On Friday, September 18, the Antioch Police Activities League Board of Directors will host a fundraiser at Dutch Bros at 3280 Hillcrest Avenue. They will donate $1 from every drink purchased when customers mention Antioch PAL to support activities for Antioch youth.
Please stop by, purchase a drink and help us spread the word by sharing the attached flyer with your friends, colleagues and community networks. Every drink helps Antioch PAL continue supporting local youth through athletic and enrichment programs.
One drink. One dollar. All for Antioch youth.
Mark your calendars and thank you for helping us make this day count!
We will be hosting a Community Meeting on Thursday, September 10th at 6:30 p.m. at MNO Grant Elementary (4325 Spaulding Street). We encourage you to attend, as this is a valuable opportunity to ask questions, receive helpful information and engage directly with your Police Department.
Will receive findings of Community Outreach, Land Use Introduction
Top Quality of Life issue: Jobs
By Allen D. Payton
The second meeting of the General Plan Advisory Committee will be held on Tuesday, September 1st at 6:00 PM. It’s part of the process to update the City’s General Plan, the long-term policy document that guides the community’s growth and development, addressing physical, economic, social and environmental changes for years to come. (See related articles here and here)
There are two items on the agenda.
Under item 5.1, Beth Thompson and Elise Laws of the De Novo Planning Group, the City’s consultants for the General Plan Update, will present the Community Outreach Findings which includes the Visioning Outreach Summary from the Community Visioning Workshops, Online Visioning Survey and Pop-up Events.
Source: City of Antioch
According to the staff report, the update process is currently in Phase One, Visioning. Across all Phase One activities, the City received 100 online survey responses, hosted two community workshops attended by approximately 80 participants, and held ten pop-up events.
In the findings, under Quality of Life Issues in response to the question, “What would you like to see more of in Antioch?” the top responses in order are Jobs, Public gathering places and community spaces and Restaurants.
Source: City of Antioch
Under item 5.2, the committee members will be provided with a Land Use Introduction by Thompson and Laws. As part of the General Plan Update process, the City will revise the General Plan Land Use Map.
The meeting will be held in the Antioch City Council Chambers at City Hall located at 200 H Street in historic, downtown Rivertown.
The agenda and meeting materials can be found here.
Source: City of Antioch
The updated General Plan is expected to be adopted by the city council in August 2027. To stay up to date on the General Plan Update process you can visit the project website at: https://antioch.generalplan.org/
Approves expansion of contract with DOJ monitoring consultant for police department
By Allen D. Payton
During their Special Meeting on Monday, August 31, 2026, the Antioch City Council, with District 2 Councilman Louie Rocha absent, voted to reestablish the Economic Development Department and hire its director, and expand the contract with the monitoring consultant for the police department required by the settlement agreement with U.S. Department of Justice. But they took no action during Closed Session.
The economic development department and director, with the option to combine it with the assistant city manager position will return to the Council during their regular meeting on Sept. 22nd.
Before they discussed those items, following their 5:30 p.m. Closed Session, City Attorney Lori Asuncion said there was nothing to report out on either item, regarding the lawsuit by the natural gas pipeline company nor the potential whistleblower lawsuit from either a current or former City employee.
Approve Expansion of Contract for DOJ Required Consultant Monitoring Antioch Police Department
After discussing then postponing the matter during their Aug. 25th meeting, under Item 1 on the Special Meeting agenda, the Council voted 4-0 to approve the First Amendment to the Professional Services Agreement with MS Investigative Services and Consulting, LLC, to expand the scope of services to include Independent Monitoring services required under the Allen Settlement Agreement signed March 27, 2026, authorized an additional annual compensation amount of $150,000 for monitoring services and the associated Fiscal Year 2026/27 General Fund budget amendment.
It increases the contract to a total of $400,000 per year. (See related article for more details)
City of Antioch organization chart would again look like this from 2024 with the reestablished Economic Development Department and if the Assistant City Manager position is filled and combined with the director’s position.
Agree to Reestablish Economic Development Department, Hire Director
Under Item 2 on the Special Meeting agenda the Council discussed reestablishing the City’s Economic Development Department and hiring a Director again and all four agreed.
Public Comments
During Public Comments on the agenda item, former Councilwoman and current candidate Joy Motts spoke first urging the council to support both forming the department, again and hiring a director.
Another council candidate, Sandra White said she “fully supported” both and wanted the Council to form an independent panel consisting of residents to conduct the recruitment process.
“It should be a priority with its own leadership and its own strategy,” another resident said. She also said the department “should work hand in hand with
Ron Mohammed said he agreed “with all the other shareholders, here, moving forward with economic development. The accountability and responsibility has to separate the two.”
“There are too many churches. That’s not an anchor tenant,” he continued. “That can’t be our economic engine and marijuana is oversaturated and overpopulated.
“We need an anchor tenant and churches can’t do it. That’s nothing against the faith-based. They don’t pay taxes,” Mohammed added.
A third council candidate, Andrew Becker, also spoke on the item, via Zoom, saying, “I think that we’ve all been talking about this for a long time. I think the bigger question is are we putting the cart before the horse. We have no direction where our city manager is going to be. There’s no plan for that. Will that city manager support the department and staff?”
“Why are you not looking at the tools that every other city has…for long-term economic development?” he also asked.
“Your previous economic development director brought you a plan that just sits there. You paid hundreds of thousands of dollars, and it just sits there. What is the leadership plan?” Becker asked as he concluded.
Carla Baker Marymee was the final resident to speak on the matter saying, “The person you’re going to hire to lead this, you’re going to be paying that person a lot of money.” She mentioned paying them by establishing goals “and seeing some actual results.”
“It isn’t just a marketing job. It’s a sales job,” Marymee continued. “Because you have to think about Antioch’s reputation right now. You’re going to need someone with a lot of influence to…sell the City.”
Council Discussion
Mayor Pro Tem and District 3 Councilman Don Freitas spoke first said, “Obviously for the past 20 months, the City Council said ED is the most important priority. Part of our ED is sustaining the businesses we already have.
“Some of us have talked about establishing a priority. I think it’s something to look at, to have an assistant city manager whose primary responsibility is economic development.
“I think we need a salary that will attract the right individual. Either he or she is someone who can really move us forward.”
Freitas then spoke of also re-establishing the Economic Development Commission.
“I think that having Economic Development be part of the City Manager’s staff…playing both roles, giving them the power to interact with all City departments…and beyond that with the Antioch School District and local colleges, Los Medanos being one of them…creating internships. I do think this is critical.”
He then asked about “our executive salary range. Is it high enough to attract the right individual?”
Freitas said, “this should be the number one priority of our community. Going back to the 1960’s we’ve probably spent hundreds of thousands, even millions of dollars.”
“Look at the previous Economic Development Strategy…working with the community, identify the top three priorities…to immediately focus on,” Freitas suggested.
“It’s been dead for more than six to eight years in the City of Antioch. I think this needs to be a priority,” he added.
District 4 Councilwoman Monica Wilson then said, “Our Economic Development Department in the past has had no budget or a minimal budget. If we want to do this and for them to be successful, we need to give them a budget. I definitely agree with Mayor Pro Tem Freitas.”
“I’m in agreement with reestablishing…
District 1 Councilwoman Tamisha Torres-Walker spoke next saying, “This is something this Council has been hearing not just for 18 months but for 18 years.” She spoke of the vacancy in the position of the department director from 2008 to 2018 and the last director, Kwame Reed. “There were two people and no budget,” she reiterated.
“We have not had an Economic development director since Kwame Reed left, what for 18 months?” Torres-Walker continued. She then mentioned the combining with the Community Development Department by City Manager Bessie Scott, “which “Freitas greatly protested as you can imagine.”
“Why? Because the salary wasn’t competitive enough,” she stated.
“I agree with the separation. If we really want to get serious, there are other issues in this city besides a salary range,” Torres-Walker continued. “Small businesses have held up the City of Antioch, especially in District 1.” She then mentioned the need to “recapture our sales tax leakage. It’s not that people aren’t spending money. They’re just not spending it in Antioch.”
Mayor Ron Bernal said, “Our last City Council budget meeting was rather sobering. Our sales tax revenue is down…trending in the wrong direction.”
“Expecting one person to do both those functions is not really going to happen,” he continued. He then also mentioned, “The salary for this position needs to be increased to…something similar to the current Community and Economic Development Director of $14,800 to $18,000.”
“One person cannot be responsible for the future of the economy of Antioch,” Bernal stated. “It’s going to have to be somebody who’s a hunter…out there with people. To put us in the best position possible as a city.”
He suggested creating just two positions for the new department to stay within this year’s adopted budget and “to budget for marketing and everything needed for the department…and start the recruitment as soon as possible to have it ready by the first of the new year.”
Freitas then reiterated his proposal of a combined position with the Assistant City Manager position (which is currently vacant), “with 80% focused on economic development” and “putting this in the City Manager’s office.”
He also supported an increase in the salary then reiterated forming “the Economic Development Commission after a director is hired.”
“We need to be realistic and provide a budget for this office and give them the discretion to spend money,” Freitas stated. “Waiting here in City Hall for people to walk in is not going to cut it.”
“I’m tired of talking. It’s time for action,” the Mayor Pro Tem stated and suggested bringing it back to a regular council meeting in September.
“Could this come back with both?” Torres-Walker asked.
“I could be prepared to bring back a staff report with both options,” Acting City Manager Ana Cortez responded.
That will be brought back to the next meeting on Sept. 22nd, along with the salary, and hiring a search firm.
“Job descriptions for the two positions the mayor described will also be coming back?” Wilson asked.
“We might want to update the job description, as well, to advertise for the recruitment,” Cortez responded.
In response to the possibility of a church purchasing the historic El Campanil Theatre in Antioch’s downtown Rivertown, the theater’s board of directors and staff are holding a Community Conversation entitled “Save Our State” Tuesday night, Sept. 1, 2026, at 7:00 p.m.
This year, the 98-year-old theater building was for sale with an asking price of $1.5 million and a local church was raising $300,000 for a 20% deposit. It’s currently not listed on either Realtor.com or LoopNet.
The theater building, which also houses two retail tenants on W. 2nd Street, was purchased by the non-profit organization, El Campanil Theatre Preservation Foundation, in 2003, with a grant of $500,000 from Calpine energy, which then-Mayor and now-Mayor Pro Tem Don Freitas secured. It was improved with $750,000 in City redevelopment funds and an additional $1 million raised under the leadership of then-foundation chairman Rick Carraher. But after running into financial difficulties following COVID, the building was sold a few years ago to an out-of-state buyer.
A post on the theaters’ Facebook page over the weekend reads: “El Campanil Theatre belongs in the heart of this community and we know many of you have questions about what comes next.
“We invite our patrons, supporters, artists, renters, business owners, and neighbors to join us for a short community gathering at the theatre.
“Come: • Hear an update and ask questions
• Share your El Campanil memories and stories
• Learn how you can support the theatre moving forward
• Connect with others who believe in keeping the arts alive in Antioch
“This is a time to come together, get informed, and talk about what the future of this historic stage could look like.
The Antioch Police Sycamore Substation is becoming more than a physical space — it’s becoming a place for connection, support, and community resources.
This past Saturday, CareGiver OneCall launched The Sandwich Circle, a free monthly support group for family caregivers and the first of several community partnerships being hosted at the Substation.
Flor Amaya and Claudie Niell at The Sandwich Circle inside the Antioch Police Sycamore Substation. Photos: City of Antioch
The program marks an important step in the City’s vision to activate the Sycamore Substation as a community hub, connecting residents in the Sycamore corridor with trusted organizations, services, and resources close to home.
We’re excited to see this space continue to grow and serve our community!
The Substation is located in Sycamore Square at 1084 Sycamore Drive near the corner of L Street in Antioch.
The Board of Supervisors of Contra Costa County recently proclaimed August 2026 as National Emergency Management Awareness Month in Contra Costa County.
The Board proclamation stated, “Contra Costa County is committed to building a culture of all-hazard emergency management throughout the County, to include all County Departments, Cities, Towns, and Special Districts charged with establishing and maintaining the capabilities necessary to effectively prepare for, mitigate, respond to, and recover from emergencies and disasters…”
“The County’s Office of Emergency Services, under the operations of the Office of the Sheriff and in collaboration with multiple County Departments, nineteen incorporated cities, special districts, First Responder Agencies, and community partners, works year-round to enhance our ability to prevent, mitigate, respond to, and recover from disasters, ensuring the community is positioned to return to normalcy after disaster…”
Here are some links for preparing for disasters and emergencies:
Contra Costa County is recognizing the professionals who plan, coordinate, mitigate, respond and help communities recover from disasters year-round. Learn more at https://ready.gov
