For the Second Time in a Year, Shasta County Will Recruit to Fill Top Elections Role

Just two days after Shasta County Registrar of Voters (ROV) Tom Toller informed the Board that he was resigning due to a serious illness, Supervisors gathered for a special meeting to decide next steps. 

The March 27 event was pulled together so quickly that one supervisor, Matt Plummer, wasn’t able to attend due to a prior work obligation. Board Chair Kevin Crye told Shasta Scout he had expedited the meeting to ensure that the role could be filled soon after Toller steps down on April 29th.

After almost two hours of discussion and public comment, the Board voted unanimously to hold an open recruitment process for the role. That decision came after a failed motion by Supervisor Allen Long to appoint Assistant ROV Joanna Francescut to the role instead.

Long’s motion was rejected by his peers on the Board but backed by loud cheers from the raucous crowd who filled the chamber where the impromptu meeting was held. Four Shasta County Sheriff’s deputies stood sentry around the room as the Board met at the Redding City Hall chambers due to scheduled renovations at their usual location. Most community members who spoke during the event supported Francescut to be selected for the role. 

Last June, Francescut was among the top three candidates considered for the ROV position, after former long-term elected ROV Cathy Darling Allen resigned mid-term for health reasons. In a second round of public interviews for the role last June, Francescut faced off against three other candidates including two men with no prior experience in election administration, former deputy Shasta District Attorney Toller and Clint Curtis, a New York attorney whose areas of practice include election law. The fourth candidate, John Gaglione, has since died.

Francescut has worked for the Elections Office for sixteen years. As Assistant ROV, she successfully ran the March 2024 primary on her own when Darling Allen stepped away from her role for medical reasons. 

Like Darling Allen, Francescut has faced ongoing criticism from a small number of vocal community members. Those who oppose her are led by election activist Laura Hobbs, who has filed two lawsuits against the Elections Office and is now pushing forward a proposed ballot measure in hopes of implementing a number of local “election reforms” that, if implemented, would violate both state and federal laws. Hobbes first lawsuit naming Francescut was thrown out by a Shasta County judge due to a profound lack of evidence. The second lawsuit was filed only recently.

Nine months ago, Chair Crye pushed for Toller to be selected, swaying the votes of Supervisor Chris Kelstrom and former Supervisor Patrick Jones by saying if they didn’t pick his top choice of Toller he’d go with Francescut instead. Crye said at the time he thought Francescut was a strong candidate and a hard worker but needed more time to learn under a new boss, Toller.

Last night, public speaker Gary Peyrot picked up on that history, telling supervisors that Francescut still isn’t ready for the lead ROV role. Peyrot claimed that the lawsuit Hobbs recently filed against the Elections Office along with co-plaintiff Dan Ladd proves Francescut can’t handle the job.  

“I don’t think she’s ready,” Peyrot said. “If she had been ready we would not have had the problems that resulted in the lawsuit. Everyone here says she trained (Toller) and he’s not very well trained.” 

“I would urge the board to give her a strong boss,” Peyrot continued. “She might be the right ROV in the future.”

Community member Fran Patterson responded to statements by Peyrot and others with astonishment. The local mother and business owner said she doesn’t know the Assistant ROV herself but had learned a lot about her through public comment.

“She seems extremely powerful”, Patterson said with obvious irony, drawing a loud ripple of laughter from the crowd. “Apparently she’s responsible for everything that went wrong at the last election…. (and also somehow) corrupted Tom Toller who’s a lawyer and many years her senior.”

Lance Starin, another local community member took a different tack, telling the Board in no uncertain terms that they should ignore unsubstantiated claims and appoint the obvious candidate, Francescut.

“It seems both irresponsible and frankly a violation of fiduciary duty,” Starin told supervisors, “for this board to even contemplate entering into another expensive, difficult, time-consuming and contentious process when the obvious candidate remains in office and has operated competently – despite any innuendo or unsubstantiated claims to the contrary.”

“The only reason… that the board did not select Ms. Francescut previously,” Starin added, “is that she failed a political test. Not a test of competence.”

His statements were met with boisterous cheers from about three-quarters of the crowd.

Many expected Francescut to leave her employment at the ROV’s office after the Board passed her over for the top role last year. Instead, Francescut immediately got to work under Toller, earning his public praise as she assisted him in running the operations of the Elections Office staff through another highly contentious election this year.  

Asked by Shasta Scout after the meeting whether he believed Francescut had gained experience under Toller, Crye demurred, saying first that Toller hadn’t shown the leadership he expected and then that he isn’t happy with the number of ballot boxes in the County.

“I really like Joanna (Francescut) as a person”, Crye added. “I’m looking for somebody who will… take things off the table that seem to be huge points of contention.”

“Huge points of contention” for those who oppose Francescut include her steadfast commitment to following state and federal election law. Those who oppose Francescut believe, for example, that California’s mandated use of machines to count elections is unconstitutional, and a violation of their rights.

Next Steps

After voting to open recruitment for the County’s next ROV, supervisors also voted on the process they’ll follow this time around. Recruitment will open almost immediately and run for a two-to-three-week period. 

The Board’s appointee can come from anywhere in the nation as long as they are a registered voter in Shasta County by the time they begin the role and have either a four-year degree or four years of “any kind” of election-related experience.

An ad hoc committee that includes Supervisors Crye and Long will screen applicants and narrow them down to 3–6 candidates who will then appear for public interviews before the Board, which are tentatively scheduled for April 30. The Board plans to make an appointment by May 13, within a few weeks of Toller leaving office. 

The individual selected as Shasta County’s next top election official will hold the position through Darling Allen’s original elected term, which ends in January 2026.

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