Shelby Hebert enters Chico City Council race against Mayor Kasey Reynolds

Chico Mayor Kasey Reynolds will have to fight to keep her seat on the council this November.

That’s because she has a challenger in resident Shelby Hebert, who announced her candidacy online this past weekend. Hebert joins the race at a fraught time for City Hall, with council members, including Reynolds, facing allegations of conflicts of interest and criticism over stalled decisions.

Hebert told NSPR she sees a disconnect between the priorities of most council members and what she believes residents want for the city.

“My family and friends and neighbors and I share a vision for Chico that includes thriving families, thriving businesses, healthy parks and ecological systems, and we currently don't see a vision for those values represented in the current council majority,” Hebert said.

Hebert moved to Chico in 2017 and has a background working in local nonprofits. She now works for the Colusa County Resource Conservation District as a fire resilience program coordinator.

Investing more in roads and affordable housing are some of her top priorities. Herbert said the council hasn’t done enough to ensure residents can maintain a high quality of life as costs continue to soar across California.

“We have a council majority that has consistently deferred critical infrastructure maintenance and declined an investment in downtown,” she said.

Hebert is a big supporter of the city’s Downtown Revitalization Project. The proposal would have redesigned downtown’s streets to be more walkable and bikeable, but a tie vote from the council in April effectively sank it for the foreseeable future.

Pointing to all the businesses that have closed downtown over the last year, Hebert said it's imperative that the next council focuses on strengthening downtown.