea outbreak after they cleared the homeless encampment there.
When I watched the video from the recent special council meeting regarding the new Supreme Court ruling, somebody used the phrase “Third World Country”. I don’t think that’s an exaggeration.
This ruling will mean nothing more than a round-trip conga line to Oroville. Arrestees will be back to a new camp within a couple of days, maybe less. The jail is overcrowded as it is, and I’ll predict, having problems with runaway bacterial infections among the residents. And staff?
A friend of mine wonders, what is the city’s tactic here? Do they think they can just annoy these people away? You know who they’re annoying away – decent cops and other public employees who have to take the brunt of this shit. Why would you want to work here? You want to clean up homeless camps where you may very well get a nasty disease? How about Chico Area Recreation District staff? I’ll never forget the CARD employee who got locked in the bathroom he was cleaning at the skateboard park because some jerk had broken off the inside doorknob.
I just checked the CARD website – the skate park is regularly closed for periods up to 72-hours because of vandalism. The most recent closure was last week. We pay for employees to apply a fresh coat of paint to the “urban art zone” (bathroom) once a month.
Our town is mismanaged – and when the fish stinks, it’s the head of the fish that stinks. Again, here we have an 8-headed fish, including four council seats that need to be turned out, and a city manager who needs to be sent out on a rail.
Ironically, I’m watching a tv news story now about 2-time Mayor Andrew Coolidge announcing he will not seek another term because he’s accomplished everything he wanted when he ran. Really? Coolidge signed the first Shelter Crisis Designation that led to the Warren vs Chico lawsuit.
Chico Taxpayers Association 
Coolidge and Morgan have been a disaster for Chico. They can’t think of enough ways to spend our money. They wasted about 10 million on the homeless situation alone. Constant police raids of homeless camps are expensive and don’t really accomplish anything. They just move the homeless from one place to another. Responsible city leaders would find more permanent solutions.
I agree. Other towns have found solutions.
This website is a breath of fresh air. It has a clear point of view and an equally clear agenda. I fear what it may lack is the appropriate exposure and volume. I’m an active participant on various FB groups regarding Chico and the opportunities to improve its outlook. Unfortunately, today is the first time coming across this site. Using the tools we have to make the change we need means holding the government accountable. And THAT is a heavy loud to lift considering it means motivating our friends and neighbors to stand up and address those we have put our faith in, remind them whom they work for, and fire them if necessary. I would recommend using more of the tools and even asking for help in creating new ways to expand your reach. It is something we all must do.
Thanks. It’s hard to get people involved, but I try to get the information out there. I have the standard wordpress account, if I want to expand my reach – that’s more dough. I would appreciate it if you share my link on Facebook, I do get traffic from Facebook. I also get traffic from newsbreak. I used to get traffic when I wrote a letter to the editor to the Enterprise Record – not so much now that the paper is in decline.
As for the park – I’d like to see a state investigation into past fires in Bidwell Park and what, if any, remedial measures have been taken over the last five years to prevent fires in future. They’ve had consultants in the park for the better part of a year but we haven’t seen any action. PG&E has marked trees in front of my house for removal from the power lines many times over the last 20 years, but they never come back to cut them. Our house is a block from middle park, and my neighbor’s lines are attached to the dying Sequoia tree next to her house. Yeah, that’s right in the city. The park needs better management, and I don’t think the city is up to it. I think it’s time for the state to take over the park.
I want to see more rangers in the park – the park department has a huge budget, and only two sworn rangers. One ranger was moved up to Assistant Park Manager, which is more of that “management top heavy” stuff I’ve been talking about. Each one makes almost $200,000 a year.
You are so right, we need to hold people accountable. We need a complete review and a clear plan. for moving forward. People need to be held accountable, several should probably resign. I’ll add, neither the city manager nor the parks manager are qualified for their jobs, I’ve known them for years, and they are perfect examples of the Peter Principle.