After Yamaguchi, who?

For the past 12 years, Kim Yamaguchi has represented the Ridge at County Center. He’s an unabashed conservative, staunchly opposed to new taxes, who prides Butte County on running a lean, mean ship.

His lingering legacy as District 5 supervisor likely will be the Upper Ridge Escape Route from Inskip to Butte Meadows, which he helped champion to legislators beyond the North State.

Yamaguchi elected not to seek a fourth term, so someone different will head to the Board of Supervisors. Precisely how different remains to be seen, as variety abounds in the quartet of candidates. There’s Joe DiDuca, a businessman and Paradise town councilman; Mike Greer, a special-education teacher on the Paradise Unified School District board; Robin Huffman, a former town councilwoman on the faculty of Butte College; and Doug Teeter, a private fiduciary who’s served on the board of the Paradise Pines Property Owners Association.

DiDuca might be the candidate most similar to the outgoing incumbent. He, too, has vociferously objected to new taxes and fees. He would like to reduce the size of county government to provide just the most vital services—roads, emergency response and business support—and said at a candidates’ forum that he would like to audit public agencies.

Greer got re-elected to the school board for a third term in 2010. Interestingly, though he’s been a teachers’ union chapter president in Marysville, where he works, he was never endorsed by Paradise teachers. The PUSD budget has shrunk from $34 million to around $25 million during his time on the school board; experience with budgets and boards is among the attributes he touts.

Huffman ran against Yamaguchi in 2008, finishing second in a three-candidate race. She was elected to the Town Council in 2004 on the strength of her opposition to Walmart, which is planning a store at the Paradise Gateway. Huffman stresses the importance of local business, particularly local food producers and distributors.

Teeter is a newcomer to elected politics, though he’s held an appointed position on the Butte County Resource Advisory Committee. He’s been an advocate for access on public lands and expressed support for preserving the Greenline as drawn.