Fridge decision turns up heat on the council
Food insecurity is real. Various assessments, including one delivered to the Butte County Board of Supervisors last summer, estimate 1 in 5 people locally do not have enough to eat — including 1 in 4 children and 1 in 2 college students.
Behind these numbers are individuals. Sierra Sandoval sees them daily at the Chico Community Fridge, set up behind her apartment complex in the Chapman neighborhood. A hundred people a day come up the alley to drop off or pick up a meal, produce, canned goods, even clothing and toiletries.
She knows them. Some are homeless — among them, people from her hometown, Paradise, displaced by the Camp Fire.
Some are working families such as hers. Donors, recipients, volunteers, they’re all neighbors.
Sandoval took over the fridge last year. It originally sat along Pine Street in the Mulberry neighborhood, until the city required an administrative use permit for it to continue. That permit costs $1,679 — a substantial sum for a charitable group, especially so for a loose collection of residents. Sandoval plans to turn the fridge into a 501(c)3 nonprofit; for now, it lacks a formal organization.
Supporters responded. She got $1,700 donated and applied for the permit last week. Her story caught the attention of Addison Winslow, one of two new members on the City Council, and he requested his colleagues consider regulatory relief for small mutual-aid projects such as the fridge.
Technically, Winslow asked councilors to discuss discussing the matter. They did so Tuesday night, at the end of their meeting, three hours after a series of public speakers advocated for the cause. Tom van Overbeek and Dale Bennett were on board … but, with Winslow, found themselves on the losing side of a 4-3 vote that nipped the proposal in the bud.
This does not nix the fridge. The city — specifically, Community Development Director Brendan Vieg — will review the permit application. If Sandoval and the volunteers adhere to conditions set out, along with county environmental health regulations, the fridge will keep running.
What the decision did, besides enforcing the $1,679 fee, is reinforce a reputation of indifference toward the plight of struggling Chicoans.
Conservative councilors say they do a lot — too much in the eyes of some backers. The city spent millions on the Pallet shelter, for instance, where the Jesus Center is under contract to offer meals and services. There’s also electricity and air conditioning.
They reckon they could have done less (see: resting site on airport tarmac). They also could have done more, particularly in the first place, before deciding to sweep encampments (see: Warren v. City of Chico). Meeting after meeting, constituents blast the council for the repercussions.
Perception matters. Whether councilors care, their actions send a message.
Tuesday, four conservatives — Andrew Coolidge, Sean Morgan, Kasey Reynolds and Deepika Tandon — declined to entertain a discussion about a small aid project among neighbors. They did so after approving a massive project billed as aiding a municipal neighbor, a sewer connection with Chico.
Reasons cited for opposing the proposal aren’t unreasonable. Food safety is an issue. So is setting a precedent of lowering or waiving fees based on councilors’ wishes. Those are points to consider, discuss, debate.
The council didn’t get that far. As City Attorney Vince Ewing injected, the matter at hand was only to set a discussion — or, as it turned out, not. Councilors decided they’d heard enough and knew enough.
They may have made the decision on merits, but regardless, they added yet more fuel to inflamed citizens.