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1 School District Superintendent, 2 Elected Officials’ Bravery Opens Doors for Other Reports of Crye Conflicts

From left, District 2 Supervisor Tim Garman, Shasta County Assessor/Recorder Leslie Morgan, and Shasta County Superintendent of Schools Mike Freeman.

If medals of honor were given for local governmental bravery in the face of intimidation, abuse of power and bullying, Tim Garman, Leslie Morgan and Mike Freeman would be among this week’s most deserving Shasta County recipients.

Garman is a Shasta County District 2 Supervisor. Morgan is Shasta County’s Assessor/Recorder. Freeman is the Shasta County Superintendent of Schools.

All three went public this week with allegations against Shasta County District 1 Supervisor Kevin Crye regarding charges that followed Crye’s recent visits to Morgan and Freeman’s respective departments. Crye’s interactions in those departments resulted in two separate emails of concern from Morgan and Freeman regarding Crye, sent to Garman. The emails expressed discomfort and frustration over what appeared to be Crye’s use of intimidation, professional status and authority as an elected official for personal gain.

In summary, shortly after Chair Crye led his Shasta County Board of Supervisors majority to vote for a reduction — from 1 year down to 6 months — of the Shasta County of Education’s Community Connect program’s contract approval, Crye arranged a meeting with Superintendent Freeman. In Freeman’s email to Garman, Freeman expressed discomfort when Crye and his staff member pitched Crye’s personal business — ASCEND Program — thus creating the appearance of a conflict of interest.

(Click here for background information by Benjamin Nowain regarding the emails Supervisor Garman made public Tuesday.)

Here is the two-page email from Freeman, forwarded to Garman, which includes Freeman’s response to Crye following Crye’s visit.

In Morgan’s case, she expressed in an email to Garman her frustration with Crye’s unsettling behaviors in her department, and what she viewed as Crye’s inappropriate demeanor and comments toward her staff. Here is Morgan’s email to Garman following Crye’s visit to her department.

Garman first dropped the bombshell disclosure about Morgan and Freeman’s respective emails during Tuesday’s Shasta County Board of Supervisors meeting.

Following that meeting, A News Cafe reached out for comment to Morgan, Freeman and all five supervisors; Crye, Garman, District 3 Supervisor Mary Rickert, District 4 Supervisor Patrick Jones and District 5 Supervisor Chris Kelstrom.

Mike Freeman

Here’s a Tuesday email response from Freeman:

Mike Freeman, Shasta County Superintendent of Schools

“I feel like any questions regarding the specifics of my meeting with Chairman Crye can be answered by my email that was shared today.

At the Shasta County Office of Education, we are in the business of making sure that all of our kids receive a quality education. That includes providing services like those in our Community Connect program. As the County Superintendent of Schools, it is my job to make sure that all of our business is conducted above board in the public’s view with full transparency and accountability. Our Community Connect program recently was awarded the CSBA Golden Bell, a statewide award recognizing innovative programs that make a difference for students and their families. We stand by the work of our Community Connect program and our partnership with HHSA that makes that work possible.

In any interactions that my staff and I have had with BOS Chairman Kevin Crye, improving outcomes for students, families, and schools has always been priority number one. The work that we do is funded by taxpayers and we appreciate any and all questions into the work and the effectiveness of the work that we do.

Supervisor Crye has asked many questions in the past few months about the Community Connect program. My team has spent hours and hours compiling data and reports including personal impact stories behind the work in an effort to answer his questions. We have had several meetings and phone conferences with him and we feel like we have left no stone unturned in terms of data and results in an effort to provide him with everything that he has asked for, where we can. We stand behind the work and we know that it is helping families and students. We also know that impactful work requires community partnerships and we look forward to a continued partnership with Shasta County so we can continue to make a difference for kids.”

Leslie Morgan

Leslie Morgan, Shasta County Assessor/Recorder

I met with Morgan inside a private room within her department. She spoke candidly, despite the fact that Morgan acknowledged she now has a possible target on her back because the email she shared with Garman is now public, and the email’s content was critical of Crye.

Chamberlain: Do you regret allowing the email to become public regarding your concerns about Crye’s alleged inappropriate behavior in your department?

Morgan: No. So, let me back into why it felt so important to me to say something. We know what we’re doing here. We love what we do, and we know the importance of it to society as a whole. When we hire people, I tell people you can feel good about your career here. In this situation, I did this (emailed Supervisor Garman) because I’m not going to allow my staff to be mistreated, especially when it has the element of someone being in a position of authority.

It’s along the lines of, ‘When you see something, say something,’ but it can’t be done way after the fact, because by then it’s too late. When nobody says anything, you don’t know if it’s happened 15 times or once, and that’s how so many people get away with different elements of wrong at all different levels of society.

I think that when we’re dealing with department heads who are in positions of leadership, then you have to lead by example as well, and you have to call out wrong when you see it. That’s what I did.

Chamberlain: So, are you now worried that you have a target on your back?

Morgan: Oh yeah, of course. But I know that the reputation of this department is top-notch. I know the percentages of people who compliment us for our professionalism, and I know the accuracy of our samples and surveys. So I’m not worried about that part. But I do believe in what I’ve seen over the years. I do believe that he (Crye) is vindictive. So, yes, I do believe that now he will cast me as the enemy, and will use any opportunity to question me and my department on whatever the case may be. But it is what it is.

Chamberlain: Did Supervisor Crye speak with you after the emails became public?

Morgan: Yes, he was in here apologizing for being “Kevin” and I repeated things back to him that had happened, and said he couldn’t shift the blame, and he had to take responsibility for his behavior that crossed the line. … You know, he went so far as to say, ‘Well, maybe they’re the ones that took the conversation to that level.’ He made the comment that he didn’t mean to marginalize me, and I said I’m not marginalized. He told me I seemed offended and defensive, and I said I’m not going to allow my staff to be treated that way by anybody, no matter who it is.

Chamberlain: You mention Supervisor Crye’s vindictive tendencies, which we’ve seen exhibited in various situations. Knowing Crye’s propensity for holding grudges, it’s understandable why many county employees and other department are afraid to cross him and speak up, right?

Morgan: I told Tim that if he put my email out there, it’s only fair my name’s on it. It’s not fair for me to know that there are other people going through the same thing, but not say something. That’s the part for me that’s the scariest of all; that there are other similar instances that people aren’t sharing, because they’re afraid. I think you have to do the right things for the right reasons in life, and this is a difficult thing. What’s that saying, that it’s not about doing the right things only when they’re easy.”

Supervisors Mary Rickert and Tim Garman weigh in

A News Cafe reached out to all five supervisors for comment regarding this topic. Only supervisors Rickert and Garman responded.

Here is Supervisor Rickert’s statement:

Dist. 3 Supervisor Mary Rickert.

“I was deeply concerned when I heard during Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting of a colleague’s potential misuse of his position as a county supervisor with regard to a county contract with the Shasta County Office of Education.

My hope is that the situation is thoroughly investigated by our District Attorney to determine if any inappropriate behavior has occurred.

Full transparency and accountability is necessary to shed light on what transpired, and if action by the District Attorney will be deemed necessary.

 

Finally, Supervisor Garman, who’d publicly shared emails regarding troubling revelations about Crye’s alleged unsavory interactions with two high-level election officials, still had more to say on the subject. He explained more about what led to his release of the emails:

District 2 Supervisor Garman

“I was told that during our Board of Supervisors meeting on August 27th at approximately 9:30 that morning, Supervisor Crye emailed SCOE staff and asked them if they would be OK if they were only half funded on the Community Connect contract.

A while later, Crye pulled item C8 from the consent calendar so we could hear it as a separate item. During that discussion, Crye made it clear he would not fully fund the contract due to a lack of information and said something along the lines of, “I don’t want to kick the can down the road a year, I should have all the information I need within a week, and the item could come back to us in mid September”.

The very next day, August 28th, Crye and his Ninja gym employee had a meeting with Mike Freeman and other SCOE staff. I was told that during this meeting that Crye’s employee jumped right into selling Ninja gym (ASCEND Program) services, and that there was not really any conversation about why Crye wouldn’t fund the full Community Connect contract.

One of the individuals I spoke with made it very clear that the impression was given that Crye could fund the full three-year contract, if Ninja gym services were to be used by SCOE.

Superintendent of Schools Mike Freeman thought about things for a week or so, and then sent Crye the email (see above) stating that this seems like a conflict of interest, and SCOE would not be using Crye’s Ninja gym services.

The item to fully fund Community Connect has NOT come back to the board, and we are a month past mid-September. The optics appear to show that the information Crye was looking for was a signed contract with Ninja gym services, and nothing else.

If this is incorrect or lacking information, then Crye needs to clear the air and bring the item back to the board so we can fully fund the award-winning Community Connect program.

I hope by bringing this all to the forefront that our employees, our elected officials and the department heads have the courage to stand up to the bully who they know is wrong.”

Other Crye victims?

It’s difficult to fully fathom the magnitude of Crye’s bloated displays of chaos, destruction, deceit, vindictiveness and untruthfulness manifested since he was sworn into office just 21 months ago. Crye is an enigma with a checkered past.  As a supervisor, starting with his first month in office, he’s been a one-man wrecking ball who put his personal pet projects and allegiances ahead of citizens’ wants and needs.

More pillow talk: BFF Mike Lindell and Kevin Crye.

He met with MyPillowCEO on the county dime on the path toward dumping the county’s Dominion electronic voting equipment.

Friends Susan Taylor and Kevin Crye pretend they’re strangers to one another at Crye’s townhall meeting.

He planted a friend in a townhall meeting. He’s exhibited a disdain and disrespect for strong, powerful women, from District Attorney Stephanie Bridgett, and former Registrar of Voters Cathy Darling Allen, to philanthropist Judy Salter, and community-service dynamo volunteer Judy Menoher.

But of course, there’s no woman he openly dislikes more than his colleague Mary Rickert, demonstrated by his public sarcasm, ridicule, interruptions and mockery.

He won his election by just 90 votes, and dodged his March recall by only 50 votes. And once Crye’s supervisor seat was safe from recall, when even his supporters began voicing their displeasure with his decisions, he used crass words to express his total disregard for his former “base”.

Lately, an increasing number of Crye’s former ardent supporters routinely admonish Crye during the public comment period about everything from Crye’s arbitrary change of comment times (from 3 minutes to 2 minutes to 3 minutes), to their major disappointment that Crye tricked his fellow board majority colleagues out of choosing Clint Curtis as the Shasta County Registrar of Voters, rather than Crye’s pick of Thomas Toller.

But even given Crye’s pride in winning by cheating, or taking credit for something he didn’t do, or bragging about “poaching” an inexperienced county counsel, or running for office and lying about his address, of all Crye’s many moral transgressions, none has been as harmful and destructive as his personal vendettas against his perceived enemies.

According to one department head who shall remain nameless for their protection against Crye’s possible retaliation, they have instructed staff to not ever deal with Crye if he enters the department, but rather, leave Crye to the department head only. Why? Because he’s a demanding time-sucker; a billable-hour monopolizer who uses every county department as if he’s royalty and those beneath him are mere lowly subjects who exist to answer his every question and comply with every demand for random OCD data, details and projections.

No joke, he’s such an unwelcome presence within most county departments that if he’s in the vicinity, or expected to stop by, staff will either close doors, or pretend they’re engaged in phone calls, rather than waste valuable moments with Crye’s relentless inquisitions. As one insider said, Crye acts as if he thinks he’s a legislator, not a county supervisor.

And in past interviews with several former county employees, some said that Crye made work so unbearable for them that they fled their formerly stable county jobs, just to escape Crye.

The actions of Garman, Morgan and Freeman provide a watershed moment that could turn the tide of Crye’s abuse of power, and render him unable to continue his pattern of bullying and intimidation.

As the current chair of the Shasta County Board of Supervisors, Kevin Crye is one of the most powerful people in the North State. Even so, he’s just one man, and there is strength in numbers. County employees who are inspired by Garman, Morgan and Freeman’s bravery can follow these leaders’ examples. They can step into the light, and blow the whistle on any incidents of illegal, immoral or unethical behaviors, committed not just by Crye, but any other county employees, for that matter.

If the allegations are egregious enough for the District Attorney to file formal charges, then consequences for someone like Crye could be faster and more efficient than any drawn-out recall.

However, because of Crye’s large sphere of influence and intimidation, it might be prudent for Shasta County employee victims to bypass reporting complaints to the county counsel or CEO. Instead, until Shasta County government is out of the hands of those who seem hell bent on destroying it, it’s probably wise to report any allegations of legal violations to the Shasta County District Attorney’s office. (Apologies in advance to the DA’s office.)

Dear CEO David Rickert: Kindly grow a pair

CEO David Rickert

One more thing; a word of advice for CEO David Rickert: Crye’s unchecked abuse of power is happening on your watch. Crye’s iron-fisted dictatorship style of running meetings is happening on your watch. The exodus of good employees, and the rock-bottom employee morale is happening on your watch. That’s why, generally speaking, you’ve earned a reputation as a passive, chameleon CEO who’s shifty and untrustworthy, because it appears that Crye has you (and County Counsel Joseph Larmour) firmly nestled in his back pocket where he can yank you out whenever he needs you.

If you truly care about Shasta County employees, then prove it. Contact every single department head, and ask if they’d experienced any intimidation, abuse of power, bullying or harassment by Crye, or any other person of authority. Allow the meetings to be recorded. Do not scurry back to Crye to report your findings. If you learn of any violations, then take action, call the perpetrator on the carpet, and report the misdeeds to the proper authorities.

See, the day may come when Crye is no longer there to protect you. Or, sometime soon the board majority may miraculously flip from its current insane extremist state, to a group of rational individuals, united in their dedication to mopping up the mess and saving Shasta County.

In either case, you, the county counsel, and other Crye-majority favorites may suddenly be viewed as unwanted problem people; outsiders looking for a job, as the county slowly, surely heals.

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Thank you to those dedicated subscribers whose contributions help support A News Cafe’s entire team, and journalist Doni Chamberlain’s coverage of local politics and issues. We couldn’t continue to do what we do without you.

Doni Chamberlain

Independent online journalist Doni Chamberlain founded A News Cafe in 2007 with her son, Joe Domke. Chamberlain holds a Bachelor's Degree in journalism from CSU, Chico. She's an award-winning newspaper opinion columnist, feature and food writer recognized by the Associated Press, the California Newspaper Publishers Association and E.W. Scripps. She's been featured and quoted in The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, The Washington Post, L.A. Times, Slate, Bloomberg News and on CNN, KQED and KPFA. She lives in Redding, California.

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