23ABC spoke with Alejandro Bedolla, an engineering manager for Public Works' road division about the latest grand jury report that takes aim at the county's maintenance of potholes. To summarize the report, a grand jury recommen ds that the County Public Works roads division adjust its reactive vs. proactive maintenance, increase blade sealing, and adjust hiring practices to shorten the process. The full report can be read on the Kern County Grand Jury website. Bedolla believes that the roads division of Public Works meets the reactive proactive maintenance recommendation, but noted that he believes the department could increase blade sealing to help limit potholes. According to a Kern County Public Works spokesperson, the county received 42 claims regarding potholes and vehicle damage and over 800 pothole-related work orders through the MyKern app. However, it is worth noting that county roads aren't the only place where potholes can cause problems. According to a City of Bakersfield spokesperson, the city received 37 similar claims last year but also spent over $660,000 repairing over 10,000 potholes. The spokesperson also noted that the best way to inform the city of road issues like potholes is to report them through the City's mobile app.BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:On Tuesday, we filled you in on a grand jury report that took aim at the County Public Works' road division and potholes out on county roads, I'm Sam Hoyle, your neighborhood reporter, and now we're hearing from the county.To recap, the report's recommendations to the roads division of Kern County Public Works included shifting from an 85% to 15% reactive/proactive maintenance schedule to 75%/25%, increasing blade sealing by 10%, and addressing the hiring process to make it faster.According to a spokesperson for Kern County Public Works, 42 claims were filed against the county regarding pothole damage to vehicles, and over 830 pothole work orders were submitted last year.When looking at the most recent Kern County Board of Supervisors' agenda, one woman is claiming that the county failed to maintain a section of 7th standard road just east of Zerker Road and several potholes damaged her car popping several tires.Alejandro Bedolla, an engineering manager in the road maintenance portion of County Public Works, says that when it comes to potholes, they are significantly more reactive than proactive, but he also believes they're closer to that recommended split than the report portrays because when the department gets notified of one pothole through the MyKern App, they continue to search the area for others to fill before they become an issue."I believe we are already doing that," said Bedolla. "A resident or constituent might find one pothole on the road, our staff will still drive along the road and look for any other potholes. That way we're not having to do double work in that in that sense. So we'll try to patch that pothole that's being reported, and any others in the local area to patch as well."As for blade sealing, a maintenance treatment where a construction grader is used to level out longer stretches of road while pothole patching is focused on a smaller area, Bedolla noted in his opinion that public works would likely be able to meet that 10% blade sealing increase by june 1st 2027."I think it is feasible to increase that quantity, because as we gain more staff and more experience and just overall, just our maintenance program, we are still trying to expand and do better."The County Public Works Department has just shy of two months to respond to the report.When talking with Bedolla, he noted that the easiest way to notify the county and the quickest way for them to fix problems like potholes on roadways is by reporting them through the county's MyKern app, we'll have a link to that in this story onlineAnd to be clear, potholes aren't just an issue out on county roads, looking at the city of Bakersfield, data provided by the city shows that there were 37 claims made to the city regarding vehicle damage as a result of a pothole, and the city's streets division fixed over 10,000 potholes to the tune of just over 660,000 dollars. Much like the county, the city spokesperson said the best way to notify the city of a problem on a road is through the city's mobile app.Stay in Touch with Us Anytime, Anywhere: Download Our Free App for Apple and Android Sign Up for Our Daily E-mail Newsletter Like Us on Facebook Follow Us on Instagram Subscribe to Us on YouTube ...read more read less