Voters have until Tuesday, March 5 to make their decisions for the primary election. NSPR has been interviewing candidates vying for seats on the Butte County Board of Supervisors. In District 4, Joanna Warrens is challenging incumbent Tod Kimmelshue. She spoke with NSPR’s Ava Norgrove about her background and how she would address some of the issues facing the county if elected.
This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
Why are you running for this position?
I am a farmer. We’ve been in walnut farming. We took over the family farm in 2011 in Durham, and [I] feel very strongly that Butte County should maintain its agricultural ties. I’m also a teacher. I teach online, on Zoom. I teach immigrant women English. And I’m also a mother, and that is a big huge job and I think it deserves acknowledgement so I put that on my form. And I just want to really serve. I love government.
What are some of the most pressing issues that you see facing Butte County?
One thing that I have really come to learn about is there’s currently no rent stabilization for mobile home park owners or renters. And this is a real, big problem because outside companies come in and either manage or buy mobile home parks, and they price seniors out. Some of these mobile homes, these are just land rent. Some people pay rent in addition to that, and people are paying up to $900 a month and it keeps going up. And I just think that this is something that has a legislative solution. And the more I talked to people in the community, the more I learned that everybody’s in favor of this except for the lobbyists for the manufactured home association.
So, you see rent as kind of the biggest issue facing us right now?
Water is something that comes up all the time. People are real concerned that larger entities are taking over our water and not protecting our groundwater. And this is something that my opponent has been involved with is the Tuscan Water District. And that was an election that really was non-democratic. It was legal, but it was non-democratic because it was based on the number of acres you had. And I spoke to someone yesterday who’s a domestic well owner and is absolutely terrified, and these are people who don’t have $50,000 to drill a new well if it’s a problem.
If you were to win the supervisor seat in your district, how are you planning to address some of these issues?
One of the things about the current board of supervisors is that it has a four conservative one liberal majority, which is not really representative of the county in terms of demographics. One thing I think is important is I would be a second on the board so that we can discuss more issues. Currently, there are issues that are quite simply not discussed because there isn't a second on the board. And I think that if we're going to have solutions to some of these really hard problems, we need to hear all the solutions.
What are some of the more critical issues specifically within your district?
Libraries are something that come up a fair amount, and there is sort of a budget shortfall really, when it comes to libraries. They're just funded in an unsecure way. That would be something I would hope to address on the board. Budget is important to me. I'm a dollars and cents person. And I want the board to continue to provide the services they provide and be able to maintain those in the future.
Read/ listen to NSPR’s other Butte County Board of Supervisor candidate interviews
Further media coverage of the candidates:
- Butte County supervisor candidate Q&A – Chico News & Review
- Meet the candidates: Joanna Warrens – Chico Enterprise-Record
- Meet the candidates: Tod Kimmelshue – Chico Enterprise-Record
- Meet the candidates: Julia Threet– Chico Enterprise-Record
- Meet the candidates: Doug Teeter – Chico Enterprise-Record
Editor’s note: Butte County District 1 Supervisor Bill Connelly did not respond to multiple requests from NSPR for an interview. He is running unopposed.
