Chico city officials say that the action taken by the city council during Tuesday's meeting did not officially rescind the shelter crisis declaration.
Tonight -- a city council declaration -- creating some confusion..
About the state of chico's homeless problem.
New at 5 -- action news now reporter krisitian lopez clears up what the city council's vote to end the shelter crisis actually means.
Kristian: chico city staff says that the action taken by council during tuesday's meeting here at city hall did not officially rescind the shelter crisis declaration and say that it is still in effect here in chico.
Mark orme/chico city manager: there would have to be a vehicle that came back to the city council in the same form as what actually put it in place, and that's a resolution.
City manager mark orme says council would have to adopt that resolution to get rid of the 2018 crisis declaration.
I spoke to councilwoman kami denlay who called for ending the declaration.
Kami denlay: we're all looking for solutions on all sides, we may have different approaches, but we are all looking into it at all and in the process of thinking what we can do to help it came clear to me the solution is going to be mental health and drug treatment, the solution isn't necessarily a shelter related solution but there is deeper issues.
Denlay says right now the city averages about 50 open shelter beds a night.
Kami denlay: looking at that info, it's like well, we don't have a shelter crisis we have a mental health and drug crisis therefore maybe we direct staff to ending that crisis and that's what we did.
Do you know how much funding we could lose because of this?
Kami: that's part of the tricky part with all of this, we've been asking for a long time for really detailed funding because its complicated to see what streams come in to the county, what are from the state, the feds, what are the requirements for the funding, and every stream has totally different requirements, some may be tied to the declaration and some may not be at all , its complicated and we've never gotten straight answers but we're gonna get straight answers now.
William foreman agrees with denlay that there is enough shelter space... william foreman/lives in butte county: i think they have plenty for right now if they're willing to go in.
While others disagree.
Sheila wallace/lives in butte county: i think they could do more.
They need to do more to help the homeless because with the fires and everything that has happened there's more homelessness now than when i first moved to the area.
Kristian: the shelter crisis declaration is set to expire in june, chico city council members will look into any potential financial impacts before deciding to officially rescind it or renew it.
In chico kristian lopez action news now coverage you can count on.
We checked and those 50 open beds available are at the torres shelter
A divided Chico City Council declared an end to the shelter crisis.
Good morning, North State! Here's what you need to know to start your day on Wednesday, April 7.