“It’s the Bethel Juggernaut At Work”: Dacquisto Offers Scathing Critique As Redding’s New Mayor Is Chosen
Disrupting the traditional order of mayoral ascension, council members chose relative newcomer Tenessa Audette instead of the former Vice Mayor Mark Mezzano for the role. Audette has strong ties to the Redding megachurch, Bethel.
Screenshot from the City of Redding’s December 5 Council meeting video.
12.7.23 2 pm: We have updated this story to include a comment on mayoral duties.
Redding has a new mayor, Tenessa Audette.
Audette is a relative newcomer to the Redding City Council who took her seat after being elected in the fall of 2022. She’s a small-business owner and campaign manager who’s also running for a seat on the California Assembly.
She’s open about her involvement with the Redding megachurch, Bethel, where she teaches the separation of church and state as part of the “God and Government” track for the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry (BSSM). Bethel has gained national attention in part because leaders teach a theology known as the Seven Mountains Mandate, which encourages believers to “take dominion” over society to bring more of heaven to earth.
Audette is one of three Redding council members who are connected to Bethel including Bethel elder Julie Winter and former BSSM student Jack Munns. Those connections took center stage on Tuesday night, December 5, as the council considered whom to choose as mayor.
As what’s known as a “general law city”, Redding’s mayor is chosen, not by a vote of the people, but by fellow council members. Every year, in the first week of December, the council reorganizes, and council members choose a new mayor, vice mayor, and mayor pro tempore to serve the council for the upcoming year.
The choice often follows a typical pattern, as an outgoing mayor steps down, the vice mayor is usually elected to serve as mayor, and the mayor pro tempore steps up into the vice mayor role. But, as Council member and newly-former Redding Mayor Michael Dacquisto told the public Tuesday night, that “unwritten rule” doesn’t have to be followed.
His words turned out to be prescient: within moments of Dacquisto’s introductory statements, Munns, a former law enforcement officer who’s also founded programs for the homeless, nominated Audette to become Redding’s new mayor and Winter to be vice mayor.
His nomination came moments after all seven public speakers on the topic of council reorganization had recommended Mark Mezzano for the position. Mezzano, a former law enforcement officer who has served on the Redding City Council for four years, was also next in line for the traditional ascension to the mayoral role.
But Munns had other ideas.
“I’ll nominate Tenessa to be mayor,” Munns said, “Julie to be vice mayor, and Mark can be mayor pro tem if he likes and/or whoever, or me.”
The statement drew an audible reaction from the crowd which had just heard seven public speakers advocate for Mezzano as mayor.
When Dacquisto called for a second, Julie Winter spoke up, somewhat hesitantly.
“This is difficult,” she said.
“Oh no it’s not,” Dacquisto responded.
“Yes, actually it is very difficult,” Winters retorted. “I do have some concerns so I’m going to support the motion.”
“Why does that not surprise me,” Dacquisto fired back, “the Bethel juggernaut is at work.”
Winter responded to Dacquisto’s comment immediately, saying her motion had nothing to do with Bethel, to which Dacquisto shot back, “oh, get a life.”
Dacquisto then made an alternate motion, nominating Mezzano as mayor, Audette as vice mayor and Munns as mayor pro tem, saying that he could see no reason why Mezzano should not move from vice mayor to mayor given his four years of strong service to the community as a council member.
“Mr. Mezzano has spent four years. He’s earned it. He’s worked harder than any other council member that I’ve seen at this time. And to do otherwise, to make Ms Audette mayor, is just, pardon my french, bullshit,” Dacquisto said.
“It’s giving the finger to the 20,000 people that voted for Mr. Mezzano and saying we don’t care, we’re going to do what we’re going to do because we’re the Bethel juggernaut, and it’s wrong.”
His statement was met by loud applause from the public but Munns had more to say.
“You know Mr. Mayor, you once said that we can vote whatever way we want. And you wavered off tradition and science and everything else and voted the way you want.”
“So we’re doing what we feel is right,” Munns continued, before quickly corrected his statement. “I’m doing what I feel is right.”
“You can vote however you want,” Dacquisto responded, before taking the vote. “I’m just saying you’re giving the middle finger to the voters.”
Munns, Winter and Audette voted for Munn’s motion. Mezzano and Dacquisto voted against it.
“That takes care of it,” Dacquisto said, “Ms. Audette’s the new mayor.”
Some members of the public responded by calling out “disgusting.” Another person shouted from the floor that the council should “give a reason why you’re choosing her as mayor.”
Dacquisto called for civility, saying it was rude for the public to interrupt the proceedings and that people must live with the vote that’s been taken.
“It’s not the time or place to make a big stink about it here,” Dacquisto said, before using his outgoing speech as mayor to opine further on the topic.
“This whole thing is garbage. And it’s political. And it’s just not a good idea. It’s not good for the city of Redding . . . it’s wrong for the citizens who voted for Mr. Mezzano, and it’s wrong for the community as a whole. That should be the test for everything the council does.”
Audette took her seat as mayor immediately, serving as chair for the rest of the council meeting. In response to a request for comment, City Manager Barry Tippin said that as Redding’s newest mayor, Audette will preside over city council meetings, sign contracts and other legal documents, nominate individuals to serve on committee, designate liaison assignments for council members, and serve as the first line for staff to discuss potential agenda items or other issues.
A screenshot of Tenessa Audette’s public Instagram story on December 6, 2023.
Yesterday, December 6, Audette issued a press release regarding her mayoral election in support of her campaign for California’s District 1 Assembly seat saying that the council’s decision to choose her as mayor “is a significant show of confidence in her abilities to bring community members together, exercise responsible and transparent fiscal management, and grow the local economy.”
She used the press release to highlight a quote from fellow council member Munns:
“I have had the privilege of knowing Tenessa for about 13 years. I have witnessed her passion for family, for the Lord, and her passion for the city of Redding and its people. Tenessa is a dedicated worker who strives to solve problems and make Redding a better place to live, that’s why I believe Tenessa will be a very effective Mayor.”
Disclosure: Annelise Pierce is a former member of Bethel Church.
Have questions, concerns, or comments you’d like to share with us directly? Reach out: editor@shastascout.org. If you choose to leave a comment please keep in mind our community guidelines. All comments will be moderated to ensure a healthy civic dialogue.
Author
Comments (19)
Comments are closed.
Related Articles
Active measles case in Shasta County, officials urge vigilance and immunization
A patient with newly-diagnosed measles is being kept in isolation to prevent the spread of the highly contagious illness. Community members who might have been exposed during the patient’s eight-day contagious period are being contacted by Shasta’s public health staff.
Killing of armed Minneapolis protester Alex Pretti ignites 2A debate in conservative Shasta County
Second Amendment supporters in Shasta County including some with connections to a local militia, weigh in on topics including the right to carry at protests and the federal government’s current approach to immigration enforcement.
Race for Shasta’s District 5 gets crowded as Anderson council member Mike Gallagher announces candidacy
Gallagher, who’s in his second term on the Anderson City Council, joins former Supervisor Tim Garman and current Supervisor Chris Kelstrom in a race for the seat. The three will face off during the primary in June.
I’m just wondering if Shasta County HHSA is also being taken over by the Bethel group. With all the turnover in that department lately and a lot of lower-level employees jumping ship, it seems that something is going on other than just regular attrition. Only one supervisor left in the Fiscal Dept.
Just curious: Is this a violation of the Brown Act? In saying “we’re doing what we feel is right”, seems to indicate they (Winters, Audette, Munns) discussed this. They seemed to have had a plan (?), or feigned no surprise, and got right to it. If this situation was discussed by all or part of the Council prior to this meeting, that seems odd. Or at least not best practice. Or at least not ideal. Or at least a huge bummer. Finally: If the three members met or communicated prior to this meeting (on this or any issue) that’s meeting as a majority. Again, just curious/wondering about processes.
Hi there. We don’t know if the Brown Act was violated so of course we should assume innocence unless evidence of guilt emerges, right? The use of the pronoun “we” could have meant that Munns had spoken with one other member of Council which is allowed. It could also mean that in general he sees himself as an ally to others on the Council and knows that he and they feel they are doing the right thing. A violation of the Brown Act occurs when any majority of a board or council meets outside of the public’s view. So in the case of the Redding City Council that would be any three or more meeting.
We’ve warned of the bethel cult takeover for years. The cult 3 are disgusting! Welcome to Bethlehem, formally known as Redding.
Thank you for the article. It’s important for the citizens to know exactly what happened so they can make up their own minds about the events.
How soon until the name change from “City of Redding” to “City of ………”?
Weird that the Bethel block is using the same process to take over the council as the militia bros used to take over the county.
Maybe they are more alike than we imagined.
She is just a political opportunist. She cares so much for Redding that if elected to the Assembly she will force a costly special election.
Well well… now we’ve got the bethel cult running the city and the militia extremists running the county …. guess if a militia guy gets shot then bethel can raise ‘em from the dead and all will be well in Shastanistan…
Thanks for this reporting. I’m a very happy supporter.
Wow, as a lapsed wearer of childhood salt&pepper pants, I am getting some real red flags about local politics swerving heavily away from the “Render unto Ceaser…” school of separation. I hope folks vote at the polls and through their pocketbooks to avoid ceding all power to those who aspire to raise the dead and homeschool their kids into anti-science crayon chewers.
A note that Audette does claim to teach the separation of church and state as part of her track at Bethel. Learn more here. https://shastascout.org/meet-tenessa-audette-for-city-council/
We the voters now have the chance to hold Ms. Audette’s feet to the fire when she gets to the Capitol and represents us as our legislator for Assembly District 1. Hopefully Ms. Audette will represent us similarly as Richard Dickerson did and was a pragmatic legislator; knowing that if he wanted to get anywhere at the Capitol he had to, at times, align with the Super Majority Democrat controlled legislature.
Oh Yea, she voted not to pay back $3.5 million to REU saving the taxpayers $3.5 million
Tenessa has so many accomplishments as a Redding City Council person that I can’t name one. Can You?
Thank you for your unbiased and fair reporting on this important development in the leadership in the main city of Shasta County! I found it interesting that Munns responded to Dacquisto’s concern about Munns motion regarding choices for the leadership positions by saying …”so, we’re doing what we feel is right” before correcting himself. I certainly hope there are no Brown Act violations regarding this.
Do the anointed cloister outside of chambers?
In my opinion this makes it very clear that the ruling majority of the city council Tenessa Audette, Julie Winter, and Jack Munns, are not concerned with the interests of the overall public. They are primarily interested in propelling fellow members of Bethel to higher positions in government. Which is what the churches mandates require. This is not the best thing for the community. These people need to be replaced.
Julie Winter mentioned having concerns about Mezzano as mayor – I should reach out and ask her what those are. I’m uncertain what she would be referring to.
I suspect she’d be unsure as well.