In the only debate between them so far, Leticia Perez and Kim Salas did not appear to have any major differences in their approach to addressing issues facing residents in Kern County’s District 5 and the rest of the county. Both candidates are running to represent District 5 on the Kern County Board of Supervisors.
The debate was sponsored by KVPR, the Central Valley’s NPR station, and Kern Sol News. Perez is the incumbent with 12 years of experience. Salas, 51, is district director for Assemblywoman Jasmeet Baines. Both candidates are Democrats.
In September Governor Newsom signed three bills empowering local communities to set greater protections around oil and gas activities in their neighborhoods. When asked if they agreed with the governor’s action and if the legislation would benefit Kern County, both candidates did not give direct answers. Both stressed the importance of the oil industry and did not comment on whether the bills would be a benefit for Kern County communities.
Kern County Supervisors are expected to vote shortly on and approve, two proposed carbon capture projects in western Kern County. However, there is opposition from environmentalists and groups such as the Dolores Huerta Foundation that claim the fossil fuel industry is spending millions to persuade the public that carbon capture is a viable solution to the climate crisis and that it is a failed technology. Both candidates were asked if these were safe projects and if they, if elected, would vote to approve them.
Salas responded by saying, ”With anything new, there’s always a certain sense of fear, and we want to be careful and we want to be sure that the populations that are near to these projects are safe.” She added the projects have an upside in providing jobs. Kern County Planning Director Lorellie Oviatt has stated publicly that the projects would bring in a total of between 5 to 10 jobs.
Perez answered the question by saying, “Carbon capture is a new technology that needs to be flushed out by the stakeholders, the regulators, and by the public sector, and we have to do it with global participation.”
The debate was held at the Bakersfield Museum of Art and was sponsored by KVPR, the Central Valley’s NPR station based in Fresno and Kern Sol News. Audience members also posed questions to the candidates. One audience member asked the candidates to state their position on ICE detention centers in Kern County, and what, if anything would they do to shut them down.
The private for-profit detention centers are both operated by the GEO group located in Bakersfield and McFarland. Both facilities have come under scrutiny by human rights organizations for alleged inhuman conditions for detainees.
“Kern County Board of Supervisors doesn’t have much oversight as far as ICE detention centers are concerned, that is a federal-level issue,” said Salas. Perez agreed the county can’t do much, but added she will soon be taking a tour of the Mesa Verde facility in Bakersfield to observe and record conditions to hold detention officials accountable.
“Then we are going to take those observations to Sacramento and we’re going to talk to the people at GEO about how we can do things more humanly, more fairly with an eye on not just preserving the family and not just destroying it,” said Perez.
This year, Kern County saw a 37% increase in its homeless population. Candidates were asked about their plan to reduce and prevent homelessness in Kern County. Perez noted there is a lack of two million housing units in California and blamed the state bureaucracy for failing to build more units.
“We really don’t have a plan at the state to bring housing online, we tell counties, ‘Go make a bunch of homes,’ but the state does not do a good job of helping us figure out how to get there,” said Perez.
According to the incumbent, the private sector is stepping up to build units in the southeast without government wrangling. Salas noted local municipalities have received millions of dollars from the state to address the homeless crisis.
“I’d like to know where the accountability and where the money is going. So if a dollar comes in for homeless, a dollar should be spent for homeless,” said Salas, adding that while homeless encampments are being cleared, they soon spring up in other parts of town.
The pair will face off in the November 5 general election. During the March primary, Perez and Salas were the top two vote-getters out of a total of four candidates. Perez had 44.81% and Salas had 22.18%, enabling them to advance to the November general election.
