Council revisit is like deja vu all over again
In the immortal words of Ronald Reagan: “There you go again.”
Optics has been a theme for the Chico City Council lately. I’ve written about it; councilors have talked about it. They’ve made decisions for the sake of optics (removing Amber Grove from a road-resurfacing project) and regardless of optics (limiting the input of citizens on advisory boards).
Councilors also defied optics in replacing the park commission nominee of Addison Winslow, the only liberal, and putting his planning commission nominee to a denial vote. Neither Kasey Reynolds nor Tom van Overbeek, his conservative colleagues with nominations, got put in the same position for the three commissioners each chose.
In theory, that should have been the end of it.
But a funny thing happened at the end of the next meeting: Reynolds reopened the matter.
During the item devoted to councilors’ requests for future discussions, she asked for a “reconsideration of my vote for Planning Commission” — a motion immediately seconded by Sean Morgan, who March 7 had moved to replace Winslow’s pick, housing analyst Margaret Scarpa, with former councilor and commissioner Bob Evans. That failed 4-3, and Scarpa wound up getting appointed along with realtor Brandi Laffins and former city development director Mark Wolfe.
Reynolds didn’t indicate — either from the dais or afterward — whether she intends to reconsider her nominee (Laffins) or another. She said the next day her request involves “the slate” and that “there were things that I found out that I wasn’t aware of when I made my vote.”
Whether coincidence or causality, her request came the day after the city clerk and county clerk-recorder confirmed the referendum against Valley’s Edge received enough verified signatures to proceed. Scarpa helped organize the referendum effort as part of the group Valley’s Edge Resistance.
We won’t know till the April 4 meeting who concerns Reynolds. It could be Laffins, whose work in real estate prompted discussion of a potential conflict of interest. It could be Wolfe, whose work after city service includes the California Park hotel. Approved on an appeal to the council, that project needs an architectural review — a process councilors recently shifted to the Planning Commission.
Morgan’s reason for concurrence is clear: He objected to Scarpa’s activism. Her campaigning against Valley’s Edge is a disqualifying factor for him. He (along with Dale Bennett, a former planning commissioner and architectural review board member) voted against the slate appointed.
The next step for the referendum is a council meeting. Councilors need to decide whether to rescind their approval or put it to the voters. Barring a referral to the Planning Commission (highly unlikely) or a new proposal from the applicant (unlikely minus a rescission), Scarpa would not deliberate on Valley’s Edge.
Regardless, the optics are terrible. The majority overrode Winslow once, installing Jenny Scheer as “his” park commissioner without affording him the opportunity to suggest a substitute. If Scarpa proves the target of reconsideration, and the process repeats, he’ll only have an arts commissioner of his own.
Reynolds declined to clarify because she’s “trying not to cause more drama than there needs to be.” Understandable … but too late. Winslow’s supporters began decrying the move moments after it was made.
Optics.