Chico council considers $2M for homeless solution

CHICO » After years of criticism of Chico’s handling of homelessness, the Chico City Council considered different options for funding citywide solutions.

Chico’s population of unsheltered residents grew again after the Camp Fire in 2018, and concerns have grown for homelessness increasing amid the economic impacts of COVID-19 in the past six months. The City Council’s temporary approval of camping in parks to follow guidelines for sheltering place during COVID-19, rescinded Aug. 26, proved deeply controversial in the community.

For months, at each meeting communitymembers criticized the council’s actions on the issue as either toomuch or too little. City Manager Mark Orme said staff receive public outcry on the issue “literally every day.”

“People are truly at their wits’ end,” Orme said.

With money tighter than ever due to COVID-19, the price tag of the plan presented Tuesday night drew some concern. It did not contain requests for funding a sanctioned campground, an idea which drew support from some members of the council in the past. Its focus was on using the existing BMX location as a short term support center.

Mayor Ann Schwab requested use of the state’s Silver Dollar Fair Grounds from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office on Sept. 11 as a sanctioned homeless encampment zone, citing local economic impacts on Chico’s supply of affordable housing. The request drew pushback from the property’s board, which said in a letter a shelter on the site would be a public safety issue with multiple effects on other agencies using the fairgrounds, according to Silver Dollar Fair Board President Stacey Jones.

The plan

“The city will not solve homelessness tonight,” Orme told the council. However, he said the new drafted Homeless Opportunities Plan for managing the impacts of homelessness is intended to be “very aggressive.”

Homeless Solutions Coordinator Suzi Kochems said, in order to improve public health and safety directing people to resources, the plan is not “one size fits all” but will have a plethora of services for a variety of clients, with “compassion and dignity and accountability.”

City staff requested:

Kochems said her predecessor Joy Amaro outlined nine locations for shelters for the council but no action was taken.

Although acknowledging “therewere pitfalls with every one of them,” Orme said he decided tomove forward with the BMX location at the fairgrounds.

While the BMX location does have issues — sewer water and electric conditions need evaluation for capacity — staff requested the use of one time funds to complete the new location and preserve the BMX site as a potential option for future efforts, Kochems said.

At the present, the city doesn’t have a provider interested in being administrator at a sanctioned camping site

The council heard from Amaro, now the True North Housing Alliance executive director, who explained her shelter has had to rehouse people yearly without a transitional housing system in place. An opportunity to work with Safe Space Winter Shelter on a low barrier navigation center for five to eightmonths can open Nov. 1 if funded.

Expanding for 50 more beds at the Torres Shelter is also an opportunity, Kochems said.

Rehousing people can be handled by Chico Housing Action Team and overall in the county by the Rapid Rehousing team through the state’s program Project Roomkey.

The controversy

Ten public speakers waited until after 9:30 p.m. to comment. The council received 53 online comments and 17 emails.

The cost of what is being requested drew trepidation and confusion from councilors Karl Ory and Sean Morgan.

Schwab argued for using citymoney to invest in solutions — “While there are rumors circulating the city is on the brink of bankruptcy, that is not the case.”

Later she added, “$2million is a lot of money, but if we don’t get a handle on this situation it is not going to bode well for us in the future.”

Huber agreed, suggesting using the $600,00 for the BMX location, subject to successful review of issues for developing the site, and stipulating $1 million for staff to include establishment of a sanctioned campground.

“There is way more need then there is coming from the state and federal government,” the county’s Housing and Homeless AdministratorDon Taylor said.

Since the Butte County Continuumof Care andCatalyst Domestic Violence Services were not consulted in this discussion, Vice Mayor Alex Brown said she couldn’t make a “strong decision.”

Stone agreed that he approved of the location but emphasized the problem in Chico comes back to a lack of affordable housing.

The meeting continued after deadline.

The next regular meeting of the council will take place at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the City Council Chambers at 421 Main St.