Shasta, California’s 15th charter county, finally confirms its new status
Shasta County board chair Kevin Crye is celebrating an accomplishment he helped spearhead over the past few years, the county’s new charter status. It was delayed by an administrative oversight that was addressed over the last few weeks.
Eighteen months after voters decided to make Shasta a charter county, it’s finally official.
On Friday, Sept. 12, Shasta joined 14 other counties in California that follow a charter. It’s a status determined by voters that allows counties to create some of their own policies rather than abiding by all of California’s general law rules.
After more than 57% of the Shasta community voted to become a charter county in March 2024, an administrative oversight left the county in limbo for more than a year. The mistake, a failure to file the appropriate paperwork with the Secretary of State’s Office, was discovered by Shasta County Attorney Joseph Larmour sometime in the last few weeks and was addressed quickly by city staff at the county administrator’s office.
Paperwork was submitted by the county on August 29 and was officially filed by the Secretary of State’s Office on September 9. State legislators took the final step to formally approve the county’s charter status late last week, Supervisor Matt Plummer told Shasta Scout.
Board Chair Kevin Crye said by press release today that Shasta is proud to finally join the ranks of California’s charter counties.
“This designation strengthens our ability to shape a brighter future for Shasta County while preserving our values and priorities,” the supervisor emphasized.
Charter counties are limited in what specific rules they are allowed to impose locally, and default to general law in all other areas. In Shasta, a policy related to how mid-term vacant seats on the board of supervisors will be filled is the only specific issue addressed by the county’s charter thus far.
More specifics could be added to the charter by a majority vote. Bringing specifics to voters for approval requires first developing a ballot initiative that would then be approved or denied during the county’s next election.
To solicit ideas for specifics that could be added to Shasta’s current charter at an upcoming election, supervisors agreed last week to send out a survey inviting responses from the community.
Do you have a correction to share? Email us: editor@shastascout.org.
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To Happy Citizen ,Last time I checked Shasta County was part of California.I will be voting yes on 5
Finally! …..Freedom at last for Shasta County from the State of California!
And now we got to vote no on proposition 50 in November elections.
Keep Shasta County rural and free from the corruption of the Bay Area.