Emails show an assistant DA coached a nonprofit CEO on obtaining grant funding five weeks before the Kern County DA's office ended Open Door Network's role at the Family Justice Center; the CEO donated $2,000 to the DA's campaign
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Public-records-obtained emails published by KGET show that on January 20, 2026 -- five weeks before Kern County District Attorney Cynthia Zimmer's office abruptly terminated the Open Door Network's victim-advocacy role at the Family Justice Center -- Assistant DA Ken Russell was already coaching Bakersfield Recovery Services CEO Ganesh Acharya on how his nonprofit could obtain the same grant funding. Acharya, who also runs the Psychiatric Wellness Center treating Zimmer's nephew (former county supervisor Zack Scrivner, facing felony child-abuse charges) and who donated $2,000 to Zimmer's reelection campaign, accepted; Zimmer declined to explain the arrangement to reporters. On May 13, 2026, three of five county supervisors had to recuse themselves from voting on Bakersfield Recovery's occupancy agreement over related campaign-contribution conflicts, and the chairman had county staff draw names from a jar to pick two who could still vote.
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