Op-Ed by: Joey Williams and Lori Pesante
Hagare’ Naam (Hello in Kawaiisu),
There was much excitement two years ago when community members were asked if they had an interest in running for the California Jobs First Governance Council (“GC”), formerly known as CERF, to select projects for $9 million in CJF Catalyst funding. For me, Joey Williams, born and raised in East Bakersfield and my Nuwa ancestors buried in the earth at Sand Canyon (Tehachapi) for time immemorial this felt like a great opportunity to serve Kern communities, the same for Lori Pesante, who became our Chair.
The GC is comprised of salt of the earth individuals, from a Councilman in East Kern, powerful Promotora advocates, amazing social justice leaders, and labor leaders, this was a Dream Team, the most representative elected body in Kern County history.
The excitement moved to challenge very quickly as the Kern Coalition Convenors (“Kern Convenors”) comprised of the Kern Community College District (Fiscal Agent), B3K, CAPK, Central Labor Council, and Building Healthy Communities Kern. The Convenors would impose their will and change the rules and goal posts almost weekly. They tried to push out GC members, especially if they were outspoken or had expertise that would allow for greater accountability and stewardship of our tax dollars. They tried to dilute the GC’s composition by adding seats and filling them with hand-picked Convenor proxies. When all attempts to capture the GC failed, the Convenors pulled the ultimate slight of hand: gaslighting everyone into thinking that the GC is merely “advisory”. This is simply not true. The GC holds the authority to select Catalyst projects.
We are outraged and write to formally object to the decision made by the Kern Convenors to disregard the CJF Catalyst project funding scores and recommendations submitted by the duly elected GC. This action not only dismisses the results of a rigorous community-driven evaluation process but also undermines the authority and intent of the GC’s role in ensuring fairness and alignment with the goals of the California Jobs First initiative.
The decision to eliminate the GC’s scores and funding decisions and put the selection process solely in the hands of unelected Kern Convenors constitutes a violation of the GC’s established authority. The GC is an elected body entrusted with the responsibility and authority to review and vote on projects that are aligned with the criteria of the California Jobs First initiative. The GC worked as community servants for over 2 years. Undermining and bypassing our role not only disregards the democratic process through which the GC was formed but also violates the integrity of its established mandate.
Millions of dollars were paid to the Kern Convenors to staff CA Jobs First and to hire technical experts to ensure the GC was fully prepared, including RAND, Groundworks Consulting, Workforce Innovation Labs, and HR&A Advisors. In accordance with the authority given to us and requirements outlined in Kern Coalition contracts, we learned about inclusive economic development, principles of collaboration, and we developed by-laws and a scoring matrix that were approved by all. We then used these approved rubrics to notify applicants in a vetted and approved RFP, and to ultimately make ethical, well-reasoned, and just project awards selections that reflect the needs and priorities of our communities. This preparation and GC authority is clearly outlined in the contract agreements, “Projects recommended for implementation will be forwarded to the Governance Council. The Governance Council will review and approve investment proposals in accordance with the tenets of the CERF grant and will approve CERF documents, including the regional economic transition plan” (EDD Contract, Page 19; See Also, State of CA Contract).
Unelected Kern Convenors were never thus prepared because it was never contemplated that they would make project selections. Now they are making project selections while eschewing appropriate technical assistance, and it is unclear that the very conflicts of interest that appear to have led to them take over the selection process in the first place will be properly addressed or that it is even possible to do so.
On September 22, 2025, an intermediary of the Kern Coalition, informed the GC that our services were no longer needed, that our project votes would be disregarded, and that they would assume the authority to award project fundings, effectively stripping the GC of its intended role and responsibility. Despite doing everything that the GC was asked to do, and dedicating over 2-years of our time reviewing documents, countless working meetings and trainings, dozens and dozens of community meetings involving hundreds of community members in the most under-resourced and exploited communities in Kern County, we are all being told GC scores and recommendations will be disregarded.
We respectfully requested to see the evidence being cited by the Kern Coalition justifying their decision, but our request was denied. John Cox’s October 4th article states that the CA State representatives did not request this action, rather, it was the decision of the Kern Coalition, made with approval by the State. Indeed, KCCD cites a different and often illogical justification every time they are asked why they made this decision. At best, KCCD’s actions directly contradict the purpose of the GC and CJF to guide a new, inclusive approach to engaging under-resourced communities in meaningful, innovative initiatives. At worst, KCCD has destroyed any trust they might have gained with the very Kern residents they claim to serve.
We demand that the GC’s project funding votes be reinstated without material alternations or reductions. In the absence of this, the GC has lost faith that the goals of the California Jobs First initiative will be achieved in Kern. Therefore, we ask that the GC and the Kern communities we represent not be associated with any further CJF activities or decisions.
These California Jobs First Council members, who also served on the 10-person Catalyst Project Selection Committee, also stand behind our position: Rosa Lopez, Jim Creighton, Veronica Vasquez, Gema Perez, Cecilia Delgado, and Siliva Romano.
Respectfully submitted
Lori Pesante
Elected Chair and Central Subregion Representative
California Jobs First Governance Council
Joey Williams
Elected East Kern Subregion Representative
California Jobs First Governance Council