Mayor of Bakersfield
It's election year. What are your expectations for the Mayor of Bakersfield? The office of Mayor may be mostly ceremonial but the Mayor still represents our great city. It is important that our Mayor is an outstanding citizen, cares about the residents of Bakersfield, understands economical issues and promotes commerce. This blog is to discuss the candidates and relevent issues.
Real Name: Janet Needham Member Since: October 25, 2007 Last Signed In: June 19, 2008 Profile Views: 112 Blog Views: 170 Community Forum and Issues you would like addressed ... Duties of the Mayor Four Candidates running for Mayor April 08 May 08 June 08 July 08 August 08 Being involved in a variety of issues is important to me. Websites I manage are www.secretsistersociety.com, www.kerncounty.biz and www.bakersfieldsbugzoo.com as well as www.josephcaporali.com. However, this blog is strickly meant to bring awareness to the issues involving our Mayor candidates. 
RSS 2.0    |
|
|
At the Community Forum held on May 23rd Mayor Harvey Hall was articulate and well prepared. Although he did seem to be put on the defensive on a couple of issues. Overall, Mayor Hall has accomplished a great deal during his terms as Mayor and will probably win again.
At the same Community Forum held on May23rd Joseph Caporali was not focusing on the questions asked, his answers had nothing to do with what was asked and the public was laughing at him for his answers. One woman asked me "what is wrong with him?" One has to wonder where his mind was, because it definitely wasn't on what the meeting was about and his speech was slurred. Was he under the influence of something?
I met Dennis Martinez at the Community Forum and he truly seems like a nice and caring man. He focused on the issues presented and answered with thought-felt responses. I was very impressed as were others. I asked Mr. Martinez to give more information about his campaign to post on the www.politicsinbakersfield.com website. Hopefully, he will follow through and the community will have a chance to know more about him and will be better prepared when election day arrives.
Unfortunately, Marc DeLeon has chosen not to participate in local forums to discuss his views and plans on making Bakersfield an even better place to live. This makes me wonder if he is not just using the election as a marketing campaign to bring attention to his business and music career. Is Marc DeLeon serious about representing Bakersfield? If he is, he needs to take the time and let the community hear from him.
The Mayor Duties are: Mayor and Vice-Mayor of Council
& nbsp; Section 20. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Charter to the contrary, the provisions of this section shall govern as to the office of Mayor. The Mayor shall be elected by the qualified electors of the City and shall hold his office four years from and after the first Monday of January subsequent to his election, and until his successor is elected and qualified, unless sooner removed from office by recall or otherwise. Except as otherwise provided by this Charter or by ordinance hereafter enacted, the mode of nomination and election of the Mayor shall be the same as set forth in the Elections Code and Government Code of the State of California for nomination and election of Councilmembers.
& nbsp; (b) The Mayor shall be the official head of the City for all legislative policy and ceremonial purposes, and shall execute all legal instruments and documents, and shall preside at all meetings of the Council. The Mayor shall not be vested with administrative authority and shall not in any way interfere with the activities and authority of the City Manager, nor shall the Mayor use the authority of that office to direct the activities of any department head or any employee of any department of the City. As one of the duties, the Mayor shall promote and increase the economic and industrial base of the City, in cooperation with any existing economic development agencies or organizations. The Mayor shall not receive additional compensation, from the City or from others, for the performance of the duties outlined above, except for the regular salary paid to the Mayor by the City.
& nbsp; On any and all legislative matters, the Mayor shall vote only in case of a tie vote of the Council.
& nbsp; (c) The Mayor shall perform the duties of the office of Mayor as set forth in this Charter and, as of the first day of the month following the effective date of this amendment, shall receive an annual salary of Twenty-four Thousand Dollars, payable in equal monthly installments, except as hereinafter provided. At the beginning of each fiscal year, the Council shall approve appropriate funds for the reception and entertainment of public guests by the Mayor.
& nbsp; (d) An office in the City Hall shall be provided for the Mayor for the conduct of his official duties. (Amended November 3, 1964)
& nbsp; (e) The Mayor shall be provided with a fulltime position providing secretarial and administrative services, the salary for which shall be set by the Council, commensurate with the salaries for other similar positions.
& nbsp; (f) &nbs p; The Mayor shall be a resident of the City and a qualified elector at the time nomination papers are issued. In all other respects, his qualifications shall be as set forth in Section 17 of this Charter. (Amended March 3, 1981)
& nbsp; (g) The office of Mayor shall be first in order of precedence on the municipal ballot and shall be separately designated.
& nbsp; (h) All nominating petitions for the office of Mayor shall be filed with the City Clerk within the time prescribed by the California Elections Code governing nomination for any elective office of cities.
& nbsp; (i) &nbs p; The form of declaration of candidacy, the nomination petition and the requirements of certificate, shall be substantially the same required by the California Elections Code for other elected officers of the City.
& nbsp; (j) &nbs p; Following a general municipal election at the first meeting and upon assuming the duties of the office of Councilman, each new Council shall elect one of its members Vice-Mayor of the Council. (Amended November 3, 1964)
& nbsp; (k) During the temporary absence or disability of the Mayor, the Vice-Mayor of Council shall act as Mayor pro tempore, without pay, for a period not to exceed thirty consecutive days. Thereafter, said Mayor pro tempore shall receive per diem pay to be deducted and based upon the monthly installments of compensation provided for the Mayor until duly qualified Mayor shall again resume his official duties, at which time he shall again receive his monthly installments, or his pro rata share thereof, as the case may be. (Amended November 3, 1964)
& nbsp; (l) &nbs p; If a vacancy shall occur in the office of Mayor, the Council shall appoint a person, who may or may not be a member of the Council to fill such vacancy for the unexpired term, within fifteen days of the time that the Council shall be notified of such vacancy. In the event a member of the Council is appointed to fill such vacancy, the resulting vacancy on said Council shall be filled in accordance with Section 16 of this Charter. (Amended November 8, 1988)
The four candidates are Harvey Hall, Marc DeLeon, Joseph Caporali and Dennis Martinez. The Bakersfield Californian recently wrote an article titled "A Colorful Past" regarding Joseph Caporali, and boy oh boy I know that personally. View for yourself his colorful past at www.josephcaporali.com Harvey Hall is pretty well known and he has done a great job in my opinion, but I want to know about the others as well. So, what's your scoop on each of these candidates? 
1
|