One suspect still at large; shooting causes nearby Park Middle School locked down temporarily

By Antioch Police

On Tuesday, Sept. 28, 202, at 10:53 AM, Antioch Police Department Dispatch received multiple phone calls of a shooting in progress at the Antioch Water Treatment Plant at 401 Putnam Street. While officers were in route to that location, additional callers reported an armed robbery that had just occurred at a business in the 2200 block of A Street. Officers eventually learned that three males robbed the business on A Street at gunpoint and then fled in a black sedan. A victim of the initial robbery chased after the suspects in his vehicle, when the suspects began shooting at him. The victim followed the suspect vehicle into the water treatment plant, where further shots were fired.

The three suspects fled on foot through the water treatment plant to Lone Tree Way, where two of them were apprehended by Antioch Police Officers. Park Middle School was placed on lockdown for approximately 30 minutes while officers conducted an extensive search of the area for the third suspect. At no point was there any indication that the suspects were ever on school grounds. No one was injured as a result of the gunfire, and it appears the suspects inadvertently ended up in the water treatment plant as they were trying to flee from the pursuing victim.

All of the stolen property, along with two firearms, were recovered by officers on scene. One subject, Isaiah Taylor, age 22, was booked into County Jail for armed robbery and assault with a deadly weapon. The 17-year-old male suspect was booked into Juvenile Hall for armed robbery and assault with a deadly weapon. The third suspect was described as a young black male wearing a black hooded sweatshirt. That suspect is still outstanding.

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.

 

AUSD rankd 248 out of the 287 districts included that enroll 72% of students from over 1,000 districts in California; statewide results show over half of all third graders, 3+ million, reading below grade level

“…the primary drivers are district focus on reading, management practices, and curriculum and instruction choices.” – report

No ideas to address situation shared by district’s trustees

By Allen Payton

As the Antioch school board president and trustees continue to participate in a power struggle for control of the board and an internecine Robert’s Rules of Order battle, 76% of the district’s third graders are reading below grade level. That’s according to the California Reading Report Card, which ranks districts based on their effectiveness in teaching reading by 3rd grade. It is produced by the California Reading Coalition and includes data from the 2017-18 and 2018-19 school years, since no testing took place in 2020.

In addition, the report shows 73% of the district’s third graders are “High Need Students”.

According to their website, the California Reading Coalition, founded this year, “is made up of educators, advocates, researchers, and policy makers committed to improved reading outcomes for all California students.” They “support school districts and advocacy groups in focusing on the California reading crisis and working to improve curriculum, instruction, teacher development, and ultimately outcomes for every student.”

According to the report, “The clear message is that it is not the students themselves, or the level of resources, that drive student reading achievement – the primary drivers are district focus on reading, management practices, and curriculum and instruction choices.  The Top 30 Districts come in all types: urban, rural, and suburban, across 10 different counties, with high-need students levels ranging from 39% to 96%.  Any district can succeed at teaching reading.”

The organization offered additional details about their research and report:

“Key Findings (read the presentation for more)

Top districts had double the percent of students* in our analysis at grade level vs. low-performing districts (50% vs. 25%), serving similar students and with lower funding.  On average high performing districts have a similar share of high-need enrollment (62% vs. 75%), while low performing districts have higher funding levels ($14 thousand per pupil vs. $12 thousand). There are top performing districts with over 90% high-need enrollment, and low performing districts with less than 20%.

​A surprising finding is that none of the top performing districts are located in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Bay Area contains nearly half of the lowest performing districts, including large districts like San Francisco Unified, Oakland Unified, and West Contra Costa County Unified.  By contrast, Southern California has 80% of the high performing districts, led by Los Angeles County, where over half of all ranked districts are in the top 20% statewide. Fresno County is also a standout, with 4 of the top 30 districts (including 2 of the top 5), while making up only 1% of all ranked districts.

How the Rankings Work

Districts are ranked by the percent of socio-economically disadvantaged (SED) Hispanic/Latino (Latinx) students who “meet or exceed” grade level for the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) 3rd grade ELA test.  We combined the two most recent CAASPP cycles (2017-18 and 2018-19; no testing took place in 2020) to account for variation between years.

​Our rankings are based on one particular student group – SED Latinx 3rd graders (for a more detail, visit our ‘Why Latinx 3rd Graders?’ page). District comparisons must focus on specific sub-groups – an “apples to apples” comparison. Not only do SED Latinx students make up 43% of California K-12 enrollment, they are also less likely to have outside learning supports than families with more resources, higher educational attainment, and more English literacy. Results for these students therefore help us see how effectively schools teach reading, separate from the contribution from parents and outside resources. We believe that better results for these students almost certainly mean better reading instruction for all.

The rankings include districts with 100 or more SED Latinx 3rd graders.  This provides a larger sample for each district, less susceptible to year-to-year variation.  These districts make up 287 of California’s over 1,000 school districts, and enroll 72% of all students.

For data sources, visit our Sources & Notes page.”

——-

Comparison With Neighboring Districts

Neighboring districts scored better than Antioch, but not by much, with Brentwood Union Elementary having the fewest third graders reading below grade level at 64% and the lowest percentage of high need students at 31%.

In Pittsburg Unified 66% performed below grade level and 76% were high need, and in the Oakley Union Elementary School District 73% of third graders tested below grade level and 47% were high need.

Questions for AUSD Trustees, Superintendent & Staff

The following questions were sent to the five Antioch School Board trustees and Superintendent Stephanie Anello, on Friday.

What is being done to rectify this situation? What ideas, programs or suggestions have any of the trustees proposed during their terms on the board? Have any been approved and implemented? If so, what are the results? If so or if not, what do you propose be done?

Since education begins at home, what is being done to work with the parents or guardians of the students reading below grade level to help them?

For the Hispanic/Latino students, is it a matter of Spanish being the primary language at home? How many ESL students are there in the district, please?

Have there been any efforts to work with Rocketship Delta Prep to learn what their best practices are which, according to their reports, show significant advancement among their students and in just one school year, and implement them in district schools?

On whom does the responsibility lay for this, the board, superintendent, principals, teachers and/or parents?

Are there subject matters being taught in the classroom that aren’t required that take time away from focusing on reading skills?”

In response, Board President Ellie Householder wrote, “Answers to most of your data questions (i.e. demographics) can be found via Data Quest: https://dq.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/” and “In terms of the nuanced and programmatic questions, I refer to District staff.”

However, that website only answered the question about how many third-grade English learners are in the district. The answer is 300 out of all 1,224 for a total of 24%. Householder did not share what ideas she has proposed or answer the other questions, so they were resent to her.

Board Vice President Clyde Lewis responded, “Thank you for pointing this out. These numbers should receive the attention and plans should be developed to address them. I believe that by working with those on the ground and listening to educators, we can work with parents to develop sound strategies.”

Anello was out of the office both Friday and Monday,  Sept. 24 and 27 An automatic response referred to Associate Superintendent Christine Ibarra and Deputy Superintendent Jessica Romeo. They were then sent the same information and questions after work hours on Monday.

9/30/21 UPDATE: AUSD Responds – Following are the Herald’s questions repeated and the answers from Associate Superintendent Christine Ibarra:

Q – What is being done to rectify this situation? What ideas, programs, or suggestions have any of the trustees proposed during their terms on the board? Have any been approved and implemented? If so, what are the results? If so or if not, what do you propose be done?

A – AUSD is heavily invested in a computer adaptive instructional program known as iReady.  All students in grades K-8th participate in this research-based program.  This program provides three diagnostic assessments per year and produces individualized placement levels in reading.  The students then engage in a pathway of instruction that is both done within the computerized program itself and supported by intervention prep teachers on campuses with direct instruction that is tailored to the individual levels and needs of each student.  Since this is our third year utilizing this program, we have data that shows significant growth in students’ reading levels and abilities at all grade levels even during distance learning.

Furthermore, AUSD has provided every elementary school with a full time intervention teacher who works with small groups providing intentional and targeted support in areas of need, specifically in fluency skills and reading comprehension. These intervention teachers utilize a wide array of differentiation strategies and support to ensure their time with student groups is maximized for the greatest impact on student growth and achievement.

In addition, AUSD has an MOU with UC Berkeley’s California Reading and Literacy Project for the 2021-2022 school year.  This partnership provides professional learning for all teachers TK-6th grade specifically focused on developing teachers’ content knowledge and expanding their teaching strategies guided by the state-adopted frameworks, content standards, and the science of reading.

Read 180 is a research-based program being reintroduced to AUSD intended for secondary students who are performing two or more years behind grade level in Reading.

AUSD is also heavily invested in the AVID programming and professional learning community which has provided hundreds of teachers across all grade levels with outstanding workshops focused on critical reading strategies across content areas so that all teachers have tools and supports to support reading levels at any grade level.  This summer alone, we had 50 teachers attend virtually.

The iReady program, Read 180, the AVID program, and the UC Berkeley partnership are Board approved contracts and the intervention teaching positions were board approved via the LCAP and Expanded Learning Opportunities grant.

Q – Since education begins at home, what is being done to work with the parents or guardians of the students reading below grade level to help them?

A – We provided ongoing trainings and support during school closures remotely in both English and Spanish. The parent trainings were not only for technology support efforts but were designed to also increase parents’ capacity to support their students at home and in their academics.  iReady specifically provided parent institutes that were widely attended virtually.  Since returning to in-person learning, we have worked closely with our District English Language Advisory Committees (DELAC) as well as our Parent Advisory Committees (PACs) and Site Councils from all schools across the district to assess what parents need and are interested in engaging in to support their students’ academic achievement.  Most, if not all of our elementary and middle schools, host parent training nights focused on both literacy and mathematics and are working to determine how to continue that effort with COVID-19 protocols in place this year.

Q – For the Hispanic/Latino students, is it a matter of Spanish being the primary language at home? How many ESL students are there in the district, please?

A – AUSD currently serves 2,687 English Learners (EL) and has over 450 students being tested to determine their English Learner status as of today.  Although Spanish is the largest group of English Learners’ population in AUSD, we have over 30 different languages spoken within our EL population.

Q – Have there been any efforts to work with Rocketship Delta Prep to learn what their best practices are which, according to their reports, show significant advancement among their students and in just one school year, and implement them in district schools?

A – The AUSD Educational Services department meets annually with Rocketship and reviews their programming efforts as required. Best practices are shared and exchanged during those meetings.  Since we have not had summative state data results in the last two years, the conversation has not been directly about the improvement of test scores.  In the 2019 CAASPP, AUSD students performed higher in English Language Arts.

Q – On whom does the responsibility lay for this, the board, superintendent, principals, teachers and/or parents?

Are there subject matters being taught in the classroom that aren’t required that take time away from focusing on reading skills?

A – Educating students and ensuring students have all the supports and opportunities they deserve and require is a collective responsibility.  When we can work together to that end, we will see students reach their full potential.

 

120.2 hours of work to determine all her complaints against police officers during Dec. 2020 traffic stop of her sons were baseless

By Allen Payton

The cost to the City of Antioch for the outside investigation demanded by District 1 Councilwoman Tamisha Torres-Walker into the incident between police, her sons and her last December was $44,610 the city attorney’s office revealed, Monday. In addition, they reported it consumed a total of 120.2 hours for the investigator, billed at $420 per hour, a writer/editor billed at $180 per hour, and an intern, billed at a rate of $120 per hour, to complete their work. A breakdown of their individual costs was also requested of the city attorney’s office.

The investigation, conducted by Oppenheimer Investigations Group, focused on what started as a traffic stop by two Antioch Police officers of Torres-Walker’s two sons, an adult and a 13-year-old, riding a dirt bike and ATV quad illegally on city streets, on December 29, 2020. The older son fled the scene, for which he was later charged with evading police and is still pending. He went home and returned with his mother. Things then escalated with accusations by Torres-Walker against the officers, and continued with an online, profanity-filled video rant against the officers and the department.

The investigation determined that all the councilwoman’s complaints against the two officers were either unfounded or not sustained, according to the executive summary of the report, which was released earlier this month. (See related article)

Ironically, Torres-Walker is now the chair of the city council’s Police Oversight Standing Committee which has its next meeting Tuesday afternoon. (Please see related article)

All five council members serving on committee, will make recommendations to themselves; will council choose new chief instead of city manager?

By Allen Payton

Acting as the Police Oversight Standing Committee, the entire Antioch City Council will consider voting to recommend to themselves a “policy banning restraints, holds, tactics and maneuvers that pose a substantial risk of positional asphyxia”, changes to the “police chief recruitment and hiring process”, as well as Antioch Police Department Policy 300: Use of Force”.  The meetings are now held before the council’s second regular meeting of the month on the fourth Tuesday, and tomorrow’s will be begin at 4:00 p.m.

The committee was to only consist of District 1 Councilwoman Tamisha Torres-Walker, who serves as chair, and District 3 Councilwoman Lori Ogorchock, who serves as vice chair. However, this will be the fourth meeting of the committee with all five council members included, although according to the minutes of the committee’s July 13th meeting, Mayor Lamar Thorpe “stated he asked for the entire City Council to attend, and it will be temporary.”  (See agenda)

For the first two agenda items the recommended action is for the committee “to recommend that the City Council approve a policy by formal action at a regular meeting of the Antioch City Council” or “provide direction to staff to revise the policy in accordance with the standing committee’s instructions.” The third item only includes the option to “accept the presentation”.

Ban On Restraints

According to the staff report on the item, “during the Regular Council Meeting on August 24, 2021, the City Council directed the City Manager and the City Attorney to work with the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Police Oversight Standing Committee and the Antioch Police Department to develop a new policy.”

A draft policy, on banning restraints potentially causing positional asphyxia that could result in unconsciousness or death, is included with Tuesday’s meeting agenda. The staff report reads, “Command Staff and subject matter experts from the Antioch Police Department researched existing Positional Asphyxia policies from around the world, including medical expert opinions on the matter. In addition, the City team examined federal and state laws which guide law enforcement use of force along with reports on industry best practices.

On September 7, 2021, staff met with the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Police Oversight Standing Committee to review the gathered materials and receive further guidance. A draft Positional Asphyxia Policy was created and underwent further revision by Police Department staff.”

Furthermore, according to the staff report, “The Police Department contracts with a company called Lexipol which designs web-based policy manuals and training for law enforcement agencies all over the United States. Lexipol further provides a full library of customizable, state-specific law enforcement policies that are updated in response to new state and federal laws and court decisions. Through multiple meetings, the consensus of the City team was that this policy should exist as a stand-alone policy. The…Positional Asphyxia Policy was drafted in Lexipol and is consistent with federal and state guidance as well as industry best practices.”

Following are the “Positional Asphyxia Requirements” in section 3 of the draft policy:

“Officers shall comply with the following conduct concerning positional asphyxia: a) A person lying on their stomach in a face-down position may have difficulty breathing. An officer shall only physically force a person to a face down position when reasonably necessary to do so to protect the safety of the person, the officer, or pedestrians.

b) Immediately following the application of force or restraint of a person, and as soon as it is safe to do so, officers shall position a person in a recovery or seated position to allow for free breathing and to avoid positional asphyxia.

c) Any body-to-body contact or officers’ placement of weight on a person must be transitory. Officers shall not forcibly hold down or place weight on a prone person any longer than reasonably necessary to safely restrain the person. As soon as practicable, an officer’s weight on a person shall be removed. Officers shall be aware of the amount and duration of any weight placed on a person.

d) If officers hold a person down while restraining them, officers shall avoid placing weight on the person’s neck or head which can fracture the hyoid bone or cervical spine. No more than two officers shall place weight on a person’s upper body or torso. If additional assistance is needed, an additional officer or officers may restrain a person’s limbs to restrict their movement.

e) Once officers safely restrain a person, officers shall not sit, kneel, stand, or place their weight on a person’s chest, back, stomach, or shoulders.

f) Officers must inquire about a restrained person’s well-being, including, but not limited to, that person’s recent use of drugs, any cardiac condition, or any respiratory conditions or diseases. Officers shall recognize and respond to risks such as the person saying that they “can’t breathe”, gurgling or gasping sounds, panic, prolonged resistance, the lack of resistance, etc. Officers must be aware of environmental factors, including the nature and temperature of the surface on which they are restraining a person. For example, holding a person down on a hot surface, or in mud or water, can cause other injury or impair breathing.

g) If a person continues to resist after being restrained, officers must check if any resistance is related to a person’s difficulty breathing. When a person has their breathing restricted, the person may struggle more. What officers perceive as resistance may be an indication that the person is struggling to breathe.

h) Officers shall share any relevant information regarding a person’s condition, medical condition, what has transpired during their interaction, or any information about drug or alcohol use, which might be medically relevant, to other officers, personnel, or individuals administering medical aid. If there has been any restriction to a person’s breathing, such information is medically relevant and shall be shared at the first practical opportunity.

Persons who exhibit extreme agitation, violent irrational behavior accompanied by profuse sweating, extraordinary strength beyond their physical characteristics and imperviousness to pain, may be experiencing a serious medical condition and at risk of sudden death. Calls involving these persons should be considered medical emergencies. Officers who reasonably suspect a medical emergency should request medical assistance as soon as practicable and have medical personnel stage away if appropriate.”

New Police Chief Hiring Process

According to the staff report, Torres-Walker “requested that this item be placed on the agenda”. In addition, city “staff prepared a description of the City Manager’s recruitment and hiring process for the Chief of Police. The steps are described as follows:

1. Work in tandem with the Human Resources Department to review and update the job description and salary for the position as appropriate. Any changes to either would require City Council approval.
2. If an in-house candidate(s) exists, determine whether an internal or external recruitment best serves City goals and agency needs.
3. If an internal recruitment is the selected pathway, publish minimum qualifications, open the application process and establish the candidate pool. Review applications and invite qualifying applicants to the interview process.
4. If an external recruitment is the selected pathway, initiate the RFP process to solicit and select an executive search firm to conduct the recruitment. Once a firm is selected, contribute to brochure content and work with firm to establish the overall timeline and approach. Once adequate applicant pool is achieved, review applications and identify candidates for interview.
5. Utilize a panel interview format comprised of different audiences – city managers, public safety executives, department heads, police department personnel and community members.
6. Once the panel interview process informs the ranking of candidates, City Manager interviews the top candidate(s).
7. Conditional offer of employment is made to the top candidate.
8. Conduct a thorough background check which includes, credit history, criminal background, professional and personal references, neighbors. If an external candidate is selected, may visit finalist’s current / last place of employment to gather additional information.
9. Upon clearance of all conditions, make and announce appointment.”

Council To Hire New Chief? Choice Already Decided?

As a council-manager form of government, it is the responsibility of the city manager to hire the police chief, as one of the city’s department heads. The council hires the city attorney and city manager, and the latter hires all the department heads. Sometimes that’s done with input and/or approval by the council, other times not. According to the International City/County Management Association, “the elected officials hire a professional city, town, or county manager” and the manager, “recruits, hires, supervises, and terminates government staff”.

However, the word on the street is that some council members want the city council to choose the next chief to replace former Chief Tammany Brooks, who recently retired and accepted a position with the City of Boise, Idaho. In addition, while Antioch Police Captain Tony Morefield, as previously reported by the Herald, is the acting chief, one name floated to be the city’s next police chief is that of Cornelius “Con” Johnson, a retired San Francisco Police lieutenant. He was introduced last November, as a member of then-mayor-elect Thorpe’s “transition advisory team” to co-chair police reform, along with City Attorney Thomas Lloyd Smith.

Use of Force Policy

According to the staff report for the item, Torres-Walker “requested a presentation and review of the Antioch Police Department’s current Use of Force Policy”, as well. Lexipol was also used to develop it, as the department has contracted the company for the past six years, and the “Use of Force Policy…is consistent with federal and state guidance as well as industry best practices”.

The policy “provides guidelines on the reasonable use of force”. Furthermore, section 1, the Purpose and Scope of the policy reads, “while there is no way to specify the exact amount or type of reasonable force to be applied in any situation, every member of this department is expected to use these guidelines to make such decisions in a professional, impartial, and reasonable manner (Government Code § 7286).

In addition to those methods, techniques, and tools set forth below, the guidelines for the reasonable application of force contained in this policy shall apply to all policies addressing the potential use of force, including but not limited to the Control Devices and Techniques and Conducted Electrical Weapon (i.e. taser) policies.”

The nine-page policy includes information on a De-escalation Requirement, Factors Used to Determine the Reasonableness of Force, Pain Compliance Techniques, Alternative Tactics – De-escalation, Deadly Force Applications, Shooting At or From a Moving Vehicle, Display of Firearms; Reporting the Use of Force including Notification to Supervisors and to the California Department of Justice; Medical Consideration and assistance; Responsibility of Supervisors including Watch and Bureau Commanders; Training and Policy Availability for access by the public.

How To Provide Public Comment

Notice of Opportunity to Address the Standing Committee

Members of the public wishing to provide public comment may do so in the following way:

1) Prior to 3PM the Day of the Meeting – Written comments may be submitted electronically to the following email address: policeoversight@antiochca.gov. All comments received before 3PM the day of the meeting will be provided to the Police Oversight Standing Committee at the meeting. Please indicate the agenda item and title in your email subject line.

2) After 3PM the Day of the Meeting and During the Meeting: Oral comments can be submitted to the Police Reform Oversight Committee during the meeting with advance registration. You may register and attend the webinar by visiting   https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Qfj08tzhQg2lOh01zllM4w

– You will be asked to enter an email address and a name. Your email address will not be disclosed to the public. After registering, you will receive an email with instructions on how to connect to the meeting.

– When the public comments are announced, click the “raise hand” feature in Zoom. For instructions on using the “raise hand” feature in Zoom, visit: https://www.antiochca.gov/raise_hand.

– When calling into the meeting using the Zoom Webinar telephone number, press *9 on your telephone keypad to “raise your hand”.

Please ensure your Zoom client is updated so staff can enable your microphone when it is your turn to speak. Please be advised that the City cannot guarantee that its network and/or the site will be uninterrupted. To ensure that the Standing Committee receives your comments, you are strongly encouraged to submit your comments in writing in advance of the meeting.

SAN FRANCISCO — PG&E Corporation shared the following statement from CEO Patti Poppe today, Friday, Sept. 24, 2021 regarding criminal charges filed by the Shasta County District Attorney’s office related to the September 2020 Zogg Fire. The utility company was charged with involuntary manslaughter in the deaths of four people, and other felonies and misdemeanors for the Zogg Fire and other fires that started in the county over the last year and a half.

“We are all devastated by the effects of wildfire here in California. My heart aches. I have seen firsthand how devastating it is and have spoken with many of those most harmed. These communities are the hometowns where my coworkers live and work, too. While I am new to this environment, I hope my heart never becomes hardened to the devastation that catastrophic wildfire can cause.

I came to PG&E to make it right and make it safe, which is a commitment that my 40,000 coworkers and contract partners all share. We’ve already resolved many victim claims arising from the Zogg Fire, along with the claims by the counties of Shasta and Tehama. And we are working hard to resolve the remaining claims.

We’ve accepted CAL FIRE’s determination, reached earlier this year, that a tree contacted our electric line and started the Zogg Fire. We accept that conclusion.  But we did not commit a crime.

Today’s climate and unprecedented drought have forever changed the relationship between trees and power lines. And please know we’re not sitting idly by. We have established a new standard for our lines and the vegetation near them because it poses such a real risk to our communities.

For example, on the Zogg Fire, the tree that started the fire is one of over 8 million trees within striking distance to our lines. Here are a few other facts.

Between October 2018 and last year’s Zogg Fire:

• Two trained arborists walked this line and independent of one another determined the tree in question could stay.
• We trimmed or removed over 5,000 trees on this very circuit alone.
• This year we will remove 300,000 trees statewide.

This vital safety work is all done by real people who are trying every day to do the right thing. Trained, professional people – my PG&E coworkers and our extended contractor family. Arborists, specifically, are trained professionals and sometimes, just like doctors or architects, they can have professional differences. There will be debates about the facts around the tree that started the Zogg Fire. Professional debate in the service of doing what is right and continuously improving.

This was a tragedy, four people died. And my coworkers are working so hard to prevent fires and the catastrophic losses that come with them. They have dedicated their careers to it, criminalizing their judgment is not right. Failing to prevent this fire is not a crime.

Right now, PG&E is:

• Investing more than $1.4 billion this year alone in vegetation management;
• Removing 300,000 trees and trimming 1 million more;
• We’re working toward burying 10,000 miles of power lines;
• We’re installing remote and micro grids to eliminate the wires altogether; and
• We’re reestablishing and building our system to a new standard of resilience that keeps our communities safe and powered as our climate continues to change around us.

We are seeing signs of progress. For example, even during this year, with extreme drought conditions, we have reduced our ignitions over 50%.

That is our best ever performance since we have been tracking this and yet, we are still dissatisfied. That’s why we are not going to stop there.

We’re putting everything we’ve got into preventing wildfires and reducing the risk. Though it may feel satisfying for the company of PG&E to be charged with a crime, what I know is the company of PG&E is people,  40,000 people who get up every day to make it safe and to end catastrophic wildfire and tragedies like this.

Let’s be clear, my coworkers are not criminals.  We welcome our day in court so people can learn just that.”

Poppe’s statement is also available on PG&E Currents and broadcast quality video is available here.

Details about PG&E’s efforts to further reduce the growing wildfire risk, harden its systems, and use new technologies to help keep its communities safe can be found in the company’s 2021 Wildfire Mitigation Plan.

About PG&E Corporation

PG&E Corporation (NYSE: PCG) is the parent company of Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E or the “Utility”), a combined natural gas and electric utility serving more than 16 million people across 70,000 square miles in Northern and Central California. For more information, visit pgecorp.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements that are not historical facts, including statements about the beliefs, expectations, estimates, future plans and strategies of PG&E Corporation and the Utility, including but not limited to the criminal charges filed in connection with the 2020 Zogg fire and the Utility’s vegetation management and system hardening efforts. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions, which management believes are reasonable, and on information currently available to management, but are necessarily subject to various risks and uncertainties. In addition to the risk that these assumptions prove to be inaccurate, factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements include factors disclosed in PG&E Corporation and the Utility’s joint annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, their most recent quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2021, and other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available on PG&E Corporation’s website at pgecorp.com and on the SEC website at www.sec.gov. PG&E Corporation and the Utility undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether due to new information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent required by law.

Allen Payton contributed to this report.

Tosses it onto City Hall parking lot, twice; later picks it up, has it framed and posts photo with it on Facebook

“We believe that the citizens of Antioch deserve better,” – Kathy Cabrera, recall proponent

9,400 signatures of registered Antioch voters needed within 160 days to qualify for the ballot

By Allen Payton

Less than a year into his four-year term, Antioch Mayor Lamar Thorpe was served with recall papers in the parking lot of City Hall, Friday afternoon, Sept. 24, 2021, by one of the 20 residents who signed them, including several community leaders. Antioch resident Kathy Cabrera served Thorpe, but he refused to receive the required, legal recall notice, going so far as to toss it out of his car onto the ground, video shows. (Download and watch the video, here: Thorpe served recall vid1  or see the video on the Herald Facebook page)

“Today, at 12:30 p.m. at the City Hall parking lot I served Antioch Mayor Lamar Thorpe with a notice of intention to circulate recall petitions,” Cabrera said when reached for comment. “He said he didn’t know who I was and wouldn’t accept service.”

Thorpe can be heard in the video saying, “I don’t know who you are. Get away from my car.”

She then tossed the paperwork into his car and Thorpe tossed it back out. Cabrera then picked it up and placed it under his windshield wiper repeating, “you’ve been served.  You’ve been served.” He got out of his car, took the recall notice off his windshield and tossed it on the ground, again and drove off.

According to Cabrera, after driving off Thorpe circled back and picked up the notice off the ground. Later, he took a photo with the document in a frame, which Thorpe posted on his official Facebook page.

When reached for comment, Cabrera offered some of the group’s reasons for recalling the mayor.

“We believe that the citizens of Antioch deserve better,” she said. “We’ve seen a variety of good city employees, businesses and residents leave during his tenure at mayor. The people of Antioch are frustrated with the political games, constant self-promotion, and his lack of leadership and in the wrong direction.”

“We are moving forward with the recall process and will soon be out gathering signatures to let the citizens’ voices be heard,” Cabrera added.

The Notice

More and the official reasons for recalling Thorpe are included in the notice which will be part of the petitions that Antioch voters will be asked to sign. Following is the text of the notice Thorpe was served, Friday:

NOTICE OF INTENTION TO CIRCULATE RECALL PETITION

TO THE HONORABLE Lamar Thorpe: Pursuant to Section 11020, California Elections Code, the undersigned registered qualified voters of Antioch, in the State of California, hereby give notice that we are the proponents of a recall petition and that we intend to seek your recall and removal from the office of Mayor, in Antioch, California, and to demand election of a successor in that office.

The grounds for the recall are as follows:

Disrespect for Council Members and the Public who disagree with you during City Council meetings. Blocking constituents and not allowing them to comment on your social media. You have failed to provide full support to the great men and women of the Antioch Police which is impeding their ability to keep our residents safe. As a result of your failed leadership it has led to the resignation of Police Chief Tammany Brooks who will be taking up a new post in Boise, Idaho; and the announced retirement of City Manager Ron Bernal. You put on the Council agenda to rescind the School Resource Officer Grant without any public input from the Antioch Unified School District (AUSD) Board or Administration after the Officers had been interviewed and selected. You misled the Public about when you were informed about the death of Angelo Quintos, when you had earlier received an email from Chief Brooks. You blamed business owners on Sycamore Drive for the crimes that are being committed by others that live nearby which does not reflect Antioch’s theme: “Opportunity Lives Here”.

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Signature Gathering Expected to Begin in October

“The petitions won’t be available until about three weeks,” said former Antioch City Clerk Arne Simonsen. He is one of the 20 recall proponents and was with Cabrera to submit the notice and the proof of personal service to the city clerk’s office, following the interaction with the mayor.

The Proponents

Besides Cabrera, who is the director of a non-profit organization for cats in the city, and Simonsen, the other 18 proponents represent a cross-section of residents in Antioch, including Antioch School Board Trustee Mary Rocha, former Antioch Planning Commission Chair, Ken Turnage II, who was removed by the council, last year, after posting controversial remarks about seniors and COVID on his Facebook page; former Councilwoman and current Planning Commissioner, Martha Parsons; Velma Wilson, the county’s 2021 Humanitarian of the Year; former Mello-Roos Board President, Terry Ramus; plus Tom Hartrick, Lindsey and David Amezcua, Ricardo Cabrera, Nicole Silva, Kathy Vasquez, James Davis (not the former Mayor of Antioch), Mary and Roy Ledford, Katherine J. Belleci, Truman Davis Jr., Clarke Wilson, James Wilson, and Thomas McNell, the co-author, with Ramus, of Antioch’s growth-metering ballot initiative Measure U that was passed by 69% of the vote in 1998.

The Process

The mayor has seven days to provide a response of no more than 200 words, which will be include on the recall petition for circulation for gathering signatures. But he’s not required to provide one.

The notice includes additional details about the process.

“Elections Code section 11023. (a) Within seven days after the filing of the notice of intention, the officer sought to be recalled may file with the elections official, or in the case of a state officer, the Secretary of State, an answer, in not more than 200 words, to the statement of the proponents.

(b) If an answer is filed, the officer shall, within seven days after the filing of the notice of intention, also serve a copy of it, by personal delivery or by certified mail, on one of the proponents named in the notice of intention.

(c) The answer shall be signed and shall be accompanied by the printed name and business or residence address of the officer sought to be recalled.”

UPDATE: According to the Procedure for Recalling State and Local Officials on the California Secretary of State’s website, and the Guide for Recalls on the Contra Costa County Elections website, organizers must gather the signatures of at least 15% of registered voters in Antioch, if the registration is between 50,000 and 100,000, to qualify the recall for the ballot. As of the November 2020 election, there were 62,394 registered voters in the city which requires they gather approximately 9,400 signatures within 160 days or about 59 per day on average.

Thorpe received 19,792 votes to win the election for mayor, last November out of 44,539 votes cast, for 44.44% of the vote. Should the recall make it to the ballot, just like in the recent gubernatorial recall election, he will face an up or down vote. In addition, a separate vote for the replacement candidates will decide who will be the city’s next mayor for the remainder of the term through Dec. 2024. If a majority of those voting, vote yes to recall Thorpe, the candidate with the most votes in the replacement election wins.

Past Antioch Recalls

Thorpe is the second Antioch mayor to be served with recall papers in the past 35 years, including Wade Harper in 2014 and 2015, and Joel Keller in 1986. But the attempts against Harper, by the same organizers, were unsuccessful, first due to improperly publishing the notice in the paper, and the revived effort failed to gather enough signatures. Organizers for the effort against Keller thought they had collected enough signatures and submitted them. But it didn’t make it to the ballot as it was tossed out by the county elections office after too many signatures were disqualified. Antioch School Board Trustee Debra Vinson was served with recall papers in 2016 but the effort didn’t make it to the ballot.

The last time a successful recall of an Antioch councilmember occurred was in 1995 when Councilwoman Elizabeth Rimbault was recalled. (This reporter also faced recall on the same ballot but beat it by 52-48%).

An effort to reach Thorpe for comment and asking him why he threw the notice on the ground, was unsuccessful prior to publication time.

Please check back later for any updates to this report.

Takes swipe at Board VP Lewis claiming he’s missed three “critical votes”

By Allen Payton

The Herald learned on Friday that in a post on Tuesday, on her blog, which has 11 followers, Antioch Mayor Pro Tem Monica Wilson took the unusual step of injecting herself and opinion into a school district issue, supporting Board President Ellie Householder’s efforts to fire Superintendent Stephanie Anello. The move failed with only four trustees in attendance at Tuesday night’s urgently called special closed session meeting, since Board Vice President Clyde Lewis was absent for a work conflict and personal matters. Because of that, Wilson took a swipe at him and claims he missed other “critical votes”, as well. (See related articles here and here)

Wilson also, once again, injected a race into an issue, by reminding Lewis that he’s the only Black member of the school board, and writing “our community cannot afford to lose another generation of students but in particular Black and Latino students.”

Statement from Antioch Mayor Pro Tem Monica Wilson Regarding Antioch Unified School District Special Meeting of September 21, 2021

“I’ve learned the hard way as an elected official that doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting a different result, is the definition of insanity and only serves to reinforce the status quo.

For far too long, the Antioch Unified School District administration has created a subpar environment that has made it difficult for students, in particular students of color, to have the necessary support and environment for success in the classroom.

For this reason, I would like to take this moment to commend Board President Ellie Householder for having the courage to call for a special meeting in her efforts to change the leadership of the Antioch Unified School District’s administration.

As Board President Householder has said, this is a fight for the future of Antioch, as our community cannot afford to lose another generation of students but in particular Black and Latino students because they did not receive an adequate education.

I would also like to take this moment to publicly call on Dr. Clyde Lewis to be present at the meeting, and to vote in support of our students and families by supporting change.

As the only Black leader on the Antioch Unified School Board, Trustee Lewis needs to realize that we in the community have noticed his pattern of missing critical votes. We are watching, and are fully expecting him to rise to the moment, and vote for the children of Antioch.

To not be present for this vote would mark the third time that Trustee Lewis has missed a key vote. In doing so, he will be making it clear that he is not prepared for the pressures and intensity of serving in elected office.”

Questions for Wilson and Lewis

The following questions were sent to Wilson and Lewis early Friday afternoon.

Since it wasn’t posted on either her official Facebook page nor sent to the Herald, and her blog only has 11 followers, Wilson was asked, “did you not want that many people to read it? Was it part of an effort to run for school board or higher office, next year? Or was it to take a swipe at a potential political opponent, Board VP Clyde Lewis, who lives in the same council district you currently represent, in an attempt to eliminate your competition should you decide to run for reelection?”

In addition, she was asked, “do you think it’s appropriate for a council member to interject their opinion into school district business? Would you want school board members, other than (City Clerk) Ellie Householder, doing the same for city matters?” and “don’t you have enough city issues to deal with?”

Lewis was asked if he had any comments about Wilson’s blog post and “to which other critical votes do you think she’s referring?” He responded writing, “Leadership aims to build bridges and collaboration. I’m not really sure the aim of this statement, but I hope she is having a blessed day.”

09/27/21 UPDATE: Lewis offered additional comments on Monday, Sept. 27 writing, “I have no idea which votes she is referring. I have not missed but two meetings during my tenure, only one of which was a regularly scheduled meeting. I cannot speak to her motives and frankly, I’m more disappointed with the lack of attention given to students and solving issues in the community.”

Wilson had not yet responded as of Monday evening, Sept. 27.

Please check back later for any updates to this report.

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