KERN COUNTY, Calif. (KERO) — A Kern County Grand Jury Report released Tuesday took aim at the Kern County Public Works roads division and changes that could be made to limit potholes on county roads.
- Acording to the report, current maintenance is 85% reactive and 15% proactive, contributing to more potholes.
- The report finds that it is currently taking nearly two months for someone to go through the hiring process with the County roads division, which lead to further issues
- Recommendations include increasing proactive maintenance and improving communication between departments.
- Residents can report potholes via a county platform to aid in prioritizing repairs. To learn about the My Kern app, you can find that information on the County's website.
- To read the full grand jury report, please visit the County's Grand Jury website.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
There are a few things in life that are guaranteed, death taxes, and eventually hitting that pothole you drive past every day. I'm Sam Hoyle, your neighborhood reporter, and while you're counting your lucky stars that you didn't do any major damage to your car, a Kern County grand jury is requesting that the roads division of public works make some changes to help eliminate some of those worries.
According to the grand jury report, the investigation that was conducted showcases that currently the road's division of public works is doing reactive maintenance work 85% of the time and proactive maintenance work 15%, which the report says leads to potholes developing sooner.
One finding says while there are only two open positions with the roads division right now, planned retirements of a dozen employees have the department proactively hiring to fill those spots. However, the report notes that the hiring process takes nearly two months because of vacancies in the HR department.
Another point the report makes is that sealing potholes on a more consistent basis will limit the number of potholes from redeveloping. So what recommendations did the grand jury make in this case?
By June 1st of this year, the roads and HR divisions should have regularly scheduled meetings to better communicate and figure out how to shorten the hiring process.
By June 1st of 2027, increase blade sealing by 10% and move from that 85/15% split of reactive/proactive maintenance to a 75/25% split to knock out potholes before they knock out your tire.
But if you drive on county roads and you find a pothole that's persistently bugging you, the county has a platform to report things like that to public works to get them on their radar to better map out what needs fixing.
As for the report? The Kern County Roads Division is required to respond to the grand jury report in 60 days.
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