Summer Open Gym at the Antioch Community Center is for middle school teens only!  Hang out with friends or play basketball, rule the table games or take part in other activities.

The gymnasium is open on Tuesdays beginning June 13th from 3:00 to 6:00 pm for only $3.00 per visit.  Purchase a punch card in advance and get one visit free. Leave your brothers and sisters home and come enjoy an afternoon set aside for just you and other middle school teens. 

Antioch Recreation staff will provide supervision throughout the afternoon.  For more information call the Recreation Department at 925-776-3050.

Public Invited

The Antioch Kiwanis Club, continuing a speakers’ series highlighting organizations that work with local youth, is scheduled to hear a talk by Dr. Lawrence Rasheed on Tuesday, June 13.  Dr. Rasheed will be speaking at the Kiwanis regularly scheduled breakfast meeting, which will take place at Denny’s Restaurant, 4823 Lone Tree Way, at 7:00 a.m.

Dr. Rasheed is the founder of GRIOT, an organization dedicated to the mentoring of young, African-American males.  He is a long-time educator and local resident.  The mission statement of GRIOT is, “To provide strategic, sustainable systems of social and academic assistance with emphasis on student accountability, academic, and community engagement.”  Dr. Rasheed will be discussing the GRIOT program.

Other speakers in the series have included John Crowder, who spoke on the techniques used to help students achieve success in the Math Intensive Program, Dr. Marty Elliott, who spoke on the importance of developing math literacy, and Tina Hayes, who spoke on “Getting Ahead with Etiquette,” the title of a book she authored.

Kiwanis is a world-wide service organization, dedicated to, “Serving the Children of the World.”  Locally, Kiwanis members volunteer and raise funds for programs that benefit youth.  In addition, they provide local students with thousands of dollars in scholarships each year.

The public is invited to attend the meeting to hear from Dr. Rasheed and to learn more about the work that Kiwanis does in the Antioch community.

Glenn Houston, 68, died June 7th, 2017, with his wife by his side in Antioch, CA.

A memorial service will be held Monday, June 12th, 2017 at 1:00 pm in the home of Monica Houston for close friends and family.

Glenn spent most of his adult life in Roseville, CA with his son and daughter. Glenn and Monica spent the last 12 years married and shared many happy memories with friends and family. Glenn enjoyed working on cars, building car models and cooking. He was an amazing father and husband and was always willing to offer a helping hand. He fought a long battle with many health complications, but always found the joy in life and was comical to the end.

Mr. Houston is survived by his wife, Monica Houston; son Ed Houston; Bill Houston and spouse Stephanie Huston, daughter Missy and spouse Casey Stice, Carol Clark, Natane Engle and Tiffany Whipple, and 11 grandchildren.

Free, second presentation Wednesday night, June 14

By John Crowder

On Friday, May 26, three new leaders in the city of Antioch, Police Chief Tammany Brooks, City Manager Ron Bernal, and Mayor Sean Wright, each spoke at the annual State of the City event hosted by the Antioch Chamber of Commerce.  The well-attended event was held at the Antioch Community Center at Prewett Park.

Antioch Chamber CEO Richard Pagano, after welcoming the crowd, introduced Chief Brooks.  Also known as ‘T,’ Brooks focused his talk on three words beginning with T, Technology, Training, and Teamwork.

Brooks began by saying that he knew it was important to reduce the perception of crime, along with actual crime.  “If you don’t feel safe, it doesn’t matter how much we show an actual reduction in crime,” he said.  “Quality of life means that you feel safe as you go about your day-to-day activities.”

With respect to technology, Brooks said that his department would be spending more time analyzing statistics and using the information gleaned to work smarter and more efficiently to reduce crime.  The Department Crime Analyst will be spending more time developing crime intelligence, he explained.  Brooks noted that surveillance cameras were already in use in the city, and that more were on the way.

Training, according to Brooks, is vital to the success of his department.  He said, though, that the type of training required now was different than that emphasized in the past.  “There were 87,000 contacts last year between citizens and the APD,” he said.  “Of these, less than 2% required the use of force.”  While teaching officers how to react in situations requiring the use of force would always be important, more training will be done in the future around community engagement, according to Brooks.

“Part of our training must include cultural diversity, implicit bias, and crisis management,” he said.

Brooks emphasized teamwork both within the department, and in the greater community.  He said that the APD had the lowest per capita staff of a major city in Contra Costa County.  Even so, “I’m not going to cry about that and tell you what we can’t do,” he said, “I’m going to tell you what we can do.”

Brooks said that educating the public on steps they can take to avoid being victims of crime, and ensuring that his officers are engaged, on a more personal level, with members of the community would both pay significant dividends in reducing crime.  Brooks concluded his remarks by saying, “The men and women of the Antioch Police Department truly care about this community, and over the next few years, you’re going to see that.”

City Manager Ron Bernal began his remarks by saying, “In my opinion, our job is to serve the people of Antioch, and not the other way around.”  He went on to say, “There is an expectation for communication and cooperation.  People don’t care what you say until they know that you care.”

Bernal then listed eight priorities that the City Council had established.  These included, crime reduction, code enforcement, economic development, financial stability, infrastructure, communication, partnerships & collaboration, and quality of life.

Before addressing each of the priorities in turn, Bernal noted that Antioch is the second largest city in Contra Costa County.  He then talked about some positive aspects of the city, including the $1 billion spent on Highway 4 and BART improvements, and pre-1914 water rights.

Bernal stated that the APD currently has a budget for 102 sworn officers and 7 Community Service Officers (CSO’s), up from 82 sworn officers when Measure C was passed.  He expected the number of sworn positions to rise to 103 in 2018, and to 104 in 2019, with CSO’s rising to eight in 2018.

Addressing homelessness is vital to the city, Bernal said.  To that end, the APD developed a Community Engagement Team in January.  In addition, he said that the city had established a two-person abatement team to deal with blight, and that a County CARE center was coming to Antioch later this year.  “We’re doing a lot of things to try and tackle the issue of homelessness in a compassionate way,” he said.

Several other initiatives were mentioned in Bernal’s talk, including the See Click Fix app, more involvement with social media, the consideration of a public relations firm to promote the positive things happening in Antioch, the San Joaquin Joint Powers Project, Business partnerships, and the improvements being made to Waldie Plaza.

Bernal concluded his remarks by saying, “The City is here to cooperate with businesses.  It’s a new day.  We are the government, and we are here to help you.”

Mayor Sean Wright began his remarks by saying, “I’m excited.  The team we have in place now is awesome.”  Referring to City Manager Bernal, Wright said, “Ron really cares and wants to do what is best for our community.”

Wright then immediately moved to address what he called, “the elephant in the room.”  “The question is, are we filing bankruptcy?” he asked.  “We have very little debt, and reserves of $25 million.  You don’t file bankruptcy under those circumstances.”

“There is an impending problem, though,” he continued.  “That is PERS (California’s Public Employees’ Retirement System).  What is PERS?  An oncoming avalanche of impending debt.”

Wright then explained that, for years, PERS had overestimated the amount of income the system would receive on its investments.  Because of this, government agencies around the state who are part of the system, are now being informed that their contributions over the years have been insufficient to fund future retiree benefits that have been promised.

“Is Antioch in trouble when it comes to PERS?  Yes, but we’re not the only city [in trouble.]  In six to seven years, we are in a bad place.  Cities are suing, and we’re watching the progress of these lawsuits.  People are worried, and they’re right to be worried.  But, a lot can happen in six years.”

Wright next explained how he liked to look at Antioch as ‘four corners.’  These are Downtown, BART-Hillcrest, Somersville, and Sand Creek.  “If we can get investment going in these four areas, we can get a driving change start to happen,” he said.

Wright then emphasized the positive attributes of the city.  “We have a phenomenal downtown, it is gorgeous,” he said.  Noting that Internet connectivity was an issue downtown, he said the city was exploring options to create Wi-Fi Hotspots.  “We’re working with City Ventures to develop properties with views of the river for more people.”  “We want a thriving downtown,” he continued.  “Our greatest resource downtown is our river, and it is underutilized,” he said.  Wright also addressed the potential of Humphries restaurant, the work that had already begun on improving Waldie Plaza, and improvements coming to the AMTRAK station.  “We have an opportunity to create a multi-modal transportation hub,” he said.

Wright continued to address each of the other ‘corners.’  He discussed the Business Watch initiative, talked about the substantial investment being considered for the Somersville area, emphasized the need for “balanced development” in the Sand Creek area, and discussed the potential for development around the new BART station at Hillcrest Avenue.

A second State of the City event is scheduled for Wednesday, June 14, at 7:00 pm at the Antioch Community Center.  All are invited to this free event.

By Allen Payton

According to Antioch’s Economic Development Program Manager, Lizeht Zepeda, the negotiations between the City of Antioch and Oakland-based Everett & Jones BBQ for the lease of the former Humphrey’s location have been terminated. However, city staff will continue to pursue other restaurants for the site.

The official statement reads as follows:

“After over a year of good faith negotiations, Antioch’s City Council directed staff to terminate all negotiations with Everett & Jones BBQ regarding the renovation and leasing of the former Humphrey’s restaurant building. The City Council also directed staff to begin remarketing the restaurant site.

Since terminating negotiations with Everett and Jones, the City has seen interest in the restaurant site and has toured the property with two successful Bay Area restaurant owners.  Both restaurant owners are interested in expanding their current operations to this site and are now doing their due diligence on improvement costs associated with their renovation plans.

The site is currently being featured in the Real Estate Section of the San Francisco Chronicle and on the City’s website.”

To see the two-page flyer offering details about the restaurant location, click here.

Humphrey’s on the Delta closed on December 24, 2012. An Antioch businessman bought the building in 2013 but, later let it go.  The City has always owned the land and acquired the building in 2014 on quiet title at no cost. (See related articles, here and here).

Dear Editor:

I submit for consideration a serious article regarding the PG&E gas regulator station located at Viera Ave. and Stewart Lane, an imposing, dangerous, and dreadful construction installed without due process or consideration to shared lot-line residents and neighbors, an upset that to this time has not been mitigated for noise, gas emissions, trespass, and damage to shared easement. Harm to property values goes without question. Our contacts with PG&E show promise in the extent they are words without deeds, and city, county and state agents have a hands-off stand, not because of the merit of our challenge, but that PG&E does as it wants. CPUC contacts appear to be formal stalling “motions”.

Understand, this East County (2B) annexation was a scheme between the City, County, and power generation on Wilbur Ave. against the vast majority of property owners. It would have been known to the powers involved that this construction and infrastructure was a necessary part of that plan, again, without due process or disclosure to residents, a serious damage to us all. Also, the payoff to annexation was to be sewer and water services, and as you may know, that money went instead

to police retirement funds. Done deed.

We think it an outrage that PG&E could oppress their neighbors with no push-back from those entitled to protect citizens of our fair City and County. We have all records, documents, and photos

in this regard. We need help.

Wayne and Shauna Eisenmann

Antioch

By Sergeant John Fortner #3264, Antioch Police Investigations Division

On Thursday, June 8, 2017, at approximately 9:55 AM, Antioch police officers responded to the 4300 block of Palomar Drive for a subject who was accidentally shot with a BB gun. Once at the scene, officers located a15-year-old male victim, who was on the ground with what appeared to be a small wound to his chest. The victim was unresponsive and first-aid/life saving measures were started. The victim was transported to a local area hospital where he ultimately succumbed to his injury.

During the investigation, it was learned that the juvenile victim was shot with a pellet rifle once in the chest, by a juvenile, male friend, also 15-years-old. At this time, based on several witness statements and evidence located at the scene, the incident appears to be a tragic accident. All of the parties at the scene are cooperating with the investigation which is ongoing.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Antioch Police Department non-emergency line at (925) 778-2441. You may also text-a-tip to 274637 (CRIMES) using the key word ANTIOCH.

By John Crowder

Contra Costa County District 3 Supervisor Diane Burgis announced, Wednesday that a $5.9 million grant for an innovative arrest-diversion program to be implemented in Antioch has been recommended for approval by the California Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC).  Burgis was notified earlier this week of the recommendation, which came following review of a grant request approved for submission by the Board of Supervisors last February.  If approved by the BSCC Executive Steering Committee at their meeting scheduled for June 8, preparatory steps for program implementation would begin this summer, with services beginning by the end of this year.

CoCo Lead Plus, a partnership between the Antioch Police Department (APD), Contra Costa County Health Services Department, Contra Costa Housing Authority, Contra Costa Health, Housing, & Homeless Services Division, and community-based organizations will be responsible for implementation of the program.  Using the grant, APD will create and implement new arrest-diversion protocols, resulting in coordinated services being made available for people with mental health issues who have been repeatedly arrested for a broad array of low-level, non-violent charges.  In addition to providing help for individuals suffering from mental health issues that result in frequent interaction with the criminal justice system, the program is expected to free up APD resources to focus on more serious crimes.

“People with complex behavioral challenges repeatedly cycle from the streets to the jails and back to the streets,” Burgis stated. “To interrupt this cycle and strengthen the community for all of us, CoCo Lead Plus will combine coordinated diversion protocols with peer-driven outreach and engagement, evidence-based behavioral health services, wraparound social and vocational supports, and opportunities for both transitional and permanent housing for program participants.  Innovative programs such as this provide help for those with mental issues while allowing our police departments to focus resources on the reduction of more serious crime.  This is a win for our entire community.”