PARADISE — District 5 Supervisor incumbent Doug Teeter has held his seat since 2013 and has no desire to stop yet.
“I really like to see things get completed,” Teeter said of the county’s various projects as well as his own pet projects he’s brought forward to the board.
Teeter grew up in Paradise and graduated from Paradise High School before moving away to go to college and eventually start a career, but he ultimately found his way back to his hometown in 2005.
“When you live somewhere else, you realize how good you had it,” Teeter said. “As a teenager, growing up in Paradise, I had that Huck Finn experience, and it’s something I wish kids today could enjoy like I did where people were a little more open to crisscross the countryside and enjoy the rivers and trails.”
Teeter became somewhat politically involved after moving back when he began attending supervisor meetings and learning the role of the board and how it makes decisions regarding budgets and land use.
“After 2008, there really weren’t many land use decisions being made,” Teeter said. “And I felt like some of the people that were running for office were probably not as open-minded as I would have liked. The land use part was what I really wanted to get involved in.”
Teeter said one of his goals is to make Butte County a better place for families to live.
“Making Butte County a place for families and middle America is one of my strengths,” Teeter said. “And it’s not an easy task trying to direct services and money to benefit what a majority of us are: middle-class Americans.”
The issues
Teeter emphasized representation for rural parts of the county as one of his key focuses as supervisor.
“I worked hard to get into leadership with the Rural County Representatives of California and that got me appointed to the Wildfire and Forest Resiliency Task Force of California,” Teeter said. “And I think that’s a good voice.”
Living through the Camp Fire, as well as other previous wildfires that threatened the foothills of Butte County, both fire resilience and recovery have become major concerns for Teeter.
“Recovery is a challenging thing,” Teeter said. “And I think a lot of folks had the dream that everyone that lost something as a result of either the Camp Fire or the North Complex (fires) would be dying to get back on their land and I’m not really seeing that. I think we’re definitely seeing new folks come in. So, for me growing up in Paradise, it’s going to be a whole new kind of demographic the elderly being replaced by a younger generation and I think that’s pretty exciting.”
Teeter noted that the board has been less strict on square footage for new homes in unincorporated areas as a means to allow for additional leniency when rebuilding.
When it comes to the challenges Butte County has and will face, Teeter said the county has overcome a lot.
“The county has had its share of issues,” Teeter said. “And there are still plenty of issues going on. There are obviously new issues like the mental health challenges and funding, but also the recovery. The redistricting with the loss of population, you could say roughly half of my district is new and I’m looking forward to the challenge of seeing if all these new voters resonate with what I represent in Butte County.”
Teeter is running against challenger Julie Threet for the position of District 5 Supervisor. The election is scheduled for March 5, 2024.
