Staff, labor representatives allege hostile work environment at Shasta Elections Office
Interviews with multiple county staff members and labor representatives painted a picture of a work environment where staff have allegedly been subjected to the removal of job assignments, ongoing verbal abuse and threats of violence. Clint Curtis, the county’s appointed registrar of voters, did not respond to a request for comment.
“He wants to get rid of people who have any institutional knowledge and put into place people who want to do what he wants them to do without questioning him,” Heather McFall, a business manager with Teamsters Local 137, claimed during a phone call with a reporter last night.
She was speaking about County Clerk and Registrar of Voters Clint Curtis, who is facing substantiated findings of managerial misconduct by the county. The Shasta County Board of Supervisors will discuss those findings during a meeting on Tuesday, when they will consider whether to censure — or formally rebuke — Curtis for his actions in office.
The county has not released any specifics, but labor representatives told Shasta Scout the misconduct has ranged from verbal abuse to reassignment of key responsibilities to physically intimidating behavior paired with the threat of violence. Several staff members within various parts of the department confirmed accounts of these allegations, speaking on the condition of anonymity due to fears of retaliation, a concern that labor representatives said is well founded.
Curtis did not respond to emailed questions about the allegations.
According to a staff report prepared for the board’s discussion Tuesday, the findings are the result of a county investigation. An attached resolution laid out the county’s personnel rules related to abusive conduct, something that can range from “offensive actions” to physical threats.
McFall, the Teamsters staffer who represents management positions within the elections office, said she’s been receiving reports about a hostile workplace since soon after Curtis first took on the role as ROV last spring, saying the behaviors have worsened over recent months.
The latest report, she said, included a threat of violence accompanied by an intimidating physical action. She said the county has opened multiple personnel investigations into Curtis over the last year, including one that’s still in progress.
Robert DeLong works for UPEC – LiUNA Local 792, another union group that represents workers within the Shasta County clerk and elections department. He outlined reports he’s received of managerial misconduct that included removal of key job assignments. Asked about what might motivate Curtis to behave this way, DeLong speculated that the election official is attempting to push longer-term employees out of their roles in an attempt to increase his control over the department.
“It seems like he’s trying to bring in ‘his people’ and push out the county’s long-term employees,” DeLong said. “It’s easier to manage people that you bring in versus people that were already there.”
Since taking the role, Curtis has hired several individuals who vocally opposed the previous registrar of voters, including one who unsuccessfully sued the county’s prior election official and another who sought to stop certification of the vote during the 2024 election.
DeLong said Curtis has insinuated in at least one internal document that longer-term employees are corrupt or are sabotaging the department, statements he’s made without providing any evidence.
“He’s making claims that employees are creating a hostile environment,” DeLong explained, “but it’s actually he, himself, that’s creating a hostile environment.”
According to several people on staff, Curtis also responds poorly to critical feedback from staff or the media, which can lead to him removing job assignments or releasing denigrating group emails about the person he feels is at fault. Staffers alleged that those who have experienced the most harmful behavior from Curtis are individuals who haven’t put significant efforts into using communication patterns that might placate him — so-called soft skills.
Descriptions of Curtis provided by those staff painted a picture of a man whose unfailingly cheerful public persona at times shifts into a very different affect, something McFall said she witnessed only once when she and others were discussing security accommodations with Curtis and he abruptly reprimanded an employee who came up to the group to share an opinion.
Most of his comments come without a change in his demeanor, she and staffers within the department said, noting that he’s threatened to punch staff, fire them or sue them in a tone which made it difficult to determine if he was joking. In separate interviews, several staff sources confirmed that he uses the same cheerful tone when he makes what they claim are frequent references to death or dying, noting that he’s jokingly suggested ways to kill annoying voters and asked about how staffers might respond if he threatened to shoot them.
Staff sources, along with labor representatives, also expressed concern that he treats women more harshly than he does men, as well as statements he’s made that could amount to sexual harassment.
Last November, late on the night of the special election, a Shasta Scout reporter witnessed one such statement that occurred while Curtis spoke to several members of the public in the presence of a female employee. He told community members that the staffer hadn’t done something quite right saying jovially that he planned to “spank her later.” She did not react.
Labor representatives said it’s been difficult to find a way to hold Curtis accountable for his actions because of his unique position as an appointee to an elected role. A vote of no confidence by staff, they said, would be too identifying given how few people work in the elections office, especially since the county does not appear to have a clear path to remove him from his position given his status as an elected official.
UPEC labor representative DeLong also expressed concern about Curtis’ right hand man, saying his role in the office should include making sure employees are treated fairly no matter who’s elected or appointed to supervise the department. He said the county might have more leverage when it comes to holding Turner accountable for his role in employee well-being, something he’s looking into.
Shortly after this story was published, Turner responded to a request for comment about DeLong’s concern, saying that “labor may be laboring under a false narrative provided by those remaining loyal to and hoping for the return of the previous asst registrar,” and claiming that “there is a lingering morale issue due to allegiance to past admins that is unhealthy for the office.”
The labor representative also noted a relative lack of experience in elections management by both top officials, neither of which had ever run an election before last November. DeLong called it a disservice to the public to not have qualified people in those kinds of higher positions, especially given the critical nature of election work.
“I think that’s why there’s such problems,” he added, “because they’re not qualified to manage this type of department. Imagine if you’re the chief of police or assistant chief of police and you’ve never worked as an officer.”
McFall shared a similar sentiment, saying some incidents of verbal abuse have followed attempts by staff to hold the line on election law.
“The problem is he doesn’t understand the law.” McFall claimed. “He’s trying to tell them to do things a certain way which violates the law. He’s demanding they do that, but they’re worried about being held liable. That’s when he can become verbally combative or denigrate them.”
4.27.2026 7:26 p.m.: We have updated the story to include comment from Assistant Registrar Brent Turner.
Do you have a correction to share? Email us: editor@shastascout.org.
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America is never going to fully recover from the scourge of MAGA. I wish I had reason to be more optimistic, but I don’t.
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I follow a Facebook group called “California Sucks,” mostly populated by the types of people you’d expect (Californians and others). The comments are almost all brief, witless right-wing memes and rabid insults. Longer posts comprise parroting of bizarre MAGA conspiracies and disinformation. Common between short and long comments is stunted literacy—spelling, punctuation, and grammatical errors—ironically often insulting the intelligence of liberals. That, and the unhinged, murderous hatred of California and liberals.
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Another reason I’m skeptical that we’ll ever recover is that our reputation on the world stage has been irreparably damaged by Trump and MAGA. The world now has to assume that any given U.S. Presidential election could result in the selection of a crude, ignorant, megalomaniacal, authoritarian lunatic. Maybe worse, they have to assume that this outcome appeals to a large cohort of the American population.
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That was a long walk to get to this: I feel the same pessimism about Shasta County. For the rest of my life, I think we’ll be known as the California county of paranoid mouth-breathers that lost its collective mind. Replacing our competent home-grown interim ROV with an abusive nitwit carpetbagger and election fabulist from Florida is just one of many proofs.
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And make no mistake, the local GOP movers and shakers want to double down—they want more of the same. The Shasta County Republican Central Committee endorsed both Curtis and Kevin Crye.
Esteban- are you Joanna ? Why not use real name ?
If you’d been here in Shasta County more than a handful of minutes you’d know that Esteban is not Joanna and the reason they don’t use their real name is due to the fact that their wife received threats from MAGA aholes.
Thank you for pointing that out Corbin. Anyone who has been here in Redding for any length of time and actually pays attention to what is going on locally knows that this ain’t Joanna.
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Curtis and Turner quite literally have nothing else to stand on, so they have to make things up.
Gee, an election-denying, zero-personal-skills core of Supervisors hires a person with the same characteristics to be the county’s election leader, and some remain surprised at the result: threats of violence, intimidation, discrimination and a need for employees to pretend up is down….
This is what GOP governance looks like at the national level, no surprise to see it here.
Strange how every time Kevin gets his way with filling a department head position, that department soon becomes a hostile and incompetent department. So weird. Must be just bad luck, I suppose.
Birds of a feather flock together.
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Or better: Grifting dirtbags prefer the company of other grifting dirtbags.
Don’t hold your breath on the union coming through. Myself and five other employees went to UPEC in-person in 2024 over “hostile work environment” and “harassment complaints” against Crye and the public and we were told they’d “write a letter to HR.” The union rep kept delaying the letter and eventually he started ducking our calls/texts. The union exists only to make sure the retired members get their pensions and insurance, nothing more, save your dues for gas.
I’ve worked closely with the election staff through this ongoing nightmare. I watch them suffer and I hear all about of these and more disgusting behaviors. I once worked for a hostile man in the private sector. There was no one to complain to, I could only live with the depression and fatigue that followed until I quit without anywhere to go. This kind of stuff can be common in the private sector, but in government you will be held accountable, and you put the county at risk of being sued. You also disenfranchise the community you signed up to support.
Curtis has told me that voters are “too stupid” while wearing the smile on his face and his fancy tie. Everything is a joke to him, everything is resolvable through a polygraph, the State’s fault, or a result of previous leaders, or his latest excuse/ being half deaf. What exactly has he changed and improved, aside from blinging out the office in red white and blue and Jesus crosses all over?
The staff are afraid of filing a hostile work environment claim because he is an evil, small man who will retaliate. They worry things will get worse and that ballots won’t be counted. They are our only hope in operating the department and carrying our democracy. We keep asking “how much worse can it get” as we watch it all happen.
So many illegal activities and deadlines missed, and he prioritizes things that are important in his mind while ignoring the needs and standard operating procedures.
No matter what happens today, Clint and Brent will call it a witch hunt. Will try to smudge the reputation of our incredible unions, and will continue to play mind games with staff, likely worse than he already has done. These employees need therapy after all they’re experiencing. PRAs won’t unravel everything, because he won’t put all of these actions and insults in writing. We must support and believe the employees and give them avenues to talk about these things.
Perhaps the BOS should put audio recordings and cameras inside to watch this mess of a reality tv show and truly hold him accountable. Perhaps the BOS should hire an interim ROV to shadow. Otherwise they will continue to say it’s not true and flip the narrative to call the victims the aggressors. What a horrible time to be an employee at the county.
Yes a horrible time to be a county employee and have to be accountable and do your job. Having to be accountable to you supervisor and competent in you performance.
I don’t know about what the county can do under Charter rules, but we have seen the three-man majority interpret things to do what they want. I’m wondering if what we see tomorrow will be a public inquiry which ends with “We can’t do anything. It’s an elected position.”
This way, they can demonstrate concern for the way the office is run, distancing themselves from reports too numerous to evade, thus issuing a statement from the two of three who face a June election: We don’t stand for this.
RP – Bingo, you called it. Same as it ever was.
Labor is usually great but they got it wrong this time. Throwing marbles under the feet of election officials conducting an election is disruptive to the public election and harmful to public confidence. Labor should educate up regarding national security ramifications and stand down. Friendship with one individual candidate should not weigh in here
Labor keeps saying Clint lacks experience but he has managed to take a problematic office and upgrade almost all security elements ( except the software ) That line is running thin ..
What are you talking about? Your use of the word “labor” is odd and unclear … but I guess I’m not surprised.
Nope.
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Brenty, you gots it wrong.
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I understand self-preservation, but you are absolutely on the wrong side.
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There are these things called truth and facts, that are well…
truths and facts.
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Inconvenient truths and all that, but man you really need to start being honest with yourself.
BTW, I think it’s been mentioned several times before, but you have spelled your own last name wrong again.
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Unless this is a troll account which in case Mr Turner if you’re seeing this and it’s not you…
This damn Board needs to step up and correct this horrible decision to place one of Crye and Patty Plumbs friends/ cohorts in election fraud bullshit in this position! These employees deserve to work in a supportive environment without being harassed by the ROV and his minions! He is taking this county down the path of a hostile work environment that could be litigated for millions of dollars in damages!
I couldn’t agree more!
Crye, Kelstrom and Harmon will never “step up”; they’re only interested in punching down. These guys’ intellectual laziness and rabid partisanship is on full display for all to see and has no place in our local government. Also, someone on this thread said that Curtis has decorated the ROV office with patriotic colors and crosses. Crosses? If true, Curtis and Turner do not recognize nor honor our forefathers’ wisdom of the importance of balancing power with the separation of church and state. No big surprise there.
Thank you…a lot people in this county seem to ignore the idea separation of church and state.
Wow. Just wow. I didn’t realize how bad it has become. He does have a certain role model in a position of high authority, if you know what I mean. He knows exactly what he’s doing when he uses those intimidation tactics. How unfortunate for us that this man was appointed. And we all know who did that.
Basically, the same type of thing Laura Burch did at HHSA – She was appointed by the Board. Came in and immediately started getting rid of other top-ranking employees. Brought in cronies from a totally different department that had absolutely no knowledge of HHSA and made them heads of new departments she made. There proceeded to be a huge turnover in HHSA employees, leaving new employees that were not properly trained in the different positions. From what I understand, many of the programs that previously brought in a large amount income from the State are no longer active because of lack of knowledge.
I completely agree. I worked for Shasta County, and when I spoke up about the hostile work environment, my local labor board stood behind me, as well as about 20 + other employees who were experiencing the same mistreatment. We had multiple meetings with upper management, yet nothing was ever done to address it. Instead, management and directors created unbelievable false narratives to make themselves look innocent and shift the blame onto us. It honestly felt like working for the “Mean Girls Club.” In the end, I had no choice but to resign. Sadly, no local attorneys were willing to take the case and help bring justice for the many Shasta County employees who were mistreated and pushed aside.
Shasta Scout,
I’m wondering if you can find something out for me. I think since Clint Curtis was appointed that the Supervisors can remove him with a vote. Some people say I’m wrong. I don’t know what it says about it in the Charter. I don’t remember them addressing this particular issue. Is it true that if it’s not stated in the Charter then it reverts to state law? If so, what is the state law.
Thank you and thank you for all the great reporting.
Tina
If not addressed in the Shasta County Charter, you may wish to review California Government Code section 25304. “The board of supervisors shall fill by appointment all vacancies that occur in any office filled by the appointment of the board and elective county officers, except judge of the superior court and supervisors. The appointee shall hold office for the unexpired term or until the first Monday after January lst succeeding the next general election.”