Chico Scrap Metal
At the Chico City Council’s last meeting of 2018, one of the owners of Chico Scrap Metal, Kim Scott, addressed the members of the panel, asking them to look for solutions. The problem: The business’ future is uncertain in the face of an amortization plan that calls for its operations to cease at its home on East 20th Street. Some background: When the city of Chico and Butte County signed off on the Chapman-Mulberry Neighborhood Plan in 2004, the goal was to make the neighbor-
Signature-gathering by Move the Junkyard. CN&R FILE PHOTO
Desmond Phillips’ father, David, leads a protest. CN&R FILE PHOTO
hood more residential in nature. Several industrial businesses along East 20th Street were designated nonconforming uses and told to move—an order of a liberal-majority City Council. All did so, with one exception: Chico Scrap Metal. The Scott family was granted several extensions until, in 2016, a conservative majority City Council created an ordinance that effectively would have allowed CSM to remain at its current site in perpetuity. In response, a group called Move the Junkyard gathered signatures for a referendum calling on the council to rescind the ordinance or put it on the ballot. The conservatives chose to sue Move the Junkyard, claiming that the referendum was invalid. It also sued Councilman Karl Ory, who led the referendum effort prior to his election. So, what happened in 2018? In January, based on a third lawsuit, Bob Mulholland vs. City of Chico, a Butte County Superior Court judge ruled that the referendum was valid. Six months later, she issued a writ of mandate commanding that the council either repeal the ordinance or put it on the November ballot. In a 4-to-3 vote, with Vice Mayor Reanette Fillmer and Councilmen Mark Sorensen and Randall Stone saying nay (forcing Mayor Sean Morgan to begrudgingly vote yes), the panel chose to rescind it. But then, in closed session, the conservatives turned around and voted 3-2 to appeal. That appeal was denied Nov. 1. A separate issue surrounds the question of who is going to foot the bill for the three related lawsuits. The judge awarded attorneys’ fees to Move the Junkyard, Ory and Mulholland, arguing that the cases represent a win for democracy, as it protects the people’s right to petition. Morgan and Sorensen had both maintained publicly that an indemnity clause within the
development agreement between Chico Scrap Metal and the city requires the recycler to pay litigation costs. However, an attorney representing Ory and Mulholland argued that that clause was never valid because the referendum put a hold on the ordinance, negating the development agreement. Moreover, the Scotts have said publicly that they aren’t paying. In fact, on Dec. 3, they filed a fourth lawsuit, this one against the city, basically saying it had acted in bad faith by rescinding the ordinance, making CSM an illegal business while not helping find alternative options. The suit includes a request for attorneys’ fees as well as personal damages.
the deputies. They shot and killed her. Ramsey has yet to release an official report on the incident. Micalizio’s case harkens to another, older one. In 2013, 19-year-old Breanne Sharpe, who also struggled with mental illness, fled from police. They cornered her and, as she put her car in reverse, Chico Police officers opened fire, shooting 19 bullets at her. While the courts initially sided with Ramsey in determining her death was justified, this past August, a panel of judges granted an appeal, saying the city and the officer who fired the fatal shot—then-Sgt. Scott Zuschin—should stand trial.
Cops on trial
This past year was a big one when it came to lawsuits against local law enforcement over officer-involved shootings. The two most visible cases involved young men experiencing mental health crises who were shot and killed in 2017; the other two bore similarities as well, in that both victims were in their vehicles when they died. Desmond Phillips’ name has been indelibly marked in Chico’s history books, as his killing, on St. Patrick’s Day 2017, sparked local conversations about several important issues: police body cameras, bias against people of color and crisis-intervention training of law enforcement personnel. Those conversations rose louder in 2018, as the Justice for Desmond movement evolved into Concerned Citizens for Justice. Amid that group’s efforts, family members of four local victims of officer-involved shootings focused on holding local officials accountable for their loved ones’ deaths. In August, the Phillips case took a blow when the state Attorney General’s Office announced it would not overturn Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey’s finding that Phillips’ killing was justified. In June, the family of Tyler Rushing, who’d been killed in summer 2017 after breaking into a Chico title company during a mental health crisis, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Chico, then-Sgt. Scott Ruppel, Armed Guard Private Protection and a security guard also involved in Rushing’s killing. That case is still pending. A month later, the family of Myra Micalizio sued the Butte County Sheriff’s Office for her shooting death in April. She had mental health issues and deputies had been called because she was bothering some neighbors. Instead of raising her hands as ordered, she got into her car and allegedly sped toward
Barren market
Even before the Camp Fire, Butte County was in a housing crisis. Now, it’s in the grips of what some have dubbed a housing catastrophe. Nearly 14,000 homes were destroyed in the fire, rendering tens of thousands homeless. A look at real estate listings in late December showed 102 single-family homes available in Chico, about a third of the typical number of units. Because of this, bidding wars have become commonplace, further driving up prices. Before the fire, the median list price of a Chico home was $345,000. Now, it has risen to $400,000, and buyers are offering an average of 20 percent to 30 percent above that. The uptick has spread to neighboring communities as well. Another casualty of the fire has been the displacement of renters. Some landlords, seeking shelter themselves, have reclaimed propYEAR IN REVIEW C O N T I N U E D D E C E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 8
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