Bakersfield City Council: Public safety, growth on council candidates' watch lists
Oct. 15—Bakersfield is really in a state of flux.
And while there is lots of talk about people leaving California, Kern County's population is expected to grow by nearly 24 percent over the next two decades, according to California Department of Finance projections.
The city is in the process of creating a master plan that's going to shape its existence for the next 20 years.
There's also a parks plan in the works that could be similarly transformational.
So it's not an understatement to say that, in November, voters will have a chance to make decisions from the dais that will have a tremendous influence on the city's future. There are four spots on the ballot, but technically only two races.
For all intents and purposes, two have been decided: Eric Arias and Bob Smith, who currently represent wards 1 and 4, respectively, are running unopposed. And one race, for Ward 7, will guarantee at least one new face on the council, as the area's current representative, Councilman Chris Parlier, is not seeking reelection — leaving Tim Collins, Raj Gill and Manpreet Kaur to contend for voters' support.
In Ward 3, Councilman Ken Weir, the city's vice mayor and chairman of the Kern County Republican party, is being challenged by Boyd Binninger and Lonnie Daddow. (Zeferino Barron confirmed his intent to withdraw from the race after he qualified as a candidate.)
Ward 3
Weir, who has represented Bakersfield on the dais since 2006, is seeking a fifth term on the City Council. Ward 3 covers the city's northeast.
As the owner of a CPA practice for more than 30 years, it makes sense that one of the first things he mentioned in his questionnaire The Californian gave to candidates was how he'd like to change the city's budget process.
"Our budget provides little focus on the main problems the city is facing. It is more of a shotgun approach than an intentional focus," he wrote. "It is time to reformat the city's budget process to focus on our highest priorities, fund those programs first, before we look at new ideas to spend."
He also mentioned that he'd like to see more transparency on the reporting of how Measure N's Public Safety and Vital Services dollars are spent, and a more focused plan for the city's investment in technology.
Weir also noted that Sacramento policies are "devolving this state into an impoverished wasteland," and hopes to see voters "do some deep thinking and make changes in their elected officials."
Boyd Binninger has experience in finance, as well as more than a quarter-century of experience in commercial real estate.
He mentioned crime, homelessness and more equity for municipal investment as his top priorities if he's elected.
"The city of Bakersfield needs to improve on how we recruit and retain police officers so they can be more proactive, which will allow them to work on prevention of crime before it happens," Binninger said. He also wanted to make sure the city's police and fire departments are adequately staffed, which has been a yearslong goal of the city's for the Bakersfield Police Department.
He also noted that the city's Measure N spending needs to be reviewed more consistently.
"Most people who voted for Measure N wanted the majority of the funds to go to public safety," Binninger said. "The city needs to ensure that this is the priority."
The city's most meaningful change in the last 10 years has been the revival of its downtown area, he said, an effort he wanted to see more consistently throughout the city.
Lonnie Daddow was an electrician for more than 20 years before going into manufacturing. Now retired, he'd like to see the city place more of an emphasis on workforce education, including computer and construction skills. Part of that focus also includes paying educators more, he added.
"Ward 3 is in need of an overhaul starting from the ground up," he said, "and I'm the candidate to implement those improvements."
Daddow also noted the city needs more housing to help address the homelessness crisis.
When asked about Bakersfield's most significant development over the last 10 years?
"The freeway system was very significant because of the growth Bakersfield is experiencing," he said.
"The expansion of homes and influx of new residents impacted farmland that was already taking a beating and the water resources were definitely impacted."
Ward 7
The city's other contested seat represents a southern ward sandwiched between wards 1 and 5.
Professionally, Tim Collins has taken the role of his former ag mechanics teacher in the Kern High School District, where he's worked for the last four years at the Regional Occupational Center, he said.
He wants to see the city cleaned up, more investment in vocational training to develop the city's workforce and added that he loves that Bakersfield is known as a welcoming community.
Collins also felt the city needed to prioritize its Measure N funds on what the voters asked for when it was approved in 2018.
"This sales tax money should be for what was advertised on the ballot and the campaign: law enforcement first," he said. "Putting sales tax money to backfill the pension program or add many new jobs not related to law enforcement is not a responsible way to fund pensions."
He also said the state's last two governors have created a number of problems for the region with their policies over the last 10 years.
"We need to bring up our own oil from the ground rather than look to importing our food and fuel from other countries," Collins said. "Sacramento cannot continue down this absurd course for long."
Manpreet Kaur said she's a first-generation Sikh American who was born and raised in Bakersfield.
Her top three priorities for the city are improving traffic safety by addressing problems like street-racing, addressing the homelessness crisis and streamlining the city's permitting process to better facilitate its growth.
"We are the ninth-largest city in the state, and we continue to grow," she said. "The city of Bakersfield must improve its systems to better meet the growing demand for city services."
In terms of funding priorities, Kaur said she could appreciate the investment in public safety with Measure N, "but until the issues are fully addressed, more must be done through both infrastructure and programming toward more lasting solutions."
She also wanted to see the city's budget include more investment in opportunities for its residents.
"I appreciate the investments in public safety and homelessness services," Kaur said, "but until the issues are fully addressed, more must be done through both infrastructure and programming towards more lasting solutions."
She noted that the pandemic, homelessness and growth are the most significant changes the city has seen in the last 10 years.
Raj Gill declined to submit answers to the candidate questionnaire sent by The Californian. The owner of Gill Construction, Gill said he's lived in Bakersfield for more than 25 years.
He previously stated his priorities were addressing homelessness and improving police response times.
Ward 1
Eric Arias, who represents southeast Bakersfield, is one of two City Council incumbents running unopposed in November's election.
When asked what the city could do differently in its Measure N funding, Arias noted that the city has made significant progress in its efforts to improve its workforce, but acknowledged that there's still work to be done. He also wants to continue to work on making the city's parks safer for families.
"Over the next four years, I look forward to working with my colleagues and the police chief to improve the response times for the constituents and businesses in Ward 1," he said.
He also called for an overhaul in affordable housing production, which he plans to play an active role in over the next four years as a member of the city's ad hoc committee on homelessness.
While COVID-19 has had as significant of an impact as anything in the city over the last 10 years, he said, funds from the city's bond measure represent an even greater potential for its future.
"After the pandemic," he said, "I believe the greatest changes we will see are in the coming years as we see the total positive benefit of the Measure N investments."
Ward 4
Bob Smith, who represents the city's most northwestern ward, said three things the city can improve on are addressing quality-of-life concerns with improvements for its parks, paths and other walkable areas; doing a better job of telling Bakersfield's story, and building local pride; and making City Hall more business-friendly.
In addressing a question about Measure N funding, which he said has been the city's most significant occurrence in the last 10 years, Smith noted that he was a big supporter of it, and he said as time progresses, residents will continue to see its benefits grow.
"We have the resources to address the homeless problem in our community, which would be far worse without the PSVS (Public Safety and Vital Services) resources. We are addressing decades worth of deferred maintenance issues in our parks, medians and streets to improve the quality of life in our city," he wrote. "We are investing millions of dollars in efforts to build more affordable housing, and leveraging local dollars to receive even more state and federal dollars to help address our local affordable housing crisis.
"I believe the positive impacts of PSVS are only beginning to be felt. I am convinced that Measure N will change Bakersfield for the better, benefiting our citizens for years to come."
