PLANNING BEAT

Katrina Five Years Later: Safety responders bring lessons home

2010-08-29T15:48:00.000-07:00

Boat that washed ashore blocks St. Bernard Parish street.

When Hurricane Katrina tore through the Gulf Coast five years ago, not only did it destroy communities, it overwhelmed local governments. The needs of desperate citizens far exceeded the ability of their government agencies to respond.

The response had to come from across the country and in some cases from outside the United States.

Likely we all have vivid memories of the television news reports showing first responders risking their lives as they plucked stranded people from the rooftops of their homes in flooded New Orleans neighborhoods.

A less dramatic, but important response involved teams of safety professionals and damage assessment experts, who were dispatched to New Orleans, where levies had collapsed. These teams were also sent to the Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama coast, where Katrina ground away thousands of homes, beach front businesses and historic landmarks. Entire communities were either blown or washed away.

Bakersfield architect William Melby and Chris Lee, who now serves as the City of Bakersfield’s assistant building director, were members of specially trained, volunteer teams sent to the devastated St. Bernard Parish, southeast of New Orleans. Lee worked for the City of Anaheim at the time.

Melby recalls that he volunteered for California’s Office of Emergency Safety Assessment Program thinking he would be responding to earthquakes, floods and fires in California. It was a civic commitment he made believing if he helped a suffering community, a helpful hand would be extended to Bakersfield in an emergency.

Melby admits it came as a surprise when he and other California volunteers – architects, engineers and building officials – were dispatched across the country to claw their way through the rubble of Katrina.

Their base of operations was a tent city surrounded by debris and damaged buildings. Their job was to assess the structural integrity of every building. A green tag meant the building was safe, although it might be damaged. Red tag indicated a building was unsafe and posed a threat to life. A yellow tag indicated some risk, with limited use allowed.

Every day from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., teams fanned out into neighborhoods to inspect buildings. The tags they hung determined if a family could return home. They alerted residents and emergency responders to hidden dangers that existed in the abandon structures.

Initially their work was hindered by the lack of maps, supplies and direction. A St. Bernard Parish building official who greeted them when they arrived, was never seen again. It was the National Guard that pulled together the effort.

After volunteers were inoculated to safeguard them from the health hazards they would encounter, they formed small teams and set about the tedious task of “triaging” damaged buildings. These were long, hot, humid days of wading through mud and devastation.

Melby described surreal scenes of cars and boats that had landed on rooftops. He encountered remnants of personal loss – homes littered with toys, wedding photographs, dolls, scrapbooks, clothing and furniture.

The volunteers tried to shut out the painful scenes. They focused on the buildings. But it wasn’t that easy. Lee recalled team members held themselves together during their 16-day inspection assignments, but on the way home, when the pressure was off, some began to cry.

Both Melby and Lee have responded to other disasters, sharing their professional skills and compassion to help communities recover. But as these communities have benefited, so has Bakersfield. With each out-of-area response, Bakersfield’s readiness is fine-tuned.

From Katrina and other disasters, Lee says he has become more aware of the consequences of a community’s resources being wiped out. He has learned that a community must be prepared for the very worst that can happen.

Bakersfield building inspectors, who are certified as “disaster inspectors,” conduct annual drills, setting up a mobile emergency center and defining roles. Regular citywide drills, which involve all departments within the city, as well as regional agencies, also fine-tune and update local disaster response plans.

In their book “Clear as Mud: Planning for the Rebuilding of New Orleans,” Robert Olshansky and Laurie Johnson identified New Orleans’ lack of preparedness as a big factor in the city’s faltering recovery. Olshansky, a professor at the University of Illinois, and Johnson, a planning consultant, worked on New Orleans’ recovery plans.

Centuries old, New Orleans lacked maps and plans for many neighborhoods when Katrina hit. Residents paid the price for city officials’ lackadaisical approach to disaster preparedness, the authors told urban planners meeting this spring during the American Planning Association’s conference in New Orleans.

“The days and weeks following a disaster are not the ideal time to initiate planning,” Olshansky and Johnson wrote in their book. “The best preparation for recovery planning is to have active planning processes beforehand that include networks of well-established community organizations, clear lines of communication, and a variety of planning documents and tools.”

Five years later, New Orleans still struggles to recover from its fatal and tragic failure to plan for the disaster of Hurricane Katrina. Bakersfield and Kern County officials, especially those who witnessed firsthand Katrina's aftermath in New Orleans, are committed to having resources and plans ready to respond to local natural and man-made disasters.

This article by John Hardisty (Jack) appeared first in The Bakersfield Californian on Aug. 29, 2010. Hardisty retired in 2004 as the City of Bakersfield’s development services director. He is now a planning consultant and mediator.

HISTORY SERIES: UP Train Conductor Wants to Save Bakersfield Depot

2010-07-18T17:56:00.000-07:00

Union Pacific train enters the weather-beaten station in east Bakersfield.

Stephen Montgomery is an architectural sleuth. When he is not working as a conductor for the Union Pacific Railroad, he spends his spare time poking his nose into and under some of Bakersfield’s oldest buildings.

He lifts dates off of plumbing fixture, finds discarded catalogues stuck in walls and searches through government documents – all part of his tedious hunt for the pieces of puzzles that tell the stories of decades-old homes and businesses.

He also is a man on a mission: Protecting Bakersfield’s history.

No high-falutin’ government agency appointed him to this task or mission. He’s just a regular guy, a lifelong resident of Bakersfield, a member of the Kern County Historical Society, a self-taught architectural detective and a passionate believer that Bakersfield isn’t doing enough to protect its heritage.

And that belief particularly applies to the building he has worked in during his more than 40-year railroad career.

Once known as the Southern Pacific Railroad depot on the corner of Baker and Sumner streets, the building is now owned by the Union Pacific Railroad, after a merger in the mid-1990s.

Appearing weather-beaten and forgotten, the east Bakersfield building is still used by crews manning the six to 10 freight trains that pass by the station every day.

But the glory of its past – when it formed the hub of a new town named Sumner, and when passengers would squeeze through its doors and line the benches of its waiting room – are long gone.

Montgomery is convinced railroad officials are just letting it deteriorate and crumble into a memory.

He would like to see the building sold to investors and “repurposed for business and professional uses.” Montgomery envisions the building becoming a restaurant, collection of shops or turn-of-the-century themed focal point for a revitalized Baker Street corridor.

Before the present economic slump, the city’s redevelopment agency was moving forward with plans for east Bakersfield’s revitalization. But reportedly that did not include investors stepping forward to acquire and “repurpose” the landmark railroad station.

“Currently we use the building as office space for several dozen people, some of whom are train crews that pick up their trains out of our yard in Bakersfield,” said Aaron Hunt, Union Pacific’s director of corporate communications and media. “We will continue using the building in this capacity for the foreseeable future.

“The depot sits on railroad right-of-way and is near our line. As such, safety is a primary concern for us. In that context we plan to continue using the building as office space for railroad employees,” he said. “We work hard to be accessible to the communities where we operate trains. If a party is interested in purchasing the depot, we would be willing to have a conversation about it.”

But like city officials, Hunt has not heard of any investors interested in buying and renovating the building.

Construction of the depot began in 1888, when the Southern Pacific Co. expanded into the east side of the San Joaquin Valley. Residents and business owners in Sumner applied pressure on the company to expand railroad facilities east of Bakersfield.

First to be constructed was a machine shop. Later the company’s maintenance facilities in Tulare were shifted to Bakersfield. Shortly after the move, work on the brick depot and a hotel was started. The depot was officially opened on June 27, 1889.

In his analysis of the building that is on file with Bakersfield Economic and Community Development Department, historian Chris Brewer called the depot an architectural “disaster.”

“It is a combination of several different architectural styles, including Richardsonian Romanesque, Spanish Colonial Revival and Moderne,” Brewer wrote. “The roofline and arcade are the only elements which have original architecture somewhat intact.”

The building has been severely altered numerous times over its more than 100-year existence. Alterations included spraying gunite over its brick exterior. Despite these changes, Brewer concluded the building “is significant to the area both economically and to a lesser extent architecturally.”

And it is this “significance” that bugs Montgomery the most about old buildings, and how they are regarded in Bakersfield.

The son of Stephen H. Montgomery, a Bakersfield doctor, Montgomery was born in Bakersfield and graduated from Bakersfield High School. Even as a child, Montgomery said he had an interest in architecture and a sense of history. He recalls, for example, being in the audience as Bakersfield’s Civic Auditorium on Truxtun Avenue was officially opened.

He studied architecture-related classes at Bakersfield College and Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. But a stint in the military ended his college education. Needing a job after his discharge, he signed on with the Southern Pacific Railroad.

That was in 1969. Montgomery was 24 years old. The Sumner depot was a beehive of activity, serving as the headquarters for the San Joaquin Division’s superintendent. Much of the rail’s coordination that is now automated was being done manually.

Changes in railroading have taken its toll on the building. Passenger service transferred to Amtrak. Much of the building was converted to storage. Portions of the once ornate portico promenade were enclosed to expand office space. The entire complex became emeshed in chain-link security fencing.

Montgomery is now 65. He has watched and fretted over the building’s four decades of decay. Even on a recent tour of the building, he was quick to point out the shingles and boards that were peeled away by the wind of a recent spring storm.

On July 12, Montgomery will retire from railroading. He is going back to school, taking classes at Bakersfield College in building codes and materials of construction. He’s getting serious about his historical preservation mission.

A long-time union officer, Montgomery says he is used to butting heads with railroad officials. He’s now preparing to butt heads with city officials.

“I have a few attitudes to overcome,” he said.

He believes Bakersfield should have a historical preservation ordinance based on the age of a building, not on its standing on a “historical register.”

To demolish any building over a certain age – perhaps the cutoff being 50 years old – should require a study of its historical significance.

Like the Sumner Street railroad depot, a building might not be an architectural work of art. But it may be significant for other reasons and worth saving.

This article by John Hardisty -- a Bakersfield court mediator and planning consultant – first appeared in The Bakersfield Californian on July 11, 2010. John Hardisty writes the newspaper’s occasional column “If these walls could talk.”

Bakersfield KERO 23: John Hardisty, Ted James warn California farm land threatened

2010-07-13T13:00:00.000-07:00

California government’s shortchanging of the state’s counties could lead to prime agricultural land being lost to farming, according to a report by Bakersfield television station KERO.

Reporter Felix Rodrigues Lima interviewed Ted James, the director of Kern County’s development services department, and his former counterpart with the City of Bakersfield, John Hardisty, who now operates the Bakersfield land-use consulting firm South Valley Solutions.

Both agreed that the state’s decision not to support the Williamson Act jeopardizes agricultural land preservation. The state has shortchanged counties and cities millions of dollars in promised tax subsidies.

One of several California counties that participate in the program, Kern County was supposed to receive $4.6 million in state “subventions.” Instead, it recently received only $133.22.

The paltry amount is Kern County’s share of just $1,000 left in the state budget for the program after last summer’s legislative hearings, instead of the $28 million that should have been allocated.

In exchange for reducing property taxes on farm land, the state for decades has promised to reimburse counties for lost tax revenues. But the state last summer reneged on that promise.

With California now nearly $20 billion in the budget hole, it is likely legislators and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will do that again.

"Not receiving this annual payment is a major issue for the county," James said.

Hardisty told KERO that the Williamson Act is “consistent with policies of the state for compacting development, making sure they don't get too spread out and sprawled."

James called the state’s actions “contrary to the laws they have about preserving prime farmland. … On the one hand, you want us to preserve the land, but on the other, you're not giving us a financial incentive to do that."

Abandoning the program, which was created through an act authored by former Kern County Assemblyman John Williamson in the 1960s, is currently not an option for the county, James told KERO. Instead, it is monitoring how other agencies react, and looking for other sources of funding.

"One may be a user fee," he said. "Another could be some kind of transactional costs, one to enter the program, one to participate, and when you leave the program there's a cost as well."

'Steam' Building Over California High Speed Rail Route

2010-05-31T20:23:00.000-07:00

No doubt, California’s high speed rail project is a hot topic. There’s a lot to love and hate with this project. Earlier this year, I wrote an opinion article in The Bakersfield Californian about Bakersfield competing for a test track and heavy maintenance facility. (“High-speed rail prize awaits the valley community that has its act together,” by John Hardisty)

In the Sunday, May 30, edition, Californian reporter Steve Mayer wrote about the controversy swirling around proposed high speed rail routes. In his story, the routes through Bakersfield were delineated with “blue” and “red” lines, but both basically follow an existing railroad alignment.

The plan is for the route to enter Bakersfield from the northwest, stop at a downtown terminal and exit to the east on the way to the Antelope Valley and beyond to Southern California.

Because of the speed, both routes deviate a bit – in a sweeping curve – from the existing railroad alignment. Likely historic homes and buildings are in its path, causing controversy in the city. But Bakersfield is not alone in raising concerns about the path high speed rail will take. Farmers up and down the San Joaquin Valley are expressing concerns. Battles have broken out in the Bay Area and Southern California.

Bringing a high speed rail line through Bakersfield will be disruptive, as well as beneficial. Issues of safety and noise will need to be addressed for either the blue or red lines. Rather than deciding that the exact alignment will be where the preliminary study lines have been drawn, the design engineers and environmental reviewers should be refining a route that would least impact the community.

Wherever possible, they need to avoid schools, hospitals, homes, businesses and churches.

In the end, perhaps the alignment can follow some of the blue and some of the red route noted in The Bakersfield Californian’s story. As they get down to the details of design, you can bet they won’t follow any proposed route 100 percent.

Although this project has been in the works for more than a decade, it has been more "theory" than "fact." Voters approving a nearly $10 billion bond measure in 2008 and then the Obama administration recently pitching in another $2.6 billion (thereabouts) has moved the project into the "possible" category. That means people are now bickering over the details, like where the tracks will go. If you think getting a freeway alignment adopted is tough, you ain't seen nothing yet. This could be a bigger battle.

John Hardisty (Jack) retired as the Bakersfield city development services director in 2004. He is now a court mediator and planning consultant. His comments appear on The Bakersfield Californian Website and on his Planning Beat blog.

Blood donations made at Houchin in Bakersfield, Calif., may end up on Iraq, Afghanistan battlefield

2010-05-31T14:54:00.000-07:00

Houchin Blood Bank / John Harte

Writing in today’s Bakersfield Californian, Maureen Buscher-Dang reveals that people who donate blood at their local community blood banks may be helping U.S. soldiers on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan.

As an example, she notes that during the past 18 months, Houchin Community Blood Bank in Bakersfield, Calif., has sent six shipments – each containing 15 units of blood products – to the Armed Services Blood Bank Center in Tacoma, Wash.

The center’s primary mission is to support the nation’s military operations, explained Victor Shermer, the center’s donor recruiter and public affairs officer. Shermer also is a retired Army major.

Shermer told Buscher-Dang that within a week of being drawn from a donor in Bakersfield, or someplace else in the United States, a unit of blood may be helping a soldier in Afghanistan or Iraq.

The Armed Services Blood Program relies primarily on military personnel, military families, federal employees and participants in universities’ reserve officer training corps for blood donations. But like with their civilian counterparts, sometimes there is a special need for a rare blood type and inventories run low. The Armed Services Blood Program then sends out a call to purchase units from civilian centers, such as Houchin.

“December and January are the worse months of the year,” explained Shermer. “Soldiers go home on leave. They are not available to donate. When we do not have enough to meet our quota, we purchase it.”

Maureen Buscher-Dang is a Bakersfield public relations consultant, who represents Houchin Community Blood Bank. She is passionate about donating blood and supporting our troops. Until his recent retirement, her husband, Alex Dang, was a member of the Army Reserves and completed a tour of duty in Iraq.

About the author: John Hardisty (Jack) retired as the Bakersfield city development services director in 2004. John Hardisty of Bakersfield is now a court mediator and planning consultant. His wife, Dianne, is an associate in his firm South Valley Solutions. They also write together. Dianne Hardisty posts many of their stories on her Examiner page.

Bakersfield Offers California White Water Rafting Experience on the Kern River

2010-05-30T15:35:00.000-07:00

Late season storms in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and a thick blanket of snow have white water rafting operators on the Kern River, in Central California, celebrating.

Water on the Kern River is at its highest level in years, said Darron Nilsson, operator of River's End Rafting & Adventure Co. in Bakersfield, Calif. Nilsson predicts rafting on the river will continue through Labor Day.

In recent, drought-plagued years, rafting operators were lucky to squeeze a July season out of the Kern River. But with the snow pack this year at 143 percent of normal, the river is raging. Last year’s snow pack was only 34 percent.

Most tourists think about heading into the Kern Canyon, more than a 30-minute drive on a twisting mountain road east of Bakersfield, to raft the Kern River.

But Nilsson’s company, which is located at the mouth of the canyon, in metropolitan Bakersfield, offers a quality and convenient experience for novice and experienced rafters, alike. Nilsson rates the rapids in the Rio Bravo stretch of the river he rafts as averaging Category 2 and 3.

Telephone 1-866-360-RAFT or click on the River's End Rafting website.

About the author: John Hardisty of Bakersfield retired as the city's development services director and now operates the consulting firm South Valley Solutions. John Hardisty is a once-a-year white water rafter who looks for adventure, but doesn't want to kill himself on the mighty Kern River. He discovered that River's End Rafting & Adventure Co. offers just the right balance of excitement and safety.

Hunting for Bakersfield's 'historic character'

2010-05-23T14:51:00.000-07:00

John Hardisty spent nearly 30 years guiding the city of Bakersfield, Calif., forward as its development services director. He managed the city’s Planning Department as Bakersfield grew to include about 143 square miles and serve a population of nearly 340,000 people.

During those years, his focus was on the present and the future. Now retired from the city and working as a planning consultant and court mediator, Hardisty’s focus is also on the past, as he writes an occasional column for The Bakersfield Californian .

Beginning with his May 23 feature on the turn-of-the-century home of the late Louise V. Olcese, a Bakersfield capitalist, Hardisty will write about the historic, significant and sometimes downright strange homes and buildings in Bakersfield.

Bakersfield, at the southern end of California’s San Joaquin Valley, has a rich history rooted in oil and agriculture. It also has a hard-scrabble reputation born of the struggles of the Depression-era Okies, who flocked to the community.

Known for its brand of Country Western music and Basque food, Bakersfield can be as sophisticated as any city – and mind you, it’s California’s 11th largest – but it can also be a bit quirky.

Hardisty’s occasional column will highlight such attractions as Bakersfield’s tallest building and explain why at 12 floors it was required to obtain a variance from the city’s height limitation. He also will interview the architect of Bakersfield’s futuristic-looking triangle building and recall the 1970s battle waged to get city clearance to build the “funny looking thing.”

At the center of what was once the city of Kern (east Bakersfield) is a sprawling, formerly elegant train station. He will tour readers through the now mostly boarded up and weather-beaten structure, which is used by the railroad to house a skeleton staff and store supplies.

“To keep moving forward, it is important for every community to understand its past,” said Hardisty, explaining the focus of his column. “To attempt progress without an understanding and respect for history is like building without a foundation.”

This sensitivity to history is particularly important to Bakersfield. The city was hit in 1952 by an earthquake that destroyed much of its downtown and many of its public buildings. Some contend Bakersfield’s historic character was turned to rubble by the earthquake. But if you look closely, you will find some remnants have survived.

Hardisty’s column will take readers on a treasure hunt for Bakersfield’s historic character. The articles will be reprinted on this blog beginning with the May 23, 2010 feature about the Olcese House.

History Hunt: Olcese House Shows Bakersfield's Character

2010-05-23T14:43:00.000-07:00

Jack Hendrix jokes that he needs a 12-step recovery program. He’s a compulsive collector.

He collects furniture, statues and pottery. He even collects old family photos of people he doesn’t know. He finds them in second-hand stores and hangs them on the walls of the old houses he collects in east Bakersfield.

On a recent warm spring morning, I sat on the porch of the “Olcese house,” one of Hendrix’s most interesting and historic East Bakersfield homes, and discussed his compulsive collecting.

Hendrix, 69, is a retired educator, who spent most of his career as a teacher and counselor at East Bakersfield High School. An Oklahoma native, who moved to Bakersfield to live with relatives in the 1950s, Hendrix remembers watching his father work with tools as he built cabinets. That inspired Hendrix to begin collecting tools and fix-it books.

To supplement his teaching salary, Hendrix started collecting fixer-upper Bakersfield homes and turning them into rentals.

“I like to work with my hands and it was a good diversion from teaching,” he explained. “In the summers, I would work in construction, doing repairs for other people. I thought, ‘Why not acquire my own property. I love old houses.’”

His interest in buying houses shifted from those built in the 1930s and 1940s to some of the city’s oldest houses -- those built at the turn of the century in east Bakersfield.

He said he spent hours talking to the late Judge Frank Noriega in an unsuccessful attempt to buy the family’s vintage home on Baker Street, which has been renovated and turned into a reception hall.

It was during those long chats that Hendrix learned about the histories and myths of the neighborhood’s other landmark buildings, and Hendrix set his sights on the Olcese house at 528 Monterey St.

Weather-beaten and in need of repair, the house was built by Louis V. Olcese for his bride in the late 1800s. The city’s register of historic buildings did not pinpoint the construction date. During the century that followed, colorful and sometimes tragic stories unfolded within it walls.

Before telling some of those early stories, I’ll skip ahead to the present. Hendrix bought the house in 1983, after it fell briefly into the hands of a real estate speculator. The speculator had given it a quick lick of paint, leased it to a preschool and then placed it up for sale again. While he worked on its restoration, Hendrix moved into the house. He lived in there for the next 18 years, before buying another fixer upper at Flower and Baker streets, where he lives today.

The Olcese house now is called Griffins Gate, a 26-bed home for men dually diagnosed as mentally ill and substance abusers, operated by Hendrix’s non-profit organization Casa de Amigos. The stately rooms have been converted to dormitories, offices and dining halls. But the exterior is restored to a condition that would surely please its original owner.

Hendrix has pieced together most of the home’s history from the stories told by Judge Noriega and neighbors. And occasionally people will walk by to take a look and share their memories.

Olcese, the son of Italian immigrants, moved to Bakersfield as a young man from Northern California. The railroad line had reached East Bakersfield. Basque shepherds were settling in the area. Fortunes were being made lending money and outfitting settlers in this emerging commercial hub.

Olcese went into the mercantile business with Beneditto Ardizzi. Hendrix was told Olcese lived in a lavish apartment above his store until he decided to marry a young opera singer. He built the house on Monterey Street as a wedding present for his bride.

In the city’s historic resources inventory, consultant Christopher Brewer describes the Olcese house as “an excellent example of vernacular architecture.” With Hendrix’s subsequent restoration, Brewer concluded it would be eligible for inclusion in a historic register or district.

Hendrix acknowledges that Olcese spared few expenses as he combined several architectural styles. The home has a vented gablet, a turret, an oval window overlooking a covered porch that is supported by round columns, boxed eaves and gables, and double-hung windows.

Shortly after Olcese’s marriage, his bride left for a European singing tour. By all accounts that Hendrix has been given, in her absence, Olcese found a young live-in maid irresistible and a baby boy was born. Olcese and his bride divorced when she returned from her tour. He sold the Monterey Street house.

Olcese’s wealth grew. He bought acres of land that he ranched. He form a bank. But in 1929, at a relatively young age, he dropped dead in San Francisco en route to visit his sister, who lived in Piedmont. An obituary published in The Modesto Bee described him as “one of the wealthiest men in Kern County.”

Two years later, a story in The Bakersfield Californian reported Olcese Kramer, a naval officer who claimed to be Olcese’s “natural son,” reached a court settlement with Olcese’s sisters and brothers to share the estate. Although settlement details were not revealed in the news story, an attorney said “the ramifications are so great” that it would take “some time until the whole affair is settled.”

Hendrix said the Olcese house passed first into the hands of a wealthy couple. The husband was a county official and the wife a physician. He said neighbors and Noriega told him about patients walking up its stairs to be seen by the doctor.

Preoccupied by both their daughter and by “appearances,” the couple borrowed against the home to pay for a lavish wedding and to buy furniture. When they could not pay their bills, Hendrix said they lost the home to foreclosure.

An investor bought it reportedly for $1,700 and gave it to his newlywed daughter and son-in-law. Over the next several decades, the childless couple lived in the home their entire marriage.

Eventually a gas lighting system was replaced by electricity. But neither air conditioning, nor heating systems were installed until the then widowed owner sold it in the late 1970s to the real estate speculator who resold it to Hendrix.

“The neighbors were shocked,” Hendrix said, explaining that they thought the woman was wealthy. They chalked up the home’s lack of maintenance, the owner’s unwillingness to install air conditioning and her habit of wearing layers of clothing during frigid winter months to her being eccentric.

In fact, the woman was living off the property she inherited from her investor-father. As she needed money, she would sell off a house or commercial building. Reportedly she was running out of money when she sold the Olcese house for just $16,000. Hendrix paid $90,000 for it when it was resold a short time later.

Hendrix credits the woman’s poverty for the home’s historic integrity. She simply did not have the money to “modernize” the structure.

“The thing I love about old houses it that everything has a story,” Hendrix said, admitting that restoring them is costly, time-consuming and just plain hard work.

His advice to others who might be tempted to buy and restore a turn-of-the-century home: “Do it only if you can do most of the work yourself. And do it for love, not to make money.”

This article by John Hardisty (Jack) appeared first in The Bakersfield Californian on May 23, 2010.

CAN DISASTERS BE TOO BIG TO FIX?

2010-04-20T19:27:00.000-07:00

The annual conference of the American Planning Association, held last week in New Orleans, focused on the city’s recovery after flooding during Hurricane Katrina. Throughout the city were billboards advertising the new HBO series “Treme,” about people displaced by Katrina from an historic, but poor New Orleans neighborhood.

Saturating the television airways were clips of the series’ star, John Goodman, chewing out a British reporter who suggested New Orleans was past its prime and not worth saving – don’t save the city, its food or its music. Goodman ends up grabbing the guy’s microphone and heaving into the city’s rubble.

Goodman correctly shouts at the reporter that the destruction of the Mississippi Gulf Coast from Katrina five years ago was a natural disaster. The destruction of New Orleans was a manmade disaster (he actually used less polite.) Here’s a link to the YouTube video.

In their book “Clear As Mud,” Robert B. Olshanky, an urban planning professor at the University of Illinois, and Laurie A. Johnson, an urban planning consultant, document the run-up to this manmade disaster and what will be needed to put New Orleans back together. For years, government officials were warned that New Orleans’ levees were on the verge of breaking and people would drown like rats.

Goodman’s exchange with the pesty reporter was (more politely) replicated during an APA conference session. An out-of-town planner asked a similar question: Is it possible that it is just too expensive to rebuild New Orleans?

A panel of New Orleans activists and city officials, some of whom had seen their homes wash away when the water broke through defective levees, basically “ate the man’s face.”

Their point: Don’t question the money spent to restore New Orleans and return people to their homes. That question is not raised when rivers repeatedly flood Midwest cities, tornadoes tear apart neighborhoods, or when wildfires and earthquakes ravage California.

It’s going to take billions of dollars and many more years to put New Orleans and the Gulf Coast back together. Can we, as a nation, just walk away?

John Hardisty (Jack) retired in 2004 as the development services director for the city of Bakersfield, Calif. In 1952, a massive earthquake leveled most of Bakersfield’s downtown. Did anyone suggest the city wasn’t worth rebuilding?

HELLO...IS ANYBODY LISTENING?

2010-03-24T16:21:00.000-07:00

Several weeks ago, I wrote about Assemblyman Pedro Nava’s legislation, AB 1588, which proposes to require lenders to enter into discussions, or mediate loan modification requests, when property is headed for foreclosure.

See “As foreclosure crisis keeps growing, lenders, borrowers need mediation,” by John Hardisty http://tinyurl.com/MediateForeclosures

The Santa Barbara assemblyman proposes to set up a system that already exists in several other states.

As Nava’s bill makes its way through the California Legislature, the Bank of America now is boasting that it is stepping up its efforts to reduce mortgage-loan balances to avert foreclosures. According to The Wall Street Journal, the plan is the mortgage industry’s boldest move yet to address the plight of millions of U.S. homeowners who are “underwater,” owing more than the current values of their homes.

“It enhances an agreement Bank of America reached 18 months ago with state attorneys general to settle claims they made over certain high-risk loans made by Countrywide Financial before Bank of America acquired that lender in mid-2008,” according to The Journal.

But just this week, cold water was thrown on the Home Affordable Modification Program, the $75 billion effort to bring “underwater” homeowners relief. Neil Barofsky, the Treasury Department’s special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, called the existing definition of success for HAMP “essentially meaningless.”

The conclusion: It has been oversold by the Treasury Department and is likely to be a failure when it wraps up in 2012.

Why? Partially because lenders are not compelled to even acknowledge troubled borrowers when they request loan modifications.

For an on the ground “reality check,” go to Steven B. Porter’s blog
http://tinyurl.com/IsTheBankListening

Porter is an attorney and mediator who lives in Tehachapi, Calif. In a blow-by-blow account (which would be funny, if it were not so serious) he details more than five hours on the telephone trying to even find someone at the Bank of America willing to talk to him about a client’s mortgage problem.

“A funny thing happened to me on the way to trying to obtain some information from the Bank of America today (March 23, 2010). What follows is true, and the actual events are not made up, and the names were not changed to protect the innocent.”

He was finally referred to a department within the bank that was closed for the day.

“Just in case you thought this issue was unique to the Bank of America, I recently had a similar experience with Chase over a two-day timeframe,” Porter wrote. “With Chase, I spoke to 17 individuals before I was put in contact with a person who could answer my questions.”

John Hardisty is a Bakersfield-based mediator and land-use consultant. His company's website is http://www.svs2help.com/

HILLS ARE ALIVE WITH WILDFLOWERS

2010-03-21T16:26:00.000-07:00

The hills around Bakersfield, Calif., definitely are alive with wildflowers. If you haven’t visited the foothills, do so quickly before the blistering Central Valley heat melts the flowers away. I was out taking photos in the hills above Arvin, on the border of the massive Tejon Ranch. The number of wildflowers was nearly rivaled by the number of “viewers” and photographers.

In a photo posted here, Ron Siemens of Bakersfield seemed to be engulfed by wildflowers as he takes a photograph in a field as part offered through the Levan Institute for Life-Long Learning at Bakersfield College. The institute offers low-cost enrichment classes to local people in the boomer and beyond age bracket. Information about the institute and the class schedule can be found at
http://tinyurl.com/yje43zg

The Kern County Board of Trade has launched a wildflower blog at
http://tinyurl.com/yzc6b9z
where you can find information and a map noting good viewing areas. More information can be obtained by calling 661.322.WILD

It’s times like this that makes it great to live in Kern County, which is the San Joaquin Valley’s southern-most county, separated from Southern California by the Tehachapi Mountains.

(Photos taken by John Hardisty , who also is in the Levan Class)

IN THE EYE OF THE NATION'S ECONOMIC STORM

2010-03-19T19:11:00.000-07:00

Freelance writer Dianne Hardisty writes about Stacy Carlson, a native of Bakersfield, Calif., who signed on to be Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s speech writer in the closing months of the Bush administration. Her predecessor assured her that the office pace would be relatively slow and she would have lots of time to complete projects. Carlson was in for a rude surprise.

Early warning signs appeared in late 2007, but Paulson and others in the Bush administration believed the U.S. economy was in for just a “correction.” The warning signs grew, the correction turned into a crisis. And Carlson was tasked with turning Paulson’s words into clarity and reassurance for an increasingly frightened America.

Carlson writes in a plainspoken manner about her job, the efforts of Paulson and others to head off an economic meltdown, and the causes of the crisis in her first book, “You, Me & the U.S. Economy.”

Dianne Hardisty writes in The Bakersfield Californian how Carlson found herself in the eye of this economic storm. Read Diane Hardisty's story by clicking onto
http://tinyurl.com/StacyCarlson/

Stacy Carlson is shown in photograph.

DAIRY FARMERS: TELL YOUR STORY!

2010-03-13T15:24:00.000-08:00

A recent story in The Modesto Bee reported California dairy farmers’ concerns that they are being targeted by the U.S. Humane Society and other “advocates.” They are correct to have that fear. Just look at the 2008 election and the targeting of egg ranchers. And, it worked! Why? Because "city folks" have become so removed from their food supply that they will believe anything. Happy chickens? Happy cows?

No doubt dairy farmers' reflex response is to recoil and hide. Keep people out. Don't attract any attention. Great, but that allows others -- including the U.S. Humane Society -- to establish the industry's "image."

California dairy farmers have now joined together in a statewide program to promote good animal care practices as well as evaluate dairy farms and verify that they are performing up to state and national standards. FARM (Farmers Assuring Responsible Management) has a five-point strategy that plans to:

 Adopt National Dairy Farm standards.

 Hold workshops and provide educational materials to orient dairy farmers to the standards.

 Hold on-farm evaluations of dairies and provide a benchmark to measure improvement.

 Support and assist animal care improvements.

 Provide third-party independent verification of farm practices.

Michael Boccadoro, executive director of Dairy Cares, a statewide coalition supporting animal care and economic and environmental sustainability in the dairy industry, reports that about 80 percent of the state's dairy farmers have signed on to the program. Dairies and dairy products are the top agricultural industry in nearly every California county.

This program’s purposes are to educate and bring dairy farmers up to standard, and to reassure the public that someone is verifying what dairies are doing.

But this isn’t going to be good enough for some. Kristina Addington, a spokeswoman for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, told The Merced Sun Star that the dairy industry is rife with animal abuses. "I think it's an initiative to create a false appearance that they care about the welfare of cows and that's a priority when clearly it's just a smokescreen for cruelty.”.

FARM is a good step. But it’s not enough. What the industry needs to do is open its doors. Invite the public in. Let "city folks" see what a modern dairy looks like and how they make cows "happy" -- or at least healthy and highly productive. How can you tell if a cow is "happy?" Some would like to ascribe human emotions, such as happiness, to cows.

Check out the video about Fair Oaks Farm in Indiana. http://tinyurl.com/FairOaksFarmIndiana

This "factory farm" has more than thrown open its doors. It created an educational/information center that has become a tourist attraction.

Rather than hide and hope no one notices you -- yeah, right, a big, sometimes smelly dairy on the outskirts of town -- California dairy farmers need to pull together to create a center along the line of Fair Oaks'.

Of course, I think that center should be in Bakersfield, where some of the state's newest and innovative dairies are located, and close to a huge urban center -- Southern California.

John Hardisty
Bakersfield, California
http://www.svs2help.com/

INSTALL YOUR OWN 'SMART METER'

2010-03-10T10:40:00.000-08:00

Recently I attended a local energy/economic summit where the representative of a national homebuilding/development company revealed he had installed his own meter in his home to monitor his electrical use. The one he installed was called TED. If you go to Amazon.Com, you will find a wide range of alternatives, with a wide range of prices. The homebuilder explained that his meter – as opposed to P.G. & E.’s “smart meter” – can better pinpoint usage and allow him to cut back if necessary. Likely it could also help him check the accuracy of the utility company’s controversial “smart meters.”

After some foot-dragging, the California Public Utilities Commission said it would soon select a contractor to test the accuracy of P.G. & E.’s “smart meters,” which have sent some customers’ energy bills soaring. Sen. Dean Florez, D-Shafter, has been hammering away at the CPUC to get an audit going. He also wants a moratorium on installing “smart meters” until the audit is completed.

Customer outrage over this remote monitoring of energy bills is spreading, with utility companies nationwide watching with great concern the “Bakersfield Problem” – so named because the rollout of “smart meters” was spearheaded in blazing hot Bakersfield. Early complaints seemed to be “dismissed” until customers in the Bay Area experienced similar spikes in their energy bills after “smart meters” were installed.

Not all of us can afford to have an electrician come out and install a TED monitor in our homes. But there are cheaper alternatives. And some of us might be using other methods to check up on the accuracy of the “smart meter” attached to their homes, or to curb their energy use.

What are you doing? Post your suggestions here, or e-mail John Hardisty (Jack) at planningbeat@yahoo.com.

MEDIATE: AVOID COURT BATTLE

2010-03-04T14:29:00.000-08:00

Lee Jay Berman, a mediator, president of the American Institute of Mediation and host of the syndicated weekly radio talk show “Talk It Over,” will be the keynote speaker at a daylong conference in Bakersfield that will highlight the benefits of mediation.

The conference, which will be held on Wednesday, March 17, in the Kern County Superintendent of Schools Building, is being presented by the Kern County Superior Court and Kern County Bar Association, in conjunction with the American Institute of Mediation.

The event is part of Mediation Week, which was established by the California Judicial Council to be held annually the third week of March.

“Mediation programs offer the public an important alternative to resolving disputes outside the traditional adjudication system,” explained Chief Justice Ronald M. George, chairman of the Judicial Council, when the observation was established last year. “Mediation Week is an opportune occasion to educate the public about the availability and benefits of mediation programs, and to recognize the people who make those programs successful.”

California courts operate and collaborate with mediation programs to help resolve many types of cases, including family law, juvenile dependency and delinquency, criminal, and small claims and general civil cases.

The cost of attending the seminar is free, with the exception of attorneys, who are requesting educational credits. The charge for credit attendees is $35.

The program will begin with Berman’s discussion of the role and benefits of mediation at 9 a.m. Santa Barbara Superior Court Judge Frank Ochoa will speak at lunch about the myths and misconceptions about court annexed mediation programs. Judge Ochoa has been acclaimed for his use of alternative dispute resolution in the courts.

Panel discussions will include:

What’s going on in with mediation in Kern County – William Palmer, Kern County Superior Court judge; Kelly Lazerson, alternative dispute resolution (ADR) administrator, Kern County Superior Court; attorney Richard Owen; and Liz Gavin, director, Better Business Bureau.

Update on the Kern County Bar Association ADR Section – mediator Joe Ferra, section president, and attorney Ken Byrum, past president.

Selecting the right mediator – attorneys Jack Draper, Steven Porter and Susan Salvucci.

Non-monetary solutions – attorneys Brent Rosenbaum and Robert Fairman, and mediator Laurelyn Irving.

Mediator secrets, tips and closing the deal – attorneys Ken Byrum, Alan Saler and Craig McCollum.

The daylong seminar will conclude with a panel discussion led by attorney Douglas E. Noll on the topics of confidentiality and ethics in mediation. Noll is a full-time peacemaker and mediator, who specializes in difficult, complex and intractable conflicts. He is a recognized author and has been named one of the Best Lawyers in America since 2005 by bestlawyers.com. He will be joined on the panel by local mediators Joe Ferra, Jeannie Gillen and John “Jack” Hardisty.

To register for the seminar, e-mail cwilson@kernbar.org.

Kelly Lazerson is the author of this article and Kern County Superior Court coordinator for alternative dispute resolution. She can be reached for general information about the seminar at Kelly.Lazerson@Kern.Courts.CA.gov or call 868-4940.

HIGH SPEED RAIL NEEDS CREDIBILITY

2010-02-25T21:27:00.000-08:00

California’s high speed rail system will either be an amazing success, or an amazing failure. Dueling ridership predictions revealed this month paint both pictures. In early February, some transportation analysts predicted relatively few people will ride the high speed train, making the system a money loser. But later in the month, Bay Area handwringers, armed with another consultant’s study, predicted high speed rail would be so popular it would pull 6 million passengers a year away from their local airports.

The bottom line: No one knows for sure how many people will ride the high speed rail system if California can get it built. It all depends. On what? On such factors as the cost of a ticket, on where people want to go, on alternative transportation. We are talking 20 or 30 years into the future. You can guess. But no one knows for sure.

And that’s what transportation modeling is all about. That’s why communities can have plans for projects, such as subdivisions, and studies that predict their impacts, such as traffic studies. But when the project is built and occupied, the impacts may be better or worse than predicted.

Modeling is just a structured way of guessing how people might behave under specified conditions. Factors and assumptions are placed in these models by fallible human beings, who may be influenced by their preferences. Since most of us are not experts in modeling, we usually look at the predicted results through our own lenses and decide if they make sense. That often depends on what we would like to believe. We might even look deeper into the assumptions knowing that those who are making the models control the outcome.

To have credibility, those making the models that predict ridership on a future California high speed rail system must clearly lay out for a skeptical public the assumptions and methods they are using.

Why does this matter? Because the $10 billion voters approved in 2008 to help build the system and the $2.6 billion in federal stimulus money that now has been provided by the Obama administration is just a fraction of what it will cost to build the $42 billion-plus San Francisco to Los Angeles route. Taxpayers and private investors still must be convinced to keep investing in the system. That’s going to require a whole lot of credibility and honesty from the California High Speed Rail Authority.

Written by John Hardisty, Bakersfield http://www.svs2help.com/

DIGITAL SIGNS: BLIGHT, OR BEAUTY

2010-02-14T20:52:00.000-08:00

Are they blight, or beauty? Are they hazardous, or no big deal?

Those flashy digital outdoor advertising billboards are triggering political and legal battles throughout the nation. The most recent battlefield is in Denver, Colo., where the city’s zoning committee is asking the city council to impose a moratorium until the safety and appearance of the signs can be given more study. A hearing on the proposed moratorium is expected to be held next month.

In Los Angeles, a battle between outdoor advertisers, city officials, highway beautification activists and city residents has spilled over into the state Legislature and state courts. A proposal last year by Assemblyman Mike Feuer, D-Los Angeles, for a two-year statewide moratorium on converting existing billboards to digital, and erecting new ones has stalled. But that hasn’t doused the fire burning in Los Angeles over a deal the city council struck in 2002 with selected billboard companies to convert existing billboards to digital in return for removing others altogether.

Residents of some Los Angeles neighborhoods now are in a roar over the conversions. Where once they had static, fairly non-intrusive signs near their homes, residents now complain they have flashing lights from “giant outdoor television sets” illuminating their homes and ruining their views.

The Federal Highway Administration has launched an extensive study, which is expected to be completed this year, to determine if these signs distract drivers and cause accidents.

What do you think about the digital outdoor advertising signs that have sprouted around your community?

Tell me about the best and the worst you have seen. As a driver, do they distract you? Or do they look a heck of a lot better than some of the tattered old billboards that have been left out in the sun way too long?

Post your responses here, or send me an e-mail (John Hardisty (Jack) planningbeat@yahoo.com) Thanks. I will be writing about this in the coming weeks.

The photo posted here is of a digital sign at L and 24st streets in downtown Bakersfield, Calif. While you order coffee in the Starbucks drive-thru, you can watch the sign flip through various advertising scenes on an electronic board that looms over the Chevron station.

VALLEY CITIES COMPETE FOR RAIL PRIZE

2010-02-14T20:49:00.000-08:00

A recent Fresno Bee editorial demanded leaders in its city get their “act together.” The same goes for their counterparts in Kern County as the scramble for federal stimulus funds to build a high speed rail system shifts into high gear.

President Obama last week announced that California will receive $2.3 billion, the largest share of an $8 billion allocation to build high speed rail systems in 13 of the nation’s transportation corridors.

Californians are a long way from buying a ticket to ride a high-speed train in this state. A debate still rages over the system’s $42.6 billion construction price tag, ongoing operating costs and its disputed business plan.

But with voters approving $9 billion in bonds in 2008 to help finance the system and now with $2.3 billion in federal job-creation funds promised, it appears some aspects of the project will become a reality.

The big “prize” for the Central Valley is the construction of a test track and heavy maintenance facility.

Fresno leaders want the facility, which will employ 1,500 people, including train operators, engineers and rolling stock maintenance staff, built in Fresno. Kern County leaders want it built on one of two local sites – one in Shafter, the other in Wasco.

By the Jan. 15 deadline, the California High Speed Rail Authority had received 15 “expressions of interest” from valley communities, including Fresno’s and Kern’s.

The Fresno Bee called the heavy maintenance facility “the most important economic development project that Fresno County could hope to lure to our community. … That’s why the competition will be stiff, and Fresno County must have a first-class proposal every step of the way. No internal bickering. No local turf battles. We don’t need a repeat of Merced getting the University of California campus because Fresno did not have its act together.”

Funny thing: In news reports coming out of Merced are chest-thumping vows to “do it again” to Fresno and the rest of the valley. Merced community leaders are dragging out the game plan they used to snatch the UC campus away from competitors years ago. Now they are promoting the former Castle Air Force Base for a heavy maintenance facility.

The Central Valley is critical to high speed rail’s development. The valley’s flat, open and rural stretches allow the 220 mph trains to be tested and certified for use in other parts of the United States. The test track will become part of California’s high speed rail system that will take passengers from Los Angeles to San Francisco.

To be in the running, a site must meet minimum criteria, including being near a proposed HSR route; having a parcel shaped and sized to accommodate the facility; and having other transportation linkages, access to utilities, appropriate zoning and an available labor force. The site also should not be encumbered with environmental problems.

Kern’s Shafter site is 640 acres located on the east side of existing railroad tracks, north of 7th Standard Road, adjacent to the International Trade and Transportation Center, and near Kern County’s Meadows Field Airport.

The Wasco site is 421 acres located south of Highway 46, near J Street, in an undeveloped industrial area, with existing railroad tracks nearby.

A final selection, which will be made by HSRA directors in about 15 months, will be based on more than basic criteria, and environmental and economic considerations. It also will be based on politics and salesmanship.

Fresno already is guaranteeing it will “sweeten” the deal by scraping together $25 million to buy and donate the land. Clearly all the competitors will have to come up with “sweeteners,” requiring contributions from private investors and local public agencies.

A campaign to promote the Shafter and Wasco sites to HSRA directors, private investors and local taxpayers is needed.

Ray Watson, chairman of the Kern County Board of Supervisors and a Kern Economic Development Corp. director, has wisely called for the creation of a blue ribbon committee to get our community’s “act together.”

The “prize” Kern County, Shafter, Wasco and all of metropolitan Bakersfield stands to win: 1,500 high-paying permanent jobs, many more construction jobs, increased tax revenues to support public services, and increased business for support services and related industries.

This is a multi-million dollar prize worth fighting for.

This article by John Hardisty (Jack) appeared first in The Bakersfield Californian on Feb. 3, 2010. Hardisty is a Bakersfield, Calif., mediator and land-use planning consultant. He can be contacted through his Website www.svs2help.com/

HIGH SPEED RAIL 'PRIZE' AWAITS

2010-02-04T20:17:00.000-08:00

A recent Fresno Bee editorial demanded leaders in its city get their “act together.” The same goes for their counterparts in Kern County as the scramble for federal stimulus funds to build a high speed rail system shifts into high gear.

President Obama last week announced that California will receive $2.3 billion, the largest share of an $8 billion allocation to build high speed rail systems in 13 of the nation’s transportation corridors.

Californians are a long way from buying a ticket to ride a high-speed train in this state. A debate still rages over the system’s $42.6 billion construction price tag, ongoing operating costs and its disputed business plan.

But with voters approving $9 billion in bonds in 2008 to help finance the system and now with $2.3 billion in federal job-creation funds promised, it appears some aspects of the project will become a reality.

The big “prize” for the Central Valley is the construction of a test track and heavy maintenance facility.

Fresno leaders want the facility, which will employ 1,500 people, including train operators, engineers and rolling stock maintenance staff, built in Fresno. Kern County leaders want it built on one of two local sites – one in Shafter, the other in Wasco.

By the Jan. 15 deadline, the California High Speed Rail Authority had received 15 “expressions of interest” from valley communities, including Fresno’s and Kern’s.

The Fresno Bee called the heavy maintenance facility “the most important economic development project that Fresno County could hope to lure to our community. … That’s why the competition will be stiff, and Fresno County must have a first-class proposal every step of the way. No internal bickering. No local turf battles. We don’t need a repeat of Merced getting the University of California campus because Fresno did not have its act together.”

Funny thing: In news reports coming out of Merced are chest-thumping vows to “do it again” to Fresno and the rest of the valley. Merced community leaders are dragging out the game plan they used to snatch the UC campus away from competitors years ago. Now they are promoting the former Castle Air Force Base for a heavy maintenance facility.

The Central Valley is critical to high speed rail’s development. The valley’s flat, open and rural stretches allow the 220 mph trains to be tested and certified for use in other parts of the United States. The test track will become part of California’s high speed rail system that will take passengers from Los Angeles to San Francisco.

To be in the running, a site must meet minimum criteria, including being near a proposed HSR route; having a parcel shaped and sized to accommodate the facility; and having other transportation linkages, access to utilities, appropriate zoning and an available labor force. The site also should not be encumbered with environmental problems.

Kern’s Shafter site is 640 acres located on the east side of existing railroad tracks, north of 7th Standard Road, adjacent to the International Trade and Transportation Center, and near Kern County’s Meadows Field Airport.

The Wasco site is 421 acres located south of Highway 46, near J Street, in an undeveloped industrial area, with existing railroad tracks nearby.

A final selection, which will be made by HSRA directors in about 15 months, will be based on more than basic criteria, and environmental and economic considerations. It also will be based on politics and salesmanship.

Fresno already is guaranteeing it will “sweeten” the deal by scraping together $25 million to buy and donate the land. Clearly all the competitors will have to come up with “sweeteners,” requiring contributions from private investors and local public agencies.

A campaign to promote the Shafter and Wasco sites to HSRA directors, private investors and local taxpayers is needed.

Ray Watson, chairman of the Kern County Board of Supervisors and a Kern Economic Development Corp. director, has wisely called for the creation of a blue ribbon committee to get our community’s “act together.”

The “prize” Kern County, Shafter, Wasco and all of metropolitan Bakersfield stands to win: 1,500 high-paying permanent jobs, many more construction jobs, increased tax revenues to support public services, and increased business for support services and related industries.

This is a multi-million dollar prize worth fighting for.

John Hardisty (Jack) of Bakersfield is a mediator and land-use planning consultant. He can be contacted through his Website www.svs2help.com/

This article appeared first in The Bakersfield Californian on Feb. 3, 2010.

CHARRETTE: CITIZENS AID PLANNERS

2010-01-17T16:21:00.000-08:00

Every now and then, government and the people can put aside differences to join forces for the betterment of the community. It’s “magic” when that happens. One of those magic moments occurred nearly a decade ago, when City of Bakersfield, Calif., officials, design professionals and everyday citizens joined together for a charrette to brainstorm the future of downtown.

Bakersfield Californian reporter James Burger took a rare look back at what the charrette accompanished in a story that appeared in the Jan. 17, 2010 Californian. The article can be read at http://tinyurl.com/DowntownCharrette

This was the first of three planning charrettes conducted by the City of Bakersfield and its residents. Conducting a charrette to create ideas and enthusiasm for revitalizing sections of Bakersfield, including Baker Street and southeast Bakersfield, was former City Councilman Randy Rowles’ idea. Rowles helped raise private funds to hire a consultant and help pay for other project costs. Tax dollars also were used. But before the charrette could become a reality, Rowles left the City Council. Newly elected Ward 2 Councilwoman Sue Benham, whose ward includes downtown, stepped in, providing her leadership to make the charrette a success.

Deserving a great deal of credit, however, are local private architects and engineers, who helped facilitate discussion groups and transform citizens’ ideas into practical drawings.

Over the years, we have seen many of these drawings poured into concrete. First came Wall Street Alley’s conversion to a mini-plaza. Following was the planting of trees and streetscape improvements. Pedestrian-friendly amenities built at the intersection of 19th and Eye streets compliment theater and art districts that have been created. A rundown central city park, which was used mainly by the homeless, now is the highlight of the Mill Creek redevelopment project. Soon a federal court house will be built next to the park.

Has everything been accomplished that charrette participants envisioned? No, but much has been done. And still more will be done in the years ahead.

The charrette is a testimonial to what can be accomplished when government and citizens work together.

John Hardisty
Retired Bakersfield Development Services Director
www.svs2help.com

MEDIATE WEDDINGS FROM HELL

2010-01-06T19:38:00.000-08:00

A "dream" wedding can turn into a "nightmare" that marches its way down the aisle, straight into a courtroom.

Local small claims judges and court mediators have unsnarled disputes over things ranging from broken promises to rancid potato salad.

The messages from these cases:

* Many problems can be avoided in the first place with foresight.

* Most of these disputes are better resolved through negotiation rather than lawsuits.

As one of several mediators working in small claims court, I have been caught in the crossfire of warring brides, grooms, mothers-of-the-bride, caterers, wedding planners, you name it.

Two cases mediated in California demonstrate how some problems can be headed off. Because mediations are confidential, identities and details are omitted.

Idyllic setting not 'ideal'

For her special day, the bride planned her spring wedding to be held on a gently rolling, oak-studded hillside about an hour's drive east of San Diego.

The caterer advised that the site posed logistical problems. He also warned the weather would be sunny and hot and urged umbrellas or tents be provided for the guests and to help preserve the food. But the bride insisted the wedding party and guests would celebrate in the magnificent outdoor setting without restrictions. No umbrellas. No tents.

The big day came. Wedding guests and support staff got lost, arriving at the location later than expected. The ceremony was delayed. And, yes, it was hot.
For some, the "reception" began before the wedding took place. Thirsty, early arrivers started drinking. By the time the "I do's" were recited, some were already toasted and the cold cuts weren't cold.

Weeks later, the bride, mother-of-the bride and wedding planner faced off with the caterer in a mediation session. The angriest was the wedding planner, whose reputation was on the line. The mother complained that for all of her family's expense, she had few memorable photographs. The most memorable was of her underaged daughter face-down drunk in her plate of food.

The food was spoiled, the trio argued. They refused to pay the caterer, who noted they had refused to heed his warnings. He also pointed out that all the alcohol he provided was consumed, even if most of the food was not eaten.

Resolved: The family paid for the alcohol and other beverages. The caterer "ate" his bill for the food.

Lessons: Be realistic when planning a wedding. Head off problems by listening to professionals' advice.

Groom backs out three times

The bride and groom were in their early 20s. They had a rocky relationship, with the groom backing out of a planned wedding a year earlier. But he talked his way back into the young woman's heart and a wedding again was scheduled.

While other details of this case were disputed, everyone agreed that the bride's mother took charge of the wedding plans. It was going to be a large, elegant affair. Invitations were ordered. The bridal gown and dresses for the bridesmaids and the mother-of-the-bride were bought. The reception was booked. Money was being spent.

But as he had done a year earlier, the groom backed out. The bride's family sued, demanding the reluctant young man repay them for the thousands of dollars they had spent. Before a judge heard the case, the parties were sent off to mediation in hopes they would reach a settlement.

The groom argued that a big wedding was the bride's mother's idea. He wanted something smaller. The mother countered that the groom's unacceptable idea of a smaller wedding was a keg of beer in his backyard.

The groom also said he did not want to marry into the bride's family. He reasoned if his desires were pushed aside in wedding planning, likely that would be his experience in other family matters.

After hours of negotiating, a tentative settlement was reached, with the groom agreeing to pay a small portion of what had been spent. But before the parties could return to court to have the agreement blessed by the judge, the groom again backed out. He declared he would not pay one dime.

Resolved: After hearing the case, the judge decided the young man owed nothing.

Lessons: The size and scope of a wedding should be decided by the bride and groom, not just the bride's family. A wedding begins a marriage that should be an equal partnership. And when someone has a history of broken promises, it also is likely to be his or her future.

To find a mediator to help resolve a dispute, go to your local court's website, where you likely will find a court-approved mediator panel list, or to the website of a Better Business Bureau in your area, where you will find information about its mediation services.

A version of this article written by JOHN HARDISTY, a Bakersfield mediator, appeared first in The Bakersfield Californian on Jan. 7, 2010.

NIMBY WARS: POLITICS OF LAND USE

2009-12-28T16:09:00.000-08:00

There are many "ah-ha moments" in author P. Michael Saint’s "Nimby Wars." Whether you are a developer trying to push a controversial project through the permitting and construction process, or neighbors trying to stop it, "Nimby Wars" provides invaluable insights and strategies. And for the regulators caught in the middle, the book is a "must read" that takes some of the mystery out of what seems to be the "surprise attacks."

For more than three decades, I headed government planning agencies in California. I can recognize many of the controversies and scenarios the authors included in "Nimby Wars." It is a good, entertaining read. It also can serve as a "manual" for what is likely to occur as proponents and opponents bash each other with the environmental laws that "govern" most states', counties' and cities' land-use decisions.

This review of “Nimby Wars” was written for Amazon.com by John Hardisty of Bakersfield. To read more about this book, go to www.amazon.com

REVIEW: BOOMERS GROW UP

2009-12-28T16:00:00.000-08:00

Victor E. Brooks' "Boomers: The Cold-War Generation Grows Up" is a quick, but compelling read. With less than 200 pages, it is packed with historical, demographic and cultural insights about the "largest generation," if not "The Greatest."

Returning World War II veterans set about creating families - in many cases large families - and embarked on an unprecedented path for America. In the 18 years that followed the end of World War II, about 77 million babies were born. While some feared the war's end would return the United States and the world to the Great Depression days, the opposite occurred. Boomers and their parents created enormous wealth and prosperity.

Brooks, a professor of historical foundations at Pennsylvania's Villanova University, details the cultural, economic, political, religious and geographic factors that shaped Boomers' lives and attitudes. For Boomers, the book is a walk down "memory lane." For everyone, the book is a "must read" to prepare for the tsunami of Boomers headed into retirement. It gives insights into the challenges and potentials that loom ahead for those providing services to aging Boomers and for companies hoping to capitalize on the generation's enormous and continuing spending potential.

Boomers - people born between 1946 and 1964 - are about 77 million strong. The generation often has been described as the "pig in the python" -- the big lump that moves along the demographic line. The "lump" once filled the nation's schools, later swelled the labor force and then super-heated the consumer economy. The first Boomer will turn 65 in 2011. Already someone in the United States is turning 65 years old every seven seconds. Social Security is reeling from the leading edge of this Boomer wave.

Boomers are expected to be the healthiest, most active, affluent and long-living group of retirees. Are we prepared to meet their demands and needs? Brooks' book helps us prepare.

This review was written by John Hardisty of Bakersfield for Amazon.com. To read more about this book, go to www.amazon.com

REVIEW: WHEN BAD THINGS HAPPEN

2009-12-28T15:52:00.000-08:00

Rabbi Harold S. Kushner's "When Bad Things Happen to Good People" is both insightful and comforting. It cuts across religious lines to help people understand and respond to personal setbacks. You can wish for setbacks not to have occurred. You can even anguish over their occurrence. But you cannot ask God to wipe away these setbacks. You can only move forward. You only have "control" over your forward movement, not your past. The resources God gives us - friends, family, medical staff, legal staff, etc. - are God's gift in these circumstances. Rabbi Kushner relates this message through his family's setback - the birth and within a relatively short time the death of a son who is born with a rare, debilitating disease. The book version of "When Bad Things Happen to Good People" is well worth buying and reading. The abridged CD version loads nicely on devices, such as iPods. All or portions of the abridged version can be listened to in an hour or less. Each listening session brings a portion of Rabbi Kushner's message into greater focus. This review was written by John Hardisty of Bakersfield for Amazon.com. To learn more about this book, go to www.amazon.com

TOUGH LOVE FOR REAL ESTATE

2009-12-27T15:59:00.000-08:00

When Bill Thomas was chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, he thought too much emphasis was being placed on home ownership.

“If you can afford to buy a house, you are rewarded handsomely in a number of financial ways. If you can’t, you are punished because you pay rent. You can’t even subtract rent from your income tax,” said Thomas, who retired in 2006, after representing Bakersfield in Congress for 28 years.

So the concept that became the “American Dream” was that everyone should own a home, which will be a source of equity, an asset. Then these homeowners can borrow against their homes.

“And as we have seen, people have been put into homes that they couldn’t afford in the beginning and which they certainly could not afford once balloon payments kicked in,” Thomas said during a recent interview with The Californian. “There was a lot of money to be made on these subprime loans. Very clever people found ways to reinsure and monetize mortgages that probably had no value.”

Thomas has been appointed vice chairman of the Fiscal Crisis Inquiry Commission, which was created by Congress and President Obama to explain how “clever people,” such as Wall Street bankers and their real estate cohorts on Main Street, created worthless financial instruments that have rocked the nation’s economy nearly off its foundations.

While the consequences of the subprime mortgage industry are far-reaching and painful, the misplaced rewarding of debt is not confined to the real estate industry. Thomas noted the “debt versus equity” imbalance goes all the way back to the Enron scandal.

“It was cheaper to carry equity than debt. And you could hide debt with creative instruments that the regulators didn’t fully understand, in my opinion, and didn’t see until it was too late,” he said. “Enron was a prime example.

“If we had changed the tax code to be neutral on renting or owning, we would not have had the problems of subprime mortgages and all the rest. People could rent and feel good about it and have a deduction on their income taxes.

“We banned in the early 80s the deduction of personal interest credit on your income tax, but we did not build a fire wall between the debt in owning a home through mortgage and your ability to pull equity out of the home to spend the money on the RV you couldn’t get a tax deduction for,” he said. “We even had instruments that gave you a check each month for the increased equity, so they made sure you had no equity.”

There was the belief that the market value of property would go up every year. But if it went down, instead, and an owner had been pulling equity out of his home, he quickly found himself “upside down” – owing more than the home was worth.

“And there were cases around here, where Realtors and appraisers were not willing to wait for the quarter, or the year or two years to see the appreciation that always came,” said Thomas. “They began jiggering it around and flipping it in what amounted to illegal appraisal activity to drive the price up.

“The newspaper ran stories about people not following rules, ethical standards and laws. I am not talking about banks. I am talking about real estate people,” said Thomas. “A piece of property was worth $1 million and a few months later it was worth $1.4 million. Why? Because they paid the appraiser to reappraise the place, just like Wall Street paid for the Moody’s triple-A rating” on combined mortgages.

“Banks were not used to loaning money to people who didn’t have a job and could not meet the monthly payments. You could write a mortgage to someone who occupied the house, but they never made the first payment. That’s called a subprime mortgage and they were being written all over the place.

“Then you could combine them, get a certification, get a reinsurance policy and send it out [to investors]. When it started unraveling, the principle reinsurance agency was AIG,” said Thomas, noting Moody’s triple-A ratings on these combined mortgages were paid for in the same way some were paying for inflated real estate appraisals.

“You haven’t seen any real focus on the rating agencies in this first wave of reform coming through Congress. That has to be done,” said Thomas, noting that the role of rating agencies, such as Moody’s, in the ongoing financial scandal will be investigated by his commission.

“Look at these combined mortgages that carried a triple-A rating,” said Thomas. “AIG wrote a reinsurance deal on them, notwithstanding the fact that all the reinsurance that had been written was worth X times what AIG had in cash.

“AIG never thought it would have to pay off for those because they had triple-A ratings. So all of a sudden, you are sitting there with this thing and it isn’t triple-A. Some of it may be good, but some of it was obviously bad and nobody knew what it was worth. And it’s not buildings. It is artificially combined mortgages.

“So it isn’t easy to unravel. And we are still in the middle of that.”

[What would you tell Bill Thomas to investigate when his Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission kicks into "high gear" next month? Send your comments directly to John Hardisty at planningbeat@yahoo.com, or post them on this blog.]

A version of this article written by Dianne Hardisty first appeared in The Bakersfield Californian on Dec. 27, 2009.

UNRAVELING ECONOMIC MELTDOWN

2009-12-27T09:11:00.000-08:00

Former Republican Congressman Bill Thomas now is vice chairman of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, which was created by Congress and the president to identify the causes of the ongoing U.S. financial meltdown. In an interview published Dec. 27, 2009 in The Bakersfield Californian, Thomas contended that Wall Street and Main Street teamed up to create the mess the U.S. is in by paying for inflated property appraisals and Triple-A securities ratings to create packages of subprime mortgages and pawn them off to investors. This mess isn’t done unraveling. Read more of what Thomas had to say at http://tiny.cc/uFAKm

REVEALING FORECLOSURE MYSTERY

2009-12-18T11:23:00.000-08:00

Recently I wrote an opinion article -- “As Foreclosure Crisis Keeps Growing, Lenders, Borrowers Need Mediation,” that appeared in the Dec. 8 Bakersfield Californian. It also is posted on this blog.

It recounted the plight of a homeowner, who appeared in court with documents showing he was negotiating with his lender for a loan modification, while at the same time the lender was evicting him. He could not understand how the lender could be working with him and against him at the same time.

A McClatchy newspaper story today explains how this can happen.

In the fine print of the form homeowners fill out to apply for the Obama administration’s Home Affordable Modification Program, which lowers monthly payments for three months while the lender decides whether to provide permanent relief, borrowers waive notification rights. This allows lenders to reject borrowers from permanent modification without written notice and auction off homes without warning, according to the newspaper.

MEDIATE FORECLOSURE PROCESS

2009-12-09T09:06:00.000-08:00

Confusion and frustration were etched across the face of the man as he awaited his appearance before a Kern County Superior Court judge. In one hand he held letters from his bank documenting ongoing negotiations to restructure his home loan. In the other hand, he held papers documenting the bank's efforts to evict his family.

How could the same bank seem to be working with him and against him at the same time? Simple -- refinancing and foreclosing, followed by eviction, were being handled by two different units of the same bank.

By the time the man ended up in court, there was little left to discuss. The judge confirmed that the bank could take possession of the Bakersfield house the man had built himself, for his own family.

The Recorder's Office reports that there were 6,530 foreclosures this year in Kern County as of October. Some cash-strapped homeowners simply move out. But many are being hauled before local judges as part of an eviction process.

As the nation, state and county struggle with the worst recession since the Great Depression and the jobless rate climbs, economists predict more Americans will be unable to make their mortgage payments. Foreclosures, evictions and blighted neighborhoods will result.

The Mortgage Bankers Association reports 14 percent of homeowners with mortgages were either behind on payments or in foreclosure at the end of September. The Congressional Oversight Panel, which monitors the Treasury Department's bailout program, concludes foreclosures now threaten families who bought within their means to pay, and who took out conventional, fixed-rate loans, with down payments of 10 percent to 20 percent.

The Obama administration's Making Home Affordable program was supposed to bring relief by giving lenders incentives to work with borrowers to "modify" their mortgages, lower payments and stem foreclosures.

This $75 billion foreclosure-prevention plan is not working as expected. While more than 650,000 borrowers have been given "trial mortgage modifications" under the plan, relatively few have received permanent modifications. To receive a permanent modification, borrowers must make three payments during the trial period and provide proof of hardship.

Borrowers complain they have been denied permanent modifications even after making trial payments and producing the necessary paperwork. The prolonged, unsuccessful process has put some homeowners into deeper financial holes.

Acknowledging the program's disappointing results, Treasury officials recently increased pressure on lenders to help troubled borrowers. Instead of paying lenders $1,000 up front just to begin the loan modification process, lenders now will be given the cash incentive only if the modifications are finalized. Treasury officials also will identify lenders that balk at permanently modifying loans.

California Assemblyman Pedro Nava and Assembly Speaker Karen Bass are asking the Legislature to take an additional step. They want California to join more than a dozen other states that require borrowers and lenders to enter into mediation before property is foreclosed.

During a recent hearing on California's foreclosure crisis, Nevada Assembly speaker Barbara Buckley testified that the No. 1 complaint in her state from homeowners is their inability to reach someone at their bank to talk to. Since Nevada implemented a mediation program in July, 3,400 homeowners have requested mediation.

The proposal to begin a mediation program in California, AB 1588, will be considered when the Legislature reconvenes in January. Who operates the program, who conducts the mediations and who pays for the program are questions that need to be resolved.

But with California having the third-highest foreclosure rate in the nation, clearly more must be done to bring lenders and borrowers together, to keep more people in their homes, and to keep the foreclosure crisis from devastating communities.

"Voluntary approaches that rely on the beneficent decisions of lenders are no longer acceptable," Nava wrote in a recent opinion article, explaining the need for mediation. "All of the programs that exist today fail to create an atmosphere of accountability, trust and transparency in the loan modification process."

This article by John Hardisty (Jack) first appeared in The Bakersfield Californian's Opinion Section on Dec. 9, 2009.

CALIFORNIANS TO RIDE HIGH-SPEED RAIL

2009-11-25T14:38:00.000-08:00

California’s Democratic Congressman Jim Costa of Fresno is an unabashed booster of trains. As a state assemblyman and later state senator, he pushed doggedly on expansion of Amtrak service through Central California. He lobbied for the upgrading of Amtrak stations and construction of new ones. He regularly rode Amtrak from his Fresno home to Sacramento, the state’s capital.

So it’s no surprise that he is wearing a smile from ear to ear these days as California has joined several other states in applying for federal stimulus money to build a high-speed rail system.

California is seeking more than half of the $8 billion that Congress and President Barack Obama set aside for high-speed and intercity rail projects across the country.

Costa addressed a Fresno audience of San Joaquin Valley regional planners on Oct. 2, the same day Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger submitted California’s $4.7 billion application for high-speed rail funding. Costa believes California’s chances are darn good.

Give Costa a lot of the credit for that. His sheer tenacity helped convince California voters to approve a $10 billion bond on the November 2008 ballot to continue design and planning for a high-speed rail system. This was after naysayers said the measure was doomed by the slumping economy and the “Buck Rogers” image of the project.

But voters did approve the bond, validating Costa’s belief that the state is long overdue for investment in its infrastructure.

To regional planners, who focus much of their energies on improving California’s transportation systems, Costa likened building a high-speed rail system to the 1950s and 1960s, when Californians created the nation’s premiere education system, a massive state water project and a futuristic freeway system.

Costa’s comparisons did not end there. He noted Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower built the massive federal highway system during troubled economic times. And Republican President Abraham Lincoln pushed through a transcontinental railroad line when the nation was divided by war, inflation was raging and the first printing of paper money was underway.

For those tempted to say these times are not the right times to invest billions of dollars in a high-speed rail system, Costa counters with historian Stephen Ambrose’s “Nothing Like It in the World,” an account of how the transcontinental railroad came into being despite overwhelming odds.

High-speed rail “is a tremendous opportunity for California and the nation,” said Costa, who contends California’s application is strengthened by voters already approving matching funds for the project and by the planning that has already been completed. California is a lot closer to breaking ground than other proposals.

Costa said applications can be expected to be submitted for stimulus funds to help pay for high-speed rail projects in 11 of the nation’s transportation corridors. In addition to California, projects in the Midwest and in the Eastern corridor will be the most competitive, he said.

But there’s no doubt about it in Costa’s mind. Californians “will get to ride on high-speed rail.”

BABY BOOMERS HEADED YOUR WAY!

2009-11-25T14:29:00.000-08:00

“Hell no, we won’t go” was a protesters’ chant commonly heard decades ago during the Vietnam War. That protesting generation of baby boomers now seems to be taking the same chant into its aging years.

Joan Twiss, founder and executive director of the Center for Civic Partnerships, made that observation during a recent meeting of the California Chapter of American Planning Association.

She put it more politely – changing “hell” to “heck” – but she was clear: Boomers aren’t going peacefully into their twilight years.

Many are in denial about getting old. Consider the plethora of anti-aging creams, vitamins and beauty aids on the market.

They insist on remaining active – working, volunteering and playing hard. “Boomeritis” is a general term now being used to describe a wide range of physical maladies – from torn rotator cuffs to busted knees – that aging boomers experience as they cling to their old sports teams.

For the most part, they are sticking around. They aren’t moving from the communities where they have sprouted deep roots. They intend to “age in place.”

And many are discovering that they may not be able to afford to get old. They have not saved up enough money, or their retirement funds and their jobs have been wiped away by the most dire economic conditions to beset the nation since the Great Depression.

An estimated 15.5 percent of the people living in California who are 55 years of age or older are eligible for Medi-Cal, planners were told. The gap between the haves and the have-nots will increase, with some estimating that 55 percent of the population may be too poor to pay for the basic services needed to survive their final years.

Baby boomers – people born between 1946 and 1964 – are about 77 million strong. The generation often has been described as the “pig in the python” -- the big lump that moves along the demographic line. The “lump” that once filled up the nation’s schools, later swelled the labor force and super-heated the consumer economy, is now headed to retirement.

The first baby boomer will turn 65 in 2011. Already someone in the United States is turning 65 years old every seven seconds. The wave of baby boomers hitting the shore will be a Social Security tsunami.

Over the next decade, Kern County’s 60-plus population is expected to increase by 65 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and the American Community Survey. In 2006, when the survey information was collected, the number of people 60 years of age and older was 93,585, or 12 percent of Kern County’s population.

Baby boomers are expected to be the healthiest, most active, affluent and long-living group of retirees Kern County and the nation has seen.

Are communities prepared to meet their demands and needs?

Paul Zykofsky, director of land use and transportation programs at the Local Government Commission and the manager of the commission’s Center for Livable Communities, told California planners at their recent state conference that few communities are ready for the silver tsunami.

He said baby boomers will be looking for communities that are safe, welcoming, convenient, comfortable, containing good and safe housing, and are “walkable,” meaning residents can walk from their homes to stores, offices, job sites, entertainment, etc. As people age, they are more interested in living in town houses and in downtown areas.

But in most communities, residential development has spread into the outskirts of towns, requiring people to drive their cars to get to just about any location. Public transportation and access to services, including health services,
often fall short in spread-out communities, especially those in the San Joaquin Valley.

Aging of baby boomers may be the biggest challenge, as a society, that we face. Adequate housing, mobility, employment, lifelong learning, community involvement and support services are critical to creating a healthy community.

The wave of baby boomers is headed our way. We need to begin preparing now, before it is “sink or swim” time.

This article written by JOHN HARDISTY (Jack) appeared first in The Bakersfield Californian.