Dissolves Redevelopment Agency

By James Ott

An emotional flood of support from residents will keep the Fulton Shipyard open for the foreseeable future.

City Council members voted unanimously to keep the boat ramp open, after business owners, boaters and long-time patrons rallied to fight the closure of the Fulton Shipyard boat ramp at Tuesday’s city council meeting.

Although city council members said they were keeping an open mind, the tide seemed turned against the boat ramp after a previous staff report had all but condemned the 53-year-old facility.

In the report, Antioch Police Capt. Stephen J. McConnell said that police were called to the boat ramp 298 times over the last five years to deal with vandalism, stolen vehicles, drug dealing, drug use and assaults, among other crimes.

The same staff report went onto claim that the ramp is a potential pollution hazard because Antioch’s fresh water intake pipe is right next to ramp. Staff said that phone booths, shopping carts, porta potties and cars have all been sunk into the river nearby, potentially leaking hazardous waste into the city’s water supply.

As if it wasn’t looking bad enough for the ramp, the report also said that the old facility is a threat to the income potential of Antioch’s new Marina ramp, which currently charges a $5 fee for boat launches – something the Fulton Shipyard boat ramp does for free.

Despite the bad publicity caused by the staff report, the public outcry at that previous meeting was enough to postpone the closure until more public opinion was gathered. There were plenty of opinions at last Tuesday’s meeting – not one in favor of closing the ramp.

“I’m down there every single day,” said resident Charles Andrew Waters. “This stuff about these drugs and all this bull—- – it’s a bunch of lies. And as far as the maintenance: you guys don’t come down there and paint and replace the bench tops. It’s the citizens who replaced the bench tops and clean the boat ramp. If you would pay attention, you guys would know that. All I ever see is someone taking out the garbage and leaving.”

While not everyone was as strongly worded as Waters, the city council really responded to the speakers – particularly those that offered potential solutions to some of the issues brought up in the staff report.

“Make it a park,” suggested resident Rick Robinson. “We’ve got a beautiful spot. I’d love to go out there and take my grandkids and have lunch and just hang out. That’s what we grew up doing”

Other suggestions included charging the same $5 boat launch fee for the Fulton boat ramp that is charged in the new marina, closing the boat ramp at night to reduce crime, having a volunteer committee to clean up and police the area, and seeking new grant money to improve the aging facility.

Everyone that spoke seemed to volunteer their time and effort towards any activity that would save the ramp. Business owners in the area, such as Red Caboose restaurant owner, Sheila White, said that they are eager to do all that they can because the ramp’s closure could mean the end of their livelihoods.

“I’m here to talk about my business,” said White. “I’ve been there nine years. My husband and I made a pledge that we would keep our business clean, that we would contribute to our community and that we would keep our [business] area clean. I employ 12 people. Six of them live in Antioch and have no other job. If I can’t generate new customers, I can’t maintain my business. I care about this town – my children live here and my grandchildren go to school here. I want to stay in business – it’s important to my family.”

Many spoke about long-held community ties and fond memories of the Fulton boat ramp. Resident and business owner Bill Morel’s story in particular made an impression on the crowd and the council.

“In 1960 my girlfriend then, my wife now of 50 years, we’re watching the moon dance across the waves when Officer Mandervilt came down with his flashlight tapping on my Chevy, wanting to know what we were doing down there.” he said. “I said fishing but…”

In the end city council members were thoroughly convinced that despite a staff report that gave no reason to keep the ramp open, there were in fact, plenty of reasons to do just that.

“Your passion and your concern is obvious,” said council member Gary Agopian. “I think Antioch benefits from having as many ways to access the Delta as possible. There’s people here who are willing and they’re already doing the work – I’ve seen them picking up the trash and painting the graffiti. The more boaters that get on the river from Antioch the better for us.

“Even though we have evidence of crime, I’m not sure how this breaks down. Since it’s free, I’d encourage people to use the new launch as well but … I’m in favor of … working with the citizens who want to maintain it and ensure the area.”

The council voted unanimously to keep the Fulton Shipyard boat ramp open and to have the city manager create a subcommittee within the next 60 days to handle the boat ramp policies and procedures of operation going forward.

In other business…

In response to the State Supreme Court decision to allow the state to disband redevelopment agencies and use the funds for other state obligations, the council voted to dissolve the Antioch Development Agency, the city’s redevelopment agency and suspend all redevelopment activities with the exception of scheduled payments and current obligations, from previously issued bonds.  Staff pointed out that additional actions will be required of the council in the coming months to comply with the court decision, including deciding whether or not the city will serve as the Successor Agency to manage the winding down of responsibilities of the disbanded agency at the council’s January 24th meeting.

The council also voted to eliminate earthquake insurance for both city hall and the police station, saving the city approximately $124,000 in this year’s budget, because it could not find a policy on the open market from a reputable company at a reasonable cost.

The council voted in support of transferring the State Route 4 Bypass to the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to be part of State Route 4 and included in the State Highway system, instead of a locally maintained road as it is currently classified. This was the plan from the beginning, and requires the approval of the Cities of Oakley and Brentwood, as well as the State Route 4 Bypass Authority and Caltrans. In addition, part of the agreement with Caltrans includes that agency turning over control to the cities of the current State Route 4, known as Main Street in Oakley and Brentwood Blvd. in Brentwood.

The public is warmly welcomed this Saturday, January 21st to the annual Santo Nino Celebration, sponsored by the Fil-Am Club, to Holy Rosary Church at 1316 A Street, Antioch.

Join in for all or any of the festivities, which start with a resplendent 5:30 Mass with songs in Tagalog and offerings of flowers by elegantly costumed youth. At 6:45 a Filippino feast starts at the rear of the parking lot in the Father Vicente Dominican Hall. At 7:15 entertainment begins, which includes native and popular dance acts, comedy and vocal and instrumental solos. The food and show are both free.

The Celebration is one of the most festive in the Philippines, The origin dates back to the landing of Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan who was commissioned in 1519 by the King and Queen of Spain to find the Spice Islands. Instead, Magellan landed at Limawsa in the central Philippines.

He was befriended by King Humabon and Queen Juana of Cebu, who embraced Christianity. Magellan then used Cebu as headquarters for his exploration, Christianization and conquests, At the behest of the gracious King, Magellan agreed to join his fight against the neighboring Mactan tribe. He was killed.

In 1565 the Spanish organized a return expedition from Mexico. It was led by Augustinian priest, Andres Urdaneta, a world-renowned cosmographer. The natives, though, feared retribution and a battle quickly ensued. Pounded by cannon and superior firepower the natives retreated to the mountains. Their villages were decimated.

In the ashes a Spanish soldier found a wooden box with an unscathed image of the infant Jesus. It was deemed a miracle and for four and half centuries the icon has been venerated. Further devotion ensued from instances like the World War II bomb that heavily damaged the cathedral but, again, left the icon untouched.

A strong tradition of adoring the infant Jesus took root in the Philippines. The Cebu Cathedral was renovated on the 400th anniversary of the fire and declared by the Vatican a Basilica Minore, with all the attendant status and privileges.

City of Antioch Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Celebration, 2012

Keynote Address

by Rev. Keith Archuleta

Good afternoon. It is my honor to be before you this afternoon as we commemorate the life of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

If you were to visit Memphis – and go to the site where Dr. King was assassinated – on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel, you would find there not a statue, but a simple plaque, quoting the brothers of Joseph, written in the Book of Genesis Chapter 37:verses 19-20, stating:

Here comes the dreamer. Come now, let us kill him…and we shall see what will become of his dreams.

For there were those who said of King, “Let us kill the dreamer…and see what becomes of his dreams. But, though they may kill the dreamer, they couldn’t kill the dream.

In 1954, in Montgomery, Alabama, King, just 25 years old, began serving as the pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, a little church in the heart of the Jim Crow south, as segregation laws were being challenged.

In 1955, a courageous Black woman named Rosa Parks refused to sit in the rear of a public bus, violating Montgomery’s segregation laws and affirming her own dignity. She stood up for justice by sitting down in the front of the bus, the section reserved for whites only. It is in this context that King emerged as a leader of the civil rights movement.

Note that 1955 was still less than 100 years after the Emancipation Proclamation and the close of the Civil War. But even though slavery ended, Black people in the south would be free citizens for only a period of less than 15 years.

In 1865, there those who wanted to kill the dream.

Dream killers like the Ku Klux Klan, the first home-grown terrorist group in the US, emerged after Blacks were freed from slavery, and they joined with the aristocracy of the former confederacy to take the south back, back to the days when Black people were a subjugated people.

By the 1880’s, through terrorism and legislation, southern states began to forge apartheid, called Jim Crow, and it impacted the psyche of all America.

Robert Kennedy described the impact of this element of American history in this way:

“When you teach a man to hate and fear his brother, when you teach that he is a lesser man because of his color or his beliefs, when you teach that those who differ from you threaten your freedom or your job or your family, then you also learn to confront others not as fellow citizens but as enemies.

We learn, at the last, to look at our brothers as aliens, men with whom we share a city, but not a community; men bound to us in common dwelling, but not in common effort. We learn to share only a common fear, only a common desire to retreat from each other, only a common impulse to meet disagreement with force.”

During Jim Crow, not just in the South, but throughout the US, Black people were relegated to second class citizenship, openly lynched, denied the right to vote, confined to the most dilapidated schools, more likely to be accused of crimes and convicted, denied equal pay, denied access to employment, housing, and public accommodations and eating establishments.

So, when we thought we’d won our freedom

Twasn’t long ‘fore we found out

That right here in America

Freedom and democracy had been sold out

Though we’d fought for Reconstruction

And worked for forty acres and a mule

Through the use of terrorist violence

The Klan soon brought back white rule

Oh children ‘twas a terrible time

Throughout the South you see

Jim Crow took away our land, our vote

And Black life was hung upon a tree

So again the struggle started

Ah, but you shouldn’t be surprised

And inspired by Garvey, Robeson, Dubois

folks were on the rise!

Jim Crow laws they started breakin’

from Greensboro to Little Rock

They joined in organized action to put

U.S. apartheid into shock

And from Newark to Detroit and Watts

They were dancin’ in the streets

From Montgomery to Mozambique

They were movin’ to a brand new beat

And so to folks like Fannie Lou, the Panthers, and SNCC

King, Malcolm, Cabral

To the everyday people fighting for power,

For peace and justice for us all

And to those who sang “you can make it if you try”

“keep on pushin” to “higher ground”

And those who said, “It’s nation time!”

And “I’m Black and I’m proud!,” we sing:

Thank you for lettin’ me be myself again!

Thank you for lettin’ me be myself again!

Thank you for lettin’ me be myself again!

Thank you for lettin’ me be myself again! ¹

Even though there are dream killers, there are also people of vision.

The efforts of civil rights activists culminated with the milestone passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

But King’s outspoken criticism of the Vietnam War and for the plight of the poor caused him to be a target of the CIA and Hoover FBI counter-intelligence program, Cointelpro, to discredit King and other civil rights and anti-war leaders. The dream killers hoped to kill the dream.

Yet King continued on, remaining steadfast to his ideals of non-violence and his call for a better, more just society.

The Poor People’s campaign of 1967 would prove to be King’s last major effort. In 1968, he traveled to Memphis, Tennessee in support of striking sanitation workers, where he gave what would be his final speech. The next day, April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated.

Let us kill the dreamer…and see what becomes of his dreams.

We know that there is no freedom without sacrifice. In reality, we all stand in the footsteps of countless, courageous unheralded leaders and followers of the civil rights movement in America. We stand on the shoulders of giants, King and countless others who sweat, bled and died to make real the promises of our democracy, so that all American children could have an equal shot to make it in this nation.

Yet, the dream of our democracy is still not yet fully achieved. We still have yet to become a nation with, “liberty and justice for all.”

Still in America, too many do not have access to decent, safe housing, adequate health care, and a thorough education. Too many still face painfully persistent poverty. Too many live in the grip of gun violence.

Too many have given up hope and too many languish in despair and confusion, and sadly, far too many suffer from short-sighted vision, or a lack of maturity or a lack of understanding of personal responsibility.

Too many in this country are filled with fear and bound by the shackles of hatred and anger and ignorance and prejudice. Too many seek only self or the opiate of fame or are consumed with greed and power.

King’s question of where do we go from here, chaos or community, is still unanswered. The story is not yet finished…

So, I say, to truly celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., we must understand the cause for which he died. More importantly, I say, we must commit to the ideals for which he lived.

This generation must keep the dream alive. Let us not be lulled into a state of inactive agitation, where we are very upset about the state of our nation, but we fail to get up and work together to do something about it.

And let us not allow our inability to do everything, undermine our determination to do something.

We are reminded of what Everett Edward Hale said: “I am only one, I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something I can do.”

It is time for daring, determined dreamers and doers to rise again.

The change we seek must come from neighborhoods, communities and individuals all across our city, our nation and the world. It must come from us in the church, the synagogue and the mosque, on the playground and in the work place, in the classroom and in the boardroom.

King gave his life working for what he called the beloved community. My wife and I feel that to carry on the legacy of King we must work to build beloved communities, which we call, high performing communities.

Antioch can be a beloved community, it can be a healthy, caring community, it can be a prosperous community with safe streets and schools that graduate students ready for college and career.

We are one city, let us be one community.

Each day, my wife and I pray for every family and every situation here in East County, and we continuously pray for all of our young people and that we do not lose even one more of them to gangs, violence, abuse or drugs.

It is time to redefine our relationships in this community, with one another, to the Earth and to the world; to redefine the meaning of community; to feed hope, and not nurture despair; to find the courage to love and care for the peoples of the world as we love and care for our own families. It is time that each of us becomes the change we want to see in the world.

Because it:

Seems like so long since Rosa Parks just said “NO!”

and King walked down that freedom road

To remind America of the fierce urgency of the moment…

Dr. King said, “I have a dream.”

But more than that

Dr. King said, “The problem is that through our scientific genius we’ve made the world a neighborhood, but through our moral and spiritual genius,

We’ve failed to make it a brotherhood…

Tell them Dr. King

“The hour is late and the clock of destiny is ticking out…

Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy.

Now is the time, to make justice a reality for all of God’s children….

For, injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere…

We are are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be, and you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be.”

Heal them Dr. King

Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom

by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

Many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.

We cannot walk alone and we cannot turn back…

When evil men plot, good men must plan…

When evil men burn and bomb, good men must build and bind…

When evil men would seek to perpetuate an unjust status quo,

good men must seek to bring into being a real order of justice…

Teach them Dr. King

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that.

Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that…

I believe that unarmed truth & unconditional love will have the final word…

That is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant…

So, let us not wallow in the valley of despair;

I say to you today my friends that in spite of all the difficulties

and the frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream!

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’ I have a dream

That my four little children, will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!”

We share your dream Dr. King

This is our hope, this is the faith that moves within us…

With this faith, we will be able to transform

the jangling discords of our nation

into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood and sisterhood

With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together,

to struggle together, to go to jail together,

to stand up for freedom together…”

Knowing that our cause is just

And through our struggles, through our suffering, through our sacrifices

We will be able to make real the dream of democracy, peace, and justice

“And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city…

…this will be the day when all of God’s children

Black, Brown, and White; Jews and Gentiles; Protestants and Catholics

Will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual,

Free at last, free at last

Thank God Almighty

We are free at last!” ²

1. Thank You

©1991 Keith Archuleta

2. Black Liberation Suite

©1986 Keith Archuleta

• Including compilation of quotes from Martin Luther King, Jr. “I Have A Dream” speech delivered in August 1963 at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C., his “Mountaintop” speech, delivered in April 1968 in Memphis Tennessee his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” written April 1963 to challenge the inaction of local clergy and from his books, including Strength to Love, Why We Can’t Wait, Stride Toward Freedom, and Where Do We Go from Here? From Chaos to Community.

  Reprinted with permission.

By Dave Roberts

Like a giant octopus grabbing helpless humans in a horror movie, a new bureaucracy is squeezing the Bay Area.

One Bay Area is a plan to push Bay Area residents out of their cars and jam them into pack-and-stack high rises in the coming decades. The goal: cut greenhouse gas emissions and supposedly help save the planet from global warming.

One Bay Area is mandated by SB 375, the Sustainable Communities and Climate Protection Act of 2008. It was passed by the Democratic-controlled Legislature and signed into law by then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican. SB 375 is not as well known as AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. But SB 375 well could affect Californians’ lives more directly.

One Bay Area is supported by the Bay Area’s liberal politicians, planning bureaucrats, environmentalists, social justice advocates and other elites. The plan is scheduled to be approved by the Association of Bay Area Governments and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission in spring 2013.

Click here to read the rest of this article: http://www.calwatchdog.com/2012/01/16/bureaucratic-octopus-grabs-bay-area/

Susan Valenzuela

April 25, 1955-January 18, 1996*To our beloved daughter, sister, and mother, Susan Valenzuela. We miss you dearly. We miss your sense of humor, your jokes, your laughter, your silly ways and most of all, your love.

It’s been 16 years since your life was taken so suddenly by a hit and run driver in Antioch, CA while you crossed the street with a friend. He took your life so senselessly and callously drove on. We all hope he lives with the pain and guilt every day for what he’s done. One day, some how, some way, he will pay.

VEHICLE-1971-1973 Buick Riviera or similar make. Light in color, possibly cream or white. Beveled rear window and tapered dolphin tail rear end.

SUSPECT-Hispanic or African American male with medium build, 25 to 30 years old (16 years ago) with corn row like hair style.

LOCATION-10th Street in Antioch, CA approximately 10 pm.

After this coward hit Susan with excessive speed, throwing her 120 feet, he got out of his vehicle and looked at what he had done to her. Shamelessly, he refused to help and fled from the scene, avoiding all responsibility and consequence.

If anyone has any information regarding this horrific incident, please call the Antioch Police Department or the Antioch Herald. A $10,000 reward is being offered by Susan’s family for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrator.

On January 15 at approximately 2:40 p.m. Antioch Police received a call of a fight in the area of 2200 Peppertree Way.

Upon arrival Officers contacted the victim, Pita Pelesauma, 49, of Pittsburg, who told police he had been in a fight with his son-in-law, Sus-Anthony Weaver. Pita was transported to a local hospital where it was determined he sustained a puncture wound to his chest. Pita was taken into surgery and is listed in critical condition.

Weaver fled the scene prior to police arrival and is still at large. He is an Antioch resident, 24 years old, 5-foot-11, 280 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. Anyone with information regarding this incident is encouraged to contact the Antioch Police Department at 778-2441.

El Campanil Children’s Theatre will be holding auditions for “The Wind In The Willows” on Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 4:00 pm. Call Backs: January 19, 2012 4:00 pm. Both will be held at El Campanil Theatre, 602 W. Second Street, Antioch.

The play is the classic children’s story of Mr. Toad and his friends Badger, Ratty and Mole who pursue merry adventures.

Directors Notes: There are no fees to participate in this production.

Auditions: No Advance Preparation Is Required. The Director will ask you to read from a script. You may be asked to do a little improvisation. The Director will be looking for vocal projection and expression
Rehearsals are Mondays through Thursdays, after school, from 4:00 -5:30 PM and about six weeks in duration. No rehearsal on recognized holidays.

El Campanil Theatre Preservation Foundation is pleased to be able to continue the long standing tradition of Antioch Rivertown Theatre (A.R.T.) which has presented children’s theatre for many years. They offer young children an opportunity to express their talents and develop themselves by performing live theatre, at no cost to them, and at a very reasonable cost to their audience.

Sharon Redman is the Artistic Director of El Campanil Children’s Theatre. For more information call (925) 757-9500. or visit www.elcampaniltheatre.com/childrens_theatre.html.

El Campanil Theatre presents The Cash Tribute Show featuring James Garner on Saturday January 28, 2012 at 8:00 p.m.

Garner delivers the Man in Black’s music with conviction, accuracy, sincerity, and honesty. He not only takes his audience through a musical journey of Johnny Cash’s biggest hits, but also on an expedition of the Man in Black’s legendary life.

Between accurate performances of Cash’s songs, Garner recounts the stories of Johnny’s childhood, entrance into the music business, and the highs and lows Cash experienced in a career that spanned 48 years.

Most importantly, audience members will definitely find themselves tapping their toes and singing along with the train-like rhythm that became synonymous with the songs of Johnny Cash & the Tennessee Three.

While James Garner is not a Johnny Cash impersonator, his musical tribute will remind audiences of the energy, power, and excitement that graced the stage every night the Man in Black walked out and said, “Hello, I’m Johnny Cash.” Johnny may have walked off the stage for the final time in 1997, but audiences today can get a glimpse of what Cash concert-goers of yesteryear might have experienced when James Garner takes to the stage with strong conviction, historical accuracy, heartfelt sincerity, and musical honesty in his tribute to the great Johnny Cash!

Artist website: www.cashtribute.net
RESERVED SEATING
Tickets:
Adults: $27 Seniors (62 and Older): $24 Child (17 and Under): $15 Tickets may be purchased in advance at the Ticket Office, 604 W. Second Street -next door to the theatre, Monday -Friday10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.and one hour before showtime or call 757-9500 or visit www.ElCampanilTheatre.com.