Crowd gathered at Redding Library for May 24 town hall meeting.
If there’s one thing local election deniers such as former Shasta County supervisor Patrick Jones, right-wing enforcer Rich Gallardo and SoCal transplant Laura Hobbs constantly demand, it’s transparency.
“We can’t have free and fair elections unless we have absolute transparency in the process,” they claim.
But when it comes to their own political activities, our friendly neighborhood fascists are quite the opposite of transparent; one might even suggest they’re opaque. They host town halls that don’t allow questions. They physically prevent journalists from covering public officials in events held in public buildings. The election denying Shasta County Board of Supervisors majority even tried to corral journalists in a glassed-in enclosure at the rear of the board chambers.
So when I was approached by Gallardo and asked to leave the May 24 town hall event at the Redding Library I wasn’t totally surprised. The town hall was hosted by Jones and featured newly selected Shasta County Registrar of Voters Clint Curtis. When I asked Jones why I was being booted, he called me a “criminal” and a “shitty” writer.
Patrick Jones, journalism critic.
I didn’t know it at the time but Jones was violating the library’s code of conduct, which states “Library users must refrain from directing obscene or verbally abusive language toward customers or staff.”
I asked the duty librarian if Jones had the right to kick me out of the meeting, which was advertised as a public even and held in the library’s community room. She told me he did have the right. Recalling the assault on A News Café publisher Doni Chamberlain at a similar right-wing gathering at the Cottonwood Community Center in July 2023 and knowing Jones and Gallardo openly brag about carrying weapons in public buildings, I chose discretion over valor and left the building.
I immediately contacted the ACLU, the California Secretary of State, the Fair Political Practices Commission, the Reporters Committee for a Free Press and the First Amendment Coalition. The First Amendment Coalition’s David Loy provided the only meaningful response, although he cautioned he wasn’t providing legal advice.
“The Ninth Circuit held that a city violated the First Amendment by enforcing a law that allowed ‘permit holders sponsoring an event’ in a public park’ to evict any member of the public who espouses a message contrary to what the permit holder wants as part of its event.”
The plaintiff in that case was an evangelic street preacher, not a journalist. The court ruled the event sponsors erred when they ordered police to remove him.
I also contacted Shasta Public Libraries and was informed that anyone who rents the community room must by contract adhere to the library’s code of conduct. I filed a public records request for the contract and learned that Laura Hobbs had booked the room on May 15 under the name Shasta Election Reform.
Hobbs claimed Shasta Election Reform is a nonprofit organization and submitted an FPPC Form 410 for political action committees as proof. The library accepted the evidence and waived the $165 fee for renting the space.
Laura Hobbs has stopped using the doctor honorific.
But here’s the deal. Shasta Election Reform’s Form 410 doesn’t prove it’s a nonprofit organization. The form, filed on March 17, lists Hobbs as treasurer and Gallardo as principal officer. Its mission is to “advocate for election reform in Shasta County” but so far, according to the Shasta County Elections website, it hasn’t raised or spent a dime.
Armed with these concerns, I contacted Shasta County Libraries Director Julia Parsons and learned the following after exchanging several emails.
“The reservation and associated fee waiver were approved under the prior library director,” Parsons said. “At that time, the organization provided a Fair Political Practices Commission Form 410. While further verification was requested, the group was granted a one-time waiver consistent with library policy, which allows for flexibility in cases of community or nonprofit activity.”
“That said, we acknowledge your concern and are reviewing internal procedures to ensure clearer guidelines are in place moving forward for validating nonprofit status,” Parsons said.
Parsons said if Jones called me a “criminal” and a “shitty writer” as I’m alleging, that would constitute a violation of the library’s code of conduct.
“If Mr. Jones made the remarks as described, that behavior would be inconsistent with our code of conduct,” Parsons said. “However, no contemporaneous report was made to library staff, which limits our ability to investigate or act retroactively.”
Parsons emphasized that individuals who reserve room space with the library are responsible for ensuring the code of conduct is followed by all of their attendees.
“Our enforcement authority is limited when we are not made aware of incidents contemporaneously,” Parsons said. “Should Ms. Hobbs request future room use, we will ensure all parties are reminded of their obligations under our policies.”
Parsons noted that groups that rent rooms are not representing or endorsed by the library and the library doesn’t oversee the content or promotion of events. She was adamant that the code of conduct must be followed.
“First and foremost, I want to be clear that all individuals on library property are expected to follow the library’s code of conduct at all times,” Parsons said. “This includes the policy prohibiting obscene or verbally abusive language, as well as policies that prohibit the carrying of weapons on library grounds.”
“If you or anyone feels unsafe or witnesses a violation of the code of conduct while in the Library, we strongly encourage you to immediately notify Library staff. We rely on real-time reports to assess and respond appropriately to such incidents.”
Has the worm turned for Shasta County District 3 Supervisor Corkey “Cowboy Way” Harmon?
Chair Crye Shoots Self in Foot Over Nonexistent Medical School Presentation
It seems like eons since the last Shasta County Board of Supervisors board meeting but in reality it’s been less than three weeks since District 3 Supervisor Corkey Harmon rejected District 1 Supervisor and Board Chair Kevin Crye’s attempt to strip District 2 Supervisor Allen Long of three committee assignments.
Harmon, a practitioner of the Cowboy Way, saw Crye’s attempt to remove Long from his alternate position with the Rural County Representative of California for with it was: a naked and rather rude power grab.
“I think we’re all going the right direction in the same direction,” said Harmon, frustrated with Crye’s bickering. “I’m very respectful to people around me. I don’t wanna put boxing gloves on. I don’t wanna see anybody else do it. I wanna see us fully collaborative.”
Has the worm fully turned for Harmon? Perhaps we’ll see at Wednesday’s board meeting.
District 1 Supervisor Kevin Crye: all for naught?
Meanwhile, it turns out Crye’s effort to get Long kicked off RCRC was literally for nothing. Recall the last meeting when Crye claimed, “We have the RCRC presentation of the medical school this week. I’m constantly working with other counties at RCRC.”
When Shasta County Sheriff Michael Johnson invited Crye and District 4 Supervisor Matt Plummer to tour Trump-occupied Los Angeles, Crye respectfully declined.
“I said Sheriff Johnson I have to be in Modoc, I have a presentation to make.”
Realizing that Long was the RCRC alternate and doesn’t share his enthusiasm for the proposed medical school, Crye hatched a plan to strip Long of his committee assignments so District 5 Supervisor Chris Kelstrom could make the presentation instead.
“I went to Supervisor Kelstrom and said, Supervisor Kelstrom, this is very, very important how this is articulated, what is said,” said Crye as he explained his thought process. “And it is extremely important, extremely important that we follow the game plan that I, Dr. (Paul) Dhanuka, Norm Hall at Simpson University, and many other medical professionals have leaned in on.”
When Crye realized Harmon had turned against him, he pouted.
“This is a critical, critical issue as it relates to the medical school,” Crye said. “And I don’t want it undermined, sabotaged, and quite honestly, I probably will just have to not go to Southern California with this sheriff.”
That’s how important the medical school presentation was to Crye, so it may come as a surprise that there was apparently no medical school presentation in the first place.
The RCRC meeting was held in Alturas on June 27. As it turned out, Long was unable to attend anyway and Kelstrom took his place.
Mary Rickert attended last RCRC meeting where wolves were on the menu.
There was no Shasta County Medical School presentation on the RCRC agenda. Instead, according to former Shasta County Supervisor Mary Rickert, Kelstrom and Crye-associate Chriss Street spoke about the medical school in general during the public comment session then left immediately afterward instead of attending the meeting.
Kelstrom did not respond to inquiries from A News Café.
“Jim and I were there,” said Rickert, who attended with her husband. “We had public comment on the wolf issue. Kelstrom and Street were there and also gave public comment on the medical school. There was no presentation. It was not on the agenda. Kevin lied.”
Turns out that Long knew that in advance.
“I had heard, prior to our last BOS meeting, that there was no formal medical school presentation agendized and therefore they were only going to be allowed 3 minutes to present any ‘county issues,’ no different than any other public speaker,” Long told A News Café. “Laughable actually, the drama our board was forced to endure. And for what?”
Absolutely nothing!
Thanks Kevin!
Screenshot
The Trouble with Renovations
I haven’t been able to nail down exactly how much Shasta County spent renovating the board chambers this spring, but we may want to ask for some of our money back.
The new video wall is the most tangible upgrade and it is indeed awesome. The audio’s obviously been turned up a notch. For at-home viewers the live streaming has been enhanced.
But despite all of these improvements, a major glitch has been revealed: All of the historical videos, from early June of this year going back forever, have vanished.
This might not be a major issue for the average person, but for a journalist it’s like losing a limb. I emailed the Clerk of the Board as soon as I noticed.
“Due to the change in our vendor, our previous video hosting is no longer available,” the clerk responded. “We are currently looking into options, but currently there is no way to post our older videos directly on the county website.”
For my sake, let’s hope the county addresses this issue soon!
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