Mosquito board appointment creates controversial buzz at Shasta supervisors meeting

Even a seemingly routine appointment to the local mosquito board became political and controversial at Tuesday’s Shasta County Board of Supervisors meeting.

It was also a meeting that went back to the future as supervisors debated a symbolic resolution that takes a stand against government mandates related to COVID-19 or other pandemics that was brought to the board by District 1 Supervisor Kevin Crye.

While nobody was ejected — as has happened in the past — this meeting still showcased the rancor and at times chaos that has dominated the chamber since the board’s far-right majority took control in January.

Here is a rundown of Tuesday’s meeting.

Mosquitoes and Bill Gates

Jon Knight, who owns a hydroponics store in Redding and co-founded Red White and Blueprint, a group that supported the recall of former District 2 Supervisor Leonard Moty, was appointed by a 3-2 vote to the Shasta Mosquito and Vector Control District Board.

Crye, Chris Kelstrom and board chair Patrick Jones, a key player in the Moty recall, voted to appoint Knight. Tim Garman and Mary Rickert voted no.

Garman said he could not vote for anyone without first seeing the applications of the other three people who applied.

Rickert, too, wanted to see the three applications, but she also said retired Shasta County Health and Human Services Director Donnell Ewert, an epidemiologist, was a better choice.

The other two applicants were Rick Russell and Dewayne Little.

Ewert, who retired in February 2022, was the only applicant when the appointment came to the Shasta Board of Supervisors on Aug. 13.

But Ewert’s support of masking during the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccinations did not sit well with the supervisor’s far-right majority and their supporters. So, at the Aug. 13 meeting, they decided to not appoint Ewert and asked for more applications.

Jones also claimed that Ewert, while he was health director, mishandled the county’s Homekey program, which converts commercial and residential buildings into permanent or interim housing for the homeless.

“I would put my life in Jon Knight’s hands over Donnell Ewert’s any day of the week,” Jones said Tuesday before voting for Knight.

Rickert said ignoring Ewert’s qualifications makes the county look like “idiots.”

“It’s laughable that you would disagree with the appointment (of) probably the most qualified person in this county and basically try to appoint someone who got his education about mosquitos on the internet. Do you know how that makes us look?” she said.

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Kelstrom pointed out that the person Knight is replacing, Shasta County Judge Ben Hanna, did not have a background in insects or medicine.

As has been the case in the past, the clerk of the board brought the four applications to the chair of the board, in this case Jones, who chose Knight and brought the appointment to the supervisors.

The appointment was on the board’s consent agenda, but Garman pulled it for discussion.

“I want to see the other applications. It is our job to appoint somebody and I want to appoint the best person,” Garman said.

Garman made a substitute motion to bring the matter back to a future meeting. But it failed 3-2, as Crye, Jones and Kelstrom voted no.

Knight told supervisors that he was asked to voluntarily serve on the mosquito board, that he wants to serve his community and he has researched mosquitoes. He also said his experience selling garden supplies and pesticides for nearly 20 years qualifies him for the job.

Moreover, Knight said that he knows a lot about mosquitoes and “some of these Bill Gates programs.” He also warned about the Japanese weaponizing mosquitoes that can act like “flying syringes” that will have the ability to mass vaccinate the population.

The Bill and Melinda Gates foundation supports research to fight malaria and has funded a company, Oxitec, that genetically modifies mosquitoes, which has the internet blowing up with posts that suggest the foundation is responsible for recent cases of malaria in the United States.

But according to a Factcheck.org article titled "U.S.-Acquired Malaria Cases Spark False Claims of Links to Gates-Funded Research," “The genetically modified mosquitoes are all male and therefore don’t bite. The idea is for them to mate with invasive, biting females. The offspring die before they reach adulthood, which means fewer biting mosquitoes in subsequent generations, leading to fewer cases of mosquito-borne diseases like malaria."

"Social media posts implied that Gates-funded research involving genetically-modified mosquitoes is linked to the U.S. malaria cases, though they offered no evidence. In any case, Oxitec mosquitoes couldn’t be responsible for the recent outbreak: They’re incapable of transmitting disease,” the Factcheck.org article added.

Supervisors vote to oppose health mandates

There are no state or federal mandates forcing people to wear masks or get a vaccine due to the COVID-19 virus.

The state and federal government ended the COVID-19 public health emergency in February and May, respectively.

Still, supervisors voted 4-1 to adopt a resolution to oppose “any overreaching government mandate related to COVID-19 or other health pandemics which impact individual liberties.”

Crye, Garman, Jones and Kelstrom voted for the resolution. Rickert voted no.

Crye said he knows the resolution is largely symbolic.

“I’m all about personal liberty, but what this does is this basically just says, we’re going to be a county that's not going to overreach and take away people’s liberties. If you want to wear a mask, wear a mask. If you want to get vaccinated, get vaccinated, if you want to test, test. But don’t make people who aren’t sick, test,” Crye said.

Coming to Crye’s defense, supporters said it was important to stand up to the government.

More: Threshold met to hold recall election that could unseat Shasta supervisor Crye

“The government has no right and no jurisdiction over our health,” Terry Rapoza told the board.

Critics of the ordinance said Crye is grandstanding.

“This resolution is a stunt. That’s all it is. Nobody in Shasta County was forced to be vaccinated, period,” Christian Gardiner said. “This resolution is toothless, has no bearing. But it’s a great way to feed that fire of misinformation, of conspiracy theory.”

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: Mosquito board appointment stirs controversy at Shasta County meeting