City Council Runs Fast – Ends Early

December 16, 2025

Redding City Council Chambers

Meeting Summary:

In his first full city council meeting as mayor of the City of Redding, Mike Littau presided over what seemed like the shortest meeting in recent memory. The main item discussed was the commendation of Steve Bade for his retirement after 28 years of service to the city, ending as interim City Manager. All present city council members praised Bade for his deep knowledge of the local government processes, his accomplishments, and his character. Public comments were spirited and to the point, dealing with issues of supporting local mobile home residents, and concerns over city budget and management practices. Littau checked off a few management responsibilities from the consent calendar before making an ad hoc appointment to look into ways to prop up the funding for the civic center. A more detailed report follows.

Pledge: Members of the Student Body at U Prep lead those in attendance in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

Invocation: Patrick A. Blewett, PhD., Executive Dean, Simpson University

Closed Session: no report was given on item 3a

Roll Call:

Present: Tenessa Audette, Jack Munns, Erin Resner, and mayor, Mike Littau

Absent: Dr. Paul Dhanuka

Presentation: 

Adopt Resolution honoring Interim City Manager Steve Bade for distinguished service to the City of Redding from January 1998 to present; and associated presentations.

The resolution commending Steve Bade upon his retirement for his service as interim city manager passed unanimously. Mayor Littau spoke of his lasting impacts, the Redding Public Market project, his professionalism, and his deep institutional knowledge. He thanked Bade for his 28 years of service and wished him well in retirement.

Bruce Ross and Mark Mezzano also spoke from their own recollections on working with Steve, and both also spoke on behalf of Megan Dahle who was an admirer. We learned that Bade first wanted to be a math teacher, but it wasn’t financially rewarding. He entered city service as a housing technician at age 27. He developed a deep institutional knowledge, and his proudest achievement was opening up downtown Redding with spaces like the Redding Public Market.

The other city council members who were present spoke about fond recollections of working with Steve Bade over the years. As he received his commendation, Steve was thankful and full of praise for his staff. His short speech was greeted with a standing ovation.

Public Comment:

Mayor Littau then made a call for public comment, noting a limit of three minutes per speaker for a total of 30 minutes. He noted that staff reports are available online and at the podium on the north side of the chambers.

Speakers:

1.     Paula Montgomery

• She thanked the new city council leadership

• She stated that residents of mobile home parks (of which she is one) have asked the City Council to explore a rent stabilization ordinance (RSO)

  • Redding has enough parks and residents to form a Golden State Manufactured Homeowners League chapter in Redding

  • 6% of the population in Redding lives in mobile home parks

• News outlets have covered this

  • The Record Searchlight investigated purchases that result in driving out vulnerable residents

  • NBC News reported that Senator Maggie Hassan of NH requested information from 6 investment firms, one the owner of Ms. Montgomery's park, for details on their ownership and the impact that their management practices have on park residents.

• Yreka is looking into taking action

• Tehama County has formed an ad hoc committee to study the possibilities for rent control

• She requests that the Council institute an RSO
  

2.      Margaret Cantrell  Note: Margaret Cantrell serves as editor-in-chief of Shasta Unfiltered

• Looking forward to the budget meeting that will be open to the public

• Still concerned about retirement money for Mr. Tippen

  • If he lives to age 90, the city will be out for over $7M, for a city where people average $70,000 a year.

  • She believes that the city should try to pull back some of the money that he is slated to receive

• Raises were determined in January of 2022 and September of 2023, in closed session, without public knowledge or oversight

• "Please do something because we can't afford it"

• She feels that his dealings with Redding money were dishonest

3.     Margie Cantrell (No relation to Margaret Cantrell)

• Steve Bade was lost because the city didn't hire from within

• The last time they hired from the Bay Area it ended in a scandal

• This kind of behavior is continuing

  • Prior city manager through Park Marina plan wants to sell property to Turtle Bay

  • Margie believes that this should be given to the city as a park

  • She wants to rebuild a civic auditorium that is worthy of Redding

Consent Calendar:

Mayor Littau’s recommendations for the Community Services Advisory Commission were all accepted unanimously.

A Personnel Resolution was approved to strengthen the city’s ability to transition from an aging AS400 system by allowing a recent retiree, David Mann, to be rehired before the mandated 180 day waiting period. Regulations allow exception to the rules against rehiring critically needed positions and the council agreed that this was appropriate.

Ideas for Future Meetings:

1.      Finding Financial Support for the Civic Auditorium:

The next item of interest came up as a suggested topic for future meetings. Erin Resner wants to delegate two council members to engage in discussions with other entities that benefit from the operation of the civic auditorium to look into ways to generate financial support while the budget hearings are in progress. She also said that she didn’t want any big decisions made before the new city manager is hired and that they should extend the duration of the investigation for only two months. Mayor Littau was in favor of the proposal. Council members Resner and Audette were willing to participate, and City Counsel indicated that the mayor had the authority to initiate this ad hoc appointment. Mayor Littau gave the approval for Council member Resner’s request and requested a report by the council’s next meeting on January 6 and no later than the end of February.

Adjournment:

After this action, the meeting adjourned in a spirit of good humor, with Littau suggesting that they end the city council meeting “the earliest we’ve ever seen in forever”.