Shasta County issues new rebuke to election official Clint Curtis, advises employees on legal rights
County supervisors censured Curtis on Tuesday. He responded by making new accusations against specific staff to the media. The incident prompted today’s press release, which emphasizes staff’s right to due process while calling out Curtis as having caused harm.
In a strongly worded press release today, Shasta County officials called out election official Clint Curtis for causing harm to employees.
The press release was issued at CEO David Rickert’s direction in response to a Tuesday incident where Curtis used video footage to identify specific election staffers as having allegedly bypassed security systems to break into election offices for unknown reasons.
Curtis made the claim against his staff members within an hour of having been censured by the board of supervisors after two investigations substantiated findings that he had previously engaged in misconduct against staff, including verbal abuse, threats of violence and retaliation.
Today’s press release used strong terms to respond to Curtis’ latest staff-related incident, saying the county, along with the board, “disavows and denounces all ongoing and flagrant violations” of county personnel rules by Curtis.
The press release said that Curtis’ recent decision to share “unfounded and uninvestigated allegations” against some of his staff members violates the county’s personnel policy, “which strictly prohibits disrespectful, abusive and unprofessional conduct.”
The county added that Curtis has been “repeatedly advised of appropriate procedures for addressing and investigating personnel matters” and of “the importance of maintaining confidentiality in such matters.”
“Department Heads and Elected Officials are expected to uphold the highest standards of conduct and leadership,” the county’s press release continued. “They are entrusted with preserving public confidence, protecting the integrity of their office, and honoring their fiduciary responsibility to taxpayers. Mr. Curtis’ behavior is inconsistent with these standards and harmful to employees involved.”
Curtis’ decision to make statements to the press “regarding findings of employee misconduct without proper investigation,” the county said, “demonstrates complete disregard for those procedures as well as employees’ due process rights.”
Curtis responded this afternoon in comments to Shasta Scout by doubling down on his accusations against staff, saying no employee should have an expectation of privacy “when they break into rooms, bypass security or attempt to sabotage a federal election.”
He also referenced a “cover-up” and said he would enjoy “seeing the individuals who continue to harass me after I blew [the] whistle on their barely run elections.”
Asked who he believed was harassing him, Curtis said the county board of supervisors along with County Counsel Joseph Larmour who, he alleged, “have created a hostile work environment since I arrived.”
He added that he invites the public to request security video of the incident.
After a censure, new accusations
Curtis was censured by the county board on Tuesday in a 3-1 vote. He responded by inviting the press to the Market Street elections office, where he showed security footage of what he said was two of his employees breaking into a room in the building.
He allowed the media to video the footage of the election staffers and encouraged them to publicize his claims despite acknowledging that he had not discussed the matter with staffers themselves and had only recently reported the claim to county officials, along with the FBI.
After viewing the footage, Shasta Scout reached out to the Shasta County Administrative Office, which said the CEO would be advised but did not offer a comment at the time.
Curtis is holding an elected role after having been appointed to the registrar of voters position last year when the role became vacant mid-term. As an official in an elected office, he can’t be fired by county supervisors. But legal action against Curtis is a possibility.
In April, Shasta County Support Services Director Monica Fugitt presented substantiated findings of misconduct by Curtis to the board, advising that a restraining order could be sought against the election official in future.
Taking any such a legal action, Deputy CEO Stewart Buettell emphasized today, would fall under the purview of the board of supervisors and county counsel.
County advises employees on their rights
The county used today’s press release to notify employees that any experiences of, or concerns related to unlawful discrimination, harassment or abusive conduct should be reported immediately, either to their direct supervisor, department head or to county personnel.
“Every County employee is a valued member of the organization, providing essential services to the community each day,” the county’s press release said. “Every person who works here should feel safe, respected, and supported.”
Buettell, who sent out the press release, confirmed for Shasta Scout that the county is coordinating with impacted employees and with the county personnel office “to ensure that they are able to fulfill their duties in a safe and respectful environment.”
“We are also working on internal communication to ensure employees are familiar with the resources at their disposal to report abusive conduct without retaliation,” Stewart added.
8.14.2026 5:45 p.m.: We have updated the story to clarify that CEO David Rickert directed the release of today’s county press release.
Do you have a correction to share? Email us: editor@shastascout.org.
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Clint is demonstrating highly insubordinate behavior. He clearly has no union backing and no confidence from the public. He is disruptive and scandalous. Is he wanting the BOS to fire him so he can sue? At what point has he crossed the line? 3 months ago? If I caused any of the problems he has stirred up …I would be fired. Especially since he was appointed. Fire him and bring in Ms F early. He is undermining the BOS and the Elections Office. He has repeatedly broken confidence with all involved. What do you need BOS? I can come hold your hand and talk you through it. Appointed leaves him wide open.
He was appointed to an elected position. That means that he has all the rights, responsibilities, and restrictions that comes with an elected position.
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He cannot just be fired, but he can resign, or be recalled.
You say,
‘As an official in an elected office, he can’t be fired by county supervisors.‘
He was not elected. He was appointed.
Understandably we should not be able to fire those elected.. there is a process for that.
An appointment is far less that an elected official.
Your reasoning is sound. Your understanding of California’s constitution is not. He can’t be fired except by recall or by failing to be elected—he can only be canned by the voters. Those are the only two legal ways to get rid of someone holding an elected office. The state constitution doesn’t make an exception for those appointed to elected office.
I wonder if Kelstrom has any regrets for being Crye’s toady? Tres Pendejos with Corkey and the previous Tres Pendejos with Jones have hurt Shasta County tremendously. Their actions over the past 6 years damaged our economy as people move away and fewer move here to replace them, make recruiting doctors, veterinarians, business professionals challenging and make vacationers think twice about staying here. Our image and reputation has been badly bruised for years to come.
The proverbial bull in a China closet continues to dominate the news cycle. Only 4+ months left to go before the next chapter begins but… can we survive it?
No matter how all this shakes out, it is important to remember how Shasta County got into this mess!
Curtis lacked qualifications and experience. Nevertheless, he was appointed (3-2), by Supervisors Kelstrom, Crye, and Harmon (Long and Plummer dissented). This has proven to be a disastrous choice and should, for good reason, reflect on negatively on those 3 supervisors and their poor judgement.
Remember in November.
Like zippy picata, lane asstastic, rapoza, kent, gallardo, hobbs, bridgeford, crye, kelstrom, baugh, plumb, jones, ryan, harmon, ect, curtis is definitely going to prison!
Man, this guy can’t seem to get out of his own way. I guess any attention is better than no attention when that’s your drug of choice.
Curtis can be fired.
can an appointed person be fired in california
Yes, an appointed person can be fired in California. Most appointed positions—whether in private organizations, public boards, or government roles—are held “at-will” or serve at the pleasure of the appointing authority, meaning they can be removed at any time.
Mr. Magnuson, a search of the State Bar shows that you are not a licensed attorney. Please do not assert legal opinions. Yours is simply wrong, as I have shared repeatedly. I am not only an attorney with over thirty years experience; but a former appointee to elected office. I assure you that Clint Curtis cannot be fired. Had had been recalled and lost, he would have been out with immediate effect. Having lost the June election, his last day is January 4, 2027 at 12:00 noon.
I no longer think Kelstrom could persuade him to resign, even if he were inclined to do so. Moreover, who would be willing to step in and clean up his mess before the November General Election? If he must go, for the sake of the election department employees’ safety and well being; perhaps the best path is to initiate a law suit against Curtis and make his immediate departure a part of a negotiated settlement. But Curtis strikes me as a litigious sort who would stall simply to be vindictive. Even an expedited civil lawsuit for defamation or workplace harassment wouldn’t be resolved until long after January 4th. About the only viable option is a Workplace Restraining Order that would exclude his physical presence and any email, telephone, text or snail mail communication with protected employees. But the Prop B minions he’s hired would remain to carry out his agenda.
This whole charade has been an unfortunate and embarrassing blot on Shasta County’s reputation.
Thank you Tom for weighing in. Your analysis of the situation is spot on. There are few options for a remedy. We need to continue to support the impacted employees who are dealing with Mr. Curtis and ask the BOS to resolve this. The BOS majority put him there. It’s their job to clean up this mess.
Mary, I only with you would have stuck up for HHSA employees when Laura Burch was mistreating us. We sent you letters, we emailed you we even spoke to you in person. You simply ignored us. Shame on you.
Oh you really think it’s that simple, don’t you?
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You have seen the state of our county lately, haven’t you?
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Blame the people that are really responsible: Crye, Jones, Harmon, Kelstrom, Plumb, Hobbs, and all the rest of the election deniers
Tammy, I agree with you Laura Burch was bad but that is not Mary’s fault. In fact, Mary leans much more to the left than most republicans. She is on the correct side for LGBTQ, reproductive rights, and equity/diversity. Cut her some slack.
“The BOS majority put him there. It’s their job to clean up this mess.”
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They could start with Tom’s suggested workplace restraining order. That should be paired with changing the locks and/or keypad codes on all ROV facilities to ensure he can’t access anything… unless he’s a shapeshifter who can assume the form as a slime mold that can ooze under the door.
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At this point nothing would surprise me.
Thank you Tom…for all the stress you took and and for your years of service to our county… and for your valued LEGAL opinion
Let us hope the Curtis and all those that supported him in the most whacky fashions are soon gone from the levers of power
As tainted goods of his own making Curtis will never see a government job again… he may do the rounds of a third rate talk show but his job prospects are poor for his future…
My only question is how much more money is this going to cost the taxpayers to clean our rats nest out
It seems clear to me that Tom Toller was put there to cover up criming, found out how deep the dodo was, and pussied out bigly! Now, Mr innocent like Nick Gardner.
Thank you. An informative and insightful post. And – this erroneous notion that Curtis CAN be removed (by means of .. _____) – really needs to be put to bed. Can’t happen, won’t happen. Keep your eye turned toward electing the ‘right’ (and right KIND of) person – to this position in November.
My bad. The people already HAVE elected the right person to serve in this position (in June contest). Kudos there. Now keep going with the selection of ‘sanity’ candidates in other sorely needed replacements.
No, he can’t be fired, except by the voters (which has already occurred). Even though he was appointed, it’s an elected office, not appointed, and he can only be removed by the voters in a recall or regular election, per the state constitution. The only other option is for him to resign to take another job, and that’s not likely to happen because nobody is ever going to hire the steaming pile of dog shit again.
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Curtis might be strong-armed into resigning in exchange for dropping criminal charges, but our DA wouldn’t file charges against a MAGA icon if she had video of him slapping the shit out of a female employee. That leaves the state AG.
Well multiple comments, but one last one:
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I want to give a shout out to the real heroes in the story. To all of the election staff and the genuine poll workers who are actually trying to keep elections fair, a heartfelt “Thank you”.
I wholeheartedly agree.
How can we trust him to run the November election? This behavior is truly alarming
So here’s the thing: Mr. Curtis came in with all these ideas about how supposedly he’s going to make everything more transparent. Instead he made more chain of custody issues with the ballots then there ever has been.
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Don’t take my word for it, look at how things were actually ran. The procedures are supposed to be public info. Ask other poll workers too.
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And now somehow after all the chaos that HE caused, there are somehow “sUsPiCiOuS” ballots. But not his fault. Uh uh.
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There is fraud, but not because of HIS transparency. Of course not. No way in hell he’s trying to pull a fast one.
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Just like there’s no way that he ever gets angry or upset, even though he’s trying to be vindictive against a bunch of people, even though he was running the show.
Clerk-elect Joanna Francescut will indeed inherit a real mess that is going to complicate her agenda once she is sworn into office in Jan 2027.
Okay, and what exactly is her “agenda”?
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Please tell.
Her agenda is to untangle the chaos, right the ship, and return the ROV’s Office to normality.
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“Agenda” and “narrative” are perfectly fine words that only become slurs the way delusional, paranoid, unhinged MAGAs use them.
I agree with you. It just so happens that in Shasta county there are a lot of people who use the word ‘agenda’ exactly the way you describe.
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I have heard a certain ‘election activist’ use these exact words multiple times, so that is why I ask how this person defines her ‘agenda’.
Inside Curtis’s skull there is a very loud voice repeating, “CREATE A LAWSUIT…CREATE A LAWSUIT…CREATE A LAWSUIT…it’s what we do!!!”
In reality, he has shown he’s a slopbucket of a lawyer. His work is half-assed and careless, so his history over many years is he always loses in court. He doesn’t understand basic legal doctrines, confuses or doesn’t even know election laws relevant to his position, and most recently lost in court to a woman who’s not even a lawyer. A random first year law student is better than this fool.
Clint the Clown has lost it and gone off the deep end. He’s completely out of control. The employees he exposed to the media should sue him personally for defamation. It may be time to ask the state to step in and oversee November’s election.
Selah
Totally agree with you! And I do believe he could be civilly liable for his actions and not the county since they have been trying to address it.
Curtis told everyone at the BOS meeting that he doesn’t get mad or angry.
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Clearly that isn’t true and he is a very vindictive personality. HE is the one showing everyone how vindictive he is.
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No sabotage by staff, he has done a great job of sabotaging himself.
Of course Clint Curtis has already had his misconduct substantiated by two separate investigations. But this situation of him filming employees and accusing them of serious crimes without using proper County procedure is a blatant disregard for employees rights and to me clearly a situation of attempted intimidation. He is actually again proving the allegations against him with his current actions. And still Corky Harmon stands behind this guy. The next guy that needs to get removed is Corky Harmon. He is not serving the public. His judgment is clearly inadequate to be able to make decisions for the county. As was Chris Kelstrom, Kevin Crye, and of course Corky Harmon when they hired Clint Curtis who was clearly not qualified. The only skills with regard to elections that he showed was a skill to rig elections and a skill to Sue with regards to elections. Lawsuits that he lost. Supervisor Kelstrom is also showing his judgment is poor. He praised this guy for the changes he made at the elections Department when in reality, when analyzed he hasn’t done anything to improve the elections process. It goes to show what little Kelstrom knows about the whole process. He thinks this guy has done a good job when in reality Curtis has only messed up the election system.
We need to make this a trifecta. We’ve gotten rid of Crye, now we need to get rid of Kelstrom and Harmon so that we can stop the damage they’re doing to Shasta county.
Agreed 100%.
I cannot agree more. Everyone needs to remember Kelstrom had a vote in this mess and hold him accountable. After that we vote out Harmon. I want to reiterate that he said he was the one who has to live with it. He placed his personal peace and did NOT support our county employees. Shameful behavior.
Stay the course Steve.. you are correct