There’s been some grumbling about the Shasta County Board of Supervisors choice as an interim replacement for Paul Hellman, who recently resigned from his position as Director of Resource Management. It’s a wide-ranging job with multi-faceted responsibilities requiring very specific technical skill sets. Hellman took a similar position with another county, and he urged the board to hire his Deputy, Adam Fieseler. Instead, by a 3 to 2 vote, the interim position was given to Wyatt Paxton. There was some confusion about the choice. Paxton is a former employee who left 20 years ago and has since been a very vocal critic of the department. During Tuesday’s board meeting former Citizens Elections Advisory Commissioner Dawn Duckett revealed during public comment that Paxton had been a consultant for another vocal critic of Resource Management, Reverge Anselmo. The wealthy Anselmo now lives in Connecticut, where he returned after losing a lawsuit he fought against Shasta County prompted by his refusal to get permits for some of the buildings at his winery and restaurant in the Inwood area. He declared he would never return unless major changes occurred in county government. Those included the election of Patrick Jones, to whom he contributed more than $100,000 in campaign funding. He also gave $159,000 to Kevin Crye’s campaign to repel a recall effort earlier this year. Overall Anselmo has sunk nearly $2 Million into Shasta County politics in the last couple of years, while living in Connecticut. Perhaps most telling is Anselmo’s most insistent demand for his return… the dismantling of the Resource Management Department, which is now in the hands of his ally and former employee Paxton.
-Steve Gibson