Ridgecrest Citizens Against B and C

06/07/2026

The latest vote totals show both Measures B and C failing, with each new drop since the early mail-in ballots came in showing about 60% of voters opposing both measures.

However, we missed this KGET news story on the issue before the last ballot drop, and thought it was worth sharing that we're getting attention from folks in Bakersfield!

Vote tally for Ridgecrest measures B and C shows very close race

06/06/2026

Thank you to The Daily Independent for tracking this story! We are confident that voters will reject these poorly conceived and written measures when the final votes are tallied, but we do believe there are at least another thousand or more votes still to be counted and want to ensure that every vote is heard before calling the results prematurely.

Another election twist.

One measure that had been holding onto a narrow lead has now joined the other in failing status as new vote totals were released Friday.

Are the results settled, or could more ballots still change the outcome?

Read the full story in the link below.

https://www.ridgecrestca.com/news/friday-update-measure-c-joins-measure-b-in-failing-status/article_31058fae-fed6-4a1a-a6fb-ff683b853b44.html

06/04/2026

Like everyone else, with both of these measures very much in limbo, we've been anxiously awaiting final, or even updated, vote totals. So we reached out to County Elections this morning... Only to be told they're not expecting to update these anytime soon.

The official word - By the end of the day TOMORROW!

We'll keep our eyes peeled in case anything changes. In the meantime we've been very busily trying to remove all of our signs and banners. If you still have one at your home and could bring that in, we'd appreciate it. And if we've inadvertently missed any, please message our page and we'll get it down as quickly as possible!

Thank you to everyone for your support on these issues and protecting our city! Regardless of the outcome, we are proud to have been part of the effort to ensure the council works under OUR terms, not THEIRS!

06/02/2026

Some last minute coverage on these flawed measures from one of the Bakersfield news stations. Just a reminder to VOTE, and to vote NO on Measures B and C!

https://youtu.be/w5B7jfQSEuQ?si=-7LhjIcgMEOEzJOJ

Measures B and C draw criticism

05/30/2026

With just a few days until election day, we wanted to share our first post outlining the reasons dozens of local voters came together to try and stop these poorly written and poorly conceived measures. If you're still not sure how to vote, we hope this will help you decide to vote NO on Measures B and C.
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OUR Terms. NOT Theirs.
Vote NO on Measures B and C.

In 2012, after decades of frustration with long-term city politicians and a desire for fresh perspectives on our City Council, the citizens of Ridgecrest took action. A citizen-led measure was placed on the ballot to establish term limits for our city’s elected leaders.

The community spoke loudly and clearly: nearly 75% of voters supported term limits, ushering in a new era of accountability and ensuring that no one could hold power at City Hall indefinitely.

That same year, voters were also asked to choose between a two-year or four-year mayoral term. Again, voters made their priorities clear. More than 60% chose a two-year mayor, while only about one-third supported a four-year term. Ridgecrest voters wanted frequent accountability and responsive leadership.

Now, just 14 years later, our City Council is asking voters to undo those citizen-led and approved rules.

Measures B and C would replace the term limits and terms that Ridgecrest voters put in place with new ones written by City Council lawyers. Even more concerning, these changes would reset the clock for current councilmembers’ terms, effectively allowing them to bypass the very term limits voters approved.

In other words, the rules that were supposed to limit time in office would suddenly no longer apply… At least to the people currently in power.

Why did the City Council decide to make these changes? According to councilmembers, during a public meeting, they said there was an issue with how the term limits aligned with the length of council terms. But if that was truly the issue, it could have been addressed without resetting the clock for current councilmembers and without weakening voter accountability.

Term limits were created by Ridgecrest voters to protect accountability and prevent exactly this kind of political maneuvering.

These should be the people’s rules, not rules rewritten by lawyers to benefit the politicians they were meant to limit.

Spread the word. Talk to your neighbors. And on or before June 2, stand up for voter accountability and vote to stop the city from changing OUR Terms.

OUR Terms. NOT Theirs.
Vote NO on Measures B and C.

05/28/2026

We're less than a week from election day! If you haven't mailed in your ballot, you can take it to the drop box by the county courthouse or to your polling place on election day. Or, you can always vote in person like in the olden days...

Whatever you do, we hope you choose to vote and make your voice heard. 🇺🇸❤️ 🤍 💙

And of course we encourage everyone to vote NO on Measures B and C by June 2nd!

05/25/2026

With the holiday weekend, some Ridgecrest folks headed to "Filmore" to see what folks there thought of us trying to change their term limits... Not surprisingly, we couldn't find anyone in "Filmore" who supported this (honestly, most folks were just confused... As we still are 😂).

So not only are Ridgecrest voters asking you to Vote NO on Measures B and C, "Filmore" voters are adding their voices to that!

So for the sake of Ridgecrest, AND for the sake of "Filmore" we urge everyone to vote NO on Measures B and C by June 2nd!

05/24/2026

The bottom line is this - Measure B is deeply flawed, potentially illegal, and turns a small problem into a confusing, inconsistent, huge one. If there is concern about continuing appointments, then the council can choose to leave any potential position vacant while we work together as a community to create a clear, fair, and LEGAL answer to any issues with the current term limit law that our community may have.

Yet for some reason that we don't want to speculate on, the retired city manager has undertaken a targeted campaign to try and mislead the community into voting for this measure and incurring even more legal bills as a result of how poorly written it is. We can only wonder why the retired city manager is pushing so hard for a measure that would result in us spending even more taxpayer dollars on fees paid to the City Attorney to clarify the ambiguous and convoluted language, and in ending the term limits for our Mayor position if Measure C fails.

We don't want to speculate, but we encourage everyone to read the measure for themselves and then decide.

And we are certain that after doing so, others will decide, just as so many of us already have, to vote NO on Measures B and C by June 2nd.

05/22/2026

Thank you to Jennifer Wood Slayton for your thoughtful letter to the editor in today's The Daily Independent! Regardless of whether you agree that the potential appointments are an issue or not, we all agree that Measures B and C hurt more than they help the issue.
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Like many others here in Ridgecrest, I share the concern about ongoing appointments that proponents of Measures B and C have raised. And when I first heard that the City would be putting forward a ballot measure to address these, I assumed I would be voting for it.

However, the reality is that the measure they put forward took a fairly small, occasional concern and turned it into a confusing, inconsistent mess that is probably not even legal. Then they tacked on a second measure to try to reduce the frequency with which we can hold a majority of our council accountable.

The proposed Measure B could result in term limits ranging from 4 to 10 years, and possibly even up to just under 12 years, because of the ambiguous language in this poorly written measure. Because of the confusing language and the use of terms defined in multiple ways, the entire measure could very well be struck down in a legal challenge, leading to even more legal bills paid for with our taxpayer dollars. And that’s on top of the fact that it’s apparently seeking to change the term limits of “Filmore” because the City Attorney didn’t fully proofread the ordinance he apparently copied from another city.

But while Measure B seems to just be a comedy of errors by folks who were trying to fix something many of us agree is an issue… Measure C is much worse. It actively seeks to make it harder for us to change a majority of the council. Under the current two-year mayor, this is something we have the opportunity to do every major election. But the city would rather remove this power than just ensure that the council is doing things that keep them in office. Measure C would take this power away from the people, leaving us with only a recall as an option if our council wasn’t respecting the will of the people between four-year election cycles.

For these reasons, I urge my fellow Ridgecrest voters to reject the city's flawed attempts to reshape our council and our term limits, and to vote NO on Measures B and C by June 2nd.

Respectfully,
Jennifer Slayton, Ridgecrest Voter

05/19/2026

Ambiguous, convoluted, and confusing- those are just some of the words many residents are using to describe Measures B and C. 🤔📄

Most of us would much rather be spending time with our families 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 and focusing on the things we enjoy, but this issue is too important to ignore. Our community deserves transparency, accountability, and leadership that respects the voices of the people. 🏛️

Here are the facts:
❌ Measures B and C create a special loophole
❌ They make term limits inconsistent and confusing
❌ They reduce accountability to the public

There is also concern these measures may not even be legal as written, which could mean even more taxpayer money spent on attorneys and court battles to sort it out. ⚖️💸

That’s why so many residents are voting NO. 🗳️

And let’s not forget: these measures were placed on the ballot using your hard-earned taxpayer dollars. 💵 We’ve heard the cost was approximately $40,000 PER measure — and possibly more. Is this really what taxpayers should be funding?

Public servants are meant to work for the people, not around them. 👥

Let’s vote NO on Measures B and C and support leadership that values transparency, accountability, and protecting our community for this generation and the next. 🌟