Some students may be unaware that on every third Thursday of every month, a representative of California State Assembly Member Shannon Grove is on campus for two hours starting at 10 a.m. to meet with anyone interested in bringing up issues with Grove. This last Thursday, the representative was Tracey Reynolds from constituent services, but most Thursdays it will be Javier Reyes, field representative.
For those students and faculty looking to find the meeting spot, last Thursday it was held in Levinson 5, a small office in the Levinson building behind one of two closed and unmarked doors.
When asked about the goal of the mobile office, Reyes said, “to listen to what concerns them and to make ourselves available … as well as inform students about pending legislation.” He also mentioned potential internships.
He added “Shannon Grove is ready to serve all of her Bakersfield constituents. Join us at the mobile office hours. The better we can communicate, the better BC will be.”
When asked about Grove’s issues that relate to Bakersfield College, Reyes mentioned, “jobs for students, so when they graduate they can enter a friendly business environment,” and veteran affairs, noting Grove’s military service.
Reyes also said that Grove wants to ensure that “[the state government] are being good stewards of our state resources” and that “we don’t have a revenue problem, but a spending problem.”
Michele Bresso, Associate Vice Chancellor of Governmental and External Relations and Kern Community College District’s contact with state, local, and federal branches of government, said that “the mobile office is something they do when they don’t have a regular office so they can connect with others.”
Bresso also noted “this is an incredible opportunity to make your voices known to the legislature.”
She added “these people really are taking notes and bringing them back to legislators,” but that “legislators are not educators. They only know what we tell them.”
She is urging students to attend and “tell them your personal story. Tell them ‘this is what will happen to me.’” She added “imagine the impact if hundreds of students attended?”
Bresso is working to get other representatives on campus to meet with students, noting that there has been interest expressed by several legislators. The process to get a representative takes at least a month to get approved by the district, but otherwise there are no other issues.