Will now negotiate with Congressman’s office, U.S. House of Representatives’ legal counsel during closed door meeting Tuesday night

Also gave boot to local non-profit; to use it for Community Resources Department; Councilwoman Ogorchock not happy, expected to locate it inside Rivertown Resource Center instead

McNerney helped Mayor Thorpe with recall fundraising roast next day

By Allen D. Payton

In the first two weeks in his new position, Antioch’s Interim City Manager Con Johnson through Parks and Recreation Director Brad Helfenberger, attempted to evict Congressman Jerry McNerney from the office space he leases inside the Antioch Community Center at Prewett Family Park on Lone Tree Way almost 11 months earlier than the lease ends next January. In a Jan. 10, 2022, letter to McNerney, Helfenberger wrote, “Pursuant to Section 10 of the District Office Lease Attachment, the City of Antioch hereby terminates the District Office Lease Agreement effective February 15, 2022. You are required to vacate the premises…by 5pm on February 15th, 2022.” Helfenberger letter to McNerney 01-10-22  McNerney-Antioch Lease

In a Jan. 13 response the congressman, who is retiring at the end of this year and will no longer need the space, and whose district, CD-9, will no longer include portions of Antioch, wrote a letter to Mayor Lamar Thorpe – who McNerney helped with his recall campaign fundraising roast, the following day – Johnson and Helfenberger and copied each of the other four council members. McNerney wrote, “This letter is to inform you that I will not close this office on February 15, 2022. Our current lease does not expire until January 2, 2023, at which time we will vacate the premises. Section 10 of the District Office Lease Attachment, which you cited in your letter, does not establish the right of either party to end the lease before the expiration date.” McNerney response letter 01-13-22

McNerney’s Office Had to Get U.S. House of Representatives’ Legal Counsel Involved

In a follow up email to Johnson and Helfenberger dated Jan. 11, 2022, McNerney’s Chief of Staff Nicole Damasco wrote, “I have discussed this matter with the House of Representative’s Associate Administrative Counsel, Cecilia Daly. In her opinion, since the original 2013 lease, which has been extended without changes, does not include an early termination clause, section 10 does not apply. Cecelia, Chiakis, and I would like to schedule a conference call with you and the City’s legal representative tomorrow to discuss this in more detail.” McNerney-Antioch lease & eviction emails 01-22

That refers to Chiakis (Xiong) Ornelas, McNerney’s Senior Field Representative who works in his Stockton office.

Then in another email from Damasco on Jan. 13, she wrote, “We have spoken with the House Administrative Counsel’s office who assure us that section 10 of the District Office Lease Attachment does not confer an early termination clause for either party, and that we are legally entitled to stay in our space until January 2, 2023.

Additionally, we have been informed that it will not be possible to relocate our office by February 15, 2022, even if we chose to move. This is because House rules require that the General Services Administration (GSA) arrange to move House-owned furniture and equipment, and we are unable to coordinate with the GSA in the time allotted. Even though we are legally entitled to stay in the space until the current lease expires, Rep. McNerney is amenable to working together to find a solution that will ensure the best services for the residents of Antioch.”

Local Business and Organization Also Shown the Door

Emerald Consulting, owned by Keith and Iris Archuleta, who run the Youth Intervention Network, also had their lease terminated by the City for the office space they have been in the community center since May 2015. Keith is also the executive director of the Antioch Community Foundation, but that organization was not leasing the space.

“We allowed the community foundation to use the space for meetings,” Iris Archuleta told the Herald, last month. “We’re on a month-to-month, so we’re not going to dispute it. We just told them we’ll move out by the end of the month.”

“From what they say is, they’re going to put the person who they hired to run the youth programs,” she continued. “We received a letter and a phone call from the recreation department. We took our stuff out and removed our information from the door.”

Space to be Used for New Community Resources Department

The city plans to use the space for the Community Resources Department, created by the city council, last year, which will include a yet to be hired Community Resources and Public Safety Director, Antioch Youth Services Network Manager, Tasha Johnson, and the city’s Unhoused Resident Coordinator, Jazmin Ridley. The public safety portion of the new department will not oversee police services, but community crisis intervention response, violence intervention and prevention, animal services and code enforcement. The department will also include environmental resources and the city’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program.

The council will discuss forming an ad hoc committee to develop the details about the department during their Tuesday, Feb. 22 meeting under regular agenda item 10.

Councilwoman Ogorchock “Blown Away” by Johnson’s Efforts

In a Jan. 19 email, District 3 Councilwoman Lori Ogorchock, in whose district the Antioch Community Center is located, questioned Johnson over his effort to evict the congressman. She also asked him why the city wouldn’t use the Rivertown Resource Center on W. 10th Street, the old police station, that houses other non-profit organizations. Ogorchock email 01-19-22

Ogorchock wrote, “I am very surprised by this email. When did we start to look at the Community Center as a location for this new dept.? Why would we think that it would be ok to give a 30 day notice to a Federal elected official who has been there for quite sometime? Has the Congressman been there since we opened the Community Center?

Congressman McNerney sees our constituents there on a regular basis, and some of those individuals are our veterans.

How much research have you completed into those who lease portions of that building? Since you have only been CM for a short period of time, 15 days (?), I would assume you’ve not had ample time to properly vet the effects of these actions, one example of this would be the city attorney not being a party to the emails being forwarded. When did you come up with the notion to use the Community Center for this dept.?

We just approved on the consent agenda on Tuesday the expense of hiring an independent evaluation of the Resource building on 10th St., (old police building). Why would we spend money to do that when it was your intent to use the Community Center? We authorized up to $50k to have the evaluation completed, that would be a waste of taxpayers’ funds. That would not be financially sound move on our part.

Should we not have had the city attorney look at the lease prior to having the Director of Recreation reach out to the Congressman’s office? Why was it his responsibility and not yours or the city attorney’s.

To be totally honest with you I am blown away by this move, not sure that I am happy about it either. We need to maintain an amicable relationship with the Congressman, to make sure he is in our community so that he is accessible to our community.”

City Council to Negotiate New Lease Tuesday

Now, the city council will meet during closed session, beginning at 4:30 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022, to negotiate the lease of three of the rooms in the community center, according to the meeting agenda.

The closed session agenda Item 2 reads as follows: “CONFERENCE WITH REAL PROPERTY NEGOTIATONS pursuant to California Government Code section 54956.8: Property: Antioch Community Center Rooms 125, 126, and 127 (consisting of 474 square feet of office space) located at 4703 Lone Tree Way, Antioch CA 94531; Agency Negotiation: Cornelius Johnson, City Manager, and Thomas Lloyd Smith, City Attorney; Negotiating Parties: Jerry McNerney, United States Congressman; Under Negotiation: Price and Terms of Payment.”

the attachments to this post:

Ogorchock email 01-19-22

McNerney-Antioch lease Section 10

McNerney-Antioch Lease

McNerney-Antioch lease & eviction emails 01-22

McNerney response letter 01-13-22

Helfenberger letter to McNerney 01-10-22

McNerney response letter 01-13-22

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