On June 2nd we are facing one of the most consequential elections seen in Shasta County for decades. Many mainstream voters fail to cast ballots in primary elections, creating a vacuum which often leads to extremists prevailing. The hundred thousand plus local residents registered to vote must not let that happen next month. We must put aside national partisan politics and make choices that are in the best interests of our own communities, and above all, vote in this election.
Do you remember when you didn’t know or care what political party our supervisors were associated with? Do you remember when not one person in the election department would discuss their personal views or recommend how to vote on local issues? Do you remember when our Registrar of Voters didn’t presume that the percentage of voters in a political party would always vote in alignment with that party? Please consider these things when marking your ballots.
The elections in Districts 1 and 5 give voters clear choices for consideration. The incumbents stand proudly on their records, however, do not mention actions which contributed to a failed opportunity to obtain a $200 million mental health grant with the potential to create hundreds of jobs and a local facility for citizens in crises. They also fail to mention their votes which resulted in the undermining of the County Clerk Registrar of Voters office and installing an unqualified election administrator which created legal consequences adversely affecting taxpayers. The votes for the same elected officials, beginning with Patrick Jones, who brought this incompetent ROV pretender to our town, were processed and counted by an election department that had worked for decades without a breath of controversy. Another thing that the two incumbents brag about is their ability to balance the budget. With an exodus of employees throughout the county, and insufficient funds allocated to the District Attorney, and social service workers, public safety and services have been diminished. That’s after factoring in their reckless decision to conditionally propose to advance $1,900,000 to an unvetted project in Anderson and giving themselves a 60% pay increase. One of them would be quick to point out that he voted ‘no’ on the raise, however when another supervisor suggested they rescind it a few months ago and discontinue the policy of giving themselves the ability to determine their own pay increases, neither of the incumbents was willing to support it.
Measure B has been widely idealized as a Voter ID initiative. Many people might not object to presenting ID when voting, however this measure goes way beyond that. It would create additional barriers for nearly 90% of voters who currently vote by mail. It is also inconsistent with various laws and if passed would undoubtedly result in yet more litigation that we taxpayers would ultimately pay for. A majority ‘No’ vote will avoid that.
The fifth item of local consequence is the U.S. Congress District 1 short term (ending 1-2-2027) race. The winner of this race will be in office for fewer than 6 months. One may doubt much damage could be done in such a short period of time. If the unthinkable were to happen, and the November election is deemed “stolen” by the losing side and the current congress becomes involved in failing to seat the new congress, we need to be sure that whomever is elected from our district is willing to follow the rule of law and the constitution and not put party over country. The safest choice in that situation is Audrey Denney.
Patte Jelavich
Shasta County Resident
