[19:19] Welcome to the Special Meeting of the Bakersville City Council,
[19:22] now speaking the Honorable Mayor Karen K. Go. Afternoon. It's
[19:30] my pleasure to call to order the 12 p. m.
[19:32] Special City Council meeting. Of August 26, 2026. Madam Clerk,
[19:40] please call the role. Marigo. Here. Vice Mayor Cor. Council
[19:46] Member Aryas. Here. Council Member Gonzalez. Here. Council Member Weir.
[19:53] Council Member Smith. I'm here. Council Member Coman. Here. Council
[19:57] Member by Sher Tash. Here. Thank you. In Keeping with
[20:01] Council's Resolution, the Public Statements portion is divided into two
[20:05] periods. There's a period for items listed on the meeting
[20:07] agenda and items not on the meeting agenda. Additionally, pursuant
[20:11] to changes in state law. The City Council will now
[20:14] accept public statements via phone and in person. Statements for
[20:18] items listed on this afternoon's agenda are given a two
[20:21] - minute time limit, 10 minutes for participants by phone
[20:24] and 10 minutes for in - person participants, 20 minutes
[20:27] total. Statements regarding items not listed on the agenda are
[20:31] also given a two - minute time limit, 10 minutes
[20:33] for participants by phone, and 10 minutes for in -
[20:36] person participants. If you have written comments that are longer
[20:38] than your verbal statement, give them to the clerk who
[20:40] will give copies to the council. If you're here to
[20:42] make a public statement, please register using the kiosk in
[20:45] the back of the chambers where you entered staff are
[20:48] available to assist if needed. We ask that you select
[20:52] whether you're here to speak on an item listed on
[20:54] this afternoon's agenda or no matter not on the agenda.
[20:57] Speakers who do not identify specific agenda item will be
[21:00] presumed speakers for the non - agenda portion. Those speakers
[21:03] will be called during the non - agenda portion of
[21:05] the meeting. Everyone in attendance is expected. To adhere to
[21:10] the world's vineycarum established by resolution of the city council
[21:13] failure to abide by the city's relations of decorum, including
[21:16] any disruptive behavior that interferes with our ability to have
[21:19] an orderly and efficient meeting. Prevents the City Council from
[21:23] conducting the business of the city. Consider this the first
[21:26] warning to everyone had participating. That conduct that disrupts the
[21:29] meeting may result in expulsion and or the Chambers being
[21:32] cleared. Behavior did its reps of meeting includes repetitive statements,
[21:37] shouting, hate speech, interrupting staff or presenters during the meeting,
[21:42] speaking out of turn, outbursts from the audience. Telephonic Participants
[21:46] are expected to adhere to the same worlds of decorum
[21:49] as those attending here in person. Madam Clerk, do we
[21:52] have any public speakers regarding regarding items not listed on
[21:57] the agenda.
[22:07] Regarding items not listed on the Agenda, all Public Speakers
[22:11] are in person. Thank you. Would you call for them,
[22:13] please? The first public speaker is Michael Orloff.
[22:23] Have some. Materials here. Well, complete introduce yourself. Michael Orloff,
[22:29] I'm a resident of Larry Cohen's district, Ward 5. Thank
[22:35] you very much, counsel. I'm writing to you today to
[22:39] request that each council member consider going on the record.
[22:43] About a rule of law, resolution, or the city of
[22:47] Bakersfield. I strongly oppose any effort to designate Bakersfield a
[22:52] sanctuary city American citizens are the victims of foreign nationals,
[22:59] not the immigrants. Sanctuary City Policy is fiscally irresponsible, exacerbates
[23:07] inflation. Ruins the American dream. Foreign nationals reduce job availability
[23:13] and drain our health care, feeding, education, housing, criminal justice,
[23:19] and public safety systems. The cost of sustaining population of
[23:24] foreign nationals is part of the problem and exacerbates the
[23:28] CPI increases that we've seen in the last few years.
[23:31] Sanctuary City violates federal law. And interferes with law enforcement
[23:37] and facilitates about 10 different federal crimes. Border security by
[23:43] contrast, including ICE, serve important functions, dismantling international criminal networks
[23:51] involved in human trafficking, weapons smuggling and financial crimes. I
[23:57] fully support everyone who comes here to escape from oppression
[24:01] and improve their lives so long as they enter America
[24:05] legally. Council should kindly go on the record with the
[24:09] attached resolution of rule of law. For the city of
[24:13] Bakersfield. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Orloff. Next speaker, please.
[24:20] Jesse Sanders. Morning. Boy. Jesse Sanders. Welcome. S. A. N.
[24:27] D. E. R. S. I hear, I am here also
[24:30] to oppose Sanctuary Cities. Excuse me, sorry, can we hold
[24:35] on for just one moment? We're having a technical difficulty
[24:37] with the timer.
[25:04] Our apologies to that. Please go ahead. Good morning. So
[25:10] Carl Sololensky and Cloud and Pivots never use the term
[25:14] sanctuary city because it wasn't coined in their day. However,
[25:18] sanctuary city status fits boldly into their strategy. Because selectively
[25:26] enforcement of laws create victimhood status, social strife and lawlessness,
[25:32] much like the gang shooting at our high school here,
[25:35] just the other night. Where a young man was killed.
[25:41] Needlessly. Sanctuary City status has been strategically tabled only to
[25:47] be reinduced at a more convenient time down the road.
[25:54] Un contrary, a rule of loss status would invite law
[25:57] - abiding citizens, promote law and order, and send a
[26:00] message to our local and federal law enforcement that the
[26:03] city backs our officers in the field. I urge a
[26:07] counsel to proclaim Bakersfield City as a law and order
[26:12] city. Protect our U. S. citizens in Bakersfield. Much of
[26:16] this can go on to what we're addressing at the
[26:20] Board of Supervisors with the roach coach areas around. They're
[26:25] trying to shut them down. But a lot of them
[26:27] aren't following the laws because they didn't follow the laws
[26:29] to get here. I'm having, I'm in Andrew Gonzalez, who
[26:34] I have some of those trucks dumping their ways in
[26:37] my trash cans, which means I'm picking up their cost.
[26:41] That they should be paying, which means my taxes go
[26:44] up, they're not paying it to their profiting. On my
[26:48] taxes. I think the law should be applied all the
[26:52] way across the board. I don't care what your race
[26:54] or color is. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Sanders. Next
[26:59] speaker, please. Dennis McLean.
[27:09] Welcome. Please introduce yourself. Dennis McLean, MCLAN. Good afternoon, Council
[27:16] members. I was denied the opportunity to speak at the
[27:20] August 5th meeting due to our liberal governor's time restraints
[27:25] for public comments. So we will continue on. I'm a
[27:30] county resident for 75 years. And I'm opposed to the
[27:34] Bakersville becoming a sanctuary city. The previous administration flooded our
[27:39] nation with illegal foreign nationalists, and we must enforce the
[27:43] rule of law. And remove these illegal individuals. Your counsel
[27:50] is not representing the needs and desires of the citizens
[27:52] of Bakersfield. Are failing infrastructure is a result of bad
[27:58] decision - making and mismanagement of city funds. Homelessness, crime,
[28:04] depleted roads and highways, wasted spending on the downtown area.
[28:08] Millions spin on 90 cential bike paths. The list goes
[28:11] on and on. I recommend city council members. I'm sorry,
[28:17] I commend counsel, member Bastard Hart for standing up for
[28:22] the citizens of our community. We need more common -
[28:26] sense in decision - making on this Council. I'd like
[28:30] to close and saying God bless Dolly Pardon. Thank you.
[28:32] Thank you, Mr. McLean. Next speaker, please. Eddie Lane.
[28:45] Welcome. I'm editing with the Cyril Clow. This feels so
[28:48] odd today with nobody here. My comments today are regarding
[28:53] an August 18 letters into the city council. With regard
[28:58] to our letter, we were informed that the city council
[29:00] received a copy of the letter. But that the city
[29:03] attorney would treat it as a California Public Records Act
[29:06] request. That was not our request. Got it. We in
[29:10] the Sierra Club have submitted many, many letters in the
[29:12] past. Uh, as well as California Public Records Act requests
[29:16] directly to the city attorney's office. Previous records Act request
[29:21] the City Attorney's Office and resulted in invoices as one
[29:24] attached to them. Here. Um, not reports. The invoices are
[29:31] the records. Our very first August 18 request is reports,
[29:35] not invoices prepared by and for the staff to the
[29:38] Council and the Public regarding number of trees trimmed, removed,
[29:43] planted during fiscal year 25, 26, including caused by ward.
[29:49] We, you the council and then the tax paying public
[29:51] need to know where we have been before we plan
[29:54] to go where we're headed with the 500, 000 dollars
[29:58] We want to plan wisely for the 500, 000. It's
[30:02] not up to the city attorney who is not elected
[30:05] to decide to invoke the California Public Records Act as
[30:08] a default for your position. Based on invoices we did
[30:12] receive many months ago. We found out that the city
[30:15] trimmed over 1, 000 trees in August and September of
[30:19] 2025. National Standards, which the city is using now to
[30:23] advise the public for use are clear. We shall only
[30:28] be trimming and planting when the trees are dormant. Without
[30:32] regular reporting, again, our first request in our letter, important
[30:36] issues are hidden from the Council and the public. We're
[30:39] asking for transparency. Thank you for your consideration. Thank you,
[30:43] Mr. Lane. Madam City Clerk, is that our final speaker.
[30:47] Marigo, that is our final speaker. We have not received
[30:50] any speaker requests for the closed session item. Thank you.
[30:54] So would you please read the next item. Close session.
[31:01] Close session with legal counsel personnel matter. Conference to conclude,
[31:05] excuse me, to conduct interviews with potential chief assistant city
[31:08] attorney applicants. And to consider discuss the employment, appointment of
[31:12] a chief assistant city attorney. Thank you. We're adjourned to
[31:17] close session.