Let’s live up to our humanitarian spirit

We have an emergency in Chico. Here it is just after Christmas, yet there are numerous unhoused Chicoans who cannot even put up tents for shelter. Since the city council just voted to criminalize the homeless campers for staying in parks, the homeless desperately need a place to move that is acceptable to campers, city officials, and the public.

On 10/20/2020, City Manager Mark Orme explained that his office had evaluated numerous sites, finding the location near the airport best able to provide the basic necessities for a temporary campground. It was shot down at that time partly because of its distant location , i.e., far from services needed by the unhoused, and because it seemed to homeless advocates that it was just a way to get the unhoused out of the public’s sight.

A survey of 70 of the unsheltered showed that half would accept a campsite near the airport. Since that survey was completed before the evictions from Chico’s parks — beginning this week — more homeless citizens might be open to this emergency location. As reported in the survey: some homeless would like to be away from those members of the public who do not treat them well.

Certainly, the city should not demand that all homeless move there, however. And the location near the airport would need to become part of a shuttle or the airport bus route #52.

Let’s live up to our humanitarian principles, Chico, and not violate the spirit of the recent Boise legal decision about homelessness.

— Grace Maria Marvin, Chico