Various ballot initiatives too early to call

Nov. 9—Kern County voters mulled three local ballot measures and school bonds this election season that will impact how county government runs, the future leadership of local public safety agencies and funding school functions.

Residents appeared to accept imposing term limits on the Kern County Board of Supervisors though the county's sales tax measure didn't have an overwhelming majority for either side. Initial results also show school bond measures may be on their way to passing.

Here are the results, as of 10:11 p.m. Tuesday, with about half of the precincts reporting their tallies.

Measure K

County government did everything possible to inform residents living in Kern's unincorporated area how a 1-cent increase in sales tax would pay for county services, and results are too early to tell if people heeded this message.

As of 10:11 p.m., 54.47 percent of residents, or 7,320 votes, sought to impose the tax. Not far behind, there were 45.53 percent of people, or 6,119 people who were against increasing the sales tax. There are 303,557 voters in Kern's unincorporated areas.

Measure K, also known as the Public Safety and Vital Services, would increase the sales tax from 7.25 percent to 8.25 percent in places such as Oildale, Buttonwillow, Mojave, Frazier Park and Stallion Springs to offset budget losses from decreased tax property revenues from the oil and gas industry.

An estimated $54 million would be generated by levying this tax, which would directly funnel into providing resources for law enforcement, emergency medical response and mental health needs, addiction treatment and "general government use." The Kern County Taxpayers Association threw its support behind the measure.

This result is a difference from 2018 when voters were faced with a choice to tick the same box. Then, Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood had warned decreased revenues could result in a closure of substations.

Youngblood told The Californian recently he has more than 400 deputy vacancies, shuttered the gang task force, disbanded school resource officers and has two jails sitting empty because there isn't staff available to open them.

Reached Tuesday, Youngblood expressed it's really pretty early in the evening to start declaring a win for the tax, but did say he's OK with either the referendum passing or not. It's going to be beneficial for the KCSO if it does pass, but he said he'll be OK if Measure K does not get approved by a majority.

"I certainly hope it passes, but half of me is anti-tax person" which doesn't spark enthusiasm for such a measure, Youngblood elaborated on his position. He added it goes against his grain to request such an increase, but many people do already pay for this sales tax.

An oversight committee containing residents from Kern's unincorporated areas was also proposed to provide a watchdog over distributing those funds.

Ryan Alsop, the county's chief administrative officer, was unavailable to comment Tuesday night, according to a county spokeswoman. Alsop and the heads of public safety agencies traveled around Kern County to roughly 20 meetings to chat about reductions in revenue streams to county's coffers and the dire need to fund various aspects of public safety.

Measure J

Kern County Supervisors elected in future terms appeared to be subject to term limits that would cap their time on the dais at eight years, or two terms of four years.

Exactly 72.84 percent of residents, or 28,926 number of votes sought to impose term limits. There were 10,786 of residents, or 27.16 percent of residents who cast their ballot against term limits. These numbers were as of 10:11 p.m. Tuesday.

"We are very excited right now," said Sandy Moreno, who is a part of the We Are Kern County coalition, which secured enough signatures to place the measure on ballots. "It's looking good right now."

Moreno said early results appear to reflect conversations canvassers had with everyone from Republicans to Democrats to independents in support of the measure.

Approving term limits allows those to be elected who will create a better future and who will side with working families. But, the coalition still hasn't claimed victory, she noted.

We Are Kern County gathered more than 21,000 signatures to ask voters to cap supervisors' service to two four-year terms.

Measure L

The Bakersfield Police Department entered into a stipulated judgment after the California Department of Justice accused it of violating residents' constitutional rights — that agreement prompted a series of reforms, including a local ballot measure.

The BPD chief was traditionally chosen from within its ranks, but the stipulated judgment said residents should decide if their police chief can be appointed from outside the department.

The measure calls for appointing the Bakersfield Fire Department chief from outside the agency, even though no judgment called for putting that position before voters.

But the results appeared very close to each other as of 8:11 p.m. There were 52.16 percent of voters, or 9,420 number of votes who sought to change the city's charter. But about 47.84 percent of voters, or 8,639 people, didn't seek to change the charter and choose the chiefs from within the ranks.

These margins narrowed once the election's office updated results two hours later. Residents seeking to amend the city charter dropped their lead to 51.51 percent while those opposing that move gained about a percentage point, 48.49 percent.

School bond measures

Several local school districts placed bond measures before property owners living within their boundaries to raise money for repairs, innovative classroom practices and new buildings.

Measure E

Voters, as of 10:11 p.m. Tuesday, appeared to approve a bond measure by the Kern High School District to get charged an extra $19 per $100,000 of an assessed value on a property.

There were 56.85 percent of voters, or 17,942 people who approved Measure E. There were 43.15 percent of voters, or 13,620 votes who rejected Measure E.

Roughly $160 million would be raised if Measure E becomes effective.

Measure I

Residents living in the Panama-Buena Vista Union School District appeared to support a bond measure to levy $30 per $100,000 of property taxes as of 10:11 p.m. Tuesday.

There were 58.37 percent of voters, or 5,075 people who approved Measure I. There were 41.63 percent of voters, or 3,620 votes who rejected Measure I.

Roughly $1.4 million would be raised if Measure I becomes effective.

Measure H

The Fruitvale District appeared to approve a bond measure to levy $30 per $100,000 of property taxes.

There were 54.63 percent of voters, or 725 people who approved Measure H. There were 45.37 percent of voters, or 602 votes who rejected Measure H.

Measure G

The Edison School District asked voters to approve a $30 charge per $100,000 of assessed property value to their bills, and early results showed overwhelming favor of the bond as of 8:11 p.m.

There were 60.82 percent of voters, or 118 people who approved Measure G. There were 39.18 percent of voters, or 76 votes who rejected Measure G.

Roughly $263,000 would be raised if Measure G becomes effective.

You can reach Ishani Desai at 661-395-7417. You can also follow her at @_ishanidesai on Twitter.