The Dolores Huerta Foundation and several other organizations held a candidate forum with Ward 3 candidates Boyd Binninger and Zeferino Barron, and District 3 Board of supervisors candidate Brian Smith.
During the forum, members in the audience from the other organizations asked questions regarding affordable housing, clean water access, and working conditions for nursing homes.
Laura Cruz addressed the candidates asking what they will do to ensure street safety. She explained that her neighborhood does not have sidewalks.
“We still don’t have sidewalks in our community and we also don’t have public lighting. We don’t have safe streets. The streets that we have are completely destroyed. What would you do to resolve this issue?” said Cruz.
Each candidate acknowledged that the area she asked about was not their district; however, they agree that lighting and sidewalks are needed for safety.
Barron mentioned that the East side of Bakersfield does have similar issues and this is why he supports a sales tax increase so that money can be used for roads. The other two candidates did not give a specific example of how they will address the issue.
Another community member Laura Serna raised the question of how the candidates will address the police brutality within the Bakersfield Police Department (BPD) and the Sheriff’s Office. Serna is the daughter of Francisco Serna who was killed by BPD in 2016.
Binninger stated that if a case proves there was police abuse then the officer should be held accountable whether it be having to leave the police force or something else. Barron agreed with Binninger and said he would also want to ban No-knock-warrants.
Smith stated that police officers do not want bad officers on the force either.
“Even police officers don’t want those police officers around. People will say ‘oh you’re gonna try and cover for them’. You know, we work hard, we have a reputation to uphold. There are a lot of good officers here in Kern County, Bakersfield that work very hard. The last thing they want is an officer that’s going to make them look bad,” said Smith.
Along with the audience questions the candidates provided their input on county-wide measures and a list of rapid-fire questions.
For measure K which is for placing a 1% sales increase in unincorporated areas of Kern County, Smith did not support this measure and both Barron and Binninger did.
Measure J is for term limits for the Kern County Board of Supervisors, the terms would be limited to two, four-year terms. Each candidate was in support of term limits.
The following are the rapid-fire questions asked during the forum where they raised a green paper for yes and red for no:
Do you agree that abortions are a health care right?
- Benninger – Yes
- Smith – No
- Barron – No
If elected, would you support the raising of the LGBTQIA+ pride flag?
- Benninger – Yes
- Smith – Raised his notebook that did not easily show an answer
- Barron – No
Do you support annexing county islands into your city?
- Benninger – Yes
- Smith – No answer
- Barron – No
Will you uphold California’s place as a sanctuary state for immigrants?
- Benninger – No
- Smith – No
- Barron – No
Do you support healthcare for all?
- Benninger – Yes
- Smith – held up both cards
- Barron – No
Do you support terminating contracts between law enforcement and school districts?
- Benninger – No
- Smith – No
- Barron – No
Do you support the expansion of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policies and programs in your jurisdiction?
- Benninger – Yes
- Smith – Yes
- Barron – Yes
The new Omicron COVID booster is out. Do you support people getting vaccinated and boosted for COVID?
- Benninger – Yes
- Smith – held up both cards
- Barron – Yes
Do you believe that hiring more police officers is a public health expenditure?
- Benninger – Yes
- Smith – held up both cards
- Barron – No
Do you believe there is voter fraud in Kern County?
- Benninger – No
- Smith – No
- Barron – No
All of the organizations hosting this forum include:
Dolores Huerta Foundation
Delano Guardians
Leadership Council Justice & Accountability
Planned Parenthood Mar Monte
Center for Race Poverty and the Environment
United Domestic Workers
All of Us or None
Kern County Criminal Justice Reform Coalition
ACLU SoCal
Lideres Campesinas
Comunidades Aliadas Tomando Acción
Building Healthy Communities Kern
Vision y Compromiso
Loud 4 Tomorrow
Central Valley United for Power
Greenfield Walking Group
Central Valley Partnership