By Addison Winslow

Four years ago, in a “pro v. con” editorial in this paper, I wrote, “If we are going to declare all open spaces and every empty lot off-limits for resting, then we ought to find an honest and transparent compromise with the needs of our neighbors.”

The Settlement is a compromise but there was nothing honest or transparent about it. Then Vice Mayor Kasey Reynolds even wrote a letter to the judge complaining she wasn’t informed of what was in it.

The Settlement has been a game played by both sides. We squabbled over the pettiest things, then last summer shoved everything aside and went headfirst into a motion to sue our way out of it. In a monumentally bad move, we blanket rejected a July proposal by Legal Services of Northern California that would have essentially undone the restrictions on anti-camping enforcement while obligating us to maintain our commitments on the other end.

And we blew it. So what now?

We have over a year and a half left in the Settlement Agreement unless we were to agree to a new one. We know that is a possibility because of the July proposal.

Now, you could argue that all these months and legal fees later, the city has no chips to bargain.

But because I want to make a good deal, I encourage all thoughtful and opinionated readers to view this instead as a city council tied up in a dispute over the actions of a former council (which is not here any more) which were at least a little bit excessive.

The other party you can picture as local nonprofit attorneys representing a handful of local people who were homeless and evicted with no shelter available four years ago.

We are all somewhere between lady and gentleman and can come to a common sense agreement to meet the basic needs of our neighbors without having people camped in waterways prone to summer fire and winter flood, or in the middle of bike paths, or otherwise making messes in the most public places.

Between the city’s haste to get out of this agreement and the other party’s interest in establishing a durable humanitarian precedent, our most reasonable instincts are rising to the top.

Hence the Ad Hoc Committees. One is progressing reforms to make affordable housing more widely available; the other is looking into filling service gaps for the unhoused. The Howard Slater Navigation Center is going up next to our Pallet Shelter. We are getting better at sheltering people and there are more institutions focusing on housing people and helping them stay housed.

Chico has a new standard set by the Pallet Shelter and the outreach and engagement process, and we have experience in what works and what doesn’t. Here is our opportunity to forge an honest, transparent, and durable compromise.

Addison Winslow is Chico’s city councilor for District 4.