Shasta County has dozens of “possibly optional” committees and commissions, staff say.

Update: At the Oct. 7 county board meeting, supervisors voted unanimously to bring the topic of commissions and committees back for further discussion. The three groups the board will focus their discussions on at a future meeting are the Commission on Aging, the Historical Heritage Commission, and the Remote Access Network Board.

Shasta County has more than 80 active commissions and committees that address a wide range of needs from elections to mental and behavioral health. Some of these topical groups exist due to state requirements or as a condition of a contract. Others are optional, and were set up at the discretion of elected county board members over the years. 

On Tuesday, October 7, as requested by supervisors, county staff will share a presentation laying out 34 of these commissions and committees which have been identified as “possibly optional” and could be eliminated by the board.

Whether or not some of these groups are actually optional is yet to be determined, the staff report says, and will require further research. A few have already been identified under the terms “discretionary” and “wholly optional,” indicating that the board could take action to move towards disbanding them.

“Discretionary” is a term being used to designate that the group is currently required under local government code or ordinance as the result of a prior decision by the county board which could be reversed by current supervisors. The Historical Heritage Commission, Remote Access Network Board, and Shasta County Elections Commission are among those identified as discretionary by staff.

In contrast “wholly optional” is a term used to designate groups whose existence is not tethered to any government code or agreement at all, and which could be dissolved fairly quickly at the board’s discretion. These include the Commission on Aging and the Public Health Advisory Board (PHAB). In the case of PHAB, the group serves as the only regularly scheduled time that the county’s public health official, Dr. James Mu, provides regular communications on the county’s health matters in a publicly-accessible venue. 

In certain cases, such as that of the Planning Commission, if the board voted to dissolve the group state law would require county supervisors to take up the responsibilities themselves. 

No commissions or committees can be eliminated without subsequent discussions at a future board meeting, the staff report says. For discretionary groups the county would first have to amend the government code that requires them. And even for “wholly optional” groups staff would need to notify relevant members that serve on those commissions or committees subject to disbanding. 

The question of dissolving certain committees and commissions has been a recurring flashpoint issue during public meetings over recent months.

During the June 17 county board meeting, the Chair of the Commission on Aging appealed to supervisors for financial support saying the group should either be funded, or closed. Since then, some advocates have vocalized their support for the Commission on Aging at public meetings around the county. For example, at the City of Shasta Lake’s Sept. 16 city council meeting elected officials approved sending a letter to supervisors to retain the commission. 

In February, supervisors temporarily halted the Elections Commission after activists launched a lawsuit (since largely dismissed) over alleged election fraud. The board’s move to pause the commission drew immense backlash from its’ supporters. According to a staff report, the Election Commission is the only group which receives dedicated county funding. From October of 2023 to January of 2025, the commission cost taxpayers an estimated $88,500, largely due to legal costs.

See the county’s full list of commissions and committees here.

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