Shasta waits for county executive finalist Chriss Street to respond to background check
AENN
Redding Record Searchlight
Before an emotionally charged chamber, Shasta County supervisors announced Tuesday morning that a decision to hire Chriss Street as county executive officer still hasn’t been made.
Coming out of closed session, County Counsel Rubin Cruse Jr. announced that supervisors voted 5-0 to report:
“The Board of Supervisors received a background report on Chriss Street concerning his candidacy for the CEO position. By law, Mr. Street has five days to respond to the investigator concerning its contents, five business days I should say, and so the board has not made any decision concerning Mr. Street’s candidacy at this time,” Cruse said.
By the time supervisors returned from closed session, the room had filled up as residents anticipated an announcement on Street. Supervisors spent about 45 minutes behind closed doors.
Some applause broke out after Cruse’s statement.
Cruse declined to specify to the Record Searchlight what Street is being asked to respond to in the background report that was done by a third-party investigator. But he said this is not uncommon.
The county counsel couldn’t say when the five days will start because he didn’t know if Street had received the background report yet.
The news out of closed session came after more than 15 people addressed supervisors for nearly an hour before they went into closed session. All but one of the speakers opposed Street.
Offering the job to one of the leaders of a movement that wants to split from California has stirred emotions in the community. Street is vice president of New California State, a rival movement of State of Jefferson.
Street was one of seven candidates for the job. A panel that included the five county supervisors, department heads and residents interviewed the finalists on Feb. 25-26.
“The best you got is we shouldn’t be a state at all? Are you kidding me?” Joshua Brown told supervisors.
Susanne Baremore, who has organized the group Shasta County Citizens for Stable Government, said the county doesn’t need a political activist as its CEO.
“He is bringing his personal agenda to Shasta County,” she said.
Retired Shasta County Public Defender Jeff Gorder continued Tuesday to rail against Street’s association with New California.
Gorder earlier this month sent a letter to Cruse and acting CEO Mary Williams outlining his concerns and raised questions about potential conflicts of interest should Street be hired.
He reiterated his concerns, detailing some of the grievances New California published when it declared its independence from California in 2018.
“It’s impossible to encapsulate the absurdity of these grievances,” Gorder said.
“To appoint him CEO of Shasta County, an arm of California, would be a sham,” he added.
Patty Plumb, who has known Street for more than three years, spoke in support of him. Plumb is co-chair for New California State in Shasta County.
She called Street a “whistleblower” who will confront problems, leaders and corruption.
“So, I can’t explain or even defend anything about his past. We don’t need someone perfect. We need someone with Constitutional courage that’s going to be a whistleblower,” Plumb said.
