BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Amid the SEIU strike, several county public service buildings were closed to the public Wednesday. While the county sent a notice out on Monday, many people throughout Kern were unaware of the closures until they attempted to get through the doors.
- County public service buildings were closed due to an SEIU strike, catching some residents off guard.
- Residents like Audra Pantoja traveled long distances only to find locked doors and unfulfilled service requests.
- County services will reopen Thursday to the public. While negotiations are ongoing, it's unclear if something like this could happen again in the future.
Amid the SEIU strike, several county public service buildings were closed to the public Wednesday. While the county sent a notice out on Monday, many people throughout Kern were unaware of the closures until they attempted to get through the doors.
"It's frustrating because I came all the way out here," said Audra Pantoja.
Pantoja drove down to Bakersfield from Delano in the hopes of acquiring a birth certificate for her child in order to get an emergency passport.
"I came all the way out here. I did not know something was going on, the strike's going on, and now I have to take another day off to try to come out here and get a birth certificate. When I'm already here, I drive my far, and it's just annoying," she said.
Closures included non-emergency services and departments, including public health, public works, behavioral health and recovery services, animal services, libraries and more. Though these offices were closed to the public, work inside did continue.
"All of our offices remained open and working today, but most of them have been closed to the public and not available for public-facing services. So tomorrow, we expect business as usual," said Kern County Assistant CAO Stacy Kawahara. "All of our offices will be open and we will be continuing on with our business."
Emergency services like KCSO and KCFD remained in place. While offices were only closed for the day, Pantoja said for her—a full-time substitute teacher—it cost her time and work.
"Right now with work being actually very busy, demand on teachers because they're doing testing and stuff like that, there's a high need for substitute teachers, so I could have had a job today and I chose not to take a job to come again to get these services and there's nothing I can do," she said.
County services will reopen Thursday to the public. While negotiations are ongoing, it's unclear if something like this could happen again in the future.
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