Shasta County supervisors want more control over filling vacancies on their five-person board that occur outside of a regular election. The county currently follows state laws where the governor is expected to fill those seats.
County Supervisor Kevin Crye brought forward the idea during Tuesday’s meeting. It proposes that the remaining supervisors would appoint a replacement to fill vacancies.
“I would rather have four elected officials who were elected by the electorate, the people of the county, to figure that out," Crye said. "And if they can’t, much like they did in Gateway [Unified School District], then there’s a special election.”
Voters are selecting a new board member for the Gateway Unified School District during this November's election, after one of its members resigned in February and the board was unable to appoint a replacement.
Crye himself is facing a recall election in March, but he said the proposed change wouldn’t take effect until the following year, in 2025.
County Supervisor Mary Rickert spoke out against the idea at Tuesday’s meeting, saying the board is moving too fast on something so important.
“I absolutely, unequivocally do not think this board should be appointing someone in a position at this point in time in Shasta County’s political history," Rickert said. "It is not a good time. I think it would only create more divisiveness, more volatility, and we don’t need that.”
Some members of the public were concerned becoming a charter county could also lead to future efforts to strip power from the registrar of voters, an elected officer who has been at odds with county supervisors this year over the use of state-mandated electronic voting machines.
The proposal was passed 3-2 by supervisors. The charter proposal will next go to voters for their approval during the March presidential primary election.
Any future changes to the charter would also need to be approved by voters.
