We've had enough of Ashburn
By The Bakersfield Californian
Roy Ashburn represents everything that's wrong with politics. He and Sacramento lawmakers have the luxury of living on six-figure incomes and expense accounts, surrounded by staffers to do their biddings. Then they think they are immune to the laws they pass for the rest of us while we, the taxpayers, foot the bill for their privileged existence.
When Ashburn termed out of the state Legislature, and failed (twice) to win a seat in Congress, I hoped that would be the last we saw of him. By raising taxes he thumbed his nose at the conservatives who elected him. (That tax hike helped get him his present lucrative position on a state commission.)
And now that he's come forward about his new lifestyle, apparently his politics have changed. I don't care what he does in his personal life (except when he's driving drunk in a vehicle we paid for), but I am concerned about trusting the convictions of a man whose only loyalty is to his own career.
Now we have the Bakersfield Good Ol' Boy network coming forward with endorsements, not on account of Ashburn's integrity but because of his "experience." Yes -- consider the experience of a candidate. You can vote for an expert at manipulating the political system to save his dying career, or you can vote for Mick Gleason, a man with an impeccable military, professional and personal record.
Russell Smith
Ridgecrest
Facebook
Twitter
Mobile
RSS
Most CommentedMost Popular
The death of a man in custody following a prolonged struggle with Kern County Sheriff's deputies and CHP officers and the subsequent fracas over confiscated witness cellphones have gained international attention and raised concerns here that the incidents could tarnish the county's emerging...
The Kern County Sheriff's Office is out of control. That's one conclusion many people will draw based on the events of the past two weeks and in the context of recent years.
Sheriff’s investigators served a search warrant on Kern Medical Center and the Mary K. Shell Mental Health Center seeking medical records to find possible reasons for David Sal Silva’s behavior prior to and during his encounter with law enforcement, The Californian learned Friday.
A draft city ordinance that would have restricted abortion in Bakersfield was placed on hold Monday when the Bakersfield City Council's Legislative and Litigation Committee voted 3-0 to table its discussion indefinitely, and instead, ordered the drafting of a resolution that could be less...
Blood stains are still visible on the sidewalk at the corner of Flower Street and Palm Drive, where a Bakersfield man struggled with as many as nine officers and later died this week.
Classes were canceled at Bakersfield High School Monday after three small bottle bomb explosions struck campus, authorities said.
David Sal Silva’s screams seem like they will never stop.
Responding to what he called a case that “has consumed the media and our community,” Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood said Tuesday he has asked the FBI to conduct a “parallel” investigation into the death of Bakersfield father of four David Sal Silva, who died May 8 after he was beaten by deputies.