New look at the top
Supervisor Peters elected board chair on his 1st day
Kern County Supervisor Phillip Peters hasn’t even fully decorated his new office, and yet he has already been named the newest chairman of the Board of Supervisors.
On his first day as supervisor, his colleagues unanimously voted him into the leadership position in a special meeting on Monday. Previous Chair Leticia Perez was named as vice-chair. Both Peters and Perez will serve in their roles for the entirety of 2021.
“It’s going to be challenging for sure,” Peters said in a phone interview after the meeting. “Fortunately, I’ve had a little bit of experience. I was the chairman of the Kern High School Board of Trustees in 2018. This will definitely be a different type of role, a lot bigger organization, so it’s a little bit different way of doing things.”
Still, he expressed confidence in his ability to adjust quickly. As the former field director for Mick Gleason, who retired as District 1 supervisor at the end of 2020, Peters is not a completely new face around the County Administrative Center.
“It’s definitely going to take some getting used to,” he added, but noted he thought he and the board would be able to manage.
Traditionally, the chairmanship of the board is passed from one district to the next each year. With District 5 Supervisor Perez relinquishing her role on Monday, it fell to District 1 this year.
Supervisor Mike Maggard made the formal nomination, seconded by Supervisor Zack Scrivner.
“Phillip brings not only a solid record of service at the KHSD, but more importantly a real world private sector experience that will help us grow our economy and remind us of the heavy weight of
government regulation which stifles the viability of jobs and businesses,” Maggard said in a text to The Californian.
A business owner, Peters is a strong advocate for the agriculture and oil industries and said he would push back against “overregulation” of the two Kern County fixtures. He served for one term as a trustee for KHSD. At 32, he is also a relatively young member of the board.
“Your youthfulness is refreshing, and we’re excited for all the energy that you’re bringing,” Perez told her new colleague on Monday.
Elected during the primary election in March because he earned more than 50 percent of all votes cast, Peters was sworn into office in a small ceremony before Christmas. His first few months on the board will likely be focused on the county’s pandemic response, especially the rollout of the coronavirus vaccine.
“On the one hand, I’m really excited and anxious, and all that to get started,” Peters said. “I’m definitely feeling the gravity of the new role, but on the other hand it’s like breathing a big sigh of relief that we’re finally here and we can actually get to work and quit waiting on it.”
The first full meeting of the board in 2021 will take place today. Most of the items to be considered are routine matters.
Perez, however, is set to be honored for her time as chairwoman. In November, then-Supervisor Gleason requested Perez receive a resolution from her colleagues for “her numerous accomplishments” as the 2020 chair.