Harvey Hall, 4-term mayor of Bakersfield, dies at 77

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (AP) — Harvey Hall, who served four terms as mayor of Bakersfield, California, and founded a namesake ambulance company that serves the majority of the surrounding county, has died. He was 77.

Hall Ambulance Service says its founder died Saturday after being treated for what the firm calls a “rapidly progressing disease.” He had become ill in mid-April.

Hall served as the 25th mayor of Bakersfield from 2001 through 2016. He decided not to seek a fifth term.

His successor, Mayor Karen Goh, called him an outstanding leader and beloved friend.

Hall’s death comes just weeks after he had stepped down as president of Hall Ambulance, which he founded in 1971 out of his house.

It now has 470 employees and is one of the largest privately owned ambulance companies in the state.