Op-Ed: Proposed 2021-22 Budget Does Not Come Close to Addressing Housing Crisis in Bakersfield

By PBB Member Mandy DeSchutter It’s no secret that the housing situation in Bakersfield is dire. In 2019 the rental vacancy rate of apartments in our city was 4.7%. In 2020, that dropped to 2.5%. This year, we are looking at an almost unheard-of rate of 1% for available vacant apartments. Rent prices are soaring,

Op-Ed: Bakersfield Needs to Divest from Police and Invest in Communities of Color (traducido en español abajo)

By PBB Member Cass Sheppard Spanish Translation by PBB Member Yoceline Noemi Last summer’s protests for Black lives resurfaced the dire need for America to rethink its policing practices and to address the harm policing has caused in Black and Brown communities. Kern County is no exception.   In 2015, Kern County police killed more people