Candidates flock to Happy Valley

GRILLED: Roughly 50 people attended a candidates night in Happy Valley. Here, Ken Lanspa of Redding asks questions of candidates.

A candidates' night at the Happy Valley community center May 13 brought in candidates for district attorney, county clerk, assessor-recorder and auditor-controller.

Also appearing for questions from voters were Republican Party primary candidate for U.S. Representative of District 2 Pete Stiglich, Democratic presumed candidate of U.S. Representative of District 2 Jim Reed, candidate for California 2nd Assembly District Charlie Schaupp, and candidate for State Superintendent of Public Instruction Henry Williams.

Schaupp, a challenger to Jim Nielsen, introduced himself first as a "very conservative" former U.S. marine who prioritized limiting the size of the state bureaucracy and increasing local funding.

Running against incumbent Wally Herger, Stiglich questioned the lack of moral leadership, influence peddling and lack of honesty in government.

While not running against Herger until November if nominated, Reed noted that Herger does not bring enough federal spending to Shasta County. Counties across the United States on average receive $18,000 per person from the federal government, but only $10,000 comes to Shasta County, Reed said.

The race for Shasta County District Attorney between incumbent Jerry Benito and Steve Carlton reached conflict, with Carlton condemning Benito's management style for causing a high turnover rate of lawyers. The lawyers that remain, he said, are undertrained and have little experience.

Benito later countered, saying he has the support of his current prosecutors, and added that they are doing an excellent job in light of current fiscal difficulties.

When one audience member, Ken Lanspa of Redding, questioned the two about cyber-bullying, Carlton said he was "not familiar" with the term.

Benito then responded promptly by explaining a current program involving a district attorney investigator who serves area schools as a counselor to caution school children about cyber-bullying or using Internet communication to intimidate and embarrass others.

The audiences questioned lasted nearly two hours. Audience member Jim Ryan said his mind wasn't changed by any of the debates, but rather he was getting more entrenched in his choices with the June 8 election fast approaching.

"It was awesome, I had a lot of fun," event emcee Johanna Trenerry said, noting the questions helped differentiate between the candidates.