Bakersfield, California
| Bakersfield, California | |
 | |
| General information | |
Mayor of Bakersfield
Karen Goh | |
| Last mayoral election: | 2024 |
| Next mayoral election: | 2028 |
| Last city council election: | 2024 |
| Next city council election: | 2026 |
| City council seats: | 8[1] |
| City website | |
| Composition data (2019) | |
| Population: | 377,917 |
| Race: | White 67.7% African American 7.6% Asian 7.4% Native American 0.9% Pacific Islander 0.2% Two or more 3.8% |
| Ethnicity: | Hispanic 50.2% |
| Median household income: | $63,139 |
| High school graduation rate: | 80.1% |
| College graduation rate: | 21.9% |
| Related Bakersfield offices | |
| California Congressional Delegation • California state legislature • California state executive offices | |
Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California. The city's population was 403,455 as of 2020, according to the United States Census Bureau.
Click on the links below to learn more about the city's...
- Mayor
- City council
- Other elected officials
- Elections
- Census information
- Budget
- Contact information
- Ballot measures
- County government
City government
- See also: Council-manager government
The city of Bakersfield utilizes a council-manager system. In this form of municipal government, an elected city council—which includes the mayor and serves as the city's primary legislative body—appoints a chief executive called a city manager to oversee day-to-day municipal operations and implement the council's policy and legislative initiatives.[2][3]
Mayor
The mayor represents the city on the state, national, and international levels. They preside over council meetings and official city ceremonies. The mayor is considered a member of the city council. The current Mayor of Bakersfield is Karen Goh (nonpartisan). Goh assumed office in 2017. [3][4]
City manager
The city manager is the city's chief executive. The responsibilities of the city manager include overseeing the city's day-to-day operations, planning and implementing the city's operating budget, and appointing departmental directors, and other senior-level positions.[5][3]
City council
The Bakersfield City Council is the city's primary legislative body. It is responsible for adopting the city budget, approving mayoral appointees, levying taxes, and making or amending city laws, policies, and ordinances.
The Bakersfield City Council is made up of eight members, including the mayor. While the mayor is elected at large, the other seven members are elected by the city's seven wards.[6]
The widget below automatically displays information about city council meetings. The topic list contains a sampling of keywords that Voterheads, a local government monitoring service, found in each meeting agenda. Click the meeting link to see more info and the full agenda:
Mayoral partisanship
Bakersfield has a Republican mayor. As of November 2024, 63 mayors in the largest 100 cities by population are affiliated with the Democratic Party, 25 are affiliated with the Republican Party, one is affiliated with the Libertarian Party, four are independents, five identify as nonpartisan or unaffiliated, and two mayors' affiliations are unknown. Click here for a list of the 100 largest cities' mayors and their partisan affiliations.
Mayoral elections are officially nonpartisan in most of the nation's largest cities. However, many officeholders are affiliated with political parties. Ballotpedia uses one or more of the following sources to identify each officeholder's partisan affiliation: (1) direct communication from the officeholder, (2) current or previous candidacy for partisan office, or (3) identification of partisan affiliation by multiple media outlets.
Elections
2024
The city of Bakersfield, California, held general elections for mayor and city council on November 5, 2024. A mayoral primary was scheduled for March 5, 2024. The filing deadline for the mayoral election was December 8, 2023, and the filing deadline for the city council election was August 9, 2024.
2022
The city of Bakersfield, California, held general elections for city council on November 8, 2022. The filing deadline for this election was August 12, 2022.
2020
The city of Bakersfield, California, held general elections for Districts 2, 5, and 6 on the city council on November 3, 2020. The city also held a special election for the District 1 seat on the city council on the same date. The filing deadline for both elections was August 7, 2020.[7]
The city also held an election for mayor in 2020. The primary election for that office was on March 3, 2020.
2018
The city of Bakersfield, California, held general elections for city council on November 6, 2018. The deadline for candidates to file to run in this election was August 10, 2018.
2017
The city of Bakersfield, California, held a special election for the Ward 5 seat on the city council on June 6, 2017. The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was March 10, 2017.[8][9]
2016
The city of Bakersfield, California, held elections for mayor and city council on November 8, 2016. The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was August 22, 2016. Three of the seven city council seats were up for election.[10]
2014
The city of Bakersfield, California, held nonpartisan elections for city council on November 4, 2014. The filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was August 8, 2014.[11]
Wards 1, 3, 4 and 7 were up for election.[12] Incumbents ran for re-election in every race except for Ward 7. Incumbents included P. "Willie" Rivera in Ward 1, Ken Weir in Ward 3 and Bob Smith in Ward 4. Ward 7 incumbent Russell Johnson did not run for re-election in order to run for the office of Kern County assessor.[13]
Census information
The table below shows demographic information about the city.
| Demographic Data for Bakersfield | |
|---|---|
| Bakersfield | |
| Population | 403,455 |
| Land area (sq mi) | 150 |
| Race and ethnicity** | |
| White | 52.8% |
| Black/African American | 6.4% |
| Asian | 7.5% |
| Native American | 1% |
| Pacific Islander | 0.3% |
| Two or more | 16.7% |
| Hispanic/Latino | 52.9% |
| Education | |
| High school graduation rate | 81.6% |
| College graduation rate | 23.3% |
| Income | |
| Median household income | $73,827 |
| Persons below poverty level | 13% |
| Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "Decennial Census" (2020). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2017-2022). | |
| **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here. | |
Budget
Bakersfield's fiscal year operates from July 1 to June 30 of each year. The city manager develops and presents the budget to the city council. The city council is then responsible for approving and adopting the budget.[14][15]
Fiscally standardized cities data
The fiscally standardized cities (FiSC) data below was compiled by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy to make municipal budgets comparable across cities in the United States.[16]
| “ |
FiSCs are constructed by adding revenues and expenditures of each central city municipal government to a portion of the revenues and expenditures of overlying governments, including counties, independent school districts, and special districts. The allocations to FiSCs are estimates of the revenues collected from and services provided to central city residents and businesses by these overlying independent governments. Thus FiSCs provides a full picture of revenues raised from city residents and businesses and spending on their behalf, whether done by the city government or a separate overlying government.[17] |
” |
| —Lincoln Institute of Land Policy[18] | ||
The tables below show estimated finances within city limits. As such, the revenue and expenses listed may differ from the actual city budget.
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Historical total revenue and expenditure
To see the historical total revenue or expenditures as a rounded amount in this city, hover over the bars.[16]
Bakersfield, California, salaries and pensions over $95,000
Below is a map of the nationwide salaries and pensions in this city over $95,000. To search a different ZIP code, enter it in the search bar within the map.
Contact information
Mayor's office
1501 Truxtun Avenue
City Hall South
Bakersfield, CA 93301-5201
Phone: 661-326-3770
City Clerk's office
1600 Truxtun Avenue
1st Floor
Bakersfield, CA 93301
Phone: 661-326-3767
Click here for city council contact information.
Ballot measures
- See also: Kern County, California ballot measures
The city of Bakersfield is in Kern County. A list of ballot measures in Kern County is available here.
Noteworthy events
2020: Events and activity following the death of George Floyd
During the weekend of May 29-31, 2020, demonstrations and protests took place in cities nationwide, including Bakersfield, following the death of George Floyd. Events in Bakersfield, California, began on Friday, May 29, 2020.[19] No curfews were issued. The national guard was not deployed.
2015: Study on city's nondiscrimination laws
In July 2015, the Movement Advancement Project described Bakersfield, California, as a city or county that prohibited discrimination in employment on the basis of gender identity via ordinances that apply to public and private employers. At that time, a total of 71 of America's largest 100 cities prohibited private employers from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation, while 69 of those cities also prohibited discrimination based on gender identity. This did not include those jurisdictions that prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity for government employees.[20]
Nondiscrimination laws can cover a variety of areas, including public employment, private employment, housing, and public accommodations. Such laws may be enacted at the state, county, or city level.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ The mayor is included in this number as one of the city council members.
- ↑ Bakersfield City Charter, Art. III, accessed October 29, 2014
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 City of Bakersfield, "Form of Government," accessed October 29, 2014
- ↑ City of Bakersfield, "Office of the Mayor," accessed October 29, 2014
- ↑ City of Bakersfield, "City Manager," accessed October 29, 2014
- ↑ City of Bakersfield, "Council Members," accessed October 29, 2014
- ↑ 23 ABC News Bakersfield, "Bakersfield City Council approved special election for Ward 1," June 24, 2020
- ↑ City of Bakersfield, "Notice of Special Municipal Election June 6, 2017," accessed May 22, 2017
- ↑ City of Bakersfield, "Press Release Ward 5 Filing Period February 13th through March 10th," accessed May 22, 2017
- ↑ Email correspondence with Abbe Shugart, Kern County Elections Coordinator, on January 27, 2016.
- ↑ Charter of the City of Bakersfield, "Article VII, Section 67," accessed March 10, 2014
- ↑ Office of the City Clerk, "2014 - General Municipal Election Information," accessed August 8, 2014
- ↑ Bakersfield Californian, "Councilman Johnson files to run for county assessor," March 12, 2014
- ↑ City of Bakersfield, "City Manager," accessed August 23, 2023
- ↑ City of Bakersfield, "Bakersfield City Council Agenda Meeting of June 28, 2023," accessed August 23, 2023
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, "Fiscally Standardized Cities database," accessed August 23, 2023
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, "Fiscally Standardized Cities," accessed August 23, 2023
- ↑ KGET, "Protests over death of George Floyd take over streets of downtown Bakersfield," May 30, 2020
- ↑ Movement Advancement Project, "Local Employment Non-Discrimination Ordinances," accessed July 7, 2015
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