City’s first transitional housing program; Mayor Thorpe to present four women with Keys to the City
Antioch Mayor Lamar Thorpe cordially invites the public to the official ribbon cutting ceremony of the city’s first transitional housing program at the Executive Inn at 515 East 18th Street. (See related articles here and here)
The program aims to provide chronically homeless adults with a safe place to stay while connecting them with resources to transition into more stable or permanent housing.
The ceremony will take place at 11:00 a.m. Thursday, April 26, 2023. It will include invited special guests Vicki Proctor, Nichole Gardner of Facing Homelessness in Antioch, former Assistant City Manager Rosanna Bayon Moore, and former Councilwoman Joy Motts who were instrumental in their support for the project. They will each be presented with a Key to the City – Antioch’s highest and most respected honor and recognition – by the mayor.
Posts on Thorpe’s official Facebook page read, “All four of you played a major role in realizing the transformation of the Executive Inn into a place of hope and opportunity for unhoused residents. From planting the seeds of growth to overseeing its development. It has been a long and painstaking journey, but the time as arrived to officially open its doors. Congratulations.”
According to the event’s invitation, “In 2020, then Councilmembers Lamar Thorpe and Joy Motts proposed the city lease the Executive Inn to help get homeless people out of encampments and into temporary housing.
Long in the making, Antioch will be launching its first Non-Congregate Bridge Housing Program. The program aims to provide chronically homeless adults with a safe place to stay while connecting them with resources to transition into more stable or permanent housing.
Trained staff will be on-site at the motel 24/7.
The program will work closely with Contra Costa County’s homelessness response program and will be geared towrds adults without children who have been staying outdoors or in vehicles. A maximum of 45 people can be housed there at a time, with the typical stay expected to be 120 to 180 days. This means that about 135 individuals can be served throughout the year.”
On Wednesday, April 26, 2023, Antioch Mayor Lamar Thorpe will participate in a Community Conversation entitled Race Matters hosted by Delta Bay Community Church along with Dr. James L. Taylor, chair of the Politics Department at University of San Francisco. The conversation begins at 7 p.m. with doors opening at 6:30 p.m. and will be moderated by Pastor Dr. Lamont Francies. The church is located at 55 E.18th Street in Antioch.
Video screenshots of Rep. DeSaulnier on Twitter on Thursday, April 20, 2023. and Rep. Garamendi on Al Sharpton’s Politics Nation TV show on Sunday, April 23, 2023 discuss the Antioch Police scandal.
NOTE: Apologies for the delay in publishing this press release which was not viewed in our email until today, Tuesday, April 25, 2023.
Washington, D.C. – On Thursday, April 20, 2023, Representatives Mark DeSaulnier (CA-10) and John Garamendi (CA-08) sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland requesting the U.S. Department of Justice investigate the Antioch Police Department (APD) in Antioch, California following extremely troubling reports of racist, homophobic, and illegal conduct by law enforcement officers, demonstrating a pattern of unconstitutional discrimination, use of force, and violations of the constitutional rights of Antioch citizens.
“From this report, we know that at least 45 officers are involved in the specific text messages referenced, which is over half of the total 99 sworn officers currently employed by the Antioch Police Department. The messages in this report paint a clear picture of a systemic culture of racism, intolerance, and cruelty at the Antioch Police Department that is unacceptable for those sworn to protect and serve their community.”
“Given the egregiousness of the behavior outlined in the joint FBI and District Attorney’s report and the number of officers involved, we request that the Department initiate a Section 12601 investigation, or any other appropriate investigative or remediation effort, and respectfully request a response to this inquiry by May 5, 2023.”
DeSaulnier took to social media to further express his feelings about the actions by Antioch police officers. In a tweet of a video of him speaking on the matter on his official Twitter feed on Thursday, DeSaulnier wrote, “I am horrified by the reported conduct of officers in the Antioch Police Department.”
Garamendi appeared on Al Sharpton’s Politics Nation show on MSNBC on Sunday to discuss the matter. In a tweet on his official Twitter feed on Monday, Garamendi wrote, “The despicable, racist, and immoral statements made by Antioch Police Department officers must be thoroughly investigated by the United States Department of Justice.”
Owners Deb Blaisure (with plaque) and Toni Lincks (to her right) are joined by Chamber Board Member Michelle Copeland, Supervisor Diane Burgis, Past Chamber Chair Ana Walker and Executive Director Daniel Sohn. Photo by Allen D. Payton
During the Chamber of Commerce’s annual Gala on Friday, March 24, 2023, Executive Director Daniel Sohn read the following about the 2022 Antioch Small Business of the Year:
“Debbie Blaisure and Toni Lincks, owners of Rivertown Treasure Chest (RTC), are true ambassadors of the City of Antioch. On May 1, 2023, they will celebrate operating a thriving business downtown for more than 9 years.
Regarded as two of the most influential and respected promoters of economic growth and revitalization of the region. They operate a successful vintage and collectible co-op with 13 independent vendors and mentor each of them for increased sales. Working as a team, RTC is an inviting, relaxed and fun place for people of all ages and backgrounds to gather, share a laugh and a cup of coffee.
To name a few, they have sold donated items in the store and given the proceeds to the following organizations: Antioch Woman’s Club, K-911 Rescue, Special Haven, An Elderly Wish Foundation, Antioch Chamber of Commerce Galas and mixer raffles, and any other organizations.
Well done, RTC! We honor you tonight!”
“It’s been 15 years since we started this crazy business,” Blaisure said. “All of our lives we’ve been training for this role. I want to thank the Chamber for the honor. It’s been a long time coming.”
She thanked “my partner, Toni. She’s always in the background. I’m the speaker she’s the worker.” She also Blaisure also thanked 13 vendors whom she referred to as “a cast of characters”.
Allen D. Payton contributed to this more detailed report which first appeared in our April/May print edition.
Dalet Access Labs is going into the most underserved areas and building “infrastructure grid of the future” from the bottom up
By Allen D. Payton
A locally minority-owned tech firm in Antioch, CA was the only company to complete the requirements of the $1 Million Dollar State of California Innovation Challenge by deploying a system in Fairhaven, CA near Eureka in Humboldt County. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond announced the global competition in early 2021, to award “up to $1 million to the boldest, most revolutionary proposals to eliminate the digital divide and expand high-speed internet access to all Californians.” After they entered the competition in August 2021, Dalet Access Labs was assigned that community by the California Department of Education (CDE) to deploy their innovative network fabric
The CDE estimates that nearly a half-million students still lack either a device to attend school online, network access to their classroom, or both.
The rules of the challenge stipulated that competitors had to test their innovation with students experiencing a lack of connectivity either due to barriers of affordability or infrastructure. The solution had to be at a cost of no more than $15/month per household, include 100 megabits synchronous upload and download speed with no data caps, and have fully deployable implementation within a year.
The competition was the result of a partnership with Genentech and the Genentech Foundation, General Motors and Dr. Gary K. Michelson, Founder and Co-Chair of Michelson Philanthropies and the Michelson 20MM Foundation – and Dalet Access Labs was in it to win it.
On July 1, of 2022 the company successfully deployed broadband connectivity services to the Fairhaven community with upload and download speeds that exceeded the competition requirements. It was tested with students who came to visit the site and learn as part of the Technology Exploration Summer Institute (TESI) program sponsored by Humboldt County Office of Education (HCOE).
In October of 2022, HCOE sponsored a ribbon cutting ceremony to showcase the success of the broadband deployment in the Fairhaven community by inviting the leadership from CDE and other government officials to come tour the site with hopes of a winner being declared at this event.
Fairhaven Fire station is where Dalet has their lab, Ariel view of Fairhaven community leveraging data from vexceldata.com. Source: Dalet Access Labs
According to the October 6, 2022 CDE press release, they celebrated the launch of the new high-speed digital internet system in Fairhaven. The newly installed broadband network is a model in an effort to reduce rural California’s internet “digital divide,” and is a collaboration between the HCOE, the Samoa Peninsula Fire District in Samoa, CA and Dalet. The fire district’s Fairhaven fire station was chosen as the base of operations due to its proximity to all the homes in the community. “The Fairhaven model surpassed the minimum requirements for the Innovation Challenge by providing download speeds of around 100 megabits. Dalet Access Labs led the project with HCOE to create the broadband system under guidelines set forth in the CDE competition. The group worked with Cogent Communications and AT&T to launch a live fiber optic line to the Fairhaven firehouse structure and through the system’s optimized sensor-networking software, the system was enabled, providing low latency, and high-speed internet coverage to families in Fairhaven. The infrastructure for high-quality distance learning was in place as a result,” the press release reads.
Edehomon claims the actual speeds were around 700 megabits.
Although Dalet Access Labs is a small tech start-up, this is big news for them and the City of Antioch, as the opportunities for this technology are endless. According to their website, the company was “founded in 2019 and has become one of the world’s premier disruptive innovation partners that is praised by customers and vendors as we forge strategic partnerships and create new opportunities for our clients and vendors. We are known for getting stuff done. We pride ourselves on working efficiently, on time and within budget.”
“We were one of the four finalists for the high-speed broadband for the underserved,” CEO Odion “Odie” Edehomon shared. “COVID exposed the poor state of infrastructure in our country. The California Dept of Education invited companies to innovate. We were one of the 48 companies to participate. They narrowed it down to seven, then to four companies. We were the only company to deploy our intelligent network fabric.”
“We have the corporate office, here in Antioch. The lab is in Fairhaven,” he shared. Damon Owens, known in the community as the head pastor of Genesis Church on E. 18th Street is Vice President of Community Development.
Dalet spent over $700,000 to prove their solution would work. They were able to successfully deploy its innovative Network as a Service (NaaS) network platform that provides broadband connectivity services that met and exceeded all competition requirement, as was stated by the CDE representative, Chief Deputy Superintendent Mary Nicely, during the official ribbon cutting ceremony hosted by HCOE. Edehomon and Owens said they were told that Dalet was the only remaining participants who had completed the challenge, which gave them hope that they would be declared the winner of the competition and be awarded the $1 million prize.
“We knew from the beginning we were going to win,” Edehomon said with a laugh.
Asked how he said, “We are vendor-neutral. I’m from the dev-test industry. We are the equal system behind any technology development. Our knowledge of where infrastructure is going to be in 10 years, we knew we were going to build something that will transform.”
However, none of the competitors won, according to a recent San Francisco Chronicle article which reads, “a Chronicle investigation has found that state officials misled contestants about the contest, then proceeded to ignore their urgent emails and calls for months at a time. State officials said they and the prize’s funders, who later judged the competition, hoped someone, maybe at academic heavyweights like MIT or CalTech, was sitting on an invention that would provide universal, fast and very cheap internet access — within a year’s time.”
But the result was practical solutions from Edehomon’s work and a very pleased Humboldt County community.
The platform deployed by Dalet Access is a “Public Infrastructure Network Node (PINN) compliant network. This is a model that enables the full functionality of Fourth Industrial Revolution 4.0 technology of the future like, autonomous vehicles, robotics, and drone technology through the implementation of an intelligent grid platform,” he explained.
“It is the standard for an infrastructure grid of the future,” Edehomon said. “It is software driven. It’s a single platform, whether it’s 5G or 6G, satellite or fiber. Smart cities will be plugging into it, driverless cars and buses. B2B (business to business), car to car, ultrawide band. Smart Dot, Smart Pavement, Smart Vault.”
“Autonomy Institute is taking the lead on it. They’re based in Texas,” Edehomon continued. “We’re looking at things five to ten years ahead. We’re building this intelligent transformation platform on a broadband network. Everything has to do with latency for the applications.”
Gas stations will still be there, but they will be converting to charging stations,” he stated. “Digital transformation is being brought to consumers. It’s what we call the shared economy, a heavy amount of data will be generated.”
They will use “distribution or smart nodes. The intelligence will be in the software, no longer in the hardware as it used to be,” Edehomon stated.
“They don’t build things that are available to poor people. They always develop from the top down. That’s what created the digital divide,” he continued. “We do things the other way around. We choose to go into the most underserved areas and build from the bottom up.”
Asked if the company is for profit or non-profit Edehomon said, “We are for profit. We are a Network as a Service (NaaS) provider.”
Asked who are their customers he shared “As a NaaS provider to all, our service is ubiquitous, and we are an early adopter OpenRoaming offers affordable access and connectivity to small and mid-size businesses, residential, enterprise and government customers through the platform. Just like you take your mobile phone or your laptop and can get service anywhere, but you can’t do that everywhere you go with services from most existing providers. The goal is to provide seamless connectivity to all our customers by leveraging the PINN-compliant platform. For customers the key is to provide them with seamless connectivity.”
“We are filling in the gaps,” Edehomon explained. “They sometime call it the last mile. But there’s a misconception as a minimum point of entry from the home to the business. We build from the edge to the last mile.”
“We have an infrastructure in which we are expanding the fabric into the entire city of Eureka,” he shared. “We use MmWave nodes that transform, and the optimization takes place in the software, not the hardware. You eventually get to 100 gig. The nodes are about half the size of a laptop and can be on existing infrastructure on the side of buildings, on light posts. Some of the unique advantages of the way the self-organizing nodes work, is like a flock of birds that fly in synchronized form, they operate together but as individual devices.”
“We are starting in a more rural area, but it’s designed it more for high-density areas,” Edehomon shared.
Asked how we get this application to come to Antioch he responded, “We need money, and we need the city to buy into it. We need a few fiber hubs. We actually had a meeting with the mayor, last year because we wanted to start in Antioch, first. But not everyone sees the need. We also had a meeting with Brentwood. We want to do an intelligent corridor from the Brentwood Blvd. exit all the way to Pittsburg. But they don’t see the way we see how infrastructure can work.”
“We want to bring industry to Antioch and East County, that’s the goal,” Owens added.
In spite of the outcome of the competition, the company has moved on and they are focusing their efforts in other communities.
“We already signed off on the U.S. 30 Project which is a smart corridor in Ohio. It’s similar to what we want to do with Highway 4 east,” Edehomon stated. “It includes LIDAR (laser imaging, detection, and ranging) Data and smart cameras. You must build the infrastructure to be compliant. We want to help the knowledge transfer. It takes a visionary.”
Without city attorney’s knowledge violating ordinance; helped mayor with performance evaluations of city attorney, possibly manager; on Tuesday’s council meeting agenda
By Allen D. Payton
On October 13, 2022, Antioch City Manager Con Johnson engaged the services of an outside law firm regarding internal investigation procedures, less than two weeks before the council on a 3-2 vote hired him as the permanent city manager on Oct. 25. Then, on Nov. 4th, the embattled Johnson, who was placed on paid administrative leave on March 17, 2023, signed a “procedurally invalid” contract with the firm.
Attorney retainer agreement signed by City Manager Con Johnson on Nov. 4, 2022.
According to the city staff report for Item O. on tomorrow (Tuesday) night’s council meeting Consent Calendar agenda, the contract is “with Attorney Greg Rolen of Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP (‘Haight’) to provide legal services to the City concerning its internal investigation procedures…without the knowledge…and was not approved by the City Attorney as required by Antioch Resolution Number 2021/26. Therefore, the agreement is procedurally invalid. Since that time, Haight has billed the City $38,744.52 for legal services purportedly pursuant to the Agreement.”
However, the staff report only includes the latest invoice, dated March 13, 2023 for just $1,405.57, but not the first two invoices dated Jan. 12 for $30,107.20 and Feb. 21 for $7,231.75.
The firm’s third of three invoices showing work done with Mayor Thorpe and the city council.
The staff report further reads, “The City cannot lawfully provide Haight with any compensation pursuant to a procedurally invalid contract. However, any failure to pay Haight for services rendered to the City could result in a claim for payment by Haight, further litigation expenses to the City, and potentially legal liability to the City. Therefore, in order to avoid the risk of a legal claim by Haight – and corresponding litigation costs and potential liability – the City may lawfully provide Haight with payment for its legal services to the City pursuant to the Agreement, provided such payments are duly ratified by the City Council. If the City ratifies this payment, the City should also declare that no further work shall be undertaken under the invalid Agreement.”
Meetings With Outside Attorney, Mayor, Council
The latest invoice, third of three, shows work by attorney Greg Rolen with Mayor Lamar Thorpe on Feb. 2 and listed as “Teleconference with mayor regarding representation city manager” which lasted for 30 minutes. It also shows Rolen billed for “Attend, virtual closed session” on Feb. 14 for 50 minutes. That meeting which was listed on the council’s agenda as a performance evaluation of the city attorney. The next day, Rolen held a “Teleconference with mayor regarding Council meeting” for 60 minutes. Finally, on Feb. 21, the attorney composed an email to Antioch City Attorney Thomas L. Smith.
Questions for City Attorney, Others
City Attorney Thomas L. Smith, Acting City Manager Forrest Ebbs and Finance Director Dawn Merchant were asked Monday afternoon for copies of the first two invoices and a few questions about the matter.
They were asked, “since the contract signed by City Manager Johnson was procedurally invalid, why should the taxpayers pay for the bill and it not be charged to Mr. Johnson and anyone else who spoke with the firm’s attorney(s), including Mayor Thorpe, whose name is listed on the latest bill for the ‘Teleconference with mayor regarding Council meeting’ on Feb. 2 and again on Feb. 15, plus the firm’s time on Feb. 14 to ‘Attend, virtual closed session’? Why would the mayor and/or city council need advice from outside legal counsel for the city attorney’s performance evaluation which was on the Closed Session agenda for the Feb. 14th meeting?”
Merchant responded, “I do not have the copies of the invoices since they have not been paid.”
She was pressed further, following business hours on Monday, pointing out the latest invoice was addressed to her and asking who has the previous two invoices.
Questions for Thorpe, Councilmembers
Thorpe and the other council members were sent the following questions Monday afternoon:
Regarding Item O on tomorrow night’s Consent Calendar agenda, the legal bills for an invalid contract, why did you need advice from outside legal counsel for the city attorney’s performance evaluation which was on the Closed Session agenda for the meetings on Oct. 11 and 25, and Nov. 22, 2022 and Jan. 10, Jan. 24, and Feb. 14, 2023?
Also, why was the ‘Teleconference with mayor regarding representation city manager’ on Feb. 2 necessary? Was that for the city manager’s performance evaluation or the fact Con had hired the law firm through a ‘procedurally invalid’ contract? If so, why couldn’t you have just sought advice from Thomas? Were there any other such teleconferences between the mayor and the outside attorney(s) regarding the city manager, his performance evaluation also previously scheduled for Nov. 11, 2022, Jan. 10th and 24th, or anything else? If so, what else was discussed?
Is this a new practice in helping prepare you and follow up with the preparation of the city attorney’s and/or city manager’s annual performance review? Has this been done by the mayor or council in previous years?
Did you know Con was going to hire the firm on Oct. 13th, less than two weeks before he was hired as the permanent city manager? Did you direct him to do so, or did he suggest hiring the law firm and you approved it?
Since the first two bills and their details were not included with the staff report on the item, what else did the firms’ attorneys discuss with either any of you, Con or anyone else on city staff and in what other closed sessions did they participate?
Also, was the fact that Con’s contract with the law firm was ‘procedurally invalid’ one of the reasons you placed him on paid administrative leave?
Finally, since you can’t legally pay the bill, why should the taxpayers foot the bill for Johnson’s mistake (and possibly yours, if you approved the law firm’s hiring) and he not be required to pay the almost $39,000 out of his salary which is about equal to two months, which would be fair since he’s currently being paid to do nothing?”
“Not to my knowledge,” District 2 Councilman Mike Barbanica said in response to only the question if the council had ever used an outside law firm to assist in the evaluations of either the city manager or attorney. He said other questions might be related to closed session matters which he can’t discuss. Barbanica was the only council member to respond prior to publication time.
Any discussion by the council and direction to Johnson to hire an outside law firm, it if occurred, was never reported out of Closed Session by either the mayor or city attorney.
Former Mayor Freitas Says Consulting Outside Law Firm for Performance Evaluations “Strange”
Asked if he had ever hired an outside law firm to help him and the city council evaluate either the city attorney or city manager, former Antioch Mayor Don Freitas said, “It never happened. The city attorney is an at-will employee and can be terminated by the city council. If the council loses faith in either the city attorney or city manager, or they no longer trust them, they can terminate their contracts.”
“Why you would need to hire an outside counsel to tell you how to evaluate your in-house counsel. It’s strange,” he added. “As mayor, I would never have permitted, unless the council had appointed me to speak on their behalf to speak with an outside attorney. All council members should have been able to speak with the attorney.”
Please check back for any additional responses or any other updates to this report.
Mike and Lisa Hurd next to his plaque and the sign over the entrance to the track and Eells Stadium at Antioch High School. Photos by AHS
By Allen D. Payton
The track at Antioch High School is now named after former coach Mike Hurd, who was honored during a dedication ceremony at the school on March 29, 2023. The 1964 Antioch High grad was the Panthers’ cross country and track coach from 1970-79 leading his teams to multiple league and North Coast championships.
“I found out, it was before COVID and I only found out because my wife went to a school board meeting…to present what they were going to do,” Hurd said. “It’s terrific. It’s very humbling. The thought that there were people that thought highly enough to do this. I feel really blessed.”
“I stand here because I’ve got God at my back and this wonderful woman by my side,” Hurd said during the ceremony, getting choked up while speaking of his wife, Lisa. “Thank you to Gary, Tom, Louie, Trine, John, the full committee that worked on this. It’s not something that I would have ever campaign for. But I’m so blessed to have friends who thought it was important to do.”
During the ceremony, Gary Bras of the Antioch Sports Hall of Fame and a member of the track and field team when he was in high school said, “When he was done with us, we were men and women and little did we know the lessons that he taught us would take us through the rest of our lives.”
Former Antioch High Principal Louie Rocha also spoke at the ceremony, “We’re so thankful and appreciative, Coach Hurd, for not only for what you did in high school, but how that carried on to the years beyond our high school experience. Many of us thank you for instilling upon us the skills, the self-confidence, and the belief about setting goals and reaching and striving for those to be attained.”
A post on the Antioch High School Facebook page reads, “Legendary coach Mike Hurd, a 1964 Antioch High graduate, returned to Panther Country after college and took the school’s track program to an unprecedented level.
On Thursday, March 29, 2023, he was honored for his more than 10 years of leading and inspiring hundreds of student athletes during the dedication of the Mike Hurd Track.
At the ceremony attended by family, friends and many of his former students, Coach Hurd recounted several stories from the glory days of the 1970s, which included an impressive 16 league championships and three North Coast Section Divisional titles.
He is the winningest coach in the history of Antioch High School’s track and field and cross country. Hurd is also an inductee in the Antioch Sports Legends Hall of Fame.
Congrats to Coach Hurd!”
“It’s never been about me it’s always been about the athletes and my coaches. I got plenty of recognition as a head coach,” Hurd said later during an interview with The Press. “It was more shocking than anything else. My feelings are somewhat between embarrassment and humble. I think what it does is it reinforces that you made an impact in their life and that was the most important thing. To be able to teach them some life lessons through athletics and be able to take those life lessons forward to teach to their children and the people that followed. That was the key thing.”
