Redding Council Candidates Respond to Questions about the Riverfront and South City Park

9.12.2024 3:58 pm: We have updated the story to correct information related to South City Park which the City fenced and made accessible only by reservation, in 2018. 9.

13.24 8:43 am: We have updated the story to correct our description of Big League Dreams.

Redding City Council candidates are selected through open elections, meaning every resident of the city has the opportunity to vote for every candidate. This fall, voters in Redding will vote to fill three vacant positions–two for four-year terms and one for a two-year position.

During a Tuesday September 10 candidate forum hosted by the League of Women Voters at the Cascade Theatre, eight of those nine candidates responded to a series of questions submitted by the audience. Only Erin Resner was absent, due, she said, to a long-standing family commitment. Resner submitted a brief statement that was read by the moderator, Susan Wilson, during candidate opening remarks.

Two-Year Candidates

Three of the candidates are running for a single open two-year seat on the Council this fall. Whoever wins the most votes for this race will finish out the term vacated by the resignation of former City Council member Michael Dacquisto.

Two-year candidates include business owner Anthony Spengler, retired law enforcement officer and current council member Mark Mezzano, and Erin Resner, a business owner and former City Council member. 

Spengler said he was born in the area and obtained a bachelors in business before launching his own small business. He’s active in community organizations and feels Redding’s biggest issue is the mental health of our youth. He said he’d respond to homelessness using a “carrot-and-stick approach” and by increasing collaboration with County service workers, who he believes are “already on the ground.”

Mezzano retired as sergeant from the California Highway Patrol after serving for twenty-nine years and raised two children. He noted that his past campaign promises included building up Redding’s police and fire departments and reducing homelessness. Mezzano says he’s delivered on all of those promises. He feels Redding’s biggest issue is the economy and says there are no easy answers to fix that. 

Resner’s submitted statement indicated that she bases her decisions on facts, not special interests, and will be thoughtful about riverfront planning. She wrote that she’s “committed to realistic solutions that work.”

Four-Year Candidates

Five additional candidates will run for two open four-year seats on the Council this fall. The victors will replace current Council members Julie Winter and Mark Mezzano.

Four-year candidates include County Assessor mapping specialist Ian Hill, businessman David Backues, physician Paul Dhanuka, business owner Mike Littau, and developer and newly-appointed Council member Joshua Johnson. 

In addition to working as a mapper for the County, Hill said he’s also active in union organizing. He wants to help sustain the city of Redding through physical and technological improvements alongside policy that protects the rights of all residents. Hill believes Redding’s biggest issues are tethered to housing, and says he’ll work to improve housing availability across a continuum, including through the development of studios and small apartments.

Backues said he moved here in 2010 and began building a business while investing heavily in volunteer organizations. He feels Redding’s biggest issue is a lack of jobs and wants to encourage more startup businesses. 

Dhanuka outlined the many hats he wears in addition to being a physician: he’s an assistant professor at the University of California, Davis, the president of the North Valley Medical Association, and a board member at Turtle Bay Board Exploration Park. His biggest priority if he becomes a Council member is “healing and uniting the Redding community.” Dhanuka said a key issue for the area is the lack of professionals in every part of the medical care industry. He says ensuring quality medical care is foundational for bringing more jobs to Redding.

Littau said he’s lived in Redding since 1995 and been the owner of an insurance business for over twenty years. He also serves on the Board of U-Prep, a local high school. Littau described himself as  “driven to solve problems,” something he wants to do so as a Council member. He cited Redding’s biggest issue as inadequate public safety, saying “we like to have fun but we want to feel safe.”

Johnson said in addition to being a newly-appointed Council member, builder and real estate developer, he’s also worked with the Economic Development Corporation (EDC), helped launch StartUp Redding, as well as being active with the Good News Rescue Mission. Johnson said a looming budget deficit is Redding’s biggest issue. He wants to encourage construction, which he believes will increase jobs, sales tax, and available housing. 

On the Riverfront and the Redding Rodeo

Questions were submitted by the audience and read by the moderator. One of those questions asked about candidates’ perspectives on a pending update of the Riverfront Specific Plan, a legal document that outlines how land around the Sacramento River can be used. 

In the fall of 2021 a consortium that included developer K2 and the McConnell Foundation made an offer to masterplan riverfront land that currently houses the Redding Rodeo ground and the Civic Auditorium. In 2022, the Council voted to pend on decisions about that land until completing an update to the Riverfront Specific Plan. That Plan is expected to be completed mid-2025.

But the Council is facing strong pressure from the Redding Rodeo Association, and much of the community, to quickly solidify a long-term lease with the Rodeo for use of some of that riverfront land, even before the Riverfront Specific Plan is done. The Redding Rodeo has leased land at the Sacramento Riverfront for more than seventy-five years. They want the City to agree to a lease of at least twenty-five more years.

All candidates at the forum agreed that they support the Redding Rodeo’s use of riverfront land. Johnson, who proposed an ad hoc committee to study the topic during the last Council meeting, said he’s always supported the Rodeo’s use of the land, even when he supported creating a master plan of the Redding riverfront for further development.

Dhanuka, who also supports the Redding Rodeo’s use of the land, said the real elephant in the room is the community’s lack of trust in their city government. He said he’d like to work on that if chosen as a Council member by the voters.

On South City Park and Big League Dreams 

Candidates also responded to a question about whether the City is equipped to manage new development at South City Park, an area of public land that lies close to the Redding Library. South City Park was fenced and made accessible to the public only by reservation in 2018, due to the City’s difficulty managing use of the area. In April, the City announced $3.5 million in grant funding to develop the Park but some community members remain concerned that without appropriate care from the City the area might primarily return to use as a sheltering space for unhoused community members, given its proximity to the Good News Rescue Mission and the Library. 

The question was used to highlight the City’s contract with Big League Dreams as an indicator for how future management of South City Park might go, something some candidates claimed is an apples-and-oranges comparison. The Big League Dreams company previously operated recreational activities on City-owned land that only recently came back under direct City management. South City Park is city-owned land that has always been under City management.

While most candidates asserted that the City’s contract with Big League Dreams was mismanaged, all claimed that the City is well equipped to run South City Park. Dhanuka said he hopes the Park will be managed under a public-private partnership with a nonprofit board while Mezzano said he’d like to see “more baseball” at the Park. The current plan for South City Park redevelopment includes the current baseball field but doesn’t allow for expansion to a second one.

This story is part of Shasta Scout’s 2024 Elections coverage. See more of our election stories here. Have a correction to share? Email us: editor@shastascout.org.