By Allen Payton

According to Antioch City Clerk Arne Simonsen, the Save The Yard initiative proponents turned in 214 petitions with 5,139 signatures on Tuesday, July 6th.

The initiative, formally labeled the “Rivertown Town Square Ordinance,” would require the Antioch City Council to preserve as a park and event center, the former Antioch Lumber Company lot, between West Second, West Third and E Streets in downtown instead of a planned, mixed-use development with both townhomes and retail space.

There were 44,365 registered voters as of March 5th when the proponents submitted their paperwork to start the process. That means they need 4,437 valid signatures of registered Antioch voters for the initiative to be placed on the ballot.

“We tossed out the ones from people who live outside the city,” Simonsen said.

He submitted the petitions to the County Elections Office on Wednesday morning. According to County Clerk and Registrar of Voters, Joe Canciamilla his office has 30 business days to count and verify the signatures.

The deadline for placing items on the November ballot is August 12^th so the verification process could take it beyond that date which would place the Antioch initiative on the November, 2017 ballot instead.

There are three other initiatives that have been received before and are in front of Antioch’s, two from Richmond and one from San Ramon. Plus, they have a large quantity of voter registration cards to process, some from Antioch but mostly from Richmond.

“We’re going to be bringing extra help on board to process those on a parallel track,” Canciamilla stated.

Asked if he believes his office will be able to count all the signatures and new voter registrations by the August 12^th deadline, he responded “That’s our goal.”

Signature gatherers for the initiative petitions are required to be registered voters in the county. Asked if he knew about the signature gatherers who worked on the Antioch initiative, Canciamilla responded, “I would think the firm that hired them would know that. But, I haven’t seen the petitions and I haven’t talked to the staff about them, yet. So I don’t know what they look like.”

Then he spoke about the size of the November ballot.

“We have 17 statewide ballot measures confirmed, there are still two in the hopper,” Canciamilla shared. “Plus, we have two regional measures, from BART and CCTA.”

“The potential of the state voter handbook could be 200 plus pages,” he continued. “Our local handbook we expect to be 100 plus pages.”

Save The Yard initiative leader Joy Motts was not available for comment prior to publication time.

To read the language of the ballot initiative, click here: Final Initiative Ordinance

By Nick Goodrich

Mayor Wade Harper strongly advocated for the use of body cameras in the Antioch Police Department during a City Council meeting on Tuesday, June 28th. The council also received a report on the progress of the under-construction Antioch BART station, and heard multiple complaints about the state of Antioch’s Animal Services during Public Comments.

Animal Services Complaints

Antioch Animal Services (AAS) was the target of several complaints at the council meeting. During the Public Comments section of the meeting, several Antioch residents—as well as an Oakland resident—spoke before Council on the state of the city’s Animal Services department.

AAS is currently run by the Antioch Police Department, which was a talking point for many of the speakers. The APD, already understaffed and overburdened by crime in the city, is in charge of caring for the animals and putting them up for adoption.

Nicole Salis, a 15 year resident of Antioch, suggested that the animal shelter be moved outside the Police Station to its own location—or, at the very least, be made it’s own department.

Willow Liroff, the longest active volunteer at the Oakland Animal Shelter, made the trip to Antioch to speak about the AAS. She noted that the “Died-in-Care” rate in Contra Costa County—the amount of animals that die in shelters—is currently 0.8%, while the rate in Antioch skyrockets to 4.7%.

The majority of these Died-in-Care cases are cats, said Liroff, which is not too surprising considering the size of Antioch’s feral cat population—but nonetheless unacceptable.

“AAS needs experienced animal welfare professionals,” said Liroff, noting that police are not suited to the job of caring for these animals—and are needed elsewhere in the city, besides.

Police Body Cameras

Continuing a lengthy process of reviewing the effect of introducing body cameras to the APD, Council heard a report from Police Chief Allan Cantando on Tuesday.

While the majority of City Council appears to be in favor of adding the body cameras to Antioch’s officers, growing concerns about the cost stalled the process.

Cantando reported that the biggest cost of any body camera project the city could choose would be that of data storage—thousands of hours of video footage would be recorded, and would need to be stored safely and accessibly, which would present a fairly expensive undertaking. These costs would only grow over time as more footage is added, said Cantando.

He noted that in addition to data storage, extra police staffing would be another cost to consider, and combined these could reach up to an extra $500,000 in spending per year for Antioch.

Cantando also cited several other concerns that factored into the Council’s considerations. A big question mark for him is the fact that most body camera projects undertaken by cities are relatively new, and little is known about the overall long-term costs and effectiveness of such projects. Cantando’s advice to the Council was to wait and see how other cities fared before making the decision.

Several Antioch residents added their comments to the discussion. Samantha Bee and Frank Sterling spoke to Council in favor of the cameras, and three others wrote in their support as well.

Sterling, who was the victim of police brutality and settled out of court with the City of Antioch in 2013, believes body cameras are a big step toward preventing police violence and presenting crucial evidence in cases where it does occur.

“The video of my case exonerated me,” said Sterling, referring to a recording taken from outside of his house as the incident was occurring. He believes body cameras would help others in situations like his.

Mayor Harper, a former police officer, was strong in his support for the cameras, but emphasized the officer protection aspect: the recordings could be used to determine an officer’s innocence if he or she was falsely accused.

These arguments are different sides of the same coin. However, Cantando’s report dissuaded the rest of the Council from offering similar support for the project.

“I don’t disagree that we need body cameras,” said Mayor Pro Tem Lori Ogorchock, “But I don’t think right now it should be a priority.” She believes that the proposed costs of the cameras would be better used adding additional officers to the APD, as criticism of Measure C has grown in recent months.

One of Measure C’s goals was to increase the number of police officers employed by the city, but it has resulted in a net gain of only 9 officers in the past 2 years, according to Sal Sbrante, former member of the Measure C Citizen’s Oversight Committee.

Council Member Mary Rocha was concerned with the reported costs of pursuing the project, and Council Member Tony Tiscareno agreed with Chief Cantando that more time should be given in order to see the success or failure of other cities’ body cameras.

“I want it to happen,” he told Harper, “But today’s not the right moment.” The Council received Cantando’s report, but Harper remained adamant in his support of the cameras, promising to continue pursuing the project in future meetings.

Antioch BART Station

City Council also heard a presentation on the status of the Antioch BART station, given by Joel Keller, former Mayor of Antioch. Antioch’s new BART station will be positioned on the median of Highway 4, with parking lots and facilities adjacent to the highway.

The station is nearing completion quicker than expected, reported Keller. He told Council that test trains would begin running on Friday, July 1^st, more than a week sooner than had been anticipated.

And more good news: the project is not expected to exceed the budgeted $5.5 million, ensuring that the city won’t be overpaying for its long-awaited entrance into the BART system.

Overall, the council appeared very pleased with the progress report, emphasizing the responsiveness and helpfulness from BART throughout the process. This was underscored by Keller’s report that the BART station will now include escalators, asked for by Council after a previous presentation.

“You have been very, very responsive to the needs of Antioch,” said Harper. “You have done your due diligence, and I want to thank you for all that.”

By Allen Payton

After announcing in March that he would be a candidate for the Antioch City Council, this year and holding a campaign kick-off event on Monday, June 27th, Ken Turnage has instead withdrawn from the race.

In a Facebook post on his campaign Facebook page on Wednesday afternoon, July 6th, Ken Turnage wrote:

Hello,
With much thought I have come to a decision that I will not be running for City Council. Due to a personal decision I will not be able to continue at his time. It is my full intent once this has taken its course that I will run in the future.

I want to thank you for your support and generous donation to help me along the way. I do apologize if I had caused any inconvenience.

Those that have donated will be getting a check sent to you as re-imbursement. I will close this page tomorrow thank you

Sincerely,

Ken Turnage II

A call to Turnage for further comment was not answered or returned.

Turnage is the owner of K2GC, Inc. a general contractor in Antioch and was the chair of the Antioch July 4th Parade on Monday.

The Contra Costa District Attorney has filed eight felony counts of grand theft by fraud and embezzlement against Quyen Tran, age 60, and his wife, Mai Han Tran, age 56, both of Antioch, for conducting a Ponzi scheme that lasted over four years. The total loss to eight victims was $256,000.

Quyen “Tony” Tran and Mai “Lisa” Tran, made friends with the victims in the Vietnamese church and social community. Mai Tran invited the victims over to her house in Antioch for a social event, but once there, Quyen invited the victims up to his office and told them of his 25 years of investment experience, his investment savvy,  and how he could make a lot of money for them through his investments skill.

He told one victim that he had an inside line on a Pharmaceutical company IPO, that was later found to be non-existent. The victims were impressed by Quyen’s lavish lifestyle and expensive jewelry and cars and his perceived financial acumen and appearance of wealth. Victims believed him when he told them he never lost any money. The investments, primarily in cash, ranged from $4,000 to $156,000 and the agreements were all verbal.

In this classic Ponzi scheme, instead of investing their money, Tran used the victim’s money for personal expenses, and to maintain his lavish lifestyle, and to pay dividends to early investors, in order to keep the illusion that he was making money in order to attract new investors. When some of the victims demanded their money back after receiving nothing after several months, he told them it was a loan, or that the money was generating returns and was locked up and if he returned money it would be taxed at 45% tax rate. He told other victims that he had lost their money and his bank accounts were frozen. When the victims demanded proof that he had purchased stock, he never provided any. Tran did engage in some minor day-trading, but lost money in 4 of 6 years. In the two years that he made a small profit, he never returned any money to the investors. But Tran continued to tell new investors that he never lost any money.

A forensic accountant and an investigator found that there were several victims from years beyond the four year statute of limitations who lost money to Tran, but these victims never went to the police, because of the cultural shame and distrust of the police.

In addition to the eight counts of fraud, both Trans are charged with money laundering, conspiracy, sale of unlicensed securities and a white collar enhancement of stealing over $100,000. The District Attorney also filed a Temporary Restraining Order and a Lis Pendens on the Tran’s residence which has some equity that could be used to pay restitution.

An arrest warrant has been issued for the Tran’s arrest. If you have been a victim of the Trans in the past ten years, please contact Inspector Al Cofer at the District Attorney’s office at 925-957-8761.

By Sergeant Tom Fuhrmann, Antioch Police Investigations Bureau

At 2:33 a.m. on Tuesday, June 28, 2016, Antioch Police Officers were dispatched to a domestic violence call in the 900 block of West 8th Street. When the officers arrived they were confronted

by a 56-year-old male Antioch resident armed with a firearm. Shots were fired by the police and the male was wounded.

The suspect was transported to an area hospital and underwent surgery. The suspect in this case is identified as 56-year-old Tony Hendrix of Antioch.

Hendrix was formally charged on Thursday, June 30, 2016 by the Office of the District Attorney with two counts of Assault with a Deadly Weapon and one count of Resisting Arrest. His bail was set at $373,000. On 7/1/16 he was arraigned and on 7/2/16 he was released from the hospital and booked into the Contra Costa County Jail.

No further information will be released at this time.

Anyone with information regarding this case is encouraged to call Detective Vanderpool with the Antioch Police Department at (925) 779-6988. You may also text a tip to 274637 (CRIMES) using key word ANTIOCH.

By Sergeant Tom Fuhrmann, Antioch Police Investigations Bureau

On Saturday, June 25, 2016 at 10:15 p.m., Antioch Police Officers were dispatched to the 1900 block of Biglow Drive on the report of residents returning home and finding their relative, an Antioch man, on the floor inside the home and suffering from a gunshot wound.

On Thursday June, 30, 2016 the victim in this case, 44-year-old Relis Eastman subsequently died from his injuries after being removed from life support at an area hospital. The shooting death is still under investigation and no further information will be released at this time.

Anyone with information regarding this case is encouraged to call Detective Colley with the Antioch Police Department at (925) 779-6922. You may also text a tip to 274637 (CRIMES) using key word ANTIOCH.

By Allen Payton

Thousands of Antioch and East County residents watched the annual July 4th Parade on West Second Street in Antioch’s historic, downtown Rivertown Monday morning, to begin the city’s celebration of America’s 240th Independence Day and the 144th birthday of the naming of Antioch in 1872. Thousands more enjoyed the car show, music and fireworks show at the Contra Costa County Fairgrounds later in the day and evening.

Following are the winners of the parade competition:

Scouts

1st Place – Boy Scout Troop 450

2nd Place – Boy Scout Troop 153

Civic

1st Place – Antioch Rivertown Jamboree

2nd Place – Antioch Historical Society

Patriotic

1st Place – Marine Corps League 1155

2nd Place – Veterans Color Guard

Commercial

1st Place – Paradise Skate

2nd Place – Oddly Unique

Entertainment

1st Place – Los Centurians

2nd Place – Undead Betty’s

Clubs

1st Place – Celebrate Antioch Foundation

2nd Place – Ashphalt Outlaws

Youth

1s Place – Antioch High Spirit Squad

2nd Place – Deer Valley High Cheerleaders

Dance

1st Place – Keep In Time Dance Academy

2nd Place – Melody’s Dance Studio

 

Check back later for more photos…

Following is the text of the Declaration of Independence in celebration of Independence Day, July 4th, 2016:

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

The 56 signatures on the Declaration appear in the positions indicated:

Column 1

Georgia:

Button Gwinnett

Lyman Hall

George Walton

Column 2

North Carolina:

William Hooper

Joseph Hewes

John Penn

South Carolina:

Edward Rutledge

Thomas Heyward, Jr.

Thomas Lynch, Jr.

Arthur Middleton

Column 3

Massachusetts:

John Hancock

Maryland:

Samuel Chase

William Paca

Thomas Stone

Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia:

George Wythe

Richard Henry Lee

Thomas Jefferson

Benjamin Harrison

Thomas Nelson, Jr.

Francis Lightfoot Lee

Carter Braxton

Column 4

Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris

Benjamin Rush

Benjamin Franklin

John Morton

George Clymer

James Smith

George Taylor

James Wilson

George Ross

Delaware:
Caesar Rodney

George Read

Thomas McKean

Column 5

New York:

William Floyd

Philip Livingston

Francis Lewis

Lewis Morris

New Jersey:

Richard Stockton

John Witherspoon

Francis Hopkinson

John Hart

Abraham Clark

Column 6

New Hampshire:

Josiah Bartlett

William Whipple

Massachusetts:

Samuel Adams

John Adams

Robert Treat Paine

Elbridge Gerry

Rhode Island:

Stephen Hopkins

William Ellery

Connecticut:
Roger Sherman

Samuel Huntington

William Williams

Oliver Wolcott

New Hampshire:

Matthew Thornton

From the website: www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration.html

Happy Independence Day from the Antioch Herald!