BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — “We’ve got 420,000 people counting on us to make the right decision.”<\/p>\n
Eric Arias was first elected to the Bakersfield City Council in 2020 to a partial term and then a full in 2022, but he hopes those first six years were only the beginning.<\/p>\n
\u00a0Watch ‘After Sunrise’ on KGET+; Click to learn how to get KGET+ on your smart TV devices\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n “In general, we need to tell our story a little bit better, because for so long, the city of Bakersfield, the narrative hasn’t always been the best around public safety,” Arias said.<\/p>\n The United Way CEO hopes to see more investments into southeast Bakersfield from affordable housing units to shopping centers. In order to get more of those investments, Arias says, more people need to live in Ward 1.<\/p>\n “That’s why there’s been such a big push from my office to really go big on bringing housing toward one end, specifically along the MLK Boulevard corridor, because that’s going to be the catalyst that brings a lot of that investment into the community.”<\/p>\n \u00a0WATCH: Bakersfield City Council Ward 4 debate\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n Arias also wants to focus in on public safety including homelessness, crime and illegal dumping. “There are about 50 to 60 individuals who are committing most of the crime in the entire city. And if we were to just address those 50 to 60 individuals and make sure that, you know, we’re actually putting them behind bars,” the Ward 1 councilman said. “It will make a big difference”<\/p>\n Arias is up against against Mercy Pe\u00f1a, a trustee for the Greenfield Unified School District. She also hopes to hold town halls in Ward 1 every three months.<\/p>\n
The councilman views tackling lack of jail bed space as a top priority.<\/p>\n
Pena hopes to focus in on providing fiscal oversight, crime prevention and deal with chronic homelessness.<\/p>\n