Community comes together to replace stolen swing
‘I wanted to make a positive out of a negative’
After the beloved swing of a local autistic teen was stolen last week, members of the Yuba-sutter community rallied together to replace the play equipment and show him some compassion during trying times.
“I wanted to make a positive out of a negative,” said Denise Rix, who purchased the new swing and organized a caravan to drive by after it was installed.
Rix said she learned of the stolen swing after reading a post on Nextdoor – a social networking service designed to connect neighbors. Yuba City resident Mary Mcginnis had posted on the network to express her frustration that someone had taken the swing from her yard because it was so important to her 18-year-old autistic son, Alex.
“Not only did they steal his swing, they stole something precious to him that brought him a ton of joy,” said Rix. “When something like that gets stolen, it’s not just about the materialistic thing. It affects you spiritually.”
According to Rix, Mcginnis said her son would spend hours
called to address rapid changes and a developing emergency situation related to a dramatic increase in infections related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Council members voted to discuss the topic during a closed session. After returning from the closed session, City Attorney Shannon Chaffin said there were no reportable actions taken by council.
The city released a statement on Thursday afternoon addressing why the council chose to meet in both open and closed sessions on the topic.
“The reason for this is straightforward: This surge and anticipated orders can have an impact that could threaten or disrupt the ability to deliver certain public services and operate facilities of both the city and the surrounding jurisdictions, and unfortunately there are those who do not have our community interests in mind who, if they knew specific details of emergency plan responses and those of our neighbors, may try to take advantage of this,” Boomgaarden wrote in the statement. “...As you might imagine these discussions do include sensitive topics and it was the council’s decision that these discussions be held in closed session.”