Taft College College grows and County Bar Association prepares for new year

Taft College Foundation: Taft Cougars, there’s a new face in town, and she is looking out for you. Her name is Sheri Horn-Bunk, and she is director of the Taft College Foundation, which has been around for a couple of years but up until recently didn’t have someone dedicated to its mission of fundraising full time.

Not anymore and for good reason.

Probably more than ever, college foundations play such a vital role in generating additional dollars from private donors to support the college’s current operations, scholarships and student aid, and special programs and projects.

Taft College may be a bit of a drive from Bakersfield, but these days, Sheri tells me that it is witnessing an increase
in enrollment. Part of that growth is the result of students who are either taking online courses or driving in from nearby communities, such as southwest Bakersfield.

“Education is education, no matter where you get it from,” Sheri, a Fresno City College and Cal State Bakersfield grad, told me Friday. “It leads to better jobs and more opportunities.”

For that, she is driven to raise money and her eye is on the Bernard Osher Scholarship Endowment, a matching program that would result in new scholarship money for Taft students. As part of the endowment, Taft College must raise $110,000 by June 2011. If she is successful, the Bernard Osher Scholarships would establish about 15 awards in the amount of $1,000. The biggest deal is that it would establish Bernard Osher Scholarships at Taft College in perpetuity through the endowment.
This scholarship is designed for second-year students.

“A thousand dollars can go a long way to help a community college student finish their second year,” Sheri said.

To get the ball rolling, Sheri is busy planning for the first Femme Fatales’ of Philanthropy Tea to be held at 2 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 4 at Taft College.
The featured speaker will be Melanie Lundquist, a South Bay philanthropist whose main concentrations are education and health care.

Aside from that, she is searching for successful Taft alumni — she found one, Dante Scarnecchia, a New England Patriots assistant head coach for the offensive line — that can help grow the foundation and college in new ways. Best wishes, Sheri. Your determination and contagious energy will go far.
For more information about the foundation, call Sheri at 763-7936 or e-mail: shornbunk@taft.org

Bar Association 2010: I had the opportunity to attend the Kern County Bar Association installation dinner Thursday. Held at the Bakersfield Country Club, the place was so packed that you practically had to squeeze by each other. I heard that this one was one of their largest turnouts. There was plenty of good company to go around, that’s for sure. My husband, Julio, and I joined the table occupied by our good friend, attorney Larry Fields. It was a good choice as I had the pleasure to catch up with one of the county’s most respected legal eagles, Bernie Barmann, who retired last year. Bernie was the county’s chief attorney for more than two decades. These days, he tells me he stays busy, doing pro bono work for local nonprofits, including Houchin Blood Bank, and participating in Valley Public Radio. Barmann was also a former president of the bar association.

Kern County Superior Court Judge John Brownlee introduced this year’s president, H.A. “Beto” Sala, who was accompanied by his wife, Sylvia, and two sons. Sala joins other 2010 officers: David Dixon, vice president; Chad Louie, treasurer, Lisa Holder, secretary; and Paul Welchans, immediate past president. I also ran into other familiar faces, including Kern County Superior Court Judge Steven Katz; Kern County Supervisor Michael Rubio; Dr. Rebecca Rivera; Kern County Deputy District Attorney Wendy Avila; and attorney Emilio Huerta, accompanied by his nationally well-known mother, Dolores Huerta.

The night was even more special when they recognized two people, Susan M. Gill, who was recently appointed to a Kern County judgeship by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, and the late Stan Simrin. Speakers, including Beto and Paul, told Gill that her father would be so proud of her accomplishments. Susan is the daughter of S.B. “Barney” Gill. He was a much admired attorney and stand-up gentleman who died in 1990. Susan followed in her dad’s footsteps with her love for law. She worked with him as an associate and partner from 1983 to 1989. Stan was another good attorney. He once kept me on a case as a juror despite my media connection. But what a well-respected, sharp attorney he was.

Hispanic chamber and Read for Life look to 2010

Celebrating 25 years of success: The first part of the year always brings excitement for the 500-member Kern County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. It marks a time when the chamber recognizes its new leadership tasked with growing membership, helping small business owners and preparing for annual events, including the very successful Latino Food Festival and Menudo Cook-Off.

Now in its 25th year, the Hispanic chamber has plenty of reasons to celebrate when it gathers for its annual Installation Banquet and Business Awards at 6 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 6, at the DoubleTree Hotel. Tickets are $60 per person or $500 per table.

More than 300 people are expected to attend. Kern County Superior Court Judge Robert Tafoya is scheduled to conduct the installation of the new board members, including treasurer Jan Bans, secretary David Alanis, chair-elect Jesse Bonales and past chair Joe Jimenez. Ramona Herrera will lead as the new chairwoman.
The Hispanic chamber has benefited from Latino businesses’ growth locally and non-Latino businesses that cater to Hispanics, she said.

“I’m excited about this year’s board and their commitment to help our membership grow and prosper,” Herrera said. “I’m looking forward to 2010 being a strong year for us.”

A highlight of the night will be the 2009 Hispanic Chamber awards, Herrera said.
The honorees are: Bakersfield attorney David A. Torres, Business Man of the Year, and for full disclosure, I’ve been fortunate to be selected as the Business Woman of the Year. I am sincerely grateful.
Other winners are: La Mina Restaurant, Large Business of the Year; Kern Valley Printing, Small Business of the Year; and Chevron, Corporation of the Year. Risto Rubio of Mission Family Mortuary will receive the Community Service Award.
The Chairperson’s Recognition Award will go to Jay Tamsi, 2010’s vice chairman. I’ve had the opportunity to collaborate with Jay on joint projects with MAS Magazine and the Hispanic Chamber, and I’ve always been impressed with his volunteerism, hard work and dedication. Jay is a senior formulations specialist for Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream and is involved in the Hispanic chamber, the Kern County Youth Mariachi Foundation and the Filipino Community of Delano group. Well-deserved award, Jay, well-deserved.
For those wanting information about the installation dinner, please call 633-5495.

Read for Life Gala planning kicks off: Speaking of well-deserving people, the ever-so energetic Donna Hylton, executive director of the Kern Adult Literacy Council, is busy working away at plans for this year’s Read for Life Gala Reception and Auction planned for April 22 at the Bell Tower Club in downtown Bakersfield. Its 2010 Literacy for Life Award recipient is Sandra Serrano, chancellor of the Kern Community College District.

 For those who are not familiar with Donna, she is one amazing lady, very passionate about the council, and will share countless stories of how it has changed many people’s lives. The Read for Life Gala is its main fundraiser of the year and it helps the organization, which relies heavily on volunteers, to continue their mission of educating our community and building strong readers, no matter the age.

I even got wrapped up in her energy and now, you guessed it, I am on the planning committee for the gala event. The committee list is impressive: Kristie Coons, who handles special projects for the Kern County Library; business owner Ann McCright; Tony Russo of Russo’s Books; and local community activist Sheryl Barbich. So expect some neat things to come of this year’s event.

If you are interested in learning more about the council or helping with the gala, please call Donna at 324-3213. She tells me they are currently looking for donated gift certificates or other items that can be auctioned off at the gala. Stay tuned.

Help shape Kern's political landscape, support Census 2010 efforts

Redistricting Forum: Imagine you being asked to determine the political footprint of Kern County and beyond. The opportunity has arrived.

Applications are now being accepted for the new 14-member Citizens Redistricting Commission in charge of redrawing the boundaries of political districts throughout the state. This is huge.

Previously, the task was handled by the state Legislature — a process that led to partisan “safe” seats held for each party.

Huh? Just imagine allowing your 10-year-old to create his three-course meals, chore list and sleep schedule for the weekend. I mean, you’d hope he’d make the right, healthy decision but….

Thanks to passage of Prop. 11, the Voters FIRST Act, in 2008, this responsibility now rests in the hands of a citizens commission — 5 Democrats, 5 Republicans, and 4 independents — and, together, they will redefine the district boundaries for the state Senate, Assembly, and Board of Equalization.

The deadline to apply is looming — Feb. 12 — and right now, there’s a callout for more women and people of color to apply. Most who have applied are older white men and counties, such as Los Angeles and Sacramento, lead in the number of applicants. Can’t blame them for wanting to participate but we need to be represented.

As a result, advocacy groups like the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund are holding community forums across California to spread the word and encourage minorities to apply, Nancy Ramirez, MALDEF’s western regional counsel, tells me.

She noted that commission guidelines call for a group that is representative of the state’s diversity, but the most underrepresented groups in applicant pool are Latinos, blacks, Asians and Pacific Islanders.

And as of mid-January, only one Latino from Kern County has passed the first phase of the application process, Ramirez tells me.

Still thinking about how you can make difference?

MALDEF, in partnership with MAS Magazine, will hold free redistricting forum on Monday, Feb. 1, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the University of California, Merced — Bakersfield Center, 2000 K St., Lakes Room.  Panelists include Thomas A. Saenz, MALDEF president & general counsel, and a representative of the California State Auditor’s office — the agency administering the application process.

Qualified applicants must have voted in at least two of the past three general elections, registered with the same party (or none) for the last five years, and not have donated $2,000 or more to a campaign. Elected officials, lobbyists and legislative staff are ineligible, sorry.

2010 Census: When California Highway Patrol Capt. Brian Smith of Bakersfield submits his department’s staffing budget to the state, he always makes sure he attaches Census data. He knows he will have to compete with the needs of other law enforcement agencies across the state so having the latest population data can justify the local CHP patrol staffing level needs.

“In Kern County, we want what is ours,” Smith said recently at the opening of the Bakersfield Census office.  

Over the next few months, Census 2010 questionnaires will be sent to your homes, asking for private but critical, information. Census takers will follow-up on homes that did not return a questionnaire. Most of us will be diligent about returning those forms, but one of the biggest challenges for census takers will be reaching poor families distrustful of unfamiliar faces, undocumented immigrants, migrant workers, and the elderly.

Kern County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Shelly Castaneda encouraged census takers to carry their identification cards at all times and be gentle and patient with elderly residents, who have been preyed upon by scam artists.

“I have worked patrol in several areas of Kern County, and I have seen with my own eyes the plight of the underserved,” Castaneda said.

Every person, documented or not, must be counted in Kern. Federal dollars are at stake. Every year, the federal government allocates more than $400 billion to states and communities based, in part, on the census data, said Reyna Olaguez, Bakersfield Census office partnership specialist. The new data will be used to figure out locations for schools, hospitals, housing developments… the list goes on.

And just as significant, the 2010 census data is used to outline the congressional, state and local legislative boundaries for our communities.

Do what you can to support this effort.

New president: My congrats to H. A. Sala who will be installed as the new 2010 president of the Kern County Bar Association. The installation will take place 6 p.m. Thursday at the Bakersfield Country Club. Sala is a well-respected attorney and one of the most humble, genuine persons I know. Best of luck, Beto.