Diminutive, soft-spoken, 40-year-old Jenny O’Connell — known for her extreme expressions of compassion, a lifetime of community dedication, and a deep love of strawberry-themed objects and attire — walked into Tuesday’s Shasta County’s Board of Supervisors meeting as usual. She entered through a bank of large glass doors on the east side of the county’s administration building.
Because of her recently injured right foot, O’Connell, a wife, mother of two, and a city of Redding employee, relied upon the assistance of a hot-pink cane to navigate her way down the aisle to a seat near the front of the board chambers.
Hours later, the dimple-cheeked, typically shy woman was involuntarily removed from the building, literally carried away by deputies after she’d declined numerous requests to leave the chambers.
None of what happened Tuesday inside the board chambers was business as usual for Jenny O’Connell. None of what happened was how she’d envisioned her day going.
O’Connell’s dramatic exit from the darkened board chambers followed a drawn-out stand-off that morphed into her impromptu sit-in that concluded when she was hauled out the back door by deputies who deposited her upon an asphalt county parking lot.
There, a deputy filled out paperwork for O’Connell to sign that cited her for disrupting a public meeting.
Another deputy warned O’Connell that she would be arrested for trespassing if she attempted to return to what remained of that day’s meeting. O’Connell complied. She did not return.
Who, what, where, how? What the hell?
Benjamin Nowain and Jenny O’Connell at one of many Board of Supervisors meetings they’ve attended over the years.
Prior to O’Connell’s removal from the board chambers by deputies, it was a morning of hopeful anticipation for O’Connell and Benjamin Nowain, her 42-year-old husband.
They’d arrived speculating about whether the board of supervisors — especially District 1 Supervisor Chair Kevin Crye, who’d promised to appoint other supervisors’ nominees — would or would not honor District 2 Supervisor Tim Garman’s nomination of Nowain to the controversial Shasta County Elections Commission.
The general prevailing consensus was that given the board majority’s habit of extending favoritism to their fans, friends and sycophants, it was a major long shot that board majority supervisors Crye, District 4 Supervisor Patrick Jones and District 5 Supervisor Chris Kelstrom would approve left-leaning Nowain’s appointment.
This long shot was made longer still by the fact that Nowain’s nomination was submitted by District 2 Supervisor Tim Garman, someone Chair Crye treats with nearly as much open disdain and hostility as he does District 3 Supervisor Mary Rickert.
Nearly, but not quite.
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- Tim Garman, Shasta County District 2 Supervisor
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- District 3 Supervisor Mary Rickert.
Earlier, before O’Connell was carted outside, she was quietly watching the meeting inside the board chambers as she and her husband have done for many years.
Disruption eruption
The Elections Commission was Supervisor Jones’ brainchild, a way for Jones and fellow election-deniers to exert as much control as possible over the elections department. Since its inception, it has suffered a steady stream of board member resignations and community criticism.
The chaos that erupted inside the board chambers ignited during supervisors’ discussion about the possible appointment of Nowain to the Shasta County Elections Commission.
In addition to his fulltime employment as an analyst for Shasta County, Nowain also does freelance reporting for A News Cafe, such as in Nowain’s latest Northstate Breakdown episode in which he chronicled examples of potential board majority cronyism and retaliation.
The back story
The trouble with Tuesday’s meeting began in earnest after supervisors Crye and Kelstrom both announced they’d recuse themselves from participating in the Nowain vote. For anyone keeping track, this marked the second time Crye reneged on his previous promise to appoint whichever appointee his colleagues nominated.
Then the recusing supervisors immediately left the board chambers, without any announcement of who would be in charge during Chair Crye and Vice-chair Kelstrom’s absence. Almost as if everything had been decided in advance, Jones immediately assumed possession of the gavel, without a peep of explanation.
That in itself appeared unorthodox, because what often happens in similar county government situations with absent board chairs, and absent vice board chairs, is that the remaining board member with most the seniority is the presumptive temporary chair. In the case of the Shasta County Board of Supervisors, that person with the most seniority is Supervisor Mary Rickert, who’s been a supervisor far longer than Jones.
But these are all silly moot points since Shasta County’s board majority members have consistently demonstrated a lack of interest in customs, fairness, protocol or most of all, the rule of law.
Even so, typically, recusals and abstentions are followed by some explanation by the recuser. The closest Crye came to offering an explanation for his recusal Tuesday was to say that if people wanted to know why Crye recused himself on the Nowain vote, they should ask “the applicant” — meaning Nowain.
In a rambling statement, Crye added that he’d already expounded upon his thoughts further in the final minutes of his supervisor’s report from the previous board meeting.
Here’s that clip, which only served to made things more muddied with regard to Crye’s ostensible reasons for recusal.
During the break, as supervisors met in closed session to discuss the Nowain vote, I asked Nowain to explain Crye’s “ask the applicant” statement, Nowain frowned and said he had no clue what Crye was talking about.
On the other hand, Nowain said that Kelstrom’s recusal seemed legit. As District 3 Supervisor Mary Rickert pointed out earlier — backed by Garman — the fact that Kelstrom had previously sent threatening text messages about Nowain — a county employee — could come back to bite Kelstrom if he voted against Nowain, leaving even a hint of an appearance that Kelstrom was nursing a grudge of retaliation against Nowain, who’s been unabashedly critical of supervisors Kelstrom, Jones and Crye.
Garman’s resolve
Before the supervisors went into a closed-session break to discuss Nowain’s possible appointment to the Elections Commission, Garman shared his thoughts about the impending dubious direction the Nowain nomination was heading. He knew the odds were not in Nowain’s favor.
District 2 Supervisor Tim Garman and his Elections Commission nominee Benjamin Nowain pose for a photo before the board of supervisors meeting went sideways.
This was especially significant because Garman sought and received clarification from county counsel and learned that even with Crye and Kelstrom away on recusal — Nowain’s chances of appointment were pretty much impossible. Larmour explained that this particular vote required a board majority, which meant three votes, even if two supervisors were missing. Therefore, in order for Nowain to be appointed to the Elections Commission, the vote between Rickert, Garman and Jones would need to be unanimous. A 2-1 vote wouldn’t cut it.
Everyone in the board chambers knew that the likelihood that Jones would vote for Nowain was about as likely as Jones’ domestic pigs flying around the Sundial Bridge.
Nowain’s promise
During the public comment period, Nowain approached the lectern and admitted that he’d need to recalibrate his thoughts after hearing the surprising news that Crye and Kelstrom planned to recuse themselves. Nevertheless, Nowain forged ahead with his prepared speech.
He acknowledged that he’d been outspoken in the past about concerns pertaining to the board majority’s decisions. Even so, Nowain said he would continue speaking his mind, because he believed that transparency, free speech and accountability were the cornerstones of a healthy democracy.
Jones mischaracterizes Nowain’s intent
Dist. 4 Supervisor Patrick Jones.
After Nowain spoke, and it was time for board discussion, a stone-faced Jones looked directly at Nowain — who sat near the front of the board chambers — and delivered a series of harsh, negative statements about Nowain. Among other things, Jones accused Nowain of having nefarious intentions, if appointed to the Elections Commission, words that were the exact opposite of what Nowain had just vowed during the public comment period.
Jones concluded with his justification for a “hard no” vote against Nowain – based supposedly upon Jones’ unsubstantiated public allegations that he’d heaped upon Nowain, statements that both Nowain and O’Connell claimed were patently false.
From the audience, an obviously frustrated and indignant Nowain called out from the floor and asked permission to please speak and defend himself against Jones’ lies, to which Jones delivered a flat, dismissive ‘no’.
That exchange triggered vocal outbursts from the audience, including shouts from frequent speaker Christian Gardinier, a regular critic of Jones, Crye and Kelstrom.
“Hail dictator, hail dictator, hail dictator!” shouted Gardinier. Others in the audience chimed in. A red-faced Jones ordered Gardinier to be quiet, or he’d need to leave, to which Gardinier replied, “I don’t think so.”
The cacophony escalated as people on both sides of the issue began shouting, booing or cheering. That’s when Jones ordered the meeting shut down and the room cleared for a short recess. The lights were turned off and the room’s front doors were locked from the outside, so the people in the lobby could not re-enter.
Jones loses control, again
It was after Crye and Kelstrom left the dais and Jones took charge that the meeting fully imploded. What happened Tuesday was what happened several times during Jones’ stint as chair. Basically, he loses complete control of the board meetings.
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- District 4 Supervisor Patrick
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- has a history of losing
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- control of board meetings.
Jones told the private security guards to clear the room for what was expected to be a 15-minute recess. As supervisors left the dais, Nowain strode to the lectern where he spontaneously delivered his second speech of the day, this time without a microphone.
This time, he spoke without notes, and delivered a passionate speech about unity, diversity and transparency, words that Nowain might have uttered had Jones granted Nowain’s request to speak earlier. (Apologies for the shaky video.)
Aside from media representatives who were allowed to remain inside the chambers, O’Connell was the lone non-staff, non-media person who’d disobeyed Jones’ orders, and remained behind in the board chambers.
O’Connell stated her intention to remain in the room as an act of peaceful, civil disobedience to protest not just Tuesday’s lies against her husband, but the constant lies and corruption coming from the board majority, meeting after meeting, without any corrections or consequences.
O’Connell said she was tired of all the years she’d spoken at the lectern during supervisor meetings to address everything from supervisors’ dishonesty to their abuse of power, only to realize that her words — and others’ — were falling on deaf ears. She recognized the futility in speaking during the public comment time, because the board majority seemed only interested in hearing from their favorite people.
When Jones tore into O’Connell’s husband Tuesday with what she recognized were outright lies, and when the meeting devolved into abject pandemonium, O’Connell took action. She decided that the most effective action she could take was to perform an act of quiet, civil disobedience, staying inside the very chambers Jones had ordered the public to vacate.
As she sat on the carpeted floor and awaited the deputies’ arrival, she explained that by nature, she’s not someone who seeks attention, or the limelight. But O’Connell recalled how, at age 13, she’d studied Mahatma Gandhi, someone she considered a role model, hero and example of someone who favored non-violent, peaceful protests to bring about positive societal change.
O’Connell said that she believed her singular act of peaceful civil disobedience was warranted, a way to finally push back against the board majority’s open dishonesty, lack of transparency and sickening retaliation against good citizens who disagreed with them.
O’Connell said she was fed up, and knew others were fed up, too. So when others obeyed Jones and left the room, O’Connell remained behind.
A number of vocal people people in the lobby shouted encouragement through cracks in the doors to O’Connell, who sometimes responded with a grin, and a fist raised in the air.
Jenny O’Connell, the wife of Benjamin Nowain, who was nominated by Supervisor Tim Garman for a seat on the Shasta County Elections Commission, raises her fist for the spectators watching from the lobby, waiting for the meeting to resume.
Eventually, the private security guards were excused. They were soon replaced by Shasta County Sheriff’s deputies, two of whom each tried unsuccessfully to talk O’Connell into leaving. Each time a man asked her to leave the board chambers, O’Connell calmly reiterated her reason for staying, and her request for Jones’ apology, something the deputies said they couldn’t promise.
O’Connell explained that she would gladly leave and join the others in the foyer, just as soon as District 4 Supervisor Jones came out, apologized to the public for lying about her husband, and apologized to her husband for making public lies about him; lies Jones used as false, unfair justifications to not appoint her qualified husband to the Elections Commission.
As the minutes ticked by, a receiving line of sorts developed with a stream of men who took turns confronting O’Connell with stern requests for her to leave the room. The men included a pair of private security guards, as well as County CEO David Rickert, and County Counsel Joseph Larmour.
Even District 1 Supervisor Kevin Crye, who often boasts about how persuasive he is, was unable to convince O’Connell to budge. This was noteworthy because O’Connell is one of the few speakers who consistently compliments Crye, and encourages others to search for the good in him, a tough ask, since more and more citizens have pegged Crye as a dishonest, manipulative leader who’s earned the unsavory moniker of ‘King Crye’, or simply, ‘the dictator’.
Shasta County Counsel Joseph Larmour heads for the lobby doors where some citizens continued to shout and knock loudly, as District 1 Supervisor Kevin Crye fails to convince O’Connell to leave. In the background, a trio of Shasta County clerk of the board staff look on.
Ultimately, a small cluster of Shasta County Sheriff’s Office deputies informed O’Connell they were authorized by the sheriff’s office to remove her from the board chambers.
O’Connell quietly and patiently explained to those who’d directed her to leave the room that she would remain inside as a quiet protest of Jones’ lies about her husband, Benjamin Nowain.
Finally, a deputy told O’Connell that he’d spoken with Jones, who said he had no intention of issuing an apology. The deputy said that if O’Connell wouldn’t leave on her own, then the deputies would remove her.
On the Facebook Live video, viewers reacted to seeing deputies move to pick up O’Connell. The comments stacked up:
I hope every single person refuses to leave next time … What a shameful day for Shasta County, all thanks to Patrick Jones. What goes around comes around PJ … Unbelievable … Shameful … Project 2025 in action … A new low for Shasta County … What the Florida?! … Sick to my stomach watching that.
When a deputy informed O’Connell that they would pick her up and remove her, if necessary, O’Connell went silent, and transitioned from sitting to lying down.
“We can do it the easy way or the hard way,” the deputy said, as in the distance O’Connell’s attorney peered through the glass of the closed door at the end of the room. “I’d rather do it the easy way.”
For several minutes, voices from the lobby yelled that O’Connell’s attorney was right there waiting, that the lawyer needed to enter the room and speak with her client.
I asked County Counsel Larmour if he would allow O’Connell’s attorney into the room.
Shasta County Counsel Joseph Larmour walks through the darkened board chambers as deputies decide how to deal with Jenny O’Connell, who’d refused to leave.
Larmour replied no, he wouldn’t allow O’Connell’s attorney inside the room. Larmour added that O’Connell could leave, but her attorney would not be allowed inside the chambers.
So despite the attorney in the foyer asking for access to her client O’Connell, the county’s highest paid lawyer refused to allow O’Connell’s lawyer inside the board chambers to see her client.
The deputy who’d earlier said he’d rather do things the easy way stood to the side as a pair of deputies reached under O’Connell’s armpits and hoisted up the small-statured woman.
Because O’Connell did not move her feet, the deputies then carried her across the chambers and out the back door.
Another deputy followed closely behind the officers who carried O’Connell away. He toted O’Connell’s cane and a white sandal that had fallen from her foot as deputies had lifted the limp O’Connell from the chamber floor where she’d sat in protest for about an hour.
Garman strikes out again
Even so, during a break, Garman seemed resigned to the fate of the day’s vote, which would be his second time for the board majority to torpedo one of Garman’s Elections Commission nominees. Garman’s most recently rejected nominee was Nathan Pinkney, who Crye claimed lacked moral character.
Community activist, chef and online content creator Nathan Pinkney was rejected by the Shasta County Board majority in his bid for a seat on the Elections Commission. District 2 Supervisor Garman had nominated Pinkney.
“It’s crazy,” Garman said. “They’re always going to throw a wrinkle in it. They’re never going to approve anyone that Mary or I want. It’s a game. It’s absolutely unreal.”
Sure enough, as O’Connell sat outside on the ground in a parking lot where she was accompanied by some friends, her attorney and a few deputies, inside the board chambers the meeting had resumed and picked up where it had left off before the chaos and recess, straight to the long-awaited Nowain vote.
The result was as Garman predicted. Garman had the final word, and blasted Jones in the process.
Now that Garman’s second nomination has been rejected, will he try again with another candidate?
“Oh, I’ll find someone, but we know that they’ll never approve anyone I try to put up there,” Garman said.
“They only want their people up there. Sounds like a dictatorship to me.”
Nowain’s way
Benjamin Nowain
For Nowain, the day after the raucous meeting that ended with deputies carrying his wife out of the board chambers provided time to reflect and collect his thoughts about what happened Tuesday, and how he felt about it.
Mostly, the double standards are what bother him most.
“In the four years I’ve been speaking at board meetings, I’ve witnessed many ridiculous things. I’ve seen supervisors break into the boardroom after it was closed due to COVID restrictions, and one of the same supervisors taking over the boardroom when a meeting was canceled. I’ve seen people lining the hallways with a bullhorn to disrupt a meeting, all without legal incident.
However, I am deeply disturbed by the recent incident involving my wife. Despite her small stature—5’3″ and 125 pounds—four sheriff’s deputies proceeded to remove her. This was a clear violation of free speech. She was engaging in a peaceful protest and was not disrupting the meeting. As an American, I firmly believe in the right to free speech and peaceful protest. The actions taken against her were unjust and unwarranted.”
Community response
Nowain is not the only one bothered by what happened Tuesday inside the board chambers.
A retired North State law enforcement officer who kept tabs on Tuesday’s meeting online is concerned about possible legal ramifications for O’Connell because of the citation she received.
He sent a letter to District Attorney Stephanie Bridgett to request leniency, and that the DA’s office not press charges against O’Connell. Here is an excerpt of his letter.
“… This incident occurred after a particularly contentious meeting with Supervisors Crye and Jones being disrespectful to citizens. It appeared that after Patrick Jones made an inflammatory comment about Jenny’s husband, Benjamin, that Jenny and other members of the public had enough of the disrespect by these Supervisors.
Jenny, who is absolutely mild-mannered and non-violent, exercised her right to peaceful civil disobedience sitting on the floor of the Board chambers. This occurred when Supervisor Jones and CAO Rickert closed the boardroom directing citizens to leave. Jenny has attended just about every board meeting for years, and has always spoken in a respectful and mild manner, even when her husband was targeted with violent hate speech by Chris Kelstrom, and demeaning speech to her directly by Patrick Jones.
While there is a need for order in all activities of government this incident was caused by the gross disrespect shown to citizens by Jones and Crye. Jones cannot inflame the senses of citizens then demand order when he and Crye create an atmosphere of ruling by dictate. This is not the first time Jones, Crye, and Kelstrom have created hate and discontent in the boardroom far outside normal discourse. I doubt this will be the last incident.
Jenny O’Connell and her husband, Benjamin, have been the objects of a concerted effort for months by Jones, Crye, and Kelstrom to belittle them. There is a rumor that these three men have been working behind the scenes to have Benjamin fired. This violates every canon of justice and fairness in our community. If I had solid evidence I would provide it to you.
I am asking for you to use your prosecutorial discretion and not prosecute (nolle pros) this case for the good of the community. I know you have many options for handling this matter. Perhaps an office hearing would solve the issue most appropriately. I appreciate your sensitivity in this matter.
Sincerely Yours,
On social media, reactions remain mixed regarding O’Connell’s acts of civil disobedience by refusing to leave the board chambers when the meeting was shut down to regain decorum, and she declined to leave when asked.
Some people thought O’Connell’s reactions were immature and extreme, and caused a disruption to a public meeting that ended with the unnecessary expense of calling in additional law enforcement to handle the situation and remove O’Connell.
Others sided with O’Connell, and empathized with the fact that she and her husband have been strategically targeted and bullied by supervisors Crye, Jones and Kelstrom.
For an even more thorough understanding of what might have contributed to O’Connell’s sudden decision to perform an act of peaceful protest, look no further than a few months ago, when Jones blurted into a hot mic that O’Connell was “stupid”.
Supervisor Jones’s hot mic picks up when he calls Jenny O’Connell stupid.
Likewise, she still feels protective, on her husband’s behalf, from when Kelstrom attacked Nowain in texts that joked about violence against Nowain — punctuated with vomiting emojis — that were made public.
Around the time of Kelstrom’s bombshell texts, Nowain had been imploring the supervisors during public comment periods to increase employees’ wages prior to the union contract negotiations.
“That guy is such a douche bag … I’d love nothing more than to beat his ass and take his lunch money. Lol,” texted Kelstrom in one message.
“Thanks, now I’m throwing up, not to mention I just voted to give that little piece of shit a raise.”
Still not sorry
All these months later, neither Jones nor Kelstrom have been reprimanded or displayed remorse for their verbal and written personal attacks against one of Shasta County’s most community-active, conscientious young couples, Benjamin Nowain and Jenny O’Connell.
Of course, they are not alone. They have plenty of company. There have been zero consequences for a host of other transgressions committed by supervisors Crye, Jones and Kelstrom against some of the North State’s most upstanding citizens.
The list is depressingly long, but highlights include no apology from Crye for mocking Judy Salter and calling her old and washed up.
No apology from Crye for retaliation upon a host of people, such as Judy Menoher and Jeff Gorder, each former Recall Kevin Crye workers, each punished by Crye for their recall involvement by being robbed of re-appointment to their respective community boards where they’d served well as valuable, respected volunteers who enjoyed lending their expertise to areas that helped the county.
No apology from Crye for his mistreatment of dozens of individuals who ventured to board meetings to speak, only to be belittled, humiliated, mocked, intimidated and interrupted by Crye.
No apology from any of the supervisors — especially Jones and Crye — for their relentless, cruel and misogynistic attacks against three of Shasta County’s highest ranking female leaders, District Attorney Stephanie Bridgett, Supervisor Mary Rickert, and former Registrar of Voters Cathy Darling Allen, whose level of stress from the board majority and their followers literally nearly killed Darling Allen, and left her with heart failure.
No apology from Kelstrom for writing in a text message about a former Elections Commissioner — also a supervisor candidate — and her “fat ass”.
No apology from Jones for telling a Bay Area reporter to drop dead, not to mention what he and Crye in particular have said publicly about local media, such as Tuesday when Crye said, “trash media” as he walked past me and another reporter.
So many transgressions. No admissions. No remorse. No apologies. For Jenny O’Connell, that is no longer OK.
Tuesday, Jenny O’Connell’s peaceful act of civil disobedience pushed back against the board majority’s lies, manipulation, cronyism, discrimination, retaliation and mistreatment of Shasta County’s citizens, including staff members like her husband.
She stood up for residents’ rights by sitting down. And for further emphasis, she stayed there.
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