By Ken Magri
In a race for two Chico city council seats, a controversy has erupted over recent negative campaign mailers addressing the issue of homelessness. Two of the challengers are crying foul about the tactics of a local political action committee.
The campaign mailers were printed and sent out by A Better Chico, which is registered with the city as a political action committee (PAC). They were sent to benefit the re-election campaigns of two council members, Deepika Tandon and Dale Bennett.
One mailer invites readers to “Meet Bryce Goldstein,” juxtaposing photos of the District 7 challenger next to other images of messy homeless tents, syringes on the ground and a hypodermic needle with white powder. The text reads “Brought to you by the same team that created Chico’s homeless crisis and free needle giveaways in our parks.”
The problem with this mailer is not just that it is mean-spirited. It’s false.
The mailer was sent out to benefit Councilmember Tandon although her name never appears. It claims that Goldstein wants more homeless camps for “drug addicts, violent offenders and…sex offenders” and wants “open-air drug markets” rather than cleaning up Chico.
Goldstein’s initial reaction was to laugh the mailer off.
“I made a bingo card of goofy things I expected to encounter on the campaign trail,” Goldstein said. “I’m happy to report that this mailer has allowed me to cross out multiple items.”
But upon further reflection, Goldstein saw the dangerous nature of what she characterized as a “needle hoax” attack.
“The local far-right extremists have been using the same old needles-fear-mongering shtick for about five or six years now,” she argued. “The needle imagery has become so detached from any tangible policy issue that it only serves to reveal the ‘A Better Chico’ PAC as hysterical and out of touch with the issues of our community.”
Goldstein added, “The homelessness crisis that has been decades in the making will only get worse unless we elect leaders who will take evidence-based, intelligent and compassionate actions to address the problem.”
In the interest of fairness, here are Goldstein’s real positions on Chico’s homeless, situation, as she explained to the News and Review:
1. Establish a managed campground with security, sanitation, hygiene, behavioral health, as the Warren vs. Chico settlement agreement mandates.
2. Offer a variety of shelter types and accept help from local non-profit providers previously turned down by the city council.
3. Establish rent stabilization efforts and prioritize affordable housing.
The anti-Goldstein mailer hit local mailboxes on October 15th. That evening, District 7 constituent Catherine Riley showed up at the city council meeting to personally admonish Councilmember Tandon during the time reserved for public-comments.
“This is the most scurrilous stream of hate-filled lies that I have ever seen,” said Riley, describing the flyer’s contents and waving it in front of the council members. “And quite truthfully, Deepika,” she continued, “I don’t think anybody who would put something like this out should be sitting on our city council.”
Councilmember Tandon had no answer for Ms. Riley that evening, but the News and Review was able to get a response from her two days later.
“I do not support the mailers from the PAC,” wrote Tandon. “I think that they should all be condemned by candidates. All three PACs in Chico criticize candidates and I believe it should stop.”
More mailers target McDaniel
Two more negative mailers targeted candidate Monica McDaniel in District 3. Also sent out by A Better Chico, they used the same strategy, some of the same text, and some of the same photographs of homeless tents and hypodermic needles.
Critics are decrying A Better Chico for attempting to tie both Goldstein and McDaniel to a former group of homeless advocates from several years ago by using this erroneous guilt-by-association tactic.
The flyers refer to McDaniel simply as a “homeless advocate.” She is actually a Chico State graduate, a 31–year Chico resident, a former Chico Arts Commissioner and a current member of the Police Community Advisory Board.
“My first response was, ‘Kind of numb,’” said McDaniel. “I know my truth. I know I am doing good work in the community to assist the police department in community relations.”
Designed with roughed-up black and white portraits of McDaniel, the mailer is created to look disheveled and feel uncomfortable. The purpose of such graphic layouts is to transfer those uncomfortable feelings towards the targeted candidate. McDaniel said that when she ran two years ago, one negative mailer photo-shopped a clown nose onto her face, “so the lies don’t surprise me.”
“I spoke to a 90-year old voter today,” said McDaniel. “In response to these mailers she said, ‘What the hell is wrong with people these days? Have we lost our civility?’”
The anti-McDaniel mailers were intended to help Councilmember Dale Bennett in his District 3 re-election attempt. Bennett eventually distanced himself from the flyers.
“You asked for my reaction to the mailers, and I found them to be quite distasteful and inappropriate,” told CN&R. “You also asked, so I will state for the record that no, I am certainly not comfortable with this type of campaign tactic. I demand that the responsible party or parties do not send any more negative mailers out. I believe each candidate should speak for themselves.”
District 1 city council candidate Mike Johnson was also critical.
“I think these mailers are nonsense,” he said after just getting back from the U.S. Navy Reserve station in San Jose. While there for his annual physical, the chief warrant officer viewed the negative mailers and said, like Goldstein, his first reaction was also laughter. But his official comment got more serious.
“It’s an attempt to push people’s buttons,” Johnson observed. “They touch a nerve and are not constructive to dialogue. If you want to make a statement, make a statement.”
Who is behind A Better Chico PAC?
A Better Chico was reformed from the earlier political action committee called Citizens for A Safe Chico. The current president is retired Chico Police Detective Jim Parrot. Other board members are Chico firefighter Ken Campbell and Teri DuBose, who is an assistant to Congressman Doug La Malfa.
According to public records, A Better Chico spent over $10,000 to create and send the three negative mailers against Goldstein and McDaniel. It also spent more than $15,000 on mailers supporting Tandon and Bennett.
Several attempts were made to contact Parrot, Campbell, DuBose, or anyone affiliated with A Better Chico willing to respond to the criticism. As of press time, there were no replies.
A fair political practice?
Politicians running behind or in close races often resort to negative ads because they work.
“First impressions matter, and for some undecided voters a negative ad might be their first substantial exposure to a candidate,” said a 2023 article by Burlington Press, a New Jersey marketing firm that actually creates and sells attack mailers.
But they can also backfire.
“Attack ads run by non-candidate groups or political parties are not always welcome by the candidates themselves,” said Dr. Diana Dwyre, Coordinator of the Social Science Program at Chico State University. “Voters often blame the candidate the attack is meant to benefit for going negative or playing dirty politics, even if the candidate had nothing to do with the attack ad.”
Dwyre added that, while other candidates are reluctant to go negative themselves, “they are happy to leave it to someone else to do the negative campaigning.”
Brian Floyd, a political campaign consultant who operates the online CampaignSchool.com maintains that the first rule of negative campaigning is to always “keep your negatives truthful.”
“If you’re caught lying or making things up, your attack could destroy your credibility,” said Floyd. “If you have to make something up about your opponents, you should not be going negative.”
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