Shasta Co. Board of Supervisors votes to censure two of its members
REDDING — In early January, Shasta County Supervisors Les Baugh and Patrick Jones opened the board chambers to the public, even though the board had voted earlier to keep them closed, and to instead meet virtually.
For that, fellow supervisors Leonard Moty, Mary Rickert and Joe Chimenti voted to censure them.
That was after about three hours of public comment.
Phone messages were split, but those who spoke in the chambers were unanimous against a censure.
“Do not censure these individuals. I would rather agree with the other people who say we should be looking at Mary and Moty," one woman said.
“These supervisors actions are not worthy of being censured. But perhaps yours, Supervisors Moty and Rickert are," another woman voiced.
A man added, “I do not like what three of you people on the board are doing, trying to censure Mr. Jones and Mr. Baugh, for doing their job properly.”
“The censure of Jones and Baugh is completely ridiculous. It would be like me showing up to do my job, and then getting punished or disciplined in some way," a third woman commented.
Before the vote, the supervisors all had the opportunity to weigh in.
“My only concern is that if we don’t follow the will of the majority, then we will have chaos and it will be very difficult for us to conduct county business at our board meetings, or any other functions that we provide for the public,” said Moty.
“I admit it, I opened the doors to these chambers to let the community come in to the place that they own. If that deserves a slap on the wrist from supervisor or supervisors that don’t agree with me, then I’m okay with that,” said Baugh.
There were also several mentions from people in the board chambers of a recall, but as of Tuesday there is no formal campaign.
ORIGINAL STORY:
The Shasta County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 Tuesday to censure Supervisors Les Baugh and Patrick Jones.
This comes two weeks after Leonard Moty introduced the censure vote to the Board. That led to a heated discussion at last week's Board of Supervisors Meeting when the decision was made to hold the vote Tuesday, Feb. 2.
Baugh and Jones were censured for opening the board chambers to the public when the board had voted to keep them closed due to COVID-19.
This is a breaking story. We will update this article and have full coverage tonight on KRCR News Channel 7.
