BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — A Kern County Grand Jury report says California City faces major issues stemming from ongoing frequent turnover, unstable city management and an uncertain financial future.
The report released Thursday said the grand jury was tasked to investigate complaints from citizens regarding “general operations and performance of the City.”
The terms “financial crisis,” “leadership crisis,” “budget crisis,” “dysfunction,” were used in previous reports, Thursday’s report reads. “The situation is much the same today,” according to the report.
For its investigation, the grand jury attended California City City Council meetings, and conducted interviews with councilmembers, residents and city staffers. The grand jury also reviewed previous reports, city financial statements, council meetings, meeting agendas and available council meeting minutes.
The report lists 14 findings from its investigation including that constant turnover at the City Manager position has been “very disruptive to the effective and efficient governance of the city.” California City has had seven city managers over the last two years — four since February 2023, the report stated.
The report paints a dire financial picture for the future for California City as the city is operating on a month-to-month basis using a “preliminary budget” for the 2023-2024 fiscal year.
Other findings indicate the city is financially unstable and has lacked long-term planning. City budgets were not approved on time each of the last three years. Budgets were approved months after the start of fiscal years, according to the report.
Grand jurors found the city also does not regularly develop and review budget variance reports showing actual performance versus expected performance.
“The City does not have a clear picture of is finances and is unable to effectively plan for both current operations and for the drastic revenue shortfalls it is facing,” the report stated.
The report stated the closure of the California City Correctional facility and failing to collect cannabis industry revenues — around $500,000 — contributed to the city’s financial instability. The city’s Measure C — a special tax for public safety passed in 2018 — is set to expire June 30. Without the tax revenues, the city’s police and fire departments face a shortfall of $6.14 million in the 2024-2025 fiscal year.
The report also states the city has lacked transparency in maintaining or posting its city council meetings, their agendas, or their approved minutes to its website. “It is not clear how the City Council reconciles the resolutions posted in the agendas against the actual resolutions voted on in open session.”
The report concludes with a series of recommendations for the city council including hiring a full-time city manager by June 1, and a deputy city manager and finance director by July 1.
