Entered district headquarters building during public comments, police had to be called, pounded on doors; damaged building; almost knocked down oldest member of the board; board president injured – a felony against an elected official

Meeting postponed to Thursday night at 7:00 p.m.

By Allen Payton

The Antioch School Board special meeting to vote on funding up to six school resource officers placing sworn Antioch Police officers on Antioch middle and high school campuses in the district, was interrupted twice by protesters. First, about 48 minutes into the meeting they were pounding on the walls and doors, then again, a short while later. (See meeting video on YouTube.) (See video of protest)

The protesters oppose the placing of police officers on Antioch school campuses and wrote in chalk on the sidewalk in front of the district office building “No SRO’s” and “Counselors”. The deadline for the City of Antioch to accept and receive the $750,000 three-year grant is this Sunday, August 9. (See related article) NOTE: None of the protesters were still on site when this reporter arrived.

Before the meeting, Trustee Mary Rocha said she was almost pushed to the ground as she walked into the building through the employee entrance on 6th Street, through the lunchroom. But someone grabbed her arm to keep her from falling. Board President Diane Gibson-Gray injured her arm on the door because the protesters wouldn’t let her in and she was moving quickly past a protester and district employee.

According to AUSD staff, the protesters held on to the door and wouldn’t allow it to be closed. An AUSD employee tried the close the door but some of the 30 to 40 protesters (according to district staff and police estimates) were holding it and forced their way in.

“They damaged the building,” Superintendent Stephanie Anello said. “They dumped everything out of the fridge” including all the trays full of ice cubes and district employees’ food.

The employee then had to sit in a chair in front of the door from the lunchroom into the lobby to block the protesters from entering the rest of the building and the board room where Gibson-Gray, Rocha, Anello and Trustee Gary Hack held the meeting.

Trustees Crystal Sawyer-White and Ellie Householder participated in the meeting from their homes.

“One of these kids almost knocked me down,” Rocha said after the meeting. “I’m 81 years old. I was trying to get into the meeting. There were piles. Shagoofa (Khan) was right there. We had to shove and shove. This little, short, chunky girl was in front of me. They surrounded us.”

Shagoofa Khan ran unsuccessfully for Antioch School Board in 2018 in a team effort with Householder and the backing of Antioch Councilman Lamar Thorpe. Khan has been participating in several of the protests in Antioch, in the past few months, including the one at City Hall and during the Juneteenth Celebration.

“They came in, they were inside,” Rocha continued after the meeting. “They’re vandalizing the building. They’re right outside the door. I can’t even go home. The police are outside.”

“I’ve been through messes before with teacher strikes, but this is ridiculous,” she exclaimed.

“They blocked my car and after waiting and waiting, officers were trying to persuade the main person,” Board President Diane Gibson-Gray said. “But that wasn’t working. I asked an officer to give me a ride home and I had to go back later to get my car.”

“I didn’t feel threatened, but they weren’t going to let me leave and go home,” she added. “I will be filing a report, tomorrow because I injured my arm when trying to get past them and out the door, which they were blocking. I  hit my arm on the door jam because three or four protesters were blocking the door. When I went through one of the protesters started yelling at an employee, so I looked back. That’s when I banged my arm on the door jam because there was another protester blocking the entry. I was trying to not touch him and get in the door at the same time. Once I got past him, because of the momentum, I hit my arm on the door. There’s a pretty big bruise. It’s their insurance, not mine. There’s always caution when someone is hurt.”

“It is a felony to assault an elected official,” Gibson-Gray added. “

At least seven Antioch Police officers arrived on the scene in six police cars.

But Antioch Police Chief T Brooks, who was participating in the online meeting from home said, “We’re not going to get into a violent confrontation with people over noise at a public meeting. I wish the building was more secure.”

“We don’t want to give them a chance to say we’re harassing them (the protesters),” Rocha said. “We don’t want to touch them. That’s why the police are out there but not doing anything.”

However, officers did have to escort Rocha to her car so she could drive home, in addition to driving Gibson-Gray home.

Meeting Begins

At the beginning of the meeting Superintendent Stephanie Anello presented the agenda item. Then before public comments Trustee Ellie Householder said, “Stephanie referenced a table and I wanted to be clear what she referenced.”

Board President Diane Gibson-Gray responded by reading the details from the staff report about the School Resource Officers in neighboring school districts.

Public Comments

The comments by members of the public, which included current students, school staff, parents were split on whether the school board approve the funding of the COPS grant for the SRO’s. Anello read the submitted comments.

Victoria Adams, President of East County Branch of the NAACP wrote, “The responsibilities of SRO’s are the same as regular police officers. The racial/demographic make-up of the Antioch Police Department does not match the racial/demographic make-up of the students in the Antioch Unified School District. Many of our young people don’t identify with members of the Antioch Police Department.”

She supported police officers at school sporting events and dances, but not on campuses.

Amber McKayla, a senior at Antioch High School wrote, “I’m part Hispanic and partially white, so I haven’t experienced discrimination. The only time police should be on Antioch campuses is in case of emergencies.”

Kyle Montgomery, who has worked for the school district for 13 years opposed police on campus who would be “negatively disproportionately affecting POC (people of color).”

Michelle Pareia, a resident of Antioch for 20 years and former student of AUSD schools opposed police officers on campus.

Kimberly Soriano, a counselor also opposed having the SRO’s on campus.

“Studies have shown the presence of SRO’s actually harms students…leads to declines in graduation rates,” wrote another member of the public.

Nick Culcasi wrote supporting the approval of accepting the grant.

Brandon Risoto wrote, “Will you listen to your community of students or Mayor Sean Wright and Lori Ogorchock who spoke non-stop of their privileged experience from decades ago?” He said 48 hours of training by the SRO’s was inadequate.

Jafar Kalani Bey wrote “SRO’s will be detrimental to the quality of education on campus.”

Mike Moses, a police officer who attended Antioch schools and an AUSD parent wrote, “it was the presence of police on campus that set me on the career path of a police officer. Get SRO’s back in the schools. SRO’s have changed many lives.”

“It would be nice to have more security

Jenny Dunlap, a teacher at Antioch High wrote, “With these SRO’s we can get rid of the private security contract. I support the approval of this measure.”

A parent of two students in Antioch schools wrote in support of SRO’s. “How can we use resource officers to bridge the gap of trust of some of those in the community.”

A recent graduate of an Antioch high school wrote in favor of SRO’s.

Lisa Borelli, whose son is a quarterback at Antioch High wrote “he’s scared to death to walk on campus” and mentioned “constant threats.”

Protesters Break into District Offices Interrupt Meeting

Gibson-Gray then said there would be a recess of the meeting.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Householder asked. “Hello?”

“Hello?” TSawyer-White said.

Gibson-Gray then said, “we’ve had a breach to our building. We have protesters in our building and we have to call police. Please stand by.”

When she returned to the meeting, Gibson-Gray said, “Thank you all for your patience.”

“Wait. This is trustee Householder. I just wanted to see if you could give me a recap,” Householder said.

“The recap is they breached the building,” Gibson-Gray responded. “I don’t know who they are. They were in T-shirts. I didn’t read their T-shirts. They were protesters. I don’t know who they are.”

Public Comments Resume

Victoria Williams wrote, “I’m a recent Deer Valley High School Graduate. I’m urging the board vote no on the SRO’s. SRO’s have historically contributed to the school to prison pipeline of students of color. Antioch youth and residents are speaking up in large numbers…you should listen.”

Courtney Wright wrote in support of the SRO’s. “Just a few months ago…there was a meeting…on safety at our schools,” she wrote. “I’m thankful for the grant the AUSD has received for counselors. We need to take action. Please vote yes for our community and our schools.”

DeAnna Gordon wrote, “Studies across the country have shown SRO’s don’t make schools safer. Students do not need to be policed at school.”

Emily Woodall wrote in opposition to school resource officers. “It’s my distinct opinion…SRO’s will criminalize students of color. Studies have shown those schools with SRO’s have three-and-a-half times more arrests than those schools without them.”

Michael Sagehorn wrote, it’s “an opportunity to increase safety on school campuses. We need more supportive adults on campus, not less.”

Antioch High School Site Safety Coordinator wrote, “I know it’s time to ask for more help. I’m in favor of an SRO in our schools.

Protesters Pound on District Building Doors Interrupt Meeting, Again

Householder then said, “I’m hearing a lot of noise and it’s getting pretty difficult to follow along.”

“The protesters are banging on the building,” Gibson-Gray said then asked Sawyer-White if she was able to hear.

“It sounds like someone’s breathing. They’re banging on the window?” Sawyer-White asked.

“Actually, they’re pounding on the door,” Gibson-Gray said.

Householder then reiterated she was having difficulty hearing. In response, Gibson-Gray then called for a 30-minute recess.

Gibson-Gray returned before 30 minutes and the sound of pounding on the doors could still be heard.

“I’m still hearing a lot of the same noise, though,” said Householder during the roll call of board members.

“I’d like to continue the meeting until tomorrow, if we have a quorum,” Gibson-Gray said. She then asked, “Trustee Sawyer-White, can you make noon?”

“I work,” responded Sawyer-White.

“Can you make 7 p.m.?” Gibson-Gray then asked.

“Yes,” Sawyer-White responded.

Gibson-Gray then asked the rest of the board members if they could also attend the 7:00 p.m. meeting, and they all confirmed.

“The protesters are in our lunchroom. They’re pounding on the door,” she said.

The meeting was adjourned to Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. when the remaining public comments will be read, and the board will deliberate and vote on the matter. It can be viewed on the district’s YouTube channel.

 

Pulls out of council race, expected to run for mayor; Wilson to run for re-election;

Thorpe’s ally and employee pulls papers for District 3 council race;

Steffen withdraws from District 3 council race;

Another candidate pulls papers for Mayor;

Householder injects partisan politics into non-partisan mayor’s race

By Allen Payton

In what appears to be a coordinated effort, following the previous withdrawal of former Antioch Mayor Wade Harper, Antioch School Board Trustee Ellie Householder and Councilwoman Monica Wilson from the race for Mayor of Antioch, and the withdrawal of Councilman Lamar Thorpe from the District 3 city council race on Wednesday, it is expected he will instead run for mayor against Sean Wright.

In addition, in a comment by Householder, who qualified on Wednesday to run for City Clerk against Arne Simonsen, explained on her Facebook on Tuesday why she withdrew from the mayor’s race. “After meeting with local leaders, the reality is our community needs to rally around a Democratic candidate for mayor,” she wrote injecting partisan politics into a non-partisan race. “The last thing any of us want to be is a Ralph Nader…”

In addition, another ally of Householder, Wilson and Thorpe, who has been participating in some of the protests with Householder, this year including the one in front of the council members homes, Nichole Gardner, pulled papers to run for city council in District 3. She works as an administrative assistant at the Los Medanos Community Healthcare District in Pittsburg where Thorpe is executive director, and will challenge Councilwoman Lori Ogorchock who filed her papers, Antwon Webster who qualified and Marie Arce who also filed her papers all on Wednesday.

8/6/20 UPDATE: Asked if he was running for mayor Thorpe responded on Thursday, “Yes.” When asked why he switched and if a poll had been done, he responded, “No. Did you see Ellie’s post about running for city clerk? That pretty much captures it.”

In that post on her Facebook page, as mentioned in a previous article, Householder wrote, “After meeting with local leaders, the reality is our community needs to rally around a Democratic candidate for mayor.”

Asked if he was injecting partisan politics into a non-partisan race Thorpe responded, “No. Those are just facts based on voting patterns.” Asked if it is was planned all along with Wilson and Householder, he replied, “No” and that he was busy changing his filing paperwork and opening a new campaign account. Each political office requires a separate campaign title, state Fair Political Practices Commission identification number and bank account.

When reached for comment Antioch Board of Administrative Appeals Member Webster said, “I wish Nichole Gardner the best with her campaign. However, I am what Antioch needs. I represent genuine honesty and transparency for our residents. I’m for everyone, not just the homeless.”

When reached for comment Ogorchock responded, “This game of musical chairs is silly. I trust our voters to elect leaders who have all of Antioch’s interests at heart.”

Another candidate, Manuel Sidrian, took out his Nomination Papers on Wednesday to run for Mayor. It’s not clear if he is the son of the late Manuel Sidrian, Sr. whose family owns Little Manuel’s Restaurant on A Street in Antioch. The candidate, who is 45 years old, according to his Facebook page, wrote on Nikki Medoro – KGO Radio’s page on July 21, “The city of Antioch is going through the same thing I’ve been out and about work for housing program three month program to have the homeless come in the morning 6 in the morning for a couple hours a day to get him some kind of work ethic clean the front of businesses pick up around town in uniform so when that work the clothes to be washed and stuff and I’m going to get off work haven’t have a $20 voucher that they can’t use it any business that’s in the program and have him work towards getting a job within the three months so we could get him a Section 8 voucher and get him into a housing unit not it just put back on the street that’s a big problem that states doing and surface was going for not helping them then I’m not making them work ethic got to get him back on my feet and Kim’s are kind of work ethic and drug and alcohol abuse to get deal with later let’s get him in housing but we got to give him a job first that’s one of the platforming may be running on for mayor of Antioch.”

Finally, former Antioch Mayor Pro Tem and Councilman, and current Planning Commissioner Manny Soliz filed his papers to challenge current Mayor Pro Tem Joy Motts in the District 1 council race. He is awaiting verification of his nomination signatures.

According to City Clerk Simonsen, the following Antioch residents have taken out Nomination Papers, Withdrawn, Filed or Qualified as of 5 p.m. August 5th, for the following City offices:

Mayor

Sean Wright (I) – Qualified on 8/4/20

Julio Mendez – Qualified on 7/31/20

Rakesh Kumar Christian – Qualified on 7/22/20

Kenneth Turnage II

Monica Wilson – Withdrawn 8/4/20

Wade Harper – Withdrawn 7/31/20

Gabriel Makinano

Elizabeth Householder – Withdrawn 8/3/20

Manuel Sidrian

Council District 1

Joyann Motts – Qualified on 8/5/20

Manuel Soliz – Filed on 8/5/20 (awaiting signature verification)

Fernando Navarrete

La Donna Norman

Tamisha Walker

Council District 3

Lori Ogorchock – Filed on 8/5/20 (awaiting signature verification)

Lamar Thorpe – Withdrawn 8/5/20

Wayne Steffen 

Antwon Webster – Qualified on 8/5/20

Marie Arce – Filed on 8/5/20 (awaiting signature verification)

Nichole Gardner

Council District 4

Alex Astorga

Sandra White – Qualified on 8/3/20

Monica Wilson

City Clerk

Arne Simonsen (I) – Qualified on 8/4/20

Dwayne Eubanks

Ellie Householder – Qualified on 8/5/20

There were no changes in any of the other city or school board races. This list will be updated when additional registered Antioch voters take out Nomination Papers, withdraw or become Qualified for the various city or school board races. To see the latest list of candidates for all 10 races visit www.antiochherald.com/election-2020.

By Allen Payton

The Antioch School Board will hold a special meeting tonight, Wednesday, August 5, 2020 at 7:00 p.m. to discuss and vote on helping the City of Antioch fund up to six sworn police officers who will serve as School Resource Officers and will work at the middle and high school campuses in the district. The deadline for accepting the grant is August 9, 2020.

The Antioch City Council voted 3-2, last Tuesday night July 28, to accept the $750,000 U.S. Department of Justice Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Grant funding over three years, with the condition the school board approve 50% in matching funds. Over 100 members of the public, including students in Antioch schools submitted public comments mostly opposed to the placement of police on school campuses. (See related article)

Two school board members, Crystal Sawyer-White and Ellie Householder, both submitted public comments during the council meeting also opposing the use of police officers on Antioch campuses. So, unless either or both change their minds, the decision to approve will be left up to the other three board members. Sawyer-White only wants police at high school sports events.

According to the district staff report, “If approved by AUSD, the City of Antioch will fund the remaining 50% not covered by grant funding. For the past 10 years, the Antioch Unified School District has been one of the only school districts in far East County without School Resources Officers (SROs).

The average cost to AUSD for each SRO is approximately $63,000. If the Board chooses to move forward with funding 50% of the six approved SROs, the cost to AUSD is approximately $378,000 per year for the first three years. Year four of the grant requires both agencies to pay a larger share (an increase of approximately $41,667 per SRO). However, this will be offset by funding that will carry-over from year one as a result of the time it will take to hire and train the officers.

For the past five school years, the District has hired a private security firm with two officers to serve during the school day. The average cost per year for the past five years is approximately $263,000. If the Board accepts the grant this evening, the funds used to contract with the private security firm to hire two officers will, instead, be utilized for six SROs.

Additionally, approximately $100,000 is currently budgeted within the District’s budget for various security costs that can be reallocated to offset the contribution by AUSD, resulting in minimal, if any, additional contribution from the general fund.

The Board can choose to fund 50% of all six officers at a cost of approximately $378,000 per year or can choose fewer officers at the following costs: 2 officers – $126,000; 3 officers – $189,000; 4 officers – $252,000; or 5 officers – $315,000.

Should the Board approve the cost sharing of SROs, District administration and the City would negotiate an MOU which would include, but not be limited to: parent input into hiring/selection of SROs, flexing of schedules to cover key nighttime events such as sports, etc.”

The school board meeting will be livestreamed and can be viewed on the AUSD YouTube channel.

 

Change affects less than 25% of Contra Costa voters; polling places will be available

By Scott Konopasek, Assistant Registrar of Voters, Contra Costa County

For more than 560,000 vote-by-mail voters in Contra Costa County, voting will look the same as it always has. For the 160,000 voters who have not previously voted by mail, the November voting experience may be new.

To make sure these voters know they will receive a ballot in the mail and to help them successfully cast their votes, the Elections Division is reaching out with an informative direct mail piece this week. Voters who traditionally vote by mail will not receive the notification.

Voters receiving this mailing can update their signature on file by signing and returning the postage paid postcard.

According to Elections Office staff, there will also be approximately 120 polling places for those who want to vote in person. The locations have not been finalized as of  yet. Even the mandatory vote-by-mail precincts will have them, which they don’t usually do.

“While very few ballots are not counted because of unmatched signatures, we want voters to update their signature we have on file, if they believe their signature has changed.” said Debi Cooper, Clerk-Recorder-Registrar. “We want to be sure every ballot can be counted.”

Because ballots are mailed to a voter’s residence address, all voters should check their registration status and address on the County’s website www.cocovote.us or on the Secretary of State’s website www.sos.ca.gov to ensure they receive their ballot. Ballots are not forwardable.

Voters who wish to follow the status of their vote can track their ballot through the process by signing up for notifications at www.wheresmyballot.sos.ca.gov.

Detailed information on the vote by mail process in Contra Costa County can be found at https://www.cocovote.us/registration-and-voting-options/how-vote-by-mail-works/.

“I voted” stickers will be included with every vote by mail ballot for this election and return postage is already paid. Voters may also return their ballots at ballot drop boxes located throughout the County.

Allen Payton contributed to this report.

By Antonio Hernandez

For years, our community has struggled with providing a safe, supportive learning experience for our students. This has resulted in a decline in enrollment in the Antioch Unified School District, as more parents have opted for private education, inter-district transfers, homeschooling and charter schools.

But when parents opt out of our local public schools, they are not protesting the great teachers at AUSD. They are saying no to a system that continues to overstretch staff resources. Within the last year, AUSD has cut counselors, teacher aids, college and career staff, librarians, custodians, bilingual aids, and much more. Most recently, AUSD cut 26 similar positions (totaling $1.8 million) from its budget.

Now, both the City of Antioch and AUSD are facing a tough question: whether or not to fund over $3 million to place six cops on our school campuses known as student resource officers (SRO). But is it really the right response?

It’s understandable that as a community we may feel that adding police to our schools will make our children safe. But cops on school campuses are not an effective solution, which is why schools throughout our country are moving away from this practice in favor of more holistic solutions.

A recent paper by the Brookings Institution found that increasing investments in SROs does not lead to safer schools. Instead, they found that academic achievement is a much stronger predictor of school safety. Another paper published in Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice found that students felt less safe in the presence of SROs.

Often by the time an SRO is involved in a student’s life, we have already failed them in a million different ways. More than two-thirds of children report experiencing at least one traumatic event by the time they reach the age of 16. Based on a 2018 survey of our students, a full 70 percent of 11th graders in Antioch identified with the statement, “I felt sad and down.” And according to the most recent Census statistics, 24.9 percent of AUSD students — more than 7,000 kids — are living below the poverty line.

It’s not hard to imagine how these factors can lead to trouble at school. Yet school incidents could be prevented with the right resources. For the same cost as the six SROs, we could hire around 20 counselors to staff nearly all of our schools. But our efforts don’t have to end there. By providing quality after-school programs, access to food and shelter, and a supportive community, we can begin to address the true underlying causes of student underachievement issues rather than just the symptoms.

When we invest in SROs over education, not only are we teaching our kids that we see them as violent and in need of policing, but we are ignoring the root of the problem. On the other hand, by addressing the basic needs of our students such as access to food, shelter, and mental health resources, we can dramatically improve not only the safety of the school, but student achievement as well.

By connecting troubled students with a trusted counselor, we can reduce their feelings of hopelessness. Kids could learn to express their anger in healthy ways as well as develop resilience to help them through traumatic events.

Too often, the lack of student resources and support leads to tragedy. How many more students does the community have to mourn before our city leaders can make bold, innovative decisions to address the equity issues at the heart of the challenge with school safety?

Cops are a band-aid solution to under-resourced schools, and a very poor one at that. We must resist the temptation of using our overstretched police department to solve our communities most complex problems, even if it makes us feel better.

Now more than ever, we need to let our leaders know this is not the way we want to solve this problem. Join in this conversation on my facebook page: facebook.com/antonioforausd

Hernandez has taken out Nomination Papers to run for Antioch School Board in District 1 to challenge Board President Diane Gibson-Gray.

 

Motts files for District 1 council seat, Simonsen qualifies for City Clerk, Barbanica qualifies for District 2 council contest

By Allen Payton

More political maneuvering occurred on Tuesday as Antioch Councilwoman Monica Wilson became the third candidate to withdraw from the race for Mayor of Antioch, while incumbent Mayor Sean Wright qualified to run for re-election, today becoming the third candidate to do so. However, it’s not clear if Wilson will be running for re-election to the city council in District 4 where she lives, as a July 18 post announcing it was removed from her council Facebook page.

UPDATE: In an email on Wednesday morning, Wright wrote, “Antioch Residents, So honored to turn in my official papers yesterday to file for re-election as your Mayor. We have many challenges ahead, including the effects of this pandemic on our community. This is a time where experience really matters. I am ready, with your support, to continue to move Antioch forward. Dr. Sean Wright – Antioch Mayor.”

Mayor Pro Tem Joyann Motts filed her papers for the District 1 council seat but, is awaiting the verification of her nomination signatures. Michael Barbanica qualified for the ballot for the District 2 council seat, making it a two-man race.

In an email on Tuesday afternoon, Barbanica wrote, “I filed my official paperwork today to become a candidate for Antioch City Council District 2 – NOT with a promise but with an accomplishment we’ve made to prevent noisy and dangerous sideshows in our city. This is the kind of leadership you can expect if I’m elected to the City Council. I would be honored to earn your support.”

In addition, City Clerk Arne Simonsen qualified to run for re-election while Antioch School Board Trustee Ellie Householder filed her papers to challenge him. But, like Motts, she awaits verification of her nomination signatures.

It might not be a surprise to some that Wilson changed her mind and decided to not run for mayor. Because on Saturday, July 18, 2020 she wrote on her council Facebook page that she was a candidate for City Council in District 4, just two days after Wilson took out her Nomination Papers to run for mayor.

“Re-elect Monica to Antioch CA City Council, District 4,” she wrote. “Running for Re-election in the new District 4, Monica is proud to represent Antioch CA and to serve the community since 2012.”

However, that post is no longer visible on her Facebook page and Wilson did not respond to a text at 9:02 pm Tuesday night asking if she is going to run for re-election in District 4 or not at all. Those questions will be answered over the next three days if she takes out and files papers for the city council race, as the deadline is this Friday, August 7 at 5:00 p.m.

According to the Tuesday report from City Clerk Arne Simonsen, the following Antioch residents have taken out Nomination Papers, Withdrawn, Filed or Qualified as of 5 p.m. August 4th, for the following City offices:

Mayor

Sean Wright (I) – Qualified on 8/4/20

Julio Mendez – Qualified on 7/31/20

Rakesh Kumar Christian – Qualified on 7/22/20

Kenneth Turnage II

Monica Wilson – Withdrawn 8/4/20

Wade Harper – Withdrawn 7/31/20

Gabriel Makinano

Elizabeth Householder – Withdrawn 8/3/20

Council District 1

Joyann Motts – Filed on 8/4/20 (awaiting signature verification)

Manuel Soliz

Fernando Navarrete

La Donna Norman

Tamisha Walker

Council District 2

Tony Tiscareno – Qualified on 7/30/20

Michael Barbanica – Qualified on 8/4/20

Council District 4

Alex Astorga

Sandra White – Qualified on 8/3/20

City Clerk

Arne Simonsen (I) – Qualified on 8/4/20

Dwayne Eubanks

Ellie Householder – Filed on 8/4/20 (awaiting signature verification)

There were no changes in any of the other city or school board races. This list will be updated when additional registered Antioch voters take out Nomination Papers, withdraw, file or become qualified for the various city or school board races. To see the latest list of candidates for all 10 races visit www.antiochherald.com/election-2020.

By Terry Ramus

It is certainly crazy times for many reasons, but now even reality means little to some of our opportunistic local politicians. For the last thirty years, we have watched as the City of San Francisco has failed to “solve the homeless problem”. Even with all of the money in SF and all of the progressive politics, homelessness is worse than ever in SF and in California. Did they ever consider if maybe the permissive, anything-goes approach is actually the wrong direction? Of course not, just throw more money at it in another example of the definition of insanity.

So recently in Antioch, Council members Lamar Thorpe and Joy Motts (with Monica Wilson who joined them in a 3/2 vote) rushed to a hastily arranged podium in front of the cameras to announce that they now have the solution for homelessness in Antioch. Oh, and by the way, we have an election in three months …

Their dramatic claim to a brilliant idea is to open Motel Thorpe, Wilson, Motts in one of the more challenged areas of Antioch, near the corner of Cavallo Road and East 18th Street. The existing motel would become a homeless motel and the annual cost would be at least a million dollars to the city. An area of town that needs a range of upgrades to help the local businesses and residents would instead be further burdened with more drugs, addiction, and the crime that goes along with these lifestyles. This is really very disrespectful to this area of town.

Homelessness is clearly a problem, but it is really a problem with drug and alcohol addiction and the mental illness that results from continuous abuse. The homeless motel idea does not even begin to deal with the actual problem, and it is just a cynical election year waste of money that the City of Antioch does not have now or ever. I will also point out that my family has firsthand experience with family members that have chosen to descend into this type of mess, but they do not emerge until they get tired of it. That is the sad reality and “enabling” this type of lifestyle just means that it takes longer for that choice to arrive. Honestly, the programs that are partially successful often involve the faith community and there are already people in this are area of town working from this perspective. As a reminder to the opportunistic politicians, a solution takes far more than a motel room with four walls.

Periodically, the illegal homeless encampments in the area are removed and the City must follow a legal process. Then they must clean up months of trash and thousands of pounds of unsanitary mass. Part of the process includes an offer for an official place for people to stay. Recently approximately 90 people were removed from an illegal encampment that had been in place for several months. Only two of the approx. 90 people accepted the offer for a place to stay. Solution oriented people might wonder why? The reason is that the places to stay come with rules, and 97% of the people in this case chose to refuse an official place to stay, with rules.

Financial considerations are very important to understand. Over the past several years, the people of Antioch have agreed to tax ourselves with a total 1% additional sales tax via Measure C and Measure W. These measures were passed based on promises to expand the police services in Antioch. Chief Brooks has led an amazing turn around in the City of Antioch with APD, and I thank him. Still far from perfect, but better. I do not believe that the people of Antioch want to return to the chaos of 2012 after the last recession! However, Council members Thorpe, Wilson and Motts suggest taking a million dollars from the APD police or other existing city services. Currently, the City of Antioch only meets the demands of our city via a slight spending deficient over time. Over decades, the city is on a glide path to a very low and unacceptable reserve fund. So, the City of Antioch must use our financial resources wisely. We must also make Antioch a place in which future and existing businesses and residents want to come and live. Instead, this unwise political proposal would move Antioch along a path as a magnet for the challenges of more crime and homeless people.

With their three votes, the Council Members Thorpe, Wilson, and Motts have forced the City of Antioch to do a “feasibility Study” on Motel Thorpe, Wilson, Motts for only a few percent of the homeless addicts to stay at without rules. This effort is another election year cynical political move and a waste of time and money. What is my suggestion? Homeless and addiction issues need to be solved at the State level as even the County does not have resources for a solution. Similar unwise politics in other cities have made many cities unlivable in many parts of these cities. Unfortunately, homelessness and addition will never be solved with progressive and permissive policies toward criminal behavior.

Terry Ramus, Ph.D. is a resident and business owner in Antioch, a former member of the Mello-Roos Board and co-author of Measure H, Antioch’s growth management advisory ballot measure passed by over 69% of the voters in 1997.

Sawyer-White withdraws from school board race, then pulls and files nomination papers again, reveals write-in campaign for Congress in March; said she would not run and back Lewis, but changed her mind

By Allen Payton

Antioch School Board Trustee Ellie Householder has changed her mind, withdrew from the mayor’s race on Monday and instead pulled nomination papers to run against incumbent Arne Simonsen for City Clerk. In addition, another candidate, Lauren Posada, has pulled Nomination Papers to run for City Treasurer against incumbent Jim Davis and another challenger, Ruben Rocha. (A message was sent through the Facebook account of someone with that same name in Antioch to get more information about the candidate. Please check back later for more details about her and updates to this report.)

Mike Barbanica filed his papers on Monday to run for City Council in District 2 and is awaiting verification of his nomination signatures. If qualified, he will face former Antioch City Councilman Tony Tiscareno. Antioch Police Crime Prevention Commission Chairman Sandra White was qualified on Monday to run for city council in District 3. Julio Mendez qualified on Friday, July 31 to run for mayor but nothing definitive about the candidate could be found, yet on the internet.

Also, according to the latest report from the Contra Costa Elections office, Antioch School Board Trustee Crystal Sawyer-White filed her nomination papers on Friday, July 24 but then withdrew from the race. Then on Monday, August 3 she pulled and filed her papers, again.

Asked why she responded, “because I wanted to submit a candidate’s statement. They said, ‘you have to withdraw and resubmit’. Last time I won, but I didn’t have a candidate’s statement.”

Asked about her agreement with Clyde Lewis to not run for re-election and support him in the District 3 school board race, Sawyer-White shared the following.

“I ran for Congress in March against McNerney. I never hear from him. He doesn’t represent Antioch to me. It was a scare tactic. I was a write-in for Congress,” she stated. “There was an African American ‘She Ready’ event and said there were 100 seats open and they were really going to back us up. Jim Frazier runs unopposed every year. But I didn’t get enough write-in votes but not enough to make it to the November ballot. That’s when Clyde said he was going to run for school board.”

“Crystal said if I was going to run for school board, she would run for something else and support me. That was our agreement,” Lewis said when reached for comment. “Then I heard through a mutual friend that she had decided to run for school board, again.”

Sawyer-White said she changed her mind after Lewis had said he was going to run for city council, and people asked her to run, again.

“I announced on FB (Facebook) months ago…officially. Clyde told me he was running for city council a few months ago,” she said.

However, Lewis said he had been asked by some people to run for city council and he told them he would consider it.

“But it isn’t what I know. It’s not where I have the relationships,” he explained. “So, I continued in my plan to run for school board.”

“I am truly passionate about education,” Sawyer-White shared on July 23. “My term has been a living hell, but I believe another term with new trustees we can improve the district. I established a East Bay Parent Advisory Committee and I am on the CCCSBA (Contra Costa County School Boards Association) now, as well. I believe in transparency is key. Ellie and I work well together. It has been a pleasure!”

“You need someone experienced in there. I just can’t sit here and have my son in the district. It was a horrible semester,” she shared, today.

UPDATE: In a post on her Facebook page on Tuesday, Householder wrote,

Posted on Householder’s Facebook page on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2020.

“After careful consideration, I have decided to withdraw my candidacy for mayor. I did not make this decision lightly. After meeting with local leaders, the reality is our community needs to rally around a Democratic candidate for mayor. The last thing any of us want to be is a Ralph Nader (even though I love him but that’s besides the point).

I have the utmost respect for individuals like Council Member Monica Wilson, former Mayor Wade Harper or anyone who wishes to run for mayor (or any office for that matter).

During this meeting I was asked why am I running. For me it was simple, the flagrant disregard of our youth in Antioch. The City Council meeting on SROs exemplified that. We should not brush off 100+ concerns from youth about cops on their school campuses, we should be celebrating and ENCOURAGING it.

So I have decided to run instead for City Clerk – a position that will allow me to engage our young people in the democratic process, just as I have been doing for years.

In the age of Trump, we should be expanding access to the ballot box, not limiting it.

I am excited to work with the community in building an effective 21st-century Clerk’s office that engages everyone in the democratic process. I hope you will join me.”

In addition, according to Monday’s report by City Clerk Simonsen, the following candidates for city offices filed their nomination papers or qualified for the November ballot:

Mayor

Sean Wright (I) – Mayor of Antioch

Julio Mendez – Qualified on 7/31/20

Rakesh Kumar Christian – Qualified on 7/22/20

Kenneth Turnage II – former Antioch Planning Commission Chair

Monica Wilson – Antioch City Councilwoman

Wade Harper – Withdrawn 7/31/20

Gabriel Makinano

Elizabeth Householder – Withdrawn 8/3/20

Council District 2

Tony Tiscareno – former Antioch City Councilman – Qualified on 7/30/20

Michael Barbanica – Filed 8/3/20 (awaiting signature verification)

Council District 4

Alex Astorga

Sandra White – Antioch Police Crime Prevention Commission Chairman – Qualified on 8/3/20

City Treasurer

James Davis (I) – Antioch City Clerk

Ruben Rocha

Lauren Posada

City Clerk

Arne Simonsen (I) – Antioch City Clerk

Dwayne Eubanks – Antioch Police Crime Prevention Commissioner

Ellie Householder – Antioch School Board Trustee

ANTIOCH SCHOOL BOARD

District 1

Antonio Hernandez

Diane Gibson-Gray – Antioch School Board President – Filed Papers 7/31/20

District 3

Clyde Lewis – Antioch Police Crime Prevention Commissioner

Crystal Sawyer-White – Antioch School Board Trustee – Filed Papers 7/24/20, Withdrew, Pulled & Filed Papers, again 8/3/20

There were no changes in any of the other city or school board races. This list will be updated when additional registered Antioch voters take out Nomination Papers, withdraw or become Qualified for the various city or school board races. To see the latest list of candidates for all 10 races visit www.antiochherald.com/elections-2020.