Election season is heating up, with ballots for the March primary expected to hit the mail Monday. Campaign mailers started going out earlier — a sign of these mail-in voting times that have turned election day into a file-by deadline.
Chicoans have Valley’s Edge to consider (more on that in a bit). Residents along the city’s periphery and elsewhere in the county have supervisors to elect. All voters have decisions on the state and federal levels.
With the primary unfolding front and center, the November general election looms in the background — and, already, some municipal matchups are crystalizing. That’s what prompted the article in this newspaper on Wednesday about Chico City Council incumbents and challengers who’ve announced their candidacy. Apropos of this synopsis, the headline read, “Chico council races starting to take shape.”
Chico has four seats in play: District 1 (northwest), District 3 (northeast), District 5 (west) and District 7 (southwest). One has two declared candidates, two have one, and one has none yet.
District 1 is guaranteed to have a new representative because incumbent Sean Morgan has tossed his support to Mike O’Brien, former Chico police chief appointed to fill a council vacancy from August 2021 through November 2022, when districts fully replaced at-large elections. O’Brien has no opponent as of now, but it’s still early.
District 5 most probably will have a new councilor, too. Andrew Coolidge got elected in November 2020, under the initial districting map, and has served as mayor since. Redistricting adjusted boundaries. He has not announced his intentions, nor has any other prospective candidate there.
Bordering that district to the south, District 7 has a declared challenger, Bruce McLean, but no announcement from incumbent Deepika Tandon. Again, it’s still early, with the filing period months away — and everyone weighs decisions differently, on the dais and in life.
District 3, unlike the others, already has a duel brewing. In a rematch of 2022 under the previous map, incumbent Dale Bennett and arts commissioner Monica McDaniel both have restarted their campaigns. Bennett filled the seat left vacant by Kami Denlay in summer 2021, his appointment coming at the same meeting as O’Brien’s, and he edged out McDaniel for the second half of the term.
I’ve heard buzz around a few prospects who’d round out the ballot. Stay tuned!
Valley’s Edge
Last week, when I offered a decision matrix on Valley’s Edge (in the column conveniently titled “Decision matrix on Valley’s Edge”), a tangent discussion began building steam. Chico State’s Geography & Planning Department announced a Feb. 7 forum on campus to parse the Valley’s Edge Specific Plan — the specific thing, as stated above, that Chico voters will validate or reject via Measure O and Measure P.
The organizers expressed their aim as “bring(ing) together voices from a variety of campus and community professionals to review the plan and to provide a fuller understanding of the potential effects.” Panelists would “review potential environmental, social and economic impacts of the Valley’s Edge plan, in addition to alternatives.”
The panel raised a few eyebrows because all the invitees had taken public positions against Valley’s Edge. City Councilor Addison Winslow voted against the approvals his colleagues gave the project; professor Jacqueline Chase wrote a published letter in opposition; and the others — attorney Marty Dunlap, Jared Geiser from the Audubon Society, Allen Harthorn from Friends of Butte Creek and Susan Tchudi from Smart Growth Advocates — remain aligned in the coalition behind the referendum effort that triggered the upcoming vote.
Project supporters bristled at the forum, with Councilor Tom van Overbeek writing university president Steve Perez to voice his objection. Professor Mark Stemen, the event’s moderator, said neither community outcry nor pressure from administration prompted a check of state election code that led his department to cancel the forum Wednesday evening.
“I learned that the panel could put the university in legal jeopardy,” he explained. “That is the last thing I want.”
By Thursday, though, it was back on, albeit with a new sponsor and a new spot on campus. Smart Growth Advocates took the reins for “Going Over the Edge” — renaming it “We’re STILL ON the Edge” — and reserved a place in Bell Memorial Union where community groups can meet, room 309, for Feb. 8 at 6 p.m. The lineup remains the same.
I understand the caution. The Chico Chamber of Commerce held a forum whose panel exclusively featured proponents. The chamber endorsed Valley’s Edge; it’s also a membership organization with a political arm, in contrast to a public institution.
By the same token, this is a complex issue that will have far-reaching impacts on the community whichever way the vote goes. Opponents as well as proponents have points the community needs to vet — perfect for a forum.
Evan Tuchinsky is weekend editor of the Enterprise-Record. You can reach him at etuchinsky@chicoer.com.
