CHICO, Calif. - The leading candidates for the Chico City Council are sharing their vision for the city.
“Cleaning up Bidwell Park and downtown Chico is the next thing on my list,” said city council candidate, Kami Denlay.
“Safety of the residents, cleaning up downtown Chico and parks and finding a solution for the homeless people and giving them the resources they need,” said city council candidate, Deepika Tandon.
“We need to get the campers out of there," said city council candidate, Sean Morgan. "They should’ve never been allowed in.”
Councilmember Sean Morgan and Kami Denlay said that keeping needle distribution programs out of Chico is also on their list of priorities.
“That’s gone," said Morgan. "You can expect that at the second meeting in December that someone will put forward an ordinance to ban needle distribution so that they can’t come back here."
“I think the biggest priority is, first of all, is get rid of the needle program," said Denlay. "We gotta be done with it and just pass the ordinance and say there is no more.”
“Working at Pita Pit, I see it firsthand every day," said Chico resident, Preston Belmonte. "We have people coming in to use our bathroom asking for cups of water and it’s like they can’t even get water or use the bathroom around town because it’s that bad.”
“Not putting a band-aid or a quick fix on these things and figuring out why there is a problem and so I think there needs to be a bigger deep dive and figuring out systems that can be put in place to help with recovery programs and getting people housing," said Chico resident, Ashley Carlascio.
Some people also said they hope to see the city council candidates take action on fixing some of the messed-up roads in Chico.