This is as far as our writer got to the allegedly public town hall. Photo by R.V. Scheide
When newly selected Shasta County Registrar of Voters Clint Curtis was asked during interviews earlier this month what the first thing he would do if given the position, he said he’d restore transparency to the office.
Saturday, Curtis chuckled as former District 4 Supervisor Patrick Jones ejected this reporter from an event at the Shasta County Public Library billed as a public town hall featuring Curtis and fellow election denier Dr. Doug Frank.
“So I guess this is the transparency you were talking about?” I asked Curtis.
“Yeah,” the Florida flimflam man laughed.
Screenshot
The only warning on the flier that yours truly wasn’t invited was its billing as a “Patrick
H. Jones Town Hall.”
In 2023 Jones held two similar town halls, one featuring the totally debunked election denier Dr. Frank and the other featuring the utterly ridiculous Lone Racoon of the Apocalypse Jeffrey O’Donnel.
Curtis, Dr. Frank and the Lone Racoon are all Mike Lindell TV alumni, election denying grifters who’ve never, ever made their case.
Ever since he got his clock cleaned 60-40 by Shasta County District 4 Supervisor Matt Plummer last year, Jones and his supporters, many of whom were in attendance at the library, have alleged election fraud based on conspiracy theories Curtis, Frank and O’Donnel have been spewing on Lindell’s network for nearly a decade.
Obviously, I didn’t get to attend the town hall, but the flier hinted at the meeting’s content: there would be a discussion of the “election rolls.” In Jones’ case, the conspiracy theory goes something like this: the inactive voter rolls aren’t being scrubbed in a timely manner (Dr. Frank and O’Donnell both use this data point) and magic vote-switching software dreamed up by Curtis (that doesn’t actually exist) was used by the California Deep State, which preferred Plummer to Jones.
As if the California Deep State gives a rat’s ass about Shasta County.
A News Café and Jones have butted heads many times.
Anyway, I arrived at the event a half-hour early, anticipating shenanigans. I appeared to be the only member of the media present. I went unnoticed for several minutes before local far-right enforcer Rich Gallardo approached and informed me that the town hall was a private event and I wasn’t on the guest list, as ordered by Jones.
Jones happened to be walking by me right then, on his way to meeting Curtis, who had just entered the building.
“Mr. Jones, why can’t I attend?” I asked. “I don’t yell and scream at these events (unlike
his followers who are literally the worst behaved mob in Shasta County).”
“You’re a trespasser, R.V., a criminal!” Jones said.
Jones is still butt-hurt that a group of Millville Plains and Anderson residents opposed to
his massive gun range project told me he was raising giant Russian boars for canned
hunting on his property.
That’s an invitation no journalist worth their salt could ignore, so I hiked down to Bear
Creek, where Jones had his pig huts right next to the stream. After I wrote about it, he
sicced the sheriff on me. Apparently the sheriff decided not to charge me for trespassing
at the time.
BTW: The Millville Plains/Anderson residents were successful in forcing Jones to
conduct a full Environmental Impact Report on the gun range project. At the last Shasta
County Board of Supervisors meeting, the board voted unanimously to send Jones’ gun
range proposal back to the Planning Commission, where it will now go through the full
EIR process.
“You’re also a shitty writer!” Jones said.
I got the idea that gun store scion means me physical harm, just to put that out there. I
looked over at Curtis, with his shocking blond hair, crisp blue suit and Republican red
tie, the mini-Trump who’s now our ROV.
“So I guess this is the transparency you were talking about?” I asked him.
Like I said before, he laughed.
My good friend and colleague A News Café publisher Doni Chamberlain has been
injured twice in incidents like this.
I took the high road and left.
Then I filed this report.
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