Re: Open Letter to Shasta Co. Voters, Memorial Day

May 25, 2026

I'm writing this after watching a very well-produced movie, based on real events, portraying a portion of the Vietnam War. The movie reminds me of the sacrifice, suffering, and lives lost that US military members and their families experienced in the name of attempting to preserve individual freedom. By extension, I'm also reminded of the U.S. Founders' sacrifices as well.

Without debating whether the US should have gotten involved in military conflicts/wars, the general purpose of US military engagement abroad is to limit or destroy tyranny against citizens and to prevent its spread.

I am a veteran with 21 years of service from 1990 to 2011, but have never served in combat. In the last few decades have talked to many vets of WWII, Korea, and both Persian Gulf conflicts (1990 and 2003). Many of them would not talk about the horrors they witnessed to avoid reliving the mental anguish, but some did. Hearing the evils that "man" imposed on their fellow man should make any normal person furious.

I first heard radio host Mark Levin use the term "soft tyranny".  It means instead of physical violence, evil people in places of authority use laws, regulations, the judiciary, and other processes to incrementally erode individual liberties. It's the frog-in-a-pot-of-water analogy. We, US citizens, have been under a soft tyranny for generations.

For example, on an annual basis, it's difficult to see the erosion of our Second Amendment:

"A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed."

But if you take even 5-year snapshots of the infringements back even as recently as the last 25 years, you'll see the great portion of the 2A has been taken from us.

Several of our generations in the US have been the victim of intentional ignorance by the public school system, the mainstream media, the movie industry, music, etc. The ignorance is of the founding of our country, which quickly became the most powerful and prosperous because it was based on principles and values to cherish individual liberties and to ensure a government does NOT again become tyrannical.

Without such basic knowledge and understanding of the Rights each of us has, we can not truly fight to keep them. As we become more separated by time and by the experience of direct and violent tyrannies, we succumb more easily to soft tyranny, even here in Shasta County. Recent events and votes by the current Board of Supervisors (BOS) are an obvious example of soft tyranny:

Feb. 2025: BOS votes 5/0 to sue five citizens to stop a constitutionally protected process to legislate via petition. This was a violation of the citizens' freedom of association, freedom of speech, and right to petition the government for redress of grievances. To this day, no public apology has been issued.

2024-2025: Chair Crye limits public speaking to 2 minutes and forces all who wish to speak to fill out a card, a drastic change from 2023 under Chair Jones.

Ladd v. Toller suit: County refuses to concede that previous Registrars of Voter (ROV) violated state laws.

Citizen Election Commission (EC): The BOS voted 5/0 to suspend the EC, allegedly because two members of the Commission submitted statements in the Ladd v. Toller case. The vote was in violation of the Brown Act because the agenda only listed discussing the calendar of the EC, but instead the BOS discussed and then voted on suspending the EC. This was also blatant retaliation and punishment for the two members exercising their Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Association.

License Plate cameras (ALPR): BOS votes 5/0 on consent calendar, placed there during the same meeting where, in open session was to "declare" Measure B and place it on the 2026 ballot. BOS spends $500,000 of Zogg fire settlement funds on ALPR instead of spending it to directly benefit the victims and families of that fire. The ALPRs are a direct violation of the Fourth Amendment, where the gov't is prohibited from searching and seizing private information without a warrant.

All of these examples show the soft tyranny of the current BOS members and how they continue to fight against the will of the people. Too many voters are blinded by the smiles, distractions, deflections, and double-speak of these BOS members.

BOS Kelstrom specifically voices his opinion that any actions by locals that are against state law would result in the State of California suing the County. He is afraid to fight for local sovereignty for fear of a lawsuit! Our Founders and deceased military must be rolling over in their graves!

Sadly, recently, an allegedly "conservative" group endorsed Kevin Crye's re-election campaign. That vote was in direct contradiction to portions of the mission statement of the group, chiefly "inalienable rights, self-government, decentralized government...." Several of Kevin's votes were in direct violation of these tenets.

Since Recall Shasta in 2021, I've seen the vast majority of those organizers as the RINOs they have always been. These are the same people who desire to keep Kevin and Chris in office. Some of them claim to be "conservatives", but what are they truly conserving other than the soft tyranny? We must remember that in a soft tyranny, "the pen is mightier than the sword".

During this weekend, when we are supposed to remember and honor those veterans who lost their lives, and their families who also suffered. Let's reflect on our own actions and words, and maybe think about how too many Shasta County citizens are betraying the sacrifices of those who've fallen during the fight for freedom and liberty. Also, look at your kids, grandkids, neighbors in the eyes and tell them you desire to keep people in office who have affirmatively voted to further erode our basic and inalienable rights.

Richard Gallardo

veteran