grove, oviatt, gunda (copy)

From left, California Energy Commission Vice Chairman Siva Gunda, retired Kern County Planning Director Lorelei Oviatt and state Sen. Shannon Grove, R-Bakersfield, at a bill-signing ceremony Sept. 19 in San Francisco. The law they worked together on, called Senate Bill 237, allows Kern County to issue its own oil-field permits through 2035.

 Photo courtesy of the office of state Sen. Shannon Grove

Perceptions of whether government action is succeeding sometimes come down to different views on what the goal was to start with.

It may not be surprising, then, that two contrasting assessments have emerged of a state bill that last year gave Kern County environmental clearance to issue its own local oil permits.