David Couch for 4th District supervisor
By The Bakersfield Californian
Bakersfield City Councilman David Couch and oil and gas lawyer Harley Pinson will face off June 5 for the Board of Supervisors' 4th District seat, currently held by the retiring Ray Watson. The 4th District covers the entire Western border of Kern County, from the mountain communities of Frazier Park to the north side of Delano, with the western half of Bakersfield and vast stretches of oilfields and farm land in between. Its constituents have long clamored for a responsive Supervisor who is just as interested in the average person as the monied interests within the district. The clear choice in the race is Couch.
A financial manger with Morgan Stanley, Couch has served on the Bakersfield City Council since 1998 and has shown himself to be a fair-minded councilman who consistently has fresh ideas and a collegial attitude toward his counterparts on the council. He is strongly attuned to constituent concerns and has worked to address city pensions, an issues that also impacts county employees. With his experience on the council, Couch is also in a good position to help bridge the divide between the city and county on issues such as the recent dispute over animal control costs.
Pinson has campaigned on pension reform and also advocated for more county leadership on persistent problems like teen pregnancy, illiteracy and gang prevention. He's right in saying the Board could provide more civic leadership on long-standing social problems that impact the lives of so many constituents. However, he's offered few specifics on how to fix those problems. On pensions, he has blasted unions but has been vague on what the county might do to control ballooning costs. By contrast, Couch, owing to his professional background and experience negotiating with city unions, is well versed in the economic forces contributing to unfunded liabilities and demonstrates a thorough understanding of the pension problem.
While Couch is the best choice for the 4th District, we cannot endorse his proposal to make Supervisors' jobs part-time and fill the void with a strong executive management structure within county government. Such a move would simply shift the burden of governing to unelected paid staff -- and would save little if any money. In any case, Couch should reserve judgment on reducing Supervisors' hours until he's actually served as one. District 4 covers a vast area that will require a full-time commitment in every sense of the term.
Still, with his knowledge of the workings of local government and his track record of responsiveness to constituents, Couch is the best choice for District 4 Supervisor.
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.