Katie Hawley, a Chico State graduate, is running against Melissa Lopez-Mora to represent District 5 of the Chico City Council.
Hawley was born in San Diego and moved to Chico to attend Chico State. She earned her bachelor’s degree in criminal justice in 2022 and master’s degree in political science in 2024.
Hawley says her “true area of study” is international relations. However, she was inspired to engage in local politics in 2022 when she saw Addison Winslow run for and win a seat on the City Council.
“Local candidates taking a public-facing role and focusing on renters’ issues was novel to me,” Hawley — who is a renter in District 5 — stated.
Winslow encouraged her to attend city council meetings while she completed her master’s degree. While watching them, she started formulating her own ideas about how things could be improved in Chico.
“Many topics from my local government master’s classes related directly to decisions being made,” Hawley stated. “I found myself watching a case study on financially unsound choices, hostility with community partners, inequity in public investment and negligent sprawl.”
During this time, she volunteered against the development of Valley’s Edge.
One of the biggest aspects of Hawley’s campaign is working towards accessible housing. She pointed out that a residential project was proposed above the Momona restaurant in downtown Chico, but was rejected due to a “parking lot requirement” that there was no space for.
“Missing out on residential development like this prevents people who don’t own cars from living in the most walkable neighborhood in the city,” she stated.
Hawley has been a member of the California Climate Action Corps for the past year. She also serves on the committee of the Butte Resilience Collaborative.
She stated that addressing environmental issues is very important to her; however, she also said she has an “intersectional perspective” that prioritizes the needs of people over climate-related action in certain instances.
“Lessening impact fees, advocating for the softening of certain Title 24 requirements for small homes and other barriers identified by infill developers will prioritize getting our residents housed above all else,” Hawley stated.
She also stated her voice on the council would be used to try to improve the roads of Chico, which she believes is an issue the current council has not properly addressed.
“Our road infrastructure is crumbling, yet the city approved slurry sealing for California Park before repairing the roads of South Campus,” Hawley stated.
Trying to improve transparency between citizens of Chico and their elected officials is another thing she wants to put efforts towards.
“I will be as available and responsive as possible,” Hawley stated. “I will remain grounded in equitable decision-making, but open to deliberation. I want to take part in building a civilly engaged Chico from the bottom up.”
The election will take place on Nov. 5. Ballots began mailing out on Oct. 7 in Butte County.
Anthony Vasek can be reached at [email protected] and [email protected].
