http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/firedup/26244 Bakersfield voters should return Harvey Hall to the mayor&rsquo;s office for a third term. Hall, first elected in 2000, has served the city with honor and dignity through occasionally difficult times. Challengers with appropriate credentials have not stepped forward &mdash; no doubt because Hall is widely regarded as having done a good job. Hall&rsquo;s vision of the job is not that of an aggressive, policy-dictating activist mayor. Hall believes his role is to promote the city, both to outsiders and to those of us who live here. His consistent theme has been &ldquo;Unity in the Community,&rdquo; and he has worked toward fulfilling that goal. But Hall is not just about rhyming mottos. He rolls up his sleeves and goes to work. He doesn&rsquo;t just delegate, he&rsquo;s out there picking up trash along the city&rsquo;s roadsides himself. Hall&rsquo;s official powers are negligible. He casts votes at Bakersfield City Council meetings only on the rare occasions when he must break a tie, and he rarely involves himself in council discussion. His job is to conduct meetings &mdash; &ldquo;referee&rdquo; sometimes might be a more apt term &mdash; and he takes that role very seriously. He is justifiably proud of the fact that he has good relationships with all of the council members, even if they don&rsquo;t necessarily always have good relationships with each other. Hall has managed to stay above the factional politics that occasionally rears its head at city hall. Hall presents a good face on Bakersfield&rsquo;s behalf &mdash; to the region, to the state, and to the world. He is a professional, informed ambassador. Hall&rsquo;s challengers &mdash; Dennis Martinez, Joseph Caporali and Marc DeLeon &mdash; do not offer the kind of leadership experience the position requires. Dennis Martinez, a 48-year-old construction company owner, has admirable passion for the city and for the job&rsquo;s potential, but his grasp of the issues is lacking. He is encouraged to look for other ways to serve the community, such as membership on a nonprofit board or government committee. Caporali , a 76-year-old freelance film director, has by all accounts lived a fascinating life. But his colorful past, which includes multiple marriages (some of which he can&rsquo;t remember), would make a better screenplay than mayor&rsquo;s resume. Marc DeLeon, a 39-year-old tattoo parlor owner, did not make himself available for an interview with The Californian&rsquo;s editorial board. The election is June 3. If no candidate wins a majority of the vote, the race will go to a November runoff. The Californian urges voters make a mayoral runoff unnecessary and re-elect Hall. Bakersfield voters should return Harvey Hall to the mayor&rsquo;s office for a third term. Hall, first elected in 2000, has served the city with honor and dignity through occasionally difficult times. Challengers with appropriate credentials have not stepped forward &mdash; no doubt because Hall is widely regarded as having done a good job. Hall&rsquo;s vision of the job is not that of an aggressive, policy-dictating activist mayor. Hall believes his role is to promote the city, both to outsiders and to those of us who live here. His consistent theme has been &ldquo;Unity in the Community,&rdquo; and he has worked toward fulfilling that goal. But Hall is not just about rhyming mottos. He rolls up his sleeves and goes to work. He doesn&rsquo;t just delegate, he&rsquo;s out there picking up trash along the city&rsquo;s roadsides himself. Hall&rsquo;s official powers are negligible. He casts votes at Bakersfield City Council meetings only on the rare occasions when he must break a tie, and he rarely involves himself in council discussion. His job is to conduct meetings &mdash; &ldquo;referee&rdquo; sometimes might be a more apt term &mdash; and he takes that role very seriously. He is justifiably proud of the fact that he has good relationships with all of the council members, even if they don&rsquo;t necessarily always have good relationships with each other. Hall has managed to stay above the factional politics that occasionally rears its head at city hall. Hall presents a good face on Bakersfield&rsquo;s behalf &mdash; to the region, to the state, and to the world. He is a professional, informed ambassador. Hall&rsquo;s challengers &mdash; Dennis Martinez, Joseph Caporali and Marc DeLeon &mdash; do not offer the kind of leadership experience the position requires. Dennis Martinez, a 48-year-old construction company owner, has admirable passion for the city and for the job&rsquo;s potential, but his grasp of the issues is lacking. He is encouraged to look for other ways to serve the community, such as membership on a nonprofit board or government committee. Caporali , a 76-year-old freelance film director, has by all accounts lived a fascinating life. But his colorful past, which includes multiple marriages (some of which he can&rsquo;t remember), would make a better screenplay than mayor&rsquo;s resume. Marc DeLeon, a 39-year-old tattoo parlor owner, did not make himself available for an interview with The Californian&rsquo;s editorial board. The election is June 3. If no candidate wins a majority of the vote, the race will go to a November runoff. The Californian urges voters make a mayoral runoff unnecessary and re-elect Hall. en-us Wed, 07 May 2008 17:16:45 PDT <p>I just don't like him....</p> http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/firedup/26244/#c_235285 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/firedup/26244/#c_235285 <p>I just don't like him....</p> <p>He needs to drop the monoply on ambulance services in the county and invite more services in, proove himself the UNGREEDY *** he isn't and pay his staff what they are worth.... .give it up ...H.H,</p> http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/firedup/26244/#c_235921 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/firedup/26244/#c_235921 <p>He needs to drop the monoply on ambulance services in the county and invite more services in, proove himself the UNGREEDY *** he isn't and pay his staff what they are worth.... .give it up ...H.H,</p>