A good resource for pre-planning your route out of Bakersfield in the event one of the dams at Isabella Lake fails are maps included in the power-point  presentation OES Chief Georgianna Armstrong presented to the Board of Supervisors today.

Here's a slimmed down version of her power point with just the maps. She said better versions will be available to the public after the plan has final approval.

Supes are getting their report on the performance of the county of  Kern's 2009-2010 budget in the first three months of the fiscal year.

The county is tracking an $11 million shortfall in revenues in the time period. Spending is tracking per budget.

It's to early to worry, county budget staff said.

"We feel its premature to begin projecting the year-end cash balance," said Budget Director Gloria Dominguez.

This morning is all about the Isabella Lake dam.

Supes will get a report on the dam investigation from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Then they'll get a look at the updated evacuation plan that will get people out of the way of the water if the dam fails.

We're on at the board of supervisors' meeting.

It looks like it will be a fun meeting. There is a good audience. The power-point the planning department is intending to run through has intriguing comments like:

"The existing plan focus has been directed to growth on the preiphery rather than infill dor densification."

and

"Currently planned growth is not transit-friendly."

Ted James is saying that the meeting is a chance to relook at the way we have been growing and see if government can' t incentivize more dense, central development.

The main event on this afternoon's agenda is the planned merger of the Public Health, Environmental Health, Emergeny Medical Services and Animal Control departments in one public health services agency.

Matt Constantine will run the new merged department under the current plan.

But first we've got to get through some other items.

Anthony Trujillo, chief of the field operations bureau of the California Department of Social Services presented an award to Department of Human Services for an exceptional rate of accuracy in the food stamp program.

Kern County Department of Human Services had a 4.36 percent error rate in its food stamp prorgam.

The state's error rate was 5.77 percent over the same time period.

Four county departments could find themselves in a merger of convienence on Tuesday when Supervisors meet.

Go here for the full story.

Basically Public Health Services, Environmental Health Services, Emergency Medical Services and Animal Control would be united in holy bureaucracy as the Health Services Agency under the control of new Public Health Director Matt Constantine.

Constantine got the permanent Public Health job Tuesday.

It's kinda like rolling Constantine's two previous gigs — running first Animal Control and then Environmental Health — into a huge job managing Public Health and then slotting Emergency Medical Services and its Director Ross Elliott into the fold.

Apparently the Kern County Board of Supervisors likes Matt Constantine.

They just changed his temp job as Director of the Kern County Public Health Services Department to a permanent gig.

The move may give an indication of what supervisors think of the possibility of merging several public health departments into a single shop.

Constantine's direction, on taking the interim job in August, was to investigate the possibility of a merger aimed at increasing efficiency in county government.

Supervisor Ray Watson, one of the two supervisors studying possible mergers, said the decision on that part of Constantine's mission will be made later - but some decision is expected in a couple of weeks.

Consultant Gene Tackett is talking about an erroneous statement he made last week.

"I elevated the speaker before me to the level of Grand Jury," Tackett said. "By the time I got home the grand jury had called and asked who my 'honorable friend' was."

The Grand Jury is an important part of our community. They grand jury usually deliberates before saying anything, Tackett said.

We're on at the Kern County Planning Commission for the Frazier Park Estates project near the intersection of Interstate 5 and Frazier Mountain Park Road - for the second time.

The project is proposed by Frank Arciero, Jr. and Fallingstar Homes.

The proposal was originally 662 homes, 41 units of multi-family and sections of commercial along the main road near Flying J Travel Plaza.

But county staff sharply opposed that much development on the mountainous area south of Lebec. and proposed a much smaller optional project.

The previous hearing was a brawl, with the applicant's consultant Mike Callegy assaulting staff's honesty and integrity - charging them with leading Fallingstar forward with support throughout the six year preparation of the project only to pull the rug out from under the company at the last moment.

Last time the Commission split a 2-2 vote and pushed the project back to tonight.

So...here we go again.

The Sierra Club has suggested that parcel maps - part of the land division mapping process - be approved by the Kern County Planning Commission.

Kern County Planning Department staff generally approve or disapprove that parcel map after the public has a chance to comment and ask for a more detailed review.

Such a request triggers a formal public hearing before the Kern County Planning Director. The Director's decision can be appealed to the Kern County Board of Supervisors.

Director Ted James said the present process is appropriate and that most parcel maps are routine and non-controversial.

Supes will take up an old topic today - ambulance rates.

The Kern County Emergency Medical Services Department is presenting a request for a new fee system which would help fund the department operations.

The fee would be based on each individual ambulance trip.

It would bring in around $422,000 more money each year.

But the ambulance companies also want an increase in the amount of money they can charge for their services to cover the increased costs.

In the old days there was a fort in the mountain pass between Bakersfield and Los Angeles.

Today the big battle in that pass isn't being fought with rifles by U.S. Army dragoons.

The battle over Tejon Mountain Village kicks off in about one minute.

The hall isn't totally full yet. But it's getting there.

And nearly everyone in the Kern County Board of Supervisors is armed with reams of paper and wearing legal uniforms, not army ones. There are some average joes and some guys with television news cameras. And me...with a tie and rumpled shirt I didn't get to iron this morning.

here we go...

Kern County Supervisors got hit with a flood of e-mails Thursday as opposition to Tejon Mountain Village mobilized.

About 1,200 emails made it into the inboxes of the five supervisors before county techs locked down the source — two computer companies who contract with Tejon opponent the Center for Biological Diversity — and diverted the ongoing flow of form e-mails to a spam inbox.

By noon Friday that spam inbox had 11,200 more e-mails —  apparently signed by real CBD members from across the nation who were alerted to the Tejon project by a communication from the environmental group —  that had been delivered by the DemocracyInAction and Wired for Change software.

Center attorney Adam Keats calls this a practical example of the power of democracy in the digital age.

County officials call it a cyber attack.

What do you call it?

Members of the Kawaiisu tribe of Native Americans say David Laughing Horse Robinson's challenge to the Tejon Mountain Village project has no basis in fact.

“Mr. Robinson does not represent us in away, he isn’t the tribal chairman...,” wrote Julie Turner, secretary of the Kern Valley Indian Community to Kern County planners. “He is the self proclaim(ed) chairman of a tribe of one. He is always making claims that are false and I hope that the planning commission doesn’t take anything that he says seriously.”

Robinson claims Tejon Mountain Village — a project proposing 5,082 acres of homes, hotels, golf courses and shops east of Interstate 5 near Frazier Park — is actually owned by native peoples.
Kawaiisu elder Harold Williams said Robinson’s claims are simply wrong.

“As far as I know we’ve never owned any land down in the Tejon site,” Williams said. “Most of us are not in opposition to what (Tejon Ranch) is doing there. It’s their land. It’s private property.”