400 Kern Street

Taft, CA, 93268

Phone: (661) 765-2165

Fax: (661) 765-6639

www.taftchamber.com

TaftChamber@gmail.com

Our Gold Sponsors

Our Platinum Sponsors

May 2015 Newsletter

105 Years Ago

Taft is like a mining town of old.

“Bret Harte in his palmist days never saw anything more naively

‘wide open,’ and more interestingly western that the new little oil

cities that sprung up on the various fields in the last few months. It

is the Wild West all over again, in all it pristine careless attractive-

ness,” remarked A.G. Wishon, who returned late yesterday after-

noon from a trip to the Maricopa fields, via Colinga, says the Fres-

no Republican.

“The towns have grown up almost instantly, particularly Taft, and

if Taft knew what a live wire little burg was named after him he

might open his eyes. Taft is a recrudescence of the mining camp,

and it is one of the most interesting little places in the worked, for

a rank outsider, too. I went down there to look on , and say, if a

man who could see things s they are went down there, he could

get inspiration for some of the greatest stories ever written.

“In the first place, it is hard to realize that ‘Taft’ is there. I got on a

hill overlooking the site last February and there wasn't anything

but a rattlesnake or two in sight. I got on the same hill yesterday,

and by George, there was a city of 1,500 inhabitants. I could hard-

ly believe my own eyes at first.

“There is some bustle there too. I stopped at a hotel and was tak-

en with the place that I stepped up to the clerk and remarked that

I had some reservations up the line, but if I could cancel them I

would get a room if possible and stay in Taft overnight.”

-April 19, 2010

Wednesday, April 8, 2015— Harry Starkey, General Manager, West Kern Water District

Although Harry has been our guest before, it is always a pleasure to listen to the latest issues surrounding water in our community and State. The information coming from the State Water Resources Control Board is constant and prolific. Local districts must be ready to adjust their plans to be in alignment with the State’s decisions. The good news for us on the West Side is that harry is approachable and articulate; we know what is going on. So . . . what is the answer to the drought? We here in our water district have ten years-worth of stored water, but we still are sub-ject to the policies and regulations handed down by the State--which, again, paints with a broad (rather than spe-cific) stroke. The answer, according to Harry, is three con-secutive, very wet years.

Wednesday, April 15, 2015— Mark Staples, Planner, City of Taft

We appreciate hearing from our City Staff from time to time on various issues. Mark Staples, our City Planner, has been very willing to share with our Sit n Sip crowd, the in-progress projects around town and those that appear to be in the works. When he visited on Tax Day, he re-ported on the new Transit Center, which will be funded through grants and is now in planning. It will be located on Supply Row, adjoined to the Oilworker Monument by a parking lot, also being constructed through grant funds. Plans are underway to improve the City’s Waste Water Treatment Plant, and the Gardner Field Commercial com-plex is getting a new industrial building. A Plant and Gar-den Center has opened up at 207 Center Street, and a new stand-alone ATM machine will be going into the corner of Ninth and Kern Streets. The Planning Commission has approved a Verizon tower (tree) behind the BLM Fire Sta-tion on the corner of Ninth and Center.

In 2014 there were no single family housing permits is-sued in Taft. Already in 2015, eight have been issued, five of which are part of Mr. Colston’s Sandy Creek Estates Development and three for the Freedom Homes Develop-ment on Pilgrim. Seventy-five permits for solar were is-sued in 2014; so far this year, the City has issued seven-teen. Taft is moving in a good direction with many pro-jects in the beginning stages.

Wednesday, April 22, 2015— Police Chief Ed Whiting, City of Taft

Chief Ed Whiting came to Sit n Sip to give us the correct information about the SWAT stand-off that oc-curred on Center Street during the last weekend in March. Without reiterating the details, let it be said that the Taft Police Department with the coop-eration of the Bakersfield SWAT team (the guys with the robot), canine units, and the Kern County Sheriff’s De-partment, made the arrest of the suspect happen without the loss of life or limb. The suspect, accused pf killing his nephew in Washington State, has been returned to Wash-ington where he has reportedly pled guilty to homicide charges. The Chief’s narrative was a lesson in investiga-tive procedure, as we were treated to a kind of “peeling of the onion”—the process of elimination of possibilities as the investigators decide next steps in apprehending the suspect. Thank you, Chief. Always a pleasure!

Wednesday, April 8, 2015— Karina Capellino, Community Outreach Coordinator, CASA

CASA, Court Appointed Special Advocates, a volunteer organization organized in Kern County in 1993, are the eyes and ears of the Courts. They are advocates for the children of abuse, abandonment, and neglect. Following rigorous training, advocates are assigned cases involving one or more children, to provide a stable resource to the judge for the dispensation of the cases. Sadly, only 12% of the children in Kern County who could benefit from the services of a special advocate are served due to the availa-bility of trained advocates. Advocate Melissa Grahek spoke to the group, providing insightful information to those in the room considering becoming a special advo-cate. More information is available by calling 661 631-2272, the CASA office in Bakersfield.

Wednesday mornings @ 9AM Taft Chamber, 400 Kern Street

UPCOMING SIT N SIP SPEAKERS

May 6—Taft Relay for Life, LaNell Howell, Donna Hermann

May 13—West Kern Petroleum Summit, Sheri Horn-Bunk

May 20—Taft City School District, Julie Graves

May 27—IDI Tech, All Purpose Tech Solutions, Jonathan Prine

Dodger Icon and Legend Vin Scully Accepts McCarthy’s Invitation to Visit Taft’s Scully Field May 9

th

At the invitation of Congressman Kevin McCarthy, legendary Dodger announcer, Vin Scully will visit Taft’s Westside Parks and Recreation District’s Scully Field, a mini replica of Dodger Stadium for children to play wiffleball, on Saturday, May 9th. Mr. Scully will be on hand to visit with our local children and celebrate the work being done every day in support of the community.

Following Vin Scully’s visit, there will be wiffleball games played to win the annual “McCarthy Cup."

“It is an honor Vin Scully will visit Taft and the community field named after him. For generations, Vin Scully has served as a role model that embodies the values of hard work and perseverance

that make up the fabric of our community,” said Congressman Kevin McCarthy. “It will be a wonderful afternoon as we gather to honor not only a legend in baseball, but to celebrate the Westside community.”

The opening ceremony will start at 11:30am at the Westside Parks and Recreation District. Please call the Westside Parks and Recreation District at (661) 763-4246 for additional details.

By Dr. Kathy Orrin, Executive Director

TAFT OILWORKERS MONUMENT

PLACE YOUR ORDER

FOR OILDORADO!

Call us at 661-765-2165 to order a

brick for that special oilfield worker

or family member to be placed at the

Taft Oilworkers Monument.

4x8 Brick: $100—8x8 Brick: $175

7th Annual Rails to Trails

Car, Truck, and Bike Show

SATURDAY MAY 30, 2015

7am-3pm

Pre-register $25

Includes goodie bag and t-shirt

Day of Event $30

SAVE THE DATE!

Register your car today!

Doubtless you have heard the phrase, “Oh, I’m not political. I don’t do politics.” Apparently, politics, for those that don’t do it, is defined loosely—from innocuous actions, such as declining to state an opinion on an issue, to important lifestyle decisions such as exercising the right to vote. I would submit that both of those responses--staying silent by withholding oral communication and staying silent through non-participation-- are political!

As George Costanza once said to Jerry Seinfeld over lunch at Monk’s when Jerry refused to discuss his recent tryst with Elaine, “You’re not comfortable discussing this?! You’re not comfortable discussing this?! Well, my friend, you had better get comfortable discussing this—because this is big—really big!”

No one would be surprised to know that the Chamber Board deals with many controversial--and yes, political--decisions that take place or are argued daily. We often are asked to support different causes, bills going through the legislature, groups, or organiza-tions that claim to contribute to the common good. With the di-rection of the Chamber Board, I research the implications of such petitions to determine whether the end results are in the best in-terests of the people, businesses, and community we serve.

One such call for support came from the office of Assembly Mem-ber Jim Patterson who has authored a bill to prohibit contractors from having to pay twice for insurance for their employees. Cur-rently, the Affordable Care Act (ACA or “Obamacare”) requires contractors to carry insurance on their employees or pay a penal-ty for not doing so. Additionally, for certain projects, contractors must pay again for insurance through a union-operated healthcare plan in order to bid on or to be awarded a job. AB842 would fix this loophole in our construction contracting processes. Your Chamber wrote a letter in support of AB842 and sent it to the office of Assembly Member Patterson. Our Board believed this issue to be important to the people we serve.

We all have become aware of the draught and the effects and po-tential effects of the lack of water on our economy and our life-style. Our West Kern Water District has done their homework, and we here on the West Side have banked enough water to take care of our needs for the next ten years (kudos to the Water Board and General Manager Harry Starkey!); however, we are not in control. The State Water Resources Control Board is in the driver’s seat on this one, and they apparently are not detail-oriented.

According to a letter from Harry Starkey to the State Water Re-sources Control Board dated April 13, 2015, the newest decisions aimed at reducing the State’s potable water usage by 25% will have far-reaching, serious, and disparate effects. Disparate—not desparate—disparate, meaning unequal, as in unfair . . . OK for some, bad for us.

Continued on page 4

Politics, cont.

OK, so let’s take an example-- let’s take Harry’s example: watering a lawn in San Francisco vs. watering a lawn in Taft has obvious differences. One could argue that the folks in inland, non-coastal areas probably could forego pretty lawns for a season; people in San Francisco don’t have to watch their lawns turn brown. But what about evaporative coolers? People in Taft should be able to run them—they need them more than the people on the coast. Here’s where the “Tier system” comes in. The State has organized areas into Tiers according to their usage. Tier 1 water suppliers are (surprise) located in coastal areas and are designated Ti-er 1 due to their low water usage. Most inland water suppliers are designated Tier 4 suppliers. Here’s the genius regulatory part: The higher your Tier number, the more strict your regulations. So if you sit next to the Pacific Ocean, your water use restrictions are minimal compared to those who live in area that MUST rely on water. And I might add another no-brainer: if you live inland, you are less likely to be a millionaire, less likely to be able to shoulder the burden of higher costs for your water.

Another point made in Harry’s letter to the Water Board was that regarding industrial customers. It was clear at the April 9 meeting of the Water Board that they understood that the Governor’s Executive Order regarding water conservation gave a bye to industrial users such as oilfield operators and power generation facilities and agriculture. The Water Board has made a distinction between “process” water and “outdoor” water, water needed for the internal processes for which the plant or enterprise was designed and those that make the operation look good. The Proposed Regulatory Framework from the Water Board, however, does not distinguish between process water and outdoor water and will require suppliers to reduce the amount of water available to these industrial customers without regard to the Governor’s Executive Order.

Add to that issue a condition with which our own West Kern Water District has to contend: our water district not only supplies oilfield customers and power generating plants (which provide jobs for our local residents), it also supplies numerous residential customers. In the Proposed Framework, suppliers that serve only resi-dential customers will face far less aggressive restrictions than those who, like West Kern Water District, serve both industrial and residential. So, do we reduce the water supply to our industrial customers who need the water for their internal processes (that create jobs for our residents) or do we reduce the water supply to or penalize the water consumption of our residents (who fill the jobs in the industrial enterprises)?

Fortunately, General Manager Starkey has a well-crafted solution to this, again, disparate situation, a solu-tion which I will not attempt to explain here. Suffice it to say, the Chamber is watching this situation closely and will provide support to our Water District in any way we can. We are political.

My point goes back to George and Jerry sitting in Monk’s, talking over lunch: If you are not comfortable with politics, you had better get comfortable with politics. It is jobs, it is lifestyle, it is the air you breathe (some day we will talk about that one!), and it is the water you drink. If you don’t have an opinion about important issues, it may be because you have not informed yourself. Find out about the important directions our lead-ership and our economy are taking. Get smarter; get involved. Dare I say it? Get political.

$7,209 Raised on April 10, kick-starting the campaign to bring Fireworks back to

Taft!

Thank you to the Taft Oildorado Maids of Petroleum,

Kern County Fire Department, Kern County Sheriff,

and volunteers for helping collections donations for

the Taft Fireworks Show. The show will take place on

Friday, July 3, 2015 at the Rails to Trails. Stop by and

donate!

Thank you to the following sponsors of the show:

Aera Energy, City of Taft, Colston Construction, Dr.

Tang, Fastrip Food Store, Huddleston Crane, Jerry

Melton & Sons, McKittrick Waste Management, Mid-

Fund the Fireworks

1

8am-2pm, Fund The Fireworks

6-10pm, First Friday Cruise Night

2

5:30pm, St Andrews Church Basque Dinner, $8

6pm, IPA Knock-out @ The Bank

3 4

5:45pm, Vegetarian Support Group Meeting @ 7th Day Adventist Church

5

7:30am, PG&E Workshop at Kern Ag Pavilion

6pm, City Council Meeting

6

9am, Sit N Sip @ Chamber—Relay for Life

6pm, Industry Night @ Taft Petroleum Club

7

7am National Day of Prayer @ WSRPD

5pm, Service Club Summit @ Taft Chamber

8

7pm Battle of The Badges

9

10am, Vin Scully Comes to Taft, WSRPD

9am-3pm, Tune In & Tune Up

5-9pm, West Hills Church Carnival

TUHS Jazz Band

10

Mother’s Day

11 12

7pm Oildorado General Board Meeting

7pm, Drumline @ TUHS

13

9am, Sit N Sip—West Kern Petro-leum Summit

4pm, Together We Can Meeting

6pm, Wine Down Wednesday @The Bank

14

15

16

Taft Relay for Life

17 18 19

6pm, City Council Meeting

20

9am, Sit N Sip—Taft City Schools

6pm, Planning Commission Meeting

21

4pm, GTEDA Board Meeting

4:30pm, West Kern Economic Foundation Meet-ing

22

TC Graduation

23

5pm The Fort’s 75th Anniversary Celebration

Dental Hygiene Graduation @ OT

24

25

Memorial Day

26 27

9am, Sit N Sip—IDI Tech

4pm, Chamber Board Meeting

28

8:30-10:30am, Environmental Health Seminar @ Taft Chamber

29

30

7am-3pm, Taft Chamber Car Show @ Rails to Trails

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1

2

6pm, City Council Meeting

3

9am, Sit N Sip

6pm, TUHS Graduation

4

6pm, Lincoln Junior High Graduation

5

8am-12pm, Fund The Fireworks

6-10pm, First Friday Cruise Night

6

7 8 9

7pm, Oildorado General Board Meeting

10

9am, Sit N Sip

11 12 13

Paws in the Park

14 15 16

6pm, City Council Meeting

17

9am, Sit N Sip

6pm, Planning Commission Meeting

18

19

20

June 2015

(Upcoming_events)

July 2015 1, Industry Night @ Petroleum Club

3. Taft Fireworks Show 7. City Council Meeting

21, City Council Meeting 22, Planning Commission Meeting

25. Ford City Park K,C, Animal Vaccine Clinic 29, Chamber Board Meeting

FOLLOW THE COUNTDOWN

BUY YOUR WINDOW STICKER AT

TRUE VALUE AND AT THE TAFT

CHAMBER

Only $3

Anyone who is interested in eating healthier can join the Taft Vegetarian Support Group on Monday, May 4, 2015 at 401 Harrison Street (Seventh Day Adventist Church Social Hall). The meeting begins at 5:45pm.

St. Andrew’s Church is having a Basque Chicken dinner on Saturday, May 2. It will be held at 5:30 pm. The cost is only $8.00 and you can eat there or take out.

This is a fundraiser for the church!

Taft would like to welcome Greg Haslow who is now pastoring Calvary Temple, along with his wife Linda. They are a beautiful, humble couple who have a real vision for Calvary Temple and want to be involved in what God wants to do in Taft. You can contact him through the Calvary Temple email: acalvarytemple@bak.rr.com.

13th Annual Fundraiser for the Taft Union High School

Boys and Girls Golf Program

Thank you for considering a hole-sponsorship for our thirteenth annual golf tournament held at Buena Vista Golf Course on August 22, 2015. The Moron Golf Tour-nament has donated $35,000 to the TUHS Boys and Girls Golf Teams and brings several thousands of dol-lars to the community each year. Most of our attendees grew up in Taft and many still live here.

The cost for a hole-sponsorship is $100.00 and your custom made sign will be prominently displayed at Buena Vista golf course during the day of the tourna-ment. Your business name will also appear on our cus-tom made scoreboard, Taft’s Midway Driller as a spon-sor and it’s tax deductible.

Please contact Brad Cross and email your logo to Eliz-abeth Henry (who grew up in Taft) at Southwest Signs SWsigns@sbcglobal.net or call her at (661) 833-8323 and they will create a high quality, professional sign advertising your business. Payments can be paid to “Cross M.I. Golf tournament” and mailed to: Brad Cross at 3600 MCCOURRY ST. BAKSERFIELD, CA 93304 or contact Brad Cross at 661-204-6042 or email him at moroninvitation@sbcglobal.net

We also need raffle donations and appreciate anything you can give to help support the golf teams at Taft Un-ion High School.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call Brad Cross or any of our contacts listed below.

Thank you!

Brad Cross (661) 204-6042

Rich Miller (661) 765-7131

Chuck Chavin, TUHS Athletic Director (661) 763-2300

Mike Cowan, TUHS Girls Golf Coach (661) 477-3637

Mike Goodwin, TUHS Boys Coach (661) 619-3729

Looking for a Ladies evening? Join us on Wednesday, May 20 at 6:30pm at the Taft Chamber office for an Empower Hour, and learn how to use a stun gun, pepper spray, and safe-ty tips too! Get ready to be

equipped, empowered and educated! The guest who brings the most guests will receive a gift from the Dam-sel Pro. See you there at the Taft Chamber!

2015 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

President: Emmanuel Campos Monarch Fleet Services

1st Vice President: Ron Sousa

Albertsons

2nd Vice President: Jordan Miller Roger Miller Insurance Agency

Treasurer: Bart Hill

United Security Bank

Devinder Bains Taft Chevrolet—Buick

Glenn Black

Black/Hall Construction

Eric Burkhart Total Western Inc.

Les Clark

West Side Recreation and Park District

Tony Cordova Synagro

Bob Hampton

Westside Waste Management

Ed Herrera Edward J Herrera Insurance Agency

Greg Hill

Old’s Cool Antiques and More

Sharon Hill Taft Union High School

Shawn Johnson

David Janes Company

Sandy Koenig Westside Community Resource Center

Orchel Krier

Tumbleweed Café

Dr. Dena Maloney Taft College

Yvette Mayfield

City of Taft

John Neumann Accelerated Environmental

Dennis Schertz

Asian Experience

Harry Starkey West Kern Water District

John Swearengin

Kern County Sheriff’s Office

Dan Tosti Aera Energy LLC

Adele Ward

Taft City School District

Rodney Wikoff West Hills Church of the Nazarene

400 Kern Street Taft, CA 93268

661-765-2165

www.taftchamber.com

OUR STAFF

Executive Director: Dr. Kathy Orrin kathy.taftchamber@gmail.com

Event Coordinator: Shannon Jones

shannon.taftchamber@gmail.com

Welcome to our new and returning members for March &

April for 2015!

Oilstock Festival Announces Oildorado 2015 Entertainment

Foghat, Taylor Hicks, Junior Brown, Trux-ton Mile, Monroy, Bridge and Skynnyn Lynnyrd Confirmed to Preform

Starstruck Entertainment has announced the Oilstock Music Festival set for 16, 17, and 18 at franklin Field as part of the Oil-dorado 2015 celebration. The event, a 3-day concert and family entertainment fes-tival, is a benefit for the Taft Oildorado Committee and Going Coconuts for a Cure.

“As far as I know…, this is the only 3 day festival of its kind in Kern County,” said Ed Gaither, program man-ager for Oilstock 2015. “This is definitively an event for all ages.”

“While all the acts have not been con-firmed, we can announce that Foghat, Taylor Hicks, Junior Brown, Truxton Mile, Monroy, Bridge and Skynnyn Lynnyrd have been confirmed to play. An addition-al headliner act will be announced May 31st.

According to Gaither, the festival will fea-tures a sports lounge, special Budweiser Outdoor Patios, a kids zone, and a food

concession area on the 4 sport fields at Franklin Field.

For tickets visit online at www.oilstock.eventbrite.com. Tickets are also available in the main office of West Side Recreation & Park District (500 Cas-cade Place, Taft). Ticket prices start at $30 per person. A three-day pass is $85 for a three concert days. Reserved tables of 8 are available for all 3 days for $1000. Cabanas will be available for $3000.

For more information, email info@teamstrstruck.com.

No ice chests, outside food or drinks will be allowed inside the festival site. The event will provide free parking. Special VIP parking is available for purchases of two or more 3-day pass concert tickets.

There will also be a Rocket-beer Fest for adults on Saturday, October 17th featuring samples of local a regional craft beers, sponsored by Budweiser. The beer tasting is $20 per person and tickets can be purchased at Black Gold Brewing Company, The bank Sports Lounge and the West Side Recreation & Park District main office. The event is 21 years old and older only, and guests will receive a col-lectable beer sample glass. Gates will open at 1:30pm.

Adam Bolla's Mobile Wash Adventist Health - Community Care

Aera Energy LLC Anderson Business Service, Inc.

Ashley,Jan Black Gold Cafe and Deli

California Independent Petroleum Association Calvary Temple Assembly of God

Charles J. Walker D.D.S., Inc. Colston Construction, Inc.

Comprehensive Care Systems Country Auto & Truck – Napa

Distribution NOW - NOV Wilson Express Employment Professionals

Hatch, Ray & Lodema Helt Engineering, Inc.

Huddleston Crane Service, Inc. Integrity Bookkeeping.

J & D Recycling Jo's Restaurant

Kern Citizens for Energy La Salsa Family Restaurant

LINN Energy Lucard Apartments

M & S Security McKittrick Waste Treatment Site

Mi Casita Restaurant Oildale Tire N Taft

Old's Cool Antiques & More Randy's Trucking, Inc.

Roger Miller Insurance Agency Sagebrush Annie's

Synagro Sunset Rails

Taft College Cougar Corner Bookstore Taft Lions Club

Taft Union High School Terrachem, Inc.

TRC Operating Company, Inc. Tumbleweed Cafe

West Side Senior Care WestAmerica Bank

Western States Petroleum Association Westside Believer's Fellowship