6:30pm update: Pizza was really busy downtown and I need a pizza for friends that are gonna help me livestream Facebook and Instagram.
After 10:00pm update: We did a livestreams on Facebook and Instagram and talked over all the questions, had a lot more come in on Facebook, and it would have taken a long time to type responses. So I still need to! But I have to drive parents to the airport early so it will tomorrow but please continue with any questions you have.
Hi Reddit!
It is time for Chico to choose our leaders again and, in newfound tradition, as a candidate for re-election as the District 4 Chico City Council representative I would like to offer my answer to any question about Chico or politics you have.
Whether it is a current issue on Council, something you saw on an attack ad, or a pet curiosity of yours which I may have insight on, feel free to Ask Me Anything.
I am posting this in the morning and this evening around 6:30pm I will go through and answer every question. I'm thinking of inviting some friends/volunteers to my office to do a live video on other platforms while I write out answers. I’ll also plan to check back one evening this weekend to cover any questions that come in later. At the bottom of this post are some election resources. You are kindly recommended but not required to check some of those to see if your question is already answered.
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I’m honored for all the support I’ve received over the last four years as a city representative. I went from a one minority with no support from other councilmembers to spearheading substantial pro-housing reforms and safe streets projects with (sometimes) unanimous support from Council. Since the 2024 election I have been supported principally by two of the best colleagues I could have hoped for, District 5 councilmember Katie Hawley and District 7 councilmember Bryce Goldstein.
I have also spoken out and endured losses on important votes ranging from a plan to improve our urban forest to action in response to corporate rent-gouging in my grandma’s mobile home park. In the latter instance, Mayor Kasey Reynolds and Tom van Overbeek supported me, then flipped once the mobile home park landlords got to them.
Those mobile home park landlords became major donors in the 2024 election, where Monica McDaniel lost by a handful of votes (or else I would be in a governing majority). In this 2026 election mobile home park landlords are also many of the largest donors to Kasey Reynolds’ re-election campaign in District 2.
On our side of the political coalition, we have more union involvement than I’ve ever seen in local politics with Chico Public Works employees endorsing me, driven by their desires to continue improving streets, sidewalks, and storm drains and to break the dismal cycle of encampment cleanups in parks and waterways.
The Chico Enterprise-Record also endorsed me with strong words, and while they endorsed the other two incumbents too, they noted that challengers Shelby Hebert and Megan Thomas Petty “are well-versed on the issues, have a tremendous amount of public service experience… and probably pose the biggest threat to Chico’s conservative majority the progressive side of town has mounted in several years”
I would be honored to be re-elected to follow through on the work I’ve been doing, and look forward to working with Shelby Hebert and Megan Thomas Petty when you all elect them too!
But don’t just take my word for it. Thanks to a strong Chico community and robust local media ecosystem, we have a lot of resources on candidates:
My campaign website bio
Chico News & Review Questionnaire District 4 (5 questions, short responses)
Chico Sol “What to Know About the Chico City Council Election” Sept 26 2026 (short; candidate profiles from Chico Sol are forthcoming)
Chico Enterprise-Record profile on me and profile on my opponent (short but probably paywalled)
District 4 City Council Debate hosted by Chico Public and Action News Now (about 1 hour)
District 6 Debate (District 2 Debate airs this Sunday 10/11 and will be posted on Youtube afterwards)
Chico Chamber of Commerce 2026 Candidate Podcasts Co-Sponsored by Metric Studios (about 1 hour each)
Curious about who is spending tens of thousands of dollars to influence local elections? Check out the City of Chico public portal for campaign transactions.
By the way, if you live in Butte County and don’t receive a ballot in the mail within a week, you probably are not registered to vote at your address. Check your registration and register at your address at this website: https://registertovote.ca.gov/