Tehachapi's Online Community News & Entertainment Guide
Tehachapi's Online Community News & Entertainment Guide
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On Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020, Tehachapi's Development Services Director Jay Schlosser received word that he had been awarded the 2019 Outstanding Civil Engineer in the Public Sector for Region 9 (State of California) from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). This is a huge honor for Schlosser who had won the award for the San Joaquin Valley in July and Los Angeles Section last September before moving on to the Regional level. The ASCE is made up of 10 regions and has over 100,000...
City Clerk Tory Marsh began the Jan. 6 City Council meeting by announcing that the City had received a letter of resignation from Councilman Kenneth Hetge. Mayor Susan Wiggins stated that as the letter was received too late to be addressed at this meeting, his replacement will be discussed at the Jan. 21 meeting. Development Services Director Jay Schlosser announced that the City is asking for public input for possible non-motorized projects. The Development Services Department has been very...
Newer Tehachapi residents who have wondered what it was like back in the old days, when there used to be more snow, don't have to wonder any more: our snowstorm on December 26 was like the winter storms that used to be a yearly occurrence. In fact, the speed of this snowfall would be exceptional during any year, past or present – we went from having no snow at all to having a foot and a half in less than 24 hours. Even in previous decades when we routinely got more snow, it would typically t...
One can understand, given today's climate, the desire for many to leave the state of California. The issues have been well noted and continue to be so daily in the news media. Just read the Los Angeles Times and you'll see things unfathomable for those of us in Tehachapi. These examples are a few reasons why the U.S. Census Bureau estimated 600,000 left the state last year, while only around 500,000 came in, a net loss of 100,000 residents. But many of us in Tehachapi also relate to the desires...
We had another large turnout for Coffee with the Mayor and City Manager held Nov. 21 at the Coffee Mill in Downtown Tehachapi. This marks the two-year anniversary for this community engagement event, bringing local government even closer to the public it serves. "I can't believe it has been two years that we have been holding this gathering, said City Manager Greg Garrett. "It has been such a tremendous positive response and another opportunity for the citizens in the local government process....
At noontime on Dec. 4 representatives from Hotel Equities (HE) of Atlanta, Ga. along with the California-based H2H Asset Group broke ground for the new TownePlace Suites to be located on Magellan Drive in Capital Hills in a planned business park just one block from the new Adventist Health Tehachapi Valley hospital. Members from Tehachapi city government assisted with the groundbreaking. "We are proud to progress into the next phase of development for the TownePlace Suites Tehachapi," said Greg...
Kern County Director of Public Health Matt Constantine appeared at the Dec. 2 Tehachapi City Council meeting to present a new program being sponsored by the Health Department in 2020 called “Know Your Numbers.” According to Constantine, Kern County residents are among the highest risk in the state for heart disease, diabetes and obesity. The “Know Your Numbers” program is a free six week program to make people aware of the numbers that show up in tests in the doctor’s office and what they mean...
It's certainly the holiday season as our public works team completes one of my favorite tasks, putting up the Christmas decorations Downtown. We reinvested in new decorations a year ago with LED snowflakes along with illuminated garlands adorning each Downtown light post. This year we purchased a few more for Mill Street and the new transit center so the entrance to our City off of Highway 58 and the heavily-used parking and ridesharing facility had the same dose of Christmas cheer. Thanks once...
Public Safety Power Shutoffs: a topic swirling in controversy. There are many opinions about why they are necessary, whether they are necessary, whether they prevent fires, whether the power companies are profiting from these outages, or whether the safety outages are happening as fallout from PG&E filing for bankruptcy. According to many sources, it is indisputable that PG&E and the other electric utilities do bear responsibility for many of the wildfires which have plagued California in...
The City of Tehachapi received electrical power in 1915 when the municipal lighting system went into place. Sooner than many neighbors due to our proximity to the Monolith Cement Plant which was making the cement for the nearby Los Angeles Aqueduct project, as a result we received electricity. Since 1915, even during the rudimentary stages, I can't recall a downed power line starting a wild fire, and that's both in the City and in the surrounding community. The wind has blown in Tehachapi since...
The City of Tehachapi is collaborating with the Tehachapi Valley Arts Association on a series of mini murals throughout the downtown area. The project will take city owned utility boxes and turn them into art pieces to go along with the full size wall murals in the downtown area. "When the idea came across my desk, I said yes, absolutely," said Greg Garrett Tehachapi City Manager. "These local artists are passionate and the renderings of their vision will add to our beautiful downtown...
I, along with some members of the City staff and Council, attended the League of California Cities Conference last week. Always an informative time of learning best practices, community engagement tips and networking with fellow city leaders in our state. While it had been a few years since we've attended this event, I was impressed with one takeaway principle: what we're doing in the City of Tehachapi is right on par, if not above what others are considering or just taking the initiative to...
The City of Tehachapi has finally awarded the construction contract for the ADA and pedestrian improvements to the south side of H. St., including sidewalk, curb and gutter, and the three at-grade ADA compliant railroad crossings at Green St., Hayes St. and N. Dennison Rd. In a 4-0 vote on Oct. 7, the City Council chose DOD Construction to complete the project for $1,426,630. Councilman Kenneth Hetge was absent. The project, which has been in the works since 2015, was slowed by lengthy negotiati...
Thomas Jefferson said, "I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past." He was referring to the early stages of our Nation no doubt, but there is still plenty of application to that sentiment when we think about our own community in 2019. The past is not our future here in the City of Tehachapi. The past is not who we are becoming. It's a respectful remembrance of our core values and the historical efforts that got us here today. The past will certainly not define this...
The Los Angeles Section of The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) will be honoring Tehachapi Development Services Director Jay Schlosser on the evening of Oct. 5 in Long Beach. Schlosser has been awarded 2019 Outstanding Civil Engineer in the Public Sector for the Los Angeles Section. He had been honored at the local level on Sept. 19 by the South San Joaquin branch making him one of seven competing for the honor. He and two other engineers will then go on to compete at the Regional leve...
Tehachapi continues to drive conversation in Kern County, especially among visitors and those that spend time in our community as a quick weekend getaway. The GranFondo, completed a few weeks back, was a great example. Over 1,000 riders, their supporters and community members flooded Downtown on an unseasonably warm September day to enjoy the festivities and the physical challenge. Many of these riders were returning to our community as they have made the ride an annual tradition. GranFondo,...
The Finance Department of the City of Tehachapi recently joined the ranks of local award winners. A very excited Hannah Chung found out at the beginning of September that she had been awarded a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for her Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 2018 from the Government Financial Officers Association. The 18 member Executive Board of the GFOA bestows this certification on those they feel go above and beyon...
Our City Clerk came across something interesting during a search of our archives last week. They were minutes from a 1935 City Council Meeting. As still is the case today, public presentations and concerns were raised. This particular concern centered on a Mr. Guthrie, who based upon a few other searches revealed he was quite the regular guest and appears in the minutes on numerous occasions during that time period. Mr. Guthrie was a local baker, and on Sept. 15, 1935 he was bringing to council...
Tehachapi has become a place of opportunity for all. We can't promise you the "American Dream" but we've certainly taken plenty of steps to make it far more attainable in our City. Last week was a great indicator of that, we celebrated the opening of several additions to the City of Tehachapi. Of course, Walmart was the most notable, releasing a pent-up demand for general merchandise and grocery shopping locally. By the turnout and the crowds at the store, I'd say Walmart's decision to come to...
Coffee with the Mayor and City Manager at the Coffee Mill on Mill Street had a new look on the morning of Aug. 15. The City's new street sweeper from Global Environmental Products was on public display and sweeper operator Dale Miller and City Fleet Coordinator David Carvalho were on hand to answer questions. Carvalho is responsible for the maintenance of all City vehicles including the police department vehicles. The new sweeper replaces the City's 20-year-old sweeper that would no longer meet...
The Tehachapi Police Department and City of Tehachapi joined to sponsor an "emergency go bag for two" giveaway at National Night Out on Tuesday, Aug. 6. The drawing required people to sign up for Nixle emergency alert notifications from the police department by texting "Tehachapi" (without the quotes) to 888777. Approximately 65 people registered to receive the alerts and were entered into the drawing. On Wednesday, Aug. 7 a winner was pulled from the entry forms. City of Tehachapi resident...
Walmart initiated the process of building a 154,569-square-foot Supercenter in Tehachapi 14 years ago in 2005. A resistance movement delayed construction and spurred community engagement on an unprecedented scale. One hearing at the high school gymnasium drew more than 700 advocates for and against building the Walmart. The store opened on Aug. 7, 2019. "I'm overjoyed to see this come to fruition and to have this for Tehachapi and our residents," Mayor Susan Wiggins said, recalling one public...
Walmart opens Tehachapi Supercenter to fanfare Tehachapi's long-awaited Walmart opened on August 7 with plenty of fanfare and celebration as hundreds of customers lined up in the early hours for the chance to be the first shoppers inside the door of the 155,000 square-foot store. Manager Amy Garcia, her leadership team and Walmart associates welcomed the crowd that gathered for the ribbon cutting ceremony Wednesday morning. It was a traditional Tehachapi grand opening with the National Anthem...
Ivey Rezayat is the winner of an all-expenses-paid vacation that was raffled at the Sip Sip Hooray Wine Walk, donated by Jenni Richard of Travel by Jenni. The resort stay is at the Ocean Maya Royale, a short distance from Cancun, Mexico in a quiet, secluded area with its own private beach. Ivey, from Springville, Calif. was visiting family members in Bear Valley Springs and decided at the last minute to attend the Main Street Tehachapi Wine Walk with her cousin. She is very excited and looks...
The City of Tehachapi assisted the City of Ridgecrest with their post-earthquake assessments on Monday, July 8. “We are all part of a Mutual Aid agreement to help each other in time of disaster. We just wanted to be there for the Ridgecrest community in any way we could help,” said City Manager Greg Garrett. Garrett had stayed in contact with Ridgecrest City Manager Ron Strand and Kern County Fire Department Office of Emergency Services regarding providing assistance following the earthquakes on July 4 and 5. Mutual Aid was requested thr...
