Does Bakersfield provide careers for professionals?
Last month, Californiancolumnist Robert Price wrote about a Public Policy Institute of California study noting the "exodus" of young professionals from valley cities, such as Bakersfield.
The following are two responses Price received to his column:
COMMUTES TO BAY AREA JOB
I was pleased to read Robert Price's column regarding the exodus of our talented, degreed professionals from the Bakersfield area.
I am a native of the Central Valley who grew up in the rural communities of Shafter, Wasco and McFarland. I went away to college and graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
After graduation, I was hoping to return home and start a career in this area so I could be close to my family. But I was disappointed to find that the opportunities in this area for engineers/scientists are extremely limited.
Currently I work for Intel Corp. in the Bay Area and I am going on my fourth year. Back when I first hired on with Intel, I always planned on it being a temporary job while I continued to look for work in the Bakersfield area hoping that the explosion in growth would bring new career opportunities for people like me.
The opportunities do not appear to have changed very much, so I decided to create an arrangement with my company that allows me to telecommute from home for a portion of my work week.
I work Monday through Thursday in the Bay area and I work from home in McFarland on Fridays. This is a convenient arrangement to have in the meantime, but it still doesn't beat being able to stay close to home permanently.
I was glad to see that someone else in our community has brought this issue to people's attention. I, along with a few other engineers at our company who originate from the Central Valley, am grateful for the attention that you placed to this issue.
RAFAEL RODARTE JR.
McFarland
PHYSICIAN WORKS TO 'FIT'
I am a highly trained board certified local physician representing the opposite to what the study by the Public Policy Institute of California contends.
I grew up in Santa Fe, N.M., and subsequently received my bachelor of science degree from Stanford University and medical degree from the University of Cincinnati. I completed a medical internship in Tucson, Ariz., and a radiology residency in Houston, Texas.
My wife and I moved to Bakersfield 11 years ago after completing a two-year subspecialty fellowship in neuroradiology at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. We had no family or other ties to Bakersfield. At the time, Kern Radiology and this community had a need for my subspecialty expertise, and I eagerly accepted the challenge.
Now I am one of the owners of Kern Radiology and an investor in the new multiphase 80,000-plus-square-foot medical office building going up adjacent to Memorial Hospital.
My wife and I have struggled through these 11 years to make Bakersfield our home. We initially found the community in general and the medical community in particular very cliquish and difficult to gain acceptance into.
We still have our struggles with these issues, but have gradually developed a niche. There were many temptations to leave, but a sense of duty to my company and co-workers as well as to the community have kept us here.
I have, however, seen many of my former colleagues leave town and mainly for many of the reasons cited in the study by the Public Policy Institute of California. I have also found it very difficult to attract and recruit new radiologists to my group. A national shortage of radiologists has not made that task any easier.
In spite of these difficulties, my practice has grown and we are now attracting radiologists from the Los Angeles area who are amazed at the quality, efficiencies and technical advancements demonstrated.
The predictions of the institute do not necessarily need to be a foregone conclusion. Bakersfield has grown since I moved here and is still growing. There are many arts and activities that exist, and that can thrive and grow with the proper care.
One of my good friends, with a recent master's degree in theater, moved to Bakersfield last year from the Los Angeles area, solely to take a job at one of our local theaters. He recently directed a local production. That kind of talent is a great asset to our community and should be fostered.
Unfortunately, he is seriously considering leaving Bakersfield, in part because of his perception of lack of community support for theatre.
In your article Robert Price asked: How do you continue to play up the good things Bakersfield offers (family, small-town flavor, affordability, mostly bearable commutes) and bring in more of the things we, to some extent, are lacking (economic diversity, arts, culture and civilized nightlife)?
I submit to you that our local paper, The Californian,can help play a major role in this regard. One of these roles is to ensure that all of our local arts get adequate coverage on a routine and consistent basis. With more community and local newspaper support, our local arts can better survive and thrive.
In the process, this can and will attract and retain more quality people to Bakersfield.
John M. Gundzik
Vice president and secretary of Kern Radiology Medical Group Inc.
