Supervisors question if it will help in high minority areas; form Measure X Sales Tax Advisory Committee; appoint new County Librarian

By Daniel Borsuk

An announcement that the Contra Costa Health Services will share a $40 million state grant with Kaiser Permanente and Blue Shield in the distribution of Covid-19 vaccinations, stirred Contra Costa Board of Supervisor John Gioia of Richmond to question whether the state aid will actually make a difference in leveling the inequity playing field where low vaccination rates under 6 percent persist in high minority parts of supervisorial District 1, District 3, and District 5 have not progressed while the vaccination rates in communities that have populations that are predominately white and wealthier are at nearly 20 percent vaccination rates.

“I acknowledge the good and hard work of the county, but we’re still not getting enough doses from the state,” said Supervisor Gioia at the supervisors’ meeting on Tuesday when Contra Costa Health Services Director Anna Roth introduced Gilbert Salinas as the county’s equity officer.

Salinas said he will coordinate the work of 24 adult ambassadors to reach out in areas with high minority and elderly residents, particularly in the three supervisorial districts where vaccination rates are now less than 10 percent – 5 percent in Bethel Island, 6 percent in Oakley, 5 percent in Bay Point – while in wealthier and more Caucasian areas the vaccination rates have been 19 percent in Walnut Creek, 15.3 percent in Orinda, and 18 percent in Danville.

District 2 Supervisor Candace Andersen of Danville said while her colleague Gioia focuses on black and Latino residents in high minority communities of Richmond, El Cerrito, Bay Point, Pittsburg, Antioch, Oakley and Bethel Island, she said, “We also need to focus on the most at risk, and that includes the seniors at Rossmoor.”  Her comment did not draw much reaction from colleagues or the public.

“I appreciate you (i.e. Supervisor Gioia) for bringing up this inequity issue, but this is an issue in slow motion. We have the sites and the staff. We just don’t have the supplies,” said board chair Dianne Burgis of Brentwood.

“I want to see the gap closed,” said vice chair Federal Glover of Pittsburg. “It’s a question of how we close the gap. Let’s close the gap. There are major equity issues that we need to address including the high percentage of evictions in these areas.”

Contra Costa Health Services Director Roth said the county might be turning the corner in its fight against Covid-19 as countywide hospital intensive care unit occupancy is falling from a high of 296 patients to a current occupancy of 172 patients. She also said of one million doses given in California, 127,560 doses had been administered in Contra Costa County.

Form Measure X Sales Tax Advisory Committee

Supervisors voted 4-1 with District 3 Supervisor Karen Mitchoff casting the dissenting vote, to form a 17-member Measure X Advisory Committee to advise the board of supervisors on how to spend an estimated $50 million in annual tax revenues for a wide range of county services.   County voters last November passed Measure X, a ballot measure authorizing a ½ cent sales tax be levied countywide, exempting food sales.  Collection of the sales tax begins in April and will be available for distribution in the fiscal year 2021/2022.

For a while Supervisors Mitchoff and Gioia squared off arguing over the pros and cons of two different models whereby volunteers serving on the Measure X Advisory Committee would advise the board of supervisors on public services.  Gioia supported a 95% option and 5% option while Mitchoff favored a 50% -45%-5% formula.

“I am trying to avoid conflicts,” said Mitchoff. “There needs to be more of a level playing field.  Fifty million dollars is a lot of money. I want the advisory committee to do some work. We are creating another layer for county staff to work with.”

Gioia’s proposal attracted the support of supervisors Burgis, Glover and Andersen. Appointments to the committee will be announced at a future meeting.

Appoint McKee County Librarian

Deputy County Librarians Alison P. McKee was appointed on a 5-0 vote to fill the post of County Librarian that was vacated by the retirement of former County Librarian Melinda Cervantes last year. The county will pay McKee $281,442 in annual cost for the post of which $51,568 is pension cost.

McKee holds a Master of Library and Information Science degree from San Jose State University and a Bachelor of Music Performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Extend Eviction Protection and Rent Freeze

Supervisors passed Ordinance No. 2021-04 that extends a temporary eviction moratorium for certain residential and tenants and prohibits residential rents increases through June 30, 2021.   The Urgency Ordinance also continues a temporary eviction moratorium on commercial tenants through March 31, 2021.

“Even as Covid-19 vaccines distribution gives us hope to ending the pandemic, we recognize the needs of Contra Costa residents and businesses,” said Board Chair Diane Burgis.  “We encourage residents to stay vigilant and to seek resources.  We will get through this together.”

 

 

 

 

 

At their Board meeting on February 2, 2021, the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors unanimously passed Urgency Ordinance No. 2021-04 that continues a temporary eviction moratorium for certain residential tenants and a moratorium on certain residential rent increases through June 30, 2021. The Urgency Ordinance also continues a temporary eviction moratorium for certain commercial tenants through March 31, 2021. Ordinance No. 2021-04 supersedes Ordinance No. 2020-29.

“Even as COVID-19 vaccines distribution gives us hope to ending the pandemic, we recognize the need to continue protections for Contra Costa residents and businesses,” said Supervisor Diane Burgis, Board Chair. “Now is not the time to let down our guard against the virus. We encourage residents to stay vigilant and to seek resources. We will get through this together.”

Read the full document Ordinance No. 2021-04 (PDF). Find answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) regarding this ordinance on the County website soon.

For information and resources, visit Contra Costa County at www.contracosta.ca.gov. For COVID-19 updates, visit Contra Costa Health Services at cchealth.org/coronavirus. If you have questions about the coronavirus, contact the multilingual Call Center at 1-844-729-8410, open daily from 8 am to 5 pm. For assistance after hours in multiple languages, please call 211 or 800-833-2900 or text HOPE to 20121.

 

More details later

Every January, like all law enforcement agencies across the country, we here at the Antioch Police Department work to compile data and statistics from the previous calendar year. As I looked through the numbers, I was overwhelmed with a sense of pride. Pride because I recognized these numbers represented the hard work, dedication, professionalism, and true commitment of the men and women at APD who serve this community with honor and integrity. I’m honored to be their chief, just like I’m honored to be yours! I am thankful for the partnership between the Antioch Police Department and the community we serve, and truly believe it is what makes a positive impact on everyone’s quality of life.

In the next couple weeks, I’ll be sharing more detailed information about 2020, such as crime rate, response times, staffing, etc. But for now, here is just a brief snapshot of some of the numbers I found interesting. I hope you do as well!

Sincerely,

Chief T

 

By Timothy Leung, Public Information Officer, 4CD

In a report to the Contra Costa Community College District (District), the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, Western Association of Schools and Colleges (Commission) has announced continued full accreditation of the District’s three colleges, but has also issued a warning to the District. The warning is the lightest sanction level that can be issued; however, District leadership has already started working on serious solutions. Five concerns have been raised by the Commission, four of them connected to Governing Board behavior that was widely reported by local media throughout 2020.

“I applaud our colleges who are doing tremendous work to increase the success of our students,” says Chancellor Bryan Reece. “To be clear, the Commission’s findings have nothing to do with teaching or our ability to provide the support our students need. Nevertheless, we accept the findings and are ready to roll up our sleeves and begin the hard work in addressing the areas of improvement around District governance.”

The five areas of improvement are:

• Standard III.A.5 (District Requirement 1): In order to meet the standard, the Commission requires that the District develop a process by which all classified employees are regularly and systematically evaluated.
• Standard IV.C.3 (District Requirement 2): In order to meet the standard, the Commission requires the Governing Board should follow its Board policy related to the Chancellor’s evaluation process.
• Standard IV.C.7 (District Requirement 3): In order to meet the standard, the Commission requires the Governing Board act consistently with its adopted policies and bylaws, and regularly assesses these policies and bylaws.
• Standard IV.C.11 (District Requirement 4): In order to meet the standard, the Commission requires the Governing Board uphold and adhere to their adopted code of ethics policy-BP 1010.
• Standard IV.C.12 (District Requirement 5): In order to meet the standard, the Commission requires the Governing Board delegate full responsibility and authority to the Chancellor to implement and administer board policies without board interference and hold the Chancellor accountable for the operation of the District and colleges.

“The Governing Board and our community members have been frustrated with these issues for a while and we take these findings seriously,” says Board President Andy Li. “We have already begun working together to address these issues, and I am confident the trustees will continue making progress toward addressing the Commission’s areas of improvement.”

With four of the five areas for improvement attached to the Governing Board, and one to the District Office, the Commission did not find areas of concern in the three colleges. In fact, Diablo Valley College and Los Medanos College were officially commended for best practices.

Diablo Valley College received a Commendation for exceeding the following accreditation standard:

• Standards I.B.5, II.A.2, II.C.1 (College Commendation 1): The Commission commends the College for its use of data to assess the accomplishment of its mission through its program review process in order to continuously improve courses, programs, and student services.

Los Medanos College received a Commendation for exceeding the following accreditation standard:

• Standard III.A.14 (College Commendation 1): The Commission commends the College for its robust offering of professional development opportunities in support of its mission, vision, values, and strategic initiatives based on the use of data throughout College processes, including equity-centered practices.

A summary report highlighting the District’s progress in addressing the five areas is due to the Commission by October 2021, followed by a site visit from a peer review team to ensure continued progress is being made.

The Commission conducts accreditation for all community colleges in California (and other areas as well). Colleges are evaluated on a six-year cycle, and will soon transition to a seven-year cycle. During these comprehensive evaluations, the Commission also includes a review of the District Office and Governing Board, but their accreditation decision is applied to the colleges themselves.

About the College District

The Contra Costa Community College District (District) is one of the largest multi-college community college districts in California. The District serves a population of 1,019,640 people, and its boundaries encompass all but 48 of the 734-square-mile land area of Contra Costa County. The District is home to Contra Costa College in San Pablo, Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill, Los Medanos College in Pittsburg, as well as educational centers in Brentwood and San Ramon.  The District headquarters is located in downtown Martinez.

For more refined COVID PPE look

By Jackie Lowery

I am an Antioch resident and retired in 2018 from the construction industry after 35 years of working in the Laborers trade. When the Pandemic hit us in March of 2020, I decided to use my experience in refinery PPE (personal protective equipment) and make more fashionable face masks.

My sister, Patricia Bean from Reno, Nevada joined me, as we decided that it was best to use our talents in design, sewing, marketing, and crafting to create fashion forward masks with functionality.

Our company is Protective Couture and our slogan is “Where Safety Meets Fashion!” We use four layers of tightly woven cotton to make five different sizes of unique, hand-made and custom jewelry face masks.

Although wearing a cloth mask does not prevent one from catching the Coronavirus, it does slow the rate of transmission down! From children to adults, we all must do our part in slowing the spread of the novel coronavirus and its variants. By wearing a mask, you can help slow the spread of the virus and keep you, your family, and your neighbors safe while looking fashionable!

For more information and to order your fashionable, functionable face mask, visit us at ProtectiveCouture.net.