A very unusual development is taking shape in a Shasta Lake area school board race. The Gateway Unified School District has been a hot bed for controversy in the past. Last year Board Chair Cherrill Clifford resigned after a lawsuit was filed by a parents group against Clifford and two other board members, Elias and Lindsi Haynes. They were accused of violating open meeting laws in an attempt to hire Bryan Caples as their new Superintendent after firing the previous Superintendent without cause. A special election was held last year to replace Clifford. Elias Haynes was up for re-election last week and his opponent in that race is Bobbie Simpson. Current numbers show Simpson with a healthy lead of 58%, which is 357 votes more than Haynes. If Simpson wins, she’ll be Shasta County’s first ever openly trans-gender person to be elected to anything.
-Steve Gibson