Supervisor Mike Maggard tried to kick off Wednesday's Kern County budget hearings with some humor.

He asked County Administrative Officer Ron Errea to go into detail when talking about additional proposed county spending  so he could keep track on "Ruth Ann, my calculator."

He tipped his microphone down to the CPA-style key-and-paper machine on the dias in front of him so the audience could hear the tik, tik, tik of keys being tapped.

"To me that's the sound of money," Maggard said.

"Yeah, but it's leaving," quipped Supervisor Jon McQuiston.

Kern County Supervisor Michael Rubio took a chance, during budget hearings on Tuesday, to quiz Auditor-Controller Ann Barnett about civil marriages.

If the statewide same-sex marriage ban (Prop. 8) passes in November, he asked her, would she be asking the county for money to restart civil marriages in Kern County?

The answer was , No.

"We are going to drop civil marriages all together," Barnett said.

Barnett ended civil marriages in June, on the day the California Supreme Court ruled gay marriages would become legal.

She stated her decision was based on budget constraints and space and security needs.

Kern County Supervisors head into budget hearings on Monday evening at 7 o'clock.

They have little to no wiggle room in this year's budget.

Budget gurus say the supes have only $87.7 million out of $1.5 billion that they have full control over.

Cuts have hit most departments and everyone is saying reductions in services are unavoidable.

What do you think?

I'm especially interested in what county workers out there think

News out of the recent Kern County Animal Control raid is grim. One woman living with 15 dogs and 37 cats in a metal outbuilding.

Piles of feces and trash so noxious animal control officers couldn't breathe.

See our story here.

The raid came on the same day that the Kern County Animal Control Commission took up a proposed ordinance requiring people with large numbers of animals to register with the county.

What do animal rescuers, breeders and kennel operators think? Is it worth sacrificing a little freedom if it might reduce the number of horror stories like this one?

You Tube poster plinfesty has slung video from Tuesday's debate over a gay marriage at the Kern County Board of Supervisor's meet on YouTube.

If you read the poster's captions you can get an idea of his take on the issue.

But the videos themselves are mostly raw feed from KGOV and contain an interesting discussion of constitutional law, the responsibliies of elected officials under their oaths of office and why County Auditor-Controller Ann Barnett ended civil marriage ceremonies just ahead of the first day of gay marriages.

James Burger

Californian staff writer

Supervisor Michael Rubio ribbed Supervisor Jon McQuiston just a little bit Tuesday in round two of the "suit-and-tie" debate between them.
Rubio introduced the "very hansomely-dressed Supervisor Jon McQuiston" as McQuiston got up to issue an honorary proclamation for county parks workers.
"The chairman must have watched the video from a couple weeks ago," McQuiston quipped back.
The good natured teasing has its roots in Rubio's decision not to allow board members to adopt their traditional "summer" wardrobe of shirt and tie without a jacket this year.
McQuiston, who prefers more casual attire, fudged his wardrobe a bit while Rubio was out of town for three weeks.
But on Tuesday McQuiston was back in full suit and tie.

Sheriff Donny Youngblood has reduced the number of patrol cars he's letting some deputies take home in an effort to save money.

Currently, the program allows deputies who live less than 60 miles from the headquarters of their assigned duty area to take their patrol vehicle home at night.

Youngblood is reducing that distance to 40 miles.

That could mean thousands of dollars in additional cost for between 20 and 25 deputies who will have to drive their own cars to work.

But it is expected to save county taxpayers $200,000 in a bad budget year and help Sheriff Youngblood avoid staff layoffs.

Is this a good move on the Sheriff's part?