Moving Chico Forward By Addressing Public Safety Needs

Good evening, City council members. I’m Katie Simmons, President & CEO of the Chico Chamber of Commerce.

As Mark Francis, President & CEO of Golden Valley Bank, and Chairman of the Chamber Board of Directors, likes to say: everything we see is a result of a successful business, from the clothes on our backs, to the food on our tables, to the jobs that allow for the purchase of homes. Businesses make all of these things possible for our community.

It is also true that Chico is built upon a foundation of compassion and is a deeply generous community, led in no small part by the businesses that give to our shelters, services, churches, and community-based organizations with missions dedicated to improving lives. The level of giving and compassion that runs powerfully and quietly through our community is at risk.  It is at risk because of a feeling of lawlessness that pervades perceptions and experiences in Chico.

Without adequate accountability and enforcement to maintain civility, and standards and expectations upheld for all citizens, there is a growing sense of decline in our community and a noticeable erosion of confidence in our downtown and other business districts, neighborhoods, and green spaces. And with these increasing frustrations and a sense of being unheard, come acts of vigilantism and extremism that put everyone at risk.

Community members are reaching and surpassing personal limits every day, and we are sitting on the precipice of watching the generous culture and character of Chico change irrevocably. This ordinance will not solve everything, nor does it complete the spectrum of needs we have in this community, but it sets a tone to our businesses and to our community at large that the crimes and bad behaviors we have witnessed, been victims of, or heard about are not OK in Chico.

We must continue to fill the gaps in our enforcement tool box with ordinances like this, as well as create much-needed bridges into services through partnerships that the Chamber actively participates in. One will not be successful without the other in meeting the needs of all citizens in Chico, and the business community has been part of the solution all along.