Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey. [music] [music] >> [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] >> I feel [music] bad. >> [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. Baby black. Nataly. [music] [music] Hey hey hey. [music] [music] >> [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] >> Ooh. Ooh. [music] >> [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] >> I'd rather try and accomplish something great and fail than try to accomplish nothing [music] to fully succeed. I'll take you here all night by hand. >> [music] [music] [music] [music] >> I'd rather try and accomplish something than try to accomplish nothing [music] and slowly succeed. I'll respect you all night. [music] [music] [music] >> [music] [music] >> The final accomplishment failed. Then try to fully exceed [music] all succeed. >> [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [music] [music] Heat. [music] [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] [music] >> [music] [music] >> The 3:30 p.m. meeting of the Bakersfield City Council is now in session. [music] Good afternoon. It's my pleasure to call to order the 3:30 regular city council meeting of April 8th, 2026. Madam clerk, please call the role. >> Mayor Go, >> here. >> Vice Mayor Core. Council member AAS >> here. >> Council member Gonzalez. Council member Weir. Council member Smith. >> I am here. Council member Coleman >> here >> and council member Bashier >> here. >> Thank you. Welcome to all of you. In keeping with the council's resolution, public statements are received at different times depending on the item. I'll call on the city clerk to call for public statements at the appropriate time. If you wish to make a public statement, please fill out a public speaker card and place it in the tray next to the speaker's podium. We ask that you mark whether you're here to speak on an item listed on today's agenda or in a matter not on the agenda. Speakers who do not identify a specific item will be presumed speakers for the non-aggenda public statements. If you're here to speak on an item not listed on the meeting agenda, you'll be called first to speak. Statements are given a two-minute time limit per speaker, 20 minutes total for all non-aggenda item public statements. If you're here to speak on an item listed on the agenda, I'll call for you at the appropriate time. If you're here, if public statements become disruptive, and I've declared the chambers to regain order of the meeting, you'll be called in one at a time to provide your public statement when your item is called. Everyone in attendance is is expected to adhere to the rules of decorum established by resolution of the city council. Failure to abide by the city's rules of decorum, including any disruptive behavior that interferes with our ability to have an orderly and efficient meeting, prevents the city council from conducting the business of the city. Consider this a first warning to everyone in attendance that conduct that disrupts the meeting may result in expulsion and or the chambers being cleared. Behavior that disrupts a meeting includes repetitive statements, shouting, hate speech, interrupting staff or presenters during the meeting, speaking out of turn, outbursts from the audience, and surpassing the twominut time limit. Madam clerk, do we have any public speakers regarding items not listed on the agenda? Mayor Go, we've received two speaker cards regarding items not listed on today's agenda. The first public speaker is Christina Rollins. >> Thank you, Miss Rollins. Welcome. Please introduce yourself. >> Good afternoon. My name is Christina Rollins and I am here to address a serious public health concern um involving and its potent compound 7 hydroxide tragine also known as 70. In October 2025, the California Department of Public Health issued a statewide warning about these products shortly after the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control began visiting licensed retailers to educate them on the risks and enforce compliance. Since then, thousands of locations have been visited and millions of dollars worth of and 70 products have been seized. In March 2026, Governor Newsome made it clear that products containing or 70 are illegal to manufacture or sell in the state. Retailers were also formally notified in January that selling these products both in store and online is unlawful under California Health and Safety Code 111055. Despite this, these products are still being sold in our community, often openly in smoke shops or more discreetly behind the counter or hidden away in a back room. I can personally attest to this and the negative side effects associated with these products, and I'm willing to provide additional details privately if needed. I urge you to take action, follow up on prior notices, and enforce the law to remove these dangerous substances from our local businesses. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Rollins. Next speaker, please. Charles Linenbrink. >> Welcome. Please introduce yourself. >> My name is Charles Linenbrink. Two years or four years ago, my wife was involved in a felony hit and run uh vehicle versus pedestrian. She was crossing the street in front of our house and a bunch of young men were drag racing down our street, hit her. The police came out, took her statements, found the vehicle involved, and within a week closed the case out with no further investigation. We have had no resolve to this issue. To this day, we have a group in the neighborhood on small motorcycles. I've heard them referred to as pet bikes or fat cats with the small balloon tires. No headlights, no license plates. These are not street legal. Racing up and down the street doing 40 to 45 miles an hour. I've repeatedly called the police department with zero response. I've asked for not only response but officer contact. I have got nothing. Now, this Friday, April 10th, my property tax is due. I've been paying property tax with zero response from police or anything. If I'm going to pay my property tax, I expect some service. And if I don't get service, I would like a refund on my property tax. That's I've I've gone through the city taxation department. I've gone through the assessors, county assessors office. I just keep getting the runaround on all of it. >> Thank you for speaking, Mr. City Manager. Do you think we can have somebody follow up on this? >> Absolutely, Mayor. We'll follow up. >> Yes. And we have your contact information. And thank you for sharing. Madame Clerk, do we have any other speakers for this section? >> Mayor Go, that was our final speaker for non-aggenda items. Uh, we have not received any speaker cards for agenda item public statements. >> Right. Next item, please. >> Appointments item 3A, one appointment at large to the Historic Preservation Commission set to expire on March 31st, 2029. due to the term expiration of Michael McCoy on March 31st, 2026. Uh, two applications for appointment were received from Erica Kimmel and Mike McCoy. Thank you. I'd like to clarify the voting process for you. Council will vote electronically and the city clerk will announce the results. Based on these results, the council will then make the appropriate motion regarding the appointment. Mayor Go, Mike McCoy is the apparent winner with a total of three votes and with council member Core Gonzalez and Weir absent and council member Bashier abstaining. Thank you. Council member Smith, would you make the motion, please? I would like to appoint Michael McCoy to the make a motion to appoint Michael McCoy to the Historic Preservation Commission. Thank you. >> Thank you. You have a motion. Please cast your votes. >> Motion is approved with council members Core Gonzalez and Weir absent. >> Thank you. Next item, please. Metal clerk. Appointments item 3B. Two appointments to the public safety vital service city services measure citizens oversight committee. Ward one set to expire December 16, 2026 and ward two set to expire December 20, 2028. vacancies. Applications for appointment were received from Hovic Bedurian, Tyler Klutz, Jesse Dollywal, Johnny Escobido, Noey Garcia, Michael King, Jenny Kurie, Tihan Malik, Alyssa Reid, Gabrielle Yuloa, and Tatiana Wilshi. Thank you. These appointments are by Ward. Therefore, I will call on council member Arius to share uh his recommend nomination and then council member Smith on behalf of council member Gonzalez. Council member Arius. >> Thank you, Mayor. Um what an incredible opportunity. If I could ask uh Mr. Noi Garcia to please stand so that he could be recognized tonight. I would like to make a motion um that or a nomination rather that we nominate Mr. Noi Garcia uh to the public service public safety vital services uh committee. Um Noey is a just a standup uh citizen. Um you know was raised in Bakersfield, grew up just along 8th Street. Uh still continues to live there along with his beautiful family. Um graduated from South High School, was also a Ford Dreambuilder. Uh went on to graduate from UCLA. Um and also happens to be a Gates Millennium Scholar. Um and so super proud of him. He came right back after college. Um has proudly served on the Keith Bakersfield beautiful committee. Uh he's worked for the Dolores Worth Foundation and currently serves representing our uh in-house uh inhome supportive service workers uh through the United Domestic Workers. And so he's actually here joined by his his beautiful family. would love to recognize his mother Carmela, uh his father, Armando, uh his three sisters, uh Carmen, Marissa, and Rose, and their beautiful nieces and or his beautiful nieces and nephew along with his beautiful girlfriend. So, uh with that, um just want to say congratulations and looking forward to seeing you do the hard work on the measure and committee. Thank you. >> Thank you, council member. Council member Smith. >> Thank you, Mayor. On behalf of Council Member Gonzalez, I would like to nominate Alisa Reid for the PSVS committee. >> All right. Thank you. And then the motion for both. >> I will make the motion for both. >> You have a motion. Please cast your votes. Motion is approved with council members Core Gonzalez and Weir absent. >> Thank you and thank you so much for your willingness to serve and uh we welcome you madam clerk. Next item please. reports. Item 4 A, public safety and vital services PSVS budget requests for fiscal year 2026 to 27. >> Mr. Click, >> Mayor and Council, um pleased this afternoon to give you a preview of um new items that will be recommended as part of the PSVS budget. For clarity, thank you for clarity. this there's no vote tonight on these items. The vote on these items will be in June. So, this is a very early look at items that are going to be recommended to the public safety vital services oversight committee in the next couple of weeks. They're going to be having meetings uh to look at these items. This is consistent. Several of these slides that you'll see are consistent with information that was shared with your council and publicly at our um preliminary budget workshop a few weeks ago. Uh but there are a few specific CIP projects that we're going to be uh recommending um be allocated through the public safety vital services tax. And so this is just an early preview of that information. We'll [clears throat] cover some of this information later, but there will be uh several other uh workshops um and touch points on the same content between now and when you vote on the budget in June. With that context, again, we're going to give a quick overview of um budget projections and expenditure revenue and expenditure projections. Again, you've seen this already, but for the viewing public and to put this into context um for the items that we'll go over tonight, as well as just a brief description, even less um detail than in our budget workshop. We'll just talk about how we're addressing budget reductions and then just look at the the process itself and then the requests. So we know that we continue to have some you know uncertainty about uh some of the economic conditions. Our uh revenues um have continued to grow at a pace slower than our expenditures unfortunately and we continue to see growth in expenditures in our insurance, our equipment, our pensions and in our personnel costs. So, we've pursued budget reductions um that um have been both personnel as well as other operating contributions. Um what's one point that's interesting about public safety vital services tax, you'll remember last year we had some significant filing errors that we had to make up for. We continue to see some of those filing errors. the impacts are less, but we do continue to see some of those errors um occur that are more to the tune of uh some adjustments to the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Um uh but we're not seeing this the same hit that was, you know, um better than, you know, $4 million in total over a couple of years that we had to to adjust for. Again, this is the same graph that you saw at your last um workshop, but again to put into context this topic and to demonstrate that we're still at about a hundred million a year in tax revenues. We had that um bump down last year because we had to make those adjustments. But with uh a modest 2% a little higher two to a little higher than 2% growth and revenues projected um we'll be back up at that very close to $und00 million in tax revenue. This is also the same graph that you saw that just demonstrates where we're seeing some of the ups and downs uh in revenue growth by industry um for our uh public safety vital services tax. Fortunately, there's a couple of categories that um have seen some growth. Others uh fairly stagnant while a few have been um a little bit lower. But overall this next year again it's a little more than a 2% um estimated growth in revenues for expenditures. Um even though you'll you will have noted there that we had uh 90 you know $9 million in revenues. We have one-time uh savings in public safety vital services tax. That will mean we have $17 million to work with in this coming year. uh personnel expenditures will be at $62 million. The the baseline positions that remain in the budget, that is a 6% um increase. Um but it's been offset by notable eliminations or reductions in personnel costs. Last year uh we were right up against the council policy that states that we our goal is to not spend more than 60% of public safety vital services tax on personnel. Uh last year it was right up against that 60%. You'll note now that that's the uh 54% of the total budget is now being spent on personnel because of our reductions which is an important part of our restructuring and I think it's a sign of that restructuring that we're making some of the adjustments that we need to make and have those funds available for um our other um one-time needs. And the reality is that we still anticipate that we will be making a transfer to the general fund. You'll note that the last two bullets have an estimated transfer. We have not finalized every detail of the general fund budget. We're very close over the next couple of weeks. We'll have that uh pinned down. I actually believe that number is going to be lower than that, but as our baseline uh assumption, we wanted to be clear that we do expect there's still to be some transfer to the general fund. Uh but we we expect that it will be um um noticeably less but it there'll still be a large uh number there that will will be a transfer. And this is just a little bit more on our budget reductions. As a reminder, we looked actually at a five-year history of lows and highs in expenditures across each line item and and each subcategory of um departmental budgets. And in areas where we were overspending every year, we had some conversations. Why is that? Is that a real true uh uh true costs? Do we need to make some adjustments there? In other areas where we're under spending regularly, we've adjusted those budgets down uh to reflect the actuals and also uh achieve those savings. We've also been looking at those programs that are producing better outcomes and in our uh reductions. we've um been able to identify where we can uh afford some of those uh service level impacts uh to the programs that um either are not as high of a priority or are not producing the best outcomes. And so we've made some of those reductions as well as the position eliminations that we covered at our last workshop. We're anticipating 70 uh uh position eliminations across um general fund and public safety vital services tax. I should have had that number top of mind of what's the proportionate number of public safety vital services tax versus the rest of the general fund. Um but in total for the PSVS it is an 8% reduction in those discretionary expenses. Um and and as reflected in the the lower percentage of personnel costs on the previous slide. So still a few steps forward the next two weeks we'll be meeting with the oversight committee. Then in April, we have our budget town hall meetings for the community to just learn more about how the budget works and that budget process. In May, we have two half-day city council budget workshops. We'll go in more detail of every department's budget, including the enterprise funds. And then uh your city council deliberation between May and June when the budget adoption will occur. Now we just go to two short slides of what we're recommending uh to the committee in the next two weeks. We're not recommending any new ongoing allocations. Again, as we're restructuring, it's not wise to add new ongoing allocations. We're only proposing using the one-time funds that are available for uh capital projects. We estimate about $7.5 million available for capital projects. And we're approaching this the same as we did last year where there are some projects that we view as either necessary or important deferred maintenance or recommended as as staff. And then another list of projects where we won't have the funding to fund all of those projects, but council will have to make some decisions, you know, somewhat like a menu of options of which of those projects to fund. Uh, of course, council can determine some of the recommended projects to maybe be pushed over to the optional list and move some of the optionals up into the the recommended list or and we can still make some projects contingent. I do recommend that when we get to the final budget adoption in June, we have some of our capital projects remain contingent as we have in prior years in the event that revenues uh don't come in as anticipated and we can forego those projects just for that one year as we move forward. So to to speak to each of these um line items really quickly, uh we have been able to move forward with our very large radio um replacement project. We're actually in making good progress there. Uh we're actually remediating tower sites. We've deployed the radios um to the majority of our vehicles. Uh we're working closely with the county still. Um, as we worked on that, we recognized that there's a generator challenge at the PD headquarters location that we need a new generator there for continuity of governance. That generator is very old and so uh we're recommending that that's an important expenditure uh from this source for our park amenities and renovation improvements or our pari account. That's the account that we've used over the last couple of years to address some of our smaller and medium park needs. We actually get a pretty big bang for our buck on these projects. When we implemented the park rangers program and we were trying to uh create more security at our parks that had large parking lots, when we were able to, for example, go put up uh gates to close those parking lots each evening, uh that came out of the the paria counts. when we've had a smaller project where perhaps a canopy over a playground was damaged or a playground that got replaced but didn't get a canopy when it got replaced to be able to put up a shade canopy or to be able to repair some sports courts um that you know had issues uh that came up during sometime during the year. These are smaller projects that don't fit within a larger CIP. Um this account has allowed us to really catch up on deferred maintenance in our parks. Prior years it had been at a million dollars. Last year we reduced it to $500,000 and recommending the same this year for our MLK uh park. Uh the the total park project including a new community center remains a much larger project but we are um very close to being able to move forward with the first phase which would be one half of the park footprint which would be all park and not any changes to the community center yet. We received an $1.9 million grant to do that project. That is half of the full cost. So, it's about a $23 million cost to um to do that full 50% of the park footprint. Um we have uh about um $4 million in match funds that can match against that grant where we need $7 million to finish that out. I'm recommending a $3 million grant match. We've applied for several other grants we expect to hear back on in this coming year and this would be enough grant funds uh to match against those grants and if we we are successful in those grants with this additional funding it would be enough to complete that first phase. This is a large number I acknowledge. Um but we do not want to lose the 11.9 million grant and we have about a two-year window to go to construction and be able to finish that project. And so I I believe it's a high priority to maximize those grant resources we've already received and and go to construction on this first half of um that park project. Uh these last two pieces are related to the fire department um that are necessary replacements. Our turnouts are um that's the gear that our firefighters wear. Uh there are some new standards that the state has set and um how we need to um meet uh uh higher standards in that turnout gear. And we don't have to make those replacements all at once, but we do expect in this next two years to have significant turnout replacements. They're much um greater replacement rate than the typical life cycle of those turnouts. And so, uh, we're recommending, uh, funding to take, uh, care of that issue. And then, as we've continued to, uh, catch up and now keep up with our deferred maintenance on our, uh, fire stations and police facilities. This is, uh, the next, uh, uh, phase of that. The fire station, several fire stations had roof repairs and some restroom repairs over this last year. This year, we just have these three repairs to um or replacements of HVAC for those three stations. This next list, again, you'll note that there's $6.3 million in potential projects there. There's really about three to $3.5 million of available funds depending on how council prioritizes the list from the prior slide, but these are um projects um that have um been in the works and and are are recommended. We've continued to uh place new street lights throughout the city. We've made a million dollar allocation over the last five years for that and we continue to spend that down. We have um many locations that have much improved lighting, but we still have significant gaps and in several um areas of the city for street lighting. And we have a a a list of requests and identified locations to put that street lighting in. and we actually probably have as much as $2 million worth of work to do in that area. But of in comparison with the other projects, we would um recommend as a one option for council to consider uh another allocation of a million dollars for continuing our street light um improvements. Beach Park Bridge, we uh set aside enough funding to do the environmental work on that project. This would be to go forward with the design work and get it to a point where it's ready to go and seek grants for its actual construction. Uh traffic calming improvements. In prior years, we've actually allocated either a million or half a million dollars for ongoing traffic calming improvements. This last year, we primarily did that around schools. Um and it's actually paid very very good dividends in improving traffic safety around schools. We have enough school work that we think even this half a million probably wouldn't address all school opportunities that we're trying to partner on with school districts and actually they've they've shown some willingness to put some skin in the game and we're actually able to stretch our dollars farther. Um but this would be another good allocation to to continue to make progress on that. But I would anticipate another couple years of of funding to continue to to get at as many um calming and safety improvements around schools. Um, Centennial Park uh and Westworld Park uh have both been prior contingent projects that we held off on. And so it's worth noting that they've they've been paused now um not one fiscal year but two fiscal years both of these projects and they're in the replacement cycle for park and and other playground equipment um to be those that are are most aged. And so we've put those back there for consideration for council. And then we've begun putting security cameras in multiple of our parks. Um but we have we with our 62 different parks, it's going to take some time to deploy security cameras in all parks and this would just be the next phase of that work. When we talk about park access uh improvements, we have um several of our parks who have some challenging parking lot uh situations or um sidewalk sort of entryways into parks and some of that is you know ADA access, but a lot of that is just you general access into those parks. We've been making those improvements again um over the last two or three years, but we've got another phase of um access improvements to sidewalks and parking lots and and parks that need that work across a number of different parks. And we're actually able to get some good economies of scale by packaging up several of those projects together instead of just doing them each as one-offs. And then uh the Seaman um park tennis court renovations well past its useful life and have some challenges there. So that's one additional recommendation on parks. And then the last one is of course the affordable housing trust fund. In prior years we'd made very large allocations as budgets have been a little bit tighter, but also as we're seeing some um uh revenue streams in other categories come in. We've put a lot of dollars into the community land trust. Um as well as we've now have, you know, close to a thousand units in the pipeline through the affordable housing trust fund. We've slowed down a little bit the larger allocations to that trust fund, but we still see value in making an annual allocation that helps us to do some of our priority uh projects or special projects that may be hard with certain other funding sources. So, um happy to answer questions on any one of these items. The last thing I would note is that um you'll probably not see some projects that have come up in recent council conversations about you know priority capital projects. We still have the general fund capital improvement program that complements the public safety vital services capital improvement program that typically comes from general fund and and transient occupancy tax resources. Um last year as a comparison we did about $5 million from toot for CIPs and about $7 million for PSVs. This year is going to be about the same. The numbers are going to be very comparable. So a couple of items that we um acknowledge is probably fitting better into the toot bucket that were council priorities include um the tree canopy. We we anticipate making a recommendation for additional trees in the tree canopy in that CIP program. We also put an optional item in there for spayneuter, additional spayneuter. We have some spayneuter dollars in the budget, but last year that was a a topic that the council had brought up as an a topic of interest. Also, uh we um have put a placeholder in there if council wants to move forward with um the sewer rate um assistance fund as one possibility there. Of course, it is have to come from general fund dollars, but just based on um council inquiries and requests to look into that, we've got a placeholder there in the general fund side. And so, if you don't see a a specific project here, um it it is very likely that it will be in the general fund. Another one I've failed to mention was block walls. We know we need to keep, you know, working on our block walls and so we've got an allocation recommended for block walls in our general fund budget. And again, we're not looking to decide on all these things tonight. We just wanted you to have this preview at the same time that our oversight committee is getting um this um preview and then by April 16th, they'll be u making recommendations about how these are um fit within the 13 um priorities identified for uh spending on this tax measure. With that, I'll pause and um answer any questions you may have. >> Thank you, Mr. Cl. Madame city clerk, is there anyone from the public who wishes to speak on this? >> Mayor Go, no speaker cards have been received for this item. >> Thank you, Council Member Coleman. >> Uh, thank you, Mayor. [clears throat] uh for the city manager I that 8% uh reduction in the P PSVS um personnel expenses can we expect that to also continue into general fund expenses is that percentage still about the same >> it is thank you council member yes uh we're seeing you know our target this year was about a 5% but our we're seeing because we've been a little more aggressive both in general savings as well as departments recognizing that it's it's better to make corrections with some of the frozen positions. It's about 8% on both sides. Yes. Okay. And then my last question is uh the the list of items that you have on page five of this uh PowerPoint presentation which is the uh PSVS fund capital outlay projects plus the additional. So, um, what will PSVS committee being be asked to do? >> Thank you, council member. They will be asked to consider each of these items and make a determination of whether or not those items are consistent with one of the 13 funding categories that were identified by resolution as being eligible for the use of those funds. And so then it'll come back to council to go through these and the optional ones to decide what we could have discussion about that at another time that you're saying. >> Absolutely, council member and and thank you for that clarification because um respectfully uh we're not asking the committee to determine which projects of optional to say those are the ones that should be. The committee does have a role in their in their legislation, the resolution that establishes the committee that they can make suggestions or recommendations to the council, but we don't really tee it up in a way to ask them, you know, would you pick some of these projects and not others. Their primary role is to determine if it's eligible or consistent with the funding categories. And then it's really the role of the city council to determine which projects to fund and which projects to pick. So, we'll actually ask them to look at all of these knowing that not all of them will be chosen. >> Okay. Thank you very much for your presentation. I appreciate it. I have no further questions. Mayor, >> thank you, Council Member Common. Council member Arius. >> Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Christian, for this update. Um, one quick point of clarification on the expenditure summary. Um I saw that the total budget was 117 million and noted that there was a one-time operating of 12 million close to 13 million. Is that fund balance from year prior that we are adding to this new budget or what exactly is that number? >> Yeah, thank you uh council member. What that represents is we have um so and and you'll probably recall when we established our policy of what was ongoing versus one-time versus personnel, we have some expenditures that we consider ongoing even though they're not personnel related. And so, for example, the the Brundage Lane Navigation Center, that's about $8 million a year spend. That's not in that number, by the way, but that's in it's in the other ongoing expenditures category. That's that number. But we have some other expenses that um we consider them like contributions uh that have been um repeat from uh prior years that they really are one time um but um they're more operating in nature. For example, um we've made allocations to the urban um property purchase line item. And that's probably not the best example because that's been significantly reduced in recent years, but that's the one that's coming to top of mind. We were putting aside about $1.2 million a year into the budget for that. But it was one of those types of categories that council could readily say, you know what, we're just not going to, you know, if budget gets tight, we're going to we're going to pull that back. We're not going to fund that going forward. Um, another example is, um, our economic development strategic plan. We put about a million dollars, a million and a half dollars into the economic development strategic plan every year, but we don't view that as an ongoing commitment you have to keep. That's something that council can say, you know, this year we think we're going to dial that back a little bit. And so there are several um, uh, expenditure line items, you know, in that bucket that are fairly flexible. And we've actually significantly reduced some of those in recent years because they are more flexible than than the personnel spend. But we'll go through each of these categories when we do the department budgets in the May workshops to you know be clear about um what where those dollars sit. Uh but but big portions actually do sit in community development and economic development. Um and then there are some of those portions actually do sit for example in the police department as well. >> Got it. So the these are one-time operational expenses that have occurred in the past that have been either cut andor reduced that have amounted to this number. I will say yes, but and this is not rep that doesn't represent a a a savings that that actually represents dollars that we would recommend still staying in the budget, but we do consider them still they're operating but they're not ongoing locked in operating but we we are recommending that we do still keep those in the budget actually. >> Got it. Um [snorts] and then secondly another clarifying question. So you showed in a previous slide that for we were projecting in 2026 to 2027 close to 100 million um but the total budget for PSVS is 117. Can you clarify? >> Yes that happens. >> Yeah, absolutely. Council member, thanks for that question. >> So I just went back to this slide really quickly to to confirm you're correct. It's you know just less than $und00 million projected in revenues. How we then come up with on this next slide where there's 117 that is fund balance from prior year and close and other one-time savings from capital projects that you know don't don't get completed and or or or are completed and have some leftovers. That's we have one-time monies that is about $18 million in one-time monies that that are available for use from PSVS. So, that does allow us to do, you know, some of those capital projects as an example. Um, even though uh the the revenues are at 100 million, we've got additional one-time monies to spend on capital projects. >> Got it. Thank you so much for that clarification. And then, um, as it relates to the U capital outlay projects, appreciate this list. I would agree with everything that's been recommended. uh would love to get to some of the additional projects that I know that we've pushed off, but you know, just so I understand your position and recommendation for those additional options, are you recommending that those be uh considered to be moved into the you know um recommended bucket or are these contingent prog uh projects that we should wait until we see what you know DSPS brings in? >> That's a good question. And again, council member, um, for for clarity, I would also, um, share that we received more potential project ideas from departments than are on this list. And so this was a narrowed list to say um you know we can't do all these projects, but I would say these are projects that I deem as worthy of council consideration to include in the budget, but you're not going to be able to pick all of them. You're going to be able to pick about three to four million worth of these projects, but it's giving council some discretion and prioritizing and picking which projects. We kicked out some projects that I I said and the whole budget team said, you know, those just aren't the highest priority. We can wait another year or two on some of those improvements or, you know, that that that just doesn't rank as high as some of these other needs. But these are all fairly worthy, but it's down to the policy decision of council of which of these rank amongst the highest within this list. Again, I would note I commented earlier toggling back to this prior slide of recommended. This is a staff recommendation. council could say, you know what, we still think something on that optional list is more important than something on the recommended list. Policy call of the council as well, but really between the two lists, you're going to have about $7.5 million to pick from these projects on both lists, but not everything will make it and we know that, but that's a council decision. >> Great. Thank you. >> Thank you, Council Member Arius. I don't see any other request to speak. I would move to receive and file. >> Thank you. You have a motion. Please cast your votes. >> Motion is approved with council members core Gonzalez and we absent. >> Thank you. We don't have any other items on our business and so we stand adjourned at 4:13 >> [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] >> Hey, hey, hey. [music] >> [music] [music] [music] >> Happy Ding. >> [music] >> Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey, hey, hey. Hey, hey hey. Heat. Heat. >> [music] >> Grand daddy. Hey, I >> [music] [music] [music] >> Heat [music] up here. >> [music] >> Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey. Heat. Heat. [music] Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey, hey, hey. Hey, hey, hey. Hey, hey, hey. Hey, hey, hey. Hey, hey, hey. >> [music] >> Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. Happy. Heat. Heat. Hey, hey hey. Hey hey hey. Hey, hey hey. Feel be feel down there. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Hey, hey hey. Hey, hey hey. >> [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] >> Welcome [music] to the Bakersfield City Council meeting. This television broadcast is brought to you by the local cable companies, the county of Kerna, and the city of Bakersfield. You can watch the rebroadcast of this meeting Saturday at 700 p.m., Sunday at 10:00 a.m., and the following Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. You can download the agenda for this meeting at www.bakersfield city. us. Preciding over this evening's meeting, the honorable Mayor Karen K. Go. >> Good evening. It's my pleasure to call to order the 5:15 regular city council meeting of April 8th, 2026. Madam clerk, please call the role. >> Mayor Go, >> here. >> Vice Mayor Core. >> Council member Aas >> here. >> Council member Gonzalez, Council Member Weir, Council Member Smith, >> I am here. >> Council member Kleman >> here. >> And council member Basher >> here. >> Thank you. Welcome to all of you. We have the pleasure tonight of having Pastor Josh Vieti, who's the pastor at Valley Bible Fellowship to offer the invocation. Pastor, thank you so much for your church's service to our community. I know that uh you're just so engaged in serving the public, serving those who are the most vulnerable through Love Bakersville, serving in September, and mobilizing in March. Following the invocation, we have the pleasure of having Hunter and Parker Haye who are students at St. Francis Parish School. They're going to lead us in the pledge. Hunter is an eighth grader. He plays tennis. He is a black belt in Taekwondo. And Hunter will be attending Garcus Memorial Go Rams. Parker is a sixth grader. He's a boy scout and he plays basketball and football. and he also has a black belt in Taekwondo. So, watch out uh to all of you. Uh well, we have a lot of protection here tonight. So, would you all please stand now for the invocation, Pastor? >> Thank you, Mayor Go, and thank you, uh council. Appreciate everything that you guys do for the city. I uh was thinking about what to say and I know that it has to be brief and I'm glad that it is going to be but um wisdom comes from three different places. It comes from our experiences. It comes from what we learn and I believe that it also comes from God. And in the book of James, it says that if we ask God for wisdom that he will give it to us without reproach, without looking down upon us. And I know that you guys are have a lot of wisdom. Uh you guys have a lot of experience, a lot um you know there's a lot that you have done in this life and we appreciate that but uh I can't thank you guys enough for being the leaders of the city. My daughters are being raised here. I was raised here. My parents were raised here and uh we are committed to this community and so I appreciate that. So I'm just going to pray for wisdom uh constructive conversation and for God's blessing over this meeting and over this city. Father, we thank you for what you do in this town. God, I've seen so many miracles happen here. I've seen so many good things happen here, Lord, that can only be attributed to you. And so, Father, I pray that you would bless this city. And I pray that you'd bless it specifically tonight through the our leaders, through the people who have uh have stepped up to serve this community. And I pray for wisdom, for guidance. I pray for constructive criticism. Lord, if there's or not constru criticism, but for constructive conversation, Lord. And I pray, God, that you would just just help us to make the best decisions that we possibly can for our city. Lord, I thank you once again for uh all the people that work hard in this city and um all those that are working hard literally right this moment. And so, I just pray that you'd continue to bless this city and move in your name I pray. Amen. Amen. Please face the flag. Salute. Pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you very, very much, Pastor and Parker and Hunter. Parker and Hunter, would you like to introduce the gentleman who's with you, please? They don't know. It's a gentleman. >> Who Who is that person? >> This is Joe Hi, our dad. Uh >> say something about Joe. >> Joe Hi. Well, Joe, he turned 47 lately. Uh I think he's having a good 47th year of his life. He uh he works at Ford. Does a good job of it, too. Uh >> yeah, >> very good. >> That's a nice little summary of him. >> Well, thank you very much. [applause] Here are a few guidelines to help our meeting run smoothly. We request that you turn off your phones for safety reasons and as courtesy to others. No signs are allowed in the council chamber or in the lobby. Applause is allowed during the presentations portion of the meeting, but not during other portions of the meeting. Everyone in attendance is expected to adhere to the rules of decorum established by resolution of the city council. Failure to abide by the city's rules of decorum, including any disruptive behavior that interferes with our ability to have an orderly and efficient meeting, prevents the city council from conducting the business of the city. Consider this a first warning to everyone in attendance that conduct that disrupts the meeting may result in expulsion and/or the chambers being cleared. Behavior that disrupts the meeting includes repetitive statements, shouting, hate speech, interrupting staff or presenters during the meeting, speaking out of turn, and outbursts from the audience. Madame clerk, next item, please. Presentations item 4A, proclamation to Yadira Vargas, child and family services facilitator and Marbel Galvan, prevention service facilitator for the Kern County Network for Children, declaring Child Abuse Prevention Month in Bakersfield during April 2026. Do you want to bring up everybody? Everybody who's a part of this team come up. We have a lot of wonderful people who support our community. Every child deserves to grow up in a safe and nurturing environment and they should feel valued, protected, and loved. Unfortunately, far too many children are forced to experience things that no one should. Child abuse and neglect aren't distant problems. Every community, including ours, has the challenges affecting families, schools, and futures. Kern County's child abuse and neglect rates remain significantly higher than the state's average by 62% over a 5-year period. In February 2026, 290 families were referred to for in-person investigation for allegations of child abuse, with leading allegation types being general neglect. following emotional abuse and physical abuse. 2,83 children remain in foster care and 65 children were admitted to Jameson Children's Center. We are so grateful though in spite of the challenges that we face as a community that we have wonderful, wonderful organizations who are serving every day to help these children. And it's my honor to be able to present this proclamation. Whereas the children of Bakersville and Kern County are our most valuable resources and represent the future of our community. And whereas preventing child abuse and neglect requires the collective commitment of all residents to support families, promote positive parenting, and ensure children grow up in safe, stable, and nurturing environments. And whereas effective prevention efforts succeed through partnerships among families, educators, health professionals, organizations, and agencies, including the Kern County Network for Children, Kern County Department of Human Services, the Open Door Network, and anyone else who's standing behind me, whereas strengthening families through education, early intervention, and access to supportive services reduces the risk of abuse and neglect. Now therefore, I, Karen Go, mayor of the city of Bakersville, do hereby proclaim April 2026 as child abuse prevention month in our city and encourage our residents to increase their awareness of child abuse prevention and take an active role in supporting the well-being of children and families. It's my honor to be able to present this to this team here. And I see first five kern is also here. And whoever is going to take the lead, would you introduce everyone? and whoever needs to have words. Exactly. >> Thank you so much. >> Thank you, mayor and council members. On behalf of the Kern County network for children, Kern County Department of Human Services, First Five Kern Clinic, Sierra Vista, Kasa of Kerna and the Open Door Network and of course many community partners that were not able to be here. We're truly truly honored to accept this proclamation. April is child abuse prevention month and this recognition from the city of Bakersfield highlights a vital truth. Protecting our children is a responsibility we all share. This month isn't just about awareness. It's about action. It reflects the collective effort from our family resource centers, our dedicated local advocates and providers in our community to work together every day to support families and of course council members with your support to support your district families as well. We sincerely appreciate the city's continued partnership and commitment to ensuring every child in Bakersfield has the opportunity to grow in a safe, healthy environment. Thank you for standing with us in this important movement and for your leadership in supporting the children and families of Bakersville. Thank you. >> Would each of you introduce yourself just this way in the organization and back here? >> Lauren Skidmore with the Open Door Network. >> Good afternoon. Marbel Galvan with Kern County Network for Children. Ashley Borhees, Casab Kern County, Amy Travis with First Five Kern. >> Good afternoon. Carrie Eland from Clinica Sierra Vista. [applause] Get one more. >> Three, two, one. Thank you so much, Madam Clerk. Next item, please. Presentations. Item 4B, proclamation to Hav Har havind greywall from the Bakersfield seek community declaring seek heritage month in Bakersfield during April 2026. We're so blessed to have a vibrant sick community. people who are hardworking, committed to our community, ranging from agriculture to medical professionals, truck drivers, business owners, and then we have our young people who are active and pursuing their education and getting 4.8 GPA, sort of something like that. But we we really appreciate the strength that our sick community brings to Bakersfield and it's my honor to be able to celebrate this month. Whereas Bakersville, California is a culturally diverse community with people of varied heritages, cultures, and traditions adding to the richness of our city. And whereas an estimated more than 35,000 sick residents reside in Bakersville and more than 250,000 sick call California home, making up 50% of the total sick population in the United States. And whereas sick Americans enrich the social, cultural, and economic vibrancy of our country, making significant, and distinguished contributions to many areas, including agriculture, trucking, small businesses, and healthcare. And whereas the sick community remains committed to uniting our diverse world by promoting goodwill, peace, and service to others. And whereas the month of April is designated as sick heritage month to celebrate the contributions made by sick residents to our community and promote understanding and an appreciation for the rich history and shared experiences of sick Americans. Now therefore, I, Karen Ghost, mayor of the city of Bakersville, do hereby proclaim April 2026 at six heritage month in our city and urge all citizens to celebrate the contributions and culture of the sick community. It's my honor to be able to present this to the Takara movement. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. And you can introduce yours. >> Thank you. >> Uh good afternoon everyone. um city council members and to all of the audience present today. My name is Harvin Garial and I'm one of the community youth organizers for the Jakara movement here in Bakersfield. On behalf of the sick community of Bakersfield, it really is our deepest honor to accept this proclamation during the month of April. A time that holds extraordinary meaning for sex across the world. This is the month of Vasaki when in 1699 the 10th Guru Guru Gorman Singh Gi established the Kulsa. A brotherhood and sisterhood rooted in courage, devotion and service. The sick community as you know here in Bakersfield is ever growing and ever giving deeply woven into the fabric of this city. From education and public service to agriculture and enterprise, our efforts reflect an enduring commitment to equity sa selfless service and prosperity of all. This recognition also arrives at a moment that perfectly reflects the essence of sick heritage. Bakersfield, just like the sick community itself, stands for hard work, faith, and unity through adversity. Our valley has long been sustained by its fields, by the hands that till, harvest, and nurture. And among those hands are many of our sick families who came here generations ago, building livelihoods and friendships that have actually become part of the very rhythm of this life. As the 10th Sguru taught us, recognize the entire human race as one man. Those words echo deeply today in Bakersfield, a city shaped by diversity and perseverance where so many immigrant communities have made remarkable contributions to agriculture, education, health, and public service. The sixth spirit of sa selfless service continues to shine through these efforts reminding us that compassion and unity are the real pillars of prosperity. I would like to especially thank Vice Mayor Gore as well for her champion support and constant encouragement of the sick community. Her advocacy has made tonight's recognition possible and we are sincerely grateful for her kindness and leadership. Our heartfelt thanks also goes to the entire city council whose partnership continues to make Bakesfield a place where every community feels seen and valued. It is now my distinct pleasure to introduce Harvin Kogil who is a local community advocate to share a few words as well. >> Thank you so much Harvand. Hi, my name is Hervine Gord and I'm a former community organizer as well as a local law student among other many different titles, but nonetheless a very proud resident of Bakersville, California and even prouder to be a part of the sick community, the community that forged me and uh created me um helped build me to be the person I am today. But it would I would be remiss to not mention the student leaders we have behind us who have Yes. Yes. And um I'd like to have them each individually introduce themselves because these are the real leaders who are putting in the every the work and the labor every day on their campuses to ensure that six students have representation and um yeah it's a very admirable effort. So I'll start just introduce. Hello I'm Mary Dio and you are a from Rididge High School. Hello, I'm Nimmer Sandu and I'm the president of SHSS at Ridgeview. >> Hello, I'm Karan Dylan. I'm also from Ridge High School. >> Thank you so much. >> [applause] >> in the wrong spot. The mayor needs to take lessons on putting that little thing in. Thank you to all of you. Mayor, uh, Madame Clerk, next item, please. >> Public statements. In keeping with the council's resolution, public statements are received at different times. Depending on the time item, I'll call on the city clerk to call for public statements. If you wish to make a public statement, please fill out a public speaker card and place it in the tray next to the speaker's podium. We ask that you mark whether you're here to speak on an item listed on today's agenda or matter not on the agenda. Speakers who do not identify a specific agenda item will be presumed speakers for the non-aggenda public statements. If you're here to speak on an item not listed on the meeting agenda, you'll be called first to speak. Statements are given a two-minute time limit per speaker, 20 minutes total for on all non-aggenda item public statements. If you're here to speak on an item listed on the agenda, I'll call for you at the appropriate time. If public statements become disruptive and I've to clear the chambers to regain order of the meeting, you'll be called in one at a time to provide your public statement. when your item is called. Mor clerk, do we have any public speakers regarding items not listed on the agenda? >> Marico, we've received one speaker card regarding items not listed on tonight's agenda. The public speaker is LJ Raidon. >> Welcome. Please introduce yourself. Nice to see you. Good evening, madame mayor and city council members. I am LJ Ray and I'm the owner publisher of Kern County Family Magazine, which has proudly served families in Bakersfield and Kern County for over 30 years. One of the ways uh we do support local families is by hosting our annual summer camp and adventure fair. It's a free community event that connects parents with camps, educational programs, and family serving organizations all in one place. It's happening this Saturday, April 11th, from 10 to 2:00 p.m. at Westside Church of Christ. And that's located on Stockdale Highway and Del Rio. Summer isn't just about keeping kids busy. It's a critical time for growth. Quality summer programs help children. It helps them to stay engaged. It keeps them in a safe place. It gives them skills and creativity and they make new friends. The camp expo makes it easier for families to find these opportunities by allowing them to meet program leaders face to face, ask questions about safety and accessibility, and discover local resources they may not otherwise know exist here in our community. The event also strengthens our local community by highlighting Kern County based camps, nonprofits, schools, and businesses that serve children year round, keeping families connected to trusted local organizations. After 30 years of working with families, we know that these connections matter. The Camp Expo helps parents make confident choices while supporting youth development and community engagement. We appreciate the city of Bakersfield ongoing support of family focused initiatives and we invite the the council and the community to come and see and experience for themselves. Thank you so much for your time and service. >> Thank you, Miss Ron, and thank you for your investment in our community and thank you for your support of our families. >> I also have the newest family magazine available. They're free. >> You can put them right Oh, if you want to leave any right there. the council. Yes, the clerk will get them to us. Thank you. And now, madame clerk, we'll move on to the public statements listed on the agenda. If you're here to speak on items listed under consent calendar item six, your time to speak is now. Again, each speaker will be given a two-minute time limit. Each agenda item is limited to 20 minutes total. The consent calendar as a whole constitutes one agenda item. Madam clerk, do we have any public speakers regarding items listed under consent calendar item six? >> Mayor Go, we have not received any speaker cards uh regarding agenda item six. >> Thank you. And so we have had a request from council member Smith to pull item 6 F5. Do we have any other requests from council members? I don't see any others. And so now, Council Member Smith, >> I'd like to move to approve the consent calendar 6 A1 through 6H 3. >> Yes. >> Accepting there from 6F5. >> Mayor Go, may I make an announcement, please? >> Yes, please. A staff memorandum was provided regarding item 6H3, transmitting the audit and financial reports. Thank you. Anything else on there? You have a motion. Please cast your votes. Motion is approved with council members core Gonzalez and Weir absent. >> Thank you. And now we'll move on to 6F5. Council member Smith. >> Yes. Thank you. I just wanted to pull this off because I'd received a consist constituent concern that we were signing a contract that we hadn't put out to bid or anything. And actually, I think it's not that. It's something better. But I would also state that this is a contract for maintenance mostly in Ward 4 and we often want to replace city employees with maintenance and contracts and and this has been a successful one for some time now. So I'd like city manager's office to kind of explain what this is. >> Yes. Thank you uh council member Smith. Um, for the record, assistant city manager Rick Anthony filling in for Christian Clay today. Uh, this particular item is first of all not about tree maintenance. So, let's get that squared away quickly. It is only about uh streetcapes maintenance and we did have uh one uh year to renew this agreement. staff feels that um they are very satisfied with the work and also that we would not get a better price if we put it out to bid. Uh but I believe after this particular year it will go out for another rebid. >> Thank you. And with that I'll move to approve item six F5. >> Thank you. You have a motion. Please cast your votes. Motion is approved with council members core Gonzalez and Weir absent. Thank you. Next item, please. >> Council and mayor statements. >> Colleagues, do you have any requests? Council member Basher. >> I don't know, Mr. Anthony, if you could answer my question or not. Uh, do you know I I I I looked for the presentation that we saw for the PSVS meeting or the budget the overview that we went over um since Friday, but I didn't see that the uh the PowerPoint was attached to the agenda. Did I miss something? Was it my error or was it just >> I I thought the PowerPoint was going to be filled in later. So, we didn't have it we didn't have it today. >> Okay. But it will be presented at PSV committee tomorrow and I think there you'll have a copy of it by tomorrow. >> Okay. >> I can make sure that you get get you one. But >> yeah, I'm just curious. I like to do homework over the weekend, read the agenda, you know. So, thanks. >> Any other requests? It's going to be the shortest meeting. Not quite, but uh seeing that we don't have any other requests to speak, thank you for being here. We stand adjourn at 5:43. >> [music] >> Heat. Heat. >> [music]