Thorpe nominates Barbanica, Ogorchock to city manager recruitment ad hoc committee then votes against appointing them

Agree to settle employment discrimination lawsuit by former female Antioch cop against police department on 4-1 vote

Extend contract for city Public Information Officer at $8,000 per month for another six months

By Allen Payton

During their meeting Tuesday night, Nov. 23, 2021, the Antioch Council approved another cannabis business, one that processes marijuana through a cold-water extraction, on a unanimous vote, approved settling a former female cop’s employment discrimination lawsuit against the police department on a split vote, and fails to form an ad hoc committee for the hiring of a new city manager on another split vote. They also voted unanimously to extend the city’s PIO contract for another six months.

Before the regular meeting began, following the council’s closed session, City Attorney Thomas Lloyd Smith reported out regarding the lawsuit of Blanco v. City of Antioch, United States District Court Northern District of California, Case No. 3:20-cv-02764-TSH. The city council decided to settle the case, with Barbanica voting no, Smith said.

On April 21, 2020, former Antioch Police Officer Brittney Blanco filed a Civil Rights Employment Discrimination lawsuit against the police department. The case was filed in U.S. District Court, California Northern District. Blanco served on the force from July 2017 until August 2019. No word was given regarding the details of the settlement.

Extend $8K Monthly PIO Contract

During the Consent Calendar, the council voted unanimously to extend the contract for the City’s public information officer, Rolando Bonilla, of San Francisco-based Voler Strategic Advisors at $8,000 per month for another six months, through May 15, 2022. The total contract is not to exceed $256,000. Bonilla has been the City’s PIO since fall 2019. PIO Contract Extension ACC112321

Public Comments Now In-Person, Still Online and By Phone

At the start of the regular meeting, Mayor Lamar Thorpe stated that public comments from those in attendance at the council meetings would be heard first, followed by those who submitted their comments online or call in.

Unanimously Approve Another Cannabis Business

The council then held a public hearing on another cannabis business. According to City staff, “Delta Lab is proposing a cannabis operations facility with non-volatile extraction” manufacturing. It will be located in the same building where the same family owns Delta Dispensary on W. 10th Street. Delta Labs – city staff report ACC112321

The applicant, Rick Oak, along with his two sons, Dustin and Richard, spoke about their project which is “a cold-water extraction facility and family owned.” He showed a floorplan of the project and explained the product is dropped off process using small washing-type machines using ice to “knock off the hash from the product”. Then it’s stored in refrigerators until sold and picked up by truck.

District 3 Councilwoman Lori Ogorchock was the only member to ask a question about security.

“There’s a guard in our lobby in the dispensary,” Oak said.

With no one from the public speaking against the project, the council approved it on a 5-0 vote.

City Manager Recruitment Ad Hoc Committee

The council then considered forming an ad hoc committee on the recruitment of a permanent city manager.

“I think we have too much going on, right now,”said Wilson. “I think we should hold off until after the new year.”

Ogorchock volunteered to be on the ad hoc committee and Barbanica volunteered, too.

Thorpe then offered them as his nominees to the ad hoc committee.

Ogorchock made the motion and Barbanica seconded it, to approve the formation of the ad hoc committee, the appointment of the two council members, and a termination date of seven months.

“I’m looking at an estimated timeframe of April 30, 2022,” said Administrative Services Director Nickie Mastay.

The motion then failed on a 2-3 vote with Thorpe, Wilson and District 1 Councilwoman Torres-Walker voting no.

“Since that didn’t pass, it will come back, later,” Thorpe said.

 

Saturday, November 27, 2021 is Small Business Saturday – a day to celebrate and support small businesses and all they do for their communities. This year, we know that small businesses need our support now more than ever as they navigate, retool and pivot from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Please join SBA and organizations across the country in supporting your local small businesses by shopping at a small business.

Each year, the merchants in Antioch’s historic, downtown Rivertown celebrate Small Business Saturday, the first Saturday after Thanksgiving and invite shoppers to Shop Local. Shop Small. Shop Rivertown.

Antioch’s Rivertown and the new Rivertown Dining District are located in the area of the city between A Street and Auto Center Drive and north of West 10th Street to the river.

Founded by American Express in 2010 and officially cosponsored by SBA since 2011, Small Business Saturday has become an important part of small businesses’ busiest shopping season. Historically, reported projected spending among U.S. consumers who shopped at independent retailers and restaurants on Small Business Saturday reached an estimated $19.8 billion according to the 2020 Small Business Saturday Consumer Insights Survey commissioned by American Express. The survey also found that 97% of shoppers recognized the positive impact they can make by shopping small and 85% of them reported they also encouraged friends and family to Shop Small® as well.

The highly successful team of SBA, Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP), and American Express will be kicking off the 2021 holiday season by encouraging consumers to support our nation’s nearly 32 million independent businesses this Small Business Saturday and all holiday season long.

 

$1.1 million in civil penalties; 113 tanks statewide, seven in Contra Costa County

By Bobbi Mauler, Executive Assistant, Contra Costa County Office of the District Attorney

Contra Costa County District Attorney Diana Becton announced today that the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office, together with 22 other California District Attorneys and City Attorneys, have reached a settlement with the Orange, California-based Hassan & Sons, Inc., H&S Energy, LLC and H&S Energy Products, LLC (formerly known as Colonial Energy, LLC),  (collectively referred to as “H&S Energy”) over allegations that the companies violated state laws regarding the operation and maintenance of motor vehicle fuel underground storage tanks (“USTs”). The settlement includes $1,100,000 in civil penalties, and investigative costs. H&S Energy has 113 fueling stations in California, of which, seven locations are in Contra Costa County. The settlement follows an investigation by local environmental health agencies of H&S Energy stations’ non-compliance with many provisions of the UST regulations.

The companies, started in 1996, have built and acquired gasoline and convenience stores throughout the state under the Chevron, Texaco, Shell, Extra Mile, and their own, Power Market brand, including locations in Bay Point, Brentwood, Oakley, Pittsburg and Martinez.

“UST owners and operators must comply with the applicable regulations in order to prevent potential harm to the environment,” said D.A. Becton. “H&S Energy was cooperative with the People’s investigation and expended significant resources in order to bring their stations into compliance.”

Under the settlement, which includes a Final Judgment and Permanent Injunction entered in Solano County Superior Court Case No. FCS057332 by the Honorable E. Bradley Nelson, H&S Energy must implement certain compliance assurance programs including hiring an environmental compliance manager and bi-annual environmental audits and reports submitted to the People. In addition, H&S Energy must pay $900,000 in civil penalties and $200,000 in costs. $550,000 is due within five days after entry of judgment, and the remaining $550,000 is due October 22, 2022.

Allen Payton contributed to this report.

 

The company has worked relentlessly both locally and nationally to combat human trafficking with programs and promotions aimed at stopping this heinous crime

Markstein Sales Company, the largest woman-owned and operated wholesale beverage distributor in Northern California, announced that its president, Laura Markstein, has been awarded the esteemed Public Affairs Award by the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) for her company’s work helping to end human trafficking in the United States. This award, given to one individual per year, if given at all, was announced at the NBWA 84th Annual Convention earlier this month. As a long-time supporter and sponsor of the local New Day for Children organization that provides funding to help American children who have been recovered from sex trafficking, Markstein took her efforts to a national level during 2021 when her company joined the NBWA’s Distributors Against Human Trafficking Initiative.

As part of its efforts, Markstein installed signage on all of its 75 vehicles that are typically on the roads of Contra Costa and Alameda Counties 14 hours per day, six days per week. The goal of these signs was to raise awareness locally and to provide easy access to hotline information for people that suspect, or know of, human trafficking cases. Markstein also provided personalized training, leveraged from both NBWA and New Day for Children, for all truck drivers and merchandisers so they know what to look out for on their daily routes and in the businesses they serve. Complementing these efforts, Markstein also regularly appealed to other companies around the country to join in the fight to end human trafficking. (See related article)

“Once we learned that our beer and beverage drivers had a unique visibility to many of the prime locations where traffickers often exploit victims, we wanted to leverage our position and do all we could to help fight this tragedy,” said Laura Markstein, CEO of Markstein Sales Company. “While we are proud of the work we have done to help this cause, this is a growing problem in our country and it needs every company and American citizen to do their part to help – whether that be company sponsored programs or simply a watchful eye in someone’s everyday life. These efforts make a tangible difference and we can all do our part to help.”

Human trafficking is a growing problem in the U.S., with more than 11,500 human trafficking cases reported in 2019 alone. California has consistently had the highest human trafficking rates in the United States with 1,507 cases reported in 2019.

“We chose Laura for this award because her company exemplifies what every beer and beverage distributor in the U.S. could be doing to help stop human trafficking,” said Craig Purser, President and CEO of NBWA. “If every member in every state across the country also contributes their part to help spot human trafficking while on their daily routes, we can make significant progress towards ending this criminal activity.”

The NBWA Initiative

In 2020, the National Beer Wholesalers Association launched Distributors Against Human Trafficking, to help combat human trafficking in the United States. Working alongside state attorneys general, NBWA created an awareness training video to help more than 140,000 beer distribution employees in the U.S. recognize and report signs of human trafficking. To date, NBWA has successfully trained nearly 24,000 beer distributors from 207 companies, surpassing its initial goal to train 10,000 distributors by the end of 2021. Beer distributors are uniquely positioned to help fight this heinous crime given their level of access to locations often unseen by the public as they visit around 600,000 licensed retail locations across the country.

About Markstein Sales Company

Markstein Sales Company is a fourth-generation, woman-owned and operated wholesale beverage distributor based in Antioch, Calif. Founded in 1919 with just a horse, a wagon and six cases of beer, Markstein is now in its 102nd year and distributing over four million cases annually to 2000 retailers in the Bay Area. The company’s portfolio is composed of multiple world-class beers including the Anheuser-Busch InBev and Constellation Brands family of beers, several high-quality craft beers and many others, as well as non-alcoholic beverages. Markstein is known for outstanding customer service, dedication to their employees and commitment to the community. The company continues to rank as best in class by retailers and is one of the top ten largest Woman Owned Businesses in the Bay Area. More information can be found at https://www.marksteinsalescompany.com

 

See unique costumes by Antioch designer

After a nearly two-year hiatus, due to COVID-19, the troupe of Polynesian dancers from the Mau Loa Ohana Hula and Tahitian Dance Studio in Antioch, owned and operated by Monique Castaneda, is returning to the stage for a very special night of exciting entertainment and everyone is invited to attend.

Please join us on Saturday evening, October 23, 2021, at the Liberty High School Theater in Brentwood, for an evening filled with exciting Polynesian music and dancing along with a very special treat for everyone who attends.  The doors open at 7:00 PM and the show starts at 7:30 PM.  (Facemasks are required.) Tickets are $15.00 per person and can be purchased at the dance studio located at 1360 Sunset Drive in Antioch. (just a couple doors down from Aladino’s Pizza) or you can call them at (925) 550-8155.

This event is very special because Castaneda and the Mau Loa Ohana dancers have recently teamed up with an extraordinary costume designer from Antioch, Julie Carlson of Outside of the Box Costume and Apparel Designs. She, like Castaneda used to be a Tahitian dancer herself and they will be presenting something extra special to the audience that evening. 

Carlson has created an extremely unique Tahitian dance costume design. It will be the first time anyone has publicly debuted a Tahitian dance costume that incorporates this unique feature, giving the entire dance a new look and feel.  Carlson looked everywhere to see if anyone else has done anything like this and could not find anything that is even remotely like her new design. Prepare yourselves to be wowed!

For years, Castaneda had been dreaming that someday, someone would create such a costume. Throughout the years, Castaneda and her dance teams tried to come up with a way of creating a costume with these unique features, but alas, they couldn’t quite figure out how to make it happen.

The exact same story was true for Carlson but when she recently returned from a vacation in Hawaii this past July, she was once again inspired to try to bring her vision of this unique and new Tahitian dance costume design into reality.  And it appears that Carlson finally figured how to do it.  She then contacted Castaneda and they set up a time to meet each other for the very first time.  We’ll see what happens next. But both women think, with the help of the Mau Loa Ohana dancers, this exciting new costume design will, as they say, “go viral”.

Liberty High School is located at 850 2nd Street in Brentwood.

See you on the 23rd!

Small wineries can open two off-site tasting rooms     

Local governments gain new tools for overseeing short-term rentals

Thousands of acres of East Bay wilderness to be preserved

By Steven Harmon, Policy Analyst/Communications, Office of Sen. Steve Glazer

Governor Gavin Newsom has signed three long-standing proposals advanced by Senator Steve Glazer, (D-7-Orinda), that will have a direct impact on residents of Contra Costa and Alameda counties.

“It’s very gratifying to see important legislative priorities for my district signed into law,” Senator Glazer said. “These are bills and proposals that I’ve been working on with partners, in some cases, for years. I’m thankful to Governor Newsom for ushering them across the finish line with his signature, a nice reward for all the hard work put in by key allies and friends.”

The three proposals that Gov. Newsom signed were:

Winegrowers: Offsite Tasting Rooms (SB 19)

SB 19 will allow licensed winegrowers or brandy manufacturers to operate two off-site tasting rooms under their winegrower licenses. This bill will particularly help small and family-owned wineries to operate as California continues to recover from the Pandemic.

Approximately 55 wineries are located in Senator Glazer’s district, including in Livermore, Oakley, Brentwood, Byron and Moraga.

“Small and family-owned wineries have struggled the most among wineries, because they rely heavily on visitors and direct sales,” said Senator Glazer. “With tourism taking a terrible hit from the pandemic and consequences of the wildfires, I’m glad that Governor Newsom recognized that these wineries are in need of that additional outlet to provide tastings and sales to their customers.”

Prior to the current tasting room closures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, many wineries viewed additional off-site tasting rooms as a significant benefit. This was even more pressing for many small wineries looking to expand business opportunities, especially those wineries that produce their wine in an agreement to use the facility and equipment of a second (usually larger) winery.

Steven Kent Mirassou, owner and winemaker of Steven Kent winery, part of the Livermore Valley Wine Country Association, said SB 19 will make a difference to the industry, but also to wine enthusiasts.

“The ability to take care of people – which is the true center of hospitality and wine – is important at all times,” Kent Mirassou said. “It is especially crucial during the pandemic when we are all striving to maintain connections with our larger circle of friends and patrons, that small wineries remain open and thriving. I am so appreciative of the hard work and perseverance that Senator Glazer and his staff have shown in helping us continue to add joy and richness to peoples’ lives.”

With the COVID-19 pandemic, tasting rooms have been required to either close or significantly alter their operations for tastings, but can continue to operate sales for curbside pickup or delivery. Tourism has become almost nonexistent and is not expected to recover for several years. As a result, the impact from COVID-19 to the wine industry is estimated to be $5.9 billon, with a $3 billion loss in tasting room sales.

In addition, the 2020 wildfires had a substantial impact on the wine industry. According to the Wine Institute, the estimate of damage from 2020 wildfires amounts to $3.7 billion, including a loss of $41 million in tasting room sales and $57.6 million in lost winery structures.

Allows Increased Fines on Short Term Rental Violations – to Rein in House Parties (SB 60)

Under SB 60, cities and counties can now impose increased penalties on short-term rental hosts who violate local property rental laws – an attempt to rein in house parties, sometimes violent, that have been occurring at short term rentals because of lax oversight of these properties. SB 60, which took effect immediately, authorizes localities to impose fines up to $5,000 for a violation of a short-term ordinance.

“These large gatherings have made some short-term rental properties the sites of underage drinking, brawls, noise complaints, and violence,” Senator Glazer said. “I’m grateful to Governor Newsom for signing this bill so that local governments have the tools to ensure the safety of those who want to continue to use short-term rentals, and of our residents who live nearby these properties.”

The legislation was sparked by a spate of violence at short-term rental properties, most notably a mass shooting in Orinda, where five people were killed. Other abuses at short-term rentals occurred in Los Angeles and other locales in Northern California, including a party at a Sunnyvale rental where a teenager was shot and killed in August after violence erupted at the gathering. (See related articles, here, here, here and here)

Smaller fines were proving to be ineffective in deterring violations. Hosts were able to charge so much rent for big houses that the fines, if they occurred, were just seen as a cost of doing business.

“Violence and destructive behavior at short term rentals has become a true public safety issue in cities throughout California, as residents of Orinda know all too well,” Orinda Mayor Amy Worth said. “I am thankful that mayors like me will now have the ability to impose fines at a level high enough to get the attention of property owners who operate short term rentals to ensure the safety of our residents. Senator Glazer has been a true champion of this issue, and we are thankful for his hard work on making this California law.”

The use of short-term rentals has skyrocketed by 105 percent over just the past three years, according to vacation rental data compiled by AirDNA. Though short-term rentals offer a way to improve tourism and earn owners some extra money, their recent proliferation has allowed bad actors to use the platform to advertise and secure homes for large parties, oftentimes in violation of local ordinances.

The Covid-19 pandemic led to an increase in people using short-term rentals to evade public health restrictions on large public gatherings. Noise complaints as a result of parties have tripled since the start of the pandemic, according to Host Compliance, which tracks legal compliance among short-term rentals for 350 cities and counties in the U.S.

In the last half of 2019, 42 people were shot inside or just outside a short-term rental property nationwide and 17 people died.

Tesla Land Preservation (Budget)

Thousands of acres of East Bay wilderness threatened by the expansion of an off-highway vehicle park will instead be preserved. (See related article)

The legislation, approved in the Governor’s recent budget bills and took effect immediately, ends plans to expand the Carnegie State Vehicular Recreation Area into the 3,100-acre Tesla parcel in the southeast corner of Alameda County, which scientists have described as a biologically unique habitat and Native Americans have long considered to be a sensitive historical site.

That land will now become a new state park closed to motorized recreation. The state will reimburse the Off-Highway Vehicle fund for the purchase price of the land, its appreciation in value, and the money spent planning the expansion, which was opposed from the start 20 years ago by nearby residents and public agencies. That money will go toward the purchase and development of an off-road park at another location.

“Our community and region will preserve this natural and cultural treasure, leaving it pristine for future generations to enjoy,” Senator Glazer said. “Meanwhile, off-road enthusiasts will be able to keep their current park and receive funding to develop another park on land that’s more suitable to that kind of recreation. I appreciate the hard work that so many key individuals played in moving this critical environmental and cultural issue to the Governor’s desk, and, of course, for the Governor to work with all the players to sign this important agreement.”

Senator Glazer partnered with Assembly member Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, the Sierra Club, Friends of Tesla Park and other environmental organizations and individuals in getting the final approval from the governor’s office. Earlier, former Assembly member Catharine Baker worked with Senator Glazer on the same issue.

Nancy Rodrigue, a leading member of the Friends of Tesla Park steering committee and Livermore resident, said she was proud that years of hard work and persistence paid off.

“A very special thank you goes to Senator Glazer and Assembly member Rebecca Bauer-Kahan for the many years of work on this special project,” Rodrigue said. “Tesla Park will now be a reserve with no motorized recreation. Instead, the future holds Tesla as a protected native landscape for hikers, history buffs, nature lovers, researchers and educators.

“Saving Tesla Park has been a long, difficult, and now a rewarding journey, and we are grateful for the tremendous work of so many for saving Tesla as a legacy for future generations,” Rodrigue continued. “We are looking forward to planning the next phase of Tesla Park as a nature and cultural preserve, providing passive recreation and education to the community of the Bay area, the San Joaquin Valley, and Northern California.”