Veterans for Trees, a non-profit organization based in Frazier Park, Calif., held its first tree planting event Saturday, March 13, 2010. Organizers hope their idea will sprout nationwide.

The idea is simple: Plant a tree for every U.S. veteran.

That could mean millions of trees will be planted and millions of veterans will be honored. The plantings are good for the environment and good for the soul.

Eleven small trees – blue spruces, autumn blaze maples and quaking aspens – were planted during a ceremony Saturday in Kern County’s Frazier Mountain Park. The plantings took place near the Brian Cody Prosser Veterans Memorial. The 28-year-old Prosser, who was well-known in the mountain community, was one of the first American soldiers killed in Afghanistan after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. Prosser was killed Dec. 5, 2001 by friendly fire.

Veterans for Trees is being spearheaded by Richard J.C. Sheffield, a retired U.S. Air Force technical sergeant, who is a licensed landscape and tree contractor. Sheffield and his wife, Tammy, own Antioch Nursery, Landscape and Tree Service in Lake of the Woods, a mountain community west of Frazier Park.

Veterans for Trees is headquartered in Frazier Park on about 15 acres of established incense cedar, redwood, gigantium, white fir, scotch pine and blue spruce trees. The property was formerly a Christmas tree farm.

In addition to growing larger-sized trees for the Veterans for Trees National Memorial Tree Planting Program, the headquarters property will be used to grow hundreds of thousands of jeffrey pine and pinion pine seedlings for planting in the Veterans for Trees California Wildfire Restoration Program.

According to the organization’s website, these seedlings will assist the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Forest Service, California Department of Forestry and National Park Service in reforestation efforts.

Sheffield told The Los Angeles Times that he plans to ask wholesale nurseries and retailers nationwide to offer veteran trees, which will have their trunks wrapped in red, white and blue, and will carry a tag containing information about the program. From each sale, $1 will go to Veterans for Trees to operate the tax-exempt, 501 (c)(3) organization.

“It’s a win-win for veterans and for the environment,” Sheffield told The Times.

For more information about the group and how you can honor veterans by planting a tree, go to www.veteransfortrees.org/

Dianne Hardisty

Bakersfield, Calif.

www.svs2help.com/

Barney Padilla of Bakersfield switched to a trike after encountering health problems.

The irony is not lost on those who ride them. As toddlers they started out on three wheels. As aging boomers, they have gone back to their trikes.

Often for health reasons, people in the boomer and beyond age bracket are shedding their two-wheel bicycles and motorcycles for more stable and “forgiving” trikes. It’s a trend that has been spotted and promoted throughout the nation, including in Bakersfield.

At the dealership on Merle Haggard Drive, salesman Mark T. Welch said the $30,000-plus three-wheel  Harley-Davidson motorcycles are flying out the door. They can’t order them quick enough to keep up with the demand.

At Snider’s Cyclery, Olivia Snider said she is seeing an increasing number of people coming into her Union Avenue shop asking for trikes. Sales of three-wheel adult tricycles have climbed.

“People see it as easy mobility and a good way to keep in shape,” she said, explaining most trike customers are recovering from injuries or illnesses .

Snider manager Miguel Berger said most people are buying three-speed trikes, with coaster and hand-brakes in the $600 range. Recumbent tricycles, which are geared and designed for more advanced, competitive riders, sell for much more.

In February, Barney Padilla, 60, bought a head-turning high-gloss red 2010 Harley-Davidson Street Glide Trike from the Bakersfield dealership. A motorcycle rider since 1978, Padilla said he hopes his new wheels will keep him riding for many more years.

Padilla retired as the service manager of a local car dealership. After encountering health problems that required his heart to be assisted by a pacemaker, Padilla said he feared his riding days were over.

“I am not having any problems yet in riding, but I was not sure what would happen in the next five years,” he said, explaining that he worried about keeping his balance on a two-wheel motorcycle.

At first he considered modifying his motorcycle to add a third wheel for stability. But as modification costs added up, his interest turned to buying Harley-Davidson’s popular Street Glide Trike. The manufacturer also makes a pricier Tri Glide Ultra Classic.

While Padilla can still feel the wind on his face and the bugs against his teeth, his new wheels ooze  luxury. These trikes, which are acquiring a lot of “street credibility” as more and more boomers head down the highway on them, are equipped with cruise control, optional reverse gear, GPS navigation, stereo speakers, hand warmers and headsets to ease communications. 

Padilla and his wife, Eva, are planning some long-distance trips, the first being to Modesto to celebrate a friend’s 25^th wedding anniversary. Arizona and Nevada destinations are also on the horizon.

Padilla said his adult children have never shown much interest in riding. But after he brought his trike home, his daughters are suddenly asking for rides. “It’s pretty tricked out.”

Carmen Mazzei of Bakersfield switched to a trike to get exercise as she battles cancer.

Carmen Mazzei is fighting a seven-year battle with cancer. It showed up first as a brain tumor and she beat it back. It returned in her spine. Again she was triumphant. Then it was her breast and kidney. Now she is being treated for lung cancer.

Mazzei, who looks 20 years younger than her age (which she will keep to herself) credits her athletic life for her ability to fight her grueling health battle. Before she became ill, she worked out regularly at a local gym, enjoyed water and snow skiing, taught her children how to ride motorcycles, didn’t smoke, ate good and kept her weight down.

She has a “won’t quit” attitude, believes “every day is a good day,” and can be heard telling people, “I have cancer, but I am not going to let cancer have me.”

But the side effects of her chemotherapy and related health problems, including a knee injury, kept her from her exercise routine. Mazzei’s son, Mike, talked her into buying an adult tricycle from Snider’s.

“Thanks to my precious son, I got this,” she said, grinning as she straddled her new wheels on the street in front of her northeast  Bakersfield home. “He knows how active I want to be.”

Mazzei’s trike has a basket in back of the seat, where she carries her two pomeranian dogs on her daily treks through her neighborhood.

“I need to exercise. I’m not the type of person who can just sit around,” she said. But her medications throw her balance off, preventing her from riding a two-wheel bicycle.

“I feel so much better being able to ride,” she said. “At first I thought I would look silly. But I have fallen in love with it. I came alive when I saw it.”

Mazzei had no reason to fear looking silly on her trike. She only had to check out www.bicycle-riding-for –boomers.com to discover the wide range of cycling options that exist for boomers and beyond.

“There is an exciting re-awakening in the world of bicycle riding driven by boomer-aged riders looking for fun and fitness. Old line bike manufacturers are producing more products for mature riders and new manufacturers are appearing frequently,” according to the webpage.

Recognizing the demand for trikes as its customers aged, Harley-Davidson began manufacturing three-wheel versions of its popular touring bikes in 2009.

“Fifteen years ago, people didn’t know what to make of it,” Harley-Davidson’s chief marketing officer,  Mark-Hans Richer, told The Associated Press earlier this year.  “Now it’s become a form of personal expression. The stigma of three wheels is gone.”

This article by Dianne Hardisty appeared first in The Bakersfield Californian on March 14, 2010.

John Hardisty of Bakersfield, a principal in the Bakersfield  consulting firm South Valley Solutions, has posted on his blog http://johnhardisty.com an article supporting the California dairy industry’s response to attacks by animal rights groups, such as the U.S. Humane Society.

John Hardisty commends the decision by the state’s dairy farmers to join together in an oversight and standards verification program that will assure Californians that dairy cows are being treated humanely.

But John Hardisty believes the dairy industry must do more. An outreach center, such as the one at Fair Oaks Farms in Indiana, should be established to showcase California’s innovative dairy industry. City folks should be invited into the barns to be awed by the industry’s advances. He recommends such an information center be established in Bakersfield, which has some of California’s newest and most innovative dairies, and which is located close to urban Southern California.

To learn more about the Fair Oaks Farms information center click on to http://tinyurl.com/FairOaksFarmIndiana

John Hardisty’s article can be read by clicking on to http://tinyurl.com/yfqs2lm

Maybe the next governor will appoint him to an administrative post. Perhaps he’ll go back to investment banking.

Given his fight against Pacific Gas & Electric Co., he’d be an interesting choice for the California Public Utilities Commission.

Speculation flew Friday about what might be next for state Sen. Dean Florez after he dropped out of the lieutenant governor’s race as San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom announced he was running.

The Shafter Democrat said he was backing Newsom.

Newsom won precious name recognition in 2004 when he told the San Francisco city-county clerk to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. He had a significant lead in polling, Florez said, and it would take a lot of money to catch up. Florez had about $1 million in the bank at the end of last year.

“I don’t mind a good fight, but I had to ask myself, ‘At what point does the fight just become a distraction as opposed to a real competition?’” Florez said. “I concluded that it would have become just a very expensive distraction from the important work of creating a better California.”

And, Florez said, he likes Newsom.

With only nine months left in his state Senate career, the termed-out Florez, 46, will be looking for work after 2010.

What are his plans?

In the short term, he said, he’ll continue his legislative fight against childhood obesity, diabetes, animal abuse and “SmartMeter failures” and will work to fix the valley water supply and state budget problems.

He said he’ll also campaign for Newsom, gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown and attorney general hopeful Kamala Harris.

Beyond that Florez was far less certain except that he’ll be spending more time with his family and “staying in the same place for at least seven days in a row.”

“I haven’t done that in 12 years,” said Florez. “My daughter is the happiest person on earth right now.”

He ruled out a run for a different public office this year but said he could seek a higher-level elected post in the future. Florez said public service “has been in my blood,” noting he’s not only served in the state Assembly but was freshman class president at Shafter High School and UCLA student body president.

“Public service will always be an option and future elective office a possibility — as long as there is a problem to solve,” Florez said. “I believe my options are limitless.”

A consensus among Florez watchers is that he could nab a gubernatorial appointment if Brown wins. Former local Assemblywoman Nicole Parra said it’s telling that Florez announced he’ll be campaigning for Brown, Newsom and Harris.

“I see him really focusing on those big campaigns in the hopes of landing a spot within the Brown administration,” Parra said.

He could always hang onto his campaign cash for a future lieutenant governor bid, she said.

“He still has a million dollars in his account. Who’s to say he couldn’t run again in eight years with Newsom’s endorsement?” Parra said.

Florez said he plans to give his campaign money to other Democrats in upcoming elections, especially to take back the governorship and win other important races.

Parra said Florez wouldn’t win a future election in the valley because he moved so far to the left to generate statewide support. She cited Florez’s recent push for a new tax on sugar-sweetened beverages to fund anti-childhood obesity programs and on pet food to help support a registry of animal abusers.

Jimmy Yee, who owns a public affairs firm and has done some political consulting, said he hopes Florez is appointed to the Public Utilities Commission by the next governor — “whoever she may be,” he quipped. (Yee supports Republican Meg Whitman.)

Florez has demanded PG&E resolve customer complaints about their SmartMeters and check the technology itself.

“I think his advocacy on the issues of utility rates and the SmartMeters is commendable,” Yee said. “Think of what he could do at the PUC for consumers.”

Local political analyst and former Kern County Supervisor Gene Tackett said he’s heard Florez is in line for an appointment and that he is interested in a PUC post.

The governor appoints the five CPUC commissioners to staggered six-year terms. According to the commission’s website, two terms expire in January 2011.

Tackett said Florez would also make a good lobbyist. He would be in favor with pet lovers as a result of his animal protection legislation — the ban on cow tail docking and the recent proposal for an animal abuser registry, for example, he said.

“He knows how to get things done in government,” Tackett said. “He is a smart guy.”

Also going with the gubernatorial appointment or lobbying gig as possibilities was Allan Hoffenblum, co-editor of the Target Book, which analyzes state races.

“I’m sure he has mounds of contacts. And he’s not been an obscure back-bencher; he’s well-known and chaired several committees,” Hoffenblum said. “I’d be surprised if he had any difficulty finding a new position.”

Candi Easter, chair of the Kern County Democratic Party, noted Florez was an early supporter of Barack Obama’s and thought maybe a seat in that administration is in the offing.

She didn’t like hearing Florez that had dropped out of the lieutenant governor’s race.

“I think he had a good shot at it,” Easter said. “A lot of Democrats in the valley are disappointed.”

This article written by Government Editor Christine Bedell appeared first in The Bakersfield Californian on March 13, 2010. Dianne Hardisty contributed to this report.

International Women's Day was celebrated in Kern County this week with honors bestowed on seven local women for their contributions to their communities, science, business, education, health and arts.

The women honored for their achievements during a dinner at the Petroleum Club in Bakersfield included:

Sarwa Aldoori, science. An Iraq-born doctor, Aldoori provides medical services in Arvin with Clinica Sierra Vista and operates the Walk-in Medical Health for All clinic, which is focused on underserved patients, particularly those of Arabic, Hispanic and other descents. During her medical training, the war in Iraq and Iran broke out. A specialist in obstetrics and gynecology, she delivered babies by candlelight in a very poor area near Baghdad. Her medical research has related to fetal medicine, ovarian cancer and obstetrics.

Ann Choung, business. Choung was born in South Korea and moved to the United States when she was a young woman. She is a sales associate for Stroope Realtors, where she was the local office's top sales person for 24 out of 25 years. She is one of the founders of the Korean American Association of Bakersfield and has helped implement programs for Korean youth groups, senior citizens and scholarships for Korean high school students. She promotes the learning of Korean traditional music and dance.

Kip Glazer, education. Glazer was born in South Korea. She earned a master's degree in curriculum and instruction. When she taught at Arvin High School, she developed and coached a team to participate in various Health Occupation Students of America competitions.  Last year, she was named the Outstanding HOSA adviser for the national organization. She now teaches at Independence High School.

Chiuyee Ho, community service. Ho was born in mainland China. After completing her university education, she came to the United States and settled in Bakersfield. Her community service includes helping the local Chinese population, particularly recent immigrants. She has provided interpretation in the courts, hospitals and other agencies. She was one of the founders of the Chinese Christian Church of Bakersfield and has served on the board of Hoffman Hospice of the Valley.

Aniko K. Matis, health services. A medical doctor, Matis was born in Hungary. After arriving in Bakersfield, she obtained specialty training in internal medicine at Kern Medical Center. Recently retired from the Kern County Department of Public Health, Matis promoted free mammograms for low-income women and the Community Action Partnership of Kern Family Health Center. Awarded for this service, she was instrumental in CAPK being recognized by Gayle Wilson, wife of former California Gov. Pete Wilson, for the organization's service to the community. Recognized as the Health Department's employee of the year, she also was twice named physician of the year by the Kern Nurse Practitioner/Physician Assistants Association.

Nicole Saint-John, arts/entertainment.  Saint-John was born in Germany, where she worked as a graphic artist. After arriving in Bakersfield, she opened an art gallery and was assistant curator at the Bakersfield Museum of Art. She has mentored local artists with developmental disabilities through her work for the Arts Council of Kern. During the Eye Gallery series, an annual celebration of art sponsored by The Californian and Bakersfield Museum of Art, she presented a painting and essay about growing up in the shadow of the Berlin Wall. She has received numerous honors and awards for her work.

Sharlu Myat Tusaw, community service. Tusaw was born in 1973 in Burma. She is a 2002 graduate of Cal State Bakersfield, where she earned a degree in political science. In 2007, she became a case worker for the International Rescue Committee in Bakersfield, helping resettle 150 refugees, mostly ethnic Karen from Burma. She has helped link the refugees to community services, find homes and feel at home in Bakersfield. Although the IRC's Bakersfield office closed last year, she continues to assist refugees and has written a book on the plight of the Karen refugees.

International Women's Day is the story of ordinary women as makers of history. It is rooted in the centuries-old struggle of women to participate in society on an equal footing. 

The idea of an International Women's Day first arose at the turn of the century, a period of industrialization, expansion, turbulence, booming population growth and urban poverty, and humanist cries of hope and protest.

Like many things, this started in America. On March 8, 1857 women from New York City's clothing and textile factories protested poor working conditions and low wages. The protesters were attacked and dispersed by police.

The first National Woman's Day was observed across the United States in 1909. In 1975, the United Nations began sponsoring International Women's Day.

Bakersfield began celebrating International Women's Day in 2002, thanks to a collaborative effort by the League of Women Voters and the American Association of University Women.

This year's event was organized by Cal State Bakersfield, Kern Community College District, League of Women Voters, African-American Network, American Association of University Women, Bakersfield Korean American Association, Filipino Community of Bakersfield and Vicinity, Inc., Girl Scouts-Joshua Tree Council, Indo-Chinese Community, Kern County Superintendent of Schools, Latina Leaders of Kern County, Muslim Public Affairs Council, National Council of Negro Women, and Southeast Asian Community.

This article written by Dianne Hardisty first appeared in The Bakersfield Californian on March 10, 2010.

Bakersfield, Calif., pharmacist Kalpna Patel administers shingles vaccine.

People who have experienced or witnessed the pain associated with shingles are rushing to obtain Zostavax, a vaccine manufactured by Merck & Co. Inc.

 Kalpna Patel, a pharmacist in the Central California city of Bakersfield, says she has administered hundreds of doses at her San Dimas Pharmacy.  As consumers have discovered in other California communities and other states, the vaccine can be administered in pharmacies and doctors’ offices.

But the vaccine is expensive, when not covered by insurance. It also must remain frozen until injected. As a result, some physicians and pharmacies do not make it readily available. But that is not curbing the increasing demand.

“Shingles can be very painful. There have been cases that have caused blindness,” said Patel, adding that the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends people who are over 60 years of age and who do not have disqualifying medical conditions receive the vaccine.

As people learn about the vaccine through the manufacturer’s advertising, or from their doctors, they are requesting it, said pharmacist Sylvia Ta, another Bakersfield pharmacist. Ta said anyone who has been exposed to chicken pox should be vaccinated.   

Shingles is a viral disease that commonly strikes older adults. It is caused by the same virus that causes chicken pox in children. After exposure to chicken pox, the virus remains dormant, or “asleep” in nerve cells along the spinal column for decades.

As immune systems become compromised with age, or for other unknown reasons, the virus can reactivate, following a nerve to the skin’s surface, where it will appear as a painful rash.

Dr. Rafael Harpaz, a CDC epidemiologist, told National Public Radio that the painful blisters can travel to the face and into the eyes, where they can impair vision and even cause blindness.

“It can last for months and sometimes even years. It can be really life shattering,” he said. “I’ve heard stories of vibrant 62-year-old tennis-playing persons that end up being housebound and suicidal because of severe pain and not being able to interact socially and so forth.”

To hear NPR’s report, go to http://tinyurl.com/NPRshingles

Most people over the age of 60 have been exposed to the chicken pox virus. Although the vaccine to prevent chicken pox was developed in Japan in the 1970s, it wasn’t until 1995 that it was recommended for routine use in the United States.

Merck researchers estimate there are more than a million cases of shingles in the United States each year. The average person has a 30 percent chance of developing the condition in their lifetime.

Dr. William Schaffner, chairman of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt Medical School in Nashville, Tenn., gave this statistic perspective when he told NPR that almost half the people who reach 85 years of age will have experienced shingles at some point in their lives.

As with all vaccines, there is no guarantee that Zostavax will prevent shingles, said Patel. But its effectiveness has led the CDC to recommend it be given to people 60 years of age and older, who are more susceptible to shingles. It is uncertain if children now receiving the vaccine to prevent chicken pox will also carry the dormant virus and will need to be vaccinated to prevent shingles in their later years.

But a dose of Zostavax can be expensive if you do not have insurance, or your insurance does not cover the medication.

Because of the cost, the need to order the vaccine in volume and the need to keep the “live virus” vaccine frozen until it is administered, many local physicians and pharmacies to do carry it, Patel said.

Patel’s pharmacy is one of the few in metropolitan Bakersfield, where the vaccine can be purchased and administered. Patel said about 70 percent of the people who come into her pharmacy for Zostavax are covered by Medicare. Those who have not reached Medicare age and do not have insurance to pick up the cost pay $215 for the vaccine. Some insurance plans will only pay for the vaccine if it is administered by a physician.

At Ta’s pharmacy, a physician will request an order of Zostavax. When it arrives at the pharmacy, the patient will pick it up and take it quickly to the physician to be injected, or the pharmacy will deliver the medication to the doctor’s office so that it will be administered shortly after it arrives. This may require the patient to make two doctor’s visits.

Pharmacists and insurance providers urge people to read and understand their coverage before getting vaccinated.  Medicare and many insurance plans will cover this relatively new vaccine. But how to get insurance companies to pay up may be hidden in the “fine print.”

With Vanderbilt’s Schaffner calling the vaccine a “major public health advance” for the 60-plus age group, Patel said getting an injection of Zostavax is worth the effort.

This article written by Dianne Hardisty appeared first in The Bakersfield Californian on Feb. 21. 2010.

 

 

 

Nearly 50,000 adult Americans die each year from diseases that could have been prevented by vaccines, according to a report released this month.

“Adult Immunization: Shots to Save Lives,” a report prepared jointly by the Trust for America’s Health, the Infectious Disease Society of America and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, tracked illnesses and adult vaccination rates in each state.

“This country does not have an effective strategy for immunizing adults against infectious diseases,” said Jeffrey Levi, executive director of Trust for America’s Health, as the report was being released. The report can be read at www.healthyamericans.org/

“Thousands of lives could be saved each year if we could increase the number of adults who receive routine and recommended vaccinations. We need a national strategy to make vaccines a regular part of medical care and to educate Americans about the effectiveness and safety of vaccines,” Levi said.

Researchers noted that the systems in place to vaccinate America’s children are “first rate.” But too often adults fall through the cracks. Adults may not have access to medical care, or are not aware of the need to be vaccinated.

Local community health officials are confirming this shortcoming in adult vaccinations. Dr.  Claudia Jonah, the health officer in Kern County, Calif., agreed that more needs to be done to vaccinate adults.

Noting the demand among adults in her rural Central California county for H1N1 (swine flu) vaccinations, Jonah said vaccination rates will increase when a case is made for the need.

“This is a very important discussion people should be having with their doctors,” she said, pointing out that the Kern County Health Department primarily is called upon to vaccinate adults who plan to travel. The vaccination records of these adults and the risks found in countries they plan to visit are evaluated, and shots administered.

According to Jonah, adults should be vaccinated for pneumonia, tetanus, diphtheria, hepatitis A and B, and seasonal flu. Tetanus and diphtheria require booster shots.  If an adult has received the complete polio series as a child, no booster shots are required.

 In many cases, young women also will be urged to receive the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, she said.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the failure of American adults to be vaccinated adds about $10 billion annually to the cost of health care.

States require children to be vaccinated before they can enroll in school. Veterinarians send out reminder cards to have dogs and cats vaccinated to be licensed. But little is done to alert adults to the need to be vaccinated.

“We give a lot of attention to protecting our children,” said Jonah. “More needs to be done for adults.”

This article by Dianne Hardisty appeared first in The Bakersfield Californian on Feb. 21, 2010.

Carpetbagger describes opportunistic Northerners, who moved to the South after the Civil War to loot, plunder and politically manipulate the defeated states for personal gain.

The word applies today to a politician who runs for public office in an area in which he is not from, or in which he has lived for only a short time. Depending on the politician, the area and the circumstances, the word can either enrage voters, or make them yawn.

Campaigns in the 30^th Assembly District and the 16^th state Senate District – two sprawling political jurisdictions that include portions of Kern County, as well as neighboring counties – have attracted candidates some might call carpetbaggers. But the candidates’ residencies will likely cause more yawns than outrage, according to political observers.

Former Kern County Supervisor Pete Parra has rented an apartment in Hanford, and moved his residency and voter registration from Bakersfield to that city to run in the June Democratic primary for the 30^th Assembly District seat being vacated by Republican Danny Gilmore of Hanford. Parra will face Fran Florez, a Shafter city councilwoman and member of the California High Speed Rail Authority, for the Democratic nomination.

Phil Wyman, a former Republican assemblyman and state senator, has moved his residency and voter registration from his Tehachapi ranch to Hanford to seek the Republican nomination to succeed 16^th District Sen. Dean Florez, a Democrat, who is termed out of office. So far, Wyman is the only Republican in the race. He is expected to face Kern County Supervisor  Michael Rubio, a Democrat.

Likely both Parra’s and Wyman’s opponents will raise residency as an issue. Both men are prepared to respond.

Parra points out that he grew up in east Bakersfield, which is included in the 30^th District. His Bakersfield home is only one mile outside its boundaries. As a former Kern County supervisor and before that as the head of the county’s jobs program, and now as a member of regional organizations, such as the eight-county California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley, he says he is tuned into the concerns of district residents.

Wyman calls his move to Hanford a return home. He lived in the Kings County city for three years – from 1993 to 1995 – when he represented the 16^th Senate District after the Legislature redrew district lines, shuffling politicians into new areas.

In those years, so many candidates were moving around to run for offices that The Californian mocked four of its elected representatives -- Wyman, former Sen. Don Rogers, former Kern County Supervisor and later Assemblyman Roy Ashburn, and former Assemblyman, Senator and now Congressman Jim Costa -- by depicting them in a cartoon riding a gypsy cart dressed in gypsy costumes.

Wyman, who claims election fraud blocked his reelection to the 16^th Senate seat, which he lost to Costa, says he is very familiar with the people and needs of the district.

But why move to Hanford? 

“People in Kern County know me well,” said Parra, explaining he is not as well known in the northern part of the district. Parra’s daughter, Nicole, represented the 30^th District until she was termed out of office in 2008. She, too, embraced Hanford as her home as a candidate and later as an assemblywoman. Both Parras were attracted to the picturesque, tree-filled city because it is located in the heart of the district.

Wyman explained that traveling to the far reaches of the 16^th District would take hours if he had just moved to Bakersfield, instead of Hanford, to satisfy residency requirements. A base in Hanford gives  candidates quick access to voters in Kings, Fresno, Tulare and Kern counties.

“Voters don’t seem to mind where candidates live,” said Bakersfield government consultant Gene Tackett, who pointed out residency in a district is not required to hold a seat in Congress. “People seem to vote more by party, or ideology. I am not sure [residency] is that important to voters.”

Tackett noted that Tom McClintock represented Thousand Oaks in Southern California in the state Senate until he moved in 2008 to Northern California to successfully run for the 4^th Congressional District, a vacancy created when Rep. John Doolittle decided not to seek re-election.

McClintock, a Republican, responded to carpetbagger charges: “I think most people are far more interested in where one stands than where one lives.”

McClintock had plenty of examples to back up that claim. They included the recent relocation of  Dan Lungren, a Republican state and federal lawmaker who represented the Long Beach area before becoming California attorney general. In 2004, Lungren leaped from Southern California to successfully run for Congress in Northern California.

Former Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, who lost his seat in 2006 to Democrat Jerry McNermey, has launched a political comeback campaign. But he won’t be taking on the man who beat him. Instead of running in his “home” district, Pombo is seeking the Republican nomination in a neighboring district. So far he is facing Sen. Jeff Denham and former Fresno Mayor Jim Patterson to replace retiring Rep. George Radanovich, R-Mariposa.

 “Sometimes moving into a district to run for office doesn’t work,” said political scientist Sherry Bebitch Jeffe at the University of Southern California. “And sometimes voters just don’t care. Voters will decide if it is important.”

“The real hostilities come when candidates use fake addresses and actually live outside the district,” she said.

Robert Stern, president of the Center for Governmental Studies, a Southern California-based non-partisan think tank, said he doesn’t “get all worked up” about candidates moving into districts to run for office. But questions about residency can make races tighter, he said, noting residency requirements, particularly for state legislative seats, can be a little arcane.

But Los Angeles District Attorney  Steve Cooley does get all worked up about residency. In recent months, he has started investigations of city, county and state lawmakers, including Sen. Rod Wright, D-Inglewood, and Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcon, for allegedly not living in the districts they represent.

“You have to have a residency requirement,” said Bakersfield Republican political consultant Stan Harper. “How do you represent a district you don’t even live in? I would have a hard time supporting a candidate who just moved into a district to run, like McClintock. Carpetbagging is wrong.”

But Republican political consultant Cathy Abernathy of Bakersfield has a more tolerant view, noting the distance a candidate moves might make a difference.

“If someone from San Francisco ran in the 32^nd Assembly District, it would bother the voters a lot,” she said. “You are supposed to elect someone who knows the district and its people.”

 Abernathy noted that until recently, the drawing of political district boundary lines was done by the Legislature. A ballot measure in 2008 transferred the redistricting job to a “citizen committee.”  But in previous redistricting, the majority party sometimes intentionally carved the homes of minority party incumbents out of their districts.

“It’s a cute gimmick. Sometimes you have to be cute back,” Abernathy said.

This article by Dianne Hardisty appeared first in The Bakersfield Californian on Feb. 21, 2010.

 

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Lynn Hay Rudy and her husband, Jerry, harvest a tree on their Sonoma County farm.

When Lynn Hay Rudy looks out the window of her Sonoma County farm house, she sees ocean waves crashing down on the Northern California coast. Her home is hundreds of miles away from where she grew up. Her life experiences have taken her to other nations. But her focus has remained on her roots in Bakersfield.

Rudy, a descendent of Kern County pioneers and a published historian, will speak Saturday, Feb. 20, 2010, during a luncheon meeting of the Kern County Historical Society at the Stars Theater, 1931 Chester Ave.

Rudy is the author of three local history books: “A Brief History of the Hay Family of Bakersfield, California,” “Granddad: Hugh A. Blodget in Early Bakersfield,” and “Old Bakersfield: Sites and Landmarks, 1875 – 1915.”

Her Saturday presentation will focus on downtown Bakersfield from 1860 to 2010, and will include a rough architectural history.

Rudy was born and raised in Bakersfield, graduating from East Bakersfield High School in 1951. She earned a degree in art from Stanford University, pursuing a lifelong career as a biological illustrator. She and her husband, Jerry, a marine biology professor at the University of Oregon, lived for 20 years along the Oregon coast, traveling to various countries conducting research projects.

Upon their retirement, they returned to California, settling on a small coastal farm in Sonoma County, where she is a volunteer and history writer at Fort Ross State Park.

She credits her teenage years in Bakersfield, where she became her family’s genealogist, for her passion for history.

“I have always loved history,” she explained during a recent interview. She described the hours she spent pouring over tract maps and census data to piece together her family’s Kern County story.

Her relatives started moving to Kern County in the mid-1800s. Grandfather George Hay arrived on a train from Indiana in 1892 to work in the mines in the mountains east of Bakersfield. Tiring of eating beans, he moved to “the city,” where he worked first for the county treasurer and later went into real estate, she said.

The Hay Building, a prominent downtown landmarks that bore his name, was just one of Hay’s many holdings. The building was a department store, living quarters and offices complex. For several years, it was the home of artists’ studios. It is being converted into loft apartments.

Grandfather Hugh A. Blodget arrived on a train in 1874 as a 19-year-old boy with a certificate in bookkeeping. He pursued a career in banking, becoming the cashier at the Kern Valley Bank, one of many U.S. banks to fail in a 1912 crash.

Rudy said her grandfather Blodget “lost it all” and left Bakersfield in 1918, moving to San Francisco, where he was able to restore his career and a comfortable life.

During her Saturday presentation, Rudy will discuss several prominent and historically significant downtown Bakersfield buildings, including those tied to her family.  She will discuss restoration efforts in Bakersfield and elsewhere, noting the challenges that confront most communities attempting a downtown renaissance.

The mother of three adult daughters, and grandmother to six, Rudy has maintained her close ties to Bakersfield, where her brothers, nieces and nephews live.

This article written by Dianne Hardisty appeared first in The Bakersfield Californian on Feb. 18, 2010.

Mark Evans, an economics professor at California State University, Bakersfield, criticizes both Dianne Hardisty and the column she wrote about former Congressman Bill Thomas, R-Bakersfield, about the reappointment of Ben Bernanke to head the Federal Reserve. You can read Evans' opinion column, which appeared in the Feb. 16, 2010 edition of The Bakersfield Californian,  at http://tinyurl.com/yfvp99b  Thomas, who now is co-chairman of the congressionally appointed Fiscal Crisis Inquiry Commission, was interviewed by The Californian's former editorial page editor, Dianne Hardisty, about the economy, its meltdown and the role of federal regulators, including Bernanke. Read Hardisty's column at http://tinyurl.com/ydy8svf   Mark Evans claims Thomas' criticism and the Hardisty column unfairly blamed Bernanke. He also claims the deeply divided Senate confirmation vote on Bernanke's continued leadership of the Fed threatens that agency's independence.