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Tehachapi City Council member-elect Shane Reed and sitting member Stan Beckham — who have clashed publicly in a political and personal war — have promised to behave when they are carrying out the peoples' business.

“I will show Stan the same amount of respect that Stan shows me,” said Reed, who launched a failed recall campaign to remove Beckham, accusing him of complicity in a nasty e-mail episode. “I'll be able to function if he's able to function.”

“It's a democracy in action,” Beckham said. “The people have spoken. We all move forward. Of course I will get along. We're civil human beings.”

Beckham backed the pro-business slate of Henry Schaeffer and Richard Tripp, who fell short in the four-man field.

Councilman Ed Grimes, who was appointed to the council to fill a two-year term in 2003 and won his second four-year term on Nov. 4, stayed above the fray. A long-time public servant with 20 years on the school board and two years on the recreation and parks board, Grimes is happy to see the back end of this election, and is counting on the new panel to work together.

“It means that we go forward and we don't go backward,” he said of the election results. “We will continue to make Tehachapi a quality place to live. The sky is not falling in Tehachapi. We have a good quality of life here and I want it to continue.”

Grimes said his priorities in the coming years are to continue the city beautification efforts, to oversee the sewer and water delivery infrastructure, to make sure the streets are repaired, to “make sure the police department is equipped to handle whatever comes” and “to be ever vigilant about that budget.”

Two vacant seats on the city council were contested in this election. Mayor Deborah Hand chose not to run again and Ed Grimes' seat was coming vacant. The other members of the five-member council are Mayor Pro-Tem Linda Vernon and Phil Smith.

Many of the council votes have broken at 4-1 with Beckham dissenting, although at recent meetings 5-0 votes have not been unusual.

One or both of the Schaeffer/Tripp slate on the council likely would have altered the dynamics, as it was anticipated they would vote along the same lines as Beckham, although both declared independence from a partisan line. 

Schaeffer, owner of Henry's Home 4 Less and city council candidate for the second time, said he would like to have won.

“I am very disappointed,” Schaeffer said. “I thought I had something to help business along, but the voters had other ideas.”

Schaeffer said he should have listened to his children.

“My kids tell me I should have been involved on the Internet,” said Schaeffer, who did not have a campaign web site. “I have a web site for my business, to talk to my suppliers. This is the first election the youth in our country got really involved. Obama had hundreds of people working on his site.”

As to running on a slate with Tripp, he said, “We're just two businessmen who want to get the city running together. When you run, you take on each others' negatives.”
Schaeffer said his business in this tough economic climate is down 60 percent.

“The construction industry is in a depression,” he said. “The rest is in a recession. In Tehachapi it is a mild recession because more people who work here have government jobs - in the prison, in the school district, a lot of people travel to Edwards.

“If it doesn't get any worse it will be OK. If you are a private business, you reduce overhead, reduce employees and get rid of excess equipment.”
Next year, Schaeffer said, “It could pick up but it won't pick up until we get rid of the foreclosures.”

Schaeffer said he plans to keep his house in town, which established his legal residence in the city and has been the subject of some controversy, and he will continue playing championship bridge.

While Reed utilized substantial advertising and full-color glossy mailers in his campaign, “Keeping it positive was the deciding factor” in his victory, he said.
He said he plans to “continue the good work the city has done already.”

Reed said he wants to improve recruiting businesses into town and “fill up some vacant buildings in the downtown area.”

Reed and Grimes will be sworn in at the December 15 meeting.