Supervisors honor Duane Chamberlain
The Yolo County Board of Supervisors honored Duane Chamberlain for his 15 years in the position.
Chamberlain was first elected to the board in 2004 and began service in 2005. He represented the 5th Supervisorial District — which includes north Woodland as well as the communities of Knights Landing,
Yolo, Madison, Esparto and the
Capay Valley. He lost the election to Angel Barajas in March, and will be leaving the board on Jan. 1.
Chamberlain was recognized at Tuesday’s board meeting, which took place over Zoom due to the continuing coronavirus pandemic. During the first part of the meeting, members of the board and multiple guest speakers commemorated their time with Chamberlain and recalled
projects they worked together.
“You kind of forget after a while about these projects you get involved in,” Chamberlain said. “We plow on, well I don’t plow on, we cultivate on.”
Chamberlain was born in Los Angeles in 1937 before moving to Orange County. He noted that, during his time in the county, he watched agricultural land disappear.
“Duane you reminded us that Yolo County could suffer the same fate if we were not vigilant in maintaining a strong ag community,” said Executive Director of Yolo Land Trust, Michele Clark.
Chamberlain moved to Yolo County in 1955 to attend UC Davis. He started Chamberlain farms in Woodland just 10 years later, according to his website. In the past, he served as president of the Yolo County Farm Bureau, a member of the Yolo County Farm Bureau Executive Committee, part of the Board of Directors for the Yolo Land Trust and the Woodland Chamber of Commerce.
He also stayed close to his alma mater as a member of the UC Davis Advisory Committee for the College of Agriculture.
“It is a bittersweet day,” said California Assemblywoman Cecilia Aguiar-Curry who represents the 4th Assembly District, which includes all of Yolo County except West Sacramento. “As we know public service is not easy and it’s hard to say goodbye to my friend Duane.”
Aguiar- Curry said that she worked with Chamberlain to aid rural voters in his district, and always appreciated his knowledge of the county. She noted that, although he is leaving the board, she plans on seeing him around.
“I look forward to seeing you at Plainfield station, we’ll share a burger,” she told him.
Chamberlain swept rural votes in the last election, but failed to win the city. Most of the landmass he represents is rural, but 70% of the voting population is in Woodland.
Chuck Dudley, a member of the Yolo County Farm Bureau Board of Directors, said that he appreciated Chamberlain’s commitment to the rural population of the county, and that he believed Chamberlain always believed in listening to his constituents.
Dudley commemorated Chamberlain’s effort by saying “you have served long and well and deserve to drop back to the 70- hour- a- week farm job.”
Chamberlain faced one other challenger in his 15year career. Now Woodland Community College President Art Pimentel attempted to unseat him in 2012.
Barajas, a former Woodland City Council member, won the April 7 election with 52.37% of the 9,331 votes cast. He announced his resignation from the council during a Dec. 3 meeting, and attended his last meeting Tuesday.
“I would also like to thank current Supervisor Chamberlain for his 16 years of service to the residents of this great county,” Barajas said at his resignation. “Although I’m not sworn into office until January 2021, in the interim, I will closely monitor and work on issues of importance such as the COVID- 19 pandemic, preservation of prime ag land, street and road repairs, homelessness, public safety and other important local issues that matter to residents. I am dedicated to serving my constituents and will continue working hard to do so.”
A Woodland native, Barajas’ first job after graduating from college was as an assistant deputy to a member of the Board of Supervisors. He has served on the Parks and Recreation Commission, Woodland School Board and on the Yolo County Fair Board of Directors.
Barajas had cal led Chamberlain “out of touch” during his campaign. He also noted that Chamberlain was unable to vote to protect prime ag land under the Williamson Act due to business conflicts.
Barajas will take office on Jan. 1. His first meeting with the Board of Supervisors will be on Jan. 12.