Conservative Candidates Presented Their Platforms at Thursday SCRA Meeting
- Elisa Ballard
- 2 minutes ago
- 4 min read
REDDING — Conservative school-board and city-council hopefuls told a packed Shasta County Republican Assembly (SCRA) meeting Thursday that local government has drifted from core academics, parental authority, fiscal discipline and public safety — and that boards and councils must stop rubber-stamping Sacramento and union priorities.
The Sept. 3 gathering at the regular SCRA meeting at Shasta Bible College featured five candidates. After presentations and a sharp question-and-answer session, members endorsed three school-board candidates: Shasta County Board of Education Area 2 incumbent Teresa Roberts, Redding School District candidate Sanny Ong and Gateway Unified Area 2 candidate Linda Glass.
Redding City Council candidates Rebecca Miller and Mark Mezzano also spoke. The November 3 ballot will fill three of five council seats.
SCRA, which bills itself as “the conscience of the Republican Party,” vets candidates against Judeo-Christian and constitutional principles. Members vote on endorsements after hearing the candidates themselves.
School boards: “Parent first, student first, academics first”
Roberts, a business owner and mother of six who won a short-term SCOE seat in 2024, said she is running to restore “good old-fashioned education,” trades and entrepreneurship. She opposes comprehensive sex education and heavy computer use for young students, arguing classrooms should emphasize personalized instruction and traditional American history.
Asked how she would handle opposition, Roberts did not hedge. “Bring it on,” she said.
Ong, an Indonesian immigrant and small-business owner seeking a Redding School District seat, framed her campaign in three slogans: parent first, student first, academics first. She said parents must be the primary authority and must fight “hidden agendas” in curriculum. As someone who fled communism, she said she wants schools to teach American civics and the dangers of socialism and Marxism. Academic proficiency, she warned, is slipping.
Glass, a retired art teacher running in Gateway Unified Area 2, said student learning declined after Common Core. She criticized the overuse of computers for weakening critical thinking and practical skills and called for school board meetings that parents can actually attend. On facing liberal colleagues, she urged persuasion over confrontation: befriend them and “persuade them with love.”
Across the three school-board talks, the same themes repeated: return to reading, writing, math, accurate history and civics; reject age-inappropriate sex education and ideological content; treat state mandates as something to test against law and local values, not automatically adopt; and select textbooks themselves instead of accepting materials they called “garbage” laced with agendas.
Candidates also backed bringing back shop classes — woodshop, welding and other trades — but said that requires pulling money out of top-heavy administration and restoring student discipline.
Teachers’ unions drew some of the night’s strongest language. Speakers described union influence as a power grab and “mafia tactics.” Board members, they said, should write their own policies rather than stamp state or union templates.
City Hall: salaries, staffing and who council members may talk to
Miller, a Republican with a healthcare background who also works as a substitute teacher, said she would restore fiscal accountability, audit high executive pay, bolster fire prevention, improve local job opportunities and support a parental-rights resolution. Asked whether she would vote for such a resolution in Redding, she answered, “Absolutely,” adding that the city needs a return to “truth.”
She said she is prepared to make hard cuts based on the city’s efficiency study, including jobs and salaries if the numbers demand it. On elections, she said she “absolutely” has concerns about fraud and supports voter ID.
Mezzano, a retired California Highway Patrol sergeant who served on the Redding City Council from 2020 to 2024 and worked as a field representative for Assemblywoman Heather Hadwick, said his first priority is restoring police and fire staffing so response times come down. He described past votes against pay raises for top management and floated deferred-pay models in union talks.
He and Miller both objected to a city policy that limits council members from speaking directly with city employees. Mezzano called the rule “bullshit,” saying it blocks problem-solving. He supports voter ID and cleaning voter rolls but didn't express a definitive opinion on the Flock cameras, saying he needed to study the issue further. He did raise security concerns about access to the data.
Local control, not Sacramento’s script
Audience and moderator questions ranged across state mandates, textbook selection, union power, city budgets, election integrity and law-enforcement technology.
On mandates, candidates agreed boards should first ask whether an edict is actually law, then apply common sense and local community input. On textbooks, they said selecting truthful materials is a core board duty. On fiscal management, both council candidates said they would use the efficiency study already underway rather than defend the status quo.
Election integrity drew broad agreement in the room: clean the rolls, require voter ID, and stop treating skepticism as fringe.
The endorsements cover only the three school-board candidates. City-council races remain crowded; nine candidates are listed for Redding’s three seats, including incumbents Tenessa Audette and Jack Munns, former councilman Mezzano, Miller, and others. Tenessa Audette received the SCRA endorsement at a prior meeting.
November 3 will decide whether those themes — traditional academics, parents as first authority, tighter city budgets, and more police and fire on the street — move from a Thursday-night Republican meeting into the rooms where policy is actually written and followed.
Watch the candidates here:
Shasta Unfiltered covers North State elections, school boards, and city government. Sign up for the free weekly newsletter at ShastaUnfiltered.com.
