Whitney Weddell
Whitney Weddell ran for election to the Kern County Board of Supervisors to represent District 2 in California. Weddell lost in the general election on November 6, 2018.
Weddell completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2018. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Weddell graduated from West High School, attended Bakersfield College, and earned a bachelor's degree and teaching credential from California State University Bakersfield. Her professional experience includes working as a teacher at Washington Middle School and Nueva High School. She served as chair of the Bakersfield LGBTQ from 2004 to 2017.[1]
Elections
2018
General election
General election for Kern County Board of Supervisors District 2
Incumbent Zack Scrivner defeated Whitney Weddell, Dalmas Bunn, and Michael Garcia Biglay in the general election for Kern County Board of Supervisors District 2 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Zack Scrivner (Nonpartisan) | 41.8 | 17,880 |
 | Whitney Weddell (Nonpartisan)  | 30.0 | 12,822 | |
| Dalmas Bunn (Nonpartisan) | 20.3 | 8,694 | ||
 | Michael Garcia Biglay (Nonpartisan) | 7.9 | 3,396 | |
| Total votes: 42,792 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Campaign themes
2018
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Whitney Weddell completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Weddell's responses.
What would be your top three priorities, if elected?
Economic development, jobs, and county services
What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?
I am interested in ideas that help people prosper and thrive. I will pursue new ideas in economic development in the county, pushing for living-wage jobs that give people a reasonable standard of living. This will also allow the county to be able to once again deliver local services, like roads, public safety and libraries, to communities that have seen drastic cuts in recent years. Kern County should become the commercial cannabis growing capital of the US; this is one industry we should embrace, along with promoting Kern County tourism, and all of the local communities, on a far grander scale than we do now.
What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?
Listening is the greatest asset an elected official can exhibit. People must feel that they've been heard.
What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?
I am a good listener, and I truly want to hear differing points of view as I make decisions. teaching for 30 years has also given me the skill of team building, bringing all stakeholders together to find solutions to common problems.
What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?
The first responsibility of an Supervisor is to hear and respond to their constituents.
What legacy would you like to leave?
In four years, I am certain some people will say I did a great job, while others may disagree. What I hope everyone will agree on is that I showed up, that I listened, and I always considered a variety of ideas as I made decisions, and I was always trying to do the right thing.
What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?
I was just 5 or 6 when Saturday morning cartoons were preempted because Harry Truman died, and they were covering his funeral. I was so angry that my precious cartoons were not on TV that morning. My mother helped me write a letter to the TV station, sharing my complaint. I remember the TV station general manager wrote back, gently explaining to my immature mind why a president was more important for a few hours than cartoons. This foreshadowed my lifetime of advocacy for people; I have always wanted to be a righter of wrongs. Of course, today I would be much more interested in the president's coverage, but that early exchange with the TV station helped me to understand that you can respond to authority and ask questions, and anyone, even a child, may have valuable views. You may not immediately change things, but people do listen and they may plan differently in the future.
What kind of skills or expertise do you believe would be the most helpful for the holders of this office to possess?
A Supervisor must recognize that the job is 24-7-365. It doesn't end at 5pm, and they should expect to do a lot of traveling after office hours. They should be prepared to drive long hours to be a consistent presence in the communities throughout the district, and they should assume that almost all weekend and evenings will have important community events they should attend. While it would be impossible to be everywhere all at once, it should be clear that the Supervisor is making every effort to be connected to all areas of the district as often as possible.
What qualities does this office possess that makes it a unique and important part of the local government?
Supervisors are in the unique position of making laws for the entire county. It's a huge responsibility to craft legislation that will benefit the most people, given the diversity of our county. We need to be prepared to "think outside the box" to ensure we are not creating one-size-fits-all responses to our problems.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Ballotpedia biographical submission form
The candidate completed Ballotpedia's biographical information submission form:
| “ | What is your political philosophy?
I believe in people, and in coming together to create solutions for our shared problems. Too many areas of District 2 are neglected, and the people feel unheard. This is why I am running, to ensure that people know someone who can help them is truly listening. Is there anything you would like to add? The biggest issue in Kern County is the economy. We need to attract new and different kinds of industry to Kern, so as we continue to benefit from oil and agriculture, we are creating new industries and new technologies that will carry us into the 21st century. We need to be forward thinking, building a community our children and grandchildren will be proud to call home, and in which they can thrive.[2] |
” |
| —Whitney Weddell[1] | ||
See also
External links
Footnotes
