Optimism About Antioch’s Future at Chamber’s State of the City Luncheon
Mayor Jim Davis speaks at the Chamber’s Annual State of the City – photo by Art Garcia, courtesy of Antioch Chamber of Commerce
By Sean Wright
The Antioch Chamber of Commerce hosted the City of Antioch’s Annual State of the City Luncheon on Monday, June 11, with over one hundred and twenty attendees. The lunch provides an opportunity for the Mayor, the Chief of Police and the City Manager to give a city report card, and to celebrate accomplishments and share their vision for the future.
Mayor Jim Davis started by sharing his prognosis for the city.
“Last year, I characterized Antioch as being in guarded condition,” he stated. “Today, I say this city is in stable condition, and on track for a full recovery.”
This past year Antioch has opened the brand new Boat Launch and continues to prepare for eBART and the completion of the widening of Highway 4. Sales tax revenues have also shown an upturn with an estimated five percent increase this year, which allowed Davis to characterize Antioch as moving forward and slowly upward.
The city staff have all stepped up and taken on more responsibility in order to make up for staff shortages, and the mayor applauded and thanked the efforts of our city employees. On a positive note the city is starting to hire some positions back and will see a Code Enforcement Officer working for the city in the near future.
Antioch Police Chief Allan Cantando kept an upbeat focus for the luncheon as he shared several innovative ways that the police department is working with the community to initiate more crime reducing tactics. Three new officers will be hired, shortly and the police are utilizing volunteers to help park decoy police cars throughout the community to create a greater presence. He also talked about utilizing patrols in different schedules and areas to increase their ability to fight crime.
Another focus of the Chief was to add greater community involvement via Neighborhood Watch, and social media outlets like Facebook. He also alluded to a new program to give anonymous police tips on crime without fear of repercussion using texting. If you would like to know more about the efforts of our police department, go to Facebook and “like” them. Cantando is being proactive in these social media forms to get the word out about the department’s ongoing efforts.
The concluding speaker, City Manager Jim Jakel, gave a very positive outlook on the regional, financial markers that are pointing towards a promising future. He pointed to increased housing prices in surrounding areas, the half-billion dollars that will be spent in and around Antioch by the construction workers as they build Highway 4 through our town, sales tax increase of 5% this year, and decreasing unemployment rates. He also mentioned possible future revenue for our city via smart use of our water rights and working with power generating stations.
Antioch is looking better than it has looked in a few years. There is lots of work to be done to continue fighting crime, creating job opportunities, and helping the schools to excel. If the community can come together and help to improve these important aspects of Antioch, the future looks bright.
Wright is the Executive Director of the Antioch Chamber of Commerce and a Chiropractor in Antioch.
the attachments to this post:
Mayor Davis State of the City
