Concerns about councilor and conflicts of interest

Retired Chief of Police Mike O’Brien was appointed to the Chico City Council on July 27, 2021. Almost simultaneously District Attorney Mike Ramsey offered him the position as the Commander of BINTFButte Interagency Narcotics Task Force, which he accepted.

The Chico Police Department has been a funding member of BINTF for 26 years. With the city council as the boss of the Chico Police Department and Commander O’Brien’s newly appointed position on the city council this certainly appears as some kind of conflict of interest in which O’Brien must recuse himself for certain votes involving policing. As the former ethics officer of CPD I expect he will.

I am also concerned about the imbalance of half of Chico’s annual budget going to the Chico Police Department when there are other vital needs in our community such as housing and mental health services.

— Diane Suzuki, Chico