We are at a crossroads, teetering on the edge of losing the very fabric of our society — the civility and communal bonds that are essential to our humanity. This leads to a haunting question: Is this moment more dire than those our parents faced? Is this an existential threat to the civility of our community?
As I reflect on this, I am constantly reminded by the fractures in my face — a stark souvenir from being chain-whipped by a homeless person, driven to savagery after I defended myself with pepper spray against his aggressive, unrestrained dog. While my ordeal in our city park was harrowing, it pales in comparison to the horrors of this past week, where two citizens were stabbed, one landing in the ICU, not two blocks from our home.
This brings me to a critical distinction: the difference between status and behavior, between where one sleeps and what one does. Being unsheltered or homeless is a state of being, a status, but it should never grant immunity for unlawful, predatory, or violent behavior. Why do we tolerate the most egregious behaviors simply because the perpetrators are homeless? Is this not a dangerous form of pathological altruism — an embrace of their status while turning a blind eye to the behaviors that have driven them to the margins and now threaten everyone around them?
We must separate and confront these issues: the status of being unsheltered and the behaviors that endanger our community. The former is for the courts to decide, as in “Warren vs. City of Chico” and the implications of the SCOTUS ruling on Grants Pass. But it is the latter — the unchecked, destructive behaviors — that poses a dire threat to the fabric of our society. This small minority is being treated as a protected class, shielded from the laws and social norms that make our society civil and safe for all. Safe for children riding their bikes to school, for grandmothers caring for their grandchildren, for everyone who loves and uses our public spaces.
In our downtown neighborhood of Chico, we have witnessed the following behaviors, largely unchecked, that are shredding the fabric of our society:
Unchecked domestic violence: Daily, we hear the screams and witness the physical abuse carried out by enraged men against their tentmates, without any intervention or escape for the victims. This brutality festers in the open, with no path to salvation.
Open-air drug markets: Annie’s Glenn has become a hub for drug activity — people openly buying, selling, and using drugs on the bike path, even selling to minors. They smoke, inject, and inhale at all hours, in plain sight, unchecked.
Trashing and defiling public parks: If a law-abiding citizen tossed trash from their car in front of a police cruiser, they’d be fined $1,000 on the spot. Yet, our parks have become a dumping ground for a protected few who discard stolen goods, food wrappers, needles, and used toilet paper without consequence.
Squatting and bathing in public waterways: Each morning, homeless individuals emerge from their creekside tents to defecate in Big Chico Creek, turning our natural waterways into open-air latrines. They bathe with soap and spit out toothpaste, polluting the water downstream for others to endure.
Theft and fencing of stolen property: It’s become a daily spectacle — thieves on stolen bikes, rifling through mail and packages in Annie’s Glenn, searching for valuables and leaving shredded remains scattered in their wake. They operate in broad daylight, with impunity.
Fires set in public parks: My neighbor heroically extinguished a fire in a homeless camp with his garden hose. We’ve seen tents and trees set ablaze, fires lit by deranged individuals on the bike path, hypnotized by the flames. After surviving the Camp Fire, Dixie Fire, and Park Fire, it’s only a matter of time before the Lower Park burns, possibly taking part of downtown with it.
Animal abuse and neglect: Aggressive dogs roam freely off-leash, guarding campsites and drug markets, terrorizing children and passersby. When a child is inevitably bitten, will these dogs even be vaccinated? Who will pay for the medical bills or mend the child’s shattered sense of safety?
Incessant screaming of profanities: Day and night, the air is filled with the shrieks of rage and profanity, disturbing the peace. My ife no longer allows our grandchildren to play outside, fearing the endless tirades of the homeless echoing through Annie’s Glenn. Is this what our society has become?
The status of being unsheltered is a critical issue, but what these individuals do — their actions, their behaviors—affects us all and must be addressed to preserve our community. I call on our appointed and elected officials to work together, urgently, to protect public safety. Protect us from knife-wielding maniacs, from the unchecked violence in our parks, from the filth and fires that threaten our homes, and from the loss of civility in our city.
We must act now to ensure Chico remains a place where children can play, families can gather, and all residents can enjoy the beauty of our community without fear. I stand ready to work alongside our city leaders and fellow community members to find solutions that balance compassion with accountability and restore the safety and joy of living in our city.
James Schlund is a Chico resident and was a radiologist in Chico from 1994-2018. He also works in Truckee developing comprehensive integrated breast care.
