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Redding City Council Candidates Forum

Full Recording Now Available on our YouTube Channel

SEA had a great turnout at our Redding City Council Candidate Forum with about 120 people eager to learn the candidates’ positions on issues of importance to us. We had a range of people in attendance, from many SEA board members to former Redding City Council Members Gary Cadd and Francie Sullivan, Redding Planning Commission Chair Aaron Hatch, McConnell Foundation CFO Shannon Phillips, and former Redding Community Services director Kim NIemer. KRCR filmed almost the entire meeting and interviewed the candidates afterward. Doni Chamberlain of Anewscafe.com wrote an excellent in-depth article about the forum here. KRCR will be airing segments over the week and Shasta Scout had a story on their Instagram account.

Current City Council Members Mark Mezzano and Joshua Johnson, new candidates David Backues, Ian Hill, Dr. Paul Dhanuka, a cancer specialist, and Mike Littau participated. Candidates Erin Resner and Anthony Spengler were unable to make it and their personal statements were placed on the candidates’ information table.

We did not provide the candidates with the questions in advance but did give them the subjects we would be covering so they could provide informed answers. A new effective Redding tree ordinance that protects native trees and/or requires mitigation for their removal should that be needed. All the candidates to varying degrees did support a new tree ordinance requiring mitigation with candidate Backues having previously lived in Chico stating the success of Chico in developing their tree canopy.  Mezzano has long supported a new tree ordinance and said it will be coming to the City Council for a vote this fall. The other candidates stated they were also in favor of increasing Redding’s tree canopy and a more effective tree ordinance. The actual result will depend on what happens when strong pushback comes from developers who do not want to pay a penny more in development fees for Redding. Many if not most California cities and towns have ordinances protecting their oak trees including the City of Shasta Lake.

We did have a question on climate change and no candidate openly denied it, however, we do recognize that the candidates were cognizant of the audience they were addressing. A related question was:

This year, Redding experienced nearly 70 days over 100 degrees, including a record-high of 119 degrees. The City of Redding’s local hazard mitigation plan recognizes that we can expect more frequent and intense heat waves in the future. What actions should the City of Redding take to prepare for and adapt to our increasingly hot summers?

The candidates did not really state the most effective way locally to counteract increasing temperatures which is to increase to tree canopy to 30% or more which can result in a summer temperature reduction of up to 12 degrees. This is what Sacramento did to reduce their peak electric demand in summers following a citizen vote to eliminate their expensive and often malfunctioning Rancho Seco nuclear power plant. They have still not reached a 30% tree canopy in all of the city.

To get a better picture of the forum by a professional journalist, we recommend you read the Anewscafe article here or go to our YouTube channel here and see the video of the entire program. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, SEA cannot endorse or oppose any candidate.

SEA appreciates all of the candidates who took the time to attend the event and give us their views on issues of importance to us. The moderator for the event was SEA board member Sarah Risher and it was recorded by Alan Ernesto Phillips.

For more information on Redding City Council Candidates go to the Record Searchlight here.

Candidates websites/email:

Dave Backues: backdave.com

Paul Dhanuka:  https://drpauldhanuka.com/

Ian Hill: citycounciluponahill@gmail.com

Joshua Johnson: www.joshforredding.com

Mike Littau: www.votemikelittau.com

Mark Mezzano: www.markmezzano.com

Erin Resner: www.erin@erinresner.com

Anthony Spengler: spenglerforcouncil@gmail.com