𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐇𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥

It was November, 2019, in a dark and shady backroom in Chico.

Or was it a palatial room on an estate outside of town, at an exclusive catered dinner attended by the select few who could afford the exorbitant fee?

No matter, the results were the same.

The exclusive group gathered to discuss the future of Chico. It included Teri DuBose, of course, and developers like Tom van Overbeek, Wayne Cook, and Doug Guillon. Of course they included Kate Leyden as well, the Executive Director of Chico Builders Association. James Gallagher and his chief of staff Curtis Grima were there. Sean Morgan, of course. LaMalfa, perhaps. Kasey Reynolds had certainly been invited.

The topic of the evening? 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐭𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟, and how the exercise of that art mirrored their mutual interests.

What interests, you ask? Well, there was the matter of unfettered development. You see, several massive projects were set to come online between 2020 and 2024…and suggestions that we needed affordable housing rather than above-market rate housing were felt to be increasingly burdensome and intolerable.

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞, which had been sacrosanct to Chicoans for nearly 40 years. Instituted in 1982, the Greenline was intended to protect valuable farmlands around the city from what was even then beginning to look like a voracious appetite for sprawl. The Greenline had in their view long been a hindrance to the preferred manner of unfettered development.

And then, of course, there was the matter of who would fill these homes. As housing prices soared in the wake of the Camp Fire, it was clear that people who already live in Chico simply couldn’t afford to buy homes here anymore. There needed to be a new market, and to support it, there had to be buyers with incomes well above the average for our area.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐮𝐲𝐞𝐫𝐬. Fast and reliable broadband increasingly enabled people from larger cities to telecommute and their incomes would easily qualify them for a Chico McMansion. The real need, as they saw it, was to draw those people here.

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐬. One was a moderate city council who asked too many questions about development and made modest requests for the inclusion of affordable housing.

The progressives were even more frightening, suggesting things like inclusionary zoning, a heretical concept to Chico developers. It had all become too much to bear.

Assemblyman Gallagher had his own particular interests. Chico was a blue dot in a sea of red districts. He’d long despised the people of Chico and their vices, which included a thriving university that fostered intellectual inquiry and a zest for evidence-based practices.

𝐇𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐲, 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐨𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐆𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐫. And then there was the ever-present need for more funding — with plans to run for higher office in the offing, Gallagher wanted to show he could turn Chico red, raising his profile among right-wing funders. An exorcism of sorts was surely in order.

Teri’s desire was much simpler. The homeless were simply unsightly, and having to see them when she went to the plaza for lunch curdled her blood. No matter that she made her living running a predatory pawn shop, profiting off the very poorest among us; she simply could not bear to look at them when she drove to Chico from her home outside of town.

The group saw the answer to their prayers in the homeless. As homelessness had increased throughout the country, so had it in Chico. Chicoans were already alarmed, frightened and uncertain of what to make of the changes. People were confused by the rise in homelessness – and the cabal realized that by demonizing them, making them into boogeymen, they could create a good old fashioned moral panic that would swing the good citizens of Chico to their way of thinking – without ever having to debate the merits of their real concerns.

𝐓𝐡𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝.

James Gallagher promised $10,000 to kick off the campaign. He made his Chief of Staff, Curtis Grima, available to them, and promised to connect them with Southern California political strategists. The strategists were experts at demonizing people, and the homeless would be low-hanging fruit for them.

Tom Van Overbeek promised at least $10,000, and just as importantly, he offered up connections and access to his estate on the outskirts of town for fundraisers. He gave money directly and funneled it through his business, Chico Partners.

Wayne Cook said he was in for $10,000, and Doug Guillon was in too, but it would trickle through his many interests.

Kate Leyden agreed to work her magic and bring the other construction and real estate interests in line. A bit of necromancy on the part of the director of the local builders association would carve out thousands more in donations from members.

Sean Morgan could promise several things. Give him money, trips, and influence, and he’d shill for your projects. Of course that had always been the case. The gruesome cabal demanded more. So Sean...well, Sean promised to deliver the Greenline to them. The room erupted with cackles of glee at the very thought of this. Once the Greenline was breached, the nefarious plots they had long nurtured could go forward unhindered.

But what of Teri? Teri would show up and smile. Again and again. She’d work her contacts, but mostly she’d trap people into cringe-worthy photo ops, their eyes darting about, their smiles frozen. It was the perfect crime, really, killing a town while no one suspected what was afoot. She’d host events, and she was never shy saying what the organization was really about, if only people had listened. Her chilling pronouncement?

“𝐖𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐧.”

And make us uncomfortable she did. The cabal made our town hateful. Driven by constant exposure to ugly attacks and lies, long-time friends and business associates turned on each other. It was vile and disheartening and destructive to our community and that was always the point. Teri kept plowing ahead, following the ghoulish plan laid out by So Cal political strategists who never will set foot in Chico.

𝐍𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫, 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭.

As we look around Chico this Halloween, we see the results of this macabre plot all around us. Parks and waterways that are in worse condition than ever before. Human beings are suffering on our streets as no other time in Chico history. Sean has, as promised, brought eliminating the Greenline forward.

Our city is unable to enforce many of our laws because the council they supported violated the civil rights of citizens, and a federal judge had to ban them enforcing unconstitutional laws.

There are ghouls afoot, still terrorizing our community. They just won’t be the ones at your door tonight looking for the treats, and they aren't the folks in need of shelter either.

𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐔𝐬 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐔𝐩 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐨

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