This Week in Public Meetings: December 4-8, 2023
*Meetings are listed in the order in which they occurred. Scroll down for newest updates.
12.4.23: Shasta County Board of Supervisors Special Meeting (BOS)
At 9 am, supervisors heard public comments in open session before moving to closed session to discuss appointing a new county counsel, or chief county attorney. After public comment, Supervisor Mary Rickert asked Board Chair Patrick Jones how many candidates would be interviewed saying there were originally supposed to be three. Jones didn’t answer directly, instead emphasizing a 10 am appointment time that the board had with a candidate. Board members reemerged from closed session at 11 am, and Interim County Counsel Gretchen Stuhr announced that the board had extended an offer of employment to a candidate, pending the usual agreement, terms, conditions, and background checks. After the meeting, Supervisor Mary Rickert confirmed that only a single candidate had been considered.
12.4.23: Citizens Election Advisory Committee (CEAC)
During this three hour meeting, the committee discussed a report on elections issues submitted to the county by Rich Gallardo. That report was not made available digitally but a single paper copy was available at the meeting. Gallardo told the committee that almost all of his complaints in the report were not under the jurisdiction of the CEAC but that the committee should “kick them up to the Board of Supervisors for action to appoint an independent counsel.” The item was eventually tabled until the January meeting.
Members also discussed whether to review data offered at a previous meeting by community member Laura Hobbes. That data was not made available to the public but an ad hoc subset of the CEAC agreed to review Hobbes data as well as archival elections data from the November 7th election and bring the results to a future committee meeting.
In response to a public comment, committee member Lisa Michaud indicated that any citizen should feel free to bring their election concerns to the CEAC, just as Gallardo and Hobbes have done. Notably, the CEAC’s listed powers do not include taking complaints directly from the public.
Stewart Buettell, Deputy County Executive Officer, also confirmed in response to comments from the board that the group may be renamed as a “commission” soon but for now is still a “committee”, pending the county board’s final decision on the matter which is expected to occur tomorrow, December 5 and if approved will not take effect for thirty days.
12.5.23: Shasta County Board of Supervisors
The board met Tuesday and by a vote of 3/2, named Supervisor Kevin Crye as the new chair of the board and Chris Kelstrom as co-chair. Their terms will begin in January.
The board also adopted a proclamation to declare December 15 Bill of Rights Day. On elections, Jones discussed briefly with Assistant County Clerk and Registrar of Voters Joanna Francescut, suggesting that certifying the result of the elections should be delayed due to the concerns of three public speakers. He indicated that he was okay with moving forward after learning that the board’s certification process is only for the fire district election, not the Gateway election, and the election was certified unanimously.
Supervisors updated various county fees, as is often done on an annual basis, and voted to approve allowing the board to temporarily suspend its own rules to issue statements on two matters on the upcoming March 2024 ballot: term limits and whether to become a charter county.
They also approved a 5% increase for county CEO David Rickert, and a severance package that includes 18 months of pay. Supervisor Tim Garman pointed out that this evaluation and pay increase is occurring significantly earlier than agreed upon in Rickert’s original contract which called for a May 2024 evaluation, he said. Crye responded that when someone does good work you make sure to reward them in order to secure their work for the county, long-term.
12.5.23: Redding City Council (RCC)
12.6.23 3:41 pm: We have corrected this story to indicate that Munns suggested either Mezzano or himself should be mayor pro tem.
Community members erupted in anger briefly during the Tuesday evening meeting of the Redding City Council after member Jack Munns nominated Tenessa Audette as mayor, Julie Winter to be vice mayor and either Mark Mezzano or himself to be mayor pro tem. The outgoing mayor, Michael Dacquisto responded to Munn’s motion by referring to the three, who all attend the Redding megachurch, as the “Bethel juggernaut” and saying Munn’s decision was “giving the finger” to voters that supported Mezzano. Dacquisto’s comments drew a rebuke from Julie Winter who supported Munn’s motion, saying it had nothing to do with the church she attends. The vote passed, with Dacquisto and Mezzano opposing.
The council also voted to allocate the remaining $1.6 million in Housing and Homeless Incentive Programs (HHIP) funding to the six projects that had been recommended by staff but not been funded at the last council meeting. Those projects include the local micro shelter program run by the United Way. A number of speakers used public comment to voice their support for the microshelters. Those speakers included the United Way’s Larry Olmstead who reminded public officials that the city itself was the originator of the micro shelter idea. After public comment, Mezzano, Winter and Dacquisto all expressed support for funding the additional six projects. Audette initially pushed back saying she wanted to bring the proposal to the ad hoc At Home Committee for input instead. She eventually agreed to support the motion, which passed unanimously.
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Gotta say, a little disappointed by your coverage of the Redding city council side of this. First off, Jack Munns’ motion was for Mark Mezzano to be Mayor Pro Tem, you inaccurately said it was Jack Munns himself in the motion. Councilman Mezzano ultimately declined so currently there is no Mayor Pro Tem for the city of Redding. The anger of the crowd resulted from Mark Mezzano being stripped of the traditional action of appointing the vice mayor to mayorship in favor of a bethel agenda. It is no coincidence that the three involved are all members of Bethel Church and they are trying to further their agenda of the Seven Mountain Mandate by getting a Bethel Assemblyperson elected through Audette. This move was only done to bolster a fledgling campaign for a candidate who didnt even get the endorsement of Brian Dahle, who Audette works for.
Voices Silenced: More than 20 individuals spoke in favor of mark’s leadership over his term, favoring a 1 year Councilperson who is going to abandon their position if elected into the Assembly. This was made apparent with the discussion further in the evening with the discussion on the future of the funding for more Pallet Shelters and other unhoused initiatives. Multiple people who got up during that presentation also discussed their familiarity with Mezzano’s work in that area and their lack of knowledge of the other members of the Council. Mark Mezzano loves Redding and the people here and just wanted to have the capstone to his service to serve honorably as their Mayor until he hopefully steps into the Assembly.
My gut says Tenessa, Julie, and Jack figured this all out in advance, a Brown Act Violation. All it proves is bethel has what it needs to further its agenda locally.
Thanks so much for your comment. You’re correct that I omitted important information that Munns offered mayor pro tem to either mark mezzano or himself. Mezzano ended up declining the role. I have updated the story. We hope to provide fuller coverage when/if time allows. Thanks!
just asking—3000homeless in our community?
Sadly, very little detail information on $1.6 million allocation of HHIP funding. This is a major disservice to all who are normally involved as part of the Continuum of Care and multiple housing and program providers for homeless and at risk families and individuals. At least a link to the City Council’s staff report and discussion would be helpful. And what does the “Ad Hoc Committee on homeless” do or report or even meet? Who are its members? Are their meetings public or private? A few “tiny homes” do not do much for the nearly 3,000 homeless in our community…
I agree this needs fuller coverage. It was confusing because the six project weren’t actually in the agenda at all. They were in an agenda from a previous meeting. I hope to provide more coverage when/if time allows.