TOWN MEETING AIMS TO TACKLE DUMPING, DRUGS

HAPPY VALLEY - Drugs. Trash. Stray dogs.

These problems aren't new to this rural town west of Redding. Nor are they
unique to Happy Valley.

But sensing an upswing in citizen complaints in the past year, law
enforcement and county officials will meet with residents Thursday night to
discuss what Shasta County Supervisor Irwin Fust called "mounting" concerns.

"People are calling me and saying, 'We've got to get rid of this,' " Fust
said Tuesday.

"This" can mean several things in Happy Valley, a country town dotted
sporadically with small farms, houses and mobile homes. Trash sometimes
accumulates on roadsides, and abandoned cars and building code violations
are also a concern, Fust said. Each week, sheriff's logs report phone calls
from residents irate over wandering livestock and stray dogs.

"You really get frustrated with it," said Fust, whose district includes the
community of about 6,000 residents that boasts an annual strawberry
festival and a series of produce-selling farms and ranches.

These problems may be growing, but they're hardly new, said 20-year Happy
Valley resident Jim Ray, owner of Discount Feed on Happy Valley Road.

"I've seen it off and on," Ray said Tuesday while making small talk with
customers inside his store. "Piles of trash that shouldn't be there -
people dump here and there because they can't afford the fees (at the dump)."

Last year's Canyon Fire destroyed many of the abandoned cars, Ray said. But
the blaze also gutted 64 homes, one of several tragedies - including the
double slaying of a gay couple and two other murders - that made last year
one to forget for Happy Valley residents.

Drugs may be the biggest concern. At least two high-profile methamphetamine
cases took place in the town in recent months. In March, surveillance
agents arrested a Happy Valley man suspected of transporting a
methamphetamine lab in the back of his pickup. The same month, officials
learned Shasta College laboratory equipment had been stolen and used in two
Happy Valley meth labs.

The community accounted for only 2 percent of Shasta Interagency Narcotics
Task Force cases in 1999. Sixty percent were from Redding, 15 percent from
Anderson and 7 percent from Shasta Lake, said Ed Pecis, the task force
commander.

Still, Happy Valley's web of gravel roads, wooded hills and large land
parcels make for loads of good hideouts for drug users, Pecis said.

"We have more mid-to-major narcotic violators moving into the rural areas,"
Pecis said. "They're coming from other counties. Instead of moving right
into town, they're moving into outlying areas. They don't feel the law
enforcement pressure, and it's pretty wide open."

Because Happy Valley has a high turnover rate - residents move in and out
frequently, Fust said - the purpose of Thursday's meeting is for community
members to learn who they can turn to when they have problems. It's also a
chance to voice their concerns.

Two similar meetings have been held in the past six years, one to introduce
new federally funded sheriff's deputies, the other to discuss a growing
methamphetamine problem. After each forum, drug use seemed to wane, Fust said.

He hopes Thursday's meeting has the same effect.

"I want the DA and the sheriff and all those guys to hear from these
folks," Fust said.

Reporter Alex Breitler can be reached at 225-8344 or at abreitler@redding.com.