6 more officers to be added to the force tomorrow; only 44 positions in service out of 115 authorized
Auto thefts up 85.7%, burglaries increased a 62.5% and robberies up 47.2% compared to last year
By Allen D. Payton
During next Tuesday’s closed session portion of their meeting the Antioch City Council will receive information on a lawsuit by the Antioch Police Officers Association (APOA) and will receive a report from Acting Chief Vigil on police department staffing and activities.
The presentation is in response to District 2 Councilman Mike Barbanica’s request and following discussion during the council’s September 12th meeting of hiring retired officers to supplement the currently depleted ranks of police force. That’s due to 16 unfilled positions and the 51 officers on leave mainly from the two police scandals and investigations.
“The chief will provide a presentation so we can make a determination if we want to hire retired officers,” Barbanica shared. “Tamisha supported having the presentation, as well.”
On the closed session agenda, the council will deal with, “Significant exposure to litigation pursuant to California Government Code section 54956.9(d)(2): Antioch Police Officers Association v. City of Antioch et al., Superior Court of the State of California, Contra Costa County, Case No. N23-1629.”
Attempts to reach APOA attorney Mike Rains for details of the lawsuit were unsuccessful prior to publication time.
Acting Police Chief’s Update
The council will also receive a report from Acting Police Chief Joe Vigil about the department staffing and activities. The report shows there are currently 115 authorized positions, 95 of those positions are filled, but only 44 are positions are in service, 31 officers are assigned to patrol. The department is averaging over 100 calls per shift, on a modified work schedule with seven officers assigned to investigations who are averaging a case load of just over 300 cases, and seven detectives are doing all filing and follow up.
His report also shows the latest Part I Crime statistics comparing this year to last year, of a 33.3% increase in homicides, 62.5% increase in burglaries, robberies up 47.2% and theft increased 19.4%. The report also offers some good news showing a 57.1% decrease in arson, rapes down 25.8% and aggravated assaults decreased by 18.2%. Overall Part I Crime increased by 31.09%.
Recently, Vigil shared that there are currently 12 recruits in the academy and six officers will be given their oaths of office during a ceremony earlier in the day on Tuesday.
The closed session begins at 6:00 p.m. and the regular meeting begins at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers at Antioch City Hall, 200 H Street. The meeting can be viewed on Comcast Cable Channel 24, AT&T U-verse Channel 99 or live stream on the City’s website. Those who wish to speak during public comments must attend in person. See complete meeting agenda, here.
Please check back later for updates to this report.
Antioch District 4 Councilwoman Monica Wilson offers her support for Mayor Pro Tem Torres-Walker’s proposal as the other council members listen during the Sept. 12th council meeting. Video screenshot
Leaves it with city manager after Torres-Walker adds sunset clause opposed by Thorpe
By Allen D. Payton
During their meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023, on the second reading of the ordinance for directly hiring the police chief, the Antioch City Council voted 2-3 after Mayor Pro Tem Tamisha Torres-Walker added an amendment to sunset the ordinance of 12 months or hiring a permanent city manager. Her compromise was supported by District 4 Councilwoman Monica Wilson but opposed by Mayor Lamar Thorpe.
During their meeting on August 22, the council voted 3-2 to changing the City’s organizational structure by transferring from the city manager to the city council the authority to appoint, supervise and remove the police chief, with District 2 Councilman Mike Barbanica and District 3 Councilwoman Lori Ogorchock voting no. But it required a second reading and vote.
Antioch’s current Council-Manager form of government organizational chart will remain the same following the Tuesday, Sept. 12th vote.
During discussion of the motion before that vote, Torres-Walker proposed a time limit of possibly one year for the authority to revert back to the city manager which was supported by District 4 Councilwoman Monica Wilson. But that was not included in the motion the council adopted.
In a post on her official Facebook page on Monday, Sept. 11, Torres-Walker posted a video and reiterated her support for a time limit writing, “Chief of police oversight…after some refleacting [sic] I believe that the comprise I attempted to offer my colleagues on Council was a reasonable one.”
After Barbanica requested the item be removed from the Sept. 12th consent calendar so it could be voted on separately, Torres-Walker followed up on her commitment saying, “I offered the compromise because, one, most of us work full time. We also want to have a close eye and a transparent process for hiring of a new chief. But I just do not think this new policy should be the order of the day. I do think we need to have a term to time this policy out whether it’s 12 months or upon the hire of the permanent city manager. That is the compromise I’m offering today or else I will not be voting to move forward with this ordinance.” (See 3:06:40 mark of council meeting video)
But Thorpe said, “I’m personally sticking with the original proposal.”
“Then there will never be oversight,” he said about Torres-Walker’s proposal.
“The purpose of this was towards accountability, transparency and all that good stuff,” the mayor continued. “But I can’t personally support your policy. If you can’t support it without that in it then it just won’t pass.”
Torres-Walker responded, “then it just won’t pass, and we can move on.”
“Yep,” Thorpe replied.
District 4 Councilwoman Monica Wilson then offered her support for the compromise saying when it first proposed, “I was very interested. Over the last couple weeks…I’ve had an opportunity to think more and more about it and I’m in agreement with you. I support you with that.”
“Being reasonable is what I’m asking for,” Torres-Walker stated.
“We’d have to bring it back for a new reading,” said City Attorney Thomas L. Smith.
She then made a motion to amend the ordinance to add a sunset of 12 months and/or the hiring of a permanent city manager. But the proposed amended ordinance failed on a 2-3 vote with Thorpe joining Barbanica and Ogorchock in voting no.
“Seeing there’s no other motion we’ll move on,” Thorpe stated.
Antioch Council reverses course on directly hiring police chief
Leaves it with city manager after Torres-Walker adds sunset clause opposed by Thorpe
By Allen D. Payton
PUBLISHER’S NOTE: Apologies for the late publication of this article. I have been recovering from surgery over the past few weeks. Thank you for the prayers and well wishes to those readers who offered them.
During their meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023, on the second reading of the ordinance for directly hiring the police chief, the Antioch City Council voted 2-3 after Mayor Pro Tem Tamisha Torres-Walker added an amendment to sunset the ordinance of 12 months or hiring a permanent city manager. Her compromise was supported by District 4 Councilwoman Monica Wilson but opposed by Mayor Lamar Thorpe.
During their meeting on August 22, the council voted 3-2 to changing the City’s organizational structure by transferring from the city manager to the city council the authority to appoint, supervise and remove the police chief, with District 2 Councilman Mike Barbanica and District 3 Councilwoman Lori Ogorchock voting no. But it required a second reading and vote.
During discussion of the motion before that vote, Torres-Walker proposed a time limit of possibly one year for the authority to revert back to the city manager which was supported by District 4 Councilwoman Monica Wilson. But that was not included in the motion the council adopted.
In a post on her official Facebook page on Monday, Sept. 11, Torres-Walker posted a video and reiterated her support for a time limit writing, “Chief of police oversight…after some refleacting [sic] I believe that the comprise I attempted to offer my colleagues on Council was a reasonable one.”
After Barbanica requested the item be removed from the Sept. 12th consent calendar so it could be voted on separately, Torres-Walker followed up on her commitment saying, “I offered the compromise because, one, most of us work full time. We also want to have a close eye and a transparent process for hiring of a new chief. But I just do not think this new policy should be the order of the day. I do think we need to have a term to time this policy out whether it’s 12 months or upon the hire of the permanent city manager. That is the compromise I’m offering today or else I will not be voting to move forward with this ordinance.” (See 3:06:40 mark of council meeting video)
But Thorpe said, “I’m personally sticking with the original proposal.”
“Then there will never be oversight,” he said about Torres-Walker’s proposal.
“The purpose of this was towards accountability, transparency and all that good stuff,” the mayor continued. “But I can’t personally support your policy. If you can’t support it without that in it then it just won’t pass.”
Torres-Walker responded, “then it just won’t pass, and we can move on.”
“Yep,” Thorpe replied.
District 4 Councilwoman Monica Wilson then offered her support for the compromise saying when it first proposed, “I was very interested. Over the last couple weeks…I’ve had an opportunity to think more and more about it and I’m in agreement with you. I support you with that.”
“Being reasonable is what I’m asking for,” Torres-Walker stated.
“We’d have to bring it back for a new reading,” said City Attorney Thomas L. Smith.
She then made a motion to amend the ordinance to add a sunset of 12 months and/or the hiring of a permanent city manager. But the proposed amended ordinance failed on a 2-3 vote with Thorpe joining Barbanica and Ogorchock in voting no.
“Seeing there’s no other motion we’ll move on,” Thorpe stated.
Third candidate to announce for District 5 to replace Glover; touts major endorsements
On Thursday, September 21, Antioch City Councilman, business owner, retired police lieutenant Mike Barbanica announced his campaign for Contra Costa County Supervisor District 5. The campaign held its kick-off event later that evening at the Deputy Sheriff’s Association Hall in Martinez.
“We had a better turnout than expected,” Barbanica shared following the event. “We had well over 100. All the tables were full. It could not have been a more successful event. It was incredible.”
Barbanica is a 21-year veteran of the Pittsburg Police Department, where he retired in 2007 as a police lieutenant and earned the Bronze Medal of Valor Award for his service. Barbanica and his team were credited by the police chief with bringing about a 20% decrease in crime. Barbanica and his wife Kristine are the owners of Blue Line Property Group where they help local families access affordable housing. In 2020, Barbanica, a Democrat, was elected to the Antioch City Council and currently represents District 2.
“I am thrilled to announce my campaign for Supervisor for Contra Costa County District 5,” Barbanica said. “With over 20 years of experience protecting our community as a police officer and now an elected councilmember with a thriving small business that is taking on the housing crisis, I will proudly put my public service track record up against all-comers while I continue to fight for Contra Costa families. I will do what it takes to ensure Contra Costa County is a place where every family has an equal opportunity to thrive. I will use my experience as a long-time police officer and now councilmember to tackle the housing crisis, ensure we get serious about public safety, and build a stronger community for all who call Contra Costa County home.”
Barbanica is a real estate broker and owns Blue Line Property Management in Antioch handling both residential and commercial real estate sales, leasing and management.
Barbanica is running for Contra Costa County Supervisorial District 5, which spans the north shore of Contra Costa County, including the cities of Hercules, Martinez and Pittsburg, and portions of Antioch and the unincorporated communities of Alhambra Valley, Bay Point, Briones, Rodeo, Pacheco, Crockett, Tormey, Port Costa, Mt. View, Vine Hill, Reliez Valley, and Clyde.
He enters the race with a growing list of influential and respected endorsers, including Mary Knox, Contra Costa County Deputy District Attorney, Sue Rainey, former Mayor of Walnut Creek, Mary Erbez, former Mayor of Pittsburg, Frank Aiello, former Mayor of Pittsburg, Angelica Lopez, Pittsburg City Councilmember, Tony Oerlemans, Brentwood City Councilmember, Sean Wright, former Mayor of Antioch, and Arne Simonsen, former Antioch City Clerk and City Councilmember, as well as the United Steelworkers Local 326.
So far, he will face Pittsburg Mayor Shanelle Preston and Pittsburg Councilman Jelani Killings in the primary election in March. Filing closes December 8.
More About Barbanica
Barbanica, a lifelong resident of Antioch, is the small business owner of Blue Line Property Group in Antioch. He has received numerous awards for his teaching and coaching of others, including the California and Hawaii Region “Outstanding Brokerage of the Year” and the region’s “Broker of the Year.” Barbanica also authored an international bestselling book.
Before serving residents’ real estate needs, he began his career with the Pittsburg Police Department where he served 21 years and retired in 2007 as a police lieutenant. On the force, Barbanica ran a street level narcotic and crime unit for six years that was credited with reducing crime by 23% in Pittsburg.
In 2020, Barbanica was elected to represent District 2 on the Antioch City Council where he’s been cracking down on dilapidated properties, improving public safety, and getting small businesses the funds they need to succeed.
Barbanica is also active in the Antioch community, is a member of the Elk’s Club, the local Knights of Columbus, the Peace Officers Research Association of California, the National Association of Realtors, the Pittsburg Italian American Club, and other service organizations.
Barbanica is married to Kristine Barbanica, and together they have raised three children in the Antioch community and are grandparents to 4 grandchildren.
For more information on Barbanica for Contra Costa County Supervisor, please visit www.mikebarbanica.com.
OAKLAND – In partnership with six district attorneys, California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Friday, Sept. 8, announced a settlement with Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc., and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals (collectively “Kaiser”) resolving allegations that the healthcare provider unlawfully disposed of hazardous waste, medical waste, and protected health information at Kaiser facilities statewide. As part of the settlement, Kaiser will be liable for a total of $49 million and be required to take significant steps to prevent future unlawful disposals.
“The illegal disposal of hazardous and medical waste puts the environment, workers, and the public at risk. It also violates numerous federal and state laws,” said Bonta. “As a healthcare provider, Kaiser should know that it has specific legal obligations to properly dispose of medical waste and safeguard patients’ medical information. I am pleased that Kaiser has been cooperative with my office and the district attorneys’ offices, and that it took immediate action to address the alleged violations.”
The settlement is the result of undercover inspections conducted by the district attorneys’ offices of dumpsters from 16 different Kaiser facilities. During those inspections, the district attorneys’ offices reviewed the contents of unsecured dumpsters destined for disposal at publicly accessible landfills, finding hundreds of items of hazardous and medical waste (aerosols, cleansers, sanitizers, batteries, electronic wastes, syringes, medical tubing with body fluids, and pharmaceuticals) and over 10,000 paper records containing the information of over 7,700 patients. The California Department of Justice subsequently joined the district attorneys and expanded the investigation of Kaiser’s disposal practices further throughout the state. In response to this joint law enforcement investigation, Kaiser immediately hired a third-party consultant and conducted over 1,100 trash audits at its facilities in an effort to improve compliance. Kaiser also modified its operating procedures to improve its handling, storage, and disposal of waste.
Kaiser is headquartered in Oakland, California and operates over 700 facilities statewide, making it the largest healthcare provider in California. Kaiser provides healthcare to approximately 8.8 million Californians, as well as members of the public who seek emergency care from Kaiser facilities. In announcing the settlement, Attorney General Bonta was joined by the district attorneys of Alameda, San Bernardino, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Mateo, and Yolo counties.
“As a major corporation in Alameda County, Kaiser Permanente has a special obligation to treat its communities with the same bedside manner as its patients,” said Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price. “Dumping medical waste and private information are wrong, which they have acknowledged. This action will hold them accountable in such a way that we hope means it doesn’t happen again.”
“I am confident that this case shows the residents of San Bernardino County that our Office will not stand by as hospitals and other medical clinics dispose of medical waste including biohazards, hazardous waste and personal health information into our landfills, jeopardizing medical confidentiality,” said San Bernardino County District Attorney Jason Anderson. “Deputy District Attorney’s Stephanie Weissman and Supervising Deputy District Attorney Doug Poston dedicated years of their time and expertise to ensure the residents of our County are protected from the mishandling of medical waste and Kaiser policies are improved to safeguard the public moving forward.”
“My office takes patient privacy and the protection of the environment very seriously,” said San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins. “Hazardous waste, medical waste, and confidential patient information must be disposed of properly. When it is not, we will not hesitate to take action. Protecting patient privacy and the environment is just as important as protecting public safety.”
“This resolution further protects the health and safety of the residents of San Joaquin County and the state as a whole,” said San Joaquin County District Attorney Ron Freitas. “The unlawful disposal of hazardous medical waste has no place in this county, or any county, and the mishandling of confidential patient information will not be tolerated. The settlement with Kaiser places the appropriate safeguards to ensure that this never happens again.”
“As the largest healthcare provider in the state, Kaiser has an extraordinary responsibility to the public and to its own patients to ensure that hazardous waste, potentially infectious human waste materials, and highly sensitive patient health information are handled according to state laws and not sent to municipal landfills not equipped to handle those wastes,” said San Mateo County District Attorney Stephen M. Wagstaffe. “Our Environmental Unit continues to work with San Mateo County environmental regulators and colleagues across the state to investigate and prosecute entities that break the law and endanger the environment.”
As part of the settlement, Kaiser:
Will pay $47.250 million. That amount includes $37,513,000 in civil penalties; $4,832,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs; and $4,905,000 for supplemental environmental projects, primarily environmental prosecutor training.
Must pay an additional $1.75 million in civil penalties if, within 5 years of the entry of the final judgment, Kaiser has not spent $3.5 million at its California facilities to implement enhanced environmental compliance measures to ensure compliance with relevant provisions of the law that are alleged to have been violated.
Must retain an independent third-party auditor — approved by the Attorney General’s Office and the district attorneys — who will: perform no less than 520 trash compactor audits at Kaiser’s California facilities to help ensure that regulated wastes (including items containing protected health information) are not unlawfully disposed of; and conduct at least 40 programmatic field audits each year, for a period of five years after entry of the final judgment, to evaluate Kaiser’s compliance with policies and procedures designed to ensure compliance with applicable laws related to hazardous waste, medical waste, and protected health information.
Kaiser’s unlawful disposals are alleged to violate California’s Hazardous Waste Control Law, Medical Waste Management Act, Confidentiality of Medical Information Act, Customer Records Law, and Unfair Competition Law. The disposals are also alleged to violate the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, known as HIPAA.
In 2014, the California Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Kaiser after it delayed notifying its employees about an unencrypted USB drive that was discovered at a Santa Cruz thrift store. The USB drive contained over 20,000 employee records. Kaiser paid $150,000 in penalties and attorneys’ fees, and agreed to comply with California’s data breach notification law in the future, provide notification of any future breach on a rolling basis, and implement additional training regarding the sensitive nature of employee records. In addition, Kaiser has been the subject of prior enforcement actions by local prosecutors for mismanagement of regulated wastes.
A copy of the complaint and proposed stipulated judgment, which details the aforementioned settlement terms and remains subject to court approval, can be found here and here.
Kaiser Issues Statement in Response
Kaiser responded with the following statement:
“Kaiser Permanente is committed to the health and well-being of our members, patients, employees, physicians, and the communities we serve, which includes proper waste disposal and protecting the confidentiality of member and patient information. Millions of people receive care and support in our hundreds of medical facilities across California each year and we have well-established policies and procedures for disposing of the different kinds of resulting waste items.
About six years ago we became aware of occasions when, contrary to our rigorous policies and procedures, some facilities’ landfill-bound dumpsters included items that should have been disposed of differently. Upon learning of this issue, we immediately completed an extensive auditing effort of the waste stream at our facilities and established mandatory and ongoing training to address the findings. All Kaiser Permanente staff and physicians in California take this required annual training. We also introduced specialized equipment, instructions, and receptacles placed closest to where waste is generated to ensure all types of waste are disposed of properly, and we introduced more environmentally friendly products to enhance our long-standing environmental compliance measures.
We take this matter extremely seriously and have taken full responsibility to acknowledge and, in cooperation with the California Attorney General and county district attorneys, correct our performance regarding landfill-bound trash where it may have fallen short of our standards. We dedicated many hours to identifying and closing gaps to strengthen our regulated waste disposal program and are confident in our ability not only to meet the monitoring and reporting requirements of this settlement, but to comply with the numerous requirements that apply to the different kinds of waste that result from caring for millions of Californians.
In order to address this issue, Kaiser Permanente developed a three-step approach that includes:
Assessment of hospitals, medical office buildings, and other facilities to identify the types of waste generated and to provide the right receptacles so that it is as easy and convenient as possible for our staff and physicians to dispose of waste in the appropriate receptacles;
Worksite rounding to observe disposal techniques and to provide just-in-time training to ensure compliance with proper practices; and
Training, which every employee and physician in California is required to participate in annually, on proper waste disposal processes.
We are not aware of body parts being found at any time during this investigation. There were isolated examples of what appeared to be small amounts of tissue debris.”
Hear five-time Grammy® nominee David Arkenstone in concert in Northern California in October. The first Antioch Herald reader to call (925) 457-5324 wins two tickets to a concert on Oct. 8th in Sonoma or Oct. 10th in Berkeley.
Learn more about David Arkenstone and Friends here.
