A former Shasta County Sheriff’s sergeant, Redding’s police chief and a man who runs a map consulting business are vying for voter attention and the District 2 seat on Shasta County’s Board of Supervisors.

Paul Heckman, the former sheriff’s officer is also a past president of the Happy Valley Little League and hopes to solve county problems by being a voice for the people.

“I will work as hard as I can to speak with them and be out in my district as much as I possibly can,” said Heckman, who has lived in the county’s southwestern district for 29 years. He and his wife Jean have raised their children in the area, which is one reason he would like to see more youth programs and parks in the county’s unincorporated areas.

Leonard Moty, 55, is a Shasta County native who has served for 31 years in the Redding Police Department, most recently as its Chief of Police. He intends to retire from that position if elected. With a master’s degree in business, Moty says that solving the county’s budget worries is his “first and largest concern.”

He would like to work out some sort of tax-sharing program with the county as well as come to some countywide agreements on sharing sales tax revenue from commercial and business development. “I’m concerned that we follow our general plan and respect property rights, but also you have to do what’s for the greater good,” Moty said.

John Wilson, 60, owns the mapping business Safety on Sight as well as 16 rental properties. Over the years, he has served on many boards and committees including the county’s grand jury. He currently serves as chairman of the Community Revitalization and Development Corporation, a nonprofit group that provides and manages more than 100 units of local, affordable housing. A former high school and Shasta College teacher, Wilson holds a bachelor’s degree in social science from Chico State University. According to Wilson, the county’s biggest challenge after finding a way to finance construction of a jail expansion is to find the dollars it takes, he estimates $3 million, to operate such a facility. A jail would take four or five years to build, “and then we can’t staff it when it’s done,” Wilson said.