Council approves $900,000 reallocation to Rancho Tree Service amid community objections

The Bakersfield City Council on June 10 approved an amendment to a tree-service contract that reallocates funding toward Rancho Tree Service, a move that drew vocal opposition from tree advocates who said they fear unnecessary removals and seek more oversight.

What the council voted on: staff asked the council to authorize Amendment No. 1 to Agreement 2025-0095 with Rancho Tree Service to increase Rancho’s contract by $900,000 and reduce General Tree Service’s allocation to $100,000 for the coming year. The change produces a not-to-exceed total of $1,400,000 on Rancho’s agreement when prior year spend is included; staff said the total annual budget for tree contracting remains consistent at about $1,000,000 for the fiscal year. Assistant director Keith Howell said Rancho had performed well and the department reallocated capacity because last year’s schedule change created uncertainty about whether one contractor could complete the trimmed-window workload.

Community concerns: Sharon Muriel Bridal and Sierra Club speakers told council they had submitted documentation of hundreds of trees removed in recent months and raised procurement and contract-performance questions. Bridal cited California Public Contract Code 26162 and said the city’s split award in 2005 deviated from the lowest-responsible-bidder rule; Eddie Lane (Sierra Club) pointed to inconsistent contract language and the absence of ANSI 300 pruning standards in the contract documents provided with earlier bids. "There's something amiss... now it's supposed to be 1,400,000," Lane said, urging monthly reporting to the council on trees trimmed and removed and for details on species and locations.

Staff response: City Manager Christian Clegg and Parks staff said the ANSI 300 pruning standard is required in the current contract and that the city's certified arborists document every tree removal with photos and risk assessments. Keith Howell explained the accounting: last year two contractors were each allocated $500,000; Rancho used its original $500,000 capacity; for the coming year staff proposes allocating $900,000 to Rancho and $100,000 to General Tree (total contracting funding for the function remains $1,000,000). Howell said Amendment No. 1 extends Rancho’s contract through 06/10/2027.

Council action and recusal: Vice Mayor Gore moved staff’s recommendation and the amendment passed; Councilmember Gonzales abstained from the vote, citing a campaign contribution and recusal, and the vice mayor recorded a 'no' vote in the final tally. Staff committed to providing monthly reports with counts of trees trimmed and removed, and to continuing tree-advisory-group collaboration on heritage-tree protections and a public tree inventory.

What to watch: advocates asked the city to post tree lists and allow public comment on planned removals; staff said they will look at reallocation of small savings toward plantings and will return with further details about inventory and heritage-tree protections.