Editor’s note: Please join me in welcoming Shasta County District 2 Supervisor candidate Susanne Baremore as she answers ANC’s campaign questions.
A News Cafe submitted identical questions to all Shasta County Supervisor candidates. Incumbent District 4 candidate Patrick Jones, and District 3 candidates Corkey Harmon and Win Carpenter did not respond.
A News Cafe: Hello, Ms. Baremore. Thanks for participating in ANC’s campaign Q&A. Please tell a bit about yourself.
Susanne Baremore: I have called Shasta County home since I was eight years old, in 1977, when my parents and I moved to Shingletown to enjoy a more rural lifestyle. I grew up in a ranch environment, living a largely self-sufficient lifestyle, quasi off-grid, including raising our own meat and vegetables. While I have traveled extensively around the world and lived short periods of time elsewhere, Shasta County is the place I raised my children, worked most of my career, enjoying the beauty and rugged individualism that makes “us” the north state.
A News Cafe: Why do you believe you’d be a good supervisor?
Susanne Baremore: My many years working in county government, with other rural county governments, with county associations, and in municipal government, has given me an in-depth perspective into what works well in local government, and what do not. I have a high level of understanding of how local, state, and federal programs are funded, the laws governing them, and the importance of ensuring the delivery of services meeting the unique needs of our rural culture and economy in a way that is fiscally sound and efficient to our area.
I am an empathetic listener, a problem solver, a collaborator, and an organizer who will bring those willing to find solutions and opportunities to the “table” to better our county, regardless of your “side” or your political preference.
A News Cafe: What is your experience as an elected official or office holder?
Susanne Baremore: My experience as an elected official includes serving on school boards. I currently serve as an appointed commissioner on Shasta County’s Election Commission. I have served on the State Resources Agency Fire and Fuels Management Group, and I have served on multiple non-profit boards where I earned the position by organizational vote.
A News Cafe: Have you accepted – or would you accept – contributions from the Water Users Committee/Reverge Anselmo? If so, why? If not, why?
Susanne Baremore: I would not, nor will not accept from WUC nor Reverge Anselmo, as I believe local politics should remain local. Billionaires 3,000 miles away should not be influencing the decisions for our county which should be made by our community—our friends and neighbors who know best how to run our county.
A News Cafe: What are your thoughts about the concept of Shasta County becoming a charter county?
Susanne Baremore: I believe the concept of charter counties work best when there is a legitimate fiscal reason for it, such as counties like San Francisco or Sacramento where the county and the city have the same boundaries. In those situations, having the same Clerk or Assessor make sense. In places like Shasta County, where the Sheriff, District Attorney, Registrar of Voters, and other offices are unique to County government, I believe local control—via the ballot box—should prevail over having a board of five people make decisions over who should be filling technical or highly educational positions within county government.
A News Cafe: What are your thoughts about term limits?
Susanne Baremore: With regard to local elected positions, I believe the term limits of non-partisan offices should managed at the ballot box. Locally, we have a greater opportunity to know who is serving us in local offices. We have gone to school, worked, shared events with our children with people in local office. They are our friends and neighbors. The best way to manage “legacy” politicians is to limit campaign donations for local races.
A News Cafe: Which groups or notable individuals have endorsed you and your campaign?
Susanne Baremore: I have been officially “endorsed” by the UPEC and SEIU labor unions, and have dozens of individual citizens endorse me through their financial donations. I want my campaign to be “people powered” by district residents and other county citizens who understand the importance of stable governance locally in Shasta County.
A News Cafe: Describe your district, its unique assets and challenges.
Susanne Baremore: District 2, like three of the other districts in Shasta County, include an array of suburban and rural areas. I am committed to the more urban areas where a combination of city and county governance prevail, as well as unincorporated areas were the County needs to provide fire, law enforcement, and distinct planning services to citizens. I want citizens who live in diverse communities, both suburban and rural, to be served in their unique and diverse needs. Places like Igo, Shasta, Happy Valley and French Gulch, where there have been multiple fire starts, have different needs, and at the same time, are integral to contributing to the well-being of the entire county.
A News Cafe: How long have you lived in your district?
Susanne Baremore: I have lived in District 2 for 6 months. I have lived in all five districts of Shasta County for a total of 39 years of Shasta County.
A News Cafe: Your thoughts about the current supervisors’ decision to suspend impact fees?
Susanne Baremore: It tastes like vinegar going down to say this, but I believe Kevin Crye is right that the current impact fees do not reflect the actual costs of services, based on the fact that our county has not grown in population as was expected in the 2008 expectation. That being said, I also believe that a more comprehensive report needs to be presented as to where we are with impact costs in terms of our current population. I believe impact fees should remain accurate and relevant to current population and needs.
A News Cafe: Your thoughts about the current supervisors’ decision to cancel the Dominion voting system contract?
Susanne Baremore: Our elections are free, fair and accurate. Shasta County has a Registrar of Voters who is renowned statewide and nationally for her careful, accurate and consistent reporting of election results. Our elections department is comprised of our friends and neighbors who intelligently, competently, and legally process election results which are accurate. I have watched with huge dismay as people who do not fully understand the myriad of rules, law, and regulations which govern California elections proclaim ‘fraud’ when our elections department actually employs a plethora of cross-checks and audits to ensure our elections are legal, fair, and accurate. People who disagree should spend some time in our elections department to learn and understand the process.
A News Cafe: Your thoughts about the firing of former Health Officer Karen Ramstrom, and the hiring of Dr. James Mu?
Susanne Baremore: Karen Ramstrom was a superior Health Officer. Her firing was both politically-motivated and an extremely poor policy and personnel decision. She was a year or so away from the end of her contract and the end or her contract would have been the most fiscally responsible point in time to deal with her continued tenure with the County. The expansive amount of time it took to hire another health officer was unnecessary, and also an indicator of who few professionals want to come work for a county board of supervisors who put prevaricated politics before responsible and informed policy. I also believe hiring a doctor who does not currently have certificated public health experience is not the best hiring decision. I also believe that hiring a doctor who will be eventually giving away a caseload of 5,000 patients in a county where there is not enough adequate healthcare to meet the needs of citizens is irresponsible.
A News Cafe: Your thoughts about the board’s recent decision to offer generous severance packages to the new health officer, the CEO and the new county counsel?
Susanne Baremore: The current severance packages for these positions are not fiscally responsible. The better way to handle the recruitment and hiring of these high-end positions would have been for the Board to demonstrate a degree of stable and informed governance. Offering these outrageous severance packages to senior positions in county governance is a poor precedent to ensuring governance in our county which ensuring stability and informed policy.
A News Cafe: What issues, under the jurisdiction of the board of supervisors, do you feel most passionate about, and what solutions would you propose to help those issues?
Susanne Baremore: In my entire career, I have been an advocate for how to coerce the State of California into better understanding how the resources and issues in northern California are valuable to all the urban areas in California. We provide water, food, recreation, and other environmental resources to every single person who lives in San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, San Diego, and other urban centers. The value Shasta County provides to the entire state is undervalued, and as a county supervisor, I will use my role to advocate for that value to the rest of the state.
Stable governance starts with an understanding that people are elected to this Board as individuals, but are then expected to pivot and work as a governance team, with the other four board members. This current Board has failed at becoming a cooperative and informed governance team.
Beyond the issue of governance, my priorities include advocating to the State for better criminal justice which holds criminals accountable, a mental health system which addresses the need for a more effective institutional model for the mentally ill. Not every person who is on the streets is capable of living a “housed” and community-based lifestyle. Some folks need to be more supervised for both their own well-being and the well-being of others.
Managing our issues around natural resources are also a high priority. Ensuring people in fire-ravage communities like Igo, French Gulch, Lakehead and elsewhere is essential to gaining more local control over how we manage areas in California which provide water, food, recreation and other resources to the rest of the state.
A News Cafe: What else would you like us to know?
Susanne Baremore: The entirely of why I am running for this office is because I have such a deep understanding of local governance and a genuine zeal to solve problems, break barriers, and ensure that that the unique “norths state” way of life is perpetuated in a way that serves us all fiscally, efficiently, and effectively.
Click here for more information about Susanne Baremore’s campaign.
