Garman calls out Crye during emotional, tense Shasta County supervisors meeting

Corrections & Clarifications: This story has been updated with the correct spelling on the name of Attorney General Rob Bonta.

Tensions boiled over Friday morning at a raucous and chaotic special meeting of the Board of Supervisors that discussed Shasta County’s settlement with Pacific Gas & Electric Co. over the Zogg Fire.

Toward the end of the meeting, a visibly upset Tim Garman, whose district includes the area burned by the 2020 fire, used an expletive to call out Supervisor Kevin Crye.

“Supervisor Crye, you’re full of s---. I’ll say it like it is,” Garman said.

Board chair Patrick Jones scolded Garman for using the language before Garman continued.

“You sit here and tell me that I didn’t care about the people of Igo-Ono and I wasn’t taking it serious and you’re absolutely 1,000% wrong, OK? You just continue to divide this county,” Garman told Crye.

Earlier, Crye said he went out and spoke to people after someone came forward with concerns about the settlement, noting that he talked to "Supervisor Garman, Supervisor Garman wasn't super interested in looking into it, so I looked into it more."

Friday’s special meeting, called by Jones, came three days after Crye during Tuesday’s regularly scheduled board meeting criticized District Attorney Stephanie Bridgett for not pushing harder to criminally prosecute PG&E over the Zogg Fire.

Crye wants an independent counsel to look into Bridgett’s conduct, and Jones on Friday said he would support that.

At the special meeting, Crye said he and County Executive Officer David Rickert (no relation to supervisor Mary Rickert) sat down and spoke with Bridgett on Wednesday.

Crye said it bothers him that the county in his opinion did not hold PG&E accountable and “we are letting PG&E off the hook.”

In the end, supervisors voted 5-0 to put on a future agenda a discussion about possibly sending a letter to California Attorney General Rob Bonta that would ask him to review Bridgett’s handling of the Zogg Fire settlement.

The motion, made by Jones, did not mention the possibility of hiring an outside attorney to investigate Bridgett’s conduct.

The vote came after some two hours of public comment from the community, including Igo-Ono residents whose community was devastated by the fire, which killed four people and burned 56,000 acres in southwest Shasta County.

Many who spoke called out Jones and Crye, who’s fighting a recall effort, for politicizing the tragedy and forcing the victims’ families to relive the stress and the trauma of the deadly fire.

Jones said he has received numerous emails from Igo and Ono residents with questions about the settlement and that the county should have refiled criminal charges against PG&E to honor the deaths of the four people who died in the fire.

Angela Mills, program manager for the DA’s Crime Victims Assistance Center, came to the meeting to remind supervisors about the four people who died in the fire.

“My office walked through every step of the process, ensuring the voices of those victims was heard throughout this entire court process. The constant and repeated attention of this case hurts the surviving family members. Sensationalized or insensitive coverage of traumatic events can retraumatized survivors and perpetuate their stress. That is what is happening here,” Mills said.

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Mills said her office has had recent discussions with the families and they reported feeling a lack of community support “after hearing the comments expressed in this room.”

Others told supervisors that there are better ways to spend taxpayer money than hiring outside counsel to investigate a court-reviewed and approved settlement.

“How about spending 40 or 50 hours on how to open a floor of the (Shasta County) Jail, paying your employees a living wage, fix the roads. Let’s spend time on that,” Dawn Duckett said.

Igo resident Raymond Jack said he was disappointed when Bridgette’s office decided not pursue PG&E criminally and the county settle civilly.

In May, Bridgett announced a $50 million civil settlement with PG&E that brought compensation for damages from the Zogg Fire that killed four people and burned 56,000 acres in southwest Shasta County.

At news conference, Bridgett said the deal with PG&E was made after a Shasta County judge nullified an earlier judge’s ruling that allowed her office to go forward with criminal charges against the utility for four counts of involuntary manslaughter and other crimes for allegedly starting the blaze.

Bridgett said she disagreed with the judge's ruling and felt her office would have won the case in a criminal jury trial. But after Superior Court Judge Daniel Flynn's ruling, the case could not continue criminally and her office sued PG&E in civil court and obtained a settlement.

The district attorney has disputed claims that the county could have refiled criminal charges after Flynn’s ruling.

Bridgett has noted that her office presented all evidence it had on the gray pine that fell on PG&E power lines and ignited the fire. Shasta and Tehama counties in their suit accused the utility of negligence and argued it identified but failed to take out the tree, which had been slated for removal in 2018.

Meanwhile, questions have been raised about how the $50 million was disbursed throughout the community, including $7 million to the Children’s Legacy Center, a nonprofit whose board Bridgett sits on. The money is being used to establish Feyla’s Fund, honoring 8-year-old Feyla McLeod, who died in the Zogg Fire.

Bridgett has said that her office asked the victims’ families how they would like to see the money allotted.

“The DA didn’t cram it (money) down their throats. That’s what the families wanted,” Redding resident Steve Woodrum said.

“I think this whole thing is just a political scam and we should just move on,” he added.

David Benda covers business, development and anything else that comes up for the USA TODAY Network in Redding. He also writes the weekly "Buzz on the Street" column. He’s part of a team of dedicated reporters that investigate wrongdoing, cover breaking news and tell other stories about your community. Reach him on Twitter @DavidBenda_RS or by phone at 1-530-338-8323. To support and sustain this work, please subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Chaos reigns at special Shasta County supervisors meeting