18

BOS 7/02/24: Vengeance is Mine, Sayeth Supervisor Crye

The regularly scheduled Tuesday morning meeting of the Shasta County Board of Supervisors was called to order at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, July 2, 2024. The complete video and agenda are available here. Timestamps are in parentheses.

CALL TO ORDER

(3:03) The Invocation was conducted by Pastor Mali Currington, Faith Community Church. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Supervisor Garman.

REGULAR CALENDAR

Members of the public may comment on any item on the Regular Calendar before or during the Board’s consideration of the item. Members of the public may also address matters scheduled for public hearings at the time such public hearings are opened for comment. Those wishing to participate in public comment for Regular Calendar items must submit a speaker request card to the Clerk of the Board before public  comment on the item begins. Each speaker is allocated three minutes to speak. All speaker request cards submitted after public comment for each Regular Calendar item begins will not be heard by the Board.

Board Matters

R1 Adopt a resolution which recognizes Information Technology’s IT Application Support Analyst I Tim Lewis as Shasta County’s Employee of the Month for July 2024.
No Additional General Fund Impact
Simple Majority Vote

Chief Information Officer Tom Schreiber made the presentation.

 (5:09) Tom Schreiber: Tim started working in the IT department in February of 2021 as an application support analyst. Tim’s primary assignment was to support the public defender with a news case management system. Tim also was assigned to help with the technology planning for the sheriff jail in the projects. Some of the comments provided as part of Tim’s nomination.

Tim never quits thinking of ways to improve the CMS and how it’s been set up. He has gone above and beyond whatever thought was manageable. Tim is always professional, kind, well-spoken, polite, patient, incredibly humble. Shasta County would be proud to have such a fine employee. If all the employees of this county were the caliber of Tim is we would have the best county in the state.

Supervisor Kelstrom read the proclamation.

(6:29) Supervisor Kelstrom: Tim Lewis has been employed with the informational technology department since August 2021. Tim has shown great flexibility since starting with the county as the original focus of his assignment has shifted and evolved to include departments other than IT.

Tim has been an outstanding asset to IT as he is meticulous, organized, and knowledgeable. As an IT application support analyst one, I’m almost done. Tim can analyze a system or process, provide options, make sound recommendations, and deliver solid solutions.

Tim impresses those he works with through his ability to communicate effectively, both written and verbally, as well as his ability to provide valuable input.

Tim takes initiative when he sees complications in IT programs, suggesting reports and ideas to help make the jobs easier for all employees he works with. Tim frequently works with vendors, reports, and ideas to make the jobs easier for all employees he works with.

Tim frequently works with vendors outside the county in a polite, well-spoken, and humble manner that emphasizes his clear understanding of what is demonstrating professionalism that reflects positivity on himself, his department, and the county as a whole. In the role of IT  application support analyst one, much of Tim’s work requires providing services to members of IT as well as other departments, including the public defender’s office. Tim is approachable and works hard to build relationships while establishing himself as a knowledgeable IT resource as he assimilates himself into process.

He has made his mission to learn the program inside and out. Tim even took classes to learn computer coding to assist in report writing, going above and beyond what was asked for to create a program that would benefit the department. When Tim learned that the new case management system did not have the ability to track subpoenas and assign cases, task critical for the department, he created a mini case management system from scratch. Tim continues to come up with ideas and suggestions on how to utilize the case management systems for the public  defender’s office and is always willing to assist via teams, email, phone, and in person when necessary to complete the task. Through his determination, positivity, and creative problem solving, Tim has demonstrated that he genuinely cares about the work he performs and the individual that he works with.

One co-worker stated, if all employees of this county were of the caliber that Tim is, we would have the best county in the state. Tim is an invaluable asset to his department, the departments he collaborates with, and the county as a whole. For the reasons listed above, the Employee Recognition Committee recommends Timothy Lewis, IT Application Support Analyst of the Information Technology Department, be selected as Employee of the Month for July 2024.

(9:53) Tim Lewis: I just want to thank everybody for being here. This is a great honor and I’m very humbled to receive it.

I’ve had the pleasure of working at Shasta County for three years now, and I’ve worked with an incredible group of people, both within IT and the departments that I’ve worked with. A big shout out to the public defender folks right over here. Thank you, Donna and Sue-Ann for nominating me.

Really kind what you did, and it’s been a pleasure. Also, Donna and Sue-Ann both have had incredible careers here, and they’re both retiring soon. I think they could get a little round of applause. They’re retiring real soon. But also, shout out to my IT folks in the back. I’ve worked with an incredible group of people in IT, wonderful colleagues, great culture down in IT. So I just want to say thank you. And the biggest thank you of all to my family, Lou, my fiancée.  Your unconditional love and support are the bedrock of everything I do. And my son, Zephyr, and our daughter, Bonnie, they’re the motivation for everything in my life. So couldn’t be here without them. Thank you all so much.

R1 was passed by unanimous vote.

R2 Receive an update from the County Executive Officer on County issues and consider action on specific legislation related to Shasta County’s legislative platform and receive Supervisors’ reports on countywide issues.
No Additional General Fund Impact
No Vote

CEO David Rickert

(14:53) CEO Dave Rickert:  I do not have an update on the State of the California budget, but I have an update on several local issues. First and foremost, I was given direction at the last meeting to bring back information regarding the pullout of Avelo Airlines and Trego Dugan Aviation from the Redding Airport. I had a conversation with representatives of both companies concerning their recent announcement and the ceasing of service at the airport. Despite efforts to mitigate their business challenges regarding local support in California regulatory environment, they are firm in their decision to withdraw. I asked them to please consider me or Shasta County board members in the future when seeking assistance with local business concerns and regulations to see what we can do to assist. They were very appreciative of this effort and want to give a special thanks to the efforts of Supervisor Kelstrom and Shasta County with being proactive with business.

Last, I would like to announce I met with members of the new Shasta County Grand Jury for an overview on county government and participated in a question and answer session with them regarding current county events. I also encouraged members of the board to reach out to the elected officials and department heads for additional information regarding their respective departments. This concludes my report.

(16:06) Supervisor Kelstrom:  Yeah, I just wanted to follow up on that. So we have not given up on Avelo by any means. Yesterday, Supervisor Crye and I talked with the Redding mayor and after that we talked with the former Redding mayor, let them know that we were very upset.

They both wanted Avelo here too, but somehow the ball was dropped. I’ve been in communication already today with two individuals that work for Trego that would take on the baggage handling if we could get that contract. So I hope to see this on the July 16 agenda because we have not given up on this and we’re going to continue to fight hard to get Avelo back here. They’re the biggest plane that flies in and out of Reading and we just let them walk away. So not going to happen.

District 2 Supervisor Tim Garman.

(16:16) Supervisor Tim Garman, District 2:  I attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Mercy Oaks at the new food bank facility they have out there. Beautiful. You guys should go check it out if you haven’t been out there. It is so much larger than it was previously and it makes it so much easier and nicer for the staff and it was really exciting to see the amount of food that they actually have stored in there and they have a new big freezer as well. So it’s really going to help our community.

Along with Supervisor-elect Allen Long, I went out and we visited with Vestra. They are the company that’s kind of behind all of the fire mitigation stuff going along where the Carr Fire happened on the 299 project. Trying to find out what the holdup is with that on the south side of 299. They’ve done most of the north side. The holdup is at this point it’s a FEMA problem.
There’s a lot of biology report. They’re in the final.  They threw in a final. They have a 21-week window and they’re in that window right now. So it should be coming soon. They will actually be starting that work. They actually have it opened up to some bidding right now. They can’t accept anything but they have it open for the bidders to at least bid if you go to the website of Vestra. So soon that will be happening and then also there’s a project called FEMA 21 where they have identified 21 areas in the county for fire mitigation. 17 of the 21 areas have been accepted. The other four there wasn’t enough property owners to get on board with the project. It was unfortunate. Those areas definitely could have used the help.

Then moving on, I went to the Peace Officers of the Year lunch in the Win-River Casino. That was really, really nice to see all the different law enforcement agencies get rewarded, the officers getting rewarded for their work.

I met with Christy Coleman and Miguel Rodriguez, HHSA. I met yesterday with Nathan Pinkney, which I’ll save that for later when it comes up in the item. I also, we’ve had a couple people come in here and present on tourism in the past and I think that tourism is a vital part of this county’s, we have the resources here for the tourism, we just don’t advertise for it. So I’m going to ask the staff if we can get an RFP [Request for Proposal] put together and put out and we can start spending some money for some tourism advertising. We need to bring people here, just like Supervisor Kelstrom’s talking about with the airlines. We have a beautiful place and we’re not utilizing it. It would help fund a lot of the projects in this county that we need funding for. So I would like, do I need to put that in the form of a motion or can I just direct staff to look into an RFP process? [Board holds brief discussion about voting on an RFP.] And then moving on, I don’t have a whole lot more here. What I do have is Independence Day, July 4, coming up in a couple days. You guys be safe out there. If you have fireworks, just don’t. It’s too windy. It’s too dry. Go to the coast where you can do it legally, but don’t do it here.

And then obviously with the heat for the next two weeks, just carry some water in your car for yourself or somebody along the side of the road. Just be conscientious of others who are going to be suffering through this heat. With that, that’ll conclude my report.

(19:32) Board holds another brief discussion about an RFP. Board votes unanimously to bring it back for discussion.

District 4 Supervisor Patrick Jones

(22:19) Supervisor Patrick Jones, District 4: Did attend the 51st Annual Peace Officers of the Year Award. We had some great recipients this year. They all did an outstanding job. The Exchange Club has put this on for 51 years. I wanted to recognize David Shoffner. He’s been heading that up for the last 40 years, keeping that going. And without him and all the exchange folks, it wouldn’t happen, the Exchange Club of Redding. So appreciate their efforts and Shasta County Board of Supervisors were well represented there. I think almost all of us were there. And I, too, have an idea on tourism. I’ve been meeting pretty regularly with the Shasta County Chamber of Commerce. And so I will get with the CEO and I have an idea. Every time we talk about tourism, it always has to be connected to how are you going to pay for it. So I have an idea that we’ll have a money stream to pay for certain things with regards to tourism. And so I’ll be hopefully bringing that back in conjunction with this.

And then I had an SRTA meeting. We had a quick meeting. Supervisor Kelstrom was
there and Chair Crye was there. It was just one simple item. So we took that up fairly quickly.

And then, Chair Crye, I talked to you earlier. I’m going to be stepping in on the Veterans Memorial Fundraiser. I know it’s been slowing down. I’ve been fundraising for the last 25 years. And so I’m going to work with you and step that up and get that done. So with that, that ends my reports.

District 5 Supervisor Chris Kelstrom

District 5 Supervisor Chris Kelstrom

(23: 48) Supervisor Chris Kelstrom, District 5:  I also attended the Dignity Health Food Bank ribbon cutting. That happens to be Shasta County’s food bank. While there, I was sat with Brenda Haynes, aide to Doug LaMalfa, and I was able to be put in touch with somebody that could contact the FAA over the Avelo leaving. So again, this consumes me daily. And then later on that night, I went to the Mosquito Serenade where they had a tribute to Johnny Cash. I talked to the former mayor of Anderson yesterday, and there must have been, we estimated, four to five times the amount of people there the week before. Close to 1,000 people showed up. And there will be no serenade tomorrow night because of Anderson Explodes.

And then also Thursday, I also attended the Peace Officer Awards Banquet with the other
supervisors. Chairman Cry could not make it. He was out of town. So I had the honor of presenting the awards. And Friday, I had a meeting with CEO Rickert and a couple citizens for an idea for a jail, to build a jail. And then I caught a few minutes of the Bandaloop at the Sundial before I met with CEO Rickert and Chief O’Hara. We discussed a few things, including the Gore Ranch controlled burn, which I’d like to get out there. That was in control the entire time. The helicopter was on, they had it there. The planes were supposed to be there. Everything did not escape the lines. I’d met with Chief O’Hara the day they had it, the first day they had it. And I went home and looked online, and the comments from people were just, I mean, ripping apart CDF and ripping apart the whole thing. And quite frankly, it never got out of control. In fact, I was going to go to the fire lines the next day. I wasn’t able to make it. The CEO Rickert went there and saw for himself that everything was under control. They burned the brush like they had planned and the grass like they had planned. Sean said 85% of the trees remained after the burn, which is what they had planned. Everything went according to plan. So the rumors that that was out of control and they were really stupid to burn in June and et cetera, et cetera. I’d hopefully put some of those to rest.

And then on Saturday, I attended the Freedom Float with Supervisor Jones. That was a great time. Lots of patriots out there. And then Monday, as Supervisor Jones said, him and Chairman Crye and myself attended the Shasta Regional Transportation Agency meeting. And tomorrow night is Anderson Explodes. Again, no Mosquito Serenade. Anderson always does their fireworks on July 3. Redding does it on July 4. So I will be watching Anderson Explodes, but from afar this year. That concludes my report.

Supervisor Mary Rickert, District 3

(26:20) Supervisor Mary Rickert, District 3:  I met with Paul Hellman, Mr. Lamour, Stewart Buettell in regards to our continued fight on the Fountain Wind Project. That continues to always be a never-ending struggle. We have a few obstacles and we’re going to continue to contend with those.

Attended the Peace Officer of the Year Luncheon hosted by the Exchange Club. It’s always great to honor those who are being given this award and recognized by their peers.

I attended the FireSafe Council meeting. I was asked to present an award to the outgoing chairman. He’s served as chair, Francis Berg. He’s been here at our meetings, spoken several times. It was really a fascinating meeting. We had Yana, and I’m not going to try and pronounce her last name. She’s a UC Cooperative Extension Service for Forestry from Humboldt County. When I had a workshop in this room several years ago right after the Carr Fire about how to help citizens figure out how to mitigate fire danger around their homes, she came and spoke. So she gave another excellent presentation. I wish I could have the time. It takes about an hour to go through the PowerPoint that she has, but it’s really fascinating. Part of that presentation involved insurance. A community that is not insurable will find a decrease in home and land values. We can’t emphasize that enough. It’s really important that people learn how to develop their defensible space and mitigate fire danger to their homes. There’s a lot of steps you can take, and then also that will translate into having an easier time getting insurance. Proud to announce that there are now 14 FireWise councils in Shasta County, with four more in the works. Those continue to form in all these small communities. That’s been very rewarding for me to see those develop and become a reality.

I attended Camp Love- A-Pet thanks to CEO Rickert, he also attended. That’s always one of my favorite things to do every year. There’s nothing more fun than seeing kids working with dogs, and this year the dogs were especially cute. I was fighting bringing one home with me. There was one in particular. Remember that last one, Dave, the spot one? He had a lot of black spots. He was white. He was really cute.

But anyway, I attended the Sundial Bridge event, and just on the Gore Ranch, we leased that property. We grazed cattle on that. My husband spent a lot of time out there, and he said that he felt that it was handled very, very well, and that there was one incident with a little bit of a breakthrough, but they got right on top of it. That’s going to provide a real fire break, especially for people around the Westwood Village area. Again, cattle grazing are an effective tool for mitigating fire danger also, so always want to put that plug in.

Also, I was wondering if CEO Rickert would follow through with Dr. Mu. I’m having a lot of
complaints about not having cooling centers during this next extraordinary heat wave. We need to be concerned about those that are unhoused that are most vulnerable in this county. There’s projections of 118-degree days. We haven’t seen those in a few years, so I don’t know exactly what Dr. Mu has planned, but I think that I don’t know what we can do, but I do think that we need to address this issue, and we need to address it urgently.

And then last but not least, there is a Senate bill, if anyone’s interested to contacting their
legislator, under SB 1060. If a property insurer uses risk models for underwriting purposes, this bill would authorize the models to account for wildfire risk reduction associated with hazardous fuel reduction, home hardening, defensible space, and fire prevention activities. So this bill would require an insurer using risk models for underwriting purposes to provide to the department information necessary to ensure compliance with those risk model requirements. The California Farm Bureau supports that. So if anybody has any questions about that, contact me and I can get you more information. But we need to continue to be advocates for ourselves in Sacramento in terms of fire insurance. I can’t tell you how much all of us have suffered from it, and we will continue to suffer, especially if we have a really bad fire year this year. So thank you.

(30:52) There was a brief discussion about cooling centers. CEO Rickert said he would ask Dr. Mu to address the board about an action plan for accessible cooling centers this summer.

District 1 Supervisor/Chair Kevin Crye

(32:58) Supervisor Kevin Crye, District 1: So first, I wanted to thank CEO Rickert for stepping in for me at the Love-A-Pet event, as well as Supervisor Kelstrom at the Peace Officers Award. I was asked to meet with the Secretary of Education of Mexico, so I was out of town for that. The charter items is something I’ve been working on. We have one on the agenda today, and we have another one coming that will have to do with eminent domain. It’s not 100% yet, but I’m working through that with Counsel Larmour and staff. So that’s something I’ve been working on.

Met with Miguel Rodriguez. It’s very bittersweet meeting with Miguel. He’s a wealth of information, but I’m stoked for him because I understand the situation and the opportunity he’s going into. So you can’t do anything but smile, but his leaving will be a loss. So I had a great meeting with him, and we’ll discuss some of that later.

I attended a funeral for a Shasta High School district board member in this past congressional race, candidate Mike Dorn. Mike Dorn was a friend of mine for 20-some years, and that was a great celebration of life. Gone much too soon. I think he was 60, so that was a bummer.

But the SRTA meeting, the special meeting, that was about compensation studies essentially, and that was a very thorough job done by Sean and his staff and the consultants. I appreciate them. I met with the Sheriff about the Supreme Court decision about unsheltered, unhoused, prosecuting homeless, etc. And it’s not so much prosecuting homeless as it is people that are illegally camping on people’s private property. So we are going to be having a meeting next week with the DA, the Chief of Police of RPD and APD, as well as the courts. So the Sheriff and I are working on that because I want Shasta County to be one of the lead counties in the state moving on this decision. That’s something I ran on and I think it’s important. There are over 50 organizations locally that are helping individuals that want a hand up, that want help to get back on their feet. Now I believe is the opportunity to bring some accountability for the people that choose to live a lifestyle that brings the quality of life down for those running businesses, private property, etc. So I’ll be working with all those jurisdictions and we have a big meeting next week.

I’m also working on a project that I believe is going to save easily a quarter million dollars up to a half million dollars. After the budget hearings, I’ve been looking at the cost plan and what we spend in various departments for different things and seeing how we can streamline that. So I’ll just leave it at that because CEO Rickert and some staff have said just to wait till the final numbers are done before we report back what that is, but that’ll be coming here very soon. I would like to ask staff to bring back, I want to view our policy about out-of-county travel for supervisors at the end of their term. So I don’t know what exactly that would look like. So I would just make a motion that we look at our policy about money being spent by outgoing supervisors and just CEO Rickert, can you help me with the language of that just to make sure?

(36:48) CEO Rickert: What I can determine is I can look at what our current policies and practices are and we can present that to the board and if there needs to be adjustment with those policies, we can come back and look for a resolution from the board for a change of those policies.

(37:07) Supervisor Crye: Okay, so yes, bring that back on July 16 then, if you can. And then I also want to address appointments on commissions and boards. We have, I don’t know, no less than 20 or 30 various boards that we appoint to or have in the county. So I want to be looking at commissions that have a potential of falling under not having a quorum. So if five are needed and there’s only three and one person doesn’t show up, there’s not a quorum. So that isn’t able to get anything done. So I want to ensure that every supervisor, if they have an appointment to make, they have that right to bring somebody forward as it relates to the qualifications set forth. So we’ll start with the election commission. I want that to come back. There are currently two vacant seats and right now if a person is sick, that doesn’t give the commission a quorum to do work and it just costs staff time and money to prepare for that and then not to have one if someone doesn’t show up. So I’m going to make a motion to bring that back and we look at how those appointments are filled as in the ordinance and the bylaws.

(36:12) There were two motions before the board. One was to look at the ordinances and bylaws concerning how vacancies are filled on boards. The other was about supervisors spending money.

(38:51) Supervisor Rickert: So you want to go back over and do what?

(38:58) Supervisor Crye: So there’s two things. We have supervisors that are leaving office or looking to spend an exorbitant amount of money for I believe no purpose. So I want to visit a policy.

(39:08) Supervisor Rickert: What do you mean spending an exorbitant amount of money for no purpose?

(39:11) Supervisor Crye: Well, what I’m saying is that Supervisor Garman wants to go on a trip at the end of his stint here.

Discussion followed about what the motion is.

(40:05) Supervisor Rickert: I’m really confused because I don’t understand what money a supervisor spends.

 Supervisor Crye:  Sure you do.

 Supervisor Rickert: I spend money all the time, but I don’t reimburse. But it’s got to do with the board. I don’t.

Supervisor Crye: Well, it has to do with the board because the board represents the taxpayers and taxpayers don’t need to pay three or four thousand dollars for a trip. That is nothing more than a networking and a glorified opportunity to go do something fun. And that’s what it is.

Supervisor Rickert: So I’ve never submitted any reimbursement for the eight years I’ve been here.

Supervisor Crye: [Talking over Supervisor Rickert] I didn’t say you did. I wasn’t talking about you.

Supervisor Rickert: Okay, well, I didn’t realize other people did that.

Supervisor Crye: Well, Supervisor Garman is. He doesn’t even sit on our CRC board, but he wants to go to the end of the year thing at the end of his term. And I have I have a problem with that.

(41:00) The motions passed 4-1 with Supervisor Rickert dissenting.

County Administrative Office

(41:14) R3 Introduce and waive the reading of “An Ordinance of the Board of Supervisors of the County of Shasta, Adding Procedure for Filling Vacancies of Elected Officials to the Shasta County Charter,” and adopt a resolution which calls for an election and consolidates it with the November 5, 2024, General Election (Sponsored by Supervisor Crye).
Future General Fund Impact
Simple Majority Vote

Deputy County Executive Officer Stewart Buettell made the presentation.

(41:28) Stewart Buettell: Before you today for consideration is an ordinance to add procedures for the Board of Supervisors to fill an unexpected or midterm vacancy in an elected office in Shasta County. Should the board approve the draft ordinance, it is also recommended the board approve an accompanying resolution which calls for an election and consolidates voter  consideration of this addition to the charter with the general election on November 5, 2024. Included in the resolution is the proposed ballot language, as well as additional guidance to the Elections Department, County Council, and the Auditor Controller, all of which are similar in nature to the process when the prospect of establishing the Shasta County Charter was initially considered by this board.

(42:20) Supervisor Crye: So I brought this forward, I think every time that we, as it comes to the charter, one of the reasons why I sponsored the charter and want to continue to add to it is in my time as Supervisor, I want to give as much power back to the voters and back to the constituents as possible. Right now the way our laws are is if, and again our charter is only the one piece of the Supervisor position, but what this allows is if a, because we’ve had this in the past, we’ve had an elected official resign and then someone else is appointed and then it costs the county a whole bunch of money and then it goes and does it again. So what this does is it doesn’t give somebody carte blanche to fill a term, it just means it has, it can be left vacant or it can go to the next election.

So if the board in the future does appoint somebody, they don’t get to fill the rest of the term, like right now. And Sheriff Johnson, I believe, is doing a phenomenal job. He has roughly four and a half years on his term. If he was to leave, this board would appoint a sheriff for the remainder of that term. What this item will do in the charter was, it will be when the board appoints, they only get that appointment until the next election. So that way the voters have a choice again. And that’s all that is. So I would make a motion that we adopt R3 as written.

(43:55) Supervisor Jones: With this language, you may get to fill the remainder of a term if it’s less than when the next election would come. So you might be able to do that. My only concern with this language is the use of the special election. And I think just for the sake of making something simple for the voters to be very clear and understand if that language was removed so that most of what you’re referring to would move forward with the exception of the special election. Because with that, you will have to notify the public of the potential costs. Which is not an option today. But it would be with this. And I think simpler is always better.  And when we can show the public that this is not going to cost more and it’ll be better for the public. Because in most cases they’re going to get to have an opportunity to vote on this person sooner than later. I would re-request that the special election verbiage is removed.

The Board held a short discussion about R3.

(48:53) Public comment on R3 began. There were six commenters.

(49:40) Steve Kohn:  I don’t believe the board of supervisors should have the ability to appoint a replacement for vacancies of elected officials, period. The only way that a vacancy should be filled is by waiting for the next election or by having a special election. It has been made clear by Chair Crye’s appointment of Toller that we cannot trust our board of supervisors to appoint. This was demonstrated by Crye’s appointing an individual that was not qualified for the position of ROV, a person that applied for the position without references, something that I understand after looking into his past. Vacancies that occur should only be filled by individuals that are voted for by the people, either by normal or special elections. Otherwise, in the future, we’ll end up experiencing the same situation that exists now with the current appointment of our registrar voters, putting someone into a position without knowledge or experience in the job and basically pay them for doing almost nothing for years as they hopefully learn the job. As I say, there could be no more clear example than the appointment of Toller by Chair Crye. Let us learn from this, and even though there’ll be costs for a special election, what’s the cost of paying for somebody
that doesn’t know the job?

(51:46) Margaret Hanson:  Elections are important. Elections are necessary. I like that you are kind of cleaning up the muddled areas of that and just appreciate that you’re focusing and working on things to make things fair and transparent. Thank you very much.

(55:20) Benjamin Nowain:  So let’s discuss the amendment to our county charter, which
introduces the option for the Board of Supervisors to either appoint or call for a special election to fill midterm vacancies in elected offices. While this amendment allows for elections, it also presents significant risks. The flexibility it provides can be exploited by the board majority, potentially subverting the will of the people. The current law does enable the board to appoint individuals, which does at times lead to political favoritism. The board majority could use its power to appoint those who align with our political agenda, consolidating their control and undermining the impartiality expected in our governance. This threatens to erode diversity and political representation and diminish public trust. Moreover, the board might avoid calling for special election, preferring to make appointments to maintain their control. This strategy denies the electorate their rightful voice and participation. Even when elections are called, the board could manipulate the timing to ensure lower voter turnout, skewering results in their favor. And even more concerning potential abuse is the creation of unnecessary vacancies. The board majority could pressure current officeholders to resign prematurely, creating vacancies that they could then fill with their preferred appointees.

This tactic can destabilize government and lead to frequent changes in officeholders, causing disruption and inefficiency. We have a stark example of this in our own community. Cathy Darling Allen, our respected outgoing registrar of voters, left her position due to her physical health issues, arguably exacerbated by the non-hospitable political climate created by this board.

This serves as a reminder of real-life consequences of political maneuvering on our dedicated public servants. A good example of Kevin Crye abusing his power just now by using his official seat to punish Supervisor Garman for trying to do official business during his term. Kevin has shown that he will do whatever he wants and stops at nothing to get his way.

(1:01:10) Steven:   I’m not entirely sure why this ordinance is needed. It’s gone, kind of worked pretty well without it. Aside from that, I’m really annoyed, Chair, with the way you treated my supervisor a little while ago. You can disagree with her. You can think she’s wrong, but the manner and the tone in which you spoke to her was disrespectful. And you know when it comes to policy that I’m on your side, the three of you. I’ll say it right now. The three of you right there. I’m on your side, 99% of the time. I just did not like the way you talked to her.

(1:02:21) Supervisor Crye: Well, I apologize to Supervisor Rickert if it was biting or if it was rude, because that’s not my intention, Stephen, and I appreciate you coming, and I appreciate you coming and holding me accountable.

After public comment ended, a lengthy and contentious discussion ensued among the board members.

(1:25:06) The motion passed 5-0.

Clerk of the Board

(1:25:18) R4 Appoint Nathan Pinkney to the Shasta County Elections Commission to serve the remainder of the term to January 6, 2025.
No Additional General Fund Impact
Simple Majority Vote

R4 opened with public comment. There were twenty-three commenters.

(1:26:35) Steve Woodrum: Nathan Pinkney should be appointed to the election commission. He is a longtime county resident. He is involved in political and social issues and he holds firm, clearly stated beliefs, you know exactly where he stands on every issue. He doesn’t hide anything. You want transparency. He will give you that. He is intelligent and knowledgeable. If he has said that if he is appointed, he will tamp down his fiery nature. The way he speaks here isn’t the way he would act up there. I believe him on that. This honorably discharged military veteran promised and this is his quote,  I will perform the duties assigned to me to the best of my abilities, end quote. I think he deserves a shot.

(1:27:41) Steve Kahn: I believe it’s been shown that as it exists, the elections commission has been dominated by election deniers skewing any advice or observations that have been made. It’s for these reasons that I don’t believe the election commission should even exist. However, if the majority of the election commission did not lean in a skewed direction one way or the other, it’s possible that it could come up with some productive guidance with that in mind. I recommend that Nathan Pinkney be appointed to the elections commissions to start heading in a direction of diversity. Also, I’m gonna find it interesting to see how Mr. Crye votes.

(1:28:34) Laura Hobbs: I’d like to read my email aloud to people. I said, Honorable Supervisors and County Council, this is official notice that Pinkney is a liability to Shasta County. Pinkney is a known stalker who preys on women in particular. He stated that conservative women are the worst with a vomit emoji after that. He’s known within the community that he pulled a gun on his former girlfriend and threatened to kill her. He also pulled a gun on one of the clients at the Blade and Barrel. He recently threatened to kill one of my friends and there’s still an open investigation into that incident. This was just one of the two incidents that actually began at the ROV’s office. There was another incident of Nathan Pinkney stalking and harassing an election observer that I witnessed firsthand. You have been officially noticed that Pinkney is a threat, not only to the community at large, but also to the three women who serve on the Elections Commission. Should anything happen to them or members of the public during this time on the commission, the county will be held liable.

(1:47:18) Christian Gardinier:  I support Nathan.  I have seen no substantiated criminal report.  I have seen somebody who is passionate and active. I think that either we need to shut down this joke, this pathetic joke or try to figure out a  way to balance it because right now it is ultra conservative. If you’re not a white nationalist, Christian, if you’re not a Trump supporter, if you do not believe  Laura Hobbs, if you do not believe Dr. Frank, if you do not believe unsubstantiated crap that just got thrown out of court last week, then you’re not wanted on Mr. Jones’s Election commission. You need to call it what it is, a wasteful propaganda machine. However, if you’re going to insist on its continuance, you better figure out a way to do it, bipartisan and balanced. Currently, it’s way over the deep edge into the big lie.

(2:16:07) Jim Burnett: I urge this board not to confirm Supervisor Garman’s appointee, Nathan Pinkney, to the Elections Commission. Nathan is on the record saying that he opposes the existence of this commission. Further, Nathan has demonstrated troubling and erratic behaviors over the past several years, both inside and outside the board chambers. He has disrupted many board meetings by hurling crude and vulgar insults toward board members and members of the public alike. On several occasions, he has been asked to leave because he could not stop himself from disrupting the meetings and had to be escorted out of the chambers by security, effectively halting the meetings. He is a provocateur, confronting people who he views as political opponents by getting into their space and desperately seeking a reaction in which he can try to cast himself as an innocent victim at the hands of some oppressive fascist. This board should not ignore the past behaviors of Mr. Pinkney. He is a chronic offender of the civil disorder or the civil order and thrives on creating chaos. He has always opposed this commission and we should expect him to sabotage its good purposes by his penchant for disruptive behavior. This is a pattern that everyone has seen repeatedly and you’d be crazy to expect anything differently if you confirm this appointment.

Nathan Pinkney

(2:25:09) Nathan Pinkney:  I just want to preface this by stating that I wrote this speech yesterday.  I hope people got a good hard look today and on social media this past week at what I and my fiancé have been dealing with for years. Now. I can say confidently that I do not believe I have anything to prove to anyone in this room that I have not already. I’ve been known in this community for a long time now. And I believe people have a pretty good idea of what I am about.

Over the years, many people have seemed to be attempting to build an alternate history for my life. They will take a minor issue or situation such as speaking out of turn a meeting as many have then twist it, add in new information and spread that to their masses. This has led to a sort of boogeyman effect about me. They will even do this when there is video evidence that I was clearly the victim of a crime. And if they have absolutely nothing to accuse me of legitimately, they will simply lie. I don’t however, actually believe these people are truly afraid of me, especially based on how bold their negative behavior against me has been on countless occasions. Everyone knows I’ve never harmed any of them, never assaulted anyone. There is a reason that you never ever see proof of these wild accusations. And it certainly isn’t some conspiracy. It’s because it didn’t happen. And again,  people lie.

What I believe they are truly afraid of is what I can do with my words. How I will be able to argue and debate the topics being discussed with by the commission with facts and logic. I mean, I’m going to be outnumbered 3 to 1, which means I’ll likely lose everything I try to do. So then tell me, what are you afraid of again? I believe that people are afraid of my ability to prove that wrong. I was firmly in the minds of that this commission needed to be disbanded and that was initially my plan to make a motion to ask the board to disband it. However, with the appointing of a new and inexperienced ROV, I am beginning to believe that if there was ever a time to have such a committee, it would be right now with me on it and possibly even Jenny. I have proven time and time again that I will not back down to bullies, that I can break down complicated information to my community, and that I can come to the table with facts and receipts.

So I would like to announce that my first act would instead be to suggest a motion to the commission to create a clear and defined mission statement for itself. Something that makes it absolutely clear to the community what this commission is for and its purpose for requiring tax dollars from the citizens because currently most people have no real clue what it’s actually for. And I agree with that sentiment. I am of the belief that this commission was initially created for the sole purpose of putting even more pressure on our already overworked election staff. I now believe that it can be used to help them as well as the voting public to understand how things run in that office and not simply be seen as a panel of bullies trying desperately to find problems where none exist. Lastly, Kevin Crye gave his word to Supervisor Garman that he would support Tim’s pick. We can say what we want up here, but that’s truly what it comes down to today. Thank you very much.

(2:28:00) The board went to discussion on R4.

(2:28:17) Supervisor Garman:  First of all, a couple of people out there talk about me being a pastor. Well, I’m in this role, I’m a supervisor of the people of Shasta County. I’m not playing the role of a pastor. I mean, that’s always there, but it’s not what my focus is. My focus is on the people of Shasta County. With that said, Jesus, what you guys brought up? So I’m going to talk about it. Jesus come out of this to love one another. Jesus died in the cross so we can all have a chance of eternal life. He didn’t just do that for Republicans or for MAGA people. He did it for every single citizen on this earth. And if you think otherwise,  you’re diminishing what Jesus did and how much he suffered. So stop. He died for everyone and everyone deserves a chance. When I first became a supervisor, I said I wanted to bring the people together. This is an opportunity for somebody who’s been very vocal, very outgoing and sometimes very yeah, rude. I’ll say rude.  That’s absolutely correct. And with my conversations with Mr. Pinkney, we’ve had multiple conversations. I met him in my office yesterday. We talked about this. It’s like, are you taking this seriously or are you taking this as a joke? Because if you’re taking it as a joke, you’re not my person. But I believe that he’s taking this seriously and this is an opportunity for our county to grow because if we cannot start working together from one side to the other, then this county has no chance. This state has no chance and this country has no chance. We are gone off the deep end.

(2:31:56) Supervisor Garman:   I’m just going to say it, there have been numerous times, the supervisor cries wanted to see those recall petition signatures. We know this is real.

Supervisor Crye: Explain to me when.

Supervisor Garman: No, no, no, excuse me. I got the mic. Ok. So it’s not a secret. He has wanted to see those signatures. We have a new ROV who’s in place who I don’t know if he understands the law with that. But if those signatures are shown to Supervise Crye, you could face charges from the attorney general. So I don’t know if you guys had some deal in place or whatever. I hope that’s not the case, but that is my concern and part of my worry and because of that, I want somebody up there who can at least keep an eye on things because if I find out later that one of our county employees gets fired or loses their position and they end up saying, well, yeah, I signed a petition. I’m gonna be pushing for an investigation into that because this is, this is if our elections are not protected and my vote or whoever’s vote is not protected. And then what is the point of having elections?

The board discussion became heated with multiple interruptions and yelling from the audience.

(2:49:49) R4 failed on a 3-2 vote with Supervisors Jones, Kelstrom and Crye voting no.

CLOSED SESSION ANNOUNCEMENT

The Board of Supervisors will recess to a Closed Session to discuss the following item (estimated 45 minutes)

R8 CONFERENCE WITH LABOR NEGOTIATORS
(Government Code section 54957.6):
Agency Negotiators:
County Executive Officer, David Rickert
Personnel Director, Monica Fugitt 
Employee Organizations:
Teamsters Local 137 – Supervisory Unit

R9 CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL – EXISTING LITIGATION
(Government Code section 54956.9(d)(1))
Name of Case:
Kropholler v. County of Shasta, et al.

At the conclusion of the Closed Session, reportable action, if any, will be reported in Open Session.

REPORT OF CLOSED SESSION ACTIONS

(2:50:31) The board went into closed session.

(2:50:33) The board returned from closed session.

(2:50:38) Counsel Larmour: R9 was attended by Tricia Weber from my office as I’m recused. There’s no reportable action on either R8 or R9.

Presentations

(2:50:56) R6 Receive a presentation from Concepts Forward Consulting regarding the MultiCounty Innovation project on Psychiatric Advance Directives (PADs) (Sponsored by Supervisor Rickert).
No General Fund Impact
No Vote

R6 was presented by Kirin Sahota. During the presentation, they were interrupted.

(2:52:02) Counsel Larmour: Mr. Chairman, it was brought to my attention that we skipped R5. So we had, if you look to the front page, we’re taking the presentation R6 immediately following the recess.

(2:52:25) Kirin Sahota: A psychiatric advanced directive is very  little known in California at this time. Right now, we pretty much use our advanced health care directives which are end of life decisions. Whereas a psychiatric advanced directive is one that is a legal document but really looks at your psychiatric health and preplan in the case of a crisis. So you can get information out to law enforcement hospitals, crisis teams, your family in advance of a crisis. It allows a person with a mental health health crisis to retain their decision making capacity by choosing a trusted individual um or who we call a preferred contact to help advocate for their choices.

Sahota went on to discuss the development of the technology used to create a PAD and getting people in crisis the services they need.

Support Services

(3:01:19) R5 Adopt a resolution which appoints Thomas Toller to the office of County Clerk – Registrar of Voters, effective July 3, 2024, for the remainder of the term, lasting until the first Monday after January 1, 2027.
No Additional General Fund Impact
Simple Majority Vote

Monica Fugate made the presentation.

There were eleven public commenters.

(3:03:29) Steve Woodrum: The selection of clerk should be based on merit. Mr. Toller served as a prosecutor with the Shasta County District Attorney. He knows criminal law. Election law is a whole other legal world, and here he is not an expert. As a prosecutor, he knows how to manage a team. However, an election is a complex mix of federal and state laws with endless technical complications all conducted under a merciless microscope, and here he has no experience. Until he submitted his application for the position of clerk, he showed actually little interest in the subject of elections. If based solely on merit, the position would not have been offered to Mr. Toller. Mr. Toller was selected due to the arm-twisting of Supervisor Crye. If appointed, Mr. Toller must know that he owes his position to Supervisor Crye.

(3:05:51) Steve Kahn: I do not support the appointment of Thomas Toller to the position of County Clerk Registrar of Voters. He does not have the knowledge or experience required to run the Registrar of Voters office. What this means is that subordinates will end up doing the job of the registrar of voters as they are now. Or if key people leave the office will disintegrate. I do not believe Toller will acquire enough knowledge even through the term that he will be serving to be able to carry out the obligations of registrar of voters. This is simply a paycheck that we are throwing away.

(3:08:08) Christian Gardinier:  Mr. Toller could be a saint for all I know.  Mr. Toller was appointed for one reason. That’s to be the puppet of these three supervisors right here with some kind of grandiose stream that we’re gonna work our way up to the Supreme Court that Shasta County is all of a sudden gonna be famous. And Mr. Toller expressed that he’s more than willing to do that because he doesn’t believe in our elections. In fact, Mr. Toller said, listen, everybody knows everybody hates the ROV. It doesn’t matter if you’re a Democrat, it doesn’t matter if you’re Republican, they all hate the ROV. What a bunch of bull.   I’m gonna believe that he’s more intelligent than that. So therefore, that’s a lie. That’s a flat out lie, but it doesn’t matter. You three are going to appoint him. We already know that this is a done deal.

(3:11:20) Leslie Sawyer:  Mr. Toller got this on his merit. He has a long reputation of being well respected and some of the greatest minds that I know in Shasta County, who I know to be harsh critics of people in their ability, endorse him, which tells me that we can trust him. The problem is every opposing comment that came up here to talk about him started with, I don’t know Mr. Toller or I don’t know much about Mr. Toller, which tells you that their only dissent is coming from the narrative that Shasta County’s had longstanding, that the only qualified candidate is the one that they tell us is the qualified candidate because they’ve handpicked them, put them in, resigned halfway through their term, hand promoted them, trained them up to be their many, and have then ran unopposed in elections because anybody who dares to run against them is unqualified. It’s a longstanding lie in Shasta County. You want to talk big lie? This is the new big lie. Shasta County thinks that they need to tell us who’s the qualified people to run our county and our county under that has fallen.

(3:13:07) Larry Sergeant: This isn’t to speak for or against the appointment of Mr. Toller. But I want to start out by really pointing out some blatant hypocrisy that I just heard a little while ago from you, Mr. Jones. You alluded to the fact that if we had a sheriff who resigned in midterm and there was a qualified undersheriff to fill that term out, you’d be fine with letting them fill that out and standing for the next election. But not here. Now, when I got the gist of how Mr. Crye had blackmailed the other two of you into switching your vote, I got concerned. What it amounts to is, if Mr. Toller has a character that Mr. Crye displayed just a little while ago, that in itself would disqualify him.

Now, I hear time after time when I come to these meetings, I hear hate, anger, venom, threats, vile remarks, veiled threats of violence, all coming from people who say they are on the Christian right. Then I hear somebody get up here and say, Jesus wins. Well, I got news for you. When Jesus hears this kind of vileness from the Christian right wing, he doesn’t win. He regurgitates. He spews you out of his mouth.

(3:21:01) Nick Gardner: I agree, Joanna is the most qualified person to be the ROV. But had you appointed Joanne as the ROV, we’d have never got trust back in our elections. It just wouldn’t work. We needed the bridge in between. I was all for  Clint Curtis. But now when I reflect on that choice, I see that he was way too  radical and he would have divided us. Also, I listened to Kevin’s show last week. I would encourage everybody to go listen to it and I’m sold that Tom is the right decision for the ROV, that he will bridge that gap and Joanna will have her time and she  has shown so much class and character by staying on keeping a smile on her face and assuring us that he, she is going to help Tom run a good office there and I just can’t say enough about her.  It was a wonderful decision that we made.

(3:22:04) Laura Hobbs: Kevin Crye, I do not like the way that you strong arm the board in voting your way. Half the people that came up to the podium wanted Joanna, the other half wanted Clint Curtis. The same goes for the board. Half the board wanted Joanna, the other half wanted Clint Curtis. You use that threat of voting for Joanna to get your way after telling people in private that there was no way you were going to vote for Joanna in doing so, you not only broke promises and lost trust with your base. You also sadly manipulated your fellow board members who sacrificed everything they had to help you defeat the recall, not selecting Clint Curtis was a lost opportunity, but we have the ability to win back your base and start working on real election reform at the local level that will also help help Thomas Toller succeed in his position.  We have two Supreme Court victories in the last two weeks, the City of Grants Pass versus Johnson and the Chevron case, both of which affirm the authority of local government and you have that authority to determine the manner in which elections are conducted. That’s California government code 25 201. And you have the ability to canvass all elections, that means counting all votes. You don’t need permission from anyone in Sacramento to do your job and use the authority granted to you in this government code 25 201.

(3:31:31) Counsel Larmour:  We wanted to point out the narrowness of this  resolution. This resolution is brought back to you only for the report of the background check. The conditional job offer and appointments already been made.

(3:31:51) The resolution passed 3-2 with Supervisors Rickert and Garman voting no.

REGULAR CALENDAR, CONTINUED

Sheriff

(3:32:15) R7 Introduce and waive the reading of “An Ordinance of the Board of Supervisors of the County of Shasta Amending Provisions of Chapter 12-24 of the Shasta County Code, Boating, Fishing, and Swimming.”
No Additional General Fund Impact
Simple Majority Vote

Sergeant Chris Van Eyck made the presentation.

(3:32:52) Sergeant Van Eyck: Before you is three proposed changes to 12.24 of the County Code ordinance. The first amendment would be to 12.24.090-D and that would remove the township and range language and change it to a GPS coordinate. No physical change in the actual location. Those are the corresponding locations. The second change would add a thousand feet vessel prohibition to the lake side of Shasta Dam and that is section 12.24.150 and then Shasta County Code section 12-24.160 would also prohibit swimming and scuba diving within a thousand feet of that dam as well. Those are the only changes to that section.

R7 passed by unanimous vote.

(3:36:47) PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD – OPEN TIME

During the Public Comment Open Time period, the public may address the Board on any matter not listed on the agenda that is within the subject matter jurisdiction of the Board of Supervisors. Each speaker is allocated three minutes to speak. Those wishing to participate in Public Comment – Open Time must submit a speaker request card to the Clerk of the Board before the meeting begins. All speaker request cards submitted after the meeting begins will be heard by the Board once all items on the agenda have been considered. Any public comment not heard prior to the 12:00 p.m. recess will be heard after the Board reconvenes from Closed Session and all agenda items have been considered.

There were twelve public commenters.

(3:40:13) Nick Gardner: I know that Trinity County, I think Siskiyou County, probably Modoc County, there’s other counties that don’t require pollution checks on your cars every other year. And I’m 73, six months and 12 days, and I’ve never failed one. I’ve got four vehicles, and it gripes my ass that I’ve got to go down there and spend money every two years for the privilege of driving my clean running car. And if we could get away from that, I think that would put a few more dollars in our pockets for groceries in this Joe Biden economy. But one that really sticks out is the $8.25 certificate fee. Years ago, you used to get a certificate, and you’d mail it into DMV with your money and get your registration. Well, now you don’t get your certificate. It’s done on computers that we, the taxpayer, paid for. We’re paying for the people that receive it. So why are they charging us $8.25 per vehicle? I think little things like this would help put trust back in government. Thank you.

(3:48:14) Bruce Russell: I’d like to make some comments on the recent decision in the Hobbs V. Long et al case. I disagree with Judge Baker’s ruling. I feel it’s a miscarriage of justice. It’s rulings like this. That makes one not trust the judicial system. The judge stated there was a profound lack of evidence presented by Dr. Hobbs’s attorney. I disagree. There were plenty of irregularities presented and the candidates were not listed in the required order on the ballot as determined by the state’s random draw, which is required by state law. Dr. Hobbs should have been listed first on the ballot and not long the Gould V Grubb case showed a distinct advantage to be enlisted first on the ballot. The advantage could be as much as 5%. The Gould versus Grubb case is apparently why state law was changed to require a random draw to determine order of candidate placement on the ballot. The judge should have ruled there needs to be a runoff election in November between Hobbs and Long. If Solomon were the judge, common sense would have prevailed and the judge would have ordered a no costs November 5 runoff election.

(4:04:40) Kim Moore: I’d like to talk to you about  the projector. And so maybe while school is out of session, you guys could borrow a projector from one of the schools or school district because this uh thing, this problem with the programming and being able to make things work from here to there, we can’t see that and it’s leading us taxpayers to believe that it’s being used as an excuse to prevent us from presenting evidence, whether it’s true or not. So, I would like you to bring in a projector from one of the schools that is not in session and put it right there in the middle of the room and make that puppy put it up on the screen. We have a right to show that evidence.

(4:08:56) CONSENT CALENDAR

The following Consent Calendar items are expected to be routine and non-controversial. They may be acted upon by the Board at one time without discussion. Any Board member or staff member may request that an item be removed from the Consent Calendar for discussion and consideration. Members of the public will be provided with a single opportunity to comment on one or more items on the Consent Calendar before the Board’s consideration of the Consent Calendar. Those wishing to participate in public comment for the Consent Calendar items must submit a speaker request card to the Clerk of the Board before public comment for the Consent Calendar begins. Each speaker is allocated three minutes to speak. All speaker request cards submitted after public comment for the Consent Calendar begins will not be heard by the Board.

(4:08:24) Supervisor Crye pulled C3 and C6 were pulled by Supervisors Jones & Crye. All other Consent Calendar items were approved by unanimous vote.

Clerk of the Board

C1 Approve the minutes of the meetings held on June 11, and June 17, 2024, as submitted.
No Additional General Fund Impact
Simple Majority Vote

County Counsel

C2 Designate authority to County Counsel to: (1) Sign an evergreen agreement with Thomson Reuters for West Proflex online legal research services; (2) execute changes to the online legal research subscriptions; and (3) terminate or exercise notices of non-renewal in accordance with the terms of the agreement.
No Additional General Fund Impact
Simple Majority Vote

Health and Human Services Agency-Behavioral Health and Social Services

C4 Approve a retroactive renewal agreement with Northern California Youth and Family Programs for housing navigator and transitional housing services for youth.
No General Fund Impact
Simple Majority Vote

C5 Approve a grant application with the California Department of Health Care Services for Substance Use Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Services Block Grant (Grant) for substance use prevention, treatment, and recovery services funding and designate authority to the HHSA Director, or their designee, to sign and submit any documents related to the Grant.
No General Fund Impact
Simple Majority Vote

Public Defender

C7 Designate authority to the Public Defender to: (1) Sign an evergreen agreement with Thomson Reuters for West Proflex online legal research services; (2) execute changes to the online legal research subscriptions; and (3) terminate or exercise notices of non-renewal in accordance with the terms of the agreement.
No Additional General Fund Impact
Simple Majority Vote

Public Works

C8 Award the “2024 Overlay Project,” Contract No. 702014, to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder, J.F. Shea Construction, Inc., in the amount of $3,484,926, and authorize the Public Works Director, or their designee, to sign a Notice of Completion and record it within 15 days of actual completion of the work.
No General Fund Impact

Simple Majority Vote

C9 Approve an amendment to the agreement with NJ Associates, Inc., dba NJA Architecture, for engineering services for the “Shasta County Coroner’s Building Expansion Project,” Contract No. 610978, which modifies the terms.
No Additional General Fund Impact
Simple Majority Vote

C10 Approve a retroactive amendment to the agreement with PACE Engineering, Inc., for engineering and construction administration services for the “County Service Area (CSA) #3-Castella Intake Replacement Project,” Contract No. 610471, which modifies the terms.
General Fund Impact
Simple Majority Vote

Sheriff

C11 In accordance with Ordinance 764, “An Ordinance of the Board of Supervisors of the County of Shasta Approving A Military Equipment Use Policy for the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office,” determine that each type of military equipment identified in the annual military equipment report has complied with the standards.
No Additional General Fund Impact
Simple Majority Vote

C12 Approve an agreement with My Umbrella Marketing & Consulting for marketing
services to educate the public of the dangers of impaired driving.
No Additional General Fund Impact
Simple Majority Vote

C3 Approve a retroactive renewal agreement with Open Line Group Homes, Inc., for youth residential mental health services.
No General Fund Impact
Simple Majority Vote

Miguel Rodriguez and Bailey Coggers made the presentation. C3 was approved unanimously.

Health and Human Services Agency-Public Health

C6 Reappoint the following general members to the Public Health Advisory Board for three-year terms to expire March 31, 2027: (1) Laura Baynard; (2) Kay Kobe; (3) Mike Mangas; (4) Judith Menoher; and (5) Jennifer Snider.
No General Fund Impact
Simple Majority Vote

(4:13:40) Supervisor Jones: Thank you, Chair. And there was one name on this that did give me some pause. And that’s Judith Menoher. As we all are aware, we had a very difficult recall. The Menohers had spent tens of thousands of dollars early on to have a successful recall of you, Chair Crye. And what they had said early on was that they wanted control of the board. And it’s why they went after District 1. They became very political and put a lot of money to that. And now she wants to be appointed by me to this board. And I have some heartburn over that. She certainly has the right to spend any amount of money on a recall that she so wishes. But it’s my right to put her on a board or not. And due to the lies and the misconceptions that were spread by that group, I cannot support her on this board. So I would recommend and I will make a motion that we re-appoint the following general members to the Public Health Advisory Board for the three-year terms that expired March 31st, 2027, with the exception of Judith Menoher.

(4:15:05) Supervisor Rickert: Yes, County Counsel is that appropriate? Doesn’t a person have a right to free speech and their political views and that they shouldn’t be punished for that.

(4:15:18) Counsel Larmour:  They do. But the discretion of an appointment is left up to this board.

(4:15:22) Supervisor Rickert: Is this going to open the board to some potential liability discrimination?

(4:15:28) Counsel Larmour: I wouldn’t answer any questions that would later be used for any other reason.

(4:15:35) Supervisor Rickert: Ok. I do feel it might be problematic. And Judith Menoher is a dedicated volunteer in this community with a lifelong commitment to Shasta County. And I find it reprehensible that as a vendetta, you’re going to dismiss her from a board that she’s put many years into and she’s one of the more qualified people to be in this position. And I’m just appalled and I’m so sorry that our county has come to this. It’s nothing about nothing but about personal vendettas.

(4:18:36) Supervisor Crye: The Judith Menoher person, I’ve had probably four interactions with, none of them positive, all filled with lies. And so it’s really simple for me. Like I can remember the last time I spoke, I was walking down the flight of stairs in the parking garage, her and her husband were there holding recall signs and I said, I hope you guys have a great day and she says you’ve cost us millions and millions of dollars. And so, I mean, that was the last time and I just walked away, so I won’t be supporting her.

By a vote of 3-2 the motion to approve C6 excluding Judith Menoher was passed.

(4:21:09) ADJOURN

Barbara Rice

Barbara Rice is anewscafe.com's administrative assistant. She grew up in Igo listening to the devil's music, hearing tales of WWII, and reading James Thurber and Mad Magazine while dreaming of travel to exotic lands. She graduated from Shasta High School, Shasta College, and San Francisco State University. After too many blistering Sacramento Valley summers, she's traded it all for the ocean breezes of Humboldt County. She's been told she's a bad influence and that makes her very happy. She tweets, travels, and spoils cats. There's a dance in the old dame yet.

18 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments