By Allen Payton, Publisher

The Antioch Unified School District’s ballot measure to provide funding to improve Antioch High School failed by about 40 votes.

The parcel tax needed a 55% majority vote to pass and 4,597 yes votes or 54.4% in favor versus 3,854 no votes or 45.6% opposed.

Prior to the vote being certified, School Board Members Walter Ruehlig and Joy Motts said they weren’t sure if the district would seek another ballot measure on the November ballot, if Measure J failed.

Discussions by the full board will take place at their meeting following certification of the election.

The measure would have approved $59.5 million in new bonds for the district. Most of the funds were planned for improvements to Antioch High. However, some of the funds were slated for improvements to Antioch Middle School.

No campaign was run, following the advice of the bond counsel, according to Ruehlig and Motts. That was, they said, because the last bond measure passed without a campaign, either.

One key factor in its defeat could have been the neutral position taken by the teachers union, due to their opposition to the district wanting to relocate their offices to where Prospect High School is located, now.

By James Ott

The City of Antioch had decided to attempt to annex all of unincorporated North East Antioch after a letter from the Local Agency Formation Commission, (LAFCO), urged them to do so.

At the June 12 City Council Meeting council members voted unanimously to support the annexation after the recommendation of city staff. The city had previously only been working with the county and LAFCO to annex “Area 1” of unincorporated Antioch after residents in the remaining areas of “2a” and “2b” voted to oppose being annexed by the city.

That’s the residential area made infamous by the kidnapping and imprisonment of Jaycee Dugard by Phillip and Nancy Garrido.

In June, 2007 the city council voted to submit papers for annexation of “Area 1” after they asked residents and property owners in “Area 1” as well as areas “2a” and “2b” whether or not they supported being annexed.

“Area 1” was and still is uninhabited so the few property owners in the area were polled and supported annexation overall.

Areas 2a and 2b both opposed annexation with about 60 percent of voters and landowners in 2a opposing and around 75 percent in 2b opposing as well.

The process of annexing Area 1 continued but was stalled within a year by the city and county not being able to come to terms on how to split taxes in the soon-to-be-annexed area.

Although the city now says that those issues are mostly ironed out and will be resolved and presented to city council very soon, on May 11 the city received the letter from LAFCO wanting areas 2a and 2b annexed along with Area 1.

LAFCO said that the reason that it wants all of the land annexed is that the original approval they gave to annex as well as their approval of a service agreement to provide power and electricity to the annexed areas by PG&E and GenOn, was contingent on annexing all of unincorporated North East Antioch.

LAFCO also said they do not want to leave parts of the area un-annexed because it would create unincorporated “islands” that the county has to stretch their resources to cover. They mentioned the 2009 Jaycee Dugard kidnapping as an example of the county having difficulty covering such “islands” with police and fire forces.

In their letter to city council, LAFCO also stated that GenOn previously pledged $1 million dollars to both the city and the county if the annexation of all of North East Antioch was complete by December 2012.

LAFCO said that these incentives and commitments as well as “an impending deadline with critical LAFCO statutes schedule to sunset,” were good reasons to annex the entire unincorporated area.

Normally state annexation laws say that any unincorporated area with more than 12 voters – which both areas 2a and 2b have – would have to have it’s residents approve annexation with a majority vote before it could be annexed. However, if LAFCO determines such areas to be unincorporated “islands”, which it has all but declared for 2b but not 2a, then they could go ahead with the annexation without a voter approval.

City staff said that annexing areas 2a and 2b would likely cost more in public services than it would gain in taxes from the small amount of residents in both areas, making annexation likely a “break even” prospect or perhaps a slight net loss for the city. This does not take into account the $1 million they could receive from GenOn if they annex before December 2012, however.

Also city staff said the city could incur an estimated $3 million in infrastructure improvement costs from 2b because of the significant sewer and water upgrades it would need to it’s “over 50-year-old” septic systems.

Those costs could be somewhat offset by tax revenues from Area 1, said staff.

While 2a may need future improvements for any new residents, city staff said that that would be paid for by future developer costs and so shouldn’t have much of an immediate impact.

By Allen Payton, Publisher

Filing for the November elections for local office opens on Monday, July 16 and closes at 5 p.m. on Friday, August 10, unless an incumbent fails to file for re-election. In that case, the filing period is extended until Wednesday, August 15.

In Antioch, now that Measures L and M both failed, the positions up for election in the City are Mayor, the council seats of Council Members Brian Kalinowski and Mary Rocha, as well as City Clerk and City Treasurer.

Rumor has it that Kalinowski will not seek reelection, but Rocha will be running, again. She will have served 32 years in office in Antioch, both on the school board and council at the end of this year.

Three candidates have been discussed for the Mayor’s race, including the incumbent Jim Davis, Councilman Gary Agopian and former Mayor Don Freitas, who after losing to Davis in 2008 might be making a comeback. But, Davis may opt to run for Council, instead.

The question is where is Don? He hasn’t been seen at any public events, lately, including the July 4^th festivities.

For council, School Board Trustee Walter Ruehlig has announced he will be running for City Council instead of re-election. One other candidate, who has already launched his campaign website, is newcomer Noel Pinto, the Director of Parking and Enforcement for the City of Oakland. Other names being bandied about are former Councilman Arne Simonsen and another newcomer, Monica Wilson who works for Mills College as the Executive Assistant to the Dean of Student Life, is a member of the Antioch Economic Development Commission, Vice Chair of the Contra Costa County Democratic Party Central Committee, is the Treasurer for the California Democratic Party Women’s Caucus, and serves as the staff adviser to the Feminist Democrats (Fem Dems), the Mills College Democratic Club.

As of Monday, July 9, two more candidates for city council have stepped forward. First is Jonathan Hernandez, a self-described “lifelong Bail Agent, ” according to his website (although his campaign Facebook page states “I am a financial advisor by profession”), who announced his candidacy in an email to local business owners. His issues are crime, budget and education. In addition to the Facebook page, he has set up an informational and fundraising website at http://www.indiegogo.com/concernedcitizensforantioch offering a campaign T-shirt, bumper sticker and/or pen for contributions ranging from $500 to $5,000, and another campaign website featuring the skyline of San Diego at http://concernedcitizensforantioch.weebly.com and a donation page with amounts ranging from$1.00 to $1,200 using the City of Antioch Police badge icon next to each contribution choice.

Then, in an email to the Herald from a Dr. Douglas Quinn, dated Monday, July 9, 2012, he shared his intention to run for city council, as well. He has “created a little web page to chronicle the process at facebook.com/drdouglasquinn.”

“I’ll be running a rather low-key candidacy, as this will be my first attempt at running for office,” Quinn stated. “However, low-key should not be confused with non-serious. I fully intend to give Noel Pinto, Arne Simonsen and Monica Wilson a good race. If there’s one thing my background gives me legs for, it’s talking up a storm in public venues.”

On the school board, the positions held by Trustees Walter Ruehlig, Claire Smith and Diane Gibson-Gray are up. Both Smith and Gibson-Gray have said they are running. But because Ruehlig will not be seeking reelection, the filing period for school board will be extended five more calendar days.

Also, this year, the City Clerk and City Treasurer positions are up for election. Appointed incumbent Denise Skaggs told me she won’t be running for the position. Treasurer Donna Conley is expected to run for re-election, although she supported Measure L and wanted the position to be appointed.

For more information and filing forms, check with the City Clerk’s office at 779-7009 or the County Clerk’s office at 646-4166 and ask for Candidate Services.

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.

Second monthly night walk to be hosted by Antioch Church Family

On Sunday, July 8th at 7 p.m., Antioch residents will gather at Antioch Church Family to stand up against the violence that threatens East Contra Costa County.  This movement was launched last month and over 60 participants attended the first night walk.  This Sunday, community and faith leaders will continue to walk to deliver their message of peace, unity and offer up a prayer to end the violence that has greatly impacted their communities.

Nearly a dozen congregations from the area have joined the movement that aims to bring hope and address the issue of violence in East County.  The participating congregations include: St. John Lutheran Church; Antioch Christian Center, Antioch Church Family, East County Shared Ministry (Pittsburg Community Presbyterian & First Congregational Church of Antioch); International Christian Ministry; Grace Bible Fellowship; St. Ignatius of Antioch; Most Holy Rosary Church; Islamic Center of the East Bay; and St. George Episcopal Church.

After witnessing violence in their own churches and the impact it was having on their congregation members, the faith leaders were determined to do something to address the critical issue of violence.  The night walks is only the first step in what they see as a strategy to decrease the violence in their communities.

The night walks will be held every second Sunday of the month at 7 p.m. in rotating church locations and all are invited to attend.

The Contra Costa Interfaith Supporting Community Organization (CCISCO) is a federation of 25 religious congregations, seven different denominations, representing 35,000 families in Contra Costa County. CCISCO is an active member of the PICO National Network.  For more information call (925) 779-9302 or visit them at 202 G Street, Suite 1 or online at www.CCISCO.org

Fireworks explode over the river during Antioch, California’s July 4th, 2012 celebration – by Art Garcia

By Allen Payton, Publisher

Thousands of Antioch and area residents ventured to historic downtown Rivertown on Wednesday, July 4, to enjoy the privately funded celebration and lined the streets for the parade and the waterfront for the first Independence Day fireworks in the city, since 2009.

Following the parade, Nancy Green said, “This looked like something that Norman Rockwell should have been here to paint.”

The 90-minute parade on 2nd, I and 3rd Streets was followed by the 20-minute fireworks extravaganza by Fireworks America, lead by hometown boy Kevin Crews. The 22-minute show was accompanied, this year, by patriotic and other instrumental music all along the waterfront, provided by Rundall Productions.

The crowd voiced their pleasure for the fireworks with the usual “oohs” and “aahs” as well as applause. Some sang along to the music, as well.

“Good job on the fireworks,” one viewer said. “Everyone thought they were dope.” (For you older folks, that means they were good).

The day also included a well-attended Car Show at the City Hall parking lot, a Kids Zone at Waldie Plaza was provided by Jeff Warrenburg of Paradise Skate, and accompanied by the DJ music of Jim Lanter, as well as food vendors and the DJ music of DJ Throttle and entertainment of Jeff Rundall and his team at the main stage on 2nd Street.

Be sure to read the August issue of the Herald for more photos and details.

See more photos by Art Garcia at http://art4antioch.org/album/7-4-12/I/album/index.html and http://art4antioch.org/album/7-4-12/II/album/index.html.

See the official Celebration videos by Greg Enholm on YouTube, by clicking here.

Antioch, California’s July 4th, 2012 Celebration of America’s 236th birthday, is today!

Events begin at 5 p.m. with the Car Show, Kids Zone, food and entertainment, followed by the Parade at 7 p.m. – all on 2nd and 3rd Streets in Antioch’s historic downtown Rivertown. Then the grand finale will be the fireworks show on the river at 9:30 p.m.  Best viewing is along the waterfront from Humphrey’s at the end of L Street to G Street.

This is a FREE, Family Friendly, No Alcohol event. (The only costs are for the Kids Zone rides and items for sale).

Parking is available at the Antioch High School parking lots on 18th Street between G and L Streets and a free shuttle will be provided from 6 to 11 p.m. from the school lots to downtown and back.

For more information, please visit www.AntiochJuly4th.com.

Pittsburg resident Reuben Rosalez heads federal agency’s western region

A native Contra Costa County resident has been appointed as the new regional administrator of the Western Region of the Department of Labor. Ruben Rosalez learned of his appointment June 25.

A resident of Pittsburg, Calif., Rosalez will be the guest speaker at Supervisor Federal Glover’s Breakfast Club. The breakfast will be held at the Wedgewood Event Center, 2222 Golf Course Road in Pittsburg starting at 7:30 a.m. on July 20.

“We’re delighted that Ruben is speaking at my breakfast,” said Glover. “His first public address as regional administrator will be a homecoming, of sorts.”

Rosalez, who also served as a school trustee for the Pittsburg Unified School District, graduated from the University of the Pacific in 1987 with a B.S. in Public Administration. He began his career with the Wage & Hour Division that same year as an investigator in the Los Angeles District Office and worked his way up through various positions until 1997 when he was promoted to be the Assistant District Director in the San Francisco District Office.

In February 2007, he was promoted to serve as the Western Region’s Director of Enforcement. In May of 2009, Ruben was again promoted to assist in leading the Western Region as the deputy regional administrator, during a time of significant growth and change.

Since September 2011, he has served in the role of acting regional administrator, overseeing DOL operations in eight western states.

In addition to his work, Ruben is very civic minded and involved in his community. He was active in the Pittsburg Unified School District, School Board of Trustees (elected in 2000, 2004 and 2008), Future Leader of America East Bay, Founder/Board Member Youth Leadership Program, and is an active member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. When he does find time to unwind he enjoys coaching youth wrestling and playing golfing, fishing and cooking.

Ruben still resides in his hometown of Pittsburg with three of his four children: Ruben Jr., Chica and Maya. His oldest daughter is Lazara.

For more information about the supervisor’s breakfast, call 925-202-5001.