AMERICA'S SKIES GOING GRAY

Early most mornings, you will find Delbert Williams climbing into the cockpit of his Air Tractor, snapping on a helmet and roaring down the runway at the Wasco Airport.

At 73 years old, Williams is an oddity. He is likely Kern County's oldest, regularly flying cropduster -- or preferably "ag pilot" to those in the business.

Age is no big deal to Williams, who commutes from his ranch in Woody to operate Tri-Star Agrinautics in Wasco. He says his hero is Al Grouleff, an 85-year-old San Joaquin cropduster who continues to fly.

But age is a big deal in an industry that has amazed us on the ground for nearly a century with its graceful aerial ballet. This air force of private pilots is getting older. Most pilots now are in their 50s and 60s. It is the exceptional pilot who is healthy enough and willing enough to fly beyond that age.

For the sake of the industry they serve, and the increasing world demand for the food they help grow, many aging pilots now wonder who will fill their seats when they finally are grounded.

"We're in the 911 business," Williams said as he prepared to take off one recent morning. "When the pest control advisor goes into a field, when all alternatives have been tried, when the bad bugs are out-eating the good bugs, they call us in."

Skimming the tops of plants while dodging power lines, skillful cropdusters plant fields, fertilize crops and drop mixtures from the air that help fight the "bad bugs." Safety rules have restricted where and how these pilots work.

Changing crop patterns -- particularly the trading of "king cotton" for tree-planting in the valley -- has reduced the need for their services. And the bigger carrying capacity of today's aircraft has resulted in doing more with less.

But still the need for cropdusters exists and the looming shortage is troublesome.

The California Agricultural Aircraft Association estimates ag pilots in the state log more than 100,000 hours in flight time a year. Terry Gage, the association's president, estimated there are 400 fully licensed ag pilots in California, but only 300 are actively flying.

Many of the old-timer pilots turned their military aviation experience into flying-by-the-seat-of-their-pants civilian jobs upon discharge. But much more is demanded of today's ag pilot. He or she must be an "applicator" first and a pilot second.

Licenses from a wide range of alphabet-soup regulatory agencies and the Federal Aviation Administration, as well as extensive training and apprenticeships, are required.

"Part of the challenge is finding the right individual," Gage said. "It's more than flying low over fields. We need people serious about agriculture."

"We don't wear ties and suits to work. We wear jeans and carry lunch buckets. But we are professional, skilled aviators," Williams said.

It's not just the education, licensing and experience requirements that keep new pilots from entering the industry. It's also the high cost of insuring a plane flown by an inexperienced pilot.

Williams learned how to fly when he was a Bakersfield High School student. He said he paid for his lessons by washing and fueling airplanes for Roy Pemberton at Meadows Field. He completed a tour in the Air National Guard. His experience in agriculture began with mixing chemicals and loading cropdusters.

But likely the professional breaks Williams was given as a young pilot he could not afford to give a newcomer today. In fact he said he advises pilots wanting to get into the business to spend some years in the Midwest, where restrictions and the physical challenges may be less and opportunities greater. Then return to California as a more seasoned aviator.

When I called to San Joaquin to check up on Williams' hero, Al Grouleff, he was out flying with his 18-year-old grandson, Greg Grouleff Jr. Greg's father, Greg Sr., answered the phone at the cropdusting business the family has operated for 67 years.

Greg Jr. has the flying bug. He wants to be a cropduster. When his grandfather isn't dusting crops or joyriding in his Stearman biplane, Greg Sr. said he is teaching the youngster the ropes.

But even with a family business to back up his dream, Greg Jr. is being urged to be cautious.

"We want him to have a backup plan," said his father, who has encouraged his only son to enroll in Fresno State and major in agriculture.

Even the old-timers worry about the uncertainty of their industry.

"I think there will always be a need for us," said Allan Bittleston, who runs Vince Crop Dusters Inc. in Buttonwillow. But he admits the need is shrinking.

This article written by Dianne Hardisty appeared first in The Bakersfield Californian in July 2009.

BILL THOMAS TARGETS MELTDOWN

Bill Thomas isn’t out to get anyone. Rather Bakersfield’s tough, smart and powerful former Republican congressman is on a crusade to get the truth.

Thomas is vice-chairman of the 10-member Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, created by Congress and President Obama to explain how the nation’s financial institutions ended up in today’s mess.

The bipartisan commission is headed by Democrat Phil Angelides, California’s former treasurer. But leadership and administrative duties are shared by both men. As the commission shifts into “high gear” next month, with the first of eight public hearings scheduled and teams of investigators swarming over Wall Street financial records, Thomas and Angelides are presenting a firm, unified front.

Innovative and complex Wall Street financial schemes brought the nation’s and world’s banks to the verge of collapse, and plunged the economy into the deepest recession since the Great Depression. People are losing their homes, businesses and jobs. Billions upon billions of tax dollars have been spent to shore up banks that are “too big to fail.”

The commission’s job is to explain how that happened, and to create a repository of information that can be used by the president, Congress and others to help fix problems and keep them from happening again.

“The fact is that late in 1929, people were throwing themselves out of windows on Wall Street. This year, they’re lining up for bonuses. There has been no serious self-examination on Wall Street of what has occurred and what should be in the future,” Angelides told economists and policy-makers at a conference in Washington, D.C., last month.

Some people on Wall Street now acknowledge that they were not comfortable about the activities they engaged in, Thomas said during a recent interview with The Californian.

“But they said, ‘The music was playing and if I had not played along, I would be out of a job because there were people who were making money on paper. We could not be highfalutin and sit it out,’” Thomas recalled being told. “So in other words, somebody had to hold them responsible. You would like to think to a certain extent there were certain morals and mores that bankers would follow. But obviously the Fed relied on self-regulation to a certain extent. People could not help themselves. ‘Stop me before I loan again.’”

The commission’s job is to examine why Wall Street firms did not stop themselves and why regulators didn’t stop them.

Both Angelides and Thomas agree that the commission’s job is to shed light, not heat on the Wall Street scandal that has left many Americans struggling just to make ends meet. But the commission’s fact-finding mission also has teeth. If corporate giants, or government regulators are uncooperative, commissioners have been given subpoena powers to compel cooperation. If evidence of wrongdoing merits it, cases can be referred to law enforcement.

“We are not out to embarrass people,” said Thomas. “We are out to find the facts. As the facts come out, a number of people will have to be embarrassed because they were in positions of responsibility and didn’t do what people in these positions should do.”

But when the commission reaches its Dec. 15, 2010 deadline, the goal is to leave Americans with a book to explain what happened and a yard stick to measure the efforts of this Congress and future Congresses to fix the problems.

Thomas is commuting to Washington from Bakersfield to get the commission up and running. He also serves as a visiting fellow with the American Enterprise Institute and a senior advisor to Buchanan, Ingersoll and Rooney, a Washington, D.C., law firm.

He sat down with The Californian during a holiday break to discuss the commission’s work and the crisis that led to its creation.

Q – Some people are comparing the Fiscal Crisis Inquiry Commission to the 1930s Pecora Commission, which investigated the causes of the Great Depression. Is that a good comparison?

A – “[Ferdinand] Pecora was a Senate staffer. It was an on-again, off-again Senate inquiry. The guy was pulling stunts. He wanted to embarrass the Wall Street folks. He wanted to make a name for himself and others. There wasn’t a lot of legislation that came out of that commission.”

Thomas contended much of the legislation credited to Pecora’s probe, such as creation of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., was already in progress before the Senate hearings. The FCIC’s work will be a wide-ranging search for causes and will be the basis for legislation beyond the commission’s life.

“Part of our job is to explain to people what happened and why,” he said. “Some people still can’t figure it out. They just know that they are in real trouble with their housing. We are going to try to write a book that will be fairly easy reading. It won’t be like the 9/11 Commission book, because they were forced to maintain a degree of secrecy. There were things they could not write about. But it will be along those lines.”

Q – It doesn’t seem important to ask “why.” The president and Congress already are proposing financial reforms. They aren’t waiting for the commission to tell them “why.”

A – “They can’t wait. They have problems to face and the president is talking about changes. If the focus is on explaining what happened, they think they know what happened, as well. We are going to try to provide a comprehensive analysis of what happened. At the time we publish, we can take it as a yardstick and measure what Congress has done.”

Noting Congress moves slowly, Thomas predicted few reforms will be in place before the commission’s reporting deadline.

“You can be very cynical and say that the reporting date in the legislation is Dec. 15, 2010, right after the election, so Congress can say it’s waiting for the commission to give up the specifics if it can’t get anything done.”

Q – Some people -- inside and outside the government -- contend the big problems are behind us. Is that true?

A – “There are a number of folks [on Wall Street] going right back to practicing, to a large extent, what they were practicing prior to the collapse. And they have short memories because they now say they didn’t need to take the TARP money. Well they took it. They still got rescued. The life ring was thrown. They grabbed it. And we pulled them out.

“They want to pay the money back and play the old game. I think it is dumb of them, frankly, to want to go back to making money the old way. They still have those instruments. They modified them slightly, but not enough. They are creating an animosity toward them not unlike the way people have felt about other institutions in the past and that has to be reckoned with.

“And it is getting more complicated now that Congress is getting some of that money returning back. Now they want to spend it, instead of regarding it as the payback of the taxpayers’ money that was used to float the loans in the first place. They just think it is found money and they are going to be using it for all types of purposes.”

Q – What new or ongoing issues should concern us?

A – “What really happened was that all these large banks were carrying these strange instruments of consolidated mortgages. And all of a sudden they weren’t worth that much. Well, how much were they worth? We didn’t know for sure. Moody’s gave them a triple-A rating so they could sell them to other people. But if you look at the rating game, you pay for the rating. So you end up hiring one of the firms that gave you a triple-A.

“It’s a lot like what happened to the accounting firms that recommended how and where you invested your money, and then went over the books and, guess what, they concluded that was a great place to invest your money. Except it blew up. You can’t have people on both sides of a ledger when they are carrying out a function.

“People were buying triple-A ratings. Maybe they weren’t triple-A. Maybe they were junk. Banks had these on their books and they didn’t know if they were worth anything. It wasn’t that they didn’t have enough money. They just didn’t know what they had.”

Thomas equated the Wall Street schemers to “mad scientists,” who were not sure what they were creating. They just knew they were making lots of money.

“One of the ways to deal with rating agencies is to say OK, if this is a triple-A document, you have to put some of your own money in so that you will be at risk. One of the biggest problems is that people with these products had no risk. They could shop the risk. And those who were willing to cover the risk thought there were no risks, so they were willing to make ‘free money.’ Everybody was making free money until reality set in.

“It is partly the job of the Federal Reserve to take the punch bowl away from the party. Clearly there was an unwillingness [at the Fed] to stop this structure because it appeared to be OK and it was very lucrative.”

Q – Should some banks be “too big to fail?”

A – Two presidents, Congress and regulators “knew if these structures collapsed, it would be like dominos. Don’t hit the first one. The others might not stay up. The time frame was such that you had to just pump money in it. It’s what you do in triage with people coming in. First you have to keep them alive. Then you figure out what their problem is. And then you figure out what you have to do to solve the problem. The massive infusion of money was to keep the patient alive. Did some of it go where it shouldn’t have gone? Of course. But it was to keep them alive. They are now back and making money. But we are concerned because we don’t fully understand them and they don’t either.”

Q – How will the commission unsnarl this financial maze?

A – “We are looking at holding eight hearings. We would like to have 20, but we don’t have time for that. We have a very short time frame.”

Thomas said the first hearing will be held in mid-January over two days at the Capitol. The chief executive officers of some of Wall Street’s major financial institutions will be called to testify. Future public hearings will be announced, with the investigation continuing and information compiled for both the final report and the repository, which will be housed in the National Archives in Washington, D.C.

The law creating the commission specified 22 areas of study. Thomas acknowledged the commission’s scope will be wide-ranging and consider both domestic and international implications.

“People were surprised that this went so quickly around the world as a conflagration. Internationally, finances are completely intermingled. Nation states are an anachronism when it comes to today’s international financial structures. So that has to be addressed, as well.”

Q – How much will this inquiry cost?

A – “The 9/11 commission started out with $3 million and ended up spending $16 million. We started at $8 million. You can always do it with what they give you, but it might take a little bit more only because of the timeframe we are in. We have a lot to do in a shorter period of time.”

Thomas said staff from other departments also will be assigned to help with the work.

Q – Why did you agree to take on this huge inquiry?

A – “It is an impossible job in an impossible time frame. But friends of mine, who are leaders in the House, came to me and asked me to do this. They said they could not think of anyone else who could do this.”

Thomas admitted he was reluctant at first. But as the other members were appointed and as Democratic Chairman Angelides voluntarily agreed to share the commission’s powers with Thomas, a Republican, Thomas has gained confidence that the inquiry will be thorough, honest and fair.

“I felt the pursuit of what happened actually had a chance.”

This article written by Dianne Hardisty first appeared in The Bakersfield Californian on Dec. 27, 2009.

LIVING TO 100 NOW 'POSSIBLE'

Babies born today stand a good chance of living to be 100 years old. That is, if they are able to dodge the unexpected truck or overcome the unexpected illness.
Their chances of living that long also will be enhanced if others in their family live long, healthy lives.

That was the conclusion of Danish researchers, who reported this fall that medical advances and lifestyle changes are causing the life expectancy in the United States and Western Europe to stretch. Today’s babies are likely to become tomorrow’s centenarians.

Ruth Strom of Bakersfield, Calif., and her daughter, Betty Jones, hope these babies will prepare themselves for the challenges of old age. They hope these babies will be able to afford to live those 100 years.

Ruth celebrated her 100th birthday in August. She says she never expected to live that long. But she should have. Her mother, a Minnesota farmer’s wife from tough Norwegian stock, lived to be 101 years old. And with the exception of family members who smoked, Ruth’s brother and sisters have lived into their late 80s and 90s.

Betty, who retired a few years ago as a Bakersfield elementary school teacher, looks after her mother, who lives in a spacious northwest Bakersfield house she shares with five elderly women. Ruth’s rent, assisted care and other expenses are eating away at her savings and pension. Ruth is fortunate. Her health is good, requiring little outlay for medicines, and she has lived conservatively, keeping money worries to a minimum.

But Betty, who is on the leading edge of the tsunami of baby boomers heading into retirement, worries that many in her generation and those younger have no clue what old age will cost and who will pay for it.

“It’s a big challenge. People need to be better prepared. They need to start putting money away for their retirements,” said Betty, who receives a teacher’s pension. Her husband, Trent, retired about five years ago, after selling his family’s plumbing company, Gundlach’s.

The MacArthur Research Network on an Aging Society this month released a report contending the U.S. Census Bureau and Social Security Administration have grossly underestimated the average lifespan of Americans.

For decades, the agencies’ life expectancy predictions have been reasonably accurate. The life expectancy of a man born in 1900 has gone from 60 years old to 74 years old for a male child born in 2005. But government analysts predicted the returns on medical advances would taper off, rather than continuing to add years to Americans’ lives at an astronomical pace.

MacArthur researchers and those at the Danish Aging Research Center disagree. Medical research is on the cutting edge of attacking even more diseases, they noted. And while the “fountain of youth” remains elusive, anti-aging research has increased.
Just this month, for example, the Buck Institute for Age in Novato, Calif., received a nearly $1.6 million grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine to focus on stem cell research to develop treatment for illnesses, such as Alzheimer’s disease.

Like their Danish counterparts, MacArthur researchers predict Americans are going to live from three to eight years longer than expected by 2050. While that may not seem to be a lot longer, it likely will cost government agencies and families trillions of dollars more to provide services for aging Americans.

“The economic implications for the U.S. economy are huge,” said S. Jay Olshansky, the study’s co-author, who estimated by 2050 the U.S. will be spending $3.2 trillion to $8.3 trillion more in today’s dollars than currently projected.

And by the middle of the next decade, those over 60 will outnumber those under age 15. This explosion of the elderly means new methods of transportation, medical care, living arrangements and retirement planning must be developed.

Healthy lifestyles and medical advances are a double-edged sword. While these trends are helping Americans live longer, they also are helping them live better – maintaining their quality of life, while containing the cost of providing services.

Researchers look to people, such as Ruth Strom, to help us travel the path to longer living. They contend centenarians share common traits that can become guide points for the rest of us. These include: having a family history of long life; adapting to life’s setbacks; being self-sufficient; engaging in intellectual activity; having a sense of humor; holding religious beliefs; connecting to other people; keeping blood pressure low; not smoking or drinking heavily; playing musical instruments; enjoying simple pleasures; controlling diet; exercising regularly; having a positive attitude; and looking young.

During a recent interview, Ruth discussed these traits:

Self-sufficiency – “I am sure of my decisions. I am confident something is what I want to do. I am practical and have common sense.”

Sense of humor – “I can surely catch a joke,” she said with a big grin and laugh.

Simple pleasures – “I loved working in the yard and homey things.”

Low blood pressure – “I have no physical problems. I have been very healthy.”

Smoking – “I never smoked,” she said, admitting that she tried it and didn’t like it.

Drinking – “No, I tasted it. The whole family doesn’t drink.”

Music – “I played piano, but not very well.” When she lived in Arroyo Grande, before moving to Bakersfield to be near her daughter, she and her sisters formed a singing group. “I like to sing. If there is a singing group going on, I like to be in it.”

Diet – “I fight it all the time. I seem to be always on a diet.”

Self-esteem – Betty, who called her mother humble, said Ruth usually put other people first. “We did not approve of bragging,” Ruth added.

Exercise – Before moving to Bakersfield, she and her sisters would walk together every day.

Intellectual activity – Ruth was a teacher in Minnesota, before marrying a farmer. The couple later moved to Ventura and she became Grover Beach’s part-time librarian. An avid bridge player, Ruth’s favorite topics of conversation are the news and religion.

Young looking – After studying about 2,000 people aged 70 and older over several years, Danish researchers concluded people who look younger seem to live longer. Ruth looks 10, maybe 20 years younger than her 100 years. Betty credits her mother’s youthful appearance to her daily application of Pond’s cream.

Religion – Religion and family have been central to Ruth’s life. She belongs to the First Presbyterian Church in Bakersfield.

Amazed she is alive and well at 100 years old, Ruth observed, “I’m sure glad to be alive.” But she added when God is ready to take her, she will be glad of that, too.

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

Foreclosure is problem for everyone

Retired city planning, John Hardisty, who now mediates settlement of civil cases in superior court, has a front row seat on the unfolding "foreclosure crisis." Day after day, he watches homeowners hauled before judges as part of a process to evict them from their homes that are being foreclosed by banks.

Most of these people have not bought about their ability to pay. These are people who have lost their jobs in this brutal economy, their homes are no longer worth what they paid for them, and banks refuse to modify their loans. In many cases, homeowners complain they cannot even get their banks to discuss loan modification.

He wrote about this recently in an opinion article published in The Bakersfield Californian (see "As Foreclosure Crisis Keeps Growing, Lenders, Borrowers Need Mediation" by John Hardisty http://tiny.cc/u71uc ) The article urges legislators to begin a program in California similar to one already implemented in more than a dozen states. It requires mediation to be a part of the foreclosure process.

Foreclosure is not just a crisis for individual home owners. Foreclosures are blighting communities. They are endangering the life of that firefighter who must rush to extinguish a blaze in an abandoned home. They are causing public health and law enforcement problems. They are lowering home values in every neighborhood.

He plans to keep writing about this national crisis and wants to hear what is happening in your neighborhood, city and state. Is the foreclosure problem growing? What should be done? Please post your comments on this journal or write John Hardisty directly at planningbeat@yahoo.com. Thanks!

YOUNG, SCARED, BUT NOT ALONE

Cassaundra Friedberg was 8 years old when she was first taken to the Jamison Center, Kern County’s emergency children’s shelter. When police arrived at her family’s front door, they found filth and little food. Cassaundra’s parents had gone out of town, leaving an older brother to care for his four siblings.

The five children were snatched away from the Bakersfield home and deposited into the Jamison Center. The two oldest boys were kept together, as were a younger sister and brother. Cassaundra, the middle child, was housed separately.

“I was very scared. I was crying. I felt isolated,” Cassaundra, who is now 22, recalled during a recent interview. “Every night, I would get my pillow and blanket and crawl under a desk in the room. That’s where they would find me in the morning. I still remember that room. I would cry and cry in school. It was very emotional.” In about a week, Cassaundra and her brothers and sister were returned to her parents. “I was relieved to go home.”

Five years later, Cassaundra and her two younger siblings were sent back to the Jamison Center. Cassaundra is a bit sketchy about the details of this incident, but she recalls police were summoned to check on conditions in a neighboring house. Instead, they went to Cassaundra’s, where they again found squalor.

By then, Cassaundra’s father, who had a lengthy criminal record, had died of a heart attack. Cassaundra’s mother was not sending her children to school. Police and social workers stepped in, removing the children from the home. After two months, the children again were returned to their mother.

Two years later, Cassaundra returned to the Jamison Center a third time, when her mother was arrested on drug charges. This final visit resulted in Cassaundra and her siblings being assigned to foster care.

“As a teenager, you are scared, angry and depressed. You are angry at the situation. You feel the social workers are picking on you. When you live in a situation, like I did, you justify it to yourself. My parents didn’t do anything wrong. Everyone’s parents did drugs.”

Cassaundra grew close to her foster parents’ adult daughter. Eventually she moved in with the woman, who adopted her last year as an adult. “She is my mom. She will always be my mom.”

Cassaundra graduated from Liberty High School and went on to earn a bachelor of arts degree in criminal justice from California State University, Bakersfield. She now is working on a master’s degree in public administration from CSUB.

And she has returned again to the Jamison Center -- this time as a staff member, helping and comforting the shelter’s children.

Why return if her memories are so painful?

“To confront my fears,” she said. “I like Jamison. We are here to do a lot of good. But it is a scary process for a child to be taken away from parents and isolated.”

Working at the Jamison Center and pursuing a career in criminal justice is her way of helping vulnerable women and children.

Conditions at the Jamison Center on Shalimar Drive in northeast Bakersfield have changed since Cassaundra was that young child hiding under a desk. No longer is the center overcrowded, with children sleeping several to a room on cots and on couches.

“We went to school in shifts,” Cassaundra said, recalling when she lived at Jamison Center there were more than 60 children living there. “It was crazy, insane.”

Jamison Center overcrowding has been relieved by the establishment of a network of emergency foster homes, explained Carl Guilford, the center’s director.

“We try to make Jamison as child-friendly as we can, but it is an institution,” said Guilford. “We try to get children into a family situation as quickly as we can.”

On the day Cassaundra was interviewed, the Jamison Center housed only 28 children. Most were in the 7- to 12-year-old age range. The center’s staff was about 50, with teachers, medical workers from Kern Medical Center and mental health personnel on site. Most children now stay at the center for a matter of hours and days, rather than weeks and months.

“If a child does get here, social workers try to quickly find them homes,” said Guilford, noting that keeping the number of children at the Jamison Center low allows fragile children to receive more individual care.

“Because I have lived here, I know where these kids are coming from and I try to help,” said Cassaundra. “These kids are going through a scary process. Jamison is better than when I lived here. But these kids are still scared.”

(In photo, above, Cassaundra comforts a small child at the Jamison Center.)

This story written by DIANNE HARDISTY was posted first on The Bakersfield Californian's Website (www.bakersfield.com) on Dec. 10, 2009. It was published in The Bakersfield Californian on Dec. 13, 2009.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Miriam A. Jamison Center
1010 Shalimar Drive
Children who live at the Jamison Center, Kern County's emergency children's shelter, have many needs. Some cost money; some cost time. Cassaundra Friedberg, 22, and Stephanie Ortega, 20, two former center residents, and Carl Guilford, the center's director, sat down recently to discuss these needs and how people in the community can help.

Volunteer

From helping with an art project, or just cuddling a toddler, time adults spend with Jamison Center children can make a difference in the children's lives. To volunteer, call Blanca Anderson, volunteer coordinator, at 631-6717.

"Children are like barnacles," Guilford observed. "They will attach to anyone who will stand still long enough."

Friedberg and Ortega fondly remembered Pat. "He was the old guy who came twice a week," recalled Ortega, who was removed from her family when she was 6 years old because of abuse. "I loved that old guy. He knew me by my name. He was so sweet and genuine."

Gifts

Toys and other gifts are appreciated at Christmas. But not all these toys will be showered on the children in December. Guilford noted that children live at the center all year long. There are birthdays to be celebrated. Gift also are needed to stock the "KC Store," where each week children who have been good are rewarded with a prize.

"You need something to feel loved when you are here," Friedberg said.

Clothes

New socks and underwear are a constant need. Note that not all the children at the Jamison Center are small. Often living in the shelter are teenagers, who can stretch to more than 6 feet tall and weigh over 200 pounds. Lightly worn outer clothing and shoes in all sizes also are needed, as are disposable newborn diapers.

"When children come to us, it may be right from their homes, schools or a hospital," Guilford said. "They might not bring anything with them." When they leave the Jamison Center to be placed in a foster home, they are sent with three sets of clothing.

Money

Donations of money can be made to the Jamison Foundation, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization. The foundation's money is used on special projects, including building projects, and other activities not included in the county's budget. Send donations to the Jamison Center Foundation at P.O. Box 1574, Bakersfield, CA 93302.

Money can be donated directly to the Jamison Center and placed in a separate county account. This money will be used to pay the cost of such things as outings for the children. Send these donations to the Jamison Center at P.O. Box 511, Bakersfield 93302.

"It was always good to get out of here," Ortega said, fondly remembering her outings to the movies or to a fast-food restaurant. "Sometimes when I was here, I felt I was not part of the world. These trips made me feel like I was still a part of society."

GROUP TARGETS MINORITY VOTERS

Latinos are California’s fastest growing minority community and by 2042 are expected to be the racial/ethnic majority in the state.

Yet they are among the least likely to vote, allowing California’s political decisions to be made by white non-Latino voters and more organized, mobilized ethnic minority groups, researchers have concluded.

As the 2010 political campaigns already are beginning to come alive in California, the Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs Association has scheduled a meeting in Bakersfield on Friday [Dec. 11] to map out a strategy for encouraging minority communities to participate in Kern County’s political process.

A non-profit organization, APAPA’s mission is to educate the public, ethnic minorities in particular, about the importance of voting, explained Nia Lavulo, at the association’s Sacramento headquarters.

“It’s a matter of empowering people to get involved with their government at the national, state and local levels,” explained Danny Lee, president of APAPA’s Central Valley Chapter.

The purpose of Friday’s meeting is to develop voter participation strategies and to begin planning for a May town hall meeting in Bakersfield that will focus on the June 2010 primary election, Lee said. Friday’s meeting will be held in the second floor Tehachapi Room of the University Square Building, 2000 K St., Bakersfield from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Using estimated U.S. Census data, Latinos in 2008 comprised 47.1 percent of Kern County’s population, with non-Latino whites comprising 41.1 percent. Blacks were 6.4 percent, with the remainder of Kern County’s population of 800,458 being comprised of various other minority ethnic groups.

Yet, white voters have the political clout in California. The Public Policy Institute of California reported this fall that while Latinos make up about 32 percent of the state’s adult population, they are only 17 percent of the registered voters most likely to turn out in elections. Asians make up 13 percent of the state’s population, but only 6 percent are likely to vote. Blacks comprise both 6 percent of California’s population and the voter turnout.

By contrast, according to institute surveys, whites constitute 47 percent of California’s adult population, but 68 percent of the state’s likely voters.

Many Latinos and other ethnic minorities are not citizens and therefore not eligible to vote. U.S. Census estimates for 2008 indicate about 68 percent of Kern County’s 155,938 foreign-born residents – and that population figure includes children and immigrants who are legally in this country -- are not U.S. citizens.

But even removing the citizenship factor, Latinos and most ethnic minority groups in California and Kern County have a low voter turnout rate, according to researchers and political observers.

Lee explained that many new citizens come from countries that have monarchies or repressive governments. Voter participation is not understood or considered relevant.

“They are not involved. They stay within their families. They keep to themselves,” he said.

Two of Kern County’s high profile Latino politicians were asked to weigh in on the finding that minority groups are not participating in California’s political process.

“There are too many important issues affecting minority communities for people not to participate,” said Nicole Parra, who represented Kern County’s 30th Assembly District until she was termed out of office last year.

Now a Fresno-based government consultant, Parra noted that the Central Valley struggles with persistent poverty issues. These issues include the Central Valley’s average per capita income being 32.2 percent lower than the rest of the state; college attendance being 50 percent below state average; and the unemployment rate being among the highest.

To mobilize “voters, people need to feel like they make a difference, they are part of a team,” said Parra. “Most importantly, voters want to know that the elected official cares about their needs and their concerns.”

“People have to have a reason to vote, to come out and take the time to express their choices,” said Democrat state Sen. Dean Florez, who represents Kern County’s 16th District and who is running for California lieutenant governor.

“For the most part, people don’t vote because the ballot oftentimes is confusing. It’s cluttered with propositions,” he said. “I’ve spoken to people who simply feel that the ballot is too complicated and it feels like it’s somewhat of a test that you would get in school.

Recent gains by Latino politicians, who have been elected to local and state offices, should not be overestimated, warned Florez.

“Yes, you have Latinos who are taking on greater and more significant roles in government, but that was not always the case, even 10 years ago,” he said. “There is a nascent rise in political power among Latino … [but the Latino community] is growing astronomically in California.

“We are entering a period where California will become the most integrated, multi-cultural population ever in the history of the world and it’s all been accomplished relatively peacefully,” he said, crediting the nation’s Founding Fathers for creating a system that fosters integration and power sharing.

Minority participation in the political system is “a big deal because this integration is important to our survival as a society,” he said. If minority communities “give up, become isolated and don’t participate, such a situation could evolve into the type of conflicts that we have been able to avoid.”

This story written by DIANNE HARDISTY first appeared in The Bakersfield Californian and the newspaper's Web site www.bakersfield.com on Dec. 8, 2009.

RETIREES SPREAD CIVIC EDUCATION

Carol and Bill Hatcher spent decades in Kern County schools, rising to the top of their careers in education. When Bill retired in 2004, he was superintendent of the Kern High School District, based in Bakersfield in California's southern San Joaquin Valley. When Carol retired a year earlier, she, too, had been a school district superintendent, before moving to the Kern County Superintendent of Schools Office, where she coordinated the history and social studies curriculum.

After toiling away in local classrooms and dealing with the pressures of school administration, Carol and Bill were entitled to enjoy a “good life” retirement that included plenty of international travel to exotic destinations.

And that’s exactly what they have. But their idea of travel is not what most retirees have in mind. It’s certainly not what cruise lines and tour companies describe in their promotional brochures.

Their destinations include war-torn and third world nations. Their hotels aren’t “five star.” In fact, most might not even qualify for one star.

“My sister thinks we’re nuts,” said Bill, acknowledging the Hatchers’ retirement focus might seem odd to many people. “She doesn’t understand why we go to unsafe countries; why we don’t go to spas.”

Bill and Carol Hatcher are spending their retirement years spreading democracy and encouraging emerging nations to foster “civic involvement.”

“We retired, but we will never retire from civic education,” Bill said during a recent interview.

Bill is on the board of the Center for Civic Education, which is funded primarily by federal grants. Carol coordinates the center’s international programs that focus on Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Ghana. As part of the center’s international program, the couple has traveled to the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, the Philippine Islands, Mexico, Argentina, Morocco, Jordan, South Africa, Ghana, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Their travel – often requiring repeat visits to dangerous, emerging nations – is at the countries’ request. Their work in-country focuses on teaching teachers how to teach civic involvement.

As an example of their work, consider the Hatchers’ trip to the Philippine Islands, where they found a culture strong in extended family ties, but weak in civic involvement. A team from the center, which included the Hatchers, was invited to teach teachers how to get students involved in solving problems for the country’s “greater good.”

The Philippine Islands has a strong educational system, Bill explained. But there is government corruption. Unless people look beyond their extended families, the nation’s problems and corruption will not be addressed.

After the fighting ended in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Hatchers and a team of educators from the center were invited to the region.

“Teachers there never had to teach civics,” Carol recalled, noting that “where kids were once taught how to handle a rifle, teachers were now expected to teach kids how to live in a democracy, how to live with compromise.”

The center’s team of educators worked with the region’s teachers to develop a curriculum to instill an understanding of how a democracy works and how citizens can become involved in their government.

“Citizenship and civic education are more than just hanging a poster on a classroom wall,” said Bill, explaining the need to develop an educational program to build understanding and inspire young people to become involved in their governments to solve national problems.

Similarly Bill was invited by the King of Morocco as part of a multi-country team of educators to incorporate democratic principles in the North African nation’s monarchy and elevate the status of women. Cultural sensitivity was required to craft recommendations for this predominantly Muslim nation.

“We take for granted what we have here at home,” said Carol. “It is humbling to go to a country where the people want to learn about our democracy. They are working so hard to obtain what we have.”

The Hatchers have long been involved in bringing democratic principles to life.

Through their classroom experiences – Carol’s mostly involving local elementary school children and Bill’s involving Kern’s high school students – the Hatchers learned about the Los Angeles-based Center for Civic Education and its U.S. programs.

People may be more familiar with the center’s “We the People” program, which tests high school students’ knowledge of the U.S. Constitution and how it applies to solving practical problems and controversies.

Teams of students from Kern County high schools have repeatedly won this difficult annual competition. The success can be credited to dedicated students, educators and community volunteers who spend countless hours every year preparing teams for the competition.

“I was impressed by how the program changed kids’ lives,” Bill said, explaining that even as a school administrator he spent hours helping prepare student teams. As a retiree, he now is advising his granddaughter’s “We the People” team at Bakersfield's Centennial High School, where Bill once was the principal.

Whether a student is Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative, he or she realizes through the “We the People” program how the Constitution will affect and protect their lives, said Bill.

Carol recalled her days in the 1960s as a high school student in Indiana, where social studies was confined to “book learning.” The subject was dry and seemed to have little application to students’ lives.

“This program applies social studies and the Constitution to students’ lives,” she said. “It is much more meaningful.”

Through her involvement in the center’s international programs, Carol has arranged a teleconference between Foothill High School students in Bakersfield and their counterparts in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina. On another occasion, she linked up Bakersfield third graders with elementary school students in Sarajevo. The students compared notes and were amazed by the differences in the everyday challenges they face.

“We have met some of the most interesting people in the world,” Bill said. “Our experiences have been heartwarming. We believe we are making a difference.”

Carol choked back emotion as she recalled an early visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina in the mid-1990s. The guns had just been silenced by a fragile peace accord. A government official thanked her for helping and told her: “Nationalism has filled our graves. Democracy has filled our souls.”

This story written by DIANNE HARDISTY first appeared in The Bakersfield Californian on Dec. 6, 2009.

CIVIC EDUCATION - GET INVOLVED

You do not have to be an educator to volunteer with the Center for Civic Education, and help teach U.S. and international students about democracy and civic involvement.

Through the center’s programs, such as “We the People,” students in this country learn about the U.S. Constitution and its application to their everyday lives. The annual competition recruits teachers and people in the community to coach teams of high school students.

The Los Angeles-based Center for Civic Education, which is funded primarily by grants from the federal government, also trains educators in emerging democratic nations to prepare citizens to get involved in their governments. The center recruits volunteers for its international teams.

For more information about the Center for Civic Education, e-mail Carol and Bill Hatcher, retired Bakersfield educators who serve on the center’s governing board and are active in the international program. E-mail cahatcher4@yahoo.com. More information about the Center for Civic Education can be obtained from the Web site www.civiced.org.