Concerned that a censure of Registrar of Voters Clint Curtis would influence the upcoming June 2 election, a divided Shasta County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday took no disciplinary action against the top elections official for alleged workplace misconduct.
Instead, supervisors voted 3-2 to consider censuring Curtis after the election. The board also unanimously agreed to release both reports into Curtis’ conduct that triggered the April 28 special meeting.
The votes came after the board was told about two investigations, one done internally by Support Services Director Monica Fugitt, and the other by an outside firm, Oppenheimer Investigations Group.
Fugitt’s investigation happened earlier in April while the outside investigation was launched last August and wrapped up in March. Supervisors did not give a date for the release of the reports. When they are released, the public can view them on the county’s “Next Request Portal.”
Supervisors Kevin Crye, Corkey Harmon and Chris Kelstrom voted to wait until after the election. Supervisors Allen Long and Matt Plummer wanted to censure Curtis.
Crye, Harmon and Kelstrom voted to appoint Curtis as ROV in May 2025 after a public interview. Long and Plummer supported hiring former Assistant Registrar of Voters Joanna Francescut.
Curtis is running against Francescut on June 2.
Kelstrom, who chairs the board, pushed back on public comments that this was a political hitjob on Curtis, “October surprise” before the June election. But he conceded that the timing, coming a few weeks before ballots start showing up in voters’ mailboxes, could have been better.
Initially, Kelstrom said he was not going to vote for censure. But he later changed his mind and made a motion to put the decision off until after the election, which Crye seconded.
Before the vote, though, Kelstrom voiced his frustrations with Curtis.
“I mean, we have had multiple, multiple discussions. Myself, Supervisor Crye. We’ve talked multiple times until it seems like we’re blue in the face. And I know county counsel’s had hundreds of conversations with you, and Dave Rickert, CEO Rickert, has had hundreds of conversations with you,” Kelstrom said.
Kelstrom then reminded Curtis that both investigations will be released to the public and “if 10% of those allegations are true … you deserve a censure.
“But please, stop the jokes, have somebody, a witness with you in the room and, you know, do some of the things we’ve talked about multiple, mutiple times.”
Fugitt said she launched her investigation after her office received a verbal report on April 3 and the county auditor-controller’s office received a whistleblower’s report on April 7. Both reports involved an incident involving Curtis and a subordinate employee.
“Upon review of all witness statements and evidence gathered through the investigation, I made findings that based upon the preponderance of evidence, Curtis did engage in abusive conduct in retaliation toward staff,” Fugitt said.
Long asked Fugitt if her investigation found that Curtis threatened the life of the employee.
“The investigation found that he made a statement that he would slap or punch other county employees when frustrated,” Fugitt said. She added that the investigation also found Curtis threatened to “have an employee pulled out of their office by their hair” by the human resources department.
Curtis said the allegations were false and threatened to sue the alleged victims for defamation. He characterized the employees as disgruntled people who worked in the elections office before he arrived, and they don’t want to see change, so they are attempting to sabotage the upcoming election.
“Is it true? No,” he said of the allegations. “You talk to anybody who knows me. First of all, I don’t yell. I don’t attack anybody. And with these people, I don’t even talk to them, other than quick business. … I’ve kind of had to move them from things they kept failing on … because I have an election to run.”
Both Long and Plummer said despite the investigations and other efforts, work conditions don’t seem to be improving at the elections office.
“And I think that’s part of the challenge here in terms of how do we ensure we’re taking the responsibility to both protect our employees and to do what we can as a board, which is limited in terms of our relation to an elected official, to try to stop behaviors that appear to be, and substantiated by investigations, misconduct,” Plummer said. “The timing of this is obviously unfortunate but it’s also, it’s been (progressing) over a period of a year, building and building and there’s been multiple efforts to stop this.”
Crye said in Fugitt’s report, it says the individual who reported the pulling the hair comment wanted to let it go and that is wasn’t a big deal.
“What I’m assuming, they’re just saying, ‘that’s just Clint being Clint,’ ” Crye said.
But Crye also told Curtis to “knock it off with those off-handed comments. They’re not funny.”
Both Long and Plummer pushed back on the notion that because the employee did not want to pursue the matter, the allegations should not be taken seriously.
“I’ve had a long career in law enforcement,” said Long, who is a retired Redding police lieutenant. “And I know that people don’t come forward because they’re intimidated. I know that they don’t come forward because they fear retaliation. I’m not saying that’s the case here. I have no idea, not even a clue. But my response to Supervisor Crye would be that this is far, far more. And the public will see that.”
David Benda covers business, development and anything else that comes up for the USA TODAY Network in Redding. He also writes the weekly “Buzz on the Street” column. He’s part of a team of dedicated reporters that investigate wrongdoing, cover breaking news and tell other stories about your community. Reach him on Twitter @DavidBenda_RS or by phone at 1-530-338-8323. To support and sustain this work, please subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Clint Curtis censure vote delayed, but reports on him to be released
Reporting by David Benda, Redding Record Searchlight / Redding Record Searchlight
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