BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Mercy Peña, a candidate for the Bakersfield City Council's Ward 1 seat, confirmed court records showing she has two felony convictions for forgery.
Peña says accountability and transparency are at the center of her campaign for the seat, currently held by Eric Arias.
As I reviewed her background, I found court records showing two felony convictions for forgery under the name Mercy Mary Peña.
After comparing signatures from those records with her election filing, Peña confirmed the records are hers. Peña currently serves on the Greenfield School District Board of Trustees.
When asked why she had not previously mentioned her past felony charges when applying for the Board of Trustees or entering the Ward 1 race, Peña spoke about her history directly.
"I haven't gotten expunged, but at the end of the day that was a mistake I made in 1992 and - like I said - it's part of my past...I'm going to fess up to it because it did happen," Peña said.
Peña says she's learned from her past, and those experiences now shape how she looks at city spending.
She also spoke about the nature of the work itself.
"It's not a glamorous job. It's not a big funded job to do but..something has to do it," Peña said.
She says the city should first listen to residents and identify their biggest needs before deciding how to spend public money.
For Peña, that means prioritizing long-term recovery programs for homelessness and giving the community more of a say in city decisions. "Talk to the people in that area. Ask them what they want to resolve?" Peña said.
If elected, Peña says addressing residents' concerns head-on is the best strategy to increase public safety in Ward 1.
With all of Bakersfield's city council candidates having had their chance to make their case to voters, the decision now heads to the ballot box.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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