Prepare to be Best Place to Live

By Wade H. Tavorn

Community Voices editorial published January 1996.

Any city that is designed to give its citizens a higher standard of living has to have the following three areas of capital: structural, financial and social.

As a city, we can either be a community where people understand and participate in civic activities or a city where some citizens make huge profits on others lack of concern. We must all learn that unity has many long-term gains. We only have to travel 100 miles north to Fresno to experience a community of the latter.

Bakersfield, a young city in growth, has a great opportunity if the citizens prepare themselves properly to be one of the best places to live in California.

We have the plans! So what is missing? "Social capital" - a community's ability to communicate effectively with each other on a continuous basis.

Some citizens might question this answer; however, ask yourself why did an institution - Kern High School District - have to spend over $200,000 to have an election for a one-year term?

Could that money have been spent better somewhere else? What areas in that institution were shortchanged by this decision? Which citizens benefited from this decision and which citizens didn't?

I don't know who benefited, but I do know who lost. Our children! We still have classrooms in our high schools without air conditioning. Where are we as a community when it comes to the education of our children? They are the future of this city. We, the citizens of Bakersfield an "All-American City," have been quiet much too long when it comes to education.

Many articles have been written over the year regarding our schools. But no articles have been written on what type of student each school is sending out into the community. Can they read, write and reason enough to fill out a job application? Many businesses will say no. Can they follow directions with little or no supervision? Will they be productive citizens in the community?

If the answer to any of these questions is no, then our social capital has been reduced. If we want jobs to come to Bakersfield, we need to be more active in our community educational system.

Businesses move to communities that plan ahead and have the resources they need to compete and remain profitable. People are the greatest resource especially if they are educated. It's a win-win situation for all!

So let's get involved! Make plans to visit a school board meeting once a month. Go to a City Council meeting or a planning commission meeting at least once every three months.

Remember, a city is as productive as its weakest (poorest) community. Let's set a new standard in California. Let's demand that our schools graduate productive citizens - people who respect and build better communities, not destroy them.