💥 County Board – August 15, 2023

On Tuesday, Annelise was on site when the Board of Supervisors began with a contentious stand-off between Board Chairperson Patrick Jones and activist and satirist Nathan Pinkney (a.k.a. Blayz). Jones attempted to evict Pinkney from the meeting, which led to public pushback. Pinkney refused to leave, leading to a shutdown of the meeting and closure of the board chambers for over an hour. Pinkney was told that he would not be able to return to the chambers after the extended break, but he eventually re-entered the meeting without incident. Luckily Annelise continued to record the incident after the County live feed was shut down. Read our updated story about the incident here.

Following the recess, the Board heard a presentation by Sheriff Michael Johnson about staffing needs for the Sheriff’s department. He says that the department would need five new deputies and another seven staff members to reopen the now-closed third floor of the jail. The idea to have deputies from other jurisdictions, such as Redding Police Department officers, assist with staffing the jail was raised. Sheriff Johnson mentioned that one of the biggest challenges could be pushback from law enforcement unions. 

The Board also discussed whether to send a letter to the California Attorney General regarding the Zogg Fire Settlement. A draft letter was included in the Board’s agenda packet, but Board members did not discuss that letter, choosing instead to bring the issue back at a future meeting after a new, more strongly worded letter could be drafted. Attorney Shon Northam, who actively opposed the Shasta County District Attorney during her re-election campaign, spoke to the Board about what he said were the many mistakes made in how the Zogg Fire was prosecuted. He was allowed to extend his public comment time to more than seven minutes. Learn more about Northam here and here.

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