Chico’s downtown city hall was packed to the brim during a special meeting on Dec. 4. Residents filled the room to watch the new city councilors be sworn into office.
- Former Chico Police Chief Michael O’Brien won the District 1 election against Mike Johnson, replacing Sean Morgan who had served for 12 years.
- Incumbent District 3 representative Dale Bennett gathered more votes than his opponent Monica McDaniel by an incredibly slim margin. He won by only 93 votes out of the almost 7,000 total.
- District 5 representative Katie Hawley had the largest victory, holding a margin of over 30% against her opponent, Melissa Lopez-Mora.
- District 7 representative Bryce Goldstein took the place of former incumbent Deepika Tandon, who had served since 2020.
The four elected councilors took their oaths one-by-one. They raised their hands and swore to bear full faith to, support and defend the United States and California Constitutions.
Once all four were sworn in, a vote was taken to decide who would be the next mayor and vice mayor.
Chico’s mayor and vice mayor are not chosen by its citizens. The city council elects the positions from its own members by majority vote. The mayor and vice mayor seats are up for grabs every two years, after each state-wide election.
The council ended up electing District 2 representative Kasey Reynolds by a close 4-3 decision. District 6 representative Tom van Overbeek, District 4 representative Addison Winslow and Goldstein were the dissenting voters.
Reynolds was first elected to the city council in 2018. She previously served as vice mayor from 2020-2024.
On her campaign website from the 2022 election, she asserted addressing crime and supporting homelessness solutions as her top priorities.
Afterward, the council elected Bennett as vice mayor by another close 4-3 vote. Goldstein, Hawley and Winslow were the dissenting voters.
Anthony Vasek can be reached at [email protected] and [email protected].
