Prout selected as mayor

Gilbert Alvarado, Chad Givens and Pete Espinoza were sworn into the City Council at its recent meeting.

Council member Espinoza took his seat on the council, replacing outgoing council member Manuel Garcia.

The next matter at hand was the selection of the position of mayor. Alvarado nominated Cesar Lopez. Givens nominated Cathy Prout. After taking a vote for the mayor’s position, Prout was unanimously selected as mayor for the next two years.

Givens was selected as mayor pro-tem with a unanimous vote.

The council then selected representatives for a number of organizations throughout Kern County. The Kern Council of Governments will have Prout serving as Shafter’s representative, with Espinoza as the first alternate.

Givens was chosen as representative for the San Joaquin Valley Air District Board. At an earlier Special Board meeting, the council watched a slide presentation depicting the numerous building projects that the city has going, including several properties at the Wonderful Industrial Park, as well as residential tracts being developed.

It was brought to the council’s attention that the volume of work to be done by the city’s building inspection team, that it has become necessary to hire an additional building inspector.

Dennis Fidler, building official for the city, said, “With the increase and volume of the projects being developed in Shafter, we are in danger of having a decrease in performance that is usually enjoyed by the city, making a need for another building inspector on board.”

Fidler is going to produce a report for the council’s review, including what the city will need, and how a budget amendment would be produced to deal with the financial aspects of the position.