GET employees ask Bakersfield council for oversight after CEO removal; city staff say council authority limited to appointments

Golden Empire Transit (GET) employees and riders used the public-comment period of the Oct. 23 Bakersfield City Council meeting to press for answers after the GET board removed CEO Michael Tree and appointed the system’s maintenance manager instead of conducting a nationwide search.

Yolanda Hayman, a GET coach operator, told the council that employees and passengers were disappointed by the board’s decision and requested written responses to five specific questions so the city and county appointees could be prepared for the next GET board meeting on Nov. 12. "A nationwide search could have given the district a transit professional who already has had experience and knowledge in all the various components of the transit industry, not just maintenance," Hayman said.

Councilmember Freeman asked whether the council could direct GET; city staff and the city attorney clarified that the council’s authority is limited to appointing two board members and that it does not have governance authority over the transit district. The city attorney said those appointees serve three-year terms. Freeman asked the city manager to request an explanation from GET about the board’s reasoning, particularly given public concern about the process; staff agreed to make that request.

The meeting record shows no formal change in the city’s authority over GET and no immediate disciplinary action; council members asked staff to seek information and report back so the council can respond to constituents prior to the next GET board meeting.