Nonprofit leader Osborne aims for Shafter Council seat

James Osborne is originally from Nashville, Tenn., and came to Shafter in 2019. Along with his wife, Cur'Neisha, he runs a nonprofit called Villagers Inc., which serves underprivileged youth by offering educational study trips, life skills training, leadership development, and food and home resources to the parents.

Osborne is running for one of three seats to be filled on the Shafter City Council, against incumbents Mayor Chad Givens, Gilberto Alvarado and Pete Espinoza, and Rafael Zamudio.

"Through Villagers Inc., we have partnerships with Toys for Tots, Ikea Furniture, Burlington Coat Factory and Good360. Through these partnerships, we are able to offer toys, furniture, clothing, household supplies, school supplies, and pretty much anything that a family would need. We also have a partnership with CAPK, where we get our food from them, which we distribute as well. We service the communities of Shafter, Wasco, Bakersfield, Arvin and Lamont. We do an annual toy giveaway in all five of those cities, where we go to neighborhoods, honk our horn and pass out toys."

In Shafter, he works with the Shafter Youth Center. "For them, we do 'Operation Letters for Santa.' We had a mailbox designed with Santa on it that we placed in the center. Teachers have kids write letters to Santa, and then we get and fulfill the letters. It's something the kids look forward to."

Also, in Shafter, he hosts the Gossamer Grove Trunk or Treat. "We design it, run it and do the whole nine yards. Our first one was in 2020. We started with about 50 kids, and this past year, in 2023, we did just over 200 kids. What I enjoy most about it is the residents' involvement and the kids' enjoyment. They love the designs of the cars, and the residents put a lot of effort into designing them. We even have one of our Villagers Inc. volunteers put on a mini petting zoo with cats, rabbits, and all sorts of animals."

Osborne said he is running for the council "to give our residents a voice. I'm not a politician. I'm a community activist. I'm a father, and I'm a nonprofit owner. Part of it is that I felt a disconnect has always been between Gossamer Grove and the core City of Shafter. Many of the decisions that the City Council was making for Gossamer Grove weren't being found out by the residents unless they attended the meetings. And so, I thought we need someone from Gossamer Grove on the council who knows what the residents are dealing with and can stay in the loop with what is happening with our city."

Among the issues he most cares about is citizenship. "A lot of our residents don't have access to services like food stamps, WIC and childcare due to the fear of their status as an undocumented citizen. They are afraid that applying for these services will compromise their eligibility, and I want to bridge the gap between our undocumented citizens and the services they can access and receive. I want the residents of Shafter to know just how many services are available to them, regardless of their status or income, and that there is no risk to getting those services."

He said he wants to be a councilmember the people feel they can come to. "I want to be transparent, open and easily accessible. I want residents to feel that when they come to me with a situation, it is being heard, considered and handled. Like I said, I am not a politician. I am a father, I am a husband and I am that for the community. At the heart of it, it's who I am."