Dale Bennett sees city ‘moving forward’ with public safety and homelessness | Chico City Council District 3

Dale Bennett, who was appointed to the Chico City Council in 2020 before winning the seat in the 2022 election, called his role in government challenging and rewarding.

Bennett

“Over the three years, I’ve learned a great deal,” Bennett said.

Bennett has served on various boards and committees including the Planning Commission, Architectural Review and Historic Preservation Board and the council’s Finance Committee. He added that he hopes to further bring his expertise into the fold if elected in District 3.

The big issue

Bennett expressed that he believes in strong, healthy police and fire departments.

“They are one of the foundations for a safe community,” Bennett said. “And that is critically important.”

On the council, Bennett supported salary increases for police employees — and said public safety is an issue he is passionate about.

“We need to keep moving them forward,” Bennett said. “We came upon a time where we needed to make a decision on increased salary compensation as well as incentives for attracting new officers. We had a recruitment and retention crisis, and so we made decisions to move the Chico Police Department forward.”

Bennett said he was just as passionate about the Chico Fire Department, saying both are a foundation of a healthy community.

He also called homelessness a pivotal issue within the city of Chico.

When he was appointed to the council seat, homelessness had become a local hot-button issue, and the city ultimately entered a settlement that Bennett backed during the Warren v. Chico case.

“We have made progress,” Bennett said. “We still have more progress to make. We’ve got the Pallet shelter, so we have plenty of people who are seeking help, and that’s the key issue here. We need to help people in making a better decision so they can reinvent themselves so they can move forward with a better lifestyle, and the Pallet shelter has offered a significant step forward in that.”

Bennett said he hopes that the city will soon be able to have more latitude regarding homelessness intervention in the future.

Ballots for the 2024 November election are scheduled to be mailed out on Oct. 7.