Download Press Event Video and Audio
Bakersfield, CA – Kern County workers at a Behavioral Health and Recovery Service (BHRS) center held a press event on Thursday, February 13th informing the public and taxpayers that the County Board of Supervisors are not utilizing all earmarked funds they promised to fund public services including those at the Behavioral Health and Recovery Services department.
Kern County workers have launched a Fix Kern campaign by door-to-door canvassing, urging taxpayers to contact their Board of Supervisors to stop short-changing taxpayers and keep their promise to use budgeted funds for public services. Workers shared the overwhelmingly positive responses and conversations had with taxpayers.
The campaign is sounding the alarm through yard signs, calls, and emails to the Board that the Supervisors are breaking promises by not utilizing all funds meant to keep county roads safe, maintain adequate 911 staffing levels, protect children at risk, and stabilize those struggling with mental health and substance use crises.
According to the most recent County Annual Comprehensive Fiscal Reports over the last three years, the Board of Supervisors has failed to use over $532 million in budgeted dollars for county services, and instead has diverted over $446 million into “restricted funds.” There are now over $850 million in these “restricted funds,” including $164 million dollars earmarked for mental health programs and another $170 million in state “realignment funds” meant for mental health and public safety.
County workers and residents will continue to call on the Board of Supervisors to utilize these funds – most of which come from the state and federal government – to address the serious public safety, public health, and quality of life issues that are facing so many Kern taxpayers.
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Service Employees International Union, Local 521 represents 53,000 public- and nonprofit, private-sector workers in California’s Bay Area, the Central Coast, and in the Central Valley. Under a Community First vision, we are committed to making sure the needs of our community, and the vital services we provide our community, come first. We believe our communities thrive when residents, leaders and workers recognize that we are all in this together when it comes to our safety, health, and well-being.
