Shasta County elections job draws diverse interest as supervisors hold interviews Tuesday
The Shasta County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday plans to interview nine candidates for the job of county clerk/registrar of voters.
The person who is appointed to the position will replace Cathy Darling Allen who retired in May for health reasons. Darling Allen had held the job for more than two decades.
The county clerk's office has been the focus of controversy in recent years as members of the board and some in the community have claimed irregularities in ballot processing.
For the past two years, the board has disagreed with the operations at the registrar of voters office. A three-member majority of the board switch from machine counting votes to hand-count ballots.
The Board of Supervisors last year canceled a contract with Dominion Voting Systems, which provides electronic voting tabulation. The board later contracted with Hart InterCivic to do voting tabulation and the state Legislature passed a law outlawing hand-counting ballots in most elections.
The county originally received 39 applications for the job, but a screening panel composed of supervisors Kevin Crye, Tim Garman and Support Services Director Monica Fugitt whittled that down.
Nine candidates will be interviewed in open session of the Board of Supervisors meeting. State law requires whoever is appointed to be registered voters in Shasta County at the time they are appointed and are not allowed to practice law while holding the job. Interviews are expected to wrap up Wednesday.
Here are the nine candidates:
Debbie Burkett, a 36-year resident of Shasta County, she is a tobacco compliance specialist for the county, according to a resumé she submitted to the county. Prior to her current position she was a typist clerk in the Health and Human Services Department. She also has experience working for Down the Road Coffee Shop, Redding School of the Arts and was chairwoman of a sober graduation program, Burkett said. "This job, in my opinion, should be about soft skills. Interpersonal skills that can build trust, demonstrate integrity, and foster collaboration with the Board, County Counsel, and our community will be of paramount importance to success in this role," Burkett wrote.
Clint Curtis of Florida is a lawyer licensed to practice law in New York who specializes in election law, according to a letter he wrote to "Dear Sirs" with the county. Curtis said in 2000, he was "the programmer that wrote the prototype for the first electronic voting machines," Curtis wrote on his resumé. Even so, he said he has advocated extensively for a return to hand-counting ballots. "I have spoken all around the country to help debunk all the excuses used to lock us into electronic machines, including the misinformation that the machines are not linked to the internet (never necessary for networking purposes), the validity of audits and that logic and accuracy tests have any validity."
Joanna Francescut is the assistant Shasta County clerk and registrar of voters who has filled in for Darling Allen after she became ill late last year. She said on her resumé that she has more than 16 years in election administration and five years experience as assistant to the county clerk and registrar of voters. She has also participated in and administered more than 30 elections. "I am a proven leader dedicated to upholding the principles of democracy, and the integrity of the administration of the election while ensuring that all eligible voters have the opportunity to participate in the electoral process.," Francescut wrote in a letter to Crye.
John Gaglione has worked in the county clerk's office of Kane County, Illinois for the past four years, according to a cover letter he sent to the county about the registrar's job. Kane County is located west of Chicago and has a population of about 516,000 residents. Gaglione said he has experience working with Hart InterCivic voting systems, as well as some other voting machines. Prior to working in the Kane County elections office, Gaglione worked in the insurance business, according to his resumé. "I understand the need for transparency and integrity to assure voter confidence while working within the laws governing elections," Kane wrote.
Kristen Kelley has been chief executive officer of the Humboldt County Association of Realtors since 2017, according to her resumé. She also worked in various other roles for 15 years for the Humboldt Association of Realtors. She also worked for a year as the office operations manager for the Redwood Coast Regional Center, which provides services to people with developmental disabilities in Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, and Mendocino Counties. "I believe that my skills and experience match well with the needed requirements to oversee the County Clerk/Registrar of Voters office," Kelly wrote to the county.
Kenneth Michaud of Cottonwood has worked for Caltrans since 2021 as a construction safety coordinator and a project coordinator for the city of Redding's Department of Public Works in traffic from 2019 to 2020, according to his resumé. He also has several years experience working on traffic and road projects as an engineer and inspector. He said his experience could be transferred to the elections office. "My years of experience in highway construction as an inspector and resident engineer have given me familiarity with interpreting and administering plans, specification, and contracts, not very different from understanding and administering the election code and election department," he wrote.
Daniel Sloan is a business professor at Simpson University in Redding. He lists on his resumé extensive experience in education. His resumé says he is a political science and diplomacy expert who has decades of experience working for Fortune 500 companies and is chairman of the Shasta County Republican Central Committee. On his application he wrote out an objective that did not appear to match the job title: "My objective is to make substantial contributions to the faculty, students, and university. I am a true academic edifying through higher-order thinking, critical thinking, and innovative thought." He said on his employment application that he also works for the county registrar of voters office, a claim that could not be confirmed by deadline. He also came in third place in votes in the March 5 primary election for District 2 county supervisor. He will not be at the Tuesday interviews. He wrote to supervisors that he is vacationing in Belize and he could interview remotely or when he returns.
Thomas Toller is an attorney who has been in private practice in Redding since 2017 and was a former Shasta County deputy district attorney for nine years, he wrote on his curriculum vitae. In his letter to the board, he said he worked with Erik Jensen on his campaign for county district attorney in 2022, which Jensen lost. As far as the county's relation to state and federal government, he said the needs of the local majority should take precedence over federal and state involvement. He acknowledged that state law prohibits lawyers from practicing law while being registrars of voters, but said he could still do the job "in a manner designed to enhance the public’s confidence that they will be served with transparency and integrity," he wrote. "I would in no way be beholden to the secretary of state in Sacramento, as if her interpretation was chapter and verse of Holy Writ," he said.
Jennifer Waltman has been a senior staff services analyst in the Health and Human Services Division of the county since 2017. She has held three other jobs in the health and human services department since 2002, according to her resumé. Waltman said her jobs with the county, especially in supervision and knowledge of county rules and policies, would qualify her for the position. She has also volunteered as a poll worker and inspector during county elections. "My employment with the county has given me firsthand knowledge of the workings of the county and what is needed to accomplish any goals and changes that may need to occur within the Elections/County Clerk’s office," Waltman wrote in a letter to the board.
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This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Shasta supervisors interview diverse group for registrar of voters job