Spoke Editor Profile:

Jean-Luc Slagle is the founder and creative director of Scope Studios, a creative agency that helps businesses and organizations shape important ideas into clear, compelling campaigns and creative work. In addition to his professional work, Jean-Luc mentors emerging artists and creatives throughout Kern County. He lives in Bakersfield with his wife, Haley, their son, Rylo, and their sheepdog mix, Toulouse.

Invocation: Amy Travis
Flag Salute: Jorge Barrientos
Song: Joe Hay
Roving Mic: Jon Sampson

Guests:

Liz Valladares, guest of Patrick Beck
Gilbert Larque, guest of Patrick Beck
Juan Sanchez, guest of Patrick Beck
Daniel Green, guest of Joe Hay
Shawn Partain, guest of Joe Hay
Margaret Abernathy, guest of Cathy Abernathy

Program:

Past President Joe Hay returned to the podium and immediately brought with him the nervous energy of a man who had once held power and was not quite ready to let it go. Joe promptly fired Sgt. at Arms Jean-Luc Slagle and reinstated Nik Boone, who is allegedly better at the job. After observing Nik’s brief return to service, Jean-Luc’s employment appears secure.

Members were then treated to several Ford and Hyundai commercials, a remarkable quantity of promotional merchandise, and a pre-program production whose professionalism rivaled that of a local used car dealership.

Eventually, an actual program began.

Jim Damian moderated a conversation between Joe Hay of Jim Burke Ford and Patrick Beck of Bakersfield Hyundai, billed as “Ford vs. Hyundai.”

Patrick started selling cars in Tucson at age 22 and eventually purchased a dealership in Nogales, Arizona. He later came to Bakersfield as a minority partner and operator of Bakersfield Hyundai and recently bought out his final partner to become sole owner. Joe is the grandson of Jim Burke and originally planned to attend law school before a summer working at the family dealership changed his plans. He has served as CEO since 2020, though the dealership’s Bakersfield roots date all the way back to 1913. Both dispelled the popular notion that car dealers spend their days printing money. The business is highly regulated, margins are thinner than most people assume, and much of a dealership’s profitability comes from parts and service.

Patrick also made an impassioned case for buying locally: “If you leave town and buy a car, you obviously hate Bakersfield.”

His larger point was that local purchases support our tax base, while Bakersfield dealerships contribute heavily to local nonprofits and community organizations. We also learned that Bakersfield’s dealers maintain an unusually friendly relationship. They meet regularly, help one another, and have collaborated on scholarship endowments and other philanthropic efforts.

So despite the billing, Ford vs. Hyundai produced very little actual conflict. Joe and Patrick agreed on the most important point:

Buy the Ford. Buy the Hyundai. Just buy it in Bakersfield.