Clint Curtis is asking for millions more for elections. Without it, he says, he might not be able to increase trust.
Registrar of Voters Clint Curtis, who was appointed a few months ago, says if supervisors want to ensure trust in elections they’ll need to pay for it. He’s asking supervisors to approve almost $2.6 million in spending… from funds saved for a jail. He’s likely to need millions more over the next four years, he says.
“What would that cost?”
It’s a question only one Shasta County supervisor, Chris Kelstrom, asked during the interview process for Shasta’s top elections job in April this year. Kelstrom queried Clint Curtis on the cost of his promised plan to film ballot processing during elections, something Curtis says is needed to ensure trust in elections.
Curtis never answered the question, but Kelstrom and two other supervisors, Kevin Crye and Corkey Harmon, voted to appoint him anyway. They said they didn’t think there were any significant problems with Shasta County elections but the ballot processing model Curtis was championing could serve as a model nationwide.
The newly appointed election official stepped into his role in late May. At budget hearings a few weeks later, Curtis told supervisors he didn’t have real numbers yet on how much his plans would cost to implement, but it likely wouldn’t be much more than the budget they were already approving.
Mentioning the need for a new building to facilitate his approach to ballot processing, Curtis told supervisors at the time he could obtain an appropriate one for about the same cost as what the county has already been paying in rent. “So there really is no [budget] movement as far as the building,” Curtis said.
The budget moves
This Tuesday, Curtis will return to the board with a budget amendment to fund his changes to elections in Shasta. He’s asking for about $2.6 million more than his already-approved annual election budget of $4.4 million. The fund request, which is included in the board’s packet for Aug. 12, includes money for cameras, tabulation machines, and ballot printers, as well as increased lease and tenant improvement costs related to a new building.
Curtis says obtaining a different building “will provide Shasta County with the ability to hold elections every citizen can trust” indicating that he will gain more community trust through a combination of increased in-person observer access and a livestream of ballot counting.
He’s proposing the county lease a building on Dana Street in Redding. To fund the change, he’s asking for about $400,000 more annually in rent plus $1.2 million to make improvements. But that’s actually just a fifth of what those improvements might actually cost, he says, explaining that he plans to spread out additional funding requests over the next four years.
What’s more, he says, in words buried deep in the proposal, this is actually just a rough estimate of costs, based on limited information. There is a “highly likely potential” that even more funds will be needed, he says, as the budget request was created without the “details of the projects” being specified.
To pay for these increased costs, Curtis suggests that supervisors should use some of the approximately $34 million that supervisors have set aside as savings for a new jail.
A plan is already in motion to build a new alternative custody facility to help close the perceived gap between incarceration needs and current capacity. The total cost of that facility is not yet known but is expected to significantly exceed county savings.
More money, more trust
In the staff report that accompanies the request for funds — which is written in Curtis’ signature style and approved by no one other than himself — he says the budget amendment should be approved if supervisors want to ensure trust in elections.
Without it, he paints a grim picture of his ability to succeed at the nebulous task he was hired for.
Unless he is given funds for a new building, he says, he may not be able to “cure the animosity between the public and staff.” Without funds for new cameras, he says, the public won’t be able to independently monitor elections. If the printer purchases are not approved, he says, that could result in a “debacle.” No new tabulators, he writes, “would destroy our ability to pre-check the ballots”.
The idea that many Shasta community members have low trust in elections is not based on data. Instead it comes from repeated public complaints and lawsuits by a small but vocal group of community members, many of whom are involved in the New California State movement. The local leader of that movement is a close friend of Curtis’, as well as a Shasta election commissioner.
Here’s what’s next
The new election official will present his budget request to supervisors this Tuesday. Because the decision involves a budget amendment, it requires four out of the five supervisors to approve it, rather than the usual simple majority of three.
Curtis is filling an elected position so he enjoys almost complete independence from the board of supervisors. That means he can run elections the way he wants — as long as his methods fall within what’s allowed by state law — and with one additional important caveat. When it comes to accessing the money needed to implement his plans, Curtis is entirely dependent on the will of the board, which approves his budget.
See Curtis’ staff report here. View his presentation on the need for a new building, here.
Do you have a correction to share? Email us: editor@shastascout.org.
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Oh, what a delicious bind the BOS has created for themselves. They selected Curtis to satisfy the likes of Hobbs, Galardo, etc., but now Curtis wants to take millions from the Sheriff’s jail fund to pay for some kind of “transparent” election system. What’s it gonna be – defund the jail to show support for the election deniers or keep criminals behind bars? Will they punt and send it back for a “further study”? This would be really entertaining if it wasn’t for the fact that our safety is involved.
The whole process that put Clint Curtis in the position of register of voters needs to be fully investigated.
First I am going to call Corkey. Hope others will and hope he listens. ABSOULTY no more money to Curtis, no matter what he does I for one do not trust him or most of the board. There was nothing wrong with our elections until Jones got elected, he wasn’t satisfied to win, he felt he should have won by a bigger margin. Taking money from funds that are suppose to go for a jail??? I thought Republicans (FYI I am one) were for smaller and fiscal responsible government, just look at what our board of supervisors has cost us. And no one has given any actual proof of rigged elections or mass election fraud.
Didn’t his approved budget already included funds for a new building to house them? Now they want to add another 50% of their overall budget to that approved budget? Where is the additional revenue coming from to cover the cost? What about the 250,00 spent in defending lawsuits against the county for their desire to change election processes?
Is it any surprise, especially these days, that elected morons appoint additional morons…
The only surprising thing in all of this is that anyone is surprised.
First the supervisors waste money by canceling the Dominion contract. Then they refuse to hire the experienced Francescut in favor of the inexperienced Clinton. Now Mr. Clinton wants to spend millions more to satisfy those who refuse to be satisfied. Absolutely not.
Mr. Curtis needs to go back to where he came from! He’s not even from these parts! The Board of Supervisors will need to dig themselves out of this bad decision and replace Mr. Curtis with experienced and elections knowledgeable Joanna Francescut. Mr.Curtis can’t even put together a basic budget! Incompetence!
Spending that much bank to *potentially* placate about two dozen local yahoos is the definition of bat-shit crazy.
If he’s going to get 2.5 million to start with for “didn’t think there were any significant problems with Shasta County elections” can I ask the county for a couple thousand to fix up my house?
I have never questioned the Shasta County election process until now. With unqualified people running or is it ruining the process, I have very little faith. I am tired of paying and paying and paying with a patched infrastructure and busy little fingers gumming up the works. This sounds more and more like getting the elections to show overwhelming figures by messing with the numbers at the polls. I say no to more money for Curtis, no for BOS raises.
I don’t see the line item in the proposed budget for a giant fan to blow away the putrid smell that is coming out of the elections office since the new director was appointed.
I’m hopeful that the 4/5’s approval requirement mentioned in this article means that Mr. Curtis’s budget increase request will not pass.
Count me among the majority segment of the county population who ALREADY trusted the integrity of our elections. Then again, with this guy in charge now, I feel a lot less confident that things at the Elections Department are just fine.
Why do we need to spend more money on a solution in search of a problem?
Bulls**t. We had a perfectly good election system before Clint Curtis came on board. It’s imperative to vote Joanna Francescut back in as the Registrar of voters next election. This guy is nuts just like we all thought.
the truth and their special election for the 1% sales tax is a big joke on Shasta Co! How is spending 500K $ for it cost effective, PUT the vote on the next scheduled ballot!!! Stop the irresponsible spending of the 3 stooges!
Before revamping our election procedures at great cost to the taxpayers and residents, please show some documented evidence of what is wrong with our past elections. There is a widespread conspiracy theory mindset from the MAGA crowd, but no documented evidence of fraud.
It’s a travesty and a tragedy that we didn’t pass the ROV job to Joanna Francescut who had been working effectively in the office for a decade and a half faithfully assisting and learning with great detail what is involved.
This is ridiculous!What a waste of taxpayer dollars.Show us the evidence that something sketchy is going on. Not just because a few people say so.
Absolutely no on his request. He already has $4 million to do things with. This just shows how utterly incompetent and inexperienced Clint is.
May I suggest instead telling the truth and NOT telling and repeating lies – things that are free and really ensure trust. Especially combined with the FACT that there has NEVER been any proof given or proven in courts, that our elections are riddled with problems.
Will they fall for this?? Let’s see just how corrupt and brazen the BOS majority is!
This is crazy. No matter what we do there are always going to be people that are not satisfied with the results. To waste this kind of money, that we don’t have, is insane.
No. If the BOS really wanted to increase confidence in our elections, they wouldn’t have appointed Curtis in the first place. He is the one who I do not trust. He is not from here and hasno experience. The idea of having cameras is ridiculous! And a new building? Preposterous! I may not have liked the outcome of some elections, but I have trusted they were fairly completed. I do not believe that any longer.
Stop trying to bleed the county of funds that were set aside for other needs.
Mr. Curtis and his assistant are snake oil salesmen. He was not elected. The BOS will be irresponsible if they approve this spending craziness.
I had trust in Shasta County elections. Scare tactics don’t phase me. The way he was railroaded into that job DOES scare me.
Clint needs to go, he plays a big part in the mistrust along with the BOS and past members. There is no evidence that the boring process is rigged.
If you were to poll every citizen in Shasta County, trust in elections would not even make the top five in their list of priorities. We have an election coming up in 10 months for the registrar or voters position, and the board would be so foolish to rush into a decision based on a recommendation from an interim person in that role who lacks any expertise in the actual running of Elections.
Was there any survey ever done to see what percentage of Shasta county voter distrust our election process? Seems like this would be key information before spending millions of dollars. I personally will be contacting my supervisor to vote against this.
The only related survey was one by Shasta Scout that was put out since Mr. Curtis was put in charge of elections. That survey indicates that the majority of respondents don’t want ballots filmed. https://shastascout.org/some-worry-new-shasta-election-policies-wont-safeguard-their-vote/
Yes, I believe Supervisor Matt Plu7mmer did one. I dont think the results showed that there was a need to bolster trust in elections.
I am confused about Mr. Curtis’ need for more Hart tabulators. After the BOS cancelled the Dominion contract, the elections office obtained Hart tabulators for each precinct. I fail to understand why $392,000 worth of new Hart machines is needed.
Mark: I can ask on Tuesday if it doesn’t come up.
On page three of the staff report, Mr. Curtis states that the additional ballot tabulators will enable the office to scan all ballots within three hours.
Bob: It’s an interesting claim.
Dominion system had nearly 60 tabulators. One for each polling place and several others for election office. The Hart voting system was a stripped Yugo compared to a Cadillac with every available option. They blew the $1.5 million Zuckerberg grant on replacing Dominion and buying some camera equipped ballot drop boxes. When I served on the Election Commission, Tom Toller told me the biggest cost running an election is the software, not the hardware. Leasing is always better than owning because vendor is responsible for maintaining and upgrading equipment. Joanna told me the instances of voter fraud range from single digit to at most a dozen depending on voter turnout. Over voting is the most common type of fraud. We don’t need to spend millions to appease a handful of election deniers perpetuating the Big Lie. Elect Joanna next year and get rid of Crye and Kelstrom and all this will just go away.
God himself could tabulate the votes and that wouldn’t be sufficient especially when you have a election denier at the helm. Save the money for something else that the county needs like a jail.
When will these politicians stop asking for more money? The city of Redding wants $30 million more a year to pay for raises and Mr. Curtis want $6 million more so we “trust” elections. I say no to both.
Mary: this is misinformation. The city of Redding is not asking for $30 million. And the citizen-led sales tax initiative that would bring in $30 million a year is not slated to be used for raises.
Annelise,
The citizen-led (well connected political insiders) will benefit from the sales tax increase. A little research will produce some shocking relationships.
Redding City Council members Dr. Paul Dhanuka and Tennessa Audette both are on record stating there were significant raises given to employees for the prior two years anticipating a sales tax increase that never materialized. Nine million a year will be set aside to pay for those ever increasing commitments.
Please do your homework.
Hi Eric. Can you share why you say $9 million a year from the sales tax will be put aside for pay raises? I understand that there were pay raises in the last few years. I’m also not aware of anything in the sales tax measure which prevents the funds from supplanting other funds. However to say $30 million in taxes is going to pay raises is just false.
I suggest you read Tenessa Audette’s report findings:
https://tenessaaudette.com/s/Redding-Budget-Findings_Tenessa-Audette.pdf
https://tenessaaudette.com/s/Ch-2-Budget-Claims-1.pdf
Thanks Lou: that report is on my list! We’re pumping out stories fast and the county has kept us busy this last week!
No and no our elections are just fine. I did not like outcome of last elections but thought it legal! More like people only want the outcome they wanted.