Norma Comnick, 75, elected Mayor of Anderson for a third time

Photo by George L. Winship, Editor

Butch Schaefer displays his plaque and thanks supporters for helping him successfully complete his most recent two-year term as Mayor Anderson, a term that ended Jan. 5, 2010, with the election of Norma Comnick as Mayor.

Norma Comnick, 75, will spend half of her fourth term on the Anderson City Council as its Mayor, council members unanimously decided Tuesday, Jan. 5. It will be Comnick's third turn as Mayor, previously serving one-year terms in 1998 and 2003.

The council also unanimously elected as its Vice Mayor a relative newcomer, Melissa Hunt, 44, who is serving her first elected term on the council after previously being appointed to fill the final year of Les Baugh's unexpired term when Baugh made the transition to Shasta County's Board of Supervisors representing District 5.

Both positions carry a two-year term that began with the council's first meeting in January 2010 and will end in the early days of January 2012.

Comnick, a 57-year Shasta County resident who retired in 2004 as an insurance agent specializing in commercial accounts, was appointed to Anderson's council on April 2, 1996. She was elected to four-year council terms in 2000, 2004 and 2008.

“Over the years, there have been some ups and downs, but one of the best things that happened to Anderson was the hiring of Scott Morgan as our City Manager in 1997,” Comnick said during a telephone interview on Friday, Jan. 8.

Since 2000, Comnick has represented the City of Anderson on the Regional Transportation Planning Agency and the Redding Area Bus Authority.

Until the rate-payers of the Anderson Fire Protection District independently elected their own five-member board of directors in November and the winners were seated in early December, Comnick also served the past 11 years as one of three council members appointed to the district's governing board.

Among the highlights of Comnick's 14 years in city government, she has seen the opening of the state's official Welcome Center in Anderson, launching of the Frontier Senior Center, construction of the city's skateboard facility in Volonte Park and construction of the Anderson Teen Center.

“We are very fortunate that we have a strong group of dedicated employees,” she said, especially noting the recent efforts by Dana Shigley, who replaced Morgan as City Manager when Morgan moved his family to Florida, and Public Works Director Jeff Kiser. “We were very lucky to hire Jeff Kiser away from Omni-Means. He is a real asset to our management team,” Comnick noted.

In her spare time, Comnick does volunteer work at the Frontier Senior Center and serves as treasurer of the Anderson Rotary Club.

“I put a lot of faith in the citizens of Anderson. They will always step forward to help each other when the chips are down,” Comnick said.

A Shasta County native, Melissa Hunt is a former school teacher who left the profession in 2004 for professional development. From 2005-06, she served 16 months on the Federal Grand Jury in Sacramento. She is on the board of directors for Haven Humane Society and does volunteer work for YMCA Plus One Mentors, Frontier Senior Center, Anderson Explodes! and Toys From the Heart.

She is active in her church where she sings on the worship team. She has also raised awareness and donations for various non-profit causes including the food pantry at Anderson-Cottonwood Christian Assistance and CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates), a program that launched late last year in Shasta County.

As one of Comnick's first official acts as Mayor on Tuesday, she presented an engraved plaque to out-going Mayor Butch Schaefer for successfully completing his two-year term in leading the council.

Third on the list of several people that Schaefer singled out to publicly thank for supporting him during his term as Mayor -- a list that also included his wife, Sandy, as well as former City Manager Scott Morgan -- Schaefer thanked Comnick "who always filled in for me while I was at work."

Schaefer will retire Feb. 17 after serving 23 years and six months as a Shasta County Deputy Marshal.

A retirement gala honoring Butch Schaefer is planned for 6:30 p.m. Feb. 11 at the Gaia Hotel in Anderson. Tickets to the event are $25 and may be ordered from Becky Bassett at the Shasta County Marshal’s Office, 1500 Court St., Room 206, Redding, 96001. Checks should be made payable to “Becky Bassett.”