BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) \u2014 After questions about his repeated absences from city council meetings, Ward 3 Councilmember Ken Weir has revealed he\u2019s been undergoing cancer treatment. Now, I\u2019m reaching out to the city attorney to learn what his extended absence means legally and financially \u2014 and who\u2019s making sure Ward 3 still has a voice at City Hall.<\/p>\n
Bakersfield Councilmember Ken Weir, who represents Ward 3, has missed 13 city council meetings this year \u2014 including the last five in a row. After 23ABC aired a story earlier this week asking about his absences, Weir released a public statement saying, \u201cI thought my treatment and recovery would allow me to return to my duties sooner than later. However, I have had several setbacks and underestimated the treatments and the amount of recovery time needed.I appreciate the patience of my council colleagues and have been assured by the City Manager that my constituent issues are being addressed.I will continue to stay updated on City Council issues and will attend meetings as my health allows.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Weir did not say if he plans to step down. <\/p>\n
Because Bakersfield is a charter city, there\u2019s no process to remove him from office \u2014 meaning he can remain on the council unless he resigns or faces a recall.<\/p>\n
Ginny Gennaro is the Bakersfield City Attorney, and she says,
\u201cThere is no mechanism for the mayor or the city council members to impeach or remove a fellow colleague. The only real way would be either resignation or a recall.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for the needs of Ward 3 residents, the city attorney says staff are still handling constituent concerns. \u201cI want listeners to understand that, at least from staff\u2019s perspective, the constituents from Ward 3 are being represented.\u201d Gennaro said.<\/p>\n
VO –
According to the city, each councilmember receives $100 a month and a car allowance.
They\u2019re also eligible for city health insurance, though it\u2019s unclear whether Weir opted to receive it.
Despite his absences, he remains eligible for those benefits.<\/p>\n
Stay in Touch with Us Anytime, Anywhere:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) \u2014 After questions about his repeated absences from city council meetings, Ward 3 Councilmember Ken…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50428,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[30979,1052,151,155,153,152,20358,4900,1409,179,2323],"class_list":["post-50427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bakersfield","tag-30979","tag-attorney","tag-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield-downtown","tag-bakersfield-headlines","tag-bakersfield-news","tag-battle","tag-cancer","tag-city","tag-community","tag-council"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50427"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50427\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}