CHICO — Tuesday’s City Council meeting was greeted with a large, surprise protest outside the council chambers. More than 250 people — mostly local business owners — gathered on the sidewalk to protest the council’s decision to request a discussion about the city’s Sit & Lie and Offenses Against Public Property ordinances.
A huge protest has formed outside of the #Chico City Council chambers tonight. There’s easily 200-300 people here, mostly business owners, who are asking the council not to reverse a sit/lie ordinance and ban a needle disposal program. pic.twitter.com/KiO8bM1LxE
— Robin Epley (@ByRobinEpley) February 5, 2020
It’s a convoluted process. By its own rules, the City Council can’t have a discussion about something without announcing first that it wants to have the discussion.
“It creates confusion in the public’s mind,” Mayor Randall Stone said at the beginning of the meeting. “We’re only speaking to when the discussion will be agendized.”
Nevertheless, the protest outside waged on, with a promise to return if the council didn’t take action.
The mayor has begun the meeting without comment of what’s going on outside.
Outside, the protest continues, and cars honking their approval can be heard inside the chambers, periodically. pic.twitter.com/SvBUt7izZ8
— Robin Epley (@ByRobinEpley) February 5, 2020
The protesters used large trucks from local businesses to block and slowly move along downtown’s busy Main Street during the evening rush hour. Many travelers honked their horns in solidarity as hundreds on the sidewalk cheered, waving signs that said “Keep Sit-Lie” and “Kids Not Needles.”
Inside the council chambers, the car horns continued to echo over the proceedings as the meeting got underway.
“I’m in absolute shock and awe,” said Councilor Kasey Reynolds, who is also a local small business owner. “I had no idea this was happening. To see this amount of people who love our community and take the time to come out and do this, it’s amazing.”
The protest was organized in part by Jody Gallaway, an owner of Gallaway Enterprises on Meyer Street in Chico.
“Our public safety issues are significant,” she said. “We’re not being heard by the City Council. Business owners are being ignored. Community members are being ignored.”
Gallaway said their requests were threefold: First, to ban the North Valley Harm Reduction Coalition from operating a syringe access program that recently began with state approval.
Second, they are requesting the council maintain the city’s “Sit & Lie” ordinance, which bans sitting or lying on sidewalks in commercial areas.
Third, the group requests the city does not amend the Offenses Against Public Property ordinance, which Stone and Vice Mayor Alex Brown have suggested.
We’re nearly 2hrs into the meeting and the council hasn’t gotten past the first item on their agenda — not good news for the city, which HAS to make a 1st reading of another controversial ordinance on districting tonight, lest they hit a costly deadline. Rm is still pretty full. pic.twitter.com/dnJygOxJb3
— Robin Epley (@ByRobinEpley) February 5, 2020
Gallaway said the protest had been working with the Chico Police Department before the sign waving started, and that the trucks and cars blocking the street were part of an intentional protest.
Chico Police Department Commander Billy Aldridge said he had approximately a dozen officers on-scene, including a motorcycle cop who was reminding the truck drivers to keep moving — albeit slowly.
Speaking inside, Chico resident Tim Lynch told the council that, “When you have hundreds of people on your doorstep protesting your decisions, you are not doing it right. I don’t know how much more clearly the people of Chico can speak.”
Lynch said he knew many were at the council’s doorstep for the first time ever, and that the council had a mandate from the people “to do the right thing.”
“A lot of us think there is (a problem). So how are you going to get us to the point where those horns and these voices are being heard? Because right now we don’t feel that way,” Lynch said. “If you can’t do the job, then you need to step aside.”
Applause from the overflow room could be heard inside the chambers after many public speakers finished.
“You are not listening to us, you need to hear us,” said Debbie Adams, another speaker. “This is how democracy works.”
“Bullying continues in many different forms. I feel very safe in Chico, except that I have been bullied in this room, the same people who shout that they feel unsafe,” Robyn Engel said.
Engel, a supporter of Stone and Councilor Karl Ory since the 2019 recall effort, was one of the lone voices in support of the council, but she was joined by a few others who stood to encourage Stone and Brown in their efforts.
“For seven years I’ve been looking pretty hard at this issue, right here in Chico, what we have again and again and again is a housing crisis that extends across the entire West Coast,” said Patrick Newman, a local homeless advocate. “We can panic, and we can start screaming about safety, or we can get real about what’s going on here, which is that we failed to house millions of primarily disabled people who have now spilled onto our streets.”
Visible poverty is ugly, said Newman. “I think what we have here tonight is a lynch mob, I think it’s driven by panic; I think it’s driven by fear, and I think it’s driven by people who want an authoritarian solution. It’s not going to be solved by an authoritarian solution.”
The council took a short intermission, at which time, more than 60 more public speakers in total signed up to comment on the councilors’ request to agendize various discussions.
