Is it time for Bakersfield to endow its mayor with greater political authority? Should the mayor be served by a full-time staff, who could inform him or her of policy recommendations?
The Kern County Taxpayers Association believes the answer to both those questions is yes. At the organization’s annual meeting on Wednesday, Executive Director Michael Turnipseed urged the Bakersfield City Council to form an independent committee with the express purpose of updating the city charter.
He hopes such an update would bring new powers to the mayor, who currently can only vote to break a tie, and whose office includes only an administrative assistant. In KernTax’s view, the city is missing out on opportunity after opportunity due to the mayor’s limited role in the city’s government.
When other large cities jockey for state funding or legislative preference, their mayors can act as strong advocates due to their involvement in the political process and office staff.
“When (the state is) talking on these conference calls with these other mayors, they already have chiefs of staff who have analyzed legislation and how it will affect people. (Mayor Karen Goh) doesn’t have that,” Turnipseed said in an interview with The Californian. “There’s an old saying, ‘If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu,’ and Bakersfield has been on the menu for a long time because we didn’t participate.”
First written in 1914, the city charter establishes the bylaws that govern the city. Few updates have taken place since its original writing, and some stirrings have taken place recently that could herald changes in the future.
A recent risk assessment by the Seattle-based accounting firm Moss Adams recommended the city research an update to its charter to improve accountability and representation. Following a November presentation of the risk assessment to the council, Councilman Chris Parlier requested the city form a review committee to determine which aspects need to be changed.
In an interview, Parlier noted the “traction” developing in the community to update the charter.
“I think we’re at a disadvantage in some areas that other cities aren’t because they are a little bit more flexible in how they are able to do things,” he said. “The charter isn’t the constitution. It’s the bylaws for the city of Bakersfield. And most committees or boards review their bylaws as soon as a member rolls off.”
Bakersfield operates under a council-manager form of government, in which the City Council appoints a city manager, who runs day-to-day operations. While shared by some of the other large California cities, others use the mayor-council government, in which the mayor acts as an executive of the city and plays a large role in setting policy.
But even among other council-manager governments, Bakersfield’s mayor has comparatively little power. In all of California’s 10 most populous cities, the mayor can at least vote on regular agenda items during council meetings.
Still, one former city councilman cautioned against updating the charter to give the mayor more authority.
“The mayor is free to be as proactive and progressive as the mayor wants,” said Mark Salvaggio, who served on the council for 19 years. “And simply to give the mayor a vote, I’ve got a bridge to sell you in Lamont if you think that’s going to be life-changing.”
Mayor Goh declined to be interviewed for this article.
In a statement, the City Manager’s Office said the city was preparing an overview on how to make charter amendments, which would be provided to the council sometime next year.
“There’s no good reason not to review the charter and see what updates are needed to make it current with current practices,” Turnipseed said. “Bakersfield has changed a lot. We went from 3,500 people to 400,000. It’s just a different world out there and we need a charter.”
You can reach Sam Morgen at 661-395-7415. You may also follow him on Twitter @smorgenTBC.
