Shasta County’s Board of Supervisors is moving a charter amendment to the Nov. 3, 2026, ballot that would spell out how vacancies in elected department head positions are filled.
According to the board staff report, supervisors on July 14 were set to enact an ordinance titled “An Ordinance of the Board of Supervisors of the County of Shasta Adding Provisions for Filling Elected Department Head Positions in the Event of a Vacancy to the Shasta County Charter,” approve the argument in favor for Measure F, and authorize the County Executive Officer or a designee to submit the required signature statement form.
The staff report says supervisors directed staff on June 16 to draft a rule requiring a special election to fill a vacancy if the next regularly scheduled election would occur within 12 months. If the next scheduled election is more than 12 months away, the board could fill the vacancy by appointment through open recruitment, but only with a 4/5 vote.
The report says the board introduced the ordinance on June 23 and adopted a resolution calling for an election consolidated with the Nov. 3 general election. It also says any delay would have prevented the amendment from reaching the November ballot.
The staff report says the measure would carry a general fund impact tied to staff time, legal review, ballot printing and election administration. It estimates each countywide ballot measure reduces election revenue by $20,000 to $50,000.
The county’s argument in favor says the proposed addition to the charter would limit the county’s eminent-domain authority; that language appears inconsistent with the vacancy-filling ordinance described in the staff report, so the ballot-measure naming should be checked against the final adopted materials before publication.
