Effective immediately, Shasta County District 3 Supervisor Mary Rickert will step down from her board duties and numerous commitments, boards and commissions as she takes a necessary medical leave of absence.
That announcement was made by the clerk of the board during this morning’s Shasta County Board of Supervisors’ meeting. Rickert was absent from the dais, as was her name placard.
Rickert provided A News Cafe with the following statement regarding her unexpected and unavoidable departure from the Shasta County Board of Supervisors to tend to personal issues:
Dist. 3 Supervisor Mary Rickert.
“I will be taking a medical leave of absence due to a lower back injury. It needs medical intervention and rest. In addition, those close to me are aware I have been dealing with a gravely ill family member. I will keep our CEO apprised of my recovery and progress.”
About Supervisor Mary Rickert
Supervisor Rickert attended California Polytechnic State University as a Dairy Science major and holds degrees in Business & Human Resources Management and Psychology from Simpson University. She is co-owner, with her husband Jim, of Western Agricultural Services, a farm management, appraisal and real estate brokerage firm. They are also the majority owners of Prather Ranch, a nationally recognized, vertically integrated beef cattle operation. Mary and her husband Jim have three grown children and five grandchildren.
During a Jan. 25, 2024 campaign interview with A News Cafe, Rickert described her lifelong passion for public service that began as a teenager.
“I have spent most of my life volunteering, beginning at the age of 16 with a Head Start Program working with young children and continued giving of my time to my church, and worked as a 4-H leader and high school booster club mom.
I founded the Burney Fall River Education Foundation in 1991 for the Fall River Joint Unified School District, served on the board of the Shasta Regional Community Foundation, served on the Shasta County Mental Health, Alcohol and Drug Advisory Board, the Shasta Historical Society, Chair of the USDA Farm Service Agency County Committee and was active with the National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI) teaching the Family-to-Family Course. In 2013 I was appointed to the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection by Governor Jerry Brown. In 2016 I decided to run for the District 3 Supervisor’s seat for Shasta County.”
Of all Shasta County’s five districts, Rickert’s District 3 is the largest. It encompasses many rural areas, including southern Bella Vista, Big Bend, Burney, Cassel, Fall River Mills, Hat Creek, McArthur, Montgomery Creek, Oak Run, Old Station, Palo Cedro, Pittville, southeastern Redding, Round Mountain and Whitmore.
The Fall River home Rickert shares with her husband Jim is 80 miles from Redding, a fact that has never dissuaded her from driving through rain, darkness and even hail and snow to and from Shasta County Board of Supervisors meetings, and more than two dozen board assignments, to maintain her commitments.
Rickert is the only female on the Shasta County Board of Supervisors. During her decades of service as both an elected official and community volunteer, she has become known and appreciated for her strength of character and intellect, humor, curiosity, and vast institutional knowledge. She brings to her supervisor work high-ranking connections and a keen interest in such societal issues as mental illness, addictions, ACE’s scores, poverty, crime and homelessness.
A staunch Republican, devout Catholic, lifelong rancher and supporter of the Second Amendment, Rickert is known throughout her district as a supervisor of great compassion who cares deeply for Shasta County and its people.
Mary and Jim Rickert, home on the range.
Shasta County’s most recent governmental exodus
Rickert’s medical leave of absence occurs during an especially tumultuous few months in Shasta County government, including a contentious March 5 Presidential Primary Election, and a month-long series of resignations by three of five Shasta Count Elections Commissioners, starting with Commissioner Dawn Duckett, who stepped down from the commission post last month.
Monday, Commissioner Susanne Baremore tendered her resignation in a letter addressed to the Board of Supervisors. Commissioner Bev Gray is expected to follow suit and relinquish her commission seat soon, possibly replaced by Supervisor Jones’ desired appointment, Patty Plumb.
From left, former Shasta County Elections Commissioners Susanne Baremore and Dawn Duckett, followed by acting current vice chair Lisa Michaud and chairwoman Ronnean Lund, and Bev Gray. Courtesy of Shasta County.
Rickert is the second Shasta County high-profile elected official within the last two months to take a medical leave of absence. In February, Shasta County Registrar of Voters Cathy Darling Allen stepped down from her position to address the sudden development of a dire heart condition. Darling-Allen stated she will officially retire on May 5, 2024.
What lies ahead for Supervisor Mary Rickert?
It’s uncertain how long Rickert’s personal leave of absence will last, and/or how long her seat will remain empty.
Rickert was first elected as the Shasta County District 3 Supervisor in 2016 and began her term in January of 2017. She won an unopposed re-election in 2020. She ran for re-election most recently in the March 5 Presidential Primary Election. And although Rickert was the highest vote-winner in a three-way contest, she missed the required 50-percent-plus-one-vote criteria to avoid a fall run-off election.
On the November ballot, incumbent Rickert and challenger Corkey Harmon will face off in the 2024 General Election.
In the meantime, as Rickert turns her attention toward addressing her health and personal life, she will be stepping back from social media, and unable to participate in her usual high volume of phone calls, meetings, commissions and correspondence. She trusts that the public will honor her and her family’s request for privacy during this difficult time.
Cards and letters may be mailed to Rickert in care of the Shasta County Board of Supervisors, 1450 Court Street, Suite 308B, Redding, CA 96001-1673.
Supervisor Rickert, on behalf of everyone at A News Cafe, we extend sincere best wishes to you and your family during these challenging times.
