Tom Menasco honored as Antioch Lifetime Veteran of the Year and J.R. Wilson as Antioch Veteran of the Year 2021-22

By Allen Payton

Antioch honored its military veterans on Veterans Day, on the 11th day of the 11th month, last Thursday, with a pancake breakfast, ceremonies at the Antioch Marina boat launch, a parade down W. Second Street in historic, downtown and a BBQ lunch at the VFW Post. The ceremony also included a rededication of the Antioch Veterans Memorial with the new mural on display for the first-time during Veterans Day. It concluded with the presentation of the Antioch Lifetime and Veterans of the Year.

The festivities began with the breakfast provided by the Antioch Rivertown Veterans Lions Club while the band Spinning Wheel performed on stage. J.R. Wilson, President of the Delta Veterans Group and Velma Wilson served as M.C.’s for the ceremony. The opening prayer was offered by Gabe Makinano, the presentation of colors by the Sea Cadets, the raising of the flag by the Antioch Police Department Honor Guard, the Pledge of Allegiance was led by Matthew Wilson and the National Anthem was performed by Velma Wilson. Taps was then performed by a trumpeter from the Antioch High School Marching Band. Martha Parsons then introduced local officials, other dignitaries and their representatives. District 3 Councilwoman Lori Ogorchock and District 2 Councilman Mike Barbanica were in attendance.

The combined bands of Antioch High and Deer Valley High Schools performed the official songs of all four military branches including the U.S. Air Force’s song Wild Blue Yonder, the Navy Hymn, The Army Goes Rolling Along and The Marines’ Hymn.

Tom Menasco of the Veterans Memorial Banner Program honored the key volunteers who have helped make the program a reality. There are now 158 banners lining Antioch streets honoring local veterans. Another nine will be posted by Christmas, he shared.

Student speakers included Annabelle Van Dyke, a fourth grader at Mission Elementary School and eighth grader Blake West, the student body president at Park Middle School.

The Antioch Veterans Memorial was rededicated, with a special plaque presented to former Antioch Mayor Sean Wright. Artist Javier Rocabado spoke, again about the mural he was commissioned to paint.

Tom Menasco was honored with the Antioch Lifetime Veterans of the Year 2021-22 by 2017 honoree Paul Scannell, and J.R. Wilson was honored as the Antioch Veteran of the Year 2021-22.

That was followed by the parade flowing west to east on W. Second Street. A barbeque lunch was then held at the Antioch VFW Post 6435 ending the day’s activities.

The day’s sponsors included the Antioch Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), Antioch American Legion, Delta Veterans Group, City of Antioch Parks and Recreation, Maintenance and Police Departments, Antioch Rivertown Veterans Lions Club, Tri Delta Transit and Smith’s Landing Seafood Grill.

By Antonia Ehlers, PR and Media Relations, Kaiser Permanente Northern California

In response to the planned healthcare worker strikes beginning today and tomorrow, Thursday and Friday, Nov. 18 and 19, Kaiser Permanente issued the following statement:

We are extremely grateful for all our frontline health care workforce, whose commitment to providing care and service throughout the COVID-19 pandemic has been nothing short of inspiring. We recently reached successful agreements with dozens of unions that represent more than 60,000 Kaiser Permanente employees that demonstrate our commitment to providing excellent wages and benefits for all employees while meeting our commitment to delivering high-quality, affordable care for our members and patients. These are market-leading contracts, reached through constructive and reasonable bargaining.

Bargaining with Local 39 IUOE

Kaiser Permanente has been bargaining in good faith with Local 39 IUOE, the union that represents about 600 Kaiser Permanente operating engineers, for several months. The union decided to call a strike and have kept employees out for more than two months. We are offering Local 39 employees wages that are similar to our other employees’ and that, on top of Local 39’s generous medical and the richest retirement benefits, will keep our engineers among the best compensated in their profession, at an average of more than $180,000 in total wages and benefits. We are not proposing any take-aways and our proposals do not differentiate between current and future employees. But union leadership wants more, asking for unreasonable increases far beyond any other union at Kaiser Permanente.

UPDATE: Unfortunately, after many hours bargaining on Tuesday and Wednesday, there is no movement in negotiations with Local 39. The union insists it receive much more – in some cases nearly two times more – than other union agreements covering Kaiser Permanente employees.

Michelle Gaskill-Hames, Senior Vice President, Hospital and Health Plan Operations, Kaiser Permanente Northern California spoke via video about the workers and patient care during the strike.

We are optimistic that we can resolve the remaining issues with Local 39 at the bargaining table and reach an agreement that continues to reward our employees and supports health care affordability, just as we have with several unions this week.

Sympathy strikes

As one of the largest health care union employers in the United States — with nearly 75% of our employees working under collective bargaining agreements — we fully understand solidarity among unions. But given the demands of Local 39, on top of the already market-leading compensation and highest retirement benefit of any represented employee in our organization, we believe that sympathy strikes are not appropriate in this case. We are asking our staff to choose to be there for our patients, and to come to work.

We question why leaders of other unions are asking their members to walk out on patients on Nov. 18 and 19 in sympathy for Local 39. This will not bring us closer to an agreement and most important, it is unfair to our members and patients to disrupt their care when they most need our employees to be there for them.

Several unions have submitted sympathy strike notices: SEIU-UHW, Local 20, and Local 29 on Thursday, November 18 and the California Nurses Association, Friday, November 19. Kaiser Permanente is not in bargaining with these unions, and each has a current contract. In fact, we have informed SEIU-UHW, Local 20, and Local 29 union leaders that we believe in accordance with their contracts, these sympathy strikes are not protected by law.

We are also in bargaining with NUHW, the union that represents our mental health professionals. NUHW has announced a one-day strike for Friday, November 19.

We have taken steps to ensure that our members and patients will continue to receive high-quality, safe care and service should these strikes occur.

We have prepared thoroughly to care for our patients in the event of a strike and are working diligently to reduce the impact.

• During the strike, care will be provided by physicians and experienced clinical managers and staff, with the support of trained and qualified contingency staff.
• Some non-urgent medical appointments or procedures may be affected, and we will reach out to patients to reschedule or convert appointments to phone or video if that is appropriate. We will not postpone any urgent or emergency care, or critical medical appointments.
• We encourage members to schedule an appointment should they need lab, optometry, or radiology services this week as some of our locations will be temporarily closed or operating with reduced hours. If a member has an urgent need for services, they should call the Appointment and Advice Call Center, which is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• Some outpatient pharmacies will be temporarily closed from Nov. 18 and 19.  If a member does not need their refill right away, any closed pharmacies will reopen on Saturday, Nov. 20. Our Mail Delivery pharmacy will remain open during the strike to order refills at kp.org or by phone.
• In the event an urgent prescription is needed and the outpatient pharmacy is closed, Kaiser Permanente staff will provide members with direction on how to fill their prescription at an open Kaiser Permanente pharmacy or at a retail pharmacy. Hospital pharmacies for inpatient care and critical infusion services will remain in operation.
• All our hospitals and emergency departments will continue to be open during a strike and remain safe places to receive care.

As this is an evolving situation, we will continue to communicate directly with our members and post updates on kp.org as they are available.

We are very sorry for any disruption members may experience as we take steps to ensure that we continue to provide high-quality, safe care during this union strike.

Kaiser Permanente is indisputably one of the most labor-friendly organizations in the United States.

Our history and our future are deeply connected to organized labor. Labor unions have always played an important role in our efforts to provide more people with access to high-quality care and to make care more affordable.

It’s unconscionable that union leaders would ask health care workers to walk away from the patients who need them and deliberately disrupt their care.

Poetry Out Loud (POL) is an exciting national competition started in 2005 by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation. The contest challenges high school students to memorize and recite poetry, a chance to showcase their talents, build self-confidence, and gain both an appreciation and understanding of poetry.

The Arts and Culture Commission of Contra Costa County has been an official local partner of California Arts Council’s for Poetry Out Loud since 2007. Every Contra Costa County high school is encouraged to participate. Local arts non-profit organizations and libraries are welcome and encouraged to participate as well. Each year ten to fifteen high schools representing East, West, and Central County have participated. These include public schools, private schools, charter schools, alternative schools, court schools, and homeschool groups.

Poetry Out Loud is a free program!

There is no cost to either the school or the students.

HOW DOES POL WORK?

Poetry Out Loud is a tiered competition structure that begins in the classroom. High school teachers use the free Poetry Out Loud teacher toolkit (https://www.poetryoutloud.org/teachers-organizers/lesson-plans/) to teach poetry recitation and run classroom competitions. Class winners advance to the school-wide competition, then one school champion enters the county competition. The County winner is eligible to compete in the state competition, and the state winner competes in the national finals in Washington D.C. for a grand prize of $20,000.

Poetry Out Loud has been made accessible to accommodate in-person and virtual teaching environments at the school level. Additional information on this year’s hybrid model will be shared with participating schools.

Please complete form by 12/15/21! POETRY OUT LOUD 2021-22

Please feel free to email our county coordinator, Brennan DeFrisco, at bdeeppoetry@gmail.com or call (925) 984-4031 for any questions you may have.

Thank you for your interest in supporting Poetry Out Loud!

 

At least two at “home sick Monday with bad stomachaches”

By Allen Payton

Fourteen children were given higher doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine than they should have received at Sutter Health’s Antioch Urgent Care clinic in the Blue Rock Center over the weekend.

A statement was issued by Dr. Jimmy Hu, a pediatrician and Chair of the Sutter Health COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force:

“This weekend 14 patients at our Antioch pediatric vaccine clinic received vaccines with an incorrect amount of diluent. As soon as we learned of this, we contacted the parents and advised them of CDC guidance in this situation. The safety of our patients is our top priority, and we immediately reviewed our processes to help make sure this doesn’t happen again. According to the CDC, patients who receive vaccine with an incorrect diluent volume may experience more arm soreness, fatigue, headache, or a fever in response to the dose given.”

According to Sutter Health spokesperson, Monique Binkley-Smith, the children received more than the 5- to 11-year-old dose of 10 micrograms, and approximately two-thirds the dose of what a 12-year-old or older would get of 30 micrograms.

The vaccine dilution/prep process is done on-site-at the clinics, the same day it’s administered.

According to an ABC news report, two of the children got sick after receiving the vaccine.

“I’m here tonight to report my story because it’s unacceptable; you expect your medical professionals to give you correct doses,” parent Denise Iserloth said.

Denise and her husband Shawn’s eight and 11-year-old children were among the kids given the wrong amount of coronavirus vaccine.

“The Iserloths, whose children were both home sick Monday with bad stomachaches, say their two children were given 20 micrograms of dosage instead of the recommended 10. They’re now very concerned about any long-term effects,” according to the ABC report.

The children are expected to be fine.

“According to the CDC, patients who receive vaccine with an incorrect diluent volume may experience more arm soreness, fatigue, headache, or a fever in response to the dose given,” Binkley-Smith shared.

Also according to the CDC, “Scientists have conducted clinical trials with about 3,000 children, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has determined that the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine has met the safety and efficacy standards for authorization in children ages 5 through 11 years old.  The safety of COVID-19 vaccines continues to be monitored.”

The latest addition to the new Rivertown Dining District

By Allen Payton

Finally! After much anticipation, the long-awaited Monica’s Riverview is opening. The restaurant is located on the dock over the water at the end of I Street at the former site of the Riverview Lodge. (See related article)

It took eight months to get the equipment in due to the supply chain backup. But now they’re done and ready to open. They’re expecting to open the week of Thanksgiving as they’re finalizing their fire inspection.

Indoors they’ve pretty much left it the way you’ll remember it, only better. You’ll see the tables, booths and full service bar, as well as banquet room but with some serious upgrades.

Outdoors the new and improved Riverview has plenty of seating for COVID compliance.

Plus, they will have a bakery for tasty sweets like cinnamon rolls, pecan rolls, cookies, cakes and pies. It will also serve as the place for to go orders.

The barista bar will serve coffee from local roaster Big House Beans.

Another new feature at Monica’s Riverview is they will be open for daily breakfast – the only restaurant in Rivertown to offer it. If you’ve eaten at their Livermore location, you’ll know it’s delicious.

As expected for an on the water restaurant, they will offer a variety of seafood items on their Evening Menu.

“You’ll be sure to enjoy the awesome views of the river, too,” said owner Monica Barajas. Thus the name, Riverview. Get it?

Antioch will now have two of the largest waterfront restaurants in the entire Delta.

“It will be the next restaurant in the new Rivertown Dining District which is open for business,” said developer Sean McCauley. “We’re looking for more quality restaurateurs to locate in Antioch’s historic downtown.”

Keeping the history and tradition alive as one of the oldest restaurants in Antioch and the region, Monica’s Riverview will prove to be the new destination for food, entertainment and fun with friends and family in East County.

Did I mention they’re serving breakfast?

Only 28 evictions of renter households out of 13,221 in Antioch during COVID-19 moratorium. Yet, council members call for rent control and anti-tenant harassment ordinances.

By Allen Payton

During a special meeting Tuesday evening (today) at 5:30 pm – when most residents who commute to work aren’t yet home – the Antioch City Council will discuss several issues that will be sure to please those who claim to be “woke”, or rather progressive and champions of “equity”, who pursue equality of result rather than equality of opportunity, aka SJW’s meaning “social justice warriors”. It’s a Far-Left Wing wish list of ways to reshape Antioch’s society, and not for the better.

Two agenda items that don’t fit that description include the first one, which is about the celebration of Antioch’s 150th anniversary of cityhood, next year, known as the Sesquicentennial. Say it slowly and pronounce it: “sess”, “qui” (as in quick), and end with “centennial”, you know like bicentennial, which is a 200-year anniversary.

The council has already allocated $100,000 toward the estimated $201,500 in costs for the 2022 Sesquicentennial Celebration. Now, council members have to decide if they want to continue to work with the Celebrate Antioch Foundation to put on the various events proposed for next year, send out a request for proposal (RFP) for other groups that might be interested, hire an outside contractor or additional staff to plan the events, or just use existing City staff to handle it all. Sesquicentennial Celebration Next Steps ACC111621

They should go with the first choice, since the first event is on February 6, 2022, the actual anniversary of the City’s incorporation in 1872, and it’s a bit late to switch horses – especially since Celebrate Antioch Foundation isn’t doing it alone, but has help from the Antioch Historical Society, and other local organizations.

The other item on the agenda which is rather innocuous and shouldn’t be very controversial is item 3. Local Purchasing Ordinance. According to the City staff report on the agenda item, “Council Member Lori Ogorchock (District 3) stated an interest in the potential establishment of a local purchasing ordinance and requested that this topic be considered by the Antioch City Council.”

Who doesn’t support shopping local and keeping Antioch’s city funds spent with local businesses, growing our own economy, instead of Jeff Bezos’ pocketbook? FISCAL IMPACT – Unknown at this time.

Woke Agenda Items

Beyond those, the other items on the agenda attempt to push a specific agenda, much like most of the police reforms approved by the council (many times only by three votes), earlier this year, without proving the need and basing them on findings and in opposition to the majority of those who participated in the Bridging the Gap forums.

2. HOUSING POLICIES – RENT CONTROL AND TENANT PROTECTIONS

According to the City staff report on the agenda item, “A number of housing policies have been expressed as potential areas of interest by Antioch’s elected leadership. i. Mayor Lamar Thorpe identified the topic of rent control within the City of Antioch. ii. Council Member Tamisha Torres-Walker (District 1) and Mayor Pro Tem Monica Wilson (District 4) advanced the topic of tenant protections, specifically the establishment of a tenant anti-displacement policy and an anti-landlord harassment policy in the City of Antioch.” (See related article)

The council will hear a presentation by Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE), and then is asked to provide staff direction based on their consensus. FISCAL IMPACT – Unknown at this time. ACCE Tenant Protections presentation ACC111621

According to the organization’s website, ACCE “is a multi-racial, democratic, non-profit community organization that builds power to fight and stand for economic, racial and social justice. We take seriously our commitment to ground-up organizing to build a strong people’s movement that can create transformative community change.”

On the Who We Are What We Do page, under the topic of Racial and Economic Justice, their website reads, “We evaluate problems and solutions through a lens grounded in both economic and racial justice. We cannot resolve structural racism without changing our economic system and we cannot resolve economic inequality without addressing racism.” Also, under the topic of Systems Change it reads, “ACCE seeks to shift power relations by changing the systems that create oppression rather than just addressing the symptoms of oppression.”

That’s who the council is looking to for guidance? An organization with a clear agenda based on incorrect assumptions of race and economic issues in Antioch?

Questions for council members to answer before giving any direction to staff: What structural racism exists in Antioch? What economic inequality is there and how is it based on racism in Antioch? Who in Antioch is actually suffering oppression?

According to the organization’s presentation, “In March 2021, a KQED investigative report found that during the pandemic, Antioch had the most evictions per renter households out of all nine Bay Area counties.” In addition, the presentation claims, “Antioch’s COVID-19 eviction rate was 207.2 per 100,000 renter households, nearly double that of Richmond, and approximately 50 times the rate of Oakland.”

That sounds really horrible but, it’s only 0.2072% – about the same percentage of Americans who have died from COVID-19 (all of which are sad and unfortunate). But if the council decides on any policy based on that statistic, it will just be another example of overreaction by government officials.

Furthermore, according to the American Community Survey, 2019 (1-Year Estimates) cited in the ACC presentation, “Antioch is more than a third renters: in 2019, there were 36,138 housing units in Antioch and 13,221 of them, or 36.6%, were occupied by tenants.” That means there were a total of 28 evictions of renter households out of all 13,221 in Antioch during the COVID-19 moratorium.

As for rent control, that just creates another level of costly bureaucracy and more government injection into the housing market that is a macroeconomic issue. Plus, I find it laughable that two of the three council members who are proposing it, just last year voted to endorse Measure T which would have reduced the supply of future housing in Antioch. Perhaps they’ve never learned about the law of supply and demand which demonstrates that the lower the supply of something while demand is high results in increased prices.

Questions for council members to ask and get answered before giving direction to City staff, if any: How does ACCE define tenant harassment? How do you define it? What are the reasons that landlords provided as the reason for evictions? Because evictions were allowed during the COVID-19 moratorium, but for other reasons other than non-payment of rent. With only 28 total evictions during COVID-19 citywide are such ordinances really necessary? Do you know why each of those tenants were evicted?

4. LOCAL PREFERENCE FOR MINORITY AND WOMEN OWNED BUSINESS ENTERPRISES

According to the City staff report on the agenda item, “Mayor Pro Tem Wilson stated an interest in the potential establishment of a local preference for Minority & Women Owned Business Enterprises and requested that this topic be considered by the Antioch City Council.”

I would like to see Wilson lead by example on this, first and put her money where her mouth is. Does she make it a point to do business with minority and women owned business enterprises? I don’t recall seeing her in the restaurant for which I was the minor shareholder, and my partner who is Black and owned the majority share of the business – located right down the street from City Hall – not even for our Grand Opening, when she could have eaten for free.

Even better, how about Wilson try and start her own business and see what it takes to compete in the marketplace, create jobs, and create wealth?

Questions for council members: is Wilson claiming minority and women owned businesses can’t compete in Antioch against white male owned businesses? Do the sales tax dollars generated by the businesses in Antioch have a color other than green? What about residential and commercial property tax dollars?

That reminds me of when I joined the NAACP East County Branch, in I believe 1999. Since I wasn’t sure I could, because I’m white and Republican, one of the members asked me, “is your money green?” I said, “yes”. She said, “then you can join!” (She also pointed out it was white Republicans who helped form the NAACP. But I digress).

This is simply more divisiveness pitting some groups against others, namely the “evil patriarchy” which is full of white men holding others back and down. Yeah, right. I can tell you, as I’m out selling advertising to all kinds of businesses owned by minority owners, white owners, women and men owners, most all of them are struggling, these days. So, frankly they all need some help.

If Wilson and the rest of the council really cared about helping businesses, minority and women owned or otherwise, they would join with other council members in the county and pressure the Board of Supervisors and their out-of-control Public Health Officer, Dr. Chris Farnitano to lift the current health order requiring proof of vaccination to go to indoor restaurants, the health club, the El Campanil Theatre, indoor movie theaters and bowling alleys. That way they don’t have to spend extra money on staff to enforce the ridiculous and unnecessary order and keep our businesses from getting fined, further costing them money they don’t have.

Besides, what if the owner is white and identifies as gender non-binary? In which category do they fit? What if the owner is a man who identifies as a woman? Would his business qualify for the preference? Just how woke should such the policy be?

Just keep OUR tax dollars, that the City spends, IN Antioch following the Local Purchasing Ordinance proposed by Councilwoman Ogorchock, regardless of who owns it, their gender or ethnicity.

FISCAL IMPACT – Unknown at this time.

5. HUMAN RIGHTS AND RACIAL EQUITY COMMISSION

According to the City staff report on the agenda item, “Council Member Torres-Walker stated an interest in the potential establishment of a Human Rights and Racial Equity Commission and requested that this topic be considered by the Antioch City Council.”

Questions for Torres-Walker to answer and any other council members who support forming the commission: Which humans in Antioch are being denied their rights? What do they consider as a right beyond what is enumerated in the Constitution and Bill of Rights? How can the Antioch city government ensure and achieve racial “equity”, which is, again, equality of result instead of ensuring our government simply treats everyone equally and fairly? If it’s formed, will you actually listen to what the members have to say or simply ignore them and act like it doesn’t exist like the other commissions, including the Police Crime Prevention Commission and Economic Development Commission?

FISCAL IMPACT – Unknown at this time.

6. FOOD INSECURITY AND ACCESS TO HEALTHY AND AFFORDABLE FOOD OPTIONS AD HOC COMMITTEE

According to the City staff report on the agenda item, “Council Member Torres-Walker and Mayor Pro Tem Wilson stated interest in food insecurity, access to healthy and affordable food options and the potential formation of an ad hoc committee. It is requested that this topic be considered by the Antioch City Council.”

While food insecurity may have been a concern in Torres-Walker’s district earlier this year with the closing of Lucky grocery store on East 18th Street, since then Antioch Foods opened there and the Cielo Mexican Supermarket opened right down the street, giving the residents on the north side of Hwy 4 – which her district encompasses, two major food choices.

Questions for council members: how can the City of Antioch offer access to healthy and affordable food options? Can they do something about inflation? Do they support having more food giveaway lines on our major city streets like on A Street? Are the council members who proposed this suggesting city tax dollars be spent in addition to the federal funds spent on WIC and SNAP?

FISCAL IMPACT – Unknown at this time.

Aren’t these the same two council members, along with Mayor Thorpe – in an attempt to show their environmental credentials – who foolishly voted against renewing the franchise agreement for one of the natural gas pipelines that runs through Antioch, potentially increasing the costs for people to heat their homes, their water for showers, baths, coffee and tea, as well as cook food both at home and in our restaurants?

First, they make decisions that increase our costs of living, then want to use our tax dollars to help those who can’t afford to pay for those cost increases. They’re self-inflicted problems and cause a downward spiral for our society.

Get Woke Go Broke

It’s pretty obvious some of the council members are simply ignoring what has happened with companies and other governments that have experienced the slogan, “Get Woke Go Broke”.

Plus, it’s really easy to show compassion when spending other people’s hard-earned money and play favorites with businesses using we the people’s tax dollars, when you’ve never owned a business, created jobs or created wealth, and only worked for either government agencies or non-profit organizations that exist off of donations from what other people have earned. Unfortunately, they just don’t have the necessary experience or knowledge to make the right decisions that will benefit our community – our entire community.

The bottom line is the best form of welfare and the best social program is a job. So, if they really want to help Antioch residents, the council members would focus on two things: public safety and economic development, by hiring more police and getting our crime under control and bringing employers with higher paying jobs to our city, to truly fulfill the City’s new slogan, “Opportunity Lives Here”. That doesn’t mean more cannabis businesses which further damages our city’s reputation beyond the crime and homelessness – about which they really haven’t done anything other than hire a consultant and a staff member – and actually works against economic development efforts to attract employers.

The issue isn’t about having compassion on others who are less fortunate. Most people, like me, do. The issue is how to go about truly helping them, and whether or not there actually is a problem with some of the proposals on tonight’s council meeting agenda.

The City isn’t doing well at the main thing they should already be doing, which is public safety. That’s no shot at the police department. It’s due to a lack of staffing. But this council didn’t approve even one additional sworn officers in this year’s budget or the next. That’s in spite of the fact that there’s an estimated $5 million more in this year’s budget and $8 million more in next year’s, thanks to the sales tax increases we the people approved mainly for more police!

Yet, some of the council members want our city government to try and do more things that are mostly out of their purview? Not wise. But we’ll see just how woke some of the council members will go.

Viewing

Members of the public can watch the meeting at https://www.antiochca.gov/live_stream, on Comcast Channel 24, or AT&T U-Verse Channel 99.

Public Comments

Members of the public wishing to provide public comment may do so one of the following ways (#2 pertains to the Zoom Webinar):

1. Fill out an online speaker card by 3:00 p.m. the day of the Council Meeting located at: https://www.antiochca.gov/speaker_card.

2. Provide oral public comments during the meeting by clicking the following link to register in advance to access the meeting via Zoom Webinar: https://www.antiochca.gov/speakers

– 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 Mayor announces public comments, 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.

3. Email comments to cityclerk@ci.antioch.ca.us by 3:00 p.m. the day of the Council Meeting. The comment will be read into the record at the meeting (350 words maximum, up to 3 minutes, at the discretion of the Mayor). IMPORTANT: Identify the agenda item in the subject line of your email if the comment is for Announcement of Community Events, Public Comment, or a specific Agenda Item number. No one may speak more than once on an agenda item or during “Public Comments”.

All emails received by 3:00 p.m. the day of the Council Meeting will be entered into the record or the meeting.

Speakers will be notified shortly before they are called to speak.

Statement from Kaiser Permanente

November 15, 2021

By Deniene Erickson, Issues Manager, Kaiser Permanente Northern California

We are very pleased to announce that at about 1:00 a.m. this morning, Kaiser Permanente and the Guild for Professional Pharmacists reached a tentative agreement for a new 3-year contract for pharmacists in our Northern California region. The tentative agreement reflects our respect for Kaiser Permanente pharmacy professionals and the exceptional care they provide and provides industry-leading wage and benefit packages. The agreement is aligned with our commitment to high quality, affordable health care and to being the best place to work in health care, and includes the following:

• Wage increases: Guaranteed across-the-board wage increases each year through the duration of the three year contract
• Health benefits: No reductions or takeaways to already low-cost family medical and dental coverage with the same low copays for prescriptions and office visits
• Retirement benefits: Maintains generous retirement income benefits and employer-subsidized retiree medical.
• Bonus opportunities: Higher incentive bonus opportunities
• Agreement on important operational matters

In light of this, the Guild for Professional Pharmacists has canceled the strike that was expected to begin November 15 and our pharmacies will return to normal operations later today.

This agreement comes on the heels of Saturday’s landmark tentative agreement between Kaiser Permanente and the Alliance of Health Care Unions, affecting nearly 50,000 Kaiser Permanente employees across the enterprise.

We are continuing to bargain in good faith with Local 39 Operating Engineers and the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW), and are confident we will reach agreements with these unions very soon. At this time there is no change in the Local 39 Operating Engineers strike. Other unions have not yet rescinded their one-day sympathy strike notices for Thursday, November 18 and Friday, November 19. NUHW, the union that represents our mental health professionals has also announced a one-day strike for Friday, November 19, which remains in effect.

As always, our first priority is our members and patients and we have taken steps to ensure they will continue to receive high-quality, safe care and service should these strikes take place.

Victims: teenage male, adult female and male

By Corporal James Colley #4705, Antioch Police Field Services Division

On November 14, 2021, at approximately 5:40 pm, APD Officers responded to the 1300 block of Larkspur Drive on a report of multiple people shot. Upon officers’ arrival, they learned the victims had been attending a peaceful vigil, when the large crowd began taking gunfire by unknown suspects.

The victims were identified as a 17-year-old juvenile, a 23-year-old male, and a 20-year-old female. All victims were transported to local Bay Area hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries. No suspects or suspect vehicles have been identified at this time.

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.