By Barbara Zivica

At the January 13th City Council meeting, pursuant to state law and Article 6 of Title 2 of the Antioch Municipal Code which provides for the appointment of Standby City Council Members “in the event of a declaration of emergency and a council member is unavailable due to being killed, missing or having an incapacitating injury” council members nominated their standbys. Standby Council Members are not activated in the event of a “regular” vacancy of a council seat.

I found the Council’s standby nominations to be illuminating, likely to reflect how they will vote on certain issues. Following are those nominated by each council member and approved for appointment by the council.

Mayor Wade Harper:

1. Vincent Manuel – Senior District Representative for Supervisor Federal Glover, October 2011 – present. Division Manager of Neighborhood Development Services for the City of Pittsburg, Administrative Analyst, City of Pittsburg, and Education & Training Program Manager, League of California Cities.

2. Diane Gibson-Gray – Trustee, Antioch Unified School District Board, Executive Director of Arts & Cultural Foundation of Antioch.

3. Robert Miller – Attorney with David Sternberg & Associates, real estate law and estate planning.

Mayor Pro Tem Ogorchock:

1. Allen Payton – former Antioch Mayor Pro Tem and Council Member, Publisher and Editor of Antioch Herald newspaper, C0-Chair, 2013 Antioch July 4th Celebration, Co-Founder, Celebrate Antioch Foundation.

2. William Chapman – Recipient of the 2010 Antioch Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award, retired.

3. Manny Soliz, Jr – former Antioch Mayor Pro Tem and Council Member, Financial Consultant, Thrivent Financial, co-founder Delta Blues Festival.

Council Member Mary Rocha:

1. Louie Rocha, Jr. – Principal, Antioch High and Mary’s son.

2. Jessica Fernandez – Northern California Paper Recyclers and Mary’s daughter.

3. Ken Gray – Diane Gibson-Gray’s husband, retiree of City of Pittsburg, Member at Large on Tri Delta Transit Board of Directors.

Council Member Monica Wilson:

1. Don Freitas – former Antioch Mayor and Council Member, former Contra Costa Water District Board Trustee, retired Director of the CCC Flood Control and Water Conservation District who conducted the failed Clean Water ballot election in 2012. Ran for Mayor against Harper, November 2012.

2. Lamar Thorpe – Came in fourth in 2014 Antioch City Council race. Supported by Contra Costa Labor Council and CC Building & Construction Trades Council. Said he ran Wilson’s Campaign. His campaign flyer said he was born in prison. Denied a sexual abuse charge which occurred when he was in college. Because victim declined to testify, a Finding of Fact report only found him in violation of disorderly conduct for lewd and indecent behavior and was given one year of disciplinary probation.

3. Patrice Guillory – The Education Trust-West, manages statewide coalition of 401 civil rights and education reform organizations to influence state’s regulatory process for implementing the new Local Control Funding Formula.Was campaign manager for Monica Wilson and Political Director for Lamar Thorpe. She’s also Thorpe’s wife.

Council Member Tony Tiscareno:

1. Diane Gibson-Gray (see above)

2. Argentina Luevano – unsuccessful candidate for Antioch City Council in 200 and City Clerk in 2012. Head of California LULAC (League of United Latin American Citizens Institute. According to Huffing Post article was chastised by National Director of LULAC for endorsing on behalf of LULAC a ballot measure to legalize recreational marijuana usage, active in the Kiwanis of the Delta-Antioch.

3. Greg Feere – Chief Financial Officer -Contra Costa Building and Construction Trades Council (AFL-CIO) Feere touts Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) which are union only agreements that require the contracting agency hire only union members, thus decreasing bid competition and thus driving up project cost.

Dear Editor:

Rich Buongiorno…“$33K for a recall is nothing”…

Not able to be, blindly for, or against any faction or person. Nope, can’t. My thoughts and opinions were and continue to be formed via a life long habit of “going in” to learn and understand.

In late August, 1993, on our second day in Antioch, we made a first shopping trip to a local grocery store. By the entrance was a “Recall The Mayor” group. They asked us to sign their petition and my husband said, “Not interested.” Coming out of the store with a cart full of bags, we were greeted by much more aggressive calls to sign. We chose to remain silent while proceeding to the car and unloading of the groceries into it’s trunk.

Our silence set off two in the group. They followed us, waving the petition and shouting at us. I remember accusations of “being part of the problem”, “stupid irresponsible snobs” and we got into the car to “dam commuters.”

Some years later, a couple of new council members had a public TV program where they railed angrily against anything to do with Southeast Antioch. A common theme was to warn possible new citizens about “miserable, crowded schools” and unimaginable traffic. They leveled accusations, specifically naming various people and institutions in town for destroying Antioch’s quality of life. Anger and complaining was vented over “gentrification.” “Wasteful street landscaping” and unaffordable taxes were stressed.

A year or so later an uproar was raised to a new city code requiring storage of RVs and boats out of sight. Southeast residents were routinely charged with ruining Antioch’s quality of life. I subscribed to the Ledger-Dispatch to learn more about my new town. Unfortunately, the paper’s columnist, Clay Kallam, could find nothing good with the town. In disgust, I cancelled my subscription. Later I would try again and Mr. Kallum’s constant negative droning would lead to me to cancel my subscription, again.

An Antioch, “Old Timer” told me about the anger and loud complaining that resulted from the building of the new police station. I researched and read the stories about that new building on 2^nd and L Streets. The opposed citizens nicknamed it “Taj Mahal.”

After 22 years in Antioch, it seems that whatever the civic problem arises, it must always be “someone’s” fault. Some one, one person. Some one isn’t doing their job. Come to think of it, during last November’s election, voter turnout was a low record for Antioch. Some one, one person must be at fault. Below is a list from aU.S. federal government website of our duties as citizens.

• Support and defend the Constitution.

• Stay informed of the issues affecting your community.

• Participate in the democratic process.

• Respect and obey federal, state, and local laws.

• Respect the rights, beliefs, and opinions of others.

• Participate in your local community.

• Pay income and other taxes honestly, and on time, to federal, state, and local authorities.

• Serve on a jury when called upon.

• Defend the country if the need should arise

Could it be we are asking our leaders to do our jobs, as well as theirs? Another thought that comes to me is that if $33K for a recall is nothing, couldn’t it be better spent on, say, a season’s after school part time jobs, with students running enrichment activities on-site at our beautiful parks?

Hilda Parham

Antioch

By Allen Payton

In spite of polls showing an overwhelming number of Americans oppose taxpayer funding of abortion, both Congressmen representing Antioch voted against a new ban on the practice on Thursday, January 22. The vote occurred on the 42nd anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe vs. Wade decision legalizing abortion.

Until the passage of Obamacare in 2009, the federal government had not allowed the funding of abortions using federal funds, with exceptions for rape, incest and life endangerment of the mother, since the passage of the Hyde Amendment in 1976. That is passed every year as part of a spending bill. But, this bill would make that law permanent. It also ensures that Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, faithfully conforms with the Hyde Amendment as promised by the President.

In one of his first votes as a new Member of Congress, Mark DeSaulnier (D, CA-11), along with Jerry McNerney (D, CA-9), serving in his fifth term in the U.S. House of Representatives, voted with the other 176 of the 188 Democrats in the House, plus one Republican, to oppose the bill. It passed mainly along party lines with 239 Republicans and three Democrats voting in favor, and five Republicans and seven Democrats not voting. It’s the third time the House has passed a bill with the same language.

If passed by the Senate and signed by President Obama, who has threatened a veto, the bill, HR-7, entitled “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2015,” will end the four year practice using federal tax dollars for abortions, with exceptions for rape, incest or when the mother’s life is endangered.

The text of the bill reads in “Sec. 301. Prohibition on funding for abortions, “No funds authorized or appropriated by Federal law, and none of the funds in any trust fund to which funds are authorized or appropriated by Federal law, shall be expended for any abortion. In Sec. 302, the bill includes a “Prohibition on funding for health benefits plans that cover abortion – None of the funds authorized or appropriated by Federal law, and none of the funds in any trust fund to which funds are authorized or appropriated by Federal law, shall be expended for health benefits coverage that includes coverage of abortion.”

However, Section 308 read “Treatment of abortions related to rape, incest, or preserving the life of the mother, The limitations established in sections 301, 302, and 303 shall not apply to an abortion– (1) if the pregnancy is the result of an act of rape or incest; or (2) in the case where a woman suffers from a physical disorder, physical injury, or physical illness that would, as certified by a physician, place the woman in danger of death unless an abortion is performed, including a life-endangering physical condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy itself.”

According to the bill’s author, Rep. Chris Smith (R, NJ-4) “On September 9, 2009 President Obama stood 6 feet from where I stand now and told lawmakers and the American public in a specially called joint session of Congress on healthcare reform that ‘under our plan, no federal dollars will be used to fund abortion.’

“Turns out that those ironclad promises made by the President himself are absolutely untrue,” Smith stated. “An extensive audit by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released in September of last year found that 1,036 Obamacare exchange plans covered elective abortion. GAO also found that separate billing of the abortion surcharge – required by the Act – is not being enforced by the administration and the abortion-funding premium is again being illegally rolled into the total plan cost.”

“Health care consumers are therefore buying health insurance with little or no knowledge that they are purchasing abortion subsidizing plans,” Smith added.

Based on numbers reported by the Guttmacher Institute from 1973-2011, with projections of 1,058,490 for 2012-14, almost 57.5 million abortions have been performed in the U.S. since the Roe vs. Wade decision. The Guttmacher Institute estimates a possible 3 percent under reporting rate, which is factored into the overall total.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, in the most recent year reported on their website, “Among the 28 areas that reported cross-classified race/ethnicity data for 2010…, non-Hispanic white women and non-Hispanic black women accounted for the largest percentages of abortions (36.8% and 35.7%, respectively), whereas Hispanic women and non-Hispanic women in the other races category accounted for smaller percentages (21.0% and 6.5%, respectively). Non-Hispanic white women had the lowest abortion rates (8.6 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years) and ratios (141 abortions per 1,000 live births), whereas non-Hispanic black women had the highest abortion rates (31.8 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years) and ratios (483 abortions per 1,000 live births).”

For more information and the complete text of the bill on the Clerk of the House’s website, click here.

By Luke Johnson

After three embarrassing years, Antioch High School boys’ basketball is back on track to success with an 11-6 record midway through the season.

On Friday, Jan. 16, point guard Demauriaye Smith drained a game-winning three-pointer against rivaled Pittsburg, and the Panthers won their first game against a Bay Valley Athletic League opponent since Feb. 18, 2011, which calculates to a 30-game losing streak and a 1,428-day dry spell.

“When the shot left my hand it looked good, and I had all the confidence in the world it was going it,” Smith said.

After winning the BVAL Championship in 2011, Antioch had a vacant varsity head coaching position, and hired Kevin Moffett over alum and long time JV and freshman coach Andrew Riva.

In two seasons, Moffett dug the program into the ground. He posted an atrocious 2-43 record, including going winless in his final campaign. He was fired after the 2012-13 season, and Antioch approached Riva with the position again.

“It really hurt. I thought I was ready,” Riva said about being denied the head coaching job. “But I told myself, ‘If it became open again, I wouldn’t hold a grudge.’”

The Panthers went through a rebuilding process last season, and finished with a 3-23 record. But this year, they have more victories than the previous three combined. The team is led by two seniors, JT Branch, who scored 30 points, and Smith, who scored 20, in the 60-57 win against Pittsburg.

“The players have taken a big step from wanting to win to expecting to win,” Riva said. “This has been a dream job for me.”

By H. Maria

Harry Bouchard is a well-read, well-spoken, educated man. He loves the outdoors. He is not very tall, maybe 5’7” with a mop of curly golden hair, blue eyes. The “tell” of his love of the outdoors, is his tanned face. Early mornings and late afternoons are when he is most often outside. He has to take care with the sun. Medicine he must take makes his love of the sun problematic. Harry is a poet; the day we met he made his farewell by reciting his “poem of the day”. He flashed a boyish smile after his recitation and said, “the poem is free to you, but only this one poem, should you want to hear more, I do charge.”

He cares for his brothers in the way the New Testament instructs us to do. His occupation is to research valuable resources for his community. He welcomes new arrivals by supplying them with whatever information and materials are needed to make their move as smooth as possible. Harry is an orderly man of laws and codes. He makes sure new arrivals understand what will be expected of them as citizens. His other community service is to gather garbage from his town and place it where it can be easily be pick up. He told me he has made an arrangement with the neighboring community for daily collection. He loves where he lives. He shares that sunrises and sunsets there fill him with joy. He loves his life.

He told me a little of his history and proudly claims direct-descent from French pirate, Hippolyte Bouchard. ADHD and an easy tendency to depression require he take medicine. He brought out two prescription bottles, from his pocket, and held them out. I’m familiar with these medicines as being the gold standard for his problems. He lowered his head to look at the medicines and wryly commented they don’t really work for him. Despite having education and training in a useful field he says he has great difficulty working for others. He is very happy he was able to create the job he has, and is proud he does it well. He calls what he does, Human Resources for his community. He was once married. That union failed because of his then untreated mental issues. A son was born of the marriage. As he spoke of the boy, his blue eyes gave away the fierce love he has for his child. Despite having to move often, he has been careful never to move too far away. He wants the boy to grow up knowing he has a father who loves him. An elderly mother lives close by in a partly assisted living arrangement. He visits her from time to time and enjoys her hospitality. He never stays more than a day as he feels that would be wrong. Her rent is subsidized because of age and infirmity.

He graciously gave me a tour of his home. On the grounds were stacks of neatly contained waste he had collected from his community. In a culvert at the back of his lot was another waste pile that preexisted his move to the area. He puts a little of that pile out every day, as well. He’s careful not to put out too much for collection at one time. The service is free and he doesn’t want to overwhelm. Our visit came to an end as I had a scheduled commitment. After the recitation of his poem he wave me away with a big smile and a “be careful out there”. Harry Bouchard is a good man, he is a valuable man.

Since I met Harry in August, he has moved. Antioch cleaned out the homeless encampment a couple of months ago. I drove by the day after the clean up. I recognized his belongings neatly stacked in a row at the back of the lot. Harry lived in a ravine on our riverfront in a big tent. He collected tents, pots, and bedding to give to homeless that moved into his area. He gave out a list of contacts for sources in Antioch giving out food, clothing and direction to local homeless shelters. He also gave out information on how to apply for financial and medical aid. When we first spoke he stood downwind from me. The strong scent was overwhelming but interesting in that it was not the typical smell of a long unwashed human. It recalled the scent of a bobcat my husband and I once found while hiking in Southern California’s coastal mountains. He read my reaction, apologized and stood upwind from me.

“I shower at my mother’s from time to time”, he said. She is on financial assist so I can’t take advantage of her shower very often”. I don’t know where Harry is. I only ever saw him that one day. Harry is a truthful man. I could tell he believed everything he told me. What he understood to be a garbage collection agreement with Antioch was actually the work of citizens, including myself who took away the garbage he placed every day by a tree above his encampment. When I think of him, my immediate thought is that he could be helped to re-enter society. We in society would celebrate that as a job well done. Would he?

By John Crowder

Over the last few months, Antioch residents supporting a proposal to convert the old Beede lumber yard property bordered by Second, Third and E Streets, a roughly two-acre parcel that has been vacant for years, into a permanent outdoor event center, have been speaking out at city council meetings, asking for a hearing on their proposal. The January 13 meeting of the Antioch City Council was no exception, as Joy Motts, one of the leaders in the effort, once again pleaded their case to council members.

In her statement, Motts lamented the lack of response from city staff to their repeated requests for a discussion of the idea. She began by outlining the now two-year history of requests for consideration put forward by her and other community members.

“Over two years ago Sean Wright, Kerry Motts, myself and a few Rivertown developers came together to discuss plans for an event center for downtown Antioch on the vacant Beede lumber site property at the corner of 2^nd and E Street,” she said. She went on to say that her group had been asked to postpone moving forward by the former city manager, Jim Jakel, in order that the “full attention of the council” could be given to the passage of Measure C during the November, 2013 election, and that they had agreed to do so.

Motts related that in early 2014, her group had been excited to meet with the new city manager, Steve Duran, but were disheartened to learn that, “Mr. Duran has had no interest in our proposal, or in listening to the community as to their wishes for downtown and went forward with a plan for multi-unit properties on the site we believe is the natural, and most economical, place to create a downtown community event center…just like every community around us has or is in the process of creating.”

She went on to say that the plan Duran had conceived was only slowed through, “numerous citizens’ requests.”

Motts said that, the past seven months had seen, “dozens of speakers at council meetings, over 1,000 signatures…asking for this topic to be [placed on the city council agenda] for discussion, and yet here we are, January 2015, and we have received absolutely no response from you or your staff.” Motts concluded by listing several of the groups in support of the event center proposal, including Rivertown residents, the Rivertown Preservation Society, and the Celebrate Antioch Foundation.

Following the meeting, Motts stated, “The community and Rivertown residents deserve a chance to discuss with the City the economic vitality and permanent legacy an event center would bring to Rivertown in contrast to the multi-unit development that is currently proposed.”

When Duran was asked about the delay in bringing the idea before the city council, he provided the following comments via email to Herald staff:

“The City Council approved a Request for Qualifications and Proposals (RFQ/P) process that is looking for residential development on that site based on extensive studies over the years and on my recommendation. Staff is currently carrying out that process, and has advised all along that it would take months before we would come back to the City Council with recommendations, as noted in my Monthly Report (See the City web site). Staff is in discussions with a number of qualified developers and will be for several more weeks.

The Beede site is zoned for residential development and has been since at least as far back as the last General Plan update in 2003. General Plans, of course, go through an extensive public process, including Environmental Impact Reports, and are approved by the Planning Commission and City Council. In addition, there have been a number of studies done by the City over the years, the most recent and promising of which is the 2006 ‘Arcadis’ plan, called ‘Antioch Rivertown Waterfront Development.’ Like all the preceding plans, the Beede site was designated to be predominantly residential.

The ideas that Ms. Motts has brought forth have been listened to and heard over the years and I have certainly done the same. Staff has reviewed the proposal her group presented and, when we have finished considering all the ideas and proposals we are exploring, staff will be making a complete report with our recommendations to the City Council.

It’s the staff’s job to analyze and make recommendations to the Council, aided as necessary with additional professional expertise. It would not be fair for any contender for the development of that site, or any City-owned site, to end run the process the City Council directed or to have the City Council consider one idea in isolation with no input from myself, our staff or our consultants that have extensive experience in real estate, redevelopment and downtown revitalization. All ideas and/or proposals, and the developers, need to be scrutinized by staff and consultants so that the Council can make a well informed decision.”

Duran also provided the following links for reference:

General Plan:

http://ci.antioch.ca.us/CityGov/CommDev/PlanningDivision/docs/Antioch_Adopted_General_Plan.pdf

Arcadis study:

http://ci.antioch.ca.us/CityGov/Finance/EconDev/Rivertown-Waterfront-Development.htm

By Allen Payton

Golfballin’ is back at the Vineyards, now that Brandon Johnson and his father Lance have reopened the driving range on East 18^th Street in Antioch.

After years with his Fore Two Your Door mobile golf truck, seen at both the Roddy Ranch Golf Club, Brentwood and other local golf courses, Brandon decided to open the range for golfers, once again. After months of renovations and improvements, golfers can practice their driving and putting from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m., seven days a week, on the lighted range.

You won’t have to let the weather get in your way. Now known as Golfballin’ at the Vineyards, the driving range features covered stalls so you can stay dry on rainy days and in the shade on hot, sunny days. Plus, there’s a huge practice green, grass and sand bunkers, and a VIP teeing area where you can hit off real grass.

They offer sales of new and used clubs, plus they buy and trade, as well. The range includes a full repair shop with over 4,000 grips and 400 shafts in stock, and offers free basic fittings.

It’s also family friendly with a playground for kids and a snack bar, and allows for hosting events and parties, as well. Plus, they offer half-off for all local high school golf teams.

Golfballin’ is kind to your wallet, with buckets of balls from $5 to $20 and a limited number of memberships are available at $50 per month for unlimited balls.

“Stop by any day and bring the kids, give Mom a break, and enjoy some practice to make your golf game better,” Brandon stated. “We’re hear every day, rain or shine.”

The driving range is located at 2901 E. 18^th Street, between Hillcrest and Highway 160, next to the actual award-winning wine vineyards.

Visiting their website at www.golfballin58.com, their Facebook page or Instagram, or by calling (925) 513-5660.

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For questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact me at 925-519-0354 or etiquette4decorum@yahoo.com.