County doing things differently this time around to educate voters about Measure K

Oct. 25—Four years ago, Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood watched voters in the city of Bakersfield pass a 1 percent sales tax increase — even as a similar measure to help fund the county went down in flames.

Youngblood was disappointed, but he wasn't surprised. Supporters had started late to the game, he said. There were no ads. There was no leg work done to educate voters.

As a result, nearly 65 percent voted against the tax increase.

Everything Youngblood predicted would happen did happen.

"The Bakersfield Police Department now has money to hire. We do not," he said.

"Civilian detentions and regular deputies ... we're down over 400 positions," the sheriff said. "I have two jails that are sitting empty for lack of staff.

"I have closed down the Ridgecrest jail, done away with the gang task force, done away with school resource officers ... and lastly on my list is the coroner's office."

As recently as two weeks ago, Youngblood said, he had to ask for mutual aid from other counties and the state just to get the Kern County coroner's office "through the weekend for lack of staff."

On Election Day, Nov. 8 — and much earlier for mail-in voters — residents in Kern County's unincorporated areas will have the chance to vote again, to give a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down to Measure K, which establishes a 1-cent sales tax increase in unincorporated areas that would raise an estimated $54 million annually to fund services such as law enforcement, fire, medical emergency 911 response, crime prevention, recruiting and retaining firefighters and sheriff's deputies, mental health and addiction and address the problem of homelessness on Kern County's streets, alleys and parkways.

This time, supporters of the measure are doing things much differently. Over the past many weeks, the county's Chief Administrative Officer Ryan Alsop, Chief Operations Officer Jim Zervis, Youngblood, District Attorney Cynthia Zimmer, Fire Chief Aaron Duncan and others have been going to outlying areas of the county to start conversations with residents of those areas.

"We've had about 30 community meetings, which are really intended to give the public a chance to ask us questions about Measure K, what it is and what it isn't," Alsop said.

They also bring with them the kinds of facts and figures, charts and graphs that are capable of shocking anyone who believes that vital services really are vital, that controlling the crime rate is important, that well-maintained streets and clean, attractive parks are worth funding.

These department heads have held these meetings "in virtually every unincorporated county community that exists," Alsop said.

Something else that is different this time around is that the Kern County Taxpayers Association, or KernTax, has thrown its support behind Measure K.

It says a lot that this generally conservative organization, which is surely more likely to oppose a new tax than support one, is calling on voters to approve this one.

"Today, revenue the Board of Supervisors uses to fund public safety and other vital services is down 31 percent since 2014, when adjusted for inflation," KernTax Executive Director Michael Turnipseed wrote in a Community Voices piece published earlier this month in The Californian.

The biggest reason for this plummeting property tax revenue, Turnipseed charged, is the devaluation of oil and gas properties in Kern County, due to the state's efforts to drive local oil and gas production "into extinction."

"Because of this," Turnipseed continued, "per capita spending in county unincorporated areas is 30 percent lower than it was in 2014.

"The county must have something to replace this revenue loss with to provide county leaders a fighting chance to maintain fundamental safety, fire and other services at a high-quality level, while our region, simultaneously, works to gain a foothold in new economic development and markets in the decades ahead."

As Alsop surveyed the situation, he realized that county residents are not necessarily paying close attention to these issues.

"They're busy with their lives, like we all are," he said, "so this is a chance to talk with them about how the county functions and works, and how we're funded."

They also did some polling in the spring to get a gauge on residents' priorities and what people thought about a sales tax to help maintain those priorities.

"We talked to residents about what was important to them," Alsop said. "We wanted to get feedback."

By far, public safety dominated their priorities, he said. Dealing with homelessness, addiction and mental health were also in the mix.

"We also asked people, 'Would you be willing to consider a measure that would raise additional revenue that would be used to fund these priorities."

Well over a majority of people — about 65 percent — said they would be, Alsop said.

Could it be a light at the end of the tunnel for the county of Kern?

It's encouraging, he said, but Alsop isn't making any predictions.

Steven Mayer can be reached at 661-395-7353. Follow him on Facebook and on Twitter: @semayerTBC.