By Allen Payton

When the California State Assembly voted on Assembly Bill 1266, which allows boys to play on girls sports teams and shower in girls locker rooms and vice versa, based on their gender identity, not the gender listed on the student’s records, Jim Frazier, who represents Antioch in the Assembly, voted in favor of the bill.

On May 9, 2013, the vote passed the Assembly 45 to 24, with all the yes votes coming from Democrats.

According to the legislation, sponsored by Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco), “AB 1266, as amended, Ammiano. Pupil rights: sex-segregated school programsand activities.

Existing law prohibits public schools from discriminating on the basis of specified characteristics, including gender, gender identity, and gender expression, and specifies various statements of legislative intent and the policies of the state in that regard. Existing law requires that participation in a particular physical education activity or sport, if required of pupils of one sex, be available to pupils of each sex.

This bill would require that a pupil be permitted to participate in sex-segregated school programs,and activities, and facilities, including athletic teams and competitions,and use facilities consistent with his or her gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil’s records.”

For complete information on the legislation, click here.

Before you decide how you’ll vote on the city’s proposed sales and business license tax measures, which will cost the City about $220,00 to put on the November ballot, consider the following:

There are 19 cities in our county. 12 cities, including Antioch have an 8.5% sales tax, 6 have a 9% sales tax and one (El Cerrito) a 9.5% sales tax. Do we want people to shop Antioch or do we want to tack on another a half cent sales tax increase on every purchase which could conceivable lead small businesses to raise prices, reduce wages, lay off employees or even close their doors for good?

As for the yet to drafted ballot measure to tax owners of rental properties ($240 a year for each rental unit for 1 to 25 units etc.) you may be amazed to know that when queried, City Manager Jim Jakel, told me the police department does not track calls for service based on rental or owner occupancy. Nor does the police department track how many calls for service at apartment complexes vs. calls to SFR units. They only track the number of calls for a particular address.

Rather than imposing a business license tax on residential properties, the City should reinstate the Rental Inspection Program, suspended due to staff reductions. The propose of that program was to proactively identify blighted, deteriorated and substandard rental housing stock, required property owner to address any code violations and was paid for by rental property owners through registration and inspection fees. Regrettably, the City is not currently recruiting Code Enforcement Officers. Currently there are only two contract officers in addition to Ryan Graham, Deputy of Community Development and Recreation who oversees the day to day operations of code enforcement and recreation.

Ironically, despite the Council’s focus on increasing revenues, Mayor Harper at his first State of the City speech declared the city’s employment figures are improving, housing values are rising and developers are starting to build again. In other words, the future looks bright with the exception of the State Dept. of Finance ordering the City as Successor Agency to reverse $708,958 in transfers made to the Marina Fund since January 1, 2011. The City is challenging this decision but the fiscal year 2013 budget reflects the relinquishment of the funds and a transfer in of $284,222 from the General Fund.

Antioch has also seen a 20% drop in crime during the first three months of 2013. The Police department currently has 87 fulltime police officers, 75 at full duty capacity, 12 not on full time capacity due to industrial injuries, an off duty injury and the field training program. The Dept. is authorized to hire up to 102. Four are in the academy, which are not accounted for in the 87 fulltime positions, leaving the department currently with 11 vacancies.

Additionally, the city is purchasing another 2 police dogs, bringing the total of dogs to 6, one for every shift. (Now if they’d just reinstitute the CAT team!)

On May 28tth the Council approved an increase in most fees charged by various City Departments e.g. fees for building permits, electrical, plumbing, mechanical, other construction, community development, land use, land cartelization and subdivision, engineering review and inspection, signs, regulatory permits, water usage public safety, recreation activities and various misc. fees. (Note: Water and Sewer Fund budget projections include rate increases as proposed in the Master fee Schedule to be presented to Council that evening.)

Now if only the City would make a strong effort to collect existing fees that are delinquent e.g. the Transit Occupancy Tax collected by hotels/motels. Rental Inspection fees, RV/Boat/Trailer permits for grandfathered properties – going after those with vehicles on the driveway/RV parking areas that aren’t grandfathered, Tidelands rent (Humphrey’s is a prime example of uncollected fees), and dog licensing (not proactive) just to name a few.

As part of the Highway 4 (SR-4) widening construction work, the contractor will be shifting eastbound SR-4 traffic onto a portion of the recently completed pavement in the vicinity of Loveridge Road. In order to ensure crew and public safety during this work, the contractor will close all lanes of SR-4 in the eastbound direction at Loveridge Road on Saturday morning June 8 from 1:30 am to 7:00 am.

The detour for this work will be as follows:

o Eastbound motorists will be directed off the highway at Loveridge Road and immediately back on the highway at the eastbound SR-4 on-ramp from Loveridge Road. For detour map, please click here: SR-4TRAFFIC ADVISORY FULL CLOSURE AT LOVERIDGE JUN 7-8 2013

The Highway 4 projects include improvements to the entire project corridor that will help revitalize eastern Contra Costa County. The projects expand Highway 4 from four to eight lanes between Loveridge Road and SR-160, and add a BART extension from Pittsburg to Antioch (eBART). The projects will also expand the highway from two to four lanes from Lone Tree Way to Sand Creek Road.

This will greatly improve transit accessibility for the region and help reduce traffic congestion and enhance the quality of life for the more than 250,000 residents of eastern Contra Costa County. The projects have been carefully staged to keep 130,000 vehicles per day moving as major construction and demolition work continue, and include over $1.3 billion in State, Federal, Regional Bridge Toll, and Contra Costa Measures C & J sales tax funds.

Caltrans and CCTA appreciate your patience as we work to improve the highways. For the most current information on all SR-4 corridor closures please visit our website at: http://4eastcounty.org.

Washington, D.C. – Late Tuesday night, June 4, 2013, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 2216, the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2014.  Included in the bill was Congressman Jerry McNerney’s (D-Stockton) recommended action to direct the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to address the backlog of disability claims at its regional offices across the country.  Congressman McNerney asked that the VA issue quarterly reports for any regional office where the average days pending for a disability claim is 200 or more. This will increase oversight and accountability for reducing the backlogs of claims. 

“The current wait times veterans across the country are experiencing for the benefits they have earned and deserve are unacceptable.  We have to continue to hold the VA accountable so that we see real results.  Accountability and oversight are crucial to ensuring the backlog of veterans’ claims is reduced,” said Congressman McNerney. 

Congressman McNerney originally wrote to the U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies to request this action.  Congressman McNerney’s recommended language was then approved by the House Appropriations Committee before it headed to the House floor for last night’s vote.

“Just as I have continued to hold the VA responsible for taking action to address the backlogs at its regional offices, I am determined to see this plan through to the end.  I take my responsibility to provide for our nation’s veterans very seriously, and I thank my colleagues for supporting this important provision through the appropriations process,” said McNerney.

The portion of the accompanying committee report to H.R. 2216 related to Congressman McNerney’s request reads:

—The Committee finds the VBA back-log in processing disability compensation claims unacceptable. Although for years the Committee has fully funded the President’s budget request for additional staffing and increased information technology funding for the Veterans Benefits Management System (VBMS), the claims backlog continues to grow. Backlog as defined by the Department is the number of claims taking more than 125 days to process. The most recent data indicate that the average number of days to process a claim is 292, with averages in some regional offices exceeding 450 days. Currently, 69 percent of the VA compensation caseload is backlogged, although VA estimated in its 2013 budget the percentage in backlog would be 40 percent in 2013. The Committee understands the VA believes the agency will be able to process claims within 125 days by 2015 when the VBMS is fully operational. While the Committee supports the use of technology to improve performance, the Committee is highly skeptical that the VBMS system will be able to eliminate these enormous backlogs by 2015. Therefore, the Committee intends to initiate a new level of oversight to ensure that it has monthly information identifying the changes in timeliness occurring at each of the 56 regional offices. As of the date of the publication of this House report, the Department is instructed to provide the Committee each month, ten days after the prior month has ended, a report that identifies for each month cumulatively throughout the fiscal year, both nationally and for each regional office: (1) the average number of days disability compensation claims are pending; (2) the share of the rating inventory that has been pending more than 125 days; (3) the rating claims accuracy on a three-month average; and (4) the month-to-month change in these indices, both by numeric value and percentage. The report may be in spreadsheet format. In addition, for each regional office with an average number of days pending for disability claims in excess of 200 days, the Department shall report to the Committee on a quarterly basis the actions taken, such as increases in claims processor FTE, staffing transfers, additional training, and technology adaptations, within the last quarter to reduce the backlog. While these reports are for the use of the Appropriations Committee, they are to be made available by the VA Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs to any Member of the House of Representatives upon request.

The letter Congressman McNerney sent to the Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies can be read by clicking here: 4.23.13 VA Oversight McNerney

Chuck Billy, courtesy of the Native American Encyclopedia

Sacramento, CA – On Thursday, June 6, 2013, Assemblyman Jim Frazier (D-Oakley) honored musician Chuck Billy of Antioch on the State Assembly floor for the positive influence he has made in the Native American community and on the general public.

On January 14, 2013, Chuck Billy earned the distinction as the first Native American entertainer to be permanently featured in the memorabilia display at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Chuck was also among those recognized in the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian’s exhibit, Up Where We Belong: Native Musicians in Popular Culture.

“The world of music is inhabited by creative and talented individuals whose work enhances the quality of life for all who are fortunate enough to have entered their sphere of influence,” said Jim Frazier. “Not only does Chuck Billy embody all of these admirable qualities, he also personifies the strength and enduring spirit of Native Americans.”

Chuck Billy, a descendent of the Pomo Native Americans, was born in Oakland and spent much of his youth on the Hopland Indian Reservation north of San Francisco. He is best known as the vocalist and guitarist for Testament, where he plays several songs including Trail of Tears, Allegiance, and Native Blood, in honor of his ancestral lineage.

To contact Assemblymember Jim Frazier please visit his website at http://www.asmdc.org/members/a11/ or call his District Office at 707-399-3011.

Follow Assemblymember Jim Frazier on Facebook and “Like” him for updates on events and happenings in the 11th AD.

By Sergeant Dimitri Barakos, Patrol Supervisor, Antioch Police Community Policing Bureau

On June 5th at approximately 9:10 PM, the Antioch Police Department received a report of a subject bleeding at a local business, in the 2900 block of Delta Fair Blvd., who needed medical assistance. Officers arrived and provided medical assistance until medical personnel arrived.

It was determined that a 49-year-old Antioch man, had been stabbed several times in the parking lot of a local strip mall and the victim ran into the business for help. The victim had lost a large amount of blood. The victim was transported to a local hospital where he is expected to survive. The names of the victim and/or suspects are not being released at this time as the investigation is ongoing.

You may text a tip to 274637 (CRIMES) using the key word ANTIOCH.

By Restore the Delta

Sacramento, CA – Restore the Delta, opponents of Gov. Jerry Brown’s rush to build Peripheral Tunnels that would drain the Delta and doom salmon and other Pacific fisheries today released its “Simple Math” total of costs.

“The Brown Administration has released tens of thousands of pages but not one single, simple accounting of the costs,” said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of Restore the Delta. “They are hiding the math because the cost keeps escalating and the benefits diminishing,”

Cost of Peripheral Tunnels:

Construction $14.5 billion

Operations & Maintenance $ 1.5 billion

Interest on Tunnel Revenue Bonds $26.3 billion

Habitat and Conservation $ 7.0 billion

Interest on General Obligation Bonds $ 3.2 billion

Administration and Research $ 1.6 billion

TOTAL $54.1 billion

All costs drawn from BDCP documents.

Restore the Delta is working everyday through public education and citizen activism to ensure the restoration and future sustainability of the California Delta. Your general contribution can help us sponsor outreach events, enable us to educate Californians on what makes the Delta so special, and assist us in building a coalition that will be recognized by government water agencies as they make water management decisions. Restore the Delta is a charitable 501(c)3 organization. Donations are tax deductible. For more information visit www.RestoretheDelta.org.