Downtown Chico is dying. One vote killed the plan to revive it.

Twelve downtown storefronts closed in the last year under the existing three-lanes-each-direction design. "Don't change anything" is the experiment we just ran, and it didn't work. Meanwhile, every credible study of streets that actually got redesigned points the other way. After NYC installed a protected bike lane on 9th Avenue, retail sales jumped 49% vs. 3% borough-wide. Salt Lake City's 300 South redesign — which removed 30% of on-street parking — saw sales grow 8.8% vs. 7% citywide, and 59% of business owners supported the change after it was built. A 2020 Portland State study across 14 corridors in six cities found positive or statistically-insignificant impacts on retail everywhere it looked. A 2021 peer-reviewed review of 23 North American studies concluded that "fears of disastrous consequences for local businesses are unfounded." Strong Towns has documented the same effect over and over: streets built for all users see higher commercial property values and lower vacancy rates. The slow-pace, walkable street invites people to spend time — and money. Three travel lanes optimized for driving through downtown invite the opposite.^{910111220212223}

Hi, my name is [YOUR NAME] and I live in [NEIGHBORHOOD / DISTRICT].

I'm calling to urge the council to reconsider the Downtown Revitalization Project — Alternative 1 — before the June 22 Caltrans ATP grant deadline.

Downtown is struggling. A dozen storefronts have closed in the last year, and Main and Broadway as they are right now are designed to move cars through downtown, not to make downtown a place people want to be. Alternative 1 fixes that — and every credible study from comparable cities shows redesigned streets lift retail sales rather than hurt them.

Killing this project doesn't save us local money. It walks away from tens of millions in state funding, and the next grant cycle is two years out.

Please vote to put Alternative 1 back on the agenda and approve it.

Thank you.

The link goes to fppc.ca.gov, plays a short video about a known technical issue, then forwards you to the complaint form at fppc.my.site.com. The form has 4 pages along the top: Complaint Type → Complaint Details → Upload → Submit. Keep this guide open beside it.

Pick Sworn Complaint from the dropdown. It's signed under penalty of perjury and gets the most weight from FPPC enforcement staff. (You'll add your contact info on the Submit page.)

Want to stay off the record? Pick Anonymous Complaint instead — it still gets logged and counted, but the FPPC won't send you status updates and can't follow up for clarifying questions. Either choice ticks the public counter; sworn carries more weight.

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On April 7, 2026 and April 21, 2026, Mayor Kasey Reynolds participated in and cast deciding "no" votes on the Downtown Revitalization Project (Alternative 1), a streetscape and capital-improvement project covering Main Street and Broadway between 2nd and 9th Streets in Chico, California.

Mayor Reynolds' family business, Shubert's Ice Cream & Candy, is located at 178 E. 7th Street, Chico — within 500 feet of the project area as defined by the City of Chico's published project documents.

Under 2 Cal. Code Regs. §18702.2, any governmental decision affecting real property within 500 feet of an official's real-property interest is presumed to have a material financial effect on that interest, triggering a recusal obligation. The presumption is rebuttable only by clear and convincing evidence of no material effect.

To my knowledge, Mayor Reynolds did not publicly disclose this potential conflict on the record, did not seek an FPPC advice letter, did not present clear and convincing evidence rebutting the presumption, and did not recuse herself from either vote. A separate councilmember, Tom Van Overbeek (District 6), recused himself from the same votes citing his ownership of nearby downtown property.

I respectfully request that the FPPC review whether Mayor Reynolds' participation in these votes violated §87100 and §18702.2.

- Chico City Council meeting video archive (Granicus): https://chico-ca.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=2
- KRCR coverage of the April 21, 2026 vote: https://krcrtv.com/news/local/city-council-vote-on-downtown-revitalization-ends-in-another-tie
- Chico Enterprise-Record, "To recuse or not to recuse" (April 18, 2026): https://www.chicoer.com/2026/04/18/to-recuse-or-not-to-recuse-fppc-complaints-raise-questions-on-council-conflicts-of-interest/
- Shubert's Ice Cream & Candy "Our Story" (Reynolds family / 178 E 7th St): https://www.shuberts.com/our-story
- City of Chico Downtown Revitalization Project: https://www.downtownchicoplan.com/

Click Next.

You can skip this page. The evidence is already linked as URLs in the witness section, which is what enforcement staff will follow. If you want to attach a screenshot of the council vote tally or a news article PDF, the limit is 25 MB per file and filenames must be under 80 characters.

Click Next.

If you picked Sworn Complaint, fill in your name and contact info and check the "under penalty of perjury" box. Then click Submit. You'll get a confirmation email.

If you picked Anonymous, just click Submit. No confirmation email, but the complaint is on the public record.

We don't get a copy of your complaint — the FPPC does. But clicking below adds +1 to the public counter so we can show how much volume Chico is generating. Name and neighborhood are optional.

• Say your name and neighborhood. Councilmembers track which districts show up.
• Tell one specific story. A near-miss on Broadway. A kid who bikes to Chico Jr. High. A parent who won't let their kid cross Main. Specific beats statistical.
• Name Alternative 1 and the June 22 deadline explicitly. Make it easy for the mayor to agendize a reconsideration.
• Stay under 2 minutes. Practice out loud once. Land the ask in the last sentence.
• Don't yell at the no-voters. Persuade the persuadable watching from home.