BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — This year, Bakersfield residents will be deciding on a number of local elections, including a couple seats in the Bakersfield City Council. There are four candidates vying for the seat in ward 6, a seat that has long been filled by Jacque Sullivan.
Ward 6 is primarily in Southwest Bakersfield, and kernvote.com says about 28,000 people are registered to vote there.
The candidates are Patty Gray, who was born and raised in Taft, lived in Bakersfield for 17 years, and owns Dreammaker Bath and Kitchen with her husband.
“I wanna see Bakersfield stay safe, I want our citizens to be able to pursue happiness, and without safe streets and law and order it’s very difficult to do so,” she said when 23ABC asked her to sum up her platform in a sentence.
Gregory Tatum was born in Memphis, Tennessee and has lived in Bakersfield for 12 years. He's a pastor at Change Community Church.
“My platform is homeless, veterans and the crime situation,” Tatum said.
Jesse Quijada is from San Jose and has lived in Bakersfield for five years. He works as a medical assistant.
Quijada says his platform is about putting Bakersfield on track for a better future by bringing all parties to the table. He says he wants to focus on “what we can do to make this city better, and try to pull out the partisan gridlock.”
Titus Stevens is from Compton but has lived in Bakersfield for 14 years. Stevens used to work as a telephone line worker but injuries sidelined him and he's now campaigning full time.
“My platform for my candidacy would be security, economic growth, and safety for everyone in my neighborhood, my motto is ‘together, let's keep Bakersfield a great place to live,’” Stevens said.
23ABC spoke with each of the candidates over zoom, asking them the same questions in an effort to get to know each one. Watch the full video above.
