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Residents urge Chino to act on 7‑OH opioid, animal‑shelter transparency and question housing‑element counts
Summary
During public comment, outreach workers warned council about a widely sold opioid substitute called '7‑OH', animal‑welfare advocates pressed for transparency and reporting from ARC, and a resident contested the city’s housing‑element site counts; staff pledged follow‑up on all three topics.
Several residents used the public‑comment period at Tuesday’s council meeting to press elected officials on public‑health and transparency issues.
Alex Lopez, an outreach specialist with Reach Out, told the council he is seeing an emerging opioid‑type product marketed as "7‑OH" or "7‑0" sold in smoke shops in multiple forms and warned it can be highly potent and dangerous. "7‑0 is an opioid that anyone can buy without prescriptions," Lopez said, and added that the product has not been FDA‑approved and that nearby counties and some cities have enacted local restrictions. Council members asked Lopez to leave contact information with Chino Police so staff could follow up; the mayor requested a meeting between Lopez and the Police Department.
Animal‑welfare advocates asked the council for greater transparency from the regional animal resource center (ARC). Donna Marcheesi of Feral Cat Friends said ARC removed 17 cats from a hoarding situation and reported 15 had been altered and returned, but residents have not seen many of those animals back in the mobile‑home park and several altered cats lacked ear‑tips used to indicate spay/neuter status. She asked the council to require regular public reporting of intake, adoptions, return‑to‑owner, transfers, euthanasia totals and average length of stay. City staff acknowledged additional ARC costs during the year (a $69,000 true‑up was included in the midyear budget) and said staff can provide more information; full disposition records were not produced during the meeting.
A third commenter raised technical objections to the city's annual housing report and housing element site inventory, asserting the table totals overstate available units and could affect the city’s buffer for state housing requirements. City staff explained that the annual progress report sent to the California Department of Housing and Community Development focuses on units with building permits (actual constructed units) rather than entitled projects, and said HCD has the full APR with supporting documentation. Council discussion noted the difference between entitled and constructed counts and the need for public clarity.
Council members asked staff to follow up: the Police Department was asked to meet with Lopez about the 7‑OH issue, staff said they will provide ARC budget/expenditure details on request, and planning staff reiterated they report the complete APR to HCD while providing a constructed‑unit summary to council.
