More feedback on the power of union contributions and a survey shows some loss of confidence in marriage

* ... UNION POWER: More reader feedback on my musings about how Meg Whitman and the unions that fought her could have better spent their money by donating to charities. From Roger Jones: "Yes the unions did spend money to get Brown, Boxer elected and defeat Whitman and Fiorina. If you want to be able to limit the money unions spend then it should work both ways. Stop corporate contributions to elect those that benefit corporations. We do not cry and we do not give away anything. So at least before you and others make such uneducated comments please contact these unions as to how those contributions were made." Thanks for your comments, Rog, but I never suggested limiting union contributions. Rather, I simply wondered aloud how much good could have come if the unions and Whitman had steered some of those millions toward charitable causes.

 * ... GHOST STORY: Heard the other day about a short film that was filmed on location here in Bakersfield featuring a lot of local talent. It's called "Ghost" and it is portrayed as "a stunning portrait at the underground hardcore scene of Bakersfield." It was written and directed by Bakersfield native Caitlin Bond Murray, who attends the Art Institute of Los Angeles in Santa Monica. A graduate of Bakersfield High School, she is the daughter of local residents Patrick and Deanna Murray.  Some of the scenes were shot at Jerry's Pizza downtown.

 * ... DIVORCE: Did you see the story saying that four in 10 people now feel that the institution of marriage is becoming obsolete? Not sure what to make of it but the numbers speak for themselves: almost 30 percent of children under 18 now live with a parent or parents who are unwed or no longer married. I am personally astounded at the number of long-term marriages that are ending once couples become empty nesters, for a variety of reasons. I recall hearing one woman argue that every person should be married three times: once in our 20s and 30s, another time in our 40s and 50s and a third partner for the last final run to the end. Here's my take: Why not approach marriage like we do home mortgages? You could opt for a 15-year marriage, or 20 or 30 years if you're more confident. Then, if things are going swimmingly at the end of the term, you could always "refinance" and extend the marriage, but you are under no obligation to do so. And if the parents of your potential partner are a bit nutty, you might want to opt for the 5-year "variable term" marriage that will be reassessed just a few years down the road. 

 * ... LAURA WOLFE: Some good news for the local arts community. Laura Wolfe, who left Cal State Bakersfield as a fund raiser, is taking over the Arts Council of Kern as its executive director. Laura will become interim director in January for six months at which time the board will reassess the position. My bet is the board will hire her full time after that. Laura is deeply ingrained in this community and active on a number of boards. She replaces Jeanette Richardson.

  * ... PAPER BOYS: Dr. Wil Flickinger dropped me a note sharing his own memory of that terrible 1952 earthquake that caused so much destruction around town. In his words: "Other 'old timers' were at the Bakersfield Californian rolling papers for delivery while my brother and the paper boys had already taken to their street corners. When the brick Californian building that still stands as it was to this day, started to jump and shake, a bunch of the guys panicked and  ran for the open bay door. As they saw the curtain of brick dust pouring off the top of the building, they returned and joined me in ducking under the nearest stainless steel work bench they could find. As we had numerous smaller after shocks from the first big one in July, some of us kept our heads. As the magnitude of the 30-second quake subsided,  I was able to peer out through the big bay loading dock door as the quake settled, I saw the top of the Tegeler Hotel pour off like a waterfall into 19th street. What an indelible sight that was. That sight capped the second big quake and memories of the hundreds of aftershocks of 1952!

   " I and some of my friends then meandered out to observe the damage. As I quickened my step down to 19th street I moved toward  K Street and to the Kress building where my brother's corner was located. There was debris in the streets. I went by Lerner's Dress Shop on the south side of the street between Chester and K and noted it being completely collapsed where I believe there was the one other fatality of that quake. My brother and the Kress building were okay, and unbelievably my mother, who had been at work in our family business, Flickinger's Farm and Garden store (also  in a brick reinforced building ), at 18th and O streets was already there. I  was assured they were okay and then returned to work. The Californian building itself was undamaged except for the little library and private office brick building at the north side.  Since we had pretty well finished our route preparation, numb as the experience left me,  I think I remember we took to the road to deliver our 2,400 papers to South Bakersfield, and Greenfield south past Schweitzer's corner that day, or did we?

 * ... BAKERSFIELDISM: You know you're from Bakersfield if "you long for the minestrone soup at Woolgrower's once the weather turns colder."

Local housing market struggles to get back on its feet, while one local school serves up some healthy eating

* ... LOCAL HOUSING: I heard from a few local Realtors after I posted an update on the local housing market. My own personal Realtor of choice is the hard-working Mary Christenson of Watson-Touchstone (pictured). She reported good buyer activity and reduced inventory, especially in homes under $400,000. She also noted the first time tax buyer credit ends April 30th and "buyers need to get offers accepted now in order to close by that date. I've had very good closing activity for sales generated in December during the last five weeks-by the end of February I will have closed a full 50 percent of my entire sales volume for last year!" Meanwhile, fellow Watson Realtor Katy Glentzer took me to task for citing the online real estate sales website Zillow in reporting slow sales in other markets. "We are not singing the housing Blues in Bakersfield," she said. "For the past several months our prices have increased. Yes, inventory is down, thanks to the banks wising up. Is there anything wrong with supply and demand? They are releasing foreclosures at a slower pace and actually helping owners through the short sale process."  We'll keep an eye on the local market and my thanks to Mary and Katy for their input.


 * ... HEALTHY EATING: I received an interesting email from local writer Teresa Adamo about a new after school day-care snack at the Downtown School. Each child receives a bowl holding different fruit, all cut into chunks. The kids are each given a plastic glove to gather their chunks of choice, and a skewer for the creation of their fruit kabob. Said Teresa: "As you can imagine, it was a huge hit! I saw happy kids making second kabobs because they enjoyed the process so much, not to mention the ingredients! The fruit choices included: oranges, bananas, cantaloupe, honeydew melon and kiwi. Of course, from a Mom's perspective, I saw the healthy value in this interactive snacking. With the alarming rates of childhood obesity -- not to mention the unknown, long-term affects & impact on health care -- this scene was at least a little reassuring." Someone from that school is thinking.

 * ... GAUCHO WORLD: I heard from two University of California at Santa Barbara graduates who wanted to give their alma mater a shout-out. Marciano Flores, activity director of the AVID program at East Bakersfield High School, wrote to say he was both a proud Gaucho and an East High Blade. Also weighing in was old friend and Gaucho grad Laura Wolfe, who is now working with the Arts Council of Kern after many years in development at Cal State Bakersfield.

* ... CAR CLUB DONATION: Hats off to the Bakersfield Car Club and its annual Super Cruise show that was held at the Kern County Fairgrounds. Club member Roy Romagno told me the club raised more than $10,000 to benefit the the Society for Disabled Children of Kern County. Always nice to see local folks pitching it to help others during a difficult year.

* ... BAKERSFIELDISM: Reader Bobbie Hulson offered this one. "You know you are from Bakersfield when even old people pick their parking spaces by how much shade there is, rather than how close they are to the door." And add this one: "Someone from out of town talks about how foggy it is and you tell them, 'just wait!'"

Bako bits: Mourning the loss of a local bank and Laura Wolfe finds a new gig

 
 * ... LAMENTING THE LOSS OF SAN JOAQUIN: The closing of San Joaquin Bank is a loss for our community on many levels. First, it has been one of the stalwart business banks that has helped this community grow, and it has done so while choosing to support the non-profits in a way the "too big to fail" banks would never deign. It was San Joaquin, after all, that provided the loan (at below market rates) that allowed the Bakersfield Museum of Art to expand, and that's just one example. In addition to all the good people who are now out of work, one has to wonder about the aggressive tactics of the state Department of Financial Institutions and the FDIC in closing the place down. The bank argues that it had met and exceeded the DFI demand to raise $27 million in capital, so why would the state agency pull the plug anyway? What possible good can come from closing a community bank in this economy? And there are some interesting questions being raised about when Citizens Business Bank was told it had the green light to take over San Joaquin. For example, new custom Citizens signage was installed at the old San Joaquin Coffee Road branch  less  than 24 hours after the bail failed. Was the signage ordered while the San Joaquin board was busy raising capital and meeting the Fed demands? Had the FDIC and DFI already made up their minds by the time the San Joaquin board met the capital demands by the Friday afternoon deadline? When the real story of San Joaquin and the bank closings is told, let's hope it doesn't smack of a new era of McCarthyism.


 * ... WOLFE TO ARTS COUNCIL: Was happy to hear that Laura Wolfe, who lost her job in a shakeup at  CSUB's development office, has landed a new gig as part-time development officer for the Arts Council of Kern. Laura is a longtime Shafter resident who was a fixture at Cal State until new university development director Beverly Byl let her go, citing budget cutbacks. If Laura brings the energy to the Arts Council that she showed at CSUB, the arts will most certainly benefit. Laura reminded  me that ARTini, the Arts Council's martini tasting fund raiser, is set for Friday, November 6, at the Petroleum Club. Individual tickets are $65 for non members and $50 for members. Tickets include a tasting glass, tasting and heavy appetizers. I've heard this is a terrific event and all for a good cause: promoting the arts in our community. For more information call 661-324-9000.  

 * ... HUELL HEADS BACK TO BAKERSFIELD: Learned the other day that Huell Howser, the folksy and popular host of public television's "California's Gold" series, is heading back to Bakersfield next week. Huell will be filming a followup report on the relocation of the historic Lopez-Hill House to the Kern County Museum. Howser is scheduled to be shooting next Thursday, according to Penelope Birtenstein, who works with the museum Foundation. The original house was built by J.J. Lopez at Chester and California avenues in 1909. Lopez had  worked as a sheepherder at Tejon Ranch and died in 1938. The house was later moved out off Rosedale Highway and now is at home at the museum.


* ... THE BOYS FROM HODEL'S: Had a chance to speak to a luncheon meeting of the Sons in Retirement (SIRs), a group I didn't even know exist before I spent some time with them.  It was an interesting mix of about 100 retired business, educators and professionals who had one thing in common: staying connected with the community via friendly networking over lunch at Hodel's over off Olive Drive. The best of Bakersfield has always been its people, and it was good to spend a couple hours with a group of citizens who chose to stay involved and on the top of issues. My thanks to Lon Kellenberger, retired dean at the School of Education over at Cal State Bakersfield, for the invite, not to mention the free lunch.

Short takes: From waterfowl hunting to a blog on white tablecoth dining to hopes for a better economy

Some short takes around our community:

* ... MORE MIXED SIGNALS: This is starting to sound like a familiar refrain, but every time we get some good news on the economy it's followed by yet more words of caution. Wayne Kress, the always optimistic partner in the local commercial firm CB Richard Ellis, sent a Twitter feed on a Washington Post story saying that manufacturing and housing - two sectors that have suffered the most in this economy - are now expanding. As the Post said, the development offers "fresh evidence that the economy has begun to grow." That's certainly good news and I join with Wayne in celebrating any bit of good news. But there is plenty of evidence to indicate that any incipient recovery will be a slow one, particularly if it is a jobless recovery. Even the Post story recognized this, quoting an economist as saying "the bad news is that it is still not creating any extra jobs, meaning that the U.S. is heading for yet another jobless recovery." Meanwhile, I had lunch with a local high-end custom home builder and his outlook was bleak, noting that the recent upturn in residential sales have all been on the low end and most of them foreclosures working their way through the system. He pointed me to a recent analyst study out of San Diego (I haven't found it yet) which apparently said it would take until 2016 (seven full years) for our residential market to begin to resemble the way it looked in 2005. Ugh.

* ... SERVING DOVE ON A WHITE TABLE CLOTH: Looks like local Bakersfield High grad Paige Hill is making good use of her masters in writing. The daughter of San Joaquin Bank president Bart Hill and wife Napier, Paige is wrapping up her masters in writing at the University of South Carolina and has started a blog about cooking. (check it out here at www.forkenvy.com) Paige, who got her undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina, lends her own personality to the blog and brings in her own personal experiences, including her familiarity with hunting and shotguns.



From her blog:
"It’s September first. The opening day of dove season. If you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m not a vegetarian. My father is the resident hunter in our family, as my hunting license has only served to allow my downing clay birds at the skeet range. Some meats mark the seasons, like lamb in the spring and dove in the fall. As much as I impatiently await the days when I get to put on my brown leather boots when September nears, my tongue equally longs for the taste of game bird when the days grow shorter and colder. If you are a fan of duck, you will enjoy dove. If you are a fan of chicken, you will enjoy dove. If you are stuck in a chicken rut, treat your taste buds to something wonderful and unique. It is a bit lighter meat than duck, but more game-y in flavor and tender. Like other birds, dove can be roasted or broiled whole; but, if you want to leave the bones out of the equation (recommended) cut into breast pieces and sauté. You can ask your butcher for this service, too."

* ... PARADISE FOR HUNTING WATERFOWL: Speaking of birds and hunting, ran across an interesting story in the Ducks Unlimited magazine citing the Central Valley as one of the top 15 areas to hunt waterfowl in the country. It's easy to underestimate the popularity of bird hunting locally, and apparently we live in one of the prime locations. (read the full story here) According to the story:

"Acre for acre, the Central Valley of California supports more wintering waterfowl than anywhere else in North America. At peak times, this region hosts 5 to 7 million wintering waterfowl—more than 60 percent of the Pacific Flyway’s ducks and geese. As you would expect, the high ratio of birds to habitat results in some superb waterfowl hunting. This is especially true on private duck clubs in places such as Butte Sink, Suisun Marsh, and the Grasslands. Good public hunting is also available on several intensively managed national wildlife refuges and state wildlife areas in the region, which also support large numbers of wintering waterfowl.

The abundant species: pintails, mallards, wigeon, green-winged teal, Aleutian cackling geese, white-fronted geese, light geese



* ... MORE CHANGES AT CSUB: Yet another person is leaving the fund raising arm at Cal State Bakersfield, the third to leave that I know of (joining Laura Wolfe and Sheri Horn Bunk) That's the word from Athletic Director Rudy Carvajal, who sent an email to supporters updating them on changes. The latest to leave University Advancement will be Christene Kimmel, according to Rudy. In addition, he said Ashley Sodergren is moving to Stockton to work on Relay for Life for the American Cancer Society, and Brian Powell has accepted a development position at James Madison University in Virginia, which is within driving distance of his hometown. Their last working day is September 11.

Short takes around town: Another "First Friday" is upon us, another departure for CSUB fund raising, and a local kid makes us proud

Lots happening around our community so here are some short tidbits around town:

* ... ANOTHER OUT AT CSUB: There's been more turnover in the fund raising office over at Cal State Bakersfield. Sheri Horn Bunk is the latest to leave, opting instead to become Foundation Director over at Taft College. This follows the departure of longtime employee Laura Wolfe, who according to President Horace Mitchell was the victim of budget cuts. Still, the departures of Wolfe and now Bunk have many university supporters talking about new development head Beverly Byl and where she's taking the team.

* ... LATIN ART EXHIBIT: Make sure to redline this Friday on your calendar. After all, it is “first Friday” and downtown will be buzzing. The weather should be perfect (if a tad warm) and make sure to stop by Metro Galleries over on 19th Street to catch “Latination,” a juried show of art with an Hispanic theme. Some of this stuff is quite good and Don Martin, galleries owner, tells me there will be complimentary Mexican eats along with a no host margarita bar. The pictures below are by Patti Dolittle (red scarf) and Kim Jessup.





* ... BUSINESS INDUSTRY BREAKFAST: The 24th Annual Business and Industry Leaders Breakfast is set for Thursday, Sept. 17, over at the Petroleum Club. This is put on by the Golden Empire Gleaners and is always a good place to network with local business leaders. This year’s speaker: Sean McNally, vice president of corporate and government affairs for Grimmway Farms. Call 661-324-2767 for more information.

* ... JUST THINKING: Is there any weirder story than the arrest of Phillip Garrido in the abduction of Jaycee Lee Dugard? You have to wonder how this one case will affect California’s plan to partially relieve the budget mess by paroling thousands of prisoners early. And it has certainly raised questions about a system that paroles a man like Garrido, who served only 11 years in prison after a rape and kidnapping that landed him a 50-year sentence. Expect a huge outcry in the name of this poor girl who spent 18 years held against her will.

* ... LOCAL KID DOES GOOD: Always nice to recognize local kids doing well. The latest is Troy Harvey, a Bakersfield High and Bakersfield College grad and former Californian photography intern, who graduated Sunday from the Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara. Troy is now in the job market and is contemplating whether to remain in Southern California or to return to Bakersfield. Thanks to former Californian photographer John Harte for the tip on Troy and the picture below.

Bako bits: From social networking as a marketing tool to rumblings at CSUB to upside down mortgages

Wrapping up the week and cleaning off my desk as we head into another weekend. School starts next week and fall is coming. Let's get to it:

* ... RUMBLINGS OVER AT CSUB: I seem to have hit a nerve with my mention that longtime Cal State community liaison Laura Wolfe had been ousted. (read previous post here) Got a couple calls from CSUB insiders who were lamenting the loss of Laura, who spent 14 years with the university building better relations between the school and the community. Laura worked for Mike Chertok, who retired and was replaced by Beverly Byl, brought in by President Horace Mitchell. Give Horace credit: he has single handedly raised the stature of the university in the community through sheer good will, focus and great personal charm. Which is why insiders are puzzled over the choice of Beverly, who one person described as one who moves through a room with sharp elbows. No doubt the dismissal of Laura Wolfe was a move that addressed two concerns: one budgetary and the other the desire to build your own team. President Mitchell called me and said there was no "personal agenda" in the firing of Wolfe but rather it was a consequence of the budget crisis. He noted, for example, that the state budget contribution to CSUB was less this year than it was five years ago when he came on board. Still, there's lots of chatter about Byl, including her desire to bring all the fund raising under one umbrella as opposed to athletics raising money for one thing and an academic endeavor for another. Folks are talking and the university really can't afford to squander the good will Horace has earned. No doubt there will be more on this later.



* ... MARKETING ON FACEBOOK? Read with interest a piece that said 63 percent of all companies planned to increase their spending on social media this year. That's not too surprising since a recent study by the Association of National Advertisers said 66 percent of marketers have now used social media in some form. The top platforms being utilized: Facebook (74 percent), YouTube (65 percent), Twitter (63 percent) and LinkedIn (60 percent). Locally, a good example would be Mary Christenson, the longtime high end Watson-Touchstone Realtor who has embraced Facebook and made it one of her marketing devices. If she lists a new home in Seven Oaks, she'll post a message on it. Trouble with appraisals? She's all over it. Mary is savvy enough to recognize there's a terrific audience and all it takes is her time. At The Californian, marketing director Rob Meszaros has used Facebook and Twitter extensively in marketing the new Monday-Friday tabloid that debuts next week.

* ... UPSIDE DOWN MORTGAGE? Amazed to read in The Californian yesterday that fully half of all mortgages in Bakersfield are now upside down. That means the homeowners basically owe more than the home is worth, thanks to months of falling housing prices. That can't bode well for future foreclosures. The depth of recession cannot be underestimated. Last week it was reported that one in every 10 mortgages in the entire state of California is in foreclosure.

* ... LATIN SHOW AT METRO GALLERIES: Don Martin over at the Metro Galleries downtown is busy preparing for Latination, a project sponsored by his gallery and MAS magazine. The deadline for entries for the show is next week, so drop them off between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Wednesday over at Metro, 1604 19th Street. Selected pieces in the juried exhibit will be displayed at the gallery during September. Contact Don with any questions at 634-9598.

Staring down the barrel at a double dip recession, Laura Wolfe out at CSUB and country clubs feeling the pain

Right when you think things are getting better - a slight uptick in housing sales, a successful "cash for clunkers" program - the talking heads and analysts start warning us of a "double dip recession." Don't mean to be alarmist but more than a few noteworthy economists think we are far from out of the woods, and are fearing the current good times on the stock market will soon give way to a darker new reality. Consider:

* ... LAURA WOLFE OUT IN CSUB SHAKEUP: Before we get to the economy was saddened to hear that Laura Wolfe, longtime vice president of development for the university, has lost her job, allegedly due to the budget crisis. At least that's what a memo from Beverly Byl, new vice president of university advancement, says. Other insiders speculate it's Byl's way of using the budget crisis to build her own team, and it's leaving many folks with a bad taste in their mouths. Laura is a longtime fixture in the community, well liked and well respected, and one who has worked hard on behalf of the university, even when so many campus academics felt that building community relations was beneath their pay grade. I spoke with Laura who said simply she was looking forward to spending more time with her family and preparing for her son's bar mitzvah. She said she "hopes to do well by doing good." Now that's a class act.



* ... IT'S UGLY OUT THERE: Okay, back to the economy and folks, it ain't pretty. The American Bankruptcy Institute reports consumer bankruptcies jumped 34.3 percent in July, compared to last year, as high debt and unemployment took their toll. Also:
SECTOR ANALYSIS: A new survey of real estate investors by PricewaterhouseCoopers projects that over the next 12 months, apartment values will fall 7 percent, regional malls will drop 8.5 percent, warehouses will drop 8.2 percent and office values will decline 11.4 percent. This is the long expected commercial real estate crunch and no doubt we don't be able to avoid it.
BANK FAILURES: While we have been averaging 5 to 7 bank closures per week the past few weeks, it is interesting to note that the high was set in 1989 when 60 banks were closed in one week.
HOUSING DECLINE: Home ownership in the US reached nearly 70 percent in 2004, but has since fallen to 67.4 percent as of the second quarter of 2009. Interestingly, about 57 percent of housing units that are added to the market become rentals these days.
HOUSING SUPPLY: A study by ZipRealty finds the supply of homes available for sale in major metropolitan areas fell 2.5 percent in July compared to June. Yet, as reported here earlier, fully one in 10 home mortgages in California is now in a state of default



* ... MEANWHILE, OUT AT THE COUNTRY CLUB: Also learned that privately owned Seven Oaks Country Club has been hit so hard by this recession that it is reducing its full equity initiation fee from $30,000 to $10,000. In a letter to members, general manager Don Ciota says the club has sold only four new full equity memberships this year. Good news for new members but what about the folks who paid full retail? Another sign of the times.

* ... INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE: Lastly, spotted this Facebook post from Realtor Mary Christenson and thought I would pass it along. It's a good one:
"You never know when one act, or one word of encouragement can change a life forever." ~ Zig Ziglar