By Patric Hedlund, TME

A crowd of over 165 mountain residents made a strong case to Kern County Supervisor David Couch and Sheriff Donny Youngblood last weekend that the sheriff’s substation in Frazier Park is vital to the health of the Mountain Communities.

People from all sectors of this region were at the Frazier Park Library community room early Saturday, Aug. 13. They filled all available parking at the library and Frazier Mountain Park, spilling up and down Park Drive. Inside, all chairs were full. People stood shoulder-to-shoulder around the walls, filling the entryway to the library, clustering in the kitchen and standing in the back doorway.

Before anyone uttered a single word the message was delivered from the community:

“We care passionately about keeping our local substation.”

County Administrator John Nilon launched the town hall. He said Kern County’s oil fields are the top producers in California, the second largest in the nation: “We get to assess all the oil in the ground and on top of the ground. We get 1%—but this is the largest reduction in oil and gas revenues we have ever seen.”

A $77 million crisis

For Kern County, Nilon said, the international plunge in the price of oil is…(please see below to view full stories and photographs)

Photo captions:

Above: Over 165 people were counted at the library meeting about the sheriff’s substation August 13. Below: Sheriff Donny Youngblood spoke about loss of deputies as County Administrator John Nilon watches and Chief Deputy Brian Wheeler listens.

“I’m a retired attorney,” this mountain resident said. “I can’t live here if you close the substation and there is no law enforcement.”

Ian Lauchlin asked about lowering substation costs.

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This is part of the August 19, 2016 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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