MICHAEL W. TURNIPSEED

Since 1975, Michael Turnipseed has been a self-employed businessperson, actively participating in numerous business, political, and civic projects.

In March 2005, Michael was retained to serve as the Executive Director of the Kern County Taxpayers Association. In April 2009, he was named President of the Kern County Taxpayers Education Fund, Inc. and Academy Director of Kern Leaders Academy. From 2011 to 2016, he served on the Kern County Employee Retirement Association Board, appointed by the Kern County Board of Supervisors, and served as Board Chairman in 2014. In addition, Michael has served on the California League of (School) Bond Oversight Committees from 2008 until 2018. Under his leadership, KernTax has helped Kern County property taxpayers avoid over $1.5 billion in general obligation bond payments while allowing local school districts to address their facility needs. In 2010, Kerntax intervened at the CPUC in PG&E’s General Rate Case, which resulted in savings of tens of millions of dollars for Kern County PG&E residential customers. In 2014, working with the County of Kern and the Kern Community College District, Michael began “Closing the Skills Gap,” a local workforce development initiative known as the Kern County Workforce Taskforce. In 2015, working with the County of Kern, the Kern Community College District, and the Kern High School District, KernTax was the catalyst in establishing “The 1 +1+2=Game Changer”, a plan that created dual enrollment at Arvin High School and other Kern High School District campuses. Since 2015, over 110,000 credits have been completed in KHSD dual enrollment classes. In 2016, KernTax lobbied the Kern High School District to construct an additional workforce development campus. In 2020, the Career Training and Education Center opened and became one of the premier programs in the country. In 2023, Michael was appointed by the Kern Health Systems Board by the Kern County Board of Supervisors.

From 1975 to 2004, Michael was a partner in the family farming business. In 1979, he started D and M Sprayers, which applies ag chemicals to orchards and vineyards. In 1985, Turnipseed Brothers planted the first commercially viable cherry orchard in the Southern San Joaquin Valley. 1995 he co-organized the California Cherry Growers Association, establishing an export protocol for new cherry varieties to Japan. In 1999, Michael co-founded South Valley Cherry Growers, LLC, a packing company that exported sweet cherries to Japan.

From 1994 to now, he has operated Michael Turnipseed and Associates (MTA) as a self-employed consultant specializing in Governmental Affairs and Strategic Planning.

For over forty years, Michael actively participated in many civic organizations. He has served as Board Chairman of the Kern County Taxpayers Association, Chairman of the Governmental Review Council of the Greater Bakersfield Chamber of Commerce, KHSD on the Executive Committee of the Kern County Farm Bureau, on the State Board of the California Farm Bureau Federation, as a member of the Advisory Committee of the Kern County Permit Assistance Center, on the Kern County Fair Board; as a member of the Kern County Energy Task Force; as a member of the Kern County Water Resources Advisory Committee; and a member of the Citizens Advisory Group of Industries (SJVUAPCD). In addition, he was active in Project Clean Air, Couples against Cancer, St. Francis School Foundation; and the Garces Memorial High School Boosters Club. Michael is a member of the Bakersfield Breakfast Rotary Club and the Bakersfield Country Club. In addition, he coached Little League and judged high school debate tournaments,

On the political side, he has worked on many grassroots issues. He has served as a Director of Farm PAC, Treasurer of the Kern County Republican Central Committee, Co-founder and Treasurer of the Friant Water PAC, an organizer of the San Joaquin River Coalition, Chairman of the South-Central Farmers PAC, a member of the Finance Committee for the Yes on Proposition 204 Campaign, and a Trustee of the Delano Joint Union High School District.

In 2022, Michael and his wife, Nancy, were honored as Literacy Champions at the Kern Literacy Council’s Read for Life Celebration. In addition, in 2023, St. Francis Parish School celebrated them as the Legacy of the Excellence Award recipients.

The Kern High School District honored Michael with the Jim Burke Light and Liberty Award for “meritorious service to the cause of education in Kern County” in 2023.

Michael graduated from Delano High School; received his Bachelor’s Degree in agricultural economics from the University of California, Davis; completed Leadership Bakersfield; graduated from the California Agricultural Leadership Program; completed the Executive Program in Management from the Anderson Graduate School of Management, University of California, Los Angeles; completed the SACRES Public Pension Investment Management Program conducted by the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley, and completed CAPRS Board Leadership Institute: Advanced Principles in Governance, led by the Anderson Graduate School of Management, University of California, Los Angeles.

Michael has been married to his wife, Nancy, for 45 years and has two grown daughters, Amy and Alissa, and three grandchildren, Harriet, Helen, and Henry.