2022 KLA Class Schedule
Except as noted, the venue for all classes will be at Adventist Health, Medical Office Building, Second Floor, Board Room
1524 27th Street
Bakersfield, CA 93301
September 1, 2022 – Thursday
Class 1 – Orientation, Leadership
Faculty in Charge: Michael Turnipseed, Executive Director, Kern County Taxpayers Association
Objectives: Orientation: Opening Remarks; Self-Introductions; Introduction to the Academy; What is effective leadership? Class bonding.
September 8, 2022 – Thursday
Class 2 – Ethics, Leadership, Critical Thinking
Faculty in Charge: Steven Gamboa, Associate Professor and Chair of Philosophy, CSUB; Michael Burroughs, Director of the Kegley Institute of Ethics and Associate Professor of Philosophy, CSUB (Sabatical}; Nate Olson, Ph. D., Associate Professor of Philosophy, Chair of the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, and Associate Director of the Kegley Institute of Ethics at California State University, Bakersfield (CSUB).
Objective: Relating Leadership with Ethics; Learning to Think Critically and with an Open Mind; Developing Moral Imagination
Topics: What is leadership? What is ethics, and how does it differ from other decision-making? What’s different about critical thinking (and reading and listening)? What are the processes to define good ethical choices? What role does character play in ethical leadership? Combining ethics fundamentals with critical thinking to develop moral imagination.
September 12, 2022 – Monday
Class 3 – Kern County’s Evolving Energy Portfolio
Faculty in Charge: Lorelei Oviatt, Director, KC Planning and Natural Resources Department
Objectives: To provide an overview of the issues facing Kern County’s largest and most diverse economic sector.
September 15, 2022 – Thursday
Class 4 (1) – B3K Prosperity
Faculty in Charge: Kristen Beall Watson, Chief of Staff to the President, CSUB
Objectives: TBD
(2) – Changing Demographics
Faculty in Charge: Dr. Richard Gearhart, Assistant Professor of Economics, CSUB
Objectives: To provide an objective overview of Kern County, Status, Challenges, and a look at the future.
September 19, 2022 – Monday
Class 5 – Homelessness
Location: 1401 19th Street
Faculty in Charge: Amanda Ruiz, Kern County CAO’s Office, Fiscal, and Policy Analyst.; Anna Laven, Ph.D., Executive Director, Bakersfield-Kern Regional Homeless Collaborative
Objectives: Who are the homeless? Why are they homeless? What is being done to address homelessness? Are there any genuinely effective solutions?
September 22, 2022 – Thursday
Class 6 – Behavior Health Challenges
Faculty in Charge: Stacy Kuwahara, Kern County Director, Behavioral Health Services
Objectives: Understand the Kern Mental Health plan’s scope of services provided, and how it reaches both Medi-Cal Beneficiaries, Indigent (non-insurance), and privately insured. Increase awareness of the large scale, often unseen influence and costs of mental health and substance use across personal, family/caregiver, and community impacts. Have a brief overview of the significant changes in behavioral health through the year and the impacts this has had on service delivery for mental health. Understand the current focus of initiatives for mental health, locally and across the state, and what is anticipated for mental health services in the future.
September 26, 2022 – Monday
Class 7 – Financing Local Government
Faculty in Charge: Jim Zervas, Chief Operating Officer, County of Kern, and E Martinez, Deputy County Administrative Officer at Kern County
Objectives: To provide an overview of the fundamentals of financing local government.
September 29, 2022 – Thursday
Class 8 – Public Education
Location: Off-Site KHSD Career Training Education Center (CTEC), 7301 Old River Road, Bakersfield, CA 93311
Faculty in Charge: Dr. Bryon Schaefer, Superintendent, Kern High School District
Objectives: To provide an objective overview of issues that affect our local education system, from K-12 to life-long learning.
October 3, 2022 – Monday
Class 9 – “Poverty, and Policy in Kern County: Examining the Past and Future Possibilities.”
Faculty in Charge: Jessica Grimes, Ph.D., Dean of Economic and Workforce Development, Kern Community College District
Objectives: TBD
October 6, 2022 – Thursday
Class 10 (1) – Being an Effective Community Advocate
Faculty in Charge: Romeo Agbalog, Kern County Farm Bureau
Objectives: Some of the many ways people give back to their communities are through being a community advocate.
(2) – Kern County 2032
Faculty in Charge: Dr. Nyakundi Michieka, Assistant Professor of Economics, CSUB; Dr. Mark Evans, Professor Emeritus, School of Business and Public Administration (BPA), CSUB
Objectives: Presentation on what Kern County could look like in 2032.
October 10, 2022 – Monday
Class 11 – Economic Development: How We Compete and What are the Customers Saying
Faculty in Charge: Barry Hibbard, ASU Associates
Objectives: Discussion on the economic future of Kern County and the Central Valley
October 13, 2022 – Thursday
Class 12 – Social Capital Theory
Faculty in Charge: Rich Ryan, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Economics at California State University, Bakersfield
Objectives: Introduction Economic, Social/Cultural, and Political Capital Theory.
October 17, 2022 – Monday
Class 13 (1) – Introduction to State Issues
Faculty in Charge: Assemblyman Vince Fong
Objectives: Provide an objective overview of our state government, economy, issues and opportunities, and the effects on Kern County. The core issues that affect Kern County.
(2) – Ag and Water Issues
Faculty in Charge: Ariana Joven, Wonderful Orchards, and Jenny Holtermann, Water Association of Kern County
Objectives: An overview of issues challenging the ag industry, with an emphasis on water
October 20, 2022 – Thursday
Class 14 – Community Leadership: The View from the Dias
Faculty in Charge: Keith Wolaridge, Trustee, Panama-Buena Vista School District
Objectives: How does one’s view of the world change when elected to public office.
Panel: Leticia Perez, Kern County Board of Supervisors; Jeff Flores, Kern High School District; Josh Bryant, Taft City Council
October 24, 2022 – Monday
Class 15 (1) – Equality is not Equity.
Faculty in Charge: Dr. Lisa Gilbert, Kern County Superintendent of Schools
Objectives: Equality is treating everyone the same and giving everyone access to the same opportunities. Equity refers to proportional representation (by race, class, gender, etc.). Equality is the “quality or state of being equal,” where equal is defined as having the same measurement in quality, nature, or status. Equitable is “dealing fairly and equally with all concerned.”
(2) – Civic Leadership: Addressing Societal Needs
Faculty in Charge: Juan Avila, Garden Pathways
Objectives: An examination of real-world issues not discussed during political campaigns and public meetings.
October 27, 2022 Thursday
Class 16 – Introduction to Local Government
Faculty in Charge: Scott Hurlbert, City Manager Wasco
Objectives: To provide an objective overview of governance at the local level (City/County): State impacts, budget challenges, public safety, and job creation.
October 31, 2022 – Monday
No Class – Halloween
November 3, 2022 – Thursday
Class 17 – Fall Lecture Series: “Leadership and Activism: How to Overcome Apathy and Find Your Power”
Faculty in Charge: Kegley Institute of Ethics, CSUB
Presenter: Delores Huerta, Delores Huerta Foundation
November 7, 2022
Class 18 – Final Thoughts
Faculty in Charge: Steven Gamboa, Associate Professor and Chair of Philosophy, CSUB; Kallie McCullough, Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice and Assistant Director, the Kegley Institute of Ethics, CSUB; Michael Turnipseed, Kern County Taxpayers Association
Objectives: Bringing it all together; seeing how ethics and character underlie the entire process; reviewing the Academy and making class suggestions for 2023.
November 9, 2022 – Wednesday
Commencement Dinner at the Bakersfield Country Club 6:30pm – 9:00pm