The Green Party of Kern County is currently non-existent. But after a meeting of local Green Party members on Jan. 15 and Feb. 12, the party is closer to becoming a reality.

“[There is] a large, untapped pool of liberal voters in this county that have not had a voice. We’re going to offer a voice to them,” said Bill Olson, Green Party of Kern County county council member.

Olson, a Los Angeles transplant and now a Bakersfield resident, is responsible for making steps to create a local chapter of the Green Party.

According to Olson, the Green Party in Kern County has existed unofficially for four to five years but has primarily consisted of informal discussion groups over the Internet.

The Jan. 15 meeting brought local Greens together for the first public meeting. The meeting, which was also attended by representatives from the California Green Party, brought 10 volunteers together to start helping to organize the first meeting which was held Feb. 12 in at the United Farm Workers headquarters in Keene.

“We were very pleased to hold our meeting at the United Farm Workers Headquarters,” Olson said.

The meeting in Keene brought “about 30 people” from around the county according to Olson. At the meeting, Kern Greens unanimously passed bylaws and elected Olson along with Rachel Miller of Bakersfield, Andrew Horn of Pine Mountain, and Jada Salamatian of Bakersfield as the new county council members.

Also on hand to observe the meeting were two California Green Party representatives who will report back to the state party. Representatives from the Green Party of California will then determine whether to officially activate the Green Party of Kern County.

“We’re hoping that within a week at most our county will be activated,” said Olson.

Olson met with state party members at last year’s plenary held at UC Davis in November. He said that the party has been trying to organize the county for years.

The Green Party of California gave Olson and local organizers start-up funding to help the chapter get on its feet. The money is being used to pay for supplies to send out invitations to the February meeting.

“That’s two percent of their (Green Party of California) annual budget that they invested in conservative Kern County,” Olson said.