Remembering Ray Dezember, and what does proper etiquette look like on social media when the world is in chaos?

 * ... RAY DEZEMBER: I attended the memorial service for Ray Dezember at St. John's Lutheran

Church the other day, and the best line of the service came from his son in law who speculated on Ray's reaction on entering heaven: "I knew it! It looks just like Bakersfield!"

 * ... SOCIAL MEDIA: I am no expert on social media etiquette, and it is easy to take things out of context, but on a day when Islamic terrorists kill scores in Brussels it seems inappropriate to ask for prayers on Facebook because you are remodeling your kitchen.

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "I’m gonna have to get new pets, I’m running out of passwords."

 * ... BAD FORM: At the downtown Sequoia Sandwich Shop during a crowded lunch, two men leave their table full of soiled napkins, sandwich baskets, crumbs and cups. Is it asking too much of folks to police their eating area so they next people can sit down to a clean table?

 * .,.. CSU BAKERSFIELD: Local Realtor Michael Richert was at Disneyland when CSU Bakersfield battled Oklahoma in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Said Richert: "With my family at Disneyland, I found The ESPN Zone in Downtown Disney had the game on and the place full of NCAA March Madness Fans! It was fun to represent, (Yep, I was the only one there from Bakersfield). It was pretty cool being the only person clapping in a room that had 400 people sitting and eating and drinking. My only question was why did the team need to fly back so soon and then I remembered where they were. Why stay? Proud of Bakersfield!"

 * ... GOOD FORM: This community is full of folks who come together to make this a better place to live, and among them are the neighbors of the South Oswell Neighborhood organization, which recently removed their 1,000th piece of graffiti. Said David Collins: "Hopefully our volunteers can be an encouragement to other areas of Bakersfield and Kern County. Our lifetime cleanup totals are as follows: 1,219.6 volunteer hours, 1,098.90 bags of litter picked up, 274 'flash' cleanups, 1,000 pieces of graffiti removed, 2,232 e-alerts and notices, 20 major cleanups and 340 weeks of cleanup coverage.‎"

 * ... MORE GOOD FORM:  And there was this from Beverly Hayden: "Last Wednesday a group of friends and myself enjoyed a very good lunch at the Broken Yolk Restaurant. We get together once a month, our connection is that we are either past or current volunteers at The Guild House. There were six of us and as we were getting ready to pay for our lunch the gentleman sitting across from us said he wanted to buy our lunch for us. We protested because there were so many of us. This sweet man insisted and we thanked him for his kind gesture. We did not get his name. His act of kindness made the rest of the day brighter."

 * ... WOMAN'S CLUB: Congratulations to the Woman's Club of Bakersfield that is celebrating its 120th anniversary next week. The club was incorporate in 1896, helped fund and promote the first library in Kern County and was involved in women's suffrage and saving the Beale Clock Tower.

Remembering the Lakeview Gusher and I take some heat for criticizing public employee unions

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* ... LAKEVIEW GUSHER: If you think the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico is bad, consider the 1910 Lakeview Gusher that blew between the towns of Taft and Maricopa. The total volume of oil spilled at the historic Kern County gusher was 378 million gallons, the equivalent of nine million barrels. The Deepwater Horizon blowout has yet to reach half that size. I'm not downplaying the economic and environmental impact of the Gulf disaster, but the Lakeview Gusher still stands alone in terms of sheer volume. In fact, it remains the largest oil spill in history. The Lakeview spill took 18 months to get under control and created a lake that workers actually crossed in wooden row boats. (photos courtesy of the West Kern Oil Museum

 * ... REMEMBERING DUDLEY'S: Faithful reader Glen Worrell recalled that the old eastside eatery  Dudley's (on the corner of Mt. Vernon and Quincy Street) primarily catered to boys while the girls ate across the street at Hopi's. "I worked at Dudley's my junior year (at East Bakersfield High School). Dudley had a platter of spaghetti and beans with one slice of bread (a penny a slice for more bread). That was 15 cents. There was also tamale and beans for 20 cents - no bread. Dudley also had a plate lunch that featured meatloaf, mashed potatoes and a vegetable (no bread). You could always get a slice of bread for a penny. About half way between Quincy Street and Flower Street was another place for students to eat. Boy and girls both ate there. That's where the smokers went. I still mix spaghetti and beans together at Woolgrower's!"

* ... COUNTY WORKERS: Reader Mona Martin took me to task for suggesting that public employee unions haven't felt the same pain as private sector workers in this recession. She noted her husband has worked for the county for 24 years and argues it has been anything but a cakewalk. "One would think that after 24 years our family wouldn't have to bite our nails until they bleed during budget hearings, but we always do, and let me tell you, it has gotten old." She went on to say that he has been reassigned and suffered multiple pay cuts. "We are not getting rich off his job, only expecting what was promised for his sacrifice of pay increases ... Please reconsider your impression that county workers don't know how to suffer cutbacks."

 * ... BIG JOE: Had a nice chat the other day with local trainer Joe Peterson, one of our community's true competitive athletes. I found him at Yokuts Park after his morning boot camp ended and he shared his thoughts about competing in the most recent Race Across America bicycle race. It was his 11th time doing the race - that is amazing in itself - and this time his mixed tandem team broke the previous RAM record by 5 1/2 hours. "And it was the first time I went across the entire country without one drop of rain," he told me. "In fact we had very little wind even in Kansas." Congrats, Joe.

  * ... SPOTTED: Saw this on Twitter, posted as a re-tweet by Rep. Kevin McCarthy: "Think Wimbledon tickets are expensive? Our national debt has gone up by $1,729,000,000 during the Isner versus Mahut match."

* ... BAKERSFIELDISM: From Facebook: You know you're from Bakersfield if you remember "cruising Chester Avenue and Stockdale Highway on date night and the drive-in theater right off the freeway at the airport exit."

Father Craig heads for Russia with iPad in hand and what about a "I Love Bakersfield" campaign?

 * ... HIGH ACHIEVER: Reader Georgann Greene wrote to tell me about a remarkable young man who is about to graduate from UCLA. He's Richard Rodriguez, a 2006 Centennial High graduate who was the first in his family to go to college. He is also a hemophiliac and has received treatments at the UCLA Medical Center his whole life. Yet despite this, he is graduating with a major in microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics. Richard spent last summer studying and working in a science lab at Harvard University. His goal is to become a research physician specializing in blood disorders. Now, that's a high achiever.


* ... HAPPY 90TH: An anonymous caller left a happy birthday wish for John Evelyn, a longtime Bakersfield resident who will turn 90 years old this week. Apparently John is a regular hiker of the Panorama Bluffs and has amassed quite a fan club over the years. The caller said he's headed to Morro Bay to celebrate his 90th and wanted to wish him all the best. Happy birthday John.
 

 * ... BAKO LOVE: If New York can have its ubiquitous "I LOVE NEW YORK" slogan plastered on T-shirts and car stickers, how about a "I LOVE BAKERSFIELD" campaign? At least that was the thought of Ray Dezember, the retired banker and Bakersfield booster who took the idea to Sheryl Barbich, head of the local Vision 2020 effort. Ray wrote a check and Sheryl ordered 5,000 "I Love Bakersfield" car stickers. Expect to see them around town. You can pick them up at the downtown Chamber of Commerce or the Bakersfield Convention and Visitors Bureau.

 * ... ROAD RAGE: More feedback from my post on cyclists almost being killed by irate drivers on the road to Woody. This from reader Layne Logan: "As much as I'd like to see the guy who tried run  your fellow cyclists off the road get his just desserts, I'm afraid I have to side with (reader) Marty Richardson on this one. It appears to me that (an earlier reader) didn't quite comprehend what Richardson was saying. She didn't say anything about the cyclists doing anything illegal, only that the road was dangerous. While the rise of riding can never be eliminated, it can be minimized. I ride daily, but on wide roads or roads with marked shoulders or bike lane. Just because you're legal doesn't mean you're safe. Being in the right (legally) will be little consolation to you or your family if you end up badly injured or killed (remember Norm Hoffman). As I told my kids when teaching them to drive defensively - you can be dead right."

 * ... IPAD: Ran into Monsignor Craig Harrison at The Padre Hotel the other afternoon and he was busy showing off his new iPad tablet from Apple. He was clearly impressed with the iPad's impressive array of applications but admitted he was a novice at technology. Father Craig also told me he was preparing for a trip to St. Petersburg, Russia, with 60 other folks from the parish. Cutting edge technology meets old world Mother Russia.

 * ... BAKERSFIELDISM: You know you're a Bakersfield old-timer if "you remember the names of Bakersfield's two first-rate Jewish delis around the corner from each other. (Dave's on Chester and Joe's around the corner on 21st Street.

More toxic loans about to hit the local real estate market and a reader sounds off on arrogant cyclists on the Woody road

 * ... HOUSING WOES: There's more evidence that we've got a long way to go before our real estate market recovers. Experts are now predicting that 3.5 million homes nationally will go into foreclosure this year (up from 2.8 million last year) as risky adjustable-rate mortgages set in 2005 reset and unemployment lingers. That's the word from RealtyTrac senior vice president Rick Sharga, who warned foreclosures will continue to rise until they plateau in late 2011. "The second wave of toxic loans is about to hit," Sharga said this week. High unemployment and rate resets will drive the foreclosures, as well as a move toward "strategic defaults" where folks decide it just doesn't make any sense anymore to keep paying on an underwater mortgage. Lastly, and this is scary, Sharga said the next wave of foreclosures will hit more middle and upper class people with prime mortgages. So if you thought the worst of the meltdown was over, think again.

 * ... EYESORES: And speaking of foreclosures, there's not a neighborhood in town that is immune from the tell-tale signs of imminent foreclosure: once proud lawns overtaken by knee-high weeds, no cars and no signs of behind the darkened windows. Next time you are driving around town, count the number you see. It's a sobering exercise.

 * ... HELLO LANCE: We were all disappointed when Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong crashed and didn't appear in Bakersfield at the end of Stage 5 of the Amgen Tour of California bicycle race. But it turns out he did make an appearance here, although under unforeseen circumstances. After crashing outside of Visalia, Armstrong was rushed to Bakersfield Memorial Hospital and was treated for his crash wounds. Hospital CEO Jon Van Boening said he was alerted to "get to the hospital now!" when word arrived that Armstrong was on his way. "He had his own orthopedic surgeon and his own entourage," Van Boening told me. "I told him we were happy to see him in Bakersfield, but it was too bad it was at the hospital and not the race!"

 * ... DEZEMBER SALUTE: Nice to see retired banker Ray Dezember honored  with a legacy award by the downtown Rotary Club. Ray and wife Joan, both Whittier College graduates, are known as perhaps the most philanthropic couple in town, giving hundreds of thousands of dollars to worthwhile causes over the years, most of it without fanfare or recognition. Rotary president Duane Keathley delivered the tribute for Ray, who was accompanied by Joan, son Brent and wife Anna and daughter Katie Werdel.

 * ... CYCLISTS: Yet more feedback on the debate on cyclists on the road to Woody. This from reader Mike Wenzel: "All slow traffic is required to move to the right side of the road and allow faster traffic around. The bicyclists on Woody road arrogantly refuse to do this. The excuse seems to be 'we pay taxes too.'  After having to follow these arrogant egocentric bicyclists a few times in the mountains, I took a great deal of joy in listening to their self righteous whining about pedestrians on the bike path. failing to move over for them. This 'I own a bike-I am the center of the universe' attitude is comical. Maybe if bicyclists extended a little courtesy to other they may receive a little themselves. By the way, I own a bicycle myself." 

 * ... MAYOR OF DOWNTOWN: It was nice to see Don Martin, owner of Metro Galleries on 19th Street, recognized with a Beautiful Bakersfield award for promoting the arts. Known by his friends as the "mayor of downtown," Martin has done more for the local arts scene than any other single individual, and he deserves the recognition. A born marketer, Martin was the creative genius behind the "First Friday" arts festivals downtown.

 * ... EAST BAKERSFIELDISM: You know you're an East Bakersfield old-timer if  "your mother dropped you off every Saturday morning for the all-day movies at the Granada Theater."

Local banker Ray Dezember is honored and Tejon Ranch is featured in a Super Bowl advertisement

 
* ... TEJON SUPER BOWL: Barry Zoeller, vice president of corporate communications out at Tejon Ranch, tells me the ranch will serve as a backdrop in a Super Bowl commercial this Sunday. The spot will feature an elephant, a black panther, a laughing hyena and a great backdrop of Tejon Ranch, likely doubling for the plains of Africa. Said Barry: "This is the second time Tejon Ranch has been featured in a Super Bowl commercial. In fact the 2000 'Herding Cats' commercial for EDS routinely makes the list as one of the top 10 Super Bowl commercials in the history of the big game." So be looking for a bit of the ranch during the game. (photos below are of the 2000 EDS commercial)

 

 

 * ... A TRIBUTE TO RAY: Local planning consultant Dave Dmohowski tipped me to yet another tribute bestowed on Ray Dezember, the longtime retired local banker turned philanthropist affectionately known by his friends as "Mr. Bakersfield." Ray and his wife Joan have been involved with or supported about every civic and non-profit effort in town, but I've always known he had a special place in his heart for his beloved Whittier College. It should come as no surprise that Ray has been a huge supporter of the school, and recently was among five individuals who were cited as "remarkable trustees." Both Ray and Joan graduated from Whittier, where Ray served as student body president and captain of the Whittier Poets football team. He has served on its Board of Trustees since 1970, chaired a $70 million capital campaign and was awarded a distinguished service medal from the school faculty. Just another example of the generosity of this amazing couple.

 * ... FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY: Sherry Kelley, vice president  of the Friends of the Kern County Library, reminded me that the organization's annual used book sale will be held March 10-13 at the Beale Library. All funds go to the Kern County library branches for programs and circulating material. The group is always looking for books and audio video material for its sales. It will be spring soon, so it's time to throw out those hard covers and donate to this worthy cause.

 * ... BAKO OR BAKERSWEED: Jamie Butow, a work colleague who recently moved here from Visalia, had this to say about Bakersfield's many nicknames. "My cousin is flying out here today and texted me with a question while 'roasting' in Phoenix. She referred to Bakersfield as Bako. She lives and owns a hair salon in a very small Colorado town so I asked her where she heard the term. She said my brother (who lives in  L.A.) calls it that, and a client of hers who used to live here calls it Bako or Bakersweed. Sounds like we're known as Bako all over!"

 * ... THE BUZZ: If you want to see water in our river, don't forget to clip out, sign and mail the coupon in The Californian urging the State Water Resources Control Board to rule in favor of the city's bid to run unappropriated water down the historic Kern River. There are few things that would make a more positive impact on our community, and it could be done without harming farmers. So if you have not already done so, find the coupon, sign it and mail it in. It has to be received by next Tuesday, so do it today, or drop it off at the Californian Monday morning and we will handle it from there.
 

Bako bits: an explosion of swine flu cases locally and the local ties to Citizens Business Bank

* ... SWINE FLU CASES EXPLODE: Heard some alarming news regarding the swine flu Wednesday from Dr. Raj Patel, a co-owner of Preferred Family Care Physicians off Truxtun Extension and my personal doctor. Patel said his office has seen a virtual explosion of the swine flu (H1N1) in recent weeks, going from two to three diagnosed cases a day to 20 to 25 a day in just two weeks. These numbers far outstrip the  number of swine flu cases that the Kern County health department reported earlier this week, but Patel says the cases are real and frightening. "We've stopped counting," he said. "Every day it is more and more and more. We are swamped." Patel received his first shipment of the H1N1 vaccine but went through it in a couple days and is awaiting a new shipment. Now comes word that the U.S. health authorities are warning there will be shortage of the H1N1 vaccine (read the story here) and that there may not be sufficient quantities to cover everyone until December. Patel said the Centers for Disease Control estimates that 8 percent of all Americans have the swine flu now, and by the end of the year fully 60 percent of us will have some kind of flu: either a regular version of the flu or the H1N1.

 * ... THE LOCAL CONNECTION TO CITIZENS: Had a nice chat the other day with Ray Dezember, the retired banker who knows just about everybody in town. Ray reminded me that Citizens Business Bank, which took over the failed San Joaquin Bank, has a strong connection to Bakersfield. For you local history buffs, Ray was running the old American National Bank when it was absorbed by Wells Fargo Bank back in 1990. Working with Ray at American National was D. Linn Wiley, who shortly thereafter went to Ontario to become CEO of Citizens Business Bank. Linn has since retired but remains as vice chairman of the board at Citizens. Other American National alumni now working at Citizens Business Bank include Harold Hanson, John Ivy and John Tait. Ray said it was Linn Wiley who actually recruited Citizens CEO Christopher Myers.

 * ... WHERE'S MIKE OLAGUE? Speaking of local bankers, lots of folks are wondering what happened to Michael Olague, the longtime Bakersfield banker who has been replaced as head of the regional Rabobank office. Rabobank is a private, well diversified Dutch-held company that keeps a tight rein on public announcements, and it's not saying anything about what happened to Olague. All the office would say is that the new regional president is Anker Fanoe. Olague previously ran the regional Bank of America office and worked for a time at the old San Joaquin Bank.


 * ... THE MESS WITH LOCAL APPRAISALS: Readers of this blog know I am a big fan of local appraiser Gary Crabtree and his "Crabtree Report," which remains one of the single most authoritative sources on the local housing market. I'm always impressed by the depth and breadth of his reports, which in this day and age makes for a sobering read. His latest report shows Bakersfield remaining the seventh worst foreclosure market in the nation with a staggering 13.14 per 1,000 households. And the mess with out of town appraisers supplying incomplete or erroneous appraisals remains a big problem. From his report:

 "The HVCC (Home Valuation Code of Conduct) is continuing to cause problems with low appraisals performed by either lesser experienced and/or geographically incompetent appraisers ... Research of the MLS appraiser members indicates that 58 percent of the appraiser members are from out of the area as far north as San Francisco and as far south as San Diego, with one appraiser from Huntsville, Alabama. What is even more concerning is that according to the California Office of Real Estate Appraisers there are a total of 119 licensed appraisers in Bakersfield, yet only 50 are 'appraiser members' of the MLS. This begs the question: where and how are the other 69 members obtaining their market data information or do they possess a real estate license and are Realtor members?"

Bako Bits: dealing with a dysfunctional state Legislature, San Joaquin bank and news of the day

Getting ready for the weekend, cleaning off my desk and crossing my fingers that a resurgent stock market means better economic times ahead. Let's get to it:

* ... The (MESSY) STATE OF CALIFORNIA: Once the envy of the country, the Golden State has become the punching bag for the nation. People now talk about California the way they used to talk about Mississippi. Our Legislature is totally dysfunctional, the two parties talk past each other and cater to the extremes at both ends while meanwhile the special interests (state employee unions etc) rule the day. Consider the following excerpt from a recent column:

"The (state) Senate is not dysfunctional-it is nonfunctional. The problem is that neither the institution nor its members are accountable to 'We the people.' Instead members concern themselves with personal and partisan agendas."

Sounds like California right? Well, this is a story about the New York legislature, which apparently is afflicted with the same paralysis and lack of leadership as our own. Written by Gerald Benjamin and Mario M. Cuomo, this column appeared in the Wall Street Journal and was brought to my attention by Ray Dezember, the retired banker who may singly be the most influential man in town. Affectionately known as "Mr. Bakersfield," Ray is known for his personal generosity and his deep involvement and love for our community. He passed this column along to me with a personal note saying California needs a state constitutional convention to get out of this mess.
This is precisely what Benjamin and Cuomo argue, that things are so bad in New York that only rewriting the rules can save the state. Ray is among a growing number of folks who believe the same is true for California, that between the initiative process and gutless legislators, we simply need to rewrite the rules and start anew, focusing on the core issues facing our state. The Cuomo column ends this way, and rings true for California:

"Albany can show that it is genuinely interested in considering reform by putting the convention question on the ballot. Alternately it can ignore calls for change. This, of course, would further reinforce the cynicism of New Yorkers and push them further away from public life - and from democracy. If the legislature wants to avoid this fate, which is of its own doing, then it should take up the calls for reform."

That's Ray shown in the photo below along with Californian publisher Ginger Moorhouse and me, shortly after Ray retired from our Board of Directors.



* ... SAN JOAQUIN'S INDIAN CONNECTION: As reported earlier this week, troubled San Joaquin Bank announced a recapitaliization that will bring $38 million into the bank from a group of Indian investors. This is good news for the local bank, which has been under the screws of federal regulators who are concerned about "impaired" development loans on the books. CEO Bart Hill said the investment would be enough to stabilize the bank, but there are a series of steps that must be taken before the money can leave India and get to the bank. Meanwhile, the bank filed a "Form 8-K" which details the transaction, and this notes that San Joaquin can and will continue to look for yet more investors. If you're curious about this stuff, and want to read the names of the Indian investors, check out the Form 8-K here.

* ... WAITING ON THE TOUR: Meanwhile, local cycling enthusiasts are waiting to hear if Bakersfield's bid to host a leg of the 2010 Amgen Tour of California will be approved. A large group of local business leaders, supported by the city of Bakersfield, are supporting this move to bring this premier professional cycling event to Kern County next year. This would be a sure-fire winner in terms of tourism and showing off our community, so keep your fingers crossed. If you want to keep up with the progress of our bid, check out the website here. That's a photo of past winner Levi Leipheimer below.



* ... A TOUCH OF OILDALE IN LA: Local photographer Felix Adamo passes along word that a gallery in Los Angeles is featuring six Bakersfield artists and their art of Oildale. The exhibit runs Aug. 1-29 at L2kontemporary, located at 990 North Hill Street, No. 205. Felix says one of the artists is our own Jill Thayer, North High and CSUB graduate. Make sure to check it out if you're down in Los Angeles.

Meg Whitman hits town to court business leaders

Heard this afternoon that Meg Whitman, the former eBay president who is considering a run for governor, slipped quietly into Bakersfield today for a luncheon with local business leaders at the estate of Barbara Grimm-Marshall. The luncheon featured about 30 business leaders and was not a fund raiser but rather was billed as a "get to know you" session with Whitman. I'm told Whitman talked about the need for education and budgetary reform in California and floated the idea - to applause - that we need to return to a part-time legislature. She also mentioned that if she runs as a Republican (check out her website here) she will make effective use of technology, like President Obama, to extend her campaign. Among those attending were Realtor Ray and Lisa Karpe, Bob Stine (president & CEO of Tejon Ranch) and wife Betty, Brent Dezember (president of Structurecast) and wife Anna, retired banker Ray Dezember and wife Joan, Castle and Cooke CEO Bruce Freeman and wife Monica, farmer Pete Pankey, retired Kern High School District trustee Bob Hampton, Joe Colombo, Greg Bynum, Grimmway's Jeff and Amy Meger, Sean McNally and former Aera Energy CEO Gene Voiland. Grimm-Marshall, one of the primary owners of Grimmway Farms, the largest carrot producer in the world, has been busy on the political scene. Last weekend she hosted a fund raiser for Lisa Green, running to replace Ed Jagels as Kern County District Attorney.

Our kids: keeping up with where they are now

Nothing makes me feel better than to see our Bakersfield kids - from North and Stockdale and West and BHS and all the rest - succeeding and thriving. These are the same kids who gave us headaches and heartbreak in their teen years but now make our hearts swell with pride. Was sorry I missed the quick visit this past week of Robby McCarthy, son of Rob and Judi McCarthy. (Rob owns Lightspeed Systems and Judi is founder of the Women's and Girls' Fund of Kern County). Robby (pictured) now works in Washington, D.C. for Congressman Kevin McCarthy (no relation) and is having a ball. He was in the district helping with the annual Lincoln Day dinner and "working the district" to hear complaints and concerns from constituents. Robby graduated from Garces High School and later USC. He brought along a congressional intern named Freddy Barnes, son of Fred Barnes, editor of the conservative Weekly Standard and a regular on the Fox News network.
I also had lunch last week with Ray Dezember, the retired banker affectionately known as "Mr. Bakersfield" in recognition of his involvement in the community. Ray and wife Joan just returned from a long trip overseas that included a visit to Taipei where grand-daughter Suzy Dezember is now teaching English. One of Brent and Anna Dezember's girls, Suzy also graduated from Garces and later LMU. Ray was proud to say that Michelle, Suzy's sister and a graduate of Santa Clara, is working and living in Barcelona. Meanwhile, I hear Erica Smith (BHS and University of Arizona) is now in grad school at USC, which makes her father, retired endodontist and Trojan Bob Smith, happy. And finally, Leonard Bidart, owner of Bidart Brothers Farms, tells me his elder daughter Breanna (BHS and USC) is now living and working in Boston. So much talent and so much to be proud of.