By Federal Glover

As we celebrate July 4th, 2018, Americans stand at a crossroads:  do we stand up for those ideals our founding fathers put before us in the Constitution or do we our head down a path that continues to erode the institutions and values that Americans have held for 242 years.

Over the past 18 months, our country has been undergoing a sea change that is remaking the way the world sees us and – more importantly — the way we see ourselves.

This Fourth of July, I almost don’t recognize this country anymore.

The America I knew growing up in Pittsburg was a land of opportunity that allowed a laborer from Mississippi to find a well-paying, blue collar job in the steel mill, buy a car and home and allowed our family to live in relative comfort and security. There was opportunity here. There was hope. We dreamed about a better country and the possibility of Martin Luther King’s Dream of worshipping and living in a land and time when we were judged by the content of our character – not by the color of our skin.

I was fortunate enough to go to school in a city where I had classmates from all around the globe.

We were not isolated from the events that were happening in other parts of the United States. We kept tabs of what was happening in Selma, in Memphis and other parts of the South. Many African American families in town still had relatives in those far away places where history was being written.

Still, those events seemed far away. My best friend was Italian American. We grew up eating at the New Mecca Restaurant, pizza from Carlos’ Pizzeria and hamburgers from The Pirate drive-in. We expanded our taste buds to include lumpia and adobo cooked by our Filipino friends’ mothers and grandmothers. We bought groceries from the market a few blocks away which was owned by a Chinese American family.

As a member of the Pittsburg High School football team, my teammates were made up of a multitude of nationalities from families that had roots in Italy, Greece, Great Britain, the Philippines, Ireland, Mexico and, of course, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana.

Even when a major retailer was picketed in downtown Pittsburg for not hiring African Americans and King’s shocking assassination broke the peace and calm of our city, the residents and political leaders came together to examine the city and how it could weather the violence that hit other U.S. cities.

Even with the civil rights battle at our doorstep, our community found a way. Change was in the air. It didn’t happen overnight and we had obstacles to overcome, but we had hope. Our dreams – our common dreams — were still intact.

Today, that hope is withering away. Our dreams seem to be fading away. The gains and progress made over the last 60 years is in serious danger. The foundations that made our country strong is more fragile and the beacon of freedom and light for people throughout the world has grown dim.

Refugees who believed in the Statue of Liberty’s “send me your tired, your poor, your wretched refuse,” are being treated like criminals; the needs of our planet seem to taking second place to need for profit; more obstacles are being placed in front of voters; corporate profits are not trickling down to the workers who toil for 20^th Century wages shrinking our great middle class; home ownership –- a critical part of the American Dream – is out of reach for most people; the unregulated proliferation of guns has made our streets more dangerous; and the re-emergence of blatant racism threatens to destroy our civil society.

Most disheartening, our Congress, instead of acting as balance to the extreme policies coming from the current administration, has succumbed to the fear of losing an election instead of standing on principle.

For those who might want to give up hope and let cynicism replace our dreams, there are signs that that the American Dream is still alive.

I am heartened by the renewed vigor and interest being displayed by our neighbors, local leaders and government representatives. Instead of giving up, they are injecting new energy and new blood into our communities.

The marches and demonstrations in behalf of women, science, LGBTQ, truth, immigrants and against racism have inspired a new generation of activism that we haven’t seen since the 1960s.

Young people – inspired by high schoolers who have seen their classmates gunned down on campus – have launched a movement to hopefully not only make their campuses safer, but to make our greater society safer and saner.  As they grow into adulthood and assume their place in our society, there is hope.

People are not content with speeches and marches in the streets, they are taking their principles into the voting booth and into the halls of our capitols and city council chambers.

Ordinary people who were once content to let the status quo play itself out, are snapping out of their lethargy and are stepping up to the plate. New community groups are springing up made up or our neighbors, who might not want to run for public office, but are willing to make the phone calls, send the e-mails and knock on doors and are creating a wellspring of change in our cities and county.

I’ve seen the first stirrings of renewed activism myself when a group of middle-schoolers in Bay Point went up against the political might and influence of the alcohol lobby to limit sales of alcoholic beverages in their community. We saw it again on June 5 when Bay Area voters passed a measure to improve our transportation system and San Francisco voters spurned the lies and misleading commercials of the tobacco industry to pass a measure limiting tobacco sales in their city.

The words of Bob Dylan, “The times, they are a-changing!” suddenly have found a new audience. People are beginning to believe they can make a difference again. As stated by that great statesman Abraham Lincoln: That “government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth.” This is the American Dream.

Happy July Fourth! Celebrate in safety and give thanks that we live in this great country where the possible is … well, possible … for everybody.

Glover represents District 5 which includes portions of Antioch on the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors.

By Arne Simonsen, Antioch City Clerk

The County Elections Office has completed the signature verification on both of the initiatives that were submitted to my office.

“Initiative To Restrict Development in Portions of the Sand Creek Area, Approve a Development Agreement for “The Ranch” Project in That Area, and Allow Amendment of the Urban Limit Line by the Voter Approval Only”

Number of valid signatures of registered voters required: 5,111

Number of valid signatures verified by the County Elections Office: 5,156

“Initiative To Change General Plan Designation Within The Sand Creek Focus Area and Permanently Require Voter Approval of Amendments to Urban Limit Line”

Number of valid signatures of registered voters required: 5,094

Number of valid signatures verified by the County Elections Office: 5,682

In coordination with the City Attorney, I will prepare a staff report for the July 24th City Council meeting to certify the petitions.

The City Attorney will give the Council three choices on each initiative per Elections Code 9215:

1) Adopt the ordinance, without alteration, at the regular meeting at which the certification of the petition presented, or within 10 days after it is presented.

2) Submit the ordinance, without alteration, to the voters pursuant to Section 1405 of the Elections Code.

3) Order a report pursuant to Section 9212 at the regular meeting at which certification of the petitions is presented. When the report is presented to the legislative body, the legislative body shall adopt the ordinance within 10 days or order an election pursuant to subdivision (b).

See related articles here, here, here, here, here and here.

Finalizes LCAP and budget, discusses 53 Consent Items and approves nine new board policies

By Robert Pierce

The June 27 Antioch Unified School District board meeting was a particularly lengthy affair, with agenda items including a massive 53 Consent Items, nine new board policies and final approval of the district’s 2018-2019 Local Control Accountability Plan and budget. Most were approved unanimously. But the board split 3-2 on approving the contract extension for Superintendent Stephanie Anello with Board Vice President Crystal Sawyer-White and Trustee Debra Vinson voting against.

The greatest amount of time was spent discussing the Consent Items, which went from A to Z, AA to ZZ and finished with AAA. Clarifying questions were asked on several of the items in a process that took about an hour and a half, however only items B, O and GG were voted on separately, with all others passed as a group by a 5-0 vote.

Item B, a tort claim for damages regarding an altercation between two students filed against the district, was pulled by Sawyer-White, who stated that the claim, which involved a minor, should be discussed in closed session before being voted on.

Trustee Diane Gibson-Gray responded that the claim, which the district’s insurance company recommended rejecting to avoid liability, was not an item that was up for discussion as it was based on confidential information and meant for immediate action. Ultimately the motion to reject the claim was approved 4-0, with Sawyer-White electing to abstain, citing the Brown Act.

Item O involved Facility Use Fees charged by the district, an issue that has been a source of contention for a long time. The new fee schedule outlined by the item – seen here – raised some fees and lowered some others and was approved at the previous meeting as part of a group consent item vote, the first change since 2010. However, Vinson requested that it be brought back for further discussion. The fees only apply to large scale or particularly lengthy uses of facilities, or situations in which the user would make money, for example a cookout where the food is sold. “Family use” situations such as a group of friends playing sports on the field Girl Scout troupes holding meetings are not currently charged.

Vinson brought the item back due to “concern” she has for the community and has heard from community members regarding “excessive” facility fees. Vinson also mentioned the Civic Center Act, which allows local education authorities to charge less than recommended fees for facility use, or to not charge a fee at all. Ultimately, Vinson pushed for greater accessibility for community members in the form of lowered fees and mentioned the positive impact it could have on the district’s image, expressing a desire to make sure that the rates were “fair and equitable to the community,” with particular emphasis on the non-profit rate.

As a counterpoint, Anello mentioned that “handing out” facilities could incur serious costs for the district; the main purpose for facility use fees, as outlined in the Civic Center Act, is not to create profit for the district but to help recoup the costs the district pays to operate the facility, such as custodial costs.

During public comments, Kim Scott took the time to thank the board for brining the issue back and requested they find a solution to it quickly.

“We started the process about a year ago,” Scott stated. “Our kids are looking for a resolution, our community… we’re looking for a resolution.”

Despite approving the fee schedule last meeting, the board almost unanimously expressed regret at doing so, with Sawyer-White declaring that she would have never “intentionally” raised fees. Ultimately Trustee Ruehlig requested more research be done and that multiple potential models be presented to the board instead of just one, and the board voted 4-1 to override and reject the fees approved last week, with Gibson-Gray voting nay.

Item GG, pulled by Sawyer-White, was a revision to the salary schedule for the district Superintendent, Associate Superintendent, and Chief Human Resources Officer to bring them in line with a 2.25 percent increase other district staff received recently. Superintendent Anello, however, waived her 2.25 percent raise, a decision praised by several members of the board.

Sawyer-White stated she was “not in agreement for a raise at this time,” but the motion to accept the revisions passed 4-1 with only Sawyer-White voting nay.

For Action Items, the board approved the district’s Local Control Accountability Plan or LCAP and 2018-2019 Budget, both of which were discussed at length in the previous meeting.

Antioch School District 2018-19 budget decreases again, this year by $4.2 million

The LCAP did not change in substance, however the board emphasized that it can be brought back at any time and encouraged parents and other community members to provide feedback.

“It’s not personal,” said Vinson, urging the board to detach themselves emotionally and embrace feedback. “It’s to extend and develop the plan… so that we’re actually improving academic outcomes.”

As far as the budget goes, while the final presentation went into much greater detail on several funds, the raw numbers changed very little – the district still anticipates an ending balance of about $11.7 million and remains weary of a looming potential recession.

Preliminary Budget, presented last meeting          Final 2018-2019 Budget

Anello Contract Extended One Year on 3-2 Vote

The final two action items were one-year extensions to the currently two-year, originally three-year contracts of Chief of Human Resources Officer Jessica Romeo and Superintendent Stephanie Anello. Both extensions were passed 3-2, with Sawyer-White and Vinson voting no, citing not any sort of performance issues but merely a preference of shorter contracts in an economically uncertain time.

The last major items of discussion were nine Board Policies for Second Reading and Action, revised to reflect new state legislation. The policies, minus C and E, were passed as a group with a 5-0 vote, however both C and E later passed 5-0 as well.

Item C dealt to district residency requirements and new legislation preventing the district from asking about a student’s immigration status; Vinson clarified that homeless students can still get into any school district and were unaffected by the new policy. Item E responded to “new legislation requiring districts to educate students about the negative impact of bullying based on actual or perceived immigration status or religious beliefs and customs” as well as other legislation that now “requires staff training with specified components related to bullying prevention and response.”

Revised Board Policy 5111.1 District Residency

Revised Board Policy 5131.2 Bullying

With the district on summer break, the board will not be meeting again until August, with meetings scheduled for August 8 and August 22. Future items requested by the board included increasing the district’s financial reserve percentage, revising the district mission statement and changing the board logo.