Local politicians and business leaders are urging the state to build a heavy maintenance facility in Kern County as part of its High Speed Rail project. Speaking at the Amtrak station in Bakersfield Thursday at an event put on by the group Kern4HMF, Board of Supervisors Chair Mick Gleason, who is a critic of high speed rail, said, “we need to compete for and win that [new] industry.”

Kevin Bush of the Kern County Black Chamber of Commerce agreed, with Bush mentioning many of his members work in construction and trade businesses, which need the extra employment, estimated to be around 2,000 permanent jobs, the facility brings.

The High Speed Rail project has been dogged with accusations of corruption and mismanagement of funds, but construction on a line connecting Merced to Bakersfield has already begun.

Kelli Forsch