Election notebook: Couch endorses Smith for city council
By The Bakersfield Californian
Bakersfield City Council candidate Bob Smith has collected an endorsement from Councilman David Couch, whose seat he's running for this November, Smith's campaign said Tuesday.
Smith is running for the Ward 4 seat. Couch's endorsement came one day after Harley Pinson, an oil industry lawyer, announced he was dropping out of the race due to disagreements with his campaign management.
Smith is the founder of the organization Bike Bakersfield and owns a local civil engineering and land planning firm. Couch will step down from the council at the end of the year to take up the Kern County 4th District supervisor seat he won in June.
"Bob's professional background as a civil engineer and his 29 years of experience as a business owner give him a unique set of skills and knowledge that will allow him to hit the ground running on day one," Couch said in a release from Smith's campaign. "I am confident he will be an effective voice of the people and be a strong conservative leader on the council."
Pinson's name will remain on the ballot despite his decision to stop campaigning. There is one other candidate in that race, Daniel Mbagwu, who hasn't campaigned visibly so far.
Oliver L. North, a combat-decorated Marine, New York Times best-selling author, small business founder, columnist and host of "War Stories" on the Fox News Channel, will be the keynote speaker at the Ag Warriors Benefit on Feb. 13.
North, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., served 22 years as a U.S. marine. His awards for service in combat include the silver star, the bronze star for valor and two purple hearts for wounds in combat.
He was also a key figure in the Iran-Contra scandal of the 1980s, in which proceeds from an arms for hostages deal in Iran were diverted to fund the activities of the Contras, or anti-Sandinista and anti-communist forces in Nicaragua. North was sentenced to 1,200 hours of community service, a $150,000 fine and three years' suspended sentence for his role in the scheme.
The Ag Warriors benefit will support the International Agri-Center's Ag Warriors program. The program helps veterans find long-term employment in agriculture through access to employers, schools and training programs.
Tickets will be available for purchase at www.InternationalAgriCenter.org beginning Nov. 1.
Congressional candidate Terry Phillips , who is running against Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, for the 23rd Congressional District seat, is holding a campaign fundraiser from 7 to 9 p.m. Monday at Manuel's Casa de Mariscos at the Hill House on Truxtun Avenue in downtown Bakersfield.
Desserts will be served and live music provided by a jazz guitarist.
The price of the event -- in the form of a donation to the Phillips campaign -- is a minimum of $25 a person.
Checks must be mailed to 600 Browning Court, Bakersfield, Calif., 93309 by Saturday, Sept. 15 or delivered to Phillips' campaign headquarters at 2105 "D" St. between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Friday. Phillips is running under no party affiliation.
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