Early voting is now open in Shasta County for the recall election of District 2 Supervisor Leonard Moty, with the election date set for Feb.1.
The League of Women Voters of the Redding Area held a candidate forum earlier this month. Supervisor Moty spoke at the forum, alongside Dale Ball, a local construction superintendent, and Tim Garman, Happy Valley Unified School District board president.
Recall proponents have said District 2 Supervisor Leonard Moty did not do enough to reject the state’s COVID-19 mandates, which are intended to reduce hospitalizations and deaths from the disease.
At the forum, each candidate was asked how they plan to uphold their constitutional oath, and if the Board of Supervisors should comply with state mandates.
Supervisor Moty said he has upheld his constitutional oath by not opposing the state health mandates.
"You may say that the mandates are unlawful, but quite frankly they've been challenged in court and throughout the state,” Moty said. “And the governor and state have won on every court case, when it gets to the higher levels."
Candidate Dale Ball disagreed.
"If you take an oath to the Constitution, both federally and state, you should adhere to that plain and simple,” Ball said. “ If the governor is putting out mandates that are unconstitutional, then you're kind of in a catch 22 on that. But I think there's a lot of areas that we can do better."
Candidate Tim Garman took a much harsher stance and said he would oppose any state COVID-19 mandates.
The candidates were also asked about addressing homelessness, improving county healthcare and other pertinent topics facing Shasta County.
Two other candidates, Tony Hayward and Tarick Mahmoud, are also running for the position but did not attend the forum.
Voter information is available at ShastaVotes.org.
