This Week in Public Meetings: November 6-10, 2023

Redding Riverfront Specific Plan Community Coalition #3

The Community Coalition met for its third meeting on Monday night. The agenda for the evening included a review of the draft Riverfront Vision and Guiding Principles Framework that is being developed by MIG Inc., the consulting firm hired by the city to oversee the process of creating the Riverfront Specific Plan update. A video of the meeting will be available soon on the website. The last scheduled meeting of the community coalition will be on November 20 at 5:30 p.m.

Redding City Council Meeting – 9.1(a). Consider Redding Rodeo Association’s lease extension request.

This week we tracked the Redding City Council discussion of the Redding Rodeo Association (RRA)’s lease extension request. The RRA lease came into the spotlight most recently due to ongoing attempts to update the Redding riverfront area where the Redding rodeo grounds are located.

The agenda item included a request by the Rodeo Association to amend the lease until August 1, 2029. The staff report on the agenda item indicated that the extension is meant to align with the completion of the Redding Riverfront Specific Plan update that is currently in process as well as to justify upgrades the Associate says are needed before the 2024 Redding Rodeo. The annual lease payment for the rodeo grounds is $50/year.

In his presentation of the item City Manager Barry Tippin indicated that the lease extension would also be meant to give the rodeo breathing room after the completion of the Specific Plan to come to terms with whatever is decided about the status of the rodeo in its current location.

A schedule of capital improvements meant to have been completed by now according to the previous lease, some of which are accessibility standards, would also be extended.

After some discussion about why the city may or may not want to offer a 25-year extension to the Rodeo Association, the staff recommendation of a three-year extension was approved unanimously.

Shasta County Board of Supervisors

Shasta County’s Board of Supervisors met on Election Day to discuss topics including whether to make the newly formed Citizens Elections Advisory Committee which was formed by a Board resolution into a Citizens Election Advisory Committee, under a new ordinance, or law. They decided to do so by a 3/2 vote with Supervisors Mary Rickert and Tim Garman opposing the idea.  Board members also chose to fund the CEAC with a budget of $20,000 annually which was reduced from the original ask of $44,00. Most of those funds are likely to pay for outside legal counsel with expertise in elections to provide advice to the CEAC. Rickert and Garman both expressed concern that so much was being spent on an elections commission that they believed was not necessary but eventually supported the budget once it was reduced to only $20,000 annually. 

Board members also agreed to place the issue of whether to form a charter county on the election ballot next March. Again, the issue was approved with Garman and Rickert opposing it. Community members expressed concerns, including that the charter specifics should have included more community input. More reporting on this topic soon.