Shasta County Board of Supervisors Meeting Highlights: February 10, 2026
- Elisa Ballard
- 17 hours ago
- 5 min read
Redding, CA – The Shasta County Board of Supervisors held its regular meeting on Tuesday, February 10, 2026, addressing a range of issues including public health challenges, election office conduct, governance compliance, and routine administrative approvals. The meeting featured notable public comments and discussions on the ongoing measles outbreak and allegations involving the County Clerk/Registrar of Voters.
Employee of the Month
Jessica Stork, a Social Worker with Health and Human Services Agency was designated as the County’s employee of the month, due to her exemplary service.
Public Health Priorities and Measles Outbreak Discussion
Public Health Officer Dr. James Mu presented a report on 2025 accomplishments and 2026 priorities, highlighting the county's ongoing physician shortage crisis. Recruitment efforts in 2025 yielded good results across local medical centers, however, smaller clinics and outlying clinics have lost physicians in 2025. Retention of physicians remains a challenge. Dr. Mu outlined plans to improve communication with healthcare providers through a new newsletter on communicable diseases and other healthcare topics. Supervisor Kevin Crye stated that Anthony Baynard (who works for Shasta Community Hospital) has been very successful with his efforts to recruit healthcare professionals, more so than others who tried to do the same during the last decade.
The presentation shifted focus when three community members spoke during public comment, expressing concerns about the County's response to the measles outbreak (eight confirmed cases as of the meeting date). They criticized the lack of stronger vaccination encouragement. Supervisor Crye responded by stressing individual medical choice, stating that forcing decisions is not the government's role, while referencing reported vaccine-related injuries. Dr. Mu reaffirmed the MMR vaccine's effectiveness (97% with two doses) and noted that vaccination remains an option for those exposed.
Dr. Mu stated that the incubation period for measles is 7 - 21 days, but if the person who has been exposed to the measles is vaccinated within three days of the exposure, the vaccine can be effective at preventing serious cases. A person who contracts measles is infectious for a total of 8 days, starting four days before the rash breaks out and extending to four days after the rash starts. The initial symptoms are similar to the flu and could involve pink eye, runny nose, cough, high fever, and body aches. Shasta County is currently seeing RSV and Influenza A cases. Dr. Mu cautioned that if someone suspects they have the measles, they should stay home and call their healthcare provider. Dr. Mu also stated that the majority of cases will resolve on their own, but if secondary infections occur, they need to be treated promptly.
The additional cases were limited to close contacts of the index patient, (family members and close neighbors) with no new public exposures identified, indicating containment through early isolation.
Election Office Allegations Resolved
Supervisor Allen Long raised constituent concerns about County Clerk/Registrar of Voters Clint Curtis, alleging potential misuse of public resources for campaigning. This stemmed from a January tour where Curtis reportedly made comments about past ballot issues while hosting gubernatorial candidates. County Counsel Joseph Larmour explained that the remarks, given in response to a question by the press, qualified as incidental under policy exceptions, warranting no further enforcement. Supervisor Long accepted the clarification, and the board took no additional action.
Governance and Compliance Updates
The board approved measures to comply with new state law (SB 707) requiring two-way remote public access for meetings starting July 2026. Actions included subscribing to engagement software provided by Cityzen Solutions, Inc. dba PublicInput, allocating $66,613 from the General Fund for 2026 and similar amounts for the next four years, totaling $192,090. The Board of Supervisors commented that this is another unfunded mandate from the State and may cause problems during public comment periods and extend the length of public meetings. Supervisor Crye stated he thinks this will be a disaster. Clerk of the Board, Stefany Blankenship, stated that the original bill would have caused even more problems, but all of the Clerks in California rallied against it and modifications were made. Supervisor Crye encouraged the other Supervisors to meet with constituents outside of the Board meetings as he often does during his "Coffee with Kevin" chats to keep up with community members' concerns.
Under the new law, if the remote public access system malfunctions, a one-hour recess must be taken to try to resolve the technical problem before allowing the meeting to continue. The requests to speak through the web-based meeting page, can be made starting as early as 8 a.m. on the day of the meeting which starts at 9 a.m.
The Board of Supervisors decided to adopt the staff recommendations concerning setting time limits of 20 minutes for public comments per agenda item and speakers being limited to speaking on no more than four agenda items. This is a first-come, first-served system and could result in people who come to the meeting in person intending to speak being unable to do so because the online requests have filled all of the speaker slots. To give locals a chance to get their requests in early, the lobby of the Board Chambers will be open for requests starting at 8 a.m. Supervisor Plummer proposed to lengthen the time to 30 minutes per item and allowing the speakers to only comment on three agenda items, but none of the other Supervisors agreed to do so at this time. Chair Chris Kelstrom stated he wants to start with the time limit recommended by staff and adjust it later if the online system is not being flooded with people wanting to speak. Unfortunately, there will be no safeguards in place to stop people from out of the area taking speaker slots, other than the Clerk of the Board being able to report to the Board if people self-identify as being inside or outside of the County. Phone numbers will be used to identify the people participating online.
The Supervisors also agreed to extend the County Strategic Plan draft deadline to May 19, 2026, giving County staff more time to develop goal implementation strategies while they are also addressing the annual budget plans.
Consent Calendar Approvals
The board unanimously approved a packed consent calendar of routine items, including:
Increasing a telepsychiatry contract from $2 million to a $4.3 million maximum due to Shasta County losing an in-house practitioner that could prescribe medications.
Accepting an $11.58 million grant for multifamily housing recovery in Anderson.
Reaffirming storm emergency declarations and waiving bidding for repairs.
Adopting labor agreements for the Sheriffs' Administration Association (2% salary increase and some minor changes to uniform pay, education reimbursement, and annual leave payments. This results in a 2-year cost increase of $284,991 from the general fund.)
Extending Adobe software licensing and approving a new cybersecurity managed detection and response system through Clutch Solutions LLC.
Various other administrative, planning, and funding adjustments.
Other Actions and Notable Public Comments
The meeting opened with an invocation by Pastor Josh Thompson of Westside Church of Redding, and Pledge of Allegiance. There was a closed session on litigation and a potential Public Works Director appointment.
Several IHSS (In-Home Supportive Service) workers spoke during the public comment period about negotiations with the Board of Supervisors being done in bad faith, citing their low hourly wages of $18.50 per hour and that a 40 cent raise over a three-year period not being sufficient. They said they receive no benefits and asked to meet with the Supervisors individually to discuss this situation. SEIU - Local 2015 is representing the workers.
County Executive Officer Dave Rickert commented on a January 22, 2026, AB109-operation that was conducted by Sheriff Deputies and Probation Officers resulting in a home search of a sex offender and seizure of a cellular phone, hard drive, and an unregistered firearm.
Overall, the meeting underscored ongoing challenges in public health and elections administration while advancing routine operations and compliance efforts. Full agendas and future meeting details are available on the Shasta County website. The next regular meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 24.
