Local leaders endorse Redding City Council candidates Russ Wenham and Christina Prosperi

Retired Redding leader Kim Niemer, who worked for the city for more than two decades, told Shasta Scout today that she’s found it discouraging to “watch city hall crumble from the inside” over recent months.

She was referencing the extensive vacancies that have cropped up at the city over the last six months, including the loss or impending loss of the city’s police chief, fire chief, city manager, assistant city manager, city attorney and city finance manager. 

That’s what prompted Niemer, who retired as the city’s director of community services, to gather current and former leaders to form a grassroots group called Good Governance Redding. It’s an informal coalition of 11 individuals who are hoping to influence city elections this fall, when a majority of council seats will be on the ballot. 

“Now more than ever,” Nieman wrote in a press release for the group today, “Redding requires good governance.” 

Out of a slate of nine choices, community leaders are unanimously putting their support behind planning commissioner Russ Wenham and business owner Christina Prosperi.

Good Governance Redding includes business owners Dan Adams, Chris Haedrich and Amanda Hutchings; nonprofit executives Elizabeth Schroeder and Anne Thomas; attorney Josh Divine; accountant Keith Hunting; retired CH2M/Jacobs Director Tim Hill; and former city officials including former Redding Mayor Kristen Schreder and retired Redding Police Chief Bill Schueller, as well as Niemer herself, who explained the panel this way:

“We wanted people who have been engaged with the city. People who would question candidates in some depth,” she said. “We’re your friends and neighbors. We did the homework. We put these guys through the test. And this is who we’re endorsing, if you’re interested.”

She said those she’s gathered include Redding citizens across a spectrum of ages, with diverse professional backgrounds and experiences who, she added, share a commitment both to the community and to effective responsible governance. 

Their sole mission, she said, is to put their influence behind local candidates who they feel would best serve Redding at this “critical” juncture.

The group interviewed candidates for Redding council last week, asking a unified set of questions during separate interviews conducted by three panels: one focused on policy, another on leadership and a third on integrity and commitment. 

Two council candidates, Elise Sloan and Rebecca Anne Miller, did not provide contact information to the city clerk’s office, Niemer said, and were unable to be reached for interviews.

She did not share the specific questions asked of candidates but said they focused on evaluating candidates’ qualifications, leadership experience, understanding of local governance, approach to complex community issues and commitment to the principles of good governance. 

Once interviews were concluded, Good Governance Redding panelists discussed their notes and scoring rubrics and came to a consensus to unanimously endorse Wenham and Prosperi. There was no unanimous consensus on a third candidate to fill the remaining seat this fall, Niemer said, so the group is endorsing only two. 

“Our influence is only as good as our recommendation,” Niemer explained. “There’s no perfect candidate, but there are going to be three people elected to office. We could only come to agreement on two, and we didn’t want anyone to put their name beside someone they didn’t endorse.”

Niemer said Good Governance Redding does not plan to make political contributions but has launched social media pages on Facebook, Instagram and Nextdoor.

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