Shasta supervisors put board replacements on same ballot as recall, but questions abound

Shasta County residents will get to vote in March on whether the Board of Supervisors should be able to appoint a replacement when there is a vacancy on the board. The issue is timely as District 1 Supervisor Kevin Crye faces a recall in the same election.

The board voted 3-2 Tuesday to ask voters whether Shasta County should be governed as a charter county. But the charter would include only one provision ― that the Board of Supervisors appoints a replacement to vacant positions on the board.

Some, however, were concerned the latest move could be the board's first step in eventually converting the county clerk/registrar of voter post to an appointed position, rather than an elected one.

Crye and supervisors Chris Kelstrom and Patrick Jones voted in favor of the measure, while board members Tim Garman and Mary Rickert voted against it.

The charter contains no other provisions, such as reducing the number of elected county officials, according to Crye, who asked that the item be brought to the board for a vote.

Crye said he proposed the idea because he is concerned that if he is recalled in March 2024, Gov. Gavin Newsom would get to appoint his replacement. Letting the board fill vacancies would be a form of local control, he said.

Dana Silberstein disagreed. She told the supervisors she suspects the board will add amendments to the charter to make the county clerk/registrar of voter an appointed position.

County Clerk Cathy Darling Allen and the board have been at loggerheads over whether to machine count or hand-tally ballots in coming elections.

"I'm talking about the way you're treating the registrar and the obvious, obvious attitude that you'd just as soon she be gone, and this is a beautiful way to do it. You can't do it right this minute. You've brilliantly chosen not to do it right now, but you can do it later. We all know it," Silberstein said.

Judy Salter said she was suspicious there was only one issue in the charter and it was being presented to voters at the same time as Crye's recall.

"Now I don't want Gavin Newsom to do this either. But I don't want you to do it either. I want the citizens to give us back local rule. Let us elect a person to fill that vacancy, as opposed to having you all step in because who you all are is going to change every time we go around," Salter said.

Crye said if he is recalled, the board would not be able to appoint his replacement until 2025, and Interim County Counsel Gretchen Stuhr said state law prohibits the board from reappointing a supervisor who has been recalled.

Supervisors Garman and Rickert suggested the measure be further studied before it is put on a ballot.

"We need to have a committee that researches this. We need to have workshops, we need to get feedback from the public, before we take the time to put it on the ballot," Rickert said.

Crye said he was surprised there were opponents to the measure.

"I just want to go on record that it just shocks me. I guess it's politics, that's why they call it politics, but how it's so politicized, that bringing forth a charter that gives people the ability to have more say in their community could be construed as anything other than just wanting people to chart their own path in the county I love, and it just blows me away," Crye said.

Reporter Damon Arthur welcomes story tips at 530-338-8834, by email at damon.arthur@redding.com and on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @damonarthur_RS. Help local journalism thrive by subscribing today!

This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Shasta supervisors put board replacements on same ballot as recall