Susan Wilson Update: Fired for Alleged Personal Financial Misdeeds

Written by Chriss W. Street

Mountain Top Times has confirmed that Susan Wilson, who is President of the League of Women Voters, following an investigation and referral to the Redding Police Department, was terminated as the Executive Director of Youth Options Shasta that seeks to divertshundreds of youth from the juvenile justice system for alleged personal financial misdeeds on or about September 18^th.  

The Mountain Top Times has made numerous requests for information regarding Ms. Wilson to Youth Options Shasta; League of Women Voters for Redding Area; the Shasta County Community Action Board; Redding Police Department and the Shasta County District Attorney.  After getting only limited responses regarding Susan Wilson issues, the Mountain Top issued a series of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) public record requests across Shasta County.

Based on the attached Redding Police Department Police Department initial investigation Report Number: RPD24L-076891, it is now alleged that Susan Wilson without the not-for-profit Youth Options ShastaBoard’s knowledge or approval, used her Executive Director position and sole-check signor authority to secretly give herself a series of compensation and faux benefit increases of at least $30,000.  The liability regarding Susan Wilson’s misdeeds appear to be heightened after FOIA requests turned up three YOS contracts for $45,000 each from the Shasta Board of Education that may have involved federal funding.(attached)  

Wilson has been a politically high profile resident of Shasta County for over three decade, beginning in 1992 when she was first elected as a member of the Shasta County Board of Education (SCBOE).  When former School Superintendent Charlie Menoherresigned as Executive Director of the Youth Violence Prevention Council (YVPC) in 2011, Susan Wilson resigned her School Board seat to take the paid YVPC Executive Director position. Menoher glowingly supported Wilson by commenting, “Susan brings a wealth of experience. She's going to do a great job.”

But local news groups described the move as “sending ripples through the education community,” because it positioned the coveted school board seat to be filled by local elected politicians.  Many Shasta County residents grumbled at the time that whoever would be appointed to the normally highly competitive seat,would have the unfair advantage by being designated an incumbent on the 2012 School Board electionballot.

Wilson justified resigning from her elected Shasta County Board of Education position as ethically necessary to avoid conflicts of interest, since the Youth Violence Prevention Council programs like Youth Peer Court, PlusOne Mentors, Shasta Youth Leadership Camp and graffiti removal appeared to be predominantly funded by SCBOE funneling federal and state grant dollars to the not-for-profit agency.  The turmoil eventually settled down, and Ms. Wilson was appointed to the prestigious Shasta County Community Action Board. The Youth Violence Prevention Councilthen became Youth Options Shasta (YOS).

According to FOIA public records requests and multiple local sources, Susan Wilson was receiving Executive Director of Youth Options Shasta salary, despite and seldom coming into the office, showing up for board meetings, or participating in YOS programsaimed at preventing youth crime and violence.  Ms. Wilson allegedly had a dismissive attitude toward her job managing the YOS taxpayer-funded $397,000 annual budget and paid staff members.  Ms. Wison justified her absence from day to day activity, because she was extremely focused on “community engagement.”  

Community engagement for Susan Wilson included serving as President for the very politically activeLeague of Women Voters (LWV) of Redding Area.  The League nationally has had a reputation of being open and inclusive to all candidates, as evidenced by the Santa Clara County LWV’s motto: “Serving the people of all cities and towns within Santa Clara County.”  But under Ms. Wilson’s leadership over the last decade, the League of Women Voters of Redding Area has taken an increasingly ideological bent that included adopting the stridently combative motto: “Because Democracy Is Not A Spectator Sport.”  

President Wilson’s policies included the highly-symbolic dumping of LWV conducting American Flag Salute and Pledge of Allegiance that had been a standard-operating-procedure for decades at League of Women Voters’ meetings, local candidate debates and initiative forums. President Wilson has deceptively tried to obfuscate responsibility for her personal agenda by falsely claiming that she has just been honoring “the long-held rules of a trusted non-partisan organization.”

At the first of the three LWV-hosted 2022 local candidate debates at the Redding Public Library, President Wilson was incensed when challenger for Superintendent of Schools Brian Caples stood up to lead the Flag Salute and Pledge of Allegiance.  According to the Shasta Scout: “While incumbent Superintendent Judy Flores “initially stood up with her hand on her heart, sat down again after a request to do so by the forum’s moderator, Susan Wilson.” After the debate, Wilson disparaged the challenger: “Mr. Caples might go down in my history as one of my more difficult people.”  

Wilson as Moderator of the packed second LWV-hosted debate that featured challenger Bob Holsingeragainst incumbent Shasta County Clerk of Elections Cathy Darling Allen, penalized Holsinger by requiring him to bring his own flag and sacrifice his three-minute opening remarks in order to conduct the Pledge of Allegiance. Local news reported that conservative candidates knew LWV never allowed Flag Salutes and had weaponized the Pledge as part of a political agenda.

But on the third night of LWV debates was Moderated by Jeannette Logue.  When Supervisor District 1 challenger Kevin Crye told the crowd he would be a “sell-out” to his country and those who fought and died for it if he did not take the opportunity to Pledge the Flag.  League admitted that the League does not usually include the Pledge as part of political forums, but there was no LWV ban on saying the Pledge.