The Powers That Be – Elected Officials and Government Agencies

The following links can help you learn more about elected officials and government agencies making policies that affect our bioregion.

Upcoming Local Meetings – Quick Links

Here’s where you can access meeting agendas for the county and selected (south county) cities. When there are particularly important issues to be discussed in an upcoming meeting, we will also highlight that information in our newsletter and on the Siskiyou Progressives calendar linked to our home page.

Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors

City of Weed

City of Mount Shasta

City of Dunsmuir

McCloud Community Services District

US Federal Government

US Congress – Doug LaMalfa (Rep incumbent – next election 2020)

US Senate – Kamala D. Harris (Dem incumbent – next election 2022); and Dianne Feinstein (Dem incumbent – next election 2024)

Federal Agencies – Today, environmental policies are under attack by the current federal administration – a recent article in the Journal of the American Medical Association estimates these changes may lead to 80,000 extra deaths per decade. Here’s a list of selected federal agencies and their local offices:

The US Department of Agriculture oversees the Natural Resources Conservation Service and the US Forest Service. Local USFS divisions include:

• Klamath National Forest – includes Humbug OHV Recreation Area and other recreation facilities
• Shasta-Trinity National Forest – includes McCloud/Medicine Lake, Mt. Shasta, Shasta Lake, and other ranger stations and recreation facilities
• Modoc National Forest – includes several recreation facilities
• Lassen National Forest – includes several ranger stations and recreation facilities
• Rogue River – Siskiyou National Forest (southern Oregon) – includes several recreation facilities 

The US Department of the Interior oversees the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the Bureau of Reclamation (USBR), the National Park Service (NPS) and the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Local divisions include:

• BIA Northwest Regional Office (Portland, Oregon)
• BLM California – Northern California District Office – Redding Field Office
• BLM Oregon/Washington – Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument –
• USBR Mid-Pacific Regional Office – Klamath Basin Area Office and Northern California Area Office
• NPS – Tule Lake Segregation Center – Lava Beds National Monument – Lassen Volcanic National Park – Whiskeytown National Recreation Area
• FWS Pacific Southwest Region – Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge – Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuge – Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge – Modoc National Wildlife Refuge

The Environmental Protection Agency oversees its Region 9 Pacific Southwest Office located in San Francisco.

State of California

State Assembly District 1 – Vacant; on November 5, there will be a runoff election between Elizabeth Betancourt (Dem) and Megan Dahle (Rep).

State Senate District 1  – Brian Dahle (Rep) was elected on June 4, 2019.

State Board of Equalization District 1 – Ted Gaines (Rep incumbent)

State Agencies

Here’s a list of state agencies involved in water issues.

Here’s a list of selected state environmental agencies and their local offices:

The California Environmental Protection Agency oversees:

• California Air Resources Board
• Department of Pesticide Regulation
• California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery
• Department of Toxic Substances Control
• Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment
• State Water Resources Control Board – North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board – Santa Rosa (includes Klamath/Trinity) – Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board – Redding (includes McCloud/Pit River)

The California Natural Resources Agency oversees:

• CAL Fire – Siskiyou Unit
• California Conservation Corps
• Department of Conservation
• Department of Fish and Wildlife – Northern Region 1
• Department of Parks and Recreation – Castle Crags State Park – McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park – Ahjumawi Lava Springs State Park
• Department of Water Resources – Integrated Regional Water Management – Upper Sacramento River Regional Water Action Group

Siskiyou County:

There are five geographical districts within the county, each electing one member of the county Board of Supervisors. Current members include:

• District 1 (McCloud, eastern county) – Brandon Criss, next election 2020
• District 2 (Mt. Shasta, Dunsmuir, etc.) – Ed Valenzuela, next election 2020
• District 3 (Weed, etc.) – Michael Kobseff, next election 2022
• District 4 (Yreka, etc.) – Lisa Nixon, next election 2020
• District 5 (western part of the county) – Ray Haupt, next election 2022

Several other county departments are headed by elected officials, while others are appointed. Please see the county website for details.

The County Clerk administers voter registration and elections. Please see her elections website for further information.

The county Community Development department administers building permits, code compliance, environmental health and planning. Each supervisor appoints one member of the county Planning Commission which makes decisions on a variety of zoning and building issues – more information on that function is here.

A number of special districts, such as the Air Pollution Control District operate in the county. While some are under the jurisdiction of county government, others are independent.

South County Cities and Community Services Districts:

Three cities are:

Weed – click here for city council video and livestreams

• Ken Palfini, Mayor
• Susan Tavalero, Mayor Pro Tem
• Stacey Green, Council Member
• Kim Greene, Council Member
• Bob Hall, Council Member

Mt. Shasta – click here for city council video and livestreams

• Barbara Wagner, Mayor (next election 2020)
• John Stackfleth, Mayor Pro Tem (next election 2020)
• Paul Engstrom, Council Member (next election 2020)
• John Redmond, Council Member (next election 2022)
• Jeffrey Collings, Council Member (next election 2022)

Dunsmuir – click here for city council video and livestreams

• Juliana Lucchesi – Mayor (note: she also works as the Mt. Shasta City Planner)
• Bruce Deutsch, Council Member
• Big Dave Keisler, Council Member
• Matthew James Bryan – Council Member
• Peter Arth, Jr. – Council Member

Each city elects city council members, appoints planning commissioners, and hires staff to fulfill its functions. Other cities in Siskiyou County include Dorris, Etna, Fort Jones, Montague, Tulelake and Yreka. There are also a variety of unincorporated communities in the county.

Community services districts are local government agencies which do not have all the powers of cities. These include:

• Lake Shastina Community Services District & Property Owners Association
• McCloud Community Services District

Intergovernmental Groups:

We participate in the Upper Sacramento Regional Water Action Group, along with representatives from cities, tribes, nonprofit organizations and others to develop water infrastructure projects.

Please sign up for our newsletter and read through the Policy Advocacy section of our website for further information on current issues affecting the health of our bioregion.

Volunteers are needed to attend public and private meetings, and review agendas and records of decision making. We strongly believe in collaborating with other citizen and environmental groups to accomplish our shared goals!