BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK/KBFX) — A Bakersfield City Council meeting turned tense Tuesday night after Councilman Zack Bashirtash delivered an emotional and controversial speech criticizing the city’s homelessness response programs and the people living in encampments across the city.
The comments came after a staff presentation on the Bakersfield Clean City Initiative and Community Vitality Initiative, which outlined the number of homeless encampments cleared and thousands of pounds of trash removed over the past year.
While Bashirtash, who represents Ward 6, initially thanked city staff for their work, he quickly shifted to frustration as slides showed an increase in encampments and cleanup sites compared to previous years…