Kern COG honors regional programs and leaders at 2025 awards ceremony

The Kern Council of Governments (Kern COG) presented its 2025 Regional Awards of Merit on an evening that highlighted collaborative local projects, public-safety partnerships and economic development across Kern County.

Bob Smith, chair of the Kern COG board and a long-serving Bakersfield council member, opened the ceremony and described the awards as recognition for “exemplary leadership, compassion, and unwavering dedication” across the region.

Kern COG honored the City of Bakersfield’s Community Vitality initiative, launched in 2023, for what presenters described as a human-centered, multiagency approach to homelessness, non-emergency public safety and quality-of-life concerns. Nicole Adenberg and Jamie Ekerberg accepted the award on the city’s behalf and thanked city leadership, the call center staff, rapid response and partner organizations for on-the-ground work.

The Walk Isabella active-transportation project, led by the Kern County Capital Projects Division, received the regional transportation award. Project leads Cornelio Aldren Maggon and Sergio Penedo Felix said the effort secured $5.1 million in Active Transportation Program funding and delivered 3.7 miles of bike lanes, 1.5 miles of ADA-compliant sidewalks and a pedestrian bridge over the Borel Canal to improve safety and access for Lake Isabella residents.

The city of Wasco’s Police Activities League (PAL) earned the community-involvement award for converting a former sheriff’s activity building into a youth hub funded in part by a Community Development Block Grant. Wasco Police Chief (transcript: Allesia Moore) accepted the honor on behalf of staff and volunteers and said the program now serves more than 50 active members while partnering with the Boys & Girls Club and Kern Medical’s mobile unit for meals and health services.

Other awards recognized school-safety coordination, downtown preservation and private investment. The Safer Schools Coalition, convened by the Kern County Superintendent of Schools, was cited for countywide preparedness exercises, active-threat training and cross-agency vulnerability assessments; Dr. Cameron Gwyn accepted the public-safety award. A restoration of the historic Woolworth building in downtown Bakersfield was honored for preservation and adaptive reuse; owners described roughly 50 new downtown jobs created since reopening. California Dairies, Inc. accepted a transformative-development award for a new more-than-200,000-square-foot ESL and aseptic UHT processing facility that began production in April 2025 and has opened export markets.

Individual honors included awards for long-serving public officials and leaders in policing and local government. Damon McMahon, chief of police in Taft, received the Daryl Hildebrand Award for Distinguished Leadership and spoke about his career in corrections and law enforcement. Marbel Rea, Delano city manager, was recognized for decades of municipal leadership and for expanding local economic-development efforts.

Kern COG executive director Jay Schwasher and board members were thanked for organizing the ceremony and coordinating certificates that many honorees will also receive from the Kern County Board of Supervisors and state representatives. The program closed with final remarks from Smith and a reminder that photographs were available after the event.

The awards underscore several recurring regional priorities — cross-agency coordination on homelessness and safety, active-transportation investments, downtown economic revitalization and workforce-focused private investment — and spotlight local programs and officials that Kern COG said exemplify collaborative regional service. The ceremony included acceptance remarks from recipients and multiple acknowledgements of partnering departments and community groups.

Attendees were invited to remain for photos; the awards presentations will be replayed on Kern Government Television programming.