Editor:

My State Assembly campaign has discovered another breach of the public’s trust, as it relates to Jim Frazier’s stewardship of the 11th Assembly District. Last month, it was discovered that Mr. Frazier’s Chief of Staff, Jay Day, according to State Assembly publicly compiled State Employee salary records, received a $102,000 per year salary. In 2016, his salary went up to $120,000 per year, surpassing the base salary of his elected supervisor, Mr. Frazier.

Members of Assembly can appropriate Salary dollars any way they see fit, within their staff. Assembly Chief of Staff salary range, anywhere from $68,000 in Bakersfield, to $135,000 for Members of Assembly with leadership positions in the Chamber. A standard cost of living adjustment (COLA) for an employee earning a $102,000 wage would be about 3-4% or in Mr. Day’s case, around $3,500. This $18,000 raise Mr. Day received, that Mr. Frazier approved, is what some people in this district are lucky enough to earn working their fingers to the bone in a year’s time, thanks in large part to regulations placed on small businesses by Democrats.

This salary announcement comes conveniently two weeks after Mr. Frazier proposed the single largest per gallon fuel tax in the history of the Golden State. Mr. Frazier drew the criticism of voters from San Diego to Shasta with his proposed 17 cents per gallon fuel tax increase, which is 30 cents per gallon for diesel and also adds an additional $38 per year DMV Registration Fee. The criticism of his fuel tax has been loudest in AD-11, where voters not only drive literally hundreds of miles a day, to get to work, but also enjoy evening and weekend boating on the various waterways surrounding the San Francisco Bay Estuary.

I can’t answer as to what Jim was thinking when he approved this bump in salary. I can tell you that as your Assemblyman, I will fight to give my per diem back to the State Treasury, as Assemblywoman Baker, has done. I’m told per diems are optional to Members of the Assembly, and as such, I will get on the highways, and come home to my family just like many of you who work in Sacramento do every evening.

As someone who has worked in Government for nearly 30 years, and plans to once again, I will be available to take your call, respond to your emails, invite you to meetings on issues that are important to you, help refer you to the proper government agency to help solve your problems, inform you of my vote in the chamber, using social media almost instantly, hand out my personal cell number to those who ask for it.

Twenty-eight years of government service does that to a person. And I can assure you as I sit here, My Chief of Staff will not make more than I do. As a taxpayer, I’d like to know what I’m getting for my money right now. You should also.

Dave Miller

Candidate for Assembly, 11^th District, California

 

Editor:

I wanted to start off with saying that I believe his (Lou Davis’) article in this past Herald about the treatment of police officers was great and to the point. My wife and I think it was very well put, no B.S. and with knowledge of the situation. We feel that this article should be offered out to all local Bay Area newspapers so they to can publish it and get it out to thousands more so they can read it as well. I would love to see it on the internet as well.

I hope that this can happen because we feel this should get out to many more readers.

Thank you,

Mike de Luna

Antioch

 

By Allen Payton

Keith Pearson was born and raised in Antioch and played baseball at Antioch High. In 2011 he was diagnosed with esophageal cancer and died soon after.

“It’s the fastest rising cancer diagnosis and more often than not its terminal upon diagnosis,” said one of his good friends, Brian Howerton.

So, he and all of Keith’s other good friends started a memorial Whiffle Ball tournament in 2012 to support the American Cancer Society and to make sure his two boys, Preston and Peyton, now ages five and eight, get to play the sports they want to play.

Funds are raised from the fee each team pays to play, as well as from the sale of annual T-shirts and a raffle. This year’s tournament was played at Antioch’s Mira Vista Hills Park.

“I appreciate the continued support of Keith’s best friends even after his death and for helping our kids,” Keith’s widow Amy Pearson said during this year’s tournament on Saturday, September 24. “This is a great reunion every year. I just know he would wish he was here.”

For more information visit www.ecan.org., visit the group’s Facebook page or contact Scott Pearson.

She, Terry, Navarro are only candidates to raise or spend more than $2,000

By Allen Payton

Only two of the seven candidates in the Antioch School Board race filed financial campaign reports on time, for the latest period that ended Saturday, September 24th and were due on the 29th. Former school board member Joy Motts turned in her report to the County Elections Office on Monday, which shows she has raised and spent the most.

When asked about her report, Motts explained in an email on Tuesday, “460 was filed yesterday. I had a fundraiser last Monday so did not get all info to my Treasurer (Don Freitas) until Tuesday. He completed 460 late Friday and I drove it to Martinez yesterday.”

Her reports, including one from the semi-annual reporting period ending June 30th, show Motts started the year with $1,522.30 cash on hand and has raised a total of $6,593 this year. That gave her a total of $8,115.30 to spend on her campaign. To date Motts has spent $6,914.57 this year. Attempts to obtain her 2015 reports were unsuccessful as of publication time. Once that occurs we will know if there were any additional expenditures, last year.

Her largest contributions were $2,000 from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) 302, $1,000 from the Sheet Metal Workers’ International Association Local No. 104, $503 from the Antioch Education Association, which is the local teachers’ union, $500 each from Delta Schools Political Action Committee, former Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan and Republic Services, the garbage company for Antioch.

Besides her filing fee, Motts’ largest expenditures were $2,500 for her Walnut Creek-based campaign consultant Cliff Glickman, $500 for a Latino voters’ slate mailer to a southern California company, $436 on signs to Belleci Design in Pittsburg and $321 for a fundraiser at Southern Café in Antioch.

She had an ending cash balance of $1,200.73 for the latest reporting period.

Terry

Appointed incumbent Alonzo Terry raised $3,286 and spent $3,046.07 during the period and for his campaign. His largest contributions were $500 from himself and $250 each from Odessa Lefrancois and Trinity Tomsic. Besides his filing fee Terry had to reportable expenditures were $2,061.07 to Francisco Rojas in Sacramento for signs and $345 to The Print Club in Antioch.

Navarro

The other appointed incumbent, Fernando Navarro raised $2,450 and spent $1,803 for his campaign. His largest contributions were $1,000 each from himself and Grow Elect, a Sacramento-based political action committee. Besides his filing fee Navarro’s largest expenditures were $700 for ads in the Herald and $400.58 for road signs from Fast Signs in Antioch. His forms show he filed the 497 form for contributions of $1,000 or more received after August 10th, before he received them. He actually spent the $1,000 out of his own pocket on August 11th, the day he filed his papers to become a candidate. Navarro said he would file amended forms showing that as a non-monetary contribution to his campaign and on the actual date it occurred.

Other Candidates

None of the other candidates, Mike Burkholder, Diane Gibson-Gray, Gary Hack, nor Crystal Sawyer-White, filed financial reports, because none of them has yet reached the $2,000 threshold in either campaign contributions or expenditures. Each of the five candidates were asked via email if that was because they haven’t yet raised or spent $2,000 in their campaign or if it is late, and if they plan on spending more than that amount in their campaign.

Sawyer-White responded with, “I filed a 410 on September 21, 2016. I have a small campaign team. I have been financing my campaign primarily on my own. I have only received $225.00 in donations thus far. I do not plan to go over $2,000. I plan to have a fundraiser event soon.”

Hack responded to the questions, with “I filed a Form 470 prior to the deadline – no committee and below $2,000.”

Burkholder’s treasurer Martha Parsons responded, stating he “did not file because he had not raised $2,000, yet. But, we have it now. We will be filing the next cycle.”

Gibson-Gray did not respond to the emailed questions.

See the financial reports for Motts, Terry and Navarro, below. To see all the documents and forms submitted by candidates in the school board race, click here.

The next filing period ends on October 22 and the second pre-election campaign finance reports are due on the 27th.

The election is Tuesday, November 8th.

motts-460-092416

motts-460-0101-063016

terry-460-092416

navarro-460-092416

navarro-497-082016

Editor,

I am writing to share my enthusiastic support for Joy Motts, candidate for the Antioch School Board. Antioch is so fortunate to have a candidate of her caliber, dedication, and profound knowledge and ability to lead the District in a positive direction. Ms. Motts, as a former School Board member, was instrumental in implementing the hugely successful secondary academies and linked learning. She was present and supported so many of each school’s activities, events, administrative and staff endeavors.

More importantly and because of the present Board’s apparent ineptitude, once elected she will provide the strong and equitable leadership that will restore trust in the Board. Administrative and instructional staff trust her and believe in her.

I urge you to vote for Joy Motts. She is the only hope to establish a positive and effective alliance with all key personnel in the Antioch School District and will lead the District to the success that Antioch children deserve.

Barbara Cowan, Former Antioch School Board Member

Oregon

Youth for Environment and Sustainability Conference to be held February 25 in San Francisco

The annual Youth for Environment and Sustainability, or YES, Conference, returns to the Bay Area at 10 a.m. on Saturday, February 25, 2017, at the new Bay Area Metro Center at 375 Beale Street in San Francisco.

The free day-long regional conference will bring together middle and high school students from the nine San Francisco Bay Area counties to discuss topics ranging from climate change and public health to transportation and air pollution. The Bay Area Air Quality Management Districtand the Metropolitan Transportation Commission sponsor the annual conference.

“The YES Conference is an awesome regional gathering that jumpstarts student-led climate action in our schools and local communities,” said Noah Preute, a student from St. Vincent de Paul High School in Santa Rosa and a member of the student planning committee for the YES Conference. “I’m excited to help plan the conference and inform my generation on the serious consequences climate change and air pollution have on our lives and the planet.”

Registration for the event is now open at http://bit.ly/2cEYWkh. Teachers or youth development coordinators who register their studentsbefore October 30, 2016, will be entered into a drawing for a $250 grant for classroom youth leadership activities involving science, technology, engineering, art and math curriculum and sustainability.

A call for presentation proposals invites pioneering students, youth-leaders, teachers or youth advisors to present at the annual YES Conference. The deadline to submit a proposal is Wednesday, January 3, 2017. The online proposal submittal form is available now at http://bit.ly/2dhuevv.

Attending students will have the opportunity to learn directly from their peers’ efforts by discussing advocacy, communication, leadership development and skill building. The program will include interactive presentations led by students and youth leaders from various schools and cities in the region. The 2017YES conference will be the fourth year of bringing youth together to share information to address climate change. The conference was awarded the 2014 Breathe California Award in the public awareness category.

There is no cost to attend the conference and breakfast and lunch will be provided for participants. Parents and teachers are also welcome. Students are required to have their parents’ permission to attend. For complete conference details, visit www.sparetheairyouth.org/2017-yes-conference/.

The goal of the Spare the Air Youth program is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and driving by increasing walking and biking as a transportation mode among youths and their familiesthereby improving air quality in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The Air District is the regional agency responsible for protecting air quality in the nine-county Bay Area.MTC is the transportation planning, coordinating and financing agency for the nine San Francisco Bay Area counties.

Washington, D.C. – Today, Representatives Mark DeSaulnier (CA-11) and Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), members of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, introduced legislation in response to the Mylan hearing at which the CEO acknowledged that salary for the position increased 600 percent in less than a decade, and other reports that companies like Wells Fargo pay its CEO nearly 500 times the rate of its average employee. The CEO Accountability and Responsibility Act (H.R. 6242) would increase corporate tax rates on publicly traded companies that exploit workers and pay CEOs astronomically high salaries

“America has a problem, as we see company after company come before Congress to apologize for bad behavior. One would ask, what has happened to our business culture?” asked DeSaulnier. “Too many executives at the top are incentivized to put profits before people by catering to shareholders and padding pockets on the back of consumers. Corporations should have a moral and social responsibility to workers, consumers, and American democracy. This bill sets the stage to stop fueling excessive income inequality.”

“It seems like every day we see a new story about another company taking outrageous steps to maximize their profits ­­– insane increases on lifesaving drugs to fund flights on private jets, sky-high salaries for CEOs who oversee severe and possibly criminal mishandling of consumer information,” said Watson Coleman. “If we’re serious about bringing back a thriving middle class, we need to lift up the companies who are investing in their workers at every level, not just lifting their leadership higher into the 1-percent. The companies responsible for recent CEO pay trends are wreaking havoc. It’s time we hold them accountable.”

On average, CEOs of the largest companies in the U.S. earn three times more than they did 20 years ago and at least 10 times more than 30 years ago. In fact, between 1978 and 2014, inflation-adjusted CEO pay increased by almost 1,000 percent, while the typical U.S. worker saw their pay increase by only 11 percent during that same period. Today, we see the pay disparity between the average American CEO and average worker is 303-to-1.

“Corporations that pay their top executives vast multiples of the typical worker’s wage should face higher taxes than corporations whose top pay is closer to the typical worker’s. The CEO Accountability and Responsibility Act is an important, and necessary step,” said Robert Reich, Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy, University of California at Berkeley and former U.S. Secretary of Labor.

The CEO Accountability and Responsibility Act would increase corporate tax rates on companies with larger than a 100-to-1 ratio of pay between CEOs and their average workers. At the same time the bill would reward companies whose CEO to worker ratio fell below that threshold, demonstrating that corporate social responsibility is an essential practice in American business.