Charter County Measure Was Filed 17 Months Late - What Happened?

Registrar of Voters' Office

Shasta County voters approved Measure D in March 2024, which established Shasta County as a charter county and gave the Board of Supervisors the power of appointment to fill a vacancy on the Board of Supervisors or to call for a special election.  The charter was supposed to take effect on January 1, 2025; however, it was recently discovered by Joseph Larmour, County Counsel, that the required certification paperwork was never sent to the Secretary of State as required by Government Code Section 23713.  Deputy Registrar of Voters, Joanna Francescut was in charge of the ROV office at that time, while ROV Cathy Darling Allen was out on medical leave.  County Counsel Joseph Larmour, started in his position in April 2024, approximately one month after the election took place.  Larmour alerted Chairman of the Board of Supervisors Kevin Crye in August 2025 of the error. 

Mr. Crye announced the error on his KCNR radio show on Sunday, September 7^th, stating that he worked quickly with the new interim ROV, Clint Curtis, to file the necessary paperwork with the Secretary of State. The paperwork was received by the Secretary of State on August 29^th and confirmed by Deputy Clerk of the Board, Miranda Angel, to a Record Searchlight reporter that the county received a confirming letter on September 11 from the Secretary of State, leading to a collective sigh of relief on the part of many involved.  Questions surround this oversight as to who was responsible for initiating the paperwork.  Here is the full text of the law that wasn’t followed:

Government Code Section 23713:

Two copies of the complete text of a charter proposal or of any revised, amended, or repealed section ratified by the electors of a county shall be certified and authenticated by the chairperson and clerk of the governing body and attested by the county elections official, setting forth the submission of the charter to the electors of the county, and its ratification by them. One copy shall be recorded in the office of the recorder of the county and then shall be filed in the office of the county elections official. The county elections official shall file the second copy with the Secretary of State along with the following:

(a)

Certified copies of all publications and notices required of the county by this chapter or by the laws of this state in connection with an election to propose or revise a county charter.

(b)

Certified copies of any arguments for or against the charter proposal or revision that were mailed to voters pursuant to Section 9162 and 13303 of the Elections Code.

The Clerk of the Board/CEO David Rickert, has been in his position since December 2023.  Joanna Francescut had been working in the Registrar of Voters’ Office for 17 years and served as Assistant Clerk/ROV since 2018.  She was terminated by the Board-Appointed Interim ROV on May 27, 2025.

 She recently posted on her Facebook page the following statement:

“Who do we blame here?”  Supervisor Kevin Crye asked this question yesterday on his radio show, before accusing me of delaying Shasta County’s charter status taking effect.  The charter is a framework for county governance approved by Shasta County voters.

Let’s set the record straight:  state law outlines the process of filing a County Charter, and it begins with the office of the Board of Supervisors submitting a recorded copy.  This was not completed until after I was no longer working in the Elections Department.

Kevin Crye has stated at the County Board Meeting that “It’s important for the public to understand that board members do not carry out administrative responsibilities related to implementing or processing ordinances after their adoption.”

Clint Curtis recently replied to a question posed by our Editor about who is responsible for initiating the paperwork for election certification by stating:  “The Election Department should have taken point on what needed to be filed and when.  This office handles the election and also acts as the County Clerk.  All Joanna [Francescut] had to do was call the Secretary of State’s office and ask them.  There is really no excuse for not doing so.”

Both Clint Curtis and Joanna Francescut are running for the position of ROV.