Shasta County Redistricting 2021 Revisited: Was Gerrymandering Involved? Board Adopted a Plan that Shifted 44,066 Residents Despite Small Initial Imbalances
- Elisa Ballard
- 4 days ago
- 3 min read
REDDING — Redistricting is required every 10 years, if the census changes. Although the 2020 Census showed Shasta County’s five supervisorial districts were already relatively close to equal in population, the Board of Supervisors ultimately approved a redistricting plan in December 2021 that moved more than 44,066 residents into new districts.
The 2020 Census counted 183,199 residents in Shasta County, setting an ideal population of 36,640 per supervisorial district. Pre-redistricting deviations were modest: District 1 was 129 residents over target, District 2 was 1,705 under, District 3 was 203 over, District 4 was just 25 under, and District 5 was 1,397 over.
Most observers expected only minor boundary tweaks, which is usually the goal, so as not to disrupt districts. Instead, the process produced five different draft maps — labeled Plans A through E — over a roughly three-month period.
At that time, Assistant Registrar of Voters Joanna Francescut led the county’s redistricting effort on behalf of the Clerk/Registrar’s office. By law, the county must hold 12 meetings, and there is a board-appointed redistricting commission. Francescut prepared the detailed reports and maps, guided the Citizens Redistricting Advisory Commission, and presented the options to the public and the Board of Supervisors. First, Plans A and B were drafted and presented. Plan A, according to former Supervisor Patrick Jones, was a fairly good plan, keeping the districts close to where they were, but he believed it needed “a little tweaking”. Plan B tried to give District 1 a little rural representation. District 1 was only within the city of Redding, so on many matters, the City has jurisdiction. A few weeks later, rather than coming back with a slightly tweaked plan, Francescut presented two more plans that Jones said were “crazy”, involving profound changes in district boundaries. Those were rejected, and after another month, Francescut presented a final Plan E, this one moving 44,066 residents into new districts. By this time, deadlines were approaching, and a plan needed to be adopted, leading most of the supervisors to vote to make a bad decision, according to Jones, who was the lone dissenting vote. That final public hearing and vote took place on December 7, 2021. The new boundaries took effect immediately upon adoption and were first used for the June 2022 Primary Election.
The maps remain in place until the next decennial redistricting cycle following the 2030 Census.
Key Public Opponents at the December 7, 2021, Final Hearing
Dale Ball (Redding resident, running in the District 2 recall) — Opposed Plan E; noted he would be moved from District 2 to District 1.
Tim Garman (Happy Valley resident, also running in the District 2 recall) — Strongly opposed the change, stating no one in his community supported it.
Authur Gorman, Gary Cadd, Ronnean Lund, and Sara Mintz — Also spoke against Plan E.
Happy Valley residents were especially vocal, arguing the move separated them from aligned communities and disrupted local representation.
Former Supervisor Patrick Jones told Shasta Unfiltered that, due to this redistricting plan, he lost the Buckeye area, which was heavily conservative. He said it was just another example of how the Elections Office, under the then Registrar of Voters Cathy Darling Allen with Joanna Francescut leading the redistricting effort, didn’t listen to the board or the community and did what they wanted. Jones called the final map “a disaster”.
Joanna Francescut is currently running for the Registrar of Voters position against incumbent Clint Curtis.
Direct Link to the Report:
Look for the section starting around the "Comparison of Current Supervisorial Boundaries to Proposed Plan" heading (it includes visual map comparisons and a table showing unaffected vs. shifted population by district, totaling the 44,066 residents moved).
Additional Helpful Links:
Main 2021 Redistricting Page (with all maps and documents): https://elections.shastacounty.gov/2021-redistricting/
Current (post-2021) Supervisor District Map: https://maps.co.shasta.ca.us/SupervisorDistricts/
