The COG has a tough job tonight. They've got to fit funding from the federal stimulus bill to a list of projects in Kern after the cash has been filtered through the state legislature.

Ron Brummett is up. He says the money Kern County controls has dropped from $27 million to $15.2 million after the legislature acted last week.

Technically KernCOG has $31 million to spend according to the state legislature, but 40 percent of that (around $12-$13 million) has to be divided up between local cities and the county.

That leaves around $18.8 million to spend. However, the KernCOG board voted two weeks ago to put $15 million in.

Brummett has recommended the rest of the money be flowed into that cities/county stream.

Supervisors started out the afternoon by appointing two long-term interim department heads to permanent positions.

Dr. James Waterman becomes the new Mental Health Services Director.

Dr. Claudia Jonah becomes the new Public Health Officer under Public Health Director John Nilon.

Both have held the interim jobs for nearly a year.

Kern County Supervisors started by honoring the upcoming Scottish Gathering and Games.

"Ceilidh is the Scottish word for Parrr-ty," said Supervisor Mike Maggard.

Sen. Roy Ashburn has responded to the recall petition against him brought by Bakersfield resident Michael Moore.

He doesn't rail against the petition much.

Instead he appeals to his constituents to understand the devestating impact that not voting for a state budget would have had.

And he touts his role in authoring Prop. 1A, which contains a spending cap on California budgets, as proof he's still got Republican principals at hart.

Check out his response in the attached letter.

Here's a cautionary tale from San Francisco for those who believed the federal government would no longer be raiding California medical marijuana clubs.

The story is here.

We're at the afternoon supes meeting. They're talking nuisence abatement.

Supervisors are worried about what repealing an ordinance that controls marijuana dispensaries in Kern County might do.

County attorney John Irby said dispensaries the board are familiar with won't come back - because they are now clearly illegal under guidelines set by California Attorney General Jerry Brown.

"It isn't a place where the public can come and buy the medicine," Irby said.

Kern County's lawyers are recommending that the county repeal the ordinance which dictates how pot dispensaries can be established and run in Kern County.

A recent court case has tightened the definition of who can provide medical marijuana to patients.

County attorney's think the ordinance is no longer needed and law enforcement can handle any violations.

Supervisors will discussion the matter at 9 a.m. Tuesday at the County Administrative Center at 1115 Truxtun Avenue.

Michael Moore of Bakersfield didn't mess around this time.

He's submitted 80 signatures to the California Secretary of State's office to launch a second attempt to recall Sen. Roy Ashburn.

He needs 40 valid signatures from registered voters in Ashburn's 18th Senate District to launch the recall. The first time Moore tried, he did not get enough valid signatures.

Ashburn was formally served with the new recall petition by certified mail on March 17.

Now the Kern County Elections division will check to make sure Moore has enough signatures now.

Then Ashburn will have a chance to respond.

Then Moore will have to gather more than 42,300 signatures  to get the recall placed on a special election.

Supes will look at a $115 million bond Tuesday to pay for widening 7th Standard Road, building two fire station and doing a ton of road repairs.

It comes at a time when the county faces a severe economic downturn and county departments are looking at cuts of between 15 and 33 percent.

On the flip-side, some of the work — 7th Standard Road — won't happen without the cash (other money needed for the project would disappear by June) and construction companies hungery for work are bidding low on projects - saving the county money.

Is bonding now a good idea?

A blogger has questioned why Kern County needs $4 million to repave the main taxiway at Meadows Field Airport.

The Airport got the $4 million in federal stimulus money through the Federal Aviation Administration.

Airports CEO Jack Gotcher said the taxiway is 12 years old and, while it is safe, it needs replacement. The county hadn't planned to rehab the taxiway for another two to three years.

The work will also, he said, allow the airport to save around $35,000 a year in maintenance and utility costs on the lights for the Taxiway.

In the meantime contractors get to bid on a job and the construction work keeps people employeed — that's the stimulus part.

Kern County Supervisors, in a 4-1 vote, approved a resolution supporting Dean Florez's Senate Bill 250, which would require irresponsible pet owners to spay or neuter their animals.

Supervisor Jon McQuiston voted against the resolution.

Tuesday's Kern County Supervisor's meeting is online.

There is a long list of retirees being honored today....Pat LeMay from the Assesor's office got a good send off.

Assessor Jim Fitch said she changed the way the public perceived county workers by working hard and "winning them over" with great customer service.

Now Kern County Fire Chief Dennis Thompson is up.

Supervisor Jon McQuiston said Thompson is leaving the department better equipped and prepared than he found it.

Orange County has eliminated a teen pregancy prevention contract with Planned Parenthood because the organization performs abortions.

Local Pro-life activists, today, queried Kern County leaders about any contracts they might have with Planned Parenthood.

We contacted Director of Public Health John Nilon and he said the county does have a $60,000 contract with Planned Parenthood. But it’s not for teen pregnancy prevention.

Nilon said the county contracts with Planned Parenthood to provide HIV prevention classes for at-risk communities including IV-drug users and commercial sex workers.

That education can be delievered to at-risk teens, he said, but it is not provided in the schools.
 

The Secretary of State's office sent us the official list of voters who signed the notice of intent to recall aimed at state Sen. Roy Ashburn, R-Bakersfield.

It accuses him of delaying big decisions until they reach crisis levels, failing to make decisions on legislation and voting for tax increases after he pledged not to — or as the petition puts it "committing fraud against his constituency."

Now the Kern County Elections Division will need to certify that the signatures are valid.

In the meantime, Ashburn has until the end of the day on March 17 to file a 200 word written response to the recall notice.

10 days after Ashburn files his response — or March 27 — whichever is earlier Michael Moore (who started the petition) must submit his proposed decision.

Then the Secretary of State's office reviews the document for correctness and asks for any revisions needed. Once the document is finalized, Moore can begin grabbing the 42,376 valid petition signatures he needs to put the recall on a ballot.

He'll have 160 days to get those signtures.

Accused animal hoarder Cynthia Gudger will be sentenced to a mental hospital after a judge ruled she was not competent to stand trial.

We won't find out how long she'll be committed for another four weeks, or how that will compare to the prison time she might have faced if she'd gone to trial.

The county of Kern is in a fiscal crisis — looking to cut between 10 and 33.3 percent of its spending across county departments as it tries to put together next year's budget.

But the upheaval at the county goes beyond simply the financial.

Over the last five years, the role the Board of Supervisors plays in running the county has changed.

The board used to provide larger policty guideance to county officials and left the everyday decisions about county operations to department heads and the CAO's office.

Now supervisors are more deeply engaged in reviewing department decisions, questioning how things are run and holding department heads and the CAO responsible for their work.

Some out there, on this blog even, have called that micromanagement. Some have gone further, suggesting that the board is micromanaging at the same time it struggles to make even the most basic decisions without weeks or months of delay, deliberation and navel-gazing.

Last week the board picked an outsider to be the County Counsel. In a county that is nearly religious in its promotion of internal candidates to top positions, that is shocking.

Will the board continue that habit? Or was Theresa Goldner's hiring a sign of things to come?

The CAO's job is empty after Friday and the county has jobs to fill at the top of their Mental Health, Fire and Waste Management departments.

There is also inspecific talk about restructuring county government in some way — though exact suggestions have not yet formed.

I'm curious about people's take on all this.

The press release isn't out yet and nobody at the county is confirming this officially.

But sources tell us the deal has been made and U.S. Magistrate Theresa Goldner will be the new Kern County Counsel, replacing veteran Bernie Barmann.

Expect an official announcement later on Friday.

The afternoon supes meeting is on.

Animal rescuer Kimi Peck is in the audience. Dogs are in the audience. Supes have a long agenda to get through before what promises to be an interesting meeting.