The Nov. 3 election for four seats on the Bakersfield City Council comes as council members and city residents are divided as to how city government is being managed and how tax monies, including the Measure N sales tax funds, are being spent.<\/p>\n
At the heart of the dissension is the council\u2019s earlier divided votes to hike sewer rates and a vote of no confidence by a minority of the council members, who object to how City Manager Christian Clegg is running the city. The Kern County Taxpayers Association has fueled the demand for more budget transparency and a change in spending priorities. The nonpartisan candidates running to represent four city wards reflect the divisiveness that has roiled the council and community.<\/p>\n
Unlike the races for state and federal offices, which have primary and runoff elections, the victors in Bakersfield City Council elections are decided simply by which candidate receives the most votes on Nov. 3. The four council seats out of the seven that will be decided are Wards 1, 3, 4 and 7.<\/p>\n
The Californian today is publishing its recommendations. Readers are urged to do their own research. Candidate website addresses are included with the recommendations as they are available.<\/p>\n
ERIC ARIAS<\/p>\n
WARD 1<\/p>\n
Ward 1 covers southeast Bakersfield, including the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. area, Casa Loma, Southgate and parts of Greenfield. It is currently represented by Eric Arias, who is running for reelection. His opponent is Mercy Pena, a Greenfield Union School District board member.<\/p>\n
Arias was born and raised in Bakersfield. He earned a bachelor\u2019s degree in political science from UC Santa Barbara. His political\/public service career began as staff for Kern County Supervisor Leticia Perez and later for Democratic Assemblyman Rudy Salas. Arias now serves as the president and CEO of the regional nonprofit organization United Way Central Eastern California.<\/p>\n
Following Councilman Willie Rivera\u2019s 2020 resignation from the Bakersfield City Council, Arias was elected with 74.3% of the vote in a special election to replace him. In 2022, Arias was unopposed for election to a full four-year term.<\/p>\n
His reelection is supported by a broad base of labor groups, and local and state politicians. Some of those listed on his campaign website include the Bakersfield Chamber Political Action Committee; Kern County Homebuilders Association; Bakersfield Professional Firefighters PAC; Kern County Democratic Central Committee; Kern, Inyo Mono Building Trades Council; and numerous trade unions.<\/p>\n
His six years on the council have focused on bringing parks, streets, sewer, housing and public safety improvements to his ward. During the recent contentious battle over the proposal to raise city sewer rates 300%, Arias criticized the city\u2019s shortcomings in notifying residents and objected to the size of the raise. He argued the city should finance some of the wastewater improvements over a longer period, rather than place the entire burden immediately on ratepayers. After a substantial public backlash, the city paused the rate hike and eventually passed a five-year gradual increase.<\/p>\n
On her campaign website, Pena lists herself as a mother and grandmother who attended Greenfield schools and advocates for students and parents.<\/p>\n
In 2024, she won election to the Trustee Area C seat on the Greenfield Union School District board by only eight votes. But the election proved controversial, as the Kern County Elections Department acknowledged it had mistakenly distributed 108 ballots to voters outside Area C and 57 of those ballots were returned and counted. Despite the district\u2019s challenge to the outcome, Pena was sworn into office.<\/p>\n
After only two years on the school board, Pena is now running for Bakersfield City Council. According to her campaign website, Pena is \u201crunning for Bakersfield City Council because I believe every neighborhood deserves the same basic promise: to be safe, respected, well-maintained, and given the opportunity to thrive.\u201d<\/p>\n
She says Ward 1 deserves better representation, explaining, \u201cI do not believe the answer to every problem is simply to throw more money at it. Real solutions require listening, accountability, coordination and a willingness to understand the complexities behind the problems our residents face. Temporary resources can help someone through a difficult moment, but our ultimate goal should be to help people move forward \u2014 not keep them dependent on temporary solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pena\u2019s website lacks some of the basic information voters need to evaluate candidates, such as her education, work experience and list of supporters.<\/p>\n
While there is little public information regarding her alliances and performance as an elected official, a March 19, 2025 state Senate Education Committee noted her \u201cfull support\u201d of Bakersfield Sen. Shannon Grove\u2019s SB64, which proposed to set up state accounts for parents to send their children to private schools. The bill failed. Campaign records indicate Grove\u2019s Board of Equalization campaign has contributed to Pena\u2019s council candidacy. The California Republican Assembly website also listed their endorsement of Pe\u00f1a\u2019s council candidacy.<\/p>\n
For six years, Eric Arias has been a responsive and attentive representative of Ward 1. Residents know him and his qualifications to serve on the Bakersfield City Council. Voters should reelect Eric Arias.<\/p>\n
Votearias.com<\/a><\/p>\n Mercypenacandidate.org<\/a><\/p>\n CASSIE BITTLE<\/p>\n WARD 3<\/p>\n Ward 3 spans the northern and northwestern sections of Bakersfield, stretching from Coffee Road, east to the mouth of the Kern River Canyon. The ward is currently represented by longtime Councilman Ken Weir, who is not running for reelection. Five candidates are competing to replace him. They are, in alphabetical order, Cassie Bittle, Kathryn Halling, Seth Hewett, Juan Carlos \u201cJC\u201d Llamas and Pedro Naveiras.<\/p>\n Cassie Bittle is a Bakersfield native who graduated from Ridgeview High School. In 2012, her family invested in KC Steakhouse on F Street, where she began working in the family business when she was 15 years old. She is now a managing partner and owner of the restaurant.<\/p>\n In 2021, Weir selected Bittle to serve a four-year term on the Bakersfield City Planning Commission. She was reappointed in April to serve an additional term.<\/p>\n Her civic involvement includes the Downtown Business Association and participating in and supporting many downtown events. She served as vice chair of the Downtown Bakersfield Development Corp., which focuses on investment, housing and revitalization. She helped form the Kern County Restaurant and Bar Association, which worked to keep restaurants and bars operating during the COVID pandemic and helped feed frontline workers.<\/p>\n She believes her years as a Ward 3 resident, business owner, downtown advocate and planning commissioner have given her firsthand experience with homelessness, public safety and city issues.<\/p>\n The current councilman, Weir, seems to agree. He has endorsed her candidacy to replace him. Councilmen Larry Koman and Zack Bashirtash also have endorsed her, as have other elected officials, including Rep. Vince Fong, state Sen. Shannon Grove, Mayor Karen Goh, Sheriff Donny Youngblood and Kern County Supervisor Jeff Flores. She is supported by numerous Bakersfield business owners.<\/p>\n Kathryn Halling is a North High School graduate who went on to study mathematics at Cal State Bakersfield. After teaching at Highland High School, she opened her own bookkeeping and financial services business, Got Your Numbers.<\/p>\n Although she has not served in an elective or appointed public office, she is not shy about why she is running for the City Council. In addition to supporting public safety, she is pressing for more transparency in city government. She is critical of the city\u2019s use of Measure N funds \u2014 money raised by the one-cent sales tax hike voters approved in 2018. She also criticizes the controversial sewer fee hike, planning for and funding infrastructure improvements, and the preparation of city financial audits. She says if elected, when the city wants to spend money, she plans to examine the books to determine where the money is going.<\/p>\n Halling\u2019s candidacy is endorsed by Assemblyman Stan Ellis; McFarland Mayor Saul Ayon, who is running in November as a Republican candidate for Assembly; Republican Attorney General candidate Michael Gates; the California Republican Assembly; and political action committees for the Bakersfield Police Officers Association and the Bakersfield Professional Firefighters.<\/p>\n Seth Hewett is a sixth-generation Bakersfield residents. His great-grandfather was the late Walter Floyd Heisey, a former Bakersfield city councilman. He earned a bachelor\u2019s degree from Westmont College and is completing a master\u2019s degree in public administration from USC. He served a fellowship with the Bakersfield Fire Department; is president of the Kern Kiwanis; participated in mission programs in Central and South America and Africa; and currently is involved with a school project in Uganda.<\/p>\n Hewett, who launched his council campaign on his 26th birthday, listed among his goals achieving city budget transparency by creating an online portal; refocusing Measure N money on public safety; reducing homelessness; achieving water security and economic development.<\/p>\n Juan Carlos \u201cJC\u201d Llamas is originally from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. He moved to the U.S. in 2005. He is a professional fighter, coach, entrepreneur, musician and podcaster. He founded Llamas Competition Team Martial Arts and Fitness in Bakersfield.<\/p>\n He has not previously held elective office. His City Council campaign emphasizes his experience working with families and young people, rather than government experience. His focus is on creating safer streets and neighborhoods; protecting children and families; school curriculum; affordable, healthy foods; reducing homelessness; creating opportunities for youth and working families; and strengthening east Bakersfield.<\/p>\n Pedro Naveiras was born in Bakersfield and attended Golden Valley High School. He earned a bachelor\u2019s degree, with a double major in political science and philosophy, from Cal State Bakersfield. In 2020, he earned a law degree from Santa Clara University. He is an attorney with the Kern County District Attorney’s Office. He also is a union member and a former shop steward for the Kern DA’s union.<\/p>\n He says he decided to run for the City Council because he is dissatisfied with how the city \u2014 particularly past and current Ward 3 council members \u2014 have handled major issues, especially public safety. His list of endorsements included the Kern County Prosecutors\u2019 Association; Kern County Democratic Party; the Democratic Central Committee; Democratic Women of Kern; Kern County Young Democrats; the Kern, Inyo, Mono Central Labor Council; and four individual trade unions. Among individuals endorsing his candidacy are three current City Council members, Andrae Gonzales, Eric Arias and Manpreet Kaur; congressional candidate Randy Villegas; Kern County Supervisor Leticia Perez; former Assembly members Rudy Salas and Nicole Parra; attorneys David Torres and Alekxia Torres-Stallings; California State University Board Trustee Raji Brar; CSUB political science professor Dr. Jeanine E. Kraybill; Kern County Democratic Central Committee Chairman Christian Romo; and former Bakersfield City Councilman Willie Rivera.<\/p>\n Cassie Bittle has the most public service and business experience of the five candidates competing for the Ward 3 seat. Her decision making on behalf of the city and Ward 3 residents has been tested by her nearly six years on the city\u2019s Planning Commission. Ward 3 voters should select Cassie Bittle to replace Ken Weir.<\/p>\n Cassiebittleforcouncil.com<\/a><\/p>\n Kathrynhalling.com<\/a><\/p>\n Hewettwilldoit.com<\/a><\/p>\n