Payton Perspective: High hopes and expectations for the New Year

Payton Perspective logo 2015By Allen Payton

As we enter a new year, hopes and expectations are high as we have new local and will soon have new national leaders. They made many commitments during their campaigns and we expect them to work to fulfill them.

Thinking about the new year and all its possibilities, I have a list of the things I hope and expect will and can happen.

First, I hope that our new mayor and mayor pro tem will have the help of the rest of the council, as they lead Antioch to greater safety and less crime, with a fully staffed police department of 111 sworn officers, as we were promised in 2013.

Second, I hope the new school board member, working with the new president and vice president, will ensure greater transparency by televising and live streaming their meetings, so that we the people can better know what’s going on with our government for the benefit of our students in our schools.

Third, I hope and pray the City can finalize the agreement for the lease or sale of Humphrey’s restaurant and breathe life back into that waterfront facility with its awesome location and views.

Fourth, I hope the County will fund the completion of the final two lanes of L Street between 10th and 18th Streets to complete the four-lane entrance from Highway 4 into Rivertown.

Then, I hope the Council will finally rename L Street to Marina Way and give the restaurant an address of 1 Marina Way. Plus, rename A and West 2nd Streets to Rivertown and West Rivertown Drive to provide permanent marketing of Antioch’s historic downtown.

Next, I hope the Council will approve the kind of upscale homes Antioch needs, like Walnut Creek, Brentwood and the San Ramon Valley already have, which will attract executives and business owners to town, who will bring their companies with them and employ our people locally.

My hope is that the Contra Costa Transportation Authority creates a new funding plan that includes Route 239, the long-proposed four-lane freeway between Brentwood and Tracy, which will secure East County’s economic future.

I also hope the Council will place the proposal for a downtown park and event center on the ballot to decide the issue once and for all, then get moving in whichever direction the public votes.

I wish the City would contract out the operations of the water park to make it profitable or at least break even.

Finally, I hope the Council will move forward on the plans for a deep water port along Wilbur Avenue to bring high-paying, clean technology and manufacturing jobs to Antioch.

Thank you for reading the Herald and following us on Facebook and Twitter, this past year. Have a safe and Happy New Year! God bless you, God bless Antioch and may it be successful and prosperous for all of us.


2 Comments to “Payton Perspective: High hopes and expectations for the New Year”

  1. James C Morris Sr. says:

    Good ideas Allen, but I’d like to add one thing Antioch should do, which is to get a bass fishing contest going. We could have a registration fee resulting in a grand prize sponsored by a sponsor, of course. And, then have a dedicated location for the posting of a framed picture of the winning entrant each year. I think that it would grow every year, and encourage youth to fish thereby getting them active in something beside electronic devices. We could possibly get sponsors for disadvantaged kids or handicapped ones that otherwise could not participate. We also should get a pinewood derby and or a soapbox derby with rules and regulations published, maybe with a nominal fee to participate, and again, with grand prizes in each, of course. Again, I think local business owners would not be adverse to climbing on board as sponsors. There should be all types of these youth participation events, spaced throughout the year. It would go a long way towards developing civic pride where it is lacking currently. Kite building and glider thrown planes for contests are other possibilities.

    • Publisher says:

      Thanks, Jim.
      While a bass fishing tournament and other contests you mentioned would be good things and are great ideas, I believe that should be done by a local business or community organization. The City shouldn’t spend their staff time and our tax dollars on any extra recreation until they’ve given us the 22 additional police we were promised. They’ve got to make public safety the number one priority. Besides, Antioch already spends more than enough on recreation including subsidizing the water park and Lone Tree Golf & Event Center, at the expense of other, higher priority items such as police, code enforcement, graffiti and other community clean up, including dealing with the homeless.

      I’d love to see those events in Rivertown. Perhaps the Rivertown business group would be willing to take those on. In fact, I have a list of what I call the Rivertown Races, which the soap box derby could be added to. Those races include the Rivertown Run – 1-mile, 5K & 10K races; Rivertown Ride – bicycle race; Rivertown Roll – roller skating, inline skating, skateboarding and wheelchair races; and the Rivertown Regatta – sailboat races.

      But, again, I believe they would be best done by the private sector.

      Allen Payton, Publisher

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