Clint Curtis’ controversial tenure as Shasta County’s top elections official is once again coming under fire.
On Tuesday, April 28, the Board of Supervisors, in a special meeting, will consider censuring Curtis for “substantiated findings of managerial misconduct following an investigation,” according to the agenda item. The public meeting starts at 9 a.m.
The agenda packet does not provide details about the alleged misconduct or when the investigation was conducted. The packet does include the resolution of censure that supervisors will consider, and it outlines what constitutes prohibited conduct.
District 2 Supervisor Allen Long told the Record Searchlight that he knows of at least two investigations into Curtis, one that was recent and another “maybe three months ago.”
Long declined to go into details about the investigations.
“I think this is a highly sensitive situation,” Long said, adding that it would be more appropriate to “allow the meeting itself to be a public forum for this discussion.”
District 4 Supervisor Matt Plummer agreed.
“We have to wait until the meeting comes and that will be where the discussion happens,” Plummer said. “There are a number of considerations around confidentiality with employees, with legal liability ― a range of complex considerations in terms of how much is shared. … I know the county is trying to walk that line with sharing enough, informing the board and informing the public but not sharing too much to create additional problems.”
Plummer did say that to his knowledge, the investigation was done internally and not by a third party.
County Executive Officer David Rickert, in a text message to the Record Searchlight just before 9 a.m. Monday, asked a reporter to email questions to him about Tuesday’s special meeting. Rickert had not replied to the email before the story was published.
Curtis did not immediately respond to a phone text and email seeking comment.
Tuesday’s special meeting comes about two months after supervisors discussed accusations that Curtis was using his office to campaign. Curtis, who was appointed to the job in May 2025, is running for reelection on June 2 against Joanna Francescut, the former assistant registrar of voters whom Curtis fired two weeks after he got the job.
In January, Curtis, hosting Republican candidates for California governor at the downtown Redding elections office, raised allegations of ballot stuffing by his predecessors without providing verified evidence.
After investigating the allegations that Curtis was campaigning on county time, county supervisors decided to take no action.
At a special meeting of the board in mid-October, Shasta County supervisors unanimously rebuked Curtis for excluding a local media outlet from receiving press releases from the elections office, sparking the First Amendment Coalition to threaten litigation over his decision.
Supervisors at the meeting said they would consider censuring Curtis if he did it again.
Also in October, a video of a bare-chested Curtis and another person working after-hours inside the elections office in downtown Redding went viral in the community.
Curtis was appointed clerk/registrar by a 3-2 board majority after Tom Toller retired in 2025 for health reasons. Toller was appointed to the position in June 2024 after longtime Registrar of Voters Cathy Darling Allen retired for health reasons.
Supervisors Kevin Crye, Chris Kelstrom and Corkey Harmon voted to appoint Curtis. Long and Plummer supported Francescut, who also interviewed for the job after Toller retired.
Asked to comment on Curtis’ brief and at times rocky tenure, Long declined but did say he will seriously take the allegations into consideration on Tuesday.
“The only comment that I would have is that we take all allegations of this nature very seriously because we have oversight of the registrar of voters ― we don’t have control ― but we do have oversight and we want the affected employees to know we will look into these things and we will take action as appropriate,” Long said.
Plummer again said it would be better for him to reserve his comments for Tuesday’s meeting.
Crye, Harmon and Kelstrom did not immediately reply to emails seeking comments.
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: Shasta elections chief Clint Curtis under scrutiny, facing censure
Reporting by David Benda, Redding Record Searchlight / Redding Record Searchlight
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