Meet Rebecca Anne Miller for Redding City Council

In the upcoming November election, three seats are up for grabs on the Redding City Council, and nine candidates are running. Shasta Scout interviewed the candidates, including substitute teacher and caregiver Rebecca Anne Miller. 

Interview questions were inspired by a reader survey that asked participants to identify their top priority issues along with questions they want answered. Each candidate was asked the same questions, and they were asked to keep their answers concise and to the point. 

What personal or professional qualifications have prepared you for the role of city council member?

Miller said she’s worked in business for a long time. For two decades, she said, she worked in the medical sector, from running clinics to working side-by-side with doctors and patients. 

“I think that that will definitely prepare me to take on the role with getting to know the public and then working with the public in a personal way,” she said.

Why should the public trust you as a leader, and how would you approach issues of transparency, conflict and decision-making processes?

“I am all about truth, and I’m all about justice,” Miller said. 

She explained that seeing what’s happening with the city’s finances and “how millions of dollars were missing” are huge issues for her, and she wants to get to the bottom of them to see how money can be spent properly. 

“Until I’m really in there and can really see the numbers and have access to that information,” she said, “it makes it hard for me to know what it is. But yeah, once I’m in there, it should make it a lot more easy to analyze all of that.”

How would you work to address the city’s significant financial instability?

To start, Miller said the city should analyze the budget to determine where it’s at, figuring out how much money can be allocated to certain areas and which places need it most. She said the community should also be involved in the process. 

“It’s like finding out if that money still really is there or exists, what money is missing, and then where can we spend it that will be the benefit to everybody involved,” she said. 

How would you as a council member work to provide resources for homeless individuals and ensure people have access to permanent housing?

Not knowing where the budget currently lies makes it hard to determine that, Miller said. She explained that homelessness is her first priority, one that’s personal to her. She said one of her best friends is homeless, and she feels homelessness is a major problem needing to be solved. 

“I think that no matter where we’re at in the city,” she said, “we need to make that our priority.”

When it comes to making that happen, she said she doesn’t immediately want to add taxes to citizens, but a small increase is something she’d consider. She said the city should also consider other solutions, such as increasing assistance programs or hotels and assessing whether current initiatives are working. 

“It’s like, again, looking at the actual numbers and everything,” she said, “and seeing how much money we have to spend, and then where it can go, and if that doesn’t work, then maybe add on a small tax or something, which, again, very small.”

There are several groups that have major influence in Redding, including Bethel Church, the Redding Rancheria and the McConnell Foundation, among others. When considering any influential groups you may be involved with, how can you ensure your leadership will stay objective and not persuaded by conflicts of interest?

Miller said she “can’t personally ensure that any of that will happen.” She said people have asked her if she’s associated with Bethel Church, and said that if she is, they won’t vote for her, a sentiment which she called disheartening. 

She said she can only do so much, and that people will vote for whoever they agree with. She added that she’s an Independent, a single mom and a substitute teacher, and she’s not endorsed by anyone. 

“I’m like, ‘Hey, you know, like I’m running for city council,’ and I have a personal relationship with them, and I talk to them, and I hear what they need and what they want,” she said. “And that’s, I think, more influential.”

What would your biggest priorities be if you’re elected?

Miller’s first priority is homelessness. She said she feels it detracts from Redding’s beauty and makes it difficult to go out at night and feel safe. 

Increasing better-paying jobs is also a priority, she said. She explained that she lived in the Bay Area for some time, and that the pay for the same job here is about 40% less. 

“I just feel like there’s a huge disparity in income, a huge disparity in the pay,” she said, “and we somehow need to at least creep our way up a little bit more.” 

She also wants to focus on better health care, she said, saying that will also add jobs to the community. She supports council member Dr. Paul Dhanuka’s plan for a medical school in Shasta. 

Her last priority is fire prevention. She said she feels fire prevention efforts are already strong in Shasta, and she wants to continue focusing on already successful methods. She also thinks it would be a good idea to hire more firefighters so the city can spend less on overtime.

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