Regnell, 57, faces fight

Shasta County's incumbent Auditor/Controller since January 2007, 57-year-old Connie Regnell will once again face opposition in her bid for re-election during the June primary.

Her announced opponent is Randal Faulkner, also 57, a former federal government accountant and auditor who recently qualified as a Certified Public Accountant with some restrictions.

Regnell was first elected to the Auditor/Controller post in December 2006. She assumed the title and office in January 2007, following the retirement of Rick Graham, with whom she had served eight years as assistant Auditor/Controller and two years before that as a senior account clerk.

Previously, Regnell served six years - from 1991-'96 - in the Tehama County Auditor/Controller's office working under Bob Mieske prior to moving to Redding late in 1996.

Including the 15 years she spent as a cost accountant and log scale supervisor with Diamond International in Red Bluff as well as three years as a records and support services manager for Citizen Utilities, Regnell has 38 years of accounting experience and more than 300 accredited hours of training specifically in accounting for California county government.

In regards to her opponent's oft-quoted dig that she does not have a CPA certificate, Regnell said, "A degree or a certification may get you an interview, but I've got my Ph.D. in results."

Born in Council Bluffs, Iowa, young Connie moved at age 5 with her parents and siblings to the Southern California community of Culver City until the family moved again, this time to Redding in 1968, just as Connie was beginning her junior year at Shasta High School.

She graduated in 1970, but not before landing a bookkeeping job during high school with Valley Feed and Equipment.

"I know more people from my high school graduating class now because of my involvement in the community than I ever knew while in high school," Regnell jokes.

By age 21, Connie was working at Diamond International in Red Bluff where she eventually met David Regnell, who supervised Diamond's adjacent plywood plant.

The two have been married for 27 years.

A son, Michael, lives in North Platte, Neb., where he works as an assistant general manager for a Wal-Mart Distribution Center.

A daughter, Kristy, is serving with the U.S. Air Force and stationed in Gulfport, Miss., after completing two tours in Iraq and serving for three years in Germany. Through the Air Force, she is working on a master's degree

Both children graduated from Red Bluff Union High School while the Regnells lived in Red Bluff.

In their spare time, the Regnells enjoy playing golf together, and have danced Country-Western style on a competitive level.

Connie Regnell was the founding chair of Shasta County's first Relay for Life, now in its 14th year. She has also volunteered at the Shasta Women's Refuge and at Haven Humane Society.

She is the past-President of two Rotary Clubs and is currently chairing several committees for Redding Rotary.

Professionally, Connie Regnell is the second vice-president of the State Association of County Auditors and chairs that organization's statewide legislative committee.

In the past, she has chaired the County Budget Act Revision Committee, overseeing legislation that took effect Jan. 1, 2010, that governs how all county auditors throughout the state will prepare county budgets. It is the first such update on a statewide level since 1986

"For the first time, we will have consistency through all of California's 58 counties," Regnell said.

Regnell also worked closely with Doug LaMalfa while he was in the State Assembly to reduce the financial reports and requirements that all special districts are supposed to meet.

"Some special districts in the county barely raise $5,000 in revenues during the year, so for them to be required to have annual audits costing $3,000 each" is cost prohibitive, she noted.

As chief accounting officer for the county, Regnell processes payroll for all county employees, manages all fixed asset reporting and all accounts payable duties as well as transactions by any special district, department or school district that has any funds on deposit with the county.

Her office sets up and runs a county-wide financial accounting system that provides decentralized access on a round-the-clock basis to more than 600 individual users. This system helps eliminate costs, reduces errors and allows department level managers to do trend spotting and analysis regularly and easily.

"As auditor and controller, I am the one who makes sure that all of the county's dollars are spent appropriately and in compliance with code, budget and regulation. I am the watchdog on county spending," Regnell said of her responsibilities and duties.