Dani Anguiano's story is titled, "Inside the remote California county where the far right took over: ‘Civility went out the window.’" Here's an excerpt of the story out of Shasta County, which is metropolitan with a population of 180,000, but which is largely viewed as reflecting a rural culture:
Political tensions intensified across the US during the pandemic. But the ferocity of the conflicts in Shasta county surprised much of California.
Anger over Covid-19 restrictions and vaccine mandates culminated in rowdy public meetings and vicious threats against officials. Both Donald Trump’s campaign to overturn the results of the 2020 election and the recall effort against California’s Democratic governor the following year found widespread support. And in February, voters threw their weight behind a recall campaign against one of the five county supervisors, effectively giving control of the local government to a majority backed by the area’s thriving far-right movement.
Since then, the new majority has embarked on what it considers a badly needed “course correction”.
The board has fired the county health officer. The county CEO, under pressure from a conservative supervisor, has resigned. Amid the chaos and political division, the director of the health and human services agency retired.
The bitter tensions and the departures of top officials leading agencies responsible for child welfare, county management and the pandemic response have fueled concerns among some residents.
Other posts about Shasta County are here, here and here. Search also "State of Jefferson" here on Legal Ruralism.
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