Antioch Council to finalize reestablishing Economic Development Department, with director or assistant city manager dual role
Plus, discuss downtown security services, vote on emergency fuel purchase, more traffic calming devices, increasing investigative services contract, more water park repairs & improvements, and report on state and federal funds for housing and homeless
Still nothing on agenda about El Campanil Theatre although escrow closes Sept. 29th
By Allen D. Payton
During their regular meeting Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026, the Antioch City Council has a full agenda and will vote on reestablishing the Economic Development Department, with one staff member and either a director or combined assistant city manager dual role,emergency fuel purchase, increasing investigative services contract for the Police Department by $250,000,almost $200,000 for more traffic calming devices and $141,000 for more improvements to the water park. They will also discuss restoring private security services in downtown Rivertown and the annual report on use of state and federal funds for housing and homeless services. Finally, the Council will vote on approving a Tentative Agreement with the Confidential Unit of City employees for a one-year 3% COLA increase.
That will follow a Closed Session at 6:00 p.m. during which the Council will meet to discuss the contracts with representatives of three employee organizations: Antioch Public Employees’ Association, Treatment Plant Employees’ Association and Antioch Police Sworn Management Association.
Reestablishing Economic Development Department, Director, Staff or Dual Assistant City Manager Role, Possible Commission
Under Item 7 the Council will vote on reestablishing a standalone Economic Development Department separate from Community Development, with funding for an Economic Development Director position with an amended salary range, an Economic Development Specialist, and assigning a budget; or directing staff to revise the existing Assistant City Manager job description whose primary role would be to focus on economic development in an 80/20 scope of work structure.
As previously reported and according to the City staff report, “Per the City Council’s direction from the August 31, 2026, Study Session, below are the options for discussion.
• A standalone Economic Development Department;
• An Economic Development Director responsible for oversight and implementation of the Economic Development Strategic Plan or amending the Assistant City Manager to an 80/20 dual role;
• Status of Economic Development Commission (EDC); and
• Providing a substantial budget to the Economic Development Department for programming and successful operations.
“Under the proposed 80/20 structure, the City Manager Department would gain dedicated Assistant City Manager capacity for executive initiatives, Council priorities, interdepartmental coordination, and organizational problem-solving, while retaining responsibility for matters that cannot be delegated. This creates a tradeoff between dedicated departmental oversight and unrestricted Assistant City Manager capacity.”
In addition, Mayor Ron Bernal suggested a salary range “something similar to the current Community and Economic Development Director of $14,800 to $18,000.”
Also, as previously reported, the two departments were combined last year and has had an acting director since March 3rd, after a the new director was hired in October but left effective that day. The Economic Development Department hasn’t had a separate director since Kwame Reed was promoted to Assistant City Manager on Jan. 23, 2025. He, too, has since left the City for a job with the County.
While the Commission was never officially dissolved, during their meeting on April 9, 2024, the City Council voted unanimously to dissolve their own Restructuring of the Economic Development Commission Ad Hoc Committee. According to the meeting minutes, District 1 “Councilmember Tamisha Torres-Walker explained that the committee’s purpose was to restructure the EDC to improve functionality,” but “expressed her support for dissolving the existing Ad Hoc Committee.”
During that council meeting, then-District 3 Councilwoman Lori Ogorchock asked that the vacancies on the Commission be filled to no avail.
According to Tim McCall, the Commission’s former chairman, then-mayor “Lamar (Hernandez-Thorpe) refused to fill vacancies until they didn’t have a quorum anymore. People started quitting because they could see their volunteer work was going to waste and they had better uses for their time. I asked Lamar to fill the vacancies, but he didn’t.”
Downtown Security Services
Under Item 6, on the agenda, the Council will discuss downtown security services for City owned parking lots, property and public areas, and provide direction to staff on whether to initiate a competitive Request for Proposals (RFP) process for private security services in the Rivertown/Downtown area.
It follows the meetings held with and incorporates feedback received from downtown business owners and community members regarding hours of operation, patrol locations, scope of services and other identified needs.
Emergency Fuel Purchase Up to $500,000
Under Item 8, the Council will vote on purchasing fuel on an emergency basis through December 31, 2026, in an amount not to exceed $500,000, including applicable taxes, fees, delivery charges, and other associated costs,
to cover both the payment of outstanding fuel invoices accrued from July 1, 2026, through August 31, 2026, in the amount of $178,042.33 and the purchase of fuel necessary to maintain City operations until December 31, 2026, while City staff continue efforts to secure a new service provider for a long-term fuel supply agreement.
On April 28, 2026, the City Council approved a cooperative purchase agreement with Hunt and Sons for the purchase and delivery of unleaded and renewable diesel fuel for City operations. Hunt and Sons have not been able to meet the City’s insurance requirements and are therefore not able to perform this service under the terms of the agreement.
Since July 1, 2026, the City has continued receiving fuel deliveries from Hunt and Sons while staff, under consultation with the City Attorney’s Office, worked with the vendor to resolve the insurance requirements. The outstanding invoices will continue to accrue twice weekly as future fuel deliveries are made.
Annual Report on Use of State and Federal Housing and Homeless Funds
Under Item 9 the Council will receive public comments and vote on approving the Fiscal Year 2025–26 Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER) for submission to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
According to the City staff report, “The CAPER details the individual goals and achievements of funded agencies during the first year (FY 2025-26) of the 2025-30 Consolidated Plan. Most agencies exceeded their goals. Below is a summary of the Priority Goals and Annual Strategies that received funding in FY 2025-26. Funding sources below are identified by their stated abbreviation for funds committed and expended:
• Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development;
• Housing Successor (HS) funding authorized by the State for expenditure on affordable housing and homeless services; and
• Permanent Local Housing Allocation (PLHA) funding from the State for expenditure on affordable housing and homeless services.
A total of $1,701,909.45 was spent on the various programs and a balance of $144,428.20 in Habitat for Humanity Homeowner Housing Rehabilitation funds was carried over to and will be expended in FY26-27.
Breakdown of Residents Served
According to the FY 2025-26 Summary, “Funding from the City of Antioch Community Grants Program served a total of 6,497 Antioch residents during the past year for 148% of the cumulative goal of 4,398. Of the total Antioch residents served by all programs:
• 68.8% had household incomes of 30% or less AMI (Average Median Income);
• 28.7% had incomes of 50% to 31% AMI; and
• 2.5 had incomes of 80% to 51% AMI.
The demographic breakdown of all served against the demographics of the City of Antioch is provided in the chart above.
The report also states, “Overall, community-service activities exceeded the cumulative annual service goal, with most participating agencies meeting or exceeding their individual goals. Several affordable-housing activities remain in progress or below their annual production goals and will require continued monitoring, financial reconciliation, and follow-up during FY 2026–27.”
Increasing Investigative Services Contract for Police Department to Comply with DOJ, Allen Agreements
Under Item 10, the Council will consider approving Amendment No. 2 to the contract with Chaplin and Hill Investigative Services, increasing the contract amount by $250,000 for continued investigative services “required pursuant to the USDOJ MOU, the Allen Agreement, and applicable City policies and procedures,” according to the City staff report.
Also, according to City staff, “To maintain public confidence and uphold the integrity of internal investigations, the Antioch Police Department must ensure that its process for handling allegations of misconduct is impartial and consistent with applicable federal requirements. Engaging independent, external professional investigators provides an objective means of conducting investigations involving allegations of misconduct and other matters requiring an independent review.
“This approach is consistent with national law enforcement best practices and standards. The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP)…recommends the use of external investigators to promote fairness and impartiality in law enforcement investigations.”
City Employee Confidential Unit One-Year 3% COLA
Under Item 11, the Council will vote on approving a Tentative Agreement with the Confidential Unit of City employees which includes a one-year 3% Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) and benefits for FY2026/27 at a cost of $123,000 with $103,000 from the General Fund. The Confidential Unit includes a variety of staff positions: the Deputy City Clerk, Account Specialists, Analysts, Assistants, Coordinators, Specialists and Technicians. The 26 employees in the Unit have been working without a contract since September 30, 2025. See City’s Master Salary Schedule.
CONSENT CALENDAR
More Traffic Calming Devices
After approving the expenditure of a little over $500,000 for the traffic calming devices on Sycamore Drive on Aug. 25, under Item 5.P. on the Consent Calendar, the Council will consider awarding the construction agreement to Consolidated Engineering, Inc. in the amount of $168,495 with a contingency of $30,000 for a total contract amount of $198,495 for the Neighborhood Traffic Calming Project.
It consists of the installation of speed hump systems, signage and thermoplastic striping. There will be a total of eight speed hump systems constructed on the following streets:
- Sunset Drive between Diablo and Beasley Avenues;
- E. Tregallas Road between Center Lane and Garrow Drive;
- Wildflower Drive between Larkspur Drive and Lupine Court;
- W. Madill Street between D and G Streets;
- D Street between the Railroad and Texas Street;
- East 19th Street between Acacia and Deodar Avenues;
- Sunset Lane between Northridge and Daphne Courts; and
- Candlewood Way between Arroyo and Stagecoach Ways.
According to the City staff report, funding for the project will be from the FY 25/26 Capital Improvement Budget which has a balance of $292,292 carried over into the FY 26/27 budget of $250,000 for a total of $542,292 from Measure J Funds. Following procurement of the contract and an estimated 10% of $16,850 for construction engineering, management, inspection, testing and contract administration, that will leave an estimated fund balance of $326,947.
More Water Park Repairs & Improvements
Under Item 5.Q. the Council will consider approving an amendment to the construction agreement with Top Line Engineers, Inc. in the amount of $78,232.98, for a total contract amount of $276,732.98 for Prewett Water Park Concrete Improvements 2026 Project; and under Item 5.R. they will vote on approving a second amendment to the construction agreement with Adams Pool Solutions in the amount of $63,034, for a total contract amount of $855,632 for the Prewett Water Park Pool Resurfacing Project; and approving a budget amendment to the Fiscal Year 2026/2027 Capital Improvement and Operating Budgets utilizing General Funds for the project by $75,000.
Allocate & Reallocate State Violence Intervention & Prevention Grant Funds
Under Item 5.S, on the Consent Calendar, the Council will vote on approving a budget amendment to appropriate and reappropriate California Violence Intervention and Prevention (CalVIP) Cohort 5 Grant funds across Fiscal Years 2025–26 through 2028–29, consistent with the approved grant award and anticipated expenditure schedule.
According to the City staff report, “On March 10, 2026, the City Council authorized acceptance of $2,066,775 in CalVIP Cohort 5 funding administered by BSCC. At that time, Council appropriated $112,000 for anticipated Fiscal Year 2025–26 expenditures and directed that the remaining grant balance be incorporated into subsequent fiscal-year budgets consistent with the grant term and approved spending plan.
“CalVIP is a competitive State grant program supporting jurisdictions disproportionately impacted by violent crime through evidence-based violence interruption, prevention, and intervention strategies. The City’s Cohort 5 award continues and expands upon violence intervention infrastructure established through prior CalVIP funding beginning in 2022.
“CalVIP Cohort 5 supports the City’s continued violence intervention and prevention activities, including personnel dedicated to program administration, violence intervention and outreach; community-based services and partnerships; participant supports; evaluation and performance measurement; and other activities authorized under the approved grant agreement.
“Because the…Cohort 5 grant extends across multiple City fiscal years, expenditure authority must be appropriately budgeted within each fiscal year in which grant-funded costs are anticipated.
The proposed budget amendment…establishes and adjusts appropriations across Fiscal Years 2025–26 through 2028–29 to align the City’s financial budget with the anticipated timing of…Cohort 5 expenditures.
Meeting Details
The Regular meeting begins at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 200 H Street, in historic, downtown Rivertown and can be viewed via livestream on the City’s website, on Comcast cable TV channel 24 or AT&T U-verse channel 99 or on the City’s YouTube channel.
See the complete agenda packet with staff reports here.
the attachments to this post:
City of Antioch Council Mtg org chart & Econ Dev
Econ Dev Dept words & Commission
Rivertown sign & Lumber Co bldg & security badge
Hunt & Sons fuel invoice
CAPER Demographics of Individuals Served FY25-26
CalVIP Cohort 5 Grand Fund Chart
Traffic Calming Sunset Ln Wildflower Dr
Traffic Calming E Tregallas & E. 19th St
