BY ERICA MURILLO
With the recent high turnover rate of Arvin City employees, the Arvin City Council discussed the need for a city manager at last week’s city council meeting.
In late May, former City Manager Breckenridge resigned. According to the City Council, the recruitment process is projected to take three months.
“A city manager is the crucial most important position because the city manager is the one that oversees every single department in the city of Arvin,” said Arvin City mayor Olivia Trujillo.
The application for city manager is expected to be posted soon.
The Arvin City Council also spoke of Trujillo’s allegations of committing unemployment insurance fraud. There is currently an ongoing Employment Development Department (EDD) investigation against the mayor.
The mayor did not comment on the unemployment insurance fraud allegation, but some members from the city council and some residents are in support of the mayor.
“There is no prove of guilt,” said Olivia Calderon, resident of Arvin. “The mayor is open to an investigation, and it does sadden me because this is a distraction from the city being able to do business and focus on the issues that residents care about.”
Those who are against the mayor want to save the city from any possible embarrassment, but others spoke out to save business from moving away from the city of Arvin because of the possible scandal.
Trujillo was also accused of not being direct with the public. She told The Bakersfield Californian she couldn’t sell door to door because of the pandemic; yet, she was seen not wearing a mask in several social media pictures and videos before the election and during the election season, residents said.