Jensen, Grace elected to Bear Valley CSD
The votes have been cast, and the ballots have been counted. In what has been a contentious race for the Bear Valley Community Service District election, the board of directors will welcome two new faces to the board of directors.
Kern County certified its Nov. 3 election results to the state on Dec. 1.
The election proved to be a nail-biter to the very end with Charles Jensen and John Grace coming in at the top of the heat.
“To all of you who supported my candidacy and voted for me, I am humbled and grateful for your support,” Jensen said. “I couldn’t have done it without you. And to those who didn’t support me, I have every intention to represent all of you equally with vigor and honesty. Above all, I represent you; not the district. I have every intent to honor that.”
He went on to thank the other candidates.
“Your care for our community is much appreciated and your courage for putting yourselves out there is admired. I never envisioned myself running for office and quickly learned that it isn’t easy. It is my hope to provide my experience and values to making Bear Valley Springs a place for all of us to be proud of,” Jensen said.
Jensen won with a vote of 1,784 (29.70 percent), followed by Grace with a vote of 1,435 (23.89 percent).
“I am honored to have been selected by the residents of Bear Valley Springs to represent them on the CSD board. We face many challenges in the community, and I intend to work diligently with the other board members to advance BVS and preserve our high quality of life,” Grace said.
Other candidates included incumbent Jay Carlyn who lost his seat with a vote of 976 (16.25 percent), Kathy Kneer with a vote of 1,157 (19.26 percent), Steve Miles with a vote of 652 (10.86 percent) and Kevin Rice with two votes (.03 percent).