TheBakersfieldCalifornian.com

They'll be new power players on the City Council and Board of Supervisors. They hope to expand oil drilling, make it even bigger in the entertainment world and make their mark on the playing field.

Here are our People to Watch in 2011:

ENTERTAINMENT

Velorio, Bakersfield Latin alternative rock band

The guys in this established Bakersfield quintet plan to make their biggest moves yet in 2011. Mapping out another ambitious self-financed national tour, the band should also release more new music by spring. Their buzz continues to build, with a few record labels poking their ears in at some of the group's Southern California shows.

Keep your eyes on these local rhythm makers, as they just might lead California into another wave of Latin music mania.

The Core Live, multimedia group

The Core Live has grown into a multimedia entertainment brand of hip-hop heavy webcasting. These innovative entertainment trailblazers have already made their presence known to downtown Bakersfield from their new home base at 1823 Chester Ave. and plan to open a new urban-themed clothing outlet in a few months at the same location. Tune in at thecorelive.com.

Therese Muller, Bakersfield singer/songwriter

Muller should be making a name for herself beyond the confines of downtown Bakersfield stages. She's paid musical tributes to The Beatles, became a member of rockabilly swingers' Fatt Katt & The Von Zippers and never turns down an invitation to show her stuff. Seen regularly singing behind her keyboard, it's looking like prime time for this fresh face to step out front and release her CD debut.

Vikki Cruz, curator of Bakersfield Museum of Art

A respected artist with a loyal following who cut her teeth running her own -- now defunct -- gallery, Cruz won over museum director Bernie Herman and the board with her vision for the museum's artistic future. Chosen for the coveted position of curator at Bakersfield's hub of fine art, the Bakersfield native replaces mentor Emily Falke, who selected and hung exhibits for about a decade.

Cruz has a fresh eye and has shown impeccable taste that leans toward modern, clean styles. Since the exhibitions at BMoA are booked months in advance, Cruz, so far, has spent her time executing plans laid out long ago by her predecessor. But starting in 2011, she'll be able to put her own stamp on the museum.

SPORTS

Derek Carr, Fresno State football player

The Bakersfield Christian High School graduate is expected to follow in his older brother's footsteps and take over the starting quarterback position at Fresno State. He'll be a sophomore when the Bulldogs open the 2011 season at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

Carr was The Californian's Player of the Year in 2008, when he threw for 4,067 yards and 46 touchdowns, totals that ranked second in Central Section history, and led the Eagles to the Division V section title. After two years starting at Fresno State, older brother David Carr, a Stockdale High graduate, was the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft in 2002.

Alex Collatz, Stockdale High discus thrower

The Stockdale High senior was on pace to threaten the national high school discus record set by her friend and Shafter alumnae Anna Jelmini two years ago, but Collatz tore multiple ligaments in her knee during a volleyball match last fall.

Her father, Alan Collatz, is the head track and field coach at Cal State Bakersfield, and he said she could be ready to compete again this spring. National records might be out of the question, but if healthy, Collatz should be the favorite for a second consecutive state title.

Jeff Konya, incoming athletic director, Cal State Bakersfield

Konya, 38, fills the shoes of Rudy Carvajal, who is retiring after 38 years at CSUB. Konya will lead a program battling budget woes and the lack of a conference home while trying to become established as a successful NCAA Division I program.

BUSINESS

Timothy Marquez, chairman and CEO of Venoco Inc.

The company Marquez co-founded in 1992 hopes to double Kern County's oil production by expanding drilling in the Monterey Shale oil field. His Denver-based public company opened a Bakersfield office in June after acquiring more than 150,000 acres in the formation. Plans call for raising that number to 300,000 by the end of 2011.

The former Unocal Corp. executive has partnered with Occidental Petroleum Corp. to create a map of the oil field, which Marquez said could be the "biggest thing to hit Kern County in 30 years."

Patrick Beck, general manager of Bakersfield Hyundai

Beck is the local point man for WaltersBayer Automotive Group, a Las Vegas-based company that this year bought out Jose Arredondo's Hyundai dealership on the Auto Mall. WaltersBayer sells new vehicles outside of Atlanta and in Kentucky. The Bakersfield Hyundai deal was part of larger plans to expand into California with the purchase of dealerships in Temecula and elsewhere.

Beck said almost of Arredondo's employees at the Hyundai dealership accepted jobs with the new company, and that with half a dozen new hires, the dealership employs about three dozen people. Time will tell whether WaltersBayer will expand further in Bakersfield

Kirk Hawkins, founder of ICON Aircraft

After a 2004 regulatory change by the Federal Aviation Administration created a "light sport aircraft" category of small recreational airplanes, a former U.S. Air Force F-16 pilot founded ICON Aircraft to sell such planes. Founder Hawkins works out of the company's Los Angeles headquarters, but ICON's designers and engineers are based in Tehachapi, which is one of several cities around the county vying for the upscale recreational plane's manufacturing operations.

If Kern County lands the coveted plant, it could mean good jobs and a boost to the area's prestige. The aircraft will start in the $140,000 range.

GOVERNMENT

Russell Johnson and Rudy Salas Jr., newly elected members of the Bakersfield City Council

Johnson, 31, said he'll be pushing a "shop Bakersfield" concept in the next year. He wants to work with the police department to improve community safety and said he wants to know as soon as possible how costs from the recent storms will impact the city's budget.

Salas, 33, said public safety is a top priority in his ward, which includes much of southeast Bakersfield. He plans to work on community policing ideas, including the possibility of having citizens participate in neighborhood web-cam projects. There's also the Greenfield Group, a gathering of women who gathered to walk together but ended up becoming something of an informal neighborhood watch program, something he'd like to replicate in other neighborhoods.

The two new members were sworn in Dec. 15 and replaced Zack Scrivner and Irma Carson.

Zack Scrivner and Karen Goh, the Kern County Board of Supervisors' freshman members

Things around Kern County could experience big changes with the two new faces on the five-member board.

Expect Goh and Scrivner, who share a political affiliation with consultant Mark Abernathy, to maintain a tough stance with county unions as months of heated negotiations continue. Both have been critical of public employee benefits.

Scrivner, who represents southeastern Kern County has also expressed that he is interested in supporting trade opportunities and the development of an alternative energy industry in the county.

Goh's experience as a corporate executive with the McGraw-Hill Companies and as executive director of faith-based nonprofit Garden Pathways is likely to factor into how she approaches the position.

Bakersfield's Sacramento reps

Bakersfield's entire state delegation was transformed in November when state Sens. Dean Florez, D-Shafter, and Roy Ashburn, R-Bakersfield, were termed out, first-term Assemblyman Danny Gilmore, R-Hanford, decided Sacramento politics just weren't for him and Assemblywoman Jean Fuller, R-Bakersfield, successfully ran for state Senate.

A combination of fresh and around-the-block politicians now represent Bakersfield in the legislature and we'll see how they make their mark. The newbies are Republican Assembly members Shannon Grove, a Bakersfield businesswoman, and David Valadao, a Hanford dairyman.

More tested are Fuller and Florez's replacement, former Kern County Supervisor Michael Rubio, a Bakersfield Democrat and onetime Florez protege.