Tonight, on The Real Issue, we will focus on local politics, local problems, and even locally-based solutions.
A few months ago, Chico City Councilmember Alex Brown was here on The Real Issue talking about her concern that the data being collected by the newly formed organization Point of Contact was not going to be reliable and validity. In other words, the data would not be consistent or accurate. Brown’s main concern was that there was not established standard of measurement. The problem is that the Butte County Department of Employment and Social Services contracted with this group so that it could use the data to create public policy around the issue of homelessness. The data was collected and recently presented to both the Continuum of Care and the Chico City Council. In response to that data, retired Chico State Public Health professor Dr. Lyndall Ellingson presented her concerns to the CoC and the City Council. She even suggested that this data be thrown away and the process of collecting the necessary data begin again. We will spend the first half of The Real Issue talking with Dr. Ellingson about her concerns and her recommendations.
Then, during the second half of the program, we will stay local and talk with Allen Myers, executive director of the grassroots organization Regenerating Paradise, to talk about the vision for the future and the obstacles to achieving the visions.
