“What Starts Here Changes The World”: Shasta County’s Clerk Of The Board Shares Her Department’s Role In Government Accessibility

Editor’s Note: Shasta County’s Clerk of the Board, Stefany Blankenship, gave this speech to the County Board she serves on November 7, in response to being honored for her work. We have printed it with permission.

Growing up, my Dad used to tell me that the key to success….to having everything you could possibly want and more, comes from hard work and being a good person. Do the right thing when no one is watching. No matter how rich, talented, or great you think you are…how you treat people matters and how you live your life matters. Surround yourself with the right people because it’s the people we surround ourselves with that have a greater bearing on our lives and the successes in our lives.  

Recently, I watched a Navy Seal commencement speech given by Admiral William McRaven in 2014. I recommend you look it up; it’s a powerful speech. He talked about changing the world and how the little things in life matter. He said, “If you make your bed every morning, you will have accomplished your first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride and will encourage you to do another task, and then another, and another. And at the end of the day, that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed. Making your bed will also reinforce the fact that the little things in life matter. And, if by chance you have a miserable day, you will still come home to a bed that is made.

In his speech, he goes on to talk about Navy Seal training and how students are all broken down to the boat crews. Each boat has seven students, three on each side of a small rubber boat and one Coxswain. Every day, boat crews form on the beach and are instructed to get through the rough surf, paddling several miles down the coast. Every paddle must be synchronized to the stroke count of the Coxswain, and everyone must exert equal effort, or the boat will turn against the wave and be unceremoniously dumped back on the beach. For the boat to make it to its destination, everyone must paddle.  

Stephany Blankenship poses with members of the Board of Supervisors and her staff, Kristin Gulling-Smith, John Sitka, and Valerie Ibarra.

Now, you may be asking yourselves: what do any of these stories have to do with the Clerk of the Board?

Although I have never served a day in uniform, much of what my dad and Admiral McRaven said can be applied to daily life. And the fact is, I have a phenomenal team  that helps me paddle, day in and day out. Each of us takes pride in the little things, often many things which go unnoticed or unrecognized, just like making a bed. When it comes to  politics, there will be miserable days, and on those days I’m thankful for a made bed. Every day when I come to work, I’m surrounded by greatness. And although, regularly, greatness seems  to be measured by positions and possessions; true greatness is measured by those who serve  others. My team accomplishes this every day. We take great pride in completing our tasks, many of which are legally mandated, and these tasks protect and preserve the rights of citizens to an open and accessible government. We serve those in our community while maintaining  neutrality and impartiality. Some of the duties are: 

• Scheduling, preparing and managing agendas, clerking, and preparing minutes, for not only this Board but the Air Pollution Control Board, the Housing Authority, the In-Home Support Services Governing Board, the Water Agency, the Assessment Appeals Board, the Employee Appeals Board, the Animal Control Board, Nuisance Abatement Hearings, and the most recently formed the Citizens Election Advisory Committee, which includes all the record keeping for those meetings.
• We create, maintain, and update all records, including resolutions, ordinances, proclamations, minutes, and more.  
• We receive, distribute, and retain all Board and committee correspondence that we are responsible for clerking. 
• We maintain permanent records of nearly 80 County boards, committees, and commissions, to appoint their board members and ensure that the Local Appointments List is correct and notices of vacancy are posted as needed; this also includes the record keeping of the governance and foundational documents, oaths of office, and other information as may be required by each board;  
• We coordinate with all County departments, special districts, and school districts within the County to ensure the County Conflict of Interest Code is updated and correct, while overseeing and managing the required Statements of Economic Interests (Form 700s) for all applicable County positions, appointed officials, the Board of Supervisors, and all special districts or other boards, commissions, or committees for whom this Board is the appointing authority for on an annual and as-needed;  
• We accept, maintain, and distribute County Claims, subpoenas, complaints, and other legal documents  
• We coordinate the County’s public records requests, ensuring that such requests are responded to in a timely manner, and directly handle all such requests as are applicable to the Clerk of the Board, Board of Supervisors, or County Administrative Office, which often results in countless hours of back-and-forth communications to ensure all responsive records are received and provided as requested; and 
• We work with all County departments, County Counsel, and newspapers of general circulation throughout the County to ensure that legal notices are published as required to alert the community of important and upcoming hearings, County ordinances, or other events. 

These duties, plus many more, are completed without complaint and with the utmost integrity, and I am proud to work alongside these great individuals that make up my team: Kristin Gulling-Smith, John Sitka, and Valerie Ibarra. Without the hard work and dedication put forth by these individuals each day, I truly believe the County would not be where it is today.  

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