Letters for January 2, 2020

Wildflower grows

Re “Charter school expanding” (Downstroke, Dec. 19):

I am writing as a six-month member of the board of directors and a nine-year volunteer at Wildflower Open Classroom charter school. I want to express my appreciation to the Chico City Council, which has approved a new traffic circulation plan and the school’s request to increase enrollment from 174 to 260 students.

In my experience, the school’s director, Tom Hicks, and the staff have been extraordinarily thoughtful in managing the school’s space off Cohasset Road near East Avenue. They have made major efforts to accommodate the concerns of neighbors while developing a structure to maximize student learning. I encourage people to visit Wildflower to see the facility and observe excellent teaching. Give the school a call at 892-1676 and we’ll be delighted to show you around. Or go online to wildflowerschool.com to learn more about the school’s innovative programs.

Stephen Tchudi

Yankee Hill

Dictatorial?

“Views of homelessness” (Letters, by Gordon Reimer, Dec. 26):

To the gentleman who suggested legal camping sites and public bathrooms should be taken care of by nonprofit organizations, the manner in which golf and horse riding are managed:

Like golf and horse riding, shelter for people with little or no income is very much dependent on the sympathy of the rich. In an interesting twist, we live in a society where you can ride a horse around a golf course on public land in Bidwell Park.

So if, Mr. Reimer, it seems to you “dictatorial” to demand public resources for shelter, it may be this is your moralistic ideology insisting that people without money must suffer.

Addison Winslow

Chico

What are the positives?

Re “Shelter discussion” (Letters, by Patrick Newman) and “Protest success” (Newslines, by Ashiah Scharaga, Dec. 19):

In the CN&R’s Dec. 19 issue, a number of complaints and demands were made by the homeless community and their advocates, such as “shelters are a form of incarceration,” “engineered deprivation,” “there needs to be a 24-hour centrally located shelter or at the very least, a place designated for legal camping,” and “centers need to be open more often and provide beds and a meal.”

The chronic homeless community brings with it shoplifting, shopping cart theft, vandalism, illegal trespassing, camping and campfires. Let’s not forget littering, waterway pollution, theft of recyclables from recyclable containers, drug and alcohol addiction, littering of used needles and other trash, personal property theft (bicycles for example), and increased demand on policing and medical services all at the expense of local taxpayers.

For a group that has a lot of complaints and demands, they are noticeably silent on anything positive that they may bring to our community. I guess the big question is, do they want to be part of our community or are they only willing to use and abuse our community for their own personal gain?

Gordon Reimer

Chico

Primary nightmares

I had a dream that an independent socialist who lost in the 2016 Democratic primary is running again. I had a dream that a white woman who claimed Native American heritage to identify as a minority is in the race. I had a dream that a man who, like Trump, would defy a subpoena letter only to renege the next day, was in the race.

I had a dream that millionaire Andrew Yang and billionaires Michael Bloomberg and Tom Steyer were in the race, all spending millions on TV ads that would be better spent for aid to the homeless.

I recently received a scornful, derisive and mocking letter of retort for calling the array of Democratic candidates in the 2020 primary election “nightmarish.” But quite to the contrary, the nightmare lives on and escalates. Brace yourselves for four more years of Trump chaos on steroids.

Ray Estes

Redding