Brad Garbutt.
Redding realtor Brad Garbutt, nominated by District 3 Supervisor Mary Rickert for a seat on the Elections Commission, is a brave soul. You’ll find Garbutt’s name on today’s Shasta County Board of Supervisors agenda where the supervisors will either vote for or against Garbutt’s appointment to the commission.
The last time a vote came before the Shasta County Board of Supervisors about what would be — in a normal, civilized county — a simple appointment to a powerless, mainly symbolic Elections Commission, took place on July 23.
But because Shasta Shasta County’s board is controlled by a trio of far-right dictators, Shasta County governance is neither normal nor civilized. It’s a train wreck on steroids engineered by board majority members District 1 Supervisor/Chair Kevin Crye, District 4 Supervisor Patrick Jones, and District 5 Supervisor Chris Kelstom.
Trouble ensued on July 23 after Jones lost control of the meeting — again — that led to a two-hour stalemate and Shasta County Sheriff’s deputies being called in to literally carry a woman from the board chambers.
Benjamin Nowain and Jenny O’Connell at one of many Board of Supervisors meetings they’ve attended for many years.
Jenny O’Connell-Nowain was the woman. Her husband, Benjamin Nowain, was on the July 23 agenda so supervisors could vote on Nowain’s nomination to the Elections Commission by District 2 Supervisor Tim Garman.
Ever since the exodus of commissioners from the Elections Commission by all but one of the original appointees, two vacant commissioner seats remain unfilled. Ostensibly, it’s board minority supervisors Mary Rickert, of District 4, and Garman’s place to nominate the pair of new commissioners to fill the two positions. Those two new appointees would join Jones, Kelstrom and Crye’s sitting commissioners, Vice-Chair Margaret Hansen, Commissioner Patty Plumb, and Chair Ronnean Lund.
Saying that Rickert and Garman will see their nominations ascend successfully to the Elections Commission is like saying Cinderella will have no trouble going to the ball, when everyone knows the wicked stepsisters have rigged it so she doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in Redding in August of going.
Kelstrom, Jones and Crye are the devious stepsisters, but prettier. They’ve turned their open disdain for their colleagues Rickert and Garman into sporting opportunities where the deck is stacked in the board majority’s favor and against Rickert and Garman. Every. Single. Time.
On July 2 the board majority rejected Garman’s nominee, Nathan Pinkney, even though Crye had publicly promised he’d appoint any nominee Garman brought forward.
Crye broke a promise? ::Yawn::
Crye is such a frequent liar that nobody’s surprised anymore by the mistruths that regularly fall from his mouth, no matter how big the whoppers. In fact, Crye is such a practiced liar that he thinks nothing about lying about not just his original home address, or being friends and campaign pals with Supervisor Joe Chimenti, or pretending a friend he planted in a townhall meeting was a stranger, but Crye has even boldly lied about the county’s two top law enforcement officials, the district attorney and the sheriff.
What chutzpah!
If lying were an Olympic event, Crye would win a gold medal. And for once, he wouldn’t even need to cheat to win.
Crye’s a tricky liar, too, and if you don’t believe it, look no further than how he manipulated Jones and Kelstrom into voting for Crye’s pick for the Shasta County Registrar of Voters position, Thomas Toller, someone with exactly zero experience as an elections professional.
That one time Toller visited the county clerk’s office to apply for a passport doesn’t count.
The recent appointment of mostly unknown Toller is one of the reasons why Garman and Rickert have renewed their efforts to nominate someone other than the kinds of commissioners Jones, Crye and Kelstrom favor; conspiracy-theorist election-deniers.
While the board majority voted against Pinkney the old-fashioned, predictable 3-2 way, with Nowain, the board majority pulled a slick, manipulative move that shocked almost everyone (except the three of them — Brown Act be damned). First Crye recused himself for reasons he wouldn’t state (“ask the applicant“). Then Kelstrom followed suit and recused himself, too (on account of those threatening texts he wrote about Nowain).
Come to think of it, since Kelstrom recused himself for the emails where he said he’d like to beat up Nowain, Jones should have recused himself for calling Nowain’s wife “stupid” on a hot mic to Chair Crye, who didn’t defend Jenny, someone who inexplicably has stood up for Crye, despite his myriad malignant pathologies.
Supervisor Jones’s hot mic picks up when he calls Jenny O’Connell stupid.
For a moment, with Kelstrom and Crye unable to vote, the future looked shiny and bright for Nowain’s appointment, because that left Rickert, Garman and Jones, which surely would produce a 2-1 vote in Nowain’s favor. Yes. But no. County counsel said that with five supervisors, the vote must have a winning majority of 3 votes, even if two of the supervisors weren’t voting. So without a unanimous 3-0 vote for Nowain, he was toast.
That entire meeting didn’t pass the sniff test. (Nowain delves into potential civil rights violations committed that day in today’s North State Breakdown.)
Supervisor Mary Rickert, the eternal optimist
Rickert had this to say about her nomination of Garbutt:
“I am pleased to recommend Brad Garbutt as my representative on the elections committee. Since I’ve gotten to know our new ROV, I have renewed confidence that the elections department is in solid hands, and perhaps this election commission can begin to make progress as a balanced and thoughtful commission,” Rickert said.
“I am hoping Mr. Garbutt will be approved so he can serve his county in this capacity. He’s highly respected in his profession and he would bring maturity and common sense to the commission.”
Meet Brad Garbutt
Brad Garbutt, Rickert’s nominee, knows the history of not just the Elections Commission, but he’s watched circuses take place in the chambers as the board majority swats down one nominee after another, like bullwhip-wielding ringleaders. Despite knowing all that, Garbutt has stepped up nonetheless into the center of the ring, ready for whatever happens during today’s meeting.
Brad Garbutt.
Garbutt will speak at today’s board meeting. But he shared with A News Cafe his explanation about why he wants a seat on the Elections Commission. We’ll give him the last word today:
“I want to provide some semblance of balance to what appears to be a commission majority who believe our election system is terribly broken. Citizens of Shasta County who believe our elections are free and fair need a voice on the dais.
I am open to recommending potential improvements in election procedures based on legitimate concerns, but only if allowed by State and Federal election laws.
I believe further educating voters through local media to provide greater detail about how ballots are gathered, sorted, signature verified then tabulated may alleviate concerns some have about election integrity. Reviewing details of voter registration requirements may alleviate concerns about people allegedly voting who are not legally eligible to vote.
We all need to acknowledge and understand our ROV randomly selects entire precincts for a hand count audit to confirm machine count is 100% accurate. No discrepancies between machine and hand count are allowed. Any and every error must be located, documented and corrected.
Another concern I’ve heard at board meetings is about cleaning up voter rolls. This will always be a challenge since every day dozens of homeowners and/or renters move and a few people die, resulting in unavoidable inaccuracies. If you could ever magically have a day where the voter roll was 100% accurate, tomorrow it won’t be.
Voters who push for counting all ballots primarily by hand should research other areas of the country that have recently tried this. I have. Disastrous!
What about the blowback? I expect blowback from those who only want this commission to be an echo chamber of like-minded individuals. I have a thick skin.
Politics aside, I believe each Supervisor should be entitled to one appointment of their choice to this commission, absent any manufactured drama. On that note, I was a Republican for 35 years, and NPP since 2011. If the board desires a nonpartisan citizen for a nonpartisan commission, I offer that.
Why put myself through this? The upcoming presidential election will be one of the most important elections our country has seen in decades. The election commission should support, not interfere or agitate the Elections Office during what will presumably be a very contentious and stressful election in a very divided county and country.
If appointed, I hope to be a voice of reason, respectfully contributing my opinions about election matters being discussed. My focus would be following election laws to the letter by seeking advice of county appointed legal counsel before I cast my vote on any agenda item.”
