CHICO — City Council aspirants got a collective introduction to the community Tuesday morning at a forum sponsored by the Chico Chamber of Commerce.
All eight candidates participated: Mike Johnson and Michael O’Brien for District 1, Dale Bennett and Monica McDaniel for District 3, Katie Hawley and Melissa Lopez-Mora for District 5, and Bryce Goldstein and Deepika Tandon for District 7.
Chicoans filled the Doubletree Hotel ballroom for the 80-minute event. The panelists had more agreement than disagreement, albeit with nuance, and all kept their responses to the issues rather than their opponent.
After introductory remarks, candidates fielded questions from Chamber CEO Mike Egbert and board president Karli Olsen about citywide topics — including, apropos of the sponsor, business.
McDaniel and Bennett kicked off the discussion of local economic issues. “You need to support businesses here in Chico,” Bennett said. “I know it’s convenient to go to Amazon, but please consider what’s best for our community.” Tandon, the other incumbent, called small businesses “the backbone” of Chico’s economy and pointed to the city’s Shop Local campaign.
Hawley spoke about vacancies in businesses downtown. “We don’t have a lack of entrepreneurs here in Chico,” she said. “There are so many people who would like to have a storefront. … There are solutions out there, but it’s going to take a lot of community engagement.”
Goldstein cited “the high cost of rent” for both commercial and residential buildings as the pressing issue: “Skyrocketing rents are chipping away at the reasons we love Chico.” Johnson identified safety a position echoed by O’Brien, a former police chief — and impacts of homelessness.
On that topic, Goldstein said, “Shelter is the only thing that’s going to solve unsheltered homelessness” and pushed for a managed campground. Tandon pointed to the Camp Fire as an inflection point locally and put the onus on Continuum of Care agencies; Bennett advocated strengthening the CoC.
Johnson addressed different challenges faced by people who are homeless for different reasons — and why some do not fit into available sheltering. Hawley said moving campers from place to place “isn’t a reasonable solution”; Lopez-Mora stated, “We need to help people who need help … and we need to use the resources we have and find a way forward.”
“I think you need compassion and accountability,” O’Brien said, explaining that those concepts aren’t mutually exclusive. “But we should never give up our public spaces to this issue.” Over housing availability, he cited addiction and mental illness — conditions McDaniel noted as ripple effects from adverse childhood experiences that carry into adulthood.
“I don’t know anyone who has the silver bullet,” Bennett said, and Tandon said, “It’s not a one-size-fits-all solution.”
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Asked whether they support keeping the Genesis shelter site open, all expressed support — as they all did for Measure H, the county’s sales tax measure on the November ballot. Positions differed in responding to the question “Do you support rent control?”; Goldstein, Hawley, Johnson and McDaniel took more affirmative stances than Bennett, Lopez-Mora, O’Brien and Tandon.
The panel also discussed affordable housing before making closing statements with personal appeals for support. The chamber will post video of the forum at its website chicochamber.com.
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