Joy Motts switches sights and files intent to run for Antioch City Council in November

Joy Motts from Facebook on Oct. 31, 2017. Photo by the Hon. Monica Wilson

By Allen Payton

After serving on the Antioch School Board and running unsuccessfully for reelection in 2014 and then again in 2016, on Tuesday, Feb. 13, Joy Motts switched her sights toward the City Council and filed an intent to run in the November election. She is the first candidate to do so and will either face one of the incumbents Tony Tiscareno or Lori Ogorchock, if either decides to run for reelection or are able to should they live in one of the new districts that will be soon be created by the council. Form 501 – Joyann Motts filed 2-13-18 (1)

Motts served on the school board from 2010 to 2014. She has since been leading the effort to create a park and event center, named the Rivertown Square, on the former Antioch Lumber Company lot in downtown, also known as The Yard. Two efforts by the group to place an initiative on the ballot have failed. But, the council recently rezoned the property to mixed use which would allow the park and event center.

Motts is also one of the directors of the Celebrate Antioch Foundation which organizes Antioch’s annual July 4th Parade and Celebration, as well as the Holiday Parade and City Christmas Tree Lighting. She is also a member of the Rivertown Preservation Society, a group of homeowners seeking to preserve the historic qualities of the city’s downtown, north of W. 10th Street.

Filing for the two council seats up for election in November opens in July. However, neither Motts nor anyone else knows, yet if she will be able to run this year. She lives in the Rivertown area but, if and until the council approves dividing the city into four districts, the two that will have elections this year won’t be known until their meeting on April 10.

Asked why she wanted to run for the city council, Motts responded with the following via email:

“To start, service for my community is a part of my DNA.  My parents believed and instilled in myself and my siblings that it was a citizen’s responsibility to participate in making and leaving the world a better place. My father served our nation in World War II and my mother, served 20 years on the Antioch School Board.  I followed in her footsteps and served on Antioch’s School Board between 2010 and 2014, and I am proud of the work that was accomplished during that time, from being fiscally efficient and successfully weathering the economic downturn to the rebuild and renovation of Antioch High School.  I serve and still work on several Foundations and service organizations that support Antioch’s children, its quality of life and its citizens.

As a lifelong resident, it has been frustrating to watch surrounding communities thrive while Antioch continues to struggle with issues of crime, blight and homelessness.   Whereas recently I have seen improvements, we are still a community that needs a stronger and cohesive vision, and leadership that can collaborate on a brighter path forward. The perception that we are not a healthy or safe community, that our schools are failing is sometimes played out on social media, our local news and in the conversations amongst ourselves and all over the Bay Area and makes economic vibrancy very difficult. This should not be our story.  It is time for Antioch to recognize its potential!  We sit in a beautiful place, with unparalleled climate, on the San Joaquin Delta, one of the largest inland waterways in the world, in the middle of the State that has the seventh largest economy in the world. We are diverse, intelligent and are home to citizens with some of the highest salaries in the Bay Area.

As a city councilwoman, I plan to tackle those issues that are preventing us from changing our story.  We must maintain and improve the number of police that protect this great city. We must support the extension of Measure C to support law enforcement and all efforts to keep our citizens safe. We need Code Enforcement to return to pre-recession employee levels to tackle the negligent and irresponsible landlords and business owners who do not maintain their properties or shopping centers and all areas of blight in our community.  We must develop a long-term plan to support the rehabilitation, support of services and housing for homeless.

We must work together with the Antioch Unified School District as over 20,000 of our citizens attend Antioch schools, private and public as AUSD is our largest employer, their concerns and challenges are and should be the City of Antioch’s concerns and challenges.  We need to develop a strategic plan to address infrastructure needs for our entire city especially our older north Antioch community. We must work with other cities in the Bay area and aggressively promote job development in East County and along Antioch’s northern waterfront, a gold mine of possibility for good living wage jobs for our citizens.

We must sit down with our community, developers and other interests, in collaborating on what smart growth and development looks like before we end up at a stalemate.  We must listen to our citizens, promote community and civic events and create reasons for our community to come together to celebrate.  I am committed, passionate and capable of making a difference.  Hope this helps you understand why I am running.”

On Thursday, Feb. 22 Motts filed paperwork for the formation of her campaign committee, Citizens for Joy Motts – 2018 City Council, allowing her to begin raising receiving contributions. Form 410 – Citizens For Joy Motts – 2018 City Council rcvd 2-22-18

For more information about the city’s districting process, click here. For information about running for city council, contact the City Clerk’s office at (925) 779-7009.


the attachments to this post:

Form 410 - Citizens For Joy Motts - 2018 City Council rcvd 2-22-18
Form 410 – Citizens For Joy Motts – 2018 City Council rcvd 2-22-18

Form 501 - Joyann Motts filed 2-13-18 (1)
Form 501 – Joyann Motts filed 2-13-18 (1)


Joy Motts 10-31-17 FB by Monica W


One Comment to “Joy Motts switches sights and files intent to run for Antioch City Council in November”

  1. Rebecca Fermon says:

    Is the Herald aware that the FOODBANK gives away fresh fruit and vegetables, every 2nd and 4TH Sunday here in Antioch . Location is 4th and J. From 2:30 till 3:30. Giveaway coming up tomorrow.

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