Bakersfield council approves consent calendar, adopts Complete Streets annual report

The Bakersfield City Council on March 12 approved its consent calendar with two items held and voted to accept the first annual report under the city's new Complete Streets ordinance.

The consent calendar covering agenda items 7A through 7I was approved with the exception of items identified as 7gs2 and 7d1; the council recorded the motion as approved with Council member Arias absent. Staff provided a memorandum noting that item 7D1 had been pulled from the agenda and an updated agreement had been transmitted for item 7E7.

Council member Smith moved to approve the Complete Streets annual report, which she described as the first report since passage of the city's new Complete Streets ordinance. "It had a list of projects and it's just amazing all the work that we're doing," Council member Smith said, noting projects around schools, work in residential neighborhoods and the use of speed humps as part of the city's traffic-calming program. Smith said the report reflects the implementation of the traffic-calming book the council adopted to standardize neighborhood traffic-safety measures.

The motion to approve the Complete Streets annual report passed in roll-call vote; the clerk recorded Council member Weir as the lone "no" vote. The council did not state a specific vote tally in the meeting beyond the roll-call statements and the clerk's announcement that the motion passed with Weir voting no.

There were no public speakers on agenda or non-agenda items, and the meeting included ceremonial recognition of the Liberty High School girls basketball team and an invocation before regular business. A city staff member reminded attendees of the city's rules of decorum, which are established by a council resolution and enforced at council meetings.

Mayor Karen Goh adjourned the meeting at 5:29 p.m.; council members noted the session was unusually brief and included a number of student visitors from Bakersfield College.