Chico bans needle distribution for 180 days
City moves to work with Safe Space on sheltering possibilities for the homeless
CHICO » There was welcome movement on the Chico homelessness crisis Tuesday when the Chico City Council moved to work with local service provider Safe Space on new shelter properties.
The Chico City Council also reversed previous decisions by officially banning future needle distribution programs in city limits Tuesday night, after the new council called for the city to find ways to ban such programs in December.
Councilor Sean Morgan pushed for immediate action on homeless shelter options Tuesday night.
Morgan asked the council for an emergency consideration of changing building codes to allow for new sheltering possibilities. It passed unanimously.
Morgan then gave the floor to Councilor Scott Huber, who said after the discussion of the lack of shelter in December, he asked Assemblyman James Gallagher ( R-Yuba City) if he would be open to find alternatives to building code issues.
Huber said Gallagher was ” very receptive” and since then worked with Morgan to reach a new alternative.
Morgan added he thinks the local service providers at Safe Space, ”works fairly effectively.”
” We want to help those who want to be helped,” Morgan said. ” We have large donors wanting to make a difference … and yet we say there is nothing you can do.
”All I know for sure is there’s a lot of different opinions and a lot of communities are moving forward,” he said, citing Roseville and Yuba City as examples.
”So why isn’t this one?” City Attorney Andrew Jared said cities may be able to allow operation of facilities for sheltering without full compliance, and the city could get involved on leasing a property to be operated by Safe Space under the housing crisis declaration.
Huber moved to activate the ability “to engage the city with churches and Safe Space in a lease contract, allowing shelter operation as soon as possible.” Jared will also investigate what is being done in other jurisdictions. It passed 6-1, with Councilor Kami Denlay voting against.
“That’s how bipartisanship works,” Huber said afterward.
Needle programs
The council had previously voted against banning future needle distribution programs in September, but returned to the issue after requesting a new review by the city attorney. Mayor Andrew Coolidge previously stated the issue could
be heard again in part because it was requested by a new councilor, Denlay.
Jared said after reviewing how other cities like Oroville and Yuba City did the same, the city could move forward on banning future needle distribution programs in city limits as an emergency ordinance, to be effective immediately for 180 days.
Denlay then moved to hear the new ordinance read, officially banning syringe distribution programs in the city per the addition to the municipal code.
Reviewing Behavioral Health, pensions
Coolidge made it priority to review funding allocations and uses by Butte
County Behavioral Health, after stating he wanted to know where the money is being spent. Many comments from the public on the city’s Engaged Chico application also reflected a desire for transparency of funding usage.
Coolidge made it clear he doesn’t want “a fluff presentation” from the department, but instead a full review with Chico city staff of the department’s operations, including on work with the unhoused and with law enforcement. He got enthusiastic support from Huber and the council voted unanimously to begin the review, likely to return for discussion in February.
The council also heard the city’s finance department’s work on managing
employee pension costs and alternatives for paying the city’s unfunded accrued liability, which is $146 million. The last presentation was at the Finance Committee on Sept. 23.
Administrative Services Director Scott Dowell explained alternative repayment strategies, including restructuring the unfunded accrued liability, and city staff have a tentative plan for moving on a restructuring plan that is still being finalized.
Other business
The council
• Reviewing Morgan’s request to get a policy update from City Clerk Debbie Presson on the appointment of boards and commissions
also
approved:
— which passed 5-2 with councilors Alex Brown and Scott Huber against; • Coolidge’s request for a community clean up day; • Approval of the amended certification for the election held on Nov. 3, 2020, considering tabulated previously uncounted ballots in a sealed election ballot box. The county clerk stated the additional ballots did not impact or change the outcome on any council positions or the two measures; • Affirming granting an appeal to NorthStar to decisions by Public Works to collect sewer main fees at a development of three industrial parcels, after a public hearing;
• Delaying public hearing about the Planning Commission’s previous decisions about a multi-family residential development on The Esplanade, per Morgan’s request;
• A modification to the 2020-2021 budget regarding actual costs.
After hearing Vice Mayor Kasey Reynolds’ request, at following meetings, the council will only hear items considered essential while the county is under a stayat-home order. The Jan. 19 meeting was postponed to February, when meetings may begin to take place on Zoom to allow more engagement with the public.
The next meeting will take place 6 p.m. Feb. 2 in the Chico Council Chambers at 421 Main St. in Chico.